I've gone through airport security and most of the time I am not bothered too much even though I find the whole experience rather annoying but I heard the story of this girl who was going from Egypt into Isreal and her "adventure" with Isreali security. Apparently they found her laptop to be suspicious and decided that it should be put to death. They then put three bullets through it.

        

I like how he doesn't know the words so he just sings gibberish sort of like Bob Dylan. He also has the greatest facial expressions. Considering that he's probably about 5 or 6 years old, he can really play that ukulele pretty well.

        

It's tough being a Warriors fan. If you're a Warriors fan you know exactly what I'm talking about. The Warriors were at one point a good team back when they had Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond. But then they decided to trade Mitch Richmond to get Billy Owens. Don Nelson seemed to be fascinated by this guy what "potential" he had. Needless to say, he didn't pan out. It seems to me that there are only 2 ways to build a great NBA team. You either draft well or you make good trades. The Warriors have done neither.

Then there was the Webber year that everything just exploded between him and head coach, Don Nelson. They ended up trading the Rookie of the Year who averaged 17.5 PTs and 9.1 RBs to the Washington Wizards for Tom Gugilotta. The one good thing about that trade was that the Warriors got 3 first round draft picks which made up for the 3 first round picks that they gave up to get Webber for Anfernee Hardaway.

The combination of horrible drafts in which the Warriors select players like Clifford Rozier (1994), Joe Smith (1995), Todd Fuller (1996), Adonal Foyle (1997), Vince Carter (1998 traded on draft day for Antwan Jamison), Gilbert Arenas (2001 second round) and Mike Dunleavy Jr. (2002) and bad trades caused a playoff drought that lasted 1994 till 2007. And yes, I have been a fan all through those crappy years and the crappy years to come.

You might look at some of those picks and say that they weren't so bad. No one remembers Clifford Rozier and I don't see why they would. He was a joke. Joe Smith was a pretty decent player but when you consider that he was the first overall pick in the draft that year and that the Warriors could have selected any player, Joe Smith is a bad choice over guys like Antonio McDyess, Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett!

The Todd Fuller pick is the one that kills me the most. He was selected over players like Kobe Bryant, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Jermaine O'Neal. I would trade Fuller for anyone of those players even O'Neal in his current broken down condition. At least O'Neal is still an asset in the NBA.

It seems as though the Warriors tried to pick players based on need. The Warriors always needed a good big man but never found one so they select Todd Fuller over better athletes like Kobe and Nash. There's no easy way to say it but it's just a stupid move. It's just like when the Portland Trailblazer were dead set on selecting someone to play the center position in Sam Bowie since Hakeem Olajuwon was selected with the first pick. They passed on the shooting guard from North Carolina and allowed him to go to the Chicago Bulls. That young shooting guard was none other than Michael Jordan. Learn from the mistakes of others. You select the best available player regardless of your teams needs. For example, let's say your team has an All-Star caliber center and by some stroke of luck, you get the first pick in the draft and can choose from any of the available players. Do you pass on the most talented player in the draft just because he is also a center? Or do you pick him and try to make things work out? The San Antonio Spurs were in the same exact situation. They had David Robinson at center and because he got hurt one year and missed virtually the entire season, they had a horrible record and got the first pick. They chose Tim Duncan and 4 NBA titles later, they are still competing for a title.

Next is Adonal Foyle. I absolutely love Adonal Foyle as a person. But as an NBA player, he isn't that great. He was selected over Tracy McGrady who went with the very next pick.

Then was the Vince Carter for Antwan Jamison trade on draft day. Here the Warriors actually made the right selection. They picked the best available player regardless of position or need on the team and they subsequently traded the best available player for someone they thought would "fill a need". I liked Jamison and at the time, the Warriors need a power forward more than another shooting guard and Jamison had some great games for the Warriors. Vince Carter has had the better career to this point.

