Star Fruits Surf Rider

Listening to:
Cornelius
FANTASMA

I spent the entire day at home, which unfortunately translated to a mostly idle body with not a whole lot going on. I'd been coming off of what I had considered to be a rather disappointing weekend, but as is often the case, a quiet moment to reflect and clarify led me to amend that opinion. I'd been letting things beyond my control bother me some - a rather disagreeable habit of mine - and as a result, I ended up traversing through the weekend at a pace that was only a few clicks beyond a mope. Again, the problems that I faced were largely a bevy of issues that were beyond my control, so in hindsight, it's quite possible to simply give a nonchalant shrug and move on with life. On the other hand, it's somewhat pointless to revel in these quaint moments of clarity once removed from the scene of the issue, as what are weekends for, if not for the moment? There's no real lesson to be had here, but it's becoming increasingly clear that I can't really enjoy myself when I'm concerned with what the people around me are or aren't doing. This particular revelatory jab has been peppering me at fair regularity over the past year or so, so it's practically become a running theme that I guess I'm too dense to effectively remedy. So...I guess I'll be a proper American and just ignore the issue at hand. Within context, I guess that can actually be a working solution.

In the grand scheme of things, I've actually got it pretty good right now. I was lucky enough to have an entire day to sit around and think, quite the rarity in a society where people clearly either lack the time or the capacity to do so.

Sean Sherk: dead

Well, not really, but BJ is still champ. There's something indubitably cool about the way BJ pounds out all his sworn enemies, licks the blood off his gloves, then invites them to train with him in Hawai'i. I don't know exactly when the turning point was, but he's become this stoic, indomitable fighting machine. Huerta and Florian have both been looking really good, but good enough to take the title off of Penn? I really don't know about that. Penn is probably a win away from reaching that Anderson Silva/Georges St. Pierre level of dominance within his division at this point. On the other hand, if Penn successfully defends his title again and jumps back to welterweight to challenge GSP...wow. I'd put down some serious money to see that fight again.

沖縄

Beautiful Okinawa, where I'm going to be spending the next chapter of my life.




Listening to:
夏川りみ
「涙そうそう」

Honestly, I was secretly hoping for mainland Japan, but I really can't complain about being assigned to the place that I've often called my second home. Okinawa is a long way from the bright lights of Tokyo, but I'm excited nonetheless. I know I can handle the Okinawan winters, so that certainly counts for something. If anything, I'm more worried about the ridiculously hot summers that they have over there. How odd is it that the dude from Hawai'i is worried about the summer heat and all the jellyfish in the water?

The 3 Little Pigs: the importance of perception & pants

Listening to:
Black Star
track: "Children's Story"

As I'm sure I've mentioned once or thrice, I work with kids during most of my waking hours. At our learning center, we often use short stories to test our students' comprehension, pronunciation, and vocabulary. For the most part, it's a very straightforward and time-tested teaching method, but that doesn't mean that there aren't hiccups along the way. The younger students will usually receive a reading packet consisting of various children's stories, all of which they are expected to read aloud and fully comprehend before advancing to the next learning level. Just as one might expect, all the tales enclosed within the packet are done in simple and innocent fashion...with the exception of one story: The Three Little Pigs. As presented in the packet, the story never fails to evoke a snicker or two out of yours truly. Now, I pride myself on being a total professional while on the clock, but there are certain things about the presentation of this story that are just plain wrong. Towards the end of the tale, during the climatic brick house scene, the Big Bad Wolf shows up at the third pig's house, totally devoid of any clothing below his waist. If that weren't bad enough, the wolf, with hands planted firmly on his hips, declares, "Open up pigs!" Naturally, the three pigs, wearing shocked and appalled expressions totally befitting of their situation, firmly refuse the wolf entry. Common logic would suggest that they were simply wary of being eaten by one of their natural predators, but with the contextual aid of the accompanying picture, one can only deduce that the pigs were clearly disgusted by the ambiguity of the wolf's demand that they "open up," not to mention his apparent disdain for pants.



