[migration]

This'll be my last official post here on blogspot (aww). I've already finished moving all the files and fixed the layout and formatting for my new site on the SkewedStudios server. It's sad, pencilswordfish here on Blogger didn't reach May, first ever blog anniversary, but oh well. My new URL is here: PENCILSWORDFISH, see you guys there ^^.

[bingo, the omnipresent dog]

bingo

there was a farmer had a dog
and bingo was his name oh!
b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o
and bingo was his name oh!

old macdonald had a farm...
and bingo! was his name oh!!
b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o
and bingo was his name oh!

twinkle twinkle little star...
and bingo was his name oh!!!
b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o
and bingo was his name oh!

mary had a little lamb...
and bingo was his name oh!!
b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o
and bingo was his name oh!

row row row your boat...
and bingo was his name oh!!
b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o
and bingo was his name oh!

this is the song that never ends~
and bingo was his name oh!!!
b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o, b-i-n-g-o
and bingo was his name oh!

[the baguiosas quest-log]

I had planned to write some kind of bakasyon-sa-Baguio update here in the blog while I was there, but got lazy (nag-indulge lang ako nung nandoon ako, hehe). But now that I'm here, online with nothing to do, here's the quest log.

the Baguiosas to-do list:

Sleepathons
Sarap matulog, lamig sa gabi e. [mission success]

Early morning jogging
I guess the geeky homebody self defeated my athletic self. [mission failed]

Movie/Series Marathon
Kare-Kano
I borrowed Kuya's Kare-Kano (Kareshi Kanojo no Jijyo) DVD set, stopped over at Makati on my way to Baguio so I could marathon something once I get there - so I can give myself an excuse to stay up late, and wake up late. So you see, the movie/anime-marathons are in conjunction with the sleeping marathons ^^.

I already saw half of the series back in my college freshman days, but it's only now that I was able to finish the series, see it as a whole. I like the humor, the psychoanalytical take on teen romance, and the intentionally messed-up and lazy animation. The characters are great, there's so much about them you can relate to, and to be perfectly honest - I was able to realize a few things about my err.. own condition thanks to Souichiro and Yukino's interations. Overall, most people who've seen it will tell you that it's one of the best Gainax has ever produced, so I guess I'm most people ^^. [mission success]

Moments of Love, Don't Give Up on Us, the Skeleton Key, among others
My aunt brought some local movie (pirated, malamang) DVDs, I had nothing else to watch and they were right there, so what the hell. "Moments of Love" is an "Il Mare" rip-off, and no matter what the Kapuso says, the said "critically acclaimed" movie is nothing more than that. "Don't Give Up on Us (Baby?)" on the other hand, starring Piolo and Juday was surprisingly good (honest!). The plot was simple, but the script was great; insightful, witty and funny.

I also saw Firewall (it was crap), and this Korean horror flick, "The ..Something Stairway" or whatever - another cute-girl-dies-and-turns-into-another-Sadako story. But speaking of horror/suspense movies, "the Skeleton Key" (Kate Hudson, always had this crush on her ever since "Almost Famous") was another surprisingly good title. This was the last movie I watched before leaving - to kill time before I go to the Victory Liner terminal. It only manages to scare you a bit, give you a few chills, but what's really good about the movie is the twist in the end. It was good because I wasn't able to figure it out 100%. [mission success]

The Return of the King: Special Extended Edition
My LoTR Extended Edition collection is now complete! [mission complete!]

