It was just drizzling when I came out of the house this afternoon for a doctor’s appointment. My husband was calling when I came out from the clinic . He was worried because it was raining hard and flooding and no vehicle could come out from the garage. Since the building is just a walking distance from our apartment he came out on-foot to fetch me.

We passed by Vito Cruz Extension that was heavy with traffic. And when we got to our turn, I was surprised to see the high level of flood water. My husband forced me into wearing the boots he brought for me. I felt I would look silly on it but i couldn’t decline. The water’s too high. It was knee-deep and impossible for me to swim my way through the apartment, of course. And as we course through the flooded streets I was laughing. But it was not funny, and it’s dirty. Even with the boots on, I think it’s gross. It was not like walking in the beach and so not like trudging rivers in the province. Imagine the spits, dog poops and unattended garbage bags on the sidewalks.

Improper waste disposal could be the cause of this effect, aside from the streets that were forever under construction. How difficult it is for people to realized that were going to pay high for our being irresponsible. On TV you’ll see some people don’t care, in fact they have happy faces watching after their children swimming in dirty puddles. A pity to their ignorance of good hygiene and cleanliness. They could get many diseases from this graying, polluted waters that is surely contaminated with different types of harmful bacteria. Should this be learned in school? Or maybe the barangay health workers could educate this people? Or maybe city government should look into the area’s drainage and the wastes disposal management?

The irony of it all. We are living in Makati, the business district of the Metro with high rise buildings of offices and residences. But the sewerage system of the city seemed poorly maintained, maybe not in Ayala Ave., but we’re just a few blocks away.

I never experienced walking along flooded streets until this afternoon.

Philippines - I would not want to start giving out my opinion on the president’s State of the Nation Address of 2008 . I bet hundreds of people have already written and commented about it.

Pres Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wore a fuchsia colored gown by JC Buendia. The gown was said to be a symbol of unity amongst Filipinos, or atleast that’s what the president would want to show. Question: How could be that exquisite, beautiful, and expensive-looking gown be in unity to the hungry and angry masses protesting outside, some distance from the Batasan Plenary Hall?

The gown is said to have made from organic materials of piña fibers weaved and then dyed using indigenous material. Truly an eco-loving creation. A Maria Clara inspired design with a shoulder-draping panuelo held together by an heirloom brooch.

But the president’s glamourous appearance was shared by the wonderful wives, mothers and women of the politicians. Also dressed fabulously. And then had their own defenses. Such as, this is old, it’s organic made, this not expensive, and the song goes on. It’s a sad story, having to wear such beautiful gowns and feeling guilty about it.

It wasn’t so long ago since I started blogging seriously. But it’s been ages since I’ve created websites for clients, for personal and business. From the basics of html to xhtml, Static to Dynamic, website designs became more interesting and flexible as time passes by.

As a Flash Designer, I have found inconveniences and curbs on my projects esp. on editing and revising of designs. I had Flash for personal sites before, and found it exhausting to edit pages whenever I think of updating my contents. CMS is so reliable and amazing when it comes to such needs. All you have to do is check your PHP codes or/and HTML, edit and save. Then you’re done. Also for content creators to submit content without necessitating expertise in HTML or FTP.

Lately, I devoted my spare time in blogging, or I’d much prefer to call it writing. But what interests me more is my site’s layout design. A friend told me not to focused more on the site’s design when blogging. The content’s more important than anything, he says. Well he could be right. But my heart says I’d like to post my articles in a way that would be attractive to the viewers.

From modifying other WP Developers’ designed, I’ve learned many things, and wanted to do more. Good timely, the MindanaoBloggers are up to something really great. They organized WordCamp Philippines 2008. To be held on 6 September 2008 at the Augusto-Rosario Gonzalez Theater, College of Saint Benilde in Manila.

Sponsors of the WordCamp Philippines 2008:

• i.PH: the Domain for Individuals
• Free Online Flash Games
• Wazzup Manila Philippines
• Real Estate CRM
• Real Estate Website Designers
• Orange County Real Estate
• Auto Insurance Quotes
• Lane Systems Inc.
• RedMedia
• Orange County Business Lawyer
• Cebu Pacific Air
• Buddy Gancenia Reality TV
• SmartBro Wireless Broadband
• SPOT.ph
• Make Money with Performancing Ads

And the wonderful people behind this event:

• Blogie
• Andrew
• Ria
• Migs
• Winston
• Juned
• Dave
• Chuckie

I got a new mobile number and it begins with +63999-…..

