My End of the Woods

I thought I'd post an update on what's going on at my end of the woods. The biggest thing is impatiently waiting to go on the upcoming 2 week Globus tour of France. I'm impatiently counting every day. When I get within a week, I'll get to do more concerning the trip i.e. buy a bunch of Euros, put my mail hold request in and figure out what I'm going to wear. For now, all I can do is count the days.

Work at the Post Office goes well enough. I still have issues with the notorious single moms and I know I always will. I'm never going to accept their laziness or breaking of the rules. I count my blessings that I get along so well with my boss. Also, supposedly, the Postmaster is very pleased with me. I do whatever he asks without whining. He knows when he gives me a task that it'll get done. It's nice to know he's pleased with my work.

I've been considering buying a videocamera for the upcoming trip. My mom suggested it. Unfortunately, the timing is bad. I want to be able to pay all the optional excursions I plan to take at the beginning of the tour. I hope to avoid a big charge card bill when I get back from the trip. I haven't forgotten the Australia tour I did with Globus. I was paying on that for 3 months after I got back. If I bought the camera, I wouldn't be able to pay the excursions off before hand. I've decided to buy it in a couple months. I'll take it with me when I do the Egypt tour in March. That is something I'd definitely want to record on DVD.

I visited Dave & Busters today. They're offering a buy $10 worth of tickets and get $10 free coupon on their website (must be used by September 1st). It's a good deal. I suspect they're doing it to get you in the door. $20 with a supercharge will get you 125 tickets. That isn't much when you start playing the games. I'm partial to Spin & Win and that costs 8.8 tickets per play using a gold card. I suspect once you're there, you'll be more likely to recharge your card and play some more. I know I did today. I had frustrating luck on Spin & Win. I must've missed the 1,000 ticket light by 1 or 2 lights at least 15 times. I did finally hit the thing once. I now have over 63,000 tickets. They have a Zune MP3 player for 46,000 tickets. I want an MP3 player but, I don't know if I want to spend 46,000 tickets to get it. I'm going to keep thinking about it.

Also, I did a little bit for the environment today. I did a recycling run to the Glen Burnie Recycling Depot. It isn't much but, it is something. Also, I do try to not run the lights in my apartment unless I'm using them. That may have less to do with the environment and more to do with trying to keep my electric bill down.

On the subject of travel again, Globus looks to be getting more serious about their Journey club. It's a special travel club they offer that offers club only tours and access to their clothing shop. If you reactivate your Journey club membership, you'll receive a coupon that'll get you $75 off any tour that you book between August 2008 and December 2009. Also, they're offering a free extra night in a hotel providing you share it. Singles don't get to take advantage of this offer. Oh well. Also, it appears they going to come out with some kind of club membership number. The webpage to reactivate my membership asked for a card number. I had no idea what they were talking about. I'm curious to see if I get a membership card in the mail.

Lastly, I'm looking forward to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. It opened last weekend. Labor Day Weekend is a good time to go since the Post Office is closed on Labor Day. The only bummer to the festival is I'll make sure I get on the road early to get to it. If you take your time, you'll get stuck in a long bumper to bumper line. It'll be neat to check out the festival. They have some good acts and nice shops plus, the smoked turkey legs are delicious.

That's all that's worth telling about for now. Stay tuned for more updates as the France tour gets closer. Cheers all!

Trader Joe's Sparkling Pomegranate and Blueberry Juices Review

Recently, I tried Trader Joe's Sparkling Pomegranate Juice and Sparkling Blueberry Juice. This review in on those 2 products. I'd never had either pomegranate or blueberry juice so I thought I'd give Trader Joe's products a try. Taste wise, both juices tasted good. Neither have any kind of chemicals or preservatives which is another plus. However, there were some notable negatives with these 2 products. For starters, you don't get 100% pomegranate juice or 100% blueberry juice. The bottles say 100% juice and then in far smaller letters state that they are a blend of 4 juice concentrates. For example, their sparkling blueberry juice has blueberry juice, apple juice, pear juice and white grape juice. So while it's 100% juice, it isn't 100% blueberry juice. While Trader Joe's can technically say their being honest about the product, I feel they aren't being totally above board. Second, I had problems with the price. A 25.4 ounce bottle of blueberry juice cost $2.69 at Trader Joe's Columbia, Maryland store. That isn't a lot of juice for the money, especially when you figure in the carbonation. The pomegranate juice was a little cheaper selling for $2.49. In my opinion, these juices are a bit pricey.

