The Broken Bow

Bataan Highway

2007-11-17T18:16:00.000+08:00

I have known a couple of streets, avenues and highways here in the Philippines named after the Americans such as the McArthur Highway, Taft Avenue and McKinley St. Some are even named after a place in the United States like the New York St. and Times Square St in Cubao, Quezon City.

I never thought though that there is a road in a US state named after a place in the Philippines - the Bataan Memorial Highway in Indiana. The road commemorates the heroes of the Bataan Death March.

Krillion - Finding National Brands Near You

2007-11-14T16:15:00.000+08:00

Krillion, a local search engine for offline appliances founded in February 2006 and funded by the Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, offers customers the convenience of having the location information of a product. It is an important site because it tells you who carries the product near you.

Searching for a samsung 32 inch LCD for instance would give a list of available items and their prices. Clicking on one would further provide you the product detail, reviews and product location. On the product location, you would see right away the price comparisons and if the product is available or not. Distance to the store and a map view are provided as well.

Top 50 Thinkers

2007-11-12T19:33:00.000+08:00

There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.
- Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

...I only know of eleven of them. Two are great bloggers - Seth Godin and Scott Adams.

Sunstop Media in association with Skillsoft produced this list of Top 50 Thinkers. The list basically answers the question, "Who is the most influential living management thinker?" The thinkers are chosen by business people, consultants, academics and MBA students throughout the world based on ten criteria. These are originality and practicality of ideas, presentation style, written communication, loyalty of followers, business sense, international outlook, rigors of research, impact of ideas and guru factor.

Shopping Coupons

2007-11-12T17:16:00.000+08:00

“You can get shoes for 85 cents at the bowling alley.”
- A Shopping Tip

Sometimes shopping, online or not, can be a demanding task. At times, you become indecisive, not really with shopping itself especially when you have a lot of resources. But difficulty in choosing what to buy is experienced when online shopping coupons, such as Old Navy and Dell, are involved.

Finding the best deals can be a grueling job. When you find one, you may even get to deal with the frustration of discovering that the coupon has already expired, or that it only works with the retailer's credit card. The technique however is to be persistent in searching. Never hesitate as well to try whatever coupon you have even when there is a disclaimer that "coupon cannot be combined with other offers". It may be a cheapskate but it can definitely save you a couple of bucks notably now that Christmas is near.

Top Ten Fighter Aircraft

2007-11-12T13:26:00.000+08:00

There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying.
The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Here are the top ten fighter aircrafts according to the Discovery Channel. Criteria include kill ratio, fear factor, innovation, production, and service length.

10. F/A 22 Raptor

9. Sea Harrier FA/2

8. Sopwith Camel 112

7. ME 262

6. Spitfire

The next two planes tied for the fourth place.
4. Mig15

4. F86 sabre

3. F4 Phantom

2. F15C Eagle

1. P-51D Mustang

Roger Murdock: We have clearance, Clarence.
Captain Oveur: Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?
- Airplane! (1980)

Shopping Cart Software

2007-11-12T10:33:00.000+08:00

Ashop is a shopping cart software that caters to merchants doing electronic commerce. It can be a good tool for those businesses not transacting online yet. For one, it is one way of obtaining a wider range of customers. And for another, it is also another way of giving customers convenience since they do not need to go out anymore from their homes to buy. The vendor comes to them.

A few of its features include the acceptability of credit cards, customization of the layout and design, and the quick and easy update of the content within hours. The benefits on the other hand include search engine optimization and uncomplicated usability of the site. Also, there is no need to install the software since it is web-based. It is affordable and secured with 128bit SSL encryption. It offers a 24 hour technical support as well. And finally, it provides free emails, upgrades, payment integration, and web promotion tools.

Smorty's New Referral Program

2007-11-11T09:03:00.000+08:00

In an earlier post, I mentioned about Smorty being another opportunity to earn, aside from being another way of increasing productivity perhaps. One of its differences with the other paid-to-blog sites is that Smorty would only take 5 full days to review your posts and approve them. Unlike other sites, your earnings will reflect on your paypal account in about two weeks. In terms of writing opinions, posts should be a minimum of 150 words and a maximum of 400 words. Also, only one link is allowed.

