2-Peat Baby!

The NBA regular season has just wrapped up, which means this years Fantasy BBall is over and who's the champ? Yours Truly! Man it feels great to win it two years in a row.  This year was much more fun for sure because:

1. It was way more engaging playing in a stacked 14 team league (54 vs 13 moves)
2. I knew everybody in the league this year, which made for better smack talking, pride stealing
3. Lastly, I get $crilla for winning :)

Now what am I gonna spend my free time on?  Yea.. seriously I spent way too much time on this damned game. But it's addicting man.  I didn't draft well, so I was scrounging for the best of the scraps all season.  Which was fun, especially when you find that hidden gem! But really, it doesn't do any good in the real world.  Whatevs.  I got my internet picture of a trophy to keep me warm at night
 

 What the F Yahoo, where's my '10 trophy??

Season Summary (warning fantasy nerd things ahead): 
Strategy: Just mad stats and researching.  Best time to find a gem?  Trades and injuries that give opportunities to the sleepers. 
Resources: 
Yahoo! Matt Buser Fantasy articles are solid. 

Rotoworld's Headlines are probably the most frequently updated on Player statuses
CBS Sports Fantasy Site: The Most Viewed tab shows the recent hottest players (most added, most dropped)
The Final Five: Out of 13 original draftees, only 5 remained:  Chauncey Billups, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Mo Williams (??), Dorell Wright.
Best Draft Sleeper: Dorell Wright aka DWrightWay.  3's, rebounds, steals, assists, blocks he can do it all!
Mr. Reliable: Kevin Durant aka Durantulla aka Velvet Hoops of course.
Best Mid Season Pickup: Marcin Gortat aka Polish Hammer.  Damn he's gonna be hot next season. Great work ethic, consistent center.  72% FT's too
Late Season Stars: Jerryd Bayless and Jordan Crawford definitely beasted it for the last few weeks.  Couldn't have done it without them.
Pivotal Trade: JJ Hickson!  Thank you to Joey for taking Vince Carter off my hands for him.  I feel bad.  I definitely wouldn't have won without JJ getting enough boards to build Noahs Ark.
Notes for next season: Don't fall in love with a player (see Jamal Crawford, Roddy B, Shane Battier). and especially, Don't fall in love with an injured player (see Camby, Mo Williams, Yao Ming?!). 
Playoffs Recap:  

• 1st round faced off with my buddy H, it was close till the end.  I panicked cus I lost Camby and Duncan.  But my team pulled through (Jordan Crawford)
• 2nd round faced off with my buddy AL,  craaazy close. I won by 2 turnovers! If he had benched 1 or 2 players, he would have won. 
• Finals faced off against a guy named More Poop On You.  Crazy close again.  I won by a few steals and like .008% FG (thats probably like 5-8 shots difference).  He was dealt a bad hand with Boston sitting three of his allstars twice in the last week.  

So this win was pretty lucky.  but I'll take it! Good game to everyone that played, especially those that played for money.  I hope there will be more in the pot next year! 

Please no Lockout, and go Warriors.

Motivation by Humiliation Results

Alex specifically asked me not to reveal the fate of my eyebrows to him, so please don't ruin the fun.

Sooo 4 more minutes until the August 1st deadline ends (by the time i post this, it will be long past).  And I just finished testing myself an hour ago to see if I made my goal.

Dylan already made his weight by flying colors this past Monday at a very impressive 158.9 lbs!  How did he do it?  He ran 10 miles twice (TWICE, once in the morning, once in the evening) before he took a vid of him on the scale.  The most I ran was 3 miles, i gotta give it up to him for his dedication and sheer willpower.

Me on the other hand..

click on the pic for to reveal my fate....are you nervous? ...cus im nervous

btw, the 'stache is for a Burt Reynolds Challenge on August 7.  I am certainly not going to win, but I gotta tell ya, having a 'stache when everyone has a 'stache is straight up fun. 

great mustache music video via alex via andy

Running On Empty

The most exciting time we've ever had driving economically.  

Dylan and I were driving back from Eugene to Corvallis.  I was in dire need of gas because the meter was at the last tick.  The estimated miles was calculated to be 34miles.  I remember from Eugene to the Shell near Corvallis was around 30-something miles.  We both thought the same stupid idea.  Could we make it before the gas runs out?  As you may know by now, we like a challenge. 

So off we went.  I was really tired, so I let D take the wheel.  It was a hell of an adventure for the next 40 minutes.  We had to drive around 60mph the whole way and we might not even make it.   So we thought of everything we could to conserve gas.  We closed the windows and sunroof.   We turned off the stereo.  We turned off the headlamps (luckily the sun was still out).  We turned off the A/C (shit. the sun's still out).  It was around 8 o clock so the sun was at perfect eye level, blinding the hell out of us, baking the inside of the oven that we had just created.  But whatever, we are not going to back down.  

