WaiGuoRen

PHX

2007-10-06T11:29:00.001+02:00

Uncle Raf

2007-09-13T15:59:00.000+02:00

Uncle, according to Wiktionary, is a brother or brother in law of someone's parent... but, it's also commonly used in Asia (and in southern U.S., apparently) to define a "close male friend of the parents of a family".

So, according to the latter, I just became uncle for the 2nd time.

The first time was back on January 24, when my bro Andy and Maria became parents of Lydia, a pretty pretty little girl. Since then she has changed a lot, and living nearby, I can enjoy seeing her rather often.

Her baptism is taking place in Athens, so I surely will enjoy the ceremony, some good local food and the places... I really enjoy the deep Mediterranean life style, the feelings, the sights and sounds, the smells and fragrances, the way you can also find them in certain places in Spain and southern Italy.

Then I became uncle for the second time on June 21, when my bro Tad became the proud father of Tian. I just came back from Slovenia, where I went with the purpose to see my new little nephew. He was supposed to be born at the end of the first week of July, but he obviously had enough and decided to get out earlier. Unfortunately, when he was born, his body was unable to retain any kind of sugar in his blood, to an extent that he had even no hunger. So he had to spend the first 3 weeks of his young life in a Ljubljana hospital attached to all sorts of tubes delivering him the necessary food and medicines.

Luckily, with time his body found the right balance, and although he is still rather weak, he was released from hospital just few days before my planned visit, so I was able to see him and enjoy his company. Needles to say both Tad and M are really happy, and M really looked good after her pregnancy. It was a pleasure to see them all, together, HOME.

So uncle Raf now is happy with his cute nice and nephew. And he couldn't be any prouder...

9/11

2007-09-11T18:58:00.000+02:00

I was working on THAT September day...

and I remember exactly what I was doing 6 years ago while the tragedy of September 11 was unfolding... I bet you all do too...

What were all you doing at that time?

Take a look at this pic...

New ride

2007-09-10T22:37:00.000+02:00

Hey John, your ride is awesome man!

Looks so cool....

A night out

2007-09-10T02:29:00.000+02:00

It was nice to see the guys at Mullin's few nights ago...

I arrived there after my afternoon, to meet David. David is a controller in Australia, and he took leave of absence and travelled throughout Europe for 5 months with his family in a motorhome.
He was in town before finally returning back home, and since we have met many times for conferences around the world, I thought I couldn't miss the chance to see him here and offer him a beer on my home turf.

At the pub Dave was there as well. Dave is also Australian, but he has been working here for about 7-8 years now and on October 4th, he will leave to return home for good. It's been great meeting him, he is really a friendly and laid back person, and I wish him the best once back. Have a good life back home mate, take good care of yourself!! Maybe one day we'll meet down there, or should I say, Down Under...

So now, back to my life...

Monuments

2007-09-07T13:45:00.000+02:00

Not all monuments are to remember something terrible or the sacrifice of young lives... There are some, which are beautiful and they just stand to remember important milestones, achievements and important people...

Like the one in Kansas for Mr. James Naismith, the man whose genius invented the game of basketball. I think the NBA trophy shouldn't be named after former commissioner Larry O'Brien, but after Mr. Naismith as without him, there would be no NBA, and no basketball, for that matter.

Extremely pretty is the newly built monument in Vilnius, Lithuania, where basketball is closer to being a religion than a national sport. In any case, Lithuania's pride IS basketball, and during the past 30 years, Lithuania was home to few of the top European players: the most famous of all might be Arvydas Sabonis, but worth a mention are also Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Sarunas Marciulonis and Rimas Kurtinaitis.

Last, but certainly not least, the MJ statue erected just outside the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls. There are a number of these statues around, Magic Johnson in LA, Karl Malone and John Stockton in Salt Lake City to name only a few. But my personal favourite is obviously MJ's, a tribute to the best basketball player to ever play this AWESOME game.

I love this game :)

Moments of Italian sport

2007-09-03T21:44:00.000+02:00

Football:

Last friday, in a rather emotional game in Monaco, AC Milan won its record setting 17th international silverware, the 2007 European Supercup.

It wasn't a game as any other, as Sevilla, AC Milan's opponent, had to cope with the premature loss of one of its players, 22 years old Antonio Puerta, killed by multiple heart attacks suffered during a game.

All players and supporters were united in remebering and honoring him, and the 3-1 final score for AC Milan is only for the records. Touching were the AC Milan players that, after the game, went near the Sevilla's supporters applauding them in sign of respect for their loss. And in return, those very same supporters who just watched their team losing, chanted "Milan-Milan" in sign of appreciation. I think I never saw something like this before. Respect and appreciation for each other, regardless. All beautiful and uniting, but why it must take always tragedies to unite people?

Basketball:

For something entirely different, tonight the European Basketball Championships have started, played in Spain. Spain, having won the World Championhips last year in Japan, and Greece as runner up, are the heavy favourites.

As for the Italian squad, unfrtunately it will be a very a difficult task. Key players of the starting 5 such as Menson Rocca, 2008 draft prospect Danilo Gallinari and capitain Giacomo Galanda will all be absent due to injury. New NBA players Marco Belinelli is not in perfect shape and Andrea Bargnani is trying to cope with a foot injury.

This year's winner and runner up will qualify directly for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Italy opened tonight against Slovenia with a disappointing loss , making the their olympic dream harder to achieve, already. Italy played really bad for 3 and 1/2 quarters, then with a final rush got close and eventually took the lead in the final minute. After Slovenia took back the lead with a free throw 14 seconds to go, Soragna scored a three pointer with 5 seconds on the clock to put Italy up by 2 but to answer that, Slovenia's Lakovic scored a winning three pointer buzzer beater. 69-68 the final score. We almost won, but Slovenia deserved it more.

But let's keep the hope alive. Tomorrow another tough test with France, led by its NBA superstars Tony Parker and Boris Diaw.

Rugby:

And in few days, the Rugby World Cup will kick off in France. Italy will play their opener against New Zealand's famous and feared All Blacks, with their aesthetically beautiful and powerful style of play. The All Blacks,performing their Maori Haka before each kick off, are arguably the top team in the world. It will surely be an interesting game, and with Italy set to beat Romania and Portugal, the game against Scotland will probably decide if Italy will go through to the quater finals.

Formula 1:

And the upcoming week end, the "circus" of those cheating F1 people will race for victory at the Monza GP, where Ferrari needs to secure first and second place to keep its hope for a championship alive.

Volleyball:

The European Championship is starting in a couple of days too, and apparently, Russia and Italy are the two heavy favourites. Italy, having won a medal in basically each tournament they played from 1989 till 2006, has a really important history in volleyball, and Italian is also the player of the century. A top 3 finish, as usual, shouldn't be out of reach.

So, some interesting sport events to liven up this September... stay tuned.

Pie

2007-08-13T04:40:00.000+02:00

Pie, always look how far you have come through the difficulties, rather than how far you've still got to go... and look at what you have and count your blessings, and not at what you miss or lost, however dear that was to you...

Be strong, I'm near you... and remember to keep positive and happy, you know you have a good heart and good things are coming at you... and will keep coming...

And be proud of yourself, I know I am proud of you...

Miracles do happen

2007-08-11T15:10:00.000+02:00

I was watching E! tv... in all honesty, it isn't the best kind of tv you can imagine, reporting gossip and stories about Hollywood personalities, parties and so on... those kind of things I personally couldn't care less about, to make things clear.

But I normally watch a show, called "Dr. 90210". It's a show about few private clinics in Beverly Hills, specialized in plastic surgeries and other procedures to improve looks, and the quality of life together with it. Normally they deal with women willing to improve their breasts or nose, or trying to liposuck themselves back to teen age beauty.

Amongst that, already once I saw one episode where few doctors flew down to Mexico and helped "pro bono" a lot of locals with all kinds of physical deformities.

But the latest episode I watched really touched me. It was about a young Mexican man, just 18 years old, who was born in south Mexico and found his way up to the U.S. in search for a better life. His name is Juan.
Juan was born poor and with a really bad cleft lip and cleft palate, so bad you could see through his throat and skull. Needless to say, he was ashamed, he had severe speach impediments and he probably knew this is how he was supposed to be for all his life, unfortunately. Probably because of his condition, Juan is a very humble and reserved man, simple but his eyes tell words about his heart. One day, while selling fruit at a street corner, a woman of good heart called Ivonne, a hispanic american, stopped by him and made contact. She was so touched about his story, took at heart Juan's condition and wrote a letter for help to dr. Robert Rey, a plastic surgeon in BH.
Dr. Rey is an adoptee from Brazil, so he knows the hardship of a unfortunate childhood, but hey, he made it in style graduating at medical schools in both UCLA and Harvard! But most importantly, he is a top class surgeon and a seemingly very good and kind person. Read his resume, he is really... wow... what he has done and achieved speak volumes.

After reading Ivonne's mail, dr. Rey decided he needed to help Juan cos his courageous life deserved it. So he and fellow surgeon dr. Charles Stewart operated Juan's badly damaged face at the Summit Surgical Center and they arranged full care for him at the Majestic Recovery Retreat and also arranged some speach pathologist to take care of him. And it was all done in good will to help Juan's life, as he could never afford such procedure.

It was such an amazing beautiful human story, and I'd like to share it because sometimes people remember that after all, there isn't much better than do good in life to someone in need. The satisfaction and gratification cannot be described when you do it, but all too often we forget this.

Needless to say both Juan and Ivonne were overwhelmed and grateful for such a life changing experience. They both cried in joy and disbelief, it was just a sweet moment to witness. Juan now has normal looks, boosting his confidence and allow him to express himself too, articulating words he couldn't even dream to pronounce.

Hopefully now Juan will have the good fortune of a better life under all aspects. Good luck young man!

Philosophy

2007-08-09T21:15:00.000+02:00

Mom:

"one day you are alive, the next day you die and there is no physical evidence you ever existed... life is strange..."

Micina

2007-08-07T09:52:00.000+02:00

Today my little "sister" passed away... she was a real cute sweet smart little cat, and she delighted my family with her presence and company for the past 18.5 years.

When we found her, she was nearly starving as the family who took her abandoned her on their way to holiday. She was a little cute cute kitten, and I didn't know what to do except for giving her some ham and try to see if she would eat. But she wouldn't. At that time, we used to have another cat, Tigre, a really beautiful ginger-color male, maybe about half a year older than this cute white-&-black baby cat. I thought, as she couldn't eat, that Tigre would eat the ham instead. But for the second time, I was wrong. Instead, he sat near her, watching over her and keeping her company till she eventually found the strength to eat. From that moment on, we adopted her and we had two cats, Tigre and Micia.

Sadly enough Tigre passed away about 4 years later, as a car ran him over. It was a sad day, we loved him, and he was a really sweet cat.

But Micia claimed a very special spot in our hearts. At just over 1.5 year old, she got pregnant. Eventually she delivered 4 wonderful tiny kittens, with all places, on my very own bed, forcing me to move :) well, there could have never been a better reason for that. Anyhow, her kittens delighted us, especially my dad, for a while, then it was time to part with them and give them to families that could provide them with a loving environmet. ALL of them were pretty wild little cats, and because of their behavior, mainly, unfortunately they never reached the age of 3.

But Micia was there. She survived starvation right after birth, she survived a car that almost killed her and broke her tail, she survived a couple of surgeries. Every time she came back better and healthier. To all of us, she was the most beautiful loving cat we could wish for. As me and my brother moved out, my parents were left with her to care for, and their bonding grew deeper. Every evening Micia would wait for dad to return home in front of the door, as she recognized the sound of his car. Then she would seat on the kitchen bench near him while he dined, and sit ON him on the couch, if he watched tv. She would even sleep in their bedroom. Or she would engage in funny conversations with mom. That was rather hilarious. She had become their little baby, and although it might sound strange to those who never experienced it, she was really intelligent and understanding.

In any case, about two years ago she contracted a kidney disease, due to age, and the vet back then said, if taken care of with weekly I.V. and medicines, she could survive one or two more years, but surely not more. Well, she did. Needless to say, my parents cared for her just as they would have with a kid of theirs. But the vet was right too, unfortunately. She survived in relatively good health for the past two years, till when, on July 23rd, my last day home on my visit, she fell sick. And never recovered. The thing that comfort me is to know she had the best life she could possibly have, and that my parents never let her miss any care and love. I think putting her alseep must have been really hard for my folks, and we all will miss our little fury ball.

As for my folks, they spent every day with her being around, holding her and stroking her, caring for her, spoiling her and enjoying her and I wonder how it feels not to have her anymore. Even my brother and his girlfriend, who normally were a little more detached, didn't take it well.

As for me, I spent more than half of my life with her as a family member, and it's difficult to realize she is suddenly gone and I won't be able to play with her next time I go home. At least I got to see her one last time in July...

No limits

2007-08-02T09:28:00.000+02:00

I read on Yahoo!sports a story that made me ask myself a very serious question: when it's too much, with the risk of falling into the non-sense?

Michael Strahan is an NFL player, and what he does best is collecting sacks for his NY Giants. Probably for one last season, according to his age.

But lately, he got sacked. Badly. By his wife, well, ex-wife. Or maybe simply by a dumb-ass judge that ridicously awarded her whatever she demanded, and MORE! Nevermind she filed for divorce cos he allegedly cheated on her. Nevermind if he is way less than an ideal husband. He might probably have been. Any reason could be a good reason, if it's time to go.

The thing is, he makes 4 million dollars this season, extremely good money for my standards, but far from star salary in the NFL or compared to any other pro-sports in the USA.

She was awarded 15.300.000 dollars. Well, this in itself is outragious. That is WAY more than he made over the past 4 years, not counting that a big chunck of it has been spent already, and the main beneficiary has been his family anyway. Because really, I seriously don't understand the false and stupid mentality where, by all means, the wife should retain the same lifestyle standards of before. That's simply impossible. Now there are many more expenses to take care of, and it simply cannot be done. Plus, she is not going to be the wife anymore, so I guess it's not the right way to proceed. I'm not saying to totally disregard her life and future, it's right to protect her life and well being. But don't make the issue so ridicously immaturely exaggerated.

I mean, 15 millions is a huge sum. That is more than I will ever make in my next 3 lives. So, what's the reason for it? She doesn't need ALL that money to safely make it till retirement. She needs much less than that. 5 millions, a thank you and a bye bye wasn't enough? I think it would have been MORE than enough.

But this wasn't all. She was also awarded the family's 1906 NJ mansion, which is 22.000 square feet, with 12 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms and a garage able to accomodate 20 cars, worth about 3 millions.

Plus, because all this wasn't quite enough, nearly 18.000 dollars a month in child support. Plus, 311.000 in backdated child support, plus 91% of schooling for the kids till they are actually out of school, in 2026. This, for 6 years of marriage. And, by all indications, a LOUSY one.

By the way, an estimate was made and found mr. Strahan be worth about 22 millions.

So, all in all, Michael Strahan, pending appeal, would owe his ex wife 15.3 million cash, 3 millions worth of the house, 311.000 of backdated child support and 215.000 annually for child support. Ooops, plus schooling, because with all that money, she won't be able to afford it, right???

This is so f**king stupid, it's not even funny anymore. Unless, you are ms. Jean Strahan, who was reported to say "I'm going to Disney World!" laughing outside the divorce court in January. This comment alone gives you the right indication of how "out of this world" and beyond any common sense the ruling was.

What do these kids eat and wear for demanding 215.000 a year? That is more than I make and I live quite comfortably, frankly speaking. Does this "lady" need a 3 million dollar, 12 bedroom mansion? Well, if she was able to WORK for it and buy it, why not. But given the circumstances, no, she doesn't quite need it, and especially, she doesn't deserve it.

Would have been so bad, say, that the judge awarded her with mr. Strahan 2007's salary (about 4 millions), plus a nice 5 bedrooms condo or house in a beautiful place for about, say, 2 millions?? What would she need more than that, provided that was not too much already? Wouldn't she be able to live great for the rest of her days? Believe me, she would!!
And why is always the wife that needs to retain the same lifestyle of before and not the husband?
These things seriously disturb me, but most of all, are a sign of a sick judicial system that simply doesn't work right.

Considering that she phisically didn't earn any of the 22 millions of her ex husband and she is walking away with basically all of it, it's extremely unfair and stupid. And, totally unnecessary. This is like giving a life sentence to a guy who just passed with a red traffic light. You need punishment, but in respect to the offence, not a random one.
And sometimes these judges should also be punished for mis-handling and abusing their position.

Spreading love

2007-08-01T16:49:00.000+02:00

Just like a crooked cop, who is supposed to serve and protect but obviously doesn't, so a priest that doesn't live up to his mission to spread the word of the Lord is the lowest form of life.
I'm fed up with the rule "do as I tell you, but don't do what I do" attitute of those who decide to live a life of example, but they fail miserably.

Have a look.

And this is nothing compared to those ones who abuse kids or laundry money...

July 2007

2007-08-01T08:02:00.000+02:00

Back from Italy...

Had a few days relax there... really enjoyed the scorching hot weather, but I didn't know I was enjoying it till I came back in Holland's winter-like conditions, and I felt like my complaining about the 40+ degrees in Italy were out of place. At least, it was summer. At its best.

After a night duty, I got to Italy with Air Berlin again. I like this company (for the time being that is, till they step on my toes), so I enjoy their trouble-free check in, their new fleet and small but anyway present on board service, which is more of a rarity these days for low cost airlines and not. Till I dropped into a semi-coma sleep.

Anyway, this time I decided I would try to enjoy my country. I normally go home to visit my folks, so I don't really have the drive to do things and especially, I don't feel on holiday.But this time, I decided it would be otherwise and I had a day on the Lake Como, precisely in Bellagio, where I enjoyed few drinks in the shadow on the lake shore and went around through the narrow hill-side streets of this pretty city. Really nice and enjoyable, since it was midweek and not so crazily crowded.

Another day, I went to Milan to check out the summer sales. Unfortunately, I found no sales for Rolex Daytona watches, so I had to settle for something else :). Something else more in line with my poor bank account.

Then, I had a day visit to Portofino, not only home of great Italian explorer Christopher Columbus,

but also a place where the riches like to hang out and enjoy the commodities of their amazing villas and yachts with beautiful views, where mountains drop directly into the sea. But even if it's a place where the wealthy meet, I had a lunch of trofie al pesto, fried sea and shell food, water and coffee that costed me less than a starter in Maastricht's iper-expensive Thai restaurant S. (only the initial for it, no need to find customers for them). Oh, I love pesto. And it is original from this area, so I really had to refrain myself from ordering a second portion.

Next day, off to Slovenia. Since the drive is longer than I could be bothered to endure, I stopped for an afternoon in Venice. Last time I had been there was 2002, and I once again liked the city, although the heat was just getting crazier and crazier. Every single tourist was trying to find relief in the shade, but the dry heat was everywhere. So I decided to sit and drink something in San Marco square, with its amazing style.. As my glorious countryman Cpt. Bertorelli would say, what a mistake that I make! One sandwitch, one diet coke and a coffee, 33 euros. By the way, there was a 10 euros surcharge for music (you read correct!), so I kind of complained when the band took a break. I pay, you play. Fair and square. And it's not a words game.

