Ahhh.... Big Game week. A fine tradition in sports, where the Cal Bears are set to take on their hated, mediocre rivals, the Stanford Cardinal, from The Farm in Palo Alto, on the gridiron tomorrow. While the Bears are 8-3 on the season, and their national rankings dampened, they have clinched second place in the Pac-10 conference, behind USC, a strong achievement. Meanwhile, the hapless Cardinal has won but one game on their miserable season, making tomorrow's game somewhat of a laugher - were it not for the century-long rivalry.

Cal and Stanford are tied together in a multitude of ways, but are dramatically opposites of one another. Cal is public. Stanford is private. Cal is in an urban setting with stone features. Stanford more closely resembles an open field of neutral tan. Cal's bell tower is straight and pointy, while Stanford's bell tower is shorter and round on its top. Cal has a real mascot. Stanford has a color, but its mascot is a drunken tree. Cal has a marching band. Stanford has a scatter band. But both schools demand tough academic standards and constantly pilfer each others graduates for professorships and leadership positions. Both schools don't like each other much, and those feelings of animosity last well beyond the issuance of a diploma.

Cal still points fingers at Stanford for their lack of periodic elements, while they hold Berkelium, Californium, and others. Stanfordium is nowhere on the map. Cal students say they can study their butts off to get B's and C's, while a Stanford student starts with an A and can drop a class at any time, including after the final, with no penalty. Cal students often work part-time to support their education, while Stanford students are seen brimming with money and Beemers from Daddy Warbucks.

The assessments aren't always fair, but it's fun to have a rival. In a year where Cal has excelled and Stanford has floundered, we will be excited to keep their pain going. After seeing Cal lose to Stanford every year I was at the school (95-99), it's great to know we've turned the corner. My wife and I will be at the game, which kicks off at noon tomorrow, eager to parade the Axe around the stadium for one more year.

Go Bears!

Listening to ''A Little Hazy Morning'', by Progresia presents Sokaya (Play Count: 3)

Last night, I wrote my first story for The Apple Blog, focused on Kavasoft's iTunes Catalog. The story has been promoted on Digg, and reached the front page around midnight. Since then, a significant amount of traffic has come through to peruse my iTunes Music Library, created by iTunes Catalog.

You can see this below or via SiteMeter.

Last week, my wife and I did the unthinkable - taking a quick mini-vacation away from home during the Thanksgiving break, away from home, away from the beagle, and away from our assorted relatives. On Thanksgiving morning, we turned the car south and drove to San Simeon, near San Luis Obispo, nearby the famous Hearst Castle. During the next few days, until we returned Saturday morning, we strolled along the beach, examined the tidepools, seeing sea anemones, hermit crab, starfish and an seemingly endless number of barnacles. On Friday, we toured the famous Hearst Castle and gawked at the opulence of William Randolph Hearst's village-like structures, complete with massive guest homes, a gold-leafed pool, indoors and out, and architecture that harkened back to ancient Europe.

It was great to get away for a little while, even if the biggest crisis for me seemed to be the complete lack of high speed Internet. Though the inn where we stayed promised high speed wireless, we were more SOL than DSL. Give a man high speed internet, food, and a bed, and he's usually good to go. One of these days, we'll get that right.

Until then, I'll borrow from my wife's homepage and show some of the photo highlights.


The sun setting over the jagged rocks overlooking the beach


Nature showing off - clouds and ocean, together


A guest house at Hearst Castle


The Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle

Quickly glancing at the direct deposit data in my bank would show you that over the last three pay periods, my take-home amount had steadily increased - without my knowledge of any raise, paid expense reports or even a holiday or end of quarter bonus. Having grown accustomed to the same number chiming in every two weeks, this variation, first two weeks ago, and even more odd this most recent Friday, caught my eye. Upon further investigation, it turns out I'm still the same old schmuck, and an obscure footnote on our 401k plan had kicked in.

I recognize the need to save for the future, and to start early is the best policy. Therefore, at the beginning of the year, I engineered my givings to the company 401k plan to be a good percentage, but not so high as to leave us short each month. Every two weeks, my paycheck is split in a dozen pieces, with the biggest chunks going to me, federal and state governments, and to the 401k. But our corporate plan, through Fidelity, is capped at a contribution amount of $15k annually. So, even if you jack up your contribution level to 20, 30 or even 50 percent of your salary, once you reach $15k in donations to the plan, it stops cold, leaving your future paychecks at the mercy of Uncle Sam, instead of being held for your future retrieval, tax-free.

At the rate I had elected to shuttle cash to the 401k, I hit my cap in early November, when only a portion of the usual amount was excised from my take home pay. This Friday's check, seemingly too high, had not taken out a single dime, and we won't see any further donations until the beginning of 2007. It may be an arcane rule, and somewhat confusing, but I plan to simply recognize it as something resembling a holiday bonus, and will forget about the future for a full month or so.

Listening to ''Rendezvous'', by Paul Oakenfold (Play Count: 6)