vegas...

I'm going to be headed to Las Vegas in about ten hours. Looking forward to taking the trip with my Father...

Hopefully, I won't lose my ass like most times I visit Sin City...

And after Thanksgiving, hopefully I don't get any fatter...

los gatos...

One of my favorite spots in the Bay Area...

Especially the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company...

It's a beautiful day in LG...

happy thanksgiving...

Depending on the source, the average caloric intake for turkey day is in the 4000 calorie range...

I probably went over that mark- but what the hell, Thanksgiving is once a year...

And I love Thanksgiving!

happy 61st anniversary...

To my parents... We had a wonderful day in Monterey and Carmel!

when harry met sally...

One thing about the film that sticks in my mind is the men and women can't be friends theme...

One reason is because sex gets in the way...

I find as I've gotten older, I really enjoy having female friends and usually the sex doesn't get in the way...

And I like having dressing on the side...

leslie frazier...

He was just named interim head coach of the Minnesota Vikings after controversial Brad Childress was fired today. Frazier was the highly regarded defensive coordinator for the Vikings.

I hope Frazier gets the Vikings back together for the remainder of the season and removes that interim tag. Frazier deserves the opportunity.

hisashi iwakuma...

The Oakland A's successfully bid for the rights to the so-called 2nd best pitcher in Japan behind Yu Darvish. The notoriously cheap A's paid between $16-$18 million for Iwakuma's rights.

Now, the A's are having difficulty signing Iwakuma. He wants Barry Zito money, somewhere in the $18 million a year range. He's not worth it, but Hisashi is worth more than $3-$5 million the A's are reportedly offering him.

It looks like Iwakuma is returning to his Japanese team- the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and the Oakland A's made a calculated gamble that won't really cost them anything. The A's don't pay the posting fee unless they sign him. Iwakuma will become a free agent next season without teams posting transfer fees...

And to my dismay, the A's probably won't sign one of my favorite players- Hideki Matsui...

marco belinelli...

He's one of the many examples how Don Nelson is a fuck up. Fat Nelson doesn't know how to develop big men and young players...

I saw Marco play in the NBA Summer League in Vegas about 4 years ago. He showed flashed of brilliance. His defense is suspect, but there's pure talent with artistry that many European players don't possess.

It's still early in the season, but Belinelli is averaging 12.7 points per game with a 47.5% shooting percentage from the field and an excellent 43.3% from the 3-pt line. 85.7 from the charity line. His ex-teammate and dining buddy @ North Beach Restaurant is shooting 14.3% from the line- I would venture to say that's the worst percentage in the history of the NBA...

I know Marco can pass the ball, but his assists per game is a paltry 1.6 per game- terrible!

Marco's play with the New Orleans Hornets contributed to the trade of Peja Stojakovic expiring contract to the Toronto Raptors.

I pull for most ex-Golden State Warriors, especially when I enjoyed their play in the NBA Summer League in Vegas...

mcrib...

Don't understand why Mickey D's McRib has such a cult following? But I want to try one of those damn things... Maybe today?

I believe I'd had one in the past, however it wasn't memorable...

hunan home's...

622 Jackson Street near Kearny...

On a cold and rainy day in the City, their hot & sour soup really hits the spot...

Hunan Home's potstickers are also good, as is their Hunan Chicken...

tsa airport screening...

I just find some of the screening procedures fucking ridiculous!

My father is 82 years old and he had a knee replacement several years ago. He has a medical card which states he has metal in his knee. But, they still put him through a screening process @ the airport that borders on insane!

They basically touch his private parts in the secondary screening. It's absurd!

I hate to stereotype, but how many 82 year old terrorists are out there? And to be race specific-how many Japanese-American 82 year old terrorists are out there? Come on?

I'm glad I don't fly as much as I did in the past, because it's a fucking pain in the ass!

But as George Clooney's character stated in UP IN THE AIR(2009), I'm the kind of cat you want to be in line behind before going through security. My shits ready to go and I'm efficient...

a divided country...

In all my years, I've never seen such a divided country...

It's very disappointing...

The wrath of that wretched person from wasilla spans to Hollywood. Her daughter is a horrible dancer and she makes the finals of Dancing With The Stars, because the people in her tribe use unethical methods to skew the vote. For example, finding ways to vote hundreds of times, when you're basically allowed 5 votes per the internet, text, and call-in. The show has become a joke since it's not rewarding honest to goodness dance talent...

Getting back to a divided country. I thought @ this point in my life, we would have evolved as a country in terms of racism.

