2010: at the Quarter pole already!?

"Procrastinazione", "pigrizia", and "distratto" are all Italian words (procrastination, laziness, and distracted) that can explain why its been three months since my last post. Even though I've made promises to folks that I would continue to update, I weakly have been letting facebook provide my updates--a practice I promised myself I wouldn't do.

Because a number of things have happened since my last post, here is a quick timeline of highlights:

• early January- Natalia and I went to Siena for a couple of days. AWESOME town in Tuscany. We'll definitely be making a return trip this summer.

• mid-January- got offered a consultancy with a great UN organization based here. Quickly learned that I did not have the proper paperwork that would permit me to begin work. Slight depression ensues.
• late January- went snowboarding in the Dolomites with my brother, Justin. An unbelievably epic trip, with perfect snow, uncrowded runs, good food and amazing vistas.
• mid-February-returned to SF for three weeks to sort out my visa. After four visits to the Italian Embassy, I was finally granted an extended stay visa permitting me to return to Roma for six months. While home for three weeks, I had a great time eating all the foods that we can't get here including chinese food (i had dim sum 5 times in 3 weeks), Mexican, Vietnamese, Japanese, Filipino, Joe's of Westlake, and my first experience of Dottie's Cafe in the Tenderloin. I easily put on 5 lbs during my trip home, but all well worth it. Other than food, I also caught up with pretty much everyone, which was great but often resulted in hungover mornings. Getting older does not help in this area one bit. I also participated in godfather duties as my newly minted godson, Jordan Rillera, was baptised while I was home. Bittersweet as I was proud to able to be there that day, but bummed that I won't see him for a few months. The same can be said for the other kids in my life including, Quincy, Tyler, Tobey, Thomas, Elizabeth, Colin, and Elijah among others. I had a chance to spend time with all of the kids, but it only bums me out to not see them again for a while. The great thing about kids from ages 0-7, they don't miss a beat and I was embraced and played with them as if I never left. Other highlights of the trip home: HDTV, curling, karaoke, poker, an old-school weekend of partying with Francis and Chris, and going to a Warrior game (they actually won!!).
• early March- returned to Rome and Natalia just in time for winter to begin to thaw and sunny days slowly returning. Great time of the year here.
  
• mid-March-secured the consultancy...any semblance of depression completely lifts. start date- March 29. After seven months, I'll be back in an office. Looking forward to it, though the days of morning strolls to the market, sleeping in, exploring the city aimlessly with Ipod on, and reading every page of the newspaper online each day will be greatly missed. Steady income and a chance to actually plan our wedding and life going forward is an easy trade-off for capuccino mornings, plus I still have the weekends.
  
• late March- after months without one, we bought a TV and are digging watching Italian game shows, BBC, MTV, and lots and lots of soccer (the last part only applies to me).

So thats a quick blast on what's been happening in my life. I have plans for another post soon, but that will have to wait for another day. I need to go out and take advantage of one of the few free days I have left. Ciao.

Page Turner

One never knows how things will turn out in this life. I never thought I’d be living in Rome. I never imagined having grey hair. I never planned on going to graduate school. And I never thought UCLA would only have one hoops title since the 1990’s. Such is the mystery of life.

So, I think by now its now widely known (thanks to facebook and email) that Natalia and I got engaged last weekend in Paris. Pretty crazy and exciting thus far, but I didn’t need all of life’s unknowns to play a part in the engagement process. I think I likely sprouted a few more of the aforementioned grey hairs as a result. Though I bought the rock last month when I was home in SF and knew that I wanted to make it all happen in Paris over Thanksgiving, it certainly did not go as smoothly as planned.

First a quick shout to all of the boys at home. When I say that this engagement lead up did not go as smooth as I would have liked, the actual ring purchase could not have been a better experience. Thanks again to Q and Kdo for helping me sort out an appointment at the jeweler and patiently walking me through the process. I could have bought a ring out here in Rome I suppose, but the language barrier ( I may have ended up with a plate of carbonara and a bottle of wine instead. My restaurant italian is good. Not so much in other daily interactions) and the potential to get bamboozled by a shady Italian jeweler (did you know they sometimes have dishonest business people in Italy? who knew?) made me think I was better off getting one at home. This meant I needed to “be fast, but not hurry” as Coach Wooden would say. With help from the trusty Do boys, I was able to have a great experience and felt really good about the whole thing. Capping off the night with more of the lads at House of Prime Rib and R Bar completed an exciting day.

Cut to Thanksgiving day.

We have our tickets for Paris and the wheels are in motion. The plan is to meet Natalia at Termini train station after work and take a shuttle out to the airport. No fuss, no muss, right? I guess it would have been if I had remembered to bring my passport with me. UGH. Unbelievable. For the past five years, I’ve needed my passport pretty much every 2-3 months and never once have I ever come close to forgetting it. Not only was I in disbelief, but now I had to wait for Natalia, take a cab back to our apartment, and continue in that cab to the airport. Apart from the cost difference, it became clear that we had a decent chance of missing our flight altogether. Let’s equate this to a first quarter red zone interception, an infield error in the first inning, or two quick fouls in the first half for you sports enthusiasts out there.

To make matters worse, the cab driver was perhaps the slowest driver in all of Italy. Past taxi rides in Rome have all felt like I was being driven by Marky Mark in the Italian Job, but this time not so much. SHE not only was slow, but took a wrong turn that even I knew was wrong and managed to take the busiest route to the airport that would make folks in LA blush. (I’m sorry. Did I accidentally capitalize “she”? Oh well, too late to go back now. Try not to read into that too much). By this point, I was in full panic mode. I remember trying to think of alternate plans, determine whether this was an omen, and wonder if I could recall the right Italian phrases apropos of the moment (Mamma mia seems about right). No doubt that Natalia could read my angst. I was never that good at poker.

Things started to turn once we finally got to the airport and saw that our flight was delayed an hour. Though this was obviously a relief, I was now bummed that I spent all this time worrying and panicking for nothing. Moral of this part of the story, get a Blackberry or Iphone. These devices seem to be able to deflect all of one’s travel worries quickly. My phone’s option of playing Tetris was of no help.

We booked a sweet little apartment in Saint Germain, a great neighborhood reminiscent of the West Village in NYC. Tons of shops, restaurants, cafes, and close enough to Notre Dame, the Right Bank, and the Metro. We spent most of what would become engagement day just strolling around Paris without really a plan. Most of it was spent shopping. Though coffee and food are more expensive here, clothes and shoes are definitely more affordable than in Rome for some reason. And they offer more than skin-tight shirts for men in Paris, which is a nice change of pace. (Sibebar: the price of coffee in Paris is insane. A 1 euro cappuccino in Rome would cost 5 euro in Paris. Insane. That’s like $8 for coffee with milk. I will say that the cafes in Paris are super nice and have character, which may justify a bit of a mark-up, but still. And I don’t even drink coffee that much. Though I did have two cups that day. Didn’t help settle the nerves that’s for sure.)

Later that afternoon, I told Natalia about a surprise champagne tasting cruise that I got for us. (probably the first tip-off, but so be it). We had just enough time to hustle home, bundle up, and head over to the dock at the Eiffel Tower. We had to take the metro over (no better public transit anywhere, btw) and for some reason there was a line about 5 people deep (all confused foreigners like us) to get tickets. So a five second transaction wound up taking closer to 15 minutes. Again, there was a decent chance that we’d miss the cruise now. The cruise tickets mentioned the boat leaves at 6pm, but to be there by 5:45. It was about 5:30 when we finally got on the train. As you can probably imagine, I was freaking out inside. At this point, I still wasn’t sure if I was going to propose before or after the cruise, but leaned towards after as I thought being plied with champagne would help get the right words out. Now I may not have had a choice at all as there may be no cruise to buffer. Jeez.

