Dick Cheney, wtf are you wearing? You're respresenting all of us in the eyes of the world and you look like you're about to shovel your driveway.
University of San Francisco, wtf? Are there not enough white people on your campus already?
WTF? Pokemon causes cancer? I think deep down we all knew it was true.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
OK, one more.
This was in the elevator at the Tokyo Metropolian Government Building. You know you want to kick it at the Crunk Trunk! (What?!? Yeah!!!)
Because I never posted pictures from Comic-Con
Here I am, unleashing the inner fanboy, with the one, the only, BENDIS!
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo
Kinda bored and been neglecting my blog duties, so thought I'd check in.
Rhonda and I have been sick for a couple weeks, my sinus are on fire like Tom Brady in a playoff game and my lungs are chock full of gunky goodness. Trying to avoid a trip to the doctor - not because I'm scared, but because it'll cost me forty bucks to get some antibiotics so I can feel ten percent better than I already feel. We'll see how I feel in the morning.
This apartment will never be clean until we leave it. You just can't cram 1000 square feet of stuff into 650 square feet. The worst spot is the bedroom, a.k.a. "The room where we throw all the crap from the living room whenever people are coming over."
All I've done since the start of the year is read anything I can get my hands on - books, websites, magazines - regarding a couple of things I have planned for 2005. Don't want to talk it up too much, let's just say they both involve me paying less taxes next year.
When does baseball season start?
I miss the sun. Please come back.
I hate winter. It's a good thing I didn't go to MIT, I don't think I could've handled snow and cold weather. It's not like there are a lot of Mexicans there either (well, not compared to here), I bet the Mexican food is crappy. I don't know about Chinese people either. And I don't see a lot of MIT alums at work talking about their bowl game.
(I bet people who didn't know I'm half-Chinese and half-Mexican didn't know what the hell I was talking about back there.)
Sometimes I can't sleep at night because I find myself thinking about relationships, and where they went wrong, and why. And, no, I wasn't talking about any of my own. I analyze and run things over and over in my brain, pinpointing moments in time where something went awry, wondering what I might've done differently in someone else's place. I look at the big picture and wonder why I'm the only one who can see the forest for the trees. Then I think of what an incredibly arrogant ass that makes me sound like.
I guess I'll call it a night. I have a lovely wife and a firm, warm, slightly undersized bed waiting for me through that door over there. I guess I just love being home.
Rhonda and I have been sick for a couple weeks, my sinus are on fire like Tom Brady in a playoff game and my lungs are chock full of gunky goodness. Trying to avoid a trip to the doctor - not because I'm scared, but because it'll cost me forty bucks to get some antibiotics so I can feel ten percent better than I already feel. We'll see how I feel in the morning.
This apartment will never be clean until we leave it. You just can't cram 1000 square feet of stuff into 650 square feet. The worst spot is the bedroom, a.k.a. "The room where we throw all the crap from the living room whenever people are coming over."
All I've done since the start of the year is read anything I can get my hands on - books, websites, magazines - regarding a couple of things I have planned for 2005. Don't want to talk it up too much, let's just say they both involve me paying less taxes next year.
When does baseball season start?
I miss the sun. Please come back.
I hate winter. It's a good thing I didn't go to MIT, I don't think I could've handled snow and cold weather. It's not like there are a lot of Mexicans there either (well, not compared to here), I bet the Mexican food is crappy. I don't know about Chinese people either. And I don't see a lot of MIT alums at work talking about their bowl game.
(I bet people who didn't know I'm half-Chinese and half-Mexican didn't know what the hell I was talking about back there.)
Sometimes I can't sleep at night because I find myself thinking about relationships, and where they went wrong, and why. And, no, I wasn't talking about any of my own. I analyze and run things over and over in my brain, pinpointing moments in time where something went awry, wondering what I might've done differently in someone else's place. I look at the big picture and wonder why I'm the only one who can see the forest for the trees. Then I think of what an incredibly arrogant ass that makes me sound like.
I guess I'll call it a night. I have a lovely wife and a firm, warm, slightly undersized bed waiting for me through that door over there. I guess I just love being home.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
The Dark Side Ending Sucks
I was about to say how much I thought had improved in KOTOR II until I beat the game...finally. And the ending sucked. And after not having died for a few days, I died repeatedly on the last battle. All I wanted was to go to sleep.
