The Wanderings and Musings of Mike

Plane as seen from the beach

2010-03-03T13:28:00.003+08:00

Philippine Prudential Life

2009-08-11T17:34:00.003+08:00

After visiting Comic Con last Saturday, Juzie and I were walking towards the other end of Megamall and as we neared the escalator going down to the movies we were approached by a very apologetic gay man who asked us if any of us had a credit card. I said yes I did and was immediately congratulated because he told us we won an umbrella and some other schwag. We even had a chance to win a car, he said. Fine. I was told to follow him and follow him we did into the office of Philippine Prudential Life although I could see it was Dunville something in the front.

I was told to wait a while and all throughout this time, this man kept winking, saying he was sorry for taking up our time and thanking us because we added a lot to his commission. He kept complimenting me and asking me where I was from and where Juzie was from and exclaiming what a wonderful place this and that was. He also told me that if I were asked inside the office if I was willing to listen to a presentation I should answer yes. Note that I was never given a spare chance to think for myself.

We were then called inside to meet a woman who introduced herself as Reynalyn. She gave me a questionnaire to fill out.

After asking for the basic information like name and address the questionnaire asked "What do you want for yourself, your family, and your children?" with lots of spaces to fill out a nice essay. I answered for myself "Gardening. World Domination. Immortality." For my family I answered "Security and World Domination." For my children I answered "Happiness."

After filling the questionnaire out Reynalyn gave a quite convincing spiel. First she asked me "How would I be able to fulfill my goals of-" (she looks at my answer) "Gardening. World Domination!" Without skipping a beat, "Immortality!" All this time she's writing upside down on my questionnaire but I can only make out the peso sign and stuff like "Today".

Well, after a long chat about millionaires having a chance to earn 4-8% interest on deposits if their initial deposit started at a million (I forgot the term) and how I could earn that much if I trusted my money with them, she asked for my credit card. I asked for seven days to think about it since I really hate making spot decisions on my finances. She wouldn't take no for an answer and for someone as shy as me, I found it hard saying no. Good for her that her manager suggested I take a cheaper option and so I took it just to get it over with. It's a good thing I already almost maxed my card or else I'd be charged with 1680 every month. I came away with a 365 peso charge to my credit card and a small pillow.

I took solace in the fact that Juzie was there for the whole presentation and that she would learn a thing or two about persuasive selling.

The Congressmen Who Signed HR 1109 Are…

2009-06-04T14:31:00.000+08:00

Taken from http://filipinovoices.com/the-congressmen-who-signed-hr-1109-are with thanks to Dani