We arrive at the Eiffel Tower metro stop and ended up virtually running for 10 minutes along the Seine to make sure that we catch the boat. Sweating, avoiding puddles, people, and dogs, and frantically looking for the right dock…how romantic. We finally got to the right spot, and checked in only to learn that the boat was going to leave at 6:30. We now had about 30 minutes to spare. Whew. (If this were Germany, no chance there would have been a delay. Fortunately it wasn’t.). At that point I decided that before the cruise would be the time to do it, mostly for my own sanity. We were actually right next to the Eiffel Tower, which was lit up and looking epic as always. (Sidebar II: there are landmarks throughout the world that we see in pictures and tv our whole lives and its always a bit jarring once you actually see them live. Sometimes, its not all its cracked up to be—Statue of Liberty and the Leaning Tower of Pisa fit into this category for me for some reason. Eiffel Tower, GG Bridge, and Sistine Chapel though are even much more impressive to me in the flesh. Egyptian Pyramids, Macchu Picchu, and Angkor Wat still TBD). I mentioned that we should find a place to sit down to finally relax for a few minutes thinking this was the right time. As we started to look for a bench, we took about 5 steps and I couldn’t wait any longer, so I turn to her and sort of grandly say, "well, this is me, Klutz, asking you goddess of rock climbing, to marry me." Oh wait....that was from Jerry Maguire.

Actually, I just gave her a hug, tried to spill out how happy and lucky I feel to be here with her and stumbled through some semblance of a proposal. Honestly, I don’t remember much about the moment. Though if I did, I probably wouldn’t broadcast it here anyway.

The rest is history. We had a great time on the cruise, sipping various champagnes, laughing at what’s happened, and just feeling the moment. The sommelier was mentioning something about citrus, and berries, and bouquets and what not about the champagne, but we heard none of it. I was busy filling Natalia in on all of the recent disasters that almost led to a heart attack and the past month of events surrounding the proposal. Meanwhile, Natalia was busy telling everyone within earshot that we just got engaged. Too good.

So there you have it, a rock ‘em, sock ‘em weekend that ended with a return to Rome as fiancées or fiancés or the fianced or something. I’ll get the hang of this yet…I hope.

Ferragosto and Calcio

I recognize that the updates on this blog have been sparse lately. Fortunately though, it is not due to a lack of happenings on this end. Actually, we’ve been pretty busy doing a bunch of different things as well as welcoming our first of several visitors coming to town over the next month or so. Here are a couple of highlights:

August 15 in Italy is a national holiday called Ferragosto aka the Feast of the Asumption for all you Catholics out there. Though it fell on a Saturday this year, Natalia still had the prior Friday off of work so we took advantage and went to a hill town in Umbria called Orvieto for the weekend. Only about 90 minutes by train from Rome, Orvieto is an old Etruscan town known for its ceramics, Orvieto Classico (a delicious white wine), and small town charm. I definitely recommend it to all. I’ve posted a ton of pictures on facebook from this weekend, but here are a few for the non-social media folks reading this. We stayed at a nice bed and breakfast, which had the luxury of a television (sidenote- we’d been without tv for about a month in our new pad, though our landlord brought one over last night. We can now get dialed in to the world of Italian game shows, dramas, and commercials. Bravo!). During down time in Orvieto, we watched some Italian MTV(Euros do love that high energy music) and one night I stayed up late watching E.T. in Italian. I forgot what an epic movie that is. The highlight being E.T. exclaiming “telefono…casa”. Too good.

The price of wine in Orvieto was unbelievably cheap. Many enotecas (wine shops) were selling 3 bottles of good local wine for anywhere between 6-12 Euro. Converted that’s about $9-$18. Or $3 a bottle. Again, bravo! The one wine shop we stopped into gave us a free tasting of about 6 different wines allowing us to choose the wine that best serves our novice pallates. That’s one of the more stand-out things about Orvieto. Everyone was so nice. Maybe it’s the fact that wine flows like water or that they live in such a beatiful environment, but the folks we met were just great. Another memorable exchange occurred at a ceramic shop where we were looking to buy something as a memento of our visit. We settled on a cool little olive oil bottle. Anyway, the lady at the shop could not have been more helpful and pleasant. She told me several times how beautiful Natalia is. So much so, that I began to wonder if she was really saying how did you pull that, you moppy haired, unshaven Americano?

As we were leaving, I wanted to get a business card so we could remember this spot for others. Unfortunately, I don’t know the word for business card in Italian. Once we figured out a way to get our message across, they gave us a card and I asked “come se dice questo?” (how do you say this?). The lady was unsure and turned to her husband who thought a minute and responded “beez-ee-ness card”. We all laughed as did other foreigners in the tiny shop as I guess he thought we wanted to know how to say it in English. Once his wife told him we wanted to know in Italian, and we were in fact native English speakers, he shrugged and muttered something. We all had a good laugh.
*******

This past weekend, our friends, Stephani and Sean, came to visit from DC. They win the award as the first friends from home to toast our arrival in Italy. (The rest of you reading this are now on notice.) Such a blast to have good friends from home share the experience of living abroad. Not to mention, the fact that they brought us American magazines, Ziploc bags, Ipod tunes, and a reason to try a ton of new restaurants. We had a great time. Among the many highlights included catch a soccer game at the Stadio Olimpico. It was opening day actually for Serie A, Italy’s top soccer league, and I couldn’t have been more stoked. There are two local teams in this league, Roma and Lazio. To put this in American context, I would say that Roma is like the Lakers and Lazio is like the Clippers. Not to say that Lazio has had a prominent history of futility like the Clips, but I think the majority of folks around here support Roma, just as most Angelinos are Lakers fans. This could not be more evident by the attendance at the game. I’d say that the stadium was about 40% of capacity. Tons of empty seats. Shockingly so. There could be a number of reasons for this though. One, as mentioned in a previous post, most Italians skip town in August. Since its still August its conceivable that most Lazio fans are still seaside or in the South of France. Two, Lazio played Atalanta (no, not the Falcons). A bottom of the league type team and not really a lure to the Stadium as AC Milan, Inter Milan or Juventus would be.

All in all, we had a good time at the game. Steph and Natalia were initially worried that the stadium might be packed with rambunctious and rowdy Italian fans, which was clearly not the case…unless you consider these guys pictured here rowdy.

Lazio won 1-0, which let the fans go home happy, and is always nice. As most of you know, I’m a pretty big fan soccer fan and left the stadium unsure of how my fandom would play out while we are here. I’d always known this, but it was so evident during this game-- Italian soccer players are floppers. The dramatic pratfalls and writhing around on the field in “pain” whenever there is a bit of contact irks me to no end. (The most egregious and memorable example of this for most is when France’s Zinedine Zidane head-butt the Italian player during the last World Cup and the Italian player basically went into faux cardiac arrest in a play that could not have possibly taken him off his feet.) I’m not sure if I can really get fully invested in a league whose players are lying on the field as if they just got shot. Only time will tell I suppose.
More soon…

Agosto en la Citta (August in the City)

Its officially been one month since arriving to Rome and I’m feeling pretty comfortable about my ability to get through typical daily activities now. Markets, grocery stores, asking (and actually giving) directions, and restaurants are becoming pretty manageable at this point. Admittedly, I mostly know nouns and am still struggling to get comfortable with verbs and proper conjugation and such, but it’s a start.

