Strategic Tennis and the Aussie Open

So ok, things have not been working out for me – in terms of picking the winners, that is. Maybe, I’ve been stuck in 2006 or something and so I still want Roger, Kim and, maybe, Sharapova to win. Or, maybe I’ve been placing bets, using my heart and not my head – or maybe, not really.

As for today’s men’s finals, I was slightly apathetic. If I wasn’t doing anything at home, I would see it but if I had something better to do then I’m ok not to, because, well, I am, just slightly bitter.

But if I had to chose who I wanted to win, who would it be? (I know, the final’s already over… but this is a theoretical discussion, one that happened in my head hours before the actual finals began. So just humor me.)

Strategic vs. Subjective

picture taken from the official Australian Open website

Subjectively, I would go for Nadal, that is – he seems like a nice guy, has/had this on-going friendship with Roger going for him. They've been buddies (aside from the recent brouhaha about that talk of striking and Roger isn’t into it but Rafa is – objectively though I think Roger has a point that going on strike isn’t good for anyone – not the players, not the organizers, the sponsors, the sport, or the fans – just look at what happened to the NBA. But hey, other people have other opinions about that).

So, back to Rafa: he’s just a good champion. I just like him better, so I would rather he wins.

Strategically, of course, I would have to go for Djokovic, just because if Nadal’s rank goes higher up then it would be harder for Roger to catch up to rank #2.

As for Andy Murray, subjectively he’s rank #4 to me (He’s just too sulky) and well, strategically, the more he loses, the less chances he gets to bring Roger down a notch. So Andy, you do not register in my radar at all in terms of who I’d want to win those trophies.

And, my choice for my subjective #1, is well, obviously Roger Federer (well, duh).

Roger’s Form

picture taken from the official Australian Open website

Back to explaining why I’m not so delusional after all and why I am not particularly stuck in the year 2006.

The thing is Roger was playing really well, especially in that match vs. Del Potro. He has improved a lot since 2008 - back then it felt at times like he’s no longer into it. He had those bought of walkabouts when whoever that was came to inhabited his body and made him dazed or something.

In 2011 at the French Open semifinals, he did so well against Djokovic.

In the Del Potro match (AU Open 2012), he was just so back in the zone. It was the Federer that makes you gawk in awe with every passing shot he makes.

Seriously, Roger didn’t even play that bad against Nadal in the semis, it wasn’t his best but he wasn’t playing too bad either (not 2008 level bad). It’s just that on the day, Nadal was just too good, he was better than his usual good. He could inhumanly get to a lot of Roger’s shots that would have normally been winners against other players. Then there were so many of those lucky breaks (net cords, line shots, etc.) that went Nadal’s way.

All I’m saying is, Roger is still in good form – way way way in good form. And, at that age where everyone already sees him as a veteran, everyone would have to say that he’s in tremendously great form. How would Nadal or Djokovic be at 30, really? When all this running has already caused some injuries for Nadal these past few years and when only 1 year at #1 has already caused Djokovic some injuries too.

I really hope Roger wins another big one soon because, objectively, I really think he still can and subjectively, I really really just want him to :)

Week 2: So let the battle begin!

My mind cannot actually concentrate and think straight since I have been trying to (but not succeeding) finish all my backlog work and tasks, work on my paper, and simultaneously tune into the SCJ trial and the Australian Open.

As I continue to mix my paper references and try to remember where I read which economic forecasts, I wish that I could tune in to the SJC trial some more, which has been dubbed by lawyer friend of mine as porn for lawyers. But as Senator Santiago confirmed earlier today, it was so far still boring – so maybe I wasn’t missing too much.

It's week 2 though, I am hoping things would pick up...


Just some things here and there that I've picked up (as I work while the TV is on):

The New Defense People

Just when people start to think that, that Horn-Bautista is going nuts talking about those attempts on the little girl's, aka GMA’s, life, who is this new Atty. Karen Woman now? What’s the point of having her, there really? She’s not even part of the defense team. I suppose they need another woman lawyer for PR/image/appearance sake.

