This video started appearing on Facebook today and it alleges that Noynoy Aquino, who was then a Congressman of Tarlac, actually defended the violent dispersal of workers in Hacienda Luisita.  Many died and scores were injured when the police fired live rounds into the mass of demonstrators at the Hacienda.

See the video here.

]]> http://newpinoypolitics.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/top-predictions-for-the-philippines-in-2010/ Sun, 27 Dec 2009 23:41:53 +0000 legiondeux http://newpinoypolitics.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/top-predictions-for-the-philippines-in-2010/

2010 in the Philippines brings a number of bankable prospects and here they are:

Fireworks disasters. Every year, the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) issues warnings to the public not to rig their own fireworks display and every year people ignore the warning.  They either end up in the hospital or the morgue, the lucky ones find themselves unhurt as they watch their entire village (shanty town) burn to the ground.

The May 2010 elections. All eyes are on who is going to win and right now the race seems to be favoring Manny Villar, Noynoy Aquino, and Joseph Ejercito Estrada.  If you figure that for one reason or another, Estrada’s candidacy will be junked in the middle of the campaign period, then it might still be a three cornered fight with Gilbert Teodoro or Dick Gordon as the third man for an improbable win.

Related to the May 2010 elections are the usual campaign stories:

Miting de Avances. The bigger the candidate, the grander the campaign launch.  Expect Manny Villar to pull all stops.

Negative campaign advertisements. This will become the norm.

Election related violence. More people will get killed in tight electoral contests.

Electoral fraud. Despite all the anti-electoral fraud features of Smartmatic-TIM’s automated election system, retail electoral fraud will abound.

Bigger typhoons starting in June or earlier. Typhoon Ondoy was a dress rehearsal, watch out for bigger disasters this year and perhaps even bigger floods.

Continued conflict with various rebel groups. Expect the new President to confront new clashes between the military and muslim or communist groups.

Economic downturn. After all the campaign money has been spent, it’ll be time to cash in the chips and the Filipino people will be left holding the bill.  There will be no money to get the economy restarted right after the elections and those that made money during the elections will most likely hold on to what they’ve got till the economy starts picking up again.  Prices will rise and so will unemployment.

Terrorism. Yes, new kidnappings and attacks will happen around September.

Widespread food shortage. Supplies of rice will dwindle dramatically as the Philippines experiences one typhoon after the other.

Power shortages. Just like the ones we experienced in the early nineties.

Fuel shortages. There won’t be enough gas or diesel, at any price.

McDonalds Japan will be offering four new versions of their “Quarter Pounder” burger starting next month.
Only one of the new burgers will be available at a time though.

All four of the new burgers are known as “Big America burgers. And individually they are: “Texas Burger“, “New York Burger“, “California Burger“, and “Hawaiian Burger“.

The first of the four that will be available is the “Texas Burger“. It will be available starting on 2010 January 15.
It has bacon and BBQ sauce.

Next will be the “New York Burger“. It will go on sale in early February 2010.
It’ll be like a BLT meets a Quarter Pounder“…bacon, lettuce and tomato on the burger.

Then in late February 2010, the “California Burger” will be the one available.
It’ll have Monterrey Jack cheese.

And finally, in March 2010, the “Hawaiian Burger” will be on the menu.
It’ll have a egg and is called a Hawaiian Loco-moco style burger.

On the McDonalds Japan website, visitors an click a button if they intend to try all four of the Big America burgers. When I checked the site, it said that “105,423 people will try all four burgers“.

To me, none of them sound all that special. I don’t think I’ll buy any of them.
How about you? Which of them sounds good to you? Would you try all four?

Are these burgers available at McDonalds in your country…or is it only in Japan?

+++

Anyways, the Xmas decorations went down yesterday in Japan and were replaced with the traditional Japanese New Years decorations.

New Years is Japan’s biggest holiday.

Here’s a New Years window display at a store that my family and I went to today.

And while we were out, we passed a little league baseball game near the river:

Tiger Pictures In The News 12.26.2009

!!!

For Information About White Tigers Visit:
http://www.bigcatrescue.org/cats/wild/white_tigers.htm

1 Tiger treats : ‘Jumilah’ the Sumatran tiger licks a frozen Christmas treat in his Savannah themed habitat at Taronga Zoo in Sydney.

