Deantastic!

Hay, Buhay

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 01:45:00 +0000

That's the title I've picked for this little comic strip I've started, using Bitstrips, which is a really neat website. I'll also be making appearances often (the first is in the third episode, right above this paragraph). I've embedded the first three episodes above. Click through them for bigger versions!

The entire strip is here, and you can subscribe via RSS here. I'll also be posting each episode here as I publish them. This isn't really a big project I'm embarking on, just something to pass the time and express my opinions in a different way.

Ngayong ika-14 ng Pebrero

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 10:38:00 +0000

Alam mo, ang weird ng tao. Siguro kung may bumisita sa atin na taga-ibang planeta, di nya maiisip na "intelligent" ang buhay na natagpuan niya.

Isipin mo nalang 'yung Rubik's Cube—isang maliit at makulay na kahon. Pag binili mo 'to (sa hindi murang halaga) eh may tig-iisang kulay lang sa bawat side neto. Kakalasin mo to, tapos susubukan mong buuin ulit. Ang labo lang.

Isa pa yung mga sports. Halimbawa, yung football. Ang lawak lawak ng field na pinaglalaruan nun. May dalawang magkalaban na koponan, at may iisang bola na pag-aagawan nila at susubukang ipasok sa isang net. Magpapakapagod sila sa loob ng 90 minutos para sa bola. Siguro iisipin ng alien, bakit di nalang sila bumili ng kanya-kanyang bola? Edi tapos ang gulo.

Pero ang pinaka-weird sa lahat ay ang Valentine's Day. Biruin mo: sa loob ng isang taon, ito ang nag-iisang araw na tila baga'y kasalanan ang hindi umibig. Mula Pebrero 15 hanggang Pebrero 13, okey lang kahit di ka pansinin ang jowa mo. Pero pagsikat ng araw sa ika-14 ng Pebrero—ang kalagitnaan ng buwang siyang pinakakapos sa petsa—kung wala siyang dala-dalang rosas at tsokolate, nako, lagot siya sayo.

Ano nga ba ang meron sa Valentine's Day kung tawagin? Bakit nga ba tayo biglang nagiging romantic pagsapit nito? Ayon sa iba, ito ay araw ng kapistahan ng isang santo ng Iglesia Katolika, si Saint Valentine. Ito raw si San Valentino ay ikinulong dahil sa salang pagkakasal sa mga sundalo na bawal magpakasal. Kumbaga, Soldier of Love. Char. Kaya siguro naugnay ang kapistahan niya sa pagmamahalan. (Kaya nga rin pala ako hindi nakiki-valentines—kasi nga pista ito ng isang santong Katoliko.)

Pero wag naman tayong maglokohan. Di tayo nag-iibigan pag February 14 dahil sa isang paring namatay ilang siglo na ang makalipas. Kung may nagpipista man ngayon, hindi tayo, kundi ang mga may-ari ng Hallmark, mga sinehan, mga mamahaling kainan na may pretentious na pangalan, at ang mga tsipipay na hotel. Ang Valentine's Day ay ginawang araw ng pag-ibig di dahil sa kung anu-anong pa-deep na kadahilanan, kundi dahil, wala lang, gusto lang nila.

Pero alam naman natin yun eh. Yun nga ang nakapagtataka—kahit alam na natin na pilit lang ang kabuluhan ng February 14, kinakarir pa rin natin ito. Ubusan pa rin ng kapal ng mukha sa panghaharana sa classroom. Ubusan pa rin ng allowance sa pagbili ng tsokolate at lubhang overpriced na rosas. At ubusan pa rin ng dangal sa pag-aaya ng date sa kung sinu-sino, wag lang masabing wala kang ka-date ngayong Valentines.

At dahil kinulong ang pag-ibig sa loob ng 24 oras, bukas, babalik na naman sa dati. Mag-eevaporate din ang mushy feeling na yan. Kitakits nalang ulit next year. Ang abnormal, diba?

Kung tutuusin, ito nga naman kasi ang silbi ng kultura sa isang lipunan gaya ng sa atin. Pinagmumukha nitong normal ang hindi normal, at tinatago sa maskara ng katotohanan ang mga bagay na kataka-taka.

