Babel

Initially intending to watch something else, we ended up deciding to watch Babel. It won Golden Globe and Cannes awards, so it was a natural choice to view on the big screen.

The film revolves around 4 separate storylines. For Brad Pitt's story, he and his wife are on a vacation in Morocco when an accident happens with the tourists. There is also a story about a Moroccan family (revolving around the kids) who recently purchased a gun to aid in goat herding, some American children under the care of a Mexican helper, and a deaf/mute Japanese girl. Somehow, the different stories are related, similar to how the different stories of Crash are related.

Actually, the whole thing feels like Crash, the tone and mood is like Crash, and so is the level of seriousness. It shows a lot of reality of how things can go wrong in different cultures, and yet how they are all interrelated (not exactly in the same way as how they are interrelated in the storylines, but more of how they are interrelated because of their common relationships with certain cultures). It does a pretty good job in showing what could happen given the situations they got themselves into.

It's good watch, but personally I can't say that it was fantastic. If you liked Crash, you'll most likely like Babel.

Eragon

We watched Eragon last weekend, I was hoping we'd watch some other stuff first, but we didn't get the time to.  I haven't read the book, so I wasn't expecting much except for an effects film.  It was pretty much what I expected.

Eragon is based on the fist book of the Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini.  The book was a success, and given that it was published when he was just 19 years old (he supposedly started writing the book at age 15), it must be a deam come true to see his work on the big screen.

Unfortunately, the film didn't work all that well for me.  I felt the plot was a little forced, and the way the scenes were cut could've been better.  Since I haven't read the book, I can't tell if this was because the storry really was like this or if something went wrong with the translation to film.  I did enjoy the battle scenes involving the dragon at the end (can't have a dragon film without having it fight, now can we?). My SO liked the film, but I don't like it as much.

Overall, it was OK.  I hope Christopher Paolini will see continued success, but I hope that the movie version of the next book will be better.  Watchable.

Night at the Museum

With my SO back from her trip, we decided to catch a movie and ended-up choosing "Night at the Museum". Being a Ben Stiller movie, you know it's a comedy (and it should have Owen Wilson or some other cameo inside). The premise is simple, stuff at the museum turns alive at night, and Ben Stiller is in the midst of it. The other plot components won't really be much but a backdrop to glue things together.

Given the simplicity, there's really nothing much to expect except for the possibilities inherent when museum exhibits come to life, and how Ben Stiller (and the other characters) interact. Not that the humor is bad, its OK, just nothing sophisticated. Given that it's not expected to be sophisticated to begin with, you get what you expect.

It's a fun movie, but not all that special. It's worth seeing, but nothing to loose sleep about if you miss it.

I Spy with My Eye #3

#3: Since this is from the Philippine Online Gaming Summit '06-'07, I'm assuming the game in the lower middle monitor is some sort of MMORPG version of solitaire.

Philippine Online Gaming Summit (POGS) 2006-2007: Learn to Play!

I went to the Philippine Online Gaming Summit (POGS) 2006-2007 last Saturday to see what's going on. It's mostly a showcase of the currently available online games in the Philippines, and you get to try the stuff out. There was also a cosplay competition, but I didn't see any memorable costume.

Of particular interest to me was ToonTown Online, which I didn't know was already done (not to mention already licensed to the Philippines). It seemed cutesy enough for its target market, but I wasn't able to learn much about what you can actually play (aside from a swimming through rings under water thing I saw).

Another game that caught my eye was Rakion. From what saw, it seemed like a Spawn type beat'em-up. The graphics were pretty nice, and the action seemed good enough for what it tries to be. Depending on the payment model, I may try it out sometime.

Other than that, well, there wasn't much to see. If you were patient enough to wait in line, you'd have had the chance to try all the locally licensed online games in the Philippines currently available.

電車男 (densha otoko, "train man")

I learned about this from a Wired Magazine online article. You really should check it out. More links (particularly links to English translations of the original posts) can be found here.

I wonder how I can get myself a copy of the book...?

I Spy with My Eye #1-2

I'm gonna set this part of my blog as a segment for quirky stuff I find around and manage to take pictures of. I'll start with these two:


#1: What kind of work does a "danGer GRO" do? Undercover operations?








#2: I saw this displayed quite prominently on one of the Ortigas area's more prominent commercial centers. For what everyday purpose does the common man need a machine gun customized with a grenade launcher? Rats in the kitchen?

JT's Manukan Grille

A friend has been telling about this sidewalk place called "JT's Manukan Grille" for some time now, and as usual, I'm always intriqued by the possibility of good cheap food. We got a chance to go there for lunch last Tuesday, and I was pleasantly surprised.

