Artwork of the Week: Then and Now

The torch has been passed and Title #17 has been a reality. The two Celtic legends has been Immortalized.The older talked to the latter and showed him the way and the tradition of proffesional sports' proudest Franchise

Taken with a cannon eos 400d.

OMG Larry Legend, What have they done to thee?

Although it is nice to hear that Mc farlane Sportspicks is having more celtics players included in their latest action figure lines (3 of the last 4 lines have players from the C's. However, there is a Problem due. Take a look at Larry Legend's new Figure.



The rosy cheeks, the smooth legs and the very akward pose. It is really hard to imagine that this would come by and pass the eyes of critics, collectors and fans alike. The pose of about to receive the ball from a pass looks great but needs improvement in the execution stage. If there is any consolation, the Parquet floor and the celtic logo on the base looks good.

Its sad to say that there are so many other Celtic legends that are eligible to be immortalized on the action figure line. Yet they created a second figure of an existing player. We still need Mc hale, Cousy, Parish, Jones, Havlicek, Auerbach and more to the mix. As well as Ray Allen in Celtic Green.

RP Youth Team Advances to the second round.

The Nokia RP Youth team Made it in the second round of the FIBA Asia youth championships.

This is a surprising news as they were not expected to squeeze through the second round with strong opponents from taipei and lebanon. The team beat taipei by one into double overtime then lost by 3 to Lebanon on the second match. They went to blow out UAE in the final match.

The team is now grouped with Iran, Japan and Korea.

Group I
China
Kazakhstan
Lebanon
Syria

Group II
Iran
Korea
Japan
Philippines

Eraserheads Reunion Concert Cut Short

After 10-14 Songs, the band took a 30 minute break and then there was an announcement regarding him being rushed into the hospital.

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/117229/Ely-Buendia-rushed-to-hospital-Eraserheads-reunion-concert-cut-short

Di mo talaga masisisi me sakit yung tao tapos namatayan pa 2 days before the concert. Hope Ely gets well soon.

FIBA Asia Youth Chamionships Start Today

Nearly a week after the end of the Beijing Olympics, Asian Hoops starts another chapter as the FIBA asia Under 18 championships today. Nokia Pilipinas Youh t will battle taiwan at 8pm that day. Follwed by a match against Lebanon the day after and UAE to cap off the last day of the preliminary round.

Cool Tournament logo BTW.

1st day
9:00 / CHN-HKG
11:00 / KSA-JOR
13:00 / KOR-KAZ
15:00 / JPN-IND
17:00 / Opening Ceremony
18:00 / IRI-MAS
20:00 / TPE-PHI
22:00 / LIB-UAE

2nd day
9:00 / JOR-KOR
11:00 / HKG-JPN
13:00 / KAZ-KSA
15:00 / IND-CHN
17:00 / SYR-MAS
19:00 / PHI-LIB
21:00 / UAE-TPE

3rd day
9:00 / CHN-JPN
11:00 / KAZ-JOR
13:00 / HKG-IND
15:00 / KOR-KSA
17:00 / SYR-IRI
19:00 / TPE-LIB
21:00 / PHI-UAE

Jason Kidd Picks Peak over Nike

Dallas Mavericks and Team USA Point guard Jason kidd, who was once a major endorser for nike and has one of the best looking basketball shoes ever, created for him (Air Zoom Flight Five), has dumped the swoosh for Chinese brand Peak.

Its quite an ironic thing that major brands nike, adidas and reebok going after China's athletes with Yi Jian lian, Lui Xiang and the Chinese basketball team for nike, Yao Ming for reebok and Adidas being the official outfitter of the beijing games. While Chinese Brands are going after other sporting personalities in the international market. With Shaq, the Spanish and Argentine national teams signed up for Li-Ning, Steve Francis signed up for anta, Anta also sponsors some International teams and Philippine Club teams. and now Peak, outfitters of that tight hugging australian womens basketball jerseys and Shane Battier now going for Jason Kidd.


I wonder if RP brand Accel would do the same?

