Inch by inch

Tony D' Amato's inspirational speech from "Any Given Sunday"...

I don’t know what to say really.
Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives all comes down to today.
Either we heal as a team or we are going to crumble.

Inch by inch, play by play, till we’re finished.

We are in hell right now, gentlemen...believe me... and we can stay here
and get the shit kicked out of us, or...
we can fight our way back into the light.

We can climb out of hell, one inch at a time.
Now I can’t do it for you. I’m too old.

I look around and I see these young faces and I think, I mean
I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make.
I, uh…. I pissed away all my money, believe it or not...
I chased off anyone who has ever loved me.
And lately, I can’t even stand the face I see in the mirror.

You know when you get old in life things get taken from you.
That’s, that’s part of life.
But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff.
You find out that life is just a game of inches.
So is football.

Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small.
I mean, one half step too late or too early, you don’t quite make it.
One half second too slow or too fast, and you don’t quite catch it.
The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They are in every break of the game...every minute, every second.

On this team, we fight for that inch.
On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us, to pieces for that inch.
We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch.
'Cause we know when we add up all those inches,
that’s going to make the fucking difference between WINNING and LOSING,
between LIVING and DYING.

I’ll tell you this...
in any fight, it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch.
And I know if I am going to have any life anymore,
it is because I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch
because that is what LIVING is...the six inches in front of your face.

Now I can’t make you do it, you gotta look at the guy next to you.
Look into his eyes...
Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you.
You are going to see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team...
Because he knows when it comes down to it, you are gonna do the same thing for him.

That’s a team gentlemen... and either we heal now as a team,
or we will die as individuals.
That’s football guys.
That’s all it is.

Now, what are you gonna do?

cormac mccarthy and the holiday season

The holiday season is always a respite. Well, at least even for just a little while, we can relax a little and savor the good things life has to offer. Anyways, I'm grateful that during the first few days of the break I've finished several books already. I guess I really had to do it since I feel that I'm really lagging in my reading and I had to seize this opportunity and try to read all the books that I bought several weeks, months even, before.

I'm fortunate that I already discovered the works of Paulo Coelho. I made mention about it in a review I wrote several days ago. I got more fortunate after reading Cormac McCarthy's "The Road". I've heard of McCarthy first in "Oprah" when I was keeping Alice company one night watching the show. Oprah is recommending the book that time and showing her short interview of the author. I decided I'll buy the book and try it, but after buying, it just stayed in my drawer for weeks, and I was not able to even scan it. Well, I guess the timing was just bad, that when I bought it it coincided with just too many works in the office.

Anyways, after reading it two days ago, I would have to say it really was a piece of work and worthy of the award(s) it received. McCarthy's technique of narrating it thru prose-like literature is really successful, as well as his description of the end of the world viewing it thru the "real" humanity of man - the good and evil that reside within him.

In its deeper context, "The Road" does not only tells about the story of the bond between a father and his son. More importantly, it narrates about the humanity of man. Such that even in despair and difficulties, there exists in him the instinct to help, and in hopeless situations there is always the love he has for his family.

As I stayed awake the whole night reading McCarthy's book, it dawned on me that the story is real, and it's happening to all of us. There are lessons that can be learned from this book. You have to read it.

The Alchemist

I have to admit I just recently discovered Paulo Coelho. Alice told me about him, when one of our friends from South Africa who is a very indulgent reader told her about his works. When we happened to pass by Borders several weeks ago, I bought Alice this book, and after she finished reading it I took turn in scanning its pages.

The Alchemist's story is not unique. It is in fact, a very common one. And there lies the success of the book and the power of its author. The Alchemist is very powerful in its simplicity, and its uniqueness lies in the beauty of its message: pursue your personal legend and you will find happiness, for then you will know the purpose of your existence.

Santiago's story tells us that we must listen to our hearts, for if we know what our hearts desire, only then can we know the true purpose of our existence, and only then can we truly be happy. This book also tells us to continue following our dreams, for only through it can we find our purpose in life.

What makes Paulo Coelho's book a success?

Its narration of the simplicity of life. And its telling of the simple things that make our lives more meaningful and interesting. The story of the shepherd boy is the story of each and everyone of us. The quest for happiness and the meaning of life is the same quest that we try to achieve everyday. Each and everyone of us shares the same dream with Santiago.

What is the secret of one's happiness?

