Ditto

Simple joys

2009-01-28T01:33:00.002+08:00

Just like the "Burger! Burger!" commercials of Mcdo, but funnier.

Halberstam

2009-01-28T01:22:00.001+08:00

I am almost finished with David Halberstam's "Powers That Be," which details how some of the most powerful and influential media companies in the US came to be.

Of course, the media landscape has rapidly changed since its publication 30 years ago so it's a bit dated, but still is a fascinating read.

I'd like to give a deeper insight about the book, but I don't have the time. Feel free to contact me, if I have piqued your curiosity. I am wiling to lend the book. Just make sure you don't add to the wear and tear it has already endured.

Anyway, I am hoping to find another Halberstam masterpiece,"Breaks of the Game." I've been looking for one since reading about it a few years back, but I haven't had luck yet. So if anyone can point me to a place that sells a copy or a person who is willing to part with his, I'd greatly appreciate it.

To give an idea of how good this supposedly is, here is an excerpt of a tribute to the book and the author written by one of my favorite writers, Bill Simmons of ESPN.

More importantly, I didn't understand how to write. I had written short stories as a little kid, read every book in sight, even finished every Hardy Boys book before I turned ten. But I didn't know how to write. "Breaks of the Game" was the first big-boy book I ever loved. Within a few pages, I came to believe that he wrote the book just for me. I plowed through it in one weekend. A few months later, I read it again. Eventually, I read the book so many times that the spine of the book crumbled, so I bought the paperback version to replace it.

Through college and grad school, as I was slowly deciding on a career, I read it every year to remind myself how to write -- how to save words, how to construct a sentence, how to tell someone's life story without relying on quotes, how to make anecdotes come alive. It was my own personal writing seminar. When the paperback suffered a tragic beach accident from an unexpected wave, I bought a third copy at the used books store on Newbury Street for $5.95. Best deal of my life. Every two years, I read that book again to make sure that my writing hasn't slipped too much. Like a golfer visiting his old instructor to check on his swing.

The last time I read "Breaks" was two summers ago. We were due for another reunion this summer, a date that already feels bittersweet because the author suddenly passed away on Monday. He was 73 years-old, a Pulitzer winner, the first respected journalist to question the war in Vietnam. I'm not sure what made him decide to tackle the NBA, but there hasn't been a better basketball book before or since. He nailed everything. He picked the perfect season for the perfect league -- Magic and Bird's rookie year -- and took a 362-page snapshot of a professional sport right as it was shifting from a downtrodden era to a lucrative one. Maybe the timing was incredible, but so was the work itself. And it changed my life for the better.

Just know that I have tons and tons of sports books: Three overflowing bookcases in my house, more in my garage, even more at my father's house and my mother's house. The one that matters most? "Breaks of the Game," the perfect book about the perfect team. If Dr. Jack, Kermit, Mo, Walton and Billy Ray were my friends, then David Halberstam was definitely my friend. I will miss him.

Shame

2008-11-25T01:31:00.014+08:00

I really am a glutton for punishment, especially the cruel and unusual kind.
As if the shame of getting almost daily reminders that I still have a lot to learn about journalism were not enough, I just got myself talked into dancing.
As in the shake-your-booty-throw-your-hands-in-air-like wave-it-like-you-just-don't-care variety. In front of people. Lots of people.
This is a huge problem for me because:
A) My dancing skills are probably just one notch higher than William Hung's in singing. Name any cliche about bad dancers and all of them would probably fit me and then some.
Heck! I am so bad at dancing that I can't get it right even when just writing about it! (I think "throw you hands in the air" is more apt for getting people pumped up during a concert.)
My moves are limited to what Hitch considers permissible: Step from side to side, while bobbing you head and clapping your hands occasionally with a few finger snaps in between for variety.
The other ones I have, I prefer to keep between myself and a mirror.
Next, I am a terrible in front of a crowd. If the thought of having to deliver a speech is enough to make my knees buckle, imagine what would happen if I have to dance. I'm leaning towards throwing-up, hopefully before or after the performance.
But no use complaining. I did commit to it already. I just have to grit my teeth and hope it gets over quickly.
In any case, at least I can cross this out from my "Do Not Do" list. It's right at top, between "go streaking" and "taunt a large angry dog."

Ouch

2008-10-24T00:31:00.002+08:00

The press is also getting some blame for the ongoing US financial crisis. Some thoughts from an angry commentator. Got this from CJR by the way.

As a service to the business-news trade, The Audit would like to offer a few observations about the current financial crisis that may prove helpful in coverage going forward. Our list of some inconvenient truths:

1. Your beat just blew up.

From a journalistic standpoint, what we are experiencing today is the equivalent of the city hall reporter arriving for work one day to find the mayor and city council being led out in handcuffs. If the business press were, say, a nuclear industry reporter, this is having most of the reactors on your beat melting down to China. What to tell the boss?

The business press purports to cover business and nothing so closely as it does Wall Street. This is the area business reporters claim to understand. This knowledge is what separates a business reporter from other kinds of reporters. It is why there is a business press. So the beat covered by many publications and thousands of reporters and editors has collapsed.

2. To say, “your beat just blew up” is not to assign blame. It isn’t the end of the discussion but only the beginning.

3. The crisis presents a moment for reflection. For the business press, there are only two options when considering what has happened here, neither particularly good. Either the business press institutionally provided appropriate arms-length scrutiny of the financial-services industry, including investigative work, opinion, analysis and rigorous beat reporting that provided decision-makers, including readers, with fair warnings of the coming collapse, and it was ignored, or it didn’t do the work in the first place. We know that the answer is some combination of the two. But, if we accept the foregoing logic, then best case for the business media is that what it writes doesn’t matter, in which case, why bother?

4. As journalists, we have to believe journalism matters. Therefore, there is a high probability here of journalistic failure.

5. The current generation of business reporters is probably the best-educated and most sophisticated ever. Everyone knows it entirely capable of providing the needed scrutiny and requisite skepticism, if properly directed. So it seems we have a leadership problem.

6. That said, it is undoubtedly true that the ranks of business journalism have been thinned of its most experienced hands due to the media’s financial troubles, and investigative reporting has become the domain of a surprisingly small elite. There has been a price paid for this. Again, this is an issue for business media leadership.

7. Business media outlets that claim to provide authoritative coverage of Wall Street during good times should be first in line for scrutiny now. These would include any publication with the words “wall” and “street” in its name, as well as anything named “deal,” “New York,” “business,” “investors,” and for that matter, “times” and “day.” Bloomberg also apparently boasts supremacy in coverage of the markets that just melted. Oh well. And Forbes and Fortune, you’re in this, too.

8. For any one near Wall Street, including journalists who cover it, the need for a bailout, whether it eventually passes or not, should be the source of some embarrassment. For U.S. taxpayers to be responsible for one nickel of any of this is a disgrace. I know this is known in the business media but it needs to really sink in, to be internalized. Taxpayers had nothing to do with any of this. My impressionistic take is that coverage and opinion reads more like “it’s a disgrace, but we have to save the economy” or even “it’s a disgrace, but taxpayers might not have to pay as much as it first appears.” No, there are no buts. This is a disgrace.

9. Criticism of the financial media is already harsh and is bound to get harsher. In many cases, though I hope not here, it will be unfair, driven by ignorance, opportunism, anti-business bias on the left, anti-journalism bias on the right, what have you. On the other hand, as the messy process of finger-pointing begins, it is worth remembering that the bailout is only part of the hardship ordinary people must bear for the financial-services industry’s excesses. The first part comes in the yet-to-be-measured equity loss, not to mention mental anguish, borne by most of the four million or so foreclosees. In essence, this is a wealth transfer from the bottom to the top. The third part is the extended recession we are likely to enter. The fourth part is by pension and mutual funds hurt by what was essentially Wall Street’s sale of billions of dollars worth of defective products. It will be hard for the business media, but much harder for their readers.