Kaya ikaw, kung ang hawak mo man ngayon ay Rubik's Cube o Toblerone, eto lang ang masasabi ko sayo. Una, mukha kang tanga. At pangalawa, ipagtuloy mo lang yan. Ganyan talaga ang tao—katawa-tawa.

UP Diliman pillbox blast

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:33:00 +0000

I was at Eduk yesterday afternoon when I was told about the pillbox that had exploded on the grounds of Benton Hall, which was just a minute's walk away. I rushed to the scene to report for my college paper, Tinig Ng Plaridel.

I'm proud to say we were the first to break the story correctly. News outlets were tweeting that a vintage World War II bomb had caused the explosion. The authorities that responded to the incident weren't yet sure what the explosive was when I got to the scene, but they had already speculated it was a pillbox and ruled out any chance it was a vintage bomb. The damage to the area was minor, and the two construction workers who were injured in the blast were still conscious with all limbs intact, so it probably wasn't an undetonated bomb from the 1940s. I tweeted photos of the area and quoted police officials to dispute the hearsay.

GMA News used my tweets and photos in their story. InterAksyon used my photo, too. Of course, I had few resources and little time with me and so I wasn't able to chase the story much after I broke it. DZUP and the Philippine Collegian, as well as the mainstream media outlets, followed up very well. Still, I'm glad to say I think we got all the important facts out on the first break.

Journalism is fun. Check me out in the video at the top of this post, at around the 2:10 mark!

Les Miserables

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 04:25:00 +0000

Katz and I went to see Les Miserables, which everyone has been raving about. I'm not crazy about musicals, but that was some really moving stuff.

It was the first time we used SM Cinema's e-ticketing system. Fun! Also, Dear Popcorn, your days as the staple cinema food are over. Shakey's Mojos Supreme, that bucket full of potato slices, is much \ better.

A few things about Les Mis:

Anne Hathaway did a terrific job. The hair on my arms stood on end when she sang "I Dreamed A Dream" for the first time. But it was disappointing how little screen time she got, especially after all that hype.
Holy crap, Borat!
She will always be Bellatrix LeStrange to me. It doesn't help that her hair doesn't vary very much from film to film.
Every time Amanda Seyfried was in the shot, I half-expected her to go, "I was cheated by you, and I think you know when..."

Perhaps you've heard about the train wreck of an interview Ricky Lo conducted with Anne Hathaway. Lo was troubled, unprepared, and unprofessional. Thank goodness Anne had enough class to not go berserk on him.

Hello, Manila.

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 01:21:00 +0000

Happy 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Broadcast Journalism class. Salamat kay Marianne for the photo!

The most significant thing I learned this year was a lesson of humility.

There are things in this life that we just can't do much about, no matter how much we try. I hope I've understood that I need to go easy on myself. I hope I can tell myself honestly that not everything that does not work as I thought it would is my fault. It's a bit of a narcissistic thing to think, I'm beginning to realize now. Maybe I shouldn't think of myself too much in the year to come.

All of this is summed up neatly in a set of Star Trek GIFs Wil Wheaton reblogged on Tumblr recently.

What did you learn this year? My New Year's wish for you and the ones you love, as always, is a fantastic 2013.

If you're wondering where I've been

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 09:19:00 +0000

Apparently, I've gone to a library every week this month. I'm just as surprised as you.

Bureaucracy

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:09:00 +0000

On the morning of my 18th birthday, I was woken up by my father, who greeted me, "Welcome to the legal world."

This morning, I finally got off my ass, like a schoolkid who pressed the Snooze button too many times, and got around to registering for next year's midterm elections. Yes, I beat the deadline by a day.

Before you start lecturing me about doing things at the last minute, I do realize that I could have registered earlier. I was fully aware of that even as I pulled into the compound where the Comelec office is at half past six this morning to find a line of people that had already stretched all the way to the main road.

I had actually attempted to register on Saturday. Although I arrived at the Comelec at eight in the morning then, the line wasn't as long as it was today. I got my form and filled it out as I fell in line, enduring the heat for a good two hours. Then my dad swung by the Comelec, saw the queue, and told me it would be four p.m. before I would be done. He suggested I come back on Monday, so I left the line.

My dad told me I should have come a lot earlier—six in the morning, at least, two hours before the office would even open—if I didn't want to wait so long. So I planned to wake up early Monday, but that fell through because I'd fallen asleep too late Sunday night.

