State of the Union, Pro Bowl, lots of happenings....

This last week was a busy eventful week. We had the State of the Union address and the Pro Bowl. Now some will say that both were not very interesting, others would say the opposite. I will just give a brief though on each of the two and then more info on what else happened this past week. 

State of the Union address

I do have to say, I wasn't originally going to watch it, but a friend talked me into watching it. Hawaii had the fortunate opportunity to watch it twice (if one so choose to) since it broadcast live here at 1600 HST, so pretty much when people were getting off of work and then stuck in traffic. I believe we could also watch it during prime time. I watched the live broadcast on cnn.com. The only thing wrong with CNN was that the video occasionally froze and I had to refresh the page. If you did not see the broadcast and haven't read or seen the video yet, you can find it HERE. That link takes you to the White house page with the speech written out, and also a link to the video. 

The address itself I would have to say was a motivational speech, given to hopefully inspire Congress and also Americans to get their butts into gear and do something this year (and years to follow). So tax cuts, is the point to just get money into the American's back pocket or to try to save the economy. Don't get me wrong, I know very little about this, but how does tax cuts help with the federal budget. Why would it be smart to lower the income that is received. Isn't the whole point of a budget is the attempt to come out black instead of red? Any basic engineer that knows how to do a balanced equation knows this. I would even go as far as saying that the economist know this as well. 

Since production facilities in American have cut down the jobs from 1000 to 100, how are we going to create jobs in the industrial field? Do we build more plants, or will we continue to out source our work to other countries, countries that President Obama stated have "realized that with some changes of their own, they could compete in this new world." In that same line of thought, President Obama then goes on to state, "And so they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science.  They’re investing in research and new technologies.  Just recently, China became the home to the world’s largest private solar research facility, and the world’s fastest computer." I want to focus on the part that "they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science."Where is America in focus in math and science? 

To answer this, I would like to refere to Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5 prepared for the Presidents of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medice. The report can be found HERE which takes you to a free PDF. Excerpts from the Executive Summary on pages 7-12 give some factoids on where the US stands now. Below are some of the factoids that can be found: 

A Few Factoids

• Thirty years ago, ten percent of California’s general fund went to higher education and three percent to prisons. Today, nearly eleven percent goes to prisons and eight percent to higher education.
• The United States now ranks 22nd among the world’s nations in the density of broadband Internet penetration and 72nd in the density of mobile telephony subscriptions.
• In 2009, 51 percent of United States patents were awarded to non- United States companies.
• The World Economic Forum ranks the United States 48th in quality of mathematics and science education.
• Of Wal-Mart’s 6,000 suppliers, 5,000 are in China.
• There are sixteen energy companies in the world with larger reserves than the largest United States company.
• No new nuclear plants and no new petroleum refineries have been built in the United States in a third of a century, a period characterized by intermittent energy-related crises.
• Only four of the top ten companies receiving United States patents last year were United States companies.
• United States consumers spend significantly more on potato chips than the government devotes to energy R&D.
• In 2000 the number of foreign students studying the physical sciences and engineering in United States graduate schools for the first time surpassed the number of United States students.
• Federal funding of research in the physical sciences as a fraction of GDP fell by 54 percent in the 25 years after 1970. The decline in engineering funding was 51 percent.
• GE has now located the majority of its R&D personnel outside the United States.
• Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is now lower than when the first personal computer was built in 1975.
• In the 2009 rankings of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation the U.S. was in sixth place in global innovation-based competitiveness, but ranked 40th in the rate of change over the past decade.
• China has now replaced the United States as the world’s number one high-technology exporter.
• China has a $196 billion positive trade balance. The United States’ bal- ance is negative $379 billion.
• Sixty-nine percent of United States public school students in fifth through eighth grade are taught mathematics by a teacher without a degree or certificate in mathematics.

Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. This summary plus thousands more available at http://www.nap.edu

And now people wonder why President Obama said that China has surpassed us. Ok, enough of politics and what not. The only other comment I have is that President Obama encouraged Congress both Republicans and Democrats do to something, but never really said what HE was going to do to improve things on a larger scale with a definable position and action plan. 

Pro Bowl

As some of you watched this weekend, the Pro Bowl was here in Hawaii. Now, the weekend festivities and the week really before the Pro Bowl saw an increase in the amount of large SUVs (that are normally seen on the mainland for football players) increased exponentially it seemed. Crazy parties and fans were all over Waikiki. I was down in Waikiki on Saturday and ended up going to the Pro Bowl Block party. Why not? I don't know when the next Pro Bowl is going to be in Hawaii along with it really is something different that happened on the island. The block party was really more like 8 blocks down in Waikiki. The party started officially at 7pm, but the street was closed at 5pm and the vendors had mostly set up by 5:30pm. Food vendors and ware vendors were both there. Most interesting, but also not very surprising was that a lot of the ware vendors and some of the food vendors that I have seen around the island before marked up their prices just to make a killer profit off of everyone down there at the party. 

It was pretty packed down at the block party. The picture on the left is at one of the entrances to the blocked off area. The picture on the right was at the ESPN stage between their interviews. I do have to say that in pretty much all of their (boring) interviews, they were more concerned about asking the interviewee more about who would win the Super Bowl rather than the Pro Bowl game. I guess that's how it goes. There were also random NFL light balloons down the street as seen below. They were actually pretty cool. 

I do think the part that most people wanted to see were the Pro Bowl Cheerleaders. Granted I didn't get a good picture of them since no flash, them moving, etc. They did end up walking in front of me at one point when they were traveling from one stage to the next. Security guard/body guard at the front of the line and the back of the line. Pretty entertaining to watch. 

Lastly, being from Denver, Miles (Denver Bronco's Mascot) ended up flying out to Hawaii to see me ;) j/k. No, really though, Miles and I are good friends now. He is a very affable mascot taking pictures with everyone, dancing and showing off the moves on stage, etc. Stanley Da Bear on the other hand (Chicago Bears' Mascot) decided that he would sneak up on me and then "choke" me. Haha, you can see in the two pictures him sneaking up on me and Miles and then him "choking" me. Sadly, my friend's finger was also featured in the Stanley attacking me picture, blocking out Miles. 

I did not go to the Pro Bowl itself, but drove past the "Official" location of the tail gate party. I also tried to stay away from the Aloha Stadium area due to the increase of traffic, crazy drivers, and drunk people. The game itself was pretty boring as well, with the AFC prolonging the game in the final minutes. Football players are pretty apathetic. It will be interesting to see if they go on a lockout with the NFL. 

Other events

I had a friend that came out here to visit another one of his friends and also me. He stayed with his friend on Wednesday and Thursday and then stayed with me on Friday and Saturday. When he was with me, I picked him up from Kailua. Since his friend did not have a car, I decide to take the long way back to my place (and to also avoid the horrible traffic since it was rush hour). We took the northern route, pretty much up the Windward Coast, to the North Shore, and back down through Central Oahu. He got to see pretty much 70% of the island on that drive. We went to the worship night at my church. Good times, although I wish that they would intermix some "modern" worship songs into the set, but still good overall. The church provided hot dogs, chili, and rice. It was a good meal as well. 

Saturday morning we went to the USS Arizona Memorial. Now I haven't been there in a while and a lot has changed since I last was there. They have upgraded the visitor buildings and have made the place really nice. The actual memorial is a very somber place and it is great that those that survived the USS Arizona and attack on Pearl Harbor are being remembered with their fallen comrades. 

The memorial has been made into a larger memorial that includes the USS Oklahoma and the USS Utah Memorials, both of which are located on Ford Island. Those two other battleships sunk during the bombing. Those that do not know what the USS Arizona Memorial looks like, it is the white structure to the right in the picture below. The battleship to the left in the same picture is the USS Missouri, where the Japanese surrendered to the United States.

