Break.

Wow haven't updated for months. Been very busy with school and everything else. At least i'll have my well-deserved break in 24 hours. Starting tomorrow...YES! A two week break from everything involving education. hahaha. I have a cooler pc now with a fast internet connection. Windows 7( a very slick OS) Core 2 Quad with lots of ram, a kick-ass sound card and a good video card. Swell. I finished Batman Arkham Asylum a few nights ago. BEST Superhero GAME. EVER. I'm gonna play some more games during the break. Yahoo! My daughter can walk now and she also talks gibberish all the time. On the header is a picture of me cuddling my cutie.

Upgrade

I spent 4 hours setting up the optimal Cakewalk Sonar environment only to find out that my PC needs a sound card upgrade. I should include the motherboard too. The crappy Realtek Sound card is built into the board. Core 2 duo is so prehistoric. The ram slots are faulty. Maybe i need a new video card...or a larger HDD...Damn! Curse technology for slit-throat progress! I'm way behind now!

Speaking of upgrades, my wife got pissed off because iTunes is nagging her for the 3.0 iPod software update and it's worth 10 bucks. And you know what? We have to find a way to upgrade or else she won't be able use her favorite apps anymore because all apps are upgrading to the 3.0 fold and new versions will only work with software 3.0! Way to go Apple. So adorable. Capitalistic pigs. You should be thankful we love your products.

Sigh. Upgrades...Updates.

P.S on a lighter note..i'm gonna have an internet connection upgrade tomorrow! At least that will be something to look forward to...

Feeling Well

Had IVP(intravenous pyelogram) today. The doctor had to check the condition of my kidneys. Man it was a very long day. Got into the haze when the doctor gave me a dose of benadryl. had to lie down for three hours and it was freezing cold in the xray room. The thought that something was attached to one of my veins drove me nuts. Glad that's over now. It seems there's progress. My kidney is okay. I have not suffered from gout for four months now.

Shocking Curiosity

Today was routine Music Class. Blah Blah Blah. Some high moments. Some low-reaction- moments. Today a student asked me in a half-innocent, half-curious, half-perverted kind of tone some dreadful questions. Question # 1: "Sir, when you are alone in this building, do you jerk off?" He asked that without any sign of hesitation. Before i could answer he blurts out "Sir, do you have porn in your laptop?". Before i could react he spews out "Sir, do you jerk off often?".
I was shocked. What a perv. And he asked me all those shady questions without even breaking a sweat. Before i could answer, another student exclaimed "Of course he doesn't need to. He has a wife you blithering idiot." I then answered with a sarcastic smile, "Hey, I'm your teacher. You're not supposed to be asking those questions..it seems you are suggesting that you do that thing very often. Well goodluck on your voyage and exploration!" He said "never mind sir. Goodbye." with a sheepish grin on his face.

Kids today...uhm i don't know what to say....hahaha.

Dropbox

Join me on @Dropbox and get 2GB plus 250MB of bonus space! It really works. Now my Linux notebook and poor Vista desktop are in sync and i can store important files online for free. Click on the link.

https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTEzNTAwMDk5

There Goes My Childhood-Teen Collection...All Consumed by Termites

There Goes My Childhood-Teen Collection...All Consumed by Termites. Damn!

The Linux Fix

I now run Linux Mint on my notebook. I got tired of Windows viruses, spyware, firewall, registry cleaners, bugs, BSODS, lags, and update glitches. I'm gonna explore Linux now. For now "WinDOZE" is out of the picture.

Pod to PC

For those who are looking for a free ipod utility, go to http://www.podtopc.com/. Quite a useful piece of software and it's free!

"Pod to PC is freeware that lets you transfer music, videos and
playlists from an iPod or iPhone back to your computer and into iTunes."

Blind.

Blind. That's what America's eye for talent is. Americans are blind. Kris' last performance was mediocre. Light years away from Adam's. Adam's was pure artistry. Tweeners' parents are gonna pay a lot of phone and text bills today. Haha. I'm never gonna watch American Idol again.

