The Alaric Sphere

Jennifer Aniston Bares A Lot of Skin in We're the Millers

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Jennifer Anniston has been around for the longest time. I have no idea how old she is but if I had to guess after watching this trailer, I would be wrong. We’re the Millers is a comedy about a made up family who is made up of odd members. Sounds fun?

Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses) stars as a drug dealer who probably is in a bit of a mess so he has to smuggle a moderate amount of drugs across the border from Mexico to the US. In order to at least have a chance to avoid being searched by border police, he tries to assemble some folks as his fake family. Jennifer Anniston (Friends, … come to think of it, Horrible Bosses as well) is a stripper who agrees to playing as Jason’s fake, conservative wife.

Then they also get 2 more folks who will play as their kids. Emma Roberts (Valentine’s Day.. she’s the rebel daughter who almost lost her virginity) plays as the daughter who is a rebel also here in real life.. or real actress life and Will Paulter (sorry, I don’t know any movie he’s been, it says Narnia on his profile though) plays as the son. Together, they are the Millers family.

Looks like the trailer sets everything up pretty nicely. The rest of the movie should just be a wild ride. Of course there will be multiple sexy Jennifer Aniston scenes. That’s what they’re positioning as the main draw I guess based on how this movie has been marketed so far.

We’re the Millers comes out on August in the US. Probably late Aug or Sept in Philippines.

You Will Have Fun With Surgeon Simulator 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Ever wanted to become a surgeon but don’t want to spend a bazillion years studying for it? This game has you covered. You won’t spend a long time playing it, but each round is just fun in a twisted and sick way. Doesn’t matter, I enjoyed my short time with it.

Surgeon Simulator (Platform: PC) was a game that was conceptualized and created within a 48 hour period. From Bossa Studios, they entered the Global Game Jam competition early this year to submit this. The team then continued development of Surgeon Simulator until they finally released it on Steam.

Plot
Surgeon Simulator puts you in the role of a surgeon who is tasked to perform certain operations. You win when you succeed and you lose when the person you are operating on dies due to loss of blood or some other condition caused by you.

Controls
The tutorial teaches you how to move around. You do operations using only your left hand which is shown on screen. There is 1 button on the keyboard that corresponds to each finger (A – pinky, W – ring, E – middle, R – pointer, Space – thumb). Then the mouse controls where you move the hand. Left click moves the hand down, and right click controls how you twist the wrist.

Gameplay
Ready? Start game and it tells you to perform an open heart transplant. Boom. That’s where the game goes nuts. You figure out how to do the transplant. I’ll show you how I did in the pictures below:

Ok, start operating. I have no idea how to do this. So I fumble around and try my best to pick stuff up, everything just falls around (some into the patient’s innards) including earbuds and cotton balls.

I finally pickup a drill saw and saw off some parts of the ribcage in attempts of getting into the heart. Since I only use one hand to saw, the bone chips of the ribcage fall into the patient’s body.

I was able to completely remove the ribcage, but made a boo boo when I accidentally dropped the electric saw. I try to pick up the hammer or manual saw but it’s too hard to do that without dropping move stuff inside the patient.

I was able to remove both the lungs and only the esophagus and stomach lie between me and the heart.

This sometimes happens. I get my hand stuck inside the body and the esophagus. I try my best to remove the esophagus but it’s had without the electric saw. I try my other tools…

I used everything: power drill, incision knife, hammer, scissors and I just can’t the stomach off. I take too much time and my patient loses too much blood and dies.

That is the first level of the game. I don’t know what craziness the other levels hold. I had fun playing Surgeon Simulator 2013. It’s good if you have a few minutes to spare while waiting or on idle time. It won’t capture your attention for a long time so enjoy it while it lasts.

Surgeon Simulator 2013 costs $9.99 on Steam.

Catch this Unbelievable Amazon.com Game Sale Before It’s Gone

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Every now and then Amazon.com has their crazy sale where they just mark down prices like crazy. This is one of those times, but for digital video games. I’m still undecided on what to get, but this is one sale you don’t want to miss.

This sale covers digital PC games so you download them to your machine and they’re yours forever (or as long as those servers are still running… which they will in the foreseeable future). If you want to get boxed copies then they are also available in the site, just browse around. According to the site, the sale runs up until end of the month, so decide quickly.

You can go directly to their site and browse around, but here are my picks in case you haven’t already played or owned these games. Again, this is on Amazon.com so if you don’t have a US credit card, you can opt to either get one of those online cards that give you a US address, or do it like me and go use the Globe GCash which is a great service.

The Walking Dead ($9.99 – 60% off)
If you like the series, zombies and good games, play this game. From gameplay it’s a normal adventure game that’s pretty straightforward, but it’s the story that gets you. The choices you make determine how the story plays out and how people treat you.

BioShock Dual Pack ($4.99 – 88% off)
BIOSHOCCKKK!!! This covers Bioshock 1 and 2… For 5 bucks! I personally got this for the PS3 though for a bit higher price since I wanted the Minerva’s Den DLC which PC didn’t get. But if you just want to get into Bioshock, then go ahead.

Batman Arkham Dual Pack ($11.49 – 77% off)
Both Arkham games were excellent. Batman beating up bad guys with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil voicing Batman and Joker respectively. The story is also excellent.

Dead Island ($3.75 – 75% off)
I’ve been meaning to play this game all because of the great intro it had. I heard the gameplay wasn’t all too awesome but the mechanics were fresh so I’d still want to go have a look at it. For the price, it should be worth a look.

Firaxis Complete Pack ($19.99 – 83% off)
This has Civilization 4, Civilization 5 and the new X-com game. Strategy galore. If you hate time and love games, here you go.

Mark of the Ninja ($3.75 – 75% off)
I bought this game a while back but haven’t had the chance to play it. Regardless, this is a really good game from what I’ve heard and read.

