Monday, May 31, 2010

Mr. Ashley Judd

Dario Franchitti, the husband of Ashley Judd, won the Indianapolis 500 yesterday (for the second time). I've always found it quite funny when an accomplished husband is referenced by the name of his also accomplished wife; I remember a sports trivia game show from years ago that once had a category called Mr. Steffi Graf, all about tennis great Andre Agassi. I'm sure that if the husband is famous in his own right, he doesn't mind being called Mr. [wife's name]. But I suppose it could be a shot to one's ego if the guy is seen as riding on her coattails, as perhaps Kevin Federline was to Britney Spears' greater fame. Although if I were known as, let's say, Mr. Megan Fox, I'd be okay with it... real okay with it. ;-)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

another perfect game

Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a perfect game yesterday, the second perfect game this season and just three weeks since Dallas Braden pitched one for the Oakland A's.


I guess they're not as difficult as I thought...


:-P

Saturday, May 29, 2010

a new baby!

I was twenty-four when I became an uncle for the first time. I can still remember arriving in the hospital room to see my sister cradling her newborn. My niece had such a full head of hair! I just stood at the end of the bed, staring in wonder. Being the youngest of my siblings, I wasn't all that familiar with new additions to the family. Then my sister asked if I wanted to hold her. And I replied with inimitable conviction:

"I guess."

Friday, May 28, 2010

Stormy's birthday

Time for another random memory:

This one takes place back in junior high. I can still picture standing in between buildings when a kid named Pete Z. came bounding up to me, exclaiming: "Arthur, Arthur, I just found out Stormy F.'s birthday!" Looking back to my early teens, yes, although the same age, Stormy F. was like a woman to many of the kids in our class.

Although I'm just using the initials of people's last names, and not more than a handful of readers keep up with this blog, discretion keeps me from typing out the date of her birthday... I'm quite sure I remember what it is after all these years. I never really knew her nor her sister Sunny, but I'm pretty good at remembering birthdays!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

May showers...

bring June flowers.

Is that how the saying goes? Or is it: June showers bring July flowers. After all, it will be June in less than a week. And it's still raining here in California. I don't really mind, in that there hasn't been any talk about the years-long drought in the news lately. Not that this wet year has put an end to it, but at least all this rain hasn't made the drought any worse. It is odd though; looking out the window right now, it looks like it's the middle of February out there.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

the pepper mill

Last night, my brother treated my sister and me to an Italian restaurant that offered personally served parmesan cheese and ground pepper from a pepper mill for our dishes. It reminded me of the first time I ever encountered a pepper mill.

Soon after our father died many years ago, one of our uncles treated my family to an Italian restaurant that was located in a distinct looking old-fashioned building a stones throw away from the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) tracks in nearby Walnut Creek. As an opening course, we were served salad. The waiter started walking around to each of us, doing something that I didn't recognize. When he got to me, the next thing I knew he was grinding what turned out to be a pepper mill over my salad. I just sat there quietly, not knowing what was going on. He kept grinding until he realized that I wasn't going to tell him to stop and my salad was completely covered. Then when we began eating our salads, I took one taste and couldn't eat any... too hot! What a waste.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

felling the mighty oak

seedling.

As I've grown older, I've come to appreciate more and more the California landscape, in particular how it must have looked before civilization. I'm more concerned with preserving what's left as opposed to taking the urban sprawl ideology. Unfortunately, being pro-environment has somehow taken a political turn; I mean, can there actually be people that are anti-environment?

In the part of my garden that I've converted to native plants, the lushness and growth has been surprising - I'm wondering how much bigger the plants are going to get! The space is running out of room for the plants that I've planted, let alone for the volunteers that are sprouting up too. And I am finding it especially difficult to pull out the volunteers of native plants as if they were mere weeds. Maybe it's because I know how much more beneficial they are to the soil and fauna than lawns and the typical plants that are available at local nurseries. I happen to love spending days around my native plants observing the multitude of insects that busy themselves around them: the coffeeberry, the toyon, the native sages and penstemons, etc.

