Thursday, January 31, 2008

A Great Way to Start the Day

No, I'm not talking about coffee. When I left the house at 515am this morning, Venus and Mercury were just above the lightening sky announcing the imminent arrival of the Sun. Venus is the higher, brighter point of light, and Mercury is the lower one.

Last January five, Venus, the red star Antares of the constellation Scorpius, and the Moon were all in a horizontal row in the east.

Now if only I had a celestial object capable camera.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Political Correctness Again

This is Agatha Christie's top selling book, about ten people trapped on an island and condemned by a killer who executes them one by one.

It was published in the UK in 1939, but released in the US as Ten Little Indians. Even though this is from a nursery rhyme, even that was considered potentially offensive and changed to And Then There Were None the last line of the rhyme.

The rhyme, though, was still retained inside the book referring to Indians.

Now the question is: did the original composer of the rhyme come up with it out of meanness in the first place, black boys all dying one by one until they are all eradicated?






Monday, January 28, 2008

A Fountain of Unabashed Optimism

That's what this guy is, in the US sitcom 30 Rock. Besides him I can identify with Frank of the outlet shirts and pop culture caps, and Toofer, short for "Two-For-One" because he's both a minority and like Chandler from Friends.

Can't wait to finish the first season and get the second one.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Song Lyrics I Like: No Looking Back

No, I'm not talking about the Rihanna song - probably the girl who took over Britney's throne as the person with the stupidest lyrics playing on the radio right now.

But this isn't a negative post. Anyway, this is a song with both a Kenny Loggins and a Michael MacDonald version. It's upbeat, and it has a positive message.

Im fading out of sight
My wheels are the only sound
Runnin at the speed of a light
n I cant slow down now

Out on an open road
Racin to beat the night
No matter where Im goin
I guess Ill get alright

So why dont I understand
Whats trippin me up?
It oughta be a simple thing

Chorus:I cant hold on
n I cant return
Its time to let go
n start to live and learn

I took a one-way flight
Too high to see the ground
Now I know how long it takes
A heart to come down

Alone on the highway now
Takin it mile by mile
Id rather be a lonely man
Than an imprisoned child

So why do I feel the strain
That keeps trippin me up
Will it ever be a simple thing

Chorus:I cant hold on
And I cant return
Rivers will run
n bridges will burn
I cant say just how
But theres no lookin back now

Bridge:When everything fades away
And theres nothing left
Then you got to keep rememberin

Chorus:I wont slow down
n I cant return
Its time to let go
n start to live and learn

So why dont I understand
Whats trippin me up?
Well it oughta be a simple thing

I cant hold on
n I cant return
Rivers will run
n bridges will burn
I cant say just how
But theres no lookin back now

I wot slow down
n I cant return
As night turns to dawn
The pages will burn
I cant say just how
But theres no lookin back now

I cant hold on
n I cant reurn
Its time to let go
n start to live and learn

Friday, January 25, 2008

Grey Skies At Blue Coral

This was last Saturday lunch time, before we got our room. Note the new black and red aqua shoe and the Hawaiian (Lito Atienza?) shirt.

The rest of the photos are here. No pics in the water though.




Thursday, January 24, 2008

Zomb Air

I have got to give these b-movie producers credit. Way to ride Samuel L. Jackson's wave, with Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on A Plane and have a cameo in the film by a lookalike as well.

Too bad I didn't get to finish the film since it was shown on the bus. But I did get to about halfway through the show where the confined area wasn't immediately overrun by the undead because they preferred to crawl around in man-sized air vents, which I didn't even know existed on the Concord.
I will be looking out for this film in the shops now, just for the laugh value.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Goodbye, Heath


Ah, that ordinary people could learn from the lives of the rich and famous against excessive "living".

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Culled From Today's Headlines

One pretty good indication that someone feels like they're losing their side of an ongoing argument or running out of reason is when they dig up some other beef about their opponent from the past - and even try to spin it so what they did or didn't do before looks like it was out of some spirit of martyrdom or fair play instead of just not knowing what to do.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Where I Spent the Weekend

Not bad for less than P2,500 overnight including 3 buffet meals, kayaking and snorkeling, excluding transportation costs.

