I can't wait for the new Alice in Wonderland!Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter. Wow.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
ipad
So it's finally here. I'm sure you've heard about it by now. The iPad. My dormate stayed up all night during the unveiling so I got regular updates on all the specs.Honestly I think it looks cool but I'd rather save up for a macbook pro. C'mon, it can't even multi-task. What's up with that?
It does look pretty though. So what do you think of the new ipad?
Friday, January 29, 2010
Movie Review: Paano na Kaya
Here is a conversation between my friend and I after we saw Paano na Kaya?:
Wow.
Jon Avila had exactly one line. Why was he in this movie?
Robi Domingo could sure smile, but what the hell did he do here? Nothing.
And Kim's mom what's-her-name smiles everytime her husband verbally abuses their daughters. This movie could've gone on without her too.
This movie could've happened without atleast 10 characters.
Wow, really? Kim's dad suddenly realizes he's a bad dad after that tantrum. But when his other daughter packed up and left him,nothing changed.
Conflicts sprout out like mushrooms in this flick no? Apparently Zsazsa's an absentee mom.
How do you know?
Because Gerald says so.
What's up with Gerald's clothes? They're always too tight.
Sometimes his half naked too.
Well something's got to pay for his gym you know.
We should've watched Blind side.
What and missed out on all the movie goers screaming everytime kim and gerald kissed.
This movie's the longer version of that Taylor Swift video.Except that the Swift video's ten thousand times better.
and tolerable.
Gahhhd.
Aren't they too young to be owning businesses. Or they just don't look like they know what their doing.
Wow they're also volunteer firefighters.
This movie's got everything.
This sucks.
Did you count the montage?
Yeah you woudn't know there was a montage going on. The editing is bad.
The score was bad.
So what's good about this movie.
Silence.
The lines were bad.
Yeah, they actually used that "It's not you, it's me line." Verbatim.
Lazy writers.
I like Star Cinema movies before. I enjoyed that John Lloy and Sara Geronimo flick.
Yeah. We should've just watched that again.
"Is Manny Villar blameless? Is the Pope Protestant?
Again, this is why Manny Villar is not my president.
Manny Villar blameless?
WHILE the Senate is declaring a moratorium on the discussion of the ethics case against Sen. Manny Villar, here are some incontrovertible facts, presented in Q & A form. The source of the information is also given.
Question: What roadway projects are the subject matter of the Villar ethics controversy? Answer: 1. The Manila Cavite Toll Expressway Project (MCTEP), the original C-5 south extension project, linking SLEX with the Coastal Road; 2. the DPWH C-5 Extension project (CX-5), which together with 3. the Las Piñas-Parañaque Link Project (LPPLP), also links SLEX with the Coastal Road. Source: Senate Report (SR) 780.
Q: Is the CX-5/LPPLP project a realignment, as Sen. Jamby Madrigal describes it, or has there been no realignment, as Senator Villar’s allies insist? A: Technically there has been no realignment, because these are two separate roads linking C-5 from SLEX to the Coastal Road. But they are very close together and, in some areas, overlap, as can be ascertained from a site map. Source: interactive map available at www.gmanews.tv
Q: Are there any differences between the MCTEP and the CX-5/LPPLP? A: Yes. 1. The MCTEP is a joint-venture project between the government and a private Malaysian partner, with the government’s financial exposure limited to P2.68 billion for the purchase of the road right-of-way; the private partner is responsible for the construction of the project, for which tolls will be charged. The CX-5/LPPLP is a toll-free, wholly-financed government project costing P6.96 billion; 2. The CX-5/LPPLP is longer than the MCTEP, its extra length essentially covering the LPPLP portion; 3. The CX-5/LPPLP passes through more Villar properties than the MCTEP. Source: DPWH project documents cited as Exhibits A, B and TTTT in SR 780; site map from www.gmanews.tv.