Gain some Weight
I don't really know whether or not I was successful in this or not, I just made it a point to eat and eat while I was there. Taking initial and final weight measurements was supposed to be part of the plan but I forgot to. Pero hindi na masyado maluwang yung pants ko kaya feeling ko tumaba naman ako kahit papano... Oks. I guess this is [mission success]

Catching Up
Agate Grad Dinner with the batch at Matutina's (I know, the name sounds funny) Seafood Resto at 7pm, Black Saturday. After that, we all just went to Rhoda's place (as usual); congratulated the graduates of Batch 2006, catched up, talked about each other's intrigues, failures, hang-ups and successes, got noisy, got drunk (on tequila, 1 case Red Horse Grande, and gin longnecks), and got wasted. I hadn't had THAT much alcohol in my system since I can't remember. Some of us got so wasted that we all just started blurting out things I never thought we'd be able to talk about. One in particular involved myself and Dette (hehe. binabasa mo pala 'to. Apir!) clearing things up. It seems we both have had the same conclusions about our predicament, and I'm glad (and quite relieved) we agreed.

See, that's the great thing about beer, it manages to squeeze things out of you, aside from buckets of piss.

Another inuman session was with my mom and dad (and an officemate of theirs), Ryan, his (new) girlfriend, and his friends. It was the first time I had a drink with my constantly-missing-in-the-most-important-occasions delinquent brother. Again, it's amazing how beer can fix some old wounds. [mission success]

I couldn't meet up wth Nicole though, and the others. I was stuck with the (false) info that summer registration was Thursday-Friday this week. I planned on seeing them Monday, but as you can see, today's Monday and I'm here. Sorry po ^^; I'll make it up to you guys, pramis. [failed big-time here]

Gebrankan Ownage: Baguio Edition
I don't know if I should be disappointed most of the players I got to play with in Baguio weren't very good, or I should be happy that I got to dominate for a while. But then again, although I played in a lot of different Internet cafes, I obviously didn't encounter the best the hometown has to offer, so I shouldn't be complaining.

The Kougah team was famous around Baguio for being the best CounterStrike players back when I was in highschool - so I it was natural to assume they're also good with DoTA, a team-game with a lot of similarities with CS. I played a couple of games with the players at MagicBox (I don't know if the netcafe is still called that. It's a PC Gaming/PS2/Magic the Gathering hobby shop), and they were quite good - but not as good as the best players in LB. They're not exactly the type of players who pay attention to and make a big deal about creepstats. There also weren't a lot of players at Outer Haven (another famous netcafe) when I went there, the ones I played with and against weren't very good either. Pero sabi ko nga, I'm not convinced I encountered the best players in Baguio.

The only really good player I know in Baguio is Neal, one of my best buddies in Baguio. I could beat him in Tekken, but never in a Warcraft normal game. It feels great though, I was able to impress people with my relatively high creepstats when I played, I was at top form. [mission success].

Reflection
I had a lot of time to think about ..many things. I wasn't able to confess (in fact, I hardly practice anything Catholic anymore), but I *was* able to got on Church on Easter. Holy week this year didn't have as much of an impact on me as last year - whose impact was mostly attributed to watching "the Passion of the Christ", it didn't make me cry (unlike my mother and sisters) but it did manage to get my eyes watery ^^. The closest thing to a spiritual/Christ story I've watched is The Return of the King (take a moment to recall. How many allusions to Christ's life can you see in LoTR?). [mission somewhat a success]

Overall, I've had a nice summer vacation - that's *it* for my summer, Classes start this week.. unless sumama ako sa Puerto Galera... hehe.

[back in elbi]

I was itching to get online when I got here, but now that I finally *am* online - I had so many things to say, so many stories to tell but tight now somehow I am unable to write about them.

Actually, I was itching to get back here more than I was itching to go online. I think I'm a bit excited to finally get back to work, finish my practicum and spend the summer here in Los Banos. Too bad she doesn't have plans to summer class, so I guess I won't see her much - but then again, I think there's something I can do about that. Anyway, I'm just happy to be back.

