To children, stuffed animals are more than toys, they’re imaginary friends who are always ready to give comfort or play. They provide a certain amount of security in a sometimes scary world. I am helping Cathy with her “A Thousand Bears for Bicol” because this is a way to channel our sadness over the Bicol tragedy. Continue reading?

I’m settling in my new job quite nicely. Well, Actually it’s not new anymore. I’ve been there for almost 2 months now. I’m also getting a hang of living in the big city, traffic hell and all. But it still feels like I’m in a transition stage. Everything just feels so new. Horizons getting bigger. Old limits fading away, new limits popping up from nowhere. It’s fun! With this transition stage, I feel I also need to move forward with this blogging thing. Thanks to the people of the Pinoy Blogoshpere Yahoo! Mailing List, I’ve found a new kind of hunger for blogging. And this hunger drove me to create another blog, Baddieverse. And what will happen now to LongBox? It’s time to re-imagine it. It’s time for an era to end. It’s time for Volume 2.

More! More! Mooooore!

One of the most common problems we encounter when shooting is light, or more accurately, the lack of it. The picture on the right illustrates that point pretty well. Who’s in it? Right now it looks like a black box, but if you set your monitor to maximum brightness, squint your eyes, you’ll see… well… a black box. Fine, it’s not a black box, but it looks like one.

Whatever it looks like, something was supposed to show up in that frame. What was it?

[Read on to learn more.]

It’s here! And a lot of veteran Palm users are disappointed…

Read more…

I walked back in time and reminisced the old movies and TV shows I watched as a child when Honey and I went to Disney-MGM – one of the four theme parks of Disney World (the other three are The Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, and Animal Kingdom). Well, it’s a good thing they didn’t feature new movies, for coming from Cambodia as I am where there are no movie houses that play Hollywood films, I would not be able to relate with any of the new stuff.

Above is the icon of Disney-MGM – the Sorcerer’s Hat from Disney’s movie Fantasia, a movie that put animation to great classical music such as Beethoven’s Pastorale Symphony, Tschaikowsky’s Nutcracker Suite, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, etc. – great movie to watch if you want to learn how to appreciate classical music. I watched Fantasia when I was in high school (yeah, I was kinda nerdy… my friends were all listening to Spandau Ballet and Tears for Fears and I would go crazy with Bach, Tschaikowsky, and Stravinsky). I read somewhere that although Fantasia wasn’t such a big hit in the box office, it was Disney’s favorite.

Read more in Toe’s Kurokuroatbp.

Say what you will about Bamboo and his band mates – suplado, mayabang and whatnot – but he gives a mean performance, and you can’t really criticize his music. Even in a free gig over at the Elbow Room in Metrowalk last November 29, he is all energy and spunk, and the music is crispier than freshly cooked chicharon.

Read more about “Fronting Bamboo” @ the Guitar Blog

A few years ago I got to work for a magazine company renowned for publishing some of the country’s best glossies. Even though I was assigned to its first-ever business mag, the instructions were the same: no scrimping on production values. Meaning, even if we were featuring entrepreneurs and ordinary people in our pages–average Joes as opposed to the high-maintenance models and celebrities found in the other magazines–they should look their best in our pictures, and the publication itself should live up to its glossy character.

The company had amassed an impressive pool of talent for this: the best makeup artists, stylists and photographers in the business, ready to work their magic on the magazine’s monthly subjects. The stylists were authorized to borrow fashion paraphernalia from high-end stores and have these items used by our subjects for pictorials. Our end of the bargain was to make sure the brands were credited in the published pages. Fair enough.

Read the rest of the story here.

I used to post here on PinoyBlog a few years ago – back when was I still on Blogger. I’m not quite sure why I stopped, but the point is I’ve rediscovered this blog. I’ll most likely be posting about photography, but I’m sure I’ll have other topics.

Anyway, until next time, you can visit me at http://drivebyshooter.net/.

My hubby and I decided to go on a movie date today. Good thing they were showing “Happy Feet”. Because of my busy schedule, I have not been able to keep myself up to date on the latest movies but I heard somewhere that this movie was supposed to be awesome.