Hey, she is pretty, forget about her degree. She plays a woman and it kinda works. (these people really... jeez.)

I was just watching an interview of her the other day. She said something like sometimes she’s not sure as to what to say when reporters come up to ask her questions since she’s not part of the defense team.

Ok, she admits that (as a spokesperson and an actual lawyer) that she doesn't know what to say because she's not part of the team.

So, what’s the point of her existence in this whole circus then?

What I caught from the presscon today was something about a mob rule that this Dean Salvador person has been talking about.

It’s a publicized impeachment trial, are you expecting it to be like some super silent serious affair where everyone knows legal Latin jargons, the citizens won’t have any opinions and everyone would think it’s not fishy when the Supreme Court Justice gets the position through a midnight appointment and now he has all these properties.... Are you expecting that the media can't ask questions and cannot televised these interviews? When everyone is doing press conferences and allowing the media to take video footage? Mob rule, whatever...!

I know that it’s their job to do all this. These defense people are not dumb. They’re all saying these things deliberately. But listening to all the mumbo jumbo of the defense is enough to give any one with some semblance of a brain, a headache.

That is, I don’t even have much time to tune into the SJC trial and I’m already annoyed. Even on small doses these people are so nauseating.

Senator Miriam

It’s like when a reality show hits mid season and the producers injects a new participant in the mix, a wildcard that was previously voted out, a crazy previous season character or some special guest to the big brother house… So, here we have it - Senator Miriam is now in the mix to spice things up!

She said she would rather swim in the Bermuda triangle than be in the trial, but hey, who cares? She may say these wild things just to get attention (or she just says them, and then gets the attention anyway), but she at least knows what’s going on and what she says are mostly valid. And, I’d take her crazy statements - at least they’re entertaining.

Role Reversals

I am, however, hoping that the prosecution’s dullness is just some strategy, although, it’s probably not. They obviously are not seasoned litigators and so that’s just the way it is, I guess.

If I, someone who's gained all her legal knowledge from lawyer shows, already think they're doing such a bland job... What more, everyone else who knows their legal stuff? What more, the opposing side?

How come the team that’s supposedly working pro bono, allegedly volunteers, are looking just so professional and super ready all the time, while the prosecution team’s work keep looking like they’re the ones who’s working for free?

The National Language

At first, all these clowns keep using Latin words and pushing for more TV facetime. Now everyone is trying to go Tagalog.

I know I said I applaud those officials who knows their Tagalog but all I can say is this: Just speak in whatever language you can.

Don’t try to speak Tagalog, if you really cannot do it. Otherwise you’ll just end up being incoherent or making up words that do not exist. It bothers me when I hear some of them make stuff up and Filipin-ize words.

The Aussie Open

Don’t have time to say much about the Australian Open. I tune in, but I'm running out of time vs. my deadlines.

So, all I can say is: I’m very very very happy that Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters are through to the semis!

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So, that’s that… When it rains, it pours and my attention span just can’t cope anymore...

Off to do more work now...

It is the Economy

Ever since the book excused was raised, it sounded quite doubtful. The need for laptop or any other device of a person who’s suppose to be in prison because said person is writing a book? It sounds lame. But they, maybe she wanted to go the route of most past president, prime ministers and leaders. She wanted to write a book, well, ok then.

But, wouldn’t you know? It’s an “economic paper” that she comes up with, one that accuses the current government of politicking and not focusing on the economy, which caused growth to deteriorate. I don’t know the exact content of this paper yet but the news said that she was citing the 7.9% growth rate during the end of her term (which was said to be fueled by election spending) as evidence that the economy them is better that today, that's posting only 3.2% growth rate, and that because of this the current government has let the economy go.

I do not agree that the economy is in a bad place. This is obviously an attempt at throwing some rocks at the high approval and survey ratings of the current administration, and to somewhat discredit the government camp in preparations for the trials.

