The Observation Deck

If you haven't seen this - you should. I'm surprised that she's just now being discovered.

There's something to be said about having young kids around at Christmas. I think something special gets lost as you get older. Presents don't have that wonder they use to when you were a child. The something simple like a bike or a game would make you light up for days on end. Now when we pass gifts around they're in the range of $5-$25 and we're lucky if we're not regifting an expired piece of fruitcake for the hundreth time. Sure there's still a hint of magic when a gift is given and received. It's in the very nature of a gift - it's the unknown given in kindness, much like each of our lives. It reflects us and in that there is wonder.

But to have a kid around, to wake you up just as you've gotten to sleep. To have a kid bug you for days on end what they want and how much they want it. To see their face light up when all their hopes and dreams manifest on Christmas morning. That's what I miss. Not the presents, not the food, the magic.

So to grab a bit of the magic I found a video that collects about 50 kids getting Wiis this Christmas morning for everyone's enjoyment. It's a better option than Plan A which was to post pictures from the cemetery I took while placing Poinsettas on some family graves - much more uplifting.

OK - I think it's about official. My relatives are more likely to die the week after Thanksgiving than at any other time of the year. My dad passed about a week after Thanksgiving back in 2000; my dad's father did the same a year later and tonight we found out that my mother's father just passed away a few hours ago. Now we wait to find out what the funeral arrangements will be.

When my mother's mom passed in 2004 it was about 2.5 weeks until they had the funeral. In Taiwan the time between death and the funeral can be anywhere from 2 weeks to a month depending on what it's "ideal" to. This is based on names, the phase of the moon, color of a dog's hair - you know all of those crazy things (and yes - the body lays in the house until they are ready for the service). And as luck would have it 2 weeks puts it just before Christmas and anytime after puts it on Christmas or close to New Years - not exactly the easiest time to book a last minute flight.

I guess on a good note I at least had the honor to meet my mother's parents several times while they were alive. Considering they lived in Taiwan and we in the states, this was no small task mind you. Though I couldn't speak a word of the dialect they used; we connected on a simple bond of family. I wish I could have conversed fluently in words with them. To hear in detail their lives, my historical inheritance, but I was glad to settle for the time I had to hear the tenor and beat of their voices in person and to share my delight in just being there with them. Who needs words anyway? They always fail you at those moments. A loss for words, no words could describe, beyond words - catch phrases we use to describe a moment in time where words are useless because what transpires, the moment, are diminished by words.

It didn't even really take 24 hours and Pelosi has already come out and said basically - remember all those things we promised... probably not gonna happen.

Her reason? Downturn in the economy.

Last I checked it's been going down for quite a while, but it's possible she didn't get the memo. Maybe her expectation was the second Obama was elected to office that the heavens would open up and money would pour out, but that didn't happen so now apparently they'll have to scale back their efforts. In her own words, "I think it's important for the American people to know that many of our options have been diminished because of the downturn in the economy," Pelosi said. "We have a lot less money to draw upon."

Now, this is exactly opposite to what Obama and McCain said during the debates. In particular the one where CBS's Bob Schieffer asked both if they would have to scale-back or postpone their plans due to the financial crisis and both said no.

So there you have it America. They got our vote and now it's back to business as usual.

I think that may be the fastest turnabout in recent political history. Usually it takes politicians a few weeks to change their tone after being elected from "Yes we can" to "Maybe we can, but most likely not" to "Ain't going to happen this election cycle". At this rate by the end of the week we'll be all the way back to "We need more Democrats to make this work".

Let's be honest. The economic situation is bigger than an individual or a party... it's even bigger than a nation. I do not expect any one individual to alter that. (Well unless a nuclear strike is involved - then yes - a single individual could drastically change the landscape of the world - both figuratively and physically).

So do I still hope they'll come through on a few things? Sure. I just personally never got into the motivational hype of "Yes we can" and understand that in politics promises were made to be broken.

