Dirty pirate jokes...

Howzit! How is everyone doing… hope everybody is doing well, enjoying the warm weather (in the US and Europe) and keeping safe. Well, this weekend was the usual craziness, though not necessarily the kind I enjoy. Friday night, we headed over to Chili’s for Ingrid’s birthday… our good friend was turning… not sure if she would want me to say, but let’s just say we were celebrating the day of her birth. E-mail inviting everybody said to get there around 8 PM, I had left work a little late, stopped by the gym, went home (showered / changed), before getting to Chili’s. I got there around 9:15 PM and was the first one there, along with two other friends (Guatemalan time is that FU). The place was packed as it was karaoke night, and there were no tables available (nobody called to make a reservation). After waiting for about an hour (and the rest of the party getting there), they sat us outside in the patio area (where we were by ourselves, no ambiance, no karaoke, and not the greatest service). Around 11:45 PM, they moved us back in so that we could sing some songs (Ingrid and her friends went to school for this) and after a few songs and some more beers, we asked for the check… Long story short, it took about 45 minutes to settle the check with the waitress, plus the credit card reading machine wasn’t working, so we all had to scramble and get some cash. Worst customer service ever!!! Waitress was helpless and the Manager could have cared less. Not going back to Chili’s ever again… unless it’s free or something like that… Some pics from that Friday chaos:

Ingrid, Carlos, Marianna, Estuardo...

Everybody (I'm way in the back!)

Saturday was much better. We headed over to a friend’s house (Lila) to celebrate her birthday (also celebrating her two sibling’s b-day). The place was super nice and heavily attended (about 75 people); with everything set up… a bunch of tents, a fridge stocked with beer, plenty or hard liquor, food and music! We got there around 3 PM and didn’t leave until 11 PM… needless to say, it was a great time.

Sunday we talked with my dad, who just came back from Europe. He was all over the place, plus he visited my sister and got to enjoy some quality time with Marnix and the family. After a two week vacation, it’s always so hard to back to work.

Apparently “Pirates of the Caribbean” is doing pretty good business… something like $300M already in the US alone! Wow! I have not seen the movie yet, as it opens this week down here. Have any of you seen it? Our good friends at the Late Show have a great Top Ten, one of their funniest in some time… # 1 is so funny!

Late Show’s Top Ten Punchlines To Dirty Pirate Jokes
10. "Brokeback Mutiny"
9. "He's all cannon and no balls"
8. "Thar she blows!"
7. "And that's why Roger is so jolly"
6. "Yes it's curved, but it ain't no hook"
5. "If you won't go down on the ship, will you at least go down on the Captain?"
4. "Now that's a booty!"
3. "So that's how my wife got termites"
2. "Arrgh, we call it 'The Aristocrats'!"
1. "That's not what I meant when I said I needed some seamen"

Rock the boat baby…
CRCP

P.S. - Another Venezuelan marriage… Juan Pablo Pulido is getting married in November! Congrats to Juanpi and Sammy!
P.S. II – Bosox still in first place… Two and a half games up on the Evil Empire.
P.S. III – They’ve been showing reruns of “The Office” down here on FX… they just showed the Xmas episode… one of the best! I think I might have to get the show on DVD…

Bad Micheladas and a Blockbuster night...

This past week was pretty chill, started off with a couple of rented movies from Blockbuster (yes, we have BB in Guatemala... ). Thursday we watched "Junebug", a movie that came out about a year ago, which was extremely funny with a few sad parts. It takes place in North Carolina, with most of the characters having a heavy southern accent (which I find very amusing). Friday night we went to some concert thing (some friend's of a friend were singing) at this restaurant which absolutely SUCKS. When I was telling people were I was going, people were saying: "Why would you wanna go there? That place is terrible." I hadn't been there, so I didn't think it was gonna be that bad... Some friends ordered some martinis (horrible) and we ordered some micheladas (disgusting), both were undrinkable. But honestly, how do you screw up a michelada? And the martini had this horrible after taste... ugh!

After this bad experience, we headed over the "Rattle and Hum", this bar that's owned by this Australian dude, with the atmosphere being like a typical American bar (though not as many blondes). At some point while having some beers, the conversation turned towards breast implants, it wasn't me who brought it up... I swear, and how a friend of ours is thinking that before she gets married, she wants to "improve her image." She's good looking already and doesn't need breast implants (I'm against breast implants overall, though sometimes they're nice to look at, though I would never want my wife to her "babies" operated). This girl was saying how this would make her more beautiful and how she wanted to fill out her wedding dress, and after doing an impromptu survey, results came out that you should only do it becauseYOU want to do it, and not because someone is suggesting you should or because of the media (another result of the survey: Real beauty comes from within... but I'm not buying that bull crap.. hehe.)

Saturday I had my first basketball game since my ankle injury. Sorry to report we lost (only by four points), but glad to report that the ankle is feeling better and I was moving swiftly (swiftly for a tall guy). I had trouble jumping towards the end of the game... guess my ankle muscles are not as strong as they should be, as they were extremely tired. In the evening, we headed to Antigua Guatemala and my favorite bar Monoloco for some quesadillas and beers. Man, was the place packed... I ended up buying a Monoloco t-shirt for myself (it reads on the back: Spank the monkey!) and one for Marnix (just says Monoloco). Towards the end of the night, some Americans we know told us they were going to an afterparty, which we decided we should go... but once we got there, the place look very sketchy, and the girls were a little afraid to go in... so no afterparty for me! I must admit I was quite curious to see what was going on... (I was imagining heaving drinking and maybe consumption of other substances... with a touch of "Eyes Wide Shut").

