Funky Notes

snowman in Romeoville, Illinois, USA

2008-01-31T06:58:00.000-08:00

26 Jan 2008. My sister's place - Romeoville, Illionois, USA.

Luton, United Kingdom jam

2007-12-13T21:28:00.000-08:00

11 Augt 2007. In the raw jam w/ UK based Pinoy friends.

Fire in Manhattan

2006-12-14T19:52:00.000-08:00

10 Dec 2006. Manhattan, New York, USA. Witnessed FDNY's quick response to a fire scene. ...

Holy cow!

2006-11-17T13:25:00.000-08:00

This kid reminds me so much of my eldest son. Man these kids sure know how to kick ass. And I thought I'm good w/ my axe. Check out the other videos of these latino kids. Howahhh.

Click here for more head spinning, bangin, droolin guitar works from these 3 latino kids...Rock on

Acute GAS

2006-09-19T00:10:00.000-07:00

Acute what? G.A.S - Gadget Acquisition Syndrome. Yep, That's how my close buddy,kumpare, and bandmate calls it. The pic above shows his array of guitars,amp,& effects. Must have cost him a fortune already.

I'm beginning to feel like I've got GAS myself. Last sunday, I gave in to my desire. Bought a guitar amp which was on sale at SM Las Pinas. Couldn't help it. Although I must say, it's worth it. Now, I'm convincing myself if it was indeed worth it :). I must say also that this baby is sweet and ROCKS. So, it is worth it.

Liberty up close and personal

2006-04-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

Now I'm back in Cambridge, UK. How time flies. Three more weeks and I'm back in Manila again. Back to my lovely wife and 2 adorable, growing boys. Ah, I miss them already.

Anyway, I don't know if you've heard of dropsots. I tried it and it seems to have served its purpose. To host pictures and videos. I posted my New York & Chicago pics here.

Yesterday was my B-day. I know, I would have celebrated it w/ my loved ones back home. But I didn't. So, yesterday was kinda depressing and sad. I'm feeling the blues again. I guess I've to stop here...for now.

BL - Blog Leave

2006-03-20T23:27:00.000-08:00

What can i say? It's been 3 mos. since I last updated this blog. Yup, been busy w/ my new job/role. It's a very daunting role but I'm not complaining at all.

Been bloghoppin lately and closely monitoring, 4trackmind's posts. This guy can write. If you're reading this, jumangz, I know you're grinning from ear to nose. he-he. I'm happy for this guy. I can tell, he's going places. Actually he already is.

Now, here's another dude I find 'joy' to read. I'm talking about ricklags 'aka' mentalnoise. Very articulate dude & deep.

This bloke is also addicting to read. Amazing guy, can write and spit 1k words/ minute. :)

I'm travelling again. This time it's a euro-us trip. I'm leavin by next week for uk. Stay there for about 3 days for briefing and from Uk, fly straight to our NY office. Of course I'm excited. This is my first time to travel to the Big Apple. Will surely post pics of NY specially the statue of liberty and TT Ground zero.

Heathrow jam

2005-12-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

not to brag, but my band sounds a lot better than this band. and just take a look at the dilapidated room ceiling. you know how much is the rental for this place/studio? 40£ for 4 hrs. wow, that's about 4000 pesos back in manila. here's more, the band had to bring their own instruments, drum set,amps, guitars, lest, they pay extra 5£ per instrument. nothing's cheap here in london.

but i look like i'm havin a good time, right? oh yes, i did. the cute and young chick beside me is the daughter of my friend here in london. she's gonna sing a dido song 'white flag', this coming saturday(dec.17)in a filipino community christmas party. i'd say this 'dalagingding' just needs more exposure and she could be the next 'xfactor' here in london. and what am i doing here? i'm supposed to be doing back-up vocals and sing the calling's 'where ever you will go'.

I got promoted.

