Cyber Bullies & Silent Wordwars

The past week and days have been quite hellish for me because I was so swamped with work related deadlines that I found it hard to find extra time to write down some blogposts or even check on my Twitter and Plurk timelines. I do get to peek at them from time to time but not actively as I've done so before work ate up most of my waking hours. Yesterday, since I was working from home and I've already delegated some of the work load to the other designers, I got the chance to check out my Plurk.

It wasn't pleasant. As I recall, I was browsing at around 8am and there was a lot of fighting online going on. I knew most of the people concerned because they've become acquaintances and friends in the blogging community. Sadly, as far as human nature goes and the diversity of clashing personalities, these online bickering ensued. Everyone was in everybody's business.

I have to be honest that I was tempted to post my comments there as well. One of the people concerned has also done some cyber bullying at my expense in the past. But I held back. I didn't want to add a fresh gust of wind on the dying embers of their word wars.

It's just saddening that Plurk was a great tool for me to meet great people, but it also opened my eyes that I was living a sheltered life. There are bad people out there. Bad people who tend to use you and then toss you aside, there are also frenemies who make you question your principles and the lurkers who just make your life their business just to have some drama in their otherwise boring lives.

Yes you can sense the resentment in that paragraph. And yes lessons have been learned..rather painfully at times. Having gone through all that, I'm proud to say I'm a tad wiser now.

Charlie’s Grind and Grills

When you’re craving for great meaty angus beef burger then you can do no wrong with Charlie’s Grind and Grills. The burger is surprisingly good although I would have wanted it to come in a much much bigger size.

Black Angus burger with Fries Php 175.00

The burger is served open-faced like this, so that you can see all the melty-cheesy goodness and the thick angus meat patty under. The fries were cut thick, seasoned just right and with just enough potato skins to add to the crispiness.

…and of course you can pair your burger with the beer of your choice. Bottoms up!

This is definitely one burger joint I’d be frequenting, just to try all that they have to offer in their menu.

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Charlie’s Grind and Grills

Ron Art Center, Madison St., Greenhills

San Juan City, Metro Manila

Philippines

Yay Peanuts Moleskins!

I love sketchpads, that is no secret. It takes most of my self-control not to go out of a bookstore selling expensive designer sketchpads without buying one. There’s one kind of sketchpad I’ve always wanted to have…a Moleskine sketchpad. They’re great and the paper is excellent but they’re well above my budget range.

Now Moleskine has come up with Limited Edition Peanuts Moleskine Sketchpads. Woot! These would be great to sketch on. Aaaargh. My self-control is already dwindling just looking at the photos.

Disney Princesses Fan Art

I found hundreds of fan art out there, but these are the ones that I thought were the most creative and unique.

by ~suisei-ojii-sama

by HelleeTitch

by Eric Tan

by marvel artist J. Scott Campbell via Pink is the New Blog

Become the Legend

Zack Snyder delves into the world of animation with the debut of his first film in the genre. The Legend of the Guardians takes on a different light from the books by Kathryn Lasky in the upcoming 3d movie from Warner Bros. Pictures.

Now on a true hero’s journey of self-discovery, young Soren and his friends join their mentors in an action-packed battle against the evil Pure Ones to protect not only their freedom, but the very existence of the Guardians of Ga’Hoole, who have sworn an oath to mend the broken, make strong the weak, and vanquish evil.

In a special behind-the-scenes look of the film, Synder discussed some realistic lightning sequences that they've integrated into the film. The added special touches, makes the film more breathtaking to look at.

Here's what the animation team had to say:

“Zack brings a visual language to his movies that is distinctive, and so do we at Animal Logic, so the marriage between Zack’s vision and our vision was easy right from the get-go,” says the film’s producer, Animal Logic CEO Zareh Nalbandian.

“We don’t think about our movies as animated,” he continues, “we think of them as movies; Zack didn’t come on board to make an animated movie, he came to make a great action fantasy adventure, tracking a hero’s journey, which happened to be in an animated world.  It was about creating a visual feast for audiences that would be unique.”

I'm excited to see how Snyder does in the animation genre. I loved his previous works…300 and Watchmen.

Stepping into the animation realm for the first time, Snyder enthuses, “Animation is filmmaking without limits.  When I saw the potential of what the movie could be, and thought about the chance as a filmmaker to actually be able to create any shot I wanted…I couldn’t wait to see what we could do.”

