eli mattson

mbc 4 is running last year's america's got talent and it's now on the top 20 where one performance caught my attention. it's eli mattson, a singing artist from wisconsin. he's one huge proof that in these days of countless talent shows, a spark of brilliance can still be lurking in some undiscovered corner.

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he may not have won the grand prize but i do hope he's waxing records soon. he'll surely be among my ipod faves. here's eli's evolution in america's got talent....

his audition piece


his top 40 performance


his number in the top 20


top 10 song

another triple celebration

last night po nag-hold ng party ang tatlong october celebrants. with the yummy food prepared by tserman raoul, naki-celebrate po ang buong adiks family together with junc and norman. here's a bunch of pics from last night's celebration...

papogi muna ang mga nagse-setup ng mediacom... mccoy, ricky at humabol si ega na may hawak pang extension cord

and when you talk of pa-pogi, pahuhuli ba naman tong dalawang to...

erik and romel aka boy labanos!

pero wala kayong sinabi kay marco baby na feeling american idol...

magtigil kayooo! wala yata sa mood mag-pose si tito bong... hihihihi

dahil kaya sa nagwawala si birthday boy junc sa mediacom-oke?


while matt is back on his lenses...


ano to? finalists ng mr jubail pogi 2009???

well, si jonas ang magdya-judge ng winner nyan! hehehe

bahala kayo.... basta gutom na ako homesick pa...

acha! acha! (buti na lang nag-stay ang jalil! hahahaha)

hoy ayusin nyo pagkakabit nyan...

pantay na ba? hindi yata.... nagagalit si mccoy

huh? eh ako nga nawiwindang sa inyo....

hmmm... ito ba ang top 3 ng mga finalists kanina?

ewan... basta ang pansit luto na

and so is the relyenong crab katabi ng veggie salad ni weng

and the very colorful steamed fish

and the cake na gawa ni james

posing muna ang tatlong celebrants

si junc lang ang inabot ko sa candle-blowing...

the other two sobrang bilis mag-blow

ano bahhhh gutom na akooohhhh!!!!

o sige let's pray na

(ssshhhh... wag kang maingay kumukulo na tyan ko)

yeeyyyy! eat na si sofie!

sarap ng food!

junc and norman posing with their gifts from james

syempre meron din si tserman

but the biggest gift of the night ay para sa kaibigang ariel...

once again,

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

RAOUL

JUNC

& NORMAN

meagan's 7th bday

proud tito po ako ng isang magandang little girl na nag-celebrate ng kanyang 7th birthday last sunday (25th). here's a few pics from what was forwarded by her lovely ate myles...

the beautiful meagan

kasama si papa nya

and si mama syempre

with her marami at masarap na handa

and the pink cake

at mga bisita

at mga kaibigan nyang nag-enjoy sa games

at syempre sa food... kainan na!

at ang kanyang mga bagong fwendss....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEG!!!

sabi me... #2

On life:
Life is the art of drawing without an eraser. Pag ginawa mo na, pag sinabi mo na, walang erase-erase. Windows lang ang may undo.

On life and love:
Sabi ng isang kanta, what is life without love. Ang sagot ko, di life pa rin. Ang masakit, life without purpose. Yon ang walang kwentang buhay.

On money and politicians:
Money is the root of all evil daw. So, kung ganon ba, ang gobyerno ang puno kasi ang daming bunga na mga corrupt na politicians?

ds' 2nd

Two years na po ang DS today and with that, my huge thanks for the visits – be it habitual or simply passing by once in a while. It sure is nice to see that site visit counter moves, slowly as it may be compared to other blogs, but I’m thankful nonetheless.

I must say there were times that regular DS visitors are frustrated dahil madalang ang posting ko. That’s when laziness gets the best of me. Besides, mahirap mag-isip ng bagong materials to post specially if nothing is happening in my usually boring life.

Also, there were times that I was mulling over shutting down this site. Nakakasawa minsan. Nakakapagod. Two years must be like eternity specially in this ever-changing cyber world. 299 posts is not a joke and can only come from someone who’s got so much time in his hand (hmmm I’m exactly that!).

But whenever I think of what DS has done to me, para akong naka-energy drink and start thinking of news postings again. Coz you see, DS has given me quite a few things that I seem to have taken for granted.

Like friends. With DS, I was able to find new friends. Mga kaibigan na kahit hindi kilala personally but seem to be like long-time friends. Coz they decided that I can be a friend material based on what I wrote. And to me, that is more pure and sincere compared to someone getting in touch with me simply because I looked cool on a pic I posted online.

