I got caught!

Meanwhile, in other news, I have just been caught! Fricking fishermen.

I got caught eating a dolphin

What is going on?

This has been a crazy weekend in sports.

First off, the Canucks. Just when you thought that we would get the upperhand, we squander it on Game 3. In Game 2, we see an inspired team that unexpectedly won on Anaheim on Cowan the Brabarian's heroics. Linden is showing why he brought the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals in '94. True, he's old and a shadow of what he once was but his hardwork and heart still shines. Then of course, you have an immediate letdown on the next game where Anaheim won the first game at GM Place. Since I was working that day, I didn't get to watch the game. Nice to see that Naslund and Daniel Sedin scored although the giveaway by Luongo proved to be the extra goal that the Canucks couldn't recover from.

And how about the NBA? Who would've thunk it? Miami got swept by Chicago! I guess Wade's injury was worse than expected. Warriors pushed the Mavs in to the brink of elimination by winning Game 4 at home and leading the series 3-1! Toronto is playing real bad, not being able to handle the Nets. They are down 3-1. Looks like my picks are all going south this first round.

Canucks will win Game 4. I have a better sense for this game than I did with Game 3 (and I am talking before the game even started). Go Canucks Go!

An Ode to Nice Guys

This is a nice link I found. It's basically an ode to nice guys. Sad to say it but this is so true.

Ode to the Nice Guys
This rant was written for the Wharton Undergraduate Journal

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.

This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.

This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.

The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.

So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.

Fu-zu Jen, SEAS/WH, 2003

Pop's Toronto trip

Gabby just posted on his blog Pop's trip to TO and posted some pics

But he didn't post this picture! Which I found so funny as well and really captures Carla's silliness.. The silliness runs in the family. LOL!

Hahaha good job Carls.... Miss ya!

On to another note, Canucks lost without having two of their stars, Bieksa and Salo. Clearly overmatched. But you know what? Despite the loss, there is still that chance. It wasn't that bad, if only they had Salo and Bieksa. They really got to cut down on turnovers. Krajicek has been making so much errors even since the Dallas series and same goes for Sopel.

I still believe! Go Canucks Go!

And on basketball, Houston plays today. I can finally watch my first game of them in the playoffs. I could not watch them previously because they had games when the Canucks were playing

The Raptors play tomorrow. Same with the Canucks. At least I can watch both games.

Canucks set for Game 1 vs. Anaheim/Raptors win 2nd game

Vancouver Canucks

Game 1 is set for today against Anaheim. We are clearly the underdogs here. The Anaheim Ducks are known for their size and physical play, plus they got great goaltending (2 of them!), size and speed (see Selanne). Everything a potential Stanley Cup contender needs to have. Therefore, many predict Ducks in 5 or 6.

Except for the aberration (the 6-0 Anaheim win at the start of the season), all the other games during the regular season were real close. Anything can happen in a playoff game, and of course we have Luongo, considered by many as one of the best goaltenders in the game. When could you have said that about Vancouver goaltending? Last time we had great goaltending, it was Kirk McLean in the 90s.

Do we have a chance at an upset? I think so. We were one of the favoured teams in the Bertuzzi era yet we lost two straight Game 7s. Calgary and Edmonton had a good run all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. And on the basketball front (Philippine college game), Ateneo lost the championship to UST who came back being down 3-1. How heartbreaking for Ateneo. In a way, being an underdog is better for the Canucks. You have nothing to lose, have more motivation and have the potential to surprise people.

As long as we play with effort and poise, we will be in good shape. It will be a more open style of game with the Sedin twins and Naslund having the potential to have a great series. My prediction? There is a chance at that upset but the depth and physical play of the Ducks will wear the Canucks down. I predict the Ducks in 6. But... I REALLY hope I'm wrong.

There is no denying that VC (Vince Carter) put the Raptors on the NBA map. But when you clearly dont act professional, tank games and have the audacity to say it in public when you get traded, you get absolutely no respect. Kudos to the Raptors for winning Game 2 but I really hoped they would sweep the Nets. Karma is a b**tch and VC deserves it.

Go Raptors Go, beat the Nets!

Go Canucks Go! Pluck those Ducks!

Canucks win Game 7!

