Philippine AZKALS Win Versus Mongolia Blue Wolves 2-0 (Video Embedded)

I was waiting for my Mom to arrive from Bacolod (yes she missed it by a few hours!) while watching the AZKALS VS MONGOLIA Match this evening February 9, 2011. I was so excited to see thousands upon thousands of Filipinos who flocked in Panaad Stadium who watched our home boys play with a lower ranked country like Mongolia. Yes we are the favored team to win this time.

I was sure that the Azkals would play with what they were known for, DEFENSE... but apparently this time they were the ones going to the goal several times and put the Mongolian Blue Wolves mum at 2-0. Caligdong scored the first goal for the Azkals which got the whole crowed cheering more at the 42nd minute. Here's the video!

Caligdong had to make sure you guys know his name ha-ha!

The half European Superstar Phil Younghusband also got a share of the loot a few seconds before the game ended. I was really waiting for them to score the second goal since he predicted this before the game started with TJ Manotoc. It was also a nice gesture for the Filipino crowd to cheer for the Mongolian players after their national anthem. Here's a playback of Phil Younghusband's goal!

Look at that! Just how many red shirts tried to stop that right?!

So it is clear that we have something to look forward to after this AFC season. They play for the love of the country so I hope and pray something happens to our team as we vie for the World Cup.... Yeah I know, libre naman mangarap diba?! (It's free to dream that big right?!) Ha-ha!

Credits to TJ Trinidad for the stills and youtube guy for the uploads!

The Cure: Early Prognosis

I have been witness to a lot of deaths this week that I'm a little emotional. I know how hard it is to lose someone very dear to you and the things that cancer brings. Some of them are incurable; some of them need so much medical attention that even if they live a few years they will use so much money until they get into the brink of poverty... or worse debt. The people they love and know will also be burdened and on most cases you have no choice. It is either that or death; so the choices are pretty much nothing. This is the plight of most that fall victim to environmentally hazardous substances such as asbestos. If there is no mesothelioma prognosis then it would be doubly hard to deal with cancer. Without early detection and the right treatment symptoms would be close to impossible to signify any improvement on one's overall health. I have friends and family who passed away of cancer and this is serious. The number 2 killer in our country is getting worse because of the lack of information and technology to battle it.

Poverty should not be an excuse to treat people and so does the lack of insurance. Coverage of these hard to battle sicknesses is one thing and the other is the actual realization of how precious life can be. It would be easier to deal with this if we had the right tools. Diagnosis is one of the steps that anybody going through this should endure. I would like help educate people on the hazards of living in old houses that have asbestos in their cement and paints. Unfortunately this was the trend years ago and a lot of the houses built with it are still standing now. I hope the community and government work together to eradicate chances of having this condition. It all starts with us. We have to learn and see to it that everyone gets proper care. We owe it to the next generation because it wasn't their fault that it got there in the first place.

Do you have relatives who had cancer? Did they survive? Share your stories please!

Glam - High Fashion by the River

In the not so quaint Marikina River Park we went in and arranged this photoshoot with the C4. The Call Center Camera Club is pretty big and by the looks of it there will be more shoots with these equally good looking guys in the coming months. My Fashion Photography itch would definitely welcome this.

I'm not going to show you the whole set but I'm going to get you a glimpse of some of the shots I made and what I was trying to achieve in post processing. I've been a little haunted by low key shots these past few weeks so I'm trying to get high contrast brightened skin colors because I'm not much of a fan of over saturated skin. I guess in some way I achieved that but I'm experimenting with layouts pretty soon. The end result is a little on the white-vampiric looking side and I got to emphasize on better parts like the eyes and clothes. Obviously I'm not done with the whole set but this should be a good thing to start that off.

Showing you some new sets pretty soon! Stay tuned for that! =)

Taking Care of IT Waste

We just had to upgrade our computers 6 months ago and it was really easy to do that in our office. The whole unit did cost a lot and we had some files on the old ones. Making sure everything on back up and working was a necessity since we are not planning to hamper our operations. Most corporations do that and to me this is mighty clear that we need to also get our old machines thrown out. We obviously do not have computer disposal systems in our part of the world so in short... we've got all our CPU stacked up right beside us. It's troublesome and takes a lot of space plus it is not going to look good as part of the interior design.



If there were some institutions like ROUND2 to do this for us we would be able to make this world a better place. Recycling is one of the ways to environmentally safe to do this. I can even think of some other things like giving these old units to far flung schools in the province that never had the luxury of having computers. It would surely help them a lot in education and make better next generation engineers or programmers. Information Technology has gone a long way and the proper disposal of its waste materials should be a priority. I'll ask people from another department to do these things and more. Maybe in the near future we wouldn't have to worry about it.

Have you thrown out old computers? Do you still have it somewhere and never knew when and how you are going to get rid of it? I have a good idea where to get it taken cared of now. You should too!

Angelo Reyes March 17, 1945 – February 8, 2011

I was shocked to say the least. Former Energy Secretary General Angelo Reyes committed suicide in the front of his mother's grave (via gunning himself down from a .45 caliber pistol). There must be a lot of things surrounding this event but if you think about it the pressure of being in the midst of controversy is the main cause of this. Honor has never been existent in this country of corrupt officials but look at what he did after getting his name marred in the AFP brouhaha. Rabusa the former AFP budget officer was also saddened about this even after exposing this system of money laundering in the defense department. It's so sad but after all these things there will still be a Senate and Congressional probe about the send off money they received to the amount of 50 million pesos. They apparently will still never forget about Reyes' wife too that had 41 trips outside of the country paid for by the peoples money.

