Guess Who Is Back in Town?

Welcome to the Coffee House Chronicles.

I've never really left. 

It's just that it has been a very long, long while since I last posted here and to be frank about it, thoughts of shutting down this blog have entered my mind. In the end though, I elected to leave this space in cyber be for just a wee longer until I get into that state of mind where I would have the drive to write again.

My last post in the CHC was a day and a year ago and it was a review of a book. Thereafter, I've been re-miss in the upkeep of this site but as friends and acquaintances would know, I've been keeping myself somewhat visible on Facebook but never too engrossed that I find myself refreshing my FB timeline every 10 seconds.

I've kept myself busy with family and work, of course. And the move to our new place last year took also quite a bit of my time what with adjusting and all to the new environment. 

On those times that I've found some little time for myself, I've managed to read a few genre books and I've rediscovered my love for comics -- actual, physical, tangible comics -- thanks to Facebook where I was able to find individuals of the same interest. 

I've started to rebuild somewhat my comic collection from the 1980's which numbered roughly about 50 or so pieces of variously titled one-shots but I've found myself now to be in possession of over 300 pieces of comics. Many of these, I've not even read yet (like many books in my disheveled shelf that have yet to be crackled open).

I've also developed a fondness for the genre TV series, many of which are of good production value. There's been a massive explosion of genre shows on the small screen on the other side of the globe and thanks to the internet, we're hearing of them even though they're not being shown locally (well, many are shown on the local cable, truth to be told). 

While I haven't really dived yet into the Game of Thrones fever (read the first four books already though, A Dance of Dragons remains TBR), I've already finished binge-watching Doctor Who starting from the 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), 10th Doctor (David Tennant), and partially, the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith, still haven't quite gotten to Series 6 yet). I've already finished the 12th Doctor's first run so you could say,I'm pretty up to date with space and time-traveling Gallifreyan.

BBC's Sherlock TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch as PI Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson is another winner in my books and I've also managed to finish all 5 seasons of weird sci-fi series Fringe which is probably one of the best TV series I've ever watched. 

Other TV series that I've grown to love and look forward to the past several years include Falling Skies (on its final season this year), Arrow, Continuum (starring the lovely Rachel Nichols aka Scarlet on the GI Joe movie franchise), Penny Dreadful, Person of Interest, and Warehouse 13. Other recent favorites are Gotham, The Flash, and 12 Monkeys. 

So, you could say I've been keeping myself quite busy and this a reason why I haven't written one post for an entire year.

Let's try to change that this time around as I'll try to post something here every now and then. Something funny, something serious. There'll be genre, of course -- there's no avoiding that but we'll try to keep that to a minimum. I'd like to be able to do reviews though -- movies and TV series I've watched, books and comics, I've read, places I've been to -- as that would add variety to our Monday Mumblings, Tuesday Tidbits, Wednesday Warbles, Thursday Tattles, Friday Frolicks, and to our Weekend Whims.

Stay tuned, folks. 

wednesday warbles: initial thoughts on a.g.o.t., religious stuff with ikai, toxic at the desk, 200

Still breathing, folks :)

Over the course of the last two weeks, my to-do list at the Desk has ballooned from 20-plus to over 35 items late last week. Today, Wednesday, I have managed to trim it down to 25 ... so far ... but the deadlines are on the hound. 

However, before I go insane though, I decided to take a break and write a few warbles (it's a Wednesday, after all) and to let you know that I'm still here, alive and kicking (and getting a caffeine fix to get the gray matter going).

* * * *

Initial thoughts on George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones?

I'm only on page 184 of the mass market paperback edition but at this early in the reading, I could say that the plot (and plots and sub-plots and counter-plots) is already beginning to thicken. We're already beginning to see the pieces of the entire machinery of the series starting to move and it could only get more complex (and complexer) as the series progresses. We're getting hints of motives and motivations, of the politics and intricacies of ruleship that define the reign of King Robert Baratheon, of the incoming conflict that would result in the power struggle all amidst the drapery of an incoming winter spell.

Brilliant! Brilliantly written and that GRRM is one heck of a writer. I do hope the rest of the series doesn't disappoint. But judging from the praise the series has received all over (resulting to a TV adaptation), there's little to doubt that the series will disappoint. 

After reading the opening chapters, I definitely need to get my hands on the next set of books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series to avoid the "bitin" syndrome.

