human tetris

run that by me again?

Understand the following sentence? Yea, sentence. Take the time to wrap your minds around this beauty:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

*equivalent to: Bison from upstate New York who are intimidated by other bison in their community also happen to intimidate other bison in their community.


So cool!

a blonde moment

I opened up a new pair of contacts today. It was way overdue, since I have biweekly disposable contacts but I manage to stretch them out to a month or longer. I routinely popped one into each eye, then hurried out the door to church.

Throughout the entire day, I noticed that I was experiencing blurred vision in my left eye. I've tried using rewetting drops and readjusting the position of the contact with my finger, in hopes of ridding whatever it was that was clouding my vision, but to no avail. I even tried yawning constantly, thinking that my natural tears would have a better vantage point of flushing out the problem. No luck.

The day is now ending. I just took out my contacts earlier than usual because the blurriness was giving me a headache. Out came two contacts from my left eye, the old one and the new one. I must have made the decision to crack open the new case in midst of putting on my contacts.

A sad "d'oh" from my mouth soon followed.

all you need is love

Congratulations paul and tammy... I envy you guys.

there's so much more.

Blindfolds removed. This is what happens when you decide to let go. Someone catches you, then lifts you higher than what you're really worth.

answer me this.

Borrowed from a friend's blog:

"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?" -Evan Almighty.

I think there just has to be more to life than treading water, going with the current, kicking furiously just to stay afloat. I want there to be mornings where I wake up and just feel thankful to be alive. Just once.

montreal

Good times. Beautiful shot. But paul is nowhere to be seen. Wait a minute.. there he is! How many of him are there?!

*answer: five

Yes, I know. I didn't have that much else to do.

b&w

For the first time,
this song finally makes sense.

I guess certain things will only reveal their true meaning
and purpose in due time. Trying to understand now
is just a chasing after the wind

which could
never be
caught.

they call her sara b

Sigh. I could listen to her all day. And I regret not getting her autograph when I had the chance at the Hotel Cafe, because she's gonna get huge.

Get her latest album, pretty please.

the landlord

I'm SO lucky not to have dealt with these types of landlords in college...

speak the truth

Putting Kobe in perspective

By Jemele Hill
Page 2

Kobe Bryant is better than Michael Jordan.

Not more successful.

Hasn't had a bigger economic impact.

Hasn't won more MVPs.

Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images

Kobe Bryant did something Michael Jordan never
did -- score 50-plus in four consecutive games.

Hasn't won more titles.

But he's a better player.

Kobe can do everything Michael did, and even a few things Michael couldn't do.

Kobe is just as good a defender. His killer instinct is just as pronounced. He can shoot, finish and explode. And just like Jordan, the more he's pissed off, the more unstoppable he is.

At the very least, Kobe's scoring spree over the last week should put to rest any lingering doubts that he's the best player in the NBA. Yes, better than Steve Nash, who is the best point guard, but not the lethal force that Kobe is. Yes, better than Dwyane Wade, who is certainly closer to the Kobe-Jordan level than LeBron James, but D-Wade's game is not as polished as Kobe's.

Kobe's streak of four straight 50-points-plus games is something none of those players can do, and it's something that hasn't been done since Wilt Chamberlain, who had an NBA-record seven straight 50-point games. Truthfully, Kobe should have tacked another 50 on Golden State on Sunday night.

Of course, the idea that Kobe is better than Jordan -- or even the best player in this league -- is as repugnant to some folks as a rectal exam. Even though Kobe has proven himself under pressure countless times, he gets the A-Rod treatment.

Kobe can't please anyone. And it doesn't help that most people suffer from revisionist history when it comes to Jordan, forgetting that he was just as poor a teammate and a ball hog and that he ran off coach Doug Collins like Kobe ran off Phil Jackson the first time.

In fact, you could argue that Jordan was even worse. Far as we know, Kobe hasn't jacked up any of his teammates the way Jordan punched out Steve Kerr and Will Perdue at practice.

Kobe will never be forgiven for Shaq's departure, but you're delusional if you think Jordan wouldn't have had any ego issues playing alongside a player with Shaq's star power.

The best-player argument shouldn't be determined by personal dislike. But if you want to take it there, fine. Jordan was hardly the ideal husband, but only the tabloids were brave enough to venture into his personal life. And what about those gambling issues? If Jordan's life had been covered like Kobe's, we would have an entirely different opinion of His Airness.

Besides a different level of media scrutiny, there was definitely a difference in the level of competition during Jordan's heyday compared to now.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

We ask you to step back and take an objective look. Isn't Kobe the best player in the NBA?

