… are awesome!
I bought one for P2500 when my Philips DVD player broke down, and so far I’ve been extremely satisfied with its performance. Save for the fact that I have to reset the USB reader every so often, it’s still good value for my money. Whereas before when I have to convert every .avi video I download to DVD format just to be able to watch it on the TV screen, I now just transfer my downloaded files to an external storage which I hook up with the DVD player. Although I might need additional laptop memory soon because an upgraded Intenet bandwidth and a 500 GB external hard drive makes it a lot easier for me to download more movies and TV series to watch.
I always get phone calls and text messages from insurance companies, offering an insurance quote and even supposedly free one-year certificates of accident insurance or health insurance. I never go to get them, though, because although a few friends have attested to the fact that they are for real, I am just to lazy to pick them up at their respective offices; besides, they say they make you attend lengthy seminars or subject you to sales talk to make you get more products from them. I just don’t have the tolerance for that. After a minor accident last weekend, though, involving two cabs which my friends and I were on, I’m beginning to think that maybe I made the wrong decision. Its times like that that makes me think that I can use a good insurance coverage.
There’s this hugely popular Nickelodeon show called Avatar: The Last Airbender. A friend recommended this to me, saying that it’s not only for kids but the kids at heart will also find enjoyment in the story. And I realized it’s true, after watching all the episodes in earnest.
The show follows the adventures of Aang, a 12-year-old air bender who disappeared 100 years ago in the midst of a war because he is not yet ready to face his destiny as the new Avatar, master of four elements - air, water, earth, fire - and the only hope of mankind against an evil Fire Lord. He is joined by the brother and sister team of Katara and Sokka, descendants of the water people, and together they venture on a quest to help Aang master the other three elements that would enable him to finally face the Fire Lord who wants to rule the earth.
I didn’t know about this show because I didn’t have a cable subscription like Direct satellite TV up until the last couple of months, but I’m sure glad that I was able to watch it anyway. It’s funny and touching in a way that only children’s tales can be.So if you already have Direct TV, make sure to switch channels to see if you can find this awesome anime, and watch it before the movie is shown in summer of 2010.
The movie, The Last Airbender, is being directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It dropped the “Avatar” in the title because another movie from James Cameron titled Avatar is already in production. The latter is not in any way related to the story of the anime.
If you have the time, check those Direct TV specials to have access to the entire series. Otherwise, it’s also available on DVDs and elsewhere.
This just in…
Mirka Vavrinek Federer, the wife of tennis ace Roger Federer, gave birth to twin girls last night, July 23, Thursday. The Federers have been so secretive of the birth details that I believed an earlier report that they’re having a boy. What a great surprise! I guess one Bob stroller won’t be enough for little Myla Rose and Charlene Riva. Future women’s doubles champs to rival the Williams sisters, perhaps? Heh he.
I’ve been browsing new stuff from Ebay and it just occurred to me that I’ve done quite a lot of online buying transactions without really being worried about my financial details being left in the computers I’m using. Granted, I’m only using my home PC and my office computer, but I wonder how much stuff gets “imprinted” on the hard drive of these personal computers that can get decrypted, if anybody would be willing to waste time to do something like that. This sort of pushed me to do a little research on Data Encryption, and I discovered that there are even free Encryption Software programs available online. Data encryption, apparently, is the process of converting plaintext data into hypertext data, so that they cannot be read. More than just protecting your privacy online, it is also a very important way to shield your personal information like addresses, contact numbers, and, more importantly, credit card details. Some e-mail programs even have encryption systems so that your mails will be protected from third parties who may be intercepting personal mails. I get that sites such as PayPal or other online shopping sites where you input credit card numbers are heavily protected by such File Encryption software, which is all good news to me.
When it comes to books, bestsellers are just that because they have general appeal; or maybe they are simply very, very good. While I was updating my page on this very popular social media network, and after an ad for a teeth whitening toothpaste took my fancy, it struck me that I may never be a good book reviewer despite my ardent desire to be one (perhaps make my own website of books reviews). I feel like I’m a bit too appreciative at times. Plus, I tend to be attracted to words more than plot; the downside to this is, would it be fair for me to recommend a book I find “beautiful” because of the author’s capacity for creating fine sentences, an attribute that is, ultimately, relative? Maybe not.
Different people read different books. Personally, I concentrate mainly on literary fiction. The Pat Conroys, Nicole Krauss’s, Haruki Murakamis, and Margaret Atwoods of the world can make me go bankrupt because I lap up their words like they’re food for my soul. But I do like science fiction and fantasy, too, once in a while. I envy those personal websites I see online which reviews several numbers of books every month. If only I can do that, too. If only I am not so easily distracted that a simple whitening toothpaste ad can divert my focus from a task at hand. Well, that’s going to something I have to work on if I’m going to fulfill my goal.
“Sure I meant well, but look at what well meant did”
As far as random thoughts go, this one’s a constant in my mind. Not so much because I believe in it; more so because I feel it, sometimes, and I’d rather not at all. Someone told me she thinks she’s a magnet for misfortune , citing several plans going haywire just when she’s concentrating on them. I, on the other hand, thinks I’m predisposed to spreading myself thin for people I care about, whatever it cost me. That’s not so much misfortune as much as bad judgment, maybe. (Or maybe not.) I even think this is why I’m trying not to care about too many people anymore. Yeah, I know, what a pathetic sob non-story.
I’ve been looking at this blog and I realized that the first few pages here are very much in contrast with the last few pages. It used to be more personal; until I took myself too seriously as if these personal tidbits cost as much as Ferrari parts. No, really, maybe I just ran out of things to share. Maybe I stopped pondering about my life - which is not a bad thing if you look at the big picture. I think I want to rethink my way of thinking. There’s no way doing a good thing can do me bad. I guess.
I was so glad I discovered this comedy show - The Big Bang Theory. I’ve been reading about it on some other TV geek sites but I had no idea how funny it really is until my sister went home one day with DVDs of its first two seasons.
Here’s Sheldon demonstrating the algorithm for making friends:
Well, this was done for laughs, but it is a fact that there are people who doesn’t make friends easily. And it is a fact that finding real friends, or even people you can really relate to, can sometimes be as hard as stepping onto loose diamonds on the street. So I say, hold on to those you have. You don’t need an algorithm for that.
Because of a number of things that’s been keeping me busy these past few months, and not all are productive activities, mind, I’ve been stalling in my reading again. I think I still have ten books or more that’s waiting to be read and although I’m going at a snail’s pace, I’m hoping to finish Neil Gaiman’s American Gods before July ends. That’s a pretty long time allowance for a book, I know. I’m a few chapters in, and although I’m starting to appreciate the book more than the first time I tried to crack it, I still don’t see where things are going. But I’m going to stick it out, just because a number of friends have been recommending it for the longest time.
Anyway, I’m beginning to see advanced copies of Pat Conroy’s new novel, South of Broad, but I’m trying to stay away from those sites because I promised myself, and rightly so, that I will not buy another one at least until I only have a couple of books left unread. So although I saw more than a few good best buy offers at buy.com, I’m gonna have to wait a few more months before I allow myself to splurge that way again.