Here are my favorites:
Of course Happy Feet
The Amigos and how they think that everything Mumble does is cool
The Adelie land where penguins don’t sing but rock
Lovelace “Barry White” the guru
The singing and dancing

[Read]

It’s not as sinful as one might think, but since I desperately wanted to convince myself to start going on a diet, I committed a “crime” against myself… I “discovered” Penny Brown. I ordered a Smacker! and called it “Karen’s Sinful Escape”.

[More "sins" here.]

This is the season to be jolly and spread the love and warmth of Christmas, so what better way to do this is to send a text / SMS message to your loved ones in the United States. But international texts don’t come cheap. A single 160 character message to international users costs about P10 – P15. So you P300 prepaid credits would only convert to 20-30 messages. What if you could send as many messages as you want for just P1 or even FREE?

CLICK TO CONTINUE READING

Isn’t it nice to get something without really expecting anything? Most of the time these days we work hard to be able to take hold of something and nonetheless it’s still nice, what I just really want to say now is that… I like surprises!!! lol Who doesn’t!?!

To give you an idea take a look on what I got…

It’s not over yet!!

Happy New Year. Yup. The First Sunday of Advent marks the Church’s first day of the liturgical year. The gospel is about the end of the world. The topic of the end of the world already began two Sundays ago. The topic might be scary. It’s probably because of the apocalyptic language used to talk about the end time. But it’s not really a doomsday event. Promise. (Read on.)

Obviously, I have no idea about Microsoft’s true stand on piracy but you might wanna read this one.

Continue..

The next installment, the 4th season, of GMA7′s hit show will start this Monday.
More here.

Price: $19.99 – $27.99

This is a perfect gift for or any self-respecting geek. Check out the image below for the details. Still don’t get it? Then you probably shouldn’t buy one, should you?

read more

In Pursuit of the Truth
By: Kenneth E. Regañon

It all started way back early in November when I talked to this friend of mine. We talked about certain Christian beliefs and other things too. And then she handed me this booklet with some Christian stuffs there, and began talking –or lecturing I should say. For about 10-15 minutes, she talked, talked, and talked some more and I could do nothing but nod and pretended as if I understood everything she said. I was so amazed when she even prayed right in front of me. She also made me recite a prayer. Then she said, “Do you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” Then I immediately said, “Of course I do,” as if I had other words to say. I was puzzled what she meant when she asked me that. I didn’t bother to ask. And then in my mind I said “Wow…” Never did I encounter a person (a girl) with this kind of attitude towards faith. I’ve spoke to a lot of Catholics out there explaining the scriptures to me but she was different, probably because she isn’t Catholic. I don’t know. She wasn’t even intimidated speaking at me though it was our first time to chat.

Then I asked her to talk about their religion. This was my first time to speak to a non-Catholic. And then she talked some more. It was only then that I learned that they have certain beliefs that contradict ours (Catholics). After all why would you call it “non-Catholic” for nothing? However, I couldn’t in any way prove her wrong nor argue with her because I don’t know what to say. But that does not mean that I was confused of the truth or what. It’s just that I found it difficult to explain it to her. Being confused and having difficulty is totally different. I never did see this coming. I was embarrassed, but later on challenged. Then all of a sudden, I began to realize the importance of reading the scriptures, of reading the Bible. From then, I read books pertaining Catholicism and Christianity. The more I read, the more I felt that I know nothing. Then I made it a point that the next time we talk again, I would be able to say something and explain to her the Catholic Faith

Then the next day I read this book entitled, “Rome Sweet Home” by Scott and Kimberly Hahn, which presented the couple’s journey (conversion) towards Catholicism. It was splendid, tremendous, remarkable, awesome, inspiring─ probably the best! I tell you, the moment you start reading the book, you wouldn’t even dare to stop. It presented a lot of common misunderstood beliefs of the Catholic Church─ Mary being the Mother of God, intercession of the saints, the use of statues and other sacred images, Catholics belief in Purgatory, and other misunderstood doctrines. It did answer all my questions. I also read some other Catholic books as well (and of course the Bible), as I was very determined to seek for further explanations. I didn’t know that my encounter with my friend would change my life. It was fun, (I wish I would be able to talk to her again) though we had different views regarding some Christian doctrines.

