Monday, July 27, 2009
Are You Ready to be a Traffic Engineer?
Check out this game from the University of Minnesota to see if you have what it takes to be a traffic engineer. Of course, in most cities the timing of signals is controlled by a computerized system.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Ygnacio Wood Seahorses - 2009
Where's Naomi and Ethan in the photo below. The team photo was taken before Ryan was on the team so he is not in the photo.
The coaches naturally had to cool off after their hard work in lining up 130 or so swimmers for the photo session.
The coaches naturally had to cool off after their hard work in lining up 130 or so swimmers for the photo session.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Ethan Hits His Mark
Ethan has found a comfort zone with karate. Things do get more difficult as one moves up, but Ethan just this past weekend passed the belt test to make it to the purple/blue belt level in the Dragons Program at Bay Mountain Martial Arts here in Concord. We have been very happy with the programs at Bay Mountain. The instructors are terrific with kids and although cramped, the place has a family atmosphere.
Here's Ethan with Sensei Alex at his recent belt test. These tests are fairly involved affairs that could take well over two hours to complete depending on the number of kids testing.
Here's Ethan with Sensei Alex at his recent belt test. These tests are fairly involved affairs that could take well over two hours to complete depending on the number of kids testing.
Ryan Promoted to Swim Team
Ryan was okay with making the swim team next year, but with the 6 and under boys often unable to have enough kids at meets to field a relay team there was a need for more team members. So Ryan made the team and took part in his first meet last week. The requirement to make the team in mid-season is to be able swim the full 25-yard length of the pool unassisted. Swimming against boys who have been swimming all season, he won his first race. At this point, he can only swim free style, but swimming this season means that he will have a leg up on next year.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The Juggler's Assistant - Twice!
One able-bodied juggler's assistant wanted. No experience necessary. Any takers?
Juggler: Here, can you hold my glasses? [hands his 1980s style sun glasses to Ethan]
Ethan: [turning to me] What do I do with these?
Me: Just hold them, I guess, until he asks for them back.
The juggler starts his ball juggling routine and finishes with a four-ball flourish.
Juggler: Who has my glasses?
Ethan: I do!
Juggler: Come on out here and put them on me.
Juggler: I need another volunteer.
Ryan: Pick me! Pick me!
Juggler: [points to Ryan] You kid. Come on out here!
Juggler: What's your name?
Ryan says something that most of us can't hear. Apparently the juggler dude didn't hear too well either...even though he was right next to Ryan.
Juggler: What's that? Frank? Okay, everyone please give a hand to Frank!
Ryan stands quietly with a somewhat sheepish look on his face. Thought cloud here. [Ryan: He's messed up my name.]
Juggler: Does he understand English? [looking in the general direction of our family]
Dorothy: Yes, he does and his name is Ryan!
Woman in Audience: That sounds better. Who names their kid Frank these days?
Juggler: Here, can you hold my glasses? [hands his 1980s style sun glasses to Ethan]
Ethan: [turning to me] What do I do with these?
Me: Just hold them, I guess, until he asks for them back.
The juggler starts his ball juggling routine and finishes with a four-ball flourish.
Juggler: Who has my glasses?
Ethan: I do!
Juggler: Come on out here and put them on me.
Juggler: I need another volunteer.
Ryan: Pick me! Pick me!
Juggler: [points to Ryan] You kid. Come on out here!
Juggler: What's your name?
Ryan says something that most of us can't hear. Apparently the juggler dude didn't hear too well either...even though he was right next to Ryan.
Juggler: What's that? Frank? Okay, everyone please give a hand to Frank!
Ryan stands quietly with a somewhat sheepish look on his face. Thought cloud here. [Ryan: He's messed up my name.]
Juggler: Does he understand English? [looking in the general direction of our family]
Dorothy: Yes, he does and his name is Ryan!
Woman in Audience: That sounds better. Who names their kid Frank these days?
Friday, July 03, 2009
Kismet On the Road
We finally made it to Seattle on the 4th day after spending three days in Oregon, most of it on the coast. Our overnight stops in Oregon included Medford, Coos Bay and Newport. Each year, Medford seems to be the first stop no matter what time we leave our home. Call it kismet.
One year I think we finally left the house around dinner time. I'm not sure why we bothered to leave, but we did. This year we managed to finally shove off right after lunch. At least we wouldn't have to stop to eat.
On first glance our scavenger hunt checklist looked daunting. Town mascot? Our first thought was Grants Pass, Oregon because of all of the painted bears that they had on display a couple year ago. Surely, the bear must be their town mascot. Little did we know.
Traveler from our team assisting a street performer? We are adventuresome, but volunteering for a street act is usually not in our repertoire. Ryan to the rescue! Actually, both Ryan and Ethan got into the act.
Statue or art made entirely of edible food? Having not checked this one off by the time we arrived in Seattle, we resorted to home made art made of food. Yuki baked up a cake shaped like the U.S. flag for the 4th of July. It was a grand effort, but we still felt maybe it was too much cake and not enough art especially when we tried to hold up the cake pan to take a picture and the flag part of the cake slid down the pole part to half mast. We were saved later when we came across art made of food while on a visit to Pike Place Market. Kismet again.
So the road trip rolled on. We ping ponged around. Learned that the Lake View Cemetery is where many of the founders of the city of Seattle are buried. This is also where Bruce and Brandon Lee are buried.
One year I think we finally left the house around dinner time. I'm not sure why we bothered to leave, but we did. This year we managed to finally shove off right after lunch. At least we wouldn't have to stop to eat.
On first glance our scavenger hunt checklist looked daunting. Town mascot? Our first thought was Grants Pass, Oregon because of all of the painted bears that they had on display a couple year ago. Surely, the bear must be their town mascot. Little did we know.
Traveler from our team assisting a street performer? We are adventuresome, but volunteering for a street act is usually not in our repertoire. Ryan to the rescue! Actually, both Ryan and Ethan got into the act.
Statue or art made entirely of edible food? Having not checked this one off by the time we arrived in Seattle, we resorted to home made art made of food. Yuki baked up a cake shaped like the U.S. flag for the 4th of July. It was a grand effort, but we still felt maybe it was too much cake and not enough art especially when we tried to hold up the cake pan to take a picture and the flag part of the cake slid down the pole part to half mast. We were saved later when we came across art made of food while on a visit to Pike Place Market. Kismet again.
So the road trip rolled on. We ping ponged around. Learned that the Lake View Cemetery is where many of the founders of the city of Seattle are buried. This is also where Bruce and Brandon Lee are buried.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
U.S. Side's Prayers Answered!
In the Confederations Cup tournament underway in South Africa, the U.S. had no business shutting out the Egyptians let alone advancing to the semi-finals. After the first two games of the group stage, the red, white and blue clad Americans found themselves as the bottom shelf team of Group B. No wins, and having scored a single goal while giving up six. Back to the drawing board.
This is what the Americans needed in their game against the Egyptians on Father's Day to advance to the medal round of what is a tune-up tournament for the World Cup next year:
1. A win against Egypt who had earlier shut out the Italians 1-0.
2. More than a win, a win by at least 3 goals to overtake the Egyptians on the goals scored differential tie-breaker.
3. A loss by the Italians against the Brazilians.
4. More than a loss, a loss of 3-0 or a loss where the Italians are out scored by 4 or more points.
On this Father's Day, the Americans did exactly what they needed to win. My treat to myself was a little bit of time to watch not only the U.S. versus Egypt match, but also the equally important match between two of the world's most elite teams, Brazil and Italy.
The most fitting end was the goal by Clint Dempsey to make the score 3-0. The announcers of the game mercilessly hounded the play of Dempsey, pointing out every misplay of the midfielder. Even almost begging for Dempsey to be subbed out. I thought this hounding was somewhat unnecessary. Then in the 71st minute, what would be the semi-final berth clinching goal was scored on a thread-the-needle header by #8. There would be no more calls for the removal of Dempsey from the game after this goal.
Now it was score board watching time. Since the Brazil - Italy match was a few minutes ahead, the Americans knew exactly their position relative to making it into the semi-finals. With the final score locked in as 3-0 Brazil, the U.S. knew all they needed to do was to protect their 3-0 lead to advance to the medal round. This would be the most improbable of outcomes. Happy Father's Day!
Here come the red-hot Spaniards now. With no one giving the Americans a chance to win, their only hope is probably to play for a scoreless tie and rely on penalty kicks. Let's see what happens tomorrow.
This is what the Americans needed in their game against the Egyptians on Father's Day to advance to the medal round of what is a tune-up tournament for the World Cup next year:
1. A win against Egypt who had earlier shut out the Italians 1-0.
2. More than a win, a win by at least 3 goals to overtake the Egyptians on the goals scored differential tie-breaker.
3. A loss by the Italians against the Brazilians.
4. More than a loss, a loss of 3-0 or a loss where the Italians are out scored by 4 or more points.
On this Father's Day, the Americans did exactly what they needed to win. My treat to myself was a little bit of time to watch not only the U.S. versus Egypt match, but also the equally important match between two of the world's most elite teams, Brazil and Italy.
The most fitting end was the goal by Clint Dempsey to make the score 3-0. The announcers of the game mercilessly hounded the play of Dempsey, pointing out every misplay of the midfielder. Even almost begging for Dempsey to be subbed out. I thought this hounding was somewhat unnecessary. Then in the 71st minute, what would be the semi-final berth clinching goal was scored on a thread-the-needle header by #8. There would be no more calls for the removal of Dempsey from the game after this goal.
Now it was score board watching time. Since the Brazil - Italy match was a few minutes ahead, the Americans knew exactly their position relative to making it into the semi-finals. With the final score locked in as 3-0 Brazil, the U.S. knew all they needed to do was to protect their 3-0 lead to advance to the medal round. This would be the most improbable of outcomes. Happy Father's Day!
Here come the red-hot Spaniards now. With no one giving the Americans a chance to win, their only hope is probably to play for a scoreless tie and rely on penalty kicks. Let's see what happens tomorrow.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Don't Try This at Home
Got this off YouTube. His name is Josh Womack. He was originally drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 2002 in the second round (pick #69) right out of Crawford High School in San Diego.
This is the same draft that produced current major leaguers B.J. Upton (#2), Zack Greinke (#6), Prince Fielder (#7), Jeff Francis (#9), Jeremy Hermida (#11), Joe Saunders (#12), Khalil Greene (#13), Scott Kazmir (#15), Nick Swisher (#16), Cole Hamels (#17), James Loney (#19), Jeff Franccoeur (#23), Joe Blanton (#24), Matt Cain (#25), Micah Owings (#50), Jon Lester (#57), Jonathan Broxton (#60), and Fred Lewis (#66) all before Josh. Seems that this was a loaded draft at least in the first few rounds.
