Michael Jordan is a Bitter Old Man

The slam dunk contest at the NBA All-Star Weekend is a shell of its former self. This is due in large part to the fact that the NBA does not have the best dunkers. And 1 kind of stole the show. When was the last time you saw an NBA player do a 720? Much less a 720 in a "game." Never the less, I still tuned in this year to watch the festivities because of the buzz surrounding Dwight Howard and his desire to raise the rim to 12'. Thanks to the lameness of the NBA we didn't get the chance be blown away by that ridiculous feat of strength. Also, thanks to the douche bag that is Michael Jordan, Dwight Howard didn't even advance to the second round. And this is after pulling off by far the most memorable dunk of the night. The Dunk was the total package. And it made my jaw drop. It made me laugh. And there was a fantastic level of showmanship. It was original.

Instead we got to watch Nate "I ain't no Birdman" Robinson miss attempt after attempt of the same dunks he missed last year. Boooorrrring. Was the douche bag that is Michael Jordan even watching? How about Dominique and Dr. J? Are they just too old to understand what is going on around them? Come on. What makes it even worse is that we the viewers and fans were robbed of the "Kiss the Rim" dunk. Luckily we have YouTube.



PS The dunk where Dwight Howard hits his head on the rim and starts laughing is SICK.

Story of My Life

Here is a short photo essay of my day:

7:00 AM: Walk from apartment to car

7:45 AM: Walk from parking structure to audit room.

12:00 PM: Enjoy a hearty lunch with my co-workers.

12:00 AM: Walk from audit room to parking structure.

12:45 AM: Collapse into my bed.

Rinse and Repeat.

Reason # 1029 Why I Love Cali Like I Love Women

So this last weekend was arguably the greatest weekend of my life. (I am a sucker for hyperbole) It started with a delightful Friday evening at Mastro's aka The Greatest Restaurant on Earth. I can't think of a better way to kick off the best weekend ever.

Early Saturday morning I met up with a few friends at the Chevron Station where Sunset meets the PCH.



We headed up the PCH until we arrived at the lovely little Danish town of Solvang.



It was pretty cool rolling into town on 5 European motorcycles - 1 Aprilia, 1 Ducati, 2 BMWs and a Triumph. The Eurotrash All Stars were definitely in effect.



While in Solvang we dined at the world famous Red Viking.



The food wasn't that hot but the Aeskilivershievens (I have no idea what they were called but they were little pancake ball things) were pretty good.



After lunch we headed over to the Solvang Vintage Motorcycle Museum which was amazing. My favorite bike was the 1960 Czech Jawa.



After enjoying the museum, we capped off our stay in lovely Solvang with a slice of the best cheesecake ever at the Chumash Reservation Casino. The Casino orders its cheesecake from the Carnegie Deli in the NYC and has it delivered throughout the week. If you have never tried this slice of heaven than you are totally missing out. Just ask Mike Warner.



One would think that the weekend could not get any better after cruising up and down the PCH and through some sweet canyon roads on a beautiful Saturday in February ( I think it was in the mid 80's for most of the day), checking out vintage racing motorcycles, and eating Carnegie Deli cheesecake. But I got a newsflash for you Walter Cronkite. You aren't.

I kicked Sunday morning off with some of the best pancakes I have ever had and then followed that up by pedaling around on my beach cruiser. Prior to pedaling around on my beach cruiser I had to jog to the nearest service station because my tire was flat. Luckily I am such a physical specimen and was able to set the pace for all my friends on their cruisers as they laughed and made jokes about how foolish I looked jogging while they all cruised.

Yep, this was definitely the best weekend ever. At least until next weekend.

Young Folks

My friend Mr. Suchecki emailed this video to my co-worker Ms. Mo today. It is by somebody called Peter Bjorn and John. It is kind of catchy and I liked the animated video. The little speech bubbles cracked me up. Thanks Mr. Suchecki for providing me with a new band to explore.

Beach Cruising in January

The recent cold fronts and storms that have punished the eastern portion of the country have prompted me to post reason #929 of why I love Cali like i love women.

A few weeks ago, in the middle of January, which historically has been one of the crappiest months of the year for me due to the miserable winter weather, I went for a lovely Sunday morning cruise with my good friend over at The Boxpilot.

