Congrats Felix!

On the Discourse of Prejudgments and the English Language

Current Book Recommendation:

Preface: I recently read this article on VICE. I guess any tirade or rant can get published easily these days.

While I have officially been hired on at my new company and have a "new job", I still am (in title anyway) a Technical Support Representative.

My current boss's comments about me are very similar to my former's. They both recognize that I know what I'm doing and good at doing it. They both made the same comment about me when it comes to troubleshooting and finding solutions, namely that I find them rather quickly. The downside, though, is that sometimes I will interrupt the customer or stop them in their tracks to do so (sometimes prematurely).

Excuse me while I put on my stand-up comedian hat for a moment and begin my spiel.

Well I'm sorry; I would venture to say that there *are* times where it's acceptable to make that prejudgment/make that call and live with it. This is particularly true as far as the English language is concerned. There are moments where it is pretty evident how the path of a conversation is going to go.

Boss: Can I see you in my office? NOW, please?

Critic: With all due respect...

Friend: No offense, but...

"Friend" you haven't talked to in forever and suddenly calls you up: So listen...

Significant other: We need to talk...

Significant other: So I've been thinking...

The awkward coworker/classmate: I was wondering if...

And finally, my personal favorite:

Customer: Hi Support!

Maybe I can't predict exactly what they are going to say next, but you don't have to be Charles Fucking Xavier to know that this is simply not going to end well.

It does not really require 180 IQ points to know that your boss is expecting you to pack up your bobbleheads and red stapler; the critic thinks you are a talent-less hack; your friend thinks you are an idiot or wants to ask for a favor; your significant other wants to kick you to the proverbial curb; your coworker/colleague is about to ask you to fulfill some outrageous request; the customer wants you to resolve some issue.

I mean, do I really need to do that awkward back-and-forth dance to ask them to clarify themsevles so that I could get a "full understanding of the issue"? The answer is simple: No; I do not. I completely understand the idea of not wanting to step on anyone's toes...BUT GODDAMN IT! Let me just take the lead on this one and git 'er done!

I believe I possess enough common sense to know what to expect next. We can draw our own conclusions based off the schemas we have intact. I would posit that would be the reason we have schemas derived from memories and experiences in the first place! There are some things we just know. I wouldn't even call these "assumptions" considering how high our confidence intervals are regarding these types of situations. After all, it's precisely due to these wishy-washy, indecisive, ambivalent feelings that got us into the Iraq War!

Okay, okay, okay. I realize that I perhaps took this stand-up comedian thing a little too far with that last comment (read: sudden inexplicable and irrelevant outburst).

I just want to stress the point that some things will inevitably reverberate towards one direction; they are so clearly S-P-E-L-L-E-D O-U-T that it needs no further elucidation.

Le. Sigh.

Sincerely,

Your Lowly Technical Support Rep

PS: You really think I will drop everything I am currently doing simply because you flagged your case as urgent and high priority? Sorry, buddy. That doesn't really work...especially given the fact that I looked up all your past cases and all of them are categorized as such. So while I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, I do flip thy middle finger at you.....sir.

/End rant

The Girl With the Batman Tattoo

It’s been awhile since my last post and since Seattle’s last Sakura-con (April 2011). More specifically, it’s been that many days since I last met, talked, and seen who may very well be (for all I know) a paragon for THE love of my life (aside from Felicia Day of course). Yes, this probably seems like a very premature evaluation of someone I hardly know. In fact, more than likely it is. However, since I was unable to talk to her more and get to know her better, I can never know nor will ever know for sure. At any rate, it’s probably worth recounting the story of How I Met The Girl With the Batman Tattoo.

Sakura-con was scheduled for April 8-10th at the Convention Center in Seattle, WA. My coworker Brandon convinced Michael (another coworker) and I to attend this three-day event with him. He was only going because "his little sister forces him to go" (a likely story! She’s about 20-21 years of age; she doesn’t need a chaperone.) After we got our badge tickets on Friday night, we were perusing the schedule. There weren’t much going on in the Friday schedule so we headed home after spending about three hours there. Before we all went our separate ways, Michael noticed a “Speed Dating” event that was scheduled for 2pm for Saturday the 7th, i.e. le lendemain.