Continuing on the earlier theme of obvious, but not so obvious things. Does anyone realize how similar Obama and McCain camps really are?

I'm still on the fence on who to vote for and apparently that draws attention. I've received comments like, "How can you not vote for Obama" and the flipside of "How can you not vote for McCain". Let's be realistic. The office of the President is largely for show. The real power is in the purse, the Congress. So why isn't anyone really looking at the makeup of Congress? Because it's not as glamorous. It isn't as interesting. It isn't worth a headline.

Why do I say McCain and Obama are the same? Because even though their methods are not the same, they're playing the same game. Obama accuses McCain of running negative ads, yet he runs almost 1 negative ad for one of McCain's negative ads. The catch though? Obama said he was going to take the high road. But heaven forbid anyone should call him on it. Now this doesn't absolve McCain at all. He promised that he would run a clean campaign as well. I guess what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Race is being thrown in McCain's face and Patriotism in Obama's. So many times I see something that has zero relation to race about Obama and his surrogates scream bloody murder it's all about race. With McCain's camp it's been everything from flag pins to citizenship to where he was educated. People, get over yourselves and get to the issues.

What really gets me is how defensive and offensive their supporters can become.

As of late I hear more and more people telling me that they're getting berated for even signifying they might be for one candidate or the other - let alone on the fence. People that I talk to regularly are getting called or interrupted in public places by Obama supporters asking "How can you be black and not support Obama?", even so far as some asking "What are you a hater?". Christians I know are getting attacked just a bad from McCain supporters... "How can you vote for a baby killer" and "He says one thing to your face and another to your back - you can't trust him". It's really sad actually. I find both groups distasteful.

But let's be honest, not all of their supporters are that way. I was caught a bit of "Huckabee" on Fox News (I was flipping through the news channels late last night) and you had a pro-Obama pastor and a pro-McCain pastor on and they were having a cordial discussion about why they support who they support. The pastors were both black. (I point that out because in a second I'll reference back to it.) It was, dare I say it, a pleasure to finally see a segment that didn't devolve into a rhetorical food fight. In fact it shows that people can have independent thought without feeling threatened by another's point of view.

In stark contrast you had a recent radio host (who happened to be black) encourage McCain at a rally to go after Obama. He's conservative and will be voting for McCain. Apparently now some hardline Obama supporters are going after him. He's had insults thrown at him and even death threats. Just lovely America.

So why bring this all up? People need to realize that no matter who is President in 2009 that we're pretty much going to keep rolling just as we've been. Why do I say that? Let's be honest, the economy is going to take center stage.

Obama has said 10 years and we'll be energy independent... then in 10 years we'll be energy independent from those who hate us... then in 10 years we'll be on our way. He started off with no drilling - now it's limited drilling - by 09 it's going to be drill baby drill. Why? The economy. He can not ignore it and honestly, most measures to ensure a greener world are counter to the methods to boost one's economy (just ask China - they sacrificed their environment and in exchange their economy is booming). So out the window will be Obama's promises (or what will be left of them by the time elections roll around). And on social issues, I don't give him much hope either. I know that women/minorities/gays-lesbians tend to see Democrats as their saviours. Let's be realistic. Bill Clinton gave us "Don't ask, don't tell" and he (not Bush) signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.

McCain can't even get his campaign on the same page. One second it's attack the next it's here's a new plan. He treats Palin like a rabid dog with a choker. He lets her get a few steps away then yanks her back. The man is probably two steps away from forgetting his own kids' names much less the names of world leaders. He won't focus on lower and middle class people - it's just not who he is. He will focus instead on the well off and those who fund him. It's not a surprise - he is after all a politician. I don't see him veering too far off what he's said though. He'll drill, increase nuclear power and probably screw up international relations even more than GWB did in his two terms as POTUS.

Obama is about hope. His problem is that he will not be able to complete his promises and voters will feel cheated. McCain is about history. His problem is that you can't move forward when you're looking behind you. Both are poor choices for POTUS.

