Archive for March, 2007

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Lee Van Corteza is the National Pool Champion

Saturday, March 31st, 2007

2007 BSCP National Pool Championships

A title formerly held by Alex Pagulayan, Lee Van Corteza, 27 years old, defeated Marlon Manalo 13-11 earlier today to become only the 2nd National Pool Champion. The tournament was participated by 64 top Filipino players including the likes of Ronnie Alcano, Rodolfo Luat and Leonardo Andam. “Van-van” only lost once in the tournament, to Carlo Biado, early in the knockout stages.

The finals was not really what people might have expected, although it was close, both seemed to have finals jitters, missing balls and creating unforced errors more than what is usually seen in a finals match. At 12-11, Lee Van broke, runout and never let Marlon back to the table. In Lee’s journey, the semi-finals match between him and Dennis Orcollo was probably more memorable. At 9-9 (in a race to 10), Dennis was about to finish the match clearing out the rest of the final rack. In the 5-ball, he made an excellent cross table bank shot with perfect position for the 6. In a relatively straight shot to the side pocket, he missed the 6-ball, causing him the game, the finals slot and the whole tournament. Corteza then proceeded to clear the rack and gain the finals slot.

Lee Van Corteza pocketed Php 500,000.00 while Marlon manalo took home Php 250,000.00. Iris Rañola, on the other hand, emerged as the first ever winner of the ladies section and went home with Php 200,000.00, defeating Mary-Ann Basas of Davao City, 9-7.

I was only able to go on the third day, arriving around 7:00 p.m., expecting to pay Php 100.00 for the entrance, but instead we were let in for free because the gate was already closing. Was able to catch action in all tables simultaneously with the highlight being the Pagulayan vs. Andam match in TV table two. Here are some pictures.

Posted in Philippine Billiards | 4 Comments »

Losing Diana Zubiri

Wednesday, March 28th, 2007

I Wish

In Google. Anyway, make a search for Diana Zubiri in Google. For the longest time, I’ve had the top position for Diana Zubiri, it reflects the Diana Zubiri page @ Bembang! Girls. She is still a very coveted search phrase, and I’m down to number three. Thanks to that ladiesgallery.net and Wikipedia. I don’t care much about Wikipedia, I don’t consider that competition, but that ladiesgallery.net is not really informative.

Have to make some updates now, add some links, whatever it takes. On another note, Angel Locsin is still the most searched celebrity in the Philippines and my Angel Locsin page has dropped to the sixth. Thanks to the Starmometer empire. Notice that everyhing above Angel Locsin @ Bembang! Girls in a Google search (except of course for Wikipedia), is owned by Starmometer.

Posted in My Projects | 2 Comments »

2007 BSCP National Pool Championship

Monday, March 26th, 2007

The 2nd BSCP National Pool Championship

This March 26-31 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. The tournament starts live at 1 p.m., and will be televised at ABC-5 at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., except for dates which coincide with the PBA. Ticket prices are Php 100, 200 and 1,000 for a week’s pass. BSCP stands for Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines.

Defending the title is of course, Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan, who considers Ronnie Alcano as his top hurdle. Other players in the event include Dennis Orcollo, Antonio Gabica, Lee Van Corteza, Antonio “Nikoy” Lining, Rodolfo Luat, Ramil Gallego, Warren Kiamco and Roberto Gomez.

My money is on Alex Pagulayan this year, he recently defeated Dennis Orcollo in a money game match in One Side and is really on top of his game. The top prize is Php 500,000.00, with prizes up to the 16th place from RAYA Sports and sponsors. Also up for grabs are slots in the 2007 World Pool Championship, which will be held here again by the way. Hoping to catch some action this week, watch out for it in the gallery.

Posted in Philippine Billiards | 2 Comments »

Eventually, a gallery

Friday, March 23rd, 2007

Or a photoblog

I’m getting tired of my Multiply. Here’s my own gallery just like everybody. Plus, I can place ads here and I can land more search phrases that will hopefully land visitors to my blog. I just used Coppermine since I’m really, really used to it.

I’m not really into photography, although I’ve invested on a digital SLR, I just take lots of pictures to document my life. Once in a while I think I produce “nice” photos, but I’ve been looking at other people’s photoblogs and they make me feel like a beginner. Still hoping to improve my shooting skills someday.

Anyway, please check out my gallery, especially those of you who I know personally. I have only added photos from the time my blog was born, October 2006, hopefully soon I’ll have everything there.

Posted in Alanganing Bakla | No Comments »

Two servers are better than one

Wednesday, March 21st, 2007

I thought it would last a little longer. Upgrade time once again. I’m leaving my biggest site on it’s own in the more powerful server.

I got myself a second box for the rest of the sites. It’s a bit overkill considering the traffic I get plus the fact that most of the sites are just content sites, but the deal I got this for is really worth it.

A Pentium 4 3.0 GHz (with Hyper-Threading), 2 GB RAM, Dual 80 GB hard drives and 1000 GB bandwidth. All that for less than $100 monthly. Don’t worry, I did my research from hanging out in Web Hosting Talk. Plus, I got this from an old hosting provider which I spent more than a year with. They did welcome me back but my old I.P. is already taken.

Hopefully, no more SQL max_user_connections errors. I had thought of just separating all of the databases but I think I’ll end up doing that soon for the big site anyway. Oh well, bigger overhead, less earnings.

Posted in Alanganing Bakla | 4 Comments »

300 rules all

Sunday, March 18th, 2007

I’m not really one to post about something that has a slim chance of landing the search engines; this however, is an exception. 300 the movie rules all. Oh by the way, this post has been in my drafts for almost two weeks now, hence the high post id. I apologize to the 7! feed reader subscribers getting this late.

