I LOVE LA

I LOVE LA ... even if honestly ... the first time that I visited it back in 2003 I hated it ... but my feeling changed in a heartbeat ... and now I simply love it ... and I am lucky ... tomorrow I will be back ... not sure for how long ... but only thinking about it makes me happy .. and tonight browsing through ... YOUTUBE.COM ... one of my new addictions ... I found ... LUCY ... a Texan girl who has decided to ride her acting dream career in HOLLYWOOD ... and has this videoblog ... and in it she describes better than anybody else ... how wonderful and tough at the same time ... can be the life in LA ... if you have the chance give her a shot ... I am sure you will love the videoblog ... and of course LA as well ... after all LA is really like a dream sometimes ... yep ... I LOVE LA ... LOVE IT!

SMART SHOPPING

LEIF ... my roomie ... decided to buy "some" earplugs ... you know for concerts ... and noisy bar and pubs ... and because in TARGET they were too expensive ... he decided to buy them on EBAY ... a BEST BUY ... according to him ... but unfortunately he had to buy 100 pieces (i.e. 100 couples) of them ... not sure what is going to do to all of them ... here when he did open the box ... he started to put two of them in one ear ... without even open the plastic bag ... :o

RUN TO STAND STILL

AH, YOU ARE BEING FUNNY ... this is exactly what a friend of mine text messaged back tonight when I wrote her that ... I am planning to run a MARATHON ... probably she knows me enough ... honestly ... this is the second time that I have such a plan ... the first time has been almost 3 years ago ... my plan was to run the 2004 LA MARATHON ... I started my training November 2003 ... and I miserably failed after 3 weeks ... when I started having serious left foot problems ... the real problem is that ... my LEFT FOOT is slightly bigger than the right one ... so it is very difficult to pick up the right running shoes ... everyday shoes are not a problem... but when you run ... it is a different story ... anyways ... yesterday I bought these new fancy shoes ...... they are the NEW BALANCE 970 ... really nice and light ... with a lot of features ... today I tried them ... seems than again the left foot has problems ... probably I will have to swap to some other brand ... I was told that NIKE should work better ... but for few days I will continue to use these ... or probably I should just wrap my plan and through it away ... mmmm ... I don;t think so ... today listening to the U2 song RUN TO STAND STILL ... I thought to the meaning of this simple catch phrase ... and I realized that the life is a little bit like this ... if you want to stand still ... you have to move ... change ... you have to do new things ... challenge yourself ... and ruuuuuuuuuuuun ... :o ... mmmm ... the next LA MARATHON will be March 7th 2007 ... better I start working out for it ...

LOW WAIST ...

... today I am back to DALLAS, TX ... and in the evening I went to do some shopping ... so I buy these 2 pair of jeans ... first one ... has a regular cut ... kind of fashionable model ... with some cuts on the knees and washed really really hard ... the other one ... it is more elegant ... it has a strange cut ... very slim ... and more strange ... the waist is kinda of low ... but I like it ... being honest ... I like my butt and my legs ... so whatever ... these jeans are really good for me ... I am buying both of them ... while I am at the counter ... I notice that on the second pair of jeans there is a fancy tag ... I read it ... brand I never heard of ... SEVEN7 ... started in ITALY back in 1978 the headquarter is now in 9000 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA ... kinda like me ... born in ITALY and LIVING IN LA ... I forget about it ... I get to the HOTEL ... I am on GOOGLE TALK with my friend MARTIN and I am telling about this shopping ... I notice that on the jeans there is also the website of the company ... www.seven7jeans.com ... I go to check it ... and there the surprise ...... bloody hell ... these are girls jeans ... really funny ... almost embarassing ... I am still thinking what to do with them ... most likely ... I will keep them ... at the end of the day ... they fit just right on my legs ... at least now I understand why the waist is so low ... :o

D*MN IT ... I LOST MY CAMERA ...

Again ... CR*P HAPPENS ... especially ... when you are careless ... so ... today I went to breakfast in a bar here in LA ... and I put my camera on the table ... had a very good salad and coffee and blablabla ... and went I left I realized that I didn't have the camera with ... I went back ... no more than 5 mites, right!?! ... I ask to the waiter ... he haven't seen it ... GONE ... DISAPPEARED ... basically I lost my camera ... probably I should say ... someone stole my camera ... but I guess it is just my fault ... I could have messed up with the bar ... and make a big mess out of it ... but I thought it was not worth while ... I will have to buy a new one ... the old one was this one ... a CANON A510 ... 3.2 MPixel ...... and now I am looking for somthing different ... probably a CANON SD500 ... a 7.1MPixel ... a little bit slimmer ...

