Outside the Classroom

Recognizing No Higher Authority

2009-05-05T07:16:00.000+08:00

"He who doesn't know how to pray isn't used to acknowledging Someone better and more powerful than himself."

Important Enough to Post Again

2009-03-06T07:50:00.002+08:00

And by that I mean that I've written about this before, but it bears repeating.

It also means this is significant enough to break an almost three-month lapse of posting here, especially since I know I have new readers...

Anyway, got it from the plurk of a former teacher here, the science lab coordinator I replaced, in fact. Don't let the handle avert you; I wish I could be that self deprecating.

Highlights:

"boasting about your IQ is a total turn off"

"if it's high, you is mayabang"

"boasting about having a high IQ is an indication that it isn't as high as one thinks"

"boasting about high IQ = insecure"

Sunrise at Annapolis

2008-12-17T10:24:00.001+08:00

Mag-Ingat na Di Masali Sa...

2008-12-15T17:07:00.001+08:00

KULTO NG MGA KALBO!!!

Model Student: Solving Anywhere?

2008-12-12T15:18:00.002+08:00

Look at that, for someone very studious, even a desk drawer can become a writing/computing surface just to be able to answer one's assignment!

Inspired by Manny vs. Oscar

2008-12-11T15:30:00.003+08:00

Blast From the Past

2008-12-09T10:16:00.001+08:00

Friday Oct. 12, 2007 (no classes) ATC

Urban Dead: Locked Out

2008-11-27T10:42:00.002+08:00

One of the things I hate when playing as a human is when I use a strongly barricaded building as a means to get out and hunt some zombies, and when I try to use that building to get back in, it's been barricaded to heavy.

I then either have to attack the barricades or look for other ways to get in, or, if I don't have enough action points, just wait until I'm killed and go to a revive point.

Go For What You Believe You Deserve

2008-11-22T14:32:00.002+08:00

This is a classic romantic film, where, in typical Hollywood fashion, there is only one male and one female lead, and the whole two hours is just waiting for them to realize they're meant for each other.

There's also the typical plot twist that she has a boyfriend since the start of the movie. How, in heaven's name, are the two main stars going to end up with each other?

This movie has a unique solution to the "third wheel" problem though, which is usually dispensed with in romantic comedies by some last act surprise where the boyfriend turns out to be an asshole and deserves to be left behind.

The writer made it worse by making the boyfriend (Bill Pullman) really likable, and even had asthma and had to be mothered - something shallow-minded moviegoers would think would make it easier for Meg Ryan to let go.

In the end it's Bill Pullman's decision, telling Meg Ryan he doesn't want to be someone that a woman would just "settle for".

And that's my message for today: do not just take with open arms the first person who shows an interest in you, especially if they happen to have a lot of bad habits. You owe it to yourself to expect more.

Urban Dead: That's One Way to Get Rid of an Infection

2008-11-18T14:58:00.002+08:00

All for One and One for All?

2008-11-14T08:50:00.001+08:00

If a chain is only as good as its weakest link, is a chain of stores (or schools for that matter) only as good as its worst branch (or campus)?

It's That Way with Penguins

2008-11-13T16:21:00.002+08:00

Above is the birthday gift I got from Joel & Ryan. Below is a box made up of renticular (false 3d) images that I bought in Taiwan - again of penguins!

And the other day I just watched Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa where the penguins were prominent again, as was in the first movie.

What is it with these guys?

Only Minimally Enchanting?

2008-11-11T10:39:00.002+08:00

This is a scale model of Enchanted Kingdom presented at the Laguna Investment and Business Expo in SM Sta. Rosa last week, where exhibitors and participants were treated to free entrance to the park in the afternoon of Nov. 8. Sir Chris & I didn't go.

I thought that it would include new rides being planned, but it doesn't. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and visit again.

New Toy of the Week: Inexpensive Science

2008-11-10T16:27:00.002+08:00

Ten experiments at around 7 pesos each! Hope to use this in the next Open Lab or Science & Math Week.

One of the advantages of being a lab rat is that you still get to play with cool stuff - and call it work!

Now If Only I Could Get School Credit For This...

2008-11-08T16:08:00.000+08:00

An 80's Cartoon Quiz

Score: 100% (15 out of 15)

Revenge of the Scary Clueless Blonde Movie

2008-11-07T15:12:00.002+08:00

Anna Faris in The House Bunny doesn't stray much from the doe-eyed expression that shot her into fame in the Scary Movie series.

The plot about an unpopular sorority rising to greatness is borrowed from Revenge of the Nerds.