All About Adam

My wife has a crush on Adam Lambert. She listens to his over-the-top song renditions on the iPod. She surfs the internet for the latest buzz about him. We watched the American Idol Marathon Weekend because of Adam. Haha. Nothing to get jealous about. Really.

I never liked watching American Idol. Until season 8 came along. Almost all of the contestants had a quirk, talent, uniqueness, flair, and style that made the show interesting. I like Gokey, Matt, and of course Adam. His style is unique. He feels a bit out-of-place in the show but he shatters the boundaries and breaks conventions. He should have joined Rockstar Supernova. One time he's crooning, the next time he's screaming like a banshee. And i like it. He reminds me of Sebastian Bach of Skid Row and Matt Bellamy of Muse. He reeks of old-school rock and metal tendencies. He truly is an artist. I have a feeling he won't win but he will be famous and he will be able to do whatever he wants. Rock on Adam! I don't care what the forums and blogs on the net says. We'll be rooting for you all the way! Especially my wife. But the thing that really keeps me glued to the television set is Simon Cowell. Politically correct, sarcastic, brutally honest, his comments are always entertaining. Sometimes he just blabbers his mouth to irk the audience. And i like it. I find him funny. Well it will be the finale next week. I'm hoping Adam will win but if Kris wins then that would be a very big disappointment. Not quite the singer but i think he will be making waves as a singer-songwriter-musician type. But still I'm rooting for Adam.

Well that's it. I'm going to listen to the Beatles now. Haha.

Old School

As you all may know i have been teaching Music in the classroom for awhile now. It has been a love-and-hate profession for me. Love because i love sharing music with everyone and hate because i have been teaching Music in the wrong school, a school where music anti-co-exists, a school where my advanced and progressive way of teaching felt like alien gibberish to many. I passed my letter of resignation three months ago. I will continue to teach private music lessons but my classroom-teaching career was over.
Or so i thought...Today i visited my old school(high school memories aplenty) and they hired me. I was happy. This was going to be a different environment for me. A BETTER environment mind you. This school was where i had so much fun during my rebellious age. My wife also studied in this school(though I am six years her senior) but i never got to see her wearing the goldilocks uniform because I was already studying music in college when she graced the halls of the school. I actually taught there for a while when the music teacher took her maternal leave and I so enjoyed my time there. The students were brilliant and i was on fire every minute i taught in those halls. My style is much more fitting there so I really am going to have a blast teaching music this coming school year.

Windows 7

I downloaded a legit copy of Windows 7 RC! It may be RC but it's not buggy and it's faster than Vista. I'm enjoying the revamped interface and the new features. No woes so far. I'll keep y'all posted.

At Last!

Can't hardly wait. Actually it was hard and it was quite a wait. It was raining cats and dogs and the flight was "delayed". More than delayed. They arrived safe and sound. Phew! It was scary. Like it was Doomsday or something. my wife and baby's first plane trip was a  disaster...more like there was a natural disaster! Haha. It really rained hard. Such timing.

But they're here and that's what matters ; )

Day 14: The Noise

An empty can makes much noise. I have always believed in that. Today I got some info from a trusted source about a certain "music teacher" who thinks he is the best "music teacher" in the world and he was even mentioning and backstabbing a lot of teachers and musicians including me. Well this guy is truly 100% canned. He is an empty can. If you're good you don't have to shout it out. If you're good it's best to keep it to yourself, show them what you got, But be sure not to step on anybody else's shoes. Don't be such a braggart. You don't need to mention your piano teacher and brag about where you work, what organization you're associated with, and steal someone else's show to prove to people that you're a force to be reckoned with. IMO you claim to be a student of a great piano pedagogue, did you know that i was also a student, and my sister is one of the best piano students of the said piano pedagogue? You're so full of hot air and you boast a lot but sadly you don't even have a degree in music? I wanna shove my Concerto and Sonata up your ass boy! Yeah they say you're good but that doesn't mean that you can taint other people's name, hoping to boost your fame meter another level. It's vexxing. Very. Annoying. I have heard of you before but i have never heard of your playing and have never observed your way of teaching so never for once have i judged you. Yet you have the balls to judge me? What a sore loser. Get a life. I'm not saying that i'm better than you all i'm saying is go defecate in someone else's place. I'm just here living the good life, working as a musician like you, honest living to feed me and my family so don't judge me because i might be light years ahead of you musically and intellectually. An empty can makes much noise. You are one. You are empty. A has-been. A jack-ass. So beat it. Loser.

