oh big yay, kevin garnett's in boston now! (i bet tim ang's pretty happy himself) i'll most def be looking forward to that pierce-garnett combo. plus, you add the fact that both players have gone through much; expect them to make some noise next season, just because they know the clock's ticking. oh yea; forgot; it was an allen-pierce-garnett trio. this is going to be interesting.

(and i esp bet most boston natives are ridiculously happy that basketball is suddenly relevant again)

that now means i have one more eastern conference team that i used to like, but now will like a lot more.

edit:

i bet there's a lotta ppl in lakerland real disappointed by the news. not do they not get garnett, but he's going to their formal rivals. and that could mean that kobe might want to get out of la even more, IF he's thinking about it. bet you gonna see lakers go after j'o real hard now?

oh yea; guess that kills the point of this site.

scientists discover gene for left-handedness

does this mean i'm going to go crazy? or that 5 people in my cg total will go crazy when they are old? (sarcasm)

reminded me of a joke some girl told to me in high school:

-richard, are you a maniac in a cage?
~no.
-we're all loose! we're all loose!

rip bill walsh...

College Saga

still cracks me up. the song they sing while mark leung's sliding around on the ground is gold.

(makes me wonder if the dudes of my class at msm have seen this one, esp eugene and david)

---

fyi, the fender vg would be one of the coolest guitars i've currently seen around if not for a couple of things:

1)more tunings need to be available, and/or amp settings
2)battery life could be a bit longer or ac/dc would be nice
3)price is way, way too high(at that price i'm wishing it was a les paul or gibson or something like that; $1000+ for a fender?!?)

if you've seen it you'll know what i'm talking about; very unique electric guitar; expect more to come that improve upon the idea. and if you don't, and don't feel compelled to search for yourself, wait for it, because i'll post up some links later in the week or so, and describe it. (as well as describe another electric guitar's design that cracks me up)

---

some dude was playing 16th notes on the bass drum at guitar center yesterday when i went.

my hands still ache from playing the conga.

---

edit1:

i had my first phone interview. usually the job interviews are in person right? totally unprepared on this one, as i expected the employer at the end of the conversation to set up a time for me to come in. he didn't ask a lot of questions, just explained shortly what it was, and asked me some stuff. i'm still hoping that it goes through. being able to work on the stanford university campus would be real nice. with microarrays too.

overheard my mom yesterday talking on the phone to possibly john tang's mom(or it could've been karen chiu's mom; my mom's close friends with both), and actually started talking about me playing drums...

(...i think it's a good idea for him; maybe it'll improve his hand-eye-leg coordination...)

(...no, i don't want to get him a set; i don't want the neighbors to sue us, and i don't want to go deaf...)

reedit: added comparisons for 6 through 8

the july/august issue of hoop magazine lists the most unstoppable duos currently in the nba as:

1) tony parker/tim duncan(compared them to bob cousy/bill russell)
2) steve nash/amare stoudamire(compared them to john stockton/karl malone)
3) chauncey billups/rip hamilton(compared them to isaiah thomas/joe dumars)
4) josh howard/dirk nowitski(compared them to larry bird/kevin mchale)
5) dwyane wade/shaq(compared them to magic johnson/kareem abdul jabbar)
6) allen iverson/carmelo anthony(walt frazier/earl monroe)
7) tracy macgrady/yao ming(julius erving/moses malone)
8) deron williams/carlos boozer(gary payton/shawn kemp)

i still don't remember the exact order of everything past number 4, but i'm fairly sure that's the order.

of course, they listed the most unstoppable duo of all time as john stockton and karl malone.

---

how do you cure boredom without throwing money at the problem?

new details on pat tillman's death

---

i was going to list a bunch of links to cnn.com, but then decided against it. there's just too many. i will say this. for some reason, the latest news today, almost entirely, is just really screwed up. they're all really small news reports, but still weird. go and check it out for yourself; included stories such as:

-2 news helicopters collide filming a high speed chase
-nasa allowing drunk astronauts to fly space shuttle
-something about hilary clinton and cleavage
-$28K taken from collection plates(gj roman catholics and new jersey!)
-public school halting muslim prayer time
-aquafina admits their water is tap water
-nicole richie sentenced to 90 days in jail(what is up with women in the spotlight these days? lindsey lohan? britney spears? are they trying to outdo each other?)

news articles on cnn:

couple loses 580 pounds combined

1 south korean hostage killed; 22 remain

strangely enough, both articles are slightly tied to Christianity.

---

beyonce meets stairs

some "best of" conan o'brian

lol... they say prostitution is a victim-less crime...

more conan

lol at jennifer garner... and mother teresa trashing the room...

ok, it's been a long time since i've said something spiritual on this website. part of that is because i don't have internet at home(legally), so all the profound thinking is done AWAY from the saratoga library cpu. and that means a lot of text written.

but there was something short that i thought to myself about this sunday. and that was, why was it so much easier to convince nonbelievers back then? standing in front of a crowd and preaching the word seemed to work so well in the book of The Acts of the Apostles. so why doesn't it work today?

and then i thought about 2nd Timothy 2:13, which stated:

"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."

in other words, there's more layers to crack. all that so-called knowledge of this world has "puffeth up" this generation.

those of you who liked fresh prince might love this video

rock on, alfonso. this is way too hilarious.

don't they call it "the worm" now though?

c'mon tayshaun, i know you can lock down kobe... LOL.

---

anyways, i seriously can't wait for the nfl season to start.

david sirlin puts his book "playing to win" online for free(at the moment)

good, good, stuff...

transformers rocked, and i am glad i saw it in theaters at the cupertino square with brian. i don't usually go out to watch movies in theaters unless i think it's really worth it.

---

my right arm got so tense yesterday after practicing the drums. too many upbeat songs + too much emphasis upon the right hand for fills = X_X

maybe i should learn to also lead with my left arm like ringo starr. or play 1/4 notes now more often.

pearl jam - alive

good grudge rock... i like this live sound better than the same song on their "ten" album. the solo's not the same though, which is a shame. my bro could play the lead guitar part of that entire song easily.

i must say, this must be the funniest thread i've read in srk.com for a long, long, time.

hehehehehe

this game's too funny.

playing the drums feels a lot like playing the rhythm guitar; your right wrist is the hand counting the tempo, hence the wrist getting tired. only difference is, there is no upstroke, so you can only count with the downstroke. so in analogy to the rhythm guitar, you feel like you're playing punk music, ykno, power chords, palm muted downstrokes all the time.

---

concerning comics, i find i've been reading a lot more "get fuzzy" lately, hence the new link on the side. and i've added tmnt to the mix as well.

i never understood why i used to like "garfield" so much as a kid; come to think of it it's not really funny. i loved how "pearls before swine" gave like a sharp dig at garfield in one of the comic books(think it was nighthogs), where rat threatens the author by saying if his demands aren't met, he's going to read more and more lines from garfield. cracked me up.

one more entry for today.

fighting game players are an odd bunch, especially the tourney types, but the low down is that they're a LOT different from the japanese anime types. one of the big differences is that the former actually DON'T cosplay. often. yes, i know, you're shocked. but it's true.

but i came across this on the srk.com boards yesterday and i'd thought i'd share it. i downloaded the original file, but here's a youtube video of the same thing:
guy shows up to small japanese sfa2 tournament wearing a spiderman costume

anyways, i don't read japanese, so here's what a dedicated guy named "nohoho" on the boards translated(try reading it as you're watching):

"Mikado
3rd Zero 2 Tourney
2007.8
Nazo no Otoko [Mystery Man] Appears!!!

Mystery Man Signing Up for the Tournament

MM: What should I do here?

Staff: Please write your name and your character selection.
MM: Well, my name would be awkward...
Staff: You can use a nickname instead of your real name.
MM: Ah, is that right, I got it.

Mystery Man running recon on the players.

0:33 - Mystery Man checks his next opponent.

MM: When am I up?
Staff: Umm, you're over here.
MM: (Kita, the 2nd place finisher from last time, huh...)
MM: (No problemo.)

0:50 At last, Mystery Man's first match.

MM: (I'm using my sweet Sakura-chan.)

1:31 - (I got the throw! Lucky!)

2:03 - Gotcha!

2:09 - Mystery Man safely makes it past the 1st round.

2:12 (That's what I'm talking about. No sweat.)
Staff: Could I get a word?
MM: I'm taking the next one, too.

2:25 Mystery Man checks his next opponent.
MM: (Who's my next opponent?)
MM: Gak, the winner from last time, Ojiki*, huh?
[* - AKA Komoda Blanka!]
MM: Can't this bracket be changed?
Staff: Ha? (What's with this dude?)
Staff: No way.

