Malibu Dreams

A few weeks ago my roommate Dan brought home a real estate magazine full of multi-million dollar homes and pieces of land that were currently for sale in the Malibu area. While paging through the magazine we stumbled upon a little gem in the Rambla Pacifico neighborhood with 180 degree ocean views. My first instinct was that this little plot of land would be well over half a million dollars. But I have a news flash for you Walter Cronkite. It wasn't. This little beauty was priced at a cool $185,000. Think about that for a minute. Ocean view property in beautiful Malibu for only $185,000. There must be a catch right? Well, after doing some research on the interwob, the only "catches" I could come up with were that the building permit had expired - a new permit would cost roughly $15,000 - and the lot is really small. Really small in the sense that it is big enough for a 2000 square foot house and that is all. When I say that is all, I really mean that is all. There will be no yard and the parking space for you car will need to be integrated into the construction of the house - i.e. the house will be built on top of the garage. But lets be honest, I don't want to mow the lawn. I don't need a yard. Especially when the ocean is right there.

So this weekend I took a drive up to Rambla Pacifico to see if the property was really all that and a bag of chips. Ummm, it was. The property was towards the top of the mountain with a sweeping view out through the valley down to Surfrider Beach. The air had the distinct sage smell of Malibu that I love so much. It was super quiet and peaceful. I was in heaven. Literally in heaven. Also, the site was perfect for a pre-fab modern house of the style made famous by Dwell Magazine. Pre-fab houses can be built anywhere from $100 - $250 per square foot depending on the amenities. Think about that for a minute. I could conceivably build my dream house on my dream property for roughly $500,000. In Malibu. With sweeping ocean vistas. Within a reasonable commute to work. I am still in shock from the sudden realization that I could conceivably own my own house in Southern California and be able to afford it. Literally within the next five years I could realistically build my dream house in California. That just blew my mind. Again.

Here are a few pictures I took from the Rambla Pacifico neighborhood. My Lamejack doesn't do the location justice though. Especially because it doesn't capture the wonderful smell of the air.







PS I am in love with the FlatPak housing system. I can probably save a little money by going with another builder but that doesn't change the fact that I love the FlatPak.

Ryan Kessman - Future Star?

I recently received a request to post more sports related content. With fall practice kicking off shortly for the BYU Cougar football team, I thought that I would post the recruiting video for one of the incoming freshmen that I hope will make an immediate impact - Ryan Kessman.

I tried to embed the Google video but I couldn't get it to work for some reason and don't have the time to figure it out right now. So you will just have to click here for the link. My apologies.

After watching the video, my impression is that Kessman is super athletic and has the ability to make similar contributions to those of McKay Jacobsen last year. I loved Kessman's breakaway speed, especially on slants and punt returns, and his ability to change direction and make people miss. He made a few of the defenders looks as foolish as I did back in the good old days on The Helaman Fields. I believe this is commonly referred to as "good hip swivel." Which I don't have.

However, Kessman runs some of the sloppiest routes I have seen in a long time. My button hooks and out routes from my flag football warm-up and practice days at the BY were better then his lazy routes. This is probably a bi-product of being so much faster and more athletic then everybody else on the field. However, it is something that needs to be fixed and shouldn't be that hard to fix as long as he can focus and isn't dumber than a bag of hammers. If I can run crisp routes, even though I am slower than Saturday evening traffic on the PCH, then Kessman can surely do the same.

With that being said, I am pretty excited for the Ryan Kessman era. If his contribution level matches that of Jacobsen's last year, I will be very satisfied.

Lindsay Lohan Update

This story just gets crazier and crazier as more information becomes available. I still can't believe that it all went down just around the corner from my apartment and I missed stumbling upon the scene on my way home from work by like a half hour. If I just would have left a half hour earlier, I could have scooped TMZ.com.

Also, if I've said it once, I've said it a million times. The FIRST thing I will do when I am filthy rich is to find my own personal Turtle. So many of these celebrity problems could be avoided if they just had a driver who was also a friend that could act as the voice of reason.

Prison Thriller

Prison inmates. The Philippines. Michael Jackson. Recipe for disaster? I think not. Recipe for awesomeness? Most definitely. Maybe they can get Lindsay Lohan to replace the transvestite for the next rendition.

The Supa Lowery Bros.

A couple of days ago I posted about my least favorite street performer. Today I would like to post about my favorite street performers - The Supa Lowery Bros. They are a Jazz Hip-Hop group that sounds great live. A few months ago I purchased their CD which is solid but I prefer them live where they freestyle a little more. This last Saturday they happened to be playing on the Promenade when I was purchasing my copy of Harry Potter. Naturally I stopped and enjoyed a few songs before heading home. I also took a few video clips on my Lamejack. I am guessing the sound quality isn't that hot but hopefully you can get a feel for their style from the lo-fi video.

Not My Secret

More Gems from the Blagoverse

In light of my recent infatuation with the iPhone as evidence by the multiple posts on my blag, I found the following line from the blog Slick Shoes to be quite funny:

"Yeah, my relationship with the this girl is still new and exciting, kind of like my iPhone. People say, 'oh wow, you have an iPhone. Can I see it?"