My Dad, Netflix and Foreign Films

Farsi
Farsi

My dad came up to Juneau to visit recently. He came at a good time because we have been having some amazing weather up here. Mid to high 70s with very little overcast or rain. We are  having a good spring and summer this year that’s for sure.

While he was here we did all the normal sight seeing stuff like visiting the Mendenhall Glacier, Eating at the Twisted Fish, Checking out the Shrine of St. Therese, ect.

One of the unexpected things we got to do was to watch some Persian movies in Farsi. I discovered that Netflix has a great foreign selection. I was able to do a Google search for some movies in Farsi that won some awards and queued them up to stream to my PlayStation 3 so we were all able to watch the movies on my television.

All the Farsi movies I found on Netflix where subtitled in English so we where all able to follow along with the movies.

Local H – The 6 Angry Records Tour

Last Friday was the Local H Concert at El Corazon in Seattle dubbed “The 6 Angry Records Tour.” I was so excited to go and see my good friend Lyle and hear some great music from my favorite band.

I packed really light for this trip. I think I took the least amount with me that I have ever taken on a trip. Just a couple of shirts, a pair of pants, a camera, and my backup PowerBook.

My dad and brother took me to the airport in Juneau and waited around till I got checked in and passed through security. I was shocked when I got through security as saw that the terminal was just packed wall to wall. I have never seen the Juneau airport so full. I don’t know if that is a result of Alaska Airline’s reduced flights in and out of Juneau or if it’s just a really busy travel time.

Eventually I got to board my plan that was running a few minutes late. As I walked up to to the plan I started to see signs stating that this plane had in flight WiFI access. Sweet! However I learned that this was a farce. The passengers of the plane where even told that yes, we would have in-flight wifi access once we got above ten thousand feet. No sooner where we in the air when they made the announcement that in-flight WiFi is not available in Alaska. WTF  Alaska Air lines? It also does not help that your flight attendants on my flight where technological morons.

The over all flight however was fine. I sat next to a baby that managed not to cry once! I was able to get a quick nap and was on the ground in Seattle before I new it. Flying over seattle was pretty neat because the city was seen through a giant sucker hole that was gone by the time Lyle and I got to our hotel.

Lyle met me at baggage clam and we took a shuttle to get the rental car. This was my first experience of renting a car and it was a good one. The Car ( a Chevrolet HHR which stands for Heritage High Roof) was a peace of shit. The whole thing is a blind spot.

We drove to downtown Seattle and checked into our hotel. From their we walked. It was a great day and perfect for walking and checking out the city. We walked for what I think was three miles to Dick’s Drive-In for dinner. Ever since I moved to Alaska I am always craving Dick’s Burgers. This trip was perfect for getting some.

After Lyle and I finished our burgers and shakes we walked to this used book store called “Twice Sold Tales”. Inside we where greeted by a happy fat cat. We did a quick scan of the books. I looked for some older Dungeons & Dragons books but struck out.

From the used book store we walked to El Corazon. Lyle was stopped by security because he has a pocket knife on him. No worries for us. We were early so we just walked back to the hotel and put his pocket knife in the room and walked back to the venue.

We went through the pat down again and got inside. We then made our way to the bar where Lyle was stopped again because he did not have a current divers license. So out side we both went so Lyle could have a smoke. We got some shit for trying to get back inside the venue. I guess once you enter your not supposed to leave?

So we are back inside the venue as the opening back for Local H is finishing up their last three songs. I snapped a couple of the pictures of the unmanned Local H merch table and people are starting to come in off the street for the main act.

Scott and Brian took to the stage. Scott was funny as he announced that he just got back from the Cinnaroma and saw Iron Man 2 which he did not like. He stated that Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau where overrated and that the only good movie Robert Downey Jr. made was “A Scanner Darkly“.

Scott also asked a little boy in the crowd how old he was and the boy said “9 years old”. Scott then said “Man, I have said “Fuck” more times then you are old. Fuck, I said it again!”

