LOST: Lighthouse

This episode revolves around Jack

Flash-sideways

• Jack has a scar on his hip appendix was removed at 7 or 8 years old. Jack doesn't fully remember
• Jack had a kid named David (13-14 years old?)
• Shared custody of David, where's his mom? What happened with Jack and her?
• It appears Jack still liked the occasional drink before his father's death [his mom saying, "good for you", although he did drink on the plane
• Jack and his mom learn of Claire from his will
• David runs away from Jack to audition for Williams Conservatory where Dugan's son is at also

On the island [2007]

• Hugo sees Jacob by the fountain
• Jacob sends Hurley and Jack to the lighthouse where a set of mirrors show the lives of people at different degrees. Each degree shows a name. Jacob wanted Hurley to turn it to 108 degrees...whose name is that? 108 also was not shown in the cave of names in "The Substitute"episode. Whoever is listed at 108 must have some significance to getting of the island
• Hurley addresses the question about the two skeletons in the cave. "Time travelled to dinosaur times, and it is really them"
• Claire is back...mmmmm
• Apparently Claire is still on the lookout for Aaron, and appears that she has no recollection of what really happened the night she disappeared. She is not happy with the idea that Kate raised Aaron, which is in line with Kate's thoughts/nightmares about Claire
• According to Jacob, someone bad is going to the temple...could that be Claire? Or will Jin be leading Flocke in as well as Claire through the secret passageway

LOST notes: The Substitute

Some observations/questions about tonight's episode of LOST

Alternate timeline [2004]

• Yay, John Locke is supposed to get married, but awesome he's getting married, but aw someone parked too close to his car, but yay it's Hugo!
• Hugo leads Locke to a temp agency he owns and Rose reports to Hugo
• According to Peg Bundy miracles do happen
• Locke is now a subtitute teacher...and so is BEN?!

2007 timeline

• John Locke WAS a candidate [episode later this season]
• Who did "Flocke" see while talking to Richard? Blonde boy with blood on his hands. Was that Aaron?
• Flocke is "recruiting" according to Ilana, also an episode name later in the season
• Apparently drunk Sawyer can figure out Flocke is not the real Locke
• How does Ilana know that Jin will be at the temple?
• It is so hard to not make the Jacob/MIB leap that they are God/Devil
• Flocke is trapped
• Long-haired Sun is way prettier than short-haired Sun
• Ironic that Ben is the one who speaks at Locke's "funeral" on the island
• It would've been funny if Flocke turned into the smoke monster before climbing down the ladder on the side of the cliff....cheater!
• White rock/black rock = Jacob/MIB?
• Jacob wrote numbers with names inside the cave: 8 - Reyes [Hugo] all not crossed out. Crossed out means dead?
• Jacob had a thing for numbers
• Why didn't they show Kate's number?
• According to Flocke, the people on the wall were all candidates to become the protector of the island? Why them? Jacob touched them all during very difficult times in their lives or when they had to make a decision. Why them?

Yeah...I'm LOST

Just watched the third hour of the final season of LOST, and yeah, nothing has been resolved yet. Instead, at the end of "What Kate Does" even more questions have popped up about what the hell is going on with this damn island and show. Theories will always fly through the internet, but it seems like it almost doesn't matter anymore. We will just have to wait till this season is over before we get the answers we would like. I guess I'll just use this post for random thoughts/questions/observations/theories up until this point

LA X parts 1 & 2

The first two hours were named LA X, with a space between the A and the X. Must be because we now have two timelines to follow [yipee! NOT], one in LA, one on the island, I guess we're calling that X, because it seems to always move like a variable.

Is it me, or did alternate-2004 Jack seem to have been aware that something was "different" when he was on Oceanic 815. The little conversation he had with Rose seemed like they both knew that they had gone through something.

Juliet first said it didn't work when Sawyer was able to get through all of the metal that somehow did not empale her. Then she seemed to have gone back/forward to another time in her subconscious talking about getting coffee and going dutch [much like Charlotte's death when she said she couldn't have chocolate minus the nosebleed]. And then was able to tell Miles [after she already died] that the bomb did in fact "work". Did her mind flash to the alternate 2004 timeline?

I liked Hurley as the leader for as long as it was. He always brings comedy to his role: "I travelled across the ocean, and like, through time"...haha

Wonderful, ANOTHER set of "Others", who now reside in a temple!

OHHH Kate stole Jack's pen on the plane...didn't catch that till watching the episode the 2nd time

Is alternate-2004 Sun going to leave Jin? Not that it matters to the story, but that's what her plans were before the crash anyways.

Unconscious people can't hold their breath...thanks for the lesson doc!

Why did they hold Sayid in the springs as long as the sand minute glass when Dogan only took a second to see if his hand would heal?

How did the springs "heal" Sayid if it didn't work for Dogan when he cut his hand?

Frogurt..YES!

Where is "home" for the Man in Black/Locke?

Didn't Ben once summon the Black Smoke Monster to kill off the mercenaries? How did he do that?

Quite a popular one, Is Sayid now the new Jacob like "Locke" is the new Man in Black? There would be one major inconsistency. The man in black did not need Locke's body to be him, he was able to become a separate entity. Whereas if Jacob became Sayid, he actually used Sayid's body

"Nothing's irreversible"? C'mon, Jack HAS to remember!

Richard was a slave on the Black Rock

Man in Black was disappointed with everyone on the beach "The Others"

Seriously, "in love" Sawyer is a little bitch

What Kate Does

Even in the alternate-2004 timeline, Kate and Claire have a special bond regarding Aaron. Even without the crash, they were somehow drawn to each other

The "tests" they run on Sayid appear to be testing to see if he is the MIB/smoke monster? The ash has proven to repel the smoke monster, the electric shock did also with the gate, did the searing hot poker also do the same?

What's with the poison pill? My guess is if Sayid was the MIB, then he would not die from it. If he was not, then they could resurrect him with the springs again?

Claire goes into "early labor" in alternate-2004 just like she did when she did when the crash occurred. It seems like some things will stay the same, just like the bond between her and Kate. So it appears some things may happen in the alternate timeline as they did in the original post-crash timeline. What other things may happen in both versions of the timeline?

Specs [as I will call him] said that they think Sayid is "infected". Is it like what Russo saw in her team before she had to off all of them? Then later Dogan says that Claire was also infected in that same way. How does one get infected? Maybe through the MIB? Claire could've been infected when he was Christian [if that's what happened]

Now that Claire can't give Aaron to the adopting parents, it is fate's way of telling her to not give up the baby?

Dr. Ethan? uh oh...that can't be good

Is Claire the new Russo? Cappin' guys left and right now!

Speaking of cappin' people, Justin needs to seriously cap Aldo!

Just waiting to register for the Chicago Marathon...

I'm not even running right now, and I feel like I'm going to puke. 11:46PM right now so I have 14 minutes before I make a decision that will change and own the rest of my year. I can't believe I am even considering this. I had a good last year of running right? Was able to run up to 9 miles within a few months when I really started pushing myself. I mean, I just have to TRIPLE that effort, right? Starting out this year of working out, I think I finally found some workout and some good resources [my cousin Joe and my friend Jeremy]. And it's amazing how helpful it is to just be on twitter and tweet with other much more experienced runners and see what kinds of tips they have with running. Also the support is simply AMAZING in this community! Of course I have my running friends who I go to often - CJ and Lisa [10 min now], and they totally have my back. Hundreds of thousands of people run in a marathon in a year, if not in an actual marathon, but on their own. There's a guy I am following on twitter who is trying to run 250 marathons this year! Just an amazing story! So what's my story? I don't have some crazy story about possibly never being able to ever walk again, or have the courage to run for someone who battled with a terminal disease. I am simply running for the ones I love. I have seen lives end too soon whether it was something that could be avoided or not, and time and time again, I wonder how much more life did that person have in them? How many experiences in their life were they supposed to have? What did they not get to accomplish? Whenever God says it is my time, I don't want people to think I did not live a full life [5 min left]. I want people to know I went when I was supposed to, and I did everything in my power to accomplish the goals I set. I am not a motivational speaker but I would love to be the person to tell everyone that they can. They can do whatever they want to in this life if they work hard and stay focused. And there is only one way to prove this theory. It is to show everyone that anything, is indeed possible. Years ago, I would have NEVER tried something like this because I thought I couldn't. Now I realize I never did it because I wouldn't. I thank you all in advance who will be supporting me throughout this year in this seemingly improbable goal...I promise you, I will do this for you. 3...2...1...

