Top 50 Reasons to learn with the Best at UCR

UCR is getting serious about marketing. After winning $100+ million in grants, creating a new campus logo/integrated marketing theme, getting high rankings, and having professors published on a daily basis, UCR decided to compile the "Top 50 Reasons to learn with the Best at UCR."

The Full List with descriptions can be found at http://www.50reasons.ucr.edu/

Robbie Wiliams' New Single - "Rudebox"

The latest single, called "Rudebox," is a club banger. It's pretty unique. I'm wondering if the US will catch on to this one. The direction of his upcoming album seems to be WAY different than the last one. It seems to be more Dance/Hip Hop oriented. His music always seems to be slightly ahead of the curve, rather than just re-hashing current music.

The Tracklisting for His Upcoming October Release (Rudebox 74) is as follows:

1. Rudebox - produced by Soul Mekanik
2. Viva Life On Mars - produced by Soul Mekanik
3. Lovelight (Lewis Taylor cover) - produced by Mark Ronson
4. King Of The Bongo (Manu Chao cover) - produced by Mark Ronson
5. She's Madonna - produced by Pet Shop Boys
6. Keep On - Produced by Mark Ronson
7. Good Doctor - Produced by Mark Ronson
8. The Actor - produced by Brandon Christy
9. Never Touch That Switch - produced by Soul Mekanik
10. Louise - produced by William Orbit
11. We're The Pet Shop Boys - Produced by Pet Shop Boys
12. Burslem Normals - Produced by Soul Mekanik
13. Kiss Me - Produced by Dave 'Joey Negro' Lee
14. The 80s - Produced by Jerry Meehan
15. The 90s - Produced by Jerry Meehan
16. Summertime - Produced by William Orbit
17. [Bonus track] Dickhead - Produced by Jerry Meehan

GO UCR... at the GOOG

Today a new co-worker in my division was introduced. When she said...

"I just graduated from.... *drumroll* UCR"

My hands did a little dance. I got so freakin' excited. Seriously. A few people looked at me weird. Only one other person in my division went to UCR. So... we're up to 3! Yay! I guess people don't understand cause everyone else is from a freakin' Ivy League School or Stanford.

Then she said I looked familiar. Sadly, I have no idea who she is. :/

Steve Carell as a suicidal homosexual... It's "Little Miss Sunshine"

IT'S MOVIE TUESDAY!

I always go out with co-workers to see the weird movies no one else will see.

I actually don't remember hearing about this movie, Little Miss Sunshine. The cast is awkwardly terrific... Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette...

It's the perfect little Dark Comedy. I was really entertained and touched at the same time. There is an underlying story. You can interpret the movie in any way you want. But I'd give it 3 thumbs up if I could...

LA Drops Country, Gets Rick Dees.

I just read at LA Observed that LA's only country station (KZLA 93.9) abruptly changed formats without notice. LA is the second most popular market for country music. Not that I like country or anything, but I think it sucks for people who do like the format.

The New Station is Called "Movin 93.9"

Rick Dees is the New Morning DJ. He was the Morning DJ at LA's 102.7 Kiis FM for about a billion years (well, or since the 70's)

The Dish: Its a new AC format station targeting women 25-44. Most of the songs played on Movin' 93.9 consists of Rhythmic Pop and Dance hits from the 80's and 90's to the present day, along with classic Disco and Freestyle tracks thrown in for balance. It will basically compete with my other favorite LA station... KBIG 104.

That means I'd probably like the station, minus Rick Dees.

Justin Timberlake Album Cover Revealed

I dig it. But I think it refers to how he wants to depart from the 70's feel of his last album. Damn... what did the disco ball ever do to him? :P

Go ahead be gone with it...

Let's continue the good UCR press...

The past few days have been great for UCR in terms of positive press. Here's a cool new HEADLINE story on the front page of LA's CBS2 website.

Link to Story: http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_224132556.html

Aug 12, 2006 10:21 am US/Pacific

U.C. Riverside Proclaimed As Gay-Friendly Campus

(CBS) RIVERSIDE, Calif. Students and faculty have cause to celebrate "pride" on the heels of an announcement that U.C. Riverside was named one of the best campuses nationwide for lesbian, gay and transgender students.

"The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students" profiles 100 American campuses that foster a "positive living and learning environment for LGBT students," according to a university statement.

Nancy Jean Stubbs, director of UCR's LGBT Resource Center, said the recent ranking is a testament to the university's inclusive atmosphere.

"We were the first campus in California to open a staffed resource center and the first in the state to establish an LGBT studies minor," Stubbs said in a statement.

"We were also the first to offer a gender-neutral housing option where students can choose roommates without regard to biological sex or gender identity," she said.

Chancellor Frances Cordova lauded the university's innovative and empathetic posture toward the LGBT community.

"Our goal is to provide all of our students with successful undergraduate and graduate experiences. This recognition means we are succeeding," Cordova said in a statement.