The Legend of the Guardians is opening soon in theaters nationwide.

A tale of Passion: Stone

The last time I saw Edward Norton in a movie was when he was transforming into the big green giant that we all know as the Incredible Hulk and now we'll see him again in the upcoming drama "STONE."

What is the film about?

"...A convicted arsonist (Edward Norton) looks to manipulate a correctional officer (Robert De Niro)  into a plan to secure his parole by placing his beautiful wife (Milla Jovovich) in the lawman's path.."

Robert De Niro co-stars in the film, another factor that makes this film worth-seeing. De Niro is a phenomenal actor whether as a good character or bad.

"...as parole officer Jack Mabry counts the days toward a quiet retirement, he is asked to review the case of Gerald "Stone" Creeson, in prison for covering up the murder of his grandparents with a fire. Now eligible for early release, Stone needs to convince Jack he has reformed, but his attempts to influence the older man’s decision have profound and unexpected effects on them both…"

The movie is set in various locations depicting the harsh side of the consequences of giving in to human nature. Expect scenes from a maximum security prison and an "economically ravaged community."

Stone will be shown soon exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Trinoma, Glorietta 4 & Greenbelt 3).

Etsy Metal Jewelry Finds

She's Dating the Drummer - Rock and Roll Cast Brass Drum Set Pendant Necklace

$22.00

DecibelProductions

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Hootie Head Locket

$20.00

rubyanndesigns

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Victorian Bronze and Copper Filigree Heart Scent Locket

$24.00

TrashAndTrinkets

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black stone Owl Necklace

$4.50

lifelittle

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Vintage Voyage- Hot Air Balloon Charm Necklace

$38.00

heartworksbylori

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Little hedgehog necklace in silver and concrete

$56.00

lulubugjewelry

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Fluttering Necklace...Verdigris butterfly, Swarovski pearls and floral pendant

$25.00

StellarLightDesigns

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This is how lucky we are

Count on “The Other Guys”

Not every cop can be a hero. It takes all kinds to fill a police force – you got your superstars, the guys who get the medals, your hot shots, glory boys, vets – and then… there are the other guys. Guys like Detectives Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg) who never make the headlines, in Columbia Pictures’ new action-comedy “The Other Guys.”

But every cop has his or her day and soon Gamble and Hoitz stumble into a seemingly innocuous case no other detective wants to touch that could turn into the city’s biggest crime. It’s the opportunity of their lives, but do these guys have the right stuff?

“Gamble and Hoitz are not necessarily what you think of when you think of the heroes of buddy cop movies,” says Ferrell. “Gamble is a forensic accountant, a desk cop, the guy who never leaves the office, who’s very much into his paperwork. Hoitz is more of the streetwise guy who’s jonesing to get out there and make a name for himself.”

“My character is obsessed with what he thinks is real crime: drug dealers, vice, murderers, and anything that's going on in the street,” says Wahlberg. “Will’s character’s whole attitude and approach to police work is paperwork. That’s all it basically comes down to – paperwork and white collar crime. But I’m stuck with him because of a mistake that I made.”

“Literally, around one in the morning that night after that first dinner, director Adam McKay sent out an e-mail describing a cop movie where Will is the guy who wants to do desk work and the opportunity arises for him to step up,” says co-writer Chris Henchy. “From that, we started talking about it and danced around the idea and went in and pitched it.”

Strangely enough, the comedic outline of the plot would be inspired by the current headlines – and Will’s character, though outrageously silly, is a new kind of cop and perhaps the future of law enforcement. “We like the idea of Will as a policeman, always on his computer, loving paperwork. He solves crimes from his desk, with a computer,” Henchy continues. “That’s how you catch the Bernie Madoffs of the world – it’s not hitting the streets, it’s following the paper trail.”

“Allen Gamble is a guy who loves – he actually relishes – paperwork,” says Ferrell. “Working on the computer and organization are police work for him. He’s an earnest, sweetheart type – a guy who plays it very close to the vest, a buttoned-down type of guy who shows up right on time for work and stays to the very last minute.”

Ferrell says that working with an actor like Wahlberg afforded the filmmakers the opportunity to work the comedy in a way that emphasizes his strengths. “Sometimes the comedy is conversational, and other times, it’s broad and crazy and out of control. Adam and I always feel like the best comedy is played straight – as real as possible. In fact, this might be the most real movie we’ve done tonally, which makes the situations that Allen and Terry get into so much funnier.”