Yesterday's NBA player certainly was more fundamentally sound, but there's no question that today's player is bigger, stronger and faster. When Jordan played, he was a singular force that could not be equaled. Jordan was guarded by the likes of John Starks and Joe Dumars, who were fine players but weren't nearly as skilled or physically imposing as LeBron, D-Wade, Tracy McGrady or even Vince Carter.

The NBA is tougher now.

Kobe, like Michael, is surrounded with mediocre to below-average talent, and Phoenix, Dallas and San Antonio are all better than the Utah, Portland and the Charles Barkley-led Phoenix team that Michael met in the NBA Finals.

Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Patrick Ewing will be among the best centers ever, but none of them affected the league the way Shaq and Tim Duncan have. There are two two-time MVPs in Kobe's own conference (Duncan, Nash), which is a problem Jordan never faced during his championship runs. Seven-footers weren't launching 3s back then. Magic Johnson and the Lakers were on a downward spiral, and the Pistons were on their last legs. It was Michael and everyone else. That's not the case for Kobe.

The shame of it is that Kobe might finish his career without a MVP, even though his ability can be compared only to that of Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. All this time we've been looking for a player who is better than Jordan, but most of us can't get beyond whether we like or dislike Kobe as a person to recognize his contributions to the game.

Ultimately the MVP award will go to either Nash or Dirk Nowitzki, who are deserving this season, but neither are as good as Kobe. Dallas and Phoenix are strong enough to make the playoffs without their stars. The Lakers, however, are a lottery team without Kobe.

Now that's a valuable player.

Jemele Hill, a Page 2 columnist and writer for ESPN The Magazine, can be reached at jemeleespn@gmail.com.

shiny quarter

Thanks y'all. =)

hey now, you're an all-star

So coooool. =)

hello february

I get so much pleasure from figuring out riffs.

San Diego is an awesome town. Feeding paul's addiction to video games was not. Neither was his covert operation with andy on the macbook via vidchat.

Weekends exist so that you can eat mexican food at 3am.

I'm a type of person who when hearing a good song for the first time, replays it over and over until it's beaten and dead. I've been listening to Switchfoot's "Yesterdays" for the past three hours. And I'm still not done.

Life goes on. It's a gangsta's paradise.

show and tell

I have a pet fish.

His name is Dirty.

Dirty is dirty because I tend to wait until the last possible minute to clean his fish bowl. When the water turns a milky, foggy color, I know it's time.

Dirty doesn't mind waiting that long. He is a trooper.

In no way does he take after his owner. I'm actually very clean.

He seems to prefer the acoustic guitar over the wail of an electric guitar. He's mellow like that.

Dirty is surprisingly smart. He recognizes the little red-capped container as fish food. Whenever I place it close enough to the bowl, he immediately turns to it and stares. Who says that fish could only recollect the last seven seconds?

He's brilliant red... my favorite color.

I love Dirty.

viva

What a crazy two weeks of non-stop conferences in LA and Vegas. Of course, there was no escaping the customary donations at the blackjack tables, but celine dion, endless alaskan crab legs and the best (and free) waterworks show second only to Fantasmic left a great taste in my mouth.

"My Heart Will Go On" still doesn't make me cringe. I hope I don't have issues.

garden state

I've added screaming into an echoing abyss/canyon/ravine to my list of things-to-do. The feeling must be incredible.

This is your one opportunity to do something that no one has ever done before and that no one will copy throughout human existence. And if nothing else, you will be remembered as the one guy who ever did this. This one thing.

the most beautiful guitar I have ever seen

I have searched far and wide for a picture of this vintage strat ever since I first laid eyes on it last year. The man himself must've read my mind. Thank you JM.

Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful.

'06

Benefit #172 to having a blog: that you're able to refer back to your previous posts when writing about the current year in review. Many of those entries were pretty meaningless, even plain stupid, but I'm sure thankful that I've immortalized them through this blog regardless.

Extracting my wisdom teeth. Kobe's 81. My very inconsistently-updated song-of-the-weeks. Taking a chance. Revisiting berk. Finally getting my diplomas. Uncovering so much talent in indie music. Promethean sunsets. Celebrating with those who got married (angie & jude, cindy & paul, annette & abe) and those who've promised to (paul & tammy, gene & esther, linda & jomo, haejin & kevin). Aegon. Job promotion. Hanging out with my new fish. Shows & concerts. Places that I could cross of the list (denver, philly, jersey, new york, d.c., florida, north carolina, virginia). Griffiths. A full year without dad.

