April 23, 2013
Walkoff
Win! Courtesy of Natto, of McCovey Chronicles fame...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:52 PM
February 14, 2012
Semi-Pro
Splashed out a good chunk of money for my first DSLR for our engagement, upgrading for the first kid, then once again for the second kid. That's not even counting all those lenses and accessories that I picked up along...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 04:40 PM
August 03, 2010
Red Envelope Sayings
Had a wedding to attend, which means the obligatory gift cash in the red envelope. But the wife with her Chinese literacy was away with the kid, and it's hardly polite to hand over a blank envelope without any...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:34 AM
June 14, 2009
2,147,483,647 Tweets Ought To Be Enough For Anybody
I've been trying out various Twitter clients on the Mac and had almost settled on Pwitter as a free, light, and most Mac-like choice. But then all of a sudden it started acting up, repeatly showing tweets, losing track...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:54 AM
February 24, 2009
Great Minds, Unlike Gear
The village of Shirakawa-go is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site for its cluster of perfectly preserved Gassho-style thatched-roof houses. The wife and I visited it on our trip to Japan last winter, and took plenty of pictures like...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 02:56 PM
December 18, 2008
The Not-So-Amazing Ending
This season of The Amazing Race had managed to keep my interest a bit longer than the previous versions. The production was tight, the characters were interesting without being too annoying, and the travel scenes are always fun. I...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:28 PM
April 27, 2008
Shadowmoor Prerelease
After the horrible 0-2-drop waste-of-time at the Ravnica pre-release tournament, I pretty much put Magic out-of-mind. I was better off spending time with the SO anyway. However, I kept getting the DCI spam emails and I clicked on the...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 06:38 PM
April 17, 2008
Me And Mister Donut
The new video feature has drawn howls of protest from supposed photography purists who fear the YouTube-ification of flickr. On a more charitable day one might see their point. However, the self-righteous indignation and condescension of the protesters made...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:24 AM
April 15, 2008
U2 3D
Movie theaters have been trying to find ways to drum up new business for a while. 3D movies seems like a neat way to draw in movie-goers by offering something that can't be replicated in a home theater (yet)....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 04:28 PM
March 31, 2008
Ichthyological Autoerotic Asphyxiation
Now that the Taiwan elections are over, the media have to find other sources of news to fill the void. After the raucous electoral rhetoric, what could be better to soothe the national psyche than a story about koi...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 02:48 PM
March 13, 2008
Landscape Photography, In A Nutshell
As seen on Mobile01, originally posted by nikonguy at 攝影家手札. It's truly everything you need to know about landscape photography, in Chinese couplet form. 風景攝影口訣（給新手） 大景靠勤跑，睡前看氣象 正午沒好光，好光在晨昏 奇景重氣氛，雨霧不放過 天雨帶相機，傍晚等放晴 大底加慢片，腳架快門線 變焦易耀光，儘量用定焦 取下保護鏡，裝上遮光罩 腳架要鎖緊，預鎖反光鏡 風景測中灰，白加黑要減 長曝勤測光，上下包幾張 負片宜稍加，正片可略減 廣角重主題，長焦壓縮景 小光圈景深，全開糊背景 拍花側逆光，慢門顯動感...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:19 AM
February 19, 2008
Flickr Milestone
Yay, my first thousand-view photo on flickr. Taken with my cheapest lens, too, the second-hand, manually-operated, probably older than I am Nikon 50mm f1.8 Series E. Thanks to flickr's new stats function, I know to give a shout out...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:51 PM
January 07, 2008
新光三越週年慶接力開唱
The SO had to work over the weekend so I was left to my own devices. I savored the sweet taste of freedom and it tasted... kinda boring. Thankfully I remembered seeing a poster on our periodic trips through...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:17 PM
August 19, 2007
Flickr Counting
Vanity is necessarily involved in uploading photos to a publicly viewable site, and Flickr indulges that vanity by keeping count of views, favorites, and even compute some artificial version of your pictures' Interestingness. For the hot chicks, it's easy...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:12 PM
April 21, 2007
Public Service Announcement - Game Division
Now that the China factory takes Sundays off, I'm glad to have the Nintendo DS (old-school version, but a Japanese Graphite unit for cool value). Finally managed to beat Castlevania DS and now I'm going back to work on...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:50 AM
January 23, 2007
I've Got A Fever
...and the only thing that can cure it is more Beaver. In light of the exciting breakthrough for Caltech Men's Basketball team, it would be uncouth of me to neglect the even greater accomplishments of the Lady Beavers. History...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 02:26 AM
January 11, 2007
More Beaver Fever (Snatch 2!)
