My farewell to the gangster Mark Ellis

Even though he had already been traded, Ellis stuck around to help out at the A's charity event. He signed autographs for everybody he saw. Always a class act.

Saying good bye is the hardest thing to do sometimes. And even though the trade of Mark Ellis was expected to happen, it’s still tough for me to digest it. And even though I only knew Ellis as the baseball player, I grew up watching him since his MLB debut. He was a part of the reason why I love baseball. Seeing him go will be tough.

Today was the annual Root Beer Float Day at the Oakland Coliseum (photos here). I had gotten there early in hopes of getting some autographs and taking pictures. I immediately got an autograph from Dave Stewart before the line started to grow. I thought that that would be the highlight of the day. But instead, I encountered the best moment of the entire event.

Mark Ellis was making his way through the crowd and a massive amount of people surrounded him, asking for his autograph. I immediately ran up to him and as he continued to walk, Ellis signed everything that the people asked from him. He made sure everybody got an autograph. It’s the kind of guy he is. It’s the reason why I love him.

My last two days covering the 49ers at SJSU

Vernon Davis (left) has always been a cool cat to me. Michael Crabtree (right) is starting to grow on me.

For the last two days, I have been at Spartan Stadium at SJSU watching the 49ers practice. Due to the lockout, the players are forced to practice outside of the 49ers team facility. Spartan Stadium was the next closest big football field, so it was cool to be back at my alma mater.

I like covering 49ers practices. It’s much more exciting than covering the games. Here, the players are more relaxed, more talkative and a lot more friendly. Here we get a chance to know the players more and get to see them outside of a pressure situation.

I won’t go into specifics on which players are doing what, but overall, I’ve gotten a better impression on some of them. The ones I already like continue to be class acts. Others are starting to become leaders and the ones that I didn’t know so well, I got to see a little bit more of.

Just bought the new Selena Gomez CD ‘When the Sun Goes Down’

I  just bought the new CD from Selena Gomez today. It was the Target exclusive with four extra tracks. It’s a guilty pleasure and I enjoy her music and show. It’s a good break from my normal rock and rap music I listen to.

Here are the pictures of the album and the goodies inside.

Recalculating with my GPS (God Positioning System)

Maps aren't the col thing anymore.

Doing some reading and I came by this little bit from ODB:

On a road trip with a friend, we used his GPS navigation device to guide us as we drove each day. After entering our destination on the screen, a voice told us which road to follow, as well as when and where to make each turn. When we left the route, whether accidentally or deliberately, the voice would say, “Recalculating.” Then it would tell us how to get back on the right road.

Second Timothy 3:16 describes the Bible as a spiritual navigation system for our journey through life. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Doctrine tells us which road to travel; reproof tells us when we are off the road; correctiontells us how to get back on; instruction in righteousness tells us how to stay on God’s road.

The mistakes and choices that detour us from the Lord are not to be taken lightly. But failure is seldom fatal and few decisions are final. The moment we veer off on our own, the Holy Spirit is “recalculating” and urging us to return to the Father’s way.

If we’ve drifted off course, there’s no better time than right now to heed God’s voice and return to His road.

O.J. Simpson confesses to murder of ex-wife Nicole Brown and Oprah is behind all of it

The infamous glove scene.

EDIT: Oprah denies that this is true.

If you haven’t heard, the news is that O.J. Simpson has confessed to the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and that Oprah will be the one breaking the news to the national public on TV. (More detailed account of the murder).

I remember when I was a kid and this was the buzz at elementary school. During recess, all the teachers would be glued to the television and I watched as well. I didn’t know what exactly was going on, but there was a major buzz when Simpson was found not guilty. It was a “landmark” event of my childhood upbringing.

And for the longest time, I was really confused. How could Simpson not be found guilty? The huge public opinion said he did it. But the court rulings said otherwise.

Is our justice system that flawed? Or was it the power of the lawyers manipulating the system?

Dear Vancouver, I am sorry. (via Original version, before the edit of)

After being caught on tape, this Vancouver fan apologizes for being part of the riot.

I wonder what would happen if she wasn’t caught on tape… Does this apology happen? I don’t think it does. And her apology doesn’t seem sincere at all.

Below is a link to a cache version of her original post before she heavily edited it due to criticism. And here is a reactionary video of it.

Dear City of Vancouver and all its residents, Yes, this is me in the picture above. Yes, this is me in the 1:30-1:33 mark of this youtube video. I am not proud of my actions and have made a visit to the Vancouver Police Department, over the weekend to turn myself in.  This blog will serve as a public apology to those that I have offended with my actions, to clarify certain issues, and to address a few peripheral issues that I take as a concern. M … Read More

via Original version, before the edit of

ALPOCALYPSE NOW!! (via AL’S BLOG)

I love Weird Al and am super glad that he has a new album out. A little bummer that a lot of these had been leaked over the past couple years, but still, good music!

Well, hey there. It seems like just yesterday (but actually it was two months ago) that I got the news Lady Gaga had officially approved my parody of “Born This Way.” Ever since that moment, things have been absolutely insane (in a good way). For starters, we were able to immediately begin work on the “Perform This Way” music video (which is now done… you can see it HERE). This is the first music video I’ve directed since “White & Nerdy,” and … Read More

via AL’S BLOG

A’s sweep the Giants!

Sweep!! In your face!!!

Saw so many people wearing stupid panda hats, cross dressing, split caps and so many people wearing fake, counterfit Giants jerseys. They can’t even buy the real thing to support their team. Bandwagoners are garbage. Get outta my town!

Go A’s!!!!

Vancouver riot kissing couple is cool but could have been cooler if I knew nothing about it

The photographer's name is Richard Lam. Might be my cousin or something.

Had they not identified the two people in this photo and had they not told us the story, I would have been happy. The perception that these two were making out during a riot was really cool. But now they’ve revealed that they were pushed and he was trying to comfort her makes it not as cool.

But in the back of my mind, I knew that there had to be more than just two poeple making out during chaos. Oh well…

Custom painting my new Bob Melvin Oakland Athletics bobblehead

With Bob Melvin as the new manager of the Oakland A’s after firing the confused Bob Geren, I wanted a Melvin bobblehead. I bought this old D-Backs one for $20 and in a couple hours, made the full conversion.

I gave him the look he had during his second game with the team (which was also his first win with the team). With the road pants and the green jersey, it looked perfect. It was a little rushed, but I am happy with how it turned out.

I won’t detail this like I have with the ones I’ve done in the past. Just photos after the jump. (To see my other bobblehead works, click here)