10. Journalism is something but it isn’t everything. The last eight to ten years has seen dramatic decrease in journalistic resources just as journalism’s responsibilities have increased. The retreat and disempowering of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Comptroller of the Currency, Fed bank examiners under Greenspan, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Justice Department, and other key federal agencies, piled more and more responsibilities on the press—responsibilities, I would argue, it did not recognize and was not culturally prepared to shoulder.

There’s more, but that’s enough for now.

So long W

2008-10-21T00:39:00.005+08:00

In a few weeks, Americans will replace the president that some have described as the worst ever. But for all the vitriol hurled against USA's 42nd president, I believe there is still a minority out there that will miss him. With quotes like these, how can you not?

Ladies and gentlemen, the 10 dumbest things George W. Bush has said as compiled by http://politicalhumor.about.com/

(Cue in Hail to the Chief )

10) "Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." —LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000 (Listen to audio clip)

9) "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." —Greater Nashua, N.H., Jan. 27, 2000(Listen to audio clip)

8) "I hear there's rumors on the Internets that we're going to have a draft." —second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004 (Listen to audio clip)

7) "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." —Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000 (Listen to audio clip)

6) "You work three jobs? … Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that." —to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005 (Listen to audio clip)

5) "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." —Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004 (Watch video clip; listen to audio clip)

4) "They misunderestimated me." —Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000

3) "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" —Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000

2) "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004 (Watch video clip; listen to audio clip) (With how the US is looking right now, I think he actually meant this one)

1) "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002 (Watch video clip; listen to audio clip)

Panibagong pang-karaoke

2008-06-26T19:14:00.014+08:00

After hearing an uncle's rendition of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" a few nights ago, I have decided to add it to my list of "must songs" during Karaoke. That was the first time I heard the song and I think it's probably unfamiliar too to most of my readers (take a bow my five loyal followers.) But if this song does ring a bell it's probably because you are:

A) musically inclined
B) at least eight years old already during the late 80s
C) A Billy Joel fan

Then again I'm probably just bad at music. I assumed this is a head-scratcher since I have never heard it on radio or sung in karaoke or seen on MTV until that night. The song has a catchy tune (like I said I'm not much of a music buff, so pardon the cliche) but it was the lyrics that really hooked me. Think Sandwich's "Betamax" but instead of prominent Pinoy bands, "We Didn't Start the Fire" list's some of the most important people, places and events from 1949 to 1989, at least from an American's perspective. I even read the song was being used as a tool to teach history to high school students in the US.

I found a bunch of videos of it on Youtube, and so far the coolest is this version of American broadcasting company NBC, which they made to commemorate their 40th anniversary.

If you think the song is good too and would like to sing along, here are the lyrics.

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I", and "The Catcher in the Rye"

Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
Though we did ignite it
But we tried to fight it

Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, Rock Around the Clock

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez

(Repeat Chorus)

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge On The River Kwai

Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California Baseball,
Starkwether, Homicide, Children of Thalidomide

Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go

U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo

(Repeat chorus)

Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land,
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion

Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician sex
J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say

(Repeat chorus)

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock

Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz

Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and Roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on...

(Repeat Chorus X 2)

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire...

I guess you've suffered enough from my amateurish take on all this so just read this for a more competent review of the song. If you are diligent enough to scour Youtube, you can also watch Dwight of the popular US comedy series "The Office" singing this on the episode where Ryan the "Temp" almost burned their office in Scranton.

Welcome to the NBA playoffs

2008-05-06T13:27:00.009+08:00

TNT has done it again. For the second straight year, the network has made an advertisement that captures best what the playoffs are like for the teams and fans. I think last year's version is cooler though. The brash narration of Jeremy Piven, who was in Ari Gold mode, on what the "central characters" should do to win the title was just too hard to top. The part about the Detroit Pistons was simply brilliant hyping at its best. The rest of the ad was not so shabby either.

Anyway, TNT went with a toned down and sophisticated approach this year with Academy Award nominee Terence Howard serving as narrator. They also focused more on the concept of team unlike last year's ad which was more about individuals. But the effect is still the same: goosebumps all over for NBA geeks like me. Anyway enough talk from me. Just watch the vids.

Journalism then....

2008-03-23T18:02:00.008+08:00

And now

Thanks to JB and Bryant for the videos.

Growing up

2008-03-12T17:42:00.018+08:00

A few months ago, my friends and I had a hilarious conversation on how back in college, we thought that it was creepy for people our age to be in relationships with employed people. Paolo put our sentiment best in these words "Yuck may trabaho na boyfriend/girlfriend nyan?"

It dawned on me, and probably them too, that the tables have turned. If one among the singles in our group were to have a relationship with a colegiala or, Heaven forbid, a high schooler, the girl's friends would also probably think the way we did.

As boisterous as that conversation was, its connotations were obvious: we are not getting any younger. But I am not talking just about our ages. More and more, our talks turn to serious topics. Things which I previously thought were only for "mature" folks are popping more frequently in our discussions. Even in that particular talk, we touched on the fact that we can now be sued for child abuse if we do something as stupid as date a minor.

Don't get me wrong though. We don't exactly limit ourselves to profound subjects. Seemingly trivial matters are also included in the things we discuss passionately. Deliberations on what body part we'd be willing to give up or what stupid thing we would agree to do to sleep with famous people is one such example.

But back to adulthood. As countless people before me probably thought to themselves quietly or said out loud, growing up changes people. That's just how it is. Experience changes perspectives. Things we thought valid then seem silly today. Take fatherhood for example. Back in high school, it was a topic discussed in hushed voices and somber tones. Nowadays, its something my peers talk about with enthusiasm and anticipation.

A high school friend of mine, Tristan, in fact recently experienced the joy of becoming a parent. The guy was in really high spirits. I couldn't be happier for him. So as tribute to his becoming a dad I am posting here this funny and informative article on fatherhood from GQ Magazine's June 2007 issue. It has Jessica Alba on the cover, who by the way is an expecting parent herself. The whole article is long but it's well worth it. Enjoy!

Yes fatherhood is terrifying. Have you seen a new father lately? He looks like he just escaped from Guantanamo. We'd like to tell you not to worry. But the fact is: Sleep deprivation is real. A whole new universe of pressures and priorities is about to emerge You'll wake up in the middle of the night doing college-tuition computations. You'll wonder if you've taken your last trip to Europe or to the bar for that matter. But mild torture and low-level dread are only the smallest fraction of the experience-like, did we mention unparalleled affirmation? Sheer joy? A renewed sense of purpose? The subgenre a women who find you, the new dad sexy? There's a lot you don't know about fatherhood before you become a dad, and the vast majority of it is good.

The biggest problem with becoming a dad these days, besides the stinging realization that you are not the center of the known universe, is that no one tells you how to do it. We're not like women who seem to be in a lifelong training course for motherhood and who have a vast mommy-industrial complex of books, shows, magazines, and expert friends at their disposal. The only experience we've had with fatherhood was through our own fathers- which if you haven't noticed ain't exactly the model for how things work anymore.

In the intervening years, mom/dad lines have blurred. You're participation in the daily life of you're child is no longer just interesting. It's required. You're expected to know everything only no one thought you anything. But we're here to tell you, knowledge is available. There are ways to avoid certain pitfalls. Ways to make yourself invaluable. Certain bits of technology you'll want to avail yourself of. Some hardships you'll want to commiserate over. We figure you can learn it all in about ten magazine pages-give or take a decade.

-In the immediate aftermath of your child's birth, you will experience euphoria that you've never felt before. You will want to hug the man who sells your newspaper and random people who pass you on the street. You will want to tell everybody how much you appreciate them. You will feel intense love and admiration for your wife. Food will taste better. The sky will be bluer. You will jog faster, lift more, maybe even stop bitching and moaning. You will tap into hidden reserves of energy, generosity, and forgiveness you never knew existed.

-After six weeks, this euphoria will wear off and at that point, it's every man for himself.

-Someone in your family and friends-maybe everyone in your family and friends will have an opinion about the name you choose for your child. Fuck 'em.

-But really don't pick a name that will make your kid the laughingstock in school.

