The halo effect

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Someone in my apartment complex has an open wireless network running, and sometime last night my laptop detected it. I must be on the periphery as the signal is faint, fading in and out like the pulse of a dying man. It has me jacked back in to the net, though, and amen to that. Just a few weeks of spotty internet access is enough to remind me how much I've come to depend on the net for paying bills, shopping, communicating, and looking up phone numbers and addresses.
Don't die on me yet, mysterious internet spirit.

What's yours is yours

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Poker great Johnny Chan. "It doesn't matter to me if I'm dealt two aces or a three and a five," he says later. "In fact, I don't need any cards. I just play the person."
Breakable: A few days ago, someone in Bike Forums broke the story, so to speak, of how to unlock a U-Lock using a plastic ballpoint pen. Now the NYTimes has picked up on the story, writing that "Many cyclists erupted in disbelief and anger this week after videos were posted on the Internet showing how a few seconds of work could pick many of the most expensive and common U-shaped locks, including several models made by Kryptonite, the most recognized brand." After having two bikes stolen in college, both secured with U-Locks, I long ago recognized that U-Locks were nothing but an inconvenience for bike thieves, a way to slow them down. It's hard to believe many cyclists would still think a U-Lock is some foolproof security mechanism. The best security for your bike is to keep it next to you indoors or to own a bike so awful you wouldn't feel any sorrow if someone stole it. Here are links to the videos.
Stunning animation from Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, opening this weekend.
The Law of Large Numbers: Events with million-to-one odds happen 295 times a day in America.
The predominant ideology of our age: anti-Americanism?
Nikon announces a new professional digital SLR, the D2X. The specs are sweet, but unfortunately it doesn't hit dealers until winter 2005, so this is all premature elation.
Amazon takes A9 out of beta; new search engine amalgamates results from a variety of sources, including Google and Gurunet. Bookmarks are a handy way to drag in potential winners from a search for future reference.
Google Accounts. Bwahahahahaha (maniacal laugh of Google emperor as his plans for world domination several years down the line continue to gel).

Wong Kar-Wai collection on DVD

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Kino is releasing a Wong Kar-Wai 5 movie boxset. Though all these movies have been available on DVD already in one form or another, this box set features remastered versions of Fallen Angels and Happy Together. The other movies included are Chungking Express (on loan from Buena Vista), Days of Being Wild, and As Tears Go By. Good stuff.
On a lighter note, Will Ferrell earned a second volume in the SNL DVD series: Saturday Night Live - The Best of Will Ferrell - Volume 2. James bought it, of course, and we watched the whole thing after the season finale of Entourage on Sunday. If you combined the first and second volumes of The Best of Will Ferrell, you'd have one solid DVD. The second volume includes the bad doctor ("I'm sorry, your son is a witch"), Wake Up, Good Morning, and the abusive boss sketch with Pierce Brosnan, but it also includes a bunch of duds. Divided, the two volumes are rentals best used as chasers after a night of drinking.