Glamorizing a female with no fashion sense is straight out of Clueless.

And the final monologue is in the same style as Reese Witherspoon had in the Legally Blonde films.

Overall does the merging of these concepts work? Except for the physical Cinderella transformations of the sorority members, which was also too quick (as was their change into vacuous vamps), it doesn't. The funny stuff was really too few and far between.

Effective IS Campaigns

2008-11-04T11:26:00.003+08:00

New Movie at Metropolis Alabang

2008-11-03T14:01:00.000+08:00

I wonder if the film in Cinema 4 is any good...

Halloween Day In School

2008-10-31T15:44:00.002+08:00

Lunch out with Ms. Karen and Mr. Roy

Someone embracing their inner second childhood, with a Grudge wanna be at the back.
Beware the Hooded Slasher! Including victim/sidekick.The real horror: Assembly Langauge exam!

Unnecessary Escalation

2008-10-29T10:41:00.002+08:00

This movie illustrates perfectly how an offense subjectively magnified in the eyes of the victim and seeking what is believed to be compensatory redress can lead to a chain of destructive "one-up-man-ship".

Paraphrasing William Hurt's character in the movie: "everything decent is held together by an unwritten covenant."

Unless we're willing to see the other person's side and work towards an agreeable conclusion, it will end up like those old time Ubusan ng Lahi (clan extermination) stories the previous generation of local moviegoers were barraged with.

Marketing Strategy

2008-10-28T11:33:00.002+08:00

Got tired of waiting for my travel companions to upload their pictures of the salesladies in Taiwan selling betel nuts.

Not surprisingly, there are others available on the web, just using the keywords "betel nut girl".

I don't think the Church would allow the same kind of tactic to be used here, again, yet another major difference between us and our neighbor across the South China Sea.

Two Yellow Guardians In My Clothes Rack

2008-10-27T14:14:00.001+08:00

What's curious is that they're both gifts.

Superstition Is Off The Ground

2008-10-23T17:37:00.001+08:00

There is no seat block 13 on the plane...

TV in Taiwan

2008-10-21T10:51:00.002+08:00

One of the perks of being in another country was that I didn't have to wait as long as home to be able to watch my favorite shows.

There was Heroes, Simpsons, Smallville, The Office, Entourage, 30 Rock, Private Practice, Amazing Race Asia and, shown above, Grey's Anatomy.

I particularly marvelled at the very good writing of the season premiere of the hospital drama, showing that the Writers Guild of America really is indispensable and that their demands after their dissatisfaction were justified.

I also like the acting of the guest stars, in particular Bernadette Peters and this guy who lived with a constant headache for seven years, and after the source of the pain was finally found, he breaks down and is able to mourn for his wife who died the year before.

Another Outdoor Science Plaything

2008-10-20T17:14:00.002+08:00

Besides the frisbees, boomerangs, kites and rubber band airplanes that I've been buying since April of this year, this is the latest toy we can use to take advantage of the campus' wide open areas to teach aerodynamics and propulsion.

Another Part of My Medium Range Plans...

2008-10-17T13:26:00.001+08:00

... and, of course, bringing the knowledge, technology and connections back to the homeland.

At the National Space Organization

2008-10-16T23:49:00.001+08:00

One step closer to one of my dream careers...

Our Invaluable Tour Guide

2008-10-15T12:50:00.002+08:00

Thank you very very very much to Wendy for touring us around Taipei last Sunday!

Roy & Leland & Hainz & I will return there - promise!

I Didn't Think the Organizers Noticed...

2008-10-14T13:05:00.007+08:00

So it was a real surprise to receive this!

How did they know what I like?

Those are stickers on the card, by the way. Such effort!

And one of my classmates even draws accurate portraits!

At the Food Expo

2008-10-10T12:16:00.001+08:00

Beside the seafood and vegetable buffet in Hotel Kuva Chateau. It's like Oasis House of Prayer times 7!!!

My Classmates, Teachers & I

2008-10-08T08:29:00.000+08:00

Group picture taken at the start of the two weeks.

Our Latest Products

2008-10-07T23:25:00.002+08:00

Going back to last Friday's events for now: the OJT presentations, until I could upload everything to Flicker.

Congratulations Franz, Yvan, Tina, Fred, JC, Vinci, Jessie, Robin and Chito!

Teaser For Now

2008-10-06T20:32:00.001+08:00

We're going to have a red brick building like this soon...

