It’s the second weeeked of the new premiership season, but the first time that Arsenal are on Fox Soccer Channel.  I’m pumped and may even wear my new Fabregas jersey, even though he’s still out with injury :(  Go Gunners!

In other news, it’s been a very busy two weeks.  Work has been filled with setting up new computers, going into the ceiling to wire cat5e cables to rooms and moving other employees computers and desks in a massive office shuffle.  It’s all in preparation for 3 new employees starting over the next 2 weeks.

When I get home there’s no shortage of sporting options.  There’s the Olympics, NFL preseason, MLB baseball, EPL soccer, etc.  It’s been particularly disappointing to see the US Track & Field team underperform after watching them at the Trials here in Eugene. Phelps was quite exciting, even though the west coast never gets to watch anything live.  So, I had to avoid all media outlets during Phelps’ 8th gold medal try and then watch the 3 hour tape dealy on NBC.

The fantasy baseball playoffs are approaching fast.  There’s only one more week fo the regular season and I’ve been holding 5th place for quite some time.  The top 6 make the playoffs, but i wouldn’t mind slipping into 6th so that I could avoid the 1st place team, who I’m losing to this week, if I make it to the 2nd round/semifinal.

3 weeks ago was Lollapalooza and it was a great weekend to be in Chicago.  Great weather and great music, what more do you need?  Radiohead were that Friday night’s headliner, playing all the new songs and other classics from In Rainbows and providing a great light show throughout.  Saturday night was Wilco,  who played a very nice set while tricking out their suits with Hello Kitty patches and lots of other stuff.  Sunday night was NiN, who I had never seen before.  They had a great rock show and a very cool stage setup that included a screen that comes down in front of them that Reznor can manipulate with lights.  Their bassist is JMJ, aka Beck’s bassist, and he definitely added a lot to the set.  All in all, great headliners choices so that made it easier to avoid Kanye and Rage Against the Machine. A few other great shows during the days were: Girl Talk, Explosions in the Sky, The National, The Foals, Bloc Party and The Black Keys.

The weekend also gave me the opportunity to see TDK at the Navy Pier IMAX late in the morning on Sunday.  It was fantastic and IMAX really helped the action scenes.  I’ve now seen the movie twice and it is easily the best movie I have seen this year.  I really noticed some of the screenplay subtleties the second time around that gave hints to things that would happen later on.  Ledger’s Joker is truly great with so many memorable scenes: the bank robbery, the pencil trick, the Nurse uniform, the interrogation, it’s goes on.

The Thanksgiving weekend is almost over and it was a very nice 4-day break. It’s over just in time for me to fly to San Jose for software training, where I’ll be learning TeamTrack, another application I will need to administrate. San Jose is quite close to San Francisco, so I’ll be able to visit Oculon on his new home turf. I may even drive by the Google’s headquarters for giggles.

As referenced in teh title, Arsenal beat Wigan in a very close match to take the top spot from Manchester United. Arsenal were without Cesc Fabregas due to suspension, and it showed, but they still prevailed with a great run and header by Gallas in the 83′. Rosicky finished it off for a 2-0 victory. The win was made even more enjoyable when I read that Man Utd lost to Bolton!!?!? Now Arsenal is 3 points up and still have played one less game than the Red Devils.

In Fantasy Football, my team slipped again and as I watch this week, both of my starting QBs (Bulger and Garcia) have gone down and are out of the game. In a two QB starting league, I will surely lose. By the end of the weekend, I’ll be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Now I’ll just get to enjoy the games on TV and wait for the college bowl games.

Readers and viewers can look forward to a new workspace video, as I will be moving   again at work.

People, I just ate some Chicken Tikka Masala and it was delicious. It’s the first time that I’ve eaten Indian food since coming to Oregon. There are apparently a couple of Indian restaurants in Eugene, but not near my office. We are rife with Mexican, Thai, Pizza and Burger joints, but BBQ and Indian are low in quality or sparse. So, tonight while in Portland, da big city, I chose Indian and was not disappointed. It was definitely on par with the India Buffet in Iowa City, but this was dinner so I couldn’t go back, like the pig I am, for a third plate. There was plenty of food anyways with each component, rice, entree, yogurt, vegetables, desert in separate cups and the nan, oh the nan.

