The Perfect Line and Saturday BBQ and gaming.

Su'p fellow goobs. So thePerfectline drove up Wednesday to run errands and work as a coordinator of the LoveFest's floats. He accepted our offer to stay in our guest room and we spent the good part of Wednesday and Thursday sifting through my garage and through his boxes of stuff. The guy has had to buy a bunch of cheap tools while in LA and figured he should just pack up some of the necessities he had left in my garage and bring it down.

I never realized all the crazy shit he had in my garage, wood working and electrical tools that I can't name or have any idea as to their purpose. So into boxes they went and by the time he left, his car was packed to the gills. It was fun to have thePerfectline around and it reminded me about how I've missed him being in the Bay Area. Actually, I'm also going to miss his awesome Impact Driver, Craftsman Socket Set (my Crescent is good and does the job in a pinch but you can absolutely tell when you're using a great set of tools), hex bit sets, and specialized tools!

The job Friday was more diplomatic work on my part. Referents requesting reconsideration of my denied/unauthorized services. I feel like the bad guys Michael Moore talks about in "Sicko". Referents invariably get frustrated with our department, sometimes throwing out the old self-righteous schpeel peppered with attacks/appeals to my ethical sensibilities. I'm pretty much a push-over and relent when they come up with new information or historical material that I did not have access to when reviewing the original request. Enough of work talk cause I can go on and on if I allow myself.

So I'm off to the Craftman's home with a cooler of Porterhouse, Brats, Sausage, thePerfectline's Gewurztraminer (cheaper cousin to the German Riesling), and Apricot Hefewiesen.

So some of you there!

Ahmadinejad and Rave Boy.

I know this is a ridiculous title for a blog entry but I'm wrapping two points into one today. And NO, they have nothing in common, just the timing of the issues on my mind.

Re. Iranian President Ahmadinejad, spoke yesterday at Columbia University, New York. The Right is up in arms at the University for allowing this guy a platform to speak at a major US University. To paraphrase Newt Gingrich, "This man is an evil tyrant and it is an outrage that Columbia University allow him to speak!". Now he has the first point down. It is UNDENIABLE that he believes and preaches that the Holocaust is nothing but a Myth, that Jews be, and this is a direct quote, "Wiped off the face of the Earth.", and that he supports and arms Insurgent efforts in Iraq that have led to the death of both Iraqi and Americans alike,...but that's beside the point. Here me out: Columbia University President Collinger responded eloquently to the right's criticism, and again to paraphrase; "This nation is great because of it's tradition of free speech, and that we should pose questions that NO-ONE in his country are allowed to ask, and that we, and the rest of the world, and especially his own people, hear his answers."

And so it went yesterday, in exactly the way most anticipated...Ahmadinejad proved the obvious to EVERYONE; that YES, he is a tyranical petty despot. After 10 minutes of University Pres. Collinger berating him on undeniable accounts of horror and oppression, the Iranian President answered with a slippery cool arrogance. He essentially dodged most questions and spoke with condescensions as if to say that such accusations are not worth a response or require a denial.

Case and point, and this takes the cake; when asked about the (again) undeniable reports that women in his country are on the whole repressed to the extent that adultery is punishable by legally sanctioned murder, that educators and students are imprisoned for their politics, and that homosexuality is responded to with execution, the President calmly dodged the question and went off on same tangent on how his country has successfully dealt with their drug problem and drug smuggling...WHAT?!? The University President patiently waited for Ahmadinejad to finish, pointed out that he failed to answer the original question and asked him again about the government's stand and treatment of homosexuals, and his response was truly unbelievable and downright telling,..."No, we don't have the problem of homosexuality in our country, and don't have the same problem YOUR country has with homosexuals." To which the audience laughed for as long as it took them to realize he wasn't kidding in the least, at which point the laughter turned to outrage.

In a nutshell, he believes homosexuality is a "problem" that his country does not have. He makes no mention of inclusion, no talk, for christ's sake not even lip-service to tolerance, and finally NO DENIAL OF EXECUTING GAY PEOPLE.

In the end, our country's tradition of free and open speech allowed this idiot to show his true colors indeed. Collinger went so fas as to say that he would have allowed Hitler to speak at the University because megalomaniac madmen have very little ability to keep their insanity hidden.

One caveat: Please don't think I believe we should invade Iran now. For crying out loud, we've made that mistake once, lets not make it again. Unlike Saddam who was a calculating evil thug who truly believed he could take control of the Middle East, Ahmadinejad suffers from same small man inferiority complex Kim Jong Il suffers. He has no aspirations of world domination despite his belief that Islam will take over the world. He wants to establish himself as a major superpower and international player, and most of all, continue the despotic rule of his country. His people will, as the oppressed always do, see through the bullshit,...and the world should support their rising call for political reformation....no bombs required or needed.

