BC Lions - CFL Western Conference Finals

I can add my first CFL (Canadian Football League) game to my list of things accomplished - a western conference final game at that. While the BC Lions did not fare well in the bout (losing 26 to 16 to the Saskatchewan Rough Riders) I really enjoyed the game and the experience.

A while back I wrote about my "First NFL Experience" and while the CFL experience was similar in some ways, it was also quite distinct. Firstly the atmosphere; there is something about being at a BC football game that makes you a little more patriotic. I found myself standing, cheering, “booing”, and thoroughly absorbed in the game (at least for the first 3 quarters). It wasn’t until the 4th quarter when BC took their fans out of the game by not completing plays, taking penalties, and unable to stop the Saskatchewan offence or defense. I do not pretend to be a big football fan, but even my wife who has rarely ever watched the sport felt that BC’s play-level just wasn’t there. Saskatchewan’s quarterback was bobbing and weaving (sorry more of a basketball fan) and ran more times than the BC QB got sacked.

For those who haven’t been to BC place, the view is great regardless of where you are sitting. The stadium is full enclosed so you don’t have to worry about the rain either. The announcer is bit annoying as his dialogue seems to consist of variations of “make some noise”, “bring the noise”, “louder, louder, and louder”. The stadium does a good job of keeping people entertained between plays with a Kiss Cam (random people from the crowd are displayed on the big screen and encouraged to kiss each other); hold the cup (a picture of the Grey Cup displayed and people pretend to hold it); and the Geroy Simons Dance Cam (random people videoed dancing in the stands). Entertainment was also provided from a few random fights where people were promptly escorted form the stadium or as the tag line goes “Be a Fan, not a Fool”.

While there were not as many people at BC Place (the upper bowl was empty in several sections), the Canadian experience really hit home for me, even if BC lost. On the way out of the stadium, my friend who attended with my wife and I asked if we wanted to go to the Canucks game which was occurring right after. I told him I didn’t have the heart to see 2 Canadian teams lose the same day J (As my sister-in-law would be quick to point out, the Canucks beat the Flames 4-1).

My 2 thoughts anyways…

Keepin It Brief

“Lululemon ditches tag touting benefits” – Vancouver based yoga wear promoter has agreed to cover up claims that their seaweed fibre clothes – VitaSea – provide health benefits including anti-inflammation, detoxification, and anti-bacterial properties.

My 2 Thoughts: This claim amounts to nothing more then watching infomercials on late night television. Wearing copper bracelets or Dr. Ho’s Massage System will appeal to some, but are we that gullible to think simply wearing a shirt (with properties no more distinct then cotton) is going to magically absorb vital nutrients and minerals into the skin. The health industry (salons and spas) make millions on these claims where they wrap you in seaweed for an hour to provide similar benefit. The difference with Lululemon is that it is a public company (traded publicly in the open market) and therefore is held to a higher standard then a private entity like you local salon. I personally enjoy the clothing as it is quite comfortable, but Lululemon is definitely capitalizing on the eco-sensitive crowd who is paying dearly for it. Therefore, if claims are being made it is as much buyer beware as it is the companies responsibility to provide accurate information of its products.

“October video games sales up 73%” – The Nintendo Wii has regained top spot in the US as the #1 selling console, however, Microsoft’s claims that their console (Xbox 360) has higher software sales (games) then either the Wii and PS3 combined.

My 2 Thoughts: I have a Wii. I purchased it because of my interest in the same technology that is used in cruise missiles (Wii remotes have wireless infrared sensors similar to technology used in guidance systems for missiles used in the military). I also bought the Wii because of price point. Futureshop has the consoles listed at the following prices: PS3 - $399.99 - $499.99, Xbox 360 - $299 - $499, and Wii - $269.99. Gaming consoles are classified as entertainment, so I asked myself what this entertainment was worth to me. I am not a hardcore gamer, I don’t play everyday (only when friends are over), and will rent the occasional game versus buy. For me the Wii was a hands down winner. Microsoft’s claim may be true but this is only because the console it self comes with nothing. The Wii comes with a sports package including introductions to games like tennis, boxing, bowling, baseball, and golf. I am only now getting the itch to buy another game to supplement my system. If your console comes with nothing, of course you are either going for a bundle package or supplementing games to your purchase.

“Wade – Shaq needs to step up” – The Miami Heat are in a 1-7 slump and Wade believes that Shaq needs to be more self-motivated if they are to turn the team around.

My 2 Thoughts: Dwayne Wade is a great player although his longevity in the league will be questioned given how hard he plays and the stress on his body. Nonetheless, Wade should not turn this into another Shaq-Kobe war where fruitless comments to the media that start to tear the two Heat stars apart. With more drama then Desperate Housewives, we all remember the Shaq-Kobe relationship that lead to the eventual departure of O’Neil from the Lakers. Kobe claiming Shaq was “less than manly” for sitting out with a toe injury, and Shaq claiming that his team “Lakers” would do better without the whiny comments from the second in command. Shaq is getting old, so his role has to naturally shift from that of a points leader to a role player helping to develop the talent on the bench. Career stats show a peak in 99-00 season and a steady decline since then moving from an average of 29 PPG (points per game average) to 14 PPG in the current season. If the Heat is to turnaround their losing streak, look to the bench to contribute versus putting the emphasis on the 35 year-old centre.

“A shameful day in Canada” – The death of polish immigrant continues to dominate media with blame targets including the Vancouver RCMP, YVR (Vancouver International Airport), and the any common citizen who chose to ignore the situation by walking by.

My 2 Thoughts – I can’t help but wonder if the situation would be any different if the immigrant was from a different nationality. We all know that CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) profile individuals as they enter security gates to determine “random” checks. By profiling, I am referring to the concept where assumptions are made about an individual from conscious or unconscious clues based on behavior, clothes or other characteristics visible to naked eye. In this concept, erroneous assumptions can result into action as profiling often occurs without any deeper or real knowledge of an individual. This being said, what if instead of a polish immigrant, clean-cut, and without head-ware, we had an individual from Islamic or Indian decent supporting a long beard with a turban or other head-ware. In a time where terrorist profiling is common, would the situation be any different if the latter was seen “hanging out” in the carousel area of YVR for 6 hours, struggling to communicate with anyone and becoming increasingly agitated? This is purely hypothetical but I hope it makes you think? The situation is far from black and white as blame can shift from the mother who asked her son to wrongly stay by the carousel when she had no feasible access to it; the common citizen who did not stop and help this poor immigrant in his time of distress; to YVR from not intervening sooner while this individual was a lot calmer; to the Police for their possible haste in how they handled the situation; to the Media for blasting everyone for the incident and raising Canada’s profile in international mediums contrary to our caring culture. I have my own personal bias but I said I would try and keep it brief.

