Plantsa Ni Lola

Had the chance to take some pic of the lola’s old rustic flat iron. Wilth flaming fire and dried banana leaves as effects. I’m glad our smoke detector didn’t go out beeping because of the fi-yer from the shoot. Get this smokin hot vintage accent here.

Rizal Up Close, 2 Decades Hence

Earlier this am, we jogged at Rizal Park - Quirino Grandstand area. Had the chance to see mah main man, the doctor J... Jose Rizal. The Rizal Monument. It's like 2 decades ago when I saw Rizal this close and never been back. Until today. Back in the day, there were guards. This morning, there were no guards at the monument, they are all assigned to Philippine congressmen perhaps. Protecting the porks, err, the pork barrel carriers.

Celebrity Homes Philippines

This is our own version of celebrity home, oh well, not really celebrity homes but more of celebrity furniture buys from the Leoque Furniture.

Celebrity - Dominic Ochoa: We have no picture coz the damn camera won’t open at the time of his visit. I was able to make the camera work exactly when Sir Dominic passed by me and said thanks & goodbye. Thanks Dominic BTW. Actually, it wasn’t Dominic’s buy, but ’twas her lovely wife who initiated the furniture purchase. They picked up (literally picked-up ‘coz Dominic’s got a smooth & slick pick-up truck) a computer table ladder type, an umbrella accent jar and a display easel. And what’s with these celebrities? They are kinder, jollier & sweeter live in person. Thanks Ms. D… and Mr. D.

Celebrity - Jennylyn Mercado: She looked at this s-type side table then checked out the glass top stainless center table. She then decided to combine the two - - - the glass top and the s-type table. Thinking out of the box, she asked for the s-type to stand sideways or horizontally (not the actual orientation of the table) then she ask for the glass top to be placed on top, walah, a unique coffee table for her home. Jennylyn, definitely, an artist. And she’s a nice polite sweet lady as well. Photo here is the actual pic of her inside our shop.

Celebrity - Mike Cortez: The minute I saw him, I knew he’s a basketball player but I second guessed. You know why, coz he’s taller & bigger in person than on TV or on court live. I’ve seen him live many times before and one time im just 5 - 10 feet away from him and he doesn’t seem to be very tall. Well, may because he’s surrounded by bigger guys like Pennisi & Jay Washington. Was able to confirm that he is he when I saw the furniture invoice, signed by his wife, a “Cortez.” How nice can they get? It was his wife who volunteered to shoot the pic. Actual photo posted here. Many thanks for checking out Leoque Furniture. The items they got for they home: bean bags, ladder shelves wenge and 5ft panel for display.

NOTE: Many thanks to our dear Filipino-Filipina celebs for allowing Leoque furniture to grace your homes. If you feel like removing your name - the notes - your picture - “your buy” on this post, please contact us. We will remove the data or the whole post ASAP. We are proud that our furniture landed on celebrity homes but we respect your privacy more.

Acrylic Painting, A Sis Gift

10 FACTS...

1. this is a gift for my sister, i made this afternoon of saturday, july 25
   
2. the canvass i bought from national bookstore is P160 per framed canvass
3. coz i dont do this stuff as often as i would want to, my first try was a mess, sayang ang P160.00
4. for the successful version, i spent 3.5 hours, for the unsuccessful version, i spent 2 hours
   
5. the toughest part to make, the lips area
6. this is not the best paint job in the world but im sure this is better than a "mango" blouse or shirt.
   
7. the photo was shot in boracay using fuji point & shoot camera, shot by my nanay
8. at the office, doing this thing, i had tabo & timba by my side to wash the paint brushes
   
9. my sister shown in the painting, she's pretending to be an expert photographer. she got same camera set as mine (canon 450 + kit + nifty fifty + 55-250 telelens)
10. because my sister loves the painting so much, she told me the P50,000 i owe her, I can forget all about it. =P
    

Motion Pics, Subject is Tom Cruz of TGIF

Lennon Sketchy

I made this a long long time ago. I saw inside an old folder earlier today. A quick pic then a quick post. Ayun.

Email of the Week: The Gift!

Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen!

My name is Maria. I live in Latvia (Europe), and one brought up two children. My son (his name is Ignat and was 7 years old) soon birthday. He wants to get a gift MP3 player. In our family only, I work and my salary is very small. We only have enough money for food and expenses. I really worry that I can not buy him a gift. I very much ask you to send him a gift MP3 player.
I hope very much for your kindness!
Help me carry out child's dream !

P.S Sorry for my bad english!

Night Photography Settings

Necessary Settings In Your Camera

As you can see from our gear list, you will not be needing a flash on this one. Everything that we need to set to achieve the proper exposure will be in your camera.

