Cocktail Confessions

This past weekend Monica and I were able to join our friends for a Flamenco dance and dinner show at the historic El Cid theatre located on the sunset strip near downtown Los Angeles.

The initial incentive was that our friend Brian was able to score some heavily discounted tickets for the show via an offering from groupon.com.  Personally, I have yet to use groupon myself, but I understand that have killer deals daily for various group activities at all kinds of different locals.  I need to check it soon for some additional outings.

In attendance would be Brian and his fiancé, Shea, their friends Chris and his wife, Michelle, my old college buddy Sam and his wife, Alicia, and finally my wife, Monica, and myself. 

We all decided to meet at the El Cid just prior to 7pm, so we took 3 sets of vehicles.  Our own drive wasn’t so bad until we transitioned from the 5 fwy to the 101 north.  The last 15 miles or so seemed to drag on as our average speed was about 15-20mph.  But that is pretty much Los Angeles traffic at any time these days, and we finally pulled up to valet parking at 6:50pm.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was expecting to think the El Cid to look like.  The building itself was built around 1900 by D.W. Griffith and was used to screen the now famous movie, “Birth of a Nation” back in 1915.  In 1950 the building was converted into a mini theater and was know to be a local hangout for stars at the time.

In 1961, the building was converted once again, this time as the ‘El Cid’ restaurant, and made to look like a replica of a 16^th century Spanish tavern.  There have been a few ‘minor’ cosmetic changes over the years I imagine, but for the most part the building itself looks somewhat dated.  That’s not necessarily bad, mind you; it has an intimate and somewhat charming setting and retains a certain Spanish aesthetic one might recognize from a 1970’s Spanish villa.

The walls are a faded white adobe stucco with dated cracks here and there accented with faded red brick and large wood beams.  As you make your way through the sidewalk main entrance you immediately wind down a steep concrete and brick path surrounded by greenery and flowers with irregular steps, (ladies be careful with high heels) until you arrive at a lower patio veranda. 

The patio area has both a few booths lining the outside walls and free standing tables located in the center.  There are free standing space heaters strewn about and a small outside bar that serves various domestic and imported (mainly Mexican) beers and of course cocktails.

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Monica and I located our party in a booth at the far end of the patio and enjoyed a couple of cocktails with everyone.  We also posed for a few pictures prior to be seated inside and enjoyed the last remnants of the western setting sun in the open air.  Prices for drinks were a tad hefty.  My Jack on the rocks was $9, and Monica’s Crown on the rock was $10, and these weren’t huge glasses.  Perhaps just a shot, maybe slightly more, poured over ice into a lowball glass.  The girls said the mojito’s were pretty good and Shea was enjoying some fruity looking martini.

At approximately 7:00pm we were asked to line up to be seated at our dinner table.  After a brief wait outside we were led inside down a short and low ceiling hallway to the main dinner floor.  Luckily we scored a nice table right up front next to the raised stage.

Looking about the room, everyone is seated at long tables and surrounded by typical Spanish decorations including the obligatory velvet bull-fighting poster and faux balcony windows lined in ornate rod iron fixtures.  It was a tad dim in the room with stage lighting fixtures overhead.  With everyone seated inside, (I’d guestimate about 75 people or more are here for the show) it was a bit cozy, but the aesthetics lent an air of authenticity.  Restrooms are located in the back and are small.  Despite it’s charm the restaurant does feel a bit dated and could use a fresh coat of paint, a little dusting here and there, and a few minor repairs.

Our tickets included a three course meal (soup, salad, & main dish).  The soup was delicious and reminded me of a Spanish interpretation of Miso soup.  It was a thicker, creamy broth with a light mixture of fresh vegetables.  I really enjoyed it as it had a rich, yet light flavor.  It had the texture of a bisque and a very unique flavor.  Following the soup, the second course consisted of a garden side salad with raspberry vinaigrette.  All in all, it was a typical salad, nothing special but at least it was fresh. 

Since we all considered this evening a treat and we all arrived on an empty stomach, of course we opted to purchase some additional appetizers, or ‘tapas’, as they are known in Spanish.