2. Jumilah, a sumatran tiger, rips open a decorated box as animals at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, receive special Christmas treats that encourage them to forage, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. The activities are design to arouse the animals’ inquisitiveness and stimulate their natural behaviors

3. Jumilah, a sumatran tiger, prepares to rip open a decorated box as animals at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, receive special Christmas treats that encourage them to forage, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. The activities are design to arouse the animals’ inquisitiveness and stimulate their natural behaviors.

4. A Siberian Tiger bites a gift with food as part of Christmas celebrations at Safari Zoo in Sao Paulo December 22, 2009.

5. A Siberian Tiger bites a gift with food inside as part of Christmas celebrations at Safari Zoo in Sao Paulo December 22, 2009.

6. A Siberian Tiger bites a gift with food inside as part of Christmas celebrations at Safari Zoo in Sao Paulo December 22, 2009

7. File photo of an Indochinese tiger. A man who shot dead a rare tiger in southwestern China was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 580,000 yuan (85,000 dollars), state media reported Tuesday

8. Pine cone tiger : The 18-metre-tall and 21-metre-wide picture of a tiger is displayed to celebrate the upcoming Year of the Tiger at the Hitachi Beach park in Hitachinaka city, Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo

9. In a Monday, December 21, 2009 photo released by Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Kashmir, a 17-year-old female white Bengal tiger, is not quite sure what to make of the red Christmas bow tied to her collar at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif. Tiger trainers were taking Kashmir for a stroll around the park and stopped by the popular snow hill featured during the annual Holiday in the Park celebration.

10. A Malayan tiger named “Kathy” is seen at the National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur December 17, 2009. Malaysian government launched a “Tiger Action Plan” to protect against wild tigers in the region, where the species was reported a drastic drop in population from at least 3,000 to around 500 over past 50 years. The initiative of the plan was to increase the amount of wild tiger to 1,000 by 2020

11. A white Bengal tiger named Betty looks at a Christmas tree inside a cage at Buenos Aires’ Zoo December 8, 2009.

12. A white Bengal tiger named Betty plays with a Christmas tree inside a cage at Buenos Aires’ Zoo December 8, 2009.

13. A white Bengal tiger named Betty looks at a Christmas tree inside a cage at Buenos Aires’ Zoo December 8, 2009.

Russia to host Tiger summit in 2010

21 Dec 2009, 0638 hrs IST, PTI

MOSCOW: Russia will host a tiger preservation summit in Vladivostok in 2010, according to the Russian branch of World Wildlife Fund (WWF). 

Scientists decided to use Oriental calendar and the coming year of the Tiger to promote public awareness of the situation with Amur tigers, Igor Chestin, Director of the Russian branch of WWF said on Thursday.

Chestin said that the Russian government, WWF and World Bank initiated the Tiger summit, in which the heads of 13 states are expected to participate.

Only 3200 wildlife tigers remain today, according to Vyacheslav Rozhnov, deputy director of the Ecology and Wildlife Evolution Institute.

WWF estimates Russia’s Khabarovsk and Primorye regions have 500 Amur tigers at present.

The Natural Resources ministry will draft a tiger preservation program for the summit, which along with anti-poaching measures will urge for measures to stop cutting cedar forests, the natural habitat of tigers, and expand the territory of wildlife reserves.
 
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/flora-fauna/Russia-to-host-Tiger-summit-in-2010-/articleshow/5360541.cms

Tiger paintings reflect ethnic cultures

15:46, December 24, 2009     

In order to welcome the “year of the tiger”, South Korea recently published a book named “The Tiger of the 12 Animal Signs,” which analyzed how the tiger as a cultural symbol represents the culture of South Korea, China and Japan.

South Korea’s Central Daily News reported that in the book, 16 scholars from the 3 countries analyzed and explained the appearance of tigers in areas including tiger habitats, etymology, culture, folk stories, faith, art and daily life.

The tigers in paintings from different countries are also different. Tigers in Chinese paintings usually have a round and flat face with huge bodies and their tails are relatively short compared to their bodies. Tigers in Chinese paintings can reflect the generosity of the nation.

