Los Raichartos de Los Angeles

Checking in

2009-08-27T14:32:00.001-07:00

Hey, we are still here. Looking for work, so a bit stressed/busy at the moment. But cute Gavin pictures coming soon…

Watermelon

2009-06-21T21:20:00.001-07:00

Watermelon is hard to eat. Hands don’t seem to work.

This isn’t doing the job either.

Oh forget it.

As a side note, grapefruit is much easier. Yes, our child likes grapefruit. We can’t beg hard enough to get him to eat ice cream, but #1 icky fruit of all time, sure.

“A fresh, robust flavor with a hint of earthy suppleness and bitter undertones. A complex and challenging, yet rewarding vintage.”

A song . . .

2009-06-06T20:50:00.001-07:00

In ancient times...
Hundreds of years before the dawn of history
Lived a strange race of people... the Druids
No one knows who they were or what they were doing
But their legacy remains
Hewn into the living curd... Of Cheesehenge

Cheesehenge! Where the demons dwell
Where the banshees live and they do live well
Cheesehenge! Where a man's a man
And the children dance to the Pipes of Pan

Cheesehenge! 'Tis a magic place
Where the moon doth rise with a dragon's face
Cheesehenge! Where the virgins lie
And the prayers of devils fill the midnight sky
And you my love, won't you take my hand?
We'll go back in time to that mystic land
Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow
I will take you there, I will show you how

And oh how they danced
The little children of Cheesehenge
Beneath the haunted moon
For fear that daybreak might come too soon
And where are they now?
The little people of Cheesehenge
And what would they say to us?
If we were here... tonight

Pictures…

2009-06-03T15:05:00.001-07:00

Ducks …

Is anybody out there?

2009-05-28T16:49:00.001-07:00

Just a test of new software that would allow for much easier blog posting rather than the horrible Blogger method that makes posting a chore, which coincidentally has resulted in a lack of updates. So let us know if anyone still follows this thing . . .

A Post

2009-01-21T21:12:00.000-08:00

I took way too many pictures since the last post - and don't have the creativity to give you clever captions for all of them so here are two of my favorites. I'm kinda over the blogging thing (obviously) and am looking into MobileMe or Web Albums or something - anyway, here's Gavin.

Gavin enjoying his makeshift canoe

Our little Santa Baby

Little Dude in the Orange Hat

2008-11-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

We went hiking in Big Sycamore Canyon this weekend with the fam.
I just love this Picture! Those are my boys.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-05T21:06:00.000-08:00

Our little kangaroo - he was all smiles at first...

after the 30th picture - ok, seriously are we done yet!

I'm just going to chew on this little joey here

At the Forneris Farms corn maze in Sylmar

Our little pumpkin on a really big pumpkin

Yoga Master

What a cutie!!

Stop. Hammer time!

2008-10-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hasta la Vista...

2008-08-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

So....we, um, haven't been the best at posting. First of all, let me dispense with the first and hopefully last time I will mention the California State Bar, which I recently took in Ontario, mere miles from the epicenter of the recent 5.4 quake. At 2 hours, 45 minutes into the first of six sessions, the building shook and falling tiles narrowly missed the proctor's head. A sign from above that this professional hazing does not meet with you-know-who's approval?

Anyway, enough excuses. Here's what you all want to see. Chattin' up Hank

The obligatory Jordan pose...

Tons O' Fun

2008-06-12T14:54:00.000-07:00

Talking to the camera and sporting a new hairdo :)

Why are baby yawns so cute?

Chillin' with Aunt Jordan

Two new games that are guaranteed to make Gavin smile!

"SuperBaby"

"Squishy Cheeks"

Okay...

2008-05-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

...First things first: a 100-cc cute kid injection:

I promise we will be posting more of Gavin in the very near future, but there is another piece of business to attend to. Some of you may have noticed my running goal meter on the side of the blog recently, and if you have you have also seen that, alas...I did not meet my goal of 100 miles in 8 weeks. Oops. I can explain, though. I ran a half marathon in April that pretty much finished me off for a few weeks:

So, mileage was a problem there for awhile. BUT, I have not given up the pursuit of ultimate fitness, and I am still trying to run more often. To that end I have made a new goal, to run 180 miles by August, making it an even 500 miles since I starting running back in September of last year. Having a goal that everyone can monitor really helps in the motivation department, so if you see that I am slacking send me a line (or comment on this post) either of admonishment or encouragement (the latter is preferred, but the former may be more appropriate). To anyone that is interested, the Nike+ system is an awesome tool, and now you don't even need an iPod to use it. I highly recommend it.