There are still some other transactions that continue to be tricky though. For example, last week I had to purchase a wireless USB device in order to get internet at our new apartment. There is no way I could have made it through this process without a friend of mine that happened to be in town and speaks fluent Italian. Despite this help, I still screwed up and wound up spending 30 euro (~$45) for about an hour of internet the first night I hooked up the device. Apparently, I didn’t realize that I needed to sign up for a specific program before logging in, which zapped all of my credit pretty quickly. Live and learn.

I do have a helpful phrasebook that usually gets me through most daily interactions. Its broken down into helpful chapters like Eating, Shopping, Sleeping, etc. Upon reviewing the different chapters, I found the particular order of the following series of phrases pretty funny. Under the section, “Oh, Amore”, phrases listed in this exact order include:

What’s the best place to dance nearby? (C’e un bel locale da ballo qui vicino?)

Do you want to dance? (Vuole ballare?)

I have no diseases. (Non ho mallatie.)

I have many diseases. (Ho molto mallatie.)

A couple of lines later, the phrasebook continues with:

Let’s have a wild and crazy night! (Passiamo una notte di fuoco!)

Can I take you home? (Posso accompagnarti a casa?)

Why not? (Perche no?)

How can I change your mind? (Posso cambiare idea?)

From what I can gather, Rick Steves, famed author of this particular phrasebook, seems to think that upon dancing, one should immediately include disclose their health status, and one should also expect that their hopes of a wild and crazy night will be shut down immediately so here are some phrases that can help you sound desperate. This should help. ( I expect all visitors to try out these lines. I look forwa

rd to witnessing the results.)

Aside from my slowly improving Italian, I am still adjusting to the afternoon siestas that Italy continues to follow. From 1pm to 4pm, the city virtually shuts down. Sure, the tourist areas are still buzzing and some stores remain open, but for the most part, Rome is a ghost town. Its crazy. There’s no way possible that this could even happen at home. Its actually kind of nice, but working at home and hoping to take an afternoon break with a quick lunch or drink has proven to be a challenge. To magnify things even more is that August is basically a vacation for most Italians. In my neighborhood, Testaccio, about 30% of all stores are shut down for the month. I don’t know how they can afford to do this. The stores that are closed are usually the mom and pop restaurants, grocery stores, clothing stores, etc. Maybe they are backed by the infamous “waste management” money. Who knows.

Again, imagine this at home. The Mission in SF is closed for a month. The East Village only has 25% of its bars open. Hollywood swinging is limited to a handful of joints. Crazy. Yesterday, we had a lazy Saturday afternoon watching a marathon of Mad Men. As it was approaching evening, I went out to grab a bottle of wine for dinner. During my walk to the enoteca about three blocks away, I only saw four people, one scooter cruise by, and no cars. Again, this is in the middle of Rome, not a 

remote hill town in Tuscany or a suburb. So crazy.

I’m told that things start to get a bit busier and hectic around these parts come September, which will be interesting, though I sense things will still be pretty mellow. I just hope I can stay clear of the dance-related diseases.

Mangiano

Along with the renaissance, baroque art, world class soccer (calcio around these parts), and high fashion, Italy may be most known for its incredible cuisine. Italian food has to rank highest in appeal factor of any ethnic food in the world. Are there actually people out there that don’t like pizza? Pasta? Gelato? I’ve yet to meet a single one, and am not sure I’d want to.

With such great food literally at every turn, we have struggled with trying to keep a lid on the gluttony to both keep our wallets fat and our our bellies flat (or as flat is they were before we got to Rome). For this reason, we have been trying to be good and cook as much as possible. Natalia and I are not quite Martha Stewart and Mario Batali either, but the efforts have been quite fun. Most of the satisfaction is due to the plethora of fresh foods available here. We’ve been spoiled by the access to delicious tomatoes, onions, peaches, nectarines, and melons among others, which have helped spice up the meals. Rome also has a ton of mom and pop markets that we’ve enjoyed hitting up, but last weekend we hit the motherlode of all produce markets. Near Piazza Vittorio Emmanuel, there is a huge indoor market filled with booths selling fresh meats, vegetables, fruits, and herbs (no, not that kind). Quite the find.

(Market Esquilino at Vittorio Emmanuel)

Even more exciting was the fraction of the cost that shopping in this market was versus the supermarket costs. I remember expecting to pay about 3 euro for a few carrots, 3 peaches, and a zucchini and was pleasantly surprised to learn that the bill was 1.5 euro. Nice. So this has helped us quite a bit in keeping the food costs down as well as trying to immerse ourselves further into daily local culture. Dabbling in the culinary arts has definitely been one of the early highlights of living here in Rome.

(home cooking)

While on the topic of food, we estimate that of the total restaurants in town, 90% are probably Italian restaurants. We’re not sure if this is in line with how things are in other places like France, Spain, or even Russia, but coming from the US, particularly SF and NY, such limited variety has been a bit startling. The only non-Italian restaurants we’ve tried have been an Indian restaurant and two different Chinese restaurants. Both Chinese restaurants were decent but, as a self-proclaimed connosieur of good Chinese food, I would give the restaurants a 3 out of 10 when compared to SF Chinese food and a 5 out of 10 when compared to NY Chinese restaurants. I have noticed that most Chinese restaurants here are usually pretty busy. I guess everyone likes Chinese food, though describing chow mein as spaghetti in the menus probably eases the transition for the locals.

So we are continuing to steadily increase our home-cooked menus and have had a lot of fun doing it. That said, I of course can't help but to treat myself to the finer offerings that Rome has to offer.

Summertime in Roma

As Mister Senor Love Daddy (played by a young Samuel L. Jackson) says at the beginning of Do the Right Thing, “the forecast for the day is hot!” This pretty much sums up the weather for each of the ten days since I’ve been in Rome. Mind you , I’m not complaining. Each day has had perfectly blue skies, with temperatures reaching approximately 90 degrees, and I’ve been fortunate enough not to have any run-ins with any pizzeria owners after asking them why there aren’t any pictures of any Americans on the wall. So the similarities to Do the Right Thing stop here I guess.

(As I write this at about 4pm on Thursday from my apartment, there is the constant howling of a dog in the alley outside of my kitchen window. I wonder what its deal is. The guy is screaming bloody murder. I’ve looked out the window several times, but haven’t seen any kane (dog) sightings. Weird. PS- above is a view from the kitchen window.)

While I have been mostly working during the day, I have taken the time to take walks in the middle of the day to remind myself that I’m in Rome and not necessarily tied to a computer and desk as I’ve been most of my professional life. Although I often return to the apartment feeling like Patrick Ewing looks at tip-off of an NBA game, there are a number of things that make this among the most pleasant heats I’ve ever dealt with. First, out of nowhere, a cool gentle breeze will fill the air periodically providing an excellent natural coolant system when I’m about to overheat. Its almost a tropical or off-shore breeze, yet the shore is miles away. Odd, but I love it.

Second, is Rome’s world-famous gelato. There are dozens and dozens of flavors to choose from but my simple dessert taste buds have me leaning towards “mezzo fragola e vanile” ( ½ strawberry and ½ vanilla) flavor, and its so refreshing and delicious. I just need to be careful. I don’t want to return home looking like a post-retirement Patrick Ewing. (Why Ewing is getting in the cross-fire here is beyond me too, so don’t ask. For those not in the know, Ewing is fat now.)

(This dog will not stop. Maybe its missing its mid-afternoon vino.)