DS also allowed me to think beyond usual. Maraming sitwasyon that I could have reacted (and wrote) on a more usual manner. But I’m always challenging myself to be more introspective. Magandang exercise para sa isang utak na kung hindi gagamitin ay parang isang lump lamang ng gelatin sa ref.

It also helped me a lot to know more of myself. Coz whenever I’m posting something, I always reflect on what I wrote. And with that reflection comes so many things. May mga bagay pala na hindi ko nabibigyan ng pansin and yet I have a strong sentiment towards it. Or may mga paniniwala pala akong mas malalim pa than what I thought I believed in.

In short, you’ll still see DS crossing the 2-yr threshold. I ‘d go on writing and posting. For friends, and most importantly, for myself. Tingnan ko lang kung sino ang unang mag-sawa. Ako o ang blogger.com!

happy bday junc!

another october celebrant - bienvenido jesus castro jr

or simply junc to the adiks

but most specially

daddy george to linda, berlin and bitoy

happy bday junc!

no. 16: bakuna

dapat karugtong ito nong no. 10 ko entitled i've never... kasi sa buong buhay ko hindi pa ako nabakunahan. i don't have those scars in the upper arm like most people i know. ewan ko pero for whatever reason, my parents seem not to have bothered to bring me to the hospital for a vaccination noong maliit pa ako.

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and now that malaki na ako at alam ko na kung ano ang hitsura ng injection, ayaw ko na. kasi takot ako don. kaya siguro madalas akong may sipon. coz the immunity system is low dahil nga wala akong antibodies. eto nga at sinisipon na naman ako at may kati-kati pa ng lalamunan kung kelan pa naman kailangan sa trabaho na mag-ngangawa ako maghapon.

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though this one is coming from my allergic rhinitis. na-irritate na naman dahil kahapon i changed my perfume. eh sabi pa naman ng doktor sa akin, for that allergy to go away, kailangan daw that i stop smoking, stop using perfumes and avoid dust. yong dust walang problema pero the other two, well, pasaway lang talaga ako. kaya ayan sisinghot-singhot na naman.

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nagkataon naman that our clinic is now offering the seasonal flu shot like what they are doing on a yearly basis. pero ilang taon na nilang ginagawa yon and hindi naman ako nagpapa-shot. takot nga ako sa bakuna eh. tsaka nilalagnat pa raw di ba. ayoko kaya non!

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sa isang banda, maganda na rin coz i know that my natural system is working. at least natural resistensya ang ginagamit ko. but with the onslaught of the swine flu, baka pag-isipan ko na rin.

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i-kwento ko agad dito kung sinumpong ako ng tapang at na-overcome ko na ang takot ko sa injection!

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happy bday tserman

a dear friend

a loving son

a spiritual leader

a good husband

a cheerful colleague

a loyal employee

a helping soul

a gma-7 fan

a gadget techie

an FB newbie

a DS luminary

a chat addict

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAOUL!!!

adiks sa mazby

lunch-out kahapon ang mga adik courtesy of ricky. kumpleto ang grupo na nag-pose pa sa harap ng resto. here's a few pics courtesy of matt...

(back row) raoul, irwin, vayren, norman, james and ricky

(front) ega, ariel, me, marco, bong, junc and mark

si matt ang nasa camera

get rich

forbes looked into the common attributes of the uber-rich and found 5 interesting facts. here's what they found, check out if you're cut to be a billionaire too...

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A recipe for Riches by Duncan Green

Want to become a tech titan or hedge fund tycoon? Up your chances by dropping out of college or going to Harvard and working at Goldman Sachs. Are billionaires born or made? What are the common attributes among the uber-wealthy? Are there any true secrets of the self-made?

We get these questions a lot, and decided it was time to go beyond the broad answers of smarts, ambition and luck by sorting through our database of wealthy individuals in search of bona fide trends. We analyzed everything from entrepreneurs' parents' professions to where they went to school, their track records in the early stages of their careers and other experiences that may have set them on the path to extreme wealth.

Our admittedly unscientific study of the self-made members of the Forbes 400 yielded some interesting results.

First, a significant percentage of them had parents with a high aptitude for math. The ability to crunch numbers is crucial to becoming a billionaire, and mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of Forbes 400 members (for whom we could find the information) were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.

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Consistent with the rest of the population, more American billionaires and near-billionaires were born in the fall than in any other season. However, relatively few of them were born in December, historically the month with the eighth-highest birth rate.

Of the 274 self-made tycoons on the Forbes 400, 14% either never started or never completed college. The number of precocious college dropouts is highest among those who forged careers as technology entrepreneurs: Bill Gates of Microsoft (MSFT), Steve Jobs of Apple (AAPL), Michael Dell of Dell (DELL), Larry Ellison of Oracle (ORCL) and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook.

