Saturday Just played ball w/ a bunch of high school friends. Nice to see everyone. I didn't play well due to my weakened condition.

Went to my uncle's new house in Burlingame on Friday. It's huge!!! Here are the vital stats:

- 75,000 square feet
- 5 bedrooms, 4 have walk-in closet and jacuzzis
- nice view of the city and SFO
- bar
- huge refrigerator
- project tv screen
- tons of niceties everywhere

Uncle gave us the tour, causually dropping things like "chandelier cost $35K, retaining wall was $800K" ... Anyways, I was more impressed that they had a urinal in the bathroom! Was also admiring the Mercedes SLK convertible and the Porshe in the garage. It's a really nice house but I get the feeling it's too big for just the two of them. They probably want their kids to move in someday.

Need to read more, trying to NOT waste most of my time...  ¶ 5:39 PM 0 comments

  It's 11:30 a.m.... rolled out of bed

cut myself a big chunk of pumpkin pie

poured me some sparkling apple cidar

watched some vids

back to bed

I love holidays!  ¶ 11:36 AM 0 comments

  IPOD ... Arghhhh got 4 referrals and waiting on one last one. WEI!!! What's going on w/ my referral! Oh yeah you went to Indonisia to get married :p Anyways need one last referral to kick in before I get my Ipod. Getting people to do this was pretty hard (some people reacted like I was asking for a kidney ...), gotta thank the people who did.

Gio - thanks foo. First one to help me out.
My bro - thanks bro. No you can't steal my Ipod ...
Kenny - another good pal. Though I had to freakin' beg him to do it. Hope you are getting it on w/ the hotties in Taiwan.

- ok, side topic. The "la-mei" who go to the pubs in TW. TOOOOOOO FREAKIN' HOT. I kid you not. Extremely stunning, did not know girls like that existed. Certainly not around my area! :( Though I didn't get a chance to go to Luxy (line too long), I saw the bevy of beauties in line. Warner Village pub had a ton of em too. Ken you are one lucky fellow. Now send me pics!

Albert - coworker, gave me his CC and I did all the work (sign-up, cancel service).

And waiting on Wei's referral which hopefully will kick in soon.

Oh yeah, choosing the 20gb ipod over the mini. Was a difficult decision for me, but for once NOT choosing form over function. Worried about scratches and stuff but will buy some kind of shell for it.

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  I need a board!.... Still not feeling too hot. Though I was cleared by the doctor, still don't feel quite right. Just hope it goes away soon in time for boarding season.

Last season saved a ton of money borrowing my brother's friend's gear. That's two degrees of separation there, I really have to thank him (cuz I prolly would never let anyone borrow my gear! Unless they begged really hard). Prolly saved around $300 in rentals. Anyways, this year decided to buy my own stuff. Which meant hours of research - when I'm about to spend a grip of $$$ I always comb the net for info.

Most of my friends got "combo deals" which means getting the boots/bindings/board in one shot. I decided to mix and match, which considerably ups the amount I'm going to be spending. Also went to the local store a bunch of times to try on boots and stuff.

Bindings: DRAKE PODIUM. Bought these off Ebay for $66! Just got them today, they were used and not the latest model. Still are in pretty good shape. Got lucky with the bidding since I saw it pretty last second. I was going to wait to get DRAKE MATRIX bindings but those would be like $150 ish plus the Podiums have a few things going for them. Carbon-fiber high back (stiffer, better for carving), no disc cover (didn't want to take the cover off everytime I needed to tighten), and more lightweight than the Matrix. Oh yeah, the binding base plate is compatible w/ burton boards (w/ the 3d holes), so I don't have to worry about that. The newer Podiums retail for around $250ish so I think I got a decent deal. Plus leaves more money to spend on boots and board. I hope these don't snap the second I step on the mountain.

Boots: 2004 NORTHWAVE KEVIN JONES. Last years model. I tried on the 2005's and the padding isn't as soft. It is a bit lighter though. Sizing worried me but I figure 10.5-11 will work. Supposedly your toes should be right up against the tip of the boot, but you don't want to be too uncomfortable either. Still on the lookout for good deals on this. Got outbid a couple times on ebay, GRRRRR! Don't want to spend THAT much since I need ...

Board: Burton Custom 2005 162cm! Dream board. I am actually selling some stuff so buying the board doesn't weigh on my conscience that much. Heheheh. I actually bid on a 2003 model but lost out :( My mom was like "NOOooooo don't buy used stuff, you might get bad "chi" from the previous owner (or something like that).

Pro/cons

+ kick-ass board
+ looks kick-ass
+ i'd be happy w/ it
+ new, so I wouldn't have to do the "cleansing ritual" thing mom suggested to banish the previous owners "chi"

- EXPENSIVE
- so kick-ass someone might steal it
- will look dumb being outboarded by a lil kid riding a 2x6 plank.

I'm leaning more and more towards buying it, but we'll see. I want to see how high last years model are selling for. A ton of customs just showed up on Ebay. If the difference is somewhat negligable, I'll spring for the newer board.

