Glendora Ridge Road

Yesterday morning my buddy Kevin and I decided to drive our cars on the famed Glendora Ridge Road. It's a very twisty and curvy mountain road that has very, very few cars and motorcycles. Basically, the route is perfect to test drive the G35's handling and cornering capabilities.



Kevin has been up to GRR a few times with his modified Toyota Cressida and he's been wanting me to take the G up there ever since we got it last year. So I finally obliged yesterday. Conditions were perfect: sunny, clear, and best of all, very few cars to interfere with our fun.

I wasn't used to driving the twisties fast, and so I got a bit nauseated on the first half of the drive. The car handles extremely well and tight around the corners. I am also glad that the car has a safety function that detects when the rear starts to slip (by self-braking). This helped me avoid falling off the cliff.

On the return part of the route I fared much better, except for this one very misleading turn when the slip function activated again and the vehicle dynamic control (VDC) turned on to save my butt.

All in all it was a fun and very exciting drive. I now know that the G35 is a superb handling vehicle that I have the utmost confidence in on sharp cornering and turns.

Whole Grains

Because of a Men's Health article I read several months ago, we have been caught up in integrating more whole grains in our diet. In a nutshell, whole grains are nutrition powerhouses that provide fiber, protein, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, vitamin E, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. Whole grains fight against obesity, cancer, high blood pressure, and heart disease. They are mainly found in whole-grain breads, brown rice, and whole-grain pasta.


Here's a definition.

Here is how I have incorporated whole grains in my diet:

• Breakfast - Frosted Mini-Wheats
• Snack - A handful of multi-grain Wheat Thins with peanut butter or cheese
• Lunch - White rice (will switch to brown rice) or whole-wheat tortilla wraps
• Pre-workout snack - 1 toasted slice of whole wheat bread with peanut butter and honey
• Dinner - White rice again (will switch to brown rice)
  

Resident Evil 4

I'm currently playing Capcom's Resident Evil 4 on the PlayStation 2. So far it's pretty good!

Portfolio Rebalancing

Well, it's that time of year again! Time to rebalance our portfolio. When I rebalance, I follow these tips (from The Wall Street Journal):

1. Lighten up on longtime winners like small stocks, gold shares and real-estate investment trusts.
2. Make sure you have a full weighting of growth stocks, mid caps and international shares -- and don't be too quick to trim your positions if they roar ahead.
3. Save on commission costs and capital-gains taxes by rebalancing with no-load funds inside your retirement account.

How Do You Taste?

You taste like filet mignon. You are the epitome
of fine taste and everyone knows it. You are
expensive, well aged, and in demand!


How do you taste?
brought to you by Quizilla

Top Video Games of All Time

Back in my younger, pre-married days, I played a lot of videogames. 3+ hours per night (even on work nights) and marathon sessions on the weekends were the norm. I sometimes look back on those nights when I absolutely have to beat this one boss and next thing I know, it's light outside. Of course, I can't forget the many nights of Halo and Halo 2 with the guys. Those were the days.

Anyway, here is my personal list of the top ten console-based video games of all time:

1. Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation 1)
2. Halo 2 (Xbox)
3. Super Mario Kart 64 (Nintendo 64)
4. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PlayStation 2)
5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox)
6. Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2)
7. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64)
8. Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
9. Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation 1)
10. God of War (PlayStation 2)

Video Games

While I do not consider myself a true "gamer" (at least, not anymore), I still like to play videogames once in a while. Nowadays, I only play top-rated adventure and role-playing games (and the occasional first-person shooter). I played a handful of games in the past year and so here are my top five:

1. God of War (PlayStation 2)
2. Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox)
3. Karaoke Revolution (Xbox)
4. Jade Empire (Xbox)
5. Fable (Xbox)

My Top Books Of 2005

This year I read about 20 books, ranging in topics such as vampirism, geishas and World War II, parachute kids, wizardry, and the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.

So, my top five books that I read in 2005 are:


1. Memoirs Of A Geisha by Arthur Golden
2. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
4. The Traveler by John Twelve Hawkes
5. The Jasmine Trade by Denise Hamilton

Oh yeah, the book that I read that centered around the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili was the Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason.

Chronicles of Narnia

The current book I am reading is Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Got the whole series from Costco for $12. Anytime a movie based on a book comes out I try to read the book beforehand so I can compare how much the movie stays faithful to the book.

I am reading the third book of the series, The Horse And His Boy.

Incidentally, Lediya and I watched the movie last night and we both enjoyed it. While the movie did not entirely stay true to the book (minor changes here and there), the movie was well done and the CGI elements blended exceptionally well. The climactic final battle, while not on par with other famous movie battles (The battle of the Pelennor Fields or even Helm's Deep, both from the Lord of the Rings), was still fairly impressive.

We recommend reading the book and watching the movie.