-The urge, in those adrenaline-stoked first days and weeks to document every moment of your child's life is fierce. Do not be afraid to indulge your inner documentarian. Your wife will be consumed with feeding the baby and sleeping when she can, so it falls to you to be the keeper of the archives. *You will feel like this for the rest of your child's life. And it is this heartbreaking photographic record that will make you realize,as the years go by and the kids grow up, that the notion of life being all about loss is some profound shit.

-A caveat to all this camera stuff. Enough with the mass e-mails containing links to galleries of digital photos and videos of Baby's first diaper change, first bath, first regurgitation-induced unintentional wink. Hard it is to believe, not everyone will be as interested as you.

-Actually, no one will be as interested as you.

-Yes, your old routine has been changed. But this new self you inhabit... doesn't mind. Your buddies who call you pussy whipped because you don't go out anymore have it wrong. They're assuming you want to hang out the way you did before. What you have to guard against is dropping out completely.

-In order not to drop out completely, follow these for simple steps:

Two words: edible underwear. And we don't mean for the kid.
Play some pickup basketball:. Go skiing. Learn to put miniature ocean vessels into bottles. Do something once a week that does not involve your family. And may involve your friends.
Watch TV. Listen to grown-up talks to each other. Mimic them.
Bring your kid to an art exhibit or a game. Take your kid into the adult world once in a while instead of you spending all your time in Kid Land.

-Be prepared for change. To avoid change is opt out of being a parent. Accept this fact: Everything about your life will be different. Your priorities, your free time, your work life, your sex life, what you think as you're falling asleep, what you wan to do as you wake up. But this doesn't mean you have to abandon your identity. Your kids need you to have interests of your own. (How else will they learn to be independent?) Your job is to figure out how to devote your entire being to them and keep yourself happy. No pressure!

-Due to complicated hormonal changes after childbirth your wife will develop large, firm, porn star boobs. Those are not for you.

-During year one, child rearing is entirely a quantitative matter. Lots of manual labor most of it involving food and feces.

It's only natural: You will live in fear of screwing up.

-It's also irrational. If you screw up in the first couple of years, don't worry. The kid won't remember it. There is a grace period.

-Do not buy your wife Pocket Mom, 101 Secrets A Cool Mom Knows, or the Modern Girl's Guide to Motherhood. If she is prone to anxiety, reading about all the ways she is falling short of perfection will make her head explode.

-For the six months, when all the babies do is sleep and eat, you can go to restaurants more than ever.

-Spoiler alert: after that, you're pretty much fucked.

-At some point, you will need some "me" time, away from night duty and diaper hell. We suggest grabbing a couple of friends and for some outdoors recreation.

-Make sure your wife does something selfish, too. Send for a weekend to a secluded spa, where she can de-stress with a menu of muscle-soothing spa services-massage, wraps, facials- all happily free of diaper-rash cream and applesauce.

-Appreciate the sweet rejuvenating nectar of life that is the fifteen-minute nap. Do not squander those opportunities ever.

-Ever.

-Be prepared to feel, at times, like the family dog. Your needs come, like, last.

-On the other hand be prepared to feel, at times, like the greatest human being who ever walked the face of the earth.

-On the other (third) hand, only 12 more years until your kid thinks you're a total dick.

-There is one thing you cannot sacrifice for your baby, and that is your marriage. Listen now: Your baby does not come before first. Your marriage comes first. You must carve out the space to preserve and protect it.

-Besides locking up knives, guns, and barrels of ammonium nitrate, you don't need to safety-ize your house. People go crazy with this, buying soft everything, putting bumpers on corners, bolting toilet seats shut, sealing the Windex in a vault. The better option? Teach your kid to leave the stuff.

-Nearly anything you are likely to hear about the future cost of college will frighten and appall you.

-You will be tempted to compare your kids to your friends' kids. This is a road that will crush your shit in the end.

-This is forever. More so than marriage, more so than home owning, parenthood is an irrevocable commitment to a lifetime of joy and worry. This is something that dawns on you slowly, very slowly. The first few year are all about getting through this particular moment, the head-down blur of sleepless nights and exploding diapers and frantic calls to the doctors about obviously harmless rashes that might be life-threatening, telling yourself that if I can only make it through this phase, life will go back to normal, everything will become easier, less exhausting, less complicated. Only it doesn't. The challenges, joys, anxieties, and rewards change, shape, and adapt, and there is no moving beyond them. They move from the physical (is the baby still breathing?) to the emotional (is my id unhappy?), and that's when the mind takes over. What becomes real, a few years in, is a small epiphany. This is forever. The cosmology of your life has changed. there is no going back to "the way things were." Not that they'd ever want to, anyway.

-Relax. The fate of your children is ultimately out of your hands.

Tama na! Sobra na! Palitan na!

2008-03-09T18:40:00.011+08:00

Sometimes watching Philippine entertainment programs is as infuriating as watching news about Malacañang . The characters are laughable. The performances are terrible. And the script? Let's just say ABS-CBN, GMA 7, and Malacañang all deserve a refund.

As you may have already figured out, I am not the biggest fan of Philippine television. And the current crop of shows are not about to win me over. I am in the minority though. This year, a Philippine TV show got a viewership share of 50%. Most prime time shows meanwhile attract at least a fifth of viewers. Given these figures, it would be very hard to convince network honchos they are doing things wrong. Arguing against shows that are dumb but deliver high numbers is pointless in an industry that puts premium on ratings.

Despite these figures, I feel that there are lots of room for improvement. Take last night's episode of Palos, ABS-CBN's new show which they presented as an action-thriller with a little bit of romance and some comedy thrown in for good measure. Stupid would have been a better description from what I saw.

In that episode, the show's protagonist, Gian Carlo, found out that the spy agency he works for wants him dead. They even used his girlfriend to try kill him. (I will be using Gian Carlo repeatedly in this post to find out if reading it over and over is as irritating as hearing it again and again. He's a super spy people. Couldn't you have given him a cooler name?) Naturally, Gian Carlo gets angry. As super spy, I expected Gian Carlo to prepare an elaborate plan to find out who wants him dead. But no. Super spies think differently. Gian Carlo goes straight to their agency and confronts the guy he feels responsible for the plot. Suspecting that the bad guy has taken over the agency, Gian Carlo walks out of the building to board his car and leave.

Fine and dandy then. Just drive away and prepare the elaborate plan super spy. Again no. I guess, I really am not cut for the super spy business. Gian Carlo just gets in his car to change his white shirt to a black one. I don't know how this helps him but I guess super spies think better in a black shirt. While changing his top, Gian Carlo also calls Palos and another agent to inform them of his suspicions. Meanwhile, the bad guy has given his goons the go signal to take out Gian Carlo.

Gian Carlo anticipated that move. He readies his pistol and appears ready for a gun fight. All he has to do now is drive away for some cool chase scenes. But no! Super spies don't roll like that. Gian Carlo steps out of his car and runs! Yes people Gian Carlo ran! Maybe the car was out of gas. Maybe Gian Carlo forgot the keys. Maybe the batteries are dead. Maybe the tires are flat. I can give a number of reasons all of which I am not sure are correct but I have to resort to speculation because the show did not explain why Gian Carlo had to run when he was perfectly set for a get away in his car! Doesn't Super Spy 101 teach that stupidity gets you killed?

Good thing the villains after Gian Carlo were just as moronic. You see, they were actually riding a van when they spotted Gian Carlo's vehicle. When Gian Carlo went out of his car to escape, they also came out of their vehicle to give chase! In that scene, there was no traffic and the road was wide enough to accommodate a number of vehicles.

But it gets worse. One of the bad guys chasing Gian Carlo actually picked up a piece of wood and attempted whack him on the head! Damn! Those guys are supposed to be chasing an elite spy and they don't even have guns? Come on!

Gian Carlo though doesn't use his gun. He walks on the wall and delivers a nasty kick on the face of the piece-of-wood-wielding bad guy. I turned off the TV after that. I can only handle so much crap in one day.

Every night, people are bombarded by images as ridiculous as that. What's sad is that local networks can do better. But we have to put up with their crap because their primary concern is lining their pockets with ad revenues. They justify those shows saying that it is impossible to produce a show that is entertaining and intelligent at the same time.