Also, be on the lookout for new music by, um, me. Hopefully in the next few weeks.

A Day in the Life of Gavin Raichart

2008-04-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

Sleeping

Looking Cute

Reading with Mom

Doing Laundry with Mom (this is clean laundry - just in case anyone was wondering)

Napping with Mom

Gavin spends most of his day strapped to me in the Baby Hawk (thanks Liz Hinkle!!)

We go for walks, cook dinner, eat dinner (then clean up the leftovers in his hair), post blogs, clean the house, even go potty (both of us). This is your view - I love how his little feet poke out.

and this is my view!

Two weeks tomorrow

2008-03-28T14:23:00.001-07:00

Just chattin' with Mom

Full tummy = happy baby

Too cute!!

Such a tiny squirt

Notice the wet spot on Nick's shirt. After discovering that the diaper was virtually dry, we concluded that Gavin either has exceptional aim or there was a bit of user error on the part of the diaperer.

First bath - Gavin loves Daddy's finger!!

Does it get any better than this?

Chillin' with Uncle Nick - Gavin is already practicing for school - he is always raising his hand, we're still working on responding once called upon.

Our little punk rocker

First stroll in the stroller

The Story of an Amazing Baby and an Amazing Mommy

2008-03-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

Tiffany-Ann and Gavin are sleeping next to me as I type this, exhausted from days of such hard work and a nonstop rollercoaster of emotions. We are so blessed to have such an amazing miracle in our lives. As with anything of great worth, this blessing did not come easily and without sacrifice. Can I just say that I have the strongest, bravest and most beautifully humble wife in the world? After watching her go through the toughest experience in her life, I feel so much more love for her than ever before.

My sweet wife labored for over 27 hours, unmedicated. We learned at our doctor's visit last Tuesday that Gavin was measuring on the small side, which was confirmed at an ultrasound Thursday. Although he was at full term, 38 weeks, he was measuring size wise at around 35 1/2. Something was keeping him from getting everything he needed, and our doctor decided to induce the next morning (Friday) at 7:30. This was a bit of a setback for us; since we wanted to birth naturally, we wouldn't have the opportunity to do a lot of the "groundwork" of early contractions at home in a relaxing atmosphere. Instead we were going to have to dive right in with the Pitocin, and Tiffany-Ann had to be hooked up to the prenatal monitor the whole time, which further limited our tools available under the Bradley method.

After 18 hours of labor, including 9 hours of hard labor, my sweetheart was nearing the end of her rope. A nurse came and checked her at around 2:30 am and she was still at around 2.5 to 3cm. Not exactly the express train to Babytown. I was torn between watching my sweetie labor in so much pain and giving in to the nurses' tempting offer of an epidural: "There's no shame in it...the anethesiologist is right down the hall..." Luckily we were blessed with a wonderful O.B., Dr. Rebecca Perlow, who spoke to us at 3 in the morning, and told us to take TA off the Pitocin and let her have a shower and a nap. She was in the shower for 30-40 minutes, in absolute heaven, and as the contractions slowed down, she was able to sleep a few hours.

Act 3: At 9 am, Dr. Perlow came by and gave us a pep talk, reminding us that Tiffany-Ann just did a week's worth of work in just under a day. She was still at around 3.5cm though, so a tough road lay ahead. By 11 she was under hard labor again, and we fought to take each contraction one at a time. She was so strong and so brave. By noon she was nearing wit's end again, having endured so much. At around 12:30 she was at 4 cm. At 12:40 she was feeling the urge to push, but the nurse said it was probably just a full bladder, and that she should try to go to the bathroom. I helped her in after a few more contractions, and at around 12:50 she was on the toilet screaming that she had to push, she couldn't help it. I have never felt so much panic in her voice and I hope I never feel that again. I got her up to the door, but again she had to push, and I was telling her "DON'T PUSH!" She could not walk or move, and was screaming that she had to push. I didn't know what to do besides take gravity out of the picure, so I laid her down right on the floor and yanked the emergency cord. Four nurses came in an, looked at her, and said "what in the world are you doing down there?" Once on the bed, the charge nurse did an exam and told be to "take a look." Gavin was starting to peek out. Elapsed time since 4 cm: about a half hour.

