Symphony this life - 10 things I think

10 THINGS I THINK

1. Someone is going to have to explain to me how the Warriors are down one game to two against a Cavaliers team that hasn’t got Kevin Love or Kyrie Irving. On paper they should be crushing them, but as the saying goes, that’s why they play the games.

2. Chipotle is already one of my favorite chain restaurants, and now, even more so. It’s been announced the company will begin to offer paid sick leave and vacation for its employees - including part-time workers. Suffice it to say, the Chipotle will see plenty more of my money in the future.

3. Last week I heavily criticized the Mercedes F1 team for their horrendous gaff at the Monaco Grand Prix, but thanks to FOM releasing new radio messages between the team and driver, it looks like half of the blame needs to go towards Lewis Hamilton! Turns out the decision to box the car wasn’t the sole wonton decision by the team, but Hamilton himself wanted to pit as well - he was entirely complicit to the maneuver! It’s no wonder he didn’t go ballistic against his team in the aftermath - he knew he cocked it up.

4. I take great satisfaction in the fact the current Giants third baseman Matt Duffy has got a higher OPS than the acrimoniously departed Pablo Sandoval. “The Panda” should’ve probably done something with the bat first before trashing his former organization. Karma is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?

5. I think Zoe Saldana’s husband taking her last name is absolutely beautiful.

6. Sergio Marchionne is a very impressive man in the flesh, so it’s puzzling as to why he is unable to steward the Fiat group into anything resembling a proper auto manufacturer. (Ferrari not withstanding.) Lancia is all but dead, Fiat can’t decide what it wants to do, Maserati can’t compete with the Germans, and Alfa Romeo is on its hundredth revival plan.

Perhaps the ousted Luca Di Montezemolo should’ve taken over instead.

7. The Gilmore Girls reunion at the ATX Festival was absolutely everything. Yes, I’m an avid fan of the series, except for season 7. I don’t see how anybody can actually like season 7.

8. It’s a shame I’ve got to wait until autumn, because my iPhone 5S could really use the battery and storage-space saving technology in the recently announced iOS 9. That, or I just badly need to upgrade to iPhone 6.

9. If you’re sick of Hollywood whitewashing Asian-themed films (the Aloha movie, ahem), then you really should support Wong Fu Productions first feature film Everything Before Us by watching it on their Vimeo page. As always, it’s immensely important to support independent artists.

10. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is this weekend, and I promise I’ll actually attend one of those within the next few years. It’ll have to coincide with the big European jaunt that anyone who doesn’t live on that continent aspires to do.

In the meantime, I’ll have to make do with the sublime people that do the Radio Le Mans broadcast.       

Sandy bottom of Puget Sound - 10 things I think

10 THINGS I THINK

1. There remains nothing quite like the joy and adventure of traveling. A few weeks back I made the impulse action of making a trip up Highway 5 towards Seattle, and I have to say I’m very glad I listened to my inner spontaneity. It’s a huge world out there after all, and we owe it to ourselves to see as much of it as we can, while we still can.

Seattle is an immensely lovely city, and in fact it’s quite similar to San Francisco. However, up in the Pacific North West, the pace of it all is much more relaxed compared to the hustle and grind of my own 7x7 city. I felt right at home in Seattle, and actually prefer the slower lifestyle of the Emerald City. It forces you to take your moments and enjoy everything that’s around you, which isn’t so terrible at all when the scenery in Seattle is so incredible.

I don’t suppose I’ll make it back up there anytime soon, as there are other places I haven’t yet seen. That said, some day way into the future, I would love to retire somewhere within the Pacific North West region, if not Seattle itself.  

2. Not in my lifetime did I think the great FIFA empire would be struck down by outside forces. It’s an open secret that FIFA is one of the most corrupt organizations in the world, but nobody does anything about it because one, the game itself is still brilliant, and second, no one’s got the power. Enter the United States of America.

For a country whose populace couldn’t care less about football (we idiotically call it soccer), who would have thought it would be the American government that finally did the unthinkable. Granted, it had nothing to do with football and everything about taxes. America will bludgeon you to the depths of Guantanamo if you don’t pay or evade your taxes, no matter how large or evil your organization is.