OMG what a game! What better story than to win the game on the player that has been synonymous with Canuck hockey. TREVOR LINDEN!!!!!!!

Photo Credit: Canucks.com

Canucks.com report on Game 7

What could've ended up as an ominous hockey game with Dallas getting the first goal, the Canucks dominated after that and put the game away. Zubov was a big loss for the Stars.

After the game, a couple of friends and I celebrated downtown and everybody was high fiving each other, shouting in support for the Canucks. The two friends I had with me had never done this thing before and I'm glad I got them hooked.

Some funny quotes from yesterdays celebrations looking ahead to the next series against the Anaheim Ducks:

F**k the ducks!

The duck is done!

Let's BBQ some ducks!

Nucks pluck those ducks!

It really brought back memories of the Rangers vs. Canucks final in 1994 when my brother, sister and I did the same thing and celebrated on Robson after the Game 6 win in the Stanley Cup Final. That's what got me hooked on hockey ever since. It was pretty much the same thing and you know what the great thing is? It's just the first round!

Well, I can't write much anymore as I have an exam coming up tomorrow

GO CANUCKS GO!!!!!

Fantasy League results

Fantasy Basketball Season is over and in all three leagues, I came in second place. Not bad from being a perennial cellar dweller.

Here are the detailed standings... Not bad eh? Jamie (Bryan's Bombers) won for two straight years. My bro and I tied for second place. A tight race here

I (Dis Is Yu Dis Is Me) tied with Taal Tantays for second place. Who are the Tantays? I dunno. Gabby (Ducut's Ducks), my bro, can answer that.

My brother (Punky Alolor's) won this league, I came in second (Madapakasana). Look how close the standings were. It came down to the last day. I was down 5 points and almost won it!

The Landlord

Will Ferrell gets owned by his landlord

Mad World

What is this world coming to? It really is a mad world. Yes, I'm talking about the Virginia Tech massacre. According to reports, 33 dead.

This song by the Boomtown Rats is a chilling foreshadow of what happened today, Monday, April 16th .

I Don't Like Mondays

-BoomTown Rats-

The silicon chip inside her head
Gets switched to overload
And nobody’s gonna go to school today
She’s gonna make them stay at home
And daddy doesn’t understand it
He always said she was good as gold
And he can see no reasons
'Cos there are no reasons
What reason do you need to be show-ow-ow-ow-own?

Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
I wanna shoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oot the whole day down

The Telex machine is kept so clean
And it types to a waiting world
And mother feels so shocked
Father’s world is rocked
And their thoughts turn to their own little girl
Sweet 16 ain’t that peachy keen
Now that ain’t so neat to admit defeat
They can see no reasons
'Cos there are no reasons
What reasons do you need?
Oh Oh Oh Oh

Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
I wanna shoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oot
The whole day down, down, down, shoot it all down

And all the playing's stopped in the playground now
She wants to play with her toys a while
And school's out early and soon we'll be learning
And the lesson today is how to die
And then the bullhorn crackles
And the captain tackles
With the problems and the hows and whys
And he can see no reasons
'Cos there are no reasons
What reason do you need to die, die?
Oh Oh Oh

Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like
I don’t like (Tell me why)
I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like
I don’t like (Tell me why)
I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don't like Mondays
I wanna shoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oot the whole day down

My prayers go out to all the families and the people killed

Nucks win Game 3

Wow, Canucks just won last night giving them a 2-1 series lead. What a game! Canucks finally woke up from their stupor and played like they should in the last period. We were extremely lucky that the Stars did not take advantage of the bad 1st and 2nd periods. Everytime Hansen plays, I get more and more impressed. AV tried to shuffle his lines, trying to find one that clicked. When Vigneault put the Ikea line back together again, it looked dangerous along with the Morrison-Hansen-Bulis line.

Turco played amazing in the last two games. He looked on his way to posting another shutout. The way he handles the puck is just amazing. Luckily, that didn't happen and Luongo played great. There is still much improvement, however. There are still way too many turnovers, and we cannot seem to string a full game together. The ironic thing is, Linden had two giveaways that could've cost them the game but redeemed himself by being the first in the forecheck that led to Smolinski's pass to Pyatt for the goal.

