damomoo

I'm really slacking!

2007-06-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

It's not that I've been to busy to blog but sometimes I just don't get that push you need to start to document what happened to you or what thoughts you have. Been keeping busy with all three jobs.

The bank - I'm here monday through friday. It's a drag to get out of bed in the morning and put on a shirt and tie. Then to sit there in front of a computer and research this and that, get projects rolling or make sure they are in process. The good thing is I'm close to home and my schedule is pretty flexible. I truly have banker's hours. Plus, there's plenty of good places to eat around here.

The hotel - Things are ok at the hotel. I haven't been working too many hours there, usually 2 nights a week but they are graveyard hours so on the weekday I'm pulling all-nighters when I go to the bank. I try to do a shift here and there on a friday or saturday so that I can sleep in the next day. I haven't gotten burned by a guest lately either which is a good thing. We're already into June but we're still not selling out on most nights. The one hotel story I have right now is about a lady who was a guest at the hotel and was joining other guests for drinks at the bar. She got a little drunk and started pulling up her top and showing off (she wasn't much to look at). Later, they decided to go to another bar since ours closes early. Two of the guys left the bar early trying to ditch her saying she was too much to handle. One guy who did stay with her did it out of pity. The next morning (I just worked the evening shift so this was told to me) she wanted to get the names of the guys she went to the bar with because she claimed they drugged her and stole her purse and her phones. We knew she was lying and was drunk because the purse was given to us and I inspected it and found 2 phones and that's what we gave her back. Later she called the cops and wouldn't talk to them when they arrived. This was all at 5:30am. We never heard from her afterwards.

DJ'ing - I've done a couple gigs here and there. I'm trying to finalize using Serato so I ended up getting a new Macbook. I love this thing. It's fast, does what I need, has plenty of space and memory and looks slick. It's black. This past saturday I finally brought out the turntables with one CDJ as a backup. I used the turntables for mixing and it felt like old times. I'm going to bring these bad boys around more often. It is a little heavier and bulkier but once the party starts going you can tell the difference. I even bought new Ortofon needles that are DJ Q-Bert's model. I'm able to carry most of my music on a small portable Western Digital HD. I also got more music from my other DJ buddy, 45 gigs worth. You think you have enough space but then someone comes up with more music. Oh yeah, if you're wondering how the Hyphy movement is doing, it's alive and well in the Yay Area. It is all the kids around here want to hear.

Rest in Peace

2007-05-10T01:03:00.000-07:00

A gentleman passed away in our hotel the other night. They found him in his room at his desk still sitting in his chair. I think he was an older gentleman and they've already moved him to the coroner's office here in Fairfield. That's got to be a horrible way to go, by yourself in an unfamiliar place. I believe his wife may be coming by the hotel and I'm at a loss as far as what to say to her.

Glad I've got boys?

2007-04-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

So a couple weekends ago, the hotel hosted a debut for a girl, I believe from Vallejo. I wasn't actually here but my buddy relayed the story, pretty funny. After the debut, the dad got his daughter a hotel room here. The family left while the girl stayed here with some friends. Their room got a little crowded and my buddy called to the room warning them four different times. Now, he knew they were Pilipino so he tried to cut them some slack. Four warnings is actually too many. On the fourth call, the houseman, Abdul, went up to the room, knocked on the door, and saw that there were at least 12 people in the room, a no-no. He let one of the guys know that they were too loud so the guy looked back at him and said, "What are you gonna do about it?" Abdul called down to Michael, my buddy the night auditor, and Michael just lost it. At that point he called the police and they all went upstairs to kick them out. Michael is a father of a couple of teenagers but you wouldn't know it right away as he looks young himself. He did all the talking when they opened the door. He asked which one asked what he was going to do about it. None of them responded. They all had their heads down, scared to look at anyone. Abdul then said it was this guy, pointed at him, and Michael proceeded to berate the teen. He asked him if he was the one who said it, he wouldn't answer. Michael told him to look at him and not to look down. He was scared. The cops in the back were cracking up. After Michael got his point across they were all removed from the hotel.
The next day, the dad called and wanted to know what had happened. He had a feeling his daughter was lying to him. He asked Jan who was now on the morning shift how many boys were in the room. She found out that there were seven boys in all. I'm sure she was busted at that point.
When I heard about this story I had a couple of thoughts and I know this is my mature, parents side talking, but it's the right side. This girl disrespected her family, especially her father, and embarrassed him to kingdom come. Here is this girl who was given a huge 18th b-day party with at least 10K spent on the party, probably closer to 17K if I know the prices of dinner here and what not. She threw her little after party in the hotel after being told not to do it. She lied about why they were kicked out of the hotel. Her father called her on it and was proven right. When I was at that age I'm sure I disrespected my parents in a similar manner. Not at my debut but with a gift they may have given me and the cavalier attitude I may have had with that gift. Next was the attitude that those guys gave to my houseman, Abdul. After four warnings they have got to realize they were on thin ice. And then to show the disrespect to Michael and the staff was just the icing on the cake for them.
Am I glad that I have boys instead of girls? No. I know that someday my boys are going to do something that only boys can do and I'm going to blow my top. Knowing what Pilipino kids/teens are capable of doing it doesn't surprise me what happened but at the same time what happened to "Honor thy father and mother..."?

Busy Busy Busy

2007-04-05T22:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm working like a Jamaican, Got Dem Tree Jobs Mon! So I had to just post a couple freaky hotel tales. These are the tales, the freaky tales...

Last night I convinced a guest to try dinner in our restaurant, bragging about how fresh the food is and all that so he tried it. The hotel is pretty slow this week with it being holy week and all. He got into a nice conversation with our server, a pretty girl with blonde hair and highlights and all that. They were talking near the front desk while I was standing there and he told me dinner was great. Today, I hear from the houseman who stayed last night, that wasn't the only thing that was great. Apparently, they hooked up, bought about 50 bucks worth of beer and wine, and got it on all night. My houseman told me he went by the room around 5am and they were loud as you know what. That's the first I've heard of someone on our staff actually hooking up with a guest for the night. That's also grounds for termination...

Another night, I wasn't here, I had just left, but these two young guys came into the hotel past 12am. The houseman tried to track them down, thinking that maybe they just went to the bathroom. He didn't find them there so he kept searching. He made his was to the ballroom/meeting room area in the hallway and when he opened it up, what did he see? One guy on his knees with a you know what in his mouth. And these guys were young, not older but really young...

A couple came by and wanted a room, again after I had left. They had been here before, ebony and ivory. The female is really built, kinda like Anna Nicole Smith when she first got going in Playboy but with a little more cellulite. Anyways, she was drunk and they were demanding a room but my buddy told them we were sold out (we weren't). They proceeded to leave the hotel lobby but found their way to our bench right out front. With my housemen vaccuming the restaurant and the couple in full view they got it on right outside. They were out there for a good half hour. My buddy on watch that night called the cops but they came too late. Looks like he came just in time...

Next time, the spoiled Filipina debutante...

Finally, Bring That Beat Back, has come back...

2007-03-19T00:16:00.000-07:00

to the turntables. Yes, we gigged this past saturday. I had a wedding close to home, in Green Valley, for an old classmate from grammar school and high school. She's a year behind me and she actually found out from her co-worker, who is my old co-worker, that I was deejaying. She told me that I would get to see some old school folks and sure enough I did. It was really cool and weird at the same time but all good. We got to play a whole ton of different genres since they were an older white crowd. We played some hip hop here and there, but no hyphy and not much new stuff. Since Moe gave up red meat for lent, he gave me his steak. The plate had both salmon and steak, mmm mmm. Oh, and it was open bar, hosted.
On a side note, in my rush to get to the gig, I was loading up the van while also getting the boys ready since I had to bring them to my mom. I was in the garage with my house slippers moving things. After I got all the stuff, my clothes, dress shoes, the boys clothes and the like I rushed into the van and left the house. I always worry about leaving things plugged in like the toaster oven. I made sure that didn't happen. I was almost at the freeway when I realized my feet felt really light. I still had my slippers on! I forgot to throw on my tennis shoes. I remembered everything else but that. I called Moe, asked him if he'd left which he hadn't, and then asked him to bring me some slippers, the athletic kind. Embarrassing...

Nuthin but a G Thang baby...

2007-03-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

Yikes, we almost bought a new car. Some guests in the hotel own the Infinity dealer here in Fairfield and I visited them last Friday. They immediately offered the 2007 G35 sedan to me after I told them what I was looking for and the kind of payment. Here's the thing, they offered a fully loaded car, all the bells and whistles, for a lease. I got scared right away. The thought of having this car for about 4 years, having to keep it under 15K miles a year and then just turning it in at the end with no car to show, put the fear in me that it was just not the way to go. There are some pluses though. You get a great car at a lot lower monthly rate than a purchase. At the end of the lease you can get a new car, start a new contract with no money down. I still have the option of buying the car at the end but why bother when you can get a new one. I won't be a victim of depreciation on the car since the value goes way down after a purchase. I can return it, get a new car at a lower rate as well and did I mention its new? I hear in Canada leasing is the way of choice. They say if you don't really try to keep cars and you like a new one every now and then it's also the way to go. Also, with a lease you can write off the payment as part of your small business. But again, I go back to the fact that after spending so much money for 4 years, if I don't renew the lease and I don't purchase the car, I'm ass out.

Shout out to the Canucks

2007-03-03T05:06:00.000-08:00

When I'm at the hotel, I get to meet a lot of nice people (from all over the world actually). When I pull up the guest lists I also see their home addresses or whatever address they're using. This morning the first person to come down and check out was from none other than Surrey, B.C. I let him know that it was my third favorite place (sorry guys, it used to be Vancouver until we went to Amsterdam!). He mentioned that they call Vancouver, "Vansterdam" since it has similarities. I told UPSer the other day that we need to plan a trip out there.

Rain Rain Go Away

2007-02-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

Sitting by the window at work I can see the rain coming down like crazy. It was last year in Vacaville, New Years Eve of 2005 to 2006 that we had flooding all over the area. I-80 was flooded in Fairfield. In my neighborhood there was flooding all around the main roads. Over the summer a run-off ditch was built to collect the water from all the rains and it's now filled. Hopefully we don't get a repeat of that New Year's Eve but it's day's like these that make you worried, especially as a homeowner.

Big Spenders in the House

2007-02-24T18:49:00.000-08:00

There is a banquet going on right now with over 250 people. It is a wine tasting/dinner event with an auction. I believe it is a fundraising event for Northbay hospital here in Fairfield. I could have made a killing if I had a valet service because there were a ton of "Baller" cars from Maserti's to M3 convertibles to S600's. I was thinking my buddy here at the hotel, Abdul, who is the houseman for tonight, could have thrown on a coat and tie, take people's cash and driven some impressive cars.
Several people are dressed "black and white" but I feel sorry for those who didn't. You can see their faces as the turn the corner and see the rest of the party all spiffied-up. Some lady had a Louis Vitton overcoat with insignias all over her jacket. At least most people are acknowleding us as they pass by. There have been a couple of people who just walk on by but it's all good. At $275 a plate they're not really going to care whether or not I say something to them.

My heart aches for an old friend

2007-02-23T00:22:00.000-08:00

I was given the sad news just yesterday about Sam Largo, my friend and many others, but from that moment until late tonite did it hit me. I've lost family members much older who've spent many years on this earth. When I was in my teens I lost one of my best friends to a car accident and not a day goes by that I don't think of him. So now, to lose a friend who has lived as long as I have is heartbreaking. When someone leaves this life one of the things I think about is what were they were able to accomplish while here? Did they get to live a prosperous life? Were they able to contribute? I know that Sam did both but it hurts me knowing that he still had so much more to give. His work in the community was amazing. The stories he told me of the kids he worked with were at times heartbreaking but he showed so much compassion and care that you could feel that he was making a difference. No matter how difficult things got he still pressed on and did his life's work. I'll miss sharing the stage with you. I'll miss seeing you out of the blue when I least expected it. I'll miss your stories. I'll think of you often and pray that you're safe as I'm sure you are.

Switched hours at the Heartbreak Hotel

2007-02-19T22:38:00.000-08:00

My buddy is leaving the hotel so that he can pursue his new found job as a real estate agent. With that change the hotel offered me the Manager On Duty for the evening shift. So instead of working 11pm to 7am, I'll be coming here after the bank at 6pm until 11pm. Here and there I'll do the Night Audit shift but this MOD position is cool because it can set me up to be a manager in the future in a bigger position. We'll see. I'll be here four days a week and with these hours I'll be mainly checking guests in to the hotel. This is the general arrival time, after dinner, when late flights arrive for business guests and whatnot.

I still worked Night Audit on this past saturday which was funny. There were two big parties that were going on. One was a surprise party for Pete Sanchez, the Filipino mayor of Suisun City. The other was a 20+ high school reunion for Vacaville High's Class of 86. Being that it was Vacaville, especially in the 80s, you can kind of guess what the crowd was like. One thing for sure is they love their alcohol. When the bartender came by to drop his cash he showed me a huge envelope with bills. I think it came out to 1100 bucks. What's cool is watching these people and seeing what time has done. Most guys were balding while many women were showing cleavage but what stood out the most was they showed their age. Time does not do the caucasian race good when it comes to physical appearance. Gotta love those Asian genes! When 12am came rolling around, they were still loud as ever straggling out in the lobby looking for the next party. All good though since it kept my night busy keeping an eye on them and making sure they didn't disturb our hotel guests. I'm looking forward to my 20 year next year!

Valentine's Day is family day!

2007-02-15T16:11:00.000-08:00

With two kids and a long commute for the wife we decided to just chill and meet at the Fairfield mall and have an easy dinner of Mongolian noodles. The boys love noodles so it made it an easy choice. I drove by the hotel real quick to take care of something before I met them and saw that we were having a big restaurant event as well. Driving by other restaurants I could see how busy all the different places were. Parking lots were packed, people were driving around looking for parking and couples were waiting outside for their seats to be ready. It looked like a hectic time to try and have dinner at a restaurant. Even in the mall where there is a Red Robin and an Applebee's people were waiting for long periods. Although it would have been nice to take the wife out, just her and I, we enjoy our moments as a family.

Guitar Hero II Rocks

2007-02-12T03:45:00.000-08:00

I went out and bought Guitar Hero II for PS2, even though I don't have a PSII. I figured I would just borrow one from my buddy who has been stuck playing his Xbox 360 and neglecting his PS2. I've been seeing it at Best Buy and playing the demo and I just knew that it would be a ton of fun. I was right. From the get-go, the songs they chose for the game just rock, there's no other way to describe them. From Motley Crue to Cheap Trick to Black Sabbath, the music just keeps coming. I've been playing songs at a medium skill level but I have yet to get a five star review. I can pass the songs and have been going through the different types of rock styles which gives me more and more music to try. I think my octavina playing helps a little with the fingering as well as my knowledge of the songs themselves. One key if you start playing, practice strumming up and down instead of just down all the time. Andres is rocking out on the game also. It's amazing how natural he looks playing the game. He must get it from his ninong OJ!

Props to my Mary Kay gal

2007-02-12T03:35:00.001-08:00

The wife has been working hard with putting her Mary Kay business together. I'm really impressed by how organized she's been. Keep in mind that this is someone who is still working full-time in San Pablo, 45 miles away from our home. We've had event after event and she still keeps her smile rain or shine and I'm having fun supporting her in this adventure. Even Andres and Emilio are into it as well.