Day 13: Friday the 13th...Not!

Of course today is not friday the 13th! I Just wanted to make the title sound cool and cliche. Today was a busy day just like always. I'm really tired. I was furious. Cable got disconnected today. Just when i was enjoying Whose line then the black screen with green letters appeared (like the BSOD with white letters in Windows) and it totally irked me so. Man THEY SUCK. And they said due date would be May 20 but they disconnected the line. AARGH.

Day 14: The Noise

An empty can makes much noise. I have always believed in that. Today I got some info from a trusted source about a certain "music teacher" who thinks he is the best "music teacher" in the world and he was even mentioning and backstabbing a lot of teachers and musicians including me. Well this guy is truly 100% canned. He is an empty can. If you're good you don't have to shout it out. If you're good it's best to keep it to yourself, show them what you got, But be sure not to step on anybody else's shoes. Don't be such a braggart. You don't need to mention your piano teacher and brag about where you work, what organization you're associated with, and steal someone else's show to prove to people that you're a force to be reckoned with. IMO you claim to be a student of a great piano pedagogue, did you know that i was also a student, and my sister is one of the best piano students of the said piano pedagogue? You're so full of hot air and you boast a lot but sadly you don't even have a degree in music? I wanna shove my Concerto and Sonata up your ass boy! Yeah they say you're good but that doesn't mean that you can taint other people's name, hoping to boost your fame meter another level. It's vexxing. Very. Annoying. I have heard of you before but i have never heard of your playing and have never observed your way of teaching so never for once have i judged you. Yet you have the balls to judge me? What a sore loser. Get a life. I'm not saying that i'm better than you all i'm saying is go defecate in someone else's place. I'm just here living the good life, working as a musician like you, honest living to feed me and my family so don't judge me because i might be light years ahead of you musically and intellectually. An empty can makes much noise. You are one. You are empty. A has-been. A jack-ass. So beat it. Loser.

This is where i get most of my free stuff.

if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('128d897a-0f6b-4759-b96b-a6801a6948f8');Gizmo's Best-Ever Freeware Freeware

Day 12: Another Busy Day

Yay! It's day 12 already. Super busy day for me. I might not update this blog that often anymore but i will still share my hot finds on the internet and other helpful stuff here. And maybe a thought here and there. I'm having a headache. I better sleep now. I really need to rest. Goodnight!

Vladimir Horowitz Plays Scriabin Best.Rendition.Ever.

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Day 11: Busy

Super busy day! I'm so tired from work and the thought of having to work the whole day tomorrow is already draining and sucking me dry! Well I  better go now and take my beauty rest ; )

The Best MM6 Video Ever.

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Day 10: The All-Too Usual Sunday

This day was boring. I had lunch with the usual gang at KFC Limketkai. Usual food for me. I really like Meltz. There's this yummy taste when the veggies and cheese go together inside my mouth that makes it so addictive. Went strolling and eventually got tired after 30 minutes and i went home. They are coming home this friday. I'm so excited. Well i'm gonna read the manual of the MM6 again and learn Cubase. It's a free audio production software bundled with my keys. It's not that user-friendly. I'll have to go master it somehow. I uninstalled Tuneup Utilities 2009 from our two PCs. It was nagging me with some free promo and it felt like adware to me already. So i browsed the web for a utility suite for the PCs. Got hold of two legit copies of Advanced SystemCare from a trusted web site. The app is great and i decided to use Smart Defrag along with it for a more effective cleanup suite. The Avira free was starting to annoy me with pop-up ads before every update too so i replaced it with PC Tools internet security for the desktop and Avira Premium Security Suite for the laptop. Both are full versions(i don't use cracked software especially cracked security software) and they should protect our PCs fine. Well that's all for today i guess. Ta-ta!

