delicious bbq beef

Gallo’s Italian Deli Cdm

3900 E Coast Hwy
Corona Del Mar, CA 92625
(949) 675-7404

Gallo’s subs are made of bread and meat and cheese goodness. The other day I looked on the menu, and it said they sold muenster cheese. And if you are an upstanding citizen, you would know that muenster is actually, “edible lactose gold.”

The first time I had muenster on a sandwich that I would normally have another type on cheese on…was in New York City. I was visiting the city and had the pleasure to see an old friend. She was dressed to impress and wanted to get hamburgers.

“Hamburgers huh? I’m listening…” I said to her as we walked across the street after playing some darts.

Actually, that makes no sense because now that I think of it we ordered over the phone. So in reality the above quote happened before we walked across the street.

What’s important is that the shop was open late. And the cheeseburger had muenster cheese on it. It tasted so delicious and it was excellent after a long night of adventuring around New York.

Well, when I saw that they had Muenster cheese at Gallo’s deli in Corona del Mar, I did not hesitate. They asked me what kind of cheese and I was the most polite cheese asker you’ve ever heard. There was no way they were going to tell me no muenster. I knew what I wanted and I asked for the cheese goodness with such kindness and sensitivity that literally my breath was made of rainbows.

yum meat balls

The gentleman made me the sandwich with muenster. It was a meatball sub and it looked like the picture that you see here.

The reason why it looks like this is because THIS IS IT! This is the sandwhich I ate today. I ate a meatball sub today and one last week.

The bbq beef picture that is depicted at the top of this article was from earlier this week.

I’ve been going there a lot because…I get hungry man.

The cheese is so good when it is hot with the saucy snack-able meats.

-Tyler

It's nice to keep track of cash spending visually

There’s a cool new-ish feature for Wells Fargo online. It is called, “Money Map” and you can find it in the tabs when you check your Wells Fargo online personal accounts. It is nice because it visually helps a person keep track of budget items.

For example, I noticed that I haven’t been using my Starbucks card because last month money was really tight. So I was using cash and wanted to minimize my latte intake. (YEAH RIGHT, that didn’t workout very well)

But instead I’ve actually been consuming more latte’s than a latte disposal machine. So what’s been happening is that I’ve been using cash to buy lots of latte’s.

One thing that I like about Money Map is that is graphically showed that I was using more cash. This made me think, “Ok, I need to probably start using my Starbucks card again because I’m missing out on the free drink after 15 starbux drinks.”

Times are tough lately, and being able to track spending is a smart thing to do. If you click on the different bar graphs on the right, it will give a detail on the purchases on that category.

Last thing, there is a “My Spending Report” that shows a line that is the monthly average. It shows when you are going way over the normal amount of spending. For me that was March. That was because I was finishing my last couple classes of school and I had to basically pay by check. Even though it was a State University it still cost me over $1,500 for registration/tuition alone. This isn’t counting books or fuel for transportation.

So overall this is a nice addition to Wells Fargo’s online banking interface. Hopefully they can keep useful items like this cooking…without crowding or over-complicating the user interface.

-Tyler

analyzing eyes

The twin eyes and the eye patch of Odin. The hidden blade within a metal cross and the scars of the priest. Timing is everything, especially in a world where budgets are monumental. Both films have one central theme, and that is penance. Paying for one’s past mistakes. Thor did not truly know what it was to be a god…until he felt the frailties of mortality. Not only then could he do something more than merely redeem himself. He had to earn his right to stand by his father. And even though the transition was rather quick. Thor made it clear that he had much to learn. Thor was a film about sight. While Priest was a film about blindness. In Thor, Heimdall played by the exceptional Idris Elba had the power of all-vision. His sight extended beyond the crystalline core of Asgard and penetrated deep into the mortal realm of Midgard. Yet, Loki could obfuscate things through his trickery and magik.

In Priest, the Vampires quite literally had no eyes. This was except for the vampire lord who was the main antagonist for the film. Yet despite this obvious reference, there was the weakness of the main human city in, “Priest” and that was that the sun did not shine upon the human city. Was this because of the pollution of the city? That is doubtful. The heavy dirt that fell from the black clouds in the film was not some kind of environmentalist plead. It was symbolic of how faith unpracticed and untested is as murky as the blackest sea.