Beads of sweat started forming and the temperature was rising.  I looked at the GPS.  16miles to go.  Looked at the estimated miles left: 18 MILES.   okay we're in good shape.  So I turn on the fan to cool off a little bit, you know, so as to not suffocate?  Instantly, the meter jumps down to 15Miles.  I panic and shut the fans off.  What the heck just happened?!  at this point we're yelling and panicking not knowing what to do.  He's yelling at me for turning on the fans, I'm yelling back for him to calm down and focus, it was a mess.  

But wait.  We see a big semi truck coming ahead of us.  We both smiled.  Let's draft that sommabich all the way there!  Cutting out all that headwind+aerodynamics mumbo jumbo would be huge for us.  So the next 11 miles D is trying his hardest to stay as close as he can to that semi.  It gets nerve racking as I look between the GPS and the mileage meter.  7...7,  6....6,  4....3  NOOOO what happened?!  we're so close!  1.2 ....0  a big fat zero shows up on the meter.  and we have 1.2 miles to go.  What does this mean?!  We're panicking even more than before, I'm imagining hiking over a mile for gas.  It was like waiting for a time bomb to explode.  

But it never did.  We coasted in neutral to exit, and slowly drove into the Shell station.  We made it!!  I look over at the data meter thing and was ecstatic.   I had driven nearly 500miles on that one tank.  Record broken!

I usually get around 400 for a tank.  but 496.2! That came out to 36.25 MPG.  (previous record was 462miles from my Davis to Eugene trip on one tank)

Who knew driving economically could be so fun?  The ambition, the panic, the pure joy.  Now I know why "Hypermilers" do what they do.  This can easily turn into an addiction.  Good times ol' chap.  Good times.

Oregomi

HAH, I just thought of the title like RIGHT now.  Ain't it clever?

...

Anyways.. I was checking up on Kenneth after dinner to see what he was up to.  This is the cousin that tried to get me sick.  Yep he's a interesting dude that spends all of his time in his room either playing Starcraft or playing guitar.  But today, I walk into his room and theres mangled up colored square papers all over the place.

"What are you up to Kenneth?"
"I'm folding Origami."
(wow that's different)
"Check out my ninja star!!" *chucks it fullforce at me and it bounces off my head*
"Ow! that hurt what the hell Kenneth!" 

I picked up his work of art, and it was actually pretty cool.  a star made up of 5 dollar bills.  He also offers me some "french fries", which to my dissapointment were also made from paper.  I don't even like french fries! but my fatass still wanted to eat some.  We then started looking at this Origami website with everything from Cookie Monster to Tyrannosaurus (thank you spellcheck) Rex.  I got excited when i saw the Pegasus which was classified C for complex.

Kenneth was all like, thats hard man, what have you folded before?  I was like PSHH I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering bitch! I can do it! ..... I couldn't get past the 1st page before my square paper turned into a ball.  So we kept looking, couldn't even fold the Swan, so we kept looking.  Then we came across the "1-fold Stegosaurus" and busted up laughing:

 Do you see the Stegosaurus? haha

That was the first thing I was able to fold -_- ... baby steps.  baby steps.  By the end of it all though, I made something I was proud of!

Can you guess what it is? First correct answer in the comments um... gets to have it! hahaha


French Fries:


5 Dollar Ninja Star!


5 Dollar Origami Star - The most popular videos are here

Food Challenge: Infinity Hawt Wings

Hot - Chicken BonZ

It was crazy hot.  My mouth was on fire, face was burning and my entire upper body was on pins and needles!  It was a hell of an experience.  So I went with my cousin to Chicken BonZ for all you can eat chicken wings (lemon pepper is de best).  He was doing a video project for class about eating competitions and he decided to go to Chicken BonZ to eat their Infinity Hot Wings and document it.  He had eaten the IHWs before, and vowed to never ever eat them again.  But having short term memory in one hand, and pride in the other, he decided to go do it again.  Being the great cousin I am, I decided to give him moral support by foolishly eating the wing with him. 

 If you can't see the wings, don't worry.. they're there. (...there there there)

I vow not to ever eat the IHW again.

It was pretty funny, we both bought a quart of milk from the nearby Safeway.  The waitress thought we were foolish to order the IHW "sure... if you really want it... at least you guys are prepared! (looking at the milks)"  But yea, that sauce is so spicy.  I didn't feel anything through the first wing, because I was focusing on finishing it.  But once I bit into the second wing, it hit me like a tidal wave.  I couldn't even finish the second wing.  Everbody was laughing about how my face was sweating so much it looked like I just came out of a shower. 

Right afterward I thought, hmm.. this wasn't too bad.  I actually kinda like it.  It's like a wasabi rush times 10, I might do this again!  *ANKKK* wrong.  The worst was to come.  For the next 3 days, my stomache became a gas factory.   Or more like a Volcano; Spicy in... Spicy out.. @_@.  It's horrible!!

Never Again
(unless monetary rewards are involved)

(pics and possible vid?  TBA when available)

Babble Blah Blurb

A little Housecleaning
1st and foremost, nobody guessed it right last post!  Some of you came awfully close (gj Stef, Tiana) but no Cigar.  The real list goes like this:

1. Alex
2. Andy
3. Henry? haha, what a mysterious guy


And.. to get the yelp style clickamajiggers, you go to layout and click 'edit' in the 'blog post' box.  Cool!