Give your staff a chance. They just might surprise you with what they can do.

They have also argued that Filipinos don't watch those types of shows. Really? Have they tried? That's insulting. They're saying that Filipinos are not sophisticated enough for more intellectual programs. Sure, the audience watch the "tear-jerkers" they produce but I think it is only for lack of choices. Give people better content and they would watch those too. They don't even have to produce extremely sophisticated and intellectual shows shows. Logical is fine with me.

Filipinos should no longer be satisfied with TV here living up to its other name-the idiot box. It's about time we demand better content from the networks. As a friend said, stage a rally if we have to. Who's with us?

Joys and sorrows of journalism

2008-03-05T18:47:00.022+08:00

During his brief stay in Uruguay for a convention last year, JB said a fellow participant described NGO workers as overworked, underpaid, and always in a hurry. The guy might as well have been describing journalists.

And as if those aren't enough to make journalists switch professions, there are other disincentives. In places classified by CPJ and RSF as red zones, journalists also have to contend with people who either want to kill them or throw them in jail. Numerous journalists put up with such conditions but they still receive a lot of flak for how they do their job (some of them deserve it though). To say that journalism is a thankless job is an understatement.

My boss, Bryant, found a site addressing this very sentiment among journalists. Knowing just how stressful journalism can be, a site, Angryjournalist.com, has been put up where practitioners can anonymously vent their frustrations on things as common as having to deal with a sloppy editor to more serious matters as reporters losing jobs because of their paper's inability to keep up with competitors from the Internet.

The people who vented there know doing so won't improve their situation one bit but they probably thought it was a good exercise if only for catharsis's sake. It's a group therapy of sorts; a place where journalists can commiserate with colleagues and play a game of reverse one-upmanship. Reading through some of the articles, the prevailing theme seems to be: " You think you're in a bad situation? Well how about this (enter problem here)? Now top that!" Some confessions are good for a few laughs while others are genuinely heartbreaking.

Journalism however is not all gloom and doom. Another site was put, Happyjournalist.com, where practitioners can share things that makes them feel good about their work. Unlike in the other site, some of the contributors here identify themselves. The articles are not as plentiful as the entries in other site though: 1664 to be 51 as of today to be exact. Not very encouraging but at least there still some who find something worthwhile in their job to keep them going.

Like the other site, the source of joy range from simple to profound. Most are happy just to be appreciated for their work. In a profession that regularly deals with big things, its the occasional small compliments, cheers, and thank yous, that may be the most fulfilling.

New CMFR publication on libel

2008-03-03T23:34:00.005+08:00

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has released Libel as Politics, a publication that examines libel from the perspective of law, history, politics, and press practice.

The volume provides an insight why defamation remains a crime in the Philippines despite constitutional provisions guaranteeing press freedom and expression.

Efforts to decriminalize libel have not prospered as politicians often use it as an effective harassment tool against journalists who subject them to unflattering reports.

In 2007, broadcaster Alex Adonis was imprisoned for libel filed by Davao Rep. Prospero Nograles. Ironically, Nograles filed a bill for the decriminalization of libel last November.

On January 28, the Supreme Court issued a memorandum circular urging judges to juts fine people found guilty of libel instead of penalizing them with imprisonment.

CMFR deputy director and UP journalism professor Luis Teodoro edited the book and discussed how journalists could avoid libel through ethical practice. Raul Pangalangan, former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law, analyzed the role politics play in the litigation of libel suits. Free Legal Assistance Group chair Jose Manuel Diokno looked into how criminal anti-defamation infringes on the right to free expression. Lawyer Harry Roque discussed the civil suit filed by journalists against presidential spouse Jose Miguel Arroyo for his abuse of right in filing 46 libel cases against 11 journalists. A brief history of libel in the Philippines is also included in the book.

The book was published with support from the Royal Embassy of Norway.

Jun Lozada, Thomasian

2008-02-19T11:19:00.010+08:00

This half-page ad appeared on page A17 of today's issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer .

Well it's about time.

Confessions of a hopeless unromantic

2008-02-16T08:17:00.015+08:00

Being romantic is something I am not good at. Just ask my girlfriend. She would readily regale you with stories on the ways I've managed to fall to new lows in this aspect of our relationship year after year.

Like other unromantics, I have convinced myself that it's not necessary to be romantic on the days majority of the population have agreed to be the most apt time to show off their amorous side . In my mind, Valentines Day is a capitalist invention meant to get people to shell out money unnecessarily. Birthdays are grim reminders that we’re not getting any younger. And anniversaries are… I don’t have a solid excuse for this yet but I am pretty sure us unromantic will figure out one soon.

I do not necessarily believe in all of those things. But being clueless to the ways of romance, I have to resort to excuses. Don’t believe me? How’s this for romance: In more than five years I’ve been with my girlfriend, kisses (not the chocolate brand) are the gift I’ve given the most with cash being a close second. There were even times that I didn't have any gifts for her. Pathetic. I know.

But all this she takes in stride. She would patiently listen to excuses for my lame gift—usually cash followed by the statement “at least you get to really pick what you want"— and with a sigh and then a smile she would accept whatever I have for her. She says my ineptness at romance is cute. I say I am lucky.

My being romantically-challenged is made even worse by the fact that she is pretty good with that stuff. Early in our relationship, she was a prolific giver of gifts and other tokens of affection. Knowing that I am not good at those things, I managed to convince her not to do those things anymore. But there are still times when I find small notes tucked in my things professing sweet nothings. There are even days when she'll surprise me with items that a few weeks or months ago I said I liked.

I do have a romantic bone in me, though. Images of me surprising her with getaways to romance-evoking places, where I can present her with gifts that would stir up more of such feelings have been circling in my mind for as long as we've been together. But for me to do that I would need lots of money, which unfortunately do not have. In case I do get the money, there is still the problem of Mr. Practical in me not allowing myself to blow off that much cash in the name of romance.

I try to make up for my being unromantic by being as affectionate as possible. Like I said I am pretty generous with kisses. The same goes for hugs and compliments. Those things do come free after all. But I do feel that my girlfriend will not mind if I do whip out some grand gestures of romance every now and then.

It didn't come this Valentines though. She had to settle for a simple text message. I wasn't even able to come up with the dough for a small bouquet. Heck! I wasn't even able to pick her up from school! Yes, yes, I already know it's pathetic.

In a way this public self-flagellation is a way to make amends. I also think its a bit romantic. But like I said I am not the best person to ask about these things.

Goodbye Phoenix Suns. It was fun while it lasted

2008-02-06T16:35:00.010+08:00

The Phoenix Suns, the team that reintroduced basketball fans to the joy and potency of small ball, died last February 6. It was three years old.

I am exaggerating of course. The team is very much alive. But with do-everything forward Shawn Marion’s shipment to the Miami Heat for future Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal, the Suns as we know them are no more.

The Rules of Sports Fandom states that fans should stick to one team per league. But I strongly believe that basketball fans everywhere had a hard time not falling for the Suns. And what's not to love? The team epitomizes the ideal way basketball should be played-freewheeling offense anchored on unselfishness, constant motion, and lots of buckets.

The Suns were a welcome relief from the prevailing basketball mindset emphasizing defense as key to winning. This came after the Bad Boys of Detroit showed that a grind-it-out strategy can frustrate opponents into losses or lull them to submission. Yes, the strategy was effective but it was also boring and ugly. The Suns would have none of it.

The rest of the league were caught by surprise as the defensive schemes of old proved futile against the Suns' offense that came in waves. Facing the Suns is like having to choose what poison to take in. If the Suns, which works on the offensive philosophy of hoisting a shot seven seconds into the shot clock, could not get a transition basket, they would resort to their equally dangerous half-court game. Either way they'll get their basket.

The Suns also overturned the conventional wisdom that a team needs a dominant center to contend for titles as they vied for the top spot season after season with a rotation composed primarily of forwards and guards. As testament to their success, a number of teams now feature small ball lineups.