The Tapas were very good.  In addition to standard chips and a hearty and spicy salsa our table also ordered the following: fried calamari rings (served with lemon wedges), crab stuffed mushroom caps (with a lobster cream sauce), fresh ceviche, and fried manchego cheese (served with pesto sauce).  I can tell you everything was good, but the stand out item was the manchego cheese, well, more so the fresh pesto sauce.  That pesto was da bomb!  Everyone really enjoyed that, but we all agreed that all of our selections were good.  On average, the tapas range between $8 – $11, except the chips and salsa ($4), although I’ve been to other Spanish restaurants where the tapas were a bit more unique and felt more original than the offerings here at El Cid.

The actual main dish was next and as stand alone items they range from $15 to $20, unless you get the paella, (made for two) and has a price $35.  The one thing I didn’t understand is that if you chose to have a single serving of the Paella, they charge an additional $10!!  That seems pretty extreme since paella is just a rice dish to begin with, so why the need to charge $10 more for half a portion makes no sense to me.

Flamenco Exceprt: Part I

To be continued…..

If you’re a Star Wars nerd like me, you’ll get that reference.

Anyway, apologies for the lack of posts lately.  I actually have a review of El Cid of Los Angeles already written along with pictures and video clips, it’s just a matter of me uploading everything and doing some final edits.

In brief, here are a couple things in the meantime:

1. Work has been extremely slow as of late.  I’ve actually been watching paint dry and counting air molecules to pass the time.
2. Been enjoying new Bud Select 55, the low calorie beer, although I can’t seem to get a buzz from it.
3. Watching a lot of Netflix lately.  Love the streaming feature.  Watching Sparticus (Season 1) and Weeds (Season 3).  Tried watching Jack Black’s and Michale Cera’s “Year One”, but it is soooo bad.  Also started watching the first season of True Blood.
4. Gonna try and smoke a brisket this weekend with my new smoker.  Never did one before, but we all gotta start somewhere, so I’m thinking I may buy a brisket after work today and cook/smoke it for saturday.  I may buy a 6lb brisket from El Toro Meats to start with.  It’s $6.99 a pound, so a 5lb brisket is upwards of $35!
5. I know I’m lacking in the Big Brother updates.  I’m about 4 episodes behind as of this writing.  I’ve watched them all so far, so I need to do a brief synopsis later in a combined entry (maybe later today if I’m bored).

Check out this really cool ‘steampunk’ USB drive (pictured left).  It’s 8GB in size and it’s creator says the design was inspired by an old country sign….Er…okay…I don’t see it, but I love the end result anyway.  I just love this Jules Verne looking stuff.  It’s so much more interesting than all the other streamlined tech out there these days.  It’s a piece of art in my book.

The creator gives it an esitimated worth of $300, which for an original piece of alternate Americana technology, it’s tempting (if I had the extra money). *Image courtesy of ChipChick.

Lastly, although I’m really enjoying my new Kodak Playsport, it seems Panasonic just announced their own shoot-and-share handheld HD flash camcorder.  The TA1 currently has a pre-order (release date is tentatively Aug 17) price listing of $169, which is in line with all the others in this category, but has few things really stand out for me: 1) It’s Panasonic, and they make great stuff.  I think their plasma televisons, DVD players, and old school VCR’s are top notch, especially for their price, so I doubt you be assured the hardware is strong.  2) The stand alone camera is 8MP whereas all the otehrs in this category are 5MP.  3) It’s Skype enabled (how sweet is that?)  4)  And finally, someone has added a front facing LED ‘light’ used to help illuminate recording in low light conditions (double sweet!!).  Hopefully this additional features will prove to be worthy enough to be included in future incarnation by the other developers for the next generation of these hand held devices.  If so, I can see myself upgrading in about a year from now.

Taken from Fox News:

A 110 proof beer, the world’s strongest, was launched Thursday by a British firm selling the tipple for $762 a bottle.

The blond Belgian ale, named The End of History, is an astonishing 55 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) and is presented in a case made from stuffed animals, including stoats and squirrels.

Made by BrewDog, based in Scotland, the beer is infused with fresh juniper berries and nettles from the Scottish Highlands and was developed using an extreme freezing technique.

Hundreds of pints of beer were used during the process, which was repeated dozens of times to produce just enough for a 330 milliliter bottle — hence the record breaking cost.

James Watt, the company’s co-founder, said: “This is the beer to end all beers.”

BrewDog drew criticism last year over the launch of a 32 percent beer, which was later trumped by a German brewery that produced a 40 percent strength liquor — BrewDog then created Sink The Bismark, at 41 percent.

