denciojuan (apathy)

I Got My Old Blog Back

denciojuan — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:22:08 +0000

Thanks to wordpress

Of Letters and Mailboxes

denciojuan — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:42:15 +0000

I just got back from an out-of-town trip so my email is flooded with so many unread messages mostly from e-groups of which i am part of, some are notifications from all the social networking sites, a few announcements from the college/department of which i am part of, messages and submissions from my students and spams.

At around 8am, I went to the office, and found an envelope on my desk. It was my billing statement for my credit card. When I got home, slipped under my door was my internet bill. Oh well. Life is full of bills.

But then again, when you think about it, when all of my emails are on paper and all are sent through snail mail, my mailbox would be flooded with white envelopes not to mention the flooding style of spammers all over the world. My cute little mailbox might not hold all of these “documents.”

Mailboxes. How nice it would be to go back tp the time when emails are not yet that famous. Letters will be pouring in your mailboxes – letters and holidays greeting cards from your friends abroad, a letter from grandma, a postcard from your girlfriend, and even a fruit cake from tita tess in Manila, all cramped i your mailbox.

What happened to the companies that manufacture mailboxes now? Do they still earn?

I wish I would start receiving letters again. I miss opening my mailbox. I miss the feeling of excitement because opening mailboxes is like opening a christmas present from a friend.

I wish that the content of my mailbox will not be that of bills and bills alone.

I miss the old days.

photos taken from: http://www.mailboxixchange.com

Charlie Green in Britain’s Got Talent

denciojuan — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:10:57 +0000

I was thrilled the first time I knew that Madonna Decena, a Filipino OFW in Britain, joined Britain’s Got Talent and surprisingly wowed the judges and the audience inside that wonderful proscenium theater. In fact, I hope she wins.

But then again,

Charlie Green, born and raised in the UK from a Filipino mother and a Briton father, come up the stage and sang “The Summer Wind.” He sang it beautifully and this kid has a lot of hidden grooves as well as she sways with the song.

I’m loving his version of the song and I hope he wins. It was a fantastic performance. And I never saw Simon Cowell smile the whole time he listened to Charlie Green.

Watch the video.

Andrew Lloyd Webber Night in American Idol 7

denciojuan — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:04:29 +0000

Its Andrew Lloyd Webber night in American Idol and it is thought to be one of the most difficult nights for the contestants.

Interesting performances but not mind blowing. Well maybe except for a few.

Syesha Mercado’s performance was nice but I was not blown away. The judges loved it though but I don’t trust their judgments specially that of Paula Abdul.

I may sound biased but I still like Jason Castro’s performance just because he sounds like Jason Mraz and I totally like his previous songs. Him singing “Memory” from Cats sang by Elaine Paige was intriguing and at the same time a total challenge for him. He did have some problems reaching the high notes and at the same time owning the song so that he will not sound like Elaine Paige or Barbara Streisand. I still hope that the Americans would still vote for him after that.

Brooke White should consider going back to beauty school. The first time she messed up with her song was cute. The second time was a mortal sin. She sang “You Must Love Me.” Honestly, Madonna sang it way better compared to her. The notes of the song were all against her. And Paula Abdul had a hard time looking for positive words to say.

Then David Archuleta aka David Achuliling sang “Think of Me” from the musical “Phantom of the Opera.” It was okay just as Simon said but totally forgettable. And still Randy and Paula loved him so much they kept on telling him he can sing anything. Paula even said that even if David A. would sing the phonebook, it would still sound amazing. Well, let him sing the freaking phonebook. I had enough of the Mickey Mouse Club already. Yes, he got the notes right and he sang it well but that was it.

Carly Smithson on the other hand had two song choices “All I Ask of You” and “Jesus Christ Superstar” but ended up performing the latter as per advice of Andrew Lloyd Webber himself. Carly Smithson singing “All I Ask of You” would be like listening to David Archuleta singing it and it is not a good thing. This may not be her best performance for me but she did sang it well and she had stage presence. Good thing it is not about a powder keg that gives off sparks kind of song.

Then finally, the star of the night, the other David in the bible of American Idol, David Cook, who has done several stage plays, entered the stage singing “The Music of the Night” from “Phantom of the Opera.” It sounded like the one from the musical at first up until the middle part of the song when David slowly infused his own style into it. Need I say more? Watch this.

