A Day in Norman's Shoes

S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom had an affair with...

2007-02-01T18:50:00.000-08:00

...his former campaign manager. Very low indeed...there are a lot of single women around, maybe even interns huh...

He will definitely not get my vote, EVER, even if he becomes the best mayor in the world. Leaders should have a level of integrity and morality, if he want's some omph he shouldn't have considered his campaign manager's wife. Low indeed.

More info at MSN

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year

2007-01-11T06:54:00.000-08:00

White Xmas in Tahoe and a winederful New Year!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2006-12-19T16:30:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Skilling sentenced to 24 years in prison

2006-10-23T18:37:00.000-07:00

Skilling sentenced to 24 years in prison:

May someone toss his salad...

Weekend Photo

2006-09-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

Went to a friend's BDAY and of course four cases of beer, tequila, vodka, wine and black label.
Karaoke + alcohol = good time.

then Sunday... started working on work stuff...oh well...bought simpson episode and Rent-OST cd for entertainment while working ;)

Bush Rapping??!!!

2006-09-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

Some funny stuff I saw online:

Bush rapping to the song PIMP by Fifty Cent

Wallet Talk Wednesday: Savings with good interest rates

2006-09-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Well when I started my blog I had a narrow view on what I was going to put in it. I thought maybe money matters and some funky stuff should be ok. In a way as life evolves my blog evolved too and reflects current situations and environment. Since money matters has always been consistent in the parts of investing, saving, taking opportunities I have not written anything about money as they mostly float on the same idea.

For conservative folks savings accounts with good interest rates are the best place to put money in. I do have an account in one of the following:

Today:
Emigrant Direct 5.15% Savings as of September 2006
Presidential 5.12% Premier Savings as of September 2006
ING Direct 4.40% Savings as of September 2006

vs.

Last Year's rate:
Emigrant Direct 4.0% Savings as of 10/19/05
Presidential 4.12% Premier Savings as of 10/19/05
ING Direct 3.4% Savings as of 10/19/05

Cheerio!

Idiot Pranksters: Revenge of the Joe

2006-09-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

Idiot prankster throws a drink at the drive thru and forgot to put the car in gear. The attendant threw a drink back at the jerk. LOL!

Free Video Hosting Watch More Videos

Remember

2006-09-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

Remember the 11th of September
Planes Crashing
Buildings collapsing
Tears flowing
Bodies lifeless
A day when time stood still.

I still remember driving to work hearing the news in the radio and it was surreal. When I got to work there was a TV there brought by someone sitting in the hallway and people were watching.
Everyone was stunned, all we could say/ask were short sentences/questions like: "Oh my God", "Can you believe it?", "Who, Why?", "This is Crazy"

Five years after...
Osama is still free.
Taliban still fights in pockets of Afghanistan.
War in Iraq.
Iran is developing Nuclear power supposedly for energy purposes.
North Korea is testing long range missiles.
Mideast just finished a 31 day war (Israel vs. Hesbollah).

Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin Died!

2006-09-09T07:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was on the news hours after his death, Steve Irwin died during an underwater shoot when a stingray he was following stabbed him in the chest. Well he did die doing what he loved so that's a consolation in a way I guess.

He will be remembered.
"Crikey"

Photos: 49ers

2006-09-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

No story to write now still super busy at work, but baseball is still boring to me, my first ball game was 4 years ago and I was bored to the brim of my beer. My last, I think, was a couple of weeks ago and I was bored still even with company. No more ball games for me ;) Got pics of the infamous Bary Bonds (supposedly steroid powered hits).

Have a good weekend. Cheers!

Search this...

2006-09-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

Go to Google and search this word: failure

.
..
...
....
.....
......
.......

Funny output. Weird that it brought up GWB's biography. I looked at the source code of the page and couldn't find any tags there to show failure. Not that I don't think his policies and decisions are NOT failures of his precidency but I would have thought the page would contain some words or tags that points to the word "failure."

GOOGLE's Explanation on why it is on top:

'*************** Taken from Google *********************'
Googler insights into product and technology news and our culture.
Googlebombing 'failure'
9/16/2005 12:54:00 PM
Posted by Marissa Mayer, Director of Consumer Web ProductsIf you do a Google search on the word [failure] or the phrase [miserable failure], the top result is currently the White House’s official biographical page for President Bush. We've received some complaints recently from users who assume that this reflects a political bias on our part. I'd like to explain how these results come up in order to allay these concerns.Google's search results are generated by computer programs that rank web pages in large part by examining the number and relative popularity of the sites that link to them. By using a practice called googlebombing, however, determined pranksters can occasionally produce odd results. In this case, a number of webmasters use the phrases [failure] and [miserable failure] to describe and link to President Bush's website, thus pushing it to the top of searches for those phrases. We don't condone the practice of googlebombing, or any other action that seeks to affect the integrity of our search results, but we're also reluctant to alter our results by hand in order to prevent such items from showing up. Pranks like this may be distracting to some, but they don't affect the overall quality of our search service, whose objectivity, as always, remains the core of our mission.

Photos: Tahoe

2006-08-31T17:21:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy at work and will be until our.... um...development launch. Good thing wifey and I were able to go to Tahoe for a few days of R&R.

Story: Went to Tahoe with our dog, stayed at a house there in Incline Village and had good drinks, food (well except for the chinese food there which tasted bland), went places and swam a bit (wifey that is) had a wonderful time. Great place to go as always ;)

Cheers!

Photo Story: Rave!!!

2006-08-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Rave! da daa.... dada...

Nope. My nephew's baptism actually. My brother had this great idea that instead of having the reception in his house or a restaurant he just held the reception at Hilton. After the ceremony at the church we headed out to hilton, started with drinks while my nephew fell asleep. The DJ was pretty good, had parlor games for the kids and dancing for the adults. Cool stuff...busy at work, not much time for other stuff...Cheers.

2006-08-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

hmmm still can't post pics on the previous post....oh well...

Photo Story: Luxury Living eh?

2006-08-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

It was a tiring day today, the morning started like any regular morning, woke up too early for the weekend due to the habit of waking up early on weekdays. Got our dog outside and did some cleaning, proceeded to do some work as the project I'm working on is in a kind of a rush. Then we went to my sister's new house a few miles from our place and helped them unpack, got back settled in and while wifey's fighting the cold or flu I decided to do more research for work and drink some wine. I didn't want to drink my red today so I got a Bordeaux instead as I only drink white when I don't want to waste my reds (except white zins, I found out they taste well with roasted chicken ;). I remembered this has been in the fridge for a couple of months and it was sent to us by BMW for appreciation of purchasing their fine automobile. Other than this wine they had sent us catalogues for new cars, club membership, BMW credit card application and some DVD's that shows the cars and the future for BMW. I really do like the way they treated us as of course for marketing and future growth they'd like to catch people like me in their net so when I get used to the treatment and attention they gave me my next car would be from under their shop too. Fortunately for them if ever we are going to buy another car their brand will be on top of the list, unfortunately though we're not rich so who knows ;) but this is a fact, no matter what I won't buy Benz. Our neighbor told us that their service is crap and that they didn't help him get his issues resolved with his Benz so he told them that if this is the way Benz treats customers they just lost one. He ended up getting a 7 series instead of the same Benz model, so after hearing this I wouldn't waste time on a Benz, I heard the quality is crap anyways.
On the flipside, there is a big chance that if you see someone driving very nice cars a lot of them are actually leasing the cars. Other that the fact that these people are probably liking the way they are being treated by the company or the fact that they want to show themselves as successful (materially). Personally I think there are three reasons to lease: 1. You're very rich and you change cars every year or so, 2. You have a business and leasing a car gives you the opportunity to claim the car as a business transportation, or 3. You can't afford the car so you lease it instead. And normally it's the #3 for a lot of people. Leasing is a waste of money as it's smarter to get a car that you can afford and keep it, because maintenance of automobiles are cheaper than the monthly of a leased luxury car. But it's a material world and it's sad to see people value other people by what they drive or have instead of the actual person.

hmmm.... pics issue, blogger can't seem to upload them...

