My Day With Kenji

Spent the day at UCSD today, hanging out with Kenji. I went down there pretty early in the morning because my dad wanted to drop me off while he was going to work. When I got there, Kenji had just woken up, so he looked completely out of it, but he showered real quick and showed me around ERC before his history lecture.

I had originally planned to stop by Joyce's place during Kenji's lecture, but I realized that I didn't have her number, so I went in to audit a lecture about modern case studies in developing countries. Let's just say I'm glad I don't go to UCSD. I was extremely unimpressed by the quality and the content of the lecture. She kept trying to contrast British Imperialism in Nigeria to British Imperialism in India, even though a resulting ethnic violence out of a heterogenous colony occurred in both situations. She said that democracy in Nigeria was more unstable because they weren't united, but millions of people lost their lives in the partition of India and Pakistan because of the lack of unity. I don't know. It just felt like they were skirting the real issues just to make rash generalizations of case studies.

Anyways, after lecture (which I'm sure Kenji slept through), I called up Joyce (after calling Tyler for her number) and planned to meet up at 3. So, to burn time, Kenji and I went to Panda Express for lunch, then headed back to his place to play some NBA Live 07. Let me say this: despite being a fun rendition of NBA Live, the inability for anyone to stop the superstars like Wade and LeBron is ridiculous. I lost by a million because Nash can't shoot and Wade can't miss. Ridiculous.

After two hours of NBA Live, we managed to meet Joyce at her place, half way across campus. She showed us around, noted the uncleanliness and the lack of anything to do, and took us over to her boyfriend's apartment to sit around. We ended up watching Scrubs for a little less than an hour before we headed back to get food and Laser Tag.

I went to Lazer Tag (I think with the "Z") with Kenji and a bunch of his hallmates from last year that I meet last time I stopped by in SD. They were celebrating birthdays or something, so I tagged along for the ride. After grabbing tickets for a game, we headed over to In-N-Out for dinner. I got a 3x3 with animal style fries. Exceptional. The game on the other hand, was...fun...kinda. We got our asses handed to us (except Kenji cheated and switched teams). I was like 25th of 35 people because one team kept camping from this top loft and other people kept following me around shooting me as a respawned. They really need like a temporary invincibility, but oh well. It was still fun and I would have done it again had it not been kind of late. After the game, we hung around the parking lot, took some pictures. Right about then my mom called telling me that they were nearby and could pick me up, so I pretty much had to get ready to go, ending a much enjoyable day in SD than usual.

I've got pictures on my digital camera that I plan on uploading soon, so keep your eye out for them.

Interesting...If Only...

So, Digg killed the link to the story, so I haven't had a chance to really check it out, but, a girl apparently snuck onto the Stanford campus and lived in the dorms pretending to be a student. She acted like a Freshman and faked transcripts, bought textbooks, went to lectures, and pretended to study for exams. Took 8 months for Stanford Residence/Undergraduate Administration to figure it out.

Unbelievable. I wonder if I could do that. It's freaky for one, it's sad for another, but I certainly am impressed by the level of dedication that she shows for the school that she felt pressured to dream of. I certainly didn't have the bravado to try it in my dreams let alone in real life...

Of course, she's getting fined and has to pay room/board for the year she spent there...but hey, still cool.

Oh, I'm gonna try this tomorrow at UCSD. Watch out for me in Kenji's History lecture.

Success!

Ducks win game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the Wings. They play the Ottawa Senators next for the Stanley Cup. Melrose says the Ducks in 6, citing the big pair of Niedermeyer and Pronger along with the huge force that is the Perry, Getzlaf, Penner line in front of the brick wall of Giguere as the main factors in shutting down Ottawa's Alfy/Spezza/Heatley line. I concur. In actuality, I think the Senators are going to break up that line before the series is over, much like Detroit did with Zetterburg and Datsyuk. With the defensive pairings the Ducks have, and the physical play of their young line (of Perry/Getz/Penner) and their checking line (of Rob Nieds/Pahlsson/Moen), it's gonna be hard for anyone to find much space 5v5. Now, if the Ducks take as many penalties as they did in the Wings series...uh...who knows?

Oh, and I finally had a positive day playing poker. I'm back on the horse baby.

How Do You Stop Jack Bauer And An Exploding Man?

Well, I have to admit, that while SD is more boring, it hasn't really set in yet. I'm playing poker again (albeit losing money...I had a guy stacked and I ended up splitting, and lost money with Aces and Kings, which is always gonna end up with a losing session) and I'm watching season finales. It's good fun, I assure you.

I watched The Simpsons and Family Guy finales on Sunday. They were pretty good (Quamire kids...giggity...), but the 400th episode of the Simpsons was missing that special something, that pizzaz, and that closure that you'd like to see in such a publicized episode. Oh well, the 24 motif one for #399 made up for it. I <3 it.

Speaking of which, 24 wrapped up the mediocre sixth season in which we find everyone in the Bauer family dysfunctional and the Chinese as the ultimate terrorists in the whole plot. Interestingly dull and terribly contrived even by 24 standards. The finale managed to salvage some credibility and the ending was moving, if not melodramatic. It's not the cliffhanger that was season 5, but it was definitely powerful in a way that most of the rest of the season was not.