There’s more in the sale. Just head on over to their page and shop away.

My Top 20 Childhood TV Show Opening Themes (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

TV shows were much more awesome back when I was a kid. Last time I started a post that had my top 20 TV show openings from my childhood. I had shared the list from 20 to 11. Here is the second part which has my top 10 openings.

Which ones were your favorites from part 1? Now, let’s get to the list:

10 – Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers: I was only able to watch this via VHS rental shops. More robot horses! The theme song was pretty catchy in that I still hear it in my head every now and then.

9 – Ghostbusters: Who’re you going to call? Ask anyone and they should have heard of this song. The lyrics are spot on and it reminded me back then not to be afraid of ghosts as a kid. And guys, it's Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Not Stay tuff, not stay tough, not state puff. It's Stay Puft!

8 – WildC.A.T.S.: This song is just cool. Same with the X-men theme song, this was the point in my life where I was collecting a lot of comic books and seeing the WildC.A.T.S come to life was really a joy.

7 – GI Joe: Yo Joe! This made me want to become a better person as a kid just by listening to the theme. Back when everything from USA was just awesome, GI Joe was one of those things.

6 – Iron Man: This was the first time I saw Iron Man, and it was good. The show would only run for a few minutes (since it was from the 1960s) then this theme would play again and again each time the next part of the show was going to continue. Shows like this taught me like how awesome the Mandarin is (still pretty bummed out about how 2013 Mandarin turned out). There were other cartoons that came out together with this at 4pm every day after the 700 club and before the soap opera, Agila. (Hulk on Mondays, Thor on Tuesdays, Submariner on Wednesdays, Captain America on Thursdays and Iron Man on Fridays)

5 – Transformers: I have countless times tried to reenact the intro scene using toys. Imaginary toys though since I never had any from the intro. The one I have (Devastator) is awesome though.

4 – TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles… anyone from the 80s who doesn’t know this song needs to be brought into a dark room and whipped while watching this the whole day.

3 – Ducktales: This opening theme just makes me happy. It’s fun and catchy to listen to. The game that came out for this for the family computer was also really good and I am super stoked that they’re coming out with a reboot for current generation consoles. Ducktales wooh!

2 – Daimos: This was one of the Japanese songs that I learned how to sing without understanding what the heck it was saying. It was always awesome watching the Transer transform into Daimos.

1 – Batman the Animated series: Nothing beats Batman. Nothing. There have been a lot of animated Batman shows but this one’s the best. The opening tells everything about who Batman is all about. On a side note, Kevin Conroy (Batman) and Mark Hamil (Joker) has the best rendition of their respective characters in this cartoon.

So there you have it. 20 of the most awesome TV show openings from my childhood. Which were your favorites? Did I miss any important shows?

Manila is in Pacific Rim

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Sun, 19 May 2013 03:17:00 +0000

As if today couldn’t get any better. The Pacers just beat the Knicks to get to the NBA Eastern Conference finals. Then when I looked at the internet, a new Pacific Rim Trailer comes out.

This time they show a bit more of the Kaijus. There’s a slim one. A muscular one. A flying one. Then now Manila is part of the trailer! But since there has been close to no fanfare here on the shooting, I would assume that they just rebuilt the set somewhere in Hollywood. Who cares?

There’s more and more robot on monster action on this trailer and I just want them to put this movie out already. Pacific Rim comes out in Manila on July.

[Review] TP-Link TL-WR842ND is the Great Affordable Wireless Router You Need

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Need a new wireless router? Maybe your current wireless router’s signal isn’t reaching that corner of your bathroom where you just need to let your phone access the Facebooks. Yes? No? Whether this is true or not, TP-Link TL-WR842ND wireless router is an excellent choice with all the features you need and then some. And best of all? It’s cheap.

I’ve been using TP-link wireless routers since my old Netgear died on me and I’ve been nothing but satisfied. This router was cheap, so cheap that given all the features that it had, I almost was afraid to buy it. I got it when I was in HongKong for around HK$280 which is around Philippine P1,500. So let’s get into the basic features:

On the surface this is your standard wireless router. It has 300 Mbps wireless transmission rate (that spits out your standard B,G,N wireless signals), 4 LAN ports and 2 external antennas. Each of the basic features you have come to expect from a wireless router is here, and everything is done well. Setup is smooth and straightforward I didn’t run into any problems.

Now onto the special features:

1. 4 SSIDs available: This means that your wireless router can churn out 4 different signals so there’s 4 different logons that people can see when they get within range of your router. Maybe you have a personal signal that you want then you can also have a guest signal that you give out to people so you don’t have to keep changing your password. I haven’t found much use for this since I just use this at home. It could prove useful for folks who live in apartments and multiple users share the same internet connection. You could set up the rules or limit the bandwidth allocated per ID.

2. USB port at the back: This is a feature I really like in this TL-WR842ND wireless router. This router enables you to do really cool stuff with this port:

Storage sharing: Plug in a USB drive or Hard drive into this port, then the router starts up the sharing automatically. Other computers in your home network will be able to see your router’s IP, you can then open the contents of the drive and copy the files you need. So imagine having your own personal cloud at home.
FTP server: You can set up your own FTP server either locally or via the internet. This means that you can plug in a USB drive or Hard drive into this port and access the files using your web browser. You need to be careful to set up the proper security for your FTP though. Or just make sure you don’t have sensitive files in it.
Media server: This runs Samba specifically. You can use devices that understand DLNA and stream media to them. So same thing, plug in a USB drive of hard drive then stream movies, pictures or whatever media into your phones, tablets, laptops, PCs, or whatever device you use. I couldn’t get the PS3 to detect this properly though. But for my Asus and HP laptops as well as a Galaxy S2 and Ipod touch, everything works well and I don’t get any hitches during movie playback.