At this point, we expect almost everything that comes our from Elena Horn's mouth and GMA's camp is probably more propaganda than anything else, let's suspend this notion and just look at the issue: the economy.

I am currently redoing the macroeconomics portion of my paper, so I've just looked into the performance of the country in 2011 and have read various studies on the prospects for 2012.

The Philippines current has some relatively good macroeconomic fundamentals. Yes, growth slowed down but this was largely because of external factors like the Arab Spring, which cause issues with oil prices and supply, the Japan Tsunami, which cause disruptions with manufacturers, the US economic crisis and the Euro debt crisis – both of these crisis remain unsettled and there certainly are some looming risks of contagion for Asia and for the Philippines. Considering, all these global factors, the country, we could say, is really not in a bad place. Even better, the country is currently somewhat insulated from these global financial issues due to our stronger domestic consumption, strong remittances, and new monetary policies, which also controlled the inflation.

In addition, credit rating agencies have been upgrading our country ratings at the time when countries like the US and other European countries are getting downgraded. Moody’s raised the country’s foreign and local currency long-term bond ratings from Ba3 to Ba2 (two notches below investment grade) in June 2011 and Fitch raised the long-term foreign currency rating from BB to BB plus (one notch below investment grade). These upgrades are said to be given on the basis of our improved fiscal consolidation, stable macroeconomic standing, and external position strength.

International reserves are healthy, increased by 40% year-on-year (Sept 2011) and at an all time high of record high of $76B at the end of December 2011.

I respected GMA as an economist. I know that during her time, she managed our economy well, albeit also well enough to stay afloat despite all the money that’s believed to have been spent and siphoned elsewhere. (Was that the emergency fund that was spent for her travels? On Le Cirque? Where did the money from the AFP fund go again? How about the Owwa fund? And the list goes on...)

But who are we to believe? Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch, internationally recognized agencies that are so recognized, the US and the world was sent into a frenzy when S&P’s downgraded the US. Or, PGMA, ex economics professor, ex Philippine President, and current detainee, arrested for electoral sabotage, about to be on trial and definitely has a lot of hidden agenda...?

What of the politics of division that she also mentions? When has politics ever been united? (other then when you have a dictatorship, I suppose.) If GMA and her cohorts are truly is interested in keeping politics united and truly concerned about the growth of this country, then why don’t they just stop all the conspiring and form one big loving circle of political unity?

Of course, it is highly idealistic and unrealistic to believe that opposing parties, politicians and players alike, would ever unite and just do things for the common good. That, will never happen.

I am not saying that it is because Aquino is the most competent and impressive man on earth that the country is in a good economic place right now, all I’m saying is that the economy is not in a bad spot right now, therefore, the whole point of her economic paper, which is you know called an “economic paper” after all, is kind of moot.

And, with this I ask, did anyone ever blame Ramos for the bad economy at the time of the Asian Financial Crisis?

Tourism Revamped!

Ricky Carandang and Alberto Lim were appointees that seemed to be a good idea at the time, they were great at their day jobs, why wouldn't they elsewhere?

But we all know what happened next, Carandang faded in the background and Alberto Lim later resigned.

The first tourism campaign was truly a disaster. Not only was the logo a clear rip off of the Polish logo. And, really, why Poland? Are we similar to them in anyway? Do we have the same tourist attractions? And, what is it about that logo? Is it particularly special? Does it contain some unique and some super effective factor? Why were we copying it? Or, is it because it’s one of those slightly less known campaigns that can be copied and possibly (but not likely) not be discovered?! Is it because Poland starts with the letter P and the Philippines also starts with the letter P, and this saves the lazy creator some working time? Why even put a tree and 2 waves, how obvious do you want to be? And why even use the same color scheme? It’s like the creator just didn’t respect the viewing public. Come on, I, a lay person, can come up with a much better logo and concept than that! Let’s not even go with the Tagalog “ang ganda” slogan that even needs to have its own subtitle right there on the logo itself (“adj. beautiful”).

Ever since my trips to Seoul and Bali last year I have been harping about our country’s tourism efforts. These 2 places don’t have much in terms of natural scenery but they're still doing much better than us.

