The "Must" List: Fact Is Stranger Than Fiction

Hey guys, nice to join you! :) pic.twitter.com/QJgd8idFOs
— Ana Ivanovic (@AnaIvanovic) August 22, 2013

*Yep. She's finally on Twitter. You can now follow and unfollow her, Hitler. 

*Buzzfeed did a superb piece on the person behind the biggest security leak in US history, Private Bradley Manning, who now prefers to be called Chelsea Manning. The article paints an intriguing portrait of a conflicted person who only believed in doing what is best for his country.

*Fantastic piece from the New York Times on tennis rebel, Li Na, and her fight against the super controlling Big Brother that is the Chinese government. 

*While I was really pulling for Ryan Gosling to be the next Batman, Ben Affleck, contrary to what many are saying online, is actually NOT a bad choice. Affleck is now rivalling Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and his buddy, Matt Damon, when it comes to having the most enviable roles in Hollywood. Affleck is also set to star in the movie adaptation of Gillian Flynn's bestselling novel, Gone Girl.

*Katie Nolan is your new sports BFF. She's witty and knows how to poke fun at herself and other people. I am now looking forward to her No Filter episodes on Fox Sports and Pardon the Contradiction. Really, look her up.

*Michael Beschloss is a must follow on Twitter for history buffs.

*These are nice problems to have: 17 Problems Only Book Lovers Will Understand. Another problem that many people would also love to have is to be too attractive to hold public office.

*Another long read recommendation: The Rock 'n' Roll Casualty Who Became a War Hero. The following parts really resonated with me:

As we walked past all the oblivious college students, their whole lives ahead of them, I thought about how astonishingly few people do what Everman did. What happened to him was so brutal, seeing success pass him by — twice. But he didn’t let that misfortune define him. Of all the guys I knew through my years in rock, a precious few made it huge. Good for them. Most never came close. Some never managed to get past the failure of the dream, but it seems pretty clear that Everman did. When I told his former bandmates what he’d been up to, they all seemed genuinely thrilled with what he did with his life — and surely a little relieved.

As we made our way along what Columbia calls College Walk, I asked Everman what it was like to be a student after all he had been through. Everman smiled dryly. “It’s anonymous. Just the way I like it.” I suggested that his unique résumé might make him just about the coolest college professor of all time. “No way, man,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t have the patience. I’ll probably just be a bartender somewhere.”

The "Must" List: Horror Roll

Forehand Policy's usual round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the five people who read my blog) might find interesting.

*I seriously cannot stop watching this video. Nice to know that the Manning family has a great sense of humor.

*Horror roll: embattled New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner (also known by his sexting name, Carlos Danger) doesn't know how to quit; NY Yankees' star Alex Rodriguez, accused of using performance enhancing drugs, is the guy at the party no one wants; the Napoles family, through their counsel, Atty. Lorna Kapunan, threatens Rappler with a poorly written demand letter and Bikram yoga founder is accused of rape, sexual harassment and racism.

*Tennis players dominate Forbes list of the highest paid female athletes. The WTA is indeed the leading women's sporting organization in the world.

*Want to encourage more people to read? A little creativity can go a long way.

*Forehand Policy's resident mascot, Ryan Gosling, is in the shortlist to play Batman in Man of Steel 2. 

*Roger Federer, who is celebrating his birthday today, could be ranked as low as #7 by the time the US Open starts later this month. 

*Probably the greatest power couple of all time.

*Cristiano Ronaldo has been on a charm offensive lately. I honestly have no snark on this. Keep it up, dude.

*Andy Murray and Jennifer Lawrence continue to be adorable.

*Filipino marketing executive Jonathan Yabut is Apprentice Asia's first winner. Highly successful Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes definitely hired the right person for the job. 

*Diplomacy 101

As revenge for this Snowden mess, Obama should stick to the summit with Putin, but staff it entirely with flamboyant gay dudes. #takethat
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) August 1, 2013

*Political trolling 101 

I just received this insane email: pic.twitter.com/ogEQB3oqha
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) July 29, 2013

The "Must" List: Only God Forgives

*Dear Ryan Gosling: Why are you so adorable?

*I've been addicted to @Longform for quite some time now. Let's just say that it's the main reason why I am not getting a lot of sleep these days. If you're on Twitter and you absolutely love reading longform non-fiction stuff, Longform is a must follow. Some of my favorites: Love and Madness in the Jungle, The Mind of a Con Man, Al Gore's Golden Years and A Murder Foretold (this should at least be made into a movie), among others.

*Chechnya =/= Czech Republic. What is happening, people?! *shakes head*

*Thanks for this, Paulo Coelho.

*Who needs the Avengers when you have Uncle Ruslan and Charles Ramsey?

*The next great Hollywood sports movie should come this list. Most compelling story in the list would've be that of Baron Gottfried von Cramm's. Nazis. Homosexuality. Tennis. Rebellion. What more can you ask?

*Buzzfeed + Foreign Policy = MFEO.

*CNN calls itself "The World Leader in News". After this and this, I am not so sure anymore.