One weird thing I saw... an old lady, a beggar, just outside a juwelry shop... hold on a second, is that a Luis Vuitton bag she is kneeling on??? Only in highly priced Venice you can see that, I guess...

The next day, finally Slovenia. Once again, what a pretty country it is. So green, so clean, so much to offer. My drive from Nova Gorica to Ljubljana was very comfortable, and I checked-in into the hotel my bro Tad booked for me. The Grand Union. Funny enough, in the same street they have 3 of them (!!- although the web site is only for 2 of them) with the same name and obviously, mine was the last, which means at each stop I parked my car and tried to check-in, in vain. Till, I arrived to the correct one, that is.
The hotel, breakfast, service is good. And it's right in the heart of the city, which is nice and handy in the evening. Finally I got the chance to see li'l T, who was born on June 21st and spent the first 3 weeks of his life in a Slovenian hospital due to some serious blood problems, but luckily enough he is right back on track, and finally home. I enjoyed seeing Tad again, a man with a heart as big as Slovenia. And his girlfriend M is always so lovely, so sweet. And their li'l T very cute, poor boy. And after having delicious Slovenian dinner with them in Trbovlje, I went back to my hotel and out at night for a drink. Amazingly, the riverside is literally packed with bars and restaurants, and each and every one of them was fully booked. The atmosphere was great, I enjoyed walking around there. I really need to dedicate a full week to Slovenia and one to Croatia sometimes, they are really worth a visit.

The only regret is that during this visit to Italy I met my brother only once, as he was busy between the hospital (where he works, no need to worry :) ) and some time off in the mountains. And even worse, I didn't get to meet his girlfriend, as she left for 2 weeks of Kenya the same day I arrived. Too bad. Have a great holiday, Monica.

Now I'm back, so it's businness as usual. Waiting for another break to come my way!

Beantown

2007-07-31T15:38:00.000+02:00

How things can develop and change in a blink of an eye...

Or maybe a bit longer, if you are a frustrated fan of Minnesota and Boston, since your teams have sucked badly for the last... uhm... 15 years??

One of the six NBA teams I haven't watched live yet, the Boston Celtics, are rumored to have pulled off yet again a trade that could change the history of their near future. After years of failures for former teammates Danny Ainge (Boston's GM) and Kevin Mchale (Minnesota's GM), mainly due to their incapabilities, we have a winner. Or better, we have a loser. Kevin McHale. Who, just "gave away" one of the best NBA players EVER for peanuts. And with no apparent reason, since he had better offers for Garnett in the recent past, from Chicago, Phoenix and Boston itself, but always rebuffed them. As cnnsi.com writer Steve Aschburner wrote, "McHale has solidified his status as basketball hero. In Boston!".

After pairing all-star Paul Pierce with all-star Ray Allen, it seems Boston will add super all-star Keving Garnett.

If that really happens, three things will immediately follow:

- Boston becomes the Eastern Conference contender for the title

- I pretend to go and watch Boston's games as soon as possible

- Kevin McHale needs an alcohol test (and a body guard, in Minny)

So, for the second time this summer (after Memphis) I'm pleading of liking what, till an hour ago, was one of the worst teams of the league.

But are we on for a team bound to win few of the next 5 titles, and bring back Beantown to its old basketball splendor, or... will this turn out to be a half-failure like the 2004 Los Angeles Lakers, unable to win the title even with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Karl Malone and Gary Payton on the roster???

Lunch break, update

2007-07-31T12:09:00.000+02:00

Steven had the genius idea to contact his bro and sis in the Bay Area for their pick of worst possible food, to their knowledge, and Becca's reply was somehow familiar, although I had totally forgotten about it!!

So, here is her take for "grossest" food...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu

thanks for the heads up :))

Far away

2007-07-29T12:15:00.001+02:00

If there is any good day to be away from Asia, today might be it... unless, you either love to be there regardless, or live in soaking-wet Holland, both of which obviously apply to myself... SIGH

Myanmar: Mandalay-partly cloudy, Yangon-partly cloudy
Thailand: Chiang Mai-mostly cloudy, Bangkok-mostly cloudy, Phuket-mostly cloudy
Cambodia: Phnom Phen-mostly cloudy, Siem Reap-scatterd clouds
Laos: Vientiane-partly cloudy
Vietnam: HCMC-light thunderstorms and rain, Ha Noi-mostly cloudy, Da Nang-mostly cloudy
Malaysia: KL-mostly cloudy, Kuching-mostly cloudy
Singapore: mostly cloudy
Indonesia: Bali-partly cloudy, Jakarta-scattered clouds, Ambon-haze
Brunei: mostly cloudy
Philippines: Manila-overcast, Iloilo-thunderstorms and rain
China: Beijing-mist, Harbin-scattered clouds, Shanghai-light rain showers, Lhasa-light rain
Hong Kong: scattered clouds
Macau: mostly cloudy
Taiwan: Taipei-mostly cloudy, Kaohsiung-light rain showers
Mongolia: Ulaan Baatar-partly cloudy
South Korea: Kunsan-mist, Pusan-thunderstorms and rain, Seoul-scattered clouds, Yosu-haze
North Korea: Chongjin-light rain, Pyonggyang-overcast
Japan: Hiroshima-mostly cloudy, Tokyo-light thunderstorms and rain

Lunch break

2007-07-29T09:40:00.000+02:00

I read on the paper about a funny top-ten "horror" list for food... as sure as there is something missing, like the brain of a live monkey in China, where to my knowledge they eat all kinds of bugs, snakes, turtles, rodents, jellyfish... or Thailand, where it seems they enjoy a similar taste for food as their Chinese neighbors, especially when it comes down to crispy tasty bugs...

or the taste of fruit-bat soup, served somewhere in Asia and South America, and even in Palau, is so rich in flavour :))... actually, I should pay a visit to beautiful Palau, as Shih Yun suggested some time ago, but I guess I'm digressing now...

or even the Australian aboriginals, who also banquet on all sorts of insects, most famously the honey ant...

in any case, I thought this list was YAK enough to be mentioned :)... and as you can see, the top 4 belong to my beloved Asia, maybe this is also why all the others "delicacies" you can find there were omitted, to give a chance to the rest of the world to make the list too!!

So if you thought that Fear Factor's second stunt was for strong stomachs, now you might think otherwise...

One, Fugu: Japan: The infamous pufferfish, highly poisonous unless cooked with extreme care. Some professional chefs prepare the fish so that there is a minute amount of poison in the meat, giving a prickling feeling and numbness on the tongue and the lips. Every year about 20 customers are victim of bad cooking (!!). (I'm throwing a party soon... anybody wanna join??)

Two, Cobra blood: Indonesia: The blood and heart of the cobra mixed with Arak, a middle-eastern liqueur, and served as a shot. (And you thought that there was no perfect combination in this world...)

Three, Fried tarantula: Cambodia: Best plucked straight from its burrow and pan-fried in sugar and garlic - they apparently are crispy on the outside but runny on the inside. (I can't wait to read that the tarantula is on the extinct animal list!)

Four, Durian: Vietnam: Fruit of the Malvaceae trees, with a skin covered in sharp thorns and an unpleasant odour, but has a custard taste. (It really smells like decomposing meat, believe me, but one good thing is that your farts go unnoticed!!)

Five, Lamb fries: Lancashire, UK: Lamb testicles that have been peeled, bread-crumbed and fried. (I'll pass, I'm already full, thank you!)

Six, Mashonzha: South Africa: Found in mopani trees, these are worms that look similar to caterpillars and can be eaten alive, or fried. (Nothing better than some poo-looking low carb snack in the afternoon, right??)

Seven, Iguana meat: El Salvador: The meat of the iguana is said to taste like chicken but is much tougher. (My car tyres are made of Iguana meat... yes, it is tough...)

Eight, Poi: Hawaii: Made from the poisonous taro root, poi is mashed and cooked into a strong-tasting, edible paste. (People cook this generally for mothers in law there...)

Nine, Huhu: New Zealand: Fried larvae from the Hubu beetle. (these New Zealanders... they have a chance to drive a beetle, to listen to Beetles' music... but no, they've got to eat them! And this thing, makes even cockroaches look cute...)

Ten, Boruga: Columbia: A Columbian rodent, highly prized for its meat and not easy to catch. (what a shame!)

Any suggestions for what should have made the top-ten list???? I'm sure there is so much to discover, so many "hidden culinary treasures" out there...
(sorry, the canteen at work doesn't count...)

... and what's wrong with a freshly wood-oven baked pizza anyway??

... and even dirtier...

2007-07-26T21:21:00.000+02:00

Little update since my last entry...

One by one, and the latest being Germany's Patrik Sinkewitz, Italy's Cristian Moreni, Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov and tour leader Denmark's Michael Rasmussen, all the cyclists participating in the Tour de France (after many were barred from participating altogether) are failing the doping test... who will win now?? whoever won't be caught... RIDICULOUS...
By the way, as an old movie, both Vinokourov and Rasmussen swear they don't know HOW this was possible. I feel for them... NOT!
One proposal: ban cycling from the Olympic games as it obviously does NOT embody any kind of sportsmanship any more...
In this MESS, one round of applause to Mr. Nikolaus Brender, ZDF editor-in-chief, who decided that enough was enough and said that he would not broadcast the race with the famous yellow jersey leader until further notice. Furthermore, his right hand Mr. Peter Kaadtmann, added that "Our contract stated that we broadcast the Tour as a competition of clean riders, not of people using doping substances." Well done.

From two to four wheels, stupidity still rules. FIA, the regulating body of F1, has expressed its judgement on the fact that McLaren Mercedes illegally received and possessed ALL Ferrari's projects of this year's racing car. Here follows the CRAZY statement of FIA as you can find it on their website (no link here, as they don't deserve to be read):

“The WMSC is satisfied that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was in possession of confidential Ferrari information and is therefore in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code. However, there is insufficient evidence that this information was used in such a way as to interfere improperly with the FIA Formula One World Championship. We therefore impose no penalty.

“But if it is found in the future that the Ferrari information has been used to the detriment of the championship, we reserve the right to invite Vodafone McLaren Mercedes back in front of the WMSC where it will face the possibility of exclusion from not only the 2007 championship but also the 2008 championship.

“The WMSC will also invite Mr Stepney and Mr Coughlan to show reason why they should not be banned from international motor sport for a lengthy period and the WMSC has delegated authority to deal with this matter to the legal department of the FIA.”

So, you are telling me they stole the projects in order NOT to use them at their advantage? Right... and IF those two persons should be banned, why not the others? Smells like scapegoat here...
Now I understand why they call it "the F1 circus", cos it's full of f**king clowns!

But you know what really pisses me off? The fact that these people think we are all a bunch of morons and actually believe what they say... for me, cycling was off my tv long time ago, now F1 too. No more time and money for them.

Here is Ferrari's statement:

"It's incomprehensible that violating the fundamental principle of sporting honesty does not have, as a logical and inevitable consequence, the application of a sanction, and legitimises dishonest behaviour in Formula One and sets a very serious precedent.”

“The decision of the World Council signifies that possession, knowledge at the very highest level and use of highly confidential information acquired in an illicit manner and the acquiring of confidential information over the course of several months, represent violations that do not carry any punishment.

“The fact that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was in possession of such information was discovered totally by accident and, but for this, the team would continue to have it. This is all the more serious as it has occurred in a sport like Formula One in which small details make all the difference."

Amen.

But as I said previously, the show must go on. If McLaren Mercedes, the proven cheaters, were to be disqualified as appropriate, the F1 "circus" (and now, for my next trick...) would be badly damaged and revenues seriously reduced. Money talks, baby.

Last. The cheaters are ALL Brits and Germans. If the case was reversed, do you know how many headlines about Italian cheaters and mafia? Well, now we know cheaters and mafia are not an Italian prerogative, especially in F1.

On the other hand, as I praised the NFL's commisioner Mr. Goodell for hitting hard on misbahving athlets, I'd like to report that he invited Atlanta Falcons' star quaterback Michael Vick to stay away from his team until further notification due to his personal involvement in an FBI investigation. Thank you, Mr. Goodell.

Dirty and dirtier

2007-07-23T15:06:00.000+02:00

Poor beloved sport...

So much exploited, the dreams of millions of kids watching their heros crushed and shuttered... cheated... with no remorse, no regret...

After each and every disgraceful incident, you hear sportsmen either apologising (too little, too late), or denying the evindence, thus adding insult to my intelligence and the one of every other paying viewer to the wrong doing...

Too much money involved? Definitely.
But also, too little love for the game, whichever it might be.

I am on my way back from a week in Italy, I tried to stay away from news as much as possible... to relax... because as soon as I read news, it's most of the times disappointing... as it proved, once again.

Let's start from my beloved NBA.
A ref (the person entrusted to keep the game fair!!!!), Tim Donaghy, is under FBI investigation for allegedly fixing games results for the mob. Amazing. Shocking. Or maybe not.
At times, in the past, refreeing has been very doubtful in the NBA, to say the least.
So this just proves what everybody thought but couldn't provide hard evidence for. Matches in the NBA are fixed. Now it's proven.
And this ref, provided is the only one involved (I personally doubt it), was refreeing few of the most debated controversial games last season. What a surprise... NOT.

The Palace brawl, the Vegas fights during the All-Star game, the shooting of a Denver player, Indiana's Stephen Jackson firing his handgun outside a night club, drug use, domestic violence, gambling... even some deaths due to heart failures... the NBA, and its true fans, didn't need all this, and surely don't deserve it. But now, we get more. A crooked ref, to add to the game.

Latest, I read on ESPN.com that they fear for his safety. No shit. He puts up with the mob and he thinks he will reach pension age?? He has been watching too many movies, obviously...

He, and the other refs like him, should be put in Guantanamo... for ruining the dreams of many and the entertainment of many more... support, suffer, rejoyce... compete, fall and rise... NOT buy and sell!!! So now, who won because was deserved, and who didn't??? So many doubts, so many dark clouds hanging on the reputation of this wonderful sport. And for years to come, many will rightfully doubt anything close to a bad refreeing. Is he selling this game away? Again?

I'm seriously thinking about suing the NBA for cheating and STEALING my money (both satellite TV and game tickets)... at least, they would learn...

And then, FIRE that moron called David Stern... only busy with stupid futile shit like dress code, leaving the bench non-sense and salary cap, and let the game roll into layers of crap, over and over again by playing blind to the important pressing issues... he obviously has done his time, bring in someone like mr. Roger Goodell, the NFL commish... he certainly is doing a rather good job. The NBA needs a man like him.

Talking about the NFL. Roger Goodell, immediately after being named commissioner, didn't waste time to let his league know that something had changed. He wouldn't tolerate players crossing the line. ESPECIALLY, when the law is broken.
So here we are, with Tennessee Titan's Pacman Jones being suspended for the ENTIRE 2007 season and Cincinnati Bengals' Chris Henry suspended for half season.

On top of this, there is an investigation pending on Atlanta Falcons' Michael Vick for illegally hosting dog fights in his property and Chicago Bears' Tank Johnson being cut loose by his team for repeatedly breaking the law. Not to mention Denver Broncos' Darrent Williams, fatally shot last year outside a club.

Are the NBA and the NFL packed with criminas? Or misbehaving spoiled primadonnas who cannot control themselves? Or both??? Or are they just overpaid uneducated idiots?

Surely money cannot buy class. And they prove it, day in and day out.

What about the MLB? Barry Bonds being investigated for doping. He denies. His lawyer said: "I'll outmaneuver the FBI at every turn. I've kicked their ass in private, I will continue to kick their ass in public." This, in my vocabulary, doesn't exactly translate as: "Mr. Bonds is innocent" but rather as: "Mr. Bonds has a damn good lawyer". Just like O.J.Simpson did.

But even if Bonds is indeed innocent of perjuring in front of a grand jury, how can his record breaking career be taken seriously with so many doping allegations? Just look at him... he looks like one of those WWE overinflated "fighters"... all natural? Up to you to decide. I have, obviously, my own opinion... and my doubts. The list of players to consider, and their action, when deciding if baseball is clean or not, includes Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi and Jose Canseco with his book.

And do you remember Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa cheating by corking his bat?? He and Bonds were battling for HRs leadership in the league. One cheating one way, one the other. How fun.

Anyway, talking about the WWE... how to forget the recend homicide/suicide involving the 40 years old Canadian Chris Benoit? And the the "mysterious" premature deaths of many others, like the British Bulldog, Owen Hart (33), Yokozuna (34), Eddie Guerrero (38), Andre the Giant (46) to name only the most famous. In the past 20 years, 61 (!!) pro wrestlers died at an age anywhere between 21 and 46, and almost as many didn't make it to 65.

Are they simply recruiting wrestlers from hospitals or maybe, just MAYBE, steroids have something to do with this?

But, when talking about steroids, who better (or worse...) than pro cycling knows this problem? Every day you hear about a biker being caught, it really doesn't surprise anyone anymore. There is more steroids in pro cycling than rain in Bangladesh during monsoon season. It's a pure shame. But come on, how can you really believe a man can bike for 2 weeks, at 50 km/h average, for over 3000 km in total, up and down the Pyrenees and the Alps and not being doped???? Who are we kidding??

Last year's Tour de France winner Floyd Landis was stripped as was found positive to steroids. Past winners and top riders as Jan Ulrich, David Millar, Ivan Basso, Erik Zabel and Bjarne Riis where either involved or admitted steroids use. Even 6 times champ Lance Armstrong was linked, and although never found guilty, well... some evidence was there, as some french newspapers reported.

And if doping has always been linked to every sport (weight lifting, track and field...), what to say about the latest spy story in the F1?
Some back stabbing Ferrari chief mechanic Nigel Stepney tried to sabotage the race cars, but only after selling the projects of the cars to the McLaren Mercedes. How low can you go??

Four high ranking personnel from McLaren are said to be involved, not last chief project manager Mike Coughlan. A punishment is expected for McLaren, but remember this, they can't be punished too hard, because the F1 needs them.

So much for justice, right??

The show must go on, and mostly, bring in tons of money. So if you cheat, be it. This is the lesson learned today. And we lost another chance to make things right.

Ever thought of this?

2007-07-13T20:20:00.000+02:00

Today I went to a friend of my brother, he is an osteopath... he cracked my back and neck around for over an hour, and although it sounds awful, he actually made me feel better...

While waiting for him, I saw a sign on the wall of his secretary's office... that made me think, and wonder if people ever thought of this (I know many people that surely NEVER even considered this...):

If God made us with two ears and one mouth, maybe we should listen more and talk a little less...

How right...

Never say never

2007-07-12T10:29:00.000+02:00

I never thought I would say this, but I think the Memphis Grizzlies could be fun to watch next year with a starting five of:

PG - Mike Conley Jr
SG - Mike Miller
SF - Rudy Gay
PF - Pau Gasol
C - Darko Milicic

Plus, coming off the bench Hakim Warrick and Damon Stoudamire...

Really, never say never...

Quote of the year

2007-07-12T01:19:00.000+02:00

Top Gear's Jeremy Clarckson, on Malaysia produced car Perodua after a test drive:

"It oversteers, it understeers... it's not a car, it's a mess!!"

