DNA For Hot Weather

verybody is complaining about the weather . From California to Canada , people are feeling the heat. Sporadic rainfall help a little . The temp here reaches to 45 deg C . It's good that some workers are provided heat relief . I remember designing a room where our workers in the plant can ' cool off ' when the weather becomes unbearable. The room has an A/C of course , a water cooler and seats . I thought of incorporating mist spraying unit but it's too complicated . They can spend their break at the RR . So after the shift is over , you'll find tons of newspapers in there . Sometimes. that's where I picked up newspapers to take home .

In comparison , plants in Saudi Arabia where I used to work have no such thing . One just have to bear it. It can really be oven hot especially with almost no humidity . Something between 50-55 deg.C. Somehow we survived . The toughest guys in hot weather are the Yemenis . These guys are small but strong hombres working in outside weather either in constructions and road building. Actually , Bin Laden is Saudi-Yemeni but he's tall (6'4'') .Then next to the Yemenis are the Pakistanis , Indians and sub Saharan nationals not necessarilly in order. I guess their DNA can accept such brutal weather !

Poker Up !

I am excited about the coming world strip poker to be held in Cafe Royale in London. It is going to be the biggest of its kind and Guiness Book Of Records is going to be there to record the event. Wow ! Who has not played strip poker one time or another ? In high school , that's a common dare for us . That was then though. Now , you will think twice 'bout doing such a thing especially if you are not in shape . This London event is going to be on TV .

This Guiness thing is becoming the preoccupation of some local executives around the world . Why not ? It certainly puts their town in the limelight even for a brief 15 seconds of fame so to speak. One town in Asia holds the record for mass kissing by couples while another hold the honor of baking the larget pizza !
Let's just hope the participants in the London event are not big bellied beer drinking men and gigantic assed cigar smoking women !

New Products I Bought

My friend in his visit yesterday told me about the latest inventions in the market . It's a robot maid . It's supposed to do most of what a real maid can do and without qualms . I missed that one so I check the net . Normally , I am up to date on things like this . I had a Newton handheld unit before my friends got theirs. It's what you might call the early Blackberry . I had it 10 yrs. ago and had fun with it because it cannot recognize my handwriting ! Totally useless product by Apple Computers.

Then , there's the Rhumba . What a piece of junk ! You're supposed to leave it , in the room and it will be vacuum cleaned . The real truth is , it needs your presence to move it to different spots as it get stucked . I hope this Robot Maid is as good as advertised . Remember , first is not necessarilly good !

The X - Americans

No one can forget the hundreds of thousands of people in the streets of California when they staged the Day Of The Immigrant. A sea of US and a a sprinkling other flags adorned the rally . Actually , the rally was participated not only by Latinos but Asian - Americans and other mixtures of races. Or X-Americans . This paralyzed some businesses in the areas. Restos , laundry shops , hotels and other services were all affected . At least for that day. Having travelled part of California , I know the influence of Asian-Americans there. Daly City is sometimes referred to as Little Manila . There is Little Vietnam , Koreatown and of course , Chinatown everywhere. In fact , there's Chinatown eveywhere in the world. For those who like to try different culinary delights from different parts of the world , that's fantastic .

Last week , it's the Arab-Americans turn to rally. In a smaller scale , they held it in Dearborn, Michigan where there are more concentration of them than anywhere in the States. I don't know how they ended up there , but they there. At first I thought it's odd , but after meeting a lot of Arab-Americans there as part of my work as an Engineer for a car company then , I learned to accept it .
We are truly a beacon to those who seek a better life in this world !

Powerful Songs Of Different Era

Now I know why journalists and other media men consider the blog as a powerful tool of the future. It really can exert influence especially on today's youth. A lot of young people don't bother reading the papers anymore and they just get the news via the net. Even myself. I read my blogs first before the papers.