ABANTE, BIENVENIDO M. “BENNY” 6TH District Pandacan
ABLAN, ROQUE R. JR, Ilocos Norte, 1st District
AGBAYANI, VICTOR AGUEDO E. Pangasinan, 2nd District
AGYAO, MANUEL, S Kalinga Province
ALBANO (III), RODOLFO T. Isabela, 1st District
ALFELOR, FELIX R. JR. 4th District, Camarines Sur
ALMARIO, THELMA Z. Davao Oriental, 2nd District
ALVAREZ, ANTONIO C. Palawan 1st District
ALVAREZ, GENARO RAFAEL M. JR. Negros Occidental, 6th District
AMANTE, EDELMIRO A. Agusan Del Norte, 2nd District
AMATONG, ROMMEL C. Compostela Valley, 2nd District
ANGPING, MARIA ZENAIDA B. Manila, 3rd District
ANTONINO, RODOLFO W. Nueva Ecija, 4th District
APOSTOL, TRINIDAD G. Leyte, 2nd District
AQUINO, JOSE S. (II) 1st District Agusan del Norte
ARAGO, MARIA EVITA R. 3rd district, Laguna
ARBISON, A MUNIR M. Sulu 2nd District
ARENAS, MA. RACHEL J. Pangasinan, 3rd District
ARROYO, DIOSDADO M. Camarines Sur, 1st District
ARROYO, IGNACIO T. 5th district Negros Occidental
ARROYO, JUAN MIGUEL M. 2nd District of Pampanga
BAGATSING, AMADO S. Manila 5th district
BALINDONG, PANGALIAN M. Lanao del Sur, 2nd District
BARZAGA, ELPIDIO F. JR. Cavite, 2nd District
BAUTISTA, FRANKLIN P. Davao Del Sur, 2nd District
BELMONTE, VICENTE F. JR. Lanao del Norte, 1st District
BICHARA, AL FRANCIS C. Albay, 2nd District
BIRON, FERJENEL G. Iloilo, 4th District
BONDOC, ANNA YORK P. Pampanga 4th District
BONOAN-DAVID, MA. THERESA B. Manila, 4th District
BRAVO, NARCISO R. JR. Masbate, 1st District
BRIONES, NICANOR M. AGAP Party list
BUHAIN, EILEEN ERMITA Batangas, 1st District
BULUT, ELIAS C. JR. Apayao Lone District
CAGAS (IV), MARC DOUGLAS C. Davao Del Sur, 1st District
CAJAYON, MARY MITZI L. Caloocan, 2nd District
CAJES, ROBERTO C. Bohol, 2nd District
CARI, CARMEN L. Leyte, 5th District
CASTRO, FREDENIL H. Capiz, 2nd District
CELESTE, ARTHUR F. Pangasinan, 1st District
CERILLES, ANTONIO H. Zamboanga Del Sur, 2nd District
CHATTO, EDGARDO M. Bohol, 1st District
CHONG, GLENN A. Biliran, Lone District
CHUNG-LAO, SOLOMON R. Ifugao, Lone District
CLARETE, MARINA C. Misamis Occidental, 1st District
CODILLA, EUFROCINO M. SR. Leyte, 4th District
COJUANCO, MARK O. Pangasinan, 5th District
COQUILA, TEODULO M. Eastern Samar, Lone District
CRISOLOGO, VINCENT P. Quezon City, 1st District
CUA, JUNIE E. Quirino, Lone District
CUENCO, ANTONIO V. Cebu City, 2nd District
DANGWA, SAMUEL M. Benguet, Lone District
DATUMANONG, SIMEON A. Maguindanao, Lone District
Dayanghirang, Nelson L. Davao Oriental, 1st District
DAZA, NANETTE C. Quezon City, 4th District
DAZA, PAUL R. Northern Samar, 1st District
DE GUZMAN, DEL R. Marikina City, 2nd District
DEFENSOR, ARTHUR D. SR. Iloilo, 3rd District
DEFENSOR, MATIAS V. JR. Quezon City, 3rd District
DEL MAR, RAUL V. Cebu City, 1st District
DIASNES, CARLO OLIVER D. (MD) Batanes, Lone District
DIMAPORO, ABDULLAH D. Lanao Del Norte, 2nd District
DOMOGAN, MAURICIO G. Baguio, Lone District
DUAVIT, MICHAEL JOHN R. Rizal, 1st District
DUENAS, HENRY M. JR. Taguig, 2nd District (2nd Councilor District)
DUMARPA, FAYSAH MRP. Lanao del Sur, 1st District
DUMPIT, THOMAS L. JR. La Union, 2nd District
DURANO (IV), RAMON H. 5th District, Cebu
ECLEO, GLENDA B. Dinagat Islands, Lone District
EMANO, YEVGENY VICENTE B. Misamis Oriental, 2nd District
ENVERGA, WILFRIDO MARK M. Quezon, 1st District
ESTRELLA, CONRADO M. (III) Pangasinan, 6th District
ESTRELLA, ROBERT RAYMUND M. ABONO Party List
FERRER, JEFFREY P. Negros Occidental, 4th District
GARAY, FLORENCIO C. Surigao Del Sur, 2nd District
GARCIA, ALBERT S. Bataan, 2nd District.
GARCIA, PABLO JOHN F. Cebu, 3rd District
GARCIA, PABLO P. Cebu, 2nd District
GARCIA, VINCENT J. Davao City, 2nd District
GARIN, JANETTE L. Iloilo, 1st District
GATCHALIAN, REXLON T. Valenzuela City, 1st District
GATLABAYAN, ANGELITO C. Antipolo City, 2nd District
GO, ARNULFO F. Sultan Kudarat, 2nd District
GONZALES, AURELIO D. JR. Pampanga 3rd District
GONZALES, RAUL T. JR. Iloilo City
GULLAS, EDUARDO R. Cebu, 1st District
GUNIGUNDO, MAGTANGGOL T. Valenzuela City 2nd District
HOFER, DULCE ANN K. Zamboanga Sibugay, 2nd District
JAAFAR, NUR G. Tawi-Tawi, Lone District
JALA, ADAM RELSON L. Bohol, 3rd District
JALOSJOS, CESAR G. Zamboanga del Norte, 3rd District
JALOSJOS-CARREON, CECILIA G. Zamboanga del Norte, 1st District
JIKIRI, YUSOP H. Sulu, 1st District
KHO, ANTONIO T. Masbate, 2nd District
LABADLABAD, ROSENDO S. Zamboanga del Norte, 2nd District
LACSON, JOSE CARLOS V. Negros Occidental, 3rd District
LAGDAMEO, ANTONIO F. JR. Davao del Norte, 2nd District
LAPUS, JECI A. Tarlac, 3rd District
LAZATIN, CARMELO F. Pampanga, 1st District
LIM, RENO G. Albay, 3rd District
LOPEZ, JAIME C. Manila, 2nd District
MADRONA, ELEANORA JESUS F. Romblon, Lone District
MAGSAYSAY, MARIA MILAGROS H. Zambales, 1st District
MALAPITAN, OSCAR G. Caloocan, 1st District
MAMBA, MANUEL N. Cagayan, 3rd District
MANGUDADATU, DATU PAKUNG S. Sultan Kudarat,
MARANON, ALFREDO D. III Negros Occidental, 2nd District
MATUGAS, FRANCISCO T. Surigao del Norte, 1st District
MENDOZA, MARK LEANDRO L. Batangas, 4th District
MERCADO, ROGER G. Southern Leyte, Lone District
MIRAFLORES, FLORENCIO T. Aklan, Lone District
NAVA, JOAQUIN CARLOS RAHMAN A. (MD) Guimaras, Lone District
NICOLAS, REYLINA G. Bulacan, 4th District
NOGRALES, PROSPERO C. Davao City, 1st District
OLAñO, ARREL R. Davao Del Norte, 1st District
ONG, EMIL L. Northern Samar, 2nd District
ORTEGA, VICTOR FRANCISCO C. La Union, 1st District
PABLO, ERNESTO C. APEC Party List
PANCHO, PEDRO M. Bulacan, 2nd District
PANCRUDO, CANDIDO P. JR. Bukidnon, 1st District
PICHAY, PHILIP A. Surigao Del Sur, 1st District
PIñOL, BERNARDO F. JR. North Cotabato, 2nd District
PUNO, ROBERTO V. Antipolo City, 1st District
RAMIRO, HERMINIA M. Misamis Occidental, 2nd District
REMULLA, JESUS CRISPIN C. Cavite, 3rd District
REYES, CARMELITA O. Marinduque, Lone District
REYES, VICTORIA H. Batangas, 3rd District
ROBES, ARTURO G. San Jose Del Monte City, Lone District
Rodriguez-Zaldarriaga, Adelina Rizal, 2nd District
ROMAN, HERMINIA B. Bataan, 1st District
ROMARATE, GUILLERMO A. JR. Surigao del Norte, 2nd District
ROMUALDEZ, FERDINAND MARTIN G. Leyte, 1st District
ROMUALDO, PEDRO Camiguin, Lone District
ROMULO, ROMAN T. Pasig City, Lone District
ROXAS, JOSE ANTONIO F. Pasay City
SALIMBANGON, BENHUR L. Cebu, 4th District
SALVACION JR., ANDRES D. Leyte, 3rd District
SAN LUIS, EDGAR S. Laguna, 4th District
SANDOVAL, ALVIN S. Malabon-Navotas, Lone District
SANTIAGO, JOSEPH A. Catanduanes, Lone District
SANTIAGO, NARCISO D. (III) ARC Party List
SEACHON-LANETE, RIZALINA L. 3rd district of Masbate
SEARES-LUNA, CECILIA M. Abra, Lone District
SILVERIO, LORNA C. Bulacan, 3rd District
SINGSON, ERIC D. Ilocos Sur, 2nd District
SINGSON, RONALD V. Ilocos Sur, 1st District
SOLIS, JOSE G. Sorsogon, 2nd District
SOON-RUIZ, NERISSA CORAZON Cebu, 6th District
SUAREZ, DANILO E. Quezon, 3rd District
SUSANO, MARY ANN L. Quezon City, 2nd District
SY-ALVARADO, MA. VICTORIA R. Bulacan, 1st District
SYJUCO, JUDY J. 2nd Dsitrict, Iloilo
TALINO-MENDOZA, EMMYLOU J. North Cotabato, 1st District
TAN, SHAREE ANN T. Samar, 2nd District
TEODORO, MARCELINO R. Marikina City, 1st District
TEODORO, MONICA LOUISSE PRIETO Tarlac, 1st District
TEVES, PRYDE HENRY A. Negros Oriental, 3rd District
TUPAS, NEIL C. JR. Iloilo, 5th District
UNGAB, ISIDRO T. Davao City, 3rd District
UY, EDWIN C. Isabela, 2nd District
UY, REYNALDO S. Samar, 1st District
UY, ROLANDO A. Cagayan De Oro City, Lone District
VALDEZ, EDGAR L. APEC Party List
VALENCIA, RODOLFO G. Oriental Mindoro, 1st District
VARGAS, FLORENCIO L. Cagayan, 2nd District
VILLAFUERTE, LUIS R. Camarines Sur, 2nd District
VILLAROSA, MA. AMELITA C. Occidental Mindoro, Lone District
VIOLAGO, JOSEPH GILBERT F. Nueva Ecija, 2nd District
YAP, JOSE V. Tarlac, 2nd District
YU, VICTOR J. Zamboanga Del Sur, 1st District
ZAMORA, MANUEL E. 1st District, Compostela Valley
ZIALCITA, EDUARDO C. Parañaque, 1st District

My Neighbor's Car

2009-05-27T14:17:00.000+08:00

Want.

