Patron: Spirit wrapped in Mystique

I consider myself an amateur bartender, in fact, I have invented an exquisite cocktail my friends actually love, I call it "Ice cream Margarita." As with all margaritas, tequila is its most important ingredient, its major ingredient in fact. And of all tequilas, Patron is without a doubt a cut above the rest. It occupies its own lofty position in the world of tequila aficionados. It is my favorite tequila needless to say.

About six years ago, my future brother-in-law gave as a gift his future bride, my sister, a triplet of Patrons packaged in beautiful plastic container, only one remains - a Patron Rebosado. A picture of which appears below:

It's the one remaining of the original three and many an ice cream margaritas were enjoyed by my family and friends with it, of course, masterfully made by me. To this day, I can't seem to gather the guts to open this last  bottle. I have kept is in our cupboards for this long. I don't know, maybe I have become emotionally attached to this piece of work - weird to admit it but nevertheless true.


An article written by Troy Patterson in Slate caught my attention recently, well, the gist of the article is basically that Patron is loved not because of its contents but rather because of its bottle. I could not agree more, indeed, when I first got to taste a Patron, there was admittedly no special flavor I could uniquely discern. Not much unique I should say than all the other tequilas, and there are a multitude of them. But there is one thing that caught my attention, the bottle. The Patron bottle is elegant, suave, dare I say, sexy. It is a classy, hand-made creation - even a masterpiece unto itself.

I distinctly remember when I first introduced the drink to a buddy of mine four years ago, I was talking more about how the bottle is hand-made, blown individually and the like, than its gastronomic characteristics. And I remember, yeah, I fell in love with Patron primarily not because of its flavor, but more so because of its bottle, that mystically wrapped, hand-crafted, really an artwork of a bottle.

The Patron might have gained prominence as the premier tequila because of its cameo appearances in Hollywood movies, but over and above that, it has gained its status as the must-have tequila because of its uniquely designed, smartly marketed bottle. It just conjures classical mysticism of the philosophical type.

Acer Aspire R7: A Gymnast of a Computer

On May 17, 2013, Acer will be releasing its USD 1,000 Acer Aspire R7 computer cum tablet with the contortionist-like "Ezel hinge" which allows the monitor to be moved forward, backward, reversed, folded or "hang in the air." As this video will show, it is indeed a very flexible piece of technological creativity, literally!

Personally, I think this computer will offer mobility as that of an Apple iPad at the same time offer the "brick and mortar" functionality of a desktop or laptop computer. In a sense, it's a combination of the best that a tablet computer can offer at the same time offering the user the multitasking capacity of a desktop or laptop computer.

The ability of the Acer Aspire R7 to capture the market in the recently shrinking PC market will depend on its ability to offer speed and reliability. As of date, Windows 8, which run on the R7, has received good reviews. However, if there is any platform that will test the rudiments of Windows 8, I think the R7 will provide just that. Hopefully, the R7 will offer more than just the aesthetically pleasing and the admittedly unique design of its hardware, indeed, I am banking that Windows 8 will really come of age with the R7.

If the marriage of Windows 8 and the hardware design of the R7 proves to be more than superficial, then I think we will witness the rebirth of the PC in the form of the "desktab," the fusion of the desktop and tablet computers in much the same way that phones and tablets gave birth to the "phablet."

Let's see how consumers will treat this baby!

Is the Philippines the third most dangerous place for journalists to work?

Media outlets in the Philippines like GMA 7 and Inquirer have reported last May 3, 2013 that the Philippines remains the third most dangerous place in the world for journalists to work. Although it cannot be denied that the Philippines is not a heaven for journalists, certainly it does not rank among the worst, let alone the third worst! In the Inquirer report herein cited, no mention as to the organization, agency, or body that actually conducted such research, only that the Philippines "remains the third worst place for journalists." I am somehow perplexed why such reports are circulating, or that the Inquirer did not even cite its source.

In a recently published article that appeared at FP, the following countries were listed as the worst places for journalists to work:

1. North Korea
2. Turkmenistan
3. Uzbekistan
4. Eritrea
5. Belarus
6. Cuba
7. Iran
8. Equatorial Guinea
9. Syria
10. Bahrain

It is clear that the Philippines does not even make it to the top five. Even accounting for the total number of juornalists killed for 2012, the Philippines would still not make it to the top ten over-all. There are still worst places in the world, indeed much, much worse places for journalists to work that pales in comparison to the oer-all fate of journalists in the country.

Clearly such haphazard reporting with generic standards, coupled with ambiguous sources and sketchy bases is a hallmark of poor journalistic research. Maybe in that category the Philippines could round up within the top ten, even then, I doubt it could even make the cut!