The most important thing is going enough times to justify the cost of the gear!   ¶ 1:58 PM 0 comments

  Dances with Wolves soundtrack My parents watched it the other day and now the soundtrack is stuck in my head. Main theme and love theme are toooooo good. I even busted out the violin for the first time in years just to try to play the themes.

Composers are such geniuses! (except for James Horner, that guy rehashes a lot of themes)  ¶ 11:04 PM 0 comments

  sunday night... sigh Niners sux, Cal owned up TREE this weekend. I'm still not feeling 100%, really need to get all healthy before snowboarding season kicks off.

HL2: ok the euphoria of the coolness has worn off a bit. Now have the machine gun, grenades, and the airboat. Got a sense of deja vu when I went to the exact same spot of that image I posted earlier. The water effects are by far the best ever of any game. Crazy pixel-shading going on. Anyways, I was dying to get the airboat but now I'm sick of it. Gimme some more cool action, enough of the boating around.

Saw The Terminal, there is one scene where Tom Hanks wolfs down Burger King food ... Burger King probably paid off Dreamworks to use that. Anyways it worked, planning on getting a Whopper tomorrow! But I really should eat healthier. Thanksgiving coming up ...  ¶ 10:36 PM 0 comments

  Quick HL2 impressions Ok, have only gotten through a couple chapters before indigestion forced me to curl up in a prone position on my bed.

Graphics: It's not just that the graphics look incredible, but the game runs extremely smooth on my machine (P4 3.3ghz / 1GB PC3500 RAM / ATI 9800 PRO). Huge difference compared to Doom3 which ran horribly (and was too damn dark!). Textures are richly detailed, as are the character models. When you meet Alyx for the first time, the facial animation is VERY VERY impressive. Think more Pixar than playstation. Just the way the NPCs look at you seems so real. Voice-sync is perhaps the best yet for any video game. The voice acting is also great so far. There are a lot of cool graphical effects, making use of DX9 pixel shading. The great thing is that they aren't just "WOW LOOK AT ME" type effects, but rather are integrated seemlessly into their environment. Doom 3 has better lighting and shadowing, but HL2 definitely has some nice lighting effects as well. Plus you're not in the damn darkness all the time ...

Gameplay: So far got the gun and da crowbar. To me there's just such a sense of nostalgia while playing this game. Barney ... crowbar ... stepping into the suit again. Everything just feels perfect so far. Such a joy to be able use the flashlight while holding a gun! (take notes ID)

The physics are probably the most talked about new feature, and rightfully so. Once you realize you can pick up virtually any object and hurl it around, you'll spend a bit of time just messing around with the environment. At one point I picked up a bicycle and was trying to walk through the door with it. Also amused myself by throwing random objects at the NPCs. Valve shows off by dumping you in a lot of cool settings. For instance, early on you encounter a playground with swings, slide, and teeter totter. Tons of fun. I'm loving it and I haven't even gotten the gravity gun yet.

I will play more tomorrow ...  ¶ 1:47 AM 1 comments

  CRAZY NBA FIGHT! Just incredible. I have NEVER seen pro athletes go into the stands like this. Just to recap:

Pacers are up comfortably, when Big Ben Wallace goes in for a layup. Artest proceeds to foul him quite hard, typical love tap.

Wallace is pissed, and shoves Artest in the throat with two hands. Artest pulls a "Rodman" and acts nonchalant towards the whole affair. Lies down on the scorer's table while the bruahaha ensues. This makes Ben Wallace even more angry. Instead of trying to stop the fight, Stephen Jackson instigates things by assuming a "Bruce Lee" fighting stance he saw on HBO the other day. Everything seems to be simmering down until ....

Some fan throws his beer on Artest. Artest then monkey-jumps into the stands and charges for the fan. The funniest moment on the replay is the "oh shit!" reaction when the fan realizes he is dead meat. Stephen Jackson, aka "crack head" flies over the scorers table and lands several nice rights before getting pulled down by Tinsley. You can also see Tinsley shove down this white dude while trying to get over the scorers table to stop the fight. Also note the white guy in the cap who is trying to restrain Artest. He gears up to sucker punch him, then throws two of weakest punches you've ever seen. Artest turns around and wails on him until restrained. Fred Jones gets sucker-punched from behind by some big black dude.

THEN while Artest is finally walking away, some fat dude jumps in front of his face like he's going to do something. Artest doesn't wait to find out, throws a right immediately. After things are getting sorted out, the best punch of the night is landed by Jermaine "Slip N Slide" O'Neal, with a mad dash and rocket-punch into an unsuspecting fan. Jermaine apparently was upset he didn't get any shots in initially as he was late to jump into the stands. He put so much force into that punch he slipped on his ass. The fat fan got a few pounds knocked off him, but he'll have enough money to get a new face after he sues. Here it is:



Bill Walton: THROW DOWN BIG MAN, THROW DOWN! Big suspensions and fines in store. Can't wait for the rematch which occurs Christmas Day. NBA may not like it but that game will have enormous ratings, followed by the Shaq/Kobe matchup (hopefully they too will throw down!).

T.O. will be pissed because his MNF sketch is no longer the hot topic....