Fast forward to today. Though I did think to get to the Comelec office earlier, I (naively) didn't think that everyone else would be thinking the same thing, too. Not that I'm complaining—as I said, I know the consequences of doing things at the last minute, and I was ready to deal with them.

The local Comelec office kept things in order pretty well. At eight in the morning, two Comelec employees went through the queue of voters and stapled a priority number to each registrant's application form. They were accompanied by a cop who weeded out those who had cut in line. (May I just say that I have never, ever understood why people think it's okay to cut in line. It's disrespectful and uncivil. Unless you're dying and need urgent medical attention, back of the line, pal.) They would entertain 350 people in the morning and 250 in the afternoon. I was Registrant #160 P.M., and the Comelec employee, irritated by people behind her hounding her for priority stubs, very politely told us to "eat lunch and come back in the afternoon."

So I headed for the Land Transportation Office, another government office notorious for long lines and red tape. I was expecting another two or three hours or so of squeezing myself into tight spaces and filling out complicated forms, but the LTO office was surprisingly uncrowded when I got there, and it took me all of 30 minutes to get my Student's Permit, which I can turn into a license in five months' time. Oddly, though, I was offered those little red wallets you're supposed to keep your permit in for P30 at almost every window I had to go through. I had to decline because I didn't have change with me, so I'm not sure if they issue government receipts for those things.

I had enough time to go back home, rest a little, and eat lunch before going back to the Comelec. When I got there at a little before one, there was still a small crowd around the entrance, and a small-voiced woman was screaming out names at the door. They were collecting the forms of those with priority numbers in batches of 20 and calling them out. The crowd could barely hear her amidst the chatter. People were growing impatient and started to complain. "How disorganized," I heard one say. "These Comelec people are stupid," commented another. I had to shake my head.

Not much later, another Comelec employee emerged from the office's balcony on the second floor, wielding a megaphone. "Good afternoon," the woman began. She asked everyone not to crowd around the entrance, give his form to the Comelec employee at the door, and wait for his number to be called. Easy peasy.

At half past three I was in line at the stairway. Fifteen minutes later, I was waiting to have my picture taken. At four p.m. I walked down the crowded stairway and squeezed my way past the small crowd that had begun to gather at the door again, thankful that I had been spared the worst of Philippine bureaucracy while doing my civic duty.

Have you registered yet? What's your #votersregistration story?

Phil Dunphy

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:35:00 +0000

Source

When I become a dad I want to be like Modern Family's Phil Dunphy. He's quirky. He knows how to have fun. He's never lost touch of his inner child. And although he might forget to fasten a cabinet here or change a light there, no one can ever doubt for one moment that he really, truly, deeply loves Claire and the kids, and would do anything for them.

Two hundred posts

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Time marches happily on. Life's fantastic! (I hope British readers won't take offense at my hand gesture, which, although innocently meant, may appear to be flipping them off.)

Neat bracelets from Peu de Soleil

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:59:00 +0000

Our friend Paige makes and sells these nice "wrist candy" bracelets through her online store Peu de Soleil. Very nice.

These are mine. I was afraid they'd look too girly, but I think I can pull them off. The one on the left looks camo-y, no?

These are Katz's. Notice the charm on the solid-pink one.

They're really simple, and at P100 for three, they're affordable, too. I don't usually endorse stores or products on my blog, but I haven't written in a while, and these bracelets are too nice not to talk about!

MVP: bridging Internet gap important for future

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 02:51:00 +0000

Note: Blog posts tagged "J117" (such as this one) are requirements for the Online Journalism class I'm taking this semester. See all of my J117-related posts.

Pangilinan. Photo from Wikipedia

PLDT Chairperson Manny Pangilinan said yesterday that bringing the Internet to more Filipinos is “important for the future of our country.”

Speaking at the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) Summit yesterday, Pangilinan said: “many Filipinos are still cut off from the digital world. It’s important for the future of our country that we bridge the divide as quickly as we can.”

He said that in other countries, the Internet was being used to improve people's livelihood. In India, farmers receive real-time weather updates through the Internet, he added.

“Digital adds more fun in the Philippines,” he said.

Pangilinan said that although he was not a "digital native," he found much use and potential for the Internet.

"Even my humor has gone digital," Pangilinan said, before rattling off a set of Internet-related pickup lines.

He also announced that he has joined Twitter under the handle @iamMVP. The account already has more than 10,000 followers.