Upcoming Zoid HMM

The HMM series of Zoids continues as kotobukiya relases the molga, a 2 kit set. One in normal and another in artillery cannon. It's a good thing that this great yet pricey line still continues even if they only shell around a kit or two every year.

Now here is to hoping they'll release an 1:72 HMM Dark horn.

Darius Miles Signs with the Celtics

Darius Miles recently signed a non guaranteed contract with the Celtics.

After posey left, the C's have been looking for a swingman to replace the moongoose. From Bill walker, to explode to Tony Allen become the player he once was and now D-Miles. Its a longshot but fans wish any of the 3 will fill the void. This signing is low risk anyway.

Anyways, here's an old SI cover of D miles with KG. They'll be wearing the same jerseys from now on.

Beijing 2008 Report Card: Tatlong Itlog? or is it?

And so it ends. Another olympics of frustration, another 4 years of waiting for the next redemption.

The hyped bets in taekwondo and boxing did not even produce a single victory as all lost in the preliminaries. Looks like Recah Trinidad and his genius friends will once again be happy and rejoice insulting everyone on his no brainer articles.

The Infamous post olympic blaming game (now on its 3rd Straight leg) continues. As those in the seats will read their scripts saying "The moment we entered the Olympics, we're already winners" excuse.

However, there is still a spark of light

The Philippines got a consolation prize in the form of a Olympic Demonstration Sport Gold Medal in Wushu courtesy of Willy Wang and was also accompanied by 2 more bronzes by Benjie Rivera and Mary Estimar from the same sport. Even though it is only a demonstration sport, it is still something to be proud of in the midst of 15 straight disappointing setbacks.

It is like having to join a beauty contest, whereas the country always fails to have a delagate reach the top ten, but always gets the consolation award instead. Like the philippines, which rarely gets to the top 10 semi finals but always manages to bag home a friendship or photogenic award. Its a spark of hope, a spark of promise. But in reality, it does not count.

So the RP's First official gold medal is still a dream, Unless they include singing in the olympics.

Artwork of the week: Wall.E (Photography)

Disney and Pixar's Newest CGI film.

Just saw the film yesterday and without a shadow of a doubt, the best film ever made by pixar and one of the best CGI Films ever! Taken with a Cannon Eos 400d
Taken with a Cannon Eos 400d

Who to Please?

When a station or a TV network acquires an anime license in the country, who should they try to please--The General Public or the Truest of Fans?

The kids, fickle and innocent, would feel happy and refreshed to see their favorite anime characters and heroes after a tedious day at school. They jump and cheer for joy every time the Autobots hold their own against the Decepticons, they religiously follow Naruto as he succeeds in each of his ninja missions while making them laugh with his antics, or they would wait for another season of Digimon with the cute and cuddly characters turning to mystical beast-like creatures.

The teens, on the other hand, would take to Asian drama series, watching San Chai (or Makino in the Japanese version), the most unpopular girl in class, being friends and hooking up with the Taiwanese and Japanese versions of the F4. These young viewers would watch the series, hoping that they don’t have to do drastic changes in their lives to attract their handsome prince and finally live happily ever after.

The working class, after facing the harsh realities of day-to-day living, go to their respective homes and try to forget all their stress and problems by watching soap operas.
Watching these makes them feel positive in life, giving them hope that they could do anything if they work hard for it, that good will always triumph over evil, and that even if the society is so degraded now, they can still find a way to have a happy ending someday.

There is, however, another subset, made up of die-hards and purists. These take the series to heart, patronizing only the original creators, actors and seiyuu. They buy their beloved series through pirates or even download them from torrent servers. Some of them love their shows so much that they buy the official merchandise, create fan art, and act out the characters through cosplay or role-playing. They don’t treat the shows as mere programs but as perfect, high standards of art that are beyond reproach. Some, however, take their zeal to a ridiculous level. They go around in their blogs, ranting about shows that they hate due to what they perceive to be sub par scripts or voice acting. Others even poke fun at regular fans of the series they hate, for example, labeling kids who are big fans of Naruto as “Narutards.” For them, every acquisition of the local networks is a target for criticism.

