30 December 2009

Epic Fail 2009 - Philippine Edition

Presidential son, Mikey Arroyo, media suicide...

28 December 2009

Epic fails of 2009

Kanye West at the VMA's


Serena Williams at the 2009 US Open

What she said:
“I swear to God I’m f*****g going to take this f*****g ball and shove it down your f*****g throat, you hear that? I swear to God.”
and also, "I will kill you", which she denied.

Read more here.

Bolivian News mistaking pictures/scenes from TV show 'LOST' as pictures taken by a passenger during Air France plane crash.


More from failblog!

23 December 2009

Pinoy Love ❤

These are a few hits of 2009 among Filipinos:
1. The invasion of FroYo!
Froyo, as in frozen yogurt, have been big in the Philippines since 2008 but 2009 saw different stores and more branches opening in malls and other areas in the metro. I've tried Lulu Belle's, California Berry and White Hat and the latter is my favorite of the three.


2. Just BBM me.
Would BlackBerry be the next Nokia? With BB releasing smartphones with a few versions of each model, it is becoming more and more affordable. I think the ability to update Facebook and Twitter status using the mobile is what we love about it. It also has its own instant messenger, the BlackBerry Messenger or BBM. It's more fun than texting and works just like YM or AIM, all you need to do is add the PIN of someone's BB to your contact and you're ready to chat with friends wherever in the globe they may be... fine! not in Samoa or Siberia. It is so popular now that both the biggest local mobile companies, Smart and Globe, have come up with a contract/plan exclusive to BB, called whatelse? the BlackBerry Plan!



3. Twitter much?
Filipinos love social networking, it all started with Friendster(R.I.P), MySpace, Facebook, there's also Plurk, Tumblr and many more... and now Twitter which will let you communicate with your friends or tell the whole world what you are doing in 140 characters or less. Most celebrities (Hollywood or local) have twitter accounts and they are very consistent in updating their status that you'll know whether they are stuck in traffic, reading a book, watching a movie, in the backstage of a concert venue, on a location shoot, fighting with someone, siding with someone or whatever they are doing in that very moment. It's like E! News or The Buzz in real time.
The most followed is Ashton Kutcher, with more that 4 million followers, you'd think that he founded Twitter.
Locally, the following are the most followed on time of writing... as far as I know.
Politician - Mar Roxas - >25,000 followers
Celebrity - Anne Curtis - >82,000 followers
DJ - Mo Twister - >28,000
News - GMA 7 News - >13,000
Musician - Lea Salonga - >31,000
Charity - Philippine Red Cross - >6,000
Filipinos all over the world love to tweet, Cory Aquino became a trending topic when she passed on and also Typhoon Ondoy and Philippine Red Cross during the week after the typhoon hit the metro. Something becomes a trending topic when most number of tweeters mention the topic on their tweets or updates.

4. Hoy! Pinoy ako!
Filipinos love to show their love for their country, and how do we do it? by wearing our patriotism. Statement shirts that says "Filipinos are worth dying for"; "Iniibig ko ag Pilipinas"; shirts with the Philippine flag among others have become famous, but the most famous of them all is the embroidered Philippine map in a collared shirt. The brain behind this is Rhett Eala for Collezione, which is the brand that originally released it. Now, a lot of other apparel brands have their own versions.
Rhett Eala

The shirt is usually visible on TV as politicians and newscasters love wearing them.

More:
Havaianas, Crocs, and now Sanuk
Plaid pants and shorts
Gossip Girl
Glee
Robert Pattinson
Nobody, nobody butchoo
Lady Gaga
Rock Band
Manny Pacquiao
China phones
Siomai and calamares are now street foods



22 December 2009

Best Gadgets of 2009...

For the next couple of blogs, I will be talking about more good stuff from 2009 from other websites' lists and of course my own... this is my blog after all. There's a lot more that I did not include for the simple fact that the prizes are unreasonable and I'd say, at my status, is ridiculous...

From Gizmodo:
Windows 7 - this is in my Christmas wish list... I can't say much about it but it has had very good reviews from testers, users, techies, non-techies... I'd say that 8 out of 10 people say they like it better than Vista.

From SimoncPage:

Nokia 5800 - I've used one of these, my brother sold his unit to me, I used it for about a month and sold and replaced it with an LG Viewty. There's nothing wrong with it but there is also nothing special about it. You can find all the specifications every mid or high end Nokia phones have. It is a good looking touch screen phone and music player.

From The Independent:
Samsung P4600 - a small blu-ray disc player that can be wall mounted.