High Visibility Low Value

2006-08-04T06:05:00.000-07:00

Been busy at work lately, I was dragged into another project again which IMO is very High Visibility but Low Value...Website reconstruction, yes your average website with functionality of most websites, not an online store on anything. I've never done content or design because I've always been involved with developing application, but I did notice that it takes so much time for those powers that be to choose what colors and what styles to use and type of functionality for the site...teheee... funny. My take is KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid! That's why Google is on the top of the pack now, no frills, few ads, just the basic search engine everyone wants. People always feel websites should have so many functions when in fact the fewer the better as nobody wants to visit a busy website. Blah! Nice project for me though.

Trucks and their drivers

2006-08-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

I've been noticing the increasing volume of speeding pickup trucks and SUV's like the Ford F150, Expeditions, Tahoes and Chevys on the road and some even swerve while speeding. Do these truck owners know that their vehicle has a higher center of gravity and will likely flip over in a sharp turn or an accident than normal cars? Are they all doctors or rescuers that they have to get somewhere to perform life saving operations? Do they know that the force of their vehicle if/when it hits another vehicle is very extreme (Force = Mass x Acceleration, if you don't know this go back to High School)?

Are these drivers stupid or something? Yes, both stupid and something.

If you have a truck/SUV and drive it like mad read SUV Rollovers.com before you hurt somebody.

Red Sky

2006-07-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend we were with family having a good time and enjoying the day. The weather was great, cooled down from the historic heat a week ago, the food was great, from carnitas, small clams to ribs, the wine was great, 4 bottles of cab and a pinot noir, and of course the company was great. I noticed the red sky (pics attached) and thought it looked really nice as the sky has been clear for most of the month especially during the heat wave. Only today I realized that in the other part of the world, Lebanon to be exact, at probably the same time we were drinking and having fun, the red sky meant tragedy. Instead of wine being poured blood was pouring from someone's body, instead of music and conversation screams and cries was being heard. The deadliest day of the conflict happened this weekend when IAF dropped a bomb in Qana and killed 56 people many of them children. It is very unfortunate that so many innocent has been killed in this war. We just hope it ends soon as both sides have their part to blame.

Animo La Salle!

2006-07-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

My sister who is our only Atenean sibling (three Archers) and smartest of us showed me this music video "Rather Be Green" so cheesy but so funny... Go Green Archers

Tech News...

2006-07-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

Intel releases Core 2 Duo:
Gist: Your computer with two "brains" + better performance + low power consumption. This release will push the prices down for the current products from INTEL and AMD so it's either wait for the machines with Core 2 Duo to be standardized all around or buy the "older" systems for cheap. Competition is King for consumers (if the companies aren't a cartel).

I might upgrade in the future with this core, my desktop is about two years old already. But then again I'll probably wait for window vista and see what CPU will be good to run it.

Firefox users be sure to patch up:
Gist: Mozilla rolled out updates to patch FireFox which is said to have eight "critical" flaws. I've actually removed FireFox now as I don't see any point in maintaining two browsers which have to be patched from time to time.

Cops with cool cars....

2006-07-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't mind being a cop if I'm chasing folks with these:

Mideast Crisis...it never stops...

2006-07-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

Honestly how can one not have a stand on the current war? Yahoo have had a portion that contains the mideast conflict since years ago Yahoo Full Coverage: Mideast Conflict. One can even just view the slideshow in order to see how damaging it is to Lebanon's economy and civilian population and Israel's civilian in range of the rockets.
Personally I think Israel will not have peace in that area until Hezbollah is eradicated or reduced to a non operational group. The problem is they had six years to build up their bunkers and hideouts and as guerilla tactics goes they will be using civilians as shields and a lot of propaganda to put international pressure on Israel to stop their attack. Since they don't really need to beat Israel all they have to do is survive it will be a hard task for IDF to work on them and make sure they are destroyed as an organization, but time is not on their side as the current media exposure and calls from the international community for a cease fire will probably force Israel to stop their offensive sooner than later.
On this war I'm on Israel's side since Hezbollah, when it comes down to it is another Taliban and their aim is to eliminate or destroy the state of Israel. How much future can an organization really have? Just a hate organization? Yeah...great...and Lebanon can thank Hezbollah for brining them to this unnecessary war. I'm sure the future children will love to work in construction to set up the houses, buildings, roads and bridges that were destroyed in this war.

It's so hot here....

2006-07-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

8mm-F/3.2-2sec-ISO100

25mm-F/8-4sec.-ISO100-w/Flash (created the yellowish effect)

20mm-F/4-1/60sec-ISO100

30mm-F/4-1/60sec-ISO100

It has been a hot week here in the bay-area, I think we have had 100+ degrees for a week now. Power outage across the board, some places for more than a day and others for a few hours. We actually had a blackout for a couple of hours today. This is the first time I have experienced a heatwave as bad as this one, last year we had some 90's and 100's but not for this long a stretch. The weekend was fun though, had some get together with family with good food and good wine.
The heat is really crazy, it's kind of a dry heat so even if the wind is strong it pushes hot air so it doesn't really help. Hopefully it will end this week, I read there have been heat related deaths already.

In the News ;)

2006-07-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

Same-sex marriage PIONEERS split:
Yes, yes I know same-sex relationships encounters the problems straight relationship encounter and the whole point of same-sex marriage is for their partner to have the same rights as a straight married couple with kids and all of that. I don’t oppose same-sex marriage, but when you pioneer something or considered to be a pioneer shouldn't you hold yourself in a higher plane where you really try and work it out more than the other couple to be the "light" or the "guide"? Well now the conservatives will have more arsenal to ban same-sex marriage and if more separation happens to these pioneers of same-sex marriage then the center will think it's not really a good idea as it won't even help lower the divorce rate ;) teheee....

U.S.A. President G.W.Bush activities:
After hearing his "thoughts" on the Mideast crisis through the open microphone he goes to do something to the GERMAN CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel that people who have watched SEXUAL HARRASMENT videos know this action as a type of sexual harassment. Well naughty boy, very naughty boy, thinking just because you're the President you can shoulder rub anyone. Shame on you. Angela Merkel's reaction is a bit funny though hehehehehe.....

What I shot in our backyard.

2006-07-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

70mm-F/3.5-1/60sec.-ISO100-MACRO-(+1 Step)

70mm-F/3.5-1/125sec.-ISO100-MACRO

6mm-F/8-1/2sec.-ISO100-MACRO

46mm-F/8-1/160sec.-ISO100-(-1 step)

46mm-F/8-1/80sec.-ISO100

Nope not with a gun, I was playing with my camera, tripod and various exposure settings in the camera and got the following shots.

Online Shops have great deals.

2006-07-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

Triangle is the best base they say.