What’s good about these people is that they love and appreciate these shows. It would be so fulfilling for the original creators to be adored that way. On the other hand, they make it out as if no one translating their series can get anything right.

So which direction should TV networks take? Should they please the majority of the public wherein they could make money with the mainstream, or keep a concentrated but loyal niche, and lose some ratings in the process? You decide.

Ginebra Captures 3rd Crown in this decade.

After losing their first five games and searching between imports to get their first win, Barangay Ginebra won the Fiesta Conference Title and had their Eight PBA Championship overall.

Ginebra, With some of their Stars bugged by injuries and at played its last 2 games at the brink of elimination, defeated Air 21 Express 97-84

Chris Alexander, Paced with 19 rebounds, 16 points, 4 blocks, 1 Steal and 1 Assist. Eric Menk came back from his 2000-2004 form along with Tubid, stepped up and helped the Reigning best import with the scoring load

Air 21, Down for most of the 3 Quarters refused to go down without a fight, lead by a valiant effort from Steve Thomas, They fought back, came within a point or two and still lead by a little. But in the closing minutes of the game, they gave way through the fighting heart of the wounded kings and the thousands of their "Sixth Man". Still, a valiant effort

In other news, with this being the final game of the 2007-08 Season, The anchors from TV 5 (formerly ABC) said goodbye from the audiences. Starting next Season, The PBA will be broadcasted by C/S 9 and Basketball TV. No offense to The former channel, But with BTV's Expertise and Better Coverage/ Reception Next Season is going to be an exciting one.

Now That The PBA season is already finished, let us hope that their head honchos would start planning on next year's Fiba Asia team which is the qualifying team for the 2010 Championships.

PTF will Shut up and Accept Defeat

After Tshomlee Go losing to Australian Ryan Carneli 0-1 and suffering from a no count axe kick to the face in the second round of competition, PTF President Robert Aventejado Accepts defeat even if they disagreed with the results.

Earlier,The canadian delegation protested their Jin's (Ivette Gonda's ) Loss to the committee for its questionable loss to the swede . Even with the protest, it looks hard that there will be a rematch.

While it is usually a sore loser's mannerism to complain after any form of competition, and complaints in international competition, particularly to subjective sports like taekwondo, boxing and skating end up futile. There is no shame in filing up a protest if you know that you have enough ground and evidence to show for it. After all, its years of preparation gone to waste. Rivero and Fabrega are the last 2 left for the competition.

Will the Philippines land another big fat zero?

Sadly, Toni Rivero and Tsomlee go are the only pillars trying to prevent a third straight big fat zero for the Philippines. Rexel Fabrega is still there but as his Chinese coach made negative comments about his weight, looks like its a far cry from the medal.

After a Much anticipated media hype by sports officials regarding the possibility of a medal in their sports jurisdictions. Majority of the Philippine contingent fell one by one. Though in reality, the only medal bets for RP are Harry Tanamor, Tsomlee Go and Toni Rivero. The Smokin Nike Clad Harry, fell to an upset by a little known boxer from Ghana.

What is more sad is that Sports had slowly diappeared from the scene of national interest. Before, they can easily be seen on news even if it was just some of the daily basketball scores added by other international/ local sports news. Nowadays, Sports news that were a fixture of daily six o clock news shows are now rarely shown, only if there are special events, James yap kicks, Pacman training montages or an international sporting event like the sea games or nba finals. Sports have now been overshadowed by politics, showbiz news and socialite events.

Forget the Sea games Championships, The Record tying Gold medal haul in the Doha Asian Games, the Olympics is and should be the grandest stage of them all. The Country, knowing to perform bad in the quadrennial event, having only 9 medals in its 78 year participation. Notably it suffered two 12 year medal droughts from 1948 to 1960 and 1968 to 1984. It bounced back to 3 straight medals from 1988 to 1996 with its second silver medal courtesy of Onyok Velasco. The country also had won multiple medals in a single event only once in 1932.

So there it is, only 3 remain in the medal hunt. Two of them are slight favorites and one underdog. While this country only had its success when the prople are trained by non government institutions (Singing, pro boxing and billiards). Lets see if that turns around in the final stages of the games.

