ChapterTwo

I just got done watching the Fifth Gear episode where they got to race a new M5 against a Formula 1 car. I think I almost cried when I was watching it. They just seemed like they were having SOOOOO much fun! The sound of a F1 car is just SO INTOXICATING! Check it out for yourself…

TopGear was able to get their hands on a F1 car as well. Check out how it did in the hands of THE STIG…

New Shiatsu cushion for mom…

Originally uploaded by elyliu.

The Shiatsu cushion I ordered for my mom’s birthday came today. It’s pretty awsome! It does 3 types of massages: Shiatsu, rolling, and butt vibrating. I don’t really care for the butt vibrating massage, but the other 2 feel great.

I think this is going to end up being more of a present for myself. Now I don’t have to give my mom massages all the time.

I haven’t really done one of these “What’s new” post in a while, so here it is! Here’s my weekend recap.

I have to start out by pointing out how disappointing the Lakers have been this weekend. Lakers started out this week great! They won 2 games in a row. Just when you thought they are finally gellin’ together, they lose 2 straight. ARG! I was at the game today. The game was exciting and fun, but too bad they lost.

I am proud of my 7 mile run this weekend. Some of my muscles feel…inflamed? I am not quite sure what it is. It’s not really soreness. It’s a bit painful, but a little massaging took care of it. It’s not an inflammation of a muscle. It’s coming from the tendon connecting my quads to the side of my knees. (Anybody know what that tendon is called?)

I should start swimming. I haven’t swam since the triathlon in September. I probably should start biking more as well.

I didn’t study as much as I wanted to this weekend. I just finished what I NEEDED to get done. I have another exam in my accounting class on Wednesday. I got all the necessary reading done. I just need to brush up on all the chapter a bit. The exam shouldn’t be too bad. It’s open book.

I got a hair cut. I probably cut off 1-1.5 inch off the top. It’s much shorter and cleaner now. I was getting tired of styling the longer hair.

What else… Let’s see… For those of you that don’t know, I am pursuing a software engineer position at ABC.com now. I am quite excited about that. One, I think it would be interesting to work on the website for popular TV shows. It would be a lot more exciting than working with websites for kiddy theme parks (what I currently do). Two, I think there are a lot of growth potential there. ABC.com is still a very small team (less than 10 people total I think). And our CEO, Bob Iger, seems to have a grand vision for ABC.com. Riding off the success of hit ABC shows, ABC.com would be a great place to be for the next couple years I think. Third, it would be great to work with my buddy, Ariff, again. I think he is a natural leader and will do very well in the future. I’ll just hang off his coattails for a while. I hope everything works out…

Oh, and last but not least, according to StatCounter.com, it looks like I have a new returning visitor from Italy. I’d like to give a quick shout out to my new Italian fan! That’s all for tonight…CIAU!

Last 2 weeks, I did my long runs in the mornings. The problem with that is, due to over-training, I get cold-like symptoms for the rest of the day. Feeling crappy makes my day unproductive. Today, I switched it up. Instead of running in the morning, I ran at 4pm today. If I go any later, I’ll need headlights. Anyway, here are the stats…

• Total Time: 1h 28min 7s
• Distance: 7.1 mi
• Heart rate avg: 91% / 177 bpm
• Heart rate max: 98% / 191 bpm
• Calories (burned): 1354 Kcal
• Speed avg: 4.8 mi/h
• Speed max: 6.9 mi/h
• Pace avg: 12min 30s/mi
• Pace max: 8min 42s/mi

Not much improvement this week. My average heart rate went down 3 bpm, but I was also going 30s/mi slower than last week. Overall, I felt sluggish during the run today. My heart rate monitor actually told me to stay in the 100-130 range (normally 130-160 range). HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!?!? Crazy heart rate monitor.

Oh, and Mike, I did try counting my cadence today. I was going about 150 step/min. Not quite the ideal 180.

Not much to “YAY” about today except for breaking the 7 mile mark. GO ME!

The new Porsche GT3 is HOT too, but I think I still like the new turbo better. Porsche made a mini-site for the GT3 as well. Check it out!

Two days ago, a Ferrari Enzo (worth ~$1,000,000) was totalled on PCH. Let’s have a moment of slience for one of the best cars ever built…

Here are more info from AutoBlog and LA Times

This is my 100th blog post. WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! It’s been fun blogging. And I hope it’s been entertaining for the 2 loyal visitors I have out there as well.

First up, a cool Saab concept…

The door looks like it is from a jet! COOL! More info…

And, the first Chinese car that looks good…

It’s no surprise that this car was designed in Italy by Pininfarina. More info…

I just discovered a very cool car blog last week. It’s called AutoBlog. They have a podCast too. Now I have something new to listen to during my 70 mile daily commute.

Yesterday, they reported that BMW, the maker of some of the best NA engines in the world, will start turbocharging their 3L straight 6. LET THE HORSEPOWER BATTLE BEGIN! MUHAHAhahHAHAHaha!

I was going to post this video over the weekend, but Google Video sucks! It took Google 3 days to finally reject my video. I guess they didn’t want any copyrighted material on their site. Anyway, the slam dunk contest this past weekend was one of the best in recent years. IMO, this year is the best year since the year that Vince Carter won. So, without further ado, here’s the video that Google Video would not host.

UPDATE: Here’s a good article on why Google shouldn’t have rejected my video.

There are certainly logical reasons why NBC would want to nip such movements in the bud, despite the converse argument that content-sharing and the viral phenomenon add up to excellent free publicity. After all, the runaway success of “Lazy Sunday” had little to do with its original airing on SNL. But given YouTube’s growing popularity among the young audience that NBC surely covets, I’d have to say that for now, this seems like a rather shortsighted move. Much like the music recording industry’s often heavy-handed tactics, NBC’s decision to pull the plug might irritate the same customers it’s trying to attract.