Random points

I respect the right of a nation to govern itself - if a citizen commits a crime on foreign soil, then that foreign country should punish that person based on its laws. I agree with that principle but I can't agree with a law that prosecutes people simply for having possession of a drug. Strict liability creates too many problems.

And I guess when I look at the Schappelle Corby decision I look at it through the eyes of an Australian and think that's not how we would treat someone according to our laws. Under the Indonesian system, they may think it is fair and just to prosecute someone based on those laws.

On another note, this idea of "cheque book justice" in the Indonesian legal system is pretty dodgy. I've read that you can reduce your sentence simply by paying a bribe to the relevant official and have a couple of years knocked off to make your sentence more manageable. This creates problems because its like can you afford justice.

Passing the baton??

I've seen on two different blogs (Hoi's and Bucky's) talking about passing the Mp3 baton. Here's a list of my favourite albums and songs. Gotta say though, love downloading music. Right now, I've got the Kanye West album "College dropout", John Legend, new Common album, Nas (Stillmatic, Street's Disciple) as well as Jay-Z black album in heavy rotation at the moment.

DJ Ho's all time fav albums

1. Big Pun - Capital Punishment
2. Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
3. Michael Jackson - HIStory
4. Biggie - Ready to die
5. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggy style

Honourable mention: Dr Dre - The Chronic, Notorious- Life after Death, 2pac - All Eyez on me, 2pac - Makaveli, Gangstarr - Moment of Truth, Nas - Illmatic, that Outkast double LP - love below/?,

DJ Ho's fav songs
1. Regulate - Warren G
2. Triumph - Wu Tang
3. Guess who's back - Rakim
4. Encore/Numb - Jay-z v Linkin Park
5. Above the Clouds - Gangstarr feat Inspectah Deck

Honourable mention: Eric B is President - Eric B and Rakim, KRS-1 - Mc's Act like they don't know.

Only God Can Judge me now

"If I got locked up and sentenced to a quarter century/
Could I count on you to be there to support me mentally?"
- 50 cent on "21 questions"
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Prisoner 52559: Schappelle Corby. Sentence 20 years. Crime: Importing 4.2 Kilos of sticky green (Marijuna).
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Its hard not to know the name Schappelle Corby. Yesterday, Schappelle was convicted and sentenced to 20 years, for a crime she may never have committed. I will never know and neither will anyone else what ever truly transpired except for Schappelle and God.

When I heard the sentence, I was in a state of shock. If she is innocent then it is a travesty. An injustice. If she was guilty, the sentence was harsh and perhaps unjustified. But then again, you have to respect the Indonesian law and the right to govern itself and foreigners that break their laws.

The problem I have (and I'll put a disclaimer here as I only followed the trial here and there) is that I never thought they proved beyond a reasonable doubt that she was guilty. From what i've read, the Indonesian legal system is similar to ours in terms of:

1.burden of proof
2. idea that the onus is on the prosecution to prove the burden
3. once they have proven a prima facie (on the face of it) case, the onus then shifts to the defence to rebut.

There is still doubt in my mind and in the mind of a lot of people that I have spoken to whether she is guilty. This is because to be convicted of a crime you have to certain, no.......make that absolutely certain that a person committed that crime. Even more so when the crime and punishment is so serious. This is because taking away someone's liberty is so precious and fundamental to our human rights. That is why the Indonesian prosecutor had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt - that was no room to think otherwise than she had committed the crime.

From what I have gathered, I am just simply not convinced that it was beyond reasonable doubt she had imported the drugs. There are too many questions that are unanswered and too many issues out there. For example, the fact that a major drug smuggling ring in the Australian airport system was busted just a few weeks ago. Or the fact that her bag was unlocked and could have easily been tampered with. Where is the forsenic evidence with any fingerprint evidence on the drugs?. What solid evidence do they have to prove that she committed the crime - other than finding the drugs in her boogie board bag.

