Million Peso Dinner

Do you vote responsibly? Do you cast your vote by thinking hard and long. Did you really hear the views and plans of the last person you voted for?

All over the news these past couple of days has been the Million peso dinner that President Arroyo had in New York. This has been riding on the news waves for more than a week. Hear anything positive lately?

Take this situation, if you were loaded and you were given the opportunity to take the President and her entourage out for dinner would you hold back. If money was not a problem would you even think about the price. Second situation, if someone took you out for dinner, promised to pay everything and asked you to order what you want, would you say no.

This situation is nothing and the only reason that it is has been on the news is that the people who want her job and to those who are opposed to her are riding it as hard as they can. If they were in the same situation would they turn down the meal.

This is the most sickening thing to see happen on the lead up to a national election. Sucking people in so hard with worthless issues that the outcome of the election is not what the people really want. Votes are cast against the negative and not for the positive.

During the campaign period besides all the promises the negative campaigning sets in. The negative issues are brought up and dictate the outcome of the election. The real views and platforms of the candidates are hardly ever heard. In a couple of years we can expect major protests and even people powers because we don't like the direction that the elected are taking us. Are we that stupid, he was going to do it all the long, we would of known if we actually listened to what he was going to do and not what was so bad about the other guy.

I wish I could make my voice louder. I wish news stations would open their eyes and not over run the stories that could harm us. I wish politicians would concentrate more on informing the people of what they want to accomplish rather than working on saying what is so bad about the other guy.

Isn't is sad to think that many would say "well that's politics" and just live with it. Isn't it sad that because negative issues are more interesting than actual platforms that people will listen more to the politicians that have bad things to say about others.

The right to vote is a very misused right. People have fought hopeless wars for this and what are we doing with it. Are we using it correctly, do we still deserve it?

Old Man's Test

For several years now, I've been prohibited from playing Midget Basket Ball. This is an inevitable part of aging, and a necessary one -- because the simple truth is I would dominate those little punks on the court.

But as Aaliyah so famously declared: Age ain't nuthin' but a number. You might be fifty and act twenty, you might be twenty and act fifty, or you might be sixteen with a really good fake I.D., a body that screams eighteen, and a very violent, stubborn father.

Some of us don't know where we stand -- but as usual, AJ is here to the rescue with this very helpful quiz. Answer the questions honestly and find out exactly how old you really are...

You're at a bar and your friend buys a round of tequila shots. You...

(1) Down your shot, then your friend's shot, then order another round.
(2) Down your shot, thank your friend, and retire home for the evening.
(3) Turn down the shot - you have work tomorrow.
(4) This entire scenario is unrealistic - bars? What is this, college?

Your friends are camping out for concert tickets. You...

(1) Get a keg and a tent -- you're in.
(2) Give them money and ask them to buy you a ticket
(3) Pass -- can you believe the crap those kids are listening to these days.
(4) The music's too loud, parking is a pain, and everyone's on drugs. No, thanks.

Your friends are at the beach throwing the football around. You...

(1) Organize a tackle football game - straight out of the Abercrombie catalog. But straight.
(2) Just throw the ball around nice and soft -- while enjoying the sun's rays.
(3) Don't throw the ball at all -- that's a good way to get your trick shoulder worked up again.
(4) Don't go to the beach because sand gets in places you don't want sand to be, and the sun is a big blaring ball of potential Melanoma beating down on you.

You're house sitting in your friend's ridiculous mansion. You...

(1) Throw a house party that will make Kid N' Play's hair fall out.
(2) Invite a small group of friends over for a dinner party.
(3) You have a date with his comfortable couch, a glass of Chianti, and the latest Clive Clussler.
(4) You leave early because you're old and depressed and it's strikingly clear you'll never be able to afford a house of similar size.

You get a girls' number. You...

(1) Call her that night for a booty call.
(2) Wait the allotted 3 days and ask her out for coffee.
(3) Wait the allotted 3 days to call and plan a dinner.
(4) Don't call because phones are too confusing.

The stock market is crashing. You...

