Boarding Pass

Two Haircuts and an X-File

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:12:25 GMT

Trooped to Basement Salon Thursday morning to have my hair done by Cat. Yep, you heard it right folks, our dear friend Cat Tan is now a hair dresser of sorts. I really wanted something short, something like this and or this. However, Cat was very reluctant to cut more than six inches off, so we agreed to shed just a little. After four hours on the hot seat, I got my trimmed hairstyle. It was stylishly uneven, and i really liked it. Cat's professor however had reservations and wanted to chop off more. I mulled it over lunch (Joms was scheduled to get his hair done by Cat at 2pm), and decided to go for the major crop-off.

Cat trimming my hair

As Cat worked on Jom's unruly mop, I was ushered to a different stylist, and Mr. G gave instructions on how he wanted my hair done. With his final instructions, Mr. G. turned to me and asked if I was ready. I was fairly scared and all I could muster for an answer was a faint nod and the release of a very deep breath I didn't know I was holding. So my new stylist Oz, started cutting. I never thought I'd cry over my hair (crying on the inside). After another 4 or so hours on the chair, the final strand had been styled. It's actually a refreshing look for me, but I dread to think about the day I wash it off and try to style it myself. Suffice to say, I look like an anime character.

After an entire day at the salon, my neck and back were sore. I was tired but felt good, although I have to get used to the sensation of hair falling all over my face. I hope I don't get pimples from it. All in all it was a really great experience, seeing 2 entirely different hairstyles in one day sure was fun! Kudos to Cat and her styling technique. She gave me a great hairstyle, albeit short-lived. Next time Cat, your creation will last far longer hehe. Joms really liked the crop the tag team of Cat and Mr. G. gave him. He said the hairstyle makes him feel more like an architect, whatever that means.

Before and after (and further after) pictures to be posted soon :) Pictures here!

To cap off the hairstyling day (did I mention we got this for free?), Joms and i decided to catch The X-Files. I read the reviews and braced myself for something unforgiving. Surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm not quite sure though if it's because of my lowered expectations or the uber X-Phile in me, but I enjoyed the movie.

* - - SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT - - *

I enjoyed the little nods to episodes of old, such as the mention of Clyde Bruckman and Luther Boggs because they fall under the same psychic category as Father Joe. I actually laughed out loud at the scene with pencils embedded in the ceiling. True Philes would know the inherent meaning behind that simple shot and what it meant for Mulder (see Chinga s5 ep10). Skinner also makes an appearance towards the end of the movie, although his rank and present position in the FBI was not exactly mentioned, it was implied that he is currently a big wig in Washington. The shipper in me was ecstatic about the fact that CC chose to maintain Mulder and Scully's relationship and slightly addressing the question that was named William.

On the other hand, I found it hard to believe that both Mulder and Scully easily revert back to their bantering believer and skeptic roles. I would think that Mulder would be far more paranoid now, and that Scully would at least be more open to extreme possibilities. Equally annoying was Mulder ditching Scully for the nth time. However, this time Scully did initiate the ditching by implying that she couldn't live with the darkness hovering above them anymore. After all these years, they're still ditching each other, and in true Mulderesque fashion, Mulder just had to get himself in trouble and Scully has to save him from the clutches of death yet again. These two never learn.

In the end, I miss the aliens. I miss the mytharc. As a kid, growing up I loved the MOTWs and hated the mytharc episodes because my 13-year old brain couldn't fathom the quadruple-crosses going on in the stories. Now, I find myself preferring the mytharc episodes over the monsters. On that note, people who were too young to enjoy the deceptions then, would now probably love to research and revisit the mythology behind the series. I figure, the movie could've been a powerful one had it decided to dive into the vast and rich history of 9 seasons of the series. But it chose to test the waters instead.

I Want to Believe is understated compared to Fight the Future, but I think that XF2 is not exactly about the Father Joe thread, but more about the undercurrents of the story and its parallels. The main story served as a vehicle for us to see how things have fared between our favorite protagonists after so many years. Seeing this movie was money well-spent. I saw it for what it is: Mulder and Scully ... and enjoyed every single minute of it.

To further geekify this entry, Father Joe's words to Scully: "Don't give up" warrants a lot of questions. Don't give up on what? Scully's patient? Mulder? Their relationship? Or William? Maybe another XF movie would answer that question... around 2012 vielleicht? :D

I was told that there were after credits scenes, I didn't stay for the credits. Anyone care to shed light on the rumored post-credits scene?

