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.

Crack game

"Seven: this rule is so underrated
Keep your family and business completely seperated"

- Biggie on the 10 Crack Commandments

Orginally I wrote a pretty long post about the Bali 9 - the nine people that had been arrested and charged with importing 8 kilo's of dope into Indonesia. In fact, I wrote the post whilst on the train ride home - I tried to get into the mind of one of the victims who had been arrested and to also give my own views about how they had been hard done by.

But I've decided to retract that post because more and more info has come out about how dodgy these guys were - one of the others being called the head honcho and how some of the members of the group had actually travelled to Bali several times on false passports. I felt sorry for them but now its turned into anger. Like I've been mislead. I never felt that they were innocent but you had to have a heart for them when the story orginally hit the papers - young, naive, stupid, didn't know what they were getting into. Not much has changed - they are still young, naive and stupid - but now the real story - the facts have started to unravel. I just can't believe that they decided to risk their lives being drug mules for a lousy $10,000 and the fact that they've done it multiple times.

But if they have done it repeatedly, and knew of the risks, and weren't threatened (which I highly doubt now), how can you feel for them? I feel sorry for them in that if found guilty, the majority of them will face the death penalty - the harshest punishment known to man. But still, if you know the penalty, and take the risk, especially when it's all over the news, well its hard to feel to much for you then.

Let's move on, because there is another woman in the system who i feel is hard done by.

She's a household name now but for all the wrong reasons. Schapelle Corby, who is likely to face the death penalty for ALLEGEDLY importing drugs. I actually believe her story. From what I've read (prolly half true/half untrue), she seems to be innocent and is not been given a fair go by the justice system in Indonesia. It's highly possible that someone put the dope in her bag, and there is a smuggling ring going on in the airport system. For her, it must be some kind of ongoing nightmare, and I just find it hard to believe that she will be executed for something she didn't do. And the fact that the Bali 9 were deliberating importing her-ron won't help her case either.

For every 9 idiots that tried to commit a crime and deserves some kind of punishment, there is one innocent person out there that deserves justice. It's a pity that the system won't differentiate that.

Free Schappelle Corby.

The Master

His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's chokin, how everybody's chokin now
The clock's run out, time's up over, bloah!

- Eminem on Lose Yourself.

Em's lyrics capture how I feel everytime I do public speaking. Its that calmness that I lack, the ability to just be myself, relaxed and chilled out in front of everyone. Mind blanks, knots in my throat, that that word.......confidence. Aahhh that's it.

So no more! I and a bunch of mates from work that I convinced went along to our very first Toastmasters session held at my workplace. I must say it was a weird experience. It was very formal, and everyone was so so (what's that key word).......confident. You how it is when everyone is so "welcoming" it makes you feel uncomfortable and less welcome. Like your a newcomer at Church and everyone thinks its their duty to welcome you.

To break it down for you, Toastmasters is a public speaking club. The way it works is that you have members who have to do one formal speech and then later do an improptu. The formal speech you get given time to do, allocated to you from this book which tells you what style you have to do. Eg. some chick did "the entertainer" style and talked about how to lose weight and had to use her personal experience. When everyone's finished the formal stuff, someone who's like a veteran gives you feedback on how you can improve, etc...

Then we had the dreaded "table topics".

Some person gets up and plucks some random topic and selects someone to speak for a minute on the topic. Eg. " How did you feel about those kids being arrested in Indonesia over that heroin. Rhonda you speak". And you gotta get up and just speak! In front of everyone. No time to prepare. Freestyle on the spot.

The thing was it was slightly nerving as the people that were all pretty good speakers and were much older than us. Like between 30-50 and we was like slightly intimated as they were from investment banks, Defence Force, Deloitte, etc.. and seemed like senior executive types who were able to talk for like 5-8 minutes without palm cards and seemed so natural. Obviously they've had a lot more public speaking experience than us and were more sure of themselves.

I definently think there's a lot of benefit that can be gained from joining and being forced to speak, especially if you have to freestyle on the spot, without prep time nor time to think. I think that if I can hang with these people and be able to present in front of them, I'll take a great leap forward in not losing myself ever again.

Peace out,

DJ HO.

The DJ HO Awards

In much eager anticipation, DJ HO has decided who really deserves the hardware for this 04-05 NBA season. Yes some of the choices may be controversial but they are justified. And you know the rules:

1. DJ HO is always right
2. If DJ HO is wrong, see rule #1.


MVP = Allen Iverson.

Yes, I know that everyone else is gunning for Steve Nash. But firstly if I was playing with Amare, Matrix, JJ and Q-Rich, I'd prolly average 15 assists as well. AI has to bring it every night, has a much crappier supporting cast, have managed to scrape into the playoffs, and it can't be easy being the only scoring option on a team. Plus I can't give an award to someone that can't play D.

Rookie of the year = Emeka Okafor

Sixth Man = Ben Gordon.

Most Improved Player = tough one. It could go to a star that has improved to superstar status (Lebron, D-Wade), or a guy that's comeback from the wilderness (Grant Hill) but I'll give it to my man Primoz Brezerc. PB has been force fed minutes but he's proven that he's legit and what he's capable of and y'all better watch out.

Coach of the year = 3 possible nominations. George Karl, quickly turned around the Nugg's season in to a huge winning streak, or Scott Skiles with the Bulls in the playoffs 7 years A.J (after Jordan) or Nate McMillan. I've got to say McMillian since his team didn't change that much but the sonics are deep in the playoffs and he's manage to squeeze so much out of Reggie Evans and Danny Fortson.

Dunk of the year = Ooohhh too many choices. I could go with the Josh Smith alley-oop over K-mart in the dunk contest or Jamal Crawford self-oop after throwing up a layup too hard but I'll go with Vince Carter's stunning off the backboard cram whilst in traffic coz it was so crowd-pleasing, shocking, spur of the moment-ish. And had me going ooh and aah and hitting the rewind like crazy.

Incident of the year = Well I think this is unanimous. Ron Artest going beserk after getting hit with a beer would have to qualify.

Best hairstyle = Gotta love the fro. Josh Childress of the hawks and Ben Wallace are bringing it back the old-skool styles.

So if agree or even disagree, holla back at ya boy.

"the world is a great book... they who never stir from home read only a page." - st. augustine.

It seems that most of my weekends go by like a blur. Friday nite rolls around and the obligatory work drinks function is planned at yet another seedy pub. Saturday morning, wake up, drag myself out of bed and think "I've got to make the most my first day off". Eat breakfast, watch some tv/dvd and then feel exhausted simply eating breakfast (!). Crash again, wake up in the afternoon and bang! Half the day is gone.

I need to get motivated to do something on the weekend. Get out of the house physically, go to Westfields and so some shopping, go for a walk, pick up a basketball. I can't waste my life spending all my free time in my two by four cell - my bedroom and making the two metre walk to my tv and re-watching all my old dvd's.

If the world really is a book, I've only read the first chapter. And at best, I've probably skimmed those pages.


Boiling point

Is there a time where you've put in a lot of effort, gotten no results and thought what's the point?

When you've been so frustrated despite putting in your all. That's how I feel sometimes. But you've got to be persistent and just determined. Perhaps attack it from another angle, or just simply thinking positive with the motto "it turn around eventually".

I don't think life is meant to be handed to you a silver platter. For some people it is and they can enjoy that luxury. But for the rest of us, we've got to fight for what's ours. We simply can't give up.

I never really came from a rich family, and whilst I wouldn't really call myself poor, there are times when we've had to go through financial struggles. Sometimes my mum worked 8 day weeks, that is 7 days with double shifts to take care of our family when my dad's business wasn't doing so well. Or my dad would regularly come home at 11pm after closing up his business and taking care of all the admin.

My parents did it tough when they came to Australia, with little english and hardly any money to begin with. They persisted, survived, thrived, then struggled, re-invented themselves, and then achieved financial stability.

From that kind of backdrop, that's why I've grown up with a kind of mentality that I've had to take care of $$$, I had to study hard and had to land a decent job so I could take care of my family. The mentality that I couldn't ever give up. The idea that I had to survive no matter what the circumstances were.

And while I might not have the highest paying job in the world, or the greatest academic marks, I can take pride in the fact that I have done my best and have struggled to get where I am today. Determination and persistence were more of a factor than talent or brains.

That's why this frustration currently bothers me but won't wear me down.I've got to think positive and luckly I've got good examples to draw strength from.

PURPOSE

It's easier for me to write a post about basketball or music or random points. Its the deeper, "I've got to kinda think" posts that I struggle with. Trying to find the right words to express myself, to articulate what's on my mind and to be able to connect with you, the reader.