(1) Don't care because you aren't invested in the stock market.
(2) Care a little because some of your buddies are on Wall Street.
(3) Start looking for a ledge to jump off of.
(4) Find it exciting to actually have something to talk to people about.

It's the first beautiful day outside in a while. You...

(1) Fill a thermos with gin and step outside.
(2) Barbecue with some friends. Maybe even cook a steak
(3) White-wash your fence.
(4) Bird-watch with the new binoculars you bought off of QVC.

You just found out that you won the lottery. You...

(1) Spend half the money on booze and the other half on strippers.
(2) Buy a really cool car that you've always wanted.
(3) Diversify thru mutual funds and CD's.
(4) Do not want to cash in the ticket for fear that "once Uncle Sam gets his hand in your pocket, he won't let go."

You're at a sporting event and a jerk is causing a ruckus. Do you:

(1) Hit him with a beer bottle and when he looks over, point to the guy next to you.
(2) Berate him about why he's being a jerk and if he wants to fight you say, "Yeah, like I'm gonna fight you over a sporting event."
(3) Alert an usher about said jerk.
(4) N/A. Don't attend sporting events because of chance of inclimate weather and escalating price of concessions and seriously, have you seen what they're charging for a cup of birch beer nowadays? It's criminal.

You're flipping thru the channels and you see that a "Golden Girls" marathon just started. You...

(1) Watch it - that show is awesome and appeals to all ages
(2) Watch it - that show is awesome and appeals to all ages
(3) Watch it - that show is awesome and appeals to all ages
(4) Watch it (at an increased volume) - that show is awesome and appeals to all ages

Assign yourself the corresponding points for each answer and tally them.

For instance, if you answered choice (1) to a question, give yourself one point, and so on and so forth.

10-15 - You're young at heart, or you're an immature jerk. Either way, do as you please.
16-25 - You're still hanging on to that last vestige of youth. Many people your age shake their head at your antics.
26-32 - You're starting to get that old person smell. Give it up
33-40 - You may be dead already.

It is simple… America is not number 1

It is simple… America is not number 1

Maybe the best way to deal with this recession is as easy as taking the focus off America. Maybe we need to look somewhere else. We are right now focusing on America to get back on to its feet so that we can all follow. If the States could just get back on its feet there would be more trade for us to depend on. It is the wrong approach. They screwed it up. So many very wrong decisions put them in this place. We should look somewhere else.

I saw on CNN today that China isn’t hurting that badly and the Oscar for the best picture went to India. Isn’t that a sign that it is all going wrong for America. I think that Obama will be and may already be a great leader but he is 8 years late. America has been stupid for too long. How can anybody be stupid and expect to be at the top of the class.

I am not an expert but how can you solve a money problem by spending money that you don’t have. How can you lead when you are heavy in debt. It is as simple as that. How can America expect to be a world leader when it has a very large debt to China. I enjoy thinking about how China can do what it wants because the US is terrified of them. They a very large advantage on all sides of the playing field.

I also read in a book by Donald Trump that during the Reagan administration that President Reagan started printing money that America did not have. It made the money that you may have had in the bank worth a lot less than it originally was. Couldn’t that be a factor to why things are so bad today? Why are they doing it again?
Do any of the Americans understand what is going on? Do any of them actually think or are they blinded by the Obama stardom? I am a strong supporter of the Obama campaign but at this moment I do not think it will work.

Every country except for the Yanks knows that USA is the dumbest developed country in the world. They had the stupidest decision maker in charge for the past 8 years. It is no longer a question of democrats or republicans, it is now a question of which country. America is not number one anymore. The sooner we realize that, the better.

Best Scenes

I got this idea from watching one of my favorite actors Will Smith on Letterman. I started thinking of one of the best pieces of acting that I saw on the big screen. It was Will Smith in The Pursuit of happiness right after he was told that he got the job he sacrificed so much for. I thought that it would be interesting to right a blog on what I think are the most outstanding pieces of acting.

1. Sean Penn – Mystic River

I know that Sean Penn got an academy award nomination for this movie. The best performance of Sean Penn in this movie was when he was on the balcony with Timm Robbins talking about how he could not cry for his daughter’s death. He did cry in this scene with Timm Robbins saying “Your crying now”.