Now here is something new about the site. You only not get paid to blog but you also earn when you refer new bloggers to the site. You only need to place the Smorty banner to your site firstly. Then you earn commissions from anyone who clicks on that banner, signs up to the site and writes a post. A 5% commission of the total payments made to your referred blogger will be given to you. This would go on for as long as the blogger you referred writes posts.

A Little Nightmare Music

2007-11-02T15:54:00.000+08:00

The concert begins. The music is sublime.
Not even a pin would dare drop.
Suddenly, a cellphone rings and the madness starts.
- Igudesman and Joo

Indeed all hell breaks loose when the violinist loses his bow to a vacuum cleaner and the pianist plays the piano upside down. More so when Mozart's 40th Symphony blends with the James Bond theme.

Though exaggeration aside, Aleksey Igudesman and Richard Hyung-Ki Joo performed remarkably well. Listening to I Will Survive is very entertaining. Then hearing Michel Legrand's Les Parapluies de Cherbourg incorporated in it is pretty enjoyable.

Meanwhile, check out the 40th Symphony played with bottles and the violin version of the Super Mario Theme.

On Planners And Remembering

2007-10-25T10:14:00.000+08:00

...To escape the certainty of oblivion,
...This is what drives our species to diaries.
- Timepiece

Recently, I have forgotten a lot of things - birthdays, appointments, tasks, etc. And it is all because of not constantly checking a planner I got from drinking a lot of coffee. It is quite interesting though that Starbucks still believes in paper planners despite the emergence of PDAs and smartphones. A stylish old-fashionedness is definitely involved there. Anyway, what I do not like is the Starbucks planner itself. The cover, ballpen and incorporated cards are pretty commendable. But unlike a slim sturdy school planner I used to have in the past years, the Starbucks planner is really bulky and it does not have the time section. Each date only has notes section.

I can't help but recall the experience that got me started on having an organizer for myself. It began back in my college days when I was in an organization that taught catechism to kids living in poverty-stricken areas. Every Friday afternoon, the org would ride a bus going to a particular place in Fairview to visit them.

I joined the organization without the intention of teaching the kids. I signed up with the org for the sake of having an extra-curricular activity. So that for the whole semester, I was on and off when it came to teaching. On top of that, I was hanging by a thread as a student so my studies took priority over teaching. By the next semester, I decided not to teach anymore.

After about seven months, I felt that I got the hang of things already at school so I became a member of the org again. When I came back to the teaching area, I observed several changes. The place was cleaner and the kids had somewhat grown that I barely recognized each of them. When we were about to start the lesson, my co-teacher asked the kids if they still knew me. A couple of seconds passed and no one answered. Of course, who would remember or even want to remember someone who taught on and off? I started to get disappointed with myself when a little girl uttered, "Kuya Dundee!" They were the sweet words I heard in that place for that particular semester. I was really moved that somebody still remembered.

From then on, I promised to remember a person at least once a year on his or her birthday. I bought myself a planner to do that. But as it turned out later on, you have to be "comfortable" with the planner as well to remember things. Perhaps this coming December, I would be switching back to the school planner I used to have.

Brothers & Sisters

2007-10-01T22:36:00.000+08:00

Tommy: Hand me a screwdriver.
You know what a screwdriver looks like, don't you?
Kevin: It's orange and comes in a glass with ice.

Cooper (singing): Jingle bells, batman smells,
Robin laid an egg,
Batmobile lost its wheel and the Joker got away, hey!

What if you find out that you are not in the family picture and the photo is even posted by your mom on the wall of your living room? What if you discover that you have another sibling aside from the ones you have now? Then when you meet her, what if you have this urge to pull a strand of her hair to check if her DNA is a match to your dad's? On your mom's birthday party, what if an adult video finds its way on the presentation tribute for your mom? What if you are getting married while a sibling of yours is on the verge of having divorce? And so on....

You could actually create great stories just by asking the proverbial "What if". And Brothers & Sisters did it in a way that is decent, funny, witty, humorous and touching. If there is a sitcom better than Desperate Housewives, I would say that it would be Brothers & Sisters.

