Why the Big 10 Sucks...

Information as pulled from TMQ @ ESPN.COM...

"Cupcake Update: Division I-AA Delaware State received a $550,000 fee to play at Michigan, where the Hornets were pounded 63-6 on Saturday. Check ESPN's standings for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, and Delaware State is listed as 1-4. Check the MEAC's own standings and Delaware State is 1-5. Why the discrepancy? In order to accept Michigan's bag of gold, Delaware State forfeited a scheduled contest against North Carolina A&T, and the forfeit is reflected in MEAC standings. Why didn't the Wolverines offer to host North Carolina A&T? The Aggies are 3-3 -- Michigan is afraid to play them."

That's why I root for Fresno State. Not just because I'm from Fresno but because they want to play the best competition out there. These Big 10 schools on the other hand, they want to fluff up their schedule.

And actually, let's call out all major schools. Here's another interesting tidbit...

"Texas, Oklahoma Boosters Demand Their Schools Schedule Delaware State: Last week's column detailed how the "explosion of scoring" in Division I football traces to blowout wins by football factories over cupcake schools, inflating averages; when power teams face each other, scoring remains at or below historic norms. What better example than Saturday's Texas-Oklahoma game. Texas came in averaging 47.2 points per game, a figure inflated by a gimmick schedule that included a 64-7 win over UTEP; Oklahoma came in averaging 35.2 points per game, a figure inflated by a gimmick schedule that included a 64-0 win over Division I-AA Idaho State; the Texas-Oklahoma final score was 16-13. Not only is scoring not up when teams of equal caliber face each other, pass wacky is no guarantee of scoring, either. Counting sacks and scrambles, in this contest coaches called 94 passes and 56 rushes. The result was a final of 16-13."

I will say, you don't see a lot of West Coast teams (Pac-10) doing stuff like that.

Boo on Big University Football!!!

deep thoughts...

is the guy that invented paper clips rich? how much does he earn for ever paper clip that is produced? does he hate the man who invented the stapler?

It's that time of year...

So over the summer I've become accustomed to having my fan turned on at full blast and only sleeping with a sheet because it's warm. Well this morning I woke up and I was a bit chilly. It made me smile.

Fall is here.

My favorite time of year!



In other happy news, I did not bend Sprint over as much as I did last time I re-signed my contract but I feel like I got a pretty good deal nonetheless. What I'm really stoked about is the Palm PRE I'll be rocking starting next week. Oh what? Did I just say I'm going smartphone on you guys? Yes, yes I did.

"I'm out like a pop fly to first"

Classic Stuff from the new Co-workers

"I really do think you have a great last name, it sounds like it should come with a chest thump."

Andrew: How can we rephrase re-unique... I've got it! We've been given a re-unique opportunity
Other Andrew: I like that, "re-unique"
Unnamed: Besides the fact that that should never happen to the English Language, I'd kill you.

"Alright Brewer, I'm a pop-fly to first. See ya tomorrow" - In layman's terms that means he's "out"

MM: It's not that you don't know, it's that you don't know with confidence.
Andrew: New Slogan for Phonenite - "Where We Don't Know, but With Confidence!"


Maybe I've been here too long but this stuff is hilarious to me.

Phew... Love to Work, but I think I just saw a zebra..?

So working at CMC has been a joy thus far. I love it when I can work for ten hours and not even notice. I like being busy and I like having challenge set before me and this place seems like the place for me so far. However, I went to celebrate my recent hiring with my good friend Mr. Carrillo (who also works at CMC) and, despite my better judgement, I had some beer (after the first nauseating sip, the love did come back). Hilarity did ensue...

I have discovered many things this evening. The first is that, I am not a drinker. I enjoy a good drink but I am not a drinker. Therefore, I set my limit to two beers or glasses of wine. I will not be taking any shots because it's a waste of the enjoyment of drinking. This evening I had two beers and I had a nice little warm feeling going on and you know what, I like that. It's much cheaper. Moving on...

