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HotelCasino is a dirty word

August 2, 2013

Remind me never to stay in a HotelCasino in Nevada ever again. What a massive Fxxxup. More about that later.

First, we drove 450 miles today from Salt Lake City to Primm, Nevada. Straight shot down I-15. We got off at about 10:00am. Took some doing to get Mary K loaded with her luggage. Off we went.

We stopped for a break at about 100 miles. Then stopped for lunch at Cedar City. We went into a Denny’s. Denny’s is usually dependably average. We sat down. The waitress asked “One check or separate?”. Paula and i said one check, but Mary K says “put mine on a separate check” Mary K had yet to pick up a meal tab during the trip. So she decides to pay only for her meal. Not the whole check. Grrrr. This particular Denny’s was particularly bad. Several menu items were unavailable because they were waiting for the delivery truck.

So we take off on down the highway. We stopped for gas north of Las Vegas. It was an ARCO station the wouldn’t take my credit card because I didn’t have a PIN. So had to use my ATM card.

So we finally pulled into the Primm Resort & Casino. I had reserved two rooms with Travelocity. Primm only had reservation for one room. I would have let it go seeing as they had available rooms. But the rooms were prepaid through Travelocity, so I would have been out $45.

So the lady at the reservation desk at Primm says call Travelocity and have them fax the reservation again to 702-679-5159. So I get on the phone to Travelocity. Finally get through to them. Explain the situation. Give them all of the trip codes and reservation codes. I give them the FAX number. Only the Primm lady gave me the wrong fax no. It should have been 702-679-5195.

So after 25 minutes on hold the first time and 25 minutes on hold the second time we finally get it straightened out. Almost.

We get the second room. We asked for it to be close to the original room. He says sure. We ask for location on the room map. It couldn’t have been further apart. Well it was on the same floor. I asked him do you think these two rooms are close together? huh? I was out of fight.

So we have a sandwich at the sandwich shop. At off to the room to go to bed. We gave Mary K instructions on when we would meet for breakfast.

So tomorrow we have another 250 miles to get home. We will be happy to get home. Paula and I have sworn to each other that we will NEVER, NEVER, EVER travel with her again.

I truly hate hotel casinos. You have to go through the casino to find the check in counter. The noise is deafening. HotelCasino NEVER NEVER NEVER again.

So bottom line. Travelocity sucks and Primm Resort sucks too.

There I feel better already.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Primm, NV

Categories: Reviews, Travel
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Fame – The Musical at the Warner Grand

July 22, 2013

This post is two reviews in one. The first part is about the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro. The second is about the production of “Fame – The Musical”.

The Warner Grand Theater on 6th St in San Pedro was built in 1931. It was designed by the architect B. Marcus Priteca and designer Anthony Heinsbergen in an Art-Deco style.

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It fell into disrepair by the 1990’s. Efforts to restore the theater started in the late 1990’s. The theater is currently used for film festivals, stage and music productions.

Here are some pictures of the interior. I sometimes get distracted looking at the beautiful art-deco facades and ceiling panels.

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Go to the Wikipedia entry on the Grand for more detail.

Paula and I were at the Grand on Saturday night for the Scalawag Productions “Fame – The Musical”. Scalawag Productions is a non-profit group that provides professional theater training for teens and young adults (ages 14-22).

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Okay, Fame is not one of my all time favorite musicals. I don’t walk out of theater with any of the tunes stuck in my head. For instance, in “Les Miz” or “Chicago”, I was hooked at the get go. But that being said, I loved this production. The kids in the cast were all fantastic. One standout was Kyra DeCastro who played “Miss Sherman” the english teacher. Kyra is 14 years old. She nailed the part.

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It is so nice to have the opportunity to attend productions like this at reasonable prices. I look forward to more productions from Scalawag.

Finally, here is the link to the Wiki entry for “Fame – The Musical”

Categories: California, Music, Reviews, San Pedro
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Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

July 19, 2013

So last night I was watching Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show”. The guest for July 17 was Reza Aslan, author of “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth”. I found the interview compelling. Click here for the video. So, off to Amazon to download the sample of the Kindle edition.

Then I bit the bullet and bought the Kindle edition for $14. I always been struggling to understand more about the life and times of Jesus. Somehow, just reading the Bible doesn’t quite give one the complete picture of the how’s and why’s of Jesus’ life.

