A Humble Attempt to Macro

It does not mean that because I frequent Facebook, I have forgotten my blog. Maybe its just that I have been busy doing various stuffs and I can no longer put them into stories to post here in my place... But anyways, just yesterday, my girlfriend bought a Canon PowerShot camera. I tried a shot and then another, browsed through its setting and menu then found this supermacro option... The results of my experiments are the following:

Faster than a Second, Sleeker than Silk

Last July 14, my friend John Boncalos, came to my pad to talk about an idea. Prior to that, we have been exchanging chats about establishing a company. It all ended with an optimistic decision for us to buy a domain, create a website, do business online. So we consolidated all our assets and resources. We tapped Leonel to join the team. We also talked with Lenard to be one of the contacts and the web designer. Both of them showed willingness. It fanned the fire within us.

So the problem now is, what name? When a client from the US contacted us, he asked Lenard what he would name our group. I never expected that John has been scouting a name for the group. Then came SleekFast.

To have my own website is a dream. But to have a website that would become my source of income is more than a dream. Now it came true.

So friends, I welcome you to visit our site and see what we can do for you.

Merry Monday

while browsing over some profiles in Facebook, I accidentally clicked on one of my friend's friend profile and saw the following pictures that made me grin. I was totally whacked last weekend I can't find any source of inspiration until these pictures gave me smiles. Today is Monday and though I was expecting it to be some kind of maundy, the pictures had it changed into a merry day.

On My Father's Wings

If you were with me now
I'd find myself in you
If you were with me now
Your the only one who knew
All the things we planned to do

I want to live my life
The way you said I would
With courage as my light
Fighting for what's right
Like you made me believe I could

And I will fly on my father's wings
To places I have never been
There is so much I've never seen
And I can feel his heartbeat still
And I will do great things
On my father's wings

This world I'll never see
My dreams that just won't be
This horse's stride
with one days ride
Will have covered more
distance than me

But I will fly on my father's wings
To places I have never been
There is so much I've never seen
And I can feel his heartbeat still
And I will do great things
On my father's wings

Someday with his spirit to guide me
And his memory beside me
I will be free to

Fly on my father's wings
To places I have never been
There is so much I've never seen
And I can feel his heartbeat still
And I will do great things
On my father's wings
On my father's wings

This song is from the animated movie entitled The Quest for Camelot. I haven't seen the movie yet but the song itself tells me of something. It is such so powerful that it inspired me to write this. Well, aside from the memory of my father flashing back, this song also my song to my Father God.

Salt Isn't Just for Dishes

I now receive the benefit of being an avid follower of NASA projects - I won a t-shirt and a discount card at a local bookstore through my favorite radio station OK FM. Yesterday, after coming home from office I tuned in to 97.1 and heard of the promo. The DJ asked a question about the red thing that flew over Mayon Volcano last Sunday. Immediately I thought it was Atlantis. Though my second thought was that it was NoKor's nuke... hehehe... Alright, you might say I am again talking bad words here, but to those who can relate, STS-125 just finished its mission and Atlantis is now back here on Earth. STS-125's mission was to repair the aging Hubble Telescope. It launched some days after Expedition 19 of Kazakstan and the second shuttle to leave Earth this year after Discovery for STS-119. I am sorry though for the DJ cause I wrongfully answered him when he asked me is Challenger was the one that exploded in 1995. I think it was even during the time of Reagan. And I mumbled Discovery instead of saying Columbia when he asked what's the other shuttle that blasted after take off. My bad.

Artist Sketch of Aquarius, photo courtesy of NASA.

When I visited NASA's website again, I found out another thing about our planet. Many of us are aware of the present situation of Mother Earth with world wide movements on Global Warming. Studies are spearheaded on how to improve the condition of the planet and every government and even the UN is doing their part to lessen the impact of the global warming. Organizations are united in saying that the present global warming is caused by men and that a reversal of what we have done to the planet for over a millenium is the best remedy. But NASA scientists found out that aside from the Ozone layer, carbon emissions, and other warming factors, the salinity of the oceans and seas may contribute to the present environmental crisis. They theorized that salinity affects the density of the sea water thereby affecting its movement (curren) thus affecting the atmospheric condition. (SEE Meteorology)

In order for NASA to monitor the salinity of sea water which is said to have increased gradually overtime, they need to launch an unmanned satellite orbiter equipped with radio recievers and other high-end equipment. They coined the orbiter Aquarius, a SAC-D spacecraft.