Alyson Books will publish the college guide in conjunction with "The Advocate" magazine, to be released on Aug. 15. Its author, Shane Windemeyer, conducted extensive online interviews and factored into his rankings each university's safety, retention and counseling programs.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Guess What? UCR gets ranked impressively high.

To most people who go to UCR, they know the school is good and does its job of educating students. In fact, it excels in many areas.

I'm finally glad a publication recognized UCR within the top 25 Universities in the United States. (Notice, I didn't say Public Universities, either)

The Washington Monthly, a publication out of Washington DC, wanted to change the typical ranking system made famous by US News & World Report. This is the second year in which they've ranked schools.

Not only was UCR ranked #22, but it was also honored for being the best "Striver", or school who's ranking changed the most since last year in comparison to US News. UCR moved 63 spots, moving from #85 on the U.S. News chart to #22 on theirs.

Congrats!

Some Observations:

UC Berkeley is highest ranked UC.
UC Irvine is the lowest ranked UC.

UC Rankings:

UC Berkeley (#2)
UC Los Angeles (#4)
UC San Diego (#6)
UC Davis (#10)
UC Riverside (#22)
UC Santa Barbara (#57)
UC Santa Cruz (#68)
UC Irvine (#72)

Click Here to see the Complete List

Kelly Clarkson Concert: The Aftermath

I'm not quite sure why I'm up at 5 am. I think I went to sleep early watching TV. I don't plan on staying up very long. Haha.

Anyways, the Kelly Clarkson Concert was really fun. She did a great job. This was the first time I saw a concert at Shoreline. It reminded me of a twist between the Hollywood Bowl and the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine. While Alex and I walked from Google to Shoreline, an SUV of Girls said screamed, "Hi.... You guys seem fun. Come find us on the Lawn!" (I thought to myself... yea, right.) Right as we entered the venue, we got a couple drinks at the bar. The drinks actually weren't overpriced. About the same as you'd pay in a bar anywhere locally.

Kelly's set list was eclectic, but I found it to be very entertaining. She played a few songs off the first album, a few songs off her second album, two or three songs off her new album coming in February, her song from the Ford Commercial, and two cover songs. The cover songs were not recognizeable. I guess they are more underground Jazzy/Blues/Funk artists. I know for a fact the she sang a twist on Marc Broussard's, "Home."

The sista can sing. She can belt like no one's business. Apparently she was hoarse for her most recent concerts, but the one in the Bay was her first night where she didn't have a sore throat. Kelly's songs are VERY fun to sing. It's kinda like Karaoke. Everyone was into her.

She interacted with the audience quite heavily. She pulled up some girls to be "jumpers" on stage for "Gone." In her encore, she went to the 2nd floor, kind of near my section to sing two songs. One of them was of course, "Since you Been Gone." At the finale, a big storm of glitter and confetti shot out into the audience. That was fun.

The audience was about 85% female. Ya... seriously. Let me add, female and younger than 15. I ran into a few Google People, which was fun. Also, the line for the females to get into the bathroom was something else. That's the upside to being a man at a Kelly Clarkson concert.

We got out pretty late. I don't think she got on stage until about 9 pm. The audience was doing the Wave for a while before she got on stage. The opener, Rooney, was okay. I don't think the crowd dug them very much. Some of the songs were good. Plus, I've seen them at UCR before. So Ya. I don't think the concert ended until a little before 11 pm.

Some Photos from Flickr (some from other people):

Monday: Chocolate is So Very Sweet.

• The LG CHOCOLATE PHONE was released from Verizon Wireless today. I just about nearly peed my pants. I soooo need to get it this week. It's the shit.

• The KELLY CLARKSON CONCERT is this Thursday at Shoreline Amphitheatre. I don't have to worry about parking, being late, or food since the venue is right next to work. The BEST concert experience, ever. Since Angelo can't make it, I decided to invite a co-worker that I don't know too well. That way I can get to know 'em better. I decided to invite Alex... so hopefully everything goes well and it'll be a fun night.
• I worked out Hardcore the past 3 days. The stair machines are kicking my ass.
• At Dinner, I ran into a UCR alum who graduated in 2000 named Jeremy. (Undergrad Engineeing --- Ph.d at Caltech) I was wearing a Highlanders T-Shirt and he said, "Is that for UCR?" I smiled and we talked for a little bit. Go UCR at Google. :)
  
• Training is chugging along. I hope to be a pro at what I'm doing in a few months. I hate the feeling of not feeling comfortable with what I'm doing at work. I know, it'll just take time. But Justin explains everything pretty well, and the class is really smart, to boot.
  
• August 4th will be the start of my 8th month in the Bay Area and at Google. I still can't believe i've been away so long from So-Cal. I'm doing okay. At times is miss people and certain places, but I can live without the traffic and smog. But then again, Nor-Cal is a pretty awesome place to live. If you plugged me in a time capsule after I graduated and told me I'd be living in Northern California working for Google, I'd probably slap you.

