The Romantics Series from Faber Books

I love it when classic books get reprinted with refreshing (if not better) book designs. The Romantics series is comprised of eight hardbound poetry books with the cover designs taking inspiration from Josiah Wedgwood. Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. The book covers are very reminiscent of his pottery works.

The poets included in the collection are Byron, Clare, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley, Blake, Burns and Keats.The books are available for order online at the Faber website. [link]

This is Martha Stewart

If it weren’t for the titles (hinting that this is the Halloween cover for her magazine), I wouldn’t be able to tell that this is Martha Stewart herself. She looked so young, no doubt that some photoshop editing was done here. Well the highlight would be not the absence of wrinkles but the butterfly wings adorning her eyes. I’ve seen both positive and negative responses to it and I still think it’s great. I wonder if those are real butterfly wings (shudders).

Honeysuckle Pink Ensembles

I’ve been twiddling around Polyvore.com again with some outfit sets that center around the color honeysuckle pink. If you can recall, it’s the color of the year and one of the hottest colors for fall. Here are my creations using the color in different shade variations:

Honeysuckle Ensemble #1

Honeysuckle Ensembles 1 by chercabula featuring satchel handbags

Honeysuckle Ensemble #2

Honeysuckle Ensemble #2 by chercabula featuring snake handbags

Honeysuckle Ensemble #3

Honeysuckle Ensemble #3 by chercabula featuring 14 karat gold jewelry

Movie Review: The Change-Up

Disclaimer: Review may contain spoilers

Fresh from seeing Jason Bateman in the comedy movie Horrible Bosses, it was great to see him again the adult romantic comedy - The Change Up. The movie is about two friends who unknowingly switched lives after making a wish. The plot is not new, having seen it before in movies like Freaky Friday. What makes it different is how they switched lives, believe it or not it was by peeing at a magic fountain and making a wish in the process.

There are lot of reasons why you would want to see this movie, the reasons being Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds and for guys, Olivia Wilde. Jason and Ryan’s comedic style are very different. Jason’s is more subtle and he reminds me a bit of Steve Martin while Ryan’s is more cocky and obnoxious (but I mean that not in a bad way).

You’ve all heard of the saying that “The grass is always greener on the other side” right? I think this applies to the movie very well. In the movie, two friends who are complete opposites - Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) and Dave (Jason Bateman) switched lives after peeing on a magic fountain. They have been wishing for each other’s lives because Dave was successful and accomplished at work and in his home life while Mitch was in-between jobs, a crackpot and very much living a Bachelor’s life. Dave wanted a break so much and Mitch had the need to matter and be fulfilled.

After the switch, Mitch was able to see his worth and capability to excel while Dave finally got the break that he wanted. It wasn’t easy breezy at first because they soon realized that the lives that they wanted wasn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Soon they were wreaking havoc in each other’s lives and people were starting to get hurt.

 

It was amusing and fun to see Ryan and Jason go crazy with hilarious antics and spurt out obscene languages (I would be rich if I wagered on just how much the F-word was mentioned here). Olivia Wilde was her sexy and seductive self and the guys would surely love the scenes that she was on.

The Change-Up is one raunchy comedy that you wouldn’t want to pass out on. Make sure not to miss it. The Change-Up is released and distributed by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corp.

Technorati Tags: the change-up,movie reviews,solar entertainment corp,united international pictures,jason bateman,ryan reynolds

Back2Gaming celebrates its 3rd Year Anniversary

I was pleasantly delighted when my friend Vincent Haoson invited me to be one of the writers for his site Back2Gaming. Although I haven’t been producing much posts as much as I want (because of a very hectic schedule), I’ve come to love the writing team of the site. Now we proudly celebrate our third year (with an award to boast of) and we thought it fitting to give back to our fans and readers.

Prizes at stake are:

Razer L33t and Keyboard bags, Kingston 8 gb USBs, 2 PowerColor Videocards (6670 & 6790) and another copy of hoard for steam users.

Do you want to find out if you’re one of the lucky readers? JOIN NOW! The mechanics of the give away are ON THIS LINK. Good Luck!

Restaurant Review: The Old Vine Grille

I was very excited when I got invited to a food tasting at The Old Vine Grille at Eastwood Mall about two weeks ago and now just looking at the photos that I took made me remember just how good the food tasted. As my first post for When in Manila, to which I am now a contributor, I felt that my food review for this restaurant was very fitting because The Old Vine Grille is really worth recommending.

