Go Texans!

Texans 30, Arizona 19

Jacksonville 10, 49ers 9



This, of course, sets up the Reggie Bush Bowl on New Year's Day.

Hiding in plain sight.

I don't know how to feel right now.

There's something I've been looking for for three weeks. Something I needed to find for a special Christmas gift. Not just casually looking, but scouring the earth for. I've looked in every room, in every nook and cranny, of the house and garage. I thought it was at my parents' house so I even went back to Stockton last weekend. I brought back something and I was sure it was what I had been looking for.

But I found out this afternoon it wasn't. And all the frustration overwhelmed me, to the point where all I could do was lay on the ground and mope. Everything I had done and all the things I had tried were for naught, and I just felt defeated.

After just kind of sitting there awhile, I got up and went to my desk to take care fo some other stuff. And I found what I was looking for, in plain sight in the one and only place I should've had to look.

It wasn't that I never looked there. I DID look. Several times.

And I don't know how to feel. I should be happy. I should feel relieved. But I just feel like a dope.

Well, that should be only temporary. I'll feel better after I get to work on this "project".

Ho ho ho.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Random stuff from the past coupla months.

Unit 01 protects the instructions to my voicemail.


Sara can hardly contain herself on her first visit to the Cheesecake Factory for Uncle Ron's birthday.


A blurry shot from the Green Day concert. It looks like the band has spontaneously combusted.


I took this picture one day on my commute to show Rhonda how long I was going to be in traffic. Makes you want to move out here, huh?

(Yes, I know it's not safe to take pictures while driving. But it's not like the car was moving...)


This is my co-worker Rachna in front of the Sun Broomfield campus. She wanted me to take a picture because she'd never been in falling snow before. All that snow behind her fell while we were at lunch.


I put the books and DVDs in order in the library. It took over a week. My word, we have a lot of crap.


We also scored a rug on the Lowe's clearance hook-up, finally. It matches pretty nicely.


Lastly, Rhonda enjoys a birthday waffle at my mom and dad's house. This was after we had been to Target, Office Depot, Best Buy, and Macy's, so she should've had an appetite going.

Maybe I should rename it "Lazarus"...

I wasn't the only one sick. My poor neglected TiVo, FayeFaye, which hadn't been used since we moved (since it doesn't support HDTV), finally got booted up Wednesday night. I had been hoping to sell it to my friend at work.

Except it stuck at the "Welcome, powering up" screen.

I left it on overnight, thinking maybe it needed time for juice to get to the capacitors inside. Alas, poor TiVo was dead as a doornail.

So naturally, I cracked it open and did an autopsy (which is always fun, since the power supply is unshielded and I risk electrocution by getting anywhere near it). It turns out the 120 GB second hard drive I added was so badly fried it wouldn't even be recognized by my computer's BIOS. No problem, I took it out and fired the TiVo up.

Problem is, as part of the upgrade, the original hard drive needed the second to exist. It was like they were conjoined twins, except instead of sharing a heart they were sharing the OS.

Luckily, I still had the backup I took a couple years ago when I added the second hard drive. Lo and behold, after much tampering and swearing, the backup was restored. I put the hard drive back in the TiVo and did a "plug and pray".

And like that, TiVo lived again. Albeit with 1/4 of the capacity it used to have and none of the shows. Goodbye, 24 season 4. So long, Alias season 4. Farewell, Fullmetal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Funny thing is I went through all that trouble, and I probably still won't be using it since it doesn't support high-def. Worse still, TiVo went nutty with rebates and these things are $50 now, so it doesn't even have much resale value without the extra hard drive. Still, there's a sense of accomplishment in raising the electronic dead.



If anyone wants to buy a slightly-used 40-hour Series 2 TiVo with an upgrade kit (but no upgrade), give me a holler.

On the mend.

It's been a rough couple of weeks for my health. First back pain (again), then the wonders of dry Colorado air, and now a sinus infection. I'm happy to report though I have five medications to take and at least one of them is doing something, because I feel a lot better.

It all started Sunday, when I returned from Stockton with some really severe burning in my sinuses. The roof of my mouth was irritated and swallowing hurt. I started loading up on allergy medicine right away.

Monday and Tuesday I was pretty congested, to the point where I could barely breathe through my nose. I got the hiccups about 50,000 times, which was really irritating. I would feel some nasty stuff in my throat, and I would clear my throat or try to cough it up. That would give me some brutal hiccups which would not go away with neither the time-tested "hold your breath" nor "drink water upside-down from a glass" without a significant fight. When they finally stopped, I could feel the junk in my throat. Repeat.

Tuesday night I was able to finally hock up some stuff. Problem is, it didn't stop. All night. Then in became just a dry cough. No more bronchitis for me, I went straight to the allergy doc Wednesday morning.

Wednesday I went through a box of Kleenex, but today I went through a lot less, and I feel a lot better.

Lesson learned: stay the hell away from Stockton...

Allergic to Stockton?

My sinuses are raw and painful. I left my cough drops in the kitchen. I want to go home.

I'll sleep well tonight.

Morgan Quitno has released their annual survey of America's safest and most dangerous cities. San Jose is the safest city in America with a population over 500,000. We live in the safest city in America, so yay for us!

I guess that justifies the outrageous property values. You get what you pay for, I guess.

Unfortunately, my hometown of Stockton is the sixth most dangerous metropolitan area in America. I'm not sure what makes a metro area different from a city, but it's definitely ghetto. Things must be getting worse in Stockton (or better everywhere else), as they were 11th most dangerous last year.

