Today

Sometimes I lament the modern man. In general, I'm impressed with women and their drive, determination, and overall maturity. At least they intend to grow up. It is almost as if men want to postpone responsibility.

But who am I to complain? I'm at home on a Friday and grinning from ear to ear because I just read a comic book. And in this comic book Captain American and the other superheroes crush the bad guys who almost overthrew the United States government. Yeah, Ultimates #12 gets a thumbs up from me. Now back to studying...

Everyday is like Friday

Headed to a Port Open House for my Waterfront project. Hopefully it will go well. We've included everything that anyone has ever asked for, but you never know.

After that, I'm rushing into traffic over to San Gabriel for churchy time. It feels like awhile since I've last been to a Wednesday night meeting Life Group.

And that's that for the work week! I'm taking a few days off. Gotta use those 230 hours of vacation I've been hoarding for the past 7 years. Yee haw.

BBall

Appropriately, I'm not quite as addicted to basketball. There is so much going on these days! But I have good news to report. Slow Time won last night and our record is 1-1.

I played horribly. All my performance anxiety issues are rearing their head again -- I was called for traveling four times! On the positive side of things, I had two blocked shots. It's odd, my game is not usually characterized either poor ball handling or blocked shots.

Wedding Bliss

Congratulations to Jee Sun and Greg on their Korean-(ar)menian wedding! May there be many Mugers to come. It was an honor to help out -- even though Dave and Ed did the brunt of the work. I just showed up in time to get credit.

In addition to personalized vows, another nice detail about the evening was that "Grace" was sung during communion.

Angel Friday

Here are some Angels reads I've enjoyed. First is a pretty good interview with VP Tim Mead. Next is an informative look at current salaries and needs for the 2007 season.

Does this mean I think that playoff hopes for the 2006 squad are over? Yes.

Shaq

You knew that Shaq was a Port Police officer but have you seen his commercial? Go to the Port's website and scroll down for the link.

Dinner

Yesterday I made linguini with clams. Richard Lew was right, fresh clams make all the difference.

Slow Time

I've joined my coworkers basketball team. We play on Sunday nights in the City of Torrance Fall 2006 league.

As of last night, "Slow Time" is 0-1. This is even with the services of a semi-pro Euro who just showed up and joined our team. He's really good. We call him Kobe. Of course, our team played like the Lakers too -- not the good 80's version but the 2005 team. Still, I think we have a lot of potential. Overall, I was pleased with my play but I have yet to score my first bucket! Next week we play a team named "There's No I In Beer". Hopefully I can report a 1-1 record then.

Churchy

My response to being in service today surprised me.

I considering attending a workshop instead but a few external excuses compelled me to show up at Epicentre church. Besides, if family, potential relationships, and my job are more important than that endeavor, why should I miss church?

Rare as it is, I made the right decision. Being at service and worshiping God was so incredibly uplifting. It is hard to explain but upon arrival, I immediately realized that I needed to be there; it had nothing to do with my logistical excuses. You could say that my soul was starving for a little churchy time because I almost instantly swelled up with emotions. And yeah I'm a sensitive one but this was too much -- it wasn't even a touchy feely moment! Haha. You know, I've been doing surprisingly well lately so I assumed that maybe church wasn't as necessary this week, but instead it was the total opposite. My desire for corporate expression of faith grew even stronger.

It also so happened to be communion Sunday. Nice. And it was also the third anniversary for Epicentre. Even better! Production value was up a notch and as usual, Pastor John was compelling and cogent... but the biggest difference was that I wanted and was hungry for some good 'ol fashioned spiritual food. Thankfully, this sinner got an all he could eat buffet.

Baby Colin

Video of Colin Cham is up on Introducing Colin. Ha. Make sure to see Colin Feeding James.

South Bay Part 2

This is my second stint living in the south bay. Almost two years ago(?), I tried living in Torrance which was a rather depressing and lonely experience. Thankfully, things are much different this time around. Long Beach has been great and for that I'm so very grateful. There are a number of factors for this but perhaps the most important are Allison and Brian.

They live 15 minutes away and are the friends I didn't have my first time around. Not only that but they are available and gracious with their time. Case in point: I passed my probation yesterday at work (yay!). This means more job security and a small pay raise. I wanted to celebrate but logistically wasn't able to go back to the San Gabriel Valley to find family or friends. Last time, I would have gone out for sushi by myself, which is fun but not so fun either. This time, I got to drag my local friends to Tsukiji where they watched me drink all "our" sake. And it's not just that. I join them for their Monday family dinners. I study there. I lounge there. I sleep over when the fleas are out. I play their X Box. So yes. Thank you very much. God bless us, eveyone!

Incidentally, Tsukiji was good but certainly has seen better days. I have a south bay izakaya place, but I need a new Gardena sushi joint.

