Today is my Saturday. I went into Old Town looking for birthday presents for my soon-to-be 18-year-old nephews. It was really hot out today, especially considering the fact that it had been cooling off and starting to feel like fall. The last few days have been warm, but it was 91 when I was walking around today. A friend called and we were thinking of mountain biking later in the afternoon, but as the day wore on, the sky got more and more smoky and the air thicker from the fires around the county. We decided biking in the Angeles Forest might not be a good idea right now. (The photo was taken on Sunday morning on the beach in Malibu).

I haven't felt like doing much in the heat, and with the air thick and a little smoky, I'm starting to get a headache. Several years ago I was living in Tujunga when we had fires like this and they were close enough that I could see the haze of the blaze on the horizon and ash fell through the air. It's a horrible feeling, the headache you get from that. It's not as bad this time, as the closest fire is around 25 miles away. Hopefully, they can get more of the blazes under control in the next couple of days. For now, I'm sitting at home having a bit of a Wonderfalls marathon on DVD. Those of you enjoying Pushing Daisies might enjoy watching this, as one of the secondary characters is none other than Lee Pace. Thanks James for the heads up on both these fantastic shows.

The song of the day is "Smoke On the Water" by Deep Purple off their 1972 album Machine Head. I was a far too young to ever appreciate this band, but that didn't stop me from learning to play the riff to this song on the guitar when I was 13 (along with other classic guitar songs like "Stairway to Heaven"). I could probably still pick it out on the strings. Hey! Maybe it will be on the Guitar Hero III I'll be getting in the next few weeks!