Incommunicado no more

Against all the odds, I now have a new cell phone number. It's 202-294-9901. Against all reasonable expectations, I don't have the handset. UPS are incompetent. But I should have it by Friday. Which means this number will be useful for approximately 3 of my waking hours before I go back to Canada. Sweet.

The Doha round in HK

Spiteful quibbling is perhaps the best way to describe the mood that currently pervades the Doha trade talks taking place in Hong Kong. As anti-globalization protestors engage in their usual marches, colourful displays and comical caricatures, their unbridled hatred for anything that even resembles "WTO" blinds them to what is actually happening. The pro-globalization western powers are not exactly a solid negotiating block proponing one constant policy of trade liberalization - in fact, far from it. America continues to push for a narrow focus on agricultural trade reform (which, though politically convenient, is actually the right idea) while the EU refuses to engage unless it can somehow detract attention from its voluminous butter mountains and wine lakes. Progress, it seems, is too difficult to fit into a busy agenda of banter.

All the while developing nations grow increasingly frustrated as the talks show less and less promise of the reform that they desperately want, and need. Can anything be done? Storming out of the talks in a temper tantrum, as Benin has threatened to do over cotton, hardly seems a fitting solution. Or is it? Developing nations are failing to recognize that trade reform is not subject to the whims of the world's largest and wealthiest economies; yes, obviously were the US and EU to reform their trade restrictions with developing nations a great deal could be accomplished. But recent studies, notably by the World Bank, have shown that most of the opportunity for increased economic growth through trade reform lies in "South-South" trading relationships - i.e. in eliminating the restrictions that developing countries have instituted between themselves. If the US and EU are going to misbehave and argue with each other rather than push for real reform, why not let them do so? Developing nations should engage in trade reform with each other regardless, while the US and EU are left twiddling their thumbs.

A grey hair

Out, damned hair! out, I say!-- One; two; why, then 'tistime to do't;--Hell is murky!--Fie, my lord, fie! an investment analyst, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can callour power to account?--Yet who would have thought the young man to have had so much greyness in him?

I pulled one out today. For about a year friends have made the outrageous claim that they have spotted the odd gray hair on my head. I thought they were joking. This is not cool.

Fancy parties and revelry

It was a long week, and last night I went out for a much-needed drink with the other analysts (well, admittedly, more than one.) We initially went out to a bar near the Bank, but decided to check out a party at the main Bank building that was being held for the Infrastructure group (of which, apparently, I am a part) - I was planning on going to this thing anyway just to see what it was like, but thought it had been cancelled due to greatly exaggerated threats of snow. In any case, it was well worth it. I definitely felt out of my element - there was undoubtedly too much class for the likes of me - but it was incredible anyway. Open bar with fantastic drinks, amazing food, dance floors, diplomatic shmoozing etc. Of course, an open bar and I go a little too well together, but I made it home ok by the end of the night. I have quite a few of these things to look forward to however; apparently, this is a good time of the year to be in DC. I'm probably going to the Irish and Canadian embassy parties (I'll let you know which one is better - Guinness or Canadian beer? Tough call.) There are also at least two more Bank parties I'll feel obliged to attend. At least I get some use out of my suits.

Board Approval

So, yes, I "met" Wolfowitz on Thursday. What really happened was that I sat in the Board of Directors' conference room at the World Bank and listened to the President and the various country Executive Directors debate a project on Iraq before my team had its chance to present our Grameen project. Overall, it went as smoothly as possible - it's a little difficult to criticize a project that is directly alleviating poverty in one of the world's most impoverished nations, with a company that has a proven track record of success to boot.

Although my more experienced colleagues at the Bank think I am amusing and a little naive for it, I was very excited about the opportunity and was grinning from ear to ear for the entire afternoon. It really was like a plenary session of the UN, with various country representatives interjecting on the pros and cons of the project up for debate, and Wolfowitz supervising the entire process. There were about 20 or 30 executive directors, with some (US, China, France, Japan, UK, Russia etc.) representing one country and others representing groups who contribute less to the Bank's funds. Interestingly enough (at least from a personal point of view), Canada and Ireland are represented by the same delegate. Coincidence? I think not. Of course, most of the information I was privy to at the meeting is confidential, but suffice to say that it was an interesting experience, and we were successful in obtaining approval for our project.

Afterwards to celebrate, Taylor and I went to see Aeon Flux (which we both agreed was a "pretty" movie if somewhat lacking in plot and character development) and then grabbed shisha at the Prince Palace in Georgetown. Apple flavour, in my humble opinion, schools all others.

This has been a good week for another reason - I finally found another apartment, and will be moving in for the New Year. It's still in Georgetown but even closer to my work and very centrally located. This time my room will have space for an actual bed and perhaps even room to move around in and breathe. I'm excited.

Lebanese Blonde

Because I'm listening to the Ministry of Sound Chillout Session right now. This CD makes me very contemplative, and to be honest, screws with my thoughts a little. It might be the music, or it might be RYP's "Dangerous Places", which I have been reading as a source of inspiration for my inevitable vagabonding through the 'Stans. Either way, the bizarre combination of the two this evening coupled with the fact that I read through Russell's Aristotle today has put me in a very strange place. What to say?

I don't like Aristotle anymore. Sorry Matt, you were right. I really am a Platonist at heart - thank you for knowing me better (in some ways) than I know myself. His ethical system disturbs me, particularly with regard to the fulfillment of potentiality being the only moral yardstick with which to measure man. I mean, I consider myself a stoic in many ways, and I cannot accept that as the basis for constructing a moral code.

I like chipotle burritos. And they enjoy satisfying my appetite since it is their final cause. But what happens when they give me indigestion, Aristotle?

Killer Squirrels

No joke. I just had to post this up here because it is so ridiculous, and reminds me a bit of three brain college humour (at least some will know what I'm talking about.)

World AIDS Day - a personal impact

As my blog is supposed to be at least somewhat development-focused, World AIDS Day of course deserves a mention here. Dealing with HIV infection and trying to limit its spread (especially in developing countries) is becoming increasingly important in development initiatives, and the true societal and personal cost of the disease is becoming increasingly apparent, and frightening. And despite the wide-ranging consequences of the disease, I think it is the very personal and close-to-home aspect of it that needs to be stressed in the fight against it. Dehumanizing the ravages of the disease by experiencing it only through news reports concerning a distant continent and people of an alien culture makes it very difficult to convince the public and the leaders of developing nations that this is an urgent threat that needs to be addressed before it reaches epidemic proportions (which some believe it already has.) The threat sometimes simply doesn't feel 'real' enough.

I watched a South African movie today at an event sponsored by the IFC about the hardships facing one African woman who is diagnosed with the virus - Yesterday. The film was touching in a number of ways, but what struck me most was what happened afterwards - the woman in charge of the showing was on the verge of tears when she thanked us for coming. I felt heartless when I witnessed her emotional response to the film, but it at least emphasized for me that what appeared to be happening in a fictional story set in a distant locale had very real-world parallels with the challenges posed by AIDS today. It is this understanding, and the accompanying emotional involvement, that will spur people into action against the spread of HIV.

Taking a risk

I did something that feels kind of risky today. My financial situation isn't exactly the most impressive around, having just graduated etc., but one good piece of recent news is that I have paid off all my student loans. (Yay!) Then, after paying them all off, I leveraged myself again with a big (amount undisclosed) loan and put it all on a speculative stock that I have been watching for a while in the Canadian oil patch. Is this crazy? I don't know. But it feels like it. On the other hand, there is no better time to risk everything than when you are young - the potential upside is huge, and often losing everything isn't all that bad as you have so little to lose in the first place. But why not be an optimist? Let's pretend I'm going to make a fortune and never have to work another day in my life.

Canada's Shame

Bono has it right: Paul Martin has let us down (again.) Canada has had a long history of contributing to international cooperation and multilateral development efforts, and the average Canadian wants it to stay that way. Unfortunately, our hundred-millionaire prime minister isn't the average Canadian, and believes that abusing or embezzling funds is a better use of taxpayer money than contributing to development aid. There is some good news though: we have an election coming up.

However, despite the apparent success of democracy in this instance (government misbehaves, fails to reflect voter wishes; no-confidence motion forces the government to resign for a new election), the eventual outcome, sadly, is unlikely to result in significant differences from the status quo of Canadian politics. We have already learned this lesson: the Chretien government was accused of widespread abuse and mismanagement of public funds, yet the liberals were still able to lead a government after the next election, with one of Chretien's (ex) cronies in power to boot. What gives?

Unfortunately, I still believe there is no viable alternative to the liberals in Canada. I mean, Canadians ARE liberal. So even though we may have some cowboys and hippies in the West who will vote right/left of the Liberal institution, most Canadians don't want bible bashers or pseudo-communists in power. Understandably; dangerously un-Canadian non-moderate (and potentially impolite) ideologies are not even the biggest barriers to these other parties forming a government; they only represent one part of the country, and are likely to remain only regional forces for a long time.

I predict that despite the slap-in-the-face corruption that plagues Paul Martin and his liberal friends, the upcoming Christmas season election campaign will culminate in another government headed by the liberals - and headed again by Paul Martin. Unbelievable.

GrameenPhone in the News

Great to see that this project I am working on is still getting press coverage. And rightly so, I feel. The development impact of the Village Phone Program (GrameenPhone's rural telephony expansion project) is enormous, providing not only connectivity services to people who would otherwise be unable to afford them, but also empowering women whilst providing them with a livelihood, and establishing the communications infrastructure necessary to allow other businesses (including even basic agriculure) to thrive. Why the hell did this miss the limelight at WSIS?

