Bug Attack!

While driving, my foot started itching, so I gave it a scratch. Pretty soon, my hands started itching too, then I started feeling the heat slowly climbing my neck to my face. It was a familiar thing, and I knew that if things didn't get controlled, things might get ugly.

Those of you who know that I almost died before due to a caterpillar allergy can appreciate how frightened I was starting to get at these symptoms. I decided to cancel my appointment and go home, hopefully a bath would wash off whatever it was that was causing the spreading allergic reaction. After the bath, I felt my itching foot settle down, and my hands and arms starting to settle, so I thought I just had to relax and the itch on my face will start to subside too. Good thing I was right.

My SO mentioned that it might have been the venom from an insect that I spread around me using my hands when I first scratched my foot. She's probably right, but now I don't know if the insect is dead (it probably is) and where I contracted it (the shoe? the socks?). Regardless, I'm gonna be more careful with my next change of clothes.

Big City

While looking for a simple meal in SM Mall of Asia, my friends and I ran into Big City. It's basically a hot-dog place, which is just the simple type of food we were looking for, so we gave it a try.

They have 3 basic types of hot-dogs, locally made dogs, Nathan's (imported beef hot-dogs), and Johnsonville (imported pork hot-dogs). They have some rice meals, a pizza, and burgers, but of course we were there to check the dogs.

The the hot-dogs can come in the typical set meals which consists of the hot-dog of choice, fries/onion-rings, and an iced-tea. I tried the beef hot-dog, my SO and our friend tried the local hot-dogs. We all agreed that the hot-dogs were pretty good. The fries were better than usual (though it needed a bit more salt), and the onion rings are fair. What sold us to the place was the price, a set meal costs around P80, which ain't bad considering that the hot-dogs were pretty good (the beef hot-dog tasted similar to Sabrett), and that it included better than average fries/onion-rings. The only downside we found was that the condiments were sub-par (the ketchup wasn't all that good).

The place has a good price-versus-performance ratio, pretty good taste for a relatively cheap price. If you drop by MOA and feel like having a hot-dog, do give it a shot.

Christmas 2006

Am tired, but I wanted to make this post to I can greet any visitors on time.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays everyone!

It's Like Riding a Bicycle

I've been reading some "game of the year" articles here and there, and among the stuff I've found was Company of Heroes. It's reputed to be one of the best modernizations of the RTS genre, and manages to blend good realistic visuals with a focus on tactics instead of build management. It got me remembering the game that consumed be before Guild Wars and poker... Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

It's been a long long time since I last played Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, so I decided to give it a go. I was a bit afraid of how I'll play since I haven't played the thing since... August! I was thinking of playing against the computer first to get myself warmed-up, but then I told myself "what the heck", and I plunged right into my usual old skirmish routine.

I was a bit surprised that it all came back to me rather quickly. My reflexes probably isn't top form, but it was good enough. For some reason, my basic builds, strats, and hotkeys seemed automatic to me, and I was playing as if I only left the game for 2 weeks. :D

On hindsight, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised, I've been playing the game for years day-in/day-out, quite a bit of it should already be instinctive for at least a year. Regardless, it felt good that I could still put up a fight.


[below] My Blade Master giving the enemy Demon Hunter a good ol' critical hit while the rest of my squad and my teammates gives the remaining enemy team a final beating.

Bangu-Bang Mania!

Apparently, there's a Filipino startup game development company called Virtual Titania Amusement Software (VITAS) Development that's making an online game to be called Bangu-Bang Mania!. hackenslash.net says it's a casual fighting game inspired by Super Smash Brothers. Beta starts early next year.

Hmmm, given being a start-up, the small staff pool (around 12 as of this post), and the fact that the man who started this has no previous experience in related industries, it should be interesting to see how things pan out.

Good luck, people.


official site | read more | digg story

--- edit ---

VITAS put up a "coming soon" sign at their site.

Hulchul

My SO and I decided to have some Indian food last night, and in the place where we ate, they were showing a Bollywood film. The film was Hulchul, and the production seemed to be pretty good. It seemed just a tad lighthearted, so we decided to watch the rest of the film intently while eating.

The story seems to be about two powerful rival families, and one of the sons from one family falls in love with the daughter from the other. It seems simple enough, but the film elaborates on the complex relationships both inside and outside families, and a lot of plans and schemes take twists and turns. I was pleasantly surprised how they were able to place all the emotion and plot twists, and still have room for comedy in a simple story. In short, I really liked the film.

Production and cameras were quite good, and I already said that the drama and comedy is nicely mixed. Yes, there was a song-and-dance, but it looked like an MTV, not the cheap way of squeezing a song-and-dance into a film that I'm used to in Filipino films. In fact, plot, cinematography, acting, and production are all far better than most Filipino films I see, even in the current Manila Film Festival. In fact, I feel that Hulchul could be better than all local the entries for the local Film-Fest this year!

It's a sad thing to notice, but it should also be a knock on the head to the local film producers.
I tip my hat to Hulchul, I was very happy to have watched it.

hackenslash.net now on YouTube

hackenslash.net, one of the Philippine's gaming news websites, now has an online video channel in YouTube which they are calling hackenslash TV. I haven't seen the videos posted yet, but I'm assuming it will be an avenue for some Philippine video-game related items that they feel would look good on a video reel.

hackenslash.net is under the INQ7.net Philippine online news website (collaboration between GMA Network Inc. and The Philippine Daily Inquirer), making me wonder (depending on how independent hackenslash.net is from the rest of the site) if this is will be looked at as a small scale way of "testing the waters" on other means of publishing news (or other media network programs) online.

I'll be checking out the channel to see if the video news will do any good in improving content delivery (why try if it's not expected to?). Some would argue that they'd need to have some content to show in the first place. I'm hoping that there IS content available, and that this medium would help in its delivery.

Joseph Barbera: 1911.03/24 - 2006.12/18

Joseph Barbera, co-founder of the Hanna-Barbera animation production company, died last 2006.12/18 from natural causes at the age of 95.

Hanna-Barbera gives fond memories of Saturday morning cartoons I watched when I was a kid. I grew up watching Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, The Flinstones, Super Friends, and many other animated products they produced, as I'm sure many of my current generation did. The rights to their animation has been with Time Warner these past few years, which is why the shows they produced in the past are currently being played in Cartoon Network, along with the newer stuff the current kids are watching.

To William Hannah (1910.07/14 - 2001.03/22) and Joseph Barbera: Thank you very much for all the wonderful childhood memories.

Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny

Since Eragon won't be out for a while (no, I haven't read the book), there doesn't seem to be any movie to watch. So we decided to watch "Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny". It starred Jack Black, and I did enjoy his other movies (School of Rock and Nacho Libre), so why not give this a try. Besides, based on School of Rock, Jack Black's musical taste hits home real well.

Apparently, the movie is an extension of existing characters from a previous TV series (similar to Sacha Baron Cohen for his characters "Ali G" and "Borat"). The movie's a semi-musical, so fans of Jack Black's music will be rewarded. Aside from this, the only other draw is Jack Black.
If both of these will fail to amuse you, well, then there isn't really much to say. It's a brainless movie, relying more on Jack Black's antics. This doesn't mean it's bad, but if you're looking for something with substance, this is not it. Think "Dude, Where's My Car" that's high on rock. I, honestly, appreciated all the music.

I go for movies like this every once in a while. If this sounds like your thing then go see it, just don't expect much in the way of substance, leave your brain cells and have a laugh or two.

Free No Limit Hold'em Tournament at Pacific Poker Palace Philippines

I couldn't sleep well this morning 'coz of some ideas swimmin' in my head, so I decided to surf a bit to wear myself down. I ran into this while surfing. Apparently Pacific Poker Palace Philippines (ACF Poker?) is hosting some Hold'em games (limit and no-limit) at Casino Filipino's Airport Casino. Since I don't even play cash games, I don't have much of a shot in tournaments, unless the buy-in is really really low that I'm willing to part with the money for the experience.

Well, it just so happened that that was gonna be a FREE No-Limit Hold'em Tournament today! Given that I had nothin' to lose (it said it was free), I went there to check it out.

There were some schedule changes, but the free No-Limit Hold'em Tournament pushed through at 14:00 today. Yes, it really was free, but only the top winner would get something (P20k). I registered and had my first real-live poker games.