Now as for Rave-Boy. He has a PS2 game, I think it's called "Guitar Hero" or something. The game comes with a plastic controller that's guitar shaped with 5 buttons, simulating frets, and a switch which you can strum as if you were playing a guitar. You play with music, and I have to say pretty good music at that (Stevie Ray Vaughn, Pantera, Rush, Anthrax, Ozzy, to name a few). You press the button/fret they show you to play and you strum the switch at the same time.

Now here's the kicker. Granted, in expert mode, it's pretty difficult even for me. But Rave Boy is convinced and is trying to convince me that it's nearly as difficult as the real thing...and this is driving me CRAZY! Somehow I need to make him understand that playing "Texas Flood" by SRV on this game, despite it being difficult in Expert mode, can be executed near perfectly by any half way decent gamer given 2-3 straight days of practice, if that. Now give those same gamers a real Strat and have him learn "Texas Flood" and I GUARANTEE, it will take them 3 YEARS of constant practice learning one foundation of technique and layering that upon another and in the end, most won't have the TALENT it takes to pull it off....that's ONE SONG!...a 10,000 fold magnitude of difficulty!

I need to talk this foo about it this weekend.

Chess and the Bridge.

So after 2 hours, I finally get across the damn Bay Bridge. Apparently, there was a massive accident on the San Mateo Bridge....3 big rigs overturned, several cars "totally squashed" (as the reporter described), life alert helicopters en-route, flat bed payload all over the roadway, and the back-up extending several miles: total gridlock. There was actually a small chance that my wife and I would be commuting across...thank god we took separate cars. The folks stuck on the bridge had to systematically reverse the opposite direction...quite possibly a 6 hour ordeal for tens of thousands of very unlucky commuters.

Given the San Mateo Bridge was essentially shut down, traffic to the peninsula was re-routed over the Bay Bridge...hence my "kill me now" commute. But I'm here and blogging about it so it wasn't too bad. Missed a meeting is all.

Re. Chess: went down to our local Golf Course Bar and Grill to check out the chess club scene on Sunday. There were about a dozen guys of varying age, race, and background...all of them were cool, welcoming, funny, and most of all, competent chess maniacs. I introduced myself and they seemed totally surprised that I discovered their little group on the web. They spent the entire time I was there racking their brains about who might have posted the web invite.

After some time, I realized that all of them knew each other quite well...apparently, some of the old-times have been meeting for close to 12 years. They were apt to tease each other mercilessly about a particularly bad move and each seemed extremely comfortable about losing and quite good sports when they won. They played primarily Blitz games, with digital clocks, and at least 2 of them are ranked; state and national.

Just to jot down some notes (for my benefit mostly):
1. Roger: 50ish Slavic man, rolls his own cigarettes, moves left-handed. Did not see him play.
2. Dean: looks a bit like Grizzly Adams, relentless barbs and playful attacks, friendly, seems the coordinator of the bunch. Hates playing with a clock, "To me, that ain't chess."
3. "Doc": Doctor, very casually dressed 50 something gentlemen, sharp-tongue'd and, as he stated, "Prone to losing".
4. Richard: Tall, thin African-American man, glasses, perhaps my age, had a bag of chess boards, clocks, and pieces. They say he's their resident computer guru and blamed him for the web invite. Didn't watch him play an entire game.
5. "Asian guy with Tattoos": Quiet, muscular, very strong player. Watched him play 2 games. Very good. Could NOT keep up with his moves.
6. "Young white dude": Metrosexual guy, tall grande coffee in hand. When he walked in, he immediately sat down to play Black without as much as a hello to anyone. The other guys gave him a loud "YO" as he entered and introduced him as their resident Master. He lost to the "Asian guy with Tattoos" in short order. Actually, he resigned rather quickly. I'm simply not a good enough player to figure out why! I suppose they were looking 19 moves ahead.
7. "Old German Dude": A sloppily dressed older man, perhaps 70, gray hair, coffee and cigarettes timber in his voice, hovers over the game and points to where you should move, imbuing the ire of the players.

And I couldn't remember much about the others.

What I took from the actual game play was that they open FAST...and I mean quick. 16 moves in 30 seconds. They know their openings. Man, I got to brush up. I'm lousy at Black, and even if I were to play White, unless they reconcile my traditional E2 to E4 Ruy Lopez opening with a Ruy Lopez counter or Stienitz Defense, I'm completely lost. Talked with my Dad. He wasn't much help. He said to "Practice Caro-Khan, and the King's and Queen's Gambit."...Huh?!...what is he talkin about?

