I have always been a Laker fan ever since I learned about the NBA (National Basketball Association). I grew up watching Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when there was no cable. I don’t remember how I first saw them play. I know I first saw them play on TV but I quite vividly remember renting betamax tapes to watch their games. I never changed allegiance when they went from perennial contenders to perennial doormats, back to perennial contenders etc. My loyalty is to the team and not to its players. (You hear that Shaq?!)

Anyways, you could say that I watched Kobe grow in front of my very own eyes. This article very articulately documents his evolution. I have never seen Kobe this way (how the author put it all together elegantly) and yet it seems like I have always known all along what this author is trying to say.

At age 24, Kobe was remarkably like Jordan — and somehow, not him, akin to a musical prodigy, capable of playing any sonata the seasoned concert pianist could, yet somehow, lacking the intangible quality that distinguished the genius from the flawless imitator… Read more »

Astronomers predict that the earth will be swallowed up by the sun in 7.6 billion years.  However, life on earth will probably end sooner than 1 billion years - it will become very hot to live on.

Some scientists believe there’s a way to escape the sun’s wrath by using a passing asteroid’s gravity to budge the earth out of harm’s way.  Now, there’s another plot for a new sci-fi movie.

I always wonder why the days and months come by so fast.  When I was still in school the days seemed slower.  I guess maybe it’s because we are slowly getting closer to the sun (it takes less time to revolve around the sun).  I’m saying this as a half-meant joke.

Last January, I wrote about how Network Solutions stole my domain name. It turns out that I am not the only one who has observed this. You can say I’m quite naive, thinking I’m the only one who has noticed this scam.

Another article even discusses the trick pricing I complained about:

This allows Network Solutions to continue charging substantially higher prices for domain name registration. Network Solutions charged $34.99 to register the name sought by this suit’s lead plaintiff. A competitor would have charged $9.99.

Apparently, it’s not only Network Solutions who practice this evil scheme. I really hope the authorities penalize these companies to kingdom come. Thinking of a new and cool domain is no joke. I didn’t work for a whole day thinking of cool domain names for my blog and my other Web sites. If you ask me, they should pay at least $1,000 for every name they stole in favor of the person who made the name search.

Ever since 2002 (I think), I started to ditch my curly (I’d like to think of it as wavy) hair for a semi-bald cut. I like the semi-bald cut. I don’t have to comb and it’s not that hot in the head. My hair is not greasy anymore, too. Having said that, my previous hairstyle, the short-cut-then-apply-hair-gel-then-comb-with-fingers look, was more cooler in my opinion. I believe I was more handsome with that look - OK, this is my blog so I can say whatever I want to say. But you know what, if you’re handsome, any haircut works, hehe.

The only problem I had with having the semi-bald cut is that when I go to a barber shop (or a beauty salon) and they effortlessly clip my hair, they still charge me the same price. I understand the logic of the same pricing, of course.

This problem, together with my general reluctance to go to a barber shop or beauty salon on any day, pushed me to buy my very own hair clipper. I just bought it today and I immediately used it. Come to think of it, it took me about eight years to figure this out.

You’ve seen Demi Moore in “G.I. Jane”, right? She clipped her own hair very easily…. NOT! Hollywood is so full of crap. I can clip the top, front and sides of my head just fine but was having problems clipping the back. My poor wife was “forced” to do the clipping at the back side of my head. She’s afraid of doing anything with my hair lest I scold her if she does something bad. She doesn’t know that it’s OK whatever happens (sort of, hehe).

So there, I am my own barber. I’m sure in time, I will learn how to clip the hair at the back side of my head. Actually, I’m looking forward to my second “self-haircut”. Do I sound pathetic?

If this is authentic, I would say “Told you so!”. They are all corrupt (except GMA, hehe). OK, I think I heard somewhere that Jun Lozada has admitted to being one of the actors in this conversation.

Let’s disregard, for a minute, the fact that this wire tap is illegal. If Abalos’s (did I type that right?) threat is true, I can understand how he could think of threatening Jun Lozada. It seems they were laughing at the expense of Abalos, hehe.

However, threat or no threat, if we are to believe everything Jun Lozada says, let us not forget that he should be included as guilty to graft and corruption as well since he was insinuating that if the “commission” is lowered to about 20% of the ZTE contract price, the whole endeavor is good to go. What’s worse, I don’t think I heard any violent reaction from the opposition senators upon hearing the acceptable 20% “commission” rate.

Owner of lost laptop sues Best Buy for $54 million dollars. You think it’s ridiculous? You won’t if you just listen to her story.

