Major League Gaming

Major League Gaming. You've heard of major league baseball and other sports ... but gaming? Really? I was flipping through channels on the TV and I suddenly found myself on a channel about major league gaming. Apparently this is a very serious thing. It is exactly what you think it is: people playing games against one another. I imagine they must be playing for money and/or bragging rights.

The major league gaming logo looks like the one used for baseball except it has an xbox controller in it instead of a batter. Stupid? Yes. Very.

The show that I saw showed a Halo contest between two teams ... complete with play-by-play commentators! There were two teams trying to win and the guys on each of the teams had the most serious concentration on their faces. They wore huge headphones and had lots of collaboration among the team members. The teams even had matching t-shirts. Apparently I must have gotten lucky because I got to watch "the best sniper on the circuit" playing. Woo.

I really cannot believe that people actually play this seriously and that it's a big enough thing that it makes it on TV. I really wish I could have taken a video of this because it really was hilarious. The teams even have coaches and regular practice sessions. It's a pizza-faced nerd's wet dream come true.

Not surprisingly, all the players were guys and they all looked ... a bit lacking in social skills.

Major League Gaming

Gucci for Coco

I found out that Gucci sells a backpack for dogs.



I think that its pretty funny; I've never seen a backpack for dogs. I wonder how much a small dog can carry on it's back. Nevertheless it's an interesting idea, particularly now that Christmas is around the corner.

From Gucci's website the description reads:
dog backpack with side-zip pockets and signature web detail.
beige/ebony GG nylon fabric with brown leather trim and green/red/green web.

Gucci Dog Backpack

Post Gluttony Weekend

I had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Let's face it: who wouldn't have an awesome weekend eating wonderful food and spending quality time with the family? The turkey was beyond awesome. We had 30lbs of turkey (2 turkeys) and it's all gone. We finished the last bit of it and I'm already looking forward to Christmas when we get to make more turkey with my mom and dad (aka my in-laws.) We had a host of wonderful sides to go with the turkey and all turned out really well.

Unfortunatley, with the indulgences of the long Thanksigivng weekend now I've got to pay my penance. I had a ton of food, way more than I'd normally eat, and now I'm paying for it. The pants are a bit tighter, shirts are a bit harder to button up .. *sigh*

This week we'll try to eat more limitedly to pay the piper for our raving food rampage last week. Yesterday we had a surprisingly satisfying salad. It was comprised of all very healthy stuff: lettuce, red bell pepper, tomato, carrot, celery, bits of turkey breast. Maneesh brought a really healthy and addictive dessert: Fraiche frozen yogurt. I've never had Fraiche for anything other than a mid-day snack. Having it for dessert hit the spot and made me not feel guilty. We had toppings of raspberries and strawberries -- also really wonderful. Eating healthy doesn't have to be unsatisfying and unrewarding; last night was a prime example of happy and non-pudgy eating. ^_^

Gaming Weekend

I had a very lazy weekend. I spent it getting to know my Wii. :) I spent the better part of the weekend playing Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 and Super Mario Galaxy. I don't know which one I liked better but I do know that I logged in more time with the Wii this weekend than I have in a long time. Both games are super addictive and multiplayer. In fact, I'd be willing to bet my turkey weekend be spent continuing my gaming with my best friend: the wii.

Live.com Maps

Sometimes I get incredibly irritated with Google maps. Because it is a beta, just like all of Google's products seem to be, there are lots of bugs that exist, then get fixed, then come back. Irritating to say the least. One such feature that always is buggy is the print feature. When I try to print something sometimes it works and other times print doesn't show the map the way I've placed it on my screen. The satellite view for Google Maps is also bad. It shows very out of date footage. Some areas in the South of Market look like construction zones on Google Maps but in real life it is a completed building complete with commercial residents.

I finally found a solution to my problems: Live.com maps, or maps.live.com. They fix all of the aforementioned bugs that Google Maps has and also has a few neat features. I asked for driving directions from Palo Alto to Redwood City. The last direction listed was as follows:

Arrive at 1185 Broadway St on the right
The last intersection is Bay Rd If you reach Broadway St, you've gone too far

Not only do they tell me which side of the street I should expect to find my destination, but they also give me indications of when the destination is coming up and when I've likely passed it.

I give this two thumbs up and Live Maps is going to be my go-to mapping product.

Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung is this really yummy restaurant chain from Asia. They are really well known and have a branch in SoCal which has lines out the door. Previously it had been mentioned that Din Tai Fung was going to open at Vallco mall. I just found out, however, that the rumor was a lie. The owner of Vallco mall made the rumor up in a bid to attract new tenants to Vallco. Grr ... got my hopes up for nothing.

Gardening

This weekend I decided to play gardener. In the backyard we have a plant bed which used to house flowers until we decided to rip the flowers out. The previous owner had planted some flowers in it that neither Ming nor I really liked. I decide that this weekend I'd plant some fall vegetables in the plant bed.

I labored for what seemed like forever, but was likely more like around an hour and a half, preparing the soil and planting my precious seeds. I know nothing about gardening and have no idea if what I did was right or not. I ended up planting chinese celery, napa cabbage, and spinach. All are reputed to be fall vegetables so in theory they should all be ok to plant at this time of year.

I didn't take any pictures of my garden-to-be since it's really just dirt right now. I've been diligently having Ming water my garden so we'll see in a few weeks if anything sprouts up. If not, I can always try again since I've still got a ton of seeds leftover :)