Blog

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

Am I the asshole?

It’s weird these days going inside shops. The mask mandate is gone practically everywhere in the Bay Area. Therefore, often times I choose to not wear one when I go the mall or the grocery store. Not because I am anti-mask or anything. Where I work - San Francisco State University - there still an indoor mask mandate, so I wear one at least 40 hours every single week. You can see why I try not to wear them outside of work.

The problem is: mask wearing causes my face to break out in acne (yes, still getting acne at age 34). During the weekend when I don’t wear one constantly, my face is noticeably less inflamed. So if I can avoid it, I don’t mask up.

Which makes for an awkward situation, because usually I would be the only one not wearing a mask. So I end up looking like one of those crazy anti-maskers who only got vaccinated to keep my job, and most likely voted for Donald Trump. It’s good to see people around here are still masking up indoors, but the bottom line is it’s no longer mandatory. Some days I simply don’t feel like wearing it. Sorry.

At least no one has hassled me for it thus far. And I do feel bad when I have to interact with a store clerk who is masked up. Massive apologies for spewing my droplets onto you so carelessly.

What I never understood is the mask mandate for indoor dinning. As far as I am concerned, that is pure theatre. What difference does it make against an airborne illness to only wear the mask when I’m walking to and from the restaurant table? Are we suddenly in some protected bubble once we’re all seated? Of course, rules are rules: I abide by the mandates just as most everybody else do. However, nowadays I don’t bother with masks when I go to a restaurant. It makes zero sense.

Good for you, Andrew!

I haven’t written about this yet, so I will do so now: I’m super happy Andrew Garfield got closure in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Both for him personality, and his version of Peter Parker. Garfield’s Spider-Man probably isn’t on anybody’s favorite list, but he had such great passion for the character. He’s a heck of an actor as well. It was always a bit of a shame the Garfield Spidey never got the third film to finish his trilogy.

Granted, it was the correct decision for Sony to cast Tom Holland once they decided that Spider-Man was to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They had to make the change for someone younger, someone who can bring further longevity to the role. Because a Spider-Man franchise under the tutelage of Kevin Feige can’t possible fail, right?

And that’s exactly right. Spider-Man: No Way Home broke records and made a ton of money (the first two films did really well, too). It’s easily my favorite Spider-Man movie of the three modern series. The way the writers have managed to weave in the first two franchises into a coherent and emotion story is genuinely a masterpiece of storytelling. It is Avengers: Endgame level of tying up strings together and throwing in Easter eggs that absolutely make sense.

Giving Aunt May the famous line spoken by a dying Uncle Ben is just perfect. Marissa Tomei and Tom Holland acted the hell out of that scene. The collective gasp at the theatre when we heard the line and then realized: oh no, Aunt May is going to die.

More so than Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man, I was happiest to see Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man being able to tie up the loose ends from his timeline. Him saving MJ from the fall reads completely corny and cliche on paper, but it totally worked on screen. Garfield emotes so well with his eyes and facial expression.

Obviously, go see Spider-Man: No Way Home immediately if you haven’t already. Sorry about the spoilers…

I will always take pictures of blossoms.

No manual is just fine

Every Friday evening, I go over to my friend’s house to have dinner and visit his two kids. Free dinner for a bit of babysitting, what is there not to like? Naturally then I would first go home and put down my work things before heading off. And it is precisely during that time that I am glad I bought my BMW M2 with an automatic transmission.

After an eight hour work day, that last thing I wan to do is to continue wearing socks and shoes. The feet need an opportunity to breathe for the first time all day. So I wash them (an underrated method to relax, I have to say) at the bathroom sink, and then I leave for my friend’s house with only flip flops on. I don’t even bother with socks.

And this is where the automatic gearbox comes in: I can easily drive without having to wear shoes. Had I bought the M2 with the manual (would have been some $3,000 cheaper, by the way), shoes are somewhat mandatory to operate the three pedals. Barefoot is a possibility, but that’s utterly nasty to be stepping on pedals with who knows what sort of germs on it (think of all the places your shoes go on a daily basis). Especially after having just washed my feet.

I know I know, I’m not doing my part to save the manuals by opting for the automatic. By all accounts, the Getrag six-speed manual in BMW cars is not that good. The dual-clutch automatic on the other hand is world-class. The latter is objectively the better option for the M2. I don’t miss having something for the left foot and right hand to do. At least with this car.

If we’re saving manuals, it’s got to be one worth saving. Like the one in the Toyota GR86. So many Youtube automotive journalists have bought one with their own money (sure sure, business tax write-off, no doubt). Quite a confirmation on how great the GR86 is. If I didn’t already have this BMW…

One sleep hack

As an avid purveyor of proper amounts of sleep, one of the prime difficulties is ensuring I am getting the necessary hours. It’s not enough that I block out the eight hours per night, because we really don’t fall asleep immediately, do we? Unless of course we are damn tired from a hard day, but those are thankfully few and far in between.

What usually happens is I would spend about 10 to 15 minutes after getting to bed trying to fall asleep. And that’s on a good day. Some nights it takes what feels like an interminably long time before I enter into sleep. The problem usually compounds, because I would get frustrated that I’m not falling asleep fast enough. I’m going to miss my eight hour target! That frustration of course would then further prevent me from going to sleep.

A vicious cycle!