Yesterday was no different. I read 2 of my fav blogs and found something that influenced my buying binge that day. I was in search of good music. Of all places , I found one in a sports blog ' I Hate The Raptors '. Why such a title ? I don't know . Coach post that day concerns Nelly Furtado's ' Promiscous ' . It's such a cool song no wonder it's topping the chart. Then Yellow Granny's post yesterday was about the classic ' American Pie ' by Don McClean . I was totally blown away by her explanation of each line. Go check out these 2 posts when you have the time. They should be in my links . Thanks guys for making my day ! By the way , I bought the CDs of the 2 songs yesterday. Now that's influence !

Issue For Life

Here's a piece of good news for our Canadian folks. It seems like the planned implementation of the border requirements is not happening soon. That means passport is not required to pass the borber anytime soon.You never know . This can change soon.

This brings me to the mass evacuation of American nationals out of Lebanon. After receiving criticisms for requiring Americans to sign promissory note ' to reimburse the US government of of the evacuation fees ' , The State Department of Condi Rice rescinded the order. Hmm. One caller to CNN said that the order was moronic ' in the light of the fact that we don't require Mexican illegals to pay for their use of schools, hospitals etc. The illegal immigration issue just won't go away. There are some issues that may dislodge it every now and then , but illegal immigration will always be there.
Let's just say that CNN's Lou Dobbs , discussing illegal immigration in his program, will not end soon . I don't think so . Like America's Most Wanted , the show will go on and on.

I Am John The Senior

Harper is in shit . The Prime Minister of Canada is under criticism for mouthing the White House lines regarding the Israel handling of the present crisis.. Not surprising . After all Harper is as conservative as Bush . The Conservative Party to which Harper belongs is aligned with the Republican Party. In Asia , Harper will be called the puppy of the Administration . That's in the days of student demos. It was fun and dangerous at the same time.

I recalled this period with amusement and admiration. Admiration for the steadfast belief of the youth of yesteryears. Not to say that the youth today are ' lazy ' or contented . It's just different. Hillary was criticized for her labelling the young ones as such . Her own daughter was 1st to call her attention to her mischaracterization . I guess that's when you know that you are really an adult. You've become your mother or father !

When War Is Fun

This is an excellent time for news lovers . It's exciting because of several crisis happening in the world right now. There is the Israel-Hamas fight , then followed by the Israel-Hezzbolah war . These are coming right after the India bombing and N.Korea missile launcing .Oh , don't forget the ongoing Iraq drama and Iran nuke problem. What a mess ! Actually , these sporadic ' wars ' can be fun if not for people dying. I remember the first Gulf War was some experience for me and most wokers in our company. I was working as a Manager for a plant in Saudi Arabia. That's the time that Saddam sent several scud missiles to Riyadh. Initially , we were afraid 'cos there's been talk about Saddam fitting these scuds with deadly chemicals. So in the first few scud attacks , we donned our masks and sought shelter when the siren sounded. After a few of these attacks , we found out that the scuds were ' harmless '. These scuds were not fitted with chemical weapons. From then on , every siren was greeted by our people not by fear but by cheer. We would raced to the rooftop of our building and watched the US Patriot missiles intercepting Iraq's scud missiles in mid air . It's like watching the New Year's fireworks show.
What a sight !

Enuff Of Regis, Think World Issues

I stopped watching America's Got Talent . I find it sickening . Same thing with ' So You Think You Can Dance ' . Sorry if you are a fan of these shows . I just find these shows revolting . The TV world is so full of talent contest . Models competing , housewives showing who's better etc. I guess that's the trend. Last night, I decided to be TV less . I just went out and look at the development in our area. Lots of construction . One wonders how come so many people still think of America as the land of opportunites . The jobs are going to China , India and some countries where labor is cheap and enviromental control anf ergonomics rules are non existent. It's true. I once worked for an electronic company in the Far East where waste water treatment was operated only when there was a visitor. For show obviously. Then such things as load and distance of travel by the poor workers were not taken into consideration when assesing workload. Unbelievable. You tell them about carpal tunnel and they would think it some sort of fish living in a tunnel. Will these modern world issues eventually be introduce to them ? Yes , Mr. Global Warming Al Gore will do it !

