Sick Sweaty Good Week – Uncancellations – Lady Gaga

It was a good week. Even though I was sick for half of it. It was more than a good week.

Last week… my beer gig thing for San Diego Beer Week got canceled. Then this week… it got uncanceled. So now it’s back!

I am the curator of Baja Beer day in San Diego’s Beer Week. Vendors… here is the application.

So that is happening. And it will be a bunch of work. Major breweries already confirmed and I got to chat with them. It’s fun to talk about beer while drinking beer with the people who made the beer.

But this last week I was sick. And I needed to work.

On Monday I went looking for Don Manuel Zazueta. Didn’t find him, but did talk to his wife (who didn’t tell me she was the wife). She told me I would have better luck checking in the mornings, and that Don Zazueta was going to be really busy throughout the week. I took pictures of the famous van for my story.

Tuesday I woke up feeling sick… but I needed to work. So I headed out early to Zazueta’s family diner for breakfast and to find Don Manuel. On my way there… it started to rain. It wasn’t pouring, but it was rain. I took a selfie. Cuz YAY!

My phone’s camera is so shite.

… but anyway.

I had breakfast at the family diner. It was delicious. But I was feeling a tad sick, so I couldn’t finish it. I felt bad :(

That was only $2….

Halfway through my meal, Don Manuel arrived. From the van to the diner it took him like 10 minutes as he slugged his way in. Each step it seemed like he was about to collapse. I sat patiently as his family served him some bean soup and discussed money. Nothing too scandalous, but things I shouldn’t be overhearing and obviously not reporting. And finally, Don Manuel gestured that if I wanted to talk to him, now was the time.

Don Zazueta wanted to give me an hour and for me to interview him next week… but I told him I only needed 5 minutes of his time (I took 8… sorry). He spoke very softly, toying with his medicine, ignored the bean soup. He seemed very brittle, and also tired of telling the same story about the van. It was an honor to meet Don Manuel Zazueta… Here is the article.

I went back home. Felt really sick… so I slept. I basically slept till the next day.

And on Wednesday… I woke up covered in sweat. I don’t remember ever sweating that much. I think I lost a couple of pounds just by sweating. I took a cold shower (cuz I don’t have a choice) and water seemed to bounce off my glistening and clammy sweaty body. It felt like I was still sweating despite the cold shower. Headaches, lack of appetite, sore body and throat. It wasn’t too bad. Ibuprofen helped. Tea also a little. I only did some light work. But mostly I watched Netflix and slept.

I had bought tickets to see Gallos Blancos vs Xolos. I was going to take my brother and my nephew. And by I was going … I meant… I did. But I had serious doubts. Going to a live soccer match while sick is not a good idea. I was feeling better, so fuck it. I went. And it was awesome. First time in the stadium that I don’t even consider tasting a beer… got some water and chips for the kid. It was his first soccer match. I didn’t want to miss this. I would post the video… but the IG video is not linkable here. So you’ll have to check out my IG if you have flying fucks to spare.

Anyway. Gallos lost :( but it was a great match. My nephew learned how to say “yo vo gallos.” So I might turn him into a fan of the shittiest soccer team ever. By the end of the game I was feeling really sick. All I wanted to do is rush home and sleep.

Thursday morning I woke up covered in sweat again. Not as bad as the previous morning… but still… just… so much sweat. But had to work. Ibuprofen again. Word salad. Throw some detail dressing. And hit send. I have no idea what is going with the magazine. But this week I got published thrice (and one of them a feature) and that makes me happy. There are a few other stories pending.

Feature Story – The maddening inconsistency of busking in Balboa Park with Chet Harrison.

The already mentioned Don Manuel Zazueta story – 5000 monitos on his van.

And a food story which is my standard practice every week – Something good in Playas de Tijuana (the original title).

Friday came. Perfect timing for my health to improve… And it did! My throat was still a bit sore and I had a bit of a headache. But I didn’t wake up in a pool of my own sweat. Just some sweat. I finished the story then. Started working on other articles. And then it was…. beer and food time!

I went to Border Psycho who is sharing space with The Rib Shop. The girl I was going to meet was more than an hour late. But who cares. I went there to eat, work, drink beer, talk to one of the owners (and meet with the girl). I got really hungry and couldn’t wait for my pseudo-date, so this is what I ordered:

A maple bacon sandwich with a flight of Rye ale, Scottish ale, English brown with cofffee on nitro, Cabrown porter. and iPinga Black IPA.

Late but hungry and thirsty… she went for the ribs (which I had one and they were fucking delicious).

Obviously more details of the eating and drinking experience and info on the restaurant, prices, etc… all the goodies will come in an article that I intend to finish later today and it will get published probably 2 weeks from now. So… yeah. WAIT MOFO.

But about Friday night. It was great. We drank. We chatted. She looked great (more than just great). We had fun.