Slow start to the DJ season

2007-02-12T03:31:00.000-08:00

I haven't had any gigs ever since the end of the new year. It's kind of been a nice break but at the same time, I miss spinning and moving a crowd. I'm still hoping for a new laptop, one that will give me the speed to run my Serato to the best of its ability. There's been so many new improvements to it that it may be time to bring out the real MKII 1200s. We shall see. I do have some upcoming gigs in March which will be nice. One is a wedding for an old classmate from my grammar school days. She's actually a year younger than me but I know a lot of the people who will be at the wedding so it should be interesting.

New hotel horror stories

2007-02-06T15:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I worked on Saturday night at the hotel after being there thursday night/friday morning. Saturdays usually have wedding parties in the hotel or some kind of party people since they get the hall for whatever event they may have. My buddy who got me the hotel job was still there finishing his shift and was waiting for another buddy of ours to come by since they were going to go out. So of course I'll be by myself doing my thing. At about 12:00am, a group of youngsters come by, 3 of them, asking how much a room is. My buddy helps them but because they are a little suspicious he tells them it's $199. It was actually at $129 but if someone will pay it we'll take it, so long as the credit card works and they're over 18 years old.

So they say they'll take the room, he get their credit card and an id and they past all of our hurdles. When one of them comes by with some food and drinks from our pantry I smell something distinct. The time is now 4:20. (Wink Wink!) They ask for a smoking room which happens to be on the first floor. That kind of helps me because if they're going to party and be noisy nothing will make me happier than to have to call the cops to get them out and still make them pay. After they got their room two young girls came to the front desk asking where the gentlemen went and I direct them to the room. So as the night goes on it's just me and the houseman. I had some people go by the room to check on the noise and smell but so far no problems. I had them do this about 4 separate times just in case. I didn't get any calls of complaints, we couldn't smell anything funny and for the most part they were quiet. I go home, sunday rolls along and I'm not working at the hotel, and I don't talk to anyone from the hotel.

Monday morning I meet up with my buddy who works here at the bank as well as the hotel, the same guy, and he tells me about room 104. Sunday they wanted to extend their stay and check out on monday. One guy comes by and wants more food from the pantry and wants to charge it to the room. When it's posted the credit card fails. This is the chance to get them out of the hotel since we don't allow a stay without a valid one. At 8pm sunday they check out and we have the room looked at to prepare it to be cleaned. It was a mess...

Someone threw up on the carpet. The furniture for the room, a double-bed room, was moved all over the place. The bathroom was also a mess with condoms on the floor. It was all jacked up. The room had to be placed as out of order which sucked because we were sold out that night but couldn't make this room available to anyone. I'm not sure if we'll be able to recoup any of the losses incurred from carpet cleaning and whatnot. Usually, when that happens and since we have a credit card we can charge a gang-load of things to them. I'll update later when I know what final steps we took on them.

Now, I'm someone who likes to give people the benefit of the doubt and a lot of times I feel that's part of my downfall. I don't like to think the worst of people because I like to believe in the good in them. I can actually be quite gullible. In this case it was like watching a car wreck in the rain because you had all the factors of a perfect storm in play: three guys (they were from Richmond), illegal drugs, young females and a really late check-in. We both wanted to say no and that we were sold out but wouldn't we be proving someone right of a charge of racism? At what point does common sense/perception & a racism claim become valid. What happens to the next set of people who might "fit the description" but mean no harm? Maybe they're too drunk or high to continue on the road and are responsible enough to realize that they need to stop driving and get a room. I do know that with all of the factors from this last event we should have said we have no rooms but it's too late for that. I do know that they've ruined it for anyone else that may be like them but legitimately need a room.

Pagod Na Ako!

2007-01-29T14:19:00.000-08:00

Ugh, I'm on an all-nighter right now since I'm posting from the bank and I worked last night at the hotel. I'm rolling through the night audit and I'm really picking it up. I can get my work done in close to two hours and then just sit around for the remaining five left in the shift. It can make for a really boring night. Then again, after reading about this I've been a little more cautious of who I let in the hotel. Couple things about the front desk. We only have two cash drawers and they only have $250 in each one. So if you rob us you get a whopping 500 bucks, maybe, if we haven't given away change. I don't know the combination to the safe, and it's not like you can steal a nights stay from me. Could you image me checking in some guy after he threatens me and says, "Give me a room!"? Even the safe deposit boxes aren't used very often.
Some poor gentleman who was in the hotel because he was visiting a hospital in the area had to call an ambulance. They brought him and his wife down with him shirtless and on the gurney and into the ambulance out in the cold. Also, since we host a lot of airmen from Travis AFB there are a lot of young guys hanging out, trying to talk to our young front desk girls. When I answer the phones I have to transfer calls to the different guests rooms. This whole week I've received a call from a girl who almost always has a baby crying in the background and she wants to talk to her husband. I don't think he cares about answering her calls since he's rarely in his room but usually in the business center on the internet. A lot of guys surf porn and some guys even look for prostitutes. A couple of guys have bought condoms from our little "pantry". I haven't noticed any "ladies of the night" come around yet but I'll be sure to post it if I do.

Fighting off a cold

2007-01-26T03:56:00.000-08:00

The family has been staying home this week while the wife has been sick. The boys are ok but they're home since she can't take them to school. As for myself I've been feeling the tingling in the back of my throat ever since tuesday and as soon as I get to work I get some hot tea and soothe the itch in my throat. It works and gets me through the day but sure enough the next morning it's there again. Now I'm at the hotel which is sold out but it's really quiet. I've got to do an all nighter tonight since I'll be bringing the Matrix to the shop to replace the catalytic converter (gadzooks it's expensive). Then I've got some meetings with some big-wigs but as soon as the car is done I'm hoping I can bolt from work. The wife is doing her Mary Kay thing this weekend also so I'll be solo for a day and a half. I'll be with the kids taking them to soccer practice in the morning then off to the airport to take UPSer there. I should be at practice on sunday but I've got to scabbed up knees that are still healing, ouch!

Coffee done right!

2007-01-23T11:40:00.000-08:00

Now this is what I call gettin' your coffee grind on!

The Long Road Back

2007-01-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

After buying a nice Samsung DLP tv and the NFL Championship Sunday all raring to go I went to Likha practice. Instead of pro football in HD it was steamy studio in Oakland. No sooner than we arrived Rudi calls all the guys and it's knee-spin time. With all the new guys and the oldies we all lined up one right after the other turning to Rudi's rhythm. I knew I got the email but for some reason I just didn't think I'd make it out onto the floor but sure enough, me without my kneepads but wearing jeans I gave it a shot. Mind you the last active thing I've done is play softball back in October. Even then in softball I'm not moving around as much but here in the studio I can tell it's going to be a long day. I can tell that my body still knows the movement and I'm able to do them but I can feel a tingle in my hamstring just warning me be careful. Also after four or five turns in a row (thank God Moe had kneepads to share later on!) I was getting dizzy. It was almost like being at a picnic and playing "dizzy-izzy", the game where you spin around a bat and then try to run to a spot. Later, it was uya-oy which for the most part again, I still remember and can do. The hamstring was looking at the other hamstring wondering what the hell I thought I was doing with this old body. They held up though although they're making me pay for it today.

Design On A Dime (multiplied by 14990!)

2007-01-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

What better way to redesign your family room than by adding electronics! Actually, what we did, since the wife and I have been hankerin' for a new tv in our bedroom, was look for a new one. What we ended up doing was getting a new tv for the family room and bring up the Sony to the bedroom. I had been looking for a nice flat screen to put in our bedroom. Whether on eBay or at Best Buy or Fry's I couldn't commit to one tv. The one thing I did know was that I wasn't going to go plasma even though the prices have come down like crazy. I thought about going to Costco since you can buy it from them and then return it easily whenever you're tired of it. Not that you can just go there and tell them that but the return policy is a piece of cake. Anyways, a screen size that I was looking for was 42' or bigger and a price around $1000 to $1400, but when that's the range you end up with brand names that are unfamiliar like Maxent or Memorex (you get the idea). After going to the Warrior game on Monday we made our way back to Vacaville with a detour through Concord. We made our way to Fry's and looked around and when we got to the tv's the wife and I decided to take the plunge and get one. The LCD screens are amazing and although the pictures on the screens that you see aren't a true view of what you'll see at home you can tell that the HD will be awesome. Since the broadcast of the tv signal is split so many times by the different screens they have you'll see a lot of wavy lines and what not. The bigger 42' and beyond LCD screens are above $1700 so we made our way to LCD projection. Techincally, the picture is not as nice as a full LCD but it's very hard to tell the difference. We came across a Samsung 50' DLP with 1080P HD and for the price and features saw that this was the way to go. Now, 1080p broadcasts are not out there yet, only 1080i, but that's the direction it's moving so we went with that. Also, Blu-ray does have 1080p capability and if we ever get a PS3 then we got it covered. So tuesday night my buddy from the bank came over, helped me move 3 tvs around the house, hooked up the new one and Whoomp, There It Is. We watched a little of King Kong on HD and it was really impressive. I have to say it looked better than the Sony and it's still not even 1080p. I also hooked up the Sony in our bedroom also with HD and it's really nice up there. It almost covers the wall but we need a new stand. We're doing something for the Superbowl so if you're free come on by and check it out.

Night Moves

2007-01-16T04:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted much about my new position at the bank. There actually is a lot going on there but it's definitely not as exciting as the hotel. Just this past Sunday night there were two separate rooms that were having their own party. I came in at 11pm and was told that a guest was complaining about the noise next door and was going to call the cops. The girls who worked before me said that the noise wasn't that bad and that he was just overreacting. Boy were they wrong. Apparently this party got into the 20s with people hanging in the hallways and making noise there as well. The guest that called the police later spoke with me and questioned why nothing was done about them. Because I took the girls word on the situation I thought the best way to solve the issue was to get them a new room and move them away from the complaining gentleman. He later called me and asked if they were still in the hotel. He said that they should have been ejected and he was right but because I wasn't given the whole story I didn't kick them out. On the other hand the police did come and I think the party people got the hint as I had them remove their remaining guests from the hotel.

Later, I met some people who were here because their friend had returned from Iraq. They had a gathering but not as large but they still knew how to make a lot of noise. I spoke to them three different times warning them about their noise level and they seemed to get the hint. But sure enough at 3am a gentleman called me and yelled about the noise next door. I called up to the noise maker's room and got no reply so I called the police to help me escort them out. When we went to the room we found alcohol bottles all over the place, three guys with two girls. The cops were straight with them and knew that they were drunk. One guy on the couch had a black eye and wouldn't stop making smart comments and the guy who just got back from Iraq was scared. Here he was in a room full of alcohol and the girls were underage. So as the cops try to get info they are to drunk to answer the questions properly and they are ready to be taken to jail to sober up. I was starting to feel sorry for the soldier because I could just imagine what kind of trouble he would be in but after being lied to so many times and seeing the room in the state that it was it didn't matter anymore. The officer then told them all to take a cab home and that they were just going to be removed from the hotel. They lucked out so bad.

The other night while I was off, some guy came storming into the hotel looking for his wife who was with another man in the hotel. He went to the 2nd floor and knocked on all the doors looking for her all while it was 1 in the morning. He even called in a bomb threat to the hotel. The eventually talked and he came back and brought their kids to her. She asked to be kept in the hotel and not to be called the whole day and night. I have no idea what I would have done in that situation but I hope it would be the right thing.

One last, apparently a gal who worked with us at the Front Desk (I've worked with her a couple times), had a problem getting here on-time for her 6am shift start. Sometimes she would just no-call no-show. She was eventually fired and we wondered what she would do considering she had an apartment to pay. I'll let you all guess what she's doing now to make that money...

Back To The Hotel

2007-01-08T03:02:00.000-08:00

I'm here again, late night/early morning at the hotel. We had such a long week and weekend, between work for the wife and I as well as taking care of the boys and preparing and going to the Likha retreat. I had been putting a lot of hours in at the hotel but this week I only worked on thursday night/friday morning. But that also meant going to the bank the following morning and then going to the retreat that night. I actually made it through the whole day and only fell asleep late friday night while at Bodega Bay.

The next day was the big retreat and it was a lot of fun. First off, the place Herna got was beautiful. Sure it was scary driving out there at night and you weren't really sure if you were following the yahoo maps correctly but if you did, you made it there within the projected time. The house was huge with several bedrooms and a bonus room upstairs. If this was a house closer to the Bay Area it would top 1 million easily and it may very well have been one even in the deep part of Sonoma county. Positivity flowed throughout the day and we achieved a lot of things as well. Hopefully it translates to a good season but so many things can happen throughout the year that you just can't predict. And although the wife and I both have a lot of things we'd like to accomplish this year outside of the dance troupe we just see it as such a big part of our lives that we can't walk away so easily.

The nice thing about the hotel is that as soon as I'm done with my end of the night duties, which is usually around 2:30-3:00am, I don't have much to do except sit here and go on the computer. I might try to take a nap but you never know when someone might show up for a late check-in. Also, other vendors like the pastries guy or the newspaper guys shows up throughout the night that you have to be ready for them. Monday morning, I was planning on going to work at the bank but unfortunately our babysitting plans fell through so I'll need to stay home with the boys. Oh well, if I can just get them to keep their rooms clean. Wish me luck.

Last gig of the year

2006-12-31T10:10:00.000-08:00

The wife and I went to Chinatown in SF last night for her old co-worker's wedding. The Chinese banquet was great with a ton of food but check this out. We were seated with several of her old co-workers in a table in the back. The only problem was that they weren't there yet. We sat at a table getting dish after dish all by ourselves. First the jellyfish, then chicken, then honey walnut prawns, then soup, then scallops, then duck, then rice, you get the idea. Thankfully, some people who were sitting in the vegetarian table who weren't vegetarian ended up joining us.

Later on, when the dancing started, I got the dancefloor moving. Then I noticed the Serato was acting up. It would cut out the song in mid-stream and then catch up later. The whole while though, the song would go quiet. I tried not to panic and ended up trying to reboot and play regular cds for awhile. I ended up doing that for the rest of the night. I've been really loving the Serato because I'm able to pull music left and right without changing cds. I was getting a nice flow but now it was taken away from me and I had to go back to the old way (not that old, but old enough).

The wife and I got to do a little dancing as well since it started to thin out and everyone was just chillin. We were doing our worst "Dancing With The Stars" impression. When we were packed up I ran to the garage up the street to get the car when I was joined but a couple who were guests as well. The wife looked at me and then looked surprised, realizing I was the deejay and that I was also dancing. She said you looked much bigger out there on the dancefloor. But now that I see you you're not that big. That right there made me want to hop on a treadmill and run for miles. If I could only keep that as a new year's resolution for 2007.

All Over The Map

2006-12-29T04:18:00.000-08:00

I'm here again at the hotel on an early friday morning. I've been at the hotel practically every night this week, although I haven't stayed all night, just training on what I need to know and then going home for the rest of the night. Tonight though is an "all-nighter" night. Luckily, the houseman with me is cool and we've worked it so that each of us can take a nap while the other stays awake. I'm finally getting the hang of the night audit and am more confident with what my duties are and how to fulfill them.

I'm starting to see the ugliness in some guests. Some people complain about everything. One lady who has been here all week complained four days later that her room smelled of smoke. She's on the non-smoking floor with a non-smoking room. The other day, some couple came in and started taking items from the coffee area like tea bags and sugar. She took the whole bin and was going to take it to her car. Then, she and her boyfriend began taking food from the fruit area, dropped the plate while making a big scene, and then tried to take more food. She didn't even try to clean up what she dropped. She was actually stealing from the buffet and then we ended up calling the police. They had a car with stolen plates, nice. Another night some people were smoking weed in their room and being loud. The lady who complained about the smoke complained about their noise and it turned out there were three girls partying with some guy, drinking as well. We called the cops on them but the girls left. We warned the gentleman that he'd be removed from the hotel. When he checked out his credit card was declined. I wasn't here at that time but I don't know what I'd do at that point. I'd be furious first of all but the customer service in me would get it straightened out.

