10 July 2008
09 May 2005
Who killed the Kennedys...
"... they shouted out 'who killed the Kennedys?' when after all it was you and me..."
02 May 2005
26 April 2005
20 April 2005
Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet & Alexander Pope
How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
--Alexander Pope
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
--Alexander Pope
05 October 2004
Ichiro breaks Sissler's record...
I've been to some very big sporting events in my life. I attended the Monday night football game at ASU stadium which turned out to be Steve Young's last professional game. In 1990 I watched BYU defeat #1 ranked, defending national champions Miami, FL in the first game of the season. I've been to several Fiesta Bowls including 1987’s undefeated #1Miami (with Vinny Testaverde at quarterback) vs. undefeated #2 Penn State for the national championship. I attended the gold-medal soccer game of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where 135,000 fans cheered as Spain defeated Poland 3-1 in front of the home crowd. But none of those compare to what I witnessed last Friday night.
My sister and I went to see the Mariners play the Rangers. By that time neither team had a chance at making it to the post-season, but that wasn't on our minds. Ichiro Suzuki was on the brink of breaking an 84-year-old hitting record: Most hits in a single season.
Back in 1920, George Sissler set the mark with 257 hits. On Thursday of last week, Ichiro made his 256th hit of the season, and we knew that Friday would most likely be the night that record would fall. Just to hedge our bets, we had tickets to Friday AND Saturday's games.
First pitch was scheduled for 7:05, and I was anticipating the game all day. Neither one of us could leave work too early, but around 5:15 Esther called to say she was ready to go. She works in another building across the MS campus, and I needed to stop off at my apartment to pick up my photo equipment. I had earlier planned on taking both my digital camera, and my 35mm. I left my building without a care in the world about time… However… EVERYONE at Microsoft seemed to be leaving at the exact same time. It took me 20 minutes just to get across campus to my apartment! I wasn’t worried about getting to the game, but I had told Esther I would be there in about 15 minutes, and my cell phone battery had just died! I grabbed my cameras, checked the film, checked the batteries, and zoomed over to Esther's building. No problem, it was just after 6:00 when we hit the freeway.
Traffic was a bit brutal, but we got to the stadium, parked and started heading for gates just a few minutes after 7:00. Knowing Ichiro is the Mariner's leadoff hitter we knew we needed to get inside, but weren't worried because Texas would bat first. Alas, as we were approaching the stadium a gigantic roar went up, and fireworks soared over the stadium! We had missed him tying the record! My exact expression (literally) at the time was:
We justified it with, "Hey, he's just done something that someone else has already done... no biggy!" And as we said this, we quickened our pace. We made it inside and proceeded directly to our seats. Esther buys a season ticket package with friends and has good seats. They are down the 3rd base line about two-thirds of the way between third base and where the leftfielder plays.
Cooperstown had flown in special MLB baseballs to be used when Ichiro was at bat. There was a rep from the Hall of Fame sitting in the seat right next to the bat-boy’s stool, and they would hand him the special balls just before Ichiro came to bat. He would then give them to the umpire, and collect them after each at bat, and give them back to the Cooperstown agent. It was a nutty little ritual that happened before every one of his at-bats.
As fate would have it, Ichiro was the lead off batter in the third inning. While the pitcher took his warm-up throws, Ichiro was in the on-deck circle doing his stretches. He walked to the plate, and the crowd rose to its feet. Flashbulbs started going off and continued throughout the next 10 minutes. Esther had the digital camera in "movie" mode, and I was zooming in with my 35mm. Ichiro did his patented stance holding the bat in his right hand, his arm outstretched, the bat pointing at the sky, and touched his right shoulder with his left hand.
The first pitch was a ball. A momentary gulp escaped from the crowd, and then the roar began again. Ichiro fouled off the next two pitches, and each time the stadium went wild as he swung the bat, then let out a collective "ohhhhhhhh!" The next two pitches were balls.
Now the count is full. EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the stadium is standing up. Even the entire Texas team is lined up against the rail of their dugout; Buck Showalter among them. Esther and I aren’t just standing up, we’re standing ON our seats to be able to see better, and to get the best camera angles.
