My favorite aspect of sports.

I actually find sports statistics as fascinating or even more fascinating than the game itself. And nothing comes close to Baseball in terms of statistics. I've recently checked out an on-line Baseball Statistics Almanac where you can query a hitter's batting average against a left-handed reliever, in a domed roofed stadium, on artificial turf, during a night game, on a weekend, after a home-loss, and with a 3 and 1 count...that's crazy.

Anywayz, most of you know I'm a Barry Bonds fan, despite his crappy attitude, his controversial personal life, and the steroid allegations. For a statistics aficionado, his career statistics are a wet dream. If he were to play just ONE more year and amass mediocre numbers in the process, ie. 350 at-bats, 22 homers, 60 RBI's, 80 walks, 40 Intentionals, 80 runs, etc., he would end his career with these ALL-TIME records.
- 1st in homers.
- 1st in bases on ball.
- 1st in intentional walks...this is a particularly ludicrous stat; he has 688 lifetime and the NEXT player, Hammerin Hank, has 293!
- 1st in extra base hits
- 3000+ hits
- 5th in on base percentage
- 4th in OPS
- 6th in plate appearances
- 3rd in RBI
- 1st in runs scored
- 6th in slugging percentage
- 500+ steals
- 2nd in times on base
- 2nd in total bases
- 7 MVP's
- 5 30/30 seasons, their have been 49 total 30/30 seasons
- 1 of 4 40/40 seasons
- 8 gold glove awards
- 12 silver slugger awards
- 14 all star game appearances

Next time, I'll do the GOAT, the "Greatest Of All Time"...thediscourser knows who I'm talkin about. We can thank him for dozens of flying out of your chair uncontrollable screaming episodes.

Later

WORKS Grand Opening at Infineon.

Turns out that I know one of the owners of WORKS Mitsubishi. This guy is an Uber Car guy, and a super savvy entrepreneur. WORKS, a Mitsu tuner shop originally based out of San Francisco, has developed a hell of a rep as of late and business has exploded to such a degree that they simply can't keep up with orders and customer car modifications. They have become the pre-imminent EVOLUTION tuners in the U.S. and subsequently have purchased a huge state of the art shop at Infineon Raceway. They're developing a strong Time Trial and road racing pedigree and have become a darling within the import magazine tuner scene. Their plans are to move the company into partnership with Mitsubishi in the same manner DINAN has with Beemer. In essence, they'll work directly with dealerships and Beemer North Am to have customer cars modified by dealer right out of the box...and here's the cool part, as with DINAN, it WON'T void your warranty...THAT'S the Holy Grail with tuners.

They have a long road ahead of them but the ground work is in place. With Infineon literally in their back yard, they'll have immediate real-world data re. their proprietary products. What's awesome about what they do is that their cars are wicked fast but the parts AREN'T wicked aggressive; meaning it'll work on the stock top and bottom end. Mild but well conceived engineering producing incredible results WITHOUT destroying the car...this is why North American Mitsubishi is soo interested in them.

Anyway, Kirk, the guy I know, is pretty much running the ship. He has an impressive paddock of personal cars. I hate him! Check this out. Here is his wide-body EVO IX:

An ORIGINAL Tommi Makinen short wheelbase EVO built for Boris Said!!! I can't believe he had dinner with the guy and convinced him to sell it to him! It's in pristine condition and is literally one of a kind!

The World Champion WRC EVO!...yes that's correct! This is the SAME car you can drive on the Sony Playstation.

And the first NEW EVO Race car being built in the US. Check this out, acid dipped, fully seam welded, full roll-cage racer!

Anywayz, I saw the most incredible example of RAVE-BOY's car at the track. As pristine RAVE-BOY's car is, this example, a 90 Supra, is even better...and he positively won't believe what the guy has done to the engine. Pulled it, balance and blue-printed, new light weight crank with champhered oil pockets, uprated rods, pistons, valve worked and port polished heads, and an absolutely MASSIVE single turbo. Pushes 650 HP on 91!


