FHM and UNO Philippines January 2012 Cover Girls: Ellen Adarna and Angelicopter

What an explosive way to start 2012!

No to Firecrackers!

I was jumpy as a kid and I'm more jumpy now that I'm regressing into childhood.  Which was why I have not been fond of firecrackers and the noise of New Year.  Yeah, yeah, the noise is supposed to ward off bad luck---tell that to those who got maimed handling these mini explosives!

In 1992, then Department of Health Secretary Juan Flavier did a very effective campaign by showcasing firecracker related injuries on TV.  The message was clear, "If you don't want to end up like this---don't do firecrackers."  That did the job and statistics would show that a significant decrease in firecracker related incidents.  However, after Flavier's term as DOH Secretary ended in 1995 this campaign also came to its end and the "courageous" Pinoys started going back to their firecracker trip.

In 2002, I got diagnosed with asthma and my anti-firecracker sentiment got even more pronounced.  Every year as if like clockwork I'd be down with asthma the first week of January.  This prompted me to buy a heavy duty gas mask to protect me from the smoke-filled merry making.  Of course, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and my four boys inherited my lung disease---QUADRUPLE DARN!!

Firecrackers still persist today and I can only pray that those who decide to play with this menace survive the festivities with all appendages intact.  Me, I'm doing my own kind of noise.  I'm putting my speakers on maximum volume and playing my favorite rock and roll classics!  On New Year's Eve I'm joining the firecracker noise with my recording of firecracker sound effects which I just downloaded.  It's safe, smoke-free, and can be put in a loop!

Dreaming About Misa Campo

 Last night I had a rad dream!  I was about to do a photo shoot with Misa Campo and we were really chummy!  I mean---I was under the impression that we were friends complete with the customary hugs and beso of best pals!  Oh, and did I mention that she was in her two piece bikini?  Oh yeah!  I really thought it was real until I opened my eyes and found myself back in our room with the night lamp on.  Oh well---that's what sweet dreams are made of!

New Year's Resolution---Again?

New Year---new resolutions...or should I say old resolutions to be continued?  New Year's resolutions like promises are meant to be broken.  Which is why I have long discarded the thought of making one.  I have broken a lot of my resolutions that I don't think the Resolutions God will strike me dead if I once more desecrate this yearly vow.  So no more resolutions for me!  Instead, I'm looking forward to each year, do what needs to be done to the best I can and put myself in God's providence.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

Of Work Ethics or Lack Thereof

“The starting point for everything---before strategy, tactics, theories, managing, organizing, philosophy, methodology, talent or experience---is the WORK ETHIC.  Without one of significant magnitude you’re dead in the water, finished.”---Bill Walsh

I believe that there is still merit in hard work.  This is despite the numerous instances that certain slacking individuals got promoted due to their affinity to the big Kahuna.  I'm sure not everyone is blind to the productivity (or lack thereof) of these people and a reckoning will be forthcoming but it really ticks me off just seeing them attending meeting after meeting after meeting with no output afterwards---the gall of these people!  A total waste of the company's money!  Oh well, such is office politics.  I just hope that they do not breed to much in the company or the people that be continue to turn a blind eye.  

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Tattoo Chronicles by Kat Von D

First and foremost, I would like to thank my aunt for funding the purchase of this book.  It was diving providence working again! 

I've just started reading the book a while ago and I was instantly stoked to write about it.  This is mainly because I found a semblance of Kat's love for writing as I have.  Tattoo Chronicles is Kat Von D's journal made into book.  As the title itself connotes, it is a chronicle of part of her life as a tattoo artist covering the time between May 2008 into the summer of 2009.  It is a journal of the tattoo session that she had  done and the various stories that came with them. 

The writing proved to be effective in the sense that I started allowing myself to work to vent a lot of those heavy ideas out onto the pages of these jornals.  I could process what information I'd taken in at the moment and read a conclusion.

Writing is a catharsis for her just like I do in writing my blogs.  This is my journal.  Here is where I express my thoughts about the things and circumstances that touch my life.  Obviously, this book struck a nerve.

Well, if you're wondering if I'm a tattooed bad ass---you're wrong.  All my bodily markings are natural or were stamped by incidents not to my liking.  Getting a tattoo must be done with the right reasons and not just for the sake of fitting in or just for the knack of it.  It is after all an expression---a permanent one at that.  Although I must say that I do want to get one but it has to be done by Kat Von D.  It's going to be the best picture of my wife and underneath would be the names of our six children done in script and I'll have it on my left chest because they are always in my heart.  That's in my bucket list.  Realistic or not it's there.  Period.

Unlike my other books, this will not be a toilet based reading material.  No, no, no!  The book itself is artistically crafted.  Other hardbound books have cover leafs but this one has the print embossed on the hard cover itself.  The pages are thick-glossy and folding the flaps (as I usually do to mark the page I'm at) is now deemed sacrilegious.  If there is something that I'd consider as a flaw of this book is that the text is too small for my aging eyes.  Mental note:  Always bring your reading glasses home---otherwise, this is going to be a bitch to read!

God, Santa, Christmas Presents and Another Yuletide Miracle

Miracles happen everyday---you just have to recognize it.  Why is this important?  Well, to give you the opportunity to be THANKFUL. 

Coincidence, luck, happenstance, they are all God's means of being anonymous. 

When I was still a kid I thought God and Santa were best of friends---I pray and Santa gives.  In hindsight, I thank God for giving me parents, ninongs and ninangs, aunts and uncles, who made me happy come Christmas time.  When I became a parent I became Santa to my kids and my prayers are now geared towards being given the opportunity to continue to provide for my family.  I no longer ask God for specific Christmas presents but is thankful for what comes my way (which becomes more and more seldom when you get older).  Oh don't mistake it, I do have my wish list.  But that is something that I leave to Divine Providence.