Private Power Benefits BC Hydro

For a time I worked at the Business Development Bank of Canada. Part of the mandate of this bank was to support the development of small to medium sized businesses. This is how this federal mandated bank maintained its stature in a world dominated by the fab five (RBC, BMO, TD, ScotiaBank, CIBC). In fact, the structure of the bank is such that directors from each of these banks make up a board that regulates how the BDC operates within Canada.

In addition to having good credit, strong liquidity, and a working capital ratio greater than 1; the BDC’s policy on lending meant that you could only provide capital to a business that was creating gainful employment for the constituents of Canada. How does this relate to BC Hydro? Over the course of my employment at BDC, we had the opportunity to finance several IPP’s (Independent Power Producers). These projects required extensive capital to build, but once operational, cost little to maintain (if memory serves me correctly, a battery operated fan was the extent of the complexity). The only challenge was to make sure the estimates of water flow were correct and did not exceed or recede the levels agreed to in the 99 year energy contracts with BC Hydro.

We didn’t finance any of them (the IPP’s). I thought my branch manager was crazy as a steady cash flow and a contract as good as the government would appeal to anyone. Anyone but the BDC! As I mentioned before, any business that we were financing had to provide some notion of gainful employment to the community. Unfortunately for IPP’s, the employment to project ratio consisted of the two very rich owners and one maintenance guy that came around once or twice a year for service.

A new angle on the debate beyond the fact that BC Hydro is looking for private sources of power is who this deal with IPP’s really benefits. According to a Simon Fraser University economist (link) no one benefits from IPP’s except BC Hydro. Aside from the fact that these are lucrative contracts, BC hydro is looking to save energy from public facilities so that they can be sold at a higher value on the open market (mainly the US). What this means is that we could potentially be paying more for local sources of energy contracted at higher prices while cheaper public facilities sell energy also at a premium to benefit only BC Hydro. There was another article in BC Business that provides a good background on private power (link). “The 2002 BC Energy Plan (revised in spring 2007) is transforming BC Hydro from a generator of publicly owned electricity to a purchaser of energy from private power producers.”

Call me crazy but doesn’t it make sense for us to conserve energy so that we infact conserve energy (as opposed to using surplus energy to turn a profit on the open market)??

My 2 thoughts anyways….

Developing Leadership Impact: Executive Retreat at Royal Roads University

I recently attended a week-long retreat at Royal Roads University entitled "Developing Leadership Impact." Having attended a few course of similar nature, I told the facilitators that I was cautiously optimistic of the week ahead. I viewed the course as a bit of analysis of one self, knowing what your styles, behaviors, and strengths are as a leader so that you can successfully negotiate your way through your career. Indeed, I was partially correct on this assumption. My final reflections on the course had me state to the facilitators and group, “that I learned all about myself, but even more about those around me, and it was a pleasure to get to know everyone outside of work. For this I thank everyone who attended.” There was no real revelations within this course but a lot of self-reflection which is often the cause when you are trying to find out what exactly makes you “tick.” I particularly enjoyed conversations on theory and the use of “simple” models to explain the behavior of change and resistance.

Part of the pre-course work was to engage my boss, peers, and observers in a 360 degree review of myself. Boss being those individuals that I report to (or have in the past), peers are those in similar positions of authority, and observers are those individuals that report to me (or have in the past). The feedback revealed a slight halo effect in that I has underscored my performance when compared to that evaluation of my colleagues. I was pleased with the results and while there were no obvious gaps, a review with my coach revealed some areas of improvement around issues such as adaptability, facilitation skills, and globalism. Knowing my strong character, I purport this to possible intimidation by others in my presence, something I need to be more considerate of when dealing with introverts. Things I scored highest in included honesty and integrity, something I feel is the hardest to gain from your colleagues and I was pleased with these scores.

I also completed and received the results of an HBDI survey that assesses you thinking styles through correlation with what is called the Herrmann Whole Brain Model. The profile (a transparent sheet that shows your style based on 4 quadrants: facts, form, futures, and feelings) looks like a bullseye with the cross-hairs separating the 4 distinct quadrants. Some of this is based on left brain – right brain, but more of it has to do with where you comfort lies as an individual. For example, I scored high in facts, futures, and feelings categories (with a slight edge in futures). My least preferred style is form which revolves around being detailed, organized, and working in a sequential fashion. The interesting part of my score was a second dashed line that formed another shape between the first and showed that in times of stress I move further away from the forms quadrant and more into the futures quadrant. This result bolds well for my leadership style as I tend to back to organizational goals and visions to help direct our activities in a time of crisis. What was even more interesting than my scores was that of two colleagues in the class who when comparing results had shapes that were almost identical.

I was also asked to complete a Parker Team Survey(PTS) in preparation for this course. The PTS reveals your team player style when working within groups. The 4 distinct styles are contributor, collaborator, communicator, and challenger. Scores from a series of behavioral questions revealed I had two primary styles (scores within 3 points of each other) that included being a communicator and challenger. According to PTS, “I ensure that the members work well together while you push the team to address important questions about its strengths and weaknesses. However, you run the risk of seeing process as an end in itself. You need to keep in mind that the team must set long-term goals and work hard to deliver high-quality products and services that satisfy current customer needs.” The beneficial part of this exercise was how others in my team for this week-long retreat scored and how I could use those scores to understand their team player styles.

As eluded to in the earlier paragraph, I was put in team with 4 other individuals and assigned a business case for the Royal BC Museum. The purpose of this was to use learning’s within the class to work through a tangible case in the real world. Seeing as we only had a week and limited time outside of lectures to work on this, I was reminded of my younger graduate and undergraduate days where we worked on similar tasks. The challenge presented by the museum was one around declining revenues and admission and how we could revive the “presence” of the museum within the hearts and minds of British Columbians. What I learned form this task was that we had some very different styles on our team but worked well under pressure. One weakness was my automatic need to facilitate and in bringing the team some structure I also used a lot of my business related jargon. This provide a bit detrimental to the presentation as the other 2 groups worked more of a feel-good approach, something museum executives picked up on. Otherwise, our group came up with some very creative ideas from partnerships, global exhibits, and a theme-based game for kids.

The Developing Leadership retreat was great experience and one I would recommend to anyone. The retreat was sent in the old Hatley castle which belonged to the Dunsmuir family. This was a surreal part of the whole experience and a tour of the history helped me appreciate the architecture even more. It also helped to spend more than 14 hours a day in lectures and team work sessions there as well.

My 2 thoughts anyways…

I am, therefore I exist as a Leader

I am currently enrolled in day 3 of the the "Developing Leadership Impact: Executive Retreat. This is a personal leadership course that is administered by Royal Roads University. Within the 15 participants of this week long course, 12 of us are from the same Ministry.