Day 9: My New Toy

I've long waited for this day to come. At long last i present to all of you my new toy! My spanking-brand-new Yamaha MM6. I better sign off now gotta glide my fingers onto this toy wonder ; )

Day 8: Nothingness.

This day was slow. Idle. Boring. so ironic. It's our first anniversary today. But being wihout my wife and kid made everything ordinary. Sigh. Everything's nothing.

Day 7: Idle

The title says it all :{ . Got Kubuntu 9.04 for my laptop. Tried it and i was impressed. It was fast! Dual boot time! Emil's laptop on vista was way too slow even after a clean install (I managed to get the "blind" DVD-Rom to work) so i installed a dualboot Vista and Ubuntu 9.04 using Unetbootin and Ubuntu felt right at home in his laptop. His 1gb Ram turtle became a prize-winning hare! But i know he'll ask me to get rid of Ubuntu anyway hehe. That's pretty much all that happened today.

Day 6: Smeagol getting Cabaled

Nothing much (yet again!) happened today. No lessons in the morning so i just watched Star World and had a lot of laughs on the side. Cholo played Cabal on my laptop. He's paying for it by the way. The house's connection is fast and my laptop is fast and electricity bills can also go up so fast so that's why he has to pay for it. Cabal is a queer game. An online game that takes the fonts of Halo and uses it without shame.

The game even stole character designs from Final Fantasy.

Shades of Master Chief and Penelo! Plagiarism anyone? The music sounds cheesy too. Not really cheesy...the music actually sounded good. I love the song where the chords go into minor progressions while the girl lead singer chants gibberish on top of the layered sound. But it doesn't fit the game. The alternative-flavored music did not fit into the gameplay and atmosphere of the game. An ordinary, hot summer day. I'm beginning to feel the real wrath of the heat of summer. It Burns us...It Burnnsssss US.....hahaha.

Had lessons in the afternoon. Routine work.I had no choice but to eat dinner

somewhere coz' I ran out of "supplies". I ate at Chowking. As i ate my dinner, i felt my heart sink. I was ALONE. Eating dinner alone. Pathetic. It's not supposed to be this way. Well i decided to check the pirate shops on my way home. Maybe i could find something to watch or find a game i liked to play. I saw Fable - The Lost Chapters for Windows.

Wow! i haven't played that game for a very long time now. I miss my Xbox. Bought the game and went home. I got the game up and running and it ran smoothly. To my surprise the graphics weren't dated they still looked good. Ecstatic! It felt good hearing that catchy opening opus by Danny Elfman at pre-game Fable. I enjoyed test-driving the game so much that i looked for my Halo installer and installed Halo. Ah The infamous Halo theme complete with synths and  male chorus. Cathartic!

Halo still looked good after all these years too. Haha. At least i forgot about my grief. What a diversion! Well i better be signing off. Gotta play now. hehe.

Day 5: The Quarter Pounder

5 is a very significant number in my life. I won't tell anybody why. Just go ask my wife.

Had routine work today. So nothing interesting happened. The highlight of the day was my lunch: My favorite quarter pounder with cheese, large fries. and Coke. But the Coke tasted a bit funny..that's quality fast food for ya..way to go Ronald Macdonald. The burger was yummy though..as usual. The succulent taste of the patty is the best. And absolutely no after taste! I enjoyed the burger up to the last bite. Yeah. Really. It's that yummy. My friend Emil also dropped by. Had a swell time talking about the grade school days, music, comic books, Japanese AV idols, and other funny, nonsensical things. He also gave me the long overdue gift for Nuee. A nice green dress that my little girl is gonna wear someday. I helped him out because he was having a lot of issues with his laptop. Seems like a hardware failure. i fixed the Wifi part but the "blind" DVD-rom is not my forte. Give me software problems all day and i'll tackle them but when it comes to hardware I'm not your man.

Well That's it! I'm sleepy already. Better catch some zzzzzs.