Where I Was For 30 Hours the Past 2 Days

2008-10-02T19:42:00.001+08:00

csi.journalspace.com has the first part of the details up today, dotmeans.multiply.com will have the pictures.

Where I Was For 30 Hours the Past 2 Days

2008-10-02T19:37:00.002+08:00

csi.journalspace.com has the details, dotmeans.multiply.com will have the photos as soon as I upload them.

Identifyin' the Rockin'

2008-09-29T14:04:00.002+08:00

Just an update on the weekend's shaker: according to the US government site, there were actually 4 quakes that day, and, unlike the Singapore site, which pinpointed it as being somewhere in Quezon.

Curiously it list TWO quakes at the start. I guess they determine this by the peaks of the intensity. Then there was another one three hours later, which I didn't feel.

Did You Just Feel That?

2008-09-27T11:29:00.002+08:00

Click on the picture for details. Or go to this site. This is one the important life-saving facts about the net, information at your fingertips as it happens.

Urban Dead: All Risen Up And Nowhere to Go

2008-09-27T09:47:00.002+08:00

When I played yesterday, I was lucky to have gotten to a safehouse that was strongly barricaded with my last action point. When I logged on this morning, someone had PK'ed me, AND for some twisted reason, left me in the building, which was now HEAVILY barricaded.

So I had to claw my way out of the building to get to a revive point.

The story doesn't end there though: while destroying the barricades from the inside another human comes along and starts attacking me.

Great.

But I don't waste AP trying to gesture to him. At least after a while he realizes I'm not attacking him, so he leaves me alone, although if he had killed me first, I would have appreciated getting dumped out of the building.

When I ran out of AP, the building was lightly barricaded. Hope I'm out when I next log on.

Sizzling Shield

2008-09-26T16:17:00.002+08:00

Maybe we could suggest this to Blue Corner...

Urban Dead: Initial Creativity

2008-09-25T09:50:00.000+08:00

I love some of the user names these players come up with. 'Sall.

Great Villain Design

2008-09-23T08:11:00.002+08:00

The recognizability factor of Voldemort's features in the Harry Potter movies is so great that even when transplanted to someone like above, it's immediately obvious what they're implying.

And it's funny too. Picture from here, btw.

"It's The Thought That Counts"

2008-09-22T18:05:00.002+08:00

If i give this shirt to someone, will they think know I'm mocking them or will they believe I'm agreeing with them?

Urban Dead: 40 Hours No Action

2008-09-18T17:26:00.005+08:00

Here's the set up. A zombie had invaded the safehouse I was in, bit me, but was taken down by the others.

Problem #1: I have no first aid kits. So I had to go to the nearest hospital.

Problem #2: 16 action points and 16 hit points later, I find a hospital. It takes 114 action points to repair the hospital before it can be searched for first aid kits successfully, and I'm down to 5HP.

Problem #3: Clicked on the wrong action, so I'm out of commission for a while until I get positive action points again.

And I will most likely be dead and dumped out of the building when I log in again.

But I did a major repair job on the hospital. Whee.

Demand The Worth Of Your Parents' Money

2008-09-16T17:35:00.004+08:00

What good would your diploma be if you had it easy in school because of major subject teachers who don't bring out the best in you and eventually the reputation of the school degrades to employers to the point they don't hire graduates from here anymore?

It's your right and your call to report classes wherein students are passing but don't actually learn anything.

Make your stay here mean something, to yourself and to everyone else who you want to be proud of you.

"Take A Picture, It Lasts Longer"

2008-09-15T17:31:00.002+08:00

And I will, and have, for a week now, since I bought this.

Glad It's Finally Finished Here?

2008-09-13T10:12:00.002+08:00

Yes. Definitely, thankfully true. And it's good that there are likeminded people with enough influence and initiative to help make it possible.

I guess, in that definition, having that one goal in mind that we set out to accomplish, those people can be considered as friends.

Sightings of Nearby Places in Local Media

2008-09-12T07:58:00.002+08:00

I heard of some students who claimed they watched For the First Time just because it featured Paseo de Sta. Rosa, or I've Fallen For You since there were scenes set in the nearby mountain bike trail.

Any other examples of this out there?

Nine Days Warning This Year Instead of Nine Hours

2008-09-11T11:17:00.002+08:00

Click to see the poster full size.

Who wants to go with me???

Something to Hide?

2008-09-09T14:35:00.002+08:00

If the eyes are the windows to the soul, what can you say about someone who wears sunglasses all the time, even on inappropriate occasions, and doesn't work for the Secret Service?

Someone who can't look other people in the eye? Ashamed? Covering traces of tears?