Sam sent me the news. Yes, Caltech's mighty Beavers won an NCAA basketball game, after losing the previous 207. I don't know how they found a less athletic opponent and convinced the Bard College Raptors to come out to...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:46 PM
December 24, 2006
Movie Times
GF and her sis/cousin wanted to go see Perfume. Not sure exactly how a movie about killing pretty young girls and rendering them for scent appealed to them, but their HSBC credit card offered 2-for-1 tickets on weeknights so...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:57 PM
October 14, 2006
Best Album Title...
...of 2006, or ever? No, not Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. Although I love Neko Case's work with The New Pornographers, I just couldn't quite get into her solo album based on all the sample bits I heard. Do...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 06:46 AM
September 16, 2006
And Now The News
Once again, The Onion produces a hard-hitting expose to uncover truthiness so often neglected by the MSM. Sequestered in a private booth at a Pasadena-area Cheesecake Factory for nearly 25 minutes, a party of eight California Institute Of Technology...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:10 AM
August 15, 2006
Great Guns
The most ludicrous plot point of Gunslinger Girl isn't how the cute little girls are also cybernetic superhuman killing machines. That's practically an anime cliche at this point. The really unbelievable bit is that the Italian government would be...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:21 PM
July 27, 2006
All In
It's a lot easier to make money as a real poker pro now that there's so many wanna-bes out there thanks to the Moneymaker Effect. But fighting through the fish do make it hard to win any given tournament....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:49 AM
July 06, 2006
Lovers In A Canoe
Budweiser is the exclusive beer sponsor of the World Cup, to the chagrin of the fans forced to drink the stuff inside the stadia. Of more interest for the rest of us watching on TV is the KoB's stadium advertising...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:08 AM
February 03, 2006
Coldplay, Oakland Arena, 01/31/2006
Michelle was the one who really wanted to go, but she had to work late, something to do with curing sick kids. Stupid kids. So Sam had an extra ticket on his hands, and it wasn't as if I...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 02:54 PM
January 30, 2006
January 19, 2006
ABC, It's Easy As 123
The latest source for ready-made celebrities here in Taiwan seems to be the pool of folks returning to Taiwan from other countries. The wave of 小留學生 have washed back to shore bringing tall, good-looking, upper-middle-class 20-somethings who speak Chinese...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 04:12 PM
December 31, 2005
Dog Bites Man
And in other news, Pack of Chihuahuas attack Fremont cop. The officer suffered bite wounds to his ankles, was treated at Washington Hospital and returned to work within two hours, Fremont police Detective Bill Veteran said. Well, so long...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:10 AM
December 25, 2005
好好好， 聖誕快樂！
Sorry, "Ho" just doesn't transliterate well into Mandarin. Apparently Santas do translate across cultures and languages, in Mandarin and Cantonese. And I guess the jolly white elderly gentleman with a long beard is the one type of worker that...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 07:04 PM
November 25, 2005
Closely Packed
Went to the factory because a big-corp. customer was visiting and because I was due for a trip anyway. Of course, being a big company doesn't mean they'll be a big customer, and it's kinda pointless to be sitting...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 06:08 PM
August 27, 2005
Generic Constipation
Had a good time at Origins last year. Unfortunately, things like work and the Pacific Ocean meant no big midwest game con for me this year. But thanks to Mike and the OgreCave crew with their GenCon multimedia extravaganza...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:43 AM
August 07, 2005
City of Blinkenlights
I thought that the lighting setup at the U2 show was made up of conventional decorative lights, like bulbs or neon. Well, turns out that I was wrong. Scraping across oil-stained concrete, it bunches up anthropomorphically. Heaving up, Transformer-like,...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:57 PM
July 03, 2005
Gibs
Yay, a Gibberish redesign. There's even new content. Even a podcast featuring folks from that particular little social cluster. Unfortunately the podcast page seems to be in RDF format rather than the RSS 2.0 format that the new iTunes...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:55 AM
May 29, 2005
Yew Too
Michelle had to go back to LA to prepare for the wedding, and she's not a huge fan anyway, so it was Sam and I who drove down to San Jose for the U2 concert. I was the one...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:30 PM
May 03, 2005
Drink When You're Thirsty
I'm good about staying home in the factory dorm and not wandering out by myself into the big bad city when I'm in China, and most of our Taiwan people are careful, too. That doesn't leave much to do...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:45 PM
March 25, 2005
Wearable
In order to maintain growth in the face of eroding margins and fragmented competition, it's important for us to be ready to jump into emerging fields of application to capture business while it's still profitable. I guess it'll be...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:19 PM
February 25, 2005
Isn't It...?
