I like KO!

He tells it like it is!

Who has become my hero.

This is one of the most inspiring things I have ever read.

2009 Inauguration Ball Guests began arriving early. There are no place cards and no name tags. Everyone knows everyone else here. Now, there's a grand foursome - Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz sharing laughs with Martin and Coretta Scott King. Looks like Hosea Williams refused the limo again, keeping it real. And my goodness; is that Rosa Parks out there on the dance floor with A. Phillip Randolph?

Seated at a nearby table, Frederick Douglass has a captive audience in W.E.B. DuBose and Fannie Lou Hamer, and Medgar Evers has just joined them. Marian Anderson was asked to sing tonight, but she only agreed to do it if accompanied by Marvin Gaye, John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix. Look, there's Harriet Tubman. No one knows how she arrived, but there she is. And my guess is that, when the time comes, no one will see her leave.

There's Jackie Robinson swiftly making his way through the hall as the crowd parts like the Red Sea to the unmistakable sound of applause. "Run, Jackie, run!" Along the way he is embraced by Jessie Owens. Three beautiful young women arrive with their escorts – Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney. Ms. Viola Liuzzo flew in from Michigan, exclaiming, "I could not miss this."

Richard Pryor promised to be on his best behavior. "But I can’t make any guarantees for Redd Foxx and Moms Mabley," he chuckled. Joe Louis just faked a quick jab to the chin of Jack Johnson, who smiled broadly while slipping it. We saw Billy Eckstine and Nat King Cole greet Luther Van Dross. James Brown and Josh Gibson stopped at Walter Payton's table to say hello.

It made me cry, and I don't cry easy. My God, it spoke to me. My Mama is there too, and my Papi, and so are my grandparents, and probably some of yours too. I can see this scene playing out in my minds eye...

This video is incredible.

ISOU is over 3000,000 hits! Never would have believed it when I started this thing a few years ago as a personal rant page.

Did any of you catch the so called, "Republican Response," last night on Larry King live? The Hypocrisy of these people are absolutely astounding....

Check out this exchange...

KING: Obama took aim at John McCain on a number of issues, including the economy.

Here's an example, Tucker, and you can comment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: While Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq, just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats that we face.

When John McCain said we could just muddle through in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11 and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights.

(CHEERS)

OBAMA: You know, John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the gates of hell. But he won't even follow him to the cave where he lives.

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I said that was about the economy. Obviously, it was not.

What do you make of that moment, Tucker?

BOUNDS: Well, Larry, I'm really glad that you played that clip, because I think it was a perfect demonstration of some of the frustrations that we're having.

You know, this speech was billed as a very historic speech and indeed it was a historic evening, but the speech didn't come through that way across the board. There were a lot of very negative parts to that speech and I think that that was one perfect demonstration.

For Barack Obama to suggest that John McCain doesn't have the commitment to track down Osama bin Laden, that we have had him in our sights, and decided that it wasn't important to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, is absurd.

KING: Well...

BOUNDS: It's ridiculous and it doesn't do any justice to the serious discourse that the American people deserve.

KING: But...

BOUNDS: It...

KING: Did we not center away from Afghanistan and go to Iraq?

BOUNDS: I think he suggested a little bit more than that, Larry. I think what he said, and in his own words, said that when I have him in our sights, I will take it to Osama bin Laden, suggesting that John McCain wouldn't do the same thing, which is to ignore all the things and all the policies that John McCain has pursued to bring terrorists to justice.

I think that that is boiling down. I think it's an insult to voters. I think that that's where we stand on higher ground going toward election day, because the truth is that this is going to come down to experience.

It's going to come down to a choice between -- do you believe everything Barack Obama is telling you? Do you believe this laundry list of promises about...

KING: OK.

OMG! And did you see the guys face? It was like, "I dont believe this crap myself, but after that speech I sure as hell better come up with something...

Then they roll out Larry Elder, whose only claim to fame is a Rush Limbaugh in Blackface radio show, and whos greatest aspiration in life is to be accepted by people like Limbaugh... and Ben Stein, who I am not sure if he is a comedian, Conservative Goliath, Economist, Speechwriter... or a game show host? Here's a guy who who thinks it's okay to proposition people for sex in the mensroom....

In 2007, Stein chastised the police and the GOP leadership for their response to the Larry Craig scandal. Stein said that Craig's sexuality should be a non-issue: "A party that believes in individual rights should be rallying to his defense, not making him walk the plank."'

