Cool school

I wonder where their graduates end up?

=D

Get to know yourself better

Got this from Joel's blog.

This got my attention because never had I been in a situation where answering some seemingly mundane questions results in a somewhat accurate picture of my personality...I acually found it DISTURBING... Wooooo... =P

Try it for yourself here: http://www.quizbox.com/personality/test82.aspx

Your view on yourself:

Other people find you very interesting, but you are really hiding your true self. Your friends love you because you are a good listener. They'll probably still love you if you learn to be yourself with them.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You prefer to get to know a person very well before deciding whether you will commit to the relationship.

The seriousness of your love:

You like to flirt and behave seductively. The opposite sex finds this very attractive, and that's why you'll always have admirers hanging off your arms. But how serious are you about choosing someone to be in a relationship with?

Your views on education

Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:

You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:

You are confident that you will be successful in your chosen career and nothing will stop you from trying.

What are you most afraid of:

You are afraid of having no one to rely on in times of trouble. You don't ever want to be unable to take care of yourself. Independence is important to you.

Who is your true self:

You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

Dune buster

I seldom do movie reviews, but this tasted so bad, I just had to spit it out...

I just watched the original Dune movie (courtesy of my super scifi collector cousin), and it SUCKED.. REALLY BAD!! Good Lord, Inever expected it would be that pathetic. I understand that it will not measure up to today's effects and whatnot 'coz it's pretty old film, but that's not the problem..

The storytelling was outright confusing! Scene transitions were too abrupt, and character development was mediocre at best as it left too many questions hanging about the different personalities you see in the film.. To avoid bias, I watched this movie BEFORE I read the actual novel. Although you could say I was "blinded" by the measure I took, the screenplay still didn't feel right, and you could really sense that there were a lot of things lacking..

I mean, I finished the movie wondering "What the hell just happened?" It has a very weak storyline, quite surprising since it was based upon an epic novel which recieved critical acclaim. When I got around to reading the book, things just got a whole lot worse.. I discovered that many things were removed, and original plotlines convoluted. It doesn't do any bit of justice to the Dune franchise.. (well, the sandworms were pretty cool, I'll give them that..) This has got to be the worst ever movie adaptation of a novel that I have ever seen.. Tsk tsk tsk...What a waste...

Damn bright lights!!

I've tried to refrain from ranting about this, but people have just gone too far...

What is it with those JERKS who install those REALLY BRIGHT lights and drive around in city traffic? Do they really ENJOY blinding people? I mean, with the current pace of traffic around the Metro, I seriously doubt if you'll really need the "added visibility" that these light provide.

I've been driving for about 10 years, and lately there has been a noticeable increase of these well-illuminated vehicles on the road.

What the hell man? I noticed that most of the cars with these types of lights early on are those tricked-out gas guzzlers probably owned by those rich guys who go on drag races and whatnot, but even so, the lights weren't really that bright back then, so it was ok (I guess). But now, as if it suddenly became the automotive fashion statement of the year, more and more vehicles began to be equipped with brighter and BRIGHTER lights!!!

Now don't get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against pimping your ride, its your money anyway, not mine. But it becomes bothersome when the ULTRA-BRIGHT headlights hit my eyes when I'm cruising along the road!! Its as if someone switched on one of those very bright LED lights you could buy at 168 in front of my face. Hmm, when I think about this comparison, I find it to be really, really cheap and tacky hehehe. The extreme brightness of the light causes your pupils to constrict as a response to limit the light coming in. As a result, other less-illuminated thigns on the road are obscured from view. That's a very dangerous scenario anywhere on the road, but especially if you're traveling along one of the major thoroughfares like the expressways where the traffic flows at a faster rate.

There are some automakers who package their cars with bright lights but have special modifications to minimize road glare to other drivers like BMW, but on the Philippine roads, I guess that's more of an exception. Everywhere I go, I see these custom lights ounted on everything from an F150 to even an owner-type jeep!! Sometimes I'm guilty of wishing that these guys would blind an onrushing car so badly that the car would collide with them because the driver of the other car couldn't see!

Another thing that pisses me off about this is that apparently, the bright lights are not even in the high-beam setting! So that means these jerks drive around with that much illumination AT THE MINIMUM, with no way to turn them down!! Not that those drivers really care anyway.. I guess their mindset is that: "At least I can see the road well. You're blinded? Gee, that sucks. Deal with it!" Sabi nga ng tatay ko, KAYABANGAN lang yan.

Night driving is already a bit difficult as it is, add the "mayabang" guy riding your tail with his precious bright lights blazing, reflecting off your rear view mirror into your squinting eyes, and you're in for the ride of your life. Such great fun! =P Same goes for those cars you meet on a narrow two-lane street, but the one at your back is a lot worse, coz he's there for a longer period of time, rendering your rea mirror useless..

Parang awa niyo naman! Hindi lang sa inyo yung kalsada!! What the hell is your justification for using those ULTRA-BRIGHT lights anyway?? Do you also use your car to illuminate your entire house when you get home? Para makakita ng mabuti when you're driving fast? As in really fast?? Eh di wag kang masyadong mabilis magdrive! Makakaiwas ka pa sa pinsala! Sheesh!!! Hindi ka makakita sa gabi? Bakit may lisensya ka kung medyo bulag ka pala?? Sometimes people do it dahil, wala lang, astig kasi eh. That's how inconsidarate some people can get!!!!

Whew.. Sorry folks, I really just had to let this angry thought go before it exploded... Nabubwiset na talaga ako eh. Sana talaga there would be a law passed about this.. but given the government of this country?.. Nah... Wish ko lang..

Wrestle mania....

