RAIGE-O-LOGY

Here are some thoughts on the latest Walking Dead episode: - I was right! The person who killed Tyrese’s girlfriend Karen and Dave was someone you would’ve least expected. And that someone was Carol. They’re somehow making a few connections to the flow of the story in the comic book where Carol was a psycho bitch.  - A huge black guy that has a body worthy of an NFL player and can beat the crap out of dozens of walkers is no match against a white cop in a fist fight. - Here’s something you don’t see every day: 3 African-Americans and a redneck in a muscle car going out to look for antibiotics in a veterinary school. - Driving Safety Tip: Never play around with the radio while driving or you might end up running over some zombies.  - Driving Safety Tip # 2: Never run over several zombies at once or your car might get stuck on all those carcasses. - Zombie Safety Tip: If you’re a zombie hanging out with your other zombie friends and you come across an...

I got myself a Mjolnir USB flash drive from Jollibee just in time for the opening of Thor: The Dark World . The Cheesy Bacon Champ was my main purpose for going to Jollibee. Apparently, I only needed to add 95 pesos on top of the CBC meal price. I was like a kid opening the free toy of a kiddie meal when I got the flash drive. It was shaped like Thor’s hammer (Mjolnir), and the top comes off to reveal the USB connector. It was so fucking cool. It only had a 1GB capacity, but who the hell cares? Its Thor’s fucking hammer! When I got home, I immediately tried it out. This is the first thing that popped up when I plugged the flash drive in: I thought to myself, maybe because it’s new that’s why the computer needs to format it so it would be compatible. Yeah, just keep telling yourself that, said another voice inside my head. I waited for the formatting to finish, but instead of a “format successful” message this came up: Oh shit. I checked the properties a...

What is the value of a person's vote? Recently, my aunt returned home from the market carrying a small shoulder bag adorned with the image of a candidate for barangay chairman (note: she is not a registered voter in the specific barangay where this candidate is running). Inside the bag, she had a few sample ballots, two cigarette lighters with stickers displaying the name of a barangay council candidate, and a small envelope. Inside the envelope were two one-hundred peso bills. This incident occurred just one day before the barangay elections. Let's break down the estimated costs: the bag and its print approximately cost 100 pesos, printing the sample ballots would be around 1 peso per piece (20 pieces in the bag), the lighters and stickers come to about 15 pesos each, and the small envelope itself is valued at 1 peso, and there were 200 pesos inside the envelope. In total, that amounts to 351 pesos per person. That's three hundred and fifty-one pesos taken from the candi...

I was able to finish coloring another pending line art today. Here's a step-by-step on how I made it.  1. I finished this line art beforehand. The photo reference for the girl is already gone so it wasn't included here. But if it were here, you will definitely notice some adjustments I made particularly in the chest region. 2. Next, I put in the flat colors for the skin. I don't remember the name or code for the exact tone because I just rely on my sense of whether or not I like it. 3. Flat colors for the hair. The nails are already included in the layer for the hair so they match. I chose red for the hair color because Yeng Constantino was singing a song about Josephine on the radio while I was working. 4. Then, I colored the straps of the swimsuit, leaving some space for a pattern design. 5. Here I put the pattern design. 6. Now, I color the facial details. 7. After all the flat colors have been laid, I start to put the shading f...

Yesterday, a South Korean boy band performed a concert at SM Mall of Asia Arena, and the news showed numerous teenage girls going crazy over them, armed with posters and other merchandise. I find it puzzling. Did we suddenly experience a shortage of talented musicians in the industry? Why do they worship a boy band whose songs we can't even understand? I don't have anything against these guys; I personally enjoy the music of many foreign artists. However, I prefer to appreciate them based on understanding the meaning behind their songs. Their appearance is not the primary factor for me (although I must admit, I do enjoy looking at Katy Perry more than listening to her). Ultimately, it is the music and the lyrics that hold the most significance. I must acknowledge that there are some Asian groups with beautiful songs, even if I don't comprehend the language. Their music is pleasant to listen to. Nevertheless, I wouldn't spend thousands of pesos to attend their concer...

