Balagtas is My Middle Name

I'm not in a conversational mood today so it's one of those dull moments that I recede to myself and introspect. Bukas na lang yung weekend kwento ko. Na-trippan ko na lang i-assemble yung mga laman ng kukote ko and scribble something about it. Ang resulta? Isang hitik sa emote na tula na namo'y hinugot pa sa aparador ni Balagtas. Hehe. I started the draft while on one of three meetings I had today here in the office. Nagustuhan ko yung dating niya in fairnesseses, ang galing (kahit na-kornihan ako nung umpisa).


"Lamat"
by Obi

may lamat na ang mata ko
sa paghanap ng bagay na hindi dumadating.
nakitang saglit sabay naglaho,
imaheng mayroong taning

may lamat na ang labi ko
sa pagsikap masambit ang mga nais sabihin.
handa nang magsalita pero ikaw ay wala,
ang nakinabang lang ay hangin.

may lamat na ang aking mga kamay
sa pagsusulat ng inilihim na nadarama,
at sa bawat guhit ng letra'y may isang pangarap:
maibsan ang bigat ng umaasa.

may lamat na ang aking utak
na sa palaging isipin ay panahong kasama ka.
masasayang araw na hiling lang ay maulit,
ngayo'y wala na.

itong mga lamat ang nagmulat sa akin
umibig ay magsulat sa buhangin.
maaaring kaligayahan ay madaling iguhit
ngunit sa hangin ay hihipang saglit.

itong mga lamat ang nagmulat sa akin
pero dumating ka't hindi na lang pinansin.
hindi inalintanang bukas
dagling iihip ang hangin ng pagwawakas.

tulad mo, nasaktan na din ako,
masakit... nakakapanghina...
na kahit may lamat ang aking utak
ang aking mga kamay, labi, at mata,
hindi kailanman inisip na tulad ka nila...

ngayon kahit itong puso ay may lamat na.

Anong Bago?

1. destinasyon ko bukas!
- matapos ang ilang linggo na panay Norte ang lakwatsa ko, maiiba naman ang trippings ko bukas. mas super-uber-Norte naman! birthday kasi ng tropa ko bukas. parang kapatid ko na itong mga ito nung mga araw namin sa CEU (mga ilang taon na din ang nakalipas pero hindi pa naman ganon kalayo... deny pa, haha). taga Bulacan kasi si kumag. pero magkikita muna kami ng iba pang mga karakter na tropa sa Galle, para sabay sabay na ang alis papuntang super-uber-Norte. alas ocho nga ng umaga sana daw ang kitaan namin sabi ni Julius. para dun na kami sa Bulacan tatambay. tumawad ako ng after lunch dahil malamang naghihilik pa ang pwet ko kung alas ocho. may lakad pa man din ako mamaya.

inaanak ko ang anak ni Jon (yung may kaarawan). hindi kaya ako tampalin ng inaanak ko dahil ngayon lang ako makikita after 1 year and something? pero may regalo ako dun na pang krismas oy. walking shoes na japorms, pang binata... not those softy padded slippers that honks honks when stepped on. ambilis lumaki ng mga bata ngayon at ang ma-mature na nila kaya hindi na dapat sila bine-beybi (taena pano ba spelling nun?). dapat mga japorms nila ay pang matanda na din.

anyway highway, pinangako kong sasagutin ko isang case bukas. mapapalaban si stomach nito. ihanda niyo na luha nyo bro pag nag emo mode ako. muwahahaha.

2. kumikitang kabuhayan!
- may malaking project na inilapit sa akin itong kaibigan ko... and i'm not talking 5 digit worth of moolah. 6 digits man... six effin digits. isang sikat na automotive company kasi ang involved (hindi ko sasabihing Toyota) and it has something to do with their IT system requirements. nakita ko na yung proposal at hindi biro yung laki nung project. it will require me to spearhead the technical aspect of the job while my friend will do all the dirty paper works. maganda kung sa maganda yung opportunity, pero ang problema kasi we're all working full time. hindi kaya at hindi sapat ang natitira naming oras para ilaan sa venture na ito.

i could hire someone to focus on it full time pero sa gentong trabaho kasi hindi pwedeng ipagkatiwala lahat sa isang tao (how much more a stranger) yung full gravity ng activities. project based lang naman yung venture meaning after ilang months at matapos na yung project, tapos na yung deal namin with the company... so hindi ako pwedeng mag-resign para mag full time dito. olats yun.

nagtanong-tanong na ko sa mga tropa ko kung anong magandang approach. at least 7-8 months nga tatakbo ang buong proyekto. masakit sa ulo ang dadaanang proseso. iniisip ko pa nga lang ang plano, nakokomplikaduhan nako e... but i have to work out something. sayang yung opportunity talaga e. Wika nga ni Sun Tzu, "know your enemy". wala lang. walang konek. gusto ko lang i-quote si Sun Tzu.

hahamig kaya ako ng salapi sa project na ito? Abangan!

3. yim waan!
- kung tama ang alaala ko, ibig sabihin nito sa salitang Thai ay "maganda ang ngiti mo". tinuro yan sakin ng mga tropa kong Thailander noon na mga taga HP-Bangkok. ang ganda kasi ng ngiti nung isa sa kanila. ho-ho-ho... iskor gallore!

anong konek? eto na. babalik kasi si Fluffy sa Bangkok sa undas. alam niya ang Bangkok tulad ng likod ng kanyang mga kamay (He knows Bangkok like the back of his hands... haha). kung sasama daw ako, ticket na lang po-problemahin ko tsaka pocket money. madami din kasi siyang tropa dun na pwedeng matuluyan. may libreng tour guide na agad ako, otomatik. so ayun, nakumbinse ako. pag iipunan ko yang trip na yan.

matuloy kaya? Abangan!

4. konyo shirt!
- bago yung tshirt na suot ko ngayon. konyong konyo yung fit niya sa katawan ko. small ba naman ang size. sabi nga ng #1 fan ko (nanay ko) ang macho ko daw. naniwala naman ako!

bigay sa akin ito ni Ava (bestfriend ng sis ko). pasalubong niya ito galing New York. ang galing nga e, parang may pinag-tanungan siya ng hilig ko kasi vintage-ish yung shirt. yun ang peborit kong fashion lately. Banana Repulic siya. o-ha, konyotiks na konyotiks! humawak lang ako ng Starbucks grande cup at magyosi sa labas e mapagkakamalan na kong anak ng milyonaryo na may sports car na hiram sa tatay ko.

ganun kalupet.

salamats Ava! pati ako damay sa pasalubong. hee hee.

*****

New albums on my Multiply account:
Screaming BB's in Northern Alliance Territory
Screaming BB's in Night Dagger 1

The Fence of the Ancients

Which DOTA hero are you?

I'm Lucifer, the Doom Bringer!

You devour anything that may stand in your way of your intense greed. You take no prisoners and allies are just fodder to you. You enjoy being a lone wolf, though you are extremely loyal to the few friends you have.

*****

This is a bit inaccurate for my personality since 1) I'm not greedy! and 2) I have TONS of friends.

If this pertains to my game style in DOTA, the only thing true here is that I play most of the time for money in contrast to killing heroes or "pushing lanes" (DOTA jargon sa pag atake sa kampo ng kalaban). Kaya nga ang mga peborit Heroes ko ay malalakas sa "farming" (DOTA jargon sa pag-hamig ng pera) tulad ni Rhasta, Templar Assassin, at Ogre Magi. Natuwa lang ako sa quiz na ito kasi isa sa mga unang Heroes na ginamit ko ay si Doom Bringer. Angas niya kasi tignan sa laro.

Sa mga hindi geeky patrons ng DOTA, DOTA stands for Defense of the Ancients. It is a PC strategy game with a custom map based on the original Warcraft 3. Players pick on a pool of more than 80 unique heroes coming from either the bad side (Scourge) or the good side (Sentinels). These Heroes have different capabilities and characters so at one point you'll really going to have a favorite where you can identify yourself or your game style.

Nakaka-adik.

*****

Commercial:
New album on my Multiply account.

Threesome

Tagged by Kyuzo...

Three Things That Scare Me
1. DUGO!!!!
2. palaka. lalo na yung slimy!
3. Madame Auring

Three People Who Make Me Laugh
1. Bob Ong
2. Brother Eli
3. Madame Auring

Three Things I Love
1. MY life!
2. yung sofa namin, kung san ako natutulog.
3. sisig, pare.

Three Things I Hate
1. kamatis
2. mani sa tsokolate
3. Madame Auring

Three Things I Don't Understand
1. E=mc2
2. Lewis Caroll's "Jabberwocky"
3. bakit orange ang kwekwek... pwede namang violet?

Three Things On My Desk
1. coco jam
2. cheese spread
3. mayonnaise

Three Things I Am Doing Right Now
1. reading this
2. typing this
3. thinking of the next answer

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die
1. date a princess
2. direct a film animation
3. build an empire

Three Things I Can Do
1. texting without looking at the keypads (oddly-designed pa yung sa 3650 ko... o-ha!)
2. mag lakwatsa ng up-to-sawa
3. hide my feelings (wakanangena, naisingit ko pa yun oh! woooh!)

Three Things I Can't Do
1. focus on a single feat (sa dami kong hobbies at trippings, minsan naiisip ko baka may ADHD ako... think "Jack of All Trades, Master of None")
2. burp loudly
3. keep my room tidy

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To
1. Ang Dating Daan (entertainment at it's finest)
2. your MOM
3. the car blaring his horn behind you (it means "there's something effin wrong with your driving")

Three Things You Should Never Listen To
1. rambling politicians
2. Masculados
3. yourself (its scary when yourself started mumbling words to you... that's psychosis up the wazoo)

Three Things I Want To Learn
1. animation
2. drums (the only band instrument left unknown to me)
3. write in Hebrew/Yiddish

Three Favorite Foods
1. sisig reprezent!
2. kwekwek
3. honey mustard antipasto

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid
1. Batibot
2. Lovely Ness (kung laging naka tangga si Alma)
3. Wok With Yan (Jacky Chan cooks, yeah!)

Three Sets Of Three People I Am Tagging (three sets??)
1. Paul McCartney
2. Father Giancarlo Bossi
3. Bob Ong

A Day in a Lucky Slave's Life

8:31am - arrived in the office (maaga ito kesa normal).

8:54am - internet sucks in the office today, mas mabilis pa yung kakarag karag na oto ng kapitbahay namin dati sa Quiapo.

9:25am - preparing for the QA Testing Principle Echo Training that I will be conducting in a while for my mates here in the office, internet's still a sloth.

