Pencil vs Camera

Palais des Beaux Arts in Lille, France.
I love the work of Ben Heine a Belgian artist/photographer who's doing an experimental series Pencil Vs. Camera. Heine combines the a mixture of camerawork and illustration, held by his own hand, in his pan-European adventures spanning France, Belgium, and Portugal at current tally.


The photo and drawing are 2 different ways of expression but they go well together and they definitely have the same purpose: share an idea, an emotion, a concept or a message.

Iron Man 2 is No. 1

Yes, it is!!! One week before opening day, Iron Man is already the No. 1 movie at the box office.

How? Well, the movie opened in France and five other European countries yesterday. Iron Man 2 finished No. 1 everywhere it played, grossing a combined $2.2 million.

So, this movie will invade the cinemas next week, see you there!

20 Warner Bros. Films from now till 2013

IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures announced to release 20 iMax format movies for the next 3 years (from 2010 through 2013) and the update for "The Hobbit" release date. Movies that will be released in IMAX are:

Legends of the Guardian: The Owls of Ga'Hoole 3D - (September 24, 2010)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (3D) - (November 19, 2010)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (3D) - (July 15, 2011)

Happy Feet 2 (3D) - (November 18, 2011)

and

The Hobbit - (December 2013 updated).

Warner Bros. and IMAX also plan to release an additional 15 films over the course of 2011, 2012 and 2013, including Gravity, Dark Shadows, Fury Road, Batman 3, and Superman.

...hold on... I thought the world's gonna end on 2012...

Diamond is NOT Forever!!!

"Diamond is forever", well its a big NO! Because according to DeBeers, the world's largest diamond miner, says the supply of diamonds is slowly and surely running out. And expect that the price will increase at least 5 per cent per year for the next five years.

"Diamonds are a treasure of nature that should be properly protected, because there will be less to sell. The reality is that supply cannot keep up, and that will become very accentuated over the next 15 years."

So maybe when the time comes that diamond is just a thing of the past, maybe we can think of something new that can be worth like a diamond... maybe uhmm... a rock that comes from outer space! No? Okay, I wish diamonds do "grow" so fast, just like trees and weeds.

Sisterhood Award

I'm so thrilled to received the Sisterhood award. I got this from Ruby (GurlNextDoor)! Now, I'm sharing this award to my blogger friends:

My Puzzle Piece

Full Time Mom

Unni1982

Mitsuketa

Mama Lira

Kirtastrophesblahg

Burnt Wood Art

Simple Things In Mind

Cathy Bellen

Anneblythe

You can also share this award to your blogger friends, just do these:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post
2. Nominate up to 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Aliwan Fiesta 2010 - Street Dance Showdown

Because of photography persuasion, I took a vacation leave last Saturday just to watch the street dance competition in Mall of Asia. Manila Broadcasting Company brought 5,000 dancers, musicians, and artisans from different parts of the Country that has festivals and fiestas to perform in one place to show the diversity and the rich culture of the Philippines.

Here are some of the photos I've got:




I enjoyed the whole time, I was under the sun for couple of hours. Photography is no easy work yet an awesome thing to experience!

And a BIG Congratulations to Iloilo (Dinagyang Festival) for Winning the Street Dance Competition 2010. Everybody was impressed to the energy the beautiful smile while doing the spectacular performance under the sun. And to every province that participated, they did great!!! I am proud to show the world the colorful tradition of the Philippines.

Final and Official ECLIPSE Movie Trailer

Ah, at last!

Released in High Quality, the IMAX experience!

Enjoy!

The Last Airbender 3rd & Last Trailer

The movie will be shown in cinemas starting on July 2, 2010 and will be available in iMax too!!!

I bought new accessories for my laptop this weekend! Multi-colored Apacer USB Hub PH152. It is has user-friendly design, but weird shaped with rotating usb ports.

Simple USB 2.0 Plug-and-Play, supporting transfer rates up to 480Mbps

Built-in 4 USB ports on the Hub

Offers both bus-powered mode and self-powered mode

Over-current detection and protection

...and a black F5L001 Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad.

It has a unique patented wave design that prevents the laptop from overheating and it uses natural convection to enhance fan cooling, and ensures low power consumption via laptop's USB port. It requires no bulky power adapters!

Aliwan Fiesta 2010 - Pasakalye Concert

Its Aliwan Fiesta again! Its a yearly event organised by MBC (Manila Broadcasting Co.)held in CCP Complex. It showcase all the major fiestas and festivals all over the country and perform a spectacular performances by 5,000 dancers, musicians, and artisans. Anyone can watch cultural street dance parade with colorful float, hip-hop dance competition and beauty pageant in 3 days. The celebration aims to showcase the richness of different Filipino cultures and heritage not just in Metro Manila but to the rest of the world.