It's probably one of the most unintentionally funny things that I've come across in years, but I'd managed to convince myself that the story was only bizarre because I'm a 24-year old with a somewhat less than pristine mind. Eventually, I found a way to sweep all those strange connotations under the rug, and I felt a bit more mature as a result. That was until today, when one of the 4-year olds changed my mind, and in emphatic fashion. This particular student once came to me with a joke of sorts, claiming that she had eaten a caterpillar for lunch and burped out a butterfly. I was legitimately amused by this, which unfortunately led to her revisiting the same joke every day for two weeks. I eventually had to put a stop to it, because her apparent comedic aspirations were becoming a huge distraction to her lessons. Anyway, I was reading the aforementioned story with this same little girl today, and we had the following exchange:

Me: What did the mama pig say?
Girl: Be careful of danger. Ohhhh, I'm scared of danger! It might sneak up on you!
Me: Right, danger. Like the wolf?
Girl: Yes, the wolf. He doesn't have any shorts.
Me: ...What?
Girl: The wolf doesn't wear any shorts.
Me: ...This is true.

I didn't know what else to say to that. I guess the reasoning is that really young pre-K children will simply overlook that type of detail, but that's a huge misconception. You can't give all three pigs a full set of gear and have the wolf running around in nothing but a t-shirt. Kids these days are way too perceptive. If the idea is to teach our children that all predators go on the prowl without a set of shorts, I'd say that that's a potentially hazardous bit of misinformation. On the other hand, if you see a dude huffing and puffing on the street without any jeans on, I guess it's likely that he's a sexual deviant of sorts. So there you go.

Philippe Starck/Fossil Veiled watch

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my Starck watch arrived this morning. I'd been meaning to get something a little icy for my wrist without going the jewelry route and buying a chain, so the Starck Veiled watch seemed like a sensible alternative. For better or worse, it turns out that the thing is more of a bracelet that tells time (but just barely) than an actual watch. As I'm liable to do on a semi-frequent basis, I've gone and purchased a product that's functional, but only marginally so. The thing looks swank though, and I'll probably wear it out on the weekends, so I guess I'm pretty happy with the product. Besides, if you really think about it, most people use their mobile phones as their primary means of telling time, so is buying a wrist watch strictly for looks really all that absurd? Either way, I think that I'll eventually have to buy something a little less conspicuous for work.

久々の蟹

今日の晩飯は久しぶりの蟹でした。当然ですけど、最斤食べてたマクドナルドよりずっとマシです。



やっぱりちょっと可愛そう。（笑）



蟹。真っ赤。ガキの頃は全然ダメだったんだけど、大学時代になんとなく食べれる用になりました。



とうふ入りの味噌スープ、野菜と焼きとん、蟹、白飯。おふくろの味はやっぱ和食だよな。

CP3's 61XTY

Chris Paul's 61 point game to commemorate the 61 years of his grandfather's life. It's an older piece from several years ago, but a truly incredible story in case anyone missed it.



A lot of people didn't know what the 61XTY on the heel of Chris Paul's shoe meant, so there you go.

Ramifications of a restless mind

Listening to:
YUI
I Loved Yesterday

I had one of those distinctly hollow weekends, where you do nothing but nap a lot and go through the motions of what you'd generally be found doing during your free time. I actually sat through an entire hour of Episode IV - A New Hope on Spike, fully intending to do something decidedly more engaging and meaningful, but never really coming up with anything concrete to tackle. I wouldn't call it depressing in the least, but it's a definite sign that I'll likely be treading water until August. More so now than at any other point in my life, I'm finding that I get incredibly restless when there's nothing to do, which is probably a good sign in the grand scheme of things. If there's one thing that college provided - at least for me - it was that feeling that you were on an established path to attain something substantial. After that? There's a lot less method and a curious sense of ambiguity to everything. It's exciting in a way, but certainly uncomfortable as well.

Early Dragon Ball image

Um, wow. An image of Goku from the upcoming Dragon Ball movie has been making the rounds.



That is all.

Happy (early) Mother's Day

You ever notice how the dads are the ones who always get the most worked up over Mother's Day? For the most part, I'm usually on point when it comes to remembering birthdays and the like, but my dad never fails to explicitly remind me about Mother's Day a week or so in advance. Outwardly, I think most moms give off the impression that they could give or take Mother's Day, but when their children interpret that selflessness as a free pass to treat the day like any old Sunday, it's inevitably the dads who hear about it.



So remember to give your mom the day off tomorrow, or at least give her a call. For both your parents' sake. ;-)

Mike D'Antoni reportedly coach of the Knicks

So says ESPN. A $24 million contract ain't no joke, so I don't think Mike will have any trouble putting food on the table for the foreseeable future. The big knock on D'Antoni was that he couldn't bring Phoenix a title, but in his defense, how many coaches have won titles over the past 15 years? Unless we're bringing in a Phil Jackson (9 rings) or a Greg Popovich (4 rings), there aren't too many coaches with a championship pedigree available. Larry Brown is in Charlotte, and I'm fairly certain that Rudy T should probably stay retired. Aside from the four mentioned above, no other coach has won a title in recent memory. Rick Carlisle would have been my ideal choice, but since he's officially the Mavericks coach now, the best available option is - oh boy - Avery Johnson. I actually think that he's a good coach, but there's just something inherently comical about the little guy. I hope Steve Kerr has something else up his sleeve.