A New York minute

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I haven't had Internet access since my arrival in NYC, thus the blackout on my site. It will likely continue for another week or two as I get settled.
My first night, I arrived to a dark, empty apartment. I had electricity but no lights. The screen of my laptop wasn't enough to illuminate much more than my face, and I also lacked some basic living essentials, like toilet paper and somewhere to sleep. Thank goodness for family. I headed over to James and Angela's right away, as much for the welcome feeling of friendly faces as for a supply run. Angela loaded me up with an air mattress, sheets, a towel, toilet paper, and a dose of goodwill. I lingered there perhaps longer than usual, drawn in by the presence of furniture, lighting, and the lived-in warmth of their apartment.
Sharon and Alan have also offered a ton of support. They call just about once a day to see what I'm up to and to make sure I'm not spending all my time in an empty apartment. Several times, I've gone over to their place for dinner, and they often have leftovers I can polish off. I'm so grateful to have family here to soften my landing.
My primary focus right now is furniture hunting. I need a bed, a sofa, a dresser, and some standing closets, among other things. I happen to live in a furniture district of sorts, though it's not the type of furniture any normal humans can afford. The first store I visited was Ligne Roset, just because it happened to be across the street from me. Gorgeous furniture, horrific prices. A sectional I admired cost $8,695. I may have to resort to catalog shopping yet again.
The morning after my arrival, I locked myself out of my apartment. Smooth.
Most of my time has actually been spent at Flushing Meadows, watching the U.S. Open. I watched the women and men's semis and finals on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Mostly I wanted to see Roger Federer play, and I got my wish. Having watched him destroy Tim Henman and Lleyton Hewitt, I can confirm what the tennis cognoscenti have been saying: he is the best tennis player of all time (though of course I'm discounting longevity).
I've seen Sampras, Agassi, Lendl, Edberg, Becker, and Wilander play, all in their prime, and none of them matched the quality of tennis I saw from Federer this weekend. He has no significant weaknesses and a long list of strengths: the best forehand I've ever seen, a powerful and accurate serve, a beautiful and dangerous one-handed backhand, incredible court movement, mechanically solid volleys, off-the-charts tennis smarts and anticipation, and the calm and cool of a contract killer. All this, and he doesn't even have a coach. I've seen him hit a variety of full-swing, half volley forehands on the move that are just absurd.
Hewitt was on a huge roll coming into the finals, and Federer made him look like a college player. I think Hewitt won all of five points in the first set. In fact, the match was a bagel sandwich: 6-0, 7-6, 6-0. Federer's play that weekend has been the highlight of my stay.
I'm trying to take advantage of the city's cultural wealth. I grabbed a few tickets for the NY Film Festival in October, though many shows sold out instantly. I have tickets to see Avenue Q and I'm My Own Wife and the opening night preview of Reckless starring Mary Louise Parker. And this weekend, if a few things fall into place, maybe I'll take in a Yankees Red Sox game.
Okay, my one-hour Starbucks wi-fi pass is running out. Back out into the NY night, where everyone's still awake.

In other news...

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politics.slashdot.org - a limited edition flavor of Slashdot available through the 2004 election.
Roger Ebert's very own website, a work in progress, using most of the same material as his current Suntimes site.
Why are foreign language movie subtitles so bad? Is it similar to the reason television subtitles are so bad: the method of transcription? I always wondered how those court reporters typed so quickly. You'd think movie subtitlers would just work off of the shooting script, but perhaps not. All I know is that I rented the American release of Shaolin Soccer to show Eric, and we nearly wet ourselves at some of the English subtitles. They added a further level of absurdity to an already absurd comedy.
Good TMN interview with Alex Ross about the state of classical music. True, the future of classical music seems dire, but then again, every baby I know is transfixed by Baby Mozart. Alex Ross, the music critic for The New Yorker, also has his own weblog titled The Rest Is Noise.
You can

Clinton has heart attack; rumors of quadruple bypass

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Those are the initial reports. Google News has the first wave of stories.
Eric suggests the reality show for me: Ivana Man. Since all reality shows get reversed, soon we should have Lolita Man, in which ten wealthy, fifty-something men compete for the affections of a just-turned-eighteen year old girl.
Sports Guy selects 1984 as the greatest year of the ESPN era, bringing up painful memories of the 1984 Cubs-Padres NLCS series. Game 5 was the one and only time I cried at the outcome of a professional sporting event.
Three people die in crush of shoppers invading a new IKEA store in Saudi Arabia. (via BoingBoing)
Oh Mickey you're so fine...

