Another Neighborhood Walk (with Stairs)

First a little baseball gloating ...

Last night Donna and I hooked the MacBook to the big TV, and watched on the internet as Dice-K pitched a gem. After the Red Sox won their game, we switched MLB-TV "channels" over to the Orioles and Yankees game, doing our best to duplicate the experience of the fans in Boston. We cheered like crazy when the O's tied it up against Rivera, and then could hardly believe it when Mora laid down the bunt. The unlikeliness of that series of events (plus the Red Sox and Yankees role reversal) seemed to make clinching the Division extra special; what a celebration. I loved all the comments on SoSH and YF-vs-SF. We celebrated the Red Sox' AL East Division title by watching a bunch of internet videos late into the night. It was great to hear Bob Lobel and Dan Roche bring the celebration to us from Fenway. It's weird being so disant -- and then not distant.

But this morning the fog broke, and we got one of those glorious California mornings. We went for a little walk and we're finding more and more of these public walkways and stairs hidden in the hills. It's an amazing area. Here's a little slide show for you:

My Parents as Goth-Rock Fans

Trying to put last night's ridiculous Red Sox loss to the Yankees out of my mind, and while running errands this morning, I stumbled on this odd article re-printed from the LA Times in today's Oakland Tribune (click for story):



The article is about Chthonic, a Taiwanese death metal rock band. Imagine, if you will or can, KISS with strait black hair and a real serious attitude (click to go to their myspace page). They are currently touring in the US with Ozzfest, and their fans often include middle-aged (and older) Taiwanese-Americans. Evidently, one their songs, "UNlimited Taiwan", has become an anthems of sorts for the independence movement, which is hoping that the UN will recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. Here is the song played along with a montage of the independence movement -- the myspace video description reads, "This is a short film by Director, Cheng Wen-tang. It's not a Music Video" (click to play):

UNlimited TAIWAN Short Film (Not Music Video)

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Even though it's not a "music video", the video piece actually fits well with the song, and focuses attention on Taiwan's exclusion from the World Health Organization (WHO), something my parents have been working hard to do something about. Definitely a great way to focus a new audience, and connect what would normally be divergent audiences with common goals -- but I have a hard time picturing my folks moshing at the foot of the stage, waving little flags.

But, whatever it takes. Rock on you guys.

The Spiders are in Charge

Tho it's not as bad as the "giant spider web in Texas" (why is everything big in Texas?), but the spiders here are just all over the place. True from the day we moved in, we've been running into, and cleaning spider webs all the time. Odd, as I don't think there are many bugs around at all, except maybe a few moths. I went out this AM to try to take pictures of the Bay Bridge closing (too foggy), and got covered with a web! And here's the busy little guy rebuilding:

It's such a strange day, and I really feel like the whole summer phase-shift thing is done now. I've started my job and started teaching my class; the Lab is pretty much done by now and the wave of tech issues resulting from the return of the faculty is behind me. The Bay Bridge is closed on Labor Day Weekend for this crazy construction thing, and the first Cal football game of the year is on. Tunnel Road is a mess. I had no idea we were so close to the Stadium that people would be *upstream* from us on Tunnel Road scamming tickets ("Anyone need tickets?"). It's like popping out of the T Station at Kenmore on Red Sox game day, only these guys are are barking at the traffic jam. And the traffic jam is a block or two from my front door. That's really strange.

So here we are, in our own happy little web. Our back to the Hills and Tunnel Road in front of us. We are caught here, but I am fine with that for now.