Not even being limited to the native part of my garden are the many oak seedlings that I keep finding. Valley oaks, blue oaks, coast live oaks (at least to my untrained eye) - beautiful all, but there's no room for them to grow. Some sprout within inches of a wall, others if allowed to mature will block out the sunlight from other plants and crowd and compete amongst themselves. I let one particular coast live oak grow to roughly my height before I decided to remove it a few years ago - it's in my native plant area and would outgrow the Western redbud it was growing next to. But soon enough, the oak returned, only multi-trunked this time. And I'm letting it grow again. It's already a slender 10 or so feet tall, and I don't know what I can expect from it. The leaves are kind of pointy and prickly, a bit more menacing than the blue oak seedling with soft smooth leaves that has sprouted this season, maybe two yards away. Another reason I find it difficult to remove oak seedlings is the idea that the acorns they sprouted from were most likely tucked in the ground by scrub jays, doing what they've been doing for countless generations.

Yet for all these little worries that I have about native plants and oaks sprouting up in unexpected places, I feel such satisfaction in cooperating with the earth instead of trying to control it by forcing fertilizers, insecticides, and soil conditioners upon it. And for this 900 or so square feet part of the garden filled with native plants, no having to water either!

Monday, May 24, 2010

us vs. them

Competition is necessary - it's a human trait. Whether it's a Scrabble championship, a chess tournament, or a debate, it's something that obviously satisfies a need in people, even if it's in a rooting interest. Sports are great, as they involve physical prowess in addition to mental focus. Throughout history, mankind has defined itself by assuming an us vs. them mentality. Unfortunately, it often leads to war, mostly involving politics and religion. Too bad we can't limit our need to vanquish our opponents to sports and board games.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

A's vs. Giants

So today is the conclusion of the first series of games this season between the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants. As a Bay Area fan of both franchises, I can just sit back and enjoy whatever happens. I am the kind of person that could easily wear one of those hats that is split down the middle with the logos and colors of each team on either side (loyalty-wise that is, they do look kind of goofy). Somehow, I can't imagine the two Chicago teams having hats like this. Only in the Bay Area, I suppose.

But for the players, it's different. If the cross-Bay rival isn't just like any other opponent, there might even be an extra 'something' into wanting to beat them. And fans like me are probably looked at as odd (if not something much worse). How can we possibly like both? It's gotta be one or the other... show some gumption and pick a side already! In some cases, fans of one or the other have chosen to HATE their other-league rival. I recall reading about some Giants fans who actually rooted for the Dodgers to beat the A's when they were pitted against each other in the World Series. Wow, the feelings run that deep, do they? Then again, I remember rooting for the Dodgers to beat the Yankees when they were in the World Series. And believe me, I don't like the Dodgers. Growing up, I remember wishing they would go a season with a win-loss record of 0-162. I've lightened up a bit since then and think of myself as a 'Dodger-disliker.' Tommy Lasorda. Steve Garvey. Blechhh.

Back to the A's and Giants. All I really desire when they play against each other is there be no sweeps. As I think they always play three-game series (interleague play and all), I suppose that the closest compromise possible is that one team wins two and the other wins one. And then a perfectly even split for the season series.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

the biggest Red Sox fan:

my vote would go to best-selling author Stephen King.

I have the distinct memory of watching that American League playoffs where Boston came back to defeat the New York Yankees after being down three games to zero, and trailing in the late innings of Game 4. A particular scene where a television reporter was out in the stands to interview Stephen King, and there he was, holding out optimism that even with the odds so stacked against them, he said that the Red Sox could still win the championship. I remember thinking at the time, you poor, positive thinking fool! Well, good luck with that.

And so it was. The Red Sox came back to tie the series three games to three, and miracle of miracles, won the series against the Yankees altogether! It was almost an afterthought that they went on to win the World Series afterwards (sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals, which I just had to look up), except that it ended their World Series drought of 86 years.

