What's my Name?

I was named after the main character of "The Adventurers" by Harold Robbins. The character was supposedly based on a well-known playboy-diplomat who lived during the author's time. The first chapter of the book is an epilogue where it tells you that the protagonist died early in his life. This is what makes the book special. Every passage, every moment matters because the hero will die before his time. Definitely a very good book to read... This is one of the better books of Harold Robbins.

Joke of the Day

I encountered this while configuring my gadgets in the Google Desktop:

In the human body, which organ is in charge?

All the organs of the body were having a meeting, trying to decide who was in charge.

The brain said: "I should be in charge, because I run all the body's systems, so without me nothing would happen."

"I should be in charge," said the heart, "because I pump the blood and circulate oxygen all over the body, so without me you'd all waste away."

"I should be in charge," said the stomach, "because I process food and give all of you energy."

"I should be in charge," said the rectum, "because I'm responsible for waste removal."

All the other body parts laughed at the rectum and insulted him, so in a huff, he shut down tight. Within a few days, the brain had a terrible headache, the stomach was bloated, and the blood was toxic. Eventually the other organs gave in. They all agreed that the rectum should be the boss.

The moral of the story?

You don't have to be smart or important to be in charge... just an *sshole.

Looks like the Legend found it funny too...

Bwahahahaha.....

By the way, the Shaman has an interesting post...

Everyone has a dark side...

Sociopath

You are 85% Rational, 28% Extroverted, 71% Brutal, and 71% Arrogant. You are the Sociopath! As a result of your cold, calculating rationality, your introversion (and ability to keep quiet), your brutality, and your arrogance, you would make a very cunning serial killer. You are confident and capable of social interaction, but you prefer the silence of dead bodies to the loud, twittering nitwits you normally encounter in your daily life. You care very little for the feelings of others, possibly because you are not a very emotional person. You are also very calculating and intelligent, making you a perfect criminal mastermind. Also, you are a very arrogant person, tending to see yourself as better than others, providing you with a strong ability to perceive others as weak little animals, so tiny and small. You take great pleasure in the misery of others, and there is nothing sweeter to you than the sweet glory of using someone else's shattered failure to project yourself to success. Except sugar. That just may be sweeter. In short, your personality defect is the fact that you could easily be a sociopath, because you are calculating, unemotional, brutal, and arrogant.

To put it less negatively:

1. You are more RATIONAL than intuitive.

2. You are more INTROVERTED than extroverted.

3. You are more BRUTAL than gentle.

4. You are more ARROGANT than humble.

Compatibility:

Your exact opposite is the Hippie.

Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Spiteful Loner, the Smartass, and the Capitalist Pig.

Women's Month

Got this chart from an e-mail. Bottomline: Filipinas think themselves as beautiful most of the time (top among Asians) and Filipinos are the most generous with compliments (pinakabolero... he he he).

Kaya pala...

*bawal mag-object

Villain Am I

You are Dr. Doom

Blessed with smarts and power but burdened by vanity. Click here to take the "Which Super Villain are you?" quiz...

I am a Super Hero

I was hoping for Batman or Spiderman...

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

300 Trailer

"Madness?...This is Sparta." : Leonidas

Damn good and entertaining movie!... 2 hours of adrenaline rush... Grabe yung action scenes...
Saka talo ang Chippendale sa outfits... he he he

Wedding Expo weekend

I helped out at the Fotogra booth at the Wedding Expo in the PICC Forum last Saturday before going to Mabel's wedding. The event served as the formal introduction for Mimi and Karl's hit Clique photobooth to the wedding suppliers community. Here are some of my personal favorites:

Click the images for high-res versions

Requisite Fotogra Clique



My Nominee #1 for the Love Strip Contest


My Nominee #2 ( Go Maui!)


My Nominee #3 (Kilig moments)


My Nominee #4 (plus points for grand slam sticker presence)


Clique the City? (5-minute rehearsal)
Nominee #5


Threesome =)


Foursome Fun (Double Couple Clique..he he he)


Sister Act (medyo shy pa..he he)


Clique of the Day (sinong pinakamasaya sa Clique?)


Visit the links (Day 1, Day 2) to the Clique booth site for more pictures.

*Regular rental of the Clique photobooth goes for 15 K (plus 5K for 100 on-site prints)
** Winners of the Love Strip Contest gets to use the photobooth for free at their wedding ( 100 on-site prints and labor included) =)
*** Mimi and Karl will choose the official nominees for the Love Strip Contest. Readers of their blog will vote for the winner. My nominees are not listed in any order of preference. =)

Partied Too Hard...