To have faith without the will and conviction to wear it as a pair of boots in treacherous path that lies ahead…well, that is a boon unused. And any boon that lies unused is no boon at all.

The hero in Priest sacrificed his pleasurable existence because he was taken to another calling. Was it higher? Maybe…was it necessary? Absolutely.

Like Thor, the Priest had a purpose. And yet that purpose did not become clear until the commitment to engage the unknown was already set in blood and stone. That is the way of things. Choice is less of a controller of fate and more like the active form of accepting it. By choosing, we accept that we actually have zero control, but rather a sense of duty to fulfill an unknown part.

Similarly to how the Priest’s true power did not come from any drug or mechanical technology. Thor’s strength was infused in him by his valor, but more importantly his kindred and extended family that outstretched beyond nebulae and asteroid belts alike.

The Priest’s penance was strange because it seemed to just have begun in this first film. We don’t really know what horrors he is going to face without the support of the establishment. But one thing is clear, the allies that he had cultivated will stand strong throughout the night.

Thor’s penance was to be human. Yet in those moments, he found a shred of humility that would help to balance his pride and arrogance. His inability to pull Mjolnir from its Earthly cradle. That was difficult to watch. But it made it clear that he had not yet been right for the tool. Because that is what Mjolnir is…a tool for the good, to do good. In Thor’s frailty, he attempted to bargain the only way he could with the only thing he had, which was his mortal life.

You can never be slain, Thor…only silenced for a short time.

You can never be banished, Thor…only blocked as boulder blocks a strong river.

You can never be forgotten, Thor…for Kenaz burns in the hearts of all whom hear you.

-Tyler

Crystal Cave - Costa Mesa Large Geodes

Crystal Cave

(click for website)

891 Baker St.
Suite A-16
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 754-1151

Crystal Cave in Costa Mesa has been around for a long time. I remember buying a mysterious box from them back in the 1990′s before I went off to college. The box was made of wood and had brass symbol work on it. Over the years I have used the box to hold interesting semi-precious stones and old coins. Now I have a small, yet quality coin collection and I still use that very box. There is a mysterious story about that box if you care to listen…

When I had an office in Santa Ana, that was a strange time in my life. I used to have very little money, and I used cash to purchase food. Every penny counted. But since I bought food in Santa Ana I would sometimes get old coins as change. The reason for this is because Santa Ana is one of the older parts of Orange County and a great deal of older coins are in circulation still. It was in this city that I found in my change, a 1901 penny. I loved the coin and put it in my box.

Over a few months, I would place other coins that I found. Some were in good condition, while others were quite abused yet they had tremendous character. These misshapen coins had blemishes of true experience so I felt they needed to come out of circulation and rest a while. And what better place to rest, than in a mysterious box.

I kept the box in the sunlight. It rested upon a mirror to absorb even more light. Some days it would get warm to the touch. And the wood would warp and I understood that. The wood would bleach and I welcomed it. Such things are normal and expected. But on especially bright days, the brass-work on the box would actually get hot to my fingertips. It was those days that made me realize that the coins inside…well, something was happening.

A few weeks later, I found an interesting penny that was a grey color. It was a 1943 penny. Unfortunately it was not the kind that is worth a lot of money, but it has character and spirit and I wanted to welcome it to my collection. I placed it underneath a faceless slug coin, and it rested beside a New Zealand coin and few old nickels and a piece of black stone. But a few nights passed, and I noticed something strange about the box.

The box was slightly open. I looked inside the box to see if anything was missing. Could it be that someone was tampering with my things? It made little sense because the items contained within it had little value to anyone but myself.

Crystal Cave owner: Barbara - CLICK to Visit the online store!

But when I tried to close the box, it resisted. I was confused. I checked the hinges and the sides to make sure a spring or a stick hadn’t gotten stuck into the box because I had been dissecting some old VCR’s in the corner of the office. To my surprise, there were no obstructions. I tried to close the box again, but it resisted me. Eventually, I pressed very hard to close the thing and it finally yielded to me. But when I removed my hand it slowly opened to a slight crack. I ended up getting frustrated and I put a heavy jar filled with small VCR parts on top of it to keep it closed.

