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So it's been a while since I've posted anything substantial here, mostly because I've had a hard time motivating myself to write. Why?

Well, for one thing, my fantasy football team stinks. I'm 0-2 in They Speak English in What?, and I have the worst running backs in the league. It's no fun writing predictions and recaps when you suck, and right now, I suck. I can't even root for Gina's team. She's the other one at 0-2. :(

My Broncos started the season with a loss to the lowly Dolphins, though they salvaged an ugly win against the Chargers. Monday Night Football this week is Kansas City at Denver! I have to track down Matt Lai.

Stanford football...ugh. All I gotta say is, we should have gone with Norm Chow.

My left elbow and shoulder are really sore, so I've been forced into taking a week off from playing golf. Booty.

But things are getting fun again!

Tuesday was my first Google softball game. The fields are amazing. Well-groomed, professional...a great place to play, unlike my weekend league, where the infield resembles the surface of the moon, and the grass is dry as wheat.

We had a large turnout, so I had to rotate in and out, but I made a couple of solid plays at shortstop and third, and I scored a couple of runs, even though my batting was pathetic. Hubert's swing looked like a golfer's, but he managed a couple of runs as well, and he ran his pitching record in our two leagues to 3-0! If it weren't for a couple of brutal errors by his defense, he probably would have given up only 2 or 3 runs. We dominated!

*****

Wednesday was of course the premiere of Lost, three days after it snagged a well-deserved Emmy for best drama! Gina had been tormenting me for a week with threats of hatch disclosure, so it was a relief to finally watch the episode.


SPOILER ALERT: So many new questions! Who the @!&% is the guy in the hatch? How long has he been there? What is he doing there? Why does it say "Quarantine" on the inside of the hatch?

And what is his relationship to those damn numbers? Andrew pointed out that you can see him typing the numbers on his keyboard right before hitting the Execute button, and they are also imprinted on his drug bottles. My contribution to this easter egg hunt was the 108 (the sum of the numbers) graffitied on the wall leading to his room . And when he meets Jack in the flashback, they sit down in section 4 of the stadium. Anything we missed?

Other finds: The time of death of the guy in the SUV was 8:15. And his last name was the same as Shannon's.

I'm guessing we won't get much on the new guy in next week's episode, as the focus will probably shift back to the guys on the raft. What was the deal with Walt dripping wet in the jungle whispering jibberish? Yikes, creeped me out.

There's a lot of pressure on the show now to live up to all the buzz it's generated with the DVD's and the Emmy. Ratings for this week's episode were higher than for any episode last season, including the finale, which shows that its audience is still growing. The total number of viewers Wednesday was 48,151,623. HUGE! Okay, not really, but the real ratings share was a 23. Eerie.

*****

Thursday was the best work day ever, as my group took an all-day trip to Napa Valley for some wine tasting and mixing. Tough life. I'll have some pictures to share soon.

*****

Lunch at Google today was great. The Food Network was on campus to tape a segment on our end-of-summer barbeque for Bobby Flay's BBQ show! I don't know if he came, but I saw the camera crew rolling around. We had a bunch of different options, including kalbi, huli huli chicken, shrimp scampi, grilled pork skewers...so much tasty meat! They even had lumpia!

Not much in store this weekend. Still on my golf hiatus, bye week in softball, all the housemates out of town...what to do?

It was a moral victory

We almost beat Davis. We should take some pride in that. After all, they almost beat Portland State.

Cute

I was looking for pictures to include on my syphilis paper (*don't ask*), so I opened up Google Images and found this cute pic:



Today, I, along with some of my med school friends and Robyn, helped out at a car wash at an elementary school to raise money for the Hurricane Katrina victims, which was a lot of fun! Okay, back to the books!

P.S. Ugh, just heard about the Stanford football game...I'm going to get a lot of crap from my Pac-10 friends...

What's in the darn hatch?

What's in the hatch? What happened to Walt?

These questions were answered to an extent tonight at the world premiere of Lost here in little ol' Hawaii. It was shown on Waikiki Beach a week before the actual television premiere.