As The Alchemist tells us, happiness is following our dreams. And not being afraid of obstacles that can be encountered following the path to our dreams. As the book says, true happiness is understanding the meaning of our lives, the purpose of our existence. We can do that by listening to our hearts... and by following its yearnings.

Paulo Coelho tries to tell us these simple things in his little book. I guess it won't be hard for us to get his message and learn from it.

"in pursuit of happyness"

I borrowed this movie from a friend, not knowing really what this movie is all about at first. When I had the chance to watch it on a night when there's not much to do, I got some valuable life lessons that will stay with me for a long time...

The movie "In Pursuit of Happyness", is the story of Chris Gardner, a struggling salesman with a 5-year old son. Like most of us, the movie portrays the difficulties one has to go through when we're just initially starting a family and only having a "common", average job. The life of Chris Gardner is a portrayal of the triumph of the spirit, that is, against all odds and armed only with commitment and dedication, one can realize his dreams only if he won't lose focus and continue to sacrifice and persevere to attain it.

I haven't read the book from which the movie was based, nor I know the story of Chris Gardner prior to my watching the said movie. But after watching Will Smith and his son Jaden in the movie, I feel like I could relate to their story somehow. I don't know. Maybe because their story is such that it's actually the same story most of us currently have. Maybe somehow, this story is also the story or our lives as we live them right now.

One important lesson this movie taught me is to love your kids. And don't let anyone take them away from you even in difficult times. It's sad that I could not do that. Like millions of other Filipino parents, I am separated with my kids right now. That's the sacrifice 10% of the Filipino parents have to go through. It's part of our diaspora. And although sad, it's a fact of our life. I just try to make up for it by constantly communicating with them and trying to let them feel I am not away in any way I can.

Gardner's story is an inspiration. Every one of us is in one way or another, experiencing struggles in life. And like Chris, we have to learn to face them all. We have to stay focused and committed to our goals, and move towards realizing them everyday, every minute that we can. We shouldn't lose any given opportunity.

As this movie tells us, if we persevere, if we try hard, if we dream long enough, our pursuit of happiness will eventually be rewarded.

Notting Hill

This is definitely my favorite movie.

Let me just make it clear. I'm not really a fan of Julia Roberts (although I'd say some of her movies are done well), nor of Hugh Grant (I prefer the other "Hugh" of the series "House"). But I really really like Notting Hill. And I don't know why. Maybe it's because of the simplicity of the story... or the fact that it's the most successful love story formula: similar to that of Cinderella and other fairy tale classics. And this one's with a twist: the guy is the not-so-famous-and-rich one. Well, whatever it is, I always get that familiar rush of emotion on the scene when Anna utters the most important dialogue of the movie: "... i'm only just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her..." as well as the last dialogue between the two, when Hugh asks Julia if she'll reconsider... maybe I'm a sentimental romantic afterall :)

I got the chance to watch it again tonight when a friend of ours brought the VCD to our place for a night of good movie. What can I say? It's definitely feel good... I love it.

Isaac Asimov's Caves of Steel

It is always good to go back to things that you love. Be it movies, books, or places, you always want to re-experience the thrill and the emotion you get when you read, watch or visit them again.

I learned to know and like Isaac Asimov from his Foundation series when I started to get fascinated by science fiction stories during the 90s. Way back then, I think I read every book of that series and the other Asimov works that are related to it. Anyways, when I visited my favorite bookstore sometime ago, I happen to pass by those "bargain" books that they have - those with two stories or novels in one paperback. More fortunately for me, I saw a classic Asimov novel, Caves of Steel, together with an extra series, The Rest of the Robots. Of course I bought it.

I just finished reading the Caves of Steel three or four days ago. It was actually one of the first novels written by Asimov, and also the one where he introduced his so-called "new generation" of robots that are the opposite of the mephistophelian variety that existed before it.

The Caves of Steel is where Asimov introduced the three laws of robotics. This is where he introduced the idea of positronic brain and the humanoid robot. It is a police story set in the future, when humans and robots co-existed, and when extra-terrestrial colonization is the norm. Asimov painted a picture of the modern "city", where efficiency is prioritized over individuality and privacy. It is the future earth according to Asimov. And it is classic.

The story of The Caves of Steel, its setting and its ideas may be absurd to some, but it can also be real...in the future. One good thing about Asimov's work is that they are close to reality, and the more we read and think, the more convinced we become that they could happen someday. Robots and humanoids and space colonization could be eons away from us, but reading Asimov make them quite already here now. That is why I like reading his works. They always are interesting pieces.

