Starsky!
There’s a new design in town. There are seven other skins here, but this is the first one that leaves the old layout completely behind. The others are all variations on a single design. I’ve taken to calling this new skin the “Starsky & Hutch Go Flying” theme. It has a certain hip 70′s panache to it, don’t you think? The jets careening around at odd angles bring to mind my instrument flight training. Those of you who are IFR-rated pilots will know what I’m talking about. Development was not without its challenges — it took some convincing to get Gallery to read the cookie set by the new PHP skinning method. And Gallery provided another challenge: the Starsky skin’s graphic design was not meant to be...
Read MoreMusical Rapps
Check this out: Anthony Rapp is a musician. Melissa Rapp is a musician. Mark Rapp is a musician. Ron Rapp is a musician. And those are just people with their own Rapp domain names. I also found musicians Barry Rapp, Marcello Rapp, Tom Rapp, Michael Rapp, and Sandy Rapp to name just a few. Even those Rapps I found on the Web who are not musicians are in some sort of artistic business. Charles Rapp is a talent agent, for example. Maybe we should have a convention or...
Read MoreSkywagon Christmas Skin
Some people just can’t leave well enough alone. In this case, that someone would be me. So I came up with yet another Christmas skin for the site. What do you think? The image was taken from the Christmas cards I used last year. The aircraft is a Cessna 185 Skywagon. This is what they look like in real life. Basically it’s the same as my Skylane, only with a tailwheel instead of a nosewheel. I put this together because I wasn’t happy with the other Christmas skin. It’s not merry enough, though it does have a sort of “In the Bleak Midwinter” feel that is appealing in it’s own...
Read MoreThe Pressure of a Name
I recently learned that two of my best friends from college will soon enter the ranks of parenthood! For those of you who don’t know them, this might not make a lot of sense. But since picking out a name can be tough, I took the liberty of putting together a Top 10 list of potential names for the Schulz’s child: 10. The Wizard of Schulz 9. Schlitz Schulz 8. Product Schulz 7. Gumshoe Schulz 6. Chicken Diver Schulz 5. Sargent Schulz 4. Notorious B.O.C. (Big Orange Crayon) 3. Rosarito Schulz 2. Royale with Schulz … and the number one name for the Schulz child: 1. McSchulz
Read MoreGoodbye Thanksgiving, Hello Christmas
And how was your Thanksgiving? No knock-down, drag-out family arguements, I hope? Lesley and I spent a simple but pleasant day together. We didn’t even cook–we ate out! Scandalous. It’s the first time I’d ever done that, and it was actually fun. Leaving the kitchen duties to someone else allowed us time to relax, laugh, and think about what were thankful for. Sounds hokey. But with all the cooking, preparing, decorating, and traveling that most folks do, the “core” of Thanksgiving can get lost in the static. So it was refreshing to spend Thanksgiving just being Thankful. Earlier in the day we had a light brunch in Costa Mesa, then walked around Balboa Island and admired the holiday decorations. Lesley pointed out that...
Read MoreBread and Butter
Ever heard the phrase “bread ‘n butter”? If a couple walking down the street hand in hand are seperated by a pole, mailbox, or other obstruction, you say “bread ‘n butter”. I don’t know why, but you just do. I consider myself fairly cultured, but this one completely escaped me until I met Lesley. I figured it was an English thing, but maybe not! Someone else wrote about it.
Read MoreFlying and the California Fires
I’ve only been flying out of the Los Angeles basin for about six years, but in that time I’ve been witness to some unusual stuff. September 11th comes to mind. I recall standing outside the fence at John Wayne Airport and listening to the sound of complete silence. The Southwest jets normally found on the east side were replaced with F-18s. Today is another one to remember for those of us who fly. The ring of fires encircling Southern California has poked more than a few holes in the aviation system. I checked for NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen) on the web and found this: HHR 10/032 ZLA CA.. SO CALIF APPROACH CONTROL OTS HHR 10/034 ZLA CA.. SAN DIEGO AFSS CLSD HHR 10/035 ZLA CA.. RIVERSIDE AFSS CLSD The “approach control OTS” line is not...
Read MoreSign Man
Irvine is a pretty square place. This isn’t always a bad thing. I mean, all the neighborhoods are nice–there are no “bad” areas of town. The schools are the best in the nation (Irvine has a University of California campus, a private university, and a junior college). The Spectrum, Irvine’s business district, is one of the largest high-tech meccas in the United States. There’s a lot of greenery, lakes, parks, and people always smile and say hello to you on the street. If I try really hard, I can probably think of worse places to live. But the cookie cutter “planned community” aspect of Irvine gets old after a while. For example, it’s hard to find small, quirky, one-of-a-kind stores. One of my favorites, a...
Read MoreJack of All Trades, Master of None
I enjoy going to the gym, but the crowds really get to me. From about 3:30 to 9:00 p.m., it’s wall-to-wall people. And it seems that the average age of a person there is trending downward. I’ve seen kids as young as eight or nine years old working out. What the hell does an eight year old need to be at the gym for? It’s disturbing. It’s almost as if you have to pick your life’s path out of the womb and work relentlessly toward it as soon as you’re physically capable of walking if you want to achieve the pinnacle of success. It’s not just ice skaters and gymnasts that start at such an insanely young age. I’ve always considered myself a well-rounded person able to converse intelligently on a wide variety of topics. ...
Read MoreThree California Moments
Class Exiting Interstate-5 and Jeffrey, I came to a stop at the light and my eye caught something large off to the left. It was a car, specifically a late ’60′s Pontiac Elektra. This thing was huge. So huge, in fact, that some serious pretzeling was necessary to get a glimpse of the back end. A rolling work of art and, like the Queen Mary or the occasional DC-3 you’ll see on it’s way to Catalina, a harbinger of days long gone. Decked out in a gleaming silver paint job, the simonized Pontiac was spit polished to a “T” and framed by flawless, twinkling chrome. Inside, an older couple perched regally on the low-back bench seat. He sported a white button up shirt, tie, and a felt hat tipped just so. She, a light blouse. Windows...
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