Overall, while I thought the 2 juices had good flavor, I found them too pricey and not what they claimed to be. I feel they should call them in bigger letters some kind of juice blend vice stating they are a particular type of juice. If Trader Joe's is going to claim something is blueberry juice, it should be 100% blueberry juice. Because of their price and their labeling, I can't recommend either product. Cheers all!

Travel Documents

I received my Globus travel documents yesterday. I was delighted to get them. It makes the upcoming trip to France more real. I can't wait to go. I'm tired of the Post Office bullshit. Trips to Baltimore or D.C. aren't far enough. I need to get away from it for a while. 2 weeks in France will definitely do the trick. Concerning the documents themselves, I got a bit of double shock on them. To my surprise, my travel agent didn't catch that I didn't have airport transfers. After catching 3 flights to get to Paris, the last thing I'm going to want to mess with is getting myself to my hotel from Charles de Gaulle International. Also, my departing flight from Paris leaves at 7:25 a.m. I don't want to mess with trying to make arrangements to get to a foreign airport that early in the morning. I emailed my travel agent and he said he'd take care of it first thing. Also, I found that I was missing the documents for the travel insurance I purchased. I definitely want that information included. I hope I don't have to use the insurance but, it is nice to have it just in case. Now, I need to make a checklist so I can make sure I get done everything I need to do for my upcoming trip. I'll need to make sure the batteries for my digital camera are fully charged, that I pack a spare memory card for my camera, that I put my mail on hold, that I buy enough Euros and that I figure out what I'm going to wear during the trip. The clothes part promises to be hard because Globus limits me to one bag that can't weigh more than 50 pounds. The tour will be 2 weeks. Also, I'll be going to some events that'll be dressy i.e. the dinner and tour of Monte Carlo. Lastly, I have to make sure I have enough space in the suit case for souvenirs and gifts. It promises to be a bit of challenge figuring out what I'm going to take. Still, it'll be neat thinking of the upcoming tour. To get to see the famous beaches of Normandy where the D-Day invasion took place or see the stunning Mont St. Michel. It should be an awesome time. Stay tuned for further updates.

Travel Update

As my trip to France gets closer, I am getting more and more excited about it. I'm definitely ready to go on another trip. It's been 5 months since I did my first ever cruise in the Caribbean. Later this week, I should receive my travel documents for the Globus France tour. I'll blog more about that when I get them. Also, I made the last payment on the Egypt tour. Now, I just have to pay the charge card bill for it. That should be an awesome tour. Lastly, my friend Harvey was supposed to put the deposit down for me on the Historic East tour. Globus was offering an early booking deal where you could lock in a pre-brochure price. I checked and it was only $80 higher than this year's prices. I don't see the tour being cheaper than that so I decided to go ahead and book the tour. I'm pretty excited about that tour too. It is going to be really amusing to catch the Metro (Washington D.C. subway system) to the tour hotel and start the tour in D.C. I'm very use to having to catch a flight (many times an international one) to do a tour. It will be a real trip to do one that is so close. Stay tuned for further updates.

Postal Service Loss

I read an article on the Associated Press this past week that stated that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) lost 1.1 billion dollars this past quarter (http://govexec.com/dailyfed/0808/080608ap2.htm). I thought I'd offer my 2 bits on this. First, summer time is the worst time of the year in regards to mail volume for the Post Office. I've seen considerably less mail these past 3 to 4 months than I do during the rest of the year. This is the norm. Personally, I like the lower volumes as it means I can get my route done quicker and I end up giving the Post Office fewer free hours. Second, the price of gas is really clobbering the Post Office. The Post Office has one of the largest fleets of vehicles per a U.S. company in the country. On some of the routes I deliver on, you have to drive from box to box. It would take far too long to deliver the mail walking. I think I saw a statistic some where that stated the Postal Service loses 8 million dollars for every penny the price of gas goes up. Considering how much gas has gone up, you can see how badly the Postal Service has gotten clobbered. Lastly, the service is trying to keep costs down. I know on the city side at our Post Office that they are having more open routes i.e. routes that don't have a salaried carrier. These routes have to be carried by the other city carriers. Also, our Post Office is cracking down on mis-thrown parcels. If a parcel is shipped Priority or First Class, we must deliver it the day we receive it. Mis-thrown parcels by the clerks can make it necessary for us to send a carrier (at $17.98 an hour) out to deliver a $4 parcel. By cutting down on mis-thrown parcels, we're able to save money and parcel runs.