Irony: The Costume Designers Guild honored the designer behind Apple's iPod television commercials Saturday at its seventh annual awards ceremony. That is ironic, right? The stupid song has made me so paranoid about misusing the term that I'm afraid...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 07:34 PM
February 19, 2005
Ballsy
I can't decide if these guys are brilliant or insane. They're getting away with it so far, though, so why not. "Take the time to reassess your security right now. Do everything you can do to keep those firearms...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:42 AM
February 09, 2005
新年快樂
This (Chinese) New Year's greeting goes out to Dick Wang, born in the Year of the Cock. I'm sure there's one out there. Here's to you, bro....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 06:13 PM
January 03, 2005
Kung Fu Hustle
The GF's cousin works at the NTU Executive MBA program, which means they get all sorts of nice perks from the home office. She was able to get tickets to the sneak preview of Kung Fu Hustle at the...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:18 PM
October 13, 2004
π
The best opening line for a newspaper article, year-to-date: Mark Pfeifer loves pumpkin pie more than any sane healthy man should. Apparently the entire canned pumpkin production in America (all 150,000 tons of it) goes on during these few...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:19 AM
August 24, 2004
Not-Valentine's Day
Nothing's better for business than holidays, and it's amazing how many commercial opportunities one can create when you combine Western and Eastern traditions. Of course, the department stores pimp out Valentine's Day, since browbeating from wives and girlfriends is...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:48 AM
August 08, 2004
Happy Hours
The manager for Taiwan sales was retiring at the "suggestion" of the uncle. Guy's getting a nice pension (unlike some people), so it's not as if he's being thrown out on the street. Nevertheless, for the sake of saving...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 04:36 PM
July 06, 2004
Origins Notes, Everything Else
Woke up early while Mike and Chris were still dead to the world. Banged out the Day 1 Notes and then took a shower. Hampton Inn provides free breakfast, and their coffee is pretty decent... for freebie hotel coffee,...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 02:36 PM
June 28, 2004
Origins Notes, Part 2
I went to sleep earlier than my compatriots and I never sleep that well in hotels anyway, so I got up relatively early to find Chris sleeping on the floor instead on the half of the king bed that...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:33 PM
June 27, 2004
Origins Notes, Part 1
Met up with Mike at the airport, but couldn't check into the hotel until 3pm, so we stowed the luggage at the hotel and crossed the street to the convention center to stake out the scene. Sure there were...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:29 AM
June 24, 2004
Origins Pre-Show Notes
Was bored at work in Taiwan one day and found out that Mike was still looking for a roommate at Origins. I was going to be in the States for the show, and I just got paid, so I...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:17 PM
June 04, 2004
Significant Alerts
SigAlerts have become part of the vernacular, especially on drive-time radio. It's never good news to hear that there's a traffic jam up ahead, but it's better than not knowing, even if sometimes you have to resign yourself to...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:47 PM
May 25, 2004
Fifth Dawn Prerelease, Afternoon Session
Thanks to a quick final round in the first tournament, I had time to go off and find the convenience store (heck you wander around with your eyes closed and you'll bump into a convenience store in no time)...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:35 PM
May 23, 2004
Fifth Dawn Prerelease, Morning Session
I was out the door by 8am, caught the Blue Line train, exit #2 at 西門站, straight down the street for a block. Hey, it's almost like going to work, give or take an hour. Four rounds of swiss...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:41 AM
April 08, 2004
Opening Dayz
The start of the baseball season is a little strange this year as there were multiple starting points, depending on your point of view. Opening Day = The day when the first game is played. March 30th. The Yankees...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 04:17 PM
