Working is Awesome

No seriously, that's kinda how I feel right now. I started part-time work today at a start up in Cupertino and I think it's pretty enjoyable considering it is work. I really like my job duties and everyone is really nice, especially the VP whose office I am in. Oh, and the commute is faaaaaabulous. Let's compare my thought processes in the morning, shall we?

WORKING IN SAN FRANCISCO
6:05 am - morning time
6:06 am - time to shower
6:25 am - time to get out of the shower (I know I know, but I get my best thinking done there)
6:45 am - leave for work, drive on 280 North
7:15 am -oh wow, what a beautiful freeway (is this Rohan?)
7:30 am - stupid stupid traffic
7:40 am -I hate traffic so much
7:50 am - oh Fall Out Boy has a new song out, sounds like the other one, oh wait that was Panic! at the Disco
7:53 am - these punk band names are ridiculous--I will name mine Oh! Flatulation Derives It
7:55 am - ugh, 10 bucks for parking, time to walk to the office building
8:00 am - another day at the office...bye Sun, see you in 9 1/2 hours (if you are still up)

THIS MORNING
7:00 am - morning time
7:01 am - time to shower
7:20 am - time to get out of the shower
7:50 am - leave for work, drive down Stevens Creek Boulevard
7:55 am - Living Rooms, Bedrooms, Dinettes! oh yeah! you can find them, at the market, flea market, montgomery, it's just like
7:59 am - park next to the office
8:00 am - sit down at desk overlooking Stevens Creek Blvd.

And compare it when I took CalTrain for about 5 months:

6:42 am - race out of the house
6:56 am - get to CalTrain station
6:57 am - still can't find parking
6:58 am - curse the bullet train that is now leaving the station
7:05 am - get on the next train, it's slow and it's loud and it's cold
7:06 am - oops, forgot to load last night's episode of LOST onto my iPod
7:30 am - I am soooooo bored...
7:57 am - GET OFF THE TRAIN FASTER PEOPLE
7:58 am - RUN RUN RUN you need to make it across the light
8:03 am - I wish I could walk faster or had a SegWay
8:09 am - I want a McGriddle
8:11 am - being a biped is so inefficient
8:12 am - another day at the office, at least I got to walk outside in the sun

So yeah...work was good today. And close.

Sweet Sweet Coptic Basketball on the Web

I've been working on http://pcaleague.org most of the weekend and I think it looks a lot cleaner that it did before. It's pretty bare right now but it should get more content as we get closer to the season. I especially like the way the maplinks look on the right side of the front banner. Check the site out, surf around, and PLEASE let me know if you find any problems, or if you think of anything that should be on there. Oh, and if you can figure out how to get rid of that stupid blue border around the front banner (it contains maplinks, I think that's why it's there), I will give you a dollar.

Know Your Role

"Know Your Role."

Some people hate the sound of that phrase. I blame it on the wrestling guy--I think it was The Rock--who made it sound like telling someone to "know your role" is effectively telling them to submit to you.

I think it's one of those phrases that can be a great for keeping people on track towards a group goal. I've played a lot of organized sports. In that respect, to "know your role" means to understand how you fit best into your group for the group's benefit. This can be difficult to do, especially when roles are not clearly defined. Often in business, youth sports, or even something as trivial as planning a group picnic, we aren't told exactly what to do, and it can be so hard to get to the point where you understand your duties perfectly, as well as the duties of others as they affect you, which is quite important. Sometimes we forget our exact role in a group and cross the boundaries of our responsibility, which can sometimes be good, but often isn't.

Everyone has experienced this at some point in their lives. I found that it happened quite a bit on projects in high school and college (even in grad school), and some of the little league teams I coached had this issue during the first few weeks of a season. You may be experiencing this kind of thing at work right now as you read this (man that guy in the next cube is a jerk...you tell him that YOU will do the talking on the next presentation and HE will be making the spreadsheets. Make sure he uses Trebuchet.).