However Watt said The End of History was made to offer beer drinkers more choice: “We want to show people there is an alternative to monolithic corporate beers, introduce them to a completely new approach to beer and elevate the status of beer in our culture.”

He said the first two bottles were sold to a beer fan in Denmark.

*Welcome to middle age

Well it’s official and there’s no denying it now.  Despite the slight premature graying of my hair I could once seemingly pass off as George Clooney-’esque’ in nature, I am clearly now entering middle age.

It all started a few months back when I noticed that my eyes were getting a tad more tired than usual.  At first I thought I just needed a little extra sleep, or perhaps a day or two not staring at a computer screen or bright lights.  Maybe cut back a little on the weekend beer tasting.  As I stated in my last entry on this subject, up unto this point, my eyesight has been relatively great.  20/15 as far as my general practitioner is concerned.

But after a few weeks of taking a little extra care, my comfort level wasn’t improving any.  My eyesight feel just fine for anything over 3 feet.  I still can see very far away with pretty good accuracy.  It was the closeups that were starting to bother me.  I noted it take me a little extra effort to focus on the stuff right on front of my face, i.e. magazines, books, models. 

I had my first real eye exam in five years just over a week ago, and as the optometrist stated “Well, welcome to 40.”  I guess she wasn’t overly concerned and treated this with the same attitude as all the other schmucks around my age go.  Well, I’m glad she’s non-chalant about it, but it really doesn’t make me feel much better.  It’s just additional confirmation that this organic organism that I am currently inhabiting is slowly breaking down and there’s not much I can do as far as warranties go.  Oh, I suppose I could, through proper habits, help extend the warranty, but I can’t turn back the clock.

After a battery of tests and starting through differing lens and devices and having my eyeball mapped, it was determined I am in the need for reading glasses.  I’ll admit that when she said she was going to give me a glaucoma test, I was picturing myself smoking my very first joint (something I have never done BTW), and hanging out in my backyard listening to an irie Bob Marley and eating Cheetos by the bag full with a silly grin on my face. 

The doctor even offered to have me get contacts, but I shied away from that as it just seems like a huge hassle with never ending expenses and time involved.  Most of the time I can’t even remember where I place my keys or wallet, let alone the idea of searching for contacts.  So I just opted for the regular glasses, and even with insurance, basic frames and lenses cost me $169.

Thankfully I was able to pick out some fashionable frames.  They are made by Nike and are ‘flexible’, meaning I can sit on them (by accident of course) and not worry about snapping or breaking them.

I’m still getting used to wearing them.  They are pretty good when reading a book now, as long as I hold the pages three feet away.  Any further out, they start to get blurry again and anything distant the glasses really suck and get in my way.  No, they are clearly for reading.

The picture above is me, entering middle age, sitting at my desk at work….Note that all fun and spirit have been sucked dry from the company.

Yes, this is indeed a ‘real’ device.  I don’t have the time or effort or even the absurd level of creativity to have photo-shopped this myself.  However, our vertically challenged friends from the land of the rising sun continually surprise us in their masterful inventions of the inane have given the world it’s newest overpriced trinket: The Watermelon Cart,

Yes, for roughly 19,950 yen, or $231 for us yanks you to can buy an exclusive watermelon cooling crad to transport your melon from the store to your next beach bbq or family picnic.  Perhaps the tried and true method of USING YOUR ARMS has suddenly become passe or too hard?

No, just what these rich bastards with too much money in their pockety need, a portable baby cart for a fricken melon.  Thank goodness it is exclusively manufactured and sold only in Japan.  Can you imagine the guffaws and remarks one would get here if you were seen pusing around a single melon in a space aged design push cart with a dome?  But then again, I suppose the likes of the Housewives of Orange County (actually , Atlanta) would probably parade this around.  Can you imagine being the schmoe your wife has directed into performing the walk of shame dragging this contraption to the family reunion?  I’d never live it down.

You know the world is running out of things to invent and design when Japan, the proud creators of used panty vending machines, are now snubbing the faces of sub-saharan tribespeople with temperature controlled melon carts.

This morning when I first got up I decided I was going to be somewhat proactive today and do some ‘Jayson’ chores about the house.  In addition to do some laundry, watering plants, sweeping the garage, taking the car in for an oil change, I decided I’d take the time to build the free smoker my wife graciously gave me as her 10 year work anniversary present.