Supervillains and Their Quest for Happiness

2008-09-06T10:42:00.002+08:00

Thankfully, the Bible verse about not having "two masters" is not literal. I mean, if we were still educated that way, like the Jedi, that would require that there be three billion teachers in the world for three billion apprentices.

After all, even in the Star Wars universe, how many Jedi were there compared to the overall population?

What am I talking about here? It's pertaining to admiring and wanting to learn from the creative geniuses Christopher Nolan (that I've outlined in the previous post) and Joss Whedon, he who made Buffy, Firefly and now, the masterpiece above whose picture is a clickable link. Watch and enjoy.

Urban Dead: Waiting for Movement

2008-09-04T08:45:00.002+08:00

Ten thousand experience points in and I'm still getting new "experiences", such as getting revived, and having someone else revive beside me, and he ATTACKS me!

Right in the cemetery!

Ok, in fairness, maybe I had killed him before when we were both zombies and he was still inside a building (in zombie mode I still think like a human and help out human causes if clearing zombies out of buildings) but at least he could have warned me.

As it was, I was down to less than 20 HP so I had no time to ask "Why?" and I just went into a building and he lost me in a bout of free running.

But I cleared that area so I won't meet him again.

Making A Statement

2008-08-29T11:09:00.005+08:00

Is there a proper time and place for it, or it shouldn't be restricted?

Urban Dead: Five Digit Experience Points

2008-08-28T08:45:00.003+08:00

Yesterday I broke ten thousand XP. It only took 14 months of playing almost everyday for 50 action points.

And that's before I was revived. Left the NT building beside me at very strongly barricaded, and only had enough left to barricade the museum beside it to also VSB. This morning, my building is untouched, but I couldn't get any revivification syringes from the NT building; there were 9 zombies inside. Have to clear it out first.

Another Height by Width Game

2008-08-27T11:16:00.002+08:00

Jewels: Cradle of Rome is another time-waster of the Bejeweled ilk. But it also has more in common with Puzzle Quest in that the sets you form are now part of your resources. Like some games found in zone.msn.com or games.yahoo.com, there is the added difficulty of having to form sets at specific locations that have to be finished by a certain time limit to get to the next level.

There are also certain blocks that have to be used twice, and there are chained blocks that cannot be moved or switched until they are made part of a set.

Resources, if enough are collected, can be used for hammers, to break blocks in corners, or lightning, for breaking 20 blocks at a time, or bombs, for clearing a 3 by 3 square.

Yeah, another distraction just before going to bed, until I find it's past midnight again.

Urban Dead: Clearing Long Ruined Buildings

2008-08-23T10:04:00.002+08:00

Just found out what they mean when they said it takes more time to repair damaged buildings that have been standing that way for a long time. It just took me 8 action points to bring a safe house back to usability. I don't know what the ratio is though, and if it's really worth it or just to look for less ruined houses to fix.

Different Levels of Selection

2008-08-22T15:23:00.003+08:00

If a girl starts going steady with you from all of her suitors, rejoice.

If your numbers were picked to win the million peso lottery, consider yourself extremely lucky and blessed.

But if you won in an election, don't sit on your laurels. The voting public felt that you would best represent them and their cause, so don't celebrate, because you have a lot of work ahead of you living up to their expectations of you.

Otherwise, if you start acting for yourself and begin stepping on the same people who put you in that position, they could just as easily bring you down, because if they don't look up to you anymore, they don't see you as a role model anymore, if you don't represent the majority sentiment anymore, they would turn their backs on you.

No Fans = Lackluster Play

2008-08-21T11:11:00.002+08:00

It's easy enough to ensure cheering audience for student games. Why is it so difficult for the faculty/staff sportsfest?

Is it because the groupings do not reflect our work relationships? Would it be better as college faculty vs IS faculty vs staff vs administrators? Would the team spirit heighten or worsen?

Shaky Handheld Camcord Work

2008-08-20T09:57:00.002+08:00

It's a stylized way of filming commercial shows right now, which I last saw in Hancock (where in supposedly tight space and "no second take" shots the blurred side image of a forefront figure isn't even removed) and Wall*E (which, in the tradition of the "outtakes" in A Bug's Life, has correctional movements when zooming in or following the subject in motion, simulating the work of a real camera).

There's also The Office, of course, and several local as well as foreign independent films.

And in case you're wondering, the camera above is real, and it's 160 megapixels. Check it out here.