[gebrankan ownage]

I'm fresh out of the MGDR Internet Cafe 3v3 DoTA tournament and watching the replays here on Brian's PC, and just a few hours ago, we won first place. I mean... HELL YEAH WE FRIGGIN' WON FIRST PLACE! CHAMPION! Here's the story:

I was supposed to leave for Makati (and go straight home to Baguio) , but I decided to hang around a bit longer with Dianne, Louis and Cherrie. The tourney was scheduled April 7, 5:30pm, and Louis and I originally had no plans of joining, since we lacked one team member (the China-man) and we had no one else to complete the team and hopefully match-up against Marksman and the rest of (the real) team Gebranka. But since Dianne was with us later that afternoon, I thought we could draft her and join the tourney just for the hell of it (no offense Cherrie, I trust you in a lot of things, but not in your DoTA playing skills ^^). I figured we had a fighting chance as long as we could compensate for Dianne.

We were practicing our line-up a bit in h5, when something so WTF happened: we were informed that team Gebranka got banned from the tourney. Why? We found out later that a lot of the teams who were supposed to join backed-out at the sight of Marksman, Francis and Celsus ('yun yung WTF - Dianne, Louis and I would've still joined the tourney even though Marksman was there. Laban lang!). For the tournament to continue, more teams were needed to join - hence the ban. I heard it was team Ziggurat who requested the ban on Marksman's team.

With that, Louis and I signed up as team Gebranka with Celsus (we had to sub Cel for Dianne - to Dianne's relief ^^). The organizers allowed the sub, since it was only Celsus joining and not the whole Marksman team. The Clan's name was riding on our shoulders (gah, the pressure!), so we had to do our best. And besides, for me, someone was watching. I couldn't lose. ^^

The Rules: 3 on 3 Teampick, no feeding, no Necronomicon, 2 Mekanisms per team limit, backdooring allowed. Coin toss winner picks which side (Senti or Scourge). Final round is an Allpick match, where the coin toss winner gets to pick the first hero, opposing team picks the next, hero-picking proceeds in turn order until all teams have 3 heroes.

Preliminaries: match against the Ziggurat netcafe team
download replay

We win coin-toss and pick Scourge. Line-up: Me/Medusa, Louis/Lich, Cel/Krobelus. Sentinel line-up: Rhasta, Sniper, Sven. Medusa gets owned in the early game by Rhasta, Lich and Krob successfully control lanes and leave Sniper and Sven severely underleveled - they surprise us by using inefficient builds (Sniper caster build, Sven.. whatever build, Rhasta wtf double-Eul's build). Lich and Krob push different sides in midgame while Medusa is left to farm. By the endgame, full force pushes finish off Sentinel frontyard.

Semifinals: match against a team from Calamba
download replay

We win coin-toss and pick Scourge again changing our line-up to Me/Doombringer, Louis/Lich, Cel/Krob. Sentinel line-up: Rhasta, Syllabear, Morphling. The game was easy, Lich treating Rhasta like a noob, Krob harassing Morph, and Doom level-locking Bear. Rhasta and Morph constantly switching lanes to get away from Lich. Rhasta (who never got above boots, mantles, ciclets, a ring of regen and a sobi mask) constantly being Doomed in every clash. It was a bully-game. We only lost one tower, but not against a decent push, but against creeps we ignored because we were having too much fun. This is probably our best game: best creep stats, towers defended, most frags and least deaths.

Finals: match against Ray, Arct and Dim from Area51
download replay

Area51 wins coin-toss and surpisingly picks Krob as first hero not Lich (we figured it was to deny Celsus his Krob), so -as if we won the coin toss- we pick Lich, Sniper goes to them, Cel picks Shadowfiend, they pick Venomancer last, and I pick Doombringer as planned. Me/Doombringer, Louis/Lich, Cel/Nevermore; Ray/Krob, Arct/Sniper, Dim/Venomancer. We were all able to hold our lanes, though barely, at the start. Doombringer eventually level-locks Venomancer, Lich supresses Sniper, and Nevermore prances around, gaining insane creepkill stats. We were able to successfully incorporate travelling chicken with wards, flasks and townportals in our strategy, and I think it's what gave us the game. We gained the upper hand in lane-control up until midgame (avoiding ganks and ambushes) and started pushing lanes when we got our high-level items (SangeYasha and Aegis for Never, Soulbooster and Mekan on Lich and Linken's on Doom with SangeYasha on the way). From there, it was only a matter of keeping the Sentinel crippled until we could finish off the outer towers.