On Staedtler and Extinct Pencils

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:05:02 GMT

I am a very hands-on person and still work best with a pen (or pencil) in hand. All my reports, drafts, concepts and ideas stem from various scribblings on paper. Now material-wise, I'm not very picky with paper, I can draw on most surfaces even used restaurant tissue. However, I tend to be very anal when it comes to writing equipment.

In university, we were taught to use lead holders also lovingly called clutch pencils. They're a pain to sharpen and dulls unevenly easily. Clutch pencils worked for me though because they never break and always produce the line thickness intended. The pencil is normally loaded with B grade lead because I already find HBs too hard (Hs and Fs are definite no-nos for me).

This penchant for soft lead meant that my drawing arsenal was filled with B grade pencils and my all time favorites: the EBs and EEs. I eat through these EB and EE grades like cookies, until there was only one left in my pencil case. Seeking to refill my diminishing lead supply, I headed to the bookstore but couldn't find my beloved grade anywhere, I saw a bunch of 7Bs and 8Bs instead. To my dismay, Staedtler apparently eased out the EB and EE grades and replaced it with the now visible 7 and 8Bs. The new soft grade pencils, don't have the same "softness" and darkness present in the old EE grade. :(

If anyone sees a bunch of EE pencils anywhere please do contact me. My drafts and sketches wouldn't be the same without it.

My last EE pencil. It's reduced to a mere 5 inches now and I use it sparingly to prolong its life.

It is here! The MacBook Touch! Well, almost...

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:58:55 GMT

A couple of months ago, I traded my PSP for Joms' iPod Touch. I lured him into the trade by dangling various Greenhills-sourced games and lots of memory stick mileage. Since that fateful trading day, I've gone all over the house with the Touch in tow, accessing the web from everywhere and have gone to sleep with the Touch occupying the space beside me.

Now, I've never had a portable laptop and I have been holding off purchasing one due to various reasons. So one night, while lounging on my bed and surfing with the Touch, I kind of thought how neat it would be if there was a 10 - 12 inch version of the Touch, where there will be more screen real estate for me to read stuff and a large enough space to fit a comfy virtual keyboard. I immediately thought of this device made by Axiotron:

Axiotron's Modbook, I haven't seen any lying around in shops here so I don't have a real world account of its size and performance. It almost made it to my Christmas wish list. Almost. Not too long ago, upon releasing the monster of iPhone3G into the world, Mr. Jobs let it slip that there will be new and exciting products before the end of this year. The rumor mill has come up with the most mouth watering, dreamtastic device ever: (image courtesy of Gizmodo)

Now, see it's a rumor. But ohgloryosky! Seeing that Apple already has the technology (albeit minute in scale) and noting that another developer has made a similar and commercially available end product, and possibly the reason for Apple buying that semi-conductor company...I am allowing myself to hope, that this product or something similar will see the light of day come October this year. My christmas wish list just got revamped :D

I just had to share my hope and joy :D

Dark Knight - White Knight?

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:58:11 GMT

Rod, Lian and Joms were adamant about catching the Dark Knight on opening day, and since majority wins, I had no choice but to watch the movie.

No spoilers in this post, but I can definitely say that this movie is better than Batman Begins. The supporting cast is fantastic, and I think that the supporting ensemble even stole the scenes from Batman. What else?

I love you Aaron Eckhart!

Now that this whole brouhaha over the Dark Knight is over, I can focus on the movie that really matters (for me at least): X-Files 2! I'm rather miffed that the poster looming over the Rockwell cinemas state an August 13 opening rather than the official website date of July 23.

10 years! X-Philes have been waiting for this movie for 10 years! Long live MSR! Worthless ranting over.

U2 in Manila (Part 2)

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:53:02 GMT

Just as most people feared, it is not happening.

Unless we find a venue like Wembley somewhere in the country, it is not happening.

Check Inquirer June 23 for the official announcement by the event organizers or this link.

EURO Heartbreak

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:50:08 GMT

My dream of a Germany-Holland final is shattered, completely obliterated.

To add insult to injury,the TV coverage just got worse. The quarterfinals aren't aired live and the replays are hard to catch.

I feel so heartbroken for my orange team :( I couldn't even bring myself to watch the match rerun. It's just too much. To console myself, I'd like to think that the next World Cup is only 2 years away, but that's no guarantee that Holland will qualify or if this current team will still be intact.

In my opinion, this Oranje team is one of the best teams ever drafted. I salute you men in orange for a great tournament. Hup Holland! Hup!

