Written on 2:09 AM by DRV
I just talking to a friend from high school, and he told me this...
"The art of spoken word is somewhat played out now."
While this guy has a hip hop ground and is in to a lot of things I really don't care that much for, I have to agree.
You won't like what I have to say, but here it is. Spoken word is overrated. You know what's more overrated? Filipino-American-based spoken word.
Yeah, I get it. It's about the history. Know your history, know yourself. No history, no self. Been there. Heard it. Done it. But even still--with Fil-Am Spoken Word. It's always the same. It's always about the elder struggle. It's always about the argument of the lack of an identity. It's always about shouting about who you are, with some swearing on the side.
Sorry, the gimmick is over. You can go ahead and talk about your life and struggle to get to where you are, but honestly--there are other people who've gone through a lot worse. These people made better uses of their time writing books.
Maybe it's just the fact that I've never really been a fan of it. Granted, I've heard some great flow, especially from one of my friends who I've known a couple of years. But other than that--it's overrated.
If I were forced to listen to Spoken Word, it's better off being a girl reciting it, because the gentle, sweet sound of a woman's voice adds more of a personal and cutting narrative to each story. But that's where it gets you to think.
Why does a lot of the Spoken Word today have to be so negative? Why is it always a bitchfest about traditional-themed parents? I want to hear a Filipino recite spoken word talking about great life is. I want spoken word to be about poetry again.
People can go on and on about the daily struggle that is their life--but that's not poetry.
Posted in
Fil-Am
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Written on 2:03 PM by DRV
I'm sitting in my MCOM 63 New Media class learning some basic Photoshop. I already know enough of the basics to hold my own, so I edited an image.
Here's the before and after shots.
BEFORE AFTER
I simply changed the background by cropping the guy out of it, and then I smudged the nose and chin to make him have a bigger nose and somewhat of a bearded effect. Nothing too fancy.
Posted in
photoshop,
school
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Written on 2:52 PM by DRV
Today after church and lunch with my family, I had a little time to just go on a YouTube rampage, looking at random videos to satisfy my need for entertainment, and I ran across a music video about adobo.
Overall the video was extremely hilarious, but there were some themes--mainly sexual--that would be pretty offensive. Usually when I go about looking at Filipino-themed vids, I usually have my mom take a look as well.
This is one thing I really wouldn't want to show her, but I'll show it to you guys because you'd probably get a kick out of it.
---
Now, just to keep consistency with the blog's title. What do you guys think about adobo? While it is probably the most famous dish in Philippine cuisine, I think it's awfully overrated. I mean, everybody knows about it, and now we're seeing music videos produced because of this meat dish with plenty of soy sauce and vinegar.
Maybe my family doesn't make it as well as others, or maybe it's because I have adobo almost every week. But I just don't find adobo worth all the attention. What about caldereta? Igado?
Well, that's all I have to say.
Posted in
Fil-Am,
YouTube
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Written on 12:26 AM by DRV
Like every other college student, I spend a lot of time on Facebook. I don't particularly know why we go about this phenomenon, but it's really a good treatment for boredom. It's different from Friendster and MySpace in the sense that in Facebook it's easier to come across acquaintances (I don't say friends, because you can't all the people you "know" your "friends.") Also, since it doesn't allow much HTML, custom backgrounds and themes are out of the question--which make Facebook a cleaner, and more responsive website than a lot of the other trash there is online.
One of Facebook's formerly original features was the "Status Update," which has since then been ripped off by MySpace, with the only original feature they have being people's moods. It doesn't really end there, though. The popularity of the Status Update has allowed a new website to come onto the scene that was developed last summer--Twitter.
Twitter is simple. All you do on that site is update your status by answering the age-old question, "What are you doing?" Now, Twitter has been installed into pretty much everyone's phones and mobile devices, with people Twittering left and right. In Twitter, instead of friends, you have followers, and you also have the option of following other people.
How does this relate to the new Facebook? Well, Facebook has taken a page out of MySpace's book by trying to eliminate the competition by joining in with the fun. For an example, sign up for your own Twitter feed and compare the homepages of both sites. They look pretty darn similar.