For more info on this hit this.

How Do Blind People Take Pictures

When I hear about blind musicians, I am simply astonished. A blind painter would really get me off my feet. But a blind photographer is simply surreal.

See some of the works of blind photographers below and you can find the complete compilation here.

Well at some point I was skeptical about people with impaired sight to be on the line which greatly needs the human sense. But there is nothing impossible to a loving and persevered person so I said to myself that I was just wrong with my thinking.

Kurt Weston - Peering Through the Darkness, courtesy of UCR/California Museum of Photography


Bruce Hall - Frenetics, courtesy of UCR/California Museum of Photography

Evgen Bavcar - The Flow of Time, courtesy of UCR/California Museum of Photography

These photographers are indeed talented in their field. Despite their physical limitations, they still managed to do what they wanted to do. Maybe, these things laid in front of them are challenges that they take to show the world that regardless of weaknesses if we persevere, believe, and love, nothing can never be done.

Dear Mama

I am proud that you are my mama. I know it's hard for you to let me and my sisters go with our own ways but the love and grace of God is always with you. No matter what happen, I will always be your only son. You have made me into a man that God intends me to be. Thanks for everything you gave me. Now, I understand, that what makes a mom like you is a son (child) that is me. I love you so much.

And Happy Mothers' Day too to all the mom around the world and to my two sisters, Ate Wen and Ate Jo... You deserve all the love in the world.

Jake: A Friend from Miami

I met a new friend from Miami, Fla. just few days ago. His name is Jake Barreth, 28 years old, and a Worship Pastor. I met him right here in Blogger.com when one night here at the office, I run through several blogs randomly. Then I found out that this guy is a worship leader at a church in Miami. Honestly, I was not really supposed to let you know about him but I was moved by one of his posts. It's about the music men, actually, street performers from around the world. The video was tweeted to him by friend. You can view the post here.

Jake is part of the pioneering church known as the Life Church in Miami. The church was conceived two years ago and last year they began holding services at a mall in Miami, in a theater specifically. I was touched by the fact that God is really moving not just in my life but as well as other lives around the world. And for our case with Jake, as he have said, we are half way around the globe apart yet been connected with a single purpose - to proclaim the Good News in our humblest ways we can.

I posted a comment on one of his posts and I get a reply - something that is too unusual for a blogger like me. He said that he would be so happy to recieve pictures that I have. He liked the pictures I posted here.

But as I was saying, I have decided to make this post because of the video. Yes, I was moved by it... I am so fond of music, whatever genre it is. But music today is no more than what the heart speaks or what really it should be about. Simply, it has been too commercialized already. However, the producers of the video that Jake posted have something in mind that really is worth admiring.

I imagined what if Pilipino producers would try to do it here in the Philippines. We also have street performers that are way talented as those in the video. How about a song that will put the Pilipino people again on the flame? How about a calling for political transformation? How about a gospel song of renewal and coming back to the Lord?

I regard the video that Jake posted to have made a great impact on me and I will carry on in my life - forever.

Thanks Jake for sharing the video.

Faith is a Matter of Choice and Conscience

In my Xanga site, I have posted a statement of Dr. Jose P. Rizal regarding faith. But my supporting verses were something like in a different context. I found the other version of that article and it was actually a school project of my girlfriend's sister Ola.

