Yosh Zen!

Despite negative reviews about the movie, I appreciated it. It was really cool watching more TF characters in the movie.

Megan Fox was beautiful and hot as always. Shia LaBeouf is getting better and better as an actor.

I just wish there were more robot scenes than human ones. I think they could have made a better job writing the story and cut out trivial scenes.

But overall, it was good that I would watch it for a second time.

I made a new blog which should be more about photography than any other topic.

Here's the link.

Pelicula - 7th Spanish Film Festival

WARNING: Spoiler alert.



Friday. Mike, Mina and I went to watch Concursante (The Contestant) last Friday night. I had to rush to Greenbelt 3 since I had a lot of quarterend work to do that day. Mike bought the tickets early, good thing since a lot of people attended the festival. He had been following the festival and watched several movies already that he already memorized the opening remarks. LOL

The movie was about a TV game show contestant who won the biggest prize ever set on a TV game show. Four million dollars - which unfortunately were mostly properties - a house, an airplane, cars, appliances, etc. Because of this, he had to pay property taxes. His girlfriend suggested to ask for a bank loan (with the properties as collateral) which he agreed. Anyhow is problem compounds when he realizes that the bank's interest would effectively be 57%. He tries to sell the properties while his girlfriend kept on buying a lot of things, thinking they are rich. He meets a strange unorthodox economist who tries to teach him about the nature of banks. During the movie, the contestant loses his girlfriend, his job as a professor, his possessions, save the money he was able to force the bank to give him. While trying to burn the house he won, he left the suitcase of money inside. He tried to recover it but ended up dead.

There were several things about banks and/or financial industry which were presented in a negative but somehow realistic manner:
1. When a bank gives a loan, one might think it's done in an altruistic manner. However, the person ends up getting screwed.
2. Banks won't bother getting the principal since they earn interest. If not, they take the collateral anyhow.
3. Banks are generally bankrupt.

During the movie, I realized that some things were true, especially with the current the Wall Street crisis.

Saturday. Mike, Chris, Mina and I watched Nocturna, an animated movie. Despite lacking the 'oomph' which I normally try to find in a movie, it's simple story and art made it endearing. A kid discovers the realm of Nocturna. But since he was only child awake and was afraid of the dark, he created a Shadow which threatened the existence of the realm. Along the way, he meets interesting characters and discovers the beauty of the night. Ultimately, he defeats the Shadow. Moral of the movie: You must face the fear that you had created.

Mom and Tina's

After watching Nocturna, Chris left for another event. Mike, Mina and I decided to eat at Mom and Tina's. We love the place. It's become Mina's and my second favorite restaurant next to Chili's.

Sunday

I must say I had a good Sunday. I was able to have a stationary bike workout for an hour while watching the epic Game 3 of the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox ALCS series. The Rays won, and that's a big relief. Series is now 2-1 still in favor of Boston.

Then I burned a dvd of movies for Mike, which included Sin City, Sex is Zero (a Korean comedy) and Beowulf.

And I learned to watermark my images, both in Photoshop and Aperture 2. Oh yes, I was able to make our old scanner work for my Macbook.

Not a pretty bad weekend.

Matchups

American League

Los Angeles Angels vs Boston Red Sox - The Sox have taken a 1-0 lead as I'm writing this journal. But don't write off the Angels just yet. As a Yankee fan, it's a no-brainer who I'm rooting for. Newcomers Torii Hunter and Mark Texeira will oust the Sox.

Tampa Bay Rays vs Chicago White Sox - Even Longoria's first two postseason homers in the first postseason game of the Rays bode well. Very well. I wish I has an Evan Longoria rookie card. Could be worth a lot in the next decades. Scott Kazmir and the relief corps have been magnificent. Joe Maddon has done a pretty good job with this team and could win Manager of the Year.

National League

Philadelphia Phillies vs Milwaukee Brewers - Currently 1-0. In the second game, which is still being played, Victorino blasted CC Sabathia for a grand slam. In the National League, I'm a Phillies fan. Rollins, Howard, Ultey and Victorino make up for an exciting team. Add Hamels as their ace. And Lidge has not blown a save in the regular season. Wow. Howard could win his second NL MVP this season.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Chicago Cubs - Currently 1-0 in favor of the Dodgers. I've always admired Torre for being a classy guy. I wish I had his class. It's a weird reality seeing Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez together. But what the heck. I wish the Dodgers well in this series. Don't forget the Chicago Cubs are favored to win it all this year and break their 100-year World Series drought. Piniella is a great skipper and they have all the tools - hitting, pitching, depth. But I think Manny is the difference maker here.

2008 Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball League Champion!

I'm back in the winner's circle!

After finishing second last year in one of the leagues, I was able to win two leagues this year.

Green Archers 2008


In my first team, my batting was led by Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Bobby Abreu, B.J. Upton and Magglio Ordonez. Shane Victorino, Evan Longoria, Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino turned out to be smart acquisitions along the way. Derrick Lee was one of my earliest trades (for Bobby Jenks) and he helped me during the first-half of the season.

As for pitching, my Cy Young Award goes to Tim Lincecum for having a stellar season. Edinson Volquez completes my 1-2 punch SP. Jose Valverde and Brian Wilson helped in the saves category. Late acquisition Jonathan Broxton was also pivotal.

For this team, pitching led the charge in the fantasy categories.

Green Archers 2 2008


For this team, draftees David Wright, Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rios helped the cause. Great free agent acquisitions were Adam Dunn, J.J. Hardy (released) and Mike Aviles. I had a hard time tinkering with the batters since I lost Rafael Furcal and Eric Byrnes due to injury.