Good news on the injury front: Green is coming back and Santala is probably the odd man out. We really need Green as we have Cooke and Kesler injured. With Hansen playing the way that he has, I do not think we lose much anymore.

As usual, it was a celebration downtown as everyone was honking their horns in support for the Canucks. GO CANUCKS GO!

Dallas vs Vancouver Game 1

Photo Credit: Canucks.com

WOW, what an amazing Game 1 between Dallas and Vancouver. It was a total marathon. Lasted from 7:00 pm and ended at 12:30 am PST. 7 periods! Remember, there are no shootouts, therefore they keep on playing until someone scores a goal

Luongo stopped 72 of 76 shots and Naslund showed flashes of his old self. That goal he scored was vintage. A wrister that fooled Turco. In the OT, the Sedins, who played mediocre the whole game, came alive in the OT with Daniel passing to Henrik for the win. They simply dominated as they played their patented cycle game. It was intense, some people had to leave the game or go to sleep as they had work or school the next day. Everyone else got a hangover as they were not used to sleeping that late. This is nothing for me. I normally sleep at 2 am anyway.

Today is Game 2. Another marathon? Well it's a Friday. Chances are, people will be partying afterwards if we win another marathon

Oh by the way, I got a message the other day that tell me that I ruined my jersey because I put my name and number on it. I ask you this, what if one of them gets traded? Players get traded all the time. Might as well make it my own. And it's not your jersey I ruined. It's mine, and I do not think I ruined it. That's all that matters... GO CANUCKS GO!

Yeesh

Ok. Now this really sucks. Looks like Jaime will win this season AGAIN. It's been 3 straight years.

You know what the bad thing is? He didn't play his players in the first half of the season so he can play everyone in the second half. It worked. Gave my bro and I a false sense of security

Well, at least I am doing much better than last year. In my 2 other leagues, I have the potential to be #2 at the end of the season

And my bro and I are tops in this league. I am second

Cannot complain, considering I was last last year in Fantasy Leagues.

Rasheed Wallace Full Court Shot 3/26/07

OMG talk about luck. Sheed with the heave... IT GOES INNNN!!!!!

Sports stuff

Vancouver Canucks
Well, what can I say. I predicted that at most, we would be at .500 or less. Call me a pessimist but I really didn't believe Luongo would make that much of a difference. And if you told me that we are 3rd in the Western Conference with Naslund having probably his worst season in terms of scoring, I wouldn't have believed you

But look, we have balanced scoring and we just beat the Wings, the best team in the NHL at the moment. We are now looking to get that 2nd seed. We are no longer looking just to make the playoffs. We want more

The flags in my car are coming out soon in the playoffs. It has been, what, two years? Kudos to Alain Vigneault for doing a fantastic job making the most of the players we have.

NBA

Houston Rockets
Yao Ming is back and TMAc is playing as good as ever. With the West the way it is, the Rockets will be hard pressed to even make it past the first round. But they have a good chance. The injury to Yao still hurts and you can still see he is not himself coming back from it. The way he is moving right now reminds me of David Robinson in his later years. Capable, but noticeably average. He had been able to string 2-3 really good games together but his movements are still slower than at the start of the season. Just doesn't have his legs yet and his shot is rusty

Toronto Raptors
Who would ever thought that they would be doing well too? 4th in the Eastern COnference seedings? They are struggling a bit with a loss to the Knicks yesterday but overall, they have been doing better than expected. Bargnani is really starting to come into his own. Colangelo is looking like a genius

I wish I was there to watch with my sister in the Memphis game. Now is the perfect time to watch the Raptors. Because of her work, they have a luxury box with the Raptors. Man, that's awesome

Fantasy Basketball
Our 3-time champion, cousin Jamie, has now taken over first place ahead of my brother and I. Come on Gabz! Let's not Jamie win this one! It's hard because Jamie has a great team

I had mentioned before that what set me back was injuries to all my star players for a long time. Yao was one, Lewis was the other. I really needed them. I have them back but is it enough? Well, homestretch, see how it goes!

Good luck to everyone!

Yeesh

Man, this is too much. Too many profile sites. Friendster, Myspace, Hi5, now Facebook.