2. Chow Yun-Fat – The Corruptor

Great performance by a not so known actor. To be honest I have no Idea where he is now. The most impressive piece was very short but it showed the complete attitude of the character that he was playing. Watch out for the scene from after they shoot-up the hoar house and he goes the kick the shit out of the Dragon gangster. His eyes light up and the expression on his face is… Well amazing.

3. Michael Madsen – Reservoir Dogs

This was crazy, he was dancing around and singing to Stuck in The Middle by Stealers Wheelers while cutting of a cops ear. Tim Roth shot him in this scene in the end but still, it was so amusing (for the sick minded like me).

4. Will Smith – Pursuit for Happiness

As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog this is the scene at the end when he walks out on to the street after learning that he had got the job. You can not explain the amount of emotion that he shows in this scene. I is by far the best acting that I have ever seen. You could not make it look that good if you were doing it for real.

Besides The Pursuit for Happyness you most probably have not seen the other movies or may not have noticed the scenes that I have mention. I recommend you watch them and be impressed just like I was.

Top 5 Movies (my opinion)

Today I bought a new Memory Card for my phone. I asked Chenggai to load it up with songs but I had no idea what songs I wanted. Of course I had to have my Beatles and Led Zep loaded on but I could not fill it up. Google>"top 100 songs" >click click click...

I went through the list to find songs that I liked. I learned that The Twist was number one on the Billboard to 50 of all time. "Macarena" came 5th.

This got me thinking of making my own list of songs but that would be impossible. It would either never end or have the first 50 song from The Beatles.

I feel that the list of my Top 5 movies would be more interesting and useful. I am not going to give the whole story away. You would have to watch the film for you to even understand this blog. It is a guide for what I suggest to watch.

Here we go! (no particular order)

1. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Mike Hayden, the same guy that educated me on Rock told me that I was missing out on alot if I did not see this movie. He was right again. Quentin Tarantino rose to the top of my favorite directors list. At last I could answer a legit answer when asked. I don't have to answer Steven Speilberg . I left the movie knowing that a quarter pounder is called a Royale with cheese in France, John Travolta is phenomenal, Uma Thurman is hot and you don't give a foot massage to someone elses wife.

"I ain't saying it's right. But you're saying a foot massage don't mean nothing, and I'm saying it does. Now look, I've given a million ladies a million foot massages, and they all meant something. We act like they don't, but they do, and that's what's so fucking cool about them. There's a sensuous thing going on where you don't talk about it, but you know it, she knows it, fucking Marsellus knew it, and Antwone should have fucking better known better. I mean, that's his fucking wife, man. He can't be expected to have a sense of humor about that shit. You know what I'm saying?"

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

2. Fight Club - 1999

How much can you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight? - Isn't that just sick? My kind of movie. The plot just hit all of my tough kid wannabe fantasies. Living life as a leader of guys who just adored you. Fucking a girl so hard and then acting like it was nothing. Even though the alter ego had all the fun, having a proper side totally unaware of what was going on just made it so good. Do something wrong and still be able to deny it so hard that you are really believable. Brad Pitt no longer pretty boy, Edward Norton up to the top of the list. Wicked Sick. New Word - Bitch Tits.

"You wake up at Seatac, SFO, LAX. You wake up at O'Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, BWI. Pacific, mountain, central. Lose an hour, gain an hour. This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. You wake up at Air Harbor International. If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person? "

"The first rule of Fight Club is - you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is - you DO NOT talk about Fight Club. Third rule of Fight Club, someone yells Stop!, goes limp, taps out, the fight is over. Fourth rule, only two guys to a fight. Fifth rule, one fight at a time, fellas. Sixth rule, no shirt, no shoes. Seventh rule, fights will go on as long as they have to. And the eighth and final rule, if this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight."

3. American History X 1998

Edward Norton, excellent level of violence, great story, heartbreaking ending. Yes I know... Say no more. I hate racism and I just wish we could all get along. This movie just slapped every racist in the face. I had the power to chance opinions and make the racist think twice. It also showed the possibility of change. All in this is a violent cool way. Another great ending for a movie. It just came out and said, think about what you do to others, it may hurt you were it would hurt the most. I didn't learn much from this film but I bet many others did.