Raelyn Campbell bought a laptop from Best Buy and decided to include an extended warranty as well. When the power button broke, he brought it to Best Buy for repairs. They said it will be ready in two to six weeks? First of all, two to six weeks? It’s like saying we’ll just call you when it’s done. OK, back to the story. After six weeks, nothing happened so she called the company.

You guessed right - she was passed around. The good news is they finally know what happened to her laptop. The bad news is it got lost. To make the long story short, she lost the laptop and was lowballed into accepting initially $900 worth of gift card when the laptop cost her $1,100 (including the warranty). So how did she come up with the $54 million dollar lawsuit? Let me count the ways:

1. She was told that the fix will take *only* two to six weeks.
2. When six weeks was over, she called them up and was passed around.
3. She found out that her laptop was lost.
4. She was told she would be compensated but after several weeks nothing happened.
5. When they finally called, she was offered an insulting $900 gift card! The laptop cost her $1,100 plus thousands of dollars worth of music, photos and software.
6. The store manager replied to one of her queries, “For every customer that has had an unpleasant experience I can show you hundreds who have had a great experience. I have been in retail for a long time and the one conclusion I have come to is that not every customer can be satisfied.” If this is a rule, and it isn’t, the situation is obviously an exception!
7. A lawyer informed her she could be a victim of identity theft. Best Buy didn’t bother inform her about the possibility.

So why $54 million?

The amount intentionally echoes another lawsuit that made headlines last year — a case involving a D.C. judge who sued a dry cleaner for $54 million over a lost pair of pants. That case was eventually dismissed.
Campbell freely admits she picked the same amount in an effort to attract media attention.

I would have settled for $5 million. I have a family to feed.

My wife changed my perception towards cats, dogs and animals in general. I have come to love cats. I have always loved liked dogs but wasn’t really conscious of their needs (like drinking water).

Anyways, this video of two talking cats is so cute.

I’m a Laker fanatic.  I get depressed when they lose.  For those who know the Lakers or the NBA, Devean George is a former Laker that is now playing for the Dallas Mavericks.  He, and other Maverick cagers, were supposed to be traded to the New Jersey Nets for Jason Kidd.  Both teams were hyped until Devean George vetoed the trade.  The only other player I know that has this veto power in his contract is Kobe Bryant.  Why he has this veto power in his contract is unimaginable.

Anyway, I read this funny article of how the veto played out.  I think it’s hilarious.

I’m really not a fan of Valentine’s Day.  I think it’s overrated but… my wife looks forward to this day every February 15th.

My wife, by the way, is so good with surprises (with me as recipient, of course).  In the past few years, she has already surprised me with an acoustic steel guitar and a Nokia 7250 (back when it was sexy) as gifts even when there were no special occasions.  She surprised me by driving a brand new Honda City with automatic transmission last year 2000.  I didn’t know she can drive.  She also surprised me by visiting me in Manila without my prior knowledge of her coming.  She’s done that three times - one within several weeks of my first time to be working in Manila (presumably to cheer me up), one during Valentine’s day (I was out drinking with officemates) and one after we had a big fight.

Anyway, back to Valentine’s day today.  I bought my wife 6 pieces red tulips to the tune of a six four figure peso amount.  I don’t know if she’s thrilled or not.  I’m an idiot who doesn’t know how to be romantic.  I am the complete opposite of her.

Years ago, we agreed that having dinner on this day is corny, not to mention frustrating.  Restaurants are full and services unsatisfactory.  Today, we decided to eat out with friends and family who didn’t have dates.  True enough, we ate dinner two orders short.  Before, this would make my blood boil.  Now, I understand the incompetency of our waiters, chefs & cashier/managers.  I understand they lack education, thus, disorganized.  The waiters, I can see from their faces that they are afraid to serve food to tables with angry patrons.  I can see they are trying hard not to make mistakes.

Tomorrow is February 15th and my wife will be looking forward to this day again.

I recently watched the film Rendition starred by Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin and Meryl Streep. While I’m not much of a film critic, I would say that this movie entertained me. That is, if you call being afraid, entertainment.

The film is about an Egyptian working in the U.S. as a chemical engineer wrongfully accused as a terrorist. This poor fellow travels to South Africa and maybe to some other countries as part of his job. One day, arriving from South Africa, this Egyptian was abducted by the CIA and his record in the flight manifest deleted. The story goes on to disclose that after 9/11 (the famous terrorist attack on the twin towers at New York), the U.S. government drafted a law(?) that allows them to immediately detain a suspected terrorist and/or deport them to a country that practices torture as a way of retrieving useful information. I’m sure all of us know that the U.S. don’t use torture to interrogate suspected terrorists. Yeah, right. Read more »