Nessun Dorma

2007-07-05T07:49:00.001+02:00

Everyone, please take 2 minutes of your time to have a look at this amazing TV bit posted on the blog by my friend Pelso (sorry Jerry, MY friend).

The voice, and the astonished faces of the jury says it all...

http://pelsmaekers.com/2007/06/nessun-dorma.html

Draft night

2007-06-27T16:49:00.000+02:00

So the Draft Night finally arrived.

Little suspance for who would be picked at number one and two, as it was known for months already. But a lot of curiosity for everything else: will finally the Hawks select a PG? where will the Chinese forward Yi Jianlian end up? who will select Italian guard Belinelli? who will be the number 3 selection? what kind of deals will be consumed on draft night, which superstars will change team?

So here we are, with some of the answers, but first the picks of the lottery:

1. Portland - Greg Oden, C, 7-0
2. Seattle - Kevin Durant, SF, 6-10
3. Atlanta - Al Horford, PF, 6-10
4. Memphis - Mike Conley, PG, 6-1
5. Boston - Jeff Green, SF, 6-10 (traded to Seattle)
6. Milwaukee - Yi Jianlian, PF, 7-0
7. Minnesota - Corey Brewer, SG, 6-8
8. Charlotte - Brandan Wright, PF, 6-10 (traded to Golden State)
9. Chicago - Joakim Noah, PF, 7-0
10. Sacramento - Spencer Hawes, C, 7-1
11. Atlanta - Acie Law, PG, 6-4
12. Philadelphia - Thaddeus Young, SF, 6-8
13. New Orleans - Julian Wright, SF, 6-9
14. LA Clippers - Al Thornton, SF, 6-7

Let's see:
at number one Portland, OBVIOUSLY, selected Oden. He will be the franchise center for the next 12 years. Having Oden, Aldridge, Roy and a bunch of young guards, plus having traded away Randolph (who would have taken space away from Oden) for Frye makes this team a possible contender few years down the line, and a lot of fun to watch.

at number two, Seattle picked Durant. Also obvious. Probably the most entertaining, best scorer of the draft. Trading away Allen to Boston for number 5 pick Green is a good move for the future. Allen is a star, but he has bum knees and ankles, and an overinflated salary. With Durant and Green the foundations for the next decade are set, although I'd like to see where Rashard Lewis fits into this, being as well a 6-10 forward, just as Durant and Green are. Is it a sign and trade waiting to happen to bring a center or a star PG to Seattle?

at number three, Atlanta selected Al Horford. Unanimously the 3rd best player, no surprises here. Just interesting to see who Atlanta will try to move, as they are fully packed at the wing with Al Horford, Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Shelden Williams and Marvin Williams. At number 11 the FINALLY got a much needed PG in Acie Law, arguably the 2nd best PG of the draft. So, overall, a good draft, although I wonder IF it's true that the Hawks were offered Amare Stoudemire by the Suns, why in heaven didn't they accept in a millisecond?

at number four, Memphis selected Mike Conley. He is regarded as the best PG of the draft, and although Memphis is far from being a top team, they can floor a team with Mike Conley, Rudy Gay, Mike Miller and Pau Gasol. That should be fun to watch and can't be nearly as bad as last year.

at number six, Milwaukee selected Yi Jianlian. The best talent left after the top 5 picks, but also a big risk. The entourage of Yi all along said he wouldn't want to play for Milwaukee, if it's true that he refused to work out for the team before the draft, as he was hoping to end up in a city with a large Asian community, like Golden State for example (which would have been a great fit as well, from a playing style point of view). At this moment, I believe Yi will end up playing for the Bucks, but a trade is always possible and he could still end up in a team he favours. Only one last remark: how this Chinese idiot (cos this is what he is) can dictate where, how, when and for who he wants to play without having played or proved how worthy he is in the league? If I was the Bucks I would keep him. If he wants to be an NBA player, he plays for the team who selected him, otherwise if it were for me, this ungrateful unthankful person (have you seen his sad look when his name was called?? Millions of people would have jumped to the roof in his place!!) would NEVER play one single NBA game.

at numer seven, Minnesota picked Corey Brewer. What can I say? Is this a pick that will change the history of the team? Of course not. A solid pick, but unless Brewer turns out to be the next Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett will still leave Minnesota and its mediocrity, thanks to Kevin McHale, recently named the worst NBA general manager, and rightfully so.

at number eight, Charlotte picked Brandan Wright just to exchange him with Jason Richardson from Golden State. Great deal for Golden State: clears a big salary, has an athletic powerful PF to play along Andris Biedrins. But it just hurts to see my idol Michael Jordan, for as amazing as he was as a player, to be this bad as a manager.

at number nine, Chicago selected Joakim Noah. Great fit for the style of energetic unselfish play both the team and the player have, plus Noah gets the chance to go from a great system at Florida to a great system in Chicago. But with Ben Wallace, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah, is there ANYONE who can actually score??

at number ten, Sacramento selcted Spencer Hawes. The next Brad Miller. Won't be bad, but won't be the player that turns this franchise around. And I personally don't like white centers.

at number twelve, Philadelphia picked Thaddeus Young. I don't really know him, but his position and height are the same as Andre Iguodala. They say they complement each other, let's wait and see.

at number thirteen, New Orleans selected Julian Wright. He has a lot of upside, and hopefully he will benefit by playing with a great PG like Chris Paul, with a wing who can open the floor as Peja Stojakovic and a good paint player as David West. He has a great opportunity.

at number fourteen, LA Clippers selected Al Thornton. A SF, said to be the 2nd best athelte of the draft, this probably makes both Corey Maggette and my own town favourite James Singleton redundant.

The rest of the 1st round:

15. Detroit - Rodney Stuckey, SG, 6-5
16. Washington - Nick Young, SG, 6-7
17. New Jersey - Sean Williams, C, 6-10
18. Golden State - Marco Belinelli, SG, 6-6
19. LA Lakers - Javaris Critterton, PG, 6-5
20. Miami - Jason Smith, PF, 7-0 (traded to Philadelphia)
21. Philadelphia - Daequan Cook, SG, 6-6 (traded to Miami)
22. Charlotte - Jared Dudley, SF, 6-7
23. New York - Wilson Chandler, SF, 6-8
24. Phoenix - Rudy Fernandez, SG, 6-6 (traded to Portland)
25. Utah - Morris Almond, SG, 6-6
26. Houston - Aaron Brooks, PG, 6-0
27. Detroit - Arron Afflalo, SG, 6-5
28. San Antonio - Tiago Splitter, PF, 7-0
29. Phoenix - Alando Tucker, SF, 6-5
30. Philadelphia - Petteri Koponen, PG, 6-4 (traded to Portland)

The big winners of this draft were obviously Portland who got Oden, Frye and Fernandez to start building a real powerhouse in the northwest together with Seattle having Durant and Green, but it will also depends how the Rashard Lewis story will unfold.
Memphis did well with Conley, Golden State very well if both Wright and Belinelli turn out to be what everyone expects.

The Atlant Hawks did fairly well, although they could have been big time winners with Amare Stoudemire.
Teams that did rather well considering what they could do, are Philadelphia, New Jersey, LA Clippers and Detroit. Also on the winning side is San Antonio, who got a solid big man in Splitter so late in the draft and Washington with an exciting player to put next to Arenas.

Boston is not going to win a championship with Allen, as it was not going to win it had it kept Green. So why pay 100 times more for not winning? Or why not select Yi, we might have had a chance to see if this dude can actually smile.
New York took Portland's Zach Randolph, a 20+10 player. But can he mesh with Eddie Curry? Who will defend down low????? Will they take space away from each other in the low post? Isiah isn't new from taking players who don't belong in the same team... I fear it's the same case, unless they will trade Randolph for a better fit.

Phoenix is the big time loser. Not only was unlucky that the Hawks got number 3 pick (it was top three protected, so it would have been Phoenix's if only Atlanta would draft 4th or lower...), by now they would have Kevin Garnett in their roster. And exactly for the inability to nab Garnett that I rank Phoenix as a loser, cos they need to move Marion for salary reasons. They may end up losing him for peanuts, or losing Stoudemire which would be even more disastrous. There is still a lot of time till September to pull a trade for Garnett, but it seems more unlikely now, and like this (or even without one of the Marion-Stoudemire duo) their chances to win are much lower than with Garnett in their roster. Plus, for as much as I love Phoenix, the team, the coaching staff and their style of play, what is wrong with their draft inabilities?? I mean, in 2004 they drafted Luol Deng and gave him to Chicago. In 2005 Nate Robinson and gave him to New York. In 2006 Sergio Rodriguez to Portland, and this year Rudy Fernandez to Portland again. Looking back, they should have kept them all. Plus, this year they selected Alando Tucker and DJ Strawberry, two guards who can't shoot. Not really what I call a great fit for their system!

Other losers, Houston, Charlotte, Miami and Sacramento.

The other teams I presume won't change the history of the upcoming season through this draft.

Now let's see if the free-agency market will be more interesting and lively than last year's. I really hope so.

One last note: have you seen the new Atlanta Hawks' jerseys? I tried, but they were so boring and dull, I fell asleep and I can't remember them!

Dynasty?

2007-06-27T15:57:00.000+02:00

So here we are, the 2007 NBA Champs are the San Antonio Spurs.

As predicted, after commissioner Stern wanted them to beat the high flying Phoenix Suns in the West semifinals.

I don't want to spend too much time on this subject for few reasons:

- Stern robbed every single NBA fan of a possibly to watch an epic and FAIR battle between Spurs and Suns by blindly suspending 2 of the 5 starting players of the Suns for doing basically nothing wrong, thus handing the series to San Antonio. So, Cheap Shot Rob, who flagrantly fouled Steve Nash, and the Spurs, had the better part of the deal instead of being the ones paying the hefty price for it.

- Stern robbed the Suns of the possibility to win the championship.

- Stern sucks.

- Cleveland was NOT an NBA finals-ready team, and they don't have a top coach, and were swept away in easy fashion. Regardless of LBJ.

- Both Cleveland and San Antonio play boring basketball, and the lowest TV rates ever for the finals combined with the second lowest scoring totals, and the lowest scoring for a team (Cleveland) stand all as a sad proof for it.

So, I'm heading into the summer without the flow of emotions that normally the NBA finals leave deep in me. What a bitter disappointment.

So, to end this short entry, is San Antonio a Dynasty? My answer is NO. Sure, they they won a title in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007. But, first of all, the 1999 came in the shortened season of the lock out and the 2007 was a present of Stern. Plus, they never won back-to-back. Plus, they never had to beat MJ, they never beat Los Angeles when Shaq and Kobe were playing together. They won by being a good team, not a dominating one. My guess is, if they are a dynasty, so are the Lakers who won the 2000-2001-2002 titles. But for me, neither team is a dynasty.

The Minneapolis Lakers who won 5 titles in 6 years were a dynasty.
The Boston Celtics who won 11 titles in 13 season (and 12 finals) were a dynasty.
The Chicago Bulls who won 6 titles in 8 seasons (and if MJ hadn't retired, they would have won all 8) were a dynasty.

The Los Angeles Lakers who won 5 titles in 9 finals in the 80s were a very very good team, but no dynasty.
The Boston Celtics who won 3 titles in 5 finals in the 80s were a very very good team, but no dynasty.
The Detroit Pistons who won back to back (appearing in 3 straight finals) in the early 90s were a good team, but no dynasty.
The Los Angeles Lakers who won 3 straight in the early 2000s (with a loss in their 4th final) were a good team, but no dynasty.
So, San Antonio who won 4 titles in 8 seasons are a good team, but definitely no dynasty, and no team that will be remembered as one of the greats neither.

Now let me focus on the summer trades rumors and the draft night on the 28, they are definitely more interesting than this year's finals, and they should not be!!

Champions!!!

2007-05-24T10:13:00.000+02:00

Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And this makes it 7...
Seven times on top of Europe...

11 finals, 7 victories... 64% success rate...

1958 Real Madrid-Milan 3-2
1963 Milan-Benfica 2-1
1969 Milan-Ajax 4-1
1989 Milan-Steaua 4-0
1990 Milan-Benfica 1-0
1993 Marseille-Milan 1-0
1994 Milan-Barcelona 4-0
1995 Ajax-Milan 1-0
2003 Milan-Juventus 3-2 (pen)
2005 Liverpool-Milan 3-2 (pen)
2007 Milan-Liverpool 2-1

In the past 19 years, 8 finals... in the finals, 22 goals scored, 11 against...

Overall, Real Madrid won 9 Champions Leagues in 12 finals but 5 of them coming in the first 5 years of the competition... so Milan is second with 7, Liverpool is third with 5 cups in 7 finals, Ajax and Bayern Munich 4 each (respectively in 6 and 7 finals)...

Overall, these 5 teams won a combined 29 times of a possible 52... 55% of the total...

The rest of Europe is left with peanuts... ManU, Inter, Juventus, Benfica, N.Forest, Barcelona and Porto each won twice... PSV, R.S.Belgrade, Celtic, Steaua, Dortmund, Marseille, A.Villa, Hamburg and Feyenoord won once... Reims and Valencia reached the finals twice with no luck, Fiorentina, Frankfurt, P.Belgrade, Panathinaikos, A.Madrid, Leeds, St.Etienne, B.Moenchengladbach, Brugge, Malmo, Roma, Sampdoria, B.Leverkusen, Monaco and Arsenal once each, also coming away empty handed...

The final was reached 25 times by an Italian team, 20 times by a Spanish, 14 by an English and 13 by a German... all other nations are in one figure territory...

The final was won by an Italian and Spanish team 11 times, by an English team 10 times, Germany and Holland 6 times... the rest is far behind...

France is definitely the one who flares the worst sporting a finals record of 1 victory in 6 finals, a 16.6% victory rate...

Portugal's Benfica and Italy's Juventus are the two teams to reach the finals 7 times and win only twice, a lousy 29% success rate...

AC Milan is also the team to win the most cups in European history, totalling 16... 7 Champions Leagues, 2 Cup Winner's Cups, 3 Intercontinental Cups and 4 Supercups... now Real Madrid is second with 15, but Milan as the Champions League winner, has the chance to play again for the Intercontinental and Supercup...

So what a year... after winning Italy's 4th World Cup last July, here I am celebrating yet another Milan fabulous victory... let me remind you, Italy won the World Cup 4 times (trailing only Brazil with 5) as follows:

1934 Italy-Czechoslovakia 2-1

1938 Italy-Hungary 4-2

1970 Brazil-Italy 4-1

1982 Italy-West Germany 3-1

1994 Brazil-Italy 3-2 (pen)

2006 Italy-France 5-3 (pen)

So, I have been lucky enough to witness in my life 8 Champions League finals with 5 victories for my team, and 3 World Cup finals with 2 victories for my nation... not too bad, for a basketball fan!!!

Andrea Bargnani, season report

2007-05-09T13:22:00.000+02:00

I started covering the 1st season of Bargnani in the NBA with the intention of covering his stats month by month, but that for one reason or another, it didn't work out...
But now that the season is over, I would like to present you with his final numbers... but before that, just to mention that the NBA playoffs now are already at the second round... Bargnani's Raptors were eliminated by the New Jersey Nets 4-2 in the first round. Despite that, it has to be noted that Toronto finished the season with a winning record of 47-35, a winning percentage of 57.3 and an improvement of 20 victories compared to last year that brought personal accolades, like the Atlantic division title, the insertion of Bargnani into the all-rookies NBA team (together with teammate Jorge Garbajosa) and especially with coach Sam Mitchell being nominated Coach of the Year... maybe, soon to come, GM Bryan Colangelo could be nominated GM of the year too... he probably deserves it...

Note that Bargnani missed about 4 weeks due to an appendicectomy, and that he recovered just on time for the start of the playoff, but at least 7Kg below his fitness level...

Here the numbers:

Season
25.1 min played, 42.7% FG, 37.3% 3-pointers, 82.4% FT, 3.9 Rebs, .8 Assists, .5 Steals, 1.65 TO, .8 Blocks, 11 Points and 2.8 PF

Playoffs
30.2 min played, 47.8% FG, 41.2% 3-pointers, 78.9 FT, 4 Rebs, 1 Assist, .8 Steals, 1.17 TO, .5 Blocks, 11.6 Points and 2.7 PF

His highs for the season:

23 Points at Orlando in December
11 Rebs at Charlotte in February
4 Assists vs Washington in January
4 Steals vs Phoenix in January
6 Blocks vs Golden State in December
39 min played at Chicago in February

Here you can see him right after the final moments of the decisive defeat in NJ that ended his playoff run... see you next year, Andrea...

Heros...

2007-05-08T19:47:00.000+02:00

I came accross, today, to the news of the 25th anniversary of Gilles Villeneuve's deadly crash. I still remember it as it was yesterday... obviously, I was 10 at the time, but HE was my hero... I loved watching formula 1, thanks to dad being such die hard Ferrari (back then frustrated) fan...

I remember, even so young, loving every race of this super talented Canadian... his memorable number 27...what he did with his car was simply amazing... but he never had the chance to win a championship, never the chance to delight his fans for many more years, as his life was cut short during a qulifying lap near here we I ended up living... he died in Zolder, after sustaining fatal injuries in a really horrifying crash... I still remember, sitting on the long gone white and brown couches of my parents' livingroom, watching the doctors attending him, motionless on the grass, near a fence that stopped his body from rolling even further... I was in shock, in denial... how can that be? Heros are not supposed to lose, let alone die! So, I thought, he will be fine...

But when the evening news reported that Gilles had died, at age 32, I couldn't believe it. I stopped eating, I ran into my room and never emerged till the next morning... I remember crying as a baby (maybe I still was, after all I was 10...), it was a sleepless night... I think his myth has been amplified, surely by his driving skills, but also by the way he died... a champion in the making... he is one sportsman I can't simply forget, so powerful he had been in my mind during his short stint in the formula 1 circus...

Depending on which sports you follow, we can surely mention few more heros... Mohammed Ali, Pele, Segei Bubka, Pete Sampras, Tiger Woods... to mention the first ones that come to mind... but they were, either before my time, or performing at an unprecedented level, but in a sport I had little interest in... they were (or are) people who dominated their sport... that left little to nothing to the opponents...

I can mention Michael Schumacher, whose greatness was not defined by an unexpected death or his friendliness, but by simply being the greatest formula 1 driver ever... simple as that... maybe Villeneuve and Ayrton Senna, another victim of a race accident, and another great of formula 1 history, could have become what Schumacher is... but they had no chance...

A hero is also defined by the opponents he's able to beat... Villeneuve had epic "battles" with Renault's Rene Arnoux... Senna had to compete with Alain Prost, Niki Lauda, even a young Schumacher... and Schumacher himself? Maybe he didn't have to race with the best opponents in formula 1 history, but he brought Ferrari back on top of the world after 21 years, won 7 titles, 5 consecutively... he could have had 2 more, barred injuries... amazing stuff... But you see, there are no unbeatable heros... Senna unfortuned accident cut his life short at only 34, at the peak of his career... Schumacher also suffered a bad accident where he broke both his legs when he was leading the standings to what it could have been his 1st championship with Ferrari... but it wasn't meant to be, not yet...

