Earsplitting Volume

Posted on May 18, 2008 at 3:46 pm | 18 Comments
Filed under Daily Dose • Music Mania • Random Realities • School Sabotage

iPod touch med grön Apple-sockaEven though I have an iPod touch, I’m not one of those people you see in public places especially in public utility vehicles and malls with their earphones on and listening to music. I love my ears more than music and I don’t want to be deaf and use hearing aids.

The volume on my iPod is currently set on 25%. I usually don’t go beyond that point except for attacks of the LSS. The engine of the vehicles and other roadway noises simply drones the music that comes from my iPod, so instead of increasing the volume, I simply turn it off. Besides, there are other things that I can do during my jeepney rides. I usually study my lessons while waiting to reach for my destination. Sometimes, I read books to avoid boredom or if I’m with somebody that I know, I chat with him/her about various things: demanding and perfectionistic instructors, how I miss my high school life, insensitive blockmates, and toxic subjects.

Okay, back to the subject…

So when do I use my iPod? I use it whenever I’m in my favorite place in school: the library or anywhere there isn’t much noise. The library has been my cradle, it’s where I feel at peace. Hu? What am I talking about? Well, if you had very noisy blockmates with mouths larger than a car’s tire, you would know what I mean. There are times when I even go to the library just to listen to music. Lol. I’m really thankful that the library is just a few steps from my room.

And oh, lately, I’ve been listening to music during my Rizal class. Everyone in the class couldn’t hide their boredom. Some talks with their seat mates, some are busy pressing on their phone’s keypads, others would even dare to sleep. Good thing my professor sits on the back of the room while listening to the reporters. That’s why I dare myself to listen to music even though my class is going on. And I’m pleased to tell you that I wasn’t caught… ever. Actually, during my last three Rizal classes, I was not only listening to music but also reading a book that has nothing to do with the Philippine’s national hero.

While on the subject, I just want to mention that I really don’t know why we have to study Rizal’s very detailed life. I think, the authors of the book that we are using included all the information that they could get about Rizal. I don’t know why almost everything has to be precise. Some of the not so important events that happened to Rizal were also well documented. As a matter of fact, there are times when the book mentioned not only the date but also the time when this and that happened. Aren’t the basics enough?

Take the following excerpt as an example:

… the two tourists [Jose Rizal and his friend Maximo Viola] went to Brunn. According to Viola, “nothing of importance happened” in this city.

Why add that if “nothing of importance happened”? Duh. And now… I’m bombarded with unimportant dates, names, places, and events that I’m not even sure if I could and how I would apply them once I landed with a job. Haha. (I’m not saying that RA 1425 aka Rizal Law should be abolished. What I’m saying is that the basics are enough, we don’t need to know all the places Rizal visited during his lifetime. Besides, what sense of fulfillment would you have if you memorized them?)

Before I close this entry, I just want to talk a few things about Death Cab for Cutie’s latest album: Narrow Stairs. First, I want to say that it’s a nice album, but not as good as Plans. My favorites from the album are: Your New Twin Sized Bed (I can’t get it out of my system), Bixby Canyon Bridge, No Sunlight, I Will Possess Your Heart, and You Can Do Better Than Me. And oh, have you seen I Will Possess Your Heart’s music video? Well, Death Cab rocks!

YouTube Preview Image

Well… you look so defeated lying there in your new twin sized bed. XD

PS: Yesterday, iTunes mistakenly recognized my iPod touch as an iPhone. WTF.

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Meet Gibbard

Posted on March 14, 2008 at 7:44 pm | 21 Comments
Filed under Daily Dose

I’ve actually planned to make this post’s main point somewhat like indirect. But since my tight schedule doesn’t permit me1 (I don’t have the time to make this post full of figures of speech), I decided to rewrite it. So what’s the main topic of this entry, eh? Well, I bought an iPod Touch and I named it “Gibbard.” I got the name “Gibbard” from the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service. I actually typed the first version of this post on my iPod. It took me some time before I got used to typing on my iPod.

I bought my iPod Touch last Saturday. Thanks to my earnings from the Internet, I was able to buy it. During that night, I almost didn’t sleep. Lol. I was really excited. Haha. The user interface of the iPod Touch is really cool… very sleek indeed. And the features of it are pretty cool. Its screen is scratch proof, but then, the back part of it is not.

Currently, it holds all of my songs, most are indie music. Some music videos that I have downloaded from YouTube, a few videos of HappySlip, the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie and my favorite photos.

Touch It!
Viewing this site on my iPod Touch.

What I really like about it is that I can surf the Internet using it! It’s got a built-in wireless adapter so that means I can connect to a wireless network. And if you’re following me on Twitter, I’m sure you have read this and this. And if you haven’t noticed, I’ve been updating my Twitter account for the past week using iTweet. Its other features like the “Mail” and “Notes” are really helpful for me.

