Setting the Norm

"Only knowledge put to use can create capital." -- Mikel Harry & Richard Schroeder, creators of Six Sigma

NBA Player Royce White speaks on mental health

I realize the whole issue being taken up by Chuck Klosterman in his article (short aside, I believe Klosterman to be a very insightful who is able to cross-reference sports with all other aspects of public interest) is not how I would like to preface today's piece.

It does, however, state a simple fact that we take for granted - setting a norm is the best way to determine how to go about accomplishing something.  If there are no norms, no standards, no procedures or precedents on major parts of activity society would fall apart.

In our office setting the lack of standards is one of the glaring issues we need to address.  I say this without any rancor for any particular manager, or for the management in general.  I am sure they are aware of the problem.  Without any specific standards for operational efficiency, there is a lot of difficulty of measuring how good our people are, or how much money we are actually making.  Sure, there is the financial bottom-line, but even with the best accountants, numbers can prove to be deceptive.  It's just like high-volume shooters padding their stats without any efficiency.

The classic NBA example is Allen Iverson.

I admit I was never a fan of Iverson's kind of game.  Sure, he was a talented player who can get off any shot he chose, but his career shooting percentage is just a little over 40%.  With simple math, it is easy to conclude that Allen Iverson misses more than half of what he attempts.  And if he's your best player, then you are in a quandary - necessity dictates you have to surround him with both good defenders to help stopper the opponent's offense, but who can also shoot reliably when needed.

Experience and common sense will tell you that if there is any player with that kind of combination of ability, they won't stay too long when all they have to do is stand around and wait for Iverson to get settled in isolation during your half-court sets.  It will be fortunate if Iverson gave up the ball, and he did so only under duress.  That is a bad combination for his teammates.

They need their shots too, primarily for their self-respect as players, but more shots also mean more opportunities to score, and therefore a chance to score a better payday.  Good luck on keeping them effective and happy at the same time.  So - hello and goodbye Jerry Stackhouse, Glenn Robinson, Tim Thomas, Toni Kukoc, Keith Van Horn, Chris Webber.  Did I miss someone?

So as his abilities started to decline Iverson became an even bigger problem.  He could no longer produce, but he still had the same tendencies, and was a growing liability at defense as well.  Iverson started as the point man, but because he was such a ball hog he was shifted to the shooting guard position, for which he was undersized.  Opponents could not only shoot over him, they can just body him up to bother his shots or for them to get off theirs.

No Reason Required

Just can't help it.  I've hit a rut and I need to get my brain plodding along.  Go back to what works.  Rekindle that wonder.  When all else fails, turn to Sesame Street.

And the Result is...

My Political Compass

Who would have thought that I am staying closer to my roots?  I thought I have turned Republican.  A little left of center it is.

To take the test, go to http://www.politicalcompass.org/.

You Need Green to be Mean

How much would it cost to build the Death Star?

Just nice to know, so that my little investment portfolio will have to shoot up just that much.  Wouldn't want to stop the project midway - no wonder it took the Empire almost eighteen years to build the first one.  I'd be dead before I start building this baby.  Investment, anyone?  A sure-fire way to dominate the galaxy, only X-wing fighters with Force-enabled pilots as risk.

It's so easy painting rich guys as the bad guys.  It really costs money to be the villain, especially if you're not an altered human, a mutant, or an alien.  Where would Lex Luthor get the wherewithal to battle Superman without cash?

Now imagine what power bill Dexter's parents are running with his secret lab in the basement...

Just Hangin'

I've already given up on "Glee" having any sense of plausibility or story content but I keep on watching because of the music performances.  The Valentine's Day episode wasn't particularly great, but Damian McGinty's "Home" by Michael Buble and Amber Riley's rendition of cheeseball classic "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston were particular standouts.

Stevie is still the one for the chill factor.  Buble did a version of this, which reminded me of the original.  The vocal crescendo is unbelievable.

As for other things, Valentine's Day is still the same but I have a project in mind which I hope does not miscarry.  If it does, well, there goes the usual.  I usually crash and burn, anyhow.  Ouch.

