JynxedPanda-Sphere » Media Madness

It’s A House Thing

jynxypanda — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:38:31 +0000

I’m giving away a ticket to Philippine Fashion Week Holiday 2012! Pls scroll down or go to my post here.

Do any of you guys have Pinterest? Oh I can hear you guys grumbling “Not another social network, AGAIN.” Actually it does seem like Tumblr but in a more organized manner. Pinterest is somewhat like a corkboard and shelf all rolled into one. For example, you were looking for a particular style to redecorate your home but there are so many. So what you do is you “pin” it on a particularly board in Pinterest and then you’ll be able to review them all at a later time. What I love about is it’s graphical user interface and it’s just so easy on the eyes. It’s bookmarking WITH STYLE. I’ve already made 12 boards and I’ve also indicated my dream camera there too, just so I won’t forget it or anything. I will get a DSLR someday and after hours of research, I do know what camera and lens to get. I just need… you know, moolah. So if you’re on Pinterest already, ADD MEE! Or if you want an invite (you can easily log in using twitter or facebook), I can easily give ya one. Just comment away

One of my favorite boards there is of course, that dream house “Welcome to My Abode” board. Ever since I was young and had to move away from my grandparents, I knew I wanted my own room just like what other “normal” people had. Why am I still sleeping in the same room with my parents EVEN up to now? Why can’t I tear down these walls and decorate to my own liking? Well of course money money money is the problem and the fact that we’re just renting our house. So if ever the owners decided to boot us out, I’ll be homeless. So I don’t really have a permanent home, this is why I love the phrase, “Home is where the heart is” because I can make ANY PLACE my home. And thus the dreamer in me continues to dream. I’ve grown out of my pre-teen and teenage phase so unfortunately I can’t decorate my room like one anymore (well WHO SAYS SO… I still can! haha) but I have a vision of what my dream house would be like. It’s got to be big, and spacious! Check out my dream house board.

Seems though I LOVE to incorporate nature and books in my future home.

Maybe live inside a mountain or a hill

Or float around in my lazy river inside the house

Or yeah again in a cave

But then something revolutionary happened last week that threatened me to jump off my dream precipice. I watched a documentary on Youtube called “We The Tiny House People” and it featured the tumbleweed houses and various other people who were able to build extraordinary homes in such a limited space. It wasn’t actually my first time to see this particular house

which looked like a cabin compartment on wheels more than anything else. Somehow it wasn’t able to change my perception of my dream house but after watching this documentary and to find out how living less doesn’t always mean living more, but it doesn’t mean that LESS CANNOT BE MORE. Why can’t it? A lot would disagree with that statement at how having less things mean more things. But I believe that we can make it more. You got to work to achieve and if you check out my favorites in the documentary, such as this amazing 400-square feet boat home by Heather Wilcoxon who ditched the Hollywood glamour to live on a boat.(no I am not a hippie or bohemian-ish really… i would change the interior design but the concept is amazing)

My favorite apartment though has got to be Christian Schallert’s apartment in Barcelona. They call it the “lego-style apartment” because of how everything is connected and hidden. It’s perfectly functional too.

This space-saving idea is so practical and wonderful but might be turned off by those with kids. Of course you can’t raise kids in these kinds of quarters but it doesn’t have to be such a big difference right? People who have built tiny homes state that one of the reasons why they love building these is because of “being lazy” and “no dusting required” statement. Actually that’s a perk but I think the reason goes beyond that. Less cleaning is always helpful but let’s not forget that it’s great for sanitation purposes, it helps with countries’ density problem. Building these kinds of tiny houses is more economical and cheaper they say because of lower rent rates and of course less land needed and I do agree.

I look at the problems here in the big city of Metro Manila and look at the squatters and shanties around and I can’t help feel a nudge somewhere… that this might be a solution to their problem. I don’t know how it’s going to be implemented or not but applying these kinds of concepts could help with the environmental waste problem and also the squatter situation. I want to pitch this idea to somebody but I feel like I lack the needed knowledge (i am not an interior designer or an architect) but this is an important idea that must be shared. What do you think?

Please take the time to watch this documentary, it might be long (1 hour and a half) but it’s really worth it. You don’t have to watch it all now but it would be great if you take the time to watch this too. This has affected me so much that wherever I turn to in my home, I’d see “WASTED SPACE!!!” and say “TOO MUCH SPACE FOR 3 PEOPLE!!” and I want to take out everything. But it’s not yet my home… wait till I get my own. Nature will definitely be a part of my future home though.

If you just want to watch the trailer, you could do so here It’s only 10 minutes I think?

Check out the Tumbleweed blog or Faircompanies for videos and photos of more tiny houses. They also give you tips on how to “save space” from your homes.

Jay Shafer is also the founder and owner and architect and… well he built the first “tiny house” like this. Check out his tour. Thought that I should mention him here because he’s kind of the “pioneer” in the States.

Updates when I update!