From what I've observed from my previous trip to Korea, where I went to some provinces, they really do not have anything natural to look at. It’s mostly amusement parks, resorts, towers, food places, koreanovella shooting sites and shopping spots. These are all manmade but if you go to Korea’s website they have everything in detail, it’s all there. If you want a purely Koreanovella tour, click on the dramas that you are a fan of and they will tell you how to get to which drama location. They even have profiles of top actors, actresses and music stars on their website. Clearly, they've used Kpop as a tool to infiltrate the world tourism market. When you go to Seoul they have a full on tourist friendly system, that is, they even provide various city tour buses that stop at a lot of tourist places (Seoul tower, museums, palaces, shopping spots, etc.) and they have a variety of routes as well. All you need is to pay for 1 route, hop on the bus, go out, then go back to the bus stop and catch another bus to your next stop.

Bali, though an island, and supposedly known for its beaches, don’t have good beaches. The beaches are sub par, 10 times uglier than those found in Boracay or any Batangas beach or even Puerto Galera. The sand isn't even white or at the very least white-ish. Yet they have so many tourists, despite the bad publicity from the bombings of years ago. They have so many luxurious resorts and using “luxurious” is beyond an understatement when compared to all the resorts here in the Philippines. Their resorts are huge, fancy, and filled with tourists. (Note that I have not been to Palawan but I assume that while the resorts there are probably nice, they probably won't be as vast as those found on Bali). When you think of it Bali isn't even that expensive, despite its five star hotels and resorts. A cocktail at the bar of a top hotel resort cost me about 10 USD, which really isn't much considering the place was very posh. The Balinese people are not particularly rude, they seem friendly enough. They’re of the more spiritual Hindu culture and have a very islander attitude to them as well.

That is, if we always say our friendly people are our touristic asset, all I'm saying is, the Bali people also know how to be nice to tourists. They know its their bread and butter, and they treat you really well on your vacation.

And, remember Julia Roberts in Eat Pray Love? Well the Balinese uses the movie/book in their tourism efforts as well. I've seen books being sold at the airport with posters and signs labeling it as a book that has featured Bali. Remember that place where Julia Roberts stayed in the movie? It was said that it used to take maybe a few weeks to a month to reserve for rooms at that place but now you can’t book even if you tried. I know because my friend tried, they told her its fully booked for months, to a year, I think.

So, what about the new "It's more fun in the Philippine" campaign?

I was one of those who was really glad to have a marketing oriented person appointed for the job because, really, that is what's important these days. I’m sorry Tamano (of the Tamano Perspective), who once negatively said on his show that no matter how much marketing is done if the infrastructure is lacking then it's not going to work. I totally disagree with this. Just think of how many countries there are that have bad infrastructure and still have so many tourists.

Or better yet think of so so products that still sell (or sell a lot!) just because it has good marketing. There are so many! I'd go with a better marketing plan than a better product any day.

So, the new campaign concept?! Well, it’s better. It’s a vast improvement. I haven’t seen everything and I just saw one article about it. But, hey, I will give it a chance, it’s something. I have been saying for months on end, they should just come up with something, just anything slightly more substantial, and just go on and sell it.

“Our strategy is simple: while other countries invite you to observe, Filipinos can promise a more heartfelt and interesting experience. Wherever you go, whatever you do in the country, it’s the Filipinos that will complete your vacation and will make your holiday unforgettable,” says Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr.

See, at least we now have a concept here.

The new slogan—"It's more fun in the Philippines", the website: http://itsmorefuninthephilippines.com.

They say the slogan is more of a punch line, to be used like: "Commuting. It's more fun in the Philippines" juxtaposed with a scenic photo of boats in Coron, Palawan.

In addition, the campaign seeks to engage every Filipino to promote the country through social media, which is also not a bad idea. If this is what we are good at, if we can vote Miss Philippines as the most photogenic one year after year, if we can get the Palawan cave into the wonders of the world, if we can make Filipino contestants win in every international text based competition... Well, why not use this "advantage" for Philippine tourism?!

