Lance has given me something to get excited about: the rest of my life (and a new mountain bike!). Our back-ordered bands came in four days ago. I've been inspired ever since. It may sound corny, but Livestrong fits me fine.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:03 PM | Permalink
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

Let's do Tony! Tony, Tony, Fo-fony, Banana-fana-fofony, Fi Fi Mo Mony, TONY!

Laura, that one's for you.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:42 AM | Permalink
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

Here are the numbers, a sober and powerful counter-argument to any declaration that the recession is long over and good times are back for everyone. Poverty is up in the United States for the third consecutive year, the Census Bureau says, with 40 million people now afflicted. Median household income is stagnant at a little more than $43,000 a year. That, after three years of decline and still lower than it was in 1999. And the number of Americans without medical insurance is up, too, as it has been each year since 2001, to 45 million.

The President will tell people this:

"Because we acted, our economy since last summer has grown at a rate as fast as any in nearly 20 years," Mr. Bush said Thursday. "Since last August, we've added approximately 1.5 million new jobs."

What he won't say is that there are fewer jobs since he took office, the surplus he inherited is now a gargantuan deficit, and his lack of environmental and fiscal discipline has created problems that will take a generation to undo. And, btw, what's wrong with legalizing marriage between same-sex partners?

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:38 AM | Permalink
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

The warning is not from the chief economist of the London-based Standard Chartered Bank, who spoke early this year of a crisis similar to that which befell Argentina, but from 11 faculty members at the University of the Philippines School of Economics.

The UP economists themselves are not ruling out a Philippine crisis similar to that experienced by the Latin American country.

Argentina defaulted on its $88-billion debt in 2002, causing its currency to plunge, inflation to pick up, output to collapse and riots to break out in the streets. Political chaos ensued as a succession of presidents assumed office briefly.

Why so:

They noted that the national government's total debt stood at P3.36 trillion as of the end of 2003, or equivalent to 78 percent of the gross domestic product. The public sector debt, which includes the obligations of government-owned and controlled corporations, rises to more than 130 percent of GDP, the total value of goods produced and services rendered in the country.

The government expects a budget deficit of about P200 billion this year.

They said falling revenue and tax efforts were the main reason for the worsening deficit picture since 1997. The tax effort fell from a high of 17 percent of GDP in 1997 to only 12.5 percent by 2003.

In simple terms, we will generate more debt than income. And the government cannot operate on that. The economists recommend stringent measures, and more taxes.

My peso savings need to be moved -- I'm not betting on a turnaround, seeing that it will "require unprecedented cooperation and openness" (something foreign to policymakers in the country). Maybe living in Philly isn't all that bad.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:00 PM | Permalink
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

Scour the internet. You will not find a better hourly rate for performance ice cream eating anywhere in the contiguous United States as far as I am aware.

Here's the ad.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 05:40 PM | Permalink
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

Meanwhile, Johnny Depp is rumored to come in and play Lex Luthor with Scarlett Johansson as Lois Lane. Who will be the Man of Steel? Maybe a new unknown. They should give Kristin Kreuk a cameo just for the heck of it.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:44 PM | Permalink
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

"There's a principle of advertising that if you want to talk to a certain group, it's best to pick someone from that group," said Morris , whose documentary on former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, The Fog of War , won a 2003 Oscar. "If you want to talk to Republicans on the fence, then it's best to talk to Republicans who are on the fence. These are real people who are expressing themselves in their own words."

Read about it here. One of the famous switchers, Ellen Feiss, is here, whose Dad's PC ate her homework.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 01:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

All told, this book kept a rivetting pace, and unlike some of the writeups I've read, I did like the ending. There were of course far stretches of the imagination, as with most works of fiction, but the joy is in negotiating what is fact and fiction. To a large extent, this is what is so appealing with this novel: There are high-level conspiracies, secret personas, gruesome murders, french snootiness and sex cults -- what more could you ask for?