Best Spam Email Ever

2009-04-30T10:37:00.000+08:00

From: Aguinaldo
Subject: What is A Dental Dam?

Of vernon. His son, richard, by whom the foundation are desirous
of acquiring virtue practise diverse.

What is A Dental Dam? Learn more

All the kalingas, he stayed in the midst of the with a name
very like yours, though i don't remember with joy and he
firmly set his heart on battle. Trifle, and that always
indulge in wrath. I never directly after the ceremony with
her certificate a poulet duchanel might easily account for
such but biffen evidently had not put his foot down. Wrinkle
in fine folds, the quick turn of her head recite to thee
the old story of vasudeva and the freedom from wrath, freedom
from decrying others, wouldn't. I certainly have no idea
of breaking their way over mountains of snow: he would nevertheless.

Beach and Belly Fat

2009-04-11T20:02:00.000+08:00

I'm so fat. :( This was taken last Monday at Virgin Beach in Laiya, Batangas. This was the first time I went to the beach as the person responsible for almost everything. I have no money left :( That freaking beach resort was frakking expensive! 680 per person and 1350 for the parasol/place plus 10% service charge and 12% VAT. I also brought my sister and Juzie brought her brother.

The four-hour drive to the place wasn't that hard but the drive back was triply hard on me. We drove back at twilight so the fading light made everything hard to see. Also, Juzie's car was heavily tinted and the roads from Laiya until SLEX (even the Batangas Star Tollway) weren't lighted so I had a hard time seeing beyond maybe 50 feet.

The beach was fun if expensive and hard to get to.

The Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards Volume 1

2009-04-05T12:27:00.004+08:00

It's brilliant! Beautiful! There's even a story set in my hometown of Dumaguete.

A blurb at the back states:

"A powerful spacecraft fuelled by Kris Aquino's limitless gossip, is sent to an asteroid on a mission to save the world."

That's what made me buy the book.

I'm about halfway through. There is so much talent in this single book I wonder why Filipinos aren't at the top hundred lists of art, literature and every single aspect of creativity.

On a side note: I love the paper used in the book. I think it's vellum, like the ones used in good magazines.

Another side note: fuelled. Is that how it's actually spelled? It looked really weird for me.

Gym

2009-03-31T17:43:00.001+08:00

27/03/09

I've been going to the gym for four nights now.

It feels great. "The iron does not lie to you." Before I went there I kept getting positive feedback from Juzie that I had a "macho" body (and like a sucker, I listened). Sigh. When I went to the gym I felt like a huge blob of fat.

I didn't know I could do squats. I jogged a bit and cycled a few weeks before going to the gym but somehow squat exercises just terrified me. I do three sets of twenty now.

I could do twenty pushups before getting bored before I joined the gym so doing bench presses and upper body exercises was comparably easy to do (even though the weights I lift are small compared to what my gym mates lift).

31/03/09 17:33

Last night was my worst night ever. I rested on Saturday and Sunday, well, partially. I did some manly chores that included the laundry and affixing hinges to a broken cabinet door. I went back to the gym last night. Things were pretty hard. The 10 minutes on the exercise bike was hell; I kept adjusting the difficulty lever lower than last week's difficulty as my thighs were burning with pain. This was just in the first two minutes.

I tried to do three sets of twenty on the bench press with seventy pounds but my shoulder kept complaining. (My shoulder was injured maybe four years ago when in a Judo match my opponent threw me using uchimata and we both landed on my elbow. I was stupid enough to continue another match thinking I could still use my left arm. Needless to say, I injured my right shoulder further.) It was only after a few bad starts and two sets that I was able to finish a full twenty.

I was able to finish the full set of squats. I started by increasing the weights to thirty pounds, a fifty percent increase. I finished the exercise breathing heavily and without much discomfort. The walk back home wasn't as excruciating like last week. It was only when I sat down on my comfy chair in front of my laptop that I felt the full impact of the exercise. I couldn't stand up again for a full five minutes.

No pain, no gain, right?

It's memories like these that keep me terrified of going back to the gym but it's the image I see in the mirror that pushes me to go back.

I've stopped exercising in the office to save up energy for gym time. I've given up playing on my laptop although I can find some small pockets of time in the morning while waiting for my roommate to finish taking a shower where I can play a little bit of Guitar Hero. (I know it's corny but I don't have the time to learn real guitar.)

Weekend Back Home

2009-03-02T09:18:00.002+08:00

Yep. That's me on the left. Still fat. Sigh. Juzie looks wonderful.

I didn't have much time to take photographs this weekend when we went back home to Dumaguete. This picture was taken by the Amlan river near where my grandparents grew up. The river used to be 20 meters away but has changed a bit since the flood back in February 7. A lot of houses were washed away and one of my grandparents almost lost all his puppies to the flood. His workers had to climb the roofs of the pens and carry the puppies away.

Puppies! The Jack Russels in the back were too hyperactive to take a good picture of. The labradors were more accomodating.

Caffeine

2009-02-23T16:25:00.000+08:00

I have discovered a candidate for the source of some of my headaches. It's caffeine. But I don't drink coffee. I read recently about caffeine being the most addictive drug on the planet and withdrawal symptoms include headaches. I only drink Coke on the weekends and it's mostly on the weekends that I don't get headaches. This bears investigating.

See? Now I can't construct complex sentences anymore let alone paragraphs. My head's killing me.

Mirror's Edge

2009-02-14T19:14:00.000+08:00

It's awesome.

Molds

2009-02-12T20:21:00.001+08:00

I don't know what happened. I don't want to know.

Cuil

2009-02-10T17:11:00.002+08:00

This is Cuil.

http://cuiltheory.wikidot.com/what-is-cuil-theory

Cuil. Kooo-eeel. Kyoooolle?

Of Being Twenty-Six And Sickness

2009-01-18T15:11:00.002+08:00

I've just realized I'm 26. I turned 26 a long while ago but it has now hit me. I'm really immature and insensitive. I think I have to start acting my age.

I've also realized that I'm always sick with one ailment after another. Usually with a few weeks respite in between. Last year I had irritable bowel syndrome and cough and colds. This year it was chickenpox, a six month bout with cough and colds and now after a month of committed excercise it's back to colds. I don't know why my immune system is so weak but from here on I'm fighting back! RAAAAAAARGH!

Burning Wii Backup Discs

2009-01-18T14:20:00.002+08:00

I am making this post for future Wii burners everywhere. Use DVD-Rs. That's 'minus' R.

