Police at Ridgepointe, I KENvestigate

I heard a police dispatch on the emergency scanner for the apartment complex I live in and decided to check it out last night.

I have the best excuse:  Walking Lucky.  He gets some fresh air and a chance to poop, and I get to snoop on my neighbors.

It was an apartment on the north end of the complex.  When I walked by, Lucky conveniently got interested in the smells at the bottom of a light post and I watched while two police officers kept banging on a door announcing who they were.  Lucky got tired of smelling other dog's pee and started walking on, but not before the woman in the apartment finally opened the door.

I walked back by with Lucky a few minutes later to overhear an officer explaining that it wasn't her choice, that the state of Arizona requires something or other.  That usually indicates a domestic violence arrest (I've watched Cops enough to learn how that works).

The whole thing wasn't very dramatic but it was exciting for a few minutes.  And Lucky was grateful that he got to go out and do his business.

Mission accomplished.

Police visit Ridgepointe, I take photo.
The end.

Soak Sunday Pool Party at Casino Del Sol

I've been working in television as a producer / executive producer since October 2011.  But, my previous 25 years of experience in radio and it's associated tasks hasn't completely gone away.  I still voice the occasional commercial, and today I was the emcee / hosted the Soak Sunday "Old School by the Pool" party at Casino Del Sol on behalf of Main Events and 106.3 The Groove.

I was excited for three reasons:  I appreciate the opportunity to make extra money, it was a fun event where I was going to be on the mic and in front of people, and it gave me the chance to shoot some photos with my Nikon J1 camera.

As far as the event itself, the pool is awesome at Casino Del Sol.  It's large, they have a bar outside and lot of cabanas and lounge chairs, and tons of space.  If you are considering going to one of their pool parties, I'd highly recommend it.

Since this event was outdoors, I was able to do shoot at some fast shutter speeds (one of the things I'm working on mastering recently is shutter speed photography), and I think that these came out ok.

Check out the Kenparazzi photos:

Playing with beach balls at the Soak Sunday Pool Party at Casino Del Sol
This was just after the party started

DJ Richie Rich with Main Events spinning tunes under the 106.3 The Groove tent.
The Groove's Promotions Director Rosanna is behind him.

These squirty things are pretty neat that shoot water streams into the pool

A water feature near the pool

Rich holds the tent down, it was windy at the beginning of the afternoon.

These two partygoers were avoiding the squirty water streams in the pool

Alex and Joe from the 106.3 The Groove promotions team

Oasis Bar at the Casino Del Sol pool

Alex and Joe are armed (with squirt guns) and dangerous.

Cabanas at the Casino Del Sol pool

This wacky woman was dancing by herself... and whipping her hair back and forth..

J.P. from 106.3 The Groove gets his groove on.

Oasis Bar at the Casino Del Sol pool

These wonderful women from Corona Beer were kind enough to pose for a photo with me.
I sure am a pale bastard.

Water spewing from this feature.

Looking south across the pool

Happy Birthday Angelica Aros (she's in the pink on the right and hanging out with her friends).
She won a private cantina for the party from 106.3.

Partygoers enjoying the pool and afternoon sun.

Here's Joe, who is getting photobombed by that woman on the left.

The water squirting thingys later in the afternoon.
One of my favorite photos from the day.

A man throwing a Frisbee. 

A group of Soak Sunday partygoers dancing to the Cupid Shuffle

This is Travis and Sandy Palmer.  They got married on Friday night.
 It seems that they like each other.

Guys trying to grab the football.

Final game of the day to win tickets and a Kindle.
Alex and Joe from 106.3 The Groove in the center.

Door to door magazine sales scam

I was walking up the stairs to my apartment after work yesterday and I was interrupted by a stranger asking to talk to me for a minute.

The stranger was a good looking young guy who couldn't have been older than 18.  I was curious what he wanted so I played along.

We had about a ten minute conversation on my patio and after several minutes of asking me random questions, the purpose of his conversation revealed itself.  He was selling magazines.

