Sanjaya's Got A New Book?

A friend, an American Idol fanatic, told me that Sanjaya is releasing a book about his life and about his stay in the American Idol.

To be honest, I didn't give a damn. It's not that I don't like Sanjaya (he was actually one of the most colorful contestants that ever graced the show, if only because of his hair styles) but I never really liked him because I don't think he's not that great a singer. He can sing, yes, but just not in the level for those who vied for the American Idol title.

I especially don't like when he sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". When I was watching it, I was waiting for him to shout and hit the high notes. But he didn't which left me very much disappointed because I love that song and it can only be sung as it was originally sung.

There are some songs that just can't be changed.

Obama's Day Yesterday

I had the chance to watch some parts of Obama's inauguration yesterday and I cannot believe my eyes. There were a lot of people who went there and showed support to the 44th President of the United States.

It was my first time to watch such celebration, I say feast of Americans over someone's political victory. When our local newscast gave more details on how people went out and really waited outside amidst extreme cold, I believe that they're really hungry for a change.

I was glued from the time he started his speech up to the last minute that he gave for that turn to finish. He was firm and hopeful about what he wants. What I really liked about his speech is that he wants a collective effort. This is a realistic approach rather than wear the hat of an expert and a hero.

What do you think about his speech? Any thoughts?

Just joined Twitter

I only had friendster before, and I stopped joining social networks since then. :)

Not because I don't want to, but I just can't find the time. Since the time I started taking blogging seriously, I also committed to reach out to more people, bloggers in general so we can exchange some good quick wit online.

That's why I joined Twitter. Now I'm beginning to exhange sweet tweets and starting to know more bloggers from around the world.

Let's follow each other if you want. If you haven't had a Twitter account, please take time to sign up. My Twitter Nick is callcentergal. Let me know if we can be twitter friends by leaving a message on my twitter nick okay? I'll surely tweet you back. :)

Random Drug Testing: Are You Up for it?

Another issue that has been hitting the Philippine government nowadays is the drug buy bust scandal that happened last week. PDEA or Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested a college student out of the buy bust operation that they conducted that day.

A lot of sectors were alarmed, since the President declared herself as the Anti Illegal Drugs czar afterwards, ordering some government sectors to act up on this pressing issue.

Part of the action plan is to conduct random drug testing to universities and colleges. According to the President, they don't have to worry about the expenses involving this procedure since the government will be the one paying for this.

Of course they ( government ) should be the one to take care of all those expenses. I understand how parents are making ends meet nowadays just to put their children to school and the last thing that they want will be an additional detail coming to their long list of expenses.

In my opinion, this should've been done years ago. A lot of crimes are being committed in relation to illegal drug use. It is unfair that these people live the life they want while making others' lives miserable.

If cost was out of the issue, would you subject yourself if invited to a random drug testing?

Helping Cagayan de Oro Flash Flood Victims

A lot of bloggers should not only use this to express themselves and earn on the side, they should also use this to help people in need.

Just like the Cagayan de Oro flashflood victims. They have suffered from an uncomfortable state since last week when heavy rain fell non-stop. The flood was too high it damaged most of the houses of eight barangays according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

If you will look at the picture above, you will see a sample of how people are trying to survive despite the flood and all the inconveniences. Please extend your help $3 via paypal to this email address: jamgfx@gmail.com. To date, they already raised $53, of course if we can help them spread the word, the better chances of more people to donate this amount to them. They'll use it to buy rice and noodles to give to the flashflood victims.

You can check out Chiq Montes' twit and plurk messages about it. Just click on the links to follow the conversation.

Ploning did not Make it to the Oscars

I'm watching the news tonight and one of the news items that struck me was that Ploning did not make it to the Oscars.

Ploning is the Official Philippine Entry to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 81st Academy Awards. This will be the first ever Philippine Movie that will grab the title if the movie was pushed to make it.

I haven't watched this film yet, thanks to the hectic schedule that I had months ago. But I promised myself that I will buy a DVD copy of this movie so I can understand why this movie deserves to win.

I remembered that the entire cast and crew helped one another in lobbying for additional funds. They held auctions, parties and other promotional activities to gather more funds. The government also gave some amount to support the film.

Not only that, even some online bloggers extended their appreciation and support for this project. One blogger even got the domain name after the movie Ploning. It's just so sad that they didn't make it.

Game shows

I am doing this post while watching a late night local game show. All you need to do is to register using your mobile phone and text certain codes so you can be eligible for the electronic raffle draw. If you're lucky, you will be called live on national TV and you'll be allowed to guess a certain thing based on the category that was set at the onset of the show.

The prizes aren't that much, cellphone load, some cash, cd movies and soundtrack. I think that the target viewers of the show are the ones who wanted a light viewing on a late night, just like me.

In case you're curious of the show, it's entitled Games Uplate Live. :)

Macy's Move to Close 11 Stores

I'm in the Philippines. But I still am affected by the thought of Macy's closing down some of their stores in the United States.

I feel for people who will be affected by this (somewhat) unforseen event. If the reason is to trim down the number of underperforming stores, this means that people are now starting to tighten their 'economic' belts and save money as much as they can.

Of course those affected employees can apply in other branches, but the emotional part of it will always echo in their minds. As much as we don't want to welcome recession, this is happening. All we have to do is to prepare for it as much as we can. Spend wisely and save your hard earned money.

Going back to work

Gone are the holidays, and so are the rest days.

Tomorrow, I'll be back in the corporate world. I will be working again for eight hours which is something I miss because of the long holiday that we had here in the Philippines.

I'll see people rushing to the train station again, endless lines of workers queuing to hail a cab, more call center agents in the pantry, endless number of people everywhere. :)

How about you? What do you usually look forward to after a long holiday vacation?

Photo credit: K2D2vaca

Change of Blog Theme

I realized that I really should make some quick changes if I want interaction on this blog.

I just read the message Karen Zemek sent through Entrecard. She told me that the comment function doesn't seem to work. And so is the blogger behind Reap Money Online.

Okay, I may decide to change this template again. But for now, let me know if the comment function works. I'll attend to it as soon as possible.

I apologized for what happened. And thank you for letting me know about it.

Not Really In the Mood for Movies

I had the chance to watch Dayo the other day, especially since I expressed my intention to see it but somehow watching movies at this time of the year lost steam.

Perhaps it's the current economic crisis that every peso nowadays is very valuable. It's so hard to part from your hard-earned money, right? At times like this when the habit of saving becomes ever more important.

Or perhaps it's because I've heard some people talking about the film and that they didn't like it. Normally I would disregard the opinion of others because I believe the beauty of a film is at most times, relative to the one viewing it. But when my budget is tight, I would easily stay away from things that have great chances of disappointing me. More especially movies.

This is why lately I've been relying on the reviews of popular film critics before I go out and spend my dough on a film. I trust critics because they have their high standards on what is entertaining and worth the viewer's time.

But with all honesty, if I could just afford it and if I am not right now saving for something, I would love to watch all those films. But sadly I can't.