Allow me to present some things that I have learned.

The truth about Mary is one of the most controversial and talked-about issues of some Christian denominations nowadays, even long ago. “Mary is not the Mother of God. She is the Mother of Jesus!” one might just say. This is a heartbreaking statement for us Catholics. Isn’t Jesus God? If Mary is the Mother of Jesus and Jesus is God then therefore she must also be the Mother of God, simple logic! It’s as if disproving one of the central Christian truths- the Holy Trinity, God being the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Though these three natures of God function distinctly, they all have equal power, majesty, and divinity. My friends may call me Ken, Net, or Kenneth, but still they refer to only one person- and that’s me. The same is applied in the case of the Holy Trinity. Mary being the Mother of God simply proves to us that Jesus is really God!

Some non- Catholics oppose the treatment that Catholics give to Mary- as if she is being “worshiped”. Hey, Catholics do not worship Mary because God alone, and only God, is to be worshiped. But instead, we venerate her. We give her full honor and respect for her immediate response of accepting God’s will- to be the Mother of God. Mary symbolizes true discipleship and with that she deserves to be honored. Catholics believe the so-called “Hierarchy of Truths”. The truth about Mary, being the Mother of God, is not of equal importance as the central Christian truths- the Holy Trinity, divinity of Christ, redemption. Mary is not even the source of Jesus’ divinity. God used Mary as an instrument for His plan of salvation, to bear Jesus, the Son of Man that will redeem mankind! One common mistake of some Catholics is treating Mary equal to God. Marian truths aren’t even in the top ten Christian truths. For example in the New Testament, in all of the letters attributed to Paul, Mary is mentioned only once, and not even by name (Gal 4:4). However, truths about Mary should also be treated significantly. It shouldn’t be treated lightly. Mary plays an important role in God’s plan of salvation. That’s why one jeopardizes his salvation if he dishonors Mary, the Mother of God. And in fact, the fourth commandment tells us to honor our [father and] mother. And to tell you, there is no man out there who loves Mary more than her Son, Jesus Christ Himself! And as Christians, we should imitate the way Jesus Christ honors Our Mother Mary.

Mary also deserves to be honored because she was conceived without original sin. She was completely sinless. She was assumed, through the grace of God, into Heaven before and up to her last day on earth. A non-Catholic would argue, “If she was sinless, does that mean she never needed Christ for redemption?” The answer is no. Mary was redeemed by Jesus Christ even before she was conceived. That’s why she was freed from the stain of sin. But this Immaculate Conception is more of a statement to Jesus than to Mary. This proves that Jesus Christ is so holy that God Himself even prepared a Mother for Him who was freed from sin and is pure holy.

One way of honoring Mary is by praying the Holy Rosary, which is regarded by some non Catholic denominations as a useless repetitive prayer. “Doesn’t God hear our prayers that we need to repeat it over and over again?” some might argue. Ok, we take this example. We always say “I love you Mommy” or “I love you Daddy” a number of times. And never did we hear them say “Stop saying that. We know you love us.” It’s a more remarkable feeling whenever your son or daughter says “I love you, I love you” even in repetition than hearing them say it only once, right? That’s how a repetitive prayer goes. “Hail Mary full of grace…” is just the same as saying “I love you Mary, Mother of God!” Same goes to other repetitive prayers. We Catholics express our love for Mother Mary by simply praying the rosary. We ask her to pray for us because she has a very significant relationship with Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, for she is the Mother of God. It’s the same thing as when a friend of ours helps us to say sorry or to make friends to someone whom we have hurt. And also, imagine how our mothers would comfort us whenever our fathers scolded us. Our mothers would always help us in any circumstances─ how much more Mother Mary!

