the cross

the cross. it's an interesting symbol of our faith. something that was used for torture, humiliation, suffering, and death now represents grace, hope, love, and life. jesus died on a cross some 2000 years ago so that we may have eternal life. He paid the price for our sins. the One who was perfect, holy, blameless took on our imperfections and through His death redeemed us. we are undeserved of this grace, but He gives it so freely. so we live now, with purpose, with joy, and hopefully with passion to make Him known so that more lives would be saved and He may receive glory.

1&2 peter

may and i just started leading a small group along with another couple and we're going through 1&2 peter. basically, peter is writing to a group of christians (mostly gentiles) who are scattered about the northern regions of asia minor. the bigger theme of 1 peter is an encouragement for them to stand firm in their faith since they were being persecuted at that time. this was due to the fact that emperor nero blamed the christians for burning down rome (when in fact it was nero himself who did it).

anyway, the first two lessons we went through were about how we are aliens/strangers/pilgrims/sojourners in the world we're living in. not only that, but we have an inheritance that is in Christ and something great to look forward to. because of that, we should be able to face persecution/hardship with more confidence and hope. for most of us in our small group, this wasn't something we really faced in our lives today, but it was a good reminder of what we are living for every day. our lives are only temporary, so we should focus on what is important.

yesterday, we talked about submission to authority and that we had good conversations about that. how we are ultimately to submit to God, but God has also called us to submit to government and bosses and other people who are in "high positions" than us. the idea of submission though, is one of living a life that is different and representing Christ to those who don't know God, so that they may one day enter into a relationship with Him and give Him glory. it focuses on our character and attitude and being like Christ.

we've only met for 3 weeks now, but it's been a good study and a good small group. we're hoping more and more people will be able to join us and we'll continue to grow deeper in our faith and in our relationships with one another.

sj sharks

out of the 4 bay area teams i root for, the sharks are the one team i don't follow as closely. but, as we are only a few games away from the nhl playoffs, and the sharks barely hanging in the playoff run, it's time to show my sharks some love.

it's been a down year for the sharks as they entered the season with high hopes of winning their division and easily breezing into the playoffs like they've done the past couple of seasons. but, they struggled and their high powered offense wasn't able to score. however, they still have enough talent that they are currently in the 8th seed with 2 games left. the standings are so close that each game matters. one loss could put them out of the playoffs. one more win could almost give them a lock in. they play the los angeles kings for their last 2 games. let's go sharks!

movie review: 'hunger games'

may and i saw 'the hunger games' last night and like most books-that-became-movies, the book was much better than the movie. first some things i did enjoy about the movie. first off, i give the director credit for trying to stay as true as possible to the books (although there are a few things here and there that was changed, but that's always going to be the case when trying to condense a book into a 2.5 hour movie). next, the acting by the lead characters were good. they did a good job of portraying katniss and peeta. lastly, there were some good action scenes and good cgi.

now the critics. my biggest problem was the pacing of the movie. it felt slow and disjointed. they tried to add as many scenes as possible in the book into the movie, but it would only be a short couple of seconds clips that made the movie feel choppy. they tried to add as much as they could into the movie, but didn't really explain everything, so i think if you didn't read the book, you'd be kinda lost. the other thing is that they focused a lot more on the love relationship side of the story than the survival side of the story. both are key elements of the book, but i thought the survival part should have been highlighted a bit more. other little disagreements were with the casting of haymitch and snow (but that's my personal preference) and adding color commentary during the hunger games (but again those are for the audience who didn't read the books). oh yea, and they went with the hand-held jerky camera film style which was a bit annoying. and lastly, the soundtrack wasn't very memorable either.

maybe i'm a bit more critical of the movie because i did like the books a lot and was looking forward to the movie, but i thought the movie was only okay. i would tell people to just wait and rent it when it comes out on dvd. again, good attempt to keep it true to the book, but not that well executed in my opinion.

draw something

the past few days i've been playing 'draw something' a lot with friends. the first time i played, i didn't know that the other person saw the entire process, so i was being very detailed and kept erasing and restarting. ooops. haha. i don't think i'm very good, but it's been a lot of fun trying to draw random pictures and guessing other peoples drawings. it's also been an interesting way to reconnect with friends who i don't really talk to much now. and since i'm more of a 'let's work together thing' than 'i want to beat you' type of person, i like this game more than the competitive ones :)

monta ellis/andrew bogut

the warriors traded monta ellis, epke udoh, and kawme brown for andrew bogut and stephen jackson tonight. on the surface, it doesn't seem like a very good trade for the warriors because bogut is injury prone and ellis has been playing really good ball recently. the warriors also gave up prospect udoh which has shown sparks of real talent. but, it sounded like ellis was ready to leave golden state at the end of the year when his contract was up, so the warriors were at least able to get something out of the deal.

