Hellogoodbye Live In Manila on September 18 :)

This is definitely my year when it comes to Music. Almost ALL (from Dashboard Confessional last May 28 to John Mayer on October 01) foreign acts that I love is visiting the country. If only tickets weren’t that expensive, I’d definitely be present in each and every one of them. Another one of my favorite acts will be coming here and do a show: Hellogoodbye.

My favorite song from the band is Oh, It Is Love. But their more popular hit is Here in Your Arms. Their sound is similar to that of Owl City, but with excellent lyrics. Still have to find out how much the tickets for the show is. But by the looks of it, the show will be open to the public since it’s at Trinoma’s activity center.

Holiday!

No work today. :D It's National Heroes Day. I do not know if they've had testosterone cream back then, but most of our countries' heroes doesn't even need super powers. Their courage and strength is all it takes to make a difference. The last time I have had a long conversation about our national heroes with someone was during our AP class back in high school. We were contesting as to whether Jose Rizal had a son or not. Lame, yes, but that’s also what you call boredom.

Up Dharma Down September Schedule

I think I’ll be a regular Hexagon attendee if they’ll be having a gig there every month. Heee. I made this poster for Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter. The background photo is by Jon San Pedro.

Almost September

Best Online Schools and its convenience and flaws in 1K words or less. I started my research on this topic last night. The assignment came in yesterday afternoon and I only have 16 hours to write about it, as precise to the request of the client as I can.
September is seven days away. September means Christmas. My mother annually prepares a Christmas list as early as September. She would already think of what gifts we will be giving to all my aunts and uncles, our cousins, her friends, my Papa’s friends, the goodie bags for the kids  -- she will be all chipper and very particular when it comes to the Christmas list.
This year, I’ll be doing the Christmas list and everything my mother does at this time of the year. I hope I’d be able to top what my mom does.

Up Dharma Down in Black + White

Here's an awesome rehearsal video of Up Dharma Down's latest single, Tadhana (Destiny). This was before the Terno Inferno at Saguijo gig last Friday.

The song’s lyrics is beautifully written. Someone who can come up with those beautiful words and sew them into a very melodic sound such as this song is a gift from the heavens. I cannot stop listening to this song. And it had been what? a month since they released their single.

Game Time

Caught my cousin playing online blackjack earlier today. I never saw him as a gambler, so finding him playing online blackjack was a surprise. Her mom, my Aunt Lisa, told me she did everything she could to warn him about the pros and cons of playing online blackjack. Well, more of the cons that the pros since playing really take most of his free time. Instead of spending it sleeping, reading a book or talking to his mother or his friends, he’s rather stay in the computer all day and wait for his turn to play.

Wedding Gift Ideas

RedEnvelope is the perfect online store for people like me who needs a nice wedding gift and have no time in their hands to shop around the mall. The store has a wide selection of gifts that’s perfect for any wedding themes. A user-friendly online store with affordable items; what more can I ask for. Browsed through their catalogs and found these items: (mouse-over the image for their prices)

I need to go out more.

Like seriously, go out there beyond the boundaries of Rizal and Makati. My current job doesn’t give me that opportunity (yet) and my weekend biking spree with Macky (will post about it in the coming days) only allows us to go around town and the nearest place our two-wheels could take us. I sometimes wish I have my own car so I could just drive away to Baguio or Dumaguete on a whim.

I am getting tired of writing about the things that I see or read on the internet. Yes, it’s fun to learn and read the accounts of people about a certain place or food or experience, but it doesn’t beat experiencing these things first-hand.

With high hopes I’d have a chance, here are some of the places I would want to visit in the Philippines, maybe before I turn 50, haha:

• Batanes
• Palawan
• Dumaguete
• Davao
• Bohol
• Baguio
• Pagudpud
• Sagada

The stories of the people who had been on these places are interesting enough for me to sometimes think of robbing a bank to have enough caching to fund these would-be local trips. :P

Save Me A Slot

The man had enough. Sixteen hours of frustration. Six hours crossing his fingers. A mere one-hour of luck. He never thought playing slot games would be this whirlwind. It was a Sunday and going to the game house wasn’t part of his plan. That morning, his daughter invited him for a hike-slash-lunch date. He cluelessly declined and said that he was ought to be somewhere that day. 