In South Korea, tigers are elements which are very close to humans and are usually glorified or personated. In the genre painting “Magpies and Tiger,” two magpies standing on a tree branch are seemingly talking to a tiger. The tiger in the painting is amusing and lovable, and looks more like a cat than a tiger. Tigers in South Korea’s paintings can reflect the flexibility in the nation’s philosophy of life.

Japan did not have tigers in the past, and the tigers in Japanese paintings are quite unique and are neither like China’s nor like Korea’s. The Japanese painting named, “The Tiger Coming out of a Bamboo Grove” which uses a bamboo grove as the background is quite different from tiger paintings from Korea which usually use pine trees as backgrounds. After the Meiji Reform, tigers in Japanese paintings all became ferocious and quite oppressive. Tigers in Japanese paintings can reflect the individuality and the Bushido spirit.

Tigers have become extinct in South Korea, because the Japanese hunted them all in the name of “eliminating the risk of tigers” when they were ruling over Korea. Korea as a colony not only lost its tigers but also lost the traditional culture that contained tiger elements in the past.

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/6851592.html

Christmas is just over. Everyone is looking forward for the new year. The coming 2010 year of the metal Tiger is around the corner. It looks like we’ve got mood swinging, vigorous and hard-working year ahead.

Just so happened to be, I’m also born in the year of the tiger. So for all ya tiger babies. This is definitely an explosive year.Good luck and just let things sizzle out! Remember, we always ROAR!!!

The Philippine elections in 2010 will fall on a Tiger year and it looks like it’ll literally be a hairy and scary year for the Philippines.

According to most Chinese Zodiac references, people born in the year of the Tiger are described to be “Unpredictable, rebellious, colorful, powerful, passionate, daring, impulsive, vigorous, stimulating, sincere, affectionate, humanitarian, generous. Can be restless, reckless, impatient, quick-tempered, obstinate, selfish, aggressive, unpredictable.”

According to Wikipedia:

The Tiger , is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.  The Year of the Tiger is associated with the earthly branch symbol 寅.

People born within these date ranges can be said to have been born in the “Year Of The Tiger,” while also bearing the following elemental sign:

8 February 1902 – 28 January 1903: Water Tiger
26 January 1914 – 13 February 1915: Wood Tiger
13 February 1926 – 1 February 1927: Fire Tiger
31 January 1938 – 18 February 1939: Earth Tiger
17 February 1950 – 5 February 1951: Metal Tiger
5 February 1962 – 24 January 1963: Water Tiger
23 January 1974 – 10 February 1975: Wood Tiger
9 February 1986 – 28 January 1987: Fire Tiger
28 January 1998 – 15 February 1999: Earth Tiger
15 February 2010 – 3 February 2011: Metal Tiger

Chinese Astrologer Paul Ng has indicated that the Philippines will be among the countries plagued by political instability in 2010, along with countries in South America and Africa.

Interestingly, Paul Ng has advise for Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who was born in the year of the Pig and perhaps it comes belatedly.  The advise basically warns her to be careful of her reputation.

Regarding Noynoy Aquino who was born in the year of the rat, Paul Ng says that Aquino would favor traveling and that big changes in his work would happen.  He also predicts that Noynoy may be married next year, possibly to a foreigner.

I’d already left home to explore the great, wide world when cablevision finally made its way to my parents’ house, situated as it was a fair distance down a dead-end road. The arrival of that technology was just as significant to the household as the birth of the Internet would be some 20 years later.

Before cable, you could watch all of four channels on our cabinet TV, the reception provided by a set of rabbit ears. CBC, of course, because it served up Hockey Night in Canada, a Saturday night ritual as sacrosanct to our household as Sunday morning Mass. If memory serves, there were two other Canadian stations broadcasting from somewhere in British Columbia.

The other station, KVOS, originated from Bellingham, Wash. This signal was the weak sister of the bunch — to see anything other than a snowstorm of static, you had to hold the rabbit ears just so while standing over here, with your tongue protruding from one side of your mouth. Let’s just say it was a strain, both on your patience and your eyes.

But it was also the channel that, every December, broadcast my favourite Christmas movie, the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol, starring Alastair Sim.