Striving Thrivin’

jynxypanda — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 23:20:02 +0000

*WARNING: PERSONAL POST. SO UH, IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ MY DRABBLE, DON’T PURSUE FURTHER UH, JUST READ UPDATE POST BELOW THIS INSTEAD XD*

This is the title of my playlist in my iPhone

READ ONNNNN ▼

before my finals week in the last year of University. I only had a few weeks left before my student life ends (if ever I do pursue Graduate studies, it’s going to be different and frankly won’t be as “carefree” as a University student) and how I’ll be entering the real world. I don’t want to make a super dramatic post about finding my soul or self or identity as I struggle to find the meaning in all of this (but maybe it will turn out dramatic, I don’t know). And how I struggle with questions such as, “Holy crap what if the life that I really want wasn’t the course I chose?”, “What now? Where do I go? Do I leave or do I stay?”, “After 8pm of March 23, I’m officially not a student, so does this mean I’ll be a working girl now?” and plenty of questions such as that.

I kind of envy those who have already heard their calling early in their lives. Look at Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg. Do you think they’re successful because of talent? or hard work? No my friends, there has to be luck in this game called life. It’s when you luckily roll the correct number on that dice that you’ll win in Monopoly. Life’s a gamble and only a few can be called winners. A lot of people say that success depends on perspective, I actually agree on that a whole lot. Know the book Secret? The Secret of getting what you want? Well I’ll spoil it to you my friends, it’s actually all about the Secret of the Law of Attraction. Concentrate on positive things, and positive things will go to you. THINK ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME, BE SPECIFIC. But without luck, I don’t think you’ll be as successful too.

I just finished reading Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs. It’s a GREAT READ especially for those Steve Jobs/Apple/Mac fans and actually those who want to know in the lives of crazy successful people. Or those with a different line of thought. After reading it, you may disagree with me and would want to rip its pages, heck you might even hate Steve for being an Asshole with a capital A. But I think it’s important to learn his mistakes and know his struggle to success. I just learned about one thing though, he was lucky. He found his passion, heck he called up the head of HEWLETT PACKARD back in the day and was hired as an intern. How gutsy can you be? If you want something that much in life, go get it. But first, you MUST WANT SOMETHING. I think that’s the problem with me, and maybe you too? Or a lot of people out there, ask first the question, WHAT DO YOU WANT. The day you can answer that is the day you can become like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.

I wasn’t born with a great talent. I’m an adequate but I think a failing singer (well I’d like to think adequate but coming back from a sore throat, my voice has become a man’s voice with the ability to speak like Minnie Mouse. It’s crap XD). I can’t dance well to save my life but I do try. I’m not artistic enough unlike my cousin so I’m just one of the faceless anonymous in this realm. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. So yeah, I’m still searching for that. I have many wants, many many wants, but passion has to be something more concrete. I believe in a lot of things, but which one should is the icing on top of the cake? Hopefully I’ll be able to ask that soon because I feel like I’m just an empty shell (OKAY NOW I’M BEING DRAMATIC SHOOT, I DIDN’T WANT TO BE XD) handing out job applications, one after the other but with so many goals in my head that I don’t know where to turn to. I have a few set of “ideals” I’d like to follow. I’d want to travel and live in another country. I’d really want that but once I commit myself to a company here, would that restrain me? I am sure though that I’ll never join a company that doesn’t confirm with my beliefs and principles. NO TO SMOKING. NO TO ALCOHOL. It’s not that I’m choosy, I still have to respect myself. If you’re next asking me about my relationships… well that’s a matter I don’t want to talk spill at all. Let’s just say, the time will come when I do.

So after 700 words, I’m now going to actually just list down my playlist. Hope you get the feeling of what I was going through in the last few weeks (and up to now actually). My only problem wasn’t about graduation, it was about life. These songs were chosen because of their lyrics, their meaning and their melody. The guy who commentated on Adele’s performance at the Brit Awards 2011 summarized it PERFECTLY.

“There’s nothing quite like the feeling when you’re listening to a song, written by someone you don’t know, who you’ve never met, yet somehow manages to describe exactly how you felt, a particular moment in your life.”

I’ll be sharing the top 10 songs here. Let these songs speak/sing for themselves and I hope you can choose one below and play it as you finish this post. Or just keep it with you. If you don’t, I hope you like any of them. Will be posting their music videos! Don’t have to play them all, or you don’t have to play them at all (well check out the last 4 songs, they’re really. FREAKIN’ AWESOME.). Thanks for reading up to this point my friend. If you have found your passion, you are one lucky person so STRIVE TOWARDS IT. BE POSITIVE, WORK AT IT.

1. Believe – All American Rejects

I don’t ever want to believe
No I don’t ever want to believe yeah
That when we die
We all leave

2. The Cave – Mumford & Sons

Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it’s meant to be
And I will hold on hope
And I won’t let you choke
On the noose around your neck
And I’ll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I’ll know my name as it’s called again

3. Change – Taylor Swift

Tonight we stand, get off our knees
Fight for what we’ve worked for all these years
And the battle was long, it’s the fight of our lives
But we’ll stand as champions tonight

4. Defying Gravity – Wicked Cast

I’m through accepting limits
Cause someone says the’re so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I’ll never know…
Tell them how I am
Defying Gravity
I’m flying high
Defying Gravity

5. No Curtain Call – Maroon 5

I have no time for fear
Or people in my ear
Head down and running so fast
Try not to dwell on the past
I’m fighting through this pain
And things I cannot change
Running right into the flame
Rather than running away

6. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da – The Beatles

Ob-la-di Ob-la-da
Life goes on, bra! – REPEAT LOADS OF TIMES

7. Marchin’ On – One Republic

For those days we felt like a mistake,
Those times when love’s what you hate
Somehow
We keep marchin on

For those nights that I couldn’t be there,
I’ve made it harder to know that you know
That somehow
We’ll keep movin on

There’s so many wars we fought
There’s so many things we’re not
But with what we have
I promise you that
We’re marchin on
We’re marchin on

For all of the plans we’ve made
There isn’t a flag I’d wave
Don’t care where we’ve been
I’d sink us to swim
We’re marchin on
We’re marchin on

For those doubts that swirl all around us
For those lives that tear at the seams
We know
We’re not what we’ve seen

Oh
For this dance we move with each other
There ain’t no other step
Than one foot
Right in front of the other
Oh

We’ll have the days we break
And we’ll have the scars to prove it
We’ll have the bombs that we saved
And we’ll have the heart
Not to lose it

8. Shake It Out – Florence + The Machine (DARNNIT THE WHOLE SONG IS FREAKIN’ BEAUTIFUL

Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play
And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues strong
It’s always darkest before the dawn
And I’ve been a fool and I’ve been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I’m always dragging that horse around
And our love is pastured such a mournful sound
Tonight I’m gonna bury that horse in the ground
So I like to keep my issues strong
But it’s always darkest before the dawn
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaaah….
And given half the chance would I take any of it back
It’s a final mess but it’s left me so empty
It’s always darkest before the dawn…
And I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t
So here’s to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I’m ready to suffer and I’m ready to hope
It’s a shot in the dark and right at my throat
Cause looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Well what the hell I’m gonna let it happen to me

9. The Times They Are A-Changing – Bob Dylan (THE WHOLE SONG. JUST LISTEN.)

ULTIMATE SONG: UNDER PRESSURE – QUEEN & DAVID BOWIE / ANNIE LENNOX & DAVID BOWIE(THE LAST PART OF THE SONG IS ONE OF THE BEST ENDINGS, EVER. IN ANY SONG. EVER. THE FREAKING MELODY. THE LYRICS. BEST. EVER. One video isn’t enough so here’s TWO!)

Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you no man ask for
Under pressure – that burns a building
down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets
It’s the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming let me out
Pray tomorrow – gets me higher
Pressure on people – people on streets
She been around
Kicked my brains round the floor
These are the days it never rains but it pours
People on streets
Insanity laughs under pressure we’re
cracking
Can’t we give ourselves one more chance
Why can’t we give love that one more
chance
Why can’t we give love
Give love give love give love give love
Give love give love give love
Love’s such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves

This is our last dance
This is our last dance
This is ourselves
Under pressure
Under pressure
Pressure

FREDDIE FREAKIN’ MERCURY, YOU ARE MISSED. SO MUCH!

So that’s it! Thanks so much for tuning in

From Africa to Uganda to Loving It

jynxypanda — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:03:21 +0000

I wanted this post title to be about the most important subject in this entry (in short not Joseph Kony, but Uganda itself). Just wanna explain

Everyone must have already heard about the Kony 2012 video that has become viral in a matter of days which basically is a

film and campaign by Invisible Children (organization) that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice. – Youtube video description

Jason Russel, the director, spearheaded this organization when he and his friends went to Uganda, straight out of film school, and noticed the plight of many children under Joseph Kony and decided to do something about it. One might say that it is commendable and brave with what they are doing: trying to bring down a most wanted man and trying to raise awareness with this huge amount of publicity and charitable donations.

Here’s the video if you haven’t seen it yet

But if one actually sits through the entire 30-minute film, Russel actually talks about more on selling promotional kits, vying for Oscar nominations according to an article on New York Times and disregards the real issue of the Ugandans. (WTF SERIOUSLY, NOBODY EXPECTS FOR AN OSCAR, WTF)

There have been reports of the distribution of the donations with regards to where does the bulk of the money go to and most of the percentage go to promotional awareness programs such as this film, kits, staff and others. Through research, people have found out that the footage in the film was actually taken five years ago and that Joseph Kony’s army is weakening and has moved to Congo. The film simplifies the problem and constrains it inside a box and objectifies Ugandans.

One Ugandan blogger and activist spoke out (and actually countless others in Africa, they are now promoting to spread #WhatILoveAboutAfrica hashtag on twitter) and it would be worthwhile to watch this most honest, heartfelt opinion and video blog of Rosebelle.

Take note everyone that Joseph Kony ISN’T the main problem and you can’t just simplify Ugandans like what the Kony 2012 video has done. Please read her points on the role of America (should they be pictured like the Messiah always?) and on the stress and importance of local initiatives. I am not saying that The Invisible Children organization is a bad organization, it’s just the mission-vision of their organization is questionable and makes us wonder, do we really want to participate in this? We can’t just blindly watch the video and be moved with pity and then jump in the bandwagon. Everybody has to get their facts straight.

