Penster

TO MULTIPLY I GO

I've received invites for multiply for God knows when and I've never really considered using it. Friendster was enough to do social networking and it has the critical mass for it.

Then came my quest to find a blog home where I can easily share my pictures and stories. Although, I could to that here... Friendster blog looks soooo dirty now with advertisements on the top AND in the middle of my blog. Simply looks tackless. I could have gone with best-in-class blog sites and apps but I would miss out on the social networking crowd.

Then I chanced upon a friends Multiply page... and I was impressed by how "clean" it looks and the in-built integration with "best-in-class" third party apps... (Flickr, Kodak, Shutterfly for photos while Blogger, etc for blogs). Automated tools to get you going was also available and with substantially good mass of people already moving to Multiply, I wouldn't lose out on being connected. These won me over.

Thus, i've moved to http://sqlocarinas.multiply.com/

Third Eye Blind

Last night, just went to the Third Eye Blind concert in Covington KY (near Cincinnati). It was a good show! Eventhough i'm not a die hard fan, their old songs were very much familiar that i'm able to sing (more of shout) along at some point. Well worth the $27.

We did notice there that almost all were white... no blacks eventhough the Cincinnati area has a large black population... and we are the only Asians there.

Still, it makes me want to watch other concerts!

3EB Concert Pix and Vids

What a way to go! Harry Potter 7!

And so it ends... as promised, Harry Potter ended with the release of the 7th book last weekend. Did it live up to the hype??? You bet it did! I wasn't certain that it would as the last few books since book 3 I thought left too many things unclear. Being the last book of the series, it had the advantage of being able to close it all.

Last friday, people filled a nearby Barnes &  Noble @ midnight... simply waiting to get a hold of the book ASAP. I was there more to see the crowd who were wearing costumes including one who wore Hagrid's robes and who must be wearing stilts underneath.

I finished the book the other night... not because I can't wait... but I'm afraid I get to hear or read of the ending accidentally and spoil the experience (which happened to a friend recently). It was written in a way that it was as if you were watching an action sci-fi movie complete with drama (and musical scores in your head! Seriously!).

Of course theories abound on what happens in HP7. (A bit of a spoiler alert but I won't mention anything specific.) Things such as Dumbledore is alive or Snape is good or Harry dies... The book did not disappoint... it was expectedly unexpected. A friend said that it somewhat like LOTR where instead of Frodo and the fellowship, you have Harry with Ron and Hermione (plus DA and the order). You have the battle at hogwarts replacing battle at Gondor. Many died. Many lived. A great way to end a great series. JK gave a last surprise by writing an Epilogue at the end... set 19 years after it all.

Kudos to JK Rowling! I do hope the series won't be spoiled by sequels... it should simply end here. It would be tough to translate this one into a movie!

Woh! Vegas and the World Series of Poker

I came for an SAP seminar, I met some stars! For those of you who'd been playing poker and have watched some of the tournaments on TV @ ESPN2, then definitely you'd know this guy! Phil Hellmuth, one of the best players in the world and the record WSOP bracelet holder with 11 (he just overtook Doyle Brunson in this months events).

Made my week to see them there in Las Vegas in action. Not only Phil but also all the big names - Greg Raymer, Daniel Negranu, Doyle and Todd Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Mike Matusow, Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Barry, Mike Sexton, Menn "The Master", John Juanda, and Scotty Nguyen.

Panglao Island Nature Resort

It's the middle of summer and most people have  taken vacations and hit the beaches. Was fortunate enough to join Camille and Reena to Bohol and stayed in Panglao Island Nature Resort.

The place is GREAT! Highly recommended not just for the nice views but also for the warm hospitality of the people there.

They have great accomodations, a beach front, a man-made island just off the beach (see picture) where you can relax... and if you're not relaxed enough... there's an in-resort SPA with the best views and service!

Accomodations: Clean, air-conditioned, with snacks, roomy, includes buffet bfast and dinner.

Facilities: Nice infinity pool, jacuzzi, game room, etc

Beach: "Ok" beach but off-beach island is a nice refuge to relax

A bit pricy but worth-it! Overall, highly recommended!

To Wii or not to Wii

The Nintendo Wii. It has been bugging me since December... should I or should I not get one?

PS3 although quite impressive, it is simply overkill. I don't have an HDTV nor do I intend to collect Blu-Ray videos but damn the graphics are amazing. I can't justify the $500 price tag though.

The Wii, however, is such a novelty. Instead of being a kickass gamer machine, it is more of an all-around entertainment appliance! It gets you more physically involved in the games which is good for home parties. Bad side, the games are quite on the lame side. At least the games that came out so far.

Thus I seriously considered the PS2... it had the games and it was half the price of the Wii. Pirated games galore and it can be "modified". The games are also half the price and readily available. But still... it wasn't new or a novell idea and it's going obsolete in a year or two.

Logic alone... i'd go with PS2. But my gut says go for a Wii!

Thanksgiving in Arizona

I was fortunate last week to have had the chance to visit my older brother in Phoenix Arizona for Thanksgiving. At the very least, the weather would be much more comfortable there and this would also be the best time to visit the deserts of AZ. Summer there would hit as high as 118F... yeah sure, it's dry heat but still!

I knew AZ is a desert but I didn't expect that there would be cactus plants along the road! I definitely thought that was interesting.

It was also my first thanksgiving. My brother prepared the turkey, his first time to do so and it tasted great! That all-night marinade paid off.

Right after dinner, we prepared for what apparently has become one of the US traditions... planning for the next day.. BLACK  FRIDAY! The day when all stores have ridiculously great deals and open much earlier that Friday morning! Using the newspaper that thanksgiving day, we had the catalog of items on sale from all stores which we used to plan for the next day. Yes, we woke up at 4:30am and we were at Best Buy,Circuit City and Stables at 5am! It was a crazy scene as everybody else seems to be up early for the sale! The nearest thing in Manila to black friday is Midnight Madness sales but here it has become a yearly ritual!

More pictures at http://new.photos.yahoo.com/sqlocarinas/album/576460762359530697

Fall at Red River Gorge

It's the middle of fall... and we can all feel it here. Two weekends ago, the pinoy group downtown decided to experience it more in scenic red river gorge. The link will show some of the best pictures from everybody's camera in this Kentucky state park. Takes some time to load but it's worth it ^_^

Of course, we didn't only go to take pictures of the place. It is a very "pinoy" thing to do that at every step, we were enjoying taking pictures of each other. Here we some of the pics of us having fun at the park. Enjoy!

"Your mother"

An ordinary car with and extraordinary plate number. You can't get this in Manila. When asked why, what does it mean... well... It does say "Your mother"... nothing bad about that right?

This was taken from my relative's car in Cleveland.

O diba?!?

Visited a Filipino family here in Cincinnati and we saw this... Nike came out with a limited edition basketball shoe with Philippine flag design. I thought that was interesting. Yeah, we pinoys love our basketball.

And I think it came with this shoe box too... o DIBA?