Dr. Perlow was at home, and the ten minutes or so it look for her to get there seemed like forever. After 10 minutes of pushing, our little Gavin was out, and resting comfortably on mommy's bare chest. He began feeding after a few minutes.

By far the hardest thing we've ever done but the most rewarding. Here is our little bean:

Gavin Nicholas Raichart

2008-03-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

March 15, 2008, 1:15 pm. 5 lbs. 10 oz, 19 in. Perfect in every way.

This is it...

2008-03-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

OB appointment this morning: 1 cm, 80% effacement. Dr.: "Don't expect to make it to your appointment next week."

Here we go!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: World's Largest Water Balloon, Part 2

2008-03-01T22:25:00.001-08:00

March 1, 2008 will live in infamy as the day not one, but two inflatable exercise balls met their watery demise. For those who may think that this was a simple operation, keep in mind that many factors had to be addressed, including efficient water delivery into the ball, water weight, and landing site. In order to not destroy the launch pad (i.e. treehouse), we needed to know how big and how heavy the ball could be. Nicholas wrote a handy program for this purpose. It's available for home use and commercial license, only $499.

Ladies and gentlemen, the final result:

For good measure, and since we have literally thousands of these things lying around, we decided to see what happens when you cram the hose in and just let it go...

SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL: The World's Largest Water Balloon, Part 1

2008-02-24T13:56:00.000-08:00

So Julie has an inflatable exercise ball that is too firm for practical use, and graciously donated it for the Greater Good, a.k.a. Nicholas and I and our destructive imaginations. It quickly became very clear that this piece of exercise equipment deserved a respectful, albeit spectacular demise.
But how would we dispatch it into the abyss of the Unseen and Infinite Beyond? We discussed, among other ideas:

- A strategically placed cherry bomb, perhaps inside the ball. This would have the benefit of an easily contained explosive catalyst, and would probably do a good job of destroying the ball, but the nearest cherry bomb of respectful power that I know of is in Ensenada. Also, there would be no way of fitting it into the little quarter inch hole. And no way to ignite it.
- Filling it with black powder. This would also probably produce a good bang, and we could easily pour the stuff into the ball. And you can get like five pounds of the stuff for twenty bucks. But again, there are ignition issues, and it might be hard for two guys to walk into a gun store and casually ask the salesman for gunpowder. Salesman: "What can I do for you?" Us: "We need to blow up a piece of exercise equipment. We'll be neededing some of your finest, purest black powder, please." Yeah, we would have to send Tiffany-Ann; after all, how suspicious is a pregnant lady carrying a bag of gunpowder, anyway?

Anyway. We decided on the simple, yet elegant solution of filling the the thing with water until it reached critical mass, at which point we would chuck it off the roof. This way we wouldn't have all the mess and macho pretense of high explosives.

How to fill it, though? Nothing an air pump attachment, hose, and hot glue can't fix... By the way, water is really heavy. We had to fill the thing on the roof. Getting the partially filled ball up there sure was hard...

How cool is Gregg, anyway? Son: We're going to be throwing a 200 pound ball of water off the roof. Father: Need some help with that?

And the spectacular finale...

We are such idiots. The ball survives, but not for long. Stay tuned.

Cruisin'

2008-02-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

The weather has been beautiful in So Cal lately, so we spent Saturday on the beach biking the boardwalk from Santa Monica to Venice beach.

Tiffany-Ann, Jordan, and Nicholas.

Isn't she a cutie? 6 weeks to go!

Nicholas will kill me for posting this. Next stop: the bright lights of Broadway!

As we were packing up to go home, Nicholas got really sad and started throwing a tantrum. He stole Tiffany-Ann's bike and just started riding around in circles. No one could catch him, because if you notice, he's still wearing his rollerblades, providing him with DOUBLE the locomotion.

Believe it or not, David Hasselhoff was living in there.

Only in California...

2008-01-30T22:55:00.001-08:00

Zaireeka!

2008-01-14T10:32:00.000-08:00

Back in 1997, when grunge was breathing its last and more experimental bands like Radiohead were becoming more relevant, Oklahoma perennials The Flaming Lips recorded a truly unique record. Basically, the band split a traditional CD--wherein all studio tracks are "mixed down" into a form where you can play it through a single player--into four parts, on four CDs, so that to hear the complete mix you have to play each CD on a different player at the same time, synchronized. The result is basically a really weird but cool sonic immersion: plucky bass lines from CD1 enter on your right, then slink around to the back left on CD3, or a guitar line will chime in behind you on the left from CD2 and echo somewhere on your right to CD4. Since no one CD player plays at the exact speed as another (even if they are the exact same model), you get a different arrangement each time you listen. It's basically what the title suggests: Zaire for anarchy (songwriter Wayne Coyne was inspired by political instability in the African nation at the time) + eureka, signalling a sudden discovery.