I was doing pretty well in the first table I was placed it, I ended-up being the chip-leader until we were distributed to other tables. The blinds increased every 15 minutes, so my early chip lead became just average in the second table, and I became short stack in the third table. It was bad enough that I was short-stacked and the blinds were gonna eat me up, but the quality of players went up too (and them having huge stacks gave them a lot of advantage).

I could probably have stayed around longer, but I was already getting outclassed, and the stacks of the chip-leaders in the third table just ate me up. The deciding hand was my losing a two-pair to a straight. I normally wouldn't try fighting such an obvious straight with a two pair but I was getting desperate to improve my stack due to the blinds that I decided to charge ahead. I lost, and that effectively ended the tourney for me (I lost everything on the next hand's big-blind).

Before I left the building, I checked how far I got. Out of 12 tables, only around 4 were left, so I guess I got in above 50% of all players. I wasn't really expecting to win, so I'm pretty happy that I wasn't one of the bottom 10%.

Tomorrow (Thursday, 2006.12/14, 14:00) and on 2006.12/13 (Saturday, 18:00) will be 2 other Free No-Limit Hold'em games. On on 2006.12/22 (Friday, 18:00) will be a Free Limit Hold'em game. Registration is 2 hours before the tournament starts. I dunno if I can make it to any of the No-Limit games, but we'll see.

Free tourneys where you can actually win money don't come often, you know. Check it out!

Full Tilt at Full Tilt

I've suffered my biggest bad beat so far, I lost around 75% of my Full Tilt bankroll yesterday and today, most of it today. I was playing a badly this morning, and a headache due to the weather didn't help. I started deviating from my game-plan left and right, seeing opportunities when odds were against me. I guess I wanted to learn to play aggressively I forced myself into bad situations.

I went on tilt, and started playing even worse. I was thinking my open mindedness would show me big opportunities, it instead made me blind on the reality of my odds.

Earlier tonight, I got myself into a table where I decided to try and backtrack my play. I started winning big pots again, and I mentioned to a player who congratulated me that I was still trying to recover from my tilt. She said maybe she'd be my lucky charm, and so far she was, but I still had around 50% of my bankroll to recover.

Then she mentioned something that shoved me back in reality, she said she lost 3 million in just two hands before. Compared to that, my losses were a pittance.

I started playing better, and I actually got a some of my best and most challenging wins during that session. Another player mentioned that we had a good table right there, and I had to agree. The competition was tough, but everyone was supportive regardless if they won or lost. We just had a lot of serious poker fun.

My luck ran out eventually, and my last hand culminated in my losing what I gained from my good run as well as my buy-in (placing me where I am now, at around 75% of my bankroll when the weekend started). Even so, I don't feel bad. I played with great players, I played great hands, and when you think about it, all I lost is play-money.

I'm glad I ran into that bunch. I know I'll get that bankroll back, I've rebuilt my bankroll from scratch several times already, and each time it's always better than the last.

I post about this experience now to preserve it, to preserve the bad beat, and to preserve the knowledge that... well... it happens, and that I know that I will bounce back from this eventually.

Those peeps at the table don't know me, and they'll probably never be able to read this post. Regardless, they made my poker day.

Thanks guys.

Happy Feet

Watched Happy Feet this afternoon. Based on the trailer, I was expecting a cute movie, lots of singing, some funny lines, and a straightforward story. It was cute, there was a lot of singing, but the story was more engrossing than I thought. It's not overly complex, mind you, but I was pleasantly surprised that they didn't dumb things down too much. In fact, it's been a while since I last saw a CG movie I liked. This one is likable. Watch it.

PS:

I missed the trailer for Eragon, but it's gonna be showing soon anyway. I did see a teaser for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It didn't show me much, but the prospect that its coming around excites me.

First Quads!

I got my first quads today at Triplejack. My hand being A3 off-suit, I was pissed at the pre-flop "all-in guys" dominating the board, so I decided to take a shot. It ended up with an Aces over King quad! I was so caught off-guard that I wasn't able to take a screen-shot, but it's recorded in my Triplejack stats.

Given the luck, I used the opportunity to practice using a large stack. It's quite risky, but I managed to take a bunch of people off the board, but I still need to practice using the stack. In the end, I did lose 1k from that particular session's high, but I still gained 3k profit, which is pretty good for me.

I wonder if the day will come when 3k profits are more the norm than the exception for me...?

Odds in Draws and Connectors

I've been reading some stuff about the odds involved in poker, and took interest in the probabilities for straight and flush draws. I've since wanted to try out how knowing the odds would work for me. I found it a bit funny that I learned to use those odds with suited connectors and straight/flush/gut-shot draws in my game from Puzzle Pirates.

I got myself a Parlor Badge (so I can play the poker parlor game any time of the week) then I tried it out. I created a table and set the blinds and buy-in tot he cheapest so I could squeeze in a lot of rounds (it's a bit common). One of the guys who went is was quite good, very aggressive. I had to re-buy like 5 or 6 times, then I just left the table, his stack was too high and he knew how to use it too well I couldn't take him on. Perhaps if there were more of us, I could do it, but heads-up, no. I'm not ready for heads-up.

I joined another table where there were more pirates, and I managed to get my groove there. I got a feel on how the players played, and when I got comfy and had a stack going, I started trying stuff out. I tried playing actively more draws and connectors, and managed to get a few key pots using that strategy.

It really does add a lot of options in the hands you can play. However, that kind of play takes a bit of courage as often you'll often have to get to the river to see if you got anything (and you often don't), and getting to the river can be very expensive. If you know your odds and have a good betting strategy, you'll be surprised how many monster pots you can steal from over-pairs.

Being a generally tight player, this helped round me up a bit more, giving me options other than the standard pairs and trips game. It also helped me look at the board more closely for possibilities. Perhaps with more practice, I can learn the correct odds given various hands and it may end up boosting my play (I hope so).

Rockefeller at Greenbelt 3, Makati

I had dinner with my folks tonight and I decided we try out Rockefeller in Greenbelt 3, Makati. So we did. It's same owners of Oyster Boy, but I guess they changed the menu up to get higher class clientèle.

Service may seem a bit busy hectic, but I'm not sure if they're still in dry run mode (they had a sign saying so before, I didn't notice it). Regardless, service ain't bad. The owner/manager/guy-in-charge keeps tabs on everyone (customers and staff) and was very helpful.

We had an Oytser Combo (which allowed us to choose 3 different types of oyster for a 12 piece order), my mom had Oyster Bisque Soup, my dad had Pork Barbecue with Java Rice, and I had the New Zealand Rib Eye.

The oysters are basically the same ass what you can find in Oyster Boy, which is pretty good. The oysters come from Iloilo, which my mom says where you can find the best local oysters in the country. They're fresh and good. Their version of the Rockefeller isn't the best I've had, but their other types are OK. The priority is freshness, and it is.

My mom thought the soup was OK, my dad wasn't all that sold with the pork barbecue. As for the steak, well, the menu says it's New Zealand Beef (some other steaks on the menu use US beef), and it does tastes like New Zealand Beef. They grilled it pretty good, but the cut was too think for my tastes, and it seemed that I got a medium rare instead of medium. The steak comes with corn in cream and pork and beans, which is kinda odd for me. The pork and beans (I don't remember running into the pork, but then again, who does?) were ordinary, but I'm not sure that it went well with the steak. The creamed corn seemed odd, aside from being creamy, there was a faint coffee taste to it. Ain't my cup of tea.

Price-wise, it's not too expensive, but I can't say for sure it was value for my money. The food was reasonable, and seemed reasonably priced when you look at the menu, but I can't tell if I got exactly what I paid for. Portions were OS, it's not that. The oysters themselves were OK too (ergo, may possibly be considered as acceptable given the price). For the pork barbecue and steak, well, it's quite questionable. Then again, our bill wasn't exorbitantly expensive, service was OK (though they were still hectic), and the meat products are probably not their forte.

Overall, based on tonight, I can't give a wholehearted "go eat there" recommendation. Perhaps I'll check it out again someday, maybe by then some of the quips will change for the better.

Cat or Mini-Rug?

