Anniversaries, birthdays, etc.

A year ago today, Gina and I were walking around Venice, Italy, when I finally popped the question in front of San Giorgio Maggiore, a location inspired by my favorite painting by Monet, which you may have seen hanging in my living room (or featured in The Thomas Crown Affair):


This was us right after the big moment, with the church visible in the background. Interesting side story: I had a huge, pounding headache after dinner, as we headed on a walk toward the church. After proposing, it literally disappeared. The adrenaline must have been going crazy...think I was nervous? :)


Hard to believe it's been a year! Unfortunately, we aren't together to celebrate, but I'll remedy that tomorrow, when I head to Hawaii with Hubert and Ruth. Google was thoughtful enough to give Hubert and me both Monday and Tuesday off, so we are taking advantage of it by heading to paradise!

June is also a big month for birthdays. What's so special about September that results in so many June births? Maybe we can ask Jeremy, whose big day was yesterday, when he turned 25!


And earlier this month, Ravi and a bunch of old geezers--defined at this time as 28 years or older (a definition that will change in February, by the way)--also celebrated their big days. Happy belated to Ravi, Rob, Dan, and Jason!


Sounds like you are all celebrating in style. Jer is headed to the beautiful South Padre Island, TX, this weekend with his girlfriend, Ravi is enjoying a summer off from Harvard Law, Rob went on a deep-sea fishing excursion on his big day, Dan just got back from a long tour of Europe, and Jason just moved into his first house!!! Happy birthday, indeed!

Tokyo Picture Tour

Take a quick photo tour of some of the highlights from our trip to Tokyo!

On our first day, we took a tour of some of the main sights in Tokyo, starting with the Tokyo Tower, a wannabe Eiffel Tower right near our hotel in the Shiba district:



Next, we headed to the Sensoji Temple, also known as the Asakusa Kannon Temple. You can see the Nakamise (a huge row of shops lined with green leaves) begin behind the temple:


I especially enjoyed the five-tiered pagoda next to the temple:


Then we checked out Ginza, which is the prime shopping district in Tokyo and included the Sony Store. It was so tempting to buy stuff, and Gina did buy a cool MP3 player, but mostly I just liked looking at my future TV:



The next day, we headed to the Imperial Palace, where we took my favorite picture of the trip, in front of the bridge heading to the palace entrance:


On a rainy day, we headed indoors, to see the exhibits on display at the Tokyo National Museum:


In the samurai wing of the museum, it was jarring to see this helmet. Lucas said he wanted Vader modeled off of the samurai, but sheesh! Take away the weird mustache thingy, and you basically have Vader's mask:


We took a day trip to Matsushima, known as one of the three most scenic spots in Japan. Matsushima is about 300 miles north of Tokyo, but it took us less than two hours to get there by bullet train. We took a scenic cruise around the bay, where we saw this famous rock formation, known as Man with Cigarette:


We crossed this bridge to an island next to Matsushima, where we wandered a wooded path to a garden and temple:



There are a lot of great sushi restaurants right next to the Tsukiji fish market, serving the freshest fish available, and it was so good the first time around, we had to come back again (mmm, toro):


On the last day of the trip, we headed to Akihabara's Electric Town, which is basically a cluster of city blocks with nothing but arcades and electronic stores selling cell phones, cameras, televisions...you name it, you'll find it here:


Later that night, we headed to Ginza to see the night lights of Tokyo:


I'm sad that I couldn't enjoy the second half of the trip with Gina and her parents, but Tokyo was a lot of fun, and even though I ended up getting sick after the trip, I miss the food.

Enjoy a more in-depth look at our trip on our Photos page. Lots of great shots by Gina and her father!

Back in the states

Yes, I'm back home in the good ol' USA (yes, Hawaii is a state...) :)
Wow, it's been a whirlwind this past month with finals and 2 weeks in Japan. I actually have one more week off before I start my summer stuff. I'll be in the Geriatrics program for the rest of my summer, in which I'll be shadowing various doctors, attending some didactic sessions, and doing research. I got a Medical Student Summer Research Training in Aging scholarship and will be looking into Parkinson's Disease and depression. And I guess I should be studying for boards already?

