2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 8,400 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Camella Homes versus Homeowners: Issues on Bond Payments

To those who posted a lot of comments, thank you very much for taking part in the discussion. I know that I have been silent for the past years. I also wish that I can post something positive about the company. Instead, I have another rant to make and it happened a few months back.

Last year, we complied all requirements needed for us to build a fence and that includes paying bonds. The bond should be returned after the construction is finished. A year later, no bond was returned despite the “friendly’ way of asking for updates. Everytime we go to their office, they will always (1) ask for another document of which they have a copy because we submitted everything before. They would often use the (2) absence of their engineer as reason. I wonder how many absences is allowed in that company. It even came to a point when they asked us (3) to give them a copy of the receipt they issued when we paid the bond. They even mentioned that they (4) lost their file that is why they could not process our refund.

When it comes to paying bonds, they want to be on schedule. But when it is the right time for them to return the bond, it would take us at least 6 months just to know if they are processing our papers.

Sad story don’t you think?

Things to do

I made this list one day while waiting for my students. I was bored and almost snored because sleep took over. But good thing I was able to poke myself and so I wrote this little checklist.

***

There are several things I want to do before 2011 ends. And I am hoping that I will be able to accomplish these things.

This list is everything BUT work that is why I am excited to accomplish each task.

1. Eat at Tiny Kitchen.
2. Go to Cagayan de Oro City.
3. Make a list of all the animes/movies I’ve watched in my collection.
4. Buy DVD rack.
5. Complete my “Anthology Project.” – Yes. My personal favorites compiled.
6. Start another “Creative Project.” – I wonder what would that be.
7. Buy a pair of shoes.
8. Get rid of old clothes. I need more closet space.
9. Post more blog entries.
10. To post 5,000 tweets before 2011 ends.

And perhaps after this, I will make another list for 2012.

Too Wordy for an Exhibit

I thought I have seen the worst exhibit ever but nothing beats this NCCA aka National Commission for Culture and the Arts project at SM City Davao.

We were just strolling yesterday when we happen to pass by this exhibit or whatever it was with a title “Glimpses: Mga Tao sa Filipinas Noon at Ngayon” by Dr. Jesus T. Peralta.

I have nothing against the content. I did not read it in the first place. Why? Because the design would tell you not to look at it.

It was literally a Powerpoint presentation printed on tarpaulin. The template looked generic as well. Worst, it was too wordy. If it was a book, they could just place a book there for people to look at, browse, or read. But hell no. If people would want to read the content of those tarps, they would rather buy the book, read online whenever and wherever they are comfortable.

NCCA people, this is just a FYI. Nobody in their right mind would want to go to a mall and read a text-heavy exhibit unless they are instructed by their teachers. That is common sense if not basic rule in mounting exhibits. The next time you do something like this, can you please hire people who knows what to do -  and do it the right way. NAGKAKAINTINDIHAN BA TAYO?

Next time, try to create something that can be classified as FACTS AT A GLANCE! And there is such as thing as, FOR MORE INFO PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE!

Just look at these pictures.

My Last Harry Potter

I watched the last part of Harry Potter today and I am somehow confused. I really can’t decide if I liked the movie or not. I have three points.

(1) The best scene in the book (for me) was not emphasized. The death of one of the twins and the redemption when their mother finally defeated Bellatrix was not that intense. One reason was, it was not shown in the movie how Bellatrix killed one of the twins. It was kind of useless to put emphasis on the line “Not my daughter you bitch!” because there was no conflict between them.

(2) I was expecting more duels! Come on! The book was full of those fighting scenes.

(3) I super hate the “19 years later” scene because it felt like they were just there playing dress-up!

But then again, I liked it because:

(1) It had that certain emotional impact on the viewer – not the story, of course, but the fact that it was the last Harry Potter movie.

(2) It had wonderful SFX.

(3) I finally saw the other side of Minerva.

I just wished they ended the movie with Harry, Ron, and Hermione holding hands after Harry destroyed the Elder Wand. It felt like the three main characters were saying goodbye to their fans.

But then again, “19 years later” came…

Image Source: http://cdn2.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/harry_potter_and_the_deathly_hallows_movie_poster.jpeg