The Postal Service is facing some incredible challenges. On-line bill paying is really hurting the service. People prefer to email or text message vice writing letters. Also, competition from FedEx and UPS is tough. Ironically, the Post Office offers a great deal in Express Mail but, a lot of people still prefer to use FedEx or UPS. Postal work remains labor intensive though the service has tried and continues to try to automate as much as possible. There has been a serious reduction in the number of clerks because of automation. The service also has a real challenge getting people who can do the job. A lot of people in this country don't realize just how hard it is to deliver the mail. I know, I was one of them. We have a high attrition rate among new hires. One of the things I've had to do is encourage the newbes to stick it out. The job is very hard until you start to figure out where various addresses are on the mail case. Lastly, I think the Postal Service is a great bargain. You can still mail a letter across the country for just 42 cents. With high gas prices, competition and communication advances, the future promises to be very challenging for the U.S. Postal Service and its employees.

Jeff Foxworthy Beef Jerky Review

To my surprise, while shopping at Safeway, I found out that Jeff Foxworthy of redneck fame has come out with his own beef jerky. As I really like beef jerky, I decided to try it. I tried the teriyaki flavor. I found it to be bland. The jerky was also tough though that is how jerky is supposed to be. Jerky was meat that was salted and dried so it would last a long time. Since, it was dried out, it would be tough initially to eat. One plus for Foxworthy's beef jerky is that it DOESN'T have any Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). It really annoys me to see that stuff in various foods. In my opinion, it isn't good for you. I know it will hurt me wind wise, if I eat something with that and then try to exercise later. I've personally seen the very noticeable difference. Price wise, Safeway was selling a 4 ounce re-sealable pouch of the jerky for $6. That's comparable with other brands of beef jerky.

Overall, I can't rave about Foxworthy's beef jerky. It failed to impress though I do like that it doesn't have MSG. I plan to keep looking for some jerky that tastes good and doesn't have a lot of artificial junk in it (real jerky doesn't). Cheers all!

Dave & Busters

After wiping myself out on the elliptical machine yesterday, I decided to go to Dave & Busters at the Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover, Maryland. It's a fun place and I enjoy playing the super trivia game and Spin and Win game. I wanted to add to my ticket winnings and see what new prizes they had. I managed to win 3,156 tickets at a cost of $53. I had frustrating luck with the Spin and Win game as I missed the 1,000 ticket light by 1 or 2 light over 20 times. It hurts to get that close. A split second made all the difference.

In regards to prizes, I didn't see anything that really wiped me out. They had a DVD player recorder which seemed nice but, I'm terrible about watching movies. They had a shake mixer but, how often do I make milkshakes. So, I decided to hold on to my tickets. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll get an MP3 player sometime. I'd have bought one myself but, I'm saving the money to pay off my future travels.

One other item of note I want to let folks know about. The parking situation around Dave & Busters is really bad on weekends. You can expect to spend at least 5 minutes trying to find a spot. You may have to watch for folks leaving so you can get their spot once they leave. This is the only problem I have with Dave & Busters. Barring that, it is a a fun place.

Change of Plans

My travel plans have changed for 2009. Previously, I said I was going to do a cruise June of 2009. I decided to nix the cruise. It was just too expensive. Because of the gap I have to do between major trips, I had to do the cruise in June. June is the beginning of high season cruise wise. High season is the most expensive time to go cruising. While I would like to do another cruise, I don't HAVE to do one then. So, I decided to do something else. On my wish list travel wise was seeing Yorktown, Jamestown and Gettysburg. Globus has a tour that hits those historic places. Funnily enough, it starts in Washington D.C. The tour will visit some places I've already been to such as Colonial Williamsburg, Monticello and Philadelphia. But, I won't mind seeing those places again. I really enjoyed visiting Colonial Williamsburg. I'm curious what kind of group we'll get for the tour. The tour lasts just 8 days total. I've never done such a short one before. Also, this will be my first Globus tour in the U.S. It'll be interesting to see what it's like. Stay tuned.