The Suns of course has its detractors. They don't D-up they said. They're only good for the regular season they added. But are these really valid? The first one, maybe. But not the second one. In the first season, the Suns met a very experienced San Antonio Spurs, the team that would move on to win the title. You could say they were not ready. The next season, The Suns were eliminated in the second round but they were without power forward Amare Stoudamire. You could say they were not at full strength. The season after that the Suns again lost to the Spurs in second round of the playoffs after NBA Commissioner David Stern suspended forwards Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw for a minor infraction. You could say the title was stolen away from them.

This season the Suns are again poised for another deep playoffs run. Number one in the West as of this writing. So what does the management do? Mess it all up by trading one of the player's important to making their game plan work for the player that would fit worst in their system.

The people in the Suns management have probably forgotten more about basketball than what I will ever learn but that won't stop me from calling the deal what it is: stupid.

There have been a number of people justifying the trade recently. They said Shaq would not aspire to be The Man in Phoenix, that he would just be satisfied rebounding the ball and throwing outlet passes to ignite the team's fastbreak ala Bill Walton circa 1976. They said that with Shaq, Phoenix would be able to match the West's big men that have had field days inside the paint whenever they face the undersized Suns. They said that Shaq would help them win the championship because the criticisms would motivate him to prove everyone that he is not yet over the hill. Yeah right.

But more than anything, what really angered fans about the trade was that the Suns were abandoning their identity to win the championship the conventional way. In short, they were selling out. The team that has earlier decided to show the rest of the league that beauty and style can win over ugly and thuggery has raised the white flag.

The heroes of small ball have given up. Long live the revolution!

New CMFR project

2008-02-01T12:27:00.000+08:00

To generate discussion on the unique ethical issues that confront journalism in Asia, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) and the Asia Media Forum (AMF) launched a blog site on journalism ethics last Jan. 30.

The site, Eye on the Asian Media: Asia Media Forum (http://www.eyeonethics.org), will feature stories and analyses on ethical issues facing journalism in Asia—a region in turmoil and change as well as stability and progress. Readers may comment on the articles as well as contribute to encourage dialogue. The site also contains various journalism codes of ethics across the continent and links to other media ethics resources.

Original content will be uploaded monthly in the site, which is edited by CMFR deputy director and UP journalism professor Luis V. Teodoro.

For its maiden issue, The Jakarta Post chief editor Endy Bayuni analyzes whether peace journalism could have eased the transition of East Timor to independence. Hector Bryant L. Macale, assistant editor of the CMFR’s flagship media-monitoring publication the Philippine Journalism Review Reports (PJR Reports), focuses on the blurring of the line between news and advertising: Is it really a choice between “old-fashioned ethics” and “rationalized profit”?

Taking a cue from the Nov. 29 siege at a hotel in Manila’s financial district, CMFR staffwriter Don Gil K. Carreon asks another timely question for journalists: Which should take precedence for journalists, the presumably lawful orders of the authorities, or the public’s right to information?

“While the ethics of journalism has evolved enough to be in many ways universal in character and application (truth-telling, for example, is among journalism’s universally accepted ethical principles),” Teodoro writes about the site. “There is at the same time a specificity to the circumstances in which they are practiced which complicate and affect the application of principles in decision-making. To what extent, for example, is trial by publicity avoidable in societies where the justice system is failing, and where only press exposure often makes the difference between wrong doers’ being brought to court or escaping prosecution?”

CMFR is a Philippine based non-profit organization promoting press freedom and advocating professionalism and ethics among media practitioners.

AMF is a network of journalists from across Asia to share insights on issues relating to media and their profession, as well as stories, information and opinions on democracy, development and human rights in the region.

Readers are encouraged to visit the site http://www.eyeonethics.org. Comments and contributions are highly welcome.

Reminiscing about the V

2008-01-27T03:55:00.005+08:00

I was planning to write something that can make people weepy and proud of their stay at the Varsitarian. But seeing that other Amihans or former V writers have already done that, I am taking a different tack. (For those who want the tears and pride inducing articles though, those two are the best ones I’ve read.)

"There was a flurry of blog updates last Sunday as former and current staffers of the Varsitarian, the official student organ of the University of Santo Tomas, waxed nostalgic after attending the publication's 80^th anniversary last Saturday at Sofitel in Manila."

My former editors at the V would probably greet that lead with this line: Shorten it. Or even worse, they may decide that the article does not warrant space in the paper.

It's probably safe to say that of all the memories that Amihans have of the Varsitarian, it's the editors they've had that are hardest to forget.

Those memories may not always be pleasant though. Young writers are not the most receptive lot to editing, which results to a lot clashes with editors or at least silent grumblings.

Fortunately for me the editors I worked with were the competent kind. So if there were complaints about our professional relationship, it would not be coming from me.

As a V sports reporter back in 2006, my immediate editor was Karla Magno. Karla was my classmate during freshman year but I never took her for a sports buff. I occasionally went with her with some other friends to watch games of the school's basketball games, but I thought she just came to ogle and shriek at the "cute" players like the other girls. Boy was I wrong.

I was not a regular reader of the V in my earlier years in college so while I knew that she was a writer for the paper's sports section, I did not know that she was THE writer of the sports page then. It was quite an achievement considering that the Sports section was stocked with some of the V's better writers.

Coming into the V, I thought that my writing skills were already refined. As soon as my first article got edited, I had to throw that idea out the window. I probably learned more about writing under Karla's tutelage than in my four years in J-school. So if I am any good a writer today, a large part of the credit should go to her.

Under Karla's supervision, Sports became one of the V's best performing sections. The Science section's almost mechanical efficiency was the only reason we did not top the biannual assessment. During her tenure as sports editor, the section did not just become a repository of the usual sports stories. Our group churned out investigative reports on UST's sports program to the chagrin of the IPEA.

Further up the hierarchy was TL Fernandez, our managing editor.

During our time, TL was the V's most sought after person. He was a likable fellow but I don't think that's the reason the V's staffers were always looking for him. The real reason was that he was Keeper of the Keys of the V's vault or rather cash box. As a result, a monthly inquiry on TL's whereabouts can be heard in the V as staffers try to collect payment for their contributions to the past month's issue.

Aside from his money managing abilities, another TL trademark was loquaciousness-not to mention his shorts and rubber shoes combo. The man can talk for hours on end. It would usually start with some harmless chitchat and before you know it 20 minutes has already passed and he's you realize he is just getting warmed up. And just when you think that your conversation is winding down, he’ll open up another topic that will keep you planted on your seat for a few more minutes. If you don't play your cards right, he'll occupy you for a few more.

It was not senseless chatter though. Many V staffers probably learned a lot about law just by listening to TL, who has a penchant for sharing his lessons about the arcane ways of the courts.

When it comes to editing he transforms to a completely different person, though. For one thing, TL is intolerant of wordiness, believing that clarity can be achieved through brevity. For another, he can dish out some pretty sharp comments on a bad copy that would make one think twice if he was the same congenial person you just talked with. If he feels that a writer is not delivering what he is looking for, he would usually rewrite the entire article himself. A stern reminder that he expects better next time follows afterwards. Although disheartening at times, this helped a lot of us improve.

Eldric Peredo, another law student, was the Varsitarian’s editor in chief during my stay.

Eldric was a scary figure for a number of staffers. No, he did not have horns protruding out of his forehead but many probably thought that whenever he would ask them to redo an article with the deadline just a few days away.

His high standards was one of the reason he was an intimidating figure. Sometimes, people get exasperated at this because they knew that they've given their best, but Eldric would insist that there's still something left, something better. I was at the receiving end of this once and it was not a fun experience.

He would not approve my article for publication because he was not satisfied with a few sentences in my story. It took a while before I finally got what he wanted but the article was an improvement from how the original.

Another reason for Eldric’s intimidating presence was his intelligence.