And Chang, Hubert, and Ruth will be coming to visit me this weekend, which should be lots of fun :) My high school buds, Jackie and Lisa, are also home for a bit, so I'll be hanging out with them, too.

Japan was awesome. Chang and I are still collecting our pics, and we'll put up the interesting ones as soon as we can. But here are some in the meantime:

Can you see Mount Fuji in the clouds?


My parents and I in a greenhouse


The Golden Pavilion in Kyoto


Deer (thankfully not nibbling me) at Nara


The Great Buddha (I think the statue is the biggest in Japan)


Another deer hiding among the stone lanterns


Himeji Castle


View of Hiroshima Castle from our hotel room


A Bomb in Hiroshima


Flame of peace (with the A Bomb in the background)


Watch that stopped at the time of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima


Shrine at Miyajima Island

1776 - Good book, amazing year

If you are looking for a brisk summer read, well, who am I kidding, just pre-order Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, if you haven't done so already. It's the 800-pound gorilla of the summer book season, even moreso than is Star Wars for the movie season. But the release of book six isn't until July 16, a full three weeks away, and it is actually shorter than the previous one, a first in the series' history, weighing in at only 672 pages, so the chances of the book lasting until July 17 are (for most of you guys anyway) slim to none.

To supplement your reading slate, I suggest you take a peek at the top of the non-fiction best-seller's list, where 1776, by David McCullough, has resided for the past month. This is the guy who made John Adams an incredibly compelling biography subject, and now he's done the same with the story of the most important year in our country's history, and the central figure of that year's events, George Washington.


I actually would have loved to read more about Washington himself, beyond 1776 and into the years of his presidency, after the revolution was finally won in 1783 (a full seven years after the events captured in the book). You'd think he'd make a more interesting biography subject than President number two, at least. There are plenty of hints at his character littered throughout the book, painting a different picture than one might imagine of the heroic deliverer of our country. For instance, he never considered himself worthy of leading the rebel army, occasionally sharing in private an alarming lack of confidence in or even despair about the revolution's chances. During the worst moments, when it seemed the rebellion would soon be crushed (and young Skywalker would be one of us), he would distract himself from the misery by writing to his estate manager in Virginia with a list of housekeeping duties so anal in nature they would make me look like a disheveled mess. And at the end of one particularly disheartening battle that he witnessed first-hand, he was so filled with panic and rage that he became somewhat suicidal and had to be stopped from charging the enemy after his army had already begun its retreat. But it was a rare (perhaps the only) moment of public weakness for him, as most references speak to his stoicism and leadership under fire, and his perseverance despite the doubts that plagued him. Considering the odds stacked against his army, this truly was an accomplishment in and of itself.

But McCullough's book, coming in at a lightweight 300 pages, has a narrower focus, on the events of 1776 alone, and so we don't get the full exploration of Washington, or of interesting but all-too-brief digressions like the implications of a slave owner leading an army in the fight for liberty and independence. What we do get is a blow-by-blow look at the decisions and battles of a year that ultimately changed the course of history, as well as a frightening sense of how close the entire revolution came to failing that year, but for a change of wind or unusual patch of fog.

The British were often deliberate in their moves, even after stirring victories, which gave Washington time to retreat and regroup his men when they could have easily been obliterated had the Redcoats continued to pursue more aggressively. And when the British did want to finish the job, the weather would intervene every time. In one notable battle, the cause would have likely ended had the wind not blown East for four straight days, which prevented the British from sending its superior naval forces into a flanking position and cutting off any lanes of retreat, which the rebels ended up needing after being beaten badly in the field of battle.

At the end of the book (and year), we get a vivid description of Washington's famous crossing of the Deleware, which gave the rebels a much-needed victory during the darkest hour. The battle in New Jersey wasn't pivotal for its outcome in positioning or strategy, but its effect on the army and the rest of the country changed the tide of the war, after a year full of setbacks had led to desertions and despair. After reading the book, you realize how lucky we were just to get that far.