Print server: Plug in your USB printer here and do some setup so you can access your printer interface online (locally in your home network only). So no need to plug the printer into the laptop or computer that’s going to use it only. My printer isn’t supported so I wasn’t able to really test this feature.

3. VPN setup: For folks who access the office VPN, you’re able to do it from a router level so you don’t need to use your computer. I haven’t tried this feature out.
There you have it. Magic in a box. All these features for the price of P1,500 which is roughly US$40. I highly recommend this wireless router. I’m not sure where they sell this here, but if you can find it, it’s a pretty good buy. TP Link TL-WR842ND wireless router will not disappoint you.

Alberi is the Combination of Minesweeper and Sudoku

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

There is no shortage of puzzle games on the Android and iOS market. Just type whatever and a hundred pop out. There is a shortage though of “good” puzzle games. Seldom can you find an game that can sustain your attention for more than a few minutes. Well, fear not, Alberi is a gem that I found. And it’s free.

Alberi (Android/iOS) is from TwistedMirror and it is a combination of Minesweeper and Sudoku. So if you have any interest in those 2 games, then this is for you. I have no idea what Alberi means but it probably says something about puzzle.

The objective of the game is to be able to plot a marker (in the form of a tree) on each color in the grid. The basic rules is that trees cannot be in the same row or column as another tree. Trees also cannot be adjacent both horizontally and diagonally from each other. That’s basically it in terms of premise.

As with any puzzle game, the solution is obvious in the earlier levels since you can just do a quick trial and error. But as you go, the levels get bigger and you need to do some elimination already in the process. Then as you move on, you need to start doing a combination of trial and error and then also elimination. There is a provision to mark flags for those grids that you’re sure cannot contain a tree marker.

Overall, Alberi is a fun game that you can quickly pick up and play. The game will track the levels you finish and the only reason you’ll go back is to beat your former time. But once you know the solution, there’s really no point in doing this. Alberi is free in the Google play store and iOS app store. There is a paid version for a little under $1 called Alberi Plus. That version, I believe, will remove all the ads as well as get the patches and updates earlier.

My Top 20 Childhood TV Show Opening Themes (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I was an 80’s/90's kid and back then there were a lot of good cartoon and TV shows. I don’t know what has happened since then, but I haven’t seen the same quality in today’s programming for kids. Although the quote “Everything from my childhood was always better” is a something you’ll hear all the time anyway. So TV show opening themes. I remember getting all excited when my favorite shows would play their themes.

Just a disclaimer: this is not my top 20 favorite shows; It’s my favorite TV show opening themes. So thanks to the power of YouTube, I’m able to enjoy these in all their glory any time I want without having to wait once a week!

20 – Saber Rider: This opening theme was cool because it had a guy who rode a cool car and robot horses. This is what wild west in the future would be. That whipping sound is also pretty catchy

19 – Goof Troop: the opening theme to this show was really catchy. I remember having to stay up late during Saturdays to be able to watch this on a US channel back when I was in elementary. I liked the lyrics to this theme as well, “always stick together, best friends forever”

18 – Shaider: If you were an 80’s kid and didn’t know this song then you have lived a very incomplete and sad childhood. This was one of the more awesome show opening themes although no one really knew what the guy was singing about. Maybe something about Shaider being an awesome superhero. Someone made a Tagalog version here. Go Annie kick! BABILOS!!!

17 – Voltes V: LET’S VOLT IN!! This used to sound so wholesome back when this awesome show aired. It was hard not to memorize this song even though it was in Japanese since it plays during the show whenever they’re going to volt in. The enemy that figured out that they can actually interrupt the volting in process was a genius. Too bad these villains don't do a post mortem and actually figure out what works and what doesn't.

16 – Inhumanoids: The evil the lies wiiiithin! I so wanted to like this show. The problem was that the TV stations always mess it up and never air the right episodes in order so I never knew what was going on. The theme is still cool. Iiiinhumanoids, inhumanoids. I'm still not decided on whether the english version or the tagalog dub is better. "O tara na Medlar! Tendrils!"

15 – Darkwing Duck: This was another show that I had to stay up late to watch. I never knew what the lyrics were saying since it always goes so fast. But it’s catchy. The show’s not half bad either.

14 - X-men: I was collecting X-men trading cards and comics at the time and it was pretty awesome to see all of them come to life in this animated series. It was pretty cool seeing them all run around in the opening theme.

13 – Sonic the Hedgehog: This isn’t the goofy version that where Robotnik had that chicken and tank as sidekicks. This is the serious version. This was back when Sonic was still relevant. One of the few video game cartoons that was actually good back then.

12 – Swat Kats: This was an awesome cartoon with an awesome opening theme. Since I had classes on Saturday, the only times when I was able to watch this was when it was vacation time, there was a typhoon or people were protesting about something in Malacanang.

11 – The Simpsons: Of course this was on the list. On its bazillionth season. I remember being allowed to stay up late to watch this once a week. It’s awesome how there are subtle changes in each of its openings per episode. This particular one embedded has a particularly long intro scene.

10 down, 10 to go. I had so much fun making this post since I got to watch all of these all over again. The top 10 coming up in the next few days. What are your favorites?

I’m Going to Like This Overkill Game

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Tue, 14 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

House of the Dead has been a standard first person light gun shooter game for the longest time. People go to that game if they want a mindless shoot em up. The characters are notorious for having zero personality and zero expression in their voices. Until I played this House of the Dead: Overkill game…

I’ve been wanting to play this (originally from Wii) game and I’ve had it for quite a while already installed on my PS3. It’s a light gun shooter so it uses the Playstation Eye and Move. Since I was bored yesterday, I finally booted it up and the first screen I see was below:

D*mn. How did I miss this. I knew I was going to love this game. And I was right. What was supposed to be just a few minutes turned into a few hours. From a gameplay standpoint, it’s a standard shooter that’s just so-so, but what gives it the charm is the presentation.

