flying over the grandest of all canyons

flying over the grandest of all canyons
Originally uploaded by Joits.

i should have been at work at this point... but instead i was flying above the grand canyon at approximately 30,000 feet. still can't believe that our flight was delayed and ultimately leading to my mom, my bro and me having to say in grand rapids for an extra day. our flight our today was super early and we were out of our motel at 3.45am. good thing... turns out as we got in line, it actually got really busy. after a few issues with checking in, we managed to get through all that and pretty soon we were on our way to chicago. the chicago flight to LAX had me sitting in a different area than my mom and bro but it was fine with me cos i wanted the window aisle. spent the flight half sleeping, half reading harry potter. managed to capture some cool shots from the window although i missed capturing the in-n-out near lax due to my point and shoots slow picture taking time... damn that p&s... haha.

i really didn't want to go into work... but we arrived in LA around 11am and I knew that if i wanted to get my full 80 hours, i'd have to at least work 4 hours. so i made it into work and i'm glad i did, my managers were actually surprised to see me, they figured i'd just call it a day when i first informed them of my cancelled flight. i was pretty tired but i managed to get through the day.

leonardo da vinci's horse

leonardo da vinci's horse
Originally uploaded by Joits.

my mom, my bro and me really shouldn't have been here for this pic. this was taken on sunday at around 3.30pm... and we should have been in chicago's o'hare airport boarding our flight back home to LA. but our flight from grand rapids airport to chicago was delayed causing us to miss our connecting flight. they could only get two people back to LA that day and so my dad and sister took those. i stayed behind with my mom and brother and after renting a car and finding another hotel, we took advantage of the situation by visiting the frederik meijer gardens & sculpture park. we didn't get to spend a whole lot of time here and didn't see everything as it was closing at 5pm, but i think we saw enough and i really enjoyed it there. a great place to photograph and it was also a pretty nice day out, albeit a little hot. we really could have done more that day but we were all pretty exhausted from the whole weekend and so we called it a day after our visit here and returned to our hotel and just relaxed.

i have no experience with having my flight delayed and i also found out that it wasn't only me who got delayed, jeb, kitting, pia, tommy and ro all didn't get home until monday afternoon or evening... and they all live on the east coast! not really sure what was going on that caused all of us to take more than a day to get back, most likely it was weather related.

after catching a few ZZZs at the hotel, i ended up waking up around 10pm and spent the next four or so hours going through and editing the pics from our weekend in grand rapids... i took quite a lot! i think i had around a 1000 pics... i was hoping to upload them that day but when i finally looked at the time, i realized that we had to start getting ready to make our way back to the airport to catch our flight.

another thing that i remember was that jesse recommended the motel we chose, excel motel which was 3 miles away from the airport. it wasn't much, but it was clean and comfortable from what i could tell and the best thing was free wi-fi. why is this a big deal? about three weeks ago i was in pleasanton staying at a pretty nice hilton hotel and there it was $10 a day for internet access... wtf?!? so i was pretty pleased to see that the residence inn marriott and the excel motel both had free high speed internet.

filzams

filzams
Originally uploaded by Joits.

another filzam getting married, another filzam reunion. it seems that in order to get a large number of filzams to get together, someone needs to tie the knott. of course the exception was new years in nyc... but most of the time, it's usually a wedding. before saying goodbye to everyone, margaret's boyfriend, paul was saying that we shouldn't wait for another wedding for everyone to get together again... i really wish that was possible, but the reality is that everyone is busy with their own lives and its kinda hard to get this many filzams together without having a special occasion. i guess if you all live in the same city or area like they do in canada, those reunions can easily happen, but for most of the filzams i know... we're all over the place. seattle, houston, san francisco, south carolina, new york, virginia, las vegas, michigan, boston... definitely not easy to get together.

so jesse and pellagia's wedding... a perfect opportunity for a reunion. i was definitely going, heck i'd been to kristabel and mike's weddings and so there was no way i was missing jesse's. initially there were several other filzams supposed to be here... but not surprisingly, reality set in and some of them weren't able to make it. wish they could have, especially ryan, since this was definitely a case of "the more, the merrier". still... as you can see from the pic, we had a fairly large turnout.