I got my tripod yesterday from Amazon and only had time to try it out today. It's a small tripod, SLIK SDV-20, good for travelling with nice features and just stable enough for my camera. It's light and would probably not be able to handle SLR or DSLR type of camera but should be able to hold P&S type very well. It's pretty compact just as long as an album and a book but when extended it can go well above 1000mm so a tall person can use it without having to bend. I was initially looking at Target and other retail stores for a basic tripod as I'm not a pro photographer, I just got into it and I consider myself as an enthusiast, but unfortunately their price is pretty expensive for their features and the brands they sell doesn't seem to be of quality. I went to Amazon to check what they offer and I was surprised to see so many options as I didn't know there were so many makers of tripods and so many deals. I saw the SLIK with a price of $11 and the reviews, brand and features were good enough for me so I decided to get it vs. the one I saw at target, a travel tripod for $19 and it doesn't even go as high as the SLIK one. So if you're looking for stuff it's always best to try the online shops first because normally they have very attractive prices.

Mideast still raging...Welcome to the Jungle

2006-07-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

In the news it's been all about the mideast war though I can't blame Israel for responding, I'm still sad that a lot of civilians are being killed on both sides. I hope the fighting stops as soon as Israel finishes their military operation against Hezbollah, besides they started the fight which was a wrong move as Israel's military might is world renowned and any malicious act will have dire consequences to that nation and their populace. I'm not a political junkie but a lot of people think that Israel is playing on the enemy's hand but I see it as the groups playing on Israel's hand and a distraction to the Iraq war. Israel now have the ability to attack Hamas and Hezbollah until they are satisfied and destroy the economy of Palestine and Lebanon, in long run after this military action the countries in the mideast will see what type of power Israel is and Israel's economy will benefit too as it shows it's able to protect itself from aggression which companies would rather invest in than unstable countries. The Iraq situation (
for now)has been set aside even if there were around 53 killed today because the news has been covering the Israel vs Hezbollah & Hamas conflict.

Random ramblings...

2006-07-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

Colin Firth, Mr. Darcy... Last week was a Mr. Darcy week. From the Pride & Prejudice, the older version of Pride & Prejudice, Bridget Jones 1 & 2, Love Actually and Nanny McPhee. I dare say we were having a blast with our Colin Firth weekend. How do you do? Snob? No of course not, how ridiculous. Yes, get us our tea please! :P

Cool car pics and wallpapers at Serious Wheels
Ahhh my dream car, Bugatti Veyron. Now who'll give me $1.2Mil + taxes + licenses for the car? Bill??? Warren??? ;)

Pets have recovered well...

2006-07-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

For our dog: After giving four daily baths with oatmeal shampoo and using Advantix for the fleas, within a week his tail has turned to better, hairs are growing and it's not scarred anymore. Pics below of what Hartz did to him, looks worse than it really is, we were luck we did preventive steps to keep him from scratching it and got the Hartz product off by daily baths so he's all pretty and bouncy now and doesn't have to worry about fleas.

For our cats: We didn't wash them as it's hard to give cats a bath, all their claws comes out and they suddenly become Jet Li to get out of the water. We instead wiped them down with wet cloth which they didn't like but they didn't try to do any cat kung-fu on us.

Photopractice

2006-07-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

I was playing with the manual settings of the camera and trying them out and got the pics below.

6mm-F/8-1.3sec-ISO100

6mm-F/5-1/2sec.-ISO100

6mm-F/8-0.8sec-ISO100

6mm-F/8-3.2sec-ISO100 (cat playing with the key, cat caused the blurrr)

72mm-F/3.5-1/1000-BW-ISO100

Photo Story: Cat Bird-glar

2006-07-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

Tree of Life for the Birds

Baby birds in their nest waiting for mom and dad

parent bird looking down on us monitoring our moves

parent bird making sure I'm not up the tree to harm their kids

Tommy the Fat Cat looking at the nest

Wifey called me from work yesterday before noon and told me that two of our cats apparently caught baby birds from our tree. She was able to save one but the other bird was taken and dragged by one of our cats. When I got home I chased Tommy the fat cat and took the baby bird out of his mouth and placed them both to a container wifey provided. I then got a ladder and checked the tree in our backyard and lo and behold there was a nest there. Now I wish the bird didn't make a nest on our trees as we have cats roaming freely on our yard and the tree they used is like a small palm tree which our cats can easily climb. They were actually lucky that it's only now our cats were able to find their nest otherwise it would have been over a long time ago. So I got the two baby birds, put them back in the nest, bent some dead twigs around the nest so the only way to access it is on top of the nest so the baby birds won't fall off but their mom and dad will be able to get to them. After that I got some plastic sheet which I use to cover the chairs outside and rolled it up around the trunk of the tree. I'm hoping this will discourage the cats from climbing the tree. Then I got the cats in the house so the birds can have some peace and quiet for the evening.

This morning I let my dog out to do his business and the cats were able to rush out too but I didn't worry too much though coz I only need to get Tigger the hyper cat in since it's him that takes the lead in trying to attack the birds. After I got my dog in I notice Tigger setting up under the tree where the nest is again and jumped to climb the tree, he was able to hang on to the plastic for a bit but didn't get enough traction and fell off, so now I know my silly contraption works. Then I got him from under the tree and put him in the house. I just hope when the baby birds are practicing their flying I'll be home to make sure our cats are in the house because I'm sure they will probably fall a couple of times before getting the hang of flying.

We seem to have been able to broker a peace in our backyard for now.

Unfortunately before lunch time my wife told me that Tommy the fat cat went to the fence and jumped on the tree to avoid the plastic thing I placed there. I went straight home and got the baby bird, good thing he wasn't mangled Tommy just had him there chirping in front of him, took it back to the nest then got Tommy and Tigger and placed them in the garage first. I read online that another preventive obstacle is to hang CD's to distrupt the cats when they jump so I'll try and do that later.

Peace is very uneasy in my little mideast.

mideast conflict rages on

2006-07-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

With the mideast situation going from bad to worse:
BBC News - Israel imposes Lebanon blockade
Yahoo News - Israeli warplanes attack Beirut airport
Well they kidnapped Israeli soldiers when Israel is already trying to save the one kidnaped by Palestinan militants. The immediate and harsh response was to be expected and now with this new development it seems that the news from the war in Iraq has been overlapped or dismissed for now huh.

Well with all this going on in the mideast expect oil prices to increase in the US and maybe they'll increase the terror alert too? Death of civilians in the conflict will definitely go up.

Beware of HARTZ Animal Products

2006-07-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this, the Hartz brand is normally seen OTC flea drops for pets and I've used them on my pets before. Due to the flea season lately being more active I've been looking around for the best flea medication and found these sites and looking around I found these:

HARTZVICTIMS.ORG
Showcast Hartz Update
Showcast Hartz Warning
YorkieTalk
Bio Spot

Gist:
Hartz is POISON your pets might be killed and maybe BIO SPOT too! BE WARY OF OTHER CHEAP OTC FLEA PRODUCTS.
Be careful if you're using Hartz. I have moved to FRONTLINE and ADVANTAGE instead as

I can't believe they are still selling their poison until now. Greedy bastards. Maybe our previous cat died partly because I was using Hartz on them. He disappeared suddenly and was probably eaten but there was a period when he lost some weight and moved slowly, lethargic in a way.
I WILL NEVER BUY HARZ PRODUCTS AGAIN AND I URGE YOU NOT TO BUY THEIR STUFF AS WELL.

We washed our cats and dog to get the Hartz product out, then we placed Frontline for cats and Advantiz for our dog, we will be monitoring their condition going forward to make sure nothing bad happens to them with the use of the Hartz stuff. How can they and the stores keep selling their stuff with unresolved issues? Well it's greed as usual but some stores only carry their brand so a shopper like myself would be under the impression that they are an ok brand.

