Book Review: 'Game of Shadows'

I just finished reading Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams. If I had to describe this book in one word it would be, Wow.

This book goes into a whole lotta detail about the guy, Victor Conte, who started BALCO, and the weird twisted six-degrees-of-separation-cobweb of steroid users, makers, and distributors. Barry Bonds, of course, is stage center in this book, but also implicated in the book are a lot of other professional athletes, mainly track and field stars.

It's an easy read but incredibly fascinating and chock full of information, including grand jury testimonies that were supposed to be sealed. It makes you think twice about being a sports fan and how much you can trust the athletes that are so adored.

The Last Installment of '100 Facts'

The last segment of "Get to know your blogger through useless facts that could apply to anyone". There's a good chance that I might repeat myself but I doubt anyone will notice.

76. I love deep fried food. Fried shrimp. Fried catfish. Fried crawfish. Fried chicken. Fried oysters. Mozzarella sticks. Fried zucchini. Toasted ravioli. I'm not a big fan of seafood, but fry it up and I will eat it.

77. I have natural highlights that I totally love. One time when I was about 11, my brother tried to get me in trouble and told my mom that I had used peroxide to highlight my hair but my mom didn't believe him for a second because she knew my highlights are natural. Haha, take that, hermano!

78. I have freckles that get more pronounced the more time I spend in the sun. When I was younger I hated my freckles because no models had freckles, they all had perfect porcelain skin. However, over the years I've grown to love and embrace my freckles.

79. I hate slow movies. I don't have ADD but I get so annoyed when movies are painfully slow. Examples: 'Unbreakable' (o.m.g. talk about s.l.o.w.) and '3:10 to Yuma' (unfortunate considering how good it was and it has Christian 'uber-hottie' Bale)

80. Shoe size: 5

81. Christmas is my favorite holiday. I just love the holiday spirit at that time of the year.

82. I've come to the conclusion that 98% of the American population is fucking retarded.

83. I hate homeless people. That sounds really shallow and selfish and you're probably thinking that if I hate the homeless situation then I should go out and make a difference. But no, I won't. I'll just sit here and complain about it.

84. I hate it when people say, "I hate drama!" People who say that are people who make drama out of the littlest things. Ever wonder why your life is filled with ridiculous unnecessary drama? Look in a mirror and that's your answer.

85. Sometimes I'll think about what it would be like to live in NYC and how exciting and fun living there would be...then I visit NYC for a weekend and remember why I live in LA and why I would never want to live there.


86. My favorite Starbucks drink is a Cinnamon Dolce Latte: it's like heaven in your mouth. My two favorite seasonal Starbucks drinks are the Pumpkin Spice Latte and Gingerbread Latte.

87. I'm still bitter that my college didn't get Presidents Day off especially considering the University was named after a President!

88. Even though I'm not Jewish I really, really like Matzo Ball soup.

89. I've never broken a bone.

90. When I say 'I don't care', I really mean it. Case in point: "Where do you want to eat?" "I don't care (and I really, really mean it)" Some people call me indecisive, I call myself apathetic.

91. I don't like public transportation, but probably because it is so much easier to drive in LA. However, one summer I had an internship in Hawaii and I took the bus to work everyday and on the weekends to get around the island. I didn't really mind taking the bus all summer long because Hawaii actually has a really good bus system, but it did get old having to deal with all the crazies.

92. I don't have any tattoos. I'm not against tattoos, it's just that I can't think of anything I would want permanently on my body.

93. The majority of hotels completely gross me out. There's an episode of 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' where the family stays in a hotel and Kate tells all the kids to wear shoes when they're walking around the hotel room because the carpet is infested with germs. I may not walk around hotel rooms in shoes, but I understand ya, Kate.

94. I love wearing flip flops, especially Reefs. I wish it was acceptable to wear flip flops to the office because I would wear them everyday.

95. I'm near-sighted but I try to avoid wearing glasses as much as possible. I really wish I could wear contacts on a daily basis but I avoid wearing them because they irritate my eyes since I have unusually dry eyes. I used to be able to drive without glasses but I'm reaching the point where I really should wear them while driving. I also wear them when watching TV, playing video games, and at events where I'll need to see things that are far away, such as at hockey games. Boo sauce for having to wear glasses.

96. I'm not a big fan of Chinese food. My family and friends like to go to Dim Sum and I always go with them just to be nice but I don't find the food very enticing.

97. I've never been camping and I have no desire to ever go camping. I hate bugs and camping, or even hiking in the wilderness, is not appealing to me at all.

