I married the high school prom queen…
…and life with her in it has been nothing less than awesome since.

Happy Anniversary, Jam!

1. Click teh play button!
2. Enjoy teh photos below!

Have fun! Click-drag your mouse cursor around to navigate through the photos. Click on a photo to embiggen. Use the arrow keys to switch to another photo. Try the “Start Slideshow” button at the bottom of a zoomed-in photo.

Technical notes for visitors:

• Your computer shouldn’t suck and should have the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player web browser plug-in installed in order for the streaming audio (Dewplayer) and interactive photo wall (cooliris) to load and work properly.
• Having a low-latency, stable, broadband FAST Internet connection goes without saying.
• Scheduled automatic publishing/release of this blog post was set by lucky bastard (yours truly) for midnight on Saturday, June 26, 2010.

Kabulusan

You can’t get an unobstructed view like this in the Metro – just wide, open space as far as the eye can see! I bet this place would be awesome for taking night sky photos.

Cows, fields, mountains, sky

It’s like in a painting. A picturesque view of rice fields (now harvested and dry), cows grazing, and Mount Banahaw with its companions.

Roadside Bench

Above, photo-stitching (using Microsoft “ICE” – Image Composite Editor) was a failure in the dark corners. I think it was because the photos that the software discarded were focused on the sunset and so were too dark to render or stitch. The bench was supposed to be in the center of the panoramic image.

All photos were taken on May 29, 2010.

Another photo of the Pila-Victoria Road is in the post, Pila’s Best Kept Secrets Revealed on the Bayang Pinagpala website/blog. Incidentally, the town’s name, Pila is short for Pinagpala – meaning blessed or fortunate.

Do you have photos of Pila-Victoria Road you would like to share? Post the links in the comments below!

Halina’t ipakita ang iba’t ibang dako ng ating bansa kung saan nakapaskil ang hindi makakalimutang, “Bawal Umihi Dito!“

Post your photos directly to http://bawalumihidito.posterous.com/

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• Type the title of your photo in the subject line
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3. The date you took the photo (if you like)
4. “Bawal Umihi Dito” at the end (don’t forget!)
• Don’t forget to attach your photo!
• Send your email to post (at) bawalumihidito (dot) posterous (dot) com

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Ownership of and rights to the photos posted here are retained by their respective photographers and are the responsibility of the person who submitted them.

At Rustan's Supermarket on Katipunan Avenue

I cannot say for sure if the above left photo really is Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s son, Congressman Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, allegedly browsing the booze / hard liquor section of Rustan’s Supermarket on Katipunan Avenue, as Typhoon Ondoy/Ketsana raged on (which submerged Metro Manila in 410mm rainfall – a month’s worth in just 12 hours!). The image is blurry and inconclusive. Mikey has publicly denied it is him (see Mikey’s statement on Tumblr).

However, on the right, we are definite that that’s me and my son earlier tonight (photo taken by my lovely wife). We were shopping for Marie (TM) soft biscuits for him to munch on. He is teething – like any 8-month-old baby should be.

Note that there is a difference in camera angle between the two photos.

While ordering Chinoy comfort food

Related link:
North Park Noodles [Official Website]

The lost art of handwriting (in pencil)

The lost art of handwriting (in ink pen)

Would these sentences above have passed the inspection of Jessica Zafra’s second grade teacher? Would Umberto Eco gauge my cursive handwriting to still have “soul, style or personality”? I also write in all-caps, which I attribute to my being a Gemini and being born in the Year of the Horse (notwithstanding my three years of studying Architecture at University).

The days when children were taught to write properly are long gone. Does it matter? Yes, says Umberto Eco. In The Guardian: Umberto Eco regrets the passing of good handwriting (Posted on 21 September 2009).

Recently, two Italian journalists wrote a three-page newspaper article (in print, alas) about the decline of handwriting. By now it’s well-known: most kids – what with computers (when they use them) and text messages – can no longer write by hand, except in laboured capital letters.

In an interview, a teacher said that students also make lots of spelling mistakes, which strikes me as a separate problem: doctors know how to spell and yet they write poorly; and you can be an expert calligrapher and still write “guage” or “gage” instead of “gauge”.

The tragedy began long before the computer and the cellphone.

The crisis began with the advent of the ballpoint pen. Early ballpoints were also very messy and if, immediately after writing, you ran your finger over the last few words, a smudge inevitably appeared. And people no longer felt much interest in writing well, since handwriting, when produced with a ballpoint, even a clean one, no longer had soul, style or personality.

