PMMJ (cheetahmaster) wrote,
PMMJ
cheetahmaster

As aforementioned, I have returned from the Seattle trip. No driving or touching a computer for two weeks. Very relaxing, though I can tell it's gonna take me a few days to get up to speed again. And through the 900 work emails and 200 personal emails I received during that time.

When you get off the plane in Vegas, the slot machines are ten feet from the gate. When you get off the plane in Seattle, there is a Starbucks there instead. These people are coffee-obsessed. Half the strip malls had stand-alone espresso shacks set up for people to drive through. Seriously. They need
help.



Again, not the travelogue from the New York trip, more bits and pieces, some in greater focus.

Auntie, a friend of Red Queen, was kind enough to host for us for half the time we were up there. Her guy is interesting, and reminds me, clinically, of my younger sister's fiancee-type. He taught me much about mountain climbing and backpacking. Badminton was played, and a pinata (obtained the day before at the fish-throwing Pike Place Market) was busted. I will put up a picture of the troll we saw, sooner or later.

We toured the underground in Seattle, and it was very interesting. Our tour guide Eric was a treat, and only got really flamboyant in a couple places. The sordid history was wacky enough that I picked up the book the tour guide founder wrote, Sons of the Profit, which Amazon doesn't seem to list. Fooey.

I met Red Queen's father, her sister's new beau (who is very British,) the beau's friend (who is both British and hilarious.) Fireworks were watched. I met Red Queen's grandparents, hung out with her mom (who showered us with gifts.) I discussed some boffer combat with Red Queen's brother.

I accidentally toured the studio of Tiger Mountain Photo, as we were brought into a last minute dinner party at their place on our last night of the trip.

A chance glance at a TV in a bar playing CNN informed me that the director of A Perfect Storm has signed to direct "a Batman vs. Superman" movie. Fortune.

We spent a couple days in Victoria, the Disneyland of Canadialand. It's a maple-y treat up there, folks. With the dollar this high, we lived like kings for merely pesos a day. And I had one of the best dinners of my life at the Villa Rosa, so a shout out to them. Damn tasty. Toured the Craigdarroch Castle as well, since we were staying at the Craigmyle bed and breakfast across the lawn from it.

Oh, and the main point of the Victoria side trip was high tea at the Empress, which was tasty and fun. Thanks again to Auntie for arranging that escapade.

At the museum, which we didn't explore I am ashamed to admit, we caught the IMAX movie Space Station. Narrated by Tom Cruise, this features actual footage from the station, and talks about its construction, the astronauts, etc. Very interesting stuff. The station is both bigger and smaller than you think. Though, I must note: they worked to get the mobile arm of the shuttle and the station itself into lots of shots, presumably to point out the big Canadian flag plastered on it. As those wily Snow-Mexicans developed it, much like they came up with the IMAX movie format, which they *also* pointed out.

While I am plugging, I am also soon to be ordering some of that 1,001 Nights tea from SpecialTea.Com because while I'm not big into tea, that was some good stuff too.

And I did a huge amount of reading on the plane rides in and out. For all 40k fans out there, I highly, highly recommend the first two books of the Eisenhorn trilogy. They read fast, and provide an immense amount of background on the Imperium, almost in passing. I will read the third book, once I am done the bookclub book for Monday.



While out there, we caught Lilo and Stitch a second time, and really, I insist everyone should go see this film. It's a treat. Here and there, we also watched:
Mimic (silly monster movie, a cable movie)
Orange County (mildly amusing, also worth watching on cable,)
Nick Fury: Agent of Shield (if you want to know how this one is, allow me to just mention it stars David Hasselhoff; a must only for die-hard Marvel Comics fans who need perspective,)
and Flash Gordon (Best. Movie. Ever. Yes, the 1980 version. So, so astoundingly bad. When does the DVD get released?)

Some news URLs, as I am still playing catch-up for everything that happened in the past couple weeks did I mention I still am TV-less?) Some media firms won an important injunction
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] http://www.nandotimes.com/opinions/story/467181p-3735234c.html">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

As aforementioned, I have returned from the Seattle trip. No driving or touching a computer for two weeks. Very relaxing, though I can tell it's gonna take me a few days to get up to speed again. And through the 900 work emails and 200 personal emails I received during that time.

When you get off the plane in Vegas, the slot machines are ten feet from the gate. When you get off the plane in Seattle, there is a Starbucks there instead. These people are coffee-obsessed. Half the strip malls had stand-alone espresso shacks set up for people to drive through. Seriously. They need
help.

