Christmas 2005

Another Christmas has come and gone. This one seemed to pass faster than ever, just as the year has. I can't believe it's almost 2006! This year has flown by.

I went to my parents place on Christmas morning- Miles, Lisa and I joined my Mom and Dad in opening our presents. It's becoming a smaller gathering each year, as we lose members of our already fairly small family. However, I'm thinking there will be some additions to the family in the coming years, which would be a nice thing.

My Mom always decorates the house well, and the tree was especially nice this year. I think everyone got some nice things; I know I'm happy with my take! Thanks to everyone for my gifts- I like them all.

After exchanging gifts, Miles and Lisa left to spend time with Miles' family, and I went with Mom and Dad to Cousin Mike and Becky's place out in Oak Hills (Victorville) to meet up with our extended family. We enjoyed a dinner of homemade tamales, pozole, beans, rice, etc. It was good stuff. We checked out their horses, exchanged a few more gifts and chatted into the evening.

I spent a few more hours at my parents' place before heading back to Orange. It was a nice Christmas, but it would have been even nicer if a certain someone wasn't so far away right now...

Earlier today, Mark and Jade came by the apartment for the first time. They were in town from Vegas for Christmas, and finally graced me with their presence after a year in this place! I hadn't seen them in a year and a half (pathetic!), so it was good to see them. They got to meet Cory and Farah, who are down from Sacramento and stopped by to visit as well. I'm glad they were able to meet, after having heard about each other for so long. I think we should all get together and do Vegas or go camping or something sometime in the near future. Thanks to Mark and Jade for my new toy (picture below) and to Cory and Farah for the MD player- I hope I can get it to work for me.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and Happy New Year to all.


Lisa and Miles.


One of Mike and Becky's horses.


A new breed of Tumbler?


The Oak Hills sky.


A remote control jet from Mark and Jade!


A frog band Brenda sent me from Mexico. These are real frogs!


A friend of my Mom created this handmade vase.

'Tis the Season in Old Towne Orange

Things are starting to look festive here in Orange. It's nice to be a part of the atmosphere here; there's a small-town feel to this place, and a sense of tradition and community. The circle (officially called Orange Plaza) is a meeting place for friends and family, and the center of activity in Old Towne. Different events take place there throughout the year, like the Orange International Street Fair, classic car shows, high school football rallys and just recently, the tree lighting ceremony.

I've been in Orange for a little over a year now, and I like it. It's not the hippest place- there are too many cutesy antique stores and gift shops for my taste- but it's pretty cool overall. There are some decent restaurants, like Rutebegorz, The District, The Filling Station and a number of others. I think the town favorite is Felix, a good little Cuban restuarant right on the circle that's always full of people. The food is good, the prices are right and there's a cool outdoor cafe atmosphere there. Diedrich Coffee is nearby as well, which is a popular hang out, too. O'Hara's is a busy local pub, and Paul's Cocktails adds a touch of authentic seediness to the otherwise quaint area.

Chapman University ensures that there is a least a little bit of youthful energy in town. I like the campus- it sort of has an East Coast feel to it.

There are some nice parks in town, too. Pitcher Park is nice little park, and Hart Park is a huge, very old and really well-kept park. People congregate there for barbeques, club meetings, softball, baseball and football games, running, swimming, etc.

Living in Old Towne is also nice because of its proximity to my job. I'm only 6 miles from work; in fact, I live and work on the same street (Chapman Ave.)!

Anyway, I went out last weekend to take photos of my neighborhood at night...

Possibly the Most Boring Post Ever

There's not much new to tell right now, and the fact that I still have no internet service at home keeps me from writing much. I'm working on getting SBC DSL right now, but there's some confusion about the phone lines in my place. My apartment is in a 100-year-old house (pictured above- I live upstairs), and with the business downstairs and numerous lines, it's not clear what lines go where. Once it's straightened out and I've got internet access at home, I hope to update this blog more frequently.

In the meantime, I thought I'd write about my talk radio listening habits. It may be of no interest to anyone, but it's my blog, right? I think I was probably influenced by my parents' listening habits when I was a little kid- they listened to KABC "Talk Radio 79" (790 KABC today) every single day. It was always on in the house- Ken Minyard and Bob Arthur in the morning, Paul Harvey (good day!) "News and Comments", food critic Elmer Dills, Michael Jackson (not the singer, but and liberal English commentator), Ira Fistell and Ray Briem. God, they listened to that stuff all the time! Some of these guys are still around. I can't imagine how old Paul Harvey is. Listening to him is like taking a step back in time.