I'm too old for this fun stuff... That last glass of brandy hit me hard... I'll have to remember not to drink it straight down next time. Three grown men shouldn't try to finish off a bottle of Fundador in ten minutes after they had all sorts of alcoholic drinks all night. Luckily, no one was hurt. Sorry for the damage done and many thanks to our guardian angel.



But hey, it was really fun...he he he




Now I'll try to live it down.

What the...

From Reuters:

Eternal embrace? Couple still hugging 5,000 years on

"A pair of human skeletons lie entwined at an Neolithic archaelogical dig site near Mantova, Italy, in a photo released February 6, 2007. In a Valentines Day gift to the country, scientists said they are determined to jointly remove and preserve the remains of the couple buried 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, their arms still wrapped around each other in an enduring embrace."

The Heroes Test

Mohinder Suresh You scored 41 Idealism, 41 Nonconformity, 66 Nerdiness

My father spent his life chasing after this insanity. Now I'm wasting mine trying to prove he was sane. Congratulations, you're Mohinder Suresh! You're a curious, passionate, and intelligent person. You're prone to changing your mind about the important things in life, though. You're interested in doing what you can to help people who are gifted with special abilities. Your best quality: You're a maverick intellectual Your worst quality: Your opinions can change rather quickly and suddenly

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

	You scored higher than 34% on Idealism
	You scored higher than 21% on Nonconformity
	You scored higher than 80% on Nerdiness

I was hoping na ako si SuperHiro. Puwede na rin kahit walang powers. Maliligo na lang ako parati...he he he

Guess Who?

I just found her blog while browsing. She seems smart. I learned a lot while reading her posts. I like her already. =) I give you three guesses... he he

The Fotogra Clique Posterity Shot

Just got this photo from Karl's blog. That's me with Karl, Mimi and King having fun with the Cliquebooth. Coming soon to a wedding near you.. =)

There's always time for San Mig Light

Rick was looking for someplace to hang-out with the team. Our original destination was booked for a private party. Fortunately, I remembered there's a Chili Pepper nearby. My friends and I used to eat at its branch in Bicol. The team had fun. The food was really great. Rick seemed to enjoy sampling various Pinoy pulutans. That's me trying to look serious while Rick looks happily at his ice-cold San Mig Light. Thanks to AnitoKid for this photo.

Wii Happy!

Ang saya-saya! Rick teaches us how to play Tennis on the Wii console.... I was the first one to volunteer.=) Thanks, Rick! The gesture is appreciated. By the way, that's Eric and Rick holding hands.. he he he. Credit goes to the legendary AnitoKid for the photo.

Yes, I'm back...

...to blogging and more. With more focus, I hope. Haven't had the time lately. I had knee surgery last December. Sharing my experience would've been fun but I was either too busy with work and therapy or had no access to the internet at that time.

I was able to help Mimi and Karl test their high-tech Cliquebooth last Saturday at a wedding in the Tagatay Midlands. I can tell the guests liked it a lot. The younger set had multiple runs at it. Luigi and Ria Trillo had their clique(?) taken. Rissa Samson and her friend had theirs too. Vicky Morales wanted one with her friends but the booth was already closed. Even the not-so-young seemed impressed with Karl's idea of photo-on-demand. I ran out of business cards that Mimi had given me because people were interested about the possibility of renting the photobooth for their own events. We're still working out some kinks in the hardware and materials department but I'm confident that the booth will be ready for its formal launch in the near future. Too bad i can't show you more photos at this time because they may contain proprietary information. =P

This was also the first wedding that my friend King and I were able to assist together. It was fun because it reminded me of our UPZS days. We (Mimi, King, and I) were part of the executive council then. Karl was always there to support Mimi, us and the org. We were, and still are a good team. It seemed more like a reunion gimik than a wedding gig.

The wedding itself was a new experience for me. The guest list included high-profile personalities. I was personally overwhelmed with the many beautiful ladies in attendance. I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of my (and King's) high school batchmates was present. We chatted for a while. She asked Lem for a discount. Kailan kaya?;-)

The wedding preps were well-thought of. The fireworks display after the program was amazing. Too bad it took the club management a long time to fix its power supply problems. Five black-outs during the reception were too much. We feel for the groom and bride. The venue also was too windy for comfort. Wind screens would have been a good idea. Luckily, the Cliquebooth was there to provide the fun factor... he he he.

All in all, it was a pretty good wedding. Congrats to the couple. It's good to be back.

This World is Mine

You are The Emperor

Stability, power, protection, realization; a great person.

The Emperor is the great authority figure of the Tarot, so it represents fathers, father-figures and employers. There is a lot of aggression and violence too.