Therefore we agreed to meet up around 12:30-1pm the next day so we can get food and make sure we have ample time to get to the Speed Dating event not to mention enough alcohol in the system to survive it :P Now please keep in mind that both Brandon and I were not expecting much out of this. Chances were, not to be discriminatory by any means, fairly slim that we’d actually meet someone we would end up dating in real life. I’m not trying to fall victim to the disease known as "Being A Cynical Asshole" as Stan's shrink so eloquently described, but I simply could not fathom the possibility that I would meet many girls at these things, much less one I’ll be interested in. Don’t the statistics for speed dating, “Singles” night, generic mixers, and the like show a huge disparity between male and female attendees? I would not be surprised if the ratio was something along the lines of 1w:10m!

Sorry for that tangent. Anyway, when we entered the room in which the Speed Dating thing was held we reluctantly had to split up and couldn’t sit in consecutive seats that lie adjacent to one another. This is because, as predicted, the ratio of guys to girls was quite ridonkulous. The men outnumbered the girls but the moderators tried doing their best to limit the amount of empty chairs in both the men’s and women’s rows.

The rules were simple:

1. 2.5 minutes for each conversation before the bell rings and the men change seats
2. The ladies stay seated
3. The men cannot explicitly ask for any of the lady's contact information
4. Only the lady can ask the guy for his number, not the other way around


The first few rounds dragged in time as it was very apparent at the forefront that no chemistry was there. Hell, I’m not even into anime all that much in the first place! So while the girl sitting across from me was dressed fantastically in some elaborate costume that I had no doubt taken a lot of time to make, I could not geek out over it the way they would have liked. I did consider, for a moment, to pretend as if I did have some kind of affectation and facade of who they cosplayed as, but then it'd be awkward if I got caught...Regardless, I appreciated the craftsmanship and the work ethic they put into their costume but me not knowing anything about it definitely made it difficult. I hope they didn’t take it as an affront.

As we got deeper into this game and embarking on the 8-9th rounds, I was growing restless. Sure, some people were interesting and our little 150-second conversation had some substance that was starting to brew. But for the most part it was a cut-and-dry, back-and-forth, give-and-take of the most minimalistic human interaction known to man:

Them: Hi, I’m _____
Me: Hi. My name’s _____.
Them: Nice to meet you.
Me: Nice to meet you too. So what brings you here?
Them: Oh, I just love the ______anime series. What’s your favorite?
Me: Oh, I don’t really watch any anime….
Them: (awkward/embarrassed/nervous laughter) So why are you here?
Me: (sighs) *starts explaining the drawn-out story of Michael and Brandon and how I’m more interested in comics than anime*
Them: *looking bored half-way through*
Me: Enough about me. What about you? Why is that your favorite anime?

HERE IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING BECAUSE IT CAN GO DOWN TWO DIFFERENT PATHS...

Path 1:
Them: *goes into great detail about why they like it and what the anime means to them on a personal level*
Me: *bewildered by the details of the show, but fascinated at their response*

Path 2:
Them: I dunno. It’s cool I guess….
Me: Oh...

After about 9 rounds of this, you can imagine how restless you'd feel. What kept me going and what kept my ebullience energized was the fact that looking down the row of girls I was about to meet there was a cute redheaded girl with glasses coming up in the queue. Let's face it: speed-dating inherently presents this problem upon itself. The contestants are surely sizing up their competition along their row while comparing everyone with one another sitting in the row across. Instead of being someone who's trying to hit it off with everyone that I meet and come sit across, I try to hone it down to one or two realistic, viable prospects.

In this case, the short, glasses-wearing, non-cosplay-playing, dressed-in-black, redhead was the only speed dater that "tickled my fancy". No...wait...that sounds weird. She was the only one that caught my eye. Funny, considering some of the more...uh...liberal costumes...shall we say that were present in the room. Anywho, I paid my dues and waited patiently as the timer kept ticking and the seats kept changing. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Marisa (as the redheaded girl turned out to be named) was actually the penultimate girl with whom I got to speed date.