I rounded up some Lost fans, Dean, his wife Suzanne, Sherrie, and some of Sherrie's high school friends to come watch it with me and, of course, scream and take pictures of the stars who were attending it.

The weather forecast called for rain throughout the day, and, unfortunately, it was right. But we still arrived at 3:30 P.M. for the showing at 7:30 P.M. Only in Hawaii and the other Pacific Islands can it rain at night and still be warm.

At any rate, I digress. Some of the stars of the show were going to walk a soggy red carpet on the beach before the premiere, so we actually got up within a couple feet of it (not too bad, considering there were a lot of press lined up)! Supposedly, they were filming at different locations, so only some could come. It was a good group that braved the weather: Jack, Charlie, Shannon, Michael, Sayid, and Jin. Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) actually stood about 5 feet away from me. A group of girls next to me were crazy about Dominic Monaghan, so they kept screaming at him to come by us. Even though I couldn't hear much after awhile, I have to credit them for getting him to stop right in front of me! Sherrie and I actually poked him in the back! He seemed like a super cool guy who made the most effort out of all the celebrities to come by the fans.

Our mayor then gave a speech, then some of the producers (?) introduced the season 2 premiere. And we settled back to watch it on a big screen without any commercials during the show.

Overall, it was an awesome experience!

Oh, so should I spill the beans? Nah, you'll just have to watch the premiere with the rest of the nation next week Wednesday :)

BTW, my dad told me tonight that he delivers flowers off and on to the cast members' homes! Lucky delivery guys...

Our view

Dean holding down the fort while us girls scream over the celebrities

Sayid's back

Jin and Michael

Shannon and Michelle Rodriguez

Sawyer

Jack

Charlie!

Casa ADD

Lost: Season One arrived from Amazon on Friday, and the housemates are already hooked. It's actually a relief, because after I had built up the show so much for so long, it had a lot to live up to. Now they can understand how I got hooked in the first place. What they can't understand is how I could tolerate watching the show over a period of eight months, commercials and all, waiting for weeks on end to get answers to those infernal questions (or not). They get the luxury of instant gratification, the bast'ds. We are already 18 episodes in (which should tell you everything you need to know about the addictive nature of the show), and we'll probably finish the last six within the next couple of days. If Monday Night Football sucks, we may just finish them tonight. They're like Lay's potato chips: there are too many cliffhangers to watch just one. Who are the others? Why do they want Claire's baby? What is up with Rousseau? What is in the hatch? And what is the deal with those creepy numbers?

If you haven't gotten hooked already, get the DVD's and catch up! You still have a week and a half until the start of season two (9/21), which is plenty of time to get through season one. It's taken us only three days to get three-quarters of the way through. We're all addicts!

So it seems like this is a running theme with our house. Lost is just one example of how, after living with each other for...wow, has it only been two months?...we've become addicts of each other's activities. Some others:

• Golf - I had pretty much given up on the game out of frustration, and Gerald hadn't really played much before, but Andrew bought some equipment and wanted to take up the game, so he and Hubert pushed us to the driving range and course, and now we're all hooked.
  
  This Friday we went to a 9-hole par-29 course (two par 4's) in Cupertino, and Saturday we had our second lesson with Joe DeBode. Joe filled my head with so many things that I know it'll be some time before it all clicks together, but at least I am having fun and have hope for a better swing someday. We've got another tee time on Wednesday.
  
  Seeds:
  1. Hubert
  2. Chang
  3. Andrew
  4. Gerald
  
  
• Softball - Andrew had been playing in a private league for a while, and one week he invited me and Hubert to play when they were short of players. Now we're all regulars.
  