Sepp Blatter is no longer the president of FIFA. I can’t believe I just typed that sentence.

Suffice it to say, the United States will not be getting the opportunity to host another World Cup every again. Further more, every tournament henceforth will see us grouped into the proverbial group-of-death. It’s all in good sport, really.

3. Much congratulations to the Golden State Warriors for ascending to the NBA Finals. It’s incredible to see the team meet and exceed the expectations of greatness that everyone has put on them. Now it’s time for them to finish the job, and I have no reasons to doubt the Warriors wouldn’t defeat LeBron’s Cavaliers, especially with no Kevin Love and a hobbled Kyrie Irving. The Dubs in six, I’d wager.

I can’t wait for the Thursday evening to arrive for the start of game one. The Bay Area has waited far too long for this.

4. I’ve found that I dislike driving people to the airport, because inevitably there will come a moment where melancholy will set in. The sadness stems from the fact I myself isn’t the one whose traveling somewhere. The pangs of wanderlust, and tinges of jealously towards the person leaving, are very strong indeed. Call me selfish, but hey, my friends can simply call an Uber to get to the airport. It’s a more desirable alternative than me holding a grudge towards you the entire time because you’re heading off to some other place without me.

5. Lewis Hamilton should not have pitted under the safety-car; end of discussion. Mercedes must’ve have momentarily forgotten just what track they were on. It’s bloody Monaco! Track position is absolutely critical in the streets of the principality. A car could be many seconds faster than the one in front and still wouldn’t make any impressions of an overtake maneuver. Jarno Trulli won the only Grand Prix in his career by holding up the field in the 2004 Monaco race (giving birth to the ever popular Trulli Train moniker).

The thought of pitting Lewis’ car at that stage of the race should have never entered the minds of Mercedes race engineers. Have they forgotten that Nico Rosberg himself won the 2013 race while being slower than the cars behind him? Lewis should go ballistic if at season’s end he were to lose the championship to Nico by fewer than 10 points. Team Mercedes royally screwed him over in Monte Carlo.

6. Reviews of the new 2016 Mazda Miata in American specification have come out this week, and it’s a massive mistake that I’ve read them all. In the famous of words of Spongebob, I NEED IT. The car is everything that’s right about driving purity, where the only number that matter on the spec-sheet is how lightweight it is. Sure, compare to my current car it’s the polar opposite in terms of practicality, but the again, I don’t much like driving people and carrying round lots of stuff anyways.

Not since my WRX STI have I wanted a car so badly (realistically speaking, of course), though I think my wallet will have the final say. Unfortunately, in the specification I’d prefer, the ND Miata would cost around $32K - the same price I paid for the STI a bit over two years ago. It means I’d have to put a considerable sum on top of the STI in order to procure the car, and to be honest, I’d much rather spend that money towards traveling.

Someday.

7. A group is banding together to sue Harvard University for instituting quota caps on Asian student enrollment, and I think it’s about damn time. In the application process, all students should be judge on merit, without any biases towards the color of their skin. So what if doing so would render the top universities predominantly White and Asian? That’s simply the reality of the education system. I’d be supremely indignant if I didn’t get accepted and someone with a lower metric got in simply because they weren’t Asian.

And you’re naïve if you think this type of discrimination only happens at Harvard. Heck, my own high school unofficially had the same policies. It needs to end.

8. I think 12 hours is just about the longest duration I can drive in one day. Being in a car for that long definitely does weird things to you mentally, even if physically you can still do more mileage (proper seat adjustment is very important.)

That said, a good car, lovely tunes, and the open road is an absolutely sublime combination. It’s why I take a long road trip at least once every year since I’ve started working (ergo earning money to do so.)

9. It pains me greatly to see Emma Stone, one of my favorite actresses, play a quarter-Asian (she’s fully white) in the massively whitewashed Aloha movie. As others have pointed out, how are they going to have a film set in Hawaii but then go on with cast that’s entirely white? Half of the population on the island is Asian! That fact the producers failed miserably to cast a mixed Asian actress (Chloe Bennet, anyone?) to play the quarter-Asian female lead is practically criminal.