Some Non-Catholics would contest Catholics’ religious use of statues and other sacred images. “…idols…” one might say. These images are used in religious contexts and are only visual representations in order for us to remember the one being depicted and to commemorate certain important people and events. In the Old Testament, during a plague, God even instructed Moses to construct a statue of serpent that whoever gets bitten and looks at the statue would recover (Numbers 21:4-9). We do keep photographs of our family or friends in our wallets right? In this case, we love the person/s illustrated in the picture and not the picture itself! The same is true when Catholics pray and meditate in front of statues and when we keep sacred images. In short, God forbids the worship of images but not the making of images!

She’s a Born Again Christian by the way. I remember I asked her why they call it Born Again, I forgot what she said. I’ll probably ask her again the next time we talk. Scott Hahn, one of the coauthors of Rome Sweet Home was asked by a friend of his, “Have you been born again?” “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” Then Scott replied, “Yes, indeed I have. But that’s not why I’m born again. I’m born again because of what Christ did through the Holy Spirit when I was baptized.” Scott says that accepting Christ as our personal Lord and Savior is a great thing to do. But that does not mean of being “born again.” In the New Testament, Jesus did not mean of ‘Accepting Him as our personal Lord and Savior’ when he spoke to Nicodemus, the Pharisee. “Amen, amen I say to you, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again of Water and Spirit (Jn 3:5).” Surely in this statement, Jesus meant the sacrament of baptism. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved (Mk 16:16).”

“…only heaven and earth…” again, one might argue. What about the third stage- Purgatory? Catholics believe that the existence of Purgatory reveals God’s everlasting mercy for those who sought to live his life with Him and died with some extent of sin. No man can enter the gates of Heaven even with the slightest stain of sin. For God is ultimately holy, no “man” can enter His Kingdom because man in its sense is a sinner. However Purgatory is not a second chance for those who betrayed Him, for those who are not willing to repent, for those who lived their lives recklessly without knowing Him and without living by His words. God therefore is a “consuming fire” (Heb 12:29) that burns away sins to bring us closer to Him. Sin does not exist in Heaven that is why we who are repentant sinners would be purified along with pain and suffering in Purgatory. Nonetheless, in terms of suffering, Purgatory is no different from Hell. It’s just that in Purgatory, one is purified on his way to God but in Hell, one is eternally separated from God and will suffer and die forever.

Take a peek at James 2:14-26, about Faith and Works- very awe-inspiring! “Man is justified not only by Faith, but also of good works.” Let me quote everything so I wouldn’t miss a single point. “Indeed someone might say, ‘You have faith and I have works’. Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you with my works.” Faith actually does nothing in practice. It’s as if one is hoping to be promoted at work without doing anything good or anything in progress. One’s works reflect one’s faith, just as Abraham manifested his great faith in God when he offered his first [and only] son Isaac to the altar. See what good works can do? Wasn’t Abraham justified by his works? “Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in Heaven” (Mt 7:21). How, indeed, can you show your faith without works, right? Faith and Works always come hand in hand. Faith with no work is dead- absolutely dead! But one might ask, “Can faith alone save us?” Answer “yes” if you consider ‘works’ as a part of faith. And answer “no” if you define faith and works separately.

Again one might say, “…we can confess our sins directly to God…” First of all, God gave Peter and later to the rest of the apostles the authority to forgive sins. “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven” (Mt 16:18-19). In John’s gospel, Jesus appeared to the apostles in Easter and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn 20:22-23). Indeed asking forgiveness directly to God is a great thing to do, but Jesus has a special reason. He wants to retain the “incarnation” principle and relate to mankind. He wants the apostles to continue His’ ministry during His stay on earth. When God uses priests, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to forgive sins, we actually experience God’s mercy through that person. And that is how Christ’s human nature is manifested through the sacrament of reconciliation.