the good side is that bogut, if healthy, is a really talented big man. he is a center that the warriors need. udoh was being blocked by david lee and the whole backcourt of monta ellis and steph curry wasn't really tough to make it work. so, it looks like klay thompson will get more run with a hopefully healthy curry and bogut along with lee.

i heard that a couple months ago, the warriors turned down a curry-rondo trade. man, i dunno why they did that. rondo would fit perfectly with ellis in the backcourt. oh well, i think this season is already gone for the warriors. the thing that sucks is that they are always not good enough to make the playoffs, but not bad enough to get high draft picks. they are basically stuck in mediocrity.

the walking dead

just wanted to say, the last 2 episodes of "the walking dead" = wow! glad they moving the story forward :)

randy moss

randy moss officially signed a 1-year deal with the niners today. i wasn't super excited about this when i first heard about it last night, but i can see why the niners did it. they need an upgrade in their receiving corp and moss, if engaged and healthy, is a definite upgrade. he stretches the field and defenses have to pay attention to him. this would take pressure off crabtree and vernon to make all the plays.

the downside, of course, is that he's had a history of not trying hard or giving up on plays or not fully being engaged the whole game. if his number isn't called a certain amount or if the team starts to play poorly, he might check out mentally. he is also another year older and didn't play at all last season.

still, the niners did only sign him to a 1-year deal. this is similar to what they did last year with braylon edwards. now, that didn't work too well for the niners, but i do have to admit that the organization has had a pretty good track record recently of getting good players. my hope was that they would sign mike wallace and peyton manning, but i really don't see that happening. it looks like their committed to alex smith and reports are that the niners will most likely look to draft another receiver in the first round.

so, after sleeping on it a night, i'm ready to welcome randy moss to the niners. let's see the niners open up the playbook a bit more this season and take more shots downfield with moss!

kony 2012

last week, the 30-minute video of kony 2012 exploded onto the internets. an organization called invisible children released this video explaining their cause to stop joseph kony, a ugandan warlord, who kidnaps and abducts children for his own personal army.

after watching this well-edited video, i was drawn, like many people, to their cause and excited to see and hear young people jump on board in wanting to stop evil. then, after this video went viral, there were reports against the invisible children organization saying that they weren't allocating the money they received in the right way. too much was going towards travel and film editing and for paid staff, while only a small percentage really went towards helping the ugandans themselves. and it was sad to hear those reports.

there are a couple of thoughts from all that went on:
- the internet is powerful. we live in an internet age and you can use the internet to raise awareness just like that. could the Church do something like this? what would happen if all the Christians around the world got on board for something at the same time?
- the invisible children's video accomplished what they set out to do. they made joseph kony famous.
- do research. it's easy to get excited about causes, but there are so much out there. find out which organization really does what.
- do something. one thing i do admire about the invisible children is that they set out to do social justice and have continued to pursue that. what is God tugging at your heart to do?

peyton manning

this morning, peyton manning had a press conference announcing his good-bye with the indianapolis colts. after 14 years with the colts who signed him out of college, they have decided to part ways with one another. it's a tough situation because manning had neck surgery last season and while he has just started throwing the football again, his health is still a concern. not only that, but since the colts have the #1 pick in this years draft and stanford's andrew luck ready to come to the nfl, it's natural for the colts to start thinking of their future and moving forward with a new quarterback.

but, peyton believes he still has a few more years of football left in him and, if he's healthy, he is still an elite quarterback that can bring a football team to the next level. many teams have already been linked as "good fits" for where manning could join. one of those teams is my beloved 49ers.

the niners gm has already said that they haven't talked about bringing in manning, but you gotta believe they should at least consider it. i know it's also a tough situation because the niners had a great season last year going 13-3 and making it to the divisional championship game with alex smith as their quarterback, but he only played okay and it seemed like, to me, that jim harbaugh didn't completely open up the playbook because of smith's skills. yes, alex fits well into the 49ers system and maybe harbaugh is just slowly opening up more and more to alex, but you could do so much more with peyton as your quarterback.

