Halloween

Being the boring person that I am, I do not plan on dressing up for Halloween this year. But that doesn't mean I don't encourage all of you out there to dress up for Halloween, which I do. Now that we are too old to trick-or-treat for candy, seeing all the different ideas people come up with for Halloween costumes these days is definitely the best part about the holiday for me.

For me, the last time I remember having a "real" costume was in about 4th grade when I was a Ninja Turtle (Donatello). Basically it was just a purple eyemask with a turtle nose, a t-shirt with a picture of the shell on the back, and a plastic Bo (which was light green for some reason). Other than that, the other two costumes I remember having were:

1. Walter Payton - Probably the most complete costume, with jersey, shoulder pads, pants, helmet and everything.

2. Karate Kid - I think because my mom and dad didn't feel like buying a costume, so they just made me wear my uniform from judo class instead.

Another memorable Halloween costume was my sister's, one year when she decided to be a "boy". I think I might have written about this before, but basically she was just using it as an excuse to wear my Air Jordan shoes and Little League Baseball hat, which she thought was the coolest things ever but I never let her touch them. We definitely got a lot of confused looks when we went trick-or-treating that year, nobody knew what the heck she was supposed to be dressed up as.

Someone (I think Vira) was telling me once about her bad Halloween experience as a kid, when the kids that didn't have a costume at school had to make their own costume out of a paper bag. Haha... I thought that was hilarious. "Hmmm, looks like your parents didn't dress you up for Halloween. Here, take this paper bag and make one yourself, so you don't look out of place with the other kids!"

There were a few good Halloween moments in college too. One year we were hanging out at Brothers, and then these guys came in dressed as Teletubbies. All the girls in the bar were fighting to dance with them and stuff. As Mr. Chan would say, "HO-larious".

This year, I have heard a few ideas on costumes so far, which I am interested to see. Among them:

- Kobe Bryant
- Johnny Damon
- The little Asian kid from The Grudge
- Slutty Bee
- Slutty Flower
- Jessica Simpson
- Keymaster from the Matrix
- Krang (from TMNT)
- Greg "Fossilman" Raymer

Hopefully I'll get to see some of those this weekend...

I went to the dentist over the weekend for a checkup and cleaning. First time in at least 3-4 years. I had been avoiding it for a long time, mostly because I was so afraid that I would have to get my wisdom teeth pulled.

The visit went alright, except for all the pain and bloodiness involved. Actually, the dentist told me I had "nice teeth", except I needed to get them cleaned regularly. Most importantly, she decided that my wisdom teeth did not need to be pulled. YAY

The other day I was at Marshall Fields and decided to buy a dress shirt. I wasn't sure what my neck and arm sizes were, so I had one of the sales guys measure me. As he was measuring my neck, he was like "wow, you have a really small neck." Olivia was also there and agreed with him. Made me feel so inadequate. Nobody wants to be a pencil-neck.

For future reference, if anyone wants to buy me a fitted dress shirt, my measurements are: 15 1/2, 32.

Okay fine, it's actually 15 1/4, 32.

I was browsing the internet the other day and saw this exercise video called "Yoga for Wimps". Probably a knockoff of those "_____ for Dummies" books. But apparently this is one of the top-selling videos on the market today. I'm thinking to myself, maybe I should try selling a video called "Math for Nerds".

Every once in a while I open up my old high school yearbook and flip through the memories. It's a little scary to think that 6-7 years have already passed since then. One thing I noticed is that the girls at our high school were kind of ugly in general. A few were good, but they were the exception, not the rule. Maybe it's just my imagination, but I think high school girls today are much more attractive than they were back when I was 18 or so. Sluttier too, but more attractive nonetheless.

Anyways, seeing a lot of the old faces, and reading the things they wrote in my yearbook, made me wonder where are all these people today and what are they doing with their lives? What happened to the guy who joined the Army, the quiet girl who went to the small artsy college, or the Mexicans I only saw in gym class and working at WalMart? Did the kid everybody suspected was gay finally come out of the closet, and if so, is he one of those super-flamboyant homos that I can totally picture him being? Which of the plain-looking girls got hotter and which of the hot girls got fatter in college?

If any of the people from my high school were wondering about me, I think I am exactly where they would guess that I would have ended up, based on the person I was back then. Graduated with an engineering degree after 4 years and now working as an engineer. Still skinny, nerdy looking, except my hair is a little shorter.

While having dinner at Chinatown the other day, I ran into an old friend I hadn't seen in a long time. Actually, she was the girl I went to senior prom with back in the day, but also a pretty close family friend since about 7th grade through high school. It makes me happy when I meet old friends and I see that they haven't completely changed since the last time I saw them. As opposed to suddenly learning that they are married, they look way older or fatter than what you remember, or they've been through all sorts of dramatic experiences during the last few years. "Yeah, I OD'ed on heroin in college, then went through rehab, then I got diagnosed with cancer, but underwent all this treatment and now I'm like a new man with a fresh outlook on life". Hearing something like that would freak me out. It's definitely a reassuring and comforting feeling when you can see that not everybody and everything changes as fast in this world as you may have thought.

