middle kingdom

i'm in hong kong public library right now, using their excellent free internet service. i've been away from home since 26/12/04. In case you didn't know, i've been on a tour backpacking throughout china. the cities i've been to are beijing, xi'an and shanghai. i have to say that travelling to china on this intrepid tour has been are very cool experience. china is an awesome place, full of things to do, and of course full of FOBS.

City to city breakdown

beijing - the capital

beijing is friggin freezing. when i went out the first day, i was wearing some jeans and three layers of clothing and the coldness just killed me. i couldn't believe how cold it was, it makes your teeth clatter, and your hands numb. there's snow and ice around but its the dry wind that cuts you up.

we stayed near beijing train station, in the center of town, which was close to everything. my impression of beijing is that there are some cool things to do (touristy) but its pretty bland. i went to the temple of heaven and saw massive temples, and buddas. then tim and i went to the summer palace, and walked around for like ages, until we decided to cross this frozen lake which went for kilometres.

i also visited the silk markets (sorta like paddy's market, but selling more clothes). Prices are like fully negotiable. the rule of thumb is pay one quarter. its like a game when your in the markets. they start way high, you start way low. you make an offer, then walk away for 4 secounds, then the shopkeepr chases after you and agrees.

going to tinanmen square was also cool. the forbidden palace is behind this massive wall, and its the place where only the nobles could go...or if you pay the entry fee you can also get in. i just can;t believe the size of this place and all the palace buildings inside. this emperor who build this also buit the great wall of china, and the terracotta warriors so it doens't really surprise me.

i purchased a new pair of fake timberland shoes and i decided to break them in whilst walking along the great wall of china. hmmmmmm..prolly not the smartest thing to do and my feet were all blistered afterwards. aside from that, the wall is insipiring. it stretches for as far as the eye can see. guess what they used to hold the wall togeher..as in the glue/cement stuff? it was chinese goosebeeries....more commonly known as KIWI FRUIT! i'll never look at thtat fruit the same way again. btw flying down from the chinese wall to the base of the mountain (which is normally like a one -two hour walk or so) on a toboggan was fun!

Xi'an - small but eventful

this is a city famed for one attraction - the terracotta warriors. there were literally like thousands of them - up to ten thousand that have been discovered, all in perfect battle formation, each with individual faces, in life size, in battle poses with horses and weapons (that haev been destroyed). this is just an incredible feat. they also had these big ass drum tower which we visited, with the biggest drums you'll ever see. had a nice foot massage in xian too!

xi'an is a very cool place. it a city surrounded by a city wall...sorta like a fortefied city. in fact i cycled along the city wall on a crappy pink fob bike. the ground was frozen but the bikes still worked and i was doing drive by's shootings at Tim. we also saw like some kind of Fob ghetto jam session where a bunch of old people were playiing various instruments and singing.

i also saw something very shocking. in china, there's a lot of hustlers/touts. people come up to you selilng you all types of crap and usuaally you ignore them. we were out one night at the Feeling Bar and this little kid approached us trying to sell us a rose. we ignored him and walked away. so the kid walked up to some ohter dude nad tried to sell it to him. but what did this dickhead do? he karate kicked the little kid into this steel bar fence. it was like some full frontal -solar plexus- bruce lee- i think i am a big man by knocking out a five year old into a fence-kick. we were all pretty shocked and christian was protesting and i thinked a couple of us wanted to do soemthing....but we walked away. you just don;t know what to do in that kind of sitautaion.

shanghai - the future

if there ever was a definition of a booming town, it has to be shanghai. there's just a certain vibe to this place. it will be the next hong kong/tokyo, and it may even surpass that. it's just amazing at night. it's like las vegas with the flashging lights and excellent night life. you know how i said everythig was negotiable? we didn't have enough money for the bill at the bar so we had to negotiate and said like 90% of the price. try doing that in sydney.

i went on a river cruise along the huang pu jiang river and you could see two sides of shanghai . on the one side was the traditinoal old style buildings that were built by the europeans in the early 1900's. on the opposite bank of the river was the future - pudong. futuristic skyscrapers, and hundereds of buildings that were unfinished.

shanghai is the shiznit. it's the place to be ya'll. they even had the breathtaking shanghai acrobats. the stuff that they did was just freaky/backbreaking and just plain unbelievable.

i took a lot of pics so i'll upload them when i get back.