I must admit though, the evidence submitted by her defence team was weak. Hearsay evidence from a convicted prisoner - i can't remember all my Evidence law stuff but that's just weak. Testimony from her brother & friend - could be biased/tainted. Evidence from Professor of law who visited her and said after speaking to her, he was not convinced she was not guilty - that would not hold up in any court. An aussie airport worker saying how the airport system was corrupt but was just talking about the airport system in general and could not relate it to the Schappelle case. To me, none of the key evidence presented means jack but even so I go back to what I have argued b4 - I don't believe that a prima facie case was ever established in the first case.

20 years though. That's harsh. She'll be 47 when she gets out. And if the prosecution gets its way in an appeal, it could be life. For a crime she may never have committed. Even if you don't believe she was innocent, you still have to feel for her. I don't ever quote the Prime Minister but he sums up the thoughts of a nation:

"I recognise that, I say at the outset, that guilty or innocent, I feel for this young woman. If she is guilty, I feel for her, that a tragic mistake and tragic act has done so much damage to her young life. If she is innocent, my feelings are redoubled."

A life lost - Schappelle Corby.

Is Lebron that good?

I heard about this from Howard/Aadesh so I had to check it out for myself. Watch this Lebron James Powerade ad and tell me what you think.

Click here

Is this for real? Regardless, its a cool ad.

The 411.

My first Podcast! Click on it and enjoy!

DJ HO Podcasting Live

Listen to DJ Ho's first broadcast by following these instructions:

Click on the above link and go to the dotted box on the left hand side, select which format you want to listen to it (if you have winamp that's the best format otherwise use windows media player), press the play button and presto! You'll be listening to my first podcast. You can also download the music if you like it.

Webjay rules - You the man Lucas Gonze!

Indiana's Finest

Look what you made me do, look what I made for you
Knew if I paid my dues, how will they pay you
When you first come in the game, they try to play you
Then you drop a couple of hits, look how they wave to you
From Marcy to Conseco House (Madison Square)
To the only thing that matters in just a matter of years (yea)
As fate would have it, Reggie's status appears
to be at an all-time high, perfect time to say goodbye
When I come back like Jordan, wearin the 4-5
It ain't to play games witchu
It's to aim at you, probably maim you
If I owe you I'm blowin you to smithereeens
Artest take one for your team
And I need you to remember one thing (one thing)
I came, I saw, I conquered
From ticket sales, to sold out arenas
So muh'f*cker if you want this encore
I need you to scream, 'til your lungs get sore

- Encore by Jay-z (the Reggie Miller remix by DJ HO)

Reggie is gone! What a sad day in basketball. You know that Reggie went out shooting in his last game, scoring 27 points but to no avail. The man known as Mr Clutch will retire a hero, idolised by many and feared by his opponents in the waning seconds of a game.

The question remains on fans lips: Was Reggie a Superstar and should he go into the hall of fame?

This debate has generated many heated responses from NBA commentators, emails, barbershops, and bars across the world. In my opinon, he was a superstar. Reggie was the Pacers for the last 10 years. The one guy beside his Airness that you wanted to take a last second shot, you could always count on Reggie. The fact that he stayed in the game for so long, despite his unathletic and weak body frame is testament to his hard working game, conditoning and practice. I haven't seen all the players in the NBA since day 1, but since I started following the NBA bout 13 years ago, he is the best shooter I have ever seen.

In my mind he was one of the biggest superstars in the game but there are some arguements against him going to the hall of fame. He wasn't the best at his position, but then again your comparing him to Michael. Against him though, he was kinda one dimensional in that he you knew he was gonna shoot after running around like 50 screens. But I got to give my man Reggie his props and say that he deserves to go into the hall of fame. He helped create one of the great rivalries Knicks v Pacers, had an awesome shooting percentage in 3's and FT, was one the NBA's greatest scorers (25,000 points) and shooters, he was good for at least 20 points a game, and you just knew he had the balls to take that last second shot. Mr. Clutch will always be remembered for "Miller Time", trash talking with Spike Lee, and those 8 seconds.