"So I guess this is where I tell you what I learned - my conclusion, right? Well, my conclusion is: Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time. It's just not worth it. Derek says it's always good to end a paper with a quote. He says someone else has already said it best. So if you can't top it, steal from them and go out strong. So I picked a guy I thought you'd like. 'We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.'"

"I'm not. I'm lucky. I feel lucky because it's wrong, Danny. It's wrong and it was eating me up, it was going to kill me. And I kept asking myself all the time, how did I buy into this shit? It was because I was pissed off, and nothing I ever did ever took that feeling away. I killed two guys, Danny, I killed them. And it didn't make me feel any different. It just got me more lost and I'm tired of being pissed off, Danny. I'm just tired of it."

4. Little Nicky 2000

There is no way in the world that I would make a list of movies without Adam Sandler on it. I don't care what anyone says, he is the best comedian of our time. Little Nicky came out on top because it had the devil, Quentin Tarantino, Ozzy Osborne, The Fonz , a dog that could talk and a sick match up, The devil had a kid with an angel. You would have to be on serious weed to think that up. Wonderful movie that had a huge dose of the best medicine, Side splitting laughter.

"Welcome to the party! It's so nice to see you all here! I'm so proud of you. You've taken to sin with such minimal prompting. You're acting as if there is no heaven or hell. Well, I've got news for you. There is most definitely a hell and you're all gonna go there when you die. Which is in about 15 minutes."

" Remember, you have to shove a pineapple up Hitler's ass at 4 p.m... "

5. Reservoir Dogs 1992

Quentin Jerome Tarantino's ride into the spotlight. It starred Chris Penn, Micheal Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth and Tarantino himself. Tim Roth quoted "There's a lot of blood in that film. I think there's only nine pints in a body; we had about four gallons." Awesome. This movie did not only boost Tarantino's career but paved the way for many of the stars. Even though it was an indy it kicked ass. "Stuck in the middle with you" great song and Mr. Blonde dancing to it while he cuts off a cops ear, Legendary.

"Listen, Vic. Whatever you wanna do in the privacy of your own home, go do it. But don't try to fuck me in my father's office - I don't think of you that way. I like you a lot man, but I don't think of you that way."

"Listen kid, I'm not gonna bullshit you, all right? I don't give a good fuck what you know, or don't know, but I'm gonna torture you anyway, regardless. Not to get information. It's amusing, to me, to torture a cop. You can say anything you want cause I've heard it all before. All you can do is pray for a quick death, which you ain't gonna get."

Watch and enjoy! Rock On...

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Lead by example is a very common management strategy followed by many. Set an example, show up early, work your ass of all day, never break the rules and by all means act like an little angel.

My reaction to this is "BULLSHIT". I feel that if you have any management skills what so ever you do not need to show an example for other to follow in order to become a good leader.

I have a line that I say to all of my new recruiters which is "A monkey will never eat a red berry unless he sees another monkey eat one first, Let me ask you, are you a monkey?" I drop the conversation their and let them think.

Now you may say, " I think you are a lazy, irresponsible leader." To be honest you may be right, but the point of me writing this blog is to prove some people wrong. This is an attempt to give a theory to my practices.

This is very common of me, when I do something I like I start thinking on how to defend these practice so that I have an excuse to do it. I am thinking of how to write my defense as I go along so forgive me if it is confusing. Believe me, we are on the same page.

1. Create a sense of responsibility...

If you have read the One Minute Manger you would understand that this is very important. It creates people who can stand on your their own two feet when the situation arises. I turns the people that you work with from useless into people that you can trust.

A few months back I was put on suspension for complaining about a mistake in our payroll. The boss said that he was taking away the money that they overpaid us. I said that it was unfair. I told them that the people in charge of the payroll should stop making mistakes. He said well I didn't hear you complaining when they paid you two days extra. I replied' well I can live with one mistake, two in a row is too much"

Anyhow, moving back to our subject at hand, I was away from work for a week. The thought passing through my mind was that my account was going to be a mess when I came back. My astonishing discovery when I got back was that it seemed as if I never had left. My team had created that sense of responsibility that I was pushing for. They didn't crash when I was out but the stood up to the situation and kicked ass.

