if someone that you respected for the last couple of years said something you wouldn't respect them for, did they have your respect them in the first place?

strange thing that happened yesterday was when I was driving on the freeway, a dog bone hit my car. : )



this weekend was a very productive weekend. i helped my parents move in to their new place, went to tommy's new place and hung out. at tommy's place, we watched a few newsradio episodes, got boba, showed him around Torrance, went to Michael's (art and crafts store), and went to SportsMart. At sportsmart, I bought a inclining workout bench that came with a curling bar, burling pad that interchanges with the standard leg workout attachments a lot of the workout benches have. I also bought a 100lb weight set. I think I'll need to go buy more weights real soon....I could probably press 100lbs now. ; ) actually, I just verified it. I could press 100lbs....so I'll be getting more weights this week. one of the workers at SportsMart was really cool. we were looking at the weights and the bench, and he said, "hey, I got this coupon for 20% off family and friends. we're friends right? we'll hook you up." so he saved me $34 + tax on the $34. Pretty cool huh?



Anyway, after I left tommy's place today at about 11:30, I went to go eat pho with Sang. I checked out his new Corolla. Wow. It feels and looks very much like a Lexus (IS class) inside and out. I was impressed to say the least considering my roommate and a friend drive Corollas. What a significant improvement. After pho, we got boba. Then I went to my brother's place at Irvine, played some DDR, dropped off a DDR pad I wasn't using, and picked up 6 new Smallville episodes he has on CD. Then I came home and set up my bench.



One thing that sucks is that I got my bench all set up (took 2.5 hours to build), but i worked out and did physical labor yesterday and today. And tomorrow is my rest day. And I'm itching to work out with my new bench! : ) Wendy has my camera cause she needed my camera this weekend, but once I get it back, I'll post some pictures up of my new bench. : )

most obscure thing I saw today was a Rolls Royce street parked next to a empty parking area at our fancy flagship Ralphs we have here in La Jolla. I understand why they did it. But seeing it street parked is like seeing a fish out of water.



Anyone remember Eek the Cat? I'm not sure why I liked the show so much, but I got some of the episodes! So stoked about that. I wanted to buy the series on DVD, but they didn't have any.

Damn, missed another day for blogging. Well, hopefully I should get DDR Konamix tomorrow. But I'm going to guess that is wishful thinking. More realistically Monday. We'll see when I check my mail tomorrow.



Today I ran into one of the most interesting characters on the net arguing over Newsradio episodes. I was arguing with one guy why he should not leave and share his precious episodes that he's encoded, this shogun guy shows up out of the blue and lays down the answer.



[1:02am] <@son_shogun> Sir I must protest.

[1:02am] <@JCTango> speak shogun

[1:02am] <@JCTango> you have the conch. Laughing Out Loud!

[1:02am] <@son_shogun> You are making a strawman of his platform.

[1:03am] <@JCTango> how

[1:03am] <@son_shogun> By declaring "Most of the stuff out there"

[1:03am] <@son_shogun> It is not a tangible number

[1:03am] <@JCTango> hmmm

[1:03am] <@Lucidmike> true. :)

[1:03am] <@son_shogun> And can be decieving in notion.

[1:03am] <@JCTango> could be very true

[1:03am] <@JCTango> it is vague

[1:04am] <@son_shogun> The point here is that there is two clearly divergent, equally valid viewpoints on encoding.

[1:04am] <@JCTango> but you cannot deny the value of crediting yourself for others to contact you

[1:04am] <@JCTango> yes.

[1:04am] <@son_shogun> There is value in that.

[1:04am] <@JCTango> you seem to be knowledgeable on arguements

[1:04am] <@Lucidmike> i agree.

[1:04am] <@son_shogun> The only problem here is that you seem to be at an impass.

[1:05am] <@son_shogun> You have different views on human motivations.

[1:05am] <@son_shogun> It's as if a man of absolute faith in a religion met another man with absolute faith in his religion.

[1:06am] <@JCTango> Laughing Out Loud!

[1:06am] <@Lucidmike> wow shogun.

[1:06am] <@JCTango> a battle of principles it is.

[1:06am] <@Lucidmike> i really dig your style. : )

[1:06am] <@JCTango> =)

[1:06am] <@son_shogun> Not much will be accomplished along the ligns of logical decisions.