Badge

I forgot my rural carrier badge this morning when I went rushing out the door. Unlike city carriers (they wear uniforms), the only thing a rural carrier has to prove they are a legitimate mail carrier is their badge. Also, you need your badge when you set up your scanner in the morning. The badge has a bar code the scanner reads and matches to a name in its memory. If you forget your badge, you have to try to remember what your employee ID number is and enter it manually into the scanner. It's a real pain. The scanner is important because you use that to enter all the delivery confirmations, insured mails and accountable mails. If you don't scan those, you get in big trouble with the Post Office. Supposedly, they lose money if you don't do those scans.

After I turned left onto Russett Green Road, I realized something was missing. I looked at my chest and realized my Post Office pens and badge weren't there. I let out a curse and looked for a place where I could do a u-turn. I drove back to my apartment, picked up my badge and pens and headed to the Post Office AGAIN. I counted my blessings I didn't get all the way to the Post Office before realizing that I'd forgotten my badge. Thankfully, this wasn't a omen of things to come as mail was light and it ended up being an easy day. Cheers all!

Icelandair

I got some bad news from Joel, my travel agent, about Icelandair. To my total surprise, they don't fly out of Baltimore Washington International Airport anymore. Crap! They only fly out of Boston, JFK, Minneapolis and Orlando. JFK would be the closest airport for me and that would cost me over $300 to fly there to make a connecting flight with them. In my opinion, it wouldn't be worth it. So, I'm stuck with over 28,000 of their frequent flier points. I suppose I could exchange them for something at Points.com but, you don't tend to get a good deal doing that. I'm going to have think about this and figure out what I'm going to do. It bites that they left Baltimore.

Ok Cupid Update

I've continued to answer more questions and rate more ladies on Ok Cupid. The site has continued to surprise me. One of the ladies I had to rate was a real DOMINATRICE. That's a women who wears leather, treats you like crap, expects you to obey her and in the process some how you'll be sexually stimulated by that. I confess I can't understand how somehow could get off being humiliated but, the world is filled with lots of WEIRD people so it's possible. I'm not one of them so I quickly rated the lady a 1 (that being the worst you can rate someone) and quickly moved on. I suspect my readers would've had a good laugh at my reaction when the lady's bio first came. My eyes really bugged on that one.

I have no idea how well Christians are represented on this site BUT, I got another surprise by all the Wiccan practicers. What equally surprised me was how many of them apparently go the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Hm. I'd suspected as much but this site has confirmed it. It'll be a trip if I recognize some of them when I go to the festival this year.

That sums up all the surprised I've had since my last post. I have enjoyed posting some comments on some of the member's journals (blogs) there. I like good conversation and the posts there are a form of conversation. I still have little hope I'll actually meet someone there I'd actually like to take out. I suspect my job at the Post Office doesn't help me any as I doubt any of the ladies there are impressed by my job. Oh well. Stay tuned for further updates on this too.

OK Cupid

I've been filling in my bio, adding a few photos and answering more questions on http://www.okcupid.com/. It's a free site where you can make new friends, find a possible date or maybe find someone to have sex with. I found the sex angle on the site somewhat shocking. They ask a lot questions about sex. I suspect there are some really weird people on that site. Still, it has its good points. I've been very impressed by how many single ladies it has in the Maryland, Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia area. I don't know what my chances are of meeting some of them. I will confess I'm picky. I want attractive and I won't settle for less. I'm content to keep going it alone if it means I have to compromise. I know a woman is more than looks and believe me, I take their personality into account too. I never forgot a date I had years ago with a stunner. Her personality stunk and the date was a massive dud. Another problem I suspect I'll run into is kids. I'm not real keen on becoming an instant dad because she has kids of her own. I think it's hard enough to make a relationship work without that addition of kids and ex's. Still, a lot women my age is likely to have them. Lastly, me and my gut are going to have to do battle. My job at the Post Office hasn't helped my weight situation. I'm subject to being called in on short notice and I can never be sure how long I'll have to work. That plays hell with my diet. I can eat a light breakfast and then not get home for 9 hours. By the time I get home, I'm starving and I overeat. My step-mom has suggested I carry snacks to re-energize myself but when I'm doing a route, I don't want to stop till I'm done. Also, after a long day at the Post Office, I don't feel like exercising. I hit the elliptical machine today for the first time in months. Boy, I was out of shape. I set it for level 5 and managed to last 25 minutes. My heart rate soared. Oh well. We'll see how it goes. Stay tuned.

