I got my Cats Ticket!!!

I got my ticket for the play Cats! I was really hoping to catch the world renowned Broadway play when it comes to Manila this year. However, tickets were kinda pricey. I had to settle for the cheaper seats but it definitely isn't the best seat in the house. Nonetheless I'm quite excited to see it come August 1. Another show I would really like to catch one day is Cirque de Soleil. It will actually be running from February to May this year at the Beacon Theatre and I know you can get affordable Beacon Theatre Tickets online.

There are also a lot of exciting concerts and events to watch out for. Here in Manila, Paramore will be performing soon at the (if I'm not mistaken) Araneta Coliseum. Tickets are available already and I know there are some promos for free tickets too. Prudential Center Tickets are also available for concerts by Taylor Swift, Daughtry and Alicia Keys.

For sports fans, there are also New York Rangers Tickets available online already. I am not a big sports fan but I'd sure love to see a hockey game or even a football game live. I've only seen the local basketball games and college soccer competitions live and the excitement of being in the actual venue is very different from watching on television.

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Fil-Am Finishes 10th in the Winter Olympics!

I was browsing the results of the Winter Olympics Pairs Figure Skating competition and found a pleasant surprise: one of the skaters in competition is Filipino-American. Amanda Evora has roots from Calapan, Oriental Mindoro. Her father, Vicente "Boy" Evora was a native from there. Amanda was born in New York but had relocated to Bradenton, Florida to be able to pursue figure skating. Amanda and her skating partner, Mark Ladwig, finished tenth in today's pairs skating competition in Vancouver.

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Data Cards and Mobile Connections

Recently, my friend spruced up my HP IPAQ in the hopes that I can make use of the portable pocket PC once again. Ever since I got it a few years back, I never was really able to get how to make the internet connections work. All I'm usually used to is the automatic types that just connect instantly when it finds a signal. One of the tabs in the internet connections options said "data card", which I had no idea what was. So I checked it out on Google and found a blog about data cards and I realized that this is perhaps why I was not able to maximize the internet potentials of my pocket PC.

A data card is something that can be used with notebooks computers for mobile broadband access, like one of those Aircel data cards. I haven't seen any of these cards yet but I would sure like to give it a try, after all, I already have the device. It would be great to actually make it work. These data cards boast good browsing speeds which is better than a dial-up connection, although it's said not to be good enough for streaming media. Nonetheless, for a blogger like me, I think it would serve it's purpose enough.

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Valentine's Day Opens Tomorrow!

Fall in love with the star studded cast of Valentine's Day at a cinema near you starting tomorrow! Valentine's Day is a fun romantic comedy that will surely make you laugh and cry and love every moment of it. While I felt Julia Roberts' role was too small for someone like her, the culmination of her love story was the "awwwww...." moment for me. I enjoyed Anne Hathaway's rowdy love tale as well :-)

Catch all the love in Valentine's Day, brought to you by Warner Bros. Pictures. Opens in theaters February 12, 2010.

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Finding Math Solutions Online

Many of the kids I work with struggle with math. Heck, even I struggled with the same thing all through school. Just this morning, I got word that one of my former students who is a fourth grader now is looking for a tutor to help her with her math problems. Finding a good tutor, especially this late in the school year, is a little difficult because most teachers I know are fully booked already. Whether its for statistics help, Precalculus help or chemistry help, tutors are in big demand.

So I suggested checking out online tutoring services. Online math tutoring can be a good alternative for her problems, especially since she's pretty competent with her studies anyway. She just needs the extra support and someone to check on her math answers for her homework. Also, I think that having this kind of supervision is sufficient enough for this girl's needs.

Perhaps if I were a student of today with the conveniences of modern technology, I would not have struggled as much. Who knows, with enough of this help, I could have graduated with honors instead.

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Cinema Peeves

Watching movies are supposed to be pleasurable experiences, right? Not so long ago, however, as I watched a film in Robinsons Place, I got so frustrated because of two very uncouth and disrespectful girls. For a good part of the movie, one of them was on a cellphone. And take note: she was on loudspeaker. Genius right? If I weren't so far away, I would have told her off. When she wasn't on the phone, she and her companion laughed and talked loudly.