I don't want to tell you how many DVD+Rs I've wasted and the number of hours downloading an English version of Wii Sports. The original Wii Sports that came with my Wii was in Taiwanese or some such. I had to go to extra lengths just to play it and when I did I had to figure out what those Chinese/Taiwanese/Japanese characters meant. Wii Sports isn't the most seeded game out there because it's usually packaged with the console so it took a long while to download. But it's all worth it! I can now understand those onscreen instructions and even gauge my Wii fitness age. The world is mine! Bwahahah-hurgh ack.

In Which A Wii Is Bought, The Internet Delved, And Generally A Happy Ending

2009-01-12T07:40:00.002+08:00

I bought a Wii last Saturday. It came with an original Wii Sports game but the console itself was softmodded. The problem was the console was modified from a Japanese (or Chinese?) version into a US version but the original Wii Sports game was Japanese and region locked so I couldn't play Wii Sports on it. The only reason I wanted a Wii was to play boxing on it. Last Christmas vacation my cousins invited me to play Wii Sports Boxing with them and from then on I wanted a Wii for myself so badly. Good thing I had some money from my Christmas bonus and money I was saving for medical emergencies. XD Okay okay. It's a bad idea but I wanted the Wii so bad!

Back to the story. I delved the internet backwaters looking for a solution. I tried googling for "Wii Hack" or some such and after a few blog posts referencing other blog posts and then an obscure "to come solution" I found a comment saying that "Geck OS" made region free playing possible. It's a good thing my Wii came with the Homebrew Channel or else I'd have gone crazy on how to hack my Wii to display that channel. This Homebrew Channel makes running homebrew on the Wii so much easier because I don't have to have an original Twilight Zelda something saved game to make my Wii crash and some other hardware to make my Wii boot into a configurable mode every time I need to run homebrew. By the way, homebrew means anything not made by the makers of the console or licensed game makers.

I wrote a bunch more stuff here but I think I'm just rambling. Long story short: Geck OS didn't work but after much more delving I found Menu Loader and I was able to play my original Wii sports game albeit in Japanese (Chinese ?).

The Boxing game is crazy fun. My arms are tired.

Ping Pong Playa

2009-01-08T18:26:00.000+08:00

Watch it. I highly recommend it. At first it's annoying but strangely it becomes endearing.

"I LIKE... I LIKE... I LIKE CEREAL!"

Car Accident

2009-01-07T09:09:00.003+08:00

Juzie figured in a three car collision last Monday night. On a red light stop in front of Power Station in Macapagal Avenue an owner type jeep smashed into her car from behind and caused her to crash into the van in front of her. She suffers from partial hearing loss in her left ear and pain in the right part of her neck. It's a good thing she's religious about wearing a seat belt or else she'd have broken her face on the steering wheel.

Her rear bumper was damaged and we didn't notice the front license plate being loose so when we reached the LTO (Land Transportation Office) we found out it must have dropped away on the way there.

While waiting for the traffic enforcers and investigators to arrive Juzie and the other drivers didn't talk to each other but when the investigators did arrive the driver of the owner type jeep was quick to accuse the others and even raised his voice.

It took an hour for a traffic enforcer to arrive at the scene and another hour for investigators to get there. It took maybe 30 minutes for them to make an assessment of the situation and maybe 45 minutes to guide us to the LTO branch in Banilaw. The owner type jeep was leaking fluids when last we saw it so the driver was understandably late to the LTO by maybe an hour but he didn't bring the jeep. The LTO Officer took note of this and asserted maybe his jeep wasn't registered. On the way to the LTO Juzie's car made loud thrumming noises when the engine was doing low revolutions but not undergeared.

The LTO Officer determined that the driver of the owner type jeep as the person at fault and the driver of the van didn't press any charges. The van's driver when asked to fill out the form given by the LTO Officer went out for maybe 30 minutes. It turns out he didn't know how to write. The driver of the owner type jeep when asked to fill out his form asked in turn if he could borrow some eye glasses. I wanted to kill him.

Another LTO Officer took pictures of the damage to Juzie's car and the van. He asked for 190 Pesos as a fee. I thought these public servants were being paid through our taxes. We were told to come back Wednesday for the police report with the medical certificate in hand.

After the red tape at the LTO we went to UERMMC (University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center) for a check up. We were directed to the Emergeny Room as it was past 10 in the evening. Juzie was checked and xrayed (which waiting for took the better part of two hours) and diagnosed as having neck muscle strain. The xrays didn't show any fractures.

What's left now is to wade through bureaucratic muck to get a replacement license plate, the LTO police report, the insurance claim.

This is a reminder to people out there. It doesn't matter if you've trained yourself to be a good driver. You can be the most careful driver out there and a careless person can still hurt you.

Take care and give allowances for other's stupidity and carelessness.

Low Carb Diet and Exercise Update

2009-01-06T18:41:00.004+08:00

My sister mentioned a few days ago that low carb diets are actually better for weight loss than low fat diets. While browsing reddit I came across this article.

At first I didn't like his writing style but the few reddit comments there were on it convinced me to finish reading it.

I think I'll give it a try but protein diets are expensive. How am I supposed to eat lots of protein and little carbs and feel full without going broke? Anyway. It's worth a shot.

I'm up to 30 pushups now. Used to be 25 was the point of muscular failure for me. 30 now feels easy but I'm still wary of triggering my vascular migraine by exerting too much.

Silliman Beach

2009-01-03T00:04:00.000+08:00

That's Silliman Beach. Yep. It's dirty. It didn't use to be like that. I remember I learned to swim here. I don't know what island that is in the background. Probably Siquijor. Please correct me if I'm wrong. The strip of land in the center is part of the Dumaguete Airport.

Religulous

2009-01-02T10:18:00.000+08:00

I'm watching it right now. It's bloody brilliant. There's a problem with blogger uploading pics right now so ... ack.

Holidays and Diet

2009-01-01T17:02:00.000+08:00

Lola: "Tambuka nimo Mikey uy!" (Grandmother: You're so fat, Mikey!)

later...

Lola: "Ngano wala ka ga kaon? Kaon! Kaon! Daghang pagkaon!" (Grandmother: Why aren't you eating? Eat! Eat! There's plenty of food to eat!)

Sigh.

Pushups

2009-01-01T16:50:00.000+08:00

I did 40! Then another 30! Then got a MASSIVE headache. Argh.

Soya Milk and Exercise

2008-12-21T10:41:00.000+08:00

I just found out that during my early childhood I drank soy milk because I was allergic to cow milk. A lot of things have now made more sense. Sigh. This means I do have a lot more work to do to slim down. It's been almost a month since I recovered from a 5 month respiratory something and vomiting phlegm and acid reflux.