* * * * 

How do you explain religious differences toa 4-year old?

I was posed this question earlier this morning by my daughter. Apparently, one of the assignments given by their teacher is that all students should bring a rosary everyday (Ikai goes to St. Paul's College - Makati, even if she is Protestant-christened). And being the 4-year old she is, she has said that she has to bring a rosary because all her classmates were bringing theirs.

I told her that she doesn't need to bring a rosary because she was not Catholic.

"What is Catholic, Papa?"

Uh-oh, cornered. 

After a few seconds of thinking about the best way to answer a 4-year old, I sat beside her and proceeded to explain religious schism. I told her that all people prayed and believed in only One God. That everyone believed in Jesus as well. However, I told Ikai that not all people prayed and believed in God and Jesus in the same way. There are groups of people who are called Catholics who pray to God in one way and then there are others called Protestant who pray to God another way. It just so happened that she goes to a Catholic school even though she is a Protestant.

I told her that she doesn't have to follow how her classmates pray to God but that there's no harm if she wants to follow as well.

A bit too much to digest but I think Ikai understood. She's a bright little girl after all.

But to comfort her, I got her diary and scrawled a note to her teacher asking if Ikai, being a Protestant, needs to bring a rosary as well. I told Ikai she has to show her diary to her teacher and that her teacher will answer. If however my daughter still wants a rosary (it's hard to feel different from the rest of your classmates, of course -- she's only 4 after all), we agreed that she will ask her grandparents (my parents, of course) for a rosary.

"May rosary naman sila Lolo Ely sa car, di ba?"

I think someone little is being too tad observant and has one heck of a memory :)

* * * *

Walking along the same lines, I think our daughter is having a bit of crisis of faith, in her own way of course. And that's probably partly our fault as we enrolled her in an all-Catholic school.

As it is unavoidable, Catholic students do Catholic things -- pray specificied prayers and do the sign of the cross. They're even taught that. Ikai of course, wasn't taught those things. Even in Sunday School at the UCCP Cosmopolitan Church, there were no set prayers or sign of the crosses. They pray, they sing praises, they do Christian stuff -- the Protestant way.


So, it's a bit confusing for her right now so I guess that's why the talk about Catholics and Protestants this morning might help.

I just thought about this a few secs back because I remember when I accompanied Ikai on her school field trip last month, before the bus left, her teacher led the prayer -- "In the Name of the Father, the Son ..." and I espied Ikai minutely doing the sign of the cross, taking care that I didn't see her making the Catholic prayer gesture. But the small movements caught my attention and she looked sheepishly at me, embarassed at being caught as if doing something wrong. 

I smiled at her and told her it was alright if she wanted to do the sign of the cross. No harm done. None offense taken. 

* * * *

I saw my weighing scale this morning after I got out of the shower. So, I said to myself, let's see if all the calorie-counting I've been doing the past several weeks has been helping.

I adjusted the knob so that the needles points exactly to "0", stepped on the scale and voila -- 200lbs?! I can't farkin believe it. So, I get off again and on again and the needle still points to 200. 

So, I step off again and for the third time step on the scale and this time the needle went 202 lbs. Repeated attempts resulted to 202-ish marks. That settled it.

Still an improvement from my 206 lbs. a month ago. I need to rev up the walking regimen and keep on calorie counting.

* * * *

Right, time to get back to work now. Ciao!

monday mumblings: iloilo trip -- batchoy, brian, and coffee; comics on the reading list

I've not been reading any books of late because I've been rather hooked to reading (backtracking) on the events in DC comics. Right now I'm working on getting through the pre-Infinite Crisis series of books. As can be seen on the right side of this blog, I'm currently reading The Return of Donna Troy, one of the books that tie-in to the whole Infinite Crisis and after this 4-issuer, I'll get on to Villains United before I finally read Infinite Crisis proper and the ensuing 52 (and 52 Aftermath).

When I'm done with 52, I'll be proceeding to Final Crisis.


The unfortunate victim of my sudden turnaround to comics is A Game of Thrones which continues to be unread despite having traveled with me to Iloilo and Roxas City last week.

* * * *

Desk-work brought me back to Iloilo City last Wednesday.