I'm starting to like Facebook the most among the above. Myspace is on its way out now.

HP Sauce - Makes Beef Sing

This commercial rocked! So much that we can't stop singing it, even until today. Do you all remember this commercial? Memories!

Mom

The start of February is always hard. It's because it is the day of my mom's passing. I was not able to post any blog entry on this day just because I had to hit the books because of midterms and busy with other stuff that blog entries was not top at the list of my priorities.

But I am quite free right now so this is my time to write something, albeit really late.

Thank you to everyone who sent their best wishes to our family for her death anniversary. Really appreciate it.

Here is a link for my dedication to Mom, taken from my old webpage.

I am so thankful for my family and friends - especially friends that I have made in the past 3-4 years (you know who you are). I really believe my mom was up there bringing these friends in to help me through life. And as far as finding what I want to do as a career? Well, I think I found it. Thanks not only to mom, but to Pops as well as he gave me the idea.

Mom, love ya, miss ya and thank you so very much.

Some cool computer utilities/sites

Ever wonder how you can consolidate all your friend's blogs and be notified as soon as they update theirs so you can go check it out? Then check out...

Bloglines

I love this little program that runs in the background and can be found on the toolbar. I subscribed to some of my friends and relatives blogs and I love it that I do not need to keep on checking the site to see if they updated. It notifies me as soon as they update. Thanks to Carla for showing me this program.

JRuler

I love this little utility. It measures ANYTHING on your screen. In pixels, cm, inches, whatsoever. I can resize pictures the way I want on the screen. Extremely useful on forums where you dont want a picture too big. Many times pictures would be so big that you need to scroll right to read the rest of the text without word wrapping. I also use this when I need to resize pictures for use in my blog. Used in conjunction with Adobe or any Image Editing program. Most of all, it's freeware!!!

Beatle's Love Album

Just a few weeks ago, I got the Beatles Love album. It was made for Cirque De Soleil and it was basically a mash up of Beatles songs. Splicing different Beatles songs into other Beatles songs. I like it a lot, but I can see why there are others that do not. The originals are still a lot better but there are some songs in particular that do stand out to me

• Tomorrow Never Knows/Within You Without You - video link
• Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing
• Get Back Remix
• Glass Onion Remix
• Lady Madonna Remix

A lot of the songs that would be better remixed with other Beatles songs are obviously not in this album. It is not possible, though, to fit every Beatles hit into a one hour and a half show and the album reflects that. At times the remixes sound a bit crude and could be done better.

Review from Amazon.com. Scroll down to see the reviews

Myspace Page

Been a long time. Valentine's day? Bah, humbug!

Yes it's been a while since I updated blog.

Let me summarize what had happened the past few weeks... hmmm..

Bellingham adventures, Stanton Warriors at Richards (what a sweatshop), Canucks on top of the Northwest Division, my sister visiting. My fender bender that had been on my mind for the past 3 weeks... good news though. He admitted he backed into me = not my fault, insurance not affected.

Just finished my midterms and went to the Accounting career fair on friday. What are the chances of seeing your high school classmate who has the same group of friends as my sis and myself, and now a manager of an accounting firm? I hope I get to work for them after my school is over. Speaking of classmates, I actually miss one in particular who I always had nice talks with after class (and have a little bit of a crush on but has a bf, however), and was in a majority of my classes in accounting. She had to drop all her courses this sem coz she found a good job. Congrats to her, she seems to really enjoy it a lot :) There is another, but it's too complicated. 2 of my close friends think the same way about her. Ever heard of that saying (i know it's not in these words exactly), "Bros first?". In the end, however, us guys dont make that choice. Whatever happens, happens. All I can say is I always enjoy her company.

Must be Valentines day that made me think too much. I still hate it. I always will while I'm still single at least. I dunno though, why reserve a day? You should be doing this occasionally. You don't need Valentines to show your love

Beauty and the geek is over :( What a big heart Nate is. Too bad he had a manipulative bitch as a partner. But he did the right thing and told everyone it was not right to vote for him just because Cecile, his partner, hadn't learned anything. I hope he and Jenny Lee have a long lasting relationship.

Anyway, that's it for now. Just thought I may get back in the swing of things here.