Sign the Online petition Hartz Products Dangerous for Pets.

The weekend was pretty fun...

2006-07-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

Then on Sunday we went to wifey's trainer's party. It was a good BBQ party, great food, great people and great drinks. Had Wente Merlot which was killed early there so had to settle for beer coz the other wine were Zins. Oh and it's also a very different environment, folks there were mostly fit, some were traininers and some were clients of trainers and some were competitors in the show. There were 40+ yr olds that were fitter than me LOL! Not that I'm a specimen of health, but they have rock hard abs and large guns. Amazing! I won't be posting pics though as I didn't ask them if I can publicly show the shots and cropping the images without their heads woudn't look nice too.

Photo Story:

2006-07-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

My cousin wed his long time partner this weekend. They are a great couple and have been through a lot of things together. The wedding was held close to the mountains so the veiw was spectacular, of course the food and drinks was great fun fun fun.... cheers.

Ken Lay dies of heart attack...

2006-07-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

Take it as you will but I wish he'd been sentenced and served his time though.

Kenneth Lay Dies of Heart Disease - Chron

Kenneth Lay: A fallen hero (BBC)

Oh well...

Photo Story: Itchy Ouch

2006-07-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

Our dog has been scrathing his tail for while and we only noticed this weekend that he scratched himself too much which resulted in broken skin on his tail. I went to the pet store and asked a bit on how best to approach it because I've already used the flea drops on him and he was still itchy, I ended up getting a nice shampoo, itch spray and the head cover thing so he won't be able to worsen the condition of his tail. Hopefully it will heal soon but he seems to be determined to scratch his tail forcing the plastic head thing down. While all of this is happening one of our lovely cat just sits and relaxes on the dining table, I took pics of her with and without flash to see how the color will show from the dimly lit place, I think the no flash pic looks better.

Photo Story: Shaky Hands and Fireworks

2006-07-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

Well what happens when you take pics of fireworks in action with no tripod? See for your self. Shaky hands made some shots look like spermatozoas...sometimes they actually look like the BIG BANG Theory happening in the darkness of space.

Yes I took those shots.....

2006-07-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

I asked a friend how was the pics I posted, do they look nice? He thought I just got them somewhere else so I told him I've just been into photography (not professional though) more of enthusiast. He did like them so it's a good sign. Shots for the Photo Story was taken using Canon PowerShot S3 IS camera.

Photo Story: Zooland

2006-07-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

Swim with me! Peanuts Anybody?
Long hot day
What to do?What to do?
Hang in there.

We went the zoo with our nephews, strolling around and walking around. The funny thing is that me and my brother might have enjoyed it more than the kids as we were having fun taking pics of the animals there. The kids on the other hand had fun looking but got tired after an hour and slept for some time then woke up again and enjoyed strolling around. I had a good time practicing various settings of my camera to get my shots, due to the fact that it was a sunny day the pics looks washed up and since the animals weren't as close and I'm not using an SLR cam I was just lucky my zoom goes to 12x so I was able to get reasonable pics.

Photo Story: Around SF with R & C

2006-07-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

Our original plan was to visit Las Vegas this long weekend which was changed to visiting wifey's friends from L.A. but ended up with wifey's friends from L.A. visiting the Bay Area for the weekend. Which ended up really well because we had fun, we saved gas and travel money and more importantly we had fun! We toured them around S.F. started at Cable Car going to Fisherman's Wharf, walked around the area and enjoyed clam chowder, then we had light dinner at Pompei's then we went to Ghirardelli's Square for desserts. Afterwards we went to the shopping center where the girls were looking at shoes and clothes, later that evening we went to Asia SF but we didn't have any reservations and were full enough that the initial cost for the course meal won't be worth it so we headed to Oola restaurant instead. The food was really good and the wine (Wente Syrah) was ok but I've had better Syrah, though I do like the Wente Cabernet, better than standard cabs.

Movie Marathon...

2006-07-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

The long weekend was a good time to watch DVD's.

Here are my pics:
Starwars (Episode 1 to 6) - this will eat a whole day though
Lord of the Rings Extended Edition (All 3 of them) - this will eat a whole day though
Kingdom of Heaven - good movie to watch then read the news on the current situation in the Mideast.
BraveHeart - always a treat to watch.
Munich - another one of those, uh-hu movies.
Rent - Got Problems? Good movie to watch.
Phantom of the Opera - Got Mask?
Rabbit-Proof Fence - Ah life's a bitch, especially when righteous people are in power.
Smartest Guys in the Room (Enron Story) - watch this then read about how Skilling and Lay have been found guilty.
Walmart - know where your stuff are made. It's like a door to China.
The Big Fish - Life is peachy, make it a story to remember.
Secondhand Lions - Life is in our hands a warm hearted film. A very nice movie.
Rurounin Kenshin (compilation) - Anime that contains good story, good fighting and ending. Takes days to finish this 12 DVD set.

The weekend wasn't spent just watching films though ;) Just have to upload some pics later.

Perspective...movement and stillness

2006-07-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

Independence Day 2006 Holiday

2006-07-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

The Defense of Fort McHenry
by Francis Scott Key
20 September 1814

Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Suuuperman returns.....

2006-06-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

Ahhh Superman returns. I've read good things about the movie, not much action but keeps to the story just like the old movies. We might not watch it in the movie house though, I'll probably wait for it in DVD as I find the price of theater tickets unreasonable but maybe the matinee shows will be cheaper and maybe we'll watch it during that time. Can he still reverse time by flying counter the earth's rotation? ;) Well he may not be able to bring time back this time around but ladies would be happy to know that he's not only the Man of Steel, he also brings massive bulges in the right places.

Articles:
SuperBuldge.
SuperBuldge 2.

LOL!!!!

Shopping in SF

2006-06-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Shopping Center Rest
Cable Car
Tiffany the Union Square Muse

What happens when two women go shopping?
My brother and I walked along the streets of San Francisco, walking and looking, just walking and looking. Street performers dancing in the plaza, religious groups discussing with people willing to talk to them, tourist looking at maps and street signs, shops filled with people inside, homeless sleeping under shades, a cat lying on a towel with a bucket in front for money. Unfortunately there weren’t much electronic shops in the area so there weren’t a lot place for us to check stuff out, we went to Ritz camera and Comp USA just walking and looking, as my brother tested out the digital cams there that he’s planning to purchase for his wife, he decided to get the Fuji Coolpix but he’ll order it online where it’s cheaper.
We walked again, looking and walking, back and forth, now I let out my Canon S3 we decided to take some shots and he gave me pointers in using the camera (he does photography too) which is good because I’m not too much into photography yet to try and decipher what the AF, AE’s, lightings and ISO’s are.
What happens when two women go shopping?
Six hours of looking and walking, walking and looking.

Short Story Fiction Contest $1000

2006-06-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

California voters gotta vote

2006-06-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

Every man gotta right
To decide his own destiny
And in this judgment
There is no partiality
-Bob Marley (from the song "Zimbabwe")

Are you Californian?
Can you vote?
If you're a resident alien and can apply for citizenship already DO IT! NOW!
Well it's time to take a stand, take your stand and register:
https://ovr.ss.ca.gov/votereg/OnlineVoterReg

Vote for your issues. Vote for business. Vote for immigration change. Vote for green. Vote for schools. Vote for water. Vote for life. Vote for choice. Vote for power. Vote nuclear. Vote like you've never voted before (maybe you haven't and 1st time is a good time). Vote for rich. Vote for poor. Vote for religon. Vote for science. Vote for food. Vote for Fur. Vote for land. Vote for safety.

