"Bloggety Blog Blog Blog" said the Blogger Man

Things that have been on my mind lately:

1. Our car's non-existent airconditioning..
2. How fat i've become (187 lbs, 38 around the waist, and growing)..
3. Needing a bigger memory stick for my PSP..
4. Needing a wireless router at home..
5. How much is an N93..
6. Seiichi's shots..
7. How small our new refrigerator is..
8. When the DVD of 300 is coming out..
9. Poker/Tong-its/Baccarat
10. Tlend Mayklo
11. Sissy Songs
12. Miami Heat's Playoff Seeding

My Wedding (from a different perspective)

If you ask either me or MaeDei, we would have done a lot of things differently with our wedding. Wish we could have done this, wish we could have done that.. Wishe we didn't hire these people, wish we hired those people.. Wish we bought this, wish we bought that..
So it was particularly refreshing to read another person's take on our special day. Here's Dylan, one of the production designers over at The Mango Farm and his blog about our wedding day:

http://vatelmanila.blogspot.com/2006/12/sabios-november-2006.html

FutureMe.org

I have been working in a technical support call center environment for more than six years now. As a technical person myself, this type of work suits me considerably, and I believe myself to be a very good manager, with my impeccable people skills and my top-notch decision making as my strengths. Currently, I am a glorified slave in a multi-million global software company who specializes in anti-virus programs and Internet security. The pay is good, much higher than my previous job, the workload is okay, much bearable than my previous job, and I am in a higher management position.
I started here last September, along with a few other managers, because the company wanted to inject new blood into their operations and that they wanted to adapt a real call center environment when it came to technical support with their Internet security software.
Anyway, during my first few days when I still had some idle time, I came across a site that would let you e-mail your future self on a pre-determined date. You could ask yourself anything, ask yourself how you are doing, tell something to yourself, ponder what happened with you, what you ate today, what the price of gasoline is, how many times you picked your nose. Anything.

Anyway, so at September 18, 2006, I e-mailed this to myself, to be received at March 4, 2007 (the day that I will be regularized):

(The following is an e-mail from the past, composed on Monday, September 18, 2006, and sent via FutureMe.org)
Dear FutureMe,
So was it a good decision? Are you still with the company? Made any friends yet? Making an impact? Personally and professionally?
Just remember, whatever happens, life will get better.
-Filip 9/18/06 5:15pm

So there it was. A question I asked myself that was meant to make me think of how I was doing in this new job. For the past 6 months, I thought I had done pretty well. I had new friends. I was doing my work pretty efficiently. I was able to do all tasks assigned to me in a relatively acceptable manner. Then it happened.
One night, while I was out with my friends, my boss called me to check where I was and see if I was okay. He told me that there was an e-mail sent to everybody at work from an anonymous person.
It had me in it.
It was a complaint letter "apparently" from a disgruntled worker here at the office. The letter complained about the new managers not doing their job, not knowing how to motivate their people, questioned our motives, and just basically said that me along with the other new managers are doing a bad job and that we are not qualified for our management position. This e-mail was sent to everybody. When I say "everybody" I mean everybody: peers, subordinates, upper management, general manager, CEO, president, etc.. Needless to say, I was shocked that someone would question me personally about my work and my work ethic.
Anyway, since the e-mail was badly written, had no real purpose, and did not address anything real, the news died down just about after one or two days.
The thing that got to me is, I didn't expect that the e-mail I wrote to myself six months ago would have so much relevance to what I would be experiencing in a new environment. I've learned a long time ago that you cannot please everyone but as long as you work hard for the people around you, everything will turn out fine.
I guess, the moral of this story is: In hard times and in good times, it is in yourself that you can find strength to overcome whatever hurdle is in front of you. Sometimes, you are your own motivator. And sometimes, you are your own voice.

300: Best Movie of the Year

"We're in for one wild night."

Within the first few seconds, you'll realize that you're in for a wild movie. I can't even begin to describe how good this movie is. I can even go as far as saying that this is the best movie ever not in a trilogy.