I didn't get the perfect start that I had wanted because the guy in front of me took some of my time as he was busy giving his number to her. Before you ask, no, she did not say specifically, "Can I have your number" to him. Instead, after his time was up with her he had asked her if she would like to have his number and she said sure. So while he was giving her his number to enter into her phone he took about 30 seconds of MY precious "date time" with her. Finally after he moved on to he next girl, I sat down and I said to her, "I like your costume."

Her: (laughs) Yeah, you like it? It took me awhile.
Me: I can tell.
Her: I was going for the natural, normal, regular person look.
Me: Well. Wow. You pull it off well. Anyway, so I'm Will.
Her: Hi, I'm Maris(s)a.
Me: Nice to meet you!
Her. Nice to meet you too. So what are some of your favorite anime shows?
Me: Actually...funny thing is that I don't really watch that much anime...
Her: Really? Me neither, I'm here with my friends (*points to the three cosplaying girls to her right*)
Me: Oh I see. That's really cool. Yeah, I'm actually more of a comics person myself.
Her: Oh yeah? I like comics.
Me: Really? No way!
Her: *pulls down the upper-left corner of her blouse to reveal a Batman symbol tattoo*
Me: *JAW DROPS*




OK



My jaw didn't really drop. It was more like this:



Me: Oh, very nice! So you like Batman huh?
Her; Yes! But don't ask me too much about it...I actually don't know THAT much about it.
Me: (laughs) Okay. I won't. By the way....you wouldn't happen to know who Felicia Day is, would you?
Her: Who?..Oh! Felicia Day? Dr. Horrible?
Me; Yes, yes! And The Guild?
Her: Yes! I know her. She's really funny!
Me: Yeah, she's great. I was only mentioning her because you actually kind of look and remind me of her...
Her: Oh, haha. Is it because of the hair?
Me: Actually, yes! Yes it is! Is that your natural hair color? That red, auburn, reddish-brown...? I don't know, what would you categorize it?
Her: Umm..yeah..auburn/reddish-brown sounds about right.

Announcer: Okay time is up! Please stand up and move over to the next person. This will be the last one. We have to leave the room soon, there are already people outside lining up for the next event. Once again, this next one will be the last one for the day. Thank you for coming!

Me: Aww okay well I guess I gotta go...but hey! Do you live around here?
Her: Yes...well..sort of. I'm actually more down towards the Olympia area.
Me: Oh...okay, I see...that's too bad. I was gonna suggest we should watch some Guild episodes if you haven't already seen 'em all. I already have all the seasons. If ya want...you can take down my number and so you'll get to catch up for free (smiles)
Her: (laughs) Okay, what's your number?

And that was that. Unfortunately I had to move on and didn't see her for the rest of the day. Or the rest of Sakura-Con for that matter.

I don't know what happened to her or if she only took down my number because she knew I saw her take down the previous guy's number and didn't want me to feel left out. Whatever the case may be, 150 seconds is not enough time to get to her story. It's even more tragic considering it wasn't even 150 seconds long thanks to Mr. Initiative who proceeded me in talking to her. Marisa may have a boyfriend, or a fiance, or maybe even a lesbian! I sure hope not though! But the point is that there ARE girls like her that exist. More importantly, there are girls like her that exist and is not named Felicia Day.

It's nice to see that there is a non-web Queen that is just as cute, smart, geeky, nice, and overall awesome that is alive and is in her mid-20s and lives in the great state of Washington.

I might never see her again and I think I can live with that...but I wouldn't have been able to if I didn't relish and become content with the fact that there ARE girls like her out there. They may be hard to find and they may be scattered about all over the world but they are out there waiting for their geek in shining, pocket-protecting armor. I hope to find my Princess Peach/Codex/Lara Croft someday. But, ideally, I'd find The Girl with the Batman Tattoo. <3



After scouring the internet for any signs of finding Marisa, all I came up with was the video below. My friend Jenny, bless her heart, tried assisting me on this seemingly futile adventure. She was able to find and download the pre-registration list for Sakura-Con 2011 (so basically the Sakura-Con attendee manifesto/blackbox, if you will) and filter by name and variations of "Marissa" and "Marisa" but with no real success or matches. Sigh. What kind of world have we come to when you can't even find or locate a cute auburn-haired girl with glasses that you met serendipitously one time at a speed dating anime convention and had a nice conversation with on the internet? #Lame-o :P

Link to a brief glimpse of Marisa from someone's Youtube video of Sakura-Con Day 2 (Saturday). Pay special attention to the 3:20-3:23 mark (next to the super bright red-haired and bright blue-haired girls AKA her two friends who DID do cosplay.)


