10 Yards and Primordial Soup

Disturbing Trends

2011-06-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

1) I hate one particular biker. Fuck you, you tattooed moron, who would be as bold to break no less than 2 moving violations and then verbally harass my wife and me.

Yes, you. Yeah, you. Uh-huh. Yeah, Fuck You. Fuck you, you bitch-ass, bike-riding, wannabe hippie. You cannot bike against traffic and randomly switch directions in the middle of the street and expect people to know what the fuck you are doing, you fucktard.

Don't ever, ever yell at my wife or in her general direction.

And no, I did not F' your mother, so that moniker that so aptly rolled off your tongue is inaccurate. But, if I did, I guarantee I would go for the 6th Base.

Argh. Tupac Shakur said it best. NSFW.

Okay, I got that out of my system.

2) What is up with this trend of putting lyrical hooks/choruses with a rap about it how hard it was to grow up in your youth. Like B.oB. w/ Hayley Williams of Paramore in "Airplanes" or Tinie Tempah w/ Eric Turner in "Written in the Stars." Then you have this Skylar Grey person showing up everywhere, and then, Rihanna being the no talent ass clown that she is, gets in on the action as well, with Eminem? I guess he kind of started it back in the day with the song, "Stan", but I am sure this trend has been around for a while.

I seriously doubt any of these cats thought this idea up. Anyone know who the first or the first recording of this was ?

With that being said, I like Airplanes and Written in the Stars.

3) I cannot stand Lady Gaga. Argh. Didn't we see this in the 1980s. Her name then was Madonna.

4) I don't particularly care for this Bieber kid, but I give him props for being so motivated at such a young age. With that said, I wish he would disappear like Ricky Martin.

5) We're due for the next boy band. ~1970, Jackson 5, Monkees, ~1980s Menudo [this is a stretch, but I needed somthing for ~1980], ~1990s New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, New Edition, All-4-One, ~2000 Backstreet Boys, NSync, O-Town, 98 Degrees.

It's about time, if my calculations are correct. Oh lord. Please help us survive.

One Year Later ...

2011-06-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

One year (and three days) ago, my wife and I were married. However, I think today marks as big a milestone. Today is the day that we boarded a plane and started our life together in California. I think about that day, and I think about the emotions at play. I felt horrible for feeling as though I was taking my wife away from everything familiar to her. She had grown up on the East Coast, and everything and everyone she knew was "East Coast".

California is an odd place, at least Northern CA. It's autumnal weather year round, and you require a jacket on some days and every night, even in the middle of summer. And then, there is the incessant fog and drizzle rain. Heh, Seattle-lite.

We got home in the evening a year ago, and her aunt had kindly picked us up from the airport. She brought us these Indian lentil loaf things, called "Handvo". She also brought us milk so that we could have some and make coffee the next day.

I cannot say enough about her aunt and uncle. They have done so much for us, helping my wife especially know that there is family here for her and that people love her. Yes, I love her, but love is not always enough especially when you are removed from everything familiar to you.

It is a testament to the toughness of my wife, however, at how fast she assimilated and rode out the initial hardships. In many ways, outside of our parents and what they experienced, she is the bravest person I know.

We've been able to carve out a niche in our community, which we love. We enjoy our local gym and have gotten to know the other regulars there. We've found our favorite breakfast food locales and found a taco shop we cannot get enough of. We've made friends with our local ethnic food market. It has led us to finding great produce, like green peppers as large as a fist [no they have not been genetically altered] and cut our food costs.

We've joined a wine club and discovered regions with wine that we had not visited before. We took our first road trip together, and hosted both sets of our parents, our siblings, friends, and uncles/aunts who visited [not all at the same time]. Everyone who has visited us has come away realizing that we have created a good nest in our first year. We won't live in our apartment forever, and so, the physical location will change in time. However, the "nest" is as emotional/mental as it is physical. It's where you go home; it's who you go home to.

In many ways, it has been the best year of my life. It's been the first year of my life that I have fully shared with another person since I left home in 1996 [for college].

These are some thoughts / observations / lessons from Year 1:

1) Never clean / dry a wine glass with wet hands.

2) Never disregard the strength of Serrano peppers. Definitely do not touch your cheeks or eyes after chopping one.

3) Football does not matter as much as it once did. I still like it, but I think there was always a part of me using it as a surrogate for something missing in my life.

4) My wife is one of the most practical people I know.

5) "World is going to eat you up." followed up by " ...... the World? ......" -- from our 4.75 yr old nephew.

6) We prefer Alexander Valley.

7) Cast iron cookware is amazing to use in the kitchen.

8) Be careful for what one asks for -- one will get it at some point. For example, Jan-May 2011 was an extremely busy time. My wife knows what I am talking about.

9) I don't really get mad, but I can speak loudly. I need to do a better job of tempering that.

10) Shipping a car cross country is a not trivial task.

11) I want to give a shout out / acknowledgement to my friends out here -- you're no longer my friends; you're OUR friends. Y'all have helped make my wife feel part of the family out here.

12) Electronic bill pay is a good thing.

13) My wife and I work well together. We have different things we do well, and so, we complement each other well. This works with synchronicity when we cook meals.

14) Coffee in the Caribbean is amazing.

15) Admiral Rodney -- I know you are out there. I will find you. It's the best rum [dark rum] I have ever had. Argh, if only the duty free store had it on our way out!

I'll start posting on this blog more often from here on out.

Until next time, HAAR!

The Wedding Approaches

2010-06-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I will be getting married. It still feels distant, but I know the time approaches fast. There is not much to do - just some decisions regarding the selection of alcohol during the reception. Oh, yes. Rachana and I have not practiced our first dance outside of selecting our song. The potential for a wonderful disaster exists.

How do I feel - I dunno. I feel excited, but normal. I am not nervous. Perhaps, I will be Friday night during those few hours to myself when I am alone and have a chance to introspect. Perhaps, not - I will be tired. I look most forward to seeing my family again and having all my friend who are able to attend come. Even the others who cannot make it have shared their excitement and good tidings with us.

I am very humbled by the blessings bestowed by everyone and the effort people are making to attend. I hope that we are great hosts, and the guests enjoy their time.

I want to say something insightful or profound, but I have nothing right now. Seldom are thoughts as significant as one thinks they are, though. On Saturday, though, I will answer my to-be-wife's chief question - "Why do you love me?" It's an answer I have withheld from her and told her when we marry, I will tell her.

On Saturday, God willing, I will. Okay, time to leave early from work and deal with the last few things. See you there on Friday, etc.

Words Thrown Away

2010-05-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

In monumental stroke of bad luck, I left my wedding speech on my work desk. It seems the carpets were cleaned last night, and my paper pad was knocked to the floor. Once on the floor, my speech was steam cleaned.

It is ruined. The words smeared about. I have the gist in my head as well as the order of thoughts that I wanted to discuss in the 3-3.5 minutes I allotted to myself, however. And I think that is what I will do.

I like having a plan, but I feel as though plans are skeletons, outlines if you will permit, of what to do.

My father and I laid out each class I would take from freshman year to graduation of high school and then college. Remarkably, the high school plan was about 80%-90% the same. There is not much in high school that was going to attract my attention. If it was an AP class, I was going to take it and get the credit. In that process, I started college with 40-45 hrs of credit.

This laid the groundwork for my undergrad. So much of the early years of my father and my plan was already accounted for. I had room to explore and try new things. So, I did. Instead of taking 17-18 hrs some semesters, I backed off and took 12-14 hrs per semester that contributed towards my degree. I took a "throwaway" class each semester, like athletic conditioning, basketball skills I, Introduction to Hinduism's Origin, a hero's origin, or even a class on relativity [pass/fail]. The freedom and extra time also make a difference during football season when you are attempting to unleash 1000 crickets in the middle of the night on Nebraska's, the visiting team, hotel floor -- it gives you time to plan.

I have the outline in my head as well as a version of what I am going to say. And now, I have time/freedom to explore creative options for what I want to say. I have an opportunity to let my heart speak its mind to my wife-to-be. I have an opportunity to tell my parents what they mean to me. And, I have an opportunity to acknowledge my friends for what they have done to me.

