WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2005

Jamie Morris : James Paul McCartney @ Staples Center : Paul McCartney's 2006 US Tour
Paul McCartney's 2006 US Tour
James Paul McCartney @ Staples Center

I was really tired tonight, but I had a ticket to Paul McCartney's final show of his 2006 US Tour, so I went in hopes of hearing lots of Beatles songs. I'm not much of a fan of his other music. It turned out to be a really long show and I didn't even stay for the encores. Take a look at this setlist! I was happy with the songs he played. I wish the show had started earlier, so I could have stayed for the whole thing, but 30 songs was good enough. I had crappy seats like I always do at Staples Center... a terrible place for concerts.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2005

A Sad Day At Work

Today I found out that my company, Paramount Digital Entertainment (PDE), will cease to exist at the end of this year. We were supposed to become part of the New Viacom in January, but there have been lots of cuts since the announcement of the Viacom split and today it was our turn. Six of our employees will remain at Paramount after PDE closes and work in another department. Luckily, I'm one of those six, but at this time I have no idea what my new job will entail. Everyone else will need to find a new job. The next few weeks should be very interesting.

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2005

Santa Barbara / Black Friday

Yesterday, Niki and I took a drive up to Santa Barbara for the day. The weather was really nice. It's starting to feel like fall... a little cooler and clearer (I can see Catalina Island from Santa Monica). We browsed around town for a few hours, but we didn't buy anything except lunch at an italian restaurant with bad service and some dessert at Andersens Danish Bakery. I did buy myself a couple of things this weekend. I celebrated Black Friday by buying myself a $300 HP Photosmart 2610 printer/scanner/fax/copier for $99 at Circuit City. I also got a Brita Water Filter for my faucet with a coupon I had from Bed, Bath & Beyond. It's amazing how clear and tasty my water is now! I'm not buying anymore bottled water.

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2005

Thanksgiving Dinners

I've been eating very well for the past couple of days. Last night, I had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with my friend Elizabeth and her family. We had turkey, steak, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, and all the fixin's as well as some pecan pie for dessert. It was very delicious. And tonight, Niki and I went to The Lobster and a had ourselves a seafood Thanksgiving dinner. I had some grilled yellowtail with risotto and spinach with some chocolate bread pudding for dessert. Mmmm. Tomorrow, it looks like we'll be taking a road trip up to Santa Barbara.

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2005

Jamie Morris : Tuxedo Fitting and Korean BBQ : One of Sharon's Wedding Pics
One of Sharon's Wedding Pics
Tuxedo Fitting and Korean BBQ

We got out of work today at noon which was nice. My coworker, Sharon, who asked me to be in her wedding in January, took me to get fitted for a tuxedo this afternoon. After that, we went to get some Korean Barbeque at The Corner Place in Koreatown. Sharon, who is Korean, ordered us a beef dish and some cold noodle soup. The waitress brought us a bunch of Korean side dishes and then brought the uncooked beef, which we had to cook ourselves on the grill at our table. It was really tasty. The cold noodle soup, which I had never had before, was also very good. A good complement to the beef. I'm already thinking about going back for more.

Last night, I went to a screening of Shopgirl starring Steve Martin and Claire Danes. It wasn't bad, but I'm glad I didn't have to pay for it.

Tomorrow, I'll be having Thanksgiving dinner with my friend Elizabeth.

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2005

Jamie Morris : Johnny Cash and Forrest Gump : Walk The Line poster
Walk The Line poster
Johnny Cash and Forrest Gump

The weather was great this weekend... sunny, clear, and warm. I spent some time at the beach rollerblading and biking. Last night, Niki and I went to the new Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant on the Santa Monica Pier. I had been one once in Maui. The food was really good. I got "Grandma's Firepot Fish" - cajun Mahi Mahi and Shrimp with rice in a spicy-sweet pineapple mango salsa. Mmmmm. After dinner, we went to see the Walk The Line which was really good. I'm not sure how true to life it actually is but the film and the acting are wonderful. Joaquin Phoenix looks and sounds so much like Johnny Cash at times it's scary. Definitely go see this movie.

