TheBurt's Homepage

TheBurt's Homepage http://burt.multiply.com/ How in heck are ya doin! Check out my miscellaneous and disjointed ramblings and other stuff for you to have a chuckle over. Wed, 2 Jul 2008 10:22:45 -0000 Tue, 4 Sep 2007 11:34:33 -0000 TheBurt's Homepage http://images.burt.multiply.com/logo http://burt.multiply.com 100 100 Does It Have To Be Just One? (Following is the entry I made in my company's essay writing contest.  The contest was entitled "The Most Inspiring Woman In My Life", and was published in my company's intranet site on March 28, 2007.  I named the piece "Does It Have To Be Just One?") Does It Have To Be Just One? It shouldn't be too difficult, to write about the most inspiring woman in my life.  After all, there are now more women in the world than men, at least according to the most recent international surveys.  And since who we are is shaped, at least in part, by how people interact with us, and how we interact with people, then I should have an easy time picking up an anecdote or two to write about. But I have to ask the question: does it have to be just one? One woman that is the most inspiring? I can talk about my mom, and memories of my childhood, when our mother would buy us our favorite Taho as a Saturday afternoon treat.  I would come back to our house, sweaty from an afternoon of pl... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/16/Does_It_Have_To_Be_Just_One Tue, 4 Sep 2007 11:34:33 -0000 When Harry Met Sally - Revisited <A href="http://burt.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/Rtp4KQoKCpEAAAvu9os1"><IMG class=alignright src="http://images.burt.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/Rtp4KQoKCpEAAAvu9os1/when_harry_met_sally.jpg?et=4tRldfZ%2BbDgUXyXt902ryg" border=0></A>An old friend came home for a visit several weeks ago.  I didn’t even know she was back until she called.  What was amazing was that I didn’t have the same number at the time when she left for the States. So she actually made the effort to look me up. The thing was, we weren’t that close to begin with.  She was more Gina’s friend more than mine.  But, hey, she was still a friend, so I agreed to meet up with her at her temporary flat near Greenbelt 1 Makati while she was here.   And when I went up to the doorman and asked to be announced, I heard a voice saying she’ll be right down, I immediately knew it was her.  I sat at the comfortable couch in the front foyer thumbing through a worn and tattered copy of Sports Illustrated and waited… and waited… and waited…  Well this is one thing I didn’t miss about her.   But when she stepped out of the elevator, it was a totally different person.  I mean, it was still her, but, she cleaned up real good... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/15/When_Harry_Met_Sally_-_Revisited Sun, 2 Sep 2007 08:53:26 -0000 Going Home: Scariest Half-Second of My Life <IMG class=alignleft src="http://images.burt.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/RtLpqgoKCpEAABI@7v01/Balete.jpg?et=DlFeRx8003VWALXkXL5lVQ" border=0> A couple of weeks ago, I picked up my brother after work (he was hitching with me going home).  It was not that big a deal as his office was like five blocks from mine, and we both lived in QC.   We decided to have dinner at our favorite place in the Greenhills commercial area first so we could have a bite and catch up on each other before I dropped him off at his place.  Well, my brother lives in the Teacher’s Village area of the city, and the quickest route to his place from Greenhills was to drive down Ortigas Avenue, hang a right at N. Domingo and then turn left on… dumdumdummm!!!... Balete Drive!    Well, I need not go over the urban legend of the supposedly haunted stretch of Balete Drive and the inevitable wandering White Lady.  Everyone knows about it.  And if you didn’t, well, where have you been?   I didn’t believe the legend myself, having driven through the relatively-short street hundreds of times.  That is, until two weeks ag... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/14/Going_Home_Scariest_Half-Second_of_My_Life Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:12:47 -0000 Parting the Waters: Moses’ Car Doesn’t Have License Plates <A href="http://burt.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/RtLnQQoKCpEAAExKcwE1"><IMG class=alignleft src="http://images.burt.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/RtLnQQoKCpEAAExKcwE1/flood.JPG?et=rA8765Chx5Ks8f0BYbWPKw" border=0></A> Remember the Wednesday of two weeks ago?  An unremarkable rainy day actually.  The only notable thing about it was the continuous three-day rain before, and work being canceled for the afternoon. And the floodwaters, of course.   In a city far from being a stranger to flash floods, this was just another in a very long line.  Probably not even worthy of being remembered in the collective consciousness.  