New TV

OK, I finally bought a new TV today. I went to Costco and got a Vizio 42" 1080p LCD TV. The price was $1199 but I had a $200 off coupon so it came out to around $1100 with tax. A coworker helped me get the TV and also move my old tube TV off my TV stand so I can setup the new one. It didn't look that big in the warehouse but it's huge inside my tiny living room. I was surprised that it was able to pick up several digital TV stations with my $15 antenna. It also has a VGA port that I'm using right now with my laptop.

I'm pretty happy with it right now. Next I need to decide whether I should get cable or just watch DVD's or stream stuff off the Internet with my computer. Now all I need to do is get rid of this huge box in my living room.

Gospel Brunch

Instead of service yesterday morning, NewSong NOC had a volunteer appreciation event at the House of Blues. Each Sunday, there is a Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney and we reserved almost the entire venue with 170 people.

We were told to arrive at 9am at Downtown Disney even though the doors didn't open until 10am. They decided to have a couple of icebreakers on the 2nd floor patio before the event. The first icebreaker was to swap cell phones with someone you didn't know and look through their contact list for interesting names. My cell phone is the Treo 650 from work which has all ~6000 employees in the contact list. Next, they asked for 2 volunteers from each ministry (worship/sound is part of CAM - Creative Arts Ministry). All the other ministries quickly got volunteers except CAM. We stood around pointing at each other until I got called out by the pastor. Anyway, it turned out to be a eating contest of eating applesauce with a pair of pantyhose over your head. Since April was the other "volunteer", I got to eat while she spoon fed me. Long story short, our team won with the "stuff it as fast as you can in my mouth" strategy, and our prize was a 6 1/2 pound can of applesauce.

Since I was lugging around a huge can of applesauce, I ended up at the back of the line and got in last. By then, there was a long line at the omelet bar so I just got some stuff at the buffet line. The food was decent but I wasn't expecting too much for $30 at a Disney attraction. At around 11am, the band (two vocalists, electric guitar, bass, keys, and drums) came on stage and sang for about 45 minutes. Some pictures from the Treo:


There were quite a few monitors at the front of the stage causing feedback if you're not careful.


Bass player


Female vocalist... the other singer called her his "daughter" but he didn't look very old. Yup, that's a Shure SM58UA wireless microphone.


Audience waving on stage. Notice the singer wiping himself off.

The music was pretty good but a bit loud. There was a lot of sound equipment for the small room. All the band members were wearing a suit but each had a towel for wiping sweat. At my old church, we had to wear a shirt and tie to lead/play on the worship and I would always end up sweating like crazy if I was playing guitar. At the end of the show, they started a dance line and got some audience members on stage.

Does anyone want a large quantity of applesauce?

Chinese Car Crash Test

Sam sent me an article on a crash test in Germany of a Chinese built sedan. As someone commented, "Is the entire car a crumple zone?" I'll bet the Chinese car manufacturer never crash tested the car. Why waste a perfectly good car?!


Amazing... the entire car almost folds in half in a 40mph collision.


For comparison, here is a Renault hitting the barrier at 40mph.

CTIA asks for presidential veto of ITC Qualcomm ban

NEW YORK, June 20 (Reuters) - CTIA, the U.S. trade group representing the wireless industry, on Wednesday asked U.S. President George W. Bush to veto a government agency ban on the importation of some phones with Qualcomm Inc. chips.

The Bush administration has 60 days to review the International Trade Commission's ban on U.S. imports of new high-speed wireless phones with Qualcomm chips the trade agency said infringe on a Broadcom Corp patent. The ban exempted phone models that had already been imported by June 7.

CTIA said in a letter to Bush that the ban would freeze innovation, cause economic disruption including job losses, and adversely affect public safety and the competitiveness of the country's telecom industry.

The letter, signed by CTIA President Steve Largent, cited expert predictions that high-speed wireless services would account for half of wireless growth in the next five years and generate two to three million jobs over the next decade.

Qualcomm and Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc have also said they would push for a veto of the decision.

Some thoughts...

1. Why does the president get a veto? This is all about money. Qualcomm can settle with Broadcom tomorrow if they wanted but they're afraid that they'll need to renegotiate or be sued by all their other licensees. The CTIA letter is full of crap. The only thing in jeopardy is Qualcomm's profits.

2. Hmm... Broadcom is not a member of CTIA. Why not?

3. Steve Largent? Ex-wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks?

康熙来了

Since the two Korean variety shows I used to watch on YouTube are cancelled, I've been watching 康熙来了. There are two hosts and they invite celebrities on the show and talk about a particular topic. I'm pretty sure it's from Taiwan; I can understand most of what they say so no need for English subtitles!

This show has four female guests and they are going to see what is in each person's purse. Supposedly the producers went out and "hijacked" their purses before the show so the guests can't remove embarrassing stuff. The two on the right (nearest the male host) are models and I think the other two are hosts on other shows.


Part 1 of 5
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

They all seem to carry a lot of stuff around with them. The tall, dark model (2nd from the right) is 王麗雅. The female host, all the way on the left, is 徐熙娣 or 小S (little-S; her older sister is big-S). I saw her picture in Chengdu on billboards and buses, advertising some cosmetics products.

Cucumber Soda?

Bottles of Pepsi Ice Cucumber are on display at a convenience store in Tokyo Wednesday, June 13, 2007.

Worship

I'm playing bass on the worship team for NewSong NOC this weekend. We're short on worship leaders so Irene is leading again. She picked two songs from Hillsong United with similar bass parts with lots of 1/16th notes. My right forearm was about to cramp during rehearsal Friday so I'm bring a heavy guitar pick (gasp!) with me.

Stanley Cup

I heard at work that Scott Neidermeyer brought the Stanley Cup to his kid's graduation ceremony Thursday night. I guess they each get to spend a few days with the Cup and he's first. I also heard rumors that Henry may get the Cup today or tomorrow (that seems pretty early for the owner) and he may bring it to work. Hmm, I need to bring my camera and walk by his office more often.

June 4th

18 years ago today

愛相隨 Chords & Lyrics

Someone requested this in a comment. I had to work out some of the chords myself so I'm not sure it 100% correct. The final chorus modulates up a half-step to C#. Blogspot didn't let me put the chords over the right lyrics so you'll have to figure out the chord changes yourself.

Not sure if this is something you want to sing to your girlfriend though...


KTV (C#)

C Em Am F G C C7
別想你 忍不住我提醒自己 傷了心 有些事也要過去
F G C Am F G C G
心很痛 痛得不想再做我自己 別回頭 情已去 緣已盡

C Em Am F G C C7
很想你 也不是因為失去你 愛了你 用盡我全心全力
F G E Am F Dm7 G
一生情 只為這一次與你相遇 情難了 難再續 難再醒

C Am F G
人分飛 愛相隨 那怕用一生去追
Em Am F G
我又怎麼能追得回 與你相慰
C Am F G
我為你癡 為你累 風雨我都不後悔
Em Am
我又怎麼有路可退
F G C
曾經深情 你給了誰

很想你 也不是因為失去你 愛了你 用盡我全心全力
一生情 只為這一次與你相遇 情難了 難再續 難再醒

人分飛 愛相隨 那怕用一生去追
我又怎麼能追得回 與你相慰
我為你癡 為你累 風雨我都不後悔 我又怎麼有路可退
我如何面對

人分飛 愛相隨 那怕用一生去追
我又怎麼能追得回 與你相慰
我為你癡 為你累 風雨我都不後悔 我又怎麼有路可退
曾經深情 你給了誰