Month: October 2008

It may be the fatigue talking but I’d like to share with you some of my financial records. My main investments are through mutual funds purchased through EA’s retirement savings program.

The RRSPs that I have purchased via that program offered me a rate of return of -18.61% between January 2008 and the end of September 2008. Taken over the last twelve months, my EA RRSPs offered me a rate of return of -20.20%.

EA also offers a deferred profit sharing program which is kinda like a pension which is also tied up in mutual funds. My DPSP investments between January 2008 and the end of September 2008 offered me a rate of return -15.98%. Over the last twelve months, my DPSP returned -17.18% in value.

These losses are partially my fault because I chose to invest in funds that were higher risk but offered the greater chance of higher return. Had I chosen to just invest in simple money market funds, all of my investments would have actually given me a +4% rate of return, which still factors in the huge drops in stock markets around the world.

Stupid.

As some of you know, the US Presidential election campaign is in full swing, with tonight Senators McCain and Obama debating for the last time before election day. Senator Obama has run a 21st century campaign, not neglecting e-mails and blogs as forms of communication. To add to that, just this week, ads for Senator Obama started appearing in several EA games on the Xbox 360 platform. People first started noticing billboard ads featuring the Democratic candidate in Paradise City, the fictional locale for EA’s Burnout Paradise.

Yesterday, I was speaking with our online producer (who is also an American). He told me he just authorized the use of Senator Obama’s ads in the original skate. Unfortunately, the Obama campaign only bought ads for ten select states in which the Senator is still tightly contesting with McCain. A list of those states can be found in the article referenced above. If you live in California, Illinois, or New York, you’re out of luck since it’s a foregone conclusion those will go blue.

Look for the Obama ads in and around San Vanelona in the next day or so and only on the Xbox 360 version of skate.

Today was a federal election day for Canada. Though it was not a surprise, I am still disappointed that Stephen Harper and his Conservatives were able to stay in power and form a minority government.

It is my belief that Canada does not need to lean any further to the right than Harper has been trying to for the last two years. I may speak poorly about the Greater Toronto Area at times but I must give that area credit for remaining a Liberal stronghold. Credit is also due for the Maritime provinces who once again voted heavily for Liberal candidates. It is safe to say without the populous areas of Ontario and the Maritimes, Canada would be in dire straights tonight.

Out West where I voted, it was again another disturbing result with the Conservatives sweeping large swaths of ridings, in some areas nary a Liberal nor NDP victory in sight. As a small consolation, the most populous areas of Vancouver went to either Liberal or NDP candidates, though the Liberals actually lost seats in Vancouver compared to 2006. In my own personal riding, I was glad to see the NDP incumbent, Dawn Black, retain her seat in Parliament, fending off the Conservative newcomer.

My own personal strategy for voting today was simple: prevent the Conservative candidate from winning. The Liberal candidate was probably too young and inexperienced to be a threat. Ms. Black had experience and incumbancy on her side, so it was quite a simple decision to be honest.

I now cautiously look forward to the Liberals and NDP blocking Harper when they need to and working with him when the time is right.

Turn this:

Into this:

By simply scrolling to the bottom of your profile page and selecting this:

I must warn you though, you might think you know pirate after watching all those movies with Johnny Depp in it but you could be in for a surprise.

I’m off to Ottawa to attend Adam and Kristina’s wedding. I’ll be back on Tuesday. I haven’t been up this early since probably 1923.

For the longest time now, men who suffer from the condition “premature ejaculation” have been told the cause has been purely psychological. Now there are reports that a Dutch study has found that this not entirely the case. Dr. Marcel Waldinger’s study shows that low levels of serotonin can be found in men who suffer from premature ejaculation.

The best quote from the report about men who have low levels of the hormone is:

“These men have very quick reflexes. They may be excellent at playing tennis or computer games, for example.”

I forwarded the article to three of my co-workers whom all play tennis with and of course, play video games at great length. There was really no response from any of them, just uncomfortable silence. This is probably due to the fact all of them try to be good at tennis and are better than the average person at video games.

Let me just comment here that if you’ve ever seen me play tennis, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out I’m not that good at it. Also, my skills at video games is quite overrated. I’m more of an online Scrabble guy. So that’s all I’m going to say about that.