As I said, I wish the book had gone deeper (and I will probably look for other books that do), but for its stated purpose, it was a good read. It'll hold you over until July 16.

Speaking of books, The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown, has now been on the NY Times Bestseller list for 109 weeks...over two years! As recently as last week it was number one, unheard of for a book that's been out that long. It's a juggernaut that is going to explode (as if it hasn't already) when the Ron Howard-directed film starring Tom Hanks and Ian McKellen comes out next summer. If you have somehow resisted the movement until now, just give in and read the book. Then read Angels and Demons, also by Dan Brown, which a lot of folks (including myself) think is the superior book.

Batman Begins (appropriate title)

There are some who actually enjoyed the first set of Batman movies. One frequent comment is that the first one was good, and they got progressively worse. I'd agree with the latter comment, but I never thought the starting point was very good to begin with.

The biggest problem with the first four, especially the Joel Schumacher episodes (catastrophes), was that they made the stories and characters so hokey. The villains in particular were flat-out awful. Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Uma Thurman, Arnold Schwarzenegger...BLECH. The worst bunch of overactors in this type of venue.


Batman Begins, on the other hand, has a solid origin story and a bunch of great actors who play it straight, and the results are awesome, not unlike X-Men. Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Rutger Hauer, Tom Wilkinson, Cillian Murphy...the film was full of heavy hitters with substantive parts, and it kept rolling them out impressively, one after the other.

Like the director and writer, who decided to disregard the previous four Batman movies when creating this one, I consider this the first Batman movie. It's so far superior to its predecessors, it's hard to believe it comes from the same mythology. It does a great job of showing Bruce Wayne's transformation into Batman and how the relationships, gadgets, traditions, etc., come into place.

The end also hints (okay, screams) at the upcoming sequel, with a reference to the Joker. I'll be in line for it opening night. If you haven't seen this first one, check it out this weekend. There is nothing big coming out until War of the Worlds in July, so now's the time.

I'll be headed down to LA today for the weekend to hang out with Alan, who is in town from Ohio, and the rest of the gang. If any of you down there haven't seen it yet, I'm up for another showing!

Moving from MV to...well, MV

After two great years with DanFran in our Mountain View Avalon apartment, a place filled with great memories of hearts, Game Cube, Stanford sports, fondue parties, and countless movies, I am once again on the move, but not very far. I am joining Andrew, Gerald, and Hubert at their place in Mountain View, just a mile down the road. DanFran found a great 3-bedroom house to buy, also just a mile or so from our current place, so he'll still be very much in the neighborhood.

It's going to be a blast living with these guys for the next year, filled with hearts, Game Cube, Stanford sports...well, you get the idea. We got a taste of it tonight, watching Game 7 of the Spurs/Pistons series, then playing three rounds of Hearts, each with a different set of rules. The first round was traditional rules (as used in SHHNHB), and I eeked out the win over Gerald, of all people, but then things got very interesting.

The second round was something we had never done before. We shuffled together two decks, but we only dealt out the top 52 cards. It was a BRUTAL game. After managing just four points through the first four hands, I got four queens of spades in just the next two hands, scoring 61 points on those hands. On one of those hands, I took the two queens of spades on the same trick! Hubert ended up winning handily over Andrew.

The third game had us counting each queen as 13 points, except for the queen of hearts. Gerald took 47 points on one hand, a record at the time, but Hubert got jealous and took 48 a couple of hands later. I ended up winning pretty easily as the other three just destroyed each other.

A fun night, and indicative of things to come, so visit often! I'm also willing to let anyone help me move. That's right, no limits whatsoever, so you are all eligible! Just show up at my current place around 4pm this Sunday, and we'll start hauling stuff over. You don't want to miss out!

Plumbing is back to normal

After four days of fever-inducing runs, I'm pleased to announce that my internal plumbing is finally happy again. A recap of events:

Lisa picks me up from SFO on Saturday morning, and I am already feeling ill (feverish for much of the flight), but it isn't until later that day that I first experience the symptom that will plague me for days to come. I feel a little better that night and manage to drag myself to Batman Begins with Annaka and Lisa, but then it's immediately back home to pick up where I left off.

