donger need food.

Firefox Rules!

And no, I'm not talking about that really cool Clint Eastwood movie from the early eighties that little jet plane geeks like me watched.

I'm talking about the web browser...Ever since I've left the "individual contributor" fold, I've been farther and farther away from all this geeky technology stuff. But I still thoroughly enjoy working with a fabulous piece of software. Like the Firefox web browser.

I love the tabbing and the pop up blockers. But what I really really love are the extensions. Here are my must-haves:

• GMail Notifier: So I can instantly respond to e-mails the moment they arrive. Why? Because I have no life. :)
  
• Tab Mix Plus: I have my tabs setup just the way I like 'em, "popping under" as it were
• SessionSaver: I just found out about this yesterday -- super duper cool. Close the browser, and all your tabs are remembered. So... the next time you open the browser, all the tabs reappear! Excellent.
  

Now if only people would stop creating IE-only webpages. Then I wouldn't need to have the "Only Open in IE" extension.

posted by VirtualErn @ 12:51 PM 1 comments

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Pagsasarili

Spending a few days in America's Finest City this past weekend gave me an opportunity to revisit a few of those places that my restless spirit haunted in the past. Throughout the process, I was occassionally reminded of another place and time; digging up feelings and thoughts that I left long ago on a quest for some romantic ideal of what my life should have been. And yet, after some six years of life in the bay area, this Southern California suburban boy has cycled back to just that -- an awkward solitary soul roaming through the concrete highways, camera in hand.

My head has been filled with The Killers' Change Your Mind, a track that I just can't get out of my head -- hints of New Order's Technique album, and heck...I swear there's even inklings of Book of Love in there (if you can believe that). It's been playing on repeat in the car since early last week, a strangely warm day where I found myself on my lunch break in a weird deja vu mode out on Page Mill Road with the windows & sunroof open, sun beating down. Just me and my car, alone with the music, the weather, and my thoughts about my career...not too unlike those sunny days working out of La Jolla, fresh out of college, thinking: "is this all that there is?"

I'm grateful for my brother's Snow Patrol recommendation, which I'm finding to be another good echo board for my current state of moodiness...

So after the disappointment of the Friday gloominess, Saturday ended up turning into a beautiful partly cloudy day, finding myself in the tourist trap of Balboa Park. It's been years since I've visited the grounds, and it's a "target rich environment" for anyone armed with a camera -- I was hoping to capture images that would try to express the constraint of the 6x6 square. I failed miserably. :(

Nevertheless, the walk did well to consume the late-night calorie-fest that was Valentine's extra special pollo asado burrito (and large horchata). Next up, the beach...

On a whim, I decided to return to Torrey Pines State Beach, where I found myself a frequent visitor during college on post-failed-midterm ventures, and late afternoon lecture breaks...oh, the days of angst and uncertainty as an insecure asian in his early twenties. If you look hard enough, you can see that guy parked in the parents' old hand-me-down-car on the side of the road, feebly attempting to cram for that weekly quiz -- mind drifting in and out of concentration, distracted by the dolphins riding the crashing waves in front of him. Turning around, he sees both ends of a rainbow that spans the entire length of the valley floor; an Amtrak Coaster crosses underneath, speeding its passengers southward to their next destination.

I miss that feeling you get heading southbound on North Torrey Pines Road out of Del Mar, coming down the hill, cliffs on the left, trees on the right, and right when you cross Carmel Valley Road, it opens up into this great expanse of tributaries, marshland, beach, cliffs in the distance covered with wind-blown Pinus Torreana, and a pair of steel rails cutting a swath through it all.

It's so easy to burn so much gas roaming the miles of coastline down there.

And people thought I was insane racking up thirty thousand miles a year. Maybe they were right?

posted by VirtualErn @ 1:12 AM 2 comments

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Stick a Fork In Me, I'm Done.

What a way to cap a weekend food binge...My auntie & uncle did things up in their usual fashion: king crab legs, sisig that was holy-freakin'-crap-good, dilis (I don't even remember the last time I had those little fried fishies!!!), prime rib, baked salmon, albacore salad (with fresh albacore), salt & pepper chicken wings, and some other dishes that I passed up on (like pinakbet-hehehe). My mom joined in the fray with her (damned good) cassava cake and some vegetable stir fry. My cousin's girlfriend added a delicious butter bean salad to the mix -- boiled butter beans, real bacon bits, onions caramelized in the leftover bacon grease, and the topper - french goat cheese. Was that enough? Of course not! We topped it off by making some real smores over the fire pit in the backyard (Hershey's chocolate bar + Safeway brand marshmallows & graham crackers). It didn't occur to me until that night that I've never made smores before. Yet another artifact of San Diego Unified skipping 6th grade camp our year.

Some dark + blurry pics of the food here.