James Franco as the Young David

James Franco plays David, the young lover of Julia Roberts’ character, in Columbia Pictures’ new romance drama Eat Pray Love.

In the film, Liz Gilbert (Roberts) is a modern woman on a quest to marvel at and travel the world while rediscovering and reconnecting with her true inner self. At a crossroads after a divorce, Gilbert takes a year-long sabbatical from her job and uncharacteristically steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life. In her wondrous and exotic travels, she experiences the simple pleasure of eating in Italy, the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of love in Bali. 

Eat Pray Love starts off in New York, where the reasons for Liz’s need to get away is explored and established through her relationships with two men: her ex-husband, Stephen (Billy Crudup), and her lover, David.

“Liz and Stephen is a couple that has fallen out of love – they have material blessings, but they want different things in life,” explains director Ryan Murphy. “They’re not meant to be together, but this does not make their time together any less valuable or worthwhile.

In turn, Franco’s character, David, adores Liz and rekindles her passions that she thinks have disappeared from her life. Producer Dede Gardner strongly believed that if you don’t like who she goes off with after walking away from her husband, the story isn’t going to work. “There was no one else in the world to play this part,” she says. “James is adorable and sexy, but also very cerebral, with an enormous beating heart and generous spirit.”

“When David and Liz meet, Liz is searching on a lot of levels,” says Franco. “She’s looking for a way to connect to someone romantically, but also some deeper, spiritual meaning in her life. Maybe it’s not a relationship that’s going to last, but it sets her off on her journey, so there are positive things that come out of it.”

Franco and Roberts had their challenges as they had to dive in very quickly to their chemistry as a couple. Says Franco, “The first scene we shot together we made out, and by the end of the day we broke up. It was very intense.”

Franco is best known for his starring role as Harry Osbourne in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. He was last seen starring opposite Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant’s Milk in which his performance earned an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in David Gordon Green’s comedy Pineapple Express where he starred opposite Seth Rogen.

On Opposite Sides of the Law

Award-winning actors Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) and Jon Hamm (TV’s Mad Men) play cop-and-robber literally, in Warner Bros. The Town, an action-thriller about friendship and betrayal, love and hope, and escaping a past that has no future.

In the film, Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is an unrepentant criminal, the de facto leader of a group of ruthless bank robbers who pride themselves in stealing what they want and getting out clean. With no real attachments, Doug never has to fear losing anyone close to him. But that all changed on the gang’s latest job, when they briefly took a hostage–bank manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall).

 

Renner plays Jem, Doug’s closest friend and a kind of brother-in-arms, albeit on the wrong side of the law. Unlike Doug, Jem is resigned to the life he was essentially born to and has no compunctions about his criminal pursuits.

Renner observes, “Given their upbringing, Jem and Doug had to lean on each other throughout their lives, so they are definitely more like brothers than friends. But now Doug is veering away from the only life Jem has ever known and Jem is trying to reel him back in, to knock some sense into him, as if to say, ‘We’re bank robbers. That’s what we do; that’s all we are.’ The conflict between them lies within that.”

“Doug and Jem have a complicated back story,” comments Affleck, who also served as the film’s director. “They’ve been best friends since they were kids, but they have become very different people…people who would not be friends if they met today. However, because they have this shared history of loyalty and love they are bound to each other, and that puts a lot of pressure on Doug. Jem is always on the verge of being out of control, and Doug is the only one who has been able to make sure he doesn’t go too far.”

Meanwhile, Hamm portrays FBI Special Agent Frawley, who heads up a task force investigating bank robberies in Boston. “He is an outsider,” Hamm acknowledges. “But although he is not from Boston, he has a lot of experience with these types of crimes and has been there awhile, so he knows all the players.”

This latest string of robberies is frustrating Frawley because he knows who the perpetrators are, but still hasn’t been able to nail them. “It creates an interesting dynamic between my character and Ben’s character,” Hamm says. “A fundamental element of a good heist movie is the interplay between the good guys and the bad guys. Who’s going to win? But here, the line between the good guys and the bad guys is less defined because you can empathize with both.”

“I’m a huge fan of Jon’s, so I felt really lucky to have him in the cast,” states Affleck. “When I met with the real FBI agents, I noticed that they projected a certain kind of power and intelligence, and Jon conveyed that. He’s acutely smart and there is something about him that innately commands respect. It would be hard to imagine an actor who was more right for this role.”