2:39
MM: (Piece of shit refused my handshake.)
(No way I'm losing.)
2:45[can't read this one]

3:23 - That's weird.
I didn't do that -- stupid joystick.

3:36 - Ack!

4:09 - What? That's cheap!
F**************K!

4:14 - Mystery Man Loses
MM: What's up with this **** game?
MM: Quit filming me!

MM: [uh]
MM: God dammit!

MM: Oops! My precious glove!

Having not learned his lesson, the Mystery Man -- true identity unknown -- may surface again..."

[strangely enough, while street fighter alpha 2(street fighter zero 2 in japan) is one of the better street fighter games in terms of gameplay, it's not played a lot compared to other fighting games in japan. it's a lot like mvc2; an american game.]

i told a couple of the others, like norman, sarah and justin about this on sunday

bathing in ramen soup can't be good for your body. i mean, people bathe in weird stuff all the time(why do i keep thinking somebody's bathed in chocolate pudding in their home bathtub before?), but the high sodium content of the broth is akin to swimming in the ocean(like getting shriveled up?). except now you're also getting marinated with soy sauce and beef broth. and miso. they might as well throw in some eggs, romaine lettuce, carrots, garnish with chopped green onions and make it a meal. and chopped seaweed.

mmm... cannibalistic ramen... (starts drooling like homer, glazed eyes, tongue out side, spasming).

so if they do this for a jacuzzi, where's the vid of the guy lap swimming in a pool of coke slurpee on a summer's day?

i'd say how messed up this is, but then again, look at the japanese english learning program i posted yesterday.

o_0

that was a japanese TEXTBOOK?!??!?!?

no wonder japanese anime can be so er perverted sometimes.

i never realized how much easier it was for me to jog when i'm chewing gum.

maybe it's just cause i don't open my mouth at all when i'm eating/chewing, and so i ended up breathing through my nose the entire time, taking away the usual feeling of windiness from my throat.

ninja edit.

anyways, i should've added that i compared apples to oranges slightly in comparing prices of cartoons/anime. the reason is that japan seems to be huge on toys and stuff, especially related to electronics. for instance their arcade scene is still kicking, unlike the atrocity that occurs in the us. but the price of playing is a lot higher. here, most games are 50 cents for 1 credit, and maybe if you're lucky, 25 cents to continue. in japan, one credit is 100 yen. or basically, if the us operated arcades like this, essentially 1 dollar(relatively). although, their arcades are a lot more clean-cut and organized, and they always fix their arcade sticks if broken. but i guess the comparisons still apply a bit.

but i guess this is what happens when japan really wants to make itself this clean-cut high tech country.

---

girl lead guitarist playing santana

see? lead guitarists who happen to be female and look good exist! now i just need to find a video of some female sprinting around the fretboard to some hard rock or j-rock.

mad, mad, tired today...

i awoke suddenly at 5:00 or so this morning and couldn't go back to sleep, tossed and turned repeatedly. i think i was still a bit in my dreamy state because i remember awaking and thinking/seeing a huge spider(think tarantula size) was perched on my ceiling while holding a venetian blind. then i remembered huge spiders like that don't have the mass to hang on the ceiling and covered my face with my arms, fearing it'd drop on me.

from there i just couldn't really sink back into a deep sleep. after a while i saw it was getting light and the birds wouldn't stop chirping. looked at my watch to see it was 6:30. so then i just said whatever, and got up. so even though i had like 3-4 extra hours today, i'm beginning to feel tired real quick. but i guess it might help, since i might be serving on the worship team this sunday. i haven't gotten up early in a long time. then brian calls me at 12:00 to tell me he doesn't feel like seeing transformers today as well, giving me even more time to blow today; bad thing is, i'm starting to get like i said, tired, and it's still 2:00. i think i'll just look at some potential jobs, revise my resume, then go to church around 4:00 and play some(haven't played with music for a long time, and when i tried yesterday, i felt REALLY OFF). then call it a day. maybe finish the robocop dvd i bought tonight.

i seriously get so many dreams now. like one every single night. i'd write them down, but the thing is unlike when i'm wide awake, i don't remember everything; my remembrance of dreams seem like a trail of smoke released from an airborne plane; it stays neat right when it comes out, but over time begins to tail away; my earlier moments of my dreams i can barely remember.

---

you might want to check this out if you're a video game freak of any type

david sirlin is a legend btw; he's one of the first to essentially tell those playing sf competitively to stop whining(especially about throws and block damage) and start figuring out how to play. i haven't taken a listen at the session yet, but i downloaded it to my usb drive today and will give it a listen tonight.

---

i'm thinking back to what either hamlin or bob said about japan's economy not doing so well because asians are so picky about spending. on tuesday. that may explain why everything from japan's so expensive.

for instance, i love watching cartoons. usually tend to like the american types more than the asian ones, but i'm ok with those too. i'm a huge futurama fan. i did buy 3 out of the 4 boxsets at best buy, but they were on sale at 20.00 each(should've bought the 4th too; ah well; some other day). but even if i didn't buy them on sale, they would've been 33 dollars for about 19 episodes per boxset. you could argue futurama's old right now, which meant i might've gotten it a lot cheaper, but even if i got it when it was fresh out of the productions it might've been 40 dollars for a boxset at most.

now compare that to one of japan's most popular anime's right now: the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya. a few weeks ago i was able to watch all 14 episodes on youtube by the contribution of some generous posters. (tried looking for it again a few days ago, and one of the contributor's uploads were all gone due to use violation). i felt it was kinda cool, so i thought maybe in the future i'll go to fry's or amazon.com and buy the season's worth. but i decided to check to see what the price was as of right now, etc.

22 dollars for one boxset. not bad, until i saw how many episodes were on that dvd: four(remember they had 14 episodes this season, and if they continue it, it's most likely going to have more). that's it. and if you want to get the special edition boxset, oh no, that doesn't add to the number of episodes, just the amount of junk you get; cosplay ribbons, music cds, t-shirt iron-on, pencil box, etc. 44 dollars for that.

and it's not just this show. it explains why sometimes when i'm at the library and look at the dvds available, sometimes i'll see naruto dvds, but they too only have 4 episodes per dvd. japan apparently really likes doing stuff expensively, because everybody there doesn't spend freely.

again, it's not a case of the pharisee thanking God that he's not the tax collector(or the publican, if you read the kjv), it's just a sense of it's cool that others like buying so much stuff here in the usa, so that prices are low all-around.

and with that, happy spending.

super nintendo chalmers

i wish i was this happy about mundane events

interesting corollary...

i start studying the bible again, and just when i do, i start waking up late again!

not that i was getting up early to begin with, but my 9:00 turns into 11:00.

i think Satan's up to something...

i re-heard this song on sunday afternoon driving to terman park. good stuff. i wonder how many more classic rock tunes i've heard, but not jotted down the lyrics so i could search the song title later.

boston - foreplay/first time

i'm running around amazon.com deciding what item i could tag alongside the GRE biochem book so that i get the free shipping(the book came up 1 dollar short), wondering that half of the things i looked up aren't worth tagging along(except maybe the daughtry cd which is 11) and i came across this(can't buy it yet):

commando: director's cut

for such a simple to play song, lifehouse's first time is stuck in my head. honestly i just like the fill the drummer does during the chorus.

video

this is also the theme song for the next dodge car commercial, if you're seen it.

they put a fast montage of various activities alongside various dodge cars on top of the chorus part. and then end with the words "grab life" with a color scheme of white on black. kinda cool, except it really has nothing to do with cars.

y'kno what? i'm starting to realize how much it really sucks to feel like you can only hear out of one ear. of all the things i've taken for granted... having a pair of equally workable ears... never thought about it.

but given my circumstances, and seeing what ruth in the community group has gone through, i feel as if i have no right to complain. again, for the moment, i can hear perfectly well out of my right ear, and it's not that my left ear's tone deaf; it's just that everything sounds so much louder in my right ear.

i do wonder though if that means i'm not allowed to ask in prayer. is "acceptance of circumstances" the equivalent of "lack of faith?" certainly not. and yet...

that being said, hindsight is 50/50; i'm not ever going to lap swim without swimming earplugs ever again. i've done it in the past, but i never got swimmer's ear(or earwax after swimming) to this degree, so never again.

EVER.

(swimming otherwise felt good; my arms ached though from not doing it for a long time; guess swimming really did build up my arm strength in jr high after all; i was no buff, but i guess ppls are right when they say swimming is a form of low-impact weight training; ahh, how much i miss swimming. when swimming, i forgot to turn on the jacuzzi though, so it just felt like REALLY hot water LOL)

---

(4th of july bbq was fun outside of that incident; when nearly everybody else but me and bill left, i asked john tang if i could give a go at his electronic drumset; it's real nice, and i even passed on some pointers to bill[time flies; if you told me i'd be teaching somebody else to play drums earlier this year i would've LMAO]; my only real regret was not getting to try the ribs during lun-ner; seems they ran out real quick)

this has to be one of the funniest short videos i've seen on youtube in a LONG, LONG, TIME.

just watch

buy a B-O-OKKKKKKAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!