Oh, and this is what happens when you let my brother put up the X-mas decorations...
More to come from this nice San Diego holiday as soon as I get the slides processed.

posted by VirtualErn @ 12:01 AM 2 comments

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Never Force Anything...

"...Cuz if you have to force something, you're not doing it right, and you might break it."

So said the clerk at Keeble and Schuchat Photo as he was instructing me on the finer points of operating the 503CW rental camera. Advice that I've long known about, and have always made efforts to heed. Not so, on this cloudy, overcast and dull Friday in San Diego. And I failed in glorious fashion...

I possessed two checks that were sitting in my car; given that it was a nice day-off for myself, and the low-visibility weather foiled any attempts at a successful photography expedition, I decided to run some errands. Get the car washed, deposit the checks, possibly consider getting the radiator fluid changed...I found myself down the street from my favorite hand car wash, in an all too common strip mall off Clairemont Mesa Blvd. A little BofA Versateller ATM was standing all by its lonesome amidst Tea Station and Lolita's Mexican Food and Thomasville. Pulled into a parking spot and decided to clean the car before going to the car wash -- you know, just put all the crap into the trunk so they can vacuum the floor.

After getting that taken care of, I proceeded to head toward the ATM. Walking there, I noticed a guy getting back into his car -- That's curious, I thought...he sure was quick. Uh-oh, I hope the machine's not broken. Turning the corner to the front of the machine, I breathed a sigh of relief -- screen was working fine. Cool.

Stuck my worn ATM card (due for a replacement soon) into the slot and bang. Something's blocking it. Hm...try again. Still no luck. Maybe if I push it in a little harder. Nope. And that's when this little voice in the back of my head started echoing that camera clerk's words of infinite wisdom..."Don't force it". Now, if logic were to prevail, I would turn around, walk away, and go to the next branch which was a short drive away. But no, let me try one more time. Just push it in a little harder this time, and maybe wiggle it a bit.

Oh cool, it worked!

Deposit envelope in my left hand, I punched in the PIN with my right. ...Wait a minute. There's no deposit menu!! Looking down, there's no deposit slot!! Grrr...Cancel. Hit the cancel button, you dork.

Beep beep beep (while Please remove your card flashes on the screen) beep beep beep

But no card comes out. Lots of whirring, lots of beeping, but nothing.

Right. The machine had eaten my card.
Revenge, I guess...for all the amazingly bad food I've been eating this whole trip down in the Southland. There was chili cheeseburgers and chili cheese fries courtesy Tommy's on Wednesday. Then deep fried turkey and ribs on Thanksgiving. Then a carne asada taco & 3 rolled tacos w/guac+sour cream courtesy Lolita's for lunch on Friday. Then hot pandesal for a snack, and then Karl Strauss Amber Lager (fresh on tap! mmmm...mmmm...good!) and a damned good pollo asado burrito from Valentines for dinner.

And tomorrow's outlook isn't any better, with dinner at the cousin's house...and they love to make prime rib & seafood.

How da heck did I keep my weight down when I was living here? :)

posted by VirtualErn @ 2:41 AM 1 comments

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Jalen Amayah

Since they're not on blogger, thought I'd throw up some pics (courtesy Almar) of the new addition to the Reyes clan. Born 6lbs, 10.5oz, 19.5in at 10:30PM 11/20/2005.

posted by VirtualErn @ 5:16 PM 1 comments

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Use a Bigger Hammer

So I decided to play wannabe again and picked out a nifty all-mechanical 6x6 to (hopefully) fill the empty black square frames sitting in the living room. I'm nowhere near the talent level of some people I know, so I'm hoping a big fat lens and a shiny expensive camera will make up for the lack of photographic knowhow. [evil laugh] I'm praying that the weather and light gods will shine down upon me this weekend and let me put this beautiful Swedish tool to some hard work. I think I'm going to forego the metering viewfinder and just go with a handheld Sekonic. It's way too cumbersome to figure out the thing, it's heavy, it darkens the bright ground glass, I lose the whole waistfinder action, and it's not linked to the lens so I'm basically better off with a handheld. Oh well, lesson learned. I wish I had the money to actually buy a camera like this...it just looks SO cool.

Gary, you really missed out on karting tonight. You gotta stop working so hard!! Hopefully after you become a seasoned veteran at your company you can start slacking off. :) We all had a blast, but a few of us had issues with inconsistent cars (such as bad alignment). We only did the Triple Shot Tuesday thing (three practice sessions for $45) so it was more of a practice. Everyone learned it pretty quickly, and got some good times in the second session. I'll definitely plan on something either next month or January -- and we'll make it a race, with the full deal: qualifying for grid, then dicing for position...hopefully we can get more guys to come out so we can have the track to ourselves.

posted by VirtualErn @ 11:41 PM 2 comments

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Got Cars on the Brain

There was this great commercial a while back where they showed this guy growing a tiny Volkswagen out of his head. Basically, it was something about how he was distracted by the itch to want to get a car... So I think I really need to find myself a nice wife, buy a house, grow some kids, and own a lawn mower. That'll force me to act my age and stop spending all my time contemplating ways to blow money down a pit of four wheeled excessiveness...cuz for the past few weeks I've been really distracted by cars again. My beloved G20 has given me over 3 years of multi-link front wheel drive handling goodness, racking up 100K miles in the process (now at 211K). But for some reason, I think it's time to upgrade. Or at least change the image that putzing around in a mid nineties 4 door 4 banger gives. And the S2000 sits patiently in the cold concrete garage, quietly awaiting its eventual transfer into another owner (with luck, s/he will be an aficionado).