This was the worst game ending I've come across since Final Fantasy VII's epilogue, where everyone said, "What the hell was that all about?" The game itself was fun despite a lot more glitches than the first, and I'd still recommend it, but after 40-something hours, what a letdown.
This was the worst game ending I've come across since Final Fantasy VII's epilogue, where everyone said, "What the hell was that all about?" The game itself was fun despite a lot more glitches than the first, and I'd still recommend it, but after 40-something hours, what a letdown.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Off my fat ass, TivoToGo, Amato's
Finally, I cleared the miscellaneous crap that was blocking it and used my Gazelle tonight while I watched World Poker Tour on the TiVo. It was a pretty productive day - I got the long-overdue USB cable for my scanner, made a sizeable dent in the post-holiday train wreck that was our living room, washed some pants so I don't have to wear shorts or pajamas in the rain anymore, and finally installed the receiver Marv got us for our wedding-slash-Christmas.
I also have to say I got my TiVo upgrade today and TivoToGo totally kicks ass. It took me all of half-an-hour to break the DRM on the video, so right now I'm converting the Travel Channel special on Tokyo DisneySea to AVI so I can cut the commercials and make a nice DVD of all the places we visited in Tokyo. (Insomniac with Dave Attell and X-Play at the Tokyo Game Show are next.) Legally ambiguous uses aside, it'll be pretty nice to bring stuff we didn't have time to watch to Stockton with us or on long trips with the laptop. Great feature, now if only they can get it to work the other way around.
Lastly, I must wax eloquent on the beauty, no, the perfection, that is the Amato's cheesesteak. Rhonda was a dear and went out to pick one up from me today while I was cleaning up (and, ahem, watching football) and I haven't eaten anything since then. That was at 1. They're just so good, it's too bad the fries get all soggy when you take an order to go (trust me, they are pretty damn good themselves when you eat them there).
I think I'll read a bit before I call it a night. Ciao for now.
I also have to say I got my TiVo upgrade today and TivoToGo totally kicks ass. It took me all of half-an-hour to break the DRM on the video, so right now I'm converting the Travel Channel special on Tokyo DisneySea to AVI so I can cut the commercials and make a nice DVD of all the places we visited in Tokyo. (Insomniac with Dave Attell and X-Play at the Tokyo Game Show are next.) Legally ambiguous uses aside, it'll be pretty nice to bring stuff we didn't have time to watch to Stockton with us or on long trips with the laptop. Great feature, now if only they can get it to work the other way around.
Lastly, I must wax eloquent on the beauty, no, the perfection, that is the Amato's cheesesteak. Rhonda was a dear and went out to pick one up from me today while I was cleaning up (and, ahem, watching football) and I haven't eaten anything since then. That was at 1. They're just so good, it's too bad the fries get all soggy when you take an order to go (trust me, they are pretty damn good themselves when you eat them there).
I think I'll read a bit before I call it a night. Ciao for now.
Friday, January 07, 2005
U$C
Oh yeah, way to go U$C for beating the crap out of Oklahoma and making the Pac-10 (and Cal) look a little better. People were starting to think the Pac-10 was soft and it was good to see all those East Coast sports "journalists" (that's right, ESPN, you) who thought Okalahoma would win in a walk get shown up. Maybe they should stay awake for some West Coast football once in a while, or at least TiVo it.
I think Cal and U$C could be building a great rivalry for the Pac-10 title. Cal is the only team in two seasons to beat Southern Cal (and really, the only team to come very close), and the only team to have a 100-yard rusher against the Trojan defense (and they did it both times, with Echimandu and Arrington). Cal was probably a couple of special teams plays away from a share of the national title this year. (Cal beats $C, Cal beats Michigan in the Rose, and share the title with the winner of the Auburn/Oklahoma Orange Bowl.)
EDIT: OK, so UCLA was close too.
I think Cal and U$C could be building a great rivalry for the Pac-10 title. Cal is the only team in two seasons to beat Southern Cal (and really, the only team to come very close), and the only team to have a 100-yard rusher against the Trojan defense (and they did it both times, with Echimandu and Arrington). Cal was probably a couple of special teams plays away from a share of the national title this year. (Cal beats $C, Cal beats Michigan in the Rose, and share the title with the winner of the Auburn/Oklahoma Orange Bowl.)
EDIT: OK, so UCLA was close too.
Open letter from 49er owners to fans
Well, here it is.