Ichiro is in his stance as the pitcher takes the signal, and starts his windup. I have my camera up to my eye, but have both eyes open so that I can see the whole field. Here comes the pitch, Ichiro swings, and I press the shutter. The ball clinks off the bat, squirts up the middle past second base and out into center field.
The crowd completely erupted! Everyone was screaming, and fireworks went off. The first baseman shook Ichiro’s hand, and walked away as the Mariners cleared the bench to congratulate him. The scoreboard lit up with this congrats message:
After the initial high-fives and hand shakes, Ichiro walked over to the stands just past the Mariner's dugout and shook the hand of Sissler's daughter, and his other family members that were in attendance. The whole time the crowd was screaming, and flashbulbs were going off like crazy. After several minutes, the teams tried to get started again, but the crowd wasn't having any of it. We yelled even louder, and all Ichiro could do was stand at first and wave his hat:
Finally the game resumed. Interestingly enough, that hit was the first of 7 consecutive hits in the inning, which happens to be a Mariner's record.
Later in the game, we were treated to hit number 259, and the crowd again went crazy! Without a doubt, this was the greatest sporting event that I have ever witnessed. Hopefully some of the pictures I took with my 35mm will turn out so that I can frame one with my ticket stub.
My sister and I went to see the Mariners play the Rangers. By that time neither team had a chance at making it to the post-season, but that wasn't on our minds. Ichiro Suzuki was on the brink of breaking an 84-year-old hitting record: Most hits in a single season.
Back in 1920, George Sissler set the mark with 257 hits. On Thursday of last week, Ichiro made his 256th hit of the season, and we knew that Friday would most likely be the night that record would fall. Just to hedge our bets, we had tickets to Friday AND Saturday's games.
First pitch was scheduled for 7:05, and I was anticipating the game all day. Neither one of us could leave work too early, but around 5:15 Esther called to say she was ready to go. She works in another building across the MS campus, and I needed to stop off at my apartment to pick up my photo equipment. I had earlier planned on taking both my digital camera, and my 35mm. I left my building without a care in the world about time… However… EVERYONE at Microsoft seemed to be leaving at the exact same time. It took me 20 minutes just to get across campus to my apartment! I wasn’t worried about getting to the game, but I had told Esther I would be there in about 15 minutes, and my cell phone battery had just died! I grabbed my cameras, checked the film, checked the batteries, and zoomed over to Esther's building. No problem, it was just after 6:00 when we hit the freeway.
Traffic was a bit brutal, but we got to the stadium, parked and started heading for gates just a few minutes after 7:00. Knowing Ichiro is the Mariner's leadoff hitter we knew we needed to get inside, but weren't worried because Texas would bat first. Alas, as we were approaching the stadium a gigantic roar went up, and fireworks soared over the stadium! We had missed him tying the record! My exact expression (literally) at the time was:
We justified it with, "Hey, he's just done something that someone else has already done... no biggy!" And as we said this, we quickened our pace. We made it inside and proceeded directly to our seats. Esther buys a season ticket package with friends and has good seats. They are down the 3rd base line about two-thirds of the way between third base and where the leftfielder plays.
Cooperstown had flown in special MLB baseballs to be used when Ichiro was at bat. There was a rep from the Hall of Fame sitting in the seat right next to the bat-boy’s stool, and they would hand him the special balls just before Ichiro came to bat. He would then give them to the umpire, and collect them after each at bat, and give them back to the Cooperstown agent. It was a nutty little ritual that happened before every one of his at-bats.
As fate would have it, Ichiro was the lead off batter in the third inning. While the pitcher took his warm-up throws, Ichiro was in the on-deck circle doing his stretches. He walked to the plate, and the crowd rose to its feet. Flashbulbs started going off and continued throughout the next 10 minutes. Esther had the digital camera in "movie" mode, and I was zooming in with my 35mm. Ichiro did his patented stance holding the bat in his right hand, his arm outstretched, the bat pointing at the sky, and touched his right shoulder with his left hand.
