Thursday, April 26, 2007

Praying For A Miracle

after one of the most embarrassing Lakers games i've seen in my entire life this past tuesday, i ended what was a promising night with disdain and frustration. the euphoric daze of having scarfed down a 8-piece bucket of kfc, i looked forward to an exciting, contested playoff basketball game...only to be completely let down by my beloved Lakers.

but today is thursday, game 3 is in progress...and after a first quarter, i find my boys trailing by 14 again. so am i in for another disappointing night as i wait for an inevitable sweep in the first round? or maybe a kobe vs. the Suns offensive bananza? or am i just going to hope above all hope to see a unified, energized, competitive Lakers team with a dominant Odom, an involved Kwame, and a defense unsee in a gold jersey in quite some time?

now i'm not expecting the Lakers to pull out 4 games in this series, but i do expected my boys to put up a fight...much like the jump-off the seat, heart racing games of last year's series. so here i am, praying for a miracle to the pagan basketball gods of Magic, Doc, Bird, and Jordan. please please please...from a fan to his team, i just want to watch a game worth watching. and hopefully, with that, a win.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

*Post hoc ergo propter hoc is Latin for "after this, therefore because of this", is a logical fallacy which assumes or asserts that if one event happens after another, then the first must be the cause of the second.

there are no words that can be said about the recent tragedy at Blacksburg...so i'll leave it at that.

i know this story has been unfolding for a few days now, and i hadn't planned on an entry for this issue. but after watching continuous coverage and numerous pundits speaking practically verbatim, i've gotten annoyed at the politicizing and the war-drum beating.

and because we don't have answers to why something like this happened, we will undoubtedly do what we always do...find something or someone to blame and try to add reason to the unexplainable. whether it be the continual failing gun control argument...or the violence in video games and media discussion...or the lack of magical premonition by police debate. whatever it is, we're all going to be drawn into this blame-game frenzy perpetuated by the media's need to feed our hunger for reason.

my beef with all this is this...why must it take such a tragedy to prompt the discussions of stricter gun control? why do we profile all gamers as mass-murderers because one kid snapped? and most importantly, how is it conscionable for us to just exploit the lives of these victims to push a political agenda?
perhaps its my idealism...or i'm just naive...but none of this happened because of any of the aforementioned reasons. we find it easier to place blame than to accept what we do not understand. if finding a cause for this individual's blatant mental health issues is the only way we can cope with this, then at least find some reasonable excuse...and not just pass blame. there are many perfectly sane, perfectly safe individuals who play video games or enjoy a violent action flick or own a handgun. lets not unfairly profile them into a category of mentality unstable murderers. and lets return to the real topic at hand...the tragic loss of life, the heroism of those who reacted quickly to save others, and the hope that we can recover and never see these types of headlines again.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Jets Cause Lag

i took off around 5pm a few days ago, and arrived around noon that same day...that accounts to correcting my 15 hour time difference. naturally i'll face some pretty nasty jet lag...and being how i'm up at 4:30 in the morning writing this, its obvious that i've got it pretty bad.
there have definitely been some needed readjustments to this 're-culture shock'. its been 6 months since i've tipped...and i almost forgot to the first restaurant i ate at. its been 6 months since i last drove my car...and i almost ran the red light at a right turn and balked when someone waved me past. its been 6 months since i used my pc...and i can't hit the hotkeys anymore.

but looking past the tipping, graciousness, and annoyance...it definitely is good to be home. i've missed a burrito with no zucchinis, a bite into a double-double, a juicy slab of ribeye. of course it's not all about the food...i've missed a loving hug, a night out with friends, even a little playful feline entertainment.

so now the only thing i need...is to get over this damn jet lag. but i'll give fair notice, i'm only going to be in san diego for a few weeks. so readers, make your plans now before i'm whisked off on another wild adventure. now with that said...i guess i'm looking at a lot of free nights :)

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

My Fellow Americans

ahhh...i'm glad that i'm going to be entering an environment where free speech is still rule (allowing me to blog freely without having to go through the hassles of proxies and ish), and where it is our duty to question our leaders (a duty that has been forgotten by many of our leaders who fear or just completely ignore criticism...i'm looking at u BUSH!)

many of you now know that i'll be heading to the hub of global politics for grad school. american university will now be the home site of my procrastination and your beloved source of hu-casts from this blog. but also, it will be where i will exercise my rights to challenge my government, just like these guys (i would've reverted back to our evolutionary predecessors and thrown a bag full of my feces at him).



but hey, i'm heading off in that direction to add to the madness. hopefully i won't lose my idealistic ways under pressure from the zero-sum attitudes of DC. but send karl rove back over and just watch out, you might catch me and ting on the next article coming out of the AU gossip columns.

All My Bags Are Packed

since my last entry was more of a farewell to the city of shanghai, i felt it necessary to at least remember those who made the experience what it was.

when i first came to china, i wrote about an "event" in beijing which seems to have become quite a common recurrence whilst in shanghai. as a going away party, our "crew" and few others threw down for one more night at guandii. and needless to say, it was quite a party. who really remembers how it happened or who made it happen, but i know i ended the night with my head buried in the bushes expelling what was left of dinner. nights like these are definitely going to be missed as i balk at paying 100 kuai for a damn drink.

*yes, thats a bottle of water in my hand, and as you can see...i'm semi-dancing, a tell-tale sign of a drunken andrew

but lets not forgot all those adventures to beijing way back when this journey was in its nascent days with vickie and cindy...to my revisit of historical beijing and hangzhou's west lake with namers...to climbing huangshan with derek and theresa...to the many many nights out with the crew and others...to tibet and jiuzhaiguo adventures. and of course, it wouldn't have been shanghai without my brother and lydia at good ol' one park avenue enjoying good times with the wii and good company with hundreds of dvds.

just wait...i'm sure in a few months, if not drawn by the beck and call of my mother wishing to see me for the xmas holidays, or pending the possibilities of an internship with American's next president, i will return for an abridged version of that past few months. see you all then.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Goodbye, Shanghai

it seemed so long ago that i reluctantly found myself trapped in your breakneck society...trying to avoid being swept aside by the ferocity of the constant reinvention of yourself...cursing your inhospitable amalgamation of reckless drivers, incessant spitting, and unbreathable smog.

but what can i say, beneath your developing exterior, you have also surprised me with the openness in which you have welcomed me...you have seduced me with your grandeur and potential...but most importantly, you have inspired me to experience and nurtured me to grow.

it will be nearly five months since i've joined you, but now we must part ways. but fitting to your temporary and transient nature, i will just be another momentary character in your continual existence. and i will also remember you as you are...a city of history, a metropolis of potential, a personality that has captivated my mind.