In 2001, things started to look much better. The Warriors select Jason Richardson, Troy Murphy and Gilbert Arenas. Jason Richardson quickly became the teams franchise player. Troy Murphy managed to collect rebounds at a much higher rate than any Warriors since Larry Smith and he could fairly skilled offensively too. Gilbert Arenas sat on the bench for the first half of the season but once he got a chance to play, he shined. Finally, a good draft! They now had a few young players that they could build upon. Time to get back to the winning ways.

The very next year, the Warriors had the 3rd pick in the draft. They selected Mike Dunleavy Jr.. The pain and agony of that pick lingers to this day. Players like Amare Stoudemire, Caron Butler, and Carlos Boozer were all available in that draft when the Warriors picked Dunleavy. I know it's hard to judge talent but I could have told them that was a bad pick. Just because a guy is the son of a former NBA player and NBA coach and went to a great basketball school, that doesn't mean he has any talent. He had bust written all over him.

Gilbert Arenas turns out to be a stud. But since he was a second round pick, he becomes a free agent much earlier. The Warriors because of some stupid NBA rule, can't offer him as much money as the Washington Wizards and he bolts. The very next season, that rule is changed. Thanks David Stern! Talk about too little too late!

In 2004, the Warriors get Andris Biedrins and in 2005 they get Monta Ellis in the second round. (I'm going to ignore the fact that Ike Diogu was picked just before Andrew Bynum.) Ellis and Biedrins look like decent players and over the next couple of years develop into pretty solid players.

In February of 2005, the Warriors made a big move under new General Manager and former Warriors player, Chris Mullin. They traded the often injured Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis for Baron Davis. This changed the Warriors dramatically. Baron Davis became the point guard and team leader that the Warriors had missed since Tim Hardaway was with the team. While he was a great addition, they still needed something else.

In January of 2007, the Warriors traded Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu and Keith McLeod for Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, and Šarūnas Jasikevičius. The Warriors took on some questionable players. Jackson was part of the brawl in Detroit and had legal issues. Harrington was always looked upon as an under achiever and Šarūnas had back up point guard written all over him. It turned out to be a great move. The Warriors managed to sneak into the 8th and last playoff spot in the West and beat the No. 1 seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round. It was an amazing end to the regular season and play off run. The Warriors were back! Right? Wrong!

During the offseason, there were lingering rumors that Kevin Garnett wanted out of Minnesota. The Warriors were in talks with Minnesota to make a deal for Garnett. To clear up salary room, Chris Mullin does the unthinkable. He trades the Warriors heart and soul by giving up Jason Richardson to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for Brandan Wright. The Warriors don't land Kevin Garnett and he goes to Boston where they win an NBA title. Baron Davis then opts out of his contract and goes to the Clippers. The Warriors have another unsuccessful season. Al Harrington fakes being hurt and demands a trade. The very next season Stephen Jackson asks to be traded as well. Those players that had questionable reputations played great when the Warriors were winning. Once the losing started, everyone wanted out. Loyalty was no where to be found. The one player that was loyal to the Warriors was Jason Richardson and the Warriors traded him away for the possibility of getting Kevin Garnett. I could understand if it was guaranteed that the Warriors would get Garnett if they traded Richardson but not for a chance at him.

The best Warrior player that I have seen in years was gone. The team is now left with a bunch of young players with "potential" yet again. That is the Warriors marketing strategy. The try to sell tickets based on the "potential" and future upside of the team. Well after having only one playoff season since 1994. I'm getting fed up.

Do the right thing and get JRich back!

        

Kobe and the Fakers (no that isn't a typo) got their championship rings and Phil Jackson, the coach of the team, tried to give Kobe a fist bump and got dissed. He tries to play it off by rubbing his face and it's all caught on national television. Kobe is a jerk to everyone including his coach. In Kobe's defense, he doesn't make eye contact with Phil. He does go and give a fist bump to a bunch of other people and disses Phil. Maybe a little revenge for Phil's book?