The game has an early 90s detective cop show feel to it. Each level is presented to be like an episode of a show. There’s a really funny narrator that constantly churns out really cheesy lines, they’re so bad that it’s funny. Then there’s the cast, so far I have only met the 2 cops, Agent G (House of the dead mainstay but here he’s just a rookie) and Agent Washington, then the 2 ladies (whom I can’t remember the names). The way that these guys interact is just so cool. Everything about it is just hilarious.

Oh and best of all, it’s Rated X! Which means it’s no holds barred in terms of foul language, blood and gore. Actually I have no idea what Rated X means, I just assumed that was the case since each episode I’ve played so far has no shortage of cussing and brains exploding.

This game can be played alone or with a friend. You get stronger by upgrading your guns using the money you earn from levels. Then you can replay each episode as much as you want to get higher scores.

This is a poster of an episode in the game. You can see the cheesiness in the subtitle

Who Will Your Root for in this Now You See Me Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Sun, 12 May 2013 03:30:00 +0000

Here’s a movie with an awesome cast. The trailer was initially playing while I was watching the Indiana Pacers ~~playing~~ beating the New York Knicks. When I saw the trailer my eyes suddenly shifted to watching this. It was Morgan Freeman’s voice that got me. Then more faces started showing.

Now You See Me is about a group of illusionists who steal from banks that are miles away using magic (or illusions depending on how you look at it) during their performances and then give it to their audience after. The team is comprised of Jesse Eisenberg (Social network), Isla Fisher (Confessions of a Shopaholic), Woody Harrelson (Hunger games) and Dave Franco (21 Jump street. He’s also James Franco’s little bro. The FBI and Interpol then try to catch them and their team is comprised of and headed by Morgan Freeman and Mark Ruffalo.

See that cast? Who are you going to root for? I personally hope that somehow at the end Morgan and Mark were into it the whole time. Or some twist like that. I’m surprised that a movie like this has been under the radar at least on this side of the world. Hope that this gets a little bit more attention as the release date nears.

Now You See Me comes out in the US end of May. Not sure when it comes out here in the Philippines.

Mousehunt is a Facebook Game that Doesn’t Disappoint

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Sat, 11 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

The ability to play games and have apps shared with your friends list is what gives Facebook that extra edge over other social networks. As far as the choices for Facebook games, the list is quite long, there have been quite a lot of good ones and many have come and go. Out of the long list, MouseHunt is one of those you should have a look at. I first stumbled upon this game back in 2008 and I have been playing it ever since.

MouseHunt was developed by HitGrab Inc. in 2008 and the objective is simple, you buy a trap which comprises of a weapon and a base, buy some cheese to set as your bait, then start hunting for mice. It’s as simple as that. Every 15 minutes you get a chance to hunt for mice. Mousehunt started out as just having a single world with 4 areas, with each area being harder than the last. Then a few other areas came up, new types of traps came up, more mice were found, essentially everything got much bigger and fast forward to 2013, this game is still capturing my interest.

The part that makes it worth my time is that you don’t have to be fully engaged when playing it. Mousehunt is played pretty passively, similar to how you would a real mouse trap. Just make sure your trap and bait match the current hunting conditions and location. There are also some factors involved when picking traps, those are power (that determine how strong your trap is. if you don’t have a strong trap, then you won’t catch anything), attraction rate (this determines whether you get a bite or not at all when hunting) and luck (that determines if the more rare mice go to you or if they will have any special item drops).

Then at times there are hunting events where there are special games or conditions that you need to fulfill. Like during Christmas, there will be Christmas themed mice who you need to catch before they can drop gifts. It has grown to be quite complex in that I need to sometimes look at websites to actually figure out what to do.

There’s really no end goal in Mousehunt, it just keeps going. There’s also no objective, just catch as many mice as you can. Everything in

I’ll stop blabbing about this now. Go to their facebook app or their own site (which is also linked to facebook) and try playing this. The initial stages can be a bit boring if you're not using the powerful stuff but luckily they have a pay-now model where you can get the strong stuff immediately. Game on!

LEGO is in Everything... now a Batman Movie

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Fri, 10 May 2013 04:30:00 +0000

LEGO has been an awesome product that ~~has~~ SHOULD to be part of every kid’s (and adult’s) life. The toys have always captured the imagination of people everywhere and they just keep on getting better and better. I remember getting so excited to go to my friend’s house just so we could play with the LEGO pirate ships. Then they started getting into games, and now movies. And they’re good.

I remember the first licensed LEGO material that I had taken an interest to was LEGO Star Wars. It was just awesome to see an entire setup of battleships and the like in its LEGO form. It was such a hit that all of a sudden, there was LEGO everything. I could never get into collecting it though because of the high price point as well as significant investment for your collection to make sense.

Then they started getting into games like Harry Potter and Indiana Jones which were all fun in a quirky way. They were simple to pick up and play and the $40-60 investment was easy to get into (lower if you wait for sale). Now they’re into movies. I saw the Star Wars LEGO movie with my cousin last year which was so-so, but this one I’m actually a little bit more excited to watch. Still veeeery cautiously optimistic, but hope it’s good.

The storyline focuses on Lex Luthor working together with the Joker to do mischief. Batman, on the other hand, will be joined by the other members of the Justice League for this.

LEGO Batman is direct to video, obviously. Trailer below.

One Piece Toy Madness with New Storyline

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:30:00 +0000

So my addiction for One Piece just keeps getting more and more insane. I just recently got my hands on these figurines and I took the chance to mess around with some of them and put some story into each scene as well.