If I were a serial killer, I would burn people. Or drown them. This has been decided by the committee. However, this discussion amuses me because Mr. Carrillo described me as such: "Brewer, your fatal flaw is that you just care too much. Something is wrong with you." However, I do not care enough to not think about burning my victims alive. True story.

Also, there are zebras in Claremont. I shit you not. I know you're thinking that I was drunk or something (and I was a little buzzed) but I swear to you, we left the bar/grill and saw a fricken' zebra on the street. It was in a petting pen. It had stripes and everything. However, we did do a double take and the quote, "Is that a fucking zebra, or are we really that drunk?" was said. But seriously, that was a fucking zebra.

Also, one of my favorite things about hanging with the Mexi-drew is that he has such passionate responses to social, political and economic topics. Today I got lectured on such topics as: "Inequality of opportunity in America" and "Not an ounce of me can find anything positive to say about capitalism" and my all time favorite "Universal healthcare should be for everyone, legal and illegal". As you can see, he is a liberal. So I tend to like to play devil's advocate and just say something contrary to his beliefs and just let him go at it for a few hours. However, I left him speechless with the following statement.

"Mr. Carrillo, it's not that I disagree with you, it's that I really don't know. You see, I'm interested but relatively uninformed because, hey, I like to be happy."

There was no more lecturing.

Asians and Catholicism

I've recently had this thought...

Why aren't more Asians Catholic? And don't tell me that Filipinos count because they don't even click the Asian box, they choose "Pacific Islander".

Anyway, why aren't more East Asians Catholic? I mean, think about it. Catholicism, shame and guilt, shame and guilt... repent, repent, repent. Typical Japanese/Korean/Chinese expectations... not good enough, need to save face, always apologizing for not having enough (especially with the Japanese folk). I mean, it's like culture shame should transition very easily into religious shame, no? Maybe that would just lead to even more suicidal tendencies but I certainly think there is a valid connection here. Very heavy on the shame.

I don't know what prompted this thought, it just came to me.

On another note, I recommend watching "I Love You, Man". Lots of awkward humor, it's like social "nails on a chalkboard" - but it is hysterical. Jason Siegel might just be my new king of comedy.

L I V E C H E A P

So I've just stumbled onto the most brilliant idea. I need to start saving money by not eating out, right? But the problem is I don't have the discipline or reminder to NOT eat out and therefore, I generally end up spending money and buying bad food while eating out. This then depletes my bank account and balloons my girlish figure. My goal is to get the opposite of that. So here's the idea...

When doing the Nike Run last year, I got one of those yellow "L I V E S T R O N G" bracelets that Lance Armstrong gives out. Now don't get me wrong, I want to live strong, but I think I'm going to start wearing it for my new goal, to live cheap. I mean, not that I want to be cheap miser, but to live in a manner when I'm eating in more often and spending less money on frivolous things. I guess I could say "L I V E W I T H I N M Y M E A N S" but that doesn't quite have the ring that "L I V E C H E A P" does.

However, once a week the girlfriend and I will allow ourselves to spend money on something frivolous. On Sundays after church we will either eat out or buy ourselves a cheap "present" or something. And to be even cooler, we're going to boost the local economy with this local "Recession Buster" plan. Here are the details:

Recession Buster of the Week

It’s time we own this recession and get busy rebuilding and supporting our communities and our country.

The 3/50 project was born out of the concept of buying local to build the economy.
How do you support your local business and stores when your pocket book is so slim?

1. Pick 3 independently owned businesses that you would miss if they disappeared. Stop in. Say hello. Pick up something that brings a smile. Your purchases are what keeps those businesses around.

2. If half the employed population spent $50 each month in local independent businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue. Imagine the positive impact if 3/4 of the employed population did that!