Lastly, and my favorite reason, are the water fountains located throughout the city. Unlike any water fountains in other major metropolises, the water here is clean, cold, and somehow tastes better than any water I’ve ever drank (or drunk…or drunken…whatever). And this is from someone that drinks tons of water. The guide books tout the water as such, yet I remained dubious for a while. In fact, I mentioned to Natalia how long it would be before I would drink this water— imagining it to be a long while. Well, since I asked that question, I think I filled an empty water bottle and sipped away the following day. I’m glad I did. To say I’m hooked would be an understatement. After playing hoops the other day, I took the long way home just so I could take a couple swigs of Rome’s finest tap water. Did I mention it comes out cold too? So good.

And that’s the double truth, Ruth.

Rosso della Casa

Well lookee here. The blog is back— live and direct from Rome, Italy. As most of you know, I’ll be here for the next seven months as Natalia secured a consultancy with a UN agency here. As for me, I am now a consultant for my former organization and looking forward to what life has to offer next. So there’s no better reason than to get back to the blogging. Its been a while. I look forward to bringing you all on the ride with me...
We got into Rome yesterday and are settling into our digs for the next month. Here is a photo of our front door and the view down the street. (That building you see at the end of the road may look familiar…lions once attacked Russell Crowe there.)

Most notable so far is how things have changed since I last traveled through the Eternal City in 1996. Upon graduating from UCLA, Eric, Rich, Jim, Clark, Luke and I traveled through Europe for a few weeks. (I believe Francis crashed on our hostel floor one of the nights too.)Back then, the Euro was non-existent, which has seemingly made things quite expensive compared to the US these days. Also, the Internet was nowhere near what it is today. I remember having to call home to ask my Dad to help sort me out a ticket from LAX-SFO upon my return. Today, I could do everything via the web. (Perhaps most interesting to some is that I am currently watching the Dodgers-Mets game live online as I type this. Gotta love the web!)

Despite the web making the transition much smoother than ever before, there continue to be some difficulties in the transition. Most notably, the language barrier. Natalia’s Italian is definitely passable and has gotten us through some situations already, but my language is sparse to say the least. Hopefully, Rosetta Stone and further interactions will get me up to speed. I am already familiar with ‘rosso della casa” (house red wine), which I believe will be useful in the coming months. Arrivederci.

Moments and Momentum

Happy New Year, true believers! This week marks the start of the lunar new year, which also happens to be the Year of the Ox...my birth year. Each year, I get a personalized card from a colleague in China to commemorate the beginning of a new year on the Chinese calendar. In this year's letter, she mentioned that this year, the Ox year, my year, is destined to be special for me. While this message is likely just a Chinese tradition and does not carry any real meaning, calendar year 2009 has already included moments and occasions that have been so life-altering and cause for deep reflection, that I now believe Pei Bin was right.

On 1/7/09 at 10:15pm, my cousin gave birth to her first child, a healthy baby boy. This birth was probably the closest thing to me having my own child born. In essence, my cousin might as well be my sister. We grew up together, spent summers at our family's country home in Placerville with each other's families, celebrated every major holiday together with our enormous family, and have enough shared memories and stories to last a lifetime. Now in adulthood, we remain close and continue to create memories, whether it was my participation in her wedding, their visit to New York while I was living there, or a Dave Chappelle comedy show. For these reasons, 1/7/09 will always hold a special place in my heart.

The following day my email inbox was buzzing with baby pictures and updates from the new grandparents and responses from friends and family welcoming the new addition to the world. Among the emails, my cousin's husband, Toby, sent a cute picture along with the revelation of the little boy's name. I vividly remember scrolling down the email message to see a cute picture of the newborn with the caption, Quincy Kye Ludwick.

Recalling this moment continues to fill me with warmth and awe and other emotions that I believe cannot be qualified with words. I don't remember a time that I have felt more honored and appreciative of my life, my family, and the future. Quincy's birth was more than enough of a reason to smile, but for us to be uniquely linked with the same middle name for the rest of our lives could not be more exciting. For the rest of the week, I was wrapped up in my emotions over this gesture and used this time to try to better understand myself and my feelings. Kudos to Natalia for listening to endless ramblings over this issue and my reflections over it, which likely did not make much sense at the time.

The one thing I take away from Quincy's birth and the tremendous honor of the shared name is that throughout one's life, you just hope that the decisions you make will lead to something bigger and better and always move you on an upward trajectory towards a fulfilling life. Like most people, I find myself questioning whether I am making the right decisions, or doing enough, or maximizing my potential. While I think that this is probably normal, what is frustrating is that there are rarely opportunities to have something tangible to gauge one's progress. The one prevailing thought that I take away from the honor of sharing middle names with Quincy is that on some level, I now know I must have done something right to earn this flattering gesture. I look forward to spending the rest of my years watching and participating actively in Quincy Kye's life. I hope that I can play a part in ensuring that his childhood is as satisfying and fulfilling as his mom's and mine was.

As I consider the events of 1/7/09 as a micro-level life altering moment for me, merely two weeks later, I participated in an event that affected the world on a macro-level and holds significant feelings in me as well. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was in Beijing during the US presidential election on November 4. Though it was interesting to have the Chinese perspective and an immediate global reaction to a Barack Obama presidency, I felt like I missed out on one of the most historic days in American history, and did not have a true sense for what this day meant at home. For this reason, Natalia and I decided that heading to DC for the inauguration would give us the chance to celebrate the dawning of a new era together along with the throngs of excited Americans expected to attend.

In short, I am glad that we went. Although I've been fortunate enough to witness history on several occasions, nothing matched the palpable energy and momentous air that filled the nation's capital. (sidenote: the other historic moments that I have attended live that immediately come to mind are all sports-related: two no-hitters live- (Jerry Reuss v. SF 6/27/80 and Kent Mercker v. LA 4/8/94); 2 World Cups (02 Korea/Japan, 06 GErmany); 2008 Beijing Olympics; UCLA's 1995 basketball title; and 2000 Game 7 Lakers v. Portland Western Conference Finals).

Living in San Francisco, the "hype" over Obama's election has been significant. Window signs all over town, stylized t-shirts, and continuous media coverage over every moment of Barack's day. While this coverage is unlike anything I've ever seen for a presidential candidate, believe me when I tell you that this was nothing compared to what was going on in Washington D.C. We arrived into DC on Monday evening and were immediately struck by how Obamamania had impacted the city. Virtually every store window, whether a liquor store, bar, restaurant, clothing boutique, or bookstore had some sort of tribute to the 44th President of the United States. Since this was only my second time there (and my first welcoming a president whose approval rating was greater than 30%), maybe this wasn't all that outrageous, but it was clear that something special and unique was happening when we woke up on inauguration day.

Waking up at the absurd hour of 6:30am on the recommendation of every local Washingtonian in order to secure a spot near the Washington monument nearly a mile away from the Capitol steps was the first indication this was not a typical inauguration. Then turning on the tv to get an early gauge of the weather (20 degrees) and seeing mobs of people already on the mall and long lines at local transit station was surreal, as if we were extras in a movie.

What ultimately transpired is unlike anything I have ever participated in or will ever happen again I believe. Two million people gathered together as witnesses and celebrants of history. All freezing, but all smiling, laughing, dancing, cheering and perhaps most notably, completely on the same page--not a bad apple in the bunch. As we waited, they replayed the concert on the Mall from the Sunday before, which helped pass the time. I vividly remember us all jumping around and dancing in tune to Garth Brooks' version of Otis Redding's Shout. One of the purest, most fun, euphoric moments I can remember.

As the oath was taken, tears were streaming down faces of fellow supporters, strangers were hugging one another, and shouts of support resonated all along the Mall. Truly a once in a lifetime experience.

The atmosphere was absolutely electric and before this becomes a laundry list of cliches, I will close by saying, historic moments often occur in our memories and reflections after the fact. Both of these events mentioned above hit me on a very personal level and have changed me to some degree. Though one never knows what the future will bring, I am excited to see what the remainder of this Ox year has in store, because this first Act could not be more intriguing.