I gotta hand it to them to have the guts to reach out to their (disgusted) fan base, but it's all talk unless they spend some money to back it up. They're not going to get Pete Carroll (if Pacific could have kept Carroll or Walt Harris, would they still be playing football there?) and I can't imagine what they will use to lure a coach here, or free agent for that matter. Lemme see, bad stadium, cheap ownership, an utter lack of talented offensive players...
I've taken a pledge not to purchase any 49ers merchandise or pay to see them play until the Yorks sell the team or at least make an effort to be competitive. (The only thing standing in the way of that would be a Niners Aaron Rodgers or J.J. Arrington jersey.) As weak as the entire NFC was this year, the 49ers must really, really suck to finish 2-14.
The Yorks say, "no one expected a 2-14 season." That's not exactly true. Before they'd even taken a snap, I said they would be lucky to win three games. Rhonda said they would win one. We were both pretty close.
I gotta hand it to them to have the guts to reach out to their (disgusted) fan base, but it's all talk unless they spend some money to back it up. They're not going to get Pete Carroll (if Pacific could have kept Carroll or Walt Harris, would they still be playing football there?) and I can't imagine what they will use to lure a coach here, or free agent for that matter. Lemme see, bad stadium, cheap ownership, an utter lack of talented offensive players...
I've taken a pledge not to purchase any 49ers merchandise or pay to see them play until the Yorks sell the team or at least make an effort to be competitive. (The only thing standing in the way of that would be a Niners Aaron Rodgers or J.J. Arrington jersey.) As weak as the entire NFC was this year, the 49ers must really, really suck to finish 2-14.
The Yorks say, "no one expected a 2-14 season." That's not exactly true. Before they'd even taken a snap, I said they would be lucky to win three games. Rhonda said they would win one. We were both pretty close.
Monday, January 03, 2005
Some stuff I did this winter.
So I left Knights of the Old Republic II and the Xbox at home for Christmas. I was determined to read and watch some stuff from the monumental backlog of crap I had bought but never found time for. Driving to San Diego and back and hanging around my mother-in-law's provided a great opportunity to read some long-overdue comics.
Way back in October, I blabbed about picking up the Wong Kar-Wai DVD boxset. I finally got around to watching Days of Being Wild, Wong's breakout film about a shiftless love-'em-and-leave-'em type in the Sixties and the women he seduces, then drops like a bad habit when they get too attached. It's a good movie, sort of the anti-Chungking Express. Both films feature heartbroken characters, but where CKE was about people moving on with their lives, the characters in Days don't seem to be able to let go of the past, or are unable to connect with the ones they long for. This film seems to be a prequel of sorts for In the Mood For Love, as Tony Leung appears in the last scene, which has nothing to do with anything that preceded it. 2046 is a sequel of sorts to that film, so something tells me a back-to-back-to-back viewing of these three films is in my near future.
Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers was the best story arc to date. I had started to give up on Fables, as I thought it was an original concept but a little slow, but this was a great read and I'm still on board for future collections.
Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo's Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 was, well, fantastic. I was a little leery since I've always thought the FF were a little dull (something Waid attests to in his notes at the back of the book), but this is a great story with humor, suspense, pretty art, and, of course, Dr. Doom. But it also conveys these characters as family, something other books often try but few succeed at.
The Losers: Double Down is the second installment of the stylish action thriller about CIA operatives presumed dead who return to settle a score with the shadowy figure who left them for dead. Robert Ludlum and Tony Scott got together to make a comic, this would be it. Very satisfying.
I also went old-school Marvel with Essential Tomb Of Dracula Volume 1 and Volume 2. These are reprints of the great '70s Marvel horror series by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan. Having a thing for vampires, I have to say these are a lot of fun, if a bit dated at times. Can't wait to move onto Volume 3.
I took a shot at Dave Gibbons'
The Originals, you know, from the other guy who created The Watchmen. It wasn't too bad, sort of a Blade-Runner-meets-Rebel-Without-A-Cause, retro sci-fi tale. It was an enjoyable read, but nothing too memorable.
Queen and Country: Operation: Dandelion is the latest story arc of Greg Rucka's excellent espionage series, with art by Mike Hawthorne. This one's all office politics, but it's no less gritty or suspenseful than previous stories. Seriously, this is a fantastic read. If the BBC produced 24 and then made it into a comic, it would be Q&C.