I've just been thinking lately that in life you got to have some purpose for your existence. Or at least feel like you have some purpose for living. The day that you lose that reason for existing may be the day you breathe your very last breath. I guess one of reasons for writing about this is my grandma. Despite being 80 years young, she still pretty spritely, lively and would still deliver a beatdown on a potential mugger. I think for her age she should be a lot more frail, sick and so on.

But what's her secret? Why is she climbing on the roof of our house to clean the leaves when most people her age can't even get out of a wheel chair.

Speaking for my grandma its because she feels like she has responsibilites its given her a reason to live. She's got certain things, I guess routines that she does each day and each week. Every weekend, she feels that she has to vacuum the house or every morning to make my breakfast and lunch to take to work. Some days, she'll feel like cleaning all the windows in the house or to clean all the bed linen. By having these "tasks" it makes her feel like she's contributing to the household and has duties to fulfil. Otherwise she'd just sit at home all day with nothing to do. I'm not saying that we should all make our grandma's household slaves. But if you have things to do, you feels like you have some worth.

I think one of the key reasons people commit suicide is because they lose that reason to live. Its like no-one would care if they simply were gone. They have lost that connection to the outside world. If you have friends, relatives, people that you have to communicate with it gives you the notion that that someone would care about you if you were gone. So what we have done with our Grandma is take her to Church social outings, we go out as a family to eat sometimes, and I take her shopping on a semi-regular basis cause for her its like an adventure to the outside world.

It's important to have some reason to wake up in the morning. Some job that your committed to, some task that you need to perform, someone to meet or at least something to keep you occupied.

Incarcerated Scarfaces

When my bro came home last Monday, I was pretty hyped up as he gave a copy (perfectly legal of course) of the new movie Assault on Precint 13. How to describe the movie? Western style shootout in suburbia. One of the main actors is Laurence Fishburne who always play this really slick character, and this mutha is always so smooth.

L-Fish's character is Bishop, a gang boss with a penchant for executing people. Bishop is arrested and is being transferred to a prison. Whilst travelling, the bus is stopped by bad weather and then have to take an overnight stay at a run-down, soon to be shutdown police station. Everything is cool, until some bad dudes find out where Bishop is staying and want to extract him. The cops and prisoners barricade themselves inside and an ole shoot-em up occurs.

On the DJ HO scale, 7 out of 10. It's not a must-see, however plenty of action and guns, and Ja Rule shows why he should stick to rapping.

Here's a shirt to rock at the next Indiana v Detroit game. Wheni first saw this I was totally laughing my head off. Then I was thinking, wouldn't want to wear this near Artest.
a dj ho production

You just been WAMmed

Check this. Opened this letter and just screamed. It wasn't a chain letter. It wasn't a death of long distant relative. Nor was it my latest mobile phone bill. I got a letter from uni telling me what i knew was coming - that i had just, and i mean just missed out on first class honours for law. Excuse my language but what a biatch. I had accumlated a WAM - weighted average mark (basically an average) of 74.45. All I needed was 75 to get first class honours. NOOOOO!!!!. If i only had 0.55 more.

On the flipside though, I can still say I got honours so its all good. Maybe its the N.E.R.D. in me that's slightly annoyed. Anyways, I don't think I can look at my learning experiences at uni as reduced down to a single mark. Still I worked my ass off to even get this far and I wouldn't have done honours much less got through honours without the help of Aadesh.

Just want to leave with DJ HO's quote of the day:

" What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

Mark 8: 36-37.

All I can say is, so true so true. You got to put life into perspective. Focus on what's important in life. And to all you young guns out there, don't get caught up in the corporate life, dog eat dog world.

Peace Out,

DJ HO.

I feel like Peking Duck Tonite

Just came back from a mad dinner at the BBQ King, located in the heart of Chinatown. All I can say is its very succulent food. We had a couple of dishes. Started off with entree - San Choy Bow. Beautiful. Then came the main dish, Peking Duck, and it was awesome. Basically its a duck, and you get chunks of it which you eat with pancakes, spring onion and hoi sin sauce. Roll it up like a kebab. Perfect. Just as good as if you ate it in Beijing. BTW Peking Duck is a two course meal, and the rest of the bird you can have with rice or noodles. Of course, you got to have it with noodles, to be different. They were fried, greasy, with nice vegies. Top if off we got two extra dishes - Salt and pepper prawns and honey pepper beef. All I can say is skip the beef, must have the prawns.

Plus this is one of the only places where they serve you beer in a tinnie - a can - fully aussie stylllle. This could do with the fact that its become increasing westernised. I've been told by my Dad that it used to cool for "Asian" Asians to go there. But it became popular with locals (i.e. aussies) and tourists, renovated, and now the prices are quite expensive as they serve mainly westerners. Total damage was $37 each for 4 people. Pricey but well worth it.

Question: Am I a boring/anti-social person?

Increasingly or maybe cause i'm more self conscious of it now, i simply have nothing to say to people sometimes. Some people i just feel that i can't get along with them. Other times i feel very uncomfortable with silence. The question remains though, am I boring? There is this perception that I have of myself that perhaps i'm anti-social. Or maybe its becoz i'm just plain unfriendly to strangers. There's a part of me that thinks i'm either boring, sound too serious all the time, can't express my ideas, can't add punctuation or excitement to what I am saying, or have nothing interesting to say.

To me its partly about being comfortable with who you are, who your with and whether your comfortable around them, and having the confidence to express yourself. I know I've got personality (hello, you in there?), its just having the willingness to let yourself be out there. To expose yourself i guess. Like to be willing to meet new people, have some interesting stories/experiences to tell, to not be afraid if someone doesn't get your joke/punchline. I must admit though, sometimes in certain social situations i feel that i'm trapped in some kind of cocoon, that I can't fully express myself. I hate just sitting there and laughing and not joining in on a conversation. Like Biggie said, things done changed (i.e things are gonna change).


Randoms
* i feel that i haven't seen friends for like ages since i started working. Or maybe coz its true! I feel that I'm neglecting everyone.

* Burwood Church at 5pm? It was ok, heaps of asians though - attractsa lot of university students, young workers. My kind of church? Remains to be seen.

* You know how you write a response to something, submit it and think "shoulda changed that"? Well in this work profile thing that i didn't realise will get sent around, i put that my favourite album was "ready to die" by Notorious B.I.G. I should get some interesting stares in the hallway or maybe people will start throwing up east coast gang signs.

* Will the conclave choose a Black Pope? Now that the old pope has passed away, there are rumblings that there will either be one from Latin America or will be African.

* South African accents are cool. Even better? Asian chicks with British accents!

the death of concession

You know when your days masquerading as a student whilst wearing a suit is numbered. Today marks the official day that my concession card has ended. No more enjoying the luxury of half priced train, bus and reduced movie tickets. I'll have to start forking over $8 for a return ticket to the City. I guess its all relative baby - cause I'm rolling in the real world now, earning a full time salary. But yeah, losing my concession "status" sucks.

You also know when your days posing as a student is numbered when you receive your graduation pack telling you when your gonna get yours: May Day - May 9th ,10.30am.
The glorified ceremony that shows that you - student 01066911 - is going to get his 10 seconds of fame of strolling across the podium and shaking hands with some ancient academic, packed with his two allocated fans in the audience. I guess I should be looking forward to the moment - it represents the culmination of five years at uni.

* Random point: Free Schappelle Corby! I don't think any sane person would bring 4 kilo's of mary jane INTO Indonesia.

On the lighter side

I've been reading a lot lately about Andrew Bogut and his potential number one status in the next NBA draft. I haven't seen that much of him, but they have been hyping him hardcore especially his agent who compares him to Yao Ming. It would be cool to see an Aussie go number one and it would suck for him to go to the Atlanta Hawks.

In other nba news, who's gonna be Rookie of the Year? You've got people divided between Ben Jordan (Gordon) and Emeka Okafor. Ben's the sparkplug-clutch-supersub with 23 fourth quarter's with double digits. Then you've got Mr Double Double, Okafor who's the focal point for a pretty crappy Bobcats team. My prediction?

*Emeka Okafor wins Rookie of the Year.
*Ben Gordon wins Sixth Man of the Year.

What does everyone else think Okafor or Ben?

Any Given Sunday

You would think that this long weekend being the first real break that I have gotten in a while, I'd be all excited and active. A break from the monotony of Monday-Friday, 9-5. Four days of pure unadultered bliss. No work. More sleep.

