Month: November 2015

Photos: Europe Trip – Amsterdam, Netherlands

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Originally, Amsterdam was not on the original agenda; it would’ve been Paris directly to Berlin, and spend an extra day in Berlin, or something like that. I don’t actually remember how the idea came to fruition, but in the end, I’m very glad that we went to Amsterdam at all, and if I had to pick one place of the four cities seen to come back to first, it would most likely be Amsterdam.

Mind you, I’m not into weed, much less smoking at all, nor do I have an inherent want for prostitutes, so the obvious jokes are not any viable justification at all for why I have such an opinion. Ultimately, it boils down to the fact that Amsterdam is a city that exuded life and activity, seemed so chill (probably due to all the weed), there was a lot of good food, and since we were there for literally a 24-hour span, we most certainly felt like we couldn’t have done a bunch of the things we would’ve liked to have done.

Really, Amsterdam is just a cool city. It’s a vibrant and diverse place, proud of its heritage, and in the end it feels like I barely got to scratch the surface of what potential cool things there could be out there. Seriously, I felt like I could spend several days worth of time walking through alleys, looking down canals, and wandering around the varying neighborhoods just seeing what lies where. It felt like absolutely any type of food in the world (except Korean) could be found there, and naturally if there’s one thing that drives my fat guy problems, it’s the pursuit of new good food.

Continue reading “Photos: Europe Trip – Amsterdam, Netherlands” →

Is it really victory?

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Long story short: University of Missouri president Tim Wolfe resigns after protests over racism are joined by over 30 black members of the school’s football team.

I have a friend.  They are not a sports fan.  I am a sports fan.  This friend and I have had several discussions in the past about how unjust it is that typically, college athletic coaches make millions and millions of dollars in annual salary, whereas even the most tenured, credentialed and celebrated professors won’t even come close to making that kind of money.

Coaches scream at student-athletes, boss them around, institute rigorous physical training onto them, and more or less work for five, six months tops, out of the year.  Professors on the other hand, teach students information, skill, and try to train their brains, so that they can do things once leaving college that don’t involve trying to hit a ball, kick a ball, throw a ball, or move a ball ten yards at a time, as effectively as possible.  And they work vastly more months than six out of any given year.

Continue reading “Is it really victory?” →

Photos: Europe Trip – Paris, France

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

After Brussels, we took a train down to Paris, France, where the mythical girlfriend and I would spend a few days doing a boatload of touristy things, eating all of the food and drinking all of the wine.

Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, but if there was one city that genuinely felt, not really that European, I would have to say that would be Paris. Perhaps it’s on account of just how tourist-heavy Paris is in general, but at least where we were staying, right in the heart of the city, it felt almost like New York City. Lots of cars, honking horns, road ragers, large-scale branded department stores and popular international brand stores adorned Rue de Rivoli, which we were right off of, and a Metro stop was almost always within eyesight, to duck into, and take whatever train to whatever destination at the drop of a hat.

Sure, the vast majority of overheard conversations and speech are in French, but just about everyone in Paris speaks English, extremely well, and I can’t recall a single time in which I felt incapable of being able to communicate with someone if necessary. International immersion is something that I kind felt like I was seeking out, and I don’t necessarily think I found it in Paris; but considering the polar opposite of what I experienced in Berlin, I’m wondering if it really is a bad thing.

Continue reading “Photos: Europe Trip – Paris, France” →

And I don’t even like Cam Newton

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Let’s hear the tale of two stories, that took place on Sunday, when the Green Bay Packers visited the Carolina Panthers.  Ultimately, the Panthers would defeat the Packers 37-29, to remain undefeated (8-0) and hand the Pack their second straight loss (6-2).  But scores and records are irrelevant, and are mostly written as a means to make my post look beefier than it is.

Anyway, the first story is about how a group of Packer fans from North Carolina brought a massive sign stating their fandom into Bank of America Stadium; the home of the Panthers, and raised a stink when Cam Newton came by and confiscated the sign, and when attempting to get it back later, was informed that it had “been destroyed.”

The “North Carolina Cheeseheads” did a whole lot of bitching, claimed that the sign cost “around $500” to produce, and ultimately the Panthers organization caved and is supposedly going to replace the banner.

Continue reading “And I don’t even like Cam Newton” →

Photos: Europe Trip – Brussels, Belgium WORLDS

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

The first leg of the Europe trip was Brussels, Belgium, where the semifinals of WORLDS was going to take place. It was pretty much a hit the ground running kind of trip, since as soon as we settled into our hotel in Brussels, we power napped for a while due to the jet lag I’d never experienced in my life before; by the time we woke up, it was pretty much time to go to the venue.

There’s nothing I haven’t already said about the WORLDS experience that wasn’t in my prior post about the event as a whole, but at least now I’m putting up some of the pictures from the event, which include my hot mythical girlfriend, as well as some shots from within the arena itself, attempting to show some of the atmosphere, the championship Summoner’s Cup, as well as some post-victory pictures from SK Telecom’s victory over Origen.

The rest of the pictures are more or less a litany of mushy couple selfies, as well as some of the places we hit up in our free time in actual Brussels, and not the shitty area surrounding the Brussels Expo area.

Continue reading “Photos: Europe Trip – Brussels, Belgium WORLDS” →

Remembering Tommy Hanson

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

In short: former Major League Baseball pitcher Thomas J. “Tommy” Hanson passes away at the age of 29, due to “catastrophic organ failure.”

Talk about something that came out of nowhere; it’s not often that I expect to hear about spontaneous deaths from people much younger than I am. And in spite of my faltering indifference to the game over the last few years, I’d like to write some words about Tommy Hanson, because if anything at all, he represents a player that was pretty prevalent during my peak of baseball fandom, and I’m genuinely sad to hear about his unfortunate and way too early departure.

Forget about the win-loss record, the ERA, and the list of teams that he had played for in his career, that one might expect to see within the final paragraphs of a professional athlete’s online eulogy and/or obituary. This isn’t to say that they weren’t pretty, quite the contrary, his overall numbers were positive and respectable, despite the obvious observation that he was declining quickly, mostly on account of shoulder troubles that plagued the tail end of his baseball career.

To me, Tommy Hanson represents the link, the gateway, into my eventual love and appreciation for minor league baseball.

Continue reading “Remembering Tommy Hanson” →

Musing about WORLDS

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I’m never going to deny the fact that ultimately, the impetus for going out to Europe in the first place came about on account of video games, namely the one that I talk about just about every single day, League of Legends. Given the fact that Riot Games made it clear that the annual World Championships would take place in different countries each year, it was a pretty safe bet back in like March that 2015’s WORLDS was very likely going to take place in Europe, considering the previous two WORLDS were in two of the other primary LoL markets of the United States and South Korea. And when it was confirmed that WORLDS would be scattered throughout Europe, it was full speed ahead on making plans not just for attending WORLDS events, but also providing the opportunity to do some European travels.

But yes, for lack of a better term, it all started with WORLDS, and frankly it ended with WORLDS too, since the entire trip was bookended by the WORLDS semifinals in Brussels, with the finals in Berlin.

Everything in between was the sweet gravy of personal travel and new experiences, with the mythical girlfriend.

Anyway, in an attempt to compartmentalize and try to organize my thoughts into neatly organized brog posts, I’m taking an approach of writing about one thing at a time, if I can manage to stick with it; seeing as how WORLDS was what led us to Europe in the first place, I figure there would be no better place to start talking about my Europe trip than talking about WORLDS.

Continue reading “Musing about WORLDS” →