My last visit to the place was I think late 2004 when I went there with the then RP National Basketball team coached by Boycie Zamar and bankrolled by Cebuana Lhuillier, my former desk. We were in Iloilo for the "Try-Outs ng Bayan" along with then the young national players of which I remember only Dennis Madrid, Celino Cruz, Marc Pingris, and Cyrus Baguio.

Last week, work again found me in Iloilo albeit for a quick stay (unlike the 2004 stay which was, if I remember correctly, 5 days). I had to visit our Iloilo branch and see what improvements can be done on the marketing-advertising side. I planed into the city on the noon-time PAL flight and was at the branch by 2:30pm. After an hour and a half and a dozen or so photos of the branch, I then had to kill time before meeting up with my pal, Brian, later that evening.

So, I undertook a mission I had promised to do -- sample the local coffee shops.

I was aiming to sample at least a couple of coffee shops but due to time constraint and the fact that the night plans changed abruptly, I was only able to check out Coffeebreak.

Near the Desk's branch was a branch of Coffeebreak which I promptly went to for a late lunch (I had just realized that I hadn't had a proper lunch as the flight was right smack in the middle of lunch-time).

Hazelnut coffee with passion "brownie"

I ordered their brew-of-the-week which was Hazelnut and also ordered a pastry which CB called Passion.

Passion is a moist choco-cake slice that is more brownie than cake with a choco-layer in between and almonds (or were those walnuts?) on top.

I'm not much a connoisseur of coffee but the CB brew was quite good and brownie was filling. Since I only had enough room for one coffee-type, I didn't have the chance to sample their iced or frapp coffee versions. Next time probably.

Aside from the great coffee and brownie was the free wi-fi at CB. 

Access to wi-fi granted!

I finally got the chance to test out the wi-fi capabilities of the PSP I brought along and after finally getting it configured, I simply asked the barista for wi-fi access and in minutes I was happily surfing away.

Using the PSP to connect to the internet shows one that not all websites have been configured to work on all mobile devices. Maybe the sites would work well on most tablets and smartphones but websites like Yahoo and even this blog did not display properly on the PSP screen. I could not even access the CMS of Blogger.com which made on-site blogging impossible. Fortunately, the mobile website versions of Twitter and FB worked well. Maybe I just need to install another internet OS on the PSP or upgrade it.

Just like any other coffeeshop, Coffeebreak's counter was easy to understand although they were more colorful than your usual green, brown, mocha variant shops.

Aside from passion, there were a lot other pastries and sweet stuff to chose from. Unfortunately, I wasn't there for a sugar-load. The other delicacies will just have to be tested on another occasion.

* * * *

It's always good to see Brian. 

Brian relocated to Iloilo several years back, got married, had kids, and has settled in his home province for good. So, it's quite seldom that we see each other, the last time being on the sad occasion of our friend's death.

Despite my trip to Iloilo being just a one-nighter, I still checked up on him and we agreed to meet later in the evening. He picked me up from my hotel around 9:30pm.

Deciding that coffee was the last thing on his mind that evening, we went instead to a small watering hole just off Loney Bridge (I think) for two bottles. While the videoke was blaring with tunes sung by the other patrons of the bar, we talked about life, careers, future plans, diabetes cares, and other stuff including reminiscing old times. 

After the two bottles and a song each, Brian proceeded to give me a tour of the city. I was surprised that at before 11pm, Iloilo was already relatively quiet, not unlike Cebu which at midnight was still roaring with life.

See you on my next vist, bro.

* * * *

The next day, I got up early, had breakfast at the hotel's resto, packed up my stuff and headed to the bus station for the trip to Roxas City which I'll chronicle on a next post.

* * * *

Everyone knows that Iloilo is famous for La Paz Batchoy. And when it comes to batchoy, the name Ted's easily comes to mind.

Deco's La Paz Batchoy

So, I evaded Ted's even though it was just around the corner and instead tried the La Paz batchoy at Deco's.

I ordered their special which promised a whole lot of extra stuff that would turn-off my doctor. This was dinner, some 30 minutes after I just had my mid-PM/late lunch at Coffeebreak. 

Along with the batchoy, I ordered four pieces of pre-war pandesal. The digit-sized pandesals were more interesting than the batchoy, sadly. These pandesals were bite-sized and were packed. You could use them as pamato if they were flatter. Despite their diminutive size, they were surprisingly filling. And they were baked well -- firm, packed, solid, yet easy to munch on. More like soft biscuits only thicker.