After Josh these players were picked: Curtis Granderson (#80), Josh Johnson (#113), John Maine (#166), Scott Olen (#173), Joel Zumaya (#320), Dana Eveland (#469), Jacoby Ellsbury (#674), and Brad Ziegler (#938) who are also current major leaguers. In all, there were 1482 players selected over 50 rounds, but I'm guessing that only Josh Womack knows this trick:
This is the same draft that produced current major leaguers B.J. Upton (#2), Zack Greinke (#6), Prince Fielder (#7), Jeff Francis (#9), Jeremy Hermida (#11), Joe Saunders (#12), Khalil Greene (#13), Scott Kazmir (#15), Nick Swisher (#16), Cole Hamels (#17), James Loney (#19), Jeff Franccoeur (#23), Joe Blanton (#24), Matt Cain (#25), Micah Owings (#50), Jon Lester (#57), Jonathan Broxton (#60), and Fred Lewis (#66) all before Josh. Seems that this was a loaded draft at least in the first few rounds.
After Josh these players were picked: Curtis Granderson (#80), Josh Johnson (#113), John Maine (#166), Scott Olen (#173), Joel Zumaya (#320), Dana Eveland (#469), Jacoby Ellsbury (#674), and Brad Ziegler (#938) who are also current major leaguers. In all, there were 1482 players selected over 50 rounds, but I'm guessing that only Josh Womack knows this trick:
Monday, June 15, 2009
Conversation With Ryan
Ryan who's 5 yrs old made a special card and insisted on placing a family picture in the middle.
Ryan: Mom, you make sure you keep this and look at it to remember us when we're gone.
Mom: Where are you going?
Ryan: Well, Mom, one of these days Naomi, Ethan and I will be living in another house...not together...I'll have my house and Naomi will have her house and Ethan will have his house. Because one of these days we'll find a girl to marry and live in a different house with.
Mom: Naomi, too?
Ryan: Naomi will find a boy to marry....someone who's not taken. I'd marry you, but you're taken.
Mom: Who's got me?
Ryan: Casey.
(pause)
Ryan: Maybe I'll marry Naomi because she helps me...she helps me take care of the guinea pig.
Mom: Brothers and sisters don't marry each other...they find other special people.
Ryan: Oh.
Ryan: Mom, you make sure you keep this and look at it to remember us when we're gone.
Mom: Where are you going?
Ryan: Well, Mom, one of these days Naomi, Ethan and I will be living in another house...not together...I'll have my house and Naomi will have her house and Ethan will have his house. Because one of these days we'll find a girl to marry and live in a different house with.
Mom: Naomi, too?
Ryan: Naomi will find a boy to marry....someone who's not taken. I'd marry you, but you're taken.
Mom: Who's got me?
Ryan: Casey.
(pause)
Ryan: Maybe I'll marry Naomi because she helps me...she helps me take care of the guinea pig.
Mom: Brothers and sisters don't marry each other...they find other special people.
Ryan: Oh.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Swim Season is Here!
Swim season is underway once again for the Ygnacio Wood Seahorses of Concord, California. Naomi and Ethan are swimming once again and Ryan could make an appearance when he is ready.
Ethan's been working on his dives. That's him below starting his leg of a recent free relay race.
Ethan's favorite stroke is the breast stroke.
Naomi's been making strides too swimming this year with the 9 and 10 year olds. This is the first age group where the swimmers have to swim two lengths of the pool (50 yards) in their races. Here's Naomi going out in a recent 50 yard free style race:
Here she is going for the finish in the same 50 yard free style race:
However, perhaps the best part of recreational swimming is the time spent with friends. There are not many activities around that involve the participation of kids 4 years old up to 18 years old at the same event.
Ethan's been working on his dives. That's him below starting his leg of a recent free relay race.
Ethan's favorite stroke is the breast stroke.
Naomi's been making strides too swimming this year with the 9 and 10 year olds. This is the first age group where the swimmers have to swim two lengths of the pool (50 yards) in their races. Here's Naomi going out in a recent 50 yard free style race:
Here she is going for the finish in the same 50 yard free style race:
However, perhaps the best part of recreational swimming is the time spent with friends. There are not many activities around that involve the participation of kids 4 years old up to 18 years old at the same event.
Planting Trees for the City
Our Boy Scout den volunteered to help plant trees for the City of Concord this past week. It made for a hectic day since it was on what was also the last day of school this past Wednesday.
The kids got in a photo-op with Laura Hoffmeister, the mayor.
In case you were wondering, here's what was on the flag behind us in the picture above.
Yes, the City of Concord has been designated as a Tree City. What does this mean? Here's what the Tree City web site says:
The Tree City USA® program, sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters, provides direction, technical assistance, public attention, and national recognition for urban and community forestry programs in thousands of towns and cities that more than 120 million Americans call home.
Basically, I guess this means that we care about our trees.
The kids got in a photo-op with Laura Hoffmeister, the mayor.
In case you were wondering, here's what was on the flag behind us in the picture above.
Yes, the City of Concord has been designated as a Tree City. What does this mean? Here's what the Tree City web site says:
The Tree City USA® program, sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters, provides direction, technical assistance, public attention, and national recognition for urban and community forestry programs in thousands of towns and cities that more than 120 million Americans call home.
Basically, I guess this means that we care about our trees.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Scout Day with the A's
This past weekend was Scout Day at the A's game. Just Ethan and I went last year, but this year the entire family participated. The highlight of the game for the scouts is a chance to walk around the field before the start of the game.
Naomi: Wow, the pitcher's mound really is "moundy." I could get hurt if I fell off that.
Ethan: We even had our very own flag, but for some reason it was not on a pole. Here we are with our fearless Den leader Louis.
Here's the last out of the game that was won by the A's over the Orioles 3-0.
Naomi: Wow, the pitcher's mound really is "moundy." I could get hurt if I fell off that.
Ethan: We even had our very own flag, but for some reason it was not on a pole. Here we are with our fearless Den leader Louis.
Here's the last out of the game that was won by the A's over the Orioles 3-0.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Mr. Steinbrecher
The first word association for Mr. Steinbrecher is girls' basketball coach for most of us from Sand Point, but he really is more than that. This is borne out by reading the CaringBridge web site set up to allow us keep in touch with the Steinbrechers in their battle with cancer.
My image of Mr. Steinbrecher on the basketball court was someone who was a battler. If someone would've asked me, "Can you pick out the former football player on the court?" This would be easy if Mr. Steinbrecher was on the court. His play was not pretty, but it was usually very efficient, very no nonsense. He moved like a blocking tackle. If he got established in the low block, he was not going to be moved.
It is amazing what he has endured against this very aggressive cancer. Most people would've given up long ago.
Below is a copy of their posting from May 9 that mentions Yuki and Hillary's visit to Minnesota to see the Steinbrechers. There really are so many of us pulling for Roger and Noreen. Please keep them in your thoughts.
Saturday, May 9, 2009 4:18 PM, CDT
Hello Everyone!
We had 2 very long days in Rochester on Thurs. & Friday. Chemo on Thurs. went well and we went back to the hotel and Roger slept the rest of the day. Friday we tried to sleep in but the room was very warm and with the windows open we heard the sirens all night. Not a great night's sleep. We met with 4 of Roger's surgeons that afternoon. We would have liked more encouraging news but that wasn't to be. There is reconstructive cosmetic surgery that could be done for Roger's lips & face but with so much cancer all over his face and neck they feel that nothing would heal properly and would be very stressful for him so they are leaving things as they are. Not sure if the chemo is helping right now or not but it is the course we are on for the time being. My thoughts are that we will contact those surgeons in a year or so when we beat this cancer and schedule reconstructive surgery then! We had a wonderful visit with Yuki K. and Hillary S. (both were Roger's basketball girls and my music students from Sand Point, AK back in the 80's.) They flew down just to visit. It was Great!! Talk about uplifting! It meant a lot. We looked at new pictures of the island, old photos , old yearbooks and got caught up on everybody. Roger slept the whole next day after they left. Thanks you two. We are spending this weekend in the cities near the girls for Mother's Day. Nothing special planned, just being together. Have a great Mother's Day everyone and enjoy each and every day! Love, Roger and Noreen
My image of Mr. Steinbrecher on the basketball court was someone who was a battler. If someone would've asked me, "Can you pick out the former football player on the court?" This would be easy if Mr. Steinbrecher was on the court. His play was not pretty, but it was usually very efficient, very no nonsense. He moved like a blocking tackle. If he got established in the low block, he was not going to be moved.
It is amazing what he has endured against this very aggressive cancer. Most people would've given up long ago.
Below is a copy of their posting from May 9 that mentions Yuki and Hillary's visit to Minnesota to see the Steinbrechers. There really are so many of us pulling for Roger and Noreen. Please keep them in your thoughts.
Saturday, May 9, 2009 4:18 PM, CDT
Hello Everyone!
We had 2 very long days in Rochester on Thurs. & Friday. Chemo on Thurs. went well and we went back to the hotel and Roger slept the rest of the day. Friday we tried to sleep in but the room was very warm and with the windows open we heard the sirens all night. Not a great night's sleep. We met with 4 of Roger's surgeons that afternoon. We would have liked more encouraging news but that wasn't to be. There is reconstructive cosmetic surgery that could be done for Roger's lips & face but with so much cancer all over his face and neck they feel that nothing would heal properly and would be very stressful for him so they are leaving things as they are. Not sure if the chemo is helping right now or not but it is the course we are on for the time being. My thoughts are that we will contact those surgeons in a year or so when we beat this cancer and schedule reconstructive surgery then! We had a wonderful visit with Yuki K. and Hillary S. (both were Roger's basketball girls and my music students from Sand Point, AK back in the 80's.) They flew down just to visit. It was Great!! Talk about uplifting! It meant a lot. We looked at new pictures of the island, old photos , old yearbooks and got caught up on everybody. Roger slept the whole next day after they left. Thanks you two. We are spending this weekend in the cities near the girls for Mother's Day. Nothing special planned, just being together. Have a great Mother's Day everyone and enjoy each and every day! Love, Roger and Noreen
Friday, June 05, 2009
Aleutian Tweeters and Bloggers
Perhaps on a per capita basis, there are as many tweeters and bloggers in the Aleutians as any place on earth. AlaskaPen provides links to many of these sites under its Rants page. The total population of the Western Aleutians and the Aleutians East Borough that covers most of the Aleutians has a population of about 7500. On AlaskaPen's list there are about 20 tweeters and bloggers in this area (with most based out of Unalaska). This calculates to about one tweeter or blogger for every 375 people. Not bad.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Biking and Scootering
It looks like the worst of hay fever season is over. No more sneezing and runny noses. This made it a great time this weekend for outdoor activities like biking and scootering.