Sunday is even worse. Pretty much a repeat of Saturday, except starting right from the morning and without any breaks in the action where I feel better. I'm not even up for a showing of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room with Andrew and Hubert, and I love that flick.

I have to leave for Scottsdale Monday morning, and I debate staying home, but I figure it can't last too much longer, so I tough it out and hop on a flight filled mostly with Googlers. Not wanting to embarrass myself, I silently take my window(!!!) seat, then pray. Not answered. As casually as I can muster, I ask to be let into the aisle so that I can use the bathroom, and in my haste to get the hell out of there, I knock over my ginger ale onto both my and my coworker's seats, as well as my shorts. After clearing up that mess in a painful clench, I finally make it out, only to have my path blocked by the drink cart, which at least is working the final row, but still. As I stand there waiting, still in a painful clench, I notice the guy (non-Googler) sitting in the aisle seat next to where I am standing staring at the big wet spot on my shorts, noticing the pain I'm in, and probably figuring, boy done gone and pissed his pants! Well, if these ladies don't hurry up with the drinks, I'm basically going to do just that, only worse.

I finally make it to Scottsdale without further incident and make it through the conference opening, but I skip out on the night's social events and head to the safety of my room.

Tuesday shows no signs of let-up, I miss most of the day's events, and I am finally prevailed upon that afternoon to go see a doctor right near the resort. It really does seem like it's never going to end, so I agree to go.

The doc's an old white dude (like most of the citizens of Scottsdale, seemingly), and when I tell him I was in Tokyo the previous week, he asks me if I had eaten "any uh 'dem sushis" while I was there. Why yes I had. Quite a bit, in fact. He scrunches his face, then says, "Well, that's what you get for eatin' 'dem sushis. Don't understood how you people can eat that disgusting stuff." Uh, thanks doc.

I do feel compelled to mention that when he said "you people," I'm pretty sure he was referring to any people who eat sushi, and not yelluhs in particular. He clearly wasn't a fan of the raw fish either way.

The guy decides to prescribe some basic Cipro, and I figure I'm on my way back to health, and that's that. No no. He also decides that due to the nature of my problem, plus the fact that I was recently out of the country, he wants me to provide some samples to make sure it's not something else. Ewww. I pick up the vials at the lab and head back to the hotel, absolutely dreading the task ahead.

I eat a mild dinner, then head up to my room and wait for the moment when I have to play scientist with my own $#!t. And wait. And wait.

Then it dawns on me that this is by far the longest I've held any kind of food in me without almost immediately having to run off to the bathroom to piss it out the wrong end since Saturday. Maybe a miracle has occurred! It's bedtime and still, nothing, so I go to sleep, hopeful...

The next morning, Wednesday, I finally go, and...normalcy! YES!!!

I call up the doc with the good news, and he tells me to forget the samples (thank the maker!) and hold off on the Cipro as well. Just continue to ride it out, stick to the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apples, and toast) for a couple of days, and give him a call if anything unusual happens. Well, it's now Wednesday night, and two times later, I think I can officially give the all clear. Whew.

Some said the whole thing just finally ran its course over four days, that I ended up not needing the visit to the doctor at all. But I know better. Right up to that doctor's visit, it was still really bad, with no improvement in sight (thus the visit in the first place). Afterwards, it was a case of mind over matter. All I had to hear was that I needed to provide a sample, and damn it, I made myself better, right then and there. Sickness is for the weak-minded.

Thanks to all for the well-wishes, especially your sentimental goo, Arballo (no pun intended).

Tomorrow morning I fly back to Mountain View, at which time I can finally write up a recap of the trip to Tokyo. If it's half as entertaining as the graphic aftermath, I'm sure you'll love it.

Back to the Blog

I've actually been back from Tokyo for about three days now, but on the way back home, I developed a nasty bug in my stomach, and it's left me weak and tired. I have occasional moments of energy, like right now, but it has mostly kept me bed-ridden, so I haven't had the chance to discuss the wonders of Tokyo, the amazing Batman Begins, or the incredible Phoenix heat, even at 10pm. Hopefully this subsides soon, or I'll be visiting the doc for some antibiotics when I get back. I'm not sure why I got on the plane to Phoenix in the first place.