9:35am - sumaglit ako sa Yahoo groups ng batch namin nung gradeschool. t'was nice to start the morning with a nostalgic chill. kinikilig pa din ako pag nababasa ko yung entry ni Boi na crush niya daw ako nung bagong salta ako sa school. haha. e super crush ko siya noon, e kaso di ako makadiskarte ng mabuti dahil crush siya ng bayan (tsaka torpe lang talaga ako). now I'm wondering if we'll gonna click as a couple if ever they din't move to New York after graduating. hello Bonita!

9:43am - Ava (kapatid ni Boi) emailed something regarding their flight. she and her dad's coming here on the 25th. bestfriend siya ng sis ko (at ninang ng Dora the Explorer twins) at baka sumundo kami sa erport.

9:47am - documentation of work processes.

10:25am - nag hanap ako ng mga ritrato ng kebab at shawarma sa net para i-suggest sa tropa na mag "Kebab Nights" naman kami next na Shak food trip.

10:36am - QA Testing Principle Echo Training.

11:24am - kararating ko lang dito sa opisina dahil bumaba ako after ng training para bumili sa jollijeep ng pananghalian. pero ipinag-baon ako ni Mommy Groovy.

11:46am - may topak ang Multiply, kanina pa. parang ako din, sumpungin.

11:53am - "Mister Brightside" (acoustic rendition) by the Killers on my player.

12:47pm - natapos ako kumain.

1:15pm - natapos ako kumain ng coffee choco bits sundae. yub yub!

1:23pm - tinignan ko profile ni Andi 9. watdapak talaga sa ganda! Andi 10 siya para sakin.

2:58pm - subsob pa din sa tarbaho. pero nag-iisip na ko kung anong gagamitin na hero sa DOTA.

3:06pm - naaalala ko si Iday. "All My Life" by America kasi ang tumugtog sa walastik na player. matapos lang tong kanta, palit playlist nako: Rage Against The Machine. Yeeeeah!

3:11pm - nilabas ni Roy yung pinatago kong Gardenia Wheat Bread.

3:17pm - "Renegades of Funk" by Rage Against the Machine on my player.

3:28pm - paulit ulit yung "makulay ang buhay sa sinabawang gulay" na ringtone ni Koya Jeff. wala lang.

3:45pm - sinabi ko kay Jovic na "Maelstrom" ang gamitin niyang item kay "Zeus" sa DOTA.

3:50pm - sumilip sa Friendster ko.

3:54pm - change playlist: Loud Rock, "Down With The Sickness" by Disturbed on my player. isa ito sa mga peborit kong kanta at banda. open up your hate and let it flow into me... rak-on!

4:02pm - binuksan ko na yung Gardenia't inalok sina Roy at Darwin. marami akong palaman: cheese spread, chicken mayo, at coco jam. cheese spread inupakan ko.

4:26pm - nag post ako ng message sa Yahoo groups ng batch namin nung gradeschool.

4:46pm - nagre-research na ko kung sinong gagamiting hero sa DOTA.

5:30pm - desidido na ko sa hero ko. si Templar Assasin. ngayon ko pa lang siya lalaruin kaya kinailangan ng matinding research. teka, ihi lang ako.

5:51pm - bloghopping bago mag time-out.

5:56pm - post ko na 'to, bago ako mag DOTA.

Walang Maisip na Title

Friday the 13th
Kela Kian's shawarmahan kami nag lunch nila Roy, Bubung, at Miming. Andun si Kian nung araw na yun, nambobola ng mga magagandang kustomer. Hehe, swabe.

More pics on my Multiply site album (T.G.I.S Goes to Persia)

T.G.I.S. (Thanks Gosh It's Shawarma)
L-R: Bubung, George Estregan, Miming the Cat, Ranger Roy

Ginabi ako sa paglalaro ng DOTA (Bloodseeker, reprezent!). Gusto ko pa sana maglakwatsa pero naniig ang mumunting sakit sa gulugod (yun ba yung tagalog ng "shin"?) ng aking kaliwang paa. Kaya hayun, deretso uwi ang kumag. Sa bahay, nakipag baby tox lang ako sa kambal na ang tawag na sa akin ay "iyaaaaaa!!!". Napapakinig kasi sa nanay nila pag tinatawag ako.

Iyaaaa (n) - bigkas ng isang-taong bata batuta sa salitang "kuya". Source: Diksyunaryo ni Lolo

Nung pinatulog na yung dalawa, pwede ko na ilabas yung mga laruan ko. Wala nang mangengelam na mga mas malilikot at mas makukulit na version ni Dora the Explorer. Nag assemble na ako ng mga miniature models ko, tapos nun nag basa ng libro hanggang sa antukin.


Saturday the 14th (Shak Noodle Nights)
Tatakbo sana ako sabay basketball. Kaso mo, ang sarap ng panahon. Tamang uulan na hindi, kaya hangin-hangin! Mas pinili ng kukote kong matulog pa muna ng 5 minutes. Tas 5 minutes ulit. Tas 5 minutes ulit. Tas 5 minutes ulit. Hanggang sa wag na lang mag jogging. Peste. Sino kasi nagpa-uso ng health and fitness.

Gumising ako para kumain. Nakipag bolahan ulit sa kambal ng konti. Tas sabay bihis para pumuntang Virramall. Sumasakit sakit pa din si gulugod.

Eto (yata) si Liz

Eto (yata) si Lei... hindi yung kalbo. Ako yun.

Sa Virramall, napadaan ako sa mga tiangge ng makukulit na tshirt. Bumili ako ng dalwa, isa para sa akin at isa para kay Sponklong. Sa Fortress, wala akong dinatnan kundi sila Ate at Little John. Nasa Katipunan pala ang buong tropa. Nakipag bolahan lang ako ng konti kela Ate tas lumarga na din ako papuntang Hobby Haven sa Katipunan. Aba, andun nga ang buong sangkatropahan!

Tambay na ko dun hanggang gabi. Tas nung naumay na kami sa pagmumukha ng isa't isa, nagpahatid na kami kay Emp sa tambayan sa Shak. In anticipation ito ng magaganap na Noodle Nights. Last time kasi, Sausage Night ang trippings... noodles naman daw ang isusunod naming yariin.

Unti unting nagsipagdatingan ang sangkatropahan kaya matapos namin mangotong sa mga bagong salta, tumungo na kami sa isang Korean store sa Timog para humakot ng mga kekelanganen. Pagbalik sa tambayan umupak na sila ng pagluto habang ang karamihan ay nagbobolahan.

Attendance: Iron Chef Pork, Jumping Johnny, Little John, Jason Phatboi, Fluffy, Doc Marco, Joma, Arvs, JC (yes, Jesus Christ ibig sabihin nyan... patawarin nawa kami), Joy, Ubay Bomber, Riderman Carlo, Elmer Kulyong, Obi Doo, Mayor Tengco, Jacob Le'Croissant, Gelo Dude, Captain Inferno, Scotch, Anito the Dog

Jacob rattling about the French Bastille Day. Anito still stinky as hell. Arvs, Jubay, and the Doctor bouted it up with their "manok" in Armoured Core (PSP). Arvs emerged the big fish in our little pond. Kulyong, Jacob, JP, Jumping Johnny, and Joe on Cthulu RPG session. Gelo just passed by, "touch and go" style... only half-sober.

Grub: Korean ass-bomber noodles (Shin Ramen?), dimsum lots!, cox, cox lights, Korean sea weed cracker, pandesal, French Baker's le baguettes, Korean tofu

Sarap ng soup! In fairness, hindi siya gaanong pang-almuranas ngayon kumpara sa mga ibang tipikal na araw na napagti-trippan naming mag spicy noodles sa Shak na tulo sa kabilaang ilong ang uhog mo sa anghang. Gawin na daw itong initiation rites sa mga bisita ng Shak? Abangan!

May pamankin pala si Fluffy sa PBB Teen edition... kaya nagka-short tox about their push to have me join the next Pinoy Big Bro. Dahil hindi ko naman habol manalo at gusto ko lang makipag-trippings sa bahay ni Koya, ako na lang daw maging tipikal na asshole sa loob. Pampa-kwela ng palabas. Pinag usapan nila kung ano mga gagawin ko pag nasa loob na ako (syempre, without violating yung mga batas ni Koya... or so I pressume):

1. Sa sunod sunod na araw, sa kalaliman ng himbing ng tulog ng lahat, magigising daw ako na parang binangungot tas sisigaw ako ng isang pangalan ng tropa... iba't ibang tropa kada araw.
2. Gumawa daw ako ng sariling altar sa Prayer Room. Magpatong patong siguro ng bato sa isang sulok nung kwarto tas magdo-drawing ako ng mukha ni Puma Ley-ar sa papel tas ii-scotch tape ko sa pader. Tas kada araw basta tumama ng alas sais, kung walang pinapagawa si Koya, pupunta akong prayer room tas naka bow lang ako sa harap ng altar ko for 10 minutes. Lapat ang noo sa sahig. Tapos ang pang finale nito, sasayaw at kakanta ako ng "shigi shigi waka-shigi uwaaah". Pero dapat walang housemate na nakaka-kita, pang mga manonood lang ito at kay Koya. Pag may housemate, tama na iyong naka bow sa sahig. Creepy enough na daw yun.
3. Ibahin ko daw ang step ko sa pag sayaw ng Pinoy Big Brother song.
4. Itaya ko daw ng buo ang weekly budget. Para win big or lose big ang siste. Kapag natalo sa weekly challenge, e di gutom ng isang linggo. Pwede naman daw iluto si Buddy the House Dog.
5. Palabasin ko daw na may third-eye ako at nakakakita ng kung ano anong kababalaghan. Magtuturo daw ako sa bahay kung saan merong "visitors" na nagpapakita.

Ilan lang yan, marami pa silang naisip na trippings. Sabi ko siguradong forced evict ako nun sa unang dalwang linggo. Magpu-pustahan na lang daw ang tropa kung sa pang-ilang linggo ako matatanggal. Ayus.

Class dismiss at 2am!

Ayan, dito ako madalas mag-jogging habang nag-e-emote. Sa hacienda KO yan.


Sunday the 15th
Dating gawi. Tatakbo sana ako't magba-basketball. Kaso sumidhi na ang sakit ng gulugod ko. Hindi ko pa din alam ang kaso hanggang sa mga panahong iyon.

Dahil hindi ko talaga kaya, natulog na lang ulit ako (hindi kaya palusot ko lang yun para makarami ng tulog?!?). Nakipag laro ulit sa kambal pagka-gising. Pumunta ako sa tambayan sa Greenhills ng mga alas kwatro na ng hapon.

Tambay at lakwatsa at bolahan lang maghapon.

Nagtext si Idol Pinsan. Pinag-canvass ko siya ng presyo ng i-Pod sa Virramall. Kinita ko sila ni Techy Friend sa Theater Mall. Sabay bumili ng i-Pod. Tutol pa din ako sa i-Pod kahit anong mangyari. Sa mp3 player pa din ako kahit hindi gaanong pang konyo.

