July 29, 2012

Nicki Minaj "Starship", Pure Pop Genius

By P.B. Masdal | Comments (0)

Posted In : Personal and Family, Music

Nicki Minaj definitely had meant to fly with this hit single “Starships”. Of course it’s not as if it’s the latest thing coming from the Trinidadian-American pop diva and it’s been running the airwaves for nearly, or more than a year now.

But as “Starships” keeps on playing almost everywhere, on TV noontime shows, on downtown radio, in jitneys and shopping malls, I began to really notice the very catchy and hooking chorus of the song and realized how nifty and ingenious the song is. MTV called it the “perfect pop single” and I could not agree more. That ear-candy loop on the chorus is just pure invention that had saved pop music. That’s what I think.

Despite that “Starships” has got some uhmn, ‘improper’ lyrics at the end of the song. That’s a bit of a downer; it could have been taken out by the producers. But all in all, the song is a classic pop anthem that would be well-remembered into the future.

Nicki Minaj – Starships (Explicit) (OFFICIAL… by wonderful-life1989

Who Is Mr. Newton Faulkner?

By P.B. Masdal | Comments (0)

Posted In : Personal and Family, Entertainment News, Current Events, Music

Who is Newton Faulkner? Definitely not many would have heard about this name. But Newton Faulkner is a critically-acclaimed English singer-songwriter from Reigate, Surrey. Just about the time when the term “English singer-songwriter” is fast becoming obsolete, like have we heard some great big news from England about solo singers lately? Not me, definitely.

But Newton Faulkner is set to redeem England and is steadily gaining wide popularity as his new single “Cloud” is hot on the airwaves.

It’s a cool single with remarkable guitar play that is said to be unique with Faulkner. His voice is smooth and raspy and mostly reminds me of Sting’s, and for this alone, I am a new fan of Mr. Newton Faulkner.

July 11, 2012

Bubba Watson and the "Golf Boys" Boy Band

By P.B. Masdal | Comments (0)

Posted In : Personal and Family, Sports, Entertainment News, Music

What’s wrong with Bubba Watson? Or rather, what’s being cool with Bubba Watson nowadays? Or has he lost his mind?

Apparently, the superstar American golfer, this year’s Masters champion and U.S. Ryder Cup member has something else going on not just golf in his itineraries. He’s got a boy band for himself. You wouldn’t believe me of course but take a look at this video:

Well at least he’s not the only PGA player who’s in the band called “Golf Boys”; also in the band are golfers Ben Crane, Rickie Fowler, and Hunter Mahan.

Kidding aside, would this be an intentional stunt commissioned by PGA itself, in order to promote golf to the younger generation? I’ve always thought golfing, especially in America, is kind of a very formal sport, a gentleman’s undertaking you could say.

I am a bit worried. I’ve never seen golf this way. Or maybe I just got to start getting used to it.

July 10, 2012

The Curious Case of Jeremiah McDonald: Filmmaker Famously Talks to His Child Self

By P.B. Masdal | Comments (0)

Posted In : Personal and Family, Science & Technology, Current Events, News & Info

This could be just the coolest viral video ever. Hugging news headlines from around the world, 32 year old Jeremiah McDonald comes up with a video coup that is most unparalleled ever in the Internet.

And the conversation between the older Jeremiah and the child version is so realistic that any viewer would initially determine it to be a fake or a hoax. But it wasn’t a hoax; I realized that myself after watching several news items on it on international news media.

Mail Online coined it as “doing the impossible”. Well, who would have thought that one day we’d see a guy talking to his or her child self.

 

The video achieves phenomenal status as it earns 3.8 million views just days after it was posted online.

According to McDonald, “Even though the footage is real, the piece is still a surreal work of fiction”.

That’s exactly what it is, as surreal as every sci-fi fiction could ever be. If this becomes an idea for a blockbuster Hollywood movie, I would not be so surprised at all. It could become ‘the curious case of Jeremiah McDonald.”

The footage is about four minutes long and was cut by McDonald himself to create a very realistic conversation between two separate clips, and most highlighted event in the dialogue was the two protagonists talking about pets.

