Congratulations Roger!

So, it might be that instead of writing papers, doing research, and coming up with a sponsorship package for a certain event..

And, despite feeling under the weather, having downed about 2000+mg of Vitamin C + multi-vitamins + antibiotics + advil + antacids...

I, exercised my low EQ and decided to watch the World Tour Finals over the internet... (Is it just me or is it really hard to find a very good live stream these days. I only found one decent one. It was in French. And, it kept resetting!)

But at least, I am feeling quite happy...

Roger wins his 6th year end title! Win on his 100th finals! Ends the year within the top 3 for the 9th year! 16th Grand Slams! 70 titles! 807 wins!

Roger's 3 consecutive wins: Basel, Paris Masters, WTF London!
(pictures from the WTF website)

Hopefully, Roger's win will translate into a feeling of inspiration tomorrow as I have piles and piles of things that I have to do!

Naysayers:

Quotes I've read and heard this week on Roger:

Nadal: "Don't ever say Federer is not a figher!" as tweeted by @FedererLive - who can disagree?

Mahesh Bhupati: "Anyone who doesn't think Federer is the greatest player of all time needs serious help. Numbers don't lie... Masterclass once again!!!" via twitter

Hola Gorani: "Anyone who has met Federer can't help but be a fan, he's such a nice guy" (might not be an exact quotation - as seen/heard by me on CNN this week)

Seriously, Federer is made of something from out of this world. Everyone has been saying that his time is up and that it would be over soon. You would think that after years of keeping his game at that high level, something would have to give... but it does not, at least not yet.

Compare him to these younger guys, also playing at high levels. Djokovic, Nadal, and Murray, all of them are injured, looking weary and so tired. Even Berdych doesn't seem to be playing at his usual level.

You just have to admit that Roger truly is extra ordinary. Might say, truly the greatest of all time.

Mug Shot Revealed

Honestly, I cannot muster much sympathy.

Back when her boob implant burst and the information was leaked to the media, I truly did feel some sympathy for her then. But now… it’s like I cannot muster any feelings, even a shred of pity.

So, I guess it's true about what Lacson said. The sad thing, really, is that no one is sad for her.

Occupy Peeps: Tell Me, what do you want?!

I just had to ask. What is it that you want?

Pics disclaimer: random occupy protest signs from all over the net

(Note that: These signs don't even make much sense. And, I loved V for Vendetta, now this movement has tainted the memory of this mask for me!)

In the earlier days of the Occupy coverage, random protesters were asked by news crews as to what is it that they're really rallying for? Some people could not give the news crew a clear answer and those who gave answers, gave different answers.

Yet still, without a particular unified cause, the movement lives on.

So, I don’t know if these people realize that if they don’t stand for something or anything and they don’t tell us (or the MAN) what they want, even if we (or the MAN) wanted to appease them… No one would really know how to.

So... Dear US Occupiers, Obama is not a genie in a bottle (out to make everyone's dreams come true).

Since I'm pretty sure your movement was somehow inspired by the recent happenings around the globe. Let us look to these events for some guidance, for ex:

Egypt protesters: "We want Mubarak out" = Ok, Mubarak goes away to his resort / sick bed.

Gadhafi protesters: "We want Gadhafi out" = Ok, Sarkozy supports, NATO comes in, Gadhafi is killed by Libyan rebels somewhere near his hometown. Mission accomplished.

Italians disapprove of Berlusconi’s handling of the Italian economy = Berlusconi commits to go and then he resigns.

In comparison, this Occupy Movement does not give the world a clear message of what they want to happen.

According to occupywallst.org: "Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #ows is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future."

Ok, noted. I ask again: What is it that you want now?

According to its Wikipedia entry, that according to the Washington Post, that the movement, which has been described as a “democratic awakening” by Cornel West, is difficult to distill to a few demands.

Ok, so no demand list. Not even a list of who you want to demand whatever it is you guys are rallying about from? So, how will this work out?

The thing is... In protest movement, it seems it is best to keep it simple.

Look at Egypt... Tahrir square (2.0), just now has succeeded in ending the people's love affair with the military, they've rallied to make them step down.

See, send a clear message. Rally on. Message is subsequently received. The MAN yields - well that is the cabinet resigns, not the military heads. But the people power wins, sort of (for now).

But without a clear unified cause, it seems to me the Occupy people are just full of angst, behaving like anarchist, raging on, and for what, really?