HK - honkie land

I'm currently staying with Ip, so big ups to him for the free accomodation. I really appreciate it. we supposed to see Kung Fu hustle tonite so i better get going soon. when you buy movie tickets here you can actually buy them well in adavance......i bought tix to a session at 7.30pm at 11am and i was actaully able to select my seats, kinda like when you watch a kings game.

Hk is a happening place. You can see the hustle and bustle and the street life. i went to Victoria peak today, which is the highest point. it was aiight, but not that great coz of the crappy smog which made everything beyond the first row of buildings disappear.

i really need to start eating some proper fill me up meals. i've been eating a lot of crap lately. i potentaiily had the worst meal of my life today at macca's. do not eat the beef "prosperity burger".it's gross. i think i almost threw up whilst eating.

I've written a lot to make up for the one month i was away. so enjoy !

Gotta run,

DJ HO.

StopRippingMeOff

I feel really good today. To cut a long story short, I have been battling with the Padstow Branch of the CBA. WHy? Because as a student, your not meant to get charged with $5 account keeping fee. But they chose to charge me twice until I notified them that they couldn't. So they reversed one of the charges but not the other one (which was actually charged b4 the one that was reversed). I could have ignored it, but I decided to make my complaint known.

So i went back there several times to fix it up. It wasn't about the money, it was a matter of principle. it still didn't get reversed, and my complaint was falling on deaf ears. So in my silent protest, I transferred my remaining balance out of the bank and entered the transcation as "StopRippingMeOff". This word also appeared in my bank statement. It was an awesome feeling. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!

I just feel that the service of the banks (all of them) is just appalling. I hate having to wait in a line that seems as if I'm lining up to purchase concert tickets......when in fact, all i am trying to do is deposit MY MONEY into their coffers.


he came he SAW

What words can describe the movie "SAW"? Intense. Awesome. Thriller. Horror. Scary. Bloody. Must see movie. Aussie?

All i can say I really wanted to see this movie and it delivers. Its fast paced and cut in the similar mould to Seven. Essentially the movie is about these two dudes who get trapped and chained in this industrial bathroom by some psycho called "Jigsaw". This nutcase forces them to either make choices and the two guys are forced to work together to solve the mystery of why there are there and more importantly, how they will get out of there.

DJ HO gives this movie 9 out of 10.

We Will Rock You

Buddy you’re a boy make a big noise/
Playin’ in the street gonna be a big man some day/
You got mud on yo’ face/
You big disgrace/
Kickin’ your can all over the place.

The musical "We Will Rock You" was very good and not just because I went for free! Its about the death of contempoary creative music and is set in the future (2050) when electronic music dominates. Creativity, individuality, thinking freely is out. Conformity, Obeying the all-ruling corporation is in. The play is about Gallilleo and Scarramouche, two charaters who attempt to find out who they are and rebel against the rest of society by attempting to be different. They manage to team up with the Bohemains, an underground race of rag-tag rebels who the Corporation is attempting to wipe out.

Essentially all the characters and the whole story is based around Queen Songs, and every 5 mins they break out into a Queen song. If you don't know who Queen is or their songs, it doesn't matter cause you'll still enjoy it.

I'd recommend this musical. My ticket cost about $50 and I had a seat upstairs.On the DJ HO Scale: 8 out of 10. FYI who is Queen? They are a group and they were absolutely huge in the period of 1975-1990. When I mean huge, they were like Michael Jackson in the 1990's to the power of 10.


Young Leaders XMAS Ball

All I can say is this is not what I had expected. When I walked through the entrance, I had what you could say was a bit of a shock. At the entrance were a bunch of old FOBS in their 40's, cheap balloons hanging from the ceiling, an asian band singing in Chinese to a curtain backdrop with letters stuck on. You could say it was a bit tacky. But I bit my tongue and just laughed it off cause the ball cost me $30, so i was like "what can you expect?".

But I ended up having a very very enjoyable time. It was such a fun night. We won the Trivia. We couldnt' figure out all the answers so Chris (who is very competitive) decided he badly wanted to win so he started calling up some people to get the answers. I'm sure your not meant to do that but we came first.