Personal Finance

A lesson that was ingrained in me by my parents at an early age was the importance of saving money. I bought my first mutual fund at age 18 and saw it soar in value through college. I also learned the time value of money. The idea that money available at the present time is worth more than the same amount in the future, due to its potential earning capacity. This core principle of finance holds that, provided money can earn interest, any amount of money is worth more the sooner it is received.

I am extremely lucky because Lediya and I believe in the same financial philosophy: save as much as you can as early as you can to take great advantage of the magic of compounding. Compounding, in a nutshell, is basically when interest you have earned on your savings earn interest themselves, thereby increasing your saving's value logarithmically.

Because of our hindsight back in our early twenties, both Lediya and I are in excellent shape for a comfortable retirement.

I just thought I'd share a personal finance book that I read a few years ago. It's called "Get A Financial Life: Personal Finance In Your Twenties and Thirties" by Beth Kobliner. It's a great resource for twenty- and thirty- somethings who need information on a wide variety of topics such as insurance, retirement, investing, home ownership, and taxes. It's a great read.

Depeche Mode

Lediya surprised me last month for my birthday with two tickets for the Depeche Mode concert at the Arrowhead Pond. It was truly an amazing show. The audience consisted mainly of folks in their 30s and 40s, not surprising considering Depeche Mode reached the peak of their success while these same people were in their late teens and 20s.

Depeche Mode played a mix of new songs such as Precious and older songs mainly from Music for the Masses and Violator. It was awesome to see people singing along with their bands to such hits as Enjoy the Silence, World In My Eyes, and Personal Jesus. I actually lost my voice halfway through Behind the Wheel.

While the new material is good, it just does not compare to their old songs. I honestly think that while Martin Gore still writes deep lyrics, the band definitely misses Alan Wilder's musical contributions. (Alan left the band in 1994 due to "professional differences" - mainly he felt that he was not getting enough credit for his contributions).

My personal top five Depeche Mode songs of all time (album):

1. Policy Of Truth (Violator)
2. Strangelove (Music for the Masses)
3. People Are People (Some Great Reward)
4. Walking In My Shoes (Songs of Faith and Devotion)
5. A Question of Time (Black Celebration)
   

All in all, the concert was an absolute blast and I sure was very surprised! Thanks honey!

New PC

Late last month we finally got a new PC. We had been using my friend's Pentium 933 PC for the past year but I finally bit the bullet and decided to get a new PC to serve as the foundation of our digital media. We ended up getting an eMachines T6524 from Best Buy. I had some gift cards that I used towards the purchase and I also used a 10% off coupon. Combined with the additional $50 manufacturer's rebate, our total out of pocket cost for the new PC came out to only $379!

This new PC met all my pre-defined criteria that I wanted. First, it is an Athlon64. So, it would be able to run future 64-bit applications such as Windows Vista. Second, it had 1 GB of RAM (upgradeable to 4 GB). Third, it has a 200 GB hard disk drive, enough space for all our pictures, videos, and music. Fourth, it has a PCI-Express slot, meaning that I can add a dedicated discrete video card later. Last, but certainly not least, it came pre-installed with Microsoft's Windows Media Center OS, which, as I mentioned in my previous post, was critical for us to be able to stream our media across the network to the Xbox.

In the future (when Windows Vista is released), I will add another gigabyte of memory, probably another 250 GB of storage, and a 256 MB video card.

My Workout

So Lediya and I just got back from the local 24 Hour Fitness, and I thought that I would share my current workout. I am in the middle of a three-month cardio-centric routine, so the essence of the workout is obviously to increase my stamina versus build muscle. Assuming that Lediya and I actually go to the gym three days a week (which we have been really good at doing lately), the following is my routine:

• Day 1: Tri-set A (three different workouts, no rest in between) of incline bench press, EZ bicep curls, and dumbbell overhead press. Rest for 2 minutes, repeat for a total of three sets. Tri-set B of lat pulldown, tricep rope press, and V-situps. Rest for 2 minutes, repeat for a total of three sets. The, 15 minutes on the bike alternating between the hill preset and the Kiliminjaro preset. Stretch for 3 minutes, then high intensity interval training on the treadmill (HIIT - all out sprint for 1 minute, rest for 2 minutes, for a total of 5 sprints and 15 minutes).
• Day 2: Tri-set C of flat bench press, hammer curls, and military press. Tri-set D of lat row, weighted dips, and Swiss ball crunch. Same bike and treadmill routines as above.
• Day 3: Failure workout (as many sets as you can until exhaustion) of dumbbell incline press, overhead tricep extension, and preacher curls. Same bike and treadmill routines (with some variations on speed and incline) as above.

While I haven't really lost that much weight (I'm holding steady at 160 lbs, give or take 2 lbs) I feel much healthier. A cardio workout sure does wonders!

Xbox Media Center Extender

As I mentioned in my previous post, I found a way to stream my digital media from our office PC to the main TV. I really wanted to get this done because I was tired of viewing pictures and video on the puny 17" LCD and listening to our music collection through the weak PC speakers. By streaming to the main TV, we are now able to view slideshows on our 32" HDTV and listen to our music on our surround-sound system.


