Tag: Manila

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Audible Picks: The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

This is part 3 of my Halloween series of posts. Part II is here and Part I is here. Happy Halloween! This post was inspired by AM and AG.

The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead is a cult favorite among those fascinated with the inevitable arrival of the zombie apocalypse. The book is hard to find, as compared to Max Brooks’ second book World War Z which is available in National Bookstore, Fully Booked and Powerbooks.

The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now. Exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack:
1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection: tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

Don’t be carefree and foolish with your most precious asset: life. The Zombie Survival Guide offers complete protection through trusted, proven tips for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against the living dead. It is an audiobook that can save your life.

So if you can’t find the book, let’s listen to the audiobook. Once again, Audible saves the day!

P.S. World War Z is also available on Audible.

P.P.S. Max Brooks is the son of Mel Brooks.

P.P.S. If you’re a non believer in the zombie apocalypse and believe that one day robots will rule the world, you can also check out How to Survive a Robot Uprising.

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Mostly Everything

Backstage Photos with Chicane in Manila

Had the very rare chance to spend some time backstage with Chicane. I think this is their third time in Manila, but this was the very first time for me to see them live at the World Trade Center. People often mistake Chicane for a DJ when in fact they are a band of four (at least for this tour) – drums, vocals, guitar and keyboards / programming.

Despite the many sound f*** ups (I’ve never seen a concert go on dead air twice on the same night!), this was one of the best live shows I’ve ever experienced. It wasn’t Chicane’s fault for the sound system. The guys from Big Fish said that their equipment was being harassed by dust particles *shrug*. Sucks that the technical glitch happened while they were playing Offshore. Seriously, this could have been one of the best concerts I attended if not for the sound system! It’s a huge blow to the sponsors.

A huge thanks to Nikka from Nokia for scoring us tickets. I was with fellow “Chicanenees” Rico, Jane and Christian, Phoebe (who manged to score an interview with vocalist Natasha Brocklebanks!), Helga and Rockstar Fritz.

If you wish to grab these photos, feel free to do so. I’d just appreciate a photo credit. That’s not a lot to ask for since these photos aren’t even watermarked. More photos after the jump.

Continue reading “Backstage Photos with Chicane in Manila”
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Mostly Everything

Defacto Jeans Limited Edition Pouches

About a week ago I was taking the escalator from a meeting at The Podium when a lady tapped me behind the shoulder,

“Excuse me, but did you just come from Viktor jeans?”

Quick to realize that she was looking at my super sexy black jeans (it’s these but color black; love the iPod / cellphone slot on the sides), I replied (excitedly – because this was the first time someone ever started a conversation with me because of fashion sense),

“Ah, no. Sorry but these are my custom made Defactos.”

After stepping off the escalator she explained how she thought I came from Viktor and got that pair, as they were closed for lunch. I told her that this was the 4th pair of jeans from Tats Paman and Tanya Blay, and not only are they really good custom jeans, they’re also more affordable. Ever since my first pair of Defactory Jeans back in 2007, I’ve never bought denims off the shelf from a department store. Really.

I dropped by Defacto yesterday to pick up my latest pair. I wanted something that was a tad bit of shiny when the light hit it at an angle and this is what they gave me:

Hot! It took me 30 minutes to “build” this pair with the guys at the store and I’m really happy with the turnout. They also let me take home (for free!) three limited edition stitched Defacto pouches for your cellphone, iPod or any gadget that fits. There are two compartments in the pouch – a padded area for your device and another for accessories. The limited edition pouches are given to loyal customers because Defacto is celebrating their 2nd year anniversary!.

As of today, I have had 6 pairs of Defacto Jeans made! Anyone who’s been around me for a while knows how passionate I talk about this brand of custom jeans. Today, a pair starts at P1,800.00 and can go as high as P3,000++. I’ve stuck to jeans with basic cuts to save costs – they’re still very nice. They usually take 5 to 7 days to make. To order, you need to do a downpayment of 50% and choose the style, seams and material. That’s the fun part!

I’ll deliver one of these pouches to your doorstep!

So yay! I decided to raffle off one of these pouches to my readers! This contest is eligible to anyone from the Philippines with the pouch mailed to your doorstep via 2Go (I have a crapload of these 2Go plastic bags at my home, so rather than mailing flowers to myself let’s use it for something productive and fun!).

Mechanics
1. To enter the raffle, all you need to do is leave a comment answering the question “What makes jeans so hot?!”

2. You can enter as many comments as you want as long as the answers are different. Please leave a valid email address in the comment field so I can contact you if you win.

3. The contest is open till 11:59 PM of September 24, 2008. I will be drawing a winner using Luck of the Draw, an application I always use for contests I run on my cellphone blog.

Also, if by chance you do not win but still want these pouches (note: as much as possible they don’t want to sell these) and other custom made attire (they also do polo shirts, vests and jackets), you can always drop by their store:

Unit 112 Mile Long Building
Amorsolo cor. Herrera St. Legaspi Village
Makati City
www.defactory.multiply.com
Email: defacto.industry at gmail dot com
Contact Numbers: 0920-4291393 // 8184708

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Just got home from Wordcamp 2008; Meeting Matt Mullenweg

Just got home from Wordcamp Philippines ’08 at CSB. I gave away something new to those who attended my talk today. I talked about dreams and goals ala Randy Pausche – and equated these to 3 important aspects of publishing: editorial, sales, and marketing. In detail, discussed one way to determine engagement, two sources in dealing with patrons, and four ways to determine media value for blogs in the Philippine setting that are actually being practiced. To those who attended, thanks so much!

“Serious” Photo Matt

“Let your hair down” Photo Matt

I also got to spend some time with Matt Mullenweg. This episode of Wordcamp is significant to the Philippines because it is the very first State of the Word address in South East Asia. It was also the first time globally that Matt did a live demo of the “CrazyHorse” WP 2.7 release (movable objects, security, better auto-plugin install, post stickies, etc). He also mentioned that the Philippines had the most kick ass WordCamp tees + logo ever designed. On an impressive note, Matt singled out Markku “Mr. Plugin” Segguera of Rebelpixel, being one of the first WP users in the Philippines.

Blogging is a huge global industry. And in South East Asia, the Philippines is leading.

Thanks to the Mindanao bloggers for setting up this event and see you next year for WordCamp 2009 in Manila! More photos from the event can be found here.

Matt Mullenweg is the founder of WordPress, one of the most popular blogging platforms used globally by consumers, corporations and government agencies.

BONUS: My inaudible recording of Matt talking during the impromptu press conference:


Matt Mullenweg in the Philippines from jayvee Fernandez on Vimeo.

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Mostly Everything

Rick Astley meets Roderick Paulate in Manila

So much for me asking Roderick Paulate to move over — Rick Astley finally meets Roderick Paulate, the “Rick Astley” of the Philippines! There’s a very interesting back story to this involving Gabe Mercado, Tals and JC Medina putting up a Facebook group asking Kuya Dick to become the front act. The rest is history:

At 4:02 in the afternoon, I received a call from a my good friend Ken. Rick had somehow heard of Kuya Dick and was game to do a number with him. The producers had gotten in touch with Kuya Dick and while flattered, he felt quite reluctant to do it.

Sadly I wasn’t able to watch – so many others did – Gabe, Didi, and even Amor called me asking where in Araneta I was for the concert! Boohoo! Had I known this was his alleged last concert before his retirement I would have gone. Well, it’s okay at least I still got to meet him in person!

Thanks to Aileen, another closet fan of Rick Astley! Aha! There are so many of us who were in hiding apparently!