Don't Look Down

2008-08-19T10:02:00.001+08:00

Last August 17 we went to EK again, and we caught the fireworks display while we were on the Log Jam. This is a rare moment that is worth capturing, until we wait for it again next time, that is.

No More Diving

2008-08-16T23:05:00.002+08:00

Earlier today I went to the river with the College Parents' Association officers and some Student Council officers.

I was very saddened to see that a part of the river, at the bottom of a small waterfall, where we used to go swimming because of its depth was now wading height due to vast amounts of mud deposited from the highlands during the frequent storms.

Just makes me realize how the river is not static, but evolving, and that we should take every opportunity to visit it when we can, even when the way down is muddy and slippery, because it might not look the same way the next time.

New Old Phone

2008-08-15T16:13:00.002+08:00

Got this yesterday. Sentimental because my very first phone was the same brand, the "safeguard". I've come full circle on phones.

The Family Tree of Rice

2008-08-13T19:35:00.002+08:00

This is one of the things I took away from the Creative Writing Talk yesterday such as the local term for the leavings of unhusked rice above, besides the fact that Michael Malabanan knows the Spanish of onion.

And... that SC President and I ask the eternal question: if a driver drives, what does an usher do?

Better Than Crystal Skull

2008-08-12T14:46:00.002+08:00

I mean, the expectation wasn't as high as for Indy so the disappointment wasn't as much of a downer.

That's the best thing I could say about it.

Where is the Pride in One's Work?

2008-08-11T11:10:00.002+08:00

As consumers we have a simple way of voting for what products are good or not, from what we buy often and what we avoid paying for.

But sometimes, you have to face something you'd normally pass up because either it's a gift, offered to you by the host at a party, or as part of your job.

Sometimes you can just grin and bear it. Other times, the overwhelming response is wanting to go to the factory, the source of the product, and yell at the Quality Assurance Officer "What the hell made you think this is good enough for the world out there?"

Numbered Blocks Before Minesweeper Arrived

2008-08-09T12:10:00.002+08:00

Third game related post in a row. Thanks to Chat who talked about spending a lot of time on this game last night I went to sleep after midnight again playing this. Damn handheld consoles and how you can be lying in bed and still playing.

MALL-opoly

2008-08-08T13:31:00.003+08:00

Since I already started talking about games yesterday, this is one that I miss a lot. We used to play this a lot in the first Playstation when my friends and I were together, but I also played the story mode solo to be able to unlock the three secret characters.

It's one of the few games that can be played by more than two players on the PS.

Just like Monopoly you can buy unowned "stalls" in the mall that you land in, and force other players to buy goods from your store if they land there, and there's an advantage to having two or more stalls beside each other, and selling stores if you don't have enough money

There's also a space that's the equivalent of Go, and of drawing luck cards.

Best part of the game is the points system, where if you collect up to 99 points, you can already claim victory (although I never did) but can also get to do cool things like open another shop for yourself you haven't landed on.

Why wasn't this upgraded for the PS3 and PSP?

I Build This City (On Rock & Roll?)

2008-08-07T16:35:00.002+08:00

This was an out-of-the-blue buy today at Book Sale, for P5.00! I saw it on top of a pile on the floor beside one shelf as I was already on my way out with other books I had decided on getting. Will have to put off reading it until term break though.

They Have Endured

2008-08-06T14:25:00.003+08:00

Congratulations to JP, Roy, and . First screen is overall, second is for their age category. JP's is 20 km, Roy is 10 km.

Pet Peeve of the Week

2008-08-05T10:27:00.004+08:00

I wish a pizza could remedy everything, but it can't.

Impossible Triangle?

2008-08-04T10:50:00.002+08:00

On the hint given by Dennis that an impossible cube construction exists on the net from paper, this is what I found instead.

The site gives a paper cutout template one can use to make one's own 3-d (or is it 4-d?) illusion to be photographed.

Great Day Today

2008-08-02T18:59:00.002+08:00

Besides the PHINMA lab experiments, my students and I played a game called "Werewolf", a variation of the winking game Killer where they don't wink at each other, but because during the "night" part of the round the werewolves kill one of the villagers, their paranoia forces them to act like a lynch mob (thus the picture) and kill one of their own that they suspect to be the werewolf.

So it's a game of convincing the others not to kill you, and if you're the psychic, to get them to believe what you know without exposing yourself to the werewolves, who will kill you next "night" if they realize who you are.

I'll probably propose this for the next Leadership Camp.