I do not know exactly what I will say any longer. But, I do know I have a general idea from the original speech. And come game day, June 5th, whatever I do say will be in my voice. There will be no screen as we create when we edit or plan things out.

It's going to be exciting. And for some reason, I just know I will do well.

15 days. Bring it.

Villains

2010-05-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

What makes a good villain?

There must be an action that represents a point of no return and hope for redemption.

The point of no return aligns the audience with one of the sides - good or evil. The Joker in Batman and Voldemort in the Harry Potter novels are also great archetypes for villains. There is nothing redeeming about them; they are manipulative and completely evil. Joker and Voldemort also share another trait - badassness. Both characters have a formidable presence and possess great powers, namely intelligence and wizardry, respectively. They are worthy adversaries for any hero.

One of my favorite, more recent examples is Ra's al Ghul from Batman Begins. There is part where Batman's training with the Himalayan ninjas ends, and Ra's al Ghul asks Batman to kill a guy for stealing a goat or something. Batman looks at him in disbelief, but Ghul is completely serious. This Ghul's moment - despite becoming Batman's father figure, he asks him to do something so unmistakeably evil. This is Ghul's point of no return - we no longer care about all that he has done for our hero; Ghul's a bad dude. I mean seriously. You don't kill a person for goat stealing unless you went to TX A&M. Those goat/sheep f'ers, argh.

Also, there cannot be any source for redemption. Take Darth Vader for example. What seems as though the perfect formula for a villain - dark outfit, scary voice, great powers, etc. - is actually a hero who has been manipulated. Yes, Vader is the Villain in Star Wars, but by the end of Empire Strikes Back, I, too, sensed the good in him and hoped he would redeem himself.

This is why I look forward to the Iron Man 2 movie. Mickey Rourke's character plays Ivan Vanko. For the purposes of the film, he plays "Whiplash", who is Russian, brilliant, and deranged. Now, in the comics, Ivan Dranko was the Crimson Dynamo - the communist version of Iron Man. But, this movie makes him Whiplash, which is fine. It's just an amalgamation of both characters.

How will he be? Will there be a point of not return? Will there be redemption? I doubt it on the redemption of the villain. I think Whiplash will be flat out evil. I

However, the Iron Man comic story has always been about Tony Stark's demons and his quest for redemption*. He messes up so much, has so much hubris, but when everything is on the line, Tony Stark always sucks it and fights back. Iron Man 2 also adapts the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline where Stark becomes an alcoholic. I find this story very compelling because when all hope seems lost, the redemption occurs.

At some point, I should address in 31 days, I will be married. Ok, I just addressed it. Haar.

* denotes that many would argue the original Iron Man was about Western technology versus Eastern mysticism, ie. Iron Man vs. the Mandarin and his 10 Rings. The movie adaptation takes after the "Demon in a Bottle" plot.

Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules

2010-03-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

I've been an Elmore Leonard fan for some time. Recently, FX has developed one of his characters, U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens from Pronto and Riding the Rap, into a show - Justified. It stars Tim Olyphant, and I have enjoyed his previous work as well (Deadwood) .

Watching Justified got me thinking about Leonard's rules and other musings of that sort.

Here are Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules on Writing, from New York Times article, “Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle."

1) Never open a book with weather.

2) Avoid prologues.

3) Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.

4) Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said”…he admonished gravely.

5) Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.

6) Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."

7) Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

8) Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

9) Don't go into great detail describing places and things.

10) Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

Interestingly, in the years after this essay was published, Elmore Leonard whimsically said that he had an 11th rule:

"Don't be afraid to break the rules if it makes the story better."

Upcoming Stuff

2010-03-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

I have not had as much time as I had hoped for to write. As luck would have it, though, I have been working on a slew of essays for an essay writing class. I think I will post them as my "posts". I need to turn them in first, however.

In other free time, I have spent time helping to plan this wedding that is coming soon - 10 weeks. 10 weeks seems long, but it will go by quickly. The only thing left to determine are the unforeseeable problems that will come up. It would not be a wedding unless things went wrong. I do not intend to become upset unless more than 9 think go wrong between May 1 - June 5, the homestretch.

I like our wedding date, 6.5.2010. In general, I like numbers, and it is fun for me to know we are getting married on the 5th day of a month, and the digits of the date add up to 5 (6+5+2+1=14 -> 1+4 -> 5). I think there probably is someone out there who has assigned meaning to this randomness, however, for me, it is merely a way to pass the time. It's fun; nothing more, nothing less.

I never thought I would ever get praised for my use of semicolons, however, the writing instructor maintained I use semicolon courageously and properly. I like semicolons because they convey the types of pauses or breaks in thoughts I myself have ongoing in my head. I dunno if that is courageous, but I will not turn away compliment from this woman; she is a good writer and her comments on our writing reflect her acumen.

Okay, I need to head to a meeting, but one should expect to start seeing me post my essays up here soon.

2009

2009-12-31T11:35:00.000-08:00

2009 was a year of transition. New job, life status changes, ie. engaged, and a lot of moves.

1) I lived in 3 different places during the course of 2009. Nuts. I am sick of moving.

2) I learned what I have to do fitness-wise to enjoy life as I get older.

3) A real job. Work is neat. For once, I get to apply my knowledge that i have spent a lifetime accumulating in school.

4) Writing. Writing emails and blogs is different from real writing. I learned that the hard way, but I am happy with my improvement. And I'll only continue to improve.

5a) Engaged. It's nice I have met my teammate for the rest of my life. Now, it is just a matter of patience for us to wait and being our life together. There is a lot we have to look forward, and I think the wedding is only first of many things to come. I

5b) It's kind of auto-pilot for the guy after the proposal. But I will never forget May 2, 2009 for the rest of my life. Neither will she. The planning and thought leading to it is an incredible experience. And the moment itself? It's indescribable. The only thing you wait for is her answer, though you know the answer already by the look in her eye.

6) Homesickness. It really hit me this year. I miss my family, I'd like to be closer to them distance wise. They're a 3.5 hrs plane flight right now, but a 3 hr car drive would be nice, too.

7) JJ Abrams. You had a great year. Good work.

8) Go Horns. If they win in 1 week, they have chance to do something really special for the next 5-7 years. The door is open for them to become a dynasty. It's up to them to step up and do it.

Penultimate 2009 Post

2009-12-04T16:19:00.000-08:00

The older one gets, the more bad habits form. You are in a hurry or lazy or whatever, and you do something the just get by. It's a recipe for bad habits to form.

For me, I formed bad habits with exercise. I would exercise, but it would not be pushing myself. I made excuses for not doing so, because I was afraid that the chronic compartment syndrome symptoms (fro pre-surgery days) would come back.

In truth, I needed to be pushed. I needed to challenged.

I started taking part in an athletic conditioning class after work at the gym. The class is composed of several series of anaerobic and aerobic exercises emphasizing increasing the heart rate and total body conditioning.

At the beginning, of the course, I was lagging, protecting myself, actually babying myself. There was a day earlier, in July, where the instructor stopped class, walked up to me, and looked at me. He questioned why I was wasting my time, if I was not pushing myself.

I was stunned. I did not know how to respond. I wanted to leave. I was embarrassed, humiliated. I went home that night, and I could not sleep as I kept thinking about that. I was not mad the instructor. He was right. What was I doing? How could I be at mad someone, when the only person to really be mad at was myself?

I did not go back to the class the month of August. I spent time remembering what we did for basketball practice back in the day. I called my Mom and asked her about her yoga. I tried swimming again, albeit the water was much colder than I remembered it. I evaluated my diet, looked at what I should do in that realm. I am pretty particular/careful, aside from my addiction to brownies, so I was okay there. I started jogging again.

Slowly, one day I "trotted" around the soccer field at a slow pace. No one would confuse me for Usain Bolt. But, it was more effort I had given to running for a long time. I also came up with a system of exercises to help maintain lean muscle without having to life weights, which bore the hell out of me.

You have a lot of time to think about things when you are running and don't own an iPod. For me, it was a time where I built up motivation, "ganas" as Jaime Escalante talks about in Stand & Deliver.