Some people who have seen my this blog told me that what they're interested in seeing is Hanachi-e. OK, so she's my draw for this blog. :P Well, for those Hanachi-e fans out there, I managed to get this pic today. When I look at the pic, though, I wonder at times if it's just one of my rugs. ;)

Sweet Afternoon Dreams

Nothin' much happened today for me, woke up quite early 'coz of the headache. Couldn't get back to sleep. Lost a lot in Full Tilt. Watched GI Joe: Sigma 6 while eating lunch (in the episode I watched, the voice actors changed, for the worse IMHO). Slept almost all of the afternoon. Ate dinner, managed to recover my big loss, and now wind down. I wanted to do a bit more, but I was just a bit beat from the weather. Well, the sleep did me good.

The strange thing was that I dreamt of pastries. I was at a resto with my SO and we ordered pastries. We had this sort of fruity creamy thing with a lot of clear stuff on top, which I particularly liked. People who know me know that I'm not a pastry/sweets guy, so this was kinda weird. Anyway, maybe it's a sign, so I might go looking for some sweets or dessert tomorrow.

The Miracle of Kitty Litter

I had dinner with an old friend and her husband last night, and the discussion somehow went to kitty litter. I mentioned my SO's efforts for training Hanachi-e to use the toilet (and my inevitable assignment to that same task when Hanachi-e is with me), and mentioned that although Hanachi-e manages to go to the toilet bowl already, she still needs to learn to position her feet properly (hence, kitty litter is still needed). She was wondering if it was expensive, particularly since cats to learn to do it on newspapers.

Well, yes, newspapers can be quite effective, but as expensive as kitty litter might appear, it's doesn't really cost all that much, specially if you consider the benefits:

• pee and poop clump, making it easier and less messy to clean-up
• pee and poop dry up, reducing the grossness factor very very much
• cats instinctively want to bury their mess (they hate it as much as we do), so the sandy texture is encouraging
• some kitty litter are composed of materials that also deodorize, so aside from clumping and drying up the pee and poop, it doesn't reek

Yes, sometimes the immediate area gets a little sandy, but I'd rather have sand than pee/poop prints. The benefits of kitty litter are tremendous and definitely make-up for the cost!

The guy who invented this should be given a Nobel Prize.

Weather and Headache

Is there another storm coming to the Philippines? I hope not, but I had a headache when I woke up and have been under the weather since. Sometimes its a reaction to climate changes.

Well, when I went out to buy lunch it was strangely hot, strange in the sense that it wasnt very hot in my place, but it seemed hot outside, a different sort of hot.

It's affected my poker game too so I'm gonna take it easy for today.

Old Blog Posts Migration Complete

Well, I managed to migrate all the blog entries from my old blog to this one. There are some stuff that were left in the old blog, but they're all lists, not blog entries.

I'll be checking those lists too and I'll decide which ones I'd like to migrate here and which I won't. At least in terms of my blog posts, everythin's here already.

Side Effects of Conan O'Brien's Ad-lib

LOL! I can't believe this happened, but it might be true.

In a previous episode of Conan O'Brien, he had a sketch for wacky college football mascots. One of them was a horny manatee on a web cam. At the end of that particular mascot, Conan ad-libbed that there was a www.hornymanatee.com.

In the episode aired tonight, Conan recapped that particular segment and explained that there was this policy that if you mentioned a website on air, even if it was a joke, it had to exist. Due to this policy, NBC had to buy the rights to www.hornymanatee.com!

Is it a sketch too? IDC, the thought of it even possibly being true is hilarious enough!

http://www.hornymanatee.com/

Image Upload Problems

I was trying to transfer some entries from the old blog to here when I noticed that some entries don't have the date printed on them. The display is fine when you view them singly, but if you view them with the others, something is wrong. I tried re-posting those entries, and now I get problems uploading pictures.

So, for those of you who wanted to see what Hanachi-e looks like, please wait 'till Blogger fixes these hiccups. I'll be having problems uploading pics (even in new posts) until then.

-- edit --

It's fixed now (2006.12/07). I managed to return Hanachi-e's old pics. To those looking for new pics, you'll have to wait a bit. I can't seem to catch her in a good shot.

Close 3-Way Showdown to End the Day

I lost an all-in this afternoon 'coz I was so confident with my cards I got blind to the straight that was in front of me. I managed to regain what I lost somewhat, but it made me feel bad to be so blind. I was considering sleeping it over, but an itch made me go for a few rounds. Fate was nice enough to present me with a hand to sort of "even things out" for the day.

By the turn of this particular hand I had a reasonable chance to get an Ace high flush. Any spade would have given me the nuts. A player gave a high bet. From experience I'm not very lucky with straight or flush draws, so I was very nervous to call (in retrospect, perhaps I should have raised, but I really am unlucky with straight and flush draws). After a few tense seconds, I decided to let fate decide. Either I had the nuts or I didn't, no backup outs in my hand.

Fate decided to give me a 4 spade. I got the Ace high flush, and unless someone had a full house (which I doubted), this hand was mine. I was fortunate enough to have been fighting against both a straight and a flush (King high even!)! Moreover, since they both had great hands (particularly the King high flush), they both pushed all-in!

It's not a monster pot, but it's a reasonably sized one for me, and having toughed it out with against such tight competition made my night.

Old Blog

BTW, since I already had quite a few entries in my old blog, and I'm, not sure if I want to go through the effort of transferring all the entries here, those interested in my recent past can check out http://darthritual.spaces.live.com/.

After a while, I'll decide if I wanna stay here of if I'm gonna try another blog (or just keep it for archiving purposes). Regardless, that old one won't be updated for an indefinite amount of time.

The Bauger Haüte Dog

I went to Power Plant Mall around lunch time to get a little different air, as well as to check out if there's anything interesting in Fully Booked. I thought I might as well eat lunch there.

As I was walking around the basement level to decide what to eat, I ran into "The Bauger Haüte Dog". I'ts a hot dog/sausage place, and they served chili dogs. It's something new, and it's been a while since I had a chili dog, so I gave it a go.

The set meals costs P145.00 and includes a hot-dog, a drink, fries, and a glass of iced tea. Portion wise, it ain't bad. The fries are ordinary, nothing special. So was the iced tea (Nestea). The chili-dog itself was OK. The size was big enough, and the hot dog/sausage used is the type where the skin is somewhat tough. I personally don't like sausages like that, but I've been to high class places that serve sausages like that too (ergo, I dunno if it's supposed to be like that). Chili was basically spicy ground meat with some jalapeño thrown in, and cheese.

Overall, it was nothing special, but it ain't bad. Check it out if you like.

Netopia Now Allows Bots on Their PCs

I was surprised to see a move like this has been made. I can understand the financial reasons for establishments to do this, but as a gamer who actually plays the games, this is very disturbing. "Piloting" is already quite disturbing as it is, but bots too?

I haven't thought this through in depth yet, but my current opinion is that bots and piloting causes problems and is a symptom of problems. People who actually play the game are either at an unfair disadvantage or have to put up with a diminished experience. The heart of video games is still fun-factor, and I don't see much fun in effortless accomplishment.

I also think that this is a symptom of bad game design. If people resort to these types of activities, it may indicate that the game is only fun at the "higher levels", and that the road to get there is not fun at all. Perhaps there's something that can be done in the game design to make playing at all levels likable.

Of course, you can't please everybody, and there will always be a few jerks in the crowd. This could also be side effect of the growth of online games as a whole. More people, more of everything, including the problems in online play.

Regardless, I think games are meant to be played, not just "bought". There will always be bots or pilots, but better design and gamers demands should have the muscle to lessen the problems. Like most capitalistic endeavors, the market just adjusts to demand. Your purchases will eventually become the votes and messages that the industry will listen to, so put your money where you want things to go.

Bookworm Adventures

I was getting up to speed with past web comics when I ran into this strip from Penny Arcade featuring Bookworm Adventures. The last word game I ran into that I liked was Text Twist. Perhaps it was interesting, so I gave the trial a shot.

The trial only allows you to play for an hour before expiring, which is a tad too short for me. The game really is simple though, essentially something like Boggle crossed with a fighting game. You fight a series of enemies until you get to the end of a level and fight a "boss". Attacks are made by creating words out of the letters available on the board. When words are made, the letters used are consumed and replaced, and you execute an attack, the damage proportional to the length of the word formed. Sometimes, you get power-ups which gives various bonuses like more damage, upgraded defense, etc.

If you think about it, the concept really is quite simple, but the presentation makes the experience more fun. In the trial, I got to fight creatures from Greek mythology, and there's trivia avaliable for each while you fight them.

I wish I could play it some more, it the presentation (and the game itself) really got me interested. Why don't you check it out yourself?