Umalis na kami ng tropa sa Greenhills. Dumiretso ng Delta para mag Mister Kabab. Hype lang ang mga bali-balitang kabaliw baliw ang mga pagkain sa Mister Kabab. Mediocre lang siya para sakin. "So so" para sa mga konyo. "Tangena ganun din ang pesteng lasa" para sa mga jologs.

Pinagka-iba niya lang sa mga karamihang napuntahan kong shawarmahan ay mura siya para sa ganung lugar at huli ng white sauce nila ang panlasang Pinoy. Matamis. Madaming "mayo" malamang. Pero up-to-sawa, kahit gawin mong sabaw walang mangengelam sa yo (wag mo na lang pansinin ang naka tiger-look na si Ate).

Grub: chicken liver, pork liver, kebab lots!, pita bread lots!, isang weird looking mechado which starts with a letter "B" (katunog ng "burugudoy"? wutt-ever!), ox brain, kanin na may star margarine (para sa growing kids?)

Dito kami nag sisimba ni Sponklong (Malate Church)

Tambay sa Shak until 3am, afterwards. Plim dropped by with his airsoft guns. Kinumpuni ni Jason Phatboi habang nagbobolahan ang lahat.

Pahabol: Birthday ni Bateng, pinsan kong Kuracha - Linggo lang ang pahinga. Haberdey, JC!


Monday the 16th
Medyo nawawala na sakit ng paa ko. Pero sakit ng puso ko hindi pa rin. Wakanangena, ahuhuy!

Pahabol: Birthday ni Jackstone, tito kong nasa Vegas. Haberdey, Tito Jack!

Resibo namin sa shawarmahan ni Kian

Die Harder

Last Sunday was a so so day. With Sponklong the Boy Wonder, we attended the noon mass at the Malate Church before chowing at Chow King, trudging our way to Tita 9's place, and eventually going to Rob Place to watch "Die Hard 4.0". Grub time at the Baywalk area with Pinsan Idol and Techy Friend followed in the evening: sisig and shrimps on the hitlist after lamenting the unavailability of the much coveted kebab!


Die Hard 4.0
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

Detective John McClane is back with yet another showcase of his daredevil skills. In a daring attempt to sabotage the entire American economy, a group of cyber-terrorists lead by a sacked government computer head honcho Thomas Gabriel, executed what they dubbed as the "Firesale". "Firesale" is their term for a three-point economic cyber-sabotage composed of messing up with the traffic ways, blocking the communication lines, and shutting down the power grid. In able to do this, Gabriel's terrorist ring staged a competition among the hackers to program the software that will initiate the "Firesale". After the program was finished, the syndicate started killing all the hackers involved.

One hacker lived, as his assasination was foiled by McClane, who was under order to arrest the hacker - Matt Farrell. As the duo went along with their business, McClane eventually uncovered the reasons why Farrell was under attack and that it was tied up with the economic sabotages that was already hitting America (the start of the "Firesale"). McClane, who just won't die, kept on being the arse pain to Gabriel and company. In an attempt to sack the detective, Gabriel kidnapped his daughter and bargained for her life if he'll stop the crackdown to their evil plans.

With intense action scenes here and there, McClane finally saved her daughter and kill the bad dudes before help from the NBI arrived (how typical Pinoy film scenario!).

The movie's a very "guy film". True to it's title, it was jampacked with hardcore action scenes from start to end that it will make you wonder how the heck McClane survived all of that. The story was there and I pretty much like the concept of cyber-terrorism but take note that there's a whole LOT of exaggerations in the movie that certainly would never be possible in real life. So to appreciate the story, you'll going to keep in mind NOT to question the capabilities of the good guy... good guys should always triumph no matter how. Period. I also wanted how they emphasized the weakness of the American way of life brought upon by mucho dependence on computers. Props to whoever conceived of this idea for the prequel.

Overall, it's still your typical "Die Hard" film with a never-say-never cop who seemed to have challenged the world just to have his way of making criminals pay. They said it was a tad stylized than the prequels but I think it was mainly because of the presence of the organized crime group and the NBI officers (who have been visible all throughout the movie but wasn't really much of a help). I haven't watched Die Hard 3 (DH3) but I still can recall DH1 and DH2, and I can't see much change from the McClanes of the prequels. In this movie, McClane is still McClane. I'll have to give the credit to Bruce Willis and his charisma to carry on the charge of portraying the scruffy-looking detective again as he did years ago despite having aged to his 50's.

Hands down on the acting department. Timothy Olyphant (Gabriel) and Maggie Q (Mai Lihn) are very capable adversaries to McClane, with their merry band of computer hackers. Timothy has that sinister appeal on him while maintaining the "not-a-dumb-villain" look. Maggie Q, on the other hand, flawlessly fulfilled the role of the token Asian sidekick. She's still scorching hot on combat gears (as in MI:3) and although I find her resillience to McClane's attacks unbelievable (no matter how brutal they were and how wiry this chick is), I still loved her performance for the role. Cool martial arts moves too. Justin Long (Matt Farrell) did not look too geeky for his role. I'd rather prefer he portrayed the "geekiness" as exhibited by Warlock (Kevin Smith), but I guess that's what the director intended anyway.

One of the scenes that made me raised an eyebrow (although I really can't do that raising-an-eyebrow thing) was when an F35 jetplane chased down McClane on a freeway, and the protagonist walked out of it alive. That's just pushing it too much! I mean, McClane was being shot at like hell by anti-armor rounds and payloads of missiles with only a truck - a HUGE truck! - at his disposal.

HUGE TRUCK = HUGE TARGET

And the fighter pilot kept on missing the damn thing like a three year old trying to pin the tail on the donkey, blindfolded! And when he finally hits, he was still dumb enough to stuck himself to ground where McClane could make an easy work of doing funky stuffs to it and send it to doom. Watdapak?

All just to give the viewers a good action ride. So yeah, you should get by now what I'm trying to mean by "it's a guy film"... sacrificed reality for more loads of action!

Seven gulamans.

Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga

I used to be the music nutcase in the office. Hindi ko kasi nakasanayan makinig ng sounds with a pesky headset injected on my ears. Kaya kung mag soundtrip ako naka speakers. Tas pag downtime at medyo nakaka-antok, ang trippings ko magpatugtog ng kung ano-anong kantang patawang pepot (yung mga kantang pag napakinig ng iba e hindi nila mapipigilang mag-react): meron akong mga mp3's ng anime hits sa TV (e.g. dragonball, bioman, daimos, voltes V...), meron din akong mga jologs rap (yung mga kinakanta ng mga "gangsta" sa kalsada na nagpapalakihan ng suot na jersey), at syempre mga 80's sounds (yung mga tamang nagpapatok sa "The Gwapings", "Bagets", "Tuesday Group ng That's Entertainment", at Billy Joe... nung bao pa ang buhok niya). Pero ang pinaka-makulit sa koleksyon ko e yung mga kantang parang sa baul pa ng ingkong hinugot (50's, tsong... 50's).

Kanina, naghuhukay ako ng mga lumang kanta sa koleksyon ko (inaantok ako eh). Pinapagtugtog ko isa-isa, pampagising lang. "Inday ng Buhay Ko" ni Victor Wood, "Highschool Life" ni Ate Shawy (nung nagliligawan pa lang sila ng tatay ni KC), "Kawawang Cowboy" ni Fred Panopio (kung sino man siya), tas napadaan ako sa koleksyon ni Basil Valdez (hindi siya tatay ni Wendy ng PBB). Imbes na mabuhayan ay na-depress lang ako lalo, at etong pesteng kantang 'to ang may sala... hahaha. Enjoy!


Sana Ay Ikaw na Nga
Basil Valdez

Anong kailangan kong gawin
Upang malaman mo
Ikaw ay minamahal ko
Kailangan ko'y katulad mo
Sa buhay kong ito
Nag-iisa lang sa mundo

Dati'y nasaktan na 'ko
Takot nang magtiwala
Ayoko na sanang umibig pa
Ngunit ika'y ibang-iba
Sa lahat ng nakilala
Sana ay ikaw na nga

Anong kailangan kong gawin
Upang matigil na
Ang kabaliwan kong ito
Sumpa ko sa sarili'y
Hinding-hinding hindi na
Ngunit heto na naman ako
Hindi na papipigil pa
At di na paaawat
Sinisigaw na ang pangalan mo

Ikaw talaga'y ibang-iba
Sa lahat ng nakilala
Sana ay ikaw na nga

Sana ay ikaw na nga


*****

Minsan may mga panahong gusto mo na lang maniwalang walang "movie-kind of love" at hindi worth it to feel so much for someone (or anyone you like or you will like, for crying out loud!). Minsan may panahong justified sa paningin mong unahin muna utak bago puso, kesehodang pudpod na pudpod na 'tong ipinapayo sa mga serye ni Joe The Mango, Doctor Love, at Tiya Dely. E kung ganun lang din naman, mag utakan na lang tayong lahat! Hahaha.

Minsan maiisip mo na lang na pang pocketbook na lang ang wagas na pag-ibig. Minsan kailangan mong intindihin kung bakit may mga repapips who take their "syota" lightly na parang utot lang tong dumadaan sa buhay nila. Inherent defense mechanism daw. Pag nagmahal ka ng sobra at na-echapring ka, tumbling ka sa sakit. Pero kung peke-in mo nga naman magmahal o kaya para kang Super Saiyan na hahatiin mo ang powers mo para magbigay lang ng 50 porsyentong pag-ibig, hindi ka nga naman todo olats kung sakaling i-tae ka ng giliw mo.

Pero ang tanong, where's the love, man?? Matatawag mo bang nagmahal ka nun? Tae ka kung sagot mo "oo". Kung katabi mo ko ngayon baka na-tampal pa kita. Hahaha.

Minsan gusto mo nang tanggaping eto ang uso. At maiiwan ka kung di ka gagaya. Seriously, I was on the process of "trying" that waaay back several years ago. Yung manligaw just for the heck of it. Sa sobrang di ko talaga masakyan yung konsepto, tinantanan ko din. What's scary was that it was actually effective! Kaya ko siya mapa-sagot if only I wanted it. Pero bakit ganun, kung kelan seryoso ka... olats ka. Ganun na ba ka-laos ang totoong pag-ibig? Think about it.

Kaya para sa 'ting mga masokistang walang kadala dala, reprezent! Hahaha.

Chi-chu-cha-cha-chak

Yan yung tunog ng nagta-transform na Transformer. Angas no? Ni-research ko pa yan.

A more "refined" version of this film review will appear on our company's online newsletter.