The next day I removed the jar and it cracked open again. This boggled me because there were no springs in the hinge mechanism to open and shut the box. It was a very simple contraption, just a box mind you…things don’t get any simpler than this. So I just settled my mind on the notion that the box had somehow become magnetized by the amount of coins in the box. Although none of the coins were actual magnets, metal can possibly have magnetic fields or perhaps the metal was interacting with the brass hinges and the brass decorations on the top of the wood.

Regardless of whatever the reason for the box’s behavior, a month later it stopped acting strangely.

Now, I still have this box. And the collection within it has grown. So much so in face, that I’ve needed to find a new box to share the coins. So I decided to revisit the Crystal Cave and see what they had to offer. There were many boxes to choose from. Similarly to so long ago, there was a wide selection…wider in fact. I didn’t need a huge box, just something to house the younger coins, ones that didn’t have the massive amount of age and wisdom of the older coins. I finally chose a small box, again with some brass inlay decoration. It has a beautiful triangular design on the top that has squares in the motif as well. The shapes were geometrically pleasing to the eye.

I said to Barbara, the shop owner, that there is a way of things, “identification and multiplication.” That is the best way to spread energy into a new field. So many of the foreign coins are going into the small box. But in retrospect, I know I’m no where near with the small box. I have put an interim of coins in it, but I need to be willing to sacrifice some of the location of the oldest coins from the old box and let it stay within the new one. That is the only way to to seal the transition.

But enough of boxes. The store of Crystal Cave was lovely to walk into, as usual. The place is filled with interesting books and crystals and the occasional geode that was pictured above. Barbara was exquisitely helpful and friendly and so has their staff always been in the times I’ve visited the place. I’ve bought crystals from this store and they have always been very high quality.

I know I will visit the Crystal Cave again.

Here’s a link to the Crystal Cave official Website – CLICK HERE

-Tyler

ketchup robot

Big thanks to the Don Burleson Blog for sharing this video. When I saw it, I seriously had a good laugh. I guess it was because of the holiday and the burgers and ketchup and hot dogs were really fitting. The sad part is that I didn’t have any ketchup to eat today, I had BBQ sauce on chicken. But I had a great deal of ketchup during the last week. So this video hit extra hard. Don Burleson has a really weird sense of humor. I’m definitely going to check out his blog in the future. I don’t know about you guyzzz but this is what I’m going to dream about when I go to sleep tonight…and every night.

Project Gutenberg - Click to Visit Website

No, this article is not about police academy. Project Gutenburg is a website that has a huge selection of free E-Books that are viewable on portable devices like iPads or Desktop Computers. I’ve already found some interesting books on Buddhism and some nice copies of Edgar Allen Poe stories. You can visit the Project Gutenburg website by clicking HERE. This was an excellent find that I came across when looking at the references for a Wikipedia entry. So that goes to show how useful checking something’s references can be.

If you are browsing from your iPhone then you might want to try this link to their mobile site by clicking HERE.

I just tested downloading a book directly into iBooks and it worked flawlessly. I find that downloading the “ePUB” version of the online books is the easiest way to get a book into iBooks. There are many reasons why I prefer to read books in the paper format rather than digital formats. Those are how you can have a visceral experience with the pages, make notes, talk to people and share a physical book. But there are some actual advantages to an e-Book that I cannot deny. One of those would be portability but that’s obvious. Another thing to think about would be how the footnote system works for iBooks. Oftentimes, footnotes and endnotes can be touched and then you are taken to the correct place where the note is. Then you can immediately learn what the term is and then touch another button and be taken to the exact page you were just at. The convenience is undenyable.

Another thing to think about is that paper is not very expensive, but ink is. So printing entire long epics can burn a printer cartridge. So even having a free copy of a book in digital format may not make a whole bunch of sense if you have to print it out in order to make it portable. The iBooks in conjunction with Project Gutenburg makes this possible.

Since I read mostly non-fiction books this Project Gutenburg is very appealing to me, especially since it is one more thing to do while waiting for people to take their turns in Words With Friends.

By using Project Gutenburg one can read books without having to risk getting a book that they may not necessarily enjoy. And since most of the books on Project Gutenburg are older books that have expired their copyright, a lot of them are quite good.