There is no denying that learning how to do many different things--in effect, learning multiple roles--can be extremely effective at keeping yourself valuable AND helping your group achieve its goals. Take work presentations for example: if you only know how to make pie charts, and pie charts are deemed unnecessary because of a change in presentable metrics, well then you are out of luck and possibly out of a job. In the same sense, if Peter Presenter is the ONLY person on your team who knows how to present line graphs and he comes down with a case of the Flaps (it's a stomach virus) right before the big Profits vs. Time presentation, then your whole team is kinda screwed.

My feeling is that with most groups and teams, it's always good to have the starter as well as backups. Obviously this is the case in sports, but I think it applies to work as well. The starter will get most of the time at his best position--whether it's Left Field or Client Researcher or Presentation Closer--and the backups of course learn how to play the position by practicing and even assuming the role from time to time to get some real experience.

But back to the point here: you have to Know Your Role if you want to help the team (by "you" I mean the unspecific "you", not actually "you", but also "you" in addition to me). Even if you think your role is boring or you think you should have a different role, when the coach gives you a position, you have to suck it up and learn and play.

I'm writing about this now because of the upcoming Pacific Coptic Athletic League season. (What is the deal with all these basketball posts? It's not even one of my three favorite sports. I think it's because I am trying not to talk about it verbally so much--of course, it doesn't help that I'm writing about it now. *Sigh* I am going to play baseball next year.) Last year I played small forward, a position that I am really comfortable with: drive or shoot the 13-footer on offense, guard a mid-size guy on defense, and grab a ton of rebounds. Well, I did the last two well enough, but the shooting needed work.

Anyway, this year is going to be drastically different. We lost two key players to the East Coast: my brother Eddie who was our starting point guard, and Waseem, who was our starting shooting guard. Remember what I was saying earlier about having formidable backups? Well, we did. The problem is that THEY WERE BACKUPS FOR EACH OTHER. Whoops!

So after talking to our new head coach Walid, I'm moving over to point guard, barring assistant coach Mounir injecting horse steroids into his surgically-repaired knee before the season starts. It would seem that point guard is a nice place to get moved to--you get to handle the ball, and you're always in the action. Well, I've never been a good passer and I certainly don't have great ball handling skills. It's going to be a struggle.

This is why Coach Walid will keep telling me "Know Your Role" from now until August, and he'll keep telling everyone else that as well. I have to embrace taking the ball up the court just like other guys on the team have to embrace their roles as picksetters, hustle guys, rebounders, etcetera.

For a church basketball team, we have a long way to go. The two games that my brother missed last season ended in the highest-scoring defeat in league history as well as a loss to the last-place Sacramento Halos. Waseem was instrumental in the tempo of our offense. We are picking up a few big guys, and that should help, but all us returners have to understand our roles as we get closer to the start of the season.

So I won't get upset if I hear "Know Your Role!" on the court this spring and summer; in fact, it's one of our team mottos for this season, along with "Let's not lose 4 games by less than 4 points" and "Rohan make me a sandwich."

10% Off - Week 2 Update

Even though I felt that I didn't eat very well the last few days, my first sub-190 weigh-in last night kept the projection right on track. I'm pretty sure I will gain a few pounds during Easter Week in mid-April, so I'm gonna work hard now to get ahead of schedule.

My Feet Are Large, But Not as Large as Matt Bettencourt's

I have large feet by most standards, and it's pretty difficult to find size 13 shoes that fit all of the following criteria:

1) Reasonably inexpensive - less that 65 bucks for running shoes, with another Jackson thrown in for a good pair of baksetball shoes
2) The right brand - I would love it if I could buy a pair of Spaldings (and so would Hakeem), but I've worn cheap basketball shoes before and they literally start falling apart after a few months.*
3) Not extremely ugly - Sure, I could buy this sweet pair, or even this one. They might be illegal though.

So I went ahead and tried on a pair of "Nike Air Zoom Huarache Elite TB" shoes (that's quite a catchy name) at the store and they were way too comfortable, so I went home and ordered the color that I wanted online for 99 bucks. That base price edges out my 1991 Jordans and a pair of brown dress shoes my parents bought me in 2003 for the record of "Most Money Paid for a Pair of My Shoes."