So let’s fast forward. You found a neat place, you’ve set up your camera on your trusty sturdy tripod… Now what?

Set your camera in Manual Mode (M). Don’t get scared because you left the Creative Zone! Being in Manual Mode, we are able to control everything from Aperture, ISO level to Shutter Speed. Which by the way, are the three main factors we will be focusing on.

Aperture: Set your f-stop to about f22. This will ensure everything in your plane are in focused.

ISO: 100. The lower the better, this will ensure a noise-free picture especially during long exposures.

Shutter Speed: 15+ seconds or more.

A note lifted from here.

Set for Timed Exposure: To prevent any additional shake to the camera, using your 2-second timer on your camera is a MUST.

RAW: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS Shoot in RAW.

Bandila na Sinala (Filtered Flag)

This photo, titled “FREE AS A BIRD,” won a mini photo contest run by our photography mentor. I attended a 3 day seminar then got to be in this/our mini “alumni” social site group. Props used are flag I bought at a Roxas Blvd stoplight intersection (during the June 12th Philippine Independence Day) and the wooden birds are from here. The theme of the constest is DIY filter.

Using day-to-day home items as filters. No commercial filter is allowed. I used a plastic cup with a hole as a filter. I earned a remote shutter FTW. The photo below also got good number of votes, same contest.

I’d like to thank our teacher for running the show & the peeps who voted for my entries. I thank my payrents too. =)

Seriously, thank-u-2-God.

Artwork display top... the Stool

Oh, it just got into me, the mini stool collection is great as display “stool top” for various artworks & artpieces. Here’s a sample set.

• Even kid’s artwork, frame em up and display on top of a stool
• Rather than using block risers & pedestals as display tool, as an alternate, use these stools - mini benches - mini chair
• A sturdy stool chair makes an attractive display fixture coz it can come in a range of styles, shapes, sizes and colors. A carefully selected stool will surely complement an art piece. See the stool here.

*BTW, 3 of 4 framed paintings there are made by me. :-)

NISSAN ALL-NEW GLOBAL VAN - NV200 VANETTE

When I was younger, so much younger than today, I wanted Nissan's Vanette so much. Then the desire for that van faded. Proof that I really wanted to score a van, I eventually got the Toyota Innova van-wagon (pun intended). For Nissan fans, and van would be buyers... Nissan has this NV200 that carries the rich heritage of the Vanette. Hope that the new Nissan All-new Global Van will land in the Philippine shores someday soon. With 7 to 8 seating capacity, a wagon form, a claim for sedan like comfort & targeted for modern business use and a bigger family vehicle, looks like its a direct competitor of Toyota Innova to me. Ayus na din para kumonti ang Innova sa daan.

Nissan Motor Co.,Ltd.(NML) today announced the start of the pre-launch sales for the all-new NV200 van in Japan. Following its global debut at the 79th International Geneva Motor Show in March, Japan will be the first market to launch this next generation global van starting mid-May.

The compact NV200 Vanette will be offered in two configurations - the Van DX light commercial van and the Wagon 16S people carrier.

The NV200 Vanette* has been designed to meet the demands of a wide-range of customers for a functional and versatile vehicle that delivers great value-for-money.

The compact van combines intelligent layout and packaging to deliver a class-leading 4.1 cubic of loading space. The wagon is a seven-seater people carrier offering a more spacious interior with car-like comfort and features.

Powered by the 1.6L HR16DE petrol engine, the van also offers excellent driving performance without compromising fuel efficiency, for a low total cost of ownership.

From here.

Jones Cup Live Viewing

July 19 – vs. Jordan @ 2PM
July 20 – vs. Taiwan-I @ 10:30 AM
July 20 - vs. Kazakhstan @ 3PM (LIVE) replay @ 10:30AM the next day
July 21- vs. Japan @ 3PM (LIVE) replay @ 10 the next day
July 22 –vs. Lebanon @ 7PM (LIVE) replay @ 10 the next day
July 23 – vs. Korea @ 5PM (LIVE)
July 25 – vs Taiwan-II @ 3PM (LIVE)
July 26 – vs. Iran @ 2PM (LIVE)

ESPN

Monday 20th July 2009
3:00 - 5:00pm Philippines vs. Lebanon (Live)

Tuesday 21st July 2009
3:00 - 5:00pm Japan vs. Philippines (Live)

Wednesday 22nd July 2009
5:00 - 7:00pm Philippines vs. Korea (Live)


LIVE TV BROADCAST: ESPN ASIA

Free Live Streaming and update:
http://Justin.tv/JonesCup
http://Justin.tv/TeamRN
http://Jonescup.TeamPilipinas.info
http://Fiba.TeamPilipinas.info

Whatever Yaya Art

The recipe for an abstract whatever yaya painting… dirty illustration board + 1 hour + hard 5 year old water color & acrylic paints + water.