[1:06am] <@son_shogun> Thank you sirs.

[1:06am] <@Lucidmike> true true.

[1:06am] <@JCTango> yes.

[1:06am] <@son_shogun> My best advice on this would be to focus on benifits for yourself JC







a few minutes later, we're discussing loyalty and trust (and the lack of between me and JCTango):



[1:31am] <@son_shogun> In order to form healthy relationships, you must be able to extend a certain amounr of trust.

[1:31am] <@JCTango> but i must say, this whole experience has been an eye opener

[1:31am] <@son_shogun> amount.

[1:31am] <@JCTango> that's what i say shogun

[1:31am] <@Lucidmike> thoughts like that don't cross my mind.

[1:31am] <@JCTango> to blatantly trust someone whole heartedly, especially on the net, is being naive

[1:31am] <@JCTango> and probably stupid as well..

[1:32am] <@JCTango> especially in this day and age

[1:32am] <@son_shogun> That is the paradox of trust JC

[1:32am] <@son_shogun> In seeking security in trust you leave yourself open.

[1:33am] <@son_shogun> And the more you trust, the more security you gain, but the less secure you become.

[1:33am] <@JCTango> aint that a bitch lol.

[1:33am] <@son_shogun> One of the great paradoxes of our existences.

[1:34am] <@JCTango> hehe. but you usually trust someone to that extent only when you really know the person

[1:34am] <@Lucidmike> shogun talks like someone that smoked a bowl...with an iq of 400

[1:34am] <@JCTango> i agree Laughing Out Loud!

[1:34am] <@JCTango> maybe it's the night talking.

[1:34am] <@son_shogun> In this case though, I think on both sides you are feeling a lack of trust because of this situation.

[1:34am] <@JCTango> lack of sleep really helps the brain a lot... Just Kidding

[1:34am] <@son_shogun> It does sometimes.

[1:34am] <@JCTango> i think tho...

[1:35am] <@JCTango> i'm feeling more a lack of loyalty

[1:35am] <@son_shogun> Too much sleep makes you sluggish.

[1:35am] <@JCTango> true dat

[1:35am] <@JCTango> c..

[1:35am] <@son_shogun> Well loyalty is only an extenuation of trust.

[1:35am] <@JCTango> it's this kinda talk that makes me trust someone...

[1:35am] <@JCTango> cuz they seem more logical.

[1:35am] <@son_shogun> In return for trust you expect loyalty.

[1:35am] <@JCTango> ah, but without loyalty, there is no trust

[1:35am] <@JCTango> =)

[1:36am] <@Lucidmike> shogun, if you were in the middle of every argument in this world, we'd have a utopia





Man, I wish I can see things like shogun. I'd always resolve the arguments of life.

Welp, went to the market today. $85. Subtract the beef jerky, shampoo & conditioner, $65. subtract the pam, garlic, salt, lawry's salt, soy sauce, fat free salad dressing, $45. So it costs about $45 for eggs (Extra Large Foster Farms), jam (3 very little jars), bread (1 loaf), ham (8 boxes), tofu (4 cubes), chunky penut butter, cheese singles, tomatoes, 5 gallons of water. so eating the bare minimum, it costs $200 on food monthly. That's a lot of money, but I guess it could be a lot worse.



Anyone notice that they stopped playing elevator music at supermarkets? Kinda miss it. : ) Damn, time to go to sleep. Class at 9 tomorrow. Yikes....it's not going to be pretty when I wake up.

I managed to get a total of 24 Newsradio episodes this weekend! All high quality too. Far, far, far, exceeded my expectations thanks to a really nice person I met on irc. I could get 4 more guarenteed, and now I'm running a private server for a select few so that I can release these gems around the world!



Today is such a beautiful day. Typical day in La Jolla. Always notice it though.



If anyone is looking for rollerblades, get the K2 Cadence 2002. My roommate got them, and they are so comfortable. They were featured in Popular Science this month. You can get it shipped for $120 at Sports Authority with a 30 coupon and free shipping, no tax.

I saw Cirque Du Soleil's Dralion today. Maybe my expectations were really high, but it was no where near the quality of 'O', even though it was a really good show.



