Photo Shoot: Sveta & Matt Cardella Wedding

Matt & Sveta Wedding
Location: Pleasant Hill Community Center:
320 Civic Drive, Pleasant Hill Ca
Flickr Album Website: Matt @Sveta 11.29.09

Here is one of my Fav's. Please check out my Flickr site for more pics.

© Michael Lopez

On the Tee Box: Royal Links GC

Royal Links Golf Course

Las Vegas, NV

Random thoughts (6) "My Favorite Week THANKSGIVING"

One of my favorite weeks of the entire year! Depending on what day of the week Thanksgiving falls on, the celebration always starts with my younger brothers birthday. My younger brother by 4 years was born on 11/23 and even though I have other siblings, my younger brother is my one true blood brother. (My other siblings are ½ brothers/sisters) which makes his bday unique. Following my brother’s birthday is one of few people who have made me who I am today and that’s my Grandmother. My Grandmother’s birthday is on 11/25 and I’m proud to say that she is 95 this year and still going strong. The next important date is of course Thanksgiving. My Family and I have made a strong commitment to gather as a family and be thankful every year. Also, as I have developed great friendships it’s also fun to have two friends that one has a birthday the week before my brothers 11/18 and one a day after my grandmothers 11/26. Lets just say that my two friends love to play golf and with their birthdays surrounding my normal vacation days, I get a lot of golf in.

A little background on how my family and I spend the Thanksgiving week. Depending if my grandmother or my brother’s birthday doesn’t fall on thanksgiving, we probably have two gathering, one on their birthday with more immediate family and thanksgiving with the whole family and friends. During the Bday we have the general cake and singing, but always end up ordering a ton of food. We do this because we know that a lot of cooking has to be done for Thanksgiving and its nice to have convenient comfort food before the cooking begins. One tradition that started a couple of years ago and has taken off with my family is the family POKER game. We try to keep things small, not wagering more than $5, playing tournament style and making sure payouts a generous. Yet competition can get very intense, but the joy of family company always supersedes. On occasions like this year where my grandmothers bday came before Thanksgiving, it felt as thanksgiving came early and lasted for 2 days.

On thanksgiving, my close family and I start early and begin the day watching the NFL tradition game. Once a majority of the family and outside friends makes it in, and before the EATING begins, we always start with a prayer. I’ve been raised Catholic and have been to a ton of prayers and church sessions, but every year when my Auntie begins the prayer, it reminds me of everyone that is no longer with me, people who are less fortunate and to realize how lucky I am for the life I have.

When it comes to food, I love the food at my families Thanksgiving meal, we have all the traditional food: LARGE TURKEY, stuffing, potatoes and pumpkin pie. But with all that and being Filipino, my family adds our favorite homeland food: Lumpia, Crab, Tilapia and a lot of Filipino deserts.

But just like every family get together after the food, desert and the food coma resides: the POKER begins. Now to keep things in a family perspective we play one game as a family to have fun and get loose. Our second game is always for a little more money and a family bracelet that has engraved CHAMPION. This game has the feel of something you would see on ESPN or reruns of the WSOP. The fun thing about trying to be the winner is not the money or even the bracelet, but it’s the fact that the winner can brag about their victory for an entire year. 10-12 hours later after 3^rd and 4^th servings after the THANKSGIVING POKER CHAMPION has been announced, the sad part begins. Time is winding down and family who don’t live in the area knows that it might be a while before they see each other again. For me its extremely sad because it marks another moment where I’m getting older and my family is changing. Its extremely hard because I know that my grandmother is taking off to go back home to Las Vegas.

All in all, every year during my Thanksgiving week, I have friends bdays, golf, families bdays and of course Thanksgiving itself it makes me feel like this is what holidays and especially families should be about. As this Thanksgiving Holiday is celebrated by millions of Americans across the world, it has given me the opportunity to thank the people closest too me and show them how much I appreciate them.

-ML

Thru My Eyes: 4

Billboard of a Philippines Icon "Manny Pacquiao"
SF Union Square
© Michael Lopez

"Thru my eyes” is a series of random photographs taken with various cameras to capture the moment the way I see them. This series is a way for me to continue to grow as a photographer and share with the world my views “Thru my eyes.”

Random thoughts (5) "Bay Bridge Tragedy"

Today, I woke up watching the news as usually to hear the tragic incident on the new Bay Bridge S curve that claim its first life. At 3:30am a 56 years old Hayward truck drive delivering Pears to a local grocery store going a little over the speed limit crashed into the sidewall and his big rig fell over 200 feet to Yerba Buena Island.

Watching the news and looking at the carnage left from the crash, got me thinking about the work and the progress Caltrans has done to improve the bridge. I have read that their has been over 40 crashes in the short time the S curve has been put in. This does not include today’s incident or the incident that included a beam snapping off and crashing into 3 drivers. Its hard for me to believe that Caltrans or Bay bridge engineers were not aware of the problems the S design can cause. It makes me sick that Caltrans, the City of SF, or even the State of CA does not step in and take action in changing this section immediately or accelerating a new portion of the bridge to avoid more crashes and the loss of more lives. I understand that it takes time planning and money to rebuild a new bridge, but shouldn’t Caltrans and the engineers have planned better to replace a highly dysfunctional section of the bridge? Shouldn’t engineer’s plan/design a better section than a S curve that would lead to so many accidents? Shouldn’t they have planned for the human element? Human error may have been the cause of this incident or may be the cause of the 40 or so auto accidents, but shouldn’t these engineers and Bay Bridge officials done more research to see what a accident ratio or the possibilities of fatalities due to excessive speed? It’s hard for me to believe that these engineers and officials were naive to believe that everyone would abide by a 40mph speed limit when they’re use to driving 60mph during rush hour.

In today’s society of spending cash for absurd items, it amazes me that officials have not decided to speed up the process of completing the new bridge. It makes me wonder if we have put a dollar sign on the cost of life. How many more accidents will it cost, how many more lives must be lost, until Caltrans, the Cities of the Bay Area or the State of CA decide its time to make this bridge right!

-ML

Thru My Eyes: 3

"Old Connections"
One of few public Pay Phones still around.
Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, CA
© Michael Lopez

"Thru my eyes” is a series of random photographs taken with my various cameras to capture the moment the way I see them. This series is a way for me to continue to grow as a photographer and share with the world my views “Thru my eyes.”

Reviews 2

If have updated my Yelp Reviews, Please feel free to read them:

Food/Store Reviews:

***BORROWLENSES.COM: San Mateo, CA***

Sam's Chowder House: Half Moon Bay, CA
Louie Linguini's Seafood Shack: Monterey, CA
Old Fisherman's Grotto: Monterey, CA