Then earlier today I was reading Andy's Xanga page and he mentioned something about the days when we took a consumer economics one summer in high school. All the memories of those times came back, including the songs like Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You" which he mentioned, riding in his cop-car (Ford Crown Victoria), or getting lunch every day at Taco Bell and trying to collect all the pieces needed to win the Batmobile.

The subject of memory is something I've been pondering more since I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind a few weeks ago (great movie by the way). The thought of forgetting certain memories is something that has always really scared me, maybe more than anything else.

Like when I see all the many kinds of bad stuff that happens to people when they get old, the thing I probably fear the most is getting Alzheimers and losing my memory. Not that I would ever choose to go blind, become bald, have heart problems, etc., but I think I'd honestly rather suffer any one of those things, than to become senile and forget the things and the people that were important to me.

I mean, when all is said and done in our lives, what will we have left to hold onto, besides the memories of all our experiences? The things we experience on a day-to-day basis, and the relationships we have, those things will all change as time passes and the world moves on around us. You can take away my health, my possessions, even my loved ones, and eventually all of those things will indeed be taken from us. But if we can hold on to the memories forever, then those things will continue to have meaning and shape our lives, transcending the effects of time.

This got a little deeper than I intended, but hopefully it made some sense. Maybe I tend to value memories much more than other people, I don't know. And it kind of goes against the point of the movie, but I really do feel like they define so much of who I am and what my relationships mean to me.

If nothing else, it's highly therapeutic to relive old times by remembering them in my mind. Just the other day, me, Chras, P, and Vic were talking about one incident that happened freshman year of college in our DiffEq class, and it brought a huge smile to my face just to think about what we remember happening that day. When all the memories come flooding back at once, it's almost like a natural high.

I guess this is one of the main reasons why I have maintained this blog for as long as I have, because much of it is basically like a written version of my memory. Just in case my mind starts to leak someday, I can still dig into my archives and remember the things that I have experienced along the way.

On a completely unrelated topic, I just watched this new show on MTV "You've Got A Friend". What a horrible show. Basically all it proves is that people will do pretty much anything if it gets them money and/or TV time.

White Castle. It's WHAT YOU CRAVE.

The Best Part About October

Except for maybe March Madness, the baseball playoffs are probably the best championship tournament in all the major sports. One reason is that it's the only true "series" I can think of, where each of the individual games significantly affects the others.

Like when 2 teams play each other in the NBA finals, for example, the circumstances from one game to the next don't really change. The only thing is whether you're playing home or away, but in either case, you approach it with the same "one game at a time" philosophy.

In the MLB playoffs, you have to manage your pitchers carefully because their arms need an indefinite amount of rest. It's not just "let's play the same team 7 times and see who can win the most times". One day you gotta face Roger Clemens, the next day it might be Brandon Backe. So you end up having to figure out, is it worth starting your ace on 3 days rest, or are you better off just throwing your scrubbier but more rested starter out there for Game 4?

Also, how effective will your closer be, if you pitch him for more than one inning at a time? What if you use him 2 or 3 nights in a row, will he be able to throw effectively on the 4th night?

Other than that, playoff baseball is just awesome because it's like regular season baseball with the intensity multiplied by 100 times. It's already a sport where every little thing is crucial, so when it's a do-or-die series, each individual detail has that much more riding on it.

If only the White Sox and Cubs were involved, I would be in heaven right now.

Unfortunately, I don't really like any of the teams left. I think mostly what I'm rooting for is the Yankees to close out Boston, and then whoever wins from the NL to sweep the Yankees in the World Series. Whether it's the Cardinals or the Astros, I don't really care, as long as the Yankees don't win another title I'll be happy.

But yes, I am rooting for the Yankees to beat the Red Sox. There's probably some bandwagon Red Sox fans out there who are outraged that I want to see the "Evil Empire" beat them, but I don't care.

Why I Dislike Red Sox Fans

Seems like it's the fashionable thing these days to cheer for the Red Sox. Oh, those poor fans have suffered since 1918, and had their hearts broken so many times that they deserve to win. Besides, their archenemy is the Yankees, who are ruining baseball with their rampant spending, so GO BOSTON!!

Give me a break. Okay, so 85 years is a long time to not win a World Series, but Red Sox fans really act like they are the center of the baseball universe, and nobody else has suffered like they have. Cry me a river. In fact, there are two baseball teams in Chicago alone that have gone longer without a World Series win. So if anyone should be whining as much as these Boston fans, it would be us.