It is just amazing to me that Conservatives can sit back and with a straight face... Make an issue on how well Obama speaks or the crowds he draws or who designed the stage on which he gave his nomination acceptance speech, while our country heads straight for the crapper? WOW! It blows the mind!

I got mad love for this music.... Nice!

And this one too....

Indiana Jones 4? Hell I cant wait to take my kids to see it!

Yeah, I am a cat person!

My life absolutely rocks!

I just moved into a beautiful new house.

In front of the house with Maribell and Apollonia

Had a blast last week with Abraham, one of my Fraternity Brothers,

Abraham and David

and this week business seems to be coming to me in leaps and bounds!

This is the bomb, but make sure you watch the whole the whole thing? The first time I tried to make it work it did not, after finishing the video, I discovered that you need to restart the browser completely for it to work.

Dont be someone's lunch! Fight back!

Interesting

DALLAS - As far as the Boy Scouts of America is concerned, knowing how to confront a bully is now as important as mastering a slip knot.

For the first time in the 97-year history of the nation's largest youth organization, newcomers must show they have learned Scout-approved ways to avoid being pushed around and called names, if they want to advance through the ranks.

Shaken down for your lunch money? Tell the bully how it hurts. Called a crater face? The 2008 Boy Scout Handbook recommends this comeback: "So what if I have a face full of zits. What's it to you?"

"We've always emphasized bullying -- how to recognize it, how to prevent it," said Jim Terry, assistant chief executive of the Boy Scouts. "This is just a reinforcement of those principles."

The Scouts say the move isn't in response to increased bullying in their ranks. But some critics are already picking on the organization for its new curriculum.

My troop was so badassed that the bullies were afraid of us! Hehe...

A little bit of Prince before he was "The Artist formerly known as." Prince has always been one of the most talented artist on the planet! This is him at his best! And DAMN! Shiela E. Was HOT!

And this one....

if for my wife, her first and always favorite Prince Song... Enlarge this one to full screen people, it ROCKS!

Read This!

Not cause you are affraid of the bogey man, or bad luck, but because "The Poem is some pretty powerful stuff. I hate chain emails, and I wont subject my friends to one, but I thought I would share this with all of you. Like most of the stuff that I get from my Ex Boss and Mentor, it is some very WISE counsel!

This movie just ROCKS!

Is there any doubt Southern Cal is the best team in the nation?

No.... There isnt...

And its not exactly the same as watching in a theate, the rice and the whole bit. But enjoy....

The Rocky Horror Picture Show...

Happy Holideays

Great Movie. Go see it if you havent already.

Have you seen Rush Hour 3 yet? If you havent, check this out. Hurry up before its gone. After the fold is the video embedded, but I doubt it will last long. This young woman alone is worth the price of a ticket and the DVD.

Her Name is Noemie Lenoir, and my God is she HOT!

Oh the movie... It was the best I have seen of the trilogy. And Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker have never been funnier. What I did about the Rush Hour movies is that those two ALWAYS seem to have a good time.

This is a COOL idea. And Baldilocks is HOT!

I have always been a fan of the Dark Knight. Not the Pussy One of Don Adams fame... But the hard core, semi mentaly disturbed Batman. In fact, as a long time fan of the comic book, I actually rooted for Azrael, or Azbat,

to take over the mantle of Bruce Wayne...

This new movie looks like it is getting back to Batman's roots, and for that I am very excited. Now can we maybe see an AZBAT movie?

Now this is what you call viral marketing...

DAMN Debbie Harry was PHIIIIINE Back in the day, wasn't she?

This woman ROCKS. I just discovered her video series on Youtube.

Looks like I will be off on another whirlwind trip in a couple of weeks. The Call Center Project in Honduras has been on hold for about a month now, as the client works on some other pressing priorities. This has not meant a vacation for me though. In the last month I have worked with a North American Company to start the process of evaluating three countries, with the purpose of locating a telesales operation.

I have also been working with one of Costa Rica's biggest Real Estate ventures on evaluating and developing a VOIP strategy for their telesales organization and for the companies internal use.

Looks like I will be back on the road the second week in August, and more than likely visiting some of my favorite Central American Cities again. With any luck, I may even have time to have coffee with some of my contacts and friends there.

I am hoping that we will stay at the Raddisson in Guatemala again, what a spectacular hotel, and what fantastic staff.