What is distracting me? Thoughts of the E34 M5 that I've always wanted since 1995...pictures of which adorned the flourescent-lit interior office of my first software development job -- a materialistic motivational force to move along in my career. And so I wade through Autotrader ads, quietly ignoring logic in face of the insanity of dropping (at least) 12 large on a thirteen year-old hand-built four door super saloon with (at least) a hundred thousand hard-earned miles on the race-inspired 24 valve straight six S38 motor. Crazy? Right-o. But at this point, who cares? Thousand dollar service inspections? Bah. If I'm going to feel passionate about something, might as well go all out, eh?

So that takes care of the daily driver...now I need a weekend toy. Something cool to pick up hot chicks in. (hahahaha -- I felt like a teenager typing that, and yet, it still was strangely satisfying) The NSX has always been at the top of my list. In Silverstone. With the 6-spoke rims. Did you know that NSX stands for New Sports eXperimental? Now that would be a cool car. But it's a bit on the slow side (for a supercar), and a turbo has always been on my drool list. So there's always the Turbo Z. Or a MK IV Supra (but I never really liked Toyotas -- too pedestrian and soul-less for my tastes). And NSX's are expensive.

Then there's always that big black demon looming over my shoulder -- #37 on the to-do list of Ernie's life...go racing. I've been talking, talking, talking, talking, about doing something competitive, out on the tracks -- full-on, red-mist, wheel-to-wheel racing. And the apple of my eye at this current time is the SpecE30. For those of you playing along at home, no, it's no longer the SE-R cup...that was so 6 months ago. I want a cheap, rear wheel drive series. And the SpecE30 fits the bill nicely; besides, the Miata Cup (although a great series) is a little too unmanly for my tastes. :) I could pick up a cheap E30 for a couple thou, drop another ten grand in it to get it raceworthy over the next year, and be off and running in 2007. (Assuming that I have ten grand to spend on this type of a crazy venture).

But how am I going to get beautiful women to go ride in a yuppie beemer from the late eighties?

:)

[And no, I don't really believe that expensive flashy cars will get you on hot dates. Of course not. It's about your personality, your values, how you treat women, how you act, and all that jazz. But it sure doesn't hurt! hehehhehe]

posted by VirtualErn @ 3:13 PM 2 comments

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Exotic

posted by VirtualErn @ 10:05 PM 4 comments

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High Maintenance

I can't sleep... I hate when my body gets into these bad sleeping patterns...it's been like this since the Pomona event a few weeks ago, where I got oh, about three hours of sleep riddled by my brother's snoring and a blaring train horn that hit every thirty minutes or so.

In my previous life as a software developer and a QA engineer, one of the things that I stressed in my designs (and in reviewing others) was low-maintenance code. You accomplished this through well documented code and prudent designs that allowed for easy expansion and accounted for a large number of "what ifs"... What if we were to add a new feature later? What if we were to convert this into a multi-threaded application? What if someone new had to modify the code? etc. etc. Why do this? Because every single line of code that you write will never die. Someone, somewhere is going to look at it again (usually it's you) months, years after it was written. Whether it be to fix bugs, extend features, or simply just plain maintain it. Well, it didn't really hit me until recently that there are so many other things in life that require so much intense maintenance.

The car is one of the worst offenders, sitting near the very top of the list with such niggling (and costly) chores such as: alignments, myriad fluid changes, occassional catastrophic part failures, gas, air, washing, customized parts, vacuuming (vacumming?), yearly registration fees, smog tests, insurance, general wear and tear...the list goes on and on. But one thing's for sure about cars -- stop doing the maintenance, and those warning signs start raising their ugly head rather quickly, loud messages to you that you'd better do something or else.

Then there's physical maintenance... I embarked on a training program a few months ago after years of neglecting this poor old body. The benefits are great (better state of mind, improved health, etc.) but the work is just so difficult -- and it is so easy to fall off the wagon (actually, I'm supposed to say get back on the wagon). Miss a workout day, then two...then three...next thing you know you've skipped a month. And then tell yourself just eat one bad meal this one time...then it becomes three...then you're back to your old habits again. Constant maintenance. I definitely couldn't have done this alone.