[Update: There has been a buzz in the blogosphere about Teri Hatcher, playing as Susan Mayer, in Desperate Housewives throwing a line that says, “Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Coz I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines.” Check a videoclip and some discussions that strike a raw nerve. Although there might be some truth in the statement especially when placed side by side with the nursing exam debacle last year, I still find it offensive because it somehow committed the fallacy of over-generalizing. The fact is that there are a lot of great medical practitioners from the country and they must not be brushed aside especially when they outnumber the few who are otherwise. As for the said few, this might serve as an eye-opener and a signal to prove to those who are unimpressed that they are wrong to be so.]

On Leadership

2007-09-10T12:05:00.000+08:00

As I see it, I need to maneuver my partner around the dance floor,
taking care not to bump into anyone or anything, dancing to the music,
spontaneously choreographing a changing and pleasing series of moves,
all the while maintaining light conversation.
- Mr. Data, Startrek

There are few things about leadership that can be learned just from doing the salsa dance. An article from an online dance instructional website where members receive access to thousands online salsa dance videos, and DVDs by mail, Salsa Dance BootCamp tackles about the tips on leading when dancing. Here are some basic points.

1. Lead clearly.
2. Avoid being a literal and metaphorical jerk.
3. Know the difference between smooth and jerky.
4. Use the lightest effective lead. Know the difference between indication and demand.

The tips given are quite interesting since they can be applied to the corporate world, or to any place where leadership is involved. Also, though they are insights presented from the perspective of men, everyone can pluck something out of these. And those are just the basics. A few more scrolling and one will learn about navigation and the philosophy of the dance. Navigation is all about looking around to avoid any collision and to get through tight spots. Understanding the dance philosophy involves the awareness that leaders lead and followers follow. If a partner can't follow, it is because one can't lead.

When Cab Drivers Blog

2007-09-08T23:04:00.000+08:00

I didn't know the city well
I often asked customers to tell me the way.
- Ihsan Aknur, Cab Driver

I was amused when I learned about Ihsan Aknur from Travel and Living. He is a cab driver in Istanbul, Turkey. And he has a website entitled The Best Taxi Driver. It is basically a website about his routes around the city and the people he met. Ihsan started it last 2000. He fondly remembered how his fellow taxi drivers laughed when he began to learn English back in 1982. Most of the words he learned were romantic like: "I love you," "You have pretty eyes," "Are you married," "What are you doing tonight," and "I've never seen a pretty woman like you". Then when he created his own website, again his friends laughed. Now he is working with Çiragan Palace Hotel Kempinski taxi station and he just acquired a new taxi.

Ishan's making of website got me thinking that perhaps the cab drivers in the Philippines could do likewise as well. They would probaby do great in making travel blogs. Though my guess is that they would likely produce political blogs.

Gone Running

2007-09-04T15:39:00.000+08:00

If you went running
when you first started thinking about it,
you'd be back by now.
- Nike

NOTCOT points us to the interactive "Gone Running" clock of Nike. It provides us with every bit of justification on why one should be running. Here are some favorites.

12:00 AM - Run like there's no tomorrow. Oh wait, it is tomorrow.
3:30 AM - Pondering your existence is best when done at a 10-minute pace.
4:30 AM - The most peaceful time to run? When the world's still asleep.
4:45 AM - Prove your busy calendar wrong. Make time for a run.
6:30 AM - March to the beat of your own drum. Run to the beat of your own heart.
8:30 AM - One hour running makes the next 8 more productive.
10:30 AM - Seeing your crush isn't the only way to make your heart beat faster.
11:00 AM - Brainstorm your plan for world domination on your next run.
11:15 AM - Keep your running friends close. Keep your running enemies at least two blocks back.
12:45 PM - Your favorite lunch spot is 3 miles away.
4:00 PM - Your best self is waiting at the finish line.
6:00 PM - You're just one mile away from a better mood.
9:15 PM - You might run into your soul mate. Or at least a squirrel.
9:45 PM - The internet will be here when you get back. Promise.

