Birthday Activities

We had a good time celebrating my 63rd birthday. On Tuesday we went to Woodland for a meal with Dave and his family. Morrison's restaurant proved to be a good choice. The food was excellent and we ate early enough in the day so that we virtually had the entire restaurant to ourselves. Thanks for a nice dinner, Dave.



The follow day we went to dinner at the Macaroni Grill in Elk Grove. Tom and Wendy and Dave joined us as we dined from a menu of pasta, chicken and fish. After our meal we returned home to share a movie, actually a documentary, about the changing economic status of China over the last two decades. Wendy added some interesting commentary to the show. After the documentary we sliced my birthday cake and enjoyed cake and ice cream for our evening dessert. Check out a picture of me, with my cake, to the right and at the bottom of the blog page.

Our Anniversary

Nancy and I celebrated our twenty-third anniversary today. We went to a preview performance at the B Street Theatre. The show was in the little theatre, which seats around a hundred people. We've always been able to get front row seats, because we are on the B Street mailing list and we make our reservations pretty far in advance. Today's show was very funny. The show is titled "Sylvia". It's a story about a man and his dog (Sylvia) - and his wife. The man really loves this dog, but the wife - well... not so much.

After the show we went to a restaurant in midtown Sacramento - Buckhorn's. Buckhorn's has several locations. We've been to the one in San Francisco, at the Metreon, and another one in Woodland. They serve a tri-tip sandwich that is hard to beat. There were several pictures on the restaurant's walls, painted by various local artists and all depicting dogs. The picture, to the right and at the bottom of the blog page, was taken with my LG cellphone camera.

After our meal we walked a few blocks and checked out various midtown shops. The day was warm, but there was also a little breeze. So it was pleasant. I hope it is the same way twenty three years from now, when we do it all over again.

DMV Day

It was that time again - my driver license renewal. However, this year would be a little different from previous years. This year I had to renew in person, rather than simply by mail. As anyone who lives in California knows, going to the DMV is pretty much akin to having a root canal at the dentist. Another words, it's not one of the more favorable task you want to put on your daily calendar.

There is good news though. DMV has made great strides recently to improve their service - at least that is what the web site declares. After today's experience, I would agree - at least in part. The most significant improvement is that you can now go on-line and make an appointment. You'll need to book about six weeks prior to your license expiration date. That's what I did and as a result I was able to renew my license about a week before it was going to expire. Under no circumstance do you want to be driving in California with an expired license. That could prove to be a very foolish over site.

Time wise, the process went pretty much as I expected. On the upside, having an appointment saved time. Anyone who just dropped by DMV today, to complete a transaction, would must likely have had to wait for an hour or more to see a service person. On the downside, even with an appointment, you still have to wander around asking for information regarding where to report, as the signage in the building was minimal at best. If you weren't proactive about getting information, you could be sitting for a long time. I saw several people, even with appointments, who were confused because of the lack of signs to provide clear instructions as to how you weave through the DMV maze.

My experience, from start to finish, took about forty five minutes. Now that I know the ropes, maybe next time it will take even less. Oh, you know I think I might have to go back anyway. I'm almost certain that I blinked when they took the picture for the photo ID. Gray hair, a turkey neck and closed eyelids just don't cut it when using your driver's license for identification. They're probably going to need to re-shoot it.

Movie - Steel Toes (2006)

I'm still watching movies when I do my treadmill exercise. It's been about fourteen months since I first started using the treadmill. The challenge to overcome any rationalizations that I might conjure up to avoid sticking to my five day workout is ever present, but so far I've persevered.

I rented the movie Steel Toes this week and finished watching it last night. The movie is very intense. It is about a white supremacist who commits murder - in a fit of rage that manifest itself through extreme violence - using the perpetrators own steel toed boots. This anger and racial hatred is inflicted on a person of Indian descent. The young man, who describes himself as a skinhead, is arrested for the murder and upon meeting his lawyer for the first time shows no remorse, or empathy, towards the innocent person who was subjected to his brutal attack. The man did not die at the scene, but later died an agonizing death in the hospital. He describes his hospital appearance as that of a person who has been mauled by an animal. The court appointed lawyer must find some defense for the skinhead's action and the crux of the story evolves around that point.

The character portrayals in the movie Steel Toes are excellent. As disturbing a subject matter as one might ever encounter, the acting is mesmerizing and the outcome seems plausible. If you are in the mood for a very intense movie experience, check out Steel Toes. You may come away with a different view of human nature and the facets which contribute to bigotry.

Future Outing to Phoenix and Recent Outing to Almost Maine

We've got another three day, two night trip planned. This time it will be during the middle of August - to Phoenix, Arizona. We will have a similar itinerary to the one we planned for our outing to Portland, Oregon. The first day we will just take a little time to get acclimated to the area and the second day we will visit a typical tourist attraction in the city and afterwards have a meal at a nice restaurant. During this trip we will also see a play - at the Phoenix Theatre. The show is "Unbearable". It's slated for off Broadway after it's run in Phoenix. The show is a musical and it should be a quality production.

As to "almost" visiting Maine, well that also has to do with theatre - more specifically the B Street Theatre in Sacramento. B Street is managed by Buck Busfield. Buck is Timmothy Busfield's (30 Something, West Wing, Studio 60) younger brother. On Saturday we had a great dinner meal at "Outback" with our friends, Dave and Paul, and afterward we went to the preview performance of Almost Maine. Almost Maine is a hilarious comedy about romance in the chilly locale, not too far from Kalamazoo, called "Almost". It seems that the folks living there never actually got around to officially making their township a "city", hence the name, "Almost". The play had several extremely well acted and exceptionally funny scenes. It was one of B Streets best performances this year, I think. You can see a picture of the program cover, to the right and at the bottom of the blog page. B Street is local theatre at it's best. Sacramento is fortunate to have this worthwhile and very affordable venue for patrons of the theatre. We really enjoy the Saturday preview shows.

Friday Night at the Movies - Comparison of Two Blue Ray Players

Blue Ray disc players are becoming more and more popular, now that the format war is over and buyers feel secure that their purchase won't become obsolete overnight. That being said, trying to decipher the ads pertaining to various Blue Ray players is still somewhat confusing, especially when you factor in the price. The prices can vary by several hundred dollars. What do you really get for the added cost. That was the question Terry and I asked ourselves prior to our Friday Night at the Movies gathering.

To determine, at least in part, the answer to the question of what benefits do you get by purchasing a higher priced player, we tested a basic Best Buy player (house brand Insignia) against a basic Sony model. Both players are low-end regarding their pricing, but they are both considered full featured Blue Ray players, at least when being described in various advertisements. The results:

The Sony has a better remote

The Sony syncs with other Sony products i.e. a Sony XBR HDTV, but the Insignia does not

The picture quality for both players, whether in Blue Ray mode or up converted DVD mode, is virtually identical. There is no discernible difference, at least not that we could see.

If you are looking to save around seventy dollars (sale price for the Best Buy player - $308, for the Sony it's $378 at Costco) and you don't need to sync your player with your HDTV, than the Insignia should work just fine. As to build quality and overall design, we'll have to let the test of time answer that question. The Insignia is made by LG and the current model is too new to predict it's reliability. Sony players are typically rated high for their reliability and Terry's and my experience with Sony products supports this finding.

Friday Night at the Movies was a lot of fun. We had a great pasta meal prior to watching an excellent movie, selected by Dave Beales. The movie is titled "Shine" - all thumbs up (the sound track is exceptionally good). The next gathering, in July, will be a "mates invited" get together. Be there and be square!