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2005

Jamie Morris : L.A. Galaxy Honored at Kings Game : LA Galaxy @ LA Kings game
LA Galaxy @ LA Kings game
L.A. Galaxy Honored at Kings Game

On Sunday, the LA Galaxy defeated the New England Revolution at the 2005 MLS Cup Final. It was the Galaxy's second time winning the title - the first came in 2002 - and it was quite unexpected considering they finished 4th place in the Western Conference during the regular season. But, that was good enough to get them the final spot in the playoffs where they played very well defeating San Jose, Colorado, and New England to win the championship. Tonight, I went with Dave and a bunch of Galaxy season ticket holders to the LA Kings game at the Staples Center where the LA Galaxy were honored between periods during the sold-out game. It turned out to be a great night. First because we got discounted tickets from the Galaxy. They also gave us a free Kings cap and we got a free Kings DVD for filling out a survey. Before the game started, we ran into King's announcer (and former player) Jim Fox and we talked to him about soccer for a little while. The game was good - lots of scoring. The Kings won 5-4 and are currently first place in their division.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2005

Jamie Morris : A Visit From My Parents : Eagles: Phonecam View From The Nosebleeds
Eagles: Phonecam View From The Nosebleeds
A Visit From My Parents

I haven't updated my site in over a week because my parents have been in town for the past few days. We had originally planned to meet in Phoenix this weekend for the NASCAR race, but they decided they'd rather come to LA. On Saturday, we took the Metro Gold Line to Pasadena and along the way we passed by a huge cornfield just outside downtown Los Angeles which was very strange. It turns out that it's Not A Cornfield, a living sculpture in the form of a field of corn. We spent a couple of hours walking around Old Pasadena before meeting up with Niki and having lunch at Cheesecake Factory. Then we took the free shuttle to the Rose Bowl to see a football game between UCLA and Arizona State. It was a great game because there was a lot of scoring. UCLA won 45-35. On Sunday we did some touristy things. We went to the Santa Monica Pier, Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Hollywood Boulevard, and we visited a couple of museums: The Museum of Television & Radio and the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. The Museum of Television & Radio isn't really a museum. It's an archive of almost every television show and radio program that has ever aired, and they let you watch them for free (although they do ask for a donation). We watched a couple of old westerns. The Hollywood Entertainment Museum is very small, but they've got actual sets from "Cheers," "Star Trek: Voyager" and "The X-Files" which are pretty cool. I got to sit in Captain Picard's chair and I sat at the Cheers bar. On Monday night, we went to see The Eagles "California Tour" at the Staples Center. It was their 6th time playing there in the past two months. It was a great show that was definitely worth the $25 we paid for nosebleed seats. They played two sets and three encores... almost 3 hours of mostly greatest hits. The highlights for me were Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good", Don Henley's "Boys Of Summer" and, of course, "Hotel California".

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 06, 2005

Jamie Morris : Suicide Girls, TsuShiMaMiRe, and Tsotsi : Suicide Girls Burlesque Show
Suicide Girls Burlesque Show
Suicide Girls, TsuShiMaMiRe, and Tsotsi

The weekend went by pretty quickly for me. The American Film Market is in town this week and the first thing I did on Saturday was going to a screening of a South African movie called Tsotsi which was really great. It's about a young gangster that steals a car - unaware of the fact that there is a baby in the back seat. After the movie I went for a bike ride for the first time in over a month. I didn't go far - just to Venice Beach and back to Santa Monica. And then I watched the MLS Western Conference Championship match. The LA Galaxy won the match 2-0! This means that they'll be playing in the MLS Cup Final next weekend against New England.

On Saturday night, I went to see the Suicide Girls Live Burlesque Show at the El Rey in Los Angeles. I saw them once before during their first tour last year, but this year was quite different. First of all, there was a good opening band this time. A cute, fun, all-girl Japanese rock band called TsuShiMaMiRe. It was the last show of the tour and they were so sad to be leaving their new Suicide Girl friends that the bass player started crying on stage and a few of the girls came out from backstage to give her a hug. By the time the burlesque show started, the place was packed (but not before I made my way to the front). The Suicide Girls have gained much popularity since last year. Their website has won several awards, they've got their own DVD out (which can now be seen on Showtime), and they've got a radio show on Indie 103. There were some new girls as well as some of the girls from last year's tour. My favorite girl from last year, Pearl, wasn't there, but Reagan was. The show was great, but the best part for me was that I didn't leave covered in Hershey's Chocolate Syrup like I did last year.

On Sunday morning, I got up early to watch the Manchester United vs. Chelsea match at the King's Head Pub. It was the biggest match of the year so far and there were quite a few people there, many foreigners in town for the American Film Market. Chelsea had been undefeated in the English Premier League for over a year, but Man United ended their streak with 1-0 win at home. Woohoo! Later in the day, I went camera shopping but I didn't find anything I liked. I was thinking of getting a Canon PowerShot S80 but when I saw one in the store I realized it was a lot bigger than it looked in pictures. Right now my first choice of a camera is the Canon PowerShot SD550, but I wish it had more optical zoom and a variable angle LCD. Since I don't need a camera right now, I may wait a few months and see if something new comes out that I like better.

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