random thoughts

So tonight, I taped the UCLA-Washington game. It was on this afternoon on the "Comcast Sports Bay Area" channel, which I think is such a joke. Back when I lived in Seattle, Fox Sports Northwest used to own the airwaves on Saturday and Sunday doing the live broadcast of collegiate sports. But I digress...

The Huskies and visiting Bruins battled it out on the hardwood in one of the oldest NCAA basektball venues in the country. I have to do my homework on Hec Ed Pavilion (you can call it Bank of America Arena or for the old skool, Sea First Arena) but I think good ole Hec Ed is one of the most historic.

My Point. For my Pac-10 Friends out there, I wonder .... if you didn't go to your school, what Pac-10 school would you choose and why. I'm talking runner up, 1st runnerup and 3rd ...

Email me. thekeau@gmail.com

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.