Today, NASA and Posche PCA were haveing their yearly race weekend. Hundreds of Porsches racing around Infineon got me drooling and itching bad to hit the track.

I simply can't WAIT for T-Hill, especially after shooting the shit and talking shop with dozens of instructors from BMW GGRC and AUDI GGC...ARGH!

My wife's brain is out of control and other updates.

So my wife took the second portion of her licensing exam. You have to understand, it takes 2-3 years of grad-school, 2 years of unpaid internships, and nearly 5 years of full-time clinically supervised work just to qualify for the 2 part exam. The exams are horrendously difficult...the failure rate is greater than the state's Bar Examinations. It has two parts. The first is a simply huge multiple choice exam which requires most to enroll in an examination preparation course...she passed that last year after studying the entire summer. Then you have to wait at least 6 months and no later than 12 months to take the Clinical Vignette portion of the exam...a total killer.

Now my wife was not prepared. She enrolled and took the exam simply because she needed to within the 12 month time-frame lest she lose her 5 years of clinical hours. She intended to re-take the exam in earnest next summer, after a lengthy and expensive preparation course. She went in without taking said course, without the requisite 2 months of study/preparation, with one weekend of cramming, and with the expectation of failure...in essence, she took the exam just to get experience with the exam. The crazy thing is that she PASSED!!

She simply could not believe it. The test provided you with 8 vignettes with a total of 40 multiple choice questions. The test was designed to be confusing. Each the the answers they offered are in fact correct....it's the examinees job to decide which is MOST correct...ARGH! 0ut of the 40 questions, she felt confident with only TWO of her answers!! Simply bad-ass IMHO.

Anywayz, other updates.

1. Going to Mendocino this Thanksgiving. Love the town.

2. My sister and her family live in Orange County. They're definitely not in any danger from the wild-fires but the ash and soot has covered nearly their entire county.

3. Going to the East Coast this Christmas and touring Manhattan/New York for the first time in my life. Staying in Times Square for New Years...how cool is that! There's so much to see: Soho, Greenwich Village, Central Park, Times Square, Broadway Shows, 911 site, the UN, and endless cool little neighborhoods. We'll try to see them all. I'm counting on global warming to help us out with the weather...wow, that's bad Karma.

4. Signing up for TWO track events: both at Thunderhill, one in mid-November and the other in early December. Both with mostly Miata/Porsche run groups. I'm hoping for frigid temperatures. I hate the ridiculously hot track days at T-hill. Bad for the brain and bad for little tiny turbo impeller wheels. I feel good about the folks that run the event: "Team-Racing.org". With about 10 cars max per session, I should be free to rip it up (and be ripped up) without the danger of traffic. I'm re-studying the track map and I'm still completely freaked out about the following:



- The off-camber T-3. My car always feels like a floaty boat here.
- T-7 and T-8. The good drivers barely lift here but the problem is that my brain can't accept the idea of not needing to brake!
- T-8 exit. Where do I point my car again?! Is it the damn water tower in the distance?
- The downshift to 2nd gear on T-11.
- And where the hell do I start to turn in on T-1? and at what speed? Do I downshift to 3rd or leave it in 4th?
Alot to learn and should be alot of fun.

OPEN INVITE. It would be great if any of you guys want to come out with me to T-Hill. If your interested, let me know and I'll tell you all the details about my schedule. I'm pretty sure they'll sign me off to have passengers by the 3rd session, unless I spin...AND I HAVE NEVER SPUN EVER IN THE S4. I'm beginning to think its impossible...hurry, knock on wood.

Later.

Yet another weekly round-up.

So despite NTT's Brain being on a different continent, he's still posting his daily sketches...Who's da Man?!...NTT's Brain's da man!

Had dinner and drinks with the Acupuncturist on Friday night. We're both convinced that this new bar I discovered absolutely rocks. Played Rummicube, Wit's End, Connect Four, and Phase 10. I had no idea that the Acupuncturist was as much a trivia goob as I was...who knew that he could properly sequence the length of despotic reigns, in years, of the worlds pre-WWII Tyrants....yep, that's exactly what I said.

