The new season of the OC

I thought the OC was really good last night. Not sure why, but I really felt like they are trying to develop the stories more. Plus I enjoyed how Che sold Summer out, and now she hates him. Katlian really had an A+ show, and so did Taylor. Seriously, I think those 2 have really re-invigorated the show. They are both very funny, and infinitely more talented than Marissa was, so glad they killed her off. I thought the ending was great, with Taylor kissing Ryan, and thinking that Ryan doesn't feel a "spark" but secretly he does, great build up for how Ryan starts to fall for Taylor. It seems less forced this way. I definitely like how they are letting this story line grow a bit before throwing them together. Yes, I believe the Taylor fantasy window washing scene is definitely going to be good TV next Thursday (she is seriously hot, way hotter than Marissa)….The Texas business man character was too good. I love it when TV makes fun of people from Texas.

My Thoughts on Last Night's Survivor

Great season so far. The Whites are falling apart, great TV.

Survivor was awesome last night. I've watched A LOT of survivor, and I haven't seen that much anger EVER. Candice was a BITCH for calling out Yul in front of Jonathan. Now, Yul has to be afraid of any Jonathan reprisals, and I think the end game is going to be A LOT tougher for him now. I don't know if people are going to vote for him at the end. If they vote on which player played Survivor the best, then I think he should definitely win, but I think there may be too much emotion on this jury. I love how Pavarti called Yul "the puppetmaster" at camp and tribal. He is trying to be too diplomatic, he needs a little bit more aggression to him.
I think as a point of reconciliation towards Adam and Pavarti, he should arrange to vote Jonathan off next week. This will probably elevate him in the eyes of the jury, and he gets some extra time to charm Adam and Pavarti into thinking that he had to get rid of Candice first because of her initial betrayal. He can sell that explanation, let's see if he sees this angle. Everyone hates Jonathan, there is no way they will listen to him on the jury. Bringing him to the final is dangerous, that guy is a snake, and you have to get rid of him as soon as possible.
I actually like Adam, I think he is a pretty funny dude, plus he is a trash talking jock. I really don't think there is any hope of him making it beyond the next 2 weeks. Once there is a challenge that involves swimming again, Ozzie is going to crush EVERYONE, and Adam's time will have come.
I have no idea why Yul having the secret immunity idol is such a shock to Adam, Pavarti, Nate, and Candice. Did it not occur to the old Raro tribe that since none of them had the idol, and Yul had been sent to exile that there might be a chance that he had it. Geez, the young/cool/pretty people in this Survivor are almost retarded, I fear for the future.
Pavarti's gameplay confuses me a little bit. I am not sure why she doesn't start to slut it up around camp even more now. She is casting her lot with Adam, and it’s a sinking ship. Pavarti needs to work Ozzie or Yul more, its in her best interest, plus she has the best remaining swimsuit. Her bathtub scene at the reward challenge was too much, but I loved the part where she was like "You guys already have the numbers, why do you want this too?": The simple answer young Pavarti, is that you can never let a weakened opponent gain strength, old Raro is weakened, it was time to put the hammer down. I am glad Yul and Becky understood this really basic tatic. Going for the juggular and sending Candice back to exile was a masterstroke.
Kudos to Candice for not breaking mentally. I thought they would've broken her sending her to exile that final time. She was a good competitor but switching sides really screwed her game. She should've played it closer to the vest until the merger because she could've backstabbed Aitu later on with no reprecussions. She definitely had to be the next too go, she is too much of an immunity threat, and she is the kind of player that calls out everyone's game.

Why Friday Night Lights is awesome (and its flaws)

I am a HUGE fan of Friday Night Lights. I think its a combination of a bunch of things in that show that really puts it over the top for me. First, its a show about football, which means its already a great show in my book (seriously, I have a problem, I mean I have watched and liked both the Waterboy AND Varsity Blues....) Second, I think the casting is great, the thing is the coach's wife is hot for an older woman. That is so key with these teen dramas, I mean having a hot mom involved, means that almost every scene that doesn't involve football has a hot woman in it, not something I complain about.

