The Getty (Villa)

I had the chance to go to the Getty Villa with my family and Kat this past weekend. The art was quite boring and repetitive, but the architecture was absolutely beautiful! My dad doesn't look happy in that picture, but he really liked the Getty... he just never smiles in pictures. Here's another picture of just me and kat.

Green Vehicles

I just read a fascinating article that analyzed the cost of replacing all gas powered vehicles in America with electric ones. Here's a brief excerpt from that article:

"Instead of sending $400 billion each year to countries such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, we could spend it on electric car production in the U.S., Mexico, and China. At current oil prices, it wouldn’t cost us a dime extra to stop importing and burning oil for passenger cars. In fact, if the goal were to end up with the same number of cars on the road, we would have a few trillion dollars left over. One or two trillion dollars would be sufficient to build nuclear, solar, or wind electric power plants to replace all of our plants that currently burn coal and oil (note that less than 1 percent of current electricity generation in the U.S. is from oil (source); most electricity that we use today is from coal, natural gas, or nuclear)."

Isn't it crazy how much money we spend on importing oil? Can we get free prius' please?? By the way, the picture above is apparently the 2009 model of the Toyota Prius. Please let it not be so!!

For the full article: Cost of Converting Entire US to Electric Cars? Zero!

Cookin' with Fire

The receding hairline rocker (not to mention the big head) that transformed into a good looking scruffy rocker dude beat the overly modest prepubescent kid from Utah last night to prevail as this years Amiercan Idol. I honestly thought Archuleta was going to take it, but I'm happy for Cook. His Broadway performance alone ("Music of the Night") won my heart... but Archuleta will always have a special place in my heart... he was my favorite for most of the season.

Bottom line is... they're both going to get record deals that will go platinum, and bring them lots and lots of wealth.

Overall, a weak season compared to past seasons. Can't wait for January!

"Good God! You're a woman!" -Tony Stark

Comic hero based movies have sort of taken on a new life in the past few years. Spiderman, X-Men, and Batman, have been able to go beyond the typical kid-friendly type genre, into something that's actually well-written and well-suited for adults. Iron Man was no different. Imagine Robocop, Batman, and the Terminator all in one! The movie took its time in developing the characters, added a touch of romance, packed itself with a ton of cool gadgets (gadget porn) that led to awesome special effects and action, and even added a little twist.

My hat goes off to Jon Favreu (director) for giving this not-so-popular comic hero a household name. I'd see it again! There is truly something deeper beyond the super powers of these characters that speak to each and everyone of us. How great is it to be the good guy?

All Happy Inside

I'm all about perfect fitting clothes. I cringe at the sight of over-sized clothes on other people. I believe that clothes are meant to slip right on and feel like it's part of you. If I had the money, I'd get all my clothes tailored. But since I'm just a struggling salary man, I gotta stick to artificially tailored clothes like the shirt above. Let me tell you, this is the best t-shirt ever! It's the broken-in tee by j.crew.

Do you remember as a kid, putting together a puzzle? And each time you found 2 pieces that fit together, you felt so happy inside. That's exactly how I feel about this shirt... all happy inside.

It provides the perfect fit, soft feel, a myriad of colors, and great durability. My girlfriend bought it for me cause it was on sale for $9.99. Unfortunately, it's back to the regular price of $24.99... kind of pricey for a t-shirt, but definitely worth every penny.

So if you're in the market for some t-shirts, hit up the nearest j.crew and pick up one of these shirts (also available in v-neck). Pick some up for me to while you're at it!

"Jesus" Phone

Most people know I'm a gadget freak. Therefore, owning an iPhone is a necessity for people like me. Many refer to the iPhone as the Jesus Phone. It's not blasphemy... it's just that the iPhone really is the "almighty" phone - it changes people's lives. No phone will ever come close to the current nor the future iPhone. I am proud to be an owner of this so called Jesus Phone, and it has definitely changed my life. I find myself using the iPhone for almost everything now. Here is a list of things I use it for on a regular basis:

1. Phone
2. iPod
3. Email
4. Internet
5. Record shows onto my DVR
6. Traffic reports
7. Planner
8. YouTube
9. Bible
10. Newspaper
11. Toilet paper
12. Alarm
13. Blow dryer
14. Tooth brush
15. Spoon
16. Bottle opener
17. Fire extinguisher
18. Anything else you can think of... it does

As you can see, it's a pretty amazing piece of technology. Props to Steve Jobs and his minions over at Apple. Can't wait for iPhone 2... the second coming?

KB24 : MVP

Kobe Bryant - arguably the best basketball player since Michael Jordan to play in the NBA. Kobe recently was named MVP for the first time in his 11 year professional career... and it was well deserved my man. Many people have their reservations about him as a person and as a player, and rightfully so. He's made a few mistakes along the way - and I'm sure he deeply regrets those mistakes. But no one has brought such excitement to the game as Kobe Bryant has.

2008 was a different year for him and the Lakers. He exemplified leadership, poise, and selflessness, as he led the Lakers to the number one team in the regular season - something the team was lacking since 2002.

My admiration for Kobe does not come from his ability to play the game - instead, it comes from his dedication and commitment to improving and advancing himself as an athlete, and as a person. Does he have natural talent? Absolutely! But it takes more than natural talent to be the best player in the NBA.

2008 NBA Champions: Los Angeles Lakers? I sure hope so.

She

That's my girlfriend. Her name is Katherine Cho... I call her Kat cause I'm too lazy to say her whole name. We've been together for almost 4 years now... and I give myself a lot of credit for hanging in there for so long. She's not the easiest girl to date. Let's see (in no particular order)...

1. She is easy to please
2. She doesn't spend a lot of time with me because she let's me have my time with my friends
3. She buys me shirts that I fall in love with
4. She makes the best tiramisu ever
5. She researches players before we go to a sporting event
6. She always offers to pay for things
7. She doesn't call me at night because I'm watching my tv shows
8. She records and saves Oprah episodes of Nate for me
9. She follows me to the mall all the time
10. She makes me carpool with her in the morning sometimes

As you can see, she's pretty wack. I don't know where I found her, but if I had to do it all over again, I'd go find her again.

Kat, if you're reading this... just know that you're wack ok? But it's okay... keep being wack.

Change

All this talk about "change" in this 2008 election. What kind of change does this country need? I think there are a lot things that we can change... health care, poverty, environment... the list can go on. But how can we bring about change? Change begins with inspiration; and inspiration comes from the hope that things don't have to remain status quo, but instead progress into something better.

I'm a firm supporter of Barack Obama. Many fear his lack of experience will be the downfall of his potential presidency. However, I believe that his lack of experience only tells of his optimism and hope for this country. Inspiration is the foundation of his campaign, and the core of his character. This country, that was once the leader of innovation and prosperity, has lost its place in this world. What this country needs is a leader that can inspire - someone that can inspire young people to educate themselves in the academics and the arts, the wealthy to share their God given wealth with the poor, people of all ethnicities to embrace one another without prejudice or discrimination.

Can Obama accomplish these things? Probably not. But can he begin this movement? I believe he can. I believe that he embodies what this country was meant to be - a place where all nations can come together and be united in the blessings of democracy and prosperity. He's not a perfect man... nor will he ever become one. But he is the only one out of all the candidates that can really bring about this so-called "change" that each one of them are trying to sell.

-CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN-

new start

I was ONCE a xanga user... although calling myself a regular user would be shameful to those that update practically every day. I'm switching because blogger seems a lot simpler, and since I let google take over every aspect of my digital life, why not my personal diary as well?