Funny thing is, Rhonda and I have lived in Stockton for so long we are conditioned to lock every door, avoid eye contact whenever possible, and always look over our shoulders. It must look pretty funny to people out here.

You betta axe somebody

The Bay Area has another quarterback controversy between Joe and Steve.

This time it's Cal quarterbacks Joe Ayoob and Steve Levy. Well, it's not much of a controversy anymore, not after Levy led the Golden Bears to a 27-3 rout of Stanford over the weekend in Palo Alto.

Coach Tedford showed he's not afraid of mixing it up, as he gave Levy, the converted fullback-linebacker, his first collegiate start in the pressure cooker of the Big Game. Despite only having eleven career pass attempts, Levy showed poise and composure behind center, something which hasn't been seen much this season.

There's no doubt about it - Ayoob is much more talented than Levy. However, Levy, like Cody Pickett with the Niners, won over the crowd with his heart and tougness. It's obvious his skills are limited, but he played a clean game and his moment in the suni s going to be remembered for a while to come.

Colorado air is like Asahi

...it's Super Dry. My sinuses really hurt today. Actually, it's a lot like Vegas in that respect, except it's like 40 degrees outside in the middle of the day.

I just found out today Broomfield is right next to Boulder. Which, as we all know, is where Mork from Ork landed. Nanoo nanoo.

I want to go home.

I speak to you from the future.

At least, if you live on the west coast. Otherwise, I may be speaking to you from the past.

I'm out in Broomfield, Colorado for an all hands meeting. I'm a little excited, because in my six-year career at Sun, they don't let me out too often. In fact, working on an internal IT project and being low on the totem pole means I've never taken a trip on the company's dollar.

I flew Frontier, which was new for me, and it wasn't too bad. They have DirecTV like on JetBlue, but on Frontier it costs five bucks. Luckily, the DirecTV was free on my flight (compliments of the captain, they said), so I watched PTI and World Series of Poker, as well as the two episodes of Lost I had encoded for my PSP.

Brian and I had a late dinner at a place called C.B. & Potts, which was sort of a mountain version of Rock Bottom. I had a Kobe beef burger and it was pretty tasty, if not a little messy and disgusting (but in a good way). It was so juicy, my hands and plate were covered in grease. Bryan (not to be confused with Brian) met us there and we had some drinks and played Golden Tee (that part won't be expensed). It was the first time I'd ever played Golden Tee, and I'm about as good at it as I am at real golf.

I'm not really tired, since it's 11:00 to me, but since I have my meeting at 9 tomorrow MST (which is 8 California time, or about when I wake up), I better get some shut-eye.

(Before you ask me, "Chris, what is Colorado like?," let me tell you. It's effin' cold. It's like Stockton in the winter, but with ice. The windows on the rental car struggled to roll down. It's not windy, and there are 300 days of sunshine a year. But after Labor Day, you can probably put away the shorts.)

They miss Chris

Quickly, because I have to fold laundry then sleep:

The Kings stink so far this season. They inexplicably beat Phoenix (without Amare) but lost tonight to the Knicks(!?!) to fall to 2-5.

I'm a big Shareef Abdur-rahim fan, seeing as how he went to Cal when I was actually there. But you don't think they miss Webber? Does this team have any chemistry? Have the Kings been this dull to watch in the Adelman era?

When is spring training?

The 49ers find new and unexciting ways to lose. They dropped another one to the Bears, in the middle of a tornado. It would be understandable in those conditions had Chicago not done everything in their power to give the Niners the game. However, they just wouldn't take advantage.

The line on Cody Pickett: 1-for-13, 28 yards, 1 INT. I know it was windy, but come on. So much for that quarterback controversy.

Brandon Lloyd is soft. More than once he was running a route over the middle, heard the safety's footsteps, and short-armed the ball and dropped it. One of those would've been a game-tying touchdown. It's easy to say Jerry Rice would've caught those passes and take the hit. Instead, I'll say any number of past 49ers receivers - Brent Jones, T.O., John Taylor, Dwight Clark - also would've.

Trivia fact of the day: None of the 49ers 4 quarterbacks (Smith, Dorsey, Pickett, the Bachelor guy) have thrown a touchdown this season. Dorsey has six in his career. San Francisco is last in the NFL in passer rating (52.0!) and is averaging only 110.5 passing yards per game (31st out of 32 teams).

By comparison, Joe Montana's career rating was 92.3.

When Nolan was hired and Smith was drafted, and everyone was optimistic about the Niners' chances, I said they were going in the right direction but they would be lucky to win five. After they shocked the Rams I thought maybe I had given them too little credit. Now, it's looking like I gave them too much instead.

Trojans really are 99.6% effective.

Cal got a beating put on them by USC on Saturday. I was there, hoping to be on hand to rush the field following another Cal shocker against the Trojans. A repeat of 2003, when Cal was the last team to beat Southern Cal. Didn't happen. Not only is Cal a shell of the team they were last season (especially in the passing game), but USC is much, much better.

Cal has played USC tough (3 games decided by 11 points prior to Saturday), but Leinart in particular has really improved. He picked apart Cal's above-average secondary (it didn't hurt his line gave him all day to throw) and always made the right decision. I thought Cal's defense did a good job against Bush and White (the stats don't really reflect it, but I think a lot of the yardage was gained after the game was already out of hand). But it seemed like USC converted every third down in the first half, unlike last year's game, where Leinart seemed a little rattled. Aaron Rodgers outplayed him, and if Cal had won that game, Tedford would've been like Bill Belichek to Leinart's Peyton Manning.