Gina's still in Tokyo with her parents (to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude, by the way, for taking care of everything on the trip), and hopefully she's faring better than me. I haven't talked to her since my departure, but hopefully I was the only one afflicted by the bug.

More to come when my health returns...

Off to Tokyo!

I leave for Japan in the morning! I'll be meeting Gina and her parents for a week of vacation, and after all the travel I've been doing for work, it'll be great to finally take a trip for pleasure. Plus I haven't seen Gina in a month and a half! She had been buried in preparation for finals, so she's earned the chance to unwind and enjoy herself.


We will be spending the week in and around the bright lights of Tokyo, and then I have to head back to the States for a sales conference in Phoenix the following week. Gina and her parents will be staying in Japan that week to check out the rest of the country. I wish I could stay, but I have to save those vacation days for all my long weekends in Hawaii. :)

When we get back, we'll have plenty of pictures and stories to share. In the meantime, I've posted a lot of pictures from past trips on our Photos page, so feel free to check 'em out while this blog lies dormant.

New SHHNHB Website!

Now that SHHNHB is blowing up and here to stay, I've created a site dedicated to the league. Check out the Official Website of the SHHNHB!

You can track the ever-changing player rankings and stats, and find all the information you want on past events (just the one at the moment, but many more to come), including lineups, scorecards, photos, and recaps.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the first and latest SHHNHB, starting with the contenders:


The first semifinal table finished quickly, due to Lisa's bad luck, so we headed over to the second semifinal table, where Daniel was pulling a fast one on Annaka:


At the consolation table, Annaka and Lisa took Rob and Gerald for a ride, winning the consolation prize (nice hand, Gerald):


Though Rob did manage a moon shot late. He was in deep concentration here as he pulled in a trick full of hearts (on this hand a very good thing) and calculated his next move (and yes, we watched Catch Me If You Can in the background):


At the final table, Andrew made a dramatic move here, much to my dismay (see the grimace on my face), but Hubert had a smirk that said, "Knickerbocker, please, I got you covered." Daniel just wanted the game to end at this point:


In the end, I got the money and the SHHNHB trophy (that's right, there's a trophy), thanks in large part to Andrew's gaffe on the last hand. Yes Andrew, you'd have moved up to #3 in the rankings had you won. You also would have paid for a week of Yahoo! lunches and had the trophy sitting on your mantle. :) Instead, you can enjoy this picture (shout-out to my homey in HI):


Much to my delight, Hubert pored over the scorecard after the championship concluded, finding every trick where he took unnecessary hearts. It's the rational response of someone who lost by 2 stinkin' points. Andrew is nowhere to be found. He knows his mistake. Thanks, Andrew (deal was that you win the next one, right?):

New Stanford Stadium a reality!

Bye bye, Ol' Lady. Thanks for the memories.


But it's time to move on to smaller and better things. An $85 million plan for a new stadium was approved by the Board of Trustees on Monday, and we are finally privy to some models/drawings, below. The plan calls for a 51,000 seating capacity, removal of the track and fence, a steeper pitch to the stands, a wide concourse between the lower and upper levels (think SBC Park) and another one along the top level, modernized concessions and bathrooms, stadium seats with backs and armrests, a 6- to 8-foot drop from the stands to the field for better front-row sightlines, a new field-turf field, a second jumbotron for the other side of the stadium, and a four-story glass press box/VIP box. The alcohol ban is also being reconsidered. And paved walkways! No more mud!



To give you an idea of how much closer the fans will be to the action as a result of these changes, it's been said that the furthest endzone seat in the new stadium will be closer to the field than the closest endzone seat is now (think about that for a second). The demand for tickets, the crowd noise level, the comfort level for fans, and the game atmosphere for everyone will all improve dramatically. Compare to what we see today:


And perhaps the biggest news: with The Godfather John Arillaga behind the project, they are planning to start construction immediately after the 2005 season ends and have it completed before the 2006 season. Double and triple shifts will be employed heavily to make this happen. Oh baby!