Anyone who's an avid fan of professional wrestling knows about how the WWE (then known as the WWF or World Wrestling Federation) was entangled in a legal battle with another faction claiming the WWF label, the World Wildlife Fund!. Boo!!! For everyone's information, their logo looks like this


After the dust had settled, the Wrestling faction was forced to change their logo (and thus their name) from this...

to this...


On one of my many journeys around the net, I chanced upon a great idea for a better WWF logo,  something they probably would have made if the settlement would have been better, wherein both parties would retain the same acronym and would have a common logo...

... =P

History within the walls

Since today is still considered a holiday (thanks to the government's extended holiday scheme), our family decided to try a less typical way to spend the weekend. But first, a little background story..
Last December 27th, we found ourselves staring up in awe at giant 18-foot parols (Filipino Christmas Lanterns) at a lantern festival held in the famous walled city within a city, Intramuros. The lantern show was accompanied by a fireworks display, and a giant Christmas tree made up up native abaca products (see above).


Inside the adjacent giant tent called "Clamshell 1", there was an indoor show going on featuring native dances and songs, while the area surrounding the stage was filled with merchants selling various native goods (I guess this was the WOW Philippines that everyone was talking about). Anyway, it was within the events venue when mom chanced upon the Intramuros administration desk and picked up a brochure mentioning the Light and Sound Museum. It seemed like a good idea, so today, we went for it!

After making a quick phone call to check if they were open today, we found out that it would cost a minimum of 1000php for up to 10 persons in a group. That means if you're a group of just 3 people, you'd still pay a thousand bucks! But once your party reaches 10 and above, it's going to be 100php/head. Fair enough I suppose, since it's a light and sound show which requires the people to be moving along by batches, as opposed to a simple museum where you could go about the exhibits at your own leisure.
We rounded up other relatives to go along with us (so that we wont be wasting 1000 bucks on just the four of us). ;) Unfortunately, my bro couldn't come along, as well as one of our cousins, since they had their own activities today.

The "Cultural reawakening" was housed inside a former convent located at Sta. Lucia St. near Baluartillo de San Diego. There were 9 of us in the group (which meant na nalugi kami ng 100 pesos! Boo!!). The show was very nice, although nothing outside the typical light-and-sound show you'd expect (but hey, it was a hell lot better than what I saw at Corregidor! =P). Come to think of it, it WAS kind of similar to Corregidor.. even the narrator's voice was the same...

Kidding aside, it was a nice historical tour, filled with little snippets of information about the different phases the Filipino people went through in the process of forming their national identity (which, I suppose, bore fruitition with the death or Dr. Jose Rizal, seeing as that was the last exhibit of the show). Dad pointed out however, that the narration had a very obvious anti-Spanish and anti-Church bias, and I'll have to agree with him on this point. Was it educational? Well, to some extent it was, but the exhibits were confusing at points and I felt that the pace of the show was too fast that we were being herded around much too quickly to be able to digest the information they laid out before us, alternating with instances that were too dragging. Seeing as it's just a recently opened attraction, I suppose it still has a long way to go..

Immediately after the tour, we proceeded to yet another historical exhibit, the Bahay Tsinoy. However, since we finished at around lunchtime, the museum was still closed, and we had our lunch al fresco at one of the turo-turos nearby. =P

Bahay Tsinoy is located on Anda cor Cabildo Sts. in Intramuros. It serves as a repository for early Chinese culture here in the Philippines, as well as a place to recognize the contributions of Tsinoys, both past and present.

I'll have to admit, I found this museum way more educational than the one previously mentioned (even though I've already gone here once before, but that was a long time ago..). I couldn't help but feel a tinge of pride when I saw an exhibit highlighting the contributions of the Filipino-Chinese Charitable Association and it's most visible contribution, my beloved Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center! I felt that I really made my mark by being a part of that institution, even for just a little while..

The museum had grown since I first visited it,  with the addition of another exhibit gallery located on the 4th floor.

I guess I'm getting older now, because I now study museum exhibits more intently, and sometimes even seriously stop to imagine how life was during those olden times.. I'm also feeling a lot more proud of my rich cultural heritage, things that I used to just brush aside when I was a child because I was unable to comprehend the grandiosity of it all.

It was a great day to travel and learn, and all within the limits of a half a tank of gas.

*btw, I know my reviews suck, but humor me, because my intent is not to provide a review of the places I visit, but to merely convey my opinions and relate them to my personal experiences.

Sands of Time

In a previous post (click here), I lamented the rapid decline of the science fiction genre from bookshelves. After having read the most recent (and final) addition to my Star Wars: Republic Commando collection, I thought that my sci-fi reading days were over.

As fate would have it, I chanced upon a copy of Dune: House Atreides on sale in Greenhills. I had been eyeing the Dune series for some time but due to prohibitive prices, I was reluctant to risk what little cash I had on a bunch of books I might not like. I fisrt heard about Dune way back in grade school when Westwood games came out with what is probably considered the great-granddad of real-time startegy games - Dune 2: the Building of a Dynasty. It was a solid game with a then-novel concept of real-time combat. It also had what seemed to me was an engaging storyline, pitting 3 houses wth different charcters (noble, insidious, and evil) against each other. However, I was then ignorant of the fact that it was based on a highly popular epic story, touted by some as the sci-fi equivalent of "The Lord of the Rings". As I got older, I noted the appearance of these Dune novels on bookstore shelves and discovered that it had quite a cult following as well.

Now that the opportunity had presented itself, I snapped up the book and immersed myself in the Dune universe, and it didn't disappoint.. I now have no doubt as to why the original Dune merited such high praise. The universe that Frank Herbert created is just so vast, with an intricate web of storylines and subplots that boggles the mind. The story draws upon events than span across milennia, and stretches the imagination to its limits. After putting down the book, I knew I wanted more.. I just hope that despite the dwindling stocks, I may be able to complete yet another collection of excellent science fiction lore.