if i was the niners, i would make an offer to manning. i think bringing him in here would take this team to that next level. it would also give them opportunities to many sign another top receiver? i really hope mike wallace would be brought in. that would be pretty amazing. and i trust harbaugh enough that if manning was to possibly get injured, that he can groom the next quarterback whether that be colin kapernick or someone else. so my vote is for the niners to make manning an offer.

top chef: texas

i just watched the season finale of top chef: texas the other day. if you have not seen it yet and don't want any spoilers, you should not read any further :)

i'll go ahead and give some space before a continue on...

.

.

.

.

.

keep going...

.

.

.

.

.

okay, i hope that is enough room, if not, i'll start with some more general thoughts on this past season. they started by saying, "everything in texas is bigger" and so they had something like 32 contestants come and try to cook their way onto the show. it was basically one big quick-fire challenge. i thought it was an interesting way to give people a chance at making the show, but personally, i didn't think this season's contestants were as interesting or good as previous seasons.

in any case, my favorite contestants were paul, nyesha, grayson, and keith (who was sadly eliminated first). i did find heather and sarah rude and annoying, but i could see why bev wasn't liked by the other female contestant too. i think they did focus a little too much on her, but i guess that is where the drama was. it was interesting having their 'last chance' kitchen, but i hope they don't continue it next season. it is nice giving people an extra chance to get back into the kitchen to win, but i just think it's not necessary.

as for the finale, i'm really glad that paul won the whole thing and i think he deserves it. he was consistently on top and although he lacks a bit of self-confidence, he is also humble and creative and talented. i read tom colicchio's blog on that last meal served and it sounded like they both nailed their dishes. how i would love to have tried some of that food.

so, that's my thoughts on this past season. i thought it was only okay. a little too much focus on the drama between the girls, but i'm happy with who won at the end. the thing i really like about top chef is that i feel like the winners do deserve to win because they are chosen by judges and not fans. like the other competition shows (american idol, abdc, the voice, etc...) it's all about fan voting and a popularity contest. i just feel the winners are more legit here.

2012 sf giants

the 2012 sf giants had their first spring training cactus league game today and although they lost 9-6 to the diamondbacks, i'm excited for the start of this new season. although they didn't make any splashy moves in the offseason, they still have their core star pitching in tim lincecum, matt cain, and madison bumgarner and an upgraded defense behind them. from the talks on the radio, it seems like they are preaching more aggressive base-running and hoping for that timely hitting with men in scoring position that was missing last season. and of course they are hoping for a healthy buster posey, a continual resurgence of pablo sandoval, and an outbreak season from brandon belt. yes i'm a homer, but i really think they have a good chance to make the playoffs this year (especially with the added wild-card team) and make another run at the world series. in any case, i'm ready for the season to start. play ball!

longest paper airplane throw

when i was a kid, i used to enjoy making paper airplanes. and of course, the purpose was always to see how far the airplane flew. as time went on, other people shared different ways to fold the paper airplanes. just now, i did a quick search on 'paper airplanes' and am amazed by how all the different ways you can fold paper airplanes. anyway, just recently, someone broke the world record for longest paper airplane throw netting 226 feet and 10 inches. check it out below :)

disconnected

i've been feeling a bit disconnected with the on-goings of pop-culture and sports which is a weird feeling because these are topics that i'm usually up-to-date on. i didn't even know that the oscars were this past weekend until the last minute and when i looked at the list of nominated movies, i hadn't seen any of them except for 'moneyball.' and the only reason i saw that movie was because it was showing on the plane ride to australia/new zealand for my honeymoon. [quick review of 'moneyball'. it was entertaining and brad pitt did a good job, but best picture nominee? i don't agree]. so, while normally i would have given my oscar picks for the year, i had nothing to say about them.

it's similar to sports. i've been able to keep up a little bit more because of the internet and the sports blogs i follow, but there is still a little bit of uncertainty of all that is happening. the nba all-star was this weekend and i know who won what because of the internet, but i didn't watch anything live so it feels a bit different. in fact, i haven't even seen any highlights from it. maybe i should go check it out.

i guess being disconnected from pop-culture and sports isn't actually a bad thing. i've been busy with married life and ministry which are both more important things to focus on, but i am hoping to still have something to blog about in-terms of sports and pop-culture.