The book does an excellent job of giving life what it was like in the Middle East 2000 years ago. After reading the following quote from the prologue, I thought to myself “Oh, I get it now.”

Consider This: Crucifixion was a punishment the Rome reserved almost exclusively for the crime of sedition. The plaque that the Romans placed over Jesus’s head while he writhed in pain – “King of the Jews” – was called a “titulus” and despite common perception, was not meant to be sarcastic. Every criminal who hung on a cross received a plaque declaring the specific crime for which he was being executed. Jesus’s crime, in the eyes of Rome, was striving for kingly rule (i.e. treason), the same crime that nearly every other messianic aspirant of the time was killed. Nor did Jesus die alone. The gospels claim that on either side of Jesus hung men who in Greek are called “lestai”, a word often rendered in English as “thieves” but actually means “bandits” and was the most common Roman designation for an insurrectionist or rebel.

Back when I was a lad, the good Jesuits never quite explained it this way. I haven’t quite finished the book, but so far I am enjoying it immensely. So, go take a look at the interview video and then download the book.

 

Categories: Religion, Reviews
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Costco Hearing Aids

June 19, 2013

Yesterday, we went for my appointment with the Costco Hearing Aid dept. We met with Vallonna who is the Hearing Aid Center manager. After filling out some forms and giving her my copy of my hearing test from Kaiser we got down to business.

We started with some more hearing tests. As usual, I sat in a sound proof room and listened to the head phones. Push the button when you hear the tone. In addition to what they did at Kaiser, she also did a loudness test. ie. How loud can we go before you feel pain? Push the button when it gets too loud.

She recommended a pair of Resound Forza 8 behind the ear BTE hearing aids. Base price of about $1350 each. Expensive but a lot less than the price at Hearx. She then programmed a pair of hearing aids for me to try. The hearing aids come with a handy remote control that can control both volume and program. She showed me how to use. Set it up with two programs, one for noisy and one for normal. Then she sent us off to wander around the store for 30 minutes.

This was something that the folks at Hearx never offered. Try before you buy, what a concept. The Costco warehouse was certainly a hearing challenging area. It took a little getting used to, but I liked them.

So we ordered the hearing aid pair. Paid with the Costco Amex card which gives 2% rebate at the end of the year. We also ordered the phone clip that provides the Blue Tooth capability. Pick up next Monday where Vallona will program. Then we have followup appointment the following Monday to see how things are going. I am looking forward to getting them.

TTFN

Joe

Categories: Hearing Aids, Reviews, Technology
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42

April 17, 2013

Well this evening I had a choice. Watch the Red Sox play the Indians, go to see the new movie “42” or watch more news about the Boston Marathon bombing.

Normally on Tuesday evenings we have Mike, Theresa and little Jonathan over for dinner. But Mike & family were off to Los Vegas for a three day mini-vacation. Aunt Georgia provided them with a couple of hotel passes for a non weekend stay. So no Jonathan this evening.

Well one of the local theaters has $4 admission on Tuesday, so off we went to see 42. It was good to forget all of the sadness with regard to the events in Boston. I figured there would be more Red Sox games to watch. Glad to here that the Sox won again tonight.

So this is the story of Jackie Robinson being hired by Branch Rickey to play for then very white Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Jackie Robinson is played by Chadwick Boseman and Branch Rickey by Harrison Ford. How did Harrison get to be looking so old? Must be the makeup, right? It seems like just yesterday that he was starring in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, right?

Chadwick Boseman does a decent job of playing Robinson. How do they cast for someone who can act AND play baseball?

Generally the film is well done. You feel the pain when Jackie gets hit in the head. I thought to myself how does anyone survive getting hit in the head. Tony Conigliaro certainly survived, but never really was able to play major league baseball.

The baby that was born in the film to Jackie and his wife seemed to be about 9 months old or maybe that was a twenty pound newborn?

It’s worth seeing, especially if you love baseball. Here’s the pointer to the trailer.

Categories: Boston, Dodgers, Movies, Reviews
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Beatles Go Baroque

April 14, 2013

Yesterday afternoon, I pulled out of the garage and was waiting for Paula and Mary K come down and load up. The radio was tuned as per usual to SiriusXM channel 75 which is the classical Pops channel.