Here are the kids lining for a race:
Here's Naomi cruising on two wheels:
Ethan on his scooter and Ryan on his bike:
One...two...three...Go!
Here are the kids lining for a race:
Here's Naomi cruising on two wheels:
Ethan on his scooter and Ryan on his bike:
One...two...three...Go!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Pop Star = Rock Star
We first learnt about this video from a friend's music compilation on CD a couple years ago. When we showed this to Ryan he insisted that the artist was singing about a Rock Star in Spanish. Eventually he came around to admit that it was pop star and that the song was in Japanese.
Ryan's been practicing his own lip synched version of the song.
wanna be a pop star kimi wo motto muchuu ni sasete ageru kara ne
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge mahou wo kakete ageyou kimidake ni
kimi ni deaeta yorokobito, kimi ni aenai samishisa no
ryouhou wo te ni irete, koi wa hashiridasu
sora mo tobenai boku dakedo, kodoku wo utau yoru dakedo
sono hoho ni, hohoemi wo ataerareta nara
hajimete kimi wo dakishimeta shunkan ni
kamisama ga boku ni kudashita shimei wa kimi dake no Hero
i wanna be a pop star kimi wo motto muchuu ni sasete ageru kara ne
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou
i wanna be a pop star kimi wo gyutto, dakishimete ageru kara oide
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou, kimi dakeni
kakushite itai kurayami mo, kimi wa sotto hiroi agete
taisetsu na boku nanda to, dakishimete kureta
hikari eto tsuzuku, michi aruite yukou
kizu kabau, kono migite wa, kimi to te wo tsunagu tame ni
you're gonna be my pop star boku wo motto muchuu ni saseteyo hohoende
kirakira no pop star sono hitomi de, boku ni mahou wo kakete
you're my only pop star boku wo gyutto, dakishimetara mou hanasanai
kirakira no pop star sono hitomi de, boku ni mahou wo kakete ima sugu ni
koi ni ochitara daremo ga dareka no pop star
kamisama ga bokuni kudashita shimei wa kimi dake no Hero
i wanna be a pop star kimi wo motto muchuu ni sasete ageru kara ne
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou
i wanna be a pop star kimi wo gyutto, dakishimete ageru kara oide
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou, kimi dakeni
Ryan's been practicing his own lip synched version of the song.
wanna be a pop star kimi wo motto muchuu ni sasete ageru kara ne
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge mahou wo kakete ageyou kimidake ni
kimi ni deaeta yorokobito, kimi ni aenai samishisa no
ryouhou wo te ni irete, koi wa hashiridasu
sora mo tobenai boku dakedo, kodoku wo utau yoru dakedo
sono hoho ni, hohoemi wo ataerareta nara
hajimete kimi wo dakishimeta shunkan ni
kamisama ga boku ni kudashita shimei wa kimi dake no Hero
i wanna be a pop star kimi wo motto muchuu ni sasete ageru kara ne
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou
i wanna be a pop star kimi wo gyutto, dakishimete ageru kara oide
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou, kimi dakeni
kakushite itai kurayami mo, kimi wa sotto hiroi agete
taisetsu na boku nanda to, dakishimete kureta
hikari eto tsuzuku, michi aruite yukou
kizu kabau, kono migite wa, kimi to te wo tsunagu tame ni
you're gonna be my pop star boku wo motto muchuu ni saseteyo hohoende
kirakira no pop star sono hitomi de, boku ni mahou wo kakete
you're my only pop star boku wo gyutto, dakishimetara mou hanasanai
kirakira no pop star sono hitomi de, boku ni mahou wo kakete ima sugu ni
koi ni ochitara daremo ga dareka no pop star
kamisama ga bokuni kudashita shimei wa kimi dake no Hero
i wanna be a pop star kimi wo motto muchuu ni sasete ageru kara ne
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou
i wanna be a pop star kimi wo gyutto, dakishimete ageru kara oide
kirakira no pop star hane wo hiroge, mahou wo kakete ageyou, kimi dakeni
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Rocket Cars
These cars were able to cover about 200 feet in just a few seconds, which translates to something like 25 to 30 mph. The cars were all quite fast.
Human-Powered Merry-Go-Round
Although our cub scouts were able to test out the rocket cars that they built, most of them may have had the most fun on the human-powered merry-go-round that the host Boy Scout pack had assembled. Check out this video:
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| From 2009_05_RocketDerby |
Monday, May 25, 2009
Let's Go Fly a Kite!
We had a not so common windy day this weekend that was perfect for kite flying at Arbolado Park. The park has a bowl shape with a higher rim perfect for launching kites.
Katy's Kreek Restaurant
A place for a good Sunday brunch is Katy's Kreek in Walnut Creek. This weekend's visit included sampling the Basque Omelette and their bowl of mixed berries. Thumbs up to both!
...before the good food came a little waiting for a table.
...before the good food came a little waiting for a table.
Ethan Tries Golfing
We went to the driving range over the weekend and the boys got to use their new golf clubs for the first time outside the back yard. Here's Ethan's golf swing.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Foods Good for You
Saw an on-line article that talked about foods good for you and those that are not so I thought why not plan a daily menu around these foods. The main problem was trying to match up items that made sense for the meals.
Breakfast: Low fat yogurt sprinkled with nuts and blueberries mixed in along with a cup of coffee. This will give a boost to short-term memory (coffee), benefit long-term memory (blueberries), and provide a calming effect (low-fat yogurt and nuts) for the commute.
Lunch: High-protein salad with vinaigrette sprinkled with ground flaxseed and a mug of peppermint tea. The salad with diced chicken will provide needed mid-day energy, and the flaxseed will sharpen your senses while the tea boosts your concentration level.
Dinner: Salmon with spinach salad. The salmon helps to speed up your thought processing, while the spinach promotes a good mood and grins. Yes, these were the actual words in the article.
Avoid the following or at the least moderate: energy drinks, too much coffee, unripe/unready fruits, full fat ice cream, pancakes, bagels, soda, candy, white chocolate and alcohol.
Breakfast: Low fat yogurt sprinkled with nuts and blueberries mixed in along with a cup of coffee. This will give a boost to short-term memory (coffee), benefit long-term memory (blueberries), and provide a calming effect (low-fat yogurt and nuts) for the commute.
Lunch: High-protein salad with vinaigrette sprinkled with ground flaxseed and a mug of peppermint tea. The salad with diced chicken will provide needed mid-day energy, and the flaxseed will sharpen your senses while the tea boosts your concentration level.
Dinner: Salmon with spinach salad. The salmon helps to speed up your thought processing, while the spinach promotes a good mood and grins. Yes, these were the actual words in the article.
Avoid the following or at the least moderate: energy drinks, too much coffee, unripe/unready fruits, full fat ice cream, pancakes, bagels, soda, candy, white chocolate and alcohol.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Air Force One Brouhaha
Here's one of the photos taken recently of Air Force One that has caused much trouble for the White House. It seems that if they really wanted to they could have saved a lot of trouble by "photoshopping" the plane into the picture. Nice picture though.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Would You Pay a Toll?
One of new newer concepts in Bay Area transportation is something called an Express Lane. An Express Lane is a carpool lane that also can be used by toll paying solo drivers. The video below by the Alameda Congestion Management Agency is for an express lane under construction on I-680 in Alameda and Santa Clara counties. VTA, where I work, has about a 20 percent stake in this project.
Following this project are four other Bay Area projects with similar designs. There's another that is under construction along I-580, a major artery to the Central Valley of California. We're managing the other three projects that are in Santa Clara County and are under various stages of design.
These projects offer the ability to use capacity on existing freeways without widening of freeways and at the same time allow for the generation of sorely needed revenue to pay for roadway maintenance and operations, and improvements. We'll see how these projects pan out.
Other areas like San Diego, Minneapolis, Miami, and Seattle have already constructed express lanes. Other areas like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. have projects under development.
Following this project are four other Bay Area projects with similar designs. There's another that is under construction along I-580, a major artery to the Central Valley of California. We're managing the other three projects that are in Santa Clara County and are under various stages of design.
These projects offer the ability to use capacity on existing freeways without widening of freeways and at the same time allow for the generation of sorely needed revenue to pay for roadway maintenance and operations, and improvements. We'll see how these projects pan out.
Other areas like San Diego, Minneapolis, Miami, and Seattle have already constructed express lanes. Other areas like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. have projects under development.
Parking in SF
The first car that we bought together was a VW Golf. One of the reasons was to make finding parking in San Francisco easier. We don't go into the City as much now so we do fine in our mini-van.
However, for those of you still battling for parking spaces in the City, check out the following web site: findingthesweetspot.com.
This also brings to mind a former co-worker. He had the most amazing parking karma. We would go to eat lunch in the busiest of places right in the thick of lunch hour on a Friday. This was in the Silicon Valley in the midst of the technology boom. Places like Ranch 99 in Milpitas. Never fail, if we were with Jeff, we would always find a parking space. It was amazing.
However, for those of you still battling for parking spaces in the City, check out the following web site: findingthesweetspot.com.
This also brings to mind a former co-worker. He had the most amazing parking karma. We would go to eat lunch in the busiest of places right in the thick of lunch hour on a Friday. This was in the Silicon Valley in the midst of the technology boom. Places like Ranch 99 in Milpitas. Never fail, if we were with Jeff, we would always find a parking space. It was amazing.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Spring Break 2009
Here is a slide show of our recent trip to Southern California. The main stop was Disneyland. This was the second time to the happiest place on earth for our kids. All the kids got to enjoy the thrill of the "big kid" rides, especially true for Naomi. Ryan even took in Splash Mountain with an enthusiastic, "That was awesome!" He got soaked and was very proud of it.
After Disneyland, we spent part of an afternoon at the George C. Page Museum in La Brea (aka the La Brea Tar Pits). They've unearthed an amazing number of animals from the tar pits.
We wound up the trip by unwinding in San Diego. Got to visit more family (Dorothy's niece lives in SD). We really basically spent most of the day at the beach in La Jolla.
On the drive back we stopped off at Disneytown to do a little last minute shopping.
After Disneyland, we spent part of an afternoon at the George C. Page Museum in La Brea (aka the La Brea Tar Pits). They've unearthed an amazing number of animals from the tar pits.