3. For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain only $43 stay here.

4. The number of people it takes to start the trend…one….you!

Read more about the 3/50 project here http://www.the350project.net/media.html

We're not necessarily going to spend $50 a month, but at least we'll be trying to do something to better ourselves and the community. It's a small step, but hopefully it will lead to a more economically conscious Shandrew.

So if you see me walking around with one of those ridiculous yellow bands, you can laugh. But remember, I actually have a purpose for it!

Nicer People = Nicer Drivers = Nicer People

One thing that I've been thinking about a lot since I have returned from the Bay area is this: the people up north are much nicer than the people down south. I'm not talking about the individuals, I'm talking about the collective "people". The reason there is a difference is because I honestly felt like I was a nicer person while I was up north compared to when I was down south. How do I know this..?

Driving.

That's right, that thing you do every day, to get to work, to go on a date, to buy stuff... that's my indicator. Let's call it, Angry Driver Meter or "A.D.M." for short. So in Los Angeles, my A.D.M. is generally at around 8 or 9 out of ten when heading into Downtown LA. I make it a point to keep people from getting in front of me if they piss me off or even just look at me funny. This translates into a pissy mood when I'm out of the car because I'm sitting there walking around or eating dinner still fuming about the inconsiderate bastard that nearly hit me with his goddamn SUV. Therefore, I am generally not as "nice" a person as I have the potential to be because I am constantly in a state of bloodlust post any driving trips.

However, in San Francisco, you take public transportation or walk quite a bit. It is a pedestrian friendly city. Not only that, when you are driving, it is relatively impossible to rush any where because there's a goddamn stoplight every one/tenth of a mile (think I'm shitting you? go do the measurements yourself, it's 1 fricken 10th of a mile from stoplight to stoplight). So there's no point in even driving very fast because you're really not going to make any headway. Therefore, you tend to kind of just go with the flow. Due to this newfound serenity, you also are a lot more patient with other drivers who are now real people, no longer nameless douchebags to be added to the "List of People I Will Kill if I am Diagnosed With an Incurable and Fatal Disease". So when someone signals to get into a lane because they might miss their turn you find yourself thinking, "go right ahead sir, thanks for signalling!" instead of, "you bastard...". So (bringing it home folks), when you get out of the car and go to meet up with people, or go to work, you are in a relatively anger free state. Thus, you are more congenial with your fellow homo sapiens.

Obviously this is just one visit and not a very scientific method to explain the reason why I feel people in NorCal are nicer than SoCal. I just definitely felt a lot calmer when I was driving there - that calmness translated into a kinder, gentler Andrew. One thing that really stuck out in my mind is that even when I was in bumper to bumper traffic, I wasn't chewing on my fingers trying to get my mind of the pain of driving in traffic. I wasn't happy, don't get me wrong, but I certainly wasn't going through my general "I'm going to kill the next person that pisses me off" mode that I'm accustomed to dealing with when I'm in a crowd and that is definitely a plus. In fact, despite the crowd you find on public transportation, I am able to cope with the uncomfortable "crowd" atmosphere in a much more efficient manner because at least we are going somewhere. Just the fact that I became a nicer person and I noticed that everyone else was very nice leads me to believe that the "people" are nicer in an area because that area does a better job of keeping the "person" in a calm and healthy state. L.A. is definitely not a place that I would say does that.

Now that we're back to the original topic, San Francisco makes me a mellower and nicer person. Dare I say the thought of a relocation is really not as bad as I thought. I mean, I will miss the great food in LA but I will probably add years to my life via lower blood pressure due to an escape from the nightmares of L.A. traffic. But, until such a relocation happens, if you are going to cut me off, be prepared to see some extended fingers. And they will not be of the "THUMBS UP" variety.

An Unfortunate Dose of Truth

It is easier to accept the Bible as historical for me. Why is that? Well, because of a recent sermon that I had the pleasure of attending.