Yes, it was historic, that a half-black man was elected president, but let's get down to details. He's also half-white. He was raised by a white mother and white grandparents.

Much of the mumbo jumbo coming out of the mouth of that witch has racist overtones. She left Hawaii where Obama was born and raised, because there were too many Asians and it made her uncomfortable...

I am just scared that this despicable person could be President of this country and it gives me nightmares...

thirsty girl event @ treasure island...

My first foray to Treasure Island was a Thirsty Girl event led by Leslie Sbrocco from Check Please! Bay Area fame...

Phenomenal event! And the view of the City from Treasure Island is astounding!

andris biedrins...

The guy is still only 24 years old. When I first saw him @ the Long Beach Summer Pro League, he was 18 years old and was just drafted in the 1st Round by the Warriors with the 11th pick in the NBA Draft- I wasn't impressed...

He looked frail and his conditioning was suspect...

Biedrins has developed into a decent NBA big man, but I question whether Golden State should keep him?

He rebounds well and plays decent defense, but the guy is shooting 14.3% from the free throw line and unbelievably it's lower than the 16% he shot from the charity line last season. He's a liability on offense.

Plus, his dissing on teammates in the summer while home in Latvia wasn't professional...

Beidrins dines @ a restaurant I frequent and I'm not happy about certain things I've heard he's said from spies @ the joint. He's seemingly a good kid, but there's something fragile about him which makes me think that the Warriors should move him...

ken schroeder...

A friend of mine who recently lost his Mother... Man, I just talked to his Mother @ Ken's wife Tamara's 50th birthday party this past summer...

Losing my Mother would be the hardest thing in the world to me...

I really feel for Ken and his wife...

les dainty...

I was thinking about him and I wanted to get in touch with him via Facebook. I couldn't find him, then I googled him...

To my dismay, Les passed away on May 12, 2004...

He died in a car accident. He was 48 years old...

Man, I was shocked... I still am, because I found out only today...

We just lost contact. That's not a good thing because we were good friends...

It's very difficult to mourn a friends death when it was over 6 years ago...

michael vick...

First of all, I'm a huge dog lover and when I first heard of Vick's involvement in dog fighting it disgusted me...

However, Michael Vick spent more time in jail than certain people who murdered human beings. He paid his debt to society.

I believe in redemption...

Vick's play on Monday Night Football against the Washington Redskins was nothing short of magnificent. In all of my years, I don't think I've seen a quarterback make so many spectacular plays in one single game...

Philly 6-3 play @ home this weekend against the New York Giants. Even after the Giants disastrous loss to the Cowboys, they are a dangerous team and are tied with the Eagles for first place in the division.

You gotta take it one game @ a time in the NFL...

buster posey wins nl rookie of the year...

What a month for the Giants! On the 1st, the San Francisco Giants win the World Series. And today, Buster Posey is National League Rookie of the Year. Wow!

I was lucky enough to see Buster Posey catch Madison Bumgarner @ Advanced Single A San Jose Giants in 2009.

Not in a thousand years would I have thought that both would be main players in a World Series victory the next season. Unbelievable!

running into people part 5...

I ran into two people today who I haven't seen for awhile.

Both were on the positive side of the spectrum... My record is now 4-2-1. Meaning four good run-ins and two bad and one was neither good, neither bad...

Today, I found out an ex-girlfriend of mine recently had twins from one of her friends. I haven't spoken to my ex for years. And we really were good friends, therefore there has been a void in my life for quite some time...

It's definitely coincidental, because for some reason, I was thinking about her late Father and how I enjoyed talking with him @ parties.

I must congratulate her on her twins...

antonio margarito...

He got his ass thoroughly kicked by Manny Pacquiao. According to promoter Bob Arum, Margarito has a broken eye socket and is scheduled for surgery.

Margarito estimated fight weight was about 165 to Pacquiao's 148.

The ref Laurence Cole should be suspended for letting the fight get out of hand- meaning potentially causing Margarito permanent damage.

Margarito's Robert Garcia is an idiot for letting his fighter continue and he's a fucking idiot for not knowing Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach has Parkinson's Disease and mocking him in a YouTube video. A trainer should know everything about his opponent and his opponent's trainer. The moron didn't do his homework...

And Margarito needs to get out of the latino macho shit mode and do the Roberto Duran and say, "no mas."

apologizing...

The other night in a situation that I won't go into details about- I had too many beers and made some comments that weren't appropriate. I made it a point to apologize to this individual and I'm happy this person accepted my apology.

It feels good to have redeemed myself...

running into people part 4...