I watched that movie religiously each year, no matter how old I was, no matter that the rest of the family, complaining of crossed eyes, drifted away from the fuzzy images flickering sporadically across the screen. The picture quality was crap, the sound wasn’t much better, but it was my personal tradition and I sat there until the very last “God bless us, everyone.”

Cue the passing of several decades, to the point where I’m now living in New Zealand and, even though our TV only receives four channels (hello, deja vu), they are delivered through the satellite perched like a spherical gargoyle on our roof and so the reception is crystal-clear.

In other words, I am now in the perfect position to see every twitch of Ebenezer Scrooge’s greedy eyebrows, hear every word uttered in Jacob Marley’s dying breath.

Except . . .  well, those rocket scientists who program the free-to-air channels in this country have decided not to serve up one of the great Noel delights.

I have no idea why Scrooge is nowhere to be found on my dial. Nor, for that matter, is Ralphie Parker and his Red Ryder BB gun and all the other delicious fun of A Christmas Story (1983), which sits at No. 2 on my Christmas movie list.

Maybe it’s the weather — it is, after all, summer in the Southern Hemisphere — or maybe those people in charge of the signal really do think Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause is cinema of the highest degree, but the movies slotted in to replace the usual sitcoms and dramas during the holiday season are not exactly inspiring me to roast my chestnuts. Even on the barbie.

The Shawshank Redemption? Because nothing heralds the birth of Baby Jesus or announces the imminent arrival of Santa Claus more than watching men gang-rape each other in dank prison cells.

A Knight’s Tale? Well, I suppose ramming your lance down an opponent’s throat does bear a slight resemblance to ramming bread crumbs up a turkey’s arse.

Mrs. Doubtfire? Man loses children in nasty divorce. Man dresses up as woman to spend time with children. Man sets himself on fire. Pass the gay apparel.

Bridget Jones’s Diary? “Dear self. Just drank 30 glasses of eggnog and ate an entire plate of pickled herring. Why can’t I find a man?”

Phantom of the Opera? “A disfigured genius terrorises the Paris Opera House.” Hope this doesn’t make me spew the shortbread cookies.

The Nativity Story would seem to fit the season perfectly. Except for that one small hiccup where, while doing press for a movie about the virgin birth, its teenage star, NZ-born Keisha Castle-Hughes, announced she was pregnant. “An angel did it,” only works once, sweetheart.

So you can see why I’m not exactly in a Christmasy mood today. I’ve never really adjusted to wearing sunscreen and sunglasses on Dec. 25, but I’d feel better about it if I could watch Scrooge stumble back to his abode while being buffeted by a wind as frigid as his heart.

The bad news is New Year’s Eve isn’t shaping up to be any better of a TV night. Gladiator? So our final memory of 2009 can be of men in leather skirts being dismembered by giant cats?

But, actually, when you consider that 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, maybe that was a wise programming choice after all. Just try not to splatter any blood in my popcorn.

NOTE: Viking Woman’s children have since contacted me to relate how, when they were little, after the presents were open and the eggnog served, she would gather them in front of the TV and the VCR for a little family-film time. The title she chose each year? Better Off Dead, the 1985 John Cusack movie about teen suicide.

Because sometimes even sugarplum fairies have dark thoughts.

.

Or:

あけましておめでとうございます

Pronounced: Ah*ke*ma*shi*te  Oh*meh*de*toh  Goh*zai*mas

2010:  Year of the Tiger

Tiger. Kamine Zoo. Hitachi, Japan. April 2008.

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Stay tuned for updates on this page over the next several days and week.  Please consider joining others in signing-up (right-hand side of this page) so you’ll be notified by email of updates here on Japanese New Year Traditions, the Chinese/East Asian Zodiac, and other end-of-the-year/beginning-of-2010 information and esoterica.

Again – stay tuned…

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With the Year Of The Tiger rapidly approaching its should be of little surprise to see a few brands salute the Chinese New Year.  Reebok’s Year of the Tiger Pack is a great example of this.  Next to pay its respects is Nike by way of this overhauled Cortez.

The shoes are based on the mythical white tiger and thats more than evident with its striping and fur lined upper.  The nylon panels house the tonal white stripes while the swoosh, heel tab, toebox and lace plate all are draped in the faux fur.  The leather tongue is embossed with the chinese character for tiger and the date of the new year can be found on the sockliner.  No word if they are dropping in Canada but we sure hope so.  Stay tuned for more info.

