Thinking Out Loud: Going Beyond Excellence

I said I’d write a lot more about this, and here I am, writing about it, a month or so later. I imagine writing this as some sort of speech (because if you don’t notice, I have a thing for public speaking) but since I don’t really have a live audience, I decided to just put it up here in my blog.

I’d like to start this by once again saying thank you. Thank you to our Lord for this blessing, thank you to the agency for the recognition.

This award may say a lot of different things, but most common of them all probably is “You were excellent during this quarter.”

Me.

Excellent.

This Quarter.

But I think it goes beyond that.

On Deck: My Gilas Pilipinas 4.0

BAKIT?

PUSO.

For the second straight FIBA Asia Championship, the Philippines has finished second. That is impressive, really it is, even if we again fell short of our ultimate goal. For perspective, before these back-to-back silver finishes, our last podium finish was way back in 1985 when we won the gold. Between 1985 and 2015, our highest finishes were 4th (1987), 4th (2011 - Gilas 1.0), and 2nd (2013 - Gilas 2.0). So at the very least, we can say that the Philippines is competitive again and is back as one of the beasts of Asia. I can firmly say that we are (at least) the 3rd best team in Asia, probably closing in on Iran as the 2nd best.

That being said, I refuse to say that we won the silver medal because what happened was we lost the gold. Eyes on the prize all the time! As a friend put it, "Di naman sa maangas tayo, pero nakakasawa na ang silver at bronze. Kaya naman kasi kung tutuusin eh."

I honestly feel we are on the cusp of the next golden age of PH-International Basketball. The national team program is revived (and hopefully keeps on getting stronger), public awareness and engagement has been on an all-time high compared to years passed, and the skills of our players are on the uprise. 

With the Olympic Qualifiers as well as future FIBA Asia tournaments coming up, I will talk about my ideal Gilas Pilipinas 4.0 line up in this post. I'm sure that all of you have your own ideas, so you are welcome to both agree and disagree. But before going to the line-up, let's state the assumptions for this line up.

Bus Window Reflections 09/17/15: On The Road

Well, guess who's back?

First of all, I'd like to say sorry for not updating this blog for AGES! Been busy lately with a lot of stuff. Career, school, you know, the stuff. Anyway, here's a quick BWR post. Here's hoping I could make posting here a lot more frequent in the future.

1.) Double-Decker Bus! So I've read this article, and while I have yet to process it, I was left thinking, "Hey, why haven't this suggestion gained much traction?" I know there is probably some negatives to it that I have yet to see, so kindly point it out it the comments. But I do think it is a good idea. No, it won't solve the traffic problems of the metro on its own, but it would help. I likewise think decongestion of the metro, strict implementation of rules, and a better transit system are steps toward the right direction.

And look, we've had double-decker busses in the past!

2.) So Sen. Grace Poe announced her plans for the 2016 Presidential Election. I have yet to read (see, told you I'm busy) the whole speech, but what I remembered was her saying something to the effect of "Walang monopolyo ang sinuman sa Tuwid na Daan."

While I'm not yet decided on who to vote for in 2016, and while I'm not exactly a supporter of the "Tuwid na Daan" (the program, not the idea. Who doesn't want a corrupt free society?), I agree with Sen. Poe. I dislike it when one person or group of persons think that they are the only good people; that they are the only possible solution and that what everyone else is doing is detrimental to the society. Sure, go ahead and think you are better, but not to the point of discrediting others. This is very rampant in the politics in our country today. I mean, when have you seen a new president continue a project of their predecessor, even if said project is good and working?

What that tells me is that they are much more concern for themselves than their constituents.

3.) So, I was originally planning to put this next idea up as a post on its own, but I don't know if I can. Instead, let me go on and say it here. A part of me wants to experience how to be a Radio DJ. Then I'd have a segment called:

(a) 90 of 90s - 90 minutes of the best of the 90s
(b) Radioke - where we would be playing the songs we often here during videoke sessions
(c) Silver Screen Sounds - tracks from motion pictures, with trivias about the movies
(d) a yet unnamed OPM segment - pure OPM goodness. To add value, we'd talk about trivias and stuff about OPM songs, artists, albums, etc. If I were a big time Radio DJ, I'd even invite OPM artists as guests once a week. Two weeks dedicated for those that have made it already, then another two weeks for those on the rise.


4.) I am somewhat fond of making jersey designs. Here is a sample of one of my designs for our agency's basketball team.

Yes, yes, I know. I won't be designing for any pro team soon, but I just like doing stuff like that. Shows my love for the sport, I guess.