And clothes. Don't maintain your wardrobe, you'll easily find yourself out of touch, out of style. Sure, there's the obvious -- keep your clothes washed and ironed. But that's the strict bare minimum of upkeep work. What does it take to really maintain? Lots of reading, lots of watching TV, and lots of "keeping up with the Jones'es" to make sure that you're up to date and fashionable. Looking back over the last month I realized just how much I've neglected that whole aspect of my life; I'm grateful for the helpful advice of those around me (you know who you are) and just hope I don't fall to the lazy path of neglect.

Relationships, although an entirely different and overly complex beast, still follow under the same basic principles... Whether it be a friend or a lover, those same concepts still apply. Stop maintaining the relationship, stop doing those things that keep that relationship strong, and the next thing you know, it's fallen beyond repair. And it's so easy to fall into that rut if you're not careful. But like everything else good in life, it just takes work, attention, and just basically: care.

And so it is with my sleeping patterns...decide to relax on the discipline and maintenance of going to bed on time because you just have to watch that next episode of Lost (a great show, by the way) and next thing you know, a week later you're falling asleep four hours later than you should be. And then you're just screwed. I really should just shock myself back into my regular times. Force this lazy bastard to get out of bed at 7.

Why can't there just be an easy button like in that silly TV commercial?

posted by VirtualErn @ 2:19 AM 3 comments

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Chicken & Waffles

Ah, the little things... I've seen this saying before, but seeing those white letters emblazoned on the blue background got me to chuckle out loud a bit. Although I think I've seen it like this: "My karma ran over your dogma"

So the UPSer and I hit up the House of Chicken and Waffles, and I must say it was quite good. I was expecting a sub par Roscoe's knock-off, but I was pleasantly surprised. I tried being a good boy and stuck to the Incredible Isaac (chicken leg or thigh, one waffle, and grits). The grits were surprisingly good (maybe it was all the butter?) The last time I had grits was 8 years ago at a Waffle House out in Cape Girardeau, Missourah, and I don't remember it being this good. The chicken is different from Roscoe's in that they don't bread the chicken. Oh, and their sweet potato pie was just SOOOOOO good. Mmmm...mmmm...mmmm!! What a great way to kick off a Sunday practice.

I've been feeling quite a bit uninspired lately, finding words to be just within inches of my grasp but nevertheless elusive...There's lots of posts now sitting in draft mode on this account; maybe the trip down to San Diego later this week will do me some good. I know I said this the last time I went down there, but this time I'll bring along a 6x7 rental, a 50mm, a roll of Velvia, a light meter, a laptop and really plop myself down on Coronado beach early Friday morning. With everyone occupied by the mad rush of post turkey day discount bargain bins, I should hopefully find the beach to be a nice quiet escape.

posted by VirtualErn @ 9:39 PM 2 comments

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Potpourri

Curses.
There's a 220 pound weight limit on jumping out of an airplane. That means I still have another 10-15 pounds to go. And the holidays are coming up.
Double curses.

Oh well...maybe I'll spend this winter learning how to ski or snowboard. I've been putting it off for far too long. I wonder if you need to be proficient at skateboarding or roller skates or rollerblading or ice skating to be successful at this? (I never was.)

Our company just got these little four seater golf cart thingies delivered today to shuttle us back and forth between the buildings. Golf carts + beer bash + bored engineers on a Friday afternoon == mayhem.

I just found out that Bic Runga has a new album at the end of the month. Yay.

Secret Confession #1: I actually got excited walking past the H&M grand opening party last night. I should've tried harder to convince Tin & OJ to try to crash it. :)

Secret Confession #2: I want to go shopping. I need a new jacket, new brown shoes and new bed sheets.

posted by VirtualErn @ 1:25 PM 5 comments

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No Teeth in the Shark Tank

According to the wikipedia:

The use of "Canuck" parallels that of some other potentially offensive nicknames, that is, when used by the people it names — Canadians in this case — it is usually acceptable. But when used by an outsider — in this case particularly American strangers — it can be easily misinterpreted and deemed as insulting one's heritage. Although it is not as severe as most ethnic slurs, some consider it one.

Hm, I did not know that. Well now I know, and knowing is half the battle.

I had an absolute blast last night at the Shark Tank watching my very first hockey game. I sure wish the crowd was louder though. Tina tells me that the Canadian hockey games get pretty rowdy -- maybe one day I'll get to watch a game up there. Besides, I miss Canadian beer off tap...although the Tidehouse Amber was pretty good here, it sure ain't no Molson. And that's another thing: Prices! Sheez...I forgot how expensive sporting events are. The last thing I watched was the Giants at PacBell park 3 years ago and I don't remember beer being that expensive. For me to get my buzz on, it cost me $22.50 for three cups. Add to that the burger ($5.25) and the fries ($3.75) and that forty bucks I budgeted seemed quite inadequate. Whatever, it was definitely worth it. Especially watching Angelo and Tina talk smack to each other all night -- hehehe. I must admit, that Vancouver team looks pretty strong.