There's something comforting about talk radio. It's nice to listen to interesting conversation, especially while commuting to and from work. It's also fun to listen to local personalities while on road trips, talking about what's happening in Bakersfield or Visalia or whatever. I like it when it's kind of slower, folksy kind of stuff, nothing too hyperbolic.

There are a few shows I listen to almost daily, though rarely in their entirety. The best show out there, in my opinion, is the Dennis Prager Show, which is on KRLA 870 in L.A. This guy is an intellectual with common sense- he somehow completed his university studies without losing his logic and ability to reason. The guy talks about everything; this differences between men and women, politics, religion, the media, history, philosophy, whatever. He's the most intelligent, humble, calming, logical and sincere presence I've encountered on the airwaves. Whatever your philosophies or political leanings are, the guy makes you think. Here's a recent piece he wrote for the L.A. Times.

I think Larry Elder on KABC 790 is also good, but he's a little more over the top. He's a very sharp guy, and he loves to call out liberal leaders and challenge their ideas and commentary. What I really respect about the guy is that although he's black, he thinks for himself and doesn't "think black". He's constantly ripping black "leaders" like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton for their vicitim mentalities and race card playing. He's against affirmative action and big government, and because of his independent thought, he's been physically threatened on numerous occasions by fellow blacks who consider him an Uncle Tom for not thinking like they do. You have to admire a guy who speaks his mind knowing what the consequences may be.

There's a guy named Michael Savage who's very smart, well-read and interesting, but he's a little out there. He can be a little radical, but he does make good points regarding immigration and defending our country. He's an acquired taste, but he does make you think. If you check out his link above, be forewarned- he's got some gruesome photos of the violence in the Arab world.

Sometimes I listen to Michael Medved on my lunch break, but he's a little predictable. Smart guy with decent common sense, but I sense his conservative agenda shaping too many of his arguments. Plus, for some reason that I will never comprehend, he seems to think that Bigfoot exists! This idea of his defies his normally fairly sound logic, and it makes me laugh.

I can't get into the Sean Hannity/Rush Limbaugh/Bill O'Reilly types too much. They just seem a little to into the rah-rah patriotic American stuff.

Then there's sports. I used to listen to XTRA Sports 690 out of San Diego (with their super-powerful antenna in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico), but when they changed it to the "Super Station" and moved to L.A., it fell apart. Now it's some of the crappiest "sports" talk I've ever heard. It's always 2 or 3 guys cracking stupid jokes, guffawing and talking over each other. The absolute worst is a guy named Vic "The Brick" Jacobs, the single most annoying radio announcer I've ever heard. He and his "Loose Cannon" partners talk about the Lakers constantly, never saying much. If Vic wants to say Shaq O'Neal is a solid player, he'll say something like, "The Big Blessing shows love on the court every night with his divine spirit and thunderous game!" It's pure garbage.

The Mighty 1090 is now the local San Diego sports station (with that antenna in Rosarito), and they have some of the original lineup from the old 690 days. It's decent, and probably the best thing out there. L.A. sports talk blows.

Of course there's Howard Stern, who's making news with his move to satellite radio in January. Though he can be crude and isn't as funny as he used to be, I do give him credit for revolutionizing radio, and to some extent, TV and movies. Despite the vulgarity, he's really somewhat of a radio genius. His innovation and talents get overlooked because of the crude nature of his show, but he really is unique and he can be hilarious.

I also like NPR and 89.9 KCRW, which has very good news coverage and interesting commentary, albeit with a bit of a liberal slant. KCRW also has great music; it's the best music station in L.A. by far.

I've also tried KPFK, a public station here in L.A., and it's basically a socialist station. I try to listen and take it seriously, but it's so leftist it's almost funny. I'm sure they worship at the feet of leftist hero Noam Chomsky. If you want to feel guilty for being an American, give it a listen.

Anyway, if you're still reading at this point, it must be a slow day! I appreciate it anyway...and I promise some photos next time.