Now Playing at the Music Bar below:

Selfish (Chillout Version) - Sunset Daze

Don't Fear the Reaper (Cover) - The Beautiful South

Clarity (Neon Sky Remix) - Zedd ft. Foxes

Alive in Paradise - Tiesto & Dyro feat. Krewella

Saturday, July 19, 2014

SPi Global - Magic the Gathering Club

Magic the Gathering is a trading card game that has been around for 20 years. It has over 6 million participants around the globe. People usually travel to the U.S., Moscow, Costa Rica, Japan, Singapore and even Rome to compete in the Grand Prix and World Championships.
 
 
Yes, some say it’s a geek’s game, and if I compare it to poker, it’s even more complex than just bluffing your way all throughout the game. You have about 20,000 cards you can choose from to create a 60-card deck and it is played in several formats.

I have been a collector and a player of the game since 1994. But it was just 3 years ago that I got the chance to really enjoy it, when my company supported me to create a Magic the Gathering club. And maybe other companies have their clubs, but for me, this is the only company that I have worked for and know, that would even shell out thousands of pesos for the club members to do a booster draft and give out prizes for the tournaments.

So far, we had 4 tournaments already hosted by our company, and the winners actually get a chance to compete in the commercial tournaments of their choice around the metro, and the entry fee is sponsored by the company. (And take note, this is just one of the several clubs that the company supports; I am also part of the Tactical Airsoft Club.)
 
 
(Booster Draft)
 
 
You see, it’s not all about the money…it is how the company takes care of its employees in several fun ways.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Elements Bits: The Divide


Cast:

Mickey - Michael Biehn
Eva – Lauren German

New York City has been struck by several nuclear missiles, and nine strangers were able to seek refuge in a basement of an apartment building. Days have passed and what they thought was a rescue team, turns out to be a retrieval unit that took into custody a little girl from the group.

The group then manages to fight of the remaining soldiers, and was able to intercept a radio message about completing the sweep of the city. They then decide to use one of the hazard suits of the soldiers to find out what’s happening on the surface. What you would expect in a holocaust are friendly soldiers helping out, but in retaliation, the soldiers kept them in solitary and welded shut the basement entrance.

Now the group has nowhere else to go and the worst that can happen now is that they turn against each other and it has now become a survival of the fittest.

---------------------------

Elements Bits number 1:

Reaching our breaking point. What do we do when we suddenly snap? When one reaches its threshold, some actions tend to be reckless, ill-advised or generally evil. One who is not prepared for the worst normally breaks and is unable to maintain its composure. Of course I will not say that when the end of days would come, I will be able to cope with it easily. I will surely panic; but the crucial thing would be how I will manage to recover and make a just decision with a clear conscience moving forward.

Elements Bits number 2:

Taking from the context of the movie Batman the Dark Knight, would you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain? If we are talking survival, would you sacrifice yourself for the others to survive? Doesn’t necessarily mean that you will sacrifice your life, but are you willing to do whatever it takes if it meant saving others.

-----------------------------

Psychopathy Checklist

To determine if one is a psychopath, a checklist is used to rate an individual in several facets and factors that may contribute to this behaviour. These are scored on a rating of zero to 2. Zero being not evident, 1 being if there are partial symptoms, and 2 if it perfectly matches the individual. Out of the 20 items, if the individual scores 30 to 40, they may be already considers as psychopaths. Dare to take the test?

Below are the 20 items that are in the checklist,
according to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist – Revised. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_Psychopathy_Checklist)
 
Interpersonal:
Glibness/superficial charm
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Pathological lying
Cunning/manipulative
 
Affective:
Lack of remorse or guilt
Emotionally shallow
Callous/lack of empathy
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
 
Lifestyle:
Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
Parasitic lifestyle
Lack of realistic, long-term goals
Impulsiveness
Irresponsibility
 
Anti-Social:
Poor behavioral controls
Early behavioral problems
Juvenile delinquency
Revocation of conditional release
Criminal versatility
 
Others:
Many short-term marital relationships
Promiscuous sexual behavior

Monday, July 14, 2014

Drawing the Line

Do you sometimes question yourself, how much is enough? When you are like me who hardly says no, where do you draw that line and say, I can’t do this anymore.

In our universe, there seems to be a limit to everything. No matter how boundless one thing seems, it has to end somewhere, somehow and sometime soon. We’ve heard most of it already, “we can’t live forever”, “I’ve had it up to here.”, “the fat lady has sung.” and you simply “ran out of luck.” I’m pretty sure each and every one of knows someone who can push it and yet still, there is a limit. (Or you are being pushed beyond your free will. I hope not.)

There are several things that no matter how hard you want to keep going, you can’t simply move on with it; whether the body or mind is no longer willing, or there is just too much conflict, resistance and hate, that compels you to simply put a stop to things.

For me, one of these things would be…Work.

The challenge in my profession is that, your problem is my problem, and I am tasked to resolve it. In my personal opinion, HR is perceived to be like the walking, talking, Book of Answers, a 24-hour convenience store and the ultimate house cleaner. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. Every day I learn something new. On some days, the tasks are quite daunting, but achievable…if given the time.

On being the Book of Answers; I greatly appreciate it when people come up to HR and seek counsel. There is that level of fulfillment when the employee walks away satisfied with your answers, knowing that you have helped them resolve their issues. It feels good that HR practitioners are often dubbed as a shoulder to cry on, defender of the oppressed and a provider of resolution. But the one perception that I would like to change and I do admit, is that HR is not an omnipotent oracle that knows everything. (Well how I wish I had these powers as I shared in my other article, I’m no Superhero.)

In fact, as Albert Einstein said, “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Being in HR is also a test of endurance. There are some beliefs that HR never closes. (Or maybe HR practitioners are like doctors, who should be on call 24/7…but do we dare ask if the matters are that of life and death?) Nowadays, I’m lucky if I get any sleep for 3 straight hours during the work week. Calls and messages comes in almost every 30 minutes. But I think of it this way though, as one mentor put it:
  • It is better that people reach out to you rather than not;
  • But you must take heed because it could mean that if they continuously reach out to you because no resolution or action has been done, then you may deemed neglectful. Or if they don’t reach out to you at all, it could mean you have no credibility.
Now the real trials of the job are cleaning up the mess of others or getting things organized. Thus, being the ultimate house cleaner. Yes, I understand that we all live under the same roof and we all have our own roles and you have the heads of the family take lead, but maybe some residents should take accountability and own up. Or better yet, at the onset, get things organized. Again, I hardly say no and will offer whatever help I can; it’s my nature and not just the profession. But it does get quite irritating though when some say that, “we did something wrong, you have to fix this right now.” As if I have a magic wand and could simply chant bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.

Unfortunately I can’t just pick up a chalk and draw that line in front of me, as I have to accept the fact that this is indeed the nature of my work, and I signed up for it 11 years ago.

Taking cue from a Nike commercial...So maybe I brought this upon myself for not learning to say No. Maybe it was my fault for making myself very accessible and available for each and every need. Maybe it was not a good decision on my part to intervene in every little incident. Maybe it was my eagerness to prove my worth?
 
Or maybe, just maybe…as Michael Jordan put it…”Maybe you’re just making excuses.”
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