approx 17 more hrs until i can see my bro again...

but first i'll have to brave another midterm first...

btw, chopping up jalapenos and stick them in stagg beef chili is great... i never knew how great fresh jalapenos are, and the kick they add to food... too bad they're not cheap, so don't count on me doing this again for a while... but man, how i love spicy stuff... i'm not one of those cocky overboard ppls though, so yes i like spicy stuff, but i think i'll settle for something short of habanero or capesian, or those sauces which scorch your tongue for prolonged periods... i like the mouth burn, but something close to 15 min is really not my style. i also for some reason don't like tabasco sauce, cause the sour, vinegar smell i think adds a different type of style to the hotness...

jeremiah 29:13... keep this verse with you wherever you go... it's gold...

i find that when i'm not trying to look up bball stats or 3rd strike ryu tips and videos online these days, that i'm spending more and more time @daviswiki.org.

seriously, i think i learned more about davis and the way uc davis works by this site alone than anything else.

some interesting stuff i've picked up:

-parking's free on weekends anywhere(didn't know that)

-pools are free to swim in if you show your reg card(whoopie; i'm gonna be lap swimming on the weekends in spring when i buy some swim trunks)

-said this before, but yes, ucd does sell their own meat. cut and butcher.

-lists what you can do in sacramento(malls, chinese markets, etc)

-etc... too much to list, too easy to get lost and lose track of time.

-this really cracked me up yesterday; it's a joke fraternity that often advertises alongside the rows of frat signs near the huge grassy center area:
click here

etc... have fun!

and oh yea; go warriors...

most of the times i love rain, and the recent sudden outpour in davis again has been great...

there's just one problem...

NOW where do i choose my meditation spot to be?!?!?!? i don't wanna get my pocket bible soaked...

's gotta be somewhere quiet and lonely, hopefully outside, dry, but on campus... and that's a hard gem to find in rainy days...

...

i'll find a way... no... god'll find a way...

aw man, bulls vs kings tonight; i've always wanted to see the new bulls! too bad i probably won't be able to, cause i've got a midterm to look after on friday, and other ish to be concerned with, such as our tuesday little accountability thing. well, maybe i might be able to get a few peeks at them...

funny how jordan basically ruined the careers of two of the greatest ballers to play the game... the person whom many consider to be the greatest baller to play the 4 spot has to leave w/o a ring... the shooting guard whom many consider to be the best at shooting off the screen also has to leave w/o a ring... they both came so close, but got away empty...

not that i'm complaining... i respect both players, but i never really liked karl malone or reggie miller.

edit:

heh, this probably means jerm's not going to be a pacers fan anymore, once this season ends... ever meet sports fans who are like that? they don't truly grasp the great strengths of a team, choosing instead to concentrate upon 1 single player?

seems like i watch a lot more kings games on comcast to root for the other team, heh heh. celtics, bulls, warriors(yayyay!), and now: pistons are coming up in march, i'm SERIOUSLY going to enjoy that; if detroit manhandles sac the way they did on lakers last season, i dunno, i might just get a big grin on my face... detroit's starting to pick it up now, so i guess they were just trying to be cautious not to pick up injuries in the 1st half of the season, or getting used to things, although everybody at the get-go were looking to see if they'd just come out strong every night. i'd think, with the emergence of miami, cleveland, as well as some really good west teams, for people to take detroit seriously, they have, HAVE to go on a huge winning streak where they just hold everybody down defensively. sorta like last season, when they first got rasheed, and then just raped about 5, 6 teams in a row, holding them all down to below 80 pts(or was it 70?)

anyways, i watched about the remainder of the bulls game, and i have to say, i'm impressed. kirk hindrich really does play good defense, and he shares the ball a lot. his ability to steal is awesome. and he handed out 12 assists. he's not like where he'll do something jason kiddish, but he almost recognizes who to give the ball to right when he crosses the half court line and nears the perimeter key. there were a lotta plays where he gave it up right to eddy curry cause he saw him alone on the low block. eddy curry is also a great big man, and ben gordon is something really special. he split the kings' double team, then just took it in... crazy.

although, most norcal ppl are gonna be mad tomorrow when they realized brad miller was called for an offensive foul instead of correctly getting a 3-pt play.

The Best Blonde Joke Ever!

seems like everybody's giving up something for lent... well... i wouldn't call this something i'm giving up for lent(40 days? why's everything gotta be given up right @lent for 40 days? you telling me you try not to make sacrifices each month to remind yourself of who god is, til lent? and why's it almost always gotta be food?), but one of those things i'm gonna hafta do.

i planned to fast 1-2x each month to remind myself of how god is my king. but this time for feb fast no 1, i'm not doing food; i'm doing something more akin to what daniel in the bible did. i'm giving up my delicacies.

so obviously, this one's gonna be a bit longer. (who fasts for what i'm gonna say for only 1 day? LOL) but let's see how it goes:

no street fighter for 1 week(maybe i might even push it to 2, or 3)

by no street fighter/no fighting games/no video games, i mean:

-i do NOT at all even step inside the muga... if i wanna get some twenties to refill my wallet, i go downtown.
-i do NOT visit srk.com or cv.com or anything related to fighting games or sf
-don't bother looking at any online document relating to sf...
-and don't touch the ps2 at the apt either...
-when i get back, i also can't go to golfland...
-if i do go to fry's, i can't stop by the x-arcade(if they still have 3rd strike there); if possible, try to avoid going to fry's AT ALL...

why am i doing this? it's simple; i'm so sick of having to "rely" on this... i always planned on trying to cut back my arcade time after being given a 2nd chance, but to no avail... studying time's up, but every time i make it to the weekends, instead of keeping up w/the good work, in sheer exhaustion, i just unload in front of the ps2... and waste all the time i've spent in front of the books, so i have to play catchup again... so the least i'm doing is throwing this up on the web and hoping that now that it's made public, that i have to remain true to my word... yes, i know i can do this... but the reason is because not of what i'm losing, but what i'm gaining... when you sacrifice, you'll gain, not the otherway around.

i don't HAVE to do this... but when you believe you're blessed, you should follow up on it. those who have more will be judged higher. and the more i spend in deep, real prayer, the more i believe there is so much that i have been blessed with, either the little, more frequent, daily things, or the big, rare great blessings. stop trying to follow the crowd and follow what's right for a change. so i have to follow up on it. just cause your friends play W.O.W. for huge amts of time each day does not mean you should cave in yourself and play 3rd strike the same way... 4 classes/quarter is a lot, but then, with that, i should aim higher.

anyways, it's on starting today... so, it'll either end this saturday, or if i wanna push it to 2 weeks, ends next saturday.

(in the future, i think i'll try fasting from the web(i'm been meaning to try to fast from blogging) AND videogames, due to the sheer time that both take outta my daily life, but you always learn to crawl b4 you walk, so let's try this first, k?)

in other news:

i think getting a preamp for me for some reason has just become a lot more impt than saving money to get a delay pedal... alter bridge has convinced me that the delay isn't thinking about quite yet... having a preamp though(playing on a worship team sometime in the year sounds good), would greatly help playing on a stage...

*sigh* nfc still can't beat the afc...

anyone else surprised by the firing of flip? i was... i believe the fault still lies w/the players(specifically, sam i'm NOT and shopping spre)... however, despite the fact that this looks like a blame game, you could argue that players and coaches are interconnected, so if one's screwing up, perhaps the other's also to blame. maybe mchale can turn some things around... hopefully.

looks like boston's starting to earn their 3rd place, hope they can do it, but they did suffer a tough loss @home to the kings...

ouch... warriors couldn't beat hornets, came SO close, but couldn't beat suns...

anybody else get this weird, fuzzy feeling on your tongue after you eat cooked spinach?

heard this pass my ear on sportscenter, but was it really true that reggie white tried to study up on judaism in order to become closer to christianity? heard that ppl ended up thinking he was trying to convert to judaism... and that disturbed him greatly. i would agree too; christianity IS judaism... for him to do so, was to deepen his christian belief, not muddle it... there was this vision he had, where he saw something in hebrew written on a paper in a treasure chest, which was what he was seeking in his entire life... it was "redeemed" in hebrew... also, is reggie white's wife a jew or something? she looks white, so i'm not too sure.

napster's gonna see me sometime in the near future buying 1-2 of their prepaid songcards...

yeah, sacramento isn't exactly like davis... the arden center, aka the cal expo, has a lotta stuff... i'll have to go back some other time; guitar center's there, as well as a buncha other stuff...

our msm bible study group decided to go to cheesecake factory in that area after friday, and while some of us ordered dishes, others ordered different slices of cheesecake and sampled them...

oh yeah, speaking of which, guess who we saw sitting at the cheesecake factory behind us, eating a meal?

mike bibby!