I will update everyone further on my time here but needless to say that it has been pretty exhausting so far. The sessions run form 8:30am to about 6:00pm with work sessions in the evenings where 3 groups of 5 have been assigned a team project. The analysis is for Royal BC Museum and their struggles to engage British Columbians and thereby improving there bottom line. Challenges exist in a changing demographic, multitude of entertainment and recreational options, and a declining tourism industry in the rise of the CDN Dollar.

I will post our presentation at a later date to illustrate some of our recommendations.

My 2 thoughts anyways.......

"You can be successful and have enemies, or be un-successful and have friends"

***I have not included anything in this Blog that would be considered a spoiler or something that isn’t common knowledge from trailers***

At 53 Denzel Washington is still a pleasure to watch on the big screen, especially when his character is acting on the wrong side of the law. Not since Training Day have we seen Denzel’s character as bad and motivated as he is in his portrayal of Frank Lucas, an organized crime boss known for controlling the drug trade in Harlem, New York in the 60’s & 70’s. The movie,
“American Gangster” tells the true story of this African-American’s rise to be one of the most successful and feared gangsters at in America. Frank Lucas is eventually brought down by an honest cop by the name of Richie Roberts (played by Russel Crowe).

Myself and a few friends attended the premier opening of the movie to a sell-out crowd in Richmond. We arrived at the move theatre 45 minutes early to a line-up that was close to 100 people deep.

My expectations for the movie were high as I have never really seen a bad Denzel “flick”. His recent filmography includes: Déjà vu, Inside Man, and the Manchurian Candidate. However, it was back in 2001 when “Training Day” became Denzel’s claim to the coveted Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. This role had been such a departure from Denzel’s traditional good-guy roles but also proved to be his best performance. It was because of my infatuation with Training Day that I was hoping for another bad-ass performance from a similar role.

American gangster did not disappoint but is was also not Training Day. While Training Day developed characters through actions and dialogue, American Gangster was more autobiographic and focused to educated the viewer through a history of events. This movie was more dramatic and while it included periodic points of violence, the majority of the time was spent exploring the world of Harlem in the 60’s while American was at war with Vietnam and Denzel’s character was transporting heroine in soldier’s coffins returning home. The movie is very careful to subtly touch on racial implications of a “black man” superseding the mafia in the criminal world. Here is where I wish the movie had explored these racial tensions as I am sure they played a larger role then the movie leads you to believe.

Perhaps it is because I am more business minded, but one of Frank Lucas’s claims to fame is how he essentially cut-out the middle man in the drug trade by exporting heroine directly from Vietnam. By achieving this, he was able to reap a purer product and had the ability to sell it at half the price of market rates. As strange as this is going to sound, I was reflecting on this while leaving the movie and thinking of the Dell Direct model. Dell transformed the computer industry with its revolutionary mass customization model whereby sourcing products from contracted suppliers meant they could effectively cut-out retailers and sell directly to the consumer at a lower price. Not sure why I made the connection, but he more you think about it, the more it makes sense. Denzel’s character mentions that “he sells a product that people want, and he is able to sell it at half the price of the current market...that’s what makes him a wealthy business man.” While I am not encouraging everyone to embrace drugs, I am simply pointing out that every once in a while; someone comes along who thinks of the impossible as possible. I am sure Micheal Dell faced the same challenges (history tells us that he proposed the model in University only to be scoffed at by scholars) when thinking outside the box, albeit not life and death. While he revolutionized how computers our bought, Frank Lucas revolutionized what people thought was possible in the drug trade. Every time a product changes hands, a premium is added but in the case of drugs, the value-added also comes with an inferior product (often fractions of the original purity).

One of the best lines from the movie is the title of this particular blog, “You can be successful and have enemies, or you can be un-successful and have friends”.

I would definitely recommend watching American Gangster if you’re a history buff and into a strong dramatic role by to very qualified actors (Denzel and Russel Crowe ).

My 2 thoughts anyways….

Who said Halloween is "dead"??

Who ever said halloween is dead (at least from the perspective of trick-or-treaters) is obviously not living Surrey. My wife and I fielded between 130 and 140 kids yesterday. I would say that close to 80% were below the age of 6-7 which means plenty will be back next year as well. I only counted 5-10 that weren't in any sort of costume.


All week I had been asking co-workers what their experience had been with the level of kids coming on halloween. I was told by most that halloween had died down and that most kids don't go out or go to the mall to trick-or-treat. Your kidding right? The mall! Where is the halloween spirit in mass commercialization. Wait a minute, this is halloween right, a holiday that bears no real resemblance to anything religious (link here) and yet is observed by most western and latin countries around the globe. In any event, we didn't buy much candy which forced me to make an emergency trip to the local Safeway.


Now we have too much candy, but at least we know for next year.


My 2 thoughts anyways...

Get spooked!

For those looking to get a little “spooked” I have a couple of Vancouver Halloween activities that might fit the bill.

Haunted Forest Scream Train (Bear Creek Park, Surrey): An excellent opportunity for to take your younger siblings unless you are faint at heart yourself. A trick for this train ride is to sit with your back to the front. I went with my wife and another couple and facing the front of the train, I could see all the actors’ scaring participants further up the train. Overall it was great to see the effort and a chainsaw provided most the entertainment. The ride takes about 10 minutes to complete. Weather is not really a factor as you are sheltered in both the line-up and in the train (line-up was about 30 people deep when we went but moves quickly). The only suggestion I would have had was to have more actors or ask them to “jump” in and out of the bushes versus simply running along the train. Then again, I don’t think I am the ideal demographic this ride is targeting. Admission (Night time): 12 and Under $5.00, Adults $7.50.

Potter’s House of Horrors (12530 72nd Avenue, Surrey): This is definitely more up for those looking for a scare. The green thumbs of Potter’s have transformed their 9000 sq. ft. greenhouse into an amazing labyrinth with mechanical ghouls, tons of actors, and gruesome props. We called ahead and were told their was no line-up to speak of. Plenty of parking and most of those outside of the actual labyrinth are in character as well. We were Halloween “hopping” with the same couple but for some bizarre twist of fate I was forced to go first through the maze. This worked to my favor in some respects as I would actually pass some of the actors (I seem to have large strides) but got “spooked” more than a dozen times as they could see us coming around the corners. Not for younger kids in my opinion as there is a lot of gore and violent images used as props within the maze. Admission: 12 and under $7.00, Adults $10.

First NFL Trip

Football is an American pastime. It is also a reason to park your truck in a parking lot to have a BBQ, dance with a marching band called the Blue Thunder, and scream “sack the back” when your team is on defense. I was fortunate enough to enjoy my first football game (ever) in Seattle on Sunday 21, 2007.