Rehashing old times

Last night I was out at Nanny's Irish pub with one of my new friends in DC. The similarities between us are mind-boggling. We are both Irish-Canadian, both grew up as expatriates, with fathers who both work in the oil and gas industry. We both went/go to university in the States, both took business undergrad, want to work in similar fields in the future, both were evacuated from crisis zones when we were younger etc...The list goes on. Everytime we meet up we find we share more and more of the same opinions, beliefs, worldviews. It's a bit Irish, as you would say.

Anyway, both of us are fond of traditional music, and Nanny's has a great session every Monday night, which we are making an effort to go to and potentially play at. On Monday however, as you do, we got a little carried away with the pints and ended up just talking for ages. And, of course, we starting reminiscing about experiences from our pasts abroad. I started telling him about Sambolo beach, the Sunda straight, and my sailing/trekking adventures in the area.

My family used to have a timeshare on Sambolo Beach, which is on the west side of Java and faces Sumatra over the waters of the Sunda Straight. In the middle of the straight is the infamous Krakatoa, which exploded in 1883 with the aftermath felt around the world. The explosion was so powerful that the Island was split into 3, and the middle completely blown away. However, the volcano is still active, and over the last ten years a new volcano (named "Anak Krakatoa" or "Son of Krakatoa") has broken the surface in between the remnants of the original island - its glowing cinder cone now constantly spews lava, and the volcano has minor eruptions a couple of times a day. When my family were at the beach, we used to sit around and play in the sand, always keeping a wary eye on the volcano, which was clearly visible on the horizon. Once we saw a plume of smoke coming from the top of it, we would run into the water with excitement, waiting for the big waves that we knew would always follow an eruption. The surfers liked it too. At night time, we would watch the glowing red of the summit as we sat around our bonfires.

I once went to Ujung Kulon National Park, reputedly the last habitat of the Javan rhinoceros, of which there are probably only 2 or 3, if any, in existence. Shortly before I went, they had recently found a footprint that everyone was excited about. Unfortunately, I never got to see a rhinoceros myself, and the footprint really wasn't all that impressive. My time in the park is another story. However, to get to the park, one has to hire these little bang-bang boats that are powered by lawnmower motors and dodgy men with oars. There are no roads. On my trip in one of these little boats, we sailed through the islands of the original Krakatoa and around the side of the new volcano, jumping out for a little dip in the lava-warmed waters. The shore was a smoking, steaming mass of cooling rock, into which new streams of lava were constantly flowing, and causing the surrounding waters of the ocean to bubble angrily once they met.

After I finished telling Rob about this, I stared into the foam at the top of my pint as I swirled it around in the glass. Did that really happen? It sounds ridiculous, even to my own ears. And I tell people stories like this all the time - every weekend was such an adventure for me when I lived in Indonesia. I mean, an island that was ripped into pieces by an enormous explosion, in the middle of which a new volcano is growing - and sailing right through the centre?

The next morning, Rob sent me this picture from Google Earth.

I am a lunatic

Who else would pay $1000 so they could put themselves through 6 months of grueling finance work and then sit an exam in June in which fewer than half of all participants pass? I guess I would - did. Although it cost me $1000 to sign up for the CFA, I'm hoping it will be a worthwhile investment. Still hurts the wallet though. Fortunately, the Bank has sibsidized me in a way - I get a free training course sponsored by the World Bank Treasury, which begins in January, and they also pay for my books. But what the hell was Wharton for?

As you may (or may not) know, the World Bank rarely hires people straight out of undergrad - even at the lowest levels almost everyone has a masters. So in many ways, I am relatively uneducated and inexperienced for the position I hold (the youngest analyst in my department aside from me is 25!) Additionally, though Wharton gives its students a fairly good grounding in finance, it just can't compare to I-banking experience, which a lot of my colleagues possess. Thus, my inferiority complex. I do believe this will help however. Additionally (although I am still not quite sure when exactly, sometime in the New Year I presume) I will be participating in a 6-week Credit Training course. I guess after that, I really better know what I'm doing around here :P

US retains control of the internet

Great. Now that world leaders have decided on this non-issue, maybe WSIS can actually produce something useful.

Agricultural Trade Reform and Doha

One of the advantages of working at the Bank is that I get access to a crazy number of educational seminars, conferences, lectures...It could really be like university again save for the fact that I don't have the time to go to all of them because, well, I'm working. But I am going to make a concerted effort in the future to do so, and went to one during lunch today with another analyst working here - she's on the research and policy side of things, and so has a much better understanding of what is actually going on in this realm. This was actually a book launch for "Agricultural Trade Reform and the Doha Development Agenda".

The Doha round of trade negotiations offers an unprecedented opportunity to reform global trade restrictions and liberalize the world economy. Not everyone agrees with this, particularly the World Bank's critics, but the Bank does not take stances on issues like this lightly, and supports major policy decisions in topics such as these with extensive and well-developed research. The presenters of the lecture I was at today stipulated that there is a potential US$300 billion benefit to be derived from trade reform in global agriculture. This is nothing new, and in fact is lower than previous predictions made by the Bank as over recent years some international trade barriers have, in fact, come down. What was more interesting about the hypothesis presented was that this could be accomplished with little or no investment.

In the previous (Uruguay) round of trade talks, economists formulated 3 "pillars" on which agricultural trade liberalization should be based: i) export subsidies, ii) domestic support of agriculture, and iii) import market access. Although it had been previously believed that all three were equally important to trade reform, recent research has shown that import market access is by far the most important - i.e. not taxing what's coming in. This is relatively easy to adjust, and simply requires that legislation be passed by countries agreeing to do so.

Interestingly, however, although there have already been promises of significant tariff cuts by many of the different negotiating blocs, what looks like a large cut (say, the EU's proposal of 60% or the G20 proposal of 70%), none of these really make the grade. The reason for this is that most countries are not yet abusing tariffs to the maximum limits possible, and so were tariff limitations cut by even up to these amounts, there would be little or no change in the amount actually charged on imports. Only the US proposal of a 90% tariff cut would actually have any significant effect.

One of the other interesting conclusions of this recent research is that, contrary to popular belief, developing countries would benefit disproportionately from import tariff cuts. With the full liberalization of the world economy vis-a-vis imports, it is estimated that developing countries could receive as much as US$86 billion extra in annual revenue. Even if only developing countries themselves eliminate tariffs, and developed countries keep theirs in place, it would still lead to additional annual income amounting to US$23 billion. Even more surprising is that while developing countries receive the proportionately greater part of this benefit, sub-saharan Africa is the greatest beneficiary. This demonstrates that, in fact, trade between developing countries, rather than trade between the 1st and 3rd worlds, is where the most opportunity for gain from free trade lies - at least for the Earth's poor.

One sticking point is the goods on which tariffs are liberalized. Some are sensitive for certain countries who may have a particular political agenda - "sensitive goods". Sugar is protected globally, but is only the second most important agricultural good to liberalize. The first is rice, and this is protected largely by Japan and Korea. Were only these two countries to eliminate their import tariffs on this good, it would have a resounding effect on income for the world's poorest countries.

In sum, Doha remains an exciting opportunity for improving the lot of the poor, but there are four important points to remember regarding the talks: i) the WTO controls tariff cuts, and so it is in this forum that negotiations must take place; ii) the cuts decided upon at the Doha round will need to break boundary tariffs, and not just the tariffs limitations that appear to be currently in place; iii) large gains could be lost because of stubbornness over sensitive products; iv) and developing countries stand to gain the most, assuming they are willing to participate fully. This last point, obviously, could be the largest obstacle.

WSIS

I realised that in my previous post I forgot to mention WSIS, the World Summit on the Information Society. This conference is being held in Tunis, and is supposed to be a forum to help technology and development institutions to use technology as a driver for economic growth in third world countries, at a grassroots level that sees even the poorest income segments of LDAs benefit directly. Of course, the Global Information and Communications Technology department, the group I work for at the Bank, is going to have an important presence and is making several presentations. Unfortunately, as this BBC article describes, the event is being overshadowed by a row between developed countries over control and policing of the Internet. For this reason, the World Bank has sent representatives on a mission more akin to observation rather than policy discussion and resolution - who would they side with? This is a shame for 2 reasons: i) this conference could have had the potential to spearhead significant development initiatives in technology, and ii) it is my opinion that attempting to control the internet is a futile exercise in any case. Anyway, what would Europe do differently to the US? Not much, considering that the EU has said nothing of its intended policy shift should it gain control. So developed countries selfishly battle over a non-issue while poor people await the benefits of the technology revolution in vain. When will we learn?

By the way, my department's website at the Bank is here. There is a link describing World Bank activities at the conference. And if you want to see something almost as cool as me getting my first business card, check this out. You might have to scroll down a bit, and my picture is a bit distorted, but I think you can recognise me :)

Bank stuff

This is a mixed-topic post, as a few interesting things have been happening, and which probably deserve to be written down, mostly work-related. I love this job. As with anything, it can be hard to remember the importance and, well, for lack of a better word, 'awesomeness' of what you do when you start focusing on the details and lose sight of the big picture. Between drafting loan terms, reviewing legal documents and calculating cash flows, I think I can forget that I am helping to give poor people in villages in Bangladesh cell phones so that they can make better lives for themselves. One of my colleagues woke me up to this yesterday when he spoke of his career at the IFC, and of how this job gave you the opportunity to do a lot more than you would anywhere else; it's part financial analyst, but also part negotiator, diplomat, lawyer, economist, and maybe even aid worker (if you're an idealist like me).

