have i mentioned

How hot it' s been lately? I promise this will be the last post on it. Just wanted to tell everyone how much I love my new (used) a/c. It's awesome. I think the a/c will become the East Coast equivalent of the dishwasher (my must-have appliance).

In other news:
- Cal wins its first NCAA women's tennis singles championship
- Bill Walton flies economy class!
- Go Dodgers! Now that the Lakers' season is finished, it's time to switch to True Blue mode. Check out the LA Times Dodger Blog.

I was just told that there is an extra scene after the credits in X-men 3. Now I definitely have to watch it again.

man it's hot part 2

Now that today is nearly over, I have to announce again that this was the perfect weekend to get an air conditioner. This humidity wipes me out. I've sworn off Warcraft for the week, so I tried my best to have a more active holiday Monday:

- Watched a few episodes of Lost Season 1 (spoiler ahead!: The Korean woman speaks English! I was shocked!)
- Bought beach towels from Bed Bath and Beyond
- Walked around Union Square, soaked in some sun sitting on a bench
- Met up with Gerald and friends for a delicious lunch a Gotham Bar and Grill
- Picked up new shorts and a shirt
- Sat on the grass at Unions Square (which I will never do again, the grass there was pretty gross and I swear had fleas)
- Went home and rested for a bit in the air-conditioned apartment
- Ran a couple miles along the West Side Highway, which was very nice
- Took a refreshing cod shower
- Picked up Ben's Pizza for dinner
- Watched The Closet, a French movie, which although still good, did not live up the great memory I had of it

Now I am off to bed, even though it is barely 11:00PM here. The heat is draining...


Union Square from across the street

man it's hot

They weren't kidding when they say that New York get humid. It's only 9:30 AM now, and I'm already sweating like I never did in Callifornia.

Yesterday I was planning on working out after geting home from work, but I nixed that thought after picking up a used air conditioner off craigslist. Who knew they were so damn heavy? I was drenched in sweat after carrying down one flight of stairs in the LES, then cabbing it over to my place, then walking up the three floors to the apartment. And then after getting it home, I had to figure out how to install an 60-70 pound box without having it fall out of the window. I still don't think I installed it correctly so I'll probably try to readjust it today.

Other than that, I've got no big plans. I'm hoping to pick up a beach towel so I can lie out in Central Park or at the beach and maybe go running along the West Side highway.

Happy Memorial Day!

malcolm gladwell

Prior to last night's Dream League game, a couple of us were discussing Malcolm Gladwell. My opinion is that The Tipping Point was better than Blink, and most of his New Yorker articles are good, but there are still some misses. I haven't read his latest article/book review yet, but it looks thought-provoking as it's sports related.

I had mentioned to my teammates that he has his own blog, http://gladwell.typepad.com/, and today I found an interesting piece on CEO salaries.

CEO Pay, from gladwell.com
After reading the article in the New York Times yesterday on the hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation given over the past few years to the CEO of Home Depot, I ran across this: in 1949, the highest paid CEO in America was Charlie Wilson of General Motors, who earned $586,100 in salary, bonus and stock. That's roughly equivalent to what some of the better-compensated CEO's are making today. But what did Wilson pay in taxes? $430,350. Times have changed.

This fact, in conjuction with today's ruling on Lay and Skilling, show that there's something wrong with executive payouts in this day and age.

manhattanhenge

My old roommate Thien, who still lives in San Francisco, sent me a Gothamist link about the upcoming "Manhattan solstice." There was a short piece about it in the Times as well, "Stonehenge in the City."

In other news:

- I start having alternating Sundays off in June (working Monday - Friday, as opposed to Sunday - Thursday), so I'm looking forward to some full summer weekends!

- I took a knitting class with my cousin Winnie a few weeks ago at Knit NYC (the class was a birthday present from Gerald), and the wool hat I started in the lesson is nearly complete. Unfortunately, I mismeasured and now I think there's no way it can fit my big head. I'm looking forward to trying again though, knitting is easier and more fun that I expected!

- Leslie took me to Tomoe Sushi on Tuesday and it was some good stuff. We had the sushi deluxe and the sashimi deluxe, which was more than we should have finished (it was too good not to). I'll definitely be going back.