Last night, Thursday 22 April 7:00 P.M. was the first day of the fiesta. PASAKALYE CONCERT was held in Sotto Street, CCP Complex, Pasay City. It's an Inter-scholastic dance competition and band concert featuring


Gloc 9


Luke Mejares,


Bugoy,

and


Jurice

with special guests Danilo Barrios, Jopay Paguia and DJ's from diffirent FM radio stations.



Well, it was my first time being there and I was so excited watching the colorful "banderitas" and all the decorations around. We arrived earlier, so I got some time walking around the place.



A popular carnival -- Star City is just nearby CCP complex.


A theatre along Sotto street.

And here are the schedule:

Friday 23 April 7:00 P.M. - Sotto Street, CCP Complex, Pasay City.
REYNA NG ALIWAN PAGEANT, watch the loveliest ladies representing different festivals all over the country vie for the title of festival queen.

Saturday 24 April 4:00 P.M. - SM Mall of Asia to Sotto Street, CCP Complex, Pasay City. STREETDANCE COMPETITION AND FLOAT PARADE A grand cultural showcase highlighting unity amid diversity to compete for the million-peso prize.

There is also a photo contest: Maximum of five (5) entries per photographer, taken of different participating contingents/festivals: three (3) during the streetdance competition, and two (2) from the float parade.

Prizes:

First Prize - P50,000
Second Prize - P25,000
Third Prize - P10,000

Deadline for submission of entries is on May 14, 2010 at 3 p.m. more info of the contest here.

Earth Day 2010

April 22, is another important day to take a part and contribute in campaigning to save the only place we are living in.

Earth Day started forty years ago, and from that time our planet is in greater peril than ever. Global warming is been the greatest challenge to us. Climate change is advancing forcing and challenging us to do everything to build healthy, prosperous, clean energy economy now and for the future.

For Earth Day 2010 is a right opportunity for individuals, corporations and governments to join together and create a global green economy.

Let's do the simple "green act" to save our planet. Wishing you a Happy Earth Day!

Tape Noir

I am so amazed by this conventional art made by mixed media artist Mark Khaisman, an architect. He made layers of translucent packing tape on Plexiglas panels to create images that have the shadow and depth of large scale paintings and took him a week to finish this.

More of his artworks here.

Eclipse Final Trailer Debut

I hope its already June 30, I can;t wait for the 3rd Twilight Saga movie - Eclipse. But for now, the final Eclipse trailer will debut on the Oprah Winfrey Show April 23rd.

Lovely Monday

Once again, it's Monday. It means I have to get back to work and get busy for the rest of the week. But this morning, I saw the beautiful blue sky with lots of white clouds saying "You'll going to have a great week!"

So, I hurried back to my room, took a bath, get dressed, ate my meal, grab my bag, and now I'm ready for the great week ahead.

Happy Monday everyone!

Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft Office 2010 was announced to be ready for release and expected to be on store starting on June. Microsoft manufacturing partners and computer makers will get the software first, followed by businesses and then finally general customers.

Orange Chicken

I had a great lunch at Chowking yesterday before going to work. Their new Orange Chicken with rice is delicious,... spicy, and sweet because honey and orange.

World's Most Extremes Roads to Travel

I am thinking about some of the most extreme places and most bizarre and dangerous places. I won't able to go there, but I am just curious how humankind are pro-extremes. In fact, we can live in the places that has the most unforgiving climate with almost no resources to find. I bumped into an article which shows some of the most dangerous roads in the world.



Tunnel in China

This is a 1200 meter long and is about 5 meters high and 4 meters wide tunnel road in the Taihang mountains. Located in the Henan Province of China. Was built by 13 local villagers and took five years to finish.





Lena Highway

Russian Federal Highway called “Lena Highway” or lets call it "The Road from Hell". This road leads from Moscow city to the Siberian city of Yakutsk. This place is one of the the coldest cities on earth that the temperature runs down to -45 °F especially on January...

...but the bizarre thing is, it is unpassable in the summer because when it rains in summer, the road becomes muddy making it impossible for the
vehicles to pass through.



El Espinazo Del Diablo

El Espinazo Del diablo or we should call it "The devil’s backbone" in Durango, Mexico. This is the only road from Durango to Mazatlan Sinaloa and would take 5 hour long to get there. Stunning rock formations rising around you and the lush, green vistas will entertain you will driving the road.