I can't make it out amidst all the bruhaha that's going on.

So Occupy people, make it easy for whatever it is that you want to happen, to happen: JUST SPELL IT OUT.

Occupy: Rage Against the...?

I’ve been annoyed with the “Occupy” movement since it began. The first time I’ve heard of it, I ignored it. I was thinking it would go away… Only, it didn’t. Then it spread… I thought it would only spread in the US, but who would have thought it went more and more international....

So ok, my the beef with the movement is…

The Arab Spring… was about citizens rallying against long time ruling dictators. It’s about Mubarak who kept on winning elections over and over again that made you wonder why they even have elections back then. It was about Gadhafi, with his rambling speeches, self penned green book, escort nurses, bunkers and whatnot. It was about people like him, who had been in power since he was in his 20s. It’s about the shady Syrian government that annihilates its activists, they get rooted out, tortured and killed. It was about the gravity of the oppression that even the doctors who try to treat the injured were harassed by government forces. It was about and is still about a rally for more freedom, a cry for rights... (to vote, for free expression, etc.)

The Euro Rallies... were protests against austerity measures and their government's mismanagement of state funds.

One could say, hey, you're country is now bankrupt, just suck it up. The Greeks should just buck up because, logically, what other choice do they have? (Well, they could keep on raging on...) The thing is, where will they get their money to move forward when they refuse to bend to potential creditors who require them to be more prudent with their money, which is but logical.

Having said this, I believe that the Euro issues are more or less legitimate. People can get mad at their government for squandering their money. Italians can be pissed at Berlusconi for allowing their economy to go there, despite their leniency towards his affairs with underage girls. The Germans can get riled up if they end up picking up the slack for their neighbor’s money problems. These are issue of countries and a continent on the brink of financial chaos. Legitimate issues, yes.

But this Occupy Movement… What is it really? I get it, you guys are mad. You’re over educated but you’re either unemployed, underemployed or living in your parent’s basement. These bankers took your money away. Your over leveraged house is now gone. Sad, yes. A legitimate problem for you, yes. The Wall Street people were greedy, yes. And, so what now?! We all sit around somewhere in a park/sidewalk/pavement or wherever… and hold various signs of rage?

So ok, I ask again, what happens now?

So it goes... People with legitimate jobs actually quit their jobs to rally. Ok, most of these people rallying have no jobs so they‘re mad and they rally. Meanwhile, those people with actual jobs, quit, and now they have no jobs as well, they too are now ready to rally.

I understand your hate for these uber corporate Wall Street people but with the amount of banks and financial institution that went bankrupt, got sold, or downsized, all these Wall Street people who duped you into your high risk loans, are probably now, also, unemployed. Karma sort of served, right?!

And, so what now, then?

Let's just... occupy everything?!

Disclaimer on the photos: I picked them up off the net and put them together.

SO...

Arab Spring = dictators must fall, freedom of speech, cry for human rights…

Euro crisis = entire countries going/about to go bankrupt

Occupy = I am unemployed, I have no career fulfillment, I have no house... So, I am angst!

I’m not saying these are not legitimate personal issues, they are. I have suffered through years of quarter life crisis issues, so I know how much it sucks. All I am saying is that juxtapose this Occupy thing with the other rallies around the world, with Japan's earthquake-tsunami-nuclear blowup combo, with Thailand’s months long floods, with Somalia’s famine, or any other crisis around the world – this Occupy Movement, despite its reach and media coverage...

I just think we have to put it all in perspective.

Who's who? In the world of the sick

disclaimer: photo collage from pictures off the net

So, last Friday Abalos was rush to the hospital when he found out about his arrest warrant... allegedly due to stress (?)

Now, apparently the Penn State coach has lung cancer.

Various GMA spokes people have been saying that she now has: a new alleged infection, diarrhea, depression, high BP and no appetite... (Is that all?!)

HMMM?

Why can't we just kiss and make up?

Well... because we can't.

If only life and the world is as easy as photoshop... (then, I'd probably be good at it - life. that is)

Photoshop-ed world figures from Benetton's latest controversial campaign,
which I deem a winner in the marketing sense.

I don’t know if it's just cable tv, the internet or globalization, that it seems there’s just so many (big, explosive, ground breaking, spontaneous, unbelievable, unprecedented...) things going on at a given time – but 2011 has been quite chaotic.