Although our victory is mostly attributed to not-so-good opponents who've never even heard of the Lich Dark Ritual build, who use inefficient builds, and, of course, the absence of Marksman and Ewan, a win is still a win. And there you have it, GG. GELO!!! Wish you were there. Para sayo laban na yun!

I'll be leaving for Baguio later today, and I know I'll be riding the bus with memories of yesterday still fresh in my mind - with a grin on my face I'll ignore the stupid bus music, enjoying my ride home, and looking forward to spending Sunday in the beach :D

[china-man]

One of my closest friends here in Elbi is leaving for China tomorrow, he'll be staying there for 3 years. I have a lot of things to say, and I'm having a bit of trouble trying to organize my thoughts (had a few beers just now), I'll try my best to say whatever I have to say.

Mimsas has pretty much said everything I have to say on this; that when I first met this guy I never expected him to be one of the closest friends I'll ever have. Some of the best lessons I've learned in life, about people, and about myself, I learned - directly, indirectly, intentional and unintentional - from him.

Here's to the China-man, the most generous BANK in the world, the Co-creator and author of the Pusoy Dos project -the darkside of the lightside of my concept designs-, Kupunan ni Eugene's teamleader and DoTA guru, the guy who should've been the boss of Skewed Studios, the guy who's arrogance and single-mindedness I've always hated, but (and I'm not ashamed to say it now) who's complete confidence, will, wit, and influence without even trying I've always envied.

Here's to great friends and great times. Gelosas, Mabuhax!

-Ansas

[f1]

Faith. And patience. I know I'm taking a while, but I'm learning.

[version 6! hell yeh]

Dapat nagrereview ako para sa finals ng STAT pero ok lang... kasi sulit ang nasayang kong oras sa kakabutingting ng blog ko! Bwahahaha!!!

I was trying to draw something that had a person with a katana, a pencil and a fish.. so I came up with this under-water layout with the banner located at the bottom of the page, with a pearl diver-ish kind of character with a fish, a sword and a pencil with a couple of seaweeds and corals and shit at the seafloor. Unfortunately, I couldn't -for the life of me- draw that scene I was picturing in my head. So I gave up on it, and decided to just look for some images on the net I could turn into a banner (due credit going to the artist of course), and then it occured to me - what if I just gathered images that had a sword, a pencil and a fish in it and just put them all on one picture.. something like a collage or, something like the one you're seeing right now.

Anyway, that's this new design's story. I'm thinking of taking out some inactive links in the sidebar... there's just too many things in there.

Have a great summer break everyone.

[post-semender]

Although a lot of things went wrong; overshooting expenses (buti na lang nagpunta ang mga "alumni" ng Skewed), a LOT of people couldn't come, and forgetting the ricecooker and lots of other little things; it was still a great night.

The best times of my life ^^. 'Nuff said.

[migration]

I always go back to this Blogger template, it's my favorite one. I'm planning on making a new blogskin, couldn't stand the old one anymore. In the meantime.. eto na lang muna. I'm currently working on a new blogdesign, and will be migrating soon to our own Skewed Studios server which means I'll be saying goodbye to Blogger soon. It's been great ^^.

[gusto ko mag-beach...]

layag
up dharma down

the world reminds me of you,
like stamps from letters never sent.
the ocean calls out to see me through.
but I refuse to tame what heaven bled

and never shall I roam
in a thousand years
finding home.
the taste of salt on my face
keeps me sane in some crazy race.

all I wanted was a leap of faith.
one day the heart will shout
your world will break.

the windows break when the fire shakes.
the morning will never be the same.
we will always be in a state of change.
further. farther.

never shall I roam
in a thousand years
finding home.
the taste of salt on my face
keeps me sane in some crazy race.

all I wanted was a leap of faith.
one day the heart will shout
your world will break.

