The LemonButter Club Meets

Well, it wasn't the complete membership but it was close enough. Tony was initiated tonight and is now a card carrying member... hahaha we actually have cards! All you can eat crabs... the restaurant didn't know what hit them!

"Hey James, you do know that if it weren't for your sister, you would be here... right?"

Never leave your camera unattended...

...especially when picture taking gremlins are around... cuz when you get it back you find pictures like these...

Anyway, a few Cornerstone folk went to check out Buena Parks' Summer Park Concert Series last Wednesday. They had a Taiko Drum group along with Fire Dancers. The Wongs came out in force and they brought Jessica. Hank, Steven, Wil, Joe and I completed the group. The Taiko Drum group put on a pretty good show. The majority of the players were still in high school and the quality of their performance says alot for the teachers of the group. They were joined by Sirena, the fire dancers. Made up of two young ladies twirling batons on fire and for their finale, something I can only describe as flaming poi balls. Ok, maybe I can describe them other ways, but I like saying "flaming poi balls".

After the show some of us were still a little wired, especially when someone said, "crepes anyone?" Now who would do something like that? So... off to Genki.
Ok, one more just for Sammi, since she wasn't there...

Hey Sammi, maybe next time...

Spiritual growth

I was talking to a friend the other day. I was told that it didn't seem like I was growing spiritually. It got me thinking, how would a person look if they were growing spiritually? I asked my friend if there was something I was doing or not doing that led her to that opinion. She compared me to a mutual friend Ken "O". Then I understood. Ken is a tough act to follow. He would be one of the examples I would use as far as people living on the "path". I'm not there . . . yet.
I believe I have made a lot of progress, there are still many aspects of my "walk" that I still need to work on. For those who know me, they are well aware that I have a MAJOR problem with praying out loud. The thing is prayers was always a very private thing with me. I believe every earnest prayer I've ever done had been silent ones. At Cornerstone, they are big on praying out loud, at least it really seems that way to me. I find that I dread praying in groups when "we all take a turn" because I don't want my turn. At times, the people who know this put me on the spot when it comes to saying grace before meals. Since I've been at Cornerstone, I have prayed out loud once, it was at an Easter Sunrise Service and if I remember correctly there were only 6 of us. . . at least I had witnesses.

Kool & The Gang still rocks!

There are a lot of GOOD, FREE shows out there this summer. In the City of Alhambra they have a great Summer Jubilee schedule.
Last Saturday they had Kool & The Gang perform. They came on right on time at 8:30 and with their encore ended at 10:15 pm. For a free 1 and half hour show, it was very good! The band had the crowd jumping, singing along and partying for the whole show. Congratulations to the City of Alhambra for a great show.

I learned that the City of Alhambra had War start up their Summer Jubilee on July 9th. People who saw the show all said it was also a great show. The Gap Band is scheduled to play there September 3rd, definitely going to see that!

James and I were noticing that there was a very large police contingent at the festival. Wondering if they were expecting trouble, I went into "looking for abandoned packages" lying around. James told me he overheard two of the police officers talking about the possibility of trouble with gangs. After a few moments, I started chuckling. Gang problems at the Kool & the Gang concert... *snicker*

I found it funny...

Fun but busy weekend

Had a busy, but fun weekend. Saw a great concert, finished up a ton of laundry, got some work done, watched some friends/made some new friends at a Hawaiian Festival, went to the beach, well... see for yourselves...

Ladysmith Black Mambazo at California Plaza

Looking up at the concert.

Good Eats!! Ho'olaulea (Hawaiian Festival)

What? Can't hear you, the speakers are too loud!

Quicksand? In Hermosa?

Then to top it off, the girls came by and. . .

Ok, so not so much the last one, but it could happen... I guy can dream.

You Are Not Alone

I wrote this for a friend whose faith in people is taking a beating...

I see the hurt,
I see the pain.
It's not all yours
there is nothing to gain.

It's not yours to take,
it's not yours to shoulder.
They are not all that way,
so don't get colder.

It may be fear
that keeps you back,
the examples you had
show what many lack.

The walls you erect
the barriers you put up,
Keeps me away
and tells me to stop.

But I will not go
I'm here to stay,
I will wait at the gate
until that day.

The shoulder I offer
the heart and all I own.
To convince of one thing.
You are not alone.

Games Night and Gas

Cornerstone had a games night tonight and though the turn out was not a large as some people expected there was more than enough fun.

We had a Dance Dance Revolution Room.

and of course, food

What no challenges on Speed Scrabble?

Not really sure what game this was...Cranium

Pounce...Magic Cards

And the game of the night... True Colors

and the winner is...

according to the game...
Tony is Grumpy AND Opinionated...
NAH!!!