LMAO!

1380 Pear Avenue
Mountain View CA, 94043

any simpsons fan living in the bay area MUST mark this address down and go to it when you have the time sometime this week. this is one of the few 7-11 stores which will be fully changed into the fabled "kwik-e-mart" of simpsons lore.

be sure to bring a digital camera and get your photo taken with the store sign in the background while you're at it.

i don't get why everytime i finally finish a japanese anime or some variant of it, i feel basically melancholy(yes, this is a pun, considering i just finished a series with the word "Melancholy" in the title; keep forgetting the exact title), down, slightly bummed. i don't even know why; often times the final episode isn't supposed to be necessarily saddening. i also think i got the same type of feeling whenever i finished the n64 game "zelda: ocarina in time."

it's not the same feeling compared to when i finish some american cartoon, like say, futurama, justice league unlimited, batman beyond, etc. it's not that i'm grinning ear to ear(although with futurama, that's usually a good bet), it's just that i don't get that saddening feeling.

those japanese people must be stuffing subliminal messages in their animes that i'm just not picking up. making it equivalent to alcohol you cleaned out of your fridge; you feel great til the buzz's over; you then feel terrible, and want more to get rid of the feeling, but there is none left. you gotta wait for the brewery to cook up and ferment a new batch, and who knows how long that'll take?

fyi, i AM feeling kinda down right now.

---

i wish i would get calluses on my feet and tanned skin on my chest the way i used to get calluses on my fingers. whenever i got calluses on my fingers playing guitar, they stayed there. but when i get calluses on my feet, the skin falls off eventually, leaving skin that is unused to pressure all over again, bringing on a new wave of pain once i hit the basketball court again. the same with getting a tan-er, sunburn. my darkened skin never stays there; always falls off.

---

new drumming goal: work on 16th notes on bass drum.

---

i got the weirdest idea last night, and that is, i would try to become as proficient as possible writing with... my RIGHT hand.

i don't despise my left-handedness. i just think that with so many of my favorite activities favoring right-handed orientation(electric guitar, drums, cpu+mouse setup, playing arcade games, basketball) that i figure it might be cool to do it. ambidexterity is never a bad thing. i could say i can't write with my right hand cleanly and quickly, but i never truly put in a large amount of time practicing it. i'm sure if i did, it could look relatively neat.

i also want to try eating primarily with my right hand whenever i'm eating with a fork or spoon.

the goal hence is to make sure that no one sans those who really know me will be able to figure out i'm left-handed, unless i'm eating with chopsticks.

In preparation for US Basketball, I’d thought I’d take a look through youtube and post at least one mix of almost every incoming US player that was introduced this year.

Did I mention I REALLY like this team this year? A LOT more than last year. There’s a LOT more role players as opposed to superstars. It also works out great, b/c Deron’s a Jazz teammate of Carlos, and Prince played high school ball with Chandler. Not to mention Billups is gonna be there, And while I hate to say it, you have Kobe to bail everybody out this year in case nobody can make a shot.

Now, to be fair, these are just the guys trying out this summer. But it’s still an impressive list of players; more guys that fit in more than superstars.

Kevin Durant

Greg Oden

Mike Miller

Deron Williams

Carlos Boozer

Jason Kidd

Tyson Chandler

and last, but not least…

Tayshaun Prince
(this is maybe the only tayshaun prince mix featuring him going for the under-the-legs dunk during the rookie-soph game; I believe he was a soph in this one)

i get the weirdest dreams sometimes... and then i spend the entire morning half-effortly pondering whether it was significant, or just a dream.

it's like things you weren't even really thinking about at all the last night, stuff that maybe was on the cusp of your thoughts a week ago, come back in your dreams.

and sometimes i ponder writing them down(to date, not one yet, though i have jotted down descriptions by short words just in case i want to), but not yet.

i want to comment on the dream i had last night, but it's too weird, and you might even think i'm perverted when i'm done.

half of my dreams, i feel like i have no control over what i do, or what happens; i'm just along for the ride. in dreams, your mind is a bit more suggestible to what to do; that's why hypnosis works.

---

i notice how interesting the chicago bull fanbase is on having kobe. it's actually divided up the city a bit; if this was the detroit piston fanbase, they would've been wholehearted no on kobe. but this is home to mj's stomping grounds, so that opens it up a bit more, confounded by the fact that this team is the closest sibling to motown's pistons. you've got the side which thinks that the east is so weak, paxson would be DUMB not to get kobe, no matter what the cost. then you have the other side which thinks a lot like detroit(though, they'd swear up and down they aren't; God forbid they act like their hated rivals), that they don't need to give up an entire team to get him.

my take is this: i LOVE this bulls team(so yes, i side with those who oppose the kobe trade). maybe it's the 2004 pistons stuff running through my brain that makes me think this way(and oppose having kobe in a bulls uni), but it's true. they probably can't win the entire thing with this lineup. but they are 1 major piece away from being able to win it all. of course, any trade for a good offensive player(like a zach randolph) means you're going to give up something, usually 2-3 players, maybe a pick. but you don't need the best clutch player to do that; if you go for somebody a little less offensively good(compared to kobe), you'd be able to give up a lot less. look at what happened when dumars went after rasheed in 2004. they gave up very little, and in FACT, got lindsey hunter back too(although that was just an AMAZING deal dumars made). and they were still stacked enough to win it all.

MAYBE, if luol deng and nocioni gets really good(ie learn some back-to-basket moves), they might be able to do it, no additional trades or drafts(still hoping this is the case). but that takes time, and you KNOW how sports fanbases always want their "steaks" now, heh.

man kills 300 lb bear with thrown log

62 yr old man chokes to death rabid bobcat

my goodness, both these men are beasts; they deserve keys to their respective cities that they live in.
(salutes)

japanese still in denial about nanking

the korean hot sauce i keep putting on the roasted beef tendons my mom cooked, for lunch, well, reminds me a lot of pepperoni.

i just had no idea that hot sauce smelled and tasted like it(the spiciness aside).

all i knew was that it smelled and tasted like something familiar.

but i finally figured it out today.

---

you find the weirdest things when you let your mind wander on wikipedia:

the 1st friday of every june is national doughnut day

The Midrange Game

I spent a Sunday night jotting down a couple of my thoughts on this. I got inspired after reading a small article in HOOP magazine about the midrange game, and how it’s lost from the NBA. Sam Cassell was interviewed by TNT, and did a decent job, but I thought he didn’t really cover it well. Anyways, some of the ideas from various points I talk about blend together.

Why It is Gone

1. Due to the fact that the NBA has tried to constantly market its game towards the fans, offense has been encouraged by the hindrances on defense. In the past NBA, you could drive into the teeth of the defense in the paint and not one single peep would come out of any ref’s whistles. This after banging into 2-3 guys bigger than you are before that poor excuse of a layup was punched back where it came from. Nowadays you just drive, fake being hit and flail your arms, and you’ll go to the free throw line for 2. And don’t forget about the 3 seconds in the lane rule either, forcing big men to stay out of the paint until somebody comes in with a layup, which only makes it easier to get a blocking foul, since their feet won’t be planted firm. The result is that porous paint defense is encouraged, which means that layups are encouraged over jumpers; ie shots where person is leaning towards the basket and possibly draw contact

2. To build upon the argument in point #1, the porous defense has led to the game leaning less and less towards the quality of the shot compared to what the refs will give you. If the refs were less likely to blow their whistles back then, that meant you had to stop trying to get calls, and start trying to knock down shots. That all goes out of the window when whistle blowing’s up. Why should I ever attempt to concentrate upon making a quality jumper by being quicker to a spot than the defense AND elevating up(with proper arm positioning to shoot the ball, of course) before the help comes, when the 3 second rule encourages big men to be outside the paint, meaning they’ll be closer to me to block my jumper? When in comparison, I can just drive into the lane, jump into them and flail, knowing I’ll either get 2 points, or end up on the free throw line, getting my 2 regardless.

3. On the converse side, ppl prefer 3 point shots over jumpers because: 3 point shots are further away, and players are told NEVER to foul a jump shooter, esp a 3-pt shooter. What that means is that worst, most players will just stick their arms straight up and get right up on you if they know you’ll shoot a 3; rarely will they leave their feet for a shot block. So, if you drive, the defense converges and you kick, usually you’ll have a pretty good chance for 3 points.

4. Going again on the porous paint defense background, you see an emphasis on trying to get maximum points on each possession; either go for a 3, or get a bucket and the foul. Or at least get 2 free throws and put their bigs in trouble.