- Moe's Tavern has been taking a beating with four consecutive losses. Three of the games were nailbiters, but last night's game was not pretty. Therefore, I will only provide the game link for our last victory.

chuck norris

So, as usual with pop culture references, I'm a little behind on the Chuck Norris fanfare. I finally decided to spend some time looking into it, and found a pretty hilarious Chuck Norris fact site via latimes.com.

Top 100 Facts for Chuck Norris

Some of my favorites:
- Jeeves asks Chuck Norris.
- Chuck Norris was once on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and was the first to spin. The next 29 minutes of the show consisted of everyone standing around awkwardly, waiting for the wheel to stop.

UPDATE:
For more Chuck Norris facts, please visit what looks to be the official site:
http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/

"There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of animals Chuck Norris allows to live. "

she wrote her own

My good pal Shannon put her Pasadena High School valedectorian brain to use and created her own blog survey. As she is one of the more entertaining writers I know and a good friend from way back (even though she won't be attending our 10 year reunion!), I've decided to give her survey a shot. Plus I've been lax about posting lately, so this gives me an easy way to throw some personal info onto the web.

3 Things I'm Obsessed with Right Now
1. New York City
2. World of Warcraft
3. Knitting

3 Things I'm Obsessed with Permanently
1. The Internet
2. The Simpsons
3. Fantasy sports

3 Things I Believe are True, But Aren't
1. The Lakers are one player away from starting another dynasty run
2. Having water instead of soda makes up for the extra burger and fries
3. Magic the Gathering is cool

3 Things I Want People to Say About Me When I Die
1. What a funny guy
2. He was a great friend
3. Why didn't I buy him more gifts when he was alive?

3 Things I'm Good At (the conceited category)
1. Looking on the bright side
2. Talking about things I enjoy
3. Enjoying life

3 Things I'm Bad At (the low self-esteem category)
1. Typing
2. Controlling my diet
3. Whispering

3 Things That Baffle Me
1. People who can't seem to change
2. Combo meals that are more expensive than ordering the items individually
3. People who don't believe in global warming

3 TV Shows That Many Other People Watch, But I Don't
1. Pretty much everything but The Simpsons and The Office

3 Inventions for Which "I don't know how we lived without it" is Not Just a Saying
1. The Internet
2. Tivo (back when I had cable)
3. High speed Internet access

a few reviews

There's just something about posting past events that make me want to procrastinate. Therefore, it's probably best for me to do aa quick post about recent stuff in my life.

Food: Yesterday I was hankering for some red meat, so I decided to give Rare Bar & Grill a shot. I wasn't too impressed, although it may have been because I only realized halfway through my meal that they had cooked my burger medium, instead of medium rare. I should have taken a closer look at the little colored toothpick stuck in the patty that showed how well the meat was cooked. I remember Sizzler was my favorite place that used to do that. Too bad I didn't get a cheese bread (ala Sizzler) with my meal, because the burger was just too unmanagable for me too enjoy. I like eating my burger with my hands, not with a knife and fork. Anyways, I think I may have to try this again, before being able to rcommend it. Their biggest weakness was the fragile bun, which couldn't contain the monster patty or toppings (I got a fried egg and bacon).

Movie: On Chih's recommendation, I decided to check out Evergreen Video in the West Village, which turned out to be an awesome video store with a great foreign selection. Leslie found Tampopo (Wiki entry here), a movie she's been raving about and has had difficulty finding. It was very entertaining, and most of all made me crave ramen for the rest of the night
(speaking of noodle soups, I've been craving New Wonton Garden ever since Catherine introduced it to me). Overall, I'd recommend it to fans of Japanese movies, or those looking for a quirky food movie.

Website: My sister told me about www.pandora.com, a very cool streaminig music site that streams music based on your preferences. I listened to it all day, set up a few different stations (indie rock, country, etc.), and loved it! Definitely try it if you can listen to music on your computer, it's awesome.

Tomorrow: I'm hoping to meet up with some guys on my basketball team to catch the Clippers/Suns Game 7 (Go L.A.'s other team!) at Croxley's, home of the $0.10 wing specials. I'm sure they're no Ribs USA wings, but let's hope they are at least decent!

wow, long time no post!

I know it's been a while since I've last posted, but I promise to come back soon with a big update on my fabulous week in SF, as well as some very exciting developments with my law school plans.

Don't worry, things have been very good for me lately, just a bit hectic and busy. I'm looking forward to sharing my news! In the meanwhile, please enjoy my new pictures on Flickr!