I think what also made it so enjoyable was the company. I think the people that your with can make any situation better. We meet these three girls (Lisa, Mimi, Dao - when are you gonna email us?), and they were just hilarious doing stuff like grabbing the balloons from the roof, sucking the helium and singing out loudly. Yes they might have drunk too much wine, but they were really fun to be with. Jacq, Chris, James (after they decided that they weren't going to kill me for bringing them along) were great company.

On a slightly more serious note, the keynote speaker Pamela Vernon (who pushed Century 21 to its heights now and now trains CBA Management) gave a real stirring speech on about leadership. She basically talked about her sister for the first time ever. Basically her and her sister, grew up in orphanage home and were severly abused. Her sister was diagnosed with a life-ending disease and was only expected to live another couple of years. She didn't even finish year 10 when they both left the State Home.

Her sister then penned a story about herself for some National writing competition and came first. Then on the strenght of that, she got accepted into Wollongong Uni. And the most amazing part was that she won the Uni Medal for her degree. Now Pam's sister is Dr Vernon, doing groundbreaking research into the disease that crippled her. That's overcoming real adversity.


DJ HO's Hypotheticals

Air Canada has officially landed in New jersey! In case you didn't know Vince Carter just got traded for Zo, Eric & Aaron Williams, two draft picks. When I first read about this deal, I thought this trade was just stupid for both teams. In theory its simply a maxed out Vince Carter for Kenyon Martin. Its good for Toronto cause they got rid of Carter, get some financial flexibility (hopefully Zo retires) and they can rebuild around Chris Bosh.

For New Jersey, they can have some awesome fast breaks with RJ and Kidd pushing it up the floor. But they'll have an enormous hole in the middle. Somehow i don't think Jason Collins and Brian Scalabrine can cut it. And you can't fast break if you can't grab rebounds. I reckon the only winner is Sportscenter, who get more highlight reels of Kidd to Carter. Also, NJ have no flexibility now cause they are paying max salary to like 3 players: Kidd, Carter, RJ yet have no depth and no post presence. To be honest, I'd rather have K-Mart than Carter.

Sports fans lend me your ears! Tell me what you think about the deal

CHINA IN 5 days!

Wo Bu Jiang Pu Tong Hua (I don't speak Mandarin)

Wanted: Fluent Mandarin Language Ability
Missing: 5 Years Saturday school, 2 years Tutoring

Where has all my years of schooling in the art of PutongHua (Mandarin) gone? I think I've totally regressed. I used to be much better than my brother, used to practice writing but it's just gone MIA. I've made no effort to read/write/speak Mando for ages. I had a lesson the other day and its just plain shocking. Personally, considering that I've grown up in Australia, and only barely speak Cantonese at home, I feel that my Chinese isn't that bad. I wouldn't say that I'm socially proficient but in everyday situations I'm ok eg. if my parents friends speak to me, i can tell them what's going on at my house, etc, although they do insist on speaking to me in English for some unknown reason........ ( just don't ask me to order coke in a restaurant).

Let's see if my language skills will be adequate enough in China. I'm gonna take my learn to speak chinese book as well as my lonely planet guide.

But why is Chinese, especially mando so hard to learn? Firstly, there's a character for every word out there. Unlike English, the whole system can be broken down into 26 characters, unlike chinese which has like literally thousands. The language is built on memorising characters. Someone (a honkie) once told me becoz of this, that is why Chinese students are excellent at memorising and learn best this way and further said that is why a lot of overseas asian students struggle at uni (besides the english barrier) becoz there is less memorising more thinking/analysis . i think there may be a valid point there.

If you don't know the character, you can't work out the word unlike English eg. if you see the word angry you can work out how to pronounce them becoz you'll know the individual letters.

With Chinese, there are clues eg. for words that have to do with oil, there's these three strokes/dots which look like water drops next to the letter. On the one hand, I love the intricacy of the Chinese characters and how some of them look like things eg. the word for person has a head and two legs. And I am impressed how the word heart is built into the word love. On the other hand, its a pain in the ass trying to remember all these words, or coming across words which you don't know.