In the anime I’m currently already at the tail end of Thriller Bark or as they say it in the show, “Sriller Barks”. I’m pretty pumped since Mr. Monkey D. Luffy already has his full crew and I’m starting to appreciate the toys since I know who they are now.

This set of toys were purchased as a set and although the characters were random, I still had fun taking shots and making up storyline conversations between them. (Yes, I’m childish like that). From Left to Right the guys I got were Sanji, Shanks, Tony Chopper, Mihawk Hawk Eyes, Roronoa Zoro, Portgas D. Ace, then of course, Monkey D. Luffy.

So anyway, here are some hat grabbing and gun toting One Piece shots I took:
First is a shot of the crew planning their next adventure. Sanji and Zoro still can’t get along. Chopper is excited anyway while Nami and Usopp are probably preparing some of their supplies. Zoro is still pissed at the love cook for goofing off during their hunting trip while Luffy just entertains himself by watching them yap off.

Here’s another look at the same scene. Chopper’s trying his best to calm Zoro down. These guys can never get along

Next up we have Zoro focusing on his inner drive to become the best swordsman ever. He is haunted by the memory of his lopsided defeat at the hands of Mihawk back in East Blue. He has gotten stronger since then, but is it enough to win against Mihawk?

Mihawk continues to torment Zoro in his dreams.

Mihawk eagerly awaits Zoro to surpass him and give him an awesome battle.

Shanks and Luffy meet up once again years after their last encounter. Shanks is proud of what Luffy has become in that he is living his dream of becoming a pirate and surpassing Shanks.

Luffy and Ace pose for the camera. Ace is using his fire technique so they need to hold on to their hats so they don’t fly off.

So there you have it. One Piece toy madness. I have placed an order for the whole crew which I’ll probably get sometime in June. I’ll probably come up with better storylines once I get those that can actually move their arms and legs. Fun times!

OMFGDogs is An Awesome Website for Dog Lovers

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Tue, 07 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I just absolutely love this website. It doesn’t get any simpler than just a site with some running dogs. But for some reason, the music and the video is just so mesmerizing. I came to know about OMFGDogs last year and I have been frequenting it every now and then.

OMFGDogs was made by Dan Williams, who according to his website is a 27 year old developer and general tech-enthusiast based in Melbourne, Australia. And he just used some dogs running in a loop coupled with some awesome music. I am always put into a trance state when I load this page up. Questions abound like: Who will win the race? Will the beagle catch up to the pug and the corgi? When will the music end? How long does this go on? I don’t know if those questions will ever be answered, but I will keep going back to this site to find out.

By the name of the site, obviously it’s for folks who love dogs. Cat lovers you can just go see the nya nya cat or something. Or maybe cats playing the piano on Youtube.

So what are you waiting for, head on over to www.omfgdogs.com and be amazed.

Feast on Spectrum Buffet from Raffles/Fairmont Makati

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Mon, 06 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I had the chance to have lunch at the Spectrum hotel buffet that is in Raffles / Fairmont Makati last week and it was a pretty satisfying meal. But was it worth the cost?

Located at the edge of the Ayala center, the Fairmont hotel is a great location for you let your relatives or friends stay if you don’t really have time (or want to) bring them around since it is directly across the Landmark and Glorietta malls. This is a fancy hotel. I usually judge a hotel initially by their staff. Not the management staff, but the general staff. And I will say that the folks that I had interacted with here are very well trained. The security guards really helped me get from my parking (which is still free) to the elevator. The folks in the lobby were also very courteous and friendly. Kudos to the management for this.

I will say though that the parking is one of the weak points of this hotel. There is close to zero signage on how to get to the hotel and the door is just a plain door without any indication that the elevator is there. Had the guards not escorted me, I would have just used the car ramp to get up.

So moving on to the actual Spectrum Buffet. There is a decent selection of food and the buffet regulars are there. I am an awesome carnivore so I will only get the food that I like.

Roast Section: This place has a very good lineup of roasted goods. You have duck, white chicken, asado, and suckling pig. The meat also had only a little fat so it was a really good cut.

Seafood section: These were actually on ice that you can eat cold. But I’ll have none of that cold food nonsense. I had them prepare it for normal humans by cooking with butter garlic. This was very satisfying.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong here, but is it only here in the Philippines that we have them do this? I tried a hotel buffet when I was in Hongkong and when I asked them to cook this, they looked at me with a blank face.

Pasta: Their pasta is freshly made. Or at least it tastes that way. As with any pasta station, you can ask them to make whatever concoction you want. This specifically was Creamy Seafood.

Main event: They had a prime rib as their main event dish. I had them cook it medium rare and it was pretty good. The cook was also able to cut thin slices consistently. Not too thick, not too thin.

Cheese station: If you’re into this sort of thing, Spectrum has a wide selection of cheeses for you to nibble at. I tried as much as I could and they were all pretty good. Not the moldy ones though.

Pizza section: You can ask them to prepare pizza for you in their brick oven. They have a menu of stuff you can order, but there’s no reason why you can’t ask them to prepare any type of pizza you want.

Honey section: They have a section that serves honey that you can put in your other food. It’s fresh honey harvested from these honeybees. Actual. Live. Honeybees. It’s quite good. The only thing that made me uncomfortable is that the they are displayed in plain sight. I feel that it’s only a matter of time before some kid breaks this and horrible things happen. Fairmont Spectrum, please put this behind a stronger case.

Dessert station: This has all of the cakes and crepes. I only tried about 9 different flavors of ice cream though. They have a pretty good selection of sorbets and flavored ice creams.

The Comparison: I will benchmark based on other establishments that are within the same price point.