Generosity *

2007-09-01T20:35:00.000+08:00

To give and not to count the cost...
Except that of knowing that I do your will.
- St. Ignatius Loyola, Prayer for Generosity

A thought-provoking question from Seth Godin:

"If you didn't want anything in return, nothing at all, what's the most generous thing you could do for your best customer, your best friend, your most important prospect?"

For the best customer, I would likely give her or him a discount. Or probably an extra serving.

For a best friend, just to spend time with him or her, I would perhaps walk with him or her until he or she reaches his or her destination even if I am supposedly going the other way.

And for an important prospect, I would probably give her flowers and chocolates. But then I still could think of a more generous or perhaps romantic act like conspiring with high school friends to serenade her some time. Then again I could think of some more and the answers could go endless.

Though some things remain unanswered. Given that I am simply human, why would I not want anything in return? Because consciously or unconsciously, I want something in return either in the short run or in the long run.

Supposing that I do not want anything in return so I say that I give what is needed. If I specify that I give what is needed, then I am implying in a certain degree that I do not give just anything if it is only wanted. If it is needed, then I provide. If it is only wanted, then I do otherwise. The need-vs.-want scenario gives the impression then that I unconsciously want something in return. A condition is set - that I give only if it is needed. So that the answer "giving what is needed" is a kind that wants something in return.

Now, I usually do not want anything in return if I give to the person who has already given me something. Since the question speaks about giving to a best customer, a friend and a most important prospect, then there has been an established premise already that the concerned people have given me something. That is why I call them best and important. That is why I call someone a friend. I am being generous to the said people because of a prepaid generosity. But supposing that they did otherwise, I guess everything changes.

The real question then is, what could be the most generous thing one could do to complete strangers without expecting or wanting anything in return?

In contrast with an Online Tutoring service, I would probably give free tutoring to street kids.

But what if I give free tutoring just to feel good about myself? With it, I am already wanting or expecting something in return. So I guess motivation plays an important as well when giving.

* A post dedicated to a friend who each time says, "Always count your blessings."

Productivity

2007-08-30T07:14:00.000+08:00

The real secret to productivity is...to listen to your body.
To eat when you're hungry, to sleep when you're tired,
to take a break when you're bored,
to work on projects that seem fun and interesting.
- Aaron Swartz on How to be Productive

Philip Brewer has a point in saying that in order to be productive, you only need to be internally motivated. By doing what you're internally motivated to do, you'll never be more productive than when you're doing what you have a passion to do.

It's another story of course when you need to be productive in doing the dull stuff. A couple of productivity advice from WikiHow could be useful.

Creative Cities

2007-08-28T07:47:00.000+08:00

Minds fructify across generations and oceans,
otherwise literature and art and music
would be empty interludes and ornament.
- George MacKay Brown

A previous post speaks about Edinburgh being the City of Literature as appointed by UNESCO. The said city belongs to the Creative Cities Network that UNESCO's Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity established in order to link the cities that make creativity an essential element of their economic development. UNESCO has appointed a number of Cities in the fields of Design, Folk Art, Music and Gastronomy. The Cities of Design are Berlin, Buenos Aires and Montreal. The Cities of Folk Art are Aswan and Santa Fe. The Cities of Music are Bologna, Seville, Oaxaca, and Salvador de Bahia. And finally the City of Gastronomy is Popayan.

I wonder if at least one of the cities of Philippines like Vigan, Baguio, Cebu and Manila would qualify for and be regarded as a City of Folk Art.

* The photo shown is that of Seville, featured by a travel blog as the travel photo of the day .

American Choppers in Australia

2007-08-27T09:52:00.000+08:00

What are you doing here?
"I'm the chief fabricator and engineer.
You want an autograph?"
- Mikey

The Discovery Channel is currently featuring the American Choppers in Australia. Paul Teutul Sr. and his sons Paul Jr. and Mikey, were brought to the country last February 2007 by Tourism Australia and Discovery Networks to experience the best Australia has to offer and to design a Down Under-themed chopper. Aside from a visit to Russell Crowe's NSW farming property and a little cricket game with him, the undoubted softies toured incredible sights from the Harbour Bridge, Mrs Macquarie's Chair and Bondi Beach to Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef. The featured landmarks are simply marvelous that they compel admiration and make one arrange reservation right away at hotels in Sydney, or even at hotels in Melbourne or hotels in Brisbane.

