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| In 2005-2006, me, Phil, and Eddie got a 8 game Clippers package, mostly because we figured that would be the last year we'd be able to spend some quality bromance time together before we started our careers. It just so happened that that year was the Clippers most successful year since they moved to Los Angeles, and the 8 game package got upgraded into a 12 game package, and with 2 rounds of playoffs, a 16 game package. It was a fun team to watch: EB before he became a traitor, Sam I Am's ugly mug was the crowd favorite, with Chris Kaveman a close second. Anyhow, the Clippers are absolutely dreadful this year, and I've only gone to three games. One because I got free box seats to a pre-season game, two because it was the home opener versus the Lakers, and we only went to that because we went as Laker fans, and three, because Linda got free tickets to some PR level seats.
This year, I got UCLA basketball season tickets instead and split them with Jon, Eugene, and John. But being that we are almost done with March, and we're out of the tournament already, it was disappointing. I should've gotten the season tickets last year when we had KLove, Westbrook, and Mbah still on the team. Oh well, I renewed my tickets for next year anyhow because I have faith that we'll be back in the hunt. I'm hoping that Drew Gordon learns to play basketball without fouling, Jrue Holiday lives up to the hype, and Bobo loses some weight. My Vegas wagers on UCLA to win it all are now worthless, but I'll still be up after the Lakers win it all in June.
We held a snaking draft, fantasy basketball style, to figure out how to divide up the UCLA tickets.
John got the first pick. "And with the number 1 pick in the UCLA 2008-2009 draft, John drafts UCLA vs USC!"
In the Cerritos YAGS fantasy basketball league, we don't play for money, we play for "The Belt." That's right, a championship WWF belt. Well, Karen (whose team was really managed by Jay) won our league last year, so she gets to hold onto the belt this year.
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| June 1998. That's when I graduated from Cerritos High School, home of the Mighty Dons (and the great Ben Howland - CHS c/o '76). For me high school was an awesome time filled with fond memories and adventures. The friendships have endured, as I still see many of my high school friends frequently, and some of them I've gotten even closer to over the last 10+ years.
In October of last year, we had our ten year reunion at The Reef restaurant in Long Beach (next to the Queen Mary). After 10 years, there were probably only 3-4 people that looked completely different. Everyone else pretty much looked exactly like I remembered, but then again, my class was about 50-60% Asian, and you know that Asians don't age. All in all, I think the reunion turned out to be a smashing success, and coincidentally, we had 98 people show up. Still, it's really hard to grasp that 10 years has gone by. It went by so fast, but maybe it's because I've spent 8 of those years in school and only joined the real world 2 years ago. So, cheers to Cerritos High Class of 1998, "Rising above the rest, destined to be the best."
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| My last post for 2008 was a little romp through downtown LA over labor day weekend, which brings me to September. Since I'm playing catch up, it looks like I'm only going to highlight a few events from September: Ken's bachelor party in LV, the first annual LA BBQ fest, Lobster Festival in San Pedro, and Kentamination's Wedding.
Vegas
So first off was Ken's bachelor party, planned by best man Ray. I got to see a lot of the college homies, some of whom I haven't seen in years, so that made the trip even more fun. I guess it was your typical bachelor party: a little bit of gambling, a little bit of partying, and a little bit of eating. I gotta say though, the nuances of a Vegas experience changes ever so slightly depending on the group you go with and the personalities involved, so it never gets dull.
I love it. Ken's sporting Lakers shorts, a UCLA shirt, and Vikings hat. I don't really care about the Vikings, but it's in Laker purple and gold, so that makes it all good.
Kunal forgot his belt. So...he's trying to use a luggage strap as a make shift belt. And Ray just can't stop staring at Kunal's crotch.
Dinner at Delmonico's.
The damage at Delmonico's.
And on the way back to WLA, we made a pit stop at Xiao Mei in MP for some cheap eats.