During one of V's post-mortem sessions for example, the atmosphere was again sombre as he rattled off the problems with the past issue. But the mood changed when he turned his attention to the increasing use of “platitudinous” statements in the stories. With that, the once silent room was abuzz. The staff, which was mostly composed of journalism students, some of whom were the best in their batches, and a sprinkling of equally talented writers and intelligent people from other colleges, was puzzled at what he just said. No one of among us could define platitudinous. Heck! Even TL couldn't immediately define the word if I remember correctly. On that moment I felt some relief. It seems that I am not the only one who feels stupid when talking to the guy. By the way, I checked a dictionary platitudinous means cliche. (One word that a couple of pretty good writers were not familiar with right? Well check UST's 2003 academic records and you'll see that the guy packs some serious brainpower.)

Naturally, Eldric's style rubbed some of the staffers the wrong way. At one time, I also considered quitting because I felt that some of his demands bordered on unreasonable.

But for all the complaints against his tough policies, the protest about his uncompromising stand on work, I felt that the staff knew deep inside that he was right. If anything, there was a grudging respect for Eldric because we knew that while he may be a tough boss to work for, he was not doing those things just to spite people but to improve the paper.

His tough demeanor was not without its benefits. He was the unofficial kuya to all the staffers, one of the first people they take to the dark room whenever they have a problem V-related or otherwise.

During the Valik-Varsi, former writers flocked to their former bosses for pictures. The smiles they presented in front of the cameras assured me the hard feelings are no longer there. The memories that linger are only the good ones.

Another failed attempt at public speaking

2008-01-27T03:52:00.001+08:00

My brother got married on Jan. 19. As his best man I was supposed to deliver the last speech. I gave an eye-moistening speech in a calm and composed manner as I usually do. We'll at least that was how I envisioned things would turn out. To make the story short, I bombed yet again. Hopefully that was the last public speaking or rather public stuttering engagement I will ever do. When it's my turn to get married, I am taping whatever I have to say.

Here's the message I delivered (with some changes and a lot of additions), which by the way did not even elicit a reaction from the crowd. Yes, not even a boo. It's cliché-ridden but I had to bank on old reliables since I only made this up a few minutes before my forgettable moment at the mike:

"My shaking voice is a dead giveaway that I am not much of a public speaker. Given that I am bad at public speaking, I try to avoid this as much as possible. But today I'll have to make an exception.

"Marching down the aisle a while ago, there's this thought I couldn't seem to shake. For some reason the memory of our childhood years just kept on popping in my head.

"I can still remember our younger years when my brother, I, and some of our cousins played at the garden of our grandparents' house. Back then it never occurred to me that one of us, most of all my brother, would be eventually getting married. I always thought then that marriage is for old folks only. We'll guess what? We're old now.

"Just look at us now. Dressed in barongs and dresses, you probably would not have thought that we were once sweaty kids; kids whose most complicated problems were how Shaider was going to defeat KumaLeAhr or if we would be given enough time for play the next day. Those simpler days are gone now. We now have more weighty problems to deal with. But the good thing about life is it has a way of evening things out.

"In navigating the tough road ahead, we get to pick a partner. The problems will still be there and having a partner brings baggage of its own. But the beauty of this is you won’t be alone carrying the burden. You’ll have someone to share the load with.

Seeing how happy he is today, I think my brother chose the right partner. But I have to say how he was able to fool her into marrying him is still beyond me. For me to say that he is lucky to have you really is understatement.

"To Kuya Kary and, I guess now, Ate Rissa have a wonderful life."

Lack of time

2008-01-15T01:23:00.000+08:00

This, I believe, will be a recurring theme in this space. A few months after I vowed I would regularly update this blog, I am again confronted by the reality that time is resource that I simply have little of. So despite the number of topics that I promised myself I would tackle extensively here, I have to be satisfied with discussing them in bullet form.

In order of importance here are some of the things that have been on my mind recently:

*The Varsitarian, UST‘s official student publication will be celebrating its 80^th anniversary this Saturday, January 19 at Sofitel in Manila. As with past Varsitarian anniversaries divisible by five, the paper’s former staff members will be having a reunion.

Unfortunately, there’s a very high probability I won’t be able to attend because my brother chose that day to get married—in Malolos, Bulacan of all places. I’ve done the math already and it just doesn’t work. It’s too far even if a drive like a demon to make up for the distance. And there’s also the problem of me not knowing how to drive or having a car for that matter.

But no bitterness here. Just as long as he promises me that he would spare his children the burden of being named after him—my brother’s name is Karyon—I'm fine with not being able to attend the Valik-Varsi event. After all, there’s a less formal after affair get-together that I can still get to. Now I only have to worry about the speech I am supposed to deliver as my brother’s best man.

But just in case I don’t make it to any of those gatherings, I’d just watch this video to get all nostalgic and sentimental. It's a bit corny but aren't we all anyway? Also the types of relationship built in the V can really drive people to corniness but of the good kind.

*For those wondering—if there are actually any—whether Kanto is still alive, it still is. We have recently made available copies of our third edition at these shops:

1. F*ART Gallery- K1st, Kamuning

2. Bokswagen Experiments- Circle C, West Avenue

3. Bound Bookstore- Scout Castor, Tomas Morato

For those unaware of Kanto, it is an independent Filipino pop culture publication that some friends and I thought of during our college days. It offers an alternative perspective to this thing we call Filipino culture-all just for P30. We also like to think that it does so in a smart and funny way. Hopefully those we were able to dupe to buy it think so too.

The days of Kanto-Print edition will however not last very long. We have finalized plans to move online sometime in March for practical reasons. The move to the Internet is promising especially as two more members have come back on board to lighten our load. Naturally the three of us—Bim, Pao, and yours truly—who decided to stay and try to make the whole thing work are as giddy as Piolo Pascual fanatics waiting for his next concert. We’re dreaming of fame and fortune but I guess that we’ll be just as happy with consistency and wider recognition.

*The trade rumors surrounding Houston Rockets superstar Tracy McGrady really has to stop. ESPN senior correspondent Marc Stein has lent credence to this whole brouhaha with an article saying that of all the big names being shopped around, T-Mac is most probably the likeliest to be moved.

The problem with Stein’s article was that it didn’t even have the side of the principal characters involved in the alleged trade talks namely McGrady and the Rockets management. Stein’s principal sources were these old reliables: sources and insiders, who said that Number 1 was disgruntled with Houston and the management has responded by staging “exploratory talks” with the Chicago Bulls.

Back in Houston the trade rumors were quickly quashed by Houston Chronicle beat reporter Jonathan Feigen, who rightly went straight to T-Mac and Rockets GM Daryl Morey for the real score. Both denied the rumors with McGrady laughing those off. While McGrady seem able to ignore these swirling speculations, it no doubt weighs down on his mind. He is especially vulnerable to these because Houston has played better as of late. There also hasn’t been any let- up on the media attacks. For being frequently injured, T-Mac was recently branded as “Half Man, Half a Season,” a play on the moniker his cousin Vince Carter earned. I have to admit that it’s funny but come on guys, give him a break. It’s not his fault that his body easily breaks down.

Usually there's some iota of truth in such types of rumblings but, this I think, is just the Bulls management way trying to get deal they know would not be forthcoming. After their failed attempt to pry of Kobe Bryant away form the Los Angeles Lakers, they are now trying to get their hands on the next best player available. They floated this trade rumor in hopes that it would be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The way I see it, they're banking on the fact that Houston's disappointing performance and T-Macs recent injury woes would force the management to try and find a solution involving the shipping of their best player. This in short is psy-war played out in the media with Bulls crying wolf and hoping that it would actually come.

Mutual funds 101

2007-12-16T00:55:00.002+08:00

There are said to be three types of people when it comes to finances. There are spenders, who seek immediate gratification; savers, characterized by their willingness to delay gratification for safety and security; and finally, there are investors, those who seek financial independence.

According to financial adviser Francisco Colayco, most Filipinos do not have a strong savings culture and thus belong to the first category. However, most of the savers do not have the necessary financial knowledge to graduate to become investors. While becoming a saver is a huge improvement from just being a spender, the traditional savings methods may no longer be applicable or even dangerous today. Let me explain.