Oh yeah, and then there's the intonations i.e. how to pronoune the word. If you ever see the english pronounciation it may have one of four little squiggles above it, sorta like above french words. It tells you which words have a up, down sound, bounce, flat or no sound emphasis.

One day I swear, I will be fluent. Sometimes I wish that i that the chinese language could be zapped into me, matrix style i.e. stick a cord into my neck and upload the language into my brain. But i'd never fully appreciate the language. It's the journey that's important, the pain, the struggles, the laughs, the hours spent studying, the satisfaction of being able to go into a restaurant and order a coke instead of bbq pork, being able to name all the dishes at yum cha.

Being Chinese is a part of me. I can't deny my own heritage. It's who I am. I look into the mirror and I see a Chinese person staring back. I have to learn chinese, there's no other option. I don't want to reach the age of 40 and not be able to speak Chinese, having to speak to my kids in English, saying to myself i wish i had learnt when i was young. Now is the time when i have time and motivation.

For me learning mandarin is like rediscovering a part of myself and being able to communicate to my grandma and parents better. It's like this holiday to china. In fact it's more than a holiday, perhaps even a personal journey for me cause it's where my family is originally from, where my ancestors are at, finding out more about the history and wonders of China.



DJ HO's hypotheticals

If you were the GM of the Indiana Pacers, what would you do with Ron Artest?

a. TRADE HIM.
b. KEEP HIM.
c. SEND HIM TO ANGER MANAGEMENT COURSES.
d. MAKE HIM PRESIDENT (Answer for Howard only)

It's your birthday

Dear diary,

It's 12.04am. It's 4mins past my 23rd birthday. I'm not sure what to make of it. It hasn't hit me yet that I have turned 23. Even though I'm supposed to be older, wiser, more mature, I don't feel no different to when I was 18. The only good thing about it so far is that its Michael Jordan's number.

Where am I now? I've started a new job at a good company, have a beautiful gf, finished uni, loving family, great friends who I can depend on. There is not that much more that a man can ask for. I still remember my b'day speech at my 21st. I got up and said: "I feel quite lucky to be have so many friends". And then I sat down! To be honest, I'm quite happy the way life is and if I had a party right now, I'd prolly say the same speech, this time with a few more words added in.

At 23, I guess I've got to perhaps start thinking about the future. I'm not that young any more. Maybe in a couple of years I'll get married, buy a house, get a mortgage and perhaps be a father one day. The age 23 definently sounds a lot more serious than 22. Maybe I'll even start to dress my age - no more basketball jerseys? Sorry, I think that's one change I won't make - sorry dawen!

If this was the NBA, 23 would be the age that you start realising your potential. For me, it's time I start utilising everything that I have learnt in life - from uni, from the playgrounds, from the streets of Bankstown, from work. I don't think I've really thought about my own life seriously beyond 23. In terms of basketball, it's time that I unwake and unleash my true abilities (hahaha), becoming the true sleeper of 2004~! Well maybe not.

I know that I don't really have a party planned, but maybe we can do something this Saturday night? Eg. go out and eat. I would love to pay for everyone but unfortunately my financial situation isn't that great at the moment as I'm scraping together every penny to go to China.

Feel free to post a b'day comment!

Leaders where you at?

I'm going to the Young Leaders XMAS ball this friday. It's organised by the Young Unity party (some Asian political party. It's like some anti one nation party formed in response) and is targeted towards university students/graduates/young professionals. I've been told by the organiser (my mate Willis from uni) its primarily a networking event to meet other people and has little to do with the political party. i'm sure there is some slight bent as the speaker is Dr Peter Wong, the founder but that's cool, I've googled him and read his speeches in Parliament, and agree with some of the points that he makes.

Also, being the current Vice President of the UTS Networking Society (yes thats me!), I feel that I should go and represent along with the official delegation (the President - Jacquline) and our partners. To be honest, I was gonna go anyway becoz I like to be connected. Hopefully I'll meet some political heavyweights, cause I need some more political connections!

The tickets are $30 and includes a 3 course meal @ the Mandarin Club in the City. We have 4 people, possibly 5 on our table, and would like some more. If your interested, email me at djho.mixes@gmail.com. It's on this Friday, the 17th and starts at like 7.30pm.