As some of you have noticed, Newsradio has been cancelled off A&E, and I've been missing it ever since. But there's good news. I found someone at irc, who's really nice about sharing Newsradio episodes. Hopefully by tomorrow, I should have 22 episodes. That's about one full season's worth. They should all be excellent quality. Enough to start trading with the more hardcore newsradio fans who only trade the good quality ones. My roommate and I are more than happy. This experience is like having something that is a part of you that you knowingly love and cherish then having it vanish from you. Then one day it is reavealed to you that you can get it back again slowly, but surely. Is it a good feeling? Oh is it ever.



If anyone out there loves Newsradio, I'll be more than happy to share the wealth. About 3 episodes fit per CD. I guess that's a good thing and a bad thing. Today has been a pretty good day.

Well, finally the day is here for Cirque Du Soleil's Dralion. Pretty excited. I have to do laundry before I go. Maybe do some cardio on the bike at the gym. I went to Phil's BBQ today, and after the broham, I was too full for my full order of ribs. So it's sitting in the fridge. They'll be good for all day tomorrow.



Another big thing is that there seems to be a huge design flaw with the RedOctane Ignition pads. Hopefully RedOctane will have a solution so I won't have to return them. Kinda makes me wish I had discovered BNS pads before the Ignition pads. I might have just gone with the BNS pads and I would be better off.

You know, I like the concept of a hot bath to relax, but whenever I get in there, I feel claustrophobic and it's just a battle for me to stay in there for more than 5 minutes. When I have enough money one thing I'll get is a really large bath tub.

I just had a revalation. I know these 2 guys....comes from a "hoppa" family. Howlie dad, Asian mom. Yet, the older brother looks full Asian and the younger brother looks half. When my friend asked if they had different dads, they were from the same parents. What I just realized was that this probably was a question always lingering in their minds as well. And maybe they both graduated with a BS in biology because of this question subconsciously directeding them to find out the truth for them selves.



Well, I'm sicker now than yesterday. They sent me home from work and I don't think I'll be making it in tomorrow.

Man.....I'm sick again....whoop de freakin' do.........if I'm hacking up a storm I might not be able to go to work tomorrow. I was still able to work out today. As a matter of fact, when I was working out, I pretty much forgot that I was sick. Just getting myself to go there was a big struggle. Once I got there, it was better that I ever thought it would be. This cold seems to be really slow progressing.....I hope it doesn't continue the trend. It really messes up my work out schedule.



Today, I had to give a hearing impared guy a jump start. Somehow he instructed me to release the parking brake and steer his car around while he pushes from the front so that we could angle our cars for the jump start. Trying to get a parking spot at UCSD gets harder by the day. : )



Now it's time to read some harry potter 3. : ) Not enough hours in the day I tell ya.

Well, I had my worst meal at a restaurant ever today. I went to Ichiro (aka "Japanese Restaurant"), and they gave me some spoiled sashimi, so it took forever to get a replacement order. And the one they brought out was fresh....just horrible pieces. Tasted like sand paper. Absolute crap. At least it wasn't spoiled. And the service was ridiculously horrible. And they charged me $3 more than I should have gotten charged. Even though we only tipped her $2, the $3 we paid extra meant she almost got her full tip anyway. Well, all I can say is I'm never going to Ichiro again. What they should have done is not charge me for the spoiled tuna, and then brought me out a complimentary good order for it, in a timely manner. All I got was "you were right". I've taken a lot of my friends there. And just because they don't know how to treat their customers, they'll lose probably hundreds of dollars that my friends and I would have spent there in the future.



The last worst meal ever was Carlos Murphy's when I was a freshman. Not surprised at all when it went out of buxiness and got replaced by Cozymels.



I went to the market today, and bought unbelievable amounts of protein. ~800g of protein in just the meats alone (tuna and various hams). Not counting the protein in the cheese, bread, yogurt has. Probably comes out to 1000 grams of protein, or 4000 calories of protein. I could have even bought more protein than carbs today. That does not happen often.

went to viejas today....they had quite a few $5 tables there. i still managed to lose $60. oh well, still had a lot of fun. i think i'm beginning to realize working out in the morning is less effective than working out at night. i'll probably have to change schedules around. maybe do cardio every morning and lift during the day?



well, one of the dell servers we have at work is broken so we sent for a replacment. and guess what, the replacement was broken too. can you believe that shit?



as much as i like work, i think i need to win the lottery so that i'll have more time to do what i want.