Here are a few of the dishes that we were served at the tasting…

    

Not only were the food presented very well as they came out of the kitchen (and very prompt if I may say so), they also tasted SOOO good. Curious enough? FOLLOW THIS LINK TO MY FULL REVIEW AT WHENINMANILA.COM.

The Old Vine Grille is open from 11am-11pm on Mondays-Thursdays, 11am-12mn on Fridays-Saturdays and 10am-11pm on Sundays. For reservations, please contact (02) 706-5573 at Level 1, Eastwood Mall, Eastwood City, Libis, or at (02) 836-4966 at Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.

Awesome Pink Curled Petal

~Curl~ {EXPLORED - THANK YOU!}
Originally uploaded by OneliaPG

I just happened to see this by chance on my news aggregator while waiting for my 3d rendering to finish and I can't help but admire the awesome clarity of the macro shot.

I love the vibrancy of the colors and the texture of each petal that you can clearly see on the photo. It made me think about how much I miss doing photography. I used to engage in the hobby with a passion. Now sadly, the last I held my camera was when I was invited to a wedding and I really didn't use it that much.

I miss fiddling with the settings, tweaking it until I was satisfied with my shot. I'm not too technical with the manual controls and I usually just go with my instincts and I'm lucky enough that my photos come out the way I want them to.

Seeing this photo inspired me to make a photo schedule again and to engage in the hobby once more. Who knows, maybe someday with some practice, I could produce a photo as wonderful as this and inspire a wayward hobbyist in the process too. :)

Movie Preview: Real Steel

The world of Real Steel was created when the demand for human athletes became less and less and people began to thirst for violence that was beyond human capabilities. That was when robots started to dominate the boxing ring.

Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) was a rising star in the boxing world just when robots took over. His supposed fame became out of reach and he only made enough for a living when he became a small time “bot” promoter.

When things became more desperate and dire, his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) re-enters his life. Together, they piece a scrap robot to enter into fights.

Director Shawn Levy hopes that viewers would get to read deeper into the lives of the three main characters – dad, son and robot and see what the movie is all about.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you’d know that we’re in for a lot of action scenes from robots fighting each other on the ring. There’s bound to be shots of Hugh Jackman in action as well.

Watch the video of Hugh Jackman below when he calls out to his Filipino fans:

Technorati Tags: real steel,hugh jackman

Delicious-looking Rainbow Food

These have always been a fascination of mine, they’ve always looked so good and I’ve wondered if they taste as delicious as they look. While I still haven’t tasted food as colorful as these, let’s just enjoy looking at them for now. If you want to browse more rainbow food, take a peek into this Pinterest board.

Movie Preview: 30 Minutes or Less

Jesse Eisenberg is back on the big screen with the flick entitled 30 minutes of Less. This comedy takes Eisenberg around town with a bomb strapped to his chest by two wannabe criminals. The criminals are played by Danny McBride and Nick Swardson. Nick (Eisenberg) must rob a bank or else, the criminals will blow him up.

What do you think? Is Eisenberg a big enough star to pull this off?

Trying out the new Facebook Timeline: My Thumbs-Up

Just today, the internet is abuzz with the new Facebook timeline. I've already expressed my disdain for the news feed update and the side ticker so I just brushed this aside. After having seen screenshots from several friends who were also trying it out, my curiosity won me over. So here's what my profile now looks like with Facebook Timeline.

Cool huh? Want yours to look like this too? Here are the easy steps.

• First, you have to access the Facebook developer page. [click here]
• Next look to the upper right side of the page and click "Create a new app".
• On the next window, just fill in the blank sections with whatever name you'd like to name your app (it doesn't matter what it is) and remember to check the tickbox before proceeding.
• Verify the captcha code and then find the "open graph" link on the next screen.
• On the next screen, fill in the fields with anything that you want. (Hint: be as creative as you can be), then click "Get Started".
• Next just scroll to the bottom and click "Save Changes and Next". You might need to do this three times.
• When done, wait just a few minutes and go to your Facebook homepage. You will then see a notice at the top of your newspage letting you know that you can now try out the new time line. Click "Get it now".
• You're done! Go to your profile and see the new changes. For an added touch, add a cover image to your profile to make it truly unique.

Note: You’ll be the only one to see this new profile, when your friends look at your page, they’ll just see the old format. However, this won’t be long because by Sept. 30th, Facebook will make this option available to everyone else.