And now, for Germany to set its eyes on the Final...

Recurring Thoughts

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:22:48 GMT

Bullet list of the things my mind has been automatically filing for the past week:

Pledged to help Mozilla set the download record and at 3 AM (GMT+8 zone), server is down
Loving Firefox3, because it is lightning fast!
The 1st Narnia movie is better than Prince Caspian
Middle investor, plant the seeds and watch them grow
Romania defeats Holland, sending both France and Italy packing. Alas, it was not to be
Playing God of War with my eyes closed, damn you fake memory stick!
Wanting the Sector9 Bambino bamboo skateboard
Addicted to Miami Ink, LA Ink, and Tatoo Wars
Weekend beach trip with my best buds
I am in love with the ocean, but I don't like being in it
End the gap semester

A proper post on the way, once the mental notes have all been sorted.

If songs can describe your life

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:52:55 GMT

Using the songs in my iTunes library, I managed to create a playlist entitled "Story of My Life". It's not exactly accurate, but it does reflect the predominant atmosphere that's been serving as the nagging background of my humdrum post-undergraduate existence.

It feels as if I'm missing something, but couldn't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps I already know what is missing, but it's being unconsciously blocked by grave denial.

Here's the playlist, before I wax philosophical (24-song playlist. This serves as warning).

1. 16 - Green Day

2. I Was There - Green Day

3. Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of - U2

4. Time - Hootie & The Blowfish

5. Wasting My Time - Default

6. Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind

7. It Sucks To Be Me - Avenue Q

8. Over My Head - Lit

9. Under Pressure - Queen

10. Burnout - Green Day

11. Landslide - Smashing Pumpkins

12. King of Pain - Sting

13. Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.

14. Regret - New Order

15. You Get What You Give - New Radicals

16. Long View - Green Day

17. Narcolepsy - Third Eye Blind

18. It's The End Of The World - R.E.M.

19. Looking For A Place to Land - Dakota Moon

20. Calling Out - Curt Smith

21. This Time Around - Hanson

22. Ordinary World - Duran Duran

23. Blue Sky - Hale

24. Walk On - U2

It is rather surprising to find four Green Day songs there, I'm supposed to be over those angst-y rants. Not that I'm angry, depressed, on drugs, suicidal or anything ... far from all that actually. Perhaps I could best describe it as feelings of melancholy, like a dark cloud hanging over, or a guillotine, waiting for the shit to hit the fan. I know it's coming, I just don't know when or what it is.

I have to figure out what this singular thing is. This "unnamed unknown thing" has been hovering over me for almost five years, if it were a human being it would be walking and talking now. Maybe I should go and ask what it wants...

And yes, what do you do with a BA in English (or a BS in Architecture)?

The Taxman Cometh

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:04:53 GMT

Just got back from the bank, after having successfully filed and paid my dues to this government. I'll see you next year!

The process was for the most part painless. It was easy goings when I got to the main branch of PNB, paid at the window and that was it. Painless for the most part, because I had to spend the entire morning calling up banks to find AABs (Authorized Agent Banks). These AABs operate on a per-district basis, so I couldn't just go anywhere. Tough luck that my district's AABs were all conveniently offline and tougher luck that I had to call the main branch last.

It was last minute...again, I never learn. In my defense, I encountered some unforeseen charges and questions regarding dues. My bracket sky-rocketed in the last year and I had to scrounge for receipts. Thank god for depreciation and representation. >:P

Times like these, I wish I was in the showbiz industry, an actor, a model or a class-c talent of sorts. That way, my itemized deductions could include the following:

- my gym membership
- hair care products
- skin care products
- spa treatments
- derma visits
- clothes
- shoes

all because they keep me gainfully employed.

Times like these also see me wishing I was an employee, so I don't have to compute and file my own taxes (all hail thee balanced returns! All hail thee zeroes!). Then again, I start thinking of the time demanded from employees and think never mind. I'm happy owning my time and free time thank you very much.

Next year I'll file those damned returns in March.

Jailbreak

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:27:40 GMT

I applied for a job posting last Monday. I only found out about the opening Friday night, and it took me the whole weekend to think it through. It was for a position that I'm not normally associated with, but I want that post. Wanted it because I felt it was such a challenge, it sparked my interest so much, I couldn't sleep just thinking about it. The post could've squeezed out the very best from my every pore. No other TOR in recent memory elicited such a reaction from me.