So I think I'll start rooting for the home team. Can't wait to see the next game!
Some tidbits:

1. It definitely isn't like the video game...not as much checking as I had hoped (my brother and I always check each other all game long hahaha)
2. I got to see a fight - yay
   
3. I got to see a pile on - double yay
   
4. Typical California fans leaving before the game finishes. Sheez...who cares about traffic?
5. You get a great view even from the upper deck
6. The Sharks got no Power Play
7. Garlic fries are gooood.
8. I really wish the crowd was louder -- I bet playoffs would be better. And you can't make a lot of noise on the concrete floor.
   
9. Lots and lots of eye candy at these things -- I need to go to more hockey games! :) "Hi there. You shop at the Gap? I do too...I hear there's a sale this weekend. How 'bout if you and I meet up this weekend?" bwahaha!
   

posted by VirtualErn @ 9:39 AM 6 comments

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Song Sung Blue

It's funny how music has the power to instantly transport you to another time, another place...

My parents used to have this old stereo (a JVC) that sat downstairs in the living room. Not sure if you're familiar with these "entertainment consoles", but it was this large piece of furniture about 6 feet wide, 18 inches deep and about 3 feet tall. It was yet another one of those eclectic pieces that went with the many knick-knacks that filled the curio cabinets in our crowded living room -- my Mom's own little trophy collection from a being a faithful military wife. Various plates, vases, little ceramic dolls, little glass figurines... And this stereo was straight out of the seventies. Dark solid wood cabinet (it was pretty heavy), vertically ribbed black felt running across the front to cover the speakers. And the best part: my Dad fabricated two huge chrome plated steel letters: E A and stuck 'em on the front of the unit (just one of many strange things my wonderful non-comformist father did -- like stick letters spelling out "right side" and "sue side" on the bumper of my Ford Fairmont station wagon). As you lifted the solid wood doors on top of the unit, it revealed a reel-to-reel unit on the left side, a receiver in the middle, and a turntable on the right. State of the art technology for 1975, straight from the Navy Exchange (tax free!!) in Sasebo, Japan.

Well anyways, Saturday mornings during my youth, my brothers and I always got up late. Always. So my parents would have this ritual -- fire up the old JVC (they never listened to it during the week) around 9AM and crank up the music while they did some cleaning and some talking. And they would play all their old stuff...odd Polka marching music, some Country, Bobby Vinton, Englebert Humperdick, and of course -- Neil Diamond (the song that sparked the title of this post is playing on Yahoo! radio right now). Looking back, I realized that they weren't in a really big rush to wake us up... What I enjoyed about those lazy Saturday mornings was just that -- the laziness of it all. I remember listening in on my parents' calm conversations/tsis-mis (in tagalog) with each other. Subject matter ranging from drama about work, comments on how the neighbors were raising their kids, relatives that were arguing with each other. Keep in mind that my parents were usually stressed out, arguing with each other and yelling at us to clean up this and clean up that and get good grades and do well in school and go to college. And I would always remember those times that they would fight over stupid petty things -- like money and "you're not going to wear that to the party" and "when are you going to get that toilet fixed"... But on these sunny Saturday mornings, with the lazy kids getting waaaay too much sleep in their beds, the water sprinkler tending to the brownish/green backyard lawn, it was nice to hear a pleasant conversation; and if you listened close enough, you'd swear that they were in a loving relationship.

posted by VirtualErn @ 12:01 PM 10 comments

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Rainy Days and Mondays

Sing along now:

What I feel has come and gone before
No need to talk it out
We know what it's about...
Hangin' around,
Nothing to do but frown,
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

Ha, trip out...now Yahoo Radio is playing a Tammy Wynette song (a really good one, too -- Take Me To Your World). Go ahead, give me shit and ridicule the crap out of me...I'm not afraid to admit it, I listen to the Carpenters and Tammy Wynette. Good stuff!

And here's something to really wig you out on this dark and gloomy Friday...try to follow one of the blue balls.

Oooh...Now they they're playing Peter Tosh's Lion. This Yahoo Radio isn't bad at all, except for the commercials. And the worst one is that damned commercial where this white guy says "foshizzle".

posted by VirtualErn @ 12:48 PM 6 comments

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The Patron Saint of Travelers

In L.A., nobody touches you.
Always behind this metal and glass...

Funny how I was blabbin' on about race and motorsports a couple of days ago and sitting in my mailbox was the Crash DVD. What a really good film. Or rather, a very well told story -- didn't pull no punches. Damned draining though...quite the mind job. I'm still reeling from trying to process it all. The best thing about it was that I can see a little piece of myself in every single one of the characters.

posted by VirtualErn @ 1:26 AM 0 comments

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None Tonight

I never quite figured out why the sexual urge of men and women differ so much. And I never have figured out the whole Venus and Mars thing. I have never figured out why men think with their head and women with their heart.