Very strange... Got off of the BART @ Embarcadero Station and for some reason a friend's fiancee pops in my head.

As I exit, I see someone who looks like her refilling her Clipper Card and it turns out to be said fiancee. Unreal...

The power of the mind. I text messaged her fiancee earlier in the day..

2-2.

the midterm elections...

It's November 13 and some of the results of elections are still not determined....

I don't get it? I just saw in the news that over a million ballots haven't been counted in the California State Attorney General race that has a miniscule 800 vote differential @ this moment in time.

What is it? Mail-in ballots. Hand counting ballots. With all the technology available in this day and age, you would expect more efficiency?

running into people part 3...

I'm in the negative right now. 1 great to run into the person and 2- what the fuck?

I probably need to get out of town...

dorell wright...

I wasn't that enthused when the Warriors signed Wright. Dorell is still 24 years old, won't be 25 until December 2, which is my sis' birthday and this is Wright's 7th year in the league. Doing the numbers, it's easy to decipher that Dorell was a 1st Round pick for Miami straight out of high school.

It's still early in the season, almost 10% of the season and the Warriors are 6-2. Wright is averaging 16.3 points a game, which is nearly 10 points over his career average.

I have yet to watch him closely, but I've heard he's a defensive stopper.

I guess the Warriors did the right thing by signing Wright...

ann curry of the today show...

She gave Jeff Goldblum one hell of a hug on the Today Show. It actually bordered on being somewhat sexual...

Didn't realize the half-Japanese Curry went to the University of Oregon which is the #1 college football team in the country...

Me being a UDub guy, I can't really pull for the Ducks, but I'm a Pac 8 guy turned Pac 10 guy and I have West Coast Bias. And my Dawgs are mediocre again this season...

Oregon is playing in Berkeley this Saturday. I expect a blowout, but CAL does play well @ home...

Ann Curry she looks great for a soon to be 54 year old on November 19th...

running into people part 2...

Running into people can also be a pain in the ass...

There's a lady that I had a situation with about three years ago and I've run into her twice in the past few weeks.

Once @ a Halloween party and just today on a Union Street bus.

I want to be forgiving and just forgot about the shit that went down, but it was so severe that I just don't want to acknowledge her presence...

This situation involved several people and two restaurants that I no longer frequent...

And in this small city- we have mutual friends...

C'est la vie...

running into people...

I friend of mine is visiting from London and I did get the opportunity to hang out with him on Sunday...

He's scheduled to leave today and I was randomly walking on Gough and Hayes and I ran into him in front of Absinthe...

Doesn't shit like that happen all of the time. I think it's your friends are on the same wavelength and it's meant to be...

I mean, I was just about to have coffee @ this cafe on Gough, a few blocks before Hayes and I changed my mind...

Unfuckingreal... Small City...

patxi's chicago pizza...

They have $1 PBRs. Pabst Blue Ribbon during happy hour. 3-6. I believe m-f...

I'm @ the Fillmore near Lombard location...

The crazy thing, they're regularly $2...

And if you check in via Foursquare, your first PBR is a buck during non happy hour times...

dim sum in c-town...

The joint I'm in is a dive and the stuff is just fair, but it just seems historic in this place...

I've enjoyed dim sum for years, but today I realize how much it's a ritual for Chinese(I'm Japanese)... They take their time and drink their tea and nosh just a bit...

I hate using those slippery plastic chopstick so I've resorted to using a fork today...

I'm not proud of myself for using a fork...

tuesday...

I used to write more interesting shit on my blog and I promise to write more interesting shit from this day forward...

I still will write about sports, because I'm a sports fanatic and I'll write about film, because I'm a film lover...

And of course I'll write about food, because I'm a food lover. Can't say I'm a foodie...

And wine and spirits once and awhile. I'm becoming less and less a wine fan, but I love champagne and sparkling wine like prosecco..

And I'll write about women, because I truly love women...

Peace...

a love of your own...

My favorite song by Average White Band. I'm ecstatic that AWB played the song @ Yoshi's San Francisco on Monday night. It really did make my night...

A LOVE OF YOUR OWN

The sooner you give
The sooner you get to have
A love of your own
The longer it takes
The better you come to know
A love of your own, oh

Now don't be a afraid to give your heart
You never know till you try it, yeah
Don't deny it to yourself
Don't you be afraid, just walk right on in
The door is standing open
You know I'm always hoping

The sooner you give
The sooner you get to have
A love of your own
As far as you go
You're never too far behind
A love of your own, oh

Now don't you be a afraid
To shoot the moon
You'll never know till you try it
Don't deny it to yourself
Don't you be afraid
To change your tune, oh
The offers always open
You know I'm always hoping
You know I'm always hoping

For, a love of my own
To shelter me from the cold
A love of my own
A love of my own
You never too far behind
A love of your own

You've gotta keep looking till you find
A love of your own, a love of your own
You've gotta keep looking till you find
A love of your own

wade phillips...