I have paid 110 dollars for socks though.



*By the way, I would love to have a conversation with anyone about Nike's labor practices and price-gouging; I wouldn't buy a pair of their shoes if I felt that their business practices were wrong, and maybe I'm actually turning a blind eye here. Let me know if you think that's the case. I'd love to hear your opinion on this.

10% Off - Week 1 Update

See that "y = -0.1486x" part of the equation to the right? That's the average amount of pounds lost based on nightly weigh-ins. That's an average of 1.0402 pounds lost per week, which translates to 19.76 pounds dropped over 19 weeks, which is slightly better than my goal. I would say I'm right on track, except for two things: 1) this is based on only 6 weigh-ins, and 2) weight loss tends to flatten out after five or six weeks for me. We'll see what happens.

Define Godbrother

While talking about weddings with Kugali, I found out that "godbrother" is technically not a word in any dictionary, at least according to my cursory research. How am I supposed to refer to Mike G, since he is distantly related but I consider him more than a distant relative?

Godbrother (noun) - son of one's godparents

Since Mike's parents are my godparents, he is now my godbrother. Godday to you sir.

Have a Safe Trip, as if You Were Planning to Have Any Other Kind!

I used to get annoyed when my parents would tell me to "drive safely!" as I left to go back to Davis after a weekend at home.

Really? Drive safely? Because my plan was to ram a few cars off the road and then play chicken as I crossed the Benicia Bridge.

Well, you know how as you get older, you notice more of your parents' traits in yourself? Lately, I can't help but tell my fiance Heather to drive safely every single time she gets in her car. Why do I do it? She's a conservative driver who has never been in an accident, yet I remind her every single time. I wonder if it's just one of those things that people say because "See ya!" can get boring.

You know, my friend Justin used to tell me "Take care" every time we separated, and I really felt like he meant it. But I think with most people, those compassionate directives (?) can become so ingratiated in our minds that they no longer mean much other then "bye!" or "later." When was the last time someone told you to "Have a safe trip!" right before you got on a plane?

Right! I'll make sure to relay that message to the pilot!

But the fact remains that rational, logical people still tell their loved ones to be safe. My theory is that we say it more to appease ourselves than anything else. When I tell Heather to drive safely, it's probably because I want to make sure that I have done everything in my power to ensure that she arrives safely. I want to be certain that I at least say something so I don't feel useless.

Dad's approach to the compassionate directive is a little different. He checks my tires, asks if I have cash in my wallet, and usually asks something else that is somewhat out of the blue: "When was the last time you checked your wiper fluid level?" "Is your spare tire full of air?" "Have you ever tested your air bag?" I swear, I get the spare tire question about once a month. You know what though, my spare tire IS always full of air, and I know that.

So we say "drive safely" because we have to do something. If we don't, and something bad does happen, then we may feel even worse than we already would have given the circumstances. And I think it does help to know that people care about you; personally, I do think I drive more conservatively sometimes because I an reminded that there are people who would be very let down if I were to be at fault in an injury accident.

So keep saying "drive safely" and "take care" and "have a safe trip." And I will make sure not to use my iPod during takeoff and landing.



Comedian Brian Regan has a funny bit about responding to a cabbie saying "Have a safe trip!" with "You too!" and then feeling like an idiot. I couldn't find that clip, but here's Brian Regan about eye exams.

Things They Don't Teach You in Egypt

We decided to switch our 15-year-old cat over to senior cat food. Dad was pouring the food into her bowl, which already had some food in it, and Fritz went crazy. She attacked the bowl like she was eating Cat Sushi or something. Dad was like: "Look at this, she loves it!"

Mom was not convinced. "No, she's just hungry!" But she already had food, Dad responded; if she was hungry, she would have eaten that. We noted that she probably smelled something in the new food that she likes, so she went after it.

Question from Mom: "How can she smell the difference?"

Okay, you may be wondering the same thing. If you are, here's your answer:

She's a freaking cat. They can smell if you have been thinking about dolphins.