98. When I was really young I wanted a dog/puppy so badly. But after my family adopted a stray cat when I was 9 years old and we had her for 16 years, now all I want is a little kitty cat. They require significantly less attention than dogs and they don't get that stinky wet dog stench.

99. I love the color purple but I hate almost all purple colored food items. I like grapes and plums, but I cannot stand grape jelly/jam and grape juice and grape flavored candy. I also never liked taking Dimetapp because it tastes like grape nastiness.

100. Earlier this year someone hit my car and didn't leave a note. Now I have this dent on the front of my car and I'm too cheap to pay for it to get fixed, especially since I plan on driving my car till it no longer works. The dent is not that big but it's big enough that you can definitely notice it. And, to make matters worse, I'm pretty sure my parents think I did something to cause it. I can just see it in their eyes....when I told them I didn't know how it happened and that I just noticed it one day, I could tell that they weren't buying it even though it was a completely true story. I'm really nervous about moving to LA and driving to Downtown. As my brother put it, I could live near the 10 and take the freeway into Downtown. Or, I could live in the Miracle Mile/Hancock Park area and drive the Gauntlet into Downtown....the Gauntlet of uninsured motorists.

So that's it! The only things you really need to know about me. I guess I should get back to writing about the Kings...

Part 3 of "Me, Me, Me!"

Part 3 of "100 Things about K.M.S." I spent way too much thinking of things to list; talking about myself really is difficult.

51. I enjoy bathroom humor. For instance, I bought my FI a birthday card that on the front had three guys in a pool that had a sign near it saying "No peeing in the pool" and there was a brown lump floating in the pool. And inside the card read "You're the shit. Happy Birthday." When I saw the card in the store I laughed so hard I almost cried. I knew the card wasn't romantic but we both enjoy bathroom humor so I knew he would like it.

52. I like a wide range of music. The only music I dislike is hardcore rap and rave/techno crap.

53. I don't like Star Wars.

54. I don't like science fiction movies, TV shows, and books.

55. I have plugs in my eye ducts to limit the amount of "moisture" drained from my eyes. And...my eyes are still severely dry.

56. I wear makeup almost every day. I think it's fun to play with makeup and I don't understand why some ladies are adamantly against wearing any.

57. If I don't bring my lunch to work, my go-to place to buy lunch is Taco Bell. It's cheap and fast and I don't have to get out of my car. 9.9 times out of 10 I'll get the 7-layer burrito.

58. I have 2 Nalgene bottles, one yellow and the other purple. My mom hates the yellow one because she thinks it looks like I'm drinking piss.

59. I played powder puff football in high school. Despite having to play with a bunch of self-obsessed cheerleaders, I had an amazing time.

60. I LOVE going to the eye doctor. I wish instead of having to visit the dentist twice a year I could go to my eye doctor twice a year.



61. I had a gum graft a couple years ago. Apparently that isn't really normal for someone my age but unfortunately I have thin gums.

62. I never had braces. Hahahahahha, to all of you who did have them!

63. I quietly talk to myself when I'm studying or writing reports. I didn't really notice I was doing it until I was studying for a big licensing exam and my FI said, "do they let you talk to yourself during the exam?" I snapped back, "YES!"

64. The longest I ever peed was about a minute and a half. I was at the Women's Soccer World Cup game and the 3rd place game was before the finals and it was so f'ing hot and I didn't want to get up and go to the nasty bathroom, so I sat through two games, drank tons of water and made it through the drive home. When we left I could barely walk because I had to pee so badly.

65. I'm a Republican.

66. I'm generally pretty good with directions. So if we're ever driving together and we get lost, no worries, I'll get us back to safety.

67. My dad grew up with Tim Gunn.

68. My mom wouldn't let me watch Beverly Hills 90210 when I was growing up. It had something to do with that show being a bad influence on a 10-year old....I don't know what she was talking about.

69. Considering how strict my mom was with almost every aspect of life, I find it surprising that she had no problem letting my brother and I watch R-rated movies well before we were 18. The first R-rated movie that I remember seeing was "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles", which I saw when I was 5.

70. My absolute favorite mug from my childhood had Cinderella on it. I think it had the stagecoach on one side and Cinderella in her ball gown on the other side. She looked so beautiful and the mug was perfect. When I came back from college and packed up stuff to bring with me to grad school I asked my mom where it was and she very nonchalantly informed me that she threw it out.

71. I don't forgive very easily. I'm much better at it than I used to be but if I say I forgive you, there's a 90% chance I'm lying. Chances are I'll probably forget about you before I ever forgive you.