You gotta love those "ladies"!

I was lucky enough to win a relatively huge pot at Full Tilt with QQ ("ladies")!!! I'm rarely lucky with pre-flop all-ins, so I'm not gonna push my luck much further for today. :P

Exodus

Already had a blog in darthritual.spaces.live.com. Currently checking this one.

-- edit --

All blog entries/posts you read prior to this post are entries from the old blog. I already managed to migrate them here.

Shadowhunt

I think I figured out one of the mysteries of Hanachi-e. Sometimes she gets hyper and runs around chasing phantoms. Apparently, that's exactly it in some cases, she's chasing shadows. Some of the more mundane shadows I cast around the house, she sometimes treats as prey.

Well, next time she seems to act wierdly, I better check if it's my shadow she's chasing. I'll mention this to my SO when she comes back, the same case probably happens to her.

Delayed Nuts

For some reason, all the hands being dealt to me are the nuts for the previous hand!!! So annoying. Put me on tilt several times today.

--- edit ---

For some reason, I did great in Full Tilt. I missed a big pot when I had flushes (the person who got the pot just had a straight! A STRAIGHT!), but I folded to raises. I was so afraid that they had a better flush, I sometimes forget that flushes can be tough to get (not to mention that I was blind to the straight).

Well, at times like that, I always try to remember what 2005 WSOP 2nd placer Steve Dannenmann said during the final table... "Folding to a raise is just a small mistake". I got myself into a nice 2 pair, buffed up my guys, and won a bigger pot! Now my Full Tilt bankroll is at its record high (still pathetic compared to the regulars, tho).

Aside from me not feeling so bad when I lose, Full Tilt has several has a big advantage to Triplejack (where I'm at a -$500 this weekend to my all week high, but still $1k higher than last week) that helps me relax... no or few roulette players. Roulette players make me tense, since they make me gamble instead of play. I like playing poker 'coz the concentration I put per had helps me focus on a single activity. Roulette removes almost need for concentration since everyone basically has a good chance of winning the pot.

I still feel more accomplished when I do well in Triplejack, tho. It's probably because to survive in such a hostile and random environment is a different kind of accomplishment.

Long Overdue Java Self Study

Given the longer periods of time I have for now, I was finally able to get the push I needed to move on from the pure games aspect of my vacation to "games + something productive" phase. I ended up deciding to learn Java. I've used it once in undergrad, but since then, I haven't programmed anything in it. It's ubiquitous enough to be useful to know, and I have been wanting to see it hands on.

For now, I'm going through the basic nuances, tinkering with small stuff (very small) so I can get a feel of how Java is organized, what you can do, and how to typically make things work. I'll probably tinker in a progressive stuff that will allow me to learn certain aspects of the language that I want or need in preparation for the bigger stuff I may come up with along the way.

So far, it's enjoyable. I wonder when the annoying stuff will start to surface...?

Power Out

Power's out now, running on generators. Gonna shut the computer down, don't want to hog the watts from the other tenants (we may need these tom).

Take care people. Good luck.

Alone With Windy Days

My SO is out of town due to business, and the winds are startin' to pick up to to the coming winds. She left Hanachi-e with me, so I'm also a cat-sitter for a longer period of time than I'm used to.

After some more re-buys at Full Tilt Poker .net, I'm managing to get my groove back there. I'm not doing all that great, mind you, but at least I'm not bleeding to death anymore. Maybe after a while I'll get the feel of things in that environment.

I watched Casino Royale again, this time with my dad. I found it funny that the parts of the movie that struck him most were the brands of cellphones used and the cars (well, am not surprised about him noticing the cars that much).

Winds are getting stronger, gotta remember to close all the windows before settling down for the night.

To the people that'll be affected by the storm tomorrow, take care.

Downfall on Tilt, Comeback on Jack

Since I don't feel so attached to my Full Tilt Poker .net game, I use it primarily as my experimentation account. I tend to play loose there, and I practice being aggressive. I got a lot more practicing to do, I lost everything there, and I just had another re-buy.

It almost seemed that my bad beat in Full Tilt Poker .net would also go to Triplejack, I almost lost everything I painstakingly gained this weekend, but I slowly got a few nice bumps. I had several hits and misses, and my stack was kept jumping up and down. This was mainly due to some remnants of the loose/aggressive game I was practicing in Full Tilt Poker .net. Somehow, I got into a good groove, and I managed to improve my blend of conservatism and aggression. Due to this, I not only recovered my stack, but also made a little bump to my best winnings yet.

I just have to understand what plays I did right, and what plays I did wrong, hopefully, I can confidently repeat this winning, and reduce the losing.

BTW, I noticed that I seemed to get the dog/canine/fido hand (K9) in Triplejack a lot, and it proved to be an unlucky hand for me. I have won several of my key pots by having a Queen in my hand somehow. Maybe the Queen was my muse at today's games. I wonder if she'll be helping me the same way in future hands...?

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

We watched "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" last night. If you're easily offended, don't watch it. I watch South Park and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, but Borat... well... it can get uglier than both.

It has it's funny moments, but I'm warning you, its very very crude.

Bad Beat

Now, this is a double meaning. For one, I lost quite a bit of play money at Triplejack, and I have yet to recover the bulk of what I lost. I'm having a harder time with the players in the "Zen of Poker" lounge, one because there I get unlucky enough to run into more roulette players, two because I've been trying to play a looser game, but it's not working for me. Perhaps it's the environment, since it's play money, people are more risk taking, and I get unlucky at the worst points. Perhaps my discipline changed as I tried to play a looser game. Regardless, I'm still thinking if I have what it takes to go back to that lounge or if I should stay in the newbie lounge a bit longer.

The second bad beat is for my physical body. I had a very busy week last week, and my body took a bit of a physical beating from the stress. I don't have a fever, but my throat hurts and my body is aching. I guess I have to lie low for a while lest this turns into a full fledged fever. Dry cough and mucus is not fun, it's itchy and feels awkward.

Well, the good news is that my SO did a great performance last week. All the hard work and stress didn't go to waste. I'm so proud of her performance. :)

Casino Royale

New Bond film, so it had to be seen. There's quite a buzz with die-hard bond fans about having Daniel Craig play James Bond, and given his stronger features than the past Bonds, it would be interesting what his take on the character will be.

My SO, me, and a friend watched it last night, and I had a really good time. I haven't watched many Bond films aside from all the Pierce Brosnan versions, some Sean Connery ones. If I watched any other Bond films (like Timothy Dalton's version), they didn't stick, can't remember a thing. I haven't read any other the books either.

It felt different from the start, it was edgy, and the action was more in the line of current action flicks, rather than the gentlemanly action I've come to associate with the franchise. Also, considering that it was a Bond film, there wasn't so much "blowing-up" as I'd expect. All the action sequences are very well thought of and choreographed, but they didn't feel as over the top as the other films. The edgy take, and the more real but very much more complicated action sequences made this movie different, and to me, much more enjoyable.

Some people will probably hate what has happened, I for one am hoping for more of this kind of thing. Daniel did a great job with his version of the character. Among all the Bond films I've seen, Casino Royale is my favorite.

PS:

Baccarat was the main central card game in the original novel. They changed it to no-limit Texas Hold'em in the movie.

Where Hanachi-e Takes a Bath

I'd just like to mention which stall we take Hanachi-e for her baths in Tiendesitas (as mentioned in a previous post). The stall is called "Heavenly Blue".

Day With Parents

I thought my dad would love the "Flags of our Fathers" movie, and I thought he'd like the beer at Grappa's too, so I thought we'd have a father/son thing. He loved the movie, and he liked the beer. My dad called my mom up while we were at Grappa's, so we ended up having a family snack (quite easy when there's only three of you in the family). Chit-chat, small-talk, you know, but dad ain't used to places like that (he did like the beer, though).

I'm glad my dad had a good time. And I'm glad we spent some time together, it was more meaningful than when we ate lunch together last Sunday (which we do every week), much more intimate. I'll probably propose we do this from time to time, I'll just make sure that it's on my time (my dad wanted it to be a regular weekly thing, nuh-uh :P).

Learning to Transcend the Crawl

I tried to get back my max play money in Triplejack Poker, but I was just a few hundred dollars away. Still, I made a careful and calculated comeback. I noticed that aside from Filipino's, the players are mostly Aussies. It's probably because of the time-zone.

