Word of the day: pip

No, this is not a post on Tirso Cruz III. This is a post about the English word, pip.

When I read anything, I have this nerdy habit of looking up the meaning of words I am not familiar with. This is pretty much the reason why it takes me so long to read a 500 page novel. Every three or four pages (and sometimes more frequently) I need to stop and look up words in a dictionary.

And today I had to look up the word "pip". Well actually, I had to look up two words -- "loquat" and "pip". The sentence read something like "The man swallowed a pip of a loquat".

Loquat means a fruit from China or Japan (this definition is so bad it could mean anything from a cherry to a banana, but I'm thinking, "Fine, it's a fruit.")

And pip means seed. All right. All is well in the world. The man swallowed a seed from an Asian fruit.

But wait.

It might interest you to know that "pip" also means:

-- the dots on a dice
-- patterns on a pineapple
-- a contagious disease of birds
-- to break out of a shell during hatching, as a young bird does
-- to defeat an opponent
-- to shoot or kill by gunshot
-- to peep or chirp, as a chick does

And of course a popular actor in the Philippines during the 70's.

Cool, eh?

And that people, is why I read.

Smart People

I saw Smart People over the weekend. It was ok. And I mean that to be "just" ok.

The movie about a self absorbed, lonely and bitter English professor (played by Quaid who was trying be ugly but failed) started very well but, like most movies about redemption, lost its way a third of the way through. The ending was abrupt (and not in a nice way). With the characters' "transformation" not sufficiently fleshed out. I thought Ellen Page as Quaid's daughter was terrific. She's one to watch out for.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars -- it actually deserves only 2 stars, but I have a soft spot for Quaid, Sara Jessica Parker (who plays Quaid's doctor then girl friend) and quirky soundtracks.

The money shot

Mi amiga Picasa

While chatting with S., a colleague who is also dabbling in a amateur photography (my definition of "dabbling in a amateur photography" is to buy a really expensive DSLR and not know how to use it), we started talking about Picasa, Google's photo filing, fixing, and sharing software. He said it was user-friendly and had very useful fixes.

And it's free. So of course I tried it out.

And you should too, if you have hundreds of pictures on your computer and don't really know how (or can't be bothered) to file (that would be me). Picasa essentially puts ALL of the pictures in your computer into one "place" and allows you to search, file and manipulate them very easily -- everything you'd think Google would do for it's photo software. You can fix pictures with ease too. No need to learn how to Photoshop or zoom in real close to fix certain spots. Picasa does everything for you with a click of a button.

Picasa "salvages" those awful test shots I take when I'm figuring out what setting to use for the shot. You see, I had no idea how to use an SLR before I bought one. Until this day I don't even know what "SLR" stands for. I just know it means those "professional" looking cameras. I used to take dozens of pictures and have only one or two "money shots". With Picasa, I have increased my "great shot to just awful" photo ratio.

You can also make your pictures look like something that has come out of a graphic designer's hands. Like my picture of the Forbidden City in yesterday's post.

But since we're talking about pictures, I think this simple demonstration will explain.

This is a picture I took with no manipulation on a hazy day in Beijing.



This is the same picture after "fixing" it with Picasa.



I rest my case.

Hmmmm.... what to blog about first...

This



or this



or this

(which would be about my discovery of Picasa, and yeah, the trip)



or this

(which would be about leaning Pagodas in Xian -- no the picture is not crooked)



I'd post more teaser pics, but am getting sleepy (that's code for lazy).

Unfortunately he didn't inherit my dancing

Here's a clip of P dancing with the snowmen sometime last year.

Before he was gorgeous...

He was adorable.

The Best of Various Artists

Madonna -- Live to Tell 

Michael Jackson -- Human Nature

Cyndi Lauper -- True Colors

Everything But The Girl -- I Didn't Know I Was Looking For Love

George Michael -- I Can't Make You Love Me

Mariah Carrey -- You'll Always Be My Baby

Gary Valenciano -- Look In Her Eyes

Whitney Houston -- My Love Is Your Love

A.k.a "Jona's Diet"

For the last couple of weeks or so, I've been obsessed with whitening my teeth. In the course of the last month I have used a box of Crest Whitestrips and Aquafresh White Trays. I now have "visibly whiter teeth", but since I human and cut from the same cloth as Gordon Gekko, I want more.