I seriously hope you enjoy the site. And if you find any good books that you want to recommend, go ahead and leave a comment below.

Project Gutenburg – MAIN WEBSITE

Project Gutenburg – MOBILE DEVICE WEBSITE

-Tyler

Device Repair saved the day - CLICK HERE - to visit their website

A little over a year ago, I wrote an article about how Device Repair fixed my laptop. They managed to salvage the data that was on my hard-drive and fix the computer. I am currently using that computer now. Well, about two weeks ago my main Desktop Computer, Overidon Frame, stopped running and wouldn’t boot properly. After attempting to reboot it, I decided to take it into Device Repair and get their help. Their specialist named Peter got to work on analyzing the computer right away. After a day of looking into the problem, he found that the computer had multiple fried components. This did not surprise me because it was in storage for a very long time and had trouble booting even when I first got it out of storage. It wasn’t until I unplugged a bunch of things that it started to boot again. My main concern was saving the data on the music video I’ve been working on for the past few months, and saving my Science-Fiction stories that I’ve been sending to publishers.

So I asked Peter if there was any way that he could be able to salvage the data on my hard drives, especially the “My Documents” folder. He said he would prioritize that and he worked on it for a day. The next day I talked to Peter and he said that he was able to save my data on not just the “My Documents” folder but also the data from my “J: DIJI” drive which I used for storing large files for video projects.

This was a huge relief because the last time I backed up my data to my portable hard drive was in early March. And I had made tremendous strides in the music video and writing since then.

So DeviceRepair.com literally saved the day for me again.

The whole team there are a bunch of pros and their office looks like they are building a spaceship. But they get the job done and they are the first people I call if I have a problem or want to build a new computer. The next time I purchase a powerful desktop computer, I am going to have it built custom by Peter at Device Repair.

Also, Henry, the owner is very cool to work with and he will negotiate with you on satisfying your needs as well as giving you a fair price. If you work with him in bulk and give him time to do his work with his team, he will work wonders and not charge you an arm and a leg. My Dad has been bringing in his computers lately, because he has been getting a lot of work done since he deals with backup up data for his consulting work so often. So Henry gave me a deal since our family gets so much work done with them.

Here’s the contact information for Device Repair:

Device Repair

2222 Michelson Dr.
Suite 236
Irvine, CA 92612
(949) 542-2233 ‎

-Tyler

Your Village

Money has value. But that value is not determined by the numbers and faces on the bills. It is determined by the item that is purchased and the use of the item. When I was in my early teens, I saw an advertisement for an old 60′s television show. It was called, “The Prisoner.” I remember seeing the advertisement and being intrigued by how intense and serious the look on the face of the main character was. And when I saw a giant sphere bubble bouncing around and chasing that character I knew that I had to watch the show…but also I felt that I wasn’t any where near ready for it. About 20 years later, I was driving in my car and I was thinking about all sorts of stuff. But then finally I thought, “I need to see that prisoner show.”

I purchased a collector’s edition for about $48.00 on Amazon.com of The Prisoner. I really had no idea was I was about to get myself into. The first episode was extremely interesting but I felt like I had eaten a four-course meal. I had to literally wait a week before watching the next episode.

There are only 17 episodes for The Prisoner. And even though I just finished 5 episodes from the series, I already feel that I have received much more than my monies worth.

The show is beyond timeless and if the rest of the series is anything remotely as good as what I’ve seen so far, then I’m not sure I’ll be able to write a review about it.

-Tyler

Detroit Bar

Detroit Bar

843 W. 19th Street
Costa Mesa CA 92627

Detroit Bar usually has good music and friendly staff, but I found last Friday to be an exceptionally great time. Not only did the bartenders and servers look good, but they had great attitudes and made me want to buy a drink here and there. I got zero sass when I ordered a non alcoholic drink either. The music was top notch and there was a good mix of men and women dancing to what seemed like a blend of techno and house music. That’s a good thing because oftentimes at clubs it takes hours for the dance-floor to pick up to anything beyond a male dominated uncomfortable zone. But at Detroit there were girls already dancing in a fun and non-pretentious manner pretty early in the night. The security at the club was present but not overpowering and that made the atmosphere feel safe yet relaxed. The last time I was at Detroit was a few months ago on a Saturday night so this was a great deal of fun.