March 28, 2004
Draft on Tap
Set the alarm clock last Sunday for the first time since I've been home to get up for the fantasy baseball draft, which was starting at 8am in concession to the east-coasters. Like last year, Sam handled the bidding...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 06:12 PM
March 15, 2004
Phair Game
Noticed that ESPN is using Liz Phair's "Extraordinary" for their NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament promotional ads. It's a cool song and all, and the chorus is appropriate for the event: I am extraordinary, if you'd ever get to know...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 02:09 PM
February 18, 2004
Fragging Alone
Sure, Penny Arcade often gets smarmy and too-l33t-for-thou, but occasionally their views on computer gaming coincide perfectly with mine, which always comes as a pleasant surprise since I'm not actually much of a video gamer. "Gabe Heaven" consists of...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:06 PM
February 09, 2004
Oaktown Represent
Got up bright and early for Grand Prix Oakland. Barely had time to shower, shave, and grab some cards for Randy to sign. He was a regular in LA in the good old days and I have just about...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 12:41 PM
February 05, 2004
Mass-Market Independence
Packed the car to the brim with dead trees and headed on home. 11am seems like a good departing time. Miss out on rush hour on both ends, stop in at the La Mirada In-n-Out for lunch, fill up...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:52 PM
January 31, 2004
Losers (Wacky Japanese Division)
No, not the chick. She's okay. The rest of the crowd? Not so much. Courtesy of the Tokyo Auto Salon, where Gran Turismo comes to life! Although I do admit that if I were there, I'd be right in...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 06:10 PM
January 13, 2004
Sad and Unfortunate
Apparently Japanese TV stations like to show ultimate-fighting-type bouts for New Years. K-1 is the biggest show in town, thanks to characters like Bob Sapp. But the big bad black man needed a big bad opponent. Akebono? I thought...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 04:22 PM
January 06, 2004
Darn
The low-fat doughnut, declares Len Heflich, an industry executive at the American Bakers Association, is "not possible."Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:57 PM
January 05, 2004
Sleepy Time
Rule No. 1 applies: "Never bet on a shaky QB on the road."Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:02 PM
December 26, 2003
Large Men
Boy did that kick ass in HD. You can see all the sumo dudes' back hairs.Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 06:13 PM
December 10, 2003
Second-Grade Analysis
Joan Ryan rocks, and Abercrombie&Fitch sucks, and I'm not just talking about their November same-store-sales either. The Gap stores might be a little too ubiquitous and the designs a little too sterile, but at least there was an SEAsian-looking...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:27 AM
November 25, 2003
Faith In Humanity
JBidwatcher is a nice free program for tracking and sniping EBay auctions. Sure, it's ugly under MacOS X and slow, due to its Java-ness, but it works and it's free. Unfortunately, it doesn't display the detailed descriptions. Yeah, I...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 02:02 PM
November 20, 2003
Warming Up The Stoves
Whatever you may think of these moves. At least they're defensibly intelligent acts based on a building principle (Giants: win now before God stops playing on your team, A's: save pennies for Chavy and Huddy). Compare to the other moves made during this time period...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:36 PM
November 16, 2003
The Jayhawks
Was flipping through the channels when I caught a clip on the County Television Network (i.e. public-access) of them performing in-studio at KPRI. Hadn't realized that my just about favorite band also happened to be some of the ugliest...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:57 AM
November 06, 2003
Magical Mystery Tour
Four Magic tournaments in four days and I bat barely over .500. So much for bumping my rating. Not sure if the entertainment value was worth the money spent, but now that I've bought the cards I might as well as play with them. This is starting to take time away from my 160GB Tivo, though.Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:57 PM
October 31, 2003
Selling Out?
