Quick hits, June 29, 2008

So, in my next installmen of Quick Hits, I go ahead and disseminate.

"Fresno State: We Feel Good!"



Congratulations to Fresno State. They earned their first-ever title in school history routing Georgia 6-1 tonight. The real miracle will be if the NCAA does not pull off a Joe Arpaio and strip them of their title after some anonymous, pro-Georgia [sic?] whistleblower [who is putting his credibility on the line (talk about high-risk, high-reward)] discovers some serious rules violations regarding the team.

(By the way, for those of you wondering, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is this old guy from Arizona, about John McCain's age, give or take a few months/years, who is more skilled at grandstanding/building up kick-ass PR to keep himself in office, till he is shot by undocumented alien from the galaxy next door or dies of old age, than what he REALLY should be doing, a.k.a. what he used to do better at, which is law enforcement.)

Now, I will be honest with you bloggers who follow college sports. I don't wish these sorts of things to teams that have worked hard, only to see the NCAA rob them of their hard work because someone broke the rules (i.e. eligibility, bribes, inappropriate booster conduct, etc.). But this hasn't been unprecedented. Hawaii and Lewis cheated in men's volleyball. My university men's hoops team doctored the transcripts, leading to stripping their conference title. And I would think there are other times when this has happened at this level.

So cheers to Fresno, but the biggest miracle that would make this a miracle season would be the NCAA laying off the Sheriff Joe, and the Divsion I Committee on Infractions not making any plans to visit Fresno in the near future, if ever.

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"David Diaz's career is going downhill...or is it downwind?"


The Chicago Cubs will not win the World Series because of Dangerous David Diaz. If it DOES happen, it is in SPITE of him.

Tonight, the Pac-Man, Manny Pacquiao, fuilfilled the prediction that he would take down Diaz in 9 rounds. And that is what he did. 2:24 into the 9th at the Mandalay Bay.

I, Bongaboi officially recant my statement of Diaz getting any respite from this fight, let along winning it. His career is going downhill from here, and I will be surprised if he wants a rematch.

It's not just Diaz, though. The whole of Chicago got the wind knocked out of them. Literally.

Bloody hell.


Shouldn't you earn your badge instead of having it given to your as a present?

Shaq kicked off sheriff's 'posse' for freestyle



This makes you wonder why law enforcement officials even bother making badges for people who DON'T have a career in it in the first place. Waste of money. Bloody hell.

Even America's [Self-Proclaimed] Toughest Sheriff should have known better to give a badge to someone who makes a living playing in the NBA. Make note, all you other sheriffs in the U.S.A. and elsewhere: Never give a badge to someone who doesn't need it.

Of hags, shorties, and cholos...and ampersands!?

It's an interesting turn of events I had today. As I went off for some more Anime Expo Staff debriefings, I passed by some chairs being set up in front of the Juanita Millender-McDonald Community Center. down at Admiral Kidd Park. The dedication ceremony was today.

A old hag, perhaps drugged, HIV-positive, divorced many times over and asking to be arrested for public disturbance bumped into one of my fellow staff members at the Haskett Library. Seriously, out of all the places she would pick a fight with...why the bloody hell would she pick the local library? There are people who suffer brain explosions, and there are people who are acting like their brain already went to smithereens a long-ass time ago.

Could you believe that?

After my second orientation at the SPJA Office, where we did some arts and crafts for the room we would be distributing the passes at, I passed by some rap fans asking for what I got in my backpack, It was zipped tight. I said, "I don't have anything to give you. Quit asking me, punks."

That's when I found out that the Honda Center was throwing a concert called Powerhouse. It was the showcase event sponsored by Power 106, the local hip-hop radio station. Long lines of cars, and parking signs all around. I just shook my head. This was the type of place where I could be blasted by someone I don't know, and wouldn't want to know.

I passed by the archetypical group of rap concert-goers, consisting of a girl (also know as a "shorty") with five other guys taller than her. Out of my way, crew. I got to the bus stop near a gas station. A couple of poor cholos said, "Hey, do you have five dollars? We need it for gas." I replied, "That's why I use public transportation. I don't have anything to give you."

And even if I did, well; it would be going to spending at AX anyway. The bus came, and I was able to get the hell outta there in a hurry.

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Hmph. Cue the cross vein of anger.