  ¶ 1:16 AM 0 comments

  Half Life 2 comes out soon! Will my life be complete .... ?

  ¶ 3:14 PM 2 comments

  comic strip Funniest I've seen in a long time. Thanks Andy.

http://www.cheston.com/pbf/archive.html
  ¶ 2:54 AM 0 comments

  TGIF New program: Previously I've been using yahoo messenger to do voice chatting online. Ken found a better program, called skype. http://www.skype.com. Lag is minimal and clarity improved. Could voice chat with him in Taiwan and performance was fine.

You know what that means - phone sex time! uh ...... no.

Oh yeah, the Warriors really suck right now. Not only do they suck, but they doled out over $130 million to two stiffs (the way they are playing right now), so that they can keep sucking over the next SIX years!

Chungking Express: Still in my HK movie phase. I always thought the title of this movie sounded like the name of a train. The Chungking Express. Actually it's more like Panda Express, as much of the movie takes place near a food stand. The movie is split into two stories which at first glance have no connection between them other than the themes they share. At 1049th glance, there still doesn't seem to be that much of connection.

Essentially it's about two cops who have recently been dumped by their girlfriends. They go through the shock of being rejected, experience lonely, and adapt in their own ways. The first story isn't bad, as Takeshi Kaneshiro shows off his linguistic talents. Course there's a bunch of confusing stuff that makes no sense, the whole blonde wigged-woman subplot really didn't interest me at all. And who really believes that Kaneshiro would have trouble finding a girlfriend. Sheesh, so unrealistic.

Second story is much more memorable. Faye Wong with no makeup, short hair, boy's clothing, still really endeared herself to me. Just some of the stuff that she does while in Tony Leung's apartment is really cute. So basically the story is that she works at a food stand and develops a crush on officer 663 (Tony Leung). Then by chance she gets the keys to his apartment, sneaks in while he is on duty, and eventually begins to clean, redecorate, rearrange everything. So yeah technically she's breaking and entering and being a psuedo-stalker. But since she's Faye Wong we'll let her get away with it. Of course she eventually gets caught which leads to the following exchange:

Faye - "What are you doing here?"

officer 663 - "I live here."

Oh and unlike some Wong Kar Wei films, the ending is hopeful ... I also liked how it ended with the pan to the stereo then the song "Dreams" (Cranberries) taking us to the credits. So to sum up, first part wacky, 2nd part I really liked. It's not exactly the most cohesive movie. But the acting is excellent and it's a charming story for the most part.
  ¶ 1:17 AM 0 comments

  No sleep for me ... Just finished watching Chungking Express. Or as Gio put it "Chinking Express." ha ha. It's almost 3 AM !!!! So screwed...

More thoughts later.
  ¶ 2:53 AM 0 comments

  2046 initial impressions .... The rumors had this movie being some kind of sci-fi flick. In actuality it's a follow up to Wong Kar Wei's In the Mood for Love. There are futuristic scenes in it, but 2046 mostly refers to a room # (and a destination?). As you can see there is a lot of the movie I didn't really get. That may be due to me fast-forwarding to the Zhang Ziyi / Faye Wong parts. Then rewatching those scenes. Again and again.... now what was the movie about again? Guess I gotta rewatch it again. Many, many themes in the movie, but predominantly love, memories, heartbreak.

Big fan of Christopher Doyle's cinematography. The lighting and setting (1960's) really gives the film a romantic look. Also makes the principals look that much hotter/cuter! Great costume work as well ... at least for the 60's part. The futuristic scenes looked a bit odd and less unified design-wise. The camera-work is thankfully more subdued than in House of Flying Daggers (where the camera seems to be making out with Zhang Ziyi's face). Of course the two films have almost nothing in common but I thought I'd work that comment in somehow.

Tony Leung is the mon. Great actor, this guy is the epitome of cool. I also like the funny old dude. He makes a pass at Ziyi. Funnay. Faye Wong was really cute, gotta see Chungking Express now. Zhang Ziyi does get several chances to emote as Wong likes to let his camera linger. Gong Li was used sparingly in this movie ... just as well, her character tangent was perhaps the least interesting. Lots of cute Beijing accents in this movie, another plus for me. The music for the film was entrancing, a mix of classical / opera / nat king cole. WKW certainly knows how to chose music. There was one point in the movie where the music was the same opera music used in Homer Simpson's 2nd "Mr. Plow" commercial! Wow! I'm such a ... geek! :(

Hmmm --- what the hell kinda review was that? I think it helps to see In the Mood, if only to see how Wong makes a billion references to that movie. Plus you'll be slightly less confused at some of the major plot points.

Oh yeah my parents finally saw House of Flying Daggers. They pretty much hated it. Especially my mom since there was a lot of bloody violence which she despises. Unlike me who is like "Oooooooo fight fight fight!" For me, the movie is cool up until it drops roughly 320493204329 plots twists on the viewer. Some of the fighting is still way too choreographed, almost like a dance number. Check out Shaolin Temple, that movie is a classic.
  ¶ 10:46 AM 0 comments