Free Agency 2010

Tomorrow will be the biggest and most talented free agency in NBA history. The young superstars and the not-so-young reliables will be free to accept offers from the best teams in league. It's exciting, at the same time, scary. Imagine a team with Lebron, D-Wade, Bosh, Pierce, Amare and Dirk. That's five all-stars, five franchise players, five go-to guys! Okay, maybe it's impossible to get all 5 of them in one team, but it's very much possible to have 2 or even 3. Yes, the thought of it is scary. Very scary.

There are more than 70 free agents this year, and it is safe to say that the decisions of these players will shape the future of the NBA, at least the next 4 to 6 years.

Personally, I'm excited and scared for King James. A lot of teams want him: Bulls, Heat, Knicks, Clippers, Mavericks, Nets and of course, the Cavaliers. Because of the NBA rules, his present team can offer him more than the maximum of any other team, so if he just wants to add to his riches, he will stay in Cleveland. But since he's earning a lot outside of the court than most players, I don't think money will be a factor. Bron is a winner and wants to win.. badly. He will be entering his 8th year in the league and he has yet to get a ring.

Let the offers come in!

Aang is Coming

Instead of July 28, The Last Airbender movie will be released in the Philippines one week earlier, July 21, 2010. I have high expectations from this movie, and so does a lot of my family and friends, that I hope we will not be disappointed.

Vhong's Tribute to MJ

A couple of days ago, the whole world remembered the passing of the great Michael Jackson. So many have presented tributes to him even when he was still alive, and much more now that he's gone. One of my local idols, Vhong Navarro, offered a tribute last year with the Streetboys, which for me, is one of the greatest tributes to the Legend that is MJ.

Footprints in the Sand

One of the best poems ever, the original authorship of which is still being disputed until now with a dozen or so people claiming to have penned it.

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed He was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from His life. For each scene He noticed two sets of footprints in the sand. One belonging to Him and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of His life flashed before Him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of His life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of His life.

This really bothered Him and He questioned the LORD about it. LORD you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.

The LORD replied, my precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.

Edward Granadosin

I first heard this guy when he sang back up for one of Martin's songs, Chasing Time, then I saw and heard him live singing the same song in Martin's concert. First impression I had of him was "amazing pipes". He sang the operatic part of Chasing Time in almost effortless fashion. I then began researching about him, and found out that Edward Granadosin is from a family of classical singers, and was the best tenor during his stint with the world-famous Madrigal singers. He has since moved on to much bigger things.

Here's one of his recent performances for their church, an amazing rendition of You Raise Me Up.

That's Edward Granadosin, my new idol.

Childhood Heroes

Just finished watching The A-Team movie, and I love it! A lot of my friends liked it, but for me, it's different. It's kinda personal. The A-Team were my childhood heroes. I was 3 years old when the series first came out, and I was almost 7 years old when it got cancelled, so before I knew any superheroes back then, Hannibal, Face, BA and Murdock were my superheroes.

I'm glad that Director Joe Carnahan was very faithful to the original, and even paying homage to it. The cast payed homage to those who played the roles before them, and they also added their own personal touches that made them own their roles. Liam Neeson was amazing as he always is, and brought back memories of the late George Peppard. Bradley Cooper was more rugged in the movie as Face compared to Dirk Benedict. At first, I thought Quinton Jackson was a lot softer as BA, but then I realized that he made Bosco Albert Baracus more human, more realistic than the always-bitter soldier portrayed by Mr. T many years ago. Sharlto Copley, for me, is the revelation in the movie. Dwight Schultz made Howling Mad Murdock one of the most lovable characters on TV, and Sharlto was able to channel that and make the character his own. He was good in District 9, he is superb as the new Murdock in The A-Team. The rapport of BA and Murdock was lacking in the movie, but I don't blame them since it's just the first movie. Give them more time and they'd get the chemistry of Dwight and Mr.T.


It's also good to know that the writers have modernized the story by making them Iraq war heroes as to the Vietnam war heroes that they were in the series, at the same time, using the original theme as well as ending the movie with the narration that started the introduction of the series.

One last thing that made the movie nostalgic was the GMC van. It was so beautiful of the filmmakers to include the van in the movie, never mind if it only appeared in the first 15 minutes of the movie. They were able to really replicate the original van with just two very minor alterations, the color of the mugs and the red line at the side of the van.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience watching my childhood heroes being introduced to the new generation.

The First Phoebe

What's wrong with this picture?

Lori Rom was the original Phoebe Halliwell in the pilot episode, but was replaced by Alyssa Milano, and most of the scenes in the pilot were re-shot with Alyssa. I saw the original pilot with Lori, and though she wasn't bad, Alyssa Milano IS Phoebe.

