My trip to EA

Yesterday I took CalTrain down to Redwood City to visit my friend Mark at work. He's an animator for Electronic Arts (EA). I had been looking forward to going down to visit him because I've always been a big video game fan and I also think it's neat to check out where your friends work at. We spend so much time at the office yet very few of the people close to us get to experience any of that.

My trip down to Redwood City took about 50 minutes since I had to take two forms of transit to get there. I found the CalTrain depot to be rather pleasant (although getting there took awhile since there's no direct route from my house to the station) and the ride down the peninsula was scenic and comfortable. My roundtrip ticket (1 day 2-zone pass) on CalTrain set me back $8.

Upon arrival at the Belmont Station, Mark picked me up and drove me the 2.4 miles to EA's campus which sits on reclaimed land and the old site of the Marine World Theme Park, which moved to Vallejo in 1986. The main lobby was impressive which wasn't surprising since EA makes some huge titles. Mark gave me a tour of the division that he works in, which was really cool and then we had enjoyed bbq at the EA cafe. Mark then gave me a tour of the rest of EA's campus, which included a maze that he said you can see on Google Maps! How cool is that? I ended the day by playing the new Sims game that he's been working on, which is set to be released next month. I got dropped back off at the CalTrain station and took the northbound train back to the city.

I enjoyed my trip down to Redwood City and EA, but I have to admit that I really wanted to play video games when I got home!




CalTrain Station in San Francisco.


The entrance to EA's campus.


Video games set up in the lobby.


Mark!

Tuesday Morning

• Jackass Joe Lieberman has been un-invited to weekly Democratic meetings. Next step is being kicked out of the caucus entirely!
• Sarah Palin is a big fat liar and her church says they can "Pray Away the Gay".
• The 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on the Huskies at the end of the game against BYU last Saturday really upset me and I'm sure just about anyone who watches football has some strong opinion about it. The bottom line is, the refs made the call based on the rules. I think the rules for unsportsmanlike conduct are too overreaching and too stringent.
  
• American Idol runner-up, David Archuleta, has a new single out and I'm trying to figure out who exactly he has a crush on.

Kickoff Weekend 2008-09

I am a college football maniac and I have really been looking forward to this weekend's non-stop College football extravaganza. For the past two seasons, I have been out of the country during football season so I this year's season has been highly anticipated. This year, I get to enjoy it on a flatscreen in HD with DVR (I <3 acronyms).

Unfortunately, my much beloved Washington Huskies got their asses kicked at Oregon. It's not exactly the way I want to start the season. Next up is BYU who is picked by the MSM to be the BCS Cinderella story. Everyone loves an underdog, even if that underdog Morman.

I'm watching Tennessee at UCLA right now on a 4 hour tape delay, which is awesome. I was able to have people over on a Monday holiday, then go out for some fun and then come home to watch the game in HD. Live is good.

UCLA Fight Fight Fight!

Gossip Girl

Yuck. I just threw up a little in my mouth.

In Search of Lo Pan & Aunty Lindo

Last month Joe came to visit me here in SF and we took a day trip to Chinatown to find two of our favorite people in the whole world.

We started off looking for Gracie Law's office, which we knew was somewhere in Chinatown. If we found Gracie, I'm sure she could have led us to Egg Shen's place, where he could help us prepare for the battle against Lo Pan. Unfortunately, we were unable to find Gracie's office, so we decided to save our chi and see if we could find Aunty Lindo and maybe play a game of mahjong. We roamed the streets of Chinatown, weaving between the tourists and exploring back alleys, but we were unable to find Aunty Lindo. The closest we came was Waverly street. I wonder if Aunty Lindo named her daughter after this very street?


Joe preparing for his battle against Lo Pan.


Joe has best quality heart.

8 More days to Kick-off

College football fans, your time is almost here! In just over one-week, the college football season kicks-off.

It's time to dust off your favorite school-spirited gear and practice your fight song and cheers.

My Washington Huskies open the season with a bang at the University of Oregon. Nothing would make me happier than a big Husky victory over the much hated Ducks. Washington is a 13 point underdog, but it's the first game of the season and anything can happen! Go Huskies!