Even as late as it was there were a few die-hards that went out to eat afterwards...

Now, here comes the gas part. I've only seen this happen in the movies or on television. I never thought I would ever see it actually happen! I had to get some gas before heading home and as I pull up to the gas station, I see a car pull away from the pump with the nozzle still in the car! I couldn't believe it! Gas was just gushing out. The attendant ran out to try to force the nozzle back on while the gas is still pouring out. (Click on the picture to enlarge)

I asked the attendant if he knew where the shut off valve was and to turn it off first before he got soaked with gasoline. So after he finally found the valve to shut it off, he was able to get all the information from the driver who did the damage.

I wonder what's next?

Sending prayers to London

Once again I find myself fighting hate. My first reaction when I heard of the bombing was thankfully concern. Then when more news came through, I was thinking "what can be done to help?" "what can I do to help?"
That's when the helplessness started. Then the feeling of futility came on, came on strong. I realized that there was nothing I can do as one person to help those people who are so in need of comfort.
Then all the "we gotta do this" "we gotta do that" and all the other arm-chair politicians and wanna be super heroes with their "this is what should be done" policies started and I almost got sucked in that whirlpool. At one point, I almost wanted to lash out at these people... almost.
Someone asked the question, "They do these [acts of terrorism] things because of their religion, how do you fight faith?" I find it disturbing that all the "faiths" in this world co-exist with other faiths using miltaristic euphemisms. How do you fight evil within a faith not of your own? The same way you would fight evil within your own faith. With prayer and faith that love will ease all pain. Evil will always flourish when the conditions are there for it to flourish.

What can one man do? Pray. Spread the word that hate in any form is not the answer. Pray. Teach the next generation that hate is not an answer. Pray.

So what is this one man going to do? Sending prayers to London for the victims, the victims families and the people responsible for the bombing. They all need prayers.

In The News...

I'm at work and I'm bored to death! The college is in summer session and it is S L O W. So reading the news from a bunch of sources I get this:

From the BBC:

Undersea volcano? A "huge column of steam" rising from "brick-red water" was reported by Japanese troops stationed on Iwo Jima Saturday. Scientists are saying that it is probably caused by an underwater volcano.
I don't know... Can anyone say Godzilla?

Somebody better place a call to Raymond Burr or Matthew Broderick!

Not your run of the mill bottle rocket anymore...

Alrighty! There were so many places I could have gone to watch fireworks this weekend. There were the usual shows here and there: Cerritos College had their Freedom Celebration, the Hollywood Bowl July Fourth Spectacular, the Huntington Beach parade and fireworks show, Disneyland and the list goes on. So where did I go to get my fireworks fix?

I stayed home. I could not believe how far illegal fireworks have come since I stuffed firecrackers in tomatos and tossed them before blowing off a finger or two (according to Mom) back in the day. I was sitting out on the lawn and people were putting on a darn good show! There were fireworks from the next block to half a mile away! At one point everyone decided to just shoot a full barage at the same time and I got a cool 360 degrees of explosions, add to that the flashes from the ground flares... I just popped in a CD in the boom box and open a soda and I'm good to go.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!!

When we say Ozo, you say Matli!

Just saw Ozomatli's performance at the California Plaza. I have to say they put on an awesome show. The California Plaza's Water Court is a nice venue but you have to ask the question, "If you put on a free concert with a rockin', dance-inspiring group like Ozomatli in a venue with limited seating, an inadequate dancing area and on a stage surrounded by a wading pool ... how long before people jump into the pool?"
Uh huh. It started with two people jumping over to one of two "islands" to get away from the cramped dance area, then another couple running across to the water to dance in front of the stage and then you get WaterWorld. The Water Court management stopped the concert to ask/tell people to get out of the pool. They also added that repair to the extensive pool could reach the hundred thousands and would end any hopes of any more concerts.
One guy did not like that announcement and really took his time to get out of the pool. There were two sides in the crowd, cheering him on and booing him off.
At the end of the concert, Ozomatli went through the crowd with their concert ending chant "Ozomatli, si se fue!" While they were going into the stands, that one guy ran back into the pool giving security and pretty much everyone who was booing him the "finger" then he dropped his pants and mooned the crowd and I guess the video cameras filming the event. The "suits tried to get at him but no way they were going to go into the water to chase this guy down. They figured wait for him and get him when he comes out. He heads for the crowd, takes a moment or two to dance with a few girls then dives into the crowd. Not sure if he got away, a part of me kind of hopes he did.

Hmmm, I wonder which concert to go to next ... Oh! Ladysmith Black Mambazo! that should be a good one!