But of course, with the requirements 85% away from my specialties, I didn't get it. Sad, but expected. Oh, well.

To drown the mild disappointment, I busied myself with jailbreaking PIC's iPod Touch. It took me the better part of the afternoon to jailbreak the thing, and probably sustained a wrist injury from grappling the tail-less mouse for hours. Eventually, the Touch was hacked and the January upgrades were loaded sans the 20$ fee (+/- 800 Php) along with other useful and time-draining apps. However, the jailbreak messed up YouTube's protocols and I couldn't get it to work :( Luckily, PIC said he doesn't use YouTube on Touch. I need to find a way to restore that function. Anyone got ideas?

"Give me an occupation or I shall run mad." - Col. Brandon (Alan Rickman), Sense and Sensibility
My sentiments exactly. Very well said Colonel, very well said. - Bart

U2 in Manila (?)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:14:38 GMT

I got the tickets last week.

PIC was complaining, I told him it'll be the cheapest front row seats to any U2 concert ever.

He's slightly half -hearted about it since it's only a 3D movie in Imax.

Who cares? It's U2! U2!!

A new friend (thanks for the info Ben!) told me that someone spied on a U2 gig itenerary for 2008, and Manila is listed. Another source indicated that the MTV Asia 2008 gig index, lists it as an event...in OCTOBER! Now, I have been seeing U2 TV ads on local TV for several years already and the concert never materialized. I'm keeping my hopes up this time and abandoning the Singapore GP weekend in September...I need the funds for U2. U2!

It's a good thing PIC agrees with me (the Singapore GP weekend plan was his). He told me that we can watch the race next year because the race is like clockwork, it's always there. While a U2 concert is a U2 concert.

I love my PIC!!!

If the spies and sources are wrong and they're not coming to Manila, the minute the band holds a concert anywhere in Asia...I'll grab the next flight out.

Who cares? It's U2! U2!!

Paul V! I hope you can be in the lowlands for this one! We miss you!

Space TV

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:47:33 GMT

Dad is such a space nut. Every time a space-faring object gets hurtled into space or something from space hurtling toward the Earth, he scours all the news channels to find every bit of information. I think he misses the televised manned moon missions or the televised exploding shuttle launches. I never got to see any of those live. Due to the lack of news regarding Endeavour's flight back, I decided to do a little web searching for dad. Naturally the first site I went to was NASA's, and dad's in luck, I found a live 24-hour AV feed from both Mission Control and Endeavour.

It's not much, most of the time it's boring. Just showing people milling about in Mission Control or feeds of the giant status screens, but the above picture was showing an orbital sunrise as it was happening when the shuttle was just above the northwestern side of Australia. Well, that's the first time I witnessed an orbital sunrise :) The picture below shows a better-lit Earth a few minutes later. I think it's great that NASA provides these live feeds, imagine if you were a kid with dreams of being an astronaut and you were locked onto the feeds, that's 24 hours of astronaut-pretend right there! I suddenly have the urge to say: "Houston, we have a problem..." oh, but I hope I won't hear those words on this feed.

To take these pictures I fiddled with the command + shift + 3 (or 4 or + spc bar as the case may be) screen capture shortcut, but I wasn't exactly thrilled that it was automatically being saved as a PNG file on the desktop. I looked for ways to set the preferences for this, but I couldn't find it, so I opened up Automator. The result? I made my first workflow from scratch! Hooray! And here I was thinking that I wouldn't know what to do with Automator. I'm so happy...giddy with geekiness.

I made a three-step workflow:
1. Take screenshot, main monitor only checked, save to desktop as picture
2. Change type of image, show action when run checked (so a list of possible file types appear)
3. Open images in Preview (because I'd like to see the image in actual size post screen grab)

Then it was saved as plug-in for finder for easy right-click access

There are a few things that I haven't ironed out, the workflow doesn't work when I use the keyboard shortcuts. I'm looking for an action that incorporates the keyboard shortcuts into the workflow but couldn't figure it out. The nice thing is, it works great from the right-click option which is a 2 step click process (right-click, select) as opposed to the "command + shift + 3 or 4 or + spc bar" which is a 3 - 4 keypress process. All in all, a good, fun and successful workflow for me! Hooray!

When did I turn into an Apple geek?

Midnight Phone Calls

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:36:32 GMT

Does anyone else ever get calls or text messages in the middle of the night? I am not talking about 9:00 or 10:00 PM, but those 2AM type of disturbances that wakes you from your sleep or interrupt your insomnia-driven activities.