We wound up the trip by unwinding in San Diego. Got to visit more family (Dorothy's niece lives in SD). We really basically spent most of the day at the beach in La Jolla.
On the drive back we stopped off at Disneytown to do a little last minute shopping.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Parody of Government
There's a new show called "Parks and Recreation" that parodies government. It plays on stereotypes of government in action. We'll have to see if it catches on.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
in over our heads, but we must go on...
That's how it feels sometimes. It was one of those days today in the Bay Area where a memorial service was held for the four Oakland police officers that were killed last weekend. Traffic came to a stop on area freeways as ramps were blocked off to aid traffic to and from Oracle Arena. It was an amazing sight to see one-half of Interstate 880 jammed full of cars and the other direction of the freeway entirely empty as if an evacuation ahead of a hurricane was in progress.
I was able to watch a little of the local news coverage leading up to the memorial service and part of the memorial service too because I had the day off from work today (yesterday now as I write this). My two sons saw parts of the coverage too. They were curious about the service and why it was on television.
Ryan: That's a lot of police.
Me: Yeah, there's something 20,000 people at the memorial service (and later I read that there were another 10,000 people watching the service on the giant screen in the Coliseum where the A's play).
Ryan: What happened to them? Where are they now?
Me: Those are the police officers that were shot last week.
Ryan: Are they okay now?
Me: They were shot by a man who didn't want to go back to jail. They died and this is their funeral.
Ryan: Were these police the strongest ones?
Me: They were very brave, but that's what police do. They are here to protect regular people like us.
Ryan: But were they the strongest ones?
Me: What do you mean?
Ryan: They must've been the strongest ones because of what they did.
Me: Yes, police have to be strong, but maybe you mean brave. You know, being able to do something even though you know that it might be hard.
Ryan: Yeah, I think they were brave.
Later, when pictures of all of the slain officers appeared, I explained that one of the officers shared something in common with them: a Japanese last name, Sakai.
During the memorial service, the tribute song that they played for Dan Sakai was one from The Fray. I hadn't heard the song in quite some time, but I remembered that it was used as the sound track for a slide show tribute to 9-11. That was eight years ago. Below is a video clip of The Fray performing the song.
I was able to watch a little of the local news coverage leading up to the memorial service and part of the memorial service too because I had the day off from work today (yesterday now as I write this). My two sons saw parts of the coverage too. They were curious about the service and why it was on television.
Ryan: That's a lot of police.
Me: Yeah, there's something 20,000 people at the memorial service (and later I read that there were another 10,000 people watching the service on the giant screen in the Coliseum where the A's play).
Ryan: What happened to them? Where are they now?
Me: Those are the police officers that were shot last week.
Ryan: Are they okay now?
Me: They were shot by a man who didn't want to go back to jail. They died and this is their funeral.
Ryan: Were these police the strongest ones?
Me: They were very brave, but that's what police do. They are here to protect regular people like us.
Ryan: But were they the strongest ones?
Me: What do you mean?
Ryan: They must've been the strongest ones because of what they did.
Me: Yes, police have to be strong, but maybe you mean brave. You know, being able to do something even though you know that it might be hard.
Ryan: Yeah, I think they were brave.
Later, when pictures of all of the slain officers appeared, I explained that one of the officers shared something in common with them: a Japanese last name, Sakai.
During the memorial service, the tribute song that they played for Dan Sakai was one from The Fray. I hadn't heard the song in quite some time, but I remembered that it was used as the sound track for a slide show tribute to 9-11. That was eight years ago. Below is a video clip of The Fray performing the song.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Deeohgee
Naomi: Ms. Colon told me about someone who named their dog, Deeohgee.
Me: That's a good one.
Naomi: You get it? D-O-G!
Me: That's a good one.
Naomi: You get it? D-O-G!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Greed and Fear
Jon Stewart veered from use usual "fake" journalism this week when he interviewed Jim Cramer who has own financial advise show on CNBC. Stewart exposed Cramer to be more Kramer-esque from Seinfeld fame. Cramer kept referring to the Wall Street "shenanigans" during the interview, and Stewart kept providing evidence of these shenanigans by playing videos of Cramer up to no good.
To quote one of the comments on the Comedy Central web site: it's ridiculous it takes you (Jon Stewart) to hold these people accountable.
Now let's contrast this with a speech by Larry Summers, Obama's top economic advisor. Summers talks a lot about breaking the cycle of greed and excess of fear. The following are some of the themes that Summers discusses without a lot of detail:
"Our single most important priority it bringing about economic recovery" - But so far one of the most visible methods for doing this is through the economic stimulus bill which has a lot to be desired and is fraught with a "me-first" mentality as policy makers flock to Washington to make their pitch for a piece of the pie.
"Not driven by financial excess" - But we have the Madoffs of the world having profited on behalf of their families at the expense of the masses. Yes, he's going to jail for a long time, but there is still that feeling that we have been hoodwinked.
"Raise incomes for middle class families" - But how is this going to help a middle class that at this point feels that they will have to keep working until the very end? I think that most of us would gladly trade the ability to earn more moving forward for the ability to see more of those who have gained financially through dubious means to pay for their actions.
"Our problems were not made in a day, a month or a year" - But what has been done to make sure that this will not happen again? Will there be penalties for the Jim Cramers of the world for not reforming?
At this point, Jon Stewart has done a better job articulating the feelings of most Americans than anyone else in the public sphere to date. This is really a sorry state of affairs.
To quote one of the comments on the Comedy Central web site: it's ridiculous it takes you (Jon Stewart) to hold these people accountable.
Now let's contrast this with a speech by Larry Summers, Obama's top economic advisor. Summers talks a lot about breaking the cycle of greed and excess of fear. The following are some of the themes that Summers discusses without a lot of detail:
"Our single most important priority it bringing about economic recovery" - But so far one of the most visible methods for doing this is through the economic stimulus bill which has a lot to be desired and is fraught with a "me-first" mentality as policy makers flock to Washington to make their pitch for a piece of the pie.
"Not driven by financial excess" - But we have the Madoffs of the world having profited on behalf of their families at the expense of the masses. Yes, he's going to jail for a long time, but there is still that feeling that we have been hoodwinked.
"Raise incomes for middle class families" - But how is this going to help a middle class that at this point feels that they will have to keep working until the very end? I think that most of us would gladly trade the ability to earn more moving forward for the ability to see more of those who have gained financially through dubious means to pay for their actions.
"Our problems were not made in a day, a month or a year" - But what has been done to make sure that this will not happen again? Will there be penalties for the Jim Cramers of the world for not reforming?
At this point, Jon Stewart has done a better job articulating the feelings of most Americans than anyone else in the public sphere to date. This is really a sorry state of affairs.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Trying to do the Right Thing
I came across an interesting article today about Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BI) in Boston. They are going through difficult times just like almost everyone else. Having hired over a quarter of their current staff in the last 6 years, the chances of some of these people losing their jobs is a real possibility. Another thought that crossed my mind was if it was wise to hire that many people in such a short period of time, but without knowing the details it's difficult to say much more about this.
At BI, they've come up with an alternative to layoffs. The hospital has come together as a community in an attempt to make it so no one has to leave. Paul Levy, the President and CEO of BI, threw out an idea. What he said was, "I'd like to do what we can to protect the lower-wage earners...if we protect these workers, it means the rest of us will have to make a bigger sacrifice. It means that others will have to give up more of their salary or benefits."
This idea has been embraced by the hospital staff and has grown to the hospital staff coming up with their own ideas. Some staff have agreed to forego a planned salary increase. Another suggested working less. The State of California has implemented the working less strategy, but with less grace.
I wonder if what is being done at BI could be applied in a more widespread manner?
At BI, they've come up with an alternative to layoffs. The hospital has come together as a community in an attempt to make it so no one has to leave. Paul Levy, the President and CEO of BI, threw out an idea. What he said was, "I'd like to do what we can to protect the lower-wage earners...if we protect these workers, it means the rest of us will have to make a bigger sacrifice. It means that others will have to give up more of their salary or benefits."
This idea has been embraced by the hospital staff and has grown to the hospital staff coming up with their own ideas. Some staff have agreed to forego a planned salary increase. Another suggested working less. The State of California has implemented the working less strategy, but with less grace.
I wonder if what is being done at BI could be applied in a more widespread manner?
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
David and Christina Star on Evening News!
It's not too often that one gets to see a local news story featuring co-workers and friends. Last night was an exception.
The video clip below features David and Christina from out office explaining one of our projects. The footage of these two was taken at a public meeting held at Mountain View City Hall where the public was invited to provide input on the project.
I arrived when Lloyd LaCuesta and the cameraman were packing up to leave. I was told that they asked for suggestions for their on-site footage. The In-N-Out Burger near the Charleston Road on-ramp was the near unanimous suggestion based on proximity to the freeway and the existing safe refuge in the parking lot ... and oh, yes, In-N-Out Burger serves up decent burgers.
http://www.ktvu.com/video/18893851/
The video clip below features David and Christina from out office explaining one of our projects. The footage of these two was taken at a public meeting held at Mountain View City Hall where the public was invited to provide input on the project.
I arrived when Lloyd LaCuesta and the cameraman were packing up to leave. I was told that they asked for suggestions for their on-site footage. The In-N-Out Burger near the Charleston Road on-ramp was the near unanimous suggestion based on proximity to the freeway and the existing safe refuge in the parking lot ... and oh, yes, In-N-Out Burger serves up decent burgers.
http://www.ktvu.com/video/18893851/
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
No, I Don't Want Quesadilla
Mom: How about if I make quesadillas instead tonight.
Ryan: No, I don't want quesadillas (earlier he was told that we would have pizza).
Mom: I could make Spanish rice too (knowing that Ryan is a fan of Spanish rice). I don't really want to go out again.
Ryan: I don't mind if you go to Rocco's (to pick up the pizza).
Ryan: No, I don't want quesadillas (earlier he was told that we would have pizza).
Mom: I could make Spanish rice too (knowing that Ryan is a fan of Spanish rice). I don't really want to go out again.
Ryan: I don't mind if you go to Rocco's (to pick up the pizza).
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Bailout Baloney
We are just sick and tired of reading and hearing more about the bailout of the banking industry. No more!!
And guess what we get? We get to see them "testifying" for more than six hours in front of Congress. This brought back memories of the cigarette industry "testifying." And the baseball industry represented by their players "testifying" about the use of steroids. Why do they call this "testifying?" It should be called "confessing."