Union Station

Per my previous blog on the D.C. Duck tour, I found myself with an hour and 45 minutes to waste before the tour left. I decided to explore Union Station. Union Station is the main train station for Washington D.C. All trains going through D.C. stop there. It is a very impressive building with beautiful statues, walls and ceilings. There are a number of Roman centurion statues that were designed by Louis Saint Gauden (I hope I have that name right). Each of the statues has a shield in front of it. The reason for this is that each statue is nude. When the statues were made back in 1908, people were more modest than we are today. As some people in those days would've been shocked at the sight of such brazen manliness, Gauden created was has come to be known as "modesty shields" which stand in front of the statues and hide each of the statue's manliness. I thought the story funny which is why I'm passing it on to you my reader.

The station has 3 floors. The bottom floor is filled with various restaurants. I can't tell you if any of them are any good as I've never tried any of them. The 2nd floor has a combination of shops, restaurants, Amtrak ticket counters and the gates for the various trains. I thought this part was neat as I checked out the various gates to see where the trains were going. A lot of them were going north to New York City with some going on to Boston. Some were going south to Newport News. To me, train travel is still pretty neat. You get to see towns and countryside on the train unlike in an airplane. You also arrive typically in the heart of your destination vice at some distant airport. My only complaint with the trains is their poor timeliness. I know airplanes are late too but, the airplanes have never been as late as some of the trains I've ridden on here in the states.

The 3rd floor on the station has some posh shops including Joseph Banks Clothiers. I've actually bought some very nice clothes here and I was very pleased with them. This is also where you find the connecting walkway to the station multi-floored parking lot. I've also used this parking lot though I don't remember what it costs.

Overall, Union Station is a very nice place. It's a great place to grab a bite to eat, do a little shopping, catch a tour of D.C. or take a train on a new adventure some where. If you're in D.C., you should check it out. Cheers all!

Washington D.C. Hard Rock Cafe

I had dinner at the Washington D.C. Hard Rock Cafe yesterday. After I finished a D.C. Duck tour (see previous blog), I took the Metro to MCI Station. From there, I walked to the cafe. The cafe was fairly busy. Since I was by myself, the cafe greeter wanted to sit me at some cocktail tables they have. I wanted a regular table. They granted my request but, I was seated in a corner where I was easily forgotten. My waitress Lori was also very busy with other customers so didn't have a lot of time to check on me.

I had their pulled pork sandwich and sinful sundae for dessert. The sandwich was nicely presented and came with 2 small sides of cole slaw and baked beans with a main side of french fries. Everything on the entree tasted good. Concerning my sundae, when you make a sundae, aren't you suppose to pour the chocolate syrup over the ice cream then cover it with whip cream and nuts? That's what I think and they didn't do. They poured it into this plastic glass and it went straight to the bottom of it. The ice cream itself was Haagen Dazs and was very good. They also did a nice job with the whip cream and sprinkles though I think they forgot the nuts they were supposed to put on the sundae.

Overall, the food was average and the service was below average. I wasn't pleased with this visit. The only thing I was pleased about was the waitress getting the credit right on my All Access Membership. For those of you who don't know, All Access Membership is a program the chain has where you can earn credit toward free t-shirts, pins or food. For every $200 you spend, you get $20 in credit. It's a nice program. I was very close to getting my next $20 credit which was why I really wanted to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. At some of the cafe's I've eaten at, the waitresses haven't known how to enter the All Access information properly so I haven't gotten the proper amount of credit I was supposed to get for my purchase. Thankfully, Lori did know how to enter it and I earned my next $20 credit. Now, I have a $100 credit that I can use for whatever I want at any Hard Rock Cafe. I'm pleased about that. Barring that, I don't see myself busting my butt to visit this cafe for a while. I wouldn't recommend you do so either. Bon Appetit!

D.C. Duck Tour

I've wanted to do what is called a Duck tour for a while. I signed up for one during my March 2008 cruise but, it was cancelled and I couldn't make the morning tour as I had another tour scheduled during that time. A Duck tour for those of you who don't know is a tour of a city in what is called a Duck vehicle. The vehicle was created during World War II. It's purpose was to take supplies from a ship like a boat and then drive up on a beach and go to where ever the front lines were and deliver the supplies. So, it is a combination boat and truck or in the case of the tour bus. It's a pretty cool vehicle and is one of the draws of the tour.