2005-12-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

wow, what a week!. i'm not sure if i'm supposed to post this but can't help it. monday, dec. 6, 2005, my brit boss approached me and asked me if i can have a chat with him. then he blurted it out, 'are you interested in leading the manila infra team as manager? say that again boss? anyway, to make the story short. i accepted the position and will be officially leading the manila infrastructure team. just like that, huh?

i know i'm going to do a lot of adjustments. drastic change. after 7 years of lotus notes apps development, i know i'm going to miss it. my primary role now woud be to manage several lotus notes/domino projects, deal with co-workers/developers/systems admins. people and communication skills would really come in handy. but i think i'm getting the hang of it already. i'm loving it. i still have a lot to learn. i'm learning and i'll just have to take it one step at a time.

Home Alone...

2005-12-02T13:27:00.000-08:00

it's my third week here in cambridge and i'm alone in this quite and cozy victorian flat. but i'm makin noise by playing my favorite mp3 collections. oh yeah, i wanna be sedated. its the title of the song that's playing right now. ramones. you know who ramones is? now i'm talking to myself. this ain't right...

my 3 pinoy officemates are in london right now. they attended a company sponsored java training/seminar or something. i don't really envy them. geek stuff again? what do i want right now? i wanna watch a live concert. heck, what i really want is to play and jam with a band. i miss that. i miss my band in manila. i miss manila. i miss my family, my wife, my kids.

i'm excited to go home. i'm happy with the outcome of my project deployment here. my boss is happy and the users are happy. i guess, that's what matters most. making your boss happy. right guys? right.

Cambridge Pics...

2005-11-12T06:31:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the pics taken @ cambridge university press today.
The house above is where we're staying. My office is situated at the back of this house.

More pix here

Touchdown...

2005-11-11T23:23:00.000-08:00

arrived @ heathrow airport last night(NOV 11,2005)around 8:30 pm. another 2 hrs drive to cambridge on a cold & cloudy dark night.it felt so surreal. i mean, i never thought that i'd go back to this place again. there's something different about this trip though. i still can't quite figure it out. what i know is, i feel good, more like i'm really ready and prepared for this trip. unlike around 3 years ago. i don't know. maybe its just the jetlag setting in. :0)

pictures of cambridge to follow. stay around folks(as if i've folks readin this blog)

now, i can point and shoot anytime, everytime, with my new girlfriend

2005-10-24T02:01:00.000-07:00

with my eyes closed, acquired this new baby...aint she pretty? now, i can point and shoot anytime, everytime...

i'm talking about this girl you perverts...

Writing the Right Stuff

2005-10-20T23:42:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking about writing blog/journal or essays. I mean this -> They Write the Right Stuff .

BISDAK !!!

2005-09-21T00:48:00.000-07:00

[re-posted from Bisaya Bloggers]

You are Bisdak...kung

1. You feel insulted when a non-Bisdak ridicules someone by saying "bisaya", but it's okay for you if you or another Bisdak use it to another Bisdak, as in "ah, bisayaa pud oy!"

2. You feel proud when "Matud nila" is sung and you sing along with it bisan wala nimo ma memorize.

3. Hibaw-an nimo kung unsa ang "habal-habal' bisan wala kapa kasakay ni! ani ug siyempre pa ang "sikad"

4. common usages kung ga-tinagalog: the use of "kuwan" as interjection ang superlative nga pirmi gamiton mao ang "masyado", i.e., maingay masyado, sobra masyado, bilisan mo masyado (read: paspasi lagi) adunay tendency nga pulihan lang ang "o" or "a" og "i", i.e., ang atop into atip, ang kan-on into kan-in, ang sud-an into sud-in ug ang utan into..(hehehehe)

5. you know what "itlog mo 'noy orange" means

6. you know that the karaang "bayle" aron mamahimong modern gipulihan na og "disco" - discoral

7. aduna kay hibaw-an nga at least usa ka kanta ni Yoyoy Villame or Max Surban bisan sa tono lang

8. you can use varied terms of endearment for friends and relatives like bay, parts, paparts, migo, kabs (kababayan), parekoy, pareng, choy, higala, kid, gaw, gaweks, manoy, nong, inse, ditse,iyo, iya, palangga, pangga, gang,

9. you call someone "Inday" and/or "Dodong" as a term of affection and hate it when o! ther non-bisdak use the term as if its a title given for a househelp.

10. you know what "maning hang" is

11. you know vino kulafu and fighter wine...sometimes you even know its jingle!