Sorry Conan! I let you down

The drama of the late night wars of NBC of 2010 finally has come to an end and Conan O'Brien will be leaving NBC and the Tonight Show on Friday, December 12. Over the past several years I watched Conan on the late show after Leno. Leno had his funny moments early in his career, but it just seemed so bland and repetitive over his 17 year career in the Tonight's Show slot. Conan was edgy and I connected more with his humor than I ever did with Jay's. It came to the point, I just started getting annoyed with Leno, and I could not wait till he was gone! Then 2004 came and it was announced that Conan would be taking over the Tonight Show in 2009. Excellent! Now I don't have to stay up as late to watch him at night! But the kicker is that we had to wait 5 years until the transition. Five years flew by, and all of a sudden, "Heeeeere's CONAN!" I discovered something about myself when he made the switch. I don't watch TV as much as I used to. For the first few weeks I made sure to either catch every episode live or on our DVR. Then I would miss one show, then two, then a week...you see where this is going. Then after his first 4 months, I removed the recording on our DVR. I just could not keep up with a new show everyday. Occasionally I would be up at night flipping through channels and watch a segment or interview on his show, but then change it back to the Lakers game or whatever west coast game was on that night. 2010 arrives, and then all of a sudden there is word that they are moving Leno back to 10:30? WTF? Oddly, I took exception to this move, even though I had not watched a full episode in a few months. And just as quickly as he arrived, he will be gone. Red "hair" and all. There are some rumors that have Conan going to Fox. That would be interesting, since Fox has The Office and The Simpsons in that timeslot, and of course the ever so popular TMZ *gag* I hope Conan finds a spot and crushes Leno. Anyways, I feel somewhat responsible for Conan's staggering ratings, so Conan...my bad, man! You were the funniest in NBC's lineup and wherever you end up, I promise I'll be a better fan! Good luck, Coco!

My team: The Chicago Bulls...sigh

I am in the middle of watching the Bulls lose another game to yet another sub-.500 team: the LA Clippers. It just frustrates me as a fan for many years that we have the same story almost every year. Beat teams that we shouldn't beat like the Spurs, the Cavs, and the Celtics, and even compete against the Lakers, but then play like absolute dog sh*t against some of the WORST teams in the league: the Kings, the Warriors, and tonight, the Clippers. Sadly, this problem will not go away until (and IF) the Bulls can get a solid player off the free agent market this coming summer. (Bulls officially just lost: 104-97) I went into this season with no expectations, and just like every other year, I was sucked into the hype of the team. They get a few solid wins, maybe beat an elite team, put together a winning streak, and now I'm drinking the kool-aid. Then all of a sudden, SPLAT! They fall flat on their face with no explanation to teams that have been struggling all year but can somehow find their niche against the Bulls. I think the truth is the team is also drinking the kool-aid. They actually think they are above some of these teams, so they don't have to play as hard, or execute plays or, I don't know, PLAY BASKETBALL. I do blame management for not putting together a team that can compete all year.

Watching Janero Pargo run the point guard vs the Warriors gave me flashbacks of a sh*tty Rick Brunson...that's right, I said it! We need someone who can actually run an offense in the event that Hinrich is out like he was in that game.

For years we've been in the need for a big man. Joakim Noah is doing work this year, in the top ranks of rebounding, which I appreciate. I will give credit for pulling Taj Gibson - a rookie with a solid game. He needs to stay out of foul trouble, but what rookie can? Tyrus...oh Tyrus. Please stop thinking you're a guard and GO TO THE BASKET! Maybe once or twice a game shoot a jumper, but all the rest of your points should be tip dunks, alley oops, and garbage points. Fight down there along with Joakim. How can you get rebounds when you're 20 feet out? Right, you can't! Get those boards! Brad Miller...man. I don't know how you can compete in the league being as slow as you are, but you sometimes can make it happen. Other times you are as slow as rocks and it physically hurts watching you play on the court.

Derrick Rose...it is YOUR team! Get that ball and own the game...you can do that whenever you want.

John Salmons, stay consistent! He's starting to find his game, but geez, it's halfway through the season. You should've had this in your back pocket already.

Luol...I gotta admit, Luol has been pretty good. Finally, after the year we were supposed to trade him for Pau Gasol, he is actually playing some good basketball. If he can stay healthy is a completely different story. James Johnson, remember you are a ROOKIE and you are NOT Lebron James. Stop trying to do everything when you get in. Run the play, set the screen, go to your spot...no need for a spin move or behind the back dribble on every drive. You might mess up your new jack fade!

Lindsey Hunter, join the coaching staff already so we can free up a roster spot.

sigh...I'm done ranting about this team. Fact is, this team is exactly who we thought they were [sorry Dennis Green]. A team with a split personality, and I believe there is only one cure for this issue. A superstar. I don't know WHO would want to come to the Bulls and why, but if we can make a move on one of these big names, we might stand a chance. If not, get used to the mediocrity, because he's here to stay!

Ah Ebay...haven't seen you in a while, old friend!

Tonight I decided to try and sell my Ray Lewis Reebok patch on Ebay:

BID NOW!

Feels just like 2006 when I was so into buying selling cards on Ebay. I still have a boatload of random jersey and autograph cards over the past couple of years. And as you can guess it is because I have all of these crap cards is why I decided to stop. In the years that I was heavily collecting, I easily spent several thousands of dollars on opening boxes and getting singles for my collection. I still have a good portion of my Bulls collection, but I spent a lot on the Bulls players around those years, like Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, and Thabo Sefolosha...oops! And on top of that, I kept buying boxes on top of boxes trying to get that awesome card like a Michael Jordan autograph. Never happened! Since then I have greatly decreased my box buying budget. To maybe once every couple of months. The only real nice pull of someone of relevance was this break:



Pretty nice right? Anyways back to the topic at hand: Ebay. It's good to know that my old friend is still here, just waiting for me to either buy something or sell something. Unfortunately Ebay is not always a safe place to buy if you are a collector. You always should be educated on what you are buying, because you might be buying a fake. Of course you don't have to worry about it with me! Too many people have been ripped off one way or another so it is important to ask questions on forums or on ebay itself.

The fun part about Ebay whether selling or buying are those last few seconds before the auction is over. Of course on the selling side, you just want all the "snipes" to come in and bump up the sell price one bid at a time. On the buying side you just want to have the item so you wait and wait until the VERY LAST second to put in your bid. Hoping that your bid is high enough to win the item. When you win one...it is quite exciting. I know it sounds geeky, but anyone who has won an item on Ebay can attest to this feeling!

So the auction is up, and I will check it pretty much whenever I can to see if anyone viewed it, if anyone is watching it, and of course, if anyone has bid on it. Of course in my hay-day I would have a dozen items up on Ebay. Because that is all I did. Now, one at a time is enough excitement for me. Now, I wait...

Happy Birthday Mom!

Hey Mom! Happy Birthday! I know you don't have any idea what a blog is, but maybe one of your friends will stumble upon this and see it and tell you. We have been so blessed to have such a patient, understanding, caring, and passionate mother all of these years. And just like you have been a wonderful mother, you have been an equally great grandmother to the kids. I know I may seem frustrated when you ask me to how to change the TV to the video source for your cable, or ask that I change your alarm clock over and over again for the past 30 years. But the fact of the matter is, I do love doing these things for you. It is what makes our relationship strong. Not those specific actions/tasks, but I will always respect you for bringing up 4 boys after Pa passed away. I think I speak for the four Jao boys when I say that we love you for bringing us up into the men that we are today. And we thank you for always sticking by us through thick and thin. As a mother, I'm sure it was hard to see some of the things we went through, especially me because I was (am) such a brat (yeah, I admit it). You were always more than the famous eclair that you make that all of our friends LOVE, and even more than the strength you showed all of us during our hardest times...you are simply the definition of family...of a mother...of my inspiration. Thank you mom for being you. I love you.

P.S. Just hold down the "Alarm" button while pressing the Min+ button until you get to the time you want to wake up. Make sure the red light is next to either PM or AM, whichever one you want. I know these directions won't stick..just thought I'd try!

Geekin

I so have to get this shirt!

For those who don't know what this is about, enjoy:


Big Bang Theory rules!! 'nuff said! :)

The two best Bulls games I have attended

I decided that the Bulls vs Pistons game on 1/11/10 was the 2nd best game I have ever attended for a VERY different reason my number one is number one. So I must first tell the story of the absolute best Bulls game I have attended.

The #1 game that I have ever been to was the championship clinching game in the 1992 NBA Finals. I went with my oldest brother Tony, who ironically knows the least about basketball [love ya bro!] The Bulls were down 15 points going into the 4th quarter. I specifically remember my brother asking me if I wanted to leave already [probably to beat traffic]. Being only 13 years old and only getting to go to one maybe two Bulls games a year, of course I wanted to stay. And a good thing we did. Phil Jackson put in his reserves and Scottie Pippen. The bench proceeded to cut into the lead within 4 minutes. Portland turned the ball over and over early in the 4th. By the 9 minute mark, the Bulls cut the lead to 3, and then they brought in Jordan. I think you probably know how that one ends. Here are a couple videos of that comeback:





Here is a picture from that game as well as the ticket stub that I still have to this day:




So obviously the #1 game was due to the championship that was won while I was there, the basketball aspect of the game. As I said earlier, the #1 and #2 games are quite different!