Noticed a couple of pop movies by arty directors lately. Was really surprised to find out that The School of Rock's director, Richard Linklater, also directed Waking Life.Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 12:57 PM
October 23, 2003
Geek Dilemma
What to do on a Friday night? Hit Friday Night Magic for the first Mirrodin-legal Type 2 tournament? Or go to the Grand Opening of an Apple Store down the street, for a free T-shirt and the Panther intro?
Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:04 PM
October 14, 2003
Pro Tour Amsterdam Qualifier, Costa Mesa
Got up early Saturday morning to head up to the Woman's Club for the PTQ and Grand Prix Kansas City Trial tournaments. Had a good time at the Mirrodin Prerelease, so I figure I'd give Mirrodin sealed-deck a shot...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:28 AM
September 20, 2003
Mirrodin Pre-Release Notes
9:30 Geez, could they have hidden the geeks more if they tried? The tournament was in a ballroom on the lower level in the very corner of the Convention Center. We're sharing the center with conventions of Honda dealers...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:41 AM
September 13, 2003
Moral of the Story
Borrowed GTO from the cousins (except for the next-to-last volume which I had to rent, but what's 50 cents). What I learned from the story: All Japanese men are perverts, some are just more honest about it than others....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 05:17 PM
September 11, 2003
Are You Ready For Some?
I've complained about how Bill Simmons' Sports Guy columns have been deteriorating. Maybe what he really needed was a kick in the pants from football season. Of course, ripping the live, beating heart out of Boston sports fans is...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 04:19 PM
August 30, 2003
Kare Kano
Also known as: 彼氏彼女の事情 (Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou in Japanese) 男女蹺蹺板 (in Chinese) His and Her Circumstances (in English) Of course, all you would see is garbage unless you have Japanese and Traditional Chinese fonts installed, which is pretty...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:25 PM
August 18, 2003
Manga Economics
Opened a manga rental account with the bookstore in the Pacific East mall. Fifty bucks up-front in the account, minus fifty cents per volume, checked out for two weeks. Picked up the first 19 volumes of Inu Yasha to...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:57 PM
July 21, 2003
More Comic-Con Notes
Spent Friday morning trolling the anime companies' booths for free stuff. Bandai's the big winner here, with at least five different T-shirts to give away over the weekend plus the usual stationery, posters, etc. Now I was glad to...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 02:38 PM
July 18, 2003
Thursday Comic-Con Diary
12:30 Got to the SD Convention Center. I didn't know what I was expecting, but it was bigger than I thought. Big enough to fill up all the fucking parking spaces, anyway. Had to park at a metered space...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:56 PM
May 18, 2003
The Electronic Entertainment Expo
The Electronic Entertainment Expo is over, and all the latest cats in gaming have been let out of the bag. Microsoft keeps pouring money down the Xbox hole, and Sony keeps on blowing everyone away with the Playstation 2....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:57 PM
May 14, 2003
Mile-High Humor
Is there anything more fun than watching New York fans when their teams lose? Watch the Game Chatter at Baseball Primer as the Mets rush out to a seven-run lead behind Tom Glavine (and his 3.21 ERA at Denver),...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:34 AM
May 06, 2003
Woof, Part II
Cartoon Network finally finished rerunning their stock of Inu Yasha (犬夜叉) episodes. Unfortunately, they're restarting from the beginning again. I actually watched it all for the second time because I thought they were going to follow this cycle with...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 12:59 PM
April 28, 2003
Old Skool
Picked up Ikaruga for the old Gamecube. I'm sick of ridiculously complex games that require an encyclopedia alongside, or on-line games that forces you into clans or guilds in order to survive, when anyone who spends that much time...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:39 PM
April 20, 2003
You know you're hard-up for content when...
...you're a major network and your Sunday sports package consists of the World Curling Championships and Arena Football. Go SaberCats! Too bad I only caught the end of the curling coverage. Would've Tivo-ed it if I only knew somebody...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 12:04 PM
April 19, 2003
Sux 2 B Yuo!