The thing about this Local H tour is it’s called “The 6 Angry Records Tour” where one person from the audience gets to draw from a hat one of the names of Local H’s last 6 albums and the band will play that album from start to finish. The album that was drawn that night was “Here Comes The Zoo“. I finally got to hear “What Would You Have Me Do?” live which is my favorite song of that album.

After they finished playing the whole album the band played a couple more of their songs. I snagged a photo of the set list before it was taken away by a fan.

After the last song was played Scott just walked off the stage to the back of the venue to his merch table and started selling shirts and CD’s and giving autographs. I got in line to buy some shirts and when I got up to Scott I showed him my plane ticket and explained I flew down that day from Alaska to see Local H play and that it was worth every penny.

With raw throats from shouting during the concert Lyle and I left the venue and headed to some all night greasy spoon restraint he knew of that made great milk shakes. They where perfect for our tired bodies, soar throats and ringing heads.

However on the way to this place we found this in the cement sidewalk. What the hell is this? It looks like Tony Stark’s Ark Reactor. Their were like 6 of them.

[Update: 6.25.2010] I met a nice couple at the show who had a something far better then a camera phone to take pictures with. I traded e-mail address with them and just got copies of the photos they took at the show. Blow you will see the new photos.

Throwback

Pepsi and Mt. Dew ThrowbackThis last weekend I was thrilled to death to  find Pepsi Throwback products in my local stores here in Juneau Alaska. Pepsi Throwback and Mt. Dew Throwback are Sodas made from the original formula Pepsi used back in the 60’s and 70’s (That they never should have stopped fucking making) containing real sugar. No high fructose corn syrup at all.

I have been trying to stay away from soda’s using high fructose corn syrup and I have accomplished this by drinking products like Jones Soda, and Thomas Kemper soda. So last weekend I was thrilled to find Pepsi Throwback in my local store giving me another option of something to drink.

I knew Pepsi Co. had released Throwback earlier last year. I also know it can take a while for the stores in Juneau to get some of the products that have been available in the lower 48 states for a while. So I was glad to finally see this.

After doing some quick Google searches I learned that the Throwback sodas I am seeing in my local stores are actually the second run that Pepsi has done for this drink. Giving it an updated (retro) logo. The sad news from what I am reading is that Throwback is only going to be available for 8 weeks and then Pepsi will stop making it again. From the other websites I have been reading I am left feeling that the reason that Pepsi Throwback came back this second time is a result from all the facebook, twitter, and blog posts of people writing about how much they like it. So I am writing this post along with the other masses out their hopping Pepsi will see it and know that the public would like Throwback to stay as an alternitive to high fructose corn syrup shit drinks.

In the mean time I am stocking up!

Pepsi and Mt. Dew Throwback

Not Fixing My Arrhythmia

I am back from Seattle now. Back to cold, wet, snowy Juneau Alaska. My trip did not fix my Arrhythmia like I and everyone was hopping. I have officially stumped the doctors at Virginia Mason and told that what I have was something that was not life threating and since I grew into this I could very well grow out of it. That is just a depressing answer to get from a doctor who specializes in hearts.  I will be doing some follow up visits with the local doctor and keeping in touch with the guy from Seattle. Will see what happens.

A few higlights from the trip are:

  • I got to see my dad who I have not seen in about 7 years
  • It took the nurses 6 tries to get my I.V. Started. (I passed out after the 3rd attempt)
  • The doctor was not able to poke my heart in a way to get it do it’s Arrhythmia thing. Nor was he able to get it to go crazy with drugs. Only after I swallowed water could they see the Arrhythmia which caused my doctor to laugh.
  • He called in other doctors to watch this who also laughed.
  • I was told that out of all my doctors colleagues only one had see something like this before about 20 years ago or so.
  • I was lied to about how much it was going to hurt.
  • I shared a recovery room with an older guy who had a hearing aid that would keep going off.
  • I was unable to obtain a video tape copy of the procedure to post to youtube.