5. There’s a lot of difficulty involved in playing the midrange game correctly; assuming you are going to make a diet living outside of the paint, inside the 3 pt line, it involves a lot of quick sudden movement with your feet while dribbling to get separation from your man, does not get contact as you’re shooting the ball since you’re not leaning forward, does not give you an opportunity to get 3 points unless your opponent just gets a brain cramp and tries to grab your arm as you’re blowing by him, and most likely will be contested all the way through(once you beat your man, you better run hard to a closer spot and get the shot off before the help can arrive, raise up and get the ball). HOOP magazine summed up the concept and difficulty of the shot by saying you needed to drive into the teeth of the defense, plant hard, elevate and get the shot off before the help arrives, and this right after beating your own man.

6. Just because a shot is taken inside the 3 pt area does not equal a midrange game. I think this is sketchy, but true. And I’ll go into that in the next section. But essentially, it’s combining the strengths of a layup(closer shot) with the strengths of a 3 point shot(shot blockers shouldn’t be able to get to the ball). And if you decide NOT to get as close to the paint before pulling up for a shot(that is, as close as possible without risk of the shot blocked), you neglect half of the strengths of the midrange game; might as well go in even further and try to get fouled, or take a step back and nail a 3. In the same vein, if you’re trying fadeaways close to the 3 point line, but inside, you’re not really using a midrange game.

Why It Should Not be Ignored
1. Shots taken closer to the basket = higher percentage. A midrange jumper has a higher chance of going in than a 3; there’s less energy needed to jump upward, the basket is closer, meaning your arms don’t have to push as hard(which means you don’t necessarily need a full windup compared to a 3 point shot to get off a jumper, shaving off precious time needed to get that shot off before a shot blocker comes over in time). In essence you have some of the advantages of the layup.

2. But in combination with strength #1, it has some of the strengths of a 3 point shot; the shots are taken out of reach of shot blockers, meaning there’s less chance of being rejected. The way I see it, a midrange jumper will beat his man, drive as close as possible, but then pull up and get the shot off before the help arrives.

3. Given the sudden change of directions(sideways, then suddenly upward), hard to guard. You might not even need to beat your man completely to get a good quality midrange shot. Remember that you’re trying to go hard sideways, and then coming to a complete stop and changing direction to go straight up. Baring any case of ESP, that’s hard for any defender to go against; they can force you to take a bad shot, but it’ll be very hard for them to cleanly block your shot. I also forgot to add, trying to come to a standstill from going sideways hard and then going straight up causes your leg muscles to jump really hard, making it easier to get a jumpshot from max jump height(or close to it).

Ways to Implement
1.Get close to the basket; you can do this by either driving or posting up and backing your man down(and then driving; the midrange game can also encompass the post up game if you have to keep your opponent honest, thinking about you driving out of the post up at any time). Remember though, the key is to make sure to get as close as possible without getting the help to commit ON TIME; it’s ok if you get them to come to you, but keep an idea in your head of how long it’d take them to get to you and cleanly block the shot, and then stop and pull up before that time elapses.

2. Plant hard, square up and face the basket(so that you can aim the ball properly); if you are driving into the paint, pivot to face the basket, crossover to stop momentum, or step back. The 1st method is probably the most useful, the 2nd most flashy if you love driving really hard. Try not to use the 3rd too much; you give up valuable distance. Start to crouch AS you're doing this step, not afterward; it will help you to gain jump height without wasting valuable time.

3. Go straight up with the ball; it should be unnecessary to fadeaway if the process was done right.

Specific examples
While the ways to beat your man or give yourself some space in the name of the midrange game are huge, for the creativity-deficient individual here are some ways to get you started:

Shooting off the dribble – This has MJ written all over it(Jordan said himself on the instruction manual for 1 on 1 – Jordan vs Bird[I have this old DOS game] that he’s a better shooter by shooting off the dribble); the idea is to beat your own man, drive as close as possible, plant hard by pivoting to face the basket, then go straight up. If I remember correctly, MJ used this to nail the game winning shot in game 3 of the 1988 ECF over Dennis Rodman and a late coming-over Isaiah Thomas. I love this example of the midrange game, and if you have quick feet, this is really useful, and not too hard. And if you’re trying to drive towards the baseline, instead of towards the paint, like MJ did in the gamewinner, you can try to bank it off the backboard on the very edge without planting your feet like he did, making it even easier.

Crossing over off the dribble to stop – Again this is MJ(his last shot as a Bull should come to mind; don’t try to subliminally push your defender over though; MJ can get away with it, you can’t); it’s similar to shooting off the dribble, except you need to drive really hard, then crossover and stop on a dime, then get off a jumper. It’s great for defenders who can match your top speed at which you drive; usually, your defender will be going so hard in one direction, it’ll be hard to adjust to you coming to a complete stop. You’ll probably need to start out at the 3 point line(so that you can get him to really try to match your top speed before you come to a dead halt), have some really quick feet, and really good control over your crossover dribble from full speed to a standstill(so that you stop on a dime, instead of slipping and falling). Hard to do, but impressive.

Faking a drive, then stepping back – As Sam Cassell showed in the TNT Fundamentals session, what you can do is lean hard forward and stomp the ground hard like you’re going to drive, but then quickly pull your lead foot back to take a jumper. Works great if you casually bring the ball upcourt, cross the 3 point line a bit, then do it. And it really works great if they’re respecting your drive. Sorta like doing a rocker step, but while keeping your dribble alive.

Driving, getting a bump, then stepping back – And again, like Sam Cassell showed, what you can do is drive diagonally towards the basket, bump into the opponent slightly, then step back(the video shows him going left-towards the basket, then stepping back left-away from the basket), creating space. Be careful not to slam full speed into the opponent, or you’ll get a charge.

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end article

("normal" post to come a few days later; i have some videos i want to post up, as well as a video highlighting the incoming players for team usa)

old, but interesting nba article

ditto, for the skyhook

cutting and pasting entries that you write from microsoft word screws your entire entry up. that's why the previous post looks like crap.

I’ll post up the long overdue post I was going to write on the midrange game 1 or 2 days later; it’s pretty long, so I’d thought I’ll give time for this post to get digested first.

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Forgot to mention one of my favorite Futurama lines last time; it’s when Bender’s in a poker casino and he holds the dice up to his eyes to calculate the chances of it landing on a certain number. Then he goes all in and throws the dice; turns up wrong. Then as the carddealer’s filing the chips away, he goes “Wait my cheating unit malfunctioned! I want a do-over!”

Dealer: Sorry, house limit is THREE do-overs.

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So y’kno how I LONG ago thought about updating my mp3 player with mp3s from the KJV?

The idea came because of this fuzzy tv channel that I got while at home when my mom was out bible studying one Friday night and I was bored, just flipping through channels. I got to around 28, and then it was just this background of a scenic nature view as text from the KJV was scrolling upward while somebody was reading it. I know, it sounds boring, but it seemed somewhat neat. And of course, I got the idea that if I could buy some mp3s of somebody doing that, that’d be cool to listen to while driving.

Anyways, I still had no idea what the programmers behind it were; I tried looking up various leads on Google just on channel 28; had nothing else to go by. But finally I stumbled upon this:

http://worldwide.familyradio.org/zusa/english/connect/audio_archive/fbrf/

http://worldwide.familyradio.org/zusa/english/admin/

I find it amazing that it’s all free.

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My bro’s started to drive back to LA yesterday. Michelle and kids tag along in the airplane today I believe. (Nooo, my niece and nephew are going to grow up Laker fans! What type of horrible parent lets their kids grow up loving Kobe Bryant?!? Child negligence I say!)

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7-eleven’s helping promote the new Simpsons movie. I found this out, because, well, the medium sized slurpees? The designs of the cups have been changed so that it’s light green and features the word “Squishee” on it. Oh yeah; on the bottom, “Kwik-E-Mart” has been added. Keeper; yes I saved my container. “Thank you please come again” [/apu] And one more thing; they’re actually going to transform each 7-11 store into a Kwik-E-Mart for the movie’s release date. I suggest you head over to a 7-11 on 7.27 and just see how far they take it.

