Found!

After a looooong hiatus, Lost is finally back! Don't miss the season 4 premier this Thursday night at 9pm! If you're on Google Talk, I'll have a group chat running. Rob, I think you should wait until midnight to watch with us in the Pacific timezone. :)

One big negative, they're calling this a two-hour premier, which got me really excited, but in reality it's just a one-hour recap followed by the one-hour premier. Bastids.

Already Better Than Mitch

The answer to Stanford's point guard woes? With all those hours of training, I doubt he has much time to do his homework.

The Next Michael AND Lance

Joker's Dead

It was shocking to hear the news that Heath Ledger had died. He didn't seem the type destined for a premature demise. In contrast, Brad Renfro's passing just a few days earlier was almost expected.

Call me cold, but the first thought that popped into my head upon hearing the news was, had he finished filming his scenes for Dark Knight?. If not, then this was a tragedy that impacted me. Otherwise, it was just a tragedy.

From the news reports, it appears that he had in fact completed his work on the film, so it won't have to rely on digital trickery like The Crow or Gladiator. Thankful for small victories. Of course, now I'll need to start over with my casting of MacGyver: The Movie. He had the perfect RDA mullet.

The Chang Book Club

One of the best things about winter break has been the chance to finally read for fun. I am usually a big fan of non-fiction, and I have a couple of good ones on my to-read list, but after four months of reading cases (with four more upcoming), I opted for more escapist fare.

When Oprah announces the latest entry in her book club, it immediately becomes a best seller. As it happens, the inaugural entry in my book club is already a best seller, so it won't allow me to test my impact vis-à-vis Oprah's. It was recommended to me by Alan, and now I recommend it to you.

The book is called Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. Everyone knows the story of Christ's birth and death, but Lamb fills the 30-year gap in between, telling us the story of Christ's adolescence and young adulthood through the eyes of his best friend Biff. It's the ultimate coming-of-age story, and it's funny as... you know.

It starts with whimsical snippets of a young Christ healing lizards, having his face show up on bread, etc., but quickly moves onto the heart of the story, his journey to find the three wise men to learn how to become the Messiah, in which he and Biff travel throughout Asia, exploring Buddhism and Hinduism, mastering kung fu and the Kama Sutra (Biff only, of course), and meeting the abominable snowman.

At first glance, Biff appears to be the classic second fiddle, perceived as a mere tag-along by everyone he encounters. His love for Mary Magdalene goes unrequited because of her love for Christ (also unrequited, contrary to The Da Vinci Code). But despite the constant slights that come with being the Messiah's best bud, he's unwaveringly loyal to Christ, and not the least bit insecure. And as we discover, he's truly ahead of his time, being the first to theorize about gravity, evolution, and the roundness of Earth. He also invents sarcasm.

As they return from their journey and the Passion draws near, the tone of the book becomes more serious, but there's still plenty of humor in how Christ finds his disciples, chooses who will lead his church, and causes bunnies to be associated with Easter.

I'm not a religious person, so I'm not in a good position to say whether or not this book is blasphemous, but I thought the subject was handled respectfully. I kept expecting it to be offensive, but it never really got there. Maybe I was too busy laughing to notice.

I Was Warm For A While

But now I'm cold again.

Gina and I just spent four straight weeks together for the first time since 2004. First she spent two weeks in the Bay Area for residency interviews. We'll find out what happens with that on match day in March. Meanwhile I was finishing up with finals, which were heinous but also signaled the start of winter break, my first in eight years!

While Gina was out here, we met up with our Cardinal buddies to celebrate her birthday and catch up with old friends.



We also met up with Alan, who drove up during his break, and Sherrie and Priscilla, who were also in town for residency interviews. Hope you guys match out here!





Then it was onto Hawaii for two weeks, which was fantastic because it was freezing out here! It was our first Christmas together, which meant numerous gatherings with Gina's family...



...high school friends...



...and med school friends.



Heck, we were even meeting up with my law school friends out there. Well, friend.



New Year's Eve of course meant fireworks, and lots of 'em. Gina's cousins brought an arsenal, a literal truckload:



We initially set them off one at a time on the ground, but pretty soon we were setting them up on the ladder, setting them off four at a time, and doing whatever else we could to ratchet up the noise and the spectacle, culminating with a big explosion timed to midnight. The illegal aerials throughout the sky added to the effect.



The big finale...





New Year's also meant the expiration of our damned Verizon contract, which meant I could finally switch to AT&T and get my iPhone! My holiday gift to myself (Gina got a Blackberry).

We also took care of some wedding business and took our engagement photos, only three and a half years after getting engaged. Picked out my tux, figured out our invitations, and updated the website with a blog, list of things to do while you're in town, and interactive map. Check it out!

And of course, I got in many trips to Zippy's, Curry House, and Waiola's. Now I'm back in the Bay Area, where my apartment is empty, the food is boring, and the temperature is about half what it was in Hawaii. And the second semester is looming. Back to reality.

Happy 2008!