The #2 game just happened this past Monday at the United Center. The Pistons were coming in with a 12 game losing streak, and the Bulls were 15-19, seemed like just the usual regular season game. Not this time!

Yeah the Bulls won by 32 points and Ben Gordon didn't get to have his "revenge" against his old team [mainly because he got injured]. But besides all of that basketball stuff that was going on, I got an opportunity to participate in the Air Guitar contest. Now I know as a concept, air guitaring is just silly. But I get to "perform" for a sold NBA arena? Yeah, I'll do whatever it takes to do that. If you know me you know I like to perform. So lo and behold, the video...



Thanks Tracy for the video!

After my win, my 30 minutes of fame started. I did not even think that this would happen or that anyone would even remember me. As I walked thru the United Center I was getting high fives from strangers and whispering all around me. Now I knew it was just for the rest of the game, so I just enjoyed it. Thanked anyone who said hi or "CONGRATULATIONS!" or "HEY THE AIR GUITAR GUY!"...haha, it was real silly, but also super fun.

And to add icing on this awesome cake, Marlon got a hook-up and we were able to get access to ANYWHERE in the United Center. We didn't get courtside seating, but we got to sit right next to the tunnel. I could absolutely get used to that view. Now I just need to figure out how to win the lotto or invent something to pay for season tickets for the courtside seats. Who wants in?

9 months and counting...

NO! It's not what you are thinking! haha

Of course I am talking about the Chicago Marathon that will be on October 10th of this year. That's right, it is on 10/10/10. Now the furthest I've actually run in an organized race is 10K. I was training for the 15K and actually got up to the distance, but then if you remember, I got the H1N1 flu...which SUCKED!! I've signed up for some races already to get me started out of the gate when it gets "warmer" this March. Here are the races I plan on running to get me ready for my ridiculous goal for 2010:

Shamrock Shuffle 8K - March 27 [registered]

Soldier Field 10mi - May 29 [registered]

North Shore Half Marathon - June 13 [not registered yet]

I hope writing and blogging about it will actually make me be more accountable this time around. Last year my goal was a 1/2 marathon, and I never got it done. I did make some good strides to get there for this year.

Being that it is 9 months away, today on 1/10 I decided I had to start liking the treadmill. In my copy of Runner's World this week it was talking about what kinds of different workouts you could do on the treadmill. Speed, tempo, random, and of course hill workouts. Of course I went after the most difficult and tackled the hill workout. Here's what the magazine said to do:

Try one minute runs up a 4% incline with two minutes of slow, flat jogging between. Build up to 10 repeats at 6% incline

Instead of two minutes I only jogged for 1 minute, because I forgot and I kept it at 4% the whole time since I wasn't sure if it meant that I should end this particular session at 6% or gradually work towards 6% in the next few hill workouts. It wasn't terrible, although I thought for sure I was gonna give up after only 5 intervals. Luckily with the Cardinals/Packers game on [Sorry Coop] I was able to get through it all. It didn't feel as bad as when I ran in the bay area a couple weeks ago. I didn't go up and down those CRAZY hills in San Francisco, just the ones I like to call the "beginner" hills in the outskirts of the city.

Me after running the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

So there you go, 1 step [actually over 13,000 steps according to my pedometer] closer to training for a marathon. I don't know what struggles lay ahead of me, but I knew I better start now, because before you know it, October will be here as quickly as 2009 left.

Random picture from our SF trip

While we were playing scrabble with Eric and Jessica. I love our camera

Trying out a new Mac app for Blogging

I am using MarsEdit for this one. Instead of a WYSIWYG editor, there is a real-time preview that you can look at as you are typing. I was testing with Qumana for the past couple of days. It seems ok, but there it seems awfully buggy. Probably will be uninstalling that one soon. By the way, aren't these space jams SICK?!?

Information overload

There are so many things in my head and I just can't seem to keep them straight sometimes.  I'm sitting here floating through internet space on Facebook, Twitter, HobbyKings, Ebay, Email, Google Reader, while listening to my new You Tube favorite singer: Melissa Polinar.  It just feels like information overload, almost to the point where I can't get my thoughts straight.  I'm not trying to be profound or anything like that...I just feel stuck.  You ever have that feeling?

Time is making me think

Once again, I have let this blog lead to a cold trail and finally die. But I'm here once again to revive it! So what's up with me...

My 30th birthday is around the corner. I booked the venue for my "extravaganza" as Abby would call it and I'm finalizing some details for it. I honestly don't know how I feel about hitting the big 3-0. I was talking to some of my co-workers about it today, and I think about the party, and I'm excited, but what does turning 30 really mean? Does that mean I cannot wear my basketball jerseys out without being judged? So am I officially an adult then? I guess that is ok. I'm kind of eased into that idea as is. Of course I don't have a child yet, but I have many friends that do now, so I can observe from the outside for now. I'm a pretty scared of that idea, but I definitely do want to have children. When? I don't know yet. I know I am scared [vulnerable moment coming up] of what happened with me and my dad and how he died before he could see me really grow up. Of course if he didn't pass away when I was younger, I probably wouldn't have grown up as fast. So now, I just want to have kids already. Is it just the pressure of hitting 30 that is making me think like this? I don't know. I do know whenever it does happen I will be very very happy. But there are some things that have to get done first, like Jaz getting her driving license and maybe even us moving to a house, or maybe a new job? Hah...I guess I am already an adult.

While I'm at it, I might as well go into what I posted today on Facebook: "The difficult thing is not becoming happy, the difficult thing is STAYING happy. What did you do today to stay happy?" Now this was not a direct message to anyone or anything going on in my life, but it was just something I was thinking about. It's just like working out. Sometimes losing weight is not the hard part...it's keeping it off that is more difficult. So everyday, I will see what I did to keep myself happy. I've got a good life, a good job, a great family, a wonderful wife, and the most loyal friends a guy can ask for. So one of the things that will keep me happy is to keep them happy. Today, I made sure everyone I could contact knew about the free gyro deal at a lot of restaurants in the Chicagoland area. Now I didn't actually go myself, but I hope everyone that I reached on twitter and Facebook went and enjoyed!

OK...off to bed for the night. Need to run tomorrow morning...need sleepy!

Can't wait for the 5k on Sunday! I hope I beat my old time of 35:08!

blogging from my blackberry

Does this actially work? It could be cool if I can somehow use this like a tweet or facebook status update on my site...oh right, an update to my site would be nice. I don't even have a picture of little Annie yet on here...for shame!

Random thoughts: Stimulus, Trades, and Books

I don't pretend to be a political person so I guess this post is my first shot at understanding it all. I watched the President's nationally televised news conference. I have watched our previous president's addresses and honestly cringed at every word he uttered. With President Obama, it honestly seems that he knows what he is talking about. So let's move onto this stimulus package we have been hearing about so much.

President Obama is pushing for a bill that would cost $800 billion that will supposedly surge the US economy. He stated in his address tonight that doing nothing is not the answer and we must act swiftly and aggressively. And if we didn't, this economic crisis will end up being a catastrophe. Now, these are all words that would scare the commoner [like myself], and I would normally say "Well, what are we waiting for? Hand out that cash!" Obviously last year's stimulus package did not do well for the economy, so in order for this one to work it has to be vastly different from last years. I believe this package will put more money into the middle class than to the wealthy [where last year's package was geared for?]. But one huge difference between Bush's package last year and this year's package is the amount Bush - $170 billion compared to Obama's $800 billion. What worries me is if this does not work, will this just cripple the economy THAT much more? Republicans and Democrats, school me on this.

Alright, onto something I know a little more about. Amar'e Stoudamire to the Bulls? Why not? Sure it's just speculation at this point and honestly just fun to talk about, so let's talk about it. There were a couple of different scenarios, but most deal with Tyrus Thomas since he has been playing well as of late. It's no secret that the Suns lack any type of defense whether perimeter or inside, so the long reach and spring of Tyrus Thomas would be a great asset for them. Would they get any further in the playoffs? I'm not so sure about that. Amar'e is a much bigger offensive threat compared to Tyrus because he is such a bigger presence down low. He can use brute force to get his points where Tyrus needs an opening or an alley oop. Tyrus can't even post up Earl Boykins where Amar'e will dunk [or at least try] to dunk on your entire family. I am sure any deal that the Bulls make would have to involve Drew Gooden or Larry Hughes. I think money contract-wise this would make sense because I think Tyrus is on his rookie contract with his option exercised so we would need to give up another contract closer to $11 million or so. With Gooden looking to finish his contract this season with around $7 million, he would fit in well with maybe a Joakim Noah. So yes, there goes pretty much all of our "big men" but what would you really be losing? I am tired of waiting for our draft picks to figure things out, with the exception of Derrick Rose. We need to also clear up that logjam at the guard position: Rose, Gordon, Hinrich, Sefolosha, Hughes, and Hunter. We can deal pretty much anyone but Rose. Gordon once again showed why he is no better than a 6th man when he turned over the ball twice in two important possessions at the end of regulation against Dallas. He is not your go-to guy. He is best when a play is designed for him to be wide open, and unfortunately, with the new coach, those plays do not exist. It will be hard to trade him because he can say no to a trade in his last year of his contract. Hinrich probably carries the most value of the tradable guards. I think his defense is overrated, it just looks good on this team where no guard can play D. He is a hard worker and will do well on any team...who needs him? Thabo is actually pretty good at defense. With his length it is easy for him to get in the passing lanes and distract an offensive player. Remember how he did against D-Wade in the 2007 playoffs? Shut him down! Thabo just needs to be given a chance. So I guess what I'm trying to say is...PLEASE MAKE A MOVE, PAX!!

