Must See Movie of the Year

From the title, you may think I'm talking about The Da Vinci Code or X-Men. However, while those are must sees because of their popularity, An Inconvenient Truth takes that description in a literal sense. According to NPR, for most of the problems we encounter, such as SARS, mad cow, etc., the general public are always more worried than the scientists, but for global warming, the opposite is true. Scientists have been screaming for years, but their messages were always undermined by our consumptive needs and our energy company loving politicians. Al Gore, who "used to be the next president of the US", is hoping to change all this by taking the road opposite of Schwarzenegger and Reagon's: he's using his popularity gained in the political arena to promote his cause on the big screen. I hope this documentary will reach Fahrenheit 911 popularity levels and hopefully will jolt the public to realize the consequences of our wasteful habits.

Optimal Viewing Angle Watch Adapter

I was looking for a GPS watch to supplement my marathon training when I stumbled upon the Optimal Viewing Angle watches from Timex. This nifty design places the watch on the narrow inside-edge of the wrist instead of the traditional wide, flat part of the wrist place the watch face at direct line of site when running, typing, bicycling, driving, skiing, and many other activities. However, because I had already invested in a GPS watch and a Heart Rate Monitor watch, I was loath to spend another $40 on a athletic watch. Instead, I put my artistic and engineering talents to work as I carved the bicycle watch adaptor to the right into the optimal viewing angle wrist adapter you see on the left. Now I can read my watch during all my activities without having to turn my wrist!

"Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics"

Last week, I delivered my fourth toastmasters speech entitled "Statistics: Lying with facts." While researching the topic, I came across some interesting stats.

1. On average, women have caused fewer accidents than their male counterparts at the same age driving the same car. However, this doesn't mean they're safer drivers.

2. Due to opportunity, children at preschool will exhibit more aggressive behavior than those who stay at home. But they're less likely to be aggressive later in life.

3. In 1936, a poll showed Gov. Alf Landon was supposed to win in a landslide against FDR, but instead FDR won 98% of the electoral college and 60% of the popular vote. The pollster used the motor vehicle registration and telephone directory to find participants.

NHL Playoffs

After 2 years in hiatus, NHL playoffs are back!! And as usual, Altera hockey pool is rolling again...and so have the pranks. Some jealous Canadian put an ugly looking Calgary Flames logo over my handsome Martin Brodeur figurine (left). After the first round, my 2 teams ( I'm also managing Yi's team) are both in the top half but still a ways from first place. Hopefully We'll do better next round.

Locally, the Sharks are doing well, winning the first round over the Predators easily and are now leading 2-1 against the Oilers. I even won tickets from Altera to one of the games. I took Peimin, since Jamie initially couldn't go. I took my trusty D70 and snapped some nice photos. Through flickr, two Sharks blogs are actually using my pics. Checkout sharkspage.com and thefeeder.com.

"world's most popular suicide destination"

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is the unofficial holder of this rather ominous distinction. At the SF Film Festival this week, one of the feature films, "The Bridge", examines why the GGB is so popular among the suicidal. When it comes to ending one's life, I've always agreed with Bill Maher who is "for assisted suicides... for regular suicide ... for anything that gets the freeway moving." But I'm not pro-suicides, I'm just pro-choice. I'm thankful the bridge authorities haven't given into the demands of those who like ugly barriers such as those on the Empire State Building. Anyway, in this documentary, 22 suicides were captured over the course of one year (several others were stopped by the film makers), and interviews with the victim's family and friends were conducted. I've always been fascinated by the psychology behind the motivation to die and I can't wait till this is available on Netflix. I hope this film will raise suicide awareness so people will take care of the mentally ill better, instead of ignoring and pushing them to their unfortunate ends. Maybe we'll even see fewer jumps in the future.