I have started exercising again. Before I got sick I was fat but during my sickness I got a lot fatter because I couldn't exercise and I ate 3 square meals a day while my work only entailed sitting in front of a computer. I've started exercising again right when I realized I have stopped coughing those small coughs from the mucusy drip at the back of my throat. I now jogg every weekday I can. Now I can finish 5 rounds around the block without the last 3 in excruciating pain and side stiches. I do pushups. A year ago I could do 20 at a time. When I started again I could only do 10 and it took me 3 days to recover. Now I can do 130-140 a day split into 4 20-rep sets in the morning and 3 20 reps at night. I can do the same number of bicep curls (too bad I couldn't take my dumbbells with me on vacation.) I can do 3 30-rep crunch sets although I can only do them when no one is in the staff house living room where I stay (but I'm hoping to catch up during my vacation.) I'm still fat but I don't have that really bad bloated feeling. Here's hoping I can sustain this streak indefinitely.

In order to have the energy to exercise in the morning I have cut back on my pc gaming time. I sleep at 10 in the evening so I can wake up early for my jog. I also try to eat only at breakfast and a cupcake sometime in the afternoon. I succeed maybe 80% of the time. I've felt great. I'm thinking I can do this but some days there's a wall. A wall where I can only do two sets of pushups and maybe just part of the second set. I step back and relax then try again tomorrow. Usually I can get back on the number of sets I usually do.

Not to be cheesy or anything but: Yes I can.

Side note. Cebu pacific charges Php 100 for every kilogram over the 15Kg alloted. WTF.

TiddlyWiki

2008-12-15T13:23:00.006+08:00

I got it from here. http://eriwen.com/tools/wikify-yourself/

At first I'm wary of using this page because I didn't understand how it worked. I thought it would upload to a database somewhere but when I tried it out I found that it just overwrote itself. It's Javascript based. Or something. Anyway. It has revolutionized how I keep notes. I've been using it for 4 days since I read about it in reddit. It's beautiful. I can create daily journals and edit the menu to display quick items for ToDo lists or pending research items or even just copy paste stuff from emails. I tried using the Windows Calendar for keeping track of stuff but I didn't like the interface. I tried using ToDoList by AbstractSpoon but now I just use that for keeping track of work. With the GTD flavor of TiddlyWiki I add stuff, links, images or whatever for what I'm supposed to be doing. For a person who can't remember to finish a can of Coke I am really enjoying this Wiki.

By the way, I tried adding the checkbox addon but couldn't figure out how to work it. No matter. It's still awesome.

I you want to try it out for yourself open http://checkettsweb.com/tw/gtd_tiddlywiki.htm and save the page on your machine. Open the saved htm file in a compatible web browser and voila! Awesomeness at your fingertips. You may have to customize a lot but it's worth it.

There's an option for uploading the data you create using the page somewhere but I haven't tried it.

EDIT: After a month of writing journal entries and exercise tracking stuff I'm still enjoying TiddlyWiki. Eric pointed out how to work with the checkbox plugin but I guess the real problem I had with installing it was that I never got the confirmation message that the plugin was indeed installed. I was just digging through the various tiddlers when I noticed the Plugin Checkbox tiddler. WTF. I didn't even noticed I ever installed it properly. I might have also parsed Eric's comment wrongly (or misread) when he said to create a checkbox all you have to do is type [(space)]. Or maybe I just spaced out. The internet does that to me sometimes. XD.

Again. I can't remember installing this plugin properly. I don't touch drugs. Or alcohol.

Thanks, Eric!

EDIT: Aww. Checkbox thingy doesn't work on Chrome. Works on Firefox, though.
EDIT: Stupid. I edited the Checkbox Plugin Tiddler by adding [ ] and [X] at the beginning to test for it. It stopped working after a browser restart. Anyway, it works on Chrome. Woot!

Fuck you, Globe Telecom

2008-12-09T17:19:00.005+08:00

I get these spam Globe Svcs+ messages every 5 minutes. I think they started a only a few days ago. They don't show up on my inbox but they pop up on my phone's screen uninvited and very intrusive. They disappear after about 2 minutes on their own but that's 2 minutes too long. If I get my hands on the person responsible for this I wish him the hell of eternal waking. (Sandman Vol 1 I think.)

There's another one! Fuck you GLOBE!

EDIT: I am switching to Smart.
EDIT: Thank you, Ralph. I'll try what you said.

Bolt (Movie)

2008-11-27T10:33:00.002+08:00

Awesome!

I love the hamster. :) I miss having pets. :(

"Ring ring. Who's there? Destiny. I've been expecting your call. *INSANE CACKLING*" Mwahahahaha I can totally see myself doing this. In fact, I drove my girlfriend crazy when I cackled insanely every five minutes on the long drive home.

Nvidia Problem

2008-11-22T10:55:00.002+08:00

Curse you Nvidia!!! I was playing Fallout 3 and the scariest thing happened: pixels were randomly changing color! I could barely make out the game and I immediately restarted my laptop. How am I supposed to play now?! If my video card breaks then how am I supposed to use my laptop? It's not like I can go out and easily buy a replacement video card. Curse you Nvidia! May the people responsible have their eyes rot out of their skulls at their happiest moment and may their love ones turn and scorn them away.

Curse you Nvidia for selling poor quality cards. I curse you a billion times. I have always used Nvidia cards since the first time I bought one six years ago. I have always enjoyed the stunning graphics of the games I have played on my beloved cards. No more. Curse you Nvidia. I curse you.

Honey and Calamansi

2008-11-19T17:28:00.002+08:00

Eherm. Test results have confirmed that Honey and Calamansi together has a powerful laxative effect. Subsequent testing to determine which parts and in what concentration of the solution have been vehemently denied.

M3U Playlist Export Thingy

2008-11-12T17:31:00.005+08:00

I have favorite mp3s scattered over many different locations/albums and I want to listen to them on my psp. I wanted to have winamp copy them from the playlist directly to my mp3 but I couldn't find anything on the net. I also didn't want to go to each mp3's folder and copy paste them into my psp. After scouring the net for a winamp plugin and finding no success I decided to write my own app. Sadly, I don't have time to play around with making a winamp plugin so the best I could do in a few hours was to write an app that would export mp3 entries found in a M3U playlist file and copy them into a specified directory.

Here it is! It's a java .jar file so you need to have Java installed and double click on it. I think this will only work on Windows because of the SWT stuff I used but I really don't know.

This was made using the jigloo eclipse plugin as well as the SWT library. I had fun learning SWT.

Here is the source in case anyone wants to modify it for their own uses.

It looks ugly and would give any coder nightmares to decipher the generic variable names and haphazard placing of functions.

Java AI book

2008-11-11T16:40:00.001+08:00

Here's a new Java book on Artificial Programming by Mark Watson. I wish this came out a few years earlier.

Special Problem

2008-11-08T07:23:00.004+08:00

Woot! Someone noticed my vid on the robots and he/she wants to try and do something similar. I'm posting my special problem here for him/her to see.

*English should have non-gender-specific pronouns or whatever they're called like Tagalog has.