10. I think I really should get a move on and finish playing through Grand Theft Auto Five…  

And so were you - 10 things I think

10 THINGS I THINK

1. I’m supremely happy that Agent Carter is renewed for a second season. Television is still severely lacking in strong, female character-driven programs, so a show saved is very good news indeed. I reckon an eight episode run in between the two half seasons of Agents of SHIELD - as the first season of Agent Carter did - will be just fine.

2. After only 20K miles on the STI, it was time for some brand new tires. When you’ve got extreme performance summer rubber, my god do they wear out quickly. However, it was the perfect opportunity for me to finally sample a set of the sublime Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire. After only a few days of daily driving on them, I’m already infatuated with them. There’s just so much grip on offer, and as a bonus, rides better and quieter than the stock Dunlops as well.

3. I think the penalty Tom Brady and the Patriots got is quite harsh. Sure, he technically cheated, and deserved to be punished, but a four game suspension? A million dollar fine and a first-round pick docked for the team? The league absolutely put down the proverbial hammer, and it simply isn’t fair in my opinion. I highly doubt a slightly deflated ball has significantly affected the outcome of any Patriots game.  

4. Baffling as to why anybody on this side of the pond would give an ounce of care on the outcome of the United Kingdom general elections. It doesn’t affect any of us over here! On that same tangent, who gives a crap about a newborn royal baby? Haven’t you people got better things to worry about?  

5. I’m giddy as a schoolgirl over the announcement that the third Avengers movie will be shot entirely in IMAX, a format which I am a huge fan of. I’d gladly pay the extra bit of money to watch a movie shot in 70mm film: the previous five Christopher Nolan pictures, for example.

Obviously, it’s incredibly fortunate that there’s an IMAX theatre right here in San Francisco.

6. You really take for granted having a reliable car that doesn’t cost a ton of money to operate. I’ve got a student coworker who can’t yet afford such luxury, and the used car he’s bought has been giving him constant headaches (and attacks on the wallet). The constant barrage of a few hundred dollars here and there really takes a toll, especially for someone who can’t exactly afford it.

It’s definitely a privilege that I can drop $900 on a new set of tires and not bat an eye. Humbling, is what it is.

7. This recent celebration of “Dad Bod” in the media is an affront and sexist towards females. Let’s call Dad Bod exactly what it is: FAT. Why are women held to a skinny ideal while men get a pass?

8. This is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t blindly follow an ideology/political party: http://gawker.com/man-who-would-rather-go-blind-than-get-obamacare-now-go-1704019495

9. The two-hour Agents of SHIELD finale was fantastic. It was funny to see that even Coulson wasn’t immune to the Phase 2 traditional of having someone’s hand chopped off (an homage to Star Wars Episode 5). With SHIELD reunited under one roof, and Hydra largely eliminated (save Grant Ward and a few scraps), it’ll be interesting to see what sort of big bad enemy the writers will serve up for season three. I can’t wait.

10. I really hope the departed Top Gear trio of Clarkson, Hammond, and May ends up doing a show with Netflix. Not simply because it would be awesome to binge watch a season instead of waiting a week between shows, but the lack of adverts on Netflix allows the three absolute creative freedom, just as they’ve had at government-backed BBC. The ability to criticize and dress-down a particularly awful vehicle, without the fear of backlash from the respective manufacturer, is something I greatly admired about Top Gear, and in my opinion, absolutely integral to whatever new show the trio decides to do. 

Something kinda crazy - 10 things I think

10 THINGS I THINK

1. The supposed Fight of the Century was quite the letdown, wasn’t it? I’m hugely disappointed in Pacquiao’s inability to land any punches of significance on Mayweather; getting through Floyd’s vaunted defensive style was the only way Manny could’ve persevered in the bout. If Pacquiao wasn’t able to breakthrough, I’m not sure any other fighter out there can (don’t humor me with Amir Khan).