Merry Christmas baby... And a Happy New Year

2006-12-25T03:36:00.000-08:00

I'm here at the hotel, doing my night audit thing. I started at 10:00pm, X-mas eve, and it's now 3:30am, X-mas day. The wife and kids are staying in Concord with her brother and his family. She did such a great job this year of preparing all the gifts and making sure we didn't miss anyone. I'll be getting off at either 6:00 or 7:00am, depending on the person who's coming in after me. It's really dead here. The houseman here with me is kind of new also so we're both winging it, as far as what we're supposed to be doing. I've been working almost every night here trying to get the hang of what needs to be done. I run reports, close out credit cards, all those things involved with a hotel. It's my first night to be by myself and so far it's been pretty easy. I was really scared of doing it considering at this point of the night, the hotel is mine. I'm the manager of a 150 room hotel, yikes.

A lady just arrived as a walk-in. She was Pinay and she flew in from NY via Atlanta. She is the ambassador to South Africa for the U.S. Really nice woman who said she spends a lot of time in Europe, Luxemborg to be exact. I told her about Likha and mentioned that we'll be in Spain and Greece next year and that she should bring us in somewhere. She's also in NY so I said "Send us there!" We'll see since I'll be giving her my card and I now have hers.

When I'm done here I'll be going home to sleep and then meeting the family at my mom and pops place where my side of the family is meeting. My mom is cooking a prime rib so I'm looking forward to that. The boys are going to be so spoiled this year because I know all of their relatives and family friends have hooked it up. Even the wife and I have been spoiling them all the way up to X-mas. After my parents house we'll be going to the wife's side of the family in Lafayette. Thankfully we don't have to drive far this year. I'm actually working again at 11:00pm X-mas night here again so I can't stay out too late.

On a quick note, I've been a big ebay whore, bidding on all kinds of things left and right. I Won a bid for some new Kenneth Cole shoes but the seller sent the wrong shoes as mine were switched with another winning bidder. We're supposed to swap shoes but mine haven't arrived yet whereas his has. Also, we bought the wife a new camera, much like Ms. Luzon's Canon. It should be arriving after X-mas. Lastly I've been bidding on a new MacBook Pro adn use it as a business expense. I'm going to overhaul and redo my whole music list for the year so that I'm not overloading what I bring to gigs and it'll be simplified, I hope... I'm looking to get a 15 or 17in core duo or core 2 duo with at least a 120g hd and 1gb mem. I've lost a couple of bids which I'm actually thankful for as they got pretty high. I've also looked on the apple.com site for refurbished ones. It still looks like the ebay macs are less expensive but you never know if your seller is a bad one. That's a lot of money to be putting out and getting nothing in return. So i'm on the look out if you know of anyone getting rid of one.

Merry Christmas everyone and thank you for all of your love and support in one of the tougher years I've experienced. I'm looking forward to seeing my boys smiles when they get their gifts. The wife and I took care of each other already but we'll take joy in seeing our family go through another blessed year.

Him Got Too Many Jobs Man...

2006-12-22T17:24:00.000-08:00

I'm the computer guy, the hotel guy, the deejay, the emcee, the house cleaner... Oh boy, where to begin. So you know that I've had a ton of gigs this month. I've got a couple coming up, one next week and one in January, but nothing like this last rush of parties that I went to in December. Along with that, I'd been trying a new schedule at the hotel. I was going to do Night Audit full-time and be at the hotel Sunday through Thursday. After seeing my paycheck I realized there was no way we could continue that unless I had a gig every weekend to supplement the income. But I don't so I looked around and lo and behold I received two calls, one from BofA, my old place, and the other from the place with no internet that laid me off. After careful consideration, mainly commuting and the kids school, we went with the one that laid me off. At first I felt as if I was tucking my tail between my legs and running back but after looking at it from afar, they rewarded me with one of the biggest breaks I've had in a long, long, long time. Thankfully the wife was so supportive. All of you who helped me get gigs here and there, especially the Tuason's on both side, made my summer for me and my family amazing. I still got to do some projects for the house. We took an amazing vacation this year and I still got to spend time with my sons. Now though, with all the jobs I'm taking on it's been a little tough on the family but it's temporary. I'll be doing part time at the hotel and one of my buddies will be joining me there as well. I've got a whole new position here at the bank, Information Security Officer, with a new duo core PC and INTERNET! They even gave me a cellphone so I'm carrying two around on my belt like a nerd. (Gosh, I never thought I'd need to do that!) I'm still close to home in both jobs and soon enough the wife will be working closer to home with her new startup. Looks like the Laxa family is ending the year on an exciting note and that 2007 is looking bright.

Bring That Beat Back is gettin' busy!

2006-12-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

Man, in this month of December, I have had gig after gig after gig. Thank God too because with this house comes a huge property tax and half of it was due this month as well. And with me not working as much and the hotel pay being what it is, it's a welcome dj schedule for me.

On Dec 1st I had a gig for the San Pablo Police dept. At the Sevilla wedding I did in the summer an officer was there and liked the work we did for them so he hired us for their X-mas party. It was on a friday night and it was scheduled from 6pm to 12am so we were going to be busy. The PD had a nice ceremony for awards that they gave out, including officer of the year. The Chief was the emcee and he really had his officers clinging to his every word. The winner was a female cop who was also a martial arts champ. When the dinner was over we started the dancing but apparently someone had a couple suites upstairs with a ton of alcohol so a lot of the officers went there instead. It was all good since we still had a good crowd, mostly administration, who hung out and danced. One thing that did surprise me with SPPD, not a lot of black cops. Hmmm...

The next day I had a wedding reception in SF for a nice couple that knew Ledge, who referred us (thanks man!). The bride is a nurse and the groom is a doctor trying to finish up his residency. Also, she was Pinay and he was Vietnamese. The reception took place at Yank Sing in the Rincon center and I was setup in this corner spot with my huge Mackie speakers. I was cramped but it worked out anyways. They had the huge 12 course meal with all kinds of food but I had a vendor plate, one that could have been from Panda Express. It was actually perfect because I was busy doing things throughout the night but seeing those honey walnut shrimp... man. When we finished up the ceremonial portions of the reception we had just over a half hour of dancing. It was cool for me because I could just quick mix my way through the night and get all kinds of music out of the way. Overall, the reception turned out nicely and the couple was happy with the work.

A week later I had offered to dj for my aunt's church function and she invited our whole family. So the wife and kids joined me as we made our way to the Coast Guard facility in Alameda. It was pouring that day. The guard needed both the registration and proof of insurance and I couldn't find the current insurance paper. She was going to make me park in the lot and walk my ass and all my equipment over to the hall a block and a half away. Thankfully, the wife found our current one and we made it in. The gig was easy as the ladies gave me a cd with their favorite line-dance songs. Amazingly, they did the same line-dance to all different songs. Go figure. It was a cross between the electric slide and Saturday Night Fever.
Sunday, I played for the Likha X-mas party but with it being a Sunday night, most people left pretty early. We hung out for a little while with the usual suspects and ended the weekend. Oh, the next day, I had orientation at my new job.

Again, the next Friday I had a gig for the X-mas party of Catholic Healthcare West. We did their party last year which was accompanied with a Monte Carlo night. Most people gamble last year but this year since it was just dinner and dancing the pressure was on me to keep the party going. By the way, I was back at the Rincon center at Yank Sing. That's where they held their party and I got another vendor plate. I got the crowd going with a little Michael Jackson and moved from genre to genre, swing to cha cha to hip hop. By the end of the night, it was mainly hip hoppers and old schoolers and they stayed till the end. Another good gig overall. Thanks Marilen!

Saturday I deejayed a wedding over in Palo Alto on the 280 side. This was a Korean American couple who saw us at another wedding as well. This reception was more chill as the hall itself fit around 110 with a X-mas tree in the room as well. It was mainly eating and speeches but they did stick around a little for some dancing. One touching moment was seeing the father of the bride play saxophone for his daughter. She had a hard time keeping the tears from flowing and he played very well. The bride and groom were very gracious to me and they showed their appreciation with a really nice tip. I was shocked but very grateful.

I still have one more gig, a wedding for one of the wife's old co-workers. This one is on the day before New Year's eve. I don't have a New Year's gig although I would have like to have played somewhere. I think my mixing and music selection has improved and that I could hold my own in a big event. But with December being as busy as it is, I can use the break.

Please Pardon Pinoys Poor Posting

2006-12-17T10:32:00.000-08:00

I'm slacking and I apologize. A lot has been going on in the past few weeks but I plan on getting caught up and documenting it all. Many gigs have been going on and I'm working like crazy between the weekend gigs, the hotel and now the bank. Yes, the bank... that laid me off.. yes that one. I'll explain it all but I'm still working as I type. Oh, at least back at the bank I now have internet access. Yes!

A friend in need...

2006-12-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

As you may have seen and read from the wife's page, a great friend of ours from our days of college is looking for a bone marrow donor for his son, Harrison. Their struggle is now being documented on sfgate.com . It's really encouraging to see the outpouring of support they are receiving from the SFFD and we're going to do our part to help him as well.

Chillin at 3:34am

2006-11-30T03:40:00.000-08:00

I'm here on the graveyard shift with Patrick who is showing me the ropes. He's a really nice guy, Pinoy, older at 38, and we're pretty much done with what he does every night as the Night Auditor. Basically it's closing out the day's totals and getting reports ready for the day shift to look over. Tomorrow when I come in I'll be running all the reports while he watches and assists me. From the looks of it, although it's a lot of reports and paper it's really straight forward and once you get the daily reports done, the rest of the night is yours. Right now we're chillin at our PCs, me on my Mac that I brought since we've got wireless all over the hotel and it's free. I'm actually in the lobby in front of the fireplace. Never had a job like this before.

So as fate goes I received two phone calls, each of them from previous employers. My last place, the one that laid me off, has a position in security which handles things like VPN for employees. I know I can get that one done. The other is from BofA, also at my old department but in a different position. As much as I love BofA it's a lot further with a bridge to cross. But I know I could hop into the position and run with it. I'm interviewing this morning for the security position. If I take it I'll do part-time here at the hotel. I like it here and the wife loves the benefit of a cheap room at any of the Hilton family hotels, 39.99 a night...

First day of graveyard

2006-11-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

I'm going to do the graveyard shift tonight but I'm still in training. I'll be working with another guy and apparently it's just going to be himself, me and a guy from hotel maintenance. I'm trying to prepare myself for staying up for the shift. It's kind of like the other day on black friday when we went shopping. I basically pulled an all-nighter for that. Apparently there is not a lot going on throughout the shift so it's not like it's strenuous. Most people check-in by 11pm and not many if any come in after that. After that it's just running reports and closing the books for that night. I'll be bringing my laptop and doing a couple things on it but I have a feeling I'm going to be bored, really bored...

Early Check-In

2006-11-26T13:37:00.000-08:00

I had to cover a shift for someone today after they called in sick. I left here at 11pm and I came back at 8am, woo hoo! Anyways, the guests all thought that I never left and that I'd been here since last night and it sure feels like it. This afternoon there is an event in one of our ballrooms by a group called My Artist's Place and it's a mad house. There are hundreds of people here with their children for a sort of entertainment portfolio for kids, almost like a casting call. I don't know if Andres and Emilio would be too young to come and get their pictures and video done but it would be pretty cool considering this is a free charity service. I met regret it if either of them turn out to be like Danny Bonaduce.

Small world

2006-11-25T21:19:00.000-08:00

Keem is playing with his band tonight at an event in my hotel. It's a family reuinion/surprise 60th b-day party. The family is Filipino and many of them are staying in the hotel this weekend. Really nice people and they're helping the time move forward. Front desk can be dead...

Update: Keem is blowin' up in there! He's doing "Shout" and the crowd is into it.

Slowly but surely

2006-11-22T00:12:00.000-08:00

My training at the hotel is moving along. For most of the time I'm on the computer doing the training modules which are pretty straight forward. I haven't really worked a full day since my manager just tells me to go home once I've finished doing what he's asked me to do. Eventually I'll be at the front desk, checking people in and out. The plan is to make me one of the managers on duty. When I make the switch to graveyard you'll probably see me posting blogs at 4:00am since I'll have all that time to just chill at the front desk. I'll be able to bring my own laptop and use the hotel's wireless network instead of using our computers at the desk. There are two computers in an office behind our station which guests are allowed to use. The other day I saw a guy who is staying the whole month of November on business. He was bored enough to go onto Craigslist and look for erotic services. I don't know if anyone came to the hotel for him but I heard on saturday they had to kick out two ladies in the lobby who may have been prostitutes.

First day pains

2006-11-17T09:30:00.000-08:00

As you know, that first day of work is not much work at all. Whether you're just filling out paperwork or meeting people all over the place whose names you'll forget immediately (thank God we all wear name tags), my first day was uneventful. All I did was sit at a computer and do some PC training on the hotel software. When it started off it taught you what a mouse was and how to use the tab key to move around without the mouse. Tough stuff... Luckily, my manager who was leaving early that night let me leave after just five hours of being there. I got in at 6pm, he left at 7pm and said I could leave at 11pm. Good thing too because after sitting there doing all the different modules I was bored as hell. It should be a piece of cake as far as the software is concerned and dealing with customers looks to be the hardest part (if hard at all). Our lunch is paid for by the hotel so I get to go to the kitchen an order up whatever is on the menu, although there is an employee menu compared to the restaurant menu. Also, if there's an event like a banquet whatever food plates may be left is offered to us as well like prime rib. Mmm mmm, red meat....

Me and Paris

2006-11-15T22:44:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been since May that I've been chillin at home and taking in that unemployment check. Well, looks like those days are over. A buddy of mine works at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fairfield. (We did a gig there for Likha.) They were looking for someone to be the night auditor, a graveyard shift, and they found their sucker. With my unemployment kinda waning and a need to do something other than stay home, I decided to give it a shot. From the manager's perspective, the one who interviewed me, he sold me on the ability to move up and move up quick. With my position, I'm going to have to learn the in's and out's of the whole hotel. Of course, there are Hilton and Embassy Suite hotels all over that give me the opportunity to move around as well. I believe that I fit this job well in that I have great customer service skills. I have a feeling my experience at the Oakland Arena as a Luxury Suite Concierge is going to pay off. There's not too many places where you have people who have a lot of money and like to let you know about it or people who think they're important just because they're in a suite as a guest. The hotel and the suite are going to be very similar. The position will be Sunday night to Friday morning so I'll still be able to do gigs Friday through Sunday. They are also very flexible with schedules and that is also one of the reasons I took the job. I'm still hoping I can do the dj thing full-time. I'll still do my best to get that done, but now I have an opportunity to sell my business to wedding clients to our hotel as well. I can even get on the preferred vendors list. So I'll be looking our for Paris Hilton when she makes her trip out to Fairfield. I'm also looking forward to blogging about things I encounter at the hotel late at night (wink, wink...).

