I Love This Video! - First time I saw this, I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was back in high school watching an episode of Dynasty, but then wait!  It's Badly Drawn Boy!

School for Buzz...During the past few work weeks, I've been leaving the tv on so the birds don't get bored throughout the day.  The weekends are left with Buzz chattering like a parakeet and whistling the wolf whistle that I decided to put his talents to the test.  Gigi blissfully doesn't care about cackling or whistling as much, so really this cd is just for him.  Let's see what he can learn...Gregarious Gigi took a leap off the cage last week and one night Hal and I realized she hurt her foot and leg in a nasty landing so little by little she's been regaining use - we really thought she could have seriously hurt herself...

Gah - Tuesday Blues...Geez it's slow in the office today.  Came across this fun site I wanted to share.  Methink one of my friends would dig this:

Tonight!

Long before Dorothy dropped in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two unlikely friends end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch makes for the most spellbinding new musical in years...

I've been looking forward to this event.  It's been a while since I saw a musical and I've heard great reviews, I might just get the cd too!  Check out the trailer here.

Heh - I just love reading the Onion.  It took me some time to acquire the humor mixed with real adverts and reviews but now I look forward to reading each new issue. It's cool the newspaper is published here in the city. Here's a hilarious article from last week's archive:

WASHINGTON, DC—The eight remaining justices of the Supreme Court met in chambers Monday to feast on the living flesh of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, enacting an ancient tradition that began when the first chief justice of the Supreme Court retired and was summarily consumed in 1795.

Above: The Supreme Court, which has ritually eaten Sandra Day O'Connor (front row, second from right).

Although the most important cannibalistic ceremony in American jurisprudence is closed to outsiders, some details of the ritual are inscribed within the High Court Scrolls. The scrolls, written in human blood and stored in the Justice Library Reading Room, have been studied by only a handful of legal scholars.

"Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist almost certainly consumed the greater part of O'Connor's brain and heart prior to the ritual feeding, in a rite believed to grant him the knowledge, wisdom, and courage of the devoured," said American University law professor Donald Hewett. "Any portions of O'Connor's brain and heart that Rehnquist refused would have been consumed by the remaining justices within minutes, as they chanted passages from her seminal opinions."

Hewett said the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court was gutted, strung up, and "drained into stone goblets from which her blood was sipped like wine."

"This quaffing of blood is traditionally accompanied by much singing and drumming," Hewett said.

If the ritual was performed in accordance with the court scrolls, O'Connor's body was then laid upon a traditional brass bier and borne up a five-story marble staircase to a consecrated inner sanctum, where clerks skewered the raw meat on wooden spits. Late into the evening, the Supreme Court justices feasted on the renowned federalist by torchlight.

"The ceremony is said to be quite moving," said Zachary Katz, editor of the Yale Law Review. "By consuming O'Connor's mortal body, the other justices seek a communion with her transcendent qualities—her respect for the discretion of the court, her pragmatism, and her refusal to commit to abstract legal principles."

O'Connor has been prepared for the ritual since January 2005, when Chief Justice Rehnquist sprinkled her desk with the ashes of a virgin law clerk and pronounced, "Receptum, receptum, receptum."

Tuesday evening, Rehnquist emerged from the 17-foot-tall, 13-ton bronze sliding doors of the Supreme Court building's west entrance and addressed those who had gathered in the oval pavilion.

"Hear us, Justice," said Rehnquist, wearing a necklace of human bones and an elaborate headdress adorned with yak horns. "In the abiding name of Jurisprudence we consumed her; in the eternal name of Law was she eaten; and as her flesh does become our flesh, so her wisdom shall become our wisdom, yea, through all time everlasting."

According to legal scholars, O'Connor's skin will be tanned and sewn into a ceremonial cloak, to be worn by the youngest justice, Clarence Thomas, as he lights the pyre upon which members of O'Connor's senior staff are burned alive.

Hal's Birthday Weekend! - Wow - we certainly were all over the place this past lengthy weekend!  I think the festivities kicked off Friday night as Hal's employees all met up at the Cinch.  I haven't been there in quite a while as I usually prefer the Castro over Polk St. nightlife, but it was fun to talk travel and pets and the like.  Saturday morning Hal suggested we go to the exhibit "The Universe Within." - Since Hal is a physical therapist it would be educational so I agreed.  What turned out to be creepy and macabre only intensified into questions regarding these real human bodies turned plastic (why did they all look like healthy Asian males in the 28 - 30 year old range, etc.) We thought we were observing actual human rights violations before our very eyes (you heard it here first!.)  Science is one thing, but to slice, peel and fillet and display these bodies as an educational study was very unsettling. After all that we walked around Nob Hill and checked out Grace Cathedral (my first time) and the Fairmont Hotel before heading home.  Later that night, Hal, Bob and I went to this fabulous French restaurant, Chapeau, in the Outer Richmond.  Talk about cuisine heaven - I certainly am prepping for our upcoming trip to France! The prefixe included an appetizer, entre and dessert (I had the chevre/puff pastry/green salad, roast duck with risotto, and a cheese plate for dessert, accompanied with a fantastic French bordeaux, yum!) By the time our 2 hour dinner was over, Hal and I made it to the Castro pretty late, so we didn't see any of the usual gang out that night.  Sunday we enjoyed champagne before heading to Jay and Marc's place to an afternoon barbeque.  Between all that, I've managed without any siestas - in other words we paced ourselves.  Last night after work, I took Hal out for dinner to Medjool, the pic above is the rooftop view where we had a glass of wine before dinner - it was great! This has certainly been a fun weekend with good food, wine and friends and it was exactly a year ago I met Hal.  Now back to work, back to the grind.  I think nothing is planned until August 5th, when Wicked returns to San Francisco. Wow, July flew by fast!  Later!

