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It wasn't a total solar eclipse in the Philippines, but nevertheless, the partial Solar Eclipse today (July 22) still elicited some excited giggles from my female colleagues, some expressions of awe and wonder, and some feelings of minisculity. I half-ran back to my office after a meeting, glancing at the sun, but just hurting my eyes in the process. I stopped and squinted to see if there was anything happening up there, only to be betrayed by my eyes, tearing up from the glare. When I got to my office, I found a couple of my colleagues had taken out some x-rays of pipelines (I work in a refinery) and were using those to watch the ongoing eclipse. When I got my turn to look, I was hugely disappointed! It was already 830AM by then and all I could see was a small chip on the upper-left portion of the circle that was the sun, so small it was virtually unnoticeable! Bah! But I was sure that it was going to be amazing. So sure in fact that I did not, could not, stop watching, waiting fo...

Bring your solar filters and cameras, a Total Solar Eclipse, one of the rarest celestial events on Earth is happening on Wednesday, July 22, 2009! It will be visible between around 8AM and 9AM on that day (at GMT+8hrs, just compute for your own country's time! ;p) in the following countries: India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. The moon's shadow will then blot out our sun in Japan's Ryukyu Islands before hovering over the Pacific Ocean and eventually disappearing. The solar eclipse will be partially visible for the most of Eastern Asia (including the Philippines! woot! woot!), Indonesia and the Pacific Islands. Packaged Tours are available in places in the world where the eclipse will be completely visible, like in India , where they will witness the "100% solar eclipse with diamond ring." It is only the third total solar eclipse to be visible in India in the past 15 years and one has to wait for another 78 Years, to witness such a spectacle again....

I am a fan of Michael Jackson. And I'm devastated that he's dead. If you've seen the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus" in the scene where the lead character finds out over the radio that John Lennon of the Beatles had been shot - that's exactly how I felt like when I found out about MJ. "...the King of Pop, his heart has stopped..." I found out through a text message from Liz, and I actually thought it was another one of those so-and-so-is-dead-hoax things, but when I checked, it was all over the news. On all news websites, on Twitter, on Facebook, on all TV channels, on all radio stations, they were talking about nothing else: "the King of Pop, his heart has stopped". Yes folks, the Jacko is dead. Everywhere you go they were playing Michael Jackson songs, you could even listen to "Thriller" in the mall in broad daylight. They've stopped playing David Cook's version and opted for 80's style "Billy Jean". In my c...

"I was born on a syzygy." "And what is a syzygy?" I have been asked several times already, so here's a quick explanation! Where did the word come from? Pronounce as [see-zee-jee], it is late Latin syz ygia conjunction, from Greek, from syzygos yoked together, from syn- + zygon yoke. And If you've seen the musical " The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ", it's one of the first words they spell. :D Haha! "...a syzygy is basically an alignment of celestial bodies." Syzygy definition : In Astronomy, a syzygy is basically an alignment of celestial bodies. From earth, when we see a solar or lunar eclipse, it means the moon, the earth and the sun are in alignment or in conjunction, hence the shadow of one on another. This is not limited to the sun, moon and earth, solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. Syzygies may be made up of the different celestial bodies in a gravitational system, e.g. our solar system. So which one w...

I received this note in my email twice, so now I feel compelled to blog about it. Hahaha! Around 5 years ago, I would have auditioned, if just for the heck of it. I did for Miss Saigon Korea, and actually got a callback. :p I sang "Why, God, Why?" I did well enough, I guess, but couldn't impress the panel for the dance auditions. Hehehe... Now, the first time I auditioned for a play outside of UP and of the UPCC was for Repertory Philippines' "The Secret Garden." I sang "Lily's Eyes," a duet. For that, I also got a callback and a semi-compliment from the late Bibot Amador (on my way out of the theater she asked me if I was going to the "callback", and I said yes). Too bad I did poorly at the callbacks, forgot the words both times I sang it. :p Haha! Even if I never fulfilled my dream to be a professional thespian (see Profile: "...frustrated thespian") I had tremendous fun auditioning for these plays, and now remember fondly...

_____________________________________________ If you have inquiries about the Tali Beach private resort featured here, text or call the owners at 361-7091 or 0917-8828760 or email them at talibeach[at]gmail.com - Tell them you got their contact info from Reyjr.com! :D ************************* It was Liz's department outing, and I was one of the designated drivers! Hehehe. The tradeoff: 2 days on a private resort on Tali Beach, Nasugbu, Batangas, with hotelier people who have great taste, great skills in the kitchen, and a ton of hilarious hotel stories. The 2 hour drive up was worth it. :D Squeezing in some Tali Beach time It was my first time in Tali Beach , and actually also my first time on a beach resort in Nasugbu. I know Nasugbu only for the wedding chapels, haha; a whole lot of my colleagues have gotten married in Caleruega, Chapel on the Hill and thereabouts, so I was pretty familiar with the place. :p We were there on June 12 and 13. A sl...