Supreme Power Vol. 2: Powers and Principalities continues Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski's take on Marvel's Justice League knockoffs Squadron Supreme. Imagine if Superman had been raised by the government at the height of the Cold War and not Ma and Pa Kent, and you get the idea. I thought the first six issues were just okay so I stopped buying it, but this collection really picks up the steam (not to mention the violence, nudity, and profanity). Gary Frank's art is great, the story is building momentum, and this is a series to keep an eye on.
On the manga front, Ray was pretty enjoyable. It has a great premise, about a nurse who performs surgery without a license on the black market, and an intriguing backstory. I read about this in Newtype and liked the look of the art, and I'm glad I took a chance on it.
See? I told you I was busy.
Way back in October, I blabbed about picking up the Wong Kar-Wai DVD boxset. I finally got around to watching Days of Being Wild, Wong's breakout film about a shiftless love-'em-and-leave-'em type in the Sixties and the women he seduces, then drops like a bad habit when they get too attached. It's a good movie, sort of the anti-Chungking Express. Both films feature heartbroken characters, but where CKE was about people moving on with their lives, the characters in Days don't seem to be able to let go of the past, or are unable to connect with the ones they long for. This film seems to be a prequel of sorts for In the Mood For Love, as Tony Leung appears in the last scene, which has nothing to do with anything that preceded it. 2046 is a sequel of sorts to that film, so something tells me a back-to-back-to-back viewing of these three films is in my near future.
Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers was the best story arc to date. I had started to give up on Fables, as I thought it was an original concept but a little slow, but this was a great read and I'm still on board for future collections.
Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo's Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 was, well, fantastic. I was a little leery since I've always thought the FF were a little dull (something Waid attests to in his notes at the back of the book), but this is a great story with humor, suspense, pretty art, and, of course, Dr. Doom. But it also conveys these characters as family, something other books often try but few succeed at.
The Losers: Double Down is the second installment of the stylish action thriller about CIA operatives presumed dead who return to settle a score with the shadowy figure who left them for dead. Robert Ludlum and Tony Scott got together to make a comic, this would be it. Very satisfying.
I also went old-school Marvel with Essential Tomb Of Dracula Volume 1 and Volume 2. These are reprints of the great '70s Marvel horror series by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan. Having a thing for vampires, I have to say these are a lot of fun, if a bit dated at times. Can't wait to move onto Volume 3.
I took a shot at Dave Gibbons'
The Originals, you know, from the other guy who created The Watchmen. It wasn't too bad, sort of a Blade-Runner-meets-Rebel-Without-A-Cause, retro sci-fi tale. It was an enjoyable read, but nothing too memorable.
Queen and Country: Operation: Dandelion is the latest story arc of Greg Rucka's excellent espionage series, with art by Mike Hawthorne. This one's all office politics, but it's no less gritty or suspenseful than previous stories. Seriously, this is a fantastic read. If the BBC produced 24 and then made it into a comic, it would be Q&C.
Supreme Power Vol. 2: Powers and Principalities continues Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski's take on Marvel's Justice League knockoffs Squadron Supreme. Imagine if Superman had been raised by the government at the height of the Cold War and not Ma and Pa Kent, and you get the idea. I thought the first six issues were just okay so I stopped buying it, but this collection really picks up the steam (not to mention the violence, nudity, and profanity). Gary Frank's art is great, the story is building momentum, and this is a series to keep an eye on.
On the manga front, Ray was pretty enjoyable. It has a great premise, about a nurse who performs surgery without a license on the black market, and an intriguing backstory. I read about this in Newtype and liked the look of the art, and I'm glad I took a chance on it.
See? I told you I was busy.
Aaron Rodgers, we hardly knew ye
Cal's fantastic, Montana-esque quarterback Aaron Rodgers is heading for a crappy NFL franchise near you. I would love to see him with the Niners (although I would feel really sorry for him), but I'm not sure he's a number one pick (unless the Niners trade down, which is always possible). Although when Cal played USC at Southern Cal, Rodgers clearly had a better game than Matt Leinart, the Heisman Trophy winner.
Anyone who cares knows by now that Texas Tech smoked Cal in the Holiday Bowl, prompting Rhonda to want to bomb Texas off the map and forcing me to regret buying a Holiday Bowl shirt before the game. Rough month for California, getting shafted by the BCS (but prompting clever "BCS - C = BS" shirts), getting their butts handed to them by a team their BCS nemesis Texas beat by 30, and finally, watching Michigan choke down the stretch at Pasadena to the hated Longhorns.