Cookmasters! Video

We decided to make a video on New Year's Eve, and since we didn't feel like leaving Kat's apartment in Davis, we did what we could with what we had. Enjoy Cookmasters!, starring Brian, Kat, and myself. Please have low expectations.

10% Off All Fat

(Get ready for a Super-Cliche blog post about someone else's potential attempts at losing weight. Read at your own risk of not being entertained.)

I am absolutely, fully, totally aware that weight is not the best indicator of body mass health. I also know that measurements like BMI are not tailored specifically for individuals, and they don't take things like muscle into account (actually, if you look the BMI of most professional athletes, they would be considered "overweight" because of the large amount of muscle that most pros have). I've heard from many experts that the best way to measure your body mass health is how well your clothes fit.

Well, I don't care. I like numbers. For example, this article is already 4 sentences too long. That's why the 10% Off Special starts this summer. It's a personal challenge that I'm looking forward to. I will take 10% off my body weight by June 21, which is 19.38 pounds. If I don't get 10% off by that date, I'll post a coupon that entitles you to one free 20-oz. bottle of Gatorade in Cupertino, CA. FREE GATORADE!

This would take me from "Fat" to just "Overweight" on the BMI chart, which is absolutely ridiculous.

Please feel free to join me over the next four months, whether you want to lose weight or gain it or whatever.

It's on like Donkey Kong. Who is pretty fat, by the way.

Fast Food Restaurants Are Trying To Tell You to Eat More, and Hey, Why Not? I'm Getting Hungry Just Looking At That Sign (Part I - Burgers)

I'm not gonna claim to be an advertising master--although I do have a masters in advertising--but you can trust me when I say that companies are sending many more messages in your direction than you think they are. In fact, a lot of these messages are likely bypassing your conscious mind but still hitting something near the back of your skull (could be the front of your skull, since I'm not sure where the subconscious part is). Let's take a look at some fast food logos today.

You are going to notice a trend very early on. There are a few colors--one in particular--that has been shown to excite humans, which can stimulate the appetite. Obviously, fast food restaurants are in the loop on this one.

I've broken the restaurants into five categories: burgers, mexican/burritos, sandwiches, chicken, and other. I have decided to leave pizza out for now. I'll be tackling burgers today and I'll go down the list over the next week or so.

BURGERS

McDonald's

The classic double arches. Red background (get used to it) with yellow and white print. This is one of the most recognizable logos in the world, and it's likely that it will never change. I must say that I love continuity in logos and colors, and McDonald's has never really changed. It's so iconic that they don't need to. Good for them.

Burger King

BK went with the Pepsi approach on this one: when the top dog in your industry uses red (as Coke did), use blue to stand out BUT keep the red in there as well just to be safe. When this logo replaced the older 80's-ish one (which was more two-dimensional and brown), my first thought was: "That looks like the logo of a futuristic Burger King." So I guess in terms of updating their look, they did a pretty good job. Even though this is not unique, I like that the logo is in the shape of a burger, you know, just in case a hungry illiterate driver is trying to figure out what they serve.

Carl's Jr./Hardees

In case you are wondering, Hardee's is the East-of-the-Mississippi counterpart of Carl's Jr. Apparently, people on the East Coast like to tilt their heads or something, because the Hardee's logo is just a little off kilter. Again, they went with the red and yellow here, no surprise. This logo is too boring though, right? I'm being sarcastic by the way; simplicity can be a VERY good thing in logo design, especially if it's well-defined or well-known . Wait...what's this? CKE Restaurants disagrees with me?Apparently so. This new script lettering, which I must admit gives the logo a classic feel, is the standard CJ's logo now. Oh, and congratulations to the star, who has been promoted to TiltMaster General like his friend from the east.

Wendy's

"Old-fashioned hamburgers", huh...didn't know they had square patties back in the 19th century. Another burger chain, another red and yellow logo. This one is different because it actually features a red-headed girl (whose hair color is stimulating my appetite as we speak/read) and it is kind of an old school man-cowboy-saloon font. If Billy the Kid wanted lunch and was in a food court, he would probably go to Wendy's. I could do the research on how long this particular design has been around...maybe I'll do that in another post. RIP Dave Thomas. Thank you for your value menu.