Wanted: Ceramic Duck

There's this duck that I met a few months back while wandering the aisles of a thrift store.



I probably should have made the purchase back in January when I first came across the wondrous little character, but I've only just recently realized that I need a ceramic duck in my life. I'm thinking that I should probably go and see if he's still there tomorrow. The charming fellow has probably made some lucky buyer very happy by now, but you never know. If all goes well, perhaps I can be that lucky buyer.

07-08 Suns: Year in Review

About a week removed from the date of their elimination, a proper, rational review of the Suns year is in order. This season in a nutshell? Disappointing. The feeling in the air following the 2005 playoffs was optimism. We had lost to the eventual champs while playing most of the series without Joe Johnson, our second best playmaker, and Amare Stoudemire had run absolutely amok, averaging a disgusting 37 ppg against the Spurs. At season's end, the Suns had the youngest, fastest, most exciting core in the league, and with the world's best point guard in Steve Nash running the show, the crystal ball showed nothing but promise.

Unfortunately, the offseason was a mild disaster, as Joe Johnson left for Atlanta, Quentin Richardson was traded for Kurt Thomas, and microfracture surgery knocked Amare Stoudemire off the roster. In the end, the 05-06 Suns overachieved mightily, returning to the WCF behind unexpected career seasons from Boris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa, Tim Thomas, and Raja Bell, not to mention the usual brilliance of Steve Nash and Shawn Marion. In hindsight, that season was Phoenix's best chance at the title. Had Raja Bell not gone down with a freak calf injury in game 1 against the Mavericks, the Suns could very likely have been in the Finals against Miami, a matchup nightmare for Shaq and the Heat. Despite the loss to Dallas, it was tough not to be proud of how far that undermanned, undersized team had crawled, and at season's end, the feeling was that a returning Stoudemire would be enough to push the team over the top in 2007.

As luck would have it, the infamous game 5 suspensions of Amare and Diaw meant that the Suns would again falter against their nemesis, the San Antonio Spurs. Would the Suns have won with STAT and Diaw in the lineup? Perhaps, perhaps not. But again, the fact was that the Suns were without an integral cog at the time of their elimination, inevitably bringing fans optimism heading into the 07-08 season. That optimism was warranted, but with the West in a bit of a delirious arms race in the aftermath of the Lakers winning the Pau Gasol lottery, the Suns made the decision to trade Shawn Marion for Shaquille O'Neal. The reasoning was sound: Shaq would provide the Suns with someone who could guard Tim Duncan one on one (and that he did), as well as a post presence to take some pressure off of Nash (he did - to a certain extent). So where did they go wrong? As is the annual trend, a starter - Grant Hill - was rendered a non-factor by an untimely injury, the Suns never quite recovered from a double OT game 1 loss, and quite simply, the team was outcoached.

Now, as we await the start of the 08-09 year, there's considerably less to be excited about. We've gone from being one of the youngest teams in the league to one of the oldest in a span of 4 seasons, our MVP has probably one All-Star season left, if that, and one of our centerpieces is the type of plodding powerhouse that we used to exploit with our run & gun style. In short, we're old, quite conventional, and the window is closing fast. The comparisons to the Webber era Kings are actually looking less disputable by the day. On the flip side, the Suns still have one of the most talented rosters in the league, and depending on the health of the old timers - Nash, Hill, Shaq - they certainly have a puncher's chance at next season's title...but gone are days when we could dream dynasty.

The squad:

Mike D'Antoni - Looks to be on his way out, and I gotta admit, I'm gonna miss him. I won't miss the apparent disregard for defense (not entirely true, but perception is king), the timeouts that always seemed to come two or three plays too late, or least of all, the painfully short rotations. But I certainly will miss that whole fearless gunslinger mentality. Say what you will, but D'Antoni's vision helped to make the NBA truly exciting again. Three teams averaged 110 points per game this season, and though Golden State has officially unseated us as the premier fastbreaking team in the league, it's been kind of cool to see more and more teams scoring in the hundreds over the past few years. You better believe that Q, Nate Robinson and Jamal Crawford are salivating at the chance to play for D'Antoni out in NY, and I don't doubt that Ben Gordon and Luol Deng are crossing their fingers over in Chi as well. I'll be honest here. Only one team can win it all, and if that's not going to be your team, you could do a lot worse than having a really, really exciting squad to watch and cheer for. In spite of his flaws, D'Antoni certainly provided that. I'm all for a coaching change if it'll bring the team a title, but I'm not convinced that there's a coach of that caliber available.