Rachael Maddow to host her own show on MSNBC

I am very excited for the addition of Rachael Maddow to the MSNBC prime-time line-up. She has been an outstanding contributor and fill-in for Keith Olbermann, but now I get to enjoy her 5 nights a week.

Apparently, her hiring has caused quite a stir. Glenn Greenwald on Salon.com comments:

"The reaction to Maddow's show highlights just how suffocatingly narrow, and right-wing, the spectrum of mainstream political discourse in America is. Hiring Michael Savage, Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson to host their own shows didn't jeopardize NBC's news brand, just as giving Glenn Beck -- Glenn Beck -- his own show didn't jeopardize CNN's. Most mainstream political and media figures even continue to insist that Fox is a legitimate news organization because Brit Hume confines his overt right-wing talking points to the Sunday show. But the presence of a liberal on MSNBC instantaneously destroys traditional principles of Journalism."

Friday Morning News

• Hallmark is now offering same-sex marriage cards. Great news! That means I can now go there the next time I'm going to a Lesbian, Jewish-Buddhist, mixed-race wedding!

• A Delta Airline Jet in Florida had to delay its landing due to walking-catfish on the runway. I think they should have let the jet landed and had a catfish fry that afternoon.

• The drama continues in Berkeley with the season home opener right around the corner. These people in the trees are nuts, but I have to admit that I love their nicknames. "Dumpster Muffin"? Really?

• Local boy Bryan Clay won the gold in the Decathlon. He's also half black and half Japanese. I think I'm in love.

• Tour buses have been dropping off crowds of gawking visitors to The Castro and it's been causing quite a stir in the neighborhood. You can't get married without someone taking your picture!
  

To my friend Coach

To my friend Coach,

I apologize for the lack-luster performance of my blog.

I have been distracted recently and have neglected to express my experiences here on my little spot in the internets.

I will try my best to keep you informed, because from what I understand, an honest writer is a productive one.

My Birthday & The Golden Girls

Last week Friday, I celebrated my 31st birthday with a few of my friends and had a memorable night here in San Francisco. We started out the evening with drinks and nibbles at the Lookout. I was impressed with their pizzas and bar snacks and the beers weren't bad either. Then it was off to see two episodes of the Golden Girls performed by drag queens! I am a huge GG fan and this was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday. The show was amazing and we got a picture with the cast afterwards. I love San Francisco.


Greg and Craig flew all the way from London for my birthday!


Matt and the Hapas.


Blanch's gay brother!


Can you pick out the drag queens in this picture?

Blown Away by Glass

On Wednesday, I took my visiting sister and niece to see, Chihouly at the de Young, which opened last weekend at the de Young Museum here in San Francisco. I have seen many Chihouly exhbits in the past (he's also a fellow Washington Alum. Go Huskies!), but this one blew me away. The exhibit showcased various stages in his fabulous career and was displayed with breathtaking brilliance. The exhibit runs until September 28 and I recommend checking it out!

Exploring the Bay Area: Walnut Creek

Just 30 minutes away from San Francisco on BART, sits Walnut Creek. A pretty suburban area located east of San Francisco, Walnut Creek boasts a population of about 65,000 and also serves as the business and entertainment hub for the local area. Nestled at the foot of Mt Diablo, Walnut Creek boasts beautiful open spaces, sensible urban planning and a vast array of shopping and dining options. The city offers a free shuttle between the BART station and the downtown core which makes things accessible for those without a car.

Sam, a friend of mine, met me at the BART station and gave me a tour of the downtown area. His insightful knowledge about the area and upcoming developments to the city were very interesting and I found the tour to be quite pleasant and rather enjoyable. We stopped for delicious lunch and dined on one of the many open air patios that dot the urban core.

After lunch, Sam treated me to a little career shadowing and took me to check out a vacant lot in the city that will soon be developed. After doing a quick inspection of the area, I gave him my opinion and I started to wonder if a career in urban planning was in the cards for me?

I returned to San Francisco later that afternoon happy to have explored a new part of the Bay Area. If you're ever in the area, I suggest stopping by Walnut Creek to enjoy its beautiful urban center and easily accessible shops and restaurants.


Just making sure I got off at the correct BART stop.


There really is a creek in Walnut Creek!


