Living the dream baby!

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Hoop Dreams

Hoopster

2006 has already proven to be a busy year for us. Lots going on and little time for much else. Karsyn’s basketball league started last week and her team the Tigers has already played two games. They tied their first game 10-10, then recorded their first win this past Saturday with a 16-10 triumph. Karsyn had never touched a basketball before this season, so it’s definitely been a learning experience for her.

Her coach has been working on positional play with the girls (mind you this is 6-8 year olds) and has started focusing on the transition game (switching from offense to defense and vice versa). It’s been a little challenge for Karsyn, but her soccer experience is coming into play. She understands the concept of offense vs. defense and what scoring is all about, but her game motor skills need a bit of honing.

In any case, it’s pretty amusing to see how aggressive these little girls are on the court. They scowl at each other and there’s even some trash talking already. Publicly that stuff is not condoned, but the trash talker in me finds it rather amusing.

The Wedding Banquet

Jay & Ying....finally!

Sonya and I recently attended the wedding of Jay T., a friend and former employee of mine. Jay and his new bride Ying are both Chinese, so they hosted a traditional Chinese banquet following their wedding ceremony. The ceremony was on Treasure Island, but they held the banquet at Koi Palace (supposedly one of the best restaurants for authentic Chinese food in the Bay Area).

The reception was essentially a 10 course meal that lasted about four hours. Nobody will ever be able to say that they left Jay & Ying’s wedding hungry. This was ten courses of extravagant Chinese cuisine, from Abalone to “Succulent Roast Pig” to Sharks fin Soup to this fantastic lobster. My favorite dish was a scallop the size of a tennis ball, wrapped in what I think was crab meat. This was then steamed or pan fried in some delectable sauce.

So much for the diet. It was quite the feast. Oh yeah, the wedding was nice too. I got to see a number of folks that I worked with at BigVine back during the gold rush of ’99.

Lars Update

Got an email from Monica yesterday indicating that Lars had just completed his 6th round (of 8) of chemo. She says a CT scan revealed that his tumor has been reduced by 90% since it was originally identified. His spirits are up, but his journey has a ways to go before he can say that’s he whipped his disease.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Take it to the hole!

Not a lot going on around these parts now that the holidays have passed. This was another 3-day weekend for me, because my company decided to shift one of our holidays to the MLK holiday.I would have preferred that it be used some other time, because having just taken several days during Xmas and New Years, I was well rested.

In any case, we’re bucking up for 2006. Karsyn has been practicing on her youth basketball team (yes, now it’s basketball). She’s on the Pink Tigers, and looks to be quite lost out on the court. Her coach is actually very good. Some might say he’s a bit too hardcore for kids this age, but hey, I’m all for having them learn the game.

Her games start in two weeks, but the team has already had 7 or 8 practices. Sonya and I took Karsyn down to the school to work on her shot, but the local elementary school doesn’t have 6 foot rims (the height that they use at this level). We’ll need to track one down.

Sonya was peeved at me, because the first thing I covered with Karsyn was how to talk proper smack on the court. I taught her to say “Get that mess outta here”, when she blocks a shot, and “Not in my house” when on defense.

This of course is simply me trying to get under my wife’s skin, because no 6-year-old should be saying those things on the court (although it would be pretty funny).

Ryan has converted a play golf club into his very own hockey stick. I watch so much hockey on TV, he was bound to do this sooner or later. He’s actually become quite good at stick-handling a tennis ball up and down the hall. Unfortunately he has also learned how to slash his father’s feet when they are propped up on the couch. I’m sure his mother taught him this.

I get a kick out of him, when he gets real serious and decides to take his “puck” coast to coast from our bedroom to the TV in the family room. He ends his jaunt with a very serious blurting of the word “hockey!” Game on Garth!

Friday, January 06, 2006

For your viewing pleasure

So I was reading a review of all the best television shows on cable and the airwaves. As I was reading, it dawned on me that I knew half of them. The net net is, I watch too much television. So I figured, ah what the heck, write my own review of my favorite shows. It will undoubtedly reveal just how shallow I am.

How do I (and Sonya) watch all of this TV with two kids? Tivo. It’s a good thing. Sorry Martha, that’s as close as you come to my favorites.

So without further adieu, I bring you my Top 10 Boob Tube Programs:

1) Rescue Me (FX) – I never was a Dennis Leary fan until I started watching this FX show about a New York City firefighter. He’s a drunk, a hot head, and everything you’d expect from a NY firefighter I guess. The humor is raw, the dialogue is crass, but I can’t get enough of it. The season

2) Over There (FX) – I was hesitant to watch a television show about U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq, because I figured it would be some propaganda piece for or against the war. Turns out it’s neither. Simply put, it tells the tale of squad fighting to stay alive, while fighting an enemy they can’t always see.