I’m sorry guys for not posting for more than 10 days now! Man am in a blogging slump but it’ll pick up! My classes have officially ended and I am just reveling in my freedom. I’ve been going to the gym for a week already attending Zumba, Bellydancing, Yoga, Body Combat classes and basically using the gym equipment too. Got this voucher with Chair for a bargain price using one of those coupon sites (we now made sure that it’s a dependable store, Gold’s Gym must certainly be!). One month free unlimited gym for just 750php! That’s only 17.5USD! haha Cool isn’t it? Loving everything so far and there are some quirky characters but I’ll reserve that for my next post. And of course wait for my ultimate graduation post and Steve Jobs biography review It’s time for reflection people!

Questions:
1. What are your thoughts on Kony2012 video? Do you agree?

Great Balls of Fire!

jynxypanda — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 05:33:13 +0000

I’ve just rewatched Gone With the Wind and I caught Scarlett O’Hara’s phrase, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE once again! haha Such a lovely quote/expression if you ask me.

So only 3 days left until the reckoning and I’m thinking of holding a giveaway of some sorts. There’s so many things that are happening this month (graduation, employment issues – i wouldn’t like to call it employment, I guess searching for yourself is better, a crossing of the threshold, temporary freedom, projects, 6 month anniversary with the Order of the Lions, etc) so I was thinking, to celebrate this grandiose month of culmination and beginnings, LET’S HAVE A BALL! A GIVEAWAY! I just have no idea what to give away yet or how it will happen. I must gather up some things… to give away first! Will keep you guys posted via twitter or I’ll make another post as to how I’ll make this happen. Do you guys want a giveaway though?? And maybe I’ll have another one in May to celebrate 4 years of bloggingness on this site. Or maybe combine it… HMM HMMM HMM

Thank you to everyone who has shared their ideas of the cyber bullying issue on my last post *pls scroll down to read it, I appreciate comments!* It is interesting that most of my readers didn’t care for the methods of hacking, (aren’t you guys afraid that one person can potentially infect you with a keylogger and get your info?? :O) and how it doesn’t equate to the damage that cyberbullying inflicted. I guess it’s “revenge is sweet” right? I would like to think that hacking is still wrong, same as cyberbullying and how 2 wrongs do not make a right. BUT IT FEELS GOOD TO FEEL SOME SORT OF “JUSTICE” at its most flexible sense.

I want to talk about now the issue of “LINSANITY”. No, you haven’t heard of Lin yet? Jeremy Lin?? Well don’t worry, I’m sure non-fans of basketball wouldn’t know about him but for Asian-Americans who do, and for anybody else who do love basketball, they’d know that he is the latest rising star of the NBA. Also probably just the 4th Ivy League student who played for NBA (HARVARD, HE WENT TO HARVARD O_O ECONOMICS DEGREE. O_O *STARES* Oh and also the FIRST ASIAN-AMERICAN TO PLAY IN THE NBA (not from mainland China or Taiwan, though he has Fujian ROOTS! My ancestors came from there 8D we may be related in a soo soo soo distant past! LOL KIDDING). So yeah, that’s why they’re making a big deal out of him. At first though I just kept on reading A LOT OF tweets about this Jeremy Lin. My first though was, oh is he the one who replaced Yao Ming? From China? And then more tweets about his great plays came in and Facebook started to be flooded with a lot of Jeremy Lins (hey we’re Asians so… Chinese-Filipinos who love basketball so… there… XD) and I couldn’t take it and decided to check on who the heck is this guy. My brother isn’t here so I’m not updated with the NBA anymore.

And this is what I found.

A Youtube tutorial on “How To Get Into Harvard”. Heck he even collaborated with Nigahiga and Kevjumba BEFORE he became a star and no wonder who looked familiar coz I did see him in a vlog of Nigahiga a year ago when he was still in the Golden State Warriors and I was all, “WHO IS THIS TALL GUY?” and now he’s on the cover of TIME magazine and my dad is obsessed with him now. And my dad is obsessed only with Michael Jordan or Manny Pacquiao so this is a HUGE THING for him. It’s amazing how he’s taking everything with humility as he is a devout Christian and he just thanks the Lord for this amazing opportunity. I don’t know… maybe it’s a fluke or he’s going to choke midseason but I admire how down-to-earth he can be. This video proves that he has a great sense of humor (“if you already have glasses, GET BIGGER GLASSES”) and this hulabaloo isn’t inflating his ego (cough Kobe COUGH) YET… I hope he doesn’t change anyway. It’s also amusing to see how he struggles with speaking Mandarin but knows how to understand it and it parallels to any second generation Chinese immigrants in ANYWHERE.

So the world (NBA world) now has its eyes on Jeremy Lin… he better keep his game up!

And now I just want to end this with BRAVE. Coz I’m going to need a lot of courage this year. Definitely A LOT.

And come on, IT’S AMAZING. THIS 2 MINUTE SNEAK PEEK TRAILER IS FRIGGING AMAZING. I’ve already watched this 1000 times and I can’t get enough of it. Of Merida’s red hair. Of Scottish accents <3. Of how EPIC THE ENDING WAS. No spoilers guys. Just plain PIXAR AWESOMENESS.

I so want to get into Pixar... ANY JOB WOULD DO.