Transformers
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

A war on their own world has brought the noble Autobots and the antagonistic Decepticons into the Earth in search of the Allspark, an alien cube that is the Transformers' only hope to rebuild their devastated world. The Decepticons, Blackout and Scorponok, attacked a military base in Qatar while the insidious Frenzy sneaked into the Air Force One, all just to tap into the military secret files in search of information about Project Iceman. Project Iceman would lead the Decepticons to the whereabouts of their leader, Megatron, who in turn will lead them to the location of the Allspark.

The deceased ship captain involved in the events leading to Project Iceman turned out to be the grandfather of our lead role, Sam Witwicky. Sam holds the key to the location of the Allspark (engraved on his grandfather's eyeglasses). In some turn of events, Sam will own Bumblebee and later on learned about the nature of the Transformers. In an attempt to find the Allspark, they stumbled upon the secret government agency, Sector 7, which holds the secret to the location of both Megatron and the alien cube.

Unbeknownst to them, Frenzy the MVP was able to skitter his way towards the secret location by stalking Sam's hot girlfriend, Mikaela (yeah I really have to insert "hot" there). Frenzy contacted the Decepticons to converge on his location and freed Megatron from his cryo-freeze slumber. All the while, the rest of the Autobots are on their way to make their stand against the Decepticons on a nearby town. It was a battle royale when both factions clashed for the Allspark. I have to break it to you that Jazz was decapitated by Megatron. But in the end, Sam was able to dump the Allspark to Megatron's chest to destroy both the artifact and the monolithic robot.

Don't leave the cinema yet when the credit rolls since along with it, there will be teaser scenes that made a sequel imminent.

Most people anticipated the movie to be crap, and you can't blame em. First, the previews din't much give a clue on what does the robots look like and on the short moments that they did, they seemed very far from what the animated series presented. So the first thing that will hit you was that this will just be another kiddie movie with an unrealistic crap for a plot. There were also the rumours that outright deviated with what we generally know about Transformers... biggest of them was Bumblebee being a Camaro and not the lovable bug (Volkswagen Pendong Pagong) that we all knew. Another was that it's on a present-day settings. Transformers the cartoon series was set on the 80's and thinking of that alone would lead you to conclude that the script writers would recede to ridiculous ideas just to tie-in the whole concept into a more modern timeset.

What's awesome about it was that much of these were true - the robots din't much represent their original transformations (Prime, even when a truck, is not the original boxy hauler from the cartoon series) and the modernized concept is waaay different from the 80's Transformers that we remembered BUT despite it all, the overall impact of the movie is surprisingly well!

I believe that what contributed with this much appreciation was the fact that the movie was able to compensate a LOT of cool graphical goodies for what it lacks from the cartoon series. For most, the CG is outright wicked! The transformation is smoothly done and the robots' interactions with the humans are seamless that they really looked like coexisting simultaneously. It also has tons of fan services the likes of the original transformation sound and cheesy one-liners from the cartoons like Optimus Prime's "one shall stand and one shall fall" and "Autobots, transform and roll out!". It's just frustrating that they never played the original Transformer musical score!

The plot line is well simple. Your typical good versus bad thing. It's not what the movie would like to showcase anyway. It threaded away from the cartoon series' storyline but it still has some adherence to the basic concepts like how they characterized the Autobots' personalities (although Bumblebee was an exception in that he was not wimpy in the film). The Decepticons' Frenzy was surprisingly the MVP of the plot since singlehandedly it was responsible for the hacking of the government networks, uploading a virus into it, finding the location of Sam and freeing Megatron! The story basically was there because of Frenzy.

Most of the casts are pretty decent. Shia LaBeouf (Sam) was really reminiscent of the cartoon series' Spike. I can find the similiarities on their personality. I find the US Army squad led by Josh Duhamel (Captain Lennox) a bit overplaying their role. They din't strike me as grizzled war veterans and more of the stereotype heroic soldier we commonly see on films. Megan Fox (Mikaela) is hot when she's on her grimy look, nuff said. Also, it was nice to hear the original voice of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen). If only Megatron and Starscream's original voice talents were there too, it will be total awesome-ness.

The bad thing is if you're a diehard fan of the 80's series and won't appreciate much of the deviations done on the movie, you would probably walk out underwhelmed. To enjoy the film, you have to set your mind up before seeing it that this will not be much of the cartoon series we loved back then. No problem for the later generations, they'll sure enjoy watching it. Watch out for the humours too. There were scenes that would make a good laugh.

The goodies will sure outweight the bad and I would like to see either Bumblebee or Frenzy nominated for the Oscars. 9 gulamans worth.

*****

New picture albums on my Multiply account:

IPMS Scale Modelling Exhibit 2007
Avengers and Survivors Night Out

Sausage Grille O'Rama

Greenbelt Cinema 4
Friday - 6pm
Our team here in the office trickled inside the movie house for the much-awaited screening of "Transformers". With popcorns, cox, fries, and hotdogs abundant, we glued our eyes in marvel of the awesome CG effects that we only dreamed of when we were younger, watching the animated series. Astig siya. Maybe it's because most of us anticipated that it's crappy that made it more appealing when we realized that, hey... it's not bad after all. I'll put up my commentary about the film probably tomorrow but for those who haven't seen it yet, it's worth the wait and it's not just a hype-famed movie.

I arrived at home just a couple of minutes past 10pm. No one opted for the manager's free dinner offer after the movie, kaya K.K.U. na lang - kanya kanyang uwi. Nagulat pa sila Mami (yeps, nagugulat pa sila sa alas diyes). Maaga pa din yung uwing yun para sakin. Only then that I felt hungry (the movie made me forgot to check my tummy), buti na lang nagpa pizza delivery sila Mami earlier that night at tinirahan ako. Ayus!


Obi's Crib
Saturday - 10am
Woke up at the sound of the twins crying. Nakipaglaro na lang ako sa kanila until after lunch time before I prepped up for Virramall. Jampacked ang bag ko.

World of Warcraft Card Game Deck - 60 cards
Warmachine Army - 16 models
Hoardes Primal Book
Permex Tuna - 2 cans
some German tuna - 2 cans
Dark Angels Codex
Space Marines Bits - 2 boxes
Obi's Survival Stuffs - pen & paper, phone charger, extra hanky, ID's, USB disks, Bluetooth device, gaming materials, Papa cologne


Virramall, Greenhills
Saturday - 3pm
Arrived in Greenhills to discover that there's an event. Astig. It's a toy convention of sorts. There were cosplayers, an anime-ish fashion modelling, online games registration, and Iwa Motto was strutting around, interviewing mall patrons and store participants (for a TV show, most likely). Fortress has setup their stall along with the other toy stores. Dun ko inabutan si Arvs nung dumating ako. The boyz started to trickle in too. Everyone's oogling at Iwa (ang laki laki niya na! hehe). I should have made her sign my Dark Angels Codex (too geeky, I know) but it was either I was not the type to chase down celebrities for pics or autographs OR she was not enough to make me do so... kung si Katrina yan or si Joyce, dinamba ko pa yun. Mag pipiyansa na lang ako. Hehe.

We just chilled in there for most of the mall hours. Naglaro kami ng miniature games sa Fortress while Pork and Mayor sidetripped to a nearby sausage store (Treffpunkt?) to buy more sausages and other stuffs needed for the Sausage Grille O'Rama Fest that was planned by the Shak Boyz to be later that night.


Da Shak, Kamias
Saturday - 9:30pm
Not even the rain can stop da boyz to partey. With everything set for the Sausage Grille Fest, the gluttonous ruckus begun!

Attendance: Joma, JP, Gelo, Emp, Jaycee, JC, Joy, Obi, Pork, Calipher Boy, Phatboy, Jumping Johnny, Little John, Pookiemonster, Fluffy, Arvs, Mayor, Richie, anyone I missed?

Entrée Number One: Sausage Salad in Vinegar
Entrée Number Two: Bratwurst Sausage Parboiled in Beer
Entrée Number Three: Tuna
Entrée Number Four: Korean Edible Pupa (yep yep, they basically are edible roach pupa)

Everything served with optional Grey Poupon and Sauerkraut (Germans reprezent)! Jake bought lotsa chips too, and they were not bad in dijon mustard as well. We were also flooded with Coke and Beer!

Okay, first the Korean Pupa... Jake arrived with a can of it. Fear Factor talaga. It smells good really but muka talaga siyang maliit na ipis floating on this dirty-looking soup. But the fact na de lata siya with all that Korean labels and all na hindi ko maintindihan, it should be safe. So tinikman naming malalakas ang sikmura. It tastes like beans. Hindi ko masasabing masarap kasi hindi ako kumakain ng beans pero hindi funky yung lasa niya, at least.

The sausage salad was gone even before Emp and his wife arrived. But the bratwursts were enough to feed our ravenous stomachs. Grabe kung ilang kilo ang binili nila that day. Bumili pa kami ng mainit na pandesal para pang sabay. No rice. It's just bread, sausage, cox, and beer!

The grey poupon is cool. I could use one for my honey mustard mix pero ang mahal nya sobra and aksaya yung presyo niya kung gagamitin ko lang pang timpla ng dressing. Sauerkraut was very good at neutralizing the taste of the sausages. It's German atchara. Kinda tastes like our own but lighter on the vinegar.

Nabusog ako sobra. If only it wasn't raining, we could have had more fun. Nagsiksikan kasi kami sa loob ng Shak.


Obi's Crib
Sunday - 11pm
Magsisimba dapat kami ni Sponklong sa Malate kaso tinanghali ako ng gising. Bummer.

I just assembled some miniatures, played with the twins again, then prepped up for Greenhills. Again.


Virramall, Greenhills
Sunday - 4pm
The pseudo-toy convention was still up. Wala si Arvs. Si Little John lang ang tao sa booth ng Fortress. I just chilled there for a couple of minutes then had meryenda tapos sumunod ako sa Megamall. Andun sila Pork ang Arvs for the Mecha Pinoy exhibit.


Megamall Atrium, Ortigas
Sunday - 6pm
Mecha Pinoy's Gundam Exhibit was up and running. Met Doc Feel-Good (nice to meet you, dude). Pork in the prowl for sexy time CD's? Arvs and me on istambay mode, Gundam modelling and painting discussions commenced. Pork returned, suggesting a sidetrip to Metrowalk for Jap Movie DVD hunt!


Metrowalk, Ortigas
Sunday - 7:30pm
Pork rummaged the DVD tiangge for Japo movies and Andrew E.?!?! Eh?? Arvin in lamentation as the store where he buys his "shock pen" has already moved to some place unknown.


Da Shak, Kamias
Sunday - 9pm
We bought lots and lots of isaw for dinner. Arvs sired heresy as he arrived with ersatz Coke!

The boyz trickled in as the evening went on. I just passed the time assemblying my miniatures. Arrived at home by around 2am and I have to bang the door to wake up somebody to open up the door for me. Stupid me, forgot to transfer my key from another bag. Aray!

