And the newest San Diego Charger is....Corey Liuget! With the 18th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Chargers took the DT from Illinois, who'll probably play DE across from Luis Castillo. Hopefully this takes some pressure of Castillo, and helps clear up more rushing space for Shaun Philips and Larry English. Can't wait to see the kid in action!
Below is his Draft Preview video, and he obviously played pretty well here in Fresno, since most of this video is him destroying Fresno State quarterback Ryan Colburn and our running backs.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The newest San Diego Charger is Corey Liuget
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Jaime
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8:57 PM
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Monday, March 28, 2011
A new domain!
You may have noticed a change in the domain name here! To make things easy for you, feel free to hop on over to the main page at http://www.jaimeh.com or to check out this blog, the updated URL is http://blog.jaimeh.com
Thanks for stopping by!
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Jaime
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9:04 PM
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Labels: site news
Monday, March 21, 2011
I Gave In...
...And I got a Kindle. It's one of those things that I suppose seemed inevitable, but I'm kind of impressed at how long I held out. I'm liking it so far, although I've only played around with it a little bit. I've got a couple Kindle books downloaded already, and I think the next step is to try checking out an e-book from the library and getting it moved onto the device.
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Friday, March 11, 2011
Videos from the Japan earthquake and tsunami
Well, I've spent a good chunk of the morning watching video of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan today, so I'm going to compile some of the videos I've found here, and keep updating as I find new videos:
Source: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/03/11/that-giant-sucking-sound
A water surge in Santa Cruz, CA:
Cars and boats being pushed around by the waves:
Footage of the quake from indoors and outdoors:
Raw footage from a grocery store:
An oil refinery fire:
Tsunami waves flooding a the port city of Kamaishi
Added at 12:53 PM Pacific
More first person video of the quake:
Road damage after the quake:
Tsunami TV coverage from Japan:
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Jaime
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12:27 PM
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Labels: japan earthquake
Whole Wheat Bread: Dirty South Punk
A few weeks back I went to go see Murs at a small local venue with a friend. Before Murs came out, there were a few other acts, the first being a punk band called Whole Wheat Bread. They were definitely the best of the opening acts, and in a rare move I bought their CD. I love the disc, it's just been playing over and over in my car since I go it. So if you're a fan of punk, check them out. Their album "Hearts of Hoodlums" is on Amazon, both in disc and MP3 format, and you can get it here: Hearts of Hoodlums
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Jaime
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10:41 AM
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Labels: music
Rogue Review: "Birds & Bees: A Cost Benefit Analysis"
This year I had about a half dozen shows I wanted to get to, but so far I've only made it to one. It was definitely not a disappointment, I really enjoyed myself.
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Jaime
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9:51 AM
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Labels: review, rogue festival 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
I went to see "Spamalot" last night
I was fortunate enough to get a pair of tickets to go see Spamalot at the Saroyan Theater in Fresno last night. I've never seen it before, but as a fan of Monty Python, and a huge fan of The Quest for the Holy Grail, I was stoked.
The night was a lot of fun. I was exhausted going into it (just a long week and a long day), so I was kind of worried I'd have trouble making it through the show. Fortunately, I was very wrong. Once the show started, I had no issues keeping focused. The songs were great, the story was great, and we had a great time.
Although based on the Monty Python "Holy Grail" movie, the show doesn't follow the movie exactly. I found that the first Act was more in line with the movie, and the second Act expanded on a different story for the play. Although if you've seen the movie, you know that it doesn't really have a "conclusion" in the typical sense, so this was great.
For the Monty Python fan, there were plenty of familiar scenes. Arguing with Dennis, arguing about whether a swallow could carry a coconut, the Black Knight, the Knights of Ni, the French castle to name a few.
Among the big changes from the movie to the play, I really enjoyed The Lady of the Water. Only mentioned in the movie, she had a prominent role in the play, and I really enjoyed her. A bit of a diva (even a song lamenting that she's been offstage too long), she guides our hero King Arthur on his quest for the Grail.
And finding the Grail? Of course they had to, you need some closure! And that's where some audience participation comes in. Not only did they "find" the Grail in the audience, the lady got to go on stage, be serenaded by the cast and had a quick polaroid snapped! And around this time there was plenty of one liners following the day's headlines (something about California's Father of the Year....Charlie Sheen!).
Overall, lots of great fun, if you get a chance to see it, you'll love the silly, irreverent humor (perhaps I should use 'humour'?) that we've all come to love from Monty Python!
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Jaime
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7:42 PM
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Friday, February 11, 2011
How the San Diego Chargers were built
On ESPN's "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" from the week before the Super Bowl (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/110201_tuesday_morning_quarterback&sportCat=nfl), Gregg Easterbrook talks about how the Packers and the Steelers were both built through the draft, as most teams claim they'd like to do. He looks at how the majority of the starters for both teams were either drafted by the team, or picked up as an undrafted free agent after the draft. Each team had 18 out of 22 starters spend their entire career with that team. No starters were obtained in a trade, and only Charles Woodson was a big money free agent.