Questions
1. What do you think of the phrase, “Two wrongs do not make a right”. Agree or disagree?
2. Do you know who Jeremy Lin is?
3. WHAT DID U THINK OF PIXAR’S BRAVE?

Running Dead While Rick Rolling

jynxypanda — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:19:45 +0000

Just wanted to share something really insane stuffs that’s been going on in my University the past few days (oh gosh why am I

writing something academically related again well not really…) such as…

THE RUNNING DEAD!

Our mountaineering society has decided to pattern it to a similar marathon in the US where people who marathon are also chased by ZOMBIES!!!

It’s a BRILLIANT idea if you ask me. I mean not only will you be able to get your usual “exercise” factor from a normal marathon, but you also experience THE ADRENALINE RUSH, THE FEAR, THE ANXIETY, THE SHOCK and everything that you imagine a Zombie chase scene would feel like. Of course it’s not a pleasant sight, I mean who would REALLY want to be chased by zombies? But this is a safe and “realistic” way of imagining it. There were only limited slots for the runners and zombies (would have LOOVED to be a zombie, I’ve been practicing my zombie skills after watching too many Zombie films and series — WALKING DEAD IS AWESOME, PLEASE WATCH IT. Just be patient with the first part of the first episode and you’ll LOVE the ending — and too bad I wasn’t able to use them Next time I guess??

//EDIT I found the original American marathon! It’s called RUN FOR YOUR LIVES and it’s FRIGGING HILARIOUS! Setting is really somewhere in the boonies and the zombies are meaner and the obstacles are crazy! LOL and btw SPOT THE NINJA TURTLES AND WALDO HILARIOUS! Oh my gosh I want to see this in action, but how could I get to America? I would probably need a payday loan!

Also one of my coursemate (hmm should I blot out his name? hahaa but more than 6000 people have seen it so maybe not… !) has now become a 9gag celebrity! Have you seen his reaction paper regarding a field trip to the Malacanang Palace (aka The White House here in the Philippines, of course Obama doesn’t live there)? Come on I’m sure you have seen this already!

TOTALLY GOT RICK-ROLLED! 9gag frequent readers would know this term since Rick Astley is such a great Meme My coursemate didn’t really have plans on posting this on 9gag, just Facebook but… you know how some of your friends just suddenly go to you and say, “OH WAIT ___ BY THE WAY I UPLOADED IT ON ___! DON’T THANK MEE!!” And that’s what happened to him. Friend apparently didn’t erase his name so he keeps on being googled and being stalked. He has got some pretty WEIRD e-mails and calls. And he has been featured on our local news channel as the ____ STUD (___ is my university name, I just don’t want this post to be googled that’s why I’m not going to give any specifics) I have no idea why they didn’t complete the word STUDENT and just wrote STUDE. Weird! Also he just got a call today and it’s from a BIG media company! I wonder what will happen… Stay tune!

So there, exciting events have been happening lately! OH AND 2 WEEKS UNTIL I FINISH UNIVERSITY.

I CAN’T WAIT.

The Red Ribbon

jynxypanda — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:20:13 +0000

Thank you guys for reading my article on SOPA. I know it’s not the best explanation but it’s sort of a brief intro on it. I really want people to become aware of THIS HUGE ISSUE that’s going to affect the whole INTERNET. Call it communism or socialism but they are trying to hold a monopolistic power over your Internet freedom. Please read as much as you can about it even though it has been TEMPORARILY SHELVED at the moment because the FBI isn’t waiting for some bill to pass. They’ve already killed Megaupload and Megvideo and what’s stopping them from taking Dropbox (aww sh*t I have some files in there! I better back it up…). If you haven’t read it yet, I hope that you do read it if you have time!

I loved the recent issue of TIME Magazine which featured the Person of the Year (how appropriate, THE PROTESTERS). It featured articles and interesting statistics that happened in 2011 and actually compared news that should have been placed in the headlines but scandals and trivial stories covered the headlines last year and what BOGGLES my mind is how the discovery or lead-to-the-discovery of the CURE FOR HIV was SUPPRESSED under news of SO AND SO got divorced, OH THE HORROR (oh but really the horror though, Heidi Klum and Seal? I thought that they were the few ones who were going to last but… as what the discussions in my Theology class say…. CAN YOU REALLY SAY FOREVER? Okay another topic…)! Or it probably was overshadowed by the success of Rebecca Black’s Friday. I really don’t know how I could have missed this in the news. Maybe I was too busy or missed it because it wasn’t in the front page of the newspaper. I do read the newspaper but it’s hard to really read it from cover to cover so I just try to get everything out from the front page which… is filled with political crap. It just goes to show how buried the REAL IMPORTANT NEWS is and how people focus on the wrong things. I think that this story should have been give more credit and generate MORE discussion for people, whether they believe it or not, whether they want to support or not.

Imagine that, Timothy Brown after 4 years of an innovative procedure… suddenly has no more trace of AIDS in his system… this is groundbreaking news! I hope that this year, I’d be able to blog more responsibly and spread news such as this more. I do like sharing information with people, information that I care about too. Maybe this is one reason why I’ve thought of being a journalist… but it isn’t one of my top career goals. I just really like sharing information with people… is there a name for such person?

