UFC Stuff

UFC 71 occurred while we were in Oregon for Memorial Day, during which Quinton Jackson beat Chuck Liddell to become the new light-heavyweight champion! It was the first UFC that I have missed in several years and yes, I unsuccessfully checked first to see if any sports bars would be showing it near where we were staying.

I must admit that for a long time I really didn't like Chuck Liddell, mainly because he is such a one-dimensional fighter. He just throws bombs with his fists while standing, even if he is one of the best in the business at it. But the more I read about him, the more I grew to appreciate the man behind the belt. Nevertheless, Quinton Jackson whooped him - twice even - and is a most interesting character himself. While he was previously a ghetto mouthed thug (I knew of him and watched interviews of him back then), he experienced a really strange experience that led him to become a Christian. For more information on Quinton check out the Wikipedia entry about him.

On TUF (The Ultimate Fighter - the UFC's reality show) a couple of weeks ago, two of the fighters got in a personal fist fight while at the house. Afterward, I was a little surprised at Dana White's (president of the UFC) reaction to it, but I also really appreciated and admired it. From Sherdog's review:

This time however, Dana's words seem to sting everyone since when he said "For the last six years I've been busting my f______ ass to prove that this wasn't what this sport was about." He explained that this would have the non-fan thinking what they've always thought, that this sport was full of "a bunch of goons." Dana decides to kick Marlon and Noah off the show and includes Berube as well, since he was the instigator.

I really hope that I will be able to watch UFC72 this Saturday. It's occurring at 8pm in Ireland, which unfortunately equates to noon here in the pacific time zone. Since my in-laws will be here visiting us this weekend, the big question is whether or not I should disappear to the bar for a few hours in the middle of the day to watch it. Who am I kidding, they'll probably be happy to lose me for a little while.

Random Thoughts and Interesting Art

Things that look modern and/or artsy in appearance used to be advertised as having a "space age" appearance, or as using "space age" materials. But what do you call modern looking things now, especially since space exploration has been gasping for breath since the Columbia disaster in 2003?

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I read a great article from the founder of XXXchurch, titled Opponents or Teammates. I really admire the way Craig deliberates about some of the issues he recently faced. I also appreciate his position on relationships with non-Christians, focusing on sharing meals with them and meeting them wherever they are at spiritually.

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For Memorial Day weekend, we had a great 5-day getaway to the Oregon coast, where we stayed in a cabin with Amanda's aunt and cousins. With all of the fun events and beautiful scenery of the trip, I'm inspired to begin updating our family's web site again with a new entry in the "Events" page. I usually make thumbnails and resize the pictures manually using GIMP, but with over 100 pictures, I think it's time to find or make a batch script for the task.

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The battery on my other Timex watch is now dead too (see previous post). Interestingly, my significantly older Casio watch is still running just fine. Although they do look nice, Timex watches are annoying to operate and drain the battery too quickly - I'm switching back to Casio.

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I clicked across (found the article in FARK) some really sweet LEGO art the other day. Make sure you browse the pictures.

Uncommonly Cool

A female friend of ours and fellow blogger recently posted about how shooting guns is becoming a hobby for her. I can't help but think that this activity is high up on the list of things that are really cool when girls do them. The idea of it inspired me to make a list of activities that causes a female to automatically jump up a rung on the coolness ladder when she participates in them.

• Shooting guns (as mentioned above)
  
• Riding a motorcycle - at least as a passenger, but if she rides by herself then that's even cooler (Amanda rode with me regularly).
• Driving:
• Fast (Amanda's friend Susan impressed me with this).
  
• A stick shift (shifting gears at only 2000 rpm almost doesn't count though).
• A jacked up 4x4 (my brother's friend Lisa had a sweet Toyota pickup).
• A sports car or powerful muscle car, especially if it's customized (Amanda's Miata was pretty darned cool).
  
• Knowing how to kick ass - trained and competent in some form of self-defense.
• Participating in board sports - surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, etc.

However, the catch is that while doing the above tasks that are typically associated with men, women still have to look sexy and feminine. In other words, for women to be considered cool, they must still look hot.

But what makes the above activities cool for females? Besides being mostly male-oriented, I think the common thread to the above list is that most of the activities are either somewhat dangerous, or they require a certain degree of strength and/or fearlessness, or they are a display of the woman's strength and power.

Anyone have any other activities to add to the list? Would the list for men be the same?