SBC Park

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I visited SBC Park (formerly Pac Bell Park) for the first time tonight. One of Jon's coworkers gave us five tickets for the Club Level to watch the Giants play the Rockies.
The ballpark lived up to the hype. It feels extremely intimate, almost like a really expensive and upscale college or minor league ballpark. It might just be the coziest baseball stadium I've ever been seen a game at. Club Level seats put us almost directly on top of home plate. The visuals of the ocean over the outfield wall are awesome, just one of the ways the stadium integrates seamlessly with (and takes advantage of) its surroundings.
The food selection impressed as well. I had an excellent Sheboygan bratwurst sandwich to start, accompanied by some garlic fries. From there Jon and I moved on to Compadres Beef Taco Trays and Nachos with Beef. If I hadn't gone for a walk to explore the stadium, I might have been arm-twisted into Krispy Kreme to top it all off. I've never been to a ballpark with a broader and more diverse selection of foods. Wine, fruit from a farmer's market, Carl's Jr., and sushi were just a few of the surprising additions to all the ballpark staples like hamburgers and pizza.
And, had I known about the Giants Wi-Fi Network ahead of time, I would have brought my laptop and been surfing the web between innings to check up on my fantasy players. Rumor has it fans will soon be able to see wireless instant replays and order food for delivery to their seats through the wi-fi network. Awesome.
Bonds was walked three times, two times intentionally. He hit a ball hard and deep in the other bat, but straight to the center fielder. Giants fans wave rubber chickens and screamed their displeasure everytime a pitcher threw a ball to Barry, let alone when the catcher stood to signal for the intentional walk. When you see his stats, you understand why opposing teams avoid him: his OBP this season is .608, and his slugging percentage is .818. Those are video game numbers, or those of someone in a slo-pitch softball league. Pedro Feliz, who bats behind Barry, has an OPB of .294 and a SLG of .467, most of it compiled against pitchers working out of the stretch. Of the 44 balls hit out of SBC Park into McCovey Cove since its inception, 31 of them have been hit by Bonds.
The Rockies seemed to be fielding a minor-league roster with the exception of Helton, Castilla, and Burnitz: Clint Barmes, Luis Gonzalez, Matt Holliday, Todd Greene, and Choo Freeman. Fortunately for them, the opposing pitcher was Kirk Rueter, a soft-tossing lefty who this season has allowed 200 hits in only 159 inions. He also has only 48 strikeouts to 57 walks. His WHIP is over 1.6!
The Giants lost, 4-1. The Cubs won in Montreal, 2-1, to take a one game lead in the wild-card race. The lone Colorado player on my fantasy roster (Barmes) went 2-3 with a walk and also snagged a few tough grounders. It was a good night.

Lance at NY Marathon?!

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Lance Armstrong was on the Tonight Show today, and he revealed that he's pondering running the NY City Marathon. He'd run it to raise money for charity (his cancer foundation) a la P. Diddy. That would be awesome and a huge motivational boost for my training. He said he's out of running shape and would have to run slowly, but somehow I suspect his notion of slow is different than mine.
In fact, my likely race pace is not just slow, it is, according to Houston Marathon medical director John Cianca, an "insult to the distance." He goes so far as to say "a ten-minute pace arguably is not running at all." I'm guessing John doesn't do much motivational speaking.
This afternoon, I ran a route that Betina mapped out for me. It took me along the waterfront to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge and then back. It was a beautiful run on a crisp, sunny day, fighting through a stiff wind on the way out (oof) and cruising with the tailwind on the return. One of the great things about traveling around these past several weeks has been the opportunity to constantly run new trails. Every one of my long runs thus far has been run in a different city, and that should continue this weekend when I reach Los Angeles.
On the way out, I saw a fit, attractive thirty-something woman running towards me with a black shirt that had the word MOTHER in silver lettering across the front. Cool, I thought, someone who wants to prove that you can be a mother and still stay in shape. I turned around after reaching the base of the Golden Gate Bridge and caught up to her after a mile or so.
The back of her shirt contained, in the same font and color, the word F*CKER.

Shut out

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Every one-day Farallon Island cage diving trip offered by Great White Adventures this fall is booked solid. Nuts.
You may claim that the thought of lowering yourself into a cage in the water with a Great White Shark is too frightening, you fraidy cat, but then who are all these people who booked the trips solid? It's you, isn't it, you snake? If you're really so scared, let me take your spot.
The writer of the copy for this particular trip exercised get restraint in not using exclamation points, and wins huge points in my book:
Witnessing a very large White Shark attack and consume a 200 to 300 lb. Elephant Seal is an extremely dramatic event.