Well, I really love my iPod Touch! Lol.

I guess that’s all for now. Sorry for this lame post. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to update this blog this coming week again. I will be very busy this coming week (my final exams aren’t over yet, and we also have this movie to shoot for our Lit class) so before it’s too late, I want to say that I hope all of you will have a very fruitful and meaningful Holy Week!

See you soon!

PS: I’ll try to add more decent photos of my iPod Touch tomorrow.

  1. We have this class project that was supposed to be passed yesterday. This afternoon, we were still in the process of finalizing it. I don’t know if my blockmates were able to pass it today but it looks like they did. [↩]

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2007 in 7 Lists of 7

Posted on December 30, 2007 at 9:16 pm | 10 Comments
Filed under Boggling Blogs • Bulky Books • Daily Dose • Internet Insanity • News Central • Random Realities • Site Stuff

It’s been my tradition here in my blog to post a yearend entry (2005, 2006). I usually post the most memorable things that happened to me from the very first day of January until December in my year ender specials, and in 2006, I’ve also included a list of my favorite entries for the whole year. But this year, I decided to make seven lists of seven. The lists talk about the best of 2007 except for the news category. I’ve also added notes here and there, and some are potential spoilers so be warned!

Most of the things that I have listed below are in either chronological or alphabetical order.

Books

This year, I was able to read 15 books, almost twice than last year. I really had fun reading this year.

  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — JK Rowling: The ending of Harry Potter’s epic tale was really fantastic. JK ended it with a fitting finale. How I wish there is a sequel to this book, but then, the time has come to end this very fascinating story.
  • The Kite Runner — Khaled Hosseini: I like this book very much. Furthermore, this is the best book I have read in my entire life. Unlike other fiction reads, this book is realistic. I recommend this to all, but most especially to those people who are not hooked into books and to Afghan refugees.
  • A Thousand Splendid Suns — Khaled Hosseini
  • The Chinese Cinderella — Adeline Yen Mah: [My Review]
  • Youngblood3 edited by Artura, et al: If you’re into Filipino literature, this is the book that you should buy. Very entertaining. And this is not fiction, by the way. [My Review]
  • The Dogs of Babel — Carolyn Parkhurst: The weirdest book I have ever read. It’s about Paul, a linguist, who tries to teach his dog how to speak. No, not because he’s out of his mind but because he wanted to know the real cause of his wife’s death. The words Parkhurst used in the ending of the story were really strong. [My Review]
  • For One More Day — Mitch Albom: Another tale about death. Yes, it’s a good book, but how I wish Albom would explore other topics. [My Review]

If you have read these books, you would notice that most of them are sad stories, but yeah, the characters lived happily ever after.

Songs

Entries

  • Faulty Schedule: My craziest misadventure this year. In this entry, I wrote how I spent almost 12 hours… in the mall.
  • The Perfect Duo: Chemistry and Zoology: You would fail these two subject if you don’t know how to memorize. And would you believe me that I enjoyed them? Haha.
  • The Divine Subjects: A review of my subjects back in first year, second semester. I used Dante’s concept in his Divine Comedy to give the final verdict for each of my subjects.
  • Stinks and Sells: I particularly enjoyed writing this. It’s my own version of what’s in and what’s out.
  • Big Surprises: The story how I acquired my notebook.
  • Let’s Talk About Grades (Part 2): What I realized in these posts was that grades aren’t everything.
  • Signs and Symptoms of Stress: The title says it all. I had a good time writing this and rereading it makes me laugh. XD

I know that the title of this entry says that for every list, there are seven items. But I have to break that because I reckon I have more interesting entries this year. And so we continue…

Web Apps

  • Last.fm: A cool way to discover music.
  • Google Reader: This one is a bit old, it’s been out since like two years ago. But it deserves a spot here.
  • Twitter: Who doesn’t love Twittering, eh? It’s enjoyable even though there is a maximum of 140 characters per tweet.
  • Sxipper: This one is actually a Firefox plugin. It can automatically input your information in every single form. It can also remember and generate passwords for you. A similar service is Clipperz.com.
  • del.icio.us
  • Flickr
  • Google Apps: Sign up and get your @yourdomain.com mail. All of the essential features of GMail are included. There are also other available applications that you can use.

News

Unlike the other categories, this one does not talk about the bests of 2007. These are the breaking news here in the Philippines. Majority of these are bad news.

  • Bus Hostage
  • The Glorietta 2 Blast: What’s the latest developement? Have they solved this?
  • Mariannete Ampere’s Suicide: A very very sad story
  • Erap’s Pardon: No way!
  • House of Representatives Bombing
  • The Peninsula Hotel Siege: Trillanes, please spare the hotels. Lol.
  • Peso’s Increasing Value: How come we cannot feel it?