One of the nice things about Sirius satellite radio is the availability of classical and jazz channels all without commercials. This is one of my favorite channels. So they were playing a “Hey Jude” in the style of a concerto grosso.

From there they segued into a baroque version of “Yellow Submarine”. Mary K says nice violin. Of course, Mary K wouldn’t recognize a Beatles tune if it hit her over the head. Okay, that’s not fair, I wouldn’t recognize a Justin Bieber tune if it hit me over the head.

So I got out my trusty iPhone and loaded the “Shazam” app. This is a truly amazing app. It “listens” to a recording and instantly tells you the title and performer. Here’s the link to the app on iTunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shazam/id284993459?mt=8

So next thing I do is go to the iTunes app and search for the album. $7.99 what a bargain. Apple doesn’t make a lot of money from me on music, but once in a while there is an album that I just have to have.  Here’s the link to the album on iTunes.

Here is a sample cut I found on youtube.com of “Lady Madonna” . There are plenty more cuts on youtube. Just search on “Beatles Go Baroque”

Finally downloaded and burnt a CD for playing on the car CD player. Enjoy.

Categories: apps, Music, Reviews
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San Diego Zoo

March 23, 2013

Mike had Friday off yesterday and he had invited Paula and me to join them for a trip to the San Diego Zoo.

We left San Pedro at about 8:30AM with Mike, Theresa and Jonathan in Mike’s Honda. He’s going to be needing a mini-van sooner rather than later. Paula was in the back seat making silly with Jonathan.

We made decent time down the 405 and the 5 to San Diego. Arrived at about 10:30AM. Paula says “too bad you didn’t bring your HP placard”. But says I “but I did, it’s in my pack in the trunk”. So we found an HP parking space and avoided parking in the back forty.

The SD zoo is a wonderful place. They have animals that I had never heard of. In addition of course to the usual stuff like elephants and tigers and bears.

Theresa brought her real camera. I just had my trusty iPhone. Here are some of my pictures.


Camel resting (it seems the animals are always resting).


Llama.


Vultures.


Elephant getting a Pedi. One of the other elephant handlers was feeding the elephant at the other end to encourage cooperation.


Pretty red flower. That’s all I know.



Paula with a polar bear. The real (live) polar bears were not available for the photo shoot.


Black and White and Red all over.


Panda (always popular)


Leopards.


Jonathan at our afternoon break. He was having a great time playing with the empty iced coffee containers.

Finally, we got to closing. Mike and I were waiting at the exit, while Paula and Theresa went through the gift shops. I was dumbfounded that neither of them bought anything.

Then we did dinner at Harar Ethiopian Restaurant. A nice little bistro on the Boulevard. Friday night was buffet night. The good news was that we got to try most everything. The bad news was I had no idea what I was eating. But it was all good. Here is a picture of Theresa’s plate. (Roberta told us about this place).


After a fine dinner, we stopped at McD’s for an iced coffee for Mike and bottles of water for Paula and me. Then home and to bed.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:San Diego, CA

Categories: California, Reviews, Travel
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House of Cards

March 7, 2013

A couple of weeks ago I started watching a new series on Netflix called “House of Cards”. It is a completely new method of delivering new TV material. Netflix had funded the production with the intention of publishing all 13 episodes at once. So if you wanted to, you could watch all 13 episodes in one sitting. I think they call it binge viewing. If this is successful we might see more of this sort of thing.

I remember doing a binge viewing session with Paula when we were trying to catch up with episodes of “Lost” a few years ago. Paula and I watched the first episode together. I really liked it but Paula says meh. So that means I get to watch it by myself on the laptop or iPad. I don’t quite have the time to do all thirteen episodes at once. Besides, I like to savor each episode. It will probably take me a few weeks to go through all thirteen

The difference here is that they don’t have to refresh the audience on what happened on the previous episodes.

House of Cards

 

House of Cards Trailer

The story is about an 11 term congressman from South Carolina Francis Underwood played masterfully by Kevin Spacey. The story doesn’t quite say whether he is a Democrat or a Republican. It doesn’t matter really. He is quite a master of the game and quite a sleaze.

One thing I like, is that Francis breaks from character and starts talking directly to the viewer. Kind of like an aside in Shakespeare. Power, sex, drugs, double dealing. It’s all there.

If you haven’t signed up for Netflix, this makes it worth your while. Trust me it’s worth it.