I showed up to the conditioning class about 4-5 weeks after the incident. The instructor saw me come in, and he gave me the jerked, raised chin greeting. The class started.

I was nervous as hell, what if I did not keep up? Was my time wasted?

60 minutes later, I was sweating. I was a bit sore. But I was standing, and not out of breath.

The instructor approached me after the class and hugged me. He told me he was proud of my effort and I had challenged myself. The best part of it was though, he said I could attend another class where you do the exercises in this class, but you also get to work with speed bags and those big body bags in boxing. This has been really fun the past couple of months. Tiring, but fun.

I spent most of my 20s understanding how to navigate the path of least resistance between a thought to its realization. Graduate school requires a certain amount of navigation to avoid the rocks or Scylla & Charybdis. My teens were all about being stubborn and taking things head-on, forgoing elegant solutions - brute force, if you will.

After my surgery, I quit pushing myself because I was afraid of re-injuring myself. I was scared. Now, I am past that, and ready to embrace exercise as something fun, not something that I have to do. I can do the activities I like, because I can find activities that accomplish my goals. Lean muscle and resistance training is very important for men and women. Free weights exercises are one way of accomplishing this. If you do not like free weights, there are other ways to do reach one's goals.

Life successfully navigated requires an amalgamation of both ways. I had to figure this out, and I have the gym instructor to thank.

The Case of the Squeaky Shoes

2009-10-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

Since I started working, I have had to wear dress shoes Monday through Thursday, with occasional Fridays when dress shoes must be worn. Fridays are casual Fridays, and so, I like to bust out my running shoes or casual non-athletic shoes.

In January, I thought it would be a good idea to go out and purchase new dress shows. I figured it made and it was a justified expense because fatigue coupled with tired/sore legs/feet is not acceptable. I found an adequate sale and 2 pairs of shoes - 1 black, 1 brown.

I like the brown ones a lot. They have laces and are very comfortable. The black ones are equally comfortable, but they squeak. For whatever reason, when I tried them on in the store they did not squeak. Yes, the shoes are the correct size.

After a few weeks, I discovered it was because dress socks are thinner, get sweat-soaked faster, and rub against the heel side of the shoe to generate this squeak. At the store when I tried the shoes on, I wore athletic socks, which are much more absorbent. I started to wear my thicker dress socks with the black shoes, but it only delayed the onset of the squeaking.

Over the summer it got to the point where I was extremely annoyed with these shoes. I would take them off when I was in my office, so as to dry the socks/shoes. This was only a temporary solution.

Then, an idea came to me when I was at the grocery store - heel gel cups! Dr. Scholl's makes them as well as Spenco on Amazon. I have been wearing them and have eliminated the squeaking as there is less surface for the wet sock to rub against the heel wall. Also, these things are so comfortable; I feel like I am walking on air.

These are what they look like. They are cheaper on Amazon or at Payless Shoes. HAAR!

The Journey Ends .... A Half-Hearted Evaluation of the Merits of Reading Ahead

2009-08-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight the journey ends. After 57 episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender, my housemates and I are left with episodes 58-61, which were originally televised as a movie, but for DVD and TV were separated into four episodes.

It was an amazing experience to watch the series without reading ahead. You see, I hate surprises, and so, whenever I read ahead. I like to focus on details, like character development, sets or in animation the drawings, etc. Recently, I tried not reading ahead with Avatar, Green Lantern: First Flight, and District Nine. Only once did it fail me.

Let me first say, all three movies had a very nice story and were very engaging of my interest, however, District Nine was almost unwatchable for me due to the camera work. It gave me varying degrees of vertigo and disorientation - it is that style of camera work, like in Blair Witch, where it looks someone is using a camcorder and waving their arms as s/he film. If I had read ahead about it, I would have probably not seen District Nine - no movie can be good enough to compensate for such wonky camera work, at least for me.

As for Avatar, well, I am very glad I did wait to just watch the episodes. The story has been absolutely amazing to see unfold and the creators were able to sustain the momentum and even generate it throughout the series. I have very high expectations tonight as we watch the finale.

My fiancée watched a couple of episodes and became interested in it as well. I think next year when the live action movie is released, we will forgo the movie theatre and look forward to re-watching the animated series - in Blu-Ray (one would think it would be released in Blu-Ray as the movie is released)!

For now, I will end with this:

Water... Earth... Fire... Air.

2009-07-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Recently, my friends and I have been introduced to Avatar: The Last Airbender. It is an animated series, dating back to 2005-2007 when it first aired on Nickelodeon.

What amazes me, is how I let this show slip through the cracks, until ~ 2-3 weeks ago. Perhaps in 2005, I was too busy writing my dissertation or finding a postdoc. Who knows. All I know is that I recently saw a movie preview for the upcoming movie next summer, and I thought to myself, "Ahh, that looks cool. Some archetypal hero representing some element, and oh wow, the Fire people are the bad guys. Yeah, cool, I'll watch it."

[The image I have posted, is the main character's trusty 10 ton 6-legged, flying bison - Appa. A very loyal and imposing friend to have.]

I brought it up in conversation to a friend, and he stressed how well executed the animated series was. WHAT? It was based on an animated series? Oh Snap!

So I NetFlixed the first 4 episodes. I liked it, I liked it a whole lot. I told my housemates/friends about it, and they were like, "I dunno Thakman Jones, you thought It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was good, too!"

HAAR! We tried watching an episode together, and then another, and another, ..... Yeah, we liked it!

What appeals to me the most about this show is that the characters are not flat. They are dynamic. The story itself, well, we've seen this sort of theme/meme in movies/series/literature - a hero comes of age, a hero understand his/her destiny and comes to embrace it, a person driven to ill pursuits out of a misguided but noble sense of honor, the hero embarking on a quest. There are probably others, but these will do for now, as I am only on episode 12 out of 61.

What is remarkable is that the primary antagonist, at least for now, is an amazing character. You can describe him as a "bad guy" but he is not "bad" for the sake of being bad. There is a reason he becomes the way he is, and his story and motivations are absolutely fascinating.

I feel, only my gut feel as I have promised not to spoil or read ahead about the series, is that one's redemption, both the hero and the current primary antagonist will play a role. If the first ~20% of the series are an indication, the creators have done an impressive job with their execution. I feel like the whatever direction the series takes, it will be an interesting journey and a compelling story.

What a thoroughly entertaining and delightful show.

A 10 List

2009-06-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for not posting recently. I am still learning work-life balance. I am going to get more regular about this. Regular like fiber. HAAR!

1) I'm engaged. It's exciting to this I've met the person I am going to share my life with, grow old with, etc. Now, the planning is underway, and it is the last hurdle. It is a tall hurdle. Argh. Haar.

2) Arghaar. It is my new word to describe wedding planning talk.

3) In July 2009 we should see new NIH guidelines regarding stem cell use in the U.S. This will be a big development in terms of scientists are able to use in their studies.

4) Anything sort of a Big XII championship followed by a national title game appearance and win for Texas will be a disappointing season. The road for the title game goes through Florida, but you play the games for reason. We'll see what happens. Next 4-6 years are going to be exciting times for Texas fans. F' oklahoma.

5) The summer is coming up, and I am vehemently looking forward to grilling with my housemates and friends. There are a few new recipes I have been devising that I am looking forward to trying.

6) People who have no belief in the fantastic, the amazing, that dreams can come to fruition suck royally. As far as I am concerned, these types of people are unnecessarily negative and have no place in my life.

7) I am surprised by how nice the PS3 is. My fiancee seems to like LittleBigPlanet. The game looks fun and the system is quite nice. It definitely has better reliability than the Xbox 360 based on what I have been perusing online. But I'm an Xbox guy. Sony pissed me off with the way they treated me ~2001 when my PS1 died within its warranty period. So, I am hesitant to make my video gaming bed with Sony again.

8) Today is the digital TV signal conversion day. HOORAY! The future starts today!

9) The new Daves Matthews Album is surprisingly good. Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King.

10) The Star Trek movie (2009) was incredible. I need to see it again sometime, or perhaps wait for Blu-ray / DVD or whatever. It is movie that met my expectations.

