Tomorrow Is a New Day

After this long period of down-time, I begin my venture into the corporate world. A bit nerve racking, as I want to do well and start to build contacts for the future (I'm going to need them). Thankfully I don't have to wear a suit and battle the Texas heat (I'm a sweaty guy). The first day of a new job always yields to needless anxiety. Of course I want to be on time, of course I don't want to get lost, and of course I want to get along with my colleagues. So, Ill be updating on how that goes sometime in the near future.

On a side-note, new poll up if you care to vote.

The Extended Layoff

Haven't really felt like blogging much lately. Not that there's not a lot to talk about, but I guess I've been feeling the need for down-time. Anyway, since school has been out, it's been semi-eventful. More gym time, caught a few shows, and have been spending time relaxing. Also, a bit of a disappointment as grades were returned. But that's life, right? Work starts Tuesday, so I'm doing my best to enjoy what's left of this little layoff. Anyway, here's life in pictures.

Grand Theft Auto IV

I purchased this as a reward for enduring finals (although now I don't feel that I deserved it quite so much). I wasn't so excited about it once I actually bought it, but now I've put a few dozen hours into it and I've been enjoying it thoroughly. A lot of thought was put into this game and it's pretty sick.

Radiohead




The Pavillion in the Woodlands is a pretty decent venue for a larger-sized venue. It looks like we were further away then we were, although we were pretty far away. Great show. Played all of In Rainbows, and mixed in some of the older stuff. Probably a better set list than two years ago in Berkeley.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club




This was the second of two shows that we saw them play (the first one had my phone dying, hence no crappy quality pictures to post). They played two awesome shows, although the Austin show was crowded with douche bags. Really, really annoying douche bags. The second show was in Houston and was free (!). Jack Daniels put on a free show, and even gave out two free drink tickets, as well as $3 you-call-its. Just a good night, except Butters (Paul) tried to give the lead-singer advice, post-show and made us all look like clowns.

Saturday was Mani's birthday whiffle ball championship game, and unfortunately we (the Red Sox) lost to the D-Backs (read: D-BAGS). But it was all in good fun, and lets not forget who actually won the world series. I also lost the much hyped up beer-off, another unfortunate moment in an ever-disappointing month that began, literally, with a car accident. But I'm eager to put it behind me, and it's almost over.

Standing Firm

I stand firm that horse racing should be abolished. Now, an anonymous commenter (I know who you are fellow Asian) accused me of being a PETA-Kool Aid drinker. Couldn't be further from the truth. I love animals, yes, but do I value them more than human life? No. Do I think that PETA's tactics resemble intelligent planning? No. Do I think that race horse owners are terrible people? Not necessarily. Unfortunately in this polarized world, people feel the need to categorize others. So if you're not in favor of horse racing because it seems kind of cruel, you're a PETA-loving hippie. I guess people forget that there is a gray area. And then stories like these drop.

So Big Brown's trainer, winner of the Kentucky derby, admits to giving the horse steroids on the 15th of every month. Um, wait, what? So now you're telling me that we're injecting animals with steroids to get a competitive advantage? And don't even start by validating this practice because there is a lot of money on the line. There is a thing called integrity, and clearly horse racing is lacking this. If it is so bad to make illegal modifications to a race car to get an advantage, clearly there is an issue with injecting a horse with steroids. A horse that does not have a choice. It's one thing for an athlete to decide to inject him or herself with performance enhancing drugs, but to force it upon an animal who did not chose to be a race horse is absolutely despicable and a moral outrage.

So again I say, it has to end.

And saying that horses like to run so what's the big deal about horse racing is a five cent argument at best. Horses may naturally run, but lets not forget they are being whipped all for entertainment purposes. By no means am I saying that the whipping is what makes it a cruel sport, but rather the fact that this is not natural if you're forcing the horse to run. This would not be a horse in its natural state.

Baseball

It's almost time for me to care about baseball again (and blogging for that matter). At this point in the season, I'm a casual fan at best. Why? NBA PLAYOFFS of course. Nothing trumps basketball, not even the mighty Red Sox.
On a side note, I was at a bar the other night, and some old guy asked why I had a Red Sox hat on. "I went to school up there, sir," I replied. Then his female companion proceeded to tell me it was not a real Red Sox hat because the logo was crooked (I wear my hat tipped to the right side). I responded with "would it be better if I wore my hat straight? would that make it a "real" hat?" then she realized her mistake and felt kind of dumb. Actually, I at first thought she was mocking me wearing my hat crooked, whereas in reality, she was just dumb and thought that crooked hats were now in mass production.