After All These Years

A faded wedding photograph

You and me in our first dance

Our eyes are closed

We're lost in one sweet embrace

Since those days the world has changed

But our love remains the same

God knows we've had our share of saving grace

And I'm proud of all the blessings

You have given me

The mountains we have climbed to get this far

You've learned to take the laughter with the tears

After all these years

You make it feel brand new

After the fires that we walked through

Against the odds we never lost our faith

In our house we've made our home

Where our children all have grown

Precious moments time cannot erase

Make a living up and down the gypsy highways

Seasons that we've had to share apart

Somehow in my heart I always keep you near me

After all these years

After all these years

You stood by me

The days and nights that I was gone

After all these years

You sacrificed, believed in me

And you stood strong

Cause with our love there's nothing left to fear

After all these years

After all these years

You stood by me

The days and nights that I was gone

After all these years

You've sacrificed, believed in me

And you stood strong

Cause with our love there's nothing left to fear

After all these years

Hakuna Matata

I grew up loving the Lion King and its characters, most especially Timon and Pumba who taught the world about Hakuna Matata.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this pic of a real Timon and Pumba. :)

A lot of skeptics have dismissed it as edited or photoshopped but I honestly don't care. I love the picture, and I believe that Hakuna Matata can be real.

Mom and Dad @ 35

Happy 35 years of Marriage

to my Mom & Dad! ♥

It hasn't been an easy ride but I'm glad that you've held on to each other and your love, though you don't talk about that much now, is strong after all these years.

Father's Day 2010

Every father should remember that one day,

his child will follow his example

instead of his advice.

Happy Fathers' Day

to all the Fathers

in the world! ♥

Yes, it's Official!

After she was rumored to appear in Glee, she went and auditioned anyway.. and yes, she got in.

Charice is officially included in Glee's second season which begins in September. I have mixed feelings about it, but the dominant feeling is excitement. She will not be a regular but will have a recurring role in the series.

Woohoo! Pinoy Pride!

Mabuhay ka, Charice! :)

See ya, Next Season!

Congratulations to the Lakers for winning their 16th championship, 1 less than the total championships won by the Celtics, and congratulations to Boston for giving LA a good scare in Game 7. Not too many expected the Celtics to reach the final game of the championship. Many thought they would be swept in the first round of the playoffs, but they showed the heart of a champion by dismantling Miami, Cleveland and Orlando.

Not to take away anything from the Lakers, but the Celtics lost because they self-destructed in the fourth quarter, of course with a little help from the referees. C'mon, the Celtics were given 17 fouls the whole game while the Lakers were given 20 fouls in the fourth quarter alone. Anyone who saw that game knows that LA was able to come back and take the lead because of free throws.

The Lakers fans are now talking about a Three-peat, prematurely I must say. The 2011 season will start around the end of October, 4 months away, and for sure, the teams will get better especially with the most talented free agent market starting July led by King James, D-Wade, Bosh and Amare among many others.

With all objectivity, can I say that the Lakers are the best team in history? No, far from it. Let us not forget the Chicago Bulls who won 6 titles in 8 years doing the three-peat twice and holding the record of 72-10 in 1995-96, and of course, the Boston dynasty that won 8 straight championships from 1959 to 1966.

It was a great NBA season overall, and looking forward to a better one next season.

No Racebending

A lot of people have been complaining and commenting about the cast of The Last Airbender as "white" and "not Asian." As a fan who have been following the cartoons and the development of the movie, I would like to clear things out.

Everything about the cartoons was "Asian-inspired" only and strictly speaking, not really Asian since everything's fictional.

And for the record, in the movie..

* The Southern Water Tribe will consist of primarily Inuit;

* The Northern Water Tribe will consist of primarily Caucasians (and if you're familiar with the series, Sokka & Katara have a lineage there);

* The Fire Nation will consist primarily of Indian and Mediterranean;

* The Earth Kingdom will consist primarily of Asians with future potential Africans;

* The Air Nomads will consist of a blended mixture of all races.

And besides, as what we can see in the trailers so far, the movie's being very faithful to the series in terms of storyline and sets. Some people are just so nitpicky. I choose faithful storyline over looks of the characters any day.

Jovit Baldovino

Congratulations Jovit Baldovino

for being the very first Grand Winner of

Pilipinas Got Talent.

I admit that during the auditions when he sang Journey's Faithfully and during the semi-finals when he sang Europe's Carrie, I thought he was an okay singer for his age, but I was not that impressed with him. He was good but there were others who were better. During the grand finals last weekend, he totally blew me away with his rendition of Queen's Too Much Love will Kill You. I honestly think he has improved a lot since the auditions, and he had the best performance of all the 12 grand finalists so yes, he truly deserves it.