Jack in the Box

WOW! No yellow! Congratulations to Jack in the Box on having a slightly different color scheme than the rest of the fast food crowd. Too bad they still went with red. I'm not sure how much the Jack logo is worth now compared to the "Jack" character himself. I almost feel that I see his face on a huge window sign before I see the logo. They could effectively replace all their 20-foot-high logo boards with a lifesize Jack doll, and I'm sure that business wouldn't drop off.

Arby's

I know what you are thinking: Arby's is not a burger chain. Well, it's ground beef in your stomach anyway. This logo DOES make me think of cowboys, both because of the hat and the font type. If that's what they were going for, it worked. They need to work on making their food taste better though. My friend Jackie's dad has a cute story about Arby's. I hope to share it with you some day.

Oh, and one point for color creativity--the red is a little darker than in all the other logos.

Sonic

You've got to be kidding me. Red and yellow. Whoop-de-doo. Sonic, you are AMERICA'S Drive-In, not Spain's. Yo quisiera un slushee de fresas. On the plus side, I'm pretty sure that design is meant to mimic the wings of cars from the 5o's, which is a nice touch for a drive-in.

Fatburger

Whenever I see a Fatburger logo, I think of "Good Burger" with Kenan and Kel. I saw that movie with Ron and Jerry Yassa, and needless to say, it was horrible. As for the logo, this is kinda the type that could be used for anything. Think about it: if they replaced "FATBURGER" with "RAMADA INN", you have a pretty servicable logo. That said, could we lay off the red and yellow please? Just for a while?

In-n-Out

Oh In-n-Out...how I love thee. But you had to go with the Red and Yellow. I guess I should just come to the realization that those are effective colors for letting hungry people know that you are a fast food restaurant, and piggy-backing on McDonald's is not a bad strategy. I like that the In-n-Out logo usually points to the restaurant itself--a trait that is not extremely handy on street-front signs, but is pretty awesome on super high billboards in areas where you might not notice the In-n-Out restaurant by itself while driving by.

Whataburger

Whataburger! I love you for your breakfast taquitos, and now I love you for the fact that you do not use red or yellow in your logo. However, if I remember my primary and secondary colors correctly from kindergarten: Red+Yellow=Orange. Great. No but seriously, it's okay here. Maybe it's because I grew up in California and only lived in Texas for a year and a half, but Whataburger signs always stood out to me on the road. That logo is kind of its own thing, which is neat. The winged-W is like inverted double golden arches in the sense that they probably drop the "Whataburger" on a lot of the signage and it still works.

Wienerschnitzel

Right, right: not a burger chain. Sorry, but if it's D-grade meat between two buns, it's in the burger category here. Now normally I would say something like "another fast food joint using Red And Yellow? That's ridiculous!" But Wienerschnitzel shows commitment here and actually paints their employees' houses the same colors:

Pretty incredible.

Krystal

Pretty bland. Krystal just doesn't sound like a place that would make delicious sliders. My brother and his fiance actually thought I was making up a restaurant when I used Krystal during a game of Scattergories. I don't live in the South, and when I saw Krystal signs in Tennessee, I had no clue that they served food. Red And Yellow, though--guess I should have known.

White Castle

White Castle is the only restaurant in this list that I have never eaten at. They did not use red or a color close to it, and I have to say that I am getting pretty hungry just looking at the logo. The 3-D castle and the writing in the middle actually look like a small little burger. Maybe that's the way to go--just make your logo subtly look like a burger.

So in summary:

9 out of 13 places use red and yellow in their logo.

11 out of 13 use red in their logo.

12 out of 13 use mainly warm colors (yellow, red, orange).

FAVORITE (regardless of "Iconicity" or color): Whataburger - It's not going to be confused for any other burger place, and they do have the word "burger" in the logo, in case you are driving across the country through Texas/Oklahoma and have never heard of the place.