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Coffee in San Pedro

March 5, 2013

First, let me state that I miss Dunkin Donuts. That being said, let’s look at the alternatives. I hear that DD will be opening franchises in SoCal this year. One can only hope.

Starbucks

Pros: They know how to make iced coffee and do it well. One just has to get beyond the mocha latte BS. I’ve learned how to order my iced coffee. I just say “Medium Iced coffee, no sweetener, leave room for cream.” They get it right all the time.

They have kiosks inside Albertson’s, so I manager to finish my iced coffee in just about the time it takes to do our shopping.

They have a neat iPhone app for paying for your coffee, though it doesn’t work at Albertson’s. Have to use the card.

Cons: They don’t do decaf. Not a problem for me. But Paula usually would prefer decaf after noon.

No drive-thru.

McDonald’s

Pros: Decent coffee. They have drive-thru, which is handy. They do iced coffee.

Cons: One needs to ask for black coffee, no sugar and add your cream and sugar yourself, otherwise they add way too much sugar and way too much cream. Fix it yourself the way you want it.

Don’t get me started on their burgers.

Granny’s Donuts (San Pedro)

Bad, bad, bad. We decided to try yesterday. Asked for coffee. I was given an iced coffee with way too much cream and sugar. Their english wasn’t so good either. They just didn’t understand what my problem was. We won’t be going there again, ever.

Did I mention that the donuts were stale?

Via Dolce (San Pedro)

Not bad. They know how to do iced coffee. They do decaf too. Free wi-fi. It’s good if you want to sit and linger over a coffee. Good selection of snacks.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:San Pedro

Categories: California, Reviews
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There’s an App for that

December 17, 2012

First, some administrivia. This is my 100th post. How’d that happen?

I thought I would write about some of my favorite iPhone/iPad apps. As many of you know (or may not) I own a 3rd gen iPad and in iPhone 4s. Here in no particular are some of the apps that I use a lot. Note, most of the hyperlinks takes you to the iTunes store.

Shazam

Shazam is in app for identifying music. Push the button and the app will listen for about 30-60 seconds and report to you what you are listening. It is truly amazing. Even works with classical music. BTW, it’s free.

GroceryIQ

An app for managing grocery lists. Sync’s with your grocery list in the cloud. So you can add something on the iPad list and it shows up your iPhone list. There is also a web version. Free. There is also an Android version.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a cloud file storage service. I pay $10 a month for 100Gb of storage. There are Dropbox apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, etc. You selectively sync folders on to your device.

Sheet Music Apps

When the iPad first came out, I decided it would be an excellent platform for storing my collection of sheet music. I had hundreds of pages of sheet music stored in loose leaf binders. This was a killer app for me.

Readdledocs and PDF Expert

At first I used Readledocs together with dropbox to put my sheet music (stored as PDF files on Dropbox) on to my iPad. I also used a similar app called PDF Expert. I believe that both apps support Google drive (another cloud storage service). Both apps support annotation of the files. Readdledocs is $4.99 and PDF Expert is $9.99.

Forscore

Forscore is a sheet music management app. One loads music scores in PDF format into the app. Then one can assign to a genre (eg. Classical, Pop, etc.)

But there’s more. You can create ‘Set Lists’ then organize according to the way you plan to play the music. You can import from Dropbox and other cloud storage services. Then add other meta-data related to each score (author, tags, etc.)

They also sell music scores. Price $4.99. Well worth the money.

Musicnotes

Musicnotes is another sheet music app. The difference here is that it is primarily for viewing scores bought from their service on musicnotes.com. The app is free, but you have to buy music from them.

They have an option for loading PDF files that you have created. But this costs $9.99 and doesn’t work very well. I either scan the music on my flat bed scanner or use an app called DeskPDF to create the PDF file. For my money, Forscore is way better.

PWsafe

PWsafe is an app for managing usernames and passwords. The app is free, but for a couple of dollars you can add the function to sync password files on Dropbox or other cloud file services. In my online world I have many accounts on many different services. (eg. Banking, Shopping, Social media, Subscriptions, etc.). Using the same password on all of one’s accounts is a bad idea. So remembering multiple passwords is (at least to me) impossible. PWsafe encrypts the file that stores your passwords. Now you only need one master password to open the file. IOS devices and Android supported as well as Windows PC.

That’s enough for now. More later…

Categories: Music, Reviews, Technology
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