Madonna in Britain’s Got Talent

denciojuan — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:55:52 +0000

I’m alone now and super bored on a Friday night. Johnnypanic is somewhere partying and Liguified is doing her thing with the IPs again. Me? I’m stuck here in Mintal, in front of my laptop, editing the script for the AVP of UP Mindanao. To make it simple, I am working on a Friday night. I’ve got no new movies to watch. No new songs to play and no food to eat.

So I’m blogging. An entry not really worth reading because perhaps it won’t mean anything to anyone reading this. But what the heck, I’m still writing this entry.

First stop, early Friday morning, Johnnypanic showed me a video of Britain’s Got Talent featuring a Filipina auditioning for a spot in the contest. Yes, a Filipina named Madonna Decena who is a club singer in Great Britain. She’s got talent for one so getting a spot in the competition might not be that difficult for her. I just can’t stand the drama. It is the usual telenovela kind of story common to all of us here in the Philippines – a woman who went abroad to work so that she can give her children the comfort and money they need to survive in this country.

Yes, an OFW story. Well, what can we do? It is how we define family here in the Philippines. A family is composed of a mother and children with a father working abroad or a father and children with a wife working abroad or parents with children working abroad. Common denominator, one or more are working abroad because the price of rice and petroleum is increasing in a velocity of light.

I am not against it though. In fact, I might end up working somewhere in a not so well lighted factory in China.

Everyone in the audience were misty eyed and even one of the judges. Of course we could not expect Simon Cowell to cry.

Well, here is a video of her audition. Watch it. She received a standing ovation from everyone.

Now its almost 10 in the evening. I still have more time to think about life in general.hahaha

And I am listening to Madonna’s “The Immaculate Collection” album.hahaha
I had enough Madonna for today so I got to stop it.

there is a little imelda in all of us

denciojuan — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:58:59 +0000

i remember my teacher before telling me that there is a store in new york i think that carries the slogan, “there is a little Imelda in all of us.”

if you don’t know who Imelda was (yes, past tense. but this is not a eulogy. i am talking about her lifestyle), then this is a refresher for you.

Imelda Marcos was the wife of former President Ferdinand Marcos and she was famous for her shoes. yes. she own more than a thousand pair of shoes and she only wore each pair ONCE. these are not just cheap shoes. we are talking here of high end designer shoes = EXPENSIVE.

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what’s with the intro? well, i am so into shoes right now. i own 8 pairs and i still want to buy more shoes. yes, MORE. let us just say that i am one of those who really, really, really loves shoes from loafers, patent leathers, lace-up leathers, running shoes, walking shoes to flip flops etc.

right now, i am in the mood of buying a pair of Amalfi “Tyrena” Loafer

i also love this Kenneth Cole shoes.

this shoes would definitely go well with my “barong”.

i am also dying to own one of these gucci sneakers either in velcro or in laces:

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aren’t these shoes to die for? hehehe

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photos taken from: http://www.shopwiki.com/wiki/Shoes

the real story behind ZTE scandal from the POV of Ricky Carandang

denciojuan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:27:18 +0000

From Ricky Carandang’s Blog
http://www.rickycarandang.com/?p=133

Treason

Allow me to expound a little on a story I did for The Correspondents on February 19th.

Seven countries claim ownership of the disputed Spratly Islands, just off of Palawan. China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malsysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines all claim to own part or all of the Spratlys. These overlapping claims have been a source of tension over the years since the Spratlys (we Filipinos call them the Kalayaan Islands) are believed to contain significant reserves of oil and natural gas. China was the most aggressive in pursuiung its claim. In 1999, the Philippines–under President Joseph Estrada– led an effort to prevent tensions by getting all the claimants to agree not to take actions to provoke other claimants.

But in 2003, the Philippines–now under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo– rocked the boat that it previously steadied when it signed an agreement with China to jointly undertake seismic studies of the Spratlys and explore for oil and natural gas. Naturally, the other claimants were angry. After getting them to agree not to rock the boat, the Philippines sucker-punched them with the China deal. China’s traditional ally, Vietnam was so angry they it had to be let in to the deal to appease them.

