Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

I've only probably have read up to their first conversation with the professor but I watched the movie anyways. A great movie it is, but there's probably only one thing that I'll remember about this movie:

The professor looks too much like mugatu from Zoolander!!! Bohahahahhahahahha!!!

Lord of the Yen

It will really take a long time to load, but its really good. It will really knock-out Azumanga Fans :))

Dark Side

the dark side beckons.
knock, knock.
shall i answer the call?
shall i open the door?

why didn't it happen then.
there could be a million reasons why,
but most of them are just lame excuses.

resolve is what i lack.
resolve is what i need.

err.... whatever

"If there is someone on your friends list you would love to have a fuckathon with, post this same exact sentence in your journal."

Godfather

Some godfather I am, showing up only once in a blue moon. No wonder she doesn't recognize me :((

I went to the Christening of my friend Reg's 2nd born 'Steffan Alexandre'. I can't believe its been almost 4 years since I was there for Sophia's. Time really makes fools of us in these situations. Here's a pic of Maru(ninang), my cute, adorable and intelligent inaanak, and me.

Tagged: random facts

Got tagged by ET for this. Write 20 random facts about yourself then tag the same amount of people as minutes it takes you to write the facts. Here goes:

1. We're 5 in the family, I have an older brother and a younger sister.
2. I've been constanly bugged by people to get married already.
3. I like chloe from smallville and the actress Meredith Bishop from the series 'Alex Mack'.
4. I used to like chubby/healthy girls, but tastes do evolve over time.
5. I like anime and hentai, so much so that I was nicknamed 'Sarhentai' in rotc.
6. I won 'best borrower' by my grade school library. I probably read all 'Choose your own Adventure' and Hardy Boys books.
7. I'm an engineer but I hate math, higher math at least.
8. I was an alternate(aka waitlisted) in PSHS. I was picked up from my old school and sitting with my new classmates in less than 3 hours.
9. I loved photography in HS. I want to go back to it in the future.
10. I instructed CAT at PSHS for a 2-3 years.
11. I can be such a jerk. I sometimes do the worst possible thing in a situation.
12. Even if I spend majority of my time in front of a CRT monitor, I do have 20/20 vision.
13. I love taking care of people I love (huh?).
14. I fluctuate between lazy and inspired at the wrong times.
15. I can't seem to shake off my kuya image, as much as I would like to.
16. I love tinkering and fixing stuff. My current favorite is cooling fans of computers.
17. I'm not afraid of electricity. I mock 220V. I really liked my practical Power Electronics classes cause we had higher voltages there :P
18. I have horrible memory, or at least it fails me when I need it.
19. As weird as I am, I'm solidly straight.
20. I work for experience and people. I racket for money.

I'm tagging: Bong, Clair, Bob, Michelle, Jem, Clyde, Tubay, Trebs, Jovs... yes, it took me that long coz my pc rebooted :(.

Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid

After my rather embarassing mental fit of a previous post, I'll say that I'm feeling a lot better. Its some sort of a relief to let such angst out.

Anyways, TSR. A core factor of this whole anime is the Sagara Souske's guerilla/military background and strict compliance to rules and regulations. He tries to protect Kaname Chidori but usually ends up screwing the whole situation by being extra paranoid about her safety.

The original series focused on Sagara, the 'Lambda Drive' installed mech aka 'Arbalest' and trying to defeat a crazed terrorist.

Fumoffu was drop-dead funny. Any and all comic parts that they couldn't get away with in the orig series, they stuffed here.

TSR showed the worst case scenario. At the point where Souske and Chidori finally started to realize each others feelings, external forces plotted to split them apart. Chidori left alone feels fear, loneliness and harassment. Souske following orders to abandon Chidori but feeling deep in his heart that he is leaving his true reason to live.

Go grab it! It is definitely a worthy 3rd installment to this amazing anime. Enjoy these following screenies:

Bent

Must have been sometime in college, maybe even earlier.
When did I turn from a carefree soul into a twisted, stinking, paranoid freak?
A paranoia that drove me to walk four kilometers home everyday just to avoid people.
That made me justify that biking to school was fun.
That made me try out carbon-activated filters to avoid such eventualities.
That made me take an operation just to see if the gallstone was the reason.
That made me stop enjoying the company of friends coz I feel so filthy.

Is there a place where I can trade in this body?
Or maybe this brain?
It ain't all in my head if you're suggesting that it is.
Does filth in one's thoughts materialize itself?
Maybe.
Where does air-headedness go? Down there probably.
So that's why I'm so flatulent.
Pretending to be something when I can't even do things right.
Fuck it, where is this leading?
Dunno.

I once read in a book entitled "Big book of Friendship" or something similar:
"A person will be the last one to know of how he smells. A friend will be one who tells that person that he does."

Does that mean I possibly have friends? Don't be so wishful, fool.

I must really stop and reflect on what the hell I'm doing with my life!

"the results are in amigo, what's left to ponder?"

Fuck it, I'm already 26 and I feel as stupid as ever. 10 years ago, I felt I can do anything. Now I see shackles instead of doors.