If you were able to read about my very depressing post (the one about hamsters), I dreamt a very weird dream that night and I have been dreaming and have recalled EVERY DREAM THE PAST TWO WEEKS. Is this normal? Do you dream and then remember your dream every night? I was able to do some research online and every article says that EVERYBODY dreams except you probably don’t remember it since you woke up too far from R.E.M. stage or you didn’t have an R.E.M. stage. It’s so strange that ever since I internalized and thought about death and was frightened and shocked at the possibilities because of my sickness, I’ve been dreaming EVERY night constantly and sometimes I dream more than one dream. Sometimes I feel like the dream has been going on for a LONG TIME and once I even dreamt of the dream TWICE in a row but in a different manner. And just the other night, my dream felt SO REAL, I thought I was having a lucid dream. I somehow knew in my dream that I was dreaming…. and swimming in the ocean under the bright blue sky and I thought to myself, “Wow this is so realistic” inside my dream. Usually though I have weird dark and morbid dreams (i just had my Zombie Apocalypse dream, also me getting sliced by a meat cleaver at my back, don’t worry I wasn’t frightened of these dreams since they’re so common and I probably got used to it :/) so the wonderful dream about swimming in the ocean was such a respite from the past days.

Maybe it’s my subconscious telling me that graduation is nearing…

In one month I’m about to enter the real world…

and my subconscious is saying…

Not yet.

Questions

1. Did you hear about the medical breakthrough?

2. Have you every dreamt and recalled your dreams EVERYDAY for more than 2 weeks? Just hope that I’m not alone…

End Piracy, Not Liberty

jynxypanda — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:51:07 +0000

*title taken from Google’s post regarding SOPA*

****UPDATE! AS OF JANUARY 20, 2012, SOPA’s mastermind Lamar Smith POSTPONED and will review the bill once again along with the committee and various Internet entities. This is GOOD NEWS but I am sure isn’t the last act of this World War Web

It’s been so long since I made a REAL blog post and not just a filler video to keep my blog running. Priorities priorities I say! I even ran out of pre-made blog posts that I wrote before. This is how delayed I am -_-

Several serious issues have blotted the start of my 2012. In short, my too optimistic self who says that 2012 will be a better year is in for an extremely CHALLENGING YEAR. My successes will be greater but so will my failures. I’m willing to make that hundreds of TRIALS just to get that right formula or fix the light bulb and this, standing up to a great issue is one of the challenges that not only I but THE WHOLE 21ST CENTURY GENERATION will have to face.

Almost everyone on the online world must already know about the business regarding SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP) as last January 18, 2012, the world wide web witnessed the largest temporary shutdown of thousands of sites in protest to these US Bills that the US government wants to pass. Some known sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit, and even simple blogs like ours joined hand in hand in this silent war against this atrocious bill. By January 19, 2012, US President Obama joined us netizens by going AGAINST SOPA and PIPA.

But what happened to this stand from Obama when just a FEW HOURS LATER, The US government and FBI sued and arrested 4 out of the 7 shareholders including the owner of file sharing sites of Megaupload and Megavideo. They took their domain and this what you see when you visit their page

So basically after the worldwide protest of SOPA, the FBI promptly gave them the middle finger and poked your eyes out and took down this file sharing and video streaming sites WITHOUT THE PASSAGE OF SOPA OR PIPA. I am all for fighting crime and against theft (don’t you just hate it when you find out someone STOLE THE WHOLE CONTENTS OF YOUR SITE) but there’s a reason why piracy is still in effect. This is probably THE ONLY WAY some people can do to get access to the other works of people such as films, books and others. HOW ON EARTH CAN THEY APPRECIATE THEIR ART, THEIR WORK WITHOUT USING THESE MEANS? How can one watch for example, the recently concluded Golden Globe Best Film “The Artist”? without distributing it to other countries? Hulu.com? Sorry but it’s for US residents only. There’s a better way to fighting piracy than ENDING THE FREEDOM OF UPLOADING AND WATCHING ORIGINAL CONTENT. What will happen to the people who genuinely use Megaupload for their original content? Who should they turn to or sue because they have lost almost EVERYTHING?

In retaliation, Anonymous the decentralized hacker group collective that is composed of anonymous users around the globe (you reader could be part of that group and I wouldn’t know! the members don’t know each other and there is no leader or hierarchy at all) was able to bring down the sites of the FBI, Universal Music, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Recording Industry Association of America in UNDER 15 MINUTES after the shutdown of MegaUpload. These guys work fast by using Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (in short overwhelming servers with THOUSANDS/MILLIONS OF PACKETS OF DATA) through 5,000++ computers (I think) and promptly fought fire with fire. This group has done this over so many times such as doing these to the opposition of Wikileaks (a site that exposes classified information such as ehem… some government records…) and I commend their support because I believe that this kind of protest proves to create the BIGGEST IMPACT than any other kind of protest. Do you think that the government will take notice if they just stage a silent protest? HELL NO. And violence out in the streets isn’t such a good thing either so I think that this is the best protest for this kind of situation. The good thing about this group is that they actually fight for human rights (they brought down a Pornography ring I think…) and for the first time, they actually listed some changes for the government. What do you think? Please check their demands here.