It is as believable as it could be. And that’s so amazing.

HERE’s the ENTIRE TRANSCRIPT of the CONVERSATION:

 Do not Watch until Future.

[Old McDonald ] : (pours an alcohol drink)

[Child McDonald ] : Why Jeremiah?

[Old McDonald ] : Hello Jeremiah?

[Child McDonald ] : You look different.

[Old McDonald ] : No shit.

[Child McDonald ] : Yes I am 12 years old and how old are you?

[Old McDonald ] : 32

[Child McDonald ] : Ahhhh

[Old McDonald ] : Ya

[Child McDonald ] : You – you look older.

[Old McDonald ] : Well thank you – older than 32, you mean?

[Child McDonald ] : Yes

[Old McDonald ] : Oh even better – good

[Child McDonald ] : Goes to show how much things have changed. Yes

[Old McDonald ] : It does

[Child McDonald ] : Now – doing with my hair – now – voice.

[Old McDonald ] : Right – okay

[Child McDonald ] : Getting older – getting older man – get down. Get all ya – well me of the future?

[Old McDonald ] : Well is there more of this, I’m sorry.

[Child McDonald ] : So how are things you know?

[Old McDonald ] : Okay, this is very unusual

[Child McDonald ] : Yes, definitely. Quite cool you know, here I am on the screen and here you are. Your right there.

[Old McDonald ] : Over here, ya

[Child McDonald ] : Yes

[Old McDonald ] : Is there anything particular that you wanted to know about?

[Child McDonald ]  : As far as I can see, is Molly still alive?

[Old McDonald ] : Is Molly still alive? No, dogs don’t live that long.

[Child McDonald ] : Ah and what about Leon?

[Old McDonald ] : Ah are all your questions gonna be about pets?

[Child McDonald ] : Yes

[Old McDonald ] : Well the answer is that they’re all dead. Why don’t I ask you some questions.

[Child McDonald ] : Ask me some questions – you know about – you already know.

[Old McDonald ] : Well ya, but – life before the internet is kind of a blur to me.

[Child McDonald ] : What? I didn’t catch that?

[Old McDonald ] : The internet it’s a thing – you’ll know what it is in a few years, it’s gonna completely take over your life, your gonna spend many hours sitting in a room staring at a screen.

[Child McDonald ]  : I’m knowing about my own future, that’s cool.

[Old McDonald ]   : Well I’m glad that pleases you. So I can’t – what do you exactly?

[Child McDonald ] : You know what I’m like. Your me.

[Old McDonald ]  :  Ya, but you must have hobbies of some kind.

[Child McDonald ] : Your interviewing yourself – look at you! Your – cra–

[Old McDonald ] : You – you left the tape.

[Child McDonald ] : (crazy)

[Old McDonald ] : Don’t do that – I’m not

[Child McDonald ] : (belches) Excuse me.

[Old McDonald ] : Charming, no wonder I’m single.

[Child McDonald ] : I AM YOU!

 [Old McDonald ] : Exactly

[Child McDonald ] : Why are you blaming me for!

[Old McDonald ] : Because I’m a result of every decision you make.

[Child McDonald ] : Well so are you

[Old McDonald ] : Well fine.

[Child McDonald ] : Well – Haaagh

[Old McDonald ] : See I don’t know how I’m suppose to react to that – Okay see look

[Child McDonald ] : Ooo I see a Star Wars figure down there.

[Old McDonald ] : Never mind mind that for now – What were you

[Child McDonald ] : Can I have it?

[Old McDonald ] : Dude – you have that one already. It’s literally the same one.

[Child McDonald ] : Ah yes, here it is, I got right here.

[Old McDonald ] : Except Molly chewed mine, so be more careful with it.

[Child McDonald ] : Sorry.

[Old McDonald ] : Don’t apologize to me, apologize to yourself in 20 years. I’m sorry Jeremiah – see I just did it for us.

[Child McDonald ] : Very clever Jeremiah, I’m glad I thought of it.