Q: How large are the Villar company landholdings in the immediate vicinity of the questioned road projects? A: At least 50-52 hectares: 40 hectares in the vicinity of the LPPLP; 10-12 hectares in the area between Sucat Road and Multinational Avenue. Source: testimony of Anastacio Adriano Jr., senior vice president and general manager, chief operating officer of Adelfa Properties Inc. and other Villar-owned companies up to 2008; self-styled consultant and political officer of Senator Villar since August 2008. Nota bene: Senate employment records do not include his name. Nota bene: it is not clear whether the 50-52 hectares mentioned above include properties cited in SR 780—roughly 10 hectares in area—to be developed by Villar companies in joint venture with their owners.
Q: What is the involvement of Villar in CX-5 and LPPLP? A: 1. The Project Feasibility Study of the DPWH for CX-5 states: “The conceptualization of and the initial release of funds for the CX-5 Project was initiated by Sen. Manuel Villar whose same efforts also paved the way for the funding of the Las Piñas-Parañaque Link Road [LPPLP]”; 2. Various insertions and amendments (Priority Development Assistance Fund, read pork barrel) in the national government budget over the years 2002-2008 for CX-5 and LPPLP; 3. Adriano (cited above), in the office of and presence of Villar, dictating to the director general of the Senate’s Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) Villar’s proposed amendments to the 2008 budget, including a P400-million appropriation for the CX-5. Source: documents submitted by DPWH, lawyer Yolanda Doblon of the LBRMO, testimony of both Doblon and Adriano, cited in SR 780.
Q: Were the Villar properties bought for road right-of-way overpriced? A: SR 780 argues for the affirmative; PSR 1472 (the resolution signed by Villar and his allies exonerating him from all charges) argues for the negative. This calls for a conclusion of the reader. And to help that along, I have—based on the documented prices and acreage of the lands purchased in connection with the LPPLP—computed the weighted average prices that were paid for the Villar and related properties, and those paid for the non-Villar properties. The results: The Villar/related properties, comprising 23,455 square meters, were bought for P168.1 million. The non-Villar properties, comprising 11,685 square meters, were bought for P22 million. That comes to a weighted average of P7,168 per square meter for Villar’s properties, and P1,880 per square meter for the non-Villar properties. That has to be a statistically significant difference.
Given the above facts—which no one can contest, since they are based on official documents, and not on a he-says-she-says set of assertions—it has to be reasonable to conclude:
1. Since there was already an ongoing project (the MCTEP) linking C-5 to the Coastal Road, it was totally unnecessary to build a second one.
2. Which means that there was a waste of scarce resources. Instead of using only P2.6 billion of government funds for the first project, the government had to spend an additional P6.9 billion for the second, which practically duplicated the first, except for the additional length which happily for Senator Villar, traversed his properties.
3. This unnecessary, wasteful project was certainly Villar’s idea. It is specious to argue that it is a DPWH project. As the DPWH feasibility study states (in black and white), both the CX-5 and the LPPLP were conceived and initially funded by Villar.
4. Villar benefited tremendously from the second project. Certainly, his companies were paid significantly more per square meter for the road right of way (which were mostly bought from him). But that pales into insignificance compared with the tremendous increase in the values of his real estate holdings in the area—at least 50-52 hectares.
Is he blameless? Is the Pope protestant?
Monday, January 25, 2010
Movie Review:Avatar
I know this is awful late but let me have a go at it.
My friends are divided into two : a. Those who didn't like Avatar and fell asleep half way through the movie (that's you erika) and b. Those who liked it and wish there really was a Pandora.
After watching Avatar, I'm going to have to side with group b. Avatar is an excellent experience. I say experience and not movie because Cameron puts 3D technology into such good use that you really do feel like you are in another world with blue folks.
Cameron said he waited for 15 years to complete this movie because he was waiting for the right technology. Now I get it. Pandora, is something else. It's so pretty. Leaves and soil glow in the dark at night. Mountains fly. Everything is interconnected - and more often than not, literally. Never mind the actors, this is a James Cameron movie. This is a James Cameron movie. This is about CGI, man. This is about how amazing that sky is and how big big that creature is. I can't even remember how many times I said wow. Wow. Everything just feels so epic.
And yes, this is a hundred times better than that sinking ship.
Watch Avatar.
I give this movie a B+
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