I decry the Philippine Daily Inquirer for its baseless and unscientific reporting of such crucial data. For a reputable news organization, this is a disappointment to say the least.

Free Wi-fi Router

I have been longing to buy a Wi-fi router since last year, and being still unemployed, this was no easy task. When I paid our telephone bill yesterday, I asked the local telephone company how much would a Wi-fi router cost, the cashier said a one time payment of PHP 679 would suffice. Again, being a "freelaner" (my euphemism for unemployed), the amount would be a strain on our household budget so I told myself it has to wait.

When I arrived home I checked out CDR-King's inventory of Wi-fi routers in their website trying to scout for the most reasonably priced model. By far, the cheapest is a WR-NET-018-CC (CW-8096) Wireless-N AP Router with 2dBi Fixed Antenna (150 Mbps) priced at PHP 580. I tried to google the model to find more about the product and came across a Youtube video, of a kid no less, on how to set-up your own home based Wi-fi router without buying a Wi-fi router. Skeptical at first, understandably so since the internet is full of scheming, money inducing, scam proliferating gimmicks, I tried to check the video. Finding it to be somehow legit, being that the video was made, again, by a kid, I tried to follow the instructions and loo and behold, I now have a free Wi-fi router in my house, without the need for an expensive Wi-fi router.

The video is not only short, free from "buy me stuff" or "answer my survey first stuff" but is actually useful. Best of all, I learned that any Windows 7 based laptop or desktop computer with a Wi-fi capability will do the trick. What a day! and what a relief this was even possible. Thanks TechSupportTV1 for a job will done. You really, really made my day.

Summer Heat in the Philippines

Yesterday Tacloban was blistering under the heat of the summer sun. I was personally exhausted and tired, not to mention sleepy, just from the searing heat of the day. Even by 5 PM, the residual afternoon heat was clearly still lingering. I had to make a pineapple milk smoothie just to relieve the oven-like temperature, and for a moment, it did give some relief, much like an oasis would in an endless desert horizon.

I was supposed to do my afternoon walk to the local mall by 6 in the evening but my body and mind wanted me to sleep for the night already. And so with regret and frustration, I am writing this blog before I finally head to bed for the night.

MOVIE REVIEW: Iron Man 3 (2013)

The third and potentially the final installment of the Iron Man series struck me as an action packed, adrenaline pumping, violently quixotic piece of cinematic work, maybe even the masterpiece of the series - at least from the perspective of one who likes good action, explosives and mind-boggling explosive sequences. In that, the Iron Man 3 fulfilled the most banal desire of the XY species for not so totally mindless ripping of flesh, concrete and steel. I think that caps an otherwise good story of a billionaire who seeks to find himself in the chaos of the world and in so doing, finds love, finds connection, finds his raison d'etre. The first two Iron Man movies built the character of Tony Sparks (Rober Downey Jr.) presenting his struggles, personal and professional, to his eventual marriage with his longtime secretary and now Stark Industries chief Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).

In Iron Man 3, Tony Sparks deals with the terrorist machinations of the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) who is used by Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) as the face of his terroristic orgy, in revenge for Spark's humiliation of him in 1999 by making him wait hours in the rooftop of a hotel during a New Year's eve celebration. Killian invents Extremis to cure his disabilities, indeed Extremis enabled him to gain superhuman strength, developed remarkable healing capacities and breathe fire. Killian's desire to rise above his own physical insecurities has led him to overcompensate through Extremis.

I actually slept the first half of the movie, it seemed the sedate pace of the first 30 minutes lulled me into a sort of stupor which was exacerbated by the cool ambiance of the movie theater, I was awakened though by the spectacularly well-made finale on the docks.

Overall, Iron Man 3 was entertainment at its best, it served its purpose of wowing the audience with its unique take on Spark's more advanced Iron Man suits, the incredibly humane and empathic artificial intelligence Jarvis and the surprise metamorphosis of Potts as a super girlfriend when she was able to successfully integrate the Extremis virus into her body, giving her superhuman powers most women would envy.

Great summer movie is the word for Iron Man 3!

A Tribute to the Filipino Worker

This day a special day
For it is a day of commemoration
For the global worker
That mans the engines of the global machine
That moves the levers of progress
That drives the future of today.

This day is a special day
For it is a day for the Filipino worker
A global workforce
A pillar of strength of the nation
A source of hope of the family
An inspiration to those served.

This day is a special day
It is a celebration of all of us
For work is the extension
Of our hopes and dreams
Of our will and power
It is a celebration
Of humanity itself.

Be a progressive labor day!