I scored a goal.
-Jason
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
powdered sugar
Yesterday I stocked up on the necessary supplies for my Christmas baking. I went to Costco to get the jumbo sizes of a couple of the things I needed a lot of: butter, chocolate chips, etc. I needed quite a bit of powdered sugar, so I actually stood there in the aisle in Costco and tried to figure out how long it would take me to bake through their 50 pound bag. I didn't get it, and now I can't believe that I was actually considering it.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Water polo
We found an adult water polo group in San Diego a few weeks ago. Chelsey had missed playing but it's hard to find an adult group, especially one that's not dominated by hyper-competitive males. This one is called Old People Water Polo and seemed so welcoming that I was willing to try it out as well.
It's turned out to be a really good group. We've gone twice now and they've been really nice. Chelsey's fit in well and scored two goals in her first game. I spent most of that game being pretty lost. I could swim around OK, although I got pretty tired, but there was a lot of time when I wasn't sure what was going on, or even where the ball was. The second time we went I did a little better. I kind of knew what was going on and tried to play with a strategy in mind. It worked sometimes. I even got a shot off, but it was saved by the goalie. I didn't notice until after the save that the goalie was Chelsey, so no wonder. There were still some times when I wasn't sure what to do and just tried to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible, but Chelsey says that will get better. I wonder if the part where I get really tired swimming back and forth will get better too.
-Jason
It's turned out to be a really good group. We've gone twice now and they've been really nice. Chelsey's fit in well and scored two goals in her first game. I spent most of that game being pretty lost. I could swim around OK, although I got pretty tired, but there was a lot of time when I wasn't sure what was going on, or even where the ball was. The second time we went I did a little better. I kind of knew what was going on and tried to play with a strategy in mind. It worked sometimes. I even got a shot off, but it was saved by the goalie. I didn't notice until after the save that the goalie was Chelsey, so no wonder. There were still some times when I wasn't sure what to do and just tried to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible, but Chelsey says that will get better. I wonder if the part where I get really tired swimming back and forth will get better too.
-Jason
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Turkey Day
We did a double Thanksgiving in Phoenix 
-- I guess it helped to make up for some of our nontraditional Thanksgivings abroad. We had one on Thursday with my parents and some of their friends, but then had a second one on Sunday when Dusty and his family were in town.
Jason got a double-dose of cranberry and we took him to the Railroad Park. What could be better?
-- I guess it helped to make up for some of our nontraditional Thanksgivings abroad. We had one on Thursday with my parents and some of their friends, but then had a second one on Sunday when Dusty and his family were in town.Jason got a double-dose of cranberry and we took him to the Railroad Park. What could be better?
camping
One of the presents we received for our wedding was a tent and sleeping bags (thanks Malcolm
and Ris!) and we were anxious to test them out. I'd been camping before, but it was a first for Jason. He decided we should make our first attempt somewhere close to home so that if it was a complete disaster we could pack up and come home.
We picked the beach-side campground just south of Carlsbad. The weather report for the weekend was iffy, so we didn't make reservations in advance but had checked the website the morning of and found there were still a few spots available. When we arrived the park ranger told us that we got the very last spot. We found that hard to believe because it was a really great spot. The campgrounds are on a bluff over the water and you have a pay extra for the waterfront spots. Our spot was on a corner, so we had to go up a little hill to see the water but there weren't any other campers between us and the water. We were also close, but not too close, to the bathrooms.
We were successful and we confirmed that the rain fly worked. We got a slight drizzle but stayed dry and happy. Now were are contemplating our next adventure. We'd love to work up to a Yosemite trip maybe this summer or maybe the next.
There are a few more pictures on the picasa site.
and Ris!) and we were anxious to test them out. I'd been camping before, but it was a first for Jason. He decided we should make our first attempt somewhere close to home so that if it was a complete disaster we could pack up and come home.We picked the beach-side campground just south of Carlsbad. The weather report for the weekend was iffy, so we didn't make reservations in advance but had checked the website the morning of and found there were still a few spots available. When we arrived the park ranger told us that we got the very last spot. We found that hard to believe because it was a really great spot. The campgrounds are on a bluff over the water and you have a pay extra for the waterfront spots. Our spot was on a corner, so we had to go up a little hill to see the water but there weren't any other campers between us and the water. We were also close, but not too close, to the bathrooms.
We were successful and we confirmed that the rain fly worked. We got a slight drizzle but stayed dry and happy. Now were are contemplating our next adventure. We'd love to work up to a Yosemite trip maybe this summer or maybe the next.
There are a few more pictures on the picasa site.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Moneyball
We went to see the movie Moneyball recently. We haven't been to many movies in the last couple of years, but I wanted to see this one. I have followed Moneyball and some of the precepts behind it for a long time - one of the websites I frequent is actually mentioned in the book. Despite this enthusiasm, I was pretty dubious when I heard they were making a movie out of the book. It didn't seem like something that would translate well to the big screen. However, I was probably going to see it anyways, and it ended up getting some good reviews.