LEAST FAVORITE: Krystal - Might as well be a gas station for all I know.

So...the color red. Maybe it's because it catches our attention. Maybe it is because red stimulates our appetites. Or maybe every restaurant decided to go what was already working for the big dogs. That's okay. But my feeling is that if your food is really good, it doesn't matter too much what your logo looks like, as long as it's identifiable by your customers.

Of course, if you are Arby's, I think you definitely need the cowboy hat in there.

Best Website Ever...Containing Cavemen

I love the Geico Caveman commercials so much, not only because of the caveman's reactions to everything, but they are like the one minority (besides aliens) that will never complain about stereotyping on CNN and then ask everyone to boycott the ads.

Because they DON'T EXIST, get it?

Anyway, please check out cavemanscrib.com. Great interactive website, and I love the cross-marketing with the music, too...the viral marketing potential is pretty high.

Live Blogging the Super Bowl

I've decided to live-blog the Super Bowl, as I'm watching the game here at home and I don't think my dad will appreciate my inane comments and questions too much. I'll be talking about the game, the announcing, the commercials, and of course, CBS's predictable use of hip hop songs during montages about Peyton Manning and Rex Grossman. If you are viewing this blog during the game, please hit your refresh button every few minutes. Enjoy! (all times Pacific)
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8:58 pm Pacific - Well, I gotta say that the game delivered more on its hype than the commercials did. Even though the game was sloppy, what with all the turnovers and everything, it kept my attention from start to finish. I'm glad Tony Dungy mentioned his Christian faith in his post-game speech--that type of openness about Christianity on national television (in this case, the most watched event around the world) is welcome anytime to me.

As for the advertising, I would give the best overall Superbowl campaign to CareerBuilder for their "Don't just survive the workweek" spots. That first animated spot for Coke was probably my favorite single commercial. As for the other advertising, I am disappointed that there was not more creative in-game stuff. Actually, off the top of my head, I can't think of a single non-commercial that was creative enough to turn any heads. Maybe it's because CBS is a little more traditional. FOX would have changed the shape of the football during all instant replays to look more like a Coke bottle. Couldn't you just hear Joe Buck saying: "This Super Slo-Mo FoxTrax Instant Replay brought to you by Coke. Coke: Everything Tastes Better With a Coke."

Tim McCarver: "The point of football is to score more points that the other team."

Peace out from my first live-blog.

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7:00 - Who will be the first Colts player to say: "No one believed in us!"? My guess is Bob Sanders.

6:58 - Congratulations to the Colts, 29-17! I was one Bears TD and one Colts negative safety from getting the score exactly right.

6:56 - Well, this game is pretty much over. Let the Tony Dungy praise commence. If someone poured Gatorade on me, I would drink it.

6:49 - It's stopped raining, and we're approaching the 2-minute warning here and the Colts have a 12-point lead. If the Bears can keep them from running right into the endzone, then they still have a chance. Oh, and Devin Hester has to run it back because their offense has been inept.

6:37 - Our TV just exploded. Figuratively of course. I think we missed a sweet Delay of Game call.

6:30 - Is Rex Grossman trying to make it rain with these super high passes? Because IT'S ALREADY RAINING REX.

6:28 - Phil Simms said that the Colts wanted to put the Bears in a situation that they are not good at, which is coming from behind. Really? It's a good strategy to be winning? Fair assessment, I guess.

6:21 - I really hoped Rex Grossman would play well today so everyone would get off his back, but that was a crappy pass. It was like a Hail Mary to the flats. Colts TD, 28-17, but there's a challenge.

It's close, but the review evidence isn't overwhelming. And my predicition goes out the window. Booger McFarland is happy.

6:11 - Commercial Break: Katie Couric, Pro Bowl, The Masters...three in a row for CBS shows. Probably all in 30 seconds, so I guess that's okay.

6:04 - I think if I was allowed to be an NFL player for a day, I'd be a nose tackle. Offensive playmakers (quarterback, wide receiver, running back) get hit too much--I'd get snapped in half. I could never cut it on the O-Line. I'm not fast enough to play cornerback or linebacker. Nose tackle would be just right, because if I got one sack, or just one tackle, I'd be pretty satisfied.