I was sad at first with the thought that I was not needed but then I thought of the One Minute Manger and remembered that he found greater happiness when he saw that the people who worked for him grew while they were with him. This made me feel better.

They were not doing what I was doing. They were not monkeys.

2. Do what I say, don't do what I do.

I do not want monkeys. I also do not want to come off as a hypocrite. I make this clear from the beginning.I want them to understand that I am attempting to make an mold of success for them.

If my team listens to what I say it does not only benefit me, it gives them the opportunity to grow, individually. Not monkeys.

3. Why do everything your self when other can do it for you?

I heard a comment in my office a few weeks back. Apparently I was not a good worker. At first I was pissed off. Later on I realized that I wasn't, it hit me that I was probably the worst worker but I was a sexy queen bee. I created an environment in which I did not have to work my ass off, others did that for me. As long as everything was on the right track I didn't have much to do.

A manager at MEPZA showed me an example. He said that if I put a piece of paper right up against my nose there was no way that I could read it. He said that you have to distance yourself in order to get a better view of what was going on. It was true. Try the example.

That is it. I am rushing to post this. My blog has no basis but the fact that I am hands on doing this. This is what I see and what I believe is right. If you feel I am wrong, read something else. If you feel it helps, let me know.

Rock Hard, Rock On...

My First Blog

My manager said she was working on her blog for a number of reasons. First, it was something to add to her resume. Some kind of professional blog. Second was to make money, according to her if she posts a blog that has a link to a website the owner of the website would pay a fee. $$$ I am not interested in that, yet.

I said a number, two is enough. I think.

Well in my attempt to create my first blog I think I am supposed to find a topic. I have many interests that I could blog about. I love music. I would like to thank Mike Hayden for my knowledge in this field. Thursday evening talks about the history of rock opened my eyes to a whole new world. 'Til this day I still can not believe that I once was a fan of hip-hop music. I am also a big fan of leadership. I enjoy educating myself on the philosophy of a number of great leaders. Hitler, FDR, Castro, Marcos, Saddam and many other. I know this may make some people feel that I am sick and would contradict me in saying that they were great leaders but in my defense these are examples of individuals that rose in to power and held on to it. Rising to power is one thing but holding on to it is a whole different ball game. The level of charisma held but these individuals is astonishing. Hitler lead a whole country in a goal to dominate the world, actually he lead two countries if you include Italy. FDR lead the United States for the longest time, the United States. If Americans were given the chance they would change Presidents faster you could change your shirt. Castro had the US against him and stayed in power long after they gave up trying to kill him. To get Marcos to step down the Filipinos had to protest in the streets, nearly every single Filipino had to shout at the top of their lungs. And Saddam, Bush had to lie and persuade nearly every country in the western hemisphere to help before they could pull down his statue. Now that is interesting, right.

But they don't seem to topics that anyone would be interested in. I am still stumped. I do not know what I am going to blog about. I bet Obama and the recent election has been blogged about a million times. I doubt that my knowledge would be any use to any one reading this blog. ( If any one does.) I think I will blog about what my next blog will be about. In my next blog I will write about my management strategy that has no basis at all.

I work in an outsourcing company that specializes in recuiting. We are very different compared to most outsourcing companies. We cater to small recruiting companies. Most outsourcing companies work for the Majors like Microsoft, Dell and Time Warner. This difference creates a number of problems between us our clients and the people we work with. I manage a small team of recruiters. My client is based in the Beautiful city of Boston, home of the Celtics. I am based in Cebu, Philippines. I could right a book on the number of challenges that I find myself in everyday. I promise, I make things look easy but sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode. I am going to attempt to put the major ones in bullet points and discuss on how I solve them. I will also discuss my Monkey see Monkey do Theory.

That will all come up in my next blog. This is my first one and I do not want to over do things. My last words will be my first words to each of my new recruiters.

Monkeys in the jungle will not eat the red berries until they see another monkey eat them first. Question! Are you a monkey?

Rock Hard, Rock On!