it’s kinda wacky that all the media outlets are already hopping onto the “it must be the steroids” wagon. they were reporting that it might be steroids even before they found anything in the house. now that they have it’s like they think they know exactly what happened. of course a dude that old/huge is squeezing the juice! might it have been a factor into what ultimately happened? sure, but who f’ing knows. if you go and murder your wife and kid, you got issues. i just hate how some good drugs get such a bad rep =p

funny quotes from the si.com article:

“Pro wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife, suffocated his 7-year-old son and placed a Bible next to their bodies before hanging himself with a weight-machine pulley, authorities said Tuesday.”

if you love the body building, and you have to off yourself, i can’t imagine a more fantastic way to do it.

“I’m baffled about why anybody would kill a 7-year-old,” District Attorney Scott Ballard said. “I don’t think we’ll ever be able wrap our head around that.”

haha, but he has no problem understanding why a husband would strangle his wife :p

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/06/25/wrestler.dead.ap/index.html

and damn, there’s nothing better than after having spent a weekend in a hot, humid, public transportation-going city than to have your buddy pick you up from lax at 1am in his convertable and blast down the 405 in the cool night air (thanks eric <3)

i flew into o’hare on saturday morning, after a really crappy flight on jet blue. i got a middle seat between two fat women, my little tv screen was broken and my tray table wouldn’t stay straight. so #1 lesson: fuck jet blue. taka met me at the airport, we checked into our hotel (the embassy suites rule! they had an open bar from 5-7:30p every day for guests so we got plastered) and headed to the row of pubs around wrigley field. lots of good beer and food around that area and the people were super friendly.

it turns out that the reason that flights and hotel rooms were scarce/expensive (more on this in a moment) was because there was a USA vs. Mexico soccer game and a huge gay pride festival on sunday. anyway, 3 different waitresses we talked to on saturday said that the thing to do on sunday was the gay pride festival so that’s where we ended up on sunday. turns out it’s a pretty big event with floats sponsored by nbc and bank of america, and lots of gay dudes dancing and chicks flashing their boobs. we actually ran into some of taka’s classmates as we were walking down the streets drinking booze (which you can do there!)

afterwards we walked around the park and out to the beach to check out lake michigan, which seems as expanse as the ocean. we finally made our way back to our hotel (as good as their public transportation system is, it still takes forever to get anywhere), just in time for the last few rounds of the open bar at our hotel. by the time they closed up, we didn’t have the wherewithal to find a place to eat, so we clumsily had dinner at the hotel’s restraunt and called it an early evening.

on monday morning we headed into downtown to do some more touristy stuff… we ate chicago dogs and chicago pizza at some pretty authentic looking joints, and went to the oberservation deck of the sears tower. i come to find that the sears tower has been the tallest building in the united states since 1973. for some reason i had thought the wtc towers were taller. you can actually feel the building swaying which is a little freaky.

so yeh, everything about the trip was great, except for the flights. my return flight was supposed to leave at 5pm, but because of everyone that flew in for the weekend parade and soccer match, all the flights were overbooked, and poor me was flying standby. after 3 hours of standing inline with bitchy customer service and 3 missed flights, i finally got on the last damn flight outta ORD at 10:25p. so #2 lesson: fuck o’hare airport.

lots of pics when i find my card reader :)

Last night i went out with the boys and we ate steaks, drank beers and argued politics. When i got back to my apartment, i noticed a hole punched halfway through the door! The door’s hollow, so it wouldn’t've taken much to do it, but i can’t figure out how the fuck it could’ve happened. Anyway, the great part about renting is that it’s not my problem, and i’m gonna have my mom check in on the place a couple times a day.

And damn, i always here people raving about how great long beach airport is, but i swear it’s easier to fly to japan out of lax than it is a domestic flight outta here. Long lines, rude people, and it looks like a set from an 80’s sitcom, like when the bundys went to the airport or something.