6:03 - I'm pretty sure Barbaro is rooting for the Colts. Chicago hits a FG, 22-17 Colts. Go Barbaros.

6:01 - I have a good feeling the Bears will do something good with this short field. Could be a tie game going into the 4th quarter.

6:00 - Still waiting for the first John Cougar Mellancamp commercial. This IS our country, by the way.

5:56 - Robert Goulet.

AND AN OLD T-MOBILE COMMERCIAL. COME ON PEOPLE. I'm tuning out when I see these things.

5:52 - Phil Simms just intimated that Dominique Rhodes is a great sixth man. I'm pretty sure Simms played quarterback for the Giants, and I'm almost certain they played with eleven.

5:47 - Rex Grossman looks ridiculous, flopping around, dropping the ball. This Taco Bell thing with the lions saying "Carne Asada" is annoying.

Hey Van Heusen! A clothes ad for a brand I actually wear.

5:46 - Booger just tackled Rex.

5:44 - I wonder if guys change their cleats at halftime so they can have longer spikes.

5:35 - I know this is old news, but how in the world did we ever watch football before Sportvision created that yellow first-down line? I still don't understand the technology behind it. I don't get how it stays in the same place when the camera moves, and how it can appear on top of the grass but behind a green Jets jersey. Someone please explain this to me.

5:21 - There have been A LOT of promos for CBS shows...I would guess about 20 during the first half. I wonder if CBS wanted to reserve all those spots, or if they really couldn't get their asking price for say, 5 more spots. The network has a ton of power in a situation like this; they can embed show promos into the game itself (which they have done a little of, but maybe not enough). A important factor in paying for the rights to an event like this is the ability to promote your own shows, but I wonder if it can be done better in CBS's case.

I wonder how many people will start watching Two and a Half Men because of the commercials. I won't.

5:10 - This is as good a time as any to fold my laundry.

5:05 - Halftime show. I never cared much for Prince, but there is a pretty ridiculous In Living Color skit with Jamie Foxx playing Prince, selling jeans. Find it on YouTube.

From the neck up, with that front-tying headscarf on, Prince looks like he shoud be cleaning someone's house right now. He just looks like he's ready to scrub tile or something.

4:53 - Who's running KPIX exactly? Our reception cut out during the Frito-Lay Black History Month commercial for the first time today. Conspiracy.

4:51 - I'm pretty sure the American Heart Association was telling me to eat another sausage sandwich. I'm very full.

4:42 - I know this is not the point of High Definition (yes, it needs to be capitalized), but inclement weather looks so much cooler in HD. I'm actually kina hoping this rain will turn into snow.

4:38 - Weird replay graphics, but I like them . I never understood why networks don't try out new graphics in earlier playoff games, but I guess most networks want people to go: "oh, I've never seen that before." Of course, using that logic, you could insert a digital Koala Bear onto Joseph Addai's head at the start of every play.

4:36 Non-HD commercial, American Heart Association? That commercial was so unclear on my TV screen that I'm not sure if I'm supposed to exercise more or eat a tub of Crisco.

4:34 - Touchdown, Colts, good extra point, 16-14. Really good game so far.

4:30 - In all seriousness, the "user-created" commercials for Doritos and Chevy disgusted me. Seriously. "Cleanup at the register"? Gross. Stop it.

4:28 - I feel like there have already been 10 punts in this game.

4:26 - Over/Under on people Tank Johnson will shoot if the Bears lose: 1.

4:25 - I now want to drink Bud Light because a white dog got mud splashed on it and now looks like a dalmatian.

4:17 - That animated Coke commercial was pretty awesome. It certainly got my attention without having to resort to showing cleavage (c'mon Go Daddy, you said your commercial was going to be different this year).

4:13 - One year in Davis, Brian and I brought our desktop computers into the living room so we could work while we wached the Super Bowl. I don't even remember who was playing.