DJ HO's hypotheticals

Who is the biggest bust/disappointment of the following #1 NBA draft picks? Why?

a. Joe Smith

b. Kwame Brown

c. Michael Olowakandi

d. Lebron James, since he was meant to average 100 points/50 assists/70 rebounds a game.

Gone crazy with the deco

Just at work now, and everyone is doing nothing...waiting for the day to end cause we have an awesome XMAS party planned. We are going on Cruise along Sydney Harbour, then to the Retro Nightclub. I guess its a time for everyone to let their hair down, relax, and drink their brains out (except me of course). It's been a pretty fun day, cause we hvae fully decorated the office. There's XMAS lights criss crossing the rooms, a huge tree complete with ornaments, tinsel hangin everywhere. Each of the partners rooms has been decorated with a theme - one is called the reindeer barn with a reindeer and a "do not feed sign", another the toy shop which actually has toys in it. There's even snowflake cut outs hanging on the windows.

Have we gone overboard? !!!!

Well we even had a guy dress up as santa claus and we charged everyone a gold coin to take a photo with him. We raised about $102 for charity. It was fun and quite loud. I didn't get any work done for about an hour...but its all good. My team which I work with know how to have fun and chill out.


Shop til you drop

We had a few issues when shopping yesterday. See, when guys shop, we buy on need. I really needed a pair of black pants for work. In fact, I have been wearing my two pair black pants which are suits - but I have been wearing them without the jacket coz I could not be bothered to buy another pair. I don't think it was the smartest idea, as the pants have started to wear out much faster than my jacket. So i was in the frame of mind, to buy any pair of black pants.

I don't find shopping the most pleasant experience. I don't like the crowds, I don't like digging around for things unless its music (diggin in the crates) or sports shoes. Of course I like to get the best price like everyone else, but i'm not prepared to search every store to find the best bargain. So therefore you could say there was like a slight conflict between me and dizzie (Dawen has a new moniker now).

You know what else? I was at Myer yesterday and I was thinking, man society has advanced pretty far in terms of commerce. I mean in the olden days, traders used to have little carts and trade in markets selling trinkets etc.... Now, we have huge mega stores, exquisite floors, elevators.

I also just stare at the stuff (Clothes, CD's , electronics) and think have we all become too materialistic? We shop for hours on end, trying to get the latest fashion, making ourselves look trendy, upgrading our standard of living. I must have that Fossil Watch. When I make money I must have that $200 formal shirt with the cufflink holes. I need another pair of basketball shoes.

3 on 3

We play a lot of 3 on 3 basketball at Blakehurst and I woke up this morning with this burning question on my mind:

In a game of 3 on 3, who would win out of the following -

a. Larry Hughes, Antawn Jamison, Gilbert Arenas.
b. KG, Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell.
c. Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire, Steve Nash.
d. None of the above, coz DJ Ho, Ashby, Tim would crush them all.

WHO WOULD WIN???????!!!!!!

DJ HO has briefly entered the rat race

I finished work at 8.30pm yesterday, and it dawned on me that yes, DJ HO has officially entered the rat race. It's the same routine, day after day. Wake up at 6.30am, eat breakfast, read the SMH, go to work, come home at 6 - 7pm.

I get so tired when I come home from work. I just want to collapse and fall into bed, let alone try go play bball at Blakehurst against the Croatian Inkjets. Why do I feel so exhausted after work? Many other people are the same. I think its becoz you have to concentrate from 9am - 5pm, and work constantly during that period. Sitting in an office chair, staring at the computer screen, tires you out. Although, spare a thought for those labourers, and other folks that do physical work, i'm sure they are a lot more worn out than us.

People in the rat race work crazy hours. I mean I left pretty late, and there were still a few people around. I used to critise Dawen for not leaving work at 5pm, but now that I start working, you kinda not notice or feel like going home after 5pm. In fact time just drifts by (although i did manage to play 1/2 an hour of table tennis against a manager). Speaking to Ip on the email, it seem as if my hours pale in comparison to what he is doing.

Have we lost the plot with these long working hours? Is there really that much to be done in the office? Perhaps the workplace has become our second home.

Don't forget the work-life balance ya'll, otherwise you'll become a robot.