This is becoming increasingly evident as I approach a big event - I am never sure how much I can say, because so much of the information I deal with is confidential - but I am sure I can tell you that I am getting ready for a board meeting with the executive directors of the World Bank and President Wolfowitz. I am looking forward to meeting him, although unfortunately I doubt he will be available for photo opportunities. It is reputed (by Bank veterans older and wiser than I) that the Board meeting resembles a committee meeting of the UN, with representatives not only at the Bank level, but from international institutions and governments related to the project. A little intimidating, to be honest.

On Monday, I attended training on "Policy and Performance Standards", which is bureaucratese for PR. As everyone knows, the Bank is constantly in the public eye, with some NGOs specifically set up to keep tabs on us and raise an uproar when we make a mistake. Hell, there are Ethiopians protesting at the entrance of my building today, trying to pressure us and the US government into taking stronger economic action against the warlord factions in their home country. When you are trying to finance deals in complex political, environmental and social situations, and you know that the investment you are making is ultimately going to help people and improve lives, sometimes this stuff about having to determine the cultural value of a historic monument that could potentially be damaged by pollutants produced by a new factory seems a bit ridiculous and convoluted. But the public are so critical of this institution that we have little choice but to perform analysis in that regard that does, in fact, sometimes verge on the ridiculous. And that stops us from finalizing financing for projects that will help to develop third world countries.

Over

Anglelica and I broke up. It hurts.

Ink on paper

Writing is so visceral. Running your hand across the pages written from a loved one, or a friend, you can feel the pressure of the pen in their hands as they scribble their words in an act that immortalizes the message. From a stranger, or an enemy, there is more mystery, a greater depth of possible meaning or intent to decipher. It takes effort. I used to believe that for art to be any good, it had to require, no - demand, something from the artist. If the art wasn't worth the pain that had to go into it, then it wasn't worth anything. I think I still believe the same, though I am less sure. Is writing the same? Not writing in the creation of literature - obviously there is a connection. But what about that which is written solely for sake of communication? Or is there such a thing? Why else would Paul's epistles be read by millions of eyes unintended, or the letters of Voltaire to mistresses and comrades be published in volumes? The electronic age is a wonder and a curse. Emails are immeasurably valuable, and worthless. The ghost and the shell seem less a part of one another.

Life about to improve

Seriously. My apartment sucks, and that IS taking it with a dose of sugar. I thought I would be busy enough with work and adjusting to a new city (yes, stupid, I know) but that apparently is not the case. So I need a new place. Fortunately, I am only obliged to stay where I am until the end of December, which is amazingly not that far away anymore, so I have begun the search and have already turned up some promising opportunities. The best one so far has the most unbelievable location in DC and costs less than my current place...and it comes with people I can hang out with. They are pretty selective about who they will "let in", however (and so they should be), so there are mutliple rounds of making myself seem like a tolerable roomate that I will have to go through. Can he do it? Check here for future episodes of "Trapped in Hell".

That's looking forward to the future, but now I want to reminisce over good times in the past, and last weekend definitely deserves it. I left Friday night with some ex-frat bros who live in DC, and we went back to Philly for homecoming. That would have been a blast in any case, but Whan also came down from Syracuse and Reid, incredibly, flew back from Hawaii. I guess Island Fever was finally starting to get to him. Anyway, those of you who know me do not need me to fill in the blanks...the debauchery continued from the moment I got out of the car to hazy Sunday morning and my hitched ride back to Philly. Penn lost to Princeton, but no one I was with really cared. Nils' apartment is definitely in worse shape than it was when we arrived (sorry, dude) and I probably owe him and Bobys some 40s of the silver bullet. Especially if I am going to convince them to delete and burn all of the compromising photographs. Ah, it was fun. In brief moments of sobriety, however, I was also reminded of who wasn't there: Angelica most of all, Mehal, and other friends too numerous to name. I miss all of you a great deal, and look forward to seeing you down the road.

Intellectually, I have embarked on a voyage I have been waiting a long time to begin. My knowledge of philosophy has always been cursory at best, and I have been incessantly aware of the importance of expanding my understanding of the field, and in doing so taking one step closer to an ultimate understanding of life. I thought a good place to start with this would be reading Bertrand Russell's 'History of Western Philosophy', while at the same time reading a history of political philosophy in French that I used back in the day at Sciences-Po. Reading passages in English from similar periods before attempting the French could not hurt. However, I had not, until yesterday, worked up the will to take it off my bookshelf and start reading page 1. Then, I met Peiro from Zendik Arts. He was standing on the side of the street in Georgetown as I was walking home, desperately trying to attract the interest of passers-by and succeeding in scaring most of the Washington elite away. I, however (and of course) stopped. We discussed man's place in the world, the disturbing affect of modernity and post-modernity on human will (if there is such a thing) and existence of God. If you hit up that Zendik link you'll find out exactly where he was coming from. I found it enlightening and refreshing. He was trying to sell various art products for whatever price the buyer thought they were worth, and he reacted to me as though I was the first person to stop all night. He sold me a book written in what looks like a Joycean prose by the founder of the Zendik movement for half its price (or so I was led to believe) because he appreciated our conversation, and when I got home, I resolved to read it, after Russell's History.

Should be an adventure.

The way it goes

Well, it's Friday night, and for many the start of the weekend has lifted hearts across the country. For me, ten minutes' respite to grab some Thai takeout and type this in my office will have to do. The work left to me is not terribly exciting, and if you knew what i was doing, you would probably question its relevance towards alleviating global poverty and saving the world. Well, I'd like to think it's contributing something in that direction at least...otherwise this is not a very motivational way to spend a Friday night. A pig dumb? Let's hope not, Cicero. Little worthy of report has happened since I last posted - I am still waiting for my first set of pipes to practise with, the wheels of bureaucracy continue to churn at the Bank.

Although, I almost forgot my awesome weekend with Whan. Syracuse is...lame. Meeting up with one of your best mates from college definitely is not, and we had a blast. I don't even want to think about how many brain cells I may have damaged, but suffice to say that it is probably time I took a break and gave my body a chance to recover. I think the point of no return was reached when we cracked open two 1.5 litre anniversary-edition bottles of Heineken. Ah, beer.

Some people never learn

Like me. Especially when an open bar is involved. But what can you do? If anything, it's better that I'm having a few too-late nights as I get to meet more people and see more of DC - the analyst crowd at IFC and our counterparts at the bank are amazing people, full of drive, extremely intelligent, and with interesting life stories to share. Time really is starting to fly by - I feel like this week has just begun, but it almost coming to an end. For the long-term habits are going to have to change though...I need to find the time to seriously dedicate myself to learning the pipes (once I get a set, hopefully by the end of October) as it is going to be an extremely difficult instrument to tackle.

My first month of adjustment in DC has also been bizarre in that I have not been in contact with the people I care about as much as I want, or need, to be. My Angel and I haven't spoken to each other for close to three weeks now, but at least we can stay in touch over email. I miss her a great deal. All the guys from college of course...I was just looking at Mehal's blog and I am convinced that I've got to go out and see him - he is hiking the Rockies every weekend while I am stuck in DC! Ah well...I'm sure I'll be able to stop by and see him on the way to Hawaii to see Reid...there are some advantages to your friends moving all over the place after college, you know. I don't know what Matt is up to these days, Pedro is working for Google, but we have missed each other by days going through Calgary over the last year or so. And of course, my family. My sister is the person I need to speak with the most now, as she galibants around Europe and then is off to Kenya for 3 months...jealous? Me? Never. Might get the chance to see Whan this weekend if US Airlines lower the level of ridiculousness on the prices they are charging.

Since I came to DC, I have spent more weekends outside of the city than I have in it...weird eh?

It's just pipes

Apparently, people actually were reading this - thank you, by the way - and so I have been remiss in failing to post for the last month. Well, it has, indeed, been busy. In case anyone in the ether is wondering how I am, I am ok. The move to DC was successful, although to be honest, I still feel like it is my first weekend, because of how busy I have been. This is definitely a good thing, as I was worried initially that I would have exactly the opposite problem. Let me explain.

College ending is undoubtedly a "suck's ass" phenomenon, and apparently not just for me, but for everyone (yes, every single one) of my graduating class. At least we can sympathize with each other. The most frightening and painful part of college ending is the fact that you are very much alone - relatively speaking at least. College is this incredible network of interesting, profoundly intelligent and party-capable people, and you are all stuck in the same place with nothing to to but learn and drink beer. I mean, c'mon. So upon my move to DC, the most pressing issue for me was ensuring I had at least soem measure of a social life.

Well, that was second to making sure I did well at my job. Which I have, so far, for the first three weeks. The work is amazing, I am getting insane amounts of exposure to both i) advanced financial theory-in-practice and ii) international development. Keep your fingers crossed for me out there, but I am hoping that a trip to Thailand and Mexico will soon be in the works. Other than that, I have been putting in a lot of hours, but that was to be expected, and I definitely feel as though I am getting more out of it than I am putting in. My colleagues are great too, and have not only helped me settle into my job, but have also aided me in reconstructing a social life - from which I digressed a paragraph ago - my apologies.