[unsolicited things.. and up dharma down, again]

Unsolicited service is unneeded, unwanted, doesn't get you anywhere, and is indeed, unsolicited. But at least it gets the message across: you're around, and you'll be there awhile.. whether or not the unsolicited part changes. Anyway...

I've been listening to a lot of Up Dharma Down lately. I was about to make an album review here but am afraid that whatever I say here won't do the band's music justice ^^. Here are the Up Dharma Down songs that managed to stick to me wherever I go, some of it I even sing while taking my exams.

Layag (4:09). echoey vocals and insanely varied drumbeats... bass, guitars. I don't know shit about making music, so pardon my inept descriptions of the song. This song is somewhat of a creative masterpiece for me.. It just feels like something I've never heard before. If there's an absolute favorite track in this album for me, it would either be this or "Malikmata."

Maybe (2:52). It's the friggin' teaser single. I just can't get it off my head.

Oo (3:59). The lyrics just make me laugh everytime. Ang bargas e, "Malas mo, ikaw ang natipuhan ko..", etc. It expresses so much honesty. I won't be surprised if this becomes the most famous track in the album.

Malikmata (5:07). I've always been a bass-person, and this song is just.. the cool funky bass just gets me everytime. Nice. The chorus never fails to make me lose myself ^^.

[another dota metaphor]

how to make it to the endgame, even against assassination? put it all on Heart.

[dota]

In DoTA, when you push too far, you get shot down even if you had Sprint.

[howl's moving castle]

I've already seen the movie before (a few months ago), but just now I just finished watching it again - in English dubbing this time! (Batman! and Billy Crystal! San ka pa!?).

It's been a while since I've last seen, or rather, experienced such a "magical" feeling after watching a movie, an RPG or after reading a story (FFIX was one RPG that ended magically as well). You feel lightheaded, you're suddenly optimistic, and you generally feel good. Howl's Moving Castle is one movie that does that to you. It's already a great movie with just that and being a movie from Studio Ghibli and directed by THE Hayao Miyazaki should be enough to convince to watch this ASAP.

But of all the Ghibli movies I've seen so far (and I've already seen most of them; Mononoke, Graveyard of the Fireflies, Spirited Away, Totoro, Kiki's among others), Howl's is now my favorite.

Graveyard of the Fireflies is just too sad (and somewhat pointless IMO) and I never liked it. On the other hand, I DID like Kiki's Delivery Service, which was a joyride where nothing can go wrong from start to finish, and My Neighbor Totoro which is one of those animated movies I saw as a kid and is full of so many childhood memories.

Princess Mononoke and Howl's is kind of "tied" to first place for me. But the tiebreaker here is, I guess - although Princess Mononoke is the best Ghibli movie to write about, and San and Ashitaka is undoubtedly one of the best, no coolest (and kick-ass I should add) Ghibli leads ever... there's just something about Howl, Sophie and Calcifer that I like so much (maybe it's because of the characters being so likeable despite their flaws or something like that, especially Howl).

My views have changed in recent years. These days I'm more concerned about the simple things and I find myself not bothering anymore about politics or philosophy or any of the "deep stuff." I guess that's the difference I see between Howl and Mononoke, and the justification for my preference. It's the simplicity of the message Howl's Moving Castle wants across, that "hearts change" and love endures (no matter how cliched it may sound..). It's because of some of the things that Mononoke lacked... like a real "magical" happy ending, or Mononoke being too political. It's because of Howl's offering you, not questions of ethics like Mononoke, but questions of well... the kind that have something to do with love. It isn't trying to make you think, but it's trying to make you feel.

Howl's is based on the book with the same name written by Diana Wynn Jones, and although it's nothing like (and according to one review, "obscenely different") the original source material, it's a masterpiece, your classic love story with a great and enchanting plot with so much imagery and artistry (it leaves you breathless), imperfect but loveable characters and a happy ending.