Sure, we want the best of both worlds: we want lots of money and musical independence. But can you have both? Being an indie band offers freedom to decide what musical direction to take, which songs to release, how and where to promote your music. The advent of internet sites like iTunes, MySpace and YouTube have also allowed more indie artists to "earn from their living rooms" than ever before. So as an indie artist, you should first as yourself, do you really need to be under a major label.. Read the full post on the MTV.com site by clicking here: Indie artists: Pragmatism in the face of adversity! and please VOTE for me by clicking the THUMBS UP symbol on there. Hehehe! Thanks in advance! :D Subscribe in a reader

A Theme Thursday post We used to play this hilarious game where we replaced words in movie titles with the word "itlog" or "egg" in English. Now, let's try it for the word "funk", replacing words in the worldwide top grossing movies of all time (as of end June 2009!) #1 (1997) " Titanic Funk" - hm.. it's one word! #2 (2003) "The Lord of the Rings: Return Funk of the King" - hahahaha! #3 (2006) "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Funk" - he's dead already! #4 (2008) "The Dark Knight Funk" - why is it dark? on second thought, I don't want to know... #5 (2001) " Harry Funk Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" - can you imagine if J.K. Rowling named the lead character Funk instead of Harry? #6 (2007) " Pirates Funks of the Caribbean: At World's End" - or Punks. hahaha, maybe the writer had a bad case of "P & F syndrome". #7 (2007) "Harry Potter ...

I was inspired by a quick rhyming snippet from a friend's email signature sent via BlackBerry, she wrote: "Apologies for the brevity - this was sent on a BlackBerry" So c'mon! Do away with the boring "Sent via BlackBerry" generic signature, and make a new signature today! Hehe. So here are few of my own suggestions for use as your Black Berry email signature. I don't have a BlackBerry myself, but am welcome to receiving one as a gift. Here goes... 1. The same message above in Haiku form: "My apologies for the brevity, 'tis sent via BlackBerry!" 2. For the people on the go: "In my office, I am not. From my BlackBerry this was shot." 3. This one's a bit long.. but what the heck. If you're into Shakespear maybe? "I shall never dare be late, answering thine mail, post haste! So from mine fine BlackBerry, I have sent this note to thee!" 4. If you don't like work emails to follow you: "Since I got this BlackBe...

A Theme Thursday post "Good day sunlight, I'd like to say how truly bright you are..." Summer ended early in the Philippines this year. Too early! It was only the beginning of May when the first typhoon arrived and a storm warning signal was declared over parts of the Philippines. Now as I type this post, typhoon Feria (local name) is raging outside my window... Next week it will be July. That means hoping for a bright sun shiny day is over, summer has lost to rain. This battle is now over. Soon the rains will completely take over: the skies will be dark for most of the day, the stars at night hidden by the dark clouds. "You don't know me, but I know you, see, you're my favorite star..." I miss the summer, when the sun is out and up. I miss the beach at summertime, when the sand and the water is warm and the nights a cool respite. I miss having ice cream and halo-halo to cool off. I miss not needing to bring an umbrella every time I leave the ...

"...biyayang bigay na galing sa Diyos..." I stumbled upon this youtube "video" of a recording of a song I did way back when i was still in the University. It's called "Lagi na Lang" ("As Always") and was written and composed by Pastor Norman Dagdag, Drums, Acoustic Taylor guitar, and sound engineering by Mr. Ike Heredia, Mixed and Recorded @ STUDIO 7 Grand Villas, Quezon City. Lead vocals and back-up vocals by your truly. :D This was 2nd of 3 songs we recorded, and was the most fun to do. Haha! Hope you watch and leave a comment! A quick translation for non-Filipinos: I hear your voice, and I am with you You bring treasures overflowing I am thankful for all the blessings that come You show a path that is true You care for and protect me Day and night you love me Your power moves my life Your blessing are never ending Always, for always   Subscribe in a reader

I have not been this excited for a movie in a long time. Haha! Around this time last year they announced that there will be a movie version of the Emmy award winning cartoon series from Nickelodeon, Avatar: The Last Airbender. I was really excited I blogged about it too. Now they've released the first trailer for the first movie of the trilogy! (Guys, seriously, this is sooo much better than that vampire movie thingy. Hehe!) The first movie is set for July 2, 2010. It will be titled "The Last Airbender" because some other movie was named "Avatar" already. I can't wait! This will be awesome. (Think, Lord of the Rings.) I pray they won't make the same mistakes they made for "Dragon Ball Z" (like hire a white dude to play an asian dude). M. Night Shyamalan who will write, direct and produce, better not mess this up! And by the way, Dev Patel of "Slumdog Millionnaire" fame will be playing Zuko. Hehe! That will be cool. Anyway, the ...

About an hour ago, DOH announced the Philippines' first fatality related to swine flu or Influenza A H1N1 virus. The 49-year-old woman from Metro Manila died from congestive heart failure (the blood passageway to her heart was blocked), but was discovered after she had died that she was infected with the swine flu virus. Her death is the first reported fatality related to Influenza A (H1N1). Her husband and son are currently quarantined, and DOH is doing a contact tracing of the family. Meanwhile, several more schools have suspended classes due to the outbreak. The Philippines reportedly has the highest number of infections in the South East Asian region. Sources linked after the jump... Sources: GMA - DOH announces first death in RP linked to A(H1N1) ABS-CBN - RP confirms first A (H1N1) death _______________________________________ This report got me really worried. And this swine flu is really making me paranoid. Last week my girlfriend was sick, turned out it was common flu. And...