This coming week will be pretty hectic as I plan for this trip and evaluate some proposals for my North American Client. Things are looking pretty interesting in this project, and I am looking forward to being a part of it right up until it is operational.

In the interim, I also have a client coming in from Russia in the next couple of weeks, I need to set some meetings for him to establish a company here in Costa Rica. I dont expect it to take much time, but it must be done right, he is depending on my recommendations to ensure that he has the right contacts in country to kick his business off right.

Crossposted to Business Blog

This

Is the most motivating movie I have ever seen.

And this scene...

other than the Gettysburg scene, is one of the most memorable in the movie. This is all about what it means to be a winner. To reach down deep inside and find that something extra... The no surrender, no retreat mentality that is what makes champions and heroes. If you have never seen Remember the Titans, go out and rent it...

If you are an athlete, it will teach you something about being a champion athlete.
If you are a business person, it will teach you about competitive drive, and what it takes to be the best.
If you are a parent, it will teach you and your kids something about appreciating differences.... Remember the Titans is a masterpiece, AND it is a little known bit of History that can teach us as much as the references to history sprinkled throughout the movie...

A few years ago, a man who had become like a father to me, and was my first great boss, fired me. He had reason, good reason to do so, nevertheless, it took me a while to accept responsibility for my own failures, and for the ways I failed him, he who gave me the tools to get to where I am today.

A few weeks ago, I came back in contact with him via a business networking site, and we have been sharing emails and ideas every since. John has always been a great motivator, and he has been sending me stuff for the last two weeks. All of it has been awesome, and reminds me why nearly 20 years after the fact, he remains my greatest mentor outside of Freemasonry.

He sent me this one today, and it is one of the most motivating things I have ever seen. Please pass this one on, if you know of someone who might need a little encouragement.

I only recently discovered this philosophy... The philosophy of never giving up, believing in myself and digging deep for that extra. But I have to say, as I look back, John was always this way. I recently had a meeting with a client who was very depressed. The client had had one customer abandon him without paying, and was running on fumes as far as finances were concerned. I gave him my speech about positivity and believing in himself, not giving up and fighting on.

A week later I helped him get the money owed to him, and he is now negotiating with two clients.

I have been there.

When I started my business, I was making very high six figures in the U.S., and was living the American Dream, well except for the being laid off part. Hehe... My friends all thought me crazy for coming to Costa Rica and starting the Utopia Group. The first three years were touch and go. I had clients steal from me, break contracts, make promises and then abandon them... But I hung in there. This was a time of test for me, much like the crawl the young man above just went through.

I felt the pain, and no pun intended, I spent a lot of time on my knees... Today, my business is a success. The Utopia Group is known all over Central America as one of the premier Contact Center Development companies in the region, and I have clients in three countries...

None of it came easy, and as I look back I am grateful to Mr. H. for teaching me 20 years ago, what this video teaches today.

Crossposted to Business Blog

I upgraded my Notebook's hard disk to 120GB yesterday and decided to take the opportunity to do some housecleaning and an upgrade of the OS as well.

I did the in place upgrade of Windows XP to Windows Vista Business, using a Dell upgrade Disk. The process was long, but flawless. In about two and a half hours I had upgraded the system, refreshed drivers and was off and running. There were a few scary moments, like when it did not seem to recognize the capabilities of my Dell Precision M65's Graphics Card. The M65 is a workstation class machine, desighned to show off the capabilities of a robust OS like Vista.

One of my clients, who recently aquired a new notebook with Vista Pre-installed, warned me against the upgrade. He told me his notebook was slow using the new OS. I have found nothing but the contrary. The M65 seems MUCH faster than my old XP install, so much so that I am impressed. This probably has to do with the fast Nvidia Quadro FX 350 Graphics card while at the Entry level of the QFX Line, is robust enough to run Vista's graphics engine at a healthy clip. The two gigabytes of system memory is probably the most significan factor of my systems performance.

The other concern I had was about syncronizing my Palm under Vista. Since Palm still does not have a Vista Certified desktop, this was a big concern. I was not able to sync using USB, but using Bluetooth, my sync went fine. And I have to admit, I am pretty content at this point.

Did I mention the fact that I recently upgraded my Treo 680 to use 4GB of SD Memory?

Crossposted to my Business Blog

Some good music being made.... I dont know what it is about this song that just moves me....

And I can promise you, I will be the first in Costa Rica to have one...

Nuff Said...

Why I like my trips so much. Hehe... I get chauffeured around by intelligent and pretty women!