Movie Review: The Glee 3d Concert Movie

I used to be a Gleek back in Season one and for some reason the second half of Season two, I lost interest in watching Glee. Now after having watched the Glee 3d Concert Movie, I think it renewed my interest for Season three. The movie shows the entire concert of the Glee cast with snippets of backstage clips and fan stories in between.

The fan stories were told in between performances and each fan had a unique and inspiring story to tell. They were mostly accounts of how Glee helped them overcome the problems that they were having in their lives. I enjoyed seeing these parts except for the story of one fan who appeared to be dangerously obsessed with Heather Morris. The others were okay, especially the Asian kid dressed in a Warbler uniform and knowing all the moves that Blaine did in the performances.

The backstage shots were okay too since most of the cast stayed in character and it felt like we're still watching the TV show. It was amusing to hear Britney thinking out loud and talking to the camera while her castmates looked on or smirked.

The song selections were good and they easily got me singing along especially with the popular ones. The stadium shown in the movie was packed with fans who were screaming their hearts out. I would too if I was there. Among the performances, my favorite would be of Brittany doing her rendition of I'm a Slave for you. When she took off her cover-up to reveal the same outfit that Britney Spears wore in the music video, you can almost hear the collective gasp of the audience and the hoots after. Man, she has a great body. I'm totally envious! If I was working towards getting a fit and fab body, I'd mold it based on hers. I loved her performances, she was like this ball of energy that couldn't be contained on-stage.

Artie was amazing too! He stayed  on a wheelchair during the entire concert and he was very enthusiastic instead of the shy Artie we see on TV. The wheelchair was part of his character in the show but it must be hard doing a concert in those. He rightly deserved the applause during the Safety Dance number.

Finally, the Warblers took the house down. Up until now, I'm still humming Raise your Glass by Pink. Darren Criss was so charming, now I understand why girls are falling crazy for him.

The Glee 3d Concert Movie helped me remember why so many people watch the TV show. It's not only seeing their favorite stars on TV but also the message that the show conveys to its viewers. They were a source of courage and inspiration for people to accept themselves as they are - flaws and all.

You don't necessarily have to be a Gleek to appreciate the performances and the music. However, it's an added bonus if you knew the background personalities of each character too. The Glee 3d concert movie is not a waste of money contrary to what Sue Silvester said, in fact it's quite the opposite. I'm betting that after seeing it, you'll be bitten with an urge to listen to the entire soundtrack too.

Technorati Tags: Glee 3d concert Movie,Glee concert,Glee movie

Perfect for Budding Graffiti Artists

When I saw Exit through the Gift Shop earlier this year, I found new respect for graffitti artists spearheaded by the likes of Banksy and saw the kind of artform that they were trying to express. Theirs was a different kind of creativity and thought process deviating from traditional art.

Now if you're inspired to follow in their footsteps and don't have the luxury of having a blank concrete wall or any graffiti-worthy surface to practice on, you might want to have a Walls Notebook with you. It doesn't have blank pages like a normal sketchpad, instead it has pictures of walls and vehicles from New York City. Now you can easily visualize how your graffiti art would look like.

The Walls Notebook is available for purchase online at $16.95. [PRODUCT PAGE]

So there’s another Paranormal Activity Movie

The first time I’ve watched the first movie, I couldn’t sleep with the lights off for a week. The second one was not as scary and I thought that they’d finally stop milking the franchise. No chance of that happening though because a third installment will be shown come Halloween.

Looks like we’ll be taken back to when they were still kids. A bit creepy though that they have cameras in their bedrooms then. Let’s see how this movie will fare in the scare factor. Watch the trailer at the official site, don’t bother searching in YouTube, you’d have to sort through a lot of fake vids.

Zombies are afoot once again

October is looming ever closer and with it comes the anticipation for the second season of The Walking Dead. Here’s a sneak preview.

The Adventures of Tintin Movie Update

Here’s a look at the movie poster for The Adventures of Tintin movie which will be released sometime end of this year. They’ve also released the latest movie stills where we can see the other major characters in the film. The movie is in full 3d and is directed by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, two of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Tintin and Snowy put their heads together trying to decipher a clue and where to go next.

Look just how cute Snowy is.

Suffering Succotash! Captain Haddock is shown here in all his ferocity.

The Thompson Twins! I can’t wait to see what they’ll get themselves into as they help Tintin solve the mystery of the Unicorn.

Technorati Tags: the adventures of Tintin,The Secret of the Unicorn,Steven Spielberg,Peter Jackson