The Emperor naturally follows the Empress. Like an infant, he is filled with enthuiasm, energy, aggression. He is direct, guileless and all too often irresistible. Unfortunately, like a baby he can also be a tyrant. Impatient, demanding, controlling. In the best of circumstances, he signifies the leader that everyone wants to follow, sitting on a throne that indicates the solid foundation of an Empire he created, loves and rules with intelligence and enthusiasm. But that throne can also be a trap, a responsibility that has the Emperor feeling restless, bored and discontent.

My first Royal Decree is the creation of my own Harem. Comes with the job...=) Unless the Empress disagrees..

The Second Coming

It's been a busy week. Our client arrived here in the country last Sunday morning. He trained the new hires for our department the early part of the week so we only got to meet with him yesterday morning. He updated us on the developments regarding the project at their end. It's good to know that we're on track, and that their clients were generally happy with our output. I find particularly useful the briefing he gave us about their clients' requirements. We were able to clear up some grey areas. I am confident that the team be more proactive now that we know where the project is headed.

The client seems to really like it here. He is a real trouper and would like to try anything Filipino. He's not scared of our "balut" or "tapuy". He already wants San Mig Light every lunch. He also likes to wander a lot. He went to the Baywalk alone late last night. Too bad we can't bring him to Sagada and Banahaw because of his tight schedule. He wants to listen to Filipino music. I'm almost tempted to introduce him to the "exotic"April Boy sound. He plans to go to Greenhills sometime to look for electronic bargains. Hopefully he won't get charged more than the acceptable "foreigner" premium pricing.=)

He want see more "gimik" places here but we can't think of something with distinct Filipino flavor. Suggestions?

Milenyo, Makati and Me

The typhoon Milenyo (international codename: Xangsane) wreaked havoc in Makati yesterday. People were caught unawares. When we woke up yesterday morning, my wife and I had no idea of the coming tempest. I, along with my teammates, was in the office doing the research our American client requested when the rain came. At first we took no notice of it because we're used to the freaky weather in this country. Then at about 10 .am. the strong winds howled... I looked outside the window and the rain was not even falling diagonally. It went in horizontal gusts like to the water coming of a car wash jet's nozzle. I saw a man on a bicycle being pushed backwards by the wind. Car alarms wailed. Power soon went out and the generators kicked in. Our internet connection (Globe) failed so we cannot work on our projects anymore. My wife called and asked if she can pick me up. Our team leader got the go- signal from our operations manager to leave, if the internet is still offline by lunchtime.

Dex and Ricky left around 12. My wife called a few minutes later and told me she's already waiting for me downstairs. I packed my stuff and went down. As soon I exited the double doors, I understood the gravity of the situation. The trees of the once-serene and orderly Salcedo Park were being battered by the 200kph wind. Some of the trees have fallen. Branches were torn-off. Debris and litter were flying everywhere. Corrugated iron sheets from construction sites lay strewn across the road as the storm played with them like they were paper.

Some of my things fell as I neared the car so I had to scramble and pick them up.
I fastened my seat belt as soon as I got in the car. The car was rocking to and fro. Visibility was limited to a few feet. The rain battered the car continuously. Every meter was a battle. We looked for a way out. The traffic signs were not working. The MAPSA officers, who are usually there when not needed nor wanted, could have restored some semblance of order but none were available. Sayang lang yung mga kotong... It was anarchy. A taxi driver cut us off while we were trying to change lanes. A second later a falling tree hit his car's trunk. Our lane was not moving. We took a shortcut near Urdaneta village towards Ayala Ave. We reached EDSA. Billboard structures were swaying and could fall any moment. We passed by a house in an exclusive subdivision whose thick perimeter wall had collapsed towards EDSA. We took the right turn at Kalayaan flyover towards the Fort. Once we had reached the Shell gasoline station, we experienced the full fury of the storm. There were few buildings that could act as wind barriers because most projects were still under construction. A heavysignboard from a commercial area flattened two parked cars. It seems no one was inside the cars.

We decided to take refuge at the nearby Market! Market! Mall. Debris were coming at us as we crawled towards the covered parking lot. As we entered the building, the wind had increased in intensity. The car shuddered every gust. The tires were slipping against the pavement. We were able to park in the second level. We held on tight to the railings as we crossed the slippery walkway that leads towards the mall. Three men were stationed at the double doors to keep them closed against the wind. Yellow Cab and Oody's were the only establishments open. Many people took sanctuary in the Mall. We sat on the floor near the G2000 store and read the books we brought from the car. The storm passed hours later. We arrived home around 4:30 pm. We have no electricity and water until now.

We thank God for keeping us safe.

Here are some links about the storm:
Click here for pictures
Click here for Dexter's personal account