The 49ers blew it. They needed the #1 pick this year. Matt Leinart is the quarterback Alex Smith wishes he was.

Cal really missed Rodgers this season. If Rodgers had stayed for his senior season (and stayed healthy), we beat UCLA, Oregon State, and Oregon and head into the USC matchup undefeated and probably #3 or #4 in the nation. He would've given us a shot.

It sucks to be Joe Ayoob. Not only is he playing in Rodgers' shadow, but he has been terribly inconsistent. Every time it looks like he is improving (Washington, the 4th quarter of the Washington State game), he lays an egg. In Cal's four losses (out of the last five games), he's thrown 3 TDs and 10 INTs, including 4 Saturday. Saturday he was all over the map - passes bounced three feet in front of open receivers, sailed five feet over their heads, or were targeted at a sea of white jerseys. And these were on short routes. Throwing the ball downfield has not been an option most of the season, severely limiting Cal's offensive playcalling. It got to the point where everyone in the stadium knew Cal was going to run on every play. It became eerily like watching the Niners.

Times are not good when you're being booed at home.

When Steve Levy (who, by the way, was a fullback last season) came in in the fourth quarter, there a thunderous ovation. Levy led Cal on their only touchdown drive, although he did fumble on his first possession.

It might be too late in the season for a quarterback controversy, but it's obvious Ayoob is out of his league. It was surprising when Longshore beat him out in spring practice for the starting quarterback job, but now it's painfully evident why. Ayoob is physically gifted, but he doesn't have the head or work ethic that made Rodgers an NFL first-round draft pick. I'm not even sure I've seen Ayoob throw the ball away this season. He seems to try to do too much, to create opportunities where none exists. He got away with it early in the season against weaker opponents, but against the tougher Pac-10 defenses, he can't compete.

Make no mistake, Cal is still one of the top programs in college football. Next year's squad will return most of the offensive weapons. Lynch will be a Heisman candidate and he and Forsett will make a nice combo a la Bush & White. Longshore will be healthy and either he or another player or even an improved Ayoob will improve the QB position. They should be a top 10 team, and USC should have their hands full next year.

Ho hum.

Another week gone by. Nothing really eventful this week, unless you count the unfortunate trip we made to the emergency room. No biggie, Rhonda is okay, and feeling nearly entirely fine now.

This week brings a trip out to Colorado for me (business travel, yay), report card conferences for Rhonda, and the Big Game.

On the road.

Rhonda and I had a busy but satisfying weekend. We headed out to Chico, where my buddy from high school Bob Green and his wife Jamie renewed their wedding vows. We got to catch up with Bob's fam and the Kaminskis, including Rowyn (who we haven't seen in years) and her very boyfriend Steve. She put together a nice musical set for the ceremony, and wrote a song for them too. Good stuff.

It was a little rough getting there, I took a half day off so we could get out of Dodge but instead I had to go the classroom and laminate stuff for a couple hours. After dinner we got on the road and hit traffic (big surprise) before stopping in Stockton for dessert and (much needed) coffee with my Mom and Dad. We rolled into Chico at about 12:45.

Saturday morning was a work day for Rhonda. (Guess who got to grade all the math tests?) After the vow renewal and a pretty spectacular dinner, Rhonda finished up her assessments and knocked out, while I watched three hours of poker on ESPN Classic. After Marie Callendar's brunch on Sunday, we said our goodbyes and hit the open road.

Gas in Gridley is $2.39!!! (Sorry for that random fact, but it was unbelievable!)

We got back to the South Bay at 3:30, just in time to catch the Niners' collapse. Report cards are officially in the books, and Rhonda signed off a mountain of paperwork as she prepares to become an official employee.

So a long but enjoyable weekend comes to a close. Back to the grind for both of us, I guess.

Surely not!

Sulu is gay.

(Trekkies will remember that line from Star Trek VI, when Captain Sulu is told there is a Klingon Bird of Prey that can fire when cloaked. I always believed his response should've been more along the lines of, "Holy $&@&!!!")

Tylenol and ice packs

It's been a few days, hope you didn't miss me too much. I had a good excuse.

So Sunday I've got a full slate planned - clean the bathroom, clean the gutters, mow the lawn, pull some weeds - when, as I'm spraying Tilex in the shower, I feel that twinge on the right side of my back, about half way up.

Oh, nuts.

I've had back problems since college. As a software engineer, comes with the territory. Then a couple years ago, it really turned on me. I had just got out of bed and was on my way to have some cereal, and I slowly sunk to my knees like I'd been shot in a cheesy old western.

A short-term disability stint, some physical therapy, two months of pain and immobility, and a cortizone shot later, I was fixed...sort of. I have a herniated disc. Every six months or so, it tightens up and I go on the shelf for about 48 hours until I can get it loosened up. I think I've tied it to my muscles being cold (I hadn't used the heater until Monday, too late), but I guess if I got off my duff and exercised more it wouldn't be so bad.

This time was a little lengthier than the last couple times. I didn't feel at all well until this morning. It was actually pretty brutal Monday and I was starting to worry that it wasn't improving.

The worst part of it, strangely enough, is not the pain. It's having to remember to move deliberately so you won't trigger shooting pain down your sciatic nerve, and the added effort needed to do the most menial tasks. A trip to the bathroom can require a Herculean effort. I guess one of the positives is I work up such a sweat just moving around, it's a great workout.

Also, when every muscle in your back is flexed all at once, trying to walk with any kind of posture is tiring. Then your shoulders start to hurt from trying to keep them back so you're not walking like Igor or Quasimodo. It doesn't help when your company has a shareholder meeting and you have to park 150 yards from the door. (Hey, I'm a shareholder too!) It took me 15 minutes to get to my office this morning from the parking lot.