Sakura-Con: Brief Glimpse of The Girl of My Geek Dreams

It started with a 'Thank You'...

As we boarded the 255 to Seattle from the Kirkland Transit Center one chilly November morning, I had a feeling this was going to be a good day.

She took her usual spot in the front and sat in the first row of seats. She had the aisle seat on the left hand side. Lucky me, the aisle seat on the right hand side of the first row was also free.

How to start a conversation? What's going to be my 'in'? How in the world can I make the initial contact? Aha! As luck (fate?) would have it, she dropped her pen as she was marking certain sections on the article she was reading. The pen conveniently rolled to my feet. I picked it up and handed it back to her.

"Thank you", she says while her brown eyes locked contact directly with mine. Thus began what I had hoped to be the beginning of something special....



Approximately 4 months later...

On 30 March 2011, I believe I have said what might possibly be the last words I'll ever say to her. Waiting at University Station in the bus tunnel, the 255 back to Kirkland was already a few minutes late. It had eventually arrived. As we got up from the bench and made our way towards the line, she and I stopped at the same spot about 5 feet away from the bus.

"Go ahead", I said with an open smile. She nodded in acknowledgement and she boarded the bus. She sat in her usual seat in the first row and I made my way to the back. With those two words, just as quietly and calmly as it began, that is how this story ends.

Emerald City Comiccon 2011

What a great turnout this year! Shatner, The Boondock Saints, James Marsters, Amy Okuda, perennial favorite Wil Wheaton...and of course my personal favorite - Felicia Day! It could have been called the Felicia Day Con for all I cared. She was THE person to see for me. As I got to tell her, she is simply the coolest...well her and Eliza Dushku :P Geeky sci-fi hotties ftw!

She is the poster child for this new wave of beautiful, intelligent girls that have a geeky side. While right now I would consider Felicia Day, Eliza Dushku, and Olivia Munn as the only really attractive girls that have a good fanboy following (due to them being knowledgeable on sci-fi topics), I believe that will change in the coming years.

Case in point: Natalie Portman is co-starring in the Thor film, Scarlett Johansson was in Iron Man 2 and will likely be in the JOSS WHEDON-directed Avengers film, and Blake Lively is in The Green Lantern. While all three starlets can fill up some of the world's largest pools with the drool of all the men that admire them, they are a completely different breed of attractiveness and personality than that of the aforementioned three. Regardless, the involvement of what one may classify as a classical Hollywood beauty in a comic-book film will undoubtedly shape the projects that all the pretty girls will focus on in the future. Felicia's certainly a pioneer for inspiring girls to use their brains for roles rather than looks (though being a gorgeous redhead doesn't hurt).

Meeting Felicia has been more than a dream come true. She is just so damn awesome and down-to-earth. That's one thing that surprises me about ECCC every year. From the writers to the artists to the models to the celebrity/media guests, everyone is sociable, kind, considerate, and open-minded. I suppose you have to have a pretty open mind given the crowd but it is an amazing community and I am glad to somewhat be a part of it and join them in this so-called geek subculture.

Seattle hosts their own Comiccon, PAX, and Sakuracon each and every year at the Convention Center and there is very specific reason for that - because we Seattle-ites effin' rock! Even though I am not and will never claim to be THE biggest anime fan, or THE biggest comic fan, or THE biggest videogame fan, it is nice to know that if I ever wanted to check out some new and upcoming projects, the next convention is not that far away.

I love Seattle and the culture we cultivate. Folklife, Sasquatch, and Bumbershoot are also other annual events that occur ever year. This city will always welcome something new, something innovative, and something "outside the box". From Microsoft to grunge music to American soccer - we'll show our support and back up the creative minds that put forth their ideas in motion. Always.

With that said, all the guests that came this year should come again next year, especially The Guild's Felicia, Amy and Wil!

