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I Ran Into a Space Toilet and the Space Shuttle Endeavour!

April 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

The Wife and I played host to our BFF, who flew down for some R&R (hockey, hockey, hockey). Since he wasn’t here for the Space Shuttle Endeavour experience, we thought it’d be neat to take him to see it in person. I’d just caught the Space Shuttle Endeavour when it flew around Pasadena. Just thinking back to that time gives me chills. It makes me so proud to be American, and it also makes me depressed there will be no more NASA of years past. Well, let’s talk about the happy part.

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Space Shuttle Endeavour – my panoramic iPhone pic!

The last time I was at the California Science Center, it was for… I don’t remember. (Who cares about the last time I visited? The motherf*ckin’ space shuttle is here!)

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Heading up to the exhibit – CA Science Center (That’s BFF in the foreground and The Wife in the background.)

Before you head into the big hangar, visitors walk into a large room with many bits of Shuttle memorabilia and a long wall of astronaut portraits. These are team photos of all of the space launches ever.

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Maiden Voyage – Astronaut team – Endeavour

There’s a video explaining how astronauts go to the bathroom. Of COURSE it drew me like a moth to a flame. Hello, toilet! There is a CAMERA in the hole so that you can adjust your alignment (vagina, penis) to the hole, depending on whether you have to pee or do #2.

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Spaaaaaaace tooooooilettttttttt!

There is also a replica of the Mission Control room – it replays the launch of Endeavour, including the countdown! You see where each of the engineers and other staffers are monitoring the launch as well as the different cameras and computer-y screens show the shuttle’s trajectory. CHILLS, people, chills! BFF and I were wondering where Mohawk Guy sat in this room.. Haha!

Mission Control replica

Mission Control replica

There is a short video that shows a time-lapse of how they got the space shuttle from LAX to the California Science Center. I’m getting old – I teared up. (Don’t tell anyone! I’m hard-core!)

THEN you head downstairs and out to the hangar where Big Mama now lives.

At this point of our visit, I felt this strong wave of emotion, of gratefulness. I’m so lucky to live in LA where awesome stuff happens and I get to experience it! I mean, a goddamn real-life space shuttle was strapped onto a big airplane and it flew around So Cal and landed at LAX. Who else can say this? No one in Kentucky can claim that.

In addition, I felt like I was standing in the presence of greatness. Greatness in our country, in our space program, in our genius NASA teams, and in our astronauts. Shoot, any astronaut. (For real, are you going to poo-poo anyone who trains to go to space and work in a tin can that requires constant oxygen and if it crashed or had a hull breach, you would die?)

The Wife and me at Space Shuttle Endeavour!

The Wife and me at Space Shuttle Endeavour!

The tiles are made of silica (as in sand!), and each tile’s thickness is dependent on where it is placed. Obviously, at the nose and the bottom, the tiles are thickest, at 5-inches! Oh and get this – these silica tiles are sewn with silica THREAD!! I know these facts because I stalked a docent and made her talk to me for 5 minutes.

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Under the nose – Endeavour

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The Wife taking a pic of the tiles – Endeavour

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Make your booty pop – Endeavour’s backend

I tried to imagine how cramped that cockpit was with a full team of astronauts in there. I tried to imagine how it would feel flying at a speed of 30,000 miles per hour. I couldn’t. I know I said it already but I’m saying it again – I am so very proud of all of the astronauts who have gone into space, and of the NASA teams that worked the ground to support them. It’s amazing how humans have created a program to shoot people into OUTER SPACE. Right now, while you read this, there are people in a space station… IN SPACE… working!

I doubt NASA or the world’s space geniuses will be able to build a workable FTL drive in my lifetime, but I hope they do! Then my fantasy of an Honor Harrington or even a Star Trek universe would be so close to complete!

If you haven’t seen the Space Shuttle Endeavour in person, what are you waiting for?! Bring your kids and your grown-up kids and be amazed! Tickets are free (plus $2 processing fee) – we had timed tickets but when we got there, they just let us in.