Did I mention driving? I tried to drive to work Tuesday and after 10 minutes (I hadn't even got to the freeway), the pain in my leg was so bad I had to retreat back to my home office. Not comfy at all.

Luckily, the Lord cut me a break and it didn't rain this week when the showers blew through. Which means it's gutter cleanin' time on Saturday.

Bush Presidency Rapidly Approaches Self-Parody

Bush Teleconference With Soldiers Staged

Five of the ten troops involved were officers. I didn't know Bush was filiming infomercials now! Maybe he should ask Tom Emanski, Tom Vu, and Billy Mays about their opinions on the war. He could get it endorsed by Major League Super Star Fred McGriff.

(If you got that joke, you watch too much TV. But a Gazelle from Tony Little and get to work.)

Holy Smurfing Smurf!

Smurfpocalypse Now!

Unicef bombs the Smurfs in fund-raising campaign for ex-child soldiers (Courtesy of The Beat)

Some of you out there know of my hatred of all things Smurf. Let's just say Halloween is ruined forever (or at least until drinking age) if you want to be G.I. Joe but end up as Generic Smurf. I didn't even like Smurfs to begin with, but when you're out there trying to get your candy on, and some adult answers a door and asks gruffly, "Aren't you a little old to be a Smurf?" - it's time to call it a night. But, as they say, I'm not sure I would wish this on my worst enemy.

"We wanted something that was real war - Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head -but they said no."

I saw the slideshow with the audio and this is going to flat-out traumatize kids. The Smurfs never did much for me, but I guess if they bombed the crap out of Sesame Street, I'd be more shocked.

Gotta say though, the timing of this news being near Halloween and that whole Smurf episode I went through, it is pretty funny. It's probably a good thing Decapitated Smurf and Venus De Milo Smurf didn't make an appearance, because the unintentional comedy rating would've distracted people from the message. (It's bad enough that Smurf behind Baby Smurf is running around with his hat on fire.)

Getting a breather.

Finally we had a night that felt somewhat normal. I cooked up a tri-tip and some baked potatoes (considering they were seasoned with random stuff from the spice rack, it was pretty frickin' good) and watched Game 2 of the NLCS. Rhonda called it a (very) early night and I took the opportunity to clear some DVR space.

The only thing that sucks about Lost is having to wait a week between shows. I guess it's not like waiting four years after Empire for Return of the Jedi, so I shouldn't complain.

The only real downer is we paid property taxes today and we've been financially beaten into submission. At least my raise went into effect on this paycheck. It's nice to actually get raises and promotions, and not just the "we should all be lucky we have jobs" speech. Let's just say, to those of us on our list, don't expect too much from us come Christmas.

I've got so much trouble on my mind.

Chuck D said it best.

Things have not gotten any better since the events of last Monday. If anything, they've gotten steadily worse.

Rhonda got her purse stolen Monday during a staff meeting. As if the violation of privacy and exposure of personal information (driver's license, credit cards, etc.) were not bad enough, Rhonda's Treo 650 smartphone (2 weeks old, $400, no insurance) and Nintendo DS (barely a month old) were in her bag. The outside doors to the school are supposed to be locked except for the office, so automatically it looks like an inside job.

After playing Barnaby Jones with Rhonda's principal over some strange out-of-state calls to Rhonda's cell phone, we are 99% sure who did it (let's just say someone hasn't shown up as scheduled for the last week). Unfortunately, without an eyewitness, the SJPD is refusing to investigate. One dispatcher in particular has gone out of her way to be as unhelpful and unsympathetic as possible.

In the process of switching her phone service to her old phone, we also found out next month's bill is going to be about $600. Obviously, this coupled with the theft, and property taxes, and our regular bills is painting a dark picture of our financial future. That bill's obviously being disputed (it's unrelated to the theft) but it's just something else to worry about.

Rhonda has been putting on a brave face at school. She had a new student the day after the theft so she made herself go to work. I don't know how she made it that day. At home, she's been a wreck. This is the first time she's had something of hers stolen (whereas I am old hat at getting robbed), so she has understandably been depressed and beating herself up over it. I do what I can, but what can you really do?

Things looked like they might turn a corner on Friday, but on Saturday the iBook the school gave Rhonda wouldn't boot. She needed to do progress reports over the weekend because she has class at SJSU Tuesday and Wednesdays and needed to prep for those days for her class on Monday night. She figured out the problem was the power adapter (which was actually sparking when plugged in). They didn't have a power adapter at Fry's (because that would be too easy) so she had to go to the Apple Store to pick one up. Another $100 and a day wasted.

(And Cal lost on Saturday to UCLA after leading the ENTIRE GAME. It's a small thing, but it ruined my day.)

On Monday when she e-mailed the librarian (the de facto IT person, evidently) how to get reimbursed, she got a nastygram from her about not following procedure and how she shouldn't be buying equipment. She didn't seem to care that it was an emergency (she actually told Rhonda, who's still a non-contract, non-tenured sub, to do the progress reports late!!!), she was just angry that Rhonda didn't follow HER rules. When Rhonda went to her principal to get the reimbursement approved, The librarian called her out when she took her class to the library. In front of her class.

Rhonda handled it very professionally and walked away instead of getting into a shouting match with the librarian. She reported back to the principal about it, and nearly punched a hole in the wall. She was still livid when she got home. I told her to let me know what she needed for progress reports and report cards and such (she was using Filemaker Pro templates the previous teacher used) and I would write her an app in Java or prepare a spreadhseet in Excel for her to do the same thing in Windows. That way she could give that skank back her laptop and not have o deal with her about it.