Jaz has been reading a lot lately with her Twilight books and some books she has borrowed from her co-workers. So I decided to take up reading again. The last book I read was the last Harry Potter book. I got this book "Anything Goes" by Madison Smartt Bell quite sometime ago and have never gotten through it. I probably only got 50 pages in during the four times I tried. So I am going to finish this one this time! I'll write a review when I actually finish it THIS time!

Panini takes over the basketball card hobby

Well it was announced sometime last week that the company Panini will be the exclusive trading card company of the NBA. I've had some time to think about this and I am still not sure what I think about this news.

I grew up with companies like Upper Deck and Topps, and each year you knew what to expect. I'm more interested in the "mid-level" products like Topps Chrome and SP Authentic. I love the superfractors that comes out of Topps and the on-card autographs that SP Authentic gives you. But starting next year all that is gone. Of course the higher end products like Exquisite are great to ooh and awe at but $500 for a 5 card pack...what the hell are people thinking? That is when this hobby became way out of hand. I love the idea of possibly pulling a Michael Jordan/Lebron James dual logoman autograph 1/1...but to bust through cases of this stuff to try and get it? Wow. You can get a house, or a couple of houses with that money. Now everyone is obviously welcome to spend their money how they see fit, but it simply amazes me that people have that kind of coin just laying around. After selling a whole bunch of cards I finally had enough to get just ONE case. And dude, that was scary! Haha. Would I do it again? I don't know. I like paying off bills a little more than a nice rookie autograph of Marco Bellineli [true story].

Now what didn't I like about these companies? I think they were just lazy! Products starting looking a lot like each other so there was no effort from a design perspective from year to year. Maybe they needed to maintain a certain "look" so you knew which was Topps and which was Upper Deck, but it's like they didn't even try. And customer service...WHOA! I have heard so many horror stories on HobbyKings dealing with the customer service representatives from both companies. Simply terrible! And of course redemptions. Why would you release a product if it did not contain all of the items that you used to market it? It's like buying a car and then finding out that it didn't have seats because the company wasn't quite ready. Now I know that players have very busy lives and such, but don't these companies have contracts with these players? Aren't they obliged by a binding contract that they need to sign these cards? It just drives collectors crazy when they see that thick white cardboard or with small printing on it. And now what of these redemptions? Now that Upper Deck and Topps won't be producing cards starting next year, are they just going to not care? Initial signs are starting to say "No they don't". In THIS LINK a guy had a redemption for a card that probably booked around $1k, and got three cards probably booked together at $500. It's the shape of things to come.

Now Panini...what can they bring new to the hobby? It sounds like they are looking to get more into the retail business, like Target and Walmart and stores like that. So what happens to all the Hobby exclusives? What happens to the players that have exclusive contracts with Upper Deck or Topps? Will those rights be sold to Panini? I'm assuming Panini is going to want to make some money, and to make money, you need player like Kobe or Lebron or Garnett or of course Jordan on your side. Unfortunately, it sounds like there will still be sticker autographs on new products...already off to a bad start. Apparently they have a good presence overseas, so I guess the NBA is more interested in expanding their market than pleasing their fans in the US. It was a business decision, and the NBA could honestly care less about products like Exquisite and Triple Threads. One good thing that I think will come out of this is that kids can now come back to the hobby. I remember how happy I was to complete a set back when I was 10. Even a basic Exquisite base set [with no autographs] is too expensive for the common junior high kid. So it will be nice to have them back enjoying the hobby.

Panini's got a long road ahead of them. Assuming that their bid was way higher than that of Upper Deck or Topps without having any of the big names nailed down under contract, I don't know how they will be making money. The quality of these cards better be amazing in order for them to not become the biggest joke in the sports card collecting hobby. Good luck Panini...you'll need it!

Bulls playing well?

Don't let them fool you. Sure they have won 4 out of their last 5 games. But 2 of those games were against two of the league's worst - the Clippers and the Kings. And one of them were a Chris Paul-less Hornets team. Alright, the Suns win was legit and they just outplayed them. I will admit, I have been enjoying watching the Bulls during this stretch. They are moving the ball so much better and they are getting the ball to their big men for some high flying dunks. The team still looks so much better when Derrick Rose is on the court. Kirk's return has helped greatly, since Rose doesn't have to think to do it all on his own. With players like Tyrus and Luol finally figuring out how to play with Rose, there may be better days for this Bulls team. Who knows if they will actually be part of the puzzle at the end of it all, but they can contribute in "other" ways - i.e. as trade bait. It seems that if something has clicked with the team. I'm sure it is no coincidence that they started playing well after Bulls Chariman Jerry Reinsdorf called the organization a "disaster". Looks like the Bulls listened. If they will continue to play this way, they have got a chance at the playoffs - as sad as that sounds. But let's remember the trade deadline is approaching quickly. Will the Bulls pull the trigger on a trade? Hughes for Simmons? Hinrich, Nocioni, and Tyrus for Monta and Maggette? Go after Brand? If Paxson can let go of his love for the guys he stands a chance at saving his job, and rebuilding [again] a new team. With guys like Kobe and Lebron dropping 61 and 52 at MSG, it just shows how far the Bulls really are from being a competitor in the league. If they want to be in the race for the 2010 free agent market, it's time to clear some space. Can you imagine having just one of those big players and Derrick Rose on the same team? Wade? Bosh? Stoudamire? Damn...the possibilities. The Bulls can be fun to watch the rest of the year, but don't expect anything huge from them, like winning a playoff series. So watch them like you watched them in 2002. It's fun to watch basketball for basketball, cheer for your team, but be realistic. They are not the Bulls of old

Nothing

We didn't do anything today. It was a lazy Sunday, and just stayed home pretty much all day watching movies and TV. Didn't clean up like we wanted to. If I wasn't sick, we probably would have gone to my two games this week. But man, being sick sucks!! I can't do anything I want to. I actually miss working out and running and playing ball right now. If I want to hit my 50lbs of weight loss this year, I'm going to need to get started early!

Off to bed...maybe.

Holidays = Family

With winter officially arriving today in full force, it's time to warm up next to your families in the form of parties and dinners and in our case, family pictures. For years I have been wanting to get some pictures with the family, so finally this year I set it up that we were able to get it done. We went to Portrait Innovations in Glenview. My biggest worry was the kids and how they would do with the pictures in the studio. As expected, both girls had a meltdown almost exactly when we started taking pictures. The boys did well and the whole time Daniel was trying not to laugh, so of course I tried making him laugh the entire time. It was a great day. Jaz, mom, and I stuck around the studio for the pictures to print out. Just went to a Starbucks down the street and came back. We picked them up and brought them back to her house. When we laid them all out, it seemed like she was going to cry. I guess I never thought about how it would effect her. She brought up the fact that it had been 18 years since the last time we took a professional family picture, and obviously the first one since my dad passed away in '97. She looked at the pictures for what seemed like hours. I am so glad she enjoyed the pictures the way she did. She just kept saying "This is my family!" almost making me cry everytime. She just had so much pride in it. So I guess this year, this picture is what defined the family. I'm sure we will look at this same picture in 10 years and just laugh at how small the kids were, or comment on how young we looked. For now, it will be a captured moment of time of my beautiful family.

Right now we are in San Francisco dodging the bitter cold winter in Chicago and more importantly, spending time with Jazmine's family. No portrait pictures here, just good times with her family. Sometimes I feel bad that we are able to spend so much time with my family and pretty much no time with hers. So it is important for us to come back to San Francisco so she can reconnect with her family. Sure I miss my family, but I know she misses hers a majority of the year. Plus, her godson is turning one this year so she definitely had to be here for that! Pictures will be up in the next week or so!

Larry Hughes and chocolate dipped bacon for the win....

