Fashion Victim Maria Sharapova

I somehow missed this neat little nugget of Wimbledon information from a few days ago: June 27 (Bloomberg) — Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia took delight in dumping former champion Maria Sharapova and her outfit out of Wimbledon yesterday. “It’s very pleasant to beat Maria,” said Kudryavtseva. “Why? Well, I don’t like her outfit.” Sharapova’s outfit, [...]

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McCains Have $100k + in Credit Card Debt

Hmmm, Obama is supposedly the elitist but John and Cindy McCain have hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit card debt. One of their children has $10-50k in credit card debt. These people truly have nothing in common with everyday Americans and are clearly not financially responsible. In an interesting peek into John McCain’s personal [...]

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Anti-Obama Thugs Tag Cars

Police on Sunday were investigating vandals’ spray-painting of dozens of city vehicles here, some with disparaging messages about the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Authorities think the vandalism to about 60 vehicles, estimated at $10,000 in damage, was done Saturday afternoon, police spokeswoman Sgt. Barbara Jones said. The vehicles were parked across from City [...]

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WALL E

When watching a Pixar movie like WALL E, you can’t help but think how grateful you are that it is Pixar at the wheel and not Disney. I realize Pixar is owned by Disney, but as a completely uninformed outside observer I distinguish the two. WALL E starts surprisingly bleak and its commentary can be [...]

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King County Administration Building

This building built in 1971 would seem to have a very out-of-date style. Who knows though, it may come back into fashion. It’s surprisingly good office space. Those diamond shaped windows make for some very good light.

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Defining Obama

From The Huffingtonpost: As a rule, Republicans appreciate the value in defining the Democratic presidential nominee, and the GOP is usually pretty good at it. In 2000, Al Gore, they said, was an “exaggerator.” This was not only effective, thanks to a quick embrace by the media, it was also part of a narrative — [...]

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Talking Heads: Once in a Lifetime

This came up at trivia last night. Still as great a song as ever.

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The Last Polar Bear

The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World is an exhibition at the Burke Museum in Seattle of Steven Kazlowski‘s amazing photography. The polar bear — a charismatic icon in the struggle against climate change — faces a precarious future along with other ice dependent species as its Arctic habitat rapidly continues [...]

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The Lost Art of Dancing

I get sad when I think about all the great things of the past that are dying out. Like dancing. Can the formation dancing of Britney Spears or Justin Timberlake really ever compare with Fred Astaire?

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Wimbledon Fashion

Personally I have more respect for athletes that dress like serious athletes. You can see more fashions here. Via Huffingtonpost.

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Marat Safin Beats Djokovic at Wimbledon

It’s nice to know Marat Safin still has it in him. One of the things I like about Safin is that he is always entertaining to listen to. He’s blunt, honest and at times self-effacing. “I had to take my opportunities as he was under pressure fighting for the world number one spot so he [...]

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Our Articulate President

Upon meeting me for the first time, it’s fairly regular for a person to tell me how much they like Thai food since I am part Thai. I understand it, after all that may be the only connection a person has to Thailand. Better that then mentioning a sex show you saw in Thailand (sadly [...]

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Trivia Night at Purr

A friend knowing that I play pub trivia not once but two times a week asked me if I wanted to go to Purr to play trivia. Purr is a very trendy gay/lesbian bar with very good music. For those interested, Purr’s quiz takes place on Sundays at 8:00. There is no charge to play. [...]

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Qinghai-Tibet Railway

A friend alerted me to this rail line which was just completed in 2006. The pictures are absolutely stunning and its construction is clearly a modern marvel. There were and are many technical difficulties for such a railway. About half of the second section was built on barely permanent permafrost. In the summer, the uppermost [...]

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Purchasing Amtrak Rail Tickets

Oh the joys of Amtrak in America. Amtrak is the company which manages U.S. rail travel. It’s completely underfunded and never gets any of the lobby money that air travel companies get. Trips on Amtrak are often costlier and are exponentially longer than car trips. Take for instance a drive from Seattle to Portland which [...]

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Wild Animals and People

Here’s a sad article about humans feeding bears that are then killed because they got too comfortable around humans. How sad and unnecessary. Oregon officials say they’ve killed two more bears who got used to humans and their food. Wildlife officials say someone near Fort Hoskins Historic Park started feeding bears last winter. Then, the [...]

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Words from Sherman Alexie

I greatly enjoyed reading this article that highlights Sherman Alexie’s testimony for the Seattle vs. The Sonics trial going on right now at a courthouse in Seattle. I’ll try to best sum up the situation before quoting Alexie. Alexie is a Native American writer perhaps most famous for his novel Smoke Signals which was turned [...]

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Speaking of racial surveys

Why on earth does Seattle International Film Festival need to survey what race I am? Argghhhh!

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Secret Camera Tapes Italian Soccer Practice

In honor of Euro 2008, here’s a rather appropriate commercial from Euro 2004.

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Picture of the Day

One has to give credit to the BBC for the juxtaposition of this photo and headline. The article is here.

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Mixing Sports and Hitler Not a Good Idea

According to Dave Barry the heavy artillary for winning an argument: Compare your opponent to Adolf Hitler. For when your opponent is obviously right and you are spectacularly wrong. Bring Hitler up subtly. Say: “That sounds suspiciously like something Adolf Hitler might say” or “You certainly do remind me of Adolf Hitler.” This may be [...]

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Contemporary Air Travel

This cartoon by David Horsey reminded me of the Alaska Airlines commercials from the 80′s.

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What race are you?

I loathe checking the box that asks me to identify what race I am. There are two reasons. Number one is that usually none of the categories fit. I am not 100% white nor am I 100% Asian. Even if I were 100% Asian, I don’t think I’d feel comfortable checking a box that lumped [...]

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Bill Cosby Sings Sgt. Pepper

This is why I do pub trivia twice a week. How else would I learn about things like Bill Cosby’s cover of The Beatles Sgt. Pepper?

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Musee des Beaux Arts W.H. Auden

About suffering they were never wrong, The Old Masters; how well, they understood Its human position; how it takes place While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along; How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting For the miraculous birth, there always must be Children who did not specially [...]

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