Check out Stanford's official press release.

Quote of the Day

Google's personalized homepage has a Quote of the Day option, and I found today's quote particularly amusing:

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.
- Henry David Thoreau

It made me think of Jeremy's comment that blogging is hard, because you need to have an interesting life to blog. What would Thoreau think of today's bloggers? Vanity of vanities...

SHHNHB #1 Results

I will have a photo essay to post soon (courtesy of Andrew), but here's the text recap:

Semifinal #1 (race to 100, $5 to the winner)
018 - (1) Chang
054 - (5) Andrew
060 - (8) Gerald
102 - (4) Lisa

I somehow managed to shoot the moon on the very first hand, despite a hand that included the AH, QH, and 7H. Nobody wanted to take one for the team, so I was quickly up 26 and cruised the rest of the way with conservative play. Lisa had one of those games where nothing goes right, and she was at 70 within the first three hands, so it was basically a race for second place between Andrew and Gerald. They flip-flopped positions the last 5 hands! It really could have gone either way, and it looked like Gerald was going to pull off the improbable upset, but as you can see from the score, Andrew managed to eek it out, dumping the queen of spades on Gerald on the very last hand to ensure his spot in the finals.

Semifinal #2 (race to 100, $5 to the winner)
066 - (3) Hubert
070 - (7) Daniel
082 - (2) Annaka
120 - (6) Rob

Daniel looked destined for 100 quick points while Annaka and Hubert were cruising according to seed with Rob solidly in the mix, but then things changed dramatically as Daniel held steady for 6 straight hands, Annaka had a horrid hold hand that cost her 21 points, and Daniel shot the moon on the second-to-last hand. The very unlikely and shocking end result was Annaka getting eeked out of the final table by Daniel, with Hubert taking the win. Rob was the victim of some unfortunate misplays that required hands to be redone, and he went from in contention to over 100 in three hands. Sadly, the Cubs' curse extends to their fans as well.

Consolation (race to 200, $5 to the winner)
132 - (2) Annaka
132 - (4) Lisa
155 - (6) Rob
202 - (8) Gerald

Weird that all the even-numbered seeds ended up at this table. Lots of moon shots in this game. Two by Annaka, including one to open the round, one by Lisa in between Annaka's two shots, and one by Rob to put the game on the verge of completion and give him a bright spot on the evening. Gerald ended up topping 200 shortly thereafter, and Annaka and Lisa tied for the win and split the $5 prize money. Nice job of salvaging things for those two after disappointing semifinal results.

Championship (race to 200, $25 to the winner)
085 - (1) Chang
086 - (5) Andrew
087 - (3) Hubert
210 - (7) Daniel

Daniel did a nice job just to get to the finals (the lowest seed to make it), and we were grateful that he eliminated our toughest competition, but he took the bulk of the points early, and it quickly became clear that it was going to be a three-horse race. Hubert took the early lead, Andrew led in the middle, and I took control late, though we were always less than a moon shot apart, and usually much closer than that. We always did a good job of nailing the guy who managed to take a lead, so no one was ever able to pull away for more than a couple of hands. And there wasn't a single moon shot; we were just too damn responsible and wary of each other.

Nothing illustrates these two points better than the second-to-last hand, which was the best of the night and set up the dramatic finish on the next hand. I was feeling confident with a 19-point lead over Hubert, 24-point lead over Andrew, with Daniel just a queen of spades away from topping 200, when Hubert made a move to shoot the moon. Being the responsible guy that I am, I had passed him a heart that I could cover, so I wasn't worried. Out came the heart (jack), I played over (king), and that was that. Except that I ended up having to take the rest of the points, too (20 total)! Hubert had set me up to where I either had to let him shoot or take 20 points for myself! Freakin' brilliant, I must say (and aggravating!). Thankfully for me, Hubert took the other six points on that hand, so I was still able to cling to my now-slim lead.