Devastating disasters: tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, volcano eruptions, hurricanes, famine… everywhere and anywhere.

Destabilization efforts and mass rallies: the Arab Spring, the Euro/US financial crisis… and the “occupy” movement (which quite frankly, I am annoyed with).

All this talk about moving boundaries and territories, fortifying armies…

The so called June end of days, 11-11-11 and the Mayan 2012 prediction... Do you sense an eery apocalyptic feeling? In a sort of weird, paranoid, but not really (in a when-you-watch-tv-it's-ok-kind-of way), that is.

But hey, in a dreamworld, photoshop will make the world go round.

The campaign is really meant to elicit a reaction and cause a stir, maybe a little too much like (literally and figuratively) when Madonna and Britney Spears kissed at that award show, but it works. (Hey, sex sells. Controversy sell.) If Benetton wants to use world events for its own financial gain, hey, i can appreciate that. It's a brilliant marketing move.

Benetton, censored or not censored, outrage or no outrage, you’ve sent your message out to the world. CNN covered you. Marketing mileage maximized! Let’s hope it translates to sales as it has been years since I’ve bought or have worn a Benetton item or have entered a Benetton store.

You know if you printed these photos on shirts, I just might buy one.

Spot the Common Denominator

(Counter-Clockwise from top left) Picture # 1: GMA right before she attempted to “escape” and fly away to Hong Kong / Singapore / Spain. Picture # 2: Mrs Ligot, acting all weak during a senate inquire, Picture #3: Mubarak lying in bed during his trial and Picture #4: Fictional chairman from “Protect the Boss”, a koreanovella I recently watched.

What do they have in common?

Well, together with Ampatuan Senior and the Arroyo brothers – all of these characters suddenly had mystery medical conditions right after they’re implicated in some crime/scandal/anomaly/etc.

The only difference among these 4 pictures – one is a character from a soap opera, no less. It’s the funniest thing. This part of the plot finds the father, the chairman, having a go-to modus operandi, that is, to site in a wheel chair whenever his company is accused of something.

Obviously, this pretending to be sick game has been done too many times that the ploy has moved on as a spoof device in a Korean soap.

Let's Examine this closely: Real politician accused of fraud vis-a-vis fictional chairman accused of fraud = same facial expression, same acting?

Life imitating art, art imitating life?

The thing is, in the soap, there were 2 heirs who were sort of competing to become the heir to the family business, the chairman’s son and his nephew.

The son isn’t particularly interested in becoming the next chairman. However, his father is fixated in making him the heir, which is one of the storylines. At some point, the son’s secretary (the lead) told the son that if was to become the chairman, let him not be the kind that pretends to be in a wheel chair.

The nephew, at first, was competitive and aggressive, set to satisfy his mother's wishes, who wanted to gain more power over the family assets. Later though, after securing his position as the next chairman (since he really is the better executive) , he told his girlfriend that he plans to be a “clean” leader. He asked her if she was ready to go through life with him as he knows that company players (who expect you to connive with them) will eventually try to knock him down. He knows this way will be harder but he says he is going to try to go this way anyway.

And so goes this Korean soap that’s supposed to be a fluffy romantic comedy but gifts us with some (sort of sappy) lessons on corporate politics and ethics.

In the latter episodes, the chairman actually gets cancer and gets rushed to the hospital, only everyone thought he was faking it.

Much like the boy who cried wolf, no one really believed GMA when she first said she was sick or have had surgeries, neck brace or no neck brace.

At this point, I don’t particularly care about the validity of her medical condition. She already had her time as president. She plundered and emptied so called calamity funds for almost a decade. Even if she was truly sick, catatonic or immobile or in a coma, she can’t just fly away and get away with everything just because she's no longer the formidable person she used to be.

And, what about her allies? What about her family? What about this Iggy, alleged Jose Pidal, who is hiding out in London pretending to be scared to go home? What about Mikey, the so called party list representative of security guards, who was said to have booked a flight for the US last night? What about these Ligots and all the others? What about them? If say, GMA is truly so fragile, she drops dead... What, will we allow all of them to book a flight and just let them all fly away?!

For that matter, isn't is so blatantly odd why these people are in such a rush to all get out of the country? To just let them leave just like that... Should we all be ok with that? Seriously.

For these political figures and personalities who are for the Arroyos, I don’t know where these characters find the nerve and the gall not to be embarrassed about their stand on letting the Arroyos leave. Seriously.