Saturday: Golden Gate Park & Downtown Mtn. View

SATURDAY

Saturday started out by waking up kind of late. I woke up around 10 am. I chilled for a bit and then headed to the gym around 11:15 am with Nai. I used a new machine. It was a stair machine that is actually like stairs, not like a stairmaster. Seriously, 10 minutes on that thing KILLED me. My ass and legs hurt like a bitch. It tells you the equivalent of how many flights of stairs you walked up... it was over 30!

After the Gym, I showered and printed directions to Josh's Bday bash in Golden Gate Park in SF. Nai & I got to the city around 2pm, but didn't actually find the place in the park we were supposed to meet people at until 3pm. We drove around the park for over an hour. The park is so HUGE. It reminded me of Central Park in New York. I don't know why I've never been there before, but It's pretty cool. It's like a billion mini-parks and lakes within a huge park.

So we get to the area and run into another group of Googlers before the actual group we're supposed to meet. It was kinda weird. Haha. So I talked with Jane for a few and then headed to Josh's BBQ party. We just chilled in the park... but it was kinda chilly. It was Bright Blue Skies in the South Bay and WAY gloomy in SF. That's the upside of living in the Silicon Valley.

After the enjoyable time in SF's Golden Gate Park, we headed back to Google. I had to play around with my 401k stuff and sign-up for online access. I headed home around 8pm.

Around 10 pm, I went to go visit Mo and her new place off near Castro St. in Mountain View. The place is fab. We were joined by Steph, Danny, Kevin, and Vivian. She's renting a room in an amazing Townhouse (with A/C) right off Castro and Villa. It's right near Verde, that semi-fob Boba place. The Townhouse complex has beautiful fountains and everything. Uh, I'm so jealous. Plus it's closer to work than I am :/

Pics for your Pleasure from SF's Golden Gate Park

Friday: TGIF & Boba

FRIDAY

I'm still training at work. So everything's been sort of relaxing... sort of. The day concluded with a social TGIF. They had a nice Jazz Band playing outside in the sun. A group of us just chilled at one of the tables, sipping beer and eating food cooked by the lovely Google Chefs. I didn't eat or drink cause I wasn't really in the mood for alcohol and I was still full from Lunch.

Nai cut his thumb by trying to open a beer bottle on the table. Ouch. It was fun talking with Hana, who's last day was Friday. Sometimes, you hardly get to know the co-workers you want to. Then Jackie throws a curveball and says she's leaving to GHANA for 10 days on Saturday. You woulda thought she woulda mentioned that before. Haha. That's Sooooo Exciting!

After work, Nai and I ate dinner at El Pollo Loco, got caught up in some police mess on the streets of Sunnyvale, and had Boba Tea at Fantasia in Cupertino.

Where Have I Been?

Good Question.

I'm writing this entry from work because the power has been out at my apartment for the past two days. I'm glad I don't have real food at home, cause it would all be spoiled. Luckily, all I have are drinks.

It's cooled down a bit in the South Bay. It's now in the 80's, which is a nice change of Pace.

TUESDAY

• My Co-Worker Ayumi got Hired! Hell YA! I knew she would be hired, cause she's cool like that.
  


• We went and celebrated at the Tied House in Downtown Mountain View, near Castro Street. It was a nifty place that brews their own beer. I had the fruit beer... which was seasonal. What fruit you might ask? Passion Fruit! Yay!


• Drinking Beer made me forget about having no power. That... and reading "OK!" Magazine".

WEDNESDAY

• Went to Target to buy the new Pharrell CD entitled, "In My Mind." It's really good. He's always been a favorite of mine... whether he's driving the ship or in the background.


• I worked out again with Nai tonight. So... here's a story. I bought a polo 2 years ago at Express Men but was never able to fit in it. So I saved it in my closet and wanted to wait for the day when I fit in it. I decided to try it on this morning before work... and it FIT! Hooo Rah. :)

Another One Out of the Closet

File this one in the "Obvious" category.

Former *Nsync Boy Band Member & Wannabe Astronaut, Lance Bass, has finally come out of the closet and revealed that he is gay.

He's also been in a long term relationship with former Amazing Race winner, Reichen Lehmkuhl. When they were spotted in public a while back, Lance said that Reichen was his "Real Estate Agent."

Apparently, "Real Estate Agent" is lingo for relationship. Go fig.

In the wake of Darren Hayes coming out of the closet last week, It seems like we're in for a string of celeb outings soon...

Source: www.msnbc.com

Picture from: Pink is the New Blog

Friday Night with the Googlers

Last Friday was an Azn Style Night. A pretty big group of us from the GOOG went out to have some grub and fun. The night started off around 7:30pm with some korean food at Korea House in Santa Clara. I've been there once before with Dan, but it was just as delicious the second time around. Kal Bi for me :) Damn, I forgot how much food they actually place in front of you at this place. It's like craziness.

Then we Karaoked' it up at a Karaoke Studio nearby in Santa Clara. You know I got my Britney Spears on... right? It was hella fun. I should go more often... just to hear Danny go into high and low pitches. I think his best performace was for "Barbie Girl". Come on Barbie... Let's go Party...