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Here’s some (mostly) throwback tunes that I love; I intend to eventually buy and download most of these; I have my way of being able to find out the artist and song title of any song I hear on the radio, as long as I pick up some of the lyrics. Most of these are 90s tunes that I’ve rediscovered recently(by hearing them on the radio, and then quickly jotting down some of the lyrics on notepad as my car’s parked). Anyways, here’s the youtube videos:

better than ezra – desperately wanting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93jpMGNdgsA

candlebox – far behind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maOchgZrMqA

I actually had this song(as well as “you”), but wanted to post this regardless. Both of these candlebox songs are awesome. “Far behind” is slightly better IMO.

jimmy eat world – sweetness(live on david letterman)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayzH57Jf6V8

Ok, not really 90s. This song sounds way better when they’re playing it live than the studio version. No, I haven’t attended one of their concerts. I’m just saying they sounded better on snl and on david letterman than they ever did with this song in the studio. The drummer’s drumset looks slightly different.

rush – the spirit of radio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmLg6BjBY4s

phil’s musical influences still running some strong through me (I couldn’t find a video for this song, so I guess this’ll have to do)

stone sour – through glass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIzDsGyxsQM

(honestly I thought this song was a 90s song, almost remember hearing it when I was a kid; so why does it seem like this is a recent addition to music stores?)

the verve pipe – the freshmen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVNAp1C8LIw&mode=related&search=

The dude in the comments who talks about this song being created because the lead singer’s wife had an abortion is so dead on. Gives it a creepy overtone; anyways, this is still a cool song.

the wonders – that thing you do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdn5sKmgKEk

Not a real band, but had to throw this in there. The essential “theme music” to the movie’s too cool. I even tried to learn how to play the basic drum beat the drummer’s playing because of it.

futurama's awesome. been watching the seasons i bought this week for $20.00 each and laughing it up. i think though i'll just buy the last season come my birthday.

the scenes stuck in my head are the robo rooter commercial(they did a play on the theme song's lyrics, which cracked me up) and conan o'brian's guest appearance as a comedian(uh oh! somebody forgot to feed max!)

oh yea, and fry going(after realizing he couldn't make out with a mermaid) "why couldn't she be the other type of the mermaid, with the fish part on the head and the woman part on the body?"

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huh wanted to say something else, but forgot; it'll come later.

(go usa bball!)

sweeeeeeeeeet...

always wanted to own some futurama seasons.

rat in "pearls before swine" is way too cool. cool, as in, he's brutally honest in what he's thinking, and communicates it perfectly in speech.

on some days, in some of my few afternoon hours which i don't job search, and i feel i don't want to make the 15 min drive into mountain view, i go to the barnes and noble at westgate and read their "pearls before swine" comic books.

panel 1:
(rat in an office, interviewing for a job, talking to employer)
employer: what is one of your goals here?
rat: i want to come in as little as possible
panel 2:
employer: is that your final goal?
rat: no, my future goal is to not come in at all
panel 3:
(rat talking to goat)
rat: i didn't get the job
(and i love the subnotes where pastis adds "i think it would be really funny if interviewers told employers what they actually felt.")

then there's another one i remember, and really like:

(rat at bar, talking to pig)
rat: i think in order to understand people more, i'm going to try to see things from the other's point of view. i think i'll start with that guy over there
rat(makes dorky looking face): oooh, to be that rat over there, and not my stupid dumb @$$ sitting over here
rat(back to acting like himself): that wasn't so hard

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which of course, begs a tough question: honest disrespect, or insincere love? is either of the two vindicated? which one is more valuable? (i would believe that honest disrespect is more valuable, since it really is what you feel; in insincere love you never deceive God, rendering your fake love/flattering/etc to whomever you give it to false; now whether the damage done by your disrespect is offset by your brutal honesty is something yet to think about)

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penny arcade strip

shows how complex current gen video games are; not that that's a bad thing.

from 8 pm to midnight this thursday, sonic's giving away a free root beer float...

too bad there's no sonic close nearby; i looked it up, and the closest one's in tracy, ca(48 miles away).

i don't even know why they bother putting up those numerous commercials if there's no restaurants for it.

there was one in woodland, ca, but i never bothered going to it while attending UC Davis. drink sizes looked crappy small.

moral of the story is: always learn to cook your own food. then, you can have as large portions as you want.

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i thought stephan pastis couldn't draw lions. i guess he figured out he could just draw bears with a mane and whiskers. his lions are cooler than the crocodiles though. (we can skip the high five if you want)

drummer and a beat box champion playing off of each other

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guess since transformers is like 1 month away, i should spill more on my thoughts about transformers.

'k, so i followed transformers: robots in disguise for a brief span during my high school days(it was one of those new versions on fox kids that the purists hated). but after watching it for a while, i'd have to say that while optimus prime is obviously the most famous autobot, that wasn't my favorite. it was actually ultra magnus, the brother of optimus prime. mainly because of his attitude and his weapons(had a minigun; that's always awesome) and maybe the only autobot that could fly in the series. oh yeah; he was portrayed as a loner(i seem to like "loner cartoon heroes"; batman, batman beyond, snake eyes, of course, ultra magnus)

here's his profile on wikipedia

he actually appeared VERY late in the series. like close to the end. below's the 1st episode in which he makes an appearance on the program. he almost singlehandedly takes out most of the decepticons which so easily cause trouble for all of the others.

ultra magnus
part 1
part 2
part 3

and another thing is that in the older transformer cartoons, he was seen as simply a follower; took orders from optmus prime, was content with it. in this series, they give him that friction between him and optimus, mainly coming from him. if you kept watching the episodes, you would've seen him slowly tone it down, but never liked taking orders from optimus. here's the followup episode explaining most of it.

forced fusion
part 1
part 2
part 3

which brings me to the last reason why i liked him; after that episode, he and optimus could combine to form omega prime(supposedly the strongest autobot in the transformer universe) whenever they joined right hands(magnus didn't have to drain optimus' energy to do it again). (something about a laser minigun's too cool) when i was watching the series, up to that point, i didn't ever think optimus could combine with any autobot. i mentioned how magnus tones down his attitude towards prime to basically being just a partner, and so in the later episodes, you see them combining a lot more.

but here's the standard scene whenever they form up

so, given all that, i was slightly bummed after reading the wiki to find out ultra magnus wasn't going to be in the film. of course, there's like, so many transformers in the universe? so you wouldn't have that much time to do that. AND, omega prime would pretty much have no equal in strength. (if you read the wiki on ultra magnus, and followed the link to omega prime's page, you would see that even megatron needed to "evolve" in order to surpass his strength)

videos galore:

just... watch
(LOL)

hahahahahaha

go bulls(bball fans it's not what you think it is)

how to rave

let's NOT play the feud
(name an animal with 3 letters in its name... LOL)

transformers the movie new trailer

epic win... dude, after watching that, who DOESN'T want to see the movie?

(i wonder if the autobots and decepticons have no voice roles in the movie; seems that way; that would give this a sorta "godzilla" feel to it)

wow... 48 points.

29 of his team's last 30 pts.

crazy.

i guess Athletic Lebron was right on the money in the nike commercial when he said "I got it, Wise."

kinda wished i saw it, kinda wished i didn't.

(pistons need a different coach, seriously)

honestly, i'll watch the nba finals regardless of what the matchup is. i like the pistons more, but i want to see how far Lebron can go.

paraphrases of interest(i'd insert my long, windy comments, but the quotes IMO speak for themselves):

from a need4sheed.com entry:

(from a cavs fan)
-mike brown and flip saunders are the two worst coaches in the entire league, but at least mike brown is learning.

from a youtube video of baron posterizing ak:

(in reply to a person who stated spurs, jazz, pistons, cavs aren't boring)
-it's scientific, that's what makes it boring

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anybody else getting tired/peeved/pissed of bill simmons inserting every possible chance he gets to talk about rejuvenating "his beloved Celtics?"

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and oh yeah; makes me wonder if the kobe stuff is getting out there just to keep the nba interesting in some way for the remainder of this postseason until team usa hits the road; i mean, the only real way casual fans might get back into the postseason interest mode is if lebron not only leads the cavs past the pistons(fairly probable, given how much of a douche flip saunders is as a coach in making adjustments and how the pistons sometimes feel they can just turn it on), but beats the spurs(highly unprobable), averaging 30-6-6 or so.

but hey, talk about kobe this, kobe that, and everybody's ears perk up. ykno, the same people who used to list the top 5 people they knew on the lakers as: kobe, shaq, phil jackson, jack nicholson and (they get stuck here)
coughcoughsuperficialidiotscoughcough

here's a random quick thought(most likely not going to happen though); what about kobe being paired with dwight howard in orlando? dwight seemed to defer to grant hill. maybe it'd work with kobe instead. magic has nothing really to offer the lakers though; dwight's not leaving, so you can't offer that.

THIS... IS... SPAR-T-errr... anchorman?

lol... this is madness!

tyrus thomas rookie clips:

2 blocks, 1 alley-oop in a row against the heat

tyrus thomas mix(check out the sick block at 3:43)

whoa...
(that's some white tiger)

Nerd Guitar Man - Ep 1

No Honor For Andrew Card
(hey doesn't alice go to ameherst?)

if there's one thing learning to play a drum set's useful for, it's those times waiting at the stoplight listening to the radio when you have nothing else to do.