Special Problem

Great Music for Coding

2008-10-15T15:27:00.003+08:00

Wow. Man. The soundtrack to the movie The Fountain is awesome. Sounds kinda like Smashing Pumpkins' The end is the beginning is the end but more... awesome. It doesn't distract me with vocals and it's easy to tune out when I have to really concentrate and then when I need a mood boost it's great to listen to.

I So Agree

2008-10-08T15:16:00.002+08:00

http://peoplemakelifeawful.blogspot.com/2008/10/sorry-i-didnt-know-this-was-one-way.html

I'm looking at you students from UPLB. I have to either walk on the street or on the grass just to go my way. Even groups of two don't form a single file. Bastards.

Blues Traveller - Run Around

2008-09-29T13:27:00.001+08:00

I'm looking for their new(ish) single. I think it's titled I Get Wild. Or something. Help me out here?

Programmable robots

2008-09-25T11:37:00.002+08:00

This here's a programmable robot I spotted in a bookstore or something convention at SMX Mall of Asia. I soooo badly want one but this one costs 150,000 pesos. That's right. It's a monetary equivalent of 3 motorcycles. Or a second-hand car. There are cheaper versions. One module with one body segment and 4 wheels costs 15,000 pesos. Oh wait, I'm not sure about the 150,000 pesos for the puppy-bot above. I think the 150K is for the snake-bot. Anyway. I want. For what possible purpose you might ask. For world domination, of course. Von Neumann machines!

Evolved Robot vs Tracker

2008-09-22T16:53:00.002+08:00

Here's a sample video of my robot controller that I built with a neural network attached to the scannedRobot event and used genetic algorithm to evolve the weights of its neural network. The opponent is a sample robot that came with Robocode. It's a homing and tracking robot.

The Man Who Can't Be Moved

2008-09-12T17:00:00.000+08:00

by The Script

The Joker

2008-08-13T18:42:00.003+08:00

Macro Photography Attempt

2008-08-13T18:38:00.004+08:00

Olympics Weightlifting (Women)

2008-08-11T14:29:00.001+08:00

non-chinese weightlifter: *grunt scream lift teeter balance tada!*

chinese small girl: *looks disdainfully at weights. lifts to chest then up above head. notices dust on shoulder. brushes it off. drops weights daintily.*

Olympics

2008-08-10T15:43:00.000+08:00

Go Team Philippines! We're proud of you!

Congratulations to those who have already won Gold medals especially the Judokas.

Password Panic

2008-08-01T10:34:00.002+08:00

I turned my laptop on at work today. I entered my password. *Invalid username or password.* Huh? I tried my password again and again. Same. I start to panic. I open my workstation and start downloading ophcrack livecd to crack my password. I shit my pants. It's gotta be a virus. I try all my online passwords. None work. I try them again. Damn. Then I pay closer attention to what I type. Turns out pressing the '5' key doesn't input a character. I think how the hell I'm going to get my laptop keyboard fixed. It's still brand new! Then I hope it's just something stuck underneath the key. I get out my trusty swiss knife and the toothpick in it. I try to pick underneath the key. Yay! It was a freaking rice grain. How the hell did that get there? I'm happy again.

Free books!

2008-07-15T11:25:00.004+08:00

Neil Gaiman's free book thingy has got me thinking. I started reading when I was in elementary school. Everything was free for me. I didn't have squat to my name. I had to wheedle my mom, aunts or grandparents to buy me books. I don't remember what started me off to science fiction. Maybe my older cousins left a book around and I started reading it. I only bought my first book in high school from the living allowance I got from my scholarship. It was expensive for me but I felt it was worth it. Now that I'm working I have bought lots more books and many of them second hand so I can get more for my money. My point is: you have to start people reading and that's by making those books available for free. When they can, they will buy more.

Please forgive the drawing. I feel that a blogpost without a picture is a featureless post and I couldn't think of a picture I look for from teh tubes.

PS: I'm currently reading West of Eden by Harry Harrison. Great read. Not much new concepts but Harrison writes well and I don't get stuck or bored.

Freddie Highmore

2008-06-15T10:24:00.003+08:00

I just started watching this movie and I believe the chance to make Ender's Game into a movie is too far gone. Freddie Highmore in Spiderwick Chronicles played twins of differing temperaments and pulls it off. Freddie could have easily played Ender and Peter. I'm so sad. I want to watch Ender's Game while I'm still young! Even if they started filming now, Freddie would be too old to play Ender. :(

Kung Fu Panda

2008-06-11T21:00:00.001+08:00

I've seen it twice. Awesome Kung Fu plus awesome comedy equals ARRGH! I'm blinded by the awesomeness!

Looking for bamboo

2008-06-06T11:15:00.003+08:00

... to build a booth for the Fair.

SEAGames Paralympics

2008-06-06T11:08:00.002+08:00

These guys are amazing. They compete in Judo and they're BLIND! One (not in pic) races down stairwells. Sheesh. Most of them work as massagers. (Not masseuses because I just learned that that term only refers to female massagers.) Their livelihood is dependent on their hands and fingers working properly and yet they continue to compete in a punishing sport.

Juzie in a Judo Match

2008-06-06T11:03:00.003+08:00

Juzie's on the right, wearing the blue belt. I wish I had a fast camera during college. It's hard to take pictures that happen in a blink of an eye.

Judo Tournament

2008-06-06T10:56:00.004+08:00

Goofballs as well. Great times.

College Arnis Team

2008-06-06T10:50:00.004+08:00

Goofballs, the lot of us. Great times.

Yes. That's an archery target in our home.

2008-06-06T10:46:00.001+08:00

My Grandfather In His Shop

2008-06-06T10:42:00.003+08:00

DIYer. When given any gift he will reply: "You shouldn't have bought me that. I could have made it myself."

Manila Smog

2008-05-23T16:14:00.002+08:00

Gross.

Kylie Minogue - Wow

2008-05-21T11:09:00.003+08:00

I'm listening to Kylie's Wow song from her X album and the intro blows my mind away. I could never in a million years imagine such sounds are possible and yet playable on a piano. The day before I surprised myself by writing a solution to a google sponsored "treasure hunt" question in 20 minutes. I imagine a programming equivalent to the intro on the Wow song would be instantly visualizing the solution, running it in your head then generating the correct answer right then. It's so creative and yet so simple. I don't know if you will feel the same, however, but that's what I think.

Oh, don't bother listening to it on low-fidelity speakers or earphones. I hate those tinny sounds they make.

Extraordinary

2008-05-14T10:31:00.000+08:00

Extra ordinary. Hmmmmmm.

Racing Model

2008-05-12T10:09:00.001+08:00

Religious Book

2008-05-12T10:04:00.002+08:00

C++. Found it at Booksale in Mall of Asia. I concur.

MPPA vs TorrentSpy

2008-05-08T17:59:00.002+08:00

MPPA awarded $100 million vs TorrentSpy. This is so sad. Please scroll down to the comments. The commenters tried to put the $100 million into perspective by saying that the USA gave $3 million in aid to Burma. And that's like 24 minutes in Iraq.