However, I don't think that I've accomplished that much this long weekend. But that's ok. Mind and body sometimes needs to chill out. Relax from the daily grind. Been watching a lotta dvd's, staying glued to my comp over a phoenix v seattle game i downloaded, going to Dawen's house, having fun at a bbq @ Cabrita.

But personally, I don't feel that I really appreciated what this weekend was about. Being a Christian this was the most important weekend in the Christian calendar. Jesus, the son of God, the bringer of hope, died on Good Friday. God sacrificied his only child, so that we could have eternal life. For the wages of sin, the blood of Christ was shed. And then on Sunday, he rose again from the dead. This weekend was meant to commerate and all that. But I wasn't feelin' that. Perhaps it was due to a lack of a local church service on Friday to attend and then followed by going to Chinese service where I didn't even understand the language (hate that).

In my heart, I feel kinda empty that I didn't really get to participate in a Church service commerating the life, death and resurrection of God's son. Or maybe its because its a ritual that I feel I missed out on. Lately though, I feel that my faith has been wavering. Its like a given that I'm praying at every meal, that I turn to God in times of trouble, that I go to my local Church every Sunday. And where's my contribution to the Gospel? Have I assisted in spreading the word of God? My efforts? Zilch. Nada. Nothing. I can't even get motivated to go to service myself. It's like I kinda lost that fire, that passion since I came back.

But this weekend? It's gone by like a flash - sleepin', bbq's, Dawen, ballin, and mo' sleepin.

And that's the problem. This Sunday felt like Any Given Sunday. But it shouldn't have.

Peace Out,

DJ HO.

You know you don't belong when....

Is it wrong to go into an expensive store such as the LV store in the Rocks, flick through the catologue and say in a semi loud voice: "this is EXPENSIVE!" in front of the shop assistant?

I mean c'mon who's gonna pay $1534 for a LV backpack which I bought for $16 in Beijing? Who the freak buys a handbag which could easily feed a family for a month? In case your wondering, the backpack was not for me, and no contray to popular belief I was not trying to match it with my suit.

Let me hear you say "3 peat"

Watched the Sydney Kings last nite produce a piece history by winning the third championship. I wasn't overly excited as game 3 was a total blowout. In the second quarter it was when we blew Wollongong away. After CJ Bruton's scored a breakaway layup, and landed into the photographer's laps, he stole the inbounds pass and scored again - this was what started the barrage of points. Man, I've never seen a team so hot - Jason Smith was on fiyya by blowing up for 38 points with 6 3-pointers. Even the centre Mark Sanford joined in with the 3 point action by burying a couple of 3's - that's when you know its all over baby.

All I can say is its great to see the Kings doing so well. Back in the day when I followed the kings in primary school, we were ranting on about Dwayne McClain, Ken McClary and then later in high school we were repping Leon Trimmingham and Isaac "Ice" Burton. Still have memories of Mark Dalton coming to my school to run some practice drills and some kid asking him to fake a dwyane McClain signature.

All my life

Congratulations to Kevin & Souda on their engagement. Love is a 10 letter word - c.o.m.i.t.t.m.e.n.t and they have shown that by publicly stating their intentions to get married. I always thought there might have been some sparks when they were both working for Ho Ho's Gifts. I actually do know some people my age who are engaged and married but yeah, can't see myself doing anything like that at the moment (sorry Dawen :P). In today's day and age, it seems people are waiting til they a bit older - say 26-27 years old to tie the knot. It's prolly a combination of a couple of factors - people being more career focused these days, women being more independent, people wanting to achieve a few more things, the costs of marriage, and people just simply not wanting to get married yet.

Telling it like it is

There's a part of me that forgets why I studied law in the first place. There's also a significant part of me that thinks "do I even want to be a lawyer?."

Studying law seemed like a good choice when I finished high school coz I was really feelin' Legal Studies. But after 5 years of slaving away at uni learning stuff like "the happy life" in remedies, how to write up a will (you saw my effort a while back :P), about 187 (murda) and manslaughter in criminal law I think why did I do all this for.

There's an really arrogant/ambitious part of me that says that says that its not worth being a lawyer if i'm not in a big ass firm like Mallesons. But the thing is that's not why I chose to do law in the first place. I loved it coz we were learning about society and its history - back in high school it was about learning about the common man, about industrial relations - workers rights, why they should be protected, minimum wage, compensation for injuries and all that. And then we learnt about women's rights - voting, right to equal pay for equal work, the glass wall and the glass ceiling. That was the bomb back then.

But now its like I've lost that drive to be a lawyer - maybe it'll never suit me. Maybe I just liked studying it coz it crossed such a wide spectrum of stuff - religion, community views, politics, and I was interested in all dat. What's the glory in being a commercial lawyer? That's not what motivated me to study in the first place. It was about helping people, fighting for their rights, about injustice.

Now that I'm working in tax for one of the Big 4 firms, peeps ask me frequently "why? You studied law. Thought you'd be a lawyer". I can't say its what I envisioned but its a good start to my career. I don't want to bore you too much but if you wanna work in this area let me know and I'll drop the 411. But in short, you need to have studied either accounting or law or perfect if studied both. You'll struggle a bit without law when the stuff gets technical - if hit me when we have meetings where we go through the latest cases, law amendments or if you have to apply tax laws to a client't situations. From my last recollection, of the 24 noobies that are in tax, all but 3 have studied law.

That's all for now folks,

Elmer Fudd aka DJ Ho.

R.E.S.P.E.T

I think two important qualities for people to have are respect for other people and to be humble. People that have neither of these qualities I personally don't have a lot of respect for. I know that sounds a bit hypocritical/circular but that's just how i feel.

I really really can't feel people if they aren't humble. No matter how good you are, what credentials you have, how popular or what your position is at work or whatever, its vital in life to be able to keep some kind of perspective and not forget where you are from and what it took for you to get there. Speaking personally, I'll admit that I probably have looked down on someone or boasted about how good I was at something in the past - and i prolly still do on occassion.

Take for example Sonny Bill Williams or Lebron James, two spectacular sporting stars who are at the apex of their respective sports. They essentially have the world at their feet. Yet I still get this perception of them from what i've read or seen on tv that they are still very down to earth and don't feed off this ego that they could easily have.

I particulary really don't like it when people boast about how good their job are. It's not as if to say that my job is superior, it just some people seem very up themselves, and you feel like giving them a bitch slap or in Trevor's words "a reality check".

Your prolly reading this and thinking this sounds like something your mum would say to you, so i'll leave you with some more authoritative words.

As Ali G says, "R.E.S.P.E.T - respekt!".


Job applications - what you really want to say

I was helping out a certain "friend" do a job application for a certain "bank". Let's just say that the whole application was driving me insane. Its standard to ask something along the lines of "why are you applying for Company X and what qualities would you bring to the role".

This is what i really wanted to put:

" I don't really care about your company, its just that your big and I want a decent job when i graduate uni. You make a lot of money by ripping good honest hardworking people off including myself, and I'm sure you could give a portion of those profits to me. I'm actually sending out as many job applications that I am eligible for and your company happens to be on my list. You can't be stupid enough to think that your the only company that i am applying for. In fact, I applying to everyone of your competitors with the same BS.

What values would I bring? I could lie and say communcation skills, teamwork, motivation and some other junk. I'm prolly not that different to eveyone else that's applying for this job. I figure that if you give me the job, train me, pay me, and give me good experience, i'll prolly leave in two years to go somewhere else for more pay or better opportunities.

In conclusion, I am the right person for this job".


On this basis, would you hire me?

CAN YOU SAY DYNASTY?

We be Rolan all over you: Rolan Roberts gives the rims a workout.

*Will the Sydney Kings three-peat? I predict a Kings victory in 5. Btw is anyone excited about the Kings potentially winning the next title and becoming a dynasty? The Kings should be the hottest ticket in town, yet no one really cares - perhaps a reflection of how popular Aussie basketball is as a spectator sport.

* Fashion Question: Is it cool to wear a backpack with a suit? Also, does anyone know how to do a tie properly (i.e. windsor knot style)? Additionally, I think its time to upgrade my leather shoes. I'm still rocking my hush puppies that I bought for the Year 12 formal - which was like 6 years ago.

*Million Dollar BABEE: Nice movie, excellent performance by Hillary Swank, Clint Eastwood plays a crusty old bugger. Love Morgan Freeman as an actor. Expected a boxing movie, got more than that with a twist halfway through the movie. Funny thing is I felt like watching it, found it on torrent reactor, downloaded it and watched it five hours later on my comp.