I've run into magazine sellers like this before (although it's been a while).  The company that hires the sellers is very clever.  They manage to find good looking, clean cut, well spoken people who are usually around 18 (give or take) who have a I-won't-take-no-for-an-answer attitude.  Essentially, they find hustlers.  The speech is well rehearsed with redirects in the conversation, ways to get you to say yes (in this case, it was two laminated cards, one with the list of magazines and the other with the picture of a child that allows you to buy books for underprivileged children instead of the magazines).  The magazines that were for sale were completely obscure (I had never heard of any of them).  They tell you that they're earning 'points' and in a contest, and my purchase of magazines is what they need to win their contest.

It took saying 'no' three times before he left.  I didn't fall for the scam.

I kind of admired the guy.  He did two things that are difficult:  He knew how to sell (that's a talent) and he wasn't afraid to talk to complete strangers.  If he uses those skills in a positive way after the magazine sales job is over, he'll make a big pile of money during his lifetime.

Unfortunately, it's likely that the whole thing was a scam including for the guy who was selling.  Here's an article that explains what the scam is:  click here.  And, here's an interesting website (MagCrew.com) where people tell stories about their experiences working on magazine and soap selling crews.  There are some sad stories on this site but interesting reading.  Click here

Full moon over Ridgepointe

There is a spectacular full moon tonight.

I'd have to have a camera lens longer than my arm to get a closer photo, but you get the idea.

Full moon
How do you know when a moon is full?  When it can't eat any more.

Oscar Mayer Bacon Dogs

After seeing photos of Oscar Mayer Bacon hot dogs online, I decided to buy some to try.  They had them at Walmart Neighborhood Market on Sunday when Anthony and I went shopping.

It seems like it would be difficult to make the bacon very prominent based on the front of the package.  It clearly states:  Turkey, chicken, pork and bacon.  If they were really true bacon hot dogs, they should only have bacon.  Maybe technology hasn't advanced enough yet to make that a reality so they have to throw a bunch of other stuff in.

I've had two out of the package so far.  I don't think the taste of bacon is really prominent.  However, it may be due to how I prepared them.  I microwaved them.  Sometimes microwaving hot dogs (any kind) gives them a more bland flavor than putting them on a grill or boiling them.  But, I don't like to spend much time making food so the microwave is the best way to cook.

I think they are tasty.  They have a bit of a smoky flavor.  I have discovered there is a reason for that... smoke flavor has been added.  So, while they taste good there is a bit of deception going on.  It seems that even though they're called Bacon Dogs, that there isn't much dedication to actual bacon with all of that other stuff in there.

The good news is that like all hot dogs, they were delicious with ketchup.

Oscar Mayer Bacon Hot Dogs
A delicious combination of turkey, chicken, pork, smoke flavor... oh yeah, and a dash of bacon.

A cockroach at work

I was buying a soda from the vending machine at the station and noticed a bug on the floor.

It wasn't just a bug, it was a rather large cockroach.

Cockroaches are rather harmless bugs.  But, their size can make some people squeamish.  It turned out this one was dead... which explained why it was rather easy to take a couple of pictures.

The poor thing probably starved to death.  After all, cockroaches don't have pockets to carry change for vending machines.

A dead cockroach near the vending machines at work
With those huge antennas, he must have had great reception of the TV station

He almost made it to the little machine that dispenses handfuls of candy.
Almost.

Salsa in a parking lot

I noticed a container of green salsa in the KGUN parking lot when I went to work yesterday.

One of my co-workers had a bland breakfast burrito.  A true culinary tragedy.

A lonely green salsa in the KGUN parking lot
At least it parked inside the line.

Fluffy buns, potato cakes, and Lucky has a new rug

It's Sunday, which means it is the time each week that Anthony and I have off work at the same time to actually go do something together.

This week's adventure included dinner at Arby's near Park Place Mall, a trip to Walmart Neighborhood Market, and a stop at Target.

We chose Arby's for dinner because they have been advertising on television for their limited edition roast beef sandwiches served on King Hawaiian buns.  King Hawaiian buns are tasty and fluffy.  In fact, if you served a dog turd on a King Hawaiian bun it would somehow become instantly delicious.