Apparently, the worship of God in the Old Testament always required blood sacrifice. Something or someone had to die for an individual to be in the presence of God. As the Old Testament goes on, the Temple, or, location of God's presence evolved to become larger and more complex. This all lead up to Jesus Christ's death on the cross which is to be taken as the ultimate blood sacrifice because he is God's presence and without sin. With this step, the temple in which God's presence now visits no longer needs to be an actual temple. With this sacrifice, the temple now becomes man.

This is kind of an abridged rundown of the idea of the sermon.

So why do I, a skeptic, feel this helps the idea of truth in the Bible. Because man is barbaric. Man would require blood sacrifice. Man has killed many for religious ideals. I can believe that, in the past, religion was based on blood sacrifice. I feel that this shows the evolution of Christianity. This is a good thing for me because it shows the growth of we as a people. It also supports my cause in understanding and believing in the things that are said in the Bible.

However, the chilling fact, for me, is that I have always tried to believe that man is inherently good. I feel that, in general, we strive to be good people. With this particular revelation, it becomes a little harder to swallow the happy pill.

That is why this particular bit of truth becomes unfortunate.

An Epiphany...

Jack Bauer is a great guy.

How do I know?

He is not shallow. None of the women he dates are attractive. If so, they must have great personalities. Jack saves the world and dates for personality.

Jack Bauer is great.

Middlesex

I read this book a few months ago and it's been very hard for me to work up something to write up about it. It's the story of a hermaphrodite, but it's really a story about the generations of family that lead up to her story.

The historical background is quite interesting. It follows the origins of two immigrants who are from a small village in the Mediterranean. As the Turks invade their country, a brother and sister flee the country. However, they fall in love and this sparks the first genetic mutation that leads to their granddaughter's "birth defect".

What made the writing great is that you were emotionally drawn to each of the characters; though not necessarily in a positive fashion. However, the fact that you do feel something when you think upon the personality traits of the characters made me really like the book. Initially I did have problems because the story jumps from various generations of the family and can be difficult to follow. Also, the events and emotions that the characters feel can be intense at times which makes it a bit of a "heavy" read.

I actually found the history of Cal's (main character, the hermaphrodite) family more interesting than her life story. While she is a very dynamic character filled with complex emotions and challenges, the historical references due to the nature of the characters' origins make their surrounding characters and regions an attractive draw for me because I feel that historical culture is very interesting.

In the end, the thoughts I have about this book is that it shows both how harsh and delicate a human being can be. The type of emotional trauma and treatment Cal faces is something I could only imagine. Also, the recounts of the Turkish invasion, the riots in Detroit, the mafia... it's quite depressing. However, the story ends with hope as Cal finally finds a woman to love him for what she was.

Interesting indeed.

Overall Score: 8/10

Excommunication of Xanga

I am turning this blog into my all-encompassing blog of thoughts that I have on a second-to-second, minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour... well, you get the point. Why? Because I felt like in order to feel like an established Xangan, you had to pay lip service, or finger service (typing versus speaking, not what you think) to people on there who are "popular". Also, some of the folks I followed ended up getting a lot of racist and ignorant comments and it made me jaded to a point where I just didn't even want to write on that particular site because there were a lot of idiots there. There's only room for one idiot in my life and that's yours truly.

So unfortunately for anyone who is interested in reading what I have to say they'll also have to go through the painful process of seeing my thoughts about various pieces of literature, or fluff in some cases, that I have chosen to comment upon. Sorry about that. However, if you have missed my ramblings, then welcome to "Sanpei desu!".

What inspired me today? Well, it was actually reading. However, I do not wish to delve to much into breaking down the book I read but more into the thoughts I have now that I have finished reading it. The book in question is Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government by Glenn Beck. I'm generally not interested in political science reads but considering how much Thomas Paine (author of the original Common Sense) I had to read back in AP US History and AP Euro at Edison, it lept off the shelf at me. Unfortunately, it has left me emotionally drained and depressed about the US and considering relocating to Canada, Taiwan or Australia. However, while I was reading I discovered a very pleasant contempory classical musical ensemble by the name of Escala. So I'm currently listening to them as I write this so while socially I feel drained, I am very much musically inspired.