"We are entirely in accord in admitting the existence of God. How can I doubt his when I am convinced of mine. Who so recognizes the effect recognizes the cause. To doubt God is to doubt one's own conscience, and in consequence, it would be to doubt everything; and then what is life for? Now then, my faith in God, if the result of a ratiocination may be called faith, is blind, blind in the sense of knowing nothing. I neither believe nor disbelieve the qualities which many attribute to him; before theologians' and philosophers' definitions and lucubrations of this ineffable and inscrutable being I find myself smiling. Faced with the conviction of seeing myself confronting the supreme Problem, which confused voices seek to explain to me, I cannot but reply: 'It could be; but the God that I foreknow is far more grand, far more good: Plus Supra!...I believe in (revelation); but not in revelation or revelations which each religion or religions claim to possess. Examining them impartially, comparing them and scrutinizing them, one cannot avoid discerning the human 'fingernail' and the stamp of the time in which they were written... No, let us not make God in our image, poor inhabitants that we are of a distant planet lost in infinite space. However, brilliant and sublime our intelligence may be, it is scarcely more than a small spark which shines and in an instant is extinguished, and it alone can give us no idea of that blaze, that conflagration, that ocean of light. I believe in revelation, but in that living revelation which surrounds us on every side, in that voice, mighty, eternal, unceasing, incorruptible, clear, distinct, universal as is the being from whom it proceeds, in that revelation which speaks to us and penetrates us from the moment we are born until we die. What books can better reveal to us the goodness of God, his love, his providence, his eternity, his glory, his wisdom? 'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork'." – Jose Rizal


We are faced with very frightening issues these days and this had to regard several aspects of our lives as Pilipinos and Christians. The degradation of the morality of Pilipinos and values has been one of the reasons why our country is considerably one of the worst in the world. In the count, we are just past Pakistan with 1 point as the most corrupt country in the world. What have happened to our values? What came of the teachings of our forefathers? What has the church done with these surfacing problems these days?

Our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal has laid his faith. He was a Christian though branded to be heretic by the friars. We can say even that Dr. Jose P. Rizal was never a politician. In fact, he was a philosopher, a 19th century Pilipino apologetic Christian. He never condemned the King of Spain nor has accused the Spain because of the situations of the Pilipinos in the Philippines during his time. Rather he was a constant critic of the Friars ruling over the Philippines. He was against the corrupt practices of the Friars before. He was never so happy about the abusive acts the Friars did thwarting their conscience and reverting Biblical principles of faith just to make their plans succeed.

Yes. Jose P. Rizal is a reminder that just like in his days; we are also experiencing a dilemma. We have shattered our conscience and our faiths have been blinded by nothing less than personal greed and the destructive desire of power. We are entangled by the lies set for us by the society, by ourselves, and those powerful factions that we let in our lives.

We need faith to proceed. We still need God to succeed. Dr. Rizal has made it clear in his statement and he affirmed his belief. Though this is actually a personal exclamation from a personal point of view, it create rather a communal effect; that if all Pilipinos think the same way, weighing theology as something not to use to control people but to set them free.

Maybe today we can never point out the problem to be with the government or with the church, maybe the problem is lying inside of us, maybe we have corrupted faith and blur conscience, thus we are left with no choice but to pile up problems adding one after another.

But it’s good Dr. Jose Rizal still educates us even today and reminds us of the role of God and our faith in him in the success of country. Yes he is right when saying: “No, let us not make God in our image, poor inhabitants that we are of a distant planet lost in infinite space. However, brilliant and sublime our intelligence may be, it is scarcely more than a small spark which shines and in an instant is extinguished, and it alone can give us no idea of that blaze, that conflagration, that ocean of light.”
---
joseph glenn c. austero jr. 10/06/08

Captured 4.0

...my holiday has been extended...LOL... I have well lots of things to share as there were so many many things that happened in my life, my family, and friends for the past two weeks alone. But before I will write about them later, so for the mean time allow me to share again some humble shots of Heil here.

Edge

Escape

Curtail

Track

Bound

... that's it... indulge yourself to these beautiful photos... My personal favorite is the first one... pick your choice...

I Was Tagged

It's holy week and I intentionally opted to leave my blog some days of quietness... But before I indulge for the long weekend vacation, I would like first to share this... Yes, I have been tagged by Watz... So here it is...

001. Name → Joseph Glenn.
002. Nickname(s)→ Glenn, Jad, Seph, Koopsit, Joe, Totep, Tep.
004. Zodiac sign → Gemini.
005. Male or female → Male.
006. Elementary → Malinao Central ES, Tabaco South Central ES.
008. High School → St. Louise de Marillac Sch of Tabaco, Tabaco National HS.
009. College School → Aquinas University of Legazpi.
010. Hair color → Black.
011. Long or short → Long.
012. Loud or Quiet → Loud and Quiet.
013. Jumpers or Jeans → Jeans.
014. Phone or Camera → Camera.
015. Health freak → Not so much.
016. Drink or Smoke? →.
017. Do you have a crush on someone? → Crushed someone? Many times :))!!!!
018. Eat or Drink → Eat.
019. Piercings → 1, left earlobe.
020. Tattoos → None.