On the new banner, a seminar, and incorrigible judgment by numbers

Before I go to the topic of the entry, I wanted to point out who is now on my banner on the Bedlam as of this date and time posted. This is Ryoko Ninomiya, from Our Condolences, Ninomiya-kun. She is someone that is busy on a mercenary mission, skilled in defense, and is a playful flirt, so to speak. My type of person.

Now, on to the entry.

---

I was a bit bummed when I found out that one of my flash disks had fried. In the searing heat of summer, and my desktop getting bogged down, it had a supplemental piece of writing critical to the application process at USC. After settling down, I was able to recreate it out of plain memory, and back it up via GMail at my work. Whew.

Speaking of work, I took a detour up to Downtown LA (Again, you ask? Well, at the Open House, I filled out a form, and I fulfilled my promise to myself) to attend a seminar.

There's nothing wrong with being a cynic, so long as you stick to what your viewpoints are because cynics have been through many roads before. Salty and cynical are synonyms, the former being informal, the latter being the word I am discussin in this paragraph.

Dr. David Pahl of the University of Southern California (yep, here we go again) is an example of a cynic. He describes himself as one, so for the sake of his entry, we'll take his word for it. Anyway, Dr. Pahl gave a lecture of the Trojan way of approaching cover letters, resumes, and the interviews. Here's a few points highlighted at the seminar.


  • On a resume objectives are optional unless you are going through a career change.
    An oral history is critical in an interview because if you know it, you can find ways to put it in, whether at the beginning, or in pieces of your answers to the questions.

  • Relevance to the resume is key. Put anything that has relevance to your objective on there. If it spans two pages, place the ones that really matter at the front, anf the ones that don't matter as much but are still relevant at the back.
    Don't worry about the competition. Have the mindset that you better than they are, and the outcome is what it is.

  • An interview should be, essentially, a conversation.

  • If being aggressive in the last part of your cover letter is your cup of tea, do so. You will never know who will accept it or be intimidated to throw it out the you-know-what.

  • In terms of illegal questions, you've got options. Options was something Dr. Pahl stressed. You can innocently answer the question, deflect it back to the position, or tell them that it was an illegal question flat-out. After the interviews, you can decide for yourself if what they weren't supposed to ask determined whether you should work for them or not.



Dr. Pahl also talked about a scenario where appearance ruined an opportunity to land a big-time position. As I heard the spiel, I grinned to my fellow attendee sitting next to me, saying, "i know where this is going."

---

After the seminar, I took the Blue Line back home. I tried something different: balancing on the platform as the train was in motion. The ride overall was smooth. And I even burned some calories from the ordeal.

A few interested high school youths talked with me about why I was doing it. One of them was keen enough to take a video of it on his cell-phone. Half of the crew were from Compton, the others from the armspits of Central Long Beach.

One of them even asked if I had graduated or something. Now, I can't blame her for thinking that I was a high school student. She even thought that I was kidding that I was applying for grad work, or the fact that I am putting my Bachelor's to use. Perhaps the appearance and my easy demeanor threw them off.

One of the fat chicks of that posse blurted out some tough-girl comments. I said, "Say that again? I couldn't hear you." She didn't answer. I nodded. "Keep you mouth shut, then."

I added, "I don't want the attention, and I am not here to pick a fight with you kids. I just want to go home. You'd best be careful when saying that stuff. It rolls off my back, and it goes in one ear and out the other. But it may not be the same for someone else."

The train hit Del Amo. "My stop. Enjoy getting handcuffed, ladies. Later."

So in short, these were the types of youth who could use a little taste of what my employers had to offer. Whether or not that happens is not something I should care about.

These were kids who reached a point in their lives where they think they are tough enough in word and deed, that they don't need anybody to correct them. Incorrigible was the term. It was even discussed by some of the folks at my work, the saltiest bunch of cynics that I have the pleasure to interning for.

"You are better than they are. The outcome is what it is. You can only control what you can control."

Right on the spot, Dr. Pahl.

    Of peanut-jelly butties, trolls, plastics, and civil wurst

    At least the Celtics didn't win it on OUR home court. Hit the weight rooms and gorge on some peanut-jelly butties, Lakers. You guys didn't deserve to go anywhere this season. It has been a rough year for you guys, and it will be more of the same if you can't get that bad taste in your mouth.