So heading into the final hand, it was 82 for me, 86 for Andrew, 87 for Hubert, and 187 for Daniel. Very little margin for error, and I needed every last ounce of it. Andrew dumped the queen of spades early in the hopes of drilling me (a mistake in retrospect), but it landed on Daniel instead, meaning I would win the tournament if I could prevent Daniel from shooting while taking no more than three hearts myself. He had five hearts in his hand, including the ace through jack, but I had the 10 with four others (I was extremely fortunate to have the requisite coverage), so I stopped his shot on the fifth heart trick and ended up taking exactly three hearts to beat Andrew by an excruciating one point, Hubert by a no-less-excruciating two points.

I admit I had to get quite lucky to win. Over the long haul, the best players will consistently be in a position to win, but in any given game, certain irregularities can have a huge impact on the result. Annaka saw that in the semis, and in the case of the championship, there were 4 hold hands in the round, and I took a mere 10 points on those hands. By comparison, Hubert took 50, Andrew 38. Since the hold hand is where luck most comes into play, it's easy to conclude that I got lucky, especially when you take into account the winning margin. Eliminate the hold hands, and perhaps I finish no better than third. Or perhaps the other guys target me less, and things even out anyway. Regardless, the disparity in hold hand points was critical no matter how you look at it.

Despite Andrew's excellent performance (two second-place finishes to the top seed), he still didn't manage to earn any prize money. It will certainly help his player ranking, but the career earnings list to date now looks like this:

1. Chang - $30.00
2. Hubert - $5.00
3. Annaka - $2.50
3. Lisa - $2.50

After the tournament concluded, most of us commented that the experience was very intense, much moreso than in, say, a Texas Hold 'Em tournament, because the level of competition was so high, and every hand really mattered. There was never an opportunity to take a mental break, because there's no such thing as folding a bad hand in Hearts. 2-7 offsuit in Hold 'Em? No problem. Queen of spades with no coverage on a hold hand or after the pass? Eat it.

It didn't help matters that the championship was such a close, see-saw game, the closest ever in which I've played. And what a time for it. Even the consolation game ended in a tie! It was a great start to the SHHNHB, with the two founders/commisioners (Sea Hang and Heya) finishing top two, and the top four seeds all finishing in the money (how about that for validation of the rankings!). There were also plenty of moon shots, big upsets, ridiculous suit distributions, bone-headed plays...everything you'd expect when you put a bunch of crazy Hearts players in a room together for four hours. We definitely have to do this again. :)

1st Ever SHHNHB Tonight!

All right folks, things are sorting themselves out, and we are planning to hold the first ever SHHNHB at Andrew and Hubert's place tonight, Saturday, June 4, at 9pm.

Here are some of the main factors used in determining SHHNHB player rankings:

- Proximity to Mountain View
- Number of games played with the commissioners, Chang and Andrew
- Historical performance
- Recent performance

Jason was on the original invite list, but he has an old buddy in town, so it looks like he has to be scratched from the lineup. Dan Hill was also on the invite list, but we can't track him down. :( Call me, Dan! We'll get them in next time, along with Jeff when he gets back for the summer. We've found replacements, and this is the list of participants, by SHHNHB ranking:

1. Chang
2. Annaka
3. Hubert
4. Lisa
5. Andrew
6. Rob
7. Daniel Reyes
8. Gerald

Some comments on these rankings. Annaka and I have been the most consistently competitive over the longest period of time, so we assume the top two spots, with my recent wins giving me the edge over her. Hubert has proven his game by finishing among the top two on a regular basis, with the occasional win. For a while, Lisa was always the one ending games, and she was looking like the bottom seed, but then her summer started, and with a clear and rested mind unencumbered by exams, she won her last two outings in very impressive fashion, resulting in a huge jump in her rating. She has the hot hand and is now a darkhorse to win it all. Speaking of darkhorses, Andrew is the ultimate enigma, prone to shooting either the moon or his foot. He's a good candidate to finish last in the consolation game, but he could also win it all, as he's done in recent weeks. I doubt we'll see anything in between. Rob is an old vet from the Castano days, but pursuing a doctorate in Virginia hasn't done much for his SHHNHB ranking, so he starts at number 6. I wouldn't be surprised to see him work his way up. Daniel Reyes is a new member of the league, coming in at number 7. His ability is hard to quantify at this point, though on one memorable hand in a recent game (the first he ever played with us), he held the ace of spades until the last trick to eat the queen of spades and kill Hubert's moon shot, earning instant credibility and respect (and SHHNHB points). Later in the game, he shot the moon. So he clearly knows what he is doing and isn't out of place among this group of sharks. Last, and probably least, is Gerald, but you can never discount the value of beginner's luck. His inexperience could also be a boon for Andrew's shooting aspirations.

