Jets v Sharks

We went to see West Side Story at the Pantages Theater.    Matinee, on Dec.30th.

A good outing that the Holiday spirit enabled us to decide "what the heck let's spring for it" and get a set of 5 tickets.  The show was excellent. Such great casting and fine performances.  Hoping that Thomas and his middle school stage crew experiences are giving Thomas a good wide eye experience here.

Ryan says he liked it a lot.  Did not get the camera out.  Darn it.  And they both looked so good.

Then Dinner out for some Sushi.  Nice. Fun.

Merry Christmas 2010

It was good.  It was Cozy.  Everyone got a Stocking.  Even the Dog liked his Christmas Stocking stuffers!

Santa did his thing and put the Stockings out for the boys in the morning.  The boys forgot to leave out a milk for Santa.  Will have to give them a reminder to do so for next year.  Santa and Mrs Santa put in lots of extra time to get the stuff under the tree on Xmas Eve.  Need the nourishment.

Thanks to a visit form Trisha's brother we had extra love in the house.  We even made the journey out to Malibu to see the rest of the family later in the day.  Not quite Over the Hills and Through the Woods but a nice little vehicular drive.  Ryan used his new license to take his Chevy out and show it off to his cousins.  Both of whom were suitably impressed.

In the end.  Smooth Sailing.  Happy Christmas memories.  Many of the best gifts were clothing not toys.  We are all older now and appreciate the best gift of all.  Each other.

Lots of Love was Shared!

KL

(PS one of the side items was Thomas getting the fixi rims he just had to have on Xmas Eve.  He really is enjoying his fixed gear bike.  A fun bike that takes bike riding to a new level.  Fwd or Backwards.)

Let it snow

OK so we get our plans together.  Arrange a place.  Drive up in wild weather.  Spend three days skiing in Mammoth with the biggest dump of snow all season landing on us.  What?  Do it again?

Yes we would.  We had a great time.

I almost posted to my Twitter account a stupid line like "A snowflake went up my nose and I liked it" just after this photo was taken.  The snow started to fall hard and Big Flakes too.  We had to retreat indoors to finish the beer.

My new ski boots (merry Xmas to me) were great.  No bind or pinch.  Fit great.  Thanks to Doc's Ski Haus in Santa Monica and to a break in run at Virtual Snow with a break in routine that Bob Salerno recommended.  My boots worked great.  New Atomic Hawx.  Like the new flex grooves in them.

Next Xmas is new Ski and Bindings.

Special "Thanks" to the  Santen family who let us join them in their cabin/condo.

It was a good vacation.  Thomas on his snowboard did more skiing than Ryan on his skis. Wow was he doing good.  Carving it up.  Will have to make a video of that part.

Steep and Deep.  Just like Trisha likes it.


Ski Wish Was Granted.   A good vacation.

Keith

Merry Christmas to all.

Happy Holidays from the Boaters of Marina Del Rey...

As shared by Keith and Trish down at the docks.

It was a very fun evening.  "Just messing around with boats." is a famous quote that comes to mind.

And best wishes for a terrific new year.

Keith

Fishin' on the Freedom

Was hearing that Santa Barbara Island was providing some very respectable action on Yellowtails. Wanted to go. Not enough prep time for my boat (and to set up people to split fuel cost with) so I decided to go on the Freedom out of 22nd Street landing.

A good choice. Good boat and good teamwork from the crew and the mostly cooperative fellow paying passengers. We got to enjoy the very smooth water and mostly the weather was sweet for fishing.

The Freedom had plenty of bait and chummed up the fish needed. However I was not one of the lucky ones to pick up a White Seabass or a Yellowtail. there where 14 Yellowtails for the 29 anglers on board. I did get the first fish of the day. A whitefish of respectable size. But not worth a photo.

We had a few boats near us at SBI

I took this self portrait hoping to get a view of the rocks (behind my hat) so I could return to the spot next time I make the run to this island.  I've got it in my mind.  And Cesar on Killer Instinct was there right behind us getting some just down current from the chum we were dropping into the waters.

I pulled out my little hand held radio and tried to hail him.  No luck as he never replied on any of the channels I tried.  It did get the attention of the boat crew and captain.  They were thinking I was a spy or FBI or worse.  I took much ribbing.  He noticed my hail on the radio and that the RDF showed the radio call coming from his boat.  Then he had to come out and look for me.  We watched as Team Killer Instinct boated fish. 

Out luck was good in the morning.  The downhill current was strong.  The fish were tough.  Some got away.  14 eventually were successfully brought aboard.  The bigger ones were in the 30 to 35 pound class.

My little also ran fish were not of note or of quality to justify photos.  Whitefish and rock fish etc.  BTW some really nice quality Sheepshead also cam aboard.  One angler of note was a very tenacious and successful 7 year old angler.  The lucky ones got to pose with the Yellowtails. 

Thanks to the boat crew.   Nice fishing trip.  I rested.  I relaxed.

 Fish wish of a good fishing trip was granted.  No rain.  Lovely sunset. 


Next time...   I'll catch a big one.

Keith <"><

Sunset Cruise

Friday evening...  What to do to make it fun.