GAME! The Bulls beat the injury-stricken Jazz on a last second jumper by Larry Hughes snapping a 6 game home winning streak. Derrick Rose traded baskets with the Jazz for 8 straight points, and went for the win with 4 seconds left, but missed, Hughes got the rebound, and double clutched a fadeaway with no time left on the clock after the swish from the left wing. I got a text from Chris today basically saying that Noah was garbage. I am going to have to agree with him! Aaron Gray who came from the same draft class as Noah is coming around nicely. He does not have a quick step or have that many post moves, but he is dedicated to the game. He lost 30lbs in the off season meaning he was serious about cleaning up his NBA body. Is he going to be an all-star? Probably not, but he may give you a legitimate big man down low if you invest in him. I'm just not seeing it in Noah who was picked 40 picks before Gray. If Noah can get you 12 and 10, you got something! I figured it was good to talk about someone besides Rose for once.


The Packers are getting SPANKED! Double success for a Monday!

But I will talk about one fail! On Saturday night we were looking for a place to get some pasta by my mom's house since I had a 5K on Sunday morning. We hadn't been to Giordanos in quite some time since we live up in BG, so that sounded good. Jaz wasn't quite hungry yet so we went to Best Buy first so I could drool over SLR cameras and then when we went out to the car, we looked across the street to find that the Giordanos is no more!! I had so many pizzas from that place living at my mom's it was actually kind of sad. The service wasn't always that great, and honestly, the place very rarely had business when we were in there, but it was a nice restaurant to go to avoid the big crowds and enjoy some gooood stuffed pizza. Luckily there is still a Giordanos by our place in BG, but it just isn't the same. Am I getting sentimental about a pizza place? Yes...yes I am.


Tried chocolate dipped bacon today - not bad, not bad at all. I know it sounds gross, but don't knock it till you try it. But be warned, you may die.

Did I work out today? Not a chance. I was still tired from yesterday's 5K. I really wanted to tonight during the Bulls game, but I ended up putting something up on ebay that really takes too long to do sometimes. I'm selling an Aaron Brooks Exquisite RC AUTO 225/225. This card has been selling for around $40-$45 on ebay. I'm hoping I can pull in closer to $50 since it's numbering is nice and the patch is decent. I also have been getting some free cards from some of the guys from HobbyKings for my birthday and early Christmas gifts. I never have anything to pay them back, so I just keep the site up and running for them :) Here's the HobbyKings thread with all of the free cards.

Bulls fans, you have your go-to guy!

Now I know it is only 13 games into the season, but I really think Derrick Rose is the real deal. You can use pretty much every basketball cliche to describe this guy: he's got plenty of upside, he's knows the game, etc. And more importantly he is exactly what the Bulls needed. They needed a vocal leader, someone who can drive to the basket, someone who can run the team, and someone who distribute the basketball. When he is on the court, you can tell he demands to be respected. He's had one bad game against Portland, but then he comes back against Golden State to score 25 points [23 of them in the 2nd half]. He was the only one scoring in the 4th quarter for about a 5 minute span, trading baskets with the Warriors on his own until he got knee'd in the junk by Maggette. He did have 5 turnovers which is way too many, but he will learn to take care of that ball in the next couple years.

Some other points on the game tonight...

Thabo started out hot scoring 10 points in the 1st quarter. He picked up his 2nd foul late in the 1st quarter so they took him out but never really got good minutes going back in. I think he would've done more on the offensive end if del Negro put him back in earlier in the 2nd quarter, but I guess he wanted to save him.

Hughes scored a team high 26 points going 5-7 from behind the three point line shooting 50% thoughout the night. Now I'm not at all a big Hughes fan, but he actually did decent today. Will he stay consistent? Probably not. But I'll give him props since he earned it for once. I will also drop a plug for this guy's website: http://heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com/
HAHA

It's games like this that reminds me why we didn't sign Gordon for a big contract in the past two years. He went 1-7 from behind the three point line shooting 40% for the night. It's been said over and over, but he is just undersized! It will be nice to clear out his contract at the end of the year.

The Bulls went small most of the time to match the lineup from the Warriors which is fun to watch, but also just reminds Bulls fans that they have no solid big men. Instead of making them have to go big against us, the Bulls had to adapt their lineup.

Chauncey and Melo on Sunday...

Also, the Knicks made some moves today to potentially to go for Lebron, Wade, or Bosh in the next couple years. I wish Chicago could land one of those big names. I'd like Wade for the Bulls and have the hometown guards play together.

I'm not even gonna wait for the 4th quarter

The Bulls have definitely taken about two dozen steps back from what they were just a couple years ago when they made the playoffs and swept the Heat in the first round. The Bulls are currently down THIRTY-THREE points in the third quarter of the game against the Blazers. I think the Blazers are a good team, but they should not be beating us by 33 points! Well, I guess the combination of them being good and us being god awful. With three minutes left in the 3rd quarter the Bulls have only scored 48 points. What the hell? Well, I guess this is what this circus trip does to the Bulls. I just saw the stat that the Bulls have been 6-53 on this circus trip since '99. Wow..that is BAD!! The Blazers have done a good job at exploiting the fact that the Bulls don't have any big men. Penetrate and dish, and slam. I can't even count how many times the Blazers scored on a dunk.



The Bulls have no offensive sets. It just seems like they are playing pick-up ball. A LOT of one-on-one basketball and quick shots early in the shot clock. I understand del Negro needs to find out what he has got, but would a simple play every now and then kill them? It reminds me of the years of Jamal Crawford and Jalen Rose. It basically looks like they don't practice or have ever practiced.

I think this is the first time that Rose looked like a rookie. Who would've thought that Steve Blake and Sergio Rodriguez would be the combination to break Derrick Rose? Well, I guess it's good to see he is human. And this will be the first game that he didn't score in double figures.

The "big" men might as well be walk-ons who are trying for a spot on the team. None of them can show any sort of consistency. Well, they can consistently get into foul trouble trying to stop the Pau Gasol and Dwight Howards of the league.

Luol didn't play today because of a hamstring injury. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. He hasn't earned the contract he got in the off season up until now.

By the way they are now down 43 points...

Nocioni will always play with heart, but he is a role player at best.

Hughes and Gordon are basically the same player but Hughes is a little taller. They both shoot way too much and both don't play enough defense. Hughes was good a couple years ago getting averaging almost 3 steals per game...but that was 4 years ago.

I know it is early in the year but a 20 point loss is something that I can work with, but a 40+ point loss? Completely unacceptable, no matter what time of the year

I got the fast heartbeat

Let's take care of some business first:

• Breakfast - Bowl of Fiber One
• Lunch - Smart Ones: Creamy Rigatoni w/chicken and broccoli and low fat yogurt
• Dinner - Macaroni and Cheese and Ramen
• Work - Worked on terminated users script; Tested Control-M to see if you can send sysout in a shoutout: you can't haha
  

Wow...I had a lot of pasta today. I already told Jaz that I didn't want anything pasta related tomorrow for dinner.

What's making my heartbeat fast? Well first off, I just finished a good workout at home. Read more about that on my other blog at JoeyLosesWeight.com :) But even more so are these fricking Bulls! I will start off with something good. Derrick Rose is the real deal. In a couple of years, I predict Rose's name can be said in the same sentence as Chris Paul and Deron Williams. He is probably the ONLY bright spot in the future of the Bulls. Now that you have got that solid piece of the puzzle, build around him. Forget everything that you have got up until now. EVERYONE is tradable except Rose. Each player on the team has THEIR strengths, but none of them are superstars or even potential superstars ON the Bulls. But just like every other player that leaves the Bulls, THAT is when they become potential all-stars. It actually makes me kind of sick knowing that we really could have had Pau Gasol. He just dropped 34 points on the Bulls tonight. And who didn't we want to give up for Gasol? Yup Luol Deng, who scored a lowly NINE points tonight. Really? Potentially paying Deng $80Million? He's a nice player to have on your team, but not $80 Million-nice. One thing that was driving me crazy in tonight's game was Gordon was bringing up the ball a lot. I think they just need to put the ball in Rose's hands and let him create for himself or someone else. The problem is that the "someone else" needs to hit some shots! Rose can easily average 10 assists if the other players would hit their open jumpers.

These are all obvious observations to any Bulls fan, so it's probably nothing new. So where do we start? I say package up Kirk [when he gets back], Tyrus, and Nocioni for a big man or a scorer. I would love to throw in Hughes or Deng, but no one would take their contracts. I need to do more research to see who would like to come to the Bulls. there were rumors last week saying that Wade would like to come to the Bulls. Man I would love it if that could happen. Two Chicago-raised players playing in Chicago. You just can't write that stuff. So here we are, one game into the Circus trip at 5-6. They've got Portland tomorrow against all-star Brandon Roy and Chicago drafted Lamarcus Aldridge. They are on the other side of .500 at 6-5 and have a lot of talent, but just like the Bulls, don't have a "go to" guy. Roy is good, as he proved against the Rockets:



Maybe that was luck, but damn...nice shot! Anyways, tomorrow is another day to play, and hopefully the Bulls will forget the disaster that was this Lakers game. They can definitely get past the Blazers, only if they can slow down Roy and don't forget about Fernandez and his three point threat and runner in the lane that we got so familiar with in the Olympics.