Balagtas is My Middle Name

I'm not in a conversational mood today so it's one of those dull moments that I recede to myself and introspect. Bukas na lang yung weekend kwento ko. Na-trippan ko na lang i-assemble yung mga laman ng kukote ko and scribble something about it. Ang resulta? Isang hitik sa emote na tula na namo'y hinugot pa sa aparador ni Balagtas. Hehe. I started the draft while on one of three meetings I had today here in the office. Nagustuhan ko yung dating niya in fairnesseses, ang galing (kahit na-kornihan ako nung umpisa).


"Lamat"
by Obi

may lamat na ang mata ko
sa paghanap ng bagay na hindi dumadating.
nakitang saglit sabay naglaho,
imaheng mayroong taning

may lamat na ang labi ko
sa pagsikap masambit ang mga nais sabihin.
handa nang magsalita pero ikaw ay wala,
ang nakinabang lang ay hangin.

may lamat na ang aking mga kamay
sa pagsusulat ng inilihim na nadarama,
at sa bawat guhit ng letra'y may isang pangarap:
maibsan ang bigat ng umaasa.

may lamat na ang aking utak
na sa palaging isipin ay panahong kasama ka.
masasayang araw na hiling lang ay maulit,
ngayo'y wala na.

itong mga lamat ang nagmulat sa akin
umibig ay magsulat sa buhangin.
maaaring kaligayahan ay madaling iguhit
ngunit sa hangin ay hihipang saglit.

itong mga lamat ang nagmulat sa akin
pero dumating ka't hindi na lang pinansin.
hindi inalintanang bukas
dagling iihip ang hangin ng pagwawakas.

tulad mo, nasaktan na din ako,
masakit... nakakapanghina...
na kahit may lamat ang aking utak
ang aking mga kamay, labi, at mata,
hindi kailanman inisip na tulad ka nila...

ngayon kahit itong puso ay may lamat na.

Anong Bago?

1. destinasyon ko bukas!
- matapos ang ilang linggo na panay Norte ang lakwatsa ko, maiiba naman ang trippings ko bukas. mas super-uber-Norte naman! birthday kasi ng tropa ko bukas. parang kapatid ko na itong mga ito nung mga araw namin sa CEU (mga ilang taon na din ang nakalipas pero hindi pa naman ganon kalayo... deny pa, haha). taga Bulacan kasi si kumag. pero magkikita muna kami ng iba pang mga karakter na tropa sa Galle, para sabay sabay na ang alis papuntang super-uber-Norte. alas ocho nga ng umaga sana daw ang kitaan namin sabi ni Julius. para dun na kami sa Bulacan tatambay. tumawad ako ng after lunch dahil malamang naghihilik pa ang pwet ko kung alas ocho. may lakad pa man din ako mamaya.

inaanak ko ang anak ni Jon (yung may kaarawan). hindi kaya ako tampalin ng inaanak ko dahil ngayon lang ako makikita after 1 year and something? pero may regalo ako dun na pang krismas oy. walking shoes na japorms, pang binata... not those softy padded slippers that honks honks when stepped on. ambilis lumaki ng mga bata ngayon at ang ma-mature na nila kaya hindi na dapat sila bine-beybi (taena pano ba spelling nun?). dapat mga japorms nila ay pang matanda na din.

anyway highway, pinangako kong sasagutin ko isang case bukas. mapapalaban si stomach nito. ihanda niyo na luha nyo bro pag nag emo mode ako. muwahahaha.

2. kumikitang kabuhayan!
- may malaking project na inilapit sa akin itong kaibigan ko... and i'm not talking 5 digit worth of moolah. 6 digits man... six effin digits. isang sikat na automotive company kasi ang involved (hindi ko sasabihing Toyota) and it has something to do with their IT system requirements. nakita ko na yung proposal at hindi biro yung laki nung project. it will require me to spearhead the technical aspect of the job while my friend will do all the dirty paper works. maganda kung sa maganda yung opportunity, pero ang problema kasi we're all working full time. hindi kaya at hindi sapat ang natitira naming oras para ilaan sa venture na ito.

i could hire someone to focus on it full time pero sa gentong trabaho kasi hindi pwedeng ipagkatiwala lahat sa isang tao (how much more a stranger) yung full gravity ng activities. project based lang naman yung venture meaning after ilang months at matapos na yung project, tapos na yung deal namin with the company... so hindi ako pwedeng mag-resign para mag full time dito. olats yun.

nagtanong-tanong na ko sa mga tropa ko kung anong magandang approach. at least 7-8 months nga tatakbo ang buong proyekto. masakit sa ulo ang dadaanang proseso. iniisip ko pa nga lang ang plano, nakokomplikaduhan nako e... but i have to work out something. sayang yung opportunity talaga e. Wika nga ni Sun Tzu, "know your enemy". wala lang. walang konek. gusto ko lang i-quote si Sun Tzu.

hahamig kaya ako ng salapi sa project na ito? Abangan!

3. yim waan!
- kung tama ang alaala ko, ibig sabihin nito sa salitang Thai ay "maganda ang ngiti mo". tinuro yan sakin ng mga tropa kong Thailander noon na mga taga HP-Bangkok. ang ganda kasi ng ngiti nung isa sa kanila. ho-ho-ho... iskor gallore!

anong konek? eto na. babalik kasi si Fluffy sa Bangkok sa undas. alam niya ang Bangkok tulad ng likod ng kanyang mga kamay (He knows Bangkok like the back of his hands... haha). kung sasama daw ako, ticket na lang po-problemahin ko tsaka pocket money. madami din kasi siyang tropa dun na pwedeng matuluyan. may libreng tour guide na agad ako, otomatik. so ayun, nakumbinse ako. pag iipunan ko yang trip na yan.

matuloy kaya? Abangan!

4. konyo shirt!
- bago yung tshirt na suot ko ngayon. konyong konyo yung fit niya sa katawan ko. small ba naman ang size. sabi nga ng #1 fan ko (nanay ko) ang macho ko daw. naniwala naman ako!

bigay sa akin ito ni Ava (bestfriend ng sis ko). pasalubong niya ito galing New York. ang galing nga e, parang may pinag-tanungan siya ng hilig ko kasi vintage-ish yung shirt. yun ang peborit kong fashion lately. Banana Repulic siya. o-ha, konyotiks na konyotiks! humawak lang ako ng Starbucks grande cup at magyosi sa labas e mapagkakamalan na kong anak ng milyonaryo na may sports car na hiram sa tatay ko.

ganun kalupet.

salamats Ava! pati ako damay sa pasalubong. hee hee.

*****

New albums on my Multiply account:
Screaming BB's in Northern Alliance Territory
Screaming BB's in Night Dagger 1

The Fence of the Ancients

Which DOTA hero are you?

I'm Lucifer, the Doom Bringer!

You devour anything that may stand in your way of your intense greed. You take no prisoners and allies are just fodder to you. You enjoy being a lone wolf, though you are extremely loyal to the few friends you have.

*****

This is a bit inaccurate for my personality since 1) I'm not greedy! and 2) I have TONS of friends.

If this pertains to my game style in DOTA, the only thing true here is that I play most of the time for money in contrast to killing heroes or "pushing lanes" (DOTA jargon sa pag atake sa kampo ng kalaban). Kaya nga ang mga peborit Heroes ko ay malalakas sa "farming" (DOTA jargon sa pag-hamig ng pera) tulad ni Rhasta, Templar Assassin, at Ogre Magi. Natuwa lang ako sa quiz na ito kasi isa sa mga unang Heroes na ginamit ko ay si Doom Bringer. Angas niya kasi tignan sa laro.

Sa mga hindi geeky patrons ng DOTA, DOTA stands for Defense of the Ancients. It is a PC strategy game with a custom map based on the original Warcraft 3. Players pick on a pool of more than 80 unique heroes coming from either the bad side (Scourge) or the good side (Sentinels). These Heroes have different capabilities and characters so at one point you'll really going to have a favorite where you can identify yourself or your game style.

Nakaka-adik.

*****

Commercial:
New album on my Multiply account.

Threesome

Tagged by Kyuzo...

Three Things That Scare Me
1. DUGO!!!!
2. palaka. lalo na yung slimy!
3. Madame Auring

Three People Who Make Me Laugh
1. Bob Ong
2. Brother Eli
3. Madame Auring

Three Things I Love
1. MY life!
2. yung sofa namin, kung san ako natutulog.
3. sisig, pare.

Three Things I Hate
1. kamatis
2. mani sa tsokolate
3. Madame Auring

Three Things I Don't Understand
1. E=mc2
2. Lewis Caroll's "Jabberwocky"
3. bakit orange ang kwekwek... pwede namang violet?

Three Things On My Desk
1. coco jam
2. cheese spread
3. mayonnaise

Three Things I Am Doing Right Now
1. reading this
2. typing this
3. thinking of the next answer

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die
1. date a princess
2. direct a film animation
3. build an empire

Three Things I Can Do
1. texting without looking at the keypads (oddly-designed pa yung sa 3650 ko... o-ha!)
2. mag lakwatsa ng up-to-sawa
3. hide my feelings (wakanangena, naisingit ko pa yun oh! woooh!)

Three Things I Can't Do
1. focus on a single feat (sa dami kong hobbies at trippings, minsan naiisip ko baka may ADHD ako... think "Jack of All Trades, Master of None")
2. burp loudly
3. keep my room tidy

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To
1. Ang Dating Daan (entertainment at it's finest)
2. your MOM
3. the car blaring his horn behind you (it means "there's something effin wrong with your driving")

Three Things You Should Never Listen To
1. rambling politicians
2. Masculados
3. yourself (its scary when yourself started mumbling words to you... that's psychosis up the wazoo)

Three Things I Want To Learn
1. animation
2. drums (the only band instrument left unknown to me)
3. write in Hebrew/Yiddish

Three Favorite Foods
1. sisig reprezent!
2. kwekwek
3. honey mustard antipasto

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid
1. Batibot
2. Lovely Ness (kung laging naka tangga si Alma)
3. Wok With Yan (Jacky Chan cooks, yeah!)

Three Sets Of Three People I Am Tagging (three sets??)
1. Paul McCartney
2. Father Giancarlo Bossi
3. Bob Ong

A Day in a Lucky Slave's Life

8:31am - arrived in the office (maaga ito kesa normal).

8:54am - internet sucks in the office today, mas mabilis pa yung kakarag karag na oto ng kapitbahay namin dati sa Quiapo.

9:25am - preparing for the QA Testing Principle Echo Training that I will be conducting in a while for my mates here in the office, internet's still a sloth.