Where Sam works.


Sam took me to a site inspection. I suggested to him that this plot of land could be better used.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

One of my little projects around the house has been our back patio area. I recently installed a few paper lanterns that add a lot of color and give off nice light on a mild evening.

My brother has hooked me up with some great plants. I have roses, a hanging fuchsia, lavendar, some herbs, a cymbidum orchid and red geraniums. Of course, I can't forget the gnome keeping watch.

I love my little oasis in the city and I can't wait to make new additions.

Summer hits San Francisco

Summer has arrived to San Francisco, and contrary to popular belief, Mark Twain did not say the famous (or infamous) quote, "The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco."

For lunch, I was feeling a little adventerous and went for a walk to Noe Valley where I discovered a small-town feel right in San Francisco. Seperated from Castro by a relatively large hill, Noe Valley is a world completely to its own. Like it's gay sister to the north, Noe Valley was once a neighborhood with working class families. Nowdays it is a blend of yuppies, young families with money and gays. Serviced by the J-Church Muni line and filled with beautiful Victorian homes, Noe Valley was rather pleasant in my opinion. I could definitely tell that it was a neighborhood that's heavily influenced by it's large gay population, but it was also prim and proper. 24th Street reminded me of a mini-main street where good looking young woment walked with their equally good looking offspring. Boutiques, cafes and flower shops dot the corners in this area of town where the sun shines brightly.

I made the tactical error of eating at Pomodoro. Who eats at a place that is named after the Italian word for "Tomato" during a massive salmonella outbreak in the US that stemmed from tomatoes? I sat down and enjoyed a cold glass of ice tea and a steak panini. After exploring the area, I jumped on the bus and returned to the Castro. I was just 15 minutes on foot away, but it felt like I was world's apart.


Sunny and peaceful.


Yum.


Back in the Castro. I couldn't help myself. A muscle-couple carrying their groceries and gallon of milk home. :)

Fun GraftitiAround Town

I do not condone civil disobedience, but these two acts of vandalism caught my eye. Pics taken with my Sony Ericsson Phone.


SJP never looked so good.


How are your allergies now Claritin boy?

Random Thoughts on a Tuesday Night.

I'm officially convinced that the USA has become the new playground for English tourists.

Would you spend $5,000 to go to Antartica for a few hours or take that money and have a big vacation somewhere else?

People who drink Fiji water are Eco-Terrorists.

Aren't you glad the Democratic Primary is over?

I wonder what Cindy McCain's real hair color is?

Target wine in a box is great!

Facebook, the new blog?

Facebook has been stealing all of my blogging/writing/exhibitionist energy recently and I apologize for it.

I'll try to be better about this and you can thank Graham for bringing this to my attention.

Frustrations

It's been awhile since I've posted anything political, but as each day goes by I find myself getting more and more frustrated with the primary elections.

This quote from Michael Crowley sums up exactly how I feel.

[O]ne gets the overall impression that the Clintons feel Obama shouldn't be here in the first place--that this 'young man's' very claim to power is itself questionable. In this sense, the Clintons may be victims of their own sense of victimhood. The vileness of the Clintons' past enemies seems to have convinced them that their enemies always are, by definition, in the wrong. And that Obama's candidacy is almost like another illegitimate attempt to steal a White House that, in some sense, belongs to them.

Happy Birthday Jen!

A couple of Sundays ago, we celebrated our roommate Jen's birthday. We started off with tequila at Tres Agaves and then hit the ballpark. We drank more lemonades with tequila in the outfield and then partied it up at Matt's house. Fun times.


Gav, Damien, Jen and Steve at Tres Agaves.


The Giants lost to the A's in a expo-game. Go back to Oakland! It's a free toll in that direction.


The after-party.

Gavin after too many tequilas.

The Olympic Torch comes to San Francisco

What a mess this whole torch thing has become. First people disrupt the run in London and then the flame gets put out three times in Paris and is eventually put into a bus before they can run it through its set path. The world is up in arms over China's human rights record and the Chinese PR machine is trying to spin this thing faster than plates on a 12 year old acrobat from Shanghai.