(no, i didn't go up to him and ask for an autograph... neither did most of the others; it looked like he was going to eat, so it would've seen rude to do so; it was funny, because i think we would've left 2 hrs earlier than expected, but since we saw him, some of the girls couldn't decide whether to go up to him or to remain by themselves)... and it was funny, cause when we did go outside, we saw all these cars w/shiny rims on them...

random trivia about myself:

do the number of bibles that i own equal the number of headbands(that i use for various sports) that i own? how many of my bibles' book covers match the color of my headbands?

just something to think about if you don't have anything else to; can't believe it hit me today; i'll answer the question about a week from now.

you always learn something new each day, provided you're just willing to actually open your eyes and your ears...

for today: it is good to desire spiritual gifts; however they strengthen your relationship with God, not the belief of others... prophesying is what does help unbelievers.

other; s.fierce(close) will not combo into DP off of a jump-in with ryu in 3rd strike; c.forward is much better, and a lot more consistent.

shin nen qwuy luh...

whenever your new year is, may god continue to enrich your relationship with him and draw you closer to him, to everlasting springs of love...

celebration of discipline: yeah, this book is deep... and it's always good to go back and review it...

as for me and the supposed 2nd new year, i better be getting a fat red envelope soon :)

(this is the mad ups for being a chink over a kook, even though we all know we go to msm and dkc :D although, knowing my mom, i'll prob just get a penny or something :D)

my tv sports cycle during the year is something like this:

winter: nfl, nba spring: nba summer: tennis, olympics if available fall: nba, nfl (always considered myself more of a summer olympics guy than a winter olympics guy)

so now you know; i'm a casual baseball fan. if that wasn't that obvious so far. so yeah, after the pro bowl, you'll know what i'll be thinking about sportswise.

so yea... i'm starting to wonder really how much of minnesota's failures and downfalls this year are tied to mchale's ineptitude to satisfy cassell and spre's checkbook. or are the two players to blame...

yay for gsw for t3h win tonight against the magic!

booo, the eagles lost... was close though

i agree w/jerm; if to was fully recovered, eagles could've either won or tied it at the end of the 4th. he didn't have his speed, although he did make a lotta good catches; he just couldn't followup and burn the d all the way to the goal...

on another note, i made my 1st batch of guacamole for the super bowl... pretty good...

i also got a pocket bible, specifically for those times i spend by myself w/god each day on the campus

k that's it from me... maybe next year eagles... otherwise good run this year... but it obviously don't mean a thing if you don't get that trophy...

NBA.com: Sprite Courtside Countdown

vince carter outdid my 360 random shot...

and how did mo peterson do that blind?

it's interesting watching kings vs warriors at "the other guy's" tv network... and had ridiculous amounts of fun the 1st half, then just got frustrated the 2nd.

basically, no offense, but the kings announcers were more or less treating the warriors like crap... they weren't saying anything, but when you say stuff like "wow look at all these teams who come in here and walk away with triple-doubles" and ish like that...

it also peeved me how a lotta ppl in the crowd cheered for the kings... ok, so kings and warriors are both norcal teams. but cmon now... at least they cheered louder for the warriors.

watching the game more-or-less still proves what i believe; warriors need a good 4 or 5. (man, imagine how beastly the warriors' backcourt would've been if they still had arenas)

on the flip side, the good stuff is that pistons and celtics won...

man, i gotta stop playing 3rd strike on a ps2 controller and play on the real thing against real ppl at the mu; i get so used to the controller that i can't unload hadoken xx denjin at will. "practice? we're talking about PRACTICE here!" only practice i'll need is against others...

i pray that i might be able to discover my untapped spiritual potential, that i might discover what spritual gifts god has blessed me with, before i believe that the holy spirit has not baptized me...

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

really? *grins*

rudy t's stepping down... outta nowhere...

"god has already cleared me..." that's cool, dawg... now SHOW ME, T.O.! andy reid better be wearing a skirt or some tights when the super bowl's done!

Pistons meet Dubya

physics on wheels and stuff like that is making me dizzy... it's way too weird...

seems that as you grow older, your toys simply grow more and more expensive.

check this out:
128 mb usb drive: 19.99(most were 29.99; i was luck to find one for 20 dollars at fry's)
foam cushion mousepad: 14.99(comfy, and the old one was wearing out anyways)
nerf air maxx 2000 2-pack: 5.41(practically a steal, as w/the leftover credit from target, i was able to cut 9.99 down by 50%), and gave one to jerm; i've heard if you mod this particular nerf(they have instructions online on various webpages), it becomes gold; you can fire it up to 100 feet...
and if i was filthy rich, i might've spent even more money this weekend. but i'm trying to hold back; i want to get a ucd sweatshirt and a pocket bible.

anyways, it appears i was wrong; all targets apparently carry super soakers now; wasn't just yolo county area.

yo ballers: i'm making a word .doc that if you print it out, you can use to help design plays for 3-on-3; its useful, for if you wanna kick your game up a notch. if youre not one of the davis 3, email/aim me and ill see if i can hook you up; for you others, you can just use MySpace to find it.

warriors really need to get a good 4 or 5.

t.o. needs to outdo moss during the super bowl. and donovan mcnabb needs to go "jeff garcia and beyond"

just my luck...

i've been selected for jury duty...

(reminds me of how getting old ISN'T everything; i knew that all along, but then again, maybe i needed to be reminded)

why can't the ucdavis winter break be a whole week, instead of a partial wed-fri and another partial mon-wed?

now i have to decide whether to postpone some finals, or miss a few classes.

utter bull...

although, i know it's not exactly set in stone, as the lawyers have to decide whether i'm partial or impartial, or ish like that, plus i have to consider what the case issue is. etc.

great... i hope this is not like "the runaway jury," where some hired agent followed me all the way to davis to find out exactly who i am, thus deciding i'd be a good choice for a jury.

and i hope, even if i'm selected, that the subject is something so blatantly easy for me to decide for myself, that i'd never even choose the other side.

although, every person has a chance to make a difference in this world at different times; maybe missing 1-2 classes isn't that bad after all; i preach being impartial myself too; maybe this is my chance to see whether i live up to what i think.

can someone who's been on jury duty enlighten me on the specs? is it like "12 angry men" where they have to be all or nothing?

from those who have been entrusted with more, much more will be demanded of him...

this biblical quote is suggesting nothing of the sense that you are better than your peers; no, this quote is showing that because your mindset is "better than that," because of the way your talents and gifts are shaped, you should be "better than that."

i find it so tough to remember AND do this, but it's the truth... following peer pressure's so overrated...

vacaville target has some really good nerfs...

yolo county area targets ALL have super soakers...

there is nothing like coming to god in the middle of the day, and EMPTYING everything out for a good 30 min or so... as college is in session, i've found it harder and harder to devote so much time to god 3x a day(i do pray in the morning, but it's not very long, and deeper in the night, but i would say it's iffy; sometimes passionate, sometimes rushed, cause i just want to hit the bed), but that's the beauty of ucd's arboretum... just give me earplugs, a black gel ink pen, a clipboard, and a pocket bible(don't have this yet; will have to do some searching soon), put me out there on a bench after my midday classes have ended, and the time you spend out there w/nature and just praying and emptying your soul is great... it's gold...

fyi, best earplugs i've ever used are howard leight's; look for these red-orange ones, and they should be either 33 db reduction or 34 db. those are best for studying imo. the best for sleeping(yes, i do use 2 types of earplugs) are flents Quiet Down!... these ones are green, and have a 22 db reduction(you want it to not be exactly as tone-deaf, because you DO want to be able to hear your alarm :D), and a little more comfy on the ears.

*sigh*...

this is, hopefully, the 1st, and last time i ever pull an all-nighter this quarter(or any other quarter here) at davis...

god, have mercy on me...

new third strike ryu denjin setup learned: far standing mp, jab hadoken xx denjin, charge for 2-3 hits, do yo thang...

apparently far standing mp carries a whopping +4 on block(highest advantage ryu can get on a blocked move), so they have to red parry the hadoken. it might be strong hadoken though to force the red parry. but jab will shield better, unless they can jump outta it.

although, my execution on doing hadoken xx denjin sucks so much right now... as well as my gameplan. plus, all the ppl @the muga can't even beat dp xx denjin or knockdown, jab hadoken xx denjin whenever i can get the dp to hit or the knockdown.

i'll be coming home this weekend. cause the superbowl's next weekend. go eagles!

and fyi, phil will be visiting the bay area around feb 19th; i'll be home as well then. all yo peeps can finally see michael in person(as well as me :D)

btw, has anyone seen that new dr. pepper commercial? the one where they're playing "stacy's mom" in the background as a mom driving a minivan pulls up to a buncha kids playing sports or something?

laugh... out... loud... hilarious...

they cue the music and camera angles like they're trying to make the mom look sexy, ykno? and the kids gaping at her... it's only later in the commercial that you learn the kids weren't bum rushing her... they were bum rushing the van filled w/dr pepper... but oh man, it's so hilarious.

first time me and jon saw it, i couldn't stop laughing, and jon was like "errrr... what the..." i came right back with "that had the potential to become the sickest commercial right there."

(i ran outta space to comment, so i'm gonna hafta reply to grace's response here... stupid backblog)

i think backblog has always had only 10 smilies to use. not that i use em anyways. go for the ol skool ish; :) <- works fine. i use :D all the time though.

and on the issue of somehow knowing all these stats all of a sudden: it's not that hard; it just sorta comes naturally. what comes first is the LOVE OF THE GAME. then afterward, you just become amazed at how the players of the game play the game, and you can't stop spouting stats fresh off of espn.com to back up what you saw.

how do you get this love of the game? my suggestion: just sit down, and start watching some games... front to back. instead of trying to watch from both sides of the game(like in the case of the upcoming superbowl, eagles and patriots), try to follow one team, and root for them from the opening tip-off, til the end of the game(and don't switch sides mid-game if the team you root for is losing; that's a big no-no in my book; stay true; don't be a bandwagon fan :D). pretty soon, you start loving the game for what it is, and then somehow, you start caring about stats or the guys on the team you rooting for coming up huge. "OH! DID YOU SEE WHAT HE DID!" will quickly become part of your vocab :D

the only reason some girls never get to that "love of the game" part is they get together on superbowl sunday, see guys' rowdy reactions to big plays(and not the game itself), and their initial reaction is, "i don't get it; all these stupid guys going rowdy over some man being able to throw a ball and another man being able to catch it." or, "stop acting all depressed cause your team lost." they see the facial expressions, not the game. kinda like that old spice commercial. either that, or some girls see their girlfriends' reaction like that, and they proceed to think they should follow suit. but i'm not a girl, so don't ask me on the patterns that girls do too much. :D

grace, you have a bf right? if he's a big sports fan, next time you two do things together, ask if you can just join him and watch some football every now and then. or basketball(*gives a thumbs up*). or whatever you think you or he would like. this might help out.

