Marco Online

Boogie Pimps

Check this funny music video. Skydiving babies landing on a hot chick. For just that moment I wish I were one of the babies so I can land wherever like.

Somebody to Love

The group is Boogie Pimps, I think they are from Germany.

She

Yesterday, I slept around 6 in the morning knowing I had to get up in a few hours to meet a friend. I was on the phone with someone thousands of miles away. I was on the phone for close to 3 hours. Even longer when we’ve got enough time. She’s a special someone.

She’s the type who’d wear cotton undies and a stretch camisole at home when we’re alone. Hair tied back and walks barefoot. She’s the type who’d want to cuddle up every time we’d watch a movie in bed. She’s the type who’d turn doe-eyed if she wanted something. And when she’d cry, her cheeks and lips turn warm pink. She’s a very special someone; sexy for being who she is.

Pity, Going Out, Did I Just Drop a $20 Bill? St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

I got too busy working on my skills in Battlefield 1942. I think I got too addicted. Some BF1942 fanatics developed a modification called Desert Combat. It's cool. I actually felt some pity for a German sniper in game called "God_zilla" or something. I think I sniped him 4 times in a row not by choice but by coincidence. 80% of the time I play an Allied sniper. I go by the name " _ _ _ _ _." Can't disclose, I'm not the best in every game, but 90% of the time I make it to the top 10 usually out of 50 to 64 players. My death rate is so low too. The last game in Berlin, I took out 7 Germans by surprise, I rushed their flag and even got it. It was funny there was a player named "Gay Teen." He always said "Good Luck Straight Guys," I guess they liked him; he was in the top 10 on one of the games I played.

Well, I haven't been going out for 7 months now. Not even to a movie theatre. It's not just work, but I wonder why do I have to? I'm technically engaged but some people here consider me single. My fiancée's 8570 miles (13792 km) away from me, and boy, do I feel like a neutered cat. And even with that distance, I remain loyal (do I get a special price Sweetheart?). The hard part is the temptation from just anything. Last night I dreamt of two women. Someone aside from the two said that one of them likes me. You know what I did? I said, "cool." Then I left, but as soon as I stepped out, one of the girls said "Can we go out tomorrow night?" So, I'm thinking, am I going to dream of her tonight? Heh. I think I read too much of Urecco during my Toilet Yoga. Another challenging temptation is - if a pretty chick is touchy. I'm a guy; it's a known weakness! Fortunately, it will be a blast when my fiancée and I get together. Hah!

Two weeks ago in church, during the offering, I pulled out $3 or $4 (cheap huh, hey I'm saving for our wedding. Heh) from my wallet, placed it in the container being passed around. I glanced at it one more time and see a few dollar bills and a $20 bill in there! Was that mine? Oh no! I had a couple of twenties in my wallet - of course I can't get it back - they'd think I was stealing. Did I feel bad? No I felt guilty because instead of offering it, I wanted to get it back. Oh well, sorry.

I've been donating monthly (direct deduction) to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital since July 2003? Check it out. They specialize in research and treatment of cancer (specifically in children). They help the less privileged or those who cannot afford treatment for their children. I just feel that this is one of the better charities. Kids are innocent - well not all, but aside from that - it is very saddening to see especially children suffer or die. Cai and I have very close friends and family who have passed away because of cancer. Will there be a cure in the next few years?

Muhammad Ali in Adidas & Quiznos Critters

Have you seen the new Adidas TV spot? It made my day. It doesn’t resemble any Nike-style commercial – where extreme human skills are portrayed to prove a point, or odd ideas on how ‘cool’ running shoes are supposed to be. It’s not trying to be cool; it’s just really cool.

There are three spots I know and have seen so far. The concept is all about “Impossible is Nothing.” Here is the creative copy (from Adidas):

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary.

Impossible is nothing.”

You have to see the Adidas commercials.

At first I was like “Man, how in the world have they filmed Ali with those guys?” I then realize that I am in the year 2004. Special effects, but very tastefully done.

Ali vs. Ali is now planted in my subconscious mind. It shows Muhammad Ali vs. her daughter, Laila Ali – who happens to be a Middle Weight Champion. Of course it’s M. Ali in the 70’s composited with Laila. The way it is narrated (by Laila?), the background music, and the copy, shows how powerful this creative ad is. I really loved it.

The other ad is titled “Long Run.” Same composited effect, with M. Ali, Laila, soccer star Beckham, runner Maurice Green, basketball player Tracy McGrady, the others I don’t recognize. All getting ready for an early jog – in Ali’s 1974 Zaire early morning jog? In the end you see Ali doing some trademark butterfly fist boxing in front of the camera…really cool.

The third ad is titled “Stacy.” Now, I spent two-thirds of my life in Asia, so my American pop culture is a tad rusty. Or, maybe Stacy is from the XYZ generation and I don’t know who he is. Or, he is a fictional character. Anyway he used to play some extreme sports. From skateboarding to BMXing. The last scene shows him on a ramp (extreme sports), but this time on a wheel chair.

I found out that the agencies responsible for these spots were 180 in Amsterdam and TBWA Chiat Day in Los Angeles.

Also, another notable and funny spot is the new Quiznos (We Love the Subs & Take a Buck Off) ad. Man those two critters make me crack up. My parents found it foolish, but hey, I may be the target market. They looked like squashed squirrel subs (sandwich) with funny looking faces and ultra dorky singing voices. It’s so funny it makes me want to eat Quiznos. Oh well, check out the two ads at Quiznos.com, a link somewhere in the middle of the page can be found.

I’m surprised to find out that Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia (about an hour and a half or two from my place!) were responsible for the spots.

