Happy Halloween

Its again the time of the year when everyone seem to be obsessed with ghost, vampires, monsters, blood, skulls and... candy. What a mixture ;-) Even though Halloween is getting more and more popular in Europe it is nothing compared to the US American Halloween. Even on TV there is nothing else on except haunted houses, werewolf and of course the election... which is kind of spooky too I guess...

But of course it is also the time of fancy dresses and costume partys. After being the German Elvis last year I went for something more serious... a Ghost Buster!

After wearing the costume for a while I realized that this might have been not the best choice for younger people at the party... well the movie is from 1984 which might be quite recent to me but not for everyone at the party :o) But I still had a great time with the young folks ;-)

Wedding time

To make it short... one bachelor down, three to go! My good friend Justin got married to the fabulous looking Dani this weekend... and what a great party that was. The wedding took place in an old mansion in Morrison surrounded by the great looking red rock formations. And as a bonus the ceremony took place right at sunset.




And we also had our friends from Europe calling over for this special occasion. All together we danced the night away and had a great time. Just the morning after was tough ;-)

I wish Dani and Justin all the best for their future together! But the question remains... who is the next Bachelor we are loosing? ;-)

Skydiving out of the blue sky

I always wanted to try skydiving in one stage and last weekend I finally got the opportunity to do so. My friend Richard (on the far right in the picture) is on the best way to become a pro in the short time he is staying here in Colorado. So I joined him for a little tandem jump.


Well... to be honest it was not as easy as that. The night before I couldn't get much sleep I have to admit. There are so many things you think of before the jump but everything is so easy by the time you get on that plane. As you can see on the picture on the left I know exactly which is the way we are going... I am pointing at it :-)


And the landing was as smooth as could be too. Funny is that jumping out of 10,500 ft (3200 m) is over that quickly... after 40 s of free fall and a few minutes of gliding the ride is over, which makes it quite pricey time and money wise. On the other hand you can't really compare the rush you get out of it to anything else in the world. So I might try it again... this time without human backpack though :-)

Drive-in flu shots

Well... last year I wrote about it here on my blog, this year I have photos to proof it: the drive-in flu shot clinic ;-)
Once again my health insurance promoted a massive vaccination event on several locations throughout Denver. Their goal is to pass their flu shots to as many members as possible in only two days. And what better way then using the McDonnald proven drive in method.


So basically you are driving with your car off the highway on the hospitals parking-lot where policemen are leading you to one of those vaccination stations.
There your first stop is the nurse who asks you about basic health issues and the second stop with a doctor gives you the actual flu shot through the open window. Even though it might sounds strange getting a flu shot in a car park... it is more then convenient. And 10 mins later I was on my way again... without leaving the car! Brilliant ;-)

ATB rocks Denver

Finally my favorite DJ from abroad was back in town... After seeing ATB last year at the Church nightclub he finally made it back to Denver. This time at the beta nightclub and needless to say... he rocked this place big time too! I am still amazed how many people over here know about him... the venue was sold out once again.

And also a dream came true for real fan like myself when I meet ATB in person! And I even got somebody taking a picture of us! Fantastic! Thanks Jason! And thanks ATB for a fantastic night ;-)

Beerfest 2008 - Home Edition

Every year it's the same! There is this huge Beerfest downtown Denver with several hundred brewers from all over the country, free sampling and lots of fun... but they run out of tickets before I even get a chance to buy one :-( That's why this year Annika, Pete and I had the Beerfest 2008 - Home Edition. With 22 different beers from all over the world ranging from Oktoberfest beer over Chili beer (with a little chili in the bottle) to Marble syrup beer (my favorite).

To summarize: a great evening with great beers (and a little hangover at the next day) ;-)

LA, Malibu and all the rest

What else to do apart of Disneyland and Hollywood? Well... there is also a small town called Los Angeles right next door which has a crazy traffic problem. I thought that I got used to traffic to some degree while living in Dublin. The biggest difference to LA is that over here the highways are clocked 24/7. I just tried to drive through town at midnight and was caught in a massive traffic jam! AT MIDNIGHT! Oh man... but apart of that a really nice city I have to say.

But it is LA's location which makes it such a great place to visit: It is basically surrounded by fabulous beaches with the most famous one being Venice Beach. This place is a unique mixture between surfer dudes, Hippies, street performers and surf board shop owners all living right on a hack of a beach ;-)


And another place is right next door too: Malibu! As a German of course I had to call over there... and was totally disappointed that neither David Hasselhoff or Pam was on duty at the life guard tower ;-)

But all together a fantastic vacation I have to repeat in one stage!!!

Meeting with Goofy

The main reason of my trip to LA was a conference with my company. And guess what was just across the road? Disneyland! What a great place to have professional meetings with fellow engineers... while we were busy conferencing from the early morning to the late afternoon, at least we could enjoy the pleasures of the fantastic kingdom next door in the evening ;-)

And there is plenty to do: Great rides like of course the Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Tours, the Indy adventure and Space Mountains. Don't ask me what the girl riding in front of me is doing there... I guess she had a great time as well :-P



And finally I had a chance to meet Goofy and ask him some questions I always wanted to ask him about... like test engineering problems or Irish income tax returns. And of course he always has the right answer :o)

Definitely a great trip you should take as well. Just avoid weekends if you don't like to queue 45 mins for a ride!

Ekki in Hollywood

After nearly two years in the states I finally made it to the place which formed the worlds view of America like no other place. I am not speaking about Washington DC or even New York here, of course it's Hollywood... a place were dreams come true. At least on the stage!

I was very surprised how 'down-to-earth' this place really is. For a big movie buffs like me this place is something with lots of history. But Hollywood itself is an average American town with a slightly higher then average number of studios... most of the studios moved out of Hollywood quite a while ago and most productions are nowadays done somewhere else... and even productions in the greater LA area are tending to get filmed in Burbanks where rental property is cheaper.

But Hollywood is of course still worth visiting. Apart of the world famous sign (did you know that it read 'Hollywoodland' before a mud slight destroyed the last four letters shortly after construction?) there is also the walk of fame, the Kodak theater (think the oscar ceremony) and of course Grauman's Chinese Theater.

Before you ask... I wasn't discovered over there. The demand for German villains doesn't seem to be that high these days :-( So on Monday I'll be back at work I guess...