There is one question for which I cannot find an answer: just to whom do these banks owe money so that they need a bailout from government? One answer given by a friend recently was that they money to other banks. If this is the case, then the amounts that they owe each other should be written off.
So while you cannot usually get relief on a mortgage gone bad until you are underwater and in deep trouble, these same banks who actually still have money want to get bailed out before they go underwater. Something doesn't compute here.
And guess what we get? We get to see them "testifying" for more than six hours in front of Congress. This brought back memories of the cigarette industry "testifying." And the baseball industry represented by their players "testifying" about the use of steroids. Why do they call this "testifying?" It should be called "confessing."
There is one question for which I cannot find an answer: just to whom do these banks owe money so that they need a bailout from government? One answer given by a friend recently was that they money to other banks. If this is the case, then the amounts that they owe each other should be written off.
So while you cannot usually get relief on a mortgage gone bad until you are underwater and in deep trouble, these same banks who actually still have money want to get bailed out before they go underwater. Something doesn't compute here.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Chinese New Year's Resolutions - Sports Edition
These are resolutions that should be made by the following sports personalities and institutions:
College Football: Scrap the BCS and implement a play-off system to decide a national championship, and determine awards after the ENTIRE season is over (including the bowl season) - if postseason stats count for records shouldn't they be considered for the purposes of determining awards too?
David Stern: Retire after his overseeing of the debacle that was the relocating of the Sonics to Oklahoma City - he's lost considerable credibility in some corners.
College Basketball: Implement the No Charge Zone under the basket just like the NBA has (there are too many charging calls still called in ticky-tack conferences ... cough pac-10 ... on players going to the basket when the defender is immediately under the cylinder ... don't know what defending is going on this situation ... isn't this like having the goalie in soccer defending while standing in the goal?).
NFL: Hire professional full-time game officials ... I think we've seen too many officials missing calls because their bi-focals had fogged up.
Al Davis: Trade in his silver and black Raiders jump suit for attire suitable for retirement to a golf course in Arizona ... he has lost all relevance in the NFL and the die-hard Raider fans deserve better.
Bud Selig: Return all money made on the backs of players like Mark McGuire, Slammin' Sammy, Clemens, et al. The players are carrying a much larger share of the burden than they deserve for the steroid saga (not that they weren't without fault either). Given the magnitude of its use, it's hard to believe that others inside baseball including the owners, MLB baseball management and media did not know more than what they are saying they knew about the whole deal ... and also retire.
MLB: Reorganize MLB into two divisions ... one division would have all teams with a payroll above $100 million and the other would have all the other lower payroll teams, with the winners of the two divisions squaring off against one another in the World Series (add teams from other continents to these divisions to make the World Series a true global championship) - this would be a David versus Goliath event with wide-ranging appeal.
Gung Hay Fat Choy!
College Football: Scrap the BCS and implement a play-off system to decide a national championship, and determine awards after the ENTIRE season is over (including the bowl season) - if postseason stats count for records shouldn't they be considered for the purposes of determining awards too?
David Stern: Retire after his overseeing of the debacle that was the relocating of the Sonics to Oklahoma City - he's lost considerable credibility in some corners.
College Basketball: Implement the No Charge Zone under the basket just like the NBA has (there are too many charging calls still called in ticky-tack conferences ... cough pac-10 ... on players going to the basket when the defender is immediately under the cylinder ... don't know what defending is going on this situation ... isn't this like having the goalie in soccer defending while standing in the goal?).
NFL: Hire professional full-time game officials ... I think we've seen too many officials missing calls because their bi-focals had fogged up.
Al Davis: Trade in his silver and black Raiders jump suit for attire suitable for retirement to a golf course in Arizona ... he has lost all relevance in the NFL and the die-hard Raider fans deserve better.
Bud Selig: Return all money made on the backs of players like Mark McGuire, Slammin' Sammy, Clemens, et al. The players are carrying a much larger share of the burden than they deserve for the steroid saga (not that they weren't without fault either). Given the magnitude of its use, it's hard to believe that others inside baseball including the owners, MLB baseball management and media did not know more than what they are saying they knew about the whole deal ... and also retire.
MLB: Reorganize MLB into two divisions ... one division would have all teams with a payroll above $100 million and the other would have all the other lower payroll teams, with the winners of the two divisions squaring off against one another in the World Series (add teams from other continents to these divisions to make the World Series a true global championship) - this would be a David versus Goliath event with wide-ranging appeal.
Gung Hay Fat Choy!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Our White Christmas
We did have a very white Christmas for a change. Here's the video that shows just how white. Enjoy!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
And Here's the Evidence!
Of the thievery, that is.
The following video clips are courtesy of PRD74 on YouTube and also The Bear Will Not Quit blog. These clips show the last minute of regulation and also the last minute of each overtime period of the Bears' triple overtime thriller against the Huskies. Watching the videos makes one realize the improbability of the Bears' victory. The Bears were down 4 with about 12 seconds left in the second overtime. Most teams do not get out of that sort of hole, especially on the road after playing the whole game from behind.
End of Regulation (starting with UW 30-second timeout with one minute left in the game and the Bears down 55-58):
First Overtime (right after a basket by Jon Brockman put the Huskies up 64-61 at the 2:42 mark):
Second Overtime (coming out of TV timeout at 1:14 with UW up 72-68):
The Coup De Grace Stanza (coming out of a Bears timeout with 1:01 remaining and the score knotted at 83 after a Bears basket by Theo Robertson):
This game was one for the ages, especially if you're a Cal Bears fan.
The following video clips are courtesy of PRD74 on YouTube and also The Bear Will Not Quit blog. These clips show the last minute of regulation and also the last minute of each overtime period of the Bears' triple overtime thriller against the Huskies. Watching the videos makes one realize the improbability of the Bears' victory. The Bears were down 4 with about 12 seconds left in the second overtime. Most teams do not get out of that sort of hole, especially on the road after playing the whole game from behind.
End of Regulation (starting with UW 30-second timeout with one minute left in the game and the Bears down 55-58):
First Overtime (right after a basket by Jon Brockman put the Huskies up 64-61 at the 2:42 mark):
Second Overtime (coming out of TV timeout at 1:14 with UW up 72-68):
The Coup De Grace Stanza (coming out of a Bears timeout with 1:01 remaining and the score knotted at 83 after a Bears basket by Theo Robertson):
This game was one for the ages, especially if you're a Cal Bears fan.
Thievery by the Bears in Triple Overtime!
Roxy Bernstein's (Cal radio announcer) question and comment to Theo Robertson on the post game show after the Bears' thrilling triple OT 88-85 victory over the Huskies were greeted with a hearty laugh by Theo. The question was if the Bears were looking forward to flying home and getting some rest before their next tilt down on the Farm. The follow up tongue-in-cheek comment by Roxy was that the Bears likely could fly home without a plane.
This was the Bears' equivalent of Larry Mize chipping in from 140 feet at the Masters in 1987 to steal one from a shocked Greg Norman. The Bears won a game they really had no business winning. After all, their only leads of the game were at 1-0 and at 86-85. Even in the three OTs, the Bears consistently played from behind, never gaining a lead until the end of the third overtime.
This was reminiscent of the Bears January 8, 2000 double overtime game against the Sun Devils, but that time it was Eddie House who literally brought down the "house" to will the Sun Devils to a victory by scoring 61 points before a large contingent of family and friends. Although that game was more of a back-and-forth game, the Bears had control of the game at the end of both regulation and the second overtime, but would go onto lose 108-111. I was there to witness this firsthand at Harmon Gym, and must admit that it feels much better to be on the winning side of such a game.
Early on, the Bears played like a team looking for a split on the road so they could say "we accomplished what we wanted, you really can't ask for more than a split when you're on the road in the Pac-10." Theo had an uncharacteristic three turnovers before the game was seven minutes old. Even the refs seemed to be working against the Bears, leading the Cal announcers to exclaim after a Bears' basket: Harper Kamp (Bears forward) should get a rebound and an assist on that play ... also should have a saddle on given how much the Huskies are riding his back. The game was not one for the faint of heart, with a lot of banging and physical play.
The play continued with the Bears seeming to weather the storm. Although the Bears would fall behind 17-27, they would go onto pull within 28-32 by halftime. Not an insurmountable lead, one that the Bears would gladly take given their performance in the first half.
The second half started well enough. The Bears pulled to a tie at 41 on two Patrick Christopher (Cal guard) free throws, but then the Huskies would go on an 11-0 run fueled by 4 points, an assist and a rebound by Justin Holiday.
However, the Bears would go onto hold the Huskies to 1 field goal and 4 made free throws out of 8 attempts over the last 9 plus minutes of the game. Meanwhile, led by Jerome Randle's (Cal guard) 9 points in the last 7 minutes of the game, the Bears would storm back to tie the game at 58 on Jerome's hesitation-pump fake pull up three with 44 second left in the game. The last seconds were frenetic, but neither team would score.
The game for the Huskies in the overtime would turn into the Justin Dentmon show. This was really due to two reasons as pointed out by the Cal radio team. Jon Brockman (Husky forward) could not be the first option as the go-to guy because of his inability to make free throws. Any play into him with the game on the line would likely result in a foul by the Bears to make Brockman earn his points from the line. The other reason was Jorge Gutierrez (Cal freshman guard; first Montgomery recruit). Jorge was the blanket on Isaiah Thomas (not the Detroit Piston, but freshman guard from Tacoma) that shut him down. Although Thomas would go onto amass 22 points for the game, the Huskies did not key off Thomas either when the game was in doubt because of Jorge's defense on the speedy freshman Husky. Jorge logged 36 minutes for the game. By far, this was his most extensive playing time to date. He played all but 17 seconds of the three overtimes. In the three overtimes, the Huskies' Thomas had this line going against Jorge for the most part:
No made FGs on only 2 attempts, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 1 turnover and 2 for 2 on free throws. Basically, Thomas was turned into an observer by the Bears' own young cub Jorge.
To top this off, Jorge was called onto run the offense in the third overtime when Jerome fouled out only 17 seconds into the stanza on a offensive foul nearly 30 feet away from the basket. For the remainder of the third overtime, the Bears had a line-up featuring for the most part an all freshman backcourt of Jorge and D.J. (freshman guard Seeley from Modesto), with D.J. earning playing time on the basis of his performance earlier in the game including making a three-point play on a put-back with only 1.3 seconds left in the second OT to force the decisive third OT. Let's just say that D.J. displayed his nose for the ball on the play, making a play more likely from a senior. Let's call it his "senior" moment.