FOR EXAMPLE: One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed. Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says "I don't feel like it, I just want you to hold me."

I said "WHAT??!! What was that?!"

So she says the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to hear... "You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man." She responded to my puzzled look by saying, "Can't you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?" Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went to sleep.

The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits. She couldn't decide which one to take so I told her we'd just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, so I said lets get a pair for each outfit. We went onto the jewelry department where she picked out a pair of diamond earrings. Let me tell you...she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn't even know how to play. I think I threw her for a loop when I said, "That's fine, honey." She was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement.

Smiling with excited anticipation she finally said, "I think this is all dear, let's go to the cashier." I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, "No honey, I don't feel like it."

Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled..."WHAT?"

I then said "honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You're just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman." And just when she had this look like she was going to kill me, I added, "Why can't you just love me for who I am and not for the things I buy you?"

Apparently I'm not having sex tonight either.

posted by VirtualErn @ 9:26 AM 4 comments

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We Live in a Beautiful World

So I finally got around to watching Garden State. I really, thoroughly enjoyed it. I guess I'm just a sucker for wide angles, good composition and witty, sharp dialogue. And Natalie Portman totally stole the show...interesting, now that I think about it -- how Zach Braff's character helps make Portman's performance stand out. Reminds me of old Barbara Stanwyck movies, how she would play opposite of someone harsh and rough and it would make her stand out to be something totally different... I guess that's one of the things I really liked about this movie -- how Sam (Portman) completely changes Andrew's (Braff) life in the period of four days. Sometimes it's amazing what one person can really do in another person's life. And you see that change take place, right before your eyes. Him starting off dead and numb then coming alive at the end.

Never knew this guy from Scrubs had such talent (writing/directing/acting). Curious how his other films are.

Man, I really need to get my sleeping schedule reset. Last minute procrastination for this whole performance review thingy has really thrown me off kilter. :(

posted by VirtualErn @ 2:28 AM 5 comments

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Ethnicity and Motorsports

So Randy raised the question, why is it that fans of drag racing and NASCAR are predominantly white? I was actually pondering this on the way back from Pomona on Sunday (you tend to think a lot during the four and a half hours alone on highway 5 between L.A. and The Bay). So I think a lot of it has to do with just how you grew up...NASCAR, originated from moonshiners racing on dirtroads in the backwoods of the south; basically friendly little competitions to see who was the fastest in "runnin' shine" from the local constables. Making illegal whiskey back then was (I assume) a predominantly white ambition. And so this carries on, throughout generations...fathers teach their sons about the sport, take 'em to watch races as kids, and they in turn teach their kids about all the nuances with the sport (the art of drafting, car setup, the importance of good pit strategies, etc.)

The same goes with drag racing. My feeble brain distinctly remembers reading about the history of drag racing... something about how it basically started in the suburbs of Los Angeles decades ago (way back in the early 50's?), with kids cruising and racing down the streets, hopping up their parent's old cars that were handed down to them. I'm pretty sure that these kind of Saturday night activities were dominated by the white youth of the time, basically outnumbering any ethnic minorities...and then these kids would then grow and teach their kids, with some of them establishing themselves in the sport (when it became officially sanctioned) -- opening up their own shops, getting sponsored, etc.

And you can see the same type of thing happening with drifting and imports -- dominated by Asians...then as they get older, they would get their kids into the sports, and then over time, more and more people of color would become involved. I see it only being a matter of time. But there are definitely a couple of big things against us:

1. Sheer numbers. We really are outnumbered when it comes to white vs. non-white. So of course you are naturally going to see more whites involved in any activity than non-whites.
2. Culture. Not sure how it is nowadays, but when I was growing up, I knew nearly all Filipino parents would throw a fit if you threw away dreams of being a doctor/engineer/lawyer so that you could spend time building cars and racing. Without parent support (financial and emotional) encouraging you to pursue something wild, it's quite unlikely that you'll be successful at getting into motorsports. I look around at the motorsport events that I've attended (MotoGP, ALMS, SCCA, NHRA, etc), and I don't see 'em... I mainly see white fathers with their kids, teaching them about the fine art of trail braking and protecting the inside line and late apexing.
3. Lack of role models. There's a distinct lack of people of color in the upper tiers of racing. I mean it's only recently that women have been making huge strides in breaking into motorsports (and it's so cool seeing that!). Despite all the hurdles against them, I'm glad to see more and more women get involved and set precedents, like Shirley Muldowney, Kathernie Legge, Danica Patrick, & Melanie Troxel (to name a few).
   

