Tryptophan Thursday

I see that Amber Riley has won season 17 of DWTS. I was disappointed in myself because I did not know that particular star. But now I know she's on Glee so they won't be able to slip any Amber Riley celebrity news by me again. I'm not sure how that show counts their seasons but I'm pretty sure they have not been on since 1996.

Nigella Lawson was in the news today. Nigella is a name you get stuck with when your old man is named Nigel. She allegedly smoked weed and snorted coke every day for a decade. Hopefully she's cut back some.

I'd write a longer post but I'm taking the following headline from HuffPo kind of hard.

Brody Jenner Says He May Not Be Invited To Kim Kardashian And Kanye West's Wedding

I'll wrap with a Wikipedia turkey fact for your holiday

Despite popular belief that turkey has a particularly high amount of tryptophan, the amount of tryptophan in turkey is typical of most poultry.

Francisco Franco Is Still Dead

I was reading the San Mateo Daily Journal yesterday and in the "In History Today" section they stated that Franco died on that date in 1975. I then came home and checked my statcounter and I had two hits from Madrid. Eerie parallel? Probably not.

Franco took a while to kick the bucket so the news dragged it out. SNL did a great takeoff on it. I'd always head home around 11 on Saturday nights so I could catch the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=butZyxI-PRs

People Magazine named Adam Levine "Sexiest Man Alive" this week. In international news, I was crowned the Queen of England.

TGIF

If you have been paying attention, which is unlikely based on my recent Statcounter results, I've been posting on Sundays for a while. This has worked well with my biorhythms, but now I must interrupt that flow due to an upcoming hectic weekend.

We are heading into the city tomorrow for a sleepover. I'll be bringing my pajamas with feet. I get to meet some of my wife's work friends at an afternoon party and then we are going to check into the Mark Hopkins. Wifey worked a deal on Kayak, or Hot Wire or whatever. I'm a big picture guy so I don't get wrapped up in details. We will be dining at Venticello, which I've never heard of but it got decent reviews, so again, whatever.

Sunday is opera day. It has been on my bucket list for a while and I finally pulled the trigger. Since it will likely be a one time event, like the ballet, I shelled out for decent seats outside of the nosebleed section. We will be seeing The Barber of Seville. I chose that one as I'm familiar with a couple of tunes from The Little Rascals and Bug Bunny.

Earlier this week, in a half hour burst of creativity, I cranked out the 2013 Christmas letter, so you have some snail mail to look forward to next month. It looks like the wife was pretty happy with it so it won't need too much editing. The kids may not be crazy about, but since when have I been concerned about that.

Speaking of Christmas, if you're stuck for an idea on what to get me, this list should help

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/05/oprahs-favorite-things-2013_n_4218558.html

I'd be remiss if I did not include at least one celebrity item. I was reading a recent copy of US magazine and came across Rachel Bilson's 25 Things You Don't Know About Me. You may ask, "Who the hell is Rachel Bilson?" but that would just demonstrate your dismal lack of knowledge about pop culture. So, #1 on the list was "I educate myself with Snapple facts." This does not come as a surprise to me.

FCPD

11:10 Special Service 131106042

Officer initiated activity at Altair Av/Leo Dr, Foster City. Traffic monitoring tubes placed. Disposition:Completed.

Is this anything like the series of tubes that comprises the internet?

13:37 Vandalism 594 PC 131106052

Occurred on Port Royal Av., Fcy. Passer-by reports chasing off a group of 8-10 yr olds who were hanging on trees and broke some of the branches. Officer contacts the juveniles and their parents; no broken tree branches located. Disposition: Unfounded.

We sure as hell don't want kids playing outside. Get back to some respectable activity, like video games.

14:25 Welfare Check 131106060

Occurred on Edgewater Bl., Fcy. Welfare check on resident that has not been heard from or shown up for work in 3 days. Contact made with subjects wife who stated he is at work but at a different division. All checks fine. NFPAD. Disposition: Service Provided.

Do all the divisions use email or cell phones?

17:54 Suspicious Circumstances 131106071

Occurred on Promontory Point Ln, Fcy. RP reports her credit cards missing from her purse and subsequently locates all her cards at home. NFPAD. Disposition: Not Dispatched.

OK, how long did you look before you made it a police matter?

19:47 Accident Non-Injury 131106077

Occurred at Shell Bl/E Hillsdale Bl, Fcy. FCFD & AMR cancelled once confirmed to be a non-injury accident. Rotational tow requested for one driver. Disposition: Report Taken.

I googled "rotational tow" It looks like they rotate the towing companies, not the vehicle.

20:27 Disturbance 415 PC 131106079

Occurred on Edgewater Bl., Fcy. Anonymous RP reports 5 or 6 subjects with an open case of beer arguing near the tennis courts. Subjects contacted, no merit to the disturbance. Disposition: Abated/Advised.

No beer? No disturbance? Time to cite the reporting party.

21:48 Disturbance 415 PC 131105075

Occurred on E Hillsdale Bl., Fcy. Report of resident screaming and possibly throwing things. Subject contacted, upset over loss of a pet and has calmed down. Quiet on arrival and departure. Disposition: Abated/Advised.

Time for a new police acronym: EAL emotional animal lover

17:21 Welfare Check 131101040

Occurred on Flying Fish, Fcy. RP reports that he just received an iPhone app message that made him concerned for the welfare of the sender and the sender's son. Message was reviewed and message did not constitute a legitimate threat. Advice and an Incident Number were provided. . Disposition: Unfounded.

