Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Mathematics of a Man and Woman

I received this e-mail from Janine, and I was really tickled by this little thing! So, I'd like to share this with everyone, especially to women like me!

MATHEMATICS

Smart man + smart woman = romance
Smart man + dumb woman = affair
Dumb man + smart woman = marriage
Dumb man + dumb woman = pregnancy
______________________________
OFFICE ARITHMETIC

Smart boss + smart employee = profit
Smart boss + dumb employee = production
Dumb boss + smart employee = promotion
Dumb boss + dumb employee = overtime
_____________________________
SHOPPING MATH

A man will pay $20 for a $10 item he needs.
A woman will pay $10 for a $20 item that she doesn't need.
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GENERAL EQUATIONS & STATISTICS

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
_____________________________
HAPPINESS

To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little.
To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
______________________________
LONGEVITY

Married men live longer than single men do, but married men are a lot more willing to die.
______________________________
PROPENSITY TO CHANGE

A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, and she does.
_____________________________
DISCUSSION TECHNIQUE

A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
_____________________________
HOW TO STOP PEOPLE FROM BUGGING YOU ABOUT GETTING MARRIED

Old aunts used to come up to me at weddings, poking me in the ribs and cackling, telling me, "You're next." They stopped after I started doing the same thing to them at funerals.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Origin of Barangay Name

While cleaning my room, I found this project Roel and I made for our World History class when we were in 4th year high school. I think all graduating high school students needed to pass something like it. It was the history of our barangay. Unfortunately for us, only two of us lived in the same barangay, so we had to make the project all by ourselves.

This is what we came up with, the "History of Barangay Alang-Alang":

Alang-Alang got its name because of its proximity to the town's proper. The barrio was not near to the town's center, yet it wasn't far either. Before, the barangay was part of barangays Ibabao and Opao. When the population increased, it was then made into a Sitio. Since this sitio was located at the boundary of the two barangays, people who come from that place when asked where they come from would reply, "Alang-alang sa Ibabao ug Opao" (Approximately near Ibabao and Opao). Time later shortened the phrase into "Alang-Alang".

Most information was gotten from the Mandaue City Public Library.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Vampire Juuji Kai Chapter 15

As the title states, "Vampire Juuji Kai Chapter 15". I'm an editor at VNManga. Loki gave me the raws to it a month ago, it had almost 40 pages, with a lot of pages which needed cleaning. Due to my tardiness, if a certain someone didn't remind me, and I didn't give myself a deadline, I wouldn't even have started it.

Moving on, I finished editing the chapter, and then I noticed that 2 pages were missing: pages 48 and 51. So, for those of you looking forward to chapter 15's release, I'm very sorry to disappoint you, but it's still incomplete. It's a medium-quality release, so don't expect too much.

In another matter, I noticed that the translator was very formal in her/his translations. For example, one part, where Lety said "U.... Uso!", which literally means "L... Lie!", the translator transliterated it into "That... That's a lie!". See what I mean? I do appreciate this translator better than the previous translations I had to work with. The translations were very good and I got to practice reading hiragana and katakana.

What I learned from this experience was, 1st, having to lie your way to extend a deadline is a big no-no and will make you feel really bad inside. 2nd, cramming is really bad for the heart, especially if you're blaming yourself. And lastly, I learned that I can edit manga with about 40 pages in just one day.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Karas: The Ending At Last

I have just recently watched the 2nd half of Karas. And all I can say is, wow! I loved the animation so much! I have been waiting to finish this anime ever since I saw its first half. A friend of mine recently lent it to me. He had the 2nd half of the story, while I had the first. I didn't know he only had the 2nd half though. (note to self: tell him when he contacts me.)

"Karas" means "The Raven" so in the movie, you'll see a lot of ravens. It was released as a pay-per-view movie by Tatsunoku Production for its 40th anniversary of anime production. It has six parts all in all and was compiled by Manga Entertainment for English fans. This is their box cover:



This was released as a 2-part DVD collection.

For me, Karas talks about humanity and cultural differences between modern and past. People against other people. Idealism against responsibility and justice. And most importantly, it talks about purpose. That every creature always has a purpose, and if you extinguish the other, the balance would be lost. I loved the idea behind the story, however, you won't understand it very much unless you're not so caught up with the animation. You really have to focus on the story itself to comprehend the significance and meaning.

As for the animation, i was very impressed. The 3D went very well with the 2D animation. The blend of both 2D and 3D animation was meticulously made so that each scene can have the proper feel to it. For example, a busy street, people talking, and other normal, not so action-packed scenes are done in 2D form, while action-packed scenes, especially the Karas are in 3D form. I also love the blend of 2D and 3d together like in a scene where a Karas (3d) is standing and the background is in 2D. The way they blended the two forms of animation together was excellent since they managed to pull the viewer's eyes to focus only on the the needed character/s and at the same time blend the background so that it doesn't look so 2D, just like these:



On the first picture, the eyes are involuntarily diverted to the city itself, and not to the people (2D) who are walking along the way. The second picture's style is a contrast to the first. We will notice that our eyes focus directly on the character and not on the background which blended quite well with the foreground.

This anime is a must-see for all anime enthusiasts who love action-packed OVAs, which talk about morality, differences on beliefs, subjectivity of good and evil, and of course, those who love to watch animes with a kick-ass animation!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

The welcoming committee

I've always wondered what to post as a "welcome note" to a blog. For one thing, I don't really know what to talk about. I guess the first thing to say is to explain the name.

When I was in elementary and in high school, my classmates gave me the nickname "bata". In the Bisaya languange (even in the Filipino language), bata means a kid, a child, or anything pertaining to someone who is still young or young at heart (or even in mind). That explains the first word, now what about "tabian"? It is another Bisaya word which literally means "talkative". I have been a very talkative person ever since I was born. I still remember talking back to the "old people". Me and my big mouth were invincible, which usually cause me to constantly be in trouble. I see it as a gift though! I love talking and sharing my ideas to other people, be they friends or strangers.

Put the two words together (through "ng"), and you get "Batang Tabian"! This phrase means talkative kid which sums up a big part of my life: talkative and a kid. It would be hard for me to write something though. I'm a very impulsive person, so I kind of easily forget ideas when I don't write or say them when they're floating up on my head.

I hope I can live up to the name of the blog though! Anyway, thanks for visiting! I hope I can help other people get ideas and information through this blog.