HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Let Alizee join me in wishing you a very Happy New 2006!

From the Philippines, a Happy Happy New Year to each and everyone!

Ummm... I'm not offending any religion by greeting everyone for the new year, am I?

Is it illegal to offer better paying jobs to PAL pilots?

"TWO Indian nationals reportedly trying to "pirate" pilots of the Philippine Airlines to India Jet Airways were questioned by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Thursday....
..."It could have led to an exodus of PAL pilots to India," said Lachica referring to the efforts of the two to convince PAL pilots to join their company with the promise of better pay and other benefits."

I think there's a new law in the Philippines banning pilots from pursuing a better paying job and other benefits when working in PAL.

GMA's speech on Rizal Day 2002

"In view of all these factors, I have decided not to run for president during the elections of 2004. If I were to run, it would require a major political effort on my part. But since I am among the principal figures in the divisive national events of the last two or three years, my political efforts can only result in never ending divisiveness. On the other hand, relieved of the burden of politics, I can devote the last year and a half of my administration to the following: First, strengthening the economy, to create more jobs, and to encourage business activity that is unhampered by corruption and red tape in government. Second, healing the deep divisions within our society. Third, working for clean and honest elections in 2004."
GMA
Baguio City
December 30, 2002

Today isn't just Rizal Day. It also should be called The Day of Broken Promises, Politician's Day, GMA's Day, or something like that.

Wow. Reading that speech of hers and seeing that she still ran for office, We should be deeply grateful that the Philippines has a president who is steadfast, clear, and resolute in all she says; A woman of few words.

I hope she doesn't utter any more.

Words, I mean.

'X-Men 3' has another villain in Melancon - A Filipina actress to boot!

" LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The evil mutant assassin Psylocke has joined the lineup of "X-Men 3," the latest installment of the Marvel superhero franchise.

The character will be played by Filipina actress Mei Melancon, who previously worked with "X-Men 3" director Brett Ratner in "Rush Hour 2."..."

Wow. Psylocke.

As usual, we'll be hearing praises about this filipina actress from people who has never heard of her before. Maybe even the President will give her an award or something because of this.

You think if a filipina becomes a well known porn actress, she'll get the same attention?

Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight

"Spectators cheered as entire Cambodian Midget Fighting League squared off against African Lion...

...The fight was called in only 12 minutes, after which 28 fighters were declared dead, while the other 14 suffered severe injuries including broken bones and lost limbs, rendering them unable to fight back...."

Oh and do check out the top part of the site for a better understanding about this encounter.

Our Favorite Fonts of 2005 and other 2005 lists

"...The interest in type design is stronger than ever — and the audience is broader too. As public awareness of typography increases, it becomes even more important to use something other than the same old stuff that lingers in your font menu...."

Well, here's a different best of list for this year. I mean, we've had our fill of best this and best that. Well, here's the best fonts of 2005!

Oh and if you still want to see those other lists for 2005, here's a sampler:

The Top 10 Craziest Science Stuff you didn't know - Learn how to hypnotize chickens!

The New York Post Remembers 2005 - You need to register to see the whole list, bummer.

Top 50 Music Videos Of 2005 - This one is from Copenhagen, I think. But it's got links to view all the videos. That's what makes it cool!

2005 Pictures of the Year - It's even got one about the Philippines!

Ten predictions for the new year - Funny if you get it..

And here's Wired News best lists:

Biggest Discoveries of 2005

Best Tech Moments of 2005

Worst Tech Moments of 2005

2005's 10 Sexiest Geeks

THE 100 MOST ANNOYING THINGS OF 2005

"2005 is over and not a moment too soon. We've been doing this since 2000 and I can't think of a year where the bad outweighed the good to this extent in quite a while. And of course, that's great news for putting together a list of annoying things! Let's hope that 2006 will live up to this banner year of annoyingness...."
Here's a sampler

85 AMERICAN IDOL
Getting advice on being a star from Paula Abdul is like getting driving lessons from Lindsay Lohan.

53 STARBUCKS
Not only are there some places in America where there are twin Starbucks locations directly across the street from each other, but their tactics of opening up next to local established coffee shacks are making them the Wal-Mart of the hot beverage world. And damn if I can remember their Venti to English size conversion chart when ordering their drinks.

36 ADULT HARRY POTTER FANS
Harry Potter is a fine series to read…when you’re twelve years old! Actually I just put this here to see how much hate mail I’ll get from stupid people who just skim read the list. I actually enjoy reading the books and wish J.K. Rowling was my Sugar Mommy.