Valentino Rossi, the MotoGP rider who won 7 championships in 10 years of races, has also sustained a burning defeat in last championship... blame the lack of competitiveness of his motorbike, blame a slow start of the campaign, blame a career (lucky) season from another rider, but at the end, he didn't win, as everyone expected... by the way, on 2 of the 3 occasions when he didn't win a championship, he finished in 2nd place... including last year... but as you know, there is only room for one winner in sports, so 2nd, for as close as it can be to 1st, ain't good enough...

Even Michael Jordan, arguably the best basketball player of all times, had his misfortunes, for as talented, driven, rich and famous as he was... he won everything, he accomplished everything, he achieved everything... but he also had to sustain burning losses, here and there... or give up to age, even if you could really tell he still had it...

But one question comes to mind? Are these people really heros, or they just seem to be? Aren't these people just talented yet fortunate people who can make a beautiful living by doing what they love? Why everyone celebrates them, misses them when they die... we don't know them, after all... they are not our family, they are not our friends... how many people die, silently, every day? Do we miss them too? How many people do more, work harder, without all the accolades of sport and fame? So maybe, we should rethink who the real heros are... maybe... let's just think about it... maybe someone who tries to make this world a better place is more of a hero... someone we don't even know the existance of, and yet dedicate their life to make it better for everyone... shouldn't they be the ones we look up to? Aren't they the real unsung heros?

Back...

2007-05-06T11:22:00.000+02:00

It's been a while since I posted on my blog. No, I didn't forget to do so, I just lived everyday down to the last second and I really had no time for much free time. It may sound unreal, or even awful, but that's just the way it was.

But remember, I didn't say I was working all the time. Travel took up some good part too.

So here is something on my whereabouts.

While I was busy with my gipsy European tour, I found the time on a short week end to go down to Slovenia and visit my bro Tad... we have always been very close ever since we met 12 years back, and when our paths separated, we kept visiting each other, regularly... so here I went south, to see him in his home country and meet his gf, Mateja... such a sweet girl, very kind... they are actually expecting a baby now, due for July... so guess where I will be next July? I think you guessed right... anyway, Slovenia is a small but really pretty place, take a chance on visiting it before it's fully invaded by the Brits...

In september, I had few days in Andalucia, Spain. It was 15 years ago I had been there last time. It's a wonderful region, a lot to see, a lot to do, history... the places are great, the seaside is very nice, the food fantastic, and in Jerez, the wine is superb. Visit the Alhambra in Granada, the city of Malaga, the church converted mosque converted church in Cordoba, enjoy the small streets and local restaurants there too... Seville, the pearl of south Spain, so beautiful, every corner of this city tells a different tale... I said, the only thing missing in Seville to make this city perfect is the seaside... or go to Jerez, where you can taste its famous sherry... Oloroso is the best one, for me... but the most, I love the lifestyle there... easy going, relaxed, lively at night as the restaurants and tapas bars get crowded after 9pm... the weather, the seafood, the sangria... Spain, it's one of the top places Europe can offer...

Then, I left for a month of work in Budapest. It's amazing how a month (or more, as in fact it turned out to be) can be so hard on you, away from your commodities, away from the comfort of your home.

Luckily, I have met great colleagues over there. From Pui and Iepure the Romanians, to 20-20 the Czech, to Kurac the Croat, to Perkele Joulupukki the Fin. I had a blast with them, nice people, good colleagues, funny and sarcastic.

With Petri, I discovered a colleague with the same love for Asia as mine. Pretty amazing stuff. His mom moved for the winter to Thailand, on her own, she rocks! With Gabi, I have an open invitation to Moldova-style party nights. I haven't forgotten it! I even had the chance to meet again a former colleague, now working in Bosnia. The ATC world never stops to surprise me.
And furthermore, I had a chance to discover the beauties of this incredible city. The city is as beautiful as the poverty of its people is rather amazing. Hungary is a country that is clearly running out of cash. It shows also in the way Malev was sold for peanuts to a Russian enterprise.

However, amazingly enough, the city's restaurants offer the most amazing portions I have ever been served. And as Petri said, let's go for some meat with the side dishes of meat and meat. Try ANY of the restaurants, but just diet for a week beforehand, or you will be unable to survive your dinner!
I also had a day trip to Bratislava. Need to spend time on talking about this city? Not really. Nothing special, if you are not going there already for another reason, don't plan to go.

Oh, my stay in Budapest was made rather interesting by a two days meeting with Clouds.

We talked till we dropped (or that was drank till we dropped?). However, we spoke about a lot of "nice" subjects, but those talks, unfortunately, will remain confined between the pubs' walls. However, she pulled a stunt on me that cracked me down. She climbed all the way to the top of the chain bridge, which, needless to say, is forbidden if not dangerous. The power of beer :) Or... MOJITOS!!!!!

Well, good thing she is still in one pretty piece to tell this tale :)

After two weeks in Budapest, I took my break to spend about 9 days in Bangkok and Siem Reap. I had a really great time with Shih Yun over there. Bangkok was nice, I met for dinner Chris, Nad and Joop while waiting for Shih Yun to arrive.

Also got the chance for a day visit in Chiang Mai. In my time in Bangkok, I went to visit (again) the largest open air market in Asia, where you can find EVERYTHING for sale, from crocks to (debatable) food.

Then we flew over to Cambodia. Such a beautiful country, such nice people! Only smiles, only kindness. It's amazing to think that this popolation suffered so much and yet found the strength to be so nice. Plus, Siem Reap is an amazing place, so many things to see and visit, and I even got my go with an M-60 machine gun. What a fire power :)

Anyway, the people and the history there is worth a visit, make sure you put Cambodia high enough in your to do list. We even ended up meeting, by pure coincidence, Radio Scicluna, Nick and Florian in Angkor WHAT? :)

Back to Bangkok, we had a last lavish dinner at the 65th floor of a nice skyscraper. Open air restaurant, with an amazing view on the city. The food was excellent, the service too. I think the waiters outnumbered the guests by a ratio of 3 to 1. The price reflected that too, though :) The restaurant and the city below was separated by a 1.20mt high glass. Amazing stuff. And down, on the river, the fire works put up a complimentary show. Privileged position to see such an unexpected show :) Oh, the restaurant. Breeze. Try it out if you are in town, just make sure you have your credit cards with you :)...

we also had the chance to go back to the Royal Palace and the floating market... always nice and colorful, although, after so many Asian experiences, nothing too special anymore... it's been very special few years back, when was my second time in Asia, but now I'm rather accustomed to more than that... spoiled little boy...

After this amazing experience back to Budapest for 2 more weeks. Got to see the Xmas market, a little more of the city.

After that, fly over to Hong Kong, to enroll at university there. OUHK. Many asked me why there. Reasons are multiple. As a start, it's a long distance tuition based university, a very important point for me, but difficult to have here. Secondly, it's in English. Rather important, I would say. Third, for as far as HK may be, I am more often in Asia than in Italy, so why not? Combine my trips for exams (twice a year) with my time off is a good opportunity to get two things done at the same time. Plus, this uni offered the course of studies I was looking for and, compared to ANY U.S. based uni, is affordable. So here I am, beginning yet another chapter of my life. Wish me luck. (oh sorry, I'm still stuck in my high school mentality, where Me and Study didn't go in the same sentence, and indeed every examination was a question of pure luck for me, rather than knowledge...)

And did I mention that I love HK? It's such a perfect city... great location, best skyline of the world, beautiful mix between East and West... sights and sounds... I feel good in HK... I could stay for hours looking at the skyline, it's never the same... the weather, the lights make it always special... this way around, I took the time to go to the Peak, from where you can have a wonderful view of the skyscrapers, from the back... I had my dinner there, and a coffee while looking down such mix of natural and man-made beauty... and while I was there, my brother Tad actually broke the news to me that his gf was pregnant... what a place to have that news... it was actually a funny situation, as people saw me talking on the mobile and have a tear coming down my eyes, a tear of happiness... I wonder what those people thought, maybe that I was having a bad fight with a loved one :)

After finishing my enrollment in HK, off to Taiwan to visit Shih Yun. Spent a few nice days together, we went for a trip into the mountains, sometimes it's scary there, as some of the dirt roads are regularly washed away by storms... you should know, if there is a city where you can find amazingly beautiful, original, artistic restaurants and bars, this is Taichung... never stops to surprise me! I got to meet Jasmine as well, on this trip to Taiwan... we spent a couple of days at the local spa hotel, really nice place on the hillside, with a nice view over the city... very nice stay, as usual in Taiwan... just, at the end, I got DEAD sick as I even had to postpone my departure cos unable to stand firmly (or even shakingly) on my feet... had the experience of a Taiwanese doctor, with very funny english, and his medications... the first set didn't work, as my fever didn't regress, so he went straight for the nuclear-waste-based medicines. They worked! I have NO idea what he gave me, but those pills made me so dizzy. Sure my fever disappeared, but I think I will pay the price for using those pills few years down the line. At least I was back in time to Europe to make my flight to Italy, to spend a sick Xmas with my folks. But I have to admit, I love Taiwan very much too. It's a very pretty island that has plenty to offer... if you have never been there, start planning your next trip there :))

So here I am, in Italy, with the mood for nothing, the health of a fire fighter right after the Chernobyl accident, and the dizziness that doesn't want to give me a break. It would take me at least one more month to feel like before, which is anyway not necessarily good news :))
Anyway, Xmas as usual... a family businness...

January I actually worked. WOAH... although, my competency expired and I had to be re-assessed. Funny stuff. Too much world-hopping, I guess.

And February comes. Plan a trip to Vietnam.

Last time I had to cancel, because it was in 2003 when the Bird Flu outbreak scared off everyone from Asia. I wasn't scared, but the people who were supposed to travel with me decided it wasn't worthy. I still went to Asia, on my own, but Malaysia rather than Nam. So here I am, 4 years later, excited to finally visit this country. Let me tell you, don't go. Not worth. Nothing is prime time beautiful there. Looking for buildings and amazing architecture? Go to Thailand. Looking for history? Go to Cambodia. Looking for impressive cities? Go to HK. Looking for natural beauties? Go to Malaysia and Indonesia. As far as I'm concerned, Nam is stuck in between everything, doesn't excel in anything. Even food isn't so great, and the people... Even Ha Long Bay, I was expecting so so much from it... it's beautiful, but maybe I was expecting more than I should have had...

whatever the case, I was disappointed.... well, after the wonderful experience in Cambodia, I really think Vietnamese people, generally speaking, are rather rude and unfriendly. To top up this messy Chinese New Year trip, my company was... ehm, far from ideal... right Shih Yun? So I really wanted to forget I have been there, and it will surely be a looooooong while before I even consider going back there. Well, at least it's the only place in the world, so far, where I had the awkward pleasure to see a 30cm rat that scared the hell out of Shih Yun wandering around the airport restaurant, right next to the gate. Ha Noi rocks! Thanks for the memories..... NOT! :))

Anyway, there is something to remember... it was amazing to see how many people were on the streets for New Year's eve...

and also, experiencing some weird Vietnamese customs, like eating eggs with half-developed duck in it... I have eaten strange stuff in China, like snakes and turtles, but isn't this egg rather gross?

One thing really worth visiting was the War Museum in HCMC (Saigon), although heavily contidioned by the regime, it's really amazing to see what's exposed, to see the unreported horrors of war...

Or I witnessed the kill of a goat... by collecting her blood, as apparently it makes a rather tasty drink, mixed up with some non-identified alcohol... what can I say? Should I judge and say they are barbarians? I would be wrong... these are their traditions, and if I was them, I would do probably the same... so be it...

Oh, one thing was rather disturbing... how common has become for me to meet people in every corner of Asia, without even trying! This time was the turn of my bro's ex-gf... my bro told me she was in Nam... yeah, ok.. where? And especially, who cares? Nam is rahter big, and anyway, since I was having SO MUCH FUN there, I really had no mood to waste my time to try to meet her. So one morning, going out of my hotel thinking... wow, I'm still here and one more damn week to go, she appears right in front of me... she could have been anywhere else, or right there 5 min later and we would have never met... but no, no such luck :)

After finally leaving Nam behind me, back to Singapore and then hop on to Europe.

Just the time to be back, and back on a plane to LA. I love LA, for its seaside, its proximity to the mountains, its glamour, for BH, its mixed ethnicity with strong Asian influence, its weather, its size!

USA, here I come. Finally some NBA live, with Jerry, Pels and Hans, covering up for EB's absence, this year. The trip was a blast, we all got along rather well. I even took a couple of tango lessons, with a (huge) Porto Rican and a (tiny) Korean teacher. Both of them, cool people, as well quite a weird dancing combo, size wise. I discovered some Japanese restaurants too, nice. We also saw few games, not of the same quality of last year, anyway. Except for Phoenix, there we had a great time. We stayed in a beautiful house in the Arizona desert, watch 2 great games, and even had a close encounter with Itchy Susan, a horny SouthWest Airlines stewardess who tried to pick me up. Thanks, but no thanks. But most importantly, a very nice day trip to Sedona, deep into an Indian reserve. Beautiful canyon, awsome surrounding... really great place... we had a really nice day, driving through the desert, have a relaxing and interesting day...

And for the first time, I had been to San Jose' and San Francisco. Lovely, especially the latter. Great place. Especially with the California weather we had. Two weeks of sunny 24+ degrees, amazing stuff.

Back from USA, and off to Italy to visit my folks. Short stay, as usal. Not much to add, compared to previous times.

Back from Italy, off to Istanbul for work. Jerry came along too. Little time for visits, but very nice city and lovely people. We had an afternoon off with Philippe and Ive too, really nice. Worth a visit. I didn't remember the city to be so beautiful, I really enjoyed my time there. Full of culture, places to visit... the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace, a little boat trip on the Bosphorus... the Spice Market, the Grand Bazaar... really nice, this mix of different beauties... on top of that, one evening we were delighted by belly dancers and traditional dancers and musicians... very very nice :) and entertaining... it surely caught everyone's attention...

Back from Turkey, my mom came to visit for the first time since 2000. Oh, I never spent so much time with her before, I really had no idea what to talk about. I took her here and there, specifically Bruges and Gent, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, see the tulips. TIRING! Glad to have her here, sure, but also glad she left, or I would die. :)) By the way, both Bruges and Gent are really pretty cities... take a visit, if you are in the vicinity... it's worthy...

So here we are, rather up to date now. Few things still happened in between, but for those I will dedicate some more time in the coming days.

Vietnam, a place of its own.

2007-02-19T17:43:00.000+01:00

A quick post from Indochina....

I know I haven't been writing for a long time, but I really needed to have 48 hours a day in the past two weeks to keep up with the load of work I had, both private and work related... plus, I was internet-challenged (nice politically correct citation...) for the whole month of January, simply because that wonderful provider I had, and it's not even worth mentioning it as I won't provide them with a free commercial, forgot to charge me, and subsiquently blamed me and cut me out of civilization... go figure... for the past 6 years no problems, new management, and a whole new world of f**k ups... well, now I'm free from them and I actually regret not switching to the new provider earlier...

In any case, presently I am in Hoi An, central Vietnam... I know I haven't been writing about my trip to Cambodia last November, my stay in Budapest, my Xmas celebrations in Italy, and the birth of my niece Lydia on January 24... it will all come, as I get back... but for now, I just flew here from Ho Chi Minh city and it's a big relief... HCMC sucks... it really does... no one has really heard me complaining about Asia, ever... but HCMC has really near-to-nothing to offer... the only highlight is the War Museum, where the war atrocities are well documented... of course, it's part of the ruling regime's propaganda, but there is no denying that the Americans f**k it up pretty badly here... few years back I saw the Vietnam's Veterans Memorial in Washington, with people still grieving and weeping after so many years, now I had the chance to see the other side... and the thing that struck me the most was the silence in the museum... no one was really in the mood to talk or exchange even a simple word... the pictures of the undescribable situation during the Vietnam war didn't need any comment... you will see pretty soon what I'm talking about...

But apart from this, HCMC doesn't have much to offer... I arrived to HCMC the eve before the Lunar New Year, and it was a mess... but for that, the next post... I'm just glad I find myself in central Vietnam, on my way to Hue and eventually Ha Noi and Halong Bay, where I'm really looking forward to sail for a couple of days...

See you soon... for my next post....

Andrea Bargnani, December report.

2007-01-04T18:55:00.000+01:00

Andrea Bargnani has just finished his second month in the NBA, and his performance has been a bit of a rollercoaster... he definitely enjoyed more playing time, more shots and overall better numbers, as all his statistics improved compared to November, but all his pencentages took a drop and need improvement... he also had his first and only game in the starting five so far on December 10 against Portland and he also missed his first game on December 8 at Chicago due to a sore back... here are his average December stas:
27:28 minutes played, 38.3% FG, 28.3% 3-pointers, 80.5% FT, 4.93 Rebs, 0.73 Assists, 0.33 Steals, 1.73 TO, 1.13 Blocks and 12 Points, 2.6 PF.

His highs and lows:
Minutes played:
high of 36:31 on December 20 at Los Angeles against the Clippers,
low of 17:05 on December 23 at Seattle
FG%:
high of 60% on 6-10 shooting on December 17 against Golden State,
low of 14.3% on 1-7 shooting on December 23 at Seattle
3%:
high of 62.5% on 5-8 shooting on December 13 at Orlando,
low of 0% on 0-5 shooting on December 30 at Memphis
Rebs:
high of 10 on December 17 against Golden State,
low of 2 on three occasions
Assists:
high of 2 on two occasions,
low of 0 in few occasions
Blocks:
high of 6 on December 17 against Golden State,
low of 0 on few occasions
Points:
high of 23 on December 13 at Orlando,
low of 3 on December 23 at Seattle

His team, the Toronto Raptors, in December posted a record of 8 Ws and 8 Ls, splitting the games at exactly 50%. Toronto averaged 96.6 points, and its opponents 99.6. On the Ws, Toronto outscored its opponents by101.1 points to 96.5, while when losing Toronto was outscored by 102.7 to 92.1. They enjoyed a winning streak of 3 but also suffered a losing streak of 4.

A ray of light, a ray of hope...

2007-01-02T15:11:00.000+01:00

The 2006 ended with Saddam Hussein being hanged, an action that will surely spark more violence in the region. Hussain was a murderer, a war criminal and whatever symbolizes evil, he has been responsible for 1000s of deaths, undescribable pains and inhuman actions. However, in my opinion, killing him is just being like him. And let's not forget he was West's best ally when he was fighting against Iran in the 1980s, and he therefore was supported, paid and armed by our governments. Killing him now is the will to cover up all that. He should have rotten in a prison cell for the rest of his days, and so should the ones who armed and befriended him.
The 2007 started off even worse, with an airliner crashing in Indonesia. It's unclear, as of now, how high the death toll will be, but as with all aviation tragedies, it won't come at bargain price in terms of casualties.

I hope these were just "mishaps" before the world gets its act together and delivers a wonderful 2007 to everyone.

I surely feel good and happy lately, I wish everyone the same. Happy New Year!

2006... the summary

2006-12-29T07:20:00.001+01:00

As always, the year we are just about to leave was full of events, and in order to remember, I will report the most important ones... by category...

Politics...