        

With the NBA season nearly here and replacement referees being used, I am very happy to see that the NBA has created a video rulebook. It contains videos that demonstrate common rule violations. In particular interest to me is the traveling on the perimeter violation videos. When I play basketball, it never fails that someone travels out on the perimeter and I can't say anything because most of the people that I play with do not fully understand the rule behind traveling. Maybe with this video rulebook, it will be easier to explain what is and what isn't a traveling violation as well as many other rules of the game.

        

I've been trying not to write anything in my blog about my neighbor for a very long time but I've succumbed to the pressure. He is just such an annoying person. The guy has no life whatsoever. He is unemployed and sits in his house all day long. I almost think that he has some sort of motion sensor on my front door so that he knows when I come out so he can come out and bug me.

Ever since I got my dog, I have to take him out several times a day so he learns to go to the bathroom outside. He is always outside and always has something stupid to say. The last time I saw him, I was with my dog and he had his cat and he kept teasing my dog with the cat. I'm at the point where I no longer try to be polite and make small talk with him. I just walk by and say hello and go about my business. I don't need to hear him tell me the same old stories again and again.

The worst experience I had with him was when I went to the BMW M Power Tour. I had an appointment to demo an M3 and unfortunately, he was there too. He didn't have an appointment so he told the people running the event he would just ride with me. I didn't really have a choice. What was I to do? I couldn't say no and seem like a total jerk. Now I am stuck with this guy for the next hour and a half. He won't stop talking. He even has the audacity to flirt with the some of the girls running the event. While he was talking to one of the girls, I stood behind him and rolled my eyes in disgust and shook my head. I noticed the girl had a huge smile on her face and was trying to hold back her laughter. My neighbor wasn't saying anything funny. I think she knew the pain that I was experiencing. He made sure that everyone knew that I was his neighbor. Eventually the same girl that I could tell was laughing at my neighbor gave me the keys to the car and some quick instructions on the car and the route we were supposed to stick to. My neighbor says something stupid and the girl and I ook at each other. Nothing needs to be said.


I start up the car and take off. Needless to say, the car is incredible. It's got more power than I would ever need. I decide that since my neighbor invited himself to join me, I'm going to scare the crap out of him. I drive like a mad man down the twisty roads. If it weren't for the traffic, I would have made the man cry. At one point while driving down by Blackhawk, I hit 100 mph as I weaved perfectly through traffic. It's a 35 mph zone. We get back and I hand the keys back to the same girl. She says "How was it?" I reply back, "The car was great!" and when my neighbor was out of earshot, I whisper to her, "...but the company, not so great." She laughs.

You might be thinking to yourself, "Aren't you worried that your neighbor might read this?" The answer to that is no. He is not internet savvy at all. The chances of him finding my blog are slim to none. I doubt he even knows my full name and I don't think he even has a computer or internet connection otherwise he would have told me about it. He's told me about just about every other aspect of his life.

        

I tend to get obsessed with new gadgets and guy toys. 90% of my obsession is in the obtaining of the new. I'll research the item for weeks or even months before purchasing it. I'll find exactly the item that I want and read articles and reviews of it online till I know more about the product than the people who made it. Before I ordered my bike rack, I researched it for a couple of weeks before I decided on the one that I wanted. Once I came to a decision as to which make and model I wanted, I started looking for the best price. It goes on and on until I finally make the purchase. The whole process of researching and searching for the best price usually lasts longer than my interest in the item when it arrives. I'm sure when the bike rack arrives, I'll be excited to use it and after the first 2 or 3 uses, I won't care about it anymore and it will sit in the garage and collect dust especially with the winter weather coming.

My new obsession is a DSLR camera. I've been wanting to get one for a very long time. The plan was to wait until the next big vacation which would probably a Europe trip and buy the camera before so I can make good use of it on the vacation. I've always been interested in photography and I can take some pretty good pictures with my $200 point and shoot camera right now. I am sure with a good quality DSLR, I can take some even better pictures. I remember briefly taking a photography class in college and loving it.