Running Of The Bulls

The running of the bulls is on its 3rd day . Coming at the heels of the World Cup , this yearly event started in Pamplona , Spain largely unnoticed. To those looking for excitement , this runfest is the ultimate excitement . Why you asked . Imagine a 6,000 pound animal ready to gore you to pieces not to mention the danger of being stomped to death by fellow thrill seekers. As of this morning , the Gore Report is not too bad . There is one seriously hurt and he was not even a participant . He was a sideline observer who got gored by a bull who veered out of the normal path. Too bad.
I know many people who specifically go to Espana for the running of the bulls. It is not enough that they see the beautiful sceneries not to mention the equally beautiful senoritas , they got to participate in the event. Good luck to them.

Simon's Book

I finally finished reading Simon Cowell's book entitled ' I Don't Mean To Be Rude But ...'. It was easy reading 'cause it is not too long and it covers light subjects. Nothing much to digest. It' s show biz after all. What's interesting 'bout Simon is how simple his taste is .Completely pop music. No fanfare. Even his fav songs like Unchained Melody and She Loves You. For a guy so critical of a lot of peeps , Simon actually is nothing more than a regular guy with a simple taste . That explains his fondness for the t shirt versus the formal suit.

What is interesting about his life is the start of his involvement in the recording business. It's not like Wall Street careers where the top people are nomally grads of bigtime schools with law or finance degrees and an MBA to boot. In the recording industry , you can start at the bottom and rise to the top like Simon. Imagine that . You can make millions even if you are not a successful recording star. Just a good judge of talent like Simon.

Mick Jagger = Riot.

The other day , I watched Chuch Berry's TV Special . It was a show he did in one place in St. Louis where as a kid blacks were not allowed inside. What special about this was the presence of guests like Sean Lennon and Eric Clapton. They showed an old film clip of John Lennon and Chuck doing a duet . And now Chuck was with John's son doing the same. Of course , Julian is not as talented as John .
Chuck is considered the idol of many rock and rollers. He's an amazing guitarist. Oh by the way , Chuck has Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones as a back up gutarist. Do you know that Johnny Depp's character ac Jack Sparrow in Pirates Of The Caribbean was patterned after Keith ? I think it's brilliant . And I think that's jusy right . Imagine if Depp based his character on Mick Jagger's instead. It will be a riot !

Imagine If Your Leader Is This Joker

The news is all about Noth Korea's firing of 6 miisiles yesterday and 1 today. Crazy Kim Il Jong. He timed the launching to coincide with the 4th of July celeb. Japan was particularly concerned . The missiles eventally fell in Japan Sea.

Jong Il is one odd leader . He is a collector of Hollywod films aside from Michael Jordan tapes. Jong Il collected several ' best actor ' awards for films he starred and produced for local consumption. What kind of fool will do such a thing. He is known as a playboy at the same time a brutal leader who kept his nation from progressing economically. You must seen his character parodied in Mad TV.
I visited Japan , Taiwan and even South Korea and I can tell that these countries are rich economically and culturally aside from free. The same cannot be said of Noth Korea. Just because of Kim Jong Il.

Imagine The Feeling..

Imagine the feeling of the astronauts of the Discovery Shuttle. It's the nth time the launching of it has been postponed . It's the weather again , they say . It musy be a clear sky before the control team gives the OK . The CNN announcer said the peeps must be like those attending a wedding that keeps getting postponed . I tell you what . If I am the groom of that wedding , I will be long gone .
Actually , the announcer was reffering to the peeps who came all the way from different states to watch the launching . I am sure they have their hotels booked for a certain number of days only. Next time , just make sure you have plenty of allowances .
The space shuttle astronauts have !