...and to end this post, holy crap can you believe that it is already just 99 days to go until Christmas? It doesn't feel like 265 days have passed since last years Christmas (and likewise, we are already halfway pass September. Time really does fly). So since the Christmas season is upon us, or I guess started since we Filipinos do celebrate four months of Christmas, I'd be leaving you with a part of the song Fruitcake by my favorite band, The Eraserheads. Let me say that these lines are just perfect.

"It's the season for being happy,

but the reason is dead and gone

if the reason for being happy,

takes a backseat when the season is done."

Thinking Out Loud: Five, five, and Twenty.

" Remember the Kuroda Equation:

5 starts when everything works

5 starts when nothing works

20 starts where it is up to you."

    The above so-called Kuroda Equation refers to starts by pitchers in baseball. Basically, it says that there would be games where you have your best stuff and the opponents have no chance and they just need to tip their hat to you, then there would be games when nothing works for you, and then the rest of the games where you have to figure out what you have and don't have, and work with that knowledge. 

   Translating it to real life, there would be days when you feel like you are on the top of the world, and then there would be days where you feel like the whole world is shitting on you. But, and this is the important part, majority of the days would depend on you (hence, 5-5-20). Will you be a winner today or a loser? Will you be happy or sad? Successful or not? 

   It all depends on you. Because while there might be good or bad days brought upon by external factors, like luck, coincidence, and the like, a big chunk of your days success rests upon your shoulders.

   So, will you be a winner or a loser today? The choice is up to you.

On Deck: 1st round's Coming Up!

It's that time of the year once again. 

Eighty two games are done, and we've seen break out performances, disappointing seasons, unfortunate injuries, eye popping stats, and all kind of wacky things. Now it's time for things to get more serious. 

Each NBA's team goal is to win the NBA championship (except maybe if you are the 76ers). And now for the next couple of weeks, the whole world would be focused on the last sixteen teams standing. As of yesterday, the playoff match ups were finalized, as seen below:

Let's look at each of the match ups, starting with the Western Conference, and then I'll give my thoughts and who I think would advance to the second round. Let's get it on!

Bus Window Reflections 04/13/14: Burn Baby Burn

And I'm back! Pardon my two-or-so-weeks hiatus, things got a little busy in the non-blog world. Now that I'm back, let's kick this off with a little BWR!

1.) First off, let's get this out of the way early on, the heat is UNBEARABLE. It's not just uncomfortable heat, it's heat that feels like it is sapping away your energy, draining away every last bit of enthusiasm in your body. I hate this kind of heat. It's not good. No, no, no, it's not.

2.) That being said, a little bit of sun didn't hurt anyone. So once this heat becomes more manageable, well, I'll let Sandwich tell you what I want to do:

3.) Speaking of beach, time to get a beach body eh? I'm not overly fat or anything like that, in fact, my BMI says that i'm within the normal range, but still, that won't stop me from being more physically fit. It's not like I need to have abs or a sculpted body, I just need to get rid of this excess fat in my belly. GO AWAY FATS!

4.) Been catching up with some friends over the past couple of days, and a lot of those talks (and this was unintentional) included a bit about relationships and time management. I think I will write a TOL post about this in the near future, but just a quick preview: I read a study a few years ago that says that when someone gets into a relationship, it is guaranteed that they "lose" a few friends. The bottom line? Time is a limited resource, and we must learn to understand that.

5.) I'm a big fan of the series Scrubs. It played back in the mid to late 2000s, and if you can find a way to watch it, go! It has my highest recommendations. Anyway, one of the things I loved the most about that series is that it has a lot of great quotes. So many in fact, that I forgot even some of the best! So I'll end this one with a quote from Scrubs, by a character named Dr. Bob Kelso:

"If there is one thing I have learned it is that you can’t schedule love."

Rewind: Girl Power!

Good day everyone, and welcome to yet again another edition of Rewind, where we talk about music and everything related to it!

As you may have noticed, I love OPM so much. Most of my musical influences comes from OPM. And just a few days ago, I came up with a hypothetical album and today, we make another one. Last time we dealt with numbers in song titles, this time, we go with the sweet sweet voice of our lovely OPM ladies.

Don't get the wrong idea though, these ladies can rock some serious tunes! So just like before, let's set some ground rules:

1.) There should only be a minimum of eight (8) songs and a maximum of 16 songs in this album.
2.) To have a diverse album, each artist can only have a maximum of three (3) songs in this album.
3.) Only one version of each song could be included in the album.
4.) The lead singer should be a female. If she has a male co-lead singer, or the song featured a male artist, that is fine.

So now that we have got that out of the way, let's start the fun!

As usual, it all begins after the jump.