So, my "mentor" was a german called Christoph, who is now in India, and most of whose projects I have taken over. Now, an analyst called Vera is helping me out. Both of them, are cool, and together with the other analysts I have already been to a few nights out, both at bars and house parties, so it really has been a smooth transition. Thursday was the most recent session, at a hookah bar, which was great.

Aside from that, I have aggressively broken into the Irish scene here. It's fantastic. At least once a week I am going to a session at a place called Nanny O'Brien's which gives me a chance to play some fiddle socially and, of course, to drink some Guinness. I am also very excited about starting a new instrument, and one I have been looking to begin for a long time - the Uilleann Pipes. Just this weekend, I was at a Tionol (gathering) where I got to try out a bunch, play some fiddle music, and, again, drink Guinness. To make a long story short, I am hoping to start lessons within the next month with a piper extraordinaire from DC (Mark Hillmann). This instrument is a beast, so I am no doubt going to have my hands full while impressing my neighbours with what will sound like the cries of a castrated animal.

What else have I been doing for kicks - well, I am lucky enough that Philadelphia is nearby, so I was down there two weeks ago and had a place, old-school. Also, hoping to fly up and visit Whan in Syracuse over the next couple of weeks, which will be good times, obviously. Hockey season is going to be starting soon (thank God), and so I need to start hunting down a pub that shows Flames games.

So all in all, things are going well. Miss all you guys, btu vists will be frequent and happy. Honestly, I am now hungry and tired, so need to go to Safeway and get some dinner/coffee. Ah, the working life. And I promise I will be better about posting on this thing.

Action, not words

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the UN: I want to work for that organization one day, and I truly believe that it has the potential to lead the world into a peaceful and universally prosperous future. So it pains me to witness the recent crises that the UN has suffered through, particularly with regards to its leadership in Kofi Annan, a man I greatly respect. However, issues such as the preparation of this new reform document are starting to frustrate me, and are yet another blow, I believe, to the UN's integrity.

Ultimately, I think the measure of an institution's effectiveness and relevancy has to be in its actions; does it actually change the world around it for the better? Unfortunately, the UN has become a massive, static bureaucracy that now has its largest and most important body struggling to prepare a document that will outline possible changes to the organization itself so that it might be more effective in the future. I understand the sad irony; because of the UN's structure and practices, this reform process is a necessary use of the UN's resources so that its resources can be used more appropriately. That realization does not make it any less frustrating.

Examples of organizations I consider effective are NATO (cf. Kosovo intervention) and OPEC (cf. oil incomes of member countries). These bodies act; they care less about what is actually written down, and care more about what is actually going on. I can only hope that the reforms under consideration will give the UN a new focus on action and, by throwing off the red-tape bindings of bureaucracy, help save our forests as well.

Set to go

Almost unbelievably, everything seems to be finalized for my return to the US and for starting my new job at the Bank. Today I sent off my final, contractual acceptance of the position I am taking, and I also spent 3 joyous hours sitting at the US consulate in Calgary as they issued my G-4 visa. At least I now have a pretty picture in my passport that I can flash at border guards. This final week is plodding along slowly, yet I still find it hard to grasp that I've only 2 days of work left after today. Endings and beginnings...

In other noteworthy news, I have joined the iPod club - I caved in yesterday and spoiled myself with some of my summer savings. The frugal Irish catholic in me feels horrible, but the yuppie "young professional" I am slowly becoming loves it. And doesn't feel so bad as everyone else has one as well. I really did splurge yesterday though - at the same store I bought myself a digital camera so that I can finally start documenting my life in pictures, displayed on the internet for all to see. Or, at least, shared discretely among friends. I'm hoping my first photography venture will be some gorgeous rocky mountain panoramas that I'll take if I can go scrambling this weekend (fingers crossed). I'd like to get as much of a dose of the Rockies as possible before I have to leave them.

Last week (get the ambiguity?)

And so the end is nigh. Or pretty much. I am very close to being finished with my summer contract at Nexen/OPTI, and than have a week off to look forward to before I head down to the US and become a World Banker. Pretty exciting, although it feels somewhat anti-climactic to be combining a new beginning with a tapered-out ending - I suppose that is the way of things in any case.

The trip up to the oil sands on Friday was amazing - we flew in a tiny corporate jet (smallest plane I have ever flown in - capacity 20), had gourmet meals and fantastic coffee the entire way, and then got to spend the day touring the Long Lake facilities. It was immensely satisfying to actually see the physical results of the project I have been contributing to for 4 months. One thing, however; I was able to reaffirm my conviction that I would never be able to stand living in Fort MacMurray. It is so incredibly far away from everything else that it frightens me. It is in the middle of thousands of kilometres of muskeg (basically, swamp-marsh-nastiness), and it has the worst insect infestation I have ever seen in my life. We had been standing outside of the airport for 5 minutes before the cloud of mosquitoes enveloping our group became so dense that we had trouble seeing each other, let alone breathing without the undesired protein snack.

Anyway, who am I to complain? It was a fantastic day. The rest of the weekend was pretty chill; I got a couple of suits on a great deal, spent half a thousand dollars on contacts for next year on a not-so-great deal, and went to Wildwood pub with Eoin last night for some brotherly bonding. I'm going to have to make sure I pay my dues at that place before I leave and subject myself to the horrors of American "beer".

Presentation today

Just taking a quick moment to mention that I am making a presentation on my work for the summer today - it's going to be in front of the head people in my division, and over at the Nexen building. I am not the only person presenting, as all of the other summer students will be doing similar things as well - that, at least, is somewhat comforting. What is not so encouraging is that Kevin (the other summer student working on the finance team with me) and I were only given 2 days' notice to prepare ourselves, while the summer students working at HQ have apparently had 3 weeks.

Despite that, I am sure everything will go swimmingly. I am going out for a lunch beforehand with Kevin; we are going to grab sushi at a hip (but somewhat expensive) sushi joint called Zen 8. Then I pretty much have the day off tomorrow, as Nexen will be flying me and the rest of the summer students up to the Long Lake site (in far northern Alberta) for a tour of the oil sands project we have been working on for 4 months. It should be enlightening.

A delayed birthday celebration

I definitely do not feel a year older, but I turned 22 on Wednesday last week while I was at Pennsic with Angelica. I had a wonderful time the night before, going around the camps with some new friends from Silver Phoenix Estmar, and the following day, my actual birthday, happened to be feast night, so I really did have a big party. Fortunately, they never made me follow through on a vague threat: "You've got to jump over the fire, it's tradition!"

Now that I am back home with my family, they are taking me out for dinner to night for a delayed celebration. I don't know how enthusiastic I actually am about turning 22, but I am not going to rant negatively about that here. I just felt I should at least write something to recognize that yes, my birthday did happen last week, and no, I did not forget my own birthday altogether.

I did not really have the chance to celebrate it with any of my peers apart from Angelica, but I guess it's not to be expected; Reid and Whan are thousands of miles away in opposite directions, Matt has gone back to the lower mainland already, and a stroke of bad luck and/or timing made me miss Pedro by a day before he took off to California again. Maybe I'll meet up with Andrew later this week. It is a bit bizarre to feel like I am going to be the last one to 'start' my new project after last semester - everybody else already seems to be on their way. My thoughts are with Angelica, I love you babe! Hope the packing for Egypt is not too overwhelming...

Mead, Minstrels and Madness

I am going to forewarn you that this will be a long post, as I have had an incredible week, and have not posted in a while as I was on holiday with Angelica. In fact, there is so much to say that I am going to make unprecedented use of subtitles.

Life
When I had last written, I was desperately trying to organize an apartment hunt for my trip to DC, and was also waiting on security clearance for my job at the World Bank. Well, on Friday last week, I signed a lease and put the money down for a room in a small townhouse in Georgetown, which will cost $725 a month - including all utilities. For location it's pretty much as good as I could get within my budget, and I will hopefully be able to walk to work in 20 minutes (although the oppressive DC heat may force me to walk very, very slowly). The room is tiny. Scarily tiny. And to get to it, I have to walk through the living room, where an older Japanese lady will be sleeping. And there is no AC. Also, no laundry facilities, but apparently it is fairly easy to use the dorm ones down the road. So it's not going to be the easiest of living situations, but it is cheap and where I need it. The room also has a quaint attraction to it, with a skylight at the top of a wee staircase that leads to a roof 'patio' of which I have exclusive use. It could grow on me. In the worst case, I will be able to find another place in January, when Angelica comes back from Egypt. I must give props here to Robert Murphy, who let me sleep on the couch in his living room while I was in DC even though I wasn't there - a lifesaver. I was also helped by one of my potential landlords, who picked me up from the airport after I arrived in a strange new city. The generosity of people will never cease to amaze me. Oh, and a week later, I got security clearance from the World Bank, so I should be finalizing my start date within the next few days.