Being the worst baseball team in the Major Leagues is bad enough. Then you look at your upcoming schedule and see: At Oakland DateProjected Starter Apr. 22Tim Hudson vs. 0-3 Scrub Apr. 23Barry Zito vs. 0-3 20-year old scrub...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:48 PM
April 14, 2003
What This Page Needs
Are some cute lion cubs: Hey, the cute-fuzzies are what keeps the environmentalists in business....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 02:42 PM
I'm all for eclecticism,
I'm all for eclecticism, but The Pat Metheny Group on Austin City Limits? They even get the entire hour show to themselves, as opposed to the usual split bill. Smooth jazz with a twang?...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 12:36 PM
April 07, 2003
Out of Context Quote Theater
"You can see the strength in their arms, the way they go get balls, cut balls off." — Todd Helton Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:34 AM
April 05, 2003
Free Erubiel Durazo!
Free Erubiel Durazo! Viva la revolucion! Good to see that Billy Beane is keeping his genius hat on. I'm not a big fan of The New New Thing, but I'll probably pick up Lewis's Moneyball when it comes out,...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:19 PM
March 22, 2003
Moving Pictures
Nothing new about anime on Cartoon Network. The old-school Warner Brothers cartoons have been relegated to the purgatory of high-number digital channels. But up until now, they've been running futuristic sci-fi shows like Gundam or mindless fighting (a.k.a. Dragonball),...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 12:50 AM
March 11, 2003
Non Sequitur
I usually love Non Sequitur, especially the strips with Danae. But really, mime jokes? That's weak. I guess everyone has a bad day once in a while....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:07 AM
February 28, 2003
Joke of the Day
Courtesy of the inestimable Charlie Rosen: [Phil] Jackson named his kidney stone "Kobe" because it wouldn't pass More Lakers nuttiness: Mark Madsen actually hit a J last night. Right after Ben Wallace hit an 18-footer. Who knew? And in...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 05:51 PM
February 24, 2003
Slow Time of the Year
Another America's Cup race postponement, but this time for too much wind. For a sailboat race? Oh well, it's not like Sportscenter devotes more than 15 seconds on the America's Cup anyway. Maybe they should spend more time on...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:56 PM
February 20, 2003
If I had a boat...
I'd sail it on the ocean. And if I had a pony, I'd ride him on my boat Lyle Lovett Hey, there's a reason why more people read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas instead of this stupid web...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:14 PM
February 16, 2003
Beaver Fever. Snatch It!
Usually, we save that cheer for the girls' teams, but since the Caltech basketball team pretty much play like girls, it seems appropriate here. On the other hand, what other school's best basketball player gets observing time on Mount...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 05:24 PM
February 15, 2003
Reality Bites
Finally gave up on Joe Millionaire. There are no "winners" in this game. You don't want the mean golddigger to end up as the chosen one, but you don't want the nice girl to have to face the lie...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:31 PM
February 08, 2003
Monkey Madness
I know I'm not very good at Super Monkey Ball, but I was not aware of the depth of my suckitude until I saw some of these videos of one Mr. PackAttack at work. The host of the site...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 05:17 PM
January 30, 2003
15 Days Until Pitchers and Catchers Report
Not real impressed with the Giants' Hot Stove Heater summary on ESPN. Probably because it doesn't say anything I didn't know already. Not a good sign that J.T. Snow is one of only two guys in the line-up who's...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 06:19 PM
January 28, 2003
In a Name
I'm not as huge a fan of The Onion as many people. The irony overload just gets to be too much after a while, and truth is stranger than fiction anyway. But hey, sometimes they can be pretty damn...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:46 PM
January 19, 2003
Weekend in Sports
Those were a couple of exciting but convincing wins for the Buccaneers and Raiders in the NFL conference championship games. Tampa Bay actually looked more solid from top to bottom, with the expected dominance by the defense and the...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:51 PM
January 13, 2003
FoodTV is a fun
FoodTV is a fun channel with some redeeming value even if you're just vegetating. It's possible to learn something through osmosis even if you don't go and try to replicate their recipes. Shows like Good Eats and The Naked...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:24 PM
January 12, 2003
Peter Gammons is an optimist