A good friend of mine has been the root of my pestering since I moved to Vancouver. I had been asking him to join me in viewing a BC Lion’s game but our work schedules never seemed to coincide and I am not one to go to a game myself. Fortunately for me, he did me one better and asked if I would want to go to Seattle to see the Seahawks play the St. Louis Rams. Our trip started close to the border at the Best Western at 8:45am.

A bus had been chartered for the trip and had made one previous stop prior to picking us up. All told, 45 people were looking forward to seeing the Seahawks and those organizing the annual trip also did not disappoint. Coffee, doughnuts from Tim Hortons, chips, and candy were a plenty along with bottles of water and pop. Seattle is roughly a two-hour drive from Vancouver but roughly depends on border waits. With the dollar above parity with the US, the wait times coming back are the ones you have to consider. Traveling to the US was a breeze as buses are separated from regular vehicle and commercial traffic. The border guards boarded the bus and did a minor check of our passports and containers but nothing that delayed us more than about 10 minutes.

Qwest field is something of a marvel to see. Unlike its immediate counterpart Safeco Field, it is an open structure but with only the field exposed. The front end rises high with steel art on the outside and a giant led screen inside facing the field and allow those in the upper bowls to get a close up of the game. The large parkade the faces the off-ramps as you drive into town have huge pictures of the Seahawk player. Once is of the quarterback and the other couldn’t tell you not being a huge fan. To get to the field is a bit of a chore as you are asked to drive in a large circle through the mounds of people crossing at ever corner before you can make it to large parking lot fronting the stadium. The parking lot itself is a furry of activity as many have been camped out since the morning with trucks parked end-to-end, bbqs a blaze, and tvs hooked to portable satellites viewing multiple games in the league. I have never been witness to a real tail-gate party but can understand the appeal when you are amongst friends and those who love the sport.

The line up moved swiftly inside with some minor drops of rain from the sky. This did not bother me one bit as I was already started to feed from the buzz around me. As we made it through the gates I could hear the marching band “the blue thunder” start to make their way in from the parking lot through the front gates and position themselves on the stairs. I asked a Qwest field employee to take a picture of me and my buddy in front of the band only to realize after the picture was taken that this individual was legally blind!! Needless to say he took a great photo regardless of this minor handicap.

We proceeded to our seats but made a detour after seeing the many adorning fans wearing the Seahawks apparel. Call it novelty or simply fitting-in, but a couple of caps and some gifts for my family later and we were in our seats for the opening kick-off. I have to say that it feels great to shop in the states as I paid for everything with my Canadian MasterCard knowing I would get a deal. Our seats while in the upper bowl had a great view of the field and were sheltered from any rain that might decide to fall. The weather held up though and provided for an entertaining game.

The Seattle fans are die-hards and cheer for each and every play. The sounds is almost deafening and not being to anything larger then a concert (where everyone is chanting in unison) 50,000 fans is a bit hard to handle at first. The cheers are just as large as the “boos” and everyone around me seemed to know exactly who was carrying the ball at any given point in time. There is also no real downtime expect for between quarters and a small intermission. I say small because we went to do some additional shopping for family (greedy for the exchange rate) and we ended up missing a Seattle touchdown the first minute in the 3rd quarter. Final score for the game was 33-6.

The ride back was largely uneventful until we hit the 1 mile mark from the border. I faced this exact point before when you are asked to make the choice of going to the Peace or Pacific border crossing (Highway 99 or Highway 15 for Canadians). I was coming back from dropping my brother-in-law off in Portland where he is studying Chiropractics and ended up waiting 3 ½ hours starting 1 mile from the border with my wife and cousin. This time around the wait was only 2 ½ hours but wasn’t as bad considering I didn’t have to drive and was able to catch a nap on the way in.

Definitely a memorable trip.

My 2 thoughts anyways.

Enough with the Retirement Statistics

How often have you been to a workshop, seminar, or address from your respective company where they do the following exercise, "OK everyone who has been with the company for 0-5 years stand-up (about 10% of those in attendance stand up), OK everyone who has been with the company for 5-10 years stand up (about 30% of those in attendance stand), and so forth. The kicker comes when almost half of those in attendance stand up for the 20 to 30 years of service announcement demonstrating how many people could be leaving the organization in the next 5 to 10 years.

Like John Stossel from 20/20 would say, "Give me a break!". I have done this exercise for the 4oth time now and I find this pointless. We all get that large corporations are facings succession planning issues with close to half their workplace retiring in the next few years. The challenge - brain drain from the company and no one to pick up the pieces. So, the major question here is what we choose to do about this people "crunch". What we find is many companies are choosing to focus more on the stats because the alternatives are much to costly to pursue. Lets examine some options:

• Job Shadowing (Internal) - A good option as it promotes from hiring within which can build loyalty. Minimal training as far as corporate culture goes and hiring within the business unit means objectives of the organization are also easy to grasp. Now for the bad - the domino effect. Anyway you look at it, you now have a position to fill somewhere else within the organization. If that position is filled from within, you are forced to find someone for the other hole you have created. Given this, many employees will also be hesitant to pursue such an opportunity given that their current job may not be back filled essentially leaving them to pick up the additional work. This is because many employers do not want the hassle of bringing someone else in to back fill when the term associated with job shadowing is often 6 months or less.
• Job Shadowing (External) - This would follow a competition whereby the previous employee is asked to stay and transfer knowledge. A good option as it diffuses the domino effect. Outside "blood" to the organization can be beneficial in new ideas, best practices, and a new outlook given previous experience elsewhere. Also, by having the previous employee stay while the new recruit adjusts, others can see why that individual may have been chosen over others (especially inside the organization). The bad - costs associated with training. Most organizations, like any business, realize that it often easier to keep employees rather than train new ones. Assimilation within the company, buy-in to corporate values and philosophy, and understanding business unit objectives all take time and money to implement. External employees can also face hostility from others in the business unit, especially when entering a managerial role. Companies are still faced with costs associated with overlap between someone coming in and the current employee till residing in the position. This often effects how much knowledge a company can retain given the budget allowed.
• Hiring Retirees - Has many advantages as you can move forward with filling positions but you also have a new functional employee who can help the business unit and take on some of the workload. The challenge here is this often takes creating a new position and thereby adding to the budgetary woes of the corporation. This is also often "band-aid" solution as the retiree often will come back on their own terms and schedule. They may become more interested in their own work versus transferring knowledge to the business unit. The terms of their return need to by crystallized.
• Regular Hiring: What about the tried and true practice of simply hiring when someone leaves? No overlaps means no extra cost, right?. The problem here is, at least for many employers, the talent pool is quite shallow (pun intended). With the amount of choices out there and the hunger to replace the baby boomers, people have their pick of positions. The environment for hire has to also be as appealing as the job itself. Training plan, support network, capability with the business unit and organization. This means that is their is a lack of the previous details, many will leave soon after coming in. Why not, when the supply of jobs is great. This means more costs to the organization with having to go back to the hiring process.