So what I’ve done these days is allocate time for that period of trying to fall asleep. For my optimal eight hours of sleep, I would block out nine hours of actual in-bed time. It’s a win-win: if I enter sleep quickly, I get the benefit of an extra hour of slumber. If I struggle to fall asleep, I have about an hour of buffer before it actually affects my optimal sleep. No need to get frustrated: I’ll fall asleep eventually and it’ll still be alright.

Obviously, this is predicated on me actually going to bed at the appropriate hour. Too many potential distractions out there: twitter, Youtube, TV, and video games. It takes discipline for sure. If you’re the type to burn the proverbial candle late into the night, this sleep hack of mine isn’t going to work for you.

Unless you don’t have a job to go to the following morning!

Epik High is here

Last evening I went to my first concert since the summer of 2019. South Korean hip-hop band Epik High was playing at the Fox Theatre in downtown Oakland. Suffice it to say it’s been a really long time since I’ve experienced live music in person. We were scheduled to attend the BTS tour at Levi’s Stadium back in May of 2020, but sadly we’re all too familiar with what happened to the world that spring. What’s still going on, no matter how lax the COVID restrictions are now comparatively.

Summer of 2019 we saw South Korean pop girl group Twice at The Forum in Inglewood. Kpop was huge back then but not nearly as big as it is now (thanks, BTS). Tickets to the 2019 Twice show were still a relatively easy get. The group’s 2022 North American tour? We didn’t even try. I’m quite happy to have seen Twice in concert before Kpop’s explosion in popularity on this side of the globe.

Being a somewhat indie hip-hop act, tickets to Epik High weren’t too difficult to get. In fact you could’ve bought tickets right at the show, should you be the type of person who lives life so spontaneously. The Fox Theatre seems to be the perfect size venue of the group. We sat up top at the mezzanine level with assigned seating, because we are too bloody damn old to be humping and bumping with the crowd down on the first-come-first-serve floor. Though I totally would for an artist I truly admire, like IU.

I have to say that acoustically, the Fox Theatre is a mix bag. The setup seems to be more suited for the EDM type of music. Songs with lyrics you have to make out will struggle to find the necessary clarity at the venue. It’s loud for loudness sake, which is kind of disappointing, honestly.

Of course, Epik High didn’t disappoint. DJ Tukutz, Mithra Jin, and Tablo sang many of their hits and quite a few songs from their latest album. I had a great time, though I think my ears will need a few days to recover from not having such intensity of decibels in a long time.

Baseball is back!

The 2022 Major League Baseball season has begun in earnest this past weekend. It’s just nice to tune into a Giants game on the television during a lazy weekend afternoon. The YouTube TV package includes the local NBC Sports channel that carries the Giants broadcast, so I am setup for the whole season. No more diving into the depths of Reddit to find that one sketchy streaming channel. Completely illegal, obviously. What’s the statute of limitations on that sort of stuff again?

I also get my Formula One broadcast in legit fashion now. YouTube TV carries the entire ESPN family of channels, home to F1 in America. The NBC family of channels carry English Premier League, so I’m truly made in terms of sports I like to have on in the background while I do something else. Sports that I use to have to access via the aforementioned Reddit.

At $65 dollars a month, YouTube TV is expensively priced like a cable subscription. I would never pay for that by my lonesome - otherwise what’s the point of “cutting the cord”? Thanks to family sharing, we are able to split that cost four ways. $16 dollars per month is far more palatable, and an absolute bargain for how much channels are included (70+). Of course, a de-facto prerequisite is having unlimited home internet. The typical 1 terabyte per month data caps simply won’t cut it: one hour of 4K streaming uses about 20 gigabytes. 50 hours of 4K and you’re already at the limit.

So after a historic 107-win regular season last year, what are my expectations of for the 2022 Giants? I predict a team of feisty dogs that grind out games. This is not a team of marquee names and big-time contracts. But the sum of all the parts will be highly competitive game in and game out. Well worth having on the TV in the background!

It’s the most, wonderful time, of the year.

Not going home

The news out of Shanghai is good. According to this twitter thread, the mega city has been on lockdown for two weeks now, and the situation is getting dire. Not enough food are being delivered to residents, and people are getting frustrated. There’s many things the Chinese can tolerate, but hunger is not one of them due to deep-seated historical trauma. China’s COVID zero policy will for sure fail if the government can’t feed the populace.

From the outside looking in, COVID zero seems to be an impossible goal anyways. The procedures in place are ultra draconian. The Chinese need an official smartphone app to go anywhere. A green stamp on the app means you’re free to move. A red means you must quarantine or face prison time. Mandatory testing can happen at anytime and at any hour. Should you be unlucky to be in a mall where someone else tests positive, you will get locked inside that mall until you yourself tests negative.

This is the same country that only a few months ago hosted the winter games!

My relatives in Guangzhou are also preparing for lockdowns that can happen at anytime. Seeing the situation in Shanghai, they are stocking up on non-perishable foods as much as possible. Again, just a few months ago they were gathering at a restaurant to celebrate Lunar New Year! It’s crazy how things can simply turn on a dime, all because the Chinese government will not tolerate even one case of COVID.

So long as COVID zero remains in effect, I don’t see how I can return home to China to see my relatives anytime soon. No doubt I will be forced to download an app that tracks my every movement. There will probably be quarantine requirements and multiple tests as well. There’s also the risk of being locked down and stuck in the country. Not worth the hassle at all.

It’s been almost two and a half years since I last traveled to China. Looks like it will be a whole while longer still until I can again.