There is still oil leaking from the USS Arizona and you can see the oil sheen in the picture above. The entire battleship is still in the harbor, although the mast and the con tower have been removed. Some of the ship went to Arizona to be displayed there. The rest of the ship that was removed is somewhere in a temperature controlled facility under lock and key. Don't ask where, because I don't know where it is. The park ranger stated that fact and you have to know someone very high up to get a peak at it. Every day there is a different American flag that is flown above the monument. Colors are at 0800. 

SUP and hiking

As I stated before in an earlier post that I would learn how to Stand Up Paddle board (SUP), I actually got around to doing that this weekend. This weekend was actually a really nice weekend to learn on the south side of the island. There was relatively little wind when we started and barely any waves. Later on in the morning, the wind started to pick up. You don't really realize it that much, but the wind does play a big role when you are trying to balance on a board. So, if you have good balance, SUP is much easier that if you don't have any balance. Obvious you say, and to some people it is, some just think they can jump on and be off in a matter of minutes. Granted, depending on the board you pick and the design of the board, you might be able to do that, but if you pick a board that is more challenging, well lets just say that you will be getting wet really fast.

So board length, width, and thickness all play a role in the balance of the board. You say that is obvious (mostly obvious to engineers) but there are some that this is a revelation. Anyways, the longer thicker and wider the board, the more stable (in general) it will be. The length plays a role, but I think the other two play a bigger role. The length of the paddle also matters. Well this is just to not hurt yourself while you are paddling. Now, when paddling, you can either be standing up, on your knees, or just sitting on the board. The lower your center of gravity, the easier it is to stay balanced.

I will admit that I did fall in a few times. Probably has to do with using a less stable board which was more challenging, but I still made it work. I also fell in once when someone ran into me on their board. That was pretty exciting. I also fell in a few times when the wind started picking up and threw off my balance. Like I mentioned before, you underestimate the power of the wind. I know I did and fell in a few times because of that. Overall SUP is really nice and relaxing. I will definitely do it again and work on turning and just paddling technique. I didn't get any pictures this time, but hopefully next time I can get some pictures.

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I also went hiking afterwards in the afternoon, although I should pick a hike that isn't as muddy next time. The hike in general wasn't that bad. I hiked the Upper Waimano Trail and the Lower Waimano Trail. Well technically it is a loop in a way. I hiked the Upper Waimano Trail going in and came back on the Lower Waimano Trail.

The Upper Waimano Trail is dry and has more red dirt than its lower counterpart. One reason is because of the stream that is at the bottom of the "valley". Back to the upper trail. Some of the views from the upper trail were pretty amazing. You could just see the wonderful green in the valley contrasting also with the dry red dirt. Over all, the climate in this part of the hike was nice. The view from the "top" of the trail was pretty nice. You could see the out to Kapolei and parts of Ewa. You could also see parts of Mililani. 

As you transition from the upper trail to the lower trail, there is a big change in the scenery, the temperature, and the climate on the trail. As you start descending it becomes more of a jungle or rainforest feel. The humidity goes way up and unfortunately the mosquitoes come out and start feasting on you, the hiker. I found this out first hand by all the mosquito bites I now have all over my legs and legs. The trail also got quite muddy the further down in elevation that I went. Along the way though, the plants started to get much greener and more dense.

At the bottom of the trail, there was a stream and a nice pond that was formed because of strategic placement of rocks. It actually was quite peaceful down there, minus the mud and the mosquitoes. I almost got through this hike without getting mud on me, but I failed again in that. Maybe next time. I guess walking through chest high grasses and narrow trails gives ample opportunity to get mud on yourself. I also forgot to mention that I saw some hunters with their hunting dogs. They were out to try to find some wild pigs. I feel that there is a trend starting in that a lot of the "hiking" trails double as hunting areas on the island. Not that it is bad, I just hope I don't run into a wild pig....well a wild pig that is pissed off and starts charging me. Although, that would make a great story.