(but great, now i got started on blogging, and can't stop)personally though, for me, i got started really liking sports during senior year in high school; my apps were done, i had only 5 easy classes, there was nothing to do, and nbc still had the nba, so i could watch some games(i had no cable @home). i did something rare, and actually watched a basketball game front to back. it also helped that the game was so close, that they had to stretch it to 2 overtimes... i was hooked, and the more games i watched, the more i grew to love this stuff. when i started seeing and appreciating more of the defensive stuff that basketball players did, that got me to loving hard-hitting stuff; guess where that led to; that's right; me starting to really love football.

but of course, you could always say my love of video games helped make this happen; i love sega sports, and when they came out w/nba 2k, that was video game basketball, for the 1st time in my life, done right. it flowed; i played a lot of it during high school, and it, combined with a few nba games on nbc, got me hooked. one of the reasons i also grew to love tennis was also cause sega made virtual tennis, and that it was so fun and realistic.

1 for 1...

go eagles! this is your year! now win it all!

edit: whadda know; i'm 2 for 2; the patriots won... but i stand corrected; the game wasn't close at all; big ben played a sloppy game, and the patriots took advantage of it. near blowout status; 40-something-ish to 20-ish.

edit: i pick the patriots to win the super bowl over the eagles, but i'm giving them a SLIGHT advantage, not a huge one; both teams are very well built, and play hard on both ends. both had OUTSTANDING seasons. and w/to back in the lineup for philly, that's great news(can you say pass creator?). so while i stand by what i'm saying, the truth is that i'll be rooting for philly. cause i like donovan and to. i do like the brilliance of the patriots' defensive coach, tom brady's overall solid play, and corey dillon though. but trust me; this superbowl will be a battle on both ends for both teams. it'll be great(even greater if philly wins or to scores a td, cause then andy reid will have to wear tights or put on a skirt :D). unless if you're just stupid enough to be there for the party or cause all your friends are watching.

which reminds me... superbowl must be THE time of the year where girls have to actually watch football (or sports for that matter) to be in the "in" crowd... else they just look plain geeky. it is, i think, one of the few events in the US where ppl HAVE to watch(that explains why so many commercials vie for the superbowl spot so much)... some of course are doing it for the commercials, some for the party, but others... there is, was, and will be only the game(and oh, deep down inside, how good it feels to know you're part of THIS group, and not the others; you have your heart set in the right place :D)

so while it's obviously not true that ALL girls don't like sports(i tend to think for them, it's not the activity they're doing that counts, it's who they're doing it with; girls = relationally involved beings, males = activity involved beings), it's more likely that they just don't care(unless if all their friends are football fanatics). until the super bowl. and they're only doing it cause all their friends are watching too.

which reminds me of fall quarter 2004 when the red sox were playing @the yankees; my bible study group was just chillaxing before getting started, so we were watching the game; being that our group was bisexual(heh heh...), there were some girls who obviously didn't care about sports, or follow it up on a regular basis. i joked to the other guys about how matsui looked a lot like jackie chan, and i get a response from a girl who asks, "jackie chan's playing?"
-silly rabbit; why would yankees want to play jackie chan during the playoffs? you wanna choke? oh wait... they still did...

out, around to the nearby elementary school, up to the other apartment complexes, and back... supposedly, in 10 min or less...

not that i'm impressed w/myself; i used to do a lot better... i was at my peak in 7th or 8th grade... 6:20 for a mile time, if i am not incorrect... that was when i was on the swim team, and my pe coach made us run for 10 min every other day...

but it felt good... should do this more often... go to sleep early, wake up early, take a jog... exercise is good, and helps keep you alert...

i saw a couple that seemed to not be able to stop kissing each other(peeved me off) at safeway... then i saw what they were buying... only one thing... a small little box called "simply sexy"... i presume it was condoms...

where do i go from here? where does god want me to go from here? so, he's granted me his grace... now how do i followup? only time will tell...

just some bible verses that have been on my mind lately:

Ephesians 4:17-19 and Ephesians 4:26-27

i've felt that these verses have taught me something about the way i should react to nonbelievers who just shut God out...

take it from Jesus' example himself; he did not become angry who mocked him and heaped insults upon him, but instead looked up to heaven and said "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing."

'k, i just felt it on my mind to post top 4 of each conference in the nba and random ish:

-top 4 teams in the west:

1.san antonio
2.seattle
3.phoenix
4.sacramento

san antonio's a no-brainer... IMHO, they ARE the best team this year... no sufficient weaknesses with them... basically their defense has always been there, their bench has always been deep, they have always played team ball... but this year, they got scary offensively real fast; i don't even think you can label the spurs as being "boring" on offense anymore; duncan seems to only need to put in 30 mins or so these days; they build leads that greatly, and then their bench can just keep the lead. everybody talks about great rookies and their successes, but tony parker(who usually doesn't get mentioned for young talent) is only 22... scary huh? he's like nash, but can actually play defense. how many times have you seen the spurs win by at least 20 pts?

seattle and phoenix are both big entertaining surprises... i'm giving the nod to seattle though because they are better AS A TEAM... they are deeper, they play team defense quite well, and they have found ways to cover their main weakness(lack of an interior); danny fortson has been superb. i would consider them the biggest threat to san antonio's road to the finals(not to mention they've actually WON against the spurs, unlike phoenix, even when they had nash); phoenix has been great, but i'm putting them at 3 because of their sheer lack of depth; look at how they're doing w/o nash. they also don't use their bench too often. they can't play defense, and they lack so much in depth(i personally hate nash too, because he can't play d). yes, they're doing great so far. but i like to look at the "completeness" package and ability to cover weaknesses, and so far, suns look great, but not superb.

i was stuck w/4; i really doubt sacramento is really no 4. but no other team in the west seems good enough to take the 4. and sac HAS been on a 6-win streak. so i'll give it to them by default. maybe cuttino mobley added something to this team. however, his d is not that great; above-average at best, moderate usually.

-which team impressed me most in the west?

well, for me, it was sorta hard to decide between j-rich's recent huge upstart, showing that he could finally lead the warriors, or seattle continuing to be in TOP playoff contention. honestly. i'll go w/warriors though. i think everybody thought they were done this year. and the win record says that. to see j-rich suddenly come out gives me hope... (chris mullin, you're forgiven) if golden state could just get a good rebounding center and shot blocker, we might actually have a chance of making the playoffs next year.

-which team disappointed me the most in the west?

ugh... hmm... i'm giving the nod to minnesota. i kinda already knew houston gave up too much depth in getting t-mac to be an immediate threat, and it annoys the hell outta me seeing anybody chink/taiwanese rooting for houston. DEPTH, chinks. DEPTH. denver could have made the list, since there were high hopes @the beginning of the season w/the aquiring of kmart. but it's minnesota. think about it; last year they ended at no 1 in the west. they were like no 4 in defense. they were deep. this year, they have pretty much the same cast. but where are they? out of playoff range(just barely); they show a lackidasical effort. they don't lockdown on d no more. kg's still kg, but apparently, the rest of the cast aint 2k4 calibur material. i would even say they disappoint me more than detroit this year.

-top 4 team in the east:

(man i'm loving this year; i hate the fact that detroit isn't as monstrous as last year, but i love the rise of the east; annoyed the hell outta me seeing how everyone treated the east like it was the "leasten conference"; now you've got at least 5 new east teams that are looking good on top of the tried and true, and if pacers weren't involved in the scuffle, you'd have to add them to the list as well this year)

1.miami
2.detroit
3.cleveland
4.washington(who knew? :D)

miami's a no brainer; they lack depth, but they have been able to cover it quite well; i love dwayne wade's mentality towards the game, and shaq has been serious about giving miami something they don't have(i might add, he's also appeared less cocky on tv)

detroit's up there, but even i have to admit, they're not the monster they are last year. they get the nod above the cavs though because they're deeper than cleveland. they have been winning games though, but they haven't been DOMINATING GAMES... they're still a good team, but not a GREAT team this year. of course, this may have something to do with the way they raped la, as well as most of the eastern conference on the way to the finals and won a championship last year... ppl have high expectations for those who are proven winners.

cleveland... lebron james DOT COM... nuff said. he's overexceeeded the hype, and though it annoys me w/the bandwagon fans(i like lebron a bit myself, just that the fans annoy me), facts are facts; he's for real. just wait 4 more years, and see if he isn't like kobe 2.0 or something equivalent. the team though, isn't that great, but it has some good spots, so it's not a lbj-only team: "z", drew gooden...

washington... WARRIORS :D i love how they're doing good this year(they should get more airtime; i wanna watch them more); hughes has been great; areans has been great... jamaison has been great... they're getting the nod above orlando because though i like orlando, they don't play d yet... they have the athletic talent to though...