From Time.com:
The Nook - this is number 2 in their list, an E-book reader from Barnes and Noble, but since this is not available in Asia yet( maybe it is in Japan), I'd still go for Amazon's Kindle. Both canstore hundreds of books, magazines and even newspapers.

From Pocket-lint:
Dyson's Air Multiplier - It blows air without the blades. I've never seen one up close but thought it is worth mentioning since it is included in most Top 10 of the websites mentioned above.

More:
Samsung DualView TL225 / ST550


iPhone 3GS




21 December 2009

100 Best Songs of the Decade


Coldplay's Viva La Vida - one of the best songs of the decade

The list was released by Rolling Stones 09 December 2009, it got so many contradicting reviews and comments. As for me, the ones in green are my favorites; yellow are the ones i have not heard; and red are the ones i don't think should have made the list... then again, to each his own. To see how they came up with the best 100, listen to each song, and read the comments, click here.

Songs of the Decade

1 | Gnarls Barkley — "Crazy"

2 | Jay-Z — "99 Problems"

3 | Beyoncé — "Crazy in Love"

4 | Outkast — "Hey Ya!"

5 | M.I.A. — "Paper Planes"

6 | The White Stripes — "Seven Nation Army"

7 | Yeah Yeah Yeahs — "Maps"

8 | Amy Winehouse — "Rehab"

9 | U2 — "Beautiful Day"

10 | Eminem — "Stan"

11 | MGMT — "Time to Pretend"

12 | Eminem — "Lose Yourself"

13 | 50 Cent — "In Da Club"

14 | Missy Elliott — "Get Ur Freak On"

15 | Johnny Cash — "Hurt"

16 | The Strokes — "Last Nite"

17 | Bob Dylan — "Mississippi"

18 | Kelly Clarkson — "Since U Been Gone"

19 | Kanye West — "Jesus Walks"

20 | Justin Timberlake — "Cry Me a River"

21 | OutKast — "B.O.B."

22 | Amerie — "1 Thing"

23 | Rihanna — "Umbrella"

24 | Radiohead — "Everything in Its Right Place"

25 | Missy Elliott — "Work It"

26 | Coldplay — "Clocks"

27 | The Postal Service — "Such Great Heights"

28 | Randy Newman — "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country"

29 | Kanye West — "Gold Digger"

30 | R. Kelly — "Ignition (Remix)"

31 | The Flaming Lips — "Do You Realize?"

32 | Franz Ferdinand — "Take Me Out"

33 | Daft Punk — "One More Time"

34 | Coldplay — "Yellow"

35 | Bruce Springsteen — "The Rising"

36 | U2 — "Moment of Surrender"

37 | LCD Soundsystem — "Losing My Edge"

38 | Gorillaz — "Clint Eastwood"

39 | Modest Mouse — "Float On"

40 | Kelis — "Milkshake"

41 | LCD Soundsystem — "All My Friends"

42 | Arcade Fire — "Wake Up"

43 | The Roots — "The Seed (2.0)"

44 | Britney Spears — "Toxic"

45 | Kylie Minogue — "Can't Get You Out of My Head"

46 | MGMT — "Kids"

47 | Green Day — "American Idiot"

48 | The Killers — "Mr. Brightside"

49 | The Walkmen — "The Rat"

50 | Beyoncé — "Single Ladies"

51 | D'Angelo — "Untitled (How Does It Feel)"

52 | Christina Aguilera — "Beautiful"

53 | The Rapture — "House of Jealous Lovers"

54 | Coldplay — "The Scientist"

55 | OutKast — "Ms. Jackson"

56 | Radiohead — "Idioteque"

57 | The Shins — "New Slang"

58 | The White Stripes — "Fell In Love With a Girl"

59 | The Strokes — "Hard to Explain"

60 | Beyoncé — "Irreplaceable"

61 | Jet — "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"

62 | Alicia Keys — "Fallin'"

63 | Lil Wayne — "A Milli"

64 | U2 — "Vertigo"

65 | Green Day — "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

66 | Madonna — "Music"

67 | Wilco — "Jesus, Etc."

68 | Coldplay — "Viva La Vida"

69 | Santigold — "L.E.S. Artistes"

70 | Arctic Monkeys — "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor"

71 | Justice — "D.A.N.C.E."

