World Champions Back-To-Back Los Angeles Lakers

OK, I'm a Laker fan. Not as huge of a fan as i once was, but I'm still a fan. And as you probably know (or could guess from this blog title), the Lakers have won the NBA World Championships, and they beat the Boston Celtics to do it.

Growing up, when I started following professional sports, it was a given that I would be a Laker fan. My brother moved to Los Angeles when I was starting seventh grade, and sent me a Laker T-shirt for my birthday to move the process along for me a little more quickly.

I was fascinated by Earvin "Magic" Johnson and his no-look passes, and wanted to be known as an assist guy with sweet passes on the court and ankle-breaking moves to the basket. I also wanted to develop my own form of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Sky Hook and Magic's Junior Sky Hook and shoot from the outside like Michael Cooper. And at times, I admit, I even wanted to grow my hair out and wear glasses like Kurt Rambis. (PS the rambis link is pretty cool--even an anti-mchale site there too!).

As a Laker fan, I had two jobs. Cheer for the Lakers and have nothing but disdain for the Celtics. I loved both of them. Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Danny Ainge, Robert Parrish, and Dennis Johnson were like super-villains. I put them in the same category as Skeletor, Cobra Commander, and Darth Vader. The truth is they were some legendary athletes, but I guess that's why they made great super-villains and not just regular villains.

I've followed the Lakers pretty consistently through the years, but never as passionately as I did during the Showtime era. I even had a pair of the Lakers' Magic Johnson style Converse Weapon. Man did I think I was cool, but wow was I so far off from the truth.

This year's NBA Finals just had me feeling a bit nostalgic. While I still cheer on the Lakers, I really thought the Celtics had an incredibly talented team, and I couldn't look at them as Super-Villains. Maybe I'm getting soft.

What did you think of the series? Are you a fan of either team? Did you have a childhood basketball player that you looked up to? Who was it and why did you like him?

Technology, Creativity, and Information

Friday afternoon, I attended a talk by a guy named Charles Lee at sozo. Charles comes from the South Bay area of Los Angeles (Torrance) where he not only pastors a church, but he is heavily involved in social justice and in teaching creativity.

He and many others (including our friends at Google) realize that we are in a rapidly changing world. Information is traveling faster than it ever has in history. People in our world today have more information at their fingertips than at any point in history. As you can see from the video above, our world is moving very quickly.

It's kind of funny. You can feel the movement at times. Like I notice that there never seems to be enough time to do all that you want to do anymore--there's so much going on with every decision we make. As I reflect a bit more on my time in the desert this was one of the aspects of that time that is coming into focus for me.

Literally the morning I left, my email inbox was bombarded with requests and information. I had someone call me 10 minutes before I departed into the desert who needed information shared with him immediately. There was really no 'down-time' in the days leading up to the desert. And when I came back, everything felt like a whirlwind rush. I jumped in a car, drove for an hour and fifteen minutes, ate dinner, packed my bags, checked-in for my flight, and went to bed. The next morning, I got up, went to the airport with my dad, hopped on a plane, rushed to make a connecting flight, and arrived in Pittsburgh. From pittsburgh, me, dad, and Jamie ate dinner and drove to morgantown. Upon arrival, I talked for a bit with folks, caught up, went to sleep, and then spent the entirety of the next day answering emails, voicemails, and txts that came to me during the desert time, and then began preparing for a week of another world is possible. Our world is definitely fast paced. And when you come back from the desert, you also realize how heavily distracted our world can be from the things that are most important.

In the middle of that difficulty, we have a huge challenge. As Charles Lee shared on Friday, and as the Senior Vice President of Google shared in this blog which you should take the time to read, we are in a place where great good can come from attempting to stay ahead of the technology curve. We need to plan for a future in which we don't know what the technologies will be. As Charles pointed out, we need to creatively come up with ways for people to connect, share, and improve ideas. We have tons of information at our fingertips, but many of us have lost our knack at creativity.

You might remember my posts about the environment last Spring and the ideas I shared from Matthew Sleeth's book and lecture in Morgantown, but one thing I may not have shared was his insight that a lack of creativity is connected to our connectedness to the created world. It might be worth while to slow down a bit and create some space to let ideas run wild in our minds.

We have tons of information and amazing technology at our fingertips. We have amazing potential (unlike any other point in history) to make sweeping changes that will either be hugely detrimental or hugely helpful for future generations of people made in the image of God.

In my mind, in light of all of this the question before us is challenging yet simple. What will we do with all that we have been given to bless others and care for those in the world around us? To whom much is given, much is expected. Take some time today to think about long term solutions and real change that YOU might be part of bringing about.

Anaheim Hills Fire

The above photo was taken by Mark Boster for the Los Angeles Times.

Another round of fires has hit Southern California, and this one is close to home. Well, it's close to my brother's home. Right now my brother and his family are packed up and waiting for word from Emergency Services as to whether or not they will need to evacuate their home.

I ask you to pray for my brother and his family as well as for the many families who have already lost their homes. Right now the fire is three miles from my brother's house. They are praying that the winds would be minimal and help to contain the fire. They are waiting and watching.

If you want to read more about the fires, here's a recent LA Times article (approximately 4 hours old at the time of this post).

Thanks for your prayers!

Dad's Restaurant

Dad's Restaurant, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

Monday as we were traveling from Burbank to El Segundo we made a stop at a place called The Grove in Los Angeles near my buddy JR’s apartment. The Grove is an outdoor mall of sorts (complete with it’s own trolley) built around an old farmers market. The farmer’s market includes both fresh vegetables and a variety of food establishments, including this little place that bears my dad’s namesake. I thought it would be cool to get a photo of him in front of the place. Ironically, we didn’t stop to eat there as we walked through, but we did have some ice cream nearby.

It’s been a lot of fun traveling with dad. He is a champion walker too. Yesterday he and I walked a total of 11 miles on three short loops we did at different points of the day. Today we went for a hike in the desert with my brother so he could scout out an area for a 5 mile hike on a future weekend for some boy scouts (including my nephew). By the way, my nephew is Senior Patrol Leader for his troop which is a pretty cool honor.

My dad has been getting me into shape a wee bit on this little vacation. I’m amazed at how far and frequently he hikes, and it’s been cool exploring with him. Maybe before we head back east we will be given another opportunity to stop at his restaurant and give it a try.

Here’s to getting in shape, or at least getting out and walking more—not to mention spending time with family and friends!

View from South Central

View from South Central, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

It's taken me a while to blog this, but last Friday, I took the metro from JR's in Hollywood to within 0.5 miles of my brother's Chevron refinery. It was a very eye opening trip. The metro brings people from all walks of life together, and also people from a multitude of nationalities. It only cost $3 for a day pass, and I think I may have been able to ride for much less. I'm surprised more people don't use this. While riding, I traveled right through one of the worst areas of LA. This photo was taken after traveling through San Pedro, Watts, Inglewood, and stopping just north of the Compton metro stop. The point I took this picture from seemed like it was in a straight line from where I came from in Hollywood. How different life can be for people living only a few miles apart?

Night Time in the City of Angels

Night Time in the City of Angels, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

What a beautiful sight. This is the night time view of the city from the place I have been staying. Spent some time on the rooftop reflecting last night. It's amazing how bright the night sky is in a city of this size. Although I love the wilderness, there is a captivating beauty in seeing a skyline like this.