72. I told my ex that I didn't want to be friends with him after he broke up with me because I already had enough guy friends.

73. I hate crying in front of people. Absolutely hate it.

74. In college I had a weird, slightly OCD habit of rewriting my class notes if I thought they were too messy. I spent a lot of time doing it but I think it also helped me remember what the professors talked about in each lecture.

75. I never went to my high school prom. I don't think it's that big of a deal but people are always shocked and horrified when I mention it.

Up next, the last 25 useless facts about me!

Things about Me: Part 2

Still no exciting hockey stuff. However, here is the second part (#26-50) of the "Let's get to know more useless stuff about me".

26. I hated every single English class I took throughout my school years. The only writing class I enjoyed was "Technical Writing", which I took in college and totally aced.

27. I don't like driving on bridges.

28. I love sitting in an airport, waiting for a flight, and watching the most random looking people walk by.

29. I think (a lot) before I talk. Usually, stuff I want to say goes through several filters before I finally say it.

30. I like HP calculators better than TIs.

31. I love fruits, especially strawberries. I could eat a carton of strawberries every single day.

32. I watch a lot of TV and I hate missing my shows. I do not understand people who say (brag) that they don't even own a TV or rarely watch TV. Your life must be so boring. Sure, reading a book can be entertaining but watching TV provides more laughs and can be just as educational and inspiring as reading.

33. I enjoy watching the Weather Channel. I don't know why, but I could seriously watch it for hours. And if there's a hurricane? Forget it, I want that channel on every single second till the Hurricane passes.

34. I've never owned a laptop but both times I got a desktop I regretted not getting a laptop. The next computer I buy will most definitely be a laptop.

35. I did ballet when I was younger and absolutely hated it. But I also did tap and loved it!



36. At work I drink coffee and tea from the same mug everyday. I only rinse the mug before each use and then every now and then I'll bring it home and give it a good scrubbing. Considering how thoroughly I wash all of my dishes at home I find it odd that I have no problem reusing the same mug without properly cleaning it. I think it may be because I saw an episode of 'Deadliest Catch' in which one of the deckhands showed the cameraman the mug he uses and how he's never washed it despite all the fish and crab guts that are caked on there. I figured, if that guy is still alive, I can live without washing my mug everyday.

37. Penguins are probably my favorite animal. I think they're absolutely adorable. Pandas are a close second.

38. I hate having dry, chapped lips. I always have some sort of lip balm, chapstick, lipstick, or lipgloss with me at all times. Minor obsession. Minor.

39. I go through phases where I'll always wear a watch and then I never wear a watch and then I'll start wearing one again. I'm currently in the 'No Watch' phase.

40. Every single day I wear sunblock on my face: Neutrogena Face Moisturizer with SPF 15. I remember growing up and seeing older ladies on talk shows who barely had any wrinkles and their secret was wearing sunblock everyday. Whether or not this is true, I still wear moisturizer with SPF because I don't want wrinkles and it leaves my face hydrated and smooth.

41. I had really bad acne in high school. I finally took the highest allowed dosage of Acutane my senior year and haven't had a problem since. I always get annoyed at the negative reports about Acutane because that stuff gave me clear skin before I entered college and it probably saved my social life. I'm a big supporter and believer in Acutane...just don't get knocked up while on it.

42. I have a severe case of arachnophobia. The only spiders I can be around, and really I mean, the only spiders I'm capable of killing myself, are itty-bitty spiders or daddy long legs.

43. When I was a baby I had bacterial meningitis. I survived because I'm uber awesome.

44. I think black and blue pens are really boring which is why I like to use green, purple, or pink pens. I realize that using a purple pen at a meeting with clients doesn't look that professional and I try not to do it very often but sometimes I just can't resist the urge to be girly.

45. I don't have a dishwasher in my apartment and I cannot wait till I live in a place that has one.

46. Every now and then I go through phases where I stop drinking soda. As of today, I've gone 4.5 weeks without soda. I feel like I'm in AA.

47. I usually drive to work in flip flops because I hate driving in high heels.

48. I'm not that into cars. I drive a Civic and I love it because it's compact, reliable, and gets great gas mileage. But just wait, my car will probably break down tomorrow.

49. Even though I'm several years away from buying a house/condo, I'm still addicted to looking at real estate websites (Redfin, Trulia, Zillow, etc.)