Armed with a bloody Mary in one hand, screw driver in the other, and a mix CD of dance trax pumping from my garage stereo, I finally broke out the ‘smoker’ box that has been sitting in my garage for the last few weeks and decided to assemble it.  It turns out that the time we got was in-fact NOT the Brinkmann Gourmet Smoker we thought was listed in the catalog, but the lower-end Brinkmann 810-5301-6 Smoke ‘N Grill charcoal smoker.  It actually retails for about $69 and is made in China, which is quite apparent when you start your initial assembly.  The issue straight out if the box is that you can tell that quality control is a low priority with Brinkmann, or at least this model.  But then again, it was free to us, so it all depends on how much you really want to complain.

Straight out of the box, here are some of the issues I came across:

1. Main kettle drum was slightly damaged on bottom rim.  Not a deal breaker, but a minor dent was disheartening for a brand new grill.
2. Top kettle paint job was badly scuffed.  Yeah, right out of the box there was some major scuff and scratch marks to the black enamel paint job.
3. Weld points on the actual chrome-plated grill surface were loose.  On one of the 2 enclosed grill surfaces, I noticed that a few weld points were in fact not secured properly.
4. Drill holes were off-kilter.  On some, (not all), of the pre drilled holes where the handles are to be attached, the holes were not aligned properly.  After some minor bending of the handles, I was able to secure the handles as instructed, but they should not have been as difficult as they were.
5. Kettle was not perfectly round.  This is an issue if you want the top kettle drum to fit on body correctly.  Since the body was ‘slightly’ oval instead of round, (as it should have been), it took some additional bending and compression my end to get it to the proper shape.
6. Finally, the sheet metal door that allows access to the front of smoker to add additional charcoal was also bent.  Thankfully, it is thin enough where I could bend this back into shape by hand, but overall, very dissapointing construction for an out of the box product. 

All these items could be fixed easily and shouldn’t affect the overall process of grilling and smoking, but that’s not really the point.  Free or not, when I buy a factory sealed product, I expect it to be as close to 100% mint as possible.  In this case, this ‘freebie’ felt as if it were perhaps a clearance item and no wonder it was given away free to my wife.  I’d say it was closer to 75%-80% condition out of box.

Assembly was fairly easy, even with the re-bending of some of the sheet metal I had to do.  The few other issues I noted are as such: A) The legs are a bit short.  I wish they were slightly sturdier and longer.  B) Thermometer is a very cheap model that indicates ‘warm, ideal, hot’ as opposed to actual degrees.  When cooking a brisket, pork, or chicken, you may definitely want to invest in a separate meat thermometer as the included one will be hard for anyone to tell what the actual maintained temperature is.  C) The included charcoal and water basin plates could fit a tad better as well.  They are exactly the same parts used internally, but how they rest on the internal clips is a little shaky.  A handy person with a drill and some engineering or shop experience may want to employ a little additional efforts and modifications to help secure these items prior to use as this may be a recipe for errors down the line.

Speaking of modification, I came across the following website in which this gentleman vastly improves his own Brinkmann smoker.  Using just a few of his ideas may vastly improve your own cooking experience, and over time I think I will introduce his mods on a more accurate thermometer, gasket, and internal grills surface security.  Check it out here.

So my initial score would be a 2.5 on a scale of 5.  Could be much better, could be much worse, so I guess I gave it a half point for being ‘free’ in my case, otherwise the construction seems a bit subpar for a $70 product…and that’s Amazon’s price mind you.  It may actually be more at BBQ shops or other online grill stores, so this is for sure a ‘budget’ item.  There are higher qulaity smokers out there, but of course expect to start shelling out $100+ at that point.

So once completed, according to the instructions, you should initially cure your smoker to help burn off any excess factory paint inside and help resist and prevent future rusting.  I did this by removing the internal charcoal pan and grill grates and spraying the inside with PAM grill spray.  After a liberal coating inside, I began to start a few pounds of regular Kingsford charcoal in a standard chimney starter.  You can find generic versions of these as low as $10 bucks at most hardware stores.  Anything more than $17 maybe a rip off and I don’t think the higher end ones are all that much better than the $10 ones.

Once I had the charcoal started, I let it burn for approx 15-20 minutes within the starter before pouring it directly into the smokers charcoal pan.  Allowing the 15-20 minute burn allows for any fuel on the charcoal to dissipate for an overall cleaner tastes in your food (no gas taste).  Also, it allows for all the charcoal to get started evenly and reach a more consistent temperature.  When the charcoal turns from black to an ash gray, its ready.

