Manuel'sView

July 9th, 2009 - Day 42

2009-07-09T20:05:00.001-07:00

July 9th, 2009 - Day 42
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

Myself in a gazing ball

July 8th, 2009 - Day 41

2009-07-08T22:05:00.001-07:00

July 8th, 2009 - Day 41
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

I took Jess to the park and did a shoot of her. Truthfully, photography is easy when your subject is so stunning.

Be sure to check out the link below for the rest of the set. There are some great ones if I may say so myself...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokermanuel/sets/72157621158314976/

July 7th, 2009 - Day 40

2009-07-07T17:59:00.001-07:00

July 7th, 2009 - Day 40
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

My weapon of choice. Some use their fists. Some use a gun. When I go into battle, all I need is my Playstation 3 controller and I am set for war.

July 6, 2009 - Day 39

2009-07-06T17:47:00.001-07:00

July 6, 2009 - Day 39
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

First, let me get this out of the way, there is NO photoshop here. This is all photography. Now, don't get jealous because I can shoot laser beams out of my eyes and you can't! This was actually really hard and would have been more in focus if I wasn't doing it on my own. But still, for doing this one myself without any help, I am pretty happy with it, that and the fact I have superhuman powers.

By the way, make sure to check out my 4th of July pics a few posts below. Some came out great if I may say so myself..

July 5 2009 - Day 38

2009-07-05T18:23:00.001-07:00

July 5 2009 - Day 38
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

After a long night of fun last night (and into early this morning), this is pretty much all Jess and I did today. Feet up - watching tv.

July 4 2009 - Day 37

2009-07-05T11:13:00.001-07:00

July 4 2009 - Day 37
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

I let Jess write her name in sparkler, but she had to do it in reverse, so it was harder than it looks.

Here is the link to all the rest of the pictures of the night...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokermanuel/sets/72157621006434946/

July 3 2009 - Day 36

2009-07-03T18:45:00.001-07:00

July 3 2009 - Day 36
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

My arm got pricked today, but it was all for a good cause. By the way, it sure is hard to get a clear picture when you are holding the camera at yourself and not able to see what you are shooting. This took much more than one shot.

No picture up tomorrow as I will of course be waiting until the fireworks pictures at night. So, Day 37 will go up sometime on Sunday as well as Day 38. Have a fun and safe 4th everyone...

Your food update

2009-07-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it has been almost two months since the last burger and ice cream update!?!? The numbers are going to seem a little big, but keep in mind, this is over two months. Yeah, that makes it better...

The Carl's Jr. Double Western

Squeeze with Cheese from the Squeeze Inn - THE best burger in town. Yes, that is fried cheese around the burger. God, it's good...

The next two are not of the same burger. Our friends had a barbecue a few weeks ago and I went ahead and had two burgers that day!

Double Quarter Pounder with cheese from McDonalds

Another burger from The Counter. BBQ Sauce, Bleu Cheese, and Bacon. Awesome!

In 'n Out 3x3 Cheeseburger

Fuddrucker's - put on as much sauce as I want!

That takes me to 42 burgers halfway through the year. How are your numbers looking?

Now on to Jessica's ice cream!

Rainbow Sherbet at home

Big Spoon - Pick your flavor of frozen yogurt and then put on whatever toppings you want: sauces, candies, cookies, literally anything you could possibly think to put on and then some!

Oreo Pizookie from BJ's. A warm baked Oreo flavored cookie topped with ice cream. SO AWESOME!

Rainbow Sherbet from Baskin Robbins. It was 108 degrees this day so it was so good

Coffee shake from the Habit - a burger place that I didn't go to!

Oreo Shake from Fuddrucker's

Scoop of ice cream from The Spaghetti Factory

Rainbow sherbet at home

Another yummy treat from Big Spoon

More Rainbow Sherbet - obviously, we like it a lot!

With those, Jessica ties me with 42 ice cream treats. Hope you enjoyed!

July 2 2009 - Day 35

2009-07-02T18:34:00.001-07:00

July 2 2009 - Day 35
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

I centered the focus on the sprinkler, but if you look closely, you can also notice a rainbow in the top right of the picture.