If you're just like me, a working middle class man, have no time to be a political junkie but just enough time to enjoy the weekends and prepare for the weekdays. I think we have stayed in the sidelines for too long, work, career and family life eating much of our time. Too much distractions that politics rarely enter the house, well politics is all around us now: Gas prices, grocery prices, road conditions, war, terrorism, soldiers, spying, marriage, etc. So let's have those in power feel the pinch, it's time to put who we want to lead so do not delay because this is our time. If you're lazy use the absentee ballot so you can just mail in your vote. Go! Now! For California's future. For our future.

Photo Story June 21- iSteak

2006-06-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

The weather here in North California has been great after all the rain we had from December to April... Now we have the perfect weather for backyard activities and BBQs so we've been using the burner for a while, when my wife's classmates in college dropped by up to just a regular dinner. The latest and best BBQ was not because of the steak or the wine, but of the news that my sister and her husband had when they dropped by our place, they just finished inspecting the house they were going to get as their offer was accepted. 4 NY Strip Steaks, chips and wine + the American Dream (Home and Mortgage ;). Meanwhile I'm getting the hang of cooking, wifey like the last one I made, so I hope I remember what I've been doing with the burner.

Photo Story June 20

2006-06-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Shadow Shot

Rest Easy

Tommy the Hunter

One afternoon just after work and resting in the sofa my wife from the kitchen yelled to me that our fat cat Tommy got a bird. I ran out the backyard and saw in Tommy’s mouth a bird. I wrestled it out of his mouth and left it in the garage to recover from the trauma. After an hour I left it in the backyard where the bird rested for a while then flew away.

401K allocation again...

2006-06-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

I've just recently been able to contribute to my new company's 401K plan, I've selected a percentage to get all the matching that they will be giving (free money). Now I'm in the position to roll over my previous 401K from my old company to the new one but I'm still holding off on it because the gains on my previous one seems pretty good. I'll probably have to move them soon for easier maintaining and to have a one stop shop for my retirement funds.
401K Basic Tips:
1. If your company matches always take advantage of this to whatever extent they match (free money).
2. Make sure you get no load funds and check the expense ratio of the fund you're getting. 1.x% ratio is high for me. Funds following index' normally have low expense ratio.
3. Research the funds. Check the top companies they are holding and what the fund is about.
4. Don't over diversify. Some funds might have holdings of funds you already have, getting similar funds might put your holdings in the same basket.
5. If your company doesn't have a 401K program look for a different company. And donate to an IRA or ROTH IRA.
6. Determine your retirement age as there are funds that are offered that would automatically adjust to when you'll retire. Something like aggressive to conservative.

My current holdings are:
1. International
2. Small Cap (Aggressive)
3 Mid & Small Cap Blend
4. Large Cap

Here's to retiring early and free.

Cars...

2006-06-18T22:42:00.000-07:00

Fun movie to see...though I'm disappointed to know that the movie house charges $10.50/person now. I didn't know they raised their prices.

Funny Ads...Poser...Yo!

2006-06-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

These ads cracks me up...they are controversial, some saying racist others saying they're just funny and no harm done. I say the advertising team of T-mobile got my attention (and many others I bet so good job) but I'm NOT getting their service anytime soon B!@7(4, "Fees shorty." Stereotype? Yes. Racist? Maybe. Funny? Yes. Check them out.

T-Mobile Poser #1
T-Mobile Poser #2
T-Moblie Poser #3

Amnesty at last???

2006-06-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

No...not to US "illegal" immigrants. Amnesty for the "insurgents", "terrorist", etc.

Gist:
An ex-aide (resigned after leaking this information) of Iraq Prime Minister Maliki told reporters that the PM is considering Amnesty for guerillas who attacked US troops but has not killed Iraqis.

From Kung Fu Monkey
From Washington Post

What I learned from my previous post.

2006-06-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Well we're destroying the earth which will result in cannibalism and the only way for our species to survive is to go interplanetary BUT we must make sure all parrots are locked and sealed otherwise our space flight will be delayed.

..WOW it's Thursday already...been soooo busy that I thought it was just Wednesday...

Interesting Read:

2006-06-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

Polar Cannibals:
Due to the shrinking Ice Pole Polar Bears are turning to cannibalism for food.
Read More

Moon Base:
Hawkins says humans must go into space for species survival.
Read More

Parrot Delays Take-Off:
Bird got out of her box and nibbled on passengers.
Read More

oola! Oooo lala...the food is great

2006-06-12T16:56:00.000-07:00

After the busy Saturday night we went to Oola Restaurant in Folsom S.F. and had our dinner there. The food is great, I initially thought it was just a bar but it's actually a restaurant-bar type of scene. It wasn't too crowded, people were having fun and being merry, lots of laughs and stories. Not a dancing scene, kinda posh barlike atmosphere where you can just relax and hang out with friends and maybe dance in a corner. Cheers...

More Pics again!

2006-06-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

More Pics "The Movement: Roots, Rocks, and Resistance"

2006-06-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

More Pics. If you had the chance to watch it and didn't go you BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP! :P

Final Show for "The Movement: Roots, Rocks, and Resistance"

2006-06-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

We again watched the play "The Movement: Roots, Rocks, and Resistance" by Bindle Stiff Studio yesterday and all that well we (me, wifey, sister, bro-inlaw and friend) can say is that WOW!!! They did some additions to the play vs. the last one we watched and it's great. Wifey got emotional too on various parts of the play. Amazing work, We will definitely be following their works and supporting their endeavors.

Crack House

2006-06-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

Critter on a pole

Crack

Well there is this crack on this path leading to the house and a critter on top of the electric pole. What good symbolism to see while we went with my sister and her husband in hunting their first house, I think of it as a crack to the continuous rise of housing prices and a critter for those speculative buyers who plans to flip houses which makes it harder for "real" home buyers to get reasonable deals. It's great to see and hear that at last in the housing market in the bay area the bidding wars have stopped and the constant comings and goings of house hunters have diminished as it seem to suggest the bubble has burst, or rather the bubble lost a lot of air. For Spring time it seems to be as slow as the Winter season housing market during the peak period of house buying, which is a good sign if one is buying a house soon. We've seen some potential houses, it's really up to my sister on what and when to move but soon I'm sure she'll live the American dream of owning a house and a mortgage ;)

P.S. There is still the case of people who bought the house that did not do their math well, bought too much of a house for them OR was fooled by their loan agent into getting in a house that they really can't afford. They might not be able to handle the rising interest rates and in those cases there will be a lot of selling going forward which will correct this situation.

Local Politics. Schwarzenegger-Angelides

2006-06-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

Angelides (looks like Eugene Levy)

The Governator

Primaries are done I did not vote though but the winner is Angelides who will be facing the Governator for Governor of California. I'm not a political Junkie, this coming election will actually be my first time to vote because I'm itching to get something done for our sake, the middle class hard working people that doesn't have time to vote or listen to BS from politicians. Also because I read that the primaries made history for the lowest voter turnout and would like to help change that.

The Stand:

I'll be voting for Arnold Schwarzenegger unless he messes up big time because:
1. Jobs Family and friends were able to move from one to another with not much hitch. The job market is getting better and I see the difference. It's not like the dot-com days (which is a good thing) but if you have skills you should be able to get something going. If it's working why change it, right?