Going back to the batchoy ...

If my tastebuds remain accurate, the batchoy at Ted's was tastier. Although both stores used the same ingredients and are cooked the same, it all boils down to the sabaw or the broth. Ted's sabaw was the more superior one IMHO.

friday frolics: issa's words, a game of thrones, coloring a 3rd world astronaut

Whew!

Tired. But otherwise happy.

Work has caught up with me hence the non-presence in this space on the ole web since Tuesday last week. When I get home, rather than go online, I'd much rather play around with my daughters or rest. I've also not been reading anything as my mind, I think, is not ready for any heavy thinking after a full day's brain-wracking at the Desk.

I've also been spending my after-office hours doing school work with Ikai. Last week, it was doing her assignments. This week, it has been reviewing for her long tests which happened yesterday and today would be the second day of the long tests. These times, for me, are far more special than logging on and finding out the latest that Facebook vendors have to offer.

So, I missed some messages and missed greeting people on their birthdays. My apologies. I was attending to important stuff.

In addition to work, I've also been busy with The Gaming Daily with updates. It seems that while the traffic numbers aren't all that impressive, the simple news blog is getting the attention of people and companies with an affinity with gambling. I'm not endorsing gambling, mind you. I myself, I don't gamble -- err, except for the occasional lotto -- but I don't have anything against people who gamble responsibly. Much like people who smoke, for me, gambling is a choice. I mean, for something like four years I was working in the gambling industry but I never got hooked to it.

Just don't overdo it -- compromising money that's meant for something needed like food, or to pay the tuition fee of your kid at school, or to pay the rent. That's bad form and if I were the owner of the gambling establishment and I learn that you're gambling compromised money, I'm going to haul you and kick your butt out of the place (or cut you off your account, if you're online).

So, my apologies for the delay to the select few who find their way here every now and then.

Let's move on then ...

* * * *

Our little Issa is talkative. However, of the several seconds of conversation, you'll only understand a few words out of it. But heck, it's fun "talking" to Issa because when she talks to you, she calls your attention with a firm "Papa" and then babble away for the next few seconds. She then stops and expects you to reply. Usually a "Yes" or an "Oo" or a nod would be enough, and she would smile.

It's like harkening back to Ikai when she was the same age and just about learning to talk.

Issa's vocabulary consists of just a few words but they're enough to get your attention including:

• Bye-bye, ________! (accompanied by a hand waving)

• Avoo -- shortened "I love you" which was also something Ikai used to say during her baby babble days

• Too -- what she says when she wants water. If you don't give her water in the next minute, you'll hear her say "Too-beeg"

• "Wize" -- she can't pronounce "R's" yet so that's "rice" for you

• Mik -- she's also missing her "L's" sometimes so, just add "L" between "I" and "K" and you'll know what she needs

• Juice -- yes, she says this clearly

• Na-nak -- that's knock-knock for you

• Mm-pohn - cellphone

• 'Ello - she's also missing her "H's"

• Ballow -- ehems, that's borrow

• Aiku -- not a Japanese term but rather "Ayoko"

• No! - sadly, Issa says this word a lot and with force at that

• Bas -- what she says when she wants to go outside

• Ba-ba, Ba-ba ______ -- when she wants to go down or she wants someone to go down

• Kayt -- when she wants to go up to the bedroom

• Piss -- usually accompanied with an index finger pointing at the fish on the table

• Wight -- not the monster, but "light"

These are just a handful of her small but progressively increasing vocabulary. There's tell-tale signs that like her Ate Ikai, she'll be a talkative one.

Unfortunately, she doesn't call her sister "Ate Ikai" but only Ikai. Ask her to emulate you to say "Ate" she will just say "Ikai". Hopefully, she'll later on learn how to do so. But her Mama and Papa, and Lola and Lolo are already clear. Most especially her "Auntie" which little Issa says with much "lambing" -- a testimony to her love of my sis-in-law who's in all aspects her true yaya.

* * * *

I've been ridiculously addicted to Diamond Twister, a Samsung-app-game that I play on my wife's Samsung Wave 525 phone. Think Bejeweled and that's the basic premise of the game. Never mind that there's a story and other challenges (find the stone or the gem, or race against the time to earn the needed cash objective, or race against time to accumulate the number of gems needed). The basic is that you've got to line up three gems or more of the same kind vertically or horizontally (no diagonals) and watch mayhem unfold. There are boosts as well, which I guess is the reason why this game isn't called Bejewelled.