Haha! No, that is Verushka, Marketing Manager for my Contact Center Client in Honduras, and I rode around with her most of the week last week. He front door on the passenger side would not open, so I ended up riding in the backseat. I am sure we got some interesting looks....

Verushka is quite the Marketing whiz and I learned a lot from her during my stay. She also happens to date the owner of one of Tre Fratelli, San Pedro Sula's finest Italian restaurant. The name of the restaurant means "Three Brothers," in Italian. Anyway, good food, decent prices, nice guy.

As you can see by the picture, we had a blast there on Friday night.

The place made my list of must visits while in Honduras...

Contact Centers Central America

My new site for all things Contact Center and Call Center Related in Central America. The site will be the home and hub for our Contact Center Consulting Practice, which is growing regionaly with clients now in Costa Rica, Guatemala and most recently Honduras.

CCCA will be a hub of communications and news about the call center industry, and will offer potential clients more information about The Utopia Group, and Solutions Costa Rica, consulting services.

Our goal is to continue to expand our reach and vision for the Contact Center Industry, outside of Costa Rica, and to be partners in the growth of the contact center and call center industry, throughout the region.

The reputation of the Utopia Group has led to opportunities in many countries in the Central American region, and a growing respect for the quality of our work and extensiveness of our network of contacts.

From founding one of the first Multinational Call Centers in Central America, to developing a reputation as "the call center gurus," in the the region, we take pride in being, "out front," in the Contact Center Market. CCCA is just another example of us taking a proactive approach to developing and growing our market.

In 2007, we will plan and open the first "major," contact center in Honduras, and will help to establish the Honduran Contact Center market. We take pride in our previous trailblazing roles in Costa Rica and Guatemala, and in the many strong business relationships we have forged in those countries. It will be a few days before the site is up and running, in the meantime, join me in welcoming CCCA to the Utopia family of websites.

Crossposted to business blog

Damn, the two hottest females in the music business.

Saw The 300 tonight... This review about says it all...

Brothers and sisters, lend me your eyes so I may share with you the tale of brave Leonidas I, King of Sparta, son of King Anaxandridas II, descendant of Heracles, who led 300 Spartan warriors against the seemingly unending forces of Emperor Xerxes of Persia at The Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.

Xerxes sent forth messengers to all Greek city-states, offering gifts in exchange for their surrender and allegiance. Leonidas did not take the insult kindly, and in a breach of protocol, killed the messengers. In accordance with Spartan law, he sought permission from the keepers of the oracle to go to war. He was denied, which he knew spelt disaster for his people.

Although unable to rally the Spartan army, he skirted the law by gathering 300 warriors for a walk that coincidentally set out towards the mountain pass known as The Hot Gates, which is the only way Xerxes’ army could approach Sparta. While Leonidas is away and the battle rages on, Queen Gorgo works to convince the Spartan Council that the army needs to be discharged.

300 is an adaptation of the graphic novel written and drawn by Frank Miller, with colors by Lynn Varley. Miller was inspired to chronicle this historical event after he saw the film The 300 Spartans as a young boy. From his vision, co-writer/director Zack Snyder has created a magnificent ballet of violence and bloodshed that is truly exquisite to behold. It’s not a glorification, but rather a hyper-realistic representation of a necessary evil that good men are forced to practice to live free. Not since the films of Sam Peckinpah has killing looked so good on the big screen.

Read it all... Better yet, see the movie. I love good heroic epics... Just reminds me what a few motivated people can do...

And it is a way to see a bunch of evil assed Iranians get their ass handed to them, without starting a nuclear war...

I have owed Jay this for a while now...

and it only gets better Jay...

You catch something on the internet that inspires and educates you. This guy is a great speaker, and his story is something I plan to share with my own son... I always thought of Jobs as an arrogant asshole... Perhaps he is one, but this sheds a whole new light on what ELSE he is...

The coolest damned commercial EVER!

The Dixie Chicks, were finally vindicated last night. Right on for them. I can hear the Conservatives crying right now.

We used to have a sexy Barber Shop in San Jose, it closed when someone purchased the building it was in, and converted it to a strip mall... We already have enough strip malls, (one is too many), but not enough "Barber Shops)

This place brings back some memories!

Read on for more (NSFW)

I doubt if the one in this picture offers the "extra services," that the one in Costa Rica did...

I love this song!

Holds up well, doesn't it?

This is a great story, and one Sadie beat me to!