The first pitch was a ball. A momentary gulp escaped from the crowd, and then the roar began again. Ichiro fouled off the next two pitches, and each time the stadium went wild as he swung the bat, then let out a collective "ohhhhhhhh!" The next two pitches were balls.
Now the count is full. EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the stadium is standing up. Even the entire Texas team is lined up against the rail of their dugout; Buck Showalter among them. Esther and I aren’t just standing up, we’re standing ON our seats to be able to see better, and to get the best camera angles.
Ichiro is in his stance as the pitcher takes the signal, and starts his windup. I have my camera up to my eye, but have both eyes open so that I can see the whole field. Here comes the pitch, Ichiro swings, and I press the shutter. The ball clinks off the bat, squirts up the middle past second base and out into center field.
The crowd completely erupted! Everyone was screaming, and fireworks went off. The first baseman shook Ichiro’s hand, and walked away as the Mariners cleared the bench to congratulate him. The scoreboard lit up with this congrats message:
After the initial high-fives and hand shakes, Ichiro walked over to the stands just past the Mariner's dugout and shook the hand of Sissler's daughter, and his other family members that were in attendance. The whole time the crowd was screaming, and flashbulbs were going off like crazy. After several minutes, the teams tried to get started again, but the crowd wasn't having any of it. We yelled even louder, and all Ichiro could do was stand at first and wave his hat:
Finally the game resumed. Interestingly enough, that hit was the first of 7 consecutive hits in the inning, which happens to be a Mariner's record.
Later in the game, we were treated to hit number 259, and the crowd again went crazy! Without a doubt, this was the greatest sporting event that I have ever witnessed. Hopefully some of the pictures I took with my 35mm will turn out so that I can frame one with my ticket stub.
28 September 2004
Book Update...
Some of you have asked, or commented about the book I've been working on, so here's a little update...
First of all, it's becoming a lot more work than I thought/wanted it to be. The main reason for that is my own mindset. I keep coming up with new and different ways to tell the story, or ways to get the right/important things across to the reader. Consequently, it's taking more time than originally planned for.
Second, I have been very busy in the last month, with a new job and a move to another state. So I've done only minimal work on the book. This may or may not actually be a good thing for me. I was getting a little burned out on it...
So in conclusion, I'm hoping to have a draft for Hal and the family to "proofread" sometime in the next 4 - 6 weeks. What happens after that is unplanned at this time.
First of all, it's becoming a lot more work than I thought/wanted it to be. The main reason for that is my own mindset. I keep coming up with new and different ways to tell the story, or ways to get the right/important things across to the reader. Consequently, it's taking more time than originally planned for.
Second, I have been very busy in the last month, with a new job and a move to another state. So I've done only minimal work on the book. This may or may not actually be a good thing for me. I was getting a little burned out on it...
So in conclusion, I'm hoping to have a draft for Hal and the family to "proofread" sometime in the next 4 - 6 weeks. What happens after that is unplanned at this time.
Self-Serve Gasoline...
A funny thing happened to me in Oregon on Saturday night, as I was driving from San Jose to Seattle. There was a Oregon Ducks football game that night, and I made it into the traffic jam as the game was letting out. I needed to get gas, so I pulled into a busy gas station just off the freeway. There were a bunch of cars, and a couple of girls in "safety" vests running around. I didn't pay much attention to them other than to notice that they were washing the windshields on the cars, and looked like maybe doing some other stuff. But because the station was so busy, I was more worried about finding an open pump. One finally opened up and I pulled in. I got out of the car and opened my wallet to get out my Credit Card, when one of the girls ran up to me. "Do you want to fill it up?" she asked me. "I sort of gave her a perturbed look (but not too mean) and said, "Yeah." I moved toward the payment thing on the pump but she was standing directly in front of it, and in a stance that said, I'm not moving. She told me to slide my card, and I made it look really awkward for me to do so (which it was) so that she would get the hell OUT OF THE WAY! I then turned and took off the gas cap, turned back to grab the handle of the pump, just as she grabbed the handle. So it was like a split second of tug-of-war going on. In my mind I was like, "What the donnybrook is your problem??" And then a sort of light-bulb went off in her head, after glancing at my plates, and she said, "Um… Sir… there's no 'self-serve' in Oregon…" -- long AWKWARD silence -- "Oh… well, go ahead then… sorry about that."