Ariel Sharon, Israel Prime Minister suffered massive hemorragic stroke and fell into coma, after 4 months he is replaced by Ehud Olmert... Hamas wins the elections in Palestine.... first Kosovo's President Ibrahim Rugova dies... a coup to oust Philippine's President Gloria M. Arroyo fails... Slobodan Milosevic, the Serb war criminal, is found dead in his cell in The Hague... Sweden's Foreign Affairs Minister Leila Freivalds resign following scandals about Tsunami relief aids... ETA declares permanent ceasefire in Spain... Montenegro declares its independence... women allowed to vote for the first time in Kuwait... North Korea test fires seven missiles including long range Taepodong-2... Israel invades Lebanon starting a new conflict in the region... Chechen rebel Shamil Basayev killed... Fidel Castro relinquishes power to his brother Raul due serious illness... new regulations for air transportation safety put in place... Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is exiled following a military coup... new Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe succeeds Junichiro Koizumi... South Korea Ban Ki-moon is elected new U.N. Secretary General... Brazil's President of humble origins Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is re-elected... Iraqi former dictator Saddam Hussain is sentenced to death for crimes against humanity... Russian anti-Kremlin journalist Anna Politkovskaya is liquidated by a hitman in Moscow... US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigns as the Repubblicans lose the mid-term elections, he is replaced by former CIA director Robert Gates... foreign intervention is needed in Tonga due to heavy social unrest... Iran and Syria recognize Iraq's government... Lebanon's Minister of Industry is assassinated in Beirut... Alexander Litvinenko, defector and former KGB spy and outspokenly anti-Kremlin, killed with a lethal dose of radioactive material in London... military coup in the Fiji islands led by Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama... egocentric Turkmenistan dictator Suparmurat Niyazoz dies... Ethiopian military attacks Somalia's Islamic militants and take control of Somali capital Mogadishu...

News...

US Vice-President Dick Chaney accidentaly shoots a friend during hunting... 53.1 million British pounds stolen in the biggest robbery in UK history... 1 billionth song purchased from Apple Itunes Store... new kind of shark discovered in Mexican waters... billionaire Warren Buffett donates US$ 30 billions to the Gates foundation... Quinghai, the world's highest railway opens, connecting China to Tibet... Zuleyka Rivera becomes Puerto Rico's 5th Miss Universe... Austria's Natascha Kampusch escape after being kidnapped for 8 years... Edward Munch's painting The Scream recovered in Oslo by police... Taipei's airport Chiang Kai Shek, in a politically driven move, is renamed Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport... after 40 long years of development, the new Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport opens and replaces Don Mueang airport, and to describe it with my friend's Tad words, it's so FUGLY, it's so dark it looks like a f**king garage, and I agree...Google buys YouTube for US$ 1.65 billion... Jeffrey Skillings, one of the people responsible for the Enron financial collapse that ruined thousands of people, sentenced to more than 24 years of prison... in Sadr City, a coordinated attack with multiple car bombs and mortars kills an unprecedented 215 people... the Chinese River Dolphin (Baiji) is declared extinct... a Lybian court sentences 5 Bulgarian nurses and 1 Palestinian doctor to death for allegedly infecting hundreds of children with HIV, while an unheard independent study found the inhuman conditions of the facilities to be the main culprit... Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus, a banker and economist, who developed the concept of microcredit for entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for regular loans is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his fight to poverty... James Brown dies...

News we wouldn't want to report...

During the 2006, there were a lot of tragedies ranging from natural disasters to wars and terrorist attacks to job related accidents to transportation accidents, to crowd and housing related deaths... and even if nothing came close to the 2004 Tsunami's 230.000 casualties, there were 1800 death in the Philippines due to a mudslide, 65 in each Mexico and Poland in mines related accidents, 362 pilgrims died in a stampede at the Hajj, 1400 in Egypt when an overloaded boat capsized, 6000 as a result of a earthquake in Indonesia, 56 in Moscow when a hospital was set ablaze, 76 in Mecca when a hotel collapsed, 265 in Nigeria when a Oil pipeline exploded, hundreds in the Philippines for the latest hurricane, plus 48 more in Bahrein, 38 in Germany, 23 in Poland, 41 in Yemen 45 in Russia in different kinds of accidents, and tens more in USA, Romania, China, Japan and Australia mainly in mines related accidents plus many more in bombs related deaths in Varanasi, Mumbai, Israel and Egypt. Needless to say, hundreds more have perished in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Congo and all other war-torn and famine striken countries... for aviation, at least seven major accidents were registered for a total of 623 victims...

Sports...

Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant scored an NBA all-time second best 81 points against Toronto, and I was there to witness that... the Winter Olympics were held in Turin, and I was there too... the Pittsburgh Steelers stole, with the help of the refrees, Superbowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks to win the NFL title... Barcelona defeated Arsenal to win the the UEFA Champions League... CSKA Moscow won the Euroleague of basketball, beating two times champs Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv in the final in Prague... Spain won the World Championships of basketball held in Japan... the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers to win the NHL Stanley Cup... the Miami Heat held off the Dallas Mavericks to win their first NBA title... USA's Floyd Landis won the Tour de France only to be the first winner in the race history to be disgracefully disqulified for failing a doping test... Italy wins the Football World Cup in Germany defeating France in the final, it's Italy's 4th win, second only to Brazil with 5... the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series of the MLB... talking about outstanding accomplishments, Andre Agassi retires after being only one of five professional male tennis players to win all four Grand Slam tournaments, and the only one to add an Olympic Gold medal and a Davis Cup to his 8 Grand Slam titles and his 60 tournament victories... Roger Federer won 3 majors this year, bringing his total to 9. He is 6th all time, one major behind Bill Tilden, 2 behind Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver, 3 behind Roy Emerson and 5 behind all time leader Pete Sampras, all long retired. Federer could surely jump to number 2 spot in this list in the next year or two, having already passed historic players such as Connors, McEnroe, Beckers, Lendl and Agassi... Michael Schumacher retires as the greatest Formula 1 driver ever, as he holds nearly every record including most driver's championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, most races won in a single season and he leaves with 7 titles (2 with Benetton, 5 with Ferrari), 2 more than Argentinian great and previous record holder Juan Manuel Fangio... Tiger Woods won 2 more majors, the British Open and the PGA Championship, bringing his total to 12 and trailing only Jack Nicklaus by a mere 6 majors at age 31...

Shouldn't they set the example?

2006-12-15T03:16:00.000+01:00

Back again, with news from around the world... this time, I would like to focus a bit on controversial people, and their actions...

So here we go...

Fidel Castro... he's been sick for a long time now, and he hasn't been on TV or able to attend even the celebrations for his own birthday...
COMMENT: How is it that makes it so hard to give up power that you anyway maintained with a dictatorship? Come on, you only have one life, I'm sure if you look around you will find better things to do than having a 50 years stand off with USA... knock it off... and give democracy a chance before you go to hell...

Augusto Pinochet... after splitting his country in two when he was alive with a repressive and murderous policy, he split the country in two when he died...
COMMENT: he was a pig when he was alive, so that makes it pork now... right? He had a good ally in UK, always backing him up... first with the "illustrious" Margareth Thatcher, who defined him as a friend (hey, everyone wants friends like him!) for his help during the Falklands war (or should I call them Malvinas??), and recently in "even better than illustrious" Tony Blair, when wanted by Spain, they didn't detain him and allowed him to return to Chile... his victims, first and foremost Salvador Allende, but also the thousands of murdered, never had justice, but since there is a justice, he is already burning in hell waiting for Castro to join any time soon...

Ehud Olmert.... he finally admitted Israel has nukes... he tried to say he meant something different and back up, but you know, too late... it was known anyway...
COMMENT: it was known anyway, you can play the world for fool, but you really think it's fool? So, now, how do you deny Iran a nuke when you have it yourself?? Difficult position to defend, mr. Prime Minister... ooops

George W. Bush... on nuke related matters, six parties talks on N. Korea nuclear program are set to resume soon... but for now, N. Korea has set a list of pre-requisites that are threatening to halt once again the talks.
COMMENT: Aren't the USA the only country that ever used the nuke anyway? So how, again, can you deny someone else to have it when you keep your stockpile and are a threat for them? Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending neither Iran nor N. Korea, but if you try to tell me the USA is a democracy and the other two are a danger for the world, try again... Isn't George W. the one who openly LIED to the entire world about WMD in Iraq? Isn't he the same who, with the help of his brother Jeb, didn't allow a recount of votes in Florida which would have probably have given victory to democrat Al Gore? Aren't the USA the same country that financed Chile's bloody coup to put Pinochet in power and that costed thousands of lives just to prevent a country's comunist, but DEMOCRATICLY elected, president to be in office? Aren't the US who keep detainees without a fair trial in Guantanamo? And what the hell are they doing in Guantanamo anyway, isn't that on Cuban soil?Do I really have to continue my list of un-democratic, above the law actions?? And how come Clinton gets impeached for a blow job, which is his and his wife's problem, and W. doesn't get impeached after lying to the whole world? Pinochet and Castro, make some space....

Kim Jung Il... N. Korea president, determined to defy the world and continuing his nuclear program... very "sensitive" and touchy person, easily offended, likes luxury while his people starve so much that the luxury blockade imposed by the western countries plus Japan is now at the center of talks BEFORE the nuke talks may resume...
COMMENT: There is never enough space in hell for Il and all his affiliates... I hope they tumble sooner rather than later, they are the worst kind of people...

Tony Blair... he backed up W. in his fake war for WMD in Iraq, and it's getting more and more controversial at home, where it seems that every step he takes, he craps...
COMMENT: Mr. Blair, lying to the world after all isn't such a great idea, so why doing it? And you had to keep lying to cover up your previous lies... You were the people's choice, now you are the people's choice to go... so go...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, continuing to deny the Holocaust and continuing to rediculize the world and its attempts to put a halt to Iran's nuclear program...
COMMENT: enough playing the world for fool, enough denying such a tragedy, enough changing day in and day out conditions to never achieve an agreement and stop the nuke program, enough using the "wiping out" expression... and enough using religion as a shield for your actions... leave God alone, He doesn't want to be named by you... not in these contexts...

Middle East pepole vs China/India... China and India have been arguing over border disputes for-basically-ever (what a surprise, they never do that), but last month they put aside their differencies and signed some economic agreements that put together the workforce of the two most populated and fastest developing countries, slowly but surely changing the economic geo-politics of our world...

COMMENT: if only all the people in the Middle East paid attention to that...

Hu Jintao and Hu Haifeng... President Hu is so keen in showing how well China is developing, and how well its comunist system works... how it can be an example for the world...

COMMENT: but how come that Chinese people are so much double faced? In one way they care so much of "losing face" and behave so that you like what you see... on the other, they are one of the most corrupted people in the world, they use State funds to finance lovers and red light parties, and their lavish life style and now, somehow, President Hu awarded his son's company a contract in the excess of 300 million dollars to install security machinary in every Chinese airport... what a coincidence, if you ask me... call it as it pleases you, comunism, capitalism, democracy... power and money appeal to everyone up there, so please stop pretending... you are all a buch of corrupted scumbags...

Valdimir Putin, former KGB Colonel, President of USSR...

COMMENT: well, he is the President of Russia, but the way he disposes of everyone who disagree with his politics is just so USSR-style... and all the major posts in political and economical institutions are manned by his friends, there is very little of democratic in his actions... including praising the Israeli President for being "a man" since having been accused of raping more than 10 women... how low can you get?

As the great Louis Armstrong used to sing, what a wonderful world....

Becoming uncle... how does it feel?

2006-12-14T12:41:00.000+01:00

Im going to become uncle in mid January when Andy and Maria will welcome their daughter... and next July I will be uncle again when Tad and Mateja will get their kid... it's a rollercoaster of emotions, I didn't expect it... I cried when I saw Andy's daughter ultrasound scan and I cried again now in the stupid Coffee Bean shop in HK after I spoke to Tad for over 30 min on the phone... wow... I'm overwhelmed and and I didn't expect to feel this way... speechless, really...

All I can say is that I love you all guys...

Andrea Bargnani, November report.

2006-12-12T13:35:00.000+01:00

Andrea Bargnani, the lone Italian player to play in the NBA, the first ever European selected number 1 at last June daft, begun the season with high expectations.

His numbers started off not too well, with his foul prone defense and sub par rebounding limiting his time on the floor. However, as the days passed, he gained confidence, and it seems that his coach gained confidence in him too. So his minutes increased dramatically, together with a better scoring. Still needs to work on his rebounding, but in the last games his scoring numbers are as high as last year in Italy, prompting some ESPN.com expert to write that his potential is much bigger than expected. Coach Peterson predicted him to produce important numbers comes January. We will see, and I will surely keep you informed.

So here are Bargnani's stats for November, in avarage:

15:47 minutes played, 42.5% FG, 33.3% 3-pointers, 82.1% FT, 2.53 Rebs, 0.4 Assists, 0.26 Steals, 0.73 TO, 0.6 Blocks and 7.4 Points, 2.66 PF.

His highs and lows:
Minutes played:
high of 30:31 on November 29 at Dallas,
low of 06:18 on November 8 against Philadelphia
FG%:
high of 66.6% on 6-9 shooting on November 28 at Oklahoma City,
low of 0% on 0-3 shooting on two occasions
3%:
high of 66.6% on 2-3 shooting on November 28 at Oklahoma City,
low of 0% on 0-2 shooting on two occasions
Rebs:
high of 5 on two occasions,
low of 0 on two occasions
Assists:
high of 2 on two occasions,
low of 0 in few occasions
Blocks:
high of 2 on two occasions,
low of 0 on few occasions
Points:
high of 16 on November 28 at Oklahoma City,
low of 0 on November 8 against Philadelphia

His team, the Toronto Raptors, in November posted a record of 5 Ws and 10 Ls, 33.3%.
Toronto averaged 98.06 points, and its opponents 101. On the Ws, Toronto outscored its opponents by 99.2 points to 88.6, while when losing Toronto was outscored by 107.2 to 97.5. They enjoyed a not so special winning streak of 2 but also suffered a losing streak of 6.

Bargnani has a streak of 17 consecutives FTs going into December.

News flash

2006-12-12T04:01:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone (I mean the 3 or 4 people out there that actually read what I write...), I have been way too overloaded in the past weeks to be able to keep up with life, but now I should be able to take a little break and finally play catch up again...

Let's start off again with something "simple"... some news from around the world that kind of caught my attention...

First, and foremost, news from the IHT, that left me puzzled on my flight to Dubai, reporting as follows:

The massacre at Srebrenica 11 years ago is one of the most shameful failures in history of international peacekeeping. Those who were entrusted with protecting this Bosnian Muslim enclave failed in the most comprehensive way possible. The events at Srebrenica in July 1995 are well chronicled. Almost 8000 were killed when Bosnian Serb forces overran the settlement. The Dutch peacekeepers surrendered and even assisted with the evacuation. The Serbs shot the men and boys in cold blood and buried the bodies in mass graves. This massacre could, and should, have been prevented. It beggars belief that the Dutch government has now awarded medals to the troops who so abjectly failed. Even though the ignominy was shared with the U.N., it was primarily the reputations of the Dutch troops and the Netherlands that was tarnished by Srebrenica.
COMMENT: The Dutch clearly failed to defend, but why? They were sent in such a low number of troops, they were simply overwhelmed and outnumbered and clearly feared for their own lives. So it was a failure of who sent them there in such a state. I was told they suffered great psychological difficulties once back, as everyone pointed at them for that failure. Suicide amogst troops was high. Tragedy in the tragedy. However, awarding them a medal is wrong, just like sending them there outnumbered and outweaponed, and 2 wrongs normally dont make one right.

I read on the Corriere.it that finally the French (not all of them, of course!) have gone to court to attack the validity of last July's world cup final lost against Italy. As you all remember, it was the infamous game were Materazzi made some comments about Zidane's sister after a heated exchange of words (which happens in every game!!), and Zidane was red carded following him headbutting Materazzi as retaliation (Zidane had a long history of bad gestures like this one...).
COMMENT: After the final, Zidane was suspended 3 games for the gesture and Materazzi 2 for the words. It is unheard that anyone has been suspended for such a thing, let alone retroactively. Thanks to the two top FIFA people, the Swiss J. Blatter and the French (surprise surprise!) M. Platini. They set a very dangerous precedent, I want to see everyone red carded and suspended 2 games as soon as they insult someone. Always. And as for the French going to trial to try to invalid the result, only 2 words: Sour Losers!!!

Reading on the Budapest Post that an entire nation, Hungary, is mourning its beloved football hero Puskas. Puskas played the best part of his career with Real Madrid, in exile from troubled Hungary, repressed by USSR at that time. At the funeral are expected representatives of the clubs where he worked for, and the estimated costs are 932.000 US$.
COMMENT: Puskas was a football hero, but no HERO. He didn't stop the USSR invasion, he didn't free Hungary, he simply kicked a football around for a fat paycheck. That he was in exile, was true, but it was a golden one compared to thousands of people who left Hungary to go and try to get a simple job and democracy in freezing Iceland or Canada. And with Hungary on the brink of bankruptcy, I personally would have a better way to spend a million dollars.

You all have heard about the poisoning of former KGB spy Litvinenko. It's been quite something, using the radioactive material Polonium 210 to dispose of him. Sources say the Kremlin could be behind this killing, just like behind others involving prominent people openly opposing Putin.
COMMENT: While we need evidence to accuse someone, it's clearly a job ordered from high above, just like the others. Putin, a former KGB colonel himself, wouldn't stop in front of anyone to achive what he wants, and infact, he hasn't stopped. If police will ever be able to prove who did it and how all this happened, it's another story. On the other hand, it looked like I was watching a MI movie. It's been a while since reality surpassed fiction in a spy matter.

Read on the South China Morning Post that police in China is cracking down on prostitution, and the in up-and-coming southern city of Shenzhen police arrested a good deal of prostitutes and pimps and then paraded them in the main square naming them in front of a large crowd to shame them before being locked up in jail without trial. Outcry from many Chinese have been reported as this was something done during the violence of the cultural revolution and recalls parts of the past that many Chinese would like to forget.
COMMENT: What was the mayor of Shenzhen thinking? Was he thinking at all? Who is without sin throw the first stone. I guess no stones thrown, am I right? Anyway, most prostitutes are forced to do that kind of life, having been lured away from home with the promise of a highly paid job. Did the police arrest the rich and famous who actually use these women? I say it again: did the police arrest any of the powerful and criminal who "enjoy" the services of these women? Of course not, they are scared as shit. So next time, parade your fears to do your job well, mr. Mayor and mr. head of Police. Morons.

Read on the Gulf News that the first case of child slavery since the 1960s has been reported by police in Hong Kong. The auntie purchased an 11 year old girl from her brother for HK$ 1000 (about 100 euros, my friends, that's all a child is worth) to do unpaid household jobs from 5am to 10pm. When police discovered her, tipped by some neighbors, they reported that she was beaten up daily by her auntie and 3 cousins, and it took her a month in hospital to recover. The auntie has been prosecuted and the child returned to her family in China.
COMMENT: auntie, hope you get locked up for life. The child returned to her family? Ok, it was under strict supervision, but under no circumstances a father should ever sell her own daughter. Lock him up for life too. Child? Take her to a rich family somewhere nice, send her to school and let her build a good life, she deserves it.