Convergence

Pangilinan said he was able to use the Internet and mobile technology to rescue athletes trapped in a gym on Araneta Avenue during the onslaught of rains brought by Hanging Habagat.

He added that the companies he owns—Smart, Talk 'n' Text, Meralco and TV5—came together for the rescue.

Pangilinan said his telecommunications company, PLDT, wants to be at the heart of the convergence between old and new media because of the opportunities it brings.

He added that he wants to upgrade PLDT’s infrastructure for the digital age.

"Merging telcos as a delivery system with OTT (over-the-top) players as content suppliers” was another "point of convergence" for the company, Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan noted the power of Apple’s devices and its app ecosystem, which he said is effective because it provides context to its users.

OTT services even have the potential to change the business model of his TV network, TV5, he said.

Wag masyadong atat mag-retweet.

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 15:36:00 +0000

We've had a couple of opportunities to see and measure Twitter's potential as a communication tool—during the heavy monsoon rains the other week, for example, when the government used it to aid rescue operations.

As a news source, however, it (and the Internet in general) has a long way to go. Tonight is a case in point. News of Sec. Jesse Robredo's plane crashing into waters off Masbate spread quickly on Twitter. So did false reports that he had been rescued. Traditional media outlets were quick to deny such reports, but on Twitter, even more than in real life, rumors reach the other side of the world before the truth gets a chance to put its pants on.

Twitsperts have been navel-gazing quite a lot online lately, lauding the Internet's capacity to allow news to travel at a blinding rate. But tonight's incident should dissuade the "certified bloggers" of the world from getting together for another circlejerk. Twitter spread the news of the Robredo plane crash quickly, but it also blurred a lot of the details of the story. And it happened in part because people were all too willing to retweet without checking for accuracy, all for the sake of being a social media influencer, a person with online clout, or whatever the hell we call pretentious Internet users nowadays. That's thoroughly counterproductive for a tool we routinely refer to as the future of journalism.

So, haughty Twitter users, before you pat each other on the back for your show of love and concern for Robredo's family and scold other people for tweeting about things not related to the plane crash, please know: you're nowhere near as awesome as you think you are.

Don't bother watching Bourne.

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 08:30:00 +0000

Bourne Legacy is aiming at a very specific audience: people who have commuted around Manila enough to be able to point out a specific street or area based on three seconds of fleeting footage.

But even the fun of correctly identifying where the chase scenes were shot can't redeem the film's tedious exposition, pointless action, and abrupt ending. I feel cheated—the only thing a film shouldn't be allowed to make you feel.

Journalism in a hurry

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 06:30:00 +0000

Note: Blog posts tagged "J117" (such as this one) are requirements for the Online Journalism class I'm taking this semester. See all of my J117-related posts.

Source

They say journalism is "history in a hurry." The profession is all about reporting stories accurately, fairly, and completely—but also very quickly.

A decade ago, printing "history in a hurry" meant a whole day of legwork—scurrying around from office to office gathering documents and talking to sources to create a comprehensive news story. When Pinatubo exploded in the 1990s, newsrooms sent out reporters, who talked to sources and wrote stories, which they sent back to their desks for broadcast or publishing.

We're finding that today's journalists don't even have the luxury of one workday. In the era of online news, journalism isn't just journalism anymore—it's journalism in a hurry. In 2009, when Ondoy hit Manila, reporters were tweeting what their sources were telling them and uploading photos taken from their phones on Facebook.

Paul Bradshaw's diagram on how digitization has changed the news production cycle is very interesting. In a matter of years, the three stages in the news production process, once distinct, now occur simultaneously. They've become layers, and not stages, of the cycle.

Bradshaw adds that because so many newsrooms have switched to this model, the new process has become formalized. Post-Web news organizations now have the same important editorial process and responsibilities as pre-Web ones, which is very important for the integrity of the profession.

The ground is shaking underneath the feet of the world's journalism educators. J schools should catch up with this in the next year or two if they don't want to lag behind in the long run. We should definitely keep teaching students the long-held tenets of journalism.

But we should start teaching them how to perform their job in a fast-moving world. I don't think that's being done enough right now. It's harder than you might think to be fair, balanced, accurate and ethical in a world of Twitter, Facebook and an audience whose appetite for news seems insatiable. I think that requires a wider skill set than the ones we're currently teaching.

