January 28, 2009 at 12:39 am · Filed under soccer
The past several years the US has held a camp in January for players on a winter break, mostly from MLS but some from the Scandinavian leagues. The camp is used to evaluate fringe players and to help key players get sharp for important matches that are scheduled for dates before the domestic club season; the camp typically concludes with a friendly against a domestic based team from Scandinavia. This year’s opponent was a Sweden side mostly comprised of U21 players. The US team was a mix of fringe first-choice players (Sacha Kljestan, Ricardo Clark and Brian Ching), 2008 Olympians (Klljestan, Marvelle Wynne, Robbie Rogers, Michael Parkhurst, and Charlie Davies), players looking to earn more prominent roles (Dan Califf and Jonathan Bornstein), and Internationally inexperienced players (John Thorrington and Troy Perkins).
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January 12, 2009 at 12:35 pm · Filed under life
When I launched ahelms.com I did not realize that posting my résumé would result in the receipt of copious emails from recruiters looking to fill “very urgent” and “critical” positions for “well-respected”, “Fortune 5/10/50/100″ companies.
I am not a big fan of recruiters…and not just because they abuse exclamation points!!! One small part of why my dislike of recruiters is growing is the awkward, inappropriate language they use in emails to candidates like me. A small sampling and my commentary is below.
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December 4, 2008 at 5:58 pm · Filed under music
I love Christmastime. Three ways this love is manifest:
- I tie an awesome small wooden Santa around my neck with a green string.
- I watch four movies: It’s a Wonderful Life, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Elf, and Love Actually.
- I listen to a lot of holiday music.
The main purpose of this post is to discuss the third point, holiday music. When it comes to finding quality holiday music, I find myself on the fence that separates festive from compulsive. The search began in the days of free napster when I had no scruples about downloading and distributing pirated music. Though financially strapped I had blank CDs, a CD writer and a lot of time so I decided to spread holiday cheer by making a delicious compilation of Christmas songs from contemporary artists for my family and friends. The aptly titled Merry Xmas Mix was a hit; five years on and we’re still listening to it while eating Chex mix and chocolate covered coconut balls and playing Scrabble around the dining room table. Read the rest of this entry »
November 20, 2008 at 12:40 pm · Filed under soccer
In the final match of the semifinal round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying for the US, a side comprised of second and third-choice players convincingly beat Guatemala 2-0 on the strength of goals from Kenny Cooper and Freddy Adu. Though Guatemala was desperate for a win to extend its chances of qualifying for the next round, the desperation never translated to belief or commitment as it put numbers behind the ball and seemed more intent on not being humiliated rather than going for a win for the opening minute.
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November 19, 2008 at 10:24 am · Filed under technology
My psychological profile according to an analysis of ahelms.com done by typealyzer (typos and grammatical errors not mine):
This show what parts of the brain that were dominant during writing.
ISTP – The Mechanics
The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generelly prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.
The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.
Hat tip: Greg Mankiw
October 23, 2008 at 11:07 am · Filed under life
I hate how politics are so polarizing. On most, if not all, issues we have a common goal – why can’t we start from there? I heard a wise man once say when discussing divisive issues we should discuss them in terms of “us” rather than “we” and “them”.
Two stupid emails I received recently amused me not because of their content but because they were sent by different people who are on opposite ends of the Democrat/Republican continuum within minutes of each other. The first is an open letter to “red states” a term I HATE.
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October 23, 2008 at 10:53 am · Filed under books
The subtitle of Friedman’s latest exposition on globalization is ‘Why We Need a Green Revolution and How it can Renew America’. In the context of what Friedman calls the Energy-Climate era, Hot, Flat, and Crowded presents the state of what is, how it became that way and what it could become. He traveled the world speaking to leaders and witnessing first-hand the effect that what he calls global weirding (because CO2 emmissions don’t just make the temperature hotter, they make the weather weirder) is having on our environment, especially when coupled with the forces of globalization. As typical with any Friedman work the book is very entertaining and full of pithy, attention grabbing stories that pull from publications that span the globe and quotes from leaders like GE’s CEO Jeffrey Immelt to Barnabus Suebu, the governor of Indonesia’s forest-rich province of Papua.
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October 17, 2008 at 3:09 pm · Filed under technology
ahelms.com is purely for my edification and enjoyment. I do like hearing from people who keep up with the posts. One friend told me he subscribes to the RSS feed just to stay up-to-date with US soccer scores; he is not interested in reading my analysis but he appreciates that I put the scores in the title. Friends usually hear about the site from my wife, facebook profile or IM away message. I enjoy learning about how other people find the site, where they come from, what browser they use, etc.
The two things I find most interesting are where visitors are geographically located and what search terms lead people to ahelms.com. Most of the searches are from recruiters looking for data architects/analysts, but people also love a good car crash as evidenced by the different variations of searches looking for bicycle accident photos: bad bycicle accident pictures, bicycle crash photos, photo of cycle accident, photos of mountain biking accidents, mountain bike accident photo
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October 16, 2008 at 12:11 am · Filed under soccer
AP Photo
In a match that was little more than an opportunity for second choice players to improve their standing, the US dropped its first game of World Cup qualifying 2-1 to an experienced, stronger Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) side. The result was huge for T&T; it propelled them to second place, three points ahead of Guatemala which was upset by Cuba 2-1. With just one match remaining T&T is set to qualify for the final round of qualification at the expense of the Guatemalans.
A sloppy field and hot, humid conditions made for an ugly game devoid of chances or creative interplay. I was excited to get a chance to see young players like Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Jose Torres, Michael Orozco, Danny Szetela, Maurice Edu and Charlie Davies play in a pressure environment on the road against a regional rival’s best players. Unfortunately no player positively stood out in this game, an absolute luxury earned by grinding out results on the road and routing opponents at home.
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October 15, 2008 at 5:56 am · Filed under life
Today, October 15, is Blog Action Day, a day that bloggers commit to write posts about a particular issue in order to promote awareness and to force issues into the collective conscience. Last year, the first year for Blog Action Day, the topic was environmental issues. This year nearly 10,000 blogs, which reach 10 million readers, have committed to publish posts that discuss poverty. The topic of my blog post is the documentary Call + Response–a rockumentary really but that term makes me cringe–about human trafficking that was released last week.
The film is the brainchild of Justin Dillon, a musician who learned about human trafficking while traveling in Russia with his band. As he became more educated about the issue he felt called to respond. What started as benefit concerts evolved into the musical documentary that features influential activists, statespersons, leaders of non-profit organizations and musicians all committed to raising awareness about the “world’s 27 million most terrifying secrets”.
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