Click here to watch one of the best indie films I've seen in a long time. It's about 11 minutes long.

I went to Henry's today and bought more fruit than I've ever bought in my entire life. The fruits are pretty damn cheap and really fresh. If you've never been, you should go to Henry's. There's no reason why you should pay a dollar or two for an orange at Ralphs. I bought 5 fuji apples, 5 gala apples, bananas, 2 red bell peppers, 2 yellow bell peppers (what am i going to do with these hmmm...), 2 boxes of cherry tomatoes, 3 large oranges.



Roommates and I went to this place called Saffron right next to the airport. Basically the El Coti of Thai food......yet...their servings....I thought _should_ have been a lot bigger. I don't think I'll go back there even though the food was good, I don't think its worth the drive to get drunken noodles for a dollar or two less from a hole in the wall type place.



I never used to notice it before, but getting food at a take out place where the cooks can see you is not that great of an idea when you are the typical asian male. I always feel that I get sometimes even half of what probably I should have gotten. I thought I was just being a little paranoid, but my roommate told me the same thing one day. You know, I'm beginning to realize that the less racism there is from the majority of the population, the minorities think that they have the right to show favoritism over their own. Haven't we learned that we must treat everyone as equals? Sure the minorities were bitching about how minorities get treated unfairly, but now I see more prejudice and favoritism from the minorities more than ever. Well, serves them right cause the ones that do this tend to be the ones with the shit jobs anyway.



I didn't make it to the gym this morning, so I went in the evening with 30 minutes left in the gym. I thought I had about 40 minutes cause yesterday they set the clocks 10 minutes late, but they actually set the clocks correctly. It used to be set 4 minutes early, those bastards. So they kicked me out once again. Tomorrow is my rest day so I'll only be doing cardio at night.



I did so many hotfixes on Windows 2000 Servers (6 hotfixes on 17 servers), I'd like to give a big FU to Microsoft.



check this out. street race? it looks more like 2 guys trying to show up some girls, acted like morons and got themselves killed. But cause the media once again, the ricers are gonna end up paying for it when the police start "cracking down." http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/1391824/detail.html

Kinda been sick for last 2 days....so I haven't been working out as much. I worked out today a little, and maybe if I can wake up early enough tomorrow, I'll work out in the morning.....if not, it'll have to be in the evening. I think I'll go shop for fruits and vegetables tomorrow at Henry's. Ralphs stuff is too expensive, and their cheaper stuff is awful.



Roommate showed me this really cool mini duster....and wow...it works so well. I'm gonna have to go shopping for a good duster tomorrow. I always thought my room was dusty, never knew how easy it was to clean it up.



A lot of things have gone missing from my apartment. I think one of us is a sleepwalking cleptomaniac that likes to throw shit off our balcony or something. That includes pots, bottles of cologne, 4 oranges, netflix dvd's, salt....Oh well. We can always laugh about the strangeness.



I took pictures of my new DDR pads. Here's the link:

http://www.lucidera.com/ddr/

Why is it that every single time I do laundry, I manage to forget to wash one thing!? I actually triple checked today. And guess what, forgot to wash my gym towel. Damn.



Well, I got my RedOctane Ignition pads today. They are so cool. I don't think I'll ever need to buy pads ever again. I'll post pics up tomorrow.



I went to go eat at the Fish Market again toady. I never really did like fish....till now. Maybe my roommates convinced me....or maybe its cause I'm trying to eat healthier these days, but damn, it's good to have one more meat to eat. Still don't like lamb, duck, etc. I guess I'm not really civilized. I like beef and chicken. Turkey is good too.



Well, gotta get up earlier for the gym tomorrow. Been slacking a little. I'll be pumped up for work...oh yes.... ; )

today, I saw a Celica GT-S with the license plate 4LEE187. For Lee's murder.....considering it's a silver celica GTS, it could have very well be an asian guy. And a lot of asian guy's last name is Lee. Damn, I would have sent that thing right back if my last name was Lee.

check out my friend's Nissan Skyline R34 GTR vspec ii. he paid for it, waited for 2 years (horribly delays). when it got here, he drove it around the block (once or twice) and is now selling it (if not sold already) cause he had to get the NUR version that just came out. oh well, at least he's happy. i don't know if i would have the patience (if i had the money.) : )









more pics here

"the matrix" must be real. a lot of things without explanation keep happening around me. things go missing without a trace, or are horribly misplaced. this thing is gonna crash one day and we might just wake up a different person the next day or not wake up at all.