Excited Tomorrow

2008-08-01T09:40:00.002+08:00

This is where the class of Mavic, Claudette, Francis, Gierod, Happy etc. and I will be going tomorrow, all expenses paid by the school of course. Too bad there's no picture on the site of their electronics equipment, which is what we will be tinkering. Really looking forward to helping establish that our campus will be making full use of this "donation".

Impossible Structure?

2008-07-31T12:54:00.004+08:00

This was based on this drawing by M.C. Escher, except that knowing it was made with physical blocks, it still boggles the mind how it was constructed.

Close Games

2008-07-30T12:38:00.002+08:00

I know that in the past I've railed against putting a positive spin on losing or not winning. But it has to be taken in context.

Last night Leland and I, of the Dark Green Team, practiced against two badminton varsity players in preparation for the impending sports fest scheduling.

And I'm glad that we our final scores weren't that far, because it means that with a little more practice, we can be competetive against the other faculty/staff teams.

Cry Wolf

2008-07-29T17:25:00.003+08:00

What was the lesson of this fable? Cry wolf once and people will support you. Maybe even twice. But cry wolf all the time and people are desensitized to your attempts at attention, realize you're not person that can be relied on, and you'll end up all alone with no one to help you.

So just like picking your battles, you should pick the few and far between times when you want people to come to your aid when you call.

Edible Discovery of the Weekend

2008-07-28T10:56:00.001+08:00

Blueberry jelly, at around P25 per cup, at a Chinese grocery. That's all.

Under Cover Above Ground

2008-07-26T12:27:00.002+08:00

Yup, it's another Urban Dead post. I just got PKed by a non-undead character. And when I checked the character page, the guy had brain rot, which means he is a dedicated zombie who was revived in a NecroTech building.

I gotta admire what he had to go through to be revived, so maybe - just maybe - I won't hunt him down and retaliate.

Another Fine Line

2008-07-25T18:17:00.002+08:00

This can be taken so far as to advise people to present only what they know. But sometimes, you also have to think if that's appropriate, or, to be more in line with the theme, you have to either study up on something completely new to you, or to pass off the work to someone who would be able to give the presentation more justice.

Like, for example, plucking an analogy out of the blue, a person being asked to teach logic but, since trivia is more their specialty, that's what they talk about in class.

Not Like Kenshin's Blade

2008-07-24T06:35:00.001+08:00

You can keep saying you finished the fun run before your "sworn enemy" did, but she WALKED the whole course. So in a sense she wasn't even competing with you, because she knows you're not on the same level. Get over it.

What's Wrong With This Logic?

2008-07-23T12:02:00.002+08:00

Disclaimer: this is not a reflection on the pope, just a visual reference. Also, apologies for having a second analogy in a month or so with a religious bull's eye.

It doesn't necessarily mean that if one has a cross necklace, wears Christ-reference shirts and plays a lot of religious songs on their phone, that when they put their arms around the girls it is innocent.

That's all.

Someone's Lucky

2008-07-22T10:25:00.000+08:00

Laughing on The Outside

2008-07-21T17:22:00.002+08:00

It seems that there is a reason to be serious if one watches The Dark Knight. My friends compared it to The Departed in the mood of depression it leaves the viewer afterwards. Not that it isn't good. It's VERY good, but very deep and ponderous.

It just shows that the Batman has a very steep uphill climb in front of him, and that this isn't a celebration of altruistic intentions, but how it's really a very taxing struggle.

On the other hand, Christopher Nolan, not Josh Whedon and definitely not George Lucas, is my master now.

Stupid Physics Not Ruin Good Movie

2008-07-18T17:01:00.002+08:00

Angelina Jolie was the best part of this movie, somewhat returning to her Mr. & Mrs. Smith role. The creative ways they were able to avoid being mutilated by the local censors for all their graphic violence was the second.

And I can't say if it's better or not than the other gun glorifier of the recent past, Shoot 'Em Up, because it's somehow on a different playing field, but I still like them both.

All this time, and I haven't heard a whimper out of that other Bang Bang movie in between, Hitman.

I just wonder how many people went out and "took control" of their lives after watching this movie.

All 4 Won

2008-07-17T15:55:00.003+08:00

On the last day of the Foundation Week celebration, team spirit will take on a whole new meaning when the battles will begin to find out which house will dominate the basketball and volleyball court - not just among the college students, or faculty/staff or Integrated School, but OVERALL.

No more isolation and indifference of the games for the other sectors of the community, because there is only one champion. There is only one trophy.

Be a part of history. Who will the the very first DLSC comprehensive Institutional Sports Fest title holder? Support your color.

Go to csi.journalspace.com for details.

