Not too many words needed for this one. The picture will suffice .

So many kids ask me if I believe the Mayan-prophesied end of the world scenario in 2012 is true. I don’t have a reply to that.

Howeeeeeeeeever….the picture below somehow made me consider that bewildering prophecy. Where’s Nostradamus when you need him?

LEFT: German, RIGHT: Nigerian

For the uninitiated, the two lovely folks (one’s not a human–guess who!) shaking hands above have been sparring partners (wink) for quite some time now. Surprisingly, on the day of the bald guy’s 23rd birthday celebration (and probably due to the intoxicating effects of a “beverage”, the name of which I cannot print here), the two summarily ended the bitter feud which rocked the interplanetary alignment of our good universe.

Ironically, the sudden halt (German reference! Yay!) of the conflict might have made the transition to astral normalcy a bit too premature. The proof, emerging just a few days after the incident, can be peeped at below:

The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century--YIKES!

Oh, I’m scared…

*This public service article has been approved by Reuel Vernon Culalic (German) and Rod Steven O. Vasquez (Nigerian).

No, no, no. I didn’t mean that we’ve skipped past the -ber months and gone right through to the vacation season. I’m announcing that I am once again addicted to YUI’s fab “Summer Song” (not to be confused with the Satriani song).

This was my addiciton prior to YUI’s equally-excellent “again” and with the release of that single a while back, a special acoustic version of Summer Song came with it.

Take a listen and delight at YUI’s marvelously cute voice. Look it up in google or something. Uploading stuff is a hassle. Wee!

I have three rants I’m going to rant about for this particular piece, and all of them are quite the juice. Very secretly, many people think about these things already (except for the last one), although their “sensitivity” dissuades them from admitting it. So in that regard, I’ll put on the brave face and just say it out for all to hear.

ANNOYING THING #1 — The Jumping Picture Thingy

We're free! Wee!

Ok, never mind that I chose a random picture of some little boys–I say that if it’s available in the Internet, well then it’s available for you to use. I have a Michael Jackson joke there but in light of the King’s passing, I’m not gonna go there for now.

Anywho, what is up with all the people around the world suddenly deciding that it’s cool and appealing for your collective personas to be captured in film while suspended in mid-air!?  People, this was considered ok three years ago. Right now, the fad has run out of steam.

ANNOYING THING #2 — Self-Portraits from a Cellphone

This guy actually has the same argument. I'm really sorry for using your pic, dude.

I get it–everyone has the camera doodad built-in on their phones. Ok, that’s fine. But does every Friendster, Facebook, Twitter, $#!+ profile pic need to one taken from your cellular? Well, talk about vanity. If you’re going to upload a picture of you for everyone to see, can it atleast be one where I can’t see your extended arms and I can’t feel the struggle as you try to stretch those appendages further? Geez.

P.S. Webcam shots are annoying too. And way creepy.

ANNOYING THING #3 — The Book/Film Debacle

Ooo-lala Edward. Were you this grumpy in the book?

Annoying pictures aside, what irks me the most is hearing people complain about films by saying that “Oh. The movie bad because different from book. Yadayadayada.” Woah there, Einstein–you mean to say that the film adaptation didn’t follow the garguantan book word for word? Oh mein gott!

Well, jolly help me, but THAT IS HOW IT SHOULD BE! It’s called a film “adaptation” specifically because it only seeks to to show the basic premise, or the “spirit” of the book in question. A film is simply a different form of media, and not all the boring text and side-stories detailed in a book can’t possibly be translated to the big screen. Catch my drift?

This might be a tad touchy, but when people critique book-t0-film adaptations, aren’t they just pouncing on the chance to announce to the world that they READ? As if reading is a book is an accomplishment deserving of a medal. Get over it!

5-word review:

“Not even deserving a Torrent.”

P.S. This is absolutely the worst movie I’ve ever seen. And to think that Jun Ji Hyun (from My Sassy Girl) stars in it. AHHHH!!!!

"Where have all the other penguins gone?"

Despite all the bruhaha over the Influenza whatchamacallit, the kids will be back in full force this coming Monday for the opening of classes in SISC. Oh no!

Let me just say that I want an extended vacation. For gaming. Yup.

This is me after the whole E3 extravaganza.

More exciting than my first of June birthday, the annual E3 gaming expo from June 1-4 was EXHAUSTING!

