Be Prepared



Visual Portrayal of Being Prepared.

A tribute to Kwame Brown

There are many people in the NBA who suck and fans love to have them on their team because they suck. Mark Madsen and Brian Scalabrine are some good examples. UCLA had this Asian guy named Kelvin Kim that we would always want to be put into the game in the 4th quater because it's like using a human as a victory cigar. But those guys are lucky because they aren't expected to contribute to a team's wins. Kwame Brown on the other hand was the number one pick. He actually did okay his first two years with the Wizards. But as expectations soared, his mind and testicular fortitude shriveled up. No one follows him anymore because now he plays for the scrubby Charlotte Bobcats. Now that nothing is expected of him, he's actually putting up decent numbers of 10/10 (some pretty good fantasy stats).

But anyway, I was looking through my favorited videos on my youtube account and I found some Kwame stuff. These two are his highest and lowest points that I remember watching live. Both of these videos are from the same season, because I remember watching both of these games with my friend Joseph in my 2nd year dorm room.


I wish they didn't edit this video, because he had the ball for four straight possessions and they were either missed layups or turnovers. I've never seen a player booed by their own fans ever! I don't know what's more dumb, the fact that Kwame keeps trying when he's off, or the fact that the Lakers keep feeding him the ball. Blame it on the triangle offense, the ball will find it's way to the open man -__-


My reaction: HOLYY... My friend's reaction: dude look how happy Kobe is!
0:20 "yee my butterfingers just slipped through yo defense son"

Sunday Thoughts

Breaking News

unbelievable shots

watch this 2 minute video of Euro basketball. The commentator is so bewildered he loses his voice.

Fashion & Lifestyle for Ballers: Tips, Tricks, & Discussion [3]

It only took me four months to post this continuation of Topic #2.

Topic #2 (2 of 2): The Engineering behind your Suits.

Last time we talk about what color of suits you should wear or at least keep in your closet for special occasion.

Part 2 will cover briefly:

1. Suit and Pant Sizes
2. Suit Vents
3. Lapel (What is a Lapel????)
4. Buttons and Zipper
5. Fabric

These different sub topics will assist you in buying your first suit(s) and/or add on to what you don't already know about your suit(s)

1. Suit sizes
So let's make this clear, suit coat comes in sizes and they are measured by the size of your chest in the US (inches), but in Europe the sizes reflect the value from shoulder to shoulder (centimeter). European sizes in my opinion is superior than how the US define the suit sizes. The reason why is because most of the time you look for a suit, the number one rule of thumb is that it should fit your shoulder snugly. This is because it is more difficult to change your shoulder size than your chest.

US: 36, 38, 40, 42, etc. (Even numbers are most common at your department store and odd number like size 37 are a little bit more difficult to find, but do exist.)

Europe: 46, 48, 50, 52, etc. (When American store goes by European measurement, to get the size your looking for add 10 to the US measurement. But this method is flawed since the measurement doesn't translate to inches very well. An example:

A size 46 in Europe will appear to be looser than a size 36 in America. Take 36 inches = 91.44 cm and divide by two, so 45.72 cm. So it is slightly smaller than what was marked on the suit tag. Reason why European clothes might be slimmer than American/China made clothes.

For suit pants, sizes are the same as any other pair of pants (jeans, khakis, etc.). I'm sure you know these sizes already, but for those who don't buy their own pants, they come in waist by inseam (measurement from your crotch to bottom side of your ankle) sizes. Some stores will just go by waist size and it is inferred that the inseam is 32 inches.

US: 28, 29, 30, 31, etc. (in inches for both waist and inseam)

Europe: 71, 76, 81, 86, etc. (in centimeters for both waist and inseam)

How to convert? Take US inches and multiply by 2.54 (cm/in) get your European size.

If you go to a tailor, they will do several measurements (arm length, shoulder to shoulder, chest, waist, inseam, to get you a more tailored suit. However, prices will be over 9000 more than suits you buy off a rack without extra tailoring. It's actually a couple hundred dollars more. Tailor will measure these values for your suit, won't go into detail.

What are R, S, and L next to suit sizes mean? R = Regular, S = Short, and L = Long. This is referring to the sleeve length of your suit. Usually these length are used by department store selling suit, a real tailored suit will have no such letter next to the size. Refer to image below for department store sizing:

2. Suit Vents

Several suit types to notice why looking for your first.
No Vent, Center Vent, or Double Vent

Double Vented style is common and preferred in Europe, Center Vent common and preferred in the United States, and No Vent is uncommon but do exist. Some good things regarding double vent, it allow the suit to stay straight and in shape when you put your hands in your pocket. But, some people hate the Double Vent, because when you sit your suit tail get all wrinkled up and in your way. This is a reason why American prefer the Center Vented suit over the Double Vented. With the Center Vented suit, when you sit down your suit is allowed to fall down your sides rather than being squeeze between the chair and your gluts. But a drawback is that when you put your hands in your pocket, the suit vent can open showing your bottom. The No Vented suit style, gets the worst of the two.