The tour itself is reasonably priced. An adult ticket was less than $30. I don't know what a child's ticket would cost. The tour leaves from Union Station and lasts 90 minutes. The two duck drivers were called Captain Crunch and Captain Nemo. Captain Nemo was the one who drove the duck I rode in.

The tour itself was good. Captain Nemo was very knowledgeable about D.C. and pointed out the main points of interest and dropped occasional bits of trivia as well. When we reached the marina opposite the Pentagon, we entered the Potomac River and got to take a short river cruise. At this point, I was a bit disappointed with the tour because we didn't see anything of great interest on the river. The only thing that was some what neat was just before we exited the river. We crossed the flight path of jets that were taking off from Reagan National Airport. We actually had one fly right over us. Another nice thing Nemo was did was issue quackers. These are whistles that make a quacking sound. The rules were we quacked all buses we passed, all policemen and something else. It was goofy and it was fun. I know I looked stupid blowing my quacker whistle but, I enjoyed it.

Overall, I thought the tour was pretty nice. I thought Captain Nemo did a very good job. The tour itself is apparently very popular as they were able to fill 2 ducks for 2 p.m. when I made my reservation at Noon. The lady making the reservations told me they were nearly fully booked for the day. There is a duck tour in Baltimore and I plan to take that one too. I'm curious to see if that one will be more impressive on the water. We'll see. Cheers!

Impatient

I made my 2nd payment on the Globus Egypt tour I hope to take. I confess I'm a bit impatient about paying the trip off. I want it and the cruise I hope to take in 2009 paid off now. As it is, it'll take me another 5 months to pay the 2 trips off. 5 months is a long time and a lot of payments. Oh well. I'll just have to make myself be patient and wait. Thankfully, only 2 months till I get to on a Globus tour of France. Next month, I'll get the travel documents and my 3rd Globus carry bag. That's when the trip becomes more real. You get to see the tour itinerary, your tour number and you receive your name tag so every one in the group can know your name. It's pretty neat stuff. Plus, it's exciting travelling internationally. I can't get excited travelling in the states but I can when I travel overseas. To me, foreign travel is exciting and an adventure. Sometimes too, it has been a bit of a misadventure but those give me something to laugh about months later. I'll never forget my trip to Iceland because of all the mis-adventures I had there. 2 months to go till France and 2 months to go till the Egypt tour is paid off. I can't wait.

Show Review

Today, I saw "All Shook Up" at Toby's Dinner Theater in Columbia, Maryland. I decided to do my review on it while it's fresh in my mind. I'll cover ticketing/seating, food and the show itself.

As I had 1 more person than I had season tickets for, I had to pick up my extra guest's ticket at the box office. There was a little line but it moved well. When I got to the box office, the lady was prompt in finding my reservation as well as running up the charge so I could pay for it. Once I'd signed the charge slip, she gave me a card with our seating assignment which I gave to the seating assignment lady inside the theater. She promptly directed us to our table where we were able to be seated at once. The table was good one with excellent all around views.

Our waiter's name was Dave and he played the nerdy guy Dennis in the show. As a waiter, he did an outstanding job. As the nerdy guy in the show, he was great and he could sing! In regards to the food, it was plentiful and good. They had a full salad bar as well as cole slaw, pasta salad, green beans, potatoes, corn on the cob, spinach, tomatoes, some kind of pasta with cheese mixed in, shrimp, chicken, ribs, salmon, roast beef, ham and I think roast turkey breast. Each of the tables had fresh rolls. As you can see by the menu, if you didn't get thoroughly stuffed, you weren't trying. I made sure I had a light breakfast and, I didn't eat anything else the rest of the day in anticipation of their outstanding buffet.