Like a kid who just found out that his dad will buy him a game console for the very first time in his life, I found myself smiling, grinning, and pumping fists all around as I watched the big three (Microsoft, Nintendo, then Sony) press conferences and as the news poured, not trickled, from my trusty gaming outlets. It was amazing.

Of course, being a Nintendo Wii and DS-owning fanboy, I was pleasantly surprised by what Nintendo and third-parties showed in E3. To list even half the games that are sure to be on my must-play list will be too time consuming.

Metroid Other M by Nintendo/Team Ninja - make me your slave.

For the PS3 games I’d like to play, Shao and Tats should get me covered.

The only real problem is how do I get the time to play all those games?

It’s been a helluva week. Me and two others from the history and business department of SISC attended a week-long accreditation program by the Capital Market Institute of the Philippines (CMIP). Basically, we spent the time learning about the ins and outs of the Philippine capital market–stocks, bonds, and whatnot.

We met a ton of people–all established academic professionals in different schools around the country. They were all so nice. What wasn’t so nice was the sheer volume of information we had to learn. Adding to the misery was the threat of a comprehensive exam at the end of the training (man, I hate math). It seems we’ve hurdled that though and for once I think the training really did just that.

But now I’m back and very happy to have Internet access once again. I can’t believe I managed to stay sane without my daily dose of gaming news from IGN and other sites. On that topic, I can’t express my excitement for E3 strongly enough. E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo and it will be held early June. It’s simply the annual showcase of all  things videogames and that’s certainly enough to make me giggle like a ‘lil girl. hihi

And that is what I call a return to my personal reality–a dive anew into virtual reality. (Geez that’s so cheesy)

*This post is about a week late. Please forgive.

Here’s a quick, unsolicited advice for all you bloggers and twitters (is that the word?) out there: STOP! Resist the urge to put your thoughts in writing! Don’t do it! Erase the concept of an online diary from your mind and just take those damn quizzes in Facebook!

You see, I had this sudden desire to revisit my old, old blog at http://master-ryu.blogspot.com (why am I posting the link?). I read through all of it, including the comments. What a embarrassment! Goodness. I can understand the quality of writing–what with all the bad grammar and all, but geez, the content! The damnable content! Woah! I remember writing about those stuff, but man… Oh brother.

But if you simply cannot refrain yourself from posting your deepest thoughts for all the world to ridicule, at least take some of my genius:

1. DO NOT POST ANYTHING ABOUT LOVE!
- It will haunt your dreams and make you the point of every single barkada session forever!
2. DO NOT POST ABOUT YOUR HARDSHIPS!
- No one cares and you’ll be embarrassed to no end yourself.
3. STICK TO THINGS THAT AREN’T THE LEAST BIT SERIOUS!
- Seriously. Stick to the fun stuff. Your outings and trips, perhaps. A couple of shenanigans here and there. Your opinion on a movie or something irrelevant like that. Politics, religion, and its ilk? Only if they’re funny! Okies?

So save yourself your dignity and honor and stick to the basic rule of the Internet: “Make fun of others before they make fun of you.”

***After writing all that crap, I suddenly realized that you could just as simply take down your blog and save yourself from future embarrassment. Oh well…

My God! This Facebook thing is all the rage these days. With the way people are using it and talking about it, you’d think this was the online version of the Second Coming. Now, that’s a scary thought.

But seriously, I love the damn thing. All the ego, vanity, and self-appreciation of the entire world in one neat little package. Wow!

In this honor, I hereby present my top five reasons for seriously loving Facebook:

• 5. Girls — ’nuff said.
• 4. Quizzes — I’ve only tried one and will never try another again. So, why do I love it? Because I find it amazing why so many people are enamored by them. Seriously…
• 3. Friendship — With people adding you left and right, I never thought I’ve this much friends. It makes me fell all tingly and appreciated inside. Awww…
• 2. Quizzes (again) — “How well do you know _____?” Really? This is what the world has stooped to? Goodness! People actually have the stomach to create a quiz about themselves? Sheesh.
• 1. The “What’s on your mind thing?” — I don’t want to tell you and I don’t want to know what’s on your mind as well. Wait, scratch that. Actually, I DO want to know what’s on the mind of random people around me. So please, please, please, always update people. I really, really want to know what’s on your mind. Don’t worry, it’s not a crime. I’m not making fun of you guys. (ok, maybe I am, but…)

So there. My top five reasons for thinking Facebook as awesome. Whew. Next up: The Top Five “What’s on your mind?” thingys.