3. Lapel

A lapel is the folded flap on the front of your suit jacket that travel upward (in a V-shape) from the first button of your suit to your collar. There are three different type of lapels for your suit, notched, peaked (sharp pointed), or shawl, most suit coat are notched (standard). The trend nowaday is to go toward a slimmer more narrow lapel, roughly 2.5 inches versus 3.0 inches in width (some of course are >3.0 inches).

Some lapel do have a button hole on the left side, I'm not 100% what this is for, but I have used it to pin down a flower during weddings.

4. Buttons and Zipper

Usually suits come in either two or three buttons, unless you are getting a peacoat style suit jacket (4 or 6 buttons). Even then, half of the buttons are for decoration and not use to fasten the jacket together. One thing to note about buttons on your suit, often you don't button up the bottom most button. This is because if you do and try to sit down you can't spread your legs out comfortably enough or risk wrinkle your suit near the crotch location.

The buttons (usually 3 or 4) on the sleeve of your suit jacket are for decoration and serve no functional purpose. It was once useful by in the days, but fashion kept on changing and their purpose was forgotten and most people don't know or care to change what was already a part of the suit.

For buttons on your pants, most suit have two hooks and no buttons at all to secure your pants. Some suit will have a main button and a hook on the inside for extra support. The fastening varies with designer and stores.

For zipper, rule of thumb, if your zipper is plastic on your suit pant then you have a low quality suit. Look at the label, probably made in china. I notice this on my pant suit a year after I bought and got it tailored. Don't make this mistake.

5. Fabric

Usually most suits are made with wool, some retailer like to throw in summer fabric like cotton and linen, which are acceptable in today's trend. They also come in many patterns: pinstripe, plaid, floral, etc. (anything you name they have it). I believe they have a camo pattern...

Be aware of some retailer who jack up their prices because they claim that the fabric come from Italy and/or made in Italy. Usually designer brand will carry this Made in Italy, unknown brand that you see at 3 Suits for $129 will probably say Made in China. Just be careful at what you buy, suits are a big investment and I witness the power it has on my very own job interview this past September. Questions?

Sports Cars.

A thought just ran through my mind as was looking at pictures of my next car, I've got a pretty counter eco friendly taste in cars. For most people out there it'd probably be something along the lines of a hybrid or highly fuel efficient car, and even though i am guilty of wanting cars in these categories, nothing has really sparked my interest like a nice mid-size SUV. Gah, the mileage might not agree but dang, something about driving an SUV that makes life easier. Not just that, SUVs look pretty beast. GMC recently released a new model and oh my goodness do I want!

The GMC Terrain.
yummy!

Don't be fooled by how badass it looks, this is a Mid Size SUV, Roughly the same size as the Infiniti Qx4 (which I drive). 3 Liter V6 260hp! VROOM VROOM VROOOOOM! It gets about 22city/34hwy with it's 4cylinder model so i'm guessing it'll be about 19city/30hwy on it's V6 model.  Dang, there's something about it's design that just screams out my name, probably cause it looks like it's covered in armored. Built my own full package model using the GMC website and it'll cost me about $35,000 tax included. But of course, I'm not going to get a new car until my baby dies in another 160k miles!

Power! More Power!
-j.Frosty

Yet Another Label

BiA has 464 posts. Actually a little less, since some are unpublished drafts. But only 58 of them belong to the category "Not Frosty or Mac". Looks like a small minority own a large chunk of the voice of BiA. And with this post the rich keep getting richer. Jon we need to get ready for "Occupy BiA" protests...

Some quotes from fiesta weekend

"For girls to do this fashion show, they need to have pride in themselves. For boys to be in this, they need to have NO pride."

"Those carnies have dark skin, but look how blue their eyes are! It's like they're Anastasia. They were born into royalty, what happened?!"

"Tootsie Roll?"

Where does the mind end and the soul begin?

I started wondering where does the soul begin (physically and temporally), and when does it end? I've found this topic to be very interesting to me. And it's something that's always been in the back of my mind as I've studied biology and religion. And after years of pondering, I think I have my answer.

One of my favorite passages from the Bible describes God molding us in the womb, like a potter with a clay masterpiece. And it says before we were formed, God knew us. It's such a beautiful message, and it leaves me with no doubt that the soul is created before we were physically made, and put into our human form at the moment of conception.