2. Taxes I don't want taxes to be raised YET. I don't think it's the right time, interest rates are rising, economy is improving slowly but more taxes will make me and folks like me to definitely not spend. Well I'll probably purchase stuff online and out of state where there are no taxes just to compensate for additional taxes if taxes went up, besides taxes are high enough it's the spending that should be CURBED. Maybe when the economy becomes stronger, yeah I wouldn't mind taxes but now, I think it's still shaky.

3. Difference and Looks Sorry but Angelides looks kinda like a rat and I don't want a governor who looks like that. Then he's also a millionaire, he was a developer and with some allegations of taking advantage of his position before??? I would rather have the richer one to be on the bench because the rule of BIG NUMBERS apply, if you're very rich already (like Arnie estimated at $800Mil) the next $100 million will be harder for him to get or easier for auditors to trace, just like his position on the Weider publishing company, I think a year ago he had to give up his position because he became governor and someone was able to trace his active position in the publication. I think Angelides is not "clean" enough or doesn't look "clean" enough to differentiate himself from Arnie.

My position might change, I have not done my research yet because I have no time right now with work and all. I'll be doing it before the election comes and I don't think it will change unless the Governator does something really stupid. Cheers!

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed

2006-06-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

At last, the Al-Qaida terror in Iraq has been taken down. Al Zarqawi has been killed, I hope going forward there will be less blood shed and violence in Iraq (but I assume they will be out for revenge first so it would be a tough time for the security forces there AND the "civil war" or for a positive spin: The sectarian violence will still be around until Iraq does get a grip on the population). I won't even post Zarqawi's pic here to make sure no one remembers him, but only the acts he did.

Eye Spy from the center of the lake

2006-06-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

Humming Bird Flower

2006-06-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

Don't know what this flower is called but I've noticed humming birds like getting the nectar from them. I should plan to try and shoot them (via camera) when I get the chance.

Shaky Market...good time to buy

2006-06-06T19:49:00.000-07:00

Tech stocks seems pretty good lately. Prices are low and there might be a lot of value in some of them. I wish I have a lot of disposable income right now I'd grab some of the top tech stocks for the long haul.

My tech stock holding went down as expected, would like to purchase more while it's down but can't seem to scrounge up enough cash for now, I'm targeting in 2 months I'll be able to get more. Energy and ETFs are up a bit, I expect the trend to continue for a couple more years then it will probably correct and hopefully I'll be able to capitalize during this period.

Eye shot...

2006-06-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

When Water and Land meet.....Land Gives Way.

Tommy too fat to climb the Tree

Fur Ball

Practice Shots...

2006-06-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

Been taking random shots to work on getting better pics;) Time just flies soooo fast and moments should always be captured. After all, our memory do loose the details of our history. Cheers!

Here's a funny video of cats too: Cat Video Compilation

The Movement: Roots, Rocks, and Resistance

2006-06-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend we watched a BindleStiff show named "Roots, Rocks and Resistance" The show incorporated shadow play in the program to great effect. Wifey, the one who gets better pics, got great pictures, but because we didn't use flash so the actors and audience won't be disturbed, the pics ended up grainy, not something a good photo program can't handle though. Talked to my brother about it and he gave me some ideas on shooting pics (his "sideline" is photography). To sum up the show it's a History lesson for Filipino/Filipino-Americans, a play worth watching just to see the mix of styles used in the play. And for a mostly volunteer organization their work is great, congratulations to the BindleStiff team.

Protest against Big Oil (Shell)

2006-06-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

Boycott Shell

Defiant gas dealer battling Big Oil Goliath in protest:

Gist:
Mehdi Shahbazi is/was a gasoline dealer that is battling Shell because he didn't want to take down signs he posted on his station reading "Consumers' pain is Big Oil's unearned profit! To oppose it see cashier.''
Of course Shahbazi says it's free speech, Shell says it's against franchise contract to disparage your franchise. Then his station was getting upgraded but after the changes Shell contractors didn't take down the fence and Shell hasn't been bringing gas to the station so he's been living off the store there selling chips, soda and stuff.
Their first fray seems to have been back in the early '90s when Shell instituted "zone pricing" meaning that the more profit you make the more they charge you, more like price fixing (greedy bastards). No I'm not against profits, any company should be profitable but this is too much, it seems they're trying to get rid of the "middle man" by penalizing them in eating much of the profits if the station is selling more.

As a sign of support I'll refrain from getting gas from Shell (like it matters). I'll make sure I get it from independent dealers first before going to the Big Oil, and Shell will not be even on the list.
Personally I'm sick of paying high gas prices that's why our travels this year will be limited to closer places and I'm sure a lot of people will be doing the same thing. BBQ in the backyard is great with friends and family, no need to go to Vegas, Reno, Tahoe, Out of State, or any so called "fun" places it's all a matter of perspective right. Just pop open a bottle of wine or a bottle of beer and enjoy the sun ;)

Fight The Power!

Energy Saving gadgets...

2006-05-31T07:20:00.000-07:00

Green Is In...One thing about energy saving gadgets that we've noticed is that they do work. Last year we had quite a high PG&E bill during the start of fall, I think it went up and above $200ish a month. This was all due to having a light on inside the house, sometimes forgetting to turn off the light somewhere and the use of the heater. So Decemberish of last year I decided to create a fusion reactor just like Doctor Octopus, the power of the sun in my hands,, unfortunately I didn't have the metal arms that he had so I wouldn't be able to control the instability of the fusion reaction and quickly thrashed that idea, instead I purchase some stuff that would help us reduce our energy cost, the stuff I got were:
1. A couple of those light saving bulbs-$10 (they are not as strong as the normal bulbs but in places where you don't need to read they are good to use)
2. 3 timer plugs-$15 (the ones that you can set what hours it can be on and off)
3. More efficient ceramic heater-$20 (patton is the brand I think, can heat up a big room well)

The light savings bulbs I got on sale and I placed them in the garage, hall way and bar area (since these are the stop that we normally have lights on). The timer plugs were used for the lamps and the heater so the lights go off by the time we head out to bed while the heater turns off and on in between a few hours to ensure that it will just be warm enough in our bedroom.

After these changes our bills from Jan to end of winter was less than $200ish, I think $150 avg. so it did really help ;) The savings can either go to investments or maybe restaurant funds...cheers

Memorial Day 2006.

2006-05-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

It is a 3 Day weekend for a lot of people, barbeque, friends and family getting together and relaxing, enjoying the company. But I do hope people remember that memorial day was created for the memory of the fallen heroes, soldiers and in some cases civilians who died fighting for what they believe in. From the civil war to the world war and to the Iraq war, to the right wars and wrong wars, and the wars that have yet to come. May God watch those who carry the arms and walk the front lines to fight for the freedom that we live in so that we can drink our wine, eat our steak and watch the games. And may they return safe to their families and friends.

Memorial Day 2006:

In Flanders FieldsJohn McCrae, 1915.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.

Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Moina Michael 1915

We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies.

Funny Monkey...

2006-05-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Seems like this is my 100th post.... cheers!

This guy, John Rogers, is funny as heck...here's a sample:

Top 10 John Wayne movies that could also be porn titles
10.) Men Without Women (1930)
9.) Rough Romance (1930)
8.) Seven Men from Now (1956)
7.) Girls Demand Excitement (1931)
6.) Maker of Men (1931) or Two Fisted Law (1932) -- tie
5.) Ride Him, Cowboy (1932)
4.) His Private Secretary (1933)
3.) The Star Packer (1934)
2.) Pals of the Saddle (1938)
And the winner is: 1.) Chisum (1970)

check out the true geek conversations.