Find out more on the jump.

Oh and let me gather my thoughts, I'll do an annoying list about the Philippines. That's if I get my head out of this killer hangover that's been buzzing me for days.

Actor Vincent Schiavelli Dead at 57

"Vincent Schiavelli's face, the actor once said, was his calling card.

Schiavelli, whose long, gangly, almost sad features graced some 150 TV shows and movies, most memorably Ghost, died Monday of lung cancer in Italy, where he had been living. He was 57.

...his biggest success, 1990's Ghost. His turn as the angry spirit who haunts New York's subway cars, and eventually helps Patrick Swayze adjust to life on the other side...

...Post-Ghost credits included Batman Returns, Tomorrow Never Dies (as a Bond villain), and Death to Smoochy. ..."

Too bad. He was the kind of actor that you cannot not like. Well, I'll drink a cup of coffee for good old Mr. Vargas.

Shoe

I've been having days like this all year!

Fire!

"...Sketchy reports said the fire that started at about 1 a.m. in the Barangay Escopa of Project 4 may have been caused by two blind persons who threw kerosene lamps at each other in a fit of rage...."

Too bad two died (I wonder if they were these two blind persons, lousy reporting) in the fire. But I just can't help but laugh while picturing two blind guys throwing things at each other.

Let alone kerosene lamps.

Wizard of Id

Ummm... this just gets me the wrong way.

Prison love?

With the guard?

On Christmas?

And he said fruitcake, not pc, dude, not pc...

Barkeater Lake

This has got to be my fave Christmas strip this year.

A picture does say a thousand words.

Once again, Merry Christmas!

It's David Blaine Holy Father Christmas as pope dons traditional hat

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

MERRY KWANZAA!

A FESTIVIOUS FESTIVUS!

HAPPY HANUKKAH!

Oh and for Christians like me, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

And for everyone regardless of faith, A CHARMING CHRISKWAKKAAH!

Now, Our Holy Pope, Pope David Blaine Benedict XVI, wearing the traditional Santa hat gives me the creeps. First, the Pope wears Prada, now he's got that "I have to rule the whole world" look. He's a perfect cast for a James Bond movie, I tell you.

Or he can do street magic like that uber street magician, David Blaine. And talking about David Blaine, here's Gahsoon's post about the street magician magically taking his magic heart out. It's not street magic but rubber chest magic. David Blaine seems to be getting mediocre with his magic these days...

Oh wait. Why am I talking about David Blaine and his street magic? It's Christmas! The most magic day of all days! That's why.

Aniston Warns Over Topless Photos

"DECEMBER 5--Lawyers for Jennifer Aniston have warned publications that they will face an invasion of privacy lawsuit if they print topless photos of the actress taken recently while she was apparently sunbathing at her Los Angeles home...."

I wonder if these are the pictures Jennifer Aniston is talking about?

Enjoy Christmas with Famous Movie Villians

It's a real silent night with these guys around.

(Via Gahsoon)

New Hi-tech Armor?

What are those armored things in the back row?

I chanced upon this blog awhile ago. The whole blog is in chinese and I can't understand chinese. This seems to be the WTO Conference. But what are those armored thingies? Is this real or photoshopped?

This reminds me of that russian guy in Justice League. Red 7? Russian Red? I forgot his name. It's that guy in the armor. Anyway, that picture reminds me of him. And remember Aliens? The end part with that power lifter Ripley used? That one too.

I wonder why those guys in that armor has boosted powers or something.

Real Life Masked Super Hero Busted

"...With a wink from police, Captain Jackson patrolled the streets of the struggling downtown, rousted undesirables from dark corners, made sure merchants' doors were locked after hours, marched in local parades and collected awards from community groups.

Wearing thick gloves, he saluted passersby and, with a slight grin, posed for photos with visiting celebrities, Elvis impersonators, elected officials and even the city's new postmaster.

All the while, Captain Jackson remained anonymous under the protective cover of gray or black masks with pointed noses. Until the Dec. 14 edition of the Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper hit doorsteps with a headline that rivaled a DC Comics plot twist ...

"Crime fighter busted for drunken driving."..."

A real life masked crime fighter. You think now that his secret identity is revealed, he'd be in danger?

Oh and just like all superheroes, he has a website!

Scotland's favourite baby names

Scotland's Top Twenty Favourite Names for Babies, go check it out.

Here's the BBC News Article.

Bah! Humbug! Why do banks charge so much for ATM fees?