There's an app for that?

18:01 Suspicious Person 131101042

Occurred at Spinnaker Cove on Sea Spray Ln. , Fcy. RP reports a suspicious WM, gray hair & beard, just drove his Porsche into the alley by the tennis courts. Resident contacted and no suspicious activity was observed. . Disposition: Checks Ok.

For the record, I do not own a Porsche.

20:35 911 Hang-up/Welfare Check 131101059

Occurred on Balclutha Dr, Fcy. Welfare check on 911 hang up. No answer on call back. Resident contacted by phone and officers cancelled prior to arrival. Checks ok, subject was attempting to call India. . Disposition: Checks Ok.

For those less telecom savvy than me, 91 is the country code for India.

21:33 Fireworks 131101065

Occurred on Beach Park Bl, Fcy. RP reports fireworks in the neighbor's back yard. Residents were celebrating India's holiday with sparklers. Contact/compliance. . Disposition: Service Provided.

At least they didn't try calling home.

21:52 Unclassified 131101068

Officer initiated activity at Marlin Cove Shopping Center, Foster City Bl, Foster City.Officer checks shopping center after a large power outage. PG&E contacted and advised approx 7,000 customers affected by power outage. . Disposition: Completed.

My damn power stayed out for 24 hours. Did you mention that? No!

07:39 Alarm - Commercial 131102019

Occurred on Chess Dr. , Fcy. Audible alarm at Universal Vaporisor Support set off by entry front door . Front door found open and interior checked secure. Responsible later contacted at scene and advice rendered. Disposition: False Alarm.

I've already said my piece about alarms usually being audible but I'm very happy to learn that there is a local place I can go to for vaporizer support, as we are approaching vaporizer season.

17:31 Citizen Assist 131102048

Occurred at Foster City Police Dept on E Hillsdale Bl. , Fcy. Front counter Rp requesting to speak to an Officer about using a traffic app while driving and putting information into the App. . Disposition: Service Provided.

Yes, it is illegal, you dope.

22:26 Misc Noise Complaint 131102069

Occurred on De Soto Ln, Fcy. Complaint of a loud party. . Disposition: Abated/Advised.

22:49 Misc Noise Complaint 131102071

Occurred on Catamaran, Fcy. Complaint of a loud party. . Disposition: Abated/Advised.

23:16 Misc Noise Complaint 131102077

Occurred on Compass Ln, Fcy. Complaint of a loud party with Karoke singing. . Disposition: Abated/Advised.

A moveable feast?

05:38 Vandalism 594 PC 131103023

Occurred on Dominica Ln, Fcy. RP reports 4 vehicles (including his own) in his cul de sac that have been defaced with a substance similar to butter. No permanent damage and butter was wiped off. An Incident Number was provided. . Disposition: Completed.

Inconvenient, yes. But I'd rather have my car windows buttered than soaped.

13:51 Abandoned Vehicle 131104041

Occurred on Comet Dr, Fcy. R/P requests conserted effort to erradicate the 1991 White Honda which continually parks for days at a time IFO r/p's home. Also complaining that she can not place her garbage cans IFO her home because of this parked vehicle. . Disposition: 11-24 Vehicle Marked for Observation.

I think they ought to make a concerted effort to eradicate spelling errors by using spell check.

Here's What I Got

Before I get into the meat of the matter, celebrity mishaps and breakups, I'd like to address an issue from my last post. I now realize I gave my brother, who is kind to small children and animals, short shrift. He is and always has been my personal hero. He is a top flight legal mind, a champion of the downtrodden, and a sexy beast. I hope this rights a wrong.

The darn power was out in my house for close to 24 hours this weekend. I guess it hit a big swath of FC for a short time, but stayed out in a small portion of my hood until about 8pm last night. The fridge and freezer contents will have go into the compost bin.

The wife and I escaped to San Mateo early in the evening. We had a martini, hers with an olive and mine with a twist, at Capellini. We then went down the road to Fusion, an up and coming Peruvian eatery. We met the #1s and another couple for a tasty dinner. I don't believe I've mentioned this other couple before. I'm going to have to work on a blog name for them. She is our kitchen designer and he was a Boy Scout leader during my son's days with Troop 175. We were invited to their home after dinner for dessert and cordials. I think they got to know us better during the evening. This is why I don't anticipate being invited back.

I had to drop a grand on the Volvo because the ABS light wouldn't go out. My regular mechanic said he didn't do that stuff and another brake place couldn't do anything with it. I had no choice but to bring it to the dealership with their built in stratospheric markup, They did do a nice job vacuuming it though. My timing was good because the day before I ran into some damn thing on 101S around 6:30am that smashed part of the grill and snapped a piece of the bumper. Fortunately they found no damage. So you may ask, "DJ, why are you dropping one large on your 13 year old Volvo?" Because I want it to be my 20 year old Volvo someday.

Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr broke up and apparently Orlando spoke out about it to Katie Couric. Thank you Orlando. And it looks like there may be trouble in paradise for Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes. Being pretty and rich does not guarantee a couple's happiness. I'm going to go out on a limb and say my wife and I are the exception, not the rule.

Guy Fieri got into a knock down, drag out with his hairdresser that somebody caught on film. Although this makes perfect sense to me, I did not watch the video because I cannot stand to look at Guy's do.

Hard luck case Bernie Goetz got nabbed for trying to sell weed to an undercover cop. That dude has seriously bad judgment.

The UK caught Johnny Marr at The Fillmore Friday night. Once they put some seats in that joint, I'll join him.

Ciao Belli