I think that tight play is good for crawling, but that's just it, it's a crawl. I know there's a lot to improve in my win rate, so I decided to loosen up and try to see things in a better perspective. I watched a semi-finals match between Gus Hansen and Antonio Esfandiari (The Magician). It was only between the two of them, so they only have to outread each other. I was amazed at how well they could tell what cards each other had! The viewer can see both hands, but whenever they fold, you'll be amazed at how accurately they can tell who had the better deal (only one fold was wrong in this particular episode).

I noticed that Hansen wore a Full Tilt Poker .net shirt, which to me is further proof that the .net version of the software and site is affiliated with the .com version (although they never mention it in either sites, strange). Well, I said I wanted to play loose and learn, and based on my previous post about Full Tilt Poker .net, I don't feel as bad losing money there. So, I loaded-up Full Tilt Poker .net and got on with my experiment.

Although my objective was to get loose, it was quite frustrating. I've been on a losing streak in Full Tilt Poker .net the past few days too, but this time I lost everything. I had to rebuy the base play money and basically start over again. I did notice that people there bet more, most probably due to the larger sums they have. In my typical games at Full Tilt Poker .net, a player had around 5k to call and raise, so they are probably willing to risk more given an average hand. In Triplejack Poker, I run into few with more than 1.5k, people tend to bank when they get around that much (perhaps since the typical buy in is lower and the blinds are higher).

When I restarted, I resigned myself to losing and just use this opportunity to experiment with risk (hey, I did hit rock bottom already). I tried to be careful as usual, but I also tried to call relatively high raises in hands that I felt just had an fighting chance. It turns out that those risks were very profitable for me. Yes, I did fold a lot eventually at times, but I also gained back quite a few where my hand ended up being better upon the river. I didn't really close notice how I chose my battles, I wish I did. I do hope that it was ingrained in me somehow, and that I notice it next time.

Well, I not only regained what I lost in Full Tilt Poker .net, I also reached my record high! I hope I continue to learn the nuances.

I was so nervous in my "big win" (others will scoff at the pathetic amount) that I wasn't able to take a screen shot. Below, however, is a screen shot of a small win shortly after my "big win". It may not be much, but yey, I'm AM still a newb.

The Balance of Risk vs Hard Labor

Yesterday was not a good poker day. I lost 25% of my play money. The reason? I got carried away by the high pots.

Like I said, I don't play roulette, but sometimes the pot gets so big the risk seems acceptable. Of course, everything is just chance then, so I ended up losing a lot. My background is basically conservative, so I was trying to balance the risk with the reward. I was doing a pretty good job at it too until the pot got the better of me. When I started losing, I got more desperate to get things back, and I lost my discipline.

Today, I tried to get the lost play money back. It was hard labor, an extreme exercise of patience. Did it pay off? Somewhat. I'm back where I started, I got as much play money as last Tuesday. A few notches below my target, but I got it sound. Hard labor.

I get really disappointed when the pot gets high, and thing turn out in my favor at the turn and river. That's when I feel the urge to really gamble. This afternoon, however, in my attempt to force the patience back in me, I noticed that I made good decisions today overall. Many times I was tempted to take a risk, I held stopped myself and folded, controlling myself not to get disappointed at another lost opportunity. More often than not, my folds were good choices. Had I succumbed, I would have lost most of what I had left.

Balancing risk can be tough, but discipline increases the chances you'll live another day. Once you have that, it's time to analyze and learn to reduce the risk. Hard labor may be tough, but its odds of getting the job done are better than chance.

Codename "Tambayan"!

I mentioned one of my project ideas before as "Tribu". Tribu is a very big and ambitious idea, and it will be an integration of a lot parts. A difficult aspect with an idea that big is where to start so that you'll have something feasible and workable to begin building the whole.

After pondering on this, it's not so much of a eureka moment, but a realization on where things can begin. I was eating lunch when it hit me, and I think it's a very scalable and reasonable way to get Tribu started. This new realization can pretty much stand on it's own, but it was born from the Tribu idea, and can perhaps be an aspect of Tribu. Since it can stand on it's own, however, I will be treating it as its own entity, it's exact relationship with Tribu to be determined in the future.

For now, I will give this child of Tribu the codename "Tambayan".

Triplejack and Full Tilt

Given that Triplejack Poker is the flavor of the month, I've been surfing for poker related items on the 'net. After following some chains search results and links, I ran into the the name "Phil Ivey", which eventually landed me on "Full Tilt Poker". It claims to be made with a lot of feedback from players, and it does appear to be one of the more popular means to play poker online. Like Triplejack Poker, it features "play money", but it also supports real money.

What confused me was that there was also a "Full Tilt Poker .net", with pretty much the same stuff. I was wondering if one of the sites is a fake, but based on the Wikipedia article about it, it appears that the .net site is "play money only".

Since I have no intention of using real money, I got the play money only version of the software and tried it out. Here are some of the more significant things I noticed in the past few days of playing Full Tilt Poker .net:

• you can "re-buy" play money, and have a 5 minute waiting time like Triplejack Poker (re-buy is 1k though)
• although there are wacky avatars, in general, Full Tilt has a more serious feel
• people there don't talk much
• few people there play roulette style (I don't like roulette style, so its a plus for me)
• the entry level game is 1k buy in and 10/5 blinds, which makes a "re-buy" last longer theoretically (Triplejack Poker is 500 buy-in with with 20/10 blinds)
• you don't feel you bet/gain a lot, even if you actually do (I feel like I'm rewarded or that I lose more in Triplejack Poker)
• I seem to be more aggressive when I play there
• I do feel that the players there are better in general
• when the showdown comes, the winning combination is not highlighted (I get confused 'coz I don't know how a particular player beat me)
• Triplejack Poker is more casual, and feels more "fun" to play
• I haven't run into anyone I could say was a Filipino there

Given these, I think Full Tilt Poker .net is geared to the more serious type of player. The website, the "pro player chat" and other things makes Full Tilt Poker .net a good place to start learning poker. Their objective it to make poker popular, and given that pro poker players play there too and give advice, it seems to be the premiere place to learn and get into the poker bandwagon.

I can't maximize what Full Tilt Poker .net has to offer since I don't intend on playing with real money. However, it's a good place to learn, and you'll be playing against players of a different sort from that found in Triplejack Poker. If I want fun, though, I'm more in inclined to play in Triplejack Poker.

See you in either! ;)

Circles Event Café at Makati Shangri-La

Given that it was a special day for me and my SO, I decided that we have dinner at Circles Event Café in Makati Shangri-La. In my past research on the various resto's in town, Circles has always cropped up as having the best buffet, so I wanted to see what all the hoopla was all about.

Now I understand why. The selection isn't very large, but it's good enough for most your needs. The great thing is the taste, the service, and the desserts. The food, though it may not seem like a lot of choice, is good, the best buffet food I've had. The service we received was very good too (my SO requested for mangoes for her salad, and even if there wasn't any on the selection, they got her one anyway). And the desserts, well, you know I'm not a dessert guy, but having a lot of options (the choices for dessert seemed a lot to me!), some in small portions, had me wanting to try all of them! If I wasn't so full from the food, I'd probably gorge myself in dessert.

And the great thing is, the whole buffet was very reasonably priced. My SO and I get higher total bills with less food/choices in other fine restos. It's not cheap, mind you, but it's not expensive either. Given the quality of food, ambiance, and service, I think we got our money's worth.

You want buffet? I definitely recommend you try Circles Event Café in Makati Shangri-La.

Pet Village at Tiendesitas

With the arrival of Hanachi-e, I expected that me and my SO would do a bunch of pet related stuff, particularly since Hanachi-e is a cat. Last Saturday, we went to Tiendesitas Pet Village to check out some other stuff that may be needed, as well as to get Hanachi-e groomed. Of course we bought a bunch of stuff, and the grooming was very well done! I forgot which store we had Hanachi-e groomed, but when I remember, I'll post the link.

That night though, my SO was getting worried 'coz she thought she saw a little blood in Hanachi-e's poop (I don't remember seeing any when I borrowed Hanachi-e). She also mentioned that there was supposed to be a vaccination around 2 weeks ago, but Hanachi-e didn't get it yet. Given that she was worried, so we planned to take her to the vet the following day.