Music For Married People

I ran across another gem when listening to my mp3 collection at work that I had forgotten about, titled Love Cocoon and written by a little-known Christian band called Vigilantes of Love. One of my college roommates told me about it.

Listen here.

Read the lyrics here.

Here's a quick review from Parting Shot:
Described by Bill [the writer] as "a Biblical Song of Solomon set to a Rolling Stones sort of groove," this song was released as a single off of Slow Dark Train against the wishes of the band. This same song caused the album to be banned from many Christian bookstores.

Watch What?

I primarily have two watches that I use, one of them has a black band and the other a brown one. This is so that they can also be an accessory for my brown and black shoe/belt combinations, because I'm fashionable that way. Unfortunately, my fashion sense ends not too far from there.

Although the battery for my black one died with the hands stuck at 9:15 about 4 months ago, I still keep wearing it as a fashion accessory when I'm wearing my black shoes and belt.

Yes, I have been asked for the time since then and yes, I instinctively still look at it myself with the hopes of finding the correct time.

Boycott This, pt 2

This post is a result of Jen's comment to part 1, because my thought is that when a comment grows to four paragraphs then it should probably just be a post.

I really wasn't trying to point out that California gas is more expensive. That just happened to be the first chart that I came across that broke down the a gallon of gas into its individual cost components. What I was actually trying to show is how very little of the gas price is actually profit for the oil company. It's probably a very similar percentage for all of the other states too. California just has higher taxes and higher processing costs because of the stricter environmental requirements.

I know it sounded like I was trying to criticize people who don't reduce their usage, but to be honest I really don't care much about it. Personally, I carpool mainly to save money. If it helps the environment or decreases the demand then that's just an additional bonus to me. I was mainly speaking to people who complain the loudest, but don't take any action themselves (Al Gore types).

The reason that gas prices increased after Katrina is the same as why they would increase for plywood or fresh water or anything else. I hate to beat a phrase to death, but in a capitalist economy it's either increased supply or decreased demand. "By shutting down 20 percent of the country's oil- refining capacity in a single day - and boosting prices nationwide by more than 45 cents a gallon on average in a week - hurricane Katrina has exposed just how stretched the nation's refineries are. Now industry and Congress are looking at how to boost capacity." [reference].

And yes, gas prices do differ greatly, sometimes even right across the street from each other, which actually helps to further promote several of my points. First of all, that helps to demonstrate that gas companies obviously aren't coordinating their prices. Secondly, that's the glory of a free market economy - you can go wherever the heck you want to get the gas! I personally prefer Chevron because I have talked to several mechanics and other knowledgeable car people who state that their gas is the best for your car (due to the Techron additive). But generally if there are two stations next to each other and one has significantly cheaper gas, then most likely the more expensive station is going to have to lower their prices eventually - otherwise their pumps won't have any cars parked in front of them. That's the beauty of competition for the consumer!

Boycott This

So yesterday was apparently a national gas boycott day. While I didn't fill up my car yesterday, it was only because I still had gas in it. I'm not a big fan of boycotts and I'll tell you why...

Here is a breakdown of what determines the price of a gallon of gas here in California. Scroll down to see the current month.

As you can see by the chart, the oil companies really don't make much profit off of a gallon of gas. And the chart doesn't even show their costs for further research and exploration.

Although it feels much better (and easier) to point the finger at the oil companies and yell phrases like "price gouging", the only real way to make prices go down for any particular product, including gasoline, is to a) add competition b) increase the supply or c) decrease the demand.

Since there are already plenty of oil companies that are competing with each other to get your business, I don't think adding new competition will change anything. And I think the idea of them coordinating together on the prices are ridiculous, especially since there are regulatory bodies in place to ensure that this doesn't happen.

Ways to increase our supply include offshore drilling, exploration in ANWAR, building more refineries, etc. The primary reason that most methods of increasing the supply have not been pursued is because of the strong political pressure of environmentalist groups.

Ways to decrease our demand are basically either a) driving less or b) using more fuel efficient vehicles. Truly, while paying such high gas prices really sucks, in the long run the high cost will cause our consumption to decrease. This is not only because we'll make more efforts to car pool and maybe even ride the bus, but also because manufacturers will continue to make more of a concerted effort to build cars that consume less gas, since people are putting a much higher priority on gas consumption when they purchase a car. This is supply and demand again.

If you really want to point a finger, then I would suggest pointing it at your local environmentalist for not allowing the supply to increase. And maybe yourself for not reducing the demand.