Based on these rankings, the two semifinal tables will be:

Table 1
Chang
Lisa
Andrew
Gerald

Table 2
Annaka
Hubert
Rob
Daniel

Rankings will be reevaluated before each tournament, as will the invite list.

Let the games begin. Good luck!

Sea Hang Heya National Hearts Bee!

In the spirit of finding the nation's best speller (an event that Russell captures nicely on his new blog), Andrew and I have decided to hold a tournament to discover the nation's best Hearts player! Announcing the first ever Sea Hang Heya National Hearts Bee! After a long and grueling process, we've managed to narrow the field down to the eight best Hearts players in America, and they're all right here in the Peninsula! Amazing, no? Must be something in the water.

The set-up for the Bee is as follows:

- Two semifinal tables of four, sorted by player rankings, play to 100
- $5 entry fee for each player
- Winner of each semifinal table wins $5
- Top two at each table advance to the championship table, play to 200
- Bottom two at each table play at the consolation table, play to 200
- Winner of the consolation table wins $5
- Winner of the championship table wins $25

The set-up puts a premium (read: money) on winning only, but to get to the championship table, second place counts, which could lead to some interesting semifinal tactics. You'll have to think twice before taking one "for the team."

The semifinal lineup, official rules, and tournament date will be announced shortly. Did you make the cut? Stay tuned...

New additions to the blog ring!

Blog fever has spread to SoCal and Ohio! Russell and Alan (Ruth's long-lost cousin) have joined the Blogger community, so give their sites a visit! And they don't bite, so don't hesitate to add comments, even if you don't know them that well (or at all). That's the purpose of the ring, after all.

It's a bit odd that they both chose the exact same template to use, but I suppose they're just getting rolling, so we'll likely see some differentiation very soon.

Any other holdouts out there, get on the blog wagon! If you already have a blog and are willing to share with the rest of us, let me know and I will add you to the ring. I think I should take Andrew down, since his oft-promised site is going the way of Longhorn...lots of promise, no punch. What's the delay, Ayeh? You're lucky I have that picture of you kissing Jeremy, or you'd be so gone.

Hmm, maybe I should mix up the racial organization of the blog ring. It looks like I'm stashing the white guys at the back of the bus...

By the way Ruth, Alan isn't really your long-lost cousin.

Bye Bye Ruth

It was Ruth's last day in the Bay Area, as once again an Asian girl from Stanford who is dating a Googler that she met in her sophomore year/his senior year of college is heading back to her home state (one with an inordinate amount of state pride) to become a doctor for old people, leaving him at Google pondering his next step in life, knowing only that it will eventually be with her. Eerie.

So we went to La Fondue to send her off, and the three best-looking guys at the table raised their chocolate-covered fruits in her honor:


And here's the entire group:


So now that Ruth is back in Texas (going to the same medical school as Jeremy, incidentally), I am left to ponder the following:

- Whose gullible soul will I now torment? (unfortunately, no one can match Ruth's gullibility)
- Who will help me embarrass Andrew and Hubert on the tennis courts? (perhaps my 4-year-old neighbor is willing to play, she'll do just fine)
- Who will be the low-hanging fruit in Hearts and Mario Party? (probably Andrew for both)

We will certainly miss you, Ruth, and we wish you the best of luck at the school that Jeremy has loved so much for three years now. I'm sure you'll love it just as much. :)

Oh, and don't worry about Hubert. He's in good hands. Trust me.