I was scared about Texas Tech but in denial, because I knew two things. Geoff MacArthur's injury against Southern Miss was the beginning of the end - of his Cal career (sadly, injured for both the Insight and Holiday Bowls), of the Rose Bowl hopes, and effectively, Cal's season. Without MacArthur or Chase Lyman, Rodgers wasn't likely to have anyone get open against Texas Tech. And having seen Cal all season, I knew the secondary was their weakness. I'm incredibly surprised no team had exploited that all season, but looking at Texas Tech's stats I knew it was a bad match-up.
How would Cal have done against Michigan and their freshman quarterback? We'll never know. Cal still deserved that Bowl, regardless of the outcomes - bowl games are awarded for season performance, not for which team is better at the end, an injury-ravaged California or a relatively-healthy Texas.
Wait till next year!
Anyone who cares knows by now that Texas Tech smoked Cal in the Holiday Bowl, prompting Rhonda to want to bomb Texas off the map and forcing me to regret buying a Holiday Bowl shirt before the game. Rough month for California, getting shafted by the BCS (but prompting clever "BCS - C = BS" shirts), getting their butts handed to them by a team their BCS nemesis Texas beat by 30, and finally, watching Michigan choke down the stretch at Pasadena to the hated Longhorns.
I was scared about Texas Tech but in denial, because I knew two things. Geoff MacArthur's injury against Southern Miss was the beginning of the end - of his Cal career (sadly, injured for both the Insight and Holiday Bowls), of the Rose Bowl hopes, and effectively, Cal's season. Without MacArthur or Chase Lyman, Rodgers wasn't likely to have anyone get open against Texas Tech. And having seen Cal all season, I knew the secondary was their weakness. I'm incredibly surprised no team had exploited that all season, but looking at Texas Tech's stats I knew it was a bad match-up.
How would Cal have done against Michigan and their freshman quarterback? We'll never know. Cal still deserved that Bowl, regardless of the outcomes - bowl games are awarded for season performance, not for which team is better at the end, an injury-ravaged California or a relatively-healthy Texas.
Wait till next year!
Back from hiatus
Sorry I haven't had an update in a month (!), but life keeps getting in the way.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas (or whatever it is you celebrate, or at least maybe some time off) and a Happy New Year. Mine was not bad, but not particularly good. It's been a rough month - Lou's mom passed away after a battle with lung cancer, the tsunami hit the Indian Ocean, and then, a couple days after Christmas, I went to a funeral to bury a friend.
Rhonda and I weren't real close to Gonzalo; she staffed his retreat, and for both of us our memories of him are from World Youth Day in 2000. It didn't really matter, when I read the news of his death at twenty-two the week before Christmas, I could only sit there at my desk, stunned. I remember driving home that evening, reminiscing on that summer in Europe four years ago, and trying to think when I had seen him last.
Gonzalo's untimely passing has had me thinking about my own mortality. This is the first time in my life someone I know my age or younger has died. It's too difficult to comprehend - how it happened, why it happened - and it has forced me to rethink what I have done with my time on this earth. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon, but this just shows it's not my call.
The night I learned of his death Rhonda and I went to Oakridge to do some Christmas shopping. We ate something at the food court, and I went to fill up my drink, and they had Orange Fanta at the beverage bar. Aranciata Fanta. I thought of Gonzalo and swallowed the lump in my throat.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas (or whatever it is you celebrate, or at least maybe some time off) and a Happy New Year. Mine was not bad, but not particularly good. It's been a rough month - Lou's mom passed away after a battle with lung cancer, the tsunami hit the Indian Ocean, and then, a couple days after Christmas, I went to a funeral to bury a friend.
Rhonda and I weren't real close to Gonzalo; she staffed his retreat, and for both of us our memories of him are from World Youth Day in 2000. It didn't really matter, when I read the news of his death at twenty-two the week before Christmas, I could only sit there at my desk, stunned. I remember driving home that evening, reminiscing on that summer in Europe four years ago, and trying to think when I had seen him last.
Gonzalo's untimely passing has had me thinking about my own mortality. This is the first time in my life someone I know my age or younger has died. It's too difficult to comprehend - how it happened, why it happened - and it has forced me to rethink what I have done with my time on this earth. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon, but this just shows it's not my call.
The night I learned of his death Rhonda and I went to Oakridge to do some Christmas shopping. We ate something at the food court, and I went to fill up my drink, and they had Orange Fanta at the beverage bar. Aranciata Fanta. I thought of Gonzalo and swallowed the lump in my throat.
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