The Google Story

I finished reading this book more than two weeks ago. However, due to pressing deadlines in the office, I was not able to write anything - reviews, blogs, anything - in all my web spaces in the past couple of weeks, and thus I am only writing this review tonight...

The Google Story is the colorful story of the Google Guys - Larry Page and Sergei Brin, and how they build, developed, and made a dot com empire that is now called Google. The book narrated how these two PhD students from Stanford University met each other, became friends, made more friends and contacts, and from there had the idea of building a dot com company that will evolve in an important product - the search engine. The book also intimated how the then two would-be billionaires decided not to be conventional in all their business approaches, choosing instead to build their company using the alternative ways, and constantly trying not to succumb to the charm of being businessmen, and do their business ways as businessmen do.

Larry and Sergei chose to remain technologists and run their company as technologists would, and in the process maintain their mantra of "Do not be evil" in creating their empire as we know Google today.The Google Story is a success story - we all know that, of course - that shows how it pays to chase a dream and constantly working to realize it. It also shows that a company can be big and dynamic, motivated and progressive without having to be similar to others. The Google Story tries to teach its readers that to build a motivated company, one (or two) have to make the employees happy and contented, to the point of providing them gourmet free lunch and spas at work. The Google Story is a triumph of technology... but more importantly, it is the triumph of the human spirit fueled by an ordinary dream. The Google Story is probably played by gifted individuals, but the story can be realized by anyone... its story is for everyone.

As an added bonus, the Google Story also narrated some inside happenings about the dot com business as it is today. It intimated how Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, and many other big players in the IT arena constantly haggle, quarrel, and make friends with each other again, to survive, win and stay on top of their business areas. It gives us a glimpse of what's happening at the corridors of IT powers, and how the big players lay their cards on the IT business table. Indeed, it also teaches us a point or two in IT business.

For these and for all its worth, The Google Story is indeed an interesting read.

Google Fast Facts:

Google Inc. was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergei Brin, when the two were only in their late 20s; Page and Brin, both 34 years old this year are worth 18.5 billion US$ today (according to Forbes magazine); Google has been in the top 5 companies in terms of value for several years now; the company's last quarter profit is approximately 2.5 billion US$; as of December 2005, it has 5,680 fulltime employees; Eric Schmidt previously of Cisco Systems is the current CEO; Googleplex is the name of the sprawling complex of the company; Google came from the word Googol, a mathematical term for the number 1 followed by a hundred zeros.

Borders... and reading again

I have always loved reading. As far as I can remember, I read and read and read since I was a kid. I remembered spending countless hours reading the then very popular "komiks" when I was still a boy in my small hometown, even spending time squatting in our local market with other kids during lunch breaks renting them and reading them there. It is good that I heard Carlo Caparas and his wife is trying to resurrect "komiks" - and the Filipinos' habit of reading them - in the Philippines. When I become a little bit more "mature" in my hobby (that is not to say that only immature readers read "komiks"), I started reading magazines and pocketbooks. I remember starting from Hardy Boys stories in high school, then gradually shifted to science fiction, particularly Isaac Asimov's Robots and Foundation series during my first years in College, and finally into conspiracies and thrillers with the popular authors of that time - Ludlum, Clancy, Forsythe, Sheldon, and others. My favorite in this genre - and in this era of my reading - is John LeCarre, but it did not stop me from reading the works of all the other authors, whenever and wherever I get hold of them. I've read about spies and agents and Jason Bourne long time before they got the chance to be watched on the big screen. After that, I moved into reading legal stories - the John Grisham variety. And I was totally hooked. I became fascinated with each novel so much, that I practically collected all of Grisham's books and read them... you could say learn them by heart, even. During this time, I did not only become more mature in my reading, I also reached a certain maturity in life, as you might say.

When I become a teacher, my love for reading became more intense. If before I want to read just for the sheer pleasure of doing it, this time it became an inherent requirement. I feel that to become the best in my craft, I need to read more. Not only on the areas that I learned to love and appreciate all these years, but on all areas possible. I started exploring (and reading) new genres, and I began expanding my reading habit in the process. During this time, I got fascinated with reading general business and management books, aside from books about IT and computers. And so, I started collecting them also. I read about Microsoft, Intel, National Semiconductor, IBM, General Motors, Dell, and countless other successful stories of organizations. This provided me the foundation to be curious and interested about the life of the people that run them, and so, I started reading about their lives - Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Jack Welch, and many more. It dawned on me that reading biographies and memoirs not only give you immense reading pleasure, more importantly, it gives you important lessons - life lessons which you can always practice in your own context, in your own situation, and in your own time. I bought and read books about the life of Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Albert Einstein and a few other individuals who, in one way or another had very colorful and important lives from my own perspective. I even read a chapter in the life of Osama Bin Laden in one of the books written about him, the title of which is lost on me now. And I continue to read and read and read...