Last weekend, having an hour to kill before I need to see my masseuse, I mean, physical therapist, I walked into one of these "quasi dental" clinics that offer teeth whitening procedures.

I sat through one of their 10 minute free consultation sessions and I was diagnosed with teeth that are two shades away from Ryan Seacrest's.

The woman said that their treatments last from 6 months to a year, depending on your diet. Some kinds of food should be avoided, she said, since they are notorious for their teeth staining qualities. Food like coffee, red wine, soy sauce and curry.

You know, the four food groups of my diet.

The case for wine bottles with a twist off cap

I used to stay away from wine bottles with twist off caps the same way I would avoid wine in boxes. But not anymore.

I am now a convert to twist off cap wine bottles. Not only is it easier to open, it keeps. The wine keeps for a day and a half, sometimes two days. No need for those fancy sealers.

And yeah... the wine's not bad. Just don't buy the cheapest one in the lot.

Next time you're shopping for wine, don't discount the humble twist off bottle.

Spoke to soon

The weather has not turned in HK.

It's still warm and dry and generally icky.

Thankfully I will be traveling to cooler climates soon.

I'm reading a story book!

I stopped reading story books (i.e., plot driven books) ages ago. I found them to be very entertaining, but somehow lacking in substance. Sort of like what Reader's Digest is in the magazine writing world.

Also, I thought these books did not challenge me intellectually. There were no mental push-ups nor was there a need for emotional introspection. Guy jumps out of plane, unto a moving train; a girl climbs a tree, swims in a lake. Everything was laid out in front of you. There was nothing for you to figure out yourself.

But somehow, I've found myself reading the story books of story books (i.e., it's a plot driven book about a plot-driven book). It's called The Shadow of the Wind by this author named Carlos Zafon (translated from the original Spanish by Lucia Graves).

The writing is surprisingly very good and the story is developed quickly but not hurriedly. This guy Zafon knows his stuff.

This book is a terrific read. Old fashioned story telling at its best; no mental acrobatics required.

Happy Birthday, A in Phonm Pen!

Maligayang kaarawan, Annie.

H+K from HK

Four Weekends of October

1 - Sleep in, recover from Four Weekends of September. Lots of DVDs.

2 - Regina turns one. Lots of kids, lots of cake.

3 - Beijing, Xi An. Lots of pictures.

4 - Osaka. Lots of sushi.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

I saw Woody Allen's latest movie over the weekend. It was terrific. You should go see it if you have the chance. It was all very fancy and sophisticated (lots of Gaudi, lots of Dali) and yet all I could think about was the Sharon-Gabby movies of my youth.

Remember those formulaic Sharon-Gabby movies? Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy loses girl (usually because of disparities in their families' backgrounds), boy is reunited with girl.

Growing up I recall there would be 1 or 2 Sharon-Gabby movies every year, and to break the monotony of making the same movie twice a year, some enterprising producer will decide to pack up the entire crew and film in Baguio. Or San Francisco. And then proceed to shoot the exact same movie, but in a different location.

That's exactly what Vicky Christina Barcelona is. It's a "Woddy Allen movie" in Spain.

It's about frickin' time!

Almost a month after the Mid-Autum Festival, the weather is finally turning in Hang Kang.

Finally.

Inanities

I'm so happy I found my right house slipper.  Like really really happy.  It was lost for a couple of days and I was dsitraught.  For a while I thought the Fairy Godmother of Slippers wanted to punish me for not wearing my slippers, so she took my right slipper away.  Leaving me with a useless left slipper.  Good only for killing cockroaches, but there are no cockroaches in my flat. 

Sadness, grief and exasperation eveloped me.  And then one day, I stuck my hand under my bed and found a dusty but otherwise healthy slipper.  

I said a small prayer of thanks to the universe.  

The Perfect Omelette

Today I made myself the perfect omelette.  It was just a little runny, but properly formed (not squishy).  The filling of ham and cheese wasn't jutting out of the shell.  It was a perfect pocket.  The cheese had melted so it was more of ham omelette with cheesy egg.  

Now I'm off to the gym to eliminate that sucker from my system.