    =--

    David Diaz is going to trounce Manny. If he doesn't, his career is going to go downhill from there. Two guarantees for the price of one. How about that.

    ---

    So gay marriages began their first day of being in business today in California. I am going to predict that the gay marriage supporters will vote for Obama, and those who prefer to be straight, senile, and expect to see their sons and sons and sons in boxes with tears behind those sunglasses in the summer will vote for McCain.

    Duh. It's John McCain, people. The GOP guy. The people that the people in the Bible Belt, Alaska, Texas and the Deep South will vote for. And it's Barack Obama. The Democrat I voted for on Super Tuesday. The guy that will win the White House if America is to go in the right direction.

    IF the measure to ban gay marriages passes, McCain will win the election. Mercy.

    ---

    Speaking of election, I haven't heard much from Zimbabwe on that runoff between the Ape and Morgan. Dear God: please give us an assasination on Morgan so that the last battle for mankind in the wasteland that is Mugabestan, the Zimbabwean Civil War, is up and running. Put that in you history books, mofos!

    Ahahahahaaaah!

    ---

    Bonga-FACT: TV Networks are paid millions of dollars to be unoriginal in their commentary. Cliches, pretentiousness, and truly American predicatable yawnbers.

    Meanwhile, overpaid amateur scribes called sports journalists who are indoctrined in writing pretentious stream-of-consciousness vignettes called articles are paid peanuts. And when they are able to find someone or some random team that had the worst performance of his/her/their season, it's all fair game.

    Thank god for bloggers. These guys are the real shih tzus.

    ---

    Even when the outcome is decided, the folks on KNBC still show commercial for Lakers playoff tickets. Flat-out more laughable than the Boston Three Party going on tonight.

    ---

    I don't think the Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl this season. Somehow I am getting the gut feeling to tell out "GO GIANTS!"

    ---

    A couple more weeks and Anime Expo 2008 is on. Whoa.

    A great day for footballing

    As I continued my search for work, and harvested some cans and bottles for the next recycling run, I tuned in to the radio and the YouTube for some soccer. All in all, in spite of futility by the Angels and Sparks, as well as Tiger walking the line at Torrey Pines...it was a good day for the teams I followed.

    Well, most of the teams.

    Coburg United, against was able to outlast my boys from the Australian Institute of Sport in a 4-3 goal feast. Actually, that was not the only feast of goals today.

    Down in Doha, Qatar was ambushed by the likes of Brett Emerton and Harry Kewell in a 3-1 win. Toronto FC was unstoppable against the Colorado Rapids in a 3-1 victory. My Los Angeles Galaxy had ice water in their veins, as Edson Buddle took down the San Jose Earthquakes at the MCAfee Coliseum, 3-0. And Japan shut out Thailand by the same score, via Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Yuiji Nakazawa and Kengo Nakamura.

    I think the icing on the cake would be tomorrow. Barbados getting crunched early and often by the USA in what is slated to be a farce of a game...now that would hit the spot. So what if Boston is ready to squeeze all the jizz out of the Lakers on Sunday Bloody Sunday? Go right ahead! Fornicate with the Larry O'Brien Trophy!

    As for me, I'll stick to the football.

    More quick hits: Friday the 13th

    Friday the 13th: Some people have it worse.

    If hearing that the Lakers "wet the bed" in huge c**-piles last night against the Celtics wasn't bad enough, I think that I have to put this version of Friday the 13th in perspective: some people have it worse than me. Sure, I inadvertently ripped a $5 bill in half and snapped open the cap of a bottle of Clairol Herbal Essences due to a lack of iron and vitamins that improve your balance and hand-eye coordination, but this Friday the 13th was one that saw some people have it worse.

    ---

    Poor Tim Russert. If there was any worse a day to pass away, it's due to collapsing before an episode of Meet The Press on Friday the 13th. Not only that, he was only in his late 50's. It's a huge shame when I heard the news from KFWB News 980.

    Rest in peace, noble newscaster.

    ---

    Men and women of Tucker Elementary, it's not your fault that your school closed. A meaningless war in a land far away and the cause's support of a leader of a once-free world resulted in closed schools, grim budgets, and lives and livelihoods lost in the dusts of history, the winds of change.