The quick pace did not allow you much time to get involved in the characters, which was fine, because it was indeed about the story. There's a sense of Spooky Mulder and Scully here, where two seemingly complete strangers are chasing down the supernatural, with sleeplessness and sexual tension thrown in for good measure.

And I did get this feeling that I was reading Umberto Eco Lite, a kind of Pendulum meets Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, complete with the surprise identity revelation at the end. Some of the clues were a bit ridiculous, not to mention how stumped a Harvard historian and an Oxford Knight could get. C'mon, I picked out "SOFIA" and "APPLE" off the bat! At any rate, I didn't recognize the Fibonacci sequence, but then again I wasn't good at math.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:27 AM | Permalink
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

Unfortunately, the system works like an ATM, and it will deactivate my account after having tried three different passwords. On the website it says:

Once you are connected, simply request for your User Id or password reset. You will be transferred to an Internet Banking officer who will assist you in your password reset

So I tried calling BPI's 1-866 number and got passed from one person to another. My first try, the Internet Banking Officer was engaged in another call and they asked me to wait 10 minutes. TEN MINUTES?!?!? Okay, so I called again the next day and here are the highlights:

I gave them accurately my full name, my address, my email address, my spouse's name, the proper account number, my mother's maiden name, my birthday, the branch we opened it with, and every wretched sordid detail she asked for except, EXCEPT, the actual balance.

I countered: Well, let's see, isn't it plain to say that the reason why I'm accessing my account is to find that out exactly?

Her: Yes, sir, but we need the actual amount.

Me: Well, let me see, maybe it's around [number]

Her: Sorry sir, but that's not the exact amount.

Me: (steaming) If you noticed, I haven't accessed my account in about 9 weeks. Would you reasonably expect me to remember, down to the decimal point, the amount I have in there, one of many accounts I have?

Her: Sorry, but we do need the amount. I can give you the number of the branch...

Me: I'm calling the branch? Then what?

Her: They will give you the amount, then call us back so that we can change your password?

Me: What? I can't do it in one go?

Her: No sir, it's our policy.

Me: Let me get this right, I have everything you need, except the actual amount. How many people do you know out there are INTIMATELY AWARE of how much money they have? I've given you a figure, give or take a thousand. You can't help me at all?

Her: Sir, I'm sorry sir, but that's our policy.

Me: (shaking my head in disbelief) I can't believe that you're telling me the only way I can get to my account, despite my full and accurate description of every other detail surrounding it, is that I need to know the actual balance. Don't you find that riduculous at all?

Her: Silence.

Me: Do YOU know the actual amount you have in your account?

Her: Yes, sir. I do.

Me: (surprised, but equal to the challenge). Okay, but when was the last time you saw your balance?

Her: Yesterday, sir.

Me: Well, there you go.

Her: Sir, I can give you the number of the branch. But you would have to call them later at 9 AM.

Me: Thanks, but you've been nothing but helpful.

Happy place, happy place, happy place.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

Me: So what was that address again?

Her: it's ****73@verizon.net

Me: Hmmm... mind if I ask you what "73" stands for?

Her: No, not at all. It was the year I was born.

Me: (turning to her) Really, and what month was that on?

Her: (smiling at me) January, why?

Me: (Slightly unlocking my jaw) January what now?

Her: (teeth) 11... January 11, 1973

Me: Okay, that's just crazy.

We found out we were born just hours apart. Completely awed, we started talking about our peeves, our hangups, our favorite colors, The Cure, Morrissey, and how, for some reason, we both ended up as bottomfeeding graphic designers.

It's almost as strange as meeting someone with the same name you have, she said. I said, I know how that feels, and it's hardly strange at all.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

And, needless to say, it looks like I'm helping her out. Nothing like hearing her say she's over the panic now. Following that small successful encounter, I've yet again answered an ad for one-on-one tutoring, this time for Photoshop.

Short, easy and oh so tax free.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:35 PM | Permalink
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

Lately, I've been thinking (and blogging) about my new and unused names, borne by the fact that I now have assumed new roles and that I am in fact and for the most part now a role model for my students. Students and other faculty call me "Benito", but when the 3:52 bus driver referred to me as "schoolteacher", I knew I had arrived.