Peace out,

DJ HO.


a dj ho production

RIP Adebisi

Red jumpsuit with two braids in my hair
Niggaz stare as I enter the center
They send me to a level 3 yard, that's where I stay
Late night I hear toothbrushes scrapin on the floor
Niggaz gettin they shanks, just in case the war, pops off
Cuz you can't tell what's next
My little homey Baby Boo took a pencil in his neck
And he probably won't make it, to see twenty-two
I put that on my momma, I'ma ride for you Baby Boo

- Murda Was The Case by Snoop
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I love waking up on a Monday morning. Although it's the start of a another work week there is one thing to look forward to: coming back home and waiting til 10pm for a little known tv show on SBS called OZ, which is a prison drama. To sum it up, OZ is the greatest show ever, ranking up there with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Seinfeld, The Simpsons and Astro Boy. So you know its quality.

But back to the main issue at hand, how the freak did Adebisi die? It was such a shock that Kareem Said, of all people took him out. Sh*t is crazy in OZ atm. Governor Devilin got shot, the undercover cop dude turned himself in and got taken out of Em City and McManus took back control. But Simon Adebisi? He was the king and has been there since Day 1. The biggest, baddest mutha got taken out by the calm, religious, slighty crazy, philosophical Black Muslim Imman (Priest).

And that's what I love about OZ. Its unpredictable and anything goes. The fact that the main characters can actually die and die very suddenly and the unpredictable twists make it the number one show to watch each week.

RIP SIMON ADEBISI.

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Did anyone catch SBS Insight last Monday? I was on there briefly giving an opinion about recreational drugs. Some chick interviewed me whilst hanging out at Bar Broadway (opposite UTS). In case you missed the second time I was on TV in a week, I basically defined what recreational drugs and hardcore drugs were, that they were relatively easily obtainable and pointed out that Mayank was my drug dealer. The interviewer didn't seem too impressed with my humour, but honestly I couldn't elaborate that much with a camera in my face under the spotlight.

Peace Out,

DJ HO.

A day in the life of DJ Ho

Much like the tv show "24", DJ HO gives you a 24hr glimpse into his world. I hate people asking what I do at work - so this is what happened on a not so typical Tuesday.

7.30am: The Wake Up - the hardest part of the day - i think doh! only got 30mins before the train arrives.

8.50am: Get off at Wynard, stop off to buy some Belgium chocolates for a friend.

9am: Duck in to work into another tax group to say hello to a friend from uni and give her the chocolates for helping me out on something.

9.10-9.25am: Checking emails & voicemails. Leave a message from a director in another service line regarding a client that we are targeting.

9.30-10.30am: Finish writing half a memo regarding a tax law question which covers trust law and real property. Look up my property textbook, re-read my research, discuss the issue with another analyst. Figure that I need to carry out some more research before I can give an answer to the issue so I decide to go to........

10.30 - 1.20pm: Go to Sydney Uni law library to carry out some more independent research. I think freak I've forgotten how to use Halsbury's Law of Australia and all that other legal research stuff which we learnt in first year. Can't find an answer to my question but photocopy everything that is kinda 1/2 relevant.

1.30pm - 2.45pm: Attend a training session on taxation of trusts. Have no idea what's going on, its highly complex, my heart's not in it coz my stomach is growling, feeling sooooooo hungry.

3pm: Grab a sweet chilli chicken sandwich and eat lunch-aldesko (lunch at my desk)

3pm - 4.45: Keep working on the memo and have a brief meeting with the partner i'm working with discussing the issue and how we will tackle it despite having no conclusive answer from my research.

4.45- 5.40: Meeting with the new head of corporate tax in an informal setting with some other analysts. I introduce myself and ask a bunch of questions in the meeting regarding our new restructure.