Lebron vs The Communist

I don't see what is wrong with these ads coz they recently got banned by the Iron fisted Chinese Government. Are these ads that controversial to the Chinese people? it's been reported that they don't like the way that Lebron defeats the Kung Fu master (insert shock) and the ad defaces dragons and ghosts. To be honest, from a personal perspective, I think they are quite cool. In fact, the background to my computer is one of the Lebron ads and I have obtained (they were free!) all these Lebron ad postcards from uni.

The ads are targeted towards an Asian/Chinese audience coz the ad incorporates Mandarin commentary and is based on the Bruce Lee movie where he enters this tower and has to battle his way up each level, facing a different kung fu master.

In short, ads are awesome, Chinese government is anal (altho prolly shouldn't be saying that since I am applying for a chinese visa!!!!!). Check out the ads for yourself here.


$64million Question of the day

1. Who would you rather start your NBA team with - Andrei Kirilenko or Amare Stoudemire? Why?

DJ Ho is perplexed. He wisely decides to take a lifeline. He asks the audience.

First off, big ups to Tim for lending me every hip hop CD in his collection which i haven't heard. I'm currently bopping to Dilated People's "Heavy Surveillance" and its got some excellent tracks. I've also got ODB, Gangstarr's "Moment of Truth" (one of the best yet!), Mos Def (very cool), Chingy (not that great) in heavy rotation. I think i have been missing out on some awesome hip hop.

I don't wanna know

Figgkid.........Figgkid.........Figgkid.....who is Figgkid (FK)? Who is the name on everyone's lips....hahaha.....FK is an aussie rapper who is currently on the Australian TOP 30 Charts. Why is this relevant......cause we used to ball against him at Bankstown!!!. He's heavily tattoed, white and our age (around 23) and backed by the Sony Record label. His like an Eminem clone with some N.e.r.d.s. beats. All of a sudden this dude has exploded from nowhere and is now doing the undercard performances at Cypress Hill. What is his claim to fame? He won a u/18 rap battle at Crush, Segaworld. hahahah. We used to call him Jason Williams because of his playground game and his tatts. And at rap concerts we'd play spot "Jason Williams" and more often than not, we'd find him!


The mind is a terrible thing to waste

Why is it that so many of our brightest young people are found in the fields of law, investment banking, management consulting, accounting, etc?.....What i want to know is are we wasting the minds of our talented young people? Some of our most talented peers with PHD's in finance are found sweating it out in front of computer screen, watching stock prices rise and fall. Others are corporate lawyers, corporate tax accountants, corporate consultants helping companies make squillions more.

Why aren't we out there making a serious difference in this world? Why can't we be found in government departments, in public policy think tanks, or working for Non Government Organisations like the United Nations, or the IMF......helping to create a better world for humanity.....solving the problems that are plaguing nations.

Instead of helping a corporation trade out of insolvency, why not use those skills to assist a nation back from the brink of collapse? Instead of working a 9 to 5 job, why not take a job where you wake up thinking you can improve someone's standard of living? Instead of dreaming of working for a investment bank why not work for the World Bank, where you truly influence the GDP of a nation? Instead of being a GP doctor in the suburbs, why not take those skills to a third world country to those truly in need?

I think it is incumbent on those of us that have the talent, ability, drive, entrepreneurial flair, and the creative nous to make the most of our professional skills for the benefit of all. To often I think "How can I advance my career? What's best for me?". Rather, we need to accept some kind of responsibility for the opportunity we have been given and payback the society that made us. Most of us have been educated at the best educational instutions (Sydney Tech! UTS, etc...) in the country, we have white collar skills and jobs, yet we won't even look back and consider those members of our global society that are still struggling.

On that note, Mayank and I will start working at Redfern Legal Centre next year, for one night a week. Hopefully I can keep this commitment and help people that are more disadvantaged than myself.

Ho careers update 4-12-04

This is the second edition of the Ho Careers Update, which is back by popular demand. The only graduate careers newslettter which you need to read.

Pop Yo Collar

Many of us have heard of the term “white collar” as referring to working professionals, typically found in office jobs. But what about those people on those bling bling salaries, that might go overseas to work or reach upper upper management (I’m talking CEO, CFO, directors)? Would these people still be considered white collar…….or are they different? I’d argue that they are now classified as “gold collar”.