Signing up for a track day at Thunder-Hill in early November. I need more seat time and I'm glad it's a Miata mostly run group. I hate being in a large pack tricked out EVO's and track-prepped STI's with R-comps. They simply accelerate too quickly, brake too deeply, and grip too hellaciously for my car and my skill level to keep up. I suppose in the right hands, my car would be a match but when it comes right down to it, there is no denying the extra 500 lbs., my 350 lbs springs vs 600 to 700 pounders they're running, and the Toyo Proxes RA-1's on 17 pound forged aluminum wheels. With Miata's on the track, I should at least be able to reign them in on the straights. All that's left to do on the car is rear pads and brake bleed. I'll be doing that this weekend.

Read the theDiscourser's blog on Ding's 16th. I absolutely despise that show on MTV, "My Super Sweet Sixteen"....and I truly believe the MTV execs know that this is the case for most viewers. The problem with TV programming today is that it panders to the lowest common denominator. What it comes down to is viewership...and that's about it. Forget about the content, whether it presents a bad message, or perpetuates our worst stereotypes, or glorifies our worst value's...the blanket justification is 2-fold:

Firstly: "If you don't like the program, feel free to change the channel."
And Secondly: "Our program is a reflection of society. We don't make up a thing."

And my answer is the same on both counts, "How do you sleep at night?" Who gives a rat's ass if you're not making it up or that we have a pseudo free-market system of TV/Cable channels. MTV continues to be an important source of information about the world to our young people...it has been for a generation. MTV cannot deny their impact on forming young people's world views, values, and mores. It's not just music and entertainment folks!...TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

Anywayz, I'm glad Ding wasn't seduced into imagining that she somehow deserves the "Super Sweet Sixteen" treatment....and that her self-worth and social standing relies on the impressiveness of her birthday party.

So the lawn is continuing to be ravaged by raccoons and possums. Every weekend, I find myself repairing the holes they dig up with their disgusting little maws. I'm using a wide spectrum grub and insect killer on the lawn. The guys at the nursery believe that what it comes down to is eliminating the food source. It's hit or miss at best. I'd like to use the crystallized Coyote urine again but I can't bring myself to spend 16 bucks for each container especially when each container is good for only 2 weeks a stretch.

What I need, I tell ya, is a motion-activated animatronic Wolf...or forget the animatronics, just give me the Wolf. Let me rent one for a couple of weekends every couple of months. That should do the job.

Gotta go....

Calorie Counting.

According to National Health Advisory Board, adults should intake between 2000 and 2500 calories a day, depending on age, body type, and activity. I thought that seemed ridiculously minuscule so I google'd a calorie counter and examined what I would consider a typical day of eating. Mind you, there are several days in the week when I simply don't get around to eating any breakfast or lunch and simply binge-eat dinner. I'm not examining those days, however, and looking at what I would call "Typical" daily intake. Let's not even look at a Gaming day, or a Friday binge eating extravaganza.....actually, to come to think of it, I think I will.

So as for "Typical":

1. Post Frosted Mini Wheat's, Bite-sized, 1 1/2 cups: 280

2. With accompanying 1 1/2 cups of skim milk: 16

3. Starbucks chilled Mocha Frap: 510

4. Lunch: this is going to vary depending on what I'm jonesin for but I usually imbibe on something tasty, relatively healthy, and made fresh from a NON chain eatery. But considering I can't google something made by Juventa at the corner Peruvian Eatery, I'll examine my typical meal at Popeye's:
Biscuit: 240
Cajun Rice and Gravy Side: 320
Spicy Breast: 360
Spicy Thigh: 300
Diet Coke Medium: 0

5. Dinner: (last night's)
Salad: Mixed Greens and Spinach: 34
Salad Dressing, Brianna's Blue Cheese 2 tablespoons: 152
Large Cilantro, Tequila Lime Lamb Burger with Blue Cheese, tomato, and mayo on
a Parmesan toasted Ciabatta Roll: 600 (give or take)
Grilled corn on the cob drizzled with butter: 157

6. Snack: (last night's)
Two slices of sourdough piled with 4 Italian cheeses and 12 slices of
pepperoni: Bread: 263, Cheese 63, Pepperoni, 135 = Total: 461.