Anyway, here's footage of David Ortiz and Terry Francona goofing around. enjoy.

Manny Being Manny

so I'm basically ripping this post off from withleather who does a much better job at blogging than I ever hope to do. Classic footage of Manny being Manny. Although the last one STILL creeps me out.

Quick Thoughts on the Day

Why did Vanilla Ice have to forever ruin "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie? I feel a great embarrassment in ever playing this song where others can hear it. Doesn't mean the song isn't sick though.

I think the caffeine overdose finally caught up with me. 3 or 4 Red Bulls per day just can't be healthy. "Kick-Start My Heart" by Motley Crue should be the theme song for caffeine. [Kick start my heart, hope it never stops....]. Anyway, severe heartburn hit this morning after 2 Kolaches and an orange juice,

Yesterday I smoked a pack of cigarettes. Meaning I opened them in the morning and somehow finished them off before I went to sleep.

I discovered an extremely long gray hair on the top of my head the other day.

The Evil Empire

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Thanks Straightbangin.

[(Car + Packie) x Alcohol] / Baseball = Death

For now, the Yankees have one in the life series against the Sox. We must accept that this will forever be an ongoing rivalry, and for now the Yankees have drawn first blood.

In Nashua, New Hampshire (LIVE FREE OR DIE!!!) a Yankees fan and a Red Sox fan got into an argument, most likely about who is the better team (does it matter?), and the Yankees fan, in typical Northeastern-style rage....ran him over. Oh, and did I mention that the Yankees fan was FORTY ONE?

What sparked this madness? A bunch of Sox fans chanting "Yankees suck." So in response, she got in her car, and drove at the group of people, accelerating the entire time. She claimed she just wanted to scare them, and she thought they would get out of the way....yeah...okay lady.

In her defense, it is New England and perhaps she thought they were left-over British imperialists. If that's the case, she was just doing her part to continue to rid our nation of tyranny and oppression. Or not.

Writer's Block

since I have a bad case of writer's block (which has been going on throughout law school) I'll let my hands throw up on the keyboard and write a little about nothing.

First things first.

The new Roots album is dope.



Album starts off with two HARD tracks. Well that is after you get past the intro where ?uestlove and some other dudes are screaming at each other. Rising Down features Mos Def and Styles P, and the song knocks. Get Busy reminds me why Peedi Peedi (formerly Peedi Crack) can be one of the dopest MCs at times. He rides the track hard. Criminal has got Saigon on it, so you know I'm gonna enjoy that track. I Can't Help It, doesn't necessarily sound like your prototypical Roots song, but it's pretty catchy. Even that supposedly horrible Birthday Girl song (featuring Fall Out Boy) wasn't THAT bad. Yeah, I mean it's Fall Out Boy, but I was expecting verbal vomit, and didn't nearly get to that level. So while this review is intentionally abbreviated, it doesn't take away from the fact that the Roots made a great album.


I'd write up what I thought about Atmosphere's new joint, but I have yet to get through the entire thing. That is, by no means, a testament to the quality of their album, but I've been studying and don't have the time to peruse through. Plus the new Roots has engulfed me.

Impromptu playlist for the day:
1) Roots - Rising Down
2) Young Jeezy - Go Crazy
3) Atmosphere - Like the Rest of Us
4) David Bowie - Life On Mars?
5) Built to Spill - the Wait
6) Organized Konfusion - Maintain
7) Arcade Fire - No Cars Go
8) Saigon - Don't Do That
9) UGK - One Day
10) Interpol - Pioneer to the Falls
11) Bloc Party - This Modern Love
12) Broken Social Scene - Superconnected
13) Jay-Z - Hello Brooklyn 2.0

enjoy your day

This Has To End

I'm not one of those insane animal people. I like animals, but I do not value them over human life. However, some things cannot go on like this. At the historic Kentucky Derby today, the horse that was the runner up broke its two front legs and had to be euthanized ON THE TRACK. This is terrible. This is the second year in the row a horse has died in a large horse racing event. I don't care about these bourgeoisie people and their traditions in horse racing. I don't care about the thousands of people placing money on these races. This is completely inhumane and it needs to end.

Traditions should be trumped, particularly when we can now race MOTORIZED vehicles. You know what else was tradition? Racism....but yeah, clearly that had to go. Now, I don't want to lower racism and civil rights to horse racing, but the argument in favor of tradition is a half-whit one at best. End horse racing. This is terrible.