4:11 - I'm pretty sure Cedric Benson was lying on the ground because he wanted a rest. He looks sleepy.

4:08 - This game has more turnovers than a pie shop! HiyOOOO! Take that Woody Paige.

3:59 - YES. A commercial with immigrants trying to speak English. That'll get me every time. Bood Light.

3:56 - I've already seen that commercial, Schick! I'm not watching this game to see things I've already seen. Garbage.

3:53 - Is there a better name in football right now than Booger McFarland? Maybe Poopie McGee on the Seahawks...

3:51 - Two fumbles in 15 seconds. It's sloppy in Miami! Shoulda held the game in Buttonwillow.

3:50 - Yes, you did just hear "The Final Countdown" by Europe. Funny FedEx commercial. Except for the fact that there would be gravity on the Moon.

3:47 - Touchdown, Colts! I missed it--Dad asked me to check if the cat had food. I did see that botched X-point though.

3:45 - Dad's prediction:

"31, Colts."
"And the Bears?"
"Less than 31."

3:43 - Never gave my pick: Colts 27, Bears 24. Or 25.

3:40 - By the way, I'm hoping there will be at least one commercial this year that actually says something awesome about the product, hence justifying the 2.6 million dollars spent. I mean, it's cool to go for the whole irreverent thing, but it doesn't make me want to drink Sierra Mist.

3:39 - Wow. Beard Combover. Fantastic.

3:34 - First Bud Light commercial features physical humor. Got a chuckle out of Dad.

3:30 - Sweet team intros. I like that we get to hear each players' voice.

3:27 - In a roundabout way, Phil Simms agrees with me. On a completely contradictory note, there goes Devin Hester. Touchdown. No one has ever returned the opening kick for 6 in the Super Bowl.

3:24 - The Bears fans seem really excited about winning the coin toss, which is actually not an advantage at all. It's like being happy that your team is first alphabetically.

3:19 - It's unfortunate that miltary flyovers are not that impressive on TV, because they are so exhilarating when you are in the stadium. I've seen a couple live, and they can take your breath away. I think it's because of the timing and spacing precision involved.

3:17 - Dude it's raining all over Billy Joel's piano.

3:14 pm - First commercial break after team introdcutions, and all the commercials are in HD. Very nice. One of them is for that Ghost Rider movie. Not so nice.

Artisan Crafted Air

Heather's mom is in town this weekend, and to celebrate, my parents took us out ot Alexander's Steakhouse. Alexander's is one of the most upscale restaurants I've ever been to; they had a few really expensive steaks ($250), and they had caviar for five hundred bucks. HUH? That's the price of a scooter!

Needless to say, we stuck with the food in the double-digit range. The steaks were really good, and everything else was fantastic and intriguing, honestly. They gave us cotton candy for dessert.

Alexander's gets 4 points on the Pretentio-meter for the following infractions:

1) TABLESIDE PREP - Mom ordered roasted red pepper soup, which came with shrimp. The server poured the soup on the shrimp at the table. This ain't Benihana's, people. If you are gonna show me how you make the food, at least make it interesting. Put it in an onion volcano or flip it into your hat.

2) UNCUT SALAD - This wasn't even a wedge salad, but rather stalks of romaine (maybe?) laid parallel with all the Caesar accoutrements on top. I guess I'm okay with the wedge salad because of the presentation points it earns. This just seemed lazy though.

3) STUPID NOMENCLATURE - "Brown Butter Frozen Air" was an ingredient in one of the desserts. Apparently it's froth. They could have said "Froth" but they said "Frozen Air." "Froth." They could have just said "froth." They didn't.

4) ARTISTRY - There was also "artisan cheese" on the dessert menu. Unless Michaelangelo himself carved the cheese into the shape of a Roman soldier, please don't call it artisan. It's cheese--it came out of a cow's udder and it curdled and now I'm putting it in my mouth and it's getting digested.

Despite these minor minor gripes, the food was great, and service was spectacular. Here's my recommendation: "I recommend it if you can expense it."



I need to start writing about something besides food.