Food selection – It has all the basic foods that you would come to expect from a hotel buffet. What you didn’t see here were other appetizers like sashimi and the various Japanese rolls, then maybe vegetables which my mind just subconsciously blocks out. I was left a bit wanting for more like perhaps a wider seafood selection (e.g. lobster or tempura shrimp), and another choice in the main event section (e.g. lamb chops). There was also zero drinks offered, you could only choose from coffee or tea.

Food quality – The quality is superb. I have no complaints on this. Everything that they have, they make sure it is done well.

Price – This is what keeps me from fully recommending Fairmont Spectrum. It’s quite pricey (see below for price) for the small selection. This has a tradeoff though in that there is only a few people dining, which gives off a more “relaxed” feel. I hope they have some sort of membership promo that somehow reduces the base price.

Overall, I had a good time dining here with family. My taste buds and tummy both felt satisfied. If they had some better pricing plan, it would be even better. I would definitely come back if given the chance.

Breakfast Buffet Php 1,450 net per person
6:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Monday to Friday
6:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Weekends and Holidays

Lunch Buffet Php 1,675 net per person
11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. daily

Dinner Buffet Php 1,995 net per person
6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. daily

Watch and Download Youtube Without Interruptions

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

All I want when watching my Youtube videos is to actually JUST watch them when I want to without any interruptions from anyone. It used to be like that, but now there are comments, annotations, advertisements, and all sorts of stuff that just makes my watching experience that much less enjoyable. Then I found this Youtube extension.
Youtube Options is a freeware third party extension for browsers that enhance the way you watch youtube videos. How? Let me show you the ways.

Clean interface – Look how clean it is. No suggested videos or Playing next options that sell you on other stuff even before you’ve watched what you want.
Just Video – I want to be able to watch the video just for what it is without having to move my mouse to cancel an ad or close an annotation or comment.
Download options – One click downloads. No need to use other sites or applications or even rummaging through the browser caches to look for the file. it’s all here, with just a click of a button. Note: for the chrome version, you need to side load this directly from the Youtube options website
Video options – You have a flurry of other options to choose from like what default size do you want all your videos to start playing on, or automatically pause the video and just let it load, or just removing everything in the screen and just show you the video itself.
Go back any time – Clicking some buttons reveals the original options that matter like the embed options or the share options.

There’s still plenty of other options that I have not really tinkered with but these are the ones that I have found to be the most useful. So here’s to better Youtube video watching. Now all you can watch Gangnam style in peace.
Youtube options supports Chrome (all desktop), Safari and Opera browsers.

Some Guys Made A Real SUPER Mario Crossover

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

In 2010, the guys from ExplodingRabbit made this game called Super Mario crossover which I enjoyed playing very much. In 2013, they are about to release the new version of their game called Super Mario Crossover 3.0. Haven’t heard about this game at all? Read on.
Super Mario Crossover is a web based adventure game that takes place in the Mario universe but the twist, as you can see, is that you can choose to play it using the different characters from the different NES/Family computer era games. Gone are the days where you wonder how Mega Man would do against goombas or if Link can hold his own against the hammer brothers.

The game allows you to select a new character in between levels. Each character then brings his own feel to the game. So like Mega Man won’t be able to jump on enemies but will have his mega buster to shoot at enemies and the trusty Rush to help him get to higher platforms. Billy from Contra will also have his gun and then get the gun powerups instead of mushrooms/flowers.
So head on over to their site to play this. Ready to party like it’s the 80s?

Evil Dead Movie Review (Spoiler - it's good)

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Wed, 01 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Fans of the Evil Dead franchise have been starving for a new entry to the series which has been in hibernation since the early 90s. I have been super stoked about this ever since I heard about the reboot but was quite bummed that it took so long for it to show in the Philippines compared to the US. So was it what I had expected it to be?

You.Should.Watch.Evil Dead. Move your meetings, reschedule your dinner appointments, free up your calendars and just go and watch this movie. I missed going into a theatre and just enjoying a movie end to end. Evil Dead has always revolved around the Necronomicon, the book of the dead. “Bound in flesh and written in blood, it was never meant for the world of the living.” That quote will always play in my head in Bruce Campbell’s voice every time I hear that word. Director Fede Alvarez has done a great job with this.

Plot
It’s not any different for this reboot. 5 teenagers go to a secluded house in the woods to try and help their friend control her drug addiction when they stumble upon the Necronomicon <insert quote here>. One of them suddenly awakens a demon while tinkering with the book. It then calls upon a demon that possesses the drug addict, which is a good plot point since it makes the others think that she’s just undergoing withdrawal symptoms rather than being possessed. The demon’s objective is to be able to consume 5 souls before he can bring his dead army to the world. Obviously it’s up to the 5 teenagers to try and stop him.

Characters
The cast is comprised of pretty much unknowns. Some of them played some minor roles in other movies. That’s not to say that they did a bad job, they actually play their roles as fresh meat quite nicely here. I have zero complaints about how each one of them portrayed their roles. The jock who is kinda slow on the uptake but not afraid of anything. The nerd who knows a lot but tries his best to be tough. The responsible one who tries to put everything together. The dumb blond who just doesn’t try at all. And finally the wild one who just has to try and save the day.

The Dead
This is the main star of the show. The dead who rise and take over bodies to do mischief. What I liked about the Evil Dead is that they actually have a motivation to kill, which is to claim 5 souls so that their bros can also rise. They are done very well and giving people the scares is well achieved.

Overall
This is what a horror movie should be. I walked away from the movie having had a great time without any lingering feeling of dread that other movies in the same genre give you. Given that the original guys, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, were involved, the Evil Dead feel was all about: The camera chase scenes through the woods, the splattering blood (this time without the hose spraying the blood exposed, they’ve come a long way from being a B movie), the semi-goofy ways they kill people, the piercings, the mischievous dead, the chainsaws. Everything just works so well in this movie. The blood, the gore, the special effects, everything. Go watch Evil Dead and have a good time.