Well, this one rainy day was memorable for me.    In a way, since I got my present car, I sort of perversely looked forward to the rainy season, and, perhaps subconsciously, hoped for enough rain to cause the floodwaters to rise.  And that rainy Wednesday two weeks ago obliged me.   I currently own a little itty-bitty Suzuki Jimny.  Yes, it’s spelled without the middle “I,” don’t ask my why.  And as soon as I got it, I knew that there was only one name appropriate for it, so I called him “Cricket.”   It was my first car ... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/13 Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:03:17 -0000 My New Toy: Flying Helicopters Indoors <A href="http://burt.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/RbyLOAoKCkwAAAttgVI1"></A> <A href="http://burt.multiply.com/photos/hi-res/upload/RbyL0goKCkwAAA3aFeI1"></A><IMG class=alignleft src="http://images.burt.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/RbyMVwoKCkwAACJKJZo1/gyrotor2.JPG?et=r77wRDYomb%2BMCn627ni%2Cow" border=0>I got inundated with lots of stuff this Christmas, as I am sure many of you were, too.  But I seem to have noticed that, as one grows older the quality of Christmas gifts become less and less good... Perhaps "good" is not the right word to use.  What I am trying to say is that, the kinds of gifts one receives seem to become less fun over the years. I am still not being clear, I think.  Let's try this:  When you were a kid, the stuff you got were probably toys and stuff, things of very little utilitarian value, but extremely fun - like dolls for little girls and teddy bears and stuff for boys.  When you get to elementary school, the Christmas haul would probably include toy cars, games, maybe a Lego set (very highly-prized back in the day), and maybe a T-shirt or two.  In later years, it would probably be more clothes, books and things like that - distinctly more utilitarian.  And even later, more clothes, perhaps a new pair of shoes, a couple of ... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/12/My_New_Toy_Flying_Helicopters_Indoors Sun, 28 Jan 2007 11:45:11 -0000 Coffeehouse Revenge: I am not Swarley <IMG class=alignleft src="http://images.burt.multiply.com/image/1/photos/upload/300x300/Rae2EgoKCkwAABGPVOY1/Burt%27s%20Coffee.jpg?et=FDIx%2BF49fMPqx6M1rF%2CzOw" border=0>   You know when you go to a coffee place and you give your order to the person behind the counter, and you tell him (or her) your name?  The guy (or girl) would write your name on your cup, and you go back to your booth or table where your friends are, and wait for your name to be called.  And then they call out your name so you can pick up your drink, you rush over to the counter, all eager for your hot cafe latte, or perhaps a tall iced mocha capuchino. And then you start wondering... who the hell is Berle? I think this is how coffeehouse people get their revenge on snooty, demanding customers that take baristas for granted. You have more of that kind of people at coffeehouses, I guess.  So you can't really blame them.  I don't. Well, not much anyway:  On their feet all day, slaving over steaming coffee machines and noisy blenders, with customers yapping at them the whole time.  So if they wanna get back at these people by deliberately making... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/11/Coffeehouse_Revenge_I_am_not_Swarley Fri, 12 Jan 2007 16:29:34 -0000 Surfing the net - a contact sport First off, I apologize for not posting for the longest time. I could claim the usual excuses - blocked site, too busy, nothing to say, or just plain lazy. But I won't, as you have probably heard them all a bazillion times before. Suffice to say, I am posting again. Actually, the reason that I am posting at all is because I am in Ian's and Myna's place. Because Ian's a web consultant and works at home, he decided to outfit maybe half of the first floor of his place as a data center: on one side are his servers in environment-controlled cabinets, and on the other an air-conditioned room filled with at least ten workstations, one part of it set up like the bridge of the Enterprise (I forgot to say that he is a die-hard Trek fan). His place just oozes tech appeal, making you want to sit down to surf. Hence, here I am, surfing and posting a new article in my blogsite. Another reason why I am also here at Ian's is that today's the birthday of one of my friends, and she's ce... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/10/Surfing_the_net_-_a_contact_sport Thu, 30 Nov 2006 16:12:44 -0000 What's in a name, or Call Me Bon - Simon le Bon What's in a name?  Shakespeare said a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet.  Hah! I wonder what Old Bill would say if he grew up as a 2nd-generation Chinese-Filipino in the Philippines?  