Once upon a time, I took the ushering in of the new year very seriously. I would will myself to stay up until the clock hit midnight, watch all the festivities on tv and even record them onto VHS so that I could look back on them one day as an old man. I would crawl back into bed when I couldn't stay awake any longer, but continue to have my own quiet celebrations as I eagerly dreamed of all the good that the new year has to offer. Then life reared its ugly head at many of us, spawning yet another new generation of eternal pessimists.

On the surface, many of these seemingly trivial events from this past year may give reason to believe that my year just came and left through the back door unnoticed. Instead, 2006 was a very trying year, as I'm sure it was for many.

By the same token, these events really doesn't do myself any justice in announcing the type of person I am today. Despite the laundry list of things that's happened, it's the unmentionables that's shaped me most. My family whom I love. My friends who couldn't be any more available and supportive. And God, with whom I've painfully wrestled for months, yet He continued to provide in spite of all my questions. Maybe all the answers haven't been dispensed yet, but He's given me a sufficient amount of peace to cope with that.

Have I grown more mature this year? Incrementally, I'm sure, but an improvement nonetheless. Has my outlook on life changed? Definitely better as I fall back to the basic truths. It doesn't matter if I'm the biggest screw-up or one who's always stayed within the lines. His grace redeems you way beyond what you're really worth.

I'm not a big fan of posting bible verses, but this one stood out in particular during Sung's message today (from Mark chap. 9):

"...but if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.
"'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."

What awaits for me in the new year? One thing's for certain: no more if's, woulda's, coulda's, and shoulda's. The lessons I've learned in '06 are coming with me.

Here's to a hopeful '07.

merry christmas

A little sarah for your christmas.

Sarah McLachlan - Wintersong

go bears!

(courtesy of larry hwu)

N.C.A.A. Psyop

Published: December 10, 2006

In March, the University of California at Berkeley men’s basketball team played its final home game against the University of Southern California, whose team was led by its star guard, Gabe Pruitt. Pruitt was in the midst of a terrific year for U.S.C., averaging about 17 points a game, and for Cal, as the U.C. Berkeley team is known, the game was a must-win if it was to get a bid to the N.C.A.A. tournament. Cal needed to figure out a way to keep Pruitt from having another monster outing.

The solution to how to neutralize Pruitt came not from a game plan of X’s and O’s but from military-style psychological operations. In the week leading up to the game, members of Cal’s Rally Committee, who earlier obtained Pruitt’s Instant Messenger screen name, created an I.M. account for a fictional U.C.L.A. coed named Victoria. “Victoria” began flirting with Pruitt, sending him photos of herself (pictures of a very attractive woman that the Cal students had taken off the Internet) and telling him that she and her friends wanted to party with him and his teammates back in L.A. after the game against Cal. Pruitt responded in kind, writing, “You look like you have a very fit body” and “Now I want to c u so bad,” and eventually giving her his phone number and agreeing to get together when he returned from the game.

On game day, when Pruitt went to the foul line for the first time, Cal students began chanting: “Victoria! Victoria!” and reciting Pruitt’s phone number. Pruitt, a 79 percent free-throw shooter on the season, missed both shots and had one of his worst games of the year, shooting 3 for 13 from the field. Cal won the game by 11 points and went on to the N.C.A.A. tournament.

After the loss, Pruitt said of the Psyop tactic: “I’ve never seen anything like that, that big. It’s up there.” He then added, “My dad got a kick out of it, but he kind of told me to be careful.”

hahahahhah. sigh.

As an addendum to my previous post, this one sums it up pretty well.

simple pleasures

Captivated by the lighted trees all over downtown disney. Soaking in the tunes of a jazz trio as I loaf around outside on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Gleefully playing mario kart DS against other enthusiasts, hoping that you cross the finish line without getting slammed by a red shell, or even worse, the blue shell.

These are quiet reminders of all that is good and meaningful in the world.

hope

He never lets go. He just won't.

shaq who?

I absolutely LOVE the way how Andrew Bynum hustles on the floor. He's quick, has good hands, makes his free throws, and brings energy to the entire team. When (yes, when) we make playoffs this season, look to him to be one of the main reasons why.

And I couldn't ask for a better introduction to LA Kings hockey than watching a game in which they tied the Minnesota Wild late in the third period, sending it to sudden-death overtime, but they just couldn't get it done in the sudden-death shootout. I just couldn't help but think that they could have won had they used the Flying V or the knucklepuck. I know, wrong team. Hockey at Staples Center was surprisingly fun nonetheless.. thanks butch!