Worldwide Export

OFW remittances hit record $20B

Just firing up the stove for another gasbag of opinion.

As an expatriate Filipino, instead of giving me a bigger sense of pride, it is giving me a greater sense of disappointment.

I am not saying "nay" to overseas employment.  Like free trade in goods and services, there should be freedom in the movement of natural persons to seek employment.   Filipinos, by virtue of our natural resilience and eagerness to succeed (yes, our English is considerably better than those of other nationals.  But that advantage is fast disappearing, thanks to declining standards and poorer comprehension in today's graduates.  End of long parenthetical thought), are uniquely prepared to compete in the global environment.  A significant amount of the world's seafarers are Filipinos.  Many of the drillers and other technical workers in the Gulf oil industry are Filipinos.  Filipino engineers are unnamed heroes in the transformation of this region, as highways, seaports, airports, water and power installations, factories, and commercial buildings have been built with Filipino technical expertise in their design and construction.  One can see Arab names in the headlines, but the significant contributions have been made by Filipinos and other expatriates.

I cannot say "nay" to overseas Filipino employment because my being employed in Saudi Arabia is paying our family's bills, as overseas employment sustains the lives of millions of Filipinos.  Our country's Gross National Product is dependent on remittances, and if anything, expatriate contributions have kept the economy stable and that our country has sufficient reserves of foreign currency.

I cannot say "nay" because throughout the political and economic turmoils that have afflicted the country, the region, and worldwide, our country has not gone under.  Remittances are our economic anchor.

It's just that because of this economic anchor, government policy has not been sufficiently progressive in addressing the key issues ailing our economy.  What makes matters worse is that of creating an environment conducive for expatriates to return to the country for retirement, the result is just the opposite.

Culpable

You can never be left unstained or unsullied by the things you value and love.  They will always leave their mark on you.

Yes It's Valentine's again...

...Even though I'm in denial.  Customary sappy songs will be in order.  My choice for this month is this song from the movie version of "Camelot."  It's fantastic as a spoken piece.  Richard Harris' song-chant delivery is very memorable.

As for the song, these are wise words from King Arthur.  Yes, he was a cuckold, but he was King.  Well worth for all to understand that in love, sometimes, several wrongs don't make things right, but that was the whole meaning of the joy/suffering anyway.

One must be lucky indeed to follow that last train of thought.  I must be semi-plastered.  Stop with the cough medicine, kiddo.

Musical Optimism

When all else fails, roll out the old show tunes for a pick me up. If we had no performance management training today, I would have stayed home. The weather has gotten to me.

Plain Inspiration

Happy birthday John Lennon!  You would have been 71 years old - you were in the same generation as my father so I guess he would never have made you one of his musical idols.  That man is strictly in the Frank Sinatra-Bing Crosby-Nat King Cole mode.  I'm glad to say I followed your music even before the Internet made the musical landscape a virtual gobbledygook or a wonderful kaleidoscope of invention, depending on your place in the spectrum.

I would have wanted to post "Imagine," your most popular post-Beatles song, but that piece of cream puff has been suborned by the overly-romantic who look upon the ideal but do not think about the details in getting there.  (Parenthetical thought: such cynicism! and coming back with a timely vengeance, I should say!)  "God," however, is downright self-indulgent and thus almost offensive to those with narrow minds, while "Mother" is even more treacly and sentimental (and since my parents gave me a different upbringing, good for me!).  So I choose this song, which is fitting since we're all slaves to the grindwheel called Necessity.

Someday they will call us salt of the earth.

Ooomph.

This story could have been about me, under slightly different circumstances, just a few years back.  Here I was talking about temperance and the first thing to put under control is eating.

Anyhow, I found some of the comments more interesting and no doubt not everybody wants to troll on these kinds of pages, just to share an opinion.  Funny how we could have an opinion about everything and then choose to ignore the right of others to express their own.  Just a thing with this "information age" - too much information, not enough discernment.  And this isn't even a fingernail's worth to all of the other comments and tweets about everything that is happening.

Maybe it would be nice to turn it off.  If only I could.