Pennsic
This was amazing. Something like 13,000 made a temporary medieval tent town, complete with a merchant quarter, battles, parades, music, and, of course, beer. Well, actually I drank a lot of other things, including liberal swigs of the Jameson that Angelica's father was sharing with me, as well as blueberry stout (it was, indeed, very good) and mead. After Angelica picked me up from DC, we spent a night at her house in Gettysburg where her mother very kindly put together a medieval wardrobe to last me for a week, which largely consisted of tunics and baggy pants. Then we drove four hours to a campground north of Pittsburgh called 'Cooper's Lake', where I joined the camp of Silver Phoenix Estmar and shared a tent with Angelica. From that point onwards, it was only fun. Some tableaux of the amazing experiences I had there: learning to shoot a longbow, studying the roots of Irish myth and legend, singing medieval folk music around a campfire...It is utterly impossible to capture the magic of the experience I had, and I am keen to join the group again next year. Two elements of my Pennsic experience deserve, I feel, further elaboration however. First, the food. Ah, it was unbelievable. Every evening one of the families in our camp would take responsible for the feast, and feast is the only word that can fittingly describe the elaborate meals everyone prepared. Between that, and enjoying the delicacies of Cathay and Arabia served up by wenches in the merchant quarter, my belly was never left hungry or dissatisfied. The other element is the drink. Though I brought none of my own, my mug was never empty, and indeed I carried it with me everywhere I went as hosts of the various camps I would visit throughout the day were always eager to fill it to the brim. One of the more memorable (or forgotten) nights involved a mysterious juice-like drink with bubbling pop rocks called the 'Creeping Death', served by gothically inspired belly dancers at a vampire conclave. Our own camp also had a swill off one afternoon, where something like 30 beers were tasted and compared, and after which I was left to doze off embarrassingly by the campfire. I also got to spend a wonderful amount of time with Angelica.

Partings
Unfortunately, some of the news I have to share from the last week is less than joyful. After leaving Pennsic, I had to leave Angelica, and she drove me to Shady Grove metro to say goodbye before I made my way to Reagan National Airport. I am going to miss her incredibly for the next few months, but I know that her experience in Egypt is going to be wonderful. I am very grateful we had so much fun together before she leaves. I love you babe!

The Flight Back
On the flight back, I had to make a connection in Montreal. It was a tight one, so I was sprint walking to my gate to make the boarding time. As I sit down to await the boarding announcement for the flight to Calgary, who do I see but Stephen Harper! Don't know who he is? Well, then you're not Canadian. He's leader of the Canadian conservative party, right now in opposition. Of course, I had to introduce myself, which I did, and we had an interesting, if brief, conversation before boarding was announced. Just as boarding begins, my name rings out over the intercom, and when I walk up to the boarding desk, the woman behind it gives me a free business class upgrade. Lucky eh? I guess they had a few extra seats. That was nice, but much more amazingly my seat was right next to Harper's, so I spent the three hour flight between Montreal and Calgary talking to him. Well, I talked to him for more like two, as he listened to his ipod for part of the flight, but a cool experience nonetheless. Apparently he will remember me as 'The world bank kid from the plane' should I ever send him an email inquiring about positions within the Conservative party.

Koch is dead
While I was on holiday, this also happened. The death of a legend, and a sad moment in history indeed. Hungry university students throughout Philadelphia shall lament his passing.

I feel I should end it there, before I get carpal-tunnel syndrome. I am sure I left out buckets of good stuff, but to be honest I myself am still reeling from the events of the last few days, and am having too much trouble recollecting my thoughts to put them down. Let me end by saying once more that is has been incredible. It was also evidently an excellent holiday, as I feel refreshed, relaxed, energized, and as though I have accomplished a great deal. Once more unto the breach!

Apartment Hunt

It's Paris all over again. Except this time, I don't have Kyle doing all the work for me, and I am not even in the city I am trying to find an apartment in. Every day I madly respond with my copied-and-pasted standard introduction message to tens of Cragslist postings, in the hopes that someone will think of me as a cool potential roomate.

That process is in of itself frustrating enough, but I also have to try to put together some kind of reasonable schedule for visiting these places all over DC for the day-and-a-half that I am spending in the city before I see Angelica. Right now, it is looking as though I am going to be homeless when I start my job in September. But I'm lucky.

Excited

I am very excited to see my girlfriend later this week - it feels as though it has been forever and a day since we parted, and it's going to be wonderful to spend a week with her before she leaves for Egypt. Plus, the medieval festival that we are going to with her family (Pennsic) sounds as though it will be a blast. Unfortunately, I don't have enough training to be able to join in the battles and jousting tournaments, but I should at least be able to employ my palate at the beer-tasting.

Consequently, these last three days at the office before my break are likely to pass painstakingly slowly, but there is little I can do about it but try to accomplish as much as possible towards my summer project before I leave.

The other subject occupying my mind right now is that of housing in DC - I need to find a place to live in 2 days that I am spending in the city before I head to central PA with Angelica, and I don't think it's going to be easy. I have been relentlessly perusing Craigslist for shared apartment/housing opportunities, with the hope that I can arrange numerous house visits during my short stay in DC and, ultimately, sign a lease. I think I will have at least a few possibilities lined up, but it is by no means going to be easy.

Thankfully, there should be some time for fun in DC with some of the frat boys who will be in the area, which should help to de-stress me should my apartment search become unbearingly frustrating.

There was a lot of news this weekend, so I should probably do a quick recap of the more significant items: Matt left for BC, and though I am happy for him in his new editorial venture, I'll miss having him around for beer and philosophy - hopefully we'll be able to arrange a holiday together in the near future; my Auntie Jean and her family visited last week - it was fantastic to see relatives that I have not seen since my evacuation from Indonesia, and my two younger cousins are incredibly cute :) ; my Dad, the most generous and giving person I know, gave me a business-class upgrade for my flight to the US, gave me access to the business-class lounge for my airport layovers, and said 'not to worry' about my debts to him - he wants me to be unburdened for starting my new life in DC, and also wants me to invest all of my savings on the stock market (which I'll do once I have them).

I owe my Dad (and Mom) so much, I don't even know how to begin repaying my debt to them, which is much more than the money they 'loaned' me for university. I am going to make it back to them eventually, in spite of their unbridled generosity.

If Matt is reading this, he is probably going to bitch.

It's a rough life

Sometimes I really feel as though I am more blessed than I deserve. Then again, sometimes I feel as though I am cursed, but I suppose that life is ultimately the juxtaposition of extreme feelings, with some moderation in between, depending on how bi-polar you are. But I digress. Today is one of those days where I really do feel more blessed than I deserve.

I am generally feeling very positive as I am going to get to see Angelica very soon (yay!) and I miss her greatly. I am looking forward to starting a new career with the World Bank and am having (some) luck with my apartment search in DC. But let's invoke Buddhist philosophy and focus on the present moment, shall we? Why am I feeling remarkably positive today?

Because, God bless the corporate world, my day of work is going to consist of chilling out under the sun, partaking of the sweet scents of the forest and field, and whacking a miniscule white ball into 18 holes. Oh, hey Steve, how's it going? Why yes, I do think I will be joining you at the beer cart every third hole. What's that? Steak for dinner, eh? We should be able to wash that down quite nicely with the clubhouse brew.

All I have to do now is avoid embarrassing myself in front of my boss with my abysmal golf game.

Poker

Poker is an incredible game. Every time I play, no matter the outcome, I find myself being drawn deeper into a bona fide poker addiction. Perhaps worryingly, it is also starting to occupy much of the background noise that my mind generates during the day.

And that, I believe, is the crux of poker's attraction; there is as much fun to be had in the postgame analysis as there is in the game itself; even if I am knocked out early in tournament-style Texas Hold'em, I remain fixated on the game and its remaining players, automatically evaluating hands, betting moves, and considering just what the hell I would have done with that flop.

My growing love for the game is fueled by the fact that I have been quite successful thus far; I have managed to make money on every game I have played but one - definitely an incentive to continue. Hopefully, whatever my living situation next year, I will be able to get some guys together for a regular game.

Dentists

Ever see the movie marathon man? There is this fantastically disturbing torture scene in which a Nazi concentration camp dentist uses his tools to sadistically torture a 'patient'.

I feel like the victim every time I sit on the chair.

In fact, my hatred, fear and loathing of dentists is so extreme that I am certain it is impossible to capture the intensity of my emotions in a blog entry. Unfortunately, it seems as though every summer I have to undergo some type of serious procedure...last summer, it was the wisdom teeth, and yesterday it was three fillings - brutal.

I really just want to bitch here to let out some of my frustration. My jaw is killing me from having to hold it open for over an hour and a half yesterday; my teeth are uneven so it feels weird whenever I chew or clamp my mouth (I get to have that adjusted tomorrow morning - oh joy!); one of my teeth is super-sensitive because, apparently, the dentist did not give me enough 'filling'; and I am still in a horrendous mood from the anesthetic, which always has a remarkably negative effect on me.

I have vowed to try everything possible to avoid having to get a filling ever again.

Nightmares

I am not sure if I have been blessed with a single night's good sleep since I came back to Calgary, and I have no idea why. A big part of it is that I am simply uncomfortable in my Calgary bed all by myself after having been used to Angelica right next to me. Another factor could be the summer temperature without a/c. But in Canada, you say? I know, maddening but true.

I think the worst part is probably the disturbingly graphic and vivid nightmares that are haunting my subconscious every night. It's crazy - I don't think I've ever had dreams as bad as this in my life, let alone in nightly sequences that don't seem to let up. Take last night for example - a series of countless decapitations, interspersed with images of some woman who in reality I don't know, who in the dreamworld was supposed to be my friend, but who was actually changing into some kind of demonic minion before - you guessed it - more decapitations.

Maybe it's stress related.

The Life of Living Dangerously

Petrol riots in Sanaa, Yemen. My Dad works there. Scary.

Rave

I have realized that I did not post on the very interesting experience I had over the weekend, so I had better say something now.