i spent most of the wedding ceremony taking pics. i basically acted as if i was working and i took pics as if i was their official photographer. i wasn't, they had a friend taking their photos and she was using a film camera. i'm pretty sure her photos were amazing... i gotta give lots of respect and props to anyone still shooting film in this digital era. i don't have the skill or talent to shoot film... i need digital's flexibility and instant feedback. i think i did a fairly decent job, i was able to capture a lot of key moments. one thing that did throw me for a loop was that the couple who married jesse and pellagia stood between the couple and the wedding guests... something i'm not used to and if i was the official photographer, that would have bothered me since i wouldn't have been able to get any shots of just the couple exchanging vows... usually a very important shot when it comes to wedding photography. but i guess its just one of those challenges or variations that comes with doing wedding photography... another reason its considered one of the hardest photographic assignments anyone can do... and why i keep turning down offers of wedding jobs no matter if they tell me that it will be a small wedding and it should be easy... there's no such thing! i'm just not ready to photograph a wedding by myself.

we had a bit of a break after the wedding and i was able to drink some delicious peche to quench my thirst. thanks to adee for bringing that and some biltong as well.

the reception was a lot of fun. and as i mentioned in my blog post yesterday, despite the fact that the wedding reception was on sand, it really added to what made this a unique reception. after a fairly formal wedding ceremony, a lot of people changed to a more casual dress for the reception and the sand didn't really inconvenience anyone. the kids certainly loved it. kris's son gavin and mike's daughter jasmine were practically rolling around in it... which is sort of fitting. kids are supposed to get dirty. one of the highlights for me was hearing pellegia's story and how she and the royce's became family. it was really amazing and such a touching story. i don't know the royce family, but from what i saw that weekend, they are such amazing people and pellagia and jesse are people to have them as family. then jesse's best man, david, gave his speech and he informed us that he was going to try and keep it short... and then proceeded to give the longest bestman speech that i've ever witnessed... and believe me, i've worked over 40 weddings over the past ten years... and none of them went as long as he did. hahahaha... david, if you're reading this... don't get mad... i'm just saying that it was funny cos you tried to keep it short and well... it was long! hehe. things got really going once the dancing started and they played several african songs. i did notice that apart from the bouquet toss, they didn't really do any of the traditional wedding events... which was cool cos everyone wanted to get to the fun part which was the danciing! the dancing went on for quite a while and while a lot of the other guests had gone home, we were still here and along with some other guests... we just kept on dancing and dancing! as they say, all good things must come to an end... and so after helping to clear up for a bit, we all took a couple of pics like this one (which led to a rousing rendition of zambia's national anthem) and then we headed back to the hotel. but the night wasn't over yet, not for some of us. most of the people in this pic, paul, tommy, jeff and david went to a bar across the street from our hotel to just relax, have some drinks and eat some pizza... it was pretty fun. probably cos most of us were tired and hungry after the reception and all the dancing, the pizza tasted really really good.

after i got back to the room, i tried to view all the pics i had taken that day (around 700) but i was just so knackered that i gave up and went to sleep. this definitely was a fun day... and i just want to congratulate my friends, jesse and pellagia on this special day. you guys are awesome!

today wasn't the perfect day however... because i was at this wedding... i missed my friend, allan jay's wedding which also happened this same day. it killed me to have to choose between these two. but jesse and pellagia had planned and set this day for such a long time that i had to go with the first wedding that i committed to. i really really wish i had been able to attend allan jays... it will forever haunt me that i wasn't able to go. but he's been pretty cool about the whole thing even though i know that he's disappointed in my decision. can't really do much about that tho. what happened happened. from all the details that i heard, his wedding was fairly spectucular... just a case of bad timing.

and to make matters worse... one of my favorite events of the whole year, comic con was this same weekend. but in the end... going to one of my oldest friend's wedding was the right choice to make and as i mentioned several times, i had a lot of fun. comic con is an annual event... jesse's wedding was a once in a lifetime event... and so was allan jays which again makes me feel like crap for missing it. c'est la vie...

chapel at calvin college

chapel at calvin college
Originally uploaded by Joits.