Trust me - this statement will be clearer in due course in this little blog. I am sure you guys remember that old and very hackneyed joke about the new English teacher: "Good morning, class...," the new english teacher says, introducing herself to her new students, "My name is Miss Pruki - remember the 'R!'" The class replies: "Good morning, Miss Pruki!" "That's good! Don't forget the 'R.'"  Then she randomly points to a little boy in the front row.  "You!" She exclaims.  "What's my name?"  The hapless little boy trembles in fear.  "Remember," Miss Pruki, then says sweetly, "don't forget the 'R.' So what's my name again?" The little boy squeaks out his answer:  "Miss Prek-prek?" Well, whether or not that's a true story, it sounds true.&nbsp... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/9/Whats_in_a_name_or_Call_Me_Bon_-_Simon_le_Bon Tue, 21 Mar 2006 11:07:50 -0000 Leaving On a Jetplane Early yesterday morning, I brought my brother to the airport. No biggie, really - just doin' my bro a favor.  Typical sibling stuff.  Of course, no fool I, I got my bro to drive as I tried to get forty winks (more like twenty winks, given how lacking in suspension my little 4x4 was). And, as is typical, as he was driving us to the airport, we got to talking about stuff.  Nothing of any seriousness - just a lot of family stuff, catching up on each other's goings on et cetera.  As he drove, Adel munched on a ham-and-egg sandwich that our dad whipped up special. (Dad's taken on some of mom's habits after she passed away, which of course I and my bro are subtly happy for.  And one of them is fixing us stuff to munch on while on the road, especially when someone's going on a long trip.  Maybe it's Mom's ghost guilt-tripping Dad... hehehe.)  So he ate the sandwich, keeping the sandwiches that Monica, his better half, made in reserve, for eating at the air... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/8/Leaving_On_a_Jetplane Fri, 17 Mar 2006 12:15:31 -0000 A Sunday Bike Ride, or, no, little girl, I am not Lance Armstrong I have been cycling off an on for a while now, in a vain effort to keep fit and loose weight.  And, like many a lazy, overweight so-and-so, I have always grabbed at any excuse not to do my weekly quota of exercise. Over the years, these excuses have been most inventive, indeed.  One of the most plausible ones that I ever came up with was that I did not have anyone to exercise with.  Indeed, it's true that exercising is a lot more fun if you had a friend with you instead of just doing it on your own.  It keeps you motivated, it takes out the monotony of the thing, and so forth. This argument seemed quite reasonable, actually. And I have been using it for a while now, milking it as much as I can.  The net effect is, of course, fewer bicycle outings. Which was the whole point, anyway... I would, of course, moan to my friends that it's so bad that none of them wanted to bike with me, which is, indeed true - most of them prefer badminton and going to the gym (whi... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/7/A_Sunday_Bike_Ride_or_no_little_girl_I_am_not_Lance_Armstrong Tue, 31 Jan 2006 10:52:54 -0000 Friends From the Box Friends are hard to come by, especially for an SOB like me.  But that’s the way life has been to me.  And in the rare times that I do unearth them, I think of these good and true friends like the little baubles that my mom kept in her prize jewelry box – little pieces of jewelry to be cherished and to show off, but not to be taken out of the box too often lest the luster fades.   There are those beautiful diamonds that have a hundred facets that refract the light in so many ways that they seem to be alive with their own kind of life.  I liken these to those kinds of friends whose brilliance and wit are such that you can’t help but admire them as they liven up your drab existence with the light of their own brilliant lives, refracted into a dozen rainbow hues by the prism of your own life.    And there are those other gems – like rubies or emeralds that, though have less brilliant fire, are nevertheless to be cherished just for their simple loveliness.... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/6/Friends_From_the_Box Fri, 27 Jan 2006 11:10:20 -0000 2005 Phil. Hot Air Balloon Festival Since the 2006 Balloon festival is gonna be happening soon, I thought it appropriate to post my pics from last year's http://burt.multiply.com/photos/album/3/2005_Phil._Hot_Air_Balloon_Festival Thu, 26 Jan 2006 05:54:57 -0000 Help! I lost the numbers on my celphone, or, Do I know you?     This is a common occurrence nowadays.  But it never occurred that it would happen to me.  Well, it did.  And I'm paying the price for my cockiness, and not backing up regularly.  Yep.  I lost all of my numbers in my phone's address book.  