Instead - people should be cleaning out Congress. Getting rid of the traditional parties and instead selecting people that have no existing ties. In all truth, having a single party control the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branch is chilling. People tend to forget that our greatest travesties don't occur when their is social discourse, but when the majority silences the minority. If there is a singular voice for all areas of the government then we all become the minority.

Well the title is play on the old saying "A Pink Elephant in the room" but this being a political post, the current season and the specific topic - I felt a Giant Panda was more appropriate.

Who's the Giant Panda? China of course.

Personally I'm sick and tired of hearing the Democrats blame the Republicans and the Republicans blaming the Democrats for the current economic situation. Obama points to McCain and the bill in 1999 that deregulated the markets, but some economists look at that bill and say it probably softened the blow of our current situation (not to mention the fact that it was a bipartisan bill and it was Clinton that ultimately signed it into law). McCain contends that the Democrats have had power for two years and that Obama really hasn't done anything besides write a letter.

Truth be known, it was both parties fault.

And now they both say they can get us out of the issue America is in. Really? I mean, if you could have already, why haven't you? Oh wait- that's because it's an election year and you only look to make progress during such years.

The reality is the world is changing. America is no longer the financial powerhouse it use to be. China is king now and there is little we can do about it.

China over the last 10-15 years has slowly been building up it's financial foothold. For years it was just an over populated country that's people lived in basic housing and made products for the world. Well they're still that except now they have one of the largest middle classes in the world. What they did was essentially move a massive portion of their population into what Americans would call "comfortable living". Now they have mopeds and cars (yes more than one per family sometimes) and they like living in Western style houses. All of this has led to a unique situation. When the base wealth of the majority in the world increases, so does world wide prices.

The first real sign of this was petrol or as Americans call it gas. (Petrol sounds far more formal than gas... gas just sounds like ... well ... gas - but i digress)

The Chinese need fuel to run their vehicles. Pure and Simple. If you double the total number of cars on the road in the world, simple supply and demand shows that cost will rise as demand increases and supplies remain unchanged. So now gas sits between $3-4 and everyone is screaming bloody murder. But we're so glad that the Chinese people are living well, but we want cheaper gas, but we want people to have the American dream and living in the modern world, but we like cheap gas, but we want to increase the world population by inoculating and feeding everyone in Africa.... and so on and so on.

Am I suggesting we squash the rest of the world akin to Bush invading Iraq for oil? No. What I'm saying is that the consequence of us trying to improve the world will lead to higher costs of living for everyone, so everyone should just prepare for it if that's the direction they choose to go. It's nothing new. Being a leader and being good is expensive. But if you choose to lead then don't complain.

So back to the Giant Panda.

Has anyone noticed that you haven't seen China throwing in billions to stabilize their markets or having to bail out banks? Did you also notice that China's government has a surplus unlike the current US debt of over 10 trillion? (Granted China's surplus is based on government numbers - but I have little doubt their numbers are off considering that if they converted their investments from US dollars to Euros they'd essentially bankrupt America in one swift motion).

So why aren't politicians talking about China? Simple, it would cost them the election. If either candidate were to focus on China there's the possibility that China could foresee a cold future relationship with the US and start pulling their investments thus deepening the economic crisis. It's just easier to blame each other than to realize that a large portion of the "why/who" is the giant panda in the room. And realisticlly, as President, there is little either could to stem off their growth so why even bring it up?

There is no way to spin China unfortunately. For the most part, it's a positive story - capitalism came in, more freedoms are being experienced and they have the highest percentage of people living in the middle class range in the entire world. So, you really can't say that they stole the petrol; they didn't - they consumed more and more of it over the last 10 years. You can't say that devalued the dollar on purpose, they were just living, working hard and saving.

Yes, Chinese people save - heck, no one knows exactly how much my grandfather has saved up - at one time he had three or four bank accounts of which only one or two people knew about. Yes, Chinese people invest. Chinese people, in mass, have been doing the things Americans have strayed away from. But that's changing.

