Recap: True Blood Season 4

Vampires. Werewolves. Shapeshifters.

Bon Temps’ resident creatures we have come to love as HBO’s True Blood unfolded in our eyes.

Fairies. Were-panthers. Witches. Ghosts and its latest attraction, Skinwalkers.

Truly, True Blood has not failed us in making the show different among vampire series. A lot has happened since we were introduced to human Sookie Stackhouse and vampire Bill Compton in season one. Now, halfway to the end of season four, more revelations were opened. New characters are presented to the audience. New plots are hurled at us.

Let’s have a quick trip down memory lane.

Sookie has gone to fairyland and came back after a year. She thought, she was only gone for hours.

Bill was now King of Louisiana.

Eric was cursed by a witch to forgetting who he is and has drained Sookie’s fairy godmother.

Pam now rots after being cursed as well.

Jason was raped by Crystal and some were-panthers and now believes he was turned into a were-panther.

Tommy became a skinwalker and was able to disguise himself as Sam and f*ked his girlfriend.

New loveteams:

Surprisingly, Tara has switch preference and has a new girlfriend.

Sam has a new girl also but Tommy got to her first.

Jason, after having drunk from Jessica’s blood has, well, weird dreams about her… and Hoyt.

Sookie is now inlove with Eric.

This season, witches are at the mainstream. A witch, with such a heavy baggage, has been resurrected and is determined to have her revenge. To unleash a spell that will kill all vampires by letting them out in the sun. Towards the end of episode 7, we saw Jason running towards the mansion trying to save Jessica who has gotten out of her silver chain craving for the sun.

Will Jessica burn? I hope not. I really like her and hope she will continue to be in the series.

Will the fight between Tommy and Sam ever stop? Blood is still thicker than water.

Will Sookie return to Bill now that she has Eric? Hmm.

I just wish, the season will not end.

The Difference Between Typhoon, Hurricane and Cyclone

Typhoon season is here again. Just this July, Philippines have been ravaged by few destructvie typhoons leaving affected regions with destroyed houses and livelihood and even killed loved ones.

But so much for the seriousness of this issue.

I was asked once why storm in the Philippines are called typhoon and not hurricane like in the US. Although not so sure, I answered the question only to find out later that I was indeed correct.

Typhoons, hurricanes and cyclones are all one and the same, STORMS. But the only difference with the three of them is there location of origin.

If the storm develops in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Ocean, it will be called hurricane. So all storms that will bring damage to the US are called hurricanes like Hurricane Katrina. If the storm will originate in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, it will be called typhoon. And this might bring damage mostly to islands in Guam, Japan and the Philippines like Typhoon Ondoy. Winds from typhoons are more stronger and dangerous than hurricanes.

Cyclones are storms that develops in the Southwestern Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Who's The Better Superman?

Warner Bros. has just released the first ever picture of the newest Superman flick, "Man of Steel". Now helm by Zack Snyder, the director of such films as 300, Watchmen and Sucker Punch, this film will not be in any way connected to Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. I really wonder what's wrong with Singer's version when infact I really, really like it.

Shown in the picture donning the red cape this time is Henry Cavill. It looks like he has just came out from being locked up in a massive vault.  The suit has still the dark shades just like the suit used by Brandon Routh in Superman Returns.

With this retelling "again" of the superhero's epic adventures, let us take a look back on the previous actors who have played Superman.

George Reeve has played Superman on the original TV series "The Adventures of Superman" from 1952 to 1958.

The most beloved among Superman actors, Christopher Reeve has played Superman in four major motion pictures.

From 1993 to 1997, we've seen Dean Cain with the beautiful Teri Hatcher on ABC's Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Smallville's Tom Welling as the young Clark Kent in the longest running TV series based on a comic character. 

Brandon Routh in the not-so-loved version of Brian Singer's Superman Returns

"Man of Steel" is still due for release in 2013, with an all power house casts that include big names like Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, Julia Ormond and Michael Shannon as the evil General Zod. Yet to be confirmed to join the cast is Russell Crowe who is being rumored to play Jor-El.

Mantianak: Sugbongcogon's Pride

Welcome to my hometown!

Sugbongcogon is one of the few towns of Misamis Oriental in Northen Mindanao. The town is quite infamous for its urban legends. We have heard of stories from our parents such as "engkantos in balete trees", possessed cousins of evil spirits and among others. But as they say, these are just urban legends.

The town got its name long, long time ago from the first settlers who came from Sugbu (Cebu) and the grass that abound the place, cogon. Hence, the name.

One of the few things to look forward to when going to my hometown is a visit to the now trying-so-hard-to-be-famous Mantianak Botanical and Zoological Park. It was established in the year 2006 by the Municipal Government. It was pretty ambitious at first and no one would think it will go this far. After 6 years, the park has proven its worth. Until now, it is the only existing botanical and zoological park in Northern Mindanao decent enough to visit. It is beautiful, clean and well-maintained.

Currently, the features of the park includes the must-see tigers (all four of them), a crocodile (the favorite part of Buboy), different type of birds and other exotic animals. The park also offers room accommodation, a canteen, a children's playhouse and other park amenities. I once heard that they are developing a zipline area as well.

Mantianak was once a forested place. Nobody would dare go to this place before as it was believe to be enchanted. The place got its name from a crying mother looking for her lost child.

Actually, Sugbongcogon is so full of places with weird names. Aside from Mantianak, we can also take a deep plunge in Mimbuaya Falls. A 15-minute ride via tricycle will take you to this beautiful and enchanting falls named after a white "buaya" or crocodile. Dive at your own risk. Just kidding. When we were younger, we used to swim here and nothing ever happened to us.

If you go the opposite direction, you can find the white sand beach called Alibuag. The Municipal Government is really trying to develop this place. But i say, nothing is more beautiful than its natural look. Alibuag is the colloquial term for spring. You can feel the coldness of the spring once you swim near it because it is actually located in the middle of the sea. But there are tiny springs in the shoreline.

You can reach Sugbongcogon by bus or hired van going to Balingoan or Butuan from Cagayan de Oro City.

Amy Winehouse (1983-2011)

May you rest in peace.

ZestAir now flies to CDO

On July 22, 2011, I was able to experience flying the earliest flight going to CDO via ZestAir A320. The flight was at 3:30 in the morning arriving at around 5:00 in the morning at Lumbia Airport.

The plane was a bit comfy as compared to A320s from other airline companies. They have bigger seats and comfortable cushions. They have only 29 rows, so they were able to give bigger leg space in every rows. But you can really tell that the plane was already old.

This entry of ZestAir to CDO will again benefit the flyers. The more airlines going there, the lesser the fare price.

Here is the flight schedule for Manila to CDO flights:

You may click on the image for better viewing.

Blackberry Playbook priced, arrives on August 6

Finally, bbmers rejoice as the Blackberry Playbook will be available in the Philippine local market on August 6, 2011.



All three WiFi models will be available, with storage capacity of 16GB, 32GB and 64 GB. The BlackBerry PlayBook features an ultra-portable design and delivers industry leading performance, uncompromised web browsing with support for Adobe® Flash®, true multitasking, HD multimedia, advanced security features, out-of-the-box enterprise support and a robust development environment.

The suggested retail prices are sa follows:

16GB - Php 23,000++
32GB - Php 28,000++
64GB - Php 33,000++

Can i have one?