The Yamadas at the Nike Run Hit Wonder: Part II

"Delta Delta Delta, can I help ya, help ya, help ya?": Us runners/walkers made our way through USC's fraternity and sorority rows. My sister took this picture of the Tri-Delts' house, because we remember Melanie Hutsell and the old Saturday Night Live sketch (back when it was funny in the early 90's).

There were the usual band of people peering out their house windows cheering us on. A couple of sorority sisters sprayed some cool water mist on me as I ran by. That was good. Then there were the frat dudes who screamed out the USC-Oregon football score as we were passing through ("SC's up 17-14!"). Not so good. I was so tempted to boo or yell out, "GO BRUINS!", but I was outnumbered and I didn't want to get a beer bottle thrown at me!

Fountains of Pain?: Here we have old indie-fave Fountains of Wayne. My sister told me that they didn't look too happy performing. None of us heard them play their one-hit wonder song, "Stacy's Mom". I wonder what exactly is singer, Chris Collingwood, doing instead of playing his guitar?

Goofy to the Last Drop: In stark contrast, we have the quirky Aquabats in their matching wetsuit gear, complete with swim-caps and faux goggles. I remembered them spouting mock-philosophically about something in between songs, ("You know, when you have those difficulties in life..."), but didn't catch the tail end of it. With the exception of Chingy, I think they had the most people around their stage area.

The Home Stretch: Besides crossing the finish at the Coliseum 50 yard line, the taiko group was definitely the best part of my run. They were about 1/2 mile away from the Coliseum entrance on Menlo Blvd., and the rhythmic, synchronous beats were motivating. I definitely picked up the pace.

End of Z-Trip: There was no mystery band this year nearby the Mile 6/Mile 3 marker before turning the corner to the Coliseum tunnel. Instead, we had DJ Z-Trip with his two turntables and a microphone. Nice product placement there Z!

Sweet Victory Ahead!: Remember earlier on how I shared my appreciation for the 1984 Summer Olympics? Well, heading into the tunnel and peering out at the finish line made me think of those marathon runners who entered the Coliseum 21 years ago.

We all had a lot of fun in the race. And I broke my personal 10K record by 1:21.

The family skipped the post-race concert of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts because we were hungry. And after all the Nike training runs I went to, I can do without "I Love Rock n' Roll" another time!

Here's a funny epilogue. Where did we go to eat after some good exercise? The local In-N-Out Burger on Venice Blvd! And apparently, there were other race people thinking the same thing, as we saw four girls in the restaurant in the matching shirts ahead of us in line! Two other lymon-shirted guys were walking towards the store too as we took our grub back to my apartment to eat!

The Yamadas at the Nike Run Hit Wonder: Part I

I don't get to hang out with the family that often, so it was great to participate together Saturday evening in a fun and wacky race through the streets of LA. Much thanks to my sister who took pictures along the 5K (and part of the 10K) route (link requires Adobe Acrobat for viewing).

Standing Among Greatness: I have always been impressed whenever I visit the LA Coliseum because I have such fond memories of the 1984 Summer Olympics. Here are my mom and sister in front of the Olympic statues. It's too bad the afternoon sun was directly over the stadium. Otherwise the shot would have been better.

Les maillots jaunes?: The family in front of the starting area at Exposition Blvd. As you probably can tell, every race participant was wearing a lymon colored DRI-Fit shirt. Kind of freaky seeing 16,000 people in matching shirts!

Run Nike Run!: I really like the race logo. The electric guitar graphic adds a nice touch.

Fall Behind Me: The Donnas were the first band we saw, as they played a short set prior to the starting horn, atop the starting line platform. And of course, once the horn was blown, the multitude were ushered off to the sounds of their hit single, "Take It Off".

The Nike Spirit Squad?: Just like last year's race, there were groups of cheerleading drag queens encouraging and pom-poming along the route, (S)he was just past the starting area.

Right Thurr: Chingy was performing right before the first mile marker on both courses. I didn't recall him performing when I zipped by, but my sister said he rapped his singles, "Right Thurr" and "Holidae In" when she stopped by to take pictures. If you haven't noticed already, the dude has some serious ice on his wrists!

For next time...Part 2: The Tri-Delts, more bands, taiko, and the fantastic finish.

You're a Good Man, Stanley Young

It was a big birthday weekend as my neighbor, Stan and my old session buddy Thomas celebrated their big days last evening. Since I had RSVP'ed earlier to Stan's shindig (Sorry Thomas!), I made my way to Rowland Heights for a little auto racing at Speedzone. Time to relive the days of our youth. Here are some pics from the get-together.

The Birthday Circle: Our racing team and pit crew. While Stan is on the top platform as the designated "winner", Josh snuck his way down into the racing car's cockpit before I took the shot!

The Fast and Furious 3: Leadfoot Michelle has the inside track on Stan as they enter the final hairpin turn on the Slick Trax course. We enjoyed this track the best, as we rode on it twice!

Sibling Rivalry: Josh (giving the thumbs up) and Stan's wife, Robin, wait their turn on the Grand Prix course.

Not now, I'm on the phone!: Leave it to Tae to ham it up a little bit for the camera! Kids, let this shot be a lesson to you: Keep your hands on the steering wheel, and not on the cell!

Make a Wish: The birthday dude blows out the candle of his ginormous ice cream cake slice from Claimjumper. By the way, you can pretty much guarantee getting a leftovers box with your meal!