In due course, Paul Jr. produced a bike that features the attractions of Australia. A map of the country was incorporated on the bike's gas tank. A mini-surfboard served as a cover for the belt drive. An illustration of Sydney's opera house was stamped on the taildragger fender. Boomerangs served as the wheels' spokes. The exhaust pipe was designed to look like a shark's tail. A snapshot of the Great Barrier Reef was painted on the oil's tank. And a kangaroo sign was displayed near the bike's engine. My only problem with the bike is that its handlebar is just too high that a small person won't be able to see the road. Just imagining the bike however makes one remember what Australia is all about.

City of Literature: Edinburgh

2007-08-26T00:29:00.000+08:00

The motto of Edinburgh, as you might still see it,
I think, carved over the old castle gate,
is "Sic Itur ad Astra" - "This way to the stars."
- GK Chesterton

Anything that bears the word "literary" often almost fascinates me. The word is considered to be high level that it is usually attributed to things like the arts, scholars in the medieval ages, or to any writings valued for the quality of their forms. To be associated with it is quite overwhelming and unbelievable.

Would you believe for instance that there is already a City of Literature? And it is UNESCO who declares the place to be as such?

Edinburgh is the first City of Literature in 2004. And perhaps it is rightly to be so because it has more booksellers per capita than any other city in Britain. It is home as well to the first billion-dollar author JK Rowling and to an equally great writer Alexander McCall Smith.

I guess it must be time for me to check the classified ads and consider Edinburgh jobs.

Lamps and Lights

2007-08-24T14:47:00.000+08:00

I was browsing through a site that offers a wide variety of products from ceiling fans to lamps. Under each of the items are arrays of product types. Say the lamps for instance, under the said product are different kinds of lamps, from floor lamps to torchieres. I was reminded somehow of my teacher in Philosophy of Science who once remarked that reading under a yellow light is better than reading under white light. I think what he meant was that reading under an incandescent lamp which usually radiates yellow light is better than reading under the fluorescent one which generally releases white light. This is so because the incandescent bulbs emit continuous light waves while the fuorescent ones produce sporadic waves. While indiscernible to the human eye, fluorescent lights are said to flicker thus straining the eyes and creating the strobe effect.

As to the white and yellow lights, it is said that the yellow light is created in the the absence of the blue color. The blue hue is intense that it stimulates a reaction we call "glare". In fact, the French, knowing of the said "glare", had the blue removed from the output spectrum of their vehicles' front lamps. Besides, since blue has the shortest wavelength and it easily scatters, it makes on-road vision very difficult.

Moreover, a study published five years ago found out that our biological clock is most responsive to narrow band of wavelengths from 466 to 477 nanometers (nm), which are close to the blue of a clear sky. The so-called ganglion cells in our eyes detect the blue hue and send signals to the brain that it is already morning thus ending a sleep or a circadian drift. The downside however is that bluish light is often detected from computer screens which oftentimes sabotages sleep schedules. The blue light reduces the brain's secretion of melatonin. Melatonin is usually brought about by dusk and darkness to help trigger and maintain sleep.

Now here is something that we can use for our advantage. Aside from a freshly brewed coffee or perhaps a couple of cancer sticks, the blue-light therapy can be used to keep ourselves late at night. While the yellow-light therapy is something that we can use when we want to doze off easily.

Feature: ShopWiki

2007-08-23T14:02:00.000+08:00

One of the amazing things about the internet is the so-called wiki. It is a collaborative website which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it. It was Ward Cunningham who applied the word for web use to connote something quick. He got the idea from a Hawaiian bus shuttle named Wiki Wiki. Wiki in the Hawaiian language simply means fast.

