Mesmerizing

As if the live webcam following the construction of the new Stanford Stadium wasn't mesmerizing enough, they come out with the 3D simulation today (click to play around):



This is the inside view from the tunnel (formerly the opening of the bowl):



It's pretty amazing to see the suites and club seats. Something to strive for, guys. Our very own suite in the pressbox. Someday.

Eighty Freakin' One!!!

What the...? How the...? Damn!!! Eighty freakin' one!!!

Broncos, Baby!

Go Broncos... enough said!


P.S. For those of you who know Chang's extraordinary talent of completing a Rubik's cube with his legs behind his head, I think his feat was finally surpassed by someone completing the Rubik's cube (w/o the legs behind the head thing) in 11.13 seconds! Some people have way too much time on their hands...

Lost Theories

Any of you Lostaways out there read Michael Crichton's book Prey? It is a thriller about nanotechnology, and the "villain" of the story is a dust cloud, a swarm of microscopic machines, which can disrupt machinery, invade and infect living things, and even work in a coordinated fashion to perform the tasks and take the lifelike form of larger objects or beings, including humans with which it has come in contact. Like, say, an abducted black kid that talks backwards, perhaps. Or a dead father who's missing from his casket. Or a lethal jungle creature. Or if it wants, just a black cloud of dust.



Scientists control these micro-machines, but eventually (and inevitably) they begin to evolve and adapt and take on a life of their own. They attack humans and eat their flesh, and they learn to reproduce. As Malcolm would say, "Uhh, life finds a way."

The book wasn't that great, but it got me thinking...you have:

A mysterious black dust cloud

Strange appearances by people who couldn't possibly appear

Experiments on the island

Quarantined hatches

People getting sick

All boats or planes in sight crashing into the island

This certainly wouldn't come close to explaining everything happening on the island. I still believe there are spiritual and/or psychological forces at play. Too many weird coincidences for there not to be. But as far as the island's "monster" is concerned, I'm going with nanotechnology.

Can Wie do it?

Sony Open begins today! Nice weather, but it's a bit windy (20 mph winds). Can she make the cut?

Views of the Waialae Golf Course from the bottom of my hill with the Kahala Mandarin Hotel and Diamond Head in the background:

Happy New Year 2006

Happy New Year everyone! I can't believe another year has passed already...
I was supposed to fly to LA to meet up with Chang and his family on the 26th, but unfortunately, I came down with the flu on Christmas night. I was pretty much flat on my back for 2 days, so I missed hanging out with Chang and friends at their Secret Santa party. I also thought I missed going to Disneyland with Jeremy and Tiffany, but, lucky for me, Disneyland actually sold out on the 28th and turned them away. Unbelievable!

I ended up flying in on the 28th, only to have my bag stuck in SFO (I flew there first and then caught a connecting flight to LAX). Sigh. To make a long story short, United delievered my bag the next night after claiming to have delievered it that morning. I hate those darn voice activated phone calls!

Disneyland was awesome. It was crowded, what with vacationers, Rose Bowlers, and Rose Paraders. Chang was disappointed that we didn't spot Reggie Bush. Thank goodness for Fast Pass! We made a beeline for Space Mountain which already had a 1.5 hour wait even though the park had just opened. By the time we used the pass at 10:45 A.M., the next Fast Pass time read 9 P.M.! The ride was a lot faster than I remembered, but other than that, it didn't seem any different. I was more impressed with the Buzzlight Year ride and the Haunted Mansion which was one of two rides decorated for the holidays (the other was Small World).
Man look at the score!








All in all, we hit all the major rides, including the Pooh one, much to Jeremy's and my excitement :) Another highlight was the food. Jeremy was longing for a Mickey ice-cream sandwich, so he devoured one after eating a churro. The turkey legs were also delicious (pretty authentic Texan, according to the Dallas peeps).



Mickey Mouse, before and after being eaten.



Later that night, Chang and I hung out with Russ, Joanne, and Lo. And we drove to the Bay Area the next day. I definitely wasn't used to the cold weather, and the storm didn't help. But it was good to see Annaka, Lisa, and Andrew and hang out on New Year's Eve. We also got to see the skinny Randy and his girlfriend for dinner and the Chronicles of Narnia.




Good times! Thanks to Chang's parents for taking care of me and to all the people we saw who took the time to hang out with us! Hopefully the next time I'm in the area, we can hang out more, and I can see those I missed on this past trip.