Facebook Killed the Blogspot Star

On November 4, 2008, the world changed. For someone like me that embraces historic moments like this, I expected to have plenty to write on this here space. Emotions were running high, the feeling of patriotism and hope was palpable, and a world that I would want to bring children into returned. I definitely had plenty to say. Coupled with the fact that I was in Beijing on election night (actually early morning), my election experience was unique and the post-election dialogue here has been stimulating, exciting and worthy of posterity on this blog. I likely will still put my thoughts down here over the next few days. But I had one question of myself...
why has it taken so long?

I have tons of thoughts floating around in my head, yet no blog posts to show for it. While jetlag and long work days here are part of the problem, there is a single leading factor in my recent departure from writing. Thy name is facebook.

This blog had always been a convenient way for me to quickly write down my thoughts in any medium I want— photos, blurbs, formal essays, links, etc. Then along comes facebook, which has made this lazy guy even lazier. A quick status update and all my contacts know how I’m feeling. A quickly tagged photo and everyone knows what I did last weekend. A post on my wall, a perusal of friends’ profiles, and I feel connected with the world and without much feeling for writing too much more. Admittedly, I do utilize the status update feature to try to concisely convey my mood, activity, or sentiment at that moment with the use of a bit of creative writing whenever possible. For example, you’ll never see my status update say, “Kye is.” or “Kye .” Unfortunately, once my profile is updated, that’s likely the only personal writing for public audiences that I’m going to do that day. Probably a maximum of 30 words. Sad really.

I’m hoping that now that I have made this revelation, I will be re-inspired to get back into the blog a bit more wholeheartedly. While I have tons to say about my opinions about the future of the US, Manny Ramirez, the quest for a fourth Final Four, and international work/travel, I have been remiss in letting facebook tell my story.

No more. Change has come to America and will come back to this blog. Yes I Can!

Sports and Politics like Oil and Vinegar

Last night I stayed up late to watch the US versus Spain in the gold medal basketball game. Fun game to watch, impressive effort by Spain, alpha roles showing themselves among the US players, and when healthy, Dwyane Wade showed that his game is the most complete and clutch of all, even more so than Kobe and Lebron in my opinion.

At halftime of the game, NBC showed an interview with IOC President Jacques Rogge and Bob Costas, where they discussed the Games in general and whether China lived up to its end of the deal regarding human rights reforms and other political stances as a result of being granted the Games. I did not envy Mr. Rogge. Understanding China and its growth as an international economy, while still functioning under a very authoritarian government has so many layers, particularly when posited from a Western, first world perspective. Even after my several visits there, and upon numerous conversations with Chinese nationals, American political scientists, and other folks simply living in Beijing, an oft-repeated answer I get is "It's China." Getting absolute answers to complex questions is very difficult when discussing China. Often one must resign themselves to the fact that the answers they want to hear will not be given and understanding the depth of their development is impossible, particularly in sound-byte halftime interview form.

Despite this, I was very impressed with many of the answers that Mr. Rogge gave to Costas' tough questions. When asked about whether China has lived up to its promises regarding human rights and such since being granted the Games, Rogge mentioned that there was never a contract in place that required China to alter its practices in order to host the Olympics, but only that they would urge or hope that China would look at practices that are more in line with global community. Fair enough. I particularly like his answer to a follow-up question. He said, heads of state, multi-lateral organizations (United Nations), and international NGOs (Amnesty International) have been dealing with the issues for years and have made strides but continue to seek reforms. How can the Olympic Committee be asked to transform a country's political practices when other more significant global leaders have been trying to do this for years.

This seems like an obvious point, but one that I believe needed to be expressed. While the whole world is watching the Olympics, it would seem that the IOC can have the influence to alter nation's behaviors, but really how can they? They have done all that they can regarding open media for internationals allowing for more Western perspectives about China to be transmitted around the world, and have been effective in making the Olympics a safe and fair (for the most part) international event, but I think being asked to do much more is unfair.

It seems so simple coming from our Western perch to criticize other countries' practices, and seek easy answers to what are the most complex questions. Evidence of this attitude is supported by the fact that discussion of today's most complicated issues were shown during halftime of a basketball game. This is not to say that such questions should be ignored. China's stance on Darfur is shocking, their treatment of Tibet is brutal, and their labor records are spotty to say the least. Reforms in these areas and many others should continue, but to place a brunt of the responsibility on the IOC is completely unfair and I think Jacques Rogge expressed as much in the interview. I also appreciate that he highlighted the great success of Beijing as a host city, and acknowledged the generosity and dedication of the Chinese people to pull off such a great event.

Obviously, I'm biased here and have developed a soft spot for China after my several visits there over the past three years. China has so much history and with that comes thousands of years of successful cultural development and unfortunately a record of atrocities as well. In today's sound byte driven world with information traveling faster than ever imagined, I would hope that people are able to grasp the concept that answers to many questions are not easy. This is why I was worried that the interview at halftime would not serve any real purpose other than allowing Bob Costas to show the world how well-rounded an interviewer he thinks of himself. I hope that others recognize that the IOC has done as much as it possibly could (note: the IOC has proven itself to be a corrupt organization in the past, so please don't think I am sympathetic to them generally) and cannot possibly have all the answers all the time.

What the IOC can do though is to remove the 20K walk from the Games altogether...such a dumb sport.

My Very Own Closing Ceremonies

Well, that's it. After seven weeks I'm leaving Beijing and heading back to the homeland. Its been an ultra-rewarding experience and had tons of great memories. Natalia and I went to the Great Wall; I had a great professional experience that went off without a hitch; and of course the Olympics. I'll write more about the other games I went to soon and post more pics etc, but wanted to send a quick parting shout to Zhong gou (Chinese for China).

First off, I realized that this is the longest time I've been oveseas for a single stint in my life. Crazy. But its good to know that I can pull this off, so hopefully there will be a time for me to break my own record soon.

Secondly, there's been a lot of buzz about the Chinese government launching missiles to clear the air and controlling the weather during the Olympics. After the first week, clearly the weather control was overstated. It was overcast, smoggy, rainy, hot, humid, and downright nasty on a couple days. Then yesterday, Friday August 15, the first day of events and activities at the Bird's Nest stadium, the weather was nothing short of perfect. I mentioned to a number of people that yesterday was a perfect Southern California day. Blue skies, probably 83 degrees, and periodic breezes. Rarely in all of my visits here have I experienced a day like this. I couldn't help but think that the govt somehow made this happen. The only evidence would be if the weather could sustain. It is now 8am in Beijing on Saturday morning and looking out the window the blue skies are still here. Very interesting.

Picture Diary (Day 1-Women's handball)

Last Saturday I went to my first Olympics game in Beijing and second of my life (during the 1984 LA Olympics, I went to a soccer game at Stanford. US v. Costa Rica. I remember US won 3-1 and this was the first time I ever participated in the wave.). Women's handball.

Here are some shots from Saturday's action:

As you can see, there was not too much action happening around the venue. It actually had the feel of a high school game or a Round 1 NCAA game.




We had pretty cool seats right behind the net of this crazy sport. Its like a cross between basketball and soccer and allows for crazy physical play. I actually enjoyed it.



Here are the two reasons I really enjoyed myself:



The exchange rate is 6.8 RMB to $1. Translated...beers cost about $0.75. Also, the second game featured Korea v. Russia. I still remember a lot of the cheers from World Cup 2002, so I found myself rooting for them. After an even match, the Russians took what seemed to be an insurmountable lead, but Korea showed resounding Olympic spirit and caught and ended the game in a 29-29 tie. Russia was bummed and Korea was lucky to escape with a tie.