Don't Go There

2008-07-16T14:01:00.002+08:00

"Keep Behind This Line" the warning says, because going on the wrong side of the line could kill you.

It's like the line between conflict of interest. Someone (only theoretically) is employed by the school and at the same time operates a review center for passing the entrance test given by the same school.

Or a teacher requires proper lab outfits during his class and also owns a uniform shop nearby.

Or someone gives a high recommendation to a friend to work in the school when she knows professionally that the friend isn't qualified.

No one is watching us all the time, so we think it's okay to go over the line sometimes, blurring between personal and professional principles.

You might think you won't get caught because it's dark, but the train isn't going to be the one at a loss if it doesn't see you there.

Adult Drown

2008-07-15T09:46:00.003+08:00

Venture Bros. is a Cartoon Network show under the [Adult Swim] format that I started watching recently. Even though I'm not all that familiar with Jonny Quest, that's not the only thing this animation's creators are spoofing. There's also Hardy Boys, comics characters, Star Wars, internet phenomena (the kidney donor urban legend), among scores of others.

Now I'm looking for the second and third season.

Addicted to Spuds

2008-07-14T09:56:00.002+08:00

You'd think that for a commercially available product there would be bigger and better pictures than this for what they're selling, but no, even on the manufacturer's site itself, this (enlargement mine) is the best picture I could find.

I've bought and consumed three cans full in the last week alone. The Salt and Pepper flavor. The first step, they say, is the admission.

I Miss Being Overwhelmed...

2008-07-12T10:55:00.002+08:00

... by the sheer volume (pun intended) of books I can buy and read. Today is the last day of the Academic Book Fair in Megamall. The library tried to organize a trip there last Wednesday, since typically it's the day most have no classes. Not true for lab classes though :(.

The last time I went was two years ago, I think. I guess I'll wait until the one in August or September then.

Exploiting The Natural Tendency Towards Greed

2008-07-10T18:20:00.002+08:00

In playing Pokemon Trozei on the Nintendo DS (which I've mentioned in a previous post) besides leaning towards the people who like Bejeweled, it still challenges players to "Catch 'Em All", but this time, in setting up the two dimensional board so that when you get four in a row and follow it up immediately with three in a row, it can cascade down to two-in-a-row.

This is the only way to catch the rare creatures, because only one of them appears on the board at any given time and has to be set beside a Ditto (which acts like a joker) and cascaded.

At this point, even though I've finished two rounds of the story mode, I'm still only at 63% completion of all the creatures, and I admire the replayability that way, because unlike the original games, here there are no special creatures that can only be obtained through a raffle or through interaction with other players.

Preemptive Negativism

2008-07-09T09:38:00.002+08:00

It's still best to plan in advance and not have it push through than to not plan at all and using "it's just going to be changed or postponed anyway" as an excuse.

Preparedness gives its own good impression, while acting like the grasshopper compared to the ant in the fable looks bad.

And don't think that coming up with additional excuses not to do the work or to blame someone else doesn't look transparently obvious. It does.

Smart Hiro

2008-07-07T11:38:00.002+08:00

I guess this is what he does during the downtime between seasons of Heroes. Get Smart was fun because of the supporting cast a cameos, a lot of them comedians themselves. Too bad a lot of the other jokes they already showed in the trailers, and a lot of logic got thrown out the window.

For example, where did Agent 99 get their formal wear? It would have been a short gag to see her bring it out of her small backpack already neatly ironed.

And it's fun to see Terence Stamp in two movies out at the same time, this and Wanted. Just like Brendan Fraser will be for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Journey to the Center of the Earth the first of which also has Jet Li who also has The Warlords as next attraction.

A Walk Out Is Not An Option

2008-07-05T12:04:00.002+08:00

In the fourth season of the HBO series Entourage, the main characters, after much anticipation, finally get to watch the film they made about a Colombian druglord, as edited by their director.

It was supposed to be a three- or four-hour long movie, and I bet somewhere in the middle the characters already had that dreadful feeling that it was going to end badly, that there was no twist at the end that would redeem everything at the finish.

I bet that if they didn't have so much invested in that project, they would have walked out themselves, as they knew some people with not much attachment to the work could do, believing that there would be something else somewhere they could do much more suited to their time and attention, where they would enjoy themselves more.

That's why sometimes it's better to be a spectator than to have ambitions that outweigh one's abilities.

Bad Role Models

2008-07-04T11:53:00.004+08:00

Just because you are in a titled position doesn't mean that you can bend the rules whenever you want to suit your wishes. You are supposed to uphold the rules more stringently than those around you. So you can't let the title get to your head and feed your ego.