9:35am - sumaglit ako sa Yahoo groups ng batch namin nung gradeschool. t'was nice to start the morning with a nostalgic chill. kinikilig pa din ako pag nababasa ko yung entry ni Boi na crush niya daw ako nung bagong salta ako sa school. haha. e super crush ko siya noon, e kaso di ako makadiskarte ng mabuti dahil crush siya ng bayan (tsaka torpe lang talaga ako). now I'm wondering if we'll gonna click as a couple if ever they din't move to New York after graduating. hello Bonita!

9:43am - Ava (kapatid ni Boi) emailed something regarding their flight. she and her dad's coming here on the 25th. bestfriend siya ng sis ko (at ninang ng Dora the Explorer twins) at baka sumundo kami sa erport.

9:47am - documentation of work processes.

10:25am - nag hanap ako ng mga ritrato ng kebab at shawarma sa net para i-suggest sa tropa na mag "Kebab Nights" naman kami next na Shak food trip.

10:36am - QA Testing Principle Echo Training.

11:24am - kararating ko lang dito sa opisina dahil bumaba ako after ng training para bumili sa jollijeep ng pananghalian. pero ipinag-baon ako ni Mommy Groovy.

11:46am - may topak ang Multiply, kanina pa. parang ako din, sumpungin.

11:53am - "Mister Brightside" (acoustic rendition) by the Killers on my player.

12:47pm - natapos ako kumain.

1:15pm - natapos ako kumain ng coffee choco bits sundae. yub yub!

1:23pm - tinignan ko profile ni Andi 9. watdapak talaga sa ganda! Andi 10 siya para sakin.

2:58pm - subsob pa din sa tarbaho. pero nag-iisip na ko kung anong gagamitin na hero sa DOTA.

3:06pm - naaalala ko si Iday. "All My Life" by America kasi ang tumugtog sa walastik na player. matapos lang tong kanta, palit playlist nako: Rage Against The Machine. Yeeeeah!

3:11pm - nilabas ni Roy yung pinatago kong Gardenia Wheat Bread.

3:17pm - "Renegades of Funk" by Rage Against the Machine on my player.

3:28pm - paulit ulit yung "makulay ang buhay sa sinabawang gulay" na ringtone ni Koya Jeff. wala lang.

3:45pm - sinabi ko kay Jovic na "Maelstrom" ang gamitin niyang item kay "Zeus" sa DOTA.

3:50pm - sumilip sa Friendster ko.

3:54pm - change playlist: Loud Rock, "Down With The Sickness" by Disturbed on my player. isa ito sa mga peborit kong kanta at banda. open up your hate and let it flow into me... rak-on!

4:02pm - binuksan ko na yung Gardenia't inalok sina Roy at Darwin. marami akong palaman: cheese spread, chicken mayo, at coco jam. cheese spread inupakan ko.

4:26pm - nag post ako ng message sa Yahoo groups ng batch namin nung gradeschool.

4:46pm - nagre-research na ko kung sinong gagamiting hero sa DOTA.

5:30pm - desidido na ko sa hero ko. si Templar Assasin. ngayon ko pa lang siya lalaruin kaya kinailangan ng matinding research. teka, ihi lang ako.

5:51pm - bloghopping bago mag time-out.

5:56pm - post ko na 'to, bago ako mag DOTA.

Walang Maisip na Title

Friday the 13th
Kela Kian's shawarmahan kami nag lunch nila Roy, Bubung, at Miming. Andun si Kian nung araw na yun, nambobola ng mga magagandang kustomer. Hehe, swabe.

More pics on my Multiply site album (T.G.I.S Goes to Persia)

T.G.I.S. (Thanks Gosh It's Shawarma)
L-R: Bubung, George Estregan, Miming the Cat, Ranger Roy

Ginabi ako sa paglalaro ng DOTA (Bloodseeker, reprezent!). Gusto ko pa sana maglakwatsa pero naniig ang mumunting sakit sa gulugod (yun ba yung tagalog ng "shin"?) ng aking kaliwang paa. Kaya hayun, deretso uwi ang kumag. Sa bahay, nakipag baby tox lang ako sa kambal na ang tawag na sa akin ay "iyaaaaaa!!!". Napapakinig kasi sa nanay nila pag tinatawag ako.

Iyaaaa (n) - bigkas ng isang-taong bata batuta sa salitang "kuya". Source: Diksyunaryo ni Lolo

Nung pinatulog na yung dalawa, pwede ko na ilabas yung mga laruan ko. Wala nang mangengelam na mga mas malilikot at mas makukulit na version ni Dora the Explorer. Nag assemble na ako ng mga miniature models ko, tapos nun nag basa ng libro hanggang sa antukin.


Saturday the 14th (Shak Noodle Nights)
Tatakbo sana ako sabay basketball. Kaso mo, ang sarap ng panahon. Tamang uulan na hindi, kaya hangin-hangin! Mas pinili ng kukote kong matulog pa muna ng 5 minutes. Tas 5 minutes ulit. Tas 5 minutes ulit. Tas 5 minutes ulit. Hanggang sa wag na lang mag jogging. Peste. Sino kasi nagpa-uso ng health and fitness.

Gumising ako para kumain. Nakipag bolahan ulit sa kambal ng konti. Tas sabay bihis para pumuntang Virramall. Sumasakit sakit pa din si gulugod.

Eto (yata) si Liz

Eto (yata) si Lei... hindi yung kalbo. Ako yun.

Sa Virramall, napadaan ako sa mga tiangge ng makukulit na tshirt. Bumili ako ng dalwa, isa para sa akin at isa para kay Sponklong. Sa Fortress, wala akong dinatnan kundi sila Ate at Little John. Nasa Katipunan pala ang buong tropa. Nakipag bolahan lang ako ng konti kela Ate tas lumarga na din ako papuntang Hobby Haven sa Katipunan. Aba, andun nga ang buong sangkatropahan!

Tambay na ko dun hanggang gabi. Tas nung naumay na kami sa pagmumukha ng isa't isa, nagpahatid na kami kay Emp sa tambayan sa Shak. In anticipation ito ng magaganap na Noodle Nights. Last time kasi, Sausage Night ang trippings... noodles naman daw ang isusunod naming yariin.

Unti unting nagsipagdatingan ang sangkatropahan kaya matapos namin mangotong sa mga bagong salta, tumungo na kami sa isang Korean store sa Timog para humakot ng mga kekelanganen. Pagbalik sa tambayan umupak na sila ng pagluto habang ang karamihan ay nagbobolahan.

Attendance: Iron Chef Pork, Jumping Johnny, Little John, Jason Phatboi, Fluffy, Doc Marco, Joma, Arvs, JC (yes, Jesus Christ ibig sabihin nyan... patawarin nawa kami), Joy, Ubay Bomber, Riderman Carlo, Elmer Kulyong, Obi Doo, Mayor Tengco, Jacob Le'Croissant, Gelo Dude, Captain Inferno, Scotch, Anito the Dog

Jacob rattling about the French Bastille Day. Anito still stinky as hell. Arvs, Jubay, and the Doctor bouted it up with their "manok" in Armoured Core (PSP). Arvs emerged the big fish in our little pond. Kulyong, Jacob, JP, Jumping Johnny, and Joe on Cthulu RPG session. Gelo just passed by, "touch and go" style... only half-sober.

Grub: Korean ass-bomber noodles (Shin Ramen?), dimsum lots!, cox, cox lights, Korean sea weed cracker, pandesal, French Baker's le baguettes, Korean tofu

Sarap ng soup! In fairness, hindi siya gaanong pang-almuranas ngayon kumpara sa mga ibang tipikal na araw na napagti-trippan naming mag spicy noodles sa Shak na tulo sa kabilaang ilong ang uhog mo sa anghang. Gawin na daw itong initiation rites sa mga bisita ng Shak? Abangan!

May pamankin pala si Fluffy sa PBB Teen edition... kaya nagka-short tox about their push to have me join the next Pinoy Big Bro. Dahil hindi ko naman habol manalo at gusto ko lang makipag-trippings sa bahay ni Koya, ako na lang daw maging tipikal na asshole sa loob. Pampa-kwela ng palabas. Pinag usapan nila kung ano mga gagawin ko pag nasa loob na ako (syempre, without violating yung mga batas ni Koya... or so I pressume):

1. Sa sunod sunod na araw, sa kalaliman ng himbing ng tulog ng lahat, magigising daw ako na parang binangungot tas sisigaw ako ng isang pangalan ng tropa... iba't ibang tropa kada araw.
2. Gumawa daw ako ng sariling altar sa Prayer Room. Magpatong patong siguro ng bato sa isang sulok nung kwarto tas magdo-drawing ako ng mukha ni Puma Ley-ar sa papel tas ii-scotch tape ko sa pader. Tas kada araw basta tumama ng alas sais, kung walang pinapagawa si Koya, pupunta akong prayer room tas naka bow lang ako sa harap ng altar ko for 10 minutes. Lapat ang noo sa sahig. Tapos ang pang finale nito, sasayaw at kakanta ako ng "shigi shigi waka-shigi uwaaah". Pero dapat walang housemate na nakaka-kita, pang mga manonood lang ito at kay Koya. Pag may housemate, tama na iyong naka bow sa sahig. Creepy enough na daw yun.
3. Ibahin ko daw ang step ko sa pag sayaw ng Pinoy Big Brother song.
4. Itaya ko daw ng buo ang weekly budget. Para win big or lose big ang siste. Kapag natalo sa weekly challenge, e di gutom ng isang linggo. Pwede naman daw iluto si Buddy the House Dog.
5. Palabasin ko daw na may third-eye ako at nakakakita ng kung ano anong kababalaghan. Magtuturo daw ako sa bahay kung saan merong "visitors" na nagpapakita.

Ilan lang yan, marami pa silang naisip na trippings. Sabi ko siguradong forced evict ako nun sa unang dalwang linggo. Magpu-pustahan na lang daw ang tropa kung sa pang-ilang linggo ako matatanggal. Ayus.

Class dismiss at 2am!

Ayan, dito ako madalas mag-jogging habang nag-e-emote. Sa hacienda KO yan.


Sunday the 15th
Dating gawi. Tatakbo sana ako't magba-basketball. Kaso sumidhi na ang sakit ng gulugod ko. Hindi ko pa din alam ang kaso hanggang sa mga panahong iyon.

Dahil hindi ko talaga kaya, natulog na lang ulit ako (hindi kaya palusot ko lang yun para makarami ng tulog?!?). Nakipag laro ulit sa kambal pagka-gising. Pumunta ako sa tambayan sa Greenhills ng mga alas kwatro na ng hapon.

Tambay at lakwatsa at bolahan lang maghapon.

Nagtext si Idol Pinsan. Pinag-canvass ko siya ng presyo ng i-Pod sa Virramall. Kinita ko sila ni Techy Friend sa Theater Mall. Sabay bumili ng i-Pod. Tutol pa din ako sa i-Pod kahit anong mangyari. Sa mp3 player pa din ako kahit hindi gaanong pang konyo.