The images that Zack Snyder and Frank Miller give the audience is almost intoxicating. You can really get a visual high from the movie. I lost count of how many "Astig!" "Ungas!" "Hanep!" "Ta***na, ang galing!" "Bangas!" "Lupit!" "F**k, sobrang ganda nito!" I might have said while watching the movie.


Honestly, it is that good. My wife said that this was the only movie (along with LOTR) that she couldn't find a fault with, cinematics-wise. Personally, the one thing I sort of got bored with in the movie was the Queen's speech in the council chambers. I felt like this was wasting 5 minutes in the movie and the speech itself was terribly done. (What am I saying? 5 minutes? If it wasn't for all the slow motion, the movie could have been over by 30 minutes! Ha!) Anyway, the story more than made up for this at the end of her speech when she did something that'll make you think: "Wow, she is a Spartan woman!" My point is, my wife was right. There really is nothing bad you can say about this movie. Even though it was a historical representation of the Battle of Thermopylae, it was never meant to educate on the accuracies of it but rather a fantasy story based on it.


All aspects of it are great: cinematography, sound, plot, dialogue, directing, editing, characters and even acting. Could anyone have given a better Leonidas' than Gerard Butler? Or David Wenham's (Faramir/Dilios) voice-over narrative. Or even Xerxes's performance? (Who by the way was Randy Emmers in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Who would have thought?)

I left the movie wanting to be a Spartan. Wanting to be part of something so great, so violent, driven by purpose, driven by a "No retreat, No surrender" principle. This is hands down, the best movie of the last four years (LotR:RotK 2003) and can possibly be for the next few years.

Spartans! Enjoy your breakfast, for tonight we dine in Hell!




Image from IMDB.com

Miami Heat say "Bye-bye" to the Season

"Dwyane Wade dislocated his left shoulder as he was attempting a steal in the second half of their game against the Houston Rockets, February 21, 2007 in Houston, Texas. Wade left the court in a wheelchair and was taken to a hospital."

- ESPN.com

There has been much talk on how grave the injury is. Earliest diagnosis is that he'll be out 6 to 8 weeks, and that's the optimistic view to it. Some say that this is a career-ending or rather a career-changing injury for Wade. No one ever really comes back the same again after an injury like this. I guess we'll have to wait until after a few more days for a more precise diagnosis.

There has also been some debate between Heat fans on whether it would be best for Wade to sit out the season or push himself and try to come back in the playoffs.

Obviously, for Wade's career it would be best if he rested this season (he will undergo surgery by the way). If he manages to come back and play, his conditioning will be suspect at best, specially in his left arm where he'll definitely be weak. His mental conditioning is a factor as well, we don't know if he'll still be attacking the rim relentlessly like he has for years,

On the other hand, the Miami Heat franchise cannot afford to be in a "rebuilding" mode. Players that surround Wade are old and past their prime. Shaquille O 'Neal may be the glue that holds the team together, but Dwyane Wade is their heart and soul. The way that Riley built his franchise is with a "win-now" mentality and they would need Wade as soon as he is available. I'm thinking Riley is not even considering bowing out of the playoff race in the slim hopes of a good lottery pick.

Whatever happens, if Wade plays or not, the season is already lost. Miami is currently the 8th seed in the East and realistically cannot go any higher than this with Wade injured. And with the way the Pistons are playing, it seems that no one can catch them on the 1st seed. With that said, optimistically, the Heat will meet the Pistons in the first round. Realistically though, even if the Heat manages to stay in playoff contention, it is almost impossible for them to beat the Pistons without Wade. The season is practically over.

For true Heat fans, we can only just pray for Wade's health as we convince ourselves of the reality of this infamous 06-07 injury-riddled season. We may have lost the season, but what's important is we do not lose our franchise player for good.