30 Going on 31

2009-03-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

This past year, my 30th, was a good one. It also marked the end of my 3rd decade, ages 21-30. What is remarkable for me is that it seems as though it was just yesterday I was making way between my dorm and the engineering quad at UT while fretting some stupid Unit Ops exam or just salivating for the next bit of knowledge in neurophysiology or transport phenomena.

I miss those times, but I am also happy to be where I am. I think 10 years ago, I was going through what I would call the worst period in my life. It takes time to heal, it takes time for things to pass, etc. I think for me to think back to that time in my life, and for me to recall it with a smile on my face, well, it is a testament to these words of wisdom handed to me by someone far more grounded than I was at that time. It is safe to say I have healed, and that part of my life is compartmentalized.

My greatest fear for the next 10 years is straying from the path that will help me realize my potential. I refuse think anyone, outside of athletes, can say that life is downhill at 30-31 onwards. There is still so much to do, so much to achieve.

My 20s were a time when I had a chance to train my mind and broaden my skills, and essentially, set me career trajectory for the first part of my career. My 30s are here now, and its time to start executing on that stuff.

Soon, it will be time to get married, looking at buying a home, think of a family, plot the next point in the career trajectory, etc. It is hard to believe that the things we do, the people we meet in our 20s set us up for all these decisions and influence our modes of thought.

In the last 10 yrs, I have been able to witness the isolation of the human embryonic stem cell line, seen federal research on it banned, then observed breakthrough at circumventing hESC use, and now, come Monday the ban is lifted. Considering my line of work, and training this is remarkable in a 10 year period of time.

Who knows what the next 10 years holds- academically, career-wise, and personally? I do look forward to being able to share this with the girl I love, my family, and friends.

More importantly, what advances in movies based on comic books / graphic novels will we see? I cannot wait! Finally, I really do think, in the next 10 years, I will my Longhorns from The University of Texas at Austin win 2 national / BCS championships. I really do.

It is absolutely sick the amount of coaching and talent that is there and will be there. It's on you, Longhorns, to make me look good when I revisit this post in 10 yrs!

Until then ......

HAAR!

Next post - what the new stem cell policy really means. Enough introspection for now!

2008 - Year End Review and Other Odds & Ends

2008-12-22T17:02:00.000-08:00

Well, this year is about to come and end. It was definitely the shortest year of my life, being that it was 1/30 of my life versus say my 25th year, which was 1/25 of my life. If you are going to take this fractional approach to determining the significance of what one year is to your life, then ages 0-5 are very key.

This year was very significant, however. Many things became clear to me as well as great deal happened this year. I'm going to make a list of significant events that transpired this year. I could argue that year 30 of my life was profoundly significant.

1) I realized I without a shadow of doubt that I have met and am with the woman I will marry one day.

2) I got job after approximately 12-14 months of searching, applying, getting rejected or not liking the job I was applying for, seeking advice, deliberating, and whatnot. I am absolutely excited that the next phase of my career begins as I venture out of the pure academic setting into an environment that will resemble a 1/3 academia, 1/3 start up, and 1/3 government agency. For the time being and near future, SF is my home.

3) The Texas Longhorns performed far better than I could have imagined 4 months ago and I have quite an imagination. The next 4-5 years look really, really great.

4) A really good friend, Hayley, graduated!

5) My sister turned 25. Damn, I still remember when we used to play Transformers or football together growing up.

6) I published papers that I am proud of and presented well at conferences and the classes I taught. I was also able to be an effective mentor and branch out my research from what I am trained to do.

7) After the first 1/3 of the year, the latter 2/3 were awesome for food and eating! It helps when you have saliva free flowing in your mouth. Interestingly enough, the ancient Chinese used chewed rice/saliva as a determination of guilt or lying.

8) Batman II/The Dark Knight was an absolutely amazing film. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

9) Kung Fu Panda is awesome.

10) I re-discovered the awesomeness of how good tacos can be.

11) I realized I want to buy an HD TV. Video games and watching football are just not the same once you have seen HD. Sigh. The January sales and the Super Bowl sales cannot get here any faster! [Note I did not use the word "sooner" because oklahoma sucks fat monkey nuts. I also did not capitalize "oklahoma" for that reason.]

12) 2008 sets up 2009 very well. 2008 was a year of determining the path/direction my life will take. 2009 will be a year where I begin to implement and strive toward the goals I want to achieve.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year/Haar!

A Proportional Response

2008-11-12T12:44:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite West Wing episodes is entitled A Proportional Response. BRAVO has been replaying old episodes since election season just passed, and it has served as an enjoyable respite during lunch since I am only 3-5 min walk from home nowadays.

The gist of the episode is what is an acceptable show of force for the U.S. after a Syrian terrorist shoots down a passenger jet carrying civilians and military personnel on a medical mission. The fictional president is enraged and would like to have a show of force that is like the "hand of God", and show the world what the consequences are for harming an American life overseas. I would be lying if I said I do not agree with that thought.

As the episode continues, a more measure, reasoned response is decided upon, the "Proportional Response", where the Syrian intelligence agency and couple of other key targets are destroyed, harming no civilians. Ultimately, this is the right approach. The U.S. cannot just act as the "hand of God". Argentina can, however, as Diego Maradona proved in 1986.

In high school, 10th grade, my friends and I during 7th period chemistry at approximately 3:03PM on a fall afternoon, decided that we were nation-states. Literally, we were nation-states. Some people chose to be England or France or Belgium or Egypt or America or Brazil or China or whomever. We would then make "strategic alliances" when "dissing" on another person. For example, if I were America and my friend were South Africa, I would not make fun of his shirt that he was wearing that day unless I had a multinational coalition with me.

Hilarious. This lasted for about 2 months before we went on to the next joke. I cannot remember who I was, I think I was Switzerland. I like watches, I like chocolate, I stayed out of fights, but I had dirt on everyone, kind of like Swiss and how they store everyone's money.

Anyways, I think the concept of a person treating their relationships with other people is much like a nation-state. I was at a bar on Saturday night watching football, and USC fans proceeded to demonstrate their amazing eloquence to me: "Fuck Texas." In this situation, a charged comment from a non-ally, non-friend, I consider this comment akin to a chemical or biological attack on my nation-state. I proceeded to reply, "41-38, scoreboard, bitches."

I think they said something after that, but my my proportional response was over; nothing more needed to be said to those no talent douche clowns.

On Monday, my labmate made a comment about how another labmate's baby spat up when I walked in the room because I am ugly. My friend, she made the comment, and it was somewhat funny. My proportional remark was a mighty guffaw, followed by a comment about how her maternal instinct is that of a rock or dirt or something and the baby sensed it.

Last week, I erred, however. It was late, I was trying to get home before 8:45pm to call the love of my life who is 3 hrs ahead on East coast. A guy cut in line in front of me at the Subway, even though his sandwich was no where near completion. He had long, messy hair, unshaven, prolly a postdoc or grad student. "Hey hippy, get back in line; don't cut." He looked at me hurt, wounded, then pissed. I did not really care, he cut, and my perception was that he was delaying me. I did not really feel bad about it until this weekend and the USC turds. Those guys deserved that level hate, vitriol. This hungry guy at Subway was annoying, but probably deserved a more measured response.

So, I think there is something to all this. A proportional response is not a sign of weakness to the outside, but rather, a show of restraint and therefore, strength. Something to remember for the future.

What would you do if you were not afraid to fail?

2008-10-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

What would you do?

The fear of failure is something that is not fun to live with. Often times, it stems from something an individual feels lacking. At least for me it does. Considering that I am now a postdoc, being afraid to fail is quite comical. I mean, just getting through graduate school, if one is successful 10% of the time, one is indeed a badass. It does not get much better as a postdoc, except, you now have a lot more experience so you do not "fail" as much. You still screw up, but you have a lot more victories.

But I am not talking about successes and failures on the benchtop; I am talking about life. How many times during the course of a year, do you have a chance to go after something you really want, to after it with everything you have in you, to feel like you did everything in your power to do your best?

Once? Twice? Thrice? I dunno. But I have one of those opportunities tomorrow.

For as much as I love football, I am not an athlete; I don't get to suit up and play ball on Saturdays for my alma mater. For me, to suit up consists of wearing a pressed shirt, sharp suit, and spiffy tie. Basically, I get a chance to be like Barney Stinson tomorrow and suit up.