Custom Shirts

Not that I have an unusual shirt size but I'm quite taken by the idea of purchasing some custom fitted dress shirts. I knew that Target offered this service but couldn't find it on the website. I wrote a brief inquiry and got a call back within a day -- what great customer service! Unfortunately, they closed the operation just three weeks ago. Maybe I'll have to go with JC Penny instead. Hm, is my body type "rounded" or "average"?

Fantasy Rebuttal?

We all know Fantasy football has got the boys riled up. I'm a perfect 1-0 myself. And it is the conventional wisdom that this dirty habit is costing business (and government) big time. From Fortune magazine:

HARD AT PLAY

$1.1 billion Projected value of work hours used for playing fantasy football this season. The players (there are 36.8 million of 'em in the U.S.) earn on average about $36 an hour and will spend about 50 minutes playing each workweek.

But before you give up and neglect to change your roster for week 2, know that blogger, public speaker and business expert Steve Robbins disagrees! Read his reasons why here.

9/11 Significance

In my mind, the threat associated with 9/11 is the central issue facing the world. But there are others who can illuminate on that issue much better than I. Instead, I'd like to focus on another reason why this day has personal significance to me: it's my big brother's birthday.

Jimmy is characterized by his kindness, inner drive, and desire to do the right thing. I marvel at his humbleness as he continues to earn success upon success. I appreciate how he generously provides his two younger brothers with good council, fresh ideas, and challenges as needed. While he roots for the wrong baseball team and seems to be voting the wrong way of late (both of which I blame on his many years in Boston), I know that he is the right man to father the first of the next generation of Chams.

Happy 33rd!

Link

Yee Design is full of fun secrets: The Menu, and Drawg.

Korean Man in Demand

According to the Washington Post, Korean men are in high demand in Japan.

Yet for thousands of smitten Japanese women like Yoshimura, collecting the odd poster or DVD is no longer enough. They've set their sights far higher -- settling for nothing less than a real Seoulmate.

This is all part of a larger increase in Korean popular culture, which I certainly have seen.

In part, the new allure of Korean men can be traced to a larger phenomenon known as the "Korean Wave," a term coined a few years ago by Beijing journalists startled by the growing popularity of South Koreans and South Korean goods in China. Now, the craze for all things Korean has spread across Asia, driving regional sales of everything from cars to kimchi.

Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourists traveling to South Korea leapt from 2.8 million in 2003 to 3.7 million in 2004. The bulk of the growth, South Korean tourism officials say, stemmed from Korean Wave-loving Asian women. Partial statistics for 2005 indicate the feminine tide has not yet let up.

Hm, very interesting!

Risk Analysis

I'm surprisingly risk adverse so it always gives me great pleasure and inspiration to see friends and family make bold moves: quit that job, talk to that girl, go to that country, and buy that property!

And then there's this from yesterday's LA Times (thanks to la observed).

Suburban home builder Standard Pacific Corp. has opted out of an agreement to buy a major Los Angeles condominium project, another sign that downtown's once-sizzling condo market might be losing steam.

The condo development, adjacent to Union Station, was behind schedule and was having trouble attracting buyers for the units priced in the $600,000 range. Instead of being sold as condos, the 272 units will be leased as apartments beginning today by the project's owner, Lincoln Property Co. of Dallas.

...

Although prices in the downtown market — one of the last in the Southland to heat up and stay hot — continue to rise year over year, sales have slowed considerably while the supply of units continues to grow, creating what some analysts say is a condo glut.

Read the entire article for the full story (log in required).

This may be an opportunity or a reason to focus on a different type of development. This isn't something to worry about. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Earthsea

I was curious to read about Studio Ghibli's film, Tales From Earthsea, and the controversy surrounding Director Goro Miyazaki (son of Hayao). The LA Times article made for a nice break as I restlessly hung out at my parents place trying to study as much as possible while consuming frightening amounts of microwave popcorn.

Incidentally, Goro managed the design of the impressive Ghibi Museum. But yeah, it was compelling if not a bit sad to read about Goro's distant and somewhat strained relationship with his genius father. The son's commentary on Japan's youth was particularly revealing:

"It's not an experience of my own, but the experience of the young people I have met," he continues. "Arren represents the young generation in Japan. They are under mental stress. They have a rage inside them. And it is some of these kids who might feel like killing their parents."

...

"The setting is Europe, but the characters are a portrait of the young generation of Japanese," Miyazaki explains. He describes Japan as a society in which children are pampered and showered with material plenty, yet lead lives devoid of purpose: no injustices to rail against, as Miyazaki said he did when he was young, no older generation's values to overthrow.

'Earthsea' won't be released in the US until 2009 but hopefully we'll find a way to see it sooner.

Crocodile Hunter Passes On

In unfortunate news, Steve Erwin has died from a Stingray attack. I always liked that guy.