Steve Nash - Had an impeccable shooting season - 50% from the field, 47% from 3, and 90% from the stripe. People say he's on the decline, but not too many players can get you points/assists double-doubles on a nightly basis. Nash remains the team's most important player, and defensive shortcomings aside, it's tough to find too much flaw with Steve. He looked a little out of sync with the offense going through Boris so much late in the SA series, but that goes to show just how much Nash had been carrying this team over the years.

Raja Bell - A bunch of nagging injuries hurt his production some, but as usual, Raja was one of guys bringing it night in and night out. His grit is irreplaceable on a team often maligned for being too soft. I'd kill to have a healthy season from this guy.

Grant Hill - Played above and beyond expectations. Logged over 30 minutes a night, provided the type of playmaking from the wing not seen since JJ left, took charges (probably too many), and is STILL one of the best finishers in the league in the open court. No joke. At about $2 million a year, he remains arguably the league's biggest bargain, but his durability remains an issue. The 70 regular season games were nice, but he was bothered by a groin injury during the most important time of the year. If nothing else, he was probably the season's biggest bright spot for this team.

Amare Stoudemire - The good first: his jumper is almost automatic at this point, and when he's tuned in, he's a beast on the offensive end. The bad: he can't stay out of foul trouble, consistently gets lost on defense, and still has no discernible post game. He seemed to take issue with D'Antoni consistently going to Boris in the post during games 4 and 5, but he really needs to develop some sort of a back to the basket game if he wants to be the unstoppable offensive force that he seems to think he his. I'm going to go ahead and predict that he averages 27+ next season based on the strength of his jumper and his ability to finish alone, but he could literally be unstoppable with a jump hook. It's that simple. What's crazy is that he'd be one of the greatest ever if he learned how to play solid defense.

Shaquille O'Neal - Can't complain. He did what he was brought in to do, played hard, and minus the vertical, looked vintage in brief spurts. I don't buy into this notion that trading for Shaq was a huge disaster, because it's not so much what he did or didn't provide, it's what Shawn Marion was taking away from the team that hurt. And if you've seen the Matrix play, what he provided was a little bit of everything. Shaq's hefty contract does cast a bit of a shadow over the whole situation, but there's no reason not to be optimistic over what Shaq could potentially do once he gets an actual training camp under his belt. Having the Diesel on our side was kind of fun for a change - especially for Suns fans who remember Uncle Cliffy and Rodney Rogers trying in vain to guard him - but being on the receiving end of Hack-a-Shaq was absolutely painful.

Leandro Barbosa - A bit of a disappointing year for Barbs. His 3-point shot wasn't quite the same this year, and for whatever reason, he didn't look as comfortable as he had during the past two seasons. His flaws are well documented - tunnel vision, not a natural point guard, can be a bit of a chucker, not the highest basketball IQ - but Barbosa is arguably the team's most explosive scorer when his shot is falling. Hopefully he can bounce back next season, but rumblings are that his reasonable contract could make him trade bait.

Boris Diaw - Another mostly disappointing year, capped off by a pair of spectacular games against the Spurs, where he averaged 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists. His post-up game remains crisp, and in terms of raw ability, Diaw is still one of the most unique, versatile talents in the league. His problem is that he tends to disappear for long (LONG) stretches, and for better or worse, he seems to play his best ball when he has the rock in his hands. Given that Amare wants to take the bulk of the shots on offense, maximizing both talents while they're in the same lineup seems somewhat unlikely. Unfortunately, that reduces Boris to being a $9 million role player, somewhat of a shame because we've all seen what he can do when he's featured in the offense.

The rest - Brian Skinner provided the best beard in the league, and last I checked, he was second to only Marcus Camby in blocks per 48 minutes. I'd love to have him back, because he clearly deserved more playing time than he got...Gordan Giricek was a pleasant surprise. We got him for his shooting, but he provided a little somethin' off the dribble too, which was nice. Love to have him back too, but like Skinner, Gordan probably played himself into a nicer contract elsewhere...DJ Strawberry and Alando Tucker, the rookies. DJ provided a lot of intangibles and could be a real solid player once he learns how to shoot. Alando we didn't get to see much of, but he has the athletic ability and the tools to be good scorer. With D'Antoni likely gone, the young cats will get some run, which is probably what I'm most looking forward too...Sean Marks and Eric Piatkowski. Sean can really shoot for a big guy. Eric can really shoot. Neither will be impact players, but for what it's worth, I like them both as long as they stay on the bench.