Maybe it was the online review of slot games he read in CasinoGamblingIndex.com, or maybe the enthusiasm that he heard from the two men talking next to him at a bus station that made him want to go to the game house. His wife quipped that establishments are closed on Sundays. The details of the online review gave him an idea on what’s in store for him that Sunday.

And so he went. Not knowing that in the next sixteen hours, he will be frustrated.

Mid-Year Movie: Scott Pilgrim VS The World

As you may have noticed, I have been doing a run-down of the movies I want to check out in the remaining months of 2010. I started my mid-year-movie themed entries with Step Up 3D. It’s currently screening the movie at almost all cinemas around the Metro – in both 2D and 3D version. Now, let me share with you another movie I am looking forward to seeing this year: Scott Pilgrim VS. The World.

I am not really a fan of comic books. And now you ask why the heck this film made my list. Two things: Michael Cera and all that KAPOW! Firstshowing.Net introduced me to this movie when they featured a teaser trailer for the film late last year. There is definitely no need for corsets and other fancy-smancy pick up lines for me to like Scott Pilgrim. In the movie Scott, played by Michael Cera, is in love with Ramona. Little did he knew that being smitten with this girl and her crazy hairstyle would end up Pilgrim fighting with Ramona’s 7 evil exes. The trailer have this mix of classic Batman action scene effects (the  KAPOWS! KABLAM! SWOOSH!) and the 80s video game (the villains turn into coins when defeated, giving Pilgrim ‘1 Up’ each time). Check out the trailer to see what I mean:

I have to wait until November before I could watch the whole thing. But I never get tired watching the trailer, though. And by the sequences shown in the trailer, I am sure this movie is really worth the wait.

Baby Princess

Started Sunday having breakfast at our mini-garden. It was a bit humid so Mama and Papa decided to have our breakfast under our mango tree. We spent most of our morning at the garden. I was busy reading something about promotional products when I heard someone at the gate. It was Tita Marissa with baby Princess :) I’ve written a couple of entries about my cutie-patootie cousin-slash-inaanak here on my blog. Princess is a very happy baby. The last time I saw her was months ago. She barely knew how to roll over before. But now, Tita Marissa said she can't leave Princess alone in the crib or on their bed because she might fall. She likes rolling over and testing how far she can go lifting herself using her strong legs and arms. Give it a few months, I bet she can sit on her own. Here are few pictures I took of Princess. Kakagigiiiil!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Maligayang kaarawan sa pinaka-maasikasong tatay sa buoung mundo! We love you! :)

Online Slots

I have writing about a lot of online directories one can find on the world wide web for a couple of days now. I have been receiving e-mails requesting if I can writing something about slot games. Now, I didn’t know you can play these kinds of games with just a few clicks. I’ve discussed poker and blackjack and it seems that these types of online games have been popular these past weeks. With regard to slot games, the web directories have been pretty much presented like how the poker and blackjack game sites have been presented; accessible and user-friendly.

Mid-Year Movie: Step Up 3D

Let me share a little secret: not a lot of people knew this, but I love to dance. I don't know if the way I move with dance music is dancing, but I am a huge fan of movements especially Street dancing. I love its energy and spontaneity of street dancing. Been wanting to take up formal lessons for years now but still haven’t met the right people and gathered the right resources to fulfill this dream of mine. I’ve been a fan of movies with street dancing on it’s story line and the Step Up franchise have been my most favorite.

The first film, Step Up, starred the now-married couple Channing Tatum and Jena Dewan. Tatum really caught me by surprise in this film. He doesn’t look like your typical street dancer. More like an action star. But his liquid moves were really strong, paired by Dewan’s classy style, the first film of the franchise sure was a hit.