Rather than throwing away the hardened water color & dirty illustration board, I made one distorted “art.”

Title: “SUGOD”

Promise, this looks better live than in photo. The white drips and paints are not visible in the pic.

Just testing. I’d like to do this again next week and see if I can make any good.

Baketball Tweets?

Yes we do. Here.

Art Deco Book

Engages the reader in the heady world of the 1920s and 1930s when Art Deco style was all the rage. Covering architecture, jewellery, textiles, fine art and home furnishing, this book looks at well-known and not so well-known designers and creators of this most sophisticated of stiles, tracing its progress from the luxurious to the mass-produced.

Follows the development of one of the Twentieth Century`s most glamorous styles. All aspects of 1920s and 1930s design and architecture were affected by its elegant sophistication, and this beautiful new book shows how its pervading influences transformed everyday objects into luxurious works of art.

Art Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film. At the time, this style was seen as elegant, glamorous, functional, and modern.



The movement was a mix of many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Art Nouveau, and Futurism.[1] Its popularity peaked in Europe during the Roaring Twenties[2] and continued strongly in the United States through the 1930s.[3] Although many design movements have political or philosophical roots or intentions, Art Deco was purely decorative.



Art Deco experienced a decline in popularity during the late 30s and early 40s, and soon fell out of public favor. It experienced a resurgence with the popularization of graphic design in the 1980s. Art Deco had a profound influence on many later artistic movements, such as Memphis and Pop art.

Surviving examples may still be seen in many different locations worldwide, in countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, Spain, Cuba, Indonesia, the Philippines, Romania, New Zealand and Brazil. Many classic examples still exist in the form of architecture in many major cities. The Empire State Building and The Chrysler Building, both in New York City, are two of the largest and best-known examples of the style. VIA

From Flame Tree Publishing.

Mo-bile TV - Mo-bile Phone - bile-Mo?

• All the basic phone features are in (MMS, SMS, call history, wap, organizer, voice mail server, settings phone book profiles and more.)
• Audio player - MP3 player
• Dual-sim, both active (open-line, can take all sim cards)
• Image Viewer
• Digital Camera
• Mobile TV (full screen option, reception dependent on your location or area)
• Video recording
• Video playback
• Sound recorder
• With bundled games
• Touch screen (stylus included)
• Built-in antenna
• FM Radio (auto search stations, auto save, earphone is bundle)
• Melody composer
• Organizer functions (calendar, to-do, alarm, world clock, calculator, currency convertion, stopwatch, ebook reader, etc.)
• File browser
• Bluetooth
• Not lightweight phone both physically and in terms of features
• Bundled earphone, USB connecting cable, adaptor charger, 2 battery packs, 128mb microSD memory card, in box packing)

Rainmaker

• Dark colored rainmaker
• Creates the raining sound & induces rain (well, that’s the wish)
• Not guaranteed to give you rain, but guaranteed a unique home display
• Dimensions: App 2 feet long & 3 inches diameter
• Bamboo rainmaker, rainstick
• With sawali bamboo mat, rattan wraps & wood handle
• (Sawali - saw´ali’ n. interwoven splits of bamboo for walling)
• It mimics the sound of rain and at the same time, calls for one. Bring your umbrella!
• It doesn’t guarantee 100% every time you turn this upside down, what it guarantees is, this is a beautiful native accent. =)
• Contains pebbles & tiny shells from the ocean that used to shine in the sun & covering the shore
• Some musicians use this too, pretty good musical instrument
• Get this at LEOQUE.com
  

Second-hand Furniture For Sale

Just helping a friend sell some used furniture… Grab these second furniture, 1 lot, for only P8000.00. The lot includes a used living room sofa set, 2 pcs of cd dvd rack furniture and a dresser with stool. Only P8000 for the 4 goodies. Complete details here. However, if you prefer sparkling new furniture and accessory, by all means, check LEOQUE products. Thanks! Oh, speaking of furniture... I helped designing these... Buy one and make me rich!

