Archive for category rants and raves
Twenty Unasked Questions
Posted by titopao in Uncategorized, rants and raves on 19 February 2010
My first blog post in months! I had busied myself with something very personal, which explains the long absence. I have renewed my domain name and hosting service, so things should go smoothly in the next few days
Anyway…
A friend posted a status message on her Facebook profile that wonders how it would have been if the presidential candidates for this year’s elections opened their own formspring accounts. The possibilities, she believed, is limitless: every person will now have his or her chance to ask their favorite (or hated) candidates questions, and the candidates will be able to present their best foot forward for the world to see.
New Music, New Songs
Posted by titopao in rants and raves on 25 August 2009
It will surely mean busy weekends to come.
My order of new music sheets just arrived in the mail. I went to the post office to pick it up, initially hesitant that I might get taxed Great Book Blockade style. Happily, I only paid the standard handling fee (that’s PhP 35, regardless of the size of the package) and left the package claims desk immediately. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Pumped up at work
Posted by titopao in rants and raves on 10 July 2009
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!
Sunny day
Posted by titopao in rants and raves on 26 June 2009
After the non-storm—the storm warning signals were a dud—the glow of a warm morning sun.
It’s a beautiful morning. Go out and bask in the sunlight, people