Aside from angering our neighbors and potentially undermining regional stability, Arroyo’s action may also be illegal. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez–who was then acting justice secretary–told former Senator Frank Drilon, who was then allied with the administration, that she believed that the deal violated the constitution, because while it was a deal between the state owned oil firms (PNOC of the Philippines and CNOOC of China) of the two countries, it implicitly gave China access to our oil reserves. Officers of the Foreign Affairs Department were also upset because the deal effectively strengthened China and Vietnam’s claim to the Spratlys.

What would compel Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to sign a deal that potentially undermines regional stability, possibly grants China parity rights to oil reserves in the Spratlys that we claim to be ours, and likely violates our constitution?

How about $2 billion a year? After the Spratly deal was signed, the Chinese government committed $2 billion in official development assistance a year to the Philippines until 2010, when Arroyo is supposed to step down from office. My sources tell me that the Spratly deal was an explicit precondition to the loans.

A sizable amount to be sure, but for the Arroyo administration the China loans are particularly appealing. Not so much because the interest rates are so low and the repayment terms so lenient, but because Chinese loans do not have the cumbersome requirements that loans from the US, Japan, the EU, and big multilateral lenders have. Requirements for documentation, bidding, transparency and other details that make it very difficult for corrupt public officials to commit graft. In fact, in November of last year, those cumbersome requirements made it impossible for some government officials and private individuals with sticky fingers to avail themselves of the World Bank’s generosity.

It had gotten to the point where a corrupt government could no longer make a dishonest buck. That is until China’s generous offer came along. Given China’s laxity with certain conditions, its no wonder why almost every big ticket government project funded by Chinese ODA has been the subject of allegations of graft and corruption. There’s Northrail, Cyber Education, the Fuhua agricultural projects, Southrail, and of course the ZTE National Broadband project.

Until the ZTE National Broadband scandal, the Chinese government has had little official reaction to any of these allegations. Why should they? The $8 billion is a loan, not a grant. It enhances their influence in the region, strengthens their claim to the Spratlys, and expands their influence in the Philippines. The best part is, regardless of what Philippine officials do with the money–whether they put it to good use or steal it–it still has to be paid back. Its no wonder that anytime some midlevel Chinese official comes to the country, congressmen and adminstration officials literally trip over themselves to roll out the red carpet.

For corrupt Adminstration officials and their cronies, $8 billion represents unprecedented opportunities for graft on a scale that would shock ordinary Filipinos.

And at the end of the day, that $8 billion is going to be paid back. Not by the grafters in and out of government; not by the Chinese citizens; but by the millions of ordinary middle class Filipinos who go to work everyday, pay their taxes, struggle and to keep their small and medium businesses afloat. The price will also be paid indirectly by tens of millions of poor Filipinos who will not have access to health care, quality education, and a functioning court system because those resources are not going where they should be going.

There’s a word for that. Its called Treason.

source: http://www.rickycarandang.com/?p=133

best web hosting and wordpress themes

denciojuan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:12:10 +0000

i still don’t know why am i so into changing themes lately. it’s not like i am really into this CSS and RSS or whatever. i don’t even know what are these. heck with friendster and their edit CSS option.

i just want to change everything in just a click without studying MEDA103 and that is New Media.

anyway, as i was browsing online, thanks to my internet provider, i looked for some wordpress themes that i can download aside from the ones you can find here.

and it is not just a source for wordpress themes, it even offers web hosting for a minimal fee. and as cliche as it may sound, it offers the best web hosting. a generic tagline for an “in” product nowadays. i’m sure, my pr and advertising teacher wouldn’t like it that much.

but what the heck. i’m for the wordpress themes. i’ll think about the domain hosting later.

and with that, til later my dear readers.

planters 101

denciojuan — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:09:42 +0000

you might have read in my old entries that i am buying a new house this year. in fact, i was able to show you the floor plan of the house. interior design would be discussed later. what i would want to talk about now is the exterior of my future house – the part of the house that calls the attention of the passers-by and even your friends, the planters. in our own language, PASO, KAANG or whatever it is called in your place, to give accent to both the interior and exterior of the house.

well, desperate and OC as i am, i looked online for some ideas. research told me that planters can be indoor planters, outdoor planters, garden planters and even decorative planters.