Eventually there will be a restored balance. Financially for many, it will never be as good as it was.

The market tends to readjust every 20 or so years and it generally falls about 34% before recovering. So for me it's all good - it's a great time to invest and it's a good time to enjoy that people are finally moving away from giant gas guzzlers and towards more fuel efficient vehicles. Personally I see it as a win win situation but most won't. And I'm glad that the hard working people in China are finally enjoying a more comfortable lifestyle.

Did I mention I like giant pandas (as well as penguins - must be a black and white animal thing)? I move to create two new political parties who's mascots will be a Panda and a Penguin!

A fun distraction - this one's for Greg...

Ok, The opening ceremonies were just amazing (minus the play by play call from the guys at NBC - It would have been so much more enjoyable had they not felt like every motion required a 30 minute explanation). Thankfully for the closing ceremony they only made a few comments (I guess they heard the complaints).

After a mind blowing opening (plus nearly turning all of Beijing into a giant Roman Candle) I thought it would be extremely hard to top the opening... and it was. They didn't but they came very, very close.

The imagery was just spot on. I especially loved the entire extinguishing of the Olympic flame segment. Just when you thought it was over, in came the memory tower showing that the memories of the games will go on. A particular fitting sentiment considering that in just a few days the Paralympics will take place in the exact same venues.

Who could forget the handoff to London? I'd love to know if it was the Chinese or Brit's idea to open the top of the double decker and do that little diddy. It definitely changed the tone from "This is the end" to "Let's get the party started". I feel a bit sorry for London actually. How on Earth do you follow up China's performance that was so massive, so awe inspiring, so insane? You have David Beckham kick a soccer ball into the audience. I guess that works. But yeah, London 2012... you have your work cut out for you!

Overall the issues that plagued China from the beginning of the games are still there. Even the games themselves generated controversy for them. From the torch relay to the images of people being pulled out of their homes and businesses to make way for the Olympic venues, China still has a lot to learn. I think though, the world and China reintroduced themselves to each other for the first time in a long time.

WOW. I can only imagine how much better it would have been had I not had to put up with the play by play calls by the NBC commentators. It would be like watching a play and having an annoying, loud commentator sitting next to you spoiling the production. I so hope that there is an uncut, uncommented version of the opening made available.

 
OK - A pet peeve of mine - poor lighting. Some call it moody, others call it catastrophic. Honestly I think it's because most people don't know what good lighting is to begin with, or should I say appropriate lighting. 

I'll take it from the POV I see it from, or at least, most recently. Bodybuilding shows. 

Two friends recently went to compete in the Mr. Georgia but do to some crazy scheduling I wasn't able to see them compete this year. I did have the opportunity to go several years in the past and can basically generalize - it's the same show every year but with different players. You can take a look at the poor lighting choice they made in the picture above (left side). I guess it isn't "inappropriate" per se, but it's not ideal for photography nor video! I took literally hundreds of pictures that year and the majority of them were junk because of the lighting (that and the odd timing of multiple flashes from multiple angles. Needless to say I was greatly disappointed by the lack of quality shots I was able to get - but I got what i could even with the disagreeable lighting (see photo to the right and below). 

In contrast let's look at the photo on the right side of the top photo. I did a quick search and found a photo from another event I was at the Jr. Nationals. Now I didn't take this photo but another individual did. Notice the insane number of white light flooding the stage? If you were there you would have noticed an entirely second row of lights raining down from the front. IMHO a perfect setup for photography or video. Why? Well with such a strong primary light, the effect from secondary flashes is greatly reduced as well as with such hot lights you don't have to worry about shooting at a high ISO to get a sharp picture (thus creating also a grainy picture). Alas - that was the exact result of the Mr. GA's in 2007. I had to shoot at such as high ISO since the lens I had didn't have the greatest apertures. 

Lighting makes all the difference. 