Umalis na kami ng tropa sa Greenhills. Dumiretso ng Delta para mag Mister Kabab. Hype lang ang mga bali-balitang kabaliw baliw ang mga pagkain sa Mister Kabab. Mediocre lang siya para sakin. "So so" para sa mga konyo. "Tangena ganun din ang pesteng lasa" para sa mga jologs.

Pinagka-iba niya lang sa mga karamihang napuntahan kong shawarmahan ay mura siya para sa ganung lugar at huli ng white sauce nila ang panlasang Pinoy. Matamis. Madaming "mayo" malamang. Pero up-to-sawa, kahit gawin mong sabaw walang mangengelam sa yo (wag mo na lang pansinin ang naka tiger-look na si Ate).

Grub: chicken liver, pork liver, kebab lots!, pita bread lots!, isang weird looking mechado which starts with a letter "B" (katunog ng "burugudoy"? wutt-ever!), ox brain, kanin na may star margarine (para sa growing kids?)

Dito kami nag sisimba ni Sponklong (Malate Church)

Tambay sa Shak until 3am, afterwards. Plim dropped by with his airsoft guns. Kinumpuni ni Jason Phatboi habang nagbobolahan ang lahat.

Pahabol: Birthday ni Bateng, pinsan kong Kuracha - Linggo lang ang pahinga. Haberdey, JC!


Monday the 16th
Medyo nawawala na sakit ng paa ko. Pero sakit ng puso ko hindi pa rin. Wakanangena, ahuhuy!

Pahabol: Birthday ni Jackstone, tito kong nasa Vegas. Haberdey, Tito Jack!

Resibo namin sa shawarmahan ni Kian

Die Harder

Last Sunday was a so so day. With Sponklong the Boy Wonder, we attended the noon mass at the Malate Church before chowing at Chow King, trudging our way to Tita 9's place, and eventually going to Rob Place to watch "Die Hard 4.0". Grub time at the Baywalk area with Pinsan Idol and Techy Friend followed in the evening: sisig and shrimps on the hitlist after lamenting the unavailability of the much coveted kebab!


Die Hard 4.0
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

Detective John McClane is back with yet another showcase of his daredevil skills. In a daring attempt to sabotage the entire American economy, a group of cyber-terrorists lead by a sacked government computer head honcho Thomas Gabriel, executed what they dubbed as the "Firesale". "Firesale" is their term for a three-point economic cyber-sabotage composed of messing up with the traffic ways, blocking the communication lines, and shutting down the power grid. In able to do this, Gabriel's terrorist ring staged a competition among the hackers to program the software that will initiate the "Firesale". After the program was finished, the syndicate started killing all the hackers involved.

One hacker lived, as his assasination was foiled by McClane, who was under order to arrest the hacker - Matt Farrell. As the duo went along with their business, McClane eventually uncovered the reasons why Farrell was under attack and that it was tied up with the economic sabotages that was already hitting America (the start of the "Firesale"). McClane, who just won't die, kept on being the arse pain to Gabriel and company. In an attempt to sack the detective, Gabriel kidnapped his daughter and bargained for her life if he'll stop the crackdown to their evil plans.

With intense action scenes here and there, McClane finally saved her daughter and kill the bad dudes before help from the NBI arrived (how typical Pinoy film scenario!).

The movie's a very "guy film". True to it's title, it was jampacked with hardcore action scenes from start to end that it will make you wonder how the heck McClane survived all of that. The story was there and I pretty much like the concept of cyber-terrorism but take note that there's a whole LOT of exaggerations in the movie that certainly would never be possible in real life. So to appreciate the story, you'll going to keep in mind NOT to question the capabilities of the good guy... good guys should always triumph no matter how. Period. I also wanted how they emphasized the weakness of the American way of life brought upon by mucho dependence on computers. Props to whoever conceived of this idea for the prequel.

Overall, it's still your typical "Die Hard" film with a never-say-never cop who seemed to have challenged the world just to have his way of making criminals pay. They said it was a tad stylized than the prequels but I think it was mainly because of the presence of the organized crime group and the NBI officers (who have been visible all throughout the movie but wasn't really much of a help). I haven't watched Die Hard 3 (DH3) but I still can recall DH1 and DH2, and I can't see much change from the McClanes of the prequels. In this movie, McClane is still McClane. I'll have to give the credit to Bruce Willis and his charisma to carry on the charge of portraying the scruffy-looking detective again as he did years ago despite having aged to his 50's.

Hands down on the acting department. Timothy Olyphant (Gabriel) and Maggie Q (Mai Lihn) are very capable adversaries to McClane, with their merry band of computer hackers. Timothy has that sinister appeal on him while maintaining the "not-a-dumb-villain" look. Maggie Q, on the other hand, flawlessly fulfilled the role of the token Asian sidekick. She's still scorching hot on combat gears (as in MI:3) and although I find her resillience to McClane's attacks unbelievable (no matter how brutal they were and how wiry this chick is), I still loved her performance for the role. Cool martial arts moves too. Justin Long (Matt Farrell) did not look too geeky for his role. I'd rather prefer he portrayed the "geekiness" as exhibited by Warlock (Kevin Smith), but I guess that's what the director intended anyway.

One of the scenes that made me raised an eyebrow (although I really can't do that raising-an-eyebrow thing) was when an F35 jetplane chased down McClane on a freeway, and the protagonist walked out of it alive. That's just pushing it too much! I mean, McClane was being shot at like hell by anti-armor rounds and payloads of missiles with only a truck - a HUGE truck! - at his disposal.

HUGE TRUCK = HUGE TARGET

And the fighter pilot kept on missing the damn thing like a three year old trying to pin the tail on the donkey, blindfolded! And when he finally hits, he was still dumb enough to stuck himself to ground where McClane could make an easy work of doing funky stuffs to it and send it to doom. Watdapak?

All just to give the viewers a good action ride. So yeah, you should get by now what I'm trying to mean by "it's a guy film"... sacrificed reality for more loads of action!

Seven gulamans.

Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga

I used to be the music nutcase in the office. Hindi ko kasi nakasanayan makinig ng sounds with a pesky headset injected on my ears. Kaya kung mag soundtrip ako naka speakers. Tas pag downtime at medyo nakaka-antok, ang trippings ko magpatugtog ng kung ano-anong kantang patawang pepot (yung mga kantang pag napakinig ng iba e hindi nila mapipigilang mag-react): meron akong mga mp3's ng anime hits sa TV (e.g. dragonball, bioman, daimos, voltes V...), meron din akong mga jologs rap (yung mga kinakanta ng mga "gangsta" sa kalsada na nagpapalakihan ng suot na jersey), at syempre mga 80's sounds (yung mga tamang nagpapatok sa "The Gwapings", "Bagets", "Tuesday Group ng That's Entertainment", at Billy Joe... nung bao pa ang buhok niya). Pero ang pinaka-makulit sa koleksyon ko e yung mga kantang parang sa baul pa ng ingkong hinugot (50's, tsong... 50's).

Kanina, naghuhukay ako ng mga lumang kanta sa koleksyon ko (inaantok ako eh). Pinapagtugtog ko isa-isa, pampagising lang. "Inday ng Buhay Ko" ni Victor Wood, "Highschool Life" ni Ate Shawy (nung nagliligawan pa lang sila ng tatay ni KC), "Kawawang Cowboy" ni Fred Panopio (kung sino man siya), tas napadaan ako sa koleksyon ni Basil Valdez (hindi siya tatay ni Wendy ng PBB). Imbes na mabuhayan ay na-depress lang ako lalo, at etong pesteng kantang 'to ang may sala... hahaha. Enjoy!


Sana Ay Ikaw na Nga
Basil Valdez

Anong kailangan kong gawin
Upang malaman mo
Ikaw ay minamahal ko
Kailangan ko'y katulad mo
Sa buhay kong ito
Nag-iisa lang sa mundo

Dati'y nasaktan na 'ko
Takot nang magtiwala
Ayoko na sanang umibig pa
Ngunit ika'y ibang-iba
Sa lahat ng nakilala
Sana ay ikaw na nga

Anong kailangan kong gawin
Upang matigil na
Ang kabaliwan kong ito
Sumpa ko sa sarili'y
Hinding-hinding hindi na
Ngunit heto na naman ako
Hindi na papipigil pa
At di na paaawat
Sinisigaw na ang pangalan mo

Ikaw talaga'y ibang-iba
Sa lahat ng nakilala
Sana ay ikaw na nga

Sana ay ikaw na nga


*****

Minsan may mga panahong gusto mo na lang maniwalang walang "movie-kind of love" at hindi worth it to feel so much for someone (or anyone you like or you will like, for crying out loud!). Minsan may panahong justified sa paningin mong unahin muna utak bago puso, kesehodang pudpod na pudpod na 'tong ipinapayo sa mga serye ni Joe The Mango, Doctor Love, at Tiya Dely. E kung ganun lang din naman, mag utakan na lang tayong lahat! Hahaha.

Minsan maiisip mo na lang na pang pocketbook na lang ang wagas na pag-ibig. Minsan kailangan mong intindihin kung bakit may mga repapips who take their "syota" lightly na parang utot lang tong dumadaan sa buhay nila. Inherent defense mechanism daw. Pag nagmahal ka ng sobra at na-echapring ka, tumbling ka sa sakit. Pero kung peke-in mo nga naman magmahal o kaya para kang Super Saiyan na hahatiin mo ang powers mo para magbigay lang ng 50 porsyentong pag-ibig, hindi ka nga naman todo olats kung sakaling i-tae ka ng giliw mo.

Pero ang tanong, where's the love, man?? Matatawag mo bang nagmahal ka nun? Tae ka kung sagot mo "oo". Kung katabi mo ko ngayon baka na-tampal pa kita. Hahaha.

Minsan gusto mo nang tanggaping eto ang uso. At maiiwan ka kung di ka gagaya. Seriously, I was on the process of "trying" that waaay back several years ago. Yung manligaw just for the heck of it. Sa sobrang di ko talaga masakyan yung konsepto, tinantanan ko din. What's scary was that it was actually effective! Kaya ko siya mapa-sagot if only I wanted it. Pero bakit ganun, kung kelan seryoso ka... olats ka. Ganun na ba ka-laos ang totoong pag-ibig? Think about it.

Kaya para sa 'ting mga masokistang walang kadala dala, reprezent! Hahaha.

Chi-chu-cha-cha-chak

Yan yung tunog ng nagta-transform na Transformer. Angas no? Ni-research ko pa yan.

A more "refined" version of this film review will appear on our company's online newsletter.