So I hope that with time, there will be more and more people of color involved in motorsports. And I can't wait for the day when you go to the Indy 500 and you start reading off the names of past race winners: Al Unser, Jr... Mario Andretti... Emerson Fittipaldi... you stumble on this one fellow named Joselito Magsaysay, Jr. aka "Tito Bong" or something cool like that. :)

posted by VirtualErn @ 8:54 PM 6 comments

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Still reeling

If you're interested, here's some video clips I grabbed on Sunday:

(15 MB) Top fuel dragster idling in the pits
(9 MB) Top fuel dragster 1/4 mile pass
(8 MB) Top fuel dragster 1/4 mile pass (view from the finish line)

Some interesting tidbits for you gearheads:

• Dragsters hit 60mph in 13 feet.
  
• A Top Fuel Dragster accelerates from 0-100 MPH in about 0.8 seconds.
• A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster supercharger.
• With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle
• At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitromethane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F
• Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.
• Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
• Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.
• If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.
• In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8G's .
• Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence.
• Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!
• Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.
• The red-line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.
• The fuel pump on a Top Fuel car delivers over 65 gallons of fuel per minute. Roughly equal to eight bathroom showers running at the same time.
• The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated US $1,000.00 per second. The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile (10/05/03, Tony Schumacher). The top speed record is 333.00 mph (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run (09/28/03 Doug Kalitta).
  

Putting all of this into perspective:
You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter "twin-turbo" powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment. The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed him.

Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race course.

posted by VirtualErn @ 11:00 AM 2 comments

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Fix You

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

I've been listening to this Coldplay song all day. It's been on repeat on the iRiver, all the way to work and all the way back. I don't know what it is, maybe it's the simplicity of the song; maybe it's just something about the words, or something about the part when the guitar starts layering in that I just haven't gotten sick of yet. Whatever, I'm really diggin' it. Hm...I think it's time for me to get a new guitar...and actually really learn to play it this time, unlike that nice pimped out black Washburn Dreadnought I had years ago. :)

If it's still gray and rainy tomorrow, I'm stickin' OK Computer into the deck (I love that album). Until then...

Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face and I

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

posted by VirtualErn @ 11:11 PM 2 comments

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Nitromethane & Pastrami Sandwiches

There aren't enough superlatives that can adequately describe the sheer brutality that is Top Fuel Drag Racing. But I'll try...

I have always been impressed with man's ability to come up with some insane creations, but this one takes the cake. I knew that Top Fuel is just nuts (7000hp, 1/4 mile in 4 seconds @ 300+ mph) so I thought I was prepared for the onslaught. Boy was I wrong...So my brother and I are cruising the pits, waiting for the runs to start and just checking out the booths, and we hear this rumble...pop-pop-pop-pop like some harley motor gone insane. Walk a few trailers down and there's this crowd of about 40 people huddled around a top fuel dragster. Puffs of smoke are blown (no, shot) about 20 feet into the air as the motor idles. And it's freakin' LOUD. Just idling and you have to yell to be heard...Loaded down with too much gear, I rush to put my ear protection on and I fail to get it on in time: BLAP! OH. MY. GOD. The air pressure for 50 feet around just blows out, people jump and yelp, as the mechanics blip the throttle. I think I just lost my hearing. I can feel my shirt moving. Another loud BLAP! And it thumps my chest. And the ground is trembling. YEEEEEEEAH!!!! The mechanics shut down the motor and you hear a loud cheer from the crowd. My brother and I are super-hyped...

So walking around some more, we caught another team running their motor before the race. This time, we were able to get *a lot* closer. I'm within about 10 feet now of this incredible motor, and the fumes engulf us. They weren't kidding...tears instantly pour out of my eyes, and the sweet acrid stench starts to burn my throat and my lungs. I have a hard time breathing. My nose hurts. I start to taste it...it's sour. Oh, this can't be good. The motor shuts off and I have a chance to collect myself. Walking away my brother and I can't believe the onslaught on the senses...and we're still crying. Ow, it burns! Ah yes...nitric acid + propane == yummy nitromethane. Hehehheheheh

And then there's the actual race... When they do a burnout, it's only on half a motor so the sound is barely tolerable without ear protection. But when the light goes green...Holy crap. Imagine, if you will, one of those Amtrak CalTrains as it blows by you at about 70mph. There's that deep rumble that kinda vibrates the ground, right? Now multiply that sound intensity level by about, oh, a hundred. And imagine it at a much higher frenzy (instead of a low lazy rumble). That's what it's like...when the light goes green, your whole body vibrates, your vision blurs, the ground shakes (they register 3 on the richter scale - no kidding) and these two machines are GONE. Literally disappear. Down the 1/4 mile like you wouldn't believe.