The thing is, no matter how much you love your team, and how long you have gone without a championship, there's no such thing as "deserving" to win. In any sport or competition, you have to earn your victories, that's what makes winning so special in the first place. When Bill Buckner makes a crucial error, hey guess what, you don't spend all your time and effort licking your wounds, you go out and fight to win Game 7. If you don't take care of business on the field, you don't "deserve" to win, simple as that.

On a historical note, let's not overlook the fact that Boston was the last team in the major leagues to accept black players on their team. While the rest of the country was moving forward, the Red Sox passed on future Hall-of-Fame players like Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays. So correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this mean that a lot of this team's misery was self-inflicted, as a result of their own prejudiced and intolerant attitudes. With this in mind, should we still feel so sympathetic for their continued losing during those years?

Now, I won't go as far as other people to call the city of Boston racist, but this isn't exactly the most diverse crowd out there. Next time you watch a Boston home game and they show the crowd, see if you can spot one single person of color at Fenway, other than the players on the field or the hot dog vendors. Seriously, I tried to find one during the past 2 games they showed on Fox, and I couldn't identify any minorities there, whether Black, Hispanic, or Asian. It's not necessarily a reason in itself to dislike the Red Sox, but I do get some feeling that the whole baseball in Boston thing is a part of the New England blue-blood elitist identity. And I don't know about you, but I am not particularly inclined to align myself with a bunch of Ben Afflecks or John Kerrys by joining in the Red Sox love-fest. At least in New York, you can ride the subway with some queer with AIDS, deal with bad Asian women drivers, or walk through Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English (just ask John Rocker).

As for the Yankees, no I don't like them either, but it's no reason to root for the Red Sox. It's true that the Yankees spend more than any other team in baseball, but don't forget that the second highest payroll belongs to none other than the Boston Red Sox. Think about it for a second - if there were no Yankees, the Red Sox would be the Yankees.

If you really hate the Yankees, I say just root for your own team to beat them. Or at least pick an organization that is not like them, such as the Oakland A's or Minnesota Twins. Teams that win not by spending as much money as possible, but by making smart signings and developing their talent in a good farm system. The Boston Red Sox as an organization have much more in common with the New York Yankees than they would have you think, and rooting for them because you hate the Yankees is a stupid concept if you ask me.

Lastly, considering how annoying they are when they lose, imagine how annoying these Red Sox fans might become if they suddenly became winners. I think there's a chance we would uncover something that we never thought was possible: a group of people more irritating and cocky than Yankees fans. I don't doubt that they love their team a lot, but so do the rest of us baseball fans (including those New Yorkers). Getting the most worked up when your team loses, or whining the loudest about your suffering doesn't automatically make you the best fans out there. Most annoying? Yes. Most loyal? Not so fast.

I'm not sure where it's from, but I like the saying "There's no crying in baseball". I think it's from "A League of Their Own" but I could be wrong. Anyways, it's clear that the players, management, and fans associated with the Boston Red Sox have all broken this rule by their incessant complaining about the Curse and about the Yankees. Because of this, and the other things I discussed above, I personally wouldn't lose an ounce of sleep if they went another 85 years without a World Series win.

X-Sport Fitness

I recently had some bad blood with the X-Sport Fitness company, which has made them the newest addition to my blacklist. It's a long story, but the end result is that I will end up being a member of their club for one more year, except now I have a "Power Pass". After a drawn out battle between me and them, I guess that's the best I could do. I won't tell my whole long sob story here, but let me just say that these people are shady motherhuggers and after this year is over, I'm done with this company forever.

So anyways, a couple weeks ago, I went to the X-Sport in Arlington Heights for the first time. And man, is that place nice. I haven't been to Lifetime, or any of the other fancier gyms before, but I felt like high society to be working out at this place. Among the features that impressed me most:

- Basketball court: Not just one, but two full courts. And I rarely see anyone using it, so if I decided to shoot around, I'd probably have 2 courts to myself. So luxurious.

- Swimming pool/Jacuzzi: They're not like the ones at Bally's, which are a little bit old and dingy, and filled with dirty old men. These are shiny new, and filled with clean old men (or no one at all). Plus on the walls they have little waterfalls running to spice things up. Very nice.

- Personal TV Screens: If the hundreds of TV's on the walls and hanging from the ceiling weren't enough for you, every cardio machine has its own little flat panel TV screen hooked up to it. You can control the channel/volume while you jog/bike, and plug in your own headphones and everything.

- Locker Rooms: There's a lot of TV's in the locker room too. And I mean a LOT. Basically every direction you look, you will see at least one TV if not more. Also a nice feature of their locker rooms is that there's dividers between urinals. I always appreciate dividers.