Ha! Laugh all you want. Pity me all you wish. I will get out of is personal rut and laugh at it with whole-hearted gusto. Avoid what I have become! Live your life to its fullest. Crush your fears and enjoy the life He has given. Don't be afraid to be hated, despised or loathed; you CAN NOT please everybody. I'm telling myself this as well, for no one will probably say it. I'm writing this down because I'll definitely forget it tomorrow, given my memory.

Psh...

Its so painful when people you think you trust won't tell you anything, or say it to you straight.

MMs Week-long Birthday

First of all, happy birthday ther!

Hope it was as happy as it could have been, considering everything that has happened.

Friday night, we followed after the initial round of drinks. We ate at a japanese shop where the food was great, thanks for the choice, eiks. After that we had a bonding-drinking session where we played "Never-ever have I ever..." as suggested by tseri and eventually, truth or dare. The contents of the conversations will stay within the group, so there will be nothing juicy in this blog (don't look at me like that :)) )

Notes on the events of Friday night, I may not have been completely truthful about some of my answers to the truth questions. Whom I like? Was it really an honest answer? So in fairness to the people who asked about it and those who listened to it, I do not know myself. Being free is not totally bad, but if I don't decide to go for someone at the right moment, I might be missing out on life/love.

40 year old Virgin

I already decided to skip this movie because the cinema was far and I was running late. It was a really good thing that I changed my mind, thanks tseri.

The lead character Andy is as the title says, at the same time a dork with high value collectibles and rides a bike to work. The story is basically his adventure in getting back into the game with the weird help of his co-workers.

It was hilarious because a lot of people, including myself, found ourselves in the character. Be it being dorky, playing poker, hesitating with opposite sex, made fun by friends or regretting something stupid.

Overall a good r-13 movie you can just laugh to and enjoy.

The Backrubber

The Backrubber Deliberate Gentle Sex Dreamer (DGSDm) Lusty but indirect. Kind, but also using friendship as a means to sex. Oh, that feels gooood. You are The Backrubber. We call you "The Backrubber" because you straddle that fine line between coming on to someone and just treating her nicely. Backrubs are just one example; you'd meet for coffee, or talk about books/movies, or even argue a little bit, all the while mostly preferring to screw. Your exact opposite: The Vapor Trail Random Brutal Love Master Your indirect approach is not some evil trickery, but rather a result of your open mind. You'd enjoy either love or sex, but the latter definitely doesn't require the former. While you are responsible and ambitious, you absolutely DON'T have uptight views on relationships. So ultimately, you just enjoy a woman, and let things take their course. If she wants you, great. If not, that's fine too. Though you're not thinking too much about Love at this point in your life, odds are, when the time comes, you'll be very happy settling down. Your ideal mate is gentle and horny, just like you. ALWAYS AVOID: The Peach CONSIDER: The Playstation Link: The Dating Persona Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating.

I'd hate to admit that this hit me right between the eyes. Even if there are only 12 gradations to this quiz, I found it funny how I actually fall into one. Any playstations out there? hahahahahahahah

Poker Face

I definitely don't have one.

But last Friday, my buds and I had a couple of rounds of poker (with real chips from hawaii) using the same rules as Celebrity Poker. It was fun as I was learning tricks and tips from them about how to bet, outsmart, bully and fold. My friends couldn't believe that I was winning rounds with sheer dumb luck, beating their good 2 cards with trash after the 5 other cards have been revealed.

It is certainly a thinking game, calculating and reading your opponents is a must. Acting, feinting and showmanship is a needed to throw them off from your real hand/intentions. But you can also just play it with just a bit of common sense and a pocketful of hot strong love... I mean luck.

The Visit

This last week, a friend and work buddy came to Manila to talk more about business and to take a look at what the country is like. We picked him up from the airport last Sunday and left just this Friday. Hope you had a great time here Ray, tour me around Hawaii when I go there someday :D.

There was supposed to be this summit last Wednesday and I was to make a presentation for it. With everything else that was happening, I had to pull an all nighter to finish it only to find out that morning that they cancelled our participation. Phoey, should have just slept.

Needless to say that I only got an average of 2 or 3 hours of sleep this week, napping a couple of minutes in the FX to the office and the LRT going home. It was dreadfully unhealthy, embarassing and dangerous, but these are the times that I consider myself truly alive and not wasting any moment.

LinuxWorld?

It was funny that Microsoft was present during the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo held last Sept. 14-16. They were there with a pretense of promoting "working together", whereas the purists and hardcore treat them simply as the 'enemy'.

It was clear that M$ had money and knew how the human(masculine) brain works. They flagrantly used sly techniques in distracting possible converts from absorbing the spirit of the conference.

1. Center and Flashy booth.
   
2. Three pretty and gorgeous booth girls who wore tight M$ shirts.
3. Photo sessions where you can have your picture taken with the 3 M$ girls or a model in a 2 piece bathing suit.
4. Barbie Almabis to give away 2 Xboxes.
   