*And we end this post with another golden quote from tennis star and self-help guru, Ana Ivanovic:

Ana's Oscar speech: "The funny thing as well is that it's all the time within you, you just have to find it. People will tell you things -
— Tumaini (@tumcarayol) April 26, 2013

if you wanna hear, you don't wanna hear. It's not until you find it within you that the confidence will come back."
— Tumaini (@tumcarayol) April 26, 2013

TGIF.

Nothing more awesome than welcoming the weekend with a video of Ryan Gosling giggling. As much as I would love to create a fake Mrs. Gosling account on Twitter, my inner self that is so totally against trolling prevents me from doing so. Anyway, giggle away, Goz. You'll always and forever will be the mascot of my blog site. 

Quick hits

(Because I don't want to flood my followers' timelines on Twitter.)

*Just finished reading Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife and it's probably one of the best novels that I've read in a while. The story deals with themes such as war, death, family, myth, storytelling, superstitions, among others. I think the subplot that resonated the most with me was that of Luka's, the wife beater. While many of the characters in the novel deals with the death of a person, Luka had to deal with the death of his dream of becoming a famous musician. Here was a guy who knew from the very beginning what he wanted and suffered at the hands of his father because of it, only to return to their backward village later on as a failure and be consumed and ruined by his utter disappointment and heartbreak. This is a must read for those who are interested in Balkan history (and maybe even those who like Serbian tennis players ... sorry, the big tennis fan in me had to put that one out there). I also recommend it as well to fans of the magical realism genre.

*U.S. Anti-Doping CEO Travis Tygart, who is widely regarded as a hero for having tirelessly pursued Lance Armstrong and exposing him as a fraud, also came out with an interview on 60 Minutes to once again denounce Armstrong's lies during his confession to Oprah. Tsk, tsk. Some people just never change, do they?

*Also watched Gangster Squad. Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte and Emma Stone. Seriously, how can you go wrong with this cast? I wasn't really happy with it, though. The movie had a lot of potential, really, and could have been like Argo if the producers asked Ben Afflect to direct it and write the screenplay. Anyway, I would still recommend this movie to fellow Ryan Gosling lovers.

*Must watch Youtube videos: A Pep Talk from Kid President to You and Disney's Paperman.

Have a great week ahead, guys.

The "Must" List: Baby Bump Gap

Forehand Policy's usual round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the five people who read my blog) might find interesting.

*Giggling Ryan Gosling = Official Mascot of my blog site.

*So what does make the US a world superpower? Definitely not it's military power or its economic might (duh!) but the likes of People, Us Weekly, Star Magazine, Perez Hilton and the National Enquirer. Take that, North Korea.

*I really pride myself for my choice of absolute tennis faves (even if they don't win a lot). I love you, Andy Murray.

*Looks like everyone's excited for the Australian Open.

*Dear China: please please please be nice to us Filipinos. Want to know why? Because it pays to be nice in international politics, according to Steve Walt.

*Seriously, Ryan Lochte. Can't you just be on The Bachelor or Dancing with the Stars?

The "Must" List: You're the man, Coops.

Forehand Policy's usual round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the five people who read my blog) might find interesting.

From Gawker

@retireleo wow, tough words from an anon Internet troll. why not use your name and photo, coward? Have some more fritos and keep typing
— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) November 19, 2012

*These tweets just made me love Anderson Cooper even more.

*With the way that the peace negotiations are going on between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Force (MILF), I won't be surprised if PNoy and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process get a Nobel Peace Prize next year.

*Fantastic interview from Homeland producer and co-creator, Alex Gansa.

*People magazine snubs Ryan Gosling yet again. BuzzFeed calls it a "crime against humanity". I agree.

*I would like to extend my belated congratulations to President Barack Obama for winning another term as US President. However, I think that the real winner of this election is sports nerd/statistician, Nate Silver.

*Give up already. Sheesh.

*From the Manila Standard Today: "The true tragedy of Philippine politics is that we have people like Senator Sotto who are put in positions of power where they can do great damage with only a modicum of learning." Is it really that hard to offer a genuine apology, Senator Tito Sotto?

The "Must" List: Grand Deception?

Here's a round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys (as in the 5 people who read my blog) might find interesting.

*I humbly submit the above video as evidence as to why women tennis players deserve equal prize money. Oh. Hi there, Gilles Simon. Who's the most popular out of the four of you there? (Video courtesy of @OnTheGoTennis)

*Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and probably the best cyclist that ever lived, is going to be stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport that he dominated after refusing to defend himself from allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. This early 2011 investigative piece from Sports Illustrated sheds some light into the issue and even hints at a grand deception on the part of Armstrong and his entourage to cover-up his long-term doping. After reading this article, I can't help but compare Armstrong to Tiger Woods, another superstar who spectacularly fell from grace after being involved in a sex addiction controversy, and how far celebrities and their handlers would go to appear "clean", deceive people and cover up any negative publicity. I know that Armstrong is revered more than Woods mainly because of his work with Livestrong but, after reading SI's article, I can't help but still feel betrayed. I love sports and admire athletes who work really hard and sacrifice a lot of things just to be able to compete and be the best that they can be. It's a shame when they cheat by relying on performance-enhancing drugs and don't do the hard work that other athletes do. It's also unforgivable when they act out like Mafia bosses and ruin the lives and career of people who dare expose them as frauds.