Coming back from being down three games to none in a best of seven series is a rare accomplishment in the history of professional sports, but just happened in this year's hockey playoffs: the Philadelphia Flyers pulled it off against the Boston Bruins (Boston again, but this time on the other side of the coin). Why bring all this up and what does it have to do with my favorite sports teams? Because the San Jose Sharks find themselves down three games to none in the Western Conference Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks. It's a long road back, it hasn't been done many times before, but Sharks fans would do well to be like Stephen King. Yes, the Sharks can still win this...

Friday, May 21, 2010

I love salvia

No really, I do. There's Salvia spathacea (Hummingbird sage), S. clevelandii (Cleveland sage), S. melliferra (Black sage), S. apiana (White sage), S. leucophylla (Purple sage) and those are just the California natives. There's also Pineapple sage (S. elegans) with numerous beautiful, elegant red flowers and leaves that smell just like, you guessed it, pineapples! Oh, when you read the title of this entry, you thought I was talking about that other salvia, the recreational drug (or whatever it is). Uh, no.

So, anyway, the salvias I mentioned all have mild to very fragrant leaves and the natives, at least, require little or no supplemental water. The spathacea spreads through rhizomes and over time makes a nice groundcover; the others are shrubs although the melliferra comes in prostrate forms that can spread pretty wide too.

Which reminds me of when I took a computer class several years ago. The atmosphere was casual (part of the class was learning web design - creative types, right?), so one day I decided to bring in some of the leaves from my garden to share with a few classmates that sat near me. There were samples from my different salvia plants, a small stem of my California sagebrush, a leaf from the coyote mint plant... that's mostly it. I love their various scents and even thought of a name for that day's activity: Show and Smell.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

nodding and shaking one's head

Picture, if you will, someone nodding their head. And now, picture them shaking their head. I'm hoping that you are picturing the same thing as me. Because it drives me crazy when I hear someone describing another's action as "You're shaking your head 'Yes'" or something to that effect. To me, and what I've always pictured, is that nodding the head means an up and down motion (as in indicating 'Yes') and shaking the head means alternately pointing the face side to side (as in 'No'). What do you think?

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

from 4th to 6th

The NBA draft lottery was held yesterday and true to form, the Warriors didn't come out of it with a higher pick in next month's draft... and instead of simply keeping the fourth pick overall they had going into it, they managed to drop a couple of spots down to the sixth pick. Unfortunately, I've been reading that this year's draft isn't considered very deep on talent - beyond the consensus top two picks, there are maybe two or three other players that are considered top prospects. Which leaves the Warriors out of the running for them.

But looking on the bright side, in two other years where the Warriors also lost places in the draft they managed to choose quite well: Chris Mullin in 1985 (the first year the NBA lottery was put in place and cost the Warriors the choice of taking Patrick Ewing - but still, Mullin was one of the greatest Warriors ever), and Jason Richardson in 2001. And like every draft, basketball or otherwise, regardless of how 'deep' the experts say it is, there are always gems to be found. The Warriors just have to find them (easier said than done!).

Another positive for the Warriors is they aren't fully dependent on the draft - their true potential lies in the players that will be coming back from injury. The Warriors roster is deep on talent. With the prospect of new ownership on the horizon, we'll see what the future holds!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

rhymes with Zito

Years ago, maybe even when Barry Zito still pitched for the Oakland A's, some media outlet came up with a little game to have people come up with words that rhymed with 'Zito.' Besides 'neato' (too easy), just to myself I came up with what I thought was the perfect word. And my imagination being what it is, I went on from that and thought of a television show that Barry could star in for when his baseball career was over. He would be a private detective that was a master of disguise.

The show would be called: 'Zito Incognito'


I suppose if the show needed a sidekick, it could co-star NFL offensive lineman Richie Incognito, whom I found out about after I came up with this silly idea. Yet I can easily imagine Barry Zito pursuing acting after baseball - perhaps it's not so silly after all.