It's the harbinger of bad news.

Most of my friends know they can't call after 9PM because I'm not allowed to use the phone past that time, and if someone did call, I got the glares of death and my folks would hover like a dark cloud until I hang up. We had that 9PM call curfew for years, I think it's still in place now, I just don't get death glares anymore. Looking back, the curfew made much sense. Nobody is going to call at such ungodly hours, and nobody with common sense (or at least good manners) would call and disturb a slumbering household ... unless of course the conversation can't wait. In which case it would be a life or death situation, but mostly death or something akin to it. So any call or message that rouses you (or in most cases, messages THAT WILL rouse you) from slumber is more likely to be bad news.

I've never actually answered such a call, and I dread having to answer one. There were 3 or 4 times in recent years when the phone rang at such hours. Lifting the phone from its cradle felt like lifting a 10 pound weight. Thankfully the calls were mistimed international calls. I remember another incident when my mobile phone rang at the same ungodly hour, I kept looking at the caller ID and couldn't muster the courage to press the green button. My mind kept repeating "I'll tell her I was asleep." A few hours later, I learned that it was a dear(est) friend calling because she snuck a pregnancy test in the wee hours of the morning and the result was positive. Under the circumstances then, it was bad news.

I started writing this post because my dad's mobile phone just beeped with a message. I'm too afraid to look at it. If it's important they'll call. *darn* I better turn the ringer off.

I repeat: midnight phone calls are the harbinger of bad news.

Fame and Whatnots

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:09:38 GMT

It finally happened, Oli Pettigrew has gone mainstream :(

It just wouldn't be the same...he's going to be far more famous now. With tons of screaming fangirls. For the past five years I felt like I was the only one who would scream out "OLI!" (at least here in the Philippines) just after that stupid Axe Deo TV spot. So sad that now I have to share my kiddie crush :( Don't get me wrong, I do wish him much success on his new shows.

... but still :(

It's like reliving the same moment when another kiddie crush went mainstream ages ago. Remember Trey Farley? A friend even got a Brent ISM yearbook out for me just because Trey was in that graduating batch. Then he went "Channel V" and all those other shows and movies. So sad that I had to share.

I'm selfish like that.

My cat loves Jake

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:27:24 GMT

My cat loves Jake Shimabukuro, and damn it! I wasn't able to get a picture!

I know it's the music that enchanted her, because I know for a fact that she prefers black and white cartoons on Nickelodeon (see pictures below). My cat simply stood in front of the screen and watched closely just around the part when Jake was strumming the hell out of that ukelele in the latter parts of "While my Guitar Gently Weeps". That cat's got taste!

(L: Watching Doodlez in the morning. R: Watching Doodlez at night)

I'll try playing the clip on you tube, and see if it catches her fancy again, will take a picture this time.

Oh, and many thanks to Conan O' Brien for sharing the wonderful treasure of Jake Shimabukuro's music :D

Geek Entry

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 04:44:44 GMT

Woohoo! Let me reaffirm my geekazoid status through this simple list of things to expect in 2008:

1. New Lego stuff
2. More computer upgrades come March
3. EURO 2008! (The quadrennial sports overload with Football, Wimbledon and the Olympics happening one after another)
3. The Dark Knight in July
4. X - FILES 2 also in July
5. Watch my first live F1 race
6. Star Trek (11 or shall I say a restart of the series?) in December! Yeah Baby!!

Based on this preliminary list of things to look forward to, I can say that 2008 is starting to feel like a great year to me :D

- end of geeky post -

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEGO!

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:34:54 GMT

LEGO is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and to commemorate the event I took a picture of my latest LEGO set: Adventures in Bikini Bottom

My Bikini Bottom is not nearly as complex as this one:

But this set also lacks a few things like Mrs. Puff's Boating School, and The Chum Bucket. I'm waiting for the Bikini Bottom Bus, and then I'll be happy with my not-so-fabulous-rendition of the residential district.

You've come a long way little brick! Thanks for hundreds of hours of pixel/block dreaming :)

For serious LEGO modeling, head over to these sites brothers brick , brickshelf and Sean Kenney

MacBook Air song - New Soul

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 09:11:40 GMT

Who doesn't love the new MBA ad?

(The ad! The ad! Stop throwing half-eaten apples at me non-fruit lovers!)

