Wednesday, February 25, 2004

pro-China Kerry?

I'm a little worried. From the Straits Times:

"[Senator John Kerry] supports a 'one-China' policy that sees Taiwan as a part of China and asserts that the US is not obligated to help protect Taiwan."

It looks like John Kerry is pretty much a lock for the Democratic nomination, which is troublesome for me. I would have preferred John Edwards, Howard Dean, or Wesley Clark instead. I suppose Edwards has a small chance left, but I'm not optimistic. I don't know what I'm going to do if it comes down to Kerry, the anti-Taiwan candidate, and GWB, the anti-everything-else-I-believe-in candidate.

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

ski Utah

I've been skiing since I was about ten or eleven years old. The sad thing is that I haven't really gotten any better since high school. This is most likely because I have too much fear.

I'm convinced that the difference between a decent skier and a really good skier is just fear and athleticism. When I try to ski moguls, or through trees, or on really narrow paths, I get freaked out and turn a lot, which makes me really tired, which makes me more afraid, because I have less control over my very tired legs. Also, I hate falling. That may sound obvious, but boarders fall a lot more often than skiers, and I'm pretty sure it's partially because it's harder to hurt yourself seriously (assuming you're wearing a helmet) so boarders don't mind falling as much. Unfortunately, you learn more when you push yourself until you fall.

That having been said, I had a lovely time skiing in Park City. The resorts there (Park City Mountain Resort, The Canyons, and Deer Valley Resort) are each several mountains wide. You can ski all weekend and never ski the same run twice, if you want (we didn't get to try Deer Valley, since it's skiers only). There are no crowds, so you can park pretty close to the lifts. As a skier with rigid front-loading boots, I appreciate every step that I don't have to walk in my ski boots. Finally, we stayed in a condo right next to The Canyons, at a very decent price. For a bunch of Californians used to Tahoe crowds, it was pure heaven.

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

very, very smart

My sister sent me this quote from one of her professors at Columbia:

"I had this summer school student once who worked on lex. He ended up being the CEO and Chair for Novell and then Google. He was a great summer student. He programmed like the wind." -- on Eric Schmidt

Monday, February 02, 2004

Super Bowl XXXVIII

The Super Bowl was actually worth watching, for once. I didn't really care who won, so I just wanted to see a good game, and I did. We were all laughing about betting on the over line after the first quarter; who'd have thought the Panthers and the Patriots (ranked 16th and 17th in total offense, respectively) would put together a 37-point fourth quarter? I loved the direct snap to Antowain Smith that resulted in a New England touchdown early in the fourth; that's gotta be one of TMQ's sweet plays of the week.

It's a good thing the game was so good, because the commercials sucked beyond belief. I also don't really understand the way everyone is reacting to the Janet Jackson mishap. I guess it's to be expected that all the conservatives are out there brandishing the "think of the children" card, but what child hasn't seen a breast? I guess it's possible no one breastfeeds anymore. I find it much more disturbing that her top was ripped off, and much less disturbing that she was topless. That piercing of hers is also a bit disturbing, I suppose. But seriously, we really do have ridiculous hangups about nudity in this country. If Janet really didn't expect Justin to rip off her top, then what we have is a clear case of assault. If she did expect it, then I think it's stupid of her to pretend otherwise.

To end on a brighter note...according to MMQB, the Richardson family (owners of the Carolina Panthers) sent every one of their 400 club and stadium employees, plus one guest each, to the Super Bowl. They chartered 3 planes for 800 people, bought 800 Super Bowl tickets, and paid for 400 hotel rooms. That's a lovely thing to do, plain and simple.

 

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