There isn't much difference between what journalism schools teach and what the industry expects. There is, however, an inadequacy—the methods taught in school are for an era bygone. They've outlived the context in which they were taught. What we need to start working on is how we can teach the same quality journalism in an entirely different paradigm. And we better hurry. The Web won't wait.

The Filipino spirit is waterproof.

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 03:06:00 +0000

That's how many people have been describing Luzon's response to this week's deluge.

A few folks have raised their eyebrows, though. We shouldn't be okay with getting wet just because we're waterproof, they say. I couldn't agree more.

But I don't think that's what we mean when we say our spirit is waterproof. It's not a motto of resignation, but of resilience. We will never be okay with getting flooded, but when it does happen, you can bet we will get through it. That's what it means to be waterproof.

Cabin fever

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 06:17:00 +0000

Fartsy was very glad to get out. An entire day spent in a room can do mean things to your mind.

Today we woke up to—gasp!—the slightest hint of sunshine, but just before noon the rain started pouring again. A day of suspension is fun, two days, nice, but three days? Ugh.

Metals

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:04:00 +0000

Feist's latest album, Metals, which dropped a little ways ago, is better than I first gave it credit for. You know how you listen to an album for the first time and say, "Hey, this is nice, I'm keeping it in my library," but never really giving it another listen for a while, then play the entire thing on a commute and discover it's actually better than you thought?

Choice tracks: "Circle Married the Line" (above), "Comfort Me," and "Cicadas and Gulls."

Journalism as practice informed by theory

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 07:19:00 +0000

Note: Blog posts tagged "J117" (such as this one) are requirements for the Online Journalism class I'm taking this semester. See all of my J117-related posts.

Journalism education is a funny thing: it attempts to teach what can be learned only on the field. I know this from personal experience. Even in classroom discussions, I learn the most not from PowerPoint presentations, but from the anecdotes my professors share in between slides.

Jeff Jarvis is right when he says that the industry is extremely disruptive. But it's wrong to conclude from this that Journalism schools should be teaching the "journalism of the future." That's an entirely different boat. The reason is simple: because of the rate of acceleration of technologies, what we think of today as "the future" may be part of the past tomorrow.

Bradshaw's right: now's a good time to change the paradigm of journalism education and start teaching the art of journalism more than "how to be journalists." I personally think it should have been done this way from the start, and not just because of the rapid changes we have been experiencing. At any rate, now's a good time as any.

I think what Bradley means is that journalism isn't a question of how to use certain tools or how to write in this medium or that. Amidst rapidly changing technologies, only the core values of journalism will be worth retaining in the future, which is why, as Jarvis suggests, J-schools should focus on teaching the value of persistent legwork, strict verification, and ethics.

But even then, these core values of journalism are merely theoretical. How do we give them meaning? Through more rigorous practice. In UP, for example, just one internship course isn't enough. The Journalism department could be organized as a massive newsroom that produces news for the college's media outlets. Practice should be at the root of our curriculum, not just a single course number to be taken during our last summer term in college.

Journalism, after all, is a practice, and theory is only supposed to serve as a guide towards an excellent practice of journalism, no matter the technology or medium.

The WWDC made Prodigy feel old.

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 04:39:00 +0000

Prodigy, my iPhone 4, is beginning to feel old after last week's Worldwide Developers Conference.

As expected, Apple showed off iOS 6 at this year's WWDC, months ahead of its Fall release (presumably at the same time as the new iPhone's announcement). Prodigy and I followed the liveblogs and tweets, giddy at the new features Apple is preparing to cram into the iPhone and the iPad.

Turn-by-turn navigation for the Maps app, which now runs on a custom database Apple made itself. There's even a Flyover Mode for easier driving. Yay!

Facebook integration. That's nice!

Facetime over cellular—that feature finally has a purpose!

Oh, and Siri's coming over to the iPad—yay for me and Plato, my recently bought iPad 2!

Or so we thought.

The turn-by-turn navigation on iOS 6? iPhone 4S only. Prodigy will get the fancy new vector-based Maps app, but neither turn-by-turn nor Flyover Mode.

The Facetime over cellular feature is restricted to the iPhone 4S and the latest-generation iPad. We don't know why, because Nokia had this working on much less powerful phones when I was in high school, but the fact is that I still can't make Facetime calls home over my cell network with Prodigy.