I was advised by my good friend to watch 300. Says she, the movie is dead-on hardcore. I knew about the movie before she even said anything but over-hyping something really takes off credibility to some extent. In this movie, I felt it was under-hyped. So spartans and spartanettes, if you haven’t already, please go and see the damned movie.

Thoughts In Binary’s guide to watching 300

Do not come with your significant other; go to the best and loudest cinema accessible and order the largest coke for the most caffeine. After the movie, pump some iron in your local gym whilst screaming “aaahh ooohhh aaahh ooohh” on every muscle contraction. Pick-up a fight.

Posted in Alanganing Bakla | 1 Comment »

Nicolette Bell’s favor

Friday, March 16th, 2007

For some reason, she wants her interview at Bembang! removed. She said that her friends ridicule her when they read the interview; and also, that the Nicolette in the interview is “not her anymore.” To add to that, she claims that she has different views in life now. Too bad, since the feedback I got from that interview is 100% positive; to the extent of inspiring aspiring models.

Nicolette Bell is now based in Dubai as a flight attendant and enjoys seeing the rest of the world. I think she’ll go home for a vacation in April. Anyway, for more information on Nicolette, just visit her official website.

Posted in Babae | 2 Comments »

Acer Aspire 5570ANWXCi

Thursday, March 15th, 2007

Finally

A new laptop. After two years of dealing with my slow Compaq Presario M2000, I finally decided it was time to part ways. A couple of window shopping sessions, online lurking, research, and I’ve found the right one. An Acer Aspire at only Php 39,900.00. It was either this, a gorgeous all-black HP 500 for Php 39,990.00, and a used Dell Inspiron 710m 12.1″ that was worth Php 91,888.00 when it first came out. The Dell was a really good steal; I just thought the 12.1″ screen might be a little too small for me. That, warranty issues, plus the fact that the seller admits to it having a couple of scratches; I just can’t live with that. The HP 500 on the other hand had an older processor and a smaller hard disk. Plus, the salesman said something about it not having drivers included.

Bang for the buck

This new notebook replaces last year’s Acer Aspire 3628ANWXCi in terms of value for money. Compared with the 3628, my 5570 has an upgraded Intel Core Solo processor, 512 MB DDR2 and 80GB HDD; all of that for the same Php 39,900.00 price tag. For complete specifications, click here. Oh, and it also came with a free Apacer 1GB thumb drive.

Raves

After getting used to a Celeron, anything higher will already satisfy me. However, I’m really loving the CrystalBrite LCD screen. It’s really sharp, bright and nice to look at; almost made the whites on my old notebook yellowish. I also noticed how powerful the wireless LAN is on this notebook. I’m getting really good reception at home in areas that were impossible with my Compaq.

Raves

For what this thing is worth, I have no complaints. It’s either that or I’m just easy to please. Ok, nothing’s perfect. If I could ask for more I probably would have wanted a DVD writer, it only comes with a DVD-CDRW drive, and a bundled Windows XP software. Nothing more.

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Posted in Strings & Things | 53 Comments »

Sugar Hiccup

Thursday, March 15th, 2007

Where are they now?

I’m not sure, but last night they were at 6 Underground. And, wow. Up to now I’m still on a sugar high and still experiencing hiccups.

History

I have been a fan since their first album “Oracle” was released in 1995. Remember 5 years? That enticing chant-of-a-song that never fails to give me goose bumps. Also, in 1998 they released “Womb” but that was their last. Melody del Mundo left the band to go to the U.S.

My Sugar history

I remember around 2-3 years ago I saw an ad posted in Mayrics looking for a Sugar Hiccup replacement vocalist. I thought, man it’s good that they still want to continue the band but how in hell are they gonna find a replacement that can top Melody? I’ve heard bands cover 5 years before, some were actually quite good, but there was always something lacking. In 2005, Ann Shy, manager extraordinaire, gave me a demo of Melody’s new material. I believe it was done in the States. I still have and listen to it, although I have no news if it has ever been released.

Currently

Their new vocalist. Her name is Beatriz Alcala. For me, a more sensual Melody del Mundo. What she fails to match in Melody’s vocal strength, she makes up in her sweet and sensual delivery; the range is there no doubt. Last year they released a new album entitled “Of Tongues and Thoughts.” Last night, it was my first time to watch them again; they played Bleed, Moden de and Summertime by The Sundays. Other members include Czandro Pollack on guitars, Russell Dacasin on bass and Mervin Panganiban on drums.

Just to add

Champagne Morales has a band called Champagne, Julianne is already famous, Irene of Chubibo still rocks and is still with Ricci Gurango and, 6 Underground is really, really going down.

Posted in Music Scene | 13 Comments »

Narda no more

Wednesday, March 14th, 2007

A couple of days ago, Ryan Villena, Narda’s drummer, made an announcement in their mailing list that they are scheduled to play their last gig on April 12, 2007 at Saguijo. It seems that the band has gone through a lot of changes in their line-up; which continues to this day, and this has prevented them from completely moving on.

Narda has probably been in the scene since 2001. I remember the first time I discovered Saguijo, when it was virtually unknown, they already had a schedule; they’re one of the pioneers and I think there could be no better place for them to hold their last gig.

The direction they took their music to is something I admire. When I heard Discotillion, their last album, it was unmistakably Narda yet it was so fresh. Seems like they were garage-influenced this time, and they incorporated it to their sound; something that’s easy to do but hard to pull-off. I hope to still see them doing other projects, especially Katwo, one of the best female performers today. Soon her and their act will be gone. Sad to see this band go.

Posted in Music Scene | No Comments »

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