Would you rather walk 20 blocks in the rain than pay a $1.50 in ATM fees? Even if your answer is an emphatic "eh, not really," we think most bank customers would agree that indiscriminate surcharges are annoying. However, as much as it pains us to say this, they exist for a valid reason.

In the Philippines I think the fee is about P10.00. The bank I use even charges P100 for over the counter withdrawals for ATM accounts! Bah! Humbug!

Oh and by the way, ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine. So, if we call them ATM machines, that's Automated Teller Machines machines. Get it?

Google's Christmas Doodles

If you haven't noticed, there are a series of Google doodles for the holidays. Go Check it out. I wonder how this'll end.

Google Zeitgeist for 2005

"It turns out that looking at the aggregation of billions of search queries people type into Google reveals something about our curiosity, our thirst for news, and perhaps even our desires. Considering all that has occurred in 2005, we thought it would be interesting to study just a few of the significant events, and names that make this a memorable year. (We’ll leave it to the historians to determine which ones are lasting and which ephemeral.) We hope you enjoy this selective view of our collective year."

Bermuda Triangle mystery still haunts

"...It was a clear night with good flying weather. When they didn't land, radio traffic controllers started calling Plane No. 680. The crew didn't answer.

Nothing more was heard from Plane No. 680. Nothing was found. Not the men. Not their aircraft. Only a few scraps of debris that could have been tossed out of the cargo plane.

It's as if they were just swallowed up by the turquoise waters.

That was 40 years ago. It's been four decades of silence. And pain. For the families and friends and colleagues of the missing 440th crew, their questions will never be answered. And even though the Air Force Reserve wing in Milwaukee will soon close, Plane No. 680 hasn't been forgotten...."

I should Google Earth the Bermuda Triangle. It's funny that I have forgotten about the Triangle. When I was a kid, I used to lap up stories about the Bermuda Triangle.

Remember that series "In Search Of..." hosted by Leonard Nimoy?

Pinoy Big Brother Revenues

"ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. reportedly netted P100 million from its wildly successful 'Pinoy Big Brother' show, and received about one million text messages during the show's final day selection. The not-so-good news is, the Pinoy Big Brother pickings are not enough to offset expected continuing revenue declines."

Hmmm... revenue declines? Methinks there'll be trouble ahead for the kapamilya network.

Italy has army of exorcists

" (ANSA) - Rome, December 19 - Italy's leading exorcist said on Thursday there were up to 330 priests practicing the Vatican-approved procedures for casting out the Devil all over the country .

In the Catholic Church exorcists must be priests and they have to be given a sort of 'license' to perform the special rites by their local bishop ...."

It's pathetic that in this day and age, we laugh at Scientologists for their belief in alien life forms trapped in humans while we respect priests who can cast out the devil from possessed Italians.

Solon blames broadband technology for proliferation of porn

"A lawmaker who was also former chief of the National Telecommunications Commission blamed the advent of 'cheap, high-speed Internet access' for the proliferation of pornography and so-called 'cybersex' activities..."

I feel so 16th century with this kind of logic. It's like blaming the printing press for the proliferation of smut mags.

Well I blame government for the proliferation of corruption. Take that!

You can't pick your relatives but you sure can pick your nose

This may be one of my longest posts so bear with me. My nose is bleeding because of the sheer brainpower I had to muster to put this down in writing...

It's almost six am and the news that Philippine TV Network, ABS-CBN, isn't acknowledging the Philippine blogosphere for the success of it's TV show, Pinoy Big Brother show, is crawling thru all the other Philippine blogs like crazy.

To keep this short, this is how it went, or how I think it went;

1. Retzwerx starts a blog about Pinoy Big Brother.
2. Retzwerx becomes uber popular even outranking the official site.
3. ABS-CBN invites Retzwerx into the PBB house as a guest
4. ABS-CBN produces post show and interviews Retzwerx for a segment.
5. ABS-CBN tells Retzwerx when it will be shown. Retzwerx announces it in his blog.
6. ABS-CBN informs Retzwerx that it will move segment to another day. This happens twice.
7. On the third time, ABS-CBN cancels segment.

Now, the network didn't officially mention that it isn't acknowledging bloggers for it's contribution to the PBB success story. Let's be fair here. They just told Retz that, I think. But what gets my goat is that they made the poor guy wait. If they didn't plan on airing his part, why tell him twice that they moved his TV segment? What they could have done is tell him beforehand that the segment may or may not be aired and just watch the show to see if it got in. I know a bit about this since I was a segment producer for Studio 23 (an ABS-CBN sister channel) a few years back. One of the worst SPs during that time since I only held the job for a few weeks.