As you can see, costs plays a major role in filling the voids within an organization. This is why is often easier to talk about the problems versus trying to resolve them. Unfortunately, many will not have an option of waiting it out before others in the organization leave do to increased workloads because of non-hires and morale issues. So lets stop with the "years of service exercise" and start talking about how we are going to combat the problem.

Calculating Value: An Art Not A Science

Calculating the net worth (value) of a company is often a fickle business. Companies like PriceWaterhouseCoopers and other large accounting firms have made a living off such valuations because they are often so difficult to calculate. Some compare this to nothing more than "crystal balling" or taking numbers from the air. Why should anyone argue with this when you read the latest business-related news? Take the recent eBay example (link) where executives have finally admitted that they overpaid for Skype (an Internet Telecoms Company) purchased by eBay over 2 years ago. The company made a offer of 4.1 billion, of which is now looks like they paid 1.4 billion too much. It is easy to criticize such a transaction when you are dealing with such large dollar values but let me try to demonstrate to complexity of such valuation and projecting future cash flow.

The complexity of projecting future cash flow can be as simple as the following example. Many of us have walked into a bank to ask for a mortgage on a new house we wish to purchase. I did so recently on my home I purchased in Surrey. Part of the calculations a bank uses is you annual income (your pay cheque), liquid assets (cash, or something that can be converted to cash relatively quickly - usually in less than 6 months - mutual funds, stocks, etc), hard assets (other homes), rolling stock (vehicles), and long term securities (GIC's, RRSPs). If the calculation were simple, the bank would simply add up the value of all these income deriving lines minus all you costs (debts) you would then have a straight forward net worth calculation. However, life is often never that simple.

The complexity even with obtaining a mortgage arises from the following where in finance the two things are often true: first a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow; and second (related) their is no way to guarantee the sensitivity of future markets. The first speaks to the buying power of money. This buying power is in its simplest form is a function of inflation. As inflation goes up, the value of goods you buy conversely rises (goods like houses). However, since your wage and income does not also go up with inflation (usually a function of a bargaining agreement or a contract), the amount of goods you can purchase with the same dollar you had yesterday goes down. This is why you often see the Bank of Canada often intervening in markets by raising interest rates. As our economy is based on borrowing money, the bank is essentially trying to curb spending (or borrowing money to spend) to reduce inflationary pressures within the country. The bank you are applying for a mortgage to also knows this and wants to ensure that you wages along with other goods will service (pay the loan) for the long haul when the value of that dollar is questionable. They essentially want a good cushion (along with someone with good credit). The second related concept to this is sensitivity. As no one knows exactly how the markets will fluctuate, we have to make an educated guess based on where our economy is going. Also known as speculation, this is how many people make money of the stock market or real estate (buying low to sell high = profit). To aid in this, the bank often discounts ("takes away") some the value of your assets to account for the loss of buying power as describe above. For example, you current assets maybe valued as following when applying for a mortgage: house (75% of appraised value), mutual funds (60% of current market value), vehicles (50% of current value), rental income from homes (50% of current income) and so forth. The higher the certainty that the value of a assets will retain that value (or go up) the higher the valuation for that assets. Cash in the bank would be valued at 100% as it is cash that is not affected by external market pressures. However, mutual funds are affected by stock fluctuations; real estate is affected by the supply and demand as well as affordability; and vehicles are affected by their age, usage, make, model etc. Unfortunately, a bank is the worst form of conservatism where your valuation comes second to their interest in giving you a favorable interest rate on your bank account.

As the above example shows, even simpler transactions can produce complications when trying to foresee into the future about what your dollar will be worth. Imagine trying to do this with a billion dollar company. And to demonstrate how much these valuations differ consider the following: With oil & gas companies for example, their valuation is looking to purchase is often a function of potential (estimated) oil & gas reserves; with a drug company like Pfizer, the valuation is tied up in research and the potential for a new better drug on the market; or a blue-chip company like Lockheed Martin, their valuation is in long-term contracts they have arranged to provide artillery to the US army. The real difference comes with those companies based on the Internet. Their are no hard assets (few buildings), often no real contracts, and no established stream of revenue (most are often in the start-up phase and are dependent on debt to get going). Even those that have been in the industry for some time (like Google) are still considered unpredictable given the rate at which technology has been evolving (a phenomena known as disruptive technology-automobile replaces horse, digital photography replaces film, etc). Google is considered the best search engine on the Internet (and valued at $600/share for it) but it could be replaced tomorrow with something better.

Finally, back to the central argument. eBay gambled on telecoms technology but didn't know how exactly to value the company. Revenues were only at $60 million but eBay paid 683 times too much. eBay was trying to value potential cash flows and that's where all rules went out of the window. The best experts have challenges trying to project future growth and often end up valuing the intrinsic value of the company (what is worth to the competition). In my experience when trying to value such companies you should keep two things in mind: your time horizon short given the technology life-cycle; and second create some sensitivity in the analysis. Even for the business cases I currently author, I will include a Net Present Value (or net worth) of the project at several different discount rates (6%,8%,10%). This illustrates the sensitivity of such cash flows to small fluctuations in the discount rate. The lower the rate, the more sure you are that the cash flows are going to stay the same. This conservative approach, unfortunately means that most projects don't get off the ground. As an organization though, you have understand what your objectives are for investments and what is an acceptable risk. For eBay, a company founded and based on the Internet, the risks tolerance is obviously much higher then there would be at a bank.

My 2 thoughts anyways...

Isn't that Some Sad Shit

Like Chris Rock would say, "Itsn't that Some Sad Shit". Recent article in theglobeandmail (link). OJ can't even afford a real rolex anymore, and if he could, the Goldmans would have took it. But instead they have to return it. What gets me is that the watch still costs $100 (appraised value). So in my opinion not can he not afford a real rolex, he paid to much for the fake he was wearing.

Goldmans are mad because after the civil suit OJ hasn't paid a dime for all the legal woes and judgements that were passed. Essentially, the law of the state is that he got have his previous wages garnished (NFL pension) or money that he has already made. Its only new dollars that they are entitled to. So OJ did the only thing he could do, he stopped working.

Now OJ isn't broke by any means, unless you call living in a mansion, golfing everyday, and throwing the occasional trip into Las Vegas only to get caught stealing your own shit broke. No, thats called stupid.

My 2 thoughts anyways....

I'm leaving..and I'm taking my football!