* Rookies taking it to the sophs: Also downloaded the rookie v sophomore 2005 game. Was so insane. Compared to other years, it was pretty competitive with the rooks winning the first half. The Sophs, led by team impact players - Lebron, Melo, and Bosh took it up a notch and killed the Rookies. Highlights - Josh Smith throwing down and attempting crazy alleyoops.

The Celtics have the future - players like Al Jefferson and Tony Allen, i was impressed with. I can't believe how confident the rookies were. Best pure shooter in da game? Kyle Korver who drilled 7 of 9 threes - he was on fiyyya. Loved it how the Baby Bulls represented - Ben Gordon what a pocket rocket, busting loose from his defender with his behind the back dribble and then unleashed a teardrop from the sky over Bosh. And Luol Deng - the future franchise player.


Stay in Skool

After bumping into Catherine in the city who has just started PLT (practical legal training) I came to the following conclusions.

What i will miss from uni:
- Mayank stealing muffins and orange juice from the Saturday morning classes
- Waking up every day at 7am, going to my 9am classes, sleeping at 2pm, then studying til 2am in the morning.
- Spending all of my days in those computer lab rooms in the law faculty.
- meeting up every saturday with my powerhouse study group - Kyle, Mayank and yours truly. We must have been pound for pound (or correctly brain for brain) the best group out there last semester.
- Mayank telling the class that "Alan Jones is the voice of the people" and then getting absolutely hammered by the class.
- playing basketball after class against FOBS.

What i won't miss from uni:
- exams and assessments
- Azize being highly unco-operative on the discussion board

I think most of all the biggest thing I will miss is the people that I used to see everyday. Everyone that did PLT got pretty close cause it was the same 60 people that was in all your classes. I still see them around the city, but it ain't the same - everyone's working, in a rush to go somewhere. My last semester was like my hardest working but also my most enjoyable times at uni.

PLT Class of Spring 2004: I MISS ALL Y'ALL!.


a dj ho production

"I was a fiend before I became a teen
I melted microphone instead of cones of ice cream
Music orientated so when hip hop was originated
Fitted like pieces of puzzles complicated
'Cause I grabbed the mic and try to say " Yes y'all!"
They tried to take it and say that I'm too small
Cool 'Cause I don't get upset
I kick a hole in the speaker pull the plug then I jet
Back to the lab ...without a mic to grab "

When I first heard about Eric B & Rakim, it was like there were hip hop icons and i knew i had to get their music. After listening to their greatest hits collection for the 100th time, i'm still amazed by their lyrical delivery, execution, and slick production. Rakim's voice is just awesome and his rhymes aren't about the typical gangster-i'm gonna bust a cap in your ass-while surrounded by hoochie mama's and nice cars. It's intellectual rhyming, old skool style, with witty punchlines. I still rate the song "Guess who's back" as one of my all time favourite rap songs.Eric B and Rakim - hip hop's greatest duo?

I'll leave you with one of my favourite lyrics:

"I came in the door i said it before
I never let the mic magnatize me no more
But it's biting me fighting me inviting me to rhyme
I can't hold it back
I'm looking for the line
Taking off my coat clearing my throat
My rhyme will be kicking it until I hit my last note"

a dj ho production

Vincis Cateris

New photographic evidence has verified that man can fly, well at least for brief periods. Here is a new species of human known as Vincis Carteris captured here in full flight. Built for aerodynamics, he stands at 6'6 and weighs 230 pounds, perfect for launching himself into the stratosphere at dynamic speeds. With pogo like legs he electrifies and amazes other lesser mortals (check the dude with the laptop at the bottom of the screen with his jaw dropping).

I want to give a big ups to Ken for giving a copy of the all-star game and the dunk contest. I haven't watched one in a while and it was extremely enjoyable. I've got two copies now, having downloaded a high quality version as well, so if want a copy, holla!.


DJ Ho's Randoms

* I love my rnb and i'm really feeling the alicia keys song "if i ain't got you" remix. It's the bomb and i can really connect with the words as it reminds me of what love really is about. The Mario song "Let me love you" is also off the hook.

* It just seems that I'm bumping into everyone at Martin Place from Hoi, Fergo - who i was staring at a while b4 i shouted out "Fergo"!, Mano - who works at the same building as me, and Anvij who was looking fly.

* Does anyone realise that the Sydney Kings are in the finals? if you want to go, and i would love to, let me know - holla!

Peace out, DJ HO

a dj ho production

Who am I?

Normally i'm a quite, easy going guy in general. Where i work, it could be considered a tad more conservative and i'm prolly a bit more reserved and stiff coz i'm pretty new and don't want to say the wrong thing/step on anyone's toes.

funny thing is, i came late to a training session in the morning the other day and was hoping to slide quitely into the boardroom. But one of the managers says out loud: "it's the Ho-star! he's finally here!". And i was like in a mumbling tiny voice :"hi". "Hey Matty, you haven't done your tie up, wake up late or something?". At a loss for words i manage to say "woke up late, mumble mumble". feel slightly embarrassed.

Moral of the story: It seems that you can't escape attention when your the ho-star.

In my opinion, my communication skills are alright, its just when the whole room is looking at me. reading hoi's blog the other day, i was feeling his nervousness about speaking in front of people. i think i've improved heaps but in general social situations i feel like that's an area that i can get better at.

What i also find kinda funny is that i really force myself to speak when i'm in interviews - a situation that you have to speak. Like i've got my game face on. It's kinda fake though, like your trying to prove that your outgoing, have personality, are a great communicator etc.

Other situations where i feel comfortable is in the classroom. I'm one of those people that actually answers half the questions in class and asks them as well. Am i a nerd?! I'd like to think not its just that i've just got no fear in those kinda of situations as opposed to others. I guess it depends on your comfort levels.

I wouldn't say that i am loud, prolly the other end of the specturm. Depending on who i'm with, i'm generally not that open with people that i don't really know well - until i guess your in my "inner sactum". There are just some people that you are really clicky with and feel comfortable talking to them and it takes time to know the "Ho-star". I'm the type of person that prolly doesn't want to be the centre of attention, as in i'm not too comfortable with the spotlight bearing down on me. I could never be the franchise player of an NBA team for example (but then again, it could be the skills that i am lacking! Think Vince Carter, Rasheed Wallace, or maybe not). The type of person i want to be is laidback, cool, in the background pulling the strings, with all the connections and know how.


Rene Rivkin Style.

For work i had to complete some independence/conflict of interest course. So what did i do when i got home?

Registered for the ASX share market trading game and started buying shares in most of the clients that i work with or are my firm's clients.

Can you say insider trading?

Randoms.

* All star game downloads! Check out this website! You can download NBA games, including the 2005 All Star Weekend. I'm not sure if it works as i am currently d/l it. Its a "bit torrent" - some kind of downloading software term. Another useful site for downloads

* Go the Street Smarts! just watched three episodes of the Apprentice 3. So rooting for the underdogs, even though i'm prolly one of the book smarts. To be successful in business, i think it's important to have a combo of street smarts and book smarts.

*Midnight Yum Cha at East Ocean, Chinatown. Hmmm. Interesting concept but none of those moving carts. You have to order from the menu, not a large variety and it comes hot but its prolly premade and steamed up. Full of non-chinese people. On at 10pm-2am.

Peace out, DJ HO.

Sometimes you don't feel like writing in sentences and just wanna jot down some random points:
* Webjay is awesome. It allows you to listen to a playlist of mp3z that someone has uploaded onto the net. It's supposed to be perfectly legal, because the songs are from "legit" sources, linking songs from various websites - not being a central server. I don't know the real deal, but i'm feeling these playlists which you can just listen through windows media with the click of a button. Big ups to obi for these compliations. Click here for more .

* Speaking of which, I haven't been to Church in a long time, apart from the odd visits to my local Church, night service at Tsimtsashui HK and at Hurstville last Sunday. I actually do want to go, its just that my motivation dies out come Sunday. Maybe i'll go to to the Burwood 5pm service.

* I'm not down with KGV on Sundays, especially after i took a 1hour and 10 minute ride to get there and felt totally sick on the bus. Maybe its a combination of the stale air/enclosed airspace on a bus ride from my house to Sydenham and the lack of ventilation at the KGV. Give me the open air Blakehurst outdoor courts anyday - keepin' it real.

* Feelin everybody's pain who's doing the Chartered Accounting program (e.g Dawen, Romani). I know its tough, and its a struggle having to give up your weekends, going to class during the week, juggling work and study. Be joining the everyday struggle in July. (In best Bruce Lee voice) I'll be a "Master of Tax with no fixed income". 8.30am training sessions are starting to wear me out.

