Stage fright anyone?

This is a picture of a public toilet in downtown Houston:

















Now this is a picture from the inside of the toilet:




















It's made entirely of one-way glass! No one can see you from the outside , but when you are inside, it's like sitting in a clear glass box!

La vita è una sceneggiatura

I am back on the Italian kick. Just cleaned out my car last week and found my Pimsleur CD's. I figure with four languages under my tongue I should have a good shot at being sent to our European office within the year. Wish me luck!

As for Life being a Screenplay, I have seen a lot of movies in my day. Certainly not as many as my ex-pat in Italy, but enough to day dream in script quite often. Whenever I read a book I imagine the whole thing playing out like a movie. Full on characterizations, expressions in dialogue, scenery, sometimes even sound effects in my head. I often actually cast the parts in my head as well. Take Davinci Code for example. I hear that Tom Hanks is being cast as Langdon. I totally had a more imposing figure cast in my head. Maybe Charles Grodin or even Clive Owen. But with an A-list book, i guess you have to go with an A-list actor. Audrey Tatou, while very cute seems too frail for the part of Sophie. Too doe eyed. I was thinking more like Thandie Newton or Monica Barladeanu.

Lately I have been having these vivid dreams but they haven't included me or anyone I know. More like movie plots. When i wake up I have even gone so far as considered writing a few of them down. Could make for a solid movie. Too bad I am not a good writer or I would simply create a serial blog. Serials for you young kids out there are what people read before movies and TV. Think comic books and radio programs. Cliffhangers du jour.

Hmm, maybe I will give it a go some time. In the meantime, back to daydreaming in THX.

Ciao!

Les Savy Four (per Bebe)

FOUR? JOBS I'VE HAD:
--"The Man" at Checkers Fast Food
--professional bartender (a trade for life)
--In 1995 I ended up with seven W-2's (golf pro shop, security guard at Comdex, parking cars, production dept. at software company, assembly line for collegiate telephones, bartender, inventory manager for pool chemical company assigned to Home Depot account)
--consultant/product manager/project manager HW/SW companies

FOUR MOVIES I'D WATCH ON REPEAT:
--The Great Escape (I am the Scrounger)
--Big Lebowski ( The Dude abides)
--Rear Window (Ahhhhh, Princess Grace....purrrrr)
--Shawshank Redemption (Get busy livin' or get busy dyin')

FOUR TV SHOWS I LOVE:
--Grey's Anatomy
--Good Eats
--Family Guy
--Lost

FOUR CAREERS THAT APPEAL TO ME:
--professional golfer
--pastry chef
--food critic
--history professor

FOUR JOBS (FILLED BY PEOPLE I KNOW) AT WHICH I WOULD BE TERRIBLE:
--financial advisor
--OB/GYN
--java programmer
--general accounting administrator

FOUR VACATION LOCALES I'D LIKE TO HIT:
--New Zealand
--Egypt
--Italy
--Fiji

FOUR FOODS I LUST AFTER:
--cheese
--bacon
--spinach dip
--bbq ribs

FOUR CHANGES I'D MAKE TO THE APARTMENT:
--make it bigger
--paint the walls
--create a dust free environment (Intel chip clean-room standards)
--bigger toilet seat

FOUR BEERS I LIKE:
--Guinness
--Fat Tire
--Smithwicks
--Coors (Khaki)

Give me a break...

A new pro-life angle? Geez...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/11/fetus.carpool.ap/index.html

$50,000 a night?

Looks like the Palm Casino in Vegas has a couple pricier themed rooms for the sporting enthusiasts.

Thanks Tao!

Had the fortunate pleasure of eating para gratis at Tao last night. It is the number one restaurant in terms of OpenTable reservations. It definitely lived up to its hype. The place was jam packed for a cold and rainy Wednesday night. Had to wait for 15 minutes even though we had a confirmed reservation. But the manager must have recognized I was an OpenTable VIP and gave our party of 4 a free round of drinks on him. (I am assuming he recognized my VIP status...most likely he was passing those drink cards out like Halloween candy, but I'll keep dreaming i'm special)
The real treat for me though, was the fact that the ditzy bartender didn't know who she was dealing with. I sauntered up to the bar already drunk with power and my free drinks coupon and ordered up another round for my party. Potato juice and tonic, grape juice from South Australia, sweet sugar cane nectar from Puerto Rico with a splash of diet cola and the kicker..... a full brim glass of 1977 Sandeman Vintage Port. She had to open the bottle new because apparently no one had tapped into that $225 bottle(restaurant price). It was a perfect ruby red. Clear as glass. Clean berry aromas, full-bodied yet supple, very well balanced, with a nice long finish.
Not sure what I enjoyed more last night, the port or the black peppered sirloin with udon noodles. Needless to say though, thank you Tao (and Bebe's expense account) for a wonderful meal.

Sweet dreams...

If you've ever heard of Daily Candy then....you must have a girlfriend/wife/female significant other. But there is also a site similar that has a more masculine slant. Here is today's posting. Maybe you can see what I mean.

The hyperlink pics are usually my favorite part of the articles.

Happy Holidays!

So I hope everyone had a Happy Turkey Day, Merry Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa, and a very Happy New Year.
One of my resolutions this year is to put more of my everyday thoughts/sightings/ramblings onto paper/blog. I even bought a little leather bound journal(can't say that i have written anything of substance in it yet but it is there and ready for the scribing)
Just a quick recap of the past two months. Ate a lot, spent a lot of time with family and friends, re-kindled some relationships, had a great New Years eve, fun wedding shower, and watched Liverpool win 11 in a row with 10 cleansheets. All in all a fab four fortnights. (nice alliteration).

So, on with the new year. 2006 is sure to be a 'craic'-er!