So anyway, Tiffany-Ann gave me the album for Christmas, and, after rounding up the four CD players in the house (two mini-stereos and two laptops), we proceeded to TRIP OUT. Well, sans psychedelic "enhancers" of course. True, the music can be a bit "creative" at times, but even for the nonhippy it provides an intriguing way to spend a Saturday afternoon....

There's me immersed in the experience. You can't tell in the picture, but I am actually floating above my body at this point, listening to "The Train Runs over the Camel but Is Derailed by the Gnat."

I did not get her permission...

2008-01-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

So we started our birthing class last night. We are using the Bradley Method, as it is our goal of a natural unmedicated childbirth. Now, that's not to say I would mind if Tiffany-Ann got the whole Big Epi-D (that's what I'm going to call it from now on. It sounds like a tough rapper's name [yo I'm gonna pop a CAP in yo pain!]). Personally, after watching the birth video (goody!) last night I was TERRIFIED. I don't want to speak for all men everywhere, but I think there is a constant amazement we feel (or should feel) for our female counterparts. Without exaggeration, pregnant women must be the bravest people on Earth. Bravest and most selfless.

Christmas in New York

2007-12-30T15:13:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas this year at my parents' house in Washingtonville, an hour outside of Manhattan. It is a quiet little village that is diametrically opposite in terms of activity than the city, which during the holidays is a gargantuan mass of writhing humanity. (note to self: add "writhing" to my list of grossest words).

Anyway, in no particular order, the grand picture tour. Pictured above is the tree at 30 Rockefeller Center. I would guess a good 30 thousand people crammed the square around the famous ice skating rink. Thankfully far less were in the bathroom at the Banana Republic across the street.

Craig (big) and Noah (little), at Bear Mountain State Park. Combined IQ: at least 400.

Riding the park carousel.

I think everyone would agree that Nintendo's Wii is insanely fun, or at least a giant step above mindless and socially degenerative video games. At the very least, it is the first console that makes it fun for nonplayers to watch participants as they swing and jab at the air with boundless enthusiam, writhing in primal ferocity.

Seriously, don't you get that from this picture?

Returning to the city, here's a sample of two spiritual centers of Manhattan.

Then there's me looking across the Hudson at Jersey.

Tiffany-Ann at the Winter Gardens in the World Financial Center.

Sculptures in Battery Park City. Doesn't she look terrified?

Dad and Claire

Noah looking fierce as a Potato-head pirate. I was actually kind of nervous at this point. I think he really wanted to stab me with that little plastic sword. Don't laugh: it was HARD plastic.

Still Growing!

2007-12-09T13:38:00.000-08:00

Ok - so people keep requesting us to post more pictures of me. I guess everyone just wants to see how fat I'm getting. So here you go... This is me at 25 weeks.

Getting ready for the big Debbie Gibson concert...

2007-11-14T08:29:00.001-08:00

Halloween 07

2007-11-07T18:31:00.000-08:00

Here are our costumes we wore for Halloween this year, to commemorate our fast approaching little dude.

And here is the week-19 appearance of the amazing Human Oven:

Isn't she smokin' hot like a Crock Pot? I just made that rhyme up.

It's a boy!

2007-10-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

So the ultrasound this morning confirmed that Tiffany-Ann will be giving birth to a boy. Here is a clip from the video. You can see his arms and legs at about 0:21, his face and open mouth at 0:30 (perfect Halloween visual...he is a bit "Skeletor" at the moment), and his heartbeat (with different colors for different blood flow directions) at 1:12. Oh, and the "proof" is at the end.

Fire

2007-10-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

So the infamous Santa Anas are at it again, this time burning down half of Malibu. On Sunday we played host to some friends that were evacuated at 6:30 in the morning and whose house narrowly escaped the blaze. The fire barely missed Pepperdine campus, though I wouldn't have minded if it had destroyed at least the computer system holding my grades.

Lowest Common Demoninator, aka "Really?"

