Magpa-sense, magpa-feel

If the award-giving bodies of this country are any good, all of them should give the best picture awaard to this movie. 

Why?

1) for sheer audacity and braveness

2) for the perfect actor in the lead role

3) all the filmmakers wanted to put in a movie about being gay (set pieces and all), theyve put them all here. this is usually a bad thing, but they handled it right. 

4) if it doesnt bring even a smile, youre stupid. 

5) has production value; sound, lighting, score are all decent. you wont see a boom mike on the top of the screen, or dubbing horribly out of sync. 

6) fantastic fantastical plot.enjoy.  

7) all the actors played it right

8) a true indie production that must be supported, in order to kill that star cinema craps fed to the public. you can see the indie spirit even in how known stars played cameo roles. (they were probably paid with lumpia, pancit luglug ng lucban, and longganisa).

9) No needless scene. No prolonged shots of a crying soap opera fool. 

10) the movie is pure entertainment 

Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington

On the Road 1

[PICTURES TAKEN WHILE DRIVING, AND THERE'S TERRIBLE TRAFFIC]

Youll get only one chance to take this picture per car (unless youre a fucking salesman who knows how to adjust odometers to fool used-car buyers)  

The arrogance of pinoys. Kung kayo ang boss ko, babagsak talaga ang kompanya/bansang ito.

I think this hotel relies now on tourists who dont know better. Some walls in this building are grimed in dirt.

Abandoned building?

Nice-looking Jollibee store. Even the mascot is correctly placed.

Blackberry Bold 9800 takes unremarkable but serviceable photos. 

UP Chapel

Havent been back here in a while. (About 10 years if we dont count the baptism of Raya and JP).

Used to work in a computer shop nearby. Back then it was the first computer shop in the campus to offer network gaming, and probably the fastest dial-up :-). That shop helped me in many ways during the rush of term papers and projects. And the Church, although i dont believe in an interventionist god, is a good place to find quiet, to sit down in one of the pews from time to time. Except for the sound of pipit birds, it's just very peaceful in the whole area.

Today, there is this interesting fan installation:

And cross seems to have accumulated a small amount of bird poop since its last cleaning. (What type of wood is this?

UP Chapel is a landmark. 

With faith or with. 

In favor of organized religion or against. 

Nuclear Technology for you Pipi

Since this pack that Ive seen is already in the bargain bin of Puregold, I guess it is due for an update.

The next better slogan for the Upgrade would be "Fission Technology, another breakthrough for your vaginal needs!" We'll break the atom of your menstruation to smithereens!

Cordoning the audience off (question for the Vismin audience)

In Dumaguete, Apo Island, and Siquijor, we were lucky to witness several mall singing contests and one Baranggay pageant. Why is it you're cordoning off a huge space between the audience and the judges? Even if there's no actual boundary, the audience just seems to stand back so far from the stage automatically. For sure this affects your enjoyment, but is this just for pure courtesy?

Is this because most of the time the judges in the provinces are politicians who are afraid to be assassinated with a bolo?

Book of the year

I like what was said about this book being launched like an Apple product. That Steve Jobs chose to die in time to add to the buzz and excitement big time. (A joke, yes, but we dont know how far Steve Jobs can go to support a product launch :-) ) 

Steve Jobs's estate should be receiving part of the royalties, and then donate it to cancer research. Or perhaps a Support Center for Employees Abused by Asshole Bosses. 

in the intro, Isaacson mentioned that Jobs had a hand on the cover design (and nothing more)

I like it how National had this in stores exactly on Oct 24, in fact, hours earlier than the US. Considering shipping times from US to here, did National order units way ahead of Steve's death? Does this explain why they dont have stocks less than a week after?

I didnt like how National Bookstore priced it at 1275 PhP. Could have bought it for 500+ less if I had  ordered from Amazon instead. Could have waited until January when a friend is scheduled to travel or at least waited for a mall sale to get the standard 20% savings (250+ din yon). But National Bestseller Galleria contacted me to say that the books are running-out fast (just two days after) and they will give the last one reserved for me (although I just inquired to email) in a few hours. And then this fact is supported by a colleague who mentioned that she picked up the last shelved copy the day before, and that one customer was begging for another one while she was paying at the counter.

And indeed when I was paying myself, there's a guy in line who asked for another copy. The cashier asked him to write down his name on a long reservation list. 

I liked the pictures. Steve Jobs truly opened up to the author, even up to family pictures.

Gusto ko na nagsusungayan sila sa picture dito na pamilya. If youre an Apple employee, can you try putting a horn in Steve Jobs's head?

I liked how paper is bookpaper white rather than brownish of grayish of most books. I would have like a deckle edge more though.

Im a convert to deckled edge since discovering that it is really ergonomic when one is reading fast and turning pages like an automaton. Isaacson's previous book (Einstein) is deckled edge.

(uno momento, i dont remember that magazine below Einstein)

I'll be able to finish the 500-page Steve Jobs book this during the coming long weekend. Sana.

Raya's Random Photography

Photos captured by a stubborn 2-year old, using an ipod touch. 

the photographer using the front camera of an ipod touch 

she hates it when bedsheets are crumpled

This one she clicked after Ive set the aperture and ISO in an SLR.

This one showing I need to go to Maypajo and look for another (smaller) bookshelf and then really implement a moratorium on buying books.

Bohol 2011

Been back to Bohol after four years. This time travelled with family...

Alona Beach is not any more that classy beach back when Talampunay and I were here in 2007. Although the sand is still one of the finest grain that you can find anywhere, the beach is now dirty, the sea mossy. This side of Panglao is not any more the Boracay wannabe that it once wanted to be, precisely because there are no more tourists. No crowds. The seaside accommodation which used to sell us even their water has no guests.

When we went there, even the marine sanctuary of Balicasag is not swimmable, so we were brought to the other side where people are selling raw fish at a thousand a kilo. Fuckers on that side of the island thought they were on Greenbelt with their prices.

I checked if manang on the side of the beach's sanctuary who grilled us delicious fish years back is still on the right side of the island. Indeed, she's still there.

Now taking care of a grand daughter. I asked if she had any fish for sale, but no luck. She seems to be contented with simple life, and her apo is very docile, unlike Mariana, who knows how to bully this early  :-)

Fishes on this side are just 10% of what I remember at Balicasag. Were we just truly at the wrong side?

Family did enjoy visit to chocolate hills and the new tarsier sanctuary, as most first timers do. (During my own first time, it brought back memories of drawing chocolate hills on manila paper for a presentation/'recitation' in Grade 1).

Butterfly farm is so-so. The one in Puerto Princesa is roomier for the butterflies and has more variety.

The Bee Farm is an okay visit, but you shouldnt pay the extra 30 pesos for the tour. that's worthless. Better to just enjoy the organic ice cream. Buy the spicy ginger flavor.

The people of Bohol should take care, beautify, and energize Bohol.

He could not have achieved what he achieved if he were nice.

The best short paragraph on Steve Jobs. 


What would it mean for a young person to take Steve Jobs as a role model—for better or for worse?

You know, one of the things that’s interesting about Jobs is that in many ways he was not a nice man. And yet he was a brilliant man. He was not particularly kind to people. Ultimately, we won’t remember the personal cruelty; we’ll remember the great products. Ideally what you want to have is a greater balance between being nice and being effective than he achieved. But one of the questions is whether he could have achieved what he achieved if he were nice.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/10/steve-jobs-ken-auletta.html#ixzz1a49T24n6

Steve Jobs has died. Long live Steve Jobs

1955-2011

Thanks, man.