Angelina Jolie and a group of Colombian refugees in San Jose, Costa Rica.

They are not the first stars to visit Costa Rica, and will not be the last, but they will certainly be remembered more than most. I have met some American Celebs here, and most of them, to be honest are assholes. Brad and Angelina are a class act, and their visit will not soon be forgotten...

Just the fact that they chose to come to Costa Rica on Christmas is a cool thing, but it takes a lot of patience to deal with holiday traffic in San Jose this time of year.

Just last week, it took me over an hour to make a trip from my home in Heredia, to the capital, a drive that normally takes tops 20 minutes.

Yesterday there was a major parade in downtown San Jose, and I am sure they had already closed off many of the streets by Christmas day, which I am assuming was the day of their visit. One of the places they visited, is on one of the main streets of the capital, and even under the best conditions, it can be a challenge navigating in and out of there.

No, I did not get a chance to see Angelina and Brad in person. San Jose over the holidays is a nightmare of traffic and blocked streets. I have been spending some quality time at Casa Anderson, but it was all over the local news, Bravo for them. They seem to be a very special couple.

I want to thank them for coming to Costa Rica, and more importantly for being real people about it. We already have enough jerks who come to Costa Rica and perpetuate the image of the "ugly, arrogant American." One high ranking Republican Politician came here a few years ago, before he started his political career, and offended about half of the country, before taking half the hookers in San Jose on a "fishing trip." Angelina and Brad represent the kind of celebrity I can respect and admire... They walk the walk...

There is just something about the lead singer for Evanescence that turns me on...

But hasn't Madonna passed the age where she can get away with these kind of outfits?

I mean those skinny legs and the butt is not exactly buns of steel any more. I thought she was a lot sexier later in the video when she is wearing street clothes?
But hey, you got to give it to Madonna Inc., she is still pumping out the hits....

I mean, after winning this honor, all the others seem so trivial!

You need further convincing that the Web is the new Forum? It is the communal hearth arround which all of us gather. Web 2.0 is not just a catch phrase any more. The sale of You Tube to Google, the Rise of Google itself... The phenomenon of My Space... It's a new world, and indeed a new story:

But look at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.

The tool that makes this possible is the World Wide Web. Not the Web that Tim Berners-Lee hacked together (15 years ago, according to Wikipedia) as a way for scientists to share research. It's not even the overhyped dotcom Web of the late 1990s. The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it's really a revolution.

And we are so ready for it. We're ready to balance our diet of predigested news with raw feeds from Baghdad and Boston and Beijing. You can learn more about how Americans live just by looking at the backgrounds of YouTube videos—those rumpled bedrooms and toy-strewn basement rec rooms—than you could from 1,000 hours of network television.

And we didn't just watch, we also worked. Like crazy. We made Facebook profiles and Second Life avatars and reviewed books at Amazon and recorded podcasts. We blogged about our candidates losing and wrote songs about getting dumped. We camcordered bombing runs and built open-source software.

Some of us are pioneers in this new world... Our friends ragged on us about our blogging, and for our personal web pages... Those same friends now quietly create their own blogs, or sign up for my space.

We have built massive repositories of information, created virtual worlds and communities, sold billions of dollars in merchandise, created candidates and helped win elections. We have faced down major media operations, and raised millions to help victims of natural disasters.

Netcitizenship has become a common ground, bringing citizens of the world closer together.

But it has also spawned some bad...

Terrorist use the internet to communicate and dispense propaganda.

Scammers from Nigeria, other parts of Africa and Europe, farm tens of thousands of emails a day, to send their ridiculous scam emails, and attempt identity theft through phishing attacks.

Hate Groups use the internet to spread their message of hate.

Scammers of every ilk use the internet as their virtual office...

It's not perfect, but perhaps that is why Time is so RIGHT. The Internet IS the new world, it is a place where all of us can participate Rich and Poor, and where access to a connected computer is all it takes to be heard. A friend of mine and fellow blogger, used to run his popular blog from Library computers... He was homeless and did not own a computer, so he logged on at his local library and contributed to the debate. He inspired me... With all the wants and needs a person in his position must have had... Having a voice in the debate was a priority. It is HIS picture that should grace the cover of time, because despite the contributions of hotchick@xxx.com, and her lingerie shows from her bedroom... It is people like my friend who has led this revolution...

So thank you Time Magazine, for acknowledging us. I have taken the liberty of preparing my cover... After all, all of us would not fit!