As is the case with most of the games I've seen on TV and the two I've attended here, there are tons of empty seats despite being touted as sell-outs. Based on conversations I've had with folks, a huge allotment of seats are earmarked for corporate sponsors who often do not use their tickets. Such a waste. They also fill up sections of the stands with students and migrant workers. This I can dig because at least they're at the game. The unused seats thanks to Budweiser and Coca-Cola are a bummer.




Lastly, after the tons of cheap beer, I had no choice but to use the dreaded port- a-potty. Here is where the US can learn something from Chinese technology. Periodically, the squatter will fill up with suds in a mechanical self-cleaning mode. It's great. The booths don't reek and you don't have to see what lies beneath. You just see peaceful flowing suds like in a soothing bubble bath.

More soon...

08.08.08 O My

Tonight it all begins. After seven years of preparations, Beijing will welcome the world with the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Locals have been told to stay home from work today, bars and restaurants are getting booked, and red China flags are out in full force...along with security.

A group of us will be watching the Ceremonies in typical ex-pat fashion- at a Western style, hip bar on a giant flat screen tv. Good times. It really feels like New Years Eve. Excitement is in the air, folks are making plans, and traffic is eerily light.

Quick weather update: much has been made about the weather here and the plans to blow up the clouds, shut down factories, etc. At 12:15pm on Aug 8, it is an overcast day. The air actually doesn't have the brownish tint that I've gotten used to, but is just a foggy day, almost SF style plus the ungodly heat. Hopefully, it will rain early this afternoon so the clouds could thin out, but at the moment, thoughts of a clear night doesn't seem likely.

Ticket update: I have been able to score some games and am hoping for more during my one week of Olympiad. Here's what I have so far:

• 8/9 Women's handball prelims- Korea-Russia & Kazakstan- Romania
• 8/10 rowing prelims
• 8/13 Men's soccer- US-Nigeria & Argentina-Serbia
• 8/15 boxing prelims- lightweight and bantamweight prelims
• 8/15 baseball- Japan-Netherlands

Later today I head to the NZ Embassy to try to score some of their unused tickets. More soon.

**UPDATE**: I just returned from the NZ Embassy. Nothing is better than getting tickets from nice folks that speak like Jemaine and Bret. Apparently a number of game tickets reserved by the Kiwis have gone unused. The games that they had available though were not too sexy. I picked up:

• 8/12 women's field hockey: US-Japan; Korea-Netherlands

The other sports they had included softball, equestrian (in HK), soccer (in Sheyang), and canoeing. Like I said, not too sexy. The bright side is the field hockey tickets only cost me 72 RMB each ($10.58). It also doesn't look like I'll be getting tickets to US-China hoops on Sunday night. I can't afford the $500 price tag. I did find out about a viewing party hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce. For 250 RMB ($36), all you can eat and drink at a BBQ joint during the game. Sounds like a sweet alternative, no?**

Balling in Beijing

I'm back to about 85% health-wise and spent a Sunday afternoon playing hoops with a co-worker. We went to the Beijing Communciations University to play some pick-up. First of all, it was great to know that the atmosphere on a college campus in Beijing mirrors the vibe of a campus in the US. I've never been able to put my finger on it, but whether I'm at UCLA, Stanford, or Beijing, the same sensation resonates. It must the concentration of thousands of young, eager minds coallescing in one tree-lined, grassy commune that gives off a certain sentiment. Either that, or the innumerable dating opportunites for college kids that gets everyone excited.

So basketball is indeed a popular sport here. There were five full-courts full of people playing 4-on-4 halfcourt with a least one team waiting at each court. Furthermore, there were packed volleyball courts, soccer fields, and of course badminton. It was great to see.

As I got in my first game (I was the only foreigner in the whole joint), the other three guys each asked if I could speak Chinese. When I said no, they all looked bummed. Once the game started, it was all good. A couple of passes to guys for easy buckets put me in good graces. Unfortunately, my first shot was a wide open 18 footer for an airball. Nice. I later hit my stride and it was fine.

More than breaking down my own game, I wanted to point out a few differences of pick-up on this side of the Pacific. 1) they play games to 5. The insane amount of people in China must be the reason. Only short doses so all could get a taste. Quite communist. 2) when you get fouled, you take the ball out from under the hoop, not up top. 3) they don't "check" the ball, whenever I was taking it out after a bucket, I would instinctively pass to the guy guarding me first. Fortunately, he immediately passed it back seeming to know what I meant, but one guy on my team told me to stop doing that. 4) screening has not exactly made its way to China. Its a ton of one-on-one isolation, and drive and kick or shoot. 5) This one is perhaps universal. The fellas with the best gear were not the best players. A kid with the crispy Jordans and the Lebron t-shirt was garbage, while the dude in jeans was going off. 6)Like the Fresh Prince once said, basketball courts in the summer got girls there. Among the 150-200 guys playing hoops, there were a handful of ladies checking out the scene and watching their guys play. Again, this is fairly universal. 7) Not much acknowledgement for a good pass. Anyone that has played with me knows that I like to distribute. Not that I need it, but a nice gesture, finger point, or high five would have been nice. Its all for the greater good, so I guess its fine.

A Week Until the Games Begin

I have been remiss in updating the blog too often during this visit to Beijing. Work has been busy and I've been laying low for the past few days with a fever and sore throat. My illness can be attributed to one of 4 factors: 1) breathing hot, humid, and dirty Beijing air for a month, 2) living with heavy doses of freezing air conditioned air for a month, 3) lack of fresh vegetables available for consumption, and 4) I'm old and can't handle life on the road anymore. I think its actually a smattering of the first three reasons, with only a drop of reason #4.



Anyway, with only a week to go until the Opening Ceremonies, and a slow Friday work day (finally!), I wanted to catch everyone up on the latest goings on here in Beijing.



First of all, the anticipation is palpable. I had been staying at some nice hotels this past month, and just this week, I noticed a lot more foreign faces wearing the obligatory Olympic placards around their necks. Important people I assume. Excitement is definitely in the air as more folks are arriving. This morning I met a woman in the elevator with a bag full of adidas boxes and geared up in adidas herself (My experiences attending international sporting events has taught me how to pick out sporting officials from a mile away. Its the athletic gear and always with the crispy, clean kicks- mostly adidas). I come to find out that she is one of the dozens of FIFA referees staying at the hotel to participate in training to gear up for the Games. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, their arrival and other Olympic folks means that I have to move out of these fine digs tonight, and into a modest two star hotel. The rates at the hotel have gone up to about $800 a night and my non-profit can't afford such a price. Such a bummer. I had been living pretty large for the past month at the Ritz-Carlton and then The Regent (I know, crazy, but we get an insanely reasonable rate usually), and instead of rubbing elbows with fancy Olympic folks, I may end up having to make my own dumplings for the next two weeks. I move into the new digs, Home Inn (or as a buddy of mine here calls it-- Homey Inn), tonight. I'm hoping for the best. OK, enough whining, here are some quick hits of what's been going down lately:

• I have tickets to rowing preliminaries on Aug. 10, US-Nigeria and Argentina-Serbia (Messi!!) soccer double header on August 13 (compliments of US Soccer of course), and a baseball game to be determined. I'm working hard to score a US hoops game, but this is obviously a tough ticket. I also want to check out the track stadium and swimming venue which are great architectural designs. Whether or not, I get tix, I'll post pics of the venues. Pretty amazing stuff.