Monday, May 17, 2010

non-bread

Back awhile ago, one of my sisters started mentioning something called "non-bread" - I just had a big ? whenever she said it. Okay, if it's not bread, then what is it? Why would you call it by what it isn't rather than by what it is? Even if it's not bread, it could still be practically anything. Confusing.

Then one day, I saw a package of it on the table. Naan bread.

(by the way, naan is a kind of South Asian flatbread and is delicious).

Sunday, May 16, 2010

it's Pat!

With 'McDreamy' and 'McSteamy' already roles in Grey's Anatomy, the idea occurred to me of adding a new member to the cast, a new doctor played by the character from Saturday Night Live... Pat!

This new doctor would be known as 'McSqueamy'.


Sample dialogue:

Intern: "Hey Meredith, looks like McSqueamy has the hots for you... deal with that!"

Saturday, May 15, 2010

may you live long...

and thrive.

That's the catch-phrase for the current Kaiser-Permanente ad campaign. But whenever I hear it, I think of something else:

May you "live long and prosper"

Friday, May 14, 2010

ansel adams

Years ago, I worked at a picture-framing store. One day, the manager told me to frame an Ansel Adams print to hang on the wall (most of our time was spent framing custom orders, but we also sold pre-framed prints). Certainly what he had in mind was to frame something like this, but I framed this instead. I don't think it ever sold.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

mr. bucks

One of my favorite board games growing up was 'Go For Broke' - it was the perfect game for anyone that ever said to themselves, "If there was only a game for people that lost all of their money first, I'd win."

Players are each given a large sum of money to start the game, and try to win by squandering it all. Looking back, the one venue that stands out is the horse racing track. It's funny that with the goal of winning the game in mind, the focus really is on losing one's fortune. In particular is the game's nemesis, a gentleman known as Mr. Bucks. He's the annoying guy that spoils everything you've worked for by lavishing money on you - how frustrating is that?

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

a million per paycheck

Can you believe that once upon a time, professional athletes worked off-season jobs just to make ends meet? I remember reading an article about a recent ballplayer saying that he and his wife managed to make ends meet back when he was making only a rookies' salary, when rookie salaries were, oh, a quarter of a million dollars per year (at least). What, in addition to the per diem you got for food on road trips? Isn't that what doctors and surgeons make?

And now the salaries of professional athletes can be so big, are they even capable of boggling the mind anymore? Well, how about the number 26? That's my favorite litmus test for a super-duper salary. One that's beyond the beyond. When a seven-figure salary isn't enough. When earning a six-figure salary is still major buku bucks for us average folks. Why 26? Because 26 is half of 52, as in 52 weeks in a year. And when the typical paycheck is issued every two weeks. Hence, 26 paychecks per year. So 26 million dollars per year means a million dollars per paycheck.

Which brings me to Alex Rodriguez. Who I believe signed a contract to get paid more than 1 million dollars every two weeks (averaging his salary out over a year). Can you imagine? Even nowadays, the word 'millionaire' still stirs up strong emotions, and here's a guy getting paid a million dollars every two weeks to play baseball. So okay, he owes more in taxes than most people earn in several lifetimes; well, I'd still rather take the million dollars per paycheck, thank you very much.

Which means that the 5-year, 125 million dollar contract that Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies recently signed falls just short of 1 million dollars every two weeks - sorry, dude, maybe next time.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

you can call me Ray

Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays used to be known as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Getting rid of the word 'devil' reminds me of the flap about renaming Mt. Diablo, our local mountain. Looking online just now, it seems that the team owner prefers to think of the Rays more as rays of sunshine rather than the sea creatures manta rays or devil rays.

I like to imagine the team being comprised entirely of guys named Ray.