It might just be the mentality of the show's organizers. The Mr. Georgia is a state competition so it's audience is inevitably the people pf the state. Granted, while GA is probably one of the more competitive states out there, I think competitors would approve of hotter lights. Why? Simple, if they're in great condition then the better lighting will just enhance their physique. On the flip side - if they're in poor condition or they use too much oil they'll look terrible. Or maybe it's the deer in headlight predicament. By not using as hot of lights as say a national show they're trying to break people into the sport. I could see that. There's nothing scarier than walking onto stage in a thong but to have bright lights shining at you, illuminating every flaw can be terrorizing. Or it could be a more simpler reason - they're in a venue that won't allow additional lighting. I kinda find that a cheat as many of the cans were filled with color lights to create ambiance and could have easily been converted to create a white flood. 

Anywho - I think I'm just spoiled now that I've been to a national level show. The enhanced lighting - the more professional backend and the higher caliber competitors gives me a new perspective and maybe I'm beating up the Mr. Georgia for no real good reason since honestly, I thought it was a pretty decent show (minus the obvious lack of organization). I just know they can do so much more. 

Well, I'll be heading to Pittsburg on Thursday , returning Sunday followed by a trip to Las Vegas the Wednesday after and returning Sunday. Lots of traveling aboug to start. Hopefully I won't run into any flight issues. Last time I got stuck next to the biggest guy on the flight both ways. Luckely each flight was under 2 hours.

Let's hope for the best this time... though I already show I'm sitting next to the lavitory at least one leg of my trip to Pittsburgh - sigh.

Just got an LG Dare and wanted to see if I could post directly to lj. Seems to work pretty well for basic messaging. Still though, I don't know if this is something i'd use to write a page long post!

I'll say this much... it may not be an iPhone, but at least I'm not stuck on AT&T ! For what it's worth the iPhone is great but I like being able to make phone calls on my cell !

Ok - the simple fact that he's playing music in vegitables is interesting - the fact that he's got an entire collection of converting different vegitables into instruments is just scary..

The only way you can really celebrate the holiday.. a chaotic song!

Amazing

Funny for the day...

Ok I'm back. First full day back from Chicago. Hard to believe the weekend before last I dragged a Christmas tree up to my brother and his wife in Laurel, Maryland followed by a wedding in Williamsburg, VA and then the next weekend I went to Chicago. I'm traveled out!

Virginia Trip
Virginia may be for lovers, but it's not for the courtious. People seemed a tad entitled there. And it was reallllllly offputting. Now that's not to say that everyone was that way but it seemed unless you were hispanic and working fast food that manners went out the window when you crossed over the state line. I did love the signs warning you that traffic laws were enforeced by aircraft, scanners were illegal and you will be shot and then charged by the bullet for entering their state (ok I kid about the last one). 

The trip to Laurel took me 2.5 hour past the wedding site, but it was worth it to check in on my brother and his wife (and their dogs). They found a great location to live in. They are litterally within a few feet of an Elementary school and right off the main highways as well as near BWI. I'll say this though... they need a new pullout for the couch! Imagine the letter P on it's side and that's how it was shaped. A flat end and the top half dropped down. By morning I had found myself turned 180 degrees around and nestled into the burrow. 

I left the next morning and headed down to the hotel for the wedding. A Fairfield Inn. Not too shabby but I was hoping for a refrigerator and microwave so I could cut my meals in half and warm them up later. But it didn't kill me... the bed the night before did so I had to have some major therapy done. I booked an Amica Body Repair massage at the Colonial Williamsburg day spa.  Joel got out knots I didn't know I had! An hour of bliss. 

The night before the wedding I met up with Stephen, his wife and the rest of the gang at the corner pocket, a sorta pool hall / restuarant place in a new development called "New Town".  I'll say this much, Stephen has found an interesting group of friends up in VA. Good people, but a tad um, strange. 