[Old McDonald ] : That’s the spirit. Now what were you doing before you made this video?

[Child McDonald ] : Ah – here we go (bugs bunny painting)

[OldMcDonald ] : Is that Roy?

[Child McDonald ] : Yes. You still draw Roy?

[Old McDonald ] : No, I don’t draw much anymore. That whole cast of characters, I used to make those flip books, I wanted to be an animator. And got lazy and went into film making.

[Child McDonald ] : Don’t you realize that your kind of – kind of messing up time.

[Old McDonald ] : Sorry, just thinking out loud.

[Child McDonald ] : By the way do you still like Dr. Who?

[Old McDonald ] : (Dr. Who poster on Wall) No

[Child McDonald ] : Ahh

[Old McDonald ] : I need to go

[Child McDonald ] : Okay well

[Old McDonald ] : Just one thing before I go, don’t blink. Blink and your dead.

[Child McDonald ] : What do you mean – what?

[Old McDonald ] : No I’m kidding that’s not, that’s gonna be hilarious in 15 years. I just turn this off, right?

[Child McDonald ] : Whhhhaaa – BAAAAAAAHHHH~~

[Old McDonald ] : What the hell is his problem?

Music Written and Performed by Jeremiah McDonald.

July 9, 2012

Will Jeremy Lin Choose ‘Linsanity’ Over Big Pay-Up from Houston?

By P.B. Masdal | Comments (0)

Posted In : Personal and Family, Sports, Current Events

Let’s face it, Knicks’ fans has a lot of renewed expectations for the upcoming season starting November and amongst them is the resumption of the exhilarating Jeremy Lin fever (more known as ‘Linsanity) that had caught up over the fans over there starting last season. Remember how Madison Square Garden got filled with Linsanity insignias from down the courtside up to the high bleachers. It was an amazing experience that everyone in Knicks boardroom got excited and rolling – just as with the New York fans. Streaking wins, headline postings, international attention – this was phenomenon written all over.

Now there comes talk about Lin being shipped – or rather agreeing to hop over to the Houston Rockets after some insider info had Lin agreeing to the offer sheet handed by the Rockets management just several days ago. The contract bait reportedly amounted to a whopping $ 30 Million over a four year period with a tempting $5.5 Milion first year take and an optional $ $9.M final pay-up in the fourth year.

While it was reported that Knicks is expected to match the offer – to retain that ‘Linsanity’ thing going on inside MSG – the $9 Million final payment clause offered by the Rockets becomes a ‘poison pill’ that Knicks would be hard-pressed to match up, no matter how ever they want Lin back. But Knicks fan is keeping their fingers crossed, with only days till Knicks management would match or not-match the offer made by Houston.

It should be a little unfortunate that this situation should arise, but upon realizing, Lin, being a free agent himself, could not evade offer sheets from other NBA teams. Remember, NBA is a business and being an NBA player is a professional occupation.

But if Lim moves on to the Rockets for next season, what becomes of ‘Linsanity’ becomes an uncertainty. Now that he had copyrighted the name for himself, what value could it become, would it increase or decrease?

In my view, ‘Linsanity’ is so much connected to the Knicks franchise and MSG; it’s the team and arena where it all began, with the distinctive blue jerseys lined in red from the sides. That’s the picture of ‘Linsanity’, and not the red-all-over jersey theme of the Rockets.

And so, what happens to ‘Linsanity’ when Lin finally hops over to the Rockets? Or should he stay in New York and keep the magic alive?

July 6, 2012

THE SAUTEED UPO AND PLAGIARISM IN OUR MIDST

By P.B. Masdal | Comments (0)

Posted In : Personal and Family

(This is an old post from 2005, in The Daily Prophet) 

Yesterday, my stomach cringed a bit trying to put morsels of fried herring into my mouth. The day before, I just gobbled pieces of chicken meat and swallowed it just in order to put some heaviness in my tummies. I felt I was just flooded by too much fish and meat in the past days that I could possibly go haywire in the head when I see another dish of fish and chicken. So I said what’s enough should be enough. Last night, I swore before the evening stars that I shall eat vegetables by tomorrow come high or deep water. 