Lo and behold, it turned out to be a really good movie. Indeed, it might be one of my favourite sports movies ever, simply because it's different from most sports movies. It doesn't climax with a big game for the team. The filmmakers didn't change history to create an unambiguous ending or make Billy Beane, the protagonist, look better. It tells the story of how new ideas began to infiltrate a conservative industry and the conflict this caused, and it tells it in an intelligent manner.
It wasn't a perfect movie, of course. Certain facts were changed in order to better suit the narrative scope of the movie (the person Jonah Hill's character was based on arrived in Oakland long before the events depicted in the movie). Key factors in building those successful teams in Oakland were left out (most notably their strong starting pitching).
Moneyball is a book and now a movie, but it's also become a symbol for all kinds of ideas and theories in the world of sports. If you poke around Internet sports discussions, it's easy to find heated arguments about "Moneyball". In many cases, it's obvious that one or more of the participants hasn't read the book, but the term has come to mean many things.
In part this is because the subject matter touches on a lot of different areas: baseball, of course, but also meritocracy vs. cronyism, quantitative analysis vs. anecdotal experience, the way people embrace, reject or fight new ideas, and even the idea of winning and losing. The movie doesn't delve into all of these questions in detail, but neither does it shy away from them. Is Billy Beane a winner? At the end of the movie it's not clear. I think the filmmaker's willingness to tackle the question and not create a neat answer out of thin air is what makes this a strong movie.
As a side note, after the movie I went back to my parent's place, dug out my box of old sports cards, and found the '87 Billy Beane card. Sweet! My mom didn't think he looked much like Brad Pitt, though.
Lo and behold, it turned out to be a really good movie. Indeed, it might be one of my favourite sports movies ever, simply because it's different from most sports movies. It doesn't climax with a big game for the team. The filmmakers didn't change history to create an unambiguous ending or make Billy Beane, the protagonist, look better. It tells the story of how new ideas began to infiltrate a conservative industry and the conflict this caused, and it tells it in an intelligent manner.
It wasn't a perfect movie, of course. Certain facts were changed in order to better suit the narrative scope of the movie (the person Jonah Hill's character was based on arrived in Oakland long before the events depicted in the movie). Key factors in building those successful teams in Oakland were left out (most notably their strong starting pitching).
Moneyball is a book and now a movie, but it's also become a symbol for all kinds of ideas and theories in the world of sports. If you poke around Internet sports discussions, it's easy to find heated arguments about "Moneyball". In many cases, it's obvious that one or more of the participants hasn't read the book, but the term has come to mean many things.
In part this is because the subject matter touches on a lot of different areas: baseball, of course, but also meritocracy vs. cronyism, quantitative analysis vs. anecdotal experience, the way people embrace, reject or fight new ideas, and even the idea of winning and losing. The movie doesn't delve into all of these questions in detail, but neither does it shy away from them. Is Billy Beane a winner? At the end of the movie it's not clear. I think the filmmaker's willingness to tackle the question and not create a neat answer out of thin air is what makes this a strong movie.
As a side note, after the movie I went back to my parent's place, dug out my box of old sports cards, and found the '87 Billy Beane card. Sweet! My mom didn't think he looked much like Brad Pitt, though.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Regionals
Last weekend we drove up to Claremont so I could watch my college cross country team run in their regional championships. It was the first CMS cross country meet I had been to in many years. It felt great to be there again. Both the men's team and the women's team did pretty well. The women's race didn't have much drama, as CMS had six runners near the front of the race and ended up winning by almost a hundred points. They went on to get fourth at nationals this weekend, which is as good as a CMS cross country team has ever done. The men's regional race was much more exciting, with several teams looking strong at some point in the race. CMS ended up a close third. That was short of an automatic qualifying spot, but they ended up getting selected for nationals as an at-large team.
The meet was held on a course on Pomona's campus. We never had a meet there when I was in school. I'm not sure how I would have liked running on it, but it was good for spectators as the runners made several loops. It also meant that we could wander through the CMC campus and see what's changed. Quite a bit, actually, as there appeared to be some new buildings, including a dorm I don't remember. According to a tour guide who happened to be leading a campus tour as we walked by, it's called Claremont Hall because nobody has donated enough money to have the building named after them yet. I'm collecting my pennies, so stay tuned for the announcement of "Jason Hall".
-Jason
The meet was held on a course on Pomona's campus. We never had a meet there when I was in school. I'm not sure how I would have liked running on it, but it was good for spectators as the runners made several loops. It also meant that we could wander through the CMC campus and see what's changed. Quite a bit, actually, as there appeared to be some new buildings, including a dorm I don't remember. According to a tour guide who happened to be leading a campus tour as we walked by, it's called Claremont Hall because nobody has donated enough money to have the building named after them yet. I'm collecting my pennies, so stay tuned for the announcement of "Jason Hall".
-Jason
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