Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

No one there to watch

Word on the street is the Formula One race in Las Vegas - happening this weekend - is struggling to attract a full paying crowd. Tickets to the race weekend are discounted on the secondary market, while hotels rooms are cheap and widely available. We have exactly one person to blame for this: three times Formula One World Champion, Maxwell Verstappen.

Is there even interest in the 2023 F1 season at the point? Verstappen - and his Red Bull team - wrapped up the championship many races ago. I’ve certainly stopped following the series closely since then. When there’s literally no stakes in a race, of course people are wont to tune out. And because Red Bull is the most dominant car, the suspense of who can win a Grand Prix is gone as well. Max is a generational talent in a generationally great car, that is for certain. However, that combination does not make for interesting races to spectate.

It seems the promotor of the Las Vegas race (Formula One Management itself, oddly enough. Race promotors are typically third-party) underestimated the overall interest level. The scheduling gods did the race no favors: by scheduling it at the tail-end of the calendar, it risks having a race with nothing to fight for. Fans all want championships to go right until the final race of the season, but that’s not all that common. In the recent decade, I can only remember it happening twice: Rosberg vs. Hamilton 2013, and the controversial Hamilton vs. Verstappen in 2021.

A brand new race - third race in the United States this year - with nothing on the line is not a good recipe for commercial success. Never mind the superbly high prices FOM is charging. Sure, the ultra rich can buy premium packages with white-glove service. Plebs like me on the other hand aren’t willing to suffer through horrendous travel logistics and the high costs (tickets and hotel) just to watch a procession. I bet the current situation would be completely different if the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend is a potential championship decider.

Four more days until yet another Verstappen victory.

Island in the sun

What better way to spend the hottest day of the weekend than to attend a baseball game. It was like a sauna sitting out in the afternoon sun. I can feel the perspirations forming on my head, dripping down the back of my neck through the stands of my hair (which in itself had a strange cooling effect). There’s no avoiding the sweaty and the uncomfortable when the sun is beating down on you like that. You just have to bear through it, making sure to have the appropriate sun protection.

Because the point is to watch a baseball game! Granted I’ve definitely got enough vitamin D to last me a week.

Did you hear the Oakland Athletics team is leaving Oakland for Las Vegas? It looks to be a done deal ever since the Nevada legislature approved a boatload of public money for a baseball stadium on the famous Las Vegas strip. For a Bay Area native, it’s sad to see yet another Oakland team leave (first went the football Raiders, also to Las Vegas). At least the Warriors only moved across the bay to San Francisco. As it stands, in a few years’ time there won’t be any major sports franchises in Oakland. The fans there deserve so much better.

Be that as it may, if we want to see the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum, then time is going to run out on that. My friend and I have never been to the Coliseum, so we figured this past Sunday was as good a time as any to do so. The San Francisco Giants - our local team - was in town from across the Bay Bridge for a series, so it’s kind of like killing two birds with one stone. The Coliseum is super easy to get to from San Francisco: park at Daly City BART station, then take either the Dublin-Pleasanton or Berryessa line eastbound. Get off at the Oakland Airport station, then it’s a short walk to the stadium.

The Oakland Coliseum is a decent stadium. Sure it’s really old by modern standards, but the amenities are all there. Improvements can be had, but I would say it’s not integral to the overall baseball-watching experience. I can see why the owners of the A’s would want a new stadium, though: to attract more than just baseball. Across town, Oracle Park - home of the Giants - play host to all sorts of other events such as soccer and concerts. That is revenue that the A’s do not see from the Coliseum, and presumable will from the new stadium in Las Vegas.

Still, sucks for the fans in Oakland.

First time SEMA

It just so happened that during my weekend in Vegas, the annual SEMA show was being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It’s a trade show for makers of automobile aftermarket parts. Wheels, suspension, interior, car care, you name it. What’s most awesome about the SEMA show are the numerous project vehicles that get built especially for the occasion. It’s the North American version of the Tokyo Auto Salon, heaven for car enthusiasts who like to tinker with their pride and joy.

Sadly, being a trade show, SEMA is not open to the public. Even though it’s the car enthusiast public who are spending money on their cars, the show is catered towards B2B sales. That means the lay person cannot go to Las Vegas to see the awesome cars, unless you know a person already attending (badge sharing is a thing, apparently).

To my surprise, this year’s SEMA show has a Friday component that is open to the public. For a hefty sum of $70 dollars for a ticket, regular ole Joe blow like me can walk the same convention halls as the people in the trade. Serendipitous that I was in Vegas the same weekend, this provided the perfect opportunity to tick the SEMA box off my car enthusiasts bucket list. The Las Vegas Convention Center is easily accessible by the tram from the strip, which is what I took to get there.

It seems a lot of enthusiasts had the same idea: the line to pickup badges was nearly two hours long. I arrived at around 9:30 AM. By the time I had my badge in hand, it was time for lunch already. And the line was still the same size. I felt sorry for those folks as they probably won’t get into the halls until after 2:00 PM. And the show that day closes at 4:00 PM.