-which team impressed me the most in the east?

wow, this one's gonna be hard... you've got washington, orlando(dwight howard WILL be good), cleveland, miami... but i'll say: CHICAGO! :D when's the last time you heard them being in playoff contention? that's right: the last time mj took up house there. then after that, they sorta disappeared; they were a joke team; you were either a loser or a faithful loser for loving the post-jordan chicago bulls. but suddenly, this year, they look good. kirk hindrich's been a sorta john stockton/jeff horny-sack(yes, i spelt it wrong on purpose) hybrid, being great on d and offense. eddy curry, lou deng, ben gordon... all these guys are good. and for the life of me, they play hard on both ends... i would love to see them get some national airtime real soon...

-which team disappointed me the most in the east?

i have to swallow my pride and say detroit. yes, they're still winning games. but what were their main strengths? their depth and their lockdown d. their offensive capabilities are above-average AT BEST. so they have to win it on the defensive end. but they don't seem to be locking down compared to last year when they seemed to just under-70'd teams at will, or won by 10 pts or more. and you could argue how much depth they lost; the pick w/mcdyess seems good, but menmet okur seems like a really special player they lost. i could say the same w/colliss williamson(they didn't even use derek coleman). and unless if darko and delfino suddenly get better real soon this year, you can give up on them DOMINATING games this year. they might reemerge in a couple of years if and when darko and delfino get real nasty, but for now, they're good, not GREAT.

(the consolation is that scottie pippen, a great player, has said that he still thinks detroit will repeat this year)

there you go... i think in the future i'll write something about team usa bball and building a team that can compete, as well as long... overdue... thoughts about the team that DID go to greece.

fyi, alice kim is nicholas cages' wife, if you didn't know already... i think he's just weird and messed up. don't believe me? he's talking like he's been korean all his life: "kimchee's good for my soul... etc..." i think he's just trying to suck up to his wife.

futurama and family guy are hilarious. that and chappelle's show. i honestly believe no 3 other tv shows can make me laugh as hard as these 3. and fyi, futurama is not a sci-fi only type of cartoon. it's more adult-referenced than the simpsons. last night on adult swim, futurama made fun of star trek. they had the 3 crew members of futurama fight to the death against the actors of star trek. william shattner w/the "hey! maybe i can throw my boot at them, like in episode 14!"

-"why do you act like i know karate? just cause i look japanese?"
-"we never asked you"
-"i wish you had" (looks downcast)

wow... warriors actually got non-bay-area fsn airtime yesterday! on tnt! impressive! actually got to watch the game yesterday night! i wonder why... what's the reason? tnt couldn't fill the time w/law n order? :D

but what was more impressive...

j-rich: career high 42 pts, 3 rebounds, tied season high 8 assists, 3 steals, and one EMPHATIC block on kenyon martin(attention k-mart shoppers... get out!)

troy murphy also posted 17 rebounds... and got 22 pts...

it's funny... i used to think mike dunleavy was gsw's best player, gsw was done when they got rid of dampier, and that j-rich was only for show, and i also used to think troy murphy wasn't that good... thought chris mullin was crazy for keeping these 3... now... it appears that j-rich is probably gsw's best player... he can create his own shot(something he has until this season, apparently not been able to do quite well), create shots for others, and play d... and troy's starting to improve... mike's slipped a bit, but he's still a good compliment... so... i think we just need to get a better center... somebody who can crash and rebound very consistently, and provide good low post offense and defense... foyle's not that good...

now go to la and beat the living snot outta those hollywood bandwagon fans!

(i'm writing here because my.ucdavis.edu is crapping out on me and won't let me access my email or account... damnit...)

(lemme know if you want the bible notes i wrote out on gracy and mercy)

ok, so, i know martin luther king jr's a great christian leader, so i'd thought i'd do a great honor to him and what good he's done in the name of jesus, by fasting 24 hrs(or more), starting tomorrow morning... i dunno whether i'll start the fast right when i wake up, or after eating a hearty breakfast, but i think this is a good idea... i dunno what i'll be doing during the fast, except maybe studying for my science classes, but i'll try to put aside some time to spend in quiet w/god. maybe i'll also look online for some examples of what martin luther king jr's done...

this guy is one of the greatest close-to-modern day christians ever... when everyone else around him was simply trying to get back at the white man, he saw past each and every single white man's hate of him, saw the white man for who he was, not for the things he's done... this is what jesus would have done himself. he hated the sin, not the person. and in great respect to the white man, he disobeyed peacefully laws that he thought were wrong. but refused to resort to violence or sin. he turned the other cheek. and continued to do so, even when he knew it might bring death. i've heard about him getting up to just pray for 3 hrs before he started any type of work... wow...

martin luther king jr, i salute you... for being more than just another "pioneer black person..." this is for the christians that live and breathe today... for showing us christ's love personified through actions... for faith w/o deeds is not faith at all. we all could take a moment to really think about what you've REALLY done, as well as what you did NOT do, instead of using the extra 24 hrs of free time we get to do whatever we want...

again...

martin luther king jr., i salute you...

edit: i remember hearing something on air1 from "groundwire:" those that often see past your ugliness are those with the power to change you

jerm: youre so cool!
me: eh?
jerm: nm
me: haha
jerm: dont mind the computer
me: ok, so i'm not cool :-(
jerm: nonono
jerm: you are so cool
...
jerm: hi
me: do you still know where your nerf crossbow is?
jerm: huh?
me: check this out: http://www.nerfhq.com/
jerm: oh
jerm: ok
me: go to the articles section, there should be an article on how to mod your crossobw
me: to shoot farther
jerm: you're so sweet
me: haha... thanks, i try

http://www.nerfworld.com/modsdir.htm

btw, that "double forward toss" that philly did vs vikings was l33t...
teddy bruschi was awesome vs the colts...

the nfl playoffs are shaping up to be very fun to watch... i think we're gonna be seeing eagles vs patriots this year... and i like both teams... both are just well built; both play incredible defense(philly's known for blitzing anything down, and pats have an incredible coach leading their defense), and no one's gonna argue against brady's no-mistake, just-solid play, or donovan's incredible abilities...

but just to note, even if either, or both of these teams don't make it to the super bowl, the other two are equally great to watch; steelers are really something this year and countered both the eagles and pats this year, and atlanta, well... michael vick experience(although their d needs some work, so i'll give the upper hand to philly, but pats and steelers are really a toss up)...

ok, that's the last time i slack... but god was merciful to me this friday, so even in my sleep-deprived state, i was able to (i think), do reasonably(as in B+ to hopefully A- range) on the 2 quizzes i got on friday. the good thing is because i chose not to come home this 3 day weekend, that i have plenty of time to get things done and get WAAY ahead before school starts again... i just have to hope i don't EVER sit down and say, "i'm gonna watch nfl playoffs til monday night!"

cafe night was nice @msm; they had one of their former worship leaders use an electric guitar and played lead fills and riffs... a first... however, i think he could've turned himself a bit more up; i dunno though... THAT'S just me... which reminds me, i gotta get back to playing the electric guitar. also, pastor started w/spiritual disciplines, with meditation today, but the emphasis he placed was upon the definition as seen in psalm 1; maybe this is just me, but he made it seem the same as "studying the word." i like richard foster's definition though; simply the ability to hear god's word; stop trying to make yourself heard, and just sit down and wait for god. to make it short, i still remember that prayer and meditation are not the same. neither is study.

i found out jerm's anniversary edition of street fighter has the sf2 animated movie(yes!?!?!) on it(still haven't seen tekken animated movie, but i heard it's pretty short), so i watched it friday night out of boredom... it's funny though... i've watched the movie before, but on this cd, it's shortened a LOT(probably to save space on the cd, since it's already massively huge w/2 games). which led to a couple of problems; they took out some of the best scenes in the movie or made them a lot less visually appealing; like when ryu dragon punches sagat and you see all this blood fly cause of the scar he just landed in his chest. here, they took all those scenes w/blood out, so it just looked like ryu knocked sagat down, nothing big. and i think they were trying to make it suitable for young children, so they dubbed different words in for the swearing, which, IMO, turned out to really make me laugh out loud... hmmm... vega can't call chun-li b****, how bout witch? or instead of m-----f-----s, how bout we use "pieces of meat?" it's not exactly the same. watching the movie wants me to use denjin ryu and ssrk ryu in 3rd strike again... ryu is too cool.

joe dumars told grant hill he was probably going to get cheers when he played yesterday; grant hill bet that he was going to get booed... sounded like a mixture on espn... but i heard he did get a warm welcome...

well, well, well, look at how the suns got exposed yesterday... no depth, no defense... and no nash... and how lakers are shallow now... hehe...

hehe... tom tolbert said it was the "ra-show" yesterday... couldn't agree more... he had 6 blocks, and a couple of other slew of things... great backup center...

but to close, plz warriors, get a frikkin win and go on a streak...

edit: i forgot to say steve francis mustve been on the and1 tour last night against the pistons... what was that, like 4 steps before he bounced the ball to himself for a self alley-oop? :D

ucd bball team NARROWLY defeats ucr on on-road victory... not that i REALLY care(until we go division I, not II, which sadly will shortly happen after graduation); ucd's bball team as of right now is like composed of 90% white people, and 1 black person. which explains the lack of slashing on offense, the attempt to lay back on 3s, and the lack of athletic D... the black guy supplies all the D :D it's not that the other guys don't try, but well... let's just say he's the only one who gets up... and being we're close to sactown, i wouldn't be surprised that the majority of peeps here want nothing but offense...

speaking of sac, i think doug christie for cuttino mobley is a bad idea... for both teams. you throw out the kings' d(or whatever type of d there used to be), and you gave up the chemistry that is francis-mobley for magic... if magic wanted to up their d(which was why they did the trade in the 1st place), they should get their coach(whom i heard is not very D-related) to start teaching it... or be fired... but that's just me...

i wish we didn't have to eat/sleep/drink... imagine how much extra time we'd get... on the other hand, modern-day society would adjust to make us work even more time... so there's that drawback...

nerfs aren't as big a commodity as super soakers... but nevertheless, i regret buying the hydro bazooka over the master blaster, and not buying the super soaker 10(REALLY small, but yes, you could pump it and shoot; now you can't find it anywhere) i was lucky to find out woodland target still sells the new skool super soakers, so i got one for myself, and i'm thinking of getting another just for future purposes. oh, and 1 more nerf.