[heliocentric]

cold with longing and anxiety
warmth from excitement and expectation
fear and total helplessness but with determination
trying to be patient but can't
wasting time by waiting
making the most of what time you have by moving
treading carefully, yet still stumbling
you've known the feeling
felt it so many times
and yet you still feel like you know nothing
unsure of the future
but you know you're sure of one thing
cliches here and there
but you just don't give a shit
you discover that your world revolves around one sun
yeh, this mess of feelings

[nfs most wanted vs underground]

I've been playing a lot of Need For Speed: Most Wanted lately, and I've recently beaten Blacklist #9 to finally unlock the Mazda RX7. Here's my favorite car, the Mitsubishi Eclipse that won me all my races and the next car I'm going to upgrade, the RX7 (which I intentionally made to look like Kyoko's RX7 from Initial D 4th Stage).

I like this game, but not as much as NFS: Underground 2. Although NFS Most Wanted is much the same with NFS Underground 2 graphics-wise (car models, environment, weather effects and motion blurs), Most Wanted does outclass the previous NFS games with the lighting effects. The lighting's just beautiful especially on sunsets, although it can blind you on horizons (but that's what's cool about! It actually blinds you!).

In terms of gameplay though, much of what drew me to Underground is no longer around in Most Wanted. While the police chases in Most Wanted are certainly exciting, it simply took too much of the game I became used to (note: I never really liked NFS: Hot Pursuit). Don't get me wrong, smashing through mobile roadblocks and dissing cops (cops on friggin' Corvettes) is cool - but I'm not looking for Grand Theft Auto, I'm looking for NFS.

In NFS Most Wanted:
No more advanced performance tune ups - I liked how Underground 2 allowed me to dabble in being a "mechanic"; performance testing and analyzing car performance graphs; but sadly, in Most Wanted you get this simple tuner slider bar.
No more drift races, rally and the downhill drift races.
No more cute chics at the startup line.
No more hidden races, shops and random challenges in the Free Roam mode. Frankly, Free Roam is useless now, since all the shops are the same and you can simply jump to races and initiate police chases straight from the Safehouse.
No more hydraulics (no more watching the car jump) and speakers systems (you don't feel like a pimp no mo') and less variety on vinyls - overlaying multiple vinyls to create unique and wicked, messed up vinyl designs.
But most of all, NO MORE Toyota Corolla.
No more SUVs (I want my Hummer!). Sure they gave lots of luxury cars this time like the BMW (yeh!), Lamborghinis, Porsches and a Dodge Viper but their just that, friggin pogi cars not streetracing cars - but then again that's just me.

In short, Most Wanted offers less visual flavor, customizability and Initial D-ness but offers ...more cops (and you don't even get to BE a cop).

[not cold but warm]

[post birthday things]

I was too preoccupied with expecting something from my friends that I forgot that I had a brother and an older sister here in Elbi. Ate saved some La Ville spaghetti for me and a few Toblerones. Francis on the other hand posted in his blog a poem (or probably a song) that I only saw today, isang napaka-WTF na kanta but get's me right here all the same. Drew, you shit, you forgot you had a family.

happy happy happy bertday

ang pangalan niya ay andrew
siya si pandaren, master ng brew
pag ako green , siya nama'y blue
gusto niya ang fighters ng foo
dati rin gs2 niya ang dolls na goo goo
pero pag jinumble mo ang 'yaku'

ay makukuha mo ang 'kuya'
wala lang happy birthday, bla bla
ang aking tina-type ay walang wala
kaya batiin niyo siya mga puta
sa pencilswordfish.blogspot.com a
walang wala ka ulol waahahahaha

Also.. yesterday I made a promise to someone. I plan to keep it. Today, somehow the world feels so much lighter than what I've gotten used to bearing.

[johari window]

It's surprising, what other people think of you. Here's my Johari window. You can add to my Johari window if you like, I can also add to yours if you have one. There's also the negative version, the Nohari window.

Silly and friendly huh...