GMA is a Skrull! And another Pinoy Tribute to Francis magalona

As most Filipino marvel Fans were shocked (delighted?) of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo being portrayed as a skrull in disguise (beside John Mc Cain) in Marvel Comic's Secret Invasion series.

Others in the page are Tom cruise, Paris Hilton, John Mc Mcain, Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama and Her.

The Reason for this is that Leinil Yu, The Artist for the Secret invasion series is a Filipino.

There is another Filipino Tribute being shown in the Background. This is Francis Magalona's Clothing line or FMCC. This is a good tribute considering the Philippine Rapping legend is currently suffering from leukemia. Yu and The Master rapper are good friends.

In the news last night, Yu States that this was not in any way or form not intended to malign the president. But rather as a pun and a way to show more of our culture.

Artwork of the week: I want Bamboo

Reminds me of the Beijing Olypic Mascot Jing Jing :p

One of the 3 pandas from china on display at hong kong's Ocean Park

MEME :SEVEN

Tagged by Alec

Seven things you like the most:

1. Milk Tea
2. Gunpla
3. Jerseys
4. Sneakers
5. Takoyaki
6. Sushi
7. Track Jackets

Seven important things in your room:

1. Howe's Gifts
2. My PS2
3. My SLR
4. My Gundams
5. My TV
6. My Clothes
7. My Artwork

Seven random facts about you:

1.I lived the life of an Underdog
2. I hosted some anime and business events
3. My favorite color is green
4. Sometimes I can handle wierd stories or movies
5. I hosted some clips in Hero TV's Gcube and appeared in other shows as well.
6. My conversation with batista Went with me telling him to kill booker. He answered "Yeah"
7. If there was something I regretted in my life, it was Studying at NDGM

Seven things you can't do:

1. Read rants of otakus who act like some first class critics
2. Listen to ethnic and localized versions of foreign songs
3. snap my fingers
4. Focus under too many distractions
5. Chin Ups
6. Listen to AM Radio, Be it news and public service programs. They make me puke.
7. eat adidas

Seven things you can do:

1. Build a Diorama
2. Lose 10+ lbs in a week (though super duper haggard afterwards)
3. Create a vector portrait
4. Walk instead of commuting
5. Save up and splurge down
6. Sneak around a person Unnoticed
7. Drink multiple servings of energy drink

Seven things you plan to do before you die:

1. Get married.
2. Have my own Business
3. Go back to Japan a hundred more times
4. Get my masters here or abroad
5. Be the ultimate Artist I can be
6. Have my own big house
7. Have a Happy Family

Seven things that attract you to the opposite sex:

1. Being Artistic, has a passion for craft
2. Open Mindedness
3. Respects and accepts who I am as a person
4. Has a plan in life and is responsible
5. Loving and Caring
6. Smart
7. Thinks out of the box


Seven things that repulse you in the opposite sex:

1. Conyo-Bitch type
2. Too much of a Party goer
3. Irresponsible, does not have a plan for life
4. Players
5. Airheads
6. Baduy Pumorma
7. Too Conservative/ Those who stick too much to the norm.

Seven things you say the most:

1. Tangina...
2. Ahh..Ok
3. Talaga?
4. Damn
5. wala lang
6. Shet
7. tsk tsk...

Seven celebrity crushes:

1. Zhang Ziyi
2. Ayumi Kinoshita
3. Iya Villania
4. Kim Chiu
5. Bianca King
6. Rene Zelwegger
7. Dylan Vizcarra

Artwork of the week: Nightwatcher (Photography)

Nightwacher/ Raphael from the Movie TMNT

New Threads for NBA 08'-09'

Off Season is once again here! and while we are waiting for the new season come on november 08, here's some new changes. These are from the teams that haven't changed their logo. As for the Oklahoma City Thunder (Formerly Seattle Supersonics) As of Presstime, it hasnt been confirmed if they would really be known as thunder.