Stakes

Interesting that the word "stake" - even with its various contexts - purports to some form of action being taken. Staking a claim.  Playing for high stakes.  Drive the stake through the ground.

I've had an off week - I know this because I know I underperformed on my old standard.  Part of it is some stress from last week, I would surmise.  But mostly it's because my passport is missing and my residence permit (iqama) has not been processed.

I am in a whole boatload of trouble, if things don't get resolved quickly - at the very least, our people should find my passport.  This incident is part of the sickness that ails this company - still, I wouldn't go so far as condemn the whole building for a few rotting walls.

Or would I?  Should I?

So now this game has even raised its stakes - the better I get, the more challenges I have to hurdle.  And keep on hurdling.  Also, have to drive a tough stake into my indolent hide.

Ouch.

Where is the Ticket Cutter? Oh, There.

Now this idea of metering is something new.

I have to concede I like the Euro way of approaching prostitution - as an essential evil. That's not to say I condone the practice, just that like other issues, the practice can be regulated and contained.

I could imagine the same being done in the Philippines - and with the way things are done over there, it won't work. Some smart fellow would steal the meters and make a mark-up, or the tickets will be counterfeited. Such is our way.

End of Discussion

Sometimes, doing the wrong thing earns you some amount of fame. Up to you if you call it wanted or unwanted publicity.

I insulated myself from much of outside news these past few weeks so I could bring myself to concentrate on work. Pinoy netizens were all agog about a student's essay on the English language. Worth the furor? Hardly. What is more revealing is that the Manila Bulletin mutilated itself by removing it from its servers.

I don't know Mr. Soriano personally - maybe in person he is respectful, refined, keenly observant, and boringly likeable. Maybe that is why his lack of intellectual depth is coddled by a content-hungry site like the Manila Bulletin. His article has enough candor and self-deprecation that it actually hooks the unattentive reader into his premise - English is important because it is essential to success and worldwide discourse; Filipino is our identity and we have trampled all over it, and we have to use it to survive in our own country whose masses are less educated for not being able to converse in English. Feel guilty for not being able to speak well in Filipino, but be thankful that you're a good English speaker.

Looky-Looky...

Chilling to the sounds of: The Beatles
Literally chilled by: Zamil Classic Premier (beats the 40C heat anytime)
Chillaxing event to look forward to: Game 6 stomping by the Celtics on the Lakers (Wednesday early morning Riyadh time). Keeping my fingers crossed anyway.
Cool thing but I'm not proud of it: Stealing wi-fi access from my next-door neighbor.

Switched desings to keep it fresh. However, keeping it real in terms of the green theme - I like the Celtics, but I like other green things too - like, uh... (pause)... my high school? The Green Lantern? The Green Arrow? Regan O'Neill's snot?

Methinks Blogger is trying its best to keep relevant in the face of other social networking media. Still, too much useless information comes out that doesn't really make any sense in the end. Sticking to blogging, thank you.

That will be the day when I switch to Twitter. Heck, one day I may eat these words. Keep posted then.

Typical

In tribute to John Nash, and to illustrate the plight of the worst kind of nerdom.

Sometimes it sucks to be me.

Just Because...

Lubog Na.

Bankruptcy looms for GM; Chrysler awaits fate - Yahoo! News

Some Earth Mover...

Toddler buys earthmover in online auction - Yahoo! News

Now this is starting them early on that consumer lifestyle.

Congrats to the mom.

Help Me Slash the Music of the Night

Willing Exile: Phantasy

I'm sharing this video that amazingly captures the childish wonder of Sesame Street (with the puppets), the subject matter of the parody lyrics featuring "Psycho" by Alfred Hitchcock (and I really like those slasher flicks), and finally, the accompaniment of "Music of the Night" from "Phantom of the Opera" (see my previous post, link just above).

Special props to the writers of the song (one of whom also happens to have staged the puppet show) and vocal performers MooseButter, the real voices behind one of the most celebrated videos on YouTube (original lipsync version, by Corey Vidal / MooseButter response video).

Enjoy the show.