So in my mind, it has been like my gameday. I have prepared as thoroughly as I can. I have looked over my presentation numerous times, just as a coach goes through his game plans. I have already traced my route for Friday morning, much like pre-planning the first 10-15 plays of a game.

What more do I need to do? Oh yes, a banana and granola bar to eat at 2 opportune times throughout the day - it is like my gatorade. My aftershave balm is similar to whatever that black stuff football players under their eyes to reduce the glare of the sun. Actually, I guess that is more like my sunglasses! HAAR.

So, if I am prepared, why am I so worried about failing? I guess it is because there is a lot on the line. This opportunity is exactly what I have been looking for since ~ Feb. 2008,when I re-started my job hunt. I realized what was really important and what I enjoyed doing. I guess I just don't want to experience what the alternative to success is regarding this juncture.

I guess there is really nothing else for me to do, except go to the gym tonight (TCU vs. BYU, should be a good game), eat a nice dinner (mmmmm... burrito?), play a video game to rest up, and sleep well.

Let me end with a quote from Richard Nixon's resignation speech, which I have really liked throughout my life. I will address this topic one day, why Nixon is one of the best presidents we have ever had.

"Sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes I have failed, but always I have taken heart from what Theodore Roosevelt once said about the man in the arena, 'whose face is marred by dust and sweat and bloo d, [...]'"

It is this opportunity tomorrow, to be the "man in the arena" that makes me anxious, nervous, sharp, and festive all at the same time. I look forward to the challenges of tomorrow.

===============================

P.S. A blog post about failures would not be complete without mention of Oklahoma and their punk punter's fake of a roughing penalty. It was quite hilarious to watch live. It did not matter, OU sucks, and they lost. They're a good team, though, and so like the cockroaches they are, they will be back. This is a sign from El Arroyo in Austin, TX, which is a favorite place to eat for out of towners who are craving Tex-Mex. Personally, I like Trudy's better, but El Arroyo gets props for the signage.

Best Oklahoma Joke Ever

2008-10-10T13:47:00.001-07:00

There is not much else to say; an image is worth 1,000 words. What a joke. F' ou, Hook 'em Horns. Let's beat the hell out of ou.

HAAR: OU Sucks,ii - a single, great quote

2008-10-07T10:53:00.000-07:00

"Will Rogers never met Barry Switzer." -- Texas Head Coach Darrell K. Royal, referring to Will Rogers' famous saying that he never met a man he didn't like. What isn't as well known is that Rogers was originally referring to Leo Trotsky. Intentionally or not, then, DKR was saying that Switzer was worse than Trotsky: double zing!

I am hate incarnate.

2008-10-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

It is 12:03PM on Monday, October 6, 2008 ......

..... and OU sucks. Still. I hate the University of Oklahoma, and I hope to God Texas lays waste to your team and fandom. To all of those toothless, slack-jawed yokels who think it is great their mascot is named after land thieves and cheaters, I hate every single one of you.

You are not human beings, you are some lesser form of life as far as I am concerned and nothing would make me happier than seeing a hole open up and swallow Norman, OK. It is quite possible since Oklahoma sucks.

Interestingly enough, the Red River has been steadily moving north. It is not a result of global climate change, but rather, OU sucks so hard that it is actually re-routing the course of the river.

I hate the University of Oklahoma with a passion. The only time I have ever been spit on in my life was because I was wearing burnt orange, God's color for the sunset, after a game. A drunk sooner did not seem to agree with it and proceeded to spit on me. The results were not optimal for either side.

Interestingly enough, in Bill Maher's new movie Religulous, Maher asks a question: "Well if God is all powerful, why doesn't he destroy Satan?"

I have the answer. Oklahoma, like Satan, cheats, and spits on people when drunk.

As I said earlier, OU sucks. And I swear I will verbally knock (ie. verbally spew hate-filled invective) a person on his/her tailend if I see them wearing sooner garb this week. I hate OU. I would just as soon as punch them in the face, but quite frankly, a sooner is not worth the assault & battery charge on my record, especially since I am sitting here writing it in my blog which would probably be used against me in a court of law.

Haar.

I still hate OU.

Also, why are they called OU when they are the University of Oklahoma? What sort of reject university are they? F' 'em, OU Sucks.

I want my Emmy

2008-10-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I hope to witness a diaster. A disaster of epic proportions - Sarah Palin opening her mouth. That's unintentional comedy in its finest form.

Heh, that Palin she is an unintentionally funny woman. But how about some comedy from genuinely funny people? This clip aired on Conan O'Brien's late night show on Sept. 30, 2008. It is an interview with Julia Louis-Dreyfus detailing her experiences at the Emmy Awards this year and her loss to Tina Fey.

Here is the link, enjoy!

The Cause of the Crisis

2008-09-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Apparently, this is all Clinton and the Democrats' fault.

This YouTube video details a person's version of events that led to the economic woes facing us today.

I dunno, there is some truth in there, but after a bit, it becomes quite a hatefest against the Democrats, which I am not necessarily against. I hate Bill Clinton politically with a passion. If the secret service reads this crap, I stress the term politically.

Haar.

Enjoy.

Suspension of disbelief

2008-09-25T10:32:00.001-07:00

Dear Readers,

I appreciate you being there and reading my musings. But, the events of the past few days, weeks, and months have made me realize that I must suspend all postings for the time being, so that I may focus on solving the economic crisis.

Sincerely,

Thakman Jones

Ugh

2008-09-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

I am pretty ill today, but I need to post, so that I could tell everyone this incredible news.

There are indeed bones from Martian colonists on Earth. This article below details the amazing discovery by British scientists this past week. Fascinating.

Here it is: Ugh.

Feminism and Stem Cells

2008-09-16T12:13:00.001-07:00

The recent developments in the election process have stirred some thought within me. The tipping point for me to write this entry was reading an article by Camille Paglia. The truth is, Sarah Palin's nomination as the potential VP on the Republican ticket is a very significant event in the feminist movement.

In recent history, so much of the feminist movement centers on a woman's right to choose: pro-life or pro-choice. To be honest, this question does not interest me. I don't think this should be involved in politics, yet, it is and essentially defines what a feminist is.

The truth is, Sarah Palin has the potential to become the new standard of what a feminist is. She represents the ability to have access to opportunity and have no gender barriers. I do not know what her actual intelligence level is, but she is fairly well-spoken so far on the national stage. I still think there is time for her to screw up. I think she is incredibly naive in terms of foreign affairs. Though she maybe able to see Russia from her porch in Alaska, she is no diplomat. My limited understanding of the problems women face leads me to think that too much effort is spent fight the pro-life or pro-choice debate. I understand why each side feels the way they do, and to be honest, I am not interested.

There are greater issues at stake, I believe. Also, quite frankly, I think Palin's stance of not permitting abortion in the case of rape, incest, or potential harm to the mother is ridiculous. I do not believe abortions should be administered like pills, but there are cases where it may be the most optimal solution.

I highly urge you to read this Ms. Paglia's article. She does an amazing job of concisely defining the problems with Obama's campaign, the Democrats problem with dealing with the Evangelical Christians, and attempting the redefine what feminism is.

With that being said, I abhor Sarah Palin and what she represents, POLITICALLY. I do not agree with her stances. I think her views on creationism and science in general are incredibly flawed with no room for rectification on her end; her views are too stubborn and rooted in ignorance.

Her view of stem cells is even more strict than George W. Bush's. While many people are upset at the way Bush defined stem cell use with federal funds, I was not. It was what was needed at the time to slowly phase this incredible concept into our lives. Unfortunately, further research led to finding contaminations resulting from cell culture protocols within many of the lines. So better lines need to be developed. With potential breakthroughs on the cusp of realization, is it really time to take steps backwards or forge ahead to fight the malicious diseases that exist?

And of course, there will always be people who support her.

Sigh. Her views represent everything that impedes true progress in this country.

Disappointing Week

2008-09-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

I am glad today is Friday; it has been an excruciatingly long, troubling week for two reasons:

1) My uncle passed away suddenly.

