“If you come at the king, you best not miss.”

There has been much talk of comparing the new HBO series “A Game of Thrones” to another classic series, “The Wire”.

The comparison certainly holds a bit of truth in that “A Game of Thrones”, like the books it is based on, focuses much time on politics, intrigue, and relationships between characters.

I’ve been re-reading the original George R.R. Martin books as I watch the episodes of the new TV series, and can’t help making the comparison myself.

Especially when Cersei Lannister, the devious queen, says something like,

When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.

I’ve been enjoying the show so far but am somewhat unsure of how I feel about the story changes made for the series.  When you are trying to adapt hundreds of pages of multiple interwoven storylines for the TV screen, you have to make some tough decisions about what to keep and what to cut.  There is an overarching need to tell the story in the most efficient way possible, while taking advantage of the screen to show the action directly.  However, there are some changes in the series that don’t seem to be driven by that need for efficiency.

I’ll save you the fanboy rant and just illuminate one of the key changes I noticed.

*** WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES AND THE BOOKS BELOW ***

Amazing Kick Machine

Via My Muay Thai

Allen’s Thailand Quest – Part 1

Ok everyone, I’m finally doing my trip to Asia.  I’ve gotten into medical school, quit my job and saved up a decent amount of money.  In addition, I wanted something to do other than to lounge around.  So I decided to  travel to Thailand for about a month to train Muay Thai.  I flew out out May 3rd with a one way ticket and will be blogging about it here in Thailand.

The Preparation 

One backpack and then some (all that I'm bringing)

I didn’t want to carry much.  Bought a 40 Liter travel backpack, stuffed it with various clothes, a weeks worth of underwear and shirts.  I brought with me, my laptop, the complete This American Life collection mp3s from 1995-2007  on my ipod and a decent pair of running shoes.  As of right now, I believe I still packed too much.  I plan to ship some of my crap back to the states.

Everything I own... fits neatly in a closet

I don’t own much.   Everything that I own amounts to little more than a few boxes of books, an external monitor, and some clothes.  I managed to stow my belongings in the San Francisco Apartment’s closet while I was abroad.

Pat said it best when describing my obsession with not owning crap:  ”Allen every once in a while goes through a bulimic phase of giving shit away.”  I’m a bulimic minimalist.  I do read their websites after all.

The Flight

Mah Plane

At San Francisco airport.  Waiting for my flight to Hong Kong.  It’s a 14 hour flight…. with a 14 hour lay over.  (31 hours total travel).

In flight entertainment, aw yeah

Bored in the plane, I decided to indulge in a bit of the in flight entertainment.  I watched about three movies and played around with their games.  Watched the Fighter (which makes me want to do more boxing), Black Swan (which makes me not want to do ballet), and the live action adaptation of Star Ship Yamato (which makes me not want to watch anymore live action remakes of Japanese cartoons).

I wanna join this team ... as their coach

Cathay Stewardesses were all models (there was one named Toffee that I thought was cross-eyed, but she was servicing the rows ahead of mine). Normally, while flying Southwest or even Virgin, I’d be totally okay with busting out my bright Pink DS Lite and booting up my newly bought copy of Pokemon Black.  However, flying with Cathay, the stewardesses were so gorgeous and I was so self-conscience of myself, that I couldn’t do it.

Night at the Museum \ 14 Hour Lay Over at Hong Kong International Airport

Hong Kong International Airport Shopping Mall

Sometimes, being too frugal is a bad thing.  The cheapest ticket flying to Phuket required a 14 hour lay over in Hong Kong.  I arrived at the airport around 9pm HKT.  I have to say, Hong Kong International Airport is one giant shopping center with an airport added on.  It was amazing.  But it also closed down around 10pm.  I withdrew around 200 HK Dollars and spent the next 14 hours walking around the closed airport, occasionally napping and buying stuff at their 24 hour 7-11.  By this time, I had been awake for around 28 hours.  It was definitely exhausting.

the title cracked me up

Found this inside the Dragon Air plane on my way to Phuket from Hong Kong.  I couldn’t stop laughing.

Who is this man? Why do I want a watch now?

This advertisement was everywhere in the airport.  Who is he?  And why does he appear to be such a wise bad ass?

Arriving at Phuket, Thailand

Wow, I can't wait!

I finally arrived at Phuket Thailand 31 hours later.  Immediately, shit got real.  I felt the 70% humidity and heat instantly as soon as I stepped out of the airport.  No more nicely air conditioned airports and airplanes.  Just standing, waiting for the bus to arrive, my shirt was drenched with sweat.  Shit also got real when I was mobbed by taxi drivers, all who kept asking where I was going (both in English and Mandarin).  I really didn’t want to take the taxi and instead, opted to take the local Phuket Airport Bus that would take me to Phuket Town (the downtown part of Phuket).

.