Seen on CNN, probably the last speech of Kofi Annan before stepping down as Secretary general of the U.N.. Some of the people saw it as an indirect attack to the U.S. foreign policies. He denied that, but those people didn't see it wrong, as the U.S. basically didn't apply any of the following. He said he has learned 5 valuable lessons while in office, all of them interconnected with each other, whereas President Bush cleraly didn't. Here are the lessons learned by mr. Annan:
1- Security comes from guaranteeing security for everyone else too
2- We are all responsible for each other's welfare
3- Need for respect for human rights and the rule of law
4- States and governments must be accountable for their actions
5- Need for working together through multilateral institutions.
COMMENT: Nice words, mr. Annan. I agree with them. But shall we first discuss now the Iraq food for oil program's scandal where your son was directly involved and implicated and was so quickly "forgotten" ?

Read on the internet, total death toll so far in the Iraq war is in the excess of 65.000.
NO COMMENT.

Math teachers

2006-11-14T21:59:00.000+01:00

I read on the Italian newspaper Corriere about a Math teacher engaged in sexual activities with 5 students at the local middle school... there was no intercourse, but they were all more or less naked in one of the classes, "busy" with each other... she is 33, the kids 13 and 14 years old...

Apart from the fact that she was fired from school on the spot, apart from the fact that she is indicted for violence on minors and rape, apart from her pathetic excuses on why she did it ("I thought one of them was 17... they started talking about sex, and one thing led to another... ), apart from the fact that she is a f***ing pervert...

... I could only WISH my Math teacher at middle school (a brunette version of barbie...) would have raped me, and I could only wish my 3 Math teachers at highschool would have raped me too (either one by one, or on a foursome...)... one of them was JUST like barbie, the other 2 were so hot and steamy...

Having said that, I was totally crap in Math... so... What is so hot about Math teachers anyway?

Borat

2006-11-14T19:40:00.000+01:00

Jagshemash!

A couple of weeks ago I went to the moviefilms with Clouds and Gio to watch "Borat", a must see 2006 winter season cult movie... very funny, although few parts pushed a bit to an extreme... the movie is about a Kazakh journalist sent to the US&A to study their cultural behaviors, and it's subdivided into stand alone parts... it's a real demential comedy, a mix between candid camera-style sections and actor studio parts... I have been watching the other character of Sacha Cohen, Ali G, since it aired few years back, and this is another big bull's-eye from this talented comedian... although Ali G was a rapper with a grammar of his own and Borat is a Kazakh journalist with a behavior of his own, the technique is the same: use catchy phrases that easily stick into people's minds... and it works, again! Respect... sorry, old fashion... I mean, VERY NICE!

It's a must see anyway, and the it's a real hit everywhere around the world, either at the box office, either at censorship offices, like in Russia and most of the Middle-East, where the movie was banned... please, come and see it, where you can... in any case, Borat (full title: Borat, cultural learnings of America for make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan) is a great success... everyday you read about him, not always positively (yesterday he was assaulted in NYC from someone who CLEARLY didn't like his movie) but no matter if positive or negative, news make up for valuable free advertisement... he also received a large number of lawsuits against, from people who felt betrayed, insulted, or just want more money... all this is simply endorsing his success... he recently was also a guest of Conans, where he tried to harvest Conan's red pubic hairs...

What makes this movie special, apart from the fact that it shows how ****** Americans are in general (after all he supports their war OF terror...), it's that it sticks into your mind, and everyone uses the phrases of the movie over and over again, and still laughs about them... I LIKE, YOU LIKE?? There are way too many to possibly mention them all, and there are some of the situations in the moviefilm that simply cannot be described, you just need to see to believe it...

Well, since I have been in Budapest it's been a Borat-oriented period with the colleagues here... HIGH FIVE! He is part of our daily conversations and makes many situations even more ridiculous than they are...

And as Borat says, go see it, there is just enough antisemitism to pass Kazakh tight moviefilms rules :)

Farewell zio Giuseppe

2006-11-11T08:04:00.000+01:00

Just few lines to remember a good man. My mom's uncle Giuseppe passed away a couple of days ago, and today is his funeral.

It's a shame I cannot attend, but my heart is surely there, thanking this good man for having been part of my life.

He spent most of his life in near-poverty, as after WWII he was a carpenter, and his job was to fix and make furniture. He was a real artist with his hands, carving and modelling wood with grace and beauty. Nowadays he would have made a good living to restore antique furniture, but back then things were different. Luckily his late years were made comfortable with the help of one of his sons who made furtune with a self-made businness and part of his family that never abandoned him.

What I will remember of uncle Giuseppe is his kindness, his readiness to help me at any moment, no matter how busy he was (he made so many toys for me when I was a kid!), his calm and friendly voice and his gentle smile, ALWAYS present on his face no matter how hard life had been with him. He was also a kind hearted person, one of the few to embrace my dad into the family when he moved to Milan in 1959. For many of the family, he was a foreigner since he was coming from the south but for my beloved grandpa (Giuseppe) and uncle (Giuseppe) my father was like a son. Surely my dad never forgot this, and I never saw him treating anyone with more respect than these two men.

Uncle, I will miss bringing you the Xmas present this year, it's been my task since I can remember... It's so true you never really appreciate what you have till you don't have it anymore... Good-bye uncle, you'll surely be missed!! This is my way to honor you, hope you can see it and appreciate it... Rest in peace...

The aviation world (3rd world)

2006-11-05T18:45:00.000+01:00

Ok guys, some time ago I have promised few words on the aviation world... unfortunately, there won't be just few words... so here I am, motivated by the latest E.U. rule on liquids allowed onboard in the hand luggage...

In the past century humanity has experienced an unprecedented development, both of civilization and technology... everything improved, everthing became better, bigger, faster, nicer, more comfortable... everything, except aviation, in general as a passenger, and in particular as coach class passenger (also known as economy, or cattle class, or cargo with chairs...)

What do I mean?

First of all flying has become a complete and utter chaos... different airlines have different rules on size and weight of luggages allowed, especially the hand luggage... some have 5kg, some 7kg, some 10kg, some 5 but on North American routes 8kg, some have no limitations, like Easyjet... it all adds up to confusion, you have to have a manual at home to check for which airline what you are allowed...with Ryanair, the most stupid experience... allowance, back then, 15kg for check in luggage and 10kg for carry-on... I go to check in, I have 17,5kg for check in and NO hand luggage... the lady, very kindly (NOT!), says I have to remove 2,5kg and keep it as carry-on... I argue by saying it's true the check in can only be 15kg, but total I'm allowed on board is 25kg, and by not having any carry-on I will seat down immediately without delaying other passengers and without delaying the flight... NO, either you remove the 2,5kg and bring them as hand luggage either you pay for them, now if you need to decide what to do, please move aside and let the others check in... f**k you, b**ch...no, seriously, f**k you...really...

Furthermore, some serve meals, some only snacks, some nothing, some serve alcohol, some everything else... the most stupid experience with Emirates... I am a frequent flyer, and I have in my personal preferencies, a request for Oriental meal... since I normally sleep while flying, half of the times I flew Emirates I missed out on my requested meal, because those smart flight attendants come around, check the seat number, they see me, next to me there is MOST likely an Asian person (mainly Indian or Chinese) due to the destinations I fly to, so they assume they made a mistake with the seat number and they give MY food to them... no, seriously, what is your problem? Can't a white guy ask for Oriental meals?? Is it so hard to believe?? Is it too hard to do your job properly? And what the hell are you looking at anyway?

On LTU you have to buy your own headsets in order to be able to listen to the lousy flight entertainment system, on Lufthansa the entertainment is the worst thing ever experienced in human history!! I speak for direct experience, unfortunately... Munich-Shanghai, Airbus A340-600, brand new plane... no individual screen (to save some cash, cheap ass), only 20cm x 20cm screens in the middle section every 8 rows... I was at the 7th from the screen allocated, at the window... I could see nothing, for 13hrs flight... a pure nightmare... I think Emirates and Singapore Airlines spoiled me with personal screens and tons of choices on their newer aircraft... even United and Thai aren't bad from this point of view...

Then came the "attempted" terrorist attacks in London few months ago, and as results you would have no possibility to bring water or any liquids on board with you, or even no laptop... but for other continental flights, you could... for US&A destinations, you coudln't... for Asia, you could... in Beijing you can carry water, but you have to open the bottle so the police can SMELL (!!) and check it's truly water... in Shanghai, same country by the way, not necessary...

I'm already confused... and it's just the beginning!!

What about mobile phones? You can use them till the boarding, some other times till they close the doors, some others I don't know if people ever switch them off... it just happened on my way back from Barcelona 2 weeks ago, on short final someone received an SMS, with a loud unmistakable Nokia sound... I wonder if that SMS was from the pilot saying: "I told you to switch off the mobile, you f***ing moron!"

In Europe we can fly without the need of ID card or passport... no more borders... except UK... except you need an ID with picture when checking in... when boarding... so what's the f***ing point? Latest experience... I flew last sunday from Dusseldorf to Budapest... Germanwings flight... so I go to the check in, obviously they asked me for an ID to confirm it's truly me... then pass security control, go to the gate... BEFORE the gate, a Germanwings ground stewardess checked my boarding card and my ID, to make sure it's still me and I'm still on the list... 5 meters further, passport control... schone guten tag officer, believe it or not, it's still me, no kidding... since 5 meters ago, nothing has changed with me... behind passport control, the waiting room at the gate, an isolated room, the only way out is through passport control opposite direction and through the stewardess... here comes another stewardess, opens the doors, we are ready to board... ladies and gentlemen, be ready with boarding card and passport... what the f**k, do you think I had an home made sex change while waiting in front of the gate after the border control or you think all the passenger swapped their passports just to drive you nuts?? In any case, it's still us, checked 4 times now in 30 min, in aseptic rooms where there is no way out and no contact with others except for the fellow passengers of that flight... can anyone give me a break???? It's still me!!
To make things "funnier" (to use an euphemism), other Germanwings passengers have this recycable plastified boarding pass, where there is no chance to check if the name on the passport coincides with the anonimous boarding card... so why 2 different standards?? Even from the same airline...

Ok, this is all... no way, I was kidding you, it was just a wishful thought!! It's not all... Security check... I tend to use always the same shoes and belt when I go flying... In Brussels airport they have an issue with my shoes, in Dusseldorf I have to remove my belt, in Cologne nothing rings... In Dusseldorf I have to take my laptop out, in other airports not.... in Cologne they x-ray my luggage on my way OUT, after collecting it from the belt, in America they x-ray it at departure and in transit... In Jakarta, there are 2 different lines for checks, one for men, one for women... in Copenhagen, a woman checked and searched me... remove everything from your pockets, no, keep your ticket, no, keep your passport... in Brussels a hand luggage check at the gate before boarding for US&A... in front of everyone, so if I happened to have personal items, who cares??
Latest experience... flight Copenhagen-Amsterdam... AFTER landing in Amsterdam, they take us by bus and they tell us we have to go through a security check... after landing? We already went through it BEFORE the flight, obviously... do you think they sold us WMD at the Copenhagen duty free to carry on checks after landing from another E.U. country? So here we are with only 1 check point for 100 people, no priority for connecting passengers, no priority for impaired passengers, no priority for family with kids... a total mess, unbelievable for a country who always thinks it's better thean the others... well, guess what... you are not! Adding stupidity to stupidity, in Amsterdam airport they are also IMPOLITE... standard announcement for late passengers on the loudspeaker: "mr so&so, you are delaying the flight... proceed immeditely to the gate or we will proceed to offload your luggage..." funny, very funny... you know where mr. so&so might be? I tell you where: STUCK in one of your NON-SENSE-upon-arrival-check-points with no f***ing priority for no one!! Talk to the airport manager... and leave the passengers alone, or at least be polite... very difficult in Holland, I guess it's not on the dictionary... Is it that I pay A LOT of security TAX on my ticket, so they check me more often? Is this their idea of good value for money???

Check in times... 1hr prior departure check in closes, for some 45 min, for others 30 min, for others you need 2hrs on international flights, 1hr on national flights... 20kg allowance, 30kg on North American routes, some airlines reduced to 20kg even there taking Marco by surprise last year... on Ryanair, it's 15kg and you HAVE to pay for each piece of luggage you check in...

Airmiles... with Germanwings you pay to have the right to collect them, with Singapore Airline, for as much as it is a wonderful airline to fly with, they chronically forget to give me my bloody airmiles (probably the service that sucks the most in the whole of Singapore)... some you can have airmiles only on flights between 2 specific countries, some with all flights, some they keep sending me mails in German...

You book a Lufthansa flight from the German website, it costs 20% of the price for the same flight on the Dutch website... both official websites... mail me, I will provide you with a German address... in India you have prices for Indians and prices for foreigners, normally costing double... for me a good reason to stay away from such a place, already... with immediate effect, European companies will enjoy direct routings, Indian companies not... same policy, sorry...

And what can you tell me about seat allocation? Low cost companies normally don't allocate, creating a mess at the gate, where they board the 1st 30 passengers who checked in, and punctually you have passengers, MAINLY middle aged women, who always pretend they didn't hear it and try to board with number 92... Air Berlin allocates seats, I'm so grateful I don't have to be walked over by over-excited people trying to get on board before everyone else! Can I have a window seat please?

Code share... is it legal anyway? How come I book a flight on airline XYZ website and I end up flying a totally different airline I didn't want to fly in first place?

So many things are so confusing, what about e-ticket and paper ticket? When it's only an email confirming your booking, and when is an e-ticket? I had an e-ticket saying I had to pick up a paper ticket at the counter before flight, no kidding!!! And what about if you book online for some airlines the credit card holder has to be a travelling party, whereas for others not? What about airport tax and credit card fees are ALWAYS different for each flight although I often fly the same airlines between the same airports?? Are they just making it up to blame someone else and PRETEND their prices are low??

Flying time... Ryanair flying time... book a flight from Charleroi to Bergamo... approximately 55-60min flying time... on their time table about 90 to 100min... so they leave late, normally about 10-20min if not more, and they eventually land few minutes before scheduled time, the over-inflated one... so the flight crew always says: "welcome to Bergamo, where we landed 10min earlier.." no, you didn't... you left late and you mislead your passengers with fake flying times... I seriously can't stand it...

Leg room... please! Don't get me started on how many airlines, including LTU and Cathay Pacific have a reduced leg room to fit more seats... terrible... EVA Air B747 Combi has the widest coach class seats I have ever experienced, with kilometers of leg room!! Try it to believe it...

Now, back to the new SMART E.U. rule on liquids... why I can't take a bottle on board?? Especially I would like to bring a bottle of champagne to my father when I go to visit him for Xmas, but according to this stupid rule, I can only bring max 100ml tubes for a max total of 1 liter... but, duty free can still sell all its alcohol bottles and whatever else, liquid and not... so has anyone some interest in increasing the businness of the duty free??? It seems like...

Now, if ALL I wrote above didn't convince you that flying is a jungle, what about the queuing? Queuing at check in, queuing at security check, queuing at the passport control, queuing at the gate, bus to the plane stuffed as a meat roll, queuing when boarding waiting for people to sit down after dealing with their hand luggage, inhuman leg room, queuing when getting off the plane, again bus totally packed to take you to the terminal, queuing at the passport control, wait for the luggage to be delivered... it sucks... it is... UN-so-f***ing-civilized....

So can anyone tell me if I fly from Milan to Amsterdam to NY with Ryanair and NorthWest, how much luggage can I bring, what kind of meals I will get, what kind of queues I will have to endeavor, how many times I will have to be triple-checked, if I can bring my laptop or not, water or not, food or not, how much will it cost me if I book from Italy and how much will it cost me if I book from Holland? Will I get my requested food, will I get food at all? What time shall I check in? How much will I need to run to make the gate on time after for so many times I was stuck in airport-artificially-induced queuing?Forget it...

And then, they complain about air rage...

NBA, the opening night

2006-11-02T08:50:00.000+01:00

Finally this individual sport dominated by hip-hop primadonnas known as the NBA is back.

Yes, there are a lot of things that could be improved in the NBA: from the obvious ones, like most of the "kids" still behave they are in the ghetto, they don't want to adjust to their new millionaire status, they obviously enjoy the money (plenty), the fame and their new place in society, but they still wanna behave like thugs... they go out at night to stripclubs (nothing wrong with this last thing, but they have also rules from their emplyer who pay them, or better, overpay them), but then they even end up fighting, being run over and shooting... right mr. Jackson?? WTF, is this a John Wayne movie or reality?? And, again him? Wasn't he involved in that ugly fight in Detroit? Will he ever learn?

Or the use and abuse of drugs (Portland as a team-building habit... although they started a clean-up campaign, already)... but widespread in the whole league...
The use and abuse of women (if I wanna eat tonight, I should say this is also wrong...)...
Arguing and fighting with fans (well, morons, not fans... the Palace brawl , the big guy from Congo, Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacques Wamutombo aka Mutombo being called a monkey: btw, that "fan" was banned for the whole season from each arena in the NBA)...
Skipping training, complaining about playing time, about the role played in the team...
Not getting along with each other (Spree and Carlesimo, Spree and Minny, Spree and Adecco, Kenyon and Karl, Ben and Saunders, Kobe and everyone else taking his spotlight, Ron Ron and the galaxy...)...
The refs influencing the games way too much, according to their mood... and all other sorts of childish behavor... Ron Ron being the leader in this, unfortunately... he will never learn neither...

There are also some less damaging issues, like the dress code to get away from this afro/hip hop culture that so much helped the NBA to become what it is now, but for dr. Stern, who used this for the league profit, now has enough and wants to reverse this trend back to white family businness-like, after all most of the rich and contributing are white rich families... in any case, it's a rule, and it hurts no one... someone said: " Let's see... These guys get paid tons of cash to go out and PLAY in something most people do for exercise and enjoyment. They are so mistreated by being told how to dress (no one has a dress code at their place of employment /sarcasm) and being told to act mature (again something no one is expected to do at WORK).
Anyone who wants to express their individuality by bucking against the rules, feel free to leave the NBA and take a job where you can feel free to talk trash to your co-workers and totally disrespect your customer base. Maybe if other sports would mandate some discipline we wouldn't have our kids looking up to thugs...".. AMEN brother...
... to the new ball, everyone hates it, probably dr. Stern does too, but to revoke it would mean admit the new ball is garbage (to put it in Zo's words) and eventually push Spalding into a near-bankrupcy...

But, despite all this, gosh I'm glad the NBA is back!

Now, leave all that non-sense behind and enjoy the next 6 months of action! Starting from opening night... already amazing stuff... the Miami Heat, after receiving their rings for the title won last June (can anyone tell me where they took the right to call themselves World Champs?),

were trashed at home by the young, up-and-coming Chicago Bulls... 108-66 the incredible result...I have to admit, the Bulls were fun to watch, and they have PLENTY talent available... if they can trade some of it for KG or Jermaine O' Neal, they could be nearly unbeatable... Day 2 in the season, the debut of lone-Italian and 2006 number 1 pick Andrea Bargnani, with the revised-uniform of the Toronto Raptors... not a grand opening for him, but I'm sure he will become a force sooner rather than later... 9 Min, 1-3 FGs, 0-1 3s, 0-0 FTs, 2 Rebs, 0 Ast, 0 Stl, 2 Blk, 1 TO, 3 PF, 2 PTS.... welcome to NBA, kido...