Vice Do's and Don'ts

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Vice (Magazine) Do's and Don'ts - excellent, though not G-rated, as is the norm with Vice articles. One of the things I most looked forward to in Seattle was picking up a free copy of Vice from Rudy's whenever I got a haircut. (via kottke via Gulfstream)
Some is surprising to hear in the States:
If your parents don't happily pay for all your education, they are stupid gaylords. No matter how poor you are. They're also supposed to help you start a business and pay for the wedding and help you buy a house. Of course, once they get too old to live normally, you have to take them in. Old-age homes are not cool.
On fashion:
The basic rule is: You have to be at least a little uncomfortable.
We are in an epoch right now when everyone is determined to be at a sleepover. Nobody can endure any discomfort whatsoever, not even for a moment. If a woman goes out on a limb and gets dressed up one night, she punishes the world by wearing track pants and flip-flops for days after. If a man feels even slightly warm he takes his shirt off and lets the whole world see his hairy tits. Back in the Wild West, we were wearing three-piece suits and top hats in the middle of July. Can we not have at least a modicum of discipline? It's not that hard. Men just need to stay away from belly tattoos, chokers, cargo shorts, cargo pants, umbrellas (under any circumstances), colored sunglasses, long hair, tribal tattoos, wool hats, and piercings. Women need to avoid platform flip-flops, belly-button piercings, toe rings, cleavage, low-riding jeans if they're chubby (we're talking to you, London, England), thongs, shirts made to look like tattoos, cowboy hats, fake tans, and Von Dutch.
Another 100 Do's and Don'ts from the Onion's Amie Barrodale.

On the road again

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Farewell Emerald City, and on to San Francisco. It's always fun when you get a list of directions from Mapquest that includes a leg of 716 miles.
UPDATE: 12 hours and 848.7 miles later, I made it. Thanks to the biker gang and the red Volkswagen Beetle who provided me a 95mph escort through most of Northern California, shielding me from any culpability in speeding, and to the refurbished/repackaged st-generation iPod travel kit (cigarette lighter charger and cassette tape adapter) at the University Village Apple store. The song shuffle function on my iPod loved Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs. The most frequently sighted vehicles on the road were semis carrying goods for Wal-Mart (or perhaps they were transporting underpaid workers from who knows where to god knows where). 88 miles from San Francisco, I came across an exit for Road 8. Burger King currently offers an Angus steak burger. It is still impossible to find parking in San Francisco, but rent here is a magnitude of order cheaper than in NYC.

Greenlake half marathon

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I ran my first half marathon yesterday: just over four laps around Greenlake, or just over 13 miles. What an ordeal.
Dave ran the first lap with me, and all was well. Partway through my second lap, I had a gastrointestinal emergency and ran my fastest mile split in racing to a public bathroom. One stall, no door. Lovely.
Having overcome that, my third lap was shaky. My knees felt really stiff and sore, and my left ankle started to sting. Before my fourth lap, I stopped at my car to eat a Clif Shot and pick up my iPod. The sun had set by the time I set off for the final lap, and I started to shiver. I had also forgotten to bandage/apply Vaseline to my nipples and between my legs (yes, these are the gory details familiar to long-distance runners but not yet second nature to me). There was a traffic jam of pain signals from all around my body up my spine that last lap.
I staggered in, bowed by not beaten. After a bit of stretching, I limped over to a supermarket and stocked up on Gatorade and some Icy Hot bandages, one for each knee.
My limiting factor remains my knees, and to a certain extent my ankles. The lungs feel fine, though I'm still a tortoise. I'll miss Greenlake and its outer path of dirt and gravel. It's softer than pavement, and for the most part it's level. If they'd only install some more lights around the perimeter it could be a round-the-clock training route.

Trampled by elephants

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American Voice 2004 provides a good overview of conservative and liberal stances on a broad list of issues.
James Surowiecki on convention economics. Me, I'm glad to be away from NYC during the RNC.
A Yale economist has built a regression-based model which he claims is quite accurate. It predicts Bush will win 58% of the vote in capturing the 2004 election. The usual caveats about regression models apply (you can tinker with regressions until they do a great job predicting the past, but that's no guarantee that the same equation and variables are a great predictor of the future). Meanwhile, The Iowa Electronic Markets now grant Bush a substantial lead in the 2004 election winner-takes-all market (a $1 share of Bush pays some $0.55 while a $1 Kerry share only pays $0.45). It's amazing that the Republicans, with a candidate who likely tried to get out of serving in the military, could put the Democrats, with a candidate who has medals up the yin yang, on the defensive and center all media coverage on the validity of Kerry's decorations. And then Bush comes in and tries to take the high ground by urging a halt to 527's and to any questioning of Kerry's military record. If Bush and his allies were behind the Swift Vet attacks, it was a masterful campaign gambit.