I've gotten old

Today at dinner I could not figure what it was that I did last Monday to have missed Chuck and Heroes on NBC. For about 10 minutes Jaz and I were trying to figure out what happened that night that made us miss those shows. Now I know this isn't a big deal, since it's just some TV shows, but it was really bugging me that we couldn't figure it out. So I had to do my research. Sadly the only thing that had my actions recorded a week ago was my Facebook profile. So I checked my status update for last Monday, and sure enough I found what I did last Monday: Joey just took an unnecessary nap. 10:47pm

So that is why I didn't remember anything from last Monday, because I was asleep by 7pm. I went for a quick run after working from home, so that is what must have tired me out. If it wasn't for Facebook that memory would be long gone. So I've decided I'm gonna blog in here even if there is nothing to put. I am going to start every blog with what I did that day, just so I know when I did what I did.

I didn't really do much today, but here's some stuff I did today:

• Breakfast - Fiber One cereal
  
• Lunch - broccoli, potatoes, cheese, and chicken
• Dinner - Roasted potatoes and veggies, fries, popcorn chicken
• Work - Re-racked an ESX server
• Watched Chuck and last week's Heroes
• Watched Jaz's Stages tape

Which brings me back to the blog. DAMN I'm old! We were watching the tape I made for Jaz 7 years ago of all the performances we had on tape of Stages. Everything I remembered about us still held true. We were just having fun in the beginning of our "career", but by the end of it, we were decent. When we sang "I Though She Knew" at one of the showcases, even now, I thought we did well! Some of the early performances were shaky at best, but we always had dope choreography, thanks to the likes of Vanessa and Lora! And there was a lot of bad hair back then. Jaz kept commenting on the fact that it looks like I am skinnier now than what I was then. I don't know what my weight was then, but I might have to agree. I moved pretty good back then...I can't say the same holds true nowadays. I'm just waiting for the day I can bust this out and show Haley how her dad and Ninong used to hang out before she was born. Jaz summed it up best when she said "Good thing there wasn't YouTube back then!" HAHA...so true, but it doesn't mean it won't happen now!

Trying something new!

Mavericks 110 - Bulls 102

So I have decided that I am going to try something new this year with my blog so I can actually have something to talk about. For every Bulls home game that I attend this year I will write a detailed blog about what I saw. And for the 2008-2009 season, I start out with the first preseason game against the high octane Dallas Mavericks. As you can imagine it wasn't a pretty sight!

Dallas pretty much owned the Bulls all night. From Jason Kidd initiating the new kid [Derrick Rose] to Brandon Bass dunking on the entire city of Chicago. The absence of both Ben Gordon and Joakim Noah due to injuries [sore ankle and poked eye respectively] was pretty noticeable in that the Bulls couldn't get a run going and lacked a sense of energy. Since it was their first preseason game, I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt like I gave them last season and move on and find some high points in their game and some points to improve on.

High Points

1. Derrick Rose - It looked like Coach Vinny del Negro decided to give a proper homecoming starting him at point guard opposite Jason Kidd. Rose definitely has the quickness that was advertised and his crossover is deadly. He definitely is not afraid to take it to the hole as he was sometimes the only one cutting to the basket, even more so than some of the Bulls bigs
   
2. Drew Gooden - He is going to be the work horse for the Bulls. Gooden looked like he dropped some weight and would even bring up the ball on occasion when a guard wasn't open. He has that veteran big man 18-footer down, and has a couple of post moves that can be promising.
   
3. Tyrus Thomas - It appears has been working on his jump shot. He made a couple of jumpers around the 15 foot mark. Didn't look bad on them, but he still needs to get some alley oops to make the fans happy
4. Aaron Gray - Don't sleep on this guy! He has decent footwork but just needs to get a little tougher against the big men of the NBA. He can be a 15 and 10 guy if given the right team or system
   

Points to Improve

1. The rotation - Obviously it being the first NBA game together under the new coaching team, there is going to be some confusion on who plays well with who. Since the Bulls a packed with talent but with no "superstar", this rotation will take a while to figure out. And this was without Gordon and Noah to throw in the mixer
2. Free throws - Seriously, these should be cake to these guys. Seeing Nocioni and Deng clank one off the back iron doesn't give me any warm fuzzy feelings about the season. They should be able to make these with their eyes clothes. You get paid MILLIONS!
3. Offensive sets - Now this could be due to the whole preseason game thing, but it didn't look like there were barely any offensive sets. I would hope you could see one or two sets that looked like something, but not so much.
   

Thanks for reading! My next home game is against Dallas once again on November 13. Be sure to check back then for more!

The last repair for Jerry

Yesterday when I went to pick up Jaz from work, my car started overheating. I saw the smoke coming out of the hood so I thought i just needed some coolant. I have two jugs of coolant in my trunk so I pulled over to add some. I pop the hood and what do I see? Coolant spewing out of the radiator. I called Abby because she's probably the one friend I know who knows about cars and she said it might be a hose. By the way it was just pouring out of the radiator, I knew it wasn't just a hose. I called the nearest auto shop which happened to be a Shell gas station about a mile away to see if I could get a tow truck there. They referred me to some tow company and I got them to come and get us. Since the guy told me that they were open till 10, I was hoping they would be able to check it out. The tow truck came but they only had room for one of us. So we had to walk a mile to the shop. Half way there I thought that I should call to see if the shop is open until 10, apparently the mechanics left at 6. So we had to figure out what to do. I called a couple of people and my cousin Jim was nice enough to come get us even though he was watching 4 kids. THANKS JIM!!

So now fast forward to today. I call pretty much every 2 or so hours to see what's going on. Turns out I need a new radiator, just what i was afraid of. Cha-Ching - $600 including the tow truck. Man, I've spent a lot of money on this car the past couple of years that I could probably make car payments with. So I've decided that this is going to be the last repair for my Saturn, Jerry. So let me take you back a little bit of why I call him Jerry. I got this car the year after my dad died and he was well known around his work as "Jerry" and all my cousins knew him as "Uncle Jerry". Always dependable and there when you needed him. But I just think it is time to move on from Jerry the car. We've been through a lot, but it's just that time buddy. Thanks for the 10 years of getting me where I needed to be even though I am always late, but that's probably my fault. I'll hand you over to Jaz when she's good and ready. She'll take care of ya!

MLB All-Star Game

I've been watching since the 9th inning..and now it is the 15th. I better see a good ending, or I'm going to be mad. It's 12:23AM here [1:23 AM in NY] and it sounds like it might end up in a tie. Of course this game is big because the league that wins this game is supposed to get home field advantage in the World Series, which still seems pretty goofy to me. Why not just have the team with the better record have home field advantage. After finally admitting that I am a Cubbie fan, I do want the NL to win just in case the Cubs somehow make it to the World Series, but how sweet would it be if it was the Cubs vs White Sox? That would divide the city more than anything else.

Top of the 15th is now done. Ugh...no one can score.

I decided to write in here because I wanted to stay awake while watching so hopefully this will help. Let's go back to the 9th while I have some time. The rookie Evan Longoria hit a game tying RBI in the bottom of the 9th to force extra innings. What's funny about collecting is that I knew about Longoria like 2 years ago or something when he was drafted. He was a hot prospect when he was picked up. While I got some time, let's see what it goes for now: Rookie Refractor AUTO. Looks like it's about the same from when I remember it a while back, actually maybe even less. That's why it's hard to understand baseball. You would think after a player makes it to the big leagues that their rookie cards [especially from bowman/bowman chrome] would jump to. According to the two prospector collectors I knew a little while back, they said that is not the case.

Bases loaded bottom of the 15th only 1 out. I don't care who wins now. Ah finally a sacrifice fly for the win. At least it's over...time to sleep.

By the way, worst all-star ever goes to Dan Uggla...look at his errors and at bats during the All-Star Game..terrible.

Finally, the Bulls catch a break!

The Chicago Bulls finally caught a break last month when they received the right combination of numbers to land them the #1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. They had a small 1.7% chance of actually getting this pick, but they got lucky that night like a leprachaun with a horse shoe up his arse. I was at Hooters with Jaz, Erick, Abby, and lil' Annie and I'm pretty sure Jaz, Abby, and possibly Annie were embarassed at the behavior of me and Erick during the lottery. Who cheers for a boring NBA Lottery...that's right, Bulls fans did that night! And so we did.