But 1 night is too short. I want at least 2 nights next time.

Details in CSI.

Friday, January 18, 2008

The Enemy of My Enemy Is My... ?

Today I'll be reflecting on something a friend told me. In the first place, I told her it's bad enough labeling people as "enemies", but if we start going into the black-and-white area of whether some is "good" or "bad", then you will be obligated to tag someone who clashed with someone you don't like.

Otherwise, we do live in a world with grey areas. If a person confronted someone you consider "mean", you may approve of what they did now, until their brash attitude clashes with you in the future. Then would they become your "enemy" too?

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Return to the World of "The Prestige"

One of the films I bought over the weekend in the mall. I wonder why it wasn't shown in the theaters locally. I hope it's not because film distributors felt the concepts would be going over the heads of the masses again.

The people have to decide for themselves with their pocket money.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Laptop Bag From Cardboard

Just something picked up off the net randomly. Full instructions here. Maybe we'll make it into a contest for Innovation Week.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Appeasing the Metric Police

The convention of prefixing large numbers when it comes to computer counting has been around for decades, but it was only during the last year of the last millennium that they realized it had to be standardized.

Before, 1kilo byte = 2^10 bytes = 1024 bytes, and the difference could be shrugged off.

But with the more common uses of MB and GB, people are getting confused, and sometimes think they are being shortchanged by those who promise to sell a 20 giga byte HD, only to have it show as 18.63 GB on the OS.

Technical people just don't want to accept a different understanding of measurement when dealing with computers and not dealing with computers, especially since talking about MHz still uses 1*10^6 and not 2^20.

Monday, January 14, 2008

No Deep Digging Required

In America, the land of pre-fabrication, this is a growing business, but here they still do this the hard way - that is, with cement and all from the owner's specifications, not from a brochure. It makes for something sturdier - and something kids just can't walk to the edge of, fall into and drown, especially if there is a gate.

It certainly is a growing business in the city of baths.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Even God Espouses Free Will

Just a supplement to what I was talking about in CSI: neither scientists or religious diehards have the bottom line on the truth.

They both have an ulterior motive in pushing their own beliefs, regardless of how much evidence they say they have, to try and convince or convert the opposite side.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Volume <> Urgency <> Relevance

Some people are better suited for working in a comedy club instead of being in a school the way they have to raise their voice to get everyone's attention, regardless of how much nonsense they're spouting.

So much for teaching the kids to raise their hands when they want to speak.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Happy Birthday, Melchior!

No wonder he was named after one of the Three Kings, Sir Mel was born around the time of their holiday.

It was last Jan. 6, by the way, so if you trace back to the years when Three Kings' Day was on that day, you may have an idea how old he is. :)

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Holiday Habit


This is the season when gyms prosper: they get higher membership from people who want to shed the pounds they gained during the weeks of just lying around doing nothing. It's a vicious yearly cycle.


But for some, they just get fatter and fatter with each passing year.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Term 3, Week 1, Day 1

This is the last term of the school year, after what felt like a long break. Seeing the same old faces around again, not like next term, where there will be new freshmen around.

And even now there are already some faces that will not be seen around the campus, either having finished all their classes, or are off on their OJT.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Is He Or Isn't He?

This film, Martian Child, has the viewer guessing until the very end whether or not the boy is really from the Red Planet or just one with above average intelligence who has social trauma from being abandoned at a young age.

John and Joan Cusack have their usual chemistry, and Amanda Peet is a welcome presence on the screen. Also great is the bald guy from West Wing as the reviewer from Child Services.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

What I Spent Time On This Christmas Break

I finished Season 1, where people such as Paris Hilton and Jonathan Taylor Thomas guested. In the second season, which I started, Alysson Hannigan and Charisma Carpenter plus Joss Whedon himself from Buffy made appearances, and Kevin Smith.

I wish there were more smart shows like this on the air.