I haven’t really explained SOPA or PIPA yet to you guys and maybe you think I’m just riding the bandwagon here because it’s “in” to be against them. NO! I think that everyone should be against this because of the “ripples” it creates for EVERYBODY. Do you realize that when SOPA is passed (or not, wtf did FBI just do? and HOW COME OBAMA DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT THIS yet he claims to protest SOPA), not only is Megavideo and Megaupload targeted, but EVERY IMAGINABLE SITE (which includes ALL FILE SHARING SITES, YOUTUBE, 9GAG, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, TUMBLR, WORDPRESS HECK EVEN MY BLOG, WIKIPEDIA, AND 99% OF ALL SITES) that can host copyright materials is a potential threat and will be shutdown. The Internet as we know it will cease to exist. Think of this analogy, SOPA treats it as a cancer so if they see that for example your hand has a cancer, they not only will chop your hand off, but KILL THE WHOLE SELF AS WELL. So even though Youtube has this agreement or policy that it is not responsible for the ANYTHING that is uploaded in their site, the bill will still target Youtube once a user uploads a whole movie or used a song in his music video. Because I can’t really explain the bill well and only give you scenarios, it’s best for me to leave the explanation to the experts.

Watch UK Law Graduate and Professional Gaming Commentator “Total Biscuit” explain SOPA

For those who prefer American accents, watch David Sohn’s explanation

And of course, the ever reliable Wikipedia (don’t use this as sources in high school or university dear students! but for blogs you can

The bill would authorize the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders against websites outside U.S. jurisdiction accused of infringing on copyrights, or of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. After delivering a court order, the U.S. Attorney General could require US-directed Internet service providers, ad networks, and payment processors to suspend conducting business with sites found to infringe on federal criminal intellectual-property laws. The Attorney General could also bar search engines from displaying links to the sites.
The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from conducting business with websites found to infringe on federal criminal intellectual-property laws, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites.
The bill also establishes a two-step process for intellectual property-rights holders to seek relief if they have been harmed by a site dedicated to infringement. The rights holder must first notify, in writing, related payment facilitators and ad networks of the identity of the website, who, in turn, must then forward that notification and suspend services to that identified website, unless that site provides a counter notification explaining how it is not in violation. The rights holder can then sue for limited injunctive relief against the site operator, if such a counter notification is provided, or if the payment or advertising services fail to suspend service in the absence of a counter notification.
The second section covers penalties for streaming video and for selling counterfeit drugs, military materials or consumer goods. The bill would expand penalties to include unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content and other intellectual property offenses. The bill would criminalize unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months.
The bill provides immunity from liability to the ad and payment networks that comply with this Act or that take voluntary action to cut ties to such sites. Any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement would be liable for damages.

And after everything, we can ask, “IS PIRACY THE ONLY THING THEY REALLY CARE HERE?”

NO.

They want MORE PROFIT. MORE BUCKS. MORE DOLLARS. So they eliminate competition from Indie film makers, programmers, artists and writers. They don’t want to share and instead EAT THE WHOLE PIE. So please I hope that you can include a STOP CENSORSHIP ribbon on top of your website to protest against SOPA and PIPA (well the bill has been postponed but doesn’t mean we can’t stop expressing our views and beliefs and be ready for the next battle as the American government doesn’t seem like to be waiting for the bill to pass to take action. Rapidshare could be targeted next).

Everyone must informed about this case. Everyone should be alarmed that this bill AFFECTS EVERYONE.

Questions:
1. Thoughts on this? Agree or Disagree?

Why I Hate Religion But…

jynxypanda — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:27:52 +0000

Love Jesus.

Check out the poem that this guy wrote about religion and Christianity. You don’t have to be a Christian or even a theist to understand this. I want to hear everyone’s opinion!

Sorry guys if I can’t blog about personal stuffs now, currently sick (with hemorrhoids ONLY hopefully so I just change my diet) and dying with Academics, so please ponder on this!

Alive – Never The Strangers

jynxypanda — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:25:19 +0000

*COMMENTS CLOSED. PLEASE COMMENT ON POST BELOW *

Hey guys! Just want to feature a rising Pinoy band that is composed of my fellow Atenean batchmates! Their music is actually quite different from the local Pinoy artists and it has a really good alternative so I’d suggest this to fellow 80s or 90s fans Check it out!

From their YouTube page:

Never the Strangers, after all, as the band members explained their name, comes from their love for music, how it is a common thread that brings people—even strangers—together. This unabashed idealism shows the age of its members, who are all still in college at Ateneo de Manila University.

Meet NEVER THE STRANGERS ACE Libre—lead vocals and keyboards, PJ LaViña—drums and percussion, FRANCIS Victa—bassist and JP del Mundo—guitars.

Never the Strangers is a band formerly known as Leonecast—the band Ace and JP carried over from high school to college. When they realized that they are already a different band from when they had started—half of the members are new, even the band’s sound has evolved—they decided to change the name to Never the Strangers.

