2008 November archive at ako ‘to si dennis!

Archive for November, 2008

Nov

It’s a Song, It’s a Paean, It’s… Superman!

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Categories: Music

Superman has been a popular topic for pop, rock, R&B, blues and hip-hop artists. Here’s my list of top ten Superman songs:

10. You Don’t Mess Around With Jim – Jim Croce (1971) – Sample the lyrics “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind.”

9. Kryptonite – 3 Doors Down (2000) – The Mississippi rockers focus on Superman’s fatal flaws.

8. Superman Lover – Johnny Watson (1976) – The R&B-funk-rap set often fantasises about super powers in the boudoir.

7. So Long, Superman – Firewater (1998) – A pop-punk ditty about a world with no need for the last son of Krypton.

6. Superman (It’s Not Easy) – Five For Fighting (2001) – The emo crowd just can’t get the notion of invincibility, can it?

5. Superman – The Game (2008) – The rapper’s new track is a hilarious send-up of hip-hop breeast beating: It’s a bird, it’s a plane / Naw… it’s the… Game.”

4. O Superman (For Massenet) – Laurie Anderson (1981) – Anderson turned to the caped one for her hypnotic meditation on modern life.

3. Sunshine Superman – Donovan (1966) – The Scottish Bob Dylan paid his respects to Superman at a time when substance experiments made anyone feel like he could fly.

2. Suerman – R.E.M. (1986) – Originally by The Clique, Mike Mills (taking lead vocal duties from Michael Stipe) sounds a bit braggart, a bit of a stalker and a lot like Clark Kent.

1. (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman – The Kinks (1979) – Ray Davies takes the Everyman’s viewpoint in this disco-rocker sung by a scawny wimp yearning to be more like the Man of Steel.

Nov

The Dubai Aquarium

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Categories: Goin' Dubai, Lakwatchas and Randomness

The Dubai Mall opened yesterday and one of its many attractions is the Dubai Aquarium and Discovery Center. It is very much like the Manila Ocean Park in the Philippines but it has more bigger and never-before seen fishes. Imagine fitting the Manila Ocean Park inside the SM Mall of Asia, you get the Dubai Aquarium.

I watched in awe as the fishes swam inside the enormous fish tank shaped like a tunnel. I felt like a child that just saw an aquarium for the first time. The exhilirating feeling left me just staring in front of it and appreciate its natural beauty. Together with my cousins, we followed and watched as small fishes gather around a big fish, stingrays floating like kites gliding through the air and sharks swimming as if looking for its next prey.

The aquarium also features feeding times for the fishes where a visitor can actually feed the fishes firsthand, even feed the sharks! Next time, I will slash Dhs 65 from my wallet to enter the aquarium and complete my experience. See more pics here.

Nov

A Black in the White House

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Categories: Randomness

Barack Obama, the Junior US Senator from Illinois, has made his place in history when he was elected and became the first African-American President of the Unied States in the recently concluded US Presidential Elections yesteday, November 4, 2008

He defeated Republican candidate John McCain, leading by 349 Electoral votes to 162. It was a margin that by any reckoning was a landslide.

In his victory speech, Obama warned of challenging times ahead, mixing a promise of progress and reconciliation. This triggered chants of “Yes, We Can!” – the signature slogan of his campaign – from his audience.

Nov

The Genius in iTunes

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Categories: Music and Technology

It has always been a pain for me to create playlists of my favorite songs. When making compilation CDs, it is so hard to find the right songs that will sound great when played simultaneously. Most of the time you leave out some good songs, especially when you have an almost 80 GB music collection like, ehem, me!

Now, iTunes have come up with a “genius” solution to this problem. Literally, Genius is one of the newest features of the latest release of iTunes. It creates the perfect playlist from your song selection. All you have to do is select a song and click the Genius button. From that, iTunes generates a playlist from your library that sounds great with the song that you chose. And it works really great. Here is a sample playlist that I generated using Genius. In this case, I selected “Ang Huling El Bimbo” by The Eraserheads:

Ang Huling El Bimbo – The Eraserheads
Harana -Parokya ni Edgar
Nakapagtataka – Sponge Cola
Kailan – MYMP
Before I Let You Go – Freestyle
So Slow – Freestyle
Kahit Kailan – South Border
Pare Ko – The Eraserheads
Especially For You – MYMP
Buloy – Parokya ni Edgar
Through The Fire – Nina
Hinahanap Hanap Kita – Rivermaya
Much Has Been Said – Bamboo
Fruitcake – The Eraserheads
Princesa – 6 Cycle Mind
Batang Bata Ka Pa – Sugar Free
Tell Me Where It Hurts – MYMP
Tuwing Umuulan At Kapiling Ka – The Eraserheads
High – The Speaks
Ang Aking Awitin – Side A
Oo – Up Dharma Down
The Day You said Good Night – Hale
Kisapmata – Rivermaya
Overdrive – The Eraserheads
Sayang – Parokya Ni Edgar

If you will notice, I chose an OPM song to test Genius and look at the result. The playlist incuded all OPM songs. And when I played all the songs simultaneously, surprisingly it really sounded great together. For me, it is really just fitting to call the feature Genius. Kudos to Steve and all the folks at Cupertino for another job well done.

Nov