Seems I downloaded too many freeware programs, and one of them jammed my cel, and I had to do a hard reset... Bye-bye phonebook... So, I am asking all of my friends, relatives and acquaintances - if you can email me privately, or send me a message with your name cellphone and/or telephone numbers, I'd greatly appreciate it.  (If your no's an international no., please include country and area code numbers) Would really appreciate it. Thanks! http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/5/Help_I_lost_the_numbers_on_my_celphone_or_Do_I_know_you Mon, 9 Jan 2006 04:01:54 -0000 Last Minute Christmas Shopping, or Get Your Hands Off That - It's Mine! You know how it is - It's the last working day before Christmas, and you've already bought gifts for everyone you wanted to give gifts to, gone to a dozen or so Christmas parties, and you keep pushing back and pushing back the time when you have to buy gifts for your family, somehow thinking that you'll have time to do this. So. You end up with the inevitable - needing to buy about a dozen people Christmas gifts, with practically no time left to do it in. You find yourself grumbling, as you do at about this time every year, asking who invented this tradition of buying gifts, and what has this have to do with the birth of Christ anyway, for Christ's sake? (eh??) Dreading the crush of people in the malls that are in the same pickle you are, you think of a place where there would probably be less people, and to ask someone to help you pick out the stuff to buy. For me, I decided on Tiendesitas, the new tiangge on C5, which is in close proximity to Megamall and Eastwood. "Tiangge," as... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/4/Last_Minute_Christmas_Shopping_or_Get_Your_Hands_Off_That_-_Its_Mine Thu, 29 Dec 2005 08:10:56 -0000 Dumplings and Stuff Pics about my favorite Ma Mon Luk Siopao n http://burt.multiply.com/photos/album/2/Dumplings_and_Stuff Sun, 25 Dec 2005 16:24:31 -0000 Ma! Moon! Look! I have a confession - I enjoy Mami and Siopao.  Doesn't sound so wierd, right?  I mean, branches of Luk Yuen and Chow King abound in the metro.  So, what's so unusual about mami-and-siopao? Places like Luk Yuen or Chow King do not differ much from other fastfoods - people queing up in neat little lines behind the cash registers manned by starched and uniformed attendants, waiters with neat little caps moving around bringing steaming plates and bowls to their hungry patrons: Very organized and neat, with a set menu and formula for their procedures, their spiels with the customers, and the food. The food, though probably tasty in a homogenized kind of way, feels and tastes like it came from a production line or conveyor belt, with the broth measured to the ounce, and the pieces of chicken counted to the last morsel. Very neat, and very precise.  Also very boring. Well, I like the ones from Ma Mon Luk.  That's right!  Smelly, dirty ole Ma Mon Luk! ... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/3/Ma_Moon_Look Tue, 20 Dec 2005 13:36:44 -0000 "My" SEA Games Ad! I've gotten "my" first ad in the newspaper!   <IMG src="http://images.multiply.com/common/smiles/shade.png"> Well, not mine, exactly... The guys in my Camera Club were tapped to take pictures of the 23rd SEA Games, and several of our pictures were included in the advertorial.  Anf I was lucky enough to get two of mine in there.  So, I guess the guys won't mind if I say it's "my ad."  <IMG src="http://images.multiply.com/common/smiles/wink.png">   http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/2/My_SEA_Games_Ad Tue, 20 Dec 2005 11:52:34 -0000 Feeling like an Impostor: My First Hours of Being a SEA Games Volunteer First off, I'd like to explain a little bit about the title of my little piece, and why I felt like an impostor- you see, I am one of Innove/Globe's volunteer photographers, what the PhilSOC calls volunteer "photojournalists." I am far from a professional photographer, and am as undeserving of the title "photojournalist" as is possible and still know how to operate a camera. My only claim to such a title is the fact that, in my high school and college days, I was able to submit a few pictures to some of the broadsheets then, getting the princely sum of P150.00 per published shot, and no name on my pictures. All told, in those 6 years of being a "professional," I earned maybe three thousand and five hundred pesos.    Ahhhh...   So. Why did I feel like an impostor? Well, Just a few days ago, I suddenly found myself in the midst of REAL photojournalists at the SEA Games - elbow to sweating elbow, and I have to tell you - I felt like such a fake. These guys were taking ... http://burt.multiply.com/journal/item/1/Feeling_like_an_Impostor_My_First_Hours_of_Being_a_SEA_Games_Volunteer Tue, 20 Dec 2005 11:46:12 -0000 My SEA Games Stuff Stuff I took from the 23rd SEA http://burt.multiply.com/photos/album/1/My_SEA_Games_Stuff Tue, 20 Dec 2005 11:29:52 -0000