The main branch (where we ate) is along the Ortigas Avenue Extension (corner Valencia), and I think there are branches in Sgt. Esguerra and Eastwood. It's owner is a famous Filipino actor, which explains the various pinoy movie related posters adorning the walls and doors ("JT" appears to be his initials, as is made pretty obvious by the said posters). It's basically a sidewalk eatery, so don't expect anything fancy. However, it's one of the better sidewalk eateries I've seen, and they play chillout music (which was another pleasant surprise). I have been told that the place really gets packed at night: lines of people form, tables are added, and the place extends to the roads (which makes it very difficult to reach the street parking nearby).

The food focuses on chicken inasal, with other typical pinoy grill foods to add a little variety. I was not disappointed, this was the best chicken inasal I've ever had! Their formula has a hint of pinoy barbeque sauce like taste, which I'm not a fan of, but not so much to deter from the inasal taste. Service is typical of places like this, but they are polite. If not for time constraints, I would've loved to try their batchoy, but I wasn't able to. Given the sidewalk status, the price does not disappoint either. It's cheaper than the named chicken inasal places you may find in malls, and still they manage to make it taste better than those (to me at least).

Great price versus performance, this is a rare find. The actor owner is one of the more decent actors in Philippine cinema, and the food reflects focus on a proper chicken inasal experience. Given the sidewalk experience, this is a good reflection of typical working man local cuisine. If we had more places like this, maybe we'd have something good enough to rival the cheap sidewalk food avaliable in other countries that foreigners go for. If you don't mind the setting, I recommend you check this out.

branches:
- #4 Granada Street, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Quezon City
- #26 Sgt. Esguerra Street, South Triangle, Quezon City
- Citywalk I, Cybermall Eastwood, Quezon City

Jack's the Man of the Day

Before I retire for the night (morning?), I just want to mention that today was a Jack day. I lost a lot at Triplejack.com today due to a lot of weak plays. I lost a lot, and I lost bad. After (or while) doing some website related research, I basically worked on getting it all back, and it was very difficult.

Just as night was ending for me, I was getting some of my groove back, and I noticed that the Jacks were the hands that were helping me. I still had a ways to go to break even when I chanced upon pocket Jacks, and people started with their all-in frenzies. I was the stack leader, so I decided "what the hell", and joined the bandwagon.

It turned out to be the most profitable Triplejack.com hand so far! Monster pot given the buy-in and blinds! As usual, I was too excited to get a screen shot, but the record is in my stats.

There, I let it out already. Now I can sleep.

Internet Access Recovery Progress

Internet connection has been on and off since the Taiwan earthquake. I've been wanting to update the blog for quite a while now but the intermittent disconnection is quite frustrating. Only did I manage to properly login to the blog.

I have quite a backlog of stuff to mention, but since it is quite a backlog, and quite a bit of time has past, I'm not sure if I can still post about all of them. I'll try to post about the important parts, and perhaps I'll bring the past up occasionally.

I hope this post is a sign that things are getting back to normal (although my YM is still not working well). I guess we'll be finding out in the coming days if this post is a stroke of luck or not.

Things to remember from 2007.01/01

I have this habit of wondering if the things that happen to me on the first day of the year indicate how the rest of the year plays out. I don't actually believe that that's the case, but it may be an interesting bit to note. The problem is I always forget what they were, so I can't tell if the signs held true.

So now, I'm gonna record the things of note so I can check it again at the end of the year:

• slept late, woke-up late
• no breakfast (as usual)
• ate at a new resto for lunch (CYMM, greek food) with my SO
  
• did some window-shopping with my SO
• helped my SO out for some last minute gift buying
  
• ran out of load, so I couldn't greet anyone "Happy New Year 2007"
• 1st video game played was Warcraft III: Frozen Throne, which I lost
• recovered the loss with a good win later in the day
• 1'st poker hand was at Full Tilt, where I got the nuts for a straight right at the flop, scared everyone out of adding to the pot, though
• was basically on tilt and lost a lot of play money, but right before the day ended, I got my groove back and recovered what I lost in the day (and perhaps made a tad of profit, but it's still below what I've lost before 2006 ended
• ate Burger Machine for dinner, and bought an old man rummaging through the trash a big burger
  

Happy New Year 2007!

First of all, Happy New Year 2007 to everyone!

I've been wanting to give a little update on what I've been doing since xmas 2006, but the busy sked stopping me. It also mean that compared to previous years, I got stuff to do and people to meet, which beats sittin' in front of the computer all day (well, getting-up from the computer occasionally is a good thing, right?).

Have a great year ahead, folks! :)