[flight]

Winds so strong you feel like it can take you away if you jump off. That's what it was like in Sampaloc Lake, up high in the lake view. It was like that too in Caliraya, near the lake shore. I want to fly.

advice for the young at heart
tears for fears

advice for the young at heart
soon we will be older
when we gonna make it work ?

too many people living in a secret world
while they play mothers and fathers
we play little boys and girls
when we gonna make it work ?

i could be happy
i could be quite naive
it's only me and my shadows
happy in our make believe
soon...

and with the hounds at bay
i'll call your bluff
'cos it would be okay
to walk on tiptoes everyday

and when I think of you and all the love that's due
i'll make a promise, I'll make a stand
cos to these big brown eyes, this comes as no surprise
we've got the whole wide world in our hands

advice for the young at heart
soon we will be older
when we gonna make it work ?

love is promise
love is a souvenir
once given
never forgotten, never let it disappear

this could be our last chance
when we gonna make it work ?
working hour is over
and how it makes me weep
'cos someone sent my soul to sleep

and when I think of you and all the love that's due
i'll make a promise, I'll make a stand
'cos to these big brown eyes, this comes as no surprise
we've got the whole wide world in our hands

advice for the young at heart
soon we will be older
when we gonna make it work ?

working hour is over
we can do anyhting that we want
anything that we feel like doing
advice...

[rockelbi]

For Php200, sobrang sulit na sana e (look at that line-up! I mean... WTF man!!! kahit wala ng Bamboo sulit pa rin yan) kaso HINDI NATAPOS. Tinawanan pa namin yung MC nung sinabi niya na may "technicalities" daw kaya hindi matutuloy yung concert - iniisip namin "hindi ba dapat 'technical difficulties' yun" since inasahan namin ni baka nabasa lang ng ulan yung equipment. Turns out, it had nothing to do with the equipment afterall, the concert was cancelled because of problems with the contract - something about the Chancellor only allowing the concert to last until 12:00 (wtf). "Technicality" pala talaga, hindi technical difficulties.

I planned to make up for the not-so-good birthday by enjoying the concert with everybody but things still didn't turn out as expected. Only a few of us (so few) went to see the concert. Couple that with the concert getting cancelled and well... nakakabadtrip lang ng konti.

Buti na lang meron pa rin Urbandub, kaya kahit papaano sulit pa rin ako. As expected, my favorite band performed flawlessly, sayang lang hindi nila kinanta "Sailing". Stonefree, Cryola and Dicta License also (unexpectedly) had great performances, even Slapshock (a band I wasn't really waiting for). ChicoSci on the other hand was SHIT - nasabi ko na lang kagabi, "pucha ano yan!? My Chemical Romance!?... tangina bumakla na ChicoSci, wtf. Hinintay ko CHICOSCI hindi gay emo-rock! Tsaka ano namang klaseng gimik yan nung vocalist?Ano yan, J-Rock!?" Now besides ChicoSci sounding like that, a few other disappointments would be not being able to see Imago, Kjwan, Kapatid, Session Road and the Youth. Nevermind Hale, didn't want to hear Champ-rock and see all the ladies screeching anyway. And nevermind Parokya and Kamikaze, maraming beses ko na sila napanood.

Anway, RockElbi was still worth it after all that happened. It's always nice listening to great music and being with cool company. Bawi na yung birthday ko.

[twenty one]

What started out as a nice day just turned to shit. Sana di ko na lang inisip na birthday ko para di na ma-badtrip. Shouldn't have expected too much. Shouldn't have allowed myself to to lose the happy face, be selfish for just one day.

Anyway, the day's done. Tomorrow, everything's going back to normal.

[hehe, the movie of my life]

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

I got this from Sh3lly. Haha.. skewed studios is going to become a cult under my leadership :D

[what kind of coffee are you?]