Update: I guess all it took was a few keywords on a google search to find this site.  Pretty interesting (and graphic) information to browse, including accusations of illegally obtained bodies of Chinese prisoners, before the site goes off on a tangent.

Happy Birthday Hal Weekend - Is pretty much planned out, with festivities culminating on his actual birthday this upcoming Monday night at Medjool, the hottest restuarant to take the Mission by storm!  But first a recap to update what's been going on lately.

Gigi and Buzz have made a great addition to the home.  I enjoy their antics as well at their calm nature.  Nothing bothers them only when they get a little jealous with each other, but they always quickly make up.  They are definitely life partners.  Buzz seems to have residue wild instincts, especially when he sees other birds out door - he get real agitated and it seems he wants to join the pigeons when they flock down the street corridor.  Gigi on the other hand is pretty much content to sit on your shoulder and/or just be loved.  Hal and I decided to let Gigi's flight feathers grow and keep Buzz' trimmed since he could be a flight risk. I wonder if there bird GPS or ID technology in case they inadvertantly get outside. 

Here's Buzz enjoying a quiet moment perched on one leg - a sign of a healthy three month old!  We were able to narrow his and Gigi's birthday to April 18th with the info provided by the original owner.

Last Saturday Gigi and Buzz were treated to a shower and some kind of bird cleaning spray I got at Petco.  Big mistake!  I should have done it slower and earlier in the day.  I had to go to Aric's 40th birthday party (Hal had a cold and couldn't make it) that evening.  Although Buzz took it in stride, Gigi was a lit-tle tramatized and wanted to immediately sleep the event off.  We think it was their first time for a shower so hopefully next time it won't be so violating and is a happy time for them.  They certainly were clean, soft and fresh afterwards though.

Rexster is doing well these days.  I can see he's pretty content in life.  Here's a pic of him up in Redding on our last visit.  Jay and Marc sold their getaway home during our last visit so they (and we) get to enjoy until October.  I think we'll take one more trip up.

So, Aric's birthday was such a fun bash, meeting new people, good food and drinkees, and afterwards Peter and I and the remaining party goers headed down to Moby's until close.  The bar was still packed when they tossed us out as well as the other clubs and pubs in the Castro and a steady stream of cabs whisked back and forth - so it was easy for me to get home after such a fun night. 

This work week has gone by rather quickly - yesterday I took the Muni down Market St. to the nearby post office for my appointment to get my first passport!!!  The tickets to France have been purchased!  It'll be my very first trip to Europe and I have quite a number of friends and their families too see.  Hal and I will be traveling through France from September 22 through October 5th starting off in Paris and making our way to the South of France (Toulouse) and back.  More info later!

Yay - TGIF! - This workweek flew by fast and I'm ready for the weekend!  4th of July was great in Redding, Hal and I did manage to head down to San Bruno to pick up a couple boxes of fireworks - and that was fun.  The stars were out that weekend, between sparklers and spinny things we layed on the driveway and enjoyed the clusters of heaven and caught a couple shooting stars, ahhhh, relaxing.  Last week I was checking out craigslist and lo and behold I found two baby cockatiels - it was destiny!  Hal and I drove down to Sunnyvale and picked them up - soooo cute, so mellow, and gregarious.  Gigi is the alpha bird, always wanting attention and Buzz loves giving kisses too.  Both are a welcome addition to the home.  Gigi actually likes to ride Rex and he obliges without a fuzz. They were raised together but are different breeds (she's a cinnamon pearl and he's a pied) and they love each other too!  Who knows, maybe we can breed them one day (but not too soon!)  Here's a fuzzy pic - I'll have to take some better pics.

Tomorrow night we're going to a friends 40th bday party (Happy Birthday Aric!) but other than running errands this weekend is going to be a stay home, play-xbox-and-pets kind of weekend.