Bloggers

I had fun reading your blogs! Keep on writing interesting blog entries!

WordPress Plugins

Yes, I know, most of things/persons that I have listed above (Especially in books, songs, web apps, and bloggers) were not published/released or didn’t start blogging this year. But then, this is my blog. Haha.

Well, I suppose, this is my last entry for this year. May everyone have a prosperous 2008! Rock on!

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Indie Playlist

Posted on November 7, 2007 at 5:10 pm | 11 Comments
Filed under Random Realities

The Postal Service Death Cab for Cutie
Augustana Snow Patrol
Gomez Imogen Heap
Feist The Fray
Hellogoodbye Regina Spektor

The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
Death Cab for Cutie - Marching Bands of Manhattan
Augustana - Boston
Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
Gomez - How We Operate
Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek
Feist - 12341
The Fray - How to Save a Life
Hellogoodbye - Here (In Your Arms)
Regina Spektor - On the Radio

You can see more of my favorite indie music in my Last.fm account.

*****

Thanks to Ate Rachel for giving me an award. I’m glad to hear that you appreciated me visiting your blog. It’s really nice reading your blogs about Yohan and your adventures as a mom.

PS: Forgive me for the very nonsense entry. This is just for the sake of updating my blog. Haha.

  1. Try to watch its music video, it’s so funny [↩]

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PA - E01: A Pair of Pear

Posted on July 7, 2007 at 10:21 pm | 9 Comments
Filed under Bulky Books • Daily Dose • Featured Flicks • Podcasteeg • Potter Phenomenon • School Sabotage


Download mp3

Oh! Look! This is the first episode of Podcasteeg. Well, I still haven’t achieved my preferred accent and my voice really sucks, but I have decided to do this because I want to try it. I had fun doing it.

I used Audacity to and my built-in microphones on my notebook to record this episode. I haven’t used any music because I don’t want to breach any copyright law. Anybody knows where I can download GPL music? And if you have a suggestion on mind, please tell me about it.

Forgive me for the wrong grammars that I have commited, and my awful and horrible voice.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the first ever episode of Podcasteeg. This is Christian Evangelista of Asteeg.Net, that’s A-S-T-E-E-G-dot-N-E-T. So, uh, today’s 07.07.07 or July 07, 2007. Lucky day? Uh… no, I don’t think so. Uh, though seven is favorite number, I still don’t think that this is a lucky day. Neither numbers nor dates dictate our luckiness. I still think that it’s still up to you if you would want this day to be lucky or not.

Okay, moving on, uh, well, school is crazier nowadays. Everything is different. As what one of my ex-blockmate had said, if in our first year, it is us who make our selves stressed, now, the sight of our school is enough to make you feel stressed. What’s more is that in two weeks time, ya, two weeks time or 14 days, we will already have our prelims. and that spells B-U-S-Y, and that’s busy! Well, at least, I’m enjoying my English class right now. Uh, currently, we’re on phonetic transcription or whatever you call it. Our professor told us that it is easy, ya, I think it is. But sometimes, it can be a bit confusing, especially if you don’t know how to pronounce words correctly. For example, the words S-T-A-I-R and S-T-A-R-E are supposed to be pronounced the same. That’s stair and stare. Why are you staring at the stair? Likewise, with the words P-E-A-R and P-A-I-R. So that’s pair and pear. She ate a pair of pear. Yes, I know it’s crazy. Our instructor also told us that the word C-O-M-P-I-L-A-T-I-O-N is supposed to be pronounced as compilation and not compilation, again, that’s compilation. Uh, the word T-U-I-T-I-O-N on the other hand, is supposed to be pronounced as tuition.

And now, let’s talk about the Harry Potter fever. On July the 11th, that’s a Wednesday, yes, a Wednesday, the fifth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be released in the country. I don’t know if I would be able to watch the movie on the 11th because I’m supposed to be in school until 5pm on that day and my class on the following day will start at 7am. So, there’s only a little possibility that I’ll be able to watch it on that day. Nevertheless, I’m planning to watch it two times on the big screen. Uh, the first time I’ll watch it, I suppose, I’ll be alone, yes, alone because I don’t want to be interrupted with tremendous amount of questions while watching it. And on the last time, I’ll be watching it with my friends or with my family. And on the 21st, the last Harry Potter book entitled harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released. I can’t wait to have it on my hands. I’m getting excited! The problem is that I still haven’t reserved a copy and the book costs around PHP 1500. I guess, I’ll pay for it in cash on the release date. Well, seriously, I don’t have any theory on who will die and who will survive, but I hope Harry would still be alive at the end of the book. This is going to be good July to remember!

Well, I suppose, that’s all for the first episode of Podcasteeg. See you next time if there is a next time. Again, this is Christian Evangelista and don’t forget to leave your comments.

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