FIRSTS:
023. First piercing → Last year Oct... many times since childhood, I pierced my thumb with a sewing machine needle and my left foot with concrete nail! Awful.
024. First best friend → Can't remember.
025. First award → Pre-school 1st Honor.
026. First crush → Can't remember.
027. First pet → Sushmita, A Japanese peach dog.
028. First big vacation → Big???.
030. First big birthday → Another Big???.

CURRENTLY:
049. Eating → Mr. Chips.
050. Drinking → Propel.
052. I'm about to → Poo.
053. Listening to → Diana, by Paul Anka and other oldies songs (Monro, Sedaka, Sinatra, Charles, name it... want to try? Click here.
054. Plans for today → Finish my blogs and head home for the weekend vacataion.
055. Waiting for → uhm, payments, hehehe.

YOUR FUTURE:
058. Want kids? → Yes.
059. Want to get married? → Hopefully.
060. Careers in mind → Becoming a US Senator... Lawyer... Computer Mogul...

WHICH IS BETTER IN THE BOY/GIRL YOU LIKE?
068. Lips or eyes → Eyes and Lips.
070. Shorter or taller - Just fine, average.
072. Romantic or spontaneous → Spontaneous.
073. Nice stomach or nice arms → Stomach? for what? Am I allowed to choose legs?.
074. Sensitive or loud→ Sensitive.
075. Hook-up or relationship → Relationship.
076. Trouble maker or hesitant → Hesitant.

HAVE YOU EVER:
080. Lost glasses/contacts → No.
081. Ran away from home → No.
082. Held a gun/knife for self defense → Hahaha.
083. Killed somebody → The muts!!! If I had then I would not be answering this, right?.
084. Broke someone's heart →.
085. Been arrested → Not yet, planning to be.
087. Cried when someone died → Yes.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
089. Yourself → Yes.
090. Miracles → Yes.
091. Love at first sight → No.
092. Heaven → Yes.
093. Santa Claus → No.
094. Tooth Fairy → No.
095. Kiss on the first date → Never...

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
097. Is there one person you want to be with right now → Yes. Hon.
098. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life → Yes.
099. Do you believe in God → Yes.
100. Post as 100 truths and tag 20 people→ NO... (It said, answer truthfully...) :))

This is it... I'm ready to leave... Advance Happy Easter to y'all...

A Summer with Less of the Sun

You read it right! According to observations on the Sun's activities conducted by NASA scientists, the sun had recorded the lowest sunspot for a century. Scientists even compared this latest attribute of the sun to the present situation of the stock market. The sunspot are observable movements in the sun's surface caused by the ejection of solar flares, magnetic field, and radiation. So what are the effects of this "very deep solar minimum" to Earth and humans? Well, there are a handful to say.

One effect of this sun quietness is the decrease of temperature and UV rays that can reach the Earth. Scientists also observed that there is a decrease of about .02% in the transmitted heat from the sun. Though sounds negative, the geniuses still are positive that this is a normal activity of the sun. In fact, that decrease in its temperature transmission cannot even make a change in the present global warming. Although the radiation and the magnetism brought about by the sun will affect the brightness and frequency of the auroras that can be seen at the polar regions.

This year, the sun recorded 78 days without sunspot. The date span was from Jan 1 to March 31, 2009. In that case 87% of the 90-day period, the sun did not show any activity. To say that last year was never close is an early prediction because there are still 9 more months to 2008's record of 266 "sunspotless" days.

What lies ahead on the suns future or even the Earth's future is still vague. There are assumptions that this will just be temporary and that the sun is just following a sequence just as what had happened in 1901 and 1913. But nobody can predict what will happen in the future; even modern equipment has no capacity to do so.

Well, for the moment let's enjoy summer. Lower radiation from the sun would mean more outdoor activities right? Oh just don't forget to still apply a sunscreen - 10.7 cm of decrease in radio wavelength is negligible and can still be harmful.

More info here.

