Sutherland Slaughter

It's not everyday that you hear someone from your office had been decapitated and left in a bathroom in some seedy motel while her alleged boyfriend, who shares the same floor as you, left the place with a sack on his hand, containing, [hopefully not] the head of the victim.

Warning: You will see the word "alleged" a lot in this post.

As I entered the office, it was abuzz with the word "pugot" (beheading). Not so long after, a colleague approached me and informed me of the gruesome incident. Kathrina Gantan had been left headless by her alleged boyfriend, Adonis Carino Reyes in room 518 of Miyabe Court, Angeles, Pampanga.

Speculations flew over the motive of the [killer]. I personally did not know him, but some of my officemates who played basketball with him had sworn that he wasn't the kind to do such an inhumane act. What could have motivated this? I ask.

The day progressed and more stories were told by the people around. They said that Kat, (as she was known to her friends) allegedly has a boyfriend other than the suspect, Adonis. And that the suspect himself was married to another woman. Judging from this context, one might ask, was it a crime of passion? If so, was it done by the suspect himself or the other boyfriend? The inquiring mind will not rest until someone is implicated. I hope justice will be served.

Pacquiao VS. Clottey - A Post-Fight Special

image courtesy of media.nj.com

With the Pacquiao - Clottey fight just culminating in an almost landslide victory for the Pacman himself, it is inevitable people are going to speculate.

Fight aficionados all over Facebook are already deeming the fight "staged" and "boring" because the fight was lackluster [or to state the obvious... deadbeat]. To some, the fight would be remembered as the day that Clottey held together his arms and covered his face. It's one thing to wish the fight ended in an absolute K.O. but it's another to watch a man merely defend himself during the 12-round bout. Clottey looked nothing more than Pacquiao's sparring partner. Come to think of it, they looked like BFFs in the ring. To quote someone from the web: "Watch out, Clottey might soon come to the Philippines as the next endorser of San Miguel Beer."

Scary how the last statement could easily become true after we saw De La Hoya's famous drink ads. - Carlo Soriano

And Them Haters Can Get Past Now...

Not long after one-day internet superstar Jacque Bermejo and her tactless comments about the victims of Typhoon Ondoy had spread like wildfire throughout the internet, accumulating a landslide of hate comments from Pinoy twitterbugs and facebook users across the globe, A young Korean woman has posted hate tweets stating that [sic] "I hope it keeps raining and die in floods like those filipino monkeys". What's more is that it's not the worst statement in her Filipino-hating tirade.

I'm not going to go ahead and compare attributes and say that they can't speak English as well as we can, which is why half their population is in Angeles and Baguio City trying to learn the language from what she calls "brown monkeys", but I just did. Just like how that "superior" neuron in her brain prompted her to go ahead and post spontaneous dim-witted comments about our beloved country.

I guess people who subjugate themselves to racism by unleashing ill-tempered and half-witted comments online are people who have less than the mental equivalent of an illiterate.

As my fingers were raring to type her out of this world, Twitter had suspended her account. The worst part of my torture is that I live in Koreatown, where this lowlife's countrymen roam about, ignorant of what she had said. I will until then, have unresolved anger issues. But you knew I was better than that.

Pan de Sal Repartee

I was chewing the last vestiges of a piece of pan de sal I was having for breakfast when my brother interjected a comment, "bumaba na ung gas di ba? bat di pa nagmumura ung pan de sal?" (Why hasn't the price for pan de sal gone down? the gas prices have lowered). My mother did not hesitate to correct him by stating that the gas prices actually went up Php 2.00/liter.

I couldn't help but think, why commodities raise the prices as soon as the gas prices go up, when in fact, stocks where they will make the bread from have already been purchased beforehand, making it a deliberate sham to jerk their prices a peso higher the next day gas giants finish announcing another hike. This country has got to have a consumer rights group. Maybe I'll start it myself. I'll call it the PBBB. No, not the mindless reality show, the Philippine Better Business Bureau.

Corazon Aquino: Guardian of Democracy

photo credit to http://secretaryclinton.files.wordpress.com/

Manny Pacquiao KOs Ricky Hatton at 2nd Round

Manny destroys Ricky Hatton of England in a 2 round fight ending in a knockout.

Nikon Announces the D5000

From dpreview.com:

The recent boom in DSLR sales has seen all the major manufacturers adding bulked-up or stripped-down entry level models, repositioning their offerings to make sure that anyone willing to put up with the size and weight of a DSLR will look at one of their models. The whole thing has often left existing DSLR owners a little lost - 'why isn't there a direct replacement for my camera?' - but has undoubtedly meant there are many more attractive, accessible cameras on the market just waiting to entice first-time DSLR owners.

And its into this maelstrom of DSLR proliferation that Nikon launches its latest baby DSLR, the D5000. The name will come as no surprise to anyone within earshot of the rumor mill but the camera itself may present some more surprises. Having confused many people but made huge ground with its simplified D40 and D60 range, it appears Nikon has again decided that simply replacing models isn't the best way to address the market. So here we have a camera that genuinely seems to sit above the D60 (rather than continuing in parallel until the stock runs out), and below the D90. Like the baby Nikons, the D5000 doesn't have an autofocus motor built into the body but does gain a tilt-and-swivel LCD, as a series of leaked images that have made their way around the internet would have you expect.

The idea of an upper-entry-level DSLR (for want of a better term), that sits below the 'enthusiast' grade D90 (with its twin control dials, big battery and pentaprism viewfinder), is hardly a radical one - the Canon 500D and Olympus E-620 seem to cater to a similar market. So what does this new Nikon have to offer either the tech-savvy first-time DSLR buyer, or the owner of an older entry-level model wanting newer features but unwilling to slavishly follow the manufacturer's 'upgrade path'?