2) The Republican National Convention.

Let me address both topics.

My uncle's death this week has been hard on me, because I look at it selfishly. What does it mean for me? How much time do I have with the ones I care for, I love? Most of all it is this burning feeling, almost a guilt.

This stupid guilt I feel is ridiculous, and yet, I still have it, and it is eating me up inside.

The guilt stems from the last conversation in person I had with my grandfather, my father's father, a Yalie, go Bulldogs! He made a set of predictions of how my life would go and he stressed to me how he wanted me to keep his grandchildren, my cousins together, close-knit. In that duty, I could have done much better. I have time to remedy this, and I intend to. But right now, more than any other point in my life, I see how I have failed up to this point in executing my grandfather's wish.

My uncle had 10 children. And hence, I have 10 cousins. This is what I think about now. How do I maintain and continually develop these relationships?

I am the oldest; I should have realized this earlier, much earlier than I did.

My uncle was important to me because he gave me strength during a time I needed it the most. It was nothing he said, but more his life story. My uncle came to the U.S. when he was 16yrs old. He managed to survive, to become educated, and to raise a family.

When I came to California, I felt alone. The first friend I made was Arun, followed by Shelly. I had a family that was only in another state and accessible via an easy flight. My uncle did not have these advantages. That first year of graduate school was so difficult and so hard, I would go to bed questioning my toughness, my mental makeup. I wondered if it would just be easier to quit.

My father is not a quitter. My uncle most certainly was not, either. I got tougher and just lived, and I bloomed into the person I am suppose to be. I am happy; I just want to see my family more and be the man they need me to be.

Kiran uncle, I will always treasure your memory and value what I have learned from your example.

I cannot write anymore on this topic, I am choking up.

2) The RNC. Simply put - BRAVO. They solidified their base, and despite McCain's horrible oratory, what he said will appeal to a large segment of the population. The spin from the republicans is definitely true: Obama is no different than any other politician at this point. I still think Obama is a very decent man, and he will be a very good leader.

When was it is pre-requisite to have "experience" to become the president. Pardon my sarcasm, but then Guantanamo Bay is not a prison site, but rather a leadership training ground.

[Pardon my comment - I respect McCain and his experiences as I do all our country's illustrious vetrans, but I believe Wesley Clark's comments were right]

Personally, I am torn in terms of who to vote for. In the end, I will vote for Obama, because I simply cannot deal with certain elements of the Republican party. I have no love for the excessive liberal side of the democratic party, but I do feel it is time for certain liberal concepts to be inputted into our government.

This is not a political blog, so I am not going to go into detail, but rather, I would be glad to speak offline about them. I mentioned the RNC because I was impressed by what they were able to pull off and well, it scares me to an extent. Republicans have their stuff together and will not give up the White House easily. They view this election and the ideological differences an intellectual or ideological war. Democrats and liberals do not use those terms.

It is the difference in attitudes that explains the success of Republicans since 1980. That attitude plus solidifying a power base in middle America are the two salient reasons for the shift of power, the shift between red to blue and blue to red.

One thing is for sure, I do love our country, and I will continue doing so whether a Republican or Democrat is elected. There is simply no other place I would rather live.

All Good Things ....

2008-08-27T15:30:00.001-07:00

"All Good Things ..." was the name of the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The sentiment of that phrase is how I feel about what I will be doing this evening - watching the series finale of The Wire.

The Wire is a show that takes place in Baltimore, and it explores the relationship between the gangs, the detectives, the dock workers, the politicians, the public school system, and the media. These relationships build in this order and each subsequent season adds an element, while continuing the previous storyline. So intricate, so complex. I'll drink that milkshake. Haar, sorry, I know I should not, but that clip makes me laugh.

And that's the thing - There are times in The Wire where there is violence, and I do not laugh. It is not so much the graphic nature, it is the taut reality of depictions of characters and situations that makes me so earnest when I watch the show.

I am not going to go on analyzing the The Wire, there are plenty of blogs out there that do that. Instead, I will mention the 5 characters I enjoy the most and why without spoiling anything.

1) Stringer Bell - His character is a twist on the noble-savage. Not so much a noble, but like a thinking thug. He is sharp, eloquent, and a leader, but he is ferocious and Machiavellian.

2) Omar Little - He is a like a twist on the concept of Robin Hood. He lives by a code, and that is what separates him from others on the street.

3) Det. Bunk Moreland - When he is sober, he is a fine detective, and along the way, you realize he is "an ethical S.O.B.".

4) Marlo Stanfield/Chris Paltrow - Win by any measure, they are like Grant and Sherman for the Union Army, they would be proponants of total war. They commit themselves 100% to their cause - gaining the streets of west Baltimore and securing access to the drug supply. These characters are so calculated, so thorough, and well, evil in our eyes, but in their world, well, "It is what it is" to borrow words from their lieutant enforceer, Snoop Pearson.

5) Augustus Haynes - I grew to really like his character and his priniciples.

I will definitley savor every last minute of this show that I have come to enjoy.

At least 30 Rock and Heroes will be back soon!

At some point in the future, I would like to discuss comics, heroes, and villains. Something for me to mull over in the coming weeks.

Next thoughts -

2008-08-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

The next two teams to look at are Cal and Florida. This is especially interesting for me because the two head coaches, Jeff Tedford and Urban Meyer, respectively, are considered to be among the best in teaching and developing offensive principles.

Cal has an interesting season ahead of itself. The decision has been made that Kevin Riley, a sophomore, will be starting over the incumbent starter, Nate Longshore. Longshore has been oft-injured and hence, he has never quite lived up to the expectations that were placed upon him. Riley, on the the other hand, has had the most coveted position on the team when it comes to popularity with the fans - the backup QB.

Will Riley do well against legitimate teams with athletes on defense? Every defense he faces this season will not be of the caliber of Air Force's defense. Quite frankly, playing the Air Force football team would make a lot of teams and players appear much better than they really are. With that being said, Riley has had another off-season to work with the coaching staff and mature. He also has a talented set of wide receivers, but they are young, raw. It will take time, but cream will rise to the top.

Tedford has finally conceded control of his offensive play-calling this season to Frank Cignetti. I do not know much of this fellow, but the more Tedford can delegate, the more he can focus on the overall team direction. The lack of focus in this area and subsequent action was the reason for last season's disappointing performance.

The defense will attempt to utilize its surplus of linebackers and shield its depth on the defensive line by switching to a 3-4 defense. Essentially, the 3-4 uses 3 defensive lineman. The middle of the 3 is usually a very large human being who occupy a lot of space and offensive blockers. The 2 fellows on either side of this large human attempt to maintain "gap" responsibilities so as not to allow running lanes to form and keep the linebackers free of oncoming blockers. This defense is predicated on the ability of the outside linebackers being able to generate a pass rush [to hurry the quarterback into prematurely throwing the ball] and some coverage abilities. The two middle linebackers must maintain a solid middle of the defense.

The 3-4 is highly effective in defensing conventional offenses but is nightmare against the spread offense. I expect Cal to have some difficulty when a team is able to "spread" Cal's defense by placing linebackers in unfavorable match-ups against quicker wide receivers. The other fallout is that the running the ball through the middle of the defense is much, much easier once the defense is spread.

However, the 3-4 will allow Cal to generate more pass rush against conventional offenses (ie. USC). The lack of a real pass rush has been an issue for Cal whether it is through the innate talents of the defensive line or applying a blitz [sending a player to attack the quarterback or ball-handler but who is normally not assigned to "kill" the quarterback/ball-handler]. There will be some very deliciously evil schemes that will hopefully be employed to generate this sort of pressure on the passer.

I think Cal fans have a lot to look forward to. One thing I did not touch on were the running backs, but that is because they will be fine. There is talent back there and all of it will be on display. A strong running game is any quarterback's second best friend, after a good offensive line. Some friends are saying 2009 will be a year for Cal to make a run at the Pac 10 and possibly the national title, but I feel this can be that year with a great deal of progress. Arizona St. is not that good or at least by its initial ranking. USC will only go as far as Mark Sanchez can take them, and he is off to a rough start already. USC has not had a group of players take over the leadership mantle like they did earlier in the decade. Until then, they will be very good, but beatable.