12. instead of stork, you chose snowbear or you buy Timbura when you mean Corniks

13. your familiar with the brand Loalde in clothing

14. you crave for inun-unan, paklay, halang-halang, law-oy, kinilaw, ginamos, bulad, binignit (tabirak), sikwate paresan sa puto maya,

15. Esteban Escudero and Golyat are folk heroes

16. Handuman sa Usa ka Awit is closer to your heart than Maala ala Mo Kaya TV show

17. You know what HITACHI means (Himantayon, Tabian, Chismosa/o)

18. SUTUKIL is as common as TAPSI, in fact you know that SUTUKIL came first

19. Your common pulutan for Tuba drinking is "TARGET" - asin nga targeton lang nimo sa imong tudlo

20. You have at least once in your lifetime experienced "Ang Mysterio sa Paglawig sa Barko Padulong Manila", a phenomenon that when the Boat is approaching Manila, everybody around you suddenly becomes tagalog speaking nga adtong miaging adlaw lang pwerting bisaya pa ninyo!

21. You whisper bisaya to a fellow bisdak in the midst of a tagalog crowd...and he replies loudly to you in tagalog!

22. The first question you ask when you found out that someone is bisdak, "taga-diin man diay ka?"

23. You usually use the warning phrase Hala Ka!

24. You know the meaning and proper usages of the following (irreverent)words/phrases: pesteng yawa, usapa na, pastilan, latina__ , butalo, way kurat, hast ang, puslan man, kuwangol, tortogok, gagoy, libod-suroy, ligas-paka, way kuha, ka-ubo, kolera, sampila(koy), burik_t, barbaki, mangga ka sir?, duhai singko, tolo pesos, balang, palag?, wa ka kyapi?, ok pas olrayt, haybol, ang pahak!, jer-jer, way blema, tulibagbag, pagarpar, giro, pamalalat, kalandrakas, bulala, ambot sa langaw pilay idad sa ok-ok, bugnawg simod, buak! ang pula, bagdok, gi-atay, gi-ahak, tibak (tiguwang bakla), NPA (nawong puros agtang),or, ug wala pai ilong lubot gyud nga tan-awon, mamaklad, agua de pataranta, tira pasagad, basin diay pilay pad's sa ungoy, banat kay awaaw, mat-an pas pinya, ngitngit pas alkitran, tak-om pas tuway, anak sa kagang bantol, pity of God(kalooy sa Dios), simbako layo ra to(I'll go to church even if it's far away)ug uban pa....

25. Sigurado ko nga naa pa kai ikadugang ani....

Ben's world no more...

2005-09-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

Why Funky Notes? In case you didn't notice & as if I've loyal readers already...:) I changed my blog title to Funky Notes. Why? Because Ben's World sounds so ordinary and egotistical. I'm still thinking about what to say in the About Me section. Now, going back to the new funky title. Well, I like the sound of it. Funky Notes could literally mean funky type of music. I love funky & rock type of music. It could also mean 'written notes' like what I'm doing now. I admit I'm not a good writer. I must say, I'm terrible in writing long and coherent essays but hey, at least I'm writing something. So that's the Funky side of the title. Now, the Notes part could also mean 'Lotus Notes'. To those who are into Information Technology, you may have heard about Lotus Notes. This groupware software has been my source of income since 1998. So far, it's been generous to me. It brought me to places like the Asia Pacific region & UK. Just a fitting tribute to 'something' which brought me a little fame & little fortune...hahaha. fame & fortune my arse...

New Template by Blix

2005-09-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

I sat down for like 5 hours trying to build my own template but gave up in the end. UI stuff is just not my stuff. But I found the exercise fun. I trully enjoyed it.
Now, I believe this is a nifty template. What do you think guys?

First things first...

2005-09-16T00:04:00.000-07:00

hay, finally, got to fix the dodgy template. but still, havent got the time to create my own template. just got a challenge from mentalnoise & is expecting me to join the bandwagon...that is to come up with my own, professionally, handcrafted blog template. ayayay. i'm really more of a webdeveloper. i'm so lousy with webdesign stuff.period. but just the same, i'll come up with something.