* Went with some colleagues to Sky Phoenix, this funky-yumcha-i'm surrounded by bankers and lawyers resturant in Pitt St. Nice. Funny thing - all the waitresses speak good english coz no customers speaks chinese. There's even a "dragon lady", this owner woman who walks around recommending dishes, helping the "gwei-lo's" order. Bit pricey. Reminds me of Gum Fook in Market City but less Asians more business people.

*Someone help my bro find a job! Not the breakdancing one, the one that's in 4th year uni. He's hit a point where he's been looking for ages and can't find jack. He wants something part time officey - like one of those paralegal gigs at a lawfirm or anything half decent. Previous experience? Used to be a "sandwich artist" at Subway (if that counts for anything) and worked at barrister's office for a while. If anyone knows of any job opportunities, let me know!

* On a kind of related note, graduate recruitment season is starting up. I remember that time sorta - careers fairs, information sessions, writing cover letters and resumes, going to interviews. It brings back memories - nervousness, excitement, pain, staying up late at night pushing apps through, waiting for "the call" to tell you that "we want you". For everyone that's gonna go through that, it's gonna be tough but have faith and believe in yourself.

* Been thinking lately, wouldn't it be cool to be a lawyer? Or rather wouldn't it better to aspire to do the following: own a healthy fastfood franchise, dabble in some property developments, be a blog consultant (ideas to improve blogs), and have a production business in China.

* Discovered this blog the other day - Thoughts from a boy in Seattle. Interesting.

* And lastly, to a good friend of mine, our prayers are with you. Hope everything turns out ok.

Peace out,

DJ Ho

I wouldn't have chosen the same feature wall for my garden: The Great Wall of China. China in pictures coz a picture is a thousand words. Check out a selection of my pics from my recent trip.
a dj ho production

First "Ho Ho Gifts". Now "Ho's fashion" in Hong Kong/China. Next Ho Corporation. H.R.E.A.M (Ho.Rules.Everything.Around.Me)
a dj ho production

Oh to be an emperor! To have your own life-size army collection, all with different individual faces and the power to bury the maker of the statue ALIVE with you so.
a dj ho production

Alien Invasion: The martians have set up. I've seen the future y'all and its Shanghai
a dj ho production

I think i got ripped off, cause this Church only has the front wall! The ruins of St. Paul.
a dj ho production

African Chicken: this stuff is good. A fusion dish @ Solmar in Macau.
a dj ho production

Representin': Local Shanghai Graffiti
a dj ho production

It's Roc tha Bloc 2, Ho down special: A local Jam Session in Xian China.
a dj ho production

What's not cool
* Feeling exhausted/collapsing after playing at the KGV, going to your GF's house, vomiting, going home and vomiting some more.

* Going out on the second day A.V. (after vomit) and downing a Corona as well as a VB tinny.

* NRL players going on a drunken rampage whilst thinking that they can get with any female they feel like (oh wait, weren't the Bulldogs the same?).

* Sending more troops to Iraq.......why? This is dangerous & pointless.

* Spending all day analysing numbers

* Falun Dafa interactive demonstration at Martin Place

What's Cool

* Martin Place as a bump into a you-know-who place. I've bumped into 5 people in the last two days.

* Ben Gordon blowing up like he's Rookie of the Year. Emeka who?

* My new blog format - Pictures, new layout, blogger comments, site counter (at the bottom) which shows 118 visitors since Feb 9th - that's 7 hits a day. I'm doing this for you guys/gals you know. I think i'm spoiling you guys with all these new features.

Question of the day: Do you agree with John Howard sending more Aussie Troops to Iraq? Is this stupid? Vent your frustration!

It's a bird, its a plane, ............it's JOSH SMITH?! How awesome was this dunk. Kid skywalked right over K-Mart who threw a perfect lob, then to top it off, windmilled it home. Oh baby! We have a new dunk champion. BTW have you seen Vince Carter's self alley oop while on the fastbreak? That's elevation baby. If only there was a dunk off between Vince Carter, Josh Smith, J-Rich, Lebron.
 

A different angle. Here you can see him preparing for the windmill. JS can really get up. Did you see also his windmill dunk from outside the key ala Dominque style? Truly awesome. Or the 360 reverse windmill.  

Yes I can, Yes I can....

I can't think. I can't do it. What's going on?. F@#&! Arghhhhh! This is the worst basketball game i've ever played. Please don't pass me the ball. Just let me hide in the corner. Let me guard their worst player so i can at least look average. Don't let my friends see me! This is really embarrassing........
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Sometimes its just not your day.
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Jamie gets another rebound again. And again. Someone screams "grab the rebounds. Two hands!" Their WORST player starts taking me on. I can't do anything right. Please Lord just let ONE shot go in.
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After two tiring games with no success, the fellas ponder whether they should bother guarding "number 32", that Asian guy who seems to be getting worse by the minute.
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Playing basketball is a state of mind. Jamie's and Drazen's voices keep ringing in my head: "It's all a state of mind. You gotta believe that those shots are gonna go in". New game. Let's start afresh again. Gotta psyche myself up.
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I cut hard towards the basket. They chuck me the ball and I instinctively shoot the turnaround J. Money. Will screams: "Don't let him get position".
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I can do this. That was easy.
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They get me the ball again on the opposite side. Hookshot. Second shot goes in.
I feel like a possessed man, doing best impersonation of Rodman and grab the next two rebounds and put them back in. Another turnaround jumpshot. Seemingly i am everywhere. Someone screams "who's guarding 32!?!". Yousef, a confident player with excellent dribbling skills walks up to me.

Yousef: "How tall are you man?"
We stand back to back. He sizes me up.
Yousef: "We're the same height. So why are they throwing the ball to you like your Shaq?"

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I'm just feeling it. I''m on fire baby. I've hit like 6 shots IN A ROW including my first three pointer of the game. If there ever was a time i was in the zone, it is now.
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Next possession. Yousef walks up to me "Let me guard this guy. One possession".
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I immediately call for the ball. Fake right, spin left. Pump fake. He doesn't bite. But i release anyway. Ball rolls around the rim, spins out. I've missed, but my confidence is back.
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They changed the matchups, putting a burlier, more physical defender Bruno on me. He's able to deny me posession a few times and he's very active bumping me. I still hit a couple of shots but not so many are going in. DJ Ho's Play of the day: Bruno recieves a pass on the left baseline and goes hard to the basket. He attempts a fingerroll from just below the backboard.
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Where's Bruno? Oh no there he is!
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Like an eagle I swoop in. Bruno doesn't see me coming. I reach out, with my right hand at full extension and knock the ball out of his hands. Ben Wallace eat your heart out! The message has been sent. # 32 is a force to be reckoned with. (Well at least temporarily).
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Was this a dream? Did this really happen? Did i have too many drinks the night b4? Was I in the zone ala Michael Jordan 1988 against the Boston Celtics style?
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Perhaps the biggest respect that i got was from my fellow players and opponents. after the game. Drazen says to me "you were playing really well. First half not so good. Second half you shooting really well".
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Next challenge: KGV this Sunday. Can I do it? Who will I be?

The Alkaholics

Seriously now, what i want to know is, why do many of us drink beer/wine/spirits?

I can honestly say i don't enjoy the taste of any of that stuff. Sure its an "acquired taste" but its gonna take me a lotta drinks to really enjoy a beer!

Check this story from the staff xmas party ages ago. I had my first taste of white wine and it tasted like so bad. It had this texture of paint thinner with this really strong kick in it. In my mind, i was thinking "who drinks this crap? it tastes off". The other people drinking it (who were much more experienced drinking wine that i was) were like "this is disgusting. It has this full fruity flavour". Someone else started drinking it and they were like "this is really good! What are you guys talking about?". Either the majority of us are just uncultured animals that don't go dine at exquisite places or that guy likes drinking paint thinner that's been put into a wine bottle.

Why do people drink? I think its party/cultural thing. Many of us wouldn't drink by ourselves in the comfort of our own home. Its really when there is some social occassion (gathering, going out) that we really get stuck into this brown water. It just happens that whenever you go to a club/bar/pub everyone's drinking and I think "if everyone else is drinking, i might as well too. I don't want to look like some kind of wimp!".

I went to this hip joint "Bungalow 8" last night, which seemed like a happening place. Picture the scene: Dark, mood lighting, candles on tables, looking out onto the harbour, fire flickering from the posts outside the entrance, attractive people dressed to impressed on a friday night having exotic drinks like "malibu and pineapple".

