philly

Philly Fan Ride

I saw this, err, beaut, a couple nights ago while taking a late night walk around town. Peeped it on 16th & Spruce Sts just north of Monk's.

I guess the "Whatever it takes" pertains to the lenghts the owner of this vehicle would go to in order to show [I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say] his support for the squad. I say "his" because in all my twenty-five years, I have yet to come across a woman irrational enough to do this to her car. I've come across far too many men who have done similar, but not as splashy, a thing to their property.

I didn't walk around to the other side to see if there were also 76ers and Phillies decals. I think it would've been too much for my little heart.

What a Game

Blown calls yes. But both teams benefitted at different times. What a fucking fourth quarter.

And Vanderjagt straight up shanked it. I played soccer for twelve years, the last six at a very competitive level travelling up and down the east coast. I know kicking. That he just shanked it.

Damn Giants

As I wait for my photos to be uploaded to my flickr, I will say this.

The Giants played like shit. Yes, their LB core has been crippled. Yes it was young Eli's very first playoff game. Yes it was against an underrated Carolina Panthers team. But they just played like shit. Blech.

On South America

Law school blogger, world traveller, college roommate and friend AK has posted a year in review on South America. Stuff he's learned through the years simply being politically aware and sharpened in his seven or so months in South America last year. It's a nice crib sheet to read. Me, I don't pretend to sound like I know what the fuck I'm talking about when it comes to matters in South America, but now, after reading his post, I can.

So who wants to discuss El Chino's jailterm and the possible consequences it will have on Argentina's Copa Mundial chances?

New Year's Day 2006

New Year's Day 2006 was much better than the preceding New Year's Eve 2006. I awoke sans hangover [I had puked everything up at about 3a] and my buddies from college were in town and not dead after the night before! We sat around and watched the Mummers mumm strut and were mesmerized/distracted by that guy's horrible horrible sweater that looked sort of like a Magic Eye gone wrong, horribly wrong. We guessed that it was a present that he had to wear for some reason - on air.

I took the ~3p R7 with AK to Trenton. I gave him my December TransPass and we both rode for free, sweet. It was the first time I was awake while taking that ride, I usually sleep the whole way through, but we were both awake and talking, catching up after a torturous first semester of law school for AK in Chitown. We passed the stop at Bristol and just north of the station was a gorgeously [manmade?] landscaped pond. There was a picturesque gazeebo jutting into the pond. I wanna get back there and take some photos. At Trenton, we hopped on the NJT where AK got off after a couple stops to meet his pops. I promptly went to sleep for the rest of the trip.

Penn Station [NYC] to Port Authority on the A/C/E and then a walk through the foot tunnel and hopped on the 7 to Grand Central where I caught the next train to my aunt/uncle's house in Ardsley. I was the last one to arrive at the family gathering. My mom, aunt, grandma and neice were all decked out in hanbok, traditional Korean garb, very colorful. We quickly went into sehbeh, a New Year's Day ceremony where the younger generation[s] pay their respects to their elders and the elders part some words of wisdom [and some cash!].

Then it was dinnertime where I caught up with my cousin who is a teacher in NYC and living with her good childhood friend in some gigantic apartment in the Upper West Side. How they afford it, I don't know. Somehow, the conversation lead to cooking and she was saying how she doesn't cook much. I asked if the cookbook I got her for Christmas [she asked for it] was just going to sit and gather dust, she promised no and that it was one of her resolutions to cook more. Eggcellent.

After grub, I'm not quite sure how it started, my nephew Justin started to demonstrate some of the Tae Kwon Do he's been learning. He's really quite good. His kicks are snappy and he's well balanced. And it's not just me, a martial arts movie junkie saying this, my brother in law Marc, a fourth degree black belt in Karate and an instructor, said so too.

Some photos from the night here on flickr.

Division Champion Giants

Forgot to post that the New York football Giants are the NFC East division champs. Wanna buy some gear?

Panthers. 1p. Sunday. Giants Stadium.

Giants on Tonight?!

I knew that the Giants would be playing on Saturdays for their final two games of the year, but it didn't register that their final game would be on New Year's Eve with an 8p start time! Good god. There better be a TV, with cable, with the GMen on wherever I'm at in six hours. Win and they clinch the division!

Madrid Olympics 2012?

Reading this BBC News story on how apparently, a voting error gave the 2012 Olympic games to London instead of ending up as an initial tie to be followed up by a direct head-to-head runoff [which the article alleges Madrid would've won] reminded me of something from not too long ago.

Allegedly, the girl who was my first kiss back in middle school was mistakenly admitted to a nice school in D.C. A bunch of people were surprised that she got in, she wasn't the brightest of the bunch. And then came out the story that they had mistakenly admitted her because of one reason or another, perhaps lots of people with her last name, or lots of people from our zip code applying and getting in... But that was the first thing I thought of when I saw this story and I chuckled.

Yankees Get Damon?

When I saw this on the front page of the NY Times this morning, I let out a laugh, turned to Lady and read to her that the Yankees just signed the pride of the Sawks, Jesus himself.

My thirty-second analysis of this deal was that Jesus sold out for more money and that's really it. He was offered $44M over four years by the Sawks, but Steinbrenner ponied up $52M over four years. His loyalty to the Sawks was bought as far as I'm concerned.

I'm not a baseball fan [haven't been since the strike - I was an impressionable teenager at the time], but I am a NYer, raised initially in Flushing at that, and my one of my earliest memories is watching the 1986 World Series at my aunt's house. I vividly recall imitating the Teufel Shuffle whenever he was up. So, seeing Sawks fans was imprinted into my mind at an early age. It's basically all I've known. Never liked Boston in general either, I've taken several trips there too, so it's not just a one-day bad showing in Beantown that left a sour taste. But who knows, I haven't been there in six years or so, I may like it more now.

Now, my question is, will Big Stein make Jesus cut his hair? Jesus! I think Big Stein thinkgs he's bigger than Jesus so yes. Sorry Jesus. Maybe he'll shave his head for charity again?

Oh the agony of a so called "life" that Sawks fans lead.

And for the record, I was never an evil Yankees fan, I was a Mets fan in my youth. I modeled my pitching game around Doc Gooden. Two-seam and four-seam fastball and a heavy over-hand curveball, none of that three-quarter shit. Which is probably why I have a fucked up shoulder/rotator cuff now.

Bob Costas on the News

Bob Costas was on The Colbert Report Tuesday night talking sports. But then Colbert ended the show with an actual serious question. It was about when Bob Costas on Larry King. Paraphrased:

Stephen: You declined to guest host for Larry King because they wanted to do segments on the BTK Killer and Natalee Holloway. What does it say about the news when a sports caster is telling CNN what's news.
Bob: More or less speaks for itself, doesn't it.

The piece Colbert did [Formidable Opponent] on steroids was rediculous. Oh man. I was cackling out loud.