If Cal can put things together, they should be at least the Pac 10 conference champion runner up. If they can put it together early. The big "If".

Florida - Urban Meyer has answered his critics soundly. Many argued that the spread could not be used against the SEC's athletic and quick defenses, yet, Meyer has a national championship. With that being said, I think Gator fans would love to be able to have a legitimate running threat in the backfield other than their quarterback, Tim Tebow, or their all-purpose player, Percy Harvin.

If Florida can develop and employ a legitimate running back, that offense will be really, really amazing to watch. The talent is there, someone just has to step up and take it. Chris Rainey, Emmanuel Moody, and Kestahn Moore, one of you will have to be the man. With Percy Harvin, Carl Moore, Riley Cooper, and Louis Murphy, the Gator wide-outs give Tebow large, fluid athletes to throw the ball to.

On defense, the Gators are known for a quick, athletic, attacking defense. Charlie Strong is still the defensive coordinator, I believe, and so, expect a very good SEC style defense. Look for Carlos Dunlap, the 6'6", 290-lbs, sophomore defensive end to wreak havoc on every offensive line he faces. The man is a beast. If you permit, he is a MEAST!

I believe Florida is a legitimate national championship contender. I think their game against Georgia will determine the complexion for the race to the national championship. And don't think that Florida has forgotten about Mark Richt and Georgia's antics from last season's game - there will be retribution.

The next post will be a change of pace; instead of writing about individual teams, I would like to focus on what exactly this "spread offense" is, who developed it, how it came about it, and what it indicates for the future of the innovation of the sport.

The NCAA 2008 Season: Initial Thoughts

2008-08-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

Next Saturday, I will be sitting at the Blue Light in the Marina District watching college football, drinking beer, and eating a quesadilla or three. I'll get there at around 11-11:30am and stick around until 7pm accompanied by 2-3 friends. It should be great.

I love college football. I love smell of the grass, the electric feel of 90K people all rooting for a common cause, and the pageantry of the whole spectacle. I will never forget my first home game at The University of Texas at Austin. It was against Missouri, and there was so much rain, that it came down in horizontal sheets. It was awesome. Watching a home game at Texas was amazing; friends and I would start gearing up Thursday night for the game. Gearing up entailed finding out where the opposing team was staying in Austin and waiting for them when they returned to the hotel after the team dinner. He hollered, spoke smack, and basically exuded hate. It was beautiful. On gameday, the friends living the furthest away began to walk towards campus roughly 2-3 hours before the game. At each intersection, you are joined by more friends and other groups of Texas fans. It is like watching a seed crystal in a salt solution - soon there is a mass of people in burnt orange and white heading towards the campus singing the school song, jeering at opposing fans, and picking up tailgate food as they approach the stadium.

Ah, yes the memories.

Here, between the end of last season(~mid November 2007) and this past week, a $150 million renovation was completed. This renovation mainly consisted of building up the North Endzone to add seats and complete the horseshoe shape of the stadium. The seating capacity is well over 90K now (94,113 according to Wikipedia and Rivals.com), and it is just awesome looking!

Here is a picture of what the completed North Endzone looks like:

Here is an architect's model of what the completed renovations looks like:

With that being said, let's talk some shop. I am going to focus on the Longhorns today. The next post (tomorrow) will deal with Cal and Florida initially, and then throughout next week, I will examine some of the other teams I follow or are important to my friends.

Texas has the potential to be a great a team. The talent is there, albeit young and inexperienced. The biggest question marks are at flanker and safety. The Horns need Fr-RS WR (redshirt freshman wide receiver) Malcolm Williams to step up. I think he will, but it is more of a question of when. And to be honest, when needs to be now. In the first 75% of the summer camp, Williams was absolutely amazing receiving quite a lot of praise, but towards the end of camp, he has seemed to hit the wall. He must overcome it for the Horns to be potent on offense. Williams is 6'3", 225 lbs, and runs a 4.4 sec 40-yd dash. He is a specimen to say the least. There are other wide receivers, but Malcolm Williams is Texas' best shot at maintaining its legacy for the flanker wide receiver on the offense.

Running back is not as big a concern as some critics think it is; Texas will be fine. The talent is there, and the offensive (OL) is set to be in the top 5 in the nations for the next 4-5 years. There is that much talent present on the offensive line (I am not kidding) and critics will be surprised.

Again, the key to the offensive is how explosive the young wide receivers will be and Colt McCoy, the QB, must cut down his fumbles and interceptions.

As for the defensive, the two freshman safeties will be the key to the defense. Earl Thomas and Christian Scott are raw but with immense upside. Both players are natural hitters with good coverage abilities. But how fast will they be able to recognize audibles from the offense and align the secondary to properly defense the opposition? There a lot of bad things that will happen with two freshman safeties, but here's to hoping it will be an overall positive experience with the good outweighing the bad.

The defensive line is going to surprise people. In my opinion, Texas has the best stable at 2 or 3 deep at defensive end of anyone in the country, bar none. This will be tremendous when facing the spread offense that is now permeating throughout the college game and has taken the Big XII conference by storm. I will focus on the development of the spread offense and how to defense it in future posts. The short story is tackling, speed, and execution. Defensive tackle is a gaping question mark after the two starters. Texas cannot afford any injuries at the defensive tackle position. Linebackers? I think Sergio Kindle is going to show the nation why he was a blue chip 5* athlete, but again, the linebackers have incredible potential that has yet to be fully harnessed.

Will Muschamp, the new defensive coordinator and hopefully future coach in residence, is fully responsible for the linebackers to develop. The past 3 seasons or the entire Mack Brown tenure has been marred with wasted talent at the linebacker positions. Mack Brown's concept make sense, in the sense the game has been evolving towards hybrid safeties and immensely quick defensive lines. But gosh-darnnit, I would love seeing the Sergio Kindles destroy receivers of the middle of the defense. I think linebackers who can rush the passer and ones who can cover backs or receivers have a place in the current game. The days of the hulking, powerful linebacker are nearing and end, at least in the college game, and with that, the 3-4 defense is also becoming a bit of an outdated mode of defense against the spread offense. Sergio Kindle has an opportunity this season to show he is a new age linebacker. At 6'4", 240-lbs, 4.45 sec 40-yd, dash he certainly looks the part.

I hope he looks like Tarzan and plays like Tarzan, not Jane.

Mack Brown says for every freshman a team starts, you should expect a loss. That's great, experience and knowledge of the game does mean something. But then, how does one expect USC or Florida to have the success they have had recently? I like that Mack is allowing the most talented to play despite their experience level.

I see Texas as a 2 to 4 loss team, anywhere from 11-2 to 9-4. If this team is injury-riddled, make it 5 losses. If everything falls into place, Texas can be 12-1 or 13-1. But that is going to take luck to go with the execution needed to play that level of football.

If Texas can have a 10-12 win season, it will be its NCAA leading 8th 10-win season in a row, and Mack Brown's prediction of a national title run in 2009 will be validated.

What do I think, more specifically? I think Texas will go 10-3 or 11-2 . I really do feel optimistically about the season, a far cry from how I felt 2-3 weeks ago. I feel as though the young players will develop on plan, and Mack Brown's new fire and renewed determination to bring another title home will permeate over the team. People love to rail on Brown, but I think critics forget how good he really is. Look at the numbers, they do not lie. Yes, he needs a couple of more conference titles and another national championship to be considered truly great, but he is in the top set of coaches right now when looking at all factors considered (coaching, gameday decisions, ability to change program direction, recruiting, representative of the university, ability to relate to players, connections with the NFL, wins, titles) [top college coaches - Nick Saban, Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Butch Davis, Bob Stoops, and Mack Brown].

Jim Grobe (Wake Forest), Paul Johnson (Ga. Tech), Jim Leavitt (USF), Greg Schiano (Rutgers), Jeff Tedford (Cal), Les Miles (LSU), Mark Richt (Georgia), and Rich Rodriquez (Michigan) still have a lot to prove, but there is a lot of future for them to do it in. Why is Les Miles on the list? Well, because he has proven to me he can win a national championship inspite of himself and with Nick Saban's players. Give Miles some time, he'll screw it up.