Now that the charcoal is in the smoker, go ahead and put the lid on top.  Within 5 – 7 minutes or so, you should see the thermometer reach  the ‘ideal’ reading.  Go ahead and let the smoker cure for a minimum of two hours.  If you note that the dial begins to dip in the first 45 minutes to an hour, go ahead, open the door, and add some more charcoal briquettes.  But after 1.5 hours, no need to add anything else.  Let it burn through as is and make sure it cools q100% before removing spent charcoal.  At this point your initial curing should be complete and your ready to start your real first smoked effort.

During the curing stage, I went to Lowe’s and bought myself a bag of hardwood hickory charcoal.  It’s not that expensive, about $7.50 for a regular size bag.  Just remember that it takes less hardwood charcoal than standard coal briquettes to maintain the same temperature and they also burn longer.  Follow instructions on the bag and you should be able to make it last longer than standard OTC charcoal everyone else uses at their beach BBQ’s.   Not to mention you’re getting these because the idea is that you actually want to ‘smoke’ your meat.  Smoking is all about low temperatures, maintaining that temperature, and long times.  We aren’t grilling hamburgers of chicken breasts here.  No we are smoking for generally 8 or more hours depending on the cut of meat.  A 10 lb brisket will smoke easily for 10-12 hours, so we’re in it for the long haul.

Quick hits:

Okay, I know it seems like a heavy BB week and not enough BBQ’ing, cocktails, stories, and other stuff here on the blog, but this weekend appears as if it is going to be very hot and long (we’re expecting temperatures to be at least 100 if not more). I’m hoping to build my new smoker, work on a model, and do some video and/or podcast editing and have some beers with the neighbor for his 46th birthday.

Anyway, on to Big Brother:

We open the show with the obligatory recap which I tend to hate as they always seem to go on much longer than they should. I know why CBS does this, but it feels like they often do a double recap, once just before the opening credits, and then another brief one just afterwards.

Once the Veto ceremony ends, Annie, the replacement nominee for Brandon produces a little drama by voicing her anger and frustration on being the newest nominee. She snaps at a few fellow housemates, even Brendon, which seems to hurt his feelings. So much so in fact he appears to be on the verge of tears and this greatly troubles his showmance partner Rachel. In a moment in one of the rooms, while discussing matters, Rachel is visibly taken aback at Brendon’s display of feelings for Annie being nominated. She thinks that Brendon should be more concerned about her than Annie. Brendon on the other hand thinks Rachel is insensitive to his feelings and thinks she is making this all out to be about her.

Annie, with very little time until eviction tries a few different times to make a very compelling argument as to why she should stay and Rachel should be voted out. She actually convinced me and the way she lays it out makes a lot of sense. It appears that Annie does indeed plant the seeds of doubt in the other housemate’s heads so we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out. It appears that Andrew and Kathy are actually thinking that it would be wiser to get rid of Rachel due to her obvious alliance with Brendon.

Meanwhile, us, the viewing audience, are informed that Annie is indeed the saboteur. She was among my short list as I initially thought it was a girl, but I kept bouncing back between a few other candidates as well. I’m still a bit skeeved that it was revealed this earlier, but since Annie is up for elimination I suppose CBS felt it’s hand forced. In the end it seems to be that this whole ‘saboteur’ angle backfired for CBS (no surprise there as it seems other things they’ve tried in past seasons have gotten revealed way before they intended for them to be). They made such a big deal out of it early on, and in one weeks time the person was up for elimination. I’m sure they wanted to get some additional mileage out of it, but…oh well. The pranks were kind of stupid in my opinion as well and really did not do much to shake the house to it’s core.

Once again Ragan, Kristen, Kathy, and Monet fly under the radar for the whole episode.

The live eviction took place and Annie made one heck of a last ditch argument, really throwing Brendon under the bus for his failures in disclosing everything about him, his alliances, etc. While looking somewhat desperate, it made a whole hell of a lot of sense, and had me convinced that Rachel should in fact go. But in a surprise even to me, the houseguests unanimously voted Annie out (not sure that was the smartest thing). There was no love lost on Britney’s farewell message to Annie, and Ragan admitted he might believe that Annie was in fact the saboteur and that’s why he voted for her. Hayden also flat out said that his vote was because Annie caused drama and was a bit too negative.