One thing I hope and pray is that he keeps his feet on the ground for the world is his to conquer. Since he's on his way to becoming a real superstar, he should stay humble like his idol, Arnel Pineda who's one of the humblest persons I know.

More power, Jovit!

May your star shine a lot brighter!

One Win Away

Flashback:

June 17, 2008

Game 6 of the NBA Finals

Celtics - 131

Lakers - 92

The 39-point margin of victory was the largest ever in an NBA championship-clinching game that gave Boston its 17th Championship..

Fast forward to the present:

June 15, 2010 (June 16, Philippine Time)

Game 6 of the NBA Finals

BOS leads the series 3-2

Good luck tomorrow, Lakers ;)

Finally Recognized

I am very happy that a lot of people are finally appreciating Shin Shin and her amazing talent. So far, her transfer to GMA 7 from ABS-CBN has been a blessing, and it's such a joy watching her finally get the recognition that she rightfully deserves. She was one if not the most talented female performer in ASAP XV, but was either not recognized by the station's bigwigs or was.. I'd rather not get into that. The important thing is that she's being appreciated more now, especially by people who just thought of her as one of those-who-know-how-to-sing before.

Speaking of recognition and appreciation, here's one of her amazing performances from her True Champions concert with Jed last year. Her rendition of this classic is just amazing, and it shows that her range and vocal quality have improved a lot in the 6 years she's been in show business.

Why is Floyd Afraid of Pacman?

Why is Floyd Gayweather afraid of Manny Pacquiao?

Because he knows Pacman will eat him alive..

Here are 3 proofs :

1. Manny likes bulalo or nilagang baka...

Floyd says he's a CASH COW..

2. Manny's strength comes from balut..

Floyd is a duck that quacks a lot and is always ducking..

3. Pacman likes tinolang manok..

Gayweather is most expensive chicken around.

112th

Pilipinas kong minumutya, pugad ng luha ko’t dalita.

Aking adhika, makitang sakdal laya..

Happy 112th Independence Day

to all Filipinos all over the world!

Mabuhay tayong lahat! :)

Revisiting P3

In a post not so long ago, I said that I've decided to buy the complete 8 seasons of Charmed so I can watch it again while waiting for new seasons of Smallville, Supernatural, Dexter and Glee in September. I didn't realize the Charmed complete set costs a fortune. The price actually decreased a bit since the very last episode was aired almost 5 years ago, but it still is expensive. Even the used ones in Amazon cost a little over Php 5000, and that is a LOT.

So instead of buying the DVD's, I just decided to watch the episodes online. Yes, it takes time to have it load fully before watching it, but I have a favorite site where it loads fast so it's not that bad. Besides, I get to save a lot of money watching it online than buying the DVD's. All in all, there are 176 episodes, and while I'm typing this blog, I'm watching (yes, multi-tasking) the 30th episode (Season 2, Episode 8) already. Since the series premiered 12 years ago, there are episodes which I remember vaguely and a lot of episodes I didn't remember watching at all, so overall, it's a whole new experience for me.

There are a lot of series that came after Charmed, but only a handful that had the same wonderful storylines, witty script, great acting and an unbelievable rapport of the actors. The banters between the Halliwell sisters are just so fun to watch.

"What did I do? Premonition a man to death?!"

- Phoebe Halliwell

Missing Katrina

It's only her second day at school, and her very first whole day class, yet I miss my daughter already. I am so used to her being at home all the time. When she was in preschool, they only had half-day classes so she was already home during lunchtime. This week, their classes are until 2:20 PM, and starting next week until the end of the school year, they'll be until 3:45 PM.

With my (graveyard) shift now, I can spend time with my daughter when she arrives late in the afternoon until evening when I tuck her to bed before going to work. Next month, my shift will not allow me to spend with her at least during weekdays. She'll still be in school when I go to work, and she'll be sleeping when I get home. Major bummer. I have to spend time with her whenever I can because she's growing up fast. Time will come (I hope not soon) when she'd rather be spending time with her friends than her parents. :'(

Finding Our Voices

"Glee club will never be lost because you are Glee club, Mr. Schue"

That line from the season finale of Glee brought tears to my eyes, and brought back a lot of memories, good memories from my not-so-distant past, 6 years ago to be exact. I was still a college professor back then, and teaching in a state college (now a state university) where most of the students where from the middle and lower classes. My sister on other hand was college student in the most prestigious university in the city, and we both decided to form our own theatre company.