Gold collars (GC’s) are not a new class of worker. We always had people like that in the upper echelons of the workforce. But the classification of them is new and it is starting to get greater recognition in the HR industry and in news media. But why is it relevant? Because many of us aspire to become GC’s in the long term – everyone wants to be blingin’ and successful, don’t deny it! More importantly, local companies and the government are recognising that these people are incredibly hard to keep within Australia. If white collars and blue collars can be considered the engine room of the Australian workforce, then GC’s are the ones shifting the gearsticks, directing and changing the ebb and flow of commerce.

GC’s typically do go overseas for more money, opportunities and challenges. One side of the argument is that this represents a significant brain drain in our local economy. The highest talent levels are being taken away. But consider this. Many of them desire to come back and work. Hopefully, they will bring back new skills and ideas learnt from foreign countries. Furthermore, they provide the connection between our economy and foreign ones.

So pop yo collar!


Want opportunities? Go work in an accounting firm!!??!!

I used to work for a company known as High Fliers, a company which did surveys on graduate careers. I ran their focus group on campus and we surveyed the opinions of final year students. High fliers just released the results of one of their surveys in the Australian and particular one caught my attention (thanks to Kyle for DELIBERATELY mentioning it to me to rub it in). Students were asked:

"Which employer do you think offers the best opportunities for graduates?"

The results may shock you. It did to me. Some of the noticeable ones are as follows:

1.........................KPMG

2.......PricewaterhouseCoopers

3..................Ernst & Young

4........................Telstra

5...........................IBM

6.......................Deloitte

8.....................Accenture

12...............Macquarie Bank

19......................Citibank

More importantly, notice how the Big 4 Accounting firms (KPMG, EY, PWC, Deloitte) are well represented in the top 6. Initially it surprised me but it slowly dawned on me why. Accounting firms are excellent training ground for young people, providing and supporting further education. But just as important is their reputation in the marketplace – they are huge globally and are well recognised as the leaders in their field. You also add their diverse and top notch client base and the fact that you gain a lot of good solid professional skills there. They are an excellent launch pad for anyone, to jump into other industries and other careers. So it is justifiable that they represent the greatest career opportunity for a young person.

However, it must be qualified in that its not for everyone. If you know what you want eg. if you want to be a lawyer, your better off aiming to go a top law firm as that represents the greatest opportunity for you. Or if you want to be an IT person, you’d be better off going to an IT place. Similarly, if you’re a marketing person, scientist, teacher, or a graphic designer, an accounting firm is not going to be the best place for you.

But I’ll stand by my statement that for the average person, that is the normal person that graduates from uni, that might not know what they want in life, an accounting firm may represent their best starting point for their career* as they hire from a diverse range of degrees – people with business, law, IT, degrees. However they tend to be biased as they mainly hire people with accounting majors (surprise surprise, they are an accounting firm).

What really shocks me is that Ho Ho Gifts is not on the list for top gradutate employers. What’s up with that????!!!!!

*This author works in a Big 4 Accounting firm and may be slightly biased in his opinion :P.

Rolan......Rolan..... Rolan on a river

Rolan Roberts......Rolan Roberts........Rolan Roberts.............that's name of the new Sydney Kings import. Hopefully this dude pans out cause the Kings are struggling right now on the injury front. Apparently this cat was an NBA draft pick of the Wizards, cut b4 the season began and then tried out at a number of NBA summer leagues. In fact you can still find him on the NBA website. This guy has the university college bball pedigree having led his college in blocks (all time leader) and killed the boards.

From what I know, he's 6'6 and weighs 250 pounds. That's a highly unusual combination. I only know 3-4 players that have that kind of bio: Charles Barkley, Marcus Fizer, Malik Rose, and Ron Artest.

The scouting reports say the following ........... power forward with immense strength........ could move bigger dudes off the block with his sheer brute force.......can't shoot....very hard worker.....mack truck build....incredible arms....charges into the paint like Big Chris (well maybe not that comparison).....

Why didn't he make the NBA?

