Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images

Props to LeBron James for proving that there IS a shortcut to achieving success...


Sarcasm aside, the King (whose first championship didn't come nearly close enough to impressing me as much as that won by the Kings here in L.A. last week) still doesn't deserve to be compared to MJ or Kobe. Or even Dirk Nowitzki. All it took for LeBron to "earn" this title was having the pressure and expectations taken off him [pressure and expectations that His Airness, the Black Mamba and Dirk (to a somewhat lesser degree) thrived under] by playing with an established NBA champion like Dwyane Wade. But y'all already knew this. Props to Wade for luring the "Greatest Player in the NBA" to play in his city and not vice versa.

(Note to Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert: You didn't keep your promise about your team winning a title before LeBron did. You were probably preoccupied with helping NBA Commissioner David Stern ruin the pre-season trade that would've brought Chris Paul to the Lakers. For this, I'm actually glad that LeBron didn't win a ring in Ohio. Screw Cleveland... Moreso, that is.)

So enjoy your time with the NBA crown, King James... I'm sure that when Kevin Durant finally wins a title, it will be for Oklahoma City and not another town that he "can take his talents" to. (FYI, I despise the Thunder as well.) I know, I'm a hater. But at least I devoted a Blog entry to the Miami Heat's newly-bought championship. The Super Friends were pretty impressive against the Thunder in this year's Finals, but yea—this title was bought. But y'all already knew this.

U.S. Air Force

The X-37B Returns Home... After spending 468 days in space following its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on March 5, 2011, the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) safely returned to Earth last Saturday...concluding a presumably successful but clandestine mission for the U.S. Air Force. This is the second OTV (OTV-2) to fly into Earth orbit; the first so-called mini-shuttle, OTV-1, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in April of 2010 and successfully landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California that following December.

OTV-1 has been refurbished and will head back to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to embark on a second flight into space. It is scheduled to launch aboard another Atlas V rocket this October.


U.S. Air Force


U.S. Air Force

2012 JPL Open House... I went to the annual event at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Pasadena, California, last Sunday, and while the traffic driving there is becoming worse because more and more people are showing up at JPL each year (which is, of course, a good thing), the Open House was awesome. It's always cool to visit the Space Flight Operations Facility (which I just found out was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985... Cool), and see all the active deep space missions that JPL is keeping track of at the same time. As the last photo at the bottom of this entry shows, the SFOF is preparing for the Curiosity Mars rover's arrival at the Red Planet less than two months from now. Curiosity is scheduled to land on Mars at 10:31 PM, Pacific Daylight Time on August 5. (FYI, the rover's original name was the Mars Science Laboratory, or MSL.)



Originally, I wasn't going to go to the Open House this year because there isn't anything currently being built inside JPL's Spacecraft Assembly Facility (above)...a top attraction at the event. From 2008 to 2011, visitors to the SAF got the treat of watching Curiosity being constructed inside the giant clean room. As of last June (when the rover was delivered to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to begin launch preparations), this has no longer the case. Who knows what will be the next space probe to be assembled at JPL...and what the probe's ultimate celestial destination will be. I'll resist the urge to get into a rant about the Obama Administration wanting to reduce funding for NASA's planetary science program (which is responsible for JPL's projects) in next year's federal budget. That is all.

LINK: Photos I took at the 2012 JPL Open House

Snapshots from the 'Black Parade'... That's the nickname given to yesterday's championship celebration held for the Los Angeles Kings in downtown L.A. It's a reference to My Chemical Romance's "Welcome to the Black Parade" (which is an awesome song), a tune that was played during the intro to all Kings home games in this now-concluded NHL season. Anyways, Black Parade was a very appropriate term for yesterday...as nearly every fan who showed up near STAPLES Center and along Figueroa Street wore some kind of black attire (except me... I wore a blue-and-white checkered shirt and jeans). I probably would've followed suit and wore the team's color if I was able to attend the post-parade victory rally within the cool confines of STAPLES Center afterwards. But thank the Kings' season ticket-holders for not making that the case. Oh well.

Of course, as shown with the pics posted in this entry, I still managed to get pretty close to the action and photograph the players as their motorcade of buses, LAPD escorts and whatnot passed by on Figueroa. It also helped that it was cloudy for much of the parade. (Thank you, June gloom.) Summer doesn't start till next Wednesday; I prefer not to swelter outside in 95-plus degree heat till then. That is all.