So a month went by with specualtion and rumors of what the Bulls would do with the #1 pick. Would they pick Derrick Rose, the Freshman point guard from Memphis who led his team to the NCAA title game only to lose to Kansas [shot out to Potter!] or Michael Beasley, the scoring beast from Kansas State who could turn an entire franchise around, OR trade the pick to a team for some proven NBA star like Dwyane Wade. I kept saying all month that I wish that I could sleep and wake up right before the season started so I don't have to sweat out the trades and picks and signings witht the rest of the fans of the Bulls. But obviously, unless I am hit by a bus and fall into a 4 month coma, that isn't possible. Well one of the answers was finally given on Thursday, June 26. Derrick Rose will be the new point guard for the Chicago Bulls. But now this creates a new question. Will he be the starting point guard of the Bulls? When this was asked of Paxson, he pretty much said that they wouldn't throw Rose in without any guidance and experience, which leads us to believe that he would keep a "veteran" [and I use that term LOOSELY] in Kirk Hinrich, which would mean Gordon is out the door. Of course, that's just speculation.

The potential trade packages the Bulls could give up can be quite attractive to a team looking to rebuild - Hinrich, Gordon, Tyrus, Joakim, Hughes, Gooden, Nocioni. Any combination of those players would be killer. Personally I would like to get someone like Al Jefferson. Too bad we couldn't have picked him up last year before he started playing well in Minnesota. I honestly didn't understand the hype behind him, but he's coming to play now. Of course a veteran like Elton Brand would be nice. You could get a consistent 20 points and 10 rebounds out of him per game, but who knows how his health is? I would love to see Rose and Tyrus play on the same team just for the entertainment factor. Tyrus could easily be how Chandler is in New Orleans now. Just get rebounds and an occasional alley-oop now and again.

So hopefully I haven't jinxed myself and won't get into a bus accident so I can see what develops over this off season. Plus the olympics are around the corner and hopefully the USA Basketball team doesn't screw this one up! The Bulls have so many options in making there team better. What are those options? I don't know, I don't run the Chicago Bulls. But as long as they are better than what they were last year...which shouldn't be too difficult.

High School Yearbooks

So today Jaz and I stopped by my mom's house after hanging out with the Vigans and watching "Get Smart" at Muvico [I'll get back to those topics a little later]. We decided to go back "old school" and order a pizza like we would used to when we still lived at my mom's, but we weren't hungry enough for an entire pizza, so we decided to just get the pasta [which I recommend!] and quepapas, and boneless wings from Pizza Hut. Of course that ended up being bigger than if we just got a normal pizza. Ah well! Anyways, as we were hanging out in the basement just watching "You've Got Mail" on TV, I started getting nostalgic. We were talking about how that movie came out around the same time we met on good ol' AsianAvenue.com. I can't believe it's been nearly 10 years since we started talking online. Anyways, I just started thinking about the good times that I had growing up in my parents' house, so then I found a couple of old yearbooks from high school and just looked through them. There was a lot of bad fashion back then, but I think I have remained somewhat consistent with my style - kind of "preppy", but also likes jerseys. I still like sweater vests [that's for you Ingrid] and collared shirts like polos or button-ups.

So anyways, here's the reason for this blog. I was reading some of the extremely huge and overly long entries by some people wrote in my yearbooks. One long one-pager stuck out and just got me thinking. It was from my sophomore year, and it was from a girl named Tracy. Now let me give you a little history about us. We had been friends since the 5th grade. We were what I considered at the time to be best friends, but of course I wouldn't have minded it to be more...but that was like with EVERY girl. Damned adolescent hormones haha. She wrote a huge page long entry in my yearbook just about how I was a good friend and some of the things that happened that year and how we'll always be friends. Now even then, I knew that finding good friends was hard to come by, but I genuinely thought we would stay friends for a long time. So then I look in my junior year yearbook...and she didn't even sign it. Checked my senior yearbook, and no Tracy to be found. I don't really remember the details of our "fallout" but I guess it was something that kinda just ended. High school was a time where people learn a lot about themselves and about other people. It's amazing how much can change in a year of high school. So Tracy, if you're out there SOMEHOW reading his...I hope you are doing well!

And now back to the present. Jaz and I met up with Mike, Tracy, and Haley at Golf Mill [another old school hangout!] ate and walked around. It's still pretty amazing to me that Mike and Tracy have almost an 8 month year old girl! She's growing up pretty quickly, and has two cute little teeth. I always want to see her being that she's my goddaughter and all. And when I pick her up she laughs, and it really melts my heart. It's because of her I will be bankrupt in like 5 years! ;)

Now onto "Get Smart". It's sometimes good to go into a movie not having too high of expectations. I figured this movie would get some cheap laughs and some missed jokes. And yes, that's what I got. It was one of those movies that you knew wasn't going to be incredible, but you still needed to see it. Jaz and I like Steve Carell because of "The Office". His physical comedy always gets me laughing but his humor can get old, especially during a 2 hour movie! I think Anne Hathaway is a good actress, but it was just kind of weird that she was the love interest since she is like 20 years younger than him...ew. Overall I thought "Get Smart" was a cheap laugh kind of movie but had its moments of hilarity. On Joe Kho's "deek scale", I'd probably give it a 5/10 deeks.

Changes

I've been going through a lot of changes the past couple of months. I left my beloved Compass team in the middle of March. I worked with them the past 6 years and felt that it was just time for a change. I didn't really see what more I could learn on that team after 6 years. I wanted to possibly get into management, but I just didn't feel like I could learn that on the team. So instead I moved over to the Network Support team where I pretty much know NOTHING! My new team are really awesome, willing to help out and very engaging. I could talk to any of them at any point. I am glad I made the change!

Another big change in my life is how I eat and exercise. I've been playing basketball at least once a week and also been working out a couple times a week. And I've been doing it since middle of March. Also around the same time I switched teams. I think my co-worker having heart surgery really scared me and I wanted to change my life so Jaz and my familt will never have to worry about me like that. So I started joeylosesweight.com so check it out when you get a chance!

There will always be change in life, so you have to take things as they come. The past couple months have been great for me so far, but it doesn't mean the next couple will be just as great. You just gotta be ready!

Yeah I'm still awake

Just been messing around on facebook in the dark living room of our condo. I normally stay up and do whatever online while Jaz sleeps for a little while, because apparently my snoring keeps her up. I just can't seem to go to sleep tonight. I always feel like I want to update one of the websites I run, either deekin.net, or jaosite.com, or hobbykings.com. But I never know what I want to do, so I end up doing nothing. And then sometimes I feel like starting a whole new site. Sooner or later I'll update on of those sites...just don't know when I will come up with something to update it with.

I've been thinking a lot about just growing up and being responsible over the past several months. When I look back at my years in high school and college, I always thought every little thing was like the end of the world. Man was I wrong back then. There is so much more to life than just partying and getting drunk and acting stupid with friends. I've come to realize the importance of a true friend. Someone who you KNOW will always be there in a split second if you need them. I look at some of the friends I have now. Sure we don't hang out as much as I would like, but I know I can depend on them with just a phone call. I miss a lot of them because we have all started our own paths in our lives with marriages and kids and careers and so on...but at the end of the day, I know I can give a call to any of them and just go chill and escape the reality of life even for an hour.

And of course the importance of family in my life has grown exponentially. I'm ashamed to say it, but I used to think of family as something we all just have...and I know I took it for granted. I look in the eyes of my nieces and nephews and I see such promise in what they can become. Sure none of them are over the age of 10, but their incredible and unique personalities are reflections of their environments, and right now their environment is family. I don't know when or how it happened, but they are growing up FAST! And I truly love being around them. My brothers and my mom too. I never enjoyed just being in the same house as them more than I do now. I don't see them as much as I used when I was Chloe's age obviously, so I try to have them come up to our place or hang out at mom's. It's real special to me...more special than it has ever been in the past.

So with that I will now try to get some sleep. I could've talked about how crappy the snow is or even how much crappier the Bulls are, but I wanted to have something nice in my mind before I fell asleep. I think I got it now...

Anxiety

Tonight Anxiety has kept me up. It was a pretty anxious day on Tuesday. I had to tell my boss and my boss' boss that I applied for another position in the company. I find out tomorrow [actually today] if the other team want me to join on officially, so that is what is on my mind tonight. I obviously hope I get it because it will be something completely new, but at the same time change is sometimes scary. But if I do get it I will dive in 100% and learn all I can from it. If not, then I will be sure to be happy in my current position as well. In the end it all comes down to happiness and getting what you want. I will make sure I will at least go for what I want because I can't ever complain about any situation if I don't even try to make it better for me. So however today ends, I know that I will have at least tried to make my life better.

Ever just feel...

Like you just want to get up and move away. I had that feeling today. Just want to get up and move some place new, start a new job, start a new life...it was weird. Nothing really bad happened to me today, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be someone else. That might be fun, or it might suck a whole bunch. Don't get me wrong, I am happy with what I have. Just last night I was talking with Rich about how things have been and how happy I am with life. My mind just likes to wonder sometimes how things could be different if different decisions were made. Obvously I have too much going on here to ever leave...especially my family, my friends, and my work. I still, to this day, don't know how Jaz was able to leave everything she was comfortable with to just pick up and move here. I'm glad she did...

