Trip to Mexico

As I am Buddhist, and Bunny is a secular humanist, neither of us celebrate any religious holidays at this time of the year. We thought that we would spend some time traveling while Rob and Karla were away celebrating Christmas.

We spent the first week of our holiday break in Mexico, visiting one of Bunny's old friends, who has on occasion been called "The most interesting man in the world" (TMIMITW). It is said that his enemies list him as their emergency contact person, and that when it is raining, it is because he is sad. His shirts never wrinkle. He is left-handed...and right-handed. Even if he forgets to put postage on his mail, it gets there. He can speak French...in Russian. He once taught a German Shepard to bark in Spanish. He serves sizzling fajita platters barehanded. Bulls flat-out refuse to fight him. He's a lover, not a fighter, but he's a fighter, too, so you better watch out.

Well, after meeting the man, I can assure you that all of the things said about him are true. He is also an accomplished swordsman, and TMIMITW, Bunny, and I had several sparring matches using both swords and empty-handed martial arts (I using Panda-style Kung Fu and Bunny using Flailing-Bunny-style Kung Fu). In the mornings, Bunny and TMIMITW played Jai alai while I meditated and worked on my Tai Chi.

TMIMITW does not always drink beer, but when he does, he prefers Dos Equis. We spent several afternoons at his beach-side bungalow or on his yacht drinking Dos Equis, and eating grilled meats, bamboo shoots, and carrots. All in all we had a wonderful week in Mexico. We also smoked cigars. TMIMITW smoked tobacco cigars, I smoked bamboo cigars, and bunny smoked hemp cigars. I gained a lot of respect for TMIMITW when I learned that he rolls a very fine bamboo cigar.

After Mexico, we flew to Pittsburgh to be at the Steelers-Ravens game. More details will follow in a future post.

12-17-09: Penguins 3, Flyers 2

After defeating the Flyers 6-1 on Tuesday, the Penguins had to travel here to Philly last night (Thursday) to play the second game of a home-and-home series. When asked about this game, Evgeni Malkin said, "I am ready. I have a helmet." I attended the game (as did my friends Rob and Dan), but thankfully, while Rob and Dan were down with the people in section 223, I was up in the press box with Mike Lang and Phil Bourque (the Penguins radio broadcast crew). Mike is always entertaining to listen to, though part of that stems from the fact that I think he drinks a lot.

I knew it was going to be a loud night from the moment they started handing out noisemakers to the crowd. As loud and belligerent as the Flyers fans are, they don't need to be further encouraged. The Flyers put the first goal in off of a crazy bounce that defected into the net off of Sergei Gonchar, making the crowd errupt into chaos. Bill Guerin quieted them down, though, with a powerplay goal to tie it up.



Chants of "Crosby Sucks!" echoed throughout the arena at least every five minutes, regardless of whether or not he was on the ice. It was very nice to see him score a goal in the middle of the second period to tie the game. The Flyers rallied and tried to regain the lead, but Fleury denied them at on every shot.


The third period and overtime were wicked. Malkin and Staal ran all over the ice like madmen trying to make something happen, but the Flyers held on, mostly by tripping as much as they could.


In perhaps what was the greatest sports moment I have personally witnessed, the end of the game came down to a shootout. Philly's first two shooters, Daniel Briere and Claude Giroux, were easily denied by Fleury, while Kris Letang came in made a wicked move to beat the Flyers goaltender Boucher, who was basically undressed like a girl on prom night (I'm not sure what that saying means, but Bunny says it's appropriate). It all came down to Crosby having a chance to put it away. The whole stadium began chanting "Crosby Sucks" and banging on their noisemakers, except for the few Penguins fans scattered throughout who hope Crosby would put the icing on the cake. One young boy in a powder blue #87 jersey was sitting a few rows behind Rob and Dan (who I could hear because Pandas have much more sensitive hearing than humans do), and he kept yelling "Let's go Crosby" (he had been doing so since the start of the 3rd period, much to the anger of the Flyers faithful). After all of the mental and meditation training I've put Sidney through, I knew he wouldn't let the pressure get to him. Crosby glided in, faked a move that froze Boucher like a deer in the headlights, and deftly floated puck past his glove hand.


Game over.



For the record, Crosby now has 50 points (22 goals, 28 assists) in 29 regular season career games against the Flyers, proving that he does indeed suck--he sucks the life right out of the Flyers.

As disappointed as I have been with the Steelers and their attitude, work effort, and execution the past few weeks (though that is a topic for a whole other post), I have become more impressed with the Penguins. They have a legitimate chance to repeat last seasons success. I will continue to work with their coaching staff to do my part to help them achieve their goals.