And Siri is coming to the iPad—the third-generation iPad, that is. The original iPad and the iPad 2 still won't have her (and not even Voice Control!).

Of course, this is all a portent of the already obvious: that a new iPhone is coming out in the Fall, and it's going to support all of these features, maybe even along with some other unannounced hardware-related ones. The unspoken rule of Apple is that only the two latest iPhone models (in iOS 6's case, the iPhone 4S and the new iPhone to be announced in September) get to carry the full feature set.

In other words, this is all part of the Grand Apple Plan, and has been from the very beginning. Prodigy and I were expecting it, but it still feels weird to be getting old.

Online journalism and the changing face of media

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:31:00 +0000

Note: Blog posts tagged "J117" (such as this one) are requirements for the Online Journalism class I'm taking this semester. See all of my J117-related posts.

Online journalism is changing the media because it easily subsumes the tri-media. Conventions of print, television, and radio can be used to complement each other in a common environment online. ABS-CBN, a TV giant, now publishes print stories, in addition to an online stream of its radio station and videos on news reports—all in one website.

The emerging online medium is also opening up the newsmaking process and making it much more participatory. Audiences now have a greater hand in what makes it to the news, as evidenced by CNN's iReport and ABS-CBN's Bayan Mo Ipatrol Mo. People who would never have a chance in the tri-media are now popular political bloggers, YouTube stars, and prominent podcasters. My friend Jeric Peña runs a very impressive backpack journalism site. He does all his own writing, recording, and editing. Leave it to bloggers to accomplish what news networks do with a three-man crew and a news van.

The real test for online journalism will be its adherence to the profession's ethical standards. The medium has made it all too easy for people to claim to be journalists while evading the strict ethical considerations that define the profession. For my Journalism Ethics class, for example, I looked at BlogWatch, which, in my opinion, presents itself as a "citizen media" effort but seems to fall short of journalistic standards.

Time will tell whether online journalism can reliably live up to these industry-defining standards.

Scars & Stories

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 12:14:00 +0000

I finally have a copy of Scars & Stories, The Fray's latest studio album. Before the purchase, I'd only listened to a few tracks on The Fray's website, and to "The Fighter"a couple of times on Katz's iPod.

I have The Fray's three studio albums in my library, all of which I bought in physical form. This is a distinction unique to The Fray among the artists in my collection. Fall Out Boy has a similar distinction: I bought both of the FOB albums in my library (Infinity on High and Folie à Deux) as well. The Fray, however, is my only complete and bought-on-CD collection. I swore to myself I wouldn't obtain Scars & Stories through any other means. Such is my devotion to them.

Speaking of The Fray, if you follow the band you might have heard that their Manila concert has been moved to November 10 from its original June 21 date. There has also been a change of venue, from SM's spanking new MOA Arena to the Araneta Coliseum. I hear they postponed it because the tickets haven't been selling very well.

On one hand, this doesn't reflect very well on the Philippines' taste in music. Lady Gaga's concert sold out two nights in a row but we can't give the boys from Denver a chance? (Alternatively, I could go the hipster way and say you guys don't know what you're missing out on.)

To be honest, though, I was kind of happy the concert got postponed. See, I only had enough money for two upper box tickets (for myself and Katz). Actually, I only had enough money for two General Admission tickets, but Katz asked me if I really wanted my first concert experience to be from the rafters, and very kindly agreed to chip in the balance so we could afford the upper box seats.

The postponement means we have a good few months more to save up for better seats, hopefully. The news about the weak ticket sales is also exciting, because it leaves the possibility of prices going down as the concert draws nearer!

A couple of years ago, I swore to myself that my first concert experience would be with either The Fray or Coldplay. Seems like my dream will finally come true in five months.

Uy, Globe, ano ba!

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Sat, 19 May 2012 01:33:00 +0000

An'problema mo, ha? Nananahimik lang ako rito tapos biglang, boom, may iToolbar ka nang nalalaman.

Sabi sa website nila:

We have introduced this functionality to make your Mobile Internet experience much more convenient. You can now enjoy quick and easy access to your favorite Globe and Internet services.

ANO? Convenient? Sure ka? Eto pa.

Yes, the toolbar is a permanent feature and is part of our initiatives to improve Mobile Internet customer experience.

