Every single year since Erik's birth he has gone with Anthony to the Utah Auto Expo. It is just a factory car show with all the new model cars for the year. Nothing too fancy, but they really enjoy it because you can get in all the cars and play around. For these two car guys, it is the best part of the winter. He worked hard to earn his 40 buttons so he could make it. Anthony would have been sad if Erik couldn't come with him for the seventh year in a row. Since Anthony managed to lose our camera at the last show, he took the pictures with his cell phone this year. Erik's dream car is a Mustang for some odd ball reason. It's not like Anthony loved his Mustang more than life or anything. I guess it got passed down in the genes or something... Erik even has the smooth convertible Mustang pose going on. (His Flynn Rider smolder)
They have games and other activities available at the car show. Erik enjoys shooting baskets. They had a wriggle car race track too that Anthony didn't get a picture of, but I'm sure there was more time spent playing games than looking at cars.
Erik won a prize for his bubble blowing skills at the Minute to Win It booth.
The Mustang that Anthony would like to own.
The UHP was there and gave Erik a plastic badge and notebook. When he saw this car he wanted to get a picture with it. Here he is writing a ticket to the guy walking by saying the police car wasn't a Mustang. (Erik noted that the guy must not know anything about Mustangs if he didn't know they made police cars) As an interesting side note, this is the exact same police car Anthony detailed several years ago.
Forget about Mustangs. THIS is Anthony's dream car. The 2011 Honda Odyssey is a SWEET car. Anthony would buy this car before anything else if he suddenly came into money.
Erik looks good in a bright red car.
This is a $10,000 option on the Toyota Sienna van. It is for handicapped passengers to help them in and out of the vehicle. Erik really liked this one and marked it as his favorite car of the whole show. Too bad that Odyssey is much higher on Daddy's list than a seat that would get Erik's lazy butt out of the van with the push of a button.
Erik enjoyed the convertibles. This is a hundred thousand dollar Corvette. Slightly lower on the list than the Odyssey, but definitely on it.
Anthony saw some concept convertible Camaros at the SEMA show a couple years ago and is thrilled to see an actual production version. Erik would never let him buy a Camaro instead of a Mustang, but I'm sure if we lived in a warmer climate something like this would be on the list.
Erik was thrilled to sit in a "Bumble Bee cousin" car. The thing that made Anthony the most pleased is that he went over to check out the motor before getting into the car. :) Priorities... :)
The second best car of the show was the yellow Camaro with black stripes. Erik said the wheels were not the same as Bumble Bee, so clearly just another cousin. That kid is so observant!
It was a successful seventh annual car show for the OCDetails crew. Next year they'll have to bring Parker along if he is into it. Erik enjoys being an OCDetails employee so he can have this little 'business trip'. They go to the car show and Taco Bell together and really have a great time. This time they even brought home some Tacos for the rest of the family and Erik shared his prizes with Adrienne and Parker. Anthony didn't bring home a new Odyssey or anything, but I'm sure in a few years he'll be eyeballing the used '11 models showing up on the lots.
2011 Utah Auto Expo
on Friday, January 14, 2011How to deal...
on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 
So my friend sat down next to me at the theater and the movie was about to begin. "What's that smell?" she asked, "It smells like pee."
Unflinching, her boyfriend responded: "It's clam chowder."
Sure enough, sitting one row back and three seats to our left was a woman holding a large to-go order of clam chowder which she'd snuck into the theater. Surprisingly, clam chowder smells very similar to urine when you don't know where the source is - it's like the asparagus of soups.
The woman herself looked like a water buffalo in a sweatshirt. She had broad shoulders and a stern, oppressive brow. Her twinkling eyes were fixed straight ahead in the dim theater light, but her powerful jaw moved rapidly to break down the large spoonfuls of chowder which she rhythmically pounded into her mouth. This woman did not simply eat clam chowder, she grazed on it.
Twenty minutes into the film I heard her. She was talking to the screen - narrating her thoughts and feelings, as well as answering rhetorical questions asked by the characters. "What will we do? There's no time!" asked the main character. "I dun' know! You be so screwed!" she belched in anguish, as if the actors in the movie could actually hear her clam-scented reply. Fifteen minutes from the end of the movie - the climax - and the water buffalo was still talking. I'd endured her for nearly two hours, and what was a mild irritation had transformed into a boiling, volcanic rage. I don't know how my popcorn tasted, and I can't remember who was sitting near me. As far as what was happening on the screen, it's a complete blank. My surroundings had become completely blind to me. All I remember is pure, unfiltered hatred. I was Ghenghis Khan. I was genocide. Stars collapsed under the weight of my fury, and when I opened my eyes all I saw was the heads of ten thousand water buffalo on bloody pikes peppering the horizon from Los Angeles to New York City.
So, without further ado, I turned around and spoke.
Her response?
Again, my memory beyond this point is a bit hazy. I remember screaming more obscenities at her, and I remember a couple sitting behind me telling me that I was now more disruptive than the water buffalo had ever been, and I remember walking down the aisle after the movie had ended and hearing another moviegoer say "Where's the guy that went psycho?" I also remember the water buffalo quietly shuffling out of the theater afterwards. I think clam chowder and darkness were the sources of her strength, without them she was a meek, fearful creature.