Another wedding coming up

2006-11-15T00:31:00.000-08:00

I met with a couple and their emcee tonite in the city, Borders at Stonestown. I got there right before 9pm as I was meeting them at 9:30pm. As I got to the parking lot I saw a big sign hanging in front of the Nordstrom's entrance, "Half Yearly Sale". In college at SFSU right next door I was Nordstrom's little beeyotch shopping there like I could afford it with my Nordstrom credit card. I was tempted to go in and look around but I think the mall was closing so I didn't even bother trying. So instead I hung out in Border's looking at the different books in different sections. I met them all and we discussed their plans for the reception. They are Korean so it sounds like it's going to be a typical wedding reception. One thing I did notice is that both Chinese and Koreans take time to have someone from each family introduce and thank all the different family members who made it to the reception. I guess it's kind of like giving props to all of them. I haven't really had to set aside time at Pilipino weddings to do that. Sure the couple might acknowledge family members as well as friends who are in attendance but not someone from each side of the family. I have seen parents who have given speeches and have thanked family members for attending but it was never in the itinerary. Anyways, one thing the groom did say that could be said for Chinese weddings as well is that Koreans don't dance. We've always gotten comments at events that the music that we played was great and that people had a great time but we've seen that the dancing can be very limited. Sometimes you think it's your own music selection but then you just start seeing a pattern in that these groups of people just don't dance. The wife believes it too. She would know too with all her years working at the old OACC in downtown Oakland's Chinatown. The bride and groom said though that they will have a lot of non-Korean attendees that will party. Also, they are having an open bar and that should loosen things up a bit as well. As far as music is concerned the groom said he likes Old School R&B and some old High Energy music. He mentioned Connie's "Funky Little Beat" which got me smiling. I'll give that song a shot that night.

On the couch... vegetate.. we did...

2006-11-13T14:47:00.000-08:00

Ugh, it's so nice to just stay home for a day or two and with the family on a holiday on friday it gave us the opportunity to just chill. What better way to do that than with an HDTV and Cinemax giving us non-stop Star Wars in HD all weekend long. From the whiny Anakin to the salvation of Darth Vader we chilled on the couch friday and saturday enjoying all six episodes. (It was on sunday as well but that was Forty-Niner day.) I'm a sucker for Star Wars and although I know EP I-III has it's critics, and I'm kind of one of them, I feel like I'm just glad that we got to see a prequel to the EP IV-VI. Like the saying goes, "you don't really know where you're going unless you know where you've been".

I can breathe!!!!

2006-11-07T22:43:00.000-08:00

The House of Representatives has been returned to the people, not the Republicans. I say the people because they represent us. Not just their own political party but all of us in this great country. Republicans have lost their priorities. They are Republicans first and Americans second. They only care about staying in power. Well, the American people called them on it and have booted them out of the House and now the Senate may go to the Democrats as well. That will be an amazing feat and will show that the American people have awaken and are ready to take the country forward together. One party rule has shown itself to be such a tremendous failure and truthfully, the Republicans asked for it. Good for them. Now it's up to us to keep the pressure on the Democrats to continue to move forward and listen to what Americans truly want, world peace.

Day for change?

2006-11-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

I haven't been politically blogging in a long while but everyday I read Op-Eds and political blogs and sites. I've been one of those people who wondered when America was going to wake up from this nightmare and ask what is going on with this country. The one thing I haven't done is actually go out and get active and I'm ashamed of that. I've had the time since I haven't been working. But I've been at home complaining unfortunately not getting active. In college I had no problem in missing a class or two to attend a rally protesting student fee hikes or the Gulf War or the Rodney King verdict. I think this is how the republicans want us to react: stay home, yell at your tv or radio but most of all stay home and do nothing. Today I have a chance to make some change but I had all summer and fall to do more. I'm sorry for that but I hope that at the polls today across the country that someone is going to be held accountable for this mess that has occurred over the past 5 years. There's still two more years under this miserable failure's watch but what we do today can make those last two years a nightmare for him. I'm hoping for the best.

To My Fellow Kababayans

2006-11-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

Kamusta ka, in the spirit of the Pilipinas and due to the fact that we have a box and a half of hamburger patties from costco left over from Andres' party, we're going to throw a party for the Pacquiao-Morales fight on Saturday, November 18. An evite will go out but I just wanted to throw this out there for all our peeps out there that want to see The Pac-Man do his thing. And eat some burgers while we're at it.

A DJs best friend

2006-11-06T09:46:00.000-08:00

I finally picked up something that I've been eyeing for the longest time. On friday I went to Hilltop mall with the wife to see if the Cars dvd she pre-purchased was in at the Disney store. It doesn't come out until next week so we proceeded to leave the mall. It was then that I looked into another store and saw it, the Total Trolley. I'd seen infomercials on this thing time after time but was afraid to pull the trigger and make the call. At Hilltop they have the "As Seen On TV" store and I knew it was going to be mine. And I have to say it is an amazing item. It's a dolly, a handcart, a flatbed cart and a step ladder. On saturday, my first chance to use it, I was able to load it up and reduce the number of trips I usually take to move all the equipment. It moves easily, even on carpet which can be a huge hassle. I even used it as a step ladder when I had to raise the projector screen! Amazing! Now when I arrive at gigs I'm fearless, knowing that I'll be able to move my gear with such ease.

Sunday gig too

2006-11-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

Now this is how it should be, two gigs in one weekend. Maybe even three if I can get a friday gig. That would be idea and I can be off and running do this full-time. This was a wedding in Oakland, the one I blogged about that would be in downtown. They had a "fake wedding" on saturday when a tv show designed their backyard and filmed their wedding in the new backyard. It was "fake" in that the tv show didn't know they were doing a "real" wedding the next day so that all their family and friends, over 250, would be attending. The ceremony took place in the courtyard surrounded by a lovely garden complete with a rock waterfall. The restaurant is called Cafe Verbena in the building of the shipping giant APL. You might see their shipping crates on big rigs on the highways. Anyways, I did the audio for the ceremony, complete with a wireless mic for a singer and a pick-up for a guitar player. There was a hard wind blowing and you could hear it in the mic. That was my bad because I didn't use the baffler on the mic to protect it from exactly that. After the ceremony we then proceeded into the dining area for the reception. For entertainment there was a family of musicians who played for the pre-reception. The mother played keyboard while an older daughter played the cello. I was able to plug in the keyboard to my board and I mic'd the cello which sounded great. The cello player also sang some classical songs, but not while playing the cello. Then, the younger daughter, probably no older than 11, maybe even a lot younger, busted out with the trumpet and played some classical pieces as well. Are you kidding me? The trumpet? It was awesome! Then they gave me a cd and she did a jazz piece along the cd accompaniment! This little girl got a huge round of ovation from the crowd which was well deserved. Hooray for after-school arts and music programs! Next was a performance by the San Francisco Taiko. The groom's sister is a member and she's also the person that hired me and who I had been working with for the event. The taiko's powerful drumming brought out a huge excitement in the crowd which was then treated to the entrance of the wedding couple. It was my idea to have the couple enter to the drumming but the emcee didn't bring out the excitement like I was hoping he would. I thought it was an opportunity lost, oh well. The reception went well after that although because of the high amount of speeches there wasn't much time for dancing, just an hour. There wasn't much dancing by the crowd. Maybe it was my fault or maybe the crowd was just beat from a long day. This time, I mainly used the Serato for dancing, no regular cds. I'm kind of getting used to it but I need one big harddrive not two different ones to hold my music. I've got a ton of wires and plugs all over the place. Thanks to Herna for referring me on this one. I met some really nice people from this event and look to maybe get other referrals from this as well.

Saturday lunchtime gig

2006-11-06T08:48:00.000-08:00

My Saturday gig was a surprise birthday/retirement party that a son was throwing for his mother. It was in San Jose at the Doubletree Hotel off the 101 so I had to get up early and make the long trek out there. This was a referral from the Tuason families, Olivia and Kitchie and Nico and Bern. Edwin, the son, had been at three different events, all weddings and let me know he wanted me to be there for his mom's party. On the way I stopped by UPSer's house to pick up my VST & Hagibis cd that he had borrowed to copy. He was probably dancing to it late nights in his underwear. (Now there's a visual you won't be able to get out of your head for awhile.) The conference center of the Doubletree is very nice. There are actually two floors of rooms and on the first floor was where we were. We were sandwiched between a dentist conference (can you smell a conflict?) and another sort of conference. The surprise worked well and the luncheon began. I asked Edwin for a child's plate since it's hard for me to eat and work at the same time. I had chicken strips and french fries. We had a small delay with the video projector but it got going after a little tech support. The dancing got started with the Achy Breaky and we were on our way. After about four songs a lady from next door came directly over to me and basically reprimanded me for the loud music. She complained that she was in a dental conference and couldn't hear with the music going on loudly. I'll admit it was a little loud, but not as loud as it could be. I did what I could with the sound but it was really the hotel's fault for booking two different events next to each other. I was shocked that she came up to me, not the hotel security. I ended up moving the speakers onto the dancefloor but by that time the crowd started to thin out and leave. That was the first time that anyone from another event complained to me. I've had people within the party ask me to turn it down a little but never from outside. All in all though a good party and another chance to master my Serato.

New market opening up?

2006-11-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

On friday I met with a family from Napa who is throwing a Bat Mitvah for their daughter next year in June. They're looking for a dj and I happen to have the biggest ad in the AT&T yello pages in Napa. As you may know, I'm not Jewish. In fact I don't know a lot of Jewish folks. I would love too but I just don't hang in the social circles. So, with my computer on I went to Wikipedia, looked up Bat Mitvah, got my info (really interesting stuff), and made it to Napa at the Embassy Suites hotel, across the freeway from the Premium Outlets (that one was for Ms. Luzon). The hotel is beautiful with an amazing outdoor garden in the center. I first met the father who was there separately and then the mother, daughter and her two friends came shortly afterwards. What struck me most was that the parents were so young looking. Both were very fit and slender. The father is a Tae Kwon Do instructor with his own school in town. Not sure what mom does but she was very attractive as well, short though. The daughter and her friends were giggling all the time but were very nice to me. I asked them what kind of music they listened to and of course it was Hip Hop. I asked if they liked Hyphy music and they were like, "Ummm...". They said they liked E-40 so I said you must like Bay Area rap and they were like, "Ummm..." (It's amazing, my hometown's infuence on the Bay Area rap scene is huge. V-town!) Anyways, we discussed ideas. The daughter is taking singing lessons so we thought that we might do an "American Idol" type event with karaoke, complete with big screen and video. They really liked my ideas and so they hired me for the party. Although I'm not Jewish, for the most part there's only a couple of songs that are needed. All the big events are occurring at the synagogue earlier in the day. I'll get to play Nagila Hava for the first time. They mentioned "Sunrise, Sunset" as a song to play. She'll dance with her grandparents for that. I'm excited because I'm hoping this opens up a bigger market for me. If I can pull this off I think it can be the first in many Jewish parties. Luckily it's not till June so I have a lot of time to educate myself but with my trusty computer I know I've got help.

New tv channel!

2006-11-01T23:55:00.000-08:00

HD is expanding and if you have Comcast cable, MHD on 728 is one to watch. This is the Music: High Definition channel of MTV, VH1 and CMT. It's almost like going back to the 80s when MTV just started because it's just music, not "reality" tv shows. I saw a VH1 Storytellers for Pearl Jam, Alicia Keys "Unplugged" and an advertisement for a Duran Duran concert (I dvr'd the concert in HD already, but now they're going to show it on this channel too). I've also dvr'd a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert and am looking forward to watching that as well with the stereo blasting. I can listen and watch that while I clean the house. TNT now has an HD channel as well as Fox sports but unfortunately we don't get Warrior games out in Vacaville, it's part of the Kings region.

The Kuya turns 5!

2006-10-31T22:59:00.000-08:00

Andres is now five, and I like my wife, wonder where all the time has gone. I know that everytime friends and family see him they comment on how big he's gotten and it's true. And when you talk to him you hear how much he's grown as well. Thanks to all of you who came out to celebrate with him. The time change was funny because it hurt some people and helped others. It allowed me to get an extra hour of sleep after the gig we did on saturday night. Andres was so excited to see cousins and friends as well. The kids ran all over the house, in the backyard and played video games. Thanks to Mama Tess for picking up some kick-ass bbq sticks and props to my pops for cooking them on the grill all day. I apologize to all the vegetarians because I don't think we had any non-meat dishes.

Wedding Saturday Night

2006-10-30T14:25:00.000-08:00

We did a wedding in Walnut Creek, or what others refer to as "The Creek" or "The WC", at the Marriott. Moe got the gig and the couple was actually already married, they were just having the reception for all the groom's family and friends. The groom lives in Japan but met his Hong Kong bride in Japan as well. The bride spoke very little English but she was very sweet and gracious when we did speak to her. The groom was a really nice guy, really amped up and couldn't wait for the dancing. Apparently he loves dancing so much he met his bride in a club. The reception was really nice but it dragged throughout dinner. Luckily, he gave us a HUGE music list with even some "must-plays" for the evening. He was a lover of late 80s-early 90s R&B/Hip Hop which made it even easier. What was a little tough was when it came to the dancing a ton of people came up with all kinds of requests, music that did not match at all. From R Kelly's "Step in the Name of Love" to Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca", they were all over the map. It got to the point where we weren't even mixing anymore, just cutting a song in once it's over, one genre to another. The other thing was the actually dancing. Oh man... let's just say they were trying to cut up a rug with a butter knife. Even the groom who was a supposed "good dancer", "killin' me Smalls". All good though, the gig was a piece of cake, we met some nice people, the Serato is running really well (I'm not using it 100%, but we use it here and there) and I'm sure we'll get some other gigs out of it. Oh yeah, we rocked the ballroom so hard with the two 18inch JBL subs that a light from the ceiling popped out and nearly fell. The manager said that it could've killed someone. That woulda been scary. Oh, and I saw some chic leave the reception a little early crying. Don't know what that was about but she came back later in a better mood.

What's it called when you take second place?

2006-10-26T23:48:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, loser... I played softball again on wednesday but this time with my first team. We were the top seed in the league, only lost one game, but as usual, when it comes to the big time, we choke. I would have earned two new shirts this week and this one I would have felt better about after the way our monday games went down. Anyways, that's the last game of the year for me, unless there's a tournament that we get into but I'm looking forward to the break. My back has been killing me and I can really feel my legs getting sore especially the next day after a game. I'll use the time more with the family of course but I'd also like to get into better shape. Oh God, how many blogs have I talked about that, getting back into shape. Since the weather has been a little colder, we haven't been able to play as much tennis. I'm thinking about going back to the gym but really, all I need to do is get outside and run. I'll give that a shot.

We are the Champions!

2006-10-24T01:09:00.000-07:00

I play softball on monday and wednesday nights in Benicia. On both teams it's been awhile since we'd one a championship. So this week I have two chances to come away with a new championship tee-shirt. Tonight, we won the first game in a rout, against a team that beat us earlier with a 13 run first inning, sadly against my pitching. I didn't pitch this game but I did have a couple of big hits. I'm also playing catcher which is an important position in this league since it plays a lot like first base but without the shots. For championship, we would have played my team that I play with on wednesday nights but they lost their playoff game. (Serves them right for not having me on the team!) In our championship game we got off to a great start on defense shutting them out if the first 3 innings while on offense we hit the crap out of the ball. When it got late into the game it was apparent that we were going to win. At one point the score was 20-3. Unfortunately we have guys on our team that like to talk s#%t, not necessarily to the other team but just outloud. It really gets on the umpires nerves and could potentially cost us games. It almost cost us the championship tonight because one guy got tossed, again we were up by 20 at the time, but he couldn't stop. I remember a game where we were losing 25-1, one guy was talking s#%t, the umpire called the game and gave us the victory, while we were down 24 runs. I was worried that it was going to happen to us this time. Luckily, more of us on the team got the point, got the rest of the team to understand and we won our first championship of the year. Luckily, this was the last monday night game until next spring so we did it at the right time. Wednesday night I'm in the same position and we'll try to do it again. We get a championship tee-shirt when you win it all. I'm looking to add to my wardrobe.