... not sure, though ... my plan actually ... is to buy a waterproof case ... so I can take pictures while I am out surfing ... that would be really neat ... the case is expensive, though ... $160 ... I need to think about it a little ... in the meantime ... I think the next posts will be without pictures ...

SORRY BRO ...

... who knows me ... knows that I have a very very very bad memory ... especially for names ... sometimes I can't even remember my name in the morning when I wake up ... but this time I thought I had it figured out ... so ... I went pretty straight ... Jennifer ... do you want a beer? ... SILENCE ... nobody answers ... I have the very very strong feeling that I did messed up again ... he looks at me ... pale ... completely pale ... Andrea, her name is Hillary ... SILENCE ... Jennifer is Yann's former girlfriend ... I look to him ... he is pale ... big time ... I am thinking something I can't say ... sorry bro ... I knew it ... I messed up ... I knew it ... what a f*ck ... but I can only appreciate ... his ability to react ... and to say something that is saving his date ... big big time ... right, right ... of course ... of course ... Yann's girlfriend .... oooppss ... former girlfriend .. SILENCE again ... Sorry Hillary ... I have such a bad memory for names ... guys ... I almost messed up his night ... but at the end ... he made it ... uuuuufffff ... sorry bro ...

ELVIS in HERMOSA BEACH, CA

Even if LEIF, my roomie, is not an ELVIS fun I believe he has the coolest DASHBOARD I have ever seen ... look at this picture I took some days ago ...... while we were going to play a soccer game in HERMOSA ...

MARGARITA WiFi

So ... let's imagine this ... I am working from home today ... here in the kitchen ... and my roomie JASON comes back from work ... of course means that ... work is over ... it 's HAMMER TIME ... first thing that he does is to prepare a MARGARITA ... he asks if I want to join ... sure dude ... go for it ... it is already 6.30PM ... I have been working on this stuff enough today ... go for it ... ... after 5 minutes ... YANN steps in ... he is looking for a new place to sleep ... there you go get a MARGARITA as well ...after a while the USPS guy knock the door ... the new WiFi ROUTER has arriver ... and there you go ... the mess is done ... I don't know if you ever tried to install a WiFi ROUTER completely drunk ... ... you can figure out what is the USERID and PW we did set up ... BTW ... we didn't really manage to install a sh*t ... we will try again tomorrow ... later ... a night at BEACHES ... is waiting for us ... :o

HAPPY FRIDAY from the HB PIER

HAPPY FRIDAY ... for me the day started ... in the perfect way ... with an other breakfast at the HERMOSA BEACH (HB) PIER ... kind of foggy today ... and the waves are not that big ... only 1 - 2 feet ...

... there is always the chance to ride some good one ... not for me, though ... my long surfboard is still in the shop for repair ... and I don't like too much my short one ... too short for me ...... or where if you don't like water ... you can ride the cement ... like these two kids ...... or take pictures of the seagulls ...

... and look here ... the drinks for the weekend are lined up ... BTW ... do you see the camera on the top right of this picture!? ...

... it is a webcam ... and you see the image ... on the web page ... www.hermosawave.net ... pretty cool ... I had to run now ... I have to do some decent work this morning ... ciao ... later ...

THE BEACH IN THE MORNING

I am back home in HERMOSA in these days and in the morning before start working the best thing to do is to go to drink a coffee at the pier and enjoy the beach ... here a picture I took this morning from the pier looking south ... towards REDONDO ...

... believe me ... HERMOSA BEACH is a real paradise ... especially when you can enjoy it in the early morning before start working ... if you want to enjoy it as well ... be my guests ... feel free to come ... until I am here ... sooner or later I will have to leave ...

MARTIN IS THE DUDE ...

Martin should have spend in CALIFORNIA his entire life ... but unfortunately he was here only for the weekend ... a long weekend ... he worked from the LA office on MONDAY ... but definitelly ... he was not anymore the NEW JERSEY YES MAN who landed on Friday night ... his transformation in a dude took only 2 days ... look at him in the office ... he came in shorts and flip flop ... and when my colleague RICHARD bring me the other surfboard who I did borrow him few weeks ago ... he grabbed it ... did close the leash and he wanted me to take a picture of him ... of course I couldn't refuse ... and here is after we drove back from the office with the board in the car ... pretty cool ... definitely something he never did back in JERSEY ...

... definitely ... MARTIN IS A DUDE ... actually not just a dude ... THE DUDE ... yes ... MARTIN IS THE DUDE ... we are waiting you back MARTIN ... next time we will go out surfing, though ...

NATAF HAS A BLOG!!!