2007-09-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

Is it me, or is our generation more nomadic than our parents'? We are moving AGAIN, this time back to Tiffany-Ann's parents' place. On Saturday we entered the Costcosphere and emerged with only ONE item:

This kit does it all: boxes, packs, tapes, cushions, labels....and it even made Mac and cheese for us for lunch, although the macaroni was overdone. But look at the corner of the box. The one with the picture of the big semi.

OK. I guess it is somewhat reasonable to think $60 would get you 30 boxes AND the services of a huge moving truck. But an even more...sinister possibility: maybe people think that the truck is in fact included in the box. Which would be pretty cool.

March 26, 2008

2007-09-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

Beaten to the Punch

2007-09-10T16:16:00.000-07:00

A brainstorm for the perfect toddler-transport solution led to an idea that, unfortunately, has already been taken:

Maybe I'm imagining things, but doesn't Jake here look a little...downtrodden? Anyway, here's the trademark we were planning to use.

Flux Capacitor Comes Standard

2007-08-21T18:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20378293/

The Return of the stainless steel wonder. I have a friend who drives one, but hates Back to the Future. He actually likes the car on independent grounds. Go figure.

Soft science is killing me softly with its song...

2007-08-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

So I am sitting in class...again. This time, it is "Communication and Conflict", not to be confused with "Cross Cultural Conflict Resolution" or "Social Psychology of Conflict", two other classes that, so far, this class has drawn quite heavily from. Makes me wonder if I'm really getting the most bang for my blood-debt loaned buck. But someone help me out here, because I am having trouble taking seriously the ramblings of an academic who specialized in the vastly verbose landscape of social science.

I absolutely stink at math, but I wish I didn't. Hard sciences seem to have a comfortable sense of certainty. Soft science literature is laced with big esoteric words used to describe simple, often common-sense phenomena, and often social theories can never fully explain the complexities of human relationships. Right? Help me see otherwise, because I am feeling academically fatigued.

Nearly pointless post, aka underdog animals that defy the food chain and beat up bigger, meaner animals.

2007-07-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

Summer school courses provide me with a great opportunity to post, because most of the time professors are reading verbatim from power points or, as the case is tonight, spending an hour and a half instructing the class on how to search library databases. I am not making this up. This is a class I had nearly the first day of undergrad and a few dozen times since. So I decided to do a little research of my own.

Ask Tiffany-Ann: I've always been a huge geek when it comes to random scales people invent to describe various phenomena, i.e. the Scoville Scale. A cool looking bug I saw the other day outside the law school reminded me of another, more sinister scale: the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. This handy scale allows you to quantify the agony you'd feel if, say, you were stung by this little guy:

The Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis Wasp). Otherwise known as the bug I spotted not eighteen inches from my exposed foot. It has perhaps the most painful sting in the Western Hemisphere. One unlucky victim described the sting thusly:

"To me, the pain is like an electric wand that hits you, inducing an immediate, excruciating pain that simply shuts down one’s ability to do anything, except, perhaps, scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations."

The one I saw looked happy enough walking around the flowers, so no worries, but get this: It hunts tarantulas, paralyzing them with a powerful sting, and then drags the still living spider into a lair where it lays eggs on its body. You can imagine the rest. Another interesting note: pepsis wasps are "nectavorous" and they often will drink fermented fruits which make them...well, inebriated.

So the encounter made me think about all those cool animals that by all logical means should be food for someone else instead prey on things much bigger or deadlier than themselves, i.e. the awesome mongoose. Or the duck. Haven't ducks been known to take down bears or something? Anyway, if you think of any other examples let me know.

Inspired Ideas

2007-07-17T18:22:00.000-07:00

While it may be true that many of the quality products we enjoy were invented by mistake -- Wheaties, Post-its, the Slinky, Silly Putty -- there are a great many innovations that were born from hours of calculated hard work and scientific inquiry. Recently my colleague Nick Durst and I have dabbled in inventioneering and have developed some really exciting new ideas. We've decided to share a few with the world. Here's the first. And remember, patents pending.

Behold. The Dinnershnitzel. Inefficient multi-course meals are a thing of the past.

Note that each segment represents a mouth-watering garden of culinary delight. I've included some delicious suggestions for each course, because this edible Dachshund (then again, what Dachshund isn't...)is fully customizable. You pick what you want and it is synthesized into an efficent food product that is stuffed neatly into a handy casing.