7. Dessert: Fat free Pina Colada yogurt: 115

For a grand total of : 3545!! Holy Crap...I was already over the top by lunch.

Actually, forget about looking at a bad day of eating like this past Saturday's GoG.

I'm off to lunch!...I'm craving Salt Fish Fried Rice...MMMM...2000 calories of yummy goodness in one shot.

GoG gaming and the Rave-Boy brings bad car luck.

The GoG event was awesome. Nearly everyone was in attendance save thePerfectLine, Duff, Kawanga Kid, and Cajun. We even got NTT's Brain from Shanghai on Skype to do some on-line gaming...kewl. Played for hours on end, two separate games to be exact; L5R and Star Hero...talk about 2 ends of the technological spectrum. Constant eating on my part; Tapasilog and Show Pow from Ling Nam, and a #5 Double Cheeseburger combo from Mickey D's....soo bad and yet soo good...MMMM. It was awesome to see the Supertech all the way from Germany. He's working on super yachts in Hamburg.

I'd like to run L5R again. The Professor is doing a great job weaving an epic tale but I have a feeling that I could get a one-off gaming session that would get our Hack and Slash juices flowing.

So re. Rave-boy. It seems every time this guy gets into my car, something crazy happens in or around the car. Example:

1. While in my car at Thunderhill Raceway, the driver's side lower poly-eurathane SAMCO intercooler hose explodes....catastrophic symptom, but thank goodness it was an incredibly easy fix. For a second, I thought I blew an engine.
2. While riding in my car around the Mighty Mook's house, a car on the opposite side of the road misses the red light and locks up his brakes right in front of us. He slid out of control right into the center of the busy intersection. Thank goodness no-one was in the way.
3. While riding in my car on Crystal Springs road, a car attempts to drive up an impossibly steep driveway right in front of us, the car ends up dragging it's rear end up the hill with a loud crashing scrape with the accompanying shooting sparks.
4. While driving HIS car on Old Mission Road, emergency personnel closes off a one mile stretch due to a multi-car accident. We missed the event by only a couple of minutes.
5. While driving my favorite Go-path on Saturday, and while upshifting to 3rd and taching out the motor, the lower intercooler hose blows off it's mount in mid-corner. Again, a catastrophic symtom but a simple 1 dollar/10 minute fix.

He's bad luck for sure. Actually I think thePerfectline just might be worse. I'd say about half the time I'm in his car, he manages to get the back-end to tail-whip at least once...scary.

Also heard about theDiscourser's "Plight of the Missing Diamond". What a bummer. He has to get all "CSI" on this one...unleash the forensic protocol and bust out the magnifying glasses. Don't give up that easily my man!...That's 2 Grand just laying there somewhere.

I might need to get involved.

My new workout.

So here's the new routine. Not really that new...perhaps 8 months old.

Run, or as the physical trainers call it "cardio", three and if I'm lucky, four times a week. One mile warm-up/cool-down and two miles of actually running, which is all I can muster in one stint...20 minutes max on the running part.

Circuit training. I've emerged from the middle ages doing away with my antiquated anaerobic regimen. I think I've mentioned this before but my previous routine, which was getting old to the point that my body simply no longer responded to it, was a typical late 80's early 90's weight lifting routine which involved:
1. Separating body parts into muscle groups; chest/tri's, back/bi's/forearms, abs, legs.
2. Exercise one body part every 4-5 days and rotating the other muscle groups in a never ending cyclic pattern; ie.
Day 1: Chest/tri's
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Back/bi's/forearms
Day 4: Abs/legs
Day 5: Rest
Day 6: Start all over again.
3. The basic premise being you completely blow out the muscle group and allow your body to recover before you blow it out again....and it got downright boring. No matter how I changed it up, whether I used dumbbells or barbells, changed hand positions, did fly's instead of press, or used Nautilus machines vs. free weights, my body simply got accustomed to the motion in a matter of weeks.