Later

I Love Movies. MUSA is Spectacular! What's Wrong With Asian Movies?

I love watching movies. Aside from collecting hard-to-find electronica-lounge CDs, I have a growing collection of DVD movies. I am an avid audiophile as well.

Warning, partial spoiler:

I just watched "MUSA the Warrior", a Korean-Chinese movie about a Korean diplomatic envoy/convoy. They were sent to Nanjing, China to settle accusations of the murder of a Ming envoy sent to Korea. The Korean envoy has been accused and exiled. Now I can't tell the whole story. That would be a real spoiler. But, on their way to exile, they rescue a kidnapped Ming princess (played by Zhang Zi Yi) from a Yuan Dynasty Clan - at that time the Yuans and Mings were at war. They decided that if they returned the Ming princess, the Mings would clear the murder accusations and grant favors to the Korea. Now in History, this Korean envoy dissapeard.

Anyway, I just have to say that even if this movie came out in 2001, it still is spectacular for 2004 standards. I read that this is probably the most expensive Korean movie ever made. It's now part of my collection. It's very, very, brutal. I have not seen anything like it. Braveheart may be a movie close to the likes of it. But this is amazingly different. Aside from the story and characters, the cinematography is great. The fight scenes are possible but oh so brutal! No Chinese-style kung fu. My only gripe is the editing.

There is always something depressing about great Asian movies, particularly, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (my first Korean movie) movies. Here comes the spoiler!!! They always tend to end with a sad ending. Like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero, Princess Blade, even the animes Ninja Scroll and Devil Hunter D:Bloodlust, etc. I guess happy endings are only for Hollywood movies.

I recommend that you watch MUSA - in DVD of course. It's something greatly different. I read Hero is coming out in 2004. I was able to watch it in Manila off of a bootleg DVD copy from a street vendor. That is a tastefully done movie. Has a good number of Chinese kung fu fighting. Close to CTHD.

Anyway, here's my current setup when I watch movies or listen to music:

Amplifier: Denon AVR2802 (I wish I could afford THX!)
DVD Player: Denon 900, Sony DAVS300
Bang & Olufsen Turntable
Speakers: Boston Acoustics VR965, Boston 910, Boston 80IIx
Sony Trinitron 32

Jay & MJ

Too many Js. I'm MJ too. I got a chance to catch up with some college buddies of mine Jay & MJ. Jay lives in the Philippines and MJ here in the East Coast area. It's lame since I've been to downtown Philadelphia and NY a lot and never got a chance to meet up with MJ. Anyway, finding out about more of my college classmates thru Friendster. It is ssssssoooooooooooooooooooooo sssssssssllllllloooooooooooowwwwww...........and a bug laden site, it's still on beta, bbuuuuutttt.....

Caribou and Starbucks, Iced Coffee and Butter Croissant

Sunday I had a nervous breakdown. But yesterday and today, all was fine. We're not done yet but the chief honorably agreed that quality should be first than getting the beta out. Deadline is set for tomorrow. I actually dreamt of the project last night. That was how worried I was. So far, it's looking good. I'm happy.

Anyway, I was too busy today to get some real lunch. I only had a banana this morning. I ate lunch around 4pm. Caribou Coffee at the first level is just like Starbucks, but I like the ambience better. Reminds me of a partial ski lodge up in Aspen. Starbucks is too commercialized for me. But, I miss Starbucks’ Iced Americano, I always get 2 shots of espresso on it (my previous workplace had Starbucks just outside). Caribou has regular iced coffee only. Not bad, but the barista put too much hot coffee over the ice. It was warm instead of iced. By the way, friends I know who are avid coffee enthusiasts tell me that Starbucks is too strong; not much of a character. They really don't rate it as the best coffee they've tasted. I think it's just popular like McDonald's. I also got some butter croissant. It's bad for my health but I need something. It tasted so good I sounded like a pig eating it. Foods that taste really good are guaranteed bad for you.

I left work around 8:30pm because I had to take a business call around 9pm. Got home around 8:45pm and had a quick dinner-wasn't bad at all. Chinese shrimp fried rice and some beef veggie thing, but after the call, I lost my appetite. Hey, nothing call related, I just wasn’t hungry anymore. Still, I managed to steal some Boston crème donut from the junk food box. Gotta start eating healthy again tomorrow. Well, shower time for me, it’s 12:15am.

Nervous Breakdown

Ugh. I worked today, Sunday. I got home around 12am. We are planning to launch a beta project tomorrow, media kit for advertisers. So far I got 30 plus pages being worked on. I'm more than halfway. But, bad luck got me earlier. I found out that the pages being worked on have major problems. Also, the first cover story JT (one of the editors) gave me does not work with our page layout. Inconsistent word count per article. I started to panic deep inside. I never felt so helpless, but earlier, man, I wanted to give up. It's the first time I've felt some real nervous breakdown. I couldn’t focus. The good thing is, I still kept cool and I managed to smile about it. I had to rework almost everything. I'm back to phase one. I'm not sure if I can make the deadline tomorrow. I've rarely-once in a blue moon-missed a deadline, but this is the most important project of the company. I can't blame myself. We planned on doing only 12 pages initially. Now it's past 30 - and that's with the same projected production schedule. During dinner break, the troop wanted to watch Super Bowl because of the commercials-hey FYI, each spot costs about $2M to $4M. Me too, but not right now! Instead of watching, we still drove to a Vietnamese restaurant. I could have skipped dinner but the chief wanted us all to go. I need a genie! But you know what, SC really offered some help for tomorrow. I begged TS to skip the coding and pass it on to MB. He'll help me for 2 hours or so. Help!!!