Yay! Fourth of July Weekend! - Well, we're off tomorrow morning to Redding for this wonderful long weekend and this time, about 8 of us are heading up which I know will be a blast.  Speaking of which, Hal and I (and Rex) are heading down the peninsula after work this eve to pick up some FIREWORKS! San Francisco has banned them for several years now so any opportunity for this pyrophile to get his hands on 'em is guaranteed a fun time. 

Pride was fun last weekend - This is the second year in a row that I had every intention to get to the parade and subsequent festivities at Civic Center, but we awoke to such cold and misty weather we ended up watching the parade on tv.  We headed out around 3:00 and had delicious Thai food in the Castro where we eventually set forth to, of course, the Metro, to see friends and watch the crowds pour in from the events.  Much fun, what I like to call my personal pride.  I'm glad the city hosts such a fun and safe event - I always underscore the amount of people who attend but officials estimated up to 1,000,000 people attended. Good for the city, and fun for all.

Urban Garden Update - The cool weather we've been having has lessened the amount of watering, hence less attention on the deck but weekends are great to sit out and just recharge my batteries from an increasing load of office work these days.  Here some recent pics.

This fuschia is called Venus Upright and grew incredibly fast I'll probably transplant it a second time this summer - go go go!

This pot of lil' pansies if one of two that took over the snapdragons that were planted together at the same time - which was a good thing because the snaps had some rusty blight (that thankfully only on them) before they played out. 

Here's the two bushy Peruvian lilies that are thriving on the deck.  Notice no water in the fountain = no signs of pigeons.  We started to let the water dry up unless we have guests nowadays.  Curiously,  the center pot of yellow pansies and snaps weren't just yellow at first, but they seemed to have taken over and laid claim.  There's just a little bit of purple on the left.

The dwarf Lily-of-the-Nile is doing just fine in his corner of the deck with Hal's zinneas (bottom left) that self seeded themselves from last years bounty.  The liles remind me of the large versions I used to have in my front yard growing up.

I'm pretty pleased the pink flower seed mix took - I had no idea how they would do when I planted them at the beginning of the growing season - really long lasting and great for cut flowers too - I hope they continue to seed and grow year after year.

Amidst the flora is Rexster - how can I not include a pic in this entry.  Wow - he'll be 15 at the end of the year.  I love seeing old friends and letting them know Rex is still around.  I had to order some intense doggie breath treats from BC - it was getting pretty evident his doggie breath was getting big time horsey.  The treats are made of charcoal, peppermint, parsley and chlorophyll.  Man, what a combo - if that doesn't work for him, I don't know what will! 

The succulents are doing fine too - I try to keep all from crowding others when growing together - not difficult with these moderate growers.

The lavender is doing just fine too!.

This lobelia I also started by seed is called Cascade of Color and definitely lives up to its name, I've never seen red lobelia before.

The baby blue lobelia under the rosemary also didn't disappoint.  The rosemary is starting to look like the castle in the Dark Crystal - wow what an imagination, but Hal agreed too.  See I'm not going crazy!  My friend Mike T. gave me this easy side dish using long sprigs of rosemary:  4 asparagus with a sprig in the middle wrapped with a slice of bacon (I use peppered bacon) and doused with basalmic vinegar and popped on the grill or oven - heaven!!

My gardenia didn't flower this year until I gave it some citrus food - too bad I didn't use it earlier.  Citrus food contains minerals that other stuff doesn't and I finally realized what it needed late in the game.

ok, enough plantspeak but here's a fun container I put together using plant keikis, cuttings and a rotund cactus.  The forefront and tubular succulents eventually cast numerous keikis of their own off the plant's leaf edges. 

Celestial Fireworks! - I've been so looking forward to this come Sunday night.  I hope it does succeed and the weather in Redding should nice and clear so who knows? Maybe I can catch a glimpse with my binoculars!

Rich's Need to Nurture - With respect to Rexster, I've already decided to get another Sheltie after he passes.  This time, however, I thought and Hal and I both agree that the next dog will have to have a companion, soooo......

Meet my depiction of "Chase" . . .                   and "Squish"!  Of course these buddies are just twinkles in my eyes but it's fun to plan for the future. So what to keep Rich entertained with in the meanwhile?  The fish, Hans und Glans are doing just fine, but I want to nurture something else (Hal won't possibly discuss adopting for a mandated two years so I started thinking what I also enjoy...

Cockatiels! I already got a large bird cage and with the approval of names by my friends, soon I'll proudly introduce Bo (or Buzz) and Gigi!  There are many breeders in the Bay Area that offer hand-raised ones so in a couple weeks the home will be full of chirps and whistles (friends and family know that I have raised and bred birds for years in my past) so it will be fun to play and roam with the dinosaurs again!

Well, I'm glad I got a chance to update what's going on in my world.  I hope everyone has a safe and sane weekend.  Laterz!

Music Video Codes by FVC

testing testing - thanks for the idea, Roy!