Mr. Warner and I enjoyed a relaxing cruise around Santa Monica and had the opportunity to admire the lovely homes of my neighbors and discuss our plans to someday obtain lovely homes of our own. The temperature was refreshing. The sun was shining. The atmosphere was calm. The conversation was stimulating. All in all, it was a perfect Sunday morning. It is pretty hard to top beach cruisers in January and that is why I love California. Booyeah-kai Jack Frost.

Lost Easter Egg - S03 E07

For all you Lost fans out there, check out this sweet easter egg from last weeks episode. If you watch the brainwash scene backwards you will hear a hidden message. I thought the scene was pretty intense watching it in normal format and it really creeped me out watching it backwards.

Newbrain
Uploaded by DarkUFO

Happy Valentine's Day

In honor of St. Valentine I thought I would post the best Valentine's Day card I have ever received. Who needs conversation hearts when you have cute bunnies on motorcycles?



Thanks Keith.

I get Lost in my mind

I was discussing the return of Lost this week with my friend Mr. Hardie this morning and he mentioned that he was not very happy with the way the season has progressed so far. He felt that it was moving too slow. This seems to be a common complaint over the last year or so from many different people I have come in contact with regarding Lost. They all love the show but are bothered that they don't get the answers they want right now.

As a result of the conversation, I have spent the last couple of hours thinking about Lost and why I think it is the Best. Show. Ever. I think what it comes down to for me is that I love the character development and pacing of the show. I love how details matter and through the details of the past we can see how Jack or Kate or Sawyer have become who they are today. I love how I can watch an hour long episode and not once feel like I am being rushed.

I have a habit of rushing through every other aspect of my life. I am always looking forward to the next phase of my career or the next personal goal, etc. Rarely do I take the time to step back and examine the series of events that have shaped who I am and taken me to where I am. Watching Lost helps me to remember the importance of doing this. It reminds me of the importance of enjoying the journey of my life. As I write this I am thinking to myself that that last sentence just sounded so cliche and lame. Life is a journey blah blah blah (or Bob Loblaw's Law Blog). But it really is true and Lost helps me remember that.

So that is why I like Lost so much. Not only is it interesting to watch, but it speaks to me on a different, more emotional level. That is why I will continue to enjoy each episode and not worry about getting all the answers right now. I want to enjoy the story for what it is and see where it takes me. I want to be reminded that I need to do that with my life as well. I want to escape from the everyday rush.

PS I also really like the idea of the island and tabula rasa.

Ghost Ride the Whip

Last night my friend over at keithedwardpaugh sent me my new favorite music video via g-chat: Ghost Ride It by Mistah Fab.



Watching this video was definitley the highlight of the day and was a wonderful reminder of the useful term "ghost riding." I had completely forgot about it and immediately decided to start saying it on a more frequent basis.

Today at lunch I had the following conversation with my co-workers:

Ruby: Did you do anything when you got home last night?

Morgan: Ghost rode my whip.

Pause....Pause....Pause.....

Ruby: (in stunned disbelief) What's that? It sounds really dirty.

Leland: I don't know what Ghost Riding is, but I don't like it.

The Coke Side of Life

I think that there are fundamentally two groups of people: those who support Coca Cola and those who support Pepsi. Me, I am a Coke man through and through. Coke locked up my loyalties on a sunny President's Day afternoon in Sin City my freshman year in college when I experienced the greatness that was the Coke Factory with the magical fountains that would shoot the perfectly mixed nectar of the gods across the room to land delicately in my waiting glass.