July 1 2009 - Day 34

2009-07-01T21:55:00.001-07:00

July 1 2009 - Day 34
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

Leia's Paw, well, one of them...

June 30 2009 - Day 33

2009-06-30T19:46:00.001-07:00

June 30 2009 - Day 33
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

I sure do like taking pictures of dogs!

Only the Pretty Need Apply

2009-06-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

I came across a very amusing story today. As a few of you (I wish it was all of you), may know, the Wimbledon tennis tournament is currently going on over in England. As there are 128 men and 128 women who enter the singles events, let alone the men and women's doubles and the junior events, a LOT of courts are needed to accommodate all that matches that are being played. But there is one court that all players aspire to play at - Centre Court, the Court where the finals are played, the court that obviously has the most seat, the court which signifies that you have made it to the big time. Well, that is if you are male. As expected, the best male players almost always get to play on this court. Roger Federer, the #1 player in the world; he gets to play his matches there. But notice I said male players. What about the females? If the top seeded male got to play on Centre Court, surely, Dinara Safina, the top seeded female would play there too, right?

Well, if that were the case, we wouldn't have a story, would we? As it turns out, which females get to play on Centre Court in the earlier rounds is partially decided on the beauty factor. Yes, if you are pretty, you have a better chance to play on Center Court than if you are considered less that stellar on the attractiveness scale. I am not making this up. Jonny Perkins, who works for the All England Club (the organization that runs the tournament) came out and said that "good looks are a factor" in deciding who gets to play on Centre Court and that "It's not a coincidence that those (on Centre Court) are attractive." So, the other day when #1 seed Dinara Safina (Pic 1 below) and #2 seed Serena Williams were playing on outer, smaller courts, Centre Court saw a matchup of the 8th seed, Victoria Azarenka (pic 2 below) against 28th seed Sorana Cirstea (pic 3 below).

I like hot women as much as the next guy, but this isn't a beauty contest. The best ATHLETES should get the best treatment in an athletic event. Pretty sad....

June 29 2009 - Day 32

2009-06-29T19:28:00.001-07:00

June 29 2009 - Day 32
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

Orko sleeping under the dining room table. Apparently dogs sleep better hugging things also.

June 28 2009 - Day 31

2009-06-28T19:05:00.001-07:00

June 28 2009 - Day 31
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

This is a Dahlia that was in my dad's backyard. I could literally pick from hundreds of different things to photograph in my dad's garden.

June 27 2009 - Day 30

2009-06-27T18:50:00.001-07:00

June 27 2009 - Day 30
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

Bubbles!

June 26 2009 - Day 29

2009-06-27T10:44:00.001-07:00

June 26 2009 - Day 29
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

A wedding I went to yesterday. Remember, the project is a picture a day, not posting it every day so that is my excuse for not getting up a picture yesterday. Below are some other pictures I took, but aren't part of my 365 pictures in 365 days project...

June 25 2009 - Day 28

2009-06-25T21:29:00.001-07:00

June 25 2009 - Day 28
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

Yeah, it is a little hokey, but I loved his music. The light goes out one last time. Thank goodness I still have this album...

Devasted

2009-06-25T16:09:00.000-07:00

Nothing else to say. I am shocked and saddened. Rest in peace Michael.

This is one of those good news/bad news things...

2009-06-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

One of those days where something good happens and something bad happens. I mean, the good outweighs the bad, but it still doesn't erase it totally.

The day started with me finding out that the Academy Awards has decided to increase the number of pictures that will be nominated for Best Picture to 10, up from the previous number of 5. If you have followed this blog for years, you know this really affects Jess and me. For well over a decade, Jess and I have made it a point to see all five films nominated for Best Picture before the actual Academy Awards ceremony. We love that it exposes us to some movies that we might not have otherwise seen. We have seen some stinkers, but we have also seen some brilliant movies we probably would have never seen. Now with the number of movies increased to 10, it makes it that much harder to see all of them on time. Imagine if when the nominations are announced, we have yet to see any of the ten films? That means we will have to see ten films in just over a month's period. That is hard on time and hard on the wallet. I HATE to stop this tradition we have, but this is going to be really hard...