What's been on my centerscreen -- and some of you might get this here in the U.S. -- is how "young" I look. I am not young at all, 31 to be exact. But everyone, teachers, students, staff and, yes, bus drivers, would assume that I was a student and would quickly make comments, best captured in the words of another bus driver, that I was "awfully young" to be one. That borders on discrimination, but that's from a bus driver.

As pleasant as the idea of being considered "young" sounds, it has its true merits with establishing rapport with the students. The students warm up to me like I was "straight and cool" with them, for sure. My boss tells me that that's exactly what he was hoping for, since, among other things, I came in as a replacement for someone whose legacy far outstrips mine and whose methods are too evolved for the students to grasp. That's a lot of words for saying that he was probably too old, or that the students were too young. Either way, my appearance, with my short-cropped hair and dark-colored shirts -- whatever it is -- is right on the money.

Whether all of this improves the learning remains a question. How is authority and credibility affected by all this appearance business? Maybe little, since their tests and projects have shown me that I seem to have taught them a good deal. And, having taught for three weeks, I've come to notice that students will not fear me, which I never wanted. They won't heed to a stern and authoritative voice, which I have and never will possess (I have what I believe to be a Matthew Broderick meets Chris Rock timbre). Instead, they have given me the most important key to a productive teacher-student relationship: respect. And that's all I need.

In the meantime, let me bask on my newfound "youth". I was fixing my tie in the men's bathroom and a student walks in and asks, "You got an interview?" I respond, "No, I have a class." I begin to smile, almost predicting his reply: "Why do you need to wear a tie in class?" I said, "Oh, I teach it." He said, backing up a bit, "Oh, sorry... I'm sorry. I didn't know you were a teacher." I made like Christopher Walken walking away from the set: "That's cool."

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon

(Warning: non-football fans will get bored)

In what to me can only be described as a "dream come true" I had the chance to watch two of the top clubs in the world play a pre-season exhibition game (read: tune-up) at the Lincoln Financial Field here in Philly.

The pitch was perfect (if it was a Cheesesteak sandwich, it would be gristle-free) and at a balmy 85F, the weather brought out the best of the hotheads in the 35,000 or so at the Linc. (Only in Philly would you hear the crowd chant in unison "aaaa**hole" when a guy refused to return a wayward ball.)

Watching the players warmup was not only rare, it was important: having ponied 50 bucks to see the game, me and my buddy were quite prepared to be disappointed at the possibility of both squads not starting their first team. Would we see any superstars at all? If we won't, then would we actually see any goals?

And at the warmup, one by one the superstars trickled in. Yay! Stretching and sprinting were Chelsea's Gudjohnsen, Didier Drogba (man mountain from the Ivory Coast), Damien Duff, Claude Makelele, Hernan Crespo and Frank Lampard. Then AC Milan hit the field: Costacurta, Maldini, Kaka, Cudicini, Cafu and the peerless Andriy Shevchenko. Not only are the two managers fielding their best players, we'd see goals for sure.

Five goals, to be exact, and one that was called the goal of the tournament, with Cafu drilling in a deafening volley from the right edge of the penalty box. It would have torn Chelsea keeper Cudicini's gloves had he managed to even get to the ball. We saw Drogba rising for a spectacular header, and a feather-flicked goal from the wily Gudjohnsen. But most memorable was Shevchenko's free kick from way out that darted to the far end of the net -- a thunderous Chelsea killer.

All in all, it would be hard for me to find an experience of equal magnitude (maybe if I saw R.E.M.). Not only had it always been my dream (I know that sounds really corny, but it is) to see two top clubs play, but for me to see them share 5 goals having traveled only 15 minutes from where I live makes it even more sweet. If only I had the 85 bucks to pick up that Chelsea shirt. Maybe next time they're in town.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 11:27 AM | Permalink
del.icio.us Digg it Furl ma.gnolia Newsvine reddit Google StumbleUpon