Anyone want some barbecue? Thanks to the wonderful world of torrent, I was able to watch this new episode of The Walking Dead (which, by the way, has made me an avid fan again) a few days ahead of the local airing on Fox. I’m a sucker for mysteries. The way they make the audience wonder who fed rats to the zombies in the fence or who torched Tyrese’s girlfriend (I didn’t get her name) makes me want to watch the next episode right away. Everyone’s a suspect right now. And more often than not, the culprit is the one you least expect. Now I don’t want to dwell too much on the details to avoid spoiling it for those who haven’t watched yet, but they’re introducing a new predicament for this season. The last season has got Rick’s group having difficulty with another group (Woodbury people). In this season, their problem is a disease. What will happen if you put several people in a confined space and one of them gets a contagious and fatal disease, knowing that anyone who dies tu...

The Walking Dead Season 4 I was not actually looking forward to the new season of The Walking Dead . The final episode of season three was a little disappointing for me. They made a prodigious build-up for a climax that wasn’t that great. But I believe that everything deserves a second chance so I decided to watch it anyway with very little expectations. I needed to see something in this premiere episode to get my attention again. And I can say that they did show me that something. The element of anticipation is there once again. I started to yearn for the next episode immediately after this one. I want to know why the nerd kid died. I want to know why Carl acted weird when he discovered Carol teaching the other kids how to defend themselves when he himself was already able to kill a man before. I want to know want happens now that a zombie is loose inside the prison with them. I want to know where the fuck the Governor is. I want to know if they can keep this up and have a...

Nang isilang ka sa mundong ito Ako’y kuwarenta’y kwatro At ang iyong lola dapat ang syota ko I assume everyone has heard about Filipino Music Icon Freddie Aguilar’s relationship with a 16-year old girl. The 60-year old musician said he was not aware of the girl’s age when he started to court her. When he realized that she was way under age, it was too late because he’s already head over heels in love with her. Ka Freddie has mixed responses for this issue. Some people now look up to him (even more than before) because of achieving the ultimate dream of older guys: getting a hot young girl. Others are criticizing him and calling him a DOM. On the other hand, the girl is somehow the victim. There’s no positive view of her position in this society. She’s either a dumb little girl that was seduced by an old guy or a manipulative bitch that uses her youth to get what she wants, e.g. money. I don’t give a fuck about it. They both chose to go this way and who are we ...

Amidst the prevailing corruption issues in our government, we have also been grappling with a series of natural disasters. The recent typhoons, fueled by the Monsoon winds, have wreaked havoc on several provinces. Just as we were trying to recover from the aftermath, a devastating magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the Visayas region a few days ago, causing significant casualties, particularly in cities like Cebu and Bohol. Centuries-old churches now lie in ruins, and even the renowned Chocolate Hills have suffered a collapse. It almost feels as if some higher power is expressing anger toward us in this destructive manner. I recall the earthquake in Haiti and the tsunami in Japan, and witnessing those events through news coverage moved me deeply. However, seeing similar devastation unfold in my own homeland hits even harder. It raises questions about why such calamities occur. Are they punishments for our collective sins or some form of karmic retribution? If that's the case, we...

It’s hard for to me create digital art when I have a computer problem, especially if that problem is not having a computer. So I took advantage of the sembreak and borrowed my sister’s laptop. I have a lot of pending art work that needs to be colored on Photoshop, which I just learned how to use a few months ago. I had to learn how to use it because I suck in traditional media. Like writing, drawing is also a form of therapy for me. It helps keep me relaxed and temporarily forget all the problems around me. Kinda like alcohol but without the hangover. Here’s a new drawing that I’ve just finished. It’s inspired by the music video of Katy Perry for her song Roar. This is the photo reference I used for Katy Perry. I got it from the music video by playing it on full screen and pressing the ever-reliable Prnt Scr button. From that reference, I made this line art. Note that I changed the outfit here because let’s face it, Katy Perry was meant to always be seen with a c...

The board members of SSS must have some twisted version of a score card. Each of them gets more than a million pesos worth of bonuses for their so-called “good performance”. Maybe the basis of their good performance is the number of disgruntled SSS members under them. The more pissed off the members are, the higher the bonus these assholes get. My father passed away almost 10 years ago, and my mom is getting the pension from his SSS. Last year, she was informed that my dad had some contributions that were not included in the pension. Mom had to go to the nearest SSS office to submit some documents so they would recalculate the pension amount and give a retro pay for the earlier months. That was a year ago. Until now there’s still no word about the adjustment. I guess the greedy SOBs in the SSS board were too busy counting their bonuses to give a fuck.