Meat Lab

well, i shouldn't be surprised... this IS davis(and not berkeley, which is a good thing; protestors would surround the area)... check out the prices, not bad eh?

and at 2.00/lb for beef ribs, why not? plus, i bet the meat is fresher...

extended hrs reading room

muga

josh smith got hops... on offense AND defense!

robert horry's been getting up too a bit more this season...

but we all know warriors are gonna own heat tonight :D

i gotta start going to sleep earlier... i think everytime i have my laptop on @home, that i tend to just stare at it... and that makes it hard to wake up early. meaning my study time in the afternoon sucks, because i'll fall asleep, instead of making something outta it. it's still an improvement over last quarter, where i'd just stay home and play 3rd strike or jedi knight.

the apple cinnamon pancakes that i tried to make @the apt weren't too good; the apples made it hard to flip, and well... tasted good though... gotta figure out a better way to add the apples. i'm thinking of adding them after i've flipped the pancakes over once.

i gotta get back to playing the electric guitar again...

there's this thing we understand in genetics, involving the issue of complementation; suppose an organism lacks a gene 13. if it gets paired with an organism that lacks a gene 14, or something other than 13, and they produce offspring, they produce a healthy, non-diseased organism. and for some reason, that thinking has led me to see how we are all imperfect in god's eyes, yet with true fellowship with each other, we become a perfect entity, a perfect body of christ.

fyi, i've tried all types of gel ink pens for writing(because i like how it's a LOT bolder than regular ball point ink pens, making it very easy to read your notes), and i've found the 0.7 Pentel Energel to be THE best one... incredibly good, ink NEVER smears, and a nice medium-fine line... rubber grip, refillable, and an interesting quirk; if you clip it to a pocket or clipboard, the ink automatically retracts. pilot G-2 0.7's my choice for runner-up, as it has a bolder line and cheaper, plus you actually see refill cartridges everywhere, but it'll smear a bit more...

LOL! GGPO PACKERS!

habitual readers of my journal: if you have a bible verse that's truly stuck in your mind, and feels deep to you recently, plz share... either on the comment lines below, or in your blogs; i'll check either. or if you aren't on my list of links on the left, lemme know where your blog is, and i'll check out your deep insight. i dunno where i should go now, now that i've researched "mercy" and "grace" and "prayer requests to god" to death now.

'k; maybe i should go on a blog-fast... or internet fast... or tv fast... these would all be good... they eat way too much of my time often.

kelis - milkshake has got to be THE WORST SONG EVER... how do ppl even like this crap? but more importantly, how did this crap even become mainstream?

in other news, big dismal - rainy day is one of my favorite christian rock songs at the moment; it's the song on the passion of the christ soundtrack(i don't have the cd, it's just that if you wanna buy it, it's on that cd)... i thought kutless was the one who wrote the song, but i was wrong... and i think the lyrics are great...

www.bigdismal.com

i love the chorus; very good definitions of love and faith:

love- it keeps us hanging on/ even when all hope is gone/ i believe that your love rains down on me/ faith- it carries us away/ and takes us to a place/ far above this world/ i can see you in the clouds/ like a rainbow shining down/ on a rainy day

i keep asking jerm if he wants to play 3rd strike w/me, and he keeps telling me he's gotta practice(aka i don't wanna play you cause i'm hooked on world of warcraft)... my response is always to imitate ai and come right back with "PRACTICE!?!??! we're talking about PRACTICE here! we're talking about PRACTICE here!"

i know every1 in davis has seen these 2 emails, but for the rest of you:

December 15, 2004

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

By now you may have seen or heard initial news media reports of the
tragic shooting death of a young man on campus late yesterday afternoon
after he fired first at UC Davis police officers. It is the first
officer-involved shooting death to occur on our campus.

I write to provide you with as much information as can be shared at this
point in the investigation, to convey our police department's belief
that this was an isolated incident and that the campus is secure, and to
advise you of support services that are available to those in need.

Here is what we understand to have happened: Three UC Davis police
officers responded at 5:06 p.m. yesterday to a report of a suspicious
person outside the student housing office. The man was reported to be
acting in a bizarre manner, using irrational language and reportedly
threatening a student. When the officers approached him, he brandished
a handgun and fired at them, causing the officers to return fire. Paramedics
responded, but the man died at the scene.

The three officers have been placed on administrative leave while an
investigation is conducted -- a routine action in cases when an officer
fires his or her weapon. I know from conversations with Police Chief
Calvin Handy at the scene last night that these officers have been
deeply affected.

A three-tiered investigation is now under way, involving the UC Davis
Police Department, the Yolo County District Attorney's Office and the
Yolo County Critical Incident Response Team. Also, the California
Department of Justice is assisting our police in reconstructing the
scene.

As I write, we are not yet able to release the identity of the man or a
possible motive, but we have confirmed that he is not a student. We
will provide updates on the campus's Web page, www.ucdavis.edu, as
information becomes available to us.

Such tragic incidents -- thankfully rare on this campus -- are shocking
and cause profound sadness. Should you find counseling support helpful,
please seek our counselors' assistance. Students should contact
Counseling and Psychological Services at 752-0871. Faculty and staff
should contact the Academic and Staff Assistance Program, 752-ASAP.

Students who may be experiencing difficulties in completing exams this
week because of this incident are encouraged to contact Interim Vice
Provost for Undergraduate Studies Fred Wood at 752-6068.

Sincerely,

Larry N. Vanderhoef
Chancellor

January 5, 2005

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

When I wrote to you just before the holiday break about the first
officer-involved shooting on this campus, I promised to provide you with
more information when it became available.

As we start the new quarter, we are still awaiting investigation results,
but we have a bit more information we can share.

The man who was shot and killed Dec. 14 near the student housing office
in the vicinity of Regan Hall has been identified as 26-year-old Martin
Louie Castro Soriano of Antioch. He was not a UC Davis student but is
thought to have been distraught over a breakup with a former girlfriend
and to have come to campus to contact her.

Three of our veteran police officers responded to calls for help that day
from students who reported that Mr. Soriano was acting in a bizarre and
threatening manner. Our officers tried unsuccessfully to subdue him with
Taser stun guns. After he fired several shots at them with a
semiautomatic gun, one of the officers returned fire. Paramedics
responded but the man died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the
chest.

I know this was a very difficult circumstance for our officers and that
they are deeply concerned over the taking of a life. But I know, as
well, they were trying to protect the lives of others who were nearby.

We expect investigation results in February from the Yolo County District
Attorney's office, the Yolo County Critical Incident Response Team and
the UC Davis Police Department. The coroner's office is also expected to
have completed its pathology report next month. In the meantime, tips
are still sought on the police hotline, 752-9944.

Such tragic incidents, thankfully, are rare on this campus but are
shocking and cause profound sadness. Without a doubt this holiday season
has been marked by an unusual measure of sorrow -- from the massive loss
of life in South Asia to the tragic loss of two of our students here at
home, the heartwrenching deaths of an employee's remaining two children
in a Christmas Day car crash and the unexpected death of one of our most
beloved elected officials, Congressman Robert Matsui.

As a family, we share those losses, seeking both to find and to give
comfort. If it'd be helpful, please take advantage of our counseling
services. Students should contact Counseling and Psychological Services
at 752-0871. Faculty and staff should contact the Academic and Staff
Assistance Program at 752-ASAP.

Sincerely,

Larry N. Vanderhoef
Chancellor

now i praise and exalt and glorify the king of heaven, because he has shown me mercy. and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

and we will give you glory/ bring you honor/ king above all kings/ you deserve our everything/ we will lift our voices/ with your praises/ jesus you are our king

my throat feels dry, for some strange reason

holy crap! they have super soakers @woodland's target! no bull!

i had no idea there was a building on UC Davis which is always open, and designed solely for studying... it's really quiet in there too.

and it's not the library, not the mu griffin lounge.