When I get my own smart phone, I'm sure I'll be buying this game-app as well. For only Php 60, it's worth it given that you'll be wasting hours on this nifty little game.

* * * *

The ridiculously popular Angry Birds game is now available as well on the Bada network. Previously only available for Android, Windows, and OVI, it's good to know that the game has now been ported to the exclusive Samsung network. What's best about it is that AB is free to download and install.

Unfortunately, there's a problem with Elvie's Wave 525 in that it's not connecting to wi-fi hence it has been disconnected for quite some time now.

A visit to ElectroWorld in Greenbelt yesterday wasn't helpful as the lady attendant who tried to help us fix the problem, well, only ended up trying to fix it. She said it would be best to bring the unit over to a Samsung service center as trying to rectify the problem with internet connection was beyond her powers.

Apparently, Samsung phones running on Bada system are encountering the problem. She however assured me (because she knew I was planning to buy one) that the Samsung phones running on the Android OS encountered no such problems.

We asked for Samsung's Makati service center address and contact numbers and hopefully one of these days, Elvie's 525 will be back to tip-top shape.

* * * *

While the rest of the genre-world awaited the sale of George R.R. Martin's fifth volume in the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy epic, A Dance of Dragon, I have the miserable luck of not being able to secure a copy of the first volume -- A Game of Thrones -- from my usual book haunts.

Hopefully this weekend, I will get a chance to go around the bookshops and find me a copy so I could get in on the action as I've read many raves and praises about this series. With an HBO series propelling the series' popularity further, I've no further reason to delay immersing myself in this new medieval world.

If I do score a copy this weekend, that could mean Kevin J. Anderson's The Edge of the World would have to wait for a bit before its plastic cover gets unwrapped.

* * * *

As is the case, a lot of personal projects are still wallowing in the pits.

But in between work, when I want to de-stress, I've been doing some practice coloring on Photoshop.

It's slow progress as this is the first time I'm doing this on PS (before, I practiced crudely on CorelDraw before the Compaq rig conked out).

I sketched the image freehand using a Mongol No.2 pencil on a half-bond sized sketch pad (always have one on my bag, never know when inspiration strikes). I then proceeded to ink over my pencils using a Uni Pin Fine Line drawing pen with 0.2 tip. Then, using an old-fashion eraser, erased my pencil drawing.

I then had the image scanned at 300 dpi.

Opening up the image on Photoshop, I proceeded to color the image bit by bit.

Since I didn't have a drawing tablet, I had to do it old-school using the Pen tool. Starting with the head and moving down the body parts, the steps I followed included:

1) Creating the shape of the area using the Pen and Convert Point tools.

2) Color the created shape black as this serves as the background / outline.

3) Duplicate the created shape and fill it with another color.

4) Then scale it a bit so that it's smaller than the original shape.

5) Then selecting both the original and copied layer, align them centrally so that the black background forms the outline of the shape (reminiscent of how other draw on CorelDraw).

I created folders for each body part so that it's easy managing the many layers.

Now, you'll think. If I was coloring it on PS then I could've avoided one step in the process by not inking it. Well, I wasn't thinking about coloring it when I first drew the image. It was just meant to be something on the sketch pad and to add some permanency to it, I decided to ink it. It was only after I liked the results that I thought of coloring it. So, yes, inking would've been pointless but then again, it was good exercise as well.

In any case, the image on the left is what I've finished so far -- the flat colors. What will happen next would be to add a little more detail on the arms, chest, groin, and legs. As can be gleaned from the original sketch, there are little bits and stuff that is missing on the image on the left -- the image that will make this "3rd World Astronaut" more steampunkish which is my aim in the final render.

What prompted me to work on this?

I was reading Mervin Malonzo's webcomic Tabi Po last Monday when I chanced upon his "Laktaw" (skip) page where he detailed the process by which he comes up with each page of his comics. The process was straightforward that I was enticed to follow the steps myself. Good fortune that I had just finished sketching the image of the Pinoy steampunk astronaut that day and it came in handy when I got the urge to try and do some PS coloring.

Inspiration credit also goes to FreakAngel's Paul Duffield who in their skip week also discussed how he interfaced with his colorists for the FA's pages. It was Duffield who wedged the idea in my head but it was Malonzo who nudged me to action.