• I've watched so many DVD's this past month, I wanted to give a very quick list and review: There Will Be Blood (excellent!), Cloverfield (great concept, too shaky), Hot Fuzz (funny), Hancock (wait for video), Season One Dexter (very good, but I doubt I'll watch season two. Serial killers aren't my bag), The Other Boleyn Girl (good first half, fell asleep for the rest-shocker!), Super High Me (super mediocre), The Hammer (I like. Rent it if you can) and others I can't remember right now.


• I went for pizza at a place called The Tree last week near Sanlitun (bar street). This is a popular place for foreigners and they serve up a decent pie as well. Anyway, in the bathroom I saw a sign that said during the Olympics, the bar will close at 10:30 each night instead of the usual...actually I have no idea, but I know this place usually rages until the wee hours. So weird. I would have thought that places would have wanted to take advantage of the foreigners wanting to party, but instead the Chinese govt decided to close a lot of nightspots early during the olympics to prevent any ruckus I suppose. Terrible plan. I have a feeling that the vanilla hotel bars and their $8 beers will be all the rage. I'll let you know what happens.


• Somewhat related to the above point, all of my "go-to" DVD shops have vanished since last Sunday. Actually, they haven't vanished, but any of their English language titles (aka bootlegs) have disappeared. It is as if you went to McDonald's for a burger and found out they were serving spaghetti, it was pretty jarring. Especially since I was hoping to pick up Season One of Mad Men that I had just seen a week prior, and now it was gone. When I asked, the guy behind the counter shrugged. I think if I went with a local, they could speak Mandarin and get the low-down, but a foreigner like myself gets nada.


• My language skills are still atrocious but I have a few words down: hello (ni hao), thank you (xie xie), The Regent Beijing (li jing da jo dian), cold- as in cold beer (bing da), check (mai dan), I understand (ming bai), I don't want (bu yao), I don't have (mei yo), OK (hao), yes (duai), rice (mi fan), Tsingtao (Tsingtao). Sadly, that's about it. I actually know a few more words, but these listed above usually get me through the day.


• I really enjoy meeting ex-pats when I travel. Last week, a partied with an Irish guy, and 3 Dutch folks that all live and work here. Its especially great after a few drinks and realizing that I'm in Beijing talking about agricultural engineering in Pakistan with a Dutch guy while listening to hip-hop playing in the background. This never gets old.


• Also, our organization actually has a blog to give some Asian perspectives on things happening on this side of the Pacific, I contributed an entry this week: http://asiafoundation.org/in-asia/2008/07/30/in-china-olympic-expectations-and-anxieties/ I've received pretty good feedback from co-workers, but any faithful readers to this here site will recognize that I have been edited to no end. I mean not one of my jokes were left in. Anyway, have a look and if you are interested in such info, please subscribe to the weekly newsletter. You can get email updates and the content is usually very strong. Also note that my entry has zero to do with issues.

That's it for now. I'm going to begin winding down week number five of seven in China. Crazy how time is flying. Oh, by the way....MANNY MANNY MANNY MANNY!!

Suited

I've always heard that one of the greatest deals I am missing out on during my visits to China is getting my own tailor made suit. Fortunately, I had a tip from a co-worker on a place at Silk Street so I decided to get the wheels in motion towards getting some fancy duds at a fraction of the price it would cost me back home.

Its actually pretty sweet. You pick the fabric, the design, the cut and they sew it for you in one day I believe. It'll probably cost me $130. Not bad at all. Yesterday, I went through the motions to figure out what I wanted and will return sometime this week to do all the measurements and stuff.

Imagine my surprise when upon entering the shop, I saw pictures on the wall of America's favorite injury faking NBA champ Paul Pierce and the round mound of rebound, Charles Barkley with the sales ladies. Its a good thing Pierce and Chuck found this place, I have no idea how they could afford normal suits at the salaries they make. Actually, for Barkley this might make sense. Dude could be broker than I am due to his gambling losses. So next time, you're watching Inside the NBA on TNT, know that Barkley may not actually be wearing a Gucci or Armani suit after all. No idea where he gets his beloved mock turtlenecks...probably Wal-Mart.

Five Ring Circus

I am here in Beijing once again, but this time I am here for the next 7 weeks, which will mean some Olympics overlap as well as the run-up to the Games which should provide some interesting anecdotes I would think.

Accessing this blog has proven to be quite difficult and though I may have found a work around, I'm not sure how effective my posting will be or if I will be able to attach photos. We'll see I guess. Speaking of seeing, I am writing this from my 19th floor office and have a great view of Jianguomen dajie, a main drag that cuts across the city. The visibility is at an all-time low. The smog and fog are ultra-thick, and I have yet to see blue skies since my arrival on Monday morning. If they plan on tweaking the weather somehow for the Olympics, they should probably start now.

The most noticable difference of this visit versus my others has been that Beijing certainly has put on its best face this time around. The freeway leading to the airport is stradled with manicured mini-gardens and trees, which were never here before, and they are way more signs in English than before. Most of them point you towards various Olympic venues. There are also crossing guards at a major intersection near my hotel. It the past it was pedestrian mayhem. This time there is more of an illusion of control.

Unfortunately, they have also apparently tried to clean up the black market and have shut down a number of bootleg DVD outposts and street vendors, which is a bummer. Fortunately, I knew of a couple of places that were still in business, so my jones was filled.

More soon.

Remembering the AlamoDome

It has been two weeks since my trip to San Antonio for the 2008 Final Four and I feel I am now ready to go public with my thoughts. First of all, I have to acknowledge Greg, Derek, and Francis that joined me for a memorable weekend adventure that was filled with more good times and bad times than I can remember. Despite the unfortunate game results, upon reflection this was a fantastic weekend during a time in life where such “old boy” or “bro” weekends have become few and far between.

Now my reflections…I don’t think I have been filled with as much nervous excitement as I was on the trip to Texas two weeks ago. (It must be noted that I attended UCLA’s last title run in 1995, so the idea of actually going to the Final Four was not overwhelming in itself. Also, this happened while I was a college student during the 1990s where I think grunge music and high levels of THC coursing through my body numbed me from the most natural of human emotion— outward excitement.) My trip took two legs, Oakland to Phoenix; Phoenix to Austin. The Phoenix airport was a sight to behold for Bruin Nation. I texted a few people back home with the note, “PHX airport is like Westwood Southwest.” It was unbelievable. Powder blue and gold everywhere you look. The airport bar was electric with energy, chatter about game tickets being overhead, tales of Final Fours past exchanged, and of course the prospects of the Bruins hanging championship #12 in Pauley Pavilion being discussed (writing those words still fills me with disappointment and sadness. I guess I’m not over it.).

Fast forward to Saturday morning in San Antonio. After exchanging the Michael Scott-edition Chrysler LeBaron convertible for a more suitable rental ride, we made the one-hour trek from Austin to San Antonio, drove past the AlamoDome and the whole experience became very real. We had about two hours before tip-off and went to some pre-party that included free chicken wings, nachos, and tamales. Perhaps the first disappointment of the weekend occurred shortly thereafter. Suffice it to say, we were already a few beers in, but we realized that each school was having special parties and that we were basically hanging in the stable of the masses. Of course, we immediately tried to sneak in to the UCLA party to hang with fellow Bruins before the game for some much-needed pre-game hype. Not to be too self-serving, but I had no problem getting past the first layer of security, and Greg and I easily slid past the second checkpoint without problem. Entering the “exclusive” party space was similar to the scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy’s house lands after the tornado and she opens the door to reveal the Technicolor world of Munchkin land. Upon passing the security area, I was treated to visions of UCLA cheerleaders cavorting about, former UCLA football coach Terry Donahue chatting up some alums, beer and wine stations appearing in all corners of the room, food everywhere, and Tim Robbins cruising by. It was awesome. All I could say to Greg was, “this is more like it.”