This is truly a vast improvement. I sincerely hope it goes very well. I'm crossing my fingers.

2012: Mayan Prophecies and Zakarian Predictions

Mayan Prophecies

A few years ago I went to Mexico for my cousin’s wedding in a resort in the Mayan Riviera, naturally I also did some touristic activities such as visited the infamous Chitchen Itza. I also bought a book on Mayan Prophecies because I was curious and because I once saw a documentary in college about the Mayan civilization and the Mayan calendar that predicted the end of the world. That is, if I’m not mistaken, the Mayan prophecy said it will happen in 2012. I bought the book in 2008 and covered in a pile of other book, I still haven’t read it until now!

Last year was rough. It was extraordinarily marred by chaos, instability, financial crisis, political bickering, uprisings, and natural calamities. Some days, it makes you think, maybe the end is near. Then again, if you lived through the world wars, maybe, you would think so too at that time. Still, last year there were a couple of end of the world predictions by some cult groups (or I’m not actually sure what to call them). And, now the real 2012 has come.

I have not seen the movie but I have seen the hilarious take of Community on the end of days. I think it was the Halloween episode of the second season that had everyone eat some toxic food at the school costume party. They all went nuts, behaved like zombies and believed that the end was near.

(Pause)

So, I've just browsed my Mayan Prophecy book and I’m not sure if much of it makes sense to me. Some parts seem believable enough such as the prophecy about world temperature rising, ice caps melting, conflicts of religions and wars in some areas, while others such as a rise of humans who will be able to communicate through thoughts or read minds seem far fetched.

Reading people’s minds, maybe this is symbolic of something? Such as people nowadays post everything, what they are doing, where they are, who they are with, what they are feeling and what their opinions are… Really, it’s like everyone can read everything and know everything about anyone, right?!

Zakarian Predictions

There really have been so many 2011 recaps, top 10s, and other rankings/summaries that I haven’t had the chance to focus on any of them.

I've wanted to read all the links and watch all the TV specials but with everything that was going on over the holidays, I wasn't able to.

But the other day, I caught a replay of Fareed Zakaria’s GPS New Year episode. I am a fan, though I haven’t had the time to religiously watch his shows lately. Just like I have not been tuning it to The Daily Show. (So sorry, Jon Stewart!)

Well, he still says he thinks the US and Europe would still move up.

Fareed Zakaria says:

"Believe it or not, I'm going to double down on my bets. I might have got the timing wrong, but I think I have the substance right. Europe will deal with its problems - not in a clean dramatic way, perhaps, not in the way that I had thought it would, but through various complex mechanisms that involve the stability fund, the European Central Bank and perhaps some kind of bond insurance."

"I remain convinced that Germany will not let Europe fall apart. If things get too dangerous, Germany will write the checks. It's just trying to get the best deal it can - it's try to get the most reforms from countries like Greece and Italy - before it does write those checks.

As for America: I'm still bullish. I think the American economy continues to have great strengths.

Consumers have rebuilt their balance sheets somewhat. The savings rate has gone from near zero to over 3.5%. Corporations are flush with cash. Yes, Washington remains dysfunctional, but remember there's a new dynamic at work even there. If congress does nothing - something it does very well - there are two sequestrations that take place. One cuts spending by $1.2 trillion and one raises taxes by $3.9 trillion. Remember, the Bush tax cuts expire if Congress does nothing, so all of the sudden there are pressures that bring the budget deficit down.

So the budget deficit problem could get solved - albeit in a blunt, crude way, but maybe that's how democracy works."

He also says that the key places to watch are Italy, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea. Everyone would more or less know why these places would be critical in world affairs this year.

While things are so chaotic these days that it's feels like we've found an offshoot of reality TV in CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera, no one would want the world to go completely unstable. I suppose if the US and Euro crisis doesn't plunge further it would still be good for all of us, just by virtue of the world will not be turned upside down.