Verdict...GUILTY!!!

2006-05-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, Ken "$$ The Laid Back $$" Lay and Jeffrey "$$ The Preppy Boy $$" Skilling have been convicted of their crimes of corporate fraud and conspiracy in the greatest corporate scandal in U.S. history. Though sentencing will be on September 11 justice is at last served if the sentence is heavy enough. Do remember that these two top dogs of Enron have depleted the workers' savings, retirement and health benefits, people could and probably have already died because of loosing their job and savings in the company. I say heavy sentences to them both, they are murderers of a different kind, they murdered their employees livelihood and future. Greed is good but not that kind of greed where you destroy lives and manipulate everything for your gain.

Ken "$$ The Laid Back $$" Lay

Jeffrey "$$ The Preppy Boy $$" Skilling

Reaching Destination....Book-CD by Nerisa Guevara

2006-05-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to read something other that work related stuff for a while now and at last I was able to get my hands on a poetry book/cd combination that IS superb.
I was originally looking for Sue Elkind's book "The Final Season" but was not able to find it in stores and I didn't want to get it online but I guess I have no choice now, I love her book "Bare As The Trees" and would like to get more of her work but then one thing led to another and I forgot about getting the book, fortunately when I was chatting with my sister a few weeks back while she was on vacation in the Philippines she asked me if there was anything I need, then I remembered I'd like to get a book of poems, I looked around and asked if she could get me two books from Palanca Award winners Nerisa del Carmen Guevara (1999) and Joel M. Toledo(2004-2005) but she wasn't able to find any from Joel so she got me "Reaching Destination" by Nerisa. Thanks to my sister for the gift ;) The book is great, it came with a music CD or rather poetry-music CD that is just amazing, of course I'd be a litte bias too since I know the author back in college. The poems in the book was like a time machine brining me back to the places that I came to know. The images are great, the places are real....the whole work is great. To add to that the CD is such a merger of artistic talent, bringing in various musicians and have them choose and transform the art of poetry to music is amazing. Such a great and wonderful work, and for one person to fund, organize and produce it is fantastic.

Congratulations Ricci for the great work!

Pulic Radio

2006-05-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to public radio for a while already unfortunately my commute only gives me 5 min of radio time and other than that I only get to listen to them more if/when I do cardio. I like most of their program and you can listen online too at http://www.npr.org

Weekend Wine Train!

2006-05-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Weekend celebration of my cousin-in-law's baby shower went great. It didn't rain, people had fun eating, drinking and talking. Kids were playing and running around, everything went great. For the guys we had to battle the flood.....the flood of wine that came in, but we were successful as there were only 3 bottles left ;)
That night the top ones were Hyde Syrah and Rosemont Shiraz.
Topics ranged from politics, war, oil, enron to wine features and the next wine profiling that we will be conducting :)

Live Strong! Work Hard Play Hard!

Enron jury deliberation

2006-05-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

With the jury deliberation close at end and justice at hand, I hope Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling goes to Jail and gets ass, ear and nose raped and their assets takey away for what they did to the company and their employees. Greedy bastards!
The Biggest Corporate banckruptcy in the world and the two top guys says they didn't know of the financial problems it was having while they get millions from their stock options. Appeal to ignorance at that level is stupid and I hope the jurors see that.

Actually I hope the same thing happens to the traders who were also jerking California during the fake power crisis in order to jack up the prices of electricity.

rotten-Enron
wikepedia-Enron
enronownsgop

You're Thrifty but.....

2006-05-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

You buy your stuff like electronics, toys, clothes, etc. only when they are on sale, you NEVER buy retail anymore but do you invest the money you save by buying stuff on sale or just use it to buy more "cheap" stuff?????? So in essence you're still not saving, just spending and getting more stuff for your moolah$$$, It's all good though, spend to run the economy and let people like me take care of saving and investing ;)

Mass and Health

2006-05-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

About a decade ago I remember reading about this bodybuilder who was a rising star. Now he's a runner-up for the Mr. Olympia, his name is Jay Cutler and he's one of the top guns for the bodybuilding sport. We went to a local competition on fitness and bodybuilding (our first time) and he was a guest poser there and he's pretty amazing, well a 300+ lbs walking mass is amazing. The rest of the competitors were great too.
I miss the times when I have time to schedule my workouts and go to the gym whenever I wanted to.

With rising health care cost and the country's girth size increasing I have to nail it in my head to go to the gym and eat healthy. I'm not planning to be a beef cake, just loose more weight and maintain it. I've always liked going to the gym and try to when I have time or when I'm not tired, now I should really push myself as I'm not getting any younger. Hopefully by December I have reached my goals ;)

Simmer down in the Concrete Jungle.....

2006-05-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

Roots.....Rock.....Reggae...!

All Reggae Day today....

In memory of the icon, Bob Marley , who passed away this day in the year 1981.

Greystone and Sterling!

2006-05-08T19:23:00.000-07:00

GREYSTONE

eMily's First Napa Trip

GREYSTONE BUILDING

The weekend was great, Saturday we went to my sister-in-law's Bday celebration and on Sunday wifey and our uncle and aunt went to napa for lunch and to see Sterling Vineyards. We went to the Culinary Art of America - Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant for lunch first then to Sterling afterwards. The Greystone restaurant is pretty good, their house wine is nice, we tried their merlot. Then after the meal we toured the place and found out they have a yearly event, for $40 you can eat and drink wine in the event. We're planning to go next year. We went to Sterling and rode their tram, went around and just relaxed. For dinner we hit Nations Giant Hamburger, yes forget about your weight weekend. Pretty much a good weekend.

FOT extras!

2006-05-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

Some more pics I took.

Flower of the Tongue

2006-05-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

Some of the artists: Julius, Lian and Marius

Yesterday night we went to Bindlestiff for the Gallery Exhibit "Bulaklak ng Dila" ("Flower of the Tongue") The Gallery is from May4-May6. Visit if you can, just $5 for entrance and they have wine, beer and water too for a reasonable donation.

Lian Ladia, a friend of ours is showing some of her films there.

Also some of the art works there are scandalous ;) The performance was great too well worth the time and travel.

Gas Prices!!!

2006-05-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

Where does the BUCK $$$TOP??? WTF!!!! BUSH!!!!

Wine and Dine! Part Food!

2006-05-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

Meat is good...on the weekends....
Now the food we had were great too. At lunch time our cousins brought their electric grill think, we had a Korean style food, where you put the fresh meat on the pan and it cooks there afterwards you dip it in some kind of teriyaki sauce and then eat it. Together with Kimchi, rice and veggies....yowza!!!!

At dinner time our aunt cooked steak for us, so much great food with great wine for a great time.

Wine and Dine!

2006-05-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Wine and Dine Inhouse!

Our Relatives dropped by Saturday for a wine and dine session. Actually it was primarily for my wife, aunt and cousin to set up our cousin's baby shower. But we (the guys) were in it for the "get together" sessions for wine profiling.

NOTE: I'm not a wine connoisseur! We just love wine and the conversations that comes with it.
On our wine list for the day were:
1. Bogle Merlot
2. Wente Cabernet Sauvignon
3. Rosemount Estate Shiraz
4.Benziger Cabernet Sauvignon
5 & 6 Were home made Hyde Wine Syrah (2001 and 2002) by my cousin.

