Pachelbel Rant

Pachelbel Rant

As much as I like Pachelbel's Canon in D, I did want to share this YouTube video on this one guy's humorous take of the Canon in D melody. Evidently this guy appreciated Pachelbel so much he decided to rant about how ubiquitous the melody is in all forms of music over the years. Quite true, in fact...

Warriors vs. Rockets game

With Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets in town last night, I decided to drive to the Oracle Arena in Oakland and check it out. Yao-sers, what a freaking awesome game, as the Warriors beat the Rockets 109-107 on Baron Davis' clutch three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left in the game.
The Warriors winning this game would have been enough to make my day, but there were so many other exciting subplots worth noting. Of course, Yao Ming was in town, drawing the usual flock of Chinese people to the arena to watch him play. He didn't disappoint, pouring in 38 points with various turnaround jumpers, layups, dunks, and perfect free-throw shooting. He also played great defense, getting 18 rebounds and 2 blocks. This guy is as solid fundamentally as any non-American basketball player in the NBA... bordering on mechanical in fact. In this game, he was dominant and nearly unstoppable - justifiably the best center in the NBA right now. (For proof, see this YouTube video of the Warriors Rockets game featuring all Rockets highlights).

The Warriors offense wasn't too shabby either. Nellieball was on full display as 5 players scored in double digits, led by Baron Davis and his 34 points and 8 assists. The game was even for most of the first half, but the Rockets went on a scoring spree in the 3rd quarter to take a double digit lead. However, the Warriors made a dramatic comeback in the 4th quarter to eventually tie the score. But with the Rockets up 4 with less than minute left, Mike Dunleavy converted a three-point play, and then Yao missed a jumper at the other end when the Rockets needed him the most. Then BD dribbled up to the top of the key and drained a 3-point shot behind an Adonal Foyle screen with 1.2 seconds left for a narrow Warriors victory. I mean, how much more dramatic could this game have been? (See NBA TV Top 3 Warriors Highlights for this game... Foyle block on Yao, Baron splitting the Rockets' defense for a dunk, Baron's game-winning trey).

And to top it all off, the Warriors scored more than 102 points in the game. Free two liter soda, baby.

Drinking Coca-Cola

Although I am not an avid soda pop drinker, I was intrigued by what this link had to say about drinking Coke.

What Happens To Your Body If You Drink A Coke Right Now?

• In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
  
• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get it’s hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
  
• 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dialate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
  
• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
  
• >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
  
• >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
  
• >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

I'm guessing this is not much different when I have my weekly Diet Pepsi intake.

Cal vs. UCLA Football Game

Cal's DeSean Jackson Punt Return TD And Thomas DeCoud Block Vs. UCLA

Wow, what a great game. Cal was dominating as they won 38-24. They put on quite a show against a perennially tough UCLA squad, tearing apart their ranked defense with ease. UCLA controlled most of the play in the first half, but didn't matter as Cal scored on their few possessions. Overall, QB Nate Longshore had 3 touchdown passes, RB Marshawn Lynch had 2 TDs (one receiving, one rushing), WR Robert Jordan had two TD receptions, and WR DeSean Jackson returned a punt back for a 72 yard TD as well. Seems like every week that this guy is returning a punt back for a TD.

Although the above mentioned highlights contributed to the Cal vicory, the talk of the game was the Thomas DeCoud hit that sprung Jackson free for his punt return TD. Boy, was it huge. We could all hear it in the student section when it happened. He literally came out of nowhere and knocked down two Bruins unexpectedly. (Although the UCLA player came away with a concussion, the block was perfectly legal). If you haven't seen it yet, watch it above...

Man With A Plan

Woohoo an update. I could stop writing now and still feel fulfilled that I've placed a recent entry into this blog after over a month of idleness.

But alas, I will continue to write more gibberish. Like why I'm updating this thing today? I started thinking about why I still use this thing and for what purpose it should serve to the general online community.

Six years ago, I was a college student in Berkeley updating my website because I was just learning HTML and so that meant I was l33t (I think).

Four years ago, I was just out of college, and entering the working world. This meant more free time to dabble with my webpage. My digital camera purchase also aided in the added content of this webpage.

Two years ago, I was traveling the world (well, mostly Taiwan) on business, so updating my website was to help me unforget how to write coherent English sentences. (Evidentally, updating my website didn't help me refrain from making up English words however). Using blogger to publish blog updates was more efficient than cutting and pasting entries into HTML code.

Fast forward to today. Why do I write here today? I am firmly planted here in Campbell (with occasional stops to San Diego), so my command of English should not worsen. I'm looking to upgrade my measly 2.0 Megapixel digital camera, so more pictures to share courtesy of the Flickrs and Picasa Web Albums and Sharpcasts of this worldwideweb. And sports, boy do I love sports. More random takes on how my beloved Sharks and Warriors are doing this year, as well as games that I've been to. Stock tips? I could try this, but no guarantee that I'll choose ones that go up. But mainly I want to outline my travels. I seem to be traveling more, so I'd like to recount my excursions here so that I won't forget some details when the next time I'm at a cocktail party and I tell someone of my adventures only to forget where the heck I was. And god knows how I suck at remembering good jokes.

All talk and no walk you say? Perhaps, but it's the 1st of November, and might as well have a new year's resolution too early than too late. It's called planning ahead, baby. Peace out.

Labor Day Road Trip

I guess it's about time for an update.

Chicago, IL -> Milwaukee, WI -> Detroit, MI ->
Toronto, ON -> Niagara Falls, ON -> Cleveland, OH -> Chicago, IL.

8 days, 7 nights, 6 major cities, 5 states, 4 baseball games in 4 days, 3 different style pizzas, 2 countries, 1 heckuva road trip. :P

1650+ miles driven. More details to follow.

Warriors Offseason 2006

I guess I'm due for an update. How about my humble opinion on the offseason for the Golden State Warriors 2006-2007?

After another losing season and a promise by Warriors' GM Chris Mullin to make some wholesale changes this offseason to improve last year's team, the only major transaction he made was trading Derek Fisher away for three players whose names I can't even remember. And drafting a tall guy whose last name is a fusion of Kobe and Shaq's last names (O'Bryant). Imagine if his basketball skills were a fusion of Kobe and Shaq?!? But I digress.

But to make up for his lack of transactions, Mully surprised everyone by abruptly "mutually parting ways" with Coach Montogmery (i.e. a nicer way of saying you're fired) and replaced him with former Warriors head coach Don Nelson. Whoa, Nellie. Talk about turning back the clock, this must be an Oakland thing or something (see the re-hiring of Art Shell as coach of the Oakland Raiders this year).

Well, I must admit I really like this move. The Warriors do already have talent. They can run and score with ease. They don't play defense. So the current personnel is a perfect complement to Coach Nelson's run and gun offensive style. Also, sports pundits have been praising this move and even are going so far as to predict the Warriors making the playoff this year! As if we've never heard this before...

Believe it or not, the Nellie era is back, and I can't wait. Run BJM, anyone?