*Here's a nice Strong is Beautiful campaign photo featuring Ana Ivanovic from the WTA. I can't help but feel emotional (you know how we tennis fans can be) after reading the following tagline: "Strong is…never giving up the struggle to be as great as you know you can be. Strong is Women’s Tennis." It's no secret that I'm a big Ana Ivanovic fan (just run through my previous posts) and, of course, I know very well how enormously talented she is and how hard she works to get back to where she once was before the slump happened (Grand Slam champion, former world no. 1). It just sucks big time that her results since late 2008 have not been commensurate to her abilities. I still hope against hope that someday she will somehow recover what she lost during her long slump (e.g. ranking points, a couple of titles, Queen Bee locker room status, endorsement deals). Thanks for keeping the faith, Hitler.

*How hard is it to be a wannabe Secretary of State or Foreign Affairs Secretary? Just ask Steve Walt.

*Vladimir Putin doesn't have a sense of humor. Another post from Steve Walt: 

Meanwhile, over in Moscow, the punk band Pussy Riot got sentenced to two years in jail for "hooliganism," all because they had the temerity to poke some harmless fun at Vladimir Putin and made the mistake of doing it inside a Russian Orthodox Church. Now there's a real threat to public order!  And the government's lame response is revealing: throwing young female musicians in jail is like taking out a full page ad in the world's leading newspapers announcing "We are afraid of independent thinking and have absolutely no sense of humor." In a world where success increasingly depends on tapping into the energy, imagination, and initiative of the citizenry, Putin is telling young Russians to be dull and conformist. I think he's also betraying a profound sense of insecurity: when a three-person punk band is a threat to society, you know that the government has lost all perspective. He's got Madonna ticked off too, although I'm not sure that matters all that much. 

*Cute guys edition: Ryan Gosling does ballet? I need a video ASAP. Brody Jenner's single, y'all. (Oh wait, I shouldn't have announced that. Darn.)  Unintentional hilarity still follows Andy Murray.

*The Philippines lost a good public servant last week. While a lot of tributes have been written about DILG Secretary and multi-awarded former Naga City major Jesse Robredo, this piece written by Patricia Evangelista is probably my favorite. RIP, Sec. Robredo. Your brand of leadership will surely be missed. 

But who are the other three?

Nothing to do with sports but here's The Mickey Mouse Club in 1993 with Timberlake, Aguilera, Spears and Gosling: twitter.com/si_vault/statu…

— Andy Gray (@si_vault) May 16, 2012

I'm still cracking up at the white socks and oversized sweater. Nice one, Goz.

OMG!

Ryan Gosling as a cop? I need protection.

How about a flash card for this gif?

gif taken from reallyattractivepeople

Book description for Feminist Ryan Gosling: Feminist Theories from Your Favorite Sensitive Movie Dude (from Amazon):

What started as a silly way for blogger Danielle Henderson and her classmates to keep track of the feminist theorists they were studying in class quickly turned into an overnight sensation. Since its launch in October 2011, the Feminist Ryan Gosling blog has close to 30,000 followers and more than 3 million page views per month.

In this hilarious book based on the wildly popular blog, the author pairs swoon-worthy photos of the steamy actor with sensitive feminist theories and plenty of sweet talk. Included are 120 full-color photos and captions throughout, with some of the best entries from the blog along with 70 to 80 percent brand-new material for the book.

Can't wait to have my hands on Ryan Gosling this book.

"Memes really do come true."

Taken from Texts from Hillary. Image was actually a submission from US Secretary of State Hillary "Hillz" Clinton herself. Click here for the signed copy.

I discovered the Tumblr site, Texts from Hillary, through a couple of tennis fans that I follow on Twitter. People, this is how a fan site should look like. I've always liked Secretary Hillary Clinton and, while I'm not a US citizen, I honestly believe that she is possibly the most awesomest President that the US never had. (Hillz, can you re-consider for 2016?) Seriously, Hillz > Obama. Who run the world? Girls. ZOMG, she even got a text from Mr. Perfect (a.k.a. Ryan Gosling) himself! Sadly, the creators of this hilarious Tumblr site has decided to "stop while they are ahead". ("Is it really possible to top a submission from the Secretary herself? No.") But, we'll always have the LOLz.

Mr. Perfect

photo taken from Feminist Ryan Gosling

Please excuse me while I pick up my jaw from the floor. Now, where was I? Oh. So Ryan Gosling (as in the guy who is more perfect than Photoshop) not only breaks up fights, he also saves ditzy damsels in distress from being hit by taxi cabs. Read the saved woman's (Laurie Penny) personal account of the story on Gawker (she calls herself "a feminist, a writer and a gentlewoman of fortune" but, while grateful to Goz, doesn't agree with her "boring supporting female role" as the "ditzy damsel in distress"). 

Is this guy for real? Even Jezebel wonders "how Ryan Gosling is even possible".