I was enthusiastic, before and afterwards, about the opportunity to experience something that Matt has held so close to his heart and beliefs. What was it? A gigantic rave, in the middle of a valley in Northern Alberta (1 hour West of Edmonton, to be exact) - basically a huge party.

We arrived relatively late, but managed to find a vacant space on the grass for our small tent, relatively close to the main trance stage and directly opposite "Fort Jagermeister". Matt felt that this would be the redeeming part of the weekend for me, as I am hardly a druggie raver, but definitely a frat boy, and FJ definitely did seem to have some of the frat boy mentality (read: alcohol).

Interestingly, the initially endearing FJ became a incessant source of annoyance for us over the course of the weekend, with an English idiot camping himself atop one of the towers for most of the time screaming "Oi!" and shooting people with water guns. Fine when we were not around; not fine when we were trying to sleep during the only parts of the day when trance music was not pumping through the valley (9am - 2pm).

I had more fun dancing, meeting people, simply witnessing the bizarre microcosmic cultures that permeated the event, and, of course, diminishing entirely the stock of 72 beers that Matt and I had brought for the weekend. We also met some very cool people, with whom I know at least Matt will keep in touch. I was impressed with myself for dancing past dawn on the last night of the party - everyone else was doing it, and I did not want to admit to having less stamina.

But, of course, the ride home was brutal. We packed up at around noon, said goodbye to the people we had met, and then began the long drive back to Calgary. There have not been many times in my life when I have been as tired. After one hour we pulled over on the outskirts of Edmonton and slept in the car, in a parking lot. The we stumbled into Tim Horton's, ate, drank lots of coffee, and kept ourselves awake for the next three hours by conversationally exploring the nature of religion, morality, and sin.

Good times.

Complicated

Life can get so, so complicated. I really am not sure how I am going to sort out the next month or so. I have to visit Angelica during the first half of August before she flies half-way around the world, and hopefully go to a medieval festival with her that she usually goes to every summer. Timing is awkward, though.

Her sister is getting married on the first weekend of August, which means either I miss the wedding and meet her sometime afterwards, or go to the wedding but have to make my own way from wherever I fly into. Additionally, my Dad has planned a family backpacking trip during the first week of August, that I cannot miss (last chance family bonding), but which is also right before the arrival of my aunt who is visiting us from Vancouver.

Timing is not the only issue though. I need to take enough time off during my trip down to try and do some apartment searching in DC - under the presumption that I will, eventually, sign a contract with the IFC. It does not help that, despite having formally given me my offer, they cannot give me an official start date until I get my G-4 visa...which will take "4 to 6 weeks". So I will probably be signing a contract on an apartment for the beginning of September despite not knowing when my start date is. And this lack of knowledge, of course, makes planning my eventual 'move' to DC rather difficult.

Finally, there is the cost. I'll be buying a return flight to DC to visit Angelica, spending on lodging in DC while I search for an apartment, and foregoing potential $ by taking time off work. Then I will be flying back to DC at the end of the summer, for which, by the way, I am unable to give my current boss advance warning on my contract termination since I don't have an official start date.

Yes, complicated. I'll just have to go with the flow. Angelica gave me some peppermint tea which should help to destress me.

Stampede!

I have been unabashedly delinquent in my updating duties to this blog, and largely because of the wonderful phenomenon of Stampede. Many of the people reading this blog are not local Calgarian cowpokes, so perhaps a bit of an explanation is in order.

Stampede is the greatest outdoor show on Earth. For 12 cahootin' days, the entire city of Calgary becomes a gigantic beer garden with the world's largest rodeo at its center. The corporate workforce of the oil industry is expected (you are frowned upon if you don't) to come into work wearing their finest cowboy hats and boots, and anything more formal than jeans is considered bad taste.

I say come into work. But you don't really work. Work serves as a meeting point for everyone at the beginning of the day so that they can plan out how, where, and with which company's money they are going to party. It's fantastic. The plethora of country music that is playing all over the city becomes tolerable even to me as I give in to the cowboy spirit. Free meat-and-pancake breakfasts abound in the downtown area, and it becomes possible to avoid having to pay for food for a week. And you can wash down those AAA Alberta stakes with, of course, copious amounts of alcohol.

Last night I had a fantastic time at Nashville North (a gigantic beer garden cum dance tent) with some of my coworkers. It was the first opportunity I have had this summer to really get to know them outside of the corporate context, and they are great people. Turns out one of them was even a Brown graduate with whom I could reminisce over frat-boy experiences.

It was almost a perfect night, but for three things. 1) My far-away girlfriend, who I think would look gorgeous in a cowgirl outfit and who could laugh at me trying to quickstep to country music (I miss you Angelica!); 2) my far-away college friends, who I could see quickly becoming the rowdiest cowboys around, and 3) the morning after, which was, of course, a brutal hangover recovery period.

I'm almost completely recovered.

Sweetness

I have not posted on here for a while, because I have been emotionally reeling after having heard that the World Bank is "going to give me an offer", which should hopefully be received by telephone call tomorrow. I have also been lazier, which may be a direct consequence of the increased beer consumption that immediately followed this news.

It has made me very, very happy to hear that my future may not be as empty an directionless as I once suspected, and that my risky investment in an ivy league education has hopefully paid off. I still felt bizarre, however, announcing my good fortune to others because the offer itself has not "been made" yet. Hopefully after tomorrow that will have changed. Despite the confidence I have in the 'warning' of an offer I was given, I won't be entirely satisfied until I have the contractual paper in my hands, signed in ink. Until then, I still feel as though nothing is certain.

Which is, perhaps, inescapable in life.

Baby Boomers go Bust

America's current account deficit has reached inexplicably high levels (6.4% of GDP for the first quarter of 2005) and has brazenly defied the predictions of economists who claim that a dramatic correction is necessary and inevitable. Despite the economic curiosity of this long-term economic imbalance, the most unusual element in the mix is demographic: the Baby Boomers are nearing retirement, so why the hell are they still spending and not saving? America's household saving rate has always been paltry, but the miracle baby boomer generation still has to eat in retirement, right? Apparently they are not as concerned about having financial security in their old age as one might think.

One possible explanation for the everlasting baby boomer spending spree is the insecurity associated with global financial markets. There is a sickness in the world, and it is the inability of developing countries to convince OECD investors that it's OK to give them money, 1998 won't happen again (we promise). The converse is true; capital owners in third world nations are certain that their money is better off in America, despite ridiculously low interest rates and ample opportunity for investment in the home market. This, or course, pushes interest rates down ever lower, until the old-fashioned putting money in the bank is no longer a viable option for investment savvy 50 year-olds.

The solution? Serious fiscal reform that will convince investors that emerging markets are once again fair game. The South African government's sacking of Jacob Zuma was a step in the right direction sending the clear message that corruption will be dealt with and not simply ignored or systematized. On the other hand, Iran's election over the weekend of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as President, a fundamentalist and conservative who will no doubt support the nationalization policies of the current government, will do little to encourage foreign capital flows into the country. It probably won't help that he incessantly derides America (you know, the country with all the money) as "The Great Satan".

Sixth Sense?

I was just contacted this morning about a theft from the Men's Locker Room at the Nexen Gym on the evening of June 16th. Someone in security wrote me the following:

Hi Shane. We've received a report of a theft from the men's change room between
6:00pm and 6:30pm on Thursday, June 16th. I'm doing some rotuine checking with
the staff that accessed the exercise area around the time of the theft -
in the event they saw anything suspicious. A check of the card readers indicated
you entered the exercise room at 5:40pm. Can you advise the following:
What
time did you leave the change room? Were there any males in the change room or
exercise area when you left? Did you see anything suspicious?
Thanks for
your time - appreciate it!
Perry

Bizarrely enough, I recalled this evening clearly and immediately. I wrote him back the following:

Hi Perry,

Actually, I think I clearly recall the evening you are
talking about. I had come in late to work out after work, and there were very
few people in the exercise room – just one man and one woman I believe. When I
went into the changing room, there was another man in there. As I was changing
to go running, I remember feeling odd about the way he was behaving…he had his
shirt off, but did not seem to be getting ready to work out or to shower. I felt
suspicious enough to not leave my bag in an open locker as I usually do – I
actually took it with me into the exercise room and kept it beside my treadmill.
Apparently this was a good decision!
If I entered at 5:40, I would have
left the changing room by approximately 5:50, and then would have left the gym
altogether by around 6:30. I did not go back into the change room after my
workout.
Let me know if you have any more
questions.
Regards,
Shane

The impulse to take my backpack into the workout room with me was entirely instinctual and based solely on a gut feeling I had in the presence of that man. Either I was subconsciously identifying elements in his behavior that marked him as a criminal, or my mind was picking up something outside of normal sensory perception.

The long, long wait

After talking to Reid last night about what on Earth could possibly be taking the World Bank so long to make their hiring decision, I resolved to call them today. 3 phone calls over the course of the day were attempted, with 3 answering machine responses. I didn't leave any messages. The amount of courage and will the simple act of telephoning them required was unbelievable...I was left shaking and physically depleted afterwards, despite having spoken to no one nor having heard any news that changed my increasingly frustrated outlook.

Frustration is an understatement. It is becoming the only thing I think about. I am no longer biting my nails, but relentlessly chewing my fingers off in anxiety. I have even started working seriously in order to distract myself from the constant stream of questions flowing through my head.