Next, we stopped at Walmart Neighborhood Market for our weekly grocery shopping trip, and then went to Target to get a new rug for the bathroom floor that Lucky likes to sleep on.  He started chewing on the Nate Berkus rug that he wouldn't even lay on for over a month and then was throwing up the rug strings today.  It had to be replaced.  This time, I bought a cheap brown Target bathroom floor rug.  He likes it though, he sniffed it when I took it out of the bag, then when I laid it on the bathroom floor he immediately laid down on it.  Apparently his tastes lean more toward generic brown Target bathroom rug than Nate Berkus.  To read the original story of the Nate Berkus rug, click here.

King Hawaiian Roast Beef sandwich at Arby's with Potato Cakes
It was wonderful.

Anthony ordered home made potato chips that Arby's now offers.
He had four firsts in this meal: King Hawaiian buns, the chips, a potato cake, and a chocolate turnover.
It was like watching him lose his virginity four ways at the same time. 

Chocolate Turnover at Arby's.
This is the first one Anthony has ever tried.

Strawberry Cheesecake Jell-o pudding
It looks like ketchup on top to me.

Flip Flop wine
Priced at $4.97, it's pretty likely that an actual flip flop shoe is more delicious.

Fruit snacks - Dora, Angry Birds, Scooby Doo, Iron Man 3, Super Mario, Sponge Bob
It apparently requires a gimmick to get children to eat fruit (or processed dried rolled fruit) anymore.

Creamy Reese's Peanut Butter
We have looked in the peanut butter section of this Walmart Neighborhood Market for two years and today was the day:
They finally carry Reese's peanut butter!

Goldfish crackers now come in French Toast, Fudge Brownie, Vanilla Cupcake, Cookies and Cream, and S'mores.

This cardboard girl over the Lay's chip display is going to fall on a customer any minute.

Cajun Injector Injectable Marinade
"Hey baby, are you a Cajun? Can I inject my marinade into you?"

Cookies now come in cups with lids

Lucky laying on the new brown Target bathroom rug
Green cujo eyes sold separately.

Congratulations to an unknown neighbor

I spotted this written on the back window of a neighbor's car:

"Just Married, Commissioned, Graduated!!"
Now that you have these three major life events out of the way, do you have anything left to live for?

I'm rolling in it

I took Lucky out for a walk tonight and I found a dollar bill on a sidewalk near the hot tub at the north end of the apartment complex.

If that wasn't enough, I also spotted two pennies on the ground near the east driveway to the complex when we were almost at the end of our walk.

Lucky hasn't insisted on a finder's fee, so it's mine.  All mine!

$1.02.  Cha ching!

Hanging out with Hangover Tony

Anthony and I did our usual Sunday evening dinner and grocery shopping today.

Unfortunately, the poor guy was suffering from a hangover.  I've been there, it sucks.  But, to his credit, he sucked it up and not only was good company but he did my laundry.  Since today is Mother's Day, I guess I'm the one who got the Mother's Day gift:  Spring fresh underwear.

Taking a break from laundry, we went to KFC on Tanque Verde Road and then to Walmart Neighborhood Market at 22nd and Craycroft.

The KFC Ken and Anthony Mother's Day feast.
Original recipe boneless chicken for him, and a Doublicious sandwich for me.
And, he gave me his biscuit.
Which, now that I think about it, sounds naughty.

KFC uses sporks for utensils.  I think sporks are the most evil invention EVER.
Anthony had trouble using one... this is a splinter of his spork that hit the floor after it broke..

This lovely display of wine, candles, and flowers on a napkin was on top of the deli case at Walmart Market.
How romantic.

Someone left their umbrella in the candy aisle.

I find the names of knockoff sodas amusing.
The Walmart knockoff of Dr. Pepper is called Dr. Thunder.

Here's Mountain Lightning, the knockoff for Mountain Dew.

Twist Up is the knockoff for 7-Up.

And, the boy band One Direction is the knockoff for an actual band.