WTF!!??!! They can use legal loopholes to spam us now? Check this shit out. I got this at the bottom end of one of the spam emails today:

"You have received a message!

We received your address from a public place.

We apologies if this letter have reached you by mistake. We'll not disturb you any more. NB. This message is sent in compliance of the new email bill section 301. Under Bill S. 1618 TITLE III passed by the 105th US Congress. This message cannot be considered Spam as long as we include the way to be Removed, Paragraph

(a)(c) of S. 1618.

TO REMOVE: do not respond to this message."



I don't know if it's true, but if it is, this is truly sad if it is.

w00t! check this out: http://www2.warnerbros.com/web/wboriginals/index.jsp?frompage=nav

Today was the first day after the last 20 days that I didn't make it to the gym to do my cardio at night cause I got back a little late for the movie and the gym was closed. I was going to go running cause it seemed warm enough, then the rain came. Oh well, at least I went to the gym in the morning (to lift only) and played a little bit of DDR.



Got some lifting gloves. Harbinger Training Grip. Interestingly, I can't find it's existance on the Internet. Google can't find it, it must not exist right? : ) Well, these gloves "wicks" sweat away for maximum comfort whatever that means. : ) Just a little fact. The more grip you have, the more you can lift....not just weights, but boxes, couches, desks, etc. Always wear gloves when moving. You'll save yourself a lot of blisters, and effort.



I saw Blade 2 today. I had some high expectations. The fighting in the beginning was way cool, then it feels like it suddenly turned into claymation WWF wrestling. What was that all about? Overall though, it was good brainless fun. I give it 7.5 out of 10.



During the movie, someone called 3 times. Caller ID was blocked. I was hoping the person would leave a message but they didn't. I hope it was not important. Next time, leave a message because even though I don't answer phone calls in the theater, I'll listen to my voicemails in the theater and call you back if its important enough.

More tips for a successful workout (Thanks to Travis and Tommy)

-For an effective cardio workout on a bike, you should gradually increase the level and when you get to the max you can do, you should main that for at least 12 minutes, then gradually decrease the level for the cool down.

-To avoid cramping, you can take longer to gradually warm up to your max, get off the bike, and stretch again, then warm up for a minute or two more and do your max for at least 12 minutes.

-When you eat your 8 300 calorie meals, it is best to eat 40-30-30 carbs-protein-fat.

-If you are working out on a regular basis, don't worry about the exceess carbs.

-Protein is good at keeping you full for longer periods of time. You should also have some fiber (apple, pear, etc) with your meal so that you will digest it slower.

-Best source of protein is tuna. Just don't use too much mayo, if you have to use it at all.

wassaaaaaaaaahhhhp!

Today was the first day I was able to 'plateau' for 12 minutes on level 4, after gradual move up to and down from level 4 on the bike at the gym.



I ordered 2 RedOctane Ignition pads and DDR Konamix. I think the only thing that holds me back on the good marks (A's and B's) on 5/6 feet trick is the crappy pads I've been using. I can also now play the 2 pad configurations. That should be really fun. The pads should be here Monday and Konamix, I eagerly await it's release date (April 26th).



It's been 4 days since A&E cancelled Newsradio and I'm still very sad about it. As sad as one could get about a cancelled show. Interestingly enough a lot of people feel the same. One comment I read was from this old 93 year old lady saying that Newsradio was one of the 2 things in her life that she still enjoys after her husband and even her kids have passed away.



I'm hungry now. I think I'll have a PB & J sandwich.

True tales of woe and misery.

www.mymiserablelife.com

Interestingly enough, these miserable people are some of the most brilliant writers I've ever read stuff from. I guess you have to really experience that kind of misery to describe misery that well.

Important news on 2 of my most favorite shows: Newsradio and The Simpsons.



Newsradio got cancelled off A&E. Why did they cancel it? They must be insane.



The Simpsons Complete Second Season DVD will be released July 23rd. I can't wait.

uh oh.....easter just got cancelled