Monday, May 10, 2010

a perfect game for the A's

Yesterday, on Mother's Day, Oakland A's pitcher Dallas Braden pitched only the 19th perfect game in major league history. It's a step beyond a no-hitter, allowing no hits, no walks, no hit batters, and even more tenuously, no fielding errors. 27 up, 27 down. Even the box score for the opposing team has to be perfectly 0-for-3 up and down the lineup (well, okay, there could be pinch hitter situations that would mess that up, but still...).

I learned on one of the sports shows this morning that it was the only perfect game ever thrown on Mother's Day, which makes the accomplishment even more special because of Dallas Braden's circumstances. He lost his mother to skin cancer when he was still in high school. Today's paper had a nice article about him and how lost and unfocused he was after her death, and how his grandmother was the one to get him back on track with his life and career. If you've seen any highlights from yesterday's game, there is the touching one where he and his grandmother are holding each other in a big bear hug on the field just outside the dugout, after he broke away from the swarm of his teammates. It was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

I haven't actually read the particulars, but I'm assuming that the grandmother that was at the game is his maternal grandmother. So even with the focus on him and their relationship, how he lost his mother to melanoma, I can't help but think about how she had lost her daughter to melanoma at the same time. I still have a picture in my mind of my own grandmother sobbing after one of my aunts and my father, two of her children, died within months of each other. Watching my nieces and nephews growing into adulthood, I am more and more aware of the emotions tied into that process - Mother's Day (and Father's Day) really is for all generations of parents.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

Among a group that shared lunch today were my siblings and I. Besides being the first time in awhile that all five of us were together for a meal, I couldn't help but notice that we were seated continuously next to each other and it happened to be Mother's Day. I'm sure our mom was watching over us, also enjoying seeing one of her precious grandchildren at the table too.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

forks and chopsticks

Ever since I was a little kid, I've preferred using forks. Even when my father would take us out to Chinatown, I was the only one in my family that would request a fork; I don't recall any of my siblings doing so. It was perfectly okay with my parents - hey, I was the baby of the family!

When I was in college, our class took a field trip down to the Los Angeles area to visit different buildings and styles of architecture. While down there, a bunch of us decided to have Chinese food for lunch. As usual, I requested and ate with a fork. And looking around me, I realized that I was the only Asian (American of Asian ancestry, that is) among a table of Caucasian classmates, each of them using chopsticks.

Another note: I'm the only person I know that doesn't like lap-cheong, or Chinese sausage. Yuck!

Friday, May 7, 2010

money isn't everything

but it sure is something.

Two people that wouldn't seem to have much in common are talk show host/comedian Conan O'Brien and NFL quarterback JaMarcus Russell. However, what they do have in common is their careers haven't gone in the directions they expected and they got paid millions of dollars as compensation. As bad as we can feel for their circumstances, one thing they won't have to worry about is having enough money. I guess when people have plenty of money, assuming millions upon millions of dollars is plenty of money, their priorities become such things as their legacies and reputations. Even so, it's difficult to feel that bad for them; whether Conan feels betrayed or not, he's signed up for a new show this fall and JaMarcus is only 24-years old and is blessed with rare athletic ability - and they both have a ton of money. For all the rest of us whose lives haven't gone as well as we would have hoped, wouldn't a fortune be a nice consolation prize?

Thursday, May 6, 2010

fireman of the year

Times sure have changed the role of the relief pitcher in baseball. Two of the best were the Oakland A's own Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley, both in the Hall of Fame. Yet they were used so differently. I'm not sure, but I think the role of the 'closer' in baseball was started by manager Tony La Russa, a specialized position that essentially told an opponent that if they weren't ahead by the last inning or two, then game over! That's the role that Eckersley perfected. So having a great closer is a big deal (Mariano Rivera, anyone?).