Super Bowl Sunday reminded me once again of why I am a Coke man when they aired "The Coke Side of Life" ad. I have seen this ad multiple times at movie theaters, but it had been a while since I last saw it because it had been replaced in theaters by the equally enjoyable if not quite as impressive GTA themed advert. I usually don't like to qualifying something with the tag of "my favorite..." or "best...ever..." but I am going to put myself out there and say that this is one of the best ads I have seen in a long, long time. I think my friend over at The Boxpilot would agree. So without further ado, I present "The Coke Side of Life" for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

17th Street Cafe

Thanks to a series of fortuitous events this Friday, I was able to enjoy a completely unexpected dining experience. Booyeah-kai Lemony Snicket. I had originally planned to dine at El Cholo in Santa Monica, however, when I called Friday afternoon to secure a table I was informed that there were no more reservations available. Even though there were no available reservations the hostess assured me that I could arrive at 8:30 and be seated within 20 minutes. I was a little skeptical but really in the mood for some guacamole so I decided to take my chances and arrive with no reservations. So my friend and I roll up to the valet (and no we weren't ridin' dirty although that might have made this story a little more interesting) a little after 8:30 only to find out that there will be a minimum wait of about an hour. Even though I was totally feeling the need for some guacamole, there was no way we were going to be able to wait at least an hour to eat. So my friend and I decided to proceed to the 17th Street Cafe on Montana which was just a few blocks away.

The previous Friday, my friend and I attempted to get some pie at the 17th Street Cafe but arrived as they were closing. At the time the place looked promising and my friend really liked it. Plus, by this time I was pretty hungry so I was looking forward to trying out the new locale. I was so excited I even made a quasi-fool of myself when parking.

So we arrive and put in our name for a table. My name was used because my friend's was too difficult. I don't think the hostess ever won her school spelling bee like I did. Booyeah-kai hostess. So within minutes we were seated at our table which was pleasantly surprising. However, we were seated next to a table of stereotypical sorority girls who must have thought they were bumping and grinding at Hyde by how loud they were talking.

After perusing the menu we ordered the halibut and the balsamic salmon and an order of sweet potato fries. Our server was really struggling though and for some reason forgot to put in the order for the sweet potato fries. I was also worried that she didn't get the balsamic salmon right because we repeated ourselves a few times and she never seemed to acknowledge the order.

Based on the previous paragraphs, one might be thinking that 17th Street Cafe is not a good place to dine. However, this is not the case. The halibut and the balsamic salmon were A-Mazing. It totally exceeded my expectations and really surprised me. My perception may be slightly skewed based on my hunger level at the time but I don't think so. I was totally energized by the end of the meal because it tasted so good.

So to sum up the 17th Street Cafe:

• Reservations needed: No


• Ambiance: Solid but can be a little loud depending on who you are seated next to


• Service: Terrible


• Food: Fantastic
  

I would definitely return to the 17th Street Cafe and I would definitely recommend it to friends. I thought the food was that good.

PS Here is my best Earl Hickey impersonation:

Hibachi at his finest

I have always been fascinated by the lives of professional athletes. They seem to live in a completely different world than I do. I have heard many rumors about what goes on at practices, in hotels, on airplanes with regards to "extra-curricular" competitions and have always wished that I could be a fly on the wall, if you will, to observe these antics. Now thanks to the glorious YouTube I can be that fly.

Here is the situation:

• Gilbert "Hibachi" Arenas vs Deshawn Stevenson after practice in DC
• Hibachi will shoot 100 college distance 3 pointers with one hand
• Stevenson will shoot 100 NBA distance 3 pointers using his normal shooting motion
• The stakes- $20 large

The video is approximately 10 minutes long and very compelling. I don't want to give anything away but the payoff at the end is worth waiting for. Plus the trash talking and the way they mess with each other is hilarious. The victory celebration was especially rewarding. Enjoy and God bless YouTube.



PS Thanks to the douchebags at Deadspin.com for turning me on to this story.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The highlight of my day so far was receiving a nice little email from Barnes & Noble informing me that I could now pre-order the final Harry Potter book - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It looks like the book will be released on July 21st.

I am both excited and disappointed at the same time. I am not excited for the possibility of seeing a naked Harry but because it is the next installment in the Harry Potter story. Yet, I am disappointed because it is the final chapter in what has become one of my favorite stories of all time. I like the story so much that I even bought a GIGANTIC poster from the first Harry Potter movie at a charity auction without thinking through the logistics of a) how will I get the poster home when it is too big to fit in my car and b) where will I hang the poster when I do get it home. That is what I get for being such an impulse buyer. Many of you reading this will be happy to know that yes, I do in fact still make many decisions based on emotion.

So it is with bitter-sweet joy that I await Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.