Yes, Buck Showalter should "make a huge difference," and it's a given that they'll hit, but are the Rangers really a Team a lot better than what we think? After a 5.26 ERA out of their starters, they lose...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 04:00 PM
November 20, 2002
Revelation
Bought Rogue Squadron II on the same day as my GameCube, but I haven't played it much because I can't even get past the first level, the attack on the Death Star. Specifically the Trench Run, where I either...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:41 PM
October 22, 2002
September 22, 2002
Vargas - De La Hoya
Vargas - De La Hoya was some fight. Seems like it's been a while since there's been a Vegas prizefight that's been worth the trouble. Scary to think that De La Hoya is the old man now. The man's still...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:25 PM
September 20, 2002
I'm not much of a
I'm not much of a video gamer, but this has me excited in blasphemous ways. Of course, it won't come out for another year or two, which should actually give me enough time to finish Brood War one of these...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:36 AM
September 01, 2002
I don't feel out-geeked very
I don't feel out-geeked very often. There was the time at the SCA event, the astrophysics conference, and the good old days when I spent too much time in the UGCS lab. Then there was Thursday night when I went...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 02:45 PM
August 27, 2002
Yikes
Here's a scary thought: Ladies and gentlemen: the 2002-2003 Philadelphia Eagles lingerie calendar. "Oh dear lord", I thought, pausing for a moment before tearing open the package, "what if this is Andy Reid in his skivvies?" Thankfully, it's only the...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:02 PM
August 25, 2002
Played the new Battletech collectible
Played the new Battletech collectible miniatures game yesterday. Each of us had a mish-mash of units from one starter and one booster. They moved the time period so they don't have to deal with the old backstory, which is fine...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 04:33 PM
August 21, 2002
Besbol
The Giants have been scuffling (one of those baseball-only words), but the Mets sure are making them look good. Well, the Giants still don't look very good, but at least they seem adequate in comparison. The Mets K 13 times...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:46 PM
August 11, 2002
Oldie but Goodie
Marathon levels (in .zip format)...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:50 PM
August 04, 2002
Hard to believe that it's
Hard to believe that it's football season already. The World Cup is over, so when I say "football," I mean football. Well, it's only the first premature pre-season game, but with Niners vs. Redskins, there's a little bit more intrigue...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:43 PM
August 03, 2002
What's this world coming to? #291021
Ultimate Fighting Championship on basic cable. Sunday at 6pm. I'll probably watch....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:24 PM
June 03, 2002
World Cup Update
You know, even with a Tivo, it's going to be awfully tough to keep up with three games a day. That's almost six hours of game time, and with real football that makes a solid six hours, with no stupid...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:13 PM
May 31, 2002
You think France missed Zidane
You think France missed Zidane in the midfield a little bit? Had to avoid the sports sites for half the day before I saw the game thanks to the miracle that is Tivo....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:33 PM
May 30, 2002
Why the NBA is going downhill...
"The Nets worked their Princeton offense to perfection in the first half, routinely finding the open man with accurate skip passes over Boston's pack-it-in defense." — ESPN Recap of Game 5. I mean, I love the Princeton system, but in...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 07:18 AM
May 15, 2002
Sports Wrapup
The Spurs have no backbone, spine, cojones, balls, whatever. They got outscored 125-88 in the 4th quarter against the Lakers. Lame. Of course, it takes more than just a backbone to bang against Shaq, hint to Yao Ming. And has...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:23 PM
April 27, 2002
Why you have to respect the Yankees
From Peter Gammons' column: Several Yankee players assert the most surprising pitcher they've faced thus far has been Boston's Derek Lowe. The same Derek Lowe went out and threw a no hitter today. Granted, the Devil Rays are about as...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 05:47 PM
April 26, 2002
Speaking as a science-y geek,
Speaking as a science-y geek, I do love what the Baseball Prospectus folks have done with the game in creating metrics that actually explain why teams win. Work like this is why the A's are still a watchable team. On...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:49 AM
April 24, 2002
You must be a (sports) nut, and/or employed by ESPN, if...
