Month: January 2013

Just know that I want to say something about this

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I really, really want to write something about this story about how IKEAs in mainland China are being raided on a regular basis by mainlanders who invade the stores, and abuse the showrooms and display furniture by taking naps in the beds, lay all over the sofas, and let their kids run around unsupervised. About how it’s completely uncivilized, inconsiderate and disgusting, but mostly just how uncivilized it all is.

Despite the fact that there’s so much I’d really want to actually say, the only words that seem capable of formulating in my head are unfriendly remarks about how barbaric and uncivilized the Chinese are, that the world really doesn’t have a lot to fear about their secluded society plotting anything grander than scheming to get into IKEA before others so they can camp the beds, and other insensitive remarks about how Koreans are vastly superior on so many levels over the Chinese.

So, I guess I won’t say anything at all about the matter.

Why can’t NBA players make free throws?

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I watched an NBA game while I was eating lunch the other day, because for whatever reason, Moloch Day seemed like an appropriate time to have afternoon specials of NBA basketball. Either way, it was the fourth quarter of a fairly close game between the Pacers and the Grizzlies, where anywhere every single field goal seemed essential. That being said, there was about a four minute stretch where neither team scored.

It had nothing to do with guys getting any bad luck with open shots, or layups rimming out unluckily, it was just a bunch of overpaid primadonnas throwing up brick after brick, with teammates open, while being defended, or opting for ill-advised fadeaways. But the best part about this four minute stretch was that during this time, five free throws were attempted between the two team with the Pacers shooting two, and the Grizzlies shooting two, and one technical shot being taken by the Pacers. All five of the free throws were misses, including the completely uncontested technical.

This seemingly endless slope of degrading free throw shooting throughout the course of the NBA never fails to baffle me how something so easy is so difficult to do, for the supposed greatest basketball players on the planet. I mean, free throws are completely uncontested shots; no defender trying to bump you, reaching up to block the ball, or even put a hand in your face. It’s just the player, 15 feet away from the hoop, with ten seconds to concentrate and shoot a completely unopposed shot; the fact that it’s called a free throw indicates to just how easy it really should be.

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Photos: Celebrating good things

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

So, on Moloch Day, a bunch of us decided to go out and celebrate good things.  No, of course we weren’t celebrating Moloch Day other than the fact that it got a bunch of a us a day off of work.  It just so happened that Moloch Day was also Miss Allison’s birthday and it turns out that both Jen and I had some reason to celebrate that I’m not really at liberty to talk about, but whatever, we gathered at The Melting Pot and scared off random strangers with abrasive conversation, as well as fondue’d it up for a pleasant evening.

I will be the first to admit the disappointing quality of the pictures in this gallery.  This was more or less the first time that I brought out my new point-and-shoot, and I will also be the first to admit that I hadn’t really used it prior to this night, so it was completely oblivious to me that when in low-light mode, this camera for whatever reason is locked into a lower quality.  The result is a lot of photos with compromised quality, and a lesson learned to really avoid using the low-light setting well, ever again.

Leave it to me to screw up what is supposed to be the simplicity of the point-and-shoot, but it too clearly needs a little bit of understanding to get the best out of.  Regardless, photos:

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Happy Moloch Day!

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I have a dream.  In fact, I have a dream, or sometimes several dreams, every single night.  Whether I remember them or not the following morning is a completely different matter, and sometimes when the dreams are so vivid and actually remembered, I sometimes write about them, because I like remembering the more interesting ones where I dream about women and/or doing cool things.

But anyway, since most of us are so privileged to have today off in honor of the Moloch, the Prince of Hell, I just want to give my thanks out to the bovine-headed demon lord for doing whatever he did to ensure that even today in modern times, we have today off of work.

Now if you’re taking today off in honor of some black guy that did something for civil rights, that’s fine and all too.  But when speaking with me, please be sure to very succinctly clarify such acknowledgement by appropriately saying you’re celebrating “Martin Luther King, Jr. Day,” because referring to the day as simply “MLK Day” means only one thing, which is celebrating Moloch.  And as far as I’m concerned, Moloch is just a tad bit older than King, and I mostly believe in the whole “he was there first” clause thing being fair, so Moloch gets first honors to the term MLK.

This is kinda why I’ll never take e-sports seriously

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

When Kobe Bryant dunks a basketball or hits a three-pointer, typically it involves having succeeded in the face of a fervent defender, who’s trying to use body positioning, superior footwork, or simply sheer physical strength to prevent it from happening.

When Tom Brady throws a touchdown pass, typically it involves locating an eligible receiver within the span of five or fewer seconds while there are anywhere from five to six 270 lbs+ linebackers and tackles who want nothing more than to sit on him, and he actually has to succeed in throwing the ball in a place to where the receiver can catch it.

When Miguel Cabrera smacks a base hit, typically it involves hitting a little white ball that’s 2 7/8” in diameter, traveling at him anywhere from 79-94 miles per hour, and is sometimes coming at odd angles or irregular curving motions.  He has to put the bat in a position to where not only will it make contact, but send it into a patch of field where an opposing fielder cannot catch or corral it.

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I haven’t really done this in a while

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Typically whenever I write, it’s at work, and I’m on some variant of downtime.  Currently, I’m actually at home, and the urge to write about something came upon me entirely while I’m on my very own spare time.  This hasn’t really happened to me in quite some time, so I figured out why not write and see what comes out.

I don’t want to say that the last few weekends have sucked by any means, but the truth of the matter is that I haven’t had any time to myself throughout the last three weekends.  That in itself was kind of problematic, and it got to a point where it began affecting my moods very obviously, as I hadn’t really had any time to unwind, decompress, or simply relax.  Given the circumstances, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again because that’s what friends do, but I’m also not going to deny that it really was taking its toll on me as well the longer it went on.

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Yes, it’s time for bathroom talk again

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I don’t understand people who flush the urinal before they take a piss, but then do not flush the urinal afterward.

Not entirely, that is; it makes sense to me if the asshole prior to you left the urinal unflushed, and it’s disgusting to know that that asshole might be dehydrated or has a little too much iron in their system based on their bronze-colored urine, but I don’t understand people who flush a perfectly clean urinal before/while they piss, but then leave afterward without flushing it after they’re actually done pissing.

I’d say I don’t understand people who don’t flush urinals after they’ve pissed, but that can actually be answered by either laziness, negligence, or a hippie-like mentality to save water by being disgusting.  So it’s not really valid, because the people in question still actually flush the toilet, but choose to do so before the fact, and leave urinal in just as bad of a condition as those who don’t do it at all.

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