Saturday I woke up late. Ohh Wow (a friend who is annoying the shit out of me right now) came over to play Smash Brothers. He sucks. Anyone wants to play Smash at my house… come at anytime. Seriously. Anytime. I mean… you know… tell me before you are coming. But I’ll most likely to be down for some Smashing.

Ohh Wow insisted on eating at his favorite vegan place. I wasn’t feeling it. But I went all the way with him cuz I’m a good friend. And to be honest… I wasn’t disappointed at all. It was fucking great (except some juice I got that I disliked). But this was my brunch and I will come back for it:

And Saturday afternoon was the anniversary of my favorite brewery in downtown Tijuana. I arrived what I considered early, just to find out that IT WAS packed to the brim. And it got even more packed. But I was there with my camera. Exchanging pictures for beers. I took a lot of pics, so here is the album. It’s not a storytelling album like before, but more like a lot of pics of that night.

Sunday is not worth writing about. Lazy NFL Sunday. Went out for a burger and a couple of beers (Stone, Pizza Port and Ballast Point = I’m done).

 

Now Monday.
WHEE MONDAY!

Post #99!

Post #50 felt like a big landmark in my blog and I gave that slot to a slut. Throwback to last year’s blog post to Hawaii and Linsday Lohan which at the same time is a throwback to my times as paparazzo, because each time I do throwbacks of the throwbacks of the throwbacks but what is life than a bunch of memories you collect to look back at and say… Ohh wow…. Life man. Anyway. Click here.

So …. who is a big celebrity I haven’t posted and I have good pics of? Semi-famous good pics? Well… at the time they were THE PICTURE every shitty magazine/blog was using because fuck yeah I’m awesome and she is weird.

I mean…. it’s post #99. It has to be someone big… so… Lady Gaga is the right choice. I mean.. she has that stupid paparazzi song, and I still haven’t posted Gaga. I wonder why I have never…

Who will be post #100? (Hint: I already decided and you won’t like it)

—————————— Lady Gaga

I give 0 fucks about Lady Gaga’s music and her quirky shit she pulls. I don’t really know her songs except paparazzi and the ones that you can’t avoid hearing because they follow you (but not sure about the titles). I give her that though. She is a good damn pop artist. And her name comes from a great song by Queen. And if you don’t fucking like Queen, then you need to get a new brain.

If you didn’t know. This is why Lady Gaga is called Gaga. And I always liked that. But anyway.

Queen – Radio Gaga

Lady Gaga is obviously one of the most sought after celebs to take pictures of. She’s always going to do some weird shit. And if she is not doing weird shit, then that’s the story! Getting Lady Gaga as Stefani (I googled her) instead of her character, that’s really good money too. I never had such luck. Every time I saw her… she was all dressed up for the cameras… for the attention… YET SHE AVOIDED THE PHOTOGRAPHERS. It’s all an act people. No one goes to the airport looking like the following pics, and expects not to get her picture taken.

 

So…. The main front picture was my partner’s and not mine (I was guarding another door). I did make it on time though, so the side picture of her ass and those ridiculous shoes is mine. This picture was famous because she was wearing FUCKING HANDCUFFS through the airport. And because she didn’t go through regular TSA, no one did shit.

I saw her a handful of times then… One time she escaped my clutches on a private solo job that fucked me over. Anyway… my hard-drive doesn’t contain the best, just the mediocre. Sad. But a lot of pictures went directly to the office and it didn’t occur to me that I will be doing this thingy in the future.

The first time, she was flying back from London. And on international flights… information goes everywhere. So it was a proper paparazzi gangbang. I held back, used my long lens, and when she came close… went wide. So much pushing and shit.

There are from July 8, 2009.

 

 

The other two times I saw her were way different.
In this one… they sent me by myself. With a paid ticket to go “anywhere” just to get inside the gates (I think I got it to Baltimore). I waited. And waited. AND WAITED. And waited so damn more. All the people came out of the flight, a lot of people were gossiping about Gaga on first class. A dad with two daughters came out of the flight like 30 minutes after everyone… I asked the dad and he told me they were trying to get an autograph with Gaga, but they had no luck and gave up. I waited more… and more… 3 hours later. SHE FUCKING FINALLY COMES OUT. Heads to the wrong direction of the airport (I assume she is going to the bathroom or first class lounge). NOPEEEEE. She disappeared. They picked her up on the tarmac…. but she was wearing… THIS.
Picture is from September 13, 2010.

And in this one… it was only me and my partner running around the airport. Picture is from October 2, 2010. I know I took more pics with the wide lens… but they are not in my hard-drive.

And that is the Gaga. All shoots were fun. Unexpected shit. The one she escaped fucked me over. It made my bosses really angry as well… but there was nothing I could have done.

Now for my rest of the week! I’m actually leaving Tijuana this week… doing some camping for a job… I also got a finish a couple things before I go… SO TIME TO WORK!

Post #100 …. Next week… THEN MY LIFE CHANGES FOREVER. Yep… that will happen.