Mmmmm ... ladies and gentlemen ... one second of your attention, please ... I am glad to introduce you ... to my friend NATAF new blog ... tha name is WIND & WATER and the address is ... http://nataf.blogspot.com/ ... I hope you will enjoy reading it ... I am telling you ... NATAF IS THE BEST ... welcome to the BLOGSPHERE NATAF ... very glad that you did it ... :H (which stands for Happy)

LET'S GO NORTH DUDE ...

... here the story continues ... Martin in LA ... this is about SUNDAY ... we woke up still tired from the day before ... and ... as usual we didn't have a plan ... which is something that for me is easy to manage ... I never have a plan ... for MARTIN it has been a little bit challenging ... but he got it ... in CA we don't have plans ... we just do things how they happen ... so ... we kind of decided to go to drink a coffee ... Where dude!? Mmmm ... Hermosa Pier!? Seen already, dude! Somewhere else, dude! Where dude?!? Dunno dude, this is your city dude!? Let's go north dude!? Yes let's go North dude! Maybe MANHATTAN BEACH or maybe VENICE BEACH ... we will decide on the way, dude! OK, dude. Ready!?!?!? Let's go, dude! We got into the car ... got on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) and we headed north ... after 1/2 hour we ended up in SANTA MONICA ... 15 miles north of HERMOSA ...... at this point I decided to show to Martin some of the beauties of the LA area ... we went some more north ... and of course we had to stop to the MALIBU PIER ... a classic surfing spot ...... MALIBU is one of my favorite places ... it is really a piece of CALIFORNIA DREAM for me ... the place by itlsef is not the best ... but the atmosphere, the surfers, the history, makes it really special ... I went there surfing few times ... but it is really crowded ... but I have to admit that the waves are really nice ... even in a flat weekend like this in MALIBU there were very sweet waves ... we had fun taking pictures and I explain to MARTIN the basic of surfing ... and how the local tribe of MALIBU sometimes can be really mean with "foreigners" ... trying to surf their spot ... here is MARTIN excercising the HANG LOOSE ... :o ... really becoming a DUDE ... here an other picture ... this was taken by MARTIN on the MALIBU BEACH ... pretty funny ...... and here is when completely toasted by the sun (and the alcohol of the previous day didn't help) we have tried to put some SUN SCREEN CREAM ... the protection was 45 ... but believe me ... all day with the roof open on the PCH was tough ...... and this is POINT DUME just south of ZUMA BEACH ... a wonderful spot ... you have to see it if you visit the LA area ...... hungry and thirsty we have taken one of the most scenic drives I know ... MULHOLLAND HWY / DRIVE which basically stretches from the coast north of POINT DUME up to the HOLLYWOOD HILLS ... it is one of the nicest areas in LA ... everything is protected by the SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS park ... anyways really a cool place ... here soma picture from one of the most scenic points ...... the drive is forever ... it takes more than 3 hours to drive all MULHOLLAND DR ... but it is definitely worthwhile ... here a picture that Martin took in the intersection between MULHOLLAND and CAREFUL ...... completely thirsty we stopped in a new wine tasting on MULHOLLAND ... really a cool place .. they just open it in June 06 ... and it is really worth a stop ... here some of the pics we took ...... but if you go to MULHOLLAND DR ... you will meet tons of bikers ... it is perfect out here of ride a bike ... and you have to stop to the bar (the only one, you can't miss it) where all the bikers meet ...
... of course our trip didn't stop there our day ... we went to eat a DOUBLE DOUBLE ANIMAL STYLE with FF and COKE at IN N OUT ... we went to SUNSET BLVD ... and again to ... the TAR PIT MUSEUM and LACMA (LA County Museum of Art) ... only outside ... but is was funny enough ... we saw this old guy seating on a chair in the park reading PORNO MAGAZINES ... we couldn't believe it ... we took also this picture ...... an orrible picture I know ... but and believe me ... we were there ... laughing like crazy for at least 5 minutes .. looking to this guy ... reading this magazine in the middle of the park ... like if he was reading the NY TIMES ... really funny ... after that we drove to RODEO DR ... BEVERLY HILLS ... THE GETTY MUSEUM (where we jsut went to look to the Van Gogh) ... you should have seen us ... two guys completely lost and burned by the sun ... and dirty ... saying to each other "DUDE" every other word standing in front of the IRIS of VAN GOGH and asking loud to each other ... "Why this GETTY DUDE didn't invest all his money in SURFBOARDS rather than in old paintings!? ... thinking about it ... it was really embarassing ... but it was just great ... I loved this day ... and here when completely exausted we got home around 7PM ... ready to make some more drink we found also the LAUNDRY SOAP on the table ... not sure what kind of MARGARITA my roomie JASON was doing ... ... we didn't ask more ... and we decided to go to have dinner and drinks at the PIER ... at the LIGHTHOUSE with LIVE MUSIC ... simply perfect ... and believe me ... this tour is on the best you can do in LA ... and I loved to do it with MARTIN ... who on SUNDAY became almost a DUDE ... not bad for a day without a plan ... where we just went out for a coffee ... somewhere north of HERMOSA ... :O