One thing that I enjoyed about the music and people was that the audience had fun with the builds and swells in the music. People weren’t afraid to bust out a little bit. That’s a plus because I’m 30 years old and I don’t have time for any sissy dance floor garbage. If we’re goona hit it, it’s gotta be 100% or else I’m out. And Detroit didn’t disappoint.

The staff is really good at cleaning up spills and they do it fast for safety so that’s cool.

I’d definitely go to Detroit again. Although I don’t really go clubbing by myself because I don’t drink, I still like the exercise and my abs were monster the next morning.

I was stoked to be at the bar celebrating my friends birthday. I hadn’t seen him in literally years and it was good times.

HERE’s a link to current events and DJ’s at the Detroit Bar!

-Tyler

Equilibrium is a RAD MOVIE!

If you like seeing geometry in action, especially in the form of martial arts and gun-fighting, then Equilibrium is a great Sci-Fi/Action Film pick. Equilibrium is a movie distributed by Miramax Films and Dimension Films. The movie is a about an emotionless nation-state in a partially dystopian future. Christian Bale, does an excellent job with his performance of the main character, who is a Tetragrammaton Cleric named, John Preston. The movie has elements that are similar to the Matrix and the book Fahrenheit 451, but it is its own unique spin on things. Instead of the enemy being oppressive robots or a system that wants to destroy information, the world depicted in the film is obsessed with destroying emotion evoking items, music, and other media. The thing that the film does the best with the theme and back-story, is that Equilibrium clearly explains the motivations for the government to wish to eradicate such emotional content. And that motivation is a fear of a 4th World War. Yet the system does not just attempt to destroy the emotion inspiring media, it wants to eliminate human emotion entirely through the regimented and society-wide use of pharmaceutical drugs.

Even though Equilibrium was released in 2002, the fact that everyone is on emotion impairing drugs is more relevant today than it was during its release date.

An interesting thing about this movie is that it was attempted to be sold as an action film. Although the few action scenes are quite good, the themes are even better. Some of those themes include, harsh self-realizations, man vs. himself, and self-sacrifice even when the outcome is completely unknown.

One thing that I’ve found with Equilibrium is that it is not actually a social commentary film. Many people may get turned off by the film because they think it is being critical of the current society. When in fact, our society right now does not resemble the culture of Libria (this is the main city in the film) except for the drug issue previously mentioned. The film is more of a vehicle for someone to re-evaluate his or her current life processes and see if that’s the road that they really want to walk. All the gun battles and violence is actually symbolic of internal struggle, and the entire film could have been a virtual experience for the main character and it would have had the same poignant impact for the viewer.

The use of geometry as a tool for gun-based martial arts was beyond awesome and was a perfect story-telling technique. It easily demonstrated the level of skill, expertise and discipline required for the main character to be such an effective marksman and soldier. This gave a substantial amount of mythos to the Cleric fighters in the film. And the slower and more dramatic scenes were a welcomed break from the action. Some people may say that the movie is slow and plodding, but I found it to methodical and quite clear when discussing serious issues.

-Tyler

Click to view list of Sumerian flash cards

I found this supremely awesome website called VirtualSecrets.com that has flash cards on Sumerian cuneiform symbols. The website has lots of other great information, but I really enjoyed the Sumerian flash cards the most. They are quick break downs of popular symbols used in Sumerian texts, and the pictures are easy to read. And from what I’ve read from other resources the few symbols that I am familiar with, a bunch of the words look right. For example, the cuneiform symbol for, ‘hand’ rang a bell when I searched through the flash cards. But I recommend that before you make your own Sumerian cuneiform T-Shirt, you do a little research and make sure that you aren’t insulting the weight or value of anyone’s bull herd. Even if you maybe aren’t interested in learning Sumerian language, the images are quite beautiful. The symbols have such grace, elegance and complicated minimalism that it is no wonder that this civilization was able to ascend to greatness.

Unfortunately, the flash cards don’t have comparisons with pictographic representations of the words. But that isn’t a big deal, because there are plenty of books out there that discuss that. I previously mentioned a book in my post regarding the possible origins of unicorns that has some comparison charts on the early forms of Sumerian written language.