I'll call them again tomorrow.

Effective Economics Expression

The Economist has a succinct and attractive guide on the style of the journal and the approach that its journalists are meant to adopt when writing articles. This is not only a useful guide for the columnists and reporters employed by the magazine (then why make it public?) but can also help aspiring journalists and economics writers to perfect their own styles. Personally, I am a fan of The Economist's prose, and therefore appreciate their generosity in providing this reference.

But this still does not settle the issue of motive; why provide this guide to the public? I suspect their reasons may be two-fold. Firstly, if readers have an enhanced understanding of the approach taken to every article by the journalists writing them, they will probably be able to better understand the article in the sense that the writer intended, thus enhancing the communicative power of the magazine. Secondly, respondents to the magazine's articles will be able to more closely emulate the style of the original if given such information, which improves continuity between the original articles and readers' responses, thus improving the capacity of the The Economist to serve as a public forum for discussion and debate.

Corporate Dictionary

I recently had an idea for a new blog/website, and hopefully some day I'll work up the will to actually produce something for it. I think a website defining the true meanings (true in a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek way) could be quite amusing, and if anything could help office rats like myself to wile away the time in a somewhat amusing manner. I recently created the blogger website for it, but have not put anything there, so no link (yet).

McGill Rejection

Not exactly the thrilling climax to all those months of waiting that I was expecting. More of a brutal let-down, which is making me increasingly angrier and frustrated as the truth of it seeps in. The most unfortunate part is the emotional and mental investment I had gambled on getting an acceptance...I was checking that bloody Minerva system almost every day for the last few months, and my heart beat would accelerate every time the page loaded to display the message "Ready For Review". I had become so habitualized to the perpetual waiting room that it was quite a shock just to see the "Refused" message on the screen, let alone to fully comprehend the reality behind the pixels.

Ah well. 0 for 2, maybe third time lucky? You never know, although I really have no idea why it is taking the IFC this long to get back to me with an offer or a refusal. I don't believe I have any alternatives other than to continue madly applying for jobs, in the hope that someone, somewhere, will pluck my resume-in-a-bottle from the surface of the electronic Sea, and read it. Then maybe they can send emergency help to a poor, unemployed, starving student.

Well, in truth, I am not that hungry.

Cannibalism in the Heart of Darkness

Africa was once labeled the 'Dark Continent' because of the mysteries it held for 19th century European society, and because of colonial ignorance. If Africa did not merit such a title in that epoch, it seems as though it has earned it ten-fold in recent times.

In a land that suffers unceasingly from the brutal suppression of dictatorial governments and the bloodshed of internecine tribal conflict, there are yet darker phenomena. Recently, in the DR Congo, trustworthy reports from multiple sources have accused certain groups, most particularly northern militias, of feasting on human flesh in the war-zone.

It is one thing to suggest that cannibalism has been reincarnated on a distant continent, but another to comprehend the atrocities to which innocent and vulnerable Africans are being subjected. The story of Zainabo Alfani says more than I ever could, and invokes irrepressible revulsion for those responsible for her suffering. Read it.

I know; how could anything human be responsible for that?

The frightening thing is, and we must accept this, that the cannibals in DR Congo are human, and hence what they are capable of, we are as well. This is a disturbing realization, but one that is supported by the existence of ritual and cultural cannibalism in numerous societies throughout history and around the globe. When living in Indonesia, I had the fortune to visit the Batak people of central Sumatra, who had only abandoned their cannibalistic practices at the turn of the century. Similarly, my father regaled me with frightening stories of modern-day cannibals in Irian Jaya who, or so say anthropologists, are probably still around.

Consequently, cannibalism appears not to be a cultural anomaly we can dismiss ourselves from. Rather, somewhere in the dark recesses of the human psyche are the behavioral instincts that can turn a society into the Heart of Darkness. But what could the possible motivations for this behavior be?

Primarily, and this certainly seems to be the dominant reason for the behavior of militias in DR Congo, cannibalism is connected to power. Upon consuming the flesh of another, you are physically subordinating them, but also stating a clear case for the others in your tribe.

Another possible explanation is that the tribes that practice cannibalism actually follow the mantra 'you are what you eat', and therefore attempt to consume the strength, intelligence or beauty of somebody they fight against or admire.

A third possibility is that, well, they are just damn hungry. It wouldn't be the first time an individual or a micro-society had been forced into cannibalism out of desperation, and Africa clearly has no surplus of resources.

However, despite these potential explanations (or justifications, if you are comfortable calling them so), my own sense of innate morality, wherever it stems from or whatever its source, cannot accept cannibalism. It seems so entirely wrong to me that I could not imagine anyone with even remotely the same beliefs as myself engaging in that practice.

Perhaps that is why I fail to understand why the cannibals in DR Congo can justify their own actions.

Strange, twisted times

Our world has some apparent difficulties with setting apprporiate priorities. Over the last 24 hours, the internet has been overwhelmed by people seeking news on the Michael Jackson verdict. Thankfully, this story is at least no longer the most popular read on Google's news page, with more politically pressing issues finally replacing such trite.

But before you refute public stupidity altogether, enjoy the disgusting sale of Live 8 tickets on eBay. The only flaw in Geldof's comments is that they do not sufficiently chastise such a selfish and profiteering act.

Ra-ra the human race. We should all be proud.

The Power of Thought

Taking a business degree has yielded enormous benefits for me; one of the most significant of these has been the increased employability I apparently enjoy (but have yet to realize). Another, more profound benefit has been a change in the way I think. My attention is now consistently focused on the practical, applicable solutions to problems, and their tangible consequences.

This approach to problems has its pros and cons. I am happy I enrolled in a double degree with French so that at least some part of my education could maintain a level of abstract, ethereal thought. The business approach, however, has definitely dominated the last four years of my life. Dune recently reminded me of the power of thought alone; in one of the appendices, Herbert says:

Whether a thought is spoken or not it is a real thing and has powers of reality.

This can be hard to remember and appreciate when you have had four years of business school imprinted on your mind.

American caution not so evil

America has been getting a lot of flack from the international community for its reluctance to jump on board with Mr. Blair's plan for Africa. Mr. Bush is at the centre of these attacks, having already provoked international mistrust and suspicion thanks to his aggressive foreign policy. Mr. Blair is proposing a three-pronged attack on Africa's development problems:

-Write off international debt to Africa
-Hugely increase aid (perhaps double it)
-Promote fairer trade with African nations

There is no doubt that this plan could significantly alter Africa's future economic path, and improve living conditions for large segments of the poorest population on Earth. So is America just being evil in its reluctance to sign on?

The story is a little more complicated than that. Firstly, one has to recognize that the burden of instituting such a plan would fall largely on American shoulders. Humbug, you say, America has by far the largest economic capacity to support such a package! This, too, is true, but as any Spiderman-watching American could tell you, with great power comes great responsibility.

And America has recently had some stinging lessons in monetary responsibility and corporate governance. In recent years, only one other developed nation has had to suffer an Enronesque crisis like that which shook American economic might, and that was Canada who, despite good intentions, is probably just too small to have an enormous quantitative impact on foreign development aid.

So America, painfully aware of the potential damage that can arise from economic irresponsibility, is understandingly reluctant to give buckets of aid to Africa without first having assurances that the aid is going to be used to alleviate poverty. Assurances for America constitute, fundamentally, democracies. And this makes sense to a large degree. If there were actually political consequences for corruption among the African political elite, governments would probably be forced to use foreign aid much more effectively. But, as this week has shown, not even Africa's 'most democratic nation' can properly punish government MPs for (very) public corruption scandals.

America's worries are probably justified. The Millennium Challenge Account, which requires strict monitoring of aid disbursements before they are awarded, is a good solution to the problem of monitoring aid usage, and is entirely an American innovation. So from a reasoned perspective, America has a solid basis for refusing to be a part of Mr. Blair's project.

What America cannot forget, however, is that it has no excuse for ignoring global poverty altogether, and that as the most powerful nation on Earth, it is morally obliged to do something to help. A lack of aid accountability is a sorry excuse for refusing to save human life.

AAA - America, Africa and Aid

The future of international development and poverty reduction lies embedded in the dynamic of this Triple Entente. Only positive, constructive and progressive relations between all vertices of this not-really-love triangle can assure that any of the international community's aid objectives will be met for the near future.

America has the money. This economic behemoth remains the irrefutable Gargantua of wealth and economic success in the post-modern world. The runner-up industrialized economy (Japan) is only a quarter of the size, and is only there because of American help in the first place. Despite some moderately developed economies taking impressive steps forward, they are not making the leaps that would be required for them to play in the same league as America within the next decade. If developing nations want to be the recipients of significant amounts of aid, they are going to have to dip their hands into America's coffers, with America's permission, of course.

Africa doesn't have the money. While most of Asia (most notably for China and India) hardly resembles the impoverished and hopeless continent of post WWII colonialism, and the Middle East and much of South America continue to joyfully surf the black waves of surging petroleum prices, Africa holds tenaciously onto its "Dark Continent" identity. It truthfully deserves the name: Sub-Saharan Africa is the only part of the world in which the proportion of the population living in absolute poverty is on the rise, and Africans also enjoy the aftermath of guerilla wars, genocides, and systematic oppression. This is obviously where America's money needs to be going if it is going to make a difference.