For most of Pinoys, parking their money in banks is good enough. After all, those steel vaults guarded by stern looking men make people feel safer about their money than if it’s just kept inside a hallow bamboo or a cardboard cylinders with plastic covers.

There’s also this perceived incentive that by keeping money in banks, the money grows due to interest. But what people don't realize is that despite the additions being made in their passbooks, they're actually losing money since the interests offered by most banks are not enough to stave off inflation.

Most banks offer a per annum interest rate between 1 and 2.5 percent depending on the amount a person deposits. For time deposits or certificate of deposits, probably the preferred savings tool by most Filipinos, the interest rates usually ranges from 2.5 to 3.5 percent. The problem with this is that annual inflation rate is usually higher than these rates. For example, inflation watchers considered 2007 a good year because the rise of the prices ranged only between 2.6 and 3.1 percent.

Those who have their money in time deposit probably feel that they are adequately protected from inflation given the said figures. But is 0.4 percent increase on one's saving really that much of an incentive to keep your money in a bank? Also for a person to avail of a 3.5 percent interest rate, he should have at least P1 million deposited. That means for non-millionaires, losses in banks are a reality. Although their money appears to be increasing, the opposite is actually happening

Sure a few pesos here and there doesn't hurt that much given the benign inflation numbers. But if inflation rates suddenly shoot up (which does happen), it will eat into people's savings. To guard against inflation, one must find a way to have his money grow faster than the rate it is shrinking. One way of fighting inflation is by starting a business. But for those who do not have the necessary entrepreneurial qualities, a mutual fund may be the best way to go.

An introduction to mutual funds
Let me say first that I was not paid by any mutual fund company to write this stuff. This really is a sincere effort on my part to let others know about this thingamajig. Now that that's out of the way let me introduce you to the amazing world of mutual funds.

I don't want to sound like one of those people hawking their products in a home TV shopping program but amazing really is an appropriate word to describe this investment tool. Consider this:

In 2004 the American mutual funds industry was estimated to be worth over a $7 trillion participated in by 10,000 companies and 83 million investors. In the same year, the Philippine mutual funds industry was estimated to be worth a paltry P54.95 billion with just 25 companies handling the funds.

Yes, the Philippines is a smaller and less economically developed country than the US and so it's natural that this huge discrepancy between the number of mutual funds investors exists. However, the huge number of Americans who have availed of mutual funds also shows that it is a widely accepted investment instrument there.

Since the mutual fund industry here is underdeveloped, it has a huge potential for growth and it really is amazing what this bodes for people who would be willing to avail of it.

I hope that got your attention. So what are mutual funds really? As its name suggests, a mutual fund is an instrument that allows that allows people to pool their money together for a specific investment objective. It is managed by a professional investor who determines how best to invest the money into particular securities.

To tell truth, I just got that from the net and the first time I read that definition I still did not understand what a mutual fund is because of the word "securities." So here's a definition: securities are any form of ownership that can be easily traded on a secondary market, such as stocks or bonds. And what are stocks and bonds? Stocks are a share of ownership in a company while bonds are proof that a company or the government owes you something. Simply put, stocks make you a part-owner of a company, while bonds make you a lender to a company or the government. How a mutual fund is invested into these two instruments determines its classification. The three most common types are equity funds (primarily in stocks), bond funds, and balanced funds (equally invested in both stocks and bonds).

If all that stuff still sounds too technical, here's a more simpler way of looking at it. One can look at mutual funds as a type of business that provides money to other companies by either becoming part-owners or by loaning money to them. Profit is earned from this set-up when a company experiences growth (equity funds) or after a firm starts paying the interest of the loan (bond funds).

In deciding to invest in mutual funds, it is important what to know how much risk you are willing to take. Equity funds offer the highest returns but also come with the greatest risks. Bond funds are not as risky but the returns are lower. For people who are middle of the road risk takers, balanced funds are the most popular option due to the protection offered by equal exposure to both markets (down markets for stocks usually means an up market for bonds and vice versa).

Advantages of mutual funds

1. Mutual fund investing is putting into practice the common investment saying "Never put your eggs in one basket."

Mutual funds offer instant diversification, a requirement if you plan to play the stock or bond market. There is a need to diversify in investing in these to markets to lower your risk, because there is a larger chance of failure if you are tied to one company.

For example you have P100,000 savings and you decided to invest it all on PLDT shares priced at P1000 per share. The next day a military group attempts another power grab and to succeed they thought it necessary to destroy PLDT transmitters in Southern and Northern Luzon. In doing so PLDT shares plummet to P200 per share. Congratulations. You just lost P80,000 of your savings.

If you had instead put that money in an equity fund that is invested in PLDT, San Miguel, ABS-CBN, and Maynilad you might have done better. The principle of course is that different industries do not move in the same direction together. A good day for one company may be an excellent day for another or a really bad one for another.

The example I gave is a really bad one because such an event would normally cause the price of publicly traded shares to plunge but stay with me here a little longer. Just remember that having your funds tied to just one company is a really a bad investment strategy.

2. It is cheap
Normally, if a person wants to make it big in the stock market, that person has to either be very lucky or very rich.

Lucky because, a little luck really is needed in any form venture and rich because money is needed to make sure you don’t rely too much on luck by lessening the risks through spreading your investment.

To invest in a number of companies successfully though, it has been said that a few million is needed which a lot of people do not have. This exclusivity is broken by mutual fund companies by pooling together the resources of individual investors, who would otherwise be unable to invest effectively in the stock market, and using that consolidated fund.

For as low as P5,000 a person can invest in mutual funds and need only P1,000 more for subsequent investments.

3. It is managed by experts
Stock markets around the world are littered by names of bankrupt people who thought that they can do a better job than professional investors and failed. There have been exceptions of course but is it really wise to tempt fate when your money, and possibly future, is involved?

To track your investments, one must have time and the expertise to study all details to help you determine whether a company is worth your money investing in. Then you must relay these pieces of information to your brokers who would then try to procure for you your desired stocks or bonds. In short, a tedious process. So if you have a regular job, this is not advisable unless you want to get fired.

Mutual fund companies simplify this procedure. You give your money to a company. They give it to a manager, who is professionally trained to decide which investments are the best ones. After some time they inform you how much your investment is doing.

I really hate sounding like those home TV shopping people but really, it’s that easy.

Read, read, read
A lot of people were recently duped into investing in pyramid scams so it’s understandable for people to be wary of another investment tool promising riches.

So I advise that you not just believe what I said here but read up on these things so you can judge for yourself the reliability of mutual funds. About.com, part of the New York Times Companies, for example has a Business and Finance section which gives an overview of mutual funds. Inquirer.net has also tackled mutual funds repeatedly through the blog of business page editor Salve Duplito. And for good measure, I am also including an article by former socioeconomic secretary Romulo Neri advocating mutual funds.

Hopefully this has been an interesting read and encourages you to try out investing in mutual funds.

IPO

2007-12-14T16:37:00.002+08:00

The initial public offerings (IPOs) of promising companies are events generally greeted by much enthusiasm by the public. After all, IPOs usually mean that outsiders get to partake in the fortunes of a company that they hope will lead them to greater fortune.

Although I already have two previous entries here, I consider this my IPO. But let me clariffy first that I am using IPO here loosely. I do know that it is a business jargon, I am just using the term because this is what it is- an initial offering to the public. Others may argue that given the blog’s nature, opening one automatically is a public offering. But I like to think that since I did not identify myself nor informed others about it, my blog was able to retain some semblance of privacy.

No, I won't be offering any stocks nor do I have any delusions that this is a promising undertaking deserving of cheers. Also unlike companies that decide to go public, I do not have any grand aspirations that this space can offer riches of the worldly kind to those who would take the time to read the entries in it or even to me who will be providing the content. Basically, this is just an effort of another person to add clutter in cyberspace.

Again using business comparisons, my attempts at blogging could be considered as high-risk ventures for my readers (I am assuming of course that there were people who actually read my blog regularly) as my blogs were prone to folding. My previous attempts at blogging failed due to ignorance and lack of confidence. I abandoned the first one, frustrated at not being able to figure out how to manipulate the layout. The second one I decided to close after suffering fits of insecurity with my writing skills. Not the most encouraging of signs but I am beyond feeling those things now. I think.