Beyond the general disruption that M$ caused in the territory of the timid competitor, the conference more or less achieved its goal. Which was to give awareness and information for those who would like to consider the alternative: Free/Open Source Software.

There were a number of familiar faces due to the nature of the event. m's and Paul A. with the pips from ASTI, officemates from the cube gateway team, my good friend Clair.

I did get to buy a funny shirt. It says at the front:
"No Windows. No Gates. It is Open. No Bill. It is Free."
At the back:
"I choose Free/Open Source Software"

PS: I may update this post if I remember something of interest.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

If you ever played ff7, this is definitely something to watch. If you don't know what ff7 is, it is still worth watching for the fight/action scenes.

Its been ages since I played the game but a lot of what happened came rushing back to my memory as the movie progresses. Characters, events and previous grief (yes, 'that' event was soooo tragic) were brought back to life. At the very least, this movie gave weight to a certain event in the game that made it so freakn memorable.

The story starts painfully slow but gradually builds up as fantastic fight sequences are added. I'll not go into detail as to what the plot is, so you won't kill me :))

as geeky as it may sound, its not hard to fall for game characters if they are as pretty and vivacious as Tifa.

yes... grief

Voice Casting Facts:
Kadaj, a significant character in the story, also did Nara Shikamaru(Naruto) and Ginji Amano(Getbackers).
The Wheel Chair Person (as credited in imdb) also did Col. Roy Mustang(Full Metal Alchemist)

LSSS ( Last Sick Song Sydrome)

Its an mp3 file labeled "EASY - Ambing". Dunno which is the title or artist, but it has the most horrible yet truthful lyrics I've heard. Wanna see why? (insert "K" words where * are)

[possibly offensive content warning]

Naaalala ko pa nung tayo pang dalwa,
sine lang ay ok ka na.
Pero ngayon kolehiyala ka na,
mas trip mong magtoma.
Ewan ko kung pano ka na barkada,
sa mga walang kwenta.

Sa payo ko, makinig ka, kilala ko sila,
Wag kang, sumama, * ka lang nila.
Wag kang, maniwala, * ka lang nila.

Wag mong isipin na hindi mapapansin,
ang iksi ng iyong palda,
ang kyut kyut mo, pero ang dami-daming
make-up sa iyong mukha.
'Sang kahang yosi, 'sang bote ng beer,
maya-maya ay senglot ka na,

Sa payo ko, makinig ka, kilala ko sila,
Wag kang, samama, * ka lang nila.
Wag kang, maniwala, * ka lang nila.

Ngayon, tatawag ka, ginago ka nila,
Wag kang mag-alala, reresbakan ko sila.

Aww, yeah!

* ka lang nila,
Wag kang, samama, * ka lang nila.
Wag kang, maniwala, * ka lang nila.
Wag kang, paumaga, * ka lang nila.
Wag mong paubaya, * ka lang nila.
* ka lang nila...

Temper

I see myself as a cool minded person, but I know that I do keep a real nasty temper. Stress and lack of sleep seem to bring it out. I'm starting to realize that I'm trying to do a lot of things, and not being able to focus/finish one is getting me absolutely frustrated. Must plan and schedule things properly to avoid landing myself in a position that I hate.

Info Text Messaging With a Smile ^_^

"Never blog about work" is something I follow diligently, but on this occasion please let me indulge myself along with my shameless plugging.

I succeeded and maintain a project named PCSO Enhanced Lottery Information System. It is an information text service that enables users to access up-to-date results from PCSO games. Our team tries its hardest to make the service as user-friendly as possible, but users are only people and are bound to make mistakes:

do: "PCSO ELIS", "PCSO INFO", "LOTTO ON", "SWEEP ON", "LOTTO OLD lotto6/42 07/30/2005"

top 4 amazing don'ts:

4 "PCSO ELIS GAGO UBOS N LOD KO WALA PNG INFO GAGO", please minimize rude words in your message.
3 "PCSO ELIS Ano ho ang lalabas sa lotto 2day" , if i knew, i'd be rich by now.
2 "Pcso Elis good am de ko po alam ang result sa lotto d2 kase ako sa lamay sa kapatid ko tulongan nyo po akong manalo." , i'd like to help but the system is only a series of 'switch-case' and 'if-elses' and has no functions for pity and sympathy.
1 "PCSO ELIS AKO PO MATGAL NG MANANAYA SA PCSO BKT PO ANG EZ 2 KAILANGAN PANG INCORECT ORDER EH HUWETENG DN PO YAN DAPAT KAHT ANO MAUNA DPAT TMAMA ANG MAMAY..." , hmmm... you should voice this out to PCSO itself, that is if they don't kick you in jail haaahahahaha .

Anyway, if you're interested in the service or have some load to make us laugh our brains out

text PCSO ELIS to 483(smart), 2219(Globe), 2823(Sun)

Potter Puffs

http://www.livejournal.com/users/potterpuffs
kawaiiiiii!!!!