The second one, Step Up 2: The Streets, didn’t really make that much noise. Newcomer Briana Evigan was definitely not just a pretty face as she kicks Robert Hoffman’s butt when it comes to a mean well-choreographed routines.

This year, the franchise will be premiering a new film, now in 3D. Saw the trailer when I watched Inception and by the looks of the phenomenal moves of it’s main stars, Rick Malambri and Sharni Vinson, I’m excited on what this latest street dance flick has to offer.

 

Step Up 3D will open in cinemas in the Philippines on August 11.

Blackjack Movies

Are there any movies with this theme? Ridiculous inquiry, but these are the things that some clients wants to have for research and write-ups. I have done a couple of them. One was about poker. That one was tough to do. You’d only see scenes  like these if you’re watching a James Bond movie. I was reading about online blackjack a while ago since part of the assignment is to review that version of the game. Blackjack is known to be the most popular casino game in the world. The excitement and simplicity of the game is one of the main reasons it was popular amongst enthusiasts. Peak hours and the game of blackjack have a been a seeming perfect pair in rooms dedicated for these kinds of games. It’s an indication of the popularity of the game, and some fanatics would want to enjoy the game in the comfort of their own homes. Playing online is the latest innovation of this game .One can play where ever there’s internet connection without the crowd noise, cigar smoke and other bad things inside blackjack game houses. Of course, one should know the rules of this game before heading to battle. Aside from blackjack, the web site I spent most of my time researching about my assignment also offers other online games. The web site is like a portal of similar games that fanatics can enjoy. All one has to do is to be somewhere with a PC and an internet access (which isn’t hard to find these days), a decent knowledge on how to play the game, and a little luck and you’re good to go :)

Rebound is uso.

Was watching the news earlier this evening when a segment about Robin Padilla confessing his love for Mariel Rodriguez came out. In the previous weeks, I believe the news about the latter was about her recently breaking up with her boyfriend of more than two years(?). Not sure about the figures, but I was just contemplating on how eager she was to jump into a new relationship when she just ended a long one with his former beau.

A friend of mine had also been sharing a similar scenario. No, not the part where a Robin Padilla-type of guy confessing his love for her; but the part of jumping to another relationship after being just days or weeks or even a few months of breaking away from a long-time relationship. It was very hard for my friend since she’s been juggling a lot of things in her head right now, and a serious thing as your boyfriend falling for another girl so quick is the last thing she wanted. It was late night and I convinced her to spill it out or she might explode. I came up with a really, really bad advice but I said that if her douche of a boyfriend can find a new one, then she should too. A classmate back in high school once said to me that a cure to a broken heart is to fill the fresh cracks immediately with the first person you came across. I was reminded of that, and was silly of me to give that lame advice.

Been noticing a lot of similar things around me since. Everyone’s seems to be rushing to have a new boyfriend/girlfriend after breaking up with their relationships. I’ve never been into a relationship so I am not really in the authority to give advise or even have an opinion about it. But this is my blog so I guess it’s ok to share my thoughts on the things I’ve learned from observing and listening to stories of friends about relationships.

Rebound relationships is always unfair. Especially to the new person who’ll be catching you from your delirious fall that was caused by your former boyfriend/girlfriend. Then I realized, maybe some of us are just in a relationship for the sake of having one. Or we are jumping into one relationship to another just to fill the gap, and the minute the person we’re really eyeing gets available, we’ll go straight to it without even contemplating what was shared with the former flame. Don’t get me wrong, but saying one loved their ex-es or whatever it was you call them, and then diving into another relationship so quickly to forget about them is a bit hazy. I’d have a different opinion about it if it had been months, but days or a few weeks? Enlighten me, please.

Then I thought ego might be in the center of all this rebound thing. But still, who am I to have these opinions?

