Football is back and the uncertainty begins for me

Look at that guy in the green shirt. Yeah that's me.

The NFL lockout is over, meaning there will be less time for me to blog. But with all the stuff that’s going on, I wanted to update you on what has been going on.

Since the lockout has ended, I had to find my way back down to Santa Clara to cover the team. There we just wait to talk with whomever is available as they roll into the facility. I’m pumping out stories left and right just because there is so much info rolling in. It’s a little stressful, but it hopefully gets me back into the groove of things.

The 49ers will officially start training camp on Thursday, and that’s when it will get crazy in keeping track of all the new players and all the old faces.

Off to the midnight showing of ‘Captain America’ — my 2nd favorite superhero on the big screen

Growing up as a kid, I don’t remember much in terms of favorite superheroes. I do remember a lot about Superman. He is clearly the greatest superhero of all time and I loved every one of the Christopher Reeve movies.

But I also liked Captain America a lot. I don’t remember a lot about his story and whatnot, but I remember having this Captain American action figure that had his shield attached to his arm. With a flick of a switch, the shield would release and fly across the room. That was badass.

Since that day, I have become a major Captain American fan. He was a superhero based back in the old times and even though I am not a fan of war, he fought for freedom. And plus, he wore some pretty awesome colors.

I just got Spotify and I have no idea how any of it works

What is this all about?

So there is this fat buzz about Spotify and how now it’s available in the United States. I love music a lot and I thought that maybe this would be something cool. I don’t even know what it was, but I assume it was like Pandora or something like that.

I downloaded it and I have no idea what to do with playlists, syncs or whatnot. It does have a huge library of songs and listening to new things is nice. It sure beats me going to YouTube to find songs I want to listen to on my laptop. And since my iTunes died, I haven’t had my fix of music recently.

But still, I have no idea how to work this thing. But I did find the Eaton Canyon Royal Ensemble’s cover album of Prince’s “Purple Rain”. Now that is cool.

My blog celebrates its first birthday today

Inspired by the great Dr. Seuss

Today marks the one-year birthday of my blog. A year go on this date, I decided to branch away from my LiveJournal in an attempt to expand my writing. I wanted to write things that I couldn’t express elsewhere. Plus, it was an avenue for me to just really be me.

Here was my first ever entry.

That time a year ago, I was preparing for my trip to Ohio. And I was also just blogging on everyday stuff. It’s not like that right now, rather a commentary blog on things I notice. But for the most part, this blog has been good to me and I have enjoyed writing here. Let’s see how the second year turns out.

Rebecca Black’s ‘My Moment’ music video gets destroyed on YouTube

Rebecca Black released her newest music video and knowing that the Internet would jump at her newest song, I decided to go to the YouTube page and just watch it explode.

After her song “Friday” turned her into a Internet sensation, I recorded the above video of her newest video “My Moment” and just recorded the people hating on her and dropping comments.

I feel bad for her, but this incident reminded me of the good ol days when we didn’t have YouTube.

What can Indiana Jones teach us about our faith in God?

The Indiana Jones is one of my favorite trilogies of all time. And even though I was way too young to make sense and remember the first two, the third one was the one that stuck out to me. (Similar to Back to the Future, the third one is the one that I remember the most).

And one of my favorite scenes in the third Indiana Jones film is the above scene. In an attempt to get to the Holy Grail, Dr. Jones encountered a situation where he had to completely put his faith in God. That leap of faith was what helped him make it to the Holy Grail.

The 100 Twitter rules to live by and my response to the list

Twitter has grown out of control and it now almost seems like a social must.

On June 17, 2009, I joined Twitter. I signed up for two accounts. One for my 49ers writing (@SLam49ers) and one for my personal use (@phutmasterflex). I ignored my personal one and stuck with my work Twitter to engage my readers and give myself a bigger exposure in my writing.

Since signing up that day, I have amassed 743 followers and have been linked, retweeted and other things for my work as a 49ers writer. I didn’t like Twitter and I thought I’d only use it for work only.

About a year ago, I caved in and decided to use my personal account to follow and tweet things that I couldn’t do with my work handle. After seeing both sides of it, I came up with a list of the pros and cons of Twitter.

Thanks to Twitter, I’m getting the MC Hammer bobblehead for free

Can't touch this!!!

Yesterday, the Oakland A’s had a contest on Twitter. They were giving out tickets to the July 17 MC Hammer bobblehead day. Two tickets plus two bobbleheads to the first person to correctly respond.

The first question of the day was to take a picture with MC Hammer pants. I didn’t have the right ones and my picture was too late.

Their second one was a little bit easier. Since I knew what time they’d post the tweet (around 5PM), I was ready.

#MarchTo20k final prize: 1st person to record & tweet video of themselves lip-synching “Cant Touch This” wins! Use hashtag #MarchTo20k

— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 13, 2011

Google+ is confusing and other random thoughts

So I am on Google+ now. Not everyone is but I got my hands on it. It’s supposed to be the new Facebook or whatever. Well, so far, I am confused. (Here’s my profile).

But first, let me be honest and say that I don’t like Google. It’s good, but I don’t LOVE it like people. I hate Gmail and all the other nonsensical perks that Google praises. So when G+ came out, I thought that maybe it would be something that could change my mind. Nope.

Of course, they are still in the beta stages but with it being a hybrid of Twitter and Facebook, it’s really going to clutter up my social networking. It’s not that easy to navigate and I am slowly distancing myself from it.

Thank you Yao Ming for changing the NBA

Me & Yao back in New York.

I remember when Yao Ming came into the league when I was in high school. I hadn’t fully grasped what his impact to the NBA was to be but I was ready to embrace this Chinese baller that was going to be the top pick overall. I have enjoyed his game and it’s sad that he’s retiring today.

(Ironically on this very day last year, LeBron James in his conceited ways, had “The Decision” while Yao Ming, as humble as he is, quietly walked away. Two totally different NBA stars from the same generation.)

I remember after Yao’s rookie year, I bought his jersey for $45 because I was so excited about what he could do not only for the NBA, but the image of Chinese ballers everywhere. (Now I don’t know where that jersey is. But I got another one.)

Yao was everything that you would want in an athlete. He was a hardworker (especially in learning English), he never complained, he showed emotion and he was a genuine good guy. He cared about the people around him, people back home and everybody else.