BBQ Fest
For years, I had been hoping that LA would have a barbecue event. Well, they finally had one, and it was pretty disappointing. The food wasn't that bad, it's just that the lines were horrendous. We had split up in pairs to buy different samplings from the various BBQ joints, but the longest line was for LC's bbq from Kansas City. This line was so long, though, that we had to rotate teams in and out of this line, so that everyone could get a chance to eat the food purchased from the other vendors. In the end, it really wasn't worth the wait. If they have another festival next year, I don't know if I'd go back. They'd really have to work on throughput in order for me to return. In its inaugural year, the venue was too small and the crowds too large...
Lobster Festival
Lobster Festival in San Pedro (not to be confused with Lobster Fest in Redondo Beach, which happened a week later) was much better than the BBQ Festival, but Lobster Festival has had more time to get their act together. We had gone to the one in Redondo a few years back, but everyone seemed to forget about it last year, so we made a point to go this year. I do think the San Pedro one is a little better than the Redondo one in that San Pedro has more of a carnival/fair kind of atmosphere, and much more food options in addition to the lobster (sausages, funnel cake, ice cream, lemonade, shrimp...you know, the type of stuff you'd find at a county fair). The only downside is that it only happens once a year...
Ken's Wedding
And finally, since we opened with Ken's bachelor party, it's only fitting that we end with his wedding. Most of the college friends also made it out to Vegas, but it was definitely nice to see Sam again, since it had been years since I've seen him. And amazingly, that was the last wedding I went to, which I guess is kind of nice as it makes me feel less old.
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| Just a few quick thoughts. Full summary and pictures to come once I'm caught up in my posts.
- The concert at the Lincoln Memorial was really fun. Highlights: Mary J Blige's version of "Lean on Me," Sheryl Crow, Will.I.Am., and Herbie Hancock's version of "One Love," Garth Brooks' (and this is coming from a guy that hates country music) version of "American Pie," and of course U2.
- The "half-smoke" from Ben's Chili Bowl is one helluva magnificent hot dog. The casing of the dog had a great snap and smokey flavor, and the chili had a great kick. A sign at the resaurant: Who eats for free at Ben's Chili Bowl? Bill Cosby and Barack Obama (but he paid).
- The Mall is beautiful at night
- Walking around DC the day before Inauguration. Walking by the Capitol building while they set up the stage, I hear a beautiful violin and cello playing. Itzhak Perlman and Yo Yo Ma are rehearsing! Just an amazingly beautiful and surreal moment to listen to some of the greatest musicians with the national mall as your backdrop.
- The morning of Inauguration was pure chaos. Absolute and complete chaos. And the wind was bone chilling cold. I got on the Metro at 4AM, but didn't reach the Silver Ticket section until 6am, then waited til 8AM until they opened the security gates. But there was no security to manage the lines, so people just getting off the metro crossed the street and cut right in front of us who had been waiting in the cold for hours. Luckily I got a in, and had a spot near the front of the Capitol reflecting pool. I feel so bad for the ticket holders that got turned away due to people who cut in line or failures at the security check points. But everything you read about people having no idea what was going on was true. You get in line, and you're surrounded by people. You can only see the 5 rows of people surrounding you and so you really have no idea what is going on beyond that radius or what is going on at the security gates. There were no announcements, updates, or directions given to people at the back of the lines, and inadequate personnel to prevent people from cutting the line.
- Despite all the chaos, and standing in sub-freezing temperatures for hours after only sleeping for 2 hours, I got in, and it was one of the most incredible things to take part of.
- At the end of the day, I went back to my cousin's to watch the network coverage of the Inauguration. When they introduced Bush and showed him on TV, I noticed the networks filtered out all of the crowd noise. If you were there, all you heard was deafening boos. Over a million people booing.
- When Bush took off on the helicopter, the crowd started signing "Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey hey hey, good-bye!"
- I accidentally found my way to the front of the presidential motorcade route and got a front row spot, where Al Gore rolled down his window and waved to us, and I was within 30 feet of our new president as he slowly cruised down Constitution.
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| If you haven't been following, Obama's inauguration is titled "We Are One." On Sunday, I went to the concert with my cousin, and it was an amazing experience. The theme We Are One really came through. Today I will witness history. Thanks to Karen and Jay, I got a ticket to the inauguration!!!! | | |
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