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here's a thought, instead of listening to music or just leaving the sound system off(hoping to hear the Lord), fill your mp3 player with mp3 files of a person reading the kjv bible word by word, and play that instead. or burn a cd of it. i'll explain in a future entry, but i basically got the idea by watching channel 28 on tv.

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how long has it been since my family would take a yearly trip to brentwood this time of year to pick bing cherries? i don't even know anymore. used to be a tradition though.

i wanted to write a long post about the nba's midrange game(after reading the short article in "hoop" magazine), its premises, how it became lost, how to play it(sam cassell does a decent job, could've added a few more points), but seeing how i'm at the library, this is more a reminder to myself to make the effort to write something on a .doc file, then bring it and post it up next time i go to the library, so i won't waste any time.

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cavaliers are hanging tough on the road. it's easy to say pistons are getting overcomplacent, and that is true, but credit the cavs' D.

btw, i think this series will be very close. fact is, pistons feel they kinda got overcomplacent against the cavs last year, so they won't make that mistake this year again. and the cavs felt they should've won last year, but lost it, so they won't take the pistons for granted again. oh yeah; unlike the baby bulls, they actually hate each other; pistons hate varajeo for flopping, the cavs hate rasheed for giving ilgauskas some cranial music. and giving a guarensheed last year.

duke university cheating scandal

i need to read the news more often; i didn't find out today until my mom pointed it out to me.

dude, i'm so happy tayshaun prince is going to play for team usa

considering his hard work and selflessness, i'm glad he finally decided to sign up. they actually ASKED him to play last summer(so it's not like team usa didn't recognize they needed a guy like him a year ago), but he declined, giving family matters(he had his first kid around october 2006) as his reason. but now that that's been put aside, i'm glad to see him on the list.

seriously, i was sick of that upset that occurred last year, because people online were saying "kobe should've been on that team, then they wouldn't have lost." no, you idiots; the problem then wasn't usa's offense, it was their fast break defense. you can build defense with experience, but if you had to pick another guy to solve those problems, i would've said tayshaun without a doubt. prince is a master at both perimeter and fast break defense.

where you gonna get yo 3's now, international players?

(i'm also happy oden and durant are on the team though fyi; not ignoring that)

this is so cool...

approx cost? $300.

might be one of the better loop pedals i've seen. that usb/flashcard option looks real cool. which means you can do a lot of editing on your computer before putting it in the pedal. crazy. and being able to record up to 6+ hours for a single loop?

if course, if you want to shell out $500, you could get the HUGE pedal by boss, which seems like the ultimate loop pedal so far.

lucky star - konata

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been playing OMF:2097 for the most part right now. i need either a joystick(highly unlikely in the immediate future), or a new gamepad.

more futurama:

bender's execution

extra large zoidberg

wizard of oz

gay ark?

ikea parody

everybody who knows my nba favorite players well know that tayshaun prince is maybe my current favorite player in the nba. with maybe dwight howard being a 2nd, and then a couple of others being cluttered together, too close to call exact order(chauncey billups, luol deng, tyrus thomas, andre kirelenko, baron davis, etc).

anyways, i'd go on and on about why i like tayshaun(i never call him "tay"), but i've already done so much on my website in the past, so i'll refrain. i will say though(since i haven't really done so until now), that his post game's real nice. he apparently uses it a lot now. when he was under larry brown, he didn't have a refined post game, but, he would constantly try to drive in order to get a left-handed floater in the paint. and to me, when players keep trying to take closer shots, i tend to really like that.

fyi, scottie pippen once said in an online interview session 1-2 years ago that the guy in the nba right now that most resembles him is tayshaun(because he concentrates on defense first). in a q and a seminar in university of michigan(i think, could be wrong; maybe michigan state?) joe dumars said the piston who most resembles him right now is tayshaun(because he's quiet).

i was lucky to find truehoop put up a current blog on him, so here it is.

also needforsheed had a really nice new wallpaper of him.

futurama is IMO still the best "funny cartoon" around. the simpsons and family guy have nothing on it. matt g. really put his best effort into it.

zap branigan

(you win again gravity LOL)

planet amazonia

(we no can dunk, but have good fundamentals)

i win

what are you, gay?

bender pimping

windmills

global warming

how to box out

how to just dominate

i remember watching the 2nd commercial for the 1st time during college on my laptop and i couldn't stop laughing(in a quiet room!). the best part is when he's setting the screen. although the poster's pretty funny too.

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i just watched superman 3... seems like the actress playing lana lang happens to be the woman who plays clark's mother in smallville... if i'm not mistaken.

i think i've seen all of the superman movies w/christopher reeve when i was a kid; so while i don't remember each movie line by line, at least i know 1 event in each movie to distinguish one from the other(seen 2 the most though; that one was prob my favorite). superman 3's cool cause of that scene where he ends up battling himself(always thought as a kid that the good side of him was just clark kent, but it was really more like good superman in clark kent's attire). and you can kinda tell that superman changes because his cape looks slightly darker red when he's evil, bright red when he's good.

oh yeah; superman 3's "cool" cause richard pryor's in it. haha. it still grossed less than the 1st 2 superman movies though. in fact, the christopher reeve superman movies apparently were good until the 3rd one came out. 4th one was kinda "eh" as well. that's the thing with movie sequels; when in doubt, don't watch any ones past the 2nd. unless you get to do so for free.

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i need to stop visiting espn.com's message board, especially the stuff near the end of each game recap; reeks of douchebaggery. the most prevalent posters fail of logic 101 and reading comprehension, and quite frankly, just want attention.

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saw a REALLY tall white woman at guitar center... wearing high heels. made her look like um, 6'2(i don't think i've ever seen a tall woman/girl in real life taller than 6'2-ish). the relocated guitar center's a lot like the sacramento guitar center inside.

seeing how i'm not in a mood to buy cheap video games for a time, i've gotten back into an "abandonware" mood, fooling around with dosbox and etc.

the game i'm currently fooling around with is "heart of china." it's a rpg-type game; you can find it on abandonia.com.

it's kinda funny; if you play it, you'll either think it's the most stereotypical way that americans view chinese, it's just plain ignorant-racist or that it's just pretty funny.

you're basically an american in china during i'd say around the 1970s, etc. a causasian nurse has been captured and you have to find a chinese ninja to help you rescue her.

the thing is, the guy who you control, his dialogue is, well, just reeks of "trailer park ignorance." if anybody acted like this today, they'd get their face smashed in by a crowbar, then pushed down a flight of stairs. for instance, "(while two others are speaking in mandarin) hello? i'm giving you to the count of 3 to speak in american!" or, "why are you speaking to me in chinese? do i look chinese?"

the only reason i'm still playing it is cause i want to finish the game; doesn't seem too hard; doom shareware wasn't really enough to hold me for a while, given how easy it is to play the included 1st game using the wasd-mouse config.

deejay's maybe one of my top 3 favorite characters in ssf2t(the others are new-ken, new-balrog); it's tough playing with him because he's a charge character, making it hard to get inside, but once you get a knockdown, you can totally swing the outcome of the round(so no match is completely unwinnable):

tomi jei(deejay) vs kusodaru(dhalsim)
tomi jei(deejay) vs chin(guile)
tomi jei(deejay) vs ume(zangief)

gsw has nothing to be ashamed of...

they weren't supposed to make the playoffs...

they weren't supposed to control a 67 win team, and favorite to win the championship this year...

they weren't supposed to control the league MVP, and cause his highly revered high post game to go to crap...

they weren't supposed to beat the mavs...

and lastly, they weren't supposed to hang with the jazz; almost all of the games the jazz won, the warriors COULDVE(i'm using this word lightly) won.

and i agree with don nelson; they got over the hump this year. actually, two: 1) playoff entrance, 2) advancing past the 1st round

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i wonder why nothing i do goes right.

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top 2 contenders from each conference that i want for the nba finals this year:

west:
1)suns
2)jazz
(no hate for spurs; i just wouldn't mind seeing amare or carlos/okur/ak in the spotlight this year)
east:
1)pistons
2)bulls

j.t.'s right; learning drumming makes you appreciate certain songs more.

sanctus real - don't give up

hahahahahaha...

konata vs guile

acho.com - seki vs ani-ken

ani-ken is my favorite ssf2t new-ken player. very good dragon punch/knee throw mixup intuition. mattsun's a lot more flashier, but he isn't seen as much.

somebody emailed espn.com with this:

"I have been a Warriors fan since age 3 and attended every home playoff game this year at different locations -- Warrior fans in the first round were worthy of the praise bestowed upon them by the media (you included). Last night, I was disgusted to be at the Oracle. The Dallas series was packed with REAL fans, a raucous arena full of people who had really been waiting 15 years. Once we upset the Mavericks though, we became obscenely trendy. Now, rich suburban families who couldn't name half our roster decided it would be fun to take the family to a game, and prices went up to $250 a seat for the lower bowl. Goodbye real fans, hello normal NBA crowd. The arena was subpar in the Game 3 win, but was absolutely SILENT in Game 4. I got in fights with fans around me after screaming at them to make noise. It's a sad day for Bay Area basketball. The fans get credit for the wins, we deserve the blame for this loss."