Remember, if others see you, they are going to think "If she can do it, I can too". The question is, will that deed be something you'd be proud they copied from you or ashamed?

Craving For A Quick Light Repast

2008-07-03T13:46:00.002+08:00

CA graduate (and sports development office coordinator) Roy sold these at the Recruitment Fair last Tuesday at thirty pesos each, or four for a hundred pesos. Too bad since then he couldn't find anyone to man the booth for him, so he had to forego selling yesterday and today.

I could eat a dozen of these a day, they're so non-bloating and easy to prepare.

Advantage: Zombies

2008-07-02T09:59:00.002+08:00

In Urban Dead (which, yes, I'm still playing) there is a new rule now that accuracy of hitting an enemy with a weapon in a darkened room in a building is now half of what it used to be (with or without light).

This is like the fifth or so game change in a row that favors the walking undead, after ruining buildings enough to be repaired first before re-barricading, ransacked buildings being more difficult to repair the longer they are left so, free running characters getting injured if crossing to a ruined building, and zombies even without action points preventing barricades in a building.

What's the only consolation so far, household items being used as weapons now, although still at a lower hit ratio than previous weapons.

I hope this just means night vision goggles will be introduced soon though.

Oppression as Animation

2008-07-01T10:29:00.002+08:00

Persepolis which I watched last weekend, is not the first film to represent injustices done to a culture or a race that does not resort to graphically violent images.

It is the first I've seen though that shows that Iranian women do know how to party in the privacy of their own homes, and that not even the depiction in American Dad in the Middle East showed everything.

It also shows aspiring filmmakers and artists that it doesn't take fancy stylized artwork to sell a story, just having a lot of meat in that story.

Poor Priest

2008-06-28T11:18:00.002+08:00

"(Sob). You know, all of this is supposed to be for God, but normal people strive all their lives to have luxuries to make life more bearable. But I'm supposed to cast aside all of that and work for heavenly rewards."

So don't even mention luxuries, if that's not the point, unless you are really trying to be subliminal (you're not). Or maybe you're in the wrong calling, and you shouldn't be a priest anymore.

DLSC = Doing Last Second Commissions?

2008-06-27T10:49:00.002+08:00

Why is it that people here (and I'm not just talking about students) LOVE putting off their work until not just the 11th hour, but the 59th minute and the 59th second?

If a teacher is not considered absent until after 30 minutes since the class started, he will show up at 8:29 am - after all, it's a 3 hour lab class, so they still have 2.5 hours to perform the experiment. In other words, finishing early is not as high a priority as not rushing the work.

If a policy of 10% per day deductions for last submissions are enforced, there will still be students who believe they can pass it ten days after the deadline, when only 10% of their efforts will be graded!

It's just so sad that there are still people who value "Hard work pays off eventually; procrastination pays off now" when it's so much easier to relax and have fun knowing you've done all of your work ahead of schedule and there's no "to do" list hanging over your head.

Blazing A Trail Through 1's and 0's

2008-06-26T15:59:00.003+08:00

Thanks to the net and all the walk through information available for a lot of games, I've never been stuck in any one of them.

Except for Lego Indiana Jones DS. It's new enough that there aren't that many people yet out there who've completed everything.

In fact, it seems like I might be the first one to find out how to get the red brick from the first level of Episode 1 (Raiders of the Lost Ark), since no one has posted about it yet.

By the way, I couldn't find an image that showed both cheat codes and Lego Indiana Jones, but the above picture works just as well.

Think Twice Before Speaking

2008-06-25T08:35:00.002+08:00

This is not the first time I'm ranting here about this person, nor is this the first time he has brought up this "concern" during a faculty meeting.

It was about the freshmen having no pictures in the class list given to him.

First of all, the students' pictures in the class lists were only instituted in 2006, well after he had started teaching here, so there was a time when he received class lists without pictures.

Second, if it's something he absolutely relies on to be able to identify his students (after all, does he give them an opportunity to talk in class since he's wagging his tongue the whole period?) what did he do before?

For freshman classes, especially large ones, I've resorted to asking the students to bring ID pictures on index cards for grade incentives (not as if it's coming out of my pocket).

I think it's inconsiderate to complain to Ms. Karen about it knowing she has enough problems on her job, and stupid to bring it up at a faculty meeting when no one else backs you up and it ends up just being a plea for attention, even (especially) if you do preface it "I know the answer to this has been brought up in a previous item about IDs this year being delayed".