After reading this, I got to thinking about my team, the San Diego Chargers. AJ Smith talks about wanting to build through the draft, but how has he done over the years? For the purposes of this, I used the Chargers depth chart posted on the Chargers.com website on 2/11/11 (http://www.chargers.com/team/depth-chart.html).
We'll start with the offense. Ryan Mathews, Jacob Hester, Vincent Jackson, Marcus McNeil, Nick Hardwick, Louis Vasquez and Jeromy Clary were all drafted by the Chargers.
Malcolm Floyd, and Kris Dielman were both undrafted free agents signed by the Chargers.
Kris Wilson was a free agent pickup by the Chargers, originally drafted by the Chiefs. This is a spot where you could argue that he's not really the starter, that's Antonio Gates, who was placed in IR after the Chargers were eliminated from playoff contention. But since the last depth chart had Wilson listed as the starter, we'll go with him.
And Philip Rivers. What do you do with him? Technically, he was drafted by the Giants, and traded to the Chargers. But that was all part of a trade situation from the get-go, and Rivers never signed a contract with the Giants. So I think we can say that Rivers has spend his entire career as a Charger, basically being drafted by them.
That's 10 offensive starters who spend their entire career with the Chargers.
On the defensive side, Luis Castillo, Shaun Phillips, Brandon Siler, Quentin Jammer, Antoine Cason and Eric Weddle were all drafted by the Chargers.
Jacques Cesaire, Antwan Applewhite and Steve Gregory were undrafted free agents signed by the Chargers.
Antonio Garay and Kevin Burnett were obtained as free agents.
That's 9 defensive starters who have spent their entire career with the Chargers.
So 19/22 starters is actually ahead of both of the Super Bowl teams. What does that mean? Nothing really. The Chargers didn't make the playoffs this year So this only really says that the team does build through the draft, bringing in players as rookies and developing them, rather than going after big free agents.
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Jaime
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4:35 PM
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Labels: chargers
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Fresno Food Review - Iron Bird Cafe
I've only been to the Iron Bird Cafe a couple of times now, but it's where my book club meets, so I know I'll be finding myself there more in the future. So far I haven't had a chance to sample a lot on the menu, but I feel like I can still write a brief review.
The food is what you would expect at a cafe: breakfast food, soups, salads and sandwiches. And coffee of course. I've tried the Grilled Chicken sandwich, which comes with the standard fare: lettuce, tomato, cheese, but it also comes with a pesto aioli spread which is really yummy. Normally I'm not big on trying out new sauces, but this one was really good.
Today I tried out the Downtown Mocha. The drink was really good. A carefully crafted mocha. The only downside is that it is a little small for the price, but I watched the guy make it, and he did spend a lot of time making sure it was right and presenting it nicely.
The staff at Iron Bird is great. Everyone has been really nice when I'm there, and I never feel unwelcome (You know how that is, you go to get a coffee, and you end up feeling like you're interrupting the person - none of that here).
The place itself is very clean and welcoming. Iron Bird also offers free wi-fi, you just have to get the days password off your receipt when you order.
A lot of my friends swear by this place, and one of them I know spends a ton of time there. Honestly, I can't blame them. I would probably spend a lot more time there if it had a better location for me. It's right near the Tower District and downtown Fresno, so it's a great spot for lots of people.
If you haven't been there yet, then you should give it a shot!
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Jaime
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6:09 PM
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Labels: fresno, Restaurant Review
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Fresno Food Review - Harlem Wing and Waffle
**This is the first in what I hope to be a series of restaurant reviews in the Fresno area.**
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Jaime
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9:57 AM
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Labels: fresno, Restaurant Review
Friday, January 7, 2011
I Am Going to Read 50 Books in 2011
I don't generally make New Years Resolutions. I try to stick to goals. And I do have a goal for 2011. I want to read 50 books. Just under 1 book each week. I think this is doable. I've got a decent list built up that I want to read, and I know I can find more as the year goes on.
I'm going to keep a list here of the books I plan to read or have read. I'll update fairly frequently as it regards to this goal. I'm of course going to keep more specific tracking over on GoodReads.
The first 20 books on my list are books that have won both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for science fiction. I'm in a group that is going to go through these throughout the year (on a side note, if you're interested in joining us for this, come visit our group here: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/41533.Hugo_and_Nebula_Awards).
The rules? Nothing too concrete, but it has to be a mostly word book. In other words, I won't count the latest treasury of "Pearls Before Swine," or a compilation book from the "I Can Has Cheezburger" site. But I would count a blog-turned-book book like "Stuff White People Like" or "FU Penguin," since it's mostly text. The book doesn't have to be all high falutin' or anything. Young Adult does count, I plan to read the 2nd book in the "Lorien Legacies" series (i.e. the sequel to "I Am Number Four"). I also would like to re-read some books I read as a kid ("Where the Red Fern Grows," "A Wrinkle in Time") and that I never did read as a kid ("The Chronicles of Narnia" series). Other than that, I'll adjust the rules as necessary.