I completely understand the common fan’s complaints of the fight being uninteresting and Mayweather is a coward for the frequent evasion and hugs on to Pacquiao: they’re simply unfamiliar with the sport. Admittedly, Floyd’s style never made for fantastic fights, but from a pure technical standpoint, his display against Manny was an absolute masterpiece.

I for one don’t want a rematch. The result will be the same.

2. Avengers Age of Ultron was as spectacular and awesome as I thought it would be. There will definitely be many more viewings in theatres in the immediate future, a personal honor reserved for only the very best of films (the first Avengers film, Inception, Lord of the Rings trilogy, etc.)

It is slightly bittersweet that Joss Whedon will no longer helm the third Avengers film, though it’s a good bet he’ll have some input on certain macro elements. I’ve full confidence in the Russo brothers, and am already anticipating next year’s Captain America film, poised to be essentially Avengers 2.5.

3. I’ve completely fallen head over heels for Elizabeth Olsen. There was no character I adored more in Avengers Age of Ultron than her brilliant interpretation of Scarlet Witch. Forget a standalone Black Widow movie (blasphemous, I know); I now desperately want a Scarlet Witch movie. It won’t happen, of course, because Disney and Marvel have shown they aren’t particularly fond of female super heroes. I doubt we would’ve even gotten as much Black Widow screen-time in the previous films if not for Joss Whedon.

4. It’s almost guaranteed that Pietro Maximoff will not “stay dead” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so take heed, Avengers fans mourning the death of Quicksilver. It is no coincidence that a scene of his burial was conspicuously absent at the end of Age of Ultron. Don’t you think if Pietro had truly passed, there would’ve been be a proper funeral worthy of a fallen Avenger?  

I’d bet good money Quicksilver will return for the third Avengers film, if not sooner.

5. Judging from the size of the men in the Dear Future Husband video, Meghan Trainor is most definitely not all about that bass. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

6. The entrepreneurial spirit in me absolute applaud the company that’s offering a gold-plating service to Apple Watch owners. For a relatively cheap sum of $400 on top of the price of the watch, customers can own a timepiece that resembles exactly the insanely expensive Apple Watch Edition model. I certainly can’t tell the difference between the factory gold and aftermarket gold plating.

Face it, only the richest of the rich can afford to blow upwards of 10 thousand dollars on a watch that is a guaranteed to be obsolete in a few year’s time. Now, thanks to a few enterprising folks, you too can wear a gold Apple Watch for only 10 percent of the price. Fake rich never looked so good.

7. First person to invent clear or invisible brake pad material - so you don’t get those visually horrendous brake-dusts on your fancy aluminum wheels - will make a princely sum indeed. Due to the drought, I haven’t been able to do a proper wash of the wheels on the STI, and the resulting mess is not pleasing at all. The wheels were silver in color, but now they are a brilliant shade of matte brown. It’s okay, because like a well-worn pair of Chucks, Subaru cars look good dirty. At least that’s what I tell myself anyways.

It’ll be a splendid day when the Californian drought is over, though I’m not holding my breath.

8. Good to see the San Francisco Giants make it back to .500, not that I’ve got any expectations for this season or anything. It was a historically dreadful month of April for them, so perhaps the team is merely deviating back to the mean. Nevertheless, I simply want them to be somewhat competitive, so that when I attend games in the flesh, the product on the field is entertaining and worth my hard-earned (ha!) money.

9. I recently for the first time encountered a person with one of those brand new Macbooks. In the flesh the laptop looks impossible skinny, easily mistakable for an iPad plugged in to a keyboard dock. Unfortunately the guy who owns it chose to purchase the gold version, which I have to say, made him look incredibly douche. A golden laptop just looks altogether awkward and unnatural. Unless you’re a Prince from the Middle East, it would be wise to tick the box for either the silver or space gray option.

10. It’s inconceivable that in 2015, the LPGA tour can name a tournament the “Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic” and everybody is fine with it. You don’t see the PGA tour name an equivalent tournament the “Swinging Pants Classic”, do you? The fact the tournament was held here in San Francisco’s Harding Park is especially shameful.