* * * *

Happy weekend, folks!

lingering in lingayen photos

I'm not much of a photo-taker, I admit. Sometimes I forget to take pictures and sometimes I tend to get shy. Unlike others who have no qualms about snapping a few clicks here and there, I have reservations about taking pictures especially when there are other people around.

In any case, here are some photos I did take during my latest sojourn in Lingayen.

Some stalls at the trade exposition including the stall that sold the popular "puto-Calasiao".

One of the stalls hawking a beach resort in Pangasinan.

A good chunk of the trade expo was devoted to furniture-makers who came from different parts of Pangasinan. Apparently, furniture-making is big business among Pangasinanense businessmen.

Several stalls sold sweets from all across Pangasinan including panutsa, polvoron, banana chips, ube halaya, chichacorn, and others.

That's me, rightmost in our booth with two of our Lingayen branch staff. It was freakin' hot in Pangasinan.

One place that was cool was the convention center which featured an exhibition of photographs, sculptures, and paintings by Pangasinense artists. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the names of the artists who did the following artworks which I'm posting here.

Steampunk inspired? A sculpture composed of metal and wood.

Water-color painting which caught my attention. If I recall correctly this is water-themed or something. The colors were more vivid in real-life.

That's obviously Lisa Simpson on the right, right?

A mixed media artwork which was getting much attention from onlookers, yours truly included.

The vivid colors of this guitar-themed painting was a delight to look at.

A impressionist (?) kalesa painting, one of several impressionist paintings exhibited in the center.

I'm sure this won't be the last time I'll be visiting Lingayen, and Pangasinan, in general. Maybe next time I'll be taking more meaningful photos.

monday mumblings: frustrations at work, jetpack, walk-xercise, unread books, job opening

How long does it take to upload a website page if the website has been existent for eons and the page in question is a mere 23kb? In my experience, no longer than 5 minutes. So, why does it take more than 3 days for people here at the Desk to do it? Up until this writing, the page in question is still not updated. To top it all of, I had to fill in a request form and email the persons concerned but it still this doesn't get done.

I hate to compare but in my previous gig, I was in-charge of updating the websites and when we needed to update a page or an entire website even it didn't take more than an hour to do so. And we did it with less paperwork at that -- helps save the trees even. But here at the Desk, it's a different story altogether and I don't know if the paperwork -- the actual and the virtual -- really works or if they are just exercises in futility.

This is just frustrating. That's why my website project at the Desk isn't taking off.

* * * *

A quick cyber surf yields an interesting bit of news straight out of science-fiction: jetpacks are coming!

Over at Digital-Trends, Ryan Fleming reports that jetpacks may soon be heading out of the sci-fi books and comics and onto consumers' backs as aviation company Martin Aircraft looks to make jetpacks commercially available.

The Martin jetpack doesn't look like the jetpack used in Rocketeer or the one used by Adam Strange of Rann or even Flash Gordon which are all sized as big as your average backpack. The one being developed by Martin looks more like one that Ace McCloud of Centurions fame might don (weighs at least 250 lbs). But heck, it's a jetpack and a working one at that. However, it won't be readily available to the average consumer yet as it's quite pricey at US$100,000 but for sure, as technology advances, this jumbo jetpack will eventually be scaled down to manageable size and the price will surely drop.

Here's an excerpt from Fleming's story:

"Currently Martin Aircraft Company is fulfilling an order for 500 jetpacks to be used by emergency services, as well as four unnamed defense companies. As of right now, the company's focus is to produce jetpacks specifically for governmental purchase, but they are seeking funding to build at least one new factory with the purpose of producing jetpacks for the average (extremely rich) customer.

The Martin jetpack comes in two models. One is pretty much what you would expect a jetpack to be- it is a device that can carry a person to infinity and beyond, assuming that infinity is less than the 8000 feet ceiling or the 31.5 miles distance that travelling at the maximum regulated speed of 63mph will take you. With a full tank of gas, that would last roughly 30 minutes, although Martin Aircraft expects that to improve as the manufacturing process becomes more efficient.

The jetpack operates the way you would imagine it. You strap it on, you fly. The principals aren't all that difficult to comprehend. That might be a little bit of an oversimplification, and possibly a touch insulting to the extremely bright and dedicated engineers that have spent years working on the project, but really, how much convincing do you need that a jetpack is a good thing? You put it on, and suddenly you can fly. Everything else is details.