I went scouring for vegetable recipes in the internet and since I knew a few blogsites offering these kinds of postings, I went to them immediately. It was in Ting Aling’s site that I found the apple of my palate, of all blogsites in the world. Right before my eyes was the how-to-cook presentation of Guinisang Upo and my heart was palpitating a bit and was strained, worrying that I may become the dreaded plagiarists that the local blogosphere was talking about. The million-dollar question was whether or not to cook Ting Aling’s vegetable brew or not? More than one question were whirling in my head and my hands trembled like I was a thief. This dilemma—this doubtfulness—has never haunted me ever before, not even when I was into downloading music many months ago (which I have stopped already, to say in clarification). 

I wanted to ask for the permission of Ms. Ting-Aling but I decided against it for it may take a lifetime to wait for her responses and besides, I would like to settle the question all by myself. I wanted to settle these questions on my own account and perspiration and analyze every matter of the issue like a judge about to pen his decision and worrying so darnest if there would be grave abuse of discretion. 

I asked myself then, should Ting-Aling wish her readers to cook her suggestions when she posted these kinds of entries. If not, then why would she bother to put them in public view? What’s the use of her writings if she doesn’t want us to partake of its benefits? Maybe, it’s up for sale but I haven’t noticed anything that says “Download this for 95 Cents” button, which could bring us to the question of whether to “Open File From Its Source” or “Save to Disk”. I tried saving the web page of Ms. Ting Aling but the right-click was disabled so I reckoned she is protecting her works. I may warn her that despite the Java Script denying the right-click mode, one could still have her recipe by saving the web page as a text file. 

And so I made a version of Ting Aling’s Guinisang Upo that is cooked daily by many Filipino households, the way our Moms and helpers do it. I must clarify that what I meant by “a version” is not exactly that of hers but one we are used to see everyday of our lives. And so this morning I said to the wife that I would be the one to cook today’s staple. I traipse along the sidewalks of Lustre St. and examine where I could find the freshest and crispiest upo. To cook this everyday Filipino meal we should need the following: 

Half a Kilo Upo (which would be about half of a fairly sized one.) 

300 grams Corned Beef 

2 cloves Garlic 

2 pieces Onions 

3 pieces Shiny red tomatoes (Make sure they are red.) 

1 ounce Peppercorns 

1 pinch Rock Salt 

1 quart Cooking Oil 

1 Table Spoon Soy Sauce 

Cut the upo into thin slices, not too thin but about one-fourth inch in thickness. 

In a saucepan, cooked the corned beef until its brown and supple. Do not overcooked it to avoid drying it up and count only about 120 seconds before you drain it and set it aside for the meantime. In cooking, one needs to know how to count even without a timer in hand. I wonder how dreadful life it is for those who couldn’t count pass 20. There would be no cooking in their lives. So educate yourselves in numbers to make your lives more sublime. If you do not know how to count pass 20, I could not see how you could be able to cook simple meals like instant noodles. The packages always say, “cook for two and half minutes” which is exactly 150 seconds. That is a lot of seconds to count. 

In a separate pan, put enough cooking oil to a boil and sauté garlic, onions and tomatoes all at once until the tomatoes become tender in the eyes. After that, pour on the halfly cooked corned beef and count about two minutes before you pour the minced upo into the whole mixture. After a while, pinched in the salt and season with pepper and a few drops of soy sauce. Cover the pan and simmer for about ten minutes. Again, please do not overcook it for the vegetable may become soggy and the taste would be affected in a negative way.

Before noon, I ate the meal ahead of the rest and found out that at times, we can always get what we wanted if only we try our darnest and that I could get satisfaction contrary to what Mick Jagger was lamenting about for nearly four decades now. 

After my meal, I went to the computer upstairs and wrote this posting. I wondered if I had become “The Plagiarist” many bloggers fear. I hope not. 

KUNG HEI FAT CHOY to our Chinese brothers and sisters