Fortunately, Tiendesitas has a Pet Clinic (Animal Care Specialist), and so we went there. The vet my SO found on the net wasn't the one around at the time, but the vet on duty was nice and seemed quite professional. After some checking, she found that Hanachi-e has mites, which causes her ears to get dirty quite fast. She prescribed some mite control stuff for the ears, and as an initial check for any bowel related problems, she initiated deworming. She also mentioned about medicine on the skin that lasts a month and that helps in controlling mites, fleas, and certain worms, so I decided we get that anyway. I like how the vet treated Hanachi-e, though Hanachi-e might feel otherwise (hell, try getting something stuffed in your ears and mouth!), the treatments should be good for her.

My SO and I were trying to find a one stop place for pet needs, and so far, my experience with Tiendesitas Pet Village is quite good. After having to deal with pet related issues (directly or indirectly) for the past while, I'm glad there's a place where both good supplies and medical assistance for pets are readily available and in a decent location.

Indirect Method of Getting PayPal Payments in the Philippines

I mentioned in a previous post that PayPal support for the Philippines was limited. One (basic) feature that is not supported is receiving PayPal payments (yes, right now you can only pay, and in a limited capacity). Apparently, there is a way to receive payments via PayPal in the Philippines, but you'll have to do a roundabout. Click here for details, and make sure you read the comments to get idea on the hitches/limitations.

Codename "Tribu"!

Yesterday, as night fell in the cementary, a bunch of thoughts were crossing my minds, and then I came to another eureka moment! As usual, I won't discuss much details, but I might talk about it to some trusted friends. I am willing to divulge that it's a video game related idea and strategy, but that's it. Lucky are the few who will hear it, and it will lead to greatness!

Trying out PayPal Philippines

Some of you may have already heard that PayPal is now supported in the Philippines on a limited basis. This is great, a step closer to more convenient online transactions for Filipinos. In the past, there were stuff I wanted to purchase or donate to, but since they only accepted PayPal, these efforts were relegated to wishes.

Now that at least payments are supported, I decided to try it out. My first transaction was to get a month subscription to Triplejack Poker (even if it's just a month or so). It's not that I'm all that good at poker (I actually suck really badly, you can check my record yourself in the Scores section of Triplejack Poker), but by this act I want to accomplish the following:

• (primary) reward ZenBlender & SuperChicken (the people in charge of Triplejack Poker) for their effort in creating such a great product (I learned how to play poker, had fun, and learned a lot about myself and how I view life, wow!)
• show the world that Filipino's aren't freebie bloodsuckers
• test PayPal support for the Philippines
• show that not all Filipinos are intent on using various internet financial services for fraud

As much as I'd hate to say it, a big chunk of the "modern Western" world do think that the Philippines is backward and that Filipinos are money-hungry abuser's of any system made for civilized people (hotel freebies, all-you-can-eat buffets, online payment services, etc). Filipino's, don't give them the excuses they need to think so.

Undas 2006

Just like every year, I went to visit the graves of my aunt, grandfather, and grandmother this Nov1. It's a family tradition in my mother's side, and for this year, my dad decided to go to Bicol to visit my grandmother's grave there. I always look forward to the tacos and arroz caldo which my family makes when we visit the graves. This year, though, the special item is me cooking steak.

I decided to cook a steak meal for my relative's lunch, thought they may like something different, and I'd get to practice on cooking steak on a charcoal grill. I requested my SO to make her mashed potatoes (my favorite), and some steak sauce for me to take and re-heat. It's really sweet of her, specially since she did this even when she just got her new cat (thank you! :D). So, the entire meal consisted of:

• CAB (Certified Angus Beef) rib eye steaks
• mashed potatoes
• grilled asparagus
• corn and carrots

Needless to say, it was a hit!

"Hanachi-e" the Persian Cat

It's been a busy few days, I'll try to mention a little something about the major events.

First off, my SO got herself a pet last 10/31. She's a Persian cat, female, around 3 months old. After mulling over a few names, we decided to name her "Hanachi-e". She wanted a Japanese sounding name, so we searched for a bunch of Japanese female names, and tried to make them end with a long "e" sound (a cat website said cats respond to long "e" sounds better). We threw the list at the cat, and sine the cat didn't seem to respond, we threw a bunch of Japanese sounding syllables. It would appear she responded to "Hanachi-e", and so she was named. I haven't checked if it means anything, though.

The first thing my did after taking Hanachi home was to see where she'd pee/crap so she can make sue Hanachi uses the litter box. Well, Hanachi didn't go poop the way the old handler said she would, so my SO had to wait and wait until she did. Hanachi ended up taking a dump on 11/01 morning (she woke me up to tell me!), fortunately in the designated litter box. At least we know Hanachi-e'll always use that litter box every time she needs a toilet break.

I convinced my SO to let me take care of Hanachi-e for today (I'll probably do this from time to time, I love cats), and took pictures.

Guild Wars: Nightfall Philippine Launch

Haven't posted since last Thursday. Why? Nightfall Worldwide Release! In the Philippines, the game was launched in Game Frog in Metrowalk, Ortigas at 20:00 last Friday, 10/27 (the same day as the global launch). I showed up, not intending to buy the game, as I was planning on getting the Collector's Edition with the help of my SO.

While waiting around for the event, I ran into an old acquaintance from college. I mentioned that I was planning on getting the CE version, and he mentioned that he thought about the same thing too, but decided against it. He reminded me that in the Prophecies CE, players had an aura. Aside from the "making of DVD" and the art books, the only bonus is the unique dance. Now, Since I don't see myself dancing a lot, it made me realize that waiting for something like an aura would be of better value. Given this, I decided to get the game already, and I got it at a small discount, with a free shirt, an ID strap, and a ball pen to boot. :D

Ergo, no time to post! Too busy preparing to save Elona! :P

Initial 2006.10/25 Patch Comments

The complete patch ain't done yet, but enough has been downloaded for me to play. Here are some initial comments.

I wasn't able to maximize being able to place the henchmen yet. I didn't do anything complicated for me to need it, but I should be useful if I decide to do harder tasks on my own.

The skill template is an absolute blast! I already configured some of my more common templates for my Ele and Rit, and I noticed that I had a lot more configurations for my Rit. My Rit is really flexible, he can spike, he can support, he can be a Minion Bomber, and he can go Resto. I'll definitely move my Rit along in Prophecies, the same way my Ele is moving along if Factions.

One of the configurations I'm trying with my Rit is to maximize the Channeling/spiking capabilities. I noticed that my energy management was a tad off, I guess I got so used to the large energy capacity from my Ele that I forget that not all casters have that much energy. Given this, I'm gonna consider putting put some energy management tweaks to some builds.

I'll keep y'all posted.

2006.10/25 Guild Wars Patch

Just because I haven't played Guild Wars all day doesn't mean that I won't play it all day ;). Apparently, they have a HUGE patch today, I I'll just let the patch download while I bum around. (If I knew this earlier, I would've activated the patch downloading earlier, particularly during lunch, oh well).

Among the more significant changes:

• Preparation for the Halloween events (this will be temporary, though)
• Skill and Equipment templates (this will go a long way in switching modes)
• Equipment balance changes (20% recharge now affects all spells, not just a specific attribute!)
• Henchmen controls and updated AI
• Skill balance changes (of big note to me personally are changes to Assassins and Elementalists)

Strangely, any skill changes to Ritualists were not mentioned (maybe there weren't any?).

Now, I'll just relax and let the patch download a while.

See you in Tyria! :D

Lazy Day (just the way I like it!)

Can you believe that it's already the afternoon and I haven't played any Guild Wars at all yet?! Well, after defeating the Lich and Shiro, I do need a little breather.

Most of the morning, I spent on non-game related activities, as well as a little Triplejack Poker on the side. Funny thing is, I'm learning a lot about myself as I observe how I play, and how my goals change when I play. I think these small realizations will pay off in the future somehow.

After another post, I'll just sit back and read, perhaps I can pull off finishing "Flags of Our Fathers" before the movie comes out in the Philippines.

Upcomming Events (2006.10/26)

Things to look out for:

• (2006.10/25) release of Firefox v2.0
  • already available
    
• (2006.10/27) release of Guild Wars: Nightfall
  • Guild Wars: Nightfall event at GameFrog in Metrowalk, 20:00 PH time (8pm to non-military time folks)
• (next week?) Flags of Our Fathers movie (directed by Clint Eastwood
  • I haven't finished the book yet! If it does come out next week, I don't have enough time!