Forbes 400 members who derive their fortunes from finance make up one of the most highly educated sub-groups: half of them have graduate degrees. Roughly 70% of those with M.B.A.s obtained their master's degrees from one of three Ivy League schools: Harvard, Columbia or the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.

Goldman Sachs (GS) has attracted a large share of hungry minds that went on to garner 10-figure fortunes. At least 11 current and recent billionaire financiers worked at Goldman or one of it subsidiaries early in their careers, including Edward Lampert, David Tepper, Daniel Och and Leon Cooperman.

Several Forbes 400 members suffered bitter professional setbacks early in their careers that heightened their fear of failure. Pharmaceutical tycoon R.J. Kirk's first venture was a flop--an experience he regrets but appreciates. "Failure early on is a necessary condition for success, though not a sufficient one," he told Forbes in 2007.

According to a statement read by Phil Falcone during a congressional hearing in November 2008, his botched buyout of a company in Newark, N.J., in the early 1990s taught him "several valuable lessons that have had a profound impact upon my success as a hedge fund manager."

Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, and FedEx (FDX) founder Frederick Smith.

Parents Had Math-Related Careers
The ability to crunch numbers is typically a key to becoming a billionaire. Often, mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires for whom we could find that information were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.

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September Birthdays
Of the 380 self-made American tycoons who have appeared on the Forbes list of the World's Billionaires in the past three years, 42 were born in September--more than in any other month.

Tech Titans Who Dropped Out of College
Forget everything your guidance counselor told you: You don't have to go to college to be successful. Close to 15% of the self-made American moguls on the Forbes 400 never finished college. Many of the list's drop-outs made their fortunes in tech, including Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Michael Dell (Dell), Larry Ellison (Oracle) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook).

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Skull and Bones
Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman and FedEx founder Frederick Smith.

Goldman Sachs
A stint at investment bank Goldman Sachs is a prime credential for achieving greatness on Wall Street. Of the 61 tycoons on our list who derive their fortunes from finance, at least six cut their teeth in Goldman's investment banking, trading, or asset management divisions. The company's crown jewel: its "risk arbitrage" unit, which launched the careers of billionaires Edward Lampert and Daniel Och, as well as former billionaires Tom Steyer and Richard Perry

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/107927/a-recipe-for-riches.html?mod=career-leadership

the real spidey

here's the latest stunt of alain robert, the french spiderman. he climbed a 33-floor skyscraper (approx 152m) in paris as usual, with his bare hands (and feet).

actually it looked like a simple warm-up for this guy. maybe he's just practicing his skills for something more grand. afterall, he's already conquered a lot of tall buildings including the grand dame, the petronoas towers in kuala lumpur.

here's spiderman sans harness and camera tricks...

hotnothot 18

Hotnot: Typhoon Parma (local code: Pepeng) still wreaking havoc in the already heavily battered Philippines. As of the latest report, more than 160 died from landslides in the northern provinces of Benguet and Mountain Province. Let’s pray for our kabayans. And let’s pray for God’s mercy in this very worrying times.

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Hothot: Barrack Obama winning the 2009 nobel peace prize. Yup, the charismatic president who’s barely 9 months in his office was given one of the most prestigious awards for two reasons: his ‘reaching out’ to the muslim community and his attempts to curb nuclear proliferation. The announcement was met with a bit of controversy. Some sectors were not happy and expressed doubt coz according to them, Obama is yet to produce results in his various initiatives. I say these people just reiterate the fact that anywhere, sore losers abound.

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Hotnot: The Pope issuing a biting statement about the Philippine government. He says the Philippines needs upright leaders. Tantamount to saying that the current government is nothing but. A huge slap on the faces of the only Christian nation this side of the world. But a very timely wakeup call. We should make a banner for this come election time to remind everyone to choose the next President with much wisdom. http://www.abante-tonite.com/issue/oct0909/news_story5.htm

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Hothot: Windows 7, to be released Oct 22, said to be better than Vista. Where Vista is sluggish, Windows 7 is said to be offering a whole lot of features designed to make us, users, forget the frustrations and high blood pressure we got from Vista. One thing I’m looking forward to is its built-in touch-screen feature. Man, that would be so cool. Read more from the link below. http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/107925/a-windows-to-help-you-forget?mod=career-worklife_balance

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Hothot: The floating houses of Amsterdam. Being one of the cities continually battling it out with the rising water level, Amsterdam came up with a house that will survive any flood. And probably earthquakes too coz they’re not anchored to the ground. If climate change remained unchecked, I think this is what houses around the world will look like. Something like the ‘waterworld’ Kevin Costner tried to depict in his mega-flop 1995 movie.