Our pioneer members then were my sister's classmates and friends, and my very own students. I can still remember the first few days of rehearsals when my students were packed in one corner of the room, heads down and not saying a single word. They were intimidated by the members from other schools, thinking that they were inferior compared to the rest. Most of them even wanted to quit.

As we did a lot of workshops and activities, they slowly came out from their shells and during performance night, they showed a lot of energy and promise, and performed their hearts out. They brought their newly-found confidence into their studies, and eventually, into their lives. During their graduation, I was surprised and deeply touched when they thanked me for giving them a chance to find their voices.

What they don't know is that in helping them find their voices, they've helped me find mine.

Glee's Journey

Finally, the first season of Glee has come to an end, and it beautifully summed up the whole season, and opened a lot of doors for Season 2 which is still 3 months away. It was an episode that was also very personal for me.

The title, Journey, represented the Glee club's journey coming to a full circle, at the same time honoring the legendary band who made the Glee club's first hit, Don't Stop Believin'. I especially loved the part where the kids were telling Schue who they were before they joined Glee, and that Mr. Schue is Glee club to them. It brought back a lot of memories for me, good memories I will talk about in a future post.

It was heartbreaking watching the William McKinley High School Glee club's reactions when the winner was announced, but it was also very beautiful to watch and listen to them realize that even though they lost, they still won. They've matured a lot as performers, and more importantly, as persons, and a big part of that is because of Mr. Schuster and Sue Sylvester. Yes, no one can deny how big a role Sue played in the formation and growth of everyone in the school, most especially the Glee club.

Bring on Season 2!

Celtics Ties Series

The Celtics stole Game 2 in LA earlier today, thank's to an amazing all-around effort by Rondo and a record-breaking shooting performance by Ray. Now the next 3 games will be played in Boston, where the Celtics can close out the series by winning all 3. But if ever the Lakers win in Boston (hopefully just one win), I'm still confident that the Celtics can close it out in LA. After all, they're the best road team in the playoffs this year.

Happiness

Happiness is not having what you want,

but wanting what you have.

Les Mis at the O2

In October 2010, Les Mis will turn 25 years old, and it's still sweeping the world. And yes, this is one concert I so dream to watch!

ThunderCats

Great heroes from my childhood will be revived for the new generation to see.. a little darker, meaner, fiercer..

The Cats will come out and play soon..

Migraine?

I am sick. I am very sick, and I hate it.

It started with a major headache last night when I went to bed. The headache was still as painful when I woke up, but since I know there's no one who'd be able to cover my shift, I forced myself to work. Bad idea.

The pain got worst as I was working, that even if I wasn't able to finish my lunch, I threw up 4 times. My head felt like it was vibrating, and I was having double visions from time to time. I was lucky that there weren't a lot of calls coming in that allowed me to rest a bit.

Weak, I went to the doctor after my shift, and even he wasn't really sure. He just told me to take pain relievers because it could be a migraine or a tension headache, and to also have my eyes checked by an Ophthalmologist.

I barely had the energy to go home, but I somehow did and went straight to bed. I just woke up around 15 minutes ago, and my head is still throbbing. The doctor mentioned that one of the factors contributing to this is my lack of sleep the past days. My body clock has been kinda messed up this week. Whenever I go to bed at around 8pm, I wake up at 11pm, not able to sleep until 3am when I have to wake up again at 4am or else I'll be late for work. I need to rest this, and being absent from work tomorrow will be a big help.

Head's acting up again, gotta hit the sack yet again.

I Want This!

I just found this while surfing the web. I so love the 2 Ip Man movies, I love Donnie Yen, and I love Wing Chun. It would be awesome to add this to my collection.. if I can find this here in the Philippines.

A man should always think

about the source of the water

as he drinks it.

- Ip Man

Grade One

We're finally halfway through the year 2010, but more importantly, school will open in a little more than a week. My daughter will already be in Grade One. I knew that there will be a lot of things we needed to buy, but I didn't expect it to be so expensive!

All her textbooks cost Php 3,160 and her other school supplies (notebooks, pencils, etc.) cost a little over a thousand pesos. Since her bag in pre-school is very small, we needed to buy a much bigger one and though it was on sale, it still cost Php 950. Black leather shoes and rubber shoes for PE cost Php 500, school uniform cost Php 600, and we still have to buy her PE uniform next week which cost around Php 200. Tuition for the whole year is around Php 35,000. We haven't even bought her snacks and lunch yet.

I'm not complaining though the prices were just shocking. And yeah, we're all pretty excited and scared at the same time. It will be a whole new world for us all. I just hope and pray that my daughter will be safe always.