I think they need to focus a bit more on the football itself. I like the one week "its about the game", the next week "its about the drama around the team", but I would prefer if they had more football in it somehow. 'Cause, like you, I am not too sold on the storylines either. A HUGE negative in my book...when Street got paralyzed! What is up with that! I would have much preferred to have him stay healthy, and then they could have introduced the shady college recruiting storyline like Texas and Notre Dame try to buy his commitment (ala He Got Game, Blue Chips)...the whole "backup quarterback makes good" shouldn't be the way to go. Another negative after that was when they abandoned the Saurensen has to deal with his newfound fame. I mean the Rally girl scene from the 1st episode was great, they could've totally played that up, and have Saurensen buying into the hype until Voodoo showed up. Personally I would've liked it more if Voodoo actually became the real QB.

Carpei Diem, but when is the Diem

The saying "Seize the Day" has always been one that I have found to be extemely cliched, but at the same time applicable to almost all of us. The question really arises is this, if we need to seize the day, when is that day going to come? This past year has been a blur, and in all honesty, time seems to be moving faster as I get older (and I am not even that old!). I just wish the future could be a little more clear, but I guess I'll know when the time is right to try to hit one out of the park. Just trying to not go crazy waiting!

I spent WAY too much money, but I totally love it

So I just bought a new Macbook and the 2007 Burton Custom X with the 07 CO2 Bindings. The total cost of these 2 purchases? Way too much. Almost an entire month's salary. Its okay in some respect since I've been saving for the Custom X for about a year now, and the Macbook was partly financed as a birthday present from the 'rents. Now, my major purchases for this year are done (except for PS3), and while this may sound shallow, nice things definitely give you nice feelings!

Where should I go to snowboard

Since the weather is turning colder, my thoughts have been turning to where to go on my annual snowboarding trip with the crew. This year, Chueeey (a main instigator) is going to be in South America, so it looks like its just going to be me, Warren, and Wooly (with the possibility of a couple of other people joining us). Last year I missed the expedition to Kicking Horse, but this year I have plenty of vacation saved up to do an epic eight day board till you can't anymore marathon.

After extensive discussion, it looks like Park City, Utah is going to be our destination. I am super pumped about this. Ever since the 2002 Olympics (note one of the greatest Olympics ever because Canada won the Gold Medal), I've wanted to head out there. Park City has become quite a popular locale, the Sundance Film Festival is held here in addition to the awesome skiing. However, the reason I am looking forward to this trip is the pure unadulterated POWDER. It is going to be insane, I am already excited about it now, and its still 4 months away!!!!

The Jags Are Going to The Superbowl (and a way to neutralize Troy Paulumalu has been discovered!!!)

After watching last night's game, it is pretty apparent that if the Jaguars can stay healthy, I think they are going to the Superbowl. Their defense is absolutely dominant, just devastating tacklers at every position. They make and stick every hit, if you want to see a great defense then watch the Jags (even Rashaun Mathis who had a rough start against Dallas is coming around).

The Jags offense is very creative, and they have some great packages that effectively neutralizes the 3-4 packages that they face. The size/speed of their offensive line absolute wears down 3-4 units as the Jag o-line men are great a getting to the second level and hitting a linebacker. Plus the Jag coaches seem to be making great calls on the game plan. If you watch last night's game, they were able to take Troy Paulumalu out of the game by motioning in the WR (either Reggie Williams or Ernest Wilford) on his side, and hammering him every play by running off tackle to his side. By the 4th quarter, the Jags were able to run freely to the edges, and Pittsburgh was done. Its pretty obvious that the Jags are planning on using their big WRs as blockers in the run game, which is brillant because all their WRs are the size of some TEs. (The blocking aspect of what I just said doesn't apply to Matt Jones, he is defintiely going to be a target for Leftwich, but on running downs, you won't see him in the game very much.)

Now the question is can the San Diego defense overcome the ablility of the Jags to run off-tackle against a 3-4 front. I don't know if they can, but Merriman is probably going to be one of the most dominant OLBs this season, so it should be a good match up to watch.