OPEN 24/7.

we gotta have one last nerfwar before we grow old... whoever gets the largest house has to host it. i'm planning on buying 1-2 more nerfs before we do it. anyways, a (partial? almost forgot what i have; i had to rack my brain to try to remember) list of what i've got:

bow n' arrow- jerm thought this was the best nerf gun we had; however, i'd say that's only cause the arrows included tended to not be bent, unlike all the other blasters we got, making this one VERY accurate; nothing like aiming about 5 feet away with a double crossbow, only to have the missiles fly like 3 feet up and to the right
nb-1- pump action blaster; shoots missiles; i really liked this one
ripsaw- lol! we never really used this... the 1st and only time i did, it was so noisy; it's so easy to see if your opponent's gonna fire, cause then they start revving the blaster so much and the noise grates on your ears; otherwise you can rapid fire 3 balls, but they travel fairly slow
sawtooth- mine partially broke, but it was like a bolt action gun; pretty cool; 5 dart clip
hydro blaster- also partially broken; fires single balls; before it broke, it was designed to be able to fire water WITH the ball
double crossbow- my all time fave; like nb-1, but you could shoot up to 2 missiles, and holds up to 6 missiles; fairly accurate
t-3- the last one i got; maybe the best one in terms of features; up to 3 blasters; a ghetto bow n arrow, dart blaster, or combine to shoot both @the same time; pretty interesting...
missilestorm- rapid fire 4 missiles; pump action

i think i MIGHT have another one, but i can't really remember... i thought i had nine nerfs

shoot man, too many memories; i like how there's like 3+ peeps who had crossbow, lol; made things a bit too boring. i really liked jerm's arrowstorm; fired up to 6 arrows rapid fire, but you could make it fire darts REALLY WELL.

btw, if we play again, we better not get the arrows or missiles any more jacked up than they are... last time i checked, nerf doesn't sell missiles or arrows no more

it appears MSM this quarter is focusing upon the spiritual disciplines, as explained by richard foster's book, as well as Dallas Willard's; wonderful! as if the timing couldn't be better, considering i'm trying to right myself onto the right track at about the same time by beginning to REALLY practice the disciplines again! the funny part is that there's NOT going to be a sermon on fasting though, but then again... it seems a lotta msm'rs like to eat...

of course, dif ppl, dif disciplines... but i used to think fasting was kinda useless too. the truth of it is, i think it's definitely a lot more useful than i used to perceive.

for me, i'll concentrate upon fasting, prayer and meditation for the majority of this year(i'll let worship come as it is, not try to put a priority on it yet)... just a long year of trying to actually hear god more.

for a while, the post i made yesterday will be THE post of the year for me... there is nothing like having god grant you a miracle... you don't need to be on a deathbed, you don't need to be spiritually ill; if you've got a need, and the faith and persistence to pull for it, god will deliver. that of course, doesn't mean god's a genie. but then again, IF you've got a NEED...

however, i would like to say something about fasting(seeing how it's one of my steps in my n.y. resolution towards nurturing my relationship towards god better); i was so uneasy about checking my grades that i waited til yesterday to check, seeing as today school started. so i decided to fast for ~24 hrs yesterday just to show god this was something i really cared about; no food til 12 AM(i would've done it earlier, but then i'd have to explain to my mom why i was fasting @home). i mean, take a look at verse 21(look at the footnotes); fasting and prayer have always went hand in hand in biblical times, why not?

to have gone so long w/o trying to fast, and then suddenly try it, i was so tempted to snarf down the remains of the breyer's reeses ice cream in the fridge; but then i had to clamp down upon myself and say NO; STICK IT TIL THE END... apparently, i depend more upon food for comfort than i believe; if it weren't for my rediculous metabolism, i might be 180 lbs now... it reminds me of what richard foster said in his book of disciples; what you are made of will come out when you fast(which is why from now on if i want to fast i'll start by foregoing dinner, seeing as it's my biggest meal i eat out of a day; bigger challenge i guess); if you're angry @heart, it'll come out; if you're lazy, it'll come out; me, i guess the temptation to give in or become sleepy(?, but true; felt like taking naps) kicked in... also weird was that near the midday, i didn't feel hungry, but had HEADACHES instead... (i know, i know, after a while of fasting, you don't feel hunger pangs, but that's like after 7 days)... and the point is not to see how tough you are, but what you need help in... that's something i'll have to think about when i try it again... i'm also thinking maybe dinnertime + 24 hr fast(ie something of a 30 hr fast) would be good here, maybe even add another day, to really see what i'm made of.

it's strange, really, i have always hated the anger that is part of me, and yet, somehow, i can use it to motivate myself too. hard to describe, but basically, i'll start internally yelling at myself when i'm tempted(you may wonder why i'm saying this; it's partially how i was able to get myself through the fasting), or slacking.

to close, maybe habitual fasting will help show me back something that i've been missing all along in christianity... it is, after all, pretty hard to stack everything self-operated christianity is upon study, prayer and meditation...

*had a bout of insomnia yesterday, despite knowing that god already took care of me... i think the apt heater was too hot for me; jerm and jon are just too pampered @home... they should live in my house... then they wouldn't even want to turn ON the heater; not that i like my stingy-mom's attitude towards saving money either...*

*denjin hadoken rocks btw, and all the good players @the mu playing 3rd strike are top tier whores... sad; all i see is chun-li and ken... mostly ken...*

*i'm thinking of getting the mark tremonti power wah... in the future... distant future...*

*ROFL! watch the vid!*

and to think i used to believe god would only perform miracles if you were on a deathbed or your SPIRITUAL health depended upon it...

because of god's never-ending grace and mercy, i am still a student at uc davis, not kicked out or dismissed; my status is now "good standing."

there's too many bible verses and lessons that i picked up on grace and mercy and using prayer to petition to god, that i read up and tried to apply to my prayer during the 2-3 weeks that i was on winter break, just asking god to give me another chance...

so i'm gonna have to write them down upon a .doc file sometime soon... because what i learned was astounding.

i'd spend too much time to try to explain everything that went on in the last 2 weeks on this blog, when i should be getting some sleep for my nine o clock class, so i'll end with the very first lesson i picked up:

"there is nothing we can do to earn god's grace... there is everything we can do in a lifetime to show him that we're thankful"

thank you, thank you, thank you, god... you won't be regretful you gave me another chance at davis...

new year's resolutions for 2005:

1) spend more time with god in prayer, fasting and meditation: ~3-5 prayers/day, 1 ~24-48 hr fast/month, 1-2 meditations/day
2) spend more time serving my fellow christian brothers and keeping them accountable
3) work on the study habits ie spend more time @shields library
4) serve others(i'm thinking of joining awana)

now i just need to not fall away...

ESPN.com - NBA - NBA Standings

someone enlighten me... why is detroit NOT 3rd, when they are 17-13, and new york is 16-14, who IS 3rd? different divisions in the conference? explain how that works...

btw, bulls are looking good recently... weird... ahh well... good thing i started wearing my bulls tshirt again...

tis a sad thing for warriors to finally get their win streak snapped

NBA.com: Richardson, Dunleavy Spark Warriors Past Raptors

woohoo! get 5 warriors! get 5!

ESPN.com - NBA - Recap - Pistons at Wizards

i'm glad billups was billups, but if detroit wants to DOMINATE, they have got to start getting rid of those deficits in the 1st half... and they have to win by at least 10 pts.

BibleGateway.com Passage?Lookup: Matthew 15:21-28

i can't believe how inept i was not to discover what is more or less, the meaning of the parable in matthew 15:21-28 for 21 years, until just a few minutes ago...

i'll admit i was always thrown off by the part about jesus talking about not being right to throw bread to the dogs, where the canaanite woman responded that the dogs would eat the crumbs that fell anyways, and jesus responding that she had great faith.

now i understand; that's why jesus had said in verse 24 to the disciples that he was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel; the bread was meant for the children. he had responded to her in a symbolic picture of himself, and the canaanite woman, unlike the jewish crowds who would constantly go "huh?" about his parables, caught on and answered in the same way back.

that brings up a question though; why would jesus commend the woman's answer for being of great faith? does this mean that the dogs eat the crumbs, miniscule as they are, because they believe even the smallest of bread crumbs will fully nourish them? and does THIS show great faith? does it mean that the dogs eat the crumbs, in the hopes that they'll soon receive the FULL piece of bread for eating the crumbs? and THAT's their great act of faith? does it mean that the dogs sit under the table, in the hope that anything reminiscent of a bread, even crumbs, which are considered to be TINY, will come down? and is THAT the great act of faith?

apparently, in the book of matthew, jesus might've mentioned him being the bread that came from heaven, but maybe matthew was not around to hear it; however, he might've alluded to it in this passage. why else would he mention it not being right to take bread and toss it to the dogs?

man, this passage is STILL deep... there's layers of meaning behind verses 26-28... it's gonna be on my mind for a while...

(if i'm not fretting about my future, that is)

bored, but anyways, here's the entire scoop on in n out's secret menu; you'll need to look @both wiki sites to get the full picture... i've known about both sites for a time though.

In-N-Out - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Davis Wiki - In N Out Secret Menu

interesting... i could ask for chopped chiles eh? i could try that once... 2 cheeseburgers, animal style, one w/chopped chiles...

and, considering that they have chiles, it'd be cool to try fries animal style w/chiles once...

root beer float sounds kinda cool, but it's more for showing off your knowledge of the secret menu; it REALLY costs a LOT less to just buy the ingredients @safeway and make it yourself.

and my hands are FREEZING... i'm gonna make a cup of hot water before i go to bed.

sooo... nets led by at largest, 806 pts eh? must suck to have lost :D (btw, i did in no shape or fashion try to alter the picture; just took a screenshot as seen on espn.com; 10:18, dec 27th) 

NBA.com: Pistons Prevail Over Nets

wow... wallace x2, prince, AND "dice" all had 4 blocks apiece. big ben also just cleaned the glass, and prince had a huge all-around night.

yay! warriors have won 2 straight! and not against suckage teams either!

eagles at rams wasn't THAT exciting... TO was out, and andy reid wanted his team to just play injury-free... hence, they were playing w/their secondaries...

As taken from ESPN:

12:20 PM "Shaq is the first Heat player introduced and gets a raucous ovation. He nods to his wife, who's sitting with family and friends across from the Miami bench, and then raises his right arm to salute the audience. Eddie Jones, another ex-Laker, is introduced next, meaning Udonis Haslem is the afternoon's first player to get booed. ('I think it was 89.2 percent cheers,' O'Neal said later, 'and 11.8 percent boos.' Folks were laughing too hard to tell him that adds up to 101 percent.)"

89.2+ 11.8 = ROFLMAO!