MS Publisher

My SO called me up while my dad and I were finishing-up on car's tune-up. Apparently, she was having trouble doing some layout parts in MS Publisher, which I didn't have and never used.

After the tune-up, and lunch, I went back home and did some research and finally figured out what she was trying to do. Afterwards, I tried to discuss with her on how to do it. It was rather confusing, not because what she was trying to do was all that hard, but because I didn't know anything about MS Publisher.

My only background in print and publishing software was NewsMaster (and those old greeting card making software), and very little PageMaker. After PageMaker, I had very little idea on how publishing software evolved. I did hear that the in-thing to use was Adobe InHouse, and I knew that MS Publisher was a similar product, but that's it. Apparently, my SO was having trouble 'coz she was used to using an old version of MS Publisher, and the new version handled what she wanted to do differently.

Based on my research, things seemed pretty consistent with similar layout options in MS Word and such, but I guess the old Publisher was quite different. Given this, I'd probably struggle myself if I used the old version.

Now, if only I could start figuring out Adobe Photoshop...

Have a Good... err... 2006.10/26 Day Without Work?

I heard that today is a holiday due to "Ramadan", so I was looking for the official declaration so I won't get things wrong and inadvertently offend some people. Unfortunately, I'm confused. From what I gather, Ramadan ended last Sunday in the Philippines, and today is Eid’l Fitr (Feast of Charity). I'll just refer to that Inq7.net article for whatever the official reasons for today is.

Regardless if you're Muslim or not, I hope today goes well.

As a side note, "Ramadan" keeps reminding me of the very first Sandman (by Neil Gaiman) comic I read. I think I was in high school, and the issue was Sandman #50, the story entitled Ramadan (reprinted in "The Sandman: Fables and Reflections". A great story, though I wouldn't be reading Sandman until I started working.

Triplejack Poker Day

My SO is out with some friends today, so I'm spendin' most of this Saturday by myself. I just finished Prophecies yesterday, I think, so I'm in the mood for something else. Yes, I know that this weekend is the Dragon Festival at Shing Jea Monestary, and I did drop by for the festivities for a while, but most of this afternoon was spent at Triplejack Poker.

I mentioned before that I've been playing it a while, and as much as I run into a lot of Filipinos, I do want to play with pals from time to time. I ran into some of my former officemates in IM, and managed to convince some of them to try it out. Some didn't know how to play poker, which actually makes Triplejack Poker a great place to start learning, particularly since you can play without losing real money.

I tried to create a private table, but either my free membership doesn't have that feature, or that feature hasn't been done yet (most probably the former), so I just made the smallest table possible and hoped nobody but my pals would play while we went through things slowly. Of course, you can't stop others from butting in, and there was one spammer who was annoying, but otherwise, things went well. I'll run into more pals next time.

If ya wanna check it out, please click here 'Triplejack Poker' or the other referral links in this blog (if I refer people to join, maybe I'll get some perks... maybe...).

See yaz at the poker tables!

Salvi The Friar has finished Guild Wars: Prophecies!

A few minutes ago, Salvi (my Elementalist) has just finished Prophecies. The large Energy due to the Energy Storage attribute helps in a lot of spellcasting, and the nuking is useful all around. I can be a spiker, a nuker, or a degen. I'm probably gonna have a lot of fun with this character.

Now, should I go finish Factions as well, or cap some Prophecies specific elite skills...?

Sweet Beer Aftertaste!

My GAWD!!! I can't believe it's 23:00 and I can STILL taste the delicate sweetness of this afternoon's beer! It's so dang good!!! I am definitely going back to Grappa's for more pitchers/pints!

Afternoon With Beer

I decided to have lunch with my buddy today. After having pizza at D' Mark's, we went to Grappa's for a pitcher of dark beer. I tend to avoid Grappa's because of the cost, but for a quick beer, perhaps it was ok.

The beer was great! I haven't had beer that good in a long time! Now, that's the life, good beer, good buddy, good conversation... a relaxing afternoon.

My buddy tells me there's a place in Makati where they specialize in beers from around the world. Thanks to Grappa's, I'm looking forward to trying what other surprises beer has to offer!

Mom Fevers

I was patiently working on capping some skills and accomplishing the quests on the way to Sorrow's Furnace (in Guild Wars) when my mom called. Apparently, she feels sick and wanted to go home, but didn't feel up to driving. So, I logged out, picked her up, and took her home. Her temperature wasn't that high, but it did seem that she was gonna get a fever.

Get well soon, ma'.

"Business as Usual" in Makati City Hall

Having heard that some aspects of Makati City Hall were opening today, DZBB radio host Mike Enriquez decided to call the trunk line of Makati City Hall on-air and see if anyone answers. After a few rings, someone did. I was actually surprised that someone answered, more surprised that they were asking where Mike wanted to be transferred to, and even more surprised that they were very polite and helpful! I never expected the operator to a government anything be polite and helpful!

Quite impressive. Also an indicator on what kind of ship Binay runs.

Makati Mayor Suspended

Shortly after my initial brainstorm regarding "kardz", I turned the TV on for some news. Typically, I tune in to CNN if it's early morning, but I happened to tune the TV to a local TV station. Any Filipino who has even a passing sense of the news today should know about what's going on in Makati right now. Binay is with the opposition, and happens to be mayor of the Philippine's financial capital. Pee Wee, the mayor of Pasay, was also suspended some weeks ago. Government representatives say that some administration people have also been suspended recently, not just opposition people.

Life gets more colorful when things like this happen, but that doesn't mean it is less disturbing.

Codename "Kardz"!

I woke up something like 0400 'coz this idea was bugging me. After mulling it over half-asleep, a eureka moment came to me and I woke up! Now, I just have to put all the thoughts and ideas down before they float away!

I won't go into details yet, but for now I will give it the codename "kardz".

When I unleash it to the world, it's gonna rock!

Outdoor Cookout and Poker

Yesterday was cookout day with my SO and her friends. We went to the market and bought a bunch of stuff which we'd cook in one of my SO's friend's houses. I guess they liked the grilled asparagus I made last time, 'coz they wanted it again. Unfortunately, since I can't eat anything that ain't soft, I couldn't eat a lot of what we got. It's really sweet that my SO got me salmon and made mashed potatoes so I can eat something nice with them.

After the meal, they started playing Poker. I never play card games with money, regardless of how low the denominations are. I had a vague idea of how poker is played, and given that I don't play for money, I just watched.

Apparently, they bought a Texas Hold'em poker kit, with chips and all. I've heard that my former officemates play this version sometimes and that some of them play at Triplejack Poker, so I really wanted to see how that was played. However, they played what I assumed to be regular poker (they didn't appear to be following the procedure for Texas Hold'em that was stated in the kit). Regardless, it probably wasn't very far from Texas Hold'em and it's still worth observing.

One of the things I noticed is that the game relies less on statistics and more on "mind reading". In Pusoy Dos, I could typically gather enough statistics to guess who has which cards, but that ain't so effective in Poker. The game is really geared towards reading your opponent for clues on what they have in their hands.

It was a lot of fun. Perhaps someday, I'll break not playing with real money just to be in on the action. Guess I gotta practice a bit to get a feel on the probabilities of the various hands you can get. Maybe I'll practice in Triplejack.com.

Elona Reach, Augry Rock, and Dragon's Lair

After spending most of yesterday fruitlessly trying to get past Elona Reach, I finally got through. Ironically, it was only when I tried doing it by myself did I succeed. The mission is quite hard, but apparently it could be run. So, I setup Salvi (my Elementalist) with running skills and tried it out. I don't know if it can be accomplished by just running, since I had to do some fighting, but I was able to avoid a LOT of fights and finish the mission.

Augry Rock is a fight with your doppleganger, I didn't read any techniques on this since I was interested on how to pull it off, but apparently, my double didn't maximize the skills I had, so I managed to go through it fine.

Dragon's Lair is quite straightforward, and with a team of 8 (hench in my case), things were easy. I was excited of the chance to fight Glint (who sounds just like Kunnavang), but then I didn't have to. It turns out that fighting Glint is a bonus mission, and losing it incurs no penalty (you still finish the main mission). Glint is tough, really tough. I intend on going back and trying to get her again.

For now, my main objectives are done. Time to for other stuff, like watching, reading, and planning (on stuff other than Guild Wars :P).