Did I "go psycho?" I think that's a rather uncreative way of putting it - I like to think of myself as a warrior. Sure, I embarrassed myself and made the situation a lot worse for everyone than it had to be, but in doing so the buffalo was slain. So fuck you, chowderbeast, I'm a champ and you eat seafood from a giant bucket.
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Manila Trip
on Tuesday, December 28, 2010These are some pictures Anthony took on his trip to Manila.
My trip got off to a rough start. Halfway to Japan from Los Angeles there was a medical emergency which required the plane to turn around. We landed in Seattle and got the passenger off the plane. In process of refueling and restocking the plane, they missed the NRT airport curfew and everybody had to stay the night in Seattle. Good thing I left two days early!!
Passengers waiting on the plane in Seattle
In-flight meal
Flying over the long tail of Alaska
Seattle Hotel
Tokyo sunset with Mount Fuji in the distance
He got to stay at the swanky Shangri-La hotel. It is a very nice hotel.
He had a great view from his hotel room of Manila.
That mall was HUGE!!!
Lots of scooters in Manila
Bootleg DVDs anybody?
His typical 'Brinner' (since his dinner was technically morning for them)consisted of waffles, french toast, fruit, and sushi. Oh, and a chocolate doughnut. He sure eats healthy when on the road.
The call center had a sign welcoming him and his boss.
Some of the products were a little strange over there...
The ceiling in Manila airport
Irene pretty much passed out the second she got on the plane
Irene is a VERY frequent flier, so they hung out in the crown room in Tokyo for awhile.
It was a really fun trip. 2 hours to LA, 4.5 hours out of LA and about 3 hours back to Seattle, about 14 hours from Seattle to Tokyo and about 4 hours to Manila pretty much was the worst 27 hours in a plane of my life, but that's life in the fast lane. I'm not looking forward to my next flight over there, but I will look forward to the time I get to spend in Manila. I'll be happy to just jet set around the US for the time being though... Too much time in the plane makes Anthony a grumpy boy.
Eye Direction and Lying
on Tuesday, December 21, 2010Eye Direction and Lying
Eye Movement and Direction & How it Can Reveal Truth or Lies
This is a continuation of our previous article " Detecting Lies". Many comments by our visitors have asked about how eye direction can indicate the presence of a lie.In reality, it would be foolish to make such a snap judgment without further investigation... but the technique does have some merit. So, here it is... read, ponder and test it on your friends and family to see how reliable it is for yourself.
Visual Accessing Cues
The first time "Visual Accessing Cues" were discussed (at least to my knowledge), was by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in their book "Frogs into Princes: Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) " From their experiments this is what they found:
When asked a question a "normally organized" right-handed person looks (from your viewpoint, looking at them):
Up and to the Left
Indicates: Visually Constructed Images (Vc)
If you asked someone to "Imagine a purple buffalo", this would be the direction their eyes moved in while thinking about the question as they "Visually Constructed" a purple buffalo in their mind.
Up and to the Right
Indicates: Visually Remembered Images (Vr)
If you asked someone to "What color was the first house you lived in?", this would be the direction their eyes moved in while thinking about the question as they "Visually Remembered" the color of their childhood home.
To the Left
Indicates: Auditory Constructed (Ac)
If you asked someone to "Try and create the highest the sound of the pitch possible in your head", this would be the direction their eyes moved in while thinking about the question as they "Auditorily Constructed" this this sound that they have never heard of.
To the Right
Indicates: Auditory Remembered (Ar)
If you asked someone to "Remember what their mother's voice sounds like ", this would be the direction their eyes moved in while thinking about the question as they "Auditorily Remembered " this sound.
Down and to the Left
Indicates: Feeling / Kinesthetic (F)
If you asked someone to "Can you remember the smell of a campfire? ", this would be the direction their eyes moved in while thinking about the question as they used recalled a smell, feeling, or taste.
Down and To the Right
Indicates: Internal Dialog (Ai)
This is the direction of someone eyes as they "talk to themselves".
The Gist of it...
How this information is used to detect lies:
Example: Let's say your child asks you for a cookie, and you ask: "Well, what did your mother say?" As they reply "Mom said... yes.", they look to the left. This would indicate a made up answer as their eyes are showing a "constructed image or sound. Looking to the right would indicated a "remembered" voice or image, and thus would be telling the truth.
Final Notes:
*** Looking straight ahead or with eyes that are defocused/unmoving is also considered a sign of visual accessing.
*** As with other signs of lying, you should first establish and understand a persons base-behavior before concluding they are lying by the direction of their eyes.
*** Many critics believe the above is a bunch of bull***t. In my own experiments I have found these techniques to be more true than not. But, why not find out for yourself? Make up a list of questions that like the sample ones, and give them to your friends/family anyone who would be your guinea pig, observe their eye movements and record the results.
*** This guide is hardly in-depth, I recommend getting the book "Frogs into Princes: Neuro Linguistic Programming" by Richard Bandler and John Grinder for a more thorough explanation if the subject interests you.