We don't have any memories as a baby, and I'd say that babies can't think rationally. Any actions are probably out of instinct, like crying when they need something. Does that mean that the soul inside us is worthless as a baby? I'd say no. Humans consist of two properties: the flesh and the spirit. Our soul is timeless and makes up our spirit. Our mind (and being able to think) is part of the flesh along with the body.

Here's how I define the difference between our mind and soul. The mind is part of the flesh and not the spirit because some are born with genetic deficiencies, and others have debilitating injuries. For example injuries to specific parts of the brain will cripple some specific aspect of rational ability such as long term memory, being able to recognize faces, being able to understand sounds as words, being able to understand written characters as words, etc. It's painfully clear to me that our ability to think is confined to the here (physical) and now (temporal). Some people want to believe that their memories and rationality are eternal; that their mind is more than their body. I used to want to believe that too, but I can't deny what I've learned in neuroscience. For example... sometimes you smell something and you get a random memory. It may not be a flashback, but you get a feeling of an emotion from some time in your life. Sometimes when I use Clearasil, the scent gives me emotions and excitement of being a teenager again. The reason this happens is because the area of your brain that processes smell is related to the amygdala, the part of your brain that is in charge of emotion and memory. Speaking of which... do you wonder why women have better memory of fights and "keeping points" than men in a relationship? They are more emotional, which hyperactivates this part of the brain. Almost anything we think or feel can be explained by neuroscience. Our minds are always changing, it can't be the eternal soul. Tomorrow you will be a different person physically and mentally than you are today. It's only the soul that is the same. Therefore I believe the soul, being eternal, is separate from our ability to reason.

I would define the soul as the part of us that chooses whether to sin or not. This leaves no excuses for our behavior. You can't say you aren't liable for beating up someone due to roid rage or PMS, you still have a choice. The mind allows us to weigh the factors on a decision, and the soul is the final decider. When we sin, we know it, and in that moment we would rather do the sin rather than follow God's rules. The idea of a "conscience" is the part of our soul that tells our mind whether something is right or wrong. Our soul gets judged by God at the end of our lives. God may be tough, but he is fair. God judges us on what we know, what we choose, and every little factor.

As an example to show the difference between mind and soul, what happens to a person that gets severely damaged in the head and loses most of their intelligence? Of course the "mind" takes a nosedive, but the soul is still there and still the same. Their ability to do great things in life is gone, but so is the ability to commit horrible evils. Their range of behavior is greatly restricted, but they can still choose to do good or bad within those restrictions.

This goes back to my earlier point that a soul is judged based on what a person knows and the conditions they are in. In math terms, it's not the absolute value but the relative value. Of course an adult can do more absolute good in the world than a child, but who loves God more? A child can glorify God by loving their parents and laughing. They are without sin. Their relative rate loving God is 100% and it can't go any higher. Whereas an adult could be a good Catholic but still only love God at 25% of what they are capable of. Who is greater? The child is. I think that's what Jesus meant when he said we must be like children to enter God's kingdom. The relative rate is what matters, the mental capability does not matter. For example, Saint Ignatius (founder of the Jesuits) was more intellectual than Saint John Vianney (who struggled through seminary). But they are both saints because they gave 100% in their own ways.

Some people say life isn't fair. I'd agree, but I would phrase it as life is random. We don't get to pick our physical bodies. But that doesn't mean you can't work out to be in as best shape as you can. In the same way, we aren't given equal intelligence and reasoning, but that doesn't mean we can't try our best to glorify God with our lives.

Our soul is the part of us that reaches out for God. It doesn't matter the state of our mind or reasoning, what we do with what we can do is all that matters. For example, Pope John Paul II spent the last years of his life mentally wasting away due to Alzheimer's Disease (and also Cha Nghiem). As their mental capabilities eroded, do you think they loved God any less? Of course not, if anything their love increased.

Another difference is that we can only attain faith through the soul, not the mind. Faith comes to the soul through the Holy Spirit as a grace. There's no way to find God through reason (aka science). In my opinion, years of philosophy and theology will never give the same happiness and inspired purpose as a simple sight at the beauty of nature. I will never argue with an atheist that God is in nature. I'm just saying that these are the little tidbits that God graces us with. It's these little things our souls tell us that God exists. And then we have the free will to follow God or not.

So when does our soul depart our body (and mind)? Some probably think when our mind is gone. But I think the soul stays there, even with mental degradation. It only leaves when we're dead, mentally and bodily. So even if someone transforms into a vegetable, their soul does not lose value. And since our souls are connected to bodies while we're alive, the value of a life is infinite no matter how bad it gets. We need to leave it to God to decide when a life starts and ends.

I'm not really trying to prove a point, I wrote this just because it was something of an "Ah hah!" moment for me, and I wanted to share my thoughts. But if you're looking for something to satisfy you after reading this long post, I would say I just made my case against abortion and euthanasia. But for someone who doesn't believe in God or souls, this argument wouldn't matter.