The setup starts with a new PC running Windows 2005 Media Center Edition. This OS enabled me to be able to stream the digital media over the network to a device called a media center extender. Turns out, the Xbox is already one such device, with the help of a $30 add-on called the Xbox Media Center Extender. Setup took about 10 minutes, and shortly after that we were enjoying Depeche Mode over our surround-sound system while viewing a slideshow of our Italian honeymoon. Hallelujah!

March of the Penguins

Lediya and I watched this DVD last night and honestly, it was probably one of the best animal documentaries I have ever seen.

Each year, thousands of emperor penguins abandon the ocean waters and waddle hundreds of miles inland in Antartica. Once at their breeding ground, they find a partner to monogamously mate with. When the female lays an egg, it is passed on to the father, who cares for it (amid 100-mph winds and in temperatures 70 degrees below zero) while the mother makes the brutal walk home, returning two months later with food stored in her belly for her chick. The father, by then starving and cold, heads back to the water and waits to be reunited with the mother and their baby, who follow soon after.

Great movie, highly recommended.

Xbox vs. Xbox 360

So I was really, really sure that I was going to get an Xbox 360 when it came out on November 22. Despite news of shortages and massive demand, I was sure that I was going to get one. So sure that I had decided to put the beloved old Xbox on craigslist and eBay for $150. I mean, I was so excited to get this new gaming machine capable of outputting to my HDTV and to also stream my digital media from my PC.

My plan of attack was to stroll into Costco on my lunch break, happily grab a 360 bundle package for $479 (which includes the Xbox 360 Premium, a USB play and charge kit, an extra wireless controller, and 1 game), and be on my way. I figured who the heck goes to Costco to buy videogames. Boy, was I wrong. Turned out that they only got 24 Xbox 360s and that there were actually a line of people at 6 a.m. Whoops, there goes my plan.

But in hindsight, I'm now glad I didn't drop nearly $500 on the 360. After reading reports of the power supply unit overheating and other initial production problems, I'm glad not to be actually an early adopter. The only thing that I really looked forward to at the start was the media center capabilities of the 360. But, after further research, I realized that the good old original Xbox has also the same capability, albeit with some limitations. See my post on the Xbox Media Center Extender for more details.

So I'll be glad to wait until Costco replenishes their 360 supply (most likely in the spring) or even wait further until the PlayStation 3 arrives (which can mean a price cut for the 360). I'll also be glad to wait until Microsoft fixes that overheating problem. As long as Halo 2 works on the original Xbox, I can definitely wait.

Online Garage Sale

So in the past couple of weeks or so I've been scouring the house to mainly get rid of stuff, and I've truly discovered that a man's trash can be another's treasure. I've sold and/or selling the following items on the ubiquitous online garage sale websites craigslist and of course eBay:

• An old laptop (circa 1998) Pentium 133 with 1 GB hard drive and 48 MB of RAM. I sold it for $25 after fielding close to 25 inquiries! Hmm, maybe I should have sold it for more.
• An Aiwa 3 CD stereo system for $50. The CD did not work anymore but hey, the guy still wanted it.
• An MP3/CD player that is still technologically pretty good, but unfortunately has been made obsolete by tiny little flash players. Selling it on eBay, hoping to fetch at least $25 for it.
• An old snowboard jacket for $10 on craigslist.
• Souvenirs from a Lexus marketing event that Lediya and I went to. The centerpiece of that souvenir is a rare Paul McCartney 2 CD pack that is not sold on stores. On eBay, hoping to net another $25.
• Final Fantasy VIII for the original PlayStation. I've seen other similar games go for $15. Not bad considering that I bought it way back in 1999.
• And scores of other miscellaneous items.

Believe it or not I'm actually having fun. Besides getting rid of junk and freeing up space in the garage, I am making a few bucks too!

USC vs. UCLA

Well, just got finished watching top-ranked USC pummel my beloved Bruins. It was just so sad to see the guys not showing up to play at all. I think they should have run more plays that took advantage of USC's defensive weakness - mainly the secondary. Also, the Bruins, from earlier games in the season, seem to respond better in a hurry-up offense. I feel that the coaching staff should have integrated more play-action pass plays to counter the Trojan linebackers and their constant blitzing.

Now UCLA I guess can look forward to the Sun Bowl while the Trojans meet up with the Longhorns in Pasadena. That national championship game is actually going to be interesting to watch.

I guess I can take solace in the fact that in my years at UCLA (1994 - 1998), I never lost to USC in either basketball or football.

There's always next year! Go UCLA!

Welcome to Paolo's Blog!

Hello! Welcome to the first ever posting of Paolo's Blog! In this space, I will be sharing my thoughts and opinions on a range of topics, from sports, business, finance, technology, careers, food, fitness, cars, and other things.

You may ask, why did I suddenly create this blog? Well, I feel like I just wanted to share my so-called knowledge on a variety of topics, as well as to keep friends and family informed of what's going on with myself and Lediya. So just sit back and enjoy!