50. I keep a little notepad in my car and every time I go to the gas station I note the date, mileage, dollars spent, and gallons of gas purchased. Also, whenever I take my car in for an oil change or routine maintenance check, I write down the date, mileage, and maintenance performed. My parents do this and it's something I picked up and I'm still not quite sure exactly why I do it.

It's all about ME - Part 1

I've debated whether or not I wanted to join the "100 Useless Facts about Me" club but I finally decided to do it since I can't think of anything else to write about and I've enjoyed reading about other bloggers (see: Heather B, Sherry, Finny, Cat). This will be a challenging task for me since I don't like talking about myself and revealing too much information. It may be why my fiance always says he can't quite figure out what's going through my head even though we've been together for more than 4 years. I'll do this thing in four parts, so here's Useless Stuff #1-25:

1. I'm a Southern California girl, born and raised, and I hope I live here for the rest of my life.

2. I went to the midwest for college because I wanted to get out of California and experience life somewhere else. After 4 years I realized I belong in SoCal.

3. I drink coffee everyday. I used to only drink it at work in the mornings, but lately I've noticed that I have severe headaches on the weekends that are only cured by coffee.

4. I love Dunkin' Donuts coffee and there are no longer any DDs in California, which is a huge tragedy. The DD ground coffee beans sold at grocery stores are really good and I seriously hope DD comes back to CA.

5. I've always wanted to be a Starbucks barista. No real reason.

6. I get really excited when roads are repaved. I love driving on new pavement. Yes, I know I'm a huge dork so you don't have to leave a comment telling me what I already know.

7. If I was a guy I would totally be a crab fisherman.

8. If I was a guy I would totally be a fireman. Denis Leary is so f'ing awesome in 'Rescue Me'.

9. If I was a guy I would totally be a hockey player.

10. I really want to go to culinary school.



11. I really want to go to art school and learn how to do letterpress.

12. I'm hapa and I love everything there is to being hapa. I milk that minority shit whenever possible.

13. I like to cook and I love to bake.

14. When I was in 6th grade I was suspended for one day for slapping a boy. Yeah, that's right, don't cross me or else I will cut you!

15. I can sew a mean hem but I wish I could design and sew my own clothes.

16. I iron my own clothes because I cannot fathom sending them to a dry cleaner and paying them to do something I can do myself.

17. I'm thrift and I hate paying for stuff I can do myself, such as valet parking (such utter bullshit).

18. I love looking at my finances and calculating my net worth each month.

19. I have a severe candy addiction. I rarely, if ever, crave chocolate, but I could eat candy every single day.

20. I get the Asian-glow but it doesn't stop me from drinking. Usually a Pepcid AC will do the trick and I won't have to worry about the redness. In college I could put down a lot considering my size. Now I don't drink as much but I'll still drink a lot when the occasion arises.

21. I'm not a big wine drinker. I prefer beer and I'm by no means a beer snob. Give me a Bud Light or PBR and I'm good to go. When I feel like riding in style I'll purchase some Shiner Bock.

22. In college one of my favorite semester activities was the Case Race my sorority girls organized. Each team had 4 members and one 24 pack to put down and the team that finished first was the winner. There was no real prize, just bragging rights for an entire semester. We finally realized that the larger breasts you had the more you could drink. It's true, scientific research! I think the most one girl drank in one Case Race was 10 beers. My proudest moment was finishing my 6 beers before vomiting in-synch with my future Maid-of-Honor.

23. I changed my major after my freshman year. I settled on a major that I was interested in, would allow me to get paid to attend grad school, and would provide me a financially stable career.

24. I have one older brother and like all little sisters who can't think for themselves, I adored and always wanted to do everything he did, which is why I like playing video games, enjoy male-oriented movies, and like the music that I do.

25. I played the flute when I was younger, refused to be in the marching band, was in the high school orchestra, and never went to band camp.

Check back later for Part II.

Civilization

Two non-hockey related posts in a row! I'm really on a roll here!

Anyhoo, I just have to give my 2 cents on Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution video game. This is the best thing ever to get you through the off-season. I can easily play for 6-8 hours straight. However, the need to win every time I play is really killing me during the work week since I have to be in the office relatively early and once I start playing it's like fucking crack and I just can't quit it! But if you need something to get your mind off of hockey, or anything for that matter, buy this game because it's f'ing awesome (and won't hurt your wrists like Guitar Hero...or am I just weak?).

SoCal is a Shakin'

This is totally not hockey related, but goddamn I haven't been in a jolter like that in awhile. Reminded me of how much I hate earthquakes...

