Sunday, January 22, 2012

JWWPHOYT

My blog is powered by blogger.com, and it provides us bloggers with a stats page.  On the stats page, I am able to see how many hits my blog has had within the last two hours, day, week, month, and all time.  I am also able to see the country that the hits came from, the computer operating system that the user used, and even the type of device.  For instance it will show that x number of hits came from America, Y number of hits came from South Korea, z number of hits were from the UK, and etc.  X number of hits were from a macintosh, y number of hits were from a windows device, z number of hits were from an iphone, and etc.  X number of hits came via a Chrome browser, y number came from Safari, z number came from Mozilla, and etc.

I am also able to see how many hits each blog post had, and if a site referred a particular reader to my blog, I am able to see which site referred them.  If I get a hit via one of the search engines, I am able to see the particular keywords that were entered by the reader.  I usually receive the most hits in the shortest amount of time whenever I post a link on my facebook page, so upon finishing a post, I normally immediately do so, and the next few subsequent hours, I am usually glued to my computer to see the details on the hits I receive.  I normally check the stats, on average, around once a day.

It sounds fairly in depth, and some of you may even be afraid that I know who you are when you are reading, but it doesn't go into that much detail.  As much as I want to know exactly who reads my blog, and trust me, I'm curious, I haven't a clue.  The only way I am able to see exactly who you are is if you become a public follower, post a comment on my blog (and many times, those are anonymous), post a comment under the link that I provide on my facebook page, or "like" the facebook link.  Even then, I wouldn't know, because, for all I know, regarding facebook, you could be simply posting a comment, or "liking" a particular link without even reading the content provided.

I've gotten hits from around the world, but naturally, the two countries that I receive the most hits from are the U.S. and Korea.  Most of my hits come from macs and pc's, but a significant amount of hits also come via iphones, as well as android devices.  The five posts that have received the most hits are linked on the right.  The most common search key words via Google are "half korean," "half korean children," and the names of particular Korean female celebrities that I post about, especially Soo Ae.

Today, I checked my blog's stats as I always do on a normal day.  The number of hits weren't abnormal.  I didn't have any hits from any exotic countries.  I also didn't have an abnormal amount of hits from the same device.  But I did have one hit via google, which still wasn't abnormal.  The bizarre thing about it was the search keywords, which read, "japanese women wearing pantyhose on youtube."  I laughed, as I wondered what the reader's intentions were, which I am quite confident this particular page didn't satisfy, but hopefully, I gained a reader.  And if I did, I would like to thank him (I'm fairly certain it's a him, but if it's a her, you can "put two and two together") for taking the mundanity out of a normal stat-check session by searching for "japanese women wearing pantyhose on youtube," and clicking a link to my blog.  I'll "take 'em any way I can get 'em."  

But in all seriousness, thank you everybody for taking the time to read my blog, and thank you for showing a mild interest in my strange, sometimes mundane, routine-filled wonderful life.  God bless you all!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Two Disappointing Losses

I am back in Busan, and much like the last time I was here, I am trying to break a serious case of writer's block, so I will attempt to plow my way through it, and churn out the most eloquent and interesting blog ever written by a half korean who decided to take a vacation to Busan on the weekend of Lunar New Year, which is probably the biggest holiday here.  I think the reason for my writer's block is because the last two weeks were full of disappointment.  My alma mater, LSU, was dominated by Alabama in the BCS national title game.  They only had four first downs the entire game.  Pitiful.  The loss wouldn't have been as bad if it was to a team like Ohio State, USC, or Virginia Tech.  The fact that it was to Bama made it sting a lot more.  I absolutely loathe hearing Bama fans chant, "HEY TIGERS!  HEY TIGERS!  HEY TIGERS!  WE!  JUST!  BEAT!  THE!  HELL OUT OF YOU!!!!"  It's even worse when they do it as Alabama coach, Nick Saban, is hoisting the national title trophy.

I've told my Korean friends, "Imagine if Japan played Korea in the finals of the World Cup.  And imagine losing to them.  That's how this loss felt."  I realize that LSU went 13-0 in the regular season, but the bitter taste after that one loss in the championship game made the entire season a failure.  I could devote an entire post to this particular loss, and explaining why the season was indeed a failure, but I don't want to do that.  After the LSU loss, I said many times though out the week, "Thank God for the Saints."

The New Orleans Saints played the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the NFL playoffs, and lost.  That loss stung even more.