Starbust Spider

Photo of what known as the Starbust Spider, taken from NASA's MRO

At first glance you would think that this place is just somewhere in the north or south pole. Or better yet a place somewhere in Colorado or within the ranges of the Rocky Mountains. But this is not. This place can only be found in Mars. That's right. This is a seasonal cap of carbon dioxide ice from the surface of Mars. With constant studies on Mars and surface footages are being produced by the MRO or Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, scientists are given more clips of ideas of what it is happening on Mars. The presence of ice in Mars don't necessarily give the scientist a chance to prove the existence of water on the red planet. Unfortunately, the ice do not undergo condensation so no presence of water is created rather it sublimates - a proces in which carbon ice directly becomes vapor. Oh, the name of this place is attributed to the spider leg through or web like trenches that are created by the gas escaping out from under the ice formation.

The Work and Passion

Honestly, I have nothing to share except for this photo... But in no case will I ever left this page barren for another day... So here it is...

Work and Passion

This is my keyboard at my home station... my crib... my servant... Well I took the photo last January but I only took notice of it's aesthetic accents just this afternoon... so I decided to post it here... oh by the way, the blue light was from the speaker's LED power signal... I don't use flash here so the light that reflected on the keyboard came from the fluorescent.

Expedition 19 Launches for ISS

Expedition 19 crews aboard this Russian Soyuz Rocket trusts upward during launch to begin mission in the International Space Station.

The scheduled flight of the Expedition 19 of Russia has successfully been done in Kazakhstan. The Russian Soyuz TMA - 14 rocket is commanded by Commander Gennady Padalka. With him is Flight Engineer Michael Barrat. These two cosmonauts will join Koichi Wakata in the ISS and will complete the mission after 6 months. Spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi is with the Russian crew again and is bound to be back here on Earth on April 7. Discovery STS-119 will be landing in Earth on Saturday bringing home Sandy Magnus in exhange for Wakata.

Meanwhile, a dispute have paved while an inteligence report reached the Washington about the rocket the North Korea is planning to launch. According to NoKor, the rocket that they are going to launch is not a nuclear bomb but a mission to space. Undeniably, the international commnunity have reacted negatively to this move. Secy. Clinton of the Department of State said that the flight or the launch of such will be provocative as it will be a violation to the UN Resolution banning NoKor for any activity like that. In 2007, the country launched a rocket bomb but has not reached its target as it exploded after flight alarming many countries. In 1996, NoKor had faked a space flight only to advance its nuclear tests.

While there is no limit as to what countries would like to explore the space, the international community is not at peace with North Korea's plan. It might be that while their mission is really space exploration, who knows if they are trying to test if they can launck a missile from space to Earth. This is really scary... The name of their missile itself sounds scary - Taepodong-2...

I can't wait for Saturday to come... I will never miss watching Discovery STS-119's reentry and landing...

Falling In Love with Kiba

This past Saturday, I visited a college friend here in Legazpi. I came to his place around 10 PM and he was so busy watching an anime series in DVD. I was not surprised with him for being too obsessed with animes so I decided to stay for a while to watch with him.

I no longer watch animes in TV and I no longer know what are the recent fad on these things. All I know is that Naruto's very famous these days. I asked Bobet what he's watching and answered Kiba, without looking at me.

Kiba is currently aired by ABS-CBN every 4:30 in the afternoon and nearing conclusion. I never heard of it before so I never dared watching it or googling about it. Yeah, I'm kind of biased here and my doors are already closed. I can never have any favorite anime except Samurai X and B't X... But as I was watching with Bet that night, I get to notice something with Kiba. The story line was so pure and direct and not complicated. When I say it's not complicated I mean that it's not to deep something that one can easily fathom. I say that the story is more of political in nature. And I can sense a deeper and more serious theme discussed in Kiba. In fact I believe that Kiba has a concealed message that will be exposed automatically to those who really seek it.