Unfortunately, the real lack of resolution still makes this the worst season of 24 ever. The writers never made it clear what the ultimate goal was and what we, the viewers, were ultimately responsible for taking away from it. There were too many interconnected, but tangential, plotlines that failed to really wrap up before moving to the next one. We're constantly reminded of the nuclear bomb, but what of the islamic terrorists? Is that threat that had the whole country up in arms for months suddenly over? Is Fayed's death the end? We don't know because we pick it literally two minutes after Fayed dies with the Chinese calling about - *gasp* - Audrey. How dumb.

The finale definitely could have used some Daddy Bauer talk, something appreciable, something meaningful, something that could really drive Jack up the wall. But all we got was a mean stare and a pathetic attempt to save his sons life and his life's legacy. (Oh, and Chloe got pregnant. I dunno why that matters, but meh, we'll see).

I seriously hope season 7 is something cool. Seriously.

Now how do we stop an exploding man? The Heroes finale finally tries to show us how it's done. First step: Find superhuman hero that can explode. Second step: Find superhuman archvillan that can do awesome stuff, but is hellbent on saving the world his way. Third step: Throw in a random conspiracy organization that's trying to do something. Then, blow it all up. Yeah, the Heroes finale did something, but I'm still trying to figure out what. Peter Petrelli went nuclear, Hiro stabbed Sylar, Nathan flies in to save the world by flying Peter into space, Sylar didn't die, Hiro is in the past between two warring samurai clans, and uh...there's an eclipse? Overall, a pretty weak finale, definitely mediocre. I still think the third to last episode, Five Years Past... was the best Heroes episode, but I guess they have to save something for next season.

Now the question is...what? There's gonna be 24 more episodes in "Volume two: Generations" and then 6 episodes at the end called "Heroes: Origins" where the lucky winner gets to stay for season 3. Already? Planning for season 3? Meh, make season 2 amazing, then I'll think about season 3.

Still though, this is gonna be a long, long summer. Next up for finales: House.

Video of the Week: Ducks Win, Teemu Great!

I apologize for this being late, but it was either a Starcraft 2 video, or this great game that NHL Videos has to put up on YouTube half a day after it happens. At any rate, this game was great, I listened to the radiocast on the Ducks end and the commentator said twice that the two Ducks goals might be the biggest in franchise history. I'm almost inclined to agree (if they win game 6 or 7). Great game, the tension was absurd, and the goaltending was amazing. Hasek may be the best goalie to ever play the game (yeah, even better than Roy), but Giguere has been ridiculous for the Ducks.

I have to admit though, I'd probably be excited for either team to win, but I'm making my claim for the Ducks right now since I like Teemu just a little bit more than Lidstrom.

As for the video, if you're not into hockey, try to watch Lilja's drive to put the wings up by 1. It's a beautiful shot. And try to fastforward to the last minute or so for Neidermeyer's mad flip into the net (which was rather ugly) and Selanne's ridiculous steal and backhand (which was another absolute beauty). I promise, hockey is the best playoff sport in the world. I love it.

Ok, So I'm Double Posting

The last thing I posted was meant as a separate thought that I had from last night/this morning.

This post is a recap of my day so far.

I went to a community fair (like Arts and Wines) today where they had some live music, old people dancing, and little kids playing. Fun. I ended sitting around reading the new JRR Tolkein novel, The Children of Hurin. After finishing it, I have to say that the melodrama was overwhelming, and the character development was a little sparse for my taste. Action was good, dialogue was good at points, but you can definitely feel the rough edges where Tolkein meant to polish it. If you're a huge LoTR fan (to the point where you've read The Silmarillion then I suggest you pick this up for a good short read; otherwise, meh, you don't deserve to read it...

I also started playing poker again today. Sat down at about 4 tables of .25/.50 NL for an hour and a half. Managed to lose $3 or so, but that's because I'm an idiot more than anything else. Hopefully, I can avoid talking too much about my exploits, but it's definitely something to note since I haven't played since January (and I need money, so I kinda want to get back on the horse).

Also, if you haven't noticed, I threw together a small web album of my favorite uploaded pictures and slideshowed them in a widget to the left. As always, I try to make the site more presentable, so I hope you enjoy looking into my life, through the eyes of my camera.

Oh, and Ducks win game 5. Awesome game. Teemu Selanne took a giveaway and made it 2-1 in overtime. I'll try to throw up a clip as soon as I can.

Watching My Parents Wii

I have to admit that while the Wii was fun, it was in limited settings since I rarely played it with other people (part of why I want to get a TV). But, yesterday, I watched my parents swing around the remote trying to play tennis and it may have been the funniest thing I've ever witnessed.

Now, I don't mean to suggest that my parents don't get involved in much, but video games have definitely not been one of the things that get them riled up. But my mom was so excited when she when beat my dad in her second match, I couldn't help buy smile and chuckle. It's a development worth watching, to see if they get any better. I know my sister creamed my dad in bowling this morning (see bowled like 150+), but I wonder if the novelty will keep them coming back for more...