The first reason that this loss stung more than the LSU loss is that I woke up at 6:00 in the morning to catch it live.  The LSU game started at 10:30 in the morning, Korea time.  I watched the Saints game on my computer laying under the covers in my bed while sipping coffee.  This play was the first play I saw, upon turning on my computer and allowing it to boot, as I was still almost half asleep.  I could feel the intensity of this game all the way across the pacific, and this hit set the tone for the entire game for the 49ers.  The most impressive thing about it is that Pierre Thomas is an absolute warrior, and was running "full steam ahead."  He can't be faulted for the fumble.  It was simply an incredible hit by Donte Whitner.


The second reason this loss stung more than the LSU loss is that for the entire week leading up to the game, I was fully convinced that the Saints were going to win.  I didn't completely feel that way going into the LSU game.  I tried to convince myself that LSU would beat Alabama, but deep down, I knew that beating them would be extremely difficult.  Going into the Saints game, no convincing was required. 

During the week of practice, it was reported that Saints coach Sean Payton handed out wooden baseball bats to the players.  The wooden bats are a symbol of the fact that the Saints players would have to "bring the wood" for that particular game.  He only does that for the biggest of big games.  And previously, every time it was reported that the bats were handed out, the Saints did indeed "bring the wood," play physical football, and win the game in convincing fashion.  So naturally, when I heard the news, my adrenaline began to flow.  It gave me chills.  Prior to the 49ers loss, the "bring the wood" baseball bats had the same effect on the Saints that the backwards hat had on Lincoln Hawk in the movie, Over The Top.  I thought a win would be automatic, but it didn't happen that way. 

The 49ers were the team that "brought the wood."  They were the team that was getting the big hits, as they dominated the Saints physically.  They were the ones who were taking the ball from the Saints.  They were the bullies in that game.  The 49ers players simply wanted to win more than the Saints. 

The third reason that this loss stung more than the LSU loss is because as bad as the Saints played, they still had a chance to win.  The LSU game was over the moment the ball was kicked off to begin the game.  Not so with the Saints, despite turning the football over five times.  Sean Payton always seems to have the Saints ready to play well in big games, and on the rare occasions when they don't play well, they still seem to always have a chance to win.   

It's a testament to the will of Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, one of the best players in the NFL.  He willed the Saints in that game.  He made one mistake with his interception in the second quarter, but his precision passing and competitiveness kept the Saints in the game.  After the fourth turnover in the in the second quarter (correct me if I am wrong on the timing), I thought the game was over.  Bobby Hebert threw out this stat in his postgame show:  In NFL games, the team that loses the turnover battle with five turnovers, or more, has a combined record of 1-63.  Despite that, it seemed as though the Saints were going to win after this play late in the fourth quarter to take the lead.  I began jumping on my bed like a little kid after it.   

     

That lead was indeed short lived.  And as giddy as I was after that play, I was even more disgusted after the Saints defense allowed the 49ers to take the ball down the field to throw this touchdown pass to win the game.  The most painful losses are the ones that suddenly happen when victory seems certain, and that's what happened in this game.


The two losses by LSU and the Saints were both painful, because of the high hopes, and high stakes associated with LSU being in the BCS national championship against archrival, Alabama, and the Saints being in the second round of the playoffs, and losing after certain victory was seemingly at hand.  How disappointing.  My brother, Ben, who loves football probably more than any other, said after the LSU loss, "I'm taking a break from football.  I don't want to read about it, and I don't want to watch it."  Being on the losing end of these two games makes me feel the same way.  The two games were certainly disappointing.

Upon shaking his hand and speaking to him for the first time at church since the loss to the 49ers, my friend, Joe, who is from San Francisco, sang these words in tune, "I left my heart in San Francisco..."  I couldn't help but laugh.

*Thank you to the NFL, and those who posted the videos on Youtube.  They really enhanced this particular post.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Geaux Tigers!! Beat Bama Again!!!

By the time I wake up in the morning, LSU and Alabama will have kicked off in the BCS national championship.  Words can't explain how proud I am to be a graduate of Louisiana State University, and to be watching the Tigers play in their third national championship game in my lifetime, witnessing one as a student in 2003.  I have a feeling that none of them will be sweeter than this, simply because we are playing Alabama, because no win feels better than a win against Bama, especially when it's for a national title.  GEAUX TIGERS!!!  BEAT BAMA AGAIN!!!