Today I found out my cousin and her husband are getting fleeced by their cell phone company. It looks like their phone got cloned and the company says not only are they responsible for paying for those calls, but changing their number incurs a charge because it changes the contract. This is a young family with a one-year-old on a single income and it's unbelievable that, due to deregulation, the probably don't have any choice but to pay.

That was the breaking point. I don't know how I can keep this up. I come to work some days and with all the things on my mind I can barely concentrate. On top of this, there are hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, more Republican scandals than you can shake a stick at, and I have to wonder what the hell is wrong with the world?

What is the point of having laws if no one will enforce them?

What is it with some people that rules and ego come before compassion for people having a hard time and for common decency and respect of others?

I got a meeting to go to. Then I'm going to go home and break some things.

blech.

I wanted to post about something happy, but that all went out the window this afternoon when Rhonda's purse was stolen from her classroom.

So our evening was spent tearing apart the house, her car and her classroom to double-check it wasn't misplaced before calling all the banks and credit card companies to report her cards stolen. It didn't help that while she had little cash (what else is new), her Nintendo DS and Treo 650 were in there.

We're holding out some hope that this is a cruel practical joke by one of her students (which would be nothing short of tragic, since that's a sure ticket for expulsion), but at this point, who knows?

If it was stolen by an adult, I wonder what type of dirtbag steals from a first-grade teacher. A first-grade teacher without a contract on the sub rate, at that. I try not to be too cynical about human nature, but when you're being kicked while you're down, it's hard not to be.

Razing Arizona

Cal is 5-0 after beating Arizona into submission 28-0. Next up is UCLA, in what will be the first in a long line of many trash-talking game weeks between Sara and I.

On the downside, Sun Hong Kong closed up shop and no one told me. I was looking forward to Hong Kong style chow mein served with only the apathy you get from Sun Hong Kong. We had to settle for Top Dog.

Huh?

On Wednesday's episode of Lost, did anyone see the Dharma logo (the same as the logo on the wall on the tunnel down in the hatch, and on Desmond's shirt) on the underside of the shark, near the tail?

WTF?!?

Fun While It Lasted

So I post about the Giants' miraculous comeback, then in Game 2 they go up 3-0 in the first on a Bonds homer. All looked good.

Then Brett Tomko took the mound.

The Giants, in true 2005 form, followed up one of the best performances of the season with one of the worst. Misssed opportunities and gift runs abounded, capped by an inning where the Giants gave up a walk, another walk, an error, and a grand slam. 4 runs, 1 hit, 1 error.

No surprise then when the Giants were listless in Game 3, and the Padres clinched. The Padres have been hot ever since (St. Louis, watch out) and the Giants have looked...defeated.

Entertaining game tonight, but we lose again to the red-hot D-Backs. The best we can hope for is a second-place tie by winning tomorrow and Sunday.

In spite of the incredible disappointment, at least they gave it a run and really only played four meaningless games this season (and only 19 since 1996). The brief glimpse of Bonds confirmed that we would've made a mockery of the West (more than it already is) had we had him and Benitez healthy for the brunt of the season.

Gleefully, I report the Dodgers own fourth place and recorded their 90th loss tonight. Once it became clear we wouldn't need to buy World Series tickets, my goal for the team is just to finish ahead of the Bums. Not only did they accomplish that, they won the season series 9-8 by winning the last three.

(Something Cal athletics has taught me, a lousy season can be forgotten if you crush your rival. Likewise, a great season can be tarnished by losing to The Farm.)

Unfortunately, the end of baseball season means football season, which usually is great except a) I'm not playing fantasy football for the first time since I had my own money, and b) the 49ers flat-out stink. Then we go on to basketball season (with the most blatantly awful officiating since Bush v. Gore, before spring training returns to relieve the pain.

One for the ages.

Unbelievable. That's the only way to describe it.

All season long, the Giants have struggled. Finally, Barry Bonds came back, but it still looked like we would only get a glimpse of what might have been.

A couple of late-inning comebacks and late-inning disasters from the Padres, and it's, as they say, a whole new ballgame. Coming into tonight, four games back with seven to go.

It didn't look good. We had our least consistent starter, rook Brad Hennessey, against the Padres' ace, Jake Peavy. It looked even worse when the second batter of the game hit a two-run homer. But the Giants gutted it out, like they always do, and got a run back while holding the Padres to the two runs.

If there was any doubt, Randy Winn etched himself into Giants' history tonight. With two outs in the ninth against Trevor Hoffman, his long drive to center epitomized the unpredictability which has been the Giants' schizophrenic season. Yes, it's gone! No, it's caught! Yes, he dropped it! I mean, the bells had already sounded. The fireworks guy even got it wrong (which, amusingly enough, is not the first time in the Giants/Padres rivalry).

Winn definitely has earned his place in the long lineage of improbable Giants heroes, alongside Rod "Shooter" Beck, Kenny Lofton, David Bell, J.T. Snow ('00 NLDS Game 2, we were there) and the immortal Brian Johnson.

This is not a game that will be quickly forgotten. Matheny's clutch single off Hoffman to start the rally (can anyone remember the last time Hoffman blew a save against the Giants?). The gutsy performance by B. Henny and the bullpen. Bonds pulling up lame after a running catch in the second, then gutting it out for the remainder of the game while clearly in pain. Vizquel effortlessly taking away two sure singles in the ninth. Snow faceplanting into a camera going after a foul ball, blood on his jersey. And, of course, the catalyst for the Giants' improbable run: Randy Winn.