Go and let it take your breath away.

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BFF is Visiting – So This Happened… Vadering at Disneyland

April 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

The Wife and I have some really wonderful friends in our lives. One of them is our BFF Sugar who we met back in the day… about 18 years ago… when we worked at Disneyland as ride operators together. (College days!)

We spent the day at Disneyland and the first thing they did when they entered the Park…

Vadering at Disneyland

Vadering at Disneyland

… and this is why we’re friends.

 

 

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Springtime for Snoopy – Knott’s Berry Bloom 2013

April 9, 2013 by 1 Comment
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Maingate – here we gooooooo! – Knott’s Berry Farm

A couple of weeks ago, the Snoopy gang invited me to Knott’s Berry Farm‘s “Knott’s Berry Bloom” - hey ho! I haven’t been to Knott’s in a few years, and my first memory of Knott’s was a 4th grade field trip to mine for gold and sit in Independence Hall! (Californians, you remember when 4th grade was the time you learned about the gold rush and the history of California, right?)

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Spurs – blogger breakfast – Knott’s Berry Farm

I started out at Spurs to grab a bottle of water and ran into Xenia of Raised by Culture! Then I ended up running into Jen, her brother, his hubby and friends celebrating their birthdays. How about that – talk about a coincidence!

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Spring Snoopy displays all over the park – Knott’s Berry Farm

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Birthday men and friends – Knott’s Berry Farm

Unfortunately they took down the crazy time machine/dinosaur ride that’s above these ladies. It was a cheesy ride but I really liked it. It had kind of a Back to the Future vibe to it.

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Close your legs! – Knott’s Berry Farm

It’s been a while since I’d screamed my head off with strangers – the Silver Bullet was a ton of fun to practice my vocals. So was the Supreme Scream.

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Silver Bullet – Knott’s Berry Farm

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Boomerang – it used to be blue…. – Knott’s Berry Farm

All over the park were these cute spring touches – signage, floral bits, ladybugs, springtime insects, and Snoopy decorations.

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Spring flowers – Knott’s Berry Farm

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Chalk art – Knott’s Berry Farm

My very favorite ride was out for rehab. The Log Ride has been my go-to Knott’s attraction since I was a kid. According to the OC Register, it looks like it’ll be out of commission until later this year. Summer 2013, per Knott’s!

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Oh the humanity!!! The Log Ride is closed – Knott’s Berry Farm

But that’s ok, I headed to the wine and beer Topiary Tasting Garden for some libations… and a couple of great topiaries:

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Topiary of awesome – Knott’s Berry Farm

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Snoopy topiary – best topiary ever – Knott’s Berry Farm

Closing out the day, I also couldn’t leave without a funnel cake. Who do you think I am? Hello, it’s funnel cake!  Unfortunately the funnel cake wasn’t as awesome as I remembered. They were pre-made. As in, I made it, it’s sitting on the counter heated, and I’m going to give this one to you when you give me money. Sad face.

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I am funnel caked – Knott’s Berry Farm

Knott’s Berry Bloom has ended but that doesn’t mean you can’t get on roller coasters like GhostRider or Xcelerator! If you do have children, you have to check out Camp Snoopy. Even though I’m not a kid and I don’t have a kid, I do love walking through Camp Snoopy. If you’re even a tiny fan of the Peanuts Gang, this is the place to find the characters as well as take in a show.

Summer is coming up and you can get a slight discount on admission tickets if you buy online! A 1-day adult ticket is $39.99 and a 1-day kid’s ticket is $26.99. (These are good through 6/27/13.) Don’t forget to get your hand stamped and leave the park for some fried chicken and tasty biscuits at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner!

Big thanks to the team at Knott’s for supplying me a ticket. I had a blast and plan to bring The Wife with me some time. I think the re-opening of the Log Ride would be the perfect time. Don’t you?