I was quite lazy on Sunday though. I pretty didn't do much except go to church, to Costco, and then read some books. I did actually go and get something for my cousin though. Granted, I originally went out to get some Scotch tape. I went out to get Scotch tape because when i was preparing to send out some letter, the envelopes that I got about 2 months ago, well the adhesive self sealed. Yes, humidity......I didn't have to worry about this while I lived in Colorado. We don't have enough humidity to worry about that. So yeah, I went to get some tape so I could make sure the enveloped stayed sealed when it was mailed. I also decided to get something for my cousin which she requested.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that most of you don't know what a musubi maker is or what spam musubi is. Anyways she wanted a mold that would help make spam musubi easier. So spam musubi is basically a slice of spam sandwiched between rice and rapped with nori (seaweed). It actually isn't really hard to make at all. You of course don't have to use spam with this mold, you can place pretty much anything you want between the layers of rice. I now challenge you to try some spam. (I would suggest to try it with something instead of just cold turkey.)

Da Jesus Book

So one of my housemates got one the of the best books that I have seen. She found a Bible (Da Jesus Book) in Hawaii Pidgin. It's interesting to see that Wycliffe has decided that Hawaii Pidgin has enough cultural difference and language that like other languages, the Bible is translated into said language from the Greek. For those that don't know what Hawaii Pidgin is or how it sounds/reads, see the except below. The except is of John 3:16, so if you can't understand it, you can make the comparison with a translation that you can understand. 

I believe Wycliffe is in the works of translating the Old Testament. I think I have found my way to learn Hawaii Pidgin. It is interesting for sure. So, those that have heard me say that it is sometimes hard to understand the locals here, now you know why it is hard to understand them. Just imagine them speaking fast with this English "grammar". 

Hiking

So I went hiking this weekend at Pupukea public hunting area (on my three day weekend), yes it's weird having those since I never got those at Mines, up on the North Shore of Oahu. First off the drive is pretty nice, although the ocean was muddy up to about 100 yrd from the shore. We have had a lot of rain the last few weeks and the run off from the "mountains" have caused the brown water. Oh you have to love that red dirt...Anyways the hike started at the end a road that was about a 2 miles off of the main highway up into the "mountains". The trailhead started just past the Boy Scout campground. 

The hike is actually also in a public hunting area which is open on the weekends and on holidays according to the sign. I actually didn't see any hunters while I was hiking, which was fine with me. Not seeing hunters also mean I didn't run into any wild pigs either. The hike wasn't that bad, it was slightly muddy from all the rain that we have been seeing in the last few weeks, but other than that, it was a nice day, slightly hazy though. The actual trail is the Kaunala Trail. It's nice that the state of Hawaii seems to put up hiking trail signs (for the most part at least). At least funding in that aspect is kept up. 

Since there has been lots of rain, the area is a lot greener that normal. There were some nice views on this hike and overall a really easy hike. There were berries and other wild fruits along the path. Before you ask, I didn't eat any since I didn't know exactly what they were, or if they were ripe. 

Along the trail there were also some stream crossings which, despite the rainfall they weren't very deep, but very clear, and refreshing. At the top of the loop, there was nice lookout in which you can see the valleys on either side and also the ocean. The ocean is hard to pick out since it was in the direction of the sun and also since it was slightly hazy. I also came across an interesting growth on a plant. I could relate it to some math terms but I prefer not to. So that is a short recap on what I did on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I will post sometime later this week on what I did the rest of the weekend. 

Birthdays and Restaurants

So the friends that I hang out with, we have realized that all of our birthdays are in a three (3) month period. For our birthdays, we have decided to go to different restaurants and to just celebrate with friends. The two restaurants that we have already attended were pretty amazing. One being a Japanese BBQ place and the other features a 5-star menu.