Oha, hindi na raw 'yan mawawala. Good luck nalang.

Okay, ganito:

1. Ang bagal bagal na nga ng 3G niyo, pipilitin niyo pa akong i-load yan every time magi-Internet ako?

2. Ang corny pa ng design. Tapos ang bagal pa niya! Tapos pag ni-click mo yung minimize button (sa kanang dulo ng toolbar), mawawala nga siya, pero may palutang-lutang naman na maximize button. Tapos pag ni-scroll mo yung page, mawawala yung button tapos babalik. Ano kaya yun?

3. Okay lang naman sana 'to eh. Kaso ginawa nyo pang compulsory. As in, "Pwede ko bang tanggalin to?" "Nope." Ganun? GANUN? Wala akong choice? Coercion ang mode? Para niyong ni-rape ang Mobile Safari ko. Kaharass!

4. Bakit may Search function? Wala bang ganun ang browser ko? Haggs.

5. Honestly, hindi ko alam kung ano sa tingin niyo ang magagawa nitong iToolbar na to. Wala lang talaga kayong magawa? Baka naman pwede nyo munang ayusin ang network niyo bago kayo gumawa ng kung anu-anong intrusive software. Yung tipong, hindi ko na kakailanganing i-On at Off ang Airplane Mode sa phone ko kada kinse minutos para hindi mawala ang 3G connection ko. Tapos hindi yung, pag may tinawagan ako, ang maririnig ko eh ang sarili kong boses. Pwedeng yun muna problemahin niyo? Pwede? Suggestion lang naman.

P0.25: the cost of a life lesson from the Universe.

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:39:00 +0000

Nakahulog ako ng piso kanina sa gitna ng kalsada papuntang LRT. Sisipain ko sana papunta sa gilid kasi ayokong pulutin sa gitna. Mamaya, masagasaan pa ako diba. Kaso nahulog siya sa maliit na butas sa semento, so hindi ko masipa. Kako, wag ko nalang pulutin, piso lang naman yun.

Six hours later, nasa FX ako pauwi. Binilang ko na ang natitirang pera ko bago ako sumakay. May P50 ako sa wallet, P30 in coins sa bulsa ko, tapos ang alam ko may konting barya ako sa bag. So naisip ko, bibili nalang ako ng Yangchow sa Chowking, bale P79 yun, so sa pisong natitira plus yung barya sa bag ko, sapat na yun para sa pamasahe sa jeep.

Edi pagkababa ko ng FX dumiretso na akong Chowking. Habang hinihintay ang order ko, naghanap na ako ng barya para sa pamasahe sa jeep. Sakto, may P7 akong nakita sa bag. Piso nalang, solb na.

Chineck ko yung ibang bulsa. May nakita pa akong tatlong 25-centavo coins. Achib. P0.25 nalang.

Wala na. Hinalughog ko ulit ang bag ko, wala na talaga. Haggard lang, diba. P0.25 nalang. Nakakainis. Hinalughog ko ulit ang bag ko. Baka kako nagjojoke lang ang Universe. Wala talaga. Badtrip.

Ayun tuloy, napa-withdraw ako sa ATM ko. Bukas pa naman din sana ako kukuha ulit ng pera. Ang sarap kasi ng feeling na mapagkasya mo ang natitira mong pera, diba. Pero, ayun, dahil kulang ako ng P0.25, nagwithdraw nalang ako. (Ayoko din naman kasing bigyan ng kulang na pamasahe si Manong Driver. Kahit P0.25 lang yun, respeto ko nalang sa kanya, diba?)

Edi punta ako sa malapit na ATM para mag-withdraw. Nawala sa isip ko na tipong P1,000 at P500 bills pala ang niluluwa ng ATM. Boom. Ayoko ring bigyan ng malaking bill si Manong Driver, baka wala siyang panukli, nakakahiya naman. Pumunta pa ako sa Mercury Drug para bumili ng onting snacks at nang mabaryahan ang buo ko.

Tapos ang haba pa ng pila.

Edi sana kung pinulot ko nalang yung piso kaninang umaga (kasi wala namang paparating na kotse nun), wala akong problema, diba? Haggard talaga. Sa susunod, hindi na ako mang-iiwan ng piso. Salamat nalang sa Universe para sa life lesson!

Important questions

noreply@blogger.com (Dean) — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:02:00 +0000