The change with Facebook isn't as drastic as the change that was made in late 2008, but now, instead of doing a re-design, they just changed the streamlined experience. A traditional homepage with Live Feed would tell us who wrote on other people's walls. While we still have that option, it's been changed to Person 1 > Person 2 "wall message here." This all just adds more awkwardness to the pages.
The most noteworthy change is in the profiles. Previously, in order to update your status, you had to clear it and then type it in. Now, it's a lot harder to differentiate your status and a wall post, so when you change your status--it makes it look like you wrote on your own wall.
So this is what we've come to. The new Facebook isn't lame... it just makes us look more lame than we are.
Thanks for making me realize I'm lame, Facebook. I'm going go Twitter now.
Posted in
Facebook,
MySpace,
Social Networking,
Twitter
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Written on 12:09 AM by DRV
I've added another member to my electronic family today.
Over the passed 12 months, I've picked up the Wii, another PlayStation 2, a second DS Lite due to the first being broken, a crappy prepaid cell phone, and an iPod touch. Add a MacBook to that list.
I see this investment as something I'll really cherish. It's just that the timing was quite questionable. The biggest problem with my first laptop, the Dell Inspiron 1501, was that it was oftentimes unresponsive. Why? Because it only had 512 MB of RAM. When I found out that was an issue, I bought two 1 GB RAM cards to update it to 2 GB. Huge difference, and the Dell is a better laptop because of it.
But whatever, the battery is still lame. It's my fault since I kept the thing plugged in, but still. 3 minutes? Hardly worth anybody's time.
This MacBook already comes equipped with 2 GB of RAM, a hard drive that's double the size of my old Dell, and it just gives me more options quite due to the fact that it's a Mac. Why does it give me more options? Because now, I have two laptops of opposing operating systems. I wouldn't be surprised if I bought a Unix system soon--just kidding.
I'll leave you guys with a few pics of this happiness. But if you're my friend on Facebook, you've probably already seen them.
There it is, first being open.
Talk about green packaging.
Here's one more look at the POS1501.
Posted in
Apple,
DS,
iPod,
MacBook,
PSP
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Written on 12:40 AM by DRV
In case you guys don't already know, Gamer 2.0 is in charge of a blog site called SmashPad. The staff at Gamer 2.0 is full of young guys who definitely know their way around the industry, and they write down-to-earth pieces when it comes to covering video games. SmashPad gives the staff a chance to provide more opinion and commentary for their readers, and it also provides for more social interaction for their readers.
Last week I had two blogs published, one is about the lack of a Wii Classic Controller Pro in the United States, and the other is about the upcoming release of the Nintendo DSi.
Definitely give them a read when you get a chance!
- DRV
Written on 5:51 PM by DRV
Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been very busy with both school and the things I've been doing with Akbayan. It's been a pretty crumby week so far with my car's battery dying, and Dancing with the Seniors not being as great as I had originally planned and hoped.
Anyway, here are a couple reviews I've had published at Gamer 2.0.
The first is a review of Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride. It's a remake of an SNES classic that wasn't released in the United States--so unless you're a hardcore Dragon Quest fan, odds are this will be a new experience. It's actually really good game that arguably might be the best RPG on the Nintendo DS. (It's definitely up there with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV).
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride Review
The second is a review of Blue Dragon Plus. Blue Dragon was an RPG that was released on the Xbox 360 a couple years ago but had lackluster reviews because of its apparent dedication to old-school gaming--which necessarily isn't a bad thing. Actually, I think Blue Dragon was a solid Xbox 360 game. Other than that, Blue Dragon Plus is a very different experience because it's a RTS in the same vain as Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. While Blue Dragon Plus is pretty solid, it's really not worth buying at full price, especially with games like Big Bang Mini, Dragon Quest V, and Fire Emblem already out this year.
Blue Dragon Plus Review
My next review will be on Legacy of Ys: Books I & II, also a remake for the Nintendo DS.
Posted in
DS,
Gamer 2.0,
Handheld Review
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