Trollstigen in Norway

Trollstigen means the "Troll Ladder" is one of the most that attracts tourists. The place has a series of stunning roads with a breathtaking view of a few waterfalls and once you reach the top, its will show you a stunning and breathtaking view, which is the Stigfossen waterfall, a 320 m long waterfall which falls down the mountain side.



Halsema Highway

Halsema Highway or the Baguio-Bontoc Road is located Central Cordillera Valley, in my own country, Philippines. The place has a series of mountains and abundant in green lush forest. People enjoy planting and harvesting crops and will eventually sold in downtown cities. Halsema Highway is approximately 150 miles long, with narrow roads and steep cliff faces make the road almost impassable during the rainy season. There are sheer drop offs of more than 1000 feet without a safety guard rail. It is known for its rock slides and mud slides and buses driving dangerously fast on its narrow passage that cause accidents every year.

New Apps for iPhone

There are two new iPhone Applications that are so helpful available for iphone users.

I've been using Opera Mini in as my mobile browser. I can browse the internet where ever I go especially when there is no wi-fi connection available in the area. Opera Mini simple, fast and easy to use. For anybody who is using opera mini, the app. uses compression methods that allow you to view a full website, yet download noticeably less data. This also serves as great information for those unlucky enough to be stuck on AT&T’s Edge connection, which is notoriously slow with large data transmissions.



Now it is finally available for the iPhone and iPod Touch for a while.



Another new iphone app. is the GetOlympus app. that can allow you to access to company news, user photo gallery, photography tips and information on special offers. Designed by Olympus to provide dynamic interaction with consumers, the App will be updated with new content and features over time.

Features of the App include:

• Olympus Resolution User Gallery – view amazing user-submitted photos and read the "behind the shot" stories for inspiration to capture your own spectacular images.



• Tips – whether you want to learn to take vacation, underwater, panorama or any other memorable photos, tips are available for many different shooting environments. Read Olympus' tips or submit your own!



• Connect With Olympus – visit Olympus social networks, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr, with the touch of a button.



• Offers & Promotions – be among the first to know when Olympus is offering a special promotion or cash rebate. Learn about the latest photo contests sponsored by Olympus. Get cash back – trade in your old working digital camera for a new Olympus camera using the Olympus 'Trade In Trade Up' program.



• Favorites – save your favorite photos, tips and news and share them via email with other GetOlympus users.

You can grab these cool app in www.itunes.com/appstore/.

Life Instructions

Mom's Roses

Just woke up feelin' sick this morning. I had a tough night, I had stomachache since 2am, made me sleepless and restless. Anyhow, I am letting you see my mom's roses. I love seeing her flowering garden early in the morning as soon as I woke up and especially when I'm sick, just like this morning, all I can do is look at her flowers and I feel better.


Nikon D5000
Aperture Priority
ISO 200
F 5/6 - 1/1250s
Exposure Compensation: -1.0


Nikon D5000
Aperture Priority
ISO 200
F 5/6 - 1/200s

I took this photos few hours before my trip going back to Manila.

Something I Wanna Do Again...

Its Sunday and I am so thankful to God. Things are slowly getting okay. Since I came back here in the city, I finally had peace of mind. I moved to a new apartment. A really cozy one. But since its rest day, I am wanting to go somewhere... Like hiking in the forest again. I miss the times when I had my vacation last week in my province. We hiked and found a river, then we go swimming there.

Let me share some of my photos:


Going deep into the forest, the path is so slippery.



And on our way, we meet some company.



We passed-by a hut and I saw someone cooking with woods. I love the scene. Life is so simple!


Then we stumble upon a river. The water is crystal clear and so cold, a perfect getaway!



We've passed only tree houses on our way to the forest and our guide said, some of the locals get there drinking water here.


By the way this is one of my favorite shot. I love waterfalls!



And oh, that was me and my cousins, before we go for a swim.



wow, the water is so cold!

I wanna go back to this place. I'll go home this coming August and will have some more adventure there.

Happy Birthday Kristen Stewart!!!

She turns 20 today!!!

Sunrise!

I took this photo on Good Friday, I woke up early, grabbed my camera and tripod, headed to the beach and get a snapshot of the sunrise. Well its not really so early because its past 6a.m. but I think I got a nice shot.



Family is always there to accompany me. Dad, Mom, and even our dog Rodney is there for the support! We decided to take a 30 minutes walk...



... picked some shells along the way.

The next day...



I woke up earlier hoping to get a better sunrise photo, but its not that good. It was cloudy and almost going to rain.



I waited patiently until clouds disappear and the sun slowly showed up.



It feels great to watch the sunrise with family!