Half-Blood Prince

Never let your guard down

After a years wait JK Rowling's Harry Potter book six hit the shelves yesterday. As a real fan of the series, I was one of the eager crowd who ran once SM north was opened. After getting the book, I went straight home and was so excited I let my guard down. A mother and baby sat beside me in the jeep and had knicked my digicam right under my nose. I only found out when I got home and tried to find it. Bad luck... oh well, I sorta hated that one anyway. Must save up for a better one.

Anyways, by pre-ordering the book I got 10% off and a P100 book coupon, so it cost me P1,350.

How was it? It was cool. The story had its hilarious moments that made me laugh out loud. But generally, the mood of the whole book was dark and full of loss. It is a fitting prelude to the last book.


SUPER SPOILER AREA(meaning you must have read the book already)

Since book 4 JK has been sending significant characters hurtling to their deaths. But I'm not too happy how seemingly useless and insignificant Sirius' death seemed in book 6. I was hoping that it would trigger something big or amazing in Harry... pfffft.

Anyways, as much as I hate to admit it, Snape may still be working for the good side. Dumbledore was not pleading for his life... but pleading Snape to finish him off. Why? For a number of reasons: To save the Malfoys, To enable Snape to gain total confidence from the Death Eaters and Voldemort so he can sneak and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, and to save Snape himself due to the unbreakable vow.

I kinda liked how Harry's lovelife turned out. its was 6 years in the making but it was well worth it. "The Beast" in him? Sounds like Kintaro Oe (Golden Boy). That uber snogging scene was fantastic! Can't wait to see it in the movies! hahahaahhahhaha.

Rebirth

I bought and assembled a new pc named 'rebirth' last weekend as it seemed that 'tsunami' wouldn't hold much longer. How special is she? Let the specs tell the story:

Athlon 64 3000+ 939pins
Epox 9NPA+ Ultra nForce4 (Socket 939)
Palit Gforce 6600GT PCI Express 128MB 128Bit
256MB DDR 400 PQI (2-yr wty) x 2
80 GB Seagate 7200 SATA (2-yr wty)
Epraizer VI 11A (Blk/Blk)
450W Dual Fan 24PinATX SATA
500VA Giant UPS with AVR
Computer Table YT-700 (Blk)
A4 tech USB Keybord

17" MAG 786FS
Logitech USB Optical Mouse
Lite-on DVDRW SOHW 1653S

The ones on top are new while the others have been bought previously. I had to literally go around metro manila to piece her together but it was well worth it.




Pros:
-nView! a desktop of 2560 x 1024 is something to smile about.
-I can play most games at the highest detail level and resolution.

Cons:
-Hangs occasionally during a game (will tweak this until its stable)
-PS/2 ports of Epox boards still get broken sooooo quicky. So I had to buy a USB keyboard to make the computer usable.

Office?
I've taken 1/4 of the sala and turned it into my home office/game station. Its still sorta messy, but I find it comfy.

FEAR

As one of my officemates pointed out, the central theme of Batman Begins is fear. As is some of my favorite shows: Star Wars and Dune. Although I do not look or show it, I have much fear in me. It seems that I am only at 30% of what I can be due to fear. I can list some of them but am unable to face/conquer them.

Fear of loss c/o that person.
Ridicule and Shame due to my hyperflatulence.
Rejection due to who I have become.

A good step in conquering ones fear is knowing it. Another step is putting it out there. So there...

Lightning

Black ops failed last friday. Shucks and I thought... anyways, its was also Adrian's nth farewell party. Hurry back home bro.

Went shopping with Ramon yesterday. Got a good haul but it took us hours to complete our rounds.

Was contemplating on what to buy, a kick-ass pc or a pda/phone. Whacha think?

Here's something I dug up for your viewing pleasure, a blast from the past... my crazy college days.


*updated with a youtube version*

My First Time

It was Friday night in a dark narrow alley. The world was quiet and people rarely passed. I was both anxious and excited. My legs were trembling and my hands had lost their usual grip. She was a sexy chick in red and her name was (in a mexican accent) "burito". Losing all sense of calm, it happened and even stopping was rough and unrefined. Thus was my first time.

Bwahaahahahahaaahaah. What a misleading title and story! My friend Adrian was kind enough to teach me and let me drive his 2002 nissan exalta aka (in a mexican accent) "burito". As pathetic as it sounds, it really was my first time to drive in my 26 years of existence. It was just an hour or two but I was able to start, stop, mix clutch and gas, and reach 2nd gear. And it was on open road *evil grin*. Thanks Aidz!

---

The South Beach diet is going well, my tummy is tighter than it used to be and I may have lost some weight (wasn't really watching it). I've proceeded to phase two as I was already in phase one for 2 weeks. Thanks to all who have given their opinion on me going on this diet. Your inputs, encouragement and otherwise have been a blessing.

---

Seabiscuit - was working on something when my brother popped this in the player. As the tv set was just behind me, I glanced back occasionally and found myself caught in the story. It was inspiring in the way that success can be found by giving anything a second chance.

---

South B17ch diet

With the coercion of my sister who is undergoing it, I am now trying the South Beach Diet. The lack of energy due to the banning of easily convertible food is really taking its toll. I've never been this apart from rice all my life so that should cut down this belly soon. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens and if it works.

