So true

Just switch out Batman for Superman and it's me.

I've recently decided to start using iGoogle because I discovered that they have some really fun comic themes. I really don't need to use it because I never look at all the feeds, but it's still fun to see comics. Perhaps I'll have to start using Google Calendar once school starts.

I was going through my wallet recently and found that I had three BN gift cards, so since it is close to where I play soccer on Sundays I decided to head in and see if there was anything I wanted. So now I have three new fiction books on top of all the very interesting library books I found when I was on campus on Friday and I have to decide if I want to read The General Theory (Keynes) or a book on Superman and Batman. Start placing your bets now.

Yesterday was the penultimate day of the Tour de France, which is really the last day for placement among the overall leaders. We had a bunch of people over and had pasta with pesto sauce (made from fresh ingredients). It was quite fun, with people over with whom I can talk about anything from Popperian philosophy to Scotch to Firefly.

Soccer is Life (the rest is just details)

This weekend begins the pre-season soccer tournament portion of my summer. It's a bit difficult for me to adjust to soccer up here because it is so different from how I grew up playing. When I was playing, we took the winter off (at least before I got to high school) and played tournaments all through the summer. If people were gone for a week, they made sure they were back for the tournament on the weekend, and we didn't consistently have half of the team show up for practice.

But up here, I just can't figure out why about half the parents on my team seem to think that it's okay to miss one, even two tournaments. My family would have never done that (unless absolutely necessary due to a family reunion or something).

Suffice to say, it hasn't been a great summer of practicing. There's only so much I can do when only 8 or 9 kids show up to practice. Unfortunately for those that show up ever week, we have to repeat a lot of things, because it's impossible to move on to more difficult ideas until everybody has had a chance to work on the basics.

Then there's also the problem of none of them coming to practice willing to work. Half of them giggle most of the time, and the other half just go through the motions, not even trying. Practice was never the strong part of my game until high school (I just need pressure to perform well), but at least I had a work ethic at practice. My team won't run unless I sit there yelling at them the whole time.

Anyways, all this leads to me being very worried about our tournament that are happening in August, not the least because I don't even know who is going to show up for them. But we finally had a good practice last night (even if it was with only 8 of them), so hopefully it won't be as bad as I expect.

I should add that while I love winning, that's never my goal when I coach. My goal is that we should improve every game, so perhaps it's good (in a wrong sort of way) if we start at a really low spot.

Of course, none of this is helped by the fact that we don't have a goalie..... anybody know how to doctor birth certificates?

Probably just heat stroke

I used to think I was purely a mountains person. If I was asked where I would like to spend a vacation, I was much more likely to say something like Yosemite or Yellowstone than Santa Barbara or Los Angeles (at least if relatives weren't involved in the decision). But in the last couple of years, I've gotten a much more healthy respect for the beach as a place both to vacation and to live.

I think the problem was that I always associated the beach with doing nothing but playing in the water, while I associated the mountains with all sorts of fun things like hiking, camping, and other assorted activities (or course, the best of both worlds was the ranch in SB, but that's an entirely different story).

Lately, I've discovered that the beach has many things to offer: it's own brand of hiking, frisbee in the sand, kayaking, volleyball, and various other pursuits.

Suffice to say that I no longer see no point in living at the beach, and I wouldn't be disappointed if I end up near it at my next location of higher learning. Or perhaps I'm finally getting tired of much-too-hot summers and want to live someplace cooler.

Pipe Dream

I was intrigued by this pipe going no where at Malibu this weekend when I visited the beach. Here's the full color shot for those of you who like a bit of color in your photos.

Too much protein

I don't normally consider myself an adventurous eater, but I did my level best this weekend to not be myself. On Saturday I tried 8 different types of animal (skipped the shrimp) and 19 different wines (there were an additional 4 on Friday evening). This was all interspersed with two state beaches completely with the requisite frisbee throwing. I think my system went into shock with all that protein that it isn't used to getting.

Then we stopped in Ventura and spent some time with Natalie and Scott, playing games and just enjoying the nice weather in general. I'm really trying to think of a better way to spend the weekend, and just can't. Only thing that would have made it better would have been more friends. Anybody want to start making an annual trip out of this (I promise you won't be disappointed). I'll put up some pictures later.

CNN

I'm in the airport waiting for my (delayed) flight, and I look up at the television. CNN is showing the following headline "Polygamists vs. Drug Cartels." Can't hear the story, but I suddenly have visions of a potential made-for-TV movie.

Cryptonomicon

I've spent the last few days mostly reading a hefty book by Neal Stephenson called Cryptonomicon. Rob read it first and I'm highly enjoying it. On the surface, it seems like a very rambly book, taking over half the page count to finally get to where the mystery starts to reveal itself. I'm about two-thirds through now and I'm still not entirely sure what the point of it is.

But the characters are very likable and engrossing. It's a story told in three main parts). Two of the parts are parellel stories set during WWII and the third is set in the present day. There's lots of math, code breaking, and techno-talk, but at the same time there's plenty of military action for those who need a little less cerebral plot.

I'd suggest it for anybody looking for a challenge (it's abour 1200 pages long) and enjoys thinking about patterns and math (you don't necessarily have to know a lot about math, and you may even learn some math names to drop at parties).

Flare

I watched Star Trek again, this time on the IMAX. I was struck again by something that I noticed the first time: the lens flares on most of the scenes. Watching it the first time, I didn't like it, but this second time I was a bit more accepting. It was obviously manufactured (most of the flare is in scenes in space) and I can't really figure out why they would have chosen to do that. Possibly to make it more life like?

But the thing is, I like my Scifi movies to be flashy and polished, which is perhaps why I didn't like the effect ruining things. It did seperate the movie from the shows, none of which (to my knowledge) exhibit any lens flare. Also, when did that become the in thing? I'm pretty sure I've seen it in other movies (although none are coming to mind). To me flare has always seemed to mean that they did do a good job framing the shot. Perhaps I'll have to change my outlook on it.

4th of July

So I was stuck in Sacramento for the 4th this year because my cousins flew in from Italy today. It's fine, because I'm still a bit out of sorts from being sick all week.

I spent some time sitting on the front lawn watching the neighbors set off fireworks, but they seemed rather pathetic this year. None of them seemed to last very long, nor were they very interesting. Perhaps it was the fact that I wasn't lighting things on fire.

Now I'm sitting inside watching Casino Royale, because what could be more patriotic than showing a marathon of movies about a British spy on the USA network? I've realized that while I'm not yet prepared to admit that Daniel Craig is the best Bond (I haven't seen the second one yet) I am willing to admit that he is the best looking one.

Space Camp

So the best part of camp is the day we get to spend at the Challenger Center. The day is centered around a simulated space mission, which, in my opinion, isn't great (although last year I apparently saw the lamer of the two missions).


The other parts of the day involve setting off rockets and building cars.


This was the day that I was most happy that I had my new toy.
Can't wait to set off more rockets next year.