R.I.P. Reggie White

yay for warriors for t3h win!

but nay for niners for the embarrassing way they lost...

(might as well be thankful for xmas day nba games... both of them went the way i hoped they would go)

i'm so stressed out at night these days... must be at least 1 hr each night i toss and turn... the future's unknown, possibly dark potential is getting me down... btw i still haven't checked grades...

actually met joe chung on monday at target... that was a surprise.

cupertino library's pretty nice... best thing is probably the huge aquarium they have downstairs. at first i thought they didn't have microsoft office on their cpus like saratoga, but i was wrong.

btw, i think heat's gonna win over lakers... or at least i'm hoping it turns out that way.

i need to mail packages more often; i have no experience doing this stuff; next time i try to mail phil a gift, i need to actually WRAP the gift before going to the post office; i thought they would wrap it at the post office... boy was i wrong... but since i already accidently paid for the postage, and had the guy slap it on before i could say anything, it would've been a waste of 5+ dollars to go back home, wrap it, then come back... it's PRETTY obvious what i'm giving to phil...

----------------------------

there's nothing we can do to earn god's grace... there is everything we can do in a lifetime to show our thanks for it

but then, what is prayer then? it's not "earning god's grace," yet we know that prayer can change lives... so i've gotten weird thoughts about this... yes, the whole point of it is to talk with god, and yet...

what about the issue of selfISH prayer? i know god favors the selfLESS prayer when it comes to others, but what about the selfISH prayer? yet, i've known that he's granted these before, so you can only hope.

but no matter what selfish reason you approach god for a request, there's at least 2 things you're doing right for in this case; 1) you acknowledge that he alone has the power to change things (and your life), and 2) you acknowledge that he alone has the mercy to want to change things to help you. i like to think about hezekiah who was granted 15 extra years to his life, or the leper who approached jesus and said, "jesus, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

and where is the line of FAITH and OVER-CONFIDENCE? where's that lie? james states that when we ask for something from god, we must believe, or it's highly unlikely that we won't get anything. but how do i judge between what is true faith, what is being insecure(as opposed to knowing i have to pray more), and between that and what is overconfident?

then there's the matter of abraham and issac; in this example, we see that abraham desperately held onto the faith that issac would be saved, but ultimately trusted in god more to say, "ok, i'll obey you." however, i don't think all of us when we trust in god, will get our "issac" back, per see.

jesus himself in times of anguish stated that what he should've said was not "father, save me," but "father, glorify your name" of course, what all of us want to say is, "father, save me, SO THAT you can glorify your name." i don't think that'll work that way though.

which makes me all the more perplexed, afraid, and hoping that god will take care of my future, and HOPEFULLY, my plans match his. *deep sigh of distress."

i guess even though i know almost no one reads my blog, i'm still afraid to post my greatest sins on here.

wow, how did miami pull off that amazing comeback vs the patriots? i've never seen tom brady screw up that badly before monday's game, and suddenly, he's got more than 2 INT's in one night! he's overall, the most solid qb... his numbers from up-close to all the way out are very consistent... actually, new england's probably overall the most solid team all-around, and yet, miami refused to die... they made a game of it... unlike the niners... :(

i wonder if pacers had artest and j.o. and stephen, would pistons vs pacers then have been on abc this xmas day? (probably not sez a large part of my brain; no definite superstar for the casual bball fan to bandwagon on = abc's not gonna show it) i really want to watch this over miami vs la... both teams are built correctly from the ground up and play team ball and defense... although part of me says the game's in detroit's favor with a 7-3 chance... no o'neal, no artest, no stephen? oh sure, the crowd'll boo them all they want, and pacers have shown great heart despite them being out, but facts are facts; detroit, if they play well and don't do anything stupid, they got the game in the bag. detroit has had a habit of coming out weak in the 1st half almost every game this season though, so i think that seems to be their crux...

i would think, that for pistons to surpass the team that they used to be last season, darko needs to become better than okur, and delfino and coleman better than williamson... otherwise... they apparently gave up too much depth in the offseason.

i'd post more, but i promised i'd spend more time w/god each day starting after fall quarter ended, so i gotta read some before i hit bed

They never give a break w/the soap opera in LA do they?

you'd THINK it'd be over by now... just when it seems that kobe and shaq have moved on...

then the mailman jumps on...

and the surprising thing is... i think the general public, in a weird way, loves this type of drama... despite the fact that they're ragging on and on... "oh, kobe shouldn't do this, oh karl shouldn't do this..."

did i mention how foggy it's been in davis for the past week or so?

it's so thick up til the late morning, and in the early night, that you swear you could cut it in two with a knife or something, but you can't...

it's almost totally symbolic of our limited ability to see into the future... what you think is there isn't necessarily there... til it's right in front of your face...

funny how we've gotten fog, but not rain... but i like it better this way... better not to know what the future holds, than to be drenched in the present...

3 more days...

dayamn, alter bridge's debut cd IS gold...

i am hooked already... and i'm writing this on the night i opened it and listened to 2-3 of the songs on the way back home...

you don't know what you're missing from rock music til you hear it(and if you think the cd is just noise, then you just don't get rock music); mark tremonti IS talent...

thank you, GGPO, and g'nite...

(btw, spurs just raped on saturday night... damn... i wish i could see highlights... how in the hell did they shoot over 80%? as a team?!?!?)

the beginning of the end has now begun...

it is in times of adversity that you see what type of a person you truly are...

help me to stand strong, god...

let's do dis thang...

IKUZE!

Wow...

i bet bob must be losing sleep tonight... geez, this is like reggie miller on knicks all over again...

maybe it's time i finally consider sonics one of the tops in the west? i thought they'd be all shooting, but apparently, they've found ways to cover their lack of an interior, and their zone defense i hear, is great... sooo... lookout spurs... you got company... at least for now...

what the hell? bulls beat the cavs?

so remember your people
remember your children
remember your promises oh god

your grace is enough
your grace is enough
your grace is enough for me

i'm @the hutchinson cpu lab right now writing up my paper which is due in less than an hr, and...

OH SHIT! it's the invasion of the freshmen whose passtimes are coming up really soon!

edit: it's actually the invasion of the idiot freshmen girls; there were these 2 idiotic girls who had the STUPIDEST reasoning for not taking a class... i'll try to imitate their convo:

girl 1: take asa 1 WITH mEEE!
girl 2: i don't wanna take THIS class! i HATE that building!?!?
girl 2: remember? it's the class we used to take philosophy in!
girl 2: (looks over some more other classes)
girl 2: and HART's so far!?!?! we have to walk so far!
girl 2: (more registration typing)
girl 2: i like THIS class... but i don't WANNA be waitlisted!
girl 1: what's your waitlist number?
girl 2: 1
girl 1: oh *names some other girl*'s taking that class...
girl 1: you'd take it w/her...
girl 2: i don't WANNA do so much reading!
girl 1: c'mon now, we're in bio and chem, we do a lot of reading!

to be fair, i don't remember the conversation that well, but some of the tidbits were pretty memorable... because while both of them were so idiotic, girl 2 was especially annoying with THE... MOST... STUPIDEST reasonings for not taking a class... i seriously wanted to stand up and just go, "WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU!?!?! BITCH, TAKE A CLASS CAUSE YOU LIKE THE SUBJECT, NOT CAUSE THE BUILDING'S TOO FAR, OR YOU HATE THE BUILDING! OH NO, I CAN'T GRADUATE, CAUSE THE CLASS I NEED TO TAKE IS AN EXTRA 5 MIN WALK AWAY!!!! JEEZ..." (and fyi, if you're waitlisted no 1, you're pretty much in...)

(yeah, i got anger issues)

i was supposed to go to bed early, OR stay up late and get a lotta work done... didn't do either... lemme explain... some person started a thread on srk.com in the general discussion forums(where you can post anything not game-related) about how God contradicts himself, blah, blah, blah, etc, etc, etc... the thread is currently on its 22nd page, because the atheists won't believe the christians, and the christians are trying to keep going at it...

i had no idea this thread was up, until last night, so i spent a majority of it just reading what other ppl had to say... because i lurk on the boards, and don't really post, i just read(although i was seriously tempted to post)

i'm not gonna talk about it, cause you can find the thread on your own, but i'll post some reflections about what i think whenever topics like this come up...

-ever since i read The Case For Christ, it's more or less become obvious to me that although the Bible's main goal was not to be used as a tool to convince others that this stuff is real(the story of God's agape love is more or less the main goal), that you could do that... because the Bible IS truth, almost everything within it, when a grain or two of salt is applied, states the truth, and has never contradicted its original messages. so ever since that freshman year, every time i've seen an argument brought up, it's usually taken out of context, or there is some other meaning by going back to the original hebrew or greek text. but as i come back to every single argument, it has more or less strengthened my beliefs, not diminished them.

-a lot of the arguments you hear against christianity are basically things taken out of context. for instance, the person who started the thread(get this), basically said david and johnathan were homosexuals because they kissed each other and loved each other deeply... he was basically pulling quotes right out of the bible and taking them into incorrect context. another is how he states god contradicts himself because he essentially killed many people in the bible... (like sodom and gommorah, etc) when it should be obvious that god is a being of justice, not vengeance.