Once!

I watched Once on This Island last Saturday with Aidz and RE, and I'd say it was great! The run that I watched had Bituin Escalante as Asaka and she was incredibly commendable. Gala Angeni Sanchez, sixth-grader who played Little Ti Moune was equally powerful. Other notable actor/singers were: Kuya Bodjie, Jett Pangan and Michael de Mesa. Jeffrey Hidalgo also played a convincing Daniel.

Uzu-Matrix Naruto?

This weeks Naruto episode(133) tops the 'action packed' category as Sasuke and Naruto's fight ensues. Artwise it is horrible, but the fight scenes are so amazing that it reminded me of the animatrix's Beyond or Kid's Story. I was afraid at first that as it looked in the manga, Naruto will end up as just another Dragon Ball. This episode whacked away that fear and made me hopeful of what these guys have in store for the series. Here's quoting myself while watching the ep: "Pvt@ng 1n@! that was cool!"

Smoking Rasengan

This week marks the long awaited high quality dvd-rip fansubbed release of Naruto Movie 1. It downright surpasses any episode or special in its animation quality and action scenes. A must see for naruto fans.

---

Social Smoker
I can smoke but I don't fancy it. People may even say to me: "didn't know you smoked". But just this week I smoked around 5 sticks that made me contemplate why I don't like it. Bottomline is that I dislike its smell when it sticks to skin and clothing. Why add another stench when I'm having trouble smelling ok as it is :))

Once on this Island

I'm excited to go see this musical which will have a run this May. Our batch in pisay did a rendition back in high school so it has a big place in my heart. Anyone else wanna go?

http://www.ticketworld.com.ph/
http://www.ticketworld.com.ph/showdetails.php?show=ISLAND
536-5844 or 0917-8155794 (Hendri).
Bel at +639166555558.

disclaimer: I just posted urls and phone numbers that came up from google searches. dunno who they are.

26

Resistance is futile. Time is a stealthy assassin lurking in the shadows patiently waiting to put a dagger on your back. As hard as I want to fight it, I step across the 2nd half of my hopeful century long life.

Working even harder though it was my birthday is not exactly what you call fun. Beyond that, I do crave for the sense of accomplishment and joy that good code brings (*shivers* sounds so geeky). I'd like to thank my dear officemates who treated me to lunch, hope you guys liked the ice cream session afterwards :) Also, thanks to those who greeted me.

What's my birthday gift to myself? I took after Dumbledore and got myself 6 pairs of socks. Why? The office is so cold that my feet are usually drenched in cold sweat (eeeeewwww). I know that I'm husky, with the unending internal body heat and all, but my feet don't seem to like being enclosed at that temperature.

No reviews for this entry, though I'll watch initial d s4 13-14 in a while. Ja!

Letting off Steam

Time and again I've proven that I don't handle stress too well. So what am I doing running towards it? Being stubborn is what naturally am, but really, enough is enough. Get some exercise and rest!

---

Steamboy
Coming from the director of Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo did an amazing job on this movie. It is very straightforward with none of akira's psycho-mindbending stuff. It has better resemblance to Cannon Fodder or Stink Bomb (mini movies included in Memories). Grab a copy and watch it :)

No Time, No Energy, No Nothing

The past few weeks have been so hectic that I was on the brink of spontaneous combustion. So much so that last night I totally crashed and accidentally/unintentionally had a full nights sleep (thats a bad thing?!). I'm taking this moment to write down a few things just to let you guys know that I haven't died or have been spirirted away.

Took time to join my officemates in tagaytay to get a few drinks and exchange stories.

Wanted to dress-up as a warcraft Infernal on the May 18 U Got Game, but am realizing that there is no time. T_T :((

---

Tsubasa Chronicles Ep 1: Clamp Crossover with Sakura and Shaoran as leads, sounds interesting, have downloaded it but haven't had time to watch.

Full Metal Panic: Second Raid - something to watch out for!

Naruto 129 showcases new start and end songs.

Thats about it for this entry.

Beyond the Clouds

I decided to name this post in honor of the brilliant anime of the same title that I have just watched. It is an independent movie by Makoto Shinkai, who also made 'Voice of a distant star'. At last I found an anime that can rival, even exceed Macross Zero in visuals. Crisp, vivid and simply breathtaking. Some people found the story slow and underdeveloped, but for me, the pace and plot are perfect and complement the heart of the movie. I can't stop raving about how good this anime is, so try and get a copy and watch it yourself.


Wow, *nix based os :D




Screenie from Voice of a Distant Star

---

Howl's Moving Castle
It is the latest movie release from Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki as director. The Ghibli magic is still alive and reigning. As good as it is, it falls only second from Beyond the clouds for this week.

---

Fist of the North Star
This one is definitely a classic. It could possibly be Dragonball's predecessor. Damn bloody, gory and retro. Watch if you want some action and mutilation.

---

Pokemon Heroes
You watch this... nonsense? Yes. I kinda like Misty so deal with it :)). Two guardian pokemons that protect a city. Not a bad PokeMovie.