-thanks a lot jon, louis, wes, mike, dennis, norm! [/sarcasm]

-but yea, i could see it myself too; near the end of the game, many of the lower bowl seats were vacant. many of the fans were silent when the jazz were up.

total recall - 2 weeks

cheerleaders gone wild

i'm filling my water with VOLCANICITY!
here's a youtube poop making fun of that around 2:45

why is it that white people always call "pearl milk tea," "bubble tea?" always peeves me why they do that.

or why more people seem to like chicken over beef?

---

i've got about 3 hours to blow, so i'd thought i'd spend some time ragging on the "bandwagon fan." the bay area would know something about this right about now, given their incredible series against the mavericks, their "go-for-broke" attitude on every offensive possession of jacking up 3s, etc. it draws a lot of fans. it's also a commonplace thing for die-hard sports fans to absolutely HATE the bandwagon fan. why? reasons are obvious; they are only there when the team's doing well. when the team is doing well, and they have a chance to reach the chip, everybody loves them. when they're on the verge of getting swept, or aren't making the playoffs, nobody likes them. God bless the loyal Heat fans, but Miami is a great example of a bandwagon sports city. where are all the Marlin fans? where are all the Heat fans? nowhere. they apparently care more about other things.

most people, in citing their loyalty in following their team, will say something to the extent of "i have been following this team ever since i was 8, etc." but does that mean we're not allowed to also become fans of other teams? no. so by that same logic, if you haven't become dead set on what teams to like before hitting 10, it's official; you're a bandwagon fan of any team. wonderful; i'm out of luck; why am i watching the nba at all these days then?

but, i want to elaborate that most people tend to judge bandwagon fans by the period of time that they jump ON the bandwagon. i also believe that isn't a good way to do it. you see, no one becomes a fan of a sucky team on their own. at all. (besides following your hometown sports team) you just don't see anybody start closely following a team which is sucking; you only follow the teams which do well, or have a promising player you wish would do well. i can attest for myself i didn't start following the modern-day pistons when they failed to reach the playoffs with grant hill. i became a fan when i saw just how defensively disgusting each of the starters could guard his man.

so when do you judge the bandwagon fans? simple; when they get off. remember that a bandwagon fan only gets on when it's easy, gets off when it's hard. it's nice and all to have snoop dogg in the oracle arena, kate hudson, carlos santana, etc. GREAT! i'm not going to judge just yet; if they become warrior faithful, GREAT! but if the lakers do well next year and/or the warriors don't do well, and i don't see those same people come april and may, i'm going to be VERY, VERY, VERY DISAPPOINTED.

---

"finding forrester" was a great movie, and i'm glad i watched it. i do crack up everytime i rehear sean connery say in his scottish accent, "you're the man now dog!"

---

sometimes the most important thing to do in trying to find out the truth is not only to ask the questions, but to provide plausible answers, then questions off of the answers again. it is when you are constantly trying to seek the answer for something and refusing to settle, that the answers finally settle.

oracle arena reaching one hundred and nine with this play
edit: twice the love

warriors, don't retreat! this is for bay a-reaaaaaaaaa!

pssst; notice how similar this is to how davis used to throw them down as a hornet

except now instead of pulling off a headband, he lifts his jersey, LOL

free bejeweled deluxe

it's actually been a while since i've said something long and deep on my website, huh?

not having your laptop constantly connected to the internet can do that to you.

these days, seems like i'm more content to just go "here's a youtube video of a guy getting kicked in the crotch."

or talk about sports.

meh; i'll think of something deep to say soon.

pistons just too good for the bulls...

(i'm holding my breath that dee-troit basketball's teammates don't get overconfident until they either end up with the trophy or get knocked out and have to go fishing)

---

btw, this seems like time-for-espn-dot-com-to-get-nearly-every
-pre-playoff-matchup-outcome-wrong-year...

case in point:
1) warriors and mavericks 2)bulls and heat 3) bulls and pistons 4) jazz and rockets...

ever wondered how they came up with reese's peanut butter cups?

this... is... spaaaarrtaaaaaa!

hahahaha

my nephew michael turned 3 yesterday....

my mom, errr, turned ?? today... i think i'll just leave the information blank, half because i don't know off the top of my head, half out of respect(my mom doesn't like thinking that she's old). i'll just say my mom isn't much younger than my dad.

i'm the odd bunch out of my immediate family:
dad - born in march
michelle - born in march
allison - born in march
phil - born in april
mom - born in may
michael - born in may

me? i'm waaaay out in november.

---

i forgot just how awesome the masterpiece called "street fighter - the movie" was. i'm sure if you liked commando, this will suit you just fine as well.

ima kick that sonofab****'s a** SO HORD

haha bison's scared now!

fan-fic-based shockwave flash movies by proxicide - mortal kombat vs street fighter series:

mk vs sf 1 - raiden vs ken
mk vs sf 2 - scorpion vs ryu
mk vs sf 3 - khameleon vs akuma

i must say, his storyline's a bit off and stuff, but really, nobody's really watching this for the storyline(akuma must be gay for ryu). really cool fight sequences. he just released the 3rd one yesterday. my only gripes are the gayness, and akuma pulling out iron man's proton cannon. he cuts down on the matrix-y stuff from the 1st two though.

ever wondered what "street fighter" the cartoon was like?

i'm glad i never had cable to watch this crap. i seriously can't stop laughing.

i like the jazz more than the rockets(and you could actually make a case that the new jazz are one of the few teams i really like in the western conference other than the warriors); i love carlos boozer, ak, and okur. that being said, gsw would rather face the rockets than the jazz. for reason that the rockets are less of a 1-2 punch than a 1.5 punch.

but it's not just that; jazz's home crowd is ridiculously solid. that, they just won a game 7(showing they can win on the road), and the fact that jazz's frontcourt is a rebounding machine, means golden state must make sure their 3s must go into the hoop on the 1st try; there'll be no second chance points against the jazz. so golden state must play a lot more sound on offense, which will be hard, since golden state really likes jacking up shots which aren't fundamentally sound. did i mention how ak anchors the defense and boozer is a huge low post threat, 2 things that don't bode well for the warriors.

i'll believe that warriors can advance if they can hang tough(not necessarily win one on the road on one of the 1st two games, but stay close and not get blown out at all) in the 1st two away games.

(btw i don't consider myself a rockets follower, but i feel for t-mac. he truly did all he could to try to win game 7)

lifehouse - first time
adie - your way

granted, i found this on a spurs message board, but some people are really creative with .gifs and images; hope you have a lol of a time(byron should forward this webpage to maria):

official Dallas got owned pics/gifs thread

i love the "beating a caveman - so easy golden state can do it"

and the "objects in mirror are losing"

it's been so long since i've played video game basketball.

nba 07 the life was on display at fry's and seeing a dearth of people there after practicing drums, i thought i'd give it a try. it was only for sampling, so i was forced to play either as the mavs or the heat, nobody else, and only 1 quarter and then maybe 1 minute.

still, if i play any team that has a dominant big man, usually i do well. i decided to go with miami(why use the mavs? gsw just worked the mavs), and i didn't even bother giving the ball to dwyane wade; just tried to create an open passing lane towards shaq, gave him the ball in deep, and then let him bang, and dunk(almost all of the new future-gen nba games' features are gravy, but i really appreciate being able to bang, as well as set screens; in high school those two things in sega's nba 2k helped me understand how important big man play was, how you could create shots almost at will with a dominant big man or free up a fast guard). he scored maybe 90% of the shots i attempted for the heat. i was still getting used to the controls, and probably never really got the hang of it(especially being able to call for screens), otherwise i would've tried dwyane wade. i'm still too used to the nba 2k series in general; i didn't like how "no look pass" was the same button as "block shot." or that "dunk" was the same as "steal." wasn't bad though, the game that is; i might be in the minority who likes the ps3.

btw, i find it ironic that gilbert is the new cover man for ea's next nba live game. i thought he hated ea's nba live in preference for nba 2k series; i do too.

(side fact; arenas is actually 1/2 cuban; not mark cuban LOL)

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!

round @#$@#$#@$$@-ing 2! TWO! TEE-DOUBLE-YOU-OH!
(in other words, FRIED CHICKEN!)

guess bill simmons was right about the crowd at the oracle arena.