Non Catholics most of the time embarrass Catholics. They have the Bible with them and spend time reading the scriptures. They actively organize Bible studies everywhere. They even have time to share what they have read and what was taught to them. And with the case of some (or maybe most) Catholics, some are found asleep, staying idle, and doing nothing, for they believe that they have the truth and can defend the Catholic faith easily from interrogation. I advise Catholics to read the Bible, and reflect with the scriptures so that one would know what he believes in and why he believes in it. Read─ so that one would be able to know the Catholic faith. Meditate─ so that one would be able to explain the Catholic faith to non-believers. Share─ so that one would be able to let the non- believers come to know Jesus Christ and the Catholic faith. However, being a Catholic does not grant one salvation. It’s never a free ticket to Heaven. What is a Catholic like if he just stays in the corner and does nothing? For once Jesus Christ said, “Strive to enter by the narrow door for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Lk 13:24). Jesus clearly states that only few- very few will be saved! (That’s why there is never an assurance of salvation.)

Most of the Christians lack understanding. Because of this, Satan takes advantage and divides us Christians into different denominations, confuses us, and invites us to fight each other. I pray for the unity of the Christians- for we believe and worship only one Father, one Savior, and one Spirit. God fathers us into one Church. But now we are divided, separated- hitting each other. Our Father would be very sad if His children are not in good terms.

My encounter with this friend of mine was one of the best things that ever happened to my life. Never did I expect this would happen. It [she] triggered me to go deep into my Catholic faith. There are still so many other misunderstood beliefs of the Catholic Church but allow me to present only these, for I still could not fully explain the other truths. May God send forth the power of the Holy Spirit to guide me as I rediscover my Catholic faith; for once it was lost and now found! God bless us all!

Thank you again to my friend.

The Bicol region is no stranger to the caprice of nature. It is often the entryway of many typhoons. Have they not devised emergency measures to mitigate the effects of such calamities in the past few decades? Storm after storm, the TV networks chronicle the same results; people killed senselessly and infrastructure and agriculture destroyed.

The incidence of poverty in this country seems to coincide with the perennial path of these forces of nature. In the 2000 Poverty Estimate of the National Statistical Coordination Board, these regions are included in the 44 poorest provinces in the Philippines.

Click here.

Recalling my ecology class, if the planet is warmer, and it is, it causes more typhoons, cyclones and tornadoes because a warmer planet leads to a warmer atmosphere, which in turn yields to faster winds. Simply because warmer air is less dense and therefore is more easily carried around the planet thanks to its rotation and other factors.

We humans suffer this ugly end of global warming, already we are easily overwhelmed and could barely cope with its damages to material and human life. How you ever wondered though, how global warming affects the other animals and plants that share this planet with us?

Read more + watch the video

Ang mga bantay-salakay na buwayang mambabatas natin ay hinintay lamang pala ang pagreretiro ni Chief Justice Panganiban, sasamantalahin din nila pagkaabala ng taumbayan sa paghahanda sa darating na pasko (kahit kakaunti o wala silang panghanda) at ang pagahon ng mga biktima ng bagyong Reming. At kapag nagtagumpay sila, magugulat na lang ang sambayanan, huli na ang lahat sapagkat nakonsolida na ng mga elitistang trapo ang kapangyarihan ng gobyerno sa kanilang mga poder, anak at kamag-anak.

Nangununa sa mga ito ang mga huklubang sina GMA at JDV. Kaya pala sila tahimik lang at halos walang imik ng pinagdedebatehan sa Korte Suprema ang pekeng ‘people’s initiative’ ay sa dahilang mayroon silang reserbang plano. Ngayong ibinasura na nga ang pekeng ‘people’s initiative’ sila na mismo ang kumikilos nang sa ganoon ay wala ng maging aberya pa.

Mabilis silang kumikilos, kahit na gipit na sa oras ay naghahabol pa rin sila. Hindi ba nakakapagtaka? Kapag mga ordinaryong batas ay inaabot sila ng buwan o taon bago ito maipasa, pero ang pagbabago ng Saligang Batas na idinesenyo nila para sarili nila ang makinabang ay gagawin nila bago matapos ang sesyon ng Kongreso o halos 4 na linggo lamang?

Basahin ng buo