The show were very funny and very well done. It was filled with great lines and the actors and actresses timing of the lines was smack on. The show has a number of great Elvis Presley hits. At times, they're used for comedic effect and other times for general audience pleasure. All the songs were well done. The show becomes increasingly Gilbert and Sullivanish as the love triangles get increasingly messed up. The biker Chad arrives in town and promptly falls for the stacked museum director. The grease monkey Natalie falls for Chad the biker who doesn't care for her and she decides to disguise herself as a man named Ed so Chad will get to know her/him. Dennis the nerd who became Chad's sidekick gives the job up to Natalie/Ed since he loves her though she doesn't love him. Dennis gives Chad a copy of Shakespeare's Sonnet 17 so he can capture the stacked museum director's heart. Chad has Natalie/Ed deliver the sonnet to the stacked female museum director and the director ends up falling in love with her/him. This is where things get kinky as you have the museum director in love with Natalie/Ed causing a potential lesbian romance though the director doesn't know it and Natalie/Ed isn't interested in her. She's still very much in love with the biker Chad. Things get more complicated and kinkier when Chad falls in love with Natalie's persona Ed causing what would look like a homosexual romance even though it isn't as Ed/Natalie is really a woman. Chad teaches his methods to Natalie's father who subsequently persues the same stacked museum director that Chad wants who doesn't want anything to do with Chad or Natalie's father. Natalie's father's friend Sylvia falls for Natalie's father and tries to get him to see that the museum director is going to leave him broken hearted. Sylvia's daughter Lorraine falls for the Mayor's son Dean who also falls for her and they have to hide their doomed love (he's white, she's black) from his mother. In typical Gilbert and Sullivan fashion, all ends well with a few surprises. I'll let you see the show to find out what they are.

My biggest complaint with the production was with the lead singer/actor who plays Chad but who we would recognize as the Elvis character. He can sing the songs BUT, he can't sing them like Elvis. He doesn't have Elvis's power and so really doesn't nail "Jailhouse Rock" down like he should. There were other songs where he is equally weak. In Toby's last show, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, they had an actor who sang like Elvis. He did a great job. I can only guess that the actor was too old for the part of Chad. It's unfortunate as he would've done a lot better job singing the various Elvis songs.

Overall, barring the lead actor/singer, I found the show really nice. The actors and actresses did an outstanding job. Their timing was smack on and they have some great lines. They were also superbly supported by the folks in costumes, props, lighting and music. The show is filled with laughs and should be enjoyed by everyone. If you like madcap comedy, good music (Elvis still rocks!) and good food, this show is for you. All Shook Up runs until August 24th.

Taper

Yesterday, I listened to my last cassette tape from R. B. Thieme Bible Ministries. Thieme's ministries decided to phase out the tapes. I suspect there were a number of reasons. Blank CDs would be cheaper to buy, to ship and you can put more lessons on them. My first MP3 CD from them had 35 lessons on it. In cassette tape terms, that would've been a box and a half of cassettes. I'm saddened to see them phase out the cassettes though. For all those who listen to Thieme's teaching, it was a badge of honor to say you were a taper. I've listened to Thieme's tapes since 1992 when Dr. Christopher Seidlitz, the head pastor of the base I was stationed at, recommended them to me. I've listened to over 1,500 of Thieme's tapes. Because of the tapes, I made a special effort in 1997 to get to see Pastor Thieme in person when he did a bible conference in Pensacola Beach, Florida. It was something to see the man in person. It saddens me that Pastor Thieme was struck with Alzheimer's disease. He was an incredible and fascinating pastor. Luckily bible teaching wise, his son Bobby took over the reins and teaches in the same manner as his father. On Sundays, I go to a church group where I listen to live broadcasts of Bobby's sermons. Some day, I hope to visit Thieme's church in Houston, Texas. I'd like to see the actual church where Pastor Thieme preached for over 50 years.

For now, I guess I'll be called a CDer as I'll be listening to the lessons on MP3 CDs. Today, I'll listen to my first lesson on my first MP3 CD. Also, I've sent in my order for my second CD. Still, I'll miss the tapes.

Rick Steve's France and Benelux DVD Review

I finished watching Rick Steve's France and Benelux DVD today. I bought so I could see some of the sights I'll get to see in France during the Globus tour of France I'll take in September. The DVD does show a number of highlights of various parts of France. You get to see the Musee D'Orsay (houses France collection of Impressionist paintings), the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, a Roman aqueduct that supplied water to Nimes for over 4 centuries, Nimes, the American Cemetery, the beaches of Normandy, the Bayeux Tapestry, Mont St. Michel, and Provence. In regards to the Benelux countries, you learn a little about Brussels and Bruges during the Belgium episode. During the Amsterdam episode, you learn about the canal cruise boats, eating raw herring, the notorious Red Light district (where they have legalized prostitution), coffee houses where you can buy marijuana and cafes where you can buy coffee, old fashioned and modern windmills, Haarlem as well as the Aalsmeer flower auction where flowers are bid on and shipped all over the world.