Of course, I know exactly what your'e thinking. Willy Wonka already thought of it. While I agree that it resembles his magical gum in spirit, the Dinnershnitzel is a vast improvement on the concept. First, you are free to choose what course you start with: the Dinnershnitzel is linear in appearance only. Feel free to get your freak on and eat dessert first! Also, can you do this with Wonka's gum?

Baja, Part II

2007-07-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Here's some more pics of our recent trip. Most of them are provided courtesy of Giselle Tongi, a Filipino cousin of Mark's wife Rowena who came down with us. She also happens to be a huge celebrity in the Phillipines. Here's a pic of the house, and one of Mark and Rowena.

One great thing about the trip is riding the Mini Baja. The raw muscle of this 5hp hog will melt your face right off, provided the starter cord doesn't snap as you're pulling it.

From our hike to the top of the nearest volcano.

One of Mark's neighbors is a local woman who makes awesome homemade tortillas. As we have no microwave, this is how we make dang quesadillas. They taste like welding.

Fireworks

We took a hike across the lava field to some natural tide-fed pools.

The last night we were there we drove back into town to do some crab-eatin' and dancin' at a local hole-in-the-wall. The rubber chicken on Mark's mirror served to measure the relative bumpiness of the ride. Here, it's shakin' and bakin', baby.

Ladies and gentlemen, the BOMB. And a sexy model to boot. I love Tiffany-Ann's expression. I totally know she's thinking of my studliness as we take this picture.

We were fortunate enough to snap a photo of the action mid-explosion.

Crossing the world's busiest border. At one point, we straddled the line and for a few glorious minutes, the backseat of the car was in Mexico and the front in the U.S. We took the opportunity to stage a cockfight in the back while it was still nice and legal.

Baja, Part I

2007-07-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

We made it back from our Baja trip, albeit after a brief stint in a Tijuana jail. I guess it's frowned upon to smuggle several hundred kilos of churros across the border. Oh well.

But seriously, here's a brief rundown of the trip. After strapping our sea kayak on the roof the best we could, we left LA around 4 am Wednesday morning and arrived at our first stop, Ensenada, around 9 am -- just in time for breakfast of huevos rancheros and a quick stroll down the shopping district.

Here's some random lucha libre masks.

We did take the opportunity to browse a local fireworks stand:

Obviously, none of these beauties could be found at your typical Black Cat firework outlet. These are basically TNT sold in parcel form. The cherry bombs in the center were just too tasty to pass up, and we ended up buying a few of the smaller ones and a BIG one, for the finale. We placed them in a far corner of the trunk and were sure to drive very carefully....

We arrived in San Quintin in one piece, around lunchtime. San Quintin is a small farming/fishing town and, incidentally, has the best fish tacos on the planet.

Mark's house is about 20 miles from town, and 18 of those miles are over a graded dirt road. It's the last two miles that make the trip truly an adventure: a singletrack sand path that winds its way along the beach and over several extinct volcanoes. By the way, if you are in the market for a fine off road vehicle, may I suggest a Saturn sedan?

We only got stuck three times! And bottomed out 17 times! Here, a passing group of locals were kind enough to give us a push.

We arrived in time for a rousing round of folk-style Led Zeppelin covers. Or something like that. I am a genius on the washtub bass.

More to come...

South of the Border

2007-06-30T22:11:00.000-07:00

What better way to celebrate our country's indepedence than by spending it in another one? How about Mexico? This coming week we will embarking on what will hopefully become an annual event: spending a few days on the beach in Baja at our friend Mark VanSlooten's house. We did it last year and it was a blast (literally, as we were sure to pick up some..."ordinance" on the way down).

Here is a picture of the house, built by Mark and his family. He is a semi-legendary surfer in LA and he found a nice break and decided to build a house there. It is located in the tiny town of San Quitin, some 200km south of Tijuana.

Default Welcome Message

2007-06-28T20:01:00.000-07:00

This is our Web Log, or as it is sometimes called, a "blog." A caveat to all that view this: we don't have any cute kids or cool pets, so what we post is bound to be extremely boring. To compensate, occasionally we will try to pass off a completely fabricated story or photo as genuine. So BEWARE! You may never know which of our adventures are real.

For example: Here's a pic of a trip we took last weekend:

You may be tempted to think we were part of a lunar exploration expedition. However, this photo is clearly fake. To believe this picture, you would have to assume we are buried to upper gullet level in lunar soil. But everyone knows that this part of the moon is solid bedrock under only a few inches of topsoil, so it would be far too difficult and time consuming to bury ourselves here.