PS: Bill Prady - please, please find a way to incorporate Felicia Day in a guest (if not recurring) role in The Big Bang Theory. She'd be PERFECT for that show. Just think about all the connections that are there already: Simon Helberg, Wil Wheaton, Eliza Dushku. Just make it happen already!


Felicia Day reads:

http://feliciaday.com/blog

http://smallscreenscoop.com/halt-read-this-felicia-day-interview/311503/

http://www.stalkingwiththestars.com/2010/05/are-you-there-ptbs-its-me-aj.html

You Got Zuckerberg'd!

Recently, the Din Tai Fung restaurant franchise has expanded overseas...to Bellevue, WA. Now this would normally be great news for both myself and the Chinese/Asian Community. However, things have taken a turn for the worse when my cousin-in-law, Joe, has been booted off from being a co-founder/owner of this restaurant in Lincoln Square!

So yes, in essence, he got Zuckerberg'd by his longtime friend and colleague - David Wasielewski. I just don't understand how someone how can do to another human being, much less a friend who took you in and gave you a place to stay. This idea of importing xiaolongbaos from China to Washington State has been a long time coming (at least 3 years by my count from when I first heard Joe mentioning it). I don't think Mr. Wasielewski had been seeking some long-term vengeance for not making the ever-so-elusive Phoenix Club...hell, both Joe and David went to the University of Washington together.

In our capitalistic society, it turns out that money is synonymous with happiness, or at the very least, a dream. My cousin is a man who has paid his dues, has a strong work ethic, and invested time and money into this brainchild project. All of that dedication has essentially been squandered now that the restaurant finally opened, business is booming, and the need for a minor owner has seemingly dissipated due to the fact the two majority owners are seeing nothing but green. Like a pawn, Joe was used to set everything up yet is pushed aside when there are finally rewards and benefits to be reaped. Chalk another one up for the Evil Empire. Just remember: while you may have a set of all-star Shanghai chefs right now, soon they will be handing in the reigns to lesser talent when they are asked to move back to China pretty soon. Enjoy donning those pinstripes!

These people sure don't look Chinese to me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giV5yXWUXUw

Premier Monday

Well, it's Monday. However, unlike most Mondays, this one is sure to make even Garfield a little less annoyed as it is Fall Season Premier Monday which means all new episodes of my favorite shows are debuting. In other words, it reveals to the world just how much of a couch potato that I am. I'm not too ashamed though. The reason is because just like with music and passions, I strongly believe a similar interest in the same television show(s) is VITAL to a relationship's success. Yes, it may sound corny or even ridiculous but let me posit this hypothetical situation and how it will make you feel:

Imagine you are about to embark on a road trip with your loved one/significant other. Let's say we are about 8-10 months into the relationship so this is the first time where you will be spending a long drive together, just the two of you and the only way to kill off the dead silences in between is by listening to some music. Imagine further that for the entire drive, your partner chooses to listen to the kind of music that you absolutely detest. We are talking about the kind of music that makes you wish you were permanently deaf. Furthermore, every time you try to change the music to something you like, they start complaining and mocking you for liking "that crap" while they are still bobbing their head along to the cacophony of sounds that they consider art.

Surely this will take its toll on you...regardless of how eclectic your taste might be or your tolerance level. We are talking about the one genre you hate the most in the entire world. If you don't hate a particular genre, just imagine the song you hate the most and your partner not only liking the song but playing it *all* the time.

Someone's taste in television shows, to me, works along the same concept. Obviously, I'd love to travel to exotic lands with my partner, attend both formal events and sporting events, cook together, spend time out with mutual friends, and other social gatherings. However, there will be times where all I would want to do is stay at home, cuddle up, and watch our favorite shows/movies or listen to our favorite music. This will certainly be an impossibility if the shows they watch or music they listen to makes me want to vomit (Jersey Shore, anyone?).