Here's a backstory for that. You know how they got me off? Well, someone told me that the show was reformatting or something and that there will be staff changes (that's my official story but for all intents and purposes, truthfully, I was just a real lousy segment producer) and that I will be taken off the show. So on my last day, I waited and waited for the announcement. I didn't hear any nor was I approached. What happened was that I WENT THE ONE IN CHARGE AND ASKED HIM IF I WAS OFF THE SHOW. He said yes. If I didn't come to him, then maybe I would still be part of it or that I would go in the next day and find out that I have been replaced. A real bigwig in the company also got the boot that way. Ask around.

BTW, don't come a running with comments to say that I like GMA because ABS-CBN booted me out for being a lousy SP. I got badges on other shows there that I'm proud of. I just don't want to brag about it.

This is not about the GMA - ABS-CBN rivalry, my television network preference, or, about the bloggers' impact and contribution to a show's success. This is about sincerity, humblenessity (ack!) and keeping one's promise, virtual, as it is.

So, does anyone need a slightly used writer and a crappy segment producer? Anyone? Anyone?

Gahsoon - Where does he get all those wonderful links?

Well, there's a new link on my fave blogs site. This one is Gahsoon.

Real cool links. I mean, movies, teasers, games... I can spend a whole day on just one of his game links alone.

Click the link. Go check him out.

Bill just nailed it!

And that's why I blog, Calvin. That's why I blog.

Batman and Superman Movie

It's THE WORLDS FINEST SUPERHEROES. Yup. Batman and Superman together in one movie. Oh wait, it's just the teaser... ack!

I meant the trailer...

Or is it the teaser trailer?

(Via Gahsoon)

Tom McMahon: Why God Never Received Tenure at a University

1. Because he had only one major publication.
2. And it was in Hebrew.
3. And it had no cited references.
4. And it wasn't published in a refereed journal or even submitted for peer review.

Read more when you click the link.

Keep kids away from 'King Kong'

"PAMPANGA Rep. Francis L. Nepomuceno has warned parents on the psychological effects of bringing their children to watch the movie 'King Kong,' which opened in theaters on December 14.

The Peter Jackson-directed movie, which stars Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody, is a remake of the classic 1933 love story between a 25-foot ape and a beautiful captive.

Nepomuceno, chairman of the House committee on civil service and professional regulation, said the movie was not suitable for minors because of its 'excessively violent' scenes..."

Wow. A Congressman that cares. Oh wait, A Philippine Congressman that cares about minors.

I'm not sure if King Kong is that violent. I mean, I didn't hear a peep out of him when that Mel Gibson flick, The Passion, came out.

Ack! I forgot, religious cult freaks can vote, minors can't.

PC and Pixel

I know it's too deep but this one just reminds me of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick.

This just sucks. That's why I prefer GMA!

I feel sorry for Retzwerx. I mean the dude was THE site to go to when it comes to updates on Pinoy Big Brother. From what I gather, ABS-CBN interviewed him for a post-something show about PBB. He proudly announced it on his site. Then, ABS-CBN moved it to another day, then another. Now, his whole segment is scrapped.

The dude got it right when he said, "(ABS-CBN mgt) feel like Retzwerx and the blogging community haven't [sic] made an impact on their shows...". Actually, when a show gets as big and as popular as PBB, it's sad to see how the people behind it feel that they can push the little people around.

I wonder if they ever issued an apology to Retzwerx. I mean, even after this, he still gives out updates on PBB. And guess who benefits from this.

ADDITIONAL
Here's an update to this post.

The Ultimate Bachelor TV Reality Show Ever

This is like the most ultimate of ultimate pranks. Don't miss out on this. Guaranteed to make you watch it twice.

The link may only be active for a week before it's archived. If the link is outdated, try this one for a more direct ummm... link.

You think the Philippines will benefit from this?

"The biggest problem [of India] seems to be that the talent pool of skilled workers will not able to keep up. Currently there are about 700,000 people working in IT and outsourcing, which is likely to grow up to 2.3 million by 2010, but only 1.05 million new graduates will qualify from local colleges in the next 5 years leading to a shortfall of 500,000 workers! All this despite the fact that almost 2.5 million students graduate in India each year."

Wow, that means India would have more jobs available than fresh graduates.

This is the situation the Philippines should be in also. Except of course that the Philippine talent pool is migrating to other countries. It would be pitiful if we started migrating to India because of the jobs available there