Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?

Oct 25:  We had our annual Trick of Treat and it was loads of fun.  Halloween is so much fun now that we have little kids that are going bonkers over the whole thing.  As usual, Trunk or Treat was held in our church Parking Lot, and featured the trick or treating, carnival-type games, and a dinner fundraiser by the scouts.  And you know what, I really appreciated that fundraiser.  It allowed us to get some real food in our systems, before sugar overload attacked us all!

The activity actually started early for Julie and I.  After convincing our kids that it would be beneficial for them to take naps, Julie and I had to complete preparations.  Julie had to attach Ben's blue collar for his Fred shirt and then sew on her stripes for her Daphne dress (She did a FANTASTIC job!).  In the mean time, I was busy decorating the Touareg so our Mystery Machine would be complete (It took a long time to cut out all those letters and make it look legit).   It all worked well though, since we put on our costumes and looked great.  Ben was a classic Freddie - sharp and smooth.  Daphne was as hot as ever.  Who new I made a natural Shaggy (except for my "husky" frame)?  And well Joshie, just an adorable Scoob.

We arrived at the event and enjoyed our nice dinner before the festivities really got under way.  Then we put the finishing touched on the Mystery Machine so we could welcome the Trunk or Treaters.  I manned the trunk and started passing out the "Scooby Snacks" to all the trick or treaters, while Dapne took Scoob and Fred trick or treating. 

However, it ended up that Scooby and Fred do not have much endurance.  They made one loop around the trunks then wanted to come back and eat their candy.   So, they little guys hung out with me.  Little Freddie really liked helping me pass out the candy and Scooby-doo just sat and ate.  It was a blast.  And it turns out, they did pretty well on their loot.  Our house is now infested with candy.  

And here we go, two and a half months of bad foods wherever we go....

All Political

Oct 25: Hey, we are being all political. In support of Yes on Proposition 8, Julie and I took to the streets of Huntington Beach on Saturday about noon.  On Saturday from noon to 1 p.m., Prop 8 supporters throughout Orange County lined up at the stop lights on PCH from Long Beach to San Clemente.  From rough estimates I have heard, we had nearly 2000 supports along this stretch.

We joined the fun by getting our "Yes on Prop 8" yard sign and heading down to PCH with many of our friends and neighbors to wave them and attract attention to this important issue.  Julie and I joined about 40-50 other people on the intersection of Beach and PCH.  We stationed ourselves in small groups at each corner and the fun ensued.

It was actually quite an enjoyable experience.  We were there with our friends waving our signs and just generally watching the reaction of motorists.  We were happy to note that a majority of motorists seemed to be honking in friendly "Beep Beeps" rather than the angry "BBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP!!!!"  It was reaffirming that other voters view this issue the same way we do.  Some cars actually drove down specifically to help.  One car unloaded a bunch of Tootsie Rolls for us to munch on and one car dropped of a box of "Yes on 8" t-shirts.

I hope that the people of California and get out to support this measure in a couple of weeks.  Marriage was established in society and in religions long before the governments of today were established and I am not happy that courts and governments are trying to change a definition that has stood for thousands of years.  I believe it is an issue of religious freedom and so important for the future of my kids.  I think it is pretty bogus to see all these advertisements accuse me of being a bigot or racist.  Bad times!  A guess a line in the sand has been drawn and we will see how it plays out.  Yes on 8!

Dinner Show

Oct 3: From 2002 to 2004, I was a full time MBA student at UC Irvine.  While there, I was lucky enough to be stuck with the best study group ever.  Group 3F was made up of Chris Yount, Ken Lu, Anil Suren, Joe (Behdad) Rad, and me.  Two white guys, an Asian, a Persian, and a Turk.  It may sound like a joke, but it was the best group of guys ever.  Plus, they all have great spouses and it is a great company.  We continue to be very good friends and continue to try to get together frequently.  However, since Chris moved to Reno and Anil back to Turkey, our number were a bit small so we recruited our good friend Jenn Wolfe to be an honorary 3F-er.   We now try to get together every month of two to each some chow and catch up.

For this particular month, we finally got to a restaurant we have been talking about over a year - Benihana.   I had never been, but heard about it for years.  I was excited to see what is was all like, eat some great grub, and be with my pals.

The evening did not disappoint.  Unfortunately, Jenn could not joins us, so it was Joe, Hoonoosh, Ken, Katherine, Julie and myself.  It was very strange, though, that the girls all wanted to sit with each other.  While the guys were offended, we did enjoy being together.  :)  The table seated eight, so a quiet Persian couple joined us.  Ken and I found it very funny that after dinner and our quiet couple left quickly while only saying goodbye to Joe.  

In this fine Japanese restaurant, our chef Juan took good care of us.  Juan started us off with some shrimp appetizers then made this huge pile of fried rice.  Then followed the veggies and that impressive onion volcano.  Throughout the meal, Juan was tossing food around, cracking jokes, and showing some skills with large knives.  The meats were the last items on the grill.  Between all of us there was shrimp, lobster, scallops, chicken, and about 3 different cuts of steak.  It was beautiful to see all that meat cooking.  I guess it appealed to meat and fire instincts.  The food was excellent and company even better.  

In all, Benihana lived up to my expectations.  I was stuffed as I left and had a great time.  A great meal with friends - not many better things.