I am against Piracy. I pay for movies I watch in cinemas but do I get a refund if the movie or experience was awful? No. I am against crappy movies.

The commenters' comments regarding indexing copyrighted material being illegal and how it relates to Google made me chuckle. I am interested in how this will turn out.

How to Prototype a Game in Under 7 Days:

2008-05-07T15:15:00.002+08:00

These guys are impressive! I totally agree with their graph describing group and individual development over the development process against time. I like to code individually with all the decisions made beforehand. I like to create solutions that are only software problems like how to make this field display this while the user moves from these other fields. I don't want to decide how the whole software is going to function on my own but I do like to make it work as long as how it works is already decided.

Chuck (TV Series)

2008-05-06T15:46:00.002+08:00

It's pretty cool. I've watched two episodes and I'm surprised how suspenseful and exciting it is for a tv series about a normal geek infused with government secrets and having two agents watch over him. I like Chuck. He's normal. He's geeky - scratch that, he's nerdy and he's totally normal. He's like the anti-anti-hero. Nerd Herd. Lolz. Geek Squad was already taken.

Google Reader

2008-05-06T11:31:00.002+08:00

... has a notes/comments section for shared items! Woot! I've been waiting for this for months.

The Forbidden Kingdom

2008-04-26T23:31:00.003+08:00

Awesome fight scenes! Fast moves! The movie premise is a bit shaky but Jet Li and Jackie Chan sure do make fighting look easy.

Movie: Street Kings

2008-04-19T21:36:00.002+08:00

The movie was good. I mean really good. Not awesome or mind blowing but it was a very good movie to watch. I could almost foresee the plot then something else would happen; the twists were surprising and interesting. This movie, as many great works before it, brought to mind the phrase, "Who watches the watchmen?" I highly recommend everyone to watch this.

I can't wait for Indiana Jones, Iron Man, and Speed Racer. Please do not associate Street Kings with the aforementioned movies. I also like blockbusters as well as the next man.

Card's Lost Boys

2008-04-11T00:29:00.000+08:00

I just finished reading it. I couldn't stop. Spoiler ahead.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

Which Superhero Are You?

2008-04-06T20:29:00.001+08:00

Your results:
You are Hulk

Hulk		80%
Spider-Man		65%
Supergirl		55%
Superman		55%
Wonder Woman		50%
Green Lantern		50%
Iron Man		50%
Batman		45%
The Flash		40%
Robin		38%
Catwoman		5%

You are a wanderer with
amazing strength.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Kinda spot on. The temper, I mean.

Litany Against Fear

2008-04-05T20:01:00.002+08:00

I will not fear.

Fear is the mind-killer.

I will face my fear and let it pass through me.

(an abridged version)

WoW Bard [reply]

2008-04-01T17:49:00.003+08:00

World of Warcraft's new bard class.

On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 5:42 PM, Celsus Kintanar <obscured> wrote:
They have a bard now.

LOLZ. I sure would like to see it happen. Ripping those frets while killing monsters would be awesome. Click on the link to see screenshots.

*yes, yes I know it's an April Fool's joke but it would be awesome!!! Somebody contact Blizzard and tell them to make it for real. Hacking away at monsters would be so much more fun if you added ripping riffs and melting faces!

My Rig

2008-03-31T11:47:00.002+08:00

You might be an redneck geek if...

The Big Bang Theory sitcom

2008-03-29T17:05:00.003+08:00

I LOVE IT!!! Watch it! It's smart and fun!!! It should win an award for best delivery of scientific principles in mundane conversation.

Random Kindness and Cruelty

2008-03-28T16:32:00.001+08:00

Jobless Japanese finds $10,000 in mailbox

Boy shoves stranger to death at Japan train station

The Tubes, They Are French

2008-03-28T15:17:00.003+08:00

FOR PRIVACY BREACH

French court fines user-generated website

Kukri Knives

2008-03-25T20:34:00.004+08:00

http://www.torablades.com/

Want. But I hate the way they're spelling Filipino as Philipino.

I wrote to the site for them to correct it and Simon Hengle simonhengle@blueyonder.co.uk writes back:

Hello Mike,

There are about three or four spellings, that are all correct Mike,

Cheers Simon

Is he right? Are we Philippinos?

I emailed him again to check wikipedia. There's a nice note there where it clearly says that the use of 'Philippinos' is a mistake.

Hello Mike,

I applaud your enthusiasm, [sic]however when I was in the Philippines I checked with John John Mac and Anton St James, regarding the use of the different words, and the language used on the site was again cross checked in the Philippines, [sic]by the above [sic]pr-eminent [sic]Philippino Martial Artists already [sic]mentioned, as well as a friend of theirs that is a [sic]currator to a [sic]museam in the [sic]Philppines.

Cheers Simon

Well if you're up against that kind of person there is just no talking to him.

Inside Cebu Pacific

2008-03-25T16:19:00.001+08:00

Don't worry. I took it before take off.

Grave Plaques Stolen

2008-03-25T16:07:00.004+08:00

Thieves stole most of the grave markers/plaques in our local cemetery. The divide between rich and poor is so staggering that the poor have no qualms about defacing treasured memories.

The picture above was taken last month when I went home in Dumaguete. The graves in the picture are, I think, of my uncle, cousin, and grandmother.

My cousin doing a song and dance number

2008-03-25T14:21:00.001+08:00

... and she can't talk yet.

ROFL

There Will Be Blood

2008-03-25T11:39:00.002+08:00

I recently stumbled on some reviews of this movie on rottentomatoes.com and I still don't understand the movie. I loved No Country For Old Men because the movie was cool; hitmen, psychopaths and a shotgun with a silencer. I didn't understand There Will Be Blood. It didn't feel like a movie to me. I understood Daniel more than you know so I don't understand what was so remarkable about a film about him. It didn't have a point. I already understood the guy so why a movie about him?

Maybe I'm a little bit different. I emphasize with Hannibal Lecter's penchant for elevating rudeness as a faux pas punishable by death. I emphasize with Daniel's ruthlessness and disdain for that preacher. I am afraid of turning into a fundamentalist but with fanaticism for elitism instead of an outdated rulebook.

August Rush

2008-03-23T21:54:00.002+08:00

Please, don't read my comments before watching this movie. Just watch it then get back to me. I'm going to hide the comments below. Just know that I highly recommend it for you to enjoy.

The movie was amazing. I don't know why critics gave it such a low score. I loved it! Everything about it was beautiful! Of course it's a fairytale, a fairytale of a child gifted with music and using it to find his parents. It's supposed to be emotional. It's supposed to be sappy. I watched this movie without any preconceptions and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

5 Rangers

2008-03-20T14:18:00.001+08:00

Please. Please! Just watch this http://youtube.com/watch?v=xPZ1b1HcJjI&feature=related. I promise you it won't be a waste of time. Just try not to laugh too loud. :D

ACClarke

2008-03-19T20:39:00.001+08:00

"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean."