It seemed like the drink of choice was this thing called a "corona" with a slice of lemon shoved into the top of the bottle. Did it taste good? Ummmmmm.....i guess its another one of those "acquired tastes"! Did it get any better with the second drink? I must admit it does taste better than beer because of the sweetness of the lemon.

What someone needs to develop is a good tasting alcoholic beverage - wait they have those - girlie drinks lol. Now you can't be caught drinking one of them can you. That'd just be breaking every male taboo, a sure sign of weakness if you downed of them with their extremely low alcoholic content and high levels of sweetness.

Now tell me, why do we drink in the first place?

Bboys and Bgirls

Introducing the latest b-boy on the scene ............. Kaotic (my lil bro). Here is his review of the OZ B-boy championships 2005 held in Glebe, Sydney last month.

" There are so many words I could use to describe the Oz Bboy Champs but I'll just use one....DOPE!!!!!! The crews were all awesome, especially Fresh Sox from Melbourne (the winners). The other crews were all dope they included Kosmosis (ACT), All Consciousness (NSW), Nervous Breakdown (NSW), Street Kulture Breakers (NSW), Mass Mayhem (Mel), Zou Rok (WA) and Cruise Control (SA). Props to the host Afrika Islam (one of the original Bboys from Rocksteady Crew) and the awesome Judges Juse Boogy and Domes (Massive Monkees, USA) and Katsu (Style Vale Tudo, Japan).

The Bgirl Comp was cool too, i forget the name of the winner I think it was Bgirl Kia or something all i remember is she had a dope set with a round off-backflip and then one hand hops (!!!). I've never seen any other Bgirls in the world do that, so that was sick! Anyway overall the event was just awesome, even though the turnout was quite small since the bboy scene is still small... but its up and coming!"

I've posted up some photos below of him doing his stuff. He trains every week at the local YMCA finetuning his craft. A true professional! Enjoy the pics.

don't try this at home folks  

where's the water: diving into thin air 

Ahhhhhh, i'm about to hit the groundthe butterfly walk 

Some interesting yet random stuff

Firstly, did anyone know that Rass Kass (the rapper) just got released from jail? Or the fact that he went to jail for 19 months? I had no idea until i read a blog by obifromthesouth, who has a really funny blog btw. I'm seriously so behind in the rap scene, i need to pick up a copy of The Source or soemthing.

Secondly, who remembers the "he's pumping up the shoes" and the no look dunk made famous by Dee Brown? . Check out Dimemag for the latest interview with the dunking legend who put Reebok pumps on the map (which incidentally are coming back)

Speaking of dunks, you gotta check out the NBA website which has selected some of the best dunks in each dunking contest era. You need a superfast computer which i thankfully have, and you can watch and review dunks Dr J, Spud Webb, Jordan, Dee Brown, Harold Miner and you'll soon have the urge to play bball and wish you had 48 inch hops.

You know how you might bet something stupid/ridiculous soemtimes to your mates yet never follow through with it? Well this guy gives new meaning to this practice by LITERALLY doing it.......find out more click here or just read below.....

" Geoff Huish, 26, was so convinced England would win Saturday's match he told fellow drinkers at a social club, "If Wales win I'll cut my balls off," the paper said.

Friends at the club in Caerphilly, south Wales, thought he was joking.
But after the game Huish went home, severed his testicles with a knife, and walked 200 yards back to the bar with the testicles to show the shocked drinkers what he had done. "

Ewwwwwwwwwww. Gross. Guess no one could say he doesn't have balls or can they? hahaha.

On a different note, I'll be starting work soon - Monday in fact. I'm contemplating several things.
1. What should i spend my first paycheck on? I'm considering spending it on a Playstation 2 or a new basketball ring (so i can practice my MJ free throw line dunk).
2. What should i wear? How should i act? Importantly, when do i get PAID!!!

Should i have majored in finance instead of accounting? Looking at the awesome jobs that Ip/Chris have, maybe i should do a course such as the Graduate Certificate at the Securities Institute. I've been eyeing it for a while and have spoken to one of their peoples (or should i say some dude who calls me up from out of the blue who tells me that i can still enrol).

Having watched the top 3 movies of 2004 at the China/HK Box Office being:
1. Kung Fu Hustle (sorta like Shaolin Soccer, watched it twice, excellent!)
2. House of Flying Daggers (sorta like Hero/Crouching Tiger)
3. World of Thieves (Romance/Thief action/Sob story)
All three were interesting and worth watching. If there is any connection is that Andy Lau is in two of them and that all involve martial arts and some romance story. Therefore, it may be possible to derive this formula: Andy Lau + Martial Arts + Side Romance Story = Asian Smash Hit.

I was thinking the other day, who is in the ALL BLAKEHURST SQUAD? That is, who are the top 5 players that ball at the Blakehurst cage, with some regard to position.

Center - Jamie: tall, really lanky, fast slashing drive, a nightmare to box out.
Forwards:
Sleepy eye: this guy really annoys me cause he constantly just steps back and drills threes like they are layups.
Kiwi guy: impossible to guard, incredible hops, drills TD bankshots.
Guards:
Baron Davis - short, compact dude with the english and the nasty handles.
Drazen - that Croatian dude with the really annoying driving hook shot/layup.

Special Mention or maybe the all blakehurst second team: Tim, Hoi, Ken, Bruno, Big Bird (but he don't play enough), Yousef, that Yugoslav guy with the glasses/kneepads/armsbands who looks like a huge nerd yet has huge game who i play with at UTS.

Go the East All-stars!!!!!!
I have always supported the Eastern Conference in the annual NBA all star competition. A major reason is because Michael Jordan/Scottie Pippen were in the east. Since Jordan retired and the Eastern Conference weakened, I have continued my support for them - they kinda had the underdog status.

Eastern All stars

This year, I think the East have their strongest team for yonks. With Lebron in the side, Vince Carter playing his ass off, Gilbert Arenas winning games for the Wizards, the emergence of Dwayne Wade and the LCL (last center left) Shaq playing the pivot position, the East will be able to match the West even better than b4.

I'm actually quite surprised by the selection of Big Z and the omission of Steve Franchise. The East lineups are as follows:

Gilbert Arenas
Vince Carter
Grant Hill
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Allen Iverson
LeBron James
Antawn Jamison
Jermaine O’Neal
Shaquille O’Neal
Paul Pierce
Dwyane Wade
Ben Wallace

If i were in charge of the eastern team, i'd use the following starting lineup -

* Center - Shaq in the middle - no brainer.

* forwards - i think you have to go with Jermaine O'Neal to match up with Tim Duncan. It's a lot better than grant hill. Who should be small forward - it's a tough choice cause Vince Carter has been playing so well as of late and so has Lebron. I'd put Lebron here becoz of his all around versatility - he's the best player in the game at the moment

* Guards - Carter and Gilbert Arenas. Both players are scoring like crazy and are the primary reason that their teams are doing so well as of late.

I'd rather use D-wade & Allen Iverson off the bench and bring them in together to change the tempo of the game because of their explosiveness and quickness. i'd be tempted to put Steve Franchise in the team and boot out Big Z too but he sorta covers the same position as the above mentioned two and does similar things. And a extra 7'3 body does help!

Also, having Big Ben on the bench to back up O'Neal is awesome as well as having Antawn Jamison a combo forward who can create headaches for the other team with his inside/outside game.

Starters: Arenas/Carter/Lebron/JO/Shaq
Second Unit: Wade/Iverson/Pierce/Jamison/Wallace
Outer: Franchise/Big Z - omission grant hill


Western All stars

For the western all-stars, their line up is so strong, so formidable. if you glance at the names, its just like some killer lineup with no weaknesses - i look at it, and i'm like woahhhhh. their team lineup is as follows:

Ray Allen
Kobe Bryant
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Manu Ginobili
Rashard Lewis
Shawn Marion
Tracy McGrady
Steve Nash
Dirk Nowitzki
Amaré Stoudemire
Yao Ming

again, if i were in charge of the western team, i'd use the following rotations:

starters: Nash/Kobe/Nowitzki/Duncan/Amare .Every single player here is just on fire. a bigger lineup and i'd like to see Amare's quickness versus Shaq's power.

subs: t-mac/allen/marion/garnett/Yao - a quicker, mobile fast breaking team. I'd prefer to play Yao in this faster lineup to negate his weaknesses.

Outer: Lewis/Gnobili

I was actually quite surprised that Rashard Lewis made the squad. He's been having a good season but i thought we wouldn't get the props he deserved. I was hoping he'd make the squad then again i also wanted elton brand to make it was well to reward him for his consistency and stellar play for the last couple of seasons.

