Congratulations Spain!

As a graduate of a 5-week summer Spanish program in Madrid, and a fairweather soccer fan, I feel a special connection to Spain's victory over Germany for the 2008 Euro title this past weekend. I would like to congratulate the team for winning this thrilling tournament that I watched over my lunch break on numerous occasions. A Spanish victory gave me the opportunity to reminisce about the fateful summer I spent there, drinking until 6 a.m., and attending classes in the afternoon. My cultural and social experiences there really shaped and changed me in ways I could have never imagined. Unfortunately, they still didn't make me a soccer fan. But I am a sports fan, so I can at least say that I was into the Euro Championship...or tried really hard to be. And I at least know how the Spanish people party, so I like to think I know what the celebrations going on right now are like. So once again, congratulations Spain, for your 1-0 victory over Germany, and first Euro title in 44 years! Beba un poco de sangría para mí. (Five weeks of Spanish classes confirms that my babelfish translation of, "Drink some sangria for me," has all of the necessary words. The arrangement of them, however, is not guaranteed.)

Here's what others in the blogosphere are saying:

http://capital-balls.com/news/spain-beats-germany-1-0-to-claim-euro-2008-trophy/

http://vivirlatino.com/2008/06/29/spain-beats-germany-wins-eurocup.php

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/79399,viva-espana-spain-beats-germany-in-final.aspx?r=rss

Shaq ruins three careers at once

Who knew that a drunken freestyle at a New York club could cost you so much? With the age of YouTube and camera phones in full-swing, apparently a lot.

As you probably heard everywhere earlier this week, Shaq performed one of the worst freestyles in the history of rap this past weekend--ruining at least three careers in the process. His "best" lines were, "You know how I be, last week Kobe couldn't do it without me," and "Kobe, tell me how my a** tastes."

Wow. That's what I call classy, and brilliant wordsmithship. Oh wait...no I wouldn't. It's one thing to be drunk at a club and rap horribly. It's an entirely different thing to partake in a cheap shot at a former teammate, and then go on to throw Patrick Ewing, white guys and even Kareem Abdul-Jabaar under the proverbial bus. Damn.

Shaq is, unfortunately, making himself the perfect example of a once dominate athlete falling from grace. He hasn't been the same as a player since his divorce last season, and now he's ruining his public persona as well. And it's cost him a lot more than just his image.

He's not only alienated big names in the NBA (including Commissioner Stern), tainting his image for endorsements, but he's also lost two honorary sheriff's badges. Including special deputy's badges in Maricopa County. Also, he will no longer be used to promote Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, a unit of the department that O'Neal worked with in investigating Internet predators.

Man, that's pretty brutal. Not to mention, even whatever he had left of his rap career was ruined as well. His lyrics were garbage. Plus, everybody in the world or rap knows that one of the fundamental rules of freestyle rap is to not mention the name of a famous dead rapper more than once (Biggie.) Or, maybe I just made that rule up. Either way, it was not good.

Shaq, seriously, man. What happened? How did you fall off so quickly? You can't make a layup, and now you can't even rap coherently? I'm not even talking about being good--just coherent. Anyway, you better dedicate the rest of your summer to finding Bin Laden, and succeed. Otherwise, I don't think your public image will recover for a while. I mean, look at Kobe. A few years ago, he cheated on his wife and was charged with rape and nobody has forgotten about. He never got an endorsement again... Oh, wait...

Silver lining? Yes.

Get ready for a silver lining to your blog reading experience...

Alright, I'm not gonna bust your balls here. This blog is about silver, and how you can invest in it, and it's awesome. I just had to get that out of the way off the bat.

So what am I talking about? I'm talking about MDC, or Monex Deposit Company. They are a place of wonder. You can use them, and their services, to buy silver and other precious metals. And you can have these precious metals delivered to your house, personally. You can also conveniently store t hem in safe storage or an independent bank. Radical!

So silver is available in two form. There is coin. There is ingot. There is no more. Those are your options. Got it? If you want to invest in one of these forms, you should. Ingots are generally silver ingots of pure bullion cast in a convenient size and shape. Coins have a currency value or they can also be defined as ingots.

And right now, this time period we are in, folks, is the best, if not ever, for investing in silver bullion. You should do it. I'm strongly thinking about that ish. I mean, the world demand exceeds annual production! And it's been this way since 1990...every year! I can't believe that, man. Can you?

Silver bullion is low too, dog. Above ground stockpiles of it are getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller. They need viagra, man. They are approaching zero. That's not stimulating. Also, Monex Precious Metals (MPM) is home to a staff that is so large, and so dedicated, that they decided to commit to you and help out with your precious metal investment needs. They are America's best dealer, with convenient market and competitive precious metals prices, yo! You should do this now.

Man, are you serious about Pamela?

Rumor has it, Pamela Anderson is not who you think. She is a Canadian, and they are crazy. Did you know that? You didn't? Aw, man. Well, let's look at why this is a problem:

1. Canadians started a war in the South Park movie. And it was against America. Bad.

2. Canadians invented hockey, and now the sport is annoying to watch on TV. Bad.

3. Canadians have moose all over the place. Bad.

4. Canadians are friendly. It's so not hard core. Bad.

5. Canadians appeared in the Michael Moore film, "Sicko." Bad.

6. Canadians are from Canada, which is north of the USA, and cold, and has solstices or some shit. Bad.

Are you still wondering why Pamela Anderson being Canadian is bad? Wise up and grow up, buddy.

Top 10 Things Not to Do as a Temp

As a temp, you should always remember that you are representing yourself, as well as the temp agency. You want to make a good first impression, and you need to realize that no matter how "normal" you are, regular full-time employees may still be looking at you as the "random temp." So you don't want to draw any negative attention to yourself and prove them right.

This is common sense for most people. Most likely, if you are continually getting temp work, you are well aware of how to act in a professional workplace...but there is always that small percentage. After all, the word "clueless" is a word for a reason.

Top Ten Things NOT to Do as a Temp:

10. Walk in the morning of your first day and give everybody in the office a flier for a big night club event you are promoting in Hollywood, and try to sell them hard on bottle service.

9. See if any of your temporary co-workers are interested in becoming their own boss by selling Amway.

8. Wear frayed jean shorts.

7. Make a lot of mistakes and joke after each one, "What are you going to do, fire me?"

6. Walk in the morning of your first day and give everybody in the office a flier for your hybrid, folk/hip-hop band's performance at Hotel Cafe next month.

5. Tell somebody you are only doing this job because you heard "the co-eds at this office were easy."

4. Talk about the latest episode of "To Catch a Predator," and sympathize with the predators.

3. Jokingly ask for a raise...about 10 times a day.

2. Talk about how useless education is, and how pyramid schemes are the way to go these days if you want to build real wealth.

1. Work a temp job on your birthday, bring in your own cake, and send out a mass email to the company, announcing, "There's a birthday party for Temp John Doe in the conference room at 4:00."