---

Ocean's Eleven
Now I get it. Ocean is the guy and collects 11 people to do gig. It was cool how Ocean can think N-steps ahead of anyone else.

---

---

The Pretender
I really liked this series and used to watch it on chan.9. Jarod was amazing because he can become anything he wants/needs to be.

Partly, I've become like him... adapting to what I need to be. Just this week I've been: a MS Access Programmer, Plumber, Cutting Machine Technician, Laundry Man and what have you. But deep down I still question who I really am and what my true purpose is.

That is it for my extended weekend.

W Week 3

Work is going well, I suppose. Sometimes the hours fly by so quickly, at others painfully slow. Not being able to sleep early at night due to sidelines, I occasionally grab an energy drink to get me through. I'll get my energy rationing figured out soon so that I don't have to count on such stuff.

We're currently developing something but its going a bit too slow, so I tried to set-up another pc to solve the bottleneck. Problem is we're still waiting for the new pc to be authenticated by the people who house server(*sigh*). I wish that by Monday, we'll be able to work at an acceptable pace.

---

Travel Blues 2
The FX ride rules! It gets me to Makati in 30-45mins. For P35 its saves me time and effort so its a no-brainer choice. I still travel via MRT-LRT going home though cause am still to locate their FX terminal in Ayala.

Another Death
Another pisay student falls prey to a hold-upper's knife. The only upside is that he went down but the girl was safe. Its an honorable way to go. It would have been better if the hold-uppers were the ones left dead though.

Knock-out
With Pacquiao's match coming up, I was in the mood to re-watch Hajime no Ippo(aka Knock-out). I'd have to say that I really like this series for its spirit and comedy. It portrays the life of athletes and people around them with such heart that it inspires the viewer that anything is possible with hardwork and a bit of confidence.

Clair's Spree
After the ruckus of the Digital Pinay thing, Clair gets featured again in inq7 as blog addict. Congrats :D

Ghibli Wallpaper
It's not that artistic, but I'm uploading it this wallpaper anyway in salute to the magnificent movies that Studio Ghibli has been treating us thru the years. My hat is off to you guys!

W Week 1: Review

I'm a bit happy that work is living up to my expectation, hope I'm living up to theirs. It is a bit dangerous to blog about work so I'll skip that and proceed to some other things.

Travel Blues:
This week I regularly experienced "sardine train". Due to time constraints, I have to be one of the crowd and squeeze in. As long as the train's aircon works well, it is not too bad. But if not, it is a steaming coffin. The travel time is good but the hassle may be too much. Will try the FX route this week.

---

Naruto 124:
I liked this episode because of Rock Lee's taijutsu(close-range hand-to-hand combat). Its been a while since I've seen convincing fight scenes that dont involve chakra or long range skills.

Initial D Fourth Stage 11 & 12:
It is a real pain waiting for episodes of Init D to come out, but its always worth the wait. I'm still to like the new start and end songs, because the ones from 1-10 are so cool. The battle between the 86 and the cappuccino ends in ep 12 and the uphill between the levin and FD just started.

Samurai 7:
Due to this series being licensed at some point, it became hard to get episodes to complete it. I happened to browse the list in boxtorrents and found that some guy uploaded the whole series from a mix of fansub groups. I finished watching it last saturday and my only complaint is the pacing from the middle of the series to the climax. It was a bit dragging in that range then things started to happen too fast that it seemed too squeezed just to fit it in the 25th and 26th eps. Otherwise, its a magnificent series, worthy remake of the classic original.

W Day 0: Cleared

Today was the newbie orientation at company "I" where I arrived uncharacteristically late. This was due to MM: Monday and Makati. I was shocked at how congested and slow things are with respect to those two things.

I arrived at the MRT station in North Avenue to something that looked like a mass of people in rock concert. It took 20 min. to get from the streets to the ticket booth/train, but the travel time from north to ayala is thankfully fast and consistent.

Anyways, the orientation was ok so after a while I was able to leave. I grabbed a quick bite at "MS" and proceeded to one of the most feared pre-recruitement requirement: the medical. It wasn't half bad, it was nearing their lunch break so everyone was in a hurry. Blood, chest x-ray, ears, eyes, throat, *%^&$, #$%. Then samples of *&^ and @#^&. Not bad. Passed by CD-R king to buy blank DVDs then off home.

Home to Ayala: 1.5 to 2 hrs
Ayala to Home: 45 mins ... Huh?

Above is a route map of my options in getting to ayala.

• Orange: tried and tested route. Jeep to Muñoz, Bus to North Ave MRT. MRT to Ayala. Pro: 1 train ride. Cons: 2 traffic routes.
• Red: Freshly tried on my way home. Jeep to Blumentritt, LRT to Edsa/Taft, MRT to Ayala. Pro: Incredibly fast. Cons: human traffic(lines, train capacity)
• Blue: Untried. Jeep to Dapitan, FX to Ayala. Pros: Hassle free, reduced transfers. Cons: costly, untested.