Transformers
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

A war on their own world has brought the noble Autobots and the antagonistic Decepticons into the Earth in search of the Allspark, an alien cube that is the Transformers' only hope to rebuild their devastated world. The Decepticons, Blackout and Scorponok, attacked a military base in Qatar while the insidious Frenzy sneaked into the Air Force One, all just to tap into the military secret files in search of information about Project Iceman. Project Iceman would lead the Decepticons to the whereabouts of their leader, Megatron, who in turn will lead them to the location of the Allspark.

The deceased ship captain involved in the events leading to Project Iceman turned out to be the grandfather of our lead role, Sam Witwicky. Sam holds the key to the location of the Allspark (engraved on his grandfather's eyeglasses). In some turn of events, Sam will own Bumblebee and later on learned about the nature of the Transformers. In an attempt to find the Allspark, they stumbled upon the secret government agency, Sector 7, which holds the secret to the location of both Megatron and the alien cube.

Unbeknownst to them, Frenzy the MVP was able to skitter his way towards the secret location by stalking Sam's hot girlfriend, Mikaela (yeah I really have to insert "hot" there). Frenzy contacted the Decepticons to converge on his location and freed Megatron from his cryo-freeze slumber. All the while, the rest of the Autobots are on their way to make their stand against the Decepticons on a nearby town. It was a battle royale when both factions clashed for the Allspark. I have to break it to you that Jazz was decapitated by Megatron. But in the end, Sam was able to dump the Allspark to Megatron's chest to destroy both the artifact and the monolithic robot.

Don't leave the cinema yet when the credit rolls since along with it, there will be teaser scenes that made a sequel imminent.

Most people anticipated the movie to be crap, and you can't blame em. First, the previews din't much give a clue on what does the robots look like and on the short moments that they did, they seemed very far from what the animated series presented. So the first thing that will hit you was that this will just be another kiddie movie with an unrealistic crap for a plot. There were also the rumours that outright deviated with what we generally know about Transformers... biggest of them was Bumblebee being a Camaro and not the lovable bug (Volkswagen Pendong Pagong) that we all knew. Another was that it's on a present-day settings. Transformers the cartoon series was set on the 80's and thinking of that alone would lead you to conclude that the script writers would recede to ridiculous ideas just to tie-in the whole concept into a more modern timeset.

What's awesome about it was that much of these were true - the robots din't much represent their original transformations (Prime, even when a truck, is not the original boxy hauler from the cartoon series) and the modernized concept is waaay different from the 80's Transformers that we remembered BUT despite it all, the overall impact of the movie is surprisingly well!

I believe that what contributed with this much appreciation was the fact that the movie was able to compensate a LOT of cool graphical goodies for what it lacks from the cartoon series. For most, the CG is outright wicked! The transformation is smoothly done and the robots' interactions with the humans are seamless that they really looked like coexisting simultaneously. It also has tons of fan services the likes of the original transformation sound and cheesy one-liners from the cartoons like Optimus Prime's "one shall stand and one shall fall" and "Autobots, transform and roll out!". It's just frustrating that they never played the original Transformer musical score!

The plot line is well simple. Your typical good versus bad thing. It's not what the movie would like to showcase anyway. It threaded away from the cartoon series' storyline but it still has some adherence to the basic concepts like how they characterized the Autobots' personalities (although Bumblebee was an exception in that he was not wimpy in the film). The Decepticons' Frenzy was surprisingly the MVP of the plot since singlehandedly it was responsible for the hacking of the government networks, uploading a virus into it, finding the location of Sam and freeing Megatron! The story basically was there because of Frenzy.

Most of the casts are pretty decent. Shia LaBeouf (Sam) was really reminiscent of the cartoon series' Spike. I can find the similiarities on their personality. I find the US Army squad led by Josh Duhamel (Captain Lennox) a bit overplaying their role. They din't strike me as grizzled war veterans and more of the stereotype heroic soldier we commonly see on films. Megan Fox (Mikaela) is hot when she's on her grimy look, nuff said. Also, it was nice to hear the original voice of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen). If only Megatron and Starscream's original voice talents were there too, it will be total awesome-ness.

The bad thing is if you're a diehard fan of the 80's series and won't appreciate much of the deviations done on the movie, you would probably walk out underwhelmed. To enjoy the film, you have to set your mind up before seeing it that this will not be much of the cartoon series we loved back then. No problem for the later generations, they'll sure enjoy watching it. Watch out for the humours too. There were scenes that would make a good laugh.

The goodies will sure outweight the bad and I would like to see either Bumblebee or Frenzy nominated for the Oscars. 9 gulamans worth.

*****

New picture albums on my Multiply account:

IPMS Scale Modelling Exhibit 2007
Avengers and Survivors Night Out

Sausage Grille O'Rama

Greenbelt Cinema 4
Friday - 6pm
Our team here in the office trickled inside the movie house for the much-awaited screening of "Transformers". With popcorns, cox, fries, and hotdogs abundant, we glued our eyes in marvel of the awesome CG effects that we only dreamed of when we were younger, watching the animated series. Astig siya. Maybe it's because most of us anticipated that it's crappy that made it more appealing when we realized that, hey... it's not bad after all. I'll put up my commentary about the film probably tomorrow but for those who haven't seen it yet, it's worth the wait and it's not just a hype-famed movie.

I arrived at home just a couple of minutes past 10pm. No one opted for the manager's free dinner offer after the movie, kaya K.K.U. na lang - kanya kanyang uwi. Nagulat pa sila Mami (yeps, nagugulat pa sila sa alas diyes). Maaga pa din yung uwing yun para sakin. Only then that I felt hungry (the movie made me forgot to check my tummy), buti na lang nagpa pizza delivery sila Mami earlier that night at tinirahan ako. Ayus!


Obi's Crib
Saturday - 10am
Woke up at the sound of the twins crying. Nakipaglaro na lang ako sa kanila until after lunch time before I prepped up for Virramall. Jampacked ang bag ko.

World of Warcraft Card Game Deck - 60 cards
Warmachine Army - 16 models
Hoardes Primal Book
Permex Tuna - 2 cans
some German tuna - 2 cans
Dark Angels Codex
Space Marines Bits - 2 boxes
Obi's Survival Stuffs - pen & paper, phone charger, extra hanky, ID's, USB disks, Bluetooth device, gaming materials, Papa cologne


Virramall, Greenhills
Saturday - 3pm
Arrived in Greenhills to discover that there's an event. Astig. It's a toy convention of sorts. There were cosplayers, an anime-ish fashion modelling, online games registration, and Iwa Motto was strutting around, interviewing mall patrons and store participants (for a TV show, most likely). Fortress has setup their stall along with the other toy stores. Dun ko inabutan si Arvs nung dumating ako. The boyz started to trickle in too. Everyone's oogling at Iwa (ang laki laki niya na! hehe). I should have made her sign my Dark Angels Codex (too geeky, I know) but it was either I was not the type to chase down celebrities for pics or autographs OR she was not enough to make me do so... kung si Katrina yan or si Joyce, dinamba ko pa yun. Mag pipiyansa na lang ako. Hehe.

We just chilled in there for most of the mall hours. Naglaro kami ng miniature games sa Fortress while Pork and Mayor sidetripped to a nearby sausage store (Treffpunkt?) to buy more sausages and other stuffs needed for the Sausage Grille O'Rama Fest that was planned by the Shak Boyz to be later that night.


Da Shak, Kamias
Saturday - 9:30pm
Not even the rain can stop da boyz to partey. With everything set for the Sausage Grille Fest, the gluttonous ruckus begun!

Attendance: Joma, JP, Gelo, Emp, Jaycee, JC, Joy, Obi, Pork, Calipher Boy, Phatboy, Jumping Johnny, Little John, Pookiemonster, Fluffy, Arvs, Mayor, Richie, anyone I missed?

Entrée Number One: Sausage Salad in Vinegar
Entrée Number Two: Bratwurst Sausage Parboiled in Beer
Entrée Number Three: Tuna
Entrée Number Four: Korean Edible Pupa (yep yep, they basically are edible roach pupa)

Everything served with optional Grey Poupon and Sauerkraut (Germans reprezent)! Jake bought lotsa chips too, and they were not bad in dijon mustard as well. We were also flooded with Coke and Beer!

Okay, first the Korean Pupa... Jake arrived with a can of it. Fear Factor talaga. It smells good really but muka talaga siyang maliit na ipis floating on this dirty-looking soup. But the fact na de lata siya with all that Korean labels and all na hindi ko maintindihan, it should be safe. So tinikman naming malalakas ang sikmura. It tastes like beans. Hindi ko masasabing masarap kasi hindi ako kumakain ng beans pero hindi funky yung lasa niya, at least.

The sausage salad was gone even before Emp and his wife arrived. But the bratwursts were enough to feed our ravenous stomachs. Grabe kung ilang kilo ang binili nila that day. Bumili pa kami ng mainit na pandesal para pang sabay. No rice. It's just bread, sausage, cox, and beer!

The grey poupon is cool. I could use one for my honey mustard mix pero ang mahal nya sobra and aksaya yung presyo niya kung gagamitin ko lang pang timpla ng dressing. Sauerkraut was very good at neutralizing the taste of the sausages. It's German atchara. Kinda tastes like our own but lighter on the vinegar.

Nabusog ako sobra. If only it wasn't raining, we could have had more fun. Nagsiksikan kasi kami sa loob ng Shak.


Obi's Crib
Sunday - 11pm
Magsisimba dapat kami ni Sponklong sa Malate kaso tinanghali ako ng gising. Bummer.

I just assembled some miniatures, played with the twins again, then prepped up for Greenhills. Again.


Virramall, Greenhills
Sunday - 4pm
The pseudo-toy convention was still up. Wala si Arvs. Si Little John lang ang tao sa booth ng Fortress. I just chilled there for a couple of minutes then had meryenda tapos sumunod ako sa Megamall. Andun sila Pork ang Arvs for the Mecha Pinoy exhibit.


Megamall Atrium, Ortigas
Sunday - 6pm
Mecha Pinoy's Gundam Exhibit was up and running. Met Doc Feel-Good (nice to meet you, dude). Pork in the prowl for sexy time CD's? Arvs and me on istambay mode, Gundam modelling and painting discussions commenced. Pork returned, suggesting a sidetrip to Metrowalk for Jap Movie DVD hunt!


Metrowalk, Ortigas
Sunday - 7:30pm
Pork rummaged the DVD tiangge for Japo movies and Andrew E.?!?! Eh?? Arvin in lamentation as the store where he buys his "shock pen" has already moved to some place unknown.


Da Shak, Kamias
Sunday - 9pm
We bought lots and lots of isaw for dinner. Arvs sired heresy as he arrived with ersatz Coke!

The boyz trickled in as the evening went on. I just passed the time assemblying my miniatures. Arrived at home by around 2am and I have to bang the door to wake up somebody to open up the door for me. Stupid me, forgot to transfer my key from another bag. Aray!