So, enter Circuit Training:
Totally different philosophy. You workout EVERY muscle group EVERY TIME. Of course I was sceptical given I was soo used to doing 24 sets of just one muscle group instead of 7-8 a night, but given your doing the muscle group 3 times over 6-7 days instead of only once, that's 24 sets right there!

Here's the new routine, sorry if this is completely uninteresting. This is why I'm a goober. Also note that unlike older routines which allow for 60-120 seconds of rest between sets, with circuit training, you blast out the sets with, at the most, 15 seconds or rest, or the time it takes for you to walk to the next station. You use that time to deep breath (or catch your breath) and stretch the muscle. BTW, optimally, your heart rate should be at around 80% capacity, or pulse rate at around 90 BPM.

Day 1:

Set 1: Warm-up, 10 reps, flat bench dumbbell press 75 lbs.
Set 2: Warm-up, 10 reps, wide grip pull ups, slow.
Set 3: Warm-up, 10 reps, military press dumbbell 45 lbs.
Set 4: Warm-up, 10 reps, seated calf raises Nautilus machine 80 lbs.
Set 5: 20 crunches.
Set 6: 6-8 reps, flat bench dumbbell press 85 lbs.
Set 7: Wide grip pull ups, slow and held at the apex, reps to muscle failure.
Set 8: 6-8 military press dumbbell 55 lbs.
Set 9: Seated calf raises Nautilus machine 100 lbs. reps to muscle failure...this one is quite a rush BTW.
Set 10: 20 leg lifts.
Set 11: Flat bench dumbbell press 95 lbs. reps to muscle failure.
Set 12: Wide grip pull ups, slow and held at the apex, reps to muscle failure.
Set 13: Military press dumbbell 65 lbs. reps to muscle failure
Set 14: Seated calf raises Nautilus machine 120 lbs. reps to muscle failure.
Set 15: 20 incline crunches
Set 16: Cable flys 110 lbs....immediately followed by
Set 17: Dips to failure
Set 18: Standing shrugs 180 lbs. to failure...this one kills me.
Set 19: Front lat raises 20 lbs. to failure...immediately followed by
Set 20: Hammer curls 20 lbs. 8 reps
Set 21: Cable flys 120 lbs to failure...immediately followed by
Set 22: Dips to failure
Set 23: Seated shrugs 200 lbs. to failure...I'm dying by now.
Set 24: Front lat raises 22.5 lbs to failure....immediately followed by
Set 25: Hammer curls 22.5 lbs to failure
Set 26: Cable flys 110 lbs. to failure...at this point, I'm probably doing only 4 reps cause my upper body is seizing.
Set 27: Dips to failure....maybe 5 max at this point.
Set 28: Dumbbell shrugs 140 lbs. to failure...I'm lucky to be doing 5 at this point.
Set 29: Front lat raises 20 lbs, to failure...KILL ME
and FINALLY
Set 30: Hammer curls 20 lbs....if I can bust out with 2 reps, I'm good.

Now this is DAY ONE. Day TWO, rest. Day THREE, it's the same cycle but you replace the previous exercises with these:
1. Flat bench dumbbell with BARBELL, 205 lbs.
2. Wide grip pull-ups with NARROW grip
3. Military press with BARBELL press 115 lbs.
4. Keep AB workout the same.
5. Seated calf raises with STANDING, same weight
6. Cable flys with NAUTILUS flys, same weight
7. Keep DIPS
8. Shrugs with SEATED CABLE ROWS
9. Lat raises with BENT OVER RAISES, same weight
10. And keep hammer curls.

Day FOUR, rest. Day 5, you start all over again!

As you can see, I'm doing the MAJOR exercises utilizing classic movements. No need to diversify or concentrate on minor or secondary muscle groups. It's just not necessary given the passive development...ex. no need to do tri's when we're doing presses and dips to failure.

To summarize, my body is completely destroyed after every workout. There is no way I can do any lifting the next day. The circuit, despite the number of exercises, moves you very quickly through the stations (and your panting throughout) and has you out the door in 40 minutes flat. Your body simply can't do or lift anymore at that point.