You Are Irish Coffee



At your best, you are: wild, spontaneous, and outgoing
At your worst, you are: too extreme and reckless
You drink coffee when: you want to keep drinking booze
Your caffeine addiction level: low

Take the quiz here

I just liked how it said that I drink coffee so I can drink more booze, because it's very true :D

[the weatherman]

Ernie Baron, the country's no.1 weatherman/trivia and applied science guy dies at 65. See Full story here.

The man has always been one of the biggest icons of my childhood. As a kid, the only reason I watched the evening news was to the weather report, waiting for Typhoon Signal # 2 (primary and secondary classes are cancelled) and the day's trivia. Much of what made me a smart kid, I owe it to him. For a kid who never liked going to class and loved trivia - the man was like a hero.

Here's to Ernie Baron: "Kung walang KNOWLEDGE, walang POWER!"

[the 3on 3 dota tournament]

Never thought 3rd place could be so cool.

Anyway, team "Kupunan ni Eugene" was me, Gelo and Louis (codenames: Mr. Valdez, Guwapong Suzuki and Dr. Ichigaki respectively). Our Sentinel lineup was Sven, Ezalor/Chen, and Shandelzare (again, respectively), Scourge lineup was Venomancer, Terrorblade, Krobelus.

I won't go into the details of the match (all technical stuff about how we won, how we lost, etc.) so I won't be boring anyone (maraming details yun), but yeah, we we're "tied" to third place along with Team "Vampirism" which was Celsus, Marksman and Francis - all well known "monstrous" players in ELbi. Kaya kami masaya sa third place e, kaso "nakapantay" namin sina Celsus :D Bragging rights wohoo!!! Now how we all got stuck to third place is a long story I don't really feel like telling - too technical.

1st and 2nd were Paco's team (from Area51) and JM's team (the Barracks team) - the team we BEAT in the semi-finals round. How JM's team got to the finals even after getting beaten by us (single elimination) is another story, and one I don't really feel like telling because I don't really like what happened - a technical thing I disagree with.

But all in all, it was GG - not just a good game but a GREAT GAME. THIRD PLACE AND PROUD OF IT :D

[up dharma down]

It's band pimping time again.

I'm currently on the hunt for any Up Dharma Down CDs, mp3s, whatever, I don't care I just want their music. After hearing "Maybe", I instantly fell in love with their music - just the right mix of what I'm looking for. Parang yung pinakamasarap na timpla ng pinaka-gusto mong kape.

Beautiful.

Anyway, back to the hunt.

[going back to normal]

Instructions: Copy and paste the first sentence(s) from your first entry of each month this past year. What better way to sum up your year and make a countdown to '06! [got this from Nikki]

January - April
haven't started blogging then :D

May
Took a lot of time for this blog to finish so I hope you like it. Since this is my first ever post, I guess I'll cover the basics first; about the site (err blog), who I am, and stuff like that.

June
I've been doing nothing but travel the big big ocean that is the web all week. Friggin comsci instructors just won't show up no matter how hard I look for them so I decided "to Jigoku with removals, I shall bum out instead and enjoy the last few days of summer. " And so I did.

July
Back to normal... life, that is. (nikki, pagaya ng style. just this once) The speed of how life's pace changes amazes me.

August
Yesterday, I decided to go buy a fresh supply of blank CDs from Greenhills on my way home from QC (from a todo-gimmick weekend at QC). While I was checking a few things out at 2RATS before buying blanks, I saw a DVD compilation of Beck - Mongolian Chop Squad.

September
Got the piano-only versions of her [Utada Hikaru] 2nd album songs and It just made my day. the entire collection is beautiful.

October
the Politics Quiz results.

November
Back in elbi... and somehow everything feels like it's back to normal.

December
The reality of how this country has been fixing the [SEA] games makes me sick.

"Back to normal" was mentioned twice (maybe more). Seem's getting things back to normal or trying to get things back to normal has been my theme for 2005. What was so "not right" or "normal" that I kept on trying to get things "back to normal"?

Yeah, I think I know... Hope she's doing fine now. Forgiven or not, it's past time I stopped looking back.