Needless to say, I didn't play. I was too much of a wuss and just watched. I'll be back next Sunday to try my hand. I hope I don't humiliate myself...I have a feeling I will.

Later...

Kasparov is a God.

You may know of Gary Kasparov, Chess Legend. But you might not know the magnitude of his genius. Many chess experts say that his type of genius occurs perhaps once every 2-3 generations....one in a billion. Here's a short run down of his career:

- Wins the Soviet Junior Championship, back to back, at 13.
- Ranked as Chess Master at 15.
- Youngest to qualify for the Soviet Championship at 15.
- At 16, he rose to number 3 in the world behind only Spassky and Karpov.
- That same year, he wins the World Junior Chess Championship, the youngest since Bobby Fischer, becoming a Grandmaster.
- Qualifies for the Candidates Match at 19 and dispatches several of the greatest chess players in the world at the time with relative ease.
- Blasted everyone in his path over the next year to become the youngest World Champion in 1985 defeating Anatoly Karpov, then considered one of the 10 greatest Chess players of all time. Kasparov was only 20.
- He holds records for most consecutive tournament victories, 15, from 1981 to 1990. Rated #1 continuously from 1986 til his retirement in 2005. Has the highest ranking of all time. Has won the Chess Oscar (Chess highest honor) a record 11 times. And has been the World Champion from 1985 to 2000.

It goes on and on, BTW. You can throw in him beating Deep Blue. Anywayz, I want to tell you about his first match against Anotoly Karpov, the greatest rivalry in Chess, if not all competitive endeavors.

In 1984, Kasparov competed against Karpov for the World Championship. Karpov started off in very good form, and after nine games Kasparov found himself 4-0 down in a "first to six wins" match. Fellow players predicted a 6-0 whitewash of Kasparov within 18 games.

Kasparov dug in, with inspiration from a Russian poet before each game, and battled with Karpov into SEVENTEEN successive draws. Karpov duly won the next decisive game before Kasparov fought back with another series of draws until game 32, Kasparov's first win against the World Champion.

At this point Karpov, twelve years older than Kasparov, was close to exhaustion, and not looking like the player who started the match. Kasparov won games 47 and 48 to bring the scores to 5-3 in Karpov's favour. Then the match was ended without result by Florencio Campomanes, the President of FIDE, and a new match was announced to start a few months later.

The termination of the match was a matter of some controversy. At the press conference at which he announced his decision, Campomanes cited the health of the two players, which had been put under strain by the length of the match, despite the fact that both Karpov and Kasparov stated that they would prefer the match to continue. Karpov had lost 22 POUNDS over the course of the match and had been hospitalized several times. Kasparov, however, was in excellent health and extremely resentful of Campomanes' decision, asking him why he was abandoning the match if both players wanted to continue. It would appear that Kasparov, who had won the last two games before the suspension, felt the same way as some commentators — that he was now the favourite to win the match despite his 5-3 deficit. He appeared to be physically stronger than his opponent, and in the later games seemed to have been playing the better chess.

The match became the first, and so far only, world championship match to be abandoned without result. The next year, 85, he wins the Championship outright and becomes the youngest World Champion ever.

His genius is unparalleled.

You goobs know I like to play myself. I'm really not very good at all. I still lose to my Dad all the time, though he acknowledges that I'm getting better. There was a time when he would read the paper and eat while we played....I would be hunched over taking 10 minutes to make a single move. After beating him ONCE, he realized he had to cut out the distractions and our games are quite serious now. He won't dare open with crazy sacrifices cause I simply don't fall for that shit anylonger.

I play at least a couple of games on-line everyday...and get beat all the time, BTW. But I've occasionally played to a DRAW against the DELORIE program, or against on-line chess maniacs. I've even played against street players on Market and beat a Russian player after 40+ moves....he was pissed and practically threw the one dollar purse at me.

So I'm taking it up a notch and swinging by our local Chess Club on Sunday. They welcome beginners and give talks about openings, defenses, and chess theory. I'm actually looking forward to getting my ass-kicked. I'll tell you how I do.

Later....

The Car is Back.

Finally got my car back from my Autobody shop. New back bumper/paint/windshield and a detail thrown in for good measure. All courtesy of the Lady who hit my bumper on the bridge.



After driving a POS for nearly a week, it's good to have a car with BRAKES. Yes, that's actually the first thing I noticed...even before the power.

Going for a short run.

Night.

Why I Love the City.