If you have been following the paper you have witnessed the jockeying in Alberta over a recent report on royalty rates. Issued by an an independent panel of experts, this report revealed that Alberta is missing out on billions of oil royalties and should be able to raise rates without effecting the industry. The industry is crying bullshit, as many including mammoth industry giants Encana, threaten to curb spending in the Alberta economy by up to $1 billion dollars. Alberta's premier is now asking everyone to simply "calm down" as they work towards a resolution, a knee jerk reaction to the oil-foundation of the Albertan economy.

This reminds me allot about the football games I used to play in with my friends. These games were purely recreational, but you wouldn't be able to tell by the way we argued for every single yard. A couple individuals, specifically, were often on opposite teams and represented the crown and defense for every argument ever made (depending who had the ball). The trump card in all of this we the fact that one of these individuals owned the football. When the argument would get to a certain level, this individual would say that he was leaving the field if he didn't get the call. "Oh, and by the way, that's my football and I'm taking that too." There was a always a few on his team that supported his argument (usually the receiver) but many could care less and actually just wanted to continue playing (with the opposition obviously opposing the call). Never mind that it only took several calls to get everyone together on a rotary dial phone (we didn't have the luxury of MSN or email). Dial to fast or didn't complete a full circle and you have to start all over. The call lasted 1 minute, but making the call took 2 minutes with all the mistakes. Anyways, most the time, the opposition would simply allow the call so we could continue playing rather then send someone else home to get their football or quit the game altogether.

The oil companies are performing a similar maneuver in the face of an unfavorable call. If the oil companies collectively represent my friend with the football; a few of his supporters represent the special interest groups that support him; and the rest of the players represent Albertans, you might as well be playing this scene at our old elementary school. Oil companies are threatening to pull out of the game and take the only thing that would keep the province going, money. They obviously have a few supporters in form of special interest groups but rest of people affected, Albertans, stand to benefit collectively on a larger scale. Investment into health care, roads, schools just to name a few. Alberta already has the distinction of the only province with no net debt or provincial tax, but services otherwise are still suffering. Simply drive the roads and you will understand.

So what's the solution. Lets visit us in our younger days on the field again.

1) Someone else buys a football: Firstly, no one will pitch-in for the cost. Second, if another is readily available their is no incentive to buy another. Speaks to diversifying available resources and the economy.

2) Have a neutral party call the plays: There was no such thing as a neutral party. Everyone wanted to play so being assigned to one team or another and arguing for the opposition is effectively suicide. Besides, the argument would still be there given the stake of the game and lack of a paid official that both parties have paid to be there (hey we could barely afford a second football).

3) We quit playing football: This would often happen as we went through fazes where we abused one sport for awhile and then would switch to another. Much like the up and downs in the market but here the difference is our dependence on fossil fuels. Again, this also speaks to diversifying the economy.

In the end, the outcome in Alberta is going to be similar to the outcome at our football games. Someone will make a concession or realize asking the only individual with the game ball to pullout is like asking everyone to go home without the satisfaction of a win. Time, energy, and effort was wasted and in the end everyone leaves empty handed. Everyone that is, expect the individual with the ball, who realizes the next time he calls, you will still show up to play.

My 2 thoughts anyways....

Low to Middle Income Hardest Hit in CDN Vehicle Prices

The globeandmail reported today that there is a class action lawsuit being launched against automakers and dealers for allegedly charging Canadians 25-35% higher for vehicles sold in Canada when compared to the US. Consumer groups are welcoming the lawsuit.

It is only now through the parity of the dollar that Canadians realize the glaring differences in vehicle prices between Canadian and US dealerships. The article doesn't mention any specific automaker other then Porsche within the article but its suffice to say that not everyone is driving a Porsche nor can they afford one. What about the average joe on a regular salary? I would argue that we are definitely a larger portion of vehicle sales per annum. I set out to find out how much of a difference there actually exists between vehicles here and across the border.

Assumptions:

• Growth since 2002 has averaged -1% in Canada. I assumed no growth in the current fiscal 2007 using 2006 stats from Statistics Canada.


• I used a 2004 study to understand the most popular vehicles purchased in Canada. I assumed this hasn't changed with the exception of Chevrolet that has discontinued the Cavalier and Pontiac Sunfire, and Toyota that has discontinued the Echo. I substituted the Chevrolet Malibu and didn't place another Toyota vehicle as I already had a comparison.


• I also assumed that that the % of vehicles purchased by consumers in Canada by make will remain the same (a large assumption i know but they made the analysis easier given information I was able to obtain). I believe once you see the vehicles individuals were buying in 2004, you will see that those models are still quite popular today.

Findings: If Canadians was to continue to purchase vehicles based on the assumptions above, we would have have paid an extra $888 Million dollars between the vehicles in the table presented here. It is also important to note here that this represents only 11% of all vehicles sold in Canada.

The vehicles depicted here are priced an average of $20,586 in Canada while only $15,772 in the US. Honda and Mazda seem to be the worst offenders (Ford owns Mazda). With vehicles that are priced to attract the low to middle income, it is concerning to think that these automakers are pricing vehicles they way they have.

While many Canadians have realized this some time ago, others are only now starting to realize that the automakers have "pulled the hood over our eyes" (pun intended of course). This isn't small change either and both a public inquiry and a class action lawsuit are definitely warranted under the circumstances. Especially with "ethically" responsible manufacturers like Toyota is promote their One-Price policy. Consumers are now the wiser so beware.

My 2 thoughts......

(Again if you interested, let me know if you want me to share my figures via email)

I agree with Denzel.

There is a great scene in one of the best movies I have ever seen, Training Day starring a very bad-a$$ Denzel Washington. Ethan Hawke walks into the restaurant on his very first day on job with the narcotics division lead by Denzel. Denzel is reading the paper and ignores Ethan's questions for the first minute or so only to stare him when he doesn't get the hint.

"90% of what I read in this paper is bullsh!t. I read it because I like to be entertained. If you are not going to let me read the paper then you entertain me rookie." - Denzel Washington.

From the specific use of words, references to culture, ethnicity, or statements from individuals that really have no relevance to the story one can't help but agree with Denzel's character. The point here is, the media contributes to sensationalizing news. Bad news sells and the worse you can make the story or "spin-it", the more people will be involved.

The thing that enticed me to write this was a recent article by Michael Smyth in the Province date Sept 20th, 2007. As someone with experience in the public sector, I find this article interesting but not for the reasons you might think at first glance. Michael Smyth is trying to illustrate the conundrum that NDP leader Carole James is in where she has to publicly advocate against the Liberals and their spending on Highway Improvements (coined "Black-Top Politics") but still agree that "some" of these improvements are necessary. What does that mean exactly? Does that mean everyone agrees that the improvements are needed but choose to oppose them simply because it because tabled by the opposing party? Shouldn't this be about the constituent.

