Archive for July, 2009
New 7 Wonders: The Finalists
Posted by titopao in rants and raves on 22 July 2009
So Puerto Princesa made it after all 
Here are the 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature:
- Amazon
- Angel Falls
- Bay of Fundy
- Black Forest
- Bu Tinah Shoals
- Cliffs of Moher
- Dead Sea
- El Yunque Read the rest of this entry »
Off to the Movies ;-)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (from Wikipedia)
I’m off to the movies tonight! I got myself free tickets to a special screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (a.k.a. Harry Potter 6, if you prefer the numbers). This will be a fundraiser, so I’m assured that proceeds from the tickets go to a worthy cause.
I hope I could get to complete a review by tomorrow. I can’t say if I’ll avoid spoilers because, by this time, some viewers should have re-read the entire book to prepare themselves for the movie. (At least, I know a good number who did.)
Half-Blood Prince is one of the best books in the entire series. This proves to be a disadvantage, because any reservations or comments I may have about the movie may be tinged with a bias for faithfulness to the text. I’ll try to avoid these biases for the sake of those who haven’t had the chance or the time to read through the entire Harry Potter series.
Why I Won’t Vote for Puerto Princesa
Posted by titopao in rants and raves on 14 July 2009
A cave entrance to the Puerto Princessa Subterranean National Park. Is this the next 7 Wonders of Nature?
There is an interesting discussion about the New 7 Wonders of Nature online poll over at one of the online communities I belong to. The discussion began way back when the voting for the 7Wonders of Nature began; in typical Pinoy fashion, most of the participants in the discussion called on all Pinoys to vote for all the Philippine nominees. Back then, there were four entries from the Philippines, to wit:
- Puerto Princessa Subterranean River National Park
- Tubbataha Reef
- Chocolate Hills
- Mayon Volcano
In case you missed the goings on, here’s a recap: the New 7 Wonders of Nature is an online contest ran by the same group that conducted the New 7 Wonders of the World contest. The previous contest featured man-made sites, while only natural sites are qualified in the current poll. There are three rounds of voting: the first, a “wildcard” voting where anyone in the Internet can nominate a site (subject to the nominating rules), and the voters pick their favorites. (This is the round that got the most press in local news websites.) The top 77 entries in this wildcard vote will move up to the, well, Top 77 round, which will be reviewed by a panel of experts. Only one entry per country is permitted, except for multi-country sites such as the Dead Sea (which made it to the Top 77). The expert panel will then announce the 28 finalists (on July 21, 12:07 GMT), and only then would the final voting resume until 2011. The Top 7 out of 28 finalists will then be declared as the New Seven Wonders of Nature.
Fortunately, the Philippines’ top entry for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, Puerto Princessa Subterranean River National Park, made it to the Top 77. But I will not vote for Puerto Princesa…yet. If you read the previous paragraph well, you’ll see why: because I simply cannot vote when voting is closed. Read the rest of this entry »
Pumped up at work
Posted by titopao in rants and raves on 10 July 2009
My office desktop, as of this posting
New desktop units for our department arrived in the office and, fortunately, I was one of the lucky code monkeys who would receive the spanking new units. I won’t go over the specifics, but let me just say that everything I wanted in a brand new PC were there: maxed out RAM and video card, a huge hard drive and (best of all) a brand new keyboard. (The keyboard deserves special mention because I’m a fast typist, and a keyboard full of sticky keys does affect my productivity.)
Getting Xubuntu to be installed took me all of a mere 15 minutes (including filling up the forms and restarting the PC). The best thing about the spanking new PC is that I was able to install all the (open source) apps in less time than it took me with my old PC: what took me three days to complete took me a mere three hours, all while doing my work. Not bad, considering that my new computer doesn’t even a multicore processor. The Gimp even starts up in less than six seconds. (Maybe I should test-drive this new PC with Blender and LAME, too.)
With a computer this fast, I’m seeing tons of improvement over my work. I’m now able to type roughly as fast as I can think. Programming now seems as natural as writing a blog post like this; now, I am no longer bound by sticky keys, buffer overflows and stuttering mouse cursors, but by imagination. After all, as the Wordpress mantra goes, code is poetry.
Something happened at the T-H-E-A-T-E-R
Posted by titopao in rants and raves on 7 July 2009
And I was there when it happened 
Note: this video was uploaded by Youtube “atlantisproductionsinc”, not by me.
Too bad there weren’t too many footages of the audience’s faces. The look on their faces were simply priceless
UPDATE: Here’s an article from the actress who played the Vice-Principal. Click on the headline to visit the original article:
Can you spell P-R-O-P-O-S-A-L?
By Cathy Azanza-Dy Updated July 10, 2009 12:00 AMMANILA, Philippines – One of the things that makes The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee such an enjoyable play to watch is that no two shows are ever the same. The Bee invites audience members to be guest spellers on stage, which makes each show a unique and special experience.
This was doubly true on the night of July 4, where at the end of the show, the audience was treated to yet another heartwarming spectacle: an honest-to-goodness, real-life marriage proposal, right there on stage.
Guest speller Sherilyn Siy, who had been eliminated in the earlier round of the Bee, was called back on stage by the show’s hosts, Rona Lisa Peretti, whom I play, and Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Joel Trinidad). Due to a “technicality,” Siy was given a second chance to spell another word, to be given by a guest word pronouncer — who turned out to be her boyfriend, Charles McJilton.
Picking up the microphone, McJilton said solemnly, “Your word is: ‘Marry.’”
A speechless Siy stood smiling and teary-eyed as the audience cheered. McJilton quipped, “If you can’t spell the word, I can give you a sentence…”
The couple had been together for about a year. McJilton is the executive director of Second Harvest Japan, a non-government organization that matches food donations with various relief and welfare agencies in Japan. Siy, on the other hand, is a teacher and researcher at Miriam College.
They met briefly during a dinner hosted in Manila by Bruce and Rosalie Hall for those involved in the food-banking mission. The next evening, McJilton and Siy found themselves on their first date, which was the first of many leading to this special moment during the Bee.
McJilton pointed to their seats in the orchestra section. “A year ago, in those seats, you stole my heart,” he said, alluding to their first date watching Atlantis Productions’ Avenue Q last year. “It would be my great pleasure spending the rest of my life waking up to you, and raising children with you.”
Wiping her tears, Siy joked, “Do I have to spell it?” before finally letting out a breathless “Yes!”
The newly engaged couple then sealed the moment with a passionate kiss onstage, as the entire theater erupted in shouts and thunderous applause. Indeed, anything can happen at the Bee!
To the beautiful couple, the entire cast and crew of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee extend their best wishes for a lifetime of happiness and love.
C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S!