Yes, seriously 0999-. It’s from a new telco called U Mobile or ümobile. It is exclusively for 15 to 35 year old individuals who are residing in the Philippines. And one must be able to get a subscription, or the sim, through an invite.

It is said that ümobile was bought by Smart from a telco named Cure. And it is the first ad-capitalized mobile service in the Philippines, and in Asia. Subscribers get a free load because advertising funds everything. Subscription to the service includes mobile ad campaigns that subscribers will receive and benefit from, according to ümobile. To simplify it, subscribers get free loads along with advertisements coming in their mobile phones. Simultaneously, I hope not.

Free load’s cool, but the ads. Imagine being bombarded with advertisements every now and then. It’s no different to the spam we have in our email inbox. Spam mails are all but annoying and just-consuming space of your email hosting. So it’s no-free load at all.

Some people are too tight to give out personal information. We can’t use aliases since the courier would be asking id’s from us, or whoever we authorized to receive our sim cards.

To whom would this sim work best? I only have two mobile phones. One, I am using for my eternal Smart sim, and the other for my Globe and my Sun. This may work for people who wouldn’t mind having to received ads, or what I called spam messages. But for those 15-to-35’s who wanted a peaceful mobile life, less of the bugging ads, this wouldn’t sell.

Basically advertisers pay for your text messages and calls. It’s a give and take relationship. However, I choose not to take, so I wouldn’t have to give in to what’s being given.

But what interest me are some of the sim’s features. They have a website wherein you can manage your sim. Like check balances, phone configurations, and others. Also, they have a “change your number” feature. But it’s not working yet. And what I like most , is we can purchase loads online, and can be paid using Paypal. But then again, I think it’s also not working yet, because the “Creating Request . . .” is taking forever. Well, they’ve just launched, and a few website glitches are acceptable and forgiven.

From 0910- to 0929-, using 0999- is really something new locally.

** If you’re looking and wanting to try the service, you can get an invite from here. Send me your name, email add, and number. [rj@charmedmom.com] I received an invite from my husband on a Monday, and i got the sim delivered at our home on Friday of the same week, easy and fast.

I believed that life’s full of chances and choices. Some struggles, some dances, their way to making their dreams and stories. Be it sad or happy, or whatever’s in between, each of us has our own tale to tell. This year’s tagline of Cinemalaya’s new advertising campaign’s “Anong kwento mo?” It relates to the interesting stories of Filipinos, and to a number of amazing and talented Filipino independent filmmakers.

Baby Angelo’s cries couldn’t be heard anymore. His tiny body left on a dumpster of an apartment complex. Some people wept and prayed for the little baby’s soul, while others just shrugged off their already encumbered shoulders. Bong Lomanta (Jojit Lorenzo) was tasked to investigate by his Aunt Nora. He came about listening and talking with the residents.

Life is ambiguous. We defined it on how we live it. The film depicts different Juan’s and Pedro’s and Maria’s of the present times. When couples get married for a reason not too strong to withstand trials, they may end up miserable. A solitary life of an old man is bleak. The relationship between brothers should be give and take. A troubled adolescent son, an occupied husband and wife, made up some family. Not everyone, who spent most of their evenings at work, are call center agents. And like the building that houses the tenants, their lives are also like stained of dirt from their past, and /or their present.

The film’s interesting, the stories of each character’s fairly compelling, and the main story’s intriguing. Surely, it is not a movie about ‘tianaks’. It’s more of a sensible subject, and nothing like the gay movies that were usually produced by independent filmmakers. And the actors were great. Some we might not know, or have seen for the first time, but nothing dull on how they had portrayed their roles. No gruesome scenes, except for the ‘balut’ part. But, I think, that’s one great idea on painting Filipinism in the story.

To the cast and staff of Baby Angelo, Pardon me if my thoughts of the film, and my words, are not enough to give justice to what you’ve work hard for.

Baby Angelo’s among the ten films to compete in the 2008 Cinemalaya Film Festival and Competition, for the full-length category.