For the second reason I mentioned for abandoning my blog, I have to say though that with the people I work with and know, feeling insecure about my writing skills is as common as eating pan de sal in breakfast.

Anyway back to this blog. The articles I will be posting here will be mostly in English. The Pinoy ones I will reserve for the online publication I am planning with some friends. The entries will deal with basketball, particularly the Houston Rockets and my two fantasy league teams, politics, journalism, the economy, and everything in between.

So that I won’t act rashly as before, abandoning my blogs on whim, I’ll look at this not just as a form of recreation but an extension of my profession, something that can help me improve at what I do.

And speaking of work, I am fortunate to be in the industry I actually like. There are times though that my fondness for my job is not enough to motivate me to work. This sentiment also extends to my blogging efforts. Hopefully I will overcome these feelings this time around by, as I said, looking at this as a professional undertaking.

I’ll end this with a great line from basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving as quoted by the late journalist David Halberstam. ( I had a hard time trying to figure out how to get this quote in because I really want to end this with something profound so that I'd sound smart.)

“Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don’t feel like doing them.”

Hear! Hear!

Red Rowdy once more

2007-10-21T00:30:00.002+08:00

This is me eating my words.

After saying that I was done with the Houston Rockets when they encountered a bad case of the coughs (a natural reaction to choking) in the playoffs, here I am again back on their side. To my defense, I did say that they can expect me back if they upgraded. And that's what exactly what they did.

After a flurry of activity in the off-season, that saw them adding eight new players, and hiring a new general manager and a coach, people are now projecting the Rockets to finish atop the Western Conference. They're even saying Houston may be in a for a parade year. Of course this sentiment has been echoed ever since Tracy McGrady joined Yao Ming in Houston. What's different this time is that the people saying these things are those who actually know the NBA inside-out and not Rockets-die hards who have a skewed sense of the team's capability.

I understand where the excitement is coming from. The formerly thin back court is suddenly crowded with the return of Mike James and former franchise player Steve Francis. They also pulled off a division coup when they pried Argentinian star Luis Scola away from state rival San Antonio Spurs to address the dearth in the power forward spot. And with Jeff Van Gundy replaced by Rick Adelman, Bonzi Wells may actually have a chance to play. Here's another bonus of the coaching change: fans no longer have to endure Van Gundy's soporific strategies in trying to win games.

I still have my reservations though. It's still just the preseason after all. Any predictions about the teams chances in April are a bit premature. After all, there are still 82 games left before the real real season starts after all. And when it does start, questions about the ability of Houston's superstar duo to finally deliver will again come up. It also doesn't help that Adelman has his own history of choking at the big stage. Just ask the Portland Trailblazers and Sacramento Kings. Their owners are still wondering how they lost championships they thought were well within their reach. (Ok, so those teams did come up against Michael Jordan's Bulls and Shaq and Kobe's Lakers but still...)

The team's two superstars, especially T-Mac after that disastrous "it's on me interview", are aware of this. Both have yet to fully express confidence about what the team can achieve probably wary that they may underperform again this year. During an interview, Yao expressed his take on their recent status upgrade. Asked to comment on suggestions that the current team is the most talented squad he has been on, Yao replied that people have said that to him every year but that means nothing until they win a title.

This was an excellent statement from Yao because in the end, the projections made by the experts are just that-projections. And no team will be awarded the title just because many analysts feel that that particular squad is the best. As ESPN analyst Jon Barry said during one of the preseason games, "That's why team play games, to prove who really is the best."

But like other Houston fans, I am hoping that the experts are right.

*Note: The article was written two weeks before the start of the NBA season. The Rockets has since opened by winning six of their fist seven games for the franchise's best start in more than decade. The team has also just recently recently lost six straight games. Happy times.)

Math phobia

2007-08-24T16:21:00.001+08:00

If the saying “Man is afraid of what he cannot understand” were applied to me, Math would be comparable Sadako, a creature that freaks me out so bad, a shriek normally follows whenever I see or think about her. While I don’t scream whenever I am faced with exotic mathematical equations, the prospect having to solve one is enough to reduce me to a pile of sobs and sweat.

Unlike my fear of the supernatural, my dread for Math is rational. For more than half of my academic life, math whooped me silly. And I think it’s only normal for people getting pummeled by something to eventually fear that something.

Except for kinder to second grade and a brief moment in college, I was terrified of math. It’s not that I am inept with numbers. My problem with this subject is that it usually takes me twice as long to grasp its concepts. I eventually understand the lessons but when I get to the eureka moment we’re already moving on to another topic.

Now, I can brag that mathematical problems involving the four basic procedures I can solve easily without any help from any electronic gadget. Then again I am already 22 and this is expected of me. But when it involves the x and y things, theorems, postulates, and other countless concepts that have been snuffed out my head already or I never understood in the first place, I am as good as a semi-literate person.

So who to blame for this predicament? Maybe I should pin it on incompetent teachers who never had the skills and competence to make me interested enough in the subject? Perhaps former classmates are also culpable for not extending a helping hand to a struggling colleague. But ultimately, it’s on me. My poor grades were largely due to my laziness. I know that If only exerted more effort in Math (or all my subjects for that matter but that’s another article), my grades would have been a lot better. I would not have warranted a Promil commercial but at the very least, my grades in Math would not always have begun with 7. I always believed that if I had not behaved properly during my Math classes or not sucked up to my teachers by volunteering to erase the blackboards, I may not have graduated from high school.

It was also in high school where I proved that the claim that men are supposed to be better in math is a fallacy. I studied in an exclusive school for boys but even there arithmetic whizzes were a minority. In my last years in high school, it was even a common prank to question the practical applications of the complicated mathematical formulas we were studying. The teachers would always answer that it helps nurture reasoning. Not true, as an experience of mine proved.

In a geometry quiz we had in third year, a question required that we prove that an illustration was indeed a 90 degree angle using the theorems and other stuff taught to us. Around me some classmates, with furrowed eyebrows and occasional gazes to the ceiling to recall what they studied the night before, were furiously scribbling down their answers. Those who did not study were trying to copy from those who did. Me? I had nothing after I wrote “Given” in my booklet. With only a few minutes to go and having written my guesses for the other questions, the 90 degree problem still had the lonely “Given” in it. Grudgingly, I wrote a few words hoping that those were the right answers.

A week later our papers were returned and I felt disappointed. It was not because I flunked the test—countless failed math quizzes have already erased any illusions that I have an untapped aptitude for math—but due to the realization that my brilliant my answer for the 90 degree question was not accepted. I wrote there:

“Ma’am, I took out a protractor and I measured the angle. It is indeed 90 degrees.”

If that was not reasoning skills in action, I don’t know what is? At least I should have been credited with two points for my effort. Ok, so it was stupid but it was worth a shot.

In seriousness though, I am not proud of being mathematically challenged. It’s not that we get special tax breaks for being afflicted with this condition. Also a grown man whose greatest fears include Math and a dead girl who comes out of TV screens is not a funny thing. By this time, people my age should be afraid of scarier matters such as another GMA-7 rip-off-slash-remake (e.g. Shaido) and the alleged vice-presidential aspirations of Sen. Bong Revilla Jr.

I thought that I have finally escaped my Math problems by choosing a career in writing. But I realized one day that I was wrong for thinking this. Eventually I would have children and there’s a very real possibility they would suck at math too just because they are related to me. And if they turn out as bad in Math as I was, I guess I would be one of the first people they would ask help from. In a few years it’s back to Math again for me. Such is the wide reach of Math’s long arms.

I plan to preempt this situation by hitting the books again. When I finish this new foray into the world of numbers, I hope that I will no longer break into a nervous sweat or get all sorts of nightmares whenever I get prolonged exposure to Math. If I can only figure out how to stop screaming while watching horror movies, I’m all set.

*Here is the edited version of this article.