Trying out a new Tux

For the past few months i have dabbled with Linux via the dual boot arena. I have tried Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian, Fedora, and Open Suse. I have taken in the technical jargon of the Linux world. Trying Linux for me was like a trip to a different brave, new world. And i enjoyed the journey. I really wished more and more people would try Linux for a change. It's a great OS and it's FREE.

I'm back to Vista now. But i'm sure i will explore Linux time and again...hmmm 3 days more to go until the release of the new version of Ubuntu...hmmmm

And in the fourth day...Nothing happened.

Nothing worthwhile happened today. T'was my day-off from work so i just stayed in the house doing nothing. Texted my wife all day. Couldn't go out because it was raining non-stop. Tomorrow i'll be busy again. Thank God! The day was so gloomy it made me all the more lonely. I listened to the band named Air and engulfed myself into the sullen atmosphere of synth sounds and plodding chords. Everything fitting into the day's mood...the music, the cold rain, the stillness of it all....bah i better eat dinner and sleep this off. Waah!

Day 3: The Torture Mass in Anguish minor

Not much happened today...as usual.

Mass at SM...without them (we always hear Mass at Sm every sunday with my family and my family of three)...Was a total DRAG.And it turned out to be one of those weeks, The perfect aura-draining atmosphere: the priest for this week's Sunday Mass was the priest we disliked the most. The one who can't seem to pronounce English words very well, who sings a painfully dissonant chant at the middle part of the Mass like he was singing in the bathroom taking a shower, and who gives out an agonizingly-long, beating around the bush homily. To make matters even worse he was bundled with the most earache-inducing keyboard player and choir conductor we've ever heard. I used "we've" because my wife and I love to make fun of a lot of things and part of "those lots of things" is this Sm Sunday Mass ensemble. Sigh I miss her. The keyboard player plays major, minor and seventh TRIADS like there's no tomorrow. I'm not kidding..you'll be forced to endure 1 Hour of the same left hand chord patterns and the repetitive "ungroovy" accompaniment style he dishes out until you'll be begging for mercy and praying to the Lord to please make him stop. Exaggerations aside it really is ear torture for a long-time musician like me. I don't want to criticize the choir so let's just say they "blend" harmonies that are not supposed to be harmonized if you get what i mean (the fifths!they always use Fifths!).

Well enough with that. After mass we had lunch at KFC. Ate my usual favorite Meltz and chicken. I was bored and i figured the family was going to be here for a long while so i decided to play at iTech with Cholo since i had nothing better to do. We played Halo 3 and Soul calibur 4 for 1 hour. Wow the games are so next-gen! Makes me pity the Ps2 and Psp at home. Nah. It's not all about the graphics, it's all about the gameplay anyway (Sour sport). Played coop in Halo 3. Felt nostalgic (I played a Halo and Halo 2 -day marathon with my girlfriend and now my wife two years ago). As always i beat the crap out of Cholo in SC4. He absolutely has no defense. the usual button masher with a potty mouth. Trash-talk ain't gonna talk you out in a game of skills. Haha.

After one hour i just surfed the net for awhile until my laptop reached the battery drain limit level. Then we ate snacks which was actually our dinner and went home.

I just got home and i'm so tired. Well i'm running out of words to say. I'll do this another day. Not a boring day at least. But still i miss my wife and kid.

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Day 2 and the urge to play Half Life 2

Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I forgot to turn off a lot of things. The lights were on 'till sunrise and i forgot to turn off the laptop. The only good thing about forgetting to turn off the laptop and wifi was that Finding Nemo finished downloading and the fresh Vista updated to SP1. So much for saving electrical energy. My wife is gonna kill me. I miss her so much.

Ate biscuits and drank lots of water for breakfast. I'm sick. I have kidney stones. Have to drink lots of water and avoid lots of yummy things like Coke, and unhealthy but delectable food. I was supposed to watch The Simpsons, Friends, and Whose Line is it Anyway but i was running out of time.