I work in the Heart of the Mission, 2 blocks from Delores Park. On any given day, you'll find several thousand people milling about the 20 block stretch from 10Th to 30th Street. I took a walk around my block...just ONE block...and I'm not kidding,...a walk around the block, staying on the sidewalk, all the way around from Mission, south to 25th, left to Valencia, up and left on 24th, and back to work. Here are the places one can eat:

Up 24th:
* Popeye's: Okay, it's a fast food chain.
* Hidden Paradise Cafe: Chinese coffee shop.
* Vojalonga Trattoria: Upscale southern Italian restaurant.
* Revolution Cafe: Super trendy outdoor bar and coffee house, live music, poetry readings.
* Torta El Primo: Awesome Gordita's place. Just had lunch there today. Their chorizo gordita's are Monty.
* Boogaloo's: Super Hip restaurant, serves only breakfast and lunch. Once saw Benjamin Bratt hanging out there.
* Bahia: Traditional Mexican sit-down restaurant.
* Huen Yuen: Sit down Szechuan divey Chinese joint.
* Esperpento: Upscale Spanish Tapa's Bar...place kicks ass.
* Garcon: Upscale French joint.

Now turn left onto Valencia:
* Luca Ravioli: Traditional Italian deli. At lunch, you'll find a line of construction workers waiting to order the biggest deli sandwiches I've ever seen....and I'm not talking about the bread, it's the pound of meat in every sandwich...Whew!
* Bistro Anex: So-so Bistro
* El Valenciano: Upscale South American Restaurant.
* Last Supper Club: Trendy Dinner spot.
* Senses: Dark, hip, and smoky Japanese joint.
* El Mujahual: El Salvadorian Restaurant..more like a hole in the wall.

Now turn left onto 25th:
* Muddy's: Typical S.F. coffee house.
* Big Mouth Burgers: Burgers for Big Mouth's.
* Casa Banapole: Mexican Bakery.
* Cafe Venice: Mexican Cafe/Deli.
* Cafe Bohemian: Mediterranean Cafe and coffee house.
* China House: Cheap Chinese Buffet joint.
* Mac Donalds: the only other Chain eatery.

Now turn left onto Mission:
* Taqueria Farolito: Hole in the wall serving awesome taco's. Alwayz a line out the door.
* Red Balloon: Nicaraguan Restaurant.
* La Coreneta: Upscale yet traditional taqueria, live music.
* Las Palmas: I have no idea what they serve....I think Columbian?
* Nexxio Deli: Traditional deli with middle eastern flair.
* Smile BBQ: Alwayz smells good when you walk by...a total dive hole in the wall.
* AJ Chinese: Yet another Chinese fast-good joint.
* Kababayan: Food from my homeland.
* Chinese Express: and yet another Chinese fast-food joint.
* Mission's Kitchen: standard American Diner.

And then back to my front door. That's 34 places one can eat inside of one block. And this is not including the 4 corner grocery stores, 3 fresh produce markets, and 2 traditional butcher shops...of coarse that's assuming you can eat raw meat.

Later...

Quick Lotto update.

I just heard on KCBS that a 100 million dollar Mega Millions lotto ticket was purchased at our local 76 Station. You have to understand that our southern island community is small and insulated. We all see each other at our local Safeway and only gas station, the Union 76 at the corner. I know the owner of the station and we chat every time I purchase my 50 bucks worth of Super. I heard him on the radio saying that he knows exactly who purchased the ticket but will not reveal any info. until the winner comes forward. Apparently, both his lotto machine and CCT is timestamped.

Needless to say, I freaked out for just about 8.583 seconds, after which I realized that I purchased my ticket at a 7-11 in Daly Shitty....KAHN!!!!

Gaming.

Haven't gamed in a few weeks and I'm Jones'n for some L5R. I have a short story arc that should do in a pinch and should be quite lethal at that. Chapter Title: Momoko Stronghold.

Anywayz, nothing to report. Been driving the Cobalt and it's showing more worthiness the more I drive it. Firstly, I love the way I can drive into driveways without worrying about clipping the nose. Also like the way I can drive full-speed over speed bumps without bottoming out. Also like not having to shift...completely brainless driving experience....very easy to be seduced into multi-tasking. The stereo thumps and the roominess is actually surprising. Just one more sucky item to report: Torque steer is prevalent. You best put both hands on the wheel when you accelerate out of a turn due to the front wheel drive wanting very hard to pull the steering rack back to center....annoying.

Alameda has been crazy hot as of late. Evening temps are in the low 70's, very difficult for my wife and I to get a good night's sleep. We have 2 fans going; a box fan in the hallway and an oscillating fan next to the dresser....and it doesn't help much.