... needless to say, I watched both these games, a MUST!!

On a side note, it has to be remembered that Red Auerbach, mr. Boston Celtics, passed away at the age of 89... he won with the Celtics an NBA record 9 titles, a record tied in recent years by NBA's Zen master Phil Jackson... the Celts will dedicate their season to Red by sporting a black shamrock on their uniform with his name...

Asian influence: there are 82 international players in the NBA when the season starts, and if I'm not totally mistaken the only Asian representative is Houston Rocket's 2.26mt tall center Yao.

So everyone, buckle up, enjoy the ride and....

I LOVE THIS GAME !!!

I know what you did last summer

2006-10-29T00:07:00.000+02:00

Winter is at our doorstep, time to look back to the past summer months...

What happened? Much and at the same time, not much...

As usual, there was a lot of travelling involved... It all started off after I came back from Kaohsiung, before that, it still belongs to winter...

I had to go to Toulouse and then for a couple of days visiting my folks in Italy... In Toulouse I saw for the first time an A380, although it was dark and barely visible... enjoyed a coupe of evenings out and that was basically it...

In Italy it's always nice to go, after all my family is there... Get a decent pizza, and many other exceptionally good Italian specialities...

After that, time to go back to Taiwan, for a bit more discoverying of such a nice place... I had an enjoyable time there... I wish I could be there more often... Immediately thereafter, Luxembourg...

Comes August, back to Italy for some more family visiting... important time... after all, those two old fashion people gave me this rotten life, but it's the only one I have, so I better thank them for it :)

In the mean time, as far as relationship with Shihyun goes, summer was a rollercoaster... ups and many downs, totally uncontrolled...

Brother got his second specialization in acupuncture and dad finally decided to retire, on paper... he still gets involved... mom lost a lot of KGs since having being diagnosed with diabetes, and is doing fine... was glad to see that... dad also lost few KGs after being diagnosed with slightly high cholesterol... now he follows mom in the diet, and both plan to live till 101yrs... they will surely outrun me there!!

No time to rest, get to Slovenia to visit one of my closest friends, Tad...
who by the way just SMS me today from the new Bangkok airport and litterally said: "BKK new airport is so fugly, it's a total dump, in fact is much more than that." ... I asked him why, this was the answer: "It's dark, already dirty and looks like a garage". Well, clearly no misunderstanding there... but pity, it spoiled my curiosity... Anyway, I went down to his home country to visit him, and I was very pleasantly surprised how lovely Slovenia is. Take my advice, if you have the chance to go there, don't miss out. I had a great 2 days with him and his girlfriend Mat, the weather was great, the places too nice to describe... I even got stung by a wasp while sipping my Lasko Pivo, how nice :)

After that, a couples of days in Brussels and few days in Andalucia, but it was already September now... In Brussels I stayed at the NH hotel: new, nice, clean and practical for biz people... so, what was I actually doing there?? :) ... In Andalucia, I had a chance to visit Seville and Granada where I hadn't been since 1992... Seville in particular is a very impressive city, very rich of art and culture...

In September Sara and Ale got their first child, and I have been visiting them at least 3 times since that happy event... we had a BBQ and a dinner with other Italic friends, very cozy... then they got their parents to stay with them for a while to help out, and they will be off to Italy soon... Also my buddy Silla and his Krishna wife Gia got their first child... unfortunately I haven't been able to visit them yet, as they live in Rome... Hope I can go there soon... the next generation is here, hope there will be a livable earth for them...

Shihyun started university, and she has been pretty much overloaded ever since... I just hope she takes her time to rest, although she seems quite busy with her Japanese classes :) ... things anyhow have smooth out a bit :) I'm very happy for that...

Did I forget anything? I probably did, as I can't really recall everything but this was what has happened in the past few months... now, I have to face months of darkness, and look forward to the new flowers in Spring...

Life of a gipsy, part four. Copenhagen

2006-10-28T12:48:00.000+02:00

Finally home. Not that I have time off now, but at least I don't have to pack and rush to an airport for a little while now... Last stop was Copenhagen... I didn't remember the city being so nice, as I hadn't been there since 1991... The schedule was tight, but I didn't give up taking a walk in the city in the evening... Funny enough, they don't valorize their pretty city with appropriate lights for the incredibly beautiful monuments... it seems they are afraid to show off the beauties of the city... or is it because their TAX scheme is so crazy that they rather save on electricity? Even the Royal Palace was in darkness, what a shame... Such a lovely place...

Left from the local airport for Amsterdam to Copenhagen and return the next day... of 4 KLM flights, one was on time... I guess now I remember why I decided long ago I would try to avoid KLM for as much as humanly possible... this, anyway, makes me think on the relationship between a civil society and aviation... I will get back to you on this, cos the volcano inside me is about to blow :)

Arriving in Copenhagen, beautiful weather, but who cares? We have to go straight to work, so it could be snowing, and it wouldn't make the slightest difference for me... It seems everyone knew me up there in Copenhagen, since I had a minor disagreement over the phone with one of them, and I didn't use approved phraseology... well, good, then I don't even have to intro myself... :) In fact, this meeting was decided upon after that incident... anything for safety, baby!

We are welcomed by the lady who described me as stressed in one of emails... I asked her to re-think again at the recordings... sorry to disappoint you ma'm, I was totally pissed off, not stressed... in any case, thanks for the coffee and the Danish pastries... wow, now I give a new meaning to it... fantastic, next life I will marry a Danish baker... for this life, I'm booked :)

After a fruitful yet again LONG meeting, hop in a taxi (the only Mercs driving around in the city) and reach the downtown hotel... Grand hotel... Rene told us it's an historical place, as it's one of the oldest buildings in the city... well, you can tell that by looking at the rooms!!! Next time, get me the NEWEST hotel, I don't need history while I'm resting, but a damn luxurious place will do! After the 6 of us checked in, Rene, Andre, Miguel and Herb went to the hotel bar for a beer (or 2)... Stephen decided he needed a nap and I thought I would walk around the city for some night shots (ignoring there was lack of lights!)...

The weather was exceptionally fine, but cloudy. Start walking towards the main square, have no idea what to see or where to go. I really didn't bother informing myself, and I had no map. Just take things as they come along, and remember the way back. I have only 2hrs, as we will meet at quarter to 8 to go for dinner... Eventually I was helped out by the city maps that I found here and there... I really enjoyed the walk, now that I look back, for some reasons there was a strange atmosphere... I felt it, but I didn't know what... Now I know, although there were no decorations yet, the nice winter weather, the beautiful city and the outstanding shopping possibility somehow created a Xmas feeling... I saw most of the monuments that were still very vivid in my memory, I saw others that faded away with the years, and I even ended up in the Nyhavn (New Haven) where you can find plenty restaurants and bars... very posh place... an improvement sought by the city after that place has been the kingdom of drunken sailors in the past...

After the city tour, back to the hotel... by now, it's raining, so I was forced to get a cab on my way back... the driver, in cool and thick Danish accent, tells me there is a storm predicted for the night... ok, will be fun flying out tomorrow... The rain didn't give us to much of a break now, so we settle for a restaurant nearby, Rosie McGee's... it's a kind of mix up... the name sounds pretty anglosaxon to me, with a kind of new age nordic bar inside and strictly Danish beer... however they serve Mexican food... and a damn good one too... after dinner, I felt so tired, I almost fell asleep right there... the others talked me into staying a bit longer, as there was live music coming up... all this gipsy period was taking a toll on me...

So I tried my best to stay awake, the smoke around me made my heavy eyes itchy too... but there were many nice things to see, if you guys know what I mean... :) ... Shit, I will get in trouble for this remark, I know it already! Anyway, here is the band finally getting ready for action... five young guys (drum, keyboard, bass and electric guitar plus the singer), funny to look at as they behaved as I did when I was 18... but probably they are 18 still, so I guess it was alright for them to be like that... honestly, they put me off a bit with that... but, as soon as they start, hey, it was worth the wait... very very good music, and a gifted voice for the leading singer... I was impressed... they only performed covers, mainly from Robbie Williams, Bon Jovi, Queen, Lenny Kravitz, Nickleback, Nirvana, RHCP but also many others top of the line groups... 2hrs of pure enjoyment... oh, their name... MTW-Rocks... good job guys!

Ok, again a late night, although I start enjoying it now... I haven't been out so often for ages, I thought I was too old for that, but maybe I'm not... on my way back to the hotel, stop at a 7-eleven to get some fluids for the night... can anyone tell me why there are no 7-elevens in Italy and Holland? Is it because they are all in Taiwan and Denmark?? (Geez, you would be surprised how many they have there!!) Anyway, the guy working there wanted to make a little chit-chat, fine with me... it comes out he is from Baghdad, but living in Denmark for 25yrs already... good for you, man...

Better sleep now... the next day I have to bear with yet some delayed flights (although it was cool after take off from RWY22 to clearly see the SW-bound traffic coming from CDA)...

It's been 12 days and 4 different cities throughout Europe... it's nice to be back...

Life of a gipsy, part three. Luxembourg

2006-10-25T20:35:00.000+02:00

So here I am, back from Sofia at CGN airport... it just rained here, but now the sky is clear, and the sunshine is back warming everyone's soul... I like it... walk over to the parking, take my lovely "silver flash", and head south... destination Luxembourg...

I have spent a bit over a year in Luxembourg during my education, I truly like the place... it's a kind of oasis, where everything seems to work, everything seems (or actually is!) pretty new and definitely clean... I remember when I first got there over 10 years ago, it looked so rich... it is a rich place, but now my perspective has changed slightly anyway... but I still have good memories of my time there... a student yes, but surely less to worry about than now... freedom to behave as a young man, which sometimes I feel guilty of nowadays... lovely places, lovely food, lovely friends, some money and no worries... it was the full package... can you ask for more? but times change, people move on, but in my heart I'm still that old young man... :)

Many things have remained has I knew them, some others were created or built... This time I'm going down there to check out a particular presentation delivered by a colleague, but I wanna get to the hotel asap as I need to catch up on sleep... Sofia, from this point of view, took a toll on me... No night out in Luxembourg, I'm afraid... see you at work in the morning...

Remarkably enough, I didn't know where the presentation would be held, and nor did the person who sent me down... only through the kindness of the local employees I was able to find it out at 9am the next morning... yes Raf, that presentation will be delivered at 3pm... oh, thanks!! s**t, I woke up early, skipped breakfast (not that is truly necessary, for me) and now I'm all tight up into my suit for the next 6hrs... ok, get online and start sorting some mails, talk to Shihyun :), since I haven't had the possibility for a little while now, read some news, write a document... going to downtown isn't an option as A-I would definitely end up buying a new suit and I don't need it and B-it's raining horses and cows (which is definitely more than cats and dogs!)...

After having spent about 24hrs in Luxembourg for a 90 min presentation (I would define this as cost-efficient.... NOT!), time to head home... have a little ride nearby, take some pics as the weather by now has improved dramatically... then, head north again, for a day rest... what? a day rest?? are you sure it's for me?? :) Well, by now the sun has left its place to the moon, I am in the mood to get home and relax, take advantage of my 24hrs off, watch tv, take a well deserved shower, SLEEP! Waiting for the next trip to the airport the day after, destination Copenhagen...

Life of a gipsy, part two. Sofia

2006-10-25T08:55:00.000+02:00

The next morning, off to CGN to catch an Hemus Air flight to Sofia... at the airport, meet 4 colleagues booked on the same flight... once again, meet someone strange... after the boarding pass check, I was waiting for my colleagues when a lady approached me... wienerschnitzelbayernmunchendeutschlandueberalles? say what?? oh sorry, you don't speak German... well, can you give me your newspaper?... did I hear that correctly? I just bought myself a Corriere to make the flight less boring... Sorry ma'm, I just bought it.. ok, tell me where you are seated and I come get it later... oh man, another airport lunatic... Needless to say, she did get my newspaper once on the ground, as she bothered me few more times for that...

Sofia airport reminds me a lot of Taichung bus station, just no Asians around... for those of you who have never been in Taichung, it's not a real compliment :)... and the luxury busses are much better than the YAK40 Albanian Airlines on the tarmac ... anyway, off to the Princess hotel, a 4* hotel in downtown Sofia... I wonder in which flea market they bought the 4*... In the eve, meet a rather large group of colleagues and off to a Balkan restaurant... not exactly cheap for local meanings, but darn tasty and plenty... I would recommend it, if only I knew the name and if only I could go there without actually having to be in Sofia... anyway, back to the hotel, try to get something to drink at the bar, but it shuts right in front of us... 11:30pm, sorry closed... but the casino is open... go through the registration procedure, (with picture and everything, much like US&A immigration) we go directly to the bar... at the entrance door, the no knives, no guns signs are a reminder of the place we are in... gosh... drink till you drop policy is stricly applied... at about 6:30am, time to settle the bill and move on... what? free?? sure? ok, the bar policy is that you get drinks and finger food for free, as you eventually are bound to lose money anyway... but none of us was there to gamble, so they made a NEGATIVE profit on us...

Next day, visiting the city with Philippe and Fred, a "gentleman" in suit and tie approaches me (is it me attracting all sorts of human weirdos?) and gives me a biz card...

How thoughtful of him... like if I wasn't asked enough times in my first 36hrs if I wanted a girl... local favourite sport... ok, it's funny anyway, and it doesn't prevent me from touring the city and enjoy the 2 monuments worth a visit... Nice to see was the small garden where tens of people gathered to gamble on chess games, and the small market, where you can find almost anything, from Russian watches to Ortodox Icons, from knives of any size to some medical tool... how gross...(near the knife)...

The days were full house, but the nights were interesting... saturday night was election day, and no one was supposed to sell alcohol... we ended up at the Opera Bar, Fred, Ale, Max and myself... the alcohol free eve was not enforced (obviously), hence... Fred was concerned about getting back to the hotel before 1:30am as the next day he had a presentation... one last drink, then we go... right... the last drink was around 3am, when we walked out only cos the bar closed... few hundred meters walk, and there it is... the Kamasutra Strip Club... someone tried to ask : "What shall ...." and the rest wasn't necessary, since we were already inside... plenty strippers, from nice to "next please", alternating at different poles strategically located near each and every couch... shit, 5 o'clock, time to sleep! Get in a cab, back to the hotel... what about one last drink at the Casino? Well, it won't hurt us any more than the previous ones...

Last day, may the fun begin... even earlier than sunset... something you won't read on the official report... XYXY (I won't tell you the country, but you will have a LITTLE hint later on :)), can you please present your federation's report?? perestroikasmirnoffvodkaspaciba president not here... aeroflotdasvidaniatovarish why you ask me, not responsible... try not to laugh, but this was a highlight, in his kind... but the night had yet to come... gala dinner, entertained by "Sputnik" the DJ... you can actually see him with the 80s Italian pop group "I ricchi e poveri" (you really need to Google this!) on the background... a classic!! :) ...

The lights system was from the mid 60s, his look also, the music, guess, the same... alternating hard rock to slow, confusing the hell out of everyone trying to dance... for me, having the company of 2 Maltese colleagues, and 5 Italians didn't help, as Vitto aka "Uzi" (for his ability to shoot B.S. at an incredible high rate) really made our evening a laughing contest... when joined then by Albanians and Romanians, that was it... taking littlerally the piss (stricktly in Italian) out of the most bizarre behaviors of our over-drunk colleagues was real fun, from the Russian Bear try to get on the British one (known as the Polar Bear for her massive size and white clothes...) or the pilot representative giving a new religious meaning to "watersport" amongst others...

It was fun, if only I didn't dislike Sofia so much... and what's worst, is that the Bulgarian language doesn't have 3 key components: sorry, thank you and customer service. What a shame! Very little eye contact, no sense of humor, no flexibility, no smile... in a way it's like the iron curtain never dissolved...

Well... I'm outta here... next stop, Luxembourg....

Life of a gipsy, part one. Barcelona

2006-10-24T10:32:00.000+02:00

And it was time to pack... not much time to relax after my afternoon duty, go home, prepare my lousy luggage and off at 3am to DUS airport on my way to beautiful, sunny Barcelona. I was told I had to follow an important meeting for 2 days, so I thought I would add one day upfront for my own pleasure, after all I love Barcelona and I would not waste this opportunity.
So here I am, after a shorter than expected Air Berlin flight... take a taxi to the hotel, have a 9am check in (not too bad, hotel Amister... modern, new, clean, free internet) and a nap till about 11:30am to recover from the early flight... then off I go to re-discover the city...

Barcelona is a city full of art... not only historical, like the Sagrada Familia and Gaudi's works of art , but also a lot of modern art put in recent years by the city council to give more value, attraction and cultural look to this otherwise already attractive city... walk to the center (it's a gross lie, I took a cab!), and down from Plaza Catalunya through the Ramblas till the harbour... stopping here and there, a quick look at the food market, at the pet market (if you can call snakes and iguanas pets...)...

Then finally, the sea... walk over the bridge to the aquarium, have something to drink, relaxing in the sunny 26 degrees... how lovely... watch the boats coming in and out... someone is OBVIOUSLY richer than others :)...

Then, off to the aquarium, for a visit... only inside, I realized I have been there already :)... I'm an aquarium freak anyway, everywhere I find one, I gotta visit it... I wonder, according to Oregon law makers, what is the plural of aquarium... anybody has any idea?? :)

Later continue my visit through the city, visiting the main attractive spots... have a quick look at Muji (I have never seen Muji in Europe before...) and off to a nice restaurant to get my sea food dinner with some sangria... life isn't that bad, after all... :)

The next day the meeting was long, yet interesting and fruitful, or so I like to hope... in the evening, guided by our Spanish colleague David, we found a bodega for some pre-dinner drinks and off to a Catalan restaurant... I will spare you the details, however I would like to spend a couple of words on David... he is an "aristocrat", or at least he behaves like one.... he took us to a certain part of the city because the right and nice people hang out there, he doesn't fly low cost carriers cos if they cost peanuts, it means monkeys fly them... and so on and on and on... all his words were full of distance from him, and el pueblo... well, although he really meant what he said, he came accross funny as he sounded so old fashion in his ideas... after all, I wasn't part of the pueblo in his eyes, so I was well off as to his colleagues he was a real nice chap...

Time flies, meeting is over, the nights out too... back to the airport, before check in, where I made 2 strange encounters... 2 funny animals, a fury one, and the other one a "human" being, according to most people's standards... the guy apparently was seated next to me on my flight in, and he had obviously recognized me... but the non-sense I heard from his mouth the following 30 min are beyond worth of mention...