TV on the Bus

Instead of paying 500 Baht for a taxi, I paid 85 Baht to ride the bus.  It was air conditioned and a pleasant ride. (1 USD = ~30 Baht)

Phuket Town

I finally arrived at Phuket Town, where I had planned to stay one night and perhaps explore the local area.  However, this town was basically nothing but disorganized commercial development, full of various stores.   Again, I was mobbed by taxi and scooter taxi drivers.  My friend Brian had recommended that I try getting lost in a foreign country.  While in principle that might sound fun, but not in the humid 90F heat.  I  wondered around for about an hour trying to find the hostel I was suppose to stay at.  Finally, too exhausted and sleep deprived, I relented and got a scooter taxi.

Phuket Town Hostel Room

My hostel was really nice.  It was clean, air conditioned and cheap.  I wondered around Phuket Town, but I didn’t see anything interesting.  The streets were pretty small and unstructured.  There were no real sidewalks and definitely no cross walks.   It felt like a shittier and more Thai version of downtown LA.

On my way to Chalong Circle via Bus

After crashing at the Hostel for the night, I made my way to Chalong Circle via bus.  The gym I had chosen to train at, Dragon Muay Thai, was near that area.

Gym Location

And listen to their music during training like a Thai

Living Situation

My Bungalow Room (very nice)

I finally arrived.  I booked a week to train at Dragon and a week living at the Outback Bungalow.  The owner of the Bungalow, Max, is related to the owner of the Dragon Muay Thai Gym (uncle’s nieces married son or whatever).  It’s a nice little room.  Fairly secure, with air conditioning, a clean bed and good bathroom.    The bathrooms are basically one giant shower stall with a sink and toilet.  Gets the job done.

My Shower/Bathroom combo (notice the butt hole rinsing device)

Current Roommate

I’ve been here for about 3-4 days.  There’s the occasional thunderstorm and intense downpour of rain.  All kinds of animals wonder around the area: stray downs, several chickens and roosters.  Even morning, til around noon, I hear the roosters doing their Cockadoodledoo-ing.  Inside my bungalow, mosquitoes fly around and there’s this weird species of geckos that keep wondering around my room.

Gloves and Wraps (Note: racing stripes does not make me punch faster)

I unpack and proceeded to buy myself equipment for the upcoming week’s worth of training.  All in all, equipment here is dirt cheap.  Hand wraps with gloves (pictured above) costs 1900 Baht (~50$)  Meals here cost around 40-60 Baht (1.5-2$).

Anyways, that’s all I have for now.  Going to keep training for the week and will fly out to Chiang Mai on Sunday.

Oh Snap, Music! “Calle 13″

Welcome to another edition of “Oh Snap, Music!”.

This time it’s Puerto Rican group Calle 13.  Simply put, they are to commercial Reggaeton what an artist like Lupe Fiasco or Mos Def is to commercial hip-hop.

Once you hear Calle 13, there’s no going back.

Let me quote Youtube user “dark0mime” who in turn is quoting Residente, the band’s lead singer/rapper, in saying:

“calle 13 no es cabrón reggaeton, calle 13 es música”

Their music is a wild mix of live instruments, samples and beats, but always tight and well produced, as in La Jirafa.  The song features Brazilian percussion as well as cuts from the theme song of Amélie.

If you’re looking for a more slick, electronic feel, check out Tengo Hambre, or Pi-di-di-di.

They take their music seriously but have a great sense of humor which shows in almost all of their songs, but especially in the video for Cumbia de los Aburridos.

Just ignore their borderline racist song Japón with lots of random Asian stereotypes… *awkward turtle*

Oh Snoop…

In case you missed this…

Eggs… with lots of cheese and greens?! WTF DOES THAT MEAN SNOOP DOGG!

Pure Gold… not worth paying for though!

Reddit at it’s best…

Genius!

And here’s the image the first commenter links to…

Oh Snap, Music! “Zucchini Drive”

Hello Dear Readers,

We’re going to be throwing in posts about random music we like, especially the artists we think you might not know about.

We’d love to hear from you on these posts, so if you have any artists/songs/operas you’d like to throw in the mix, let us know!

Today I bring you Zucchini Drive, from the Marathon of Dope label.

I was wondering how to describe their sound when I came across the term “glitch hop” the other day.  Simply put,  it’s a kind of hip hop with a dirty, gritty feel, and heavy electronic influences.  On their recent album ‘Shotgun Rules’, which you can download here FOR FREE, Zucchini Drive delves into the realm of electro-rap, but also puts forth a surprising number of more melodic and haunting pieces.  Check out the contrast between these two.

Marcus Graap of Zucchini Drive was a member of the self-proclaimed ‘Eurocrunk’ group Stacs of Stamina, who deserve a post all to their own, and it’s definitely great to hear his work again in another group/project.

We hope you enjoy the music!

Un-Oaked Goodness

I know absolutely nothing about wine, but I like this one, discovered last year at Passionfish.  I believe “Un-oaked” means the wine was fermented in something other than Oak barrels (in this case, stainless steel).  This gives it a smoother taste than you’d expect.  Also, they don’t grow their own grapes; they use a combination of local Sonoma County vineyards.

The name rolls off the tongue...

