Pinoy Thriller Video

I'm always disappointed with how lamely the Phlippines is portrayed and don't get me started on the seemingly non-existent tourism marketing. It's either a an informercial guilting you into sending money for some poor street urchin on late-night TV or it's some failed coup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o

I saw this video last week and I was wondering if it was for real. My friend Roger in the Philippines confirmed it with this news article. I'm planning on visiting the Philippines next year. Maybe I'll stop by to view their 'exercises'. I'm sure some enterprising Filipino's will make it a tourist attraction.

p.s. I recently saw one other positive PR piece on my birthland on History Channels "Human Weapon". It featured the Philippine's martial-arts: Escrima and Kalis/Arnis.

Bao means Bun

One of my favorite foods is 'char siu bao' or pork buns or as Filipino's call it 'sho-pow'. My friend Sherri's returned from Asia where she's been working for 3.5 years as a creative director. Unfortunately I never got a chance to visit her out there or take advantage of the fact that some of the best airsoft stores are in Hong Kong.

It's the height of summer, so I'll be spending a lot of my weekends playing airsoft. My friend Graham and I got to play in a big airsoft game this Saturday up near West Point, NY.

http://www.matrixbb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1000

Breaking News:

Cardboard story revealed as made-for-ratings stunt

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2007-07/19/content_5439000.htm

TV report on cardboard buns 'fabricated'
By Zhu Zhe
Updated: 2007-07-19 07:06
A TV report earlier this month that purportedly showed a Beijing seller using softened chopped cardboard as the main ingredient in steamed buns has been dismissed as false news.

The Beijing municipal government said last night that investigations had found an employee surnamed Zi with Beijing Television fabricated and directed the sensational program for higher audience ratings. Zi is being held under criminal custody.

Harry Hairspray

Hairspray is definitely one Summer film I'm not going to see. And this summer G and I are trying to catch more films.

The Transformer's movie was good for the first 2/3 but kind of got bogged down with the weight of too many superfluous characters (did they really need the sexy hacker and the hip-hop hacker stereotypes?) and John Torturro couldn't decide if he was creepy or funny but ended up just being useless.

Me, Giselle and our neighbor Carolyn went to see the new Harry Potter film at the midnight show last night and I have to say that it's the most disappointing Potter film of the whole series and I wasn't a huge fan of the first two films. It was like everybody was phoning in their performances. The fans dressed up in Hogwarts outfits in line were more entertaining...though I'm biased because of the whole sexy schoolgirl thang.


Musical movies based on Broadway musicals based on non-musical movies:

Hairspray
The Producers
Little Shop of Horrors
Reefer Madness the Musical

And there are musical movies based on Broadway musicals based on non-musical books previously made into non-musical films at least once:

Phantom of the Opera
Oliver!
Godspell
Jesus Christ Superstar

And probably more.

Of all the above, how many are any good? Maybe two? Watching the movie of Godspell (and I kind of like the music) is Guantanamo-level torture.

--Greg N.

Pooh Addiction

This Sunday I'll be riding 30 mils to raise money for Diabetes research. You're welcome to join me or donate to my ride:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=4355&px=2207847

I'm in Dallas attending a "Process/Systems" management seminar then heading back to NY tomorrow for July 4th. We're going to watch the fireworks from our roof, though we don't quite know what we'll see of them. Life is full of uncertainties.