Just another sunday

2006-10-24T00:47:00.000-07:00

On sunday we just had a wedding to go to. Nothing major, just one that's been in anticipated for the last 36 years! Andres' ninang got married at the Palm Event center and it truly was an unforgettable affair. Since we had a part to play in this event, we stayed in Livermore saturday night with OJRokk and Tin and UPSer. I enjoyed the late night pizza from Amici's on saturday. If you haven't eaten there you're really missing out. We went to the one in Dublin. Anyways, sunday morning the we three guys went to Stoneridge mall in Pleasanton to get some last minute items. Tin finished up her beautiful centerpieces and we all needed to get to the center by 1pm. Of course, we being Pilipinos didn't make it there till 1:30 but with all of the people helping out that day we got everything done in a snap. Moe and I did the audio for the ceremony in the wine cellar. It looked so beautiful in there with the wine barrels and the huge chandeliers lit up. It kinda reminded me of a Prince video but in really good taste. When it started and everyone waited for the bride you could just feel how special this day felt. As soon as I saw the bride I had a lump in my throat and my eyes started welling up a little. The ceremony went seamlessly, the rondalla played beautifully and of course they both said "I do". I played the role of emcee, which I was honored to do so, but I felt so nervous because all of our friends were there and I didn't want to screw it up. Since I wasn't deejaying that pressure of being the entertainment was off but I still had to provide cocktail music and dinner music. Donger, I have to apologize, that was my playlist at dinner, I swung and missed on a couple of those songs. Keep in mind, I'm trying to entertain some of the older Pilipinos in attendance, since I knew the band wasn't going to play any Englebert Humperdink. At least I gave them some during dinner. I even saw some of them singing along to the song. I did end up playing some music from my iPod for the breaks between the bands set. All I know is I never want to be an iPod dj ever again. I had to search for songs to play, then have them wait for the pause between songs until the song loaded. I even played by sheer coincidence two songs that the band had in their set. When I played Usher's "Yeah!" they all looked at me with a look of "Oh No!" They were cool with that though and just laughed it off. When the band did play they rocked it. If you ever get a chance to see the Cheeseballs in the city somewhere (I'd seen them at a club back in the day) you'll enjoy them. The dancefloor stayed full the whole night. One thing we didn't do, bride and groom, is give you a chance to speak to everyone there. I know that the night was full of everything but I should have remembered to give you the mic at one point that evening. I do know that everyone saw in your eyes that you were really thankful for all of those that were in attendance. Congrats again you too, thank you for letting us be a part of your biggest day, and we look forward to the baby shower, whenever that is (no pressure!)

Happy Birthday Alexa!

2006-10-24T00:34:00.000-07:00

My God-daughter celebrated her 7th birthday on saturday and as usual the David family threw an amazing family. It's no mystery that Ledge knows how to eat but he and Aileen are such gracious hosts that they really take care of those who attend their parties. This one was no different. It was a Hawaiian themed party so there was plenty of shortribs and mac salad. All the kids seemed to have a great time and we were treated to the talents of Spirit of Polynesia. This group has been around for so long and I've had so many friends that were and are a part of their company. I've always enjoyed seeing polynesian dances. Although I've taken the "I'm not Hawaiian so I shouldn't do those dances" attitude (poor me, short-sighted, I apologize), I just seem more comfortable and more at home with folk dances of the Philippines. Hey, I married my wife partly because of it so you know I've benefited from it in more ways than one. What did surprise me was that they didn't have any male dancers. I remember a time when there were always males in the S.O.P performances. I know that if my life depended on it I could hop in there and learn all the different dances of the islands of the Pacific. My back might not agree with it but they aren't that difficult to do. Maybe that's why I'm stayed with Philippine folk dances. They can be so challenging that you just become determined to learn it and perform it at a high level. Not that polynesian is easy but I just see a higher degree of difficulty between the two types. I'm happy that my God-daughter is involved in polynesian now, but her mommy and daddy know that she's going to end up a Singkil princess one day.

The Price Is Right!

2006-10-24T00:22:00.000-07:00

Friday, the wife stayed home and we were supposed to work on a project for an event she has coming this week. We "kinda" worked on her project but we spent more time at the outlets looking for a couple of gifts for my God-daughter, Alexa, who's turning 7. We went over to Tommy Hilfiger, knowing that they would have cool clothes for kids and lo and behold we found cool clothes. I struck the best deal though, one that I haven't found in a long time. I went to the 50% off rack in the back, looking for some cool button-downs, short and long sleeve but didn't find any. What I did find was a nice sportcoat that just happened to be my size. It's navy not black which is a nice twist for me since I already have a black one. The price was originally $179 reduced to $99 on the tag. So I'm thinking, hey, $50 for a Hilfiger sportcoat is pretty good. I bring it to the register, hand it to the guy and ask him to just check the price. He looked at me kinda longer than normal after seeing the price and then asked where I found it. I told him and he was shocked saying he was looking for something similar. He did the check when we rang up our other items and then told me the price. $29.99 he says and I say oh hell yeah, I'll take it. Then he says, you're getting this jacket for $14.99. I shoulda went to Reno right then and there. At least Cache Creek.

Schmooze it or lose it

2006-10-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

Last night I did a gig with Likha at the Asian Art Museum in SF for the Ayala family art foundation (or something like that). There was a great crowd that assembled of people of all different backgrounds. Likha has actually done several events here so this was nothing new to them but since I've kinda left the gig circuit this was my first in a long time. We had a respectable performance, some delayed music transitions and whatnot, but all in all it went well. We were then invite to see works of several famous Pilipino artists which were beautiful. It was a little crowded though and people seemed to be just milling and not really reacting to the art. I heard a lot of conversations but not about the art or the artists. Later, we then made our way upstairs where there was food and alcohol. The food was great (they even had lechon!) and the alcohol was mainly wine. It was a well-dressed crowd and although I only knew our Likha peeps I felt like we fit in just perfectly. Since I really don't know the "Who's Who" of the Pilipino community in the Bay Area I'm sure there were several. And I'm looking forward to the next time I can hob-knob with the best of them.

Upcoming wedding gig

2006-10-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

I met with someone who is getting married on November 5 and they're having me DJ their wedding reception. Actually, they are having a "fake" ceremony on November 4 in their backyard as a reality show is going to re-do their whole backyard so that they can have a ceremony in it afterwards. They really wanted to be able to invite all of their friends so they decided to do a "fake" wedding in the backyard and not tell the tv show about their wedding plans for the next day with the "real" wedding. If you ask me it sounds like some kind of a sitcom all in itself. All we need now is "Mr. Furley" to walk in and ruin the wedding and open his big mouth to the producers of the tv show. The wedding reception that I'm going to be a part of is in Oakland at Cafe Verbena on 11th and Broadway. It's actually an office building but there is a restaurant in there with a huge lobby for businesses. We went there last night and met with the groom and his sister to take a look at the spot and I was really impressed as was the wife (mine). They're going to do an outdoor ceremony, weather permitting, and the patio is surrounded by beautiful buildings in downtown Oakland. You almost forget that you're in Oakland at that point.

Are you ready to rock?

2006-10-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday night I deejayed a party for our HOA admin, Vivien, whose son-in-law turned 42. It was a house party and they wanted to do some dancing and some karaoke so I obliged. As the party went on and the dancing began, I started with my Celebration mix and stayed with the R&B theme. Once in awhile they would do karaoke. I even started it up singing "My Girl" which got the room singing along with me. Then as the night went on and the dancing continued I got more and more requests for some 80s modern rock, Oingo Boingo, A-ha and the like. While in Vegas I noticed that a lot of deejays played some 80s rock and it got a good jolt out of the crowd so I decided to give it my own shot. That set it off. From then on it was Van Halen, Led Zepplin, Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi. I even played Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl" which was huge. Everyone played their air guitar, all the ladies were singing along and the dancefloor was packed. I'm going to bust that out at another party. I'm not sure where but it worked. In Vegas the dj started with Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" and then mixed "Jessie's Girl". That was an awesome mix. My buddies and I were jumping up and giving him a standing ovation for that. I told him that I was stealing that mix and we all laughed. I'm not going to do that but I'm definitely going to open up the genre and fit it in somewhere.

36 is the new 50

2006-10-15T23:23:00.000-07:00

Oh I feel so old. When we got in from Vegas on Friday afternoon it was after a night where we were up till 5am and the sun was coming up. We had to check out by 10am, get to the airport for a 12pm flight and travel all the way back to Vacaville. I did enjoy our last night in Vegas though. During the day, since we got a late start from being up all night Wednesday, we went to the outlets where I shopped for an outfit to go out in. I didn't bring nicer clothes, no dress shoes and no button down shirt. My buddies were so prepared that I knew I had to turn it up a notch since we were going to Wynn's club, Tryst, which is the new hot spot on the strip. I bought 2 jeans at Ecko, new shoes at Skechers and a shirt at Banana Republic. Still not quite the outfit I'd have preferred to wear but something I can get away with for the money. We made it to Wynn at about 11pm and stood around the line waiting for something to happen. Our buddy Chris who is a firefighter used his "clout" to get us past the VIP line and into the club. We still had to pay, 30 bucks, but I think it was worth it. The club was amazing. It had a three-story waterfall cascading to a pool with the surrounding tables, dancefloors and bars. The music was decent, a mix of old school hip hop and new hip hop. House music later followed as we left the club. I didn't dance with any ladies since the majority were "Professionals" or as the theme was called, "Industry Night". That meant that most people were working in Vegas in some kind of entertainment capacity. We were neither so we bailed for Mist in Treasure Island where we were the night before.
Hanging out in Mist I decided to chat it up with the dj. There was a moment where the music just kinda cut out there and we all looked at him as he smiled and pointed to the computer. He was using Serato but with a Toshiba laptop. I made my way over there and told him he needed to change to a Mac. At that point we just chopped it up. He told me he worked 7 days a week when he first got there. Then when he made "residency" in the casino he was down to 6 days a week. He asked me where I spun at and I said at restaurants here and there in the city. Yeah right! Maybe at private parties but never as a resident dj. Someday...
Back in the Bay Area I met up with the wife and made plans to make it to Tin's b-day party in the city. We went back to Vacaville, got some rest and then made our way back to SF. I brought some of the guys who went to Vegas to her party just to meet some new peeps and get one last hangout night with the guys. Karen made some great Mojitos that night and we enjoyed them thoroughly, translation: too much. We got a late meal at El Farolito's. The wife and I shared a super quesadilla with carne asada and I also ordered a torta sandwich with steak. Mmmmmm.... The wife had to drive home after I stubbornly said I could do it. We pulled over after the Bay Bridge and she drove all the way back to Vacaville. Thanks honey.
I'm still feeling it up to today which is Monday as I finish this post.

Da Fellas!

2006-10-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll, greetings again from Vegas. We've been having a cool time down here chillin' out. Tuesday when we arrived we mainly hung out in the hotel taking in the amenities. Thanks to Ms. Paris Hilton for putting together such a lovely suite. Wednesday we had a great lunch at the buffet in the Mirage. I think there will be a return visit to this place when we come back. We also played some golf out past Summerlin. We got a great deal on the web for this place which was actually in an area where we looked for a house back when we thought about moving down here. Would have been pretty nice but I'm glad we are where we are now. At night we went to Treasure Island planning to go to Tangerine where some FHM girls were supposed to be. We ended up in a bar called Mist and just hung out there. (I'm being a good boy, wifey!) Played some craps when it became apparent that Tangerine was just a sausage fest/sword fight. Actually came up with a little money since a roller that we called "Boss" rolled some good numbers. (UPSer, you woulda loved it...) Exciting stuff there. As you can see from the pic, we had a bottle of Petron so I enjoyed that tremendously. Props to HeavyJumbo for that. Back at the hotel we went on bantering about with each other, letting the alcohol take over. I made myself a glass of Ketel1 and water and as I sat in the chair I awoke to quiet as all of us fell asleep. As I type I see my glass sitting there untouched with the lime floating on top. Maybe I'll drink it, maybe not...

Vegas Baby, Yeah!!!

2006-10-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

What up ya'll? I'm chillin here in Sin City, hanging out with my old buddies from high school. Botz had to cancel his trip to P.I. so we made this a consolation prize. HeavyJumbo got us an amazing room at the Hilton on the strip. It's got several plasma screens, 2 bedrooms, kitchen and a beautiful view. Unfortunately, it's facing old Vegas and the Stratosphere but when you're 36 floors up it's all good. We're planning on just hanging out and playing some golf. I don't know if I'll gamble but I do want to do some shopping at the premium outlet they have here by the strip. I miss my wife and kids already and look forward to seeing them on Friday when I get backl but for now I'll just chill with my buds. Get at me if you need anything down here.

The Smack Was Layed Down this weekend...

2006-10-09T23:24:00.000-07:00

I was one busy man this weekend from Friday through Sunday. Friday I went to the A's game and witnessed the exorcism of the team's futile attempts in their playoff games in the last 12 years. They had not won a playoff series since '92, long time. The tailgate with friends before the game was great. I saw some old friends from back in high school. Weird how they all tell me I still look the same even after the 50 extra pounds I've added. The Coliseum crowd was great, loud and into each pitch. I have to give them credit because the feel in Oakland is a lot different from San Francisco. The Giants have a lot of old fans, literally, which makes for a more educated but quieter crowd. In Oakland, it's more like a high school/college atmosphere with all the different chants. I can't say I prefer one over the other because they both have their positives but from the first pitch I myself got caught up in the "Let's Go Oakland" chants.

On Saturday I had the gig at lunchtime. I have one complaint. The gentleman who was a "DJ" turned out not to be one but someone with a lot of music on some harddrives. He bragged about how much music he had, how many music videos he had and that he was a big fan of the 70's rock scene and 80's pop scene. None of which had anything to do with the crowd that was assembling at this party. This was a wannabe ballroom/line dance crowd. Here's my one complaint. Someone's children were supposed to do some hula dancing and they practiced the night before. When they asked me for the music I said I didn't have it and that no one gave it to me. They assumed that I would have it. When the guy was asked if he had it, they realized that his music was not the right one as well. So he tells them that he want me to earn my money and was basically inferring to me that I should have it. I told him that it was not my responsibility to provide their music and that all performers I know do not rely on other people to have it for them. I was pissed at him at that point because that was his line from then on, "I want this guy to earn his money." He didn't know that I had already offered a discount to them and was doing this on the cheap as a favor to a family member. Even after discounts that I give I still try to give 110 percent. It turned out I had one song that they could use, Hukilau, the girls performed (they sucked) and any other requests anyone had, I was more than capable of handling them. I never heard from him again.
That night we then had our party for Rich which was the bomb. I was a little worried because guys were dropping out left and right. We had four guys there from the time the girls made it but they didn't start until more guys showed. We had a great bunch of party-going gentlemen, made the most of an hour and a half with the entertainment and then partied until the wee hours. I was hurting though after all of the alcohol.
Sunday I was supposed to get to SF around ten in the morning but I didn't wake up until 10am. The Niner-Raider game was at 1pm and UPSer and I didn't get in until the end of the first quarter. After some lively banter between Niner and Raider fans the home team prevailed (Yay!), we went home happy and no one got hurt. It was really a memorable weekend for me.