One thing that is cool about Sumerian language is that the writing evolved a great deal over time. The words started out in a very pictographic form that may remind one of Egyptian written word. But the advent of Cuneiform to their pictographic predecessor is sort of analogous to how the keyboard and typewriter is analogous to cursive writing. The Sumerian scribes would use wooden sticks that had a wedge-looking shape at the end. These would be used to either make impressions or slide across a soft (unbaked) clay tablet or other surface. Once the clay tablets were baked, they could last in a non-dusty environment for literally thousands of years.

I’m really excited about the flash cards and when I have more time I might even print them up and practice.

You can click HERE to visit the website virtualsecrets.com and browse through the flash cards yourself.

Just look for the, “FLASH CARDS” JavaScript link above the translation program.

-Tyler

Iron Man Extremis is available from Amazon.com

As a huge fan of the first Iron Man movie with Robert Downey Jr, I was excited to learn more about the superhero. I continued to read a couple other comics with Iron Man and was definitely impressed. What I liked the most about Iron Man, was that the character, Tony Stark has a believable attitude when one takes into account his skills and intelligence. I especially enjoyed the comic I read on Iron Man and the Avengers where, Stark mentions with a grin that he owned a fully functional spaceship. Tony Stark always seems a bit older than the rest of the characters and even though he is quite conflicted, he speaks from a place of authority. Yet, instead of being derived from his financial or technical resources,  his authority comes from his life experiences. Iron Man is a survivor, who is in the process of reforming himself on multiple levels. So when I read, Iron Man: Extremis, I was pleasantly surprised to find these issues and themes, among many others, explored quite thoroughly in the graphic novel.

The quality of art in this graphic novel is so superb, that it isn’t even worth mentioning. Every page is literally a work of art that if on a framed canvas,  it could stand on its own in a modern art collection or museum. The depiction of Tony Stark is crisp and his physique makes sense for what one would imagine him to look like. The Iron Man suit itself looks awesome and the Heads Up Display (HUD) images are depicted with flawless accuracy. We truly get to see through Iron Man’s optics. The shading and shadow-work give ambiance and clarity to the milieu that is a pure pleasure to the reader.

For someone who is relatively new to the Iron Man series, I had no confusion at all. And I’ve only really read a couple comics and seen the two movies. The discrepancies between the movies and the comic were negligible and I had no trouble figuring out what was going on.

When the villain of the story was introduced, he enters into this strange cocoon-like state. It is impressive beyond words. The guy looks so messed up that the imagination just runs wild with how powerful or strange the character will become.

The story itself, is slightly controversial. The villain has a backstory that is based on a politically sensitive subject. And also, when Iron Man and his colleague visit a somewhat psychedelic shaman of a scientist, the discussion gets esoteric bordering on material that should be restrained to university courses. So you can probably tell, that those parts were my favorite. You never know what modern gems are available for purchase with wood pulp.

I wouldn’t recommend trying anything that is discussed in the conversation previously mentioned.

Iron Man: Extremis contains the perfect blend of plot development, character arc, and action. My evaluation of the story is that the villain is simply a foil for Tony Stark, instead of being a fully functional co-star. So, it is difficult to emphasize with him. But I bet that the people who do emphasize with the villain will have their eyes opened, when they watch what happens to a character with such unrelenting anger and rage.

The arc that Iron Man goes through in the graphic novel has multiple aspects. First, there is an emotional/psychological arc that exemplifies Stark’s self-evaluation. Second, his actual technology undergoes significant change throughout the book.  And the final arc is a sort of transcendence that is required for him to achieve his goals. By the end of the book, the reader is highly satisfied that Iron Man well-earned his victory.

-Tyler

Steve Trevino

Steve Trevino did a short set that popped the house a few nights ago. He talked about his experiences as a Los Angeles resident. His personality and comedic timing truly shined, albeit they definitely had a dark and tainted side to them. I love highly stylized performances like Trevino’s. He easily stood out and I know I will remember his name when I see him on a comedy roster when I go to the Improv or another comedy club again. Although the video below is just an excerpt from the set he performed, it is easy to see that he knows how to keep the punches coming. Even though the videos are great, being a part of the audience during his live performance added to the experience. Also his set was much longer than this small sneak-peek. His joke about tossing the baloney on the lawn was great!