Nintendo Wii

I was up until late this morning playing the Nintendo Wii (for the gadgetically challenged, it is pronounced as the pronoun we). And for the record, just so my parents and friends need not worry about my finances, I did not purchase one -- at least not yet. Lol.

Special thanks goes to my good friend Mark's cousin, Jason (whose surnames, for reasons of privacy I intentionationally withhold) for letting me play with his new toy. I have never been athletically exceptional which pretty much reflected on how I played the console's wireless controller (nicknamed Wiimote) with games (using Wii Sports) such as golf, baseball, boxing and tennis although my real-life agility and skill with bowling (please excuse my in-born sense of humility) was pretty much obvious. Lol. The mini-games in WarioWare made us all laugh like silly kids.

The Wii is backward compatible with all official Nintendo GameCube games and can also connect to the internet via its in-built Wi-Fi connection which can be used to acces the Forecast and News Channels. But don't just sit there and take my word, check out this device's rave reviews from the real techie gurus. Or better yet, if you can fork out that five hundred aussie big ones, buy the Wii (paging Nintendo for my commissions, ehem) and see it for yourself.

Blueant X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset

The Blueant X5 Bluetooth Headset I ordered from Ebay just the other day arrived today! Yay! I was so excited I cut myself trying to pry open the box. Ouch! Not to worry. It was just a tiny cut. Now I know why they often say to a child in pain, "Think happy thoughts." I was so deliriously happy (this is hardly an uncommon experience for me every single time I get something new!) I absolutely didn't mind the slight twinge on my ring finger.

Anyhoo, not wanting to waste time, I plugged both headset and streamer (the round thingy that transmits the songs wirelessly to the headset) and not even waiting for the prescribed two hours of charging time, I gave the device a go about an hour after. Talk about low emotional quotient! If I took the marshmallow test when I was a tot or now, I would have easily flunked it with flying colours, hands down and with much flare too. Lol.

Leaving all the above asides behind us, I am glad to announce that the device works! And after I showed it to some of my colleagues here at the Centre, who were generous in their praises of the device, I was even more convinced that I made the right decision to buy it. Despite some poor reviews which largely harped on the X5's poor audio quality, my ears happily thought otherwise. I am neither an audiophile nor am I hard to please in general. So there, one more reason to be happy about. Yay. Happy times these are. Yeah, just happy times...

Philippine Law Journal Article

This entry I promise to be short and sweet. I just got word the other day that a paper I submitted to the Philippine Law Journal was accepted for publication. That's it. Happy times, happy times.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Following my movie rampage, I was back in the cinemas again the other night. This time to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I was unimpressed.

Although I am a big lover of books, I have been particularly impressed with the previous movie adaptations of the Harry Potter Series and the LOTR. Perhaps owing to the fact that it was I think three years ago that I read the book, I was stuck at my seat wondering why the story unfolding before the screen seemed a bit flat. Or it could just be my generally melancholic disposition the past days...

Oh well. On the good side of things, and not wanting to end this entry on a morose tone, I am exhilarated to announce that the third chapter of my thesis has finally taken some decent form due to a recent burst of inspiration which i attribute mainly to my gloomy spirits. What luck! Not. My self-imposed deadline for this chapter (end of the month: July 2007) is nearing menacingly over the horizon and in the mood or not, I am hell-bent in making it.

Transformers

I watched the movie the other night. I was not jumping up and down with joy but it did bring back happy childhood memories.

I felt the subtle signs of memory loss that could in all probability come only with age, when I had to scrape through my cerebral cortex to name the autobots and decepticons. Of course, I didn't have to try that hard to draw out Optimus Prime and Bumblebee -- who I somehow quite associated with myself when I was little. I wonder why they made him a Chevrolet Camaro in the movie, I kinda liked the the Volks Beetle more in the tv series .

The movie was visually very appealing but somehow the adult in me found the simple storyline a bit flat that I was literally dozing at times during the film. Oh well. Or maybe it is also another sign of old age stepping in.

new cordless phone

This one is hardly news-worthy. But what the heck, it's my blog and I've nothing much to say to day. Got a new cordless phone today at Officeworks (the works!) -- the stunningly modern idect x1 digital cordless phone.

Haven't really tried it yet. I'm supposed to charge the batteries for 15 hours but I was so excited, I plugged it in right away and gave it a go after I got home. And, voila, it works!

Aside from the sleek, state-of-the-art design, it has a range of 300 metres and has a talk-time of eight hours and features the iSound crystal clear technology (whatever that means), etc., etc... This entry is not a free promotion of the phone, by the way. Did I mention the last time I was supposed to go back to my thesis writing? Hmmmm.... yup, I think I did. I'm starting to think that buying techie stuff is my psychotic way of feeding into my sick mind just so I can prod myself to work. Or maybe not. Heck, I don't know. I think I need to watch Dr. Phil more...

Hillsong Conference 2007

I was in Sydney for a week attending the Hillsong Conference 2007. It was the most intense spiritual experience in my life. The five-day conference filled the 21,000-seater Acer Arena with delegates from 69 countries. I was with some of my friends from ICC Church, the Foursquare church I attend here in Australia.

I was greatly inspired and moved by the powerful sermons of Bishop T.D. Jakes and Pastor Joseph Prince. I listened in awe of Louie Giglio's indescribable presentation on the majesty of God. All week, I sung loudly and shouted praises to God I almost lost my voice. On the stage, Chris Tomlin, the Hillsong United, Reuben Morgan, Israel Houton and the Watoto Children's Choir led everyone to their feet -- dancing, clapping, singing and shouting their praises.

It was such an awesome experience! Anyone who thought Christianity is boring should go to Hillsong. I went home last night tired and sleepy from the week-long activity but feeling much blessed, very happy, spiritually recharged and on fire with the love of/for God. Waking up after lunch today from my long slumber, I realized quite sadly that I am back to my old familiar surroundings. And as I am writing this, I am once again sitted in front of my computer in my cubicle at the office just finished updating the ANCORS website, which I manage. My Hillsong experience taught me that our lives on earth are short and we are made to worship God. Life is tough and temptations lurk at every corner but our God is powerful and bigger than anything we can ever imagine. His majesty is beyond any words I could ever weave. And with that, I end this entry with a loud shout of halleluyah!