5.40 - 6.20: Finish working on that ongoing memo and am 90% satisfied with it altho expect lots of changes after its been reviewed.

6.25 - grab dinner from catering upstairs. Its gonna be long night coz I'm part of the team helping out on Federal budget night - printing out reports, running around like crazy, getting stuff ready for the partners who will review the budget and give a media response.

6.30 - quick catch up chat with another analyst about yesterday's graduation.

6.50 - eat some crappy in house dinner- aldesko

7pm - hang around talking to another grad in the budget team, just chilling and kicking back.

7.30 - 9pm: It's on! Start logging onto the budget website, printing out 100 page documents, cursing the printer when it breaks down, helping out the other guys with their tasks.

9.15pm: Media crew comes upstairs and want to film the partners giving a media response in the "actual workplace". They need some extras in the background, so me and mate get called over, and we "pretend" that we are working at this whiteboard. Somehow midway through the filming, camera crew stops and tells us to stop laughing and gesticulating with our hands. We continue to play noughts and crosses and writing rhymes on the board. When camera crew finishes we ask them for a gig on Neighbours but they dont seem too impressed.

9.30pm: Leave the office, catch a cab home, and talk to Dawen about her day. Unfortunately exit is closed on M5, fortunately driver is a fob and knows how to get home through Hurstville.

11.50pm: finish blogging and check ESPN for latest NBA news (Pacers lose - too bad Howard and Alexs!) , catching up with family, watching the news to see if i'm in the background, head to bed and crash.

Prepare for another day.

A day in the life of DJ HO. Peace out.

John is a legend

I just came back from home from the John Legend concert at the metro. It was awesome. Dude is talented. Like a male version of Alicia Keys, playing the piano whilst singing sweet soulful-rnb-neo soul-gospel inspired tracks. I don't know that much about him so maybe the text below gives a nice intro into the next RNB superstar (dj ho called it here first! - although his album did debut at number 5 on the American Billboard charts) and is backed by Kayne West.

"An accomplished singer, musician, songwriter and producer, John Legend has been making music of one kind or another since his early childhood. Influenced by a musical family active in the church, the young Legend embraced gospel, classic soul and hip-hop, and the fusion of all three epitomizes his unique sound. He performed and recorded with various groups as well as a solo artist while attending college in Philadelphia and subsequently became seriously involved with the area's neo-soul explosion of the late 1990s.

His first major break came from erstwhile Fugee Lauryn Hill, when he played piano on her megahit single "Everything Is Everything." Since then, he has recorded with a virtual Who's Who of R&B and hip-hop superstars including Jay-Z, Alicia Keys and Janet Jackson. But it was Kanye West who really put him on the map, recruiting him to play and sing on the multiplatinum album The College Dropout, then signing him to his production company KonMan Entertainment, which in turn lead to a deal with Columbia Records.

After releasing several self-made CDs to sell at concerts, he dropped his highly anticipated major label debut Get Lifted in early 2005. Executive produced by Kanye, with a laundry list of top-shelf collaborators, the album - and John Legend himself - is guaranteed to be huge. "

- Rolling stone.

happy mothers day to all the mothers out there

"And I could see you comin home after work late
You're in the kitchen tryin to fix us a hot plate
Ya just workin with the scraps you was given
And mama made miracles every Thanksgivin
But now the road got rough, you're alone
You're tryin to raise two bad kids on your own
And there's no way I can pay you back
But my plan is to show you that I understand
You are appreciated"

----- Dear Mama by Tupac

There's a part of me that thinks sheesh "mother's day" is nothing but another day of celebration created by marketers, much in the vein of "valentines day", "father's day", easter eggs, etc, etc. But it always good to show love for your mum so happy mothers day to all the mums out there. Mother's day is a day to show appreciation and love but there was a disagreement with my mum today and yes, being the stubborn son that I am, I had to stick to my opinion and I prolly slightly ruined the day.