Need to update my blog template...

2005-09-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

When I first set up this blog, I decided to just use one of Blogger's ready-to-use templates. I wasn't sure how much time I was going to put into it, so I didn't want to spend a ton of time creating my own template. Besides, I like pretty things but don't have a designer's eye.

I like the new design of mentalnoise.
I also like 4trackmind's treatment to his blog template. And these guys are not even full time webdevelopers/designers...whoa!

So what shall it be? I just have to sit down and make the change...I really must try and catch up, if only to say that I can.

asshat

2005-09-08T23:13:00.000-07:00

n. slang
1. A thoroughly contemptible, detestable person.
2. Tight fitting underwear
[sny: asshole, asshead, assclown, asswad, asshot, assface, prick, faggot, whitey tighties]

hmm, the next time you want to scorn someone like your boss, just use the word 'asshat'. it sure sounds like 'asset' but of course you meant it as a disparagement...

check out "Asshat.The Official Site".

Fucking Tourists...

2005-09-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

LONDON, (AFP) - British tourists have left the residents of one charming Austrian village effing and blinding by constantly stealing the signs for their oddly-named village.

While British visitors are finding it hilarious, the residents of Fucking are failing to see the funny side, The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.

Only one kind of criminal ever stalks the sleepy 32-house village near Salzburg on the German border -- cheeky British tourists armed with a sense of humour and a screwdriver.

But the local authorities are hitting back and with the signs now set in concrete, police chief Kommandant Schmidtberger is on the lookout.

"We will not stand for the Fucking signs being removed," the officer told the broadsheet.

"It may be very amusing for you British, but Fucking is simply Fucking to us. What is this big Fucking joke? It is puerile."

Local guide Andreas Behmueller said it was only the British that had a fixation with Fucking.

"The Germans all want to see the Mozart house in Salzburg," he explained.

"Every American seems to care only about 'The Sound of Music' (the 1965 film shot around Salzburg). The occasional Japanese wants to see Hitler's birthplace in Braunau.

"But for the British, it's all about Fucking."

Guesthouse boss Augustina Lindlbauer described the village's breathtaking lakes, forests and vistas.

"Yet still there is this obsession with Fucking," she said.

"Just this morning I had to tell an English lady who stopped by that there were no Fucking postcards."

Original story here (it's Fucking censored).

Got my UK Visa...

2005-08-31T23:35:00.000-07:00

yep, it was a walk in the park. got my uk visa last aug. 30, 2005. now, i've a 6 months multiple entry uk visitors visa. which means, cambridge has to let me fly before the expiration date. i'm looking at october, this year, fall, tugnaw na.

Digital Trickery by a 10 year old kid...

2005-08-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

i can't help but share w/ you guys these awesome pics by my 10 year old kid with the participation of his kid bro., doing big brother's directorial debut. take note, pictures were not doctored using photoshop or any digital enhancement software. just pure imagination & camera trickery. ..beat that dad...:)

kuya help me, i ain't heavy but this giant mobile phone is...

oh no, giant t-rex is going to eat me alive...help

ahh, amazing boys...

Reviving this blog...

2005-08-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

just posted a comment in jumangz blog site. without thinking, it seems that that's what's happening to me nowadays...:) i logged in as a blogger user...so there goes my name over at jumangz blog site... now, that's the reason why i'm revivin this blog site. the last time i made a post here was jan. 05.

ironic, i'm into web development stuff, but i couldn't care about editing my blog's index/home page... it's even dodgy, outline is out of sync...who cares?

i'm excited about my incomin trip to uk. next week will be my scheduled appearance at the uk embassy. it should be a walk in the park, this is a company sponsored trip so i shouldn't worry...
it's been 3 years since i last visited the city of london. i guess, i'm lucky huh? i get to travell other places, for free...i think, I.T. still rules...

Lotus Domino and Apache Tomcat - Single Sign On (SSO)

2005-01-24T01:30:00.000-08:00

A link to an article regarding Domino & Apache Tomcat integration.

http://www.automatedlogic.com/domblog.nsf/dx/DominoTomcatSSOIntegration