Anyway, my flight’s boarding… Kentomatic out!

today i put the final touches on my new giant tcr road bike. i’d been building it up for the last few weeks and have already put about 100 test-ride miles on it. the total weight is just barely under 18lbs, and the ride is fantastic. the grouppo is mostly ultegra 6500, with a dura-ace bottom bracket and chain, and 105 shifters. the rest of the components include: mavic aksium wheels, continental ultra 2000 tires, performance lunar-light tubes, look fqv pedals, selle italia flite ti saddle, fsa cf seatpost, ritchey wcs stem, bontrager racelite bar, sram 12-26 cassette, and various alu and ti bolts. and big ups to big game for letting me borrow his bike work stand.

last week was my off friday, so my weekend began thursday night when i went up to ben’s place with eric to play video games and watch commando, one of my favorite movies of all time. we ordered these huge chicago pizzas that cost like $50 and that i just finally finished eating yesterday.

on friday i did some shopping and hit the gym, and ended up seeing a dodgers game. the craziest thing was while i was sitting in f’d up la traffic on the 110, just laid back singing along to some tunes, i look over and the dude next to me, doing the same thing was my dad! wacky. i called him up and we chatted, i assumed he was heading to the ball game too, but turns out he was going to a karaoke competition in downtown la. i guess there’s a big one on the 30th that he’s already bought me a ticket for =p

saturday started at 5am with some mediocre fishing. the weather was good, but my stomach, the gps and the fish weren’t cooperating with me. we’ve recently changed up the area and style we fish, so we have some kinks to work out. we were about 5 or 6 miles off the coast though, so we’re slowly getting out to some real deep sea fishing. as soon as we cleaned up the boat, i met up with dave and we headed up to pv for a bike ride. i took him straight up hawthorne blvd. from pv blvd n., and he cursed me the entire, evil 1.2 miles up. there was nothing but praise for the next 16 miles though. it was some perfect weather and a great ride. afterwards our noses directed us to a bbq at bristol farms and we had some delicious, well earned tri-tip and corn-on-the-cob.

on sunday, i did some more shopping and then met up with ben to work on his car’s air conditioner. afterwards, we met up with mike and lisa and spent the rest of the day at disneyland, which was fun, esp since i hadn’t seen those guys in a while and there were lots of stories to share. we finally ended up at ihop (the only f’ing restraunt in anaheim that doesn’t close at 10p on a sunday), with a wacky waiter that really loved red lobster.

… and now i’m back at work *sigh*

Pentagon confirms it sought to build a ‘gay bomb’

(CBS 5) BERKELEY A Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.

Pentagon officials on Friday confirmed to CBS 5 that military leaders had considered, and then subsquently rejected, building the so-called “Gay Bomb.”
Edward Hammond, of Berkeley’s Sunshine Project, had used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the proposal from the Air Force’s Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.

As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the proposal suggested, “One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior.”

The documents show the Air Force lab asked for $7.5 million to develop such a chemical weapon.

“The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soldiers to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistably attractive to one another,” Hammond said after reviewing the documents.

“The notion was that a chemical that would probably be pleasant in the human body in low quantities could be identified, and by virtue of either breathing or having their skin exposed to this chemical, the notion was that soliders would become gay,” explained Hammond.

The Pentagon told CBS 5 that the proposal was made by the Air Force in 1994.

“The Department of Defense is committed to identifying, researching and developing non-lethal weapons that will support our men and women in uniform,” said a DOD spokesperson, who indicated that the “gay bomb” idea was quickly dismissed.

However, Hammond said the government records he obtained suggest the military gave the plan much stronger consideration than it has acknowledged.

“The truth of the matter is it would have never come to my attention if it was dismissed at the time it was proposed,” he said. “In fact, the Pentagon has used it repeatedly and subsequently in an effort to promote non-lethal weapons, and in fact they submitted it to the highest scientific review body in the country for them to consider.”

Military officials insisted Friday to CBS 5 that they are not currently working on any such idea and that the past plan was abandoned.

