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

The "Must" List: Words of wisdom

*Kinda bummed that there's no mention of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation in this video.

*It's becoming really hilarious now how often I see pictures of Roger Federer crying. Come on, guys.

*Jennifer Lawrence, hands down, is the biggest winner of the recently concluded Academy Awards.  After this, this, this, this and this, really, how can people not fall in love with her? (Even the IR guy that I follow on Twitter wants her to run for Congress.) Funny, down-to-earth and extremely charming, JLaw definitely won herself a lot of fans during Oscar night. Her ability to poke fun at herself is indeed very disarming. I do wish that some media outlets would stop calling her a "starlet" nowadays. Duh. She has several awards under her belt now, is the lead star of the Hunger Games franchise (which contributed to archery's massive popularity during the Olympics on US cable tv) and is the face of Miss Dior. JLaw has earned every right to be called a "star". Anyway, it's really great when someone who you started following because you found her hilarious in one interview almost two years ago hits the big time.

*From the video vault of awesomeness: Michelle Obama and Jimmy Fallon doing the "mom dance".

*Who knew that the way to Kim Jong Un's heart was Dennis Rodman? I'm still not giving up on my peace plan.

*Words of wisdom from Ben Affleck: "...you have to work harder than you think you possibly can. You can't hold grudges. It's hard but you can't hold grudges. It doesn't matter how you get knocked down in life, cause that's gonna happen. All that matters is that you gotta get up."

*Words of wisdom from Ted:

Shit happens. I mean, look at your face.
— TED (@Laughbook) March 3, 2013

Don't assume my tweets are about you. But if you’re affected by them, then that obviously means you’re guilty of something.
— TED (@Laughbook) March 1, 2013

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman. Then be Batman.
— TED (@Laughbook) February 28, 2013

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: Special Edition

Here's a round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys might find interesting.

* So you discover a lot of irregularities in your company and you just can't stomach it anymore. Your boss and a couple of people that you work with just happen to have very questionable values and ethics. So what do you about it? You submit a copy of your resignation letter to The New York Times. 

* How apropos. Sorry, Lance Armstrong.

* The most misunderstood economist? Adam Smith.

The "Must" List: Muppets against Romney? LOL.

Here's a round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys might find interesting.

* So, there's Sesame Street Diplomacy and now there's US presidential candidate Mitt Romney going after Big Bird during his first live debate with incumbent president Barack Obama. Who knew that these muppets could wield so much power and influence?  

* Thanks, Patricia Evangelista, for telling us what the future could look like with Sen. Tito Sotto as the King of Cyberspace. God save the Philippines.

* Roger Federer being, well, like Roger Federer:

"I think he's done so well," Federer added. "His reaction was amazing after not winning Wimbledon against me.
"Then coming back to win the Olympics and bringing the victory home for his first Grand Slam at the US Open was great to see.
"I was very impressed and I'm sure that's going to give him confidence for what's to come.
"How me, Novak and Rafa - whenever he comes back - and the rest of the players will play will have a little bit of an impact.
"But, overall, Andy has some control over that himself now."

* Novak Djokovic dancing Psy's Gangnam Style. Tennis is so cool.

* And I've missed you too.

* Anna Wintour is a big fan of tennis. She's also a big fan of Homeland. Who knew that we had a lot of things in common?

* Team Nicki Minaj or Team Mariah? Let BuzzFeed help you decide.

The "Must" List: Defending the right to copy-paste

Here's a round-up of a few must read/see/view things that you guys might find interesting.

Asked if there was moment when she doubted herself, Ana Ivanovic laughs. Replies: "There was not a moment. There were many moments." #usopen
— James Henry (@olerafa) August 28, 2012

*That was the money quote of the interview. Self-deprecating humor for the win!

*Nice article from Patricia Evangelista on the plagiarism issue and Sen. Tito Sotto's pathetic attempt to defend his right to copy-paste from blogs for his anti-RH speeches . An excerpt:

The public—and he makes a delineation between the public attacking him and the public who knows him—knows how to perceive right and wrong, and they know better than to believe his attackers.

“Do we know if they are good people? Do we know if they are kind, if they are drunks, if they batter their wives? We don’t know who they are, but they are so good at destroying my name.”

And yet he destroys that name, and continues to cling to his innocence, invoking his position as senator and public figure, placing himself above those he plagiarized, setting up rules for himself. The medium is tainted—a man whose ideas are not his own, whose sources are questionable, whose ethics have been proven false, is a difficult man to trust when he claims moral authority.

*Bond, James Bond, crashes Andy Murray's US Open presser. How do you top this? Maybe we can ask the Queen (aka the new Bond girl) to jump off a helicopter again if Andy wins his first Grand Slam (*fingers crossed*) on Monday.

*She's smart, pretty, has well-toned arms and is married to the president of the most powerful country in the world. Like Angelina Jolie, Michelle Obama is living the life that I want. Isn't she the best First Lady ever?

*Oh, Cristiano Ronaldo. You amuse me so.

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.