2011 EYBL session #3 - los angeles

saturday marked the start of session #3 of nike's EYBL (elite youth basketball league) regular season, and this time around kyle and i went in armed. having received media credentials from scout.com's the devil's den, we went to work covering the event on behalf of the duke blue devils, ranging from player evaluation to interviews with some of duke's recent commits (rasheed sulaimon) and top targets (alex poythress). head here for all the inside scoop:

http://duke.scout.com/

in the meantime, some captures from yesterday's action. bottom right is UNC commit PG marcus paige:

new camera!

been keepin the nose to the grindstone, so i didn't realize it had been that long between blog entries! apologies.

moving on - and thanks to my man obama for giving us taxpayers a break - my refund check, which was originally supposed to be $71, arrived to the tune of $471.

booyah!

instead of being practical and setting it aside to pay bills, i made the executive decision to pick up a new camera. so voila! here's the olympus PEN E-PL1, which is a 12.3 megapixel interchangeable lens camera in the micro four-thirds format. it's a step up from the point & shoots but without the bulk of a DSLR, so call it the best of both worlds...


and here are the first photos i took in my backyard earlier today:

2011 hollywood beer pong tournament

this past weekend my co-workers and i took our wares to capitol city sports bar & grill for the 2011 hollywood beer pong tourney. it was my first time taking part - only my 2nd time playing beer pong for that matter - and it was a doozy, as 128 teams in eight different brackets duked it out to see who would be the crème de la crème of the entertainment industry.




we entered two teams of two - darek/erica and maura/i - and we managed to acquit ourselves quite nicely. darek/erica advanced to the 2nd round before bowing out, whereas maura & i took down paradigm and CAA before meeting our maker in the 3rd round.




http://www.hollywoodbeerpong.com/

happy mother's day!

a timely ode to my one and only mom
necessary on my part and long overdue
essentially but a laundry list of items
on how i can finally say thank you

for not buying more cocoa pebbles when i was a tyke
in a strange way teaching me the value of a dollar
yet affording the best education a kid could have
at all boys schools! turning me into a scholar

for my musical appreciation and relative pitch
all a result from the privelege of playing cello
to counterbalancing dad's stern right hand
by continuing to remain calm and mellow

saturdays would find us making kimchee in a tub
or maybe washing and picking bean sprouts
followed by countless nervous sunday mornings
spending time with montana, marino & fouts

if i was wrong or ever got into trouble
you were there to help, always at the ready
with a big hug and non-judgmental eyes
not to mention the best kalbi jim & spaghetti

so enjoy today with all your might
a day off of which you deserve so clearly
and please know that then, now and forever more
your son loves you very dearly.

kauai - day 5

wednesday in kauai was much more relaxed, as we had brunch in kapa'a at ono family restaurant and feasted on good local food. more importantly, there's a shop next door that rents cruiser bikes - 2 bikes for 2 hours for $10 total! - that enabled us to go up and down the new coastal path, otherwise known as ke ala hele makalae.

it's a newly constructed $30 million bike path along the coconut coast that offers unparalleled, stunning views just a few feet away from the shore:

we settled on having dinner at roy's in poipu, as i wanted to try the food on chef yamaguchi's homeland after singing the praises of the seriously addictive butterfish here in socal. we had a few minutes to spare, so here's a peek at the gorgeous poipu bay golf course.

and here's spouting horn park, where the poipu surf channels into a natural lava tube and sprays a huge spout of water upwards during large swells.