Gay community leaders in California said Friday that they found the notion of a “gay bomb” both offensive and almost laughable at the same time.

“Throughout history we have had so many brave men and women who are gay and lesbian serving the military with distinction,” said Geoff Kors of Equality California. “So, it’s just offensive that they think by turning people gay that the other military would be incapable of doing their job. And its absurd because there’s so much medical data that shows that sexual orientation is immutable and cannot be changed.”

http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_159222541.html

when i got my hard drive, i finally setup the online stuff and joined xbox live (my handle is super kento), and i wanted to start the game again from the beginning so that my online handle wasn’t different than my console handle. it was a breeze getting back to the point where i had been, and from there the game only had one and a half more acts which didn’t take much time at all. the final battle with raam took me about 20 trys though and this was all on casual mode. as soon as i finished it, i restarted the game on hardcore mode, and it’s difficult as fuck. i played for about an hour and haven’t even finished act 1 yet. overall it was a great game though. kinda short, but the gameplay, graphics, and the music, especially in the final act was awesome. the ending also totally sets itself up for a gears of war 2.

on friday, i rolled up to the magic castle in hollywood with ben, christine and a couple of her friends. james, jen and one of her friends were also supposed to be there, but got caught up in fucked up friday la traffic and didn’t end up making it :/

it was a pretty badass experience. dinner was pricey and kinda mediocre, but the the club itself was amazing. i guess you can’t get in unless you are invited by a member (christine got an invitation from a magician she met online or something?), and formal attire is required so that added to the atmosphere. after dinner you walk around to different theatres and small private rooms to watch magic. the first show we saw was the most impressive, with people disapearing and switching places and amazing stuff that’s hard to describe. some of the other rooms had more comedy/magic, but all of it was some of the best i’ve ever seen. the castle has about 6 different levels, and a bar on almost every level and even waitresses that serve drinks in the different theatres (of which i’m sure is to just make the magic more believable =p).

One of the funny highlights of the night was that we kept running into crispin glover of back to the future fame, and his model girlfriend mara lafontaine (who’s only 20, so that’s kinda scandalous). at one point, we were sitting together in a private room of “close magic” where it was just us 5, and them 2 sitting around a small table. christine and mara were helping the magician do his performance. it was all kinda surreal. anyway, it was a great experience. i’m gonna have to do it again when the wife gets back in town.

crispin was wearing the same cheap suit in this pic as he was on friday =p

best game ever. only about half way through, but when i stop playing, my heart rate is way elevated, although that might be the drugs.

edit: OMFG, yesterday i played against ben and matt over xbox live, and it was intense. i’m “super kento” incase anyone wants to play me. this is also the first game that i’ve played in such high resolution, so you can clearly distinguish your opponent moving far away from rustling leaves or whatever. james? eric? you guys gotta get in on this.

and i also realized that i need a headset to play these online games effectively, and that i need a hard drive to play xbox 1 games, so all-in-all, it would’ve at the least been much more simple to have just bought the full system instead of the core system. my setup as mentioned previously was $330 after tax, but i ordered a hard drive off of ebay for $55, and have to buy a headset for about $20, although i’m going to return my $20 memory card so that cancels out. so i’m up to $385 after all is said and done. had i just bought the full system it would’ve been $400+$40 (for the additional controller), so about $475 after taxes. I saved $90 nickel-and-diming, but it would’ve been infinitely easier to have just bought everything together.

when i go to visit her later this month, i’m prolly gonna have to take the same pic, since that sign has to be one of the most classic ones in chicago.

she spends most of her time studying, and i guess the tests that she has to take are pass or go home, so there’s not much room to mess around. she’s doing fine though, and i’m sure she won’t have any problems. she said all of her classmates (50 of them) are all super friendly and supportive, and it seems like a college dorm type atmosphere, so regardless it’s a good experience for her.

ben flew out there last weekend to hang out with his friend vanessa and they met up with taka on sunday. oh, poor lonely kent.