Still, I don't have the idea that the relief pitchers of today are so aptly named anymore. Not like before, when relief pitchers like Fingers often had to put out 'fires,' as in coming in with runners-on-base and trouble already begun. And nowadays when they do, well, it's not a stat that's really kept anymore. Not like the number of 'saves' the closer tallies up. Just yesterday, a Giants relief pitcher (Sergio Romo) was brought into a bases-loaded, no outs situation in the eighth inning with the Giants clinging to a 3-1 lead. He struck out the first hitter, then induced a double play. Hooray! No runs scored. Then the closer came in for the ninth inning and got the 'save.' Wait a minute... who put out the fire again?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

future retired 49er jersey number...

52 - Patrick Willis

The 49ers extended the contract of inside linebacker Patrick Willis, a great move by the front office. He's the anchor of the defense, a stalwart (and fast!) presence from sideline to sideline. In this modern era of free agency, it will be nice to have him be part of the team for years to come. It's difficult rooting for players only to find them move on to other teams. And both he and Coach Singletary believe that he has only just touched upon his potential on the field; it will be fun to watch just how good he can get! Super Bowls and the Hall of Fame, anyone?

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

it's a bird, it's a plane, no - it's a giant bee


A couple of years ago, I visited the world-renowned Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, CA as part of the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour. Although the Ruth Bancroft Garden is known mostly for its collection of cacti and succulents, it also has a nice variety of California natives, hence, was included as part of the tour.

While looking at the bed of Foothill penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus), a crowd of us were startled by the appearance of a bee that was hovering around the flowers. I'd never seen one so big! Luckily I had my camera with me and managed to get a number of shots of it, following it around for awhile. Hopefully it wasn't too annoyed (!) as I had to steady my camera inches away from it.

I didn't know what kind of bee it was, and neither did the people that worked there. I, for one, thought it was some exotic bee that had flown in from who knows where; to give you an idea of how big it was, the blue blossoms of the Foothill penstemon measure about an inch long, and the bee was as long as a blossom!

I corresponded with the Ruth Bancroft staff, emailing some of my photos so they could pass them along to someone that could make an ID for us. As it turns out, it was a run-of-the-mill Valley Carpenter Bee. Well, it wasn't so run-of-the-mill to me... it's still the biggest bee I've ever seen. From what I've determined online, it was a male and similar to the smaller, shiny big black bees I often see around the native flowers I have at home. This one though resembled more of a honey bee in coloring.

Monday, May 3, 2010

not since Lemieux in '92

Hockey is my fourth favorite spectator team sport and I watch it pretty casually. Bay Area fan that I am, the San Jose Sharks are my team (I have faint memories and a pennant of the Bay Area Seals). And although they are still seeking a Stanley Cup, they consistently make the playoffs.

The star so far of this year's playoff team is Joe Pavelski. The most common nickname I've heard for him is 'The Big Pavelski' and sometimes 'Little Joe.' Relative to most hockey players he's not very big, so those nicknames are a play on that - and of course, calling him 'The Big Pavelski' is a reference to the movie 'The Big Lebowski' starring Jeff Bridges.

It seems that some fans are still looking for a moniker to use for him, as if 'The Big Pavelski' isn't good enough. What about calling him 'The Dude'?

Sunday, May 2, 2010

new high score - I am such a space cadet

Played out over two days, I have a new high score in Space Cadet Pinball:

151,054,750

Just like my previous high score, when it became too late the first day and I got tired, I went ahead and went to bed and finished playing the next day. The problem with that is I risk losing my 'touch' because sure enough, it takes me awhile to recapture whatever it was I had going. This most recent game, I got most of my points with 'Ball 1' on Friday, hardly any points with 'Ball 2' when I first resumed playing on Saturday and finished up with a bunch of points using 'Ball 3'. For those of you that know the game, each numbered ball may or may not contain several balls due to replays or extra balls.

Yes, I know, how exciting!

So anyway, I've managed to get all 5 of my top scores over 100 million... should I be broadcasting this publicly?

Saturday, May 1, 2010

invasive and noxious

Pulled more weeds today and I'm tired. Here's a link about weeds:

Invasive and Noxious Weeds