(Peter Gammons just said Hoffman has not blown a save in September in three years.)

All those people who ripped Brian Sabean and Felipe Alou all season owe them both a frickin' apology.

I've given this team up for dead several times this season. And I was one of the optimistic ones (I didn't write them off until last month). A lot of people talk about athletes who make millions of dollars but don't try, don't hustle, don't respect the game, because it makes for good press. But the teams that keep grinding, even when no one thinks they have a legitimate shot, never get the attention they deserve. I've always said I don't need my team to win all the time, I just want them to make me believe we have a chance.

Tonight, it worked. I believe.

Everybody Hates Me

As baseball season winds down (at least for the Giants, barring a miracle), fall television season has graced us with its presence.

I missed the boat on Lost and Desperate Housewives, fell behind on 24 and Alias, and eventually fizzled on all the anime series I was watching last year. I had a good excuse though, I got married.

I have a big-time incentive to tune in this year. Two, actually. A sixty-inch TV and high-def.

The results so far:

• Kitchen Confidential was O.K. It tried hard to be quirky, but in the end it's looking like Cheers in a restaurant.
  
• My Name is Earl wasn't too bad. I had really high expectations since it had good word-of-mouth, and Jason Lee. I thought it was funny enough to watch again next week.
  
• The Office is still on the DVR.
  
• Lost didn't disappoint. Had to watch the Destination Lost special to catch up, since I've only seen two or three episodes from Season 1. It was, in a word, nuts.
  
• Invasion wasn't too bad. It suffers from the misfortune of essentially being a hour-long hurricane scene on the heels of the worst natural disaster in American history. It also suffers from following Lost, which makes its scare tactics seem almost pedestrian.
  
• Finally, Everybody Hates Chris not only lived up to expectations, it exceeded them. I wasn't sure how well a Chris Rock show without Chris Rock (he only narrates the show, but is surprisingly effective) would work, but it's very, very funny. The cast is terrific, the writing is sharp, and fans of Chris will find all sorts of references from his stand-up act (such as the big piece of chicken). Other than Lost, the best thing I watched all week. Too bad it's not in HD on Comcast.
  

No 24 until January, sadly.

UPDATE: The Office was very funny. It's the only British-imported sitcom that has been halfway decent. This, of course, means it and Earl are probably too smart for the masses, and are destined for cancellation. Hopefully, the success of The 40 Year Old Virgin will keep that from happening.

Yay for Arianna

I never thought ten years ago I'd say this (when her then-hubby tried to unseat Dianne Feinstein), but you should check out Arianna Huffington's website, The Huffington Post. It's scathing, Michael Moore-esque stuff. It's absolutely imperative that someone take the press in this country to task for pandering to the right wing (if you still think the media in this country is liberal, you should have your pulse checked).

I don't know when exactly she switched over from the dark side (it must've been before the California gubernatorial election, in which I realized she actually made a lot of sense), but more power to her.

Stupid Jeff Kent

Can't blame him really, the Giants had some chances to score, including a golden opportunity in the tenth with runners at the corners and one out.

Lots in the news today:

• Barbara Bush shows her sensitive side.
  
• FEMA dragged its fast on responding to Katrina (duh).
  
• Alan Dershowitz throws William Rehnquist under the bus. (Meanwhile, some Stanford Law guy whined on KTVU News tonight about The Farm's diminished stature on the Court. Boo Friggin' Hoo.)
  
• Karl Rove is trying to throw Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco under the bus. (I hope someone throws the phrase "blame game" under the bus.)
  
• Bush is now pushing John Roberts to be not just a Supreme Court justice, but the Chief.
  

Thanks for the memories, Flash.

Ending on a positive note.

Oh how, I've waited for this post.

After withstanding a lot of trash talk in April because of the Dodgers' hot start and the Giants' abyssmal one, the Giants have finally surpassed both the Dodgers and Diamondbacks in the span of two nights. And we're back in second place.

Supposedly, Bonds is rejoining the team next week in Los Angeles.

Think the Padres are scared? They should be.

Cal 41, Sac State 3

That score doesn't tell the whole story. Cal scored 31 unanswered in the second half. They had a 10-3 lead at the half.

Did I mention starting QB Nate Longshore broke his leg and may be out for the season? Or that our backup QB, Joe Ayoob, went 0-10 and did more overthrowing that the Bush administration? Or that we finished the game with our third-string QB, who played fullback for us last season? We also had a lot of trouble handing the ball off to Lynch - don't these guys practice?

The funny thing is we'll probably move up, as several teams ahead of us lost. And next week's opponent, Washington, lost already. Maybe we won't have too much trouble with them.

Could be a long season if Ayoob doen't step up. I don't think Lynch has much of a Heisman chance if we can't win at a regular clip.

Late Registration

(Katrina is frustrating. I can't give blood right now because I donated platelets too recently. Going to have to give good ol' American cash.)

Anyone catch Kanye West on the telethon last night? Holy crap!

Kanye West Rips Bush at Hurricane Aid Show

West went off the script and said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." He also said America is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible."

Good for him.

It takes major guts in this country to stand up to the administration. Kanye has new album out. Remember what happened to the Dixie Chicks? It was like career suicide when they came out against G-Dub.

I don't care if maybe it wasn't the right time or place for him to say that, or if his comments are off base. The fact is he said what I know lots of people are thinking. Just because he's doing a benefit for charity doesn't mean he should keep his mouth shut like a good boy and stick to the script.

