Construction Update

The wiring for the AC units has been run (thanks Jack!) so I think they can drywall any day now.

All the wiring is done, the insulation is all there, the drywall supplies are all here...go baby go!

Gorf

Just picked up a Gorf machine the other day to add to the collection (thanks Lloyd!).

It was sold as not-working but I didn't even plug it in. Everything I get these days just goes on the pile anyway. Until the gameroom is done.

It's in pretty decent shape. The bottom of the cabinet will need a little bit of stabilizing with wood hardener, and possibly redoing the formica laminate on the bottom sides (anyone know a good source for this in the right thickness and color?). I have a repro control panel and joystick insert already on order. Should clean up really nicely!

Construction Update

They finished up all the exterior stonework today (yay). Really does look great. Can't wait until we can get the exterior wood stained (no money for that right now).



They also replaced all the insulation that they had removed to install the AC ducting. As soon as the wiring is run for the AC they can drywall now.

I did notice a problem with the downstairs HVAC unit as I was looking at it today. The closet for the air exchanger is too small for them to install the various lines that run out of the front of the unit. They had already ripped out the framing for this closet once to make it bigger - looks like they'll have to do it again to bring the front out a bit more to make room for the lines they need to install. Compare the first photo of the upstairs unit (and note the various drainlines and the freon lines -I think that's what runs through the brass lines) against the second photo of the downstairs. The downstairs exchanger is pretty much flush with where the inside of the door would be. No room to install any of the lines and judging from the upstairs unit they're going to need about 12" or so.

Visit to Shakey's Pizza in LA

While I was visiting Los Angeles for the LA Film Festival I was very surprised to see a Shakey's Pizza restaurant as I drove down the road. I literally swerved off the road so I could take some photos. Having lived on the East Coast all my life, the last Shakey's I saw was sometime in the late '70s!

I've been a collector of vintage Shakey's Pizza paraphernalia for a year or two [see my collection here], and it just blew my mind to be driving down the road and - hey! it's a vintage Shakeys! I could tell from the road-side sign that this was definitely a restaurant that dated back to the early days when they were still on the East Coast. Just look at the photos. It was like traveling through a time machine.

I remember doing some web searches years ago and seeing that they still had a presence outside the US, but I didn't see anything saying they were still on the West Coast. Somehow I just didn't know. The menu lists www.shakeys.com, and I'll be darned if they don't have a website. How'd I miss THAT? :-) I of course took a bunch of photos while I was there, and grabbed a menu to scan.

Visit the page with the pictures here

The rest of my Shakey's collection is there too. Just click on the "Toys & Collectibles" link at the top of the page!

Construction Update

FINALLY!

And entire army of HVAC workmen were here today, and worked their butts off all day long. I take back what I said about being "one day of work". After seeing all the work they did today, I totally take it back.



Here's what is downstairs:




And upstairs:



And the outside drain lines etc for the upstairs unit:




And in this photo you can see the lines that run from the upstairs furnace to the rear of the building where the outside unit will be.

Construction Update

Today somebody was out (didn't see who) and did some stuff upstairs. Not exactly sure what they are doing up there. Insulation of both ends of the upstairs room was removed and they added some additional studs to the walls. They also put in some plastic pieces that I can't identify (anyone know what those are for?) and added a small closet upstairs. I think this is all for the HVAC. The closet was a total surprise since I had never heard anything about it before. Maybe it's for the second AC zone?? They added the closet a couple of days after the AC guy said we needed two zones for the building, so that would make sense I guess. I didn't think each zone had to have a closet-sized thing inside, but I know nothing about HVAC.

Construction Update

They dropped off the drywall supplies today. Wow, I didn't know drywall even CAME in 12' lengths. Makes sense since the ceilings downstairs are 12' ceilings. Should make it look a lot smoother than having to piece together a couple 8' lengths and taping them up.

The AC guy is SUPPOSED to be out sometime over the next couple of days to run the ductwork for the AC, but in the meantime he is supposed to be communicating the equipment that will be installed to the electrician so that he can run the wiring to the AC unit before it gets covered up with drywall.

The AC guy did say that they are going to install a dual-zone unit so that we stand a reasonable chance of keeping the upstairs and the downstairs a decent temperature.

Construction Update

Nobody came out today to do anything, although the electrician did call us first thing this morning. I had forgotten that he actually reads my blog (Hi Jack!!), and he had noticed my posting about the drywall beginning soon (what our builder told us).

The problem is that the power lines that will supply the AC unit haven't been run yet, as we still don't know what kind and size of unit the AC guy will be installing. If the building gets drywalled, that will create problems later for the electrician. I find myself REALLY wishing the AC guy would hurry up and get his one day of work done so the rest of the building can proceed.

LA Film Festival Screening of "Chasing Ghosts"

Last weekend we had a screening of Chasing Ghosts at the LA Film Festival, which I attended.

Here's some photos of the event.
http://peterhirschberg.com/arcade/laff2007/

Just to remind you, the trailer is viewable online here:
http://chasingghoststhemovie.com/

We had pretty good attendance. It was an 1100 seat theater (huge!), and I think we had 700 seats filled. Not bad.

I had a couple nice folks come up to me after the event and introduce themselves. That was really cool. One of those folks, Mike Kennedy, even posted a nice review of the movie here:
http://www.monroeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?p=119155

The weather was certainly nicer than the Sundance event. :-)

The E.T. House

I had promised myself that if I ever made a trip to the West Coast I would visit the E.T. House - that is, the house they used when they filmed the movie E.T.

I was delighted to find that the house, according to my GPS, was only a 30 miles drive from my motel where I was staying to attend the LA Film Festival.

So as promised - me and Lincoln, Lincoln's girlfriend, and Michael all drove out there Saturday morning before heading off to check out a couple films at the festival.

I brought home a pinecone that was sitting in the driveway (figured it was fair game). You can see the pinecone in the lower right corner of the 2nd photo (thank you Michael for grabbing it for me).




Here's a couple shots of the house from the movie to compare what it looked like back then.



It was SOOOO FREAKY being there in that neighborhood and seeing that house. With the dramatic mountain behind it just as I remembered it.

E.T. is one of my 2 top favorite films of all times, and by 2 top favorites I mean tied for first place. It was one of two films that quite literally changed my life after seeing them. Standing there in front of the actual house gave me a feeling that's very hard to put into words. At one point I was on my knees in front of the driveway rubbing my hands around on the asphalt of the street in front of the house.

As we were driving through the neighborhood and driving up to the actual house, I was shocked at how different things looked. The entire neighborhood was literally brand new when the film was made, so add 25 years of vegetation, trees, and the houses themselves getting run down.

In-person, everything seemed so much smaller than it appeared in the film.

You can get pretty stunning aerial photos of the house with this link to Microsoft Live Search. Use the control in the upper left corner of the screen and you can actually rotate around the house. Very neat.

After this, we rolled by the apartment complex used in the movie "Karate Kid" and took some photos. That movie doesn't mean anything to me, so I'll skip posting the photos from that place here. We went there because of Michael and Lincoln.

Construction Update

They did the insulation, even though the AC ducting hasn't been put in. They just didn't want to wait any longer. The AC guy will just have to crawl through the attic crawlspaces to install the ducting. The drywall should be going in over the next few days.



Here's the progress on the stonework. They almost finished but ran out of stones (I'm guessing because they mistakenly ran the stones way lower than the grade will be, and they also covered the area that's going to have a concrete pad on it for the rear entrance).



They also did the last of the soffit work.