At the moment, one of the best-known wikis is the Wikipedia. Others are the Wikinvest and the Wikidot. But here is an emerging kind of wiki site - the ShopWiki. It is basically a shopping search engine designed to help consumers find specific products on the Internet. It has buying guides serving as the wiki site where one can contribute any knowledge about the featured products and moderate the contents for accuracy.

When buying, a customer is not really interested with the specific product but with the product category. This is because the customer needs to gather lots of information or options first before deciding to buy something. ShopWiki provides a central place for relevant information that a customer needs. One can search for personal audio and video products, home theater systems and cameras and photography items. The good thing about the site is its accuracy and its comprehensive coverage when searching for products. Unlike other search engines that provide biased results since they only show the retailers who paid, ShopWiki presents even an unknown retailer with the premise that it has the best price.

For more information, visit the site and check a brilliant story behind it on how everything started with a red British telephone booth.

A Sad Love Story

2007-08-18T09:58:00.001+08:00

AirTran Holdings set a $431 million dollar deal for its merger with Midwest Air Group. Despite its two year fight to buy the Milwaukee-based Midwest that it even received the approval of more than half of Midwest’s shareholders, it still lost to another suitor, Nortwest Airlines.

There were some hints that the federal regulators might not approve the sale of Midwest to the winning party, but Northwest Airlines Corp. could eventually end up owning Midwest Air Group Inc., which has agreed to a $450 million buyout offer from private equity firm TPG Capital.

The Best Title of the Day

2007-08-14T18:49:00.000+08:00

"...Orange preparing to make deal with Apple in France."

- A post title referring to ongoing negotiations between Apple and Orange aiming at a deal for the French telecom operator to carry the iPhone.

Anyone Can Be A Movie Character: A Quick Review of Ratatouille

2007-08-12T13:10:00.000+08:00

I had some reservations about the motion picture Ratatouille, pronounced as rat-a-too-ee, as to how it would really appeal to people especially to kids. The Anton Ego in me was somehow clamoring that a house rat is simply disgusting and it can not be a character in a film. A mouse or a kangaroo rat would have been a more suitable movie character. Good for the Flushed Away of Dreamworks though the main character, a house rat as well, looks quite decent. Firstly because the movie is some kind of a clay-animation which means that the horrid furry look of rats is eliminated. Secondly the rat has had some "decent upbringing" if anything like that applies for a rodent.

On the other hand, Disney's house rat, named Remy, is portrayed like a real life rat, with the horrid furry look and without the "decent upbringing". Take for instance the shot taken when he escapes out of a window with a recipe book. Remy even narrates, "This / is me." There is of course some exaggeration there in the window-smashing part but it illustrates to us a known point that a house rat is simply a pest. I wondered whether Disney ran out of characters already that its people decided to choose a house rat as the protagonist. I wondered how Disney would pull it all off.

But after watching the motion picture, here are some highlights about it.

The first one is the introduction's deductive approach which starts from the general to the specific. It begins with the world until it focuses on Chef Gusteau.

"Although each of the world's countries would like to dispute this fact, we French know the truth. The best food in the world is made in France. The best food in France is made in Paris. And the best food in Paris, some say, is made by Chef Augusto Gusteau."

The significance of this is that it immediately captures the attention of those who watch the movie. It situates and pinpoints them into a particular context.

The second highlight is the acknowledgement of some problems. One would be Anton Ego's negative criticisms. He takes cooking seriously and thinks that not anyone can cook. Another would be Remy's being a rat which simply means that life is hard. And another would be his having a highly developed sense of taste and smell which basically paralells the job of a poison checker in the point of view of his dad. Right there at the beginning, people already know whom and what the lead actors grapple with.

The third highlight are the sound tracks. Listening to each one actually gave me the same sensation that Anton Ego experiences when the taste of the ratatouille dish hit him. The music offered me a little bit of perspective. Le Festin and the Ratatouille Main Theme remind me of certain amusing and inspiring scenes of some European films such as Cinema Paradiso and La Lengua de Mariposa. Somehow, Le Festin and This is Me can be associated with some Korean comedy like the Sassy Girl. The 100 Rat Dash and other upbeat music remind me of the Brandenburg Concertos. Cast of Cooks has a bit of jazz in it typical in old thug-flicks such as for instance the Italian Job where Michael Caine starred in. The Paper Chase can be a soundtrack of the Star Wars. Collete Shows Him Le Ropes and End Creditouilles can be identified with a couple dancing the flamenco or tango. Michael Giacchino did a very good job here.