Today my coworker was telling me about her sister. I've seen her picture before (she is absolutely stunning by the way) and how her sister just took her phone and decided to sync some of her own songs to my coworker's iPhone. My coworker mentioned this to me because just weeks earlier, I had burned the EXACT SAME SONGS for my coworker! It looks like her sister and I have the exact same taste in music. Moreover, she is excited tonight because it is the season premier of How I Met Your Mother! Wow. How perfect is that? The answer, sadly, is not entirely because there's more that goes into someone than their likes/dislikes. I don't know a single thing about her other than that. She may be amazing, she may be not so much. But one thing is certain, she has a terrific taste in entertainment, and thanks to CBS, perhaps those who have not yet experienced the phenomenon of HIMYM will get to soon :)

Oh, What Could Have Been!

In light of today's MLB draft and quite fittingly enough, the eve of Stephen Strasburg's much anticipated debut, I have decided to reflect back on what the 2010 Mariners could theoretically look like had it not been for poor management, scouting, and egregious luck that Seattle sport teams seem to have.

It'd be nice if we could label one mistake during the Bavasi regime and just call that "Bavasi's blunder" - referring to one event that turned out to be negative for the Mariners. Unfortunately, he did not just make one. He gave away Shin Soo-Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera for the first-base platoon of Ben Broussard and Eduardo Perez. He also traded away Rafael Soriano for Horacio Ramirez. And of course there's the infamous Erik Bedard trade. Free-agent signings include Carlos Silva, Richie Sexson, Spiezio, Carl Everett, Aurilia, and Jeff Weaver. I don't think there can be one nice and tidy nickname that can sum up Bavasi's era ala Seward's Folly.

Furthermore, Bavasi and his scouts opted to NOT draft Tim Lincecum in the 2006 draft and selected Brandon Morrow instead. Geez, the guy only put up electrifying performances in Safeco's backyard at the University of Washington. But seeing the moves Bavasi and his men made beforehand, how could I have been so naive to think he actually watches baseball games live. That draft could have really started to change everything. Of course Tim is just a pitcher and wouldn't help our offensive woes...which is why I think we still would have been quite terrible in 2007 and 2008. Lincecum won the Cy Young in 2008 even though the Giants finished third in the NL West. If Felix could only win 9 games for the M's that season...you can make the argument Lincecum would not have won 18 and the M's would not have jumped out of the basement. Heck, Lincecum may not even had been activated because they would not want to ruin his development...that would partially explain why Morrow pitched less than 70 innings that year. That, and because they misused him as a RP instead of a SP. Yes, it is evident the knuckleheads Bavasi put together did not know a thing about running a baseball team.

Look no further than 2008 for even MORE proof of this. Obviously the team on the field was terrible. The atmosphere in the clubhouse? Even more so. It was so bad to the point that the enigmatic and rather aloof Ichiro was being complained about by teammates. The ONE, single player that is producing anything on the field is getting complaints? Yeah, I think it is high time to blow the whole thing up and start anew. This is why Junior, Sweeney, Zduriencik and Wakamatsu's presence the following year was such a welcome change. They made playing baseball fun again. It was a much-needed breath of fresh air for the club that just lost 101 games...the first team to do so with a $100 million payroll. Don't you love how the one record the team breaks is an infamous one?

Speaking of which, they can't even lose ENOUGH to secure the #1 draft pick for the following season. Now do you see why management did not know how to manage? Winning that one single game near the end of the season made them the second worst team in the majors behind the Washington Nationals. Our prize for that? Losing out on Stephen Strasburg. I know Dustin Ackley is a heralded player in his own right, but is he doing anything for the 2010 M's? The answer is no, at least not yet. Meanwhile, tomorrow on June 8, 2010, the whole nation will be tuned in to see how this kid that can throw over 100 MPH does in his MLB debut. Damn you, Bavasi! The ONE thing you were good at (losing), you weren't good enough to let us get another once-in-a-lifetime player since well, Ken Griffey, Jr. I am not a fan of the NFL or MLB's rules on draft order because it does not prevent teams from tanking games to secure the pick. Since I live in Seattle and can watch almost all the ballgames on TV, that year I could not imagine a team that was worse than the 2008 Seattle Mariners. I still cannot fathom the idea that the Nationals were a worse team. We deserved Strasburg. We need Strasburg. I don't like much about the NBA even before the Sonics left. However, they did do one thing right - having a draft lottery rather than automatically giving the team with the worst record in the league the #1 pick.