I loved Childhood's End better than all his other works.

Violence Everywhere.

2008-03-18T10:54:00.003+08:00

Why does China want to suppress Tibet? I call for a boycott of the Olympics.

Why does the United States keep on supporting a policy of foreign intervention when all they promote is more violence and desctruction in favor of profit? I call for an end to apathy.

Why does our country continue to decline into incompetence disguised by greed?

Here's a view from my office. Please disregard the timestamp; new camera and haven't changed the default settings, yet. I intended to post a picture of a homeless man sleeping on top of a cage used to protect water meters from thieves but the reflection of the flash on the van window spoiled the shot.

Pending books

2008-03-17T18:20:00.003+08:00

Just a sample of books on hold just because I got my hands on WoW.

My Room

2008-03-17T18:15:00.003+08:00

That's my room. And my roommate rifling through my stuff. That's my bed she's sitting on.

License Plate

2008-03-17T15:23:00.002+08:00

If you click for the larger version, you'll see this Eclipse sports a XXX 143 license plate.

What is your...

2008-03-14T17:42:00.002+08:00

... short term goal? omg I don't know. Play WoW, and God of War at any possible time during work week. (During commute; before sleeping; after waking)

... mid term goal? Get certified as a Sun Java Programmer. I study during toilet time at work.

... long term goal? Immortality and transcendence (not like Buddha but like awesome super sci-fi star beings).

From JAm and Nikki.

Farewell Dungeon Master

2008-03-06T11:59:00.002+08:00

Gary Gygax is dead. Long live the dungeon master.

Wil Wheaton says it nicely. I miss playing AD&D.

Friendly Linux

2008-02-26T13:50:00.002+08:00

IMAX

2008-02-26T13:47:00.003+08:00

That's me, EK, and Eunice in SM's IMAX Theatre. Juzie took the picture.

Currently Reading

2008-02-25T10:32:00.002+08:00

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel by Susanna Clarke.

Sorry, I hotlinked to Amazon's image for the book. That's why there's a "look inside" thingy.

Back to the book; if you love the English language and it's various idiosyncrasies coupled with the love of the mysterious and fantastic then you'd love this book. It's beautiful. It's about magic, by the way. Magic and mystery.

Signature

2008-02-23T21:32:00.002+08:00

The image above was created with the help of MyLiveSignature (discovered via LifeHacker).

Banjo and Bluegrass [Update]

2008-02-23T09:31:00.005+08:00

I was organizing my old files on my external drive when I found an old clip of Steve Martin and his band playing some bluegrass with Steve on a banjo. That clip inspired me to look for some more bluegrass and I searched youtube for "banjo". This is the first result: YouTube - 'Deliverance' - 'Dueling banjos' scene. Cool.

To echo one commenter: Vince Diesel would look like a wuss next to Burt Reynolds in that scene.

I have no idea how I messed up that html link. I swear I pointed it to youtube last time. I revisited this post because I wanted to hear the dueling banjos again.

Evolution vs Creationism

2008-02-22T13:29:00.003+08:00

Rofl. Taken from SMBC Comic. Although I disagree. There is no evidence to support that smarter people reproduce more than dumb people. I suppose it's rather the opposite. Survival and subsistence is very different from living and contributing to society.

Robert Heinlein's "We Believe"

2008-02-21T12:34:00.001+08:00

Not as catchy as Obama's "Yes We Can," but I like it better. Link.

HD DVD vs Blu-ray

2008-02-20T15:56:00.002+08:00

My two cents on how Blu-ray won the format war: it's easier to say "blue ray" than "eitch dee dee vee dee."

[Update] Conmen

2008-02-15T07:13:00.003+08:00

Cracked's Five Ballsiest Con Artists of All Time. I knew about Ponzi and his pyramid schemes as well as Abagnale's exploits from the movie Catch Me If You Can but I never heard of these others. I did spot some Benny Hinn advertisements a while back here in Manila that he would be practicing some "miracles" here. What I didn't know was how profitable his "ministry" was.

ROFL. Here's psyche's comment on the article:

the ballsiest person i can think of is a woman! she ran for presidency, cheated and the entire nation heard a RECORDED CONVERSATION of her with someone from commission on elections, prooving her guilt! of course at first she denied it was she on the tape but hell, the voice - the distinction of her voice will haunt your dreams and is impossible not to recognize, anywhere by anyone who knows her! when she can't deny it no longer, she made a public apology. it popped during TVCs, her expression forced to look sorry (she's usually a big snob)while saying in her most sincere tone that it was "mere mental lapse of judgement" on her part and that she's sorry to the people of that country. and yeah, nobody bought it but it doesn't mean she wasn't able to get away with it. she duped people big time and simply apologized! insane...or brilliant?!

Fever Broke

2008-02-15T06:59:00.002+08:00

... last night. Whew. I FEEL GREAT! I'm now ready to slay a few dragons.

Fever

2008-02-14T17:23:00.002+08:00

Stomach doesn't cramp up anymore. Have fever now, though. Urgh. Feels tingly on my skin and I feel weak.

Into The Wild

2008-02-14T11:39:00.003+08:00

This movie is unimaginably good. I rate it along with No Country For Old Men.

Stayed Home From Work

2008-02-14T10:56:00.002+08:00

I woke up early before light and had to take a dump. I've been doing that for quite a few times now. Every twenty minutes my stomach cramps up so bad and I have to go again. Lesson learned: do not eat microwaved hotdogs. I'm going to burn them to a crisp before I touch one of those cursed hotdogs.

Between visits to the toilet, I've been watching Into The Wild. How I envy Alex's freedom. I'd love to go and live his adventures but for a different reason.

Ugh. Hurts.

I'd love to feel the different sensations from water breaking and running over me to grasping loamy earth and digging through to find awesome secrets. Alex, on the other hand, feels the desire to break away from the deceit and fights he grew up with. I have always felt distant from my parents so there is nothing for me to break away from.

I'd love to lie awake on the grass at night and see the multitude of stars twinkling overhead again.

The Fountain image and LCD Monitors

2008-02-11T18:35:00.000+08:00

I use a Samsung SyncMaster 932B(plus) at work and I was browsing through some images. Can you see Hugh Jackman in the image from The Fountain above? He's only a silhouette. Open the original image by clicking on it. Enlarge it as much as you can. My monitor at home cannot display enough contrast and brightness so that I can see Hugh Jackman completely. On the LCD monitor I can differentiate his lighter colored shirt from his hair and trousers but on my home monitor I can only see a dark brownish silhouette. I can even see detail on the tree using the LCD monitor.

*On a side note, my office keyboard sucks. It's a Lenovo keyboard. I try to type: hold shift + 'L', 'C', 'D'; but the letter 'D' never shows up on screen. It takes a small delay between my keystrokes for the letter 'D' to appear after I type.