Annie leaves the house and speaks with Julie Chen. Says she proud of how she played, but thinks she played too hard and too good and that’s why she’s out. I beg to differ. Rachel’s farewell message was also dramatic accusing Annie of trying to woo Brendon. Annie also says that Brendon hit on her first and when she rejected him, made his way over to Rachel calling her ‘sloppy seconds’…Oh, snap!

HoH competition is next and to “The Brigade’s” chagrin, Rachel eeks out a victory in the end and is the new HoH. She is ecstatic and is seen hugging Brendon. The Brigade is probably shitting Twinkie’s at this point.

Finally, the show has picked up a little more steam this episode, but it really had to by the sheer fact that a veto competition was at stake.

It’s still a little hard for me to craft a concise episode recap, so until the pack thins out a bit, I’ll just give a brief synopsis on what stood out for me.

It seems Brendon and Rachel are taking their showmance to the next level by some heavy flirting which leads to a make out session under a blanket, on the hammock in the backyard.  The other houseguests watch the spectacle from the kitchen as if they were all in High School.  Brendon asks if they can go out on a date after the show and she says yes.  Hayden points out in the diary room that this paints even a bigger target on their backs as it proves they are in an alliance.

Speaking of alliances, Britney hints that Allie is spending a bit too much time with Brendon and Rachel and thus plants the seed to ‘The Brigade’ that Allie must also be in an alliance with Brendon and Rachel.  When Allie eventually finds out that Allie is dropping this ‘hint’, whatever semblance of a friendship they did have is now out the window and both Allie and Britney are now rivals.

Kristen, Ragan, Monet, Kathy basically have zero screen time this episode and are largely forgettable for the most part.

Saboteur comes in at one point and proclaims that two of the houseguests are life-long friends.  Of course this starts another round of wild speculation with everyone looking at everyone else and drawing to draw connections.  The only plausible one that I might be able to agree with is that *perhaps* Kathy and Britney may actually be mother and daughter!  There are a couple of times when the camera pans to them sitting on the couch, so I paused the DVR and my wife and I began to study their faces intently for a resemblance.  All I can say is this is very ‘plausible’.  They are both from the south (AR), blonde, have similar features, and I believe Kathy said she had a child when she was 18.  Well, Britney is 22 now and Kathy is 40.  The math works.

Andrew makes for a very odd moment after the saboteur clip plays, boldly proclaiming he can’t be the ‘saboteur’ due to the fact no one knows about his belief in Judaism.  He also makes yet another comment about kosher food in the house.  Andrew to me is a wild card at this stage in the game, not making any alliances with anyone, seems a bit on the outside, but does these strange things that bring him into the spotlight for few minutes or two when there really isn’t a need too based on his explanation of his strategy.

Meanwhile, ‘The Brigade’ runs through various scenarios on possible outcomes of the Veto competition.  They all want to see Brendon leave, but can’t seem to agree who is the best replacement nominee if either Rachel or Brendon win and take themselves off.  The names of Kathy and Allie bounced back and forth, but leans towards Allie as they think she may be in an alliance with the two nominees.

The Veto competition takes place, and ‘The Brigades’ worst case scenario comes true: Brendon wins by a landslide and takes himself off the block.  Hayden then places Allie up as the replacement, which she expects.  Allie vows to fight (they all do) to stay and blames Britney for her situation.  Brendon also vows to go after Hayden now.  Rachel feels a bit safer, but not by much. 

Finally, host Julie Chen announces that the saboteur will be revealed to the viewers next week.  Still a bummer to me as I like trying to guess this out, but it appears that he/she survived week 1 as eviction takes place tonight.

Okay, I know it’s been over a week since my previous post of part one, but I’m here now to wrap this puppy up.  So where was I?  I was just talking about the lack of adult beverages, and limited food items, but we had a little something to eat anyways and then went about for more exploring.

Just to the right of the main stage there was an area roped and sectioned off for a small classic car show.  Now how classic cars and Huck Finn tie into each other, I’ll never know, but the closest theory I have is that most people who enjoy Americana and Country music, probably also like NASCAR, and if that’s your bag, I suppose some classic cars can draw attention and bring some additional people out anyway.

