Post

So many things to do, so little time…

Me and France we’re gonna watch eclipse tomorrow night. I’m kinda sad coz whenever I see Jacob I am reminded of the time that I was frequently in the gym. It was about the time when the last twilight movie that I stopped working out and almost a year after I got scrawny again plus flabs. Rawr. I’m happy that we get to watch it together though, I know she’s looking forward to watching it I know she’s gonna enjoy it. Not an Edward fan though, I still don’t like glowing gay looking vampires. I am all for the Shaper mistakingly called “warewolf” named Jacob. \m/ (-_-) \m/

I finally got my driver’s license again. After losing it for the 3rd time and letting it expire for 3 years I was forced to take the exam again and go through long lines and scorching heat. I do not want to elaborate anymore, the important thing is I can drive again. Yey! Though I’d want to forget that because I spent too much in getting that license that I won’t be able to by my dog a new cage. Oh well, next cutoff.

I am trying out XNA (XNA is Not Acronymed), Microsoft’s game development platform for Windows and Xbox 360. It all started when I got this book from booksale: Professional XNA Programming for 350Php. I am currently having frequent nosebleeds from all the math involved. I do not know how far I can go with this thing but I am having fun with it.

Cake, I am eating cake.

Ooooh and that Schecter Hellraiser C-1! I’ve been drooling over it for weeks. But I’m afraid that I can’t even afford the Schecter Omen 6. Lord, can I have this guitar please?

I am sooooo tired and sleepy. This blogpost feels like its emotionless. What a statement. Is this classified as ironic?

Anyway… good night everyone! God bless!

The show must go on

May 31st 2010: I’m back at the office at 7:23am.  It’s been more than 2 weeks since my father was assassinated, most of the things that I’ve seen in the movies aren’t as cool as I thought they were. Someone dying in the family has a big impact on a family, how much more if the cause is unnatural or unjust? I gritted my teeth, I cried, felt down and sometimes thought of things that I know I shouldn’t think of. But you know what? The Lord has been faithful to his promises even in the midst of our trials. He is truly a just and loving God. I remember my cousin telling me to read James 1 & 2, this was the verse that struck me the most.

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. – James 1:2-8

God is telling me that even though we are troubled, we should not be. Instead we should have faith and lift everything up to Him. Who can add another day in his life by worrying? No one. So why worry?

So here I am waiting for my teammates to come so that I can start working and be the best I can be. Hoping that my actions will someday bear fruit.

The show must go on. \m/ (-_-) \m/

Here we go again

It’s a sad sad thing thats happening to our country. Our country is like one big circus and we are the clowns. We expect that our leaders have the disposition and strength to rule this country when we ourselves do not have character. The stuff happening around us are not only because of our leaders but also because of us either doing the wrong things or worse: doing nothing at all. The Filipino has been reduced to performers on a global stage.

from Facebook

We have been crying out for change for a long time but we still don’t see that change starts from an individual. Take for example “kotong cops”, everyone hates them (some even call them “Buwaya” or Crocodile). They linger at street corners waiting for prey and when someone gets caught most of the time they’ll just pay up to avoid the hassle of having a ticket. Out of convenience we condone these wrong doings and through repeated practice these things became norms in our society. We see all of these things happen right before our eyes and we pay no heed to it. Able bodied men refusing to work cleanly resort to illegal activities, corrupt government officials, “talanka mentality” in everywhere, taking advantage of poor people just to give the masses a good show and blinding them that “easy money” is the way out, taking advantage of the revolution. On a personal note, sometimes I am ashamed to be a Filipino.

from Facebook

Bayanihan in our culture? Are you joking? We are a divided country. It’s like an unseen civil war. Dog eat dog. And people say they are patriotic? Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I have no hope in my people but I am really disappointed. We are repeating the same mistakes over and over again and we don’t see it. I wanted to believe that this election will be different from the past ones but I was wrong. IT’S NOT AN ELECTION, IT’S A POPULARITY CONTEST. It’s not about the candidate, its about how and why we chose them.

If we want change, lets start with ourselves and hopefully others follow suit.. and maybe then our country can change.

Now enough ranting for me. Whatever the result of this election  will be we will have to suck it up for 6 years. May the Lord look favorably on this nation and reveal His plans to us. For even if we do not like the our leaders we must be respectful to them for they have been allowed by the Lord to be in a place of power and we in turn must be good followers.

God bless!

Where are you now?

After months of silence, I am finally back blogging again.

So where have I been? To sum it all up, I underwent an anxiety disorder, got bit by a dog, went under a financial crisis, almost went crazy, almost felt like dying, lost my will, weakened, ask too many questions, broken and so many other verbs that I am already tired of remembering so much that I do not want to type anymore.

So where am I now? I am still being broken slowly, being molded into what He wants me to become. I recently got accepted as a trainee in the VCF Malate music team, I finished my 6 session one-to-one last week, attended a small group, found my heart for worship, grew a little in my relationship with the Lord… which then rolled down to my relationship with Mawie, my band Nimbus Crowd, my family and my friends. I am still rough at some aspects like my over zealous application of righteous indignation; I am made to realize that it  does not rub very well with some people. I improved on song writing though, the Lord has been very good to me, teaching me how to write songs that back then would be impossible for me. Right now I have 3 1/2 songs (most of them I wrote/finished with Mawie, she is a really great help in songwriting, she helps me focus). I am a little down on the financial side though, but I am in faith that He will provide for me.