1/7/11
Currently the list stands at 36 books I plan to read, with 1 completed. So I've got my plan of attack, plus room for a little over a dozen books that I can randomly find throughout the year!
1/29/11
Six books done, 44 to go. I'm well on pace (although Maus and The Metamorphosis were pretty short, I do admit that).
7/21/11
I haven't really been keeping track, since this is all but done! 40 books down!
On to the list!
- The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi, Started 1/15/11, Finished 1/19/11
- The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon, Started 1/19/11, Finished 1/26/11
- Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold, Started 2/16/11, Finished 3/3/11
- American Gods, Neil Gaiman, Started 3/9/11, Finished 3/13/11
- Forever Peace, Joe Haldeman, Started 4/22/11, Finished 4/29/11
- Doomsday Book, Connie Willis, Started 5/14/11, Finished 6/11/11
- Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, Started 6/15/11, Finished 6/18/11
- Speaker For the Dead, Orson Scott Card, Started 6/18/11, Finished 6/24/11
- Neuromancer, William Gibson, Started 6/28/11, Finished 7/5/11
- Startide Rising, David Brin, Started 7/17/11
- The Fountains of Paradise, Arthur C. Clarke
- Dreamsnake, Vonda N. McIntyre
- Gateway, Frederick Pohl
- The Forever War, Joe Haldeman, Started 4/2/11, Finished 4/6/11
- The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, Ursula K. Le Guin
- Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
- The Gods Themselves, Isaac Asimov
- Ringworld, Larry Niven
- The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
- Dune, Frank Herbert
- Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood, Started 1/3/11, Finished 1/6/11
- In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks, Adam Carolla
- Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls
- A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle
- The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka, Started 1/16/11, Finished 1/28/11
- The Meowmorphosis, Franz Kafka and Cook Cooleridge
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim, Mark Twain and W. Bill Czolgosz
- The Rookie, Scott Sigler, Started 6/25/11, Finished 6/27/11
- Ancestor, Scott Sigler, Started 1/28/11, Finished 1/21/11
- City of the Dead, Brian Keene
- The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold, Started 1/29/11, Finished 2/13/11
- The Living Dead 2, J.L. Bourne (Various Authors)
- The King of Plagues, Jonathan Maberry, Started 3/28/11, 4/2/11
- Dust and Decay, Jonathan Maberry
- The Night Eternal, Chuck Hogan and Guillermo Del Toro
- The Power of Six, Pittacus Lore
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Graham Smith, Started 1/6/11, Finished 1/14/11
- Maus, Art Spiegelman, Started 1/26/11, Finished 1/27/11
- The Hangman's Daughter, Oliver Potzsch, Started 1/31/11, Finished 2/6/11
- Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay, Started 2/8/11, Finished 2/16/11
- Zombielicious, Timothy McGivney, Started 2/21/11, Finished 2/23/11
- You Might be a Zombie And Other Bad News, Cracked.Com, Started 2/28/11, Finished 3/5/11
- The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood, Started 3/4/11, Finished 3/9/11
- 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth, The Oatmeal, Started 3/9/11, Finished 3/13/11
- Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi, Started 3/13/11, Finished 3/16/11
- Breaking News: An Autozombiography, N.J. Hallard, Started 3/14/11
- Catalyst, Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Started 3/18/11, Finished 3/28/11
- The Fiche Room, Suzie Carr, Started 3/19/11, Finished 3/25/11
- Dearly Devoted Dexter, Jeff Lindsay, Started 4/6/11, Finished 4/9/11
- Death Note, Tsugumi Ohba, Started 3/14/11, Finished 4/12/11
- Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, David Sedaris, Started 4/5/11, Finished 4/5/11
- The Zombie Autopsies, Steven C. Schlozman, Started 4/11/11, Finished 4/13/11
- Dead Spell, Belinda Frisch, Started 4/14/11, Finished 4/21/11
- What You See In The Dark, Manuel Munoz, Started 5/1/11, Finished 5/14/11
- Bossypants, Tina Fey, Started 5/6/11, Finished 5/8/11
- Blood is Red, Scott Sigler, Started 5/8/11, Finished 5/8/11
- Coraline, Neil Gaiman, Started 5/14/11, Finished 5/31/11
- Pump Six, Paolo Bacigalupi, Started 5/31/11, Finished 6/5/11
- Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro, Started 6/12/11, Finished 6/15/11
- Sundiver, David Brin, Started 7/6/11, Finished 7/16/11
Posted by
Jaime
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9:45 PM
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Labels: nerdy stuff, reading