On the other hand, today was a great day for US Soccer fans and for soccer fans in general. The boys were in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup against Spain, the #1 team in the world and a team that hadn't lost since November of 2006. The US just squeaked into the semis after a miraculous final day of results in group play. Before the previous game, they had been playing rather poorly and that is really an understatement. Was the last game a fluke and now they would be brought down to Earth? That is why I, and the rest of the soccer world thought in one way or another. But, this is soccer. One of the things that I love about the sport is that on any given day, anybody can beat anybody. That is what my dad has been saying since I started watching games with him. To indirectly quote Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 US Hockey team, "If we play them 10 times they might beat us 9 of those. But it is that one time..." And that is exactly what happened with a beautiful, hard fought, well earned 2-0 victory over a stunned Spanish team. This felt good. If anything, it gave us fans some hope that the World Cup next year won't be a total disaster for us. But for now, I'll just revel in the boys shocking the world.

June 24 2009 - Day 27

2009-06-24T18:00:00.001-07:00

June 24 2009 - Day 27
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

The train switching yard literally 1 minute from my house. I thought the tone lead itself more to sepia than color.

June 23 2009 - Day 26

2009-06-23T20:09:00.001-07:00

June 23 2009 - Day 26
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

Looking down the blade of a Barbarian sword - never a good thing.

Is this thing on?

2009-06-22T17:43:00.000-07:00

I have been doing my Wii Active now a little over a week and I have to say, I am pretty frustrated. Here is the thing - since I have started using it, I have gained a few pounds, not lost a few pounds as I was hoping. My diet really hasn't changed. The exercises are honestly more strenuous than anything I have done in a long time. When the workout is over I am drenched with sweat, full of aches and pains, and worn out. It is like 500 times more work than the Wii Fit was. I feel like I have more energy than I have in a long time, a feeling of rejuvenation. And yet, like I said, I am gaining weight. I know, I know, muscle weighs more than fat. But, I didn't gain 4 pounds of muscle last week. I was losing more weight by not exercising at all and THAT is really frustrating. I am going to stick with it because it does make me feel good to do such a workout (and I am on the medium level, not even the hardest yet), but I would be lying if I said there wasn't a big level of disappointment right now.

I had a great Father's Day over at my parents' house yesterday, but I would be lying if I said there wasn't an underlying sense of sadness yesterday over the fact that I probably will never be a father. Long time readers of the blog know of the struggles my wife and I have had in having a child and I have pretty much reached a point where I am over it and have come to terms with our situation. The last couple of Father's Days haven't been too difficult, but yesterday seemed to hit me pretty hard. I think I would be a good father, but life isn't always fair I guess. Hell, I am sure we all know that.

Have a fun week coming up this week. Tomorrow and Wednesday, I will have some work to do and Jess has to work, but Thursday we get to see Transformers, Thursday night Jess is cooking chicken spaghetti, one of my all time favorite dishes, Friday night we have a wedding to go to, Saturday night is poker, and Sunday night we are going with the New Yorkers to Joe's Crab Shack. We've never been there so we are looking forward to it. And then on top of all this, my daily pictures! My wife, the sweetheart she is even created a fan page on Facebook for my photography and you can now become a fan of Manuel Valle's photography. Best wife ever! Have a good week everyone!

June 22 2009 - Day 25

2009-06-22T17:41:00.001-07:00

June 22 2009 - Day 25
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

Leia sleeping.......until I clicked the shutter.

June 21 2009 - Day 24

2009-06-21T15:36:00.001-07:00

June 21 2009 - Day 24
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

My father's hands; the hardest working hands I know. Happy Father's Day...

June 20 2009 - Day 23

2009-06-20T18:53:00.001-07:00

June 20 2009 - Day 23
Originally uploaded by pokermanuel

Day 23 - June 20, 2009
My local comic book shop, the keeper of my money, the bringer of joy.