Stan, being a San Francisco 49ers fan, got a lot of team gear as gifts. One notable gift was of course from Robin, who got him a (Hall of Fame QB) Steve Young throwback jersey. As a joke, he said, "They spelled the name wrong (on the back)!"

I've been tag'd

SoarOnEaglesWings "tagged" me. I am normally not a fan of chain mail/blogs. But since this is harmless, and I want to be a good sport, I will reveal 5 of my quirky habits.

1. I play "virtual drums" while driving in my car, tapping the steering wheel and using my left foot for the bass drum pedal.
   
2. I try to use proper grammar (spelling, capitalization, punctuation, etc.) when writing my e-mail or corresponding via an instant messenger client. I definitely see less of that these days!
   
3. At least once a week, I eat a bowl of ramen from a restaurant as "research", because I plan on having my own ramen shop near retirement age.
   
4. I like to hum or whistle "Hail to the Chief".
   
5. Even though I live alone, I like to keep the toilet seat cover down when not in use.

I won't solicit others to respond in their xanga, but if you feel like sharing your quirky habits on this domain, feel free to leave a comment.

Lights Out!

So, who was affected by our little power outage?

A journey of 26.2 miles begins with a single step

My apologies to Lao Tzu.

I'm up early this Saturday morning to sign up for marathon training and start my rigorous program. After 28 weeks, I hope to be crossing the finish line in downtown Los Angeles as a tired, but accomplished runner.

Let the adventure begin!

Something more humorous...

So it's my third year playing in a fantasy football league with friends.While I am still not a big fan of football, I must admit that my TV viewing of NFL games has increased since I have players to root for.

Here's one of my favorite parts of playing in the league. "Designing" my team logo.

Editor's Note: Kid A does not endorse South Park caricatures, anarchy, or anger.

A Humbling World

I've kept quiet on xanga since Hurricane Katrina hit. Maybe it's because I find it too difficult to express the multitude of feelings I have on it. I have almost become hesitant to even open up the LA Times, check out CNN.com, or catch the evening news.

But, I would like to mention how encouraging it is that people in my surrounding communities are helping out. My company has setup a matching donation program in conjunction with the Red Cross. My church has also designated a special offering this Sunday for the relief effort. And my improv group will be helping out the New Orleans team members who competed in the World Championships this past week; as they were unable to fly back home.

Have a safe Labor Day weekend.

I am a fan, but I want to be a performer...

The ComedySportz World Championship Tournament (big misnomer; more like teams from 18 U.S cities, District of Columbia, and Chorley, UK) has finally arrived. Time to laugh and learn from "the best of the best". My improv teacher(s) (representing the home team of Los Angeles) will be performing this Friday 10:30pm at the Ivar Theatre in Hollywood. Tag along if you wish.

all that noise and all that sound

I met up with my sister down in Irvine last evening to catch the Coldplay concert at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. This time, I did bring the digital camera, so here are a couple of shots.

"Can You Hear Me Now? Good!": I didn't realize it until editing the image. Just thought it was funny that there is a guy in the middle of the pic on his phone, in front of the Verizon Wireless entrance.

Square 104?: So after listening to a below-average opening band in Black Mountain, and waiting 45 minutes for the crew to finish setting up, Coldplay took the stage to the notes of their first song from their new X&Y album, "Square One". The digital counter in the background proceeded to decrease quickly from number 1000. I waited to take the picture when the counter hit "105", but obviously from the shot, you can see I was a hair too late. I could have manipulated the image to change the number to my liking, but 1) I was feeling lazy, and 2) In my picky nature, I would have spent too much time on it to make it look perfect. If you look closely between the first "0" and the "1", you can see lead singer Chris Martin's silhouette.

"in my place in my place/were lines I could not change": The widescreen video monitor showcases Chris, and bassist Guy Berryman. Unfortunately, due to either bad mixing or a subpar sound check, I didn't hear very much of Mr. Berryman's driving bass lines. That was too bad, since the end product came out uneven; especially noticeable on favorites "Clocks" and "Speed of Sound". Easy to overlook though. I was still enjoying everyone singing along to the hits.

While they had their share of flubs (Chris forgot a couple lines to a song, and sheepishly hummed a bit as filler. Jon Buckland had to tune his acoustic guitar twice before playing "'Til Kingdom Come".), Coldplay were very down-to-earth about it, and it made it seem like a more intimate, relaxing show. Pretty good considering the amphitheater was packed so tightly. There wasn't a grass patch to be seen in the lawn section.

"and high up above or down below": Our seats were up there in the terrace area (section 10), but thanks to the handy digital camera, I was able to zoom in and get a better view. Here they are playing the last song of the evening, "Fix You" with the video monitor spliced in four to highlight all the band members. That splitscreen setup looks awfully familiar. (**cough cough** U2 Elevation Tour! **end cough**)

Take A Bow: I really enjoyed the band and their performance, even with the "mistakes", because they didn't come off as pretentious, egocentric rock stars. Here they are at the end of the encore, saying good-bye to everyone.

One warning to everyone who catches an event at this amphitheater. Be prepared for a painfully slow exit out of the venue. We waited 50 minutes for the traffic to die out before we even started the car. Oh yeah, we were also waiting in our seats for 20 minutes after the concert was over, until the yellow-jacket event staff ushered us out. I guess this is the consequence of free parking.