I am currently digesting the food and keeping track of fantasy baseball stats. Baseball has been quite exciting. The Mariners still stink, the Cubs are still hopeless (Prior to have surgery) and the East has the only exciting divisions in MLB. I’ve been doing more calculated research and statistictioning (is that a word?) with the help of Baseball Prospectus. The NFL Draft is coming up, but I won’t even be tuned in for highlights since I get to help a coworker move tomorrow. It doesn’t matter though since the most exciting sport right now is soccer or futbol or real football. I’ve been quite keen on Premiership and Champions League happenings. I watched my first Champions League match last year around the same time and I saw a brilliant and crazy finals between Arsenal and Barcelona. I’ve been hooked ever since, watching the World Cup as often as possible and now watching Premiership matches whenever they are broadcast live. The matches usually start around 7:30 am PST on Fox Soccer Channel on Saturdays. The only way to keep track of Champions League games is to watch the live text via the BBC. It’s pretty crazy that the EPL, Champions League and FA Cup could all come down to the Chelsea and Manchester United. Very exciting indeed!

In other news, I’ve continued the Netflix journey.  I won’t give full reviews, but I can recommend: Borat, Who Killed the Electric Car? and The Squid and the Whale.  I HIGHly recommend: Elizabeth I and Empire Falls, both HBO miniseries with fantastic casts and great storylines and execution (no pun intending Mary Queen of Scots).  I am eager to see Pan’s Labyrinth and Volver.  I have Volver sitting at home, but I’m waiting for the right moment to watch an Almodovar film.  After previous gems such as: All About My Mother and Talk to Her, I am stoked.  Plus, Penelope Cruz is hot.

Lastly, Music.  The Arcade Fire show is less than a month away, so that’s great.  I got the new Modest Mouse and Bright Eyes CDs.  Both very good and fairly main stream for Brock and company and more folky from Cono.  The new Wilco album arrives next week, so that’s a must buy.

Btw, if another one of my closers blows a save, I’m gonna have to break something.

It’s been a while since the last post, so there’s a lot to talk about. Firstly, I hope Kevlar is having fun in NYC. I have never been to the Big Apple, but I’m sure it will happen as my list of contacts there continues to grow.

This last weekend I traveled to Klamath Falls, OR and then Bend to visit relatives. I saw my cousin Marcy for the first time in about 10 years and her husband Kevin for the first time ever. They live near my uncle Mark and aunt Darlene. The weather was great, about 65 degrees and sunny. I got to see the ever-growing Bend suburbs and city and eat at the famed SuperBurrito. It’s fairly comparable to the Burrito Boy of Eugene, but the prices are a little cheaper and the burrito is bigger, if you can believe that. I got to see Marcy’s office and their company SmartCar.

Update: Las Vegas

I keep getting pictures in from John and James of the Los Angeles/Las Vegas trip over New Year’s. Below is the chicken pasta dish from Hash-House A Go Go. The picture doesn’t do it justice as it contained a bowl of pasta with a skewer of 2 pieces of fried chicken and half of an apple standing in the middle. We all got the same dish and ate it all I got crap for not eating the dried vegetable foliage garnishing the plate. Either way it was good stuff and I recommend the Hash House (not that kind fockers) to those wanting lots of good food for a decent price.

Finally, I have two movies to recommend: Children of Men and The Departed.

I saw Children of Men on my laptop while riding to Bend and loved it.  It was high-energy, a good story, great acting and wonderfully shot.  The premise: It’s 2027 and humans haven’t been able to procreate for 18 years, until rebels of the British government find a pregnant woman and try to smuggle her out of the country for protection.  There’s great twists and turns and the story feels real even in an improbable world in the near future.  4.5 out of 5

The Departed has been on my NetFlix queue for a month or so and it was finally released to DVD after winning the Oscar for Best Picture.  The film was quite good, not as good as Children of Men, but the stars were out in force.  The cast was Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin and Ray Winstone (awesome in The Proposition).  The movie is a big cat-and-mouse game between Matt Damon, a corrupt Boston cop working for Nicholson’s mob boss, and Leonardo DiCaprio, an undercover cop moving up the ranks of Nicholson’s mob.  The movie starts to feel long, like all Scorcese ‘epics’ but the story is good and twists are believable.  4 out of 5