Back in Paradise!

Yes, as the subject heading reads, I am back in Paradise! Oahu, Hawaii that is! After a two year "hiatus", I'm finally back in the land of fruit punch, Zippy's plate lunches, and of course, the awesome beaches!

Day one was of course filled with traveling and getting settled in. My 5 hour flight from LA felt long. At one point, a little kid near me threw up and added to the plane's air effervescence! But, even a little vomit can't spoil the fact that I was on my way to Hawaii!!!

Paradise is also well marketed as this photo shows:

I was in charge of getting our car rental - our "G" ride for the entire week. Check out our wheels!

And what has now become a tradition, we stopped by Zippy's before heading over to our hotel. How I love their Mixed Plate Lunches! I'll be sure to take a photo of the dish later.

Okay, that's it for now. Do check back for other photos to come. I have to go to the "Kane's" room now!

And a huge shout-out goes out to my cousin Junior and his wife. I wish I were there to celebrate with you all.

Till tomorrow - ALOHA!!!

A "Ghoul" Evening

Do you recognize these rather "famous" hitch-hikers? They were taking a little leave of absence from their regular gig at Disneyland for Halloween last night in Toluca Lake. Looks like they need a ride back to the park ;p

Yes, last night was Halloween, the one night of the year where kids can actually ask strangers for candy without their parents worrying about it. And boy did we give out a lot! The night was spent at David's house passing out full sized Kit-Kat, Hershey, Reese's PBC bars to any a Halloween ghoul. We all dressed up for the occasion to greet the happy haunts appropriately. I was dressed as a Knight, Tamlyn as a Sorceress, Tara as Victoria Beckham (which was quite a popular costume BTW), Daniel as some sort of purple hat wearing ghoul, David as a Cowboy (how creative!), and Mike as a Geek (which really wasn't really a stretch for him).

Because Tamlyn and I are actors, Daniel too, we totally played our parts while passing out the candy. Me with my Medieval euphemisms and phrases, and Tamlyn scaring kids by asking them the Halloween password of "Trick or Treat". It was fun to see the kids come over to the porch and see what awesome costumes they had on. BTW, "High School Musical" costumes were also quite popular as well.

In between passing out the treats, we walked over to David's neighbor's house which was fully decked out in Halloween paraphernalia, including full sized coffins, Leather Face, Predator/Alien, and a mini Haunted hallway. Heck, there was even a full sized werewolf. Can you guess which one is "real"?

In the end, we passed out 1950 candy bars over the course of 2 hours. Wow. That's a lot of cavaties!

Ah, Halloween. What a night! Oh, and a huge happy birthday goes out to my mom whose birthday is on Halloween. Happy Birthday mom!

P Monte Got Married

After eight years, yes EIGHT years of being boy-friend and girl-friend, my buddy Pablo and his new wife Gladys got married today. I'm sure you're wondering why the subject heading says "P Monte Got Married" right? Well, back when Pablo and I were working together, his computer log in name was "P Monte" cause someone else had his sign in name. It stuck with me, and since then I've called him P-Monte along with other guy-ism nick names, mostly in the Latino homeboy sense.

It was great to see Pablo today, on his big day, a day that has been in the works for a long time now. Through the years, I got to know Gladys as well, and they both make a terrific couple, and will certainly have a great life together. Plus, if anyone ever gets in their way, Gladys is a lawyer, so I think they will be alright!

As I mentioned yesterday, here are a few photos I shot today at the wedding ceremony. Sadly I wasn't able to attend the reception, but I figure the actual nuptials are more important.

Here's a shot of some friends adjusting P Monte's collar before the ceremony. He was actually very relaxed all throughout the day.

The dapper don himself




Greeting guests in the foyer of the church




Pablo and Elene

I really like this shot of the bridesmaids boquets

Gladys after the ceremony thanking her family and friends

P Monte's former co-workers Mary, George and Mary Ann

Group shot of more friends
(L to R)
Elene, Adam, Kay, Mary, George, and Mary Ann

Congrats to the newlyweds, and may their lives be long, happy and prosper :)

A quick two from last night

In my quest to provide for you, my reading audience, a photo or two for you to peruse, I decided to post these photographs from last night. It's from our Cold Tofu workshop. I thought they were kinda neat, with Jully (pictured below) looking pensive, and Kevin, looking rather mischievious. Oh, and for the photo of Kevin, I added a texture layer to it to give it a gritty look, just in case you camera-philes were wondering.

I'm sure to have more from this upcoming weekend, some from a good friend's wedding, and a headshot session on sunday, so be sure to check back for more! Until, enjoy your day :)

A Few More from the Weekend

I couldn't get enough of this past weekend's photos, so decided to post just a few more up. Who the heck ever decided that weekends should only last two days anyway?! No worries, just looking forward towards the next one! Here you go!


Wanru and Steve - I kinda gave it a 70's processing vibe.

What's Tina looking for/at?

Looks like someone wants to hitch a ride!

Mark, Helen and Marcie

This is Golda - she played my "wife" in Imelda: A New Musical a few years back. She still can't get over the fact that the play is done, and we are no longer "married".

A Night Out at the Miyako

Yes, as the subject heading reads, the improv group I belong to (Cold Tofu; did you guys VOTE yet?) had a show tonight at the Maryknoll Catholic Center in Little Tokyo. It's part of our monthly improv shows we do there each year. After a great show by everyone, we all headed over to the Miyako hotel to go to their terrific little karaoke lounge and sing the night away! Literally till it closed! A great time time was had by everyone.

And for those of you reading this that were there,
great times!!! Here are a few photos from the vocal debauchery:




Wanru as Jack Sparrow - it is close to Halloween ;p

Steve and Helen singing some tunes

Rob and his freak spank posse!

Helen and me singing a duet
(Yes, I can SING! Just ask my mom!)

So all in all, it was a great time. It's always fun hanging out with creative and uninhibited people/friends. Too bad I wasn't able to video tape some of the goings-on. Had I done so, this blog would've gone from rated "G" to "R" just like that! Then again, that's what made for a good night.

Till next time (which will be soon), enjoy and be safe, and do leave a comment if you have anything to say, particularly if you are in these photos!

"Drink up me harties yo ho!"
(Come on, who doesn't want to be Jack Sparrow?!)

Some photos I dug up and do please VOTE!

Some photos I found recently while going through my hard drive. I especially like the 18 MMW photo of the three guys up top - cool!

Also, Cold Tofu, the (BEST) improv group I belong to is up for best Improv troupe in LA. So I urge everyone reading this to go and vote for us at My Fox LA's Hot List, and make sure you choose us! Even if you haven't seen our shows, you won't regret voting, plus, it'll MAKE you want to come out to see and reiterate why you chose us as LA's best improv group! So go, NOW, VOTE!!!