Texas needs to be undefeated going into the Red River Rivalry game with Mobilehoma, errr.., I mean Oklahoma. Oklahoma is a fielding a damn good team this year with quite a bit of talented experience. The stretch of 5 games in the month of October into the first week of November will show us what this Texas team is really capable of. It is a true gauntlet and no one can question Texas' schedule this year, with an armada of experienced quarterbacks they will face, 9 bowl teams, and well, just the normal hate they face anyways.

It is time for Texas to man up and win. Just win. I don't care anymore about these 10-win season streaks or anything. The talent is there. The coaching is there. The chemistry and team unity is finally back. Go win. Just f'in win. No more excuses. If you want to be the best, play like the best. First beat Oklahoma, beat the aggy, win the conference. That is by far the biggest smudge on Mack Brown's credentials - the lack of many conference championships. You still have time and an awful lot of talent - make it happen.

The luster from the 2005 national championship is still present, but it is slightly sullied from the past 2 season.

Just win.

I am excited. I am giddy. Hook'em Horns!

Tomorrow, I will overview Cal and Florida, which also feature two of the more innovative minds in offensive football.

What's in a name?

2008-08-19T18:41:00.001-07:00

It is a question that defines the basis of many interactions. Instead of bringing up topics from Freakonomics and other pop-cultural analyses of the effect of a given name on a child, I would like to offer my thoughts on significant nicknames, specific to me, and their subsequent effect on me. Basically, it is a sort of tribute to close friends who had nicknames for me and the reason why I am using the name Thakman Jones.

My first nickname was "Bhai", which means brother. My sister still calls me that as well as permutations of that.

I would have to go back to 5th grade basketball for my second nickname - Rahulahoop or contracted to Hulahoop. There was a fellow on the team whose last name was "Koster" and we called him[His first name] "Rolla Koster". The best one, though, was a fellow with the surname Prosser, who we called "Food Processor" due to his propensity to always be eating something. To be honest, I really liked the name. It was the first time I felt I was part of a group and accepted. Mild hazing is to be expected after one moves from one place to another, and well, I endured my share for ~2 yrs until this day in the gym in P.E. class.

The next significant time point transpired in high school, perhaps 10th and 12th grade. In 10th grade, I made a friend who is one of the most dependable people and good friend thatI will know in this lifetime. The name was bestowed was "Hulra". It is a simple, effective syllabic juxtaposition and after 16 yrs, my good friend still leaves voicemails calling me by that name. 12th grade brings back one of my most bittersweet memories. That's when the nickname, "G$"came about, and that too is 14 years strong with friends back home. Neal Jameson was one of the most hard working and intelligent people I have ever met. He and I teamed up on our 12th grade AP English poetry project. To cut a story short, I basically found a certain type of consonance in a poem, and it was the last item required for our project. I brought it over to Neal, he looked at it and pronounced, "Gee, you're on the money! Heh, G$!" My middle initial is in fact "G", and hence this name was fun.

It also gave me a touch of "street cred" on the basketball courts of the crazy, rugged suburbs I grew up in. It is funny; it does not matter if you have a jumpshot, but if people call you G$, people tend guard you tighter and pay more attention to you. The only drawback of this nickname was this fact. Under the glaring spotlight, my jumpshot suffered and I need mine. to play effectively on the offensive side. Anyone who has met me in person will understand why a low post game near the hoop would not be my strong point. :)

I had known Neal for many years. When I found out ~3 yrs ago he had died, it really hurt. Too this day, when I hear G$, I think of the of doing school projects and playing basketball with Neal.; it is a tribute to Neal's wit and our friendship.

In college, well, it was "Hulio." The closest friends in undergrad all called me Hulio. Pretty self-explanatory. That is the name that brings back the worst memories, not because of the name, but rather the set of experiences accompanying that name. My friends from undergrad are tremendous people and great friends, but undergrad was a very trying time with some very hard experiences. When I hear Hulio, it helps me remember the significant events that pushed me onto the course I am now.

And this leads me to the present day and perhaps, the most elaborate name on the listas well as the shortest. Heh. "Thakman Jones" "RaRa", and "Hul".

The friend who calls me RaRa did it in response to my contracting the first the syllable of her name and repeating it. Hul comes from my good friend, who interestingly, at one point in time resembled Nicholas Cage in Con Air. My long haired friend's effect has been immense, as it is fairly common for me to be referred to as Hul.

Finally, some of you that are familiar with pro football know the dubious, Adam "Pacman"Jones. He is now a cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys, my favorite NFL team. Adam Jones has had numerous brushes with the law and expanding this topic would be an entertaining post in and of itself. A very good friend, noticed the rhyme with my last name and Adam Jones' name. And the ironic thing is that I am nothing like Pacman, so the absurdity is ripe for fun to be had! This friend has had my back many times, and well, there is a certain joy when this nickname comes up. It is just funny. And I just want to make it rain. :)

I made a mistake a week ago. In an effort to start acting more professional and more "grown up", I became fidgety with that name. That was wrong. And the reason, is quite simple and serves as a concluding statement for this post:

Nicknames in the context I am speaking of (versus bad nicknames, like nicknames that chip away at who you are) are bestowed by friends to friends. It is in effect a verbal time capsule. If someone throws out a Hulra in my direction or Thakman Jones at me 10 years down the road, it will bring a beaming smile to my face. These names represent memories I have had a chance to forge with my friends and most importantly, the name represents a unique bond with those people who hold me dear and care about me.

So this is Thakman Jones signing out. I hope this post has given you a little insight to why this name exists and why I am using it now!

Next post topic - Some thoughts on the upcoming NCAA college football season. Also, in upcoming posts, I will figure out a better color scheme, play with posting links/video/photos, and basically come up with a more visually robust text. Thanks for allowing me a couple posts to learn the interface/options/etc. and get my feet underneath me.

The Beginning ...

2008-08-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

Where do you start a story? Unless you want to get into a discussion in postmodern film or writing, the beginning would be a satisfactory answer.

I have been meaning to get started for a while. For whatever reason, I had been putting it off until yesterday, I became compelled to. Once the inertia was overcome, I had to think of a title. The title would need to stand up to high standards that my friends have established in their blogs.

So I thought long and hard. What should it be? I love football. I love eating, perhaps to my detriment at times. And I am scientist; I love what I do.

And then, the first post. I think defining the parameters is an excellent route to choose.

10 Yards and Primordial Soup. "3 yards and a cloud of dust" refers to a saying by Coach Woody Hayes of The Ohio St. University and his philosophy of towards offensive football in the 1960s & 1970s. The game has changed quite a bit, but the basics remain the same. I love football because it is like LEGOS - the pieces are all the same, but you assemble them in various ways to come up with amazing concepts. Football is a game of basics, tried & true, but how you put them together- that's the fun. That's the awesome. I picked 10 because 10 yards is a first down and Vince Young's soon to be retired Texas jersey number. Yes, I am a Longhorn, but I love all of college football. Except Oklahoma and Texas A&M. You'll also read my sending "props" or "shouts" out to my friends' teams, like Cal, Michigan, Michigan St., Florida, The U or Miami, UConn, etc.

Haar.

"Primordial Soup" is said to be how life began in a pond or ocean as a result of the combination of chemicals from the atmosphere and some form of energy to make amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, which would then evolve into all the species. I am a scientist. I firmly believe in evolution. And I am spiritual.

Deal with that you proponents of intelligent design.

I am also going to take some time and write about ideas and new concepts in science because I firmly believe in the dissemination of accurate knowledge. And yes, I can speak with authority on concepts within my bailiwick. For those concepts outside my domain, it is pretty easy to find someone to consult with.

Primordial soup also has the word "Soup" in it. I love food. I'll also talk about recipes or restaurants or burritos or beer that I enjoy. Food is a form of expression and to eat amazing food is an opportunity to understand the divine.

Finally, I will also address interesting things that I just find cool. Like how do people choose names for their children? Why is my name Thakman Jones? What's a metabolism and why fat is important if you want to lose weight?

Haar.

Yes, Haar is my favorite word. And hopefully, soon it will be yours as well.