Ghost Rider = Elektra

Overall, both movies were good. But man, they had some awesome villains!! Well it can probably be attributed to Mark Steven Johnson but can you find anything cooler than the Four Angels?
Anyway, save for a few glaring plot holes (such as Mephistopheles being powerless against his own creation) and bad dialogue, Ghost Rider was a good movie. It had its moments, and the CGI team did a great job of not making Ghost Rider as too cartoonish (although as a Marvel fan, I had other ideas of Ghost Rider's voice, he sounded like a clown with a bad case of strep throat). This movie is really what you'd expect and I can't wait for Stan Lee to make an ok for a Punsiher/Ghost Rider crossover movie. Actually, a Marvel crossover movie has been long overdue. When do we get to see the X-Men and the FF4 try to contain the Hulk, Stan??


(Pictures from IMDB.com)

Poverty Week

Yes, I survived! Finally sweldo na ulit. After an extremely long "kinsenas" (half-month pay period) which lasted 20 days, I'll be able to put food in the ref; gatas and diapers for Seiichi; pay Meralco, Nawasa, the Yayas, Globe, Metrobank, BPI; and we'll have baon again for gas, parking, and office food.

Ohmagad, let's hope my sweldo lasts 5 days this time...

He's Not Billy Corgan

Do you remember the 80s TV Series: Small Wonder? The story revolved around the Lawson family and a robot named V.I.C.I. and their struggles to keep her identity a secret.

For the longest time, me and my friends thought that Jamie Lawson, the son, was indeed Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins.

Anyway, just got this excerpt from wikipedia:

"Over the years he has been the subject of countless internet rumors that include his involvement as a roadie for the band Alice in Chains and that he was actually Billy Corgan from the successful rock band Smashing Pumpkins."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Supiran

Although, the resemblance is striking, Billy Corgan he ain't. Naniwala ba talaga ko dito?

Random Blog Entry - Best Ever Awards Part II

Best Sex Scene Ever:
Halle Berry in Monster's Ball

Honorable Mention:Angelina Jolie in Original Sin, Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon in Bound, sex scene in Team America

Best Jackie Chan Movie Ever:
Who Am I

Honorable Mention:
Armour of God

Best Trilogy Ever:
The Matrix Trilogy

Honorable Mention:
Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Godfather Trilogy, Star Wars: Episode I to III

Best(Worst) Villain Ever:
Keyser Soze in Usual Suspects

Honorable Mention:
Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs

Best CG Animated Movie Ever:
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Honorable Mention:
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Best Car in a Movie Ever:
'86 Trueno in Initial D

Honorable Mention:
Christine in Christine, The Tumbler in Batman Returns

Apocalypto

I am convinced that Mel Gibson is a good director. Braveheart was a revolutionary classic, violent, and even inspiring. The Passion of Christ was.. well it was okay. But his new movie, Apocalypto, just puts him at another level.
In essence, Apocalypto can be summarized in a single paragraph. One single paragraph: They are living peacefully in their community. A violent and disruptive tribe invades their village and kidnaps the men and women of the tribe. He escapes and journeys back to his family. "Apocalypse" begins.
With such a simplistic plot outline, this is where the genius of a director comes in. He can transform the story and screenplay into a riveting adventure. With Apocalypto, Mel Gibson was able to tell the story in a manner which immerses you in the whole movie. You actually feel that you were living with the Mayans and you actually felt that you were running with Jaguar Paw (lead character).Another thing to take into consideration was that he used a native Mayan language throughout the entire film. This concept was not really well received with The Passion of Christ. But with this film, after watching it, I actually couldn't picture the film with English as the spoken language. I think it would have removed a rather large piece of the overall beauty of the film if Mel Gibson used English. Unlike with The Passion's Hebrew and Latin usage, the Mayan language you hear in the film is not even remotely distinguishable. But it still adds to the ambience and mystery that surrounds the entire film. That, in itself, is pretty amazing.

Overall, this movie is brilliant. The cast was chosen extremely well. The acting was top-notch. The camera angles used were amazing. Sound was good. The storytelling was great. And, the director was able to hold all of the important pieces of the film together.