- Sunset from Potrero Hill
- Jason and Misty's new puppy
- BUILD's 7th Annual Business Plan Competition
- My baby cousins - Maya and Madeleine
- Tour through my old Berkeley favorites

back in the bay!

I've been back for less than 24 hours and have already knocked off a few places on my list:
- Good mexican food (although I agree with my sister that Pancho Villa used to be better)
- Blue Jay Cafe
- Arinell's Pizza

Next up? I'll be hanging out with my sister today so I'm hoping we can grab some fresh crab at Fisherman's Wharf, and maybe doing some sopping for summer clothes (yay!).

that's a wrap!

I'm not sure if it was the plethora of movies, or just the hectic pace of having something planned every single night, but this past week has raced by. In just two days I'll be back in San Francisco!

With six movies in the past two days, there's just too much for me to write detailed reviews. Plus, I'm lazy. Here's a brief recap of the festival:

4/28: Farewell Bender
Three friends who reflect on life and growing up after reuniting for a funeral.

4/30: Comeback Season
Cleverly disguised chick flick.

5/1: The Promise
I didn't think it could get worse than The House of Flying Daggers.

5/2: One Last Thing
Great movie billed as a family movie, but I think its lessons apply to everyone.

5/3: I'm Reed Fish
Very sweet movie about a small town guy chasing his dreams.

5/5: The Big Bad Swim
You can't beat movies centered around a group of people attempting to overcome their fears and insecurities. I loved the cast and individual storylines.

5/5: Holiday Makers
Another great ensemble movie. I also love foreign movies, especially those that give us an insight into the thoughts and culture of the country of origin. This was a very sweet Czech film about a group of people who find themselves all on the same vacation tour bus to the beach.

5/5: Two Players from the Bench
Andrea and I got to the theater right at the starting time (7:30PM), and the festival had sold our tickets! Shake a fist! I'd been to numerous other sold out shows, and never before had they sold the empty seats so soon after the starting time. In lieu of the Tribeca film, we watched the Sentinel.

5/6: Fifty Pills
Funny, plus it was set in NYC! Best line of the whole film fest: "How do you feel about the Strokes?"

5/6: Goal! The Dream Begins
Great feel-good sports movie, with the added bonus of actually being set in England, not boring Los Angeles. I don't see why they couldn't just call it "Goal!".

5/6: The Shutka Book of Records
I may have just been too tired to really appreciate this humorous documentary about a Roma (gypsy) community in Macedonia. In addition to Shutka, the screening included a weird and slightly disturbing short, which may have just been too artsy for me.

I was thinking about doing a categorical "Best of" listing for all of the movies I watched, but it eally would be too difficult. A lot of these were great, well-made movies, and had the special independent creativity that the Hollywood blockbusters lack. If I had to recommend any of these, the top of my list would probably include "Fifty Pills," "I'm Reed Fish," "Holiday Makers," and "Goal! The Dream Begins."

However, I'm not sure if it's just the huge commercialism of the Tribeca festival, or just that I am new to it, I think as far as festivals go, I still prefer the SF International Asian American Film Festival. Hopefully I'll have another chance to experience Tribeca as a volunteer next year.

Thanks for bearing with me on this lng post!

36% done with tribeca

So far I've watched four of the eleven movies on my list, and I haven't been that impressed. Here's the recap:

Farewell Bender: reviewed below

Comeback Season: This buddy comedy starring Ray Liotta as the husband who's trying win back his family by moving in with the injured HS football star next door was in reality a chick flick about two people trying to restore their lives by finding their inner feelings. I like chick flicks as much as the next sensitive, in-touch-with-yourself guy, but please don't try to pass one off like a guys' movie. When I want a moving guys movie, I'll watch Friday Night Lights and when I want chick flick, I'll pop in You've Got Mail. Don't try to be both.

The Promise: Everything I had heard about this movie ranged from awful to "made me depressed about the future of Chinese film." That being said, it exceeded expectations at only a small step below mediocre. Best described as a fantasy film set in a mythical Chinese land. If only the CGI, costumes, acting, script, plotline and casting were not so bad.

One Last Thing: This was a sweet movie about one dying kid's last wish to spend a weekend with a supermodel. Although much of the plot was too contrived, there were a number of very tender moments. Not that I cried. Really, Gerald can vouch for me.