Phil Huang

Category: Asides

Random things I feel like mentioning without having to write a full post.

  • Federer Loses to Berdych at Wimbledon

    Well, yea. I thought Fed had chances and didn’t take advantage. All those chip returns and unforced errors on 2nd serves. A bunch of uncanny forehand errors that should have been gimme points. On many balls I thought he could reach, he didn’t even try. Movement-wise, I thought Fed was very flat. I’m still a bit sore on that loss. Fed may be aging and not have the same zip that he used to but I still think he can win more majors. Forget Nadal, Fed needs to find a way to neutralize these tall players with huge serves and forehands. The future of tennis seems to be heading this way (Soderling, Del Potro, Berdych, etc.).

    I think he’s going to practice hard this summer and come back strong during the US hardcourt swing. I just made a $100 bet with someone that Fed will win the US Open. Yea, thas right!

    P.S. Lu lost in straight sets in a routine win for Djokovic. :-(

  • Yen Hsun Lu Beats Andy Roddick at Wimbledon

    Wow, Taiwanese player Yen Hsun Lu (ranked no.82) beat Andy Roddick (ranked no.7) in a major upset today at Wimbledon. Normally, I’d support Roddick, but not today, got to support a fellow Taiwanese. Nobody gave Lu a chance. Nobody. Every commentator was expecting an easy straight sets win by Roddick. It was a great. Honestly I thought it’d be hard for Lu to win in the 5th because there’s no tiebreaker and Roddick is an amazing server. Lu evidently felt the exact same way. But he hung in there, kept fighting, and won the match on his first match point. I’d love to seem him beat Djokovic too. If he were to meet Federer however, I’m going to be very conflicted.

    Poor Roddick, I really feel for him though. Guy doesn’t get broken all match until the last game and loses. Another heart-breaker at Wimbledon. At least this time it wasn’t at the hands of Federer. But no one expected it to be Lu!

    By the way Yen Hsun Lu is from Taiwan, a sovereign country, not stupid Chinese Taipei. It’s only called Chinese Taipei because China is a bully. They can’t even show the real Taiwanese flag next to Lu’s name. It’s ridiculous.

  • China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe

    I went to a charity event held by the Tzu Chi Foundation last night and the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe put on a pretty amazing performance. These are visually impaired people playing instruments and hearing impaired people dancing. Sometimes both performed together in sync. Imagine how hard it is to master an instrument or play songs without being able to read notes or see what it is your playing. Imagine how hard it is to dance to music without hearing the music. Heck, just imagine what it would be like if you couldn’t see or hear. These amazing people make the best with what they have and do what they love. It was simply amazing.

  • Exciting NBA Finals

    Man, the finals this year have been pretty entertaining. Fisher was just spectacular in the 4th quarter last night. And that layup at the end – just wow.

    Big Baby looks pissed off at the end of the video but this is what you get for wagging your tongue and posing after making a few layups when your team is still behind. Fish just hit a clutch layup against 3 bigger defenders with the and 1. Yup.

  • Madrid Open Website is Still Horrible

    I posted last year about the Madrid Open’s horrible side-scrolling, incomprehensible website. Well this year, it’s not much better. It’s a gigantic Flash mess that’s nearly unusable. To scroll you literally have to grab a virtual scrollbar. I don’t even know where to begin. I had to find Order of Play information from the ATP website because I couldn’t find it on Madrid Open’s website. It is just bad. So bad. The agency designing this site is stuck in 1999 and the people at the Madrid Open clearly have never spent any time using their own website. Either that or they’re easily impressed by cheap animated transitions and background music.

  • Nuclear Launch Detected

    StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty drops on July 27, 2010! I might preorder this to get in on the beta. I’m telling you, Starcraft players are freaking hardcore. If you don’t start getting a feel for the new game in the beta, you’ll probably get owned left and right when you do start playing.

    Blizzard splitting StarCraft II into a trilogy seems like a money grab but they claim they wanted to do so much with each campaign that they split each race into its own game. That better be true. I know most people get the value from the multiplayer but it’s going to suck if single-player ends up being a 5-hour deal. Then it would be obvious it’s just about money.

  • Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico

    This oil spill stuff is just awful. If they fail to keep the oil spill from spreading the environmental damage will be devastating. Not only that, it will destroy the seafood industry and a lot of people’s livelihoods. Just awful. I don’t know what to really think about this. Most of us can’t do anything to help prevent this disaster from getting worse and can only watch the news.

  • Stupid Tree Branches Nearly Smashed My Car

    A helpful neighbor just rung my door to let me know a huge branch fell off a tree across the street and looks like it hit my car. Thankfully it came down on the side and there are 2 light dents, some scratches (that can be rubbed out), and it cracked the casing on the passenger side rear-view mirror pretty bad. It would’ve been a LOT worse if it came down right on top of my car so I got lucky there. If it had, it would’ve smashed the top in, probably breaking every windshield/window. I only have liability coverage for this car (though I’m thinking about adding comprehensive coverage now) so that would’ve been awful. I’m going to be optimistic and just look at the good here. I got lucky the damage wasn’t a lot worse!

  • Spring Allergies

    Boy, it’s a bad time of the year for allergy sufferers like myself. Beautiful weather but it comes with annoying allergies. Apparently, pollen levels this year are extraordinarily high. I’m taking allergy medication but some days, it doesn’t work and I’m blowing my nose and sneezing all day. Ugh.

  • Logitech Performance Mouse MX

    I just started using Logitech’s current flagship mouse, the Performance Mouse MX, and I gotta say it’s nice not being tethered by a wire. The one thing I don’t like about it is there’s no charging cradle like its predecessor, the MX Revolution. You have to plug it in via USB (works like a wired mouse while charging) or plug it into an outlet. I’d much prefer to drop it in a cradle overnight or something. But it’s a minor quibble. I don’t game as much these days but I’m curious how responsive the wireless mouse is for rapid movements. So far it looks like my Wifi and wireless phone are not interfering with the mouse signal so that’s good.

    By the way, you can probably get the best price on the Logitech Performance Mouse MX at Amazon.com. I got this at $79.99 plus $15 rebate so it was a nice deal, considering retail is $99.99.