See some good vibe - 10 things I think

10 THINGS I THINK

1. Marvel Agents of SHIELD just keeps getting better and better. Ever since last year’s Captain America movie turned the show over to an entirely new tangent, plot development have come at a much more rapid rate, and the show is all the better for it. I hope Agents of SHIELD had got enough longevity to stay on television at the very least until it’s destined intersection with the Inhumans movie. The show’s tie-ins with the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe are a personal favorite of mine.

2. Looks like 2016 presidential campaigns are launching left and right (see what I did there?), all of which doesn’t remotely interest me. There’s still a massive amount of months to go before election night, and I think it’s way too premature to be discussing it already. Can’t we keep our focus on the current administration? Those ongoing discussions with Iran are a fairly huge deal, aren’t they?

Besides, I bet most of you can’t even name the person that represents your district in the state legislature. Those are the bureaucrats that have and will have an immediate impact on your daily lives, and not the president of these United States.

3. It’s always a lovely compliment when someone tells me that I’ve got the appearance of an 18 year-old instead that of a 27 year-old that I really am. It would appear those Asian genes of mine are doing a fine job at keeping the ravages of aging away from my face.

4. I don’t understand: what is the point of building and having hundreds of Apple stores but not a single person would be able to simply walk in and purchase an Apple Watch on launch day? It’s baffling to me that the vast Apple conglomerate, with enough cash reserves and economies of scale to bludgeon all, can’t conjure enough amounts of Apple Watch for people to buy in store.

Inventory shortage also plagued the newly released Macbook, with plenty of Apple stores not even having a model to display. What the heck is going on? Apple has been producing notebook computers for decades - it’s their core expertise! Something is not right in Apple’s retail supply chain.

5. Speaking of the new “retina” Macbook, my advice is to hold off on purchasing one until the next generation comes out. Much like the first ever Macbook Air product back in 2008, this completely redesigned retina Macbook is highly compromised in terms of function and power (you’ve got to be kidding me with that one USB port). The second generation will undoubtedly be vastly improved and a much more usable notebook - exactly like the revised Macbook Air that came out in 2010.

The new Macbook then is only good for early adopters and trust fund hipsters, because brand image to impress others is everything.

6. Steph Curry should (and likely will) win the NBA most valuable player award. The stuff he does night in and night out is simply spectacular, enough to have you question whether the moves and numbers he puts up can even be replicated in video game simulation. I get the chorus of James Harden supporters putting up protest  - and honestly I wouldn’t be at all mad if Harden wins the MVP - but come on: we all know Curry will win the award.  

Never thought I’d see the day a player from the Warriors will win the NBA MVP award.

7. It’s tax day, and if you’re getting or have received a sizable amount of money back from the IRS, then you’re absolutely doing it wrong. That is, unless you really do enjoy lending the government your money at zero percent interest.

8. We’ve got a little over two more weeks to go until the second Avengers movie hits the theatre. I’m not sure I will be able to last that long without internally combusting from anxiety and anticipation. Yes, it’s very much a first world problem. That said, I value my slumber hours too much to ever attend a midnight showing. The cheapskate in me will probably do an early Saturday morning matinee.

9. Every day I get increasingly resigned and disappointed at the glaring reality that I won’t ever be able to afford a home in San Francisco. How tragic is it that a kid that grew up here, and is now gainfully employed within the city, can’t afford to live in it. I don’t think that is what cities were designed to be. Certainly, cities should never be a haven for investors that don’t even live there (looking at you, rich Chinese nationals that buy up a tremendous amount of San Francisco’s housing inventory.)

10. I think Couchella is an infinitely better than Coachella. Thanks, YouTube!

Though I’m not sure I’d be willing to pay a monthly subscription for the rumored ad-free YouTube. Thanks to a certain widely known browser plugin, my Youtube experience is already advertisement-free.  

Talking body - 10 things I think

10 THINGS I THINK

1. Agent Carter absolutely deserves to have more series made. The brief first series of eight episodes was spectacular, and of course I adore the performance of Hayley Atwell as the titular character. I'd be extremely disappointed if it gets cancelled, not the least of which television would lose one of the scant few female-led shows. 

I think the short episodes run rather than a full 22 episode order works well for Agent Carter. The story was quick and concise, and there was more value to each episode. I'd be quite alright if future series maintains it's position as the stop-gap between fall and spring halves of Agents of SHIELD. 