After Jerome fouled out in the third overtime, it was apparent that Theo and Patrick took it upon themselves to assume the offensive responsibilities that culminated in Theo making the go ahead 3-point play and Patrick hitting the clinching free throws with the Cal team on their feet celebrating their thievery.
Patrick also deserves major kudos for his work on the defensive end. He played all of the overtimes and the final 3:51 of regulation with 4 fouls. He was able to do this even though the Huskies time and again tried to get the fifth foul on him by posting the taller Pondexter (not Dexter, but Quincy; Husky forward) on him, giving up on Brockman and Thomas as scoring options. This was to no avail.
And when the Bears needed defense after their first lead in overtime at 86-85, and everyone in the house knew who was going to take the shot for the Huskies, coming out of the timeout guess who was assigned to Dentmon? Patrick. He did not disappoint the few long suffering Old Blues in attendance and those like me listening only on radio due to the lack of coverage in places like the East Bay area beyond the Caldecott Tunnel (this due to Comcast's playing of the game on Comcast SportsNet California instead of the more widely available Comcast SportsNet Bay Area carried even by their competitors like Astound.net; one has to wonder if this is just Comcast's attempt to get people to switch to their service). Not only would Patrick stop Dentmon, but he would go onto secure the missed shot and hit the clinching free throws.
This game will live on in Old Blues' memories for some time. My friend with whom I share Cal season tickets was on the phone to me during the game to share in the excitement. He predicted in the third overtime when it looked dire for the Bears that they would win. I can't say if this was said in full confidence or more in hope, but I think all Bears fans will agree that this game could possibly be the Cal basketball standard for Joe Kapp's, "The Bear will not quit, the Bear will not die."
This was the Bears' equivalent of Larry Mize chipping in from 140 feet at the Masters in 1987 to steal one from a shocked Greg Norman. The Bears won a game they really had no business winning. After all, their only leads of the game were at 1-0 and at 86-85. Even in the three OTs, the Bears consistently played from behind, never gaining a lead until the end of the third overtime.
This was reminiscent of the Bears January 8, 2000 double overtime game against the Sun Devils, but that time it was Eddie House who literally brought down the "house" to will the Sun Devils to a victory by scoring 61 points before a large contingent of family and friends. Although that game was more of a back-and-forth game, the Bears had control of the game at the end of both regulation and the second overtime, but would go onto lose 108-111. I was there to witness this firsthand at Harmon Gym, and must admit that it feels much better to be on the winning side of such a game.
Early on, the Bears played like a team looking for a split on the road so they could say "we accomplished what we wanted, you really can't ask for more than a split when you're on the road in the Pac-10." Theo had an uncharacteristic three turnovers before the game was seven minutes old. Even the refs seemed to be working against the Bears, leading the Cal announcers to exclaim after a Bears' basket: Harper Kamp (Bears forward) should get a rebound and an assist on that play ... also should have a saddle on given how much the Huskies are riding his back. The game was not one for the faint of heart, with a lot of banging and physical play.
The play continued with the Bears seeming to weather the storm. Although the Bears would fall behind 17-27, they would go onto pull within 28-32 by halftime. Not an insurmountable lead, one that the Bears would gladly take given their performance in the first half.
The second half started well enough. The Bears pulled to a tie at 41 on two Patrick Christopher (Cal guard) free throws, but then the Huskies would go on an 11-0 run fueled by 4 points, an assist and a rebound by Justin Holiday.
However, the Bears would go onto hold the Huskies to 1 field goal and 4 made free throws out of 8 attempts over the last 9 plus minutes of the game. Meanwhile, led by Jerome Randle's (Cal guard) 9 points in the last 7 minutes of the game, the Bears would storm back to tie the game at 58 on Jerome's hesitation-pump fake pull up three with 44 second left in the game. The last seconds were frenetic, but neither team would score.
The game for the Huskies in the overtime would turn into the Justin Dentmon show. This was really due to two reasons as pointed out by the Cal radio team. Jon Brockman (Husky forward) could not be the first option as the go-to guy because of his inability to make free throws. Any play into him with the game on the line would likely result in a foul by the Bears to make Brockman earn his points from the line. The other reason was Jorge Gutierrez (Cal freshman guard; first Montgomery recruit). Jorge was the blanket on Isaiah Thomas (not the Detroit Piston, but freshman guard from Tacoma) that shut him down. Although Thomas would go onto amass 22 points for the game, the Huskies did not key off Thomas either when the game was in doubt because of Jorge's defense on the speedy freshman Husky. Jorge logged 36 minutes for the game. By far, this was his most extensive playing time to date. He played all but 17 seconds of the three overtimes. In the three overtimes, the Huskies' Thomas had this line going against Jorge for the most part:
No made FGs on only 2 attempts, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 1 turnover and 2 for 2 on free throws. Basically, Thomas was turned into an observer by the Bears' own young cub Jorge.
To top this off, Jorge was called onto run the offense in the third overtime when Jerome fouled out only 17 seconds into the stanza on a offensive foul nearly 30 feet away from the basket. For the remainder of the third overtime, the Bears had a line-up featuring for the most part an all freshman backcourt of Jorge and D.J. (freshman guard Seeley from Modesto), with D.J. earning playing time on the basis of his performance earlier in the game including making a three-point play on a put-back with only 1.3 seconds left in the second OT to force the decisive third OT. Let's just say that D.J. displayed his nose for the ball on the play, making a play more likely from a senior. Let's call it his "senior" moment.
After Jerome fouled out in the third overtime, it was apparent that Theo and Patrick took it upon themselves to assume the offensive responsibilities that culminated in Theo making the go ahead 3-point play and Patrick hitting the clinching free throws with the Cal team on their feet celebrating their thievery.
Patrick also deserves major kudos for his work on the defensive end. He played all of the overtimes and the final 3:51 of regulation with 4 fouls. He was able to do this even though the Huskies time and again tried to get the fifth foul on him by posting the taller Pondexter (not Dexter, but Quincy; Husky forward) on him, giving up on Brockman and Thomas as scoring options. This was to no avail.
And when the Bears needed defense after their first lead in overtime at 86-85, and everyone in the house knew who was going to take the shot for the Huskies, coming out of the timeout guess who was assigned to Dentmon? Patrick. He did not disappoint the few long suffering Old Blues in attendance and those like me listening only on radio due to the lack of coverage in places like the East Bay area beyond the Caldecott Tunnel (this due to Comcast's playing of the game on Comcast SportsNet California instead of the more widely available Comcast SportsNet Bay Area carried even by their competitors like Astound.net; one has to wonder if this is just Comcast's attempt to get people to switch to their service). Not only would Patrick stop Dentmon, but he would go onto secure the missed shot and hit the clinching free throws.
This game will live on in Old Blues' memories for some time. My friend with whom I share Cal season tickets was on the phone to me during the game to share in the excitement. He predicted in the third overtime when it looked dire for the Bears that they would win. I can't say if this was said in full confidence or more in hope, but I think all Bears fans will agree that this game could possibly be the Cal basketball standard for Joe Kapp's, "The Bear will not quit, the Bear will not die."
Friday, January 09, 2009
One Final Dose of Cal Bears Football
...to get through the off season.
It's a good video montage of Best's 311-yard day against the Huskies this year.
Maybe both Cal and Wazzu or is it Wazoo fans will like this...
It's a good video montage of Best's 311-yard day against the Huskies this year.
Maybe both Cal and Wazzu or is it Wazoo fans will like this...
Saturday, January 03, 2009
We Can Fly ! We Can Fly!
After a picture taking session in front of our tree, I told the kids to have fun and do some goofy things and here is the result.
Stats Redux - January 2, 2009
Here's an update on stats first posted in November 2005, and updated on January 2006, June 2006, October 2006, March 2007, November 2007 and August 2008.
Price of Gas: $1.85 per gallon (down from a high of about $4.49 this past summer when crude oil prices pushed past $140 per barrel)
Price of Milk: Down to $3.29 for a gallon at Trader Joe's (from $3.99 in August 2008)
Bridge Toll: $4 as of January 1, 2007 on all Bay Area bridges except Golden Gate Bridge (which is $6 cash and $5 FasTrak as of 9/1/08)
Today's High Temperature: 55 degrees F (overnight low of 35) and raining (the last entry in this space in August 2008 shows a low of 56)
Dow Jones Average: 9034.69 close on 1/2/09 (down almost 2300 points since August 2008)
Shopping Days to Christmas: 355 days (http://eclecticesoterica.com/xmas_cnt.html)
Dinner Tonight: Blondie's cheese pizza on the run to Cal basketball game for me; the rest of the family had chicken nuggets, fish sticks, mozzarella cheese sticks, corn casserole, carrots and apple slices
Average Commute Time: under an hour in mornings due to holiday driving conditions (carpooling to restart again this next Monday; two fellow carpoolers work for tech. companies that go into hibernation between Christmas and New Years; new carpooling will have 3-person carpool MWF; 2-person carpools on TuThu)
Cost of Area Homes: the value of homes in immediate area is down to around $500k
Movie Ticket: $10 to see movies in Seattle last week; saw "The Spirit" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Time with My Kids: played card game Golf this evening
Ethan will be 8 in less than 2 weeks.
Price of Gas: $1.85 per gallon (down from a high of about $4.49 this past summer when crude oil prices pushed past $140 per barrel)
Price of Milk: Down to $3.29 for a gallon at Trader Joe's (from $3.99 in August 2008)
Bridge Toll: $4 as of January 1, 2007 on all Bay Area bridges except Golden Gate Bridge (which is $6 cash and $5 FasTrak as of 9/1/08)
Today's High Temperature: 55 degrees F (overnight low of 35) and raining (the last entry in this space in August 2008 shows a low of 56)
Dow Jones Average: 9034.69 close on 1/2/09 (down almost 2300 points since August 2008)
Shopping Days to Christmas: 355 days (http://eclecticesoterica.com/xmas_cnt.html)
Dinner Tonight: Blondie's cheese pizza on the run to Cal basketball game for me; the rest of the family had chicken nuggets, fish sticks, mozzarella cheese sticks, corn casserole, carrots and apple slices
Average Commute Time: under an hour in mornings due to holiday driving conditions (carpooling to restart again this next Monday; two fellow carpoolers work for tech. companies that go into hibernation between Christmas and New Years; new carpooling will have 3-person carpool MWF; 2-person carpools on TuThu)
Cost of Area Homes: the value of homes in immediate area is down to around $500k
Movie Ticket: $10 to see movies in Seattle last week; saw "The Spirit" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Time with My Kids: played card game Golf this evening
Ethan will be 8 in less than 2 weeks.