Reading the article again (with a little guidance from me) you realize that what Smyth has creatively done is imply that highway improvements for the purpose of boosting votes near elections is a given and that we should instead focus on the fact that parties politically can't support each other because of "politics" versus the need of the constituents.

What the real truth here is that regardless of what year the project actually proceeds to construction, much time is put into the analysis and design of the project (a process that can often take several years). The process involves consultation with relevant stakeholders, considers environmental impacts (yes, we all have to comply to environmental standards), and most importantly has to make sense. A strong business case that focuses on the economics of the project: a high Net Present Value, a high Benefit/Cost ratio, strong savings from safety implications (fatality, injury, personal property damage), and it has to make sense to our stakeholders. As of recent you also find a focus on greenhouse gas emissions (in the form of reduction by tonnage).

The real point (yes I'm getting to it) is that a project does not simply show up in an election year unless the people behind the scenes believe its a project that needs to be there. The process isn't flawless, but it is defensible by any traditional economic standards. The Gateway project was created much in the same way has a investment window well beyond the next election. Politics aside, Smythe's article is a bit too presumptions and misleads the reader into an interpretation of highway project delivery that is not founded.

My 2 thoughts anyways...

Zoom Challenge - Finished

While the Zoom Challenge has finished (officially yesterday as I didn't account for a 12:00am finish) and I am the guy in second place. I ended up 1880th in the world although it may have been lower as I had neglected to upload my 7' 25" time. If you read between the lines, that also means I was not able to improve on that time prior to today's deadline.

In my eagerness to get there, I ran hard on Monday (but suffered fatigue from the weekend of no activity :P). I did farleks on Tuesday but it was nice and cool so I decided to go for a longer run then usual. Today I could feel that my energy level was not rampant but I still tried to give it my best shot. 2 laps in, I clocked 3' 30", on route to a 7' 00" minute run. However, that's where my energy died and a short 20 second walk followed by trying to force my legs to run faster made a final time of 7' 53" minutes.

So where do we go from here, I will keep trying to break the 7' barrier but without the deadline I able to put a few days of more casual runs in between to give myself a break. I am still addicted to the short intense runs so I will keep anyone reading posted of my ongoing feedback. I will visit Nike+ to see if their are any other challenges I want to get involved.

My 2 thoughts anyways....

Konvict Music

Second concert of the year and it was great. I have never been a huge fan of either Artist (Rihanna or Akon) but much like the JT concert, I can sure appreciate a good "live" performance.

The concert opened with the Rascalz whom I hadn't heard from in years (Remember the patriotic - "Northern Touch"). It was a short set and we missed a few songs given that the show started at 7:30 and that's when they decided to open the doors. We didn't find out seats till a little after 8:00.

When I first heard of the concert, I was wondering who was going to headline. Both Akon & Rihanna have songs on the Billboard charts although Rihanna has exploded with the latest release of her CD, "Good Girls Gone Bad" and hits like "Umbrella" featuring Jay-Z. After listening to both and seeing the demographic in the crowd (much like Justin Timberlake), the cross appeal of these artists between gender and demographics is much the same. Akon may be seen as edgier "reggae-rap" with songs like "Smack that" and numerous references to being a "Konvict". In my opinion, he doesn't have the voice to be convincing of hardcore ghetto rap. Its more melodious, and that's why he often sings the hooks (chorus) to compilations like "Smack That" featuring Eminem. Still he does have a good flow.


Rihanna's performance was great as she gradually revealed more and more of those "legs" that are all edged insured over a million dollars. Her focus was on singing, although she would join her dancers for some minor hip-shaking or walk-abouts around the stage. Her performance live is really good and I was impressed with her vocals. My brother in-law (who owns the CD and wants to propose) knew all the words while I knew most of her more popular hits. Over all its was quite entertaining and she played to the crowd well. Her renditions of her hits were flavoured with more electric guitar to give it a harder sound which the crowd also seemed to appreciate. I would say that while the girls were screaming, the guys were all in awe of her talent (her musical talent of course).

Akon's DJ (DJ Benny I believe) did a great job of hyping the crowd prior to Akon stepping on stage. This is what I feel was missing from the JT concert as the crowd is constantly entertained by a "live" performance even in the absence of the main event. The DJ "spun" current hits by JT, Beyonce, & T.I. and did the traditional "sound-check" to make sure everyone was loud-enough for Akon.

From my perspective, the crowd was ready for Akon as they seemed to erupt as he casually strolled on stage. I enjoyed his performance more from the perspective my wife (also at the concert) is a huge fan so I am more familiar with his work. Again, much like Rihanna, his performance focused on gradually revealing his naked upper-half throughout the concert while throwing "sweaty" towels into the concert. Perhaps I'm to old to appreciate a good sweaty towel anymore as I found the fact people were scrambling for this more disturbing than anything else. The Canucks Jersey that he dawned towards the end of his performance would have been a bargain though and I can definitely see the passion that the Vancouverites feel for their hockey team.

Towards the end of his performance, Akon walked off stage after being told by his DJ that they had been asked to shut down the performance as "Da Time Was Up". After a breif dialogue about going to jail and taking GM place with him, he randomly appeared in the middle crowd. For the next 30 minutes or so, Akon struggled to make his way from left-to-right as the female fans went literally "nuts". I appreciated the fact that he was able to do this for the fans. So many in his position are hands off when it comes to such interactions and choose to remain on stage. It could also be the fact that he is a male artist and does not mind the touch of a thousand females grabbing his body.

Grading:

I give the performance an A. The venue was great; the concert was small and only occupied a quarter of GM place giving it a real intimate vibe with a good view. The artists performed well live and exceeded my expectations of what I was expecting from either of them. What the show was missing was additional theatrics and a larger stage presence. Both artists are singers, not performers, when compared to JT, which I seem to appreciate more from artists in terms of the ability to dance. Concert wise it was well worth it and I liked the fact that I didn't face a 2 hour drive to get home after.


My 2 thoughts anyways....

Nike+ Update

Good run today. Shaved another 6 seconds from my previous best. I have 5 days left within the challenge. My revised goal (yes I don't think I will inherit some brilliant genes between now and then) will be 7' 00".

Can't win them all.

My 2 thoughts any ways...

Nike+ Update

Not a picture of mean but I thought it was funny. A few days of trying to improve my best and I was still somewhat sluggish on the track. So I took my own advice and a few days off.

Today I beat my previous best and ran 7' 31" to the mile shaving 9 seconds from previous record. The Zoom challenge runs out September 20th, and I am a long way from my 6 minute goal. I will be trying my best in the days to come to make strides towards this.

My 2 thoughts anyways...

Is MTV not playing enough Music??

I watched the MTV Awards (or lack of Awards) and I know everyone is weighing in on Britney's performance, the Lee/Rock fight, or Kanye West's rant about being given a chance. While I could care less about most of these (Kanye desearves to be arrogant, his new album sounds great), I was more interested in a comment made by Justin Timberlake.