So Abby was due yesterday and she's still not quite ready to have the baby. Maybe the doctor miscalculated the due date. I don't know anything about all that, but maybe? I know she must be uncomfortable, but Abby, if you're reading...I'm praying for you and your baby's safety! I, like I am sure you are, can't wait till you have the baby! Good luck!

Damn my speed...

On Sunday I was having a good game at the Postal league. Had about 11 points or so, FINALLY hitting my first free throw of the season, a bunch of rebounds, and a handful of steals. And then we were on defense and a guy drives to the hoop and I'm able to poke the ball out to our point guard, so then I just book. He tosses it to me and I realize that I probably won't be able to beat out the guy who was running back on D for the fast break. I saw Dennis streaking down the sideline so I was going to do my Magic Johnson one handed bounce pass from half court. When I wound up for the pass, I felt my leg pop. I was still able to make the pass, and Dennis scored, but then I hobbled off the court. I felt this pop before about two years ago and it was a pulled hamstring, so I knew what it was. As Abby would say "BALLS!"

I went to the doctor on Monday to find out that was indeed a pulled hamstring and there was no indication of any tear. So I was happy with that. Just need to lay off of it for the next two week which pretty much sucks because I've been pretty good about being active since the new year started trying to run at least once a week and playing ball on Wednesdays and Sundays. Guess I'll have to monitor my diet for now.

My new enemy

Black Ice...I totally ate it at Bakers Square by my mom's house and landed on my right elbow. I think it's just bruised, but it hurt pretty bad when I hit it. I told Jaz to wait in the car, good thing, she probably would've fallen too. When I went in I complained about the parking lot and they gave me the pies for free. They took down my information and said they would contact me tomorrow. We'll see what happens. My elbow feels a little better now after taking a couple of ibprofen. If there was a video it would probably be funny to watch. I can say that now since I'm not in as much pain as earlier. I hope I wil be okay by my PBA game on Sunday.

Almost done

We've been almost done with our Christmas shopping for like 3 weeks now. We knocked out pretty much all of our shopping the first weekend after Thanksgiving, but always had like 3 or 4 people left to shop for. Have we finished it yet? NOPE! Now with less than a week left it is CRUNCH TIME! In all honesty, I haven't even gotten Jaz's gift yet. She knows...and I know what I want to get her. I will hopefully will be get it tomorrow when I am off.

I've slowed down the collecting considerably over the past month or so and just looking to just pay of credit card debt for now. It's amazing how quickly it all adds up. I have been paying off twice a month for a little while so I am making some good headway. Hopefully when my increase kicks in [however much it is] I can pay it off quicker. Also I'm thinking it is almost time to give my car [Jerry] the retirement it deserves. I haven't looked at any cars, but we'll have to wait until my bills are paid off. I kind of went crazy at the last show. I was planning on going all out and just buying a case of Exquisite, and hope for a Jordan auto or something. Turns out there were two cards I needed for my collection - both of Tyrus. His rainbow SPGU /10 and his Topps Chrome Superfractor 1/1. Two great additions to the collection. I'm just looking for the rest of the SPGU rainbow /10s. Wish me luck!



One last thing...

At work we're doing this thing called the Holiday Trio. Basically you get into teams of three and try to lose or at least maintain your weight throughout the holiday season. I was dropping a pound or two over each of the past weekends, but then I got sick this past Tuesday, and then BAM! I lost like 6 lbs. It may not be the conventional way of losing weight, but it counts! We've got two more weigh-ins until after the New Year.

Ok one more last thing...

Bulls suck.

What would you rather have?

10 slaps to the face in a row, or 5 unexpected slaps from here to eternity?

This was from Jaz and my new favorite show: "How I Met your Mother". The show is absolutely the funniest show on television. Yes that's right, even funnier than "The Office". It's basically about a group of friends around our age and are at a transition period of their life. The main character Ted is a 28 year old bachelor who no longer wants to be a bachelor. He's pretty pathetic, but that is where the humor begins. The womanizing friend Barney [Neil Patrick Harris] is absolutely hilarious in it - LEGENDARY. I strongly advise you watch this show, it is awesome!

By the way, Barney picked 5 unexpected slaps from here to eternity.

I'm not worried

The Bulls are playing like a bunch of school girls right now. Skiles does not seem to know what he is doing with the lineup. When it looks like the team has some chemistry, he messes up the lineup. Tonight against the Suns the lineup of Duhon, Gordon, Deng, Nocioni, and Tyrus, they were doing some damage. Tyrus did his job and got Amare into foul trouble. At that point Tyrus has a much more open lane to do what he does. So what does Skiles do? Takes him out and puts in Joe Smith. Now I know Smith is a veteran, but Tyrus earned that. And when Smith was in, he played scared. Ridiculous. I'll go down the line now with everyone else.

Hinrich: BAD decision making as of late. If he is open for a 17-footer, he has to make it. No question.

Gordon: Still WAAAAY to streaky.

Deng: Absolutely ineffective in the 4th quarter.

Nocioni: Tons of heart. Leads by example.

Tyrus: Still raw. Needs to learn control, but when can control himself, VERY dangerous

Wallace: No passion, let him go

Thabo: Plays too timid

Duhon: Should be starting. Shows great composure when he is in.

Noah: NBA body, just needs to adjust to the speed of the NBA

Smith: Great open jumper, plays cool, almost TOO cool at times

Gray: BIG man, he'll be the next Brad Miller

Khryapa: His game is in his name

It's obvious there is no superstar or all-star on this team at the moment. This is how they start every year though. And if that's the case, it just means the off-season pickups did not obviously improve the team. Once they gel, they may be great, but right now it is status quo. When teams like Utah and Boston have clearly gotten better, it's going to be a looong season for the Bulls. What happens next? Skiles will mixup the lineup until ultimately Gordon will come off the bench and start scoring 25ppg. It has happened the past 3 years, and it will happen again this year. If Hinrich, Deng, or Tyrus can pick up their game a level, then they will be a successful team. But if this continues into December, we'll be saying goodbye to Coach Skiles.

Please no more Grossman!

Signs that your days as starting quarterback are numbered.
1.) You throw 3 interceptions in a game you have no touchdown passes
2.) Your home crowd chants for the backup quarterback
3.) Your most exciting play was not a pass play but when you scrambled for a first down
4.) When you have your kicker throwing passes

Sorry Rex...I think it may be time you pick up the clipboard and headset, and enjoy sitting and observing the game. You'll still make the money you were guaranteed, but we may have to say good-bye to you this off-season.

Oh yeah, and to all the Bears defensive team...please stretch out more before and during the games. I know it's probably because the offense couldn't stay on the field for more than 4 minutes, but expect that kind of abuse to your body as long as Grossman is behind center.

I would honestly rather get grizzly Orton back in the game. At least he was just lucky!

[/end rant]

Dancing at weddings

I like making an ass out of myself. I know I'm not all that great, but I know I'm entertaining, so I will put my body through hell to entertain...like so:

My wedding


Diana's wedding


Frank's wedding


Matt's wedding


If you have wedding pics of me dancing let me know! :)

9/11

It's hard to imagine that it was this day 6 years ago that the United States had one of its most tragic days in US history. It's one of those events that defines a generation. One of those moments where everyone remembers what they were doing when the planes hit the World Trade Center. And it is especially vivid in the minds of the families who lost a loved one that day. Luckily I am not one of those people, but it is for those people I will say a prayer for tonight. Although we do not want to live in the past, it is days like today that you should go and remember the feelings you had when you saw the buildings fall and sat in front of the TV waiting and hoping that someone would survive from the rubble. There is nothing dark about it. Those feelings that we had then may seem distant 6 years later, but they are still real. And for the people that lost their lives on September 11, 2001, close your eyes for a moment and just remember how you felt that day. Let them know that they won't be forgotten, not ever, and especially not today.

I'm here?

Yup...it was bound to happen sooner or later, that I would return, and talk about absolutely nothing. Well here goes...

The condo is pretty much done now. I mean, there will always be things I want to replace or something, but we're just not at the place where we can fork out some dough to get some new doors. Sure, it's only like 3 doors, but I'll deal with it for now. I definitely havn't used the basketball court to its full potential...and to think I could've maintained my wicked jumper. That went out the door.

I just recently started working out at the gym at my work. It's pretty much a crappy gym. I definitely miss the days at LifeTime and all the machines and weights and all. Here, there are 2 treadmills compared to the dozens at LT. Seems so long ago...

There are babies falling from the sky around us [not literally, because that would be very gross]. I can't wait till everyone has their babies so I can get my practice in. One day I'd like to have one those and I want to make sure I get all the practice I can get. Of course Jaz knows more on what to do than me because of her profession, that's why it's good that she's around when I'm "learning". Here are the two most recent babies:

Elias Fernandez [9.1.07]


Caden Chia [7.6.07]

..and before you ask, no Jaz isn't pregnant.