irst thing i noticed about arriving in grand rapids... the humidity! damn... i'm so used to being in dry heat that it felt really uncomfortable for the first couple of hours that we were there. when we arrived our luggage hadn't even made it in yet because once we arrived in chicago, our next flight was almost leaving and we practically had to walk from one end of the airport to the other... as soon as we boarded, the plane took off. wasn't too surprised that our luggage was going to arrive a bit later. my sister got us a pretty sweet black jeep cherokee and we made our way to the residence inn at marriott. naturally we booked two separate rooms, one for my 'rents and my lil bro, and another for us and the rest of our friends. we met up with the uncle june and auntie epi first and then joanne. then ro came and little by little we started to meet more people as they started arriving. we got a preview of the wedding reception place because jesse asked if we could help them set up the tables. we drove to the royce's place and in their backyard, they had a tent set up. the thing that threw me a bit was that we discovered that the whole wedding would be on sand... almost like a beach party under the tent. naturally i was a bit concerned since i figured most of us would be dressing formally for the wedding... how would that work with the guests on sand? turns out it didn't really inconvenience anyone, at least not me. after watching jesse, pellagia and the wedding party rehearse for the wedding, everyone went over to the nearby park to kind of relax and meet everyone before the big day. we did go out that night, first to a really cool looking bar not too far from the hotel... it seemed really upscale but hardly anyone was there, surprising for a friday night. but i ended up doing something that i never thought i'd do... i brought my d70 and the camera bag... but no memory card! wtf! so i didn't take any pics of our night out. we then went to "the bob" which i think is grand rapid's most popular club... i think. good thing there was no cover as we didn't stay long since it was almost closing time. grabbed some pizza from some dude on the street, it was aight... then called it a night.

reading book 7 for the second time

reading book 7 for the second time
Originally uploaded by Joits.

photo taken by my mum

i've been waiting for this day for ages! i remember jesse and pellagia telling us several years ago that they'd be tying the knot around july 2007... and its finally here. i'd kept myself pretty busy the whole week leading up to this so that the time for us to leave for michigan would come quickly. even tho it was thursday, it felt like friday at work.

another thing that stood out to me was the fact that i would be traveling with my whole family, the last time we did that was back in '93 when we first got to the states. the trip to grand rapids was fairly uneventful except for the fact that we had two stops, vegas, then chicago before finally getting to grand rapids. i'm a bit weary now of red-eye flights because i rarely get any sleep meaning once i arrive at my destination, it usually means i either haven't slept or i only got an hour or two of sleep. i spent most of the trip from vegas to chicago re-reading book 7. yes, i'm a big fan of the series. i've re-read the other books several times but believe me, i'm by no means the biggest... there are so many people out there so devoted to the book that i can't even begin to compare. nevertheless... i wanted to experience the magic of the series one more time. i did notice that there were quite a lot of people around lax and las vegas airport also reading the book... people of all ages, male and female which was cool.

me and the cast of n*w*c

me and the cast of n*w*c
Originally uploaded by Joits.

right to left: rafael agustin, miles gregley and allan axibal.

"the play with the name that no one wants to say"... n*gger, wetb*ck, ch*nk. a play about stereotypes and the minority experience of stereotypes told by three amazing and talented actors; rafa, miles and allan. each one representing the three controversial words in their play. you don't need me to tell you who represents who from this pic do you? hehe. the funny thing is that rafael is from ecuador and allan is from the philippines. nevertheless, all three have experienced being grouped into one general category and through the use of brutally honest comedy, they entertain and educate the audience.

my reasons for seeing this play was not only because i knew it was good, but i actually knew one of the guys in the play, rafa... we both worked at video 94 in la puente sometime in the late 90s if i remember correctly. i distinctly remember rafa telling me that he wanted to be an actor and i also remember thinking... that's gonna be tough, mainly because he was a minority and you don't have to be a genius to know how hard it is to become an actor especially if you're a minority. but look at him now... a masters degree in theater and writing and starring in a play with two of his friends from school. i saw this play a few years ago and just came to support rafa but i was blown away then just as i am again today by how amazing this play was. of course there are updates to the pop culture references and a few others but its still got the same message and values within.

getting people to see this play was a bit tricky, most because of the name. its not easy to say those three words and not be worried that someone who might accidentally overhear me say one of the words and then think i'm racist. but once i do say the name i'm usually greeted by a mixture of reactions. i've had one person give me a sort of dirty look and say that they shouldn't be using those words and wouldn't listen to my explanation and then i've had reactions of curiosity and interest by a play that would dare use those three words in its title. i definitely do try to get the word out not just because of how great the play is but because a friend of mine is in it and i'm just really proud of what he and everyone involved in this play have accomplished.