Friday, January 02, 2009
"Stream of Life"
The music that accompanies the Matt Harding video was so mesmerizing and uplifting that we had to go look it up.
The name of the song is "Praan" or "Stream of Life," and was composed by Garry Schyman and performed by Palbasha Siddique. The lyrics were adapted from the poem "Stream of Life" translated by Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. The singer who performs the song apparently lives in the U.S., but has gained some notoriety since the production of the video including competing in the Bangladesh version of "American Idol."
The English translation of the poem goes something like:
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day,
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy,
through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass,
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death,
in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.
Here's the song set to a video of nature photography.
The name of the song is "Praan" or "Stream of Life," and was composed by Garry Schyman and performed by Palbasha Siddique. The lyrics were adapted from the poem "Stream of Life" translated by Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. The singer who performs the song apparently lives in the U.S., but has gained some notoriety since the production of the video including competing in the Bangladesh version of "American Idol."
The English translation of the poem goes something like:
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day,
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy,
through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass,
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death,
in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.
Here's the song set to a video of nature photography.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to one and all! First blog of the year. 2008 was a down year for blogging in the Emoto household. Can't really say that this was due to one particular reason. We'll see what 2009 brings.
Perhaps we'll travel more. Definitely cannot travel any less than we did in 2008. We already have a possible trip to Disneyland in the works.
Here's our nomination for the video to inspire us all to travel more and for a more uplifting 2009 in general. Enjoy!
His web site says that he lives in Seattle. Check out his Wikipedia entry for more information about Matt. The Wiki entry states that one of the founders of YouTube claims that Matt's video is his favorite YouTube posted video of all time. Another entry also mentions that "few people are able to watch the video without smiling."
Perhaps we'll travel more. Definitely cannot travel any less than we did in 2008. We already have a possible trip to Disneyland in the works.
Here's our nomination for the video to inspire us all to travel more and for a more uplifting 2009 in general. Enjoy!
His web site says that he lives in Seattle. Check out his Wikipedia entry for more information about Matt. The Wiki entry states that one of the founders of YouTube claims that Matt's video is his favorite YouTube posted video of all time. Another entry also mentions that "few people are able to watch the video without smiling."
Monday, December 15, 2008
Christmas Light Show in Clayton
Another stop on our tour of lights this past weekend was the Clayton Community Church that has a light show at 7 and 8 pm every evening at their downtown office. It was quite a show. It probably went on for about 20 minutes or more. Here's a short clip.
Mr. Christmas
We went to visit Mr. Christmas this past weekend. Mr. Mertz on Olive Drive in Concord, CA is celebrating 30 years of celebrating Christmas in a BIG way. The display includes 50,000 lights that takes 11 weeks to set up. The PG&E bill for the season is estimated to be about $700.
Friday, December 12, 2008
"Fish Out of Water" Move
I'm waiting to see the Cal student section try this at a Cal basketball game this year.
The author of this video clip is non-other than Rod Benson, former Cal Bear basketball player. I got this clip from his on-line column at Yahoo! Sports.
He's currently playing basketball over in Europe. The other person in the clip is a teammate on that French professional team.
The author of this video clip is non-other than Rod Benson, former Cal Bear basketball player. I got this clip from his on-line column at Yahoo! Sports.
He's currently playing basketball over in Europe. The other person in the clip is a teammate on that French professional team.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Plasma or LCD?
Not that we are in the market for a new set, but here's what is the current state of the "Should we buy an LCD or plasma high definition television?" question.
If having a truly cinema-like experience is important, then plasma displays are slightly better. The main issues with plasma sets seem to be image glare on untreated diplays especially in bright rooms. Also, although for most good plasma displays this is a non-issue today, there is a possibility of image retention for some displays.
LCDs on the other hand come in a wider variety of sizes (e.g., plasma displays less than 42 inches are not available) and images are quite comparable to that from a plasma display. The areas where LCDs do have possible weaknesses compared with plasmas are limitations with viewing angle, blacks not being as dark, and motion blur.
The top plasma display makers are Panasonic and Pioneer.
The top LCD display makers are Sony, Samsung and Sharp.
If having a truly cinema-like experience is important, then plasma displays are slightly better. The main issues with plasma sets seem to be image glare on untreated diplays especially in bright rooms. Also, although for most good plasma displays this is a non-issue today, there is a possibility of image retention for some displays.
LCDs on the other hand come in a wider variety of sizes (e.g., plasma displays less than 42 inches are not available) and images are quite comparable to that from a plasma display. The areas where LCDs do have possible weaknesses compared with plasmas are limitations with viewing angle, blacks not being as dark, and motion blur.
The top plasma display makers are Panasonic and Pioneer.
The top LCD display makers are Sony, Samsung and Sharp.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Why Not Bail Out California Too?
As the clamoring for a bailout of the Big Three U.S. automakers reaches a crescendo, it's still unclear if such a bailout is the right course of action. The total bailout could reach into the $30 plus billion range. That's a lot of zeros.
The main reason that seems to be out there for the bailout is an implosion of the Big Three would be bad for the economy, but where's the proof that this would be the case? It obvious that the Big Three are in need of a course correction. Aren't bankruptcies intended to allow companies to find a course correction?
So if we're talking about bailouts, why not a bailout of California? The current estimate of the state's budget deficit is at about $11 billion. Various proposals have contemplated closing this deficit through raising the state sales tax, raising the auto registration fee, imposing a new tax on any oil produced in California, raise the excise tax on alcohol sales, reducing K-12 education funding, reducing college education funding, reduce the amount available for the state's welfare-to-work program, require state employees to take a one-day a month unpaid furlough, reduce the number of paid state holidays by two days, and postponing some mandatory regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Quite sweeping.
If the auto industry is to be bailed out, the concessions by the auto industry must be at least the equivalent of these kinds of cut-backs being contemplated by states such as California.
After all, if California were a country it would have the 8th highest gross domestic product (GDP), about equivalent to that of France's GDP. So one could make an argument that a bailout of a state such as California might be more important to the national economy than the bailout of private companies that surely would be replaced by other private companies.
The main reason that seems to be out there for the bailout is an implosion of the Big Three would be bad for the economy, but where's the proof that this would be the case? It obvious that the Big Three are in need of a course correction. Aren't bankruptcies intended to allow companies to find a course correction?
So if we're talking about bailouts, why not a bailout of California? The current estimate of the state's budget deficit is at about $11 billion. Various proposals have contemplated closing this deficit through raising the state sales tax, raising the auto registration fee, imposing a new tax on any oil produced in California, raise the excise tax on alcohol sales, reducing K-12 education funding, reducing college education funding, reduce the amount available for the state's welfare-to-work program, require state employees to take a one-day a month unpaid furlough, reduce the number of paid state holidays by two days, and postponing some mandatory regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Quite sweeping.
If the auto industry is to be bailed out, the concessions by the auto industry must be at least the equivalent of these kinds of cut-backs being contemplated by states such as California.
After all, if California were a country it would have the 8th highest gross domestic product (GDP), about equivalent to that of France's GDP. So one could make an argument that a bailout of a state such as California might be more important to the national economy than the bailout of private companies that surely would be replaced by other private companies.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Basketball Dribbling Five Year Old
Here's a video of a 5-year old from San Leandro here in the Bay Area who has advanced basketball dribbling skills for her age. She attends something called the Triple Threat Academy. We first saw her as part of a halftime show at a recent Cal men's basketball game. Ryan has expressed an interest in wanting to learn how to dribble a basketball so we had actually inquired into their program. The rates were not too bad, but we haven't signed up.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thanksgiving 2008
We had a nice little Thanksgiving dinner at our place this year. It was a smaller gathering than most years so we were able to get all of the adults a seat at one long table. The kids got their own separate table. The menu included: turkey, ham, stuffing, mash potatoes, corn casserole, bok choy and mushroom, green salad, fruit salad, an appetizer platter, winter melon soup, and rice; and then there was sparkling juice, wine, sodas, apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake. There certainly was enough food and even more for doggie bags for those wanting to take a little home.
Oh, yes, and Ryan got the larger half of the turkey wishbone this year.
Oh, yes, and Ryan got the larger half of the turkey wishbone this year.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Tinkerbell
We've had a guest for the past week in our home. Tinkerbell, the pet guinea pig from Ryan's preschool classroom.
In the photo below, Tinkerbell gets a treat on Thanksgiving Day.
In the photo below, Tinkerbell gets a treat on Thanksgiving Day.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
What in the World Do I Do?
Friends back home have asked me what I do for a living. Sometimes it's not easy to explain.
Check this out though. Here's a link to a newspaper article on freeway improvements that was forwarded to me by a friend:
Fixing I-880: the never-ending story
So now you know that my work involves freeways. So how did someone who grew up in a small Alaskan town with no traffic signals and traffic signs used more for target practice (are they still?) get to work on freeways?
Check this out though. Here's a link to a newspaper article on freeway improvements that was forwarded to me by a friend:
Fixing I-880: the never-ending story
So now you know that my work involves freeways. So how did someone who grew up in a small Alaskan town with no traffic signals and traffic signs used more for target practice (are they still?) get to work on freeways?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Bears Tribute to Pete Newell
The Bears postgame show with Roxy Bernstein featured stories about Pete Newell who passed away yesterday at the age of 93. Here is a sample:
The first 5 times that Coach Newell coached against John Wooden he went 0-5 against the Wizard of Westwood. UCLA was still not quite the powerhouse that they would become, but nevertheless losing to the south state rival Bruins didn't sit too well with Coach Newell. The story goes that before the Bears' 6th match-up under Newell against the Bruins, one of the Bruins' players provided bulletin board material. Something about the Bears not being able to beat the Bruins. Well, in their next 8 games, the Bears went 8-0 against the Bruins. Pete finished his coaching career with a record of 8-5 against Coach Wooden. How many other coaches can say that they finished their career with a winning record against Wooden?
Did not know that former Bears assistant coach (and now head coach at New Orleans) Joe Pasternack held a special spot with Coach Newell. About 3 weeks ago, Joe traveled out to San Diego for a couple days to visit with Coach Newell before the season started. After Coach Newell's passing, if Joe didn't already know it, he learned just what Pete thought about him. One of Pete's sons called and in their conversation, Joe learned that Pete felt especially close to three coaches: Coach Knight, Coach K, and Joe.
A few years ago during a Bears game against SDSU in San Diego, Pete sat next to Roxy who called the game solo. Pete sitting next to Roxy was not planned. Anyway, Pete spent the game scribbling notes that he would pass onto Roxy (who was next to the Cal bench) to pass onto the Cal coaching staff. The notes were about possible adjustments that Cal could make. The Bears would go on to win the game.
