Archive for August, 2009

Google’s Picasa 3


2009
08.30

Picasa collage

Has anyone tried their hands on Picasa 3?

I just did. I’m currently organizing my photos and cleaning up folders. My first Picasa project is a collage of old and new photos of Bianca and Clara, and some of the places we used to frequent back in the UK. It was one pretty easy task I did while watching Iron Man on HBO and checking on brothers playing PS2 with ipods stuck on their ears. We’re using too much electricity these past few days.

Here are some of the things you can do with Picasa: organize photos for easy finding, edit them, create collages, photo movies, slideshows, upload to blogs or to your email account for sending, and show your photos to the world through web-based Picasa photo account. It’s a freeware.

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CCF Anniversary on August 30


2009
08.30

Yeah, I know. I have been out of the church the whole month of August. My Sundays were booked and my weekdays were hell-raising moments. But I have a mom who frequents church service at CCF with her new set of friends. She won’t stop bugging me about going to the anniversary worship tomorrow in Araneta Coliseum.

Here’s the plan, despite the fact that I have been almost sleepless for the past 3 days:

1. Bring Marius, wear my most comfortable shirt-jeans get-up and bring my disposable shoe covers.
2. Ride with her and her amigas at 5am. Brother will go drive us to Cubao.
3. Stay in Starbucks and work on my mancom report while waiting for the clock to strike 8am.
4. Drink coffee frapuccino to keep my eyes open.
5. Wait for friends. I promised to reserve seats for them at the ringside.

If you’re a CCFer, see you there!

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My first balloon-twisting lesson


2009
08.24

balloon-twisting workshoppuppy I was with a group of kids last Sunday for a balloon-twisting lesson. Ralph, the balloon-twist guy, taught us basic animal shapes and other stuff like swords and flowers. Watching him do it was somewhat scary as we didn’t want balloons to pop right before our faces. But somehow the experience turned out to be okay.

There’s my amateur attempt to create a puppy. It took a couple of twists and turns to form one. You can basically form other shapes easily. All you’d need is some dose of creativity and an incredible amount of patience. I think similar virtues apply to every discipline.

I’ll post photos I downloaded from my sd card soon. By the way, if you’re interested to learn how or having one in your party, let me know.

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The time-traveling husband


2009
08.21

timetravelerswife

Henry wrote this to Clare:

“Clare, I want to tell you, again, I love you. Our love has been the thread through the labyrinth, the net under the high-wire walker, the only real thing in this strange life of mine that I could ever trust. Tonight I feel that my love for you has more density in this world than I do, myself: as though it could linger on after me and surround you, keep you, hold you.”

No. I have not read the book “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger. But I saw the movie last night with Renz. For a non-convert, and seeing the name Brad Pitt as the executive producer, I knew there’s something to look forward to its seemingly intimidating sci-fi like theme. It turned out that this chrono-genetic disorder was explained in simple terms better than my muddled understanding of POS systems. The movie presented Henry and Clare’s life in a neat sequence of two individual timelines merging in the end. (Huh? He he.) It left an impression on me the way Benjamin Button did – how the love of a man does transcend time and space and how a woman keeps all those little secrets in her heart. I think writing down the chronology of their dates would also help understand the entire sequence better.

I will buy that book. I’m ready to fall in love and cry.

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Ninoy Aquino: The greatest president we never had


2009
08.21

My only memory of the late Senator Ninoy Aquino was his black portrait on yellow shirts I saw the neighbors wore immediately after his assassination. That was more than 25 years ago when I was still an eight-year-old kid and weight losss supplements have not yet been invented.

During the height of public protests against the excesses of the Marcos regime and its participation to Ninoy’s assassination, former Senator Jovito Salonga quoted that Ninoy was “the greatest president we never had”. But with his death, no matter how unjust and brutal it was, Ninoy had accomplished more than what he could have done serving the country as its chief executive.

Benigno Servillano Aquino was born to a family of hacienderos in Concepcion, Tarlac. His grandfather, Servillano Aquino, was a general in the revolutionary army of Emilio Aguinaldo while his father, Benigno Aquino, Sr. (1894-1947) was a prominent official in the World War II government of José P. Laurel. His mother was Doña Aurora Aquino-Aquino, his father’s third cousin. His father died while Ninoy was in his teens. Aquino was educated in St. Joseph’s College, San Beda College, Ateneo de Manila, and De La Salle College.

- He was the youngest war correspondent to cover the Korean War for the newspaper The Manila Times at age 17.
- At 18, Ninoy received a Philippine Legion of Honor award from President Elpidio Quirino.
- At 21, he became an adviser to then defense secretary Ramon Magsaysay.
- He was 21 when he was appointed by President Ramon Magsaysay to act as personal emissary to Luis Taruc, leader of the Hukbalahap rebel group. After four months of negotiations, he was credited for Taruc’s unconditional surrender.
- He became mayor of Concepcion in 1955 at the age of 22. He married Corazon “Cory” Cojuangco on the same year.
- He was the youngest vice-governor at age 27.
- At 29, he became the governor of Tarlac.
- At 34, he was the youngest elected senator in 1967.
- On August 21, 1983, he was assassinated at age 50. Exactly 12 years after the 1971 Plaza Miranda Bombing.

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