A NEW JERSEY GUY IN LA

So ... this is about Martin weekend in LA ... where to start ... mmmmmm ... difficult ...I guess from the fact that MARTIN is a collegue ... and a friend ... and he is really a cool guy ... he lives in JERSEY now ... but originally he is from DENMARK ... and ... this weekend he came to visit me in LA ... and he came directly from the office ... we met at the LAX ... I landed one hour before him ... and he showed at LAX like it was HALLOWEEN ... perfect slacks, perfect shoes and elegant shirt ... with the latest INTERNET TABLET in his hand ... and with a leather bag with his laptop and an other couple of fancy phones ... a perfect NEW JERSEY YES MAN ... but definitely ... not really the LA dude style ... I have to admit that I was a kind of worried about it ... but after a night drinking at BEACHES, where my roomie JASON works in the weekend, the day after MARTIN showed his real DUUUUUUDE SOUL ... he dressed properly ... almost like a Californian ... we open the convertable and here we are on our way back from the morning shopping ...... you wonder why he is smiling like this ... right!?!?!? ... there you go ... this is what we bought ... $75 of beer ...... really the BEST BUY OF THE YEAR ... we let it cool down a little bit and we went to the pier to have a kind of brunch with some friend and here is when Martin (not drunk yet) on the way back home is vandalizing a kids game on the beach ... fortunately they didn't call the BAYWATCH to arrest him ...... back home JASON and other friends were shooting a BBQ ... with funnel, drinks ... and all the rest ...... and also some meat ... not enough according with MARTIN'S NEW JERSEY STANDARDS ... and looking to this picture I took ... I kinda agree ... ... MARTIN himslef coudn't decide if he preffered to drink or eat ... so he ended up with this comprimise ... keep the bottle in his hands and give a bite to the meat ...... but at the end he took the BBQ under control ... look at him ... so proud of the big piece of meat ... almost bigger than his belly ...
... and of course the hard work had to be rewarded ... with some GRAPPA ... and believe me ... in this picture he looks drunk ... and sure he was ... like everybody I guess ......... here some other picture of other friends in the BBQ ... Silke, Amit and Meera were there as well ... really cool to have all of them here ... and sorry AMIT for cutting your face half off in the picture ... I have to admit ... I was way too drunk myself to take a proper picture at that point ... I guess ...... the day has been really fool of drinks and fun and sun ... here what happened to the $75 BEER PURCHASE ... ... but of course the NEW JESEY GUY has a DANISH blood ... so he was asking for some more beer ... here at the end of the day in the THAI restaurant in HERMOSA ... begging for one more drink ...... defenitily ... MARTIN IS THE BEST ... in less than 24 hours he transformed himself from a NEW JERSEY business man to a DUUUUDE ... I simply loved to spend the day with him ... MARTIN YOU ARE THE BEST! Of course SUNDAY was an other blast ... I will write about it in an other post ... had to run now ... later ...

FROGGER'S ADVENTURE

So ... this is about the Friday trip ... from DC to LA ... it has been really a long trip ... flight is more than 5 hours ... and I was as tired as hell and of course the new extra security at the airport (AKA no lliquid, no gel) caught me with a wonderful steaming hot STARBUCKS COFFEE trying to get into the plane ... I had to drop it at the gate ... cr*p ... and I didn't even took a sip of it ... and more sleepy than ever ... as soon as I seat in the plane ... I fall asleep ... I can't even remember closing the security belt ... and of course ... I can't even remember the plane taking off ... when I woke up ... it just happen to be the sunset and I took some pictures of it ...... butmost important ... I found Anna ... a supertalkative 10 years old girl with her dad seating beside me ... and I have to admit it ... I never had so much fun on a plane ... this girl is really amazing ... I think she was adopted ... she was born in Russia ... and her dad was a little bit too old ... anyways ... we started vandalizing the AMERICAN AIRLINES stupid complementary magazine ... and after that she pulled out her GAME BOY NINTENDO and she asked me to play ...... and I never really played videogames ... I mean I did it when I was a kid but I was so bad that I dumped it after few attempts ... anyways ... on Friday I found out that I didn't improve in the meantime ... but I had a perfect teacher ... the game we played was FROGGER'S ADVENTURE ... and I have to admit ... I loved it ... :D ... and if anybody out there has an old GAME BOY ... I want to buy it ... just give me a price and I will buy it ... :D