Use of the Spread Option in the NFL

The Atlanta Falcons have gained something like 500 yds of rushing offense in the first 2 games on the season against 2 pretty good defenses (Carolina and Tampa), and they have won both games. Now, many of you like myself has wondered how in the world is this possible.

After seeing some parts of this week's Atlanta game, it has become pretty obvious that the Falcons are running their main offense out of the I formation option (the traditional option that we are all used from the dominant Nebraska 90's teams) and alot of nifty use of the spread option (very popular in college, the shining example of it being Texas last year).

Now when the Falcons are in the I formtaion, their option tendencies are quite low, in fact they usually just pound away with Warrick Dunn. However, once in a while we are treated to a Mike Vick sprint out where he has the ability to make a pitch to Dunn if he wanted to. Mainly, I think these runs are used to keep the defense off balance because a pure traditional option attack like this will most likely result in Mike Vick getting decapitated by week 4.

The beauty of this formation is that it is a great look to run play action off of it. Considering the astounding number of times that Atlanta runs the ball, running play action is a breeze. Plus we all know Mike Vick isn't accurate, but the one thing he does well as a passer is throwing lasers downfield. Effective play action is the perfect vehicle to take advantage of Vick's arm strength, espeically when you look at the Falcon's WR corps, where you notice that they all are tall and have deep speed, but are poor route runners.

All of this is pretty run of the mill stuff considering most ball control offenses in the NFL run a variation to what was describe above. What makes Atlanta so unique in my opinion is when they are in shotgun.

When they are in shotgun, they are effectively trying to run the spread option because they have 3 WRs (w/ Alge Crumpler, kinda being a 4th WR) on the field along with Warrick Dunn in the backfield. When the Falcons are in this look, it is pretty obvious that Vick has been given the choice of either:

1) Pass the ball downfield
2) Hand the ball off to Dunn
3) Run himself

In the past choice number 3 was usually the result of a broken play, but now its pretty obvious that the Falcons are making run a part of Vick's progressions.

The whole point of the spread option is to take as many defenders out of the box as possible in order to let the QB read the defense, and decide if he wants to pass/run/hand/toss the ball to the RB. It is a fantastic college offense with an elite athletic QB because it keeps the ball in their hands almost all the time, and usually they can take control with their athleticism. Can it work in the NFL? The jury is still out, but if Vick can keep doing it, and the Falcons can keep winning, all bets are off.

If you want to really see what I am talking about, make sure you watch this week's MNF game. It will be really interesting to watch the spread option in the NFL, I think it can work, and Monday will be the first chance most of us have had to watch it executed over an entire game.

A Response to being a CBC

Now, all of you can go to Warren's blog (link's on the side) to read his post "Curse of the CBC", to get a full understanding of what I am responding to.

First, I'd like to point out that I have many Chinese friends, and I am quite proud of my heritage and where my family originates. I CHOOSE not to speak Chinese, not out of spite (even though that is a good reason), but the fact that my thoughts function in English so that is how I tend to express myself.

This post is a counter point to Warren's misplaced guilt, which I believe is the real reason why he chose to speak Cantonese to the old man rather than an ill fated attempt at practicing his language skills. I'd like to point out that when Warren ventured into the Chinese plaza he should not have felt the need to communicate with the server in Chinese at all. This is akin to walking into a French restaurant and starting to speak French to them. I mean, yes there is pretty good chance that they will understand your Chinese, but there is probably a much better chance that they'll understand English considering you are walking into a store in CALIFORNIA not SHANGHAI!! (Of course if Warren was actually in Hong Kong, I would have appaulded his efforts of trying to fit in, and not be the pushy foreigner that tries to impose their language on others in a country where they are not from).

Here's why I think Warren felt the need to bust out the Catonese in the middle of Irvine (for no apparent reason because its pretty clear that the old man had workable English), I think that Warren, when he was faced with dealing with a Chinese person in a Chinese environment, felt compelled to PROVE himself to be as Chinese as everyone else that was in that plaza. This just might be some 2 bit psycology on my part, but in all honesty, I've felt that pressure in my own life as well (I've become much more militant against it, so it is no longer a problem for me).