"there's only one race... the Human Race" ~ n*w*c

seems like a good place to read...

seems like a good place to read...
Originally uploaded by Joits.

having finished the book yesterday and having seen the movie just last week, it was pretty much a harry potter week for me... i saw a clip on youtube that showed dan radcliffe, emma watson and rupert grint at the mann chinese theater. i've been here quite a few times but with not much to do after work, i took my bro and met up with my buddy megz and we headed to this spot. neither one of them had ever been there before so at least they got to experience it. there were a lot of tourists but it wasn't too hard getting our shots. i actually wanted to pose with the book lying down on my side in a lounging pose... but i settled for something easier. i also saw one of those people dressed up as movie characters and one dude was dressed up as snape... i dismissed him at first but when i decided that if i took a pic with him it would be fitting since i came out here to see the harry potter trio's prints... but he had already taken off... ah well. just thought it would be funny since the question about whether snape is a good dude or evil dude is one of the most discussed topics amongst fans.

i really like doing things like this... making spontaneous treks out to see something and then capture it for my flickr stream... yeah its a bit of a drive... but i think we had fun. also had dinner at palm thai restaurant, one of my favorite thai restaurants. the thai elvis impersonator was no where to be seen however. heck it was still early and we headed over to the paramount lot to see if the huge bumblebee transformer robot was still on display... alas it was no longer there. a friend of mine snapped a shot of it with her camera phone and i really wanted to take one too. i wonder where it is now.

harry potter and the deathly hallows

harry potter and the deathly hallows
Originally uploaded by Joits.

the long wait is finally over. ten years. of course i didn't start reading the the books right away... never even heard of them when i first saw the movie trailer for sorcerer's stone. didn't start reading until after watching the second book. i liked it, they weren't too bad. it was a kids book which i liked because i identified with the whole "boarding school" situation. but still... it was a kids book and there were a lot of elements that made me think it was just okay. the more i watched the movies, the more i read the books and the older the series got... the more i liked the series. so yeah... i'm a huge harry potter fan... something that i know might make a few people go... wtf... maybe because of my age... but i really don't give a shit. i like what i like and i really like this series.

(no spoilers, don't worry) there was always the fear that the final book would be a letdown, basically because its rare for any medium to totally match or surpass the hype that precedes it. the hype for star wars: episode 1 was monumental and see what happened with that. but with this book, jk rowling in my mind has written a book that lives up to the hype and actually surpasses all my expectations of it. its not a perfect book by any means and i did have issues with it... but there's more to love in this book and it far outweighs any negatives. it just really surprised me by how dark and just how much it differs from the earlier books. gone is the innocence and wonder of harry discovering magic... now people are dying left and right. the action starts almost immediately and there's so much tension and anger and it almost never lets up. this was easily my favorite book of the whole series and even though i know the movies always leave shit out... the movie for this book is going to be frikkin badass!

the whole week i was wondering where i wanted to read the book... should i go someplace like a park or the beach... in the end i spent most of the time reading in my room although i did go eat breakfast today at carrows... pretty damn good breakfast too and the most surprising thing was that i didn't bring my camera and take a picture of it. those of you who know me quite well know that when i really enjoy a meal, its almost guaranteed that i'm going to take a pic of it... but i actually forgot my camera! blame it on jk rowling! hehe.

the beautiful veronica belmont...

P1020988.JPG
Originally uploaded by Veronica Belmont.

so glad that veronica posted this pic of herself. she's already a beautiful, but the fact that she's a tech geek makes her even sexier! of course i'm falling prey to stereotypes... but still, you really don't see that many beautiful women into video games or tech stuff. love her podcast, buzz out loud... i wish i had discovered them sooner.

curved around the lights

curved around the lights
Originally uploaded by Joits.

over the years i'd gotten a bit bored of the auto show. other than the after market section, it wsa pretty much the same thing with maybe a few new cars and some interesting and sometimes ugly concept cars.

but like a lot of things lately, it was interesting again because no i was going there specifically for photographs. no more agonizing that i can't afford any of the cars... okay, a bit of agonizing, but not much.

one of the things i wanted to do was to take shots of the cars and make them a bit different than what i used to take. most of my shots from the 2004 show are all the same... taken from the same angle. this time, most of the my shots were close ups of the car's details. i did relent a bit and take a few full shots but i think it was an interesting experience to try to just take close up photography of the cars.

brought my co-worker charles and fellow flickr friend darrell. charles learned really quickly that when you to an event like this with two flickr people, we're going to take our time and not just go from one car to another after a shot or two...