Not a real great season for me, but I'll still be watching. I'm praying that we get CP3's Hornets against the Lakers, because that's a series that I could really get into. And of course, I'm pulling for Detroit out East.

99 Problems (but my kicks ain't one)

Meet the latest additions to the family.



The Air Jordan CP and the Abington SB. I didn't get the CP to commemorate Chris Paul's 30 and 12 on the Spurs yesterday, but I guess it's kind of nice how that worked out. The shoe itself is sick though, the best non-numbered Jordan brand signature sneaker to come out in ages. Some people seem to like the Melos better, but I honestly have no clue why. As far as the Abingtons go, they simply warm my heart, but I guess that I've already made that abundantly clear. The shoe is part of the "Four Guardians" series, based upon the Chinese/Japanese guardian animals. I've got one more pair of shoes on my radar in May, but other than that one pair, I vow to stay away from footwear this month.

Scarlett Johansson off the market

Looks like Scarlett Johansson is set to tie the knot with Ryan Reynolds. I'd say that he's overachieving, but the guy clearly has something going for him. I mean, it's a small miracle that his career survived Van Wilder as far as I'm concerned. Seriously, Van Wilder? From there, he grows muscles in places that most people don't have places (thanks King), gets cast in his reported dream role as Deadpool, and to top it all off, he lands Scarlett Johansson. Lucky dude. But good for him, I guess. Scarlett also has some big things on the horizon, most notably her Tom Waits cover album, Anywhere I Lay My Head. I was planning on checking it out anyway, but with David Andrew Sitek (TV on the Radio) and Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) reportedly involved, it could actually be pretty darn good.

Iron Man

Iron Man
(spoilers below)

Word is that Iron Man brought in over $100 million (!?) this weekend alone, and for good reason. Robert Downey Jr. is absolutely perfect in the role of Tony Stark, the brilliant, sharp tongued, and incredibly flawed multi-billionaire. Without delving too deep into the plot, the movie is well paced, funny without giving of that impression that it's trying way too hard (ala Fantastic Four), and is a Transformers-esque visual treat, certainly deserving of its unofficial title as the summer's first blockbuster. As a result, Iron Man, much like Spider-Man before it, is accessible to the casual viewers who may not have picked up a comic book in their lives. But that's not to say that Iron Man will disappoint the comic book geeks; Downey plays Stark better than anyone could have imagined, the film's Stan Lee cameo is definitely the funniest to date, and we even get overt mentions of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers. As advertised, the Iron Man suit itself is spectacular, and it wouldn't be a stretch to say that the film could successfully turn Iron Man into a household name, a distinction traditionally reserved for the Supermans and Spider-Mans of the comic book world. Thankfully, a trilogy looks to be in the works, and with Terence Howard in a War Machine suit and more of Sam Jackson as Nick Fury in the cards, things are looking good for Marvel's latest film franchise.

Zoom Air Abington SB

Had to do it. These just HURT ME SOUL. My digital camera is dead, so these pictures will have to do for now.

ケツ毛ちょろっと（木村カエラ）

Listening to:
木村カエラ
＋１

I've had Kimura Kaela's new record on loop since my copy came in last Saturday. At first, I thought Scratch was clearly the better record, but +1 is just all kinds of riffy, breezy goodness. We're only four months in, but it's definitely my favorite record of the year up until this point. If there's one thing that bothers me about the release, it's the album cover. The packaging itself is pretty deluxe, but the cover image just makes Kaela look...greasy. Not to say that I'm an expert on human complexion or flash photography, but Kaela's looking really shiny here, and it ain't the jewelry. Seriously, what committee elected to go with that shot of all shots? The album is really great though, so I guess that's all that matters. I always end up going back to her「happiness!!!」video from a few years ago, back when I thought that I may or may not have been falling in love with her (not really saying a whole lot, as friends who know me understand that I fall for famous women with fair regularity).


You gotta admit that「happiness!!!」is probably one of the most aptly entitled songs that you've ever heard. Kaela's adorable here, but there's nothing more attractive than a woman who keeps her shoe game tight - and Kaela has certainly put out the sickest Dunks that I've ever seen.