Yesterday the torch came to San Francisco and since I have a lot of time on my hands (yes, I'm still looking for a job), I grabbed the camera and went downtown to see what all the fuss was about. When Gavin and I got to the Embarcadero, there were already thousands of people lining the streets. For the most part, everything was really peaceful. There were cops everywhere and there was a buzz in the air as everyone waited for the torch to make its way through the city and down to the waterfront.

Finally at 2pm, the police put on their helmets and everyone started going nuts because they thought the torch was on its way. The police signaled each other and they let the crowds into the streets where Pro-Beijing protesters clashed with Pro-Tibet ones. Words were exchanged, but it was non-violent and few arrests were made. Rumors started going around about where the torch had been re-directed and the scene was chaotic as news of the torch's whereabouts spread among the protesters.

At this point, we were too tired of waiting around and didn't want to chase after the torch so we went home and watched it unfold on tv. I have to say that I am happy that the torch never came down the Embarcadero, because there was no way the police could have stopped the crowds. It would have been a big mess. Sure, the City wussed out and changed the route at the last second, but at least everyone got to protest peacefully and the torch got to be run. Was this the true meaning of the Olympic Spirit? Probably no. I wonder how the torch will do in Buenos Aires and other stops along the way?


Thousands of people lined the Embarcadero.


At one point, the police put on their helmets and everyone got excited because they thought the torch was coming.


The police were notified that the torch was re-routed and so the crowds flooded the streets.


Pro-Beijing and Pro-Tibetian protesters clashed.

A night with Rihanna!

I really have the best friends in the world. Last week Friday, my friend Clinton surprised our friend Steve with tickets to see Rihanna in a special VIP concert here in San Francisco. It was part of "A Girl's Night Out for Rihanna's Believe Foundation" which was sponsored by Escada. For about an hour Rihanna rocked 500 fans in Ruby Skye and I was in pure bliss. She performed 8 of her hits with great style and looked amazing in a purple corset while sporting a sassy short hair-do. It was obvious that Rihanna was a natural performer and she looked as if she was having so much fun and really enjoyed being on stage. I will not forget this wonderful experience. Thanks Clinton!


Me, Jolina, Steve & Clinton before the show.


We were so close to the stage that at one point, I felt as if she was singing right to me.


Rihanna was captivating.

The Big Apple

For spring break 2008, I took a trip to New York City to meet up with Joe (Dallas) and hang with our two good friends JL & Rich. This was an opportunity for me to try out United Airline's p.s. Service (Premium Service). United runs a specially configured Boeing 757 that flies between LAX, SFO and JFK that has only First, Business and Economy Plus seats. Each class of service includes certain amenities not offered on regular flights. I was lucky enough to land a seat in 1st and was spoiled rotten. The seats are angled lie-flat and were so comfortable that I slept for most of the 5.5 hour flight. When I wasn't sleeping, I played with the hand-held DVD player which had 10 movies, a dozen tv shows, a handful of games and about 200 songs. The food and drink were top notch and the double meal service was fine dining at 34,000 feet. It truly is the only way to fly between the coasts.

New York is an amazing city. The amount of art, culture and food can't be beat anywhere else in the world. Joe, Rich and I went to the MoMA and saw an amazing exhibit titled "Design and the Elastic Mind." I really enjoyed the exhibit and it defies description. I'm usually not a fan of modern art (a bunch of crap glued together is not art), but I was blown away by the combination of technology and design. I spent about an hour and a half exploring this exhibit alone. If you are in NYC, definitely check this exhibit out.

There is never a shortage of bars or restaurants in this city. We had drinks under artwork by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Richard Prince, Damien Hirst, and Julian Schnabeat the Gramercy Park Hotel bar and enjoyed fantastic food at the restaurant Wakiya. Other highlights included cupcakes from The Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery in the Lower East Side (my favorite cupcakes in the world) and my favorite izakaya restaurant, Kenka, where you end the meal with cotton-candy that you make yourself.

It was great seeing my friends and experiencing NYC, but I was exhausted and ready to return home at the end of my 6 days in The Big Apple. New York is such a dynamic place that never has a dull moment and I'm sure I'll be back to NYC sometime soon.


30 Rock.


United p.s. Service was amazing.


Joe and I LOVE meat.

John and I love cupcakes almost as we love argyle.