72 | Kings of Leon — "Use Somebody"

73 | Queens of the Stone Age — "No One Knows"

74 | TV on the Radio — "Wolf Like Me"

75 | Arcade Fire — "Rebellion (Lies)"

76 | Madonna — "Hung Up"

77 | Dixie Chicks — "Not Ready to Make Nice"

78 | LCD Soundsystem — "Daft Punk is Playing at My House"

79 | Robert Plant and Alison Krauss — "Gone Gone Gone"

80 | Phoenix — "1901"

81 | Pink — "Get The Party Started"

82 | Jay-Z — "Dirt Off Your Shoulder"

83 | The Gossip — "Standing in the Way of Control"

84 | The Clipse — "Grindin'"

85 | The Dirty Projectors — "Stillness Is the Move"

86 | Aaliyah — "Try Again"

87 | The Knife — "Heartbeats"

88 | Jay-Z — "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)"

89 | Bright Eyes — "Lua"

90 | Midlake — "Roscoe"

91 | Bruce Springsteen — "My City of Ruins"

92 | Brad Paisley — "Alcohol"

93 | Snoop Dogg — "Drop It Like It's Hot"

94 | Radiohead — "Pyramid Song"

95 | Mary J. Blige — "Family Affair"

96 | Lady Gaga — "Poker Face"

97 | Fleet Foxes — "White Winter Hymnal"

98 | Amy Winehouse — "Back to Black"

99 | Gorillaz — "Feel Good Inc."

100 | Damian Marley — "Welcome to Jamrock

19 December 2009

Holiday Mixes..

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha and Dark Cherry Mocha

M&M's Mint chocolate


May I just say that these add to the long list of reasons why I love Christmas...!!!!

18 December 2009

A Christmas Wish...





Everyone is praying, wishing and hoping that Mayon Volcano will not go off to destruct a province. As of Dec 17, almost 20,000 people have been evacuated and it has been assured that these people will be spending Christmas and New Year's in the evacuation centers. If the volcano erupts within the next few days as predicted, the province and even the neighboring areas might experience a White Christmas , which the residents will not be excited about as it will be white because of ash falls.



Facts about the volcano:

NAME OF VOLCANO: MAYON

LOCATION: Albay, 300 km southeast of Manila

PHYSICAL FEATURES

Elevation: 2.46 km

Base Diameter: 20 km

Base Circumference: 62.8 km (reckoned from 10-km radius) encompassing the towns of Camalig, Malilipot and Sto. Domingo

Area: 314.1 km2 (estimated from 62.8 km base circumference)

Type of Volcano: Stratovolcano


Most Notable Eruptions:

1766 July 20 – 24 (Oct.20 - 25)

Pyroclastic and lava flows

towards east (July 20-27);

CASUALTIES: 39)

1814 Feb. 01

CASUALTIES: 1200; MOST

DESTRUCTIVE ERUPTION

1853 July 7

CASUALTIES: 34

1871 Dec. 8 – 1872 Jan

Ashfall on the SW

CASUALTIES: 3

1897 June 4 – July 23

CASUALTIES: 350
Next to 1814 eruption

in destructiveness;

violent phase lasted

17 hours



For detailed info, visit Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

16 December 2009

Manny Villar - King of Self Promotion Part 2



dahil marami syang pera... siya lang sa lahat ng kandidato ang hanggang ngayon ay may TVC na ipinapalabas halos every commercial gap ng mga programa sa Dos, ewan ko lang kung pati sa ibang channel. Sabi sa lyrics:
Si Villar ang tunay na mahirap-- correction, hindi na ngayon! bilyonaryo na sya!
Si Villar ang tunay na may malasakit - sana nga tutal lagi nyang sinasabi na galing sya sa hirap.
Naisip ko lang, yung ibang mga bata kaya dito, talagang mga street children, at kung streetchildren nga sila, sana wala na nga sila sa kalye ngayon at natulungan na ni Villar. tulad ng sinasabi sa kanta nila!
Last line sa lyrics:
Si Manny Villar, ang magtatapos ng ating kahirapan. Isang NAPAKALAKING PANGAKO! pero kung manalo sya, SANA NGA matapos nya ang ating kahirapan(napapakanta ako- syet!)

Globe Broadband

I just have to give this space to Globe Broadband.. For the past week I've been having trouble with my modem... no connection at all! and after calling globe technical support team everyday for the past 6 days, they finally came to my house and replaced my old modem with a new one. So thank you Globe! Cheers to a good customer service and thank you for putting up with my frustrations. I gotta say the response for technical assistance was a lot quicker compared to what I've experienced with AOL and Orange home broadband(from another country).
my new cool looking broadband modem from Globe

13 December 2009

The Best Holiday Films

What else is there to do when you have 5 succeeding days off but watch movies. I love holiday films coz even if the stories aren't so great or special, it's okay because these movies are sure to make you feel good. Here are a few of the best Christmas films, in my opinion...