I hate reading non-fiction. Why? Because bad news and negativity are generally far more interesting than stories that have happy endings. It's just the way it is. I can read a good book with a happy ending but for some reason, news and social commentary aren't the same. Why is that? Probably because the reality is that if you are reading something positive, it's even more depressing than something critical or doomsday-esque because you realize how few and far between the positive stories come these days. So this particular commentary takes a good look at the economy and policies of the US and focuses on how the country has become a slave to debt and that the government is starting to have a far too active role in our daily lives. Some sobering thoughts are:

* We would not invite most of our elected officials over for dinner or trust them with the care of our children. However, we will allow them to control the future of the country we live in.

* The payments that our country has to make on our the interest of our debt alone would not be covered on a yearly basis if we were to tax even five of the most successful companies of the US for 100% of their profits. That's just the interest and NOT the principal of the debt.

* We live in a country that after imagining a man on the moon, accomplished this goal in eight years. They built a transcontinental railroad in seven years without the use of any power tools. However, they cannot make good on a promise to build a simple fence along the southern border of the country that they made in 2005.

There are many other depressing facts laid out and there are certainly some things I disagree with. For example, Mr. Beck is not at all interested in a plan for Universal Health Care (or maybe he is, just not the way it has been proposed). He also is a huge detractor of the gun control policies. But I do agree with some of his views of the economy. How can we spend money we don't have? What happens when China cashes in all the bonds that it has purchased? Why don't we care about the posterity of our nation?

I have been caught making snide remarks about my friends because their families have "mattress money" but seriously, why invest? I have taken painful consideration into making sure that I have as little revolving credit as possible because it is ridiculous to want to have more than your means allow. I agree that too many people want to work very little and receive very much. Hell, I went from working with a very successful Non-Profit Consultant company to serving froyo at the local Pinkberry. People have to do what they have to do in harsh times and the sad reality is that things are going to continue to get worse. The only consolation for me is that I have lived in this time and have made it my goal to make sure that my children do not deal with the same challenges that I have dealt with because of an inability of my own to save and make smart financial decisions.

Politically, the country is about as likely to escape bi-partisanship as Honda making a V8 engine to drop in its flagship sedan within the next two years. Zilch. So while I will make an effort to become more well-informed and not think "lesser of two evils", I know that unfortunately, we have been married to this concept for quite some time. However, I will do my best to take care of my future children by making smarter decisions for the future. It makes me sad to think that I've come to a point in my life where I actually find myself agreeing with some of the thoughts and opinions of someone as right-wing as Beck. I guess this is what the world has come to. He certainly does not appeal to the charitable side of me but as I get older there are issues that bring out my inner conservative. Sad day.

peace... luv... happiness...

Angels & Demons

The movies coming out so I figured I'd dust off my favorite Dan Brown novel and give it another read.  No plot details here, just some thoughts...

* I really enjoy stories about secret societies, makes the world seem more exciting

* I want to be an Illuminatus

* After watching "The Passion of the Christ", reading this novel and enjoying the works of Khalid Hosseini, I've come to realize that religion leads to a remarkable amount of violence

* Although a lot of the science makes no sense to me, wouldn't it be nice if anti-matter were a legitimate fuel source

* Tom Hanks was an excellent choice for Robert Langdon

* The movies will always be pale in comparison to Dan Brown's novels, there's just too much information to be processed in 120 minutes of film time

* Ambigrams are cool

* I'm excited to see Ewan McGregor play the Carmelengo

* Is there really a secret vault of archives for the Vatican that contains all these rare materials?  Wouldn't surprise me.

This novel kept me guessing the whole way.  I love Dan Brown novels but they are all very predictable from my POV.  Angels and Demons is my favorite because it is the only one that I read in which I did not guess the villain prior to his unveiling.  Here's hoping the movie will outdo the Da Vinci Code.