Tomorrow I Am an A's Fan!!!

2006-10-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, so most of my life I've been a big Giants fan, rooting for them since I was 4 years old. Tomorrow, Friday, I'm attending my first A's game. I want to say my first A's game ever, but I coulda swore I went to the Coliseum for a baseball game a long time ago, not sure. If the A's players were Giants they would rule Northern California but since they've played stepchild to the Giants even with all their World Series championships they just don't get the recognition they deserve. So I for one am going to make the trip to Oakland, root for them to sweep the Twins and maybe make it all the way to the World Series. I still can't find myself switching loyalties but I can appreciate a team that wins with what little it has and has fun doing it. So for that tomorrow I am an A's fan.

Serato coversion nearly complete

2006-10-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday in Stockton I played at the wife's cousin's party. I played more than I thought I was going to because I thought it was more for the bands than me but I was wrong (not the first time nor the last). We were a little late coming to the party but there weren't a ton of people there yet. I got to patch into the bands audio which was cool so I didn't have to bring the whole package, just my CDJs, mixer, laptop, harddrives and the Serato. I really wanted to use the Serato this time because I didn't know what to expect. I just don't want to be an iTunes, press-play DJ and the Serato allows you to avoid that. I had to play everything from ballroom to line dancing to 80's modern rock to disco to alternative to swing/lindy hop. There was such a variety of requests that I was on my toes the whole time. You might notice that I didn't list hip hop or rap. The one time I threw on some hip hop, Promiscuous Girl, the celebrant's dad came over and asked me to change it. Even though all the girls came out to dance to it the family preferred no rap or hip hop. That's actually probably another story. But anyways, my bad... So back to the Serato, it was the first time I was able to use it without it freezing up. Big thanks to GCDC for fixing my Mac. I was able to transition from regular CD to Serato seemlessly. The next step is to make the switch to turntables. I've been practicing at home with the MKIIs which is a lot of fun. I suck at scratching but I can still mix pretty good. I'm considering bringing them to the party this weekend just for the hell of it.

Here's what I came up with

2006-10-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

"As far as a weakness is concerned I would have to say it is my resistance to saying no. I have a tendency to take on multiple tasks when asked by associates for assistance when they can be spread out evenly and effectively. I feel an obligation to help whenever asked but it also expands my to-do list. "

Weakness?

2006-10-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

Ok folks, need a little help. I'm filling out a questionaire for a job and it's asking what is my single weakness. I know that you're supposed to show a weakness that's really a strength, a positive weakness, but I'm drawing a blank. Any thoughts?

Kariput or what?

2006-10-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

This coming weekend on Saturday I have a gig in the daytime in Napa, for a wedding anniversary. I got referred to this through one of the wife's cousins on her dad's side. It's her boyfriend's family so I thought it would be nice to give them a family rate, even though I'm not really related. Part of my problem is I'm too nice when it comes to gigs that I try not to "overcharge", whatever that means. The reality is I'm unemployed, this is my business and the work I do and the investments I've put in are more reason enough to not give discounts. Nevertheless, I proposed a more than fair price and even after that the woman I was dealing with still tried to lowball me. They had someone who was a deejay but out in San Diego, was coming to the party, and would like them to have input and maybe even play music. If all they needed was a soundman I would be fine with that. He can do whatever he wants but it still shouldn't change the rate because it's already discounted. After our initial conversation she said she would get back to me and decide what they wanted to do. I hadn't heard directly from her but I did hear from the wife's cousin not too long ago that they still wanted me to be apart of the event. It's now less than a week away and I've yet to hear from the woman who I spoke with but again I'm assuming all is set. I put a call into the cousin but didn't hear from her just yet either.

We all know it's in our people's makeup that we always look for discounts. I'm cool with that and I do it myself. But it get's really frustrating when you think you're giving someone a great deal and they just aren't seeing it your way. Sure I could have told them to find someone else but at the same time I'm realistic that they probably aren't going to find a better deal especially with what I offer and am capable of producing. I'm trying to help out a "family member" at the same time. Plus, how can you put such a big event in the hands of the lowest price available? In this business you really get what you pay for and last I knew people don't throw big wedding anniversary parties every year. If I hear later this week that they found someone else that'll be cool with me but at the same time I just feel that if all they are trying to do is save a buck, then why bother to have a stylish event in the first place?

Update: No sooner than I press "publish post" I get the call from the woman and we're all set for Saturday. She was very gracious and although there is another "deejay" he is non-Pilipino and runs off of a laptop (hmmm...). I'll still be more in control of the tables. I feel a lot better now.

I love the 80's

2006-09-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we're going to Stockton for a birthday party for Laurie's cousin who graduated from high school this year but is only celebrating that till now. Her party is 50's themed and she's actually going to sing and play with the band as she is a talented guitar player and singer. She's asked me if I could play inbetween sets which I happily obliged and when I asked her if she wanted 50's music she said no. I then assumed she would need hip hop and again she said no. She asked me for 80's alternative/new wave. When she said that I had a smile on my face from ear to ear. I am a big fan of "New Wave" of the 80's. When I was part of my deejay group back then I was the one who always had to play the "New Wave" music from Depeche Mode to OMD to Devo to New Order and on and on. I never got so deep into it that I got a Flock of Seagulls haircut but I did wear a flat top with the front long so I could spike it like Howard Jones or Martin Gore. Oh, and no black trenchcoat for me either. The wife wanted to get a poodle skirt for the party but I don't think she found one. I'm going to do a Fonzie impression with the white tee and tight blue jeans. Unfortunately I don't have the motorcycle boots that he had. Maybe I could borrow Lara Guitara's motorcycle boots she used to wear back in the day. What song brings you back to the 80's?

Where my peeps at?

2006-09-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's the pot calling the kettle black but what's going on with all the blog slacking? I know you all have lives and have to work for a living but I enjoy curling up with my powerbook and reading some ramblings, mutterings, perspectives, jokes and the like. Miss you guys from way out here in the Double V.

It's Gonna Be a Hot Time in the Town Tonite!

2006-09-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

So I've been hanging out with Da Factor the past couple of days on a mission to plan his bachelor party. We've pretty much set it up except for the venue where the ladies will "perform". On Wednesday we found a restaurant in downtown Oakland who is letting us use his place for $100. It's called the Grand Oaks Grill on the corner of Washington and 8th, close to the police station. In talking to the owner, Ken, I asked him if his place would be available for a X-mas party and he obliged as well, so it looks like we can do the Likha party there too, so long as there's a consensus with the group. It really is a nice place, simple, conveniently located with a parking lot across the street and plenty of street parking. We'll open up the restaurant for all of the guests, guys and gals, at about 9:30pm and we'll have it till 1:00am for dancing and just hanging out. Chinatown is just around the corner so afterwards we can get some honey walnut prawns and salt and pepper spareribs. Mmmm Mmmm... So gentlemen, keep the date and time open on your calendar. We plan on getting the guys together at about 7:30pm. We'll also keep you posted on the venue.

Get yur freak on

2006-09-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

We went to Down Low for the B-day party of Herna, Randy and Michelle on Saturday night and had a great time. The wife and I don't do much clubbing as you can imagine and the dancing we mostly have is at weddings, a lot of differences. The club played some cool old school as well as some new stuff. It was cool seeing the deejay was using Serato as his laptop was up and the turntables were also real record players, not CDJs. I think if pressed to do it, I could spin at a club considering I have most of the music if not all of the same stuff he had. Maybe there's a club out in Davis that could use a deejay on those late tuesday nights.

We also got our drink on and I have to admit, I know very little about mixed drinks and which ones are the more popular ones. UPSer told me to order a Martini with DiSaronno. The bartender looked at me funny, wanted to know what else I wanted in it and I looked at her like a deer in the headlights. She gave me the drink and said that if she didn't like it, bring it back and she'll fix a new drink. Sure enough, the wife took my Kettle and water from me, I returned the Martini and she gave me a Cosmopolitan instead. Later, I got a Jack and Coke which hit the spot and later we got UPSer to use his deep pockets to buy a round of shots. First it was the Petron shots which went down smooth and a little while later we got him to buy Michelle and us some Chocolate Cake shots. First time I'd had it, in fact, it was the first I'd heard of it.
After all those drinks UPSer was done. He got his groove on but when the club was done, he was too faded to do anymore partying. We couldn't join the afterparty (not his fault) so we went to Nation's and got burgers. With some more great conversation and good food we winded down and then made our way home.

The next day we picked up the boys from my mom's house where they slept and took them to Marine World. As much as I love the place it's just better to go on the weekday in the summer. It was pretty crowded so we didn't get to do much but at least the dolphin and killer whale show was good. We also went to my buddy's house in Green Valley to finally see the house and have dinner with his new wife. We're now thinking of moving towards that way, which is closer to Vallejo and in a really nice neighborhood/community. We'll see.

Just like riding a bicycle

2006-09-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

I did a gig today with the group in our backyard city of Fairfield. It was for a 65th birthday and I actually knew some of the people from the party. One was an ex-girlfriend, yikes! Anyways, I did Pandanggo with Oasias and Pitik Mingaw with the wife. One thing I love about gigs like these is you can play to the crowd, especially with Pitik. When the wife dropped her handkerchief I went over to pick it up and did one of those WWE, The Rock, "Smell What the Rock Is Cooking" looks. It was as if I was entranced by the scent of the handkerchief. The crowd ate it up. I'm still a little rusty but at least for gigs I can play it off. In Pandanggo I almost slipped as my pants unfolded past my knees and I sliding all over the stage. I made it through, didn't drop the glass when Jen Poblete put it on my forehead, didn't clank with anyone as we twirled the glasses in the handkerchief and made it out in one piece. I know, some of you are thinking, big deal, you're supposed to do that, but I'll tell ya, when it's been awhile, it's really been awhile. I'm looking forward to doing more gigs and dancing for them as well.

Bayanihan in the Double V

2006-09-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

We went to see Bayanihan in our quaint little town of Vacaville this evening and I have to say they were amazing. When you see them in Berkeley this Saturday you'll be proud to see how they represent the Philippines across our own country. I'll admit it was weird seeing some of the dances that we do but with different choreography and a little more stunt-making. And of course the show brought out the dancer in me as well. I clapped whenever I saw something that I knew was difficult and could be appreciated by another dancer/performer. I did that to show them my appreciation as well as educate the crowd that that move or feat was something to be really recognized. I did that a lot tonight. We got to meet some of the dancers after the show and you could see they were really tired and just wanted to sleep. They're staying at the Holiday Inn in Vacaville and have a free day Friday. I have no idea where they plan on hanging out, considering the outlets can't be the only thing they want to do. Oh yeah, UPSer, do yourself a favor and a find a wife out of this bunch =).

Sleeping with the enemy

2006-09-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

There's one kind of gig that deejays can make some good money and that is a corporate event and on Tuesday I went out to Chevron's corporate office in Concord for their United Way campaign kickoff. Mrs. Atendido was the organizer for the event so of course who else would she get but Bring That Beat Back. What she did was amazing as Chevron put on their own American Idol event. We provided the audio and the karaoke. This would take place at lunchtime for the whole campus and each singer would represent different groups as their was a total of six.

On Monday we held a run through and I got to hear all of the singers. The first lady sang the "Titanic" song which was ok. She wanted a reverb and I was able to accomodate her since my new Behringer mixer has special effects on it. The next gentleman, the oldest of the group, sang "That's Life" like Frank Sinatra and was very good. He had a strong voice and good hand movements. Another guy, very overweight, sang "My Girl" and was decent. One girl sang "We are Family" and was the only one who could dance and sing at the same time. The last girl sang "I'll Be There" but when she got there she left the notes somewhere else. Yikes! Our last gentleman sang "The Greatest Love of All" and forgot the words. He was like Mr. Randy Watson from the "What's Going Down" episode of "That's My Momma", good and terrible.

On Tuesday, the big day, the event took place in their outdoor area under the bright sun. There is an airport nearby and early we would hear planes fly over so we were hoping that it would settle down closer to lunchtime. As the event took flight of it's own, I experienced slight technical difficulties here and there. A couple of times I would get feedback. When the very first singer came up I couldn't get her song running but it was my fault since I didn't setup the mixer levels properly. As each singer came up we would play the American Idol theme song that I got online. They all did well but it was obvious who the winner was going to be and that was Jack, the Sinatra-style singer. His group put together signs like they do on American Idol, marched around the area yelling for him and and he delivered. I actually think that the "We Are Family" singer was probably the best but you know everyone has a soft spot for older folks who sing Sinatra. There were other performers to fill the time as a guest from United Way came and sang "Wind Beneath My Wings". She was really, really good. When you hear that song at a karaoke bar you're always weary of how they'll get through that last part "... flyyyyyyy... flyyyyyyy... flyyyyyy away...." and she pulled it off and then some. Another girl act sang along to Aretha Franklin's "Respect" in 70's garb, including an Afro wig for the lead singer. The last set of performers lip-sync was to Tina Turner's "Proud Mary" which was pretty good too. Although the background dancers/singers were a little off, the Ike and Tina imitators were decent. One thing though, she had the "Private Dancer" look, more than the "Proud Mary" look and with that wig she actually looked a lot more like Rod Stewart. I don't know if anyone caught that.

Overall a very fun gig with some different challenges. It's the first all-karaoke event I've done. I've had parties where someone or some people was going to sing but there's always dancing involved afterwards. Plus it's hard to monitor people who are walking all over the place with cordless mics and keeping the sound at a decent level. It was really nice to see Mrs. Atendido get a lot of props for her event. There must have been about four different times where she was acknowledged for her work. Hopefully she'll get me other corporate gigs as well. And even though it's gasoline mogul Chevron, it was for a very good cause.

Saturday Night Fever

2006-09-19T23:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday before we left for the wedding we went out to the boardwalk and took the boys around. It had been awhile since both the wife and I had been there. We took them out to the water where they went their separate ways. Andres loved the waves, braved the cold and chased the water back and forth. Mio on the other had was scared from the get-go. As soon as he heard the waves crashing he was terrified. He held on for dear life for mommy and daddy. He went back to the beach camp that we set up and played with the sand instead. One thing the beach confirmed to me was my dislike for sand. I've hated it whether it was cleaning it from your toes, in your car or on clothing or towels. I still loving going out there though and being a part of nature again.

We made our way out to Livermore to the Palm Event Center. I had been there previously for a wedding of some friends that we also deejayed so I kind of knew what to expect. The difference was I'd be by myself handling the music and the emceeing. Luckily GCDC was there too and he took care of the video portion which turned out great. The money dance was good, not too long, got in some good old school hits and started off the dancing without a hitch. I have to credit the wedding couple, Nico and Bern, for their generosity of having an open bar. Nico's buddies were no doubt enjoying that and I was able to have a couple of Jack and Cokes also. Eventually the alcohol was evident as person after person kept approaching me with requests: old school, ballroom, hyphy, disco, etc. We kept the dance floor filled, even when I put on some Tango. I found some time to dance with the wife since she hates when I deejay since she kind of loses her dance partner.

Finally got to spin the CDJ1000s and I have to say, they are awesome. As much as I love the Denons and it's spinning top and special effects, the 1000s have the closest feel to vinyl that a cd player can have. I really felt like I was back in the old days of vinyl, especially since we spun so my old school on this night from MC Hammer's "Let's Get It Started" to Salt and Peppa's "Push It", from BBD's "Poison" to Blacksheep's "This or That". I'm looking forward to spinning again. One thing though, my Serato was tripping as it crashed as I loaded the mp3s into it. (GCDC helped me redo my machine with a new OS and several new programs. I'll test it out and see what happens but regardless, the CDJ1000s are the bomb.