Well, I guess God still sees the child in me and touched someone to provide what I normally could not afford.  It may not be turning water into wine but a miracle just the same.

Thank you Lord for another Merry Christmas!

If I were still a kid...

Like any other kid I was into toys.  I still remember the time when my parent would take us to the department store and we would stop by the toy section.  There I would see the toy I want and I would resolve to save up what I can and pledge whatever Christmas dole out I would get to buy that toy.  Sometimes, I wouldn't get enough to buy the toy I like so an alternative was always at hand.  

Well, I'm in my 40's now and sometimes the child in me just jumps out whenever I go to the toy store.  Action figures, model airplanes and other military vehicles---those are my thing.  Unfortunately, other obligations precedes my wants so I'm back to staring, carressing, and then putting it back on the shelf.  E grabe namang ang mamahal ng mga laruang yan!

Model Humvee---Php 1,600.  Best seller daw sabi ng sales person kaya nagiisa nalang.
 So...?   Mukha ba akong may pang bili nyan?  Bitter ba?-he, he

Great Mazinger!  Php 3,500 for a six inch plaything!
In fairness---die cast naman daw!

Family Fun at Victoria Court

What can I say---I like the place!  Unlike other hotels, Victoria Court does not have a set room design.  In so far that I have been going to VC---every time always seem to be the first time.   When will I be able to experience all the rooms, I don't know---and I'm only talking about their property in Pasig.

It was a special day---a joint birthday celebration for my wife and 6 year old son---that called for an extra special treat.  As expected, Victoria Court Panorama once again delivered and then some!  As always the staff was very accommodating.  A room boy was instantly at our taxi as we pulled over and after identifying myself we were immediately ushered to our room. We booked for a 12 hour overnight stay in a suite room with a 21" LCD TV, a private bathroom, and jacuzzi (Dusk Room) and checked in around 9pm.  Man, did my two boys enjoy it!  

The room was spacious (especially for for two rowdy boys), cozy, and with a king size bed good enough for four.  The room also had a small dining area, a dressing table with hair blower, complementary bottled water, towels and hygiene kit (toothbrush and tooth paste).

I really dig this bathroom!

Other than the great accommodations the food was also great!  For dinner we had Cheezy Beef Caldereta, Tempura, and Taco.  For breakfast, it was Blueberry Pancakes (complimentary), Tocino Meal and coffee.

Thank you Victoria Court for another over-all GREAT time!  

PostScript:
My son enjoyed our stay so much that when it was time for us to go home he said, "Naiiyak na ako...ba-bye otel!"

Movies to Watch out for in Q1 of 2012

To all you movie buffs like me who dig action, football, sci-fi, comedy, and horror/suspense, here's the list of movies to look out for first quarter of 2012:

January
The Divide
Set in New York City as civilization collapses, eight survivors huddle in a bomb shelter and begin to turn on each other as they wait for a rescue.

Underworld:  Awakening
Kate Beckinsale, star of the first two films, returns in her lead role as the vampire warrioress Selene, who escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans, and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species.

Lookout
An orbiting prison 50 miles above the earth houses the world’s most dangerous criminals, who are kept asleep by sophisticated methods until they are suddenly awakened.  Bottomline---just wanted to take another look at Maggie Grace.

Gone
One night, a young woman named Jill returns home to find her sister's bed empty. She's convinced the serial killer who kidnapped her two years before has come back to finish the job. But the police do not believe Jill, who knows time is running out. With no one to turn to, she sets off to find her sister and face her abductor once and for all.

Hansel and Gretel:  Witch Hunters
Takes place 15 years after the siblings' (Hansel and Gretel) incident at the gingerbread house. The two are now specialized bounty hunters looking to put down the cackling black-hat set.


John Carter
A war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.  A rare action movie from Disney.

Haywire
A girl from the wrong side of the tracks is given a second chance to use her skills for constructive purposes.  MMA fighter Gina Carano stars.  Surely KICKASS!

Lombardi
During the week leading up to the 1967 NFL championship game, Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lmbardi prepares his team to play against the Dallas Cowboys. The game becomes known as the "Ice Bowl" due to the extreme weather.  Robert de Niro as the legendary NFL coach.


February
Touchback
A man in his late 20s who was the star of his high school football team, but whose career was ended when he shattered his leg in his final season. After hitting his head a decade later, he wakes up to find himself back in time, a week before the big game.

Journey 2:  The Mysterious Island
The new journey begins when Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist — a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. The secret is rumored to involve Sean's missing grandfather, Alexander Anderson (Michael Caine). Unable to stop him from going, Sean's new stepfather (Dwayne Johnson) joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot (Luis Guzman) and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter (Vanessa Hudgens), they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever.

Safe House
The storyline follows the only surviving agent of an attack on a CIA safe house (Ryan Reynolds) as he tries to get a lethal prisoner (Denzel Washington) to a second safe house before being taken out by violent forces that want them both dead.

Wrath of the Titans
Perseus' adventure continues.  After Ares betrays Zeus to the Titans, Perseus treks to the underworld to rescue Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind.

Hunger Games
I haven't read the books but I've heard great reviews about it.  So I guess a movie adaptation is obvious.  

FHM December Cover Girl: Sam Pinto

What better way to cap off her win as FHM's Sexiest Woman of 2011 than to grace the December issue of FHM!  Ohhhh yeeeaaahhh!  And like the unusual Yuletide weather, SAM PINTO sure made it a lot hotter!