Tool

A bunch of us went to see Tool play at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium last night. It was another outstanding show, although a little more low key (i.e. they played more of their quieter songs) than the other shows I've seen. The version of Rosetta Stoned was outstanding! In other news, I got to see Maynard for the first time in about the six times I've seen him. He was sporting a mohawk and shades. As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, I love Tool, but I hate Tool fans. A bunch of vicious brutes, shoving people out of their way to get closer to the stage really wanted me to do physical violence. The folks at the rear of the hall were much mellower and nicer. And we could see better there anyway, so I think I know where to stand next time.

Blade Runner

Noelle and I went to see the latest this-is-it-the-last-version of Blade Runner the other night. Ridley Scott has made a few changes here and there, that I noticed. I didn't notice a lot of significant changes other than the ambient sounds were far more prominent than I remembered. It's pretty amazing that I can go see a movie I first saw over 25 years ago and I still find it powerful. It's also kinda scary that I can recite most of the dialog as it's happening. Anyway, the film looks and sounds gorgeous. I may go again while it's still in theaters.

Viva La Mexico!

(click images for larger version)

So, last week Noelle, Wendy and I stayed at the beautiful Mayan Palace, just south of Cancun in the Riviera Maya, courtesy of Noelle's grandparents' timeshare. The resort was splendid with a ridiculously large pool.


(not all of the pool acreage is showing)

We went to the mayan ruins at Chichen Itza (pictured above) and the coastal ruin of Tulum


Going to Chichen Itza has always been a dream of mine, so I was really thrilled to go there. Here are Noelle and I at the Observatory at Chichen Itza.


The Yucatan Peninsula is filled with underground rivers that erode the limestone of that area and create water filled sinkholes called cenotes. We swam in a couple of them, which was a really amazing experience that I would recommend highly. This is one near Chichen Itza, I believe called the Cenote Azul:


We also went snorkeling and went to an adventure park where we could go on ziplines, see how the indigenous Maya live, and swim in a cenote. We also generally enjoyed the warm (humid) weather, the great food, a certain amount of shopping in nearby Playa del Carmen, and the wonderful sunsets along the beach.




It was a fantastic week. I hope to get more pictures posted as time permits. I liked it so much I bought a "rental vacation experience." So, I've basically made a commitment to vacationing, especially in Mexico. ;-)