Up Dharma Down August Gig Schedule

I made this poster for the Up Dharma Down's Tumblr page I am managing:

 

I got the photo from Flickr. The owner of the page didn’t have any details on how I can send him a message for permission. I credited him, though. I hope that would be enough. Pinoy Tumblr reblogged  this entry and I get really giggly whenever I see this poster on the radar feed. Been reblogging and receiving a lot of messages and contributions from the people who attended the Kenny Rogers gig last Friday. Hopefully, someone would upload a video of their very first live performance of Tadhana. :D

Gambling With Lonely Hearts

I thought it was a clever name. Lonely hearts. You’d never have guessed that it’s a name for an online casino. I wouldn’t have guessed it either. I thought it was a movie title. Something with a story that’s so typical, you would actually know how it will end. Where Rachel McAdams would perfectly deliver a random line that will make one really squeamish. Or James McAvoy would cry his heart out and still wouldn’t get the girl. Yes, I am making that up. McAdams of McAvoy wouldn’t be caught dead doing those kinds of films. But one can get creative, hehe.

A fortune teller kiosk was another thing that came to mind when I read the header of the slot games website. Fortune tellers and people with lonely hearts seemed to be a good mix, haha. If you will ever ask me if I’d go to a fortune teller and if I would ask something related to love, I would say no. But then I wouldn’t know if I’d still have the same answer in the future. I have seen a lot of proofs that some of them are shams, but there are few who believes in the things they say. One shared, while I randomly clicked a video link on YouTube on fortune tellers, that she found her husband by following the tips a fortune teller gave her. Everything from what color of dress she must wear, to the place she must be in and even the food they have to eat on the date with her mystery man. Must’ve really worked since they’ve been together for almost six years now.

But Lonely Hearts is a name for an online casino. A corner in the world wide web where one can find different games that they can enjoy in the comfort of their own room.All one has to do is to open their computer, type lonelyheartscasino.com, click enter and navigate the user-friendly website. The website offers a lot of different games like poker, black jack and a lot more. The games are grouped by categories so players can locate the games they want to play. This is very convenient to others who do not have that much time and opportunity to go out and visit these game houses.  There are different poker rooms and various game room people could avail and play their games like in a regular, Vegas-type casino.

Up Dharma Down’s Tadhana

Up Dharma Down released their new song /new single today. The song’s entitled Tadhana (Destiny). It’s the theme song for GMA 7’s new show, Ilumina. This band will never, ever, ever fail to impress me. Their new song sounds ethereal. Been playing the song on loop the whole day, and still can’t get enough of it.

Up Dharma Down - Tadhana

Words, Keyboards by Armi Millare
Bass by Paul Yap
Guitars by Carlos Tañada
Beats, Keychain samples, Synth by Ean Mayor

Sa hindi inaaasahang pagtatagpo ng mga mundo
May minsan lang na nag-dugtong, damang-dama na ang ugong nito
Di pa ba sapat ang sakit at lahat na hinding-hindi ko ipararanas saýo
Ibinubunyag ka ng iyong matang sumisigaw ng pag-sinta

Ba’t ‘di pa patulan ang pag-suyong nag-kulang
Tayong umaasang hilaga’t kanluran
Ikaw ang hantungan at bilang kanlungan mo
Ako ang sasagip saýo

Saan nga ba patungo, nakayapak at nahihiwagaan
Ang bagyo ng tadhana ay dinadala ako sa init ng bisig mo
Ba’t di pa sabihin ang hindi mo maamin
Ipauubaya na lang ba ‘to sa hangin
‘Wag mong ikatakot ang bulong ng damdamin mo
Naririto ako’t nakikinig saýo

For more on Up Dharma Down, you may visit their Official Site. They’re also on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

*image by Everywhere We Shoot

Heart

I should use the stairs more. New month, new habit. I overheard an agent who's offering a cheap insurance while on my way to work. He was laying down some interesting facts while his client intently listens. Most of the things he mentioned are the things one wouldn’t want to hear like how a huge percentage of the people who died every year  are caused by the traitor disease of the heart. A fact that also had me thinking about my fitness habits (or lack thereof). So taking the stairs every morning from the ground floor to the 6th floor would be a great start to not end and be a part of the population that suffer from heart attack.