However, as with all triangular relationships, a 'give-and-take' solution is not going to work in this case. Firstly, despite African enthusiasm for having ever larger amounts of money funneled into the dark continent, the black hole is a strikingly effective analogy for the effectiveness of this tactic. Corruption, misplacement of funds and inbred conflict usually mean that any aid awarded Africa usually only accomplishes a fraction of its potential contribution, or disappears altogether. Moreover, America is not biting - it has, at least until the end of Mr. Bush's term, an unshakeable policy of promoting democracy everywhere, but particularly in the Middle East. If Africa is hurt by the attention that the Giant is paying to Iraq, their relationship suffers even more when America explores the possibility of democracy in Africa and realizes that it is probably impossible (at least on American terms.) America's approach in this regard is unlikely to change - Mr. Wolfowtiz's assurances that he really is going to focus on Africa and that he is not another pawn in hawkish Bush foreign policy are convincing few, World Bank stakeholders themselves included.

Can this Triple Entente be resurrected to help defeat the Evil Axis of poverty, disease and death? Not, at least, in the immediate future. The war will not be over by Christmas.

The Ascendancy of Blogs

The BBC now has a weekly report on the blogosphere; does this not strike anyone as a bizarre reversal of the news paradigm?

Intel the Chip God

Wow. If Apple really do adopt Intel chips over the IBM ones they are currently using for G5 technology, then how does Intel not have a complete and undefeatable monopoly over the PC processor market?

If you want power and quality in your non-mac PC, Intel chips are virtually the only option. Athlon put up a good fight, for a while, but have recently simply fallen behind...Intel are just too much of a chip and technology powerhouse. Apple, with their hardware-software integrative approach and 'relationship' business practices, was the only major player left who had not yet adopted the Intel standard.

If they actually go ahead with this, we could witness a 'Microsoftization' of the chip market, assuring that not only would we have to suffer under the yolk of an operating system monopoly, but under a chip monopoly as well.

How big is your wallet?

An interesting long-term consequence of this move, however, is that Apple may start to become a direct challenge to Microsoft PCs, instead of simply being a 'different sort' of computer that we use for somewhat unique types of work. Is this what Apple is thinking?

The problem with Africa

Africa needs help. Now. Shamefully, however, the majority of the developed world does not appear to recognize (or want to recognize) this need. I find it particularly worrisome that the most progress in aid for Africa is being made by the UK, only the world's fourth largest economy, while the top 3 (USA, Japan and Germany) are worse than passive: they are actually creating obstacles to the UK's relief initiatives. Shame on the EU as well for not stepping up; they should be directed toward Africa by the Franco-German alliance.

I believe that the UK's proposals under Gordon Brown would result in nothing short of an African revolution. 100% debt relief and a doubling of aid would, if instituted multilaterally, remove almost entirely the burden that has kept Africa down for the last 50 years. These measures can sound frighteningly drastic, but they are undoubtedly necessary if the world community is to have even a remote chance of satisfying the UN millennium development goals for 2015.

Africa is the problem. Therein lies the solution.

Waking Life and coffee

I watched Waking Life with Matt last night. Absolutely incredible. I am certain that it is a post-modern masterpiece, even if I didn't really understand it. To be able to fully appreciate the movie, I will a) need to watch it multiple times, b) read more philosophy.

I am starting to find my lack of a formal philosophy education increasingly frustrating. Hopefully I can remedy my ignorance in this field through personal reading, something I would like to attempt this summer (if I can finally finish Dune...) At Second Cup last night, before engaging in a philosophical rant with Matt on subjects vaguely pertaining to the movie we had just watched, I recognized the guy working behind the counter - Sean. Relevance? I mentioned to him the possibility of working at Second Cup over the summer, which would (he assured me) afford one the opportunity to read.

But I already have a job, I hear you say. This is true. However, there are several reasons for which the Second Cup job intrigues me. Firstly, I have never worked in a coffee shop before, and if I am going to do so, it's now or never. Secondly, I would remain in the job I currently have, and take the Second Cup job only as an evening gig - even though it only pays $6.50 an hour, the extra money would be nonetheless appreciated, and I would (ideally) spend most of the time reading anyway. It would also keep me away from my house, which is a hellhole right now. Thirdly, I am betting that you get free coffee out of it. That would be caffeine-o-liscious.

The end of the European dream?

I found this article from the BBC quite shocking. Why? Because it is one of the first indications I have seen of European Rejectionism becoming a grass-roots and populist movement. It is one thing for the government and political national elite to defy the demands of supranationalism and sovereignty sacrifice, but quite another for the 'man in the street' to express his discontent with the European dream, and in such large numbers.

Ironically, the attempt to litigate a European constitution, which if successful would have had very little effect on the status quo of EU politics, has prompted this backlash which may sound the death of European construction.

Wikipedia is fantastic

Wikis really are great. Here is democratic deficit as an encyclopedia entry, solidified as a concrete concept in the ether of the Web.

Democratic Deficit at the World Bank

Today Wolfowitz starts his first day on the job as President of the World Bank (that hallowed institution I am praying will hire me). I personally think it was a poor appointment and another serious error by the Bush administration, and I am cautious of the direction in which Wolfowitz will take the World Bank. However, as a recently-graduated student trying to make a dent in global poverty, I'll start where I can, and a post within that organisation, regardless of its leadership, would undoubtedly be an incredibly valuable experience.

One term that struck me from the BBC article linked above was "Democratic Deficit", something Matt addressed vis-a-vis Canadian politics. Organisations grow. (In fact, they are bizarrely organic in this respect.) And when they grow, it appears as though the democratic deficit always becomes a significant problem: bureaucrats and internal politics reduce the organisation's efficiency and, more fundamentally, its ability to carry out its initial function and to represent (democratically) its constituents and stakeholders.

Do organisations have to remain small, or is there an effective cure for the DD that accompanies maturity?

Live Aid

The original Live Aid was an awesome, beautiful, and generation-defining event. It's incredible that Geldof is going to do it again. Perhaps the most unbelievable part of this is that it needs to be done again at all - the West seems to have slumped back into its comfortable ignorance of the sufferings of people in the third world.

This is a powerful quote from Geldof himself:

Still 20 years on, it strikes me as morally repulsive and intellectually absurd that people die of want in a world of surplus.

He's right.

Let the good times roll

This post is a rant. A very angry, pessimistic, sarcastic and unpleasant rant. So don't read it. It is purely for my own therapeutic benefit.

My life sucks. Today is June 1st 2005, and I have yet to hear from McGill, or any of the jobs to which I have applied. Oh, except for that one rejection. I am sleeping on the floor of my parents' house, because they a) don't care enough about me to provide me with a bed while I am living there, and b) won't even allow me to crash at a friend's. While at home, I am surrounded by siblings who constantly bicker and quibble with me. So I try to avoid being home as much as possible. I am working in a miserable summer job in auditing, which is boring enough to make me suicidal. Sure, it makes me some money, but my father won't even allow me to spend that.

I am almost convinced that this is the lowest place I have ever been to.

There is one companion who follows me on the journey, and never abandons me. Beer. God bless you.

Sore

I had an amazing weekend, spending most of Saturday on top of the world on Grotto Mountain. Despite my expectation of a relatively easy scramble, this turned out to be a fairly challenging summit - I was hiking for around 7 hours in total (although it didn't help that I got lost a third of the way up the mountain and then had to turn back to start over). The ascent had a tough gradient, which was of course worse on the way down (my legs are in such bad shape from it that I don't think I can even go running today.) But the hardest part, as it always is for me, was the top. On this mountain, my vertigo was particularly encumbering, as the summit hike involved a 45-minute tramp along a knife-edge ridge. Beautiful, to be sure, but scary as hell.

First rejection

Well, I guess it had to happen sometime, but it doesn't make me feel any less like shit. I got the first rejection (ever) of my job search efforts today. A boutique I-bank I had interviewed with in New York just before I came back to Calgary called me this morning to let me know that they didn't want me. Graciously, I suppose, they attempted to cushion the blow by describing to me how competitive the process was etc. blah blah blah. They even got the French guy I had 'bonded' with during one 20-minute session to be the messenger. How charming.

Fuck.

I really did not need this right now. After waiting for news from the mutliple options that I have on the burner right now, this hurts, and does little to improve my state of mind or to enhance my self confidence at this juncture. This is simply going to make me fret even more about the other jobs I am waiting to hear back from, and will probably lead me to chew my fingernails to a pulp before the summer is out.

I need society to show me that I am worth a damn.

I contributed

My office has the most horrible decoration of any cubicle colony I have ever seen. Now that really is saying something. But honestly, the sparse, wooden interior is punctuated only by an (impressively) extensive collection of those standard business motivation posters. You know the ones I'm talking about. They have these wonderfully bizarre, meaningless, and frequently out-of-place photographs that pretend to represent beautiful business buzz words: 'Cooperation', 'Leadership', 'Success'. To be frank, it really pisses me off that a poster company would be pretentious enough to believe it could motivate me to be cooperative with a picture of a crew team rowing together. All it makes me want to do is to escape the office and join crew. Fuck them.

However, despite the distractive thoughts that these posters may incite, today I actually accomplished one of the messages portrayed on the wall just around the corner from my office: 'Contribute'. I contributed today by teaching myself MS Access, and then by coming up with a plan to implement data bases in the storage of the vast swathe of information we are receiving for this particular project. My boss seemed please. I made sense. It rocked. Why? Because there is only one thing worse than a miserable summer as a corporate rat: a miserable summer as a worthless corporate rat.