When asked how they define their music, each member throws in: “New Wave synth rock,” also “keyboard-driven rock,” but they have songs that are guitar driven too—but they all agree that rock music is their main foundation, influenced by New Wave, alternative and synth.

Till We Have Faces

jynxypanda — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:52:38 +0000

Quick Site Updates! Added links, pages to my Europhotoblog, fixed Project 365 (now my instagram blog, having an iPhone can be handy dandy!), Project Filmography 2012, Project 50 Leaves 2012 (I FINALLY FINISHED 50 BOOKS LAST YEAR!! WOOT GONNA DO IT AGAIN!), added my old poem (will be making new ones soon!) and also added some Meme Questions that I got from Jess (do ask me questions! Would love to hear from you guys :D). So was able to spring clean my blog just in time for the first day of the year!

I got a story to tell though! Something happened right before the start of 2012. Remember my last post when I talked about the alien conspiracy theories and how people think that another reason why the Mayans predicted that December 21, 2012 is the end of the world is because the Mayans MET the aliens. Actually not only the Mayans but including ancient civilizations such as the Greeks (EVEN PLATO THOUGHT THERE WERE ALIENS, well the Earth is a made of grids and this is related to aliens coming here) and Egyptians (how were they able to build the pyramids with no pulleys and other forms of equipment in just a few years?) were visited by them too. Well the creepy thing is that at around 3am in our room, I saw two small dwarf-like creatures that had alien shapes with blinking eyes(????) were kinda moving at the 2 corners of the room beside the air-conditioner and on top of my cabinet. I WAS SERIOUSLY FREAKED OUT BUT I KINDA SUPPRESSED MY SCREAMS. I ran and opened the light but nothing was there O_O I decided not to look at the corners again and just sleep well. Oh gosh that was creepy and I think I hallucinated it because I haven’t been sleeping early the past nights and my brother has been bugging me with all this alien talk so maybe that’s it….

That has to be it right?

Oh and we kinda mistook a flying lantern on New Year’s eve as a U.F.O. Oh flying lanterns are the craze now! The Philippines by the way is always fun on New Year’s Eve since people LOVE to make a lot of noise and lights. Our family was treated to a free fireworks show as usual because our neighbors were kinda competing against each other on who had the best show. Well all of them were awesome! Here are some photos I took

Shower of Lights

Little Piper Boy and the Fountain of Youth

Scarlet Fever

Well back to the alien part… I’m not gonna deny that there might be other beings in the INFINITE universe. Maybe there’s an alternate reality or something and we might never know. But I am still a Catholic Christian at heart (though the Church is another matter, oh gosh) and just wanna share this amazing book by C.S. Lewis called Till We Have Faces. Religion is all about creating a way of life and this is how I choose to be and in Lewis’ book, which he claims to be his masterpiece, he tackles it in such a profound way by retelling the myth of Psyche and Cupid in the point of view of Psyche’s sister. It’s such a beautiful philosophical and theological book but requires a bit of deep reading (need to read it again! don’t worry it’s not too deep as reading Ricoeur or other German/French philosophers. Still enjoyable!). Like what a reviewer said, tt basically tackles the psychological honesty about the human sense of injustice by the gods. Who has not been tempted to say to God, “It’s not fair”?

The ending is one of the best endings I’ve read. I teared up just because of the honesty and revelation of it. It’s quite an experience reading it, nothing like I’ve felt before. LOL this is turning to be a love story by the way I’m talking about it. But seriously I loved it.

Just some favorite quotes

“I have seen something like it happen in battle. A man was coming at me, I at him, to kill. Then came a sudden great gust of wind that wrapped out cloaks over our swords and almost over our eyes, so that we could do nothing to one another but must fight the wind itself. And that ridiculous contention, so foreign to the business we were on, set us both laughing, face to face – friends for a moment – and then at once enemies again and forever.”

“I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice?”

I have this in PDF (I thought that it would be boring so I didn’t bother buying it, now I NEED to get a paperback copy!) and am willing to email it to those who want it.

Now I’m going to end this post with something light. All Asian girls have to relate to this video in some way or another. THIS IS FREAKING HILARIOUS! Been playing this every night before I go to sleep just to make me smile again What made this funny for me was the guy in the video dressing up as a girl and everyone keeping a straight face about it And the way he played the girl was kind of funny too. I’m not saying all asians girl do this but it’s funny how some do (like me! I do the starting today no fast food bit and break that promise after a few days or something XD) and how it’s portrayed her. Hope nobody takes offense (I’m asian and a girl too btw)

and I GOT THE SLATE PLANNER! (My other post talked about my planner dilemma but I solved it!) Am liking it so far especially the art, quotes, and there’s even a space for a Bucket list! I have my own list in my blog but I think I’ll make a list of things to do in 2012 (sort of a new year’s resolution, but nah, no deadlines or constraints for me Check out their site to order or you can go to any Fullybooked branch near you.

Toodles peepz!

Questions
1. What’s the first thing you did after you woke up on January 1, 2012?
2. Do you think you’ll read this book? What’s the most thought-provoking book you’ve read? If you don’t really like to read, what’s the most thought-provoking thing that happened to you last?
3. LOL Do you do any of the things that Asian girls do? (Doesn’t have to be Asian really, most girls do those too!)