2010 Year in Review

It's a few more hours before 2010 ends, and 2011 begins.

This year has been an adventure. This year had some personal struggles, but I was also able to experience some new things as well as experience some things I haven't done in years.

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The biggest event for me this year was my 3-decade birthday! Yep, I turned 30 years old this year, and I wanted to celebrate in the biggest way possible, while staying on budget.

You can read about it at
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-3-decade-celebration.html

As well as my life story of my 1st 3-decades at
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-first-3-decades-of-life.html


In other news ...

Economic/Jobs
2010 started off on a crappy note for me economically. But it's ending on a good note now!

I have been working as a substitute teacher since 2005, with both the public schools and the private schools.

A sub only gets paid on the days you get called to work. If you get called very often, the money is good. If you're not getting called often, then you're going to struggle.

In 2008, I was on a roll. It was the best year economically as a sub. Getting plenty work for both public and private schools, even working in the summer.

The first half of 2009 was great too, but the slowing economy really start to put the cramps on the education industry by Fall 2009! The public schools had Furlough Fridays. The teachers were really to trying maximize their time in the classroom with whatever days they got left. And even the private schools had struggled, since less people were enrolling.

So yeah, early 2010, I was really feeling the sting! My industry was in the decline! I seriously couldn't afford some things I used to!

I was already starting to check the job ads on Craig's List for additional work. I sure as hell didn't want to quit working in the schools, but I wouldn't mind an extra job.

On early February, I applied to work a temporary job at Punahou Carnival. It was my first time working at a carnival, but it sounded like fun! And I haven't been to the carnival since 2002 and I missed going! I was originally scheduled to work with the rides, but was moved to work with the games. I liked working the games involving tossing beanbags and shooting basketballs.

Then later that month, I saw an ad on Craig's List about working part-time as a para-professional tutor (PPT) with students in the Special Education programs within the DOE! I had applied in previous years for Educational Assistant (EA) positions, but didn't get hired for them. But I sure wasn't going to give up! So I applied for the PPT position and took a training session. And I got hired by the 1st school to interview me.

Summer was slow, but I was back to work when Fall 2010 semester rolled around!

Being pro-active and remembering the income-free winter breaks of years past, I decided to apply for a temporary position at Macy's for the holiday season. This was my 1st retail job ever. Stereotypically, retail jobs are what people do in their early 20's. But a later start in life doesn't hurt here!

I worked in what is called "recovery" which basically folding clothes and making sure things look nice. I never worked the cash register and didn't have any sales pressure since I wasn't a sales associate. I saw some shoppers that I knew from before, but not as many as I expected! It was an eye-opening experience working there, and I'm glad that I did!

So yeah, I'm ending 2010 in an economically high note. I can afford to party New Year's Eve without worrying about that breaking my budget.


Fun Events -
Another theme of mine in 2010 was rediscovering fun events I haven't done in a long time.

One example is the carnivals. Before 2010, the last time I went to the carnival was in 2002! An 8-year hiatus.

I did work the Punahou Carnival in February, which I mentioned already. I was considering working the 50th State Fair, but it never happened. But I did go there as a customer.

If you're not from Oahu, then let me tell you what the 50th State Fair is. The 50th State Fair is held on the parking lot of Aloha Stadium for about 4 weekends every May and June! It is what many people live for. Rides, games, food, petting zoos, exhibitions, etc.

For 8 years, I missed out on all that due to other distractions in my life! But I was back this year. I noticed there were smaller crowds, and there wasn't the big roller coaster anymore. And higher prices. But I still enjoyed the rides, the games, the loud music, the food, and watched some pigs racing! I felt alive again!

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Another thing I had an 8-year hiatus on was the Waikiki Ho'olaulea. This is the huge block party on Kalakaua Avenue with multiple stages of people playing music, and people walking around having fun! This usually takes place in September!

The Ho'olaulea organizers don't put out much advertising on this event, so some years I found out" too last minute" for me to make time for it! This year, I was able to find out in advance! I went with my friend Aaron G., walked Kalakaua Avenue, saw local reggae band Ten Feet playing and re-lived what I missed out the last 8 years.

Like the 50th State Fair, it was done on a smaller scale, due to the slowing economy. But I still enjoyed it!

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I also ended my hiatus from karaoke events on my 30th birthday. This year's birthday was on a Friday, so it was convenient time to party! Though it wasn't convenient for a few people I tried to invite because they finished work late in the evenings and weren't able to make it to my events in time. Hopefully, they can make it to my next birthday which falls on a Saturday.

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In all club adventures of the past, I still didn't go to one when I was wearing a Santa hat! Again, other distractions the previous years. I was going to go party on Christmas Eve, but I had other distractions, so I went on Christmas night. It was a last minute decision to walk into Senor Frogs. Senor Frogs has a stage to dance on, and their drinks are more reasonably priced than other places. They also had a great atmosphere that night!


Music
My favorite song of the year was "Billionaire" featuring Travie McCoy doing the rapping, and Hawaii's own Bruno Mars singing the chorus! There is also a great remix version of that song with Hawaii's reggae/hip-hop group BET!