SOURCE: Kicks On Fire

I present to you: Lust List, the Christmas Edition!, since Christmas is coming up and I will definitely be getting everything I want. Everything, I tell you! (Also, I figure the more extravagant gift-givers out there doing some last minute shopping might get some ideas.)

1. Estee Lauder “Beautiful” Year of the Tiger solid perfume compact ($89.00)

Doesn’t this look *gorgeous*? It’s scent is described as “a tender bouquet of Lilies and Roses, Marigold and Orange blossoms… all warmed with a rich, woody base and brightened with a touch of citrus.” Now, I’m not usually into floral perfumes, but I still think that sounds dee-lish! Maybe I’m just being hypnotized by the tiger’s eyes… I am such a packaging sucker! It only holds .03 oz of perfume though, which isn’t much considering it’s $89.00 :/

2. Leica D-Lux 4 “Safari” ($995.00)I didn’t even know Leica made cameras until a few days ago, when I stumbled across this baby. I love how vintage it looks – until you see the three inch screen on the back, that is It’s pretty damn expensive, but for a cheaper alternative the regular Leica D-Lux 4 is “only” $699, and I’m pretty sure it’s the exact same thing except… not green. Although to be honest I would settle for pretty much any camera this Christmas

3) M.A.C. Baroque Boudoir Sheer Mystery Powder Compact ($60)

I blogged about this before, and I’ll do it again. I WANT THIS!  The day I have enough money to spend $60 on a powder compact, this will be the first thing I buy.

4) Urban Outfitters Crosley Alarm Clock Radio Speaker ($58)I love the vintage-y vibe this has got going on, and the pretty blue color. But obviously the real reason I need it is practicality *shifty eyes* I’ve always used the alarm on my iPod, but that one’s pretty damn quiet and I’ve developed a tendency to sleep through it.

So…. anybody care to send me something? ^_^

finally went to print.  not perfect, but acceptable i suppose.

there’s always room for improvement.

The Chinese Calendar has 2010 as the year of the Tiger. No, not that Tiger…

This Tiger.

The Ad Mavericks calender says 2010 is year for the social media marketer. Sure, companies have already started using social media, but not nearly in the grand scale that they are about to in 2010. How do I know? Well, for the last year, every client or prospective client I have talked to has heard me carrying on about social media, how it could benefit them, strategies on how to get involved. Lately, they’ve been crying uncle. They say, “Ok, we believe you. Now what?”

Music to my freckled ears I tell them! We’re talking strategy and implementation with nearly every one of our clients today. And not just small companies. We’re talking about some of Iowa’s larger companies. Companies so big that you’ll say, “Suffering Succotash!  ________ is using social media.” Only one client I talked to over the last 12 months is holding their position that they aren’t ready for social media. They are opting to “reach a younger demographic by pouring beer at Clive After Five” instead of developing a social media strategy. I wish them luck. I digress.

If you jump on Twitter today and follow advocates of social media, you’ll find we all have one thing in common. We sit around tweeting about how to best use social media in generic terms. We position ourselves as experts of the medium, which is cool for a while, but it becomes quite self promotional and more of a push medium. I’m guessing that comes to a halt fairly soon. For social media to work at all, I need it to be a push-pull medium. I want the content I push out to pull comments and retweets from the listening audience. I want invites to offline meetings to occur that lead to discussions about real business opportunities.  No longer will we spend our time trying to convince clients and marketers of the power of social media, we’ll actually start implementing social media on grand scales.

I tweeted this the other day:

“If TV was invented today, would we all sit around making TV spots telling each other how to make effective TV spots?”

If you think about it, where else has anything like social media occurred with so many “pundits” that have an opinion on the right way and the wrong way to use a marketing medium. Never.

Brace yourself for 2010 – social media as you know it will be forever changed by marketers and companies smart enough to lead the sea of change within their industries.

Author: Josh Fleming
www.lessingflynn.com

P.S. By the way, there are plenty of trend predictions for social media in 2010 – take a look at this site and the predictions these four folks make.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Here are just a few tips designed to ensure 2010 is not only the year of the Tiger, it’s also the Year of the Biker:

Make the most of your motorcycle
There’s no point in having a powerful, preened machine if you only use it once a year. Real bikers enjoy the freedom of the open road every week – and biking to work doesn’t count!