If you are one of "those" people that absolutely needs to know the specs on the combustion engine that you might one day soon be strapping to your back, the Martin jetpack uses a gasoline powered V4, 2.0 liter engine capable of producing 200 hp. In fact, the name "jetpack" is actually a bit of a misnomer, as there is not jet involved. But "Enginepack" just isn't as sexy. It is a carbon fiber design that weighs around 250lbs before adding safety equipment, and at maximum thrust it can carry more than 600 lbs, so even the bulky NFL player that just signed a multi-million dollar contract extension can get in on the action. Can you honestly see Terrell Owens NOT buying one of these?

The standard equipment for the jetpack is slightly unique. While Ferrari might give you a hat or a lovely keychain when you purchase one of their products, they probably do not include a flight and engine display, a harness, a retractable undercarriage that absorbs energy, or a ballistic parachute. All of which come standard with the Martin Jetpack."

Head on over to Digital Trends to read the entire story or click here.

Photo is a copyright of Martin Aircraft. All rights remain with them.

* * * *

Just had pre-lunch or mid-morning snack (depends on your POV) of home-made tuna sandwich. Breakfast was a mango donut (300 calories!) and a cup of hot choco. I also had 7-11 Vanilla Cupcake gourmet vendo coffee which will probably up my current calories to somewhere around 1,000 and I have a 300 calorie lunch coming up. That leaves around 700 calories for meryenda and dinner as I'm trying to ensure I don't go over 2,000 calories a day.

There are days, of course, that it can't be helped but generally, I've been able to keep myself at below 200 lbs. Credit that to all the walking I've been doing at every possible opportunity. Having a car helps with mobility surely but it has reduced the amount of time I used to allocate to walk-xercises. These days, I try to find time to do this so as to make sure I get enough activity to burn off the fat and the excess sugars.

UPDATE: Just had lunch -- leftover menudo from last night with rice and a banana. Like I said, 300 calories roughly for lunch. Now, need to walk downstairs at least 10 times to lose this!

* * * *

One book that I would like to read (as in read) is Neal Stephenson's Anathem -- unfortunately, I find it hard to get going. I'm still at the opening pages and the book has yet to enthrall me so that I'll keep on reading. It's probably because it's a heavy book -- heavy, meaning you've got to be ready mentally to absorb and think and process and analyze what the book is all about. After 9 or so hours of daily grind, I don't think I have energy left to tackle a book demanding such.

Hence, for easy readings after a hard day's work at the Desk, I'm re-reading Butch Dalisay's Barfly -- a collection of columns that appeared in the defunct Today broadsheet (Today has since merged with Manila Standard) written by Palanca Hall of Famer Jose Dalisay who incidentally was my professor in the basic Creative Writing course I took up as an elective during my junior year in Peyups.

I'm not yet in that state of mind where I'll appreciate a complex storyline from a spec-fic book so aside Barfly, I'm also re-reading Lester Wunderman's Being Direct, which from previous posts I'm sure I said is a source of inspiration for my chosen career path.

And oh yes, I've mentioned I've been reading a lot of comic books of late as well.

When I have the time and the right state of mind, that's when I'll be able to tackle Stephenson's Anathem and other books that still are waiting to be unwrapped like the anthology Extraordinary Engines, The Difference Engine, and Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors short fiction. I'm sure there are other unread books still waiting to see the light out there in my bookcase and I'm sure I'll continue to add more and more books because -- I don't do drugs but books drug me :P

* * * *

Work is piling up at the Desk. I need help.

We're looking for an Ad & Promo Assistant, preferably with at least a year's experience in either of the following: advertising, marketing, or corporate communications.

The biggest factor is that the person we will hire should be able to write and write well. We're talking about someone who can write ad copy for brochures, flyers, and streamers; and come up with a script or a spiel. He/She should also be able to write news and feature stories as he/she will be an integral part of the company newsletter. Oh, if he/she has web copy experience that would be a plus.

How old? Preferably younger than me as he/she will have the unfortunate luck of being under my auspices. Don't worry. I'm no hard taskmaster but I do expect results to be delivered!