Its not easy to quantify how much my mum has done for me from raising me up, feeding me, driving me to places, forcing me to learn chinese, piano, tennis when I was young, taking care of me when times were tough, the lessons that she imparted on me, and making me the man that I am today. Ma, I love you and sorry for all the grief that i've caused you over the years.

"Over the years we was poorer than the other little kids
And even though we had different daddy's, the same drama
When things went wrong we'd blame mama
I reminice on the stress I caused, it was hell
Huggin on my mama from a jail cell
And who'd think in elementary?"

I always loved listening to this song Dear Mama, and although I never went through the stuff that Pac did, I feel where he's coming from and the tight relationship he had with his moms. If we all could play a song for our moms it should be "Dear Mama" or that BoyzIIMen Song "Mama".
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Graduating tomorrow! Should be cool, although I'm not really hyped up about it or nothing. I'll post up pictures so ya'll can see DJ HO - the professor in his 15 mins of fame. To Team DJ Ho - mum, dad, grandma, Dawen, my brother William, thanks for coming.

Peace Out,

DJ HO.

Yo, am I the one that is shocked by this recent get together? Cruise & Katie Holmes?!!!!!! 16 year difference? Some guys get all the hot chicks (Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Katie Holmes). I'm a fan, make that BIG FAN of Katie holmes ever since she was on Dawson's creek. The Girl Next Door Image had me. I've read that it might be a publicity stunt because both have new movies coming out (Cruise - war of the worlds, Holmes - batwoman).

I think this poll from a Katie website is quite accurate.

Katie and Tom Cruise. What are your thoughts:
a. WTF??!!
b. Good for katie, go get em!
c.It's super weird, but will help her career
d. Has anyone revived Katie's dad?
e.Way to avoid fame Katie ;)
f. Just say no to Scientology Katie
g. Who's Tom Cruise?


a dj ho production

Prisoner # 5524, Rene Rivkin aka R Squared, convicted of one account of insider trading, October 2003. Up for parole in 5 years.
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News Flash, Sunday 9pm : flamboyant stockbroker Rene Rivkin dies at age 61 committing suicide at this mother's home.
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Woah, I was so shocked by Rene Rivkin's death. Sure when I saw him on "Enough Rope" two years ago he didn't look so optimistic but I figured he was just being sarcastic. He did the crime - insider trading of 50,000 QANTAS Shares - but to convict him and send him to prison/weekend detention? That's too much. And to go out like this? That's cold. Dude had everything one could wish for - nice home, mega-successful business, big rep, blinged out, cigar smoking-million dollar boat. And then it was all taken away from him because ASIC wanted to make an example for being a high profile insider trader.

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Been thinking lately, what defines our generation? Marketing people or socialologists or whoever have labelled people born between 1980-2000 as generation Y. But what links us? What has influenced who we are?

If you ask me, we are a generation that's grown up watching reality TV, headphone wearing, mobile phone culture. We are probably more culturally aware and multiculturally diverse than our previous generation. We are a generation that's lived through and watched the 9/11 disaster as it unravelled in real time, successive wars in the Middle East, been through world economic meltdowns (the Asian crisis, dot-com busts) and seen the rise and fall of the Chicago Bulls.

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I-POD + BROADCAST = PODCASTING

I've been downloading a lot of podcasts lately on to my I-POD. To put it simply, podcasting is awesome. Its simply being able to go to a website and finding some music that you like and select the format you want to download it. Its like instant radio. You can listen to it immediately without saving it (streaming) or the other format is to just straight up download it onto my comp and then transfer it to my i-pod. Lately the grand theft auto mixtapes are in heavy rotation.

Will podcasts make everyone instant DJ's? Will it lead to the demise of radio? Who knows. The ability to tailor music to specific audiences and move away from the commerical formulas of radio are cool and give more power to the people. Through i-tunes i've also been able to listen to radio from the US as well. I think soon, you'll see me podcasting on my blog - exclusive dj ho podcasts.