  Yesterday we had our first game of the season, and it was my first opportunity to use the badass new bat that Eddy got me from Easton (you know, the one that can pass through matter). We won, and the three of us were all big contributors on offense and defense. Hubert was the MVP, pitching us to victory, getting on base twice, and accounting for a third of the other team's outs (two putouts, including one nice cover of first, two assists, and two strikeouts). I did okay at shortstop (one putout, two assists, and one error if the scorer is generous), and I hit two ropes and came around to score once. I might have done even better had I not gone running off of second base on a pop fly with only one out. Groan. Andrew made a lot of nice plays in left field (three putouts) and also had two hits and two RBI's (shouldn't it be R'sBI?).
  
  Hubert has also been pitching for the Google team, and I'll be joining him this upcoming season. We even got jersies!
  
  Seeds:
  1. Andrew
  2. Hubert
  3. Chang
  
  
• Working out - I've always been streaky with my workouts, and I don't think anyone else in the house really ever worked out before, but now all four of us have gone over a month without missing a workout, and the penalty jar is still empty. Looks like the workout chart is working!
  
  Seeds:
  1. Chang
  2. Gerald
  3. Andrew
  4. Hubert
  
  
• Bomberman - Often done in conjunction with the above, it was all the rage early on, but it's pretty much died down now. Video games have really taken a back seat in our house, probably because there's no money at stake, unlike with, say...
  
  Seeds:
  1. Chang
  2. Hubert
  3. Gerald
  4. Andrew
  
  
• Online poker - So I am actually not a participant in this one, though I do enjoy watching the other three, who all play regularly (to put it mildly, in Gerald's case). Actually, sometimes I don't enjoy watching, because the bad beats against them are so aggravating to watch. But when they win, it can be thrilling.
  
  The madness started about three weeks ago when Hubert and I watched Andrew play a sit and go (a small no-limit Texas Hold'Em tournament of usually 9 players, with buy-ins of $5 or $15 and the top three winning money). Afterwards, Hubert decided to start up. He finished in the money in his first sit and go, and he's continued to do well ever since. Gerald had given up on it a while back, but after seeing these two play, he decided to get started again, too! Now, they play every night, and they watch each other play at the same time. Three windows, one for their own game, and one each for the other two, just to keep tabs on how they are doing. It's insanity.
  
  The top highlights so far: Gerald finishing 34th in a 1400-person tournament, and being large stack deep into it before fading. Gerald and Andrew finishing one-two in a 27-person tournament.
  
  Seeds:
  1. Hubert
  2. Andrew
  3. Gerald
  
  
• Hearts - I think the SHHNHB page says it all. Andrew and Gerald never really played before, and Hubert's game had gone dormant before ditching the video games one night to play with me, DanHill, and Annaka. Now we have a web page, trophy, and monthly tournaments dedicated to the game. Next tournament coming soon!
  
  Seeds:
  1. Hubert
  2. Chang
  3. Andrew
  4. Gerald
  
  
• Fantasy sports - This pre-dates my move-in, but it started with my football league, then the Survivor Hoops league, which was the brainchild of myself and Andrew. Last month, the four housemates probably combined to do about 15 football drafts (is that conservative?). It's an illness. I'll post updates on They Speak English in What? tomorrow.
  
  Seeds:
  1. Hubert
  2. Andrew
  3. Chang
  4. Gerald

This list doesn't even include our forays into darts, tennis, poker (of the in-person variety), indoor hoops, volleyball, etc. There have been so many things, that we've seriously discussed having a house decathlon, but now I think we've finally settled into our core hobbies. Golf is definitely here to stay. It doesn't look like online poker is going anywhere, unfortunately. And the seasonal things like hearts, softball, and fantasy sports will always be around. Plus no one wants to be the first one to miss a workout, and we're all getting so ripped, so that's not going away, either.

And then of course there's blogging. If only Andrew would get his going...

Week one predictions

Before each weekend, I will post my predictions on the outcomes of each game in They Speak English in What? At the end of the season, we will see what my overall record is. I encourage you to post your own predictions in the comments, and I'll keep a running tally for everyone.

Porkchops Taste Good vs. Loco Moco [matchup]

Hmm, fried pig or ground beef with egg, gravy, and onions?