The wedding went off without a hitch and the reception was equally coordinated. Each event was lovely and just like I would expect, the kitchen was brimming with family and friends helping. It's still a "southern" affair even though it was in VA. The bride was beautiful and Stephen... well at least he didn't come in his Halloween costume with the question marks and screaming "Find money the government has stored for you by buying my new book!". 

I bid farewell and went back to the hotel around 9ish to start packing and to get to bed early since I had a 12 hour trip ahead of me. 

On the way back I met up with a friend for lunch in NC. This seemed to be the weekend of meeting old acquantances. We had an "interesting" lunch at the Longhorn's in High Point. Apparently restaurants come and go quite frequently there so it was either that or Krispy Kreme. It was good seeing Josh, but having lunch with him reminded me how much I missed having him in Albany. There are very few people I know of locally that can talk intelligently that I enjoy conversing with. 

And thus ended the VA trip. Thur-Sunday. Driving for over 28 hours total the entire weekend!

Chicago Trip
Chicago was one word, stunning.
 
I met up with Jeff, Pat and Matt for quite a weekend romp around the windy city. Pat and Matt graciously  opened their place up to Jeff and I for the weekend and showed us around their neighborhood as well as downtown .  Chicago is not only densly populated, but also sprawling. 

Their neighborhood was located a few blocks from Wriggley Stadium and a few blocks from Lake Michigan. Truely a prime location. To top off the trip Pat had a small surprise for Jeff and I, tickets to see Family Guy Live! at the Chicago Theatre. 

Family Guy Live was a one day only event and the place was packed! Essentially what you're getting is a live reading of one of the scripts by the voice actors from the show followed by a few musical numbers, a preview of the Star Wars episode and a Q&A session. The entire event was HILARIOUS and it was something I'll never forget. Considering that they've only done a live reading 2 or 3 times before (LA, NY and I think in Canada) for just as short stints (one day) it's definetly a rare treat. Honestly, I could go on and on about it for hours. In fact, Pat, Matt and Jeff were probably tired of me by the twentieth rendition of the Family Guy theme song after they let us out of the theatre.


I've inserted a small clip from the event. Not work/child safe!

 
After the event we headed over to the Millenium Park for their restrooms (hey the theatre was packed - and Borders across the street just closed - so we had to find a public restroom). Anywhoo... I still get dizzy thinking of the giant jellybean at the park. Right after our short stop off, we headed to the John Hancock building and shot up 96 stories to get to the Signiture Room. The view was amazing! You could see a large portion of Chicago from it and at night everything was lit up. The only issue I had was a minor feeling of queeziness from the slow swaying back and forth but it was manageable. The view more than made up for it!

Unfortunetly I had to fly back out Sunday morning. Chicago is definetly somwhere I need to go back to to experience it more fully. There was food pouring out everywhere (though Sushi still isn't my thing), architecture that was mesmorizing and a diverse population that was intriguing. It's the polar opposite of where I am currently living. 

The question now is... where to next?

Went up to ATL this past weekend to see a friend compete at the Mr. Georgia. It's definetly an interesting experience. Neither truely positive or negative, just different. I mean, how often do you walk in a land of giants? haha.. there were some BIG guys there (in the audience and on stage). One of the strangest competators I saw was one that looked like Paul Tootle (i think.. the dad guy from American Chopper). About the only thing different between this guy and him was he was leaner, had a larger moustache and obviously used synthol. 

Unfortunetly my friend only placed third. There was one point difference between him and the gent that one. It's not much, but it was enough. The guy that one first in his weight class was 52 years old! I hope to look half as decent at that age. 

Of a somewhat side note, Trey Brewer was there in the audience. Last I saw him in 2005 he placed 2nd or 3rd in his weight class at the Mr. GA... then he moved out west, started "training" and now seems to be a full fledged freak. He finally brought his upperbody to par with his legs and let's just say I don't see how he was able to sit in the auditorium seats. He was just that huge. I'd guess he was around 300lbs fairly solid.

Anywho, I've uploaded the pics to http://skywater.dotphoto.com/CPViewAlbum.asp?AID=4658361