Now onto the game...
The Bears won 87-74. Cliche warning! ...but the game was much closer than indicated by the final score. In fact, the Dons scored 11 straight points in the middle of the second stanza to take a 60-59 lead. Fueled by a Randle 3-pointer that put the Bears back up, the Bears ran away with the game on the strength of a 16-2 run.
It was only fitting that the first game on Newell Court after the passing of one the most respected coaches in college basketball history would be a game between two teams once coached by the Coach. Prior to the game, a tribute to Coach Newell was displayed on the video board followed by a moment of silence.
The game ended quite anticlimactically with the Bears up comfortably. The final box score will only show that the final Bears' basket was a jumper scored by Patrick Christopher. What the box score will not show is how and why the jumper was scored. The Dons were not fouling with the outcome of the game decided, and the Bears were content to wind down the clock. At the end of clock, Randle set up Christopher for a baseline jumper. Nothing remarkable on the surface, but it spoke volumes about Randle's command and control of the game - quite a contrast to how the season unfolded last year.
Oh, by the way, Randle tallied 25 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists with just 2 turnovers.
The Bears are going to need to find some toughness inside. Although they are now 2 for 2 with the rebounding battle, it is a little surprising that this is the case. Perhaps, this is because they have been guilty of giving up rebounds that seem to turn into points. Max Zhang will need to be able to play more minutes, especially against the beefier teams. It seemed that when Max was on the floor, USF was quite aware of his presence and made it a point to not challenge on the inside.
Next Game: 11/20 (Thursday) against the Texas-Pan American Broncos.
The first 5 times that Coach Newell coached against John Wooden he went 0-5 against the Wizard of Westwood. UCLA was still not quite the powerhouse that they would become, but nevertheless losing to the south state rival Bruins didn't sit too well with Coach Newell. The story goes that before the Bears' 6th match-up under Newell against the Bruins, one of the Bruins' players provided bulletin board material. Something about the Bears not being able to beat the Bruins. Well, in their next 8 games, the Bears went 8-0 against the Bruins. Pete finished his coaching career with a record of 8-5 against Coach Wooden. How many other coaches can say that they finished their career with a winning record against Wooden?
Did not know that former Bears assistant coach (and now head coach at New Orleans) Joe Pasternack held a special spot with Coach Newell. About 3 weeks ago, Joe traveled out to San Diego for a couple days to visit with Coach Newell before the season started. After Coach Newell's passing, if Joe didn't already know it, he learned just what Pete thought about him. One of Pete's sons called and in their conversation, Joe learned that Pete felt especially close to three coaches: Coach Knight, Coach K, and Joe.
A few years ago during a Bears game against SDSU in San Diego, Pete sat next to Roxy who called the game solo. Pete sitting next to Roxy was not planned. Anyway, Pete spent the game scribbling notes that he would pass onto Roxy (who was next to the Cal bench) to pass onto the Cal coaching staff. The notes were about possible adjustments that Cal could make. The Bears would go on to win the game.
Now onto the game...
The Bears won 87-74. Cliche warning! ...but the game was much closer than indicated by the final score. In fact, the Dons scored 11 straight points in the middle of the second stanza to take a 60-59 lead. Fueled by a Randle 3-pointer that put the Bears back up, the Bears ran away with the game on the strength of a 16-2 run.
It was only fitting that the first game on Newell Court after the passing of one the most respected coaches in college basketball history would be a game between two teams once coached by the Coach. Prior to the game, a tribute to Coach Newell was displayed on the video board followed by a moment of silence.
The game ended quite anticlimactically with the Bears up comfortably. The final box score will only show that the final Bears' basket was a jumper scored by Patrick Christopher. What the box score will not show is how and why the jumper was scored. The Dons were not fouling with the outcome of the game decided, and the Bears were content to wind down the clock. At the end of clock, Randle set up Christopher for a baseline jumper. Nothing remarkable on the surface, but it spoke volumes about Randle's command and control of the game - quite a contrast to how the season unfolded last year.
Oh, by the way, Randle tallied 25 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists with just 2 turnovers.
The Bears are going to need to find some toughness inside. Although they are now 2 for 2 with the rebounding battle, it is a little surprising that this is the case. Perhaps, this is because they have been guilty of giving up rebounds that seem to turn into points. Max Zhang will need to be able to play more minutes, especially against the beefier teams. It seemed that when Max was on the floor, USF was quite aware of his presence and made it a point to not challenge on the inside.
Next Game: 11/20 (Thursday) against the Texas-Pan American Broncos.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
New King Cove - Cold Bay Roadway
Having flown into King Cove on several occasions, it's understandable why an option to be able to fly into and out from Cold Bay is being sought. However, it does not seem that this is a black-and-white issue.
There have been recent stories on the proposed new roadway in the local papers in Alaska and also in papers here in the Lower 48. It's one of those locals versus outside environmental groups where both sides have valid points for and against the project. The articles have included quotes attributed to: president of National Wildlife Refuge Association (against the project), mayor of the Aleutians East Borough (for the project), and other people of note. The articles have mentioned Shell executives (presumably for the project), Fish and Wildlife Service (for the project), Governor Sarah Palin (for the project), the New York Times (against the project), and others.
So what are the opinions of the local people regarding questions and comments like those below?
1. This is really not about the roadway providing a needed safety valve for medical emergencies. It's about taking one step toward future oil and gas exploration in the area.
2. The hover craft system that is in place is too costly (running a deficit of about $500,000 per year) to operate for much longer.
3. How can the new roadway be a much better option when it could take two or three times longer to drive on the new road than it does to take the hover craft to Cold Bay?
4. The hover craft has limitations like not being able to operate when wind speeds are over 30 mph. Is this limitations of the hover craft really an issue?
5. The new roadway will have detrimental impacts to one of the most valuable wetlands in the world.
6. Locals have traveled the area for years on trails and dirt roads for years without an impact to the local wildlife.
Here's a story from the point of view of project opposers.
Here's story from the point of view of project supporters.
The following is a video from those supporting the project and includes local people that some of you may recognize:
There have been recent stories on the proposed new roadway in the local papers in Alaska and also in papers here in the Lower 48. It's one of those locals versus outside environmental groups where both sides have valid points for and against the project. The articles have included quotes attributed to: president of National Wildlife Refuge Association (against the project), mayor of the Aleutians East Borough (for the project), and other people of note. The articles have mentioned Shell executives (presumably for the project), Fish and Wildlife Service (for the project), Governor Sarah Palin (for the project), the New York Times (against the project), and others.
So what are the opinions of the local people regarding questions and comments like those below?
1. This is really not about the roadway providing a needed safety valve for medical emergencies. It's about taking one step toward future oil and gas exploration in the area.
2. The hover craft system that is in place is too costly (running a deficit of about $500,000 per year) to operate for much longer.
3. How can the new roadway be a much better option when it could take two or three times longer to drive on the new road than it does to take the hover craft to Cold Bay?
4. The hover craft has limitations like not being able to operate when wind speeds are over 30 mph. Is this limitations of the hover craft really an issue?
5. The new roadway will have detrimental impacts to one of the most valuable wetlands in the world.
6. Locals have traveled the area for years on trails and dirt roads for years without an impact to the local wildlife.
Here's a story from the point of view of project opposers.
Here's story from the point of view of project supporters.
The following is a video from those supporting the project and includes local people that some of you may recognize:
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
A Historic Election
In his concession speech although John McCain looked a little tired, it was one of his finer moments of the campaign. His speech sounded much more genuine as compared to his campaign rhetoric down the stretch to the finish line. The results seem to indicate that the race was not so close.
Obama's speech was full of hope, but he's got a difficult task awaiting. Here are some steps that he should take:
1. Prepare and implement a plan to move our country toward energy independence.
2. Remake government so that it can really make a difference in the lives of ordinary people.
3. Set a tone of accountability; be willing to own up to mistakes.
4. Offer John McCain a seat in his Cabinet.
And finally...
Ryan says, "You rock Obama! I knew that you could do it!"
Obama's speech was full of hope, but he's got a difficult task awaiting. Here are some steps that he should take:
1. Prepare and implement a plan to move our country toward energy independence.
2. Remake government so that it can really make a difference in the lives of ordinary people.
3. Set a tone of accountability; be willing to own up to mistakes.
4. Offer John McCain a seat in his Cabinet.
And finally...
Ryan says, "You rock Obama! I knew that you could do it!"
Monday, November 03, 2008
The Voters
Tomorrow's the big day. Then there is what kids have to say about what tomorrow means.
Me: Who's McCain? How about Obama?
Ethan: Yeah, they're those voters.
Me: What do you mean?
Ethan: You know, those people that you vote for.
Me: So are you saying they need us?
Ethan: Yeah, the voters need us to win.
Ryan (in the background): Yahoo! Go Obama! (over and over)
Me: Who's McCain? How about Obama?
Ethan: Yeah, they're those voters.
Me: What do you mean?
Ethan: You know, those people that you vote for.
Me: So are you saying they need us?
Ethan: Yeah, the voters need us to win.
Ryan (in the background): Yahoo! Go Obama! (over and over)
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Halloween 2008
We had a soggy Halloween this year, but this did not deter our kids from making the rounds. Let's see now... Naomi was Sacagawea, Ethan was a clone trooper from the Star Wars stories and Ryan was Mater from the movie Cars.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
California Academy of Sciences
We got a chance to go check out the remodeled California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco that reopened on September 27, 2008. We were able to visit the weekend of October 3 when Obaachan visited.
The message that this is a "green" building is everywhere. Not to nitpick, but we found one way that they could become even greener (get rid of the requirement for kids under 6 who are free to enter to purchase a paper ticket - something about needing this to keep track of the number of visitors). There were a couple of items from the old building: the Pendulum and the seahorse railings. We missed the over-sized Gary Larson "The Far Side" cartoons.
At the end of the day, we asked the kids if they preferred the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Two of the three said that they did prefer the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Maybe it was the fact that we stayed at a hotel on the beach the last time we went to the Aquarium.
The message that this is a "green" building is everywhere. Not to nitpick, but we found one way that they could become even greener (get rid of the requirement for kids under 6 who are free to enter to purchase a paper ticket - something about needing this to keep track of the number of visitors). There were a couple of items from the old building: the Pendulum and the seahorse railings. We missed the over-sized Gary Larson "The Far Side" cartoons.
At the end of the day, we asked the kids if they preferred the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Two of the three said that they did prefer the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Maybe it was the fact that we stayed at a hotel on the beach the last time we went to the Aquarium.
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