JT mentioned twice when accepting awards that he would like to see MTV play more music videos. I didn't get it at first, but it got me thinking. There is great deal of interest in reality television now, but is it truly taking over the music airwaves. Remember that "Video Killed the Radio Stars", but is Reality TV killing music videos? Jessica Simpson, Ashley Simpson, So You Think You can Dance, The House of Carters, Gene Simmons and the Family Jewels?? I thought I would find out:

Legend:

Reality - Anything that is based on reality television or close to it. Includes music competitions.

Other related music - Shows related to music but do not contain videos (autobiographies, news on stars etc.)

Music Videos - Countdowns, Top Tens, Music by Genre

TV Shows - OC, Roseanne, etc.

JT is clearly stating the obvious. MTV programming seems more concerned with with music related shows then simply playing music (MTV Live, MTV e2). Reality TV also is the highest with this station as compared to others (Next, True Love, MTV Cribs). Music Videos was a staggering 0%.
You have to give it up for Canadian programming. Overwhelming at 53% is dedicated solely to music video programing (MMM Countdown, MMM Top Tens). A split between TV shows and reality ("Celebrity Fit Club" vs. "MuchMoreMusic Profile") at a mere 20% and no real concern for attacting tv shows.
Country Music Television plays a good mix of music videos but alot of Reba, Roseanne, and Married with Children. I never really understood country but at 6% they aren't interested in reality either.
Finally Much Music, our Canadian Anchor. I am proud to say that it comes a close second in music video content at 50%. Reality television is also moderately high with shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" dominating time slots.

All analysis was taken over a 24hr period on September 12th, 2007.

Now that you think about it, you probably agree. Whens the last time you saw a string of music videos when flipping through the music station instead of being bombarded with tv shows, commercials, reality tv, commercials, and something that was music realted (somewhat). I agree with Justin, where have all the videos gone, or did reality tv kill music videos? I will let you know when myself and the buggles come up with an appropriate song.

My 2 thoughts anyways....

Future Sex Love Show

What: Future Sex Love Show

When: September 8th, 2007.

Why: I was genuinely interested in seeing the former second best boy band member (I always preferred BackStreet Boys) turned hugely successful solo artist.

Where: Tacoma Washington. Couldn't get tickets in Vancouver even though I was on TicketMaster the second they went on (35 seconds is what I read for GM to be sold out).

Who: Myself, My Wife, My Brother In-Law, & Sister In-Law.

Verdict: The man can sing and dance, and move, and perform and any other synonym for dance. My first time in the Tacoma Dome and at first I was a bit skeptical. Unlike GM Place, the setup was circular telling us there would be times when we would see the backs of the performers. The opening act, Good Charlotte, did not disappoint as they made full use of the stage playing to all four corners and doing a great live performance. Its impressive that I knew almost all the songs they played and they really got the crowd (myself included) going.

Justin sent out some decoys to hype the crowd, although we had a great view of where he was coming from and saw him sneak into a box that was wheeled in. To enhance his part of the show, large mesh-like screens were dropped from the ceiling to act as a backdrop. Imagine being able to see the entire performance but close-up images being projected on the see-through screens. I was ripping on Dell (a sponsor of the show) for not having a large screen for the cheap seats, although Tacoma Dome is quite small comparatively. This feature definitely made up for that fact. There was also 4 bars on every corner of the stage for the high rollers.

The show lasted from 8:00 to about 11:10pm. The only other show I have to compare to this is the "Up in Smoke" tour with Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Warren G. While the venue at GM place was better, the FSL Show contained more of the performance element. JT can dance and proved it on stage while actually singing live. The only other difference was that when JT asked people to put their lighters and cellphones in the air, the cellphones outweighed the lighters 50 to 1. At one point of the show, PG 13 would have been appropriate as the dancers became a little burlesque (no actual nudity) but it fit with theme. I also noticed that Justin is a smart guy. He would have a few heavy performances and then play 2 vocal chords while on the piano (or the keyboard, or the guitar) and let his performers do the work. There was also a an intermission about 8 songs in. I knew most the songs, but some of the ballads were beyond my knowledge of his music. The mix of the crowd (as you would guess) was primary females most of whom were in their early teens.

A give the show an arbitrary grade of B+ - essentially I was entertained and only with the thought of driving 2 hours to get home was I looking for the show to finish early. I would give it a higher grade if they had entertainment in-between performances instead of two projection screens where Verizon Mobile was making menu charging people for text messages (by the way, from a business perspective, I think this was ingenious). I am sure this grading will become more defensible as my experience with concerts improve. I am going to Akon and Rihanna this coming weekend.

My 2 thoughts anyways......

Friday Rant...

This was supposed to be posted on Friday...better late then never I suppose.

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TGIF. Before we hit the weekend though, some bits to munch on....

What makes motorcyclist's think they can do whatever they want on the road?? I'm driving this morning and as usual, since summer's over, its congested on the street coming off the bridge. Here this guy is on his bike weaving in and out of traffic traffic, driving between traffic, driving on the curb or where ever he can squeeze his skinny little tires. What the hell is your hurry! We are getting closer to my turnoff and this loser suddenly leaves the road only to come wailing back on as I am crossing the side streeet. Apparently he didn't realize you can't drive through on that particular street. I follow him to a block within work and the light hits red. Don't let a red light stop you, ride the curb, cut through a corner lot and come out ahead on the following street. I got a friend who apparently does the same thing. I fear for his life but only because I know him.

What makes fish so stupid? I mean I have this Beta fish that is blessed with the longest life I have ever been able to make it. It thrives off neglect. I don't feed it on weekends, I pay attention to it only when I feed it once in the monring, and I get lots of compliments of how I am able to care for it. So the thing poops and the bowl gets dirty. Circle of food. I hope to clean the bowl once a month or before I can barely see the fish swimming around. Last time I go to clean it, I am having a hard time getting the fish transferred to another bowl. I usually do this by grabbing it (I know ruthless) but this time he keeps slipping by. Finally, I cup my hand and the start bring my hand out of the water. Before I can close my hand, the fish circles the bowl a couple of times and jumps straight out of the bowl, over the desk, and hits the ground. Great, so much for the longest fish I have ever had....Crazy thing is that this guy is still alive and after some squirmish grabs, I was able to grab him and put him in my transfer bowl. To avoid this, I finally but a fish net. I tried this new tool out on Friday and I though I was going to kill the little guy...again. He wrapped himself (I use the masculine based on my own bias) in the net so tight I had to dig him out when transferring him to the other bowl. Anyways, stupid fish but I would cry if he dies tommorow.

Now I feel better.

My 2 thoughts anyways...