so here is one critic. just the other day, i did watch 'hugo' and was fairly disappointed. i felt it was slow and the story was only okay. i can see why the academy nominated it (because it was a movie about the greatness of movies), but i'm glad it didn't win best picture. i don't know. just from the list of movies that were nominated for best picture, nothing really jumped out at me. they all seemed like they would be slow. but, guess i should actually watch them first before i judge them.

static

i am still here. i want to blog, but there is nothing that really jumps out at me right now. there is only static on 102.7 chris fm...

back on air

a lot has happened in sports, pop culture, and my personal life since i last blogged here that i don't really know where to start.

i guess i could start with the san francisco giants. when i last wrote, they were on a win streak trying to make the playoffs. unfortunately, they fell short as their run support died and pitching couldn't keep them in all these tight games. the beltran move was good at the time, and he showed why they made huge trades for him, but it seemed like there was too much pressure on him to succeed and he slumped when they needed him the most. it's was just an injury-riddled year and they couldn't get the timely hitting that they had last season.

then there is also the san francisco 49ers. they were 1-0 when i last blogged and i had my doubts about them. they certainly proved me (and many others) wrong. i thought that it would take at least a year before jim harbaugh made an impact on the niners. they were coming off a losing season, they pretty much changed their whole personnel with new coaches and a new system, there was a lock-out which didn't allow the players to practice with the coaches, and oh yea, they didn't have an elite quarterback. but the future certainly look a lot brighter after this past season.

the niners went 13-3 winning the nfc west and the #2 seed in the nfc division only behind the 15-1 green bay packers. they beat the high-powered saints in the divisional championship game and then lost to the eventual super bowl giants in overtime after 2 special teams fumble. it was a hard game to lose because the niners had been so good in winning the turnover battle and winning these close games, but this game literally slipped out of their hands. and what's even harder as a fan is knowing that they could have beaten the patriots in the same manner that the giants beat them in.

still, no one expected the niners to do so well and i am really proud of the team and what they accomplished this past year. they have given me hope that they will be competitive and have a chance to win in the years to come.

the nba season is almost now at it's midway point. the warriors also have a new head coach and a new system, but have not had the same success that the niners had. they are still sputtering along trying to find their identity. i've honestly not really followed this season much because there were other things on my plate (more of that to come later), but it seems like the same ol warriors to me. play some exciting basketball for 3.5 quarters and can't close it out at the end of games.

the big story, of course, has been jeremy lin. he has taken not only the basketball world, but the world itself by storm. he's headlining magazine covers and news feeds about his success. of course, as a warriors fan and bay area native, it hurts to see him succeed on the knicks and not on the warriors (especially since he was on the team last year). but, at the same time, i can't not be happy and excited for him. he is, in a sense, living out the dream of all us asian-american guys who grew up wishing we were in and succeeding in the nba.

but not only is he a taiwanese-american nba star now, he is also a devoted christian and gives all glory to God. he is similar to tim tebow in how no one believed in him, but is succeeding in his sport, and sharing his faith publicly. the difference being, most people believe that he has the skills to continue to play in the nba while some still doubt tebow will be able to last. in any case, it's neat to see these athletes who are bold in proclaiming their faith in the spotlight.

i do hope that jeremy lin continues to succeed in the nba. and i hope that he continues to stay humble and focused on giving God glory. it would be neat to see that happen.

in terms of pop-culture, i haven't been to in-touch with much. the death of whitney houston is sad. i really think she was a great singer. the tv shows that i've been watching are mostly on hiatus now. i have been keeping up with top chef, but that's about it. there hasn't really been any movie that has stood out either. i have been reading 'hunger games' and half-way through the 3rd book. that has been really interesting and i'm looking forward to seeing the movie and how they portray it.

the big news is my personal life. i am now married and just returned from my honeymoon to australia and new zealand. it is wonderful being married although there are times when it still seems surreal. i'd find myself thinking, "wow! i'm really married."

our honeymoon was a lot of fun too. we got to see the famous sydney opera house and harbor bridge, hold a koala and go snorkeling in the great barrier reef, and drive around the south island of new zealand in a campervan. food and drinks are really expensive (pretty much double everything in the states), but it was definitely worth going and i wish i was still there.

well, that's a general update of what's been going on. hopefully i'll keep this blogging up :)