It was inevitable he was going to get fired and replaced by Jason Garrett...

I'm by no means a Cowboys fan, but I know Wade is a good man and I wish him the best...

a blind post...

The past couple weeks have been crazy... Just literally crazy... The Giants winning the World Series was unbelievable! It really was a dream come true...

Another dream came true during this time period... This dream was on my mind for about six months. It's funny, I could have went without fulfilling this dream, because sometimes the illusion is much better than reality...

However, in this case, I am happy this dream came true...

I've learned, if you really want it- dreams do come true...

peter magowan...

He saved the Giants from moving to Tampa Bay/St Pete in 1993.

Signing Barry Bonds turned the franchise around. Opening Pacbell/SBC/AT&T Park in 2000 was a great accomplishment.

His feud with Dusty Baker wasn't a good thing...

I talked to him briefly during the 2007 All-Star Expo and he seemed like a very nice man...

Thank you Peter Magowan! Without you, the 2010 World Series victory would never have happened...

edgar renteria...

World Series MVP Edgar Renteria more than likely had his last at bat with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants declined a $10.5M option for next season, instead opting to pay Renteria a $500K buyout. Last years World Series MVP Hideki Matsui wasn't re-signed by the Yankees. The bottom line is major league baseball is a business, yet Giants fans will forever remember that 3-run home run Renteria hit in the top of the 7th inning in game 5 to clinch the World Series. Thanks so much Edgar Renteria...

average white band...

Definitely one of my favorite album covers of all-time...

This coming Monday or Tuesday, I'm going to check out AWB in concert @ Yoshi's in San Francisco. I hope they sound good?

sparky anderson...

The great baseball manager who led the Big Red Machine(Cincinnati Reds) to two World Series wins in 1975 and 1976. And in 1984 managed the Detroit Tigers to a World Series title.

Sparky always looked old for his age. In his late thirties, he looked about sixty...

I must admit, I was a big fan of the Big Red Machine led by Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Davey Concepcion, George Foster, Ken Griffey, and Johnny Bench.

I just read that Sparky Anderson is suffering from dementia and has been put in a hospice. Anderson is 76 years old.

I hate it when I hear hospice! In 1996, my Uncle Henry died within days after entering hospice care. And just last April, my Aunt Eloise passed away shortly after she was put in hospice status.

Baseball has always been a big part of my life and I want to honor Sparky Anderson...

Update: Sparky Anderson died shortly after I wrote this entry. May he rest in peace...

victory parade...

Today, @ 11am, a parade celebrating the San Francisco Giants win in the World Series starts from where Columbus becomes Montgomery @ Washington.

It will go down Montgomery and turn right on Market going straight up Market to Civic Center.

Witnessed a few 49ers victory parades, but this one is historic. A first in the 52 years the Giants have been in the City by the Bay...

a time to vote...

Living in California, my two main concerns are the governor and senate race.

I'm voting for Jerry Brown for governor and Barbara Boxer for US Senate.

san francisco giants...

2010 World Series Champions!!

It happened on 11/1/10. On a Monday.

To me, it's a dream come true...

randy moss...

What a mess in Minnesota...

I'm a Randy Moss fan. He's one of the greatest receivers of all-time. I really enjoy watching him play.

Yes, he's a head case, but under the right circumstance Moss will be back to his All-Pro status...

maurice lucas...

The power forward who was the enforcer for Bill Walton and the Portland Trailblazers when they won the NBA Championship in 1977.

Maurice Lucas played for the legendary Al McGuire @ Marquette leading his team to the 1974 NCAA Division One Mens Basketball Championship game against eventual champion North Carolina State led by David Thompson.

Lucas lost a long battle with bladder cancer and he was just 58 years old.

Cancer is such an insidious disease. Back in April, I lost my Aunt Eloise to pancreatic cancer.

I believe Maurice Lucas is worthy of being inducted in Basketballs Hall of Fame.

cure for a hangover...

I had a major one on the last day of October...

Riding a wobbly train for over 90 minutes didn't help...

Having a double double, animal fries, and a strawberry shake helped for about a minute.

My Giants winning game 4 in the World Series to take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead did the trick...

Drinking plenty of liquids did the trick- especially cherry 7-Up...