So the company that made my et.com t-shirts sent me an e-mail this morning. They’re offering to make me one free toque or beanie with my logo on it. I’ll take them up on their offer for sure but that got me looking at their web site again (funny how that works). The last time I checked, they didn’t offer women’s thong underwear as an item. Now they do. Just for craps and tee-hees, I got an instant quote online. It would cost me about $200 to make 15 pairs of black women’s thong underwear with my et.com logo silkscreened on it (front or back). Unfortunately, I don’t know a single woman who would wear such a thing, even if I gave it out for free. Perhaps, I should be thinking of giving away retro-style headbands instead.

There’s no denying I’m working some serious hours at work now but in light of recent economic troubles, I’m wondering if I should start feeling lucky to even have a job. Granted, EA is in pretty good shape financially and no one expects anything drastic to happen. Though I wish our stock was doing a bit better.

People have said video games are recession-proof since diversion and entertainment will always be desired no matter how bad the economy is. I sure hope that’s true.

As many of you know, I make very few posts about politics simply because I believe I know very little about the subject. Every four years though, I make two or three posts about the US Presidential election. Beyond the good TV it brings, the election of a new US leader has global significance. If you doubt that, just examine the actions of the last eight years of the current occupant of the White House.

So election day for Americans is now about one month off. According to the latest polls, Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate, holds a small lead over the Republican representative, John McCain. None of the polls show Obama with a double-digit lead. I find this to be truly stunning. After eight years of having a Republican in the White House, it’s mind-boggling that that many Americans still believe it is in their best interests to vote a man in who would continue the policies of Dubya. In eight years, can Americans honestly say they are better off now than they were in 2000? Dubya led them into two different wars that none of which have been concluded successfully. In Afghanistan, the US never invested in enough resources to finish the job, which included finding Osama bin Laden (who to this day most likely lives freely). In Iraq, Dubya invaded based on false pretenses, burdening a generation of young men and women to deal with their battlefield experiences. On the economic front, millions of Americans are struggling with the sagging economy, trying to pay their mortgages and in many cases just trying to pay for gas. So I ask Americans again, how are they better now than they were the day a Republican moved into the White House?

I just don’t understand the logic behind voting for a Republican again. What could McCain offer that would be so radically different than what Bush has done? Even mice in experiments know not to repeat mistakes if they know it leads to harm. I just don’t get it.

Last but certainly not least, I must comment on a disturbing but continuing campaign trend. I find it sad that the Republican VP nominee, Sarah Palin, is trying to use the whole “I’m folksy” and “Joe Six-pack” and “Main Street, not Wall Street” schtick. In the last eight years, the attack on intellectualism in the US is frightening. That being informed, intelligent, and educated would be negative aspects to a candidate, is something that I would have never imagined. It really took off when Dubya was campaigning and he sought to be seen as a “regular guy”. The morons out there, of course, ate it all up. Bush literally must have received millions of votes because people wanted someone in the White House who was “just like them”. There’s no question those people were idiots and they proved what happened when you put an idiot in charge.

I will never understand why people would want a common or folksy person to lead a nation, any nation. I do understand, however, that successfully leading a country requires intelligence and education, among many other things. The point being that a leader should be an exceptional individual, possessing abilities greater than the average person would have. It would be those abilities that we would put our faith in, knowing that we could not do the things he or she could.

I think the point that most of the idiotic Republicans miss is that you don’t need a common person in the White House just so that they can feel comfortable about having a “Joe Six-pack” there. As long as a leader has the ability to related to the common people then you’re ok. I don’t care if my leader has three PhDs, a Nobel Prize, and eats only beluga caviar. If he or she truly understands what the issues facing a single parent making only $30 000 / yr. are, then that’s good enough.

So these are my thoughts heading into November. My true hopes are for a Democratic win because that’s what the US really needs right now. My optimism is slight though, for in 2004, I thought Americans weren’t truly that dumb but you know what, some of them really were.

I’ll probably make another post before election day in November and then one more after the President-elect is decalred.

There was actually an embedded video here but that link is now long dead. I’ll fix this… eventually.