normally, we rely on our taste and aesthetic sense alone but we have to consider the kind of plant we are going to put in it as well from the very basic drainage holes to asking yourself if the plant will survive in that planter.

so i looked harder online and found this site that talks about planters and planters alone.

photos taken from http://www.planterixchange.com/store/home.php

new theme, new life

denciojuan — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:16:57 +0000

i just felt like i really needed to change the theme of this blog. tis summer already and blue is not really a good color for summer specially the kind of blue i used before as theme.

so now, meet the new denciojuan (apathy) blog. the new blog of the bisdak in town.

brighter.

more interesting.

enjoy.

blog for money, get paid to blog

denciojuan — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:53:56 +0000

new media is the latest form of spreading the news now whether it is for the good of the people or the exact opposite of it. in new media, you can either praise a person and let the whole world know or character assassinate a person worldwide.

new media has been a great tool for PR and marketing and right now, new media, specially the internet is used to advertise certain products and services. if you wanna sell your old stuffs at home, then post it on e-bay.

now, what has blogging got to do with it?

my officemate told me to check on sites that connects a blogger to an advertiser. this way, the blogger can write anything about the product in his or her blog or sometimes the advertiser tells the blogger what to write.

if you search online using keywords like get paid to blog, blog advertising, blog for money etc, you will be given a couple of sites that acts as the middleman between you and an advertiser.

i happen to come across smorty.

getting registered at smorty is as easy as peeling a banana. all you have to go is to go to this site, then follow the instructions.

once you are already a registered member (this is for free by the way), you will now register a blog and wait for smorty’s approval. blog approval doesn’t take that long. in 24 hours or less, you get your blog approved. once your blog is approved, then you are now ready to earn as much as 3,000 US dollars.

why smorty?

aside from the very interesting domain name that sounded like the kingdom of smurf, smorty’s user interface is so easy to understand and manipulate. at a glance, you can easily browse the site. also, unlike some sites, smorty allows you to write as many entries in a day. the more entries you write, the more you earn so long as you follow the instructions of the task.

so, what are you waiting for bloggers? get smarty! go smorty!

Domain Registration

denciojuan — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:21:59 +0000

lately, my officemates are into registering/getting their very own domain names. claire the cat got her own domain name already. even her sisters got their domain name. malcom, a friend of mine who resides in cleethorpes, england said that i need to get my own domain if i wanna get serious in using new media. domain registration is the in thing now in new media.

so i asked myself, what are the benefits of getting your own domain?

you have the right to choose your domain name and end it with .com or .com.ph or .net so you won’t have to use djsumaylo.wordpress.com and use djsumaylo.com instead. that is more personalized. that reflects ownership.
people will look/read your site differently in a way that they would consider it a more serious site and everything in it is deemed important and relevant to the owner of the domain.
if you want to sell something online, or offer services online like writing speeches, you should have your own domain.
people will easily know how to find you and where to find you.
you will have control on disc space which will actually depend on you and your capacity to pay.
you will also have an unlimited subdomain.
you will also get 24/7 customer support and email hosting like dj@djsumaylo.com

in other words, the possibilities are endless.

how to register a domain? click here for some helpful tips in registering a domain name.

you might be wondering how to get one. well, i did the job for you. this is only cheap and you renew it yearly.

cheap domain registration.

no more updates unless needed

denciojuan — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:17:20 +0000

this blog will only be updated if there is a need for me to post something that will help me earn money. why?

dollhaus boys…

denciojuan — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 05:11:57 +0000

ang dollhaus boys…

standing from left to right: malik, cil, and kura rye

sitting from left to right: cesar, tom, jah-em, and me

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wala lang…gusto ko lang ito ipost…

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bakit nga ba ako umalis sa dollhaus?

dahil sa mga kababalaghang nangyayari sa door 2, dollhaus apartment, churches avenue, mintal, davao city.

ironic diba? dahil napapagitnaan siya ng simbahan.

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jah-em sine ta!!!

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para kay Gian Alexis Abian

denciojuan — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 05:04:56 +0000

Gian Alexis Abian

noong bata pa siya… at may retainers pa… hehehe

thanks po sa lahat…