The Japanese restaurant was down in Waikiki just off of Kapiolani Blvd. If you have never been to a Japanese BBQ dining experience, I highly recommend it. The slices of meat that you get to cook yourself is pretty exotic. They did offer cow tongue, but most of us didn't want to have any. So as I stated before, you get to cook your own food at your table. It's a pretty neat experience. Most of the choices of meat are premium. It was also interesting that one of the dessert options were "s'mores". Yes, you read that right. I guess it is unique thing you can do at a restaurant. We definitely had some s'mores for dessert. 

The second restaurant we have been to so far was Uncle Bo's. Now from the outside, Uncle Bo's looks like a pretty crappy restaurant from the outside because it is in an older building that looks a bit run down. On the inside though, it is nice and pretty modern. Their food is amazing too. At first glance at the menu, you might think why is this so expensive? The prices are actually decent for the quality of food and the amount that you pay. It is very filling. They also have different "mood" lighting after 9pm. The only thing that really sucked was that, we had to wait for about an hour after we got there. We had called earlier to for a reservation, but they were closed at the time. We left a message. They said when we got there, that they called us back.....yeah they were just covering themselves. We didn't get a phone call saying that the time we made our reservation wasn't good. While waiting for that hour, we went down to a sushi and sports bar. Had some drinks there, some appetizers, and then walked back to Uncle Bo's. If you are looking for a great PuPu platter, you should try the Thai-Style Steamer Clams. The sauce that they serve the  clams with is amazing.

why the weird title?

So I was having problems being creative with a title, since I wasn't taught to be creative in school, well in the sense of literary creativity or anything art related. Colorado School of Mines definitely gets you to think in a technical way. But enough with the degress. I came up with the title from the book that I got from friends before I left. It was started and put together by Teresa Manriquez and Jeffrey Randle. So that is where I got the title for this. Now for the reason of this blog, Ashley Young (Begley) recently challenged me to put together something to keep at least her informed of what I was doing or what I experienced while I am here in Hawaii. She stated if I kept her informed, she would do better on keeping all of her supporters and friends informed of what she was up to with her time as an intern with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (and hopefully after that as well). Not only to do better, but try to beat me in the flow of information. I was also told before I left Colorado back in September by Keith Stevens (and possibly others) to start a blog. (I am finally getting around to it Keith.) We shall see how this develops and all. I will try to fill in the gap from the last four months.

Chinese Name!

So my sister the yesterday gave me my Chinese name while we were skyping. For you that don't know, she is currently studying in Shanghai, China and her blog is located here. It's weird, in China, it always seems like they are on holiday and never actually in school.

劉冠華 (Liu guan hua) which roughly translated is "magnificent king"

At the beginning of this year Podium Speedway opened. Now you probably ask what Podium Speedway is and I would say it is indoor electric Go-Kart racing area. The place is actually pretty sweet. My friends and I went there for a friends birthday....well it so happened to be on her birthday weekend. The real reason we went was because a two particular wanted to really try it out. It was pretty fun, I do have to admit that. They could use some streamlining and optimization to make the experience better. First off, their check-in process is absolutely horrible. Standing in line for an hour just to initially register and pay, that is pretty ridiculous.  I expect it at like Disneyland and other places where there are hundreds of people moving through the place every day, but really, for about 30 ft max in a line to take an hour, that is just insane. Then again, it is Hawaii and everything here is done slowly and for the most part inefficient. 

The race itself can have up to 10 people at a time I believe. It is better if there is less in my opinion because the race track is a bit on the small side. Podium has structured the races in a way that you aren't actually racing against each other in a traditional manner, but more in a timed manner. Each car is individually timed. I think this is easily possible because there is a RF chip, or some other way of following the car. The safety officers on the course also have great control of the cars, since at a touch of a button, they can limit the karts top speed. In a way, it's a good feature over gas engine karts. The real question is to see how long the batteries in the Karts are going to last since they are charged after every ~5 min race. That can't be too good for the batteries in the long run. The fastest I saw someone finish a lap was just over 20 seconds. The slowest is about 40 sec. Unfortunately, one of those drivers was in our group and slowed us all down.