Muscle Relaxants

After more than a week of the jaw ache with minimal signs of getting better, I got worried and consulted a doctor. I was right in suspecting that my impacted molars have nothing to do with it (I will have to deal with this quite soon too, though), but they do recommend that I take some muscle relaxant for around 4 days and eat soft food.

No problem with the meds, but there is some issue with eating soft food. Intriguingly, both my SO and my mom said that it's cause of eating steak too much (that's cause I keep ordering "medium" instead of "medium rare" so my SO can taste it).
This will be a long and hungry 4 days.

BTW, glad to hear you're feeling better Jerson. Get well soon.

Selected Web Downtimes

Can't access Google for some reason. I highly doubt it has anything to do with it's recent acquisition of YouTube. Anyway, there's always Yahoo, as well as other search engines. What Annoys me is that GuildWiki, my default resource for any Guild Wars resource I need, also can't be accessed. It had to happen in a "story day" (days when I want to move the plot along instead of fight).

Great timing.

The Departed

I found this movie disturbing, in a good way. Powerhouse male cast, a lot of swearing, violence in a rather personal level, and long (around 2.5 hrs). It was very well done, and I do recommend people to watch it. The tension builds-up gradually, and there's a lot of conflict from the start. If you're squirmish to bloody deaths, well, you've been warned.

Damaso the Friar has Defeated Shiro!

Given that my Monk has defeated Shiro, only my Elementalist Salvi hasn't finished their birth game yet. It's gonna be a bit tough since Salvi isn't lvl 20 yet, and seems to be a support character for a nuker.

It appears my Assassin Elias will have the easiest time around in the early parts since he's a PvE bruiser, killing single enemies quite fast. All my other characters are support roles, which makes going through the story longer for them. Hell, Elias might finish Prophecies before Salvi does.

I'll try to give Salvi his chance, but it'll be tough since I know Elias can breeze through most stuff.

Under the Milenyo

I got the sniffles. I always have been sorta synched with the weather. I don't think I'll get a fever, but it's gonna ba an annoying few days.

Normally, if I'm not exceptionally tired or if I don't lack sleep, it means the weather is changing modes. We shall see.

Monks Have More Fun (at the very least, rarely get rejected)

In my other characters, I had to wait and nego quite a bit to get a group. With Damaso, my Monk, I rarely get rejected. Any party needs a healer, and Monks are still the best at the job (although Resto Rits are slowly getting in style)

Probably, by Nightfall, Dervishes and Paragons will take some tanking roles (haven't checked their armor requirements yet, though. When will a realistic replacement for Monks in the healer role come?

The next step for Damaso: defeating Kuunavang.

Elias the Boatman has Defeated Shiro by Henching!

Yes, I just had to say it. I was gonna post this bit two days ago (when I actually accomplished the feat, but I got busy, and yesterday was Milenyo's day. I have heard when I was trying to beat Shiro with Simoun Ibarra that Shiro could be henched, and I was able to do it.

Things to note:

- Bodyblock him, though this can be difficult with hench.

- Although Shiro can be knocked down, he gets up so fast that Falling Spider will not be able to hit.

- Condition effects seem to work on him. Like Kuunavang, he's got tough armor, and unless you have armor penetration, damage will be severely negated. Poison, bleeding, anything that would chip away at his health. It ensures that even if your weapon damage does zero damage, something is eating away at him.

I tried doing it again, didn't work. Being hench, bodyblock is kinda tough and uncoordinated. Also, if he happens to banish your troops, it can be a real-time decision to bring them back or leave them be. You hench will not try to get back to reality (or at least, I don't know if they do.

I wonder how my monk will do when he gets there.

In the wake of Typhoon Milenyo (international name Xangsane)

I was at TGIF in Ayala with my SO yesterday for lunch, we sat by the window to get a view, and did we get it. Hell, signages were being torn and flying around, trees were uprooted, metal roofs from stuff under construction was taking off, segments of trees were crossing the streets, visibility went on and off, and we were eating soup and chicken.

From our homes, we didn't think were so bad outside, and I wanted to stock-up on some food (haven't been to the groceries in a while). While we were eatin', I was starting to think goin' out was a bad idea. It was particularly annoying that the supermarket, the whole reason why I went out in the first place, was closed. Fortunately, I was able to take her and myself home safely.

It wasn't much of a surprise that there was no power at home when I got back, but I only realized that I can hook up to the generator power after dinner at night (I ate at Chilli's, things calmed down already and they seemed the only ones open).

I feel kinda lucky that I had some semblance of electricity last night, and I am kinda impressed that power returned at 0000 today.

Hope things wasn't so bad for the others.

Oh yeah, obviously, I have 'net access. Cable TV is another story.

When It Rains, Do You GoTo Work?

I was having a dream about being some sort of contestant in a reality adventure show, but I woke up early as usual (well, technically, I wake up in "stages"), and noticed that aside from being colder than usual, it was also kinda dark. It took me a while ("stages") before I figured out that there might not be classes today, ergo, there may be no work for some.

Now, why does a jobless bum like me wake up early (or at least try to) every morning. Well, being jobless doesn't let me off on some other "duties", like taking my SO (Significant Other) to work. Unlike private companies, government employees in the Philippines (or at least in Metro Manila) appear to have the same privilege that students do when it rains hard: the possibility of no classes/work.

Turned on the TV, tuned to the the local morning shows, and yes, on the bottom tickers (so useful to people like me) it says that there are no classes or work for government agencies. Double check on the net, same thing. Signal #3, that's pretty bad weather. I called up my SO, and she checked, which sealed the deal.

So, I went back to bed. And no, I did not go back to the show in my dreams. I was probably eliminated for being an absentee.

Now that I'm up (and sorta about), I wondered if my former colleagues are having the same kind of luck (going to work in this weather is tough as hell). Booted my PC, checked the IM, nope, nobody home.

If they wont tell you to stay at home, I hope you guys have a safe trip to work, and I hope they try to make you go home soon when you get there.

Pondering on Blog Entry Categories

Although the Blog Entry Category Editor has much to be desired (I can seem to only add new categories), it made me think, should I add theme specific categories, or should I force myself to use the existing ones.

The question dawned on me as I was considering adding a Guild Wars category. It would make sorting my Guild Wars related blog entries easier, and it would separate them from other game related entries, as in the near future, most my blog entries will probably consist of Guild Wars related material.

However, I would like to also categorize my Guild Wars comments as Game comments, as that is exactly what it is, thoughts and comments on a specific game.

In the end, I would rather have the ability of creating multiple tags on blog entries, a feature I am not sure Microsoft has on its priority list for these Live Spaces.
I think too much? I've been told so many times. :P

Haha! Having no category will not make a particular entry searchable from the Categories tool!

Now, Do I have to have separate categories for Ramblings, Rants, Reviews...


Note:
This comment was made when the blog was still in MS Live Spaces.

Kuunavang can be henched with Interrupt Bowman Assasin!

Alas, the rain, having only seafood noodles on stock, and and a problematic DSL connection have dampened my spirits. Nevertheless, I have decided to put blog this bit of info, so I will.

Just an hour or so ago, I managed to beat the Unwaking Waters mission AND get a Masters Rating, using only henchmen. I guess the combination of henchmen as well as the interrupt setup I made for Elias (my Assassin) was able to help. So, I'll put my build here:

A/R:
Broad Arrow
Critical Eye
Sharpen Daggers
Disrupting Shot
Savage Shot
Poison Tip
Shadow Refuge
Signet of Resurrection

Probably, what helped most was the combination of bleeding and poison, this was able to slowly drain Kuunavang's heath even though the henchies and I were barely able to do any real physical damage. This, coupled with more frequent critical strikes enabled damage chipping from a distance, and having 2 healers and a Rit as henchmen increased the healing/preservation potential of the group. This is the first time I have had success in using my Assassin as a Critical Bowman, I was now able to correctly use the the Critical Barrager build I found.

Also, I learned of the potential benefits of Assassin's Promise from a fellow Assasin in the party I joined to beat the Gayla Hatcheries mission. I was surprised to see Twisting Fangs recharge so fast, and have concluded that it was only possible due to Assassin's Promise. It works quite wekk in PvE, much better than my AB build, but it relies on your target dying within 12 seconds of casting Assasin's promise. Going past this will cause a long delay of skills. my Current AB build of Palm Strike, Bull Horns, Spider, and Twisting Fangs is more versatile.

My neck hurts, it's been that way since yesterday. I need more proper sleep.

When will Nightfall come to the Philippines?