So, as soon as I managed to check in, I ran to the duty free and away from him... only to meet one big disappointment... can anyone tell me WHY I can't find in any duty free the only 2 drinks I want, not even in the same country of production??? I wonder if I will ever be able to taste again the Sherry Oloroso and Captain Morgan Rum, the SPICED one... if you are lucky enough to find them, try them... TRUST ME :P

One last remark on my stay... the night I flew out of Barcelona, the 2nd worst storm I ever witnessed in my life engulfed the city... rain was pouring down so heavily, it was like I was standing under a waterfall with my eyes open... the wind was blowing so strong, water clouds were created everywhere around us... the tarmac was flooded, the flight was put on hold although we already had taxied to the holding point... but, what was so amazing, was the lightning storm... a real beauty, a wonder of nature... I never saw one before, if not on Discovery Channel... wow, simply amazing... 3 to 5 lightnings every second, and it lasted at least 90min... that makes more than 21.500 lightnings!!! in fact, once in flight, we had to circumnavigate quite a bit in order to stay well clear from that... but it was simply fantastic to see....I wish I could film it...

Off I am, finally airborne, on my way back to DUS, then hop on a flight to Sofia...

NBA preseason (and there was light)

2006-10-12T09:25:00.000+02:00

Finally the long wait is over... it's been a long summer without the NBA... very few interesting trades... pretty slow and dull... but here they are, the Phoenix Suns and the Phila 76ers playing their 2006-07 preseason game in Cologne... could we ever miss this game? 'Course not!

Well... a couple of considerations... first of all, the friendliness of the locals was once more underlined when they started booing Phoenix towards the end of the game as most of them supported AI... speaking about AI, what's all this fuzz for? He good... he is a scoring machine,but he also ain't a "team player" and last time I checked, basketball was still a team sport. Anyway, I had this SLIGHT feeling most of them knew AI and not much else about basketball... luckily enough, the game was very entertaining, with PHX taking a consistent lead twice during the game and eventually ending up losing... I even got the chance of shouting a couple of things to Raja Bell, the Kobe-stopper... I believe he enjoyed himself, his smile was the proof... for me, the best things of the eve were provided by Steve Nash... his assists were simply amazing, no wonder he is 2 times MVP of the league...

Before this, we watched CSKA Moscow-Maccabi Tel Aviv... the remake of this year's Euroleague final... the outcome was the same, with Moscow leaving with a victory... got to take a pic with coach Ettore Messina, one of the best and winningest Italian coaches of the last 20 years (the other two are coach Dan Peterson and coach Mike D'Antoni). Coach was very kind, as he remembered he promised me a picture at half time and then walked all the way up to where we were to keep his word. Thanks coach, you're real cool!

Almost forgot, during the games the cheerleaders (... oh, not too bad, I tell you :P ) were throwing t-shirts and small basketballs to the fans... the very last one, thrown at us with just over 8 seconds remaining, was just a bit too far on my right, but with one last effort (all my previous efforts were gone into the cheeseburgers!) I managed to tip it and direct it right at Steve... he now will wear it with eternal gratitude :)

So here we are... a bunch of basketball-addicted people... :)

Next day, everyone at Pels' for the Draft of our fantasy NBA league... ten of us, spending some time together with unhealthy but damn tasty food, and with a surely healthy passion... basketball... first pick went to Chappy (the man with only consonants), with which he selected Kevin Garnett... here is the whole first round: 1-the Big Ticket, 2-King James, 3-Nowitzki, 4-Flash, 5-the Matrix, 6-EB, 7-Kobe, 8-Nash, 9-Arenas and 10-Pierce. May the fun begin! :)

Next stop, October 31 for the opening night of the new season...

Karate Kid... psychology style

2006-10-08T08:46:00.000+02:00

Everyone remembers the movie Karate Kid... well, it was an entertaining yet meaningless movie, at least until last week... until a psychologist asked me to watch the movie from a different perspective... so I did, but I hope I won't take this as a bad habit... :)

I was in Brussels, one of these courses on leadership... at the beginning I thought it would be like at the Army Academy... do this, do that, don't argue... but it wasn't entirely true...
ok, if there are two categories I tend to distrust are lawyers and psychologists, but I have to give it to him, it was interesting...

So, here we go with some background info... there are four kinds of Situational Leadership: S1, where the leader has to be instructive and directive, because the collaborator is a newcomer (low competence, high motivation), this is a one way communication scenario... S2, where the leader is coaching as with time the motivation of the collaborator can decrease but with two way communication... S3, where the leader is motivating as the collaborator is generally high in competence and have to boost his commitment to match it with the competence... two way communication... and finally S4, where the leader is delegating, having full trust in his collaborators (high competence, high motivation) and requires just feed back, thus one way communication again.

Now, what about Karate Kid? Well, believe it or not, I will convince you of this S1-S4 theory as it was used in the movie... S1: Daniel-San goes to Miyagi to seek help, he wants to learn karate to defend himself from older guys who already beat him up... Miyagi agrees, and says: "I say, you do, no questions..." ... "I teach, you learn...".... S2: commitment drops after Miyagi asks Daniel-San to paint the whole house and wax all his cars... so he takes the matter into his own hands, and shows Daniel-San why he did all that, and what purposes will serve in the near future... S3: Daniel-San is karate ready, but still doubts of his chances of winning the tournament... Miyagi works on personal relationship with him, celebrating Daniel-San's birthday... S4: the tournament... Miyagi hardly says a word, let Daniel-San find his way to victory, giving him just the minimum support necessary...

Well, if i have convinced you or not, it don't really matter... I just know next time I will watch a movie, I will do it "old style", with some snacks and a beer and no weirdo-psychology in mind... So I would leave you with some highlights from the movie...

Daniel-San: "...if I win... but if I don't, they'll bury me where I fall..."
Miaygi: "Either way, problem solved"

Daniel-San: "Do you think I stand a chance in the tournament?"
Miyagi: "No matter what Miyagi think, Miyagi not fighting"

Daniel-San: "You are the best friend I ever had"
Myiagi: "You are pretty OK too"

Why do you need friends?

2006-10-07T08:48:00.000+02:00

It was around 8:15am... just arrived at work, lazying around an empty Radar working station... as far as I'm concerned, that's a pretty way to start off the day... watch the others sweat around the air traffic and say (just once): not too busy today, eh?

Sure enough, you get covered by insults, of any kind, in any language...

But today was different... as I said, sitting around, having a chat with Uli... when from the other side of the Radar room here comes Smily... he has the rare ability to look like he is coming out of three different places at the same time, ALWAYS:
1- an Armani shop
2- Dubai duty free, perfume section
3- a solarium (unless you believe he's just back from Barbados everytime you see him)

He approaches me, with his usual smile... "Raf, in the morning, with your cheeky smile, you remind me of a porn-star!"

Well, thanks! That's an original way to say good morning! And it's also the best compliment I have received in months, and coming early in the morning to boost up my day! Smily, you just qualified for a Xmas present!

Why do you need friends with colleagues like this?

Long live Ron Jeremy :)

Cosa nostra

2006-10-03T08:58:00.000+02:00

Last night I had dinner with some Italian friends... although few were missing due to different reasons, it's been a very pleasant eve... It was only 4 of us, but nice and neat time together... Started off with me arriving at Gio's... the guy is cool... he showed me some of his videos... he just fix his videocamera on the helmet, and films... he showed me his videos from the heli-ski... being air-lifted with a helicopter and going down in immaculate snow with his snowboard... beautiful... or videos of his skydiving, also EXTREMELY cool... he didn't show me anything of his diving experiences, I guess just because he doesn't have a waterproof equipment for that... oh, did I mention that he is also a commercial pilot? The guy is definitely multi-task oriented, including leaving early from work... :P

Then Clauds arrived... she is always full of S**T, and she is fun for that... plenty stories, plenty trips here and there... she is fun to be around, as soon as she opens her mouth, you know you can expect the unexpectable... and her clothing style is very much a funny subject to pick up at any given moment... but, watch out for your beers, or there would be none left... :) she is really good at distracting you while she empties the fridge...

Then, after work, Ste arrived... his definition of himself last night was a pedantic logorroic person... right he is, but outside work either he can say interesting things, or you simply ignore him and will die down :) anyway, yesterday he was more of the first....

Anyway, simple eve, nice Risotto with mushrooms Parma's style... was really good ... then an evening of italian chat, it doesn't happen too often to me, I hardly ever speak in my mother language... Clauds tried to convince everyone to pick up sailing, I guess she did a good job in that... well, Ste had a course financed by the Navy and I believe he is licensed, Gio knew a lot of s**t so I guess he did something too already, and Clauds is just back from Greece where she did follow a course... the only one who knows jack about it, guess who? Anyway, I'm pretty sure Gio will pick it up just to keep up with his multitasking, multitalent personality... after that, we checked out some funnies on YouTube, like Borat and AliG, always classics... finally, at the end of the eve, UPS was so kind to deliver Gio's misled luggage at around 10pm, when they told him repeatedly they would deliver it between 4pm and 6pm... it took ONLY 4 days for Germanwings to track down his lost bag and deliver it... lesson learned? Avoid UPS and Germanwings for as much as humanly possible! Needless to say, all his stockpile of Italian food was so disgustingly ...ehm... rotten... that was nasty... :)

So after picking on each other for few hours, having a couple of drinks, Clauds being mean to Gio's (girl)friend on MSN and having a laugh, everyone headed home for some rest... till next time, CIAO!

Pasar Malam

2006-09-30T18:03:00.000+02:00

Today I had a look at the Pasar Malam... in Bahasa Indonesia (same as in Bahasa Malaysia) it means Night Market... it's a yearly event, a market specialized in Asian goods...

So here I am, looking right and left at the stands... at the entrance gate, the first stand is for the Board of Tourism of Malaysia... now, everyone that truly knows me, also knows that I love Malaysia... the images, the posters, all the merchandise was great... great places, great views, good eye-catching commercial... but for crying out loud, it's time to change this old "Malaysia truly Asia" slogan... it's been there for ever, I know they tried to produce a name which would stick to the country, immediately recognisable... but, my personal opinion, it's getting boring... Malaysia truly Asia... ok, I know, what else?

Anyway, the market is made up mainly by Indonesian products... pretty obvious, given the ties between Indonesia and the Netherlands... so you have basically anything, from wooden craft to batik clothes, from bamboo furniture to silver juwels... some stands were really nice, nice stuff... if only I had already my apartment in Hong Kong, I could start thinking of buying stuff for it... but then again, wouldn't it be better if I buy that kind of stuff in Asia so I don't have to carry it around the world twice? I guess it makes sense, after all....

Anyway, I saw nice vases, lamps, plates.... all decorated in batik style... I got myself a couple of them, as a start... the prices are relatively fair, I have to admit... also the Thai and Chinese stands were nice... I bought a sculpture of Buddah's hand at the Thai's stand, very nice and peculiar...

After wandering around a little while, observing as well the incredible moltitude of races present at the market site, with some Indonesian music played live in the background, I found my way to the food department... You can buy anything, from fresh to canned food... you can get special imported chili sauce (well, at least 30 different kinds... with dry fish, spicy, very spicy, super spicy, burn your tongue spicy, burn your butt spicy)... or go for some papayas, little bananas, rambutan, starfruit, mata kucing, longan, lychee, anything... even durians! Gosh, they stink! And they are sticky too... I never liked them, but who likes them, normally is crazy about them... it's a love them or hate them situation, nothing in between...

Finally, the food court... happiness sometimes is made up by little things... a flower, a smile, a memory... or... satay ayam with lontong! Simple, can find anywhere in Indonesia or Malaysia (better if sold at the roadside...) but that's what I call yummy... Yummy? I never used this silly word, well, stupid word before in my life... so I would say this is what I call tasty, good food, even if simple... the real satay, not the Dutch satay... and to finish, some pisang goreng... you always finish with dessert... and a cup of kopi-o or teh tarek... the only pity is that no one knows or cooks my absolute favourite nasi lemak (coconut rice, fried mini anchovies, fried or boiled egg, sliced cucumber, roasted salty peanuts, sambal, possibly fried chicken wing with curry sauce...sometimes otah otah too, all served on a banana leaf), laksa, Norm's favourite and ais kacang... infact, I love desserts with red bean too, like the ones I got both in Malaysia and Taiwan :) they are more Chinese specialities.... Well, I guess I will have to pay a visit to the East to get my favourite food... ehm, in fact, I will ;)

M3-Lite

2006-09-29T19:08:00.000+02:00

WOW.... Driving the brand new BMW 335i was really impressive... the torque, the acceleration, the deep noise, the beauty, the smoothness, the sheer power... it has the whole package to be THE car... I love it... This car is like the devil, takes your soul and never gives it back... it's the baby wonder of Munich... there, they called it the "M3 light", and this nickname is well deserved... driving it, you get totally absorbed by the power erogated both smoothly, if you chose so, or abrubtly, for some serious sport driving... sure, this car gives you the comfort of a BMW, and the feeling anything could happen anytime from under the hood.... people were looking, and the next thing, they were watching my registration plate disappearing at the horizon... and, another one bites the dust... Holy guacamole... the 335i .... did I already mention that I love it?? The vital numbers, from smaller to larger:
2 turbos, 3 liters, 5.5 sec 0-100km/h, 6 cylinders,9.5 l/100km, 24 valves,

225/35R19 (front), 250 km/h the max speed (limited), 255/30R19 (back),
306 HP, 335 the name, 400 Nm,
1600 Kg,
5800 RPM,
68.000 Euros.

Champions League

2006-09-26T20:25:00.000+02:00

I'm running a bit late... many things have happened, maybe too many and too little time to keep up with the pace of events...

I will have to review few things... let's start with the easiest to get back on track...

Two weeks ago I have been to Eindhoven, the Netherlands, to witness one boring Champions League game between PSV and 2005 champs Liverpool...

Oh gosh, PSV hit the cross bar in the first half, and Liverpool the post with time winding down... two flashes in a boring, eventless, scoreless, almost meaningless game... luckily it was 8 or 9 of us, we had lots of fun taking the piss out of every one on the pitch... but damn, why does it always have to be a boring scoreless game when I attend? Few years back, I went to watch Aachen against a lowly Icelandic team in the UEFA cup... Aachen won 4-2 (if I'm not mistaken) on the road, so everyone was expecting a show of goals at home on the return leg... yeah, right... that was pretty crap too...

In the past, it could have been entertaining watching Korea's Ji-Sung Park, but he plays no more in the low lands... he is seeking good fortunes in ManU... one that resembles being asian is Lee Nguyen, but I guess he is a fake, I am not too sure, but he should have American passport... yes, he is American with Vietnamese origins... anyway, he didn't play against Liverpool, so...

You know, I think I better stick to basketball... :) Yes, this is a pretty good idea....

Dear Mr. President....

2006-08-25T17:02:00.000+02:00

Here is a song I hadn't heard yet, courtesy Pink who wrote it, and Pelso who made it known to me... listen to it...

Here the lyrics...

PINK (f/ Indigo Girls) LYRICS

Dear Mr. President


Dear Mr. President
Come take a walk with me
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep
What do you feel when you look in the mirror
Are you proud

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye
How do you walk with your head held high
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why

Dear Mr. President
Were you a lonely boy
Are you a lonely boy
Are you a lonely boy
How can you say
No child is left behind
We're not dumb and we're not blind
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave their road to hell

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye
How do you walk with your head held high
Can you even look me in the eye

Let me tell you bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night
How do you walk with your head held high
Dear Mr. President
You'd never take a walk with me
Would you

Elpelso's thoughts

2006-08-24T20:54:00.000+02:00

An unexpected post. Actually, earlier than planned. Sooner or later I will say something about my friends, Marco (aka EB), Jerry (aka CA) and.... Pelso (aka MG) ... we have the same passion, basketball, and we work together too, and in the past couple of years we have been to LA to attend some ball games at the Staples Center, where the Clippers and the Lakers play their home games. More about this in the near future, promise.

So, why writing about this now?

Because Pelso presented me with an fantastic Clippers jersey of one of my favourite players... on my calendar, it's no Xmas, no B'day either...

Cool, thanks Pelso! That's AWSOME! Really appreciate the gesture even more than the great CADEAU!

What, how is Pelso? He is a unique person ( I know everyone is, but he is more unique, if you get what I mean...), sometimes a bit short fused (reminds me of someone else, ehm....uhm.... me??) and with some peculiar ideas (damn, I even agree with him most of the times, does this make me a wierdo too???? No, I think this makes us both right!!) but definitely a good man and a good friend, with a lovely family.... btw, his wife is also a friend-slash-colleague... on the down side, his major problem, and he should really need some professional help here, is that he likes SAABs vehicles.... what the hell, nobody's perfect, after all!!

By the way, have a look at his blog, Elpelso's Thoughts, it's full of funny videos and really interesting news and links... much more high end than mine, really worth a click!

See you next week Pelso!
Oh yeah, there is someone else I really like in Clippers' gear... :)

Language = Understanding?

2006-08-21T22:03:00.000+02:00

Many times I came across the idea to learn Mandarin, infact it's an idea still well into my plans, just temporary delayed due to different priorities. However, I hope Shihyun will be willing to teach me a bit more than I already know. I would really like to have some lessons from her, mah!

I have bought myself plenty books and CDs to get up to speed with Mandarin, but I will need to follow a full immersion course for a sustained period of time, sooner or later. I really think that would be the best way to get more and more involved, to be a better 外國人. I will get there, eventually, and I will need some help from Chinglish, once it gets up and running.

But I have always wondered: does speaking the language mean understanding the people? I could get what they say, but could I get what they mean?

Sure, my numerous trips to Asia prove beneficial for this, hanging around with Shihyun and her friends surely helps, gives me an inside view of locals, get to know their customs and lifestyle. And makes it easier to pick up new words too.

I was fortunate enough to have the chance to be in Asia more times than I could honestly dream of. But if you think everywhere is the same, think again. In Singapore and Malaysia, you need to make your talking sweet and dandy to get to SINGLISH. It's just so funny the way they speak there. Ya lor, no joke. Can you understand it? Of cos caaaaaaaaaan. Ke yi, ke yi!

Ok ok lah, it's surely different from Japan. There, it's a mess, although an "enjoyable" one, still a mess. More times than not, Rs and Ls are swapped and misplaced, making it very hard to understand a Japanese trying to speak English, or EngRish! I just woder, L and R on a pair of gloves would mean Left and Right, or Light and Reft?? Maybe it's just me, simpRy because I'm a foLeigneL, and I don't speak the Ranguage. Anyway, messy is the keyword in Japan. Surely, you would feel too Lost in Translation!

India? I bet anyone to understand an Indian speaking English at full speed. The accent is so thick, and at the same time, they believe it's not. Last December I was looking at them with big eyes full of question marks, and they looked back at me like... hey, wake up, I'm talking to you! yeah, I know you are talking to me, I HEAR you, I definitely hear you... I just don't have a clue what you are talking about!

Finally, China and Taiwan. Similar, if you ask president Hu they are the same country, so they must be the same. Truth is, they are, at least as far as English is concerned. Sorry president Chen, sorry CKS. You would think that Taiwan, the most Americanized country outside North America, would sport an overall acceptable English knowledge, but... no! At least that makes up for some funny signs I have found here and there.

Anyway, bottom line, anywhere you are in Asia, probability is you will find yourself in interesting situations. And eventually, you will end up speaking like them, as it is very involving.

And, as my friend Samuel L. Jackson says... do they speak English in whaaaat??