    This is a year of huge changes, of restructured groups and economies slowing down to a recession-style halt. Education used to be the weapon to transform lives. Now it is war that is the alternative, and a vain alternative at that.

    ---

    Barring a miracle, the Celtics of Bostonia are due to deliver their first trophy in over two decades. The Socceroos are one victory away from advancing to the next stage of qualifying for the World Cup, and the US Soccer MNT is less than two days away from slicing and dicing the Bajans to shreds. Suddenly, with summer here, the talk of football season (American football, that is) and women's volleyball pervades, and the countdown to the conventions (Anime Expo, the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, among a few) is in full swing.

    ---

    As for me, I am staying at home, hoping to avoid any bad things coming my way.

    ---

    Quick hits, June 12, 2008

    Rest in peace, Jim Gray. 86 years, and countless memories. Well done. We hope to see you again...one day. Till then...we will miss you.

    ---

    So, I find out, in between the Socceroos prepare to trump Jorge Fossati's plans yet again down in Doha, stabbing rampages who want blood (and got it), planning for yet another visit to USC as a grad student, and the Galaxy rebuilding from scratch, that sandwiched between a couple of NBA Finals ties at Staples Center is a Sparks game. The ladies were at home to face the Detroit Shock, a team that, with their ace Cheryl Ford, had given us problems, especially when we faced them in the WNBA Championship Game/Series.

    They didn't give us any problems this time. 80-73 victory over Detroit. Now, if only Boston had a women's team...

    ---

    Rick Dutrow: "I feel like a loser."

    Advice: Abstain from listening to the Beatles and Beck Hansen. And I'll tell you why Big Brown finished last. He pulled off a Cincinnatus on you. See, he doesn't want the glory of following Seattle Slew and Affirmed. He's gonna go his own way. Big Brown doesn't need the attention. In the end, Big Brown decided to go in a different direction. He doesn't believe that he should make history. He's a horse with humility as well.

    And I knew this was coming all along. Admit it. You're not a loser. Denying the inevitable just made you feel like one.

    ---

    I believe that L.A. does not have the divine right to finish second to anyone. I just found out that the Clipper Spirit Dance Team finished second to the Miami Heat. Ugh. Boston rebounding in the series with the Lakers would make it a clean Eastern sweep, for sure.

    ---

    I am so glad I am staying away from Blair Field. The Armada are playing some uninspired ball at the moment. While it puts our futility against teams like Fresno State and San Diego in perspective, one would think that with some early blowouts to begin the year, the guys would be running the table in the South.

    You wish.

    ---

    Speaking of wishes, I wish for more yuri. I don't know why. I just think that young high school women making each with each other and loving it is a stimulus package that has been tried and true. Same with yaoi for the OLs and hags in the throes of menopause. It's THAT effective.

    Don't believe me? Get some and boost your hormonal libi-er, leverage. I mean it. No, seriously.

    ---

    My eyes have gone bleary again. Aghh.

    June 7, 2008

    From TOW Horse Racing:

    Da’Tara is one of the longshots on the board for the Belmont Stakes but it wouldn’t be the first time a Nick Zito trained horse shocked the racing world.

    Back in 2004, Zito-trained Birdstone shocked Smarty Jones here in the Belmont Stakes to end that horse's Triple Crown bid.

    This horse is generally the front runner early on and has had issues maintaining his early momentum when crunch time came near the end, but he seemed to buck that trend in his last race. 

    His speed figures continue to improve and he did well by holding on for a second place finish behind Roman Emperor. 

    There are some positives in the bloodline with Da’Tara showing good stamina in longer races due to his father Tiznow, a former Horse of the Year winner. 

    If he can maintain his early pace, it won’t be easy for the other horses that hope to come from behind.

    Big Brown has gone toe-to-toe with Da’Tara in the past but it wasn’t much of a competition as Brown finished 23 lengths ahead in the Florida Derby. 

    With that being said, that was easily the worst speed figure in recent history and this horse has ran well on this track before, getting second place in his racing debut.

    You never know what’s going to happen in horse racing and with so many strong finishers in the group, and all it would take for Da’Tara to get his shot at glory would be some bumping of the horses that will likely be clumped behind him. 

    I’ve seen much weirder things happen in races and with Zito already showing he has what it takes to pull off a miracle, you just can’t count out this colt.