Disclosure: I just said, Knott’s provided me a ticket to the theme park. They did not ask for or require me to write this post. I took some awesome pictures and wanted to write about my trip. 

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Where Natural Foods are the Trend – Natural Products Expo West 2013 – Part 1

April 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, I headed to the Natural Products Expo 2013 in Anaheim. I enjoyed last year’s expo so much, I went back for more this year! I was excited to see the new products being showcased as well as the big brands and their new products. The Wife and I are not vegan but I love vegan and vegetarian food. Thanks to my GERD, I have to watch what goes in my mouth carefully. (Get your mind out of the gutter, pervs.)

My strategy for my two-day visit was to focus on lifestyle products, healthier foods (veggie or otherwise), find tasty coconut water, and leave the rest behind.

Without further ado, let’s talk about the trends.

Gluten-Free Everything

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Gluten-free products – Expo West 2013

Gluten-free everything! Now, my pal K has two children who are allergic to everything. EVERYTHING – dairy, nuts, gluten, certain fruits, shellfish, the sun, the moon and the stars. (Just kidding about the latter three.) I found that while most companies had XYZ-free products, they still contained something that would make the kids allergic. (We continue the search for them!) If you only have a gluten or nut allergy, you are so in luck. There were many companies including Cybele’s, XO Baking Co, Kinnickkinnick, The Pure Pantry, and Home Free that offered flours, cookie/cake mixes, cooking ingredients that were free of gluten and/or other allergens. Not pictured: Domata cooking flours.

Coconut Everything

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Coconut products up the wazoo – Expo West 2013

Coconuts are in. The Expo told us that. From coconut water companies to coconut milk ice cream to coconut products, you name it, there it was. Vita Coco is one of my favorite coconut water companies – they bought Coco Cafe, my very favorite coconut water product. At the Expo, they debuted an orange-flavored water, and it was tasty! (Not as tasty as my caffeinated coconut water but still refreshing!) In case you were wondering, yes, I believe there is crappy-tasting coconut water. Blue Monkey is not one of them. On the contrary, I found their product to taste great. I do wish they came out with a resealable can or bottle.

But wait, there’s more. You can also shovel coconut products in your face. Observe – Odwalla’s new chocolate almond coconut bar – that was some tasty snack bar! I brought this with me on a drive to Santa Monica and ate it while stuck in traffic. I tend to stay away from Odwalla because they’re hit or miss (too sweet, too full of nuts I don’t like), but this bar was a hit. Earth Balance showcased their coconut and peanut butter spread on some really dry bread. Bread aside, the spread was tasty and I made a note to pick up a jar for The Wife. At one of the booths, I was given a sample of Hearty Naturals‘ coconut oil. I still don’t really know what to do with it. Apparently, y’all have forgotten that I don’t cook.

Caffeine, I Love You

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Caffeinated drinks – Expo West 2013

In addition to coconut water, I love me some caffeine in the form of coffee and coffee products. The Expo showcased companies that roasted their own beans – fair trade, eco-friendly – as well as drinks like Real Beanz, Bhakti Chai, and illy. One perk (no pun intended) regarding these products is that they’re not sweetened by stevia. I think stevia tastes like Sweet N Low – gross.

Other Trends

Other trends I noticed were:

  • Chia seeds – as snack foods, as additions to your cereal, to bake with
  • Snack bars, granola bars, power bars – smaller companies as well as the big dogs debuted their bar-size foods
  • Soy seemed to be out of fashion this year – I saw a lot more coconut-based, almond-based, or something other than soy-based products
  • Stevia-sweetened everything – I get the popularity of stevia, but what’s wrong with cane sugar?
  • Yogurt – any which way you could make yogurt, there it was.
  • Chocolate – lots of chocolate companies made their splash at the Expo – fair trade, eco-friendly, fruit-infused, special nuts, etc.

Next up, products that caught my eye. Stay tuned!

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