Reading Corner

I've begun my next book and I must say that it has been very interesting and I can't wait to read the rest of it. "Under the Banner of Heaven" takes a look at fundamentalist Mormon sects.

Wildfire: Santa Barbara

It's fire season again here in California. Most of you are probably familiar with the fire currently consuming Big Sur. Well apparently on Tuesday night a fire began in the foothills of Goleta, which is the city next to Santa Barbara and where UCSB is located. In that first day the fire had only consumed 300 acres but since then the fire being called the "Gap" fire has charred 2,300 acres and has forced mandatory evacuations and evacuation warnings for other areas.

Last night the entire Santa Barbara area experience a power outage caused by heavy smoke in the lines. I spent that time last night helping my boss evacuate from his condo and then head to our Athletic Director's house to help evacuate the important items for him since he is out of the country right now. I haven't heard many updates on the fire today, but at night you can definitely see the red glow on the hills. I'll try to get some pictures taken so you all can see.

Out to the Movies: Wall-e

The latest film from Pixar and Disney. One word: Magnificent! Go see it in the theatre and then buy it on dvd! The short film before the movie from Pixar is grade A also!

Pixar Short

Out to the Movies: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Oh brother! Where to begin on the latest Indiana Jones? Well, I decided to go with my co-worker Bob to see this after work yesterday. Needless to say, I am glad that I only paid the matinee price and not full price. I've had numerous friends see this movie and I got conflicting reports. Some people said the movie was good and others said it was bad. After experiencing the movie first hand I'd have to say that it was in the middle for me. There were parts that I found very interesting and then there were parts that I sat in my chair rolling my eyes.

There were parts of this movie when it felt like the old Indiana Jones days and I mean the good ones like Raiders and the Crusade, and others that were just off the chart in ludicrousness. The plot was interesting, but ultimately a little out there. I think Harrison Ford's action adventure days are over. Overall, I think my Mom and Dad would enjoy this movie, so I would recommend it to them.

In the world of Indiana Jones I liked the "Crystal Skull" better than I did "Temple of Doom".

Departmental Bowling

Today the Athletic Training Room Staff challenged the rest of the athletic department to lunch time bowling. We had a decent turnout with members of the staff from just about every department/office represented. We were divided into teams of three and then bowled against each other for two games. Lunch time bowling was pretty awesome. The food was good, the company was fun, and the bowling was intense.
I somehow managed to bowl the game of my life. I began the first game with consistent spares and then managed to register a turkey! For those non bowling minded people a "Turkey" is when a person bowls three strikes in a row. I rode that Turkey to an impressive score of 174. That just happened to be the high score of the event. My score also helped make up for the poor performance of my co-worker Mikes unstable "Norwegian" bowling technique.
I was definitely surprised by my first game score. It appears that my curling bowling style began to pay off. The second game was ok, but I did not do as well bowling a 125. Luckily just about everyone else dropped off the second game as well. When everything was said and done we the Athletic Trainer's reigned supreme.

Bring on the rematches!

Chumash Casino

Last night a bunch of co-workers and myself made our way to the Chumash Casino in the Santa Ynez Valley to partake in the all you can eat Seafood Buffet. This was my first trip to the Casino since moving to Santa Barbara. I was a bit surprised by the casino. Apparently there is not a no-smoking rule in this place as it was mildly smokey and ended up giving me a headache before we made it up to the buffet.
We had about 30 min before we could get in line for the buffet, so we ended up wasting some time playing a slot machine. I did not have a lucky touch. It amazes me how people can spend hours upon hours sitting at a slot machine pushing a button and pulling a lever. I just don't see the appeal.
When we finally made it to the buffet it was well worth the wait. There was a good selection of lobster, shrimp, fish, oysters, steamed clams, and my personal favorite clam chowder. I had about three cups of Clam Chowder and each one was deliciously wonderful. I decided to skip desert however since I am finally making progress on losing some weight from changes in my diet alone. Unfortunately, I will have a hard time continuing the trend during Laker Camp. Those cookies at Trop are hard to say no to.

Well that was my first casino experience. We are talking about going back to enjoy the Mexican food buffet on Monday nights and the Chocolate buffet on Thursday nights.