3) Lost (ABC) – If you haven’t been watching this show since it debuted two years ago, you may be lost. Pick up the DVD of the first season and catch up to this freaky mind game playing tale of a bunch of castaways stranded on a mysterious tropical island. And Evangeline Lily is hot, so that helps.

4) 24 (Fox) – Jack Bauer is one kick ass dude, and 24 is one of those shows that captures your attention because the plot is predictably unpredictable. Nuclear threats, biohazards, and lots of gun play. What else could you want?

5) Desperate Housewives (ABC) – Nothing unmanly about watching a bunch of hot housewives trying to lives their lives on one of the most dysfunctional streets in American suburbia. Checkout the ladies of Wysteria Lane on Sundays at 9pm

6) Inked (A&E) – This a reality series about a tattoo parlor located in the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. The shop is owned by extreme motocross rider Cary Hart, but the show centers around shop manager Thomas Pendelton, a tortured soul who makes his living as a tattoo artist (and partial owner of the shop). Thomas’ artist drama life is a train wreck, which is tough to not watch as we all know.

7) Roller Girls (A&E) – This is a brand new reality series which chronicles the life of a group of women who compete in the Lonestar Rollergirl League. Check out the five-team, all-girl league of tough and sexy young athletes who pay to skate and play to win. Their raucous bouts combine fierce competition with jaw-dropping outfits and crowd-pleasing personalities. It’s T&A on wheels!

8) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX) – This cutting edge comedy touches on the untouchable, which is why many critics are saying that FX is what HBO was five years ago. IASIP is not your typical show, which is why it’s a critics favorite.

9) Survivor (CBS) – Still one of my favorites, even though the game is essentially the same season after season. What makes Survivor appealing is the cast of jokers they roll out each season.

10) The Apprentice (NBC) – The Donald is a dork, but his show is cool. I’ve figured out the ultimate business model from this show. Simply collect a nickel every time someone utters “I’m more qualified than these idiots, I should be the Apprentice”. It seems as if half the candidates are guaranteed to be buffoons, which makes for entertaining television I guess. I’m hooked.

Honrable Mention:

- Any show that risks peoples lives while trying to catch crab
- Any WWII rerun during Memorial Day
- Anything on the Food Network
- Any sporting event (exluding pro basketball)...that even includes highlights that I saw six hours earlier.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Ringing in 2006 Tahoe Style

On Lake Tahoe - New Years Eve

The whole family rang in 2006 up in Lake Tahoe over a long four day weekend, courtesy of our friends Roger & Joanne. They own a cabin up in Tahoe City, so we trekked up to the Sierras for the second consecutive year. The cabin is right on Lake Tahoe, with an awesome view of the lake from their living room.

It took us about 4.5 hours to drive up on Thursday night. We managed to beat the beat the storm that pounded most of California on our drive, but would experience it once we reached our destination. It rained all day Friday, so even though we were at 6200 feet above sea level, we saw lots of water and little snow.

This was a bit of a drag because there were seven kids to go along with six adults. Everyone started to get a little cabin fever because of the rain. On Saturday we heard that highway 80 was closed because of rock slides just north of where we were located. The rain continued to fall, and at noon the power went out in the cabin.

Sonya & Ry

It finally started to snow on Saturday afternoon, so the kids got to play in the white stuff later that day. There was a small hill in the complex we were staying, so everyone did a little sledding. Ryan and Karsyn loved it.

We had gone grocery shopping the day before and decided to simplify things by buying a couple of frozen lasagna’s. Without any power, we were in a bit of a quandary, because the cabin was equipped with an electric oven. We improvised and used the propane BBQ on the patio and grilled up those lasagna’s. To be honest with you, they came out quite nicely.

Karsyn & Ry

So on New Year’s Eve, we enjoyed BBQ’d lasagna, Sonya’s patented Pecan and Cranberry Salad, real garlic bread and a few bottles of some great wine that Roger brought up. All of this by candle light. It was also Sonya's 29th birthday (again!), so she celebrated by knocking me out of two no-limit poker games.

Given the absence of power, we were actually forced to communicate with each other, rather than watch TV all day. It turned out to be one of the nicer New Year’s Eve celebrations that I’ve participated in. Relaxing to say the least.

It snowed over night, so we woke up on New Year’s Day to about 8 inches of new snow. Ryan unfortunately had a bought with some bad milk (we think) and he ended up barfing all over one of the beds in our room. So spent the first morning of the new year, stripping the beds and rinsing sheets. Still had no power, so we couldn’t run the washing machine to clean them up there.

The Kids on Lake Tahoe

By the time we left (about 1pm on Jan 1), there was no power throughout all of Tahoe City and the snow was falling again. We actually high tailed it out of town a little early for fear of getting stuck on the highway because the next big storm was rolling in.

So, we piled up the car and headed back to the Bay Area. The roads were slick, the traffic was heavy and the wind was howling. Took us about 7.5 hours to get home. A long drive, but well worth it.