Not just another birthday...

Wow...it's been a month or so since I've blogged, AND it's been more than a month since I've blogged about stuff not related to predictions! AHHAHAH I guess I've been busy for a while, but I have to blog tonight about this past day because...well, it was an amazing birthday...the best I've had so far in my life! Yes, it's 1:30am late and I should be sleeping....yada yada yada....but I'm just really happy for the day I got to spend with my girlfriend. Firstly, having her here in Toronto for this past week or so was already something more than I could have ever hoped for. I'm also so happy that I didn't have to go downtown today since I didn't have a meeting. Therefore, I got to spend the whole day with her, and I treasured every single moment of it. We ate and watched a movie and then cooked dinner and ate that. I'm not being very descriptive here, but that's OK because the main point I want to say is that the best part of the day was her being with me. Her presence made everything so amazing. I missed her so much when she was in Hong Kong, and even though she has to go back tomorrow night, I am so grateful and thankful for her coming. I thank God daily for bringing her in my life and I'm so happy God has led us two together because she's so amazing and so caring. This was definitely my best birthday so far in my life. I'm thankful for my 22 years of existence and I hope I will continue to do my very best to live a life that glorifies Him daily.

Just some NBA predictions for 2009-2010 season

Eastern Conference Teams to Make the Playoffs (from 1st to 8th):
Celtics, Cavs, Magic, Hawks, Wizards, Bulls, Heat, Raptors

Western Conference Teams to Make the Playoffs (from 1st to 8th):
Lakers, Spurs, Blazers, Mavs, Nuggets, Jazz, Hornets, Rockets

NBA Finals: Celtics over Lakers (even though I want the Lakers to win, I think the Celtics bench is just too good. Celtics will win as long as they stay healthy. If not, then Lakers will win)

MVP: LeBron James
Defensive MVP: Dwight Howard
Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin
Sixth Man of the Year: Manu Ginobili
Most Improved Player: Aaron Brooks
Coach of the Year: Doc Rivers

2009 MLB Playoff picks (Update!)

So the Yanks and Phils both won their LCS. The Yankees won in 6 over the Angels as I predicted. The Phillies won in 5 over the Dodgers, in one fewer game than what I predicted.

Regarding my playoff picks so far, I correctly predicted 5 out of 6 series winners! =)

Anyway, it's time for my World Series pick. This year's World Series will be amazing. I really do think the 2 best teams made it to the finals. As much as I want the Phillies to win (because I don't want the Yankees to win), I do predict the Yankees to win in 7 games. Alex Rodriguez will be the World Series MVP.

2009 MLB Playoff picks (Update!)

OK, so I predicted 3 out of the 4 series correctly, with 2 of those series ending in the correct number of games! =) Only the Cardinals choked real bad, but you can't get everything perfect, right?

Anyway, here are my League Championship picks:
Yankees over Angels in 6 (still the same as before)
Phillies over Dodgers in 6 (it was Cards > Phillies in 6 before)

And my World Series pick:
Yankees over Phillies in 7 (just changed Cards to Phillies)

Got Jeremy Accardo's autograph today!!! =)

2009 MLB Playoff picks

OK, so I vow to do better than last year! Here are my Division Series picks!

Yankees over Twins in 3
Angels over Red Sox in 5
Cardinals over Dodgers in 4
Phillies over Rockies in 4

And now, my League Championship picks:
Yankees over Angels in 6
Cardinals over Phillies in 6

And my World Series pick:
Yankees over Cardinals in 7

FlashForward and District 9

I came across this new show last week called "FlashForward", and I essentially added it to my list of weekly TV shows to watch that already includes: Flashpoint, Heroes, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Family Guy, The Simpsons, and The Cleveland Show. I must say this show has already captivated me like what Flashpoint did (only not as much because Flashpoint is still the best!). A sudden worldwide blackout flashforwards every mind to an event 6 months in the future and causes people to worry about what he/she needs to do in the present to either change or prevent the future from happening. The FBI is in scramble to figure out what caused the blackout and how to prevent another one from happening, but finds out more to the mystery. This show is on Thursday nights at 8pm on ABC.

I also watched District 9 today and found this film to be one of the most challenging films I've ever watched. Honestly, I was a bit bored during the first 30 minutes of the movie as the pace was quite slow. The mock documentary style was a bit slow in my opinion but it was all part of the character and event buildup. This film's themes regarding evictions and racism/xenophobia (specifically speciesism of aliens) were explicitly displayed and really caused me to ponder upon human nature when we come across things or people we don't like. The movie really brought racism and conflicts as an important issue in this day and age. In the end, I really enjoyed this movie as I was pulling for the protagonist to succeed.

Something to think about (and look back on later)

Today's service was a missions-focused sermon regarding the missions work being done in the Caribbean Sun. This sermon got me thinking again about missions and what God is slowly teaching and calling me to do. I'm still waiting on Him to see if/when He requires me to go somewhere overseas to do some short or long term missions, but in the meantime, I know I've got lots of inner-city missions (or even near church) to be involved with. Anyway, one interesting reminder was mentioned today, and that is whether I'm looking at missions as a way to satisfy my needs or am I viewing missions as an opportunity to satisfy the needs of those people I serve. I feel that I still have this selfish attitude regarding missions because a lot of times I'm tempted to think of missions trip as a way to fulfill another missing aspect of my life. Rather, I should be focused on just having the right mindset to just go out there and serve people. I still have lots to learn and grow. Maybe that is something I need to focus on in preparation for Urbana 09!

Just some NHL predictions for 2009-2010 season

So the NHL season is starting soon, and I just want to make some predictions because I haven't done that in a while. There's no harm in doing them again, right? Hopefully I'll do better than my MLB picks last year! Anyway, here are my predictions before the start of the 2009-2010 season!

Eastern Conference Teams to Make the Playoffs (from 1st to 8th):
Bruins, Penguins, Capitals, Devils, Flyers, Hurricanes, Sabres, Leafs

Western Conference Teams to Make the Playoffs (from 1st to 8th):
Sharks, Blackhawks, Canucks, Red Wings, Flames, Blue Jackets, Ducks, Oilers

Stanley Cup Winner: Penguins over Blackhawks (really wanted to write Sharks, but they always screw up in the playoffs...)

Hart: Alexander Ovechkin
Rocket Richard: Alexander Ovechkin
Art Ross: Evgeni Malkin
Vezina: Roberto Luongo
Calder: Victor Hedman
Norris: Zdeno Chara
Selke: Mike Richards
Lady Byng: Pavel Datsyuk
Jack Adams: Joel Quenneville

Congratulations Kim Clijsters!

For those of you who do not watch tennis, Kim Clijsters is a tennis player who just recently came back out of retirement to play tennis again after taking time off to have a kid and get her injuries healed. This past Sunday, she became the first unseeded woman to win a US Open, and she also became the first mother to win since the 1980. She also won with grace and sportsmanship, unlike Serena Williams. The scene when she posed with her winning trophy (with her tiny daughter playing with the trophy) was probably one of the best moments I've ever saw in sports. What an amazing story!