Overall I would say the SEMA show is definitely worth a go, at least once. The amount of interesting cars there, in varying degree of price (there was a Pagani Huarya at one booth) and modification, is simply amazing to see. On that alone you cannot have a bad time at SEMA. Being there have certainly rekindled my car enthusiasm. The whole time I was missing my BMW M2, and could not wait to get home to drive it again. More so than modifications - and I grew up on Super Street and Fast and Furious - it’s really about driving the cars and putting on miles.

There’s even a really live F1 car there.

Perspective, my friend

The people taking the bus at 6:00 AM in the morning on a weekday are legends. Shoutout to the early risers. The ones with a long public transit commute ahead of them. The ones with an ungodly start time to their work day. Or perhaps the ones returning from an arduous graveyard shift. And then there’s me: taking an early BART train to the airport because I had an 8:00 AM flight to Las Vegas for vacation. It is an humbling sight.

Beneath the glitz and money of the Vegas strip is an entire cottage industry that feeds off of it. The cleaning staff who keeps the hotels and Las Vegas boulevard spotless at all times. The solicitors on the strip hoping to make some money off the multitudes of tourists. The workers of all the restaurants and shops, catering to the whims of customers. There are no bathroom breaks when the line at the hotel Starbucks is stretched out into the casino floor the entire morning.

Throughout my time in Vegas last week I was filled with gratitude at how fortunate I am to not be one of the folks described above. I’m so lucky to have a job where I get paid for what’s in my brain than actual, physical labor. A steady 9-5, Monday through Friday job that I don’t have to think about outside of those work hours. A job that allows me to take paid vacation pretty much any time throughout the year, so long as I give proper notice.

What this recent vacation have reinforced in me is to be incredibly grateful at what I already have. There’s always plenty more to chase, sure, but so many have far less. Thank you for the much needed perspective, Las Vegas.

Loathing in Las Vegas

The last time I was in Las Vegas was back in 2014. As an adult who seldom drinks and detest going to parties, the little town in Paradise, Nevada never held the same appeal to me as it does to others. A weekend off to Vegas? But why? It’s nothing but a whole mess of people, spending your hard-earned money frivolously, and supremely dry weather (bring lotion).

Well, I just came back from a long weekend in Las Vegas. My friend was attending a conference and had a free hotel bed for me to stay. I figured, why not? It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Vegas; let’s see what it’s like from the perspective of an introvert who is now in his mid thirties.

My priors views about the place are still present. The throngs of people on a Saturday evening on the strip is absolutely amazing and also terrifying, coming out of the pandemic. All I could think about while I was amongst the sea of people is the horrific tragedy in Itaewon, Seoul. If there is a crowd rush right now I will for sure die. The best time to walk the strip is actually a weekday afternoon, during golden hour. Far less people, and the sunsetting colors make the views kind of spectacular.

The frivolous spending of money is what actually grosses me out of the most about Vegas. American consumerism and consumption-ism is on full display. You can’t walk a super long Vegas block without encountering something to lose your money to. Everything there is designed to separate you from your cash, all dressed up in a nice coat of high-class veneer to convince you of your specialness. Las Vegas allows the layman to indulge in a taste of the stereotypical rich lifestyle. Provided you’re willing to fork over some money.

Because the lunch there is definitely not free. The food prices in Vegas are incredibly high, even at the hotel food court level, never mind the branded restaurants behind famous chefs that you’d need reservations for (and a tip to the maître d'). For three days I bought nothing material from any store, only spending on food. I easily dropped $300 on sustenance alone, and that’s without going anywhere fancy. Vegas inflation is real, add on top of that the regular inflation we’re experiencing everywhere.

Las Vegas is indeed a playground for the rich. Normal folks like you and I can only pay what little we have to get a taste. And perhaps get lucky at the tables and games so we can join the ranks of the rich, however minuscule the chance may be. That’s what keeps people coming back, the endless hedonic treadmill.

Fear and sadness in Las Vegas

Another day, another mass shooting here in America.

My heart breaks for the dead, the wounded, the first responders, and their respective families and friends. People were simply enjoying a great Sunday evening in Las Vegas, rocking out to a country music concert. To then suddenly get massacred like fish in a barrel by a gunman perched high up in a Mandalay Bay room; disheartening.

it's unconscionable, yet constant gun violence is a resigned reality in America because a majority of our political class lack the moral decency to do the right thing. Proper gun control/restrictions should've already be enacted after the Sandy Hook elementary tragedy, but it didn't, and if literal babies getting shot up didn't move the needle one bit, adult concert goers isn't likely to, either.

Obama once warned us to not fall trap to despair and hopelessness, and to keep fighting for what's right. Some days are for sure more difficult than others.

I was vacationing in South Korea earlier this summer, and it's a stark contrast to go from the most gun-happy first-world country to one of the most strict. In Seoul I travelled around with a subconscious sense of security that was incredibly comforting. It's so liberating to be able to walk in any parts of of the city at the wee hours of the night without the fear of getting robbed at gunpoint. Partly due to the utter lack of guns, in South Korea there are no metal detectors or security checkpoints to go through when boarding cross-country trains, or heading into a baseball stadium. It's amazing.

I can only hope that someday us Americans can enjoy the same sort of peace and tranquillity. It starts with gun control.