(guess we'll be seeing eric's face on the next photo chronicling the stampede to buy tickets for the semifinals, eh?)

new spiderman 3 trailer!

*clap clap clap* brilliant, LOL...

seen on a license plate as i was leaving the cupertino library:
"jesus loves you - everybody else thinks you're an asshole"

got a long LOL from me as i saw that one.

---

i have nightmares more often than i have dreams.

since the warriors are powered by baron, i'd thought i'd link to 2 videos of his; when he was a hornet, of course; that was when he was consistently beating 3 guys on the way to the basket before postering a center:

this one's by yinka dare
(this video highlights baron as a streetballer more)

this one's by shai91cz
(the drive and poster he did on the pistons was nasty at 3:03; beats both ben wallace and tayshaun prince on the way to the basket, and the one on jermaine o'neal is infamous)

7 min video of baron(warrior mix)

there was one i saw maybe 1-2 years back on youtube featuring him solely as hornet, which had dmx - we in here as the bgm; that was probably my favorite one i've seen of baron, but i couldn't find it anymore; mustve taken it down.

pink floyd - dark side of the moon
jimi hendrix - are you experienced
led zeppelin - zoso

if you're not big on internet purchasing, all these albums are 9.99 at target for about a month or so. i also forgot to mention some album of carlos santana is also on sale at target, another really good rock guitarist, a bit more modern than the other three.

these are all really good classic rock albums. though you may not know the titles, i'm very sure many of the songs on these albums might've been in your heads at some point, you just can't remember them(if you remember watching wayne's world, i'd say 2-3 of jimi hendrix's songs are on it). given how i grew up on influences from phil, listening to 92.3 FM when young, i've heard a LOT of classic, hard rock when i was young. can't speak for all of the albums, but jimi hendrix is considered by some to be the best rock guitarist of all time. there were at least 5 oft-played songs on that album alone that still circulate classic rock stations, a testament to how good he was. he would also as a sideshow, play the electric guitar with his teeth during concerts. yes, you read that right; his TEETH. my brother has a poster of jimi hendrix doing just that in his room. he also has a poster showcasing the cover of pink floyd's album in his room. in fact, everytime i go into phil's bedroom, it's like a trip down memory lane; filled with rock posters and sports posters. there is almost no space in his room that is bare wall. none.

and led zeppelin's "stairway to heaven" is probably one of the most famous classic rock tunes of all time.

wow, i'm surprised shawn marion got no defensive team love. considering how well he can guard off his position, you'd think he's get some type of recognition; suns may not play THE best defense in the league, but everybody knows you can't win games and championships without defense and rebounding, both of which marion provides. i'm also mildly surprised, yet happy that coaches have finally recognized how good defensively raja bell is.

still happy that tayshaun made it onto the list for the 3rd time, ben wallace is STILL a mainstay, and that kirk hinrich cracked it for the 1st time. also great for marcus camby to finally get the award.

the official list

1st team:
tim duncan
bruce bowen
marcus camby(dpoy)
kobe bryant
raja bell

2nd team:
ben wallace
kirk hinrich
jason kidd
tayshaun prince
kevin garnett

i love the fact that bulls are now facing the pistons in the playoffs; both teams are almost mirror-images, and both play "the right way;" no superstars, hard defense, unselfish basketball. it's gonna be a great series. plus, both have really great small forwards; luol deng and tayshaun prince. i remember telling jerm that i wanted the bulls to face the pistons for the eastern conference championship this year, and he asked me which team i would've wanted to win; my response was "oooh, i don't really know." my opinion still stands; i want the pistons to win slightly more because i like chauncey billups and tayshaun prince a lot, but how i can hate the defensive combination of tyrus thomas and ben wallace? or the forwards deng and noccioni? or the fact that hindrich probably plays better defense than any other white guy in the nba(kidd doesn't count). nevermind my respect for scott skiles as an nba coach.

go warriors...

audioslave - show me how to live

incubus - pardon me

dennis rodman mix
(if i'm not mistaken the artist bgm is pearl jam - do the evolution; unlike every other modern-day black nba player who likes hip-hop, dennis rodman is a BIG fan of pearl jam)

rock on, squarepants!

japs have...
...waaay too much time.

i was like 0_0 after watching those last two heh

go warriors and bulls.

(and go pistons)

just... watch...

hahahaha

xzibit and tom green

i don't think that's the holy ghost

i love srk.com's official video thread...

i keep forgetting that you don't need a dominant big man to have a low post scoring threat in the nba...

like for instance, i keep wondering why people say the bulls JUST need that low post scoring option, and then they'll jump from being just a really good team to a contending threat. insert talks about possible trade rumors with minnesota or memphis. the dissent comes from the fact that not every team needs to be power forward or center-oriented to be good.

then i watched saturday's game where miami came to town(of course, not "came to town" = whupped them, glad that chicago won), and it suddenly dawned on me that NOBODY on the bulls can post up. at all; we're not even talking about ben wallace or pj brown, but gordon can't do it, deng can't do it, noccioni COULD do it, but doesn't right now. their offense is very fundamental; jumpers, driving and kicking to the open man. it's great when their jumpers are coming down and they're getting wide open looks, but the strength of being able to post defenders up means that you always have a chance of getting an in-close(hence easy) bucket. i guess maybe the suns might qualify, but really they just beat everybody else because they play at a speed no one else can match.

it made realize(again) that you don't need the low post option on an nba team to come from the 4 or 5. when jordan was on the bulls, they didn't have that dominant 4 or 5, but jordan near the end of his run as a bull had developed such a good low post game thanks to his unguardable fadeaway and the options that it created for him that if they ever needed that option, they allowed him to go 1-on-1 deep in the post.

my favorite eastern conference team, the modern-day pistons are also a case in point; while they did acquire rasheed for his low post offense, and he did turn out to be the missing piece, he rarely goes down into the paint to work unless it's really necessary. but chauncey is so bulky, that in many cases he can be the primary post offense for them; i might've been one of the few piston followers who is awed by chauncey's offense more for the fact that he can post guards up and just push them closer to the basket rather than his long range 3s.

you also have the beloved warriors, where baron davis, due to his bulk, is a great post-up player. there were numerous times during game 1 when they wanted to keep the lead, and just isolated davis on one side and let him work, pushing opponents like george and harris towards the basket.


i do though, still struggle with the thought of point guards and shooting guards posting people up though even if they are bulky, because you want to post people up to get a close, hence higher percentage shot. so it works in theory with big men, because they're already close to under the basket to begin with, and don't start the offense, so they can post up in a good position, then receive the ball, so they get a REALLY close shot. but point guards and shooting guards have to start further outside, and usually have the ball in their hands to begin with, not thrown down into them, so due to starting further outside, they have to shoot from further away, or have the entire team on the opposite side so help defense has less of a chance of flustering the posting player. plus, i see many 1's and 2's really liking the fadeaway off of a post, making me wonder why they posted in the 1st place, as they didn't really get any closer doing so.

pbs had a 1-hour program on how the bible came to be around 8:00 last night. i just got out of the shower so i missed a bit of it, but the part i didn't, i stuck around to watch; think william tyndale, martin luther, king james, etc. it was mainly concentrated upon william tyndale though, and gave only a cursory glance to king james, etc. it was interesting, but being the guy that i was, i took it with a grain of salt; i'm running low on internet time, so i'm gonna refrain from commenting in deep some of the stuff that bothered me. they seemed to concentrate upon how the main problem was that only the church could interpret the bible(ie it wasn't allowed for others to interpret), when the reality was more that the church misinterpreted the bible, could say anything that was in it or not or what was in christianity or not, and nobody could prove them wrong, due to an absence of bibles available in the native tongue. also, they referred to the church as the "catholic church," then only sparingly referred back to it as "the church." i thought that was wrong too, as it could lead to mistaken ideas about the church.

that's it for now; 16th notes on the hi-hat call for me.

while looking at the reviews for the 1994 nba championship dvd box set, i found this to be amusing:

"I'll let the Houston fans comment on how important it is to have this series released on DVD. Of greater interest to me is that Game 5, which occurred simultaneous to the OJ Simpson Bronco chase and had NBC switching away from the game to coverage of the chase while showing the game in a corner, is presented here completely OJ free. For the sections of the game where NBC broke away, Marv Albert and the rest of the announcers are silent, but you do see the game action continue to unfold without distraction, and I'm glad they released the game in this way that those of who taped it originally could not experience."

*sigh* but i SO want to see the bronco chase! what's the point of buying the dvd set if it's not going to be shown like the way it occurred LIVE?

btw, of all the nba championship dvd box sets, only the '88 pistons and the '06 heat include all the games of the conference finals; all the others only have all the finals games. my guess is because of those 2 championship teams, it took 6 games, not 4 or 5, to win the conference finals.