I do away with legs cause I run, and on my days off of running, I couldn't do legs anyway.

All in all, working out has been a steady, necessary, and consistent part of my life for close to 18 years. After about 7 days, I actually feel SICK if I don't do something associated with body movement and/or strenuous physical activity. And needless to say, I'm pretty much ripped at this point AND been gaining some muscle weight too....and eating like a starved PIG to boot. My wife pokes my nearly non-existent love-handles cause I think she wants to see a full-on six pack like JAMES on Survivor China....JEEZ, that guy is shredded. But I don't think my DNA will allow for a 6-pack, no matter what I do. Anywayz, I'm happy with a 2-pack and a paunch.

I gotta get back to work now....hehe.

Car stuff and friends.

So NTT's Brain is leaving us for several months this week,...bummer. But we'll have the Supertechnician in for a visit from Germany this Saturday...WOOHOO!

I spent my day off at Dynospot Racing getting some work done on my car...waited 7 hours at, mostly, Starbucks. Thank goodness their was a movie theatre in the small strip mall and I went ahead and saw "The Kingdom", a film by Michael Mann. Holy Shit, what a movie...a MUST see.

So as far as car work:
1. Rollers: necessary maintenance.
2. Cam Seals: necessary maintenance.
3. Dual timing belts: necessary maintenance.
4. Fuel filter: necessary maintenance.
5. Uprated RS4 high flow water pump: lowers engine operating temp.
6. Lower temperature thermostat: allows coolant to dump at lower temp.
7. Lower temp cooling fan switch and sensor: again, clicks the electric fans on earlier in the game.
8. Driveline Stabilizing snub mounts: eliminates drive-line slack, quicker and firming up and down shifts...WOOHOO!
9. And a bunch of doo dads that I have no clue as to their purpose.

So the car runs a good 25 degrees cooler, awesome! With a high temp forced induction motor, cool is good. Also, the driveline stabilizer rocks...what a huge difference. All I need is new rear carbon metallic PBR pads and I'm ready to rock!

Rifts and theDiscourser.

Saturday gaming rocked. I enjoy the Warden's style of GM'ing and all in attendance, Supergoober, Moose, the Acupuncturist and his partner, the Craftsman, Rave-boy, and NTT's Brain, had a great time. I love this game environment. The developers truly didn't discriminate when it comes to genre; it simply has something for everyone: Cyber-Punk meets Wild West meets Arduin meets Warhammer meets Post Holocaust meets Star Wars, and a few more thrown in for good measure.

My character is a self-righteous Cyber-Knight, think Jedi Knight ala Star Wars and you got it. I'm playing him like a Clan Sentinel; "We are at War against Tyranny, respect all sentient life, protect the innocent.." yadda, yadda, yadda. Not very complicated character really. To tell you the truth, I can't wait to do battle.

We hosted another guest Saturday night, this time, my wife's good friend. Sunday was yard work (the ongoing struggle to maintain a green lawn), football, bills, the Gym, and homemade mushroom/Parmesan Risotto (what a pain in the ass, the constant stirring, but jeez was it good) and stuffed Game hen....yummy.

Been reading theDiscourser's blog. Jeez, he needs to get paid more. Whats frustrating about that line of thinking though is that my mind automatically moves to identify those in our society that get paid loads of money to do JACK SHIT. As much as I believe that regulated capitalism with democratic oversight is the best way to go, I simply can't stand seeing morons like Paris Hilton make money to, in effect, shape our young people's minds...my goodness, she's actually one of our most famous role-models for young women...oh Lord help us.

Last week, Katie Couric talked about brave women throughout the world that get absolutely no pub and yet are involved in the most inspiring and important work....that it is THESE women that our young people should pay attention to, to aspire to become. She names several women...one of them is engaged in progressing women's rights in India, and another to bring justice to the thousands of Chileans who've disappeared under Pinochet's despotic reign. And this is a quote that ended her segment..."And yet, our young people pay more attention to troubled pop starlets who can't even sing."...Luv it.