- Internet Stations: Yes, they actually have a spot in the gym with a bunch of computers set up for you to use the internet. When I saw that, it was about when I realized that I was in high society. Now, I haven't used it yet, but it gives me a sense of comfort to know that if the internet at my house went down, I could always drive down the street to check my fantasy teams at X-Sport.

There's probably more cool stuff that I haven't mentioned, or discovered yet, but just the stuff I listed above is pretty crazy if you ask me. Granted, I'm comparing it to an older X-Sport and the 2 or 3 Bally's I've been to, but still.

One other thing I wanted to mention about my X-Sport experience, is the subject of 150-lb dumbbells. I don't think I have seen dumbbells that heavy, until I got to this gym. When I first saw them sitting on the rack, I thought maybe it was a novelty thing. Kind of like when you go to Hooters, and they have a deal for wings with a bottle of Dom Perignon on the menu. Or when you're at the arcade, and looking at stuff you can win with your tickets. It's like you can redeem 5 tickets for some stickers, 50 for a rubber toy, 200 for a coffee mug, or 8 billion for a plasma TV. You know nobody's ever going to save up enough to get the TV, it's just there for show. It's the same with those humogenous dumbbells at the end of the rack, purely a status thing I figured. I mean, who is actually strong enough to need 150 lb dumbbells?

Well sure enough, yesterday when I went, I saw a guy using these giant dumbbells. And he wasn't doing like shoulder shrugs either, he was straight up bench pressing with them, one in each hand. At least about 10 reps per set too. I don't know, maybe some of you guys out there have seen something like this at your gym before, but for me, watching this guy press 150's really blew my mind.

The most entertaining part for me was later on when I overheard him telling his friend "man, that last set with the 150's really wore me out" and I'm thinking to myself, "wow, imagine that". I felt like saying to him "yeah, I guess you're just weak", but I didn't want to risk him not thinking it was funny, and then deciding to break me in half. Come to think of it, 150 is more than I weigh. Scary.

Oh, in case you missed my original point, I'll sum it up again. In conclusion, don't join X-Sport. Just trust me on this one. Their new gyms are nice, but they are a shady company, from top to bottom. If you get involved with them and regret it, don't say I didn't warn you.

Super Size Me

My sister rented Super Size Me over the weekend, and since I eat a lot of fast food, I decided to watch it with her. If you haven't heard of the movie, basically it's a documentary done by a guy who decides to eat McDonalds every single meal for a month and see what happens.

If that sounds like a ridiculous premise for a movie, that's because it is. It was intriguing enough to suck me in though. Actually, I think he got the idea from an argument posed by McDonalds' lawyers in a lawsuit by people suing them for causing their obesity.

Anyways, I'm not going to write a lot about this movie, like I did about Fahrenheit 9/11. I don't recommend it though, I didn't find it to be very informative or persuasive. First of all, I think we are all already aware that there are lots of fat people in this country. Second of all, I think we all already know that fast food is bad for you. All he proved by his stunt was that if you eat way too much McDonald's like an idiot, you will gain lots of weight and lose performance in bed. You don't need a movie to tell you that.

The funny thing is, after watching the movie, my sister said "I feel like getting some fries now". And I agreed with her.

On a side note, watching the movie reminded me of Wesley Willis, because the director used part of his "Rock and Roll McDonald's" song in it. I'm guessing most of you have never heard of Wesley Willis, even though he is one of the greatest musical geniuses of our time. I highly recommend that if you've never heard any of his songs, you should go download some (I can send you my collection if you want).

So I went through my computer and listened to all my Wesley Willis songs. Among my favorites:

They Threw Me Out of Church
It's Against The Law
I Whipped Superman's Ass
I Whipped Batman's Ass
Shoot Me In the Ass
Suck A Caribou's Ass
Rock Saddam Hussein's Ass
Rock It To Russia

Pretty much every single one of his songs uses the same tune, and then just has him hollering lyrics like: "You are a rock star. You are a rock and roll girl. You are a good rock and roll singer. I like you a lot. LIZZZZ PHAAAAIR.... LIZ PHAIR............ LIZZZZZZZZ PHAIRRR......... LIZZZ PHAIRR"

And the best is that he ends every song with: "Rock over London, Rock Over Chicago," and then a slogan like "Wheaties. Breakfast of Champions" or "TCBY. It's The Country's Best Yogurt" or my favorite, "On ATA, you're on vacation".

This Day in Fantasy Sports

Though I know that not many people who read this blog care to read about my fantasy teams, today was a landmark day and I must record it while I can. Over the weekend, I clinched my second Dudo League championship in a row in baseball, and also won my matchup against Dave Chan in football. I am extremely proud and happy about both accomplishments. If my fantasy hometown of Taipei existed in real life, I would definitely have to declare today a city-wide holiday.

That is all for now.