When I read about Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, I become fascinated with everything religion. I read several other books relevant to it and for that matter read and learned also about the Knight's Templars, the Freemasonry and the Lodge, and the so-called secret and discarded gospels. I become facsinated with Dan Brown's stories that I also read his other novels. (Sadly, except for Angels and Demons, his other stories did not measure up to the same league as the Da Vinci Code, so I thought).

When I first came to this place, I had a hard time finding books to read. And I don't know for the life of me why I decided to accept a job here in the first place because of that. It was actually the first time in my life that I couldn't read anything, except for some old educational textbooks and newspapers. I'd been to several places already - and always, plenty of books are there for reading. And I thought, this is becoming not fun anymore... but then, I need to sacrifice a bit inasmuch as circumstances really need for me to work here in the meantime. And so, I waited... something, I hope, will eventually happen.

Yesterday, when I visited the city center once more after a long vacation, I was greeted with a new shop called Borders at the newly-constructed wing of the mall . It's actually one of the biggest bookstores I've ever seen in quite a while... and the good thing is, it houses thousands of books that I love! The place even has a small Starbucks Coffee shop in one corner, which made Alice very happy :) Now, Alice can stay there and wait for me while I scan all the titles there and choose my next read. Borders really get me going again.

I actually did not stop reading during the whole time I stayed in this area. Although there's not that many books to get, I contented myself reading magazines - computer magazines for that matter. I even collected one publication which caught my fancy. From time to time, I also download eBooks (although good titles that do not have copyrights are scarce). Overall, my reading did not suffer too much, and I would say it's not that bad afterall. However, the coming of Borders is indeed a very welcome development, and the resurrection of my reading hobby is definitely in the offing once again - I already bought three new titles for me: The Google Story, one by Isaac Asimov, and I'd like to try Cormack McCarthy now by planning to read The Road. I bought Alice one as a gift - A Mighty Heart, to prepare her also for a long time of reading again.

If you wish hard enough, and hope long enough, everything is possible... really.

Summer Read...

Books I read last summer (personal reviews)...

Book No. 4 – The Innocent Man (John Grisham)

This is the last of the books I read last summer. I always liked the stories of John Grisham, so much that I read and collected all of them. His narration of the fiction stories he authored are really very interesting, that at times I stayed most of the night trying to finish them. And when he ventured into writing a true story, I can't really wait reading it. Thus, as soon as I got the chance to buy the book, I grabbed one and finished it in one sitting...

The Innocent Man is the true story of Ron Williamson, a popular athlete in his hometown during his younger days, a one-time minor league player, and a man accused of mudering a waitress in his hometown of Ada. Grisham had written a vivid picture of the life of Ron, starting from his younger years when he was still the star athelete of his high school, to his journey in the minor league baseball and his dream of becoming a major league player someday, to his demise as an athlete, and his slow and painful addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Ron's life turned for the worse when he was accused of murdering Debbie Carter, a waitress in his town. When the police decided that he's the murderer even when evidences pointed to another man, his life descended towards its darkest moments. Life had been hell for Ron afterwards.With the help of kind lawyers, Ron was able to reopen his case and was finally acquitted after more than ten years on death row. However, the psychological and mental torture - aside from the physical one - that he suffered during his time in jail was really overwhelming, and he never recovered from it. A short time after he was made a free man again, he finally succumbed from all his sufferings.

Grisham's novel is an enlightening story. It showed that justice is not really always given to everyone. However, the story also says that how long it may take and how difficult it may be, truth will eventually come out and liberate an innocent man. God, truly, has a way of doing things...

Book No. 3 – Digital Fortress (Dan Brown)

While wasting time and relaxing during the last summer, I got the time catching up with my 'ebaying' (is there such a word?). I bought Dan Brown's Digital Fortress for about a dollar fifty and had it given to me by the buyer by meeting at the Ang Mo Kio station... it was the third read I had in the summer, and I'd say a particularly good one at that...