In my bball opinion, you look at his skill set - he's a natural power forward with post up moves. But he's too short. He's already giving up two or three inches to the average power forward. So in the summer camps, coaches put him at small forward (SF). But he admitted himself in an interview that's not his game. Dude is not suited to running around on the perimeter, shooting jumpers, doesn't have the footspeed or ball handling. It's like putting Ashby into the guard spot. Rolan is a classic tweener. Could he be the next Charles Barkley or the next Marcus Fizer?

There were also other issues - I think many teams were scared off by his "off-court" incident which forced him to change uni's. I had to dig around to find out about this and I don't want to go into it cause I want to give this guy a chance.

The Kings badly need this guy because Thalo Green, our current PF is a chump as is the other dude which we just cut recently. Rolan "Mack Truck" Roberts could be the solution. Currently the kings have no interior presence. We could use a scorer down low, an enforcer in the paint that could complement the kings shooters and slashers. And being 6'6 is huge in the NBL - you can even play centre with that height if you know what you are doing. I mean anything is possible cause Ashby could make it as six foot power forward in the NBL.


Centre of Attention

On a side note, you don't have to be huge to play centre, cause sometimes I play centre at UTS bball courts cause:
a) I'm taller than most people down there or even if I'm not,
b) I know how to rebound and challenge shots
c) I'm one of the few people that is willing to play centre
d) I can score down low with a variety of post up moves.

My friend Michael who is about my size used to tell me that he often played centre for his team at Bankstown. He always said it wasn't becoz he was the biggest player but because he knew what to do. He knew how to box out, how to block shots, how to position himself. I think that's the most important thing. A cat with the theory about how to play centre and can execute it but not the height will always kill someone that is bigger. Sure you'll be shorter or giving up weight, but if you know what to do you can out think'em and outplay them.

I still remember watching games where Dennis Rodman would sometimes outplay Shaquille O'neal (back when he was a pup at Orlando). He'd frustrate him, use his leverage, flop when Shaq leaned on him, and use quickness as an advantage.

You see a lot of cats in the NBA, particulary in the LEastern (East Coast) that are natural PF's but are forced to play centre because they are the tallest person on their team or don't have a dude that is capable of actually being a starting centre despite being 7 foot. Ballers like Amare Stoudemire, Ben Wallace, and JO are really PF's but have been quite effective at centre.

I do admit though, it sometimes very very frustrating matching up against bigger players cause it might be impossible to rebound against them cause they have a natural height advantage or longer arms. In addition, when they back you down in the post, sometimes you can't do much, you'll just bounce off them. I sitll remember Steve, the 30 year old uni student/baller telling me to get down lower, spread your legs further apart, and use your leverage. I used to see guys like Charles Oakely and Dale Davis doing that too.

DJ Ho the Franchise

The Name is Mine

DJ HO < pronounced Dee-jay Hoe>: A person that is true to oneself, who is cooler than "ice cool". Someone whose life is dedicated to the three B's: basketball, blogging and the Bible. A person that is down to earth yet is acutely in tune with global issues. An individual that is loyal and dedicated to his friends. He/she may walk with a certain rhythm in their step as if they are above this world yet walks slow enough to smell the roses.

I was googling my name "DJ HO" and the following quiz came up: "Are you a DJ HO ?". There were a bunch of questions which I cannot repeat but they related to what you would do at a nightclub such as try to get with the DJ's, etc...After taking the quiz, it became clear that I was as a DJ Ho.

I'm not sure if I appreciate other people using my name like that. Maybe I should copyright my trademark name. "DJ Ho" is a franchise name, you can't mess it up. It's equivalent to brandnames like Nike or Toyota. When you think Tupac Shakur you think "2Pac". Along these lines, when you think my name, the words "DJ HO" should pop into your mind.


Gimme a book deal

Also, I happened to be reading breakupbabe's blog who recently scored a bookdeal. Now, props to her getting this deal, but where's mine? I think people want to hear the exclusive inside story of DJ HO - half man half student, 100% baller. Like I said, the DJ HO franchise is just starting to be recognised globally.
I've got a loyal following of fans, my work is tight, and the site is growing in popularity (from 2 fans to 4 fans, a 200% increase).

I know your out there big publishing companies trawling for new innovative writers. I'm young, fresh and dynamic. DJ HO is your man.