LINK: Photos I took at the Los Angeles Kings' 2012 championship parade

Photos of the Day... My SoCal Sports Wall of Fame has been updated—though it's still on the verge of becoming the Lakers Wall of Fame if Kobe and company manage to win another NBA title within the next two years. Anyways... To the L.A. Kings season ticket-holders who snatched up all the tickets to the Stanley Cup championship rally inside STAPLES Center tomorrow, thus preventing the general public (like me) from hearing the players' speeches after the parade concludes, I say screw you. I'm still going to the parade, though. But yea— Screw you.

Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

The Kings Finally Earn Their Crown... Props to the Los Angeles Kings for winning the 2012 Stanley Cup championship tonight! They are the third sports tenant at STAPLES Center (behind the Lakers and the Sparks) to win a title. Time for the Clippers to get their act together...what with non-STAPLES-residing L.A. teams such as the Galaxy and the Dodgers, plus Orange County teams like the Anaheim Angels and Ducks, having also won championships in the past decade. Well— Except for the Dodgers. Let's hope that Magic Johnson and his new management team changes that.

It's a good thing that the Kings won the championship today instead of last Saturday, 'cause I couldn't go to the parade if it was tomorrow (I have a doctor's appointment in the afternoon). The Kings' victory parade in downtown L.A. (obviously) will be this Thursday.


Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times


Patrick Fallon / Los Angeles Times


Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

Brittany Murray / The Daily Breeze

Welcome home, USS Iowa! Earlier today, the famous battleship was finally towed to her final resting spot at Berth 87 near the Port of Los Angeles. The new addition to San Pedro's waterfront will be commissioned on July 4...while the Iowa will officially open to the public as an interactive naval museum a few days later on July 7. While I mentioned above that Berth 87 is the Iowa's final resting spot, The Daily Breeze website states that the contract between the U.S. Navy and the Pacific Battleship Center (which was responsible for getting the Iowa to Southern California) stipulates that the World War II-era vessel needs to essentially stay in battle-shape (the Iowa is still bristling with relatively modern Tomahawk and Harpoon missile launchers, plus Phalanx anti-aircraft Gatling guns) till 2020—in the event of a national emergency. While the re-commissioning of Iowa to sail to hotspots such as Syria or North Korea (again) remains unlikely, it's nice to see that the Pentagon is keeping all of its options to deal with global conflicts open.

Check out these awesome photos that were posted in The Daily Breeze Media Center. Click on that link to view more pics.


Brittany Murray / The Daily Breeze


Brittany Murray / The Daily Breeze


Brittany Murray / The Daily Breeze


Brittany Murray / The Daily Breeze


Brittany Murray / The Daily Breeze

NASA / Bill Ingalls

Enterprise arrives at the Intrepid... Despite suffering minor damage to her starboard wing after passing too close to the bottom of a Hudson River bridge a few days ago, the prototype space shuttle orbiter Enterprise finally completed her barge trip to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City earlier today. Enterprise is now on the deck of the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Intrepid...and will undergo final preparation to become a permanent exhibit on the floating museum. Enterprise will officially go on public display this July 19.


NASA / Bill Ingalls


NASA / Bill Ingalls


New York District public affairs / Dan Desmet


NASA / Bill Ingalls


NASA / Bill Ingalls

Attack of the Cats Kittens... I'm more of a dog lover, but yesterday I couldn't help but get a warm cuddly feeling when a group of young felines decided to take refuge under and inside my dad's Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. One of my brothers had to use a water hose to spray the cat and her litter of five to make them disperse...causing some of the kittens to stray from their mom and run the wrong way on the street (which is a cul-de-sac, fortunately). I had to pick these kittens up (yes, I got some scratches on my hands as I did so) and bring them back to where their mom was. One particular kitten didn't flinch from the deluge of water and decided to go back to its resting spot inside the engine of my dad's truck (the kitten entered from underneath the vehicle). Yes, you heard right. My brother had to open the Tacoma's hood while I retrieved the youngling (using this word makes me think of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones... Darn it) and return it to its mom. The mom and her offspring ended up hiding inside a group of bushes outside our front yard afterwards. On a good note, though, my brother told me that they ended up finding a home with another family later in the day. Awesome.

Image of the Day... Just thought I'd start the month off by displaying this funny pic (it's amusing if you're a dude or a girl who's very photogenic even without makeup on) that, unsurprisingly, was recently posted on Facebook. Good ol' social network sites. (Sarcasm?) Carry on.