Why is this important? For one, it protects the integrity of the game. It makes players and coaches still compete for pride. Also, fans who bought tickets to the game still want their team to win while they are in attendance. No one likes to leave their home ballpark after a loss. It just makes sense to NOT reward the worse team in the league a #1 pick. Have the 10 worst teams conduct a lottery for that pick. That way, fans, players, coaches and everyone can still enjoy a day out at the ballpark rather than seeing a team pack it in. I know the Nationals did not have many stars on the 2008 roster but if they did, I'm sure they would bench them all so that they could win the Strasburg sweepstakes. Well congrats to them, they did anyway much to the chagrin of Mariners fans everywhere.

So Long, Kid

Career Stats:

Batting Average: .284
Home Runs: 630
Runs Batted In: 1836
Hits: 2781
Stolen Bases: 184
Slugging %: .538
OPS%: .907

13x All-Star, 10x Glove Glove Winner, 11x Slugger Award Winner, 3x Home Run Derby Champ, 1997 A.L. MVP, and a member of the All-Century Team

Great philanthropist and humanitarian

Class act all the way through
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

George Kenneth "Ken" Griffey, Jr. retires on June 2, 2010, exactly 23 years after he was drafted #1 overall by the Seattle Mariners.

Much like two of my favorite Seattle sports players that played all or most of their career with Seattle, the city is going to miss The Kid. The other two being Gary Payton and Walter Jones.

Griffey is hands-down the BEST baseball player in the 90s and would have been in the 2000s if not for injuries. It is a major travesty to see how injuries derailed the career of this future first-ballot Hall of Famer, the only one who did it right in this so-called "Steroid" era. Much like how Galarraga's would-be Perfect Game was tarnished, Junior's career statistics were subdued by season-ending injuries.

What a sad day for baseball all around. I don't know if/when Seattle will get its next great superstar that will have been drafted by this team and retire in the same jersey. Ichiro was not really "drafted" by the M's per se, but he will be the next retirement that will hit us Seattlelites dearly. After that, who knows? One thing is for certain though: we will never see another Ken Griffey, Jr in Seattle. His athletic ability, speed, power, and humanitarianism was what made him so great.

Hey, Sounders...if you need any ideas on who should get the next Golden Scarf, I think one candidate is fairly obvious. The statement that Ken issued today embodied how much he loved this city and he should know how much we love him back. This city does deserve a major championship as Junior said and his dedication should be rewarded. I sure hope the Sounders front office considers it! Thank you for everything Junior! Congratulations on a wonderful career.



References:

Picture taken from Tim Brown's column on Yahoo! Sports

Aloha to Lost

While saying that ABC’s Lost was a series that began and ended in the blink of an eye may be thematically accurate, it would also be a huge disservice and gross understatement to the phenomenon that captivated millions of people worldwide. The series officially concluded its six-year run on May 23rd, 2010. During its course, it raised many questions, a good portion of which still remain unanswered. At its core, however, the primary question attempts to answer how we, as humans, get along with one another and work through a tragedy.

Self-proclaimed “Losties” (as opposed to Trekkies) have been treated to a bombardment of cultural references and clues that add to the joy of watching the show. Instead of just mindlessly watching 45 minutes that does not have any relevance or important to one’s own life, viewers are challenged to actively engage in what they are seeing. One definitive moment in the series was an episode that was perceived to be another flashback, but only to be revealed at the end as a flash-forward. Instances like these are what make the show such a thrill for each viewer. There is no better proof of this than the “Final Transmissions” that aired during the commercials of the series finale where fans were able to text in how the television program changed their lives and what the show meant to them. Delving into the mythology of the island wasn’t just fun for fans of the show, but it had a cultural impact as well, with the show and its mysteries being fodder for comedians (Aziz Ansari’s Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening stand-up routine) and a reference for films alike (I Love You, Man).

Often regarded as a show that is too time-consuming to get involved in, I will venture to say that for those who have put in the time, they felt rewarded for it more often than not. Of course it is difficult to be completely satisfied without each and every question answered and every loophole explained. Even still, just like with the theme of the characters, Lost is better viewed as a whole whose sum is greater than its individual parts. Keep in mind that the individual parts were quite brilliant as well - monsters, time travel, and polar bears! Oh my!


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Picture taken from here