<lj-cut text="Herein, some amusing traveling anecdotes.">

Again, not the travelogue from the New York trip, more bits and pieces, some in greater focus.

Auntie, a friend of Red Queen, was kind enough to host for us for half the time we were up there. Her guy is interesting, and reminds me, clinically, of my younger sister's fiancee-type. He taught me much about mountain climbing and backpacking. Badminton was played, and a pinata (obtained the day before at the fish-throwing Pike Place Market) was busted. I will put up a picture of the troll we saw, sooner or later.

We toured the underground in Seattle, and it was very interesting. Our tour guide Eric was a treat, and only got really flamboyant in a couple places. The sordid history was wacky enough that I picked up the book the tour guide founder wrote, <i>Sons of the Profit,</i> which Amazon doesn't seem to list. Fooey.

I met Red Queen's father, her sister's new beau (who is very British,) the beau's friend (who is both British and hilarious.) Fireworks were watched. I met Red Queen's grandparents, hung out with her mom (who showered us with gifts.) I discussed some boffer combat with Red Queen's brother.

I accidentally toured the studio of <a href="http://tigermountainphoto.com">Tiger Mountain Photo,</a> as we were brought into a last minute dinner party at their place on our last night of the trip.

A chance glance at a TV in a bar playing CNN informed me that the director of <b>A Perfect Storm</b> has signed to direct "a Batman vs. Superman" movie. Fortune.

We spent a couple days in Victoria, the Disneyland of Canadialand. It's a maple-y treat up there, folks. With the dollar this high, we lived like kings for merely pesos a day. And I had one of the best dinners of my life at the Villa Rosa, so a shout out to them. Damn tasty. Toured the <a href="http://www.craigdarrochcastle.com/">Craigdarroch Castle</a> as well, since we were staying at the Craigmyle bed and breakfast across the lawn from it.

Oh, and the main point of the Victoria side trip was high tea at the Empress, which was tasty and fun. Thanks again to Auntie for arranging that escapade.

At the museum, which we didn't explore I am ashamed to admit, we caught the IMAX movie <b>Space Station.</b> Narrated by Tom Cruise, this features actual footage from the station, and talks about its construction, the astronauts, etc. Very interesting stuff. The station is both bigger and smaller than you think. Though, I must note: they worked to get the mobile arm of the shuttle and the station itself into lots of shots, presumably to point out the big Canadian flag plastered on it. As those wily Snow-Mexicans developed it, much like they came up with the IMAX movie format, which they *also* pointed out.

While I am plugging, I am also soon to be ordering some of that <i>1,001 Nights</i> tea from <a href="http://specialtea.com/">SpecialTea.Com</a> because while I'm not big into tea, that was some good stuff too.

And I did a huge amount of reading on the plane rides in and out. For all 40k fans out there, I highly, highly recommend the first two books of the <i>Eisenhorn</i> trilogy. They read fast, and provide an immense amount of background on the Imperium, almost in passing. I will read the third book, once I am done the bookclub book for Monday.

</lj-cut>

While out there, we caught <b>Lilo and Stitch</b> a second time, and really, I insist everyone should go see this film. It's a treat. Here and there, we also watched:
<b>Mimic</b> (silly monster movie, a cable movie)
<b>Orange County</b> (mildly amusing, also worth watching on cable,)
<b>Nick Fury: Agent of Shield</b> (if you want to know how this one is, allow me to just mention it stars David Hasselhoff; a must only for die-hard Marvel Comics fans who need perspective,)
and <b>Flash Gordon</b> (Best. Movie. Ever. Yes, the 1980 version. So, so astoundingly bad. When does the DVD get released?)

Some news URLs, as I am still playing catch-up for everything that happened in the past couple weeks did I mention I still am TV-less?) Some media firms won an important injunction <a href="http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/467093p-3734743c.html</a>against pop-up ads.</a> And for a couple interesting opinion pieces on government budget and spending, click <a href="http://www.nandotimes.com/opinions/story/467181p-3735234c.html">here</a> or <a href="http://www.nandotimes.com/opinions/story/467160p-3735136c.html">here.</a> However, I have Operative X to thank for providing me with the URLOTD, as she made sure to send me all the important information as I was away.

<u>URL:</u><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36550-2002Jul7.html">(Way to set your sights high, guys.)</a>
<u>CD:</u> <b>Mantra Mix,</b> a Tibetan refugee benefit album, featuring people like the Chemical Brothers, Peter Gabriel, Madonna, Massive Attack, etc. Check it out.
<u>Quote:</u> "Intellectually, I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country." -Sinclair Lewis
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