We went for a harbor sunset cruise. The water lately has been flat.  Very Flat.

So flat that we could call it Lake Santa Monica.   Wow was the water smooth.

We had a lovely little run out to in front of Santa Monica and back.  The sunset was very nice.

Trish an Theresa enjoyed the show and served up plenty of appetizers. 

A nice little run on the Ramblin'.

Keith

Holloween tips to pass along...

Just in case you have forgotten the rules for a safe and  Happy Halloween.

1. When it appears that you have killed the monster, NEVER
check to see if it's really dead.

2. Never read a book of demon summoning aloud, even as a
joke.

3. Do not search the basement, especially if the power has
gone out.

4. If your children speak to you in Latin or any other
language which they should not know, shoot them
immediately. It will save you a lot of grief in the long
run. However, it will probably take several rounds to kill
them, so be prepared. This also applies to kids who speak
with somebody else's voice.

5. When you have the benefit of numbers, NEVER pair off
and go it alone.

6. As a general rule, don't solve puzzles that open por-
tals to Hell.

7. Never stand in, on, or above a grave, tomb, or crypt.
This would apply to any other house of the dead as well.

8. If you're searching for something which caused a loud
noise and find out that it's just the cat, GET THE HELL
OUT!

9. If appliances start operating by themselves, do not
check for short circuits; just get out!

10. Do not take ANYTHING from the dead.

11. If you find a town which looks deserted, there's pro-
bably a good reason for it. Don't stop and look around.

12. Don't fool with recombinant DNA technology unless
you're sure you know what you're doing.

13. If you're running from the monster, expect to trip
or fall down at least twice. Also note that, despite the
fact that you are running and the monster is merely shamb-
ling along, it's still moving fast enough to catch up
with you.

14. If your companions suddenly begin to exhibit un-
characteristic behavior such as hissing, fascination for
blood, glowing eyes, increasing hairiness, and so on,
kill them immediately.

15. Stay away from certain geographical locations, some
of which are listed here: Amityville, Elm Street, Tran-
sylvania, Nilbog (you're in trouble if you recognize
this one), the Bermuda Triangle, or any small town in
Maine (or Alabama).

16. If your car runs out of gas at night on a lonely road,
do not go to the nearby deserted looking house to phone
for help. If you think that it is strange because you
thought you had half of a tank, shoot yourself instead.
You are going to die anyway, and most likely be eaten.

17. If you find that your house is built upon a cemetery,
now is the time to move in with the in-laws. This applies
to houses that had previous inhabitants who went mad or
died in some horrible fashion, or had inhabitants who
performed satanic practices in your house.

Family - Recent Wedding

My Nephew Joe...  Is a source of Pride to the Family.

My sister Rosemary has a son Joe.
My sister Shelly has a daughter Michelle.
My brother Carl has a daughter Kristen.

All of whom are great kids and have made the family Proud.  However Joe went to the Navel Academy and has had a very successful career diving navy ships. And many tales have come from his experiences.

Taking my two boys to visit him when he was an officer at Annapolis was a special memory for Ryan and Thomas as well as for me (Dad and Uncle)

Well I missed being at Joey's recent Wedding this summer.  I sure would have loved to have been there.  Thinking back on it I really would have liked to have been there.  Ryan and Thomas told us after the fact that we should have sent them and stayed home to save money.  Could have been just me.  Nope.  Just the boys.  Nope.  All 4 of us or none.  Did not work out for us all to go.   Missed it.  But These shots are cool.

**They are low res.  Get the full sized ones or prints via...
http://www.pictage.com/client/event.do?event=914502

the Family

Joe and Cassy

Joe with Lyle and Rose

Joe with Lillie and George

Love that Family shot.  Wishing I was there to add my arm of the family tree to it.  Keith, Trish, Ryan & Thomas would have filed that out to the last level of our branch of the family.

Family gatherings are important.  Proud of them all...

AND

Congrats to Joe for his wedding this Sept. 18th to Cassy.

The Bells up in Avalon.

I liked this...



Youtube.com Video on the Bell Tower of Avalon

Family Trip - Memorial Day weekend of 2010

Did I forget to post about the Family trip on the boat to Catalina!

We had fun.  We used the new Generator.  And had a new head installed.  Both were installed in the last 72 hours prior to leaving for this big first trip of the season.  Wow that was fast.  Good Job to Karl of C&C Marine in MDR.  Thanks.
 

We side tied up with a future commodore.  Jim is a fun guy to hang with.  Here is Thomas in purple.

And Thomas Driving us in the Dingy.  We are off to shore for food and entertainment.
Thomas and Ryan did very well.  Trish enjoyed nice hot coffee from the new power source.

Does that look like a Happy and Content mom.  Lunging on the back of her boat in the early morning sunshine.  By this time I think the boys were out riding on a jet ski or maybe still sleeping in.  Whatever it is their vacation too.

We had fun.  They had fun.  Did a little fishing too.  Taught a Sailboating member how to get some great tasting sheepshead.  Now I'm having second thoughts about showing him my "secret spot" outside of Cat Harbor.  he he he.

Fish Wish Granted... We all had a good time.