For pitching, the stalwarts were Tim Lincecum (traded), Edinson Volquez (traded) and Javier Vazquez. I'll give my Cy Young award to Johan Santana. I was lucky to get Francisco Liriano, Jonathan Broxton and Chad Qualls to help me after the All-Star break.

There were a lot of transactions I made to come up with the lineup. I was stupid enough to let go of Cliff Lee who could be this year's AL Cy Young awardee for nothing. I traded Yunel Escobar and Ryan Ludwick for Derek Jeter which didn't turn out too well. Then I traded Damaso Marte and Tim Lincecum for Aubrey Huff and Dan Haren. Huff produced but Haren produced less than Lincecum in the second half. Another trade I made was Edinson Volquez for Johan Santana which was a boon since Santana got hot after the All-Star break. Then I traded Derek Jeter, Josh Hamilton and Mike Gonzalez for Jose Reyes and Mike Mussina which turned out to be a great trade. Jeter and Hamilton got cold, Gonzalez deterred the second placed team to surge in saves. Reyes helped me in steals and Mussina gave me wins and other stats.

For this team, the batters led the charge.

In any case, I was fortunate to make the trades and not be afraid to make mistakes.

Here's my trophy case and 2008 performance:





Too bad, I didn't win in my third league but then again, jumping to sixth place from bottom place in the first months wasn't so bad.

I can't wait for next season to start!

The Empire will Strike Back!

That will be the headline for next year. But for today, the New York Yankees will be missing the postseason and breaking a streak of 13 straight appearances. That's the second longest consecutive postseason next to the Atlanta Braves' 14.

Many things have happened this year.

George Steinbrenner's sons now call the shots. Former manager Joe Torre did not accept the insulting one-year contract offered to him and moved on to manage the LA Dodgers. Fan favorite and former player and coach Don Mattingly, joined Torre in LA. Joe Girardi took charge of the Yankees. When Johan Santana was up for grabs, the Yanks did not trade for him and kept the young pitching nucleus of Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, and outfielder Melky Cabrera. The team was decimated by injuries to Chien Ming Wang, Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui. Even A-Rod was injured for a time. Captain Derek Jeter played despite having injuries but won't admit it. Pavano returned but wasn't much of a factor. The team couldn't drive runners in scoring position. Cashman is thinking whether to stay with the Yankees as general manager. The Yankee Stadium held its last game.

But there are a lot of good things to look forward next year.

Many contracts will come off the books, including Giambi and Pavano. This should make the Yankees very powerful in getting great free agents. Expect the Yankees to sign an ace, probably CC Sabathia. I'm pretty sure they'll be getting younger, more productive players and not re-sign older, not-so-productive ones like Pavano, and possibly Giambi. Girardi should be better equipped to manage the Yankees, having a one year experience. Hopefully, the trio of Chamberlain, Hughes and Kennedy will deliver. The new Yankee Stadium will open.

I've been a fan of the Yankees since 2001, when they lost against the Arizona Diamonbacks in the World Series. I'm hoping they win it next year.

Food Photography

I went to Naga City last August to shoot food for Dennis Grill's new menu. It was my first time to shoot food.

I went to the restaurant's second floor, by the window. I brought some styroboards, white cartolina, masking tape and cutter. Also, I had my camera, tripod, and laptop setup like this:



The preparation was the most difficult part as I had to make some tests shots and rearrange my setup accordingly.

After some time, I was able to take some photos:





Not too bad for a first-timer.

Visit Dennis C's Grill along Magsaysay Avenue in Naga City. They have specialty flavored beers!

Very Addictive!

http://www.plurk.com/user/yoshzen

19th Monthsary

Happy 19th monthsary, sweetie. I'm so happy to be with you!

Company Christmas Party

For the first time in our domain's history, we won first prize in the domain presentation. I coordinated the props for our team, particularly the shields and capes for our 300 segment.

Oh, and I won a PS3.

World Series

So much for the Rockies getting beaten by the Red Sox, but I still like the team. The Sox are now the new Evil Empire and everything about the franchise is just admirable. I just can't like them because I'm a Yankee fan.

Speaking of the Yankees, A-Rod finally had some sense got into him by trying to contact the team after he opted out. When his agent announced that he opted out, I was pretty pissed. Sure, he's one of the best players of the game. But he still hasn't proved himself in the big stage. Comparing him to Derek Jeter, A-Rod is a class below the guy. Why I like Jeter - loyal and a class act. But I hope A-Rod learns a lesson or two and returns to the Yankees - the only team who could afford him.

The Yankees also got their new manager in Joe Girardi. Whoohoo! I'm pretty sure the guy will make the Yankees play as Yankees should - with utter confidence coming from utmost respect for the game.

I'm happy for Joe Torre for getting another managerial job, and brought Don Mattingly along. The Dodgers, while not a team I'm rooting for, should be in the playoffs next time - heck, even the World Series. Of course, I'm not hoping for a Dodgers-Yankees series. It would break my heart. Okay, maybe one year for the Dodgers, just for Torre to get back at the Steinbrenners, then Yankees all the way.

NBA

The Boston Celtics is now my favorite NBA team. Not because they're winning and haven't lost. But because it's great to see three big stars come together and play unselfishly. Garnett, Pierce and Allen have been model professionals - unlike the trio of Bryant, Marbury and Artest (okay, so they're not teammates).

I especially admire Garnett, who is simply passionate about the game. As Doc Rivers said about Garnett's energy, "Energy is talent." I never thought of that before.

I hope they win it all. If not, I hope the Phoenix Suns do.

English Premier League

Manchester United are on top with Arsenal. Ronaldo and the rest of the team has been playing quality football.

Brilliant!