I loved the Billionaire song so much , it was the 1st song I sang on my birthday's karaoke! Too bad 2 of the guests came after I was done with the song.

While I congratulate Bruno Mars on his success this year, and his 7 Grammy nominations, he needs to stay out of trouble. He's already busted for cocaine! He needs to stay away from that, and stop trying to fit in with those in the industry who encourages him to do harmful substances.

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I remember mentioning in my earlier blog post about the West Coast hip-hop making a min-comeback with a more party flavor, especially with the jerk dance! There was a song by Audio Push earlier this year called "Teach Me How to Jerk".

Well, "the jerk" got overshadowed by "the dougie" this year. Cali Swag District had their southern-sounding hit "Teach Me How to Dougie" which had very catchy phrases that I loved to repeat!
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My other favorite song this year was "California Gurls" with Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg! I also remember this being the last song I sang at my birthday karaoke event!

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BOB had some hits with Bruno Mars, Eminem and other stars, but my favorite is "Magic" featuring Weezer's Rivers Cuomo! A great rock/rap combo inspired a 1960's "Do You Believe in Magic?" by The Lovin Spoonful
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My favorite Rihanna hit this year is "The Only Girl in the World". I was singing along with that song when I was dancing on the stage at Senor Frogs on Christmas. I wonder if someone You-Tubed it! You might find it hilarious!

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There's obviously more great music, but this is my list for now! While people may complain about how "there's no good music anymore", there's always something good every year. and I'm looking forward to what great stuff comes out in 2011!


Sports

The world's biggest sports event was the World Cup in South Africa. My commentary on the World Cup at http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/07/world-cup-2010.html

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For UH football, they weren't expected to have a winning season. But they were able to go 10-3 in the regular season. But they lost the Hawaii Bowl to Tulsa. Yet, some people are calling for Coach Mack to get fired over losing a bowl game? HELLO - WE HAD A WINNING SEASON! Too many people demand instant gratification these days!
Besides, Tulsa was one of the greatest offensive teams this year, and one of the most under-rated teams of the year!

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Another sign of people demanding instant gratification at UH- 2 men's basketball players quit the team in the early part of the season, because of a "lack of playing time".

Seriously, I'm not exaggerating.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/sports/20101208_Rainbow_Warriors_lose_Salter_Coleman.html

HELLO - basketball is a TEAM sport, not an individual sport! Instead of whining over playing time EARLY IN THE SEASON, just keep practicing! You never know when the team needs you on the floor! Maybe if things don't work out at the end of the season, then they could chose other options.

But if they're going to quit EARLY in the season over playing time, then how are they supposed to handle minor inconveniences the first month in their future jobs? Are they just going keep quitting jobs as soon as something minor goes wrong? That's not going to pay the rent!
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Another side of excessive demand of instant gratification! Maryland's football coach got fired, even though he had an 8-4 season and won a bowl game. But the mentality nowadays is "winning seasons aren't enough, you need to win a championship every year!" Instant gratification run amok!
Learn more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/18/AR2010121802878.html
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UConn women's basketball team finally lost a game yesterday (to Stanford) after win streak of 90 games in a row! That's the longest win streak for any college basketball team!
Yet, there are some haters out there disrespecting that team, saying stuff like "it's just a woman's team"
Oh yeah, where's the video evidence that you can beat those women in basketball? Is the answer "nowhere "? Then shut the beeping hell up! Actions speak louder than words!
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Brett Favre already is a sports legend, with a Super Bowl ring, and on the way to the Hall of Fame! But he needs to move on to the next phase of life already! He's past his prime!
Check out http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1110/hess_farve.php3
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I mentioned on facebook when Terrell Owens (TO) joined the Cincinnati Bengals, that TO and Chad Ochocinco could make the Bengals an exciting team. I had visions of the team having the most touchdown dances in NFL history. But they're past their prime, and the team wasn't successful! But the Bengals still got the coolest helmets that McKinley High School should imitate!

News Stories
You might've noticed that I didn't mention major news events on this blog posts. That's because I already wrote about them on the blog already.

I already wrote a blog post on the oil spill, the elections (both Hawaii and national), the controversy over a mosque near Ground Zero, airport security controversies, Arizona immigration controversy, Hawaii tsunami scare, and other stuff

And for sports, I already wrote about the Winter Olympics, World Cup, Ben Roethlisberger's rape case, and coaching and conference changes at UH!

Just go to the right side of this blog, click on a month, and explore my great insights, :)

And have a happy and safe new year's celebration

UH sports changing conferences

After months of speculation, it was announced earlier this month that UH will leave the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) on July 1, 2012. After that, the football team will play in the Mountain West Conference (MWC), the other sports teams will play in the Big West.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Athletic_Conference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_West_Conference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_West_Conference

Boise State was already planning to leave the WAC for the Mountain West after this school year.

Fresno State and Nevada wanted to join the Mountain West at the same time as Boise State. But they missed the deadline, so they'll have to wait until 2012.

After it was announced that Fresno State and Nevada was going to leave the WAC, there was panic among WAC and UH officials.

The WAC went to find some new members from smaller colleges. They wanted Montana, which had some success in the 1-AA level. But Montana declined. So the WAC then added Texas State, Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) and Denver.