Work has been, as usual, frustrating. A long line of clients, never ending requests, and never enough treatment and housing slots. Part of the problem is that clients say they want treatment, tell us they want to turn their lives around, "Get off the streets and get off the drugs", not to mention follow-through on their psychotropic regimen. Many don't...they AWOL from facilities, relapse, discharge AMA (Against Medical Advice), and wind up back on the streets and eventually in our hospitals yet again...the proverbial "Revolving Door". But as they say, "Relapse is a part of recovery". This is a strange thing to say but while mental illness, psychotic and depressive spectrum disorders included, are at times treatment resistant and recalcitrant, it is the substance abuse disorder in combination with a pre-morbid psychiatric disorder that ultimately determines the prognosis of recovery, NOT vice-versa. End rant.

Bought a lotto ticket when it hit a third of a billion dollars. Why can't I win?! I think I deserve to win, in fact. I've made my promises to the higher power that I would help my fellow man, ie. contributions/endowments to causes that are personally important to me. Does it matter that I want to buy a Lamborghini Superlaggera as my weekend car...in which case I would need to buy an RS4 for my daily driver, a Radical SR8 as my track car, and a Cayenne BiTurbo as the trailer hauler...so what. Oh, I'd need a 4000 square foot garage with 2 lifts and a shop...in which case I would need to purchase a home with a least a acre of land...and in the Bay Area, that would mean Los Altos, and homes with garages that size and in that neighborhood tend to be a little expensive, but so what. I deserve to win.

Continuing to run. Extended each outing by 1 minute...yeah, that sounds lame, but it's the best I can do. You know the saying "second wind"...it's somewhat true for me. It takes a full mile to get into a comfortable jogging pace, breathing rhythm, to know what to do with my hands/arms, and to spit out all the mucus. The problem is that I can't go much farther past a mile. I think I need to push past the shin splints, side stints, and the lack of oxygen to get to the next level...which I hope is not either a coronary or brain embolism. I'll be giving it a try this evening. I'm actually quite impressed that I can run with only 1 days rest. When NTT's Brain gets back, I'll insist we run on a track cause I'd like to get a baseline on my mile time.

Anywayz, gotta go. Seeing clients in a few.

Family Get-togethers.

My Sis and her family came up for the weekend. Three days of family parties. Thursday was with my wife, my parents, and my sis, her husband, and kids. Friday was to celebrate my Grandmother's 97th Birthday....yes 97...born in 1910...just amazing. Went to my aunts house. Saturday was at my parents house again, 3 aunts/uncles and their children were in attendance...had a fun time...house full of kids. Sunday was with just my sister and her family at our place. We spent the time at the local Alameda beach. Again, really fun. I have so many cousins, it's ridiculous. I don't even know, or haven't even met all my aunts and uncles...I have probably 40+ aunts/uncles and about 100+ cousins scattered around the world. Even my parents don't know all their names.

Dropped off the S4 for bumper repairs related to my Bay Bridge incident. My adjuster was cool...drove an SVT Focus with alot of performance mods. He clearly gave me more money than I needed to fix the car and I'm getting my cracked and pitted windshield replaced for free...WOOHOO!

Driving a Cobalt rental car...this car is horrendous.

1. Brakes: Impossible to modulate. You lock it up half the time in the rain...yes it was raining in Daly Shitty this morning...no surprise.
2. Tires: The all-season tires have zero ability to grip the asphalt. Squealing tires on nearly every turn.
3. Engine management: You can't hold the RPM's steady. Basically you're either accelerating or off throttle. No part or even throttle power delivery...maybe it was just cold but throttle modulation essentially sucks balls.
4. Automatic Tranny: Complete garbage. It shifts at 3 grand no matter what you're doing with the throttle.
5. Engine: Gutless
6. The rest of the car: Not bad.

The Cobalt is pretty much all about style over substance. It has no performance capability what-so-ever. It'll get you from point A to point B in comfortable seats, a smooth ride, with a nice sound-system, and powerful heater/air con...but that's about it. The Civic, it's competitor, has the same amenities, but you get independent suspension, a VTEC motor, great handling, and ludicrous durability to boot. Why anyone would purchase this vehicle given the utter superiority of all of it's competitors is beyond me. Again, another example of a crappy American Car. However, I should add that even Americans don't bay these cars NEW...the rental industry does, and afterwards sell them at cheap prices to folks who could care less about purchasing a reliable and capable car.

This is not to say all American Car's suck. There are a few exceptions: Corvette, Z06, Caddy CTSV, Focus, SRT Neon, Viper,...I think that's about it. Pathetic.