I like Kanye's first album, College Dropout. In my circle of friends, I was alone in that respect. I felt it was a good album, but that the effort behind it - to return hip-hop to a better state - was admirable. Lately, I've been getting excited about his follow-up, Late Registration. West's been talking about wanting his album to be our generation's Song in the Key of Life or What's Going On. He's called for an end to gay-bashing in hip-hop, something that's always bugged me when trying to turn people on to hip-hop. His first single, "Diamonds of sierra Leone," was a socially-conscious take on the diamond industry (when's the last time you remember a socially conscious hip-hop song since Public Enemy stopped making good music?). Sure beats the typical 50-Cent-beef-with-everybody and generic-crunk-rapper-of-the-week flavor that's out there now.

If you liked Dropout, Registration doesn't disappoint. It's the most ambitious hip-hop album in some time. I think that's what I like the most about Kanye; it's that he's not afraid to push himself and others to make better music and to get away from the staleness that is pervasive in today's corporate radio world. He doesn't always succeed (he's gotten better, but his mic skills still need work) but that doesn't stop him from taking risks.

It's not the greatest hip-hop album ever, but compared to what's out there, this is the best thing going. Hip-hop is in a serious rut, hopefully this will shake things up and create some competition.

Katrina

Lots of things on my mind this week, but I'll start with the most important.

It's been a pretty rough week for America. Hurricane Katrina left its mark on our country, destroying one of our most culturally-rich cities in its wake. It's unfathomable that thousands of people survived the hurricane, but are stranded or dying because they cannot receive help. This event has deeply saddened people all over the country, and all over the world.

But not me. I'm furious.

When the hurricane blew through, initial reports indicated Biloxi, Mississippi had been hardest hit. Then details surfaced about New Orleans and the winds from Katrina tearing holes in the roof of the Louisiana Superdome. But the storm blew through and although property damage was widespread, it seemed that would be the end of it.

Then the levees broke.

The streets of New Orleans began to fill up with water. People at the Superdome began to get antsy as power failed and the bathrooms backed up. Oil rigs were destroyed and a pipeline was on fire. Reports of looting started to come in.

And the government did nothing.

The next day, anarchy supposedly broke out in New Orleans. There were rapes and looting and people attacking the cops. New Orleans cops shifted from rescuing people to fighting looters. How could this be happening in America. The most prosperous nation in the world? I asked Rhonda, "where the hell is the National Guard?"

Oh yeah, Iraq.

I started to get angry. It seems like we have no problem sending people to foreign nations (that we invaded, of course), but we don't have troops to send to our own country when something goes wrong.

The next morning, Bush sent in the National Guard. So you think I'd be happy.

Well, where the hell were they three days ago?

Finally, the Guard arrived and New Orleans is a ghost town (literally). But now comes word that people in rural Louisiana may be stranded and in even more danger, as they have neither communication with the outside world nor the National Guard in their town.

Katrina is the worst disaster since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. But this wasn't an earthquake. And it's not 1906. We knew about Katrina in advance, and we knew it was going to be huge. So what went wrong?

Most of the people stuck in Louisiana still are Black. But they're also poor. On CNN, they said 27% of people live in poverty, and 29% don't have a car. Even if they do have a car, has anyone seen the price of gas lately? Those people couldn't leave on their own if they wanted to.

For all the talk of looters, there were probably some people taking advantage of the situation. But the media reporting of the situation was completely skewed from the beginning. Many, if not most, of the looters were taking away food and water. If they weren't Black, would they have been labeled as looters?

Why was our government so slow to act? One theory is that we were tapped out because of the Iraq War. But if that was so, where did we find those 7,000 troops that got sent a couple days ago? Is it because the victims are poor and Black and not the type of people who vote in every election? When the Twin Towers fell on 9/11, we sure got there real quick. I hate to think that could be the reason, but it's probably worth considering.

The best theory I have is that after 9/11, America has shifted it's entire focus to fighting terrorism. We are prepared for the worst attack on our sovereign nation, but not for far-more-frequent natural disasters. (Why is FEMA in the Department of Homeland Security?) I have been reading Steven Levitt's Freakonomics lately and it's a fascinating read. Levitt says a child is 100 times more likely to die in a house with a swimming pool than a house with a gun, but that since a child dying from a gunshot is more traumatizing than drowning, it receives much more attention. It is a perfect analogy to what is happening in America under the Bush Administration.

Katrina and the disintegration of New Orleans needs to call attention to the actions of the Bush Administration over the past five years. It may be too late to elect someone else, but it's not to late for our Congressional representatives to start doing their jobs and challenging the policies of our President.

This can't continue. If there's an earthquake in the Bay Area and I'm trapped here for a week, will the National Guard come to help me, or will they leave me to die?

Hangover effect

Too much Fan Appreciation. Rhonda andI slept in til about 11:30. I don't know about her, but I am sore and dehydrated. Clear my calendar for the afternoon, I'm not doing jack.

Much appreciated.

Wow, what a day.

After a late start and a McDonald's breakfast, we hit the road. Our destination: Berkeley, for the Cal Football Fan Appreciation Day. It was very similar to a mix of the Giants' on-field photo day and FanFest.



It was cool, except I immediately regretted not bringing a Sharpie (some of the players didn't have them, and I would need it later) and we needed to be there much earlier.



First stop was to see Stockton's own Lavelle Hawkins, a transfer to Cal this season. Rhonda got up there and shouted out, "E-House!" He seemed pretty happy to see someone from home.