Right now, I am at the researching stage. I check out all the reviews and read all the news about any new cameras that might be coming out soon. I had my sights set on the Nikon D90. It's a great camera with some great features but then I heard about the Canon 7D which just came out in the beginning of October. It's obviously more expensive than the D90 but it's such a big step ahead that it's hard not to want it. The more I research it the more it impresses me and the more I want it. If it was just a couple of hundred bucks, it wouldn't be a big deal but with accessories that I'll need like a big fast flash drive (it uses the more expensive compact flash) that has the speed necessary to take 8 pictures a second and take 1080p HD videos, and an extra battery, the price hits the $2k mark. I could get the D90 and spend a good $500 less but then I'll always be wondering what I'm missing out on.

There is this funny video on Youtube that takes a clip from a movie about Hitler. Whomever it was that made the video added subtitles which makes it so that Hitler is pissed off because he just ordered a camera only to hear that the Canon 7D is coming out with better features and costs less than the one he just ordered. I want the Canon 7D so I don't end up as pissed off as Hitler.

        

Saturday's ride was kinda weak. We only rode about 8.5 miles and there was no hill climbing with the exception of Mt. Cornelius on the ride back home. We rode along the Iron Horse trail from Bollinger to the Peet's Coffee in Danville. When I realized how little we were going to ride, I decided to give it a good dose of speed to try and get a good work out from it. I was hoping that would encourage the other riders with me to speed it up too so we could get some sort of work out.

I shifted into top gear and blasted down the trail. It is slightly up hill on the way back from Danville. I was flying along and looked back after going full tilt for about 3/4 of a mile and I couldn't see the others that were riding with me. I pulled out the GPS tracking software that I have on my phone to check my top speed. It showed a top speed of 28 mph. That might not seem like a whole lot of speed but you're probably comparing that to how fast you drive in your car. When you're on a bike 28 mph is pretty fast. It's not the fastest I've ever been able to record myself going on my bike though. I have hit speeds as high as 40 mph but that is with a good down hill and wind at my bike. It also helps to have a bike that is designed for speed like mine. I bet my old mountain bike couldn't hit speeds greater than 30 mph in even the best situation.

When I looked back and couldn't see my fellow riders, I kept my speed up for a little further and then slowed down to let them catch up. I ended up getting all the way to the park and just stopped and waited for them. I wasn't trying to show off. I had the advantage of having a much faster bike. You could have put Lance Armstrong on one of my friends bikes and he probably wouldn't be able to keep up with me. (That might be a bit of an exaggeration. Lance could probably speed by me on a kids big wheel.) It was a short ride but it was good to have people riding with me.

As for this coming weekend, most of my friends will be in San Diego for a convention. There is also a possibility that my wife and I will go to Monterey for the weekend. I really want to ride out to San Francisco like I've been talking about doing for the past 3 or 4 weeks. The bike rack that I ordered should arrive today. I keep checking the UPS tracking information to see if it's arrived yet. It still says "out for delivery" right now. Hopefully with the rack, I can convince a couple of friends to ride with me. I can pick them up and load their bikes up to my car and we can ride BART out to San Francisco together. Since it's fleet week, we should have a good time riding and watching the air show.


Does anyone want to go see the Blue Angels this weekend and enjoy a nice bike ride with me?

        

Last Saturday, I slept in till 11AM which basically killed any ride that day. No one wanted to go with me to San Francisco to ride so I put the whole idea on hold. This weekend I'm not expecting anyone to want to go to San Francisco with me either since LoveFest is going on this weekend so it will be almost impossible to ride. The following weekend is Fleet Week and as long as someone is willing to join me, I'm totally riding out there then.

Now that San Francisco is out of the running, it's the Iron Horse trail for sure. My friend takes his daughter to soccer at the park next to the trail and he wants to go riding while she is practicing so that is what I'll do. My wife has a CPR class at that time so I won't feel bad leaving her at home alone. If anyone wants to join us, meet us at the Iron Horse Trail and Bollinger Canyon Rd at 10:45AM on Saturday October 3rd.