The All-star game should be awesome. In fact, maybe we should all take a sick day and watch the game?!
 

MELBOURNE IN PICTURES

Featuring yours truly and his partner in crime......

Is this Circular Quay in Sydney or Melbourne's Southbank?

Breakfast @ Foo doo's: A big serving of eggs, bacon rashers, 2 chunky slices of toast, sausage, mushrooms, tomato. Ummmmm beautiful! 

OZ or The Old Melbourne Gaol: The place where Ned Kelly was hanged.  

Thumbs up! She likes the leather!  

Eerily farmiliar to Sydney? This is Bourke St, one of the main streets in the city of Melbourne 

First online purchase!

I think generally i'm pretty slow to catch onto new trends. i'm the type to sit back, watch other people try it out and then join in. It's just my personal nature.

So I feel excited having purchased my first book online from Amazon.com. It's one of the first things that i have bought from the internet (aside from airline tickets). The book that i got was "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Presents America: A Citizen's Guide to Democratic Inaction". It was highly recommended to me by some American buddies, Sean and Alison from my China Tour.

Having scoured ebay, amazon, comedy central website, i found the best deal buying a "very good" copy from the amazon marketplace, a place where people/stores sell remainder or secondhand books. The actual price of the book is $9.95 US compared to the $14.95 US . What killed me was the shipping and handling costs as international shipping was $9.95US for a book. I can't wait to get it! I used the same principles as shopping on ebay, looking at the seller ratings, feedbacks, other sales, total amount of sales. I felt more comfortable buying a copy that was $1 more expensive from a retailer that had sold like 9000 books with good feedback as opposed to "brand new seller" that had 0 feedback.


Melbourne: Cafe central

Having spent 3 days on a short visit to melbourne with my boo, i feel like I miss the city and should have spent more time there. My impressions of melbourne are that there are stacks of cafes around with a lot of single men sitting around with their legs crossed, reading newspapers. Ok, maybe that's not the best image to relay but melbourne is a bustling city a lot like sydney. They've got a Chinatown area with lots of fobs (of course), a Greek town area, a little Italy town with heaps of italian restuarnts, and a huge casino - the Crown.

Going away with my girl was a nice and sometimes stressful experience. I had a great time overall even though at times I might not have showed it when words to the effect of "let's go to another shopping street!" were heard. Relationships are give and take, so for every place that she wanted to go to, we then got to one I wanted to go to. I think travelling with someone else makes the experience a lot easier, more fun and more comfortable, especially when you are lost! I'll have to plan another trip seeing how cheap plane tickets are these days and the good time that we had.

I stayed within the City circle area (kinda like Sydney city circle) and there's this cool free tram which goes around the city. On the same street was the Greek Precint. It had this awesome Greek restaurant called Stalactities which was open 24 hours. I went there at 6am on a monday morning and 10pm on sunday night and it was packed out. The speciality is lamb souvlaki, and this baby is tasty and huge. Similar to a kebab but shorter and fatter, with chunks of lamb and tzaziki instead of homous.

The transport in Melbourne is interesting. Intially i got confused as to how it worked, but essenentially you can buy one ticket which covers bus, tram and trains. Quite similar to a Sydney Day tripper and much more convenient than buying everything separately, as is the norm here. A day trip ticket costs $5.90, and will cover as many rides as you would like on bus, trains and trams. So very cool indeed, maybe Mr Costa can pay attention (although nothing beats Hong Kong Octopus card!).

Wat about the tourist sites? I checked out old Melbourne jail, where Ned Kelly was hanged and that was crappy. It just had storyboards inside each of the cells of some of the famous inmates. I was expecting something cool like OZ, with the hacks, the shanks, and Tim McManus but alas no such thing. Interestingly, I bought two pairs of thumbcuffs (little handcuffs which fit on your thumb) which were confiscated by the airport staff. HMMMM.......i can really takeover your planes with toy thumbcuff which can be opened without keys.....yes i really am a terroist and this is my way of imprisoning hostages.......

The Crown Casino was much like Star City, with heaps of shops inside. I ate at the all-you-can eat buffet and this is not highly recommended. It costs $12.50 and seemed more like expensive pizzahut without the pizzas.

Rest in bullet points

You know how if you run out of time in an essay, the teachers always tell you to use bullet points? Well the American Super Bowl has already started, so i'll just jot down the essentials>......

- Lygon Street: A street in Carlton with literally hundreds of Italian Restuarants. A Melbourne Norton St. Ate at the Correta Cafe. Had the correta special pizza but wasn't so special as there was an italian brown hair in there. YUCK!

- Queen Victoria Market: Similar to Paddy's market except its more spacious and open, with less people. There's a cool produce section with nice deli food. Anyone for AFL? I got a hawthorne AFL football which seems exactly like a NRL ball.

- Chapel St: A uber cool fashion area with all the expensive Sydney shops/brands. I couldn't really afford anything from here except from the store Substance coz it was closing down (which by the time of writing may not be there anymore) where I bought a pair of jeans and a denim jacket - $30 each.

- Smith street: fashion outlet street with a Nike Factory (very similar to Auburn's) where I picked up a Leeds Football jersey for $10. I was starving and looking from some good breakfast and found Foo Doos, a mad little cafe which serves breakfast ALL DAY! I had the Foo Doo Breakfast for $12 which had two massive slices of toast, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomato, sausage and a some nice bacon rashers. It was pretty busy and a favourite with the locals and this kind of Newton feel to it with plenty of posters stuck to the wall.

- Bridge St: A more upmarket fashion outlet area with outlets for Industrie (got three shirts for total of $45), Cotton On, Jeans West, Sports Girl, etc.....Had some very tasty and very huge servings of Japanese Ramen Noodles (about $8.50) at some very busy restaurant which won heaps of cheap eats awards.


Year of the Rooster: Chinese New Year in 3 days

Gung Hey Fat Choi! Sun Nin Fai Lok, Sun Teh Gin Hong! Bo Bo Go Sing!

Translation: Wish you getting rich! lucky new year, have good health, walk one step forward (continually get promoted in your job)!

Random points

- my arms feel quite sore after going to fitness first Miranda. Its quite a nice place, with the usual characters in a gym: beefcakes showing off their muscles, sporty spice chicks who can lift as much as me, and weak asians (me!).

- teaching my lil bro how to drive right now, and its quite a challenging/stressful experience - why? cause you don't have any control of the car except for screaming "watchout!" and "there's no point checking the lanes AFTER you've changed lanes".

- went back to my old stomping grounds at Blakehurst and played bball and got crushed by the Croatians. I feel a bit rusty and not that confident at the moment, need to get back into my groove - or maybe its just Chuck's crushing defence?

- caught a bit of tennis fever on the weekend (bad luck to Hewitt - he'll be back) and decided to hit up the courts at Panania RSL with Dawen and lil bro. However it seems i've lost that Federer bounce in my step, my Agassi backhand, my Marat Safin forehand, and my Michael Chang hustle. Although i can still serve the ball in.........

- with all this time on my hands, it felt it necessary to watch three seasons of the prison drama OZ (24 episodes). One word - awesome. I and my lil bro was totally addicted as soon as we watched the first episode.


DJ HO's Question of the day: Is it wrong to download, copy, or buy pirated dvd's/cd's? I know legally its wrong but do you have a problem with it?

I really dont, seeing I have downloaded/bought my fair share of pirated goods. My attitude is like why buy the real thing when you can get a copy for free/fraction of the price. For me its like readily available, easily obtainable, i'm not really hurting anyone in the process. But on the flipside, if everyone downloads/buys pirated stuff the distribution/production companies/artists don't make enough profits or get the money they rightly deserve which may discourage them to produce further stuff or they can't plough the money back into other artistic works.

However, i guess pirated stuff has created an industry of its own - more CD/dvd burners are being bought off the shelves, blank cd/DVD's sell like hotcakes, ipods are fawned over by every kid with a mp3 collection, and playstation "repairers" have more PS2's to fix so you can play pirated games. So there are some positives that are derived from this illegal activity. ANd perhaps by downloading a few tracks from the latest CD, it MIGHT (but prolly won't) make me buy the actual album. In reality I reckon for most people (including myself) they don't think twice when buying the latest movie on a copied DVD in hong kong or downloading tracks from the new Snoop album.

