2015 Summer Trip

Here's a brief compilation of our quick trip to Seattle this year.

Warriors Celebration in 90 Seconds

What Would Happen if All the Ice on Earth Melted?

Cal Commit Jaylen Brown and Shareef Abdur-Rahim

There are some interesting connections that link Jaylen Brown with Cal. Brown is a product of Wheeler High School in Georgia. Not a usual locale for Cal to find basketball players, but this is not first highly regarded recruit to commut to Cal.

Shareef Abdur-Rahom, who might've been the first and maybe only one-and-done player to play hoops at Cal (even Jason Kidd played for two years) was also from Wheeler High. Now Cal could have two such players from the same high school in Georgia (if Jaylen Brown does turn pro after only one year at Cal as expected).

The other school connection between that Shareef team and today's Bears' team is the University of Tennessee. Cuonzo Martin, Cal's current coach only ended up at Cal because of Tennessee did not want him. The other key player on that Cal team led by Shareef was Ed Gray who was a transfer from Tennessee.

 

Cal Students Perform "Uptown Funk"

Seahawk Video

What a Quarter by "Trey" Thompson

Klay Thompson scored 37 points in the third quarter of last night's Warrior's game to turn what was a 58-58 game-in-doubt against the Kings into a laugher.  The 37 points in a quarter broke the team record that was held by Wilt Chamberlain and also the all-time NBA record of 33 points in a quarter that was shared by George "The Iceman" Gervin and Carmello Anthony.  He actually scored his points in 9 minutes and 45 seconds of the quarter that works out to about one point every 15 seconds, including scoring 19 points in row and finishing the quarter scoring the final 18 points for the Warriors.  Amazing!

No Soup for You!

...because it's a meat pie!!!

Forever Young by Alphaville

Here is one of the songs in the previous Seahawks video.

Time to Defend...

Listen to what they were saying about the Seahawks before their Super Bowl win.  Wonder what the pundits have to say this year?

Fireworks Night

Ryan enjoying fireworks night...

Fireworks in Concord!

This year we didn't have very far to go for fireworks once again as the City of Concord owing to  funding from several private partners put on a terrific show.  On a last minute decision after finishing eating we drove towards downtown and ended up on the top of a parking structure.  Turns out that we were not the only ones with the same idea.

The following is a video of the finale of the firework show shot by another YouTube user.  The best part was that the show had two finales.  It was a great show!

Okay, So It's Not New Years or Graduation....

This is the Emoto Family Duet. If Uncle Chuck were here we could've made this a trio!

Ethan and Obaachan just started playing around with this song this evening. Not bad for the first time through, huh?

Obaachan is singing the song in Japanese (Hotaru no Hikari) although it's a little difficult to hear. In Japan, this song is played at graduations and the Japanese title can be translated to "The Glow of Fireflies":

By the glow of fireflies, and the moonlit snow by the window, Days and months spent reading, Years have even passed, through the cedar door, This morning, we leave.

Whether staying, or leaving, Remember each other, in the Depths of our hearts, in a word, Sing, "Good luck,"

蛍の光 (Hotaru no Hikari) The Glow of Fireflies

蛍の光、窓の雪、
書読む月日、重ねつゝ、
何時しか年も、すぎの戸を、
開けてぞ今朝は、別れ行く。 

止まるも行くも、限りとて、
互に思ふ、千萬の、
心の端を、一言に、
幸くと許り、歌うなり。

 

Bay Bridge (Old and New)

This is a video clip of our last drive across the old eastern span of the Bay Bridge.  Dorothy is the videographer.  This was also taken the previous time that Obaachan visited us.  She and the kids were all fast asleep on this drive.



Here are photos of the new eastern span from September after it opened as well as other photos from the same trip to SF.

All Seahawks TDs

Happy, and Jazzy?

From Pharrell Williams and "Despicable Me 2"...

Let Her Go

Super Bowl XLVIII Sights and Sounds

Do you want to see and hear what the Super Bowl sounded like at field level? Check out this link. And here's yet another link.

The Ultimate "Cube-y" Photo Bomb!

While Bill Walton continues to talk some inane nonsense (probably) - I wasn't paying attention - Cal fan solves Rubik's cube in near record time.

Seahawks - Super Bowl Champions!!!!!

What a great weekend! The Cal Bears knock off the number ranked Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team and we are there to witness the game on Saturday. Then in the main event, the Seahawks run off with the Super Bowl. Of course, championships to Seattle fan are a new shiny toy. Do we run? Do we stop and wait for the WALK sign? Check out this video.



Although Malcolm Smith (7th round draft pick out of USC in 2011) won the MVP award, my MVP from the defensive side of the ball would've been Kam Chancellor (5th round pick out of Virginia Tech in 2010), he of the vicious intimidating hits throughout the game. I think his hits and play set the tone for the game and caused Denver to look shell shocked. If I were going to pick an offensive player for the MVP award, I would've gone with Russell Wilson or Percy Harvin.

 Seahawks  43 
 Broncos     8

Finally, I got out my old Seahawks cap that I wore when I was in high school. Here is Ethan wearing the well-worn cap.

Finally, a tip of the old cap has to go to the 12th Man, aka Seahawk Fan. Who would've thought that the noise at MetLife Stadium (a supposedly neutral site) would've caused a miscue only 12 seconds into the game - turnover leading to a safety for the Seahawks. The Broncos were not prepared for the noise at the game.  That initial miscue set the stage for the remainder of the game - the Broncos would not recover and the Seahawks' star would continue to rise.