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There weren’t too many cars, maybe a total of 15 or so, give or take a couple, but these guys were mighty proud.  I’ll admit I’m missing the ‘car-gene’ many guys seems to have.  I fully admit I don’t know the first thing about carburetors or horse power, but I can appreciate the hard work involved in restoring and showing off your handiwork.  I can also imagine the feeling one can have and the adventures one can enjoy sitting behind the wheel and touring our great land.  These cars just beg to be taken out for a drive in the country, stopping at a malt shop for a classic burger and fries, putting the top down and listening to classic tunes.  Anyway, in the long run it was a nice and quick addition to the jubilee.

There were also some various games taking place at various times and locals within the park as well.  We witnessed some grease pole climbing (ugh, what a mess), horseshoe tossing, axe throwing, egg tossing, and cow chip throwing contests.  There were plenty of other diversions for all ages to participate in staggered throughout the day, but we didn’t participate in any ourselves.

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We did stop at a smaller venue (not the main stage) to sit and listen to a 45 minute concert performed by a quartet group hailing from Arizona named the ‘Hey Boyz’.  They were very entertaining, blending traditional bluegrass and humorous stories and jokes throughout their set.  You could buy CD’s from them as well and they would be performing a few different times throughout the jubilee.  Both Brian and I recorded their concert with our Playsport’s, and Brian even made an audio recording using his Zoom player.  He said it came out pretty good and I look forward to listening to it sometime later.  Maybe I’ll even get a portion of it and upload it as an audio file here on my website.

One of the funniest things we witnessed was this really cheesy 2-man show circus.  It was really low rent, and dated by any standard, but that was part of its charm.  The two guys running it did everything from being the MC’s, changing characters, doing stunts, juggling, performing magic tricks, and selling cheezy coloring books of another circus altogether.  The only animals they had was a very fat and lazy cat who just seemed to care less about what was going on around it, and a few doves used in the magic tricks.  The funniest part to me was that their sound system was basically a tape deck, circa 1980, with way over-warn royalty free crappy circus music that sounded like they were recorded during the sixties.  It was so bad, it was good, and you have to give these two guys a lot of credit for their energy and attitudes.  You can tell they were really there just to entertain the kids and definitely thought their ‘circus’ was much more stupendous than it really was.

After our 20 minute little show, we took a few pictures and opted to call it a day, well at a day at the jubilee.  I wouldn’t have minded spending more time there and hearing a few more acts, but I was with three other people all jonesing for a beer at this point and figured they had seen all that they had wanted to see anyway and were hinting about leaving.

I’m not one for camping much anymore.  Not that I hate camping at all; I did plenty of it as a boy when I was running with the Boy Scouts.  Today, however, I enjoy a clean, comfortable bed, a nice hot shower, and a clean toilet to rest my rosy cheeks on in the morning.  With that in mind, if I were to go camping again, I would for sure try to and stay at Mojave Narrows.  It really is a large and well kept campground with plenty of amenities.

On trek back to Orange County, we decided to stop just on the outskirts of Norco for a beer at some chain Mexican restaurant.  Well, one beer turned into two, which turned into three, and before long we were best friends with the bartender, Ernie.  So much so in fact that he was doling out a few free drinks our way and we had a splendid late afternoon.

Finally after that little diversion, think we were now on our way home, my wife was able to finagle us all into going bowling.  We bowled three games at Norco Lanes, and even befriended some young high school kids the next lane over.  We were all pretty tuned up at this point, especially Brian.  We collected some glow in the dark bracelets from our new found friends and they even offered us some pizza.

Once bowling was done, we made our trip back home with Brian sleeping soundly in the back of my car.

I watched the second episode as it aired on the west coast and here are my thoughts, as jumbled and unreliable as a Lindsey Lohan court appearance are:

Speculation on this years twist, the saboteur, was on the tip of all the houseguest’s tongues.  The saboteur, (whose sole job is to screw with the rest of the players in a covert fashion) only has to survive through week five.  If that person makes it through by not getting voted out wins themselves a cool $10k.  Wild theories began to fly from various players, and while some ‘plausible’ points were brought up, not many of them are standing out as holding a lot of water.  Although the viewers have only seen two events up to this point, (and they were pretty tame) there really isn’t much to go on.  I can say this, whoever the saboteur is, either CBS is doing a fine job of editing thus far, or that person really is a good actor.