There's more, but it's late & I'm tired from the five hour drive. More pics here.
Oh, and I finally got to try The Hat. Mmm, mmm, good!! The pastrami wasn't dry, wasn't too fatty, was shredded hella thin, and just had all around good flavor! My brother and I also split the chili fries -- I'd advise against it, it's quite bland and needs salt, hotsauce, etc. And it was freakin' huge. Big enough for 4 people. More pics.

posted by VirtualErn @ 11:48 PM 0 comments

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Closed Sunday

For some reason, the Chick-Fil-A sandwich wasn't as good as I remembered from Houston five years ago. But still, gotta love it...thick & juicy chicken breast. And not only do they have Chick-Fil-A-branded mayo packets, but they have the Best Foods branded mayo packets too. And Texas Tea hot sauce. Mmmmmm. Simple...no lettuce or tomato or mustard, just pickles, bread, and fried chicken.

posted by VirtualErn @ 9:38 PM 5 comments

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Inspiration

Pretty busy day today, so I leave you with this little gem, a video of the 2005 Yo Yo Champion.

posted by VirtualErn @ 2:02 PM 1 comments

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Best If Used By OCT 30

The culprit of the foul stench emanating from my "frigidare" (as my parents would say):

You would think that "fully cooked" meant "will beat expiration date". I guess not. Oh well, it wasn't too good anyways sauteed in a pan as opposed to being grilled after boiling in onions and Sam Adams. I miss my Weber. :(

posted by VirtualErn @ 7:58 PM 4 comments

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Lactose Intolerance

So does Lactaid spoil? I have a half gallon carton of non-fat Lactaid brand milk (or "mehlk" as some of my wonderful smart-alecky friends would say) and the expiration date says: "Nov 18 2006". So I pour it out and large gelatinous blobs clump their way out onto my tasty Blueberry Morning cereal. The inner lip of the plastic spout has this dark brownish color to it. But it doesn't smell, and it doesn't taste sour. So maybe it's just the combination of the refrigerator temperature being pretty low (it's about 39 degrees) and me not shaking the carton enough?

Whatever, I didn't want to risk it, so I regretfully poured it all down the garbage disposal. And I was really craving cereal tonight. :(

posted by VirtualErn @ 8:08 PM 3 comments

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Twenty Nine Thousand Calories

Ah, America... The only country I know of where people proudly proclaim spending $47 to make a sandwich that takes 15 hours to eat.

posted by VirtualErn @ 9:30 AM 0 comments

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Yeeeeeeeeee-ha!

So a few gearheads from work decided to have a karting night tonight. What a blast. Tuesdays are special, so we got three 15-minute sessions for like $45. Not bad! Turns out the organizer was one bad-ass regular at the place, so he absolutely KILLED the rest of us clowns by 3 seconds on a 30 second lap. First 2 races I nailed second place, but in the third race I got stuck in some crap-ass kart that couldn't accelerate for sh*t. And so I dropped down to 7th for the final race. :( The best part was in the second race, I blew up my kart. That's right, came to a dead stop in the final stretch. Throughout the race, I could just hear all this bad funkiness goin' on around the motor...lots of metal grinding & screeching noises, massive amounts of vibration, and then finally, a loud pop! and the kart started to slow down with the revs flying out of control. hehehhehe, I think I destroyed the clutch. One of the other guys said there were like metal parts on the track. Awesome. And I still got 2nd place. Woo hoo!! I'm definitely doing this again! Gonna book a session with the LIKHA homeys -- I know, I've been talking about it for too long now -- so expect an e-mail and leave your Tuesday nights free!

Oh yeah, and hit up Steelhead brewery afterwards...never knew this place existed right here in Burlingame. Good beer selection, with a brewery in house. Had the pumpkin pie ale, definitely not as good as that one from BJ's in West Covina (mmmmmm...crunchy -- I wish they had a brewery in the bay area) but decent nonetheless. And it looks like they got good root beer! Will definitely try it out again next time.

posted by VirtualErn @ 10:44 PM 2 comments

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Fuji Apples

I don't know what it is, but for some reason, I've found myself quite happy in recent weeks. Sure, there's a lot of things that could be better in my life, and there are a lot of mistakes I've made in my past, but I just don't let it bother me anymore. Heck, last night I went to sleep in this strange mood that I haven't felt in a long time, where I wasn't worried/stressed/irritated/depressed. I was just really content at the way things have been going and was just filled with excitement thinking about what the coming days/weeks/months/years will bring.

So I know it's several weeks early, but I thought I'd start by giving thanks...

• for the love of good friends and family, for without it, I'd be a man on an island barely able to stand. Each and every one of them has contributed a little piece to who my whole; I hope I am able to give back as much as I have received
  
• for the freedom to enjoy a leftover Barney's burger with blue cheese and bacon (on a french baguette) while listening to John Coltrane belt out tunes on a sunny Tuesday morning
• to whoever invented the internal combustion engine...for that deep rumble when you first fire up a high compression motor and for that sweet song when it's screaming for redline
• for the simple things in life, like the smile on a passing face, the freak flower bloom in the middle of a winter rainstorm, and that sound the leaves make when a cool brisk autumn breeze blows through.
  
• and most of all, for Fuji apples. Not too big, not too small. Super crunchy and super sweet, Even after a week and a half.
  

posted by VirtualErn @ 11:04 AM 1 comments

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