The song is New Soul by Yael Naim. Her self-titled album was released October last year and featured songs in French, English and her native language(?). Her diversity reminds me of Anggun, and I can't quite remember where I've heard her hauntingly familiar voice before. I hope her music manages to reach our local music stores, I'd gladly purchase her CD.

New Year, Old Grind, Same Habit

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 06:32:23 GMT

Yes, procrastinating again.

There's a Project-End Report percolating in the word processor with its icon jumping about in the dock, and a graphic manual whose application has been open for so long, it's become a secondary wallpaper. They're all lined up desperately seeking attention, but the World Wide Web beckons. It's such a distraction.

One click at a link and you're gone forever, buried beneath tabs upon tabs upon tabs of web pages. Today's culprits?
- 2008 CES at Las Vegas
- Macworld keynote speeches of yore (January 14th marks iCal)
- Web 2.0 logos - the "half-frustration-why-am-i-not-in-this-profession" rears its ugly head

The all-seeing, softly blinking white light of the computer woke me up at around 8am. I said I'll finish at least the Project-End Report by today, but the WWW said: NOOO...you shall be lost in cyberspace for all eternity and rant about it in your blog! The internet is the devil. I probably just need to strengthen my resolve or acquire a fresh set of will power. Hope I can get a 2 liter version from the supermarket, along with a dozen new year's resolutions...and Nutella.

Happy 2008 to everyone!

Desktop Tag

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:54:35 GMT

Ive been tagged by aoitenshi ! So, here's what my current desktop looks like. It's Alan Lee's cover artwork for Tolkien's latest posthumously released work, "The Children of Hurin".

What else can I say about my desktop? Well, it's very bare. I like seeing my wallpapers, so I keep it relatively icon-free and clutter-free. I also like keeping my dock with minimal apps. So you'll only see MS Word, Stickies, Photoshop, Illustrator, YM, Command and Conquer 3 (PIC's game), and The SIMS2 (my game) on top of the usual dock stuff. My usual wallpapers are sourced from David Lanham, he's got great digital art. But for the meantime, I'm using this wallpaper by Alan Lee to remind myself to read the book already. :D There's a larger version of the desktop behind the cut.

My turn to tag! I tag chaos_theory08 , leaalissa , thyalla and weird_sistah

Edit: The lack of a glossy dock indicates that the system is still running on Tiger 10.4.10. Still thinking it over if the system should be switched to Leopard before the year ends...hmmm

Because all I could do is rant

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 09:42:23 GMT

A month ago, I woke up to find these kittens on my bed:

They were happily munching on my pair of Shure E2Cs:

Luckily, these Shure(s) are built extremely well, and the rubber cover prevented the kittens from reaching and severing the copper wires inside. However, a few days later, the same kittens jumped on my computer table and attacked the Shure(s) yet again:

This time, they were successful in destroying the rubber and proceeded to expose the wiring at various points along the cords:

That made me real sad, because I loved this pair of Shure(s). They produced wonderful sound, they fit inside my ridiculously small ear canal, and they don't pop out unlike other earphones. So, off I went to the nearest store and looked around for a new pair of earphones. I found this:

After trying out the display model (eeew, PIC did that for me actually, I won't put public in-ear earphones in my ears!) I purchased the pair and happily explored all the bundled-in goodies (there are a lot!). These earphones are fantastic! I'm a bass lover so I actually enjoyed the extra oomph JBL gives its bass drivers :) It was a great 1 1/2 weeks until:

Yes, the kittens abducted the earphones again from my bed...with the iPod in tow! The wires weren't exactly exposed like the Shure(s), but look again:

The kittens actually tore the earbud off this one! It's been 2 days and we still couldn't find the earbud! One of them probably swallowed it. This made me angry, then sad, then angrier. But there isn't much I could do but wail, not even PIC's offer to get me another pair of JBLs could lift my spirits :( :,( :,( So, to make me feel a tad better, PIC just got me a bunch of these:

Pocket-sized Nutella is love. I feel much better now. The kittens and I are in speaking and feeding terms again (I refused to feed them for a few days, don't worry my mom fed them), but PeaPod is still without earphones:

For now, PeaPod is stuck to the car stereo. I should give the kittens away. Anyone interested?

MetroPlex

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 06:50:47 GMT

It has been decided for quite sometime that architecture as a profession is not an option for me. I find that architecture as a profession in this country is too economics-based and sometimes even politically driven. However, a very late night chat with an old friend revived my interest in most things architecture.