Contressa Console Cabinet

Nesting center table (ok, I'll admit, inspired from a condominium interior design sighting)

Night table, side table with orig glass slot, cmon click here, check it out

A modified display rack I saw on the net, Round Display

Orig by us, old & new combo, side bench

Wood Plank Shelf, Easy Wall-Mount

4 Layers, Wenge Ladder Shelves

“BECCI” Console Table with 2-Door Cabinet

Again, the PBA Website

In 2 years (or 3), I’ve blogged 2-3 posts hitting the lackluster PBA website. 2010 is fast approaching and the PBA website is still stuck in mediocrity. When I heard that the PBA is planning on building they own turf, I remember posting, before they start thinking of building a coliseum, they better fix their website first, pronto.

And so, I have an open letter to Commissioner Barrios…

Dear Sir, I am Benhur, a wanna be sports blogger. Of course this is not my real name. But close to that. My real name is Benjamin and if ever we’ll ink the contract I’ll give my complete surname. The contract you ask? Well, read on please sir.

I know fixing your website AKA your cyber space presence is not high on your TO-DO list. I understand that. Coz now, finding real space for your game 5 is even a larger problem. You are right, you don’t even have a place to play on. But please sir, consider my offer regarding the PBA websucks, err, website.

I’m thinking, hell, oh sorry sir, pardon me, heck, if we are paid next to nothing talking about the PBA and some guys can make kickass websites, blogs and forums via hardwork, passion for the PBA, for free, and using open source applications, why can’t a billion peso association like yours put up a decent website.

You know… decent…

• One with real-time stats and updated photo galleries
• One that has up-to-the-minute sched, game recaps & results.
• One where 404 (not found) pages don’t show up.
• One without Google ADS! Crissakes, one click and your visitors are headed elsewhere. One click = 1 peso? The PBA needs one peso? (Leave that Google ADs to indie sites like, ahm, HOOPH)
• One that can supplement PBA fantasy addicts.
• One that has separate team pages.
• One with some articles on it not written by robotic press people.
• One that has interactivity, celebrity chats, comments sections and/or forum.
• One with video archives, highlight reels and old vintage games.
• One that complements Solar Sports coverage.
• One that has integrated online store that sells PBA merchandise.
• One site that effin twitters!

And not one where Asi Taulava scored 2223 points.

The PBA website is out of touch and we need to act now.

Here’s my offer Sir Barrios:

The deal.., Hire me today. Pay me P75,000 a month. That’s only P7500 per team per month. I’ll quit my day job (yes I have sort of a day job) and we (and by we, means me & my web developer friends) will fix your site. Just give me access to stats, photos, videos & archives and we will rock it. And promise, no GOOGLE ADS.

Please call on or before 3 pm today. If you don’t call me it means you are not interested and you really don’t want to connect to your very active online fans.

Michael Jackson T-Shirt

Above photos are the Jacko black version. Bold white text print JACKO with one of his signature dance move silhouette. With memorial tribute of 1958 - 2009 at the bottom. Available for him and for her, P250 only.

White tee with simple Michael Jackson face outlined in black print. With signature like “JACKO”print. Commemorative lifespan of 58-09 is also shown. For men & women, P250 only.

Barangay Ginebra T-Shirt

Featuring the non-official Barangay Ginebra seal. Texts include "Barangay Ginebra" and "Basketbol Sa Pilipinas," replacing Republika ng Pilipinas in most Brgy seal or logo. The seal also has 19 - 84, the year, that slowly, the brgy was formed. The Ginebra legends are the acting officials. Jaworski is of course the Captain and other Ginebra superstars as Kagawad. Loyzaga, Locsin, Aquino, David and current payers Caguioa, freshly minted MVP Helterbrand and one time MVP Menk are highlighted in black text prints. Go to s-cred.com to order.

Mangkono Tree

Mangkono, is also called iron wood (or iron tree) because of its hardness. This the baddest of the bad wood in the Philippines. The hardest wood of all species in the Philippines, better than most hardwood we know like Narra, Kamagong, Bagtikan, Yakal, Molave, Guijo etc. You have to be harder than hard to be called Philippine Iron Wood.

Dig this, to cut an ordinary tree with 70cm diameter using an axes, it will take 3-hours to put the tree down BUT to cut a MANGKONO tree with same diameter (70cm), it will take 2 to 4 days to get it done.

Mostly found in the islands of Dinagat, Homonhon Samar and Batbangon over there at Leyte. It can also be found in Palawan. Xanthostemon verdugonianus is the scientific name and is kinda endangered. I checked eBay and they still sell this though, in planks or wood tiles.

Get the detailed description of the Mangkono wood here.

Sources: Wictionary, ARCBC

Jacko Tees

JACKO Memorial T-Shirts Now Printed (RESERVE NOW)

Limited stocks, just special prints to give tribute to the King of Pop. It doesn’t matter if BLACK or WHITE…. we got both…

THE WHITE ONE

THE BLACK ONE

Beat It!