Orlando has one of the best looking away jerseys last season, very simple, streamlined but looks really cool. But now, with their 20th anniversary, they have changed their uniforms once again, this time with a combination of the old and the new. With the design of their 90's duds. The cartoony magic number and their pinstripes (now changed to look less gaudy)



Sacramento Kings basically its the seriff on their home uniforms placed on their away uniforms. Looks more of a minor tweak rather than a major change.



Back in 96'-97the T wolves had one of the best looking duds in the league. Unlike the 2 other teams that changed their jerseys that season (the pistons and the jazz) Their's wasn't as gaudy and loud as the other two. In fact Detroit and Utah already changed their dud seasons ago when the graphic jersey trend went down. Their jersey was still one of the more popular designs as of date. However, with this season, it is going to change. The font is too small and the color scheme is too pale. The design is more suited for the Lynx rather than the T wolves. I'm also wondering if the tree pattern collar is really like that or is he wearing the old jersey underneath.


UPDATE: New Orleans hornets also changed their jerseys, basically the same colors, just both Home and away will now spell New orleans, a little bit of change in the font and Pinstripes! Looks Like pinstripes are back in the NBA.

Overall teams do change their Jerseys, it is a symbol of their ever evolving tradition and identity. Sometimes change for the better, sometimes for the worse. Trends do come and go, But the designs will grow on their fans and be able to accept it, Because in it, is the team's identity.

Hosting the 08 toycon, I made a personal decision not to enter the contests for delicadeza purposes. That includes 2 of my favorite events, the diorama competition and the toy clicks competition. The diorama competition was special to me since I had victories on it the past 3 years and bagging first on the past 2 stages. However as time and priorites go to Jobs, less time then is alotted for hobbies. Building a diorama is so time consuming, the past 2 dios I have entered costs thousands of pesos and took more months to build. As for the Photography competition, I wanted to join as well. Even though my entry did not win the past year, it received a lot of praise and reviews. Also, making a photography entry takes lesser time, around just a few hours at the most.

I was lucky that I spotted another Photography competition. Cybertron Ph's Animated me Photography competition. I really found this challenging since it contains a theme and restrictions to be followed. such as the theme animated me and the non use of photogenic lines such as MPs and Alternators/ Binaltech (80% of my TF's are Alternators and Binatechs). Thus making the photographer do more ingeneous and creative ways to achieve a certain feel or Effect.

This is also a baptism of fire of sorts for my camera, the cannon eos 400d. Of which I have yet to use for exhibit or competition purposes.

Whats good about this is I got a sale bumblebee classics at sale from Wasabitoys. The Mech and its Alternate car mode is perfect for a 1:35 Scale Diorama which is the military armor scale for modelling. It was inspired by the TFTM's scene where autobots and the US army were fighting side by side. Although I changed it a bit to make it moody and turn into a night scene. Lighting effects were added to give effects of warfare and explosions. CD-R King's Tripod was a real help on this one since it helped stabilize the shot on longer shutter speeds and capture more colors.

This entry then won first place on Cyb Ph's Animated me competition. Overall a big thanks to those who voted, Playkit for the prizes and Cyb Ph who coordinated the event.

Nike Team USA Jersey 2008 review

As the 2008 are currently butchering their opponents en route to the beijing olympics, Where they have struggled in world basketball for the past 7 years. Lets take a look at their road to redemption with their new 2008 Team USA Threads.

Team USA has always been a benchmark for national team jerseys. They Invented the game, Dominated the sport and they also set the trend of the national team jerseys.

A big improvement over last year's Fiba Americas old school inspired jersey, The 08 team USA jersey is more inspired by the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Jersey which had the USA basketball logo on their chests. Most notably the star on the "A" . A Nike and the US flag placed above and The Jersey number is colored White with silver trimmings.



The other thing is the graphic design on the back, similar to the team china jersey, the team USA jersey also features certain graphic patterns on the back. The Player name also has silver trimmings on its serif. At first it appears that it could be hard to read, but in turn it the silver created a metallic floating effect that makes the name readable even on in game situations.

Overall, this is one of the best looking national team jerseys to date. (My other favorites are Canada, Germany, China, Japan and the Philippines) Majority of them are made by Nike.