On your bike!: a rolling stone gathers no moss and a biker on the road...well, they're a proper biker

Stop leaving your bike unlocked
It’s a common crime for riders. But come on guys, there are plenty of good quality disk and cable locks around. They don’t always come cheap but paying out for one is better than having some grubby chav nick off with your ride while you were picking up the fish and chips.

Under lock and key: thieves won't take your bike if you don't let them

Get involved with a biking group
They’re sometimes quite hard to find and the occasional biking clan can be a bit clique-y but having a group of like-minded mates to ride alongside can make the difference between a dreary trudge down a miserable lane to a roaring group event full of friendly banter. Plus riding with a group is a great excuse to head off down the pub afterwards.

Huddersfield Motorcycle Club proves 15 heads are better than one

Loose it once you’ve used it
Remember that bump you had last summer? Well if your helmet was knocked or dented its ability to protect you in a crash will have been completely compromised. Helmets are only designed to put up with one impact – after that their internal structure is damaged, meaning they won’t cushion your head properly in a crash. Use it as an excuse for an upgrade.

Need an upgrade: the Arashi 888 Flip Front Bluetooth Helmet is just £39.99 and even includes Bluetooth.

Be more ambitious
Planning new routes is easy. Sites like Google Maps let you put in multiple destinations and plot the best roads to use. You can print off quick directions. So go to Scotland, get out to Ireland, tour the coast.

North rider: Motorcycle Scotland is just one of many websites that helps riders plan amazing routes.

Tell me about it
After you’ve been on a great ride you will want to let the world know and one of the easiest ways to record and share your adventures is on a blog. You can set up your own at Blogger.com or WordPress.com very easily and use it like a diary, adding an entry each time you’ve been out with the wind in your hair. You can even add the inevitable embarrassing photographs of you in your leathers!

Okay, you’re not going to change the world with these resolutions – but you can always join the gym and organise your filing next year – 2010 is dedicated to having some serious fun.

This page was brought to you by Ghostbikes. It is one of Europe’s biggest sellers of motorcycle boots, helmets, jackets, gloves and biking accessories. The Preston-based company has a whole selection of gear available for professional and enthusiastic motorcyclists looking for top quality brands and exclusive products.

You can visit their site at http://www.ghostbikes.com for all the latest products at unique prices.

no-go.

[image removed]

it looks like it’s not rejected after all.  -mae

According to legend, Chinese New Year started with a fight against a mythical beast called the Nian or “Year” in Chinese. Nian would come on the first day of New Year to devour and kill animals, crops, and even the people, especially the little children. In order to protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. They believed that after the Nian ate the food, it wouldn’t attack any more. Then one year, some people noticed that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. They then thought that the Nian was afraid of the color red. From then on, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. The Nian never came to the village again.

Although fireworks and firecrackers are traditional and very popular, some regions have banned them because of the increased number of fires around New Years. Various cities (e.g., Hong Kong, and Beijing ) issued bans over fireworks and firecrackers in certain areas of the city for a number of years. As a substitute, large-scale fireworks have been launched by governments in cities like Hong Kong to offer citizens the experience without the danger.

The International Chinese New Year Night Parade will be held on 14 February 2010. The theme of Hong Kong’s New Year parade, sponsored by Cathay Pacific, is the “World’s Happiest Party.”

Learn more about the parade here.

a preview of what i’ve been working on… at work.  i hope this doesn’t get shot down… again.

Well like so many others, I’m still working my **** off to get things set up on Zazzle after the move away from Cafepress; and I can’t say I’m sorry at all. For one thing it’s given me the chance to buy a few test products from Zazzle (like I need an excuse, but it’s all in the name of research, hmmmm), and I must say I am very impressed indeed. So far my purchases have been outstanding. Crisp, clear printing, vivid colours, all designs set straight and not too low on the garment. Overall excellent results and some pics will soon follow.

Creating new designs and themes has been taking so much of my days that there really hasn’t been time for much else lately, but it’s all beginning to come together quite nicely now. A little idea for a resources list on my site, and maybe some freebie graphics to use commercially is waiting in the wings too.