Off to work. Walked. I needed exercise. Early. So i played through my present favorite: a beautiful melodic opus of Schumann. Worked. Talked. Taught chords. Played exercises. Routine stuff. I had fun talking to my first student about Half Life 2 and graphics cards. Speaking of Gordon Freeman...Man i wanna play that game again! I wasn't in focus. I forgot to learn the chords for my second student's requested song. HAHAHA. I had to use my mobile phone's media player to get the chords. My student was laughing while i checked the chords for accuracy using my mobile phone. The third student was late so i changed his schedule. Makeup lesson on Tuesday. I walked home. My student was making fun of my present lonely disposition saying "maybe your wife took a vacation intentionally" and he said he'd take a picture and video of me after a week to document my morbid transformation. Haha. Yeah. my student's a crazy guy. He's the only  chinese guy i know  who can ride a motorela and jeepney all by himself. That's funny.

I'm gonna eat my favorite Libby's sausage and 1 serving of rice for lunch. It's 10:38AM. Won't eat lunch yet. I have students at 1pm. I'll be blogging some more later. I love Google Chrome. I'm beginning to dislike Firefox's resource hungriness. I'll still use it for visiting some web sites though. But starting today Chrome is my default browser.  And I still wanna play Half-Life 2 all over again. Waah!

Not much happened in the afternoon. Routine work. I had fun improvising the accompaniment for my violin student's exercises. Walked home. Quite a rainy day. Rain never stopped. The atmosphere just pulled me down even more. Had dinner. Sigh better sleep early. I miss them both :((

Day 1

The first day.

I'm here alone. Home Alone.

It's gonna be a total bore for two weeks.The looooongest two weeks of my life.

I miss my wife. I miss my baby. I miss my wife's smiles and chuckles everytime we watch a funny sitcom on TV. I miss the way she sings and makes fun of random songs and singers every five minutes. I miss my baby's smile. Her pretty face and her exceptionally sudden shrieks of joy and pain. very slow day.

Started the day lazily and with naught a smile. Off they went to Cebu. They needed it. I was supposed to go too...but Duty calls. I can't leave work. I don't even remember what the word "unwind" means anymore.

9:30 A.M.

They left for Cebu. Both of them excited. Quite the opposite of what i felt during that time. I knew what harm two weeks of solitude would do to my frail soul. Hahaha.

It was my day-off but i wished i had lessons instead. It  was a rainy, summer day. Yeah. Really. I played around with our Vista desktop and eventually got bored surfing the web.Even Finding Nemo was slow...Downloads were slow.  I installed Linux on our laptop but the OS updates took too long so i shifted back to Vista again. Had a little spring cleaning and tinkering...yet time was so sslloww! Waah. Hmm watched cable TV and found nothing interesting on air. I played Final Fantasy XII and after a few minutes i realized the game was too big and demanding ( Attention, resources, and time-wise) so i decided not to play.

I ate mango, rice and cheese slices for lunch and dinner...uhmm yummy?hahahaha.

9:30 P.M.

I realized i had to buy "supplies" to sustain me for two weeks so i decided to go to D.V.Soria to buy biscuits, Cheez Whiz and stuff. I told the motorela driver to drop me off at R.A.Uy. There were two girls who were absolutely pimped and ready to party who were also there for the motorela ride.

Suddenly it dawned on me...DAMN! Night CAFE! I couldn't have picked a better time to go buy something at D.V.Soria. What perfect timing! I hate the Night cafe crowd and atmosphere. Bah! The road to R.A.Uy was blocked by night cafe fodder so i had to walk and wade through a lot of things and people in order to get to my goal: Mercury Drug. I texted my wife while waiting in line. I nonchalantly reacted to a grumpy girl who was bickering with her boyfriend about what food to buy. She stared at me and i smiled sarcastically and pretended that i wasn't at all annoyed with thier uncivilized behavior.

Oh well I'm here and i'm feeling a bit sleepy already. It has been a really long day. I better sign off and go to Slumberland. I'm gonna have a busy day tomorrow. I Hope work takes some of the blues away. Gawd...it's still Day 1!

P.S. The only thing that wasn't slow today was Google Chrome. It's a damn, fast web browser! I'm beginning to like it even more than Firefox...I might migrate soon...