Money buys Happiness
Sure does.  I just bought me a PS3, baby.  Now I can stay up late playing MW2 with my PS3 buddies (add me: LickWick).  At first I was pretty hesitant about buying one, because I'd have to get a TV too.  But then I was asking my uncle where he got his 42", and he was like don't go out and buy one just use mine I barely use it.  :)  It's great because now I can watch my 2.5Men, and stream stuff off of SurftheChannel.com on a big screen.

In other news... the Sega Zone...?

NUMBER ONE!
So few months back, I started my first NBA fantasy league and as of this week guess who's number one?

Yep, me! But unfortunately and stupidly, I forgot to set my lineup on Monday and benched 3 very good players *sigh* I might pretty much just gave away my #1 spot already.  I'm also beginning to wonder if it's luck or my unhealthy love for data, because i'm sure as hell it's not my knowledge of basketball.

Same Question, Different Approach

These were all from conversations today. 

Friend #1: "meet any new cool kids yet?"
Friend #2: "you meet anyone new yet?"
Friend #3: "HEY PLAYA. HAVE YOU SEEN ANY FINE HONEYS UP IN DEM PARTS?"

HAHAHAHA man that last one.  But it was a weird coincidence that they all asked on the same day.

Can you guess who said what?
here's your word bank to choose from "Alex, Andy, Andrew, Brian, Gary, Henry, Morgan"

Exploregon: Ground Kontrol

Most weekdays I just stay in because I don't really know the area.  But Alex starts pestering me about finding my soul mate immediately earlier today and how I'll die a lonely man if I don't get out of the house.  At first I shrugged it off, because I don't like people telling me what to do (real reason is I'm scared).  But there's only so  much Starcraft one can play with their younger cousins before your mind begins to rot.

So I hop onto Yelp and search Nightlife in Portland.  Bookmarked a bunch of 4.5 stars and started reading up on them.  Came across this place called Ground Kontrol.  It's a barcade.  What's that you ask?  By now you probably figured out.  Yep, it's a Bar and an Arcade.  Sweet.  Sounds like a good Thursday night.  Even better! every last Thursday of the month they host a Nintendo event! With Nintendo trivia, and tournaments.  Awesome, perfect timing thanks to Alex.  

I would have gone alone, but I called up my pal Joey to go with.  We end up somewhere downtown, and Joey complains about the narrow lanes.  I didn't notice because it felt just like SF downtown lanes.  I actually felt kinda nostalgic haha.  Apparently GK was located in a shady part of town, but it felt pretty damn safe to me.  The inside of GK looked a lot like the arcade in the movie TRON.  They even had the game TRON! (i sucked miserably).

As I slowly got tipsy sipping on my 2 dollar PBR I fed the following machines:

• Simpsons Arcade - went further than I ever went using only 50 cents!
• Gauntlet Legends - Spent most of our time and money on this one.  One of Joey's Nostalgia games.  It was pretty fun, but Gamespot gave it a 2/5 stars?
• Frogger - you gotta play frogger,  but I was a disappointment holy crap.  I killed 6 frogs within 1 minute.  Couldnt get past the river at all wtf. 
• Tron - It was the tanks game, and I believe I do not know how to play, similar experience to Frogger
• Demolition Man Pinball - their entire top floor was filled with all kinds of pinball machines.  I love playing pinball, and the one that caught my eye was the one with Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes in.. DEMOLITION MAN.  I lost all 3 balls within 1 minute. -_-
• Pirates of the Caribbean Pinball - This is probably my favorite pinball machine.  Probably because they had the exact same one in Davis.  Pew Pew Pew I lasted 3 minutes. 

Man while were absorbed in the world of Gauntlet Legends, they were holding Goldeneye and Mario Kart 64 tourneys.  I so wanted to do the Mario Kart tournament but my character was level 8! So much hard work, I couldn't just leave and die!

I would definitely go back here, cheap beers, nostalgic games and a chill crowd.  Now to check my Yelp bookmark list for the next installment of Exploregon.

Fitness Fun

I had a WTB post last week about buying gloves and mitts to play around with, and I bought them! I got them online because Big 5 had no selection and they were overpriced.  So I hunted online for a while..

Everlast Pro Style Training Gloves 14oz Black from Amazon.com

Top Contender Leather Focus Mitts from BoxingDepot.com

Haha I always spend way too much time researching stuff online b4 I buy it.  I'd go up and down different price ranges, I almost bought 60+ dollar mitts! But I snapped back to rationality and got the 30 dollar ones.  It's so hard to choose what equipment you want, but Boxing Depot had the widest selection and a very reasonable shipping rate (2.95 vs 10+ at other places).  I can't wait to get these and start pummeling!

(Also, I got an email from BoxingDepot saying that if I posted about them on my blog, I'd get a free Everlast desktop punching bag.   I already have one at home, but.. its free! Whoever wants it can have it, first comment wins!)

Crap I had more fitness stuff to talk about, but my battery is complaining... ill continue tomorrow