Benelux normally includes Luxembourg but Steve's doesn't include anything on at postage stamp size country. Steve's also introduces some of the tour guides who run Rick Steve tours in France, Belgium and Amsterdam. Quietly, he promotes his tours in the video while telling viewers of the various sights. He seems to encourage viewers to get out and see France but, I'd be leery of going off on my own unless I knew France pretty well and could understand some French so I could make myself understood there.

Overall, I found the DVD nice. I wouldn't care to take a Rick Steve's tour as I tend to like greater comfort travelling. It can give you some good ideas of places to see in the 3 countries. It also has some interesting information in it. I remember where he explained about the different level holes in the pool where the Roman aqueduct poured the water into in Nimes. The lowest level holes went to common wells throughout the city. Higher level holes led to pipes which carried water to the homes of the wealthy and to city fountains. Price wise, I believe the DVD cost me approximately $13 at Sam's Club. If you're going to France this would be a good DVD to buy to get some idea of the things you'll see there. Less so, if you're going to visit Belgium or the Netherlands. Cheers all!

The British Royal Family At Work DVD Review

As I've previously reported, I'm a bit of an anglophile. I'm fascinated with things British. Also, as I previously mentioned, I recently bought the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) DVD series Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work. This review is about that DVD series.

 

The series does what it says it does. It shows the British royal family at work. They promote hundreds of charities and causes. They recognize those who have done notable charity work. They promote British industry in the case of Prince Andrew. Lastly, the work to improve relations between various countries and Britain. They try to do all at an affordable cost to the British taxpayer. In the 5th episode, you learn that the British royal family costs each British taxpayer 68 pence ($1.34 U.S. at the current exchange rate of $1.99 U.S. to the British pound/Source of exchange rate: Yahoo Finance) per YEAR. To me, that seems very reasonable considering the hard work they do and the cache they bring to Britain.

 

However, some apparently don't agree. The series shows that some vehemently want to do away with the monarchy. They feel it doesn't serve any purpose. The BBC itself is said to have anti-monarchists working there which makes you wonder what their purpose was in doing the series. Were they truly neutral in the series or did they subtly try to convince people that the monarchy doesn't serve a real purpose anymore in Britain? In the series, the BBC isn't blatantly anti-monarch and yet, they fail to show the positive pound and pence impact they have on the charities they support. Princes William and Henry sponsored a concert which raised money for charities their mother the late Princess Diana of Wales previously sponsored. I don't know how much money the concert raised but the BBC definitely could've found out and told people just how much their efforts in pounds and pence helped those particular charities. They might've shown too the business that Prince Andrew helps generate for British industry. Scores of British charities seek royal patronage for a good reason. It helps them raise funds and it helps them raise awareness of their cause. In my opinion, the British royals do an invaluable job in this area alone.

 

The series does give a small idea of how hard the British royal life is. The royals themselves bring some of the difficulties up themselves. Prince Edward mentions that there isn't any training manual for what they're doing. Princess Anne mentions about how awful she must have been when she first started doing royal engagements. This would've been tougher for her as she was a bit shy at first. Prince Charles points out that he barely gets people to relax, have people see that he is human and begin to connect with him when he has to dash off to another engagement. It also shows the difficulty Prince Charles has in trying to show that the monarchy is relevant i.e. trying to actually do something about some of the problems the British people are dealing with. Lastly, you get to see the enormous press coverage that follows the British royals. The press coverage is a mixed blessing at best as it does help them promote the various charities and causes they support but, it also hounds their private lives and won't hesitate for a second to rip the royals if they make a misstep. The British royal family have had to learn about public relations and managing the Press the hard way. I think there is little question they have learned though their relationship with the media still can be difficult with their readiness to rip them for the slightest misstep.

 

Overall, I found the DVD series very interesting. It does a good job of explaining how the British monarchy works. The series composes of 5 episodes which last 6 hours total. There is an added 9 short bits of things they trimmed from the main episodes. An example was the Queen attending the opening of the James Bond film Casino Royale. Cost wise, the set cost me $65. You might be able to find it cheaper through Amazon or Ebay. If you're interested in the set, I would also recommend you read the companion book A Year with the Queen which I reviewed on February 17, 2008. You can find that blog under the tags Book Review and Queen Elizabeth II. Anglophiles and those just interested in the British royal family should find both book and DVD series interesting and help broaden their knowledge of just what the British royal family does.