Pandaboo

If you still need a gift for anyone on your list, I highly recommend Pandaboo, if you can find it online. In Pandaboo, the object of the game is to balance bamboo sticks of various shapes on top of the Panda’s tummy and keep them from falling. The person who makes the sticks fall loses. Pandabo was an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Seal Award winner in 2006. Bunny, Man-E-Faces, Duke, Cobra Commander, Destro, and I have spent many afternoons staging Pandaboo tournaments. Pandaboo is a simple yet entertaining game for adults and children. It is also conveniently made of sustainable bamboo. That makes Pandaboo recyclable, as you could just find a real Panda and feed it to him/her. If Bunny and I ever tire of Pandaboo and Karla doesn't want it anymore either, I'll just eat it as a tasty snack.

At first, I thought Pandaboo was somewhat exploitative in that the Panda is at first glance depicted as clumsy and unable to balance himself to hold the bamboo up, but the instructions describe the panda as "wrigley," which suggests to me the Panda is intentionally try to be off balance in order to test the skills of the players. From this viewpoint, the Panda becomes the game's main adversary, and the Panda always wins. It is only a matter of which player loses. I enjoy approaching the game from that viewpoint.

Rob Rob and Bunny's Restaurant Review: Gilmore's

Rob Rob (two panda thumbs up): First things first--if I were driving myself, parking would be a nightmare. Thankfully Bunny and I reserved a car. While West Chester was a cute little town, parking alone would stop me from going there. This is a serious problem that West Chester must urgently address if it ever expects to attract people from Philadelphia proper or other regions. Until then, West Chester will never live up to its potential.

We were greeted pleasantly when we arrived at Gilmore's, and were shown to a table near the window. The dining room was small, but not too cramped, and the service was also excellent. This noise level was quite low, and overall the atmosphere was very relaxed. Chef Gilmore came out to meet us, and was very excited that we were there to experience and review his restaurant.

The shredded short rib and cheesy polenta appetizer was delicious. It was a bit strangely served in a martini glass, but nonetheless it was absolutely excellent. For dinner I had Salmon with a lobster-flavored béarnaise. It was perhaps the best-cooked salmon I have ever had, but more importantly the sauce was beyond excellent. I would definitely order it again. I asked chef Gilmore if he could serve some steamed bamboo shoots with the salmon, and he was more than happy to oblige. All in all we had an excellent meal, and we highly recommend this establishment.


Bunny (two ears up): I must reiterate Rob Rob’s point about the parking. I’m glad that Cookie warned us about what a nightmare West Chester parking is, other wise I would have driven us over in Rob Rob’s Maserati. Even the tiny Maserati would have been tough to park in West Chester. Thankfully we were driven.

To start, I had the Vol au Vent d’Escargot (snails served in a garlic, hazelnut, and champagne butter sauce). It was excellent. For dinner, I had the Jarret d’Agneu Forestiere (slow braised lamb shank served over couscous). It was gamey, but nonetheless excellent. The couscous was larger than I have previously had, but I liked it that way. All in all an excellent meal, and my complements to Mr. Gilmore and his fine establishment, which is perhaps my new favorite restaurant in the Philly region. Too bad it is so hard to get and park there!

Panda Genes Sequenced

In Panda news, a study recently published in Nature reveals that the genome of the Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleura) has been sequenced by a group of scientists led by China's Jun Wang of the Beijing Genomics Institute in Shenzen. I am happy to have contributed blood samples for their sequencing. They found many genes shared by species such as humans and dogs, and interestingly, they hypothesize that the Panda itself is genetically more adapted for a carnivorous lifestyle than the vegan bamboo-based lifestyle most Pandas lead. They key to the Panda's ability to subsist on bamboo likely lies solely in the harmonious relationship between the Panda and his/her gut bacteria.

Humans can take a lesson from this: living in harmony with nature gives you many advantages.

Orpik Is Scary.

Malkin out 2-3 wks with shoulder injury

Dan Bylsma just called and informed me that Evgeni Malkin will be out for at least 2-3 weeks with a shoulder injury. I will be flying out to Pittsburgh tomorrow morning to assess his condition. As Bunny is a qualified acupuncturist (he picked up the art while traveling in South East Asia), he is traveling with me to help deal with the situation. I've already informed Mike Tomlin that we will need to consult with him as well.

With both Gonchar and Malkin out, the Penguins will need to work extra hard to maintain their impressive momentum, as they are coming off of an impressive 6-1 rout of the Canadians which included a Sidney Crosby hat trick. I trust that Jordan Staal will step up from centering the #3 line to the #2 line with little difficulty. The question is who will fill Staal's 3rd-line role, which would typically be shouldered by the always reliable Maxime Talbot, but he too is out until at least December. Once Dan Bylsma and I have properly assessed the situation, we will begin to talk strategy.