Opening soon across the Philippines, The Town is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Legend of the Guardians from the eyes of Kathryn Lasky

Is it shaping up to be the 3d movie to watch out for? We’ll see soon enough. In the meantime, here are some words from the author of the Guardians’ series.

The beloved Guardians of Ga’Hoole books by award-winning author Kathryn Lasky are brought to the screen by acclaimed filmmaker Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300) in Warner Bros.’ fantasy family adventure in 3D, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.

A New York Times best-selling author, Lasky has written over 120 children's and young adult fiction and nonfiction books and sold over 11 million copies.  She talks about her Ga’Hoole series of books in the following interview:

Question: How long did it take to write the first Guardians of Ga'Hoole book?

Kathryn Lasky: The first book took the longest because I was trying to really set the main characters and the whole future course of the series. So that was about four months of writing and editing.

Q: Where did you get the inspiration for the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series?

Lasky: Well, my first idea was to do a non fiction book about owls. My husband Christopher Knight, a former national Geographic photographer, and I had done several non fiction books together illustrated with his photos. But Chris said that it would be awfully hard doing a non fiction book what with owls shy, rare to the point of endangered and that the best pictures would be at night. So lighting would be difficult. It was his idea that I try a fantasy book. In the beginning I thought I would just do one book. But when I sent the proposal into Scholastic, Jean Feiwel, the editor in chief, called me up and said "This is not just one book. It's six". I was kind of shocked. I thought how on earth do I stretch this out to six? But now I am just starting book 13. So I guess I sort of figured it out.

Q: Did you hope, on some level, that your use of owls would enlighten readers to respect nature more?

Lasky: Maybe on some level. But I rarely write with a moral objective in mind. To me the most important thing is to tell a good story. If I can do that I think that enlightenment, respect of nature, etc. follows.

Q: How did you research the books? Did you consult with owl experts?

Lasky: I early on discovered the Owl Pages and it was enormously helpful. But I did a lot of research in libraries. I talked to some people at the Audubon Society. I live in Cambridge , Massachusetts and there are wonderful libraries there. So I used the Harvard libraries as well as the public ones.

Q: What is your favorite Guardians of Ga'Hoole book?

Lasky: That's like asking what is your favorite child. But I have to a admit that I enjoyed especially writing the legends trilogy, books 9, 10 and 11 - The First Collier, The Coming of Hoole and To Be a King where I delved back into the ancient history of the owl kingdoms.

Q: If you were an owl, what kind would you be? Or What owl are you most like?

Lasky: I don't know which of the owl characters I am most like but I have a special fondness for Barn owls and Spotted owls.

Q: Which Guardians of Ga'Hoole character are you most like?

Lasky: As is said I don't know which one I am most like. I think they all have elements of my own personality, except for Twilight. Twilight is absolutely modelled on Muhammed Ali who has always been right up there as one of my all time favorite heroes.

Q: Which books will be included in the Legend of the Guardians movie?

Lasky: The first movie, or what we hope will be the first of many, will include books 1 through 3. The movie is going to be CGI and they used a lot of the owls from the Harry Potter movies. It is the same movie company Warner Brothers and the same producer.

Technorati Tags: legend of the guardians,guardians of ga'hoole,owls,Kathryn Lasky

Learn some Fashion with Instant Stylist

I had a bit of fun learning about fashion trends for significant seasons through the InStyle magazine website. Here’s how the game works.

• The flash game gives a little popup window with instructions on how the game works.

• The game gives you a set of clothing items to match as an outfit with just one item to make the set complete. The game gives you a little fashion tip and a hint when you make the wrong choice.

 

• After you’ve made the right selection, you are also given the reason why the complete outfit set works and you are given points accordingly.

 

• Each round consists of five stages with the last one being a bonus. You can find a link within the game on where to find the items.

• Here are some of the sets that I liked.

 

If you’d like to try out the game for yourself, just click on this LINK.

Technorati Tags: games,casual games,games on fashion,fashion games

Google Chrome Themes Second Pick

Metropolitan Theme – INSTALL

Pentoa Theme – INSTALL

REQ Blue Theme – INSTALL

Purple Theme – INSTALL

Iron Man Aero Theme – INSTALL

Quiet China Theme – INSTALL

Purple Theme – INSTALL

Vert Theme – INSTALL

IwateSan Theme – INSTALL

Retro Notes Themes – INSTALL

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