...you spent the weekend watching the NFL Draft. A quintessentially American breed of sports fan, who ignores the playoffs on hardwood and ice, the baseball season sprinting out of the gate, the Champions League showdowns across the pond, and instead...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 04:09 PM
April 18, 2002
"Go on Brak, you go
"Go on Brak, you go get you some."...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 12:04 AM
April 10, 2002
You are a fantasy sports junkie when...
Graham Hays: (5:32 PM ET ) I've got to go with Stiles in a fantasy WNBA league. Coming off September wrist surgery, she's poised for a great shooting year. Bird will eventually be an assist fiend, but remember, WNBA...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 05:12 PM
March 11, 2002
Bracket Racket
This year should be proof that the NCAA Basketball Tournament is a good show regardless of how they pair the teams. There'll be upsets, great finishes, and the overwhelming feeling of watching at least 16 do-or-die games in one weekend,...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:19 PM
March 09, 2002
Today's Schedule CBS: 4 games
Today's Schedule CBS: 4 games ESPN: 7 games ESPN2: 5 games A guy can almost make a full-time job out of predicting the precise bracketing of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The paradox is that as we get closer to...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:56 PM
March 01, 2002
Baseball highlights on SportsCenter! I've
Baseball highlights on SportsCenter! I've had to avoid ESPN for the last couple of weeks so they wouldn't spoil the Olympic results, but it's good to be back. Of course, it's only a few highlights spring training, buried in the...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:01 PM
February 22, 2002
Are You a Dido?
If your CD (or MP3) collection includes 12 (or god forbid, more than 12) of these albums, then you might be one of the Dido Demographic. I only score 5 out of 25 and I already know I have dangerously...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 08:13 PM
February 20, 2002
It's hard not to root
It's hard not to root against the USA when watching the Olympics, just from the visceral antipathy against the rah-rah coverage, even though NBC isn't that bad about it this year. Figure skating is actually fun to watch, since they...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:31 PM
February 14, 2002
29. Never allow a conversation
29. Never allow a conversation with a woman to go on longer than you are able to have sex with her. Keep a stopwatch by the phone; Hang up if necessary....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 03:32 AM
February 13, 2002
You gotta give props to
You gotta give props to NBC for covering all the sports in the Winter Olympics. Actually, the coverage is better for the obscure sports, since they actually run live on the west coast on the NBC cable channels, unlike the...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 11:30 PM
February 09, 2002
I'm always a big
I'm always a big sucker for the whole Olympics thing, even if the whole process is terribly corrupt and costs way too much money ($1.5 billion in tax dollars at last count and rising). I'm not sure if hiring...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 12:43 AM
February 07, 2002
It's funny in a sick
It's funny in a sick way that the first article that comes up when you search for "ACL" on WebMD is about Shea Ralph, "after she hurt her left knee again while playing with her dog." A woman's basketball game...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 05:52 PM
February 05, 2002
Television Time-Out
The Big Bad from Alias was on Sex and the City the other night exposing himself and his Versace briefs to Sarah Jessica Parker. As SJP said, "Pants up!" On the other hand, the 21-year old blonde girl in the...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:37 PM
February 01, 2002
So you think people have
So you think people have figured out that the Super Bowl is the biggest letdown in sports? A 14-point spread. Yikes. Not to mention the 53-point over-under. Actually, I'd take the Rams, give the points, and bet the under. The...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 01:23 AM
January 24, 2002
Sports Wrapup
Cal stole one and Stanford was solid against the LA schools. How in the world did the Sharks get whipped 6-2 by Columbus after playing even with the Red Wings? Yeah, it was the second game of a back-to-back on...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:28 PM
January 19, 2002
Wow, that was an aggravating
Wow, that was an aggravating football game to watch. The Raiders had about a million ways to win the game and they managed to blow all the opportunities. They got screwed by the ref, they blew a short-yardage 3rd-and-1 which...Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 09:17 PM
January 11, 2002
KG was flat out sick
KG was flat out sick against the Lakers. Athletic 7-footers should not be able to drop 3-bombs from the top of the key....Read the full entry...
Posted by mikewang at 10:28 PM