-i'd like to think that based upon what i am now, i think(given enough time to think), i could stand a *decent* chance of arguing/debating w/an atheist about the validity and context of the bible(in order to reaffirm god's nature), as long as i had bible.gospel.net next to me. however, i sometimes question whether i would be trying to win them over in Christ's love, or for my own selfish pride, so my fellow christians don't look foolish. the point of trying to talk with an atheist is not to, per say, pwn them at their game, but to try to win them over. it's not whether i win and they lose, it's whether THEY win or they lose. this is not a sport; it's an attempt to stop them from inching closer to the cliff. once i turn it into a "ha! you're wrong, you suck!" type of thing, that will put them off, and make it even harder to win them over... even if i am right, and my arguments are sound, if i'm not trying to actually suggest and reflect the same godly love in myself for them, their attitude will most likely be one of hurt pride, and even more unwillingness to concede and just say, "fine, you win, i convert..." i find that whenever i either read arguments here, or take part in them, i'm carrying a competitor mentality, not a mindset of love, not one of "please believe me..." that is a problem i need to change.

-many people who start the arguments have their mindset; they're not open minded about it... so they're not bringing up questions in the hope that maybe they'll find some end-all truth to the answer, they're bringing up the arguments in the hope that you'll fall... that is the truth.

-finally, every time i see something like this, i have to remind myself of the difference between head knowledge and spiritual knowledge. yes, i think i know an awful lot about the bible. but has that reflected upon the way i lived my life? not really; i tend to go about college with a slacker mentality, then don't even spend time w/god each day. how can i, claim to be a christian, when i don't reflect how a christian should live? even devils believe in god's existance. seeing and doing are two complete different things; to be a "true" christian, you need to do both.

ok, that's enough... contemplating for this long hurts my head.

1st time i've had communion @a campus-oriented church... so it appears that college-oriented churches have C & E communions, opposed to the avg church, which tends to have 1/month.

i can't believe how much phil cares for me... it's rediculous... simply christian-like... i should give him a call sometime soon.

heck, i should give god a call soon.

and tell him, thanks for caring for all these times, even when i put you aside.

comcast's been so unreliable for internet the last few days... on and off... on and off... and i hate the fact that they're so overadvertising themselves on tv so much... to be that SOO reliable internet service that everybody wants them to be... sorta like how ea sports/games acts like they're the best gaming company in the world... when it should be blatantly obvious to everybody that they're not...

nice... warriors > pacers tonight...

Good, they punished the guy who threw the cup, and the guy who walked on the court, as well as the person who threw the chair

battle of the defenses this friday(and champions); yes, i like the pistons more, but i can't stress it enough, i like the spurs and the pistons... it will be interesting to see if pistons can hang, especially since their troubling start... they have all their pieces back though, so we'll see... btw, i think pistons' troubling start has overshadowed the fact that mcdyess has more or less, very well meshed w/the pistons... of course, you could argue that meshing only works if it equals more wins...

Rip's blog sez brown ain't gone retire anytime soon

ok, so it's been about a month or two into the nba, here's some reflections of mine:

-i was not surprised that rockets were NOT going to be very good; they gave up too much depth to get t-mac... it also annoys me how a lotta azn friends of mine suddenly jump on the rockets bandwagon... niggaz, plz... maybe in the future, but not now... not w/this crappy depth...

-i wasn't expecting nuggets to got suck dot com(talentwise they should be rolling)... wasn't expecting seattle to be GOOD(considering all they can do is shoot, admittedly very well, but just shoot)... wasn't expecting suns to be GOOD... and cavs look really good as well... buncha other surprises, like pacers holding their own despite their crippling losses...

-what i was NOT expecting though, was that magic were going to be REALLY good, really soon; everybody knew they were willing to sacrifice a few years to get good, since they gave up tmac; but i don't think i personally expected them to be in playoff contention right off the bat. i do like their cast though, much more than rockets; i've always been a francis fan, and it seems their team has a lotta depth now. currently, their strength is best determined by grant hill's ability to recover; in the near future, it'll be determined by how much dwight howard is the kg that he hopes to be...

-washington warriors being good, and depressed about why in the hell we got rid of them in the 1st place... nuff said... it also depresses me how gs wizards got suck, and suddenly, clippers being in playoff contention, AND better than gsw... did st. jean reincarnate into chris mullin?

-i've really admired dwayne wade's attitude towards the game... his selfless offense, his hard commitment to D, and his willingness to go to his strengths. i think he only took 1 three-pointer at one point, but i think i admire this sophomore the most, more than lebron, or melo.

-detroit pistons breaking near even surprised me... there's a couple of reasons for this though; one is that they could've been depressed after that brawl incident, and it's just carried into their attitude towards each night. another is possibly because they gave up too much in the offseason; maybe okur and williamson really help this team a lot more than we give credit for, and the last one, is possibly just cause they're taking games a lot easier... (fakers syndrome)... that said, i never rooted for detroit in the 1st place because i think they're the best... that idea is just stupid, and makes you bandwagon on teams more often than not. i've just always admired the defense that ben wallace and tayshawn prince bring to the floor, and everytime they play, i truly am awed by their effort and selfless actions. of course, that doesn't mean i don't hope they'll get another ring, but just that i won't jump on the spurs 100% because they probably stand the best chance of getting that ring this year IMO.

2 more weeks... to hang strong and not slack.

stop caring about horizontal depth, u scrub...

twenty-one might mean something you're the type who consistently likes to go out and get hammered... but i'm not that type of a person; in fact, i can safely say, that i have yet to even get drunk. i'm basically too busy to try to catch up with everything that i'm supposed to do, that i have no time to get hammered. because then i'd spend even more time trying to catch up.

i don't even make enough salmon steaks marinated w/miso to warrant that special privilege now... and if anybody younger than me goes up to me asking for me to buy alcohol for them, i might raise an eyebrow...

i also don't play texas hold em or blackjack, so you know where i'm going w/this...

so while i'm not exactly depressed about who i am now, it's not that i'm exactly leaping for joy either.

nevertheless, having made it this far on earth without getting shot or knifed, etc, or any other worse thing, is a blessing... so i'll thank god for that. i do have a lot to be thankful for, so rather than ponder about what useless garbage privileges i picked up today, i'll just reminisce on everything given to me, and be thankful for it all.

and i wonder, has joe stopped caring about his "punks'" b-days? no shoutouts now... wait, i know, socal has corrupted him... knew it... bastard...

ok, i know you can't see it too well(due to the blackness of the pot bottom), but that was my 1st try @hong sau neo ruo mein... tasted pretty good... well, i didn't cook the beef, i just reheated it... it was already pot-roasted, thanks to mom... but everything else i did... had no sesame oil though, so i had to use olive oil instead... and no bok choy, so spinach instead... but it's great... that was a pic of the leftovers, since i couldn't finish it...  

Who the hell cares? My thoughts exactly

Man, bay area fball and bball are t3h sUx...

Good thing sports aren't the only hobbies i'm into...

so far, this thanksgiving break has reminded me so much why i like this holiday 10x over christmas... nevermind the fact that xmas' significance totally owns thanksgiving flat up(jesus himself matters tenfold over whether some pilgrims managed to make it safely to america)... the attitude around thanksgiving, minus the gluttony is a hundred times more genuine... the commercialism of xmas has totally ruined its true value... not entirely, but it's pretty close.

i just wished i didn't have any hw to do over thanksgiving break...

i dunno if it's the fact that we were playing flag football, not tackle, but jerm is very easy to keep away from the qb... me, clement, and calvin had too much fun keeping jerm from getting close to mike. it was funny too.

to close, count your blessings this break; i don't care how many downfalls you've had this year, i don't think they'll compare to the blessings you've gotten from God...

http://worstlookingsiteever.tripod.com/3spowercombos.html

tayshawn prince, IMO, has the potential to become something of a taller, slower manu ginobili... hell, he already penetrates more than he spots-up shoots :D and if he does, it's usually as a 3 ball. and let's not get started on his d... (btw i still like both players on both teams, respectively... they're both fun to watch)

shortshort xx shinshoryuken flat up owns jerm... hell, anything in 3rd strike i shortshortsuper flat-up owns jerm

read the sports guy's comments(@espn.com of course) on artest punching the wrong guy... apparently, the identity of the guy who threw the beer was a fat, bald-ass idiot.(somebody plz find this guy)... that, and the guy who threw the chair; both should be punished heavily.

see you guys around in about 2-3 days... R U ready for sum 733T @$$ fb@11?!?!!??

aside from ron artest's insanely long punishment(i thought it should have been just SLIGHTLY larger than stephen jackson's, unless you can make a case to me that instigating the thing deserves a total season ban), i think david stern pretty much got it right. ben wallace seems a bit unfair, but then you do have to remember that he didn't do anything that huge... i don't think he was trying to get the crowd to start throwing stuff at artest(would you be mad if your team was down 15+, the game was pretty much over, and one of the better guys on the other team fouled you HARD when you went to the basket? yea prob), and it did seem like things were starting to cool down a bit before that idiot threw a cup full of beer @artest... if anyone's to blame, it's both the guy who threw the beer, and artest.

of course, pacer fans probably feel this is quite unfair, seeing how their pacers more or less lost playoff hopes in one night... look on the bright side though folks... it's like a replay of david robinson being injured, leading to them acquiring tim duncan... wouldn't be surprised if something similar happened to indiana.

the only thing besides adjusting the punishment on artest... the fans @detroit should be equally punished... ESPECIALLY that guy who started it all by throwing the beer cup... if that happens, then it'll be fair. if anything at all, find who originally threw that cup, and make him(or her?) take the majority of the blame.

ps controller sux... seriously...

level of proficiency for my most used 3rd strike chars:
1- chun-li, ken
2- ryu, akuma
3- yun
4- sean
5- dudley

once we get a joystick, hugo's going on that list somewhere... but for now, i'm going to try for yang and q... urien maybe in the near future...