Some of the players are seen speculating in a room powwow that it is one of the girls, where as a few of the guys who started their own alliance called ‘The Brigade’ are eyeing Andrew, the tall, athletic swim coach who strangely decided to brush his teeth in the dark during the first event.

Personally, I don’t have enough information to form my opinion based in any fact, but it is fun to speculate.  I hope that CBS doesn’t reveal the saboteur prematurely because it is fun to try and guess this out as well as reading all the other BB forums and tweets doing the same.

So in my own un-scientific way, here are my top picks for the saboteur, (thus far) and why:  A) Annie – just seems a bit mousy and ‘too’ innocent right now as if she is purposely trying to fly under the radar and suspiciously quiet when all the others are taking about it.  B) Ragan – basically the same reasons as Annie.  C) Matt – this real life Mensa member is smart and seems a bit eager to point out other theories and seems to deflect speculation naturally, before people even begin to look at him.  D) Kathy – for a cop, I can’t help but wonder if she’s throwing challenges.  She just seems weaker than she should be and her reaction to things seems a tad ‘off’. E) Brendon – What the hell was he doing lying on the floor near the door, behind the couch when the lights went off?

But like I said, right now my guess is as good as anyone else’s.

Now onto the guests themselves and other events:

• Andrew – I don’t have much to say about him yet, but his ‘kosher’ kick is already beginning to wear on me and we’re only on episode two.
• Annie – The bisexual who proclaims to have a girlfriend to Ragan, and then cries about it.  Why are you crying and why do we care?  She seems so quiet right now that I expect her to have a ‘dramatic event’ later on if she makes it that far.
• Brendon – Talks science to Rachel, and perhaps the first signs of a budding showmance and alliance with her early on.  The ‘Brigade’ alliance (more on this later) sit up and take notice, especially Hayden.  Hayden thinks it’s a good idea to squash this possible alliance between Brendon and Rachel before it really even starts.
• Britney – cute as a button, and seems like she could also have a ‘dramatic event’ somewhere down the line.  She’s already having an issue with Kathy and biting her tongue early on.  I think that’s a good strategy…not to ‘wig out’ early on, but the seeds of discomfort are starting to stew and I can see her blowing up at Kathy later on.  Her face was ‘X-ed’ out on the video wall along with Kathy by the saboteur as a possible suggestion on who the first two nominees for eviction should be and she was a bit confounded by this.
• Enzo – Sorry, but as an Italian myself, Enzo is the type of meat head that gives our stereotypes a place on Jersey Shore.  He thinks he’s running the show so far, but its way to premature for him to be thinking that.  Came up with the ‘Brigade’ alliance (Hayden, Enzo, Lane, Matt) and came us with STUPID nick-names for each of them. 
• Hayden – Won the first HoH and put up Brendon and Rachel as his first nominees.  Appears to be slightly smarter than he looks, and according to Twitter land, he’s the dreamboat for most of the women viewers out there.  Really?  The guy with a mop on his head?  The guy who seemingly has an IQ of a tree branch?  That’s what women are going for these days?  Ugh…we have no hope as a society.
• Kathy – The 40yo cop who I’d be pretty embarrassed to have on my force.  Would be criminals….go to her area and go on your crime spree as you’ll have virtually no chance of getting caught if she’s in pursuit.  Shockingly un-athletic for her size, and seems like a world class whiner thus far.  Absolutely wortheless in the Have/Have-not challenge.
• Kristen – Nothing to note this episode.  Totally under the radar right now.
• Lane – Big guy, athletic, part of the Brigade by default.  Seems like a follower and not a leader. 
• Matt – Mensa member and while appearing to fly under the radar, I think is secretly slightly manipulative towards others to deflect perceptions.
• Monet – Diva.  Under the radar in this episode like Kristen.  Only shining moment was her strategy in the carmel Have/Have-not challenge.
• Rachel – Flirting with Brendon, and when learns of her nomination for eviction vows to get both herself off and also to save Brendon in the process.
• Ragan – As predicted, already throwing out the homosexual innuendos as if no one notices he’s gay already.  I find this really weird that no ones seems to care he is gay in the house, yet he makes it a point to remind them he is, as if they could forget or are too stupid to notice.  Closet narcissist.

 So, not much really happened here again, at least not too noteworthy.  We see the formation of Enzo’s Brigade, a budding showmance, Annie crying to Ragan about her ‘secret’, the stinky (and bug laden) Have-not room, and wild saboteur theories.