Meet the Parallels

Why He Left

I don't know whether former Cal star Leon Powe will succeed in the NBA. But I'm so happy that he got a guaranteed contract from the Celtics so that he can put the money to good use:

Leon Powe is already out blowing his NBA money.

He's taking care of back-to-school expenses for his six siblings, ages 6 to 20.

He's traveling to basketball camps to prepare himself for his rookie season with the Boston Celtics.

He's kicking in the dough for a free kids basketball camp he'll hold next month at Merritt College.

He's jet-setting. He flew to Colorado to personally thank Dr. Richard Steadman for doing such a great job rebuilding his knee.

Powe and mentor/friend Bernard Ward are founding an agency to place foster children and group-home children in top-flight schools.

I don't want to buy into the anti-bling message that Powe is being used to promote, given its racist overtones, but I'm still heartened by his story. As I said when he made his decision to declare for the draft, he's one person who needed to go while he had the chance to get paid. You never know with knee injuries. I hope he stays healthy and proves the doubters wrong. In the end, though, that matters a lot less than the opportunities that have opened up for him since the draft.

The Latest Danger: Cell Phone Image Spam

In the last day I've received numerous spam messages from a cell phone address that consist solely of a "tropical resort" image. I imagine that there's a virus embedded in the JPEG, which doesn't worry me much as a Mac user, but should worry any Windows users out there who are getting the same spam messages. Here's what a typical message looks like in a virus-free screenshot:

Remind me not to visit that beach. It's far too grainy and washed out for my scopophilia-centered tastes.