Optimizing travel time/hassle/cost will be a good goal for the next few months.

K

I happened to watch Rated K (a show on channel 2) and I couldn't help but be distracted by the background music. They took them from 2 games that I have played already: Chrono Cross and Ragnarok Online. What were they up to by using game BGMs when their topics had nothing to do with games? We may never know...

Life ain't fair unless it's a fair or an affair

That doesn't make sense, right?

I didn't have something, so I yearned for it. It arrives in droves so I panic. So I'm sort of wishing I didn't have it. What is it? Work

---

I went to the UP Fair last Thursday because my friends wanted to go. This was despite the news of a fight there a few days before, but lets face it, crowds and fights normally go together :)).

Funny thing is that upon entering the enclosure in the sunken garden, first thing on the right is a tent for frenzy (a brand of condom). It was complete with the frenzy commercial projected at the back and a guy at the front putting frenzy logo temporary tatoo on willing people. As I love freebies, I submitted myself to their survey. It was full of both stupid and/or personal questions that I answered while trying not to burst out laughing. As the freebie was random via draw lots, I got a neon green bandana, stickers, a carboard fan and 3 condoms. Anyways, I found out via their website that they also make the TRUST brand. Their saying goes "get into it" (eh? into what?).

Enough of that. There were great bands, amazing henna tatoo artists and lotsa food. Here's a pic of sugarfree from that night

---

Affair? What's that gotta do with me? Nothing! :D

I am the Half-Blood Prince!!!

Not. Roy told me that Harry Potter Book 6 will be released on July 16, 2005. But I've known this because I've been keeping up with reliable and voracious sites like Leaky Cauldron , Mugglenet and JK Rowling's Official. Some other facts are:

• the Scholastic release will be 672 pages, which is thankfully shorter than OOTP
  
• three chapter titles have been revealed: Chapter Two: Spinners End, Chapter Six: Draco's Detour, Chapter Fourteen: Felix Felicis
• a list of most facts are jotted down here
  
• (movie 4) no kissing scene for harry/cho and hermione/krum (booo!)
  

I do hope National Bookstore entertains my request for book reservation once again (coz fans such as myself will be storming them at wee hours in the morning on that day).

Another One Bites the Dust

LokiTorrent, another popular bittorrent site, has been taken down. MPAA and other organizations are really putting their foot down.

Bridging the Gap

I found time to start watching the anime that sweatdrop traded to me. As with the title of the post, I finished watching a warm and wacky series: Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO). Its about a legendary 22-year old gangster who had the calling to become a teacher. Using his brute strength, contacts, street-smarts and tons of dumb-luck, he proves to everybody that he is as he proclaims to be, a great teacher.

Eikichi Onizuka is an incredibly consistent character. Consistently insane, deranged, perverted, grouchy, stupid... the list can go on and on. Yet he is always looking out for the welfare of his student far beyond his own.

GTO gets a rank in the "Super Ugly Face" category, right beside Hajime no Ippo (aka Knock-out/Fighting Spirit). So much so that during Onizuka's grouchy moods, I can't help but remember the teacher in "Battle Royale" or Zatoichi.

A notable character is Nomura Tomoko aka Toroko(translated sometimes as Big Tits). As corny as her story goes, I found it quite moving.

Some facts:

Eikichi Onizuka's seiyuu also did "Leap-frog" Aoki(Hajime no Ippo)
Toroko's seiyuu also did Aoi Sakuraba(Ai Yori Aoshi), Mahoro (Mahoromatic), Rurippe (Gatekeepers)

Crouching Kitty, Hidden Bear

I ferociously quested and contributed to the betterment of the land to finally reach level 30, where I got my 5th form, Travel Cat. It can travel over open spaces at 140% of normal walk speed, which is a great blessing since most quests require traveling very long distances on foot.

DVD: Today my DVD writer slowed down like hell with 1 hour per DVD at 8x. Why? Coz XP turned the DVDRW drive's DMA off. After a few DVDs I finally got pissed and googled around a bit. I found an article that solved the problem and explained why it happens. In short, when XP gets sick of receiving errors trying to read scratched/erroneous CD/DVDs, it tells the system to fall back to PIO. The solution, though a bit barbaric, is to delete some registry values that were written due to the errors. After rebooting, I was burning DVDs again at less than 10 mins :D

fururut note: imagine the losses incurred by turning off DMA, 10 mins became 1hr. That's not to mention that PIO hogs a lot of resources so everything slowed down to a crawl.

"This and That"

Has been a phrase I've been using quite often. It sort of says that:

There's so many things that I'd like to tell you at this moment, but it seems that neither you or I have time to spare to talk about such things. Therefore when we part, I'm hoping we could sit down and have a nice chat someday.

WoW update2: I've reached level 28 and may have to cut down on playing time because the signs of addiction are really showing :D.

Here's a screenie of me and my guildmates/party/friends:



This is my normal interface. See how many herbs I carry around? I could beat any of the Quiapo "pamparegla" sellers.