Kiba's story revolves around 3 characters; Zed, Rouia, and Noa. Noa and Zed are bestfriends from the place called Calm. Apparently, they wanted to leave Calm and find a peaceful territory. An accident happened and both Zed and Noa were taken by a force through a portal to unknown territories. Later they knew that they were sent to Tempura and Neotopia - Zed being sent to Tempura and Noa to Neotopia. These two territories is a part of the chaotic world that is composed of other nations such as Task, Jimoto, Ulbacus, etc. Because the world is at war, one nation greatly aims for power through acquiring Key Spirits in order to gain supremacy over the other nations. Luckily for Tempura and Neotopia, Zed and Noa had been chosen by Amil Gaoul and Shachira respectively - two of the six Key Spirits. The Key Spirits are said to have the power to change the world for the better or destroy it.

The story runs from simple scenes of friendship, tackles basic human quests for power, greed, and selfishness that would lead to conspiracy and deception. Oh by the way, the nations that I said part of the world Zed has been sent, they have different characteristics and forms of government - a thing that I have even loved as I put it as if it is the world that I am living right now...

So, I'll stop this story telling here because I might spoil the series. Well, if you are interested you may tune in to ABS-CBN to watch it or browse some anime website over the net for video streaming. (You can also get a DVD copy from your favorite "Jack Sparrow" outlet and let me borrow it... LOL...)

Refurbished

Last August 2008 was the last time I changed the appearance of my blog. At first it was wrapped with green background and some other similar colors. It looks similar to this. Then one day Nel commented that my blog looks like that of Sec Ing Etc. so I decided to change its colors and it's header photo. I made it brown and named it Extraction Point. Though this blog has gone through several changes, those were nothing so major... I never changed its template and had not added some tools... except for a Cbox and the blogroll... Just last Saturday I made a decision to change the layout and template of my blog... And it came to me that black template is good so I decided to use it... Now, I welcome you the new look of my blog...

I hope this does not make my blog boring to read or too dull to look at... I hope you still pay a visit after these changes...

BTW, Saturday morning, I had a chat with heil and he promised me that he's going to lend me some few other shots that he has. And a few hours later he sent it to me... I will post the pictures later this week... or maybe next week...

My head's so heavy today... My vision's swirling and I get a little dizzy... I don't know what I have eaten yesterday that I get this feeling... I hope I could get well later this day...

Sorry, I have no pictures to post... I get bact to it soon...

PS: How do you find the new look of my blog? Share some comments or leave a message at the CBox... Thanks...

Captured 3.0

Finally... I give you the last batch of Heil's captured images... The first picture is so beautiful for me... I love the texture, i like the color combination. Everything in it is simply amazing. So indulge yourselves with these pictures and treat yourselves with relaxation.

School

Robust

Fishes

Challenge

I hope Heil got other photos to share... Maybe some other time I will ask him for another batch that I will feature here... For the mean time, I will try to have my own works posted in here...

Ignition

Yeah... After some years of staying idle, I culled out my Multiply account and here I am trying to figure out how this works and what to do with this... I planned to re-open this account for one reason - blog cross-posting with Blogger. If these things worked and I find it easy to use Multiply then I think I will have to dwell on this one... Let's see... Wish me luck....

Bat Aboard!!!

As of publication of this blog, Discovery STS-119 has successfully docked at the International Space Station. The seven crews are already in the ISS and are preparing for the space walk. 2 of the STS-119 crews will be doing a space walk to conduct the final installation of the solar panel wing and the other equipment the team brought. Meanwhile, another expedition from Kazakztan will be leaving Earth and will dock at ISS this month (Liftoff: March 26). The crew of the Expedition 9 will be joining Koichi Wakata at the ISS. Wakata will be left in the ISS when Discovery returned. Joining Discovery crews back to Earth is Sandra Magnus in replacement of Wakata.

A breaking news caught my attention... A bat hanging on the external fuel tank of Discovery STS-119!!! An image posted by NASA showed a bat clinging on the external tank of Discovery STS-119. It was confirmed that the image was actually a bat. According to NASA, it is possible that birds and other animal can get close to the ship as Kennedy Space Center is located near a wildlife area. The bat remained clinging on to the tank as the craft trusts upward. Woah... That's great...

***

I am envious of the astronauts... Really... I bet it's really fun being there in space... I want to do the space walk too...

*Photos are from NASA.

Captured 2.0

I apologize for keeping you waiting for the next batch of Heil's shots. Well, my tactic worked. LOL... So before you lose your patience, I now uncover another five of the pictures Heil took and shared to me. Enjoy...

