Pangea Day

In 2006, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim wished for a day where people all over the world would unite through the power of film.

Pangea Day is a 4-hour program of 24 short films from storytellers around the world. Films were chosen based on their ability to inspire, transform and allow us to see the world through another person’s eyes.

This event happened early this morning, 2:00 am Philippine time. I tried to wake myself up at 2:00 am using my biological alarm clock but it rang two hours late. Anyway I tried watching the webcast but it looked like a trip-to-jerusalem parlor game that stops every five seconds or so. I thought the internet speed would be fast enough in the early morning to allow a live webcast of the event but I was wrong. The connection speed was slow even on that wee hours of the morning. I gave up after a few minutes and tried the TV. I read on the pangea day website that it would be on Star TV in Asia. Unfortunately, the only cable TV service in town was down. So I went back to sleep.

I first read about this event a couple of months ago while browsing the TED website. I signed-up to host a public viewing event in the college where I work but I later found out that it would be up at 2:00 am where most of us would be dozing off. When I later found out that they will have a satellite feed of the program, I contacted the organizers to ask if I can get the satellite coordinates for a possible broadcast in our local cable TV since I know the owners and I believe they will give time for it. Unfortunately, they answered that Current TV is the official cable TV broadcaster of the show and they can't allow other operators to show it. Current TV is not available in this small town of mine so its a lost. Anyway I decided to watch the webcast instead which, as I've told earlier, is a failure. The program is still online on the Pangea Day website. I still can't watch it. So off to plan B. The program selected the 24 short films shown via youtube, so the films are actually available there. All I need to do is check the titles at the pangea day website, search it on youtube and voila!

And here's a sampler, one of the winners, Moving Windmills, about William Kamkwamba (who has a blog) , a kid from Malawi who built, and still building, windmills based only on a picture in a book. The windmills power their lights, radio and TV and even pumps water for their farm.



I'll be posting more Pangea Day videos in the coming days.

Smartbro Prepaid

What's with all the running? Hey peeps, you don't really need those 4,500 pesos gadget to connect to the internet. Your cellphone can do that. All you need is your no-so-old CP, a software like Nokia PC Suite and your good old PC or laptop. The same prepaid rate and connection speed applies.

Question: If your connection speed is slow, is it still okay to call it speed? Oh, well.

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Memehopping:
1. Smartbrp prepaid commercial on TV
2. Youtube.com - Smartbro Prepaid

Kermit the Frog covers Creep

Yay, Creep is one of my all-time favorite sad song. This video is really creepy:



Memehopping:
1. kottke.org
2. youtube - Sad Kermit - Creep

Youtube Find: Captain Disillusion

The CaptainDisillusion's Channel. Just discovered a few minutes ago. The videos in this channel (9 of them so far) are professionally shot and edited. The last one was posted 2 months ago though. I hope the channel's not dead already.

In a world where the content of digital images and videos can no longer be taken at face value, an unlikely hero fights for the acceptance of truth.

Captain Disillusion guides children of all ages through the maze of visual fakery to the open spaces of reality and peace of mind.

Subscribe to get fun and detailed explanations of current "unbelievable" viral videos that fool the masses!

Here's a sampler: The "catching glasses" video explanation. This one explains how the Rayban viral vid on a guy catching glasses with his face in different sorts of impossible way was made.


*****
Memehopping (or how i found out about this post) :
1. wired.com
2. Levi Strauss Scores Viral Gold With Back-Flipping Jeans Clip
3. Guy catching glasses with his face
4. Captain Disillusion

Moonpools and Caterpillars

Moonpools and Caterpillars was a Fil-Am band which enjoyed a streak of popularity in the US and the Philippines more than a decade ago. They even went to the Philippines and performed at the World Trade Center in Pasay. I think I was still in college then and I was lucky to catch the gig. I even bought a Lucky Dumpling tshirt that I was able to wear twice before a friend "arbored " it.

Anyway, I was alerted to this youtube video of the band performing JDL's Beep Beep at Whisky-a-Go-Go. Enjoy!



And here's a bonus, a live performance of Soon.

Original Deal or No Deal in Manila

If there's a second hand smoke, there's also a second hand TV and it's also as contagious. I'm not into the primetime shows of either the 2 competing networks. I think the shows are all recycled crap. But there's only one TV in the house and we have a democratic process going on in the household. I have only one vote so when it comes to TV time, I always end up watching what the others like to see. That's why I end up following Joaquin Bordado and Dyesebel and Pinoy Big Brother and those gameshow franchises. The shows are actually entertaining.

Anyway, the original Deal or No Deal hosted by Howie Mandel have this Around the world thing where they tape an episode in a country where there is a local version of the show. The first stopover is the Philippines where, ironically, the show no longer runs. And thanks to the internets, the whole episode is in youtube. Check out Part 1 here:



Just follow the links for the rest of the show.

A MacGyver Movie Coming Soon!

According to this Gizmodo post:

MacGyver creator (and real life inspiration) Lee David Zlotoff announced he has a big budget MacGyver movie in the planning stages.

Yeah! MacGyver was my all-time high school hero. His influence in my life is that every time I do some hacking of sorts, the MacGyver intro music automatically plays in my brain. And so the waiting clock starts...

Of course for me the period between waiting and being able to see a film is like this. I read the news online, wait until the movie is finished and shown theatrically, wait a couple of months before the DVD rip appears on mininova or pirate bay (this period includes trying very hard to avoid downloading the cam or screener version which are still pretty low quality), download the film (takes between 24 to 1 million hours here in our neck of the woods), and finally watching the movie.

And as much as I liked Richard Dean Anderson as the original MacGyver, I hope that his only appearance in this new incarnation would be just a cameo. I mean, Richard Dean Anderson must be pretty old by now.

By the way. MacGyver's first name is Angus.