DVD stuff: I've burned a few coasters on the premiums, but I loathe the Premium 4x DVD-R, probably half of them were coasterized. But the worst part is they can only be written in 2x! Oh the humanity! It takes forever to burn and is probably screwed. I tried the -Rs because the +Rs were out of stock in Quiapo. Good thing I had to go to makati and had the opportunity to buy more +Rs(they have a full shelf of it :D )

On the other hand, no Ridata coasters and just a negligible amount of premium +R.

Famous: Clair had her share of the spotlight due to the clamor about the digital pinay thing. Read about it in blog or here. Congrats clair! That'll teach them :D

Unexpected Sighting: I saw this couple at sm cybermall/carpark. congrats!

Ah! My Goddess TV: I've just watched episode 4, and I'm liking it more and more. (hey that rhymes)

WoW update, by request

First of all, a big "hello" to all my avid readers (meron nga ba? ^_^ )!

I've ditched Nardangputik and started on another character, Tuwaang. He's also a Night Elf Druid and currently at level 22. The druid class in warcraft boasts of the capability of multiple modes of game play. Spellcaster/Healer in human form. Warrior/Melee fighter in bear form. Rogue/Sneaky techniques in cat form. Infinite breath and increased swim speed in sea lion form.
At higher levels there is also Dire bear form (better fighter) and Travel form (fast land run speed).

A friend of mine who has a level 60 (max level) tauren shaman said that he has trouble killing 2 classes: paladins and druids. long live druids!

Side Note: "Tuwaang" is a character in the Rock Musical "Manhid". "Kaibigan ng lahat ng hayop" is his description and has the power to communicate with animals. Fits a druid, neh?

character selection screen


Bear Form




Cat Form



Sea Lion Form

Liteon SOHW-1653S 16X Dual Layer

Today at last, after almost a month of waiting, I picked up the dvdwriter I ordered from Rising Sun Computers at Taft. It is a Liteon SOHW-1653S 16X Dual Layer and priced at P6,500. Included in the bundle is Nero Express and PowerDVD 5.





The first thing I noticed as I took it out of the box was it size. It's around an inch shorter than older optical drives. After installing it on Tsunami(name of my pc since 1998), Windows XP didn't complain and so I uninstalled the older nero and put in Nero Express.

"This ain't Nero!" I heard myself say. They moved around a lot of the "oohh so familiar" features. But after a while it seemed usable enough :)). But it suddenly hit me, "why is Nero restricting me to 4,400MB?" So I searched the net and found that 4.7GB is a marketing thing. They say that 4,700,000,000 bytes is 4.7GB when it is just 4.3 something GB.

I passed by CD-R King in Quiapo on the way home to sample some of the dvd media available. I bought 10 pieces of a brand named "Premium" which is 4x DVD+R at 9 pesos each and 10 pieces of Ridata 8x DVD+R at 35 pesos each.

Its actually weird that the "Premium" dvds are labeled on top as 4x, whereas its is actually 8x at the bottom and as detected by the drive. I have burned 5 and all of them were perfect. I'm still to try the Ridata media but I have long trusted them with my 'precious' stuff.

I have written anime that has been clogging my hard disks for ages but soon enough I'll be doing avi->dvd and other interesting tricks.

A is for Alcohol, B is for Brymac

Q: How much alcohol is needed to make brymac reach a drunk state?
A: "I losht count ehh...."

Beer is a traitor: you wouldn't know that its already stabbing your back.

Brymac should remember to avoid Red Horse or similar strong beers. The "sipa" actually leaves a horseshoe mark in the forehead. He was massaging his temples like fat Baron Harkonnen.

Brymac doesn't have a hang-over when he wakes up, even if it is just 3hrs of sleep. It used to show up after he sleeps again, but 12hrs of sleep can eliminate it.

Alcohol does seem to shatter some inhibitions as brymac turned pretty talkative, though he recalls to be still quite himself only with a sloshing brain and toddlers balance.

Ah! My Goddess TV

Five years after the movie and 12 years after releasing the original OAVs, they wanted to keep the magic of Ah! My Goddess alive by lashing out a TV series. They kept both the voice talents and staff intact, which should be of some comfort to die-hard fans and skeptics as well.

I grabbed and watched episode 1 via bittorent, which was fansubbed by [solar]. As far as the story has unraveled ... I prefer the OAVs. Yes there are more info, better setups and introductions, but at the pace that it is going, people who watched the OAV will end up drumming their fingers in impatience. That's just episode 1 though, there is still space for it to pick-up (25 more episodes in fact).

WoW

World of Warcraft has been chopping away chunks of my time recently. I've been trying to deny that I'm addicted to it, but losing time for work, blogging and anime watching maybe proof enough.

The character i'm playing is a Night Elf Druid. I chose the druid class due to its flexible strategy of fighting, which allows me to use brute force, spell spamming or a party healer. So far I can transform into a bear for plain melee fights or a seal for long underwater adventures.

My character has also taken up herbalism and alchemy as professions. I've been researching a bit and I'm sort of excited when I can create the philosopher's stone and transmute some neat stuff (feeling full metal alchemist ^_^ ).