Verticle

This one is my personal favorite. I do not know why... I just love it and I found it very challenging... And I got a deep fascination over lines and I found it in this picture...

Lilies

Dock

Web

Heil confessed that the web with the spider was the most difficult to shoot. He had several shots of this scene just to capture the best one. The challenge here according to him was to keep the spider in the center and wait for it to settle... Also, because the web is light weight and the scene was outside, the wind keeps the web moving thus creating a blur on the finished products. Good thing he was able to shoot one good part here.

And finally for this batch...

Flown

We Have Liftoff

Photo of the Discovery STS-119 during launch yesterday at Kennedy Space Center, Launch Pad 39A

After some days delay, Discovery STS-119 has finally left Earth yesterday. Discovery is going to the International Space Station to deliver 2 solar power panel wings and another equipment. Aboard the Discovery are seven astronauts led by Col. Lee Archambault.

*Photo from NASA.

B't X Syndrome

4:30 in the afternoon, it was Monday, the class was ended early by my teacher and too fortunate on my part, I was not one of the sweepers for the day. I usually land to be a Monday sweeper back in my elementary years but when I was in grade 6 we were randomly selected and grouped. That day, I have the opportunity to sneak at a canteen outside near my school and watch my favorite cartoon series. Yes. Before Zenki, we have our favorite cartoon sequel.

And since during my elementary years, CATV was not as famous as it is now, we have no choice but to watch what is shown by the local network. Too fortunate that time, we were able to sneak at a canteen with a good reception of ABS-CBN. We are so happy when we watched B't X those time and from that day on, this cartoon has become my favorite.

That time, I am no longer residing in Malinao. My family moved back to a nearby town - Tabaco - since 2 of my sisters are studying there already. So most of my school day afternoons are spent traveling. 4:30 pm is my favorite time of the day that time because by the time the clock ticks 5pm, I must be at my Andma's (this is what we call our grandma, it's a long story and I will try to manage to post an article about this here) house as my parents tend to drop by before we head home.

Going back, B't X is my favorite character in the series. Of course, Teppei, being the master of B't X goes with that favoritism. I have a circle of friends in my neighborhood in Tabaco namely Chor and Jun. Chor being the biggest among us three and the most dominant chose to characterize himself as Tepei, while Jun as Fao. Because I was only left with Karen, Dr. Hokuto, and Ron to choose from, I had nothing left but to pattern my interests that time to the remaining unclaimed characters. Jun suggested that I pick Dr. Hokuto as he is a great scientist, intelligent, and neutral - characters that he said he saw in me. So I picked Dr. Hokuto as my character.

Dr. Hokuto's B't is Max. Max is a turtle and the most powerful B't over the planet and second only to Rafaelo. Hokuto is regarded as the Master Doc as he is capable of healing soldiers and knights that he came accross wounded. He is also able to repair any damaged B't that he finds. Without Hokuto, B't X and Teppei could not have survived an attacked posed by the army sent by Aramis. Hokuto is not actually an ally of Teppei until the rest of the guardians settled to a mission to destroy Rafaelo. Ironically, Hokuto is sick and weak and he cannot heal himself.

For ten years, I have been missing this TV series just as I am missing Samurai X. Few months ago, I purchased a DVD of the first season of B't X and I was so happy I get to see the guys again. I still find myself over the character of Hokuto and the DVD made me reminisce some parts of my childhood. I realized I have grown already and now facing my own Rafaelo.

I miss Chor, Jun, and the rest of my childhood friends back in Tabaco. I am missing my life 12 years ago.

I hope I can find the other DVD of the 2nd season of B't X... The death of Rafaelo... B't X Neo...

If anyone of you has this copy or any copies of the series, please let me know...

In Grayscale

The Writer

Resonance

Newsbreak

These pictures were taken a day before the brutal murder of Rei Mon "Ambo" Guran. As his fellow, I dedicated these shots for him. I never had a clue why during that Sunday I took the pictures, I was imagining shooting at a person but is absent or is invisible as portrayed in the photos... And the next day, the person I was imagining has been filled up.

These photos are also representations of me. I am a writer, a reader, and a music lover... Interests that I share with the late Ambo.