We were not able to finish the Wente, and the Syrah 2002 was given to our uncle so he can try it out because we had it a month back already.

Wine feedback: Bogle is good, a standard Cali Merlot which is good, just a complete wine in itself. Since we're so used to drinking Cali wines it's really easy to profile how they compare to the rest of the stock. The Rosemount Shiraz was full bodied, really full taste, not acidic at all and full flavor that we all agreed it's a great complete wine, and it's from Australia too which is nice.We'll be trying out international wines for our next session. Afterwards we went with the 2001 Hyde which was home made by my cousin, and it was really good. Very full bodied and flavorful, a lot better than the Rosemount as flavor comes. We did finish our session with the Benziger Cab which is good too, standard Cali Cabernet flavor.

Bye Bye TV!

2006-04-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

I was reminded that we haven't subscribed for any shows in TV when I visited Frugal For Life It's been 5 months now that we haven't had TV/DISH/CABLE subscription.
During our move to our current location wifey and I decided to stop subscribing and see how it will affect our lifestyle . We initially thought it might be hard because we had a good package before, sattellite with DVR (TIVO type of box) so we can record our shows and watch it when we have time but but surprising to say it's been better now because we replaced spending time watching tv for some other activities (we did subscribe to NETFLIX to keep our sanity for $17 vs $50+ with dish) .
We go to the gym regularly (wifey already has a gym body already), reading stuff, studying on my end (work related) and we've been going out and interacting more with friends and family. The only caveat is that when members of our family and friends start talking about a certain tv show and we're like "uhhh.... duh.... ok.....cardio is good!" but other than that it's been great. We get the news online, research online for stuff, watch clips of news and shows online, spend more time doing other things instead of just sitting and watching for hours. The one shitty thing I realize is that before there were channels that you don't have to pay to watch, the local channels. Now you have to subscribe for basic cable or local dish to get them...those bastards.... We'll see if we can keep this up...but for now it's not really an issue because it's not a need and we're doing fine. Keeping busy in a positive way!

BindleStiff! FOB Show

2006-04-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

A friend of ours gave us free pass to watch a play named "FOB Show The Return of the Comeback". The skits are pretty nice (the play consisted of various skits) showing various situations encountered by FOB's (Fresh Off the Boat) or Immigrants, specifically in the filipino community. My friend actually directed a documentary they showed there too which is pretty cool.

I miss being in the theater, it's been a decade since I was part of one, watching them brought back nice memories ;) Cheers!

Art should be a Part of everyone's life.

Check the group at http://www.bindlestiffstudio.org/

Saving and Investing is good!

2006-04-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

Yes saving and investing is good. BUT we only live once (cliche! yes, still very true) and with a friend passing away without hitting 30 and an another one's child passing away without hitting 2 summers it does knock some sense into you. I've seen my share of death normally from older souls when I was young, but it was different when you're young, you always feel invincible, unstoppable, superman, etc. etc.. Now.... years pass and hairs lost.... well you get the point.

Since we have saved well for our retirement (nope not millions yet) and have invested well too so it's time to "splurge" a little to enjoy the comforts of life. Since wifey likes travelling, and I like driving we decided to get something to bring us places and have fun going there......

Welcome, the new member of our family. eMily.

She's our new BMW M3 Convertible:
3.2L I6 engine 333(hp)
Winter Package
Amazing driving experience
6-speed manual tranny
We just love her!

Better double time on the gym before the summer hits ;)

Busy Bee!!!!

2006-04-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

Busy Bee!

Yes that's me....so busy with my new Job that I don't have time to post my blob.
Oh well I love my work, it's just the right time that I moved too. The technology is great, I don't mind working the extra hours just yet because I just love what I do. I do like my old job and I did learn a lot of things there that will help me and my new company going forward, but I need to upgrade my skills and be more specialized in my field so this is just a great opportunity for me to grow, develop and help my new home.

The book "What color is your parachute" helped me along too, it's a book that you pretty much know about but it helps you direct your thoughts and gives a good process of thinking too on what you want to do. You don't have to buy it just read it at the bookstore, it's an easy read too, but it might be life changing for you especially if you're in a rut. ;)

Try E'm

2006-03-14T06:51:00.000-08:00

What Color Is Your Parachute - Book for those looking for a Career Change

New Books Related To Your Job - Will help you use new terms, new theories and ideas so your interviewee will be pleasantly surprised.

Patience - Is needed when searching.

Persistence - Is needed when you get a new job, learn everything about the company. And about the people that is running the company. It's not about all the job or the work but the people who holds them that will show the culture of the company.

"Gotta Pay To Play" - Always the phrase I read and here and even use from time to time due to the cost of living in California, especially here in the Bay Area. I'm sure it's same in N.Y.

Peachy!

2006-01-17T20:18:00.000-08:00

Life is peachy.... :) Life changing events.... New Year.... New Things... Everything is new....

2006-01-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

Still in Hibernation but....

Happy New Year! It's 2006 and it's a good time to start something new.....

In Hibernation

2005-12-22T14:20:00.000-08:00

I'm still in Hibernation but here's a nice idea.

Send email to yourself in the future, just like a time capsule, a very interesting idea that could grow. Yes I know you can schedule a reminder in outlook or yahoo in the calendar for the future but this one you can put in and forget and get the email in the future which could be a surprise for you.

FutureMe.org

Yawn... back to sleep. MERRY CHRISTMAS and Happy Holidays.

Let me pour out a little liquor.

2005-12-19T21:20:00.000-08:00

It is a sad day today, I received news that a college friend of ours have passed away. He was involved in a motorcycle accident and unfortunantely he did not make it. I pray for his soul to be at peace and be one with "God". We had good times together and you will be in our hearts and minds.

Here's a little liquor, a toast to your memory and a prayer for you. God Bless you Bryan.

Hibernate!

2005-12-13T06:08:00.000-08:00

Hibernating from Blogging! Important matters shaping up. Goodbye for now!

Beam me up Scotty....

Fit Machine

2005-12-12T07:17:00.000-08:00

Fitness Day Monday: Fit Machine

On the physical side, I was not able to do much workout last week due to some "circumstances", I think I was only able to do cardio twice last week, and during the weekend I was not able to do much backyard work either because my machine had issues. Something happened with my PC, I'm pretty sure it was a corrupted windows or a software that was corrupted becuase it reboots everytime I get to windows. I did memory test, modified the bios and all that nerdy stuff but it didn't help so it's pretty obvious that something got corrupted. So I decided to reformat it to cleanup the machine and reinstall everything. It took me around two days (yes two days, sat and sun, my main drive is 200Gig so formatting took forever already) to have it running with all the necessary software installed, from partitioning and re-formatting the drive, installing anti-virus to the personal database that I have running. Good thing is that I have an automated process of backing up all the files that I need into a separate drive so I didn't loose anything important, after the installation and setting up various restore points I ran some test and everything seems to be working fine now. Well I thought it would be around a couple of years before I had to do this but I guess with the stuff I'm doing and the testing and softwares that I install from those books I got did mess something up, mental note only install when needed.
So remember to always backup your files, if you don't have an extra hard drive you can just burn it if you have a CD or DVD burner. A Fit machine is important especially if you use it all the time and if you're a blogger :P .

"Jesus Saves!" and so should you.

Fridayz the Day! 12/9

2005-12-09T14:51:00.000-08:00

Friday's the Day:

I should get wine for tonight??? Wine is Divine!

Study Tommorow....

Watch a movie