I'm going with the pig over the beef, for one main reason: Indianapolis at Baltimore. Everyone dreads going up against Manning, but if you have to face him (and everyone but Hubert has to do it twice), you want to do it when he's going up against the best defense in the league. If they can hold him to "just" 250 yards and 2 TD's, I'll be thrilled. That was about the average output for Delhomme last year, and a wash at QB would be a huge win for me.

Three things to watch for:
1. Deuce is going up against the Carolina D, and Burleson is going up against the Tampa D, and what do you know, those are my two D's! Shut 'em down, boys!

2. Lewis vs. Heap. Who does Bilick go to in the redzone?

3. LaMont's first start with the Raiders. Time to find out if this guy's for real.

Winner: Porkchops Taste Good


Bacon Tastes Good vs. G Dogz [matchup]

Hmm, fried pig or dog? And what's with everyone picking food items as team names?

I'm going with the dog...what, you expected something different from a Korean? This looks to be a very good matchup, so I'll go with the pick that doesn't get me in the doghouse (no pun intended).

Three things to watch for:
1. Is Vick any good for fantasy?

2. Jones vs. Witten. Who does Parcells go to in the redzone? Dillon vs. Watson. Who does Belichick go to in the endzone?

3. How much will Brees miss Gates in week one?

Winner: G Dogz


Rapscallions vs. Triple 20 [matchup]

Andrew is looking to turn things around 180 degrees, but that would be three triple 20's. This is Jason Kidd-esque. Even sixty degrees is better than what we saw from him last year, but at least this week, it won't be enough.

Three things to watch for:
1. J.J. vs. Barber. Which team gets the lead and establishes the run?

2. Cooley and Portis. Do the Redskins even make it into the redzone?

3. Holt vs. Bruce. Who finds the endzone? Andrew better hope it's Holt, because Dan also has Bulger. Double point potential there.

Winner: Rapscallions


Confused vs. Whoosh [matchup]

Jeremy is going for his third straight playoff appearance, while Lisa is looking for her first. Jeremy's team still looks superior, particularly at the flex, and he's the pick here.

Three things to watch for:
1. How does Culpepper do without Moss? How does Moss do without Culpepper?

2. How does Walker do after holding out and having a public fight with his quarterback? How does McNabb do after his #1 WR held out and had a public fight with him?

3. Baltimore D. Can they stop Manning? Please?

Winner: Whoosh

A new Viola

We have a new Viola, and her name is Stephanie. No, she is not a Shakespearean stage actress. She got married to Eddy!

The ceremony/reception was a casual outdoor affair along the coast in Long Beach. I had the privilege of being one of Eddy's groomsmen, with Russell by his side as best man and Alan front and center officiating, a la Joey!

Alan's not one to crave the spotlight, but he handled himself well for someone with 160 people staring at him wondering what he was doing up there, but he showed that he was where he belonged. I know he was nervous going in, but he'd been planning his words for weeks, and you could see where that planning went with his opening remarks. It was a very nice, personal touch having Alan officiate, and he came through.



Eddy and Stephanie gave beautiful self-written vows, and at the precise moment when Eddy got choked up and had to compose himself, a gust of coastal wind blew beach sand into my eyes, causing them to tear. Damn beach sand. Ahem.

With the ceremony finished, the groom and his men celebrated with drinks before heading out for the reception.



Russell kicked things off with his best man speech, and though he had been sand-bagging about his readiness, his speech was well-prepared and somehow managed to avoid most of the embarrassing Eddy stories that were at his disposal. He did manage to fit in Eddy's attempt in college to wolf down 50 hotdogs, no buns (he did 27, not bad considering he only managed 33 chicken nuggets in a follow-up challenge), but he otherwise showed great restraint. Especially for him.



Gina was able to fly in thanks to the long holiday weekend, and it was our first time together since Independence Day! Here she is with the bride and groom, sporting their Fujikami Florist leis.



It was a fantastic day. To Eddy and Stephanie, congratulations and best wishes, and thanks for letting us share in the big event. Hope Aruba was fun!

Check out Russell's blog for much more color on this weekend's main event!