So now I’m back on my feet and ready to take the world head-on again with renewed faith and understanding. LORD, without You i am nothing.

Recording

I was contacted again by Raul to record (last saturday) 2 tracks for MRM: “Numb” by Linkin Park and “We weren’t born to follow” by Bon Jovi. I thank God for another opportunity to learn more about the recording process and at the same time earn some cash (for buying supplements since I’ll be going back to the gym and for the coming valentines day).

Recording “Numb” by Linkin Park

I had lots of fun recording, asking Raul about sound engineering stuff, how to use Sonar etc. It was a nice experience and kept me occupied since Mawie is in HK with her mother and sister.

The recording studio

Raul double checking his notes

Raul showing the good stuff

Taking pictures of myself

After the recording

I’m glad I’m given an opportunity to practice my recording skills and get paid for it as well.

Thanks to the Lord, all Honor and Glory to His name!

DevCon

DevCon Luzon

February 9, 4-9pm,
Function Room 1,
SMX Convention Center

For more info go to : http://www.devcon.ph/

See you there!

BAI Culture: BS Sessions

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  - Ephesians 2:8-10

Sir Chris, Sir Meynard, AD and Me had recently had lunch together every Friday for the past 2 weeks discussing how we were to bring back the Bible Study group BlastAsia had back then but this time focus on making the sessions less formal/boring/heavy; to be able to easily share the Word of God to everyone who wishes to attend. It was agreed that I was the first to give my testimony to the attendees.

Today we had our first session and I was surprised that 6 other people aside from the core group joined us: Aya, Sir Bryan, Eli, Ringo, Rose & Wilson. It felt such an honor to be able to be able to share my life, my story and how God gently came into my life and rescued me. It felt such an honor to be able to give back all the honor to The Savior, to be able to show others that its never too late… God is just waiting for the right time for us to open our hearts to Him. After telling my story we played the very song that lead to me searching for salvation: Who am I by Casting Crowns (of course I told them the story of how France was the one who God’s  instrument).

After that, Sir Chris took over  to his presentation. One of his slides flashed John 3:16 but he used Ephesians 2:8-10 to explain a short explanation about salvation. After that he taught everyone how to pray the prayer of acceptance. I hope that someone in that room prayed that prayer with all of their h

It was a very blessing and moving experience to be able to be part of something that I myself was in 1 year ago but this time as one of the facilitators.

May we be able to spread your word more. Thank you Lord.

All I can say is “Wow”

BC Rich Perfect 10 Bich (Dragon’s Blood color scheme)

The “things I want to have” list

I was supposed to write a reaaaaally great article tonight but instead (as usual) my body wants to unwind and release all the stress: the things that “inspiration” called me to write about of went out of the window and sadly nothing came in to replace them. So just for kicks, I made a list of the things that I want to have. This is not complete yet, just something I did in a hurry. Since I use MindManager to organize my thoughts at work (I am a visual person)  then I can also use it to organize the things that I want to have. Here’s a snapshot of the list:

Now this got me thinking: can we use productivity tools in some other aspects of our life? How about using MS Visio to make a chart on how you are going to do your laundry. =)) I’ll discuss this with Bot, Keith and Marco and maybe we can agree on something new and fun to do.

Sigh. My back hurts and I want to lie down but I’m not that sleepy but I am still going to go to bed after this.

Anyways, good night guys. Have a great weekend! God bless!

Bai Culture: The Latest

It’s been a while since I last wrote in my blog. I’ve been busy and easily tired lately plus my tummy is still adjusting to solid food. That being said, I just want to share what are the latest things we do at the office.

People are having fun with static

You will see people (the usual suspects: Keith, Bot, Fesh, Marco, JP and Roy) accumulating static electricity by brushing their under-soles against our carpeted floor; then gently/covertly creep up on a targeted individual and release the charge (with the associated pain) by slightly touching a selected body part. If you visit our office you’ll hear mini-sparks and cries of surprise and/or pain followed by people laughing. Just a friendly, fun and healthy yet painful way to keep a developer’s sanity.

Gundam Painting

Another method of keeping your sanity is to procure a Gundam Model Kit (in our case, the cheapest one we could find: Php 200), paint it in unorthodox/weird paint scheme then do some battle damage on it. You’ll see devs giggling on their tables arguing about what part goes to where? Why are there some left over parts? Are they really left overs? What color should we paint it with? Can we use pink? Or maybe MAN-PINK?

Conversing with Pacman english

Now this is a no brainer. Who english me? I english you? Did you know my mama learn me how? Teo is the man to talk to regarding this subject. There’s just no way anyone can’t have fun while talking about DragonForce, Gundams, Heroes of might and magic, Neverwinter Nights, etc. sounding like Pacman. Brightens up my day anyday ok? =))

Stumble Upon

I always get curious at the stuff I see at Bot’s monitor. From weird to funny to icky stuff; random stuff that can either brighten or ruin your day,

Thats it for now. Back to work Basti!

God bless!