Evil Dead shows in Ayala cinemas on May 8. Best part? No.CUTS.

Reasons Why I’m Loving One Piece (And Why You Should Start Watching it)

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Wed, 01 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I regret not having been able to watch One Piece back then, but this is a mistake I’m fixing now. An anime like this doesn’t get to 15 years old and still running without good reason. I started watching last March and just passed the halfway mark through the 500+ episodes. So what makes this show great?

One Piece follows pirate, Monkey D. Luffy, on his journey to become the Pirate King which is the greatest honor that a pirate can get.

It makes me laugh – Genuinely. Not sympathy laughs you give to some shows, this is me getting all cracked up from the jokes and funny ways that the people interact with each other and the dumb stuff that they do to each other as well as to the enemies.

The Characters – All of the main characters are very interesting. Each one has their own motivations as to why they are joining the pirate crew so you understand what drives them. And most importantly, I actually care about what happens to them. Outside of the main cast which is Luffy’s crew, the supporting cast is also interesting. There are little throw away characters. Some minor guys suddenly play pivotal roles later on.

The Story – This is what really makes the show. Since starting in 1997, the storyline hasn’t slowed down. Each storyline is still action packed and very entertaining. There’s always something new and fun for Luffy’s crew to explore. I’m halfway through and I like it because they are starting to add some layers to the characters’ personalities. No longer are they just plain happy go lucky guys, they actually start to encounter conflicts which they have to resolve in some way. I try my best not to look at spoilers but I can’t help looking at other media like games, movies and toys which sometimes give away certain plot points.

The Pacing – They spend a reasonable number of episodes developing the story and doing boss fights. It’s unlike other animes where they spend a bazzilion episodes just to throw a single punch. There are also a small number of filler episodes which is nice.

The Merchandise – This was the thing that drew me to the franchise. The toys just look awesome and they’re everywhere. I have started shopping for the models that I want which is a very dangerous path. I also want to play the PS3 game.

OMG OMG OMG New Trailer for Pacific Rim OMG OMG OMG

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:30:00 +0000

I was having a good day today. Then this new Pacific Rim trailer shows up to make it even more awesome. This one has even more monster-punching, robot-smashing, GLaDOS-talking, apocalypse-cancelling action. So here’s the trailer.

Pacific Rim is about dudes who beat up other dudes. Then monsters come out and beat them up, so they make even bigger dudes with cool robots voices to beat them up. Then the monsters, I assume, get even bigger so those same dudes have to figure their stuff out. Along the way, those dudes come up with awesome cheesy quotes, “Go Big or Go Extinct”.

F*CK. I can’t wait for this movie to come out on July.

Drop is a Free Game From the Mind of Mr. Minecraft

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:00:00 +0000

There is a complete lack of typing games out there. There used to be a lot that I played as a kid like Typing tutor or Typing of the Dead. Well, the guys from Mojang heard us and have come up with a simple typing game that has driven me nuts. Can you handle it?

Markus Persson is part of company Mojang, the guys who brought us Minecraft. I still haven’t been able to really get into it, but my kid cousin just loves that game.
The game Drop (platform: PC) is simple enough, just look at the letters that come up, type them in and press enter if you think you got a word already. The letters don’t slow down though so you need to keep going as fast as your eyes and your fingers can take you. It does get a bit manic and I can see people going gaga over this as soon as they add something like leaderboards and friends integration.
But for now, this is what it is. The highest score I’ve gotten is 261. The my eyes couldn’t handle it any more. Head on over to the game website and try it out for yourself.

Typing of the Dead was THE typing game

Your Tummy Will Thank You for Atelier 317 from Stephanie Zubiri

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Looking for a great place to have a nice meal? Maybe you have a small party where you want to host? Or maybe you want to cook for your friends but don’t have a kitchen big enough? Look no further. Hidden inside the streets of Makati, there is a little restaurant that serves a mix of Asian and European-influenced food which you will want to try. I had the chance to sink my teeth into it and I was not disappointed.

Atelier 317 is located just near Rockwell Powerplant Mall and is from the mind of master cook, Stephanie Zubiri. This restaurant started off as just a small operations setup and way to use the space that was rented within Palm Village for Stephanie’s catering business. It gained a lot of fame via hearsay but was limited in terms of space so it could only accommodate around 12-14 people at any given point in time. Now she has opened a full fledged restaurant in Makati which can now hold up to around 50 people. You can just go there now without any special reservations.

The 317 at the end is the number of the original address in Palm Village and Atelier means workshop in French which is very fitting since Stephanie works on new recipes together with other chefs here to come up with more and better dishes. I tried figuring out midway through the meal on how to classify this establishment in terms of the food that it serves and failed, so I just asked and Stephanie prefers to call it Mediterr-Asian. But at the end of the meal I really didn’t care since everything was just so good.

Let me say that I am a meat eater and do not enjoy the greener side of things, so if you’re an awesome carnivore like me, these are the dishes you’ll enjoy. Enough talk, here’s the food.

Lamb Gyoza P280

Flamed Kesong Puti Caprese Salad P280

Foie Gras Molo Soup P300

Truffle Mushroom Lasagna P350

US Black Angus Balsamic Beef Adobo (P650 serves 1; P3500 serves 6)

Sri Lankan Black Pepper Chicken P550

Rosemary Mustard Roast Pork Tenderloin P850

Spicy Corn Pasta (they had just come up with this dish, so there wasn't a price yet)

Roasted Banana

Atelier 317 is located near the Powerplant Mall. Coming from Powerplant via Rockwell Drive going to kalayaan, turn right after passing Ateneo/BDO to Palma Drive

Palm Rock Building
6060 Palma cor Osias Street, Poblacion, Makati, MM
Open Monday to Friday 11am to 11pm (last call 10pm) and Saturday 9am to 11pm and Sunday 9am to 4pm
For more information and reservations: call 02-358-0987 or text 0917-830-8393
email: mek@epicurusinc.ph or atelier317@epicurusinc.ph

The Mobile Games I’m Playing (4/28/13)

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 01:00:00 +0000

With the industry shifting to mobile, there have been a lot of games that have been made and designed to be played on the go. Here are the ones that I bring with me when I’m not at home… or sometimes I also play when I’m at home.