Nikon D5000 Key Features

• 12.9 megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor (effective pixels: 12.3 million)
• 2.7" tilt and swivel LCD monitor (230,000 dots)
• Movie capture at up to 1280 x 720 (720p) 24 fps with mono sound
• Live View with contrast-detect AF, face detection and subject tracking
• Image sensor cleaning (sensor shake)
• 11 AF points (with 3D tracking)
• IS0 200-3200 range (100-6400 expanded)
• 4 frames per second continuous shooting (buffer: 7 RAW, 25 JPEG fine, 100 JPEG Normal)
• Expeed image processing engine
• Extensive in-camera retouching including raw development and straightening
• Connector for optional GPS unit (fits on hot shoe)
• New battery with increased capacity
• 72 thumbnail and calendar view in playback

Nikon D5000 vs D60: Key Differences

The D5000 could easily be seen as a D60 with a tilting screen added, and most of a D90 stuffed into it. As such it offers quite a few feature improvements over its little brother:

• 12.3 MP CMOS sensor (D60: 10.2 MP CCD)
• Tilt/swivel screen
• Live View with contrast detect AF
• Movie Mode
• Wider ISO range
• 11 point AF system with 3D tracking (D60: 3 point AF)
• Control of Active D-Lighting intensity
• Automatic correction of lateral chromatic aberration
• Choice of JPEG quality in RAW+JPEG shooting
• Extra retouching options
• More scene modes
• Faster continuous shooting
• Bracketing

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Funny, if you compare it to the D90 all that's different is a .5 decrease in shutter speed. Seriously.

Is the DSLR everybody's new hobby?

It seems that nowadays, sick of the too rapidly-evolving cellphone (and other gadgets) chain, people are switching to DSLRs. Everytime I go out now I see John and Jane Does (even kids) toting around DSLRs like they were 8210s back in 1999.

Is it that people got too bored with the seemingly monthly release of a new cellphone? Or maybe its because of the overwhelming number of cellular phones coming out hoping to be the next iPhone killer. Whatever it is, people have moved on from texting to photography (or T-shirt printing, LOL).

In order to analyze what caused the boom, let's get into the mindset of the average consumer (who prefer to be called prosumers, like I do.). The average technology consumer in 1999 probably owned one cellphone, a PC, and a digital camera. ISOs, shutter speeds and f stops were completely "out of the picture" then. At that time pro cameras were reserved for ACTUAL photographers and editing in Photoshop was reserved for the magazines. Until friendster, the average digital camera only served as your vacation buddy.

These days, the average consumer has at least 2 cellphones (globe and sun), a laptop or UMPC, an iPod or another mp3 player, a dock for that mp3 player, an LCD TV for a monitor, a screaming PC, and a DSLR.

Personally, I first encountered the SLR in 2003 when my brother was supposed to take a photography course but did not want to go, so I took it. Ever since then, I've been a big fan of the art.

Then Friendster and Flickr and Photobucket came along and people wanted nice pictures to post. I'm not entirely sure if this was the trend.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to dump their digicams for the next frontier: DSLRs.

Now people who have absolutely no knowledge about SLR photography are wasting at least $400 for a gadget they think is a better digicam. Some people have shown me shots from their DSLRs and it looked like they were taken off of a Canon Powershot. Not to bash people who I admit have more money to waste than me, but I think that taking at least a small course on photography would help you utilize your new gadget. It's like owning a Blackberry and simply using it for text and calls. Completely pretentious.

So here's a site I found with a crash course on using your new prized possession:
Photography On the Net: A Beginner's Guide to DSLR Photography

It THAT made your head hurt, it's about time you got a new hobby.

Silhouette Photography

I've started one type of experimental photography using silhouettes.

Atypical to the usual studio setup, the fill light is behind the background and the subject is still in front. The challenge here is to lose all the details in the subject without compromising the sharpness in the texture of the background.

Better Programming for Philippine TV

Are you sick of watching local TV?

I'm sure everyone will agree that the Big 2 of Philippine Television have shoved enough "Any-seyres" in your boob tube to make you puke. From the heckle-worthy Wowowee to the nth revision of Mari Mar to GMA's newest hyped-up remake stink bomb: Zorro, you must be asking yourself: "where has good TV gone?".

It's good to know that regular programming is slowly creeping its way back to the local airwaves. Here are some new (and not so new) channels who, if not entirely redefining your primetime tv choices, are giving back regular shows to the masses.


TV5

While not a new contender to the TV arena, TV5 (the TAFKAP of Philippine TV, also known as ABC 5) has given way to fresh, new shows (eg. Midnight DJ, et. al.) all the while entirely re-branding itself into a hip new form appealing to younger (and more scrutinizing) audiences. It also houses classic powerhouse spoof show: Wow Mali.


QTV

The sister of the exact Big 2 station making us puke, QTV has paved the way to a truckload of quality new and fresh programs namely, Hired, Day-off, Ang Pinaka, Chef to Go, Quickfire, Camera Cafe, U Women, and more. It's also the local home of my favorite show: American Idol.


CS9

This station is the merging of two channels: RPN9 and C/S. It houses all the hit American shows and movies: namely Heroes, Big Bang Theory (my personal favorite), 30 Rock, Prison Break and so much more. It's also the new home of the PBA.


If these stations have answered your long awaited prayers, just wait. Hopefully more stations will follow suit. Even the stations that make you puke.