Overall Score: 8/10

Artemis Fowl

So I just read the first two books of the Artemis Fowl series.  Artemis Fowl and The Arctic Incident were both very quick reads as they are basically young adult books.  While reading some more serious books (Mengele, Middlesex), it's nice to relax and quickly burn some Harry Potter-esque materials.

Some basic background on Artemis Fowl is that he is a criminal genius.  However, he is only twelve years old.  His family has been broken apart by the disappearance of his father and he is trying to bring them back into the 'billionaire' status by taking advantage of the fairy world.  They are called 'The People' in this series.  Fairies, goblins, trolls, etc all have gifts that humans don't have and advanced technology.  These stories are based off the interaction of Fowl and The People.

Some cool things about the novels are the fact that the hero is actually a villain, who you grow to appreciate.  He definitely prefers to be underhanded but somehow, good comes out of him at the end of the books in small doses.  Also, the description of the various fairy world characters are quite amusing and the devices that they have are just remarkable.  The action sequences are very exciting and the book goes by so quickly because of how fun the scenes are.

I don't feel the need to actually go into what each novel is about in depth but the first is Fowl's attempt to re-establish his family fortune by stealing from The People; the second is about Fowl helping The People stop a human/fairy trading group as well as the recovery of his father.  I would say the first book is more interesting but both were definitely entertaining.

For me, the enjoyment of reading these books comes from the visualization of an alternate world.  I wouldn't look to learn anything too deep from these books.  The one lesson I did "learn" is that humans are slowly destroying the world.  I already knew this but it's sad to see that it has even become a topic in our kids' books.  There is a constant berating of the filthy "mud people" which is fairy-talk for humans.

All-in-all, these books were amusing enough for me to want to read the whole series.  Hopefully I'll be able to find them at a Barnes or Borders so I can just take an hour or two to read them.

Overall Score: 7/10

Watchmen

I don't have a lot of experience reading graphic novels, however, I do enjoy most of the movies based off of graphic novels that I've seen.  I have read most of Sandman and do enjoy reading Manga on a very frequent basis so when I was given a copy of Watchmen I was definitely intrigued.

Watchmen is basically the story of the rise and fall of masked heroes.  There is very little "crimefighting" involved that is often related with comics like Batman, Superman, etc.  This is an in-depth look at the personalities of the heroes portrayed in the novel.  It starts off with the death and investigation of said death of a masked hero.  As we find out more about this crime, we are treated to background stories of all the "Watchmen" who have long since gone out of fashion.  There is really only one remaining, Rorschach, but he is more of a vigilante.  The world is a place that has tired of the antics of these heroes and prefers to fight crime in a more typical manner.

Most of the heroes have revealed their identities and have taken on normal lives but with the death of one of their brethren, this causes a stir in the masked hero community.  Rorshach believes there is a plot to kill all the heroes.  He starts reaching out to his old "pals" and this is how we learn about each individuals pasts as well as roles they played as masked heroes.

In the end, it turns out one of their own was plotting to destroy New York in order to cause the world to be thrown into chaos which would then lead to the coming together of all people to fight the powers that caused this destruction.  Surprisingly, he succeeds but is uncovered.

I enjoyed the novel but it took quite some time to read because it was so intense.  Each character was different so for one, I think it shows that any individual can be extraordinary.  But the ending was disturbing in that, logic shows that people unite under great adversity.  Take Russia and the US in WWII for example.  The logic that the "villain" was using was that it takes a truly horrific disaster to bring people together.  If you look at recent history, I would say that this is the case even within our country.  If you take in the world, a disaster of even higher magnitude is required to create a lasting peace.

There are so many sub-plots and story lines that writing an actual summary would be tough.  But I was left in a very thoughtful mood upon finishing this novel.  It is a dark picture of our world and also uses a lot of historical context during the "Red Scare" to tie in the characters' struggles.

Score: 7/10