I am sad because I knew him as my Dad's batchmate. He always attended their great activities. He was a decorated man and a civic leader. He chose to keep silent after all that because his reputation is being damaged, but Trillanes said otherwise and mentioned he had no reputation to damage anymore. He ain't sorry too for saying that. For what its worth I am still sorry for Angelo Reyes. May he rest in peace!

*image from Wikipedia

Getting Loud!

My fascination with scents go a long way and the only thing I'd ever want to receive from any of my relatives from out of the country is this. My preference is on the musky, sweet but woodsy side and in the past ** years of my existence I was lucky enough to get some hits and misses.

Today I still use them but personality wise these perfumes never really get me. I am LOUD for for all the right reasons and I think this maybe the right thing for me.

What's better is that even the "FOR HER" scent is equally LOUD. I'd really love to have one soon. I'll test it out and see if the scent is going to be LOUD as I thought it'll be!

Disturbing: 85y/o Woman Beaten by Own Daugther and Son in Law, Caged Too

I want an alibi or a hell of a good excuse why these people would hurt their Mom. It was a good thing some of their neighbors noticed and took videos of her being beaten up. I pity the 85year old woman who went through this ordeal. What thing would actually push her own daughter and son in law to hit her with broom sticks and everything else they can grab? It's just not right. Mothers should never go through this... why would they put her on a cage and let her sleep outside their house and treat her like an animal? The old woman even still defended them after all that. That's a mother anyone would like to have yet they treat her so bad. I almost cried just looking at it this evening. If only I could do the same to this deranged daughter and son in law that would certainly be a better punishment.

In this country where the poor and oppressed vouch around 50 percent of the population justice is somewhat of the same predicament. No one gets jailed, no one gets to pay for things that they have done because they are rich. I hope these people get to spend time in jail and stay there. If there was one thing I want for that old lady it would be the hope that she ends up getting the best care for the years that she still has. She's 85 years old and deserve to be treated better. I thought these things only happen in movies, apparently I was wrong. What if this happened to you when you get old? Don't you just hate them?!

I wouldn't do this to my Mom... that's for sure! It's just not right!

The Perfect Lounging Afternoon

I had friends over for a quick meal and made a lot of effort preparing food. I haven't seen them for a long time and this would really be a good day to reconnect. It was a good thing it happened on my day off so the schedule fits. They even brought wine and booze since that's what we often do in the hay days but I didn't quite enjoy that part since I stopped drinking a few months back. I asked them to wait in the Living Room as I get the food fixed and all along I thought they were comfortable. When I asked them to sit down on the table one of them whispered to me that I should change sofas. I was dumbfounded because I thought it was nice... apparently the blue corduroy that made everything hot said otherwise. I think I should take a look at my options in Max Furniture instead so I could get a new one. That is one thing I'll try and accomplish before the month ends. I don't have an expensive date for Valentines anyway!

The long stories between us were to die for! I love reminiscing and reconnecting and it was nice to see them in the flesh again. Some have kids and some stayed single like me. I want to see their kids though; call me envious but it falls on that category these days. I'm so happy about what happened to them and how they have become. I'm sure if I get leather ones the ambiance at home would surely be perfect. I won't have to sleep in a hot sofa on rest days too. I hope the next time they come over I'd be able to fix some design problems at home and get to have a few pieces purchased. Then I wouldn't have to worry about things like these anymore and just enjoy the time with them. That would be the perfect thing to do in a lazy afternoon. =)

A Week of Love, War, Flying and Shooting

I wasn't depressed but I posted a Facebook status this evening that was liked by a lot of people. It was about when someone makes you feel special and leaves you behind. Then you just play dumb and act like you are not affected. I was surprised why a lot of them felt the same way. To say the least the same people who reacted violently to that statement were such strong people. I couldn't believe they would someday be like that... not in a million years but there they were acting like normal people. Some of them even mushier than I thought they would be.

Egypt has been so crazy these past few weeks. I worry for the people just as I worry about all those historic relics in their museums. If looters came in and destroyed that it would be really so sad for the whole world history community. Is there such a thing? Well anyway, just as long as there wouldn't be anything wrong that will happen to them it's all good. I hope they know how to manage that.

Our own airports NAIA 1 2 and 3 were mentioned in a blog post by Ms C of Chuvaness.com and there was a bit there when they wrote the general manager about the things that could be improved and SHOULD BE IMPROVED in our airports. Unfortunately the clueless General who probably never lines up like the rest of us just shrugged it off and said some of them weren't true and cleared obviously things like getting the restrooms fixed. They said it takes weeks when in fact it can only take days to do that. I wonder who told him that fact... someone must be sleeping when God was raining out common sense. Sheesh!

Anyway, it was back to photoshoots for me this weekend and what can I say... I wasn't dissappointed because the photos I shot came out great. I have my handy dandy 35mm to thank for these things. Of course I have to thank my bros from SHUTTERPILLOW photographers for making this comeback a huge hit! Photos will be up this weekend! =)

Thanks for reading... I know, its boring hehehe!

(bts shot from Jay Niduaza, thanks!)

Oprah's Big Secret!

A family secret hidden for 25 years suddenly shocked the Queen of all media Oprah Winfrey on the January 24, 2011 episode of her show. Only her mother knew what it was and on a short confrontation 10 minutes on the show before that, she told Oprah the news... that she had another half Sister named Patricia. Her jaw dropped and said WHAT?!!!! Of course the episode above was their first meeting.

What made it all so touching was the younger sister knew about it for 2 years. Oprah just knew about it last Turkey Season and she never said anything about it to the media. What a nice person, if that happened to several people I know they probably would be in Jerry Springer tomorrow! LOL!

Anyway, her ratings seem to have picked up in the couple of weeks her OWN network was put up. Let's just wish her well on this discovery... and yes I watch her show so what?! LOL

Let's watch American Idol too. =)