We made it back to Santa Cruz by about 12:40am, drank a little more and stayed up till about 4:00am. I understand someone may have been in trouble for what we were talking about and all that we were throwing at him (or her) so I apologize since I was the main instigator. It was funny as hell so I hope that they know it was all in good fun and bad taste. It was memorable and I thank all of our friends for a great weekend.

Traveling man

2006-09-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

So Friday we found out last minute that we're able to go out to Santa Cruz for the big birthday shindig for Fifty Normal and Tina-Maan. That meant that after the wife got out of work we'd high-tail it out to the South Bay (even farther than the South Bay). It also meant that I had to load up the van with our luggage as well as the dj gear for the big wedding. I was still putting music together as well as trying to make sure the house was clean. Thankfully the wife sent me an email with all of the things she needed packed whether for her, the boys or just the family as a whole. Remember, we're in Santa Cruz with the beach, we're staying there till Sunday and we're also attending a wedding in between.

After leaving Vacaville I had several trips to make. I had to pick up bamboos for tinikling from some friend's kids in Vallejo who performed it last week. Vincent was going to get them from me for a Likha performance so I left them with my mom for him to pickup . I then made my way to Contra Costa to pickup the family and then proceeded to Drama Queen's house to pickup some gear that Da Factor used for his gig the other weekend. Then we went to the Atendido's to pickup some remaining gear. By then the van was stuffed to the top and the clock was showing 7:30pm. One more stop to Union City to get some cds from my dj buddy, Joe Skizzle, so that my hip hop collection was up to date. At least we were able to stay on the 880 to go straight to 17 and Santa Cruz. We made good time arriving around 10:30pm and chilled with the folks who were able to make it up on Friday as well. We killed the bottle of Black Label we got from the last weekend, let the boys run around with Isaac for a little while and then went to bed. Lots to do the next day.

Thanks for the input

2006-09-14T23:27:00.000-07:00

I see that some of you have put in some suggestions for songs, even from other blogs, so thank you! One thing I notice at receptions is the delicate nature of the money dance. You're asking people who have already (hopefully) given a gift to now give actual money (maybe even a check), as another token of generosity to the couple. Not all weddings or cultures do it. Pilipino weddings have generally been a given but I have been to some receptions where it wasn't even considered. The wife and I had a small luncheon reception so we didn't have a money dance. When we actually do have the big ceremony we will have a money dance. But what is scary about the money dance is how much momentum it can take from the reception. I always tell the couple to make sure that the line is moved along briskfully, not disrespectful. After all, they are being generous to them and may have a thing or two to say to them one on one. I've seen them last over an hour and I've seen lines that are longer with females and vice versa. I've also seen lines that take forever to form. Nico and Bern both agree that reception is really for the attendees and I believe that as well. The newlyweds are generally going to have a great time but you've got to think about your guest who are joining you on your special day as well. You want them going home thinking that it was a great reception and that they didn't leave for home early, maybe even leave for a club. In that respect I think we've held our own in keeping the party going and even wanting more at the end. Hope the streak will continue this weekend!

Money dance suggestion?

2006-09-14T00:14:00.000-07:00

I'll be at Nico and Bern's wedding this weekend doing my thing. Need some suggestions on some old school slow songs for the money dance. We're talking late eighties/early nineties like Boyz II Men, New Edition, Shai. I've got those covered but I know a lot of you have some of those obscure groups that I'm forgetting. Just need suggestions, not the mp3 (at least I think). This is going to be the first gig I do with my CDJ 1000 MKIIs and I'm looking forward to that. They feel really nice and turntable-like.

Blow wind blow...

2006-09-14T00:05:00.000-07:00

The weather here in the Double V (actually, the whole Bay Area) has been strange. Since Monday it's been pretty hot, in the 90s going into the evening. But right now as I type this at midnight, Thursday morning, the wind is blowing like a M----r F----r! I'm sure things are getting knocked down here and there outside. One thing though that these winds do is clean up the skies and gets rid of the smog that the heat and congestion brought. I do hope the winds lighten up, especially in the evening, since it's a little hard to play tennis in this weather. We almost have to pick our poison, play in the heat or play with the wind, hmm...

I remember...

2006-09-12T00:29:00.000-07:00

On this 5th anniversary of September 11th, unfortunately, all I did to honor the events is to take a moment of silence. I listened to a lot of talk radio in the morning where most people gave their recollections of that day. Many times you would hear a voice crack or tremble and I myself would get that lump in the throat because it really takes you back to that day and the emotions you felt. I'm a little angry as well because I remember all of the goodwill that was going around for our country and now it's just gone, plain gone. After that day we could have chosen a more responsible and effective path to combat this war on terror but we know what happened. I just pray that my sons, one who was born the next month after September 11th, will be able to live peacefully with their children, without the fear that is so prevalent today.

This one is for my buddy garycruz.com

2006-09-08T09:54:00.000-07:00

"Apple has issued a recall on several models of Mac laptops because the battery can overheat and catch fire. Experts say a Mac fire is just like a PC fire, except it's more hip and condescending."
---Conan O'Brien

For the record, I love my Mac and am looking forward to the day I have a 15 or 17 inch Mac Book Pro. I can dream can't I?

Must see TV

2006-09-07T17:37:00.000-07:00

This is too funny. Not only for the reaction but if you look at him, he looks like the character Dave Chapelle does when he dresses up in "white-face". Check it out...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/09/07/weatherman-freaks-out-on-_n_28912.html

Gettin my serve on

2006-09-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

On Monday, the wife, UPSer and myself went to the tennis courts in Vacaville and attempted our return to the court. We can all honestly say it hasn't been since high school since we last did that. But since we're trying to find an activity that will get us in shape and have fun at it we chose tennis. I have to say I really enjoyed it. Although I cannot consistently hit the ball over the net on a return it still feels good to chase after balls left and right. The main problem is the heat which is prominent in the Double V but I think we'll try to do this activity at night. It'll be nice to be outdoors, under the lights and especially out of the house. UPSer also wants to stick with it so we'll probably do some games out in the Hercules/Pinole area as well. So if anyone wants to join us let us know. We're alway looking for other talent, especially the kind that can teach us a thing or two. Make sure you bring good shoes and a nice clean towel.

The storm after the calm

2006-09-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend with friends this weekend. On saturday the wife went to a bachelorette party and tested her mettle against raging rapids while I had a gig for my old high school. I actually knew a couple of the attendees at the party which was cool, again, showing how small Vallejo really is. Also, I'm really getting better at spinning with the Denon decks that we have, especially using the effects like the echo and brake modes. Kinda sucks because my CDJs don't have the echo but at least the mixer I picked up has a ton of effects so I'll practice with those.

At the party at the house, there was a lot of great food. We watched videos of different shows including last weeks matinee and gala shows and our show in Amsterdam for the Filipino community while in the Netherlands. We also looked at pictures from the shows and the trip to Europe. Thanks to all of you who came and contributed. It truly is "the more the merrier". Late at night we did some karaoke with the magic mic that Vincent brought. We tried our best to get scores in the 90s but apparently it's just looking for you to yell into the mic and follow along to the coloring of the words. I now sing in the style of Michael McDonald, formerly of the Doobie Brothers and who is having great success singing old Motown songs. That's only going to be when we do Magic Mic because you need to hold notes long enough to hold your score. If I use my regular singing voice I think it's more in the style of Sinatra. Not saying I sound like him but I try to follow his rhythm of singing as well as his diction or accent.

Today my family stayed home since the wife was a little sick, probably from the rafting and Andres started a fever. He was still able to play around but for the most part he just chilled with us watching tv. I met with my next wedding gig for the 16th. Looking real forward to it since I'm going to be able to play some old school hip hop and not worry too much about the Hyphy Movement. Also, they are good friends of ours and I'm excited to see them start the next chapter in their lives. Good luck you two.

Go Niners! and other events...

2006-09-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

We're going to the Niner's game tonight, the final pre-season game and although I know the Niners are not that good (understatement), as a fan you gotta believe. And as much as I really enjoy watching sports on a HDTV, going live is the ultimate HD. I haven't gone to a lot of games in the past couple of years, mainly because having a family changes your priorities (gladly). But I enjoy wearing the red and gold and cheering my team on and so does the rest of our family.

Saturday I'm doing a gig for my old high school's Class of 96 reunion. I put together a playlist on iTunes of the top 100 songs. Unfortunately, the top song was Macarena. It's so weird though because for me music is everything and when I saw the list and started listening to some of the songs old memories came back from 10 years ago. Some things I did notice though, house music was big and Alanis Morisette was bigger. I think it was the start of chic rock. Some of the hip hop was ok, Coolio had a couple of hits. Celine Dion also had some big hits . I think around this time I started drifting away from R&B and listening to more alternative. But I remember back then specifically hearing R Kelly's "You Remind Me of Something" (you know, "you remind me of my jeep...") and thinking, "What the hell has happened to R&B? What the hell is this shit?" Also, that was the year that my Honda Civic was all fixed up, when rice rockets were really getting there legs, two 10s in the hatchback, and there I am listening to La Bouche's "Be My Lover" with UPSer rolling through the city. Eventually the car was stolen, several times actually, and broke my heart. Ah, those were the days...

Sunday we're partying in the Double V with Likha and friends. We're just opening the house up to all so that we can take in what we've accomplished this year and even discuss some of visions for the next year. I'm excited to see everyone's pictures from Europe, especially the ones from France. I look forward to vacationing with the wife in that country someday , hopefully soon. With this party, come one, come all, even those not in the troupe. Have a drink with us, have two. Don't drive home drunk though please. Enjoy the three days off...

Got a project done!

2006-08-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to straighten out the garage, especially since we have so many bins of things that have items that we haven't touched since we packed it. The bins were just chillin on the side, inside the garage, stacked to kingdom come. I went to Costco and they were selling those ceiling racks, picked up three of them, took them home and then got to work. Unfortunately, if took me partly two days. The toughest part was having to screw the anchors into the studs. The screws were three inches long and I could only get them screwed in half way with the drill. That meant having to use a ratchet to do the rest. So that's three racks, twelve anchors, with two screws for each anchors. My arms were dead tired. After completing all three racks I then lifted the bins up to the racks. I made sure to go through the bins and then label them as well. I labeled some bins "kalat" since really, that's what they were. I then went through the rest of the items in the garage, swept the floors, vacuumed the carpet I laid out for our little workout area, and threw away all of the new junk I created. The garage looks great and I can actually have legitimate garage parties in it like back in the old days. I have another project that I'll start tomorrow, wish me luck. This is inside the house so I think I'll have a little easier time.

Congrats to Likha

2006-08-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

We just had a huge weekend with the dance troupe and I have to say I was very surprised at how well the show went. It really didn't look too promising after friday's dress rehearsal and since we were dancing with the Bayanihan USA Alumni things could have gone really south for Likha. Let me just lay this out for you.

The show was a tribute to the four national artist for dance of the Philippines. This was not the way to honor them when every dance had issues.

With the Bayanihan Alumni performing with us, the difference could have been night and day, especially since we're sharing the same stage. You can really embarrass yourself out there, not to mention all of Likha.

After all of the hoopla about touring in Europe and having success out there, if we couldn't pull it off in front of our own audience, what worth do we really have in our own community. It reminds me of Michael Jackson now, how he is ignored her in the US but loved all over the rest of the world.

Our dance director, Rudi, had a lot on the line for this show as well. He was on stage, directing his old friends, as well as putting his own group, almost in comparison with them. Was the torch ready to be passed to us?

After all of the build-up, both shows were amazing. It really was the difference between night and day, friday to saturday. Dancers hit their marks, musicians hit their notes, the lighting was magnificent and the crowd was into the whole thing. After friday's practice, your first feeling is that we dodged a huge bullet. But when you look at the big picture, after everything Likha has gone through this past year, I feel like we had our cake and ate it too. We seized the opportunity, made the big shot, hit the big home run, scored the winning touchdown. That is the way to finish the season and I am proud to have been a part of it. And yes, I would have loved to have been on the stage with them instead of with the tech crew, a part of my own torch has been passed to the newer generation of Likha. I'll be back next year, but it's going to definitely be on the stage, with a rejuvination and a desire to continue to keep Likha at the top of our game, and still continuing it's mission.

Real quick, it was great to see all of the "oldies" in the audience (especially you, Rpaul! We miss you!) For those of you that plan on coming back, it can feel weird at that first rehearsal, but it's really like riding a bike, you never forget. Also, next year is our 15th year anniversary, pretty amazing! Oh yeah, and if you were at the show and from another troupe, now you know why people come to see us...

Ramblings of an out of work dj/techie

2006-08-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

The job search is going. It's hard when you weigh what you get from unemployment checks compared to what's out there. All the money I'd spend on traveling to work would almost come out in the wash compared to just staying home.

I'm getting more phone calls for gigs out of the Napa area. I put an add in the Smart Yellow pages and although most people will call just to get a quote they always seem pleasantly surprised at the price. But I know that region can afford a little more than the usual.

Sometimes it's hard to get out of bed. I have all the premium channels on cable and there's always something on. I just saw/heard a line that always makes me laugh. "They're always after me lucky charms..." Anyone?

Damn, gas is expensive. Since we don't have the Matrix right now, we're having to fill up a little more often with a much larger tank. I'm still looking at the Fit although I'm seeing the Yaris may be a little less expensive. Even the Corolla which gets great gas mileage is around the same price as the Fit but a little bigger.

My Mac has become a really good friend of mine. I leave it on, checking mail, reading articles, doing research. I think I'll rarely touch a PC from here on out except for work purposes. At least, when I start work again.

I setup my turntables and CDJs in the garage so whoever wants to come by and spin Serato, CDs, or even real vinyl come on by. Next sunday, Sept 3, we're having a party for Likha. I think I'm going to setup the garage like an old school garage party. Time to get hyphy...

It's good to see the wife moving about a little better. It was painful to see her struggle here and there. Now you know why they ask you "... in sickness and in health..."

The days just roll on by...

2006-08-23T00:53:00.000-07:00

Since my last post I've been busy with a couple things. Namely, I had a big gig on saturday with a lot of high expectations. Also, we've got just one week till the big show for Likha and I've got things to do there also. Friday, I went back to Akita's in Walnut Creek for the wedding rehearsal dinner. I ate and ate and ate. I met a lot of nice people as well as met people who were acquaintances of other friends. It's always a small world with weddings. I also picked up a couple new pieces of equipment. I got two new lights that really give off a "club feel". They're solidly made, heavy but not too expensive since I got them used. I also got a pair of Pioneer CDJ-1000s with cases. I really couldn't pass that up since they are the industry standard. And although I really like the Denon decks that we have I'll be able to do more promotional and pro audio gigs for other types of events like battles or showcases. At the wedding in beautiful San Ramon, I met more and more people since I was the main emcee. There was a really good vibe but it was a little intimidating knowing that you're around people who were: Berkeley or UC Davis grads, lawyers, doctors and the like. I even met someone who is going to clerk for Supreme Court Justice Stevens in D.C. Really nice guy too, top of his class at Boalt Law school.
This week I'm busy getting tech stuff ready for our show on saturday. Since I'm not working and am pretty much available whenever needed, I've put myself out there to get things taken care of. There's also a party at Zebulon on saturday for a friend who is being deputized. We're spinning that night so I'll be shooting over there after the show. Come by and have a drink or three.

All by myself...