Some say that the WAC should fire its commissioner Jim Benson over the fact that teams always leave the WAC as soon as they had some success. But I'm already thinking that Benson actually enjoys being in charge of a conference that changes members all the time! I really believe that adding and losing teams makes his life exciting

But the UH fans sure aren't excited about the future WAC!

The better teams in the WAC are leaving. We're stuck with opponents that don't really attract crowds at Aloha Stadium. Hawaii fans tend to just go to games with big name opponents! They're not excited about watching UH playing smaller time WAC programs like San Jose State or New Mexico State. And they're sell as hell not going to fill the stadium to watch UH play Texas State or UT-San Antonio.

Some demanded that UH play football as an independent, meaning not being a member of a conference. That would mean UH would have to schedule all of its games. That's not as easy as it sounds.

Back in 2007, then-UH Athletic Director Herman Frazier got a lot of heat over his struggles in scheduling opponents for the football season.

But some things were out of his control!

UH was scheduled to play Michigan State that year. But Michigan State cancelled that game, and bribed UH with $250,000 into accepting that game's cancellation!

Frazier attempted to schedule the season's opening game at the other big university in the state of Michigan. That's right, Frazier attempted to schedule UH to play the University of Michigan at it's huge stadium at Anne Arbor. Michigan refused to play UH, and decided to play an even lesser-known school Appalachian State. Ironically, Appalachian State pulled a historic upset at that game!

Because of those scheduling difficulties, Frazier had to schedule small-time teams from Northern Colorado and Charleston Southern!

Frazier already had 8 games guaranteed, due to WAC affiliation. He just had to fill in 4-5 more games! Even that was difficult!

If Frazier had difficulty getting 4 more teams to play UH, what makes you think UH would have an easy time scheduling all 12 or 13 games by itself as an independent school?

Many college teams don't want to travel all the way to Hawaii! Too far, too expensive, too time-consuming!

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And that brings up another concern for Hawaii as well! To play their opponents on the road requires plane ride that goes 2,500+miles and takes at least 5 hours. And that's just to play a team in California!

But remember, the WAC as it is now, has teams in hard to get to places like Louisiana Tech (Ruston), New Mexico State (Las Cruces), Utah State (Logan) and Idaho (Moscow). Those schools are located in small towns far from major urban areas. There is NO direct flights from Hawaii to those places. So, it's either take 2 plane rides, or just take 1 plane to a major urban area (ie Las Vegas, Dallas, etc) and take a bus ride to your opponents' hometown.

And add possible flight delays, bad weather, etc.

And remember, these athletes also have to find time to keep up with their academic work in the midst of all this! That means finishing up research papers, reading books filled with words an average person doesn't use in conversations, and taking exams. And doing it all in the most craziest traveling situation in all of college sports.

That makes finding a good conference for UH sports more complicated than other colleges.
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The Big West conference as it is now, only has teams in California. That makes it easier on UH travel schedule, since they only need 1 flight to either Los Angeles, San Francisco or San Diego. No more long trips to isolated rural colleges located in landlocked states.

But the only problem with the Big West is that most of their schools don't have a football team. They all got basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball and soccer! But most don't have football!

The WAC will still have football teams, but Hawaii fans aren't interested in games against San Jose State, New Mexico State, or (future members) Texas State or UTSA.

So the compromise solution was for the football team to play in the Mountain West, and the other sports play in the Big West.

For football, the fans can continue to enjoy rivalries with Fresno State, Nevada and Boise State. Plus, they can take direct flights to road games against UNLV and San Diego State. The main drawback though, is long road to trips to games at rural colleges like Wyoming (Laramie) or Colorado State (Fort Collins).

For the other UH sports, they don't' have to worry about such road trips in the Big West. They can easily build or renew rivalries with Long Beach State, UC-Irvine, Pacific and Cal State Fullerton. Those schools may not have football teams, but they do have quality level volleyball, baseball and softball teams.

However, sports announcer Jeff Portnoy is upset that the Big West isn't a great basketball conference.
http://hoopstalk.honadvblogs.com/2010/12/10/uh-the-big-west-and-basketball/

He feels that UH basketball will take a step backward by being in that conference. But UH basketball hasn't done well in the last 3 years, so they haven't earned the privilege to complain. Just be lucky they won't be distracted by long road trips to isolated rural colleges.

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It's not just the distance that made it hard for UH! It's also the cost of travel. In this economic times, when schools are cutting budgets, college athletics aren't immune. Travel costs are a concern for the college teams traveling to Hawaii. So Hawaii had to agree to travel subsidies in order to join Mountain West and the Big West.

The words "travel subsidies" sent fear to the heart of many UH fans. You mean we gotta pay for our opponents plane ticket, hotel rooms, meals and other stuff? Actually no, we're just paying for their plane ride to and from the continent. Our opponents will continue to pay for hotel rooms and other accommodations, just like they do in their other road trips.
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Even though the UH Warriors lost to Tulsa in the Hawaii Bowl, they still had a great season! Hopefully, they'll continue to have success in all their sports as they move on to their new conferences