WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2007

Jamie Morris : Dodgers vs. Giants : ADMIT ONE: Dodgers Ticket
ADMIT ONE: Dodgers Ticket
Dodgers vs. Giants

I got some free tickets to the Dodgers/Giants game from work tonight. The Dodgers started the week with the best record in baseball, but the week certainly won't end that way as they picked up their third consecutive loss tonight. The mistake came in the first inning when they decided to pitch to Barry Bonds with two men on base. Guess what happened? Homerun #741(*). Randy Wolf did stike out Bonds twice later in the game and hit a milestone of 1,000 career strikeouts, but it was too late. The Dodgers lost 4-6.

(* total homerun count includes homeruns hit while using steriods)

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TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2007

Jamie Morris : The First 250 Kilometers : 157.4 Miles and Rising
157.4 Miles and Rising
The First 250 Kilometers

I put a few miles on my scooter the past few days. Over the weekend I went to Beverly Hills and Hollywood, and yesterday I rode it to work. I tried two different routes to Hollywood. First, the most direct route: Santa Monica Boulevard. It got me there, but there are so many stoplights that it takes forever. The second route I took was Olympic Boulevard. Distance-wise, it's a little longer because I'm traveling further south than I need to be, but it's a quick street with few stoplights. I might try a couple other routes too, but Olympic was pretty good, except for one sunken manhole cover that I hit. I think I may have scraped the bottom of my scoot. The only other issue I had was coming home at sunset. I could barely see anything with the sun in my eyes. I could also try the 10 Freeway. At first I wasn't going to take the freeways, but since most accidents occur at intersections and there are no intersections on the freeway, it might be the safest route. And at rush hour, there is so much traffic, people are not traveling very fast. I'm not going to ride to work everyday, maybe once or twice a week for now. It does save me some time... it's probably 20-30 mins faster than taking the bus if I drive very conservatively. If I shared lanes and did more passing it would probably get me to work even faster, but I'm not that comfortable yet. Parking is great - on Sunday, I went to the Beverly Center to check out the big sale at the Ben Sherman store (because I'm so Mod) and they let me park for free. I left my fancy leather jacket locked up in my scooter so they wouldn't think I was a Rocker.

I made a few additions/modifications this past week. I got a Piaggio Floor Mat to protect the floor board. I (illegally?) removed the ugly reflectors from my front fender and filled the holes with some Dragon Red painted Plugs. I attempted to install a Piaggio chrome front fender guard but was unsucessful. I'll give it one more try before asking for help or selling it. I got my license plate (not the V3SPA one - coming later) and installed it with some italian license plate screws (hehehe - this really is half the fun). As for gear, I completed my outfit with some black Dainese Blaster Gloves (had to order these from Belgium). And I added some black 3M Scotchlite reflective tape to my helmet to make me a little more visible at night.

Oh - besides scootering, the other things I've done lately were seeing the movie 300 (glad it was free) and I also went to check out the Joyride Rally and saw some nice Ferraris and Lamborghinis leave Santa Monica for New Orleans. Now, I'm going to watch some Champions League. Good Night!

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SUNDAY, APRIL 15, 2007

Jamie Morris : I (HEART) My Vespa : New Windshield, Helmet, Jacket, Boots
New Windshield, Helmet, Jacket, Boots
I (HEART) My Vespa

I did plenty of riding this weekend on the westside. The new windshield (pictured above) works well. It was very helpful today because it was breezy by the beach. I also got some new gear... all of it Italian. I ordered the yellow RossoFerrari motorcycle helmet by NewMax from the Ferrari Store website in Europe. Luckily it fits well, but it's got a big warning label inside saying it's not for use in North America because it hasn't been DOT approved yet. I got a pair of Dainese Quito motorcycle boots at Ducati of Beverly Hills. They're very comfortable and look like regular shoes if you wear them with jeans. And today I got a sweet black Dainese HF Special Pelle leather motorcycle jacket at Pro Italia Motocycles in Glendale. It's got removable armor in the shoulders and elbows, and also a removable inner liner which I certainly won't need in the summer. It's also got space for a back protector which is sold separately. The last thing I need to complete the outfit is a good pair of motorcycle gloves.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2007

Jamie Morris : Friday the 13th at the Movies : Grindhouse Poster
Grindhouse Poster
Friday the 13th at the Movies

I spent a lot of time in the theater today. This afternoon we had a special screening of Shrek The Third at Paramount. The movie isn't finished. They said it was about 90% done, but it looked pretty complete to me. I thought it was good, but Shrek 2 is still my fav. Then tonight I paid to see a movie, actually two movies. Grindhouse is the new Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez double feature. Yes, two movies for the price of one: Planet Terror is Rodriguez's zombie film and Death Proof is Tarantino's slasher film. I loved them both and also the fake trailers that preceded both films. But it was a long time to spend in a theater.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2007

Jamie Morris : V3SPA : My New License Plate
My New License Plate
V3SPA

Now that I have my Vespa, it's time to start accessorizing. My new FACO mid-size windshield arrived today so I installed that. It looks a lot better than I thought it would, but let's hope it works well. I'll try it out this weekend.

