Over at RingTV.com, boxing writer, commentator, and boxing correspondent Ted Lerner has written an interesting three-part story on Manny Pacquiao's preparations for his upcoming fight versus Antonio Margarito this coming November 13.
Lerner is in Baguio City (as of the article's 3rd part) where he is one of the dozens of boxing scribes covering Pacquiao as the Filipino boxing icon works on his goal for an 8th division win.
The first part of Lerner's story deals with Pacquiao, head coach Freddie Roach, strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez, and the rest of the Team Pacquiao posse starting camp initially in Metro Manila before moving on to Baguio. The second focuses on Ariza's role in the triumvirate that includes himself, Pacquiao and Roach and the success that the formula old school (Pacquiao) + old school (Roach) + new school (Ariza) has brought the trio. The third part of the series then focuses on multi-tasking Pacquiao and the seemingly unending energy he has to do lots of stuff -- that despite being in rigorous training, he is still indirectly doing his duties as a congressman, and still very much a father to his daughter, and doing wacky stuff like getting hooked on Plants and Zombies.
Interesting read even if you're not a boxing fanatic. For your benefit, here are the articles from Lerner and RingTV.com:
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I found my new phone. Take note, found. I've yet to buy it.
While doing the rounds of the tech-shops at SM Megamall's Cyber Zone last weekend, I drifted over to the Samsung shop to drool over the Galaxy S -- as previously blogged, a prospect phone -- which I know I will no longer buy because of a) the steep price, and, b) because it wasn't comfortable to handle for me. But right beside the Galaxy S, unbeknownst to me all this time (all this time I've been looking at Nokia and Sony Ericsson smartphones) was the little brother of the Galaxy S -- the Galaxy 5!
Little brother because of its size (which I can palm perfectly) but definitely not lacking the punch as this Android-powered smartphone boasts of features that can be seen in the otherwise larger Galaxy S. With such features and at a price range of somewhere between P10,290 and P11,400 (I canvassed the mobile phone shops for the best price) the Galaxy 5 bowled me over and instantly became my prospect phone.
Let's look at the tech-specs:
- Android Eclair (upgradeable to Froyo) -- woohoo over 100,000 possible apps from the Android Marketplace (that's what the advertising says!)
- Internet: HSDPA 7.2mbps / HSUPA 5.76mbps plus WiFi
- EDGE / GPRS
- Display is a crystal clear and brilliantly bright HVGA AMOLED at 3.2"
- Multimedia: 2 megapixel camera, video (MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV), audio (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, RA), FM radio
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, MicroUSB
- Storage: can use an mobile memory card (forgot which one) up to 16GB
And since it's running on Android, it comes packed with all the necessary Google apps and services including Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Search. With the GPRS and Google Maps, here's to hoping one doesn't get lost anymore. And I can just imagine the tons of books I will be able to carry -- electronically, that is -- when I go out of town (and probably I can even download comics for mobile with it).
Aside from the geeky stuff, the comfort factor is a plus. If the Samsung i9000 Galaxy S had been smaller, I still would consider it even with the tag price it had. However, it was too bulky for my rather dainty hand. The Samsung i7500 Galaxy 5 however was a perfect fit! It handles like my recently-deceased Nokia 6680 and now all that I would have to adopt to is the use of touch screen technology.
With the following factors -- comfort and ease of use, superior tech-specs, and of course, the reasonable price for a smartphone -- the Samsung Galaxy 5 is a no-brainer as my next phone.
I just hope there's still stocks left when I finally purchase it. Maybe next month. Maybe December.
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While we're at it talking tech ... another prospect to purchase for me and my wife is a netbook. Why?
For mobile computing and browsing, of course (but if I get the Galaxy 5, I won't really need a netbook if only to browse, right?).
And among the netbooks currently out in the market, I'm looking hard at getting us a Gateway -- the AMD-powered one that comes with ATi Radeon graphics card. That's serious computing power for a netbook -- you might be even to play serious games with that (Cafe World and Baking Life excluded, thank you).
And at around P19,000 - P24,000, the price is just right -- a steal even because you're getting one heck of a machine.
Hay, I really need to get those sidelines running if I'm ever to purchase the Gateway (and the Galaxy 5)!
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Hollywood will soon be re-booting Spiderman (again) but another comic-book hero is also set for another re-boot. Not the Hulk, but the big, blue cheese himself -- Superman.
I know that isn't new news but what's new is that reports on the 'net have revealed that producers of the upcoming Superman re-boot, Christopher Nolan (of Batman Begins / Dark Knight and Inception fame) and David Goyer (screenplays of the Batman films as well as the new Superman film), have chosen Zack Snyder to helm the film.
Comic-book-turned-into-movies buffs will recall Snyder as the director of the film version of cult comic classic Watchmen as well as the graphically-graphic retelling of the Spartan's last stand against Persian invaders in 300. Yahoo Movies has a report on Snyder being chosen to direct the new Supes flick as well as an analysis on why Superman is a difficult comic-book character to portray on film.
Re-boots have become sort of the norm, especially when a film touted to do well in the box office bombs out. In other cases, even if the film does well with tickets, the big bosses still insist on rebooting the franchise (case-in-point: Spiderman -- Tobey Maguire is out as Spidey and a new Spidey/Peter Parker in the person of Andrew Garfield is set to step onto the characters webbings in a planned reboot -- how many ways can a film show a radio-active spider bite a geeky teenage photographer that turns him into a web-slinging superhero?). In the case of the recent Superman Returns which starred Brandon Routh, film execs at Warner and Legendary Pictures pointed out that while the film generally received positive reviews, it was a "disappointment" in the box office as it only earned roughly US$391 million worldwide -- expected returns from the film was at US$500 million. This caused Superman Returns director Bryan Singer to react "I don't know what constitutes under-performing these days."
Well, Singer is off the project and now the trio of Nolan-Goyer-Snyder have the gargantuan task of making sure the next Supes flick grosses (overgrosses more preferable by the studio execs for sure) while at the same time delivering something worth one's while. As I understand it, execs want more action in the next Superman re-boot to cash in on the aggressive hormones of a young male movie-going audience but with Nolan around, let's hope it'll indeed be something worth all our whiles.
And oh, I liked Superman Returns.
While it was not as action-overlaid as say X-Men or Spiderman or as dark and gritty as Nolan's Batman flicks, the storytelling was well-done and the balance of action and drama (in the vein of Christopher Reeve's Superman series) was good. Like many critics, I felt Kate Bosworth was not Lois Lane but Kevin Spacey was great as Lex Luthor. Routh's acting was good ... not perfect, but good enough for the film (there's not much acting to be done once you don the Superman costume -- that's like being a god but his Clark Kent portrayal pays homage to the bumbling Reeve characterization of Supes' alter ego). It would be good to see him return to the role which he says he would be happy to play again.
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This entry was written over two days, in spurts, in between work at the Desk :)