He started a web-blog entitled "MetroPlex" which contains ideas, articles, observations and proposals for potential development for our dearly beloved metropolis: Metro Manila. I volunteered to co-moderate and help out with developing the web-blog and I'm excited about the prospects and articles that are in store for the site. We are still in the inception stages, but there are already a couple of entries which are worth reading.

So head on over to MetroPlex and read about a bunch of Manila-based architects dream about the metropolis!

The LJ Monster (or is it Safari?)

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 18:13:32 GMT

The entry below was written almost a week ago. I was absolutely bent on writing it then, when I accidentally clicked on the wrong button on Safari and closed the LJ tab. I tried desperately to recover what I've written but the page kept reverting back to the original saved draft which only contained 3 sentences.

I was heartbroken. Paragraphs of heartfelt sentiment were washed away into cyberspace oblivion. After a few minutes, I eventually accepted my entry's fate and decided to move on, refusing to re-write what was just made because I knew that I wouldn't be able to recapture the essence of what was written first hand. Self-editing is something I've learned to avoid because the tendency to obliterate myself together with all original thought and emotion is very high.

Lo and behold, after 6 days of losing what was believed to be unrecoverable, here it is on the entry page. The resurrected entry originally entitled "More Than Meets the Eye". Might be LJ, then again the iMac has been known to act weird at times (like deleted contents reappearing as recovered files in the trash bin). But hey, I'm new to this so... I.D.K.J.S.!

So, what did I really want to write today? The inner geek wanted to rant and rave, completely ignoring the amount of work needed to be finished by tomorrow morning.

PIC got rid of his clunky but ever-dependable SE W900i today. After 2 years with the old chubby white Swedish, he replaced it with a yonger, slimmer, and sexier Finn. I was impressed with the 6300, I liked how it felt and looked like the SE T610s of yore (Blasphemy! Using SE to describe Nokia! Ye shall all burn in hell!) and loved the fact that it was thinner than my Moto KRZR and that its battery cover is made of a metal material (love them metals in my phone). Graphics on the screen jump out like an HDMI-powered LCD, I guess that's the 16-million colors proving its point and the S40 UI is a clear reminder why Nokia is at the tops of this game, every single item is customizable making configuration options almost endless! Keypad tactile feedback was also good except for the side buttons which were difficult to press. The 2mp camera on the back is ho-hum, no autofocus there (PIC suddenly misses the chubby Swede) and no flash either. Did I say it's wonderful to hold? it feels just right in my hand.

Eventually I had to give the Finn back to PIC because he was heading home. Now, I'm stuck holding my old Moto KRZR, still shiny with its scratch-free mirror finish. I remember fiddling with KRZR for the 1st time, it wasn't as exciting as the 6300 exploration. I remember trying my best to configure the KRZR menu and once I was able to configure it to my needs, I deliberately forgot about its menu (it's that horribly done). I never realized that interactions with a phone's menu is an integral part of establishing contact with it, a means where technology connects with human physiology. Now I am constantly reminded of how my KRZR and I fail to connect. I wish I had a new phone...

Which led me to this:

The SE W960i. A Touchscreen phone with a regular keypad (not a fan of QWERTY on phones) armed with a 3.2mp autofocus camera, video-call capability, an internal memory of 8GB, wi-fi, all housed in a casing half the size of the current P990i.

I found KRZR's replacement.

It looks like a hybrid-love child of an orgy between the P900/P1i series, W950 and the iPhone. The only problem is, it's a Walkman phone. The internal memory of 8Gb is meant for music (no external memory), and I'm not exactly keen on using a phone as an MP3 player, so figured that the memory could be put to good use with other documents. It so happens that the phone will ship with a pair of bluetooth stereo earphones, it'll be such a waste not to use those earphones. tsk! Dilemmas, dilemmas.

Should it replace PeaPod, my 8GB iPod? I'm saying it could, but I have my doubts. PeaPod is now down to 3GB free space, (yes I have that much favorite songs), and if I do make an iPod out of the W960i, phone speeds might suffer. I'll probably load it with a few select songs to keep the W960i happy, when PeaPod isn't there or drained (since when do I travel without the 'Pod? For that matter, a drained 'Pod?)

So far, this is my ultimate phone. A P1i sans the annoying QWERTY keypad, with great specs to boot. Goodbye iPhone, goodbye LG Prada, goodbye Luna, goodbye U600! The Christmas list for this December just got a wee bit shorter. :)

Now, on to the "ghost entry".