Why should we regret the passing of good handwriting? The capacity to write well and quickly on a keyboard encourages rapid thought, and often (not always) the spell-checker will underline a misspelling.

Although the cellphone has taught the younger generation to write “Where R U?” instead of “Where are you?”, let us not forget that our forefathers would have been shocked to see that we write “show” instead of “shew” or “enough” instead of “enow”. Medieval theologians wrote “respondeo dicendum quod”, which would have made Cicero recoil in horror.

The art of handwriting teaches us to control our hands and encourages hand-eye coordination.

The three-page article pointed out that writing by hand obliges us to compose the phrase mentally before writing it down. Thanks to the resistance of pen and paper, it does make one slow down and think. Many writers, though accustomed to writing on the computer, would sometimes prefer even to impress letters on a clay tablet, just so they could think with greater calm.

Related links:

• Umberto Eco on the lost art of handwriting [JessicaRulestheUniverse.com - Twisted by Jessica Zafra]
• Umberto Eco: The lost art of handwriting [The Guardian - guardian.co.uk]

The solar eclipse of July 22, 2009, will be the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting at most 6 minutes, 39 seconds.

This solar eclipse will be the longest total solar eclipse that will occur in the 21st century, and will not be surpassed in duration until June 13, 2132. Totality will last for up to 6 minutes and 39 seconds, with the maximum eclipse occurring in the ocean at 02:35:21 UTC about 100 km south of the Bonin Islands, southeast of Japan. The uninhabited North Iwo Jima island is the landmass with totality time closest to maximum, while the closest inhabited point is Akusekijima, where the eclipse will last 6 minutes and 26 seconds.

A partial eclipse will be seen from the much broader path of the Moon’s penumbra, including most of Southeast Asia (all of India and China) and north-eastern Oceania.

Says the Philippine Daily Inquirer;

If the weather in Metro Manila is clear, the moon can be seen covering the sun by as much as half, or 49.5 percent, by Gabriana’s calculations. The eclipse can be viewed by residents in the metropolis from 8:32 A.M. to 11:01 A.M.

Check out the photos I took below:

To view and photograph the eclipse, I initially used a glass plate with a candle-smoked bottom. I was also wearing my X-Men “Cyclops” ruby red wrap around sun glasses. Then, a neighbor saw me and joined in on the fun. He lent me a glass slide from a welding/welder’s helmet. Salamat po, Mang Bing!

A couple of these once-in-a-lifetime shots would make great submissions for the now-defunct Mirror Project, don’t you think?

I’m flying away
Running like the wind
As I chase the sun
Up spinning around
Circles in my mind
Sailing over ground

- “Chase the Sun” by Planet Funk, circa 2000-2001

Related links:
Solar eclipse of July 22, 2009 [Wikipedia]
Partial solar eclipse to be seen July 22 [Inquirer.net]
Listen to “Chase the Sun” by Planet Funk [EJ's Blip.fm music channel]

Brought to you by the Umbrella Corporation and ejpadero.com. Click thumbnail to view in full size.

Today, my sweet, wonderful, loving, smart, and beautiful wife celebrate our wedding anniversary. Well, maybe the “smart” bit is debatable because she married me. All in all, it’s been a great year I would not mind repeating.

Also, yesterday was my dad’s 61st birthday. Inshallah, his cancer has been kept in check since being diagnosed two years ago (sans one kidney) – no new growths. Yay.

On the slopes of Mt. Makiling. I can see the SLEx and Tagaytay from here!

After watching the May 3 Pacquiao vs. Hatton fight, my in-law’s and I went over to Jam’s Tito Mandy’s house in Calamba. It was for an extended celebration of Jam’s and her nephew Barnett’s birthday.

We walked off some of the excess food by taking Johann to the nearby park, on his first stroller ride. Click here to view the album of photos.

Related links:
Johann’s First Stroller Ride [Jade's Multiply]

The Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton fight last Sunday was very short, but sweet nonetheless. A good, clean fight.

Down for the count twice in just the first round, slow motion replay shows Pacquiao fake with his right and then delivers the nail in the coffin with his solid left – sending Hatton to the canvas for the third and final time, flat on his back in the final seconds of the second round. Poor guy got clobbered. Pwn3d!

Related post:
Jollibee and I Turn 31 This Year