I also ordered a personalized license plate from the California DMV. It's hard to find a good one in California because there are so many cars, but "V3SPA" was available to my surprise so I grabbed it. They say it will be ready in 8-12 weeks.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 08, 2007

Jamie Morris : Dragon Red 2007 Vespa LX 150 : Dragon Red is the Fastest Color
Dragon Red is the Fastest Color
Dragon Red 2007 Vespa LX 150

I got out of work early on Friday and went to Vespa of California in Sherman Oaks to test drive a Vespa. I tried a 150cc LX150 and my boss, Geoff, tried a 250cc GTS. After riding them, we were sold, but unfortunately they didn't have the colors we wanted in stock. So we went home and called Santa Barbara Vespa who had exactly what we wanted and offered to deliver to us in L.A. for free. We placed our order over the phone and the Vespas came the next day. It was not much different than ordering a pizza. I had a full day yesterday (see prior post), so I didn't get to see my Vespa until today. It's automatic, has a top speed of 60mph, gets 70mpg and holds 2.3 gallons of gas. The "out the door" price I paid which included DMV fees, registration, the rear top case, passenger seat pad, windshield (not installed yet), canvas bag (not installed), 2 year extended warranty, tax, and shipping was $5533. Insurance was pricey at $924/year from Progressive, but not unreasonable considering I just got a license and have no driving experience. For now, until I get confortable and get some good protective gear (jacket, gloves, boots), I'm just going to ride it around Santa Monica on the weekends. After a few weeks of practice, maybe I'll brave the rush hour traffic and start riding to work on occasion. Unfortunately today was overcast and cool, but our three person Vespa club went out for a little ride in West L.A., Santa Monica, and Venice this afternoon. Hopefully next weekend will be sunny.

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SATURDAY, APRIL 07, 2007

First/Last Game of the Season

This afternoon was the L.A. Kings final game of the season. The game today turned out to be a battle of the bottom. The Kings and the Phoenix Coyotes were worst two teams in the Western Conference of the NHL. The game was quite exciting. Phoenix scored the first two goals, but the Kings came from behind and scored three unanswered goals - the winning goal in the final minute of the game. Lots of good fights as well. And, yes, I'll be renewing my season tickets next year. Maybe the Kings will lose some fans because they were so bad this season and I'll get closer seats.

Today was opening day for Major League Soccer. The Galaxy were out of town but I went to the Chivas USA match against Toronto FC this evening. Toronto is a new team this year and this was their inaugural match. I was cheering for Toronto, but the home team beat the Canadian side 2-0 thanks to some great goalkeeping by Brad Guzan.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 05, 2007

Jamie Morris : Year Of The Dog Premiere : Drew Barrymore and Molly Shannon at Paramount
Drew Barrymore and Molly Shannon at Paramount
Year Of The Dog Premiere

Tonight I got to hang out with some of pals (Molly Shannon, Drew Barrymore, Mike White, Laura Dern, Jack Black, Tia Carrere, Ben Stiller, Fred Willard, and others) at the premiere of the Year Of The Dog in the Paramount Theater. But things didn't go as smoothly as planned... after the red carpet arrivals and everyone was seated they started the film. The first few minutes went okay, but then, when the dialogue started, there were audio problems. We couldn't hear anything the actors were saying, but the background music and sounds were crystal clear. The stopped the film and went to work on the audio system. After several awkward minutes, Molly Shannon and some of the actors got up on stage and said they were going to act out some of the scenes of the movie while they were fixing the audio. But just as they started to act out the opening scene of the movie, they started testing the sound system with loud bursts of static and we couldn't hear anything the actors were saying. So they sat down. After several more minutes, Mike White (the director) got up on stage and said this was his worst nightmare and that they fixed the audio and joked about going to the bathroom to vomit. The film started up again (from the beginning). The audio wasn't perfect, but good enough to watch the film. After the film, there was a big party at Paramount and they gave out gift bags of doggie presents that I'm sharing with some of my doggie friends.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 01, 2007

Jamie Morris : Los Angeles Galaxy Fan Fest : At the Home Depot Center
At the Home Depot Center
Los Angeles Galaxy Fan Fest

The Major League Soccer season starts this week and today the L.A. Galaxy had their second annual Fan Fest. More than 3000 people came out to the Home Depot Center to meet the players and coaches. There are a lot of old faces and new ones. I got to take a tour of locker rooms and listen to General Manager Alexi Lalas's "State of the Galaxy" address. Alexi said that this summer thay are rebranding the team which will mean new colors and jerseys - which has to be an inprovement over the hideous gold and teal jerseys they have now. But what I don't like is that they are going to rebrand the team halfway through the season, just in time for Beckhams arrival in July. I was going to buy a jersey at the Fan Fest to get signed by the players, but what's the point if the new jerseys will be out in a couple of months? The Galaxy's first home game isn't until next Thursday, but new club Toronto FC will play their inaugural game here at the Home Depot Center against Chivas USA on Saturday and I'm thinking of attending that one.

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