Aside from the player autographs (virtually the whole team was there), there were stations where the quarterbacks threw passes to you, you could hit the sled, or kick field goals.



There was also a sale of game-used jerseys and equipment, but we never made it there because the line was long. Instead, we got in line so I could get an autograph from Cal's next big thing, running back Marshawn Lynch.



While we were in the (very long) line for running back autographs, they announced the autographs were ending so the players could break for lunch. Maybe because he realized 90% of the people in line were there for him, Lynch made his way up the line to sign autographs. It was a classy act, showing him to be as great off the field as on.



After autographs we wandered around a bit. The longest line wasn't for Lynch though, it was for Coach Jeff Tedford.



The fans, especially the alumni, are nuts about this guy. Other than Dusty Baker, I don't think there has been this popular a coach in the Bay Area in the last 25 years. Bill Walsh was respected, but this guy is revered.



After a while, we were just screwing around. Here I am "running" through the big helmet they put at the end of the tunnel:



Rhonda takes end zone celebration to new levels:



On the way out, I posed with the cannon they fire off when Cal scores. Because of perspective, it looks like I'm about to smoke this fool next to me.



On the way out, we got hooked up with free burrito. They had free Coca-Cola Zero but ran out before we got there. The free burrito figured into my plans, so we could skip lunch. We walked back to campus and I picked up the Cal football DVD I'd been waiting to pick up. And a soda, I was dying of thirst.

It was getting to be about 1 so we hiked back to our car...and changed jerseys. And picked up a backpack and our seatbacks. Then it was off to the BART station, and off to the Giants game.

I'd forgotten how much walking is needed to get around Berkeley. By the time we walked downtown, got on BART, transferred to Muni, and arrived at the gate, it was the top of the seventh! And we were exhausted!

Normally that would be cause for concern, but today was also the first-ever Season Ticket Holder Appreciation Day at SBC Park. Or as I like to call it, "we're-sorry-the-team-sucks-so-we'll try-to-make-it-up-to-you day".



It was a pretty good three innings though - the Giants pulled out a nail-biter 2-1 behind Schmidt even though they demonstrated their usual lack of situational hitting ability, and Benitez lost command with two outs in the ninth.

After the game we headed for the portwalk, where we had a lengthy wait ahead of us to get into the park. They had told us it would be a picnic on the field, but other than that I didn't expect much. I just thought we would get to play catch on the field and see the dugouts. Imagine my surprise when they let us do whatever we wanted.

We picked a spot in left to settle into, the kind of place a blooper over the shortstop's head would land. They had food and beer stations on the map they gave us, and I was starving, so I went to get something and started counting what money I had left. I got there, and asked how much the sodas were.

Free. Hot dogs. Free. Vendors walking around handed out ice cream to us. Free. BEER. FREE. I didn't even want one. But how do you turn down frickin' free beer?



(Coincidentally, the guy in front of us in line, after pointing out the Kids' Fun Zone to his little ones, pointed to the beer stand and said, "this is the Daddy Fun Zone." High comedy.)

So it's a great day, we're on the field, people are playing catch and running the bases, the players are out signing autographs, and what does Rhonda do? Play Nintendogs (which, by the way, is a great game to play in public if you want people to think you are mentally ill, since you look like you are talking to yourself).



While I was partaking of free beer, a crowd gathered around the hot dog stand. That's because Todd Linden and Omar Vizquel were literally tossing hot dogs into the crowd.





After stuffing our faces, we started to mill around and, as usual, goof off.



We went down into the home dugout and back to the batting cage.



This sign tells us we must be special to be down here.



This is my favorite picture of the day. Considering how tired and sweaty we are from being in the sun and walking all day, we look pretty good. The home dugout is surprisingly luxurious (no report on the visitor's side).



Today, the role of Dave Righetti is played by Rhonda. Sadly, this is a pretty common sight this season.



This picture makes me laugh, because it looks like Rhonda is scoring from first.



After I noticed the battery was dying, we played catch on the first base line for about half-an-hour. They raffled off a lot of autographed stuff but we got none. They had a raffle for a "fantasy BP" session, on my birthday no less, so I felt it was in the stars for me to win that one. Nope.

The event was winding down but Scott Eyre and Ray Durham stuck around through the whole thing to sign autographs and meet fans. Very admirable. Again, no Sharpie...but I had enough in the battery to take one last picture with Scotty.



We were planning to eat Zachary's Pizza, but by the time we traveled back to the East Bay and walked to our car, we were ready to go home. Eventually, we had a bite to eat...at Target.

So we had a day packed with wall-to-wall sports goodness, and it only cost us maybe forty bucks for two fast-food meals and transportation. Not bad.

Can you believe it?

If the Giants win two more games and LA and Arizona lose two more, the Giants could be in a tie for second place. How did this happen?

I've always maintained if they could stay close until Bonds comes back, they have a good shot at the playoffs. I didn't know that meant the other teams in the division would fold like a house of cards, but hey, whatever works.

Keeping the action to a minimum.

Dillon, Becka, and Sarah Mae made the trip up today to eat some leftovers and check out the place. Joy, BJ, Adia, and Marv were also here.

We watched the Giants hang on to win (finally) and watched the A's drop one to the Royals (losing two out of three to a team that had lost almost twenty in a row, not a highlight). We watched some Chappelle and finished up with Sin City, which looked and sounded astonishing on my set-up.

Marv stuck around for longer than expected because Rhonda and I were showing him popjapan.tv re-runs off the PVR. We think we got him hooked on Sowelu, I think he's going to start recording it to see when her videos are on.

Signing off for tonight.