-           The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) made big commotion in Zamboanga City. Thousands of our kababayan s were affected by the stand-off. The MNLF group demands that Mindanao should be separated from the Philippines. Basically, they want Mindanao to be a new country. Well, if they can do these things to their fellow Filipinos now that they are still under the Philippine government, I can do when they’re on their own. Good thing that the chaos is over now. However, the citizens of Zamboanga City are still on the process of recovering. -           The PDAF issue gave birth to a shit-load of other bigger issues. Thanks to the privilege speech of one of the alleged benefactors of the Napoles NGOs another issue came to light. The issue is about the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) that was allegedly given to some lawmakers as a bribe so they will vote for the impeachment of Ex-...

Caution: This post may contain spoilers that could potentially dampen your experience of watching the movie Gravity, featuring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. I want to ensure that you make an informed decision before investing your time and money. Don't let go One of the perks of my job is getting to experience things that I wouldn't normally do. A perfect example is watching the movie Gravity at the Director's Club cinema in SM Mall of Asia. Usually, I would wait a few weeks to download a DVD-quality bootleg from the internet. Before anyone starts judging, let's remember that downloading pirated movies pales in comparison to the massive corruption happening with taxpayers' money. Fortunately, I didn't have to pay for my ticket, but let me tell you, the experience was well worth it, especially considering the luxurious amenities of the cinema. With limited seating, I'd estimate around 50 seats, it was never overcrowded. And the best part? Th...

The finished poster. Something I made just for fun. It has always been my sort-of vow to design posters for relatives whenever an occasion comes up. I've been doing this ever since I learned how to use Photoshop. Before that I just used to make Styrofoam cut-outs.  This is the latest one that I made. It's for my nephew Liam. The theme for his first birthday is the highly addicting game, Candy Crush Saga. Now, most people will find it weird that a game that is kinda inclined to the feminine side would be used as a theme for a boy's birthday party. Well, it 's actually the parents' choice. This kid can complain about it when he grows up. To each his own. I have never played this game before and have no plans on doing so. If it's addictive as they say it is, I'd probably won't be able to do anything else productive in my life. I don't want to repeat that Angry Bird fiasco I had going on a couple of years back.

When everyone else has their pictures taken normally, count on Mr. Joey de Leon to break the ice. Photo credit:  http://www.kristn.com/public/usercontent/gallery/weekenddoitbetter-article-image-jpg1378742208.jpg

Our country is once again grappling with a massive corruption issue, perhaps the most significant one to date. The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), commonly known as pork barrel, which is meant to be allocated to the Legislative branch for discretionary projects, has somehow been diverted to fraudulent non-government organizations (NGOs) and, ultimately, into the pockets of a select few individuals. The Commission on Audit has uncovered over 80 fake NGOs that carried out fictitious projects using the PDAF. Some of these NGOs are linked to Janet Lim-Napoles, who has earned the title of "Pork Barrel Queen." Allegedly, certain lawmakers funneled their allocated pork barrel funds to Napoles' bogus NGOs and received significant kickbacks in return. Many individuals are now calling for the abolition of the pork barrel system, arguing that the funds should be directly allocated to government agencies in need. On the other hand, some lawmakers, unsurprisingly, opp...

A couple of weeks ago, my mobile number, which I had been using for four years, got blocked due to multiple invalid PIN attempts. I was trying to activate it on my new phone but completely forgot the PIN. To reactivate the SIM card, I needed a PUK (PIN Unblocking Key) code. Unfortunately, the paper with the PUK got lost in my messiness over the years. Seeking assistance, I had to visit one of the network's business offices. They provided me with a new SIM card, transferred all the data from the old one, and took possession of the blocked card. Thankfully, I could keep the same number. It was quite refreshing to have a four-year-old mobile number connected to a brand-new SIM card. I have been intermittently blogging for over five years now and have been writing since the time I first grasped a pencil. Writing serves as a therapeutic outlet for me. I'm not much of a talker, and writing has always been my preferred medium for expressing my opinions. Like any voice that has somet...