In what can only be described as the ultimate foreshadowing of things to come, we were shortly tapped on the shoulder by a rent-a-cop asking to see our party passes. Unfotunately, one member of our quartet did not heed the ultimate mantra of acting like you belong there, got shaken down by security, and in an egregious error in party crashing dogma, wound up getting all of us kicked out by pinpointing us to security. Unbelievable. Until my last days on this Earth, I will always believe that had we remained at the party, the world would have been rotating normally and the Bruins would have emerged triumphant. Alas, it was not to be. To make matters worse, as we are going down the escalator feeling like chumps, we peer over to the adjacent escalator going up and see Ed O’Bannon, the 1995 tournament’s winner of the Most Outstanding Player award and the greatest UCLA player of our lives, heading to the party. Ugh.
(The whole of San Antonio was a basketball fan’s dream that weekend. Along with the obvious undercurrent of the games, tons of familiar basketball characters were milling around town. Throughout the weekend, we saw Hakeem Olajuwon, Rick Pitino, Lorenzo Romar, David Robinson (sitting 4 rows in front of us), Rex Walters, Scot Pollard, Tony Parker, Seth Greenberg, Pat Riley, Patrick Ewing, and Artis Gilmore. The scene was definitely set for some classic basketball.)

Then the game started. I prefer not to get too much into the details of the game itself since we got rolled over in the second half, but in brief— we could not hit an outside shot to save our life, our “All-American” point guard did nothing, and Memphis’ Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts continually beat us off the dribble and scored tons of buckets. Painful to even reminisce. There was a 30-45 minute silent period following the loss where none of us uttered anything to one another. The combination of inebriated stupor, disappointment, and exhaustion from intensely rooting on the squad left me physically and mentally drained and I just stared off into space like I was back in high school physics class.

So that was it. The weekend for all intents and purposes was over. Even though we had a mellow Sunday and enjoyed a great national championship on Monday, the perfect weekend was over before it started. The curtain was pulled back and Oz did not turn out the way we imagined it to be.

With 30 years of fanatic experience in watching sports, I cannot remember a team that appeared as tailor-made for a championship run than the 2007-08 UCLA Bruins. This was their third straight Final Four, so the San Antonio experience would not be overwhelming for the coaching staff and squad. They earned a #1 seed in the West Region for the first time since the 1995 championship team. A couple of close, last second victories (with or without the help of some questionable refereeing) appeared to make them destiny’s choice to be champion. But one element that comes to mind whenever I reflect on this team will always be the presence of the Golden Child, freshman center Kevin Love. The impact this kid had on the team was unlike anything I had ever seen at UCLA and was very rare in the world of college basketball. All of the ESPN talking heads and journalists would gush about Love’s game and the platitudes were never over-stated. This guy was amazing. I could talk about his game and what he meant to this team for days but in brief, I and a majority of the Bruin faithful felt that there was no way we would lose this year with Kevin Love leading the way. Unfortunately, the magic simply ran out against Memphis and the wait continues for the 12th banner to be raised.

This brings me to the trip’s silver lining though. Anyone who reads this entry knows exactly where UCLA fandom resides on my priority lists of hobbies outside of grown-up life responsibilities. The weekend was meant to be a culmination of every reason why I am a faithful supporter of my alma mater and, similar to most things built up with anticipation (read: New Year’s Eve, movie blockbusters, network television), I was left disappointed. While we continued to have a good time throughout the weekend, the underlying current of disappointment could not be ignored. Now that I am about two weeks distanced from the Final Four weekend, I have a much better perspective on things.

In retrospect, the old adage from Arthur Ashe (UCLA alum) now rings especially true— “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.” The UCLA basketball program is perhaps the most cohesive fabric of my college experience, and continues to bring all of my close college friends together. When my buddy Rich and I discussed getting tickets for the early round tournament games in Anaheim, we knew to just buy the maximum allotment of eight, since we would have no problem finding takers. We all love Bruin basketball.
The Final Four weekend thus held a specific “once in a lifetime” feel and the four of us were able to enjoy great moments that only being friends for over 15 years can provide. This coupled with the barrage of calls and text messages from pals back in Cali wanting to catch some of the flavor of the event made the moment feel all the more special. Derek, who is married and has a daughter, acknowledged this point specifically. The opportunities for us all to get together like this have become more rare as the years quickly pass on. Families are growing, responsibilities are increasing, and free time is shrinking at an alarming rate. Maybe once or twice a year, all of the college mates get together, making this weekend even more unique.

It was clear that every college friend near a television was watching the UCLA-Memphis and cringing and cheering and hoping just like the four of us were inside the AlamoDome that afternoon. Looking back, there is still no place I would have rather seen the disappointing loss than with my buddies watching the game live. To me, it felt like the four of us were representing all of our great friends by being there live (thanks of course to Greg for securing the tickets). As I reflect back, the emotional ups and downs took a toll on us, but left me with a ton of memories and the hope that having these weekend trips with the guys will continue until we are pushing canes at the old folks home. That is the appropriate memory I hope to keep in the front of my mind whenever I recall the 2008 Final Four. Well, that and if James Keefe’s second half baseline 3-pointer goes in, instead of rattling out, we would have had a whole different ball game.

Fast Times Indeed

I just got back from a lunch with a consultant (we'll call him Terry) I worked with on a recent proposal during my trip to China last December. I asked a co-worker for a good recommendation of a nearby restaurant that would allow us room to talk and with good, well-priced food. She suggested Bocadillo's located on the corner of Washington and Montgomery in downtown SF.


We found a place in the corner by the bar and settled in for a fairly standard business lunch. Located just behind Terry's head on the wall was a flat screen TV playing the 1982 Amy Heckerling classic, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The place was a pretty nice, tapas and wine type place and I thought that a movie playing in the background was odd, not to mention the choice of movie. Since it was behind Terry, I didn't bring this to his attention. Unfortunately, I was already distracted and my mind quickly wondered whether the infamous Phoebe Cates red bikini pool side scene would hit the screen during lunch and I would have to make the choice of commenting (my natural impulse) or keeping it to myself. Suffice it to say, I had a tough time updating Terry on the status of an in-factory training program for migrant workers in China knowing that one of the most famous cinematic nude scenes would be staring me in the face in all its high definition glory.


I am definitely getting older and more mature (arguably) as I held it together and was able to stay focused throughout the meal...so much so that I was able to almost forget that Jeff Spicoli was ordering pizza during Mr. Hand's algebra class a mere five feet away. Just as I paying for the check I happened to glance up and what do I see??....No, not the Phoebe Cates part, but the scene with Jennifer Jason Leigh completely buck naked after a romp with faux cool guy, Damone. I was caught off-guard by this as Fast Times is forever linked with Sean Penn and Phoebe Cates and not much else, so the JJ Leigh image was somewhat startling. I glanced around the room to see if anyone else was reacting, but nobody did. (I guess it takes more for the SF professional set to bat an eye. Let's not forget that this is the town that believes Barry Bonds' head expanding three sizes over the years is normal.) Again, my poker face remained as I was able to prevent myself from giggling like an eight-year-old. This may be the first time that I realized I may actually be an adult now, and maybe one of the only times when being older and thus quite versed in social settings can be seen as a positive. In any non-professional setting, Fast Times at Ridgemont High would have become the topic of conversation throughout lunch, so I was proud of myself for holding it together. I guess its pathetic really, but still amusing...at least to me.


Either way, Fast Times at Ridgemont High....GREAT MOVIE!