02 September 2004
Political Quotes...
So I've been going thru all my piles and piles of crap in preparation for my move, and I found a folder with a bunch of quotes and articles... here are two that I think are noteworthy:
"The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and again that they have the management skills of celery. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy." -- Dave Barry
"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakining the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brother hood of man by encouraging calss hatred. You cannot help the poor by destryong the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more that you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves." -- Abraham Lincoln
"The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and again that they have the management skills of celery. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy." -- Dave Barry
"You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakining the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brother hood of man by encouraging calss hatred. You cannot help the poor by destryong the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more that you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves." -- Abraham Lincoln
14 August 2004
O. Henry
I love a short story! I love to read for a few minutes and be given plot, character, hero, nemesis, protagonist, antagonist, climax, metaphor, simile... Whatever!
And the best of the best, when it comes to short stories is O. Henry. End of discussion. Not accepting any debate on this one. He is the master! His diction is beyond compare, his 'twisted endings' are famous, if not infamous and always based in irony or circumstance, and his volume of work is quite noted. Please, go out today, and read one of his stories.
I have well over 300 books in my personal library, and my copy of his complete works is one of my most treasured, and most used.
As a starter, "The Gift of the Magi" is a classic, but if I may be so bold, I would suggest "Memoirs of a Yellow Dog." Have fun.
And the best of the best, when it comes to short stories is O. Henry. End of discussion. Not accepting any debate on this one. He is the master! His diction is beyond compare, his 'twisted endings' are famous, if not infamous and always based in irony or circumstance, and his volume of work is quite noted. Please, go out today, and read one of his stories.
I have well over 300 books in my personal library, and my copy of his complete works is one of my most treasured, and most used.
As a starter, "The Gift of the Magi" is a classic, but if I may be so bold, I would suggest "Memoirs of a Yellow Dog." Have fun.
12 August 2004
POLITICAL MUMBO-JUMBO
Okay... so I know this is all a bunch of hooey, and both sides do it... BUT...
A couple of years ago, Tom Ridge or Ashcroft (or someone) said that neighbors should form groups and watch each other to prevent terrorist attacks. The liberals TOTALLY lambasted them for this idea. They even went so far as to use words like McCarthyism, and Nazi SS, and Communism, breech of civil rights, unconstitutional, blah blah blah!
Last week, I read in a campaign speech Kerry said that citizens should watch their neighbors and neighborhoods to help prevent terrorists from infiltrating.
Oh so NOW it's a good idea?
Whenever this crap happens (and it happens a lot) I wonder just how stupid we citizens are. We hear what we want to hear. If our man has a good idea, the opposition freaks out. And if their man has a good idea, we freak out. It's all crap.
I just wonder how long it can go on... there must be a revolution in our near future.
A couple of years ago, Tom Ridge or Ashcroft (or someone) said that neighbors should form groups and watch each other to prevent terrorist attacks. The liberals TOTALLY lambasted them for this idea. They even went so far as to use words like McCarthyism, and Nazi SS, and Communism, breech of civil rights, unconstitutional, blah blah blah!
Last week, I read in a campaign speech Kerry said that citizens should watch their neighbors and neighborhoods to help prevent terrorists from infiltrating.
Oh so NOW it's a good idea?
Whenever this crap happens (and it happens a lot) I wonder just how stupid we citizens are. We hear what we want to hear. If our man has a good idea, the opposition freaks out. And if their man has a good idea, we freak out. It's all crap.
I just wonder how long it can go on... there must be a revolution in our near future.
UPCOMING TRAVEL...
Tuesday the 17th I fly into Seattle for interviews at Microsoft. They will take place all day Wednesday. I then fly back to San Jose on Thursday morning. Thursday night I'm on a plane to Las Vegas (yeah, baby!) to celebrate my birthday (Friday) and Sonya's birthday (Wednesday). Esther, Sonya, and I will relax in Las Vegas over the weekend. I will then fly back to San Jose on Monday morning. Hopefully there will be a job offer waiting...
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