2. Speaking of Agents of SHIELD, it'll return next week, and I'm quite excited. Inhumans are likely to get introduced for the first time to the MCU, and how will the world of AOS tie in to the upcoming Avengers film? I'm glad the producers decided to split the season into two halves: there shouldn't be any weeks off for the show from now until the end of May.

3. Turbocharging and hybrid power is slowly enveloping the sports car world, leaving those of us who lust for high-revving atmospheric engines in fetal positions, awaiting for the inevitable to arrive. You know the moment has come when Porsche and it's preeminent sports car icon the 911 will soon feature turbocharged engines exclusively throughout its range, sparing only cars with a GT3 badge at the rear. 

As an owner of a turbocharged engined car, I understand very well the benefits: the power you can extract from relatively displacements, and the low-end torque that is so wondrous when punching it out of a slow corner. Manufacturers are turing to turbos because of emissions: scavenging exhausts gases that would otherwise be wasted energy is simply more efficient (read: more miles to the gallon, less expelled pollutants.) 

4. Enthusiasts' gripe with the turbocharged engine is the sound, or lack thereof. When you place turbines in the route of the exhaust tract, engine noise is naturally going to be muffled as well. It seems the majority of automakers have yet to figure out (or bother with) how to properly tune the exhausts of a turbocharge engine to make it not sound like a vacuum cleaner. 

And that's the key: turbocharging is inevitable, therefore manufacturers need to allocate the appropriate research-and-development funding towards sound engineering. The sort of noise a car makes is one of it's defining characteristics; it's why people are so drawn to the rocky, gargling roar of a small-block Chevy V8, or the high-pitched screaming howl of an LF-A V10.

Engine sound - real, actual engine sound - simply can't be ignored by sports car manufacturers any longer (looking at you, BMW.) 

5. I used to poke fun at Derrick Rose and his propensity to get hurt, but now with the news of him needing yet another knee surgery, it has gotten quite sad. I genuinely feel bad for him, and it's a great shame because Rose's cranky knees stole from us a great talent that was bound for many great things. Now, we may never find out. 

Warriors fans must be ecstatic that Steph Curry's ankles are no longer a concern as they once were. 

6. Honda has fired its CEO, Takanobu Ito, due to the whole of the Takata recall fiasco (amongst other issues), and I applaud it greatly. As an auto enthusiasts, I was happy to see Ito go because for the longest time he absolutely gutted anything remotely sporting or innovative within the Honda conglomerate. 

Acura had a rear-wheel drive platform, a brand-new V8 engine, and a V10-powered NSX replacement practically production-ready, but those programs got the knife. There were never a successor to the wondrous S2000 roadster nor the RSX coupe, and the present Civic Si is a shell of it's former high-revving glory. Instead of a company run by engineers, it was overrun by accountants. 

The incoming CEO needs to take a page from their rival Toyota and inject some sport back into their product lineup. The new turbocharged 2.0-liter four, the 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox, and the soon-to-arrive NSX replacement is a good start. Time to keep it going. 

7. I take great offense to Apple's new skin-tone emojis. The one that's suppose to represent Asian skin-color is simply too yellow. We are NOT THAT YELLOW. Heck, I'm can be so pale at times that I'm a lighter shade that a few of my white friends. If my friends use that particular emoji when texting, I'm going to assume they've got jaundice and they need me to take them to the emergency room immediately. 

8. It's taken over a decade, but Bugatti has finally sold it's final copy of the Veyron hypercar. 450 cars in all, each carrying the hefty price of well over a million dollars. 

In contrast, it probably took Ferrari less than a month to sell out all 499 copes of its LaFerrari hypercar, each, like the Veyron, also costs around a million dollars. And buyers don't even call Ferrari to purchase one; Ferrari will contact you if it deems you qualified.

The power of the Ferrari brand. They truly are the automotive equivalent of Apple. 

9. The Oscars may have run a bit long, and NPH was out of its elements as a host (he's not one for comedy, I'm sorry), but the speeches salvaged the show. Patty Arquette's rousing speech for women's pay, John Legend and Common's passion for equal justice, Graham Moore's succinct "stay weird, stay different" rally cry, Alejandro Iñárritu's plea for fair treatment of undocumented immigrants, and Meryl Streep's heartfelt introduction to the In Memoriam segment. Those were all spectacular proses, and highlights of an otherwise dull award evening. 

10. Finally, Mayweather will fight Pacquiao on May 2nd, and I'm very much looking forward to it. It's our generation's Ali v. Frazier, one I'm definitely not going to miss out on as a sports fan. It will be the first instance that I'll be paying good money for a pay-per-view event.