The fourth highlight is the unpredictability of its plot. My expectations were often the opposite of the outcome. In the film, there are always some twists involved. I was about to be filled with disappointment for instance when watching the scene where Linguini discovers the talent of Remy. I somehow had the thought that Linguini would turn up to be the user type. But as it turns out, he acknowledges Remy as the little chef that he even introduces Remy to Anton Ego. I also thought that Anton Ego would be greatly displeased that a house rat is able to please him with a Ratatouille dish. To the contrary, Anton Ego delivers a great very humane speech. Moreover, I had my doubts if packs of rats would really cook in the video because that would be so gross. I was expecting that Linguini would do everything by himself when his cooks leave him. But as it turns out, the house rats really do cook and I had the same horrified look like Skinner's when he enters the kitchen full of rats cooking. Then in the end of the film, Linguini reinforces this fourth highlight narrating that the only predictable thing about life is its unpredictability.

"Anyone can cook" is the theme of the movie. Which means that even a rat can cook. But I think what the movie is trying to say at least to me is that anyone can be a character of a movie. Even a house rat can be a film character and a great one at that. A Droste Effect is present in the film. The Anton Ego in it is only part of a smaller picture. The bigger picture are people such as myself who had reservation about the movie because the lead actor is a rat. These people are the real Anton Ego.

But just like Anton Ego, these people in the end recognize the worth in the discovery and defense of the new. Truly, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than the criticism designating it so. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. Or perhaps not everyone can become a great movie character, but a great movie character can come from anywhere.

Eight Facts

2007-08-09T16:24:00.000+08:00

I was tagged by OFWLayf and Tiriza to share eight facts about myself. I am sticking to eight since fifteen may be a bit overwhelming.

1. I have a weird fascination with Kiefer Sutherland's chin. His chin for me is the ideal chin.

2. This may be true for almost anyone but I am a computer-game addict. My favorites are Generals, Commandos 1-3, Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed and Need for Speed: Underground 2.

3. I have a collection of movie soundtracks cassette tapes.

4. I was a pingpong player in grade school. And I usually placed fourth or fifth out of six players.

5. In high school, my best friends and I formed a music band called Sugar Day. We were big fans of the Sugar Ray and the Green Day back then.

6. I was a freshman in college when I had my very first email address. And I'm still using it until now.

7. Sophomore year was the first time I entered a cinema in my whole life. The motion picture was The Mummy Returns. The movie theater was full so my schoolmates and I were standing when we watched. But I remember I was quite amazed with the hugeness of the place.

8. The next time I watched, I made sure I had a seat and some popcorn.

Now, I am tagging the following:
1. Punditocracy
2. Lemon Ink
3. Ar-Wee-Der-Yet
4. Bobo
5. Hello Katkat
6. Charissesr
7. Walking Tower
8. Ang Peregrino

[Update: Jehzlau Concepts tagged me as well.]

Blog Advertising

2007-08-08T21:01:00.000+08:00

I previously mentioned in my posts All You Need is Blog and Getting Lucky Thru Blogging about some ways of earning income by blogging. Recently, I discovered another site that gives you that opportunity – Smorty. Through it, you get paid to blog.

Generally, the site is a bridge between advertisers and bloggers. Advertisers create campaigns that Smorty eventually distributes to bloggers for write-ups. The set-up is beneficial for both the advertisers and the bloggers. On one hand, the sites of advertisers are promoted through the backlinks coming from the bloggers who write the reviews. This is called blog advertising. On the other hand, bloggers are paid for giving their opinions. Visit the FAQ page of advertisers and the FAQ page of bloggers for more information. Perhaps you would even consider joining Smorty’s Affiliate Program for additional earnings.

And one more thing about the site is that it points to useful tools such as the Easy SEO Guide and the Blog Optimization.