Sunday I finished watching "Munich" (I had to pay late fees for both movies... fudge!) which is one of the longest movies ever. I think it ranks up there with "Dances with Wolves" and the first "Lord of the Rings" as one of those "your ass hurts due to sitting for so long and you move around and around" movies. Overall I liked the movie, but I thought I was going to enjoy it a bit more. Are there any other movie rentals worth getting (besides porno? Kidding...) Next on my list: Syrianna...

Cheers,
CRCP

P.S. - Carlos Ruiz not making the MLS-All Star team is BS... I know he's hurt, but common!!! He's got 8 goals and 5 assists in 16 games played.
P.S. II - Bought three CDs over the weekend: "FIFA, Voice of the World Cup", along with Bob Marley's "Burning" and "Kaya", both the definitive remasters version.

Last Weekend...

So we got off to an early start on the weekend, heading to Antigua again with some friends on Thursday. Where did we end up? Monoloco of course! We actually got there relatively early (around 8PM), since we all had agreed we wanted to leave around 10:30 PM, since we were all kinda tired from playing Phase 10 till midnight the night before. Long story short, we ended up leaving around 12:15 AM... too many beers, so much fun. There were a bunch of Americans we sorta knew, plus Lucky became acquainted with this Portuguese guy, who she thought was cute (but I told her that he seemed to play for the opposing team). Anyways, here's a pic of the Monoloco outing...

Carlos R., Tatiana, Estuardo, Marianna, Lucky, Margit, Carlos H. at Monoloco

Friday, I was soooo tired... After hitting the gym, I had no energies to go out, so I stayed home and vegged out. Saturday I watched the WC game at home (congrats to the Germans on third place), then went out with some friends for dinner and drinks. Sunday we watched the WC final, and after seeing Tierry Henry get knocked out by Cannavaro, I finally knew who I was rooting for... FRANCE! I had forgotten how dirty and physical the Azurri play! I must say, I blame the coach for the France loss, how do you substitute Rivery and Henry in Extra time?!?!?! Plus, what in the world was Zidane thinking.... Anyways, can't wait for the WC in South Africa (2010), hopefully Guatemala can finally make it. Arriba Chapines!

On some very exciting news some of you might have heard, Ana Maria Mini is getting married! Yes, she met a Venezuelan guy in NYC about a year ago and just got engaged. I can't believe she's getting married, congrats Ana Maria!!! She'll be getting married in Venezuela (even though they both live in NYC) around May 2007.

This week so far has been pretty chill, nothing much going on besides work and hitting the gym. My dad is on vacation in Europe, plus he'll go visit my sister and her family in London in about a week... so jealous! I haven't seen Marnix since January!!! Speaking of vacation, do any of you have any exciting plans for the summer? I have some vacation time scheduled in October, I'll let you know if I go anywhere.

Aloha,

CRCP

P.S. Paris Hilton has a CD out? WTF? Her song is kinda catchy and she sounds like Gwen Stefani... the rhythm is sorta like Blondie's "The Tide is High". I'm positive her voice sounds very different live (like Ashlee Simpson).

More Antigua Guatemala...

Happy Belated 4th of July!!! Hope everybody enjoyed the fireworks, hot-dogs, beer, and baseball games…. Is there anything more American than this? Me? I had to work down here, since we don’t get 4th of July off… imagine that! We did get June 30th off for Army Day (sorta like Veteran’s day over in the US), so we headed down to Antigua on Wednesday and had a great time, singing, drinking and a little dancing. Below, you’ll find some pics of Estuardo and Marianna (in Antigua), who have been together for almost three months now… wow, how time flies:

Marianna and Estuardo

Marianna and Carlos

Oh behave!

Work is still hectic, another close has come and gone, and besides that, working on a couple of different project… On some good news, started hitting the gym again this Monday… man, was I sore on Tuesday, I think I was walking like a robot the entire day… my calves were killing me! That two month hiatus between my ankle injury and the WC really has me out of shape. Speaking of WC, who would’ve thought that Italy and France would make it to the FINAL… not sure who I’ll be rooting for, though I’m leaning more towards… hmm, still not sure.

A friend (Tatiana) from Guatemala that lives in Texas is here visiting… so of course, we went to Antigua last Friday. We ended up at Monoloco, hanging out with a bunch of Americans, one who decided he was gonna do the “worm” on the bar counter (he is a friend of one of the bar owners). They had been dancing to eighties songs on the bar counter, and this dude decided it was time to do the “worm”. The bar counter was cleared of all bottles and glasses, and this guy got up and then jumped down… SMACK! Hit his face really bad directly on the bar counter and landed a bit towards the side, kicking my friend’s beer (she was to the side, with the mug in her hand) which then spilled all over her and inside her purse… it was one of the funniest things ever!!! I swear, I was laughing for about five minutes straight. After doing the worm about three times, then the guy came over and offer to buy Lucky a drink… ahh… crazy Americans!!! I’m really sorry I don’t have any pics of this event… too funny! We should head back there this weekend, since Tatiana goes back to the States on Monday.

A little tired today, since we got together to play Phase 10 last night and the game didn’t end till about 12AM (we did start sorta late). Have any of you played this game, which is a combination of UNO and RUMMIKUB? If you haven’t played it, I highly recommend it… really fun to play with a bunch of friends (it’s only about $10), though I must warn you, heated discussions and bad feelings may arise during play.

Saludos a todos… let me know what’s up with you guys.
CRCP