2006-08-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

So here I am at home, by myself as the rest of the family is off to CCC. I've been multi-tasking, cleaning the house, checking email, watching different tv shows (the Giants had a day game and won!). I want to make sure our house is clean for when we have our Likha party on Sept 3. We're going to make a couple changes to the house which I think will make the house roomier as well. Still, there's a ton of work to be done. If anyone needs a couch and a matching love seat, it's all yours. Also, although Nala, our pet hamster, has left us, her presence is still felt. While cleaning behind the couch, I saw some "treats" as well as torn-up carpet. If and when we change the carpets, it might have to be hardwood floors instead.

Dog Days of Summer

2006-08-15T23:50:00.000-07:00

I'm counting the days until the boys start school again. Not that I don't want to spend time with them but when they're home I can barely get anything done. I just want to sit there and watch them play, make them something to eat or put on a dvd and watch with them. I'm hoping to do some serious job searching, finish my house projects and even find time to start a workout. I've been half-heartedly looking for work, sending my resumes here and there but I do believe it's not what you know but who you know. I still have an iching to try something completely new but it's going to take a whole-hearted commitment if I go that route. So these are my dog days of summer where I'm slogging along, looking for something new to shake up the norm. I sense that I myself will need to do the shaking up. I know for sure though that I will miss them once they do start school which is just this thursday.

Happy Birthday to me...

2006-08-13T22:45:00.000-07:00

I usually don't make a big fuss about my birthdays when they come around. After I turned 25 the years just seemed to pile on and on. Now that I've reached 36, yes 36, I look back and see all the people who kept me on the right track. Not to say that I've done everything in life the right way, but let's just say they've guided me through the path that doesn't lead to being in jail. Because after all is said and done, you just want to make sure you don't end up there. I think for the ladies, you just don't want to end up on the stripper pole. Make sense? I didn't think so, but if you know me you know where I'm coming from. Not to say that all strippers are jacked up, but I'm sure the majority of them would rather be somewhere that doesn't involve trying to get me to put dollars in their thongs. Anyways, thanks to all of you who came to eat with us at Fuddrucker's. Thank you also to those who wished me happy birthday as well. One of my favorite places because of the easy menu it offers, I had to get my rib-eye steak sandwich. I was also treated to an amazing sundae with coffee ice cream (thanks Bryan and Manok!)

Now that I have kids of my own I just want to share this one birthday memory of mine when I was young. For Christmas when I was 10 my parents bought me an awesome ten-speed bike and I rode that thing all over Vallejo. When my birthday came around I bragged to all my friends that I was going to have a party at Chuck Cheese. I would have been the first of my buddies to do that. We used to go to Round Table pizza just to play video games and right before my birthday I when their and left my bike there without locking it up. You know where I'm going with this so to make a long story short, the bike got stolen, my parents were pissed, they cancelled my party and a couple of weeks later my other buddy had his party at Chucky Cheese. The birthday party that wasn't has stuck with me so much that I can remember vividly the day my bike was stolen. Hopefully, Andres and Emilio will be smarter than their daddy was, or wasn't for that matter.

Keeping busy

2006-08-11T01:41:00.000-07:00

I took the wife and kids to Q-Cup out in Sac thursday so that they could try out their crepes filled with ice cream. We also tried their chow-fun which was delicious. Q-cup has a ton of different dishes for the empty stomach and the sweet tooth. They also have wireless internet which I used to buy 2 tickets for a show in Reno this saturday. We're going to watch Wayne Brady. Should be a good time, plus we'll be in Reno while I'm turning 36. Maybe I'll try my luck on the "Wheel of Fortune" slot machine or at the craps table. I'm doing a gig friday for a 21st b-day in Benicia. It's gonna be a white chick party so I'm putting together some white chick music. If you have any suggestions on what I should play, let me know. I also met with a couple whose wedding I'll be deejaying on the 19th. Their reception is in San Ramon at a beautiful golf course. They really keep stroking my ego saying really nice things about what they've heard about our skills. They even fed my stomach with some good Japanese all-you-can-eat in Walnut Creek. I know I've got my work cut out for me with all of the things they'd like done that night. Oh yeah, did you know that Lionel Richie has a song out? Apparently he signed with P Diddy and Bad Boy. It sounds like a punch line, I know, but the song I've heard is pretty cool, "I Call It Love". Check it out if you haven't heard it yet.

Cars

2006-08-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

So if you haven't read or heard, the wife was in an accident last thursday which threw this family for a loop for a couple days. It's a blessing that it was not as bad as it could have been. The after-effects will be felt for awhile. The Matrix looked pretty bad but after sending it to the shop, they feel they can fix it and maybe even make some minor improvements. We're going to look for another car as well since she's too afraid to drive it again. Also, we're probably going to have to wait 3 weeks till we get it back. We have the van to use but it was having an electrical problem. The lights inside and the parking lights were not working so we're in the dark after dusk. The problem stems from our previous radio problem. The boys, specifically Mio, were putting coins, poker chips, and whatever fits in there, inside the CD slot. I sent it to Honda of Vacaville and they fixed the problem. I just got my front brake pads changed as well but by someone else. I hate car issues. It's sad because it can really bring you down to your knees with the amount of money you may end up spending. Luckily, the Matrix is covered by insurance but the van's warranty is up. I'll be in the market for a new radio for the van. I'm thinking of getting some kind of dvd player for the van but only if I get a deal of a lifetime.

The Beat Was Brought

2006-08-06T00:28:00.000-07:00

We did a gig in Napa last night. They found us in the phone book from an ad that I had purchased specifically for Napa. Let's face it, there's money to be found in them their grapes. We need to spread out to different clientele and it seems to be working. The wedding we did was at a restaurant called Bay Leaf Restaurant. It was really nice, less than 100 peeps, really intimate and slightly outdoors with a tent overhead. We actually didn't have to do much work. There was no money dance, no special performances, no slide show. It was just dinner, speeches, cake cutting and party. If they could all be that easy. When we started the dancing it was really basic: the Celebration mix, Come on Eileen, Jump by Van Halen, Abba's Dancing Queen... I'm looking forward to more gigs like this although the one drawback is the limited old school hip hop that is requested. We've got some bigger gigs coming up soon that will call for it so I'll be prepared for. Until then I'll just be practicing my hyphy mixes...

Go Giants!

2006-08-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

I went to the baseball game today to see the Giants play the Nationals and end their NINE GAME LOSING STREAK!!!! Geez, that would be like going on tour and crapping out on every dance every night you performed. Also, it would be like playing nine songs in a row and everyone just sitting down and not dancing. I brought the boys and my firefighter buddy met us out there since he put out the invite. One suggestion, bring lots of cash. It cost 25 bucks to park and I bought scalped tickets for the boys, 2 for $20. Generously, my buddy gave me his extra ticket and he also paid for all of our lunches. We both got the pulled-pork plate and the boys got hot dogs. We walked around the yard, checking the sites so that the boys could get a feel for what goes on around the baseball park. Every little souvenier Andres saw he wanted. I ended up buying both of them Lou Seal stuffed animals made by "Build-A-Bear". We watched some of the game and saw back-to-back home runs and when the game seemed in hand we left. The boys were getting a little tired. All in all, great weather, a nice breeze with the sunshine.

Old School buddies

2006-08-01T00:16:00.000-07:00

An old friend from high school (actually, even grammar school) came by the other day and hung out with us on Sunday and even most of Monday. He came down to get some music and just shoot the breeze. It's been awhile since he'd seen the house, from the day we moved in, and it was a chance to take advantage of his firefighter's schedule of one day on, three days off. I need that schedule too! It's a big lifestyle change to pursuit firefighting, even just to train as one. Anyways, it was good to see him and shoot the breeze and catch up on life in general. Although you'd like to be able to speak with someone that you're close to more often, the catch up time is really nice because there are so many things to talk about and even rehash. I'm blessed to have so many friends because they aren't just acquaintances. These are people that as soon as the conversation starts it's almost as if you've just seen them the other day and you haven't skipped a beat. I've really held my old school buddies close to my heart as well because they were like brothers that I didn't have, growing up as an only child. So here's to you, Old School Buddies, wherever you may be...

Return of the House Party

2006-07-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

The wedding that I did last night was fun. The couple redid the backyard and it looked amazing. I later found out that they are renting the house and they fixed the whole backyard themselves. There were so many friends and family there, although none of the celebrities that they knew did not come. No big deal though. It was basically a house party with a wedding ceremony thrown in. There was good food, plenty of alcohol, the cake tasted great and people danced. You're always scared that you don't find the right groove but when we opened the dancefloor and "Celebration" came on it was non-stop. I even threw in MC Hammer and the groom was buggin'! We did get into the Hyphy Movement for a little while since the bride had a teen daughter and her cheerleader squad friends there. One observation though, Pleasanton teens don't get as hyphy as Alameda/Vallejo teens.

Another observation, the couple did a "Bittersweet Ceremony" which was really nice. The daughter fed them four items while the best man described each one. Honey was the sweet and symbolic in that it never spoils. Betel nut was bitter and symbolic in that marriage will see some sour moments here and there. Also, pepper was symbolic in that a marriage can get hot at times and salt is symbolic in that it preserves. Lastly they had water which cleansed. First time I had seen that. What also made it cool was that the best man had a cool Jamaican accent so he sounded really smooth in describing each one.

Although I love being a part of all the Pilipino weddings since I know what to expect and they have generally been fun, it's always nice to see how other customs are played out. Next weekend is a wedding for a white couple who found us in the phonebook so there's a little pressure there since they don't really know me but something tells me it's going to make me more aware of my surroundings that evening. It'll be interesting in trying to read the crowd. I was a little nervous about last night but it ended up turning out great.

Wedding gig on a friday

2006-07-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

I'll be in Pleasanton today for a wedding that's going to take place in a couple's backyard. We visited them on sunday and spoke with the bride while also checking out the site. I think it's actually going to turn out nicely. Although I'm used to the big banquet halls and hotels that we usually go to, this will be a nice change of pace. Also, apparently the bride knows some celebrities so it'll be interesting to see who shows up. I hope there's not going to be a lot of dancing but more of some chillin'. I'm bringing a ton of music on two separate hard drives as well as my cd collection. I'm also going to bring out the serato but not with the turntables, just so I can use the laptop.

We were supposed to dj a cotillion tomorrow but apparently they found another dj last minute. Even after the mom kept saying "please save the date, my daughter really wants you guys...", she didn't call me to tell me, I had to call her. I'm a little upset about it but I can really use a saturday with my family. We've got things that we can do together.

Gettin' Kinda Hectic

2006-07-26T00:35:00.000-07:00

Just need to make a few political points today. I guess the heat is getting to me and making me angrier about the world situation. Whether or not you are for or against what Israel is doing in Lebanon, blame can be easily spread around all sides. You can't even get into a discussion about who started it because both sides will point to some incursion or kidnapping or bombing that happened as the reason it all began. For me it's gotten to the point where you just listen to Marvin Gaye sing "make me wanna holler, throw up both my hands..." I'm tired of this. I read it everyday in the news, on blogs and different sites. I really have tried to stop watching tv on it because it's just disgusting. These people on tv, all they do is scream now. There's no true discussion. The only show that does discuss it is on PBS and even their news show has lost it's real in depth coverage, afraid of how the right-wing will portray them. I still listen to my favorite host, Bernie Ward, on KGO on at late-night. And although I know he's a tried and true left-wing progressive like myself, he still knows how to make an argument and stick with it. I know that I'm going to agree with him most of the time, but I still try to listen to both sides. You have to know what the other side is arguing in order to be a part of a true debate and discourse.

And Mr. Bush sits there doing nothing. It's really embarrassing. The world can crumble around him and all he can say is "freedom is on the march", "we're showing resolve" or some other catchphrase that someone made up for him. I'm looking forward to that day in January of 2009 when a new president is sworn in and he steps away. I'm really looking forward to a Congress that shows some guts so hopefully there will be some change in this election year. If not, we get what we deserve. Hold onto your butts people, it's going to be an interesting path that we're walking and no one knows what's around the corner.

I'm burnin' up, burnin' up for your love...

2006-07-25T00:29:00.000-07:00

As you probably have seen on the news or felt it yourself, it's burning up in the Yay Area. And I'm not talking about the "Hyphy Movement". We are all cooking out here up and down Northern California. We knew that moving to Vacaville would bring us hot summers but this is getting ridiculous. This is now officially Las Vegas weather no matter where you go, Vacaville, Concord, Pleasanton, Fremont, San Jose, the list goes on...

Friday was a travel day for us to San Jose in preparation of my cousin's wedding. It was nice driving with the air-con on but as soon as you step outside it's like an oven. I'm glad we don't have the humidity but I bet that's coming soon. The church was in downtown, really beautiful, but it didn't have any air conditioning. We sat in the heat while another couple rehearsed. It looked like Paris Hilton was getting married with all the white chicks in the bridal party. The dinner that night was at a buffet close to Santana Row. They had salt and pepper frog legs. I was tempted since I really like salt and pepper pork or salt and pepper shrimp but I couldn't do frog legs. Maybe if I was on tv and competing with other people I would have done it but i passed. The evening at my cousin's fiance's house was tough. They also had no air-con, the wife couldn't bear the heat but at least it was free.

Saturday, wedding day, we got up early and ran errands. We wanted to find fans or paypays for people who would be at the wedding but everywhere we went no one had any. As the wife went to get her nails done we asked the lady who was doing them if she knew where to get some. She said downtown. So as we got ready, got the boys ready and left for downtown, we had time to go fan hunting. The shop selection was getting thin the closer we got to downtown and when I saw an Vietnamese "antique" shop I decided to give it a shot. As I looked around I saw a lot of old antiques and art. I asked the shopkeeper if she had any fans and sure enough, she had a small bucket full of them. I almost grabbed all of them but wasn't sure how much they were. I offered her 20 bucks for all of the ones I had in my hand and she said deal. It was like a shot in the dark but we scored, nice! At the church I tried to pass them out to people but everyone wanted one. It's really hard to be generous sometimes because as I passed them out it was if people expected them from me. The people that I gave them to that I didn't even know didn't even say thank you and when I told them I needed to save some for the wedding party they looked at me crazy. You just can win sometimes.

The wedding was great, Andres walked, although reluctantly. My cousin's in the wedding party got busted by the priest when they were chewing gum. They're not Catholic though, they go to another church, Iglesia Ni Cristo I think, so they're kinda excused. I was really happy for my cousin and his new wife when they finished their vows. 10 years they'd been together, amazing. We decided to get a room at the Doles Hayes Mansion where the reception was so we checked into the hotel and I setup the gear as well. Moe came later and for the most part it went smooth. I had some issues with the video presentation but our screen looked great up there (it's huge!) and my new Mac did the job and then some. When we played ballroom everyone filled the dancefloor, especially for line dances. It seems everyone really loves the Cha Cha Slide song, young and old, especially young. We got a little hyphy but for the most part the danced all night. Even the wife and I got to dance more at this wedding. Usually I'm working so she loses her partner.

We loved the hotel room, air-con and all. The family went swimming the following morning. I stayed in and watched my twin, Tiger Woods, win the British Open. We left for Fremont to be at the Cruz's. Their food was scrumptious. I really liked the string beans! The wife went to practice and I ran around. In the evening I had to meet with a couple who's wedding I'm deejaying on Friday. It's at their house in the backyard, gonna be a chillin' party. Apparently, the bride knows a lot of celebrities. Goapele may be there and maybe even the rock group Living Color. She wants me to network with other entertainers to do other gigs. Pretty cool of her and she hasn't even heard me play yet. Maybe this is getting closer to being a full-time gig, eh? We shall see.