Meanwhile, Mexico is making the most out of this 2012 publicity and using it as a tool to promote its tourism. How clever, right? See, every country seems to be finding ways and angles to market itself, why can't we find something, anything, about ourselves (other than the alleged sex tourism) to reel visitors in?

Mexico says that 2012 isn't about end of the world, it is a time of renewal and a sign of hope, and they will have a 1 year long celebration. Well, why not?

New Year Reads

Some reading materials I got during my holiday trip to Hong Kong:

From top right (clockwise): Complimentary Time and Newsweek magazine from the airport lounge, Wired Magazine (Jan 2012) bought at the HK airport, and books bought at Page One: Alain de Botton books (Status Anxiety, Essays in Love and The Consolations of Philosophy) and Style Yourself (yes, it’s a book where various fashion bloggers give you tips on how to style yourself).

I've also added some ebooks to my ipad but I'm currently so backlogged with my to do list, I don't know when I'm going to find be able to read everything.

New year wish: To be able to make time stand still so I can hit the pause button and read a book whenever I want to.

Korean and English Periods

(A delayed) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Despite the series of sleepless nights over the holidays, I found the time to indulge myself and watch some backlog episodes of shows that I follow and have also found some time to discover some new series, such as these two period series I've watched over the break:

1. Korean series The Princess Man

A really really good Korean drama series. It definitely is not your ordinary girl meets boy fanfare. It is epic. It is fast paced, never a dull moment with every plot twist. There was conspiracy, plotting, passion, comedy, irony... and a dash of everything else you could probably think of that makes a good period series. The characters had depth. Their motivations were based on honor, cause and duty. None of the acts were truly frivolous. And it should be noted that I’ve read that the drama was pretty historically accurate, which, for me, is an important factor.

All throughout the series, which was 24 episodes long, I was riveted. Despite having been hyped as being a Korean Romeo and Juliet story set in the Chosun era, I was glad that it didn’t end on such a tragic note. While the drama was more King Lear than Romeo and Juliet, the ending took a plot line out of Jane Eyre. Perhaps it would be too much of a fairy tale to let them lived happily ever after...? Despite the not so tragic ending, which was an improvement from what everyone expected, that is to have both of them die, I still wanted them to get the typical happy ending, even if it lessens the impact of the finale.

Hey, I just want that typical (corny and fluffy) romantic comedy ending because don’t we usually watch these things to escape the sad realities of life? So, I wouldn’t really mind it, if the king get some bad karma and he’s suddenly overthrown (though this would be historically inaccurate), and the princess and her non-visually impaired man get to sweetly live happily ever after in some la la land. I would preferred this ending though I get it why the makers decided against it. (As I've said, it would be typical, corny, and fluffy.)

2. British series Downton Abbey, season 1

My friend told me that this was a British period version of Gossip Girl, actually, it is not. To say that would diminish the value of Downton Abbey, like calling it guilty pleasure crack when it really is more than that.

The scenes, characters, and storylines are painted so well, I am rather upset that each season only has 7-8 episodes, which means that each episode represents weeks or months that sometimes just blurs the timeline for me.

Season 1 starts at the time frame of the Titanic sinking and ends just before World War 1. The show portrays the drama and events in Downton Abbey, the estate of the Earl and Countess of the place. My favorite character so far is Mary and I am hoping she ends up with Matthew, a very typical choice as they are, after all, the main characters of the show (at least for me, they are the stars).

I am looking forward to watching season 2 and the upcoming season 3 very soon. Definitely loving this series so far.

--

It’s probably slightly odd but I really enjoy these British series and I've actually watched a lot of them. Actually, it's probably not as weird as enjoying Korean period dramas, right?! And, I have actually watched a few as well.

Well, here's to more good series, movies and books for 2012!

However, its the start of the new year and I've procrastinated so much already in the interest of giving myself a respectable and enjoyable holiday season. Time to do some responsible work.

A very late Merry Christmas and big cheers to 2012! I hope for it to be a good one!