Interested parties may get in touch with me via my Desk email rlragandan(at)veteransbank.com.ph. Be prepared to showcase your writing portfolio and be prepared to take a writing exam to test your skills!

friday frolicks part 2: missing old work, lunch affair, wala lang, galaxy

The current project I'm working on, a recruitment eDM for the Desk's Human Resources Department, has made me realize again how I miss the the faster pace of things over at the online marketing arena. The Desk is not one of those who gamely tries out new media. It's still very much brick-and-mortar like its core business. So, it goes for mostly the tried-and-test means of marketing: print ads, radio ads, streamers, flyers, etc.

Good thing I'm working on PinoyHomes4You.com which hopefully will keep me in practice so that my online marketing skills won't be tarnished.

* * * *

Lunch was a three-viand affair: 1.5 pieces of dinaing na galunggong, a cup of pinakbet (majorly comprising of kalabasa), and a cup of Lucky Me Supreme Jjam Ppong -- the spicy variant of those cup noodles.

The Jjam Ppong was a late addition to the lunch baon. As the rains poured a while ago and as the room got colder and colder, I craved for sabaw and something hot (in the two gastronomical nuances of the word). So, braving the pitter-patter, I got down and went to the next-door South Star Drugstore and Grocery and bought myself the spicy noodles. Was debating between Lucky Me and Nissins Cup Noodles but ended buying the former based on experience (I had bought a Jjam Ppong a couple of weeks back, accidentally picking it up when what I had intended to buy was the Special Beef variant).

Lunch was great! Just right and hopefully won't be damaging to the big D.

* * * *

Our daughter, Ikai, while becoming the conversant little doll, has picked up a nasty habit -- answering the question "Why?" with an unemphatic "Wala lang."

Asking her about a star that her teacher stamped on her hand (a mark that she has done something very good at school), she answers, "Wala lang."

Asking her why she wants to watch TV when its already past her bedtime, she answers, "Wala lang."

Asking her why she says "I love you" to her Mama, she answers, "Wala lang."

I believe she answers "wala lang" when she doesn't know what to answer. It's when she's unable to express her feelings and thoughts (of course, at this age -- she's 3 going on 4 next month -- the vocabulary isn't that deep yet), "wala lang" provides an easy-to-tell answer. However, it leaves you dumbfounded.

Asking her why she didn't finish her food, she answers, "Wala lang."

Asking why she keeps on touching her Mama's ears when she wants to go to sleep she answers, "Wala lang."

It's perplexing, sometimes annoying as the answer "wala lang" is a dead-end answer. It sometimes drives me nuts when she answers me with that.

Asking her why she doesn't want to do her assignment, she answers, "Wala lang."

Asking her why she ouched her baby sister she answers, "Wala lang."

"Wala lang po :P"

* * * *

While attempting to pay for our landline/internet (which didn't materialize as waiting for an hour only resulted in 2 customers being serviced that entire time), the newly-refurbished Globe Business Center in Greenbelt showcased their latest phones with pre-paid and post-paid plans (Globe used to have two separate yet adjacent stores before -- one dealing with Globelines (landline and internet) and the other store dealing with Handyphone and related services. Since then, they've merged both stores so in my opinion, it has become more troublesome as landline customers are now mixed with the mobile customers in the cue!) and while the iPhone 4 was there, I gravitated towards what was my prospect -- the Samsung i9000 Galaxy.

First impression -- sexy, smooth, and looked chic. Downside: it was too wide for my rather smallish hand. It was a bit difficult to cradle in one hand and when I tried typing, my chubby fingers kept hitting the letters I wasn't supposed to hit. These were the only downside to an otherwise perfect phone. And oh, the unit price was also prohibitive, by the way.

But the unit came packed -- crammed even with gadgets and program and software. And I think I could spend hours tinkering with the Galaxy and loading stuff and reading ebooks and pushing and pulling mail and surfing.

And it ran on the Android mobile operating system. That's what I'm looking for in my next phone. Plus, wi-fi so that you don't need to carry around a laptop (but we're also planning to buy a netbook for our business on the side).

For now, the Galaxy is an option especially if the budget permits. However, I will need to canvass other Android phones as well as one other model (such as that from HTC or LG) might be packed similarly but priced affordably.

Samsung i9000 Galaxy image sourced from Wikipedia. All rights belong to Samsung!

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Here's hoping to get more sleep tonight :) Happy weekend, folks!