Please note that as of date, I have no plans of completing the resurrected entry, and so far I'm still the only person garnering feelings of disappointment towards the movie. So please, don't flame me :)

- - - - - - The post that saw the other side of cyberspace oblivion - - - - - -

PIC insisted that we watch the darned movie early on its opening day, so we watched "Transformers" this morning. I am still trying to figure out whether I liked it or not.

For a robot movie there seems to be too many humans. There were three big things that bothered me while watching this movie:

1. Too many humans
2. Bumblebee isn't a bug
3. It's too American

Point #1:
I grew up with this cartoon franchise, I even had a number of the robots and I distinctly remember only 2 or 3 regular humans in the cartoon storyline. Granted, I understand that movies are allowed to make creative liberties on existing material and to establish rapport with the audience, a human connection is needed. Given that statement, one human or one unit (family) of human connection might have sufficed to answer this narrative need. The human element of the story that will bring us through the movie's paces. But what did the movie have? I counted a total of 12 major / semi-major human players figuring in the story

People count:
3 - Sam's family
1 - Sam's girlfriend
3 - US Army
2 - Analysts / codebreakers
1 - Additional codebreaker
1 - Secretary of Defense
1 - Sector 7 representative

All these story lines / characters have well-developed backgrounds which is intended to aid the understanding of the early development stages of the movie. With a running time of 148 minutes, by the last hour, all the other story lines are forgotten and only Sam and his girlfriend's story line is resolved (there is closure on the US Army capt. story though). But no such development was reached for the other characters, which is such a waste since they were adequately introduced at the beginning. As a result, the existence of the remaining 9 characters either seemed two-dimensional, useless or wasted.

Point#2
Bumblebee...any yellow VW beetle I see, I call Bumblebee. I think it's sacrilegious

Dopie Naked Sandals

Wed, 02 May 2007 19:16:23 GMT

I've gone crazy for shoes! well, not shoes exactly, probably sandals or slippers.

Well, it would seem that I am drawn to odd-looking weird objects, and weird functional objects scream at me constantly and hound me in my sleep (or non-sleep as mentioned here).

PIC indulged the screaming objects and helped me acquire these odd items. First off, a pair of Sanuk sandals.

They're not exactly sandals because they look like shoes, but the packaging says otherwise. The item is not exactly overly odd, it's just that the shoes keep insisting they're sandals. The pair is rather confused, but I'm not...since it's so comfortable to wear! PIC got himself a pair a few days after hehe.

Next stop High Street in Fort Bonifacio. After getting over the smart design and development of the area stretching from Market!Market! all the way to the other end, PIC and I dropped by Havaianas (Gakhh ugh die bart die!). Yes, after years of purchasing all brands of tsinelas EXCEPT Havaianas, I simply couldn't resist cartoon-covered tsinelas.

Bonifacio High Street

The irresistible pair of Havainanas. I can't help it! There are cartoons playing football on my slippers! Ok, this is not actually a weird pair of feet stuff, but I was the only one buying a "Cartunistas" pair of Havaianas in the store and there were about 20 - 30 other people in there! So, unpopular slipper-design choice: odd enough for me :)

Lastly, the king of oddities, my latest (to date) feet stuff.

My Dopie pair of slippers. It's so weird It drives me nuts! The packaging is a simple brown box, and inside one will find a drawstring slipper bag, the Dopie pair and support straps. The reading material that comes with the slippers explains that you may opt to use the straps to help you get used to the ergonomics, and you may also choose to wear it as is. It may look difficult to walk around in without the straps, but the slipper sticks to your feet like magnet. There are lots of colors to choose from too, I wanted to get the baby blue pair but the store didn't have it in my size. You can check out the Dopie Blog for more information.

There you have it folks! my list of feet stuff oddities! Tune in next time for another bunch of weird purchases. :)

On another note, my mom forced me to make sushi a few weekends ago. I made tamago, cucumber and mango sushi. Of course I didn't get to take pictures of the finished product because people kept eating them after I've rolled them. Drat! Next time I'll take pics, and I have to work on my tamago, it's too fat. :)

The tamago bake-off

VisualDNA

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 16:24:40 GMT

It took me 3 days to work this thing out. But it is still in its beta version so hopefully more compatibility issues will be addressed. It's really a nice gizmo, inspired me to finally fill out the blanks in most of my web profiles. I have been evading the effort to describe who I am, and this little widget helped a lot.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Apparently, only my Safari is having this compatibility problem, worked flawlessly with Firefox. Hmmm, thanks to cate for this link!