My Three Seconds With Kobe!

You've heard the saying, "Five minutes of fame," well today I discovered that I have three seconds! In all reality they probably aren't even three full seconds, but that doesn't matter because they are three seconds in the same commercial as KOBE BRYANT!

Watch closely, or you'll miss it! In seconds 03-05 of the commercial, just to the right of the chef in the background, and behind the words "Los Angeles" are parts made by my company, PACO Plastics & Engineering, Inc.



Now the story-  Probably about a month ago I answered the phone at work.  The guy on the other end wasn't quite sure what he was looking for because he wasn't from our industry.  He said that he was filming a comercial of an airplane galley and had found us online and wondered if we would be able to sell him some parts for it. I quickly responded that he indeed had called the right place and that we had done some work similar for the movie Flight Plan.

I transffered the call to my Dad who handles sales and pricing and over the next few days gathered the parts together that the man needed. The nice thing about selling to Hollywood is that you don't have to follow the same criteria outlined by the FAA as you do when selling in the aerospace industry.  The parts don't have to function, just fit a particular look, and they don't have to be certified.  We knew that the commercial they were making was for Turkish Airlines, and I guess I just assumed that it would be played out of the country and that I'd never see it.  So you can imagine my surprise when my Dad called me into his office to show me a video he just happened to stumble upon because of an article he had been reading about Kobe.

MY PARTS ARE IN KOBE'S COMMERCIAL!!!!! haha.  I know that probably sounds lame to some, but for my Laker loving family, it's awesome! And even though no one else would've noticed them on their own, I'm proud of those three seconds!

(Also, for a closer look behind the scenes...our parts are showcased in 1:47 on this video)

It's Just A Bunch of Noise!

Earlier this evening I had fallen asleep on my couch--probably due to the fact that I had worked myself to exhaustion attempting to get three stars on every level of Angry Birds--when I was abruptly awakened by this deafening screech! The fire alarm was going off at my apartment complex. I immediately got up and looked around my apartment to see what could have possibly ignited such an awful racket! Some thoughts that went through my head were:

"Are the batteries in the smoke detector bad?"

"I hope I didn't set it off in the whole building"

"Which detector is it?"

"Geez! Make it Stop!"

I believe I even tried to rip one of smoke detectors off the ceiling before the second wave of thoughts went through my head:

"Are we having a fire drill?"

"Am I supposed to evacuate?"

"Are you freaking kidding me! It's freezing outside- ugh, where's my coat?"

"Is anyone else evacuating?"

"Do I HAVE to?"

I peeked my head out my front door to find that my neighbors seemed to have the same thoughts gaging from the confused looks on their faces. Most people started to congregate in the hallways where the elevators are.  From my side of the building we have a clear view of the street and could see the fire engine pull up. Funny thing is--no one really left the complex! Why? Because we all have been conditioned to automatically ignore alarms and warning signals! 

Think about it! What's the first thing you do when you hear this:

I'm guessing it's hit the snooze button! It sure isn't thinking, "Oh goodie- it's time to wake up!"

Or what about this:

You don't jump up and run to the rescue of some poor neighbor's demise.  You automatically assume a cat jumped on the hood of the car or something and grow increasingly irritated the longer the noise prevails!

It's like the story my dad used to tell me about the boy who cried wolf. With so many false alarms in our lives, we've been conditioned to ignore and become irritated, but definitely not respond to action. Throughout this whole little ordeal the thought never occurred to me that the building might actually be on fire.  And at the end of inconvenient symphony of irritation there in deed was no fire- which completely reinforces and strengthens our already incorrect conditioning! Hopefully in the event of a real emergency, our other senses will be alerted, because when it's only something we hear...

IT'S JUST A BUNCH OF NOISE!

Cupid's Chokehold

Sometimes Cupid's shots are an EPIC fail, sometimes he COMPLETELY misses, and I guess sometimes he shoots and you SCORE! haha. But this year Valentine's Day is just another day of the week for me. So here's a little Valentine humor for everyone else wronged by the little-winged d-bag!

Better luck next year lonely hearts- haha!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last day of 2010!

I figured I need to post something today since it's the last day of 2010.

What happened to Greg in 2010:

Took Arabic classes in Beverly Hills
Went to the gym pretty regularly
Lost a bunch of weight! (but most recently gained a bunch back too- haha)
Turned 26- blah
Stayed at the Magic Castle hotel! :)
Got Magic Johnson Shoes! AWESOME!
Went to my first Laker's game in Utah
Got released from Elder's Quorum President
Waterskiied a lot
Jumped a little on the wakeboard for the first time in over 5 years
Became addicted to Ray Ban's (I have several different colors)
Shot my first Roman Candle
Launched my first bottle rocket
Got reacquainted with Childhood friends
Joined Couch Surfing (but plan on doing a lot more of that in the future)
Bought a hiking backpack
Got my first pair of TOMS
Went to Europe- Paris, Marseilles, Milan, Rome, and Barcelona! Woo hoo!
Flew Business Class for the first time- Ahh-mazing!
Jumped off the colong's (Don't know how to spell it) in Southern France
Paddle boarded in the Mediterranean Sea
Went to my first topless beach
Kissed a girl and I liked it! haha- Had to through that in.
Saw the Eifel tower, Notre Dame, Colosseum, the Vatican, and sooo many other places
Went to my first Laker's game at the Staples Center in Pres. Clegg's Box
Attended a training course in AS9100 Quality Management System and finally understand it! haha
Had Sushi and liked it
Bought a Disneyland year pass (this is gonna continue into 2011)
Went on Tower of Terror for the first time
Ate Thai food on Sunset Blvd.
Played fantasy basketball for the first time- it sucked! I stopped checking it! haha
Got called as a gospel doctrine teacher
Got to Vote- even though none of the choices were very good! haha
Had my friend Brice that I met in Europe stay with me
Walked Rodeo Drive for the first time- it's a wanna be Europe! haha
Got my first pair of Sperry Topsiders- to be followed with my second pair that my dad gave me :)
Read most of "The Miracle of Forgiveness"- Dumbest book ever! haha
Turned my mom into a crocheting machine
Mourned the death of my Tongan nephew DeeDee Tafuna
Moved into my own apartment in Long Beach
Went to my first Hot Pot party thanks to Alisha at work- and no it has nothing to do with weed! haha
Discovered Angry Birds! haha
Said good-bye to several friends who went on missions (McCain, Tyler, Alyssa, Cody, Kathryn, Megan, etc)
Finally picked up my Christmas present from last year from Billy and Susan's house- haha
Racked up a bunch of debt- haha- hopefully next New Year's even I'll write I'm debt free ;)

I'm sure that I had lots more adventures that I can't remember off the top of my head! But 2010 was a good year.  It was full of up's and down's physically and spiritually.  At the close of this year I am happy with the place I'm at in my life and hopeful for next year to be even better!

Thank you to all my family and friends who have supported me through the rough patches and been the life of the party through the fun ones! I love you all and hope you have a happy and safe New Year's Eve!

Stay tuned for more adventures...2011 style! ;)

Lasting Christmas

While I was unpacking my new apartment, I stumbled upon this Christmas letter I wrote while on my mission...