I remember before when I was younger, there were ushers in movie houses right? I was hoping one would show up today and shush those girls up, or better yet, ask them to leave. In general I let those who chit chat during a movie go. I understand that it's almost human nature to do so. But to completely disregard rules of etiquette and consideration? Oh please.

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Celebrating 50 Years of Art with the Lopez Museum and Library

The Philippines has been blessed not only with wonderful natural resources like beaches and tourist destinations but also with an abundance of talented individuals. For fifty years now, the Lopez Museum and Library has housed amazing artworks and Filipiniana treasures such as paintings from National Artists Fernando Amorsolo and Botong Fransisco. This year, the Lopez Museum celebrates 50th anniversary on February 18. In celebration, a series of events and launches are lined up, starting with the Unfolding book launch and opening of Threads exhibit which will be held at the Rockwell Tent.

"Unfolding Half a Century: The Lopez Memorial Museum" is a coffee table book that will surely of great interest to all art lovers out there. Alongside the book launch is the opening of the Threads: The Museum as Site for the Weaving of Tales. Threads is an exhibit that will feature the works of artists Jean Marie Syjuco, Ann Wizer,  Myra Beltran, Jef Carnay, Ann Pamintuan,  Leo Abaya and Kiri Dalena, each of whom were invited to craft a work or come up with a "cosplay" of a character found in the iconic works in the museum, essentially weaving their own tales based on the museum collection. These pieces will be exhibited at from February 19 to 25 at the Rockwell Power Plant Mall North Court.

Rounding out the Lopez Museum's 50th year celebration is it's anniversary exhibition at the museum premises which is located at the Ortigas Center in Pasig. Entitled After the Fact, the exhibition will feature the works of Gaston Damag, Antipas Delotavo, Imelda  Cajipe-Endaya and Keith Sicat, as well as key works from the museum collection.



Just last week I was talking to a friend and I remember saying one thing that is missing in the Philippines is a good venue for the appreciation for the arts. Apparently I was wrong. Sad to say, if not for the Lopez Museum and Library Facebook Page, I wouldn't have been aware of all of these! It's nice to know that our country has such an impressive musuem and library that actually now ranks as one of the finest in Asia. This is definitely something I have to check out soon!

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Happy Birthday Bubba!

 

Happy Birthday, Bubba

Happy Birthday, Bubba

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Bubba!

My little boy is 5 today :-) okay...he's not a little boy anymore. Its amazing how quickly time flies and he's grown so much. Just see the changes!

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Quick and Easy Photo Effects!

I am so jealous of my friend Janine's photoshopping skills. Try as I might, I can never get what she does! All I can manage to do is adjust lighting and brightness, but to do fun photoshop effects like making it seem that you are in another place or even better, in a drawing or big screen, is an impossibility for me. Much as I try, I can't seem to master the fine art of photo shop! Well, to be fair, I think if I really tried hard enough, I'd get it, but I don't really have the time or patience to do so.

Good thing I came across an online funny photo effects site which allows me to upload photos and in an instant, my photos are transformed! Take a look at these:

thanks Iris for the nice photo that I was able to transform!

I picked these effects because I always liked sketches but I'm too shy to pose for a portrait.Through this online program, I have what I wanted :-) There are lots of other funny pictures effects available, such as making your photo a tattoo, appear next to a white tiger, in a Rubik's cube and lots more. In fact, new effects are added daily.

Beat that Photoshop!  Granted that I am limited to the uploaded effects, the fact that there are so many effects to choose from definitely trumps that. Plus all the time I get to save from editing a photo over and over to get an effect that I want is a big bonus!

Here's another one I liked a lot! 

This is a nice treatment for one of my very favorite photos. I love how the sepia tones bring an old feeling to the photo. I used the same effect for other photos but this ended up being the best. Why don't you give it a try too? Take my word for it: trying out these effects can be addicting!

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Apple's Baaaack!!!!

After suffering through months of the wheel of death, I finally sent off Apple to a good friend who suggested that reformatting her would at least help with her spinning condition. True enough, Apple's back to normal. Even better I must say....she got a RAM upgrade too! Imagine, she was running at 512mb...no wonder! And I was ragging on those little Asus lappies  that only used to have 1gb. mwahahaha! Oops, my bad!!!

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