My most recent designs at Specialeetees have had a decidedly oriental flavour, thanks to entering that competition last month, but here’s the follow-on designs I’ve created since then (so thank you to Jojy for the inspration ((HUGS)) and the sales that have resulted from the first design being posted!!!):

Leaping Tiger 2010

Tiger and Chinese Symbol

Vintage Dragon

I’ve also started to get ready for Halloween…So check out my new little store at HalloweenTees on Zazzle. It has the full range of tees, gifts, cards, prints and other goodies to make halloween spooky fun. The items available can also make great gift ideas all year round for those with a dark side! Here’s a couple of examples from the range available:

Too Tired to Party Mug

Stop Staring at my Pumpkins!

Hopefully my next blog entry won’t be so far away, and I can update it with some free stuff and help for all the aspiring shopkeepers out there. Until then, happy shopping!

As I quoted in my last blog post, “Success is the combination of good timing, helpful networking and optimal geography (Feng Shui).” The first two can be calculated by the Chinese Astrology/Four Pillars/Five Elements method, therefore minimizing risk. However, to achieve the commanding position in business or career all three must be aligned.

Sunrise through tree illustrates transforming energy of Fire and organizing energy of Wood

Timing
For example having a great real estate property for sale in the wrong time, like now. You can sing its praises until you turn your face blue, still not that many people will or even can buy because of the tough financing requirements now or fear of losing future income. Even if you have good networking and good Feng Shui, the curse of wrong timing would be very hard to overcome. In fact, there are plenty of business people experiencing this problem with their projects right now.

Networking
Helpful networking is necessary in this stage and age in order to achieve your goals. Not only do you have to know your own real strength and weaknesses from the Chinese Astrology character tendency, you also have to know if your partners (business and personal) or closes alliances are beneficial for you to work with. Through this, you can find out if you are in or going into a lucky or unlucky cycle of the Lunar Zodiac cycle rotation that begins on February 4th each year and ends on the next February 3rd. This can foretell if timing is working for or against you, allowing you to take the appropriate passive or proactive approach professionally and financially.

This is why a lot of top executives of major companies commission me to calculate their charts to augment their strategy decisions. This includes whom to hire in their direct team such as assistant or key positions like CEO, CFO, Marketing Director, Manager,… I often advise my clients not only hire the important support staff helpful to him or her, but, hopefully, these people as individual is going into high cycle so that they could bring “luck”, high energy onto the ship. Rubbing elbows with people in high cycle is beneficial while mingling people with low or bad luck has the adverse effect. Energy field is best to be preserved when we can and that’s why selecting the people with helpful energy in the inner circle is a smart thing to do. You get better advice, inspiring ideas more enjoyment out of people that are grounded in thinking that a low cycle person cannot bring to the table.

Geography
Optimal geography is good Feng Shui because even if you have good timing and networking, if the product you are selling is in the wrong location or market, all is defeated. This is why franchises spend a lot of money on market research so that they are placed correctly demographically, but, still, wrong spot in the area that has Feng shui problems still can affect their bottom line.

Current Cycle
Based on the Chinese Astrology cycle rotating into, the Water Element year in 2007 through Year of the Boar and 2008 Year of the Rat in this millennium is meant to go through flushing out the old and starting new in very dramatic ways. This Ox year of Double Earth is also heavy going for many. The turn of energy can be predicted and to some extent mitigated with a reliable advisor that has accurate metaphysical insight.

Future Cycle
February 4, 2010 begins the Year of the Tiger, therefore, helpful to people with Chinese Zodiac sign of Boar – not so good for Snake or Monkey. Tiger is a Wood sign, and 2010 will be a Metal year, so there is some conflict there (Metal chops Wood). Tiger year natives are vulnerable in Tiger year. However, this does not mean all Tigers would be unlucky because if the Five Elements is balanced through Feng Shui and the Chinese Astrology, palm, face, voice, chi feature is strong, according to the Chinese Destiny Reading of the Tin Sun Lineage, the chance of success would be possible. This is a comprehensive statistic and accurate science that has evolved for a couple of thousand years in the Chinese culture with documented record.