1. Home Alone - I think this is the best for so many reasons... when my nephews and niece are a bit older and they appreciate movies other than those produced by a certain Walt Disney, I'd want them to experience the best movies of the 90's such as this:


2. It's A Wonderful Life - working in a nursing home for 4 years and having film showing with the residents once a week made me appreciate old movies. This is one of those movies that keeps getting better each time you watch it.


3. Love Actually - funny, heart-warming, real... one of the few British films that I love.


4. Die Hard - I know, it's not exactly a Christmas movie but... one man winning over terrorists on Christmas eve? you gotta love it!


5. The Grinch - favorite actor: Jim Carrey, favorite time of the year: Christmas. put them together... you get this movie!


6. A Christmas Carol - classic read turned into a powerful movie. Reviews say that the 1938 version is the best adaptation but I have not seen that one, neither the 2009 version starring Jim Carrey... still this one is a must see.


7. The Polar Express - story-good; graphics-good; actor-good... what more can you ask for?


8. Elf - funny, funny, funny...


9. White Christmas - if there is a Father Christmas, there's also a Mr. Christmas... and that's Bing Crosby.
Happy watching and Happy Holidays!!!


02 December 2009

99 Presidentiables...

A record 99 presidential aspirants filed their certificate of candidacy for the 2010 elections. Somehow I can't help myself thinking that some of these people are crazy and that they think Philippine politics is a playground. According to COMELEC, approximately 25 of the 99 are qualified.
I already know who my president will be but because of recent changes in the vice presidential race, I am now torn between 2 candidates.
Learn more about them:
I think these are the only names worth mentioning because people's votes will obviously be divided amongst these candidates.

28 November 2009

The King of Self Promotion...



He even had orange plastic bags, with his name on it, when they distributed relief goods to the typhoon Ondoy survivors. Campaign period for Villar started years ago.

27 November 2009

Power hunger...

We've been hearing, with no confirmation, that GMA might run for lower office in 2010, this is a sick sick idea! Not because she already holds the highest seat in the politics, but because of the things she has done or hasn't done to make this nation better. Why there isn't a law that can stop this from happening, I don't understand! I hope people realize that more than anything else, this is just an act to stay in power.
This doesn't have to do with anything, but just because I love photography... let me share the best GMA pictures on the web.



26 November 2009

Music, music and me...

Anti-file sharing campaigns have become massive, at least in countries like US and the UK. Understandable... since these are where artists who would greatly be affected come from, they release albums or singles worldwide. In third world countries like the Philippines, you can still easily get away with downloading music without any fear that you might receive a letter that tells you to either pay a fine or spend time in jail. Buying CDs or even paying for downloads is just not practical at these times when economic downfall is in its deepest place. I, myself have stopped buying CDs, the last CD that I bought was Usher's flop album "Here I Stand", in 2008. I probably paid for t0 download music twice, meaning all the almost 2000 music in my hard drive is ofcourse downloaded from files shared by other people. Woot to Bitlord! I still go to music stores though, and at times I get tempted to buy new releases but thankfully I have the ability to get out of the store before I actually pull out cash from my pocket. If in anyway, I'd buy new albums again, this would be my list:








Sidenote:
Doesn't this look like a Roxette or Cindy Lauper album from the 80's?

22 November 2009

Today I sold my Canon EOS1000d to upgrade to EOS500d. My 1000d took over 6,300 photos since December 2008, most of it are pictures of my niece and nephews.
This is one of the first few photos I took when my camera was barely a month old, It's not the best, but my first decent night shot. HongKong skyline taken from The Peak in January, 2009.

Here are some of my new favorite photos from flickr:
This is a photo taken by Mohan Gumatay, also known in the Philippines as DJ Mo Twister. I love black and white photography and when the subject involves people, B&W, for me, adds a nice dramatic effect in a picture.

If there is one thing I'd like to learn or maybe even master, it is to take nice photos of fireworks. I saw this in flickr, from Guy Flâneur's photostream.


One of his photos actually got included in a UK travel guide website. I happen to know Froi and his flickr site is really worth visiting.


I hope that I will soon have the time to attend some photography lessons and if that happens, I will definitely enroll in some, if not all of Sir Nicolay's classes.


This is my cousin feeling like a real pro. (Zambales)


by Ryan and Randall Dagooc. You can find the best wedding photographs here.

...and more favorites... all from flickr.(No copyright infringement intended)