Candy Crush Saga (Android/iOS - Free)
This game is not fun. Just putting it out there. Ask anyone who has played over 50 levels of this game. I used to think that there was no skill involved, but in higher levels there is a certain level of forward planning that you need to do. What keeps people going is the social aspect of it. There’s just something about passing your friends’ levels that is oddly satisfying.

10000000 (Android/iOS – $2)
This game is a dungeon crawler but the twist is that you do a bejweled-like game and what you match translates to the action that your character does. So if you match swords then you attack, match keys and you get keys you use to unlock doors and chests. You will die a lot of times in this game. The character experience and gold is persistent though, so the idea is that you keep playing and keep upgrading your guy until you can further progress.

Pixel Kingdom (Android/iOS - Free)
An infinite rpg tower defense hybrid. This game is a really good time waster and it’s fun as well. More characters unlock as you go. It was made by an indie developer who is still in college and I am very impressed with it. More about this game in my review.

Soul Sacrifice (PS Vita – Demo is free, Game comes out Apr 30,13 for $40)
If you have a PS Vita, play this game. It is so good! This is a game where you hunt demons. It’s very similar to Monster hunter which I spent hundreds of hours on. I’ve waited for this game for over a year now and it does not disappoint. I’ve poured quite a bit of time into it already… and it’s just the demo I’m playing. I normally just charge my Vita maybe twice a week, but now I charge it everyday.

Guacamelee (PS Vita – $15)
Luchadors! A 2D platformer which plays similar to castlevania but has the puzzle/discovery elements of metroid, hence the term metroid-vania. The gameplay is great, the music is just perfect, and this game is just fun to play. So fun that I got the Platinum by finding all the hidden chests and I had fun doing it.

That’s about it for this month. Next month is going to be Soul Sacrifice all the way. Although Draw something 2 is also on the horizon for Android.

Random Food Trips. Of Donuts, Pizza, Chips and Sola

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:30:00 +0000

I like going out and buying or trying random stuff especially if it’s food that looks good. Here are the new stuff I tried out in the last few weeks.
First up are the Cookie Butter donuts from Gonuts Donuts. I think these are new on their menu and they’re quite good. A bit on the sweet side, but still very satisfying. There are fewer branches now, but SM Makati still has one.

Next is the Four Cheese Pizza from Blushing Cupcakes. I was surprised to see pesto on it since I’m not really a fan of that (nor was it described on the menu). I liked most of the pizza, but not the parts with pesto. This establishment also sells, obviously, cupcakes which are quite good. They have a branch in Ortigas home depot near Starbucks.

Next up are Cassava Chips called Qtela Singkong. I cannot remember where I purchased these, but it was definitely inside a supermarket. The chips are quite good, it doesn’t hurt the roof of your mouth even if you eat a lot.

Finally, my favorite Sola. I just love this Apple Green Tea flavor that they have. I always make sure we stock upon this when we go to the supermarket. I just had this yesterday together with pizza and buffalo wings.

Types of Doggie Barks and How to Tell the Difference

noreply@blogger.com (Druce Tan) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Dogs are adorable creatures. They keep us company and I never feel the time pass by if I’m hanging out with them. One important aspect of owning or interacting with dogs is to be able to read them if they’re trying to communicate with you. Misreading their tells could be a huge mistake especially if they are trying to tell you something important, or maybe when interacting with a dog you do not own. So how to tell what they’re saying?
Happy bark. These are short barks that start low tone and end at a high tone. There is also a breaking of the voice which will tell you how excited they are, the more breaks, the more excited they are. Usually these are accompanied by a violent wagging of the tail and exposed tongue. This happens when the dog knows you and is happy to see you. Get ready for some play time. They are very safe to approach. This usually followed by…
Playful bark. This is very similar to the happy bark, but there is a little bit more force into the bark. You can sense the push in their bark asking you to play with them. This happens when your dog wants to play with you. Either fetch or just running around, depends on what they are used to play. Make sure you don’t disappoint them. They are very safe to approach.
Sad bark. Barking with a lot of the letter “O’s”, almost like howling mixed with actual howling. This happens when your dog is sad. Either hungry, lonely or just neglected. This is the type of bark that I hate the most to hear. If you hear your dog make this sound a lot, then you are a horrible, horrible person.
Panic bark. These are continuous barking almost mixed with whimpers. I own a beagle and the time he does this is if he has found a scent of either a cat or a mouse and he’s tracking it. Since they are pack dogs, they use this sound to tell their pack mates that they are on the trail. They are safe to approach but you best just stay out of their way because they won’t mind you at all since they’re busy tracking.
Warning bark. You won’t miss this. They make long growls with short barks. They make this when they sense that something is wrong and they do not wish to engage if possible. If they are on a leash, you can try to approach them in a non-aggressive manner and let them smell the back of your hand, if they like you then they’ll stop barking and show some sort of submissive behavior, else, get the heck away from there.

Angry bark. Continuous barks mixed with growls. You’ll notice that the hair on their back is standing. This is the dog telling you that it’s on! Approach at your own risk. They will not hesitate to attack if you get within their territory. Stay away.
That’s pretty much the different types of barks that I know of. This is based on my personal experiences and as always, if you are not sure, then do not approach a dog you don’t know. Stay safe!