We Take a Break From Hockey for...the Lost Season Finale

I always thought it was Ben.

I can't believe it's Locke.

*sigh*

I'm actually really sad about this.

My only hope is that in some weird Lost way,

it isn't really true.

Fantasy Football

This might be the first post about a sport other than hockey. I have some ideas for posts but have been struggling with actually writing them so you'll have to deal with non-Kings news for a little longer.

This football season is the first time I'll be playing Fantasy Football. The only reason I decided to participate is because I'm doing really well (so far, keep your fingers crossed!) in a Fantasy Baseball league, another sport I don't care about. The other players in my league are college friends and friends of them. Yesterday was the draft and since I couldn't make it I was on Auto-Draft. When I got home and looked at the team that Yahoo! selected for me, my stomach sank when I saw that I got stuck with Brett Favre. Brett Favre!! Isn't he practically retired?! Sure, if my team was based on Squee points then I would definitely win, but can the old man still throw a football??

When the BF came home I told him about my unfortunate draft (based solely on seeing Brett Favre on my team) and showed him my team. He was absolutely floored that I have a team this good from an auto-draft. He immediately emailed all of his friends in his Fantasy league to tell them who was on my team and practially threatened me by saying, "You better get first place in your league" (or else...what, you'll break up with me??)

Here's my team: (maybe tomorrow I'll compare my team to the others in my league based on Squeeness and see who wins)
QB1: Matt Hasselbeck
WR1: Terrell Owens
WR2: Marques Colston (the BF has a major mancrush on him)
RB1: Frank Gore
RB2: Rudi Johnson
TE1: Chris Cooley
W/T: Randy Moss
W/R: Marshawn Lynch
Kicker: Adam Vinatieri
Defense: Miami

Other players (or, I guess, second string):
Julius Jones
DeShaun Foster
DJ Hackett
Greg Jennings
Brett Favre
Anthony Thomas

You be the judge. How good is my team?

Protein Sports Drink

At my local gym a new sports drink was handed out. Since I didn't have my Nalgene with me I gladly accepted the free drink, Accelerade. The label is busy, cluttered with tons of information about the drink and why it's so different from normal sports drinks. The first thing that caught my eye was that it contained protein. It was advertised as consisting of 4 parts carbohydrates to 1 part protein. When I was younger and played soccer I was big fan of Gatorade because I really felt that it rehydrated me and gave me an extra sugar boost that water just didn't accomplish. Now that I am occassional treadmill runner I don't feel the need to pay for Gatorade or Powerade when I can drink for free. Therefore, I didn't care one bit that I was drinking something with protein in it. However, what did catch my eye, just before I ended my warm-up walk, was a fine print warning on the side: "Allergen Information: Contains milk".

WHAT?! Milk in a sports drink?

I quickly scanned the ingredients and noticed that it contains "whey protein isolate (from milk)". I'm not quite sure what that means, but my best guess is that it is some sort of powder that you obtain from milk. It also contains lactic acid. As I kept drinking Accelerade I noticed that it had some weird, but yet familiar, aftertaste. What was that sort of powdery, chalky taste?

It took me almost an hour to finally figure out what it tasted like: Gatorade + Calpis

Those that have been fortunate enough to have tasted the amazingness of Calpis know what I mean. Calpis is a Japanese uncarbonated soft drink. I grew up with it and remember it coming in a tall glass bottle that was wrapped in white paper with blue dots. The bottle contained the concentrated Calpis stuff and you poured it into a glass and added cold water. I would always add a little extra to make it a bit sweeter and then my mom would always yell at me for putting too much in and warning me that I would get fat from all the sugar I ate. Anyway, the Calpis company also markets its brand, mainly in the US, as Calpico, most likely due to its original name that sounds like "Cow Piss". I don't blame the company for making the switch because I had to endure laughs from my white devil friends who just didn't understand what they were missing. There is also a Calpis/Calpico soda that is carbonated and tastes better than the concentrate stuff, but still has a sweet, milky flavor.

What I'm getting at is, if you mixed Gatorade or Powerade with Calpico you would get Accelerade. Now I want to buy Gatorade and Calpico, start mixing, and have a taste test.

I wonder if the major sports leagues will begin to feature the new sports drink. Since Gatorade probably locked up JS Giguere for the rest of his career, I wonder who will be the next NHL sports drink whore.

Die Hard

It's a slow hockey day, so I present you the Die Hard music video. You may have already seen it on YouTube or on TV as part of the Die Hard 4 commercial, but I just found it today. Enjoy!!