Here's something else that I'm curious about. If I have Alzheimer's and die and go to heaven, what state of mind will I have? Will I be at my most intelligent? Or will I be simple? To answer this, I bring up another common question that has a good answer. If a good man remarries after his first wife dies, who will he be with as his wife in heaven? The answer is neither. He will be see both of him, but heaven is about happiness due to being with God. Earthly things don't matter. All three will be infinitely happy, but not because of each other. Similarly I think when we die, we will be blessed with not only God's love but God's wisdom. We will understand everything. And so we'd probably be more knowledgeable and wiser than we ever were on earth.

Memiors of a [Man] Geisha 10/7-10/9 2011

Friday: Halloween Horror Night

Who: Phi, Eric, Bryan, Khoa, Ceci, & I.
When: 7pm Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. 8:30pm Universal Studios Halloween Horror Night.
Where: Universal Studios.
Why: To have fun and pee our pants.

Summary: So much fun! Enjoyed my first burger at Hard Rock Cafe, yummy =]. & Then had fun going around Universal Studios getting surprised. So many memorable moments, "Noooooo! Mommy, Don't do it" I want a gillie suit now =P.
Khoa: "He's Real"
Bryan: *looks closely* "Ahhhhhhh, Oh hoh yes!" *as the zombie jumped up at him*


Saturday: Man's Lan Day


Who: Bryan, Andrew, Khoa, Tony, Aaron, Michael, Bao, Andy, Chris, & I
When: All day
Where: Bryan's House
Why: For the spirit of good competitive nerding out.

Summary: Booo Beep Beep Boo (R2D2). Had a lot of fun playing star craft brood war and counter strike 1.6. Twas a long overdue lan party. We learned many things that day such as Bao is the greatest sniper to ever play CS ;). You girls definitely need to have a Tea Party, don't make us throw it for you guys. Anyways, can't wait till our next lan party sometime over Christmas Break! Weeeeeeeee!

Sunday: Thieu Nhi & Fashion Show Practice

You know the who, when, where, and why.
Quick Summary: Made a massive amount of sandwiches for lunch. No white board ergo no Sunday thoughts. Found Tony's infamous rick james wig from so many years ago. Fun >=]

Things to come!
Friday: Chi Li's House for fashion show practice, dinner, and fiesta food preparation/help.
Saturday: Help at the Fiesta for several fun cultural hours.
Sunday: Thieu Nhi and shenanigans. 

Financial News
Chase Credit Card: Apply for a card and receive $250 back when you spend at least $500 in the first three months as well as reward points if you link your credit card to a chase checking account.
Discover Card: Earn DOUBLE Cashback Bonus during the month of your Birthday!


I want a bullpup =[
-J.frosty


Random Word of the Month

Fart and Dart




Verb:
To fart and leave others to enjoy the fumes.

"I like to Fart and Dart in the grocery store. It's awesome to see the expressions when people walk through the cloud with their mouths wide open."

the adsearch is becoming intelligent

i always laugh when i see these types of ads on here:
















On another note... I tend to see alot of gay advertisements on my facebook. Not stupid advertisements, but gay ads. As in Yes Homo. Does facebook know something I don't?

solar powered lights... literally

saw this on a friend's FB wall, I think this is awesome. Refraction, you've done it again!

Nasty, but funny?

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=cb3bedc4-8a55-4883-a621-0d9119cb2ee3" target="_new" title="">Strangers in Danger: Octopus delight</a>

Sunday Thoughts

WHAT IS IT!? By.JFrosty & Mac
You wanna know what happened during the meeting? BiA-TV has your latest scoop

This one's for Jon

... but all of you guys should watch this video too. it's highlights of the 2nd half of the 2008 Olympic gold medal game between USA and Spain. I remember watching this live, I hadn't jumped and cheered like this since I was in middle school. The game had so much tension. This was the "redeem" team because in 2004 the US failed to win gold for the first time. And Spain was out there to prove that they weren't going to be bossed around by a big nation (and hearing how racist Spaniards are, the fans probably had a racial motivation for wining).

Spain definately had better screens and passing, but the US had KOBE. I swear, even if you hate Kobe, you will have to admit the US had a good chance of losing without Kobe in the 4th. The plays in this game are so amazing that I had to do a rewind on almost half of them. You really don't know how Gasol got alley-oops watching live. A replay shows that there was two screens to set it up! So beautiful!

This game did much to increase basketball's popularity around the world. The two teams were from the Americas and Europe, and the game was in Asia (and alot of the players were African - oh hoh hoh yess!) I hope this inspired some kids to pick up a basketball over a soccerball.