I mean if we aren't supporting our favourite artists who is? the average joe/jane on the street that doens't have a optus cable connection set to Kazaa or understand how to use bit torrent. But I love being able to get my lil bro to download the latest NBA game or directing him to get this movie or whatever. Essentially, are people like me killing the movie/music/gaming industry? I think we are having an impact but not that disastrous. I have not bought a music CD in like yonks. I might have downloaded the latest movies on DVD however, i still go to the movies every now and then, becoz you go for the social experience. By instead of spending money on CD's, i can use the money which i have saved to see a concert. So perhaps i am redirecting money into other avenues for the music industry.

But ultimately its wrong though and we all know it. But does anyone really have any gripes with it except for the people that make money from the sales of legit stuff. The record companies are still standing. HMV is still there. EB world hasn't disappeared. Artists are still producing hot/crappy music.

Tell me what you think.

oh to be fit..........

i would like to be healthy and fit. firstly because its a personal thing but i guess its also because its an image projected by society - images of pumped up bodies, washboard stomachs, slim and trim figures. For me i guess i would like to live healthy. i am more conscious of what i am eating these days, and i am constantly fighting the addiciton of junk food on a regular basis. Whenever i go to lunch, in the back of my head i say to myself, " i should eat something healthy", but i usually end up getting something like fish and chips and a coke.

In addition, i would like to join a gym. a lot my friends have gym memberships, in fact i don't many people that AREN'T members of a gym. I guess my reasons for joining are twofold: i would like to live a healthier lifestyle and my other motivation would be to develop a better figure. I don't mean i need arnold swarznegger/scott steiner muscles but rather some upperbody strength and (ashby) leg drive. this would help me play basketball, when battling in the post or defending someone. i guess the positive side effect would be to fill out my very thin arms when i wear my latest YAO MING (!) basketball singlet.

Oh to be fit and healthy.......but at what cost? I'd have to change my eating habits (from KFC to subway?), exercise regularly (from constant arm stretching for the remote to lifting weights).

Furthermore gym memberships don't come cheap. From what i know/read at fitness first (FF) a normal membership at a particular gym is $80, a passport (access all) one is $90. Over 12 months, that could equate to $1000. There are student memberships at $34.95, but alas i'm no longer a student. the rate varies as well from reading this vogue forum (don't ask why i was reading vogue). The UTS gym is $80 for 3 months, but that gym has poor ventilation and stinks everytime i go in there. there are other suburban gyms out there too with a friend of mine paying $670 for yearly membership (equivaltent to $55) and revesby RSL i heard has a decent gym too. but it seems like fitness first would be the ideal one to join - it sounds cool, has a slick image, they give you a free backpack which you can rock saying "I'm a member!", and importantly if my friends are a part of it, i'd be more fun/motivated to go with them. plus the company i work for has a corporate deal with them, so i can get a decent rate. from speaking to a friend of mine who has the benefit of a corporate deal, it becomes $72.95 for a passport membership.

if the price is right, should i join a gym? the thing is for anyone to benefit from being a member of a gym, you have to go on a regular basis, otherwise its not worth it. i don't think there is any point in me signing up if i go gangbusters in my first month and then eventually slide into going once a fortnight. ideally, i'd like to go at least two times a week, equivalent to 8 times a month. but with work commitments, a girlfriend, going out with friends, learning mandarin, taking on a masters degree in tax soon, being a lazy person to begin with, it won't be easy to force myself to go to the gym.

Maybe i could combine all these activities. perhaps when i visit the gym, i could go on the treadmill and socialise with dawen, tim, ashby, hoi, who are also on the treadmills next to me (as everyone has a gym membership), whilst watching the latest tax updates on the TV infront of me, with one headphone blaring a how to speak mandarin CD into one ear and a holding a mobile phone in the other talking to a client.

ultimately, I reckon if i wanted to eat healthy and go to the gym regularly i could. You make the effort. You make the time. The question becomes - can i be bothered? Oh to be fit and healthy.......

DJ HO asks:
1. Are you trying to live a fit and healthy lifestyle?
2. are you a member of a gym? if so, which one/how much do you pay and importantly is it worth it??!!

the little things in life can really drive you insane

today's is australia day, a public holiday where your meant to be able to relax.......i had all these plans.......but there were ruined by a friggin leaking tap......i attempted to fix it but it only made the problems worse....and it dawned on me how useless i was with a spanner....i thought that it i could take it apart i could see what was wrong with it....but after realising that i didn't have the proper equipment ( a big arse spanner/wrench) and no idea about the internal workings of a tap......i gave up......only to be shown by my resourceful brother all these diagrams of how to fix a tap from guess where?? GOOGLE! .....i don;t think its that hard to fix a leaking tap, you just have to change the washer.....but it frustrates everyone cause we had to turn off the main tap.....

all i know is i'm having a terrible australia day atm

HK: City that never sleeps

I've been in HK for about a week and ahalf and todaty i'm flying home at midnight. What are my impressions of HK?

1. The food and generally everything that i've been buying has been very cheap. I've been having $18HK dollar breakfasts which equates to like $3 AUS. Most of my meals hvae been between $18 - 40 HK ($3-$6). I love being able to walk anywhere during the day (especialy at night) and gettting a snack. seafood stores here are so fresh, you can see the massive fishtanks with live fish swimming around. although they can be a bit cruel, as i've seen a fish scaled alive (!) in macau with its head split open, and then chopped in half. I've also witnessed a fish cut down the middle and with full internal organs displayed, lying on a table, and it was still breathing.!

2. Public Transportation is awesome. Its cheap and reliable. They have this thing called the Octopus card and its like some debit card/smart card which you just put against this box and it debits money out of your card. I've used it for ferrys (about $2HK = $0.3 AUS) to cross the river from HK island to Tsimshatusi), trams ($2HK), trains, buses, and even to buy pearl tea drinks. If only we could have this in Sydney!!!!

3. Honkies work hard. just seeing a lot of old grannies pushing really heavy carts full of boxes, people finishing work late, etc... i think a lot of old people that don't have family must fall through the cracks in Hk society.

4. Weird/or very hip fashion? I've been to a couple of honkie stores, and i just cannot purchase anything in there cause its just too funky/honky for me. Sometimes i see people on the street (especially in mongkok) and they have zebra pants with punk rock hair styles.

5. shopping paradise. its seems that they are certain congregations of certain products. I went to this little shopping centre in tsimshatsui and its was just full of mobile phone shops. Both levels with like 30 stores all sold phones. In Sham Shui Po there's like the golden computer centre, which only sells computers and perhiperials. IN mongkok there's like whole streets that only sell sport shoes! And to top if off there's also streets in Prince Edward that sell birds (very festy), goldfish street which sells every type of fish imaginable, and several streets that sell only flowers.

clothing just seems so cheap over here. you can get jeans here for as low as $60HK ($10AUS). So i bought three pairs in the markets but unfortunately they turned out to be too small (anyone want a pair of 33 inch jeans?).i tried out heaps of jeans in the stores but they were all too tight - they didn;t have much that were loose fitting - either honkie people like tight jeans or they have thinner body builds to western people or i just like baggy clothes!

6. Not many people seem to sleep early! I've been to mongkok, causeway bay and sham shiu po, and macau at around 11pm. and the streets are just absoultely jam packed.

7. i don;t know what the deal is, but there seems to be an incredible amount of broadway, city call stores in the main street of mongkok. on this one massive street there are the SAME stores every one hundred metres. HK is like some kind of giant electronic store. different suburbs specialise in certain goods.

8. there's a lot of foreigners in Central (Jung Waan). In fact, in Lan Kwai Fong, there deosn't seem to be any chinese people. Its like a nighttime area with heaps of bars, and it attracts the expat crowd. And i serioulsy didn't feel comfortable walking arouind there despite being chinese! the only asians there seem to be funky asian americans!

9. a basketball nation? every where i go, there seems to be basketball courts which are packed out. Team Aussie Chinese expats (Me, Chris Lau, Ip, Ken Chan) got our arses whupped last saturday at Wanchai partly cause we were rusty, but we should have won. Honkies have a different style of playing basketball. Big guys have no idea how to post up or use their height. Not many people take it to the rack hard. HK may not be a basketball powerhouse but you hvae to give them props for playing ball at Wan Chai at 11pm on a weeknite.

10. I miss home and all my family, dawen and all my friends . I never realised it until this week when i have been itching to go home. I really feel for Ip and C-Lau cause they are gonna be gone from Australia for the next couple of years. since i was in Hk, i've pretty much been by myself with no-one to talk to except Ip at night.

11. I gotta get a PS2! GOTTA get NFL street!

12. Macau is pretty much an extension of HK. more on that another day!

See you guys soon! i arrive in aust on Friday like 11am!