Digital Fortress is about high technology, computers, and encryption... Dan Brown had conceptualized a thrilling plot with the use of the US's NSA, which is really a spy agency whose function is about protecting the US homeland through 'sniffing' terrorist activities and communications that pass through the newest network infrastructure, primarily the Internet. The story tells of a 'super computer' comprised of millions of processors with the sole function of decrypting suspicious codes that it catches over the web, which in turn are further analyzed by the NSA's top scientists. The plot thickens when said supercomputer encounters a code that it cannot break, which turned out to be an elaborate hoax made by one of its top programmers.

I would say that the story is at best average... although you will appreciate the author's research on the new technology at that time once in a while. Brown had added the dimension of romance between the two principal characters, which for me provided some light moods to balance the emotions of the story. For what I learned, this is Dan Brown's first (or is it second?) book, and there are obvious stretches of passages that tend to lecture the reader on new and high technologies. Although this will be interesting to some (particularly geeks and techies), I also believe that it tends to bore the other types of readers.Anyways, overall, I would say that reading Brown's Digital Fortress, I get to learn some more things about information and communication technologies. And although the story is not immensely powerful, I still found some things enjoyable in it.

Book No. 2 – Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)

This is another good book that I read this summer. I actually planned on reading it way back then, but never got the chance. Fortunately, while staying as a transient in Edu's flat in Singapore, I happen to get my eyes on it and didn't lose the opportunity to do it...

Arthur Golden's book, which incidentally was also made into a hit movie, narrates the story of Chiyo, a peasant girl living in an obscure Japanese town, and her transformation to Sayuri, who became one of the famous Geishas in Gion (Kyoto). The backdrop was Japan before world war 2, and the characters involved a mix of geishas and their patrons, which included politicians, army generals, prominent businessmen, and royalties. It was a vivid retelling of how geishas become geishas. And how they do their everyday lives. The story started from Chiyo's life in a small seaside town, then her coming to Gion through one Mr. Tanaka. It thennarrated how Chiyo was acquired by an okiya, to being schooled in the geisha art, to being an apprentice geisha, and to finally becoming a geisha. The author provided color by introducing two prominent geisha protagonists around Chiyo - Hatsumomo and Mameha, Hatsumomo being the villain who always wanted Chiyo (Sayuri) to fail. One of the highlights of the story was Sayuri's quest to find the man who provided the inspiration early in her life at Gion - the Chairman. As can be expected, the book showed how these two characters' lives became intertwined romantically towards the end of the book.

Memoirs of a Geisha is a good read not only for the colorful background that shows how it was in Kyoto during those times, but more importantly for the vivid characters it portrayed which can be easily related to by readers. The magic of the book is the vivid description of the normal lives of each character, which ironically happens in each and everyone of us, one time or another. I've visited Kyoto once, and after reading the book, I would say it made me want to go back there again.

Book No. 1 – Colours of the Mountain (Da Chen)

When I visited Singapore last summer with my family, we happened to stay at my wife's brother's flat, which he had been renting for several weeks only at that time. It was an oportune time for me because I found tons of books which the flat owner apparently left there. There are actually two very large bookshelves full of books, ranging from school texts, to how-to, to pocketbooks. I found several interesting titles there which I eventually spent sometime reading. This is the first...

Colours of the Mountain is actually a memoirs, or a biography, you might say. Actually, the difference between the two is lost on me for the moment, hence I'm having a hard time classifying it :) For all its worth, the book was a great depiction of the mid 20th century rural china... and an equally very interesting narration of a boy growing up in that part of the world during that time. Da Chen depicted an interesting picture of how a boy (or a child) can be an outcast in China by being related to a landlord family, and how hard it is to live and grow there, especially in the rural areas immediately after Mao Zedong's cultural revolution. The vivid and detailed narrative of how an everyday life of an outcast child allowed the reader to experience what it is like to be in Yellowstone at that important point of chinese history - from the start of the revolution to the death of Chairman Mao, and the few years after that.

The book shows the triumph of the human spirit against all odds. By telling others his boyhood memories - how he suffered, fall, persevered, and win it all, Da Chen is giving his readers a very important lesson in life: That is, everything can be taken from a man (or a boy) except his soul. Whatever happens to him, however pain or dishonor he suffers, eventually, through his inert elasticity and his natural instinct to suceed,his spirit will take him to his goal and to his destiny.