So you might be asking yourselves, why in the world would he feel like that? Having grown up in the GTA, Warren and I (much like our other Mississauga/Oakvile Chinese friends, shout outs to Chueeey and Wooly) have been endlessly told by more "traditional" Chinese people (aka dumbasses who choose to live in the farmland known as Markham, as opposed to the much more scenic Lake Ontario waterfront) that we are not "Chinese" enough because unlike them we don't exclusively hang out in enormous Chinese entourages, and gasp, we might not even like karoke, and we definitely aren't fans of Canto-Pop/TV. These individuals tend to be the close minded sort, and when they see you function in English, they feel compelled to tell you that you should be more "Chinese" and speak less English and try to use your "Chinese" more. I find it pretty silly for someone to say they are "more" Chinese then me because they like to spend time in little rooms listening to their friends butcher random songs, where I would prefer to kick it on a patio somewhere enjoying the view (hot chicks) and having a Cervesa. At the end of the day I LOOK no less Chinese than the other person.

Warren, being a banana shouldn't cause you to feel like you are selling out or you are any less Chinese then the FOB guy (who may or may not actually be a chick because let's be honest you can't really tell when FOBs are involved). In fact when Chinese people tell you that you aren't Chinese enough, its really because they are jealous of your ability to integrate yourself into your surroundings because obviously they have failed, which is why they feel compelled to hang out in their Asian-only entourages, and try to bring you down, so they can feel less bad about themselves. There is no curse to being a banana, in fact, it is much more advantegous to be one considering where you're from, and you shouldn't feel guilty about it.

So Warren, don't try to order Chinese food in Chinese when your in California, otherwise you might end up trying to speak Italian at the Olive Garden.

I am completely delinquent

I know, I know, there are never any new posts to be read on this site, but I do have a valid excuse. For the past 2.5 weeks I have been swamped at work, but now that it has died down a bit, I will put up posts a little more regularly.

In fact, I am about to put up a new response to another blog I wrote recently. Read On!!

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!

So did the exclimation points get you excited? I haven't gotten the chance to post something new for a while not because I didn't want to or was too lazy to come up with a new post, but its just that nothing interesting has happened to me this summer. Up until last week when I went on vacation in Europe. It was one of the most memorable trips that have taken in a long time. Here's the rundown:

1. Visiting Brussels and Amsterdam: My buddy Ben lives in Brussels and currently works for an organization that is somehow affiliated with the EU government. In fact he had to entertain a delegation from Nigeria the week before I arrived, and oddly they kept calling him Mr. Ben (I keep imagining their voices to be the same as the guy the plays Mr.Ecko/Adabisi, but I think I might just be stereotyping). Anyway, Brussels was a pretty fun, and it was good times all around, but there really isn't anything special/spectacular about Brussels. Amsterdam was quite the experience, I would describe as sensory overload. If you have never been there, I strongly suggest that you go, it is definitely a unique experience. Be prepared to see a lot of weird shit in this city. On the positive side, there are tons and tons of hot REGULAR women walking around Amsterdam, so the scenary is quite nice, and if your single, I am sure that the Dutch are a friendly people.

2. Interlaken, Switzerland: I went skydiving and white water rafting here, so let's just say I had a blast. Then again, anytime I can fall out of a plane at 13,000 ft in the Swiss Alps, its going to be an exciting time. I can still remember it quite vividly, but sadly I didn't pay the extra $150 for the DVD, so I can just replay it in my mind. Totally glad that I did it, and the feeling of freefall is definitely something that can't be replicated. Awesome feeling.

3. Bern: I was just here for a day, and I was able to catch the major sights. Coolest thing in the city; they have a bear pit in just outside the old city. 3 bears live in the pit, and its kind of like the zoo, but way less secure, and I am not sure how more people haven't been eaten/killed. The bears do seem very docile, so maybe they have been trained very well.

Well I am back in Canada for the rest of the summer, and next on the horizon is my Fantasy Football Draft on August 26th. I am totally geeked up for this! I am picking 10th this year, and while it isn't the most ideal position, I believe that I can make it work in my favour. I'll definitely update everyone when my roster is set. The Fantasy Football Draft is better than Christmas just to let you all know how excited I really am about this.