Don’t let the ridiculous food-pairing suggestions like “fig pizza” stop you, it’s a damn good wine.

Hmmm yes... just the wine I was looking for!

I like their description of the process,

…blending up a big tank of “grown” chardonnay, that is to say no bulk juice, is not unlike making a stew. you want to build in layers of nuance.

You can get it online, but not many other places out there have it.  I’ve have only ever seen it at Bi-Rite.

Check it out if you see it!

New Spice (EDIT: New MORMON Spice)

One of the best OSM derivatives I’ve seen… and it’s from BYU?!

Also, this is my favorite random response SO FAR (I’m still working through all ‘kabillion’ of them!)

Now excuse me… I must take a call from the Internet.

The California M1 (Motorcycle) License

Earlier this year, I decided to get my M1 License.

Here is what you must do to obtain a California M1 License:

1. Pass the Written Test
2. Pass the Riding Test

Easy, right? Well, not so fast. The tests are actually designed to be ridiculously tougher than the ones for cagers (those poor souls who choose to ride on four wheels instead of two). It’s probably because one small accident is all it takes to kill you whether it’s your fault or not. And I don’t know about you, but I kind of would not like to die? Sure, you get an official license to be a badass, but before you even attempt to start this expensive hobby, you have to understand the physical and financial risks that come with it:

Do you trust yourself to suit up every time, every ride, snow, rain or shine? One lazy mistake could put you in the coffer.

Think a bike is going to save you some money on gas and insurance? Think about that again when you receive the hospital bill for you and your bike when you go down (and you will).

Ready to buy the best gear you can afford – twice? A motorcycle helmet has a one crash policy. Check out the prices on some Dainese leathers or a Shoei helmet.

Any anger issues stemming from an unfulfilled childhood? Be ready to keep your cool when cagers runs you off the road and you almost high side onto the pavement while they speed away unaware that you just almost died.

Did I scare you away yet?

Good, you’re still here. Since that spiel is over and done with, here’s what you really need to know about the M1.

Read the motorcyclist’s handbook that they give you at the DMV. Study for the written test. You only have 3 tries to pass. You’ll have to fill out a DL4 at the DMV, pass a vision exam and get your fab photo taken.

The DMV’s riding test is HARD. The last thing they need is a hot headed hooligan that decided (on impulse) to get on a bike to show his lady friends around town. (Think that guy is also going to invest in a second set of gear for a passenger?) I’ve heard stories where out-of-state riders who have been riding for decades have failed the test. You’re much better off getting it waived by eating $250 on a DMV approved Safety Course such as the MSF Basic Rider Course or Harley Davidson’s Rider’s Edge Course. It’s damn well worth the money. It costs less if you’re under 21, but in the grand scheme of things, the cost of the course is a small price to pay. You’ll get to meet other bikers and get to talk to many instructors. I took the MSF Basic Rider Course and passed the riding exam in one weekend. (Hey, who has time during the week?)

On both days, you are in a classroom and then outside in a huge parking lot to practice. In the classroom, you’ll get to watch exciting videos from the 80′s with gaudy post processing (Holy Motorcycles, Batman!) . The material was pretty straightforward and it would’ve gotten boring had it not been for the colourful personalities that motorcycling usually attracts. The typical crew consist of the old dude who just never got around to getting a license despite riding for years, to the girlfriend that was encouraged by her boyfriend to ride, to the budding, young, testosterone filled males that are in it for the chicks,and then folks like me who just thought it would be fun.

My classroom instructor was a California Highway Patrol officer (this IS a DMV approved class after all) and boy, did he have stories: “How about that time a Porsche wanted to race me on the freeway at 3AM and then I lost control of the bike? What about all those aggravating times I sat at the stoplight because my bike couldn’t trip the signal? And what about all those fatalities on the road I’ve seen? Oh, and did I tell you a cager tried to run me off the road so I took out his side mirror with my foot? Oh and one more advice to all y’all: Don’t run from me. I will catch your punk ass. And when I do… “

Pretty entertaining.

The riding session is a breeze. You’ll go through plenty of parking lot drills and exercises. Previous knowledge of operating a manual transmission helps a lot if you’ve never ridden before. The course instructors make the exam ridiculously easy to pass. No one in our group failed the exam. The exam consists of the same lessons you did just prior to the exam. I think the hardest skill test has to be doing the figure 8 in a tiny little box. You get points knocked off for your feet touching the ground, engine stalling, riding outside of the figure 8 or test area, etc. Dropping your bike is an automatic fail. Don’t do that. Well, even then, you get asked to come back another day for more “counseling”. (See how easy they make it to pass?) I think a really key thing to realize is that you can’t get knocked off points for doing the same thing twice. For example, if you accidentally put your foot down, you won’t get penalized for doing it again, so why not if you have to?

All in all, the riding course is money. I think almost everyone starts out with it.

Once you get your license endorsed with the “M1″, get your insurance taken care of and then you’ll be ready to ride!

Hope that was helpful.

See you on the road! Va va vroom!