The Forbidden Kingdom

 Jackie Chan & Jet Li in 'The Forbidden Kingdom.'

I am a big Jackie Chan fan. Expectedly, it follows that I also love watching other Asian stars rising from the martial arts genre. So when I came across an online article about the movie “The Forbidden Kingdom” starring both Jackie Chan and Jet Li, I knew I just had to see it. Fortunately for me, Hana was game enough to watch it as well.

Though both stars are admittedly a bit older for typical artists in their genre, age fails to show especially in their fight scenes. Both stars still do the crazy stunts they’ve always been known for; an MSNBC article even reports that they were too eager to show off their skills that cameramen had to beg them to slow down.

I wouldn’t say that the movie’s story is as good as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” or any of their best films, but it’s still enjoyable enough to watch from beginning to end. Heck, I would’ve paid for the movie just for their fight scene. The other main characters fit their roles well though honestly, I was more into the fight sequences than the whole film itself.

Any fan of both artists or of their type of martial arts films will not regret seeing this. Now if only they’d do more of these films again…

Wait, I really enjoyed this one that I just had to share a desktop wallpaper I remixed from the movie’s official site. You can have it in 1280×800 or 800×480 resolution.

iBlog4 and the after party

iBlog2

The fourth iBlog will be on April 26, 2008 at the Malcolm Theater in the College of Law, UP–Diliman, Quezon City. The iBlog is one of the longest running blogging–related events in the Philippines, and has been instrumental in educating local bloggers on various topics of interest. It has also been responsible for building relationships among bloggers, which reminds me how I met Jayvee through Abe in iBlog2. Though online registration is now officially closed, I believe walk–in attendees are still welcome though seats and other giveaways may not be guaranteed. And now I remember I actually forgot to register.

After the iBlog summit proper, there will be an after–party slash bloggers’ night hosted by 88db.com.

What: 88DB.com Bloggers’ Night
When: April 26, 2008 @ 7pm
Who: bloggers of any size, age, status or whatever
How: Just leave a comment below or register through any of the coordinators blogs
Why: Booze, Music, Prizes and 88DB.com
Where: Katips Bar in Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City

The fun thing about this party is that you can win a Sony PSP if you play with the “come as your blog” theme. Now let your creativity run wild.

To confirm your slot for the party, you can leave a comment here on this entry, or with Aileen’s entry, or with any of the other assigned coordinators.

By the mountains…

By the mountains...

I’ve been neglecting this blog quite blatantly that it’s been two weeks since my last entry, so I’ll just post something that supposedly comes to me naturally — share photos.

The mountain view was breathtaking, Batanes was more than I imagined it to be. The photo has two of our friends from Epson, taking a quick breather and admiring nature’s beauty.

The BlogBank Launch

The first BlogBank advertisers.

Having my own company has always been a dream; I’ve always wanted my own startup. When Jayvee broached the idea of setting up an advertising network focused on local weblogs and advertisers, I knew it was going to be the perfect opportunity for me to hack away on web solutions I actually will use. The first time we met with Brad, we knew it was gonna be real we could almost feel it, but at the same time uneasy considering the long list of tasks we were about to face.

After weeks of meetings over countless slices of Yellow Cab pizza, we finally had our list of potential publishers and advertisers. We had our simple system of delivering ads to our publishers’ blogs, it was all we initially needed to get things off the ground. Two months later, we now have more than 200 active blogs from a good number of local publishers. We’ve completed three campaigns, with two more currently ongoing.

Earlier this month, we had our official launch at Red Box Greenbelt 3. Good to see our friends join us celebrate a momentous milestone for the BlogBank. Of course we have photos of the launch (also mirrored at multiply) and the ensuing after–party mayhem of a photoshoot. Good times with good company.

Now we have a mountain of work to do. Bear with us as we strive to deliver a service worthy of the pinoy blogosphere’s attention. It’s for us all. 🙂

Team BlogBank.

Note: If you want a hi–res copy of a photo from the set, just leave a comment here. 😉 Photo credits: Markku, Hana, Juned, Jayvee, Phoebe.

Review: Nokia N82

Nokia N82: Nice features, nice package.

The Nokia N82 is one of Nokia’s most hyped phone in recent months. It’s not exactly new, it was announced last year though the local (and regional) campaign promoting this model is still in full swing, called Nokia Nseries Soul of the Night. I’m sure you’ve seen or heard about the campaign as it’s almost everywhere!

So what’s to like about this phone?

  • First and foremost, it is a functional phone that’s easy to use, be it for text messaging or phone calls.
  • Wireless internet (WiFi) in a cellphone changes the way you interact with the web, it’s liberating just like when we first had WiFi on laptops.
  • The phone’s OS, Nokia’s S60 3rd Edition, is the best of their Symbian–based platform. Fast enough without the quirks we used to notice in earlier Nokia S60 phones.
  • The 5–megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and a Xenon flash is actually good; it’s responsive enough for casual snapshots. It’s now my default camera when I don’t feel like lugging an SLR.
  • Along with the very usable camera, the phone features a multi–function gallery that makes it easy to share and showcase your photos and other media files. I even use it as my on–the–go portfolio viewer, putting its slideshow feature to good use.
  • There is more than enough memory for SMS and contacts; 100MB internal along with 128MB of RAM makes this phone quite snappy to use.

Now of course, it would be impossible to find a gadget where there’s nothing that fails to impress you. Like what?

  • The numeric keypad is on the small side, giving the impression that it’s hard to use. You have to actually try it to see that it’s far easier to use than you’d think. At its worst, if you have enormous fingers, it’s gonna take a day or two of getting used to.
  • Battery life is not exactly spectacular at just two days. If I abuse it with calls and lots of photo snaps, it seems to give up just before you get an exact two days.
  • Lastly, the hole for inserting a neck or a handstrap is positioned rather awkwardly, it should have been at the bottom. It feels weird when you shoot or type with your hand in the strap.

Nokia N82: What's wrong with the strap?

So is the phone worth buying? If you have the budget for it, then go for it. It’s roughly twenty thousand pesos well spent. Note though that there are cheaper Nokia models that may have some of the features you need. But if you want it all, there’s no reason not to get the Nokia N82.