The Beanster Blog

Woooohoooo! The wait is finally over... Tiësto will be performing LIVE at the PICC tonight! Wow I'm so excited... can't hardly wait for this work day to be over. Well I better get back to work so that time flies by :o)

Happy Birthday: -- Mike Ventanilla -- May the Force Be With You...

I blogged about an earthquake a few days ago and well here I am again. I really wouldn't notice if it weren't for my PPC. Anyway since I got another EQ alert the other day and today I decided to go to PHIVOLCS website for more info... Very interesting... I wonder if these seismic events are related in anyway to Bulusan Volcano's recent activity.

The Pac Man will not only be chomping away at his opponent Mexican boxer Oscar Larios but will also be chomping at your wallet if you intend to watch the fight up close [i.e. Ringside] it will cost you PhP 25,000 [about USD 490] if you want to 'watch' way up in the nose bleed section or the bleachers you would be paying PhP 1,000 [about USD 20] granted Pac Man will not be getting all the money [I'm sure his promoters will have a big bite as well]. This is shaping up to be another scalpers dream event... :o) -- PHILSTAR ARTICLE PACLAND [Pacquiao's Website]

Happy Birthday: -- Nica Feliciano -- May the Force Be With You...

Anyway I was watching Lost Season 2 and decided to check my Pocket PC for the temperature as it was really hot today. Anyway suprise to suprise here is what I saw on my today screen. Tapping on the alert made it disappear and going into the Weather Console. I saw this under the EARTHQUAKE tab. Kewl huh! So did ya feel it??? I didn't feel anything but as it says it is pretty deep 13 miles down. It's 290 miles from Manila. I guess PocketWeather's new Earthquakes alert work huh? :D Hehehe anyway for more info and to get PW on your device head on over to SBSH.net currently it is at version 1.3.2 and a lot of improvements are added on everytime :D

Happy Birthday: -- Bryan F. Chua -- May the Force Be With You...

Category: Music Genre: Dance & DJ Artists: Various Artists -- Hemstock & Jennings teamed up with PvD a few years back to dish out Nothing But You off van Dyk's Reflections album, it is my fave track on the whole album so when I saw this compilation by H&J I quickly got it... :D As the title suggests this is a trance compilation of new and old tracks. I read that this album was made purely with software. It's amazing what technology can do eh?! Now some might say that this de-humanizes music but you wouldn't feel that at all listening to this album. This album will definitely take you on a journey into trance... Check it out! -- Disc 1 and 2 are: Journey One - Synth Quest Journey Two - Tek Quest -- Tracklist and info

Changed my template again... I was getting bored with the other one. Anyway here is v6 of the Beanster™ Blog... -- I've done away with most of the parts... like the Menu/Gallery/Video/ChatBox etc... I may add them again one at a time when time permits. But for now here is the simplest [basic] setup for my blog. More tweaks will follow soon... :o)

Category: Movies Genre: Action/Fantasy Starring: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving Based on a comic book. V is a freedom fighter who uses terrorism to attain his goals... he finds an unwilling ally in a girl he rescues. Now I haven't read the comic book so I don't know if the movie adaptation was true to it. The movie was pretty entertaining. The action sequences and the dialogue were not boring. Some parts of the film were needlessly dragging though. V for Vendetta has a very strong political message and the themes of the film are quite relevant to what is happening in the world. Go and watch this film if you want to be entertained.

Category: Movies Genre: Horror Starring: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson Backpackers out to have fun in Europe, are directed to a small town in Slovakia it seems like paradise at first... This film is pretty straight forward and has no sudden twists and turns. No mind boggling super secret identity of the killer or anything like that. It lends to it being more realistic. It is peppered with nudity [specially in the earlier scenes] and gore [later parts]. Eli Roth must have used a lot of fake blood to make this film. I didn't enjoy the film as much as I had hope for though and left the theater disappointed. Watch this if you are an adolescent who has never seen tits before... a lot of em in there... other wise you can skip this movie and watch it in moments of extreme boredom on DVD.

Category: Movies Genre: Action/Suspense Starring: Bruce Willis, Mos Def, David Morse An old detective is tasked to take a witness to the courthouse. Fellow cops are out to get the witness cause he will be testifying against them [the cops]. This isn't exactly your traditional Willis film. It has a slower pace and lends to the character of Willis as being old and tired. Sadly the whole film feels old and tired. It's sort of like DIEHARD on an OD of Valiums. Mos Def's stuttering doesn't really help I wouldn't know if the character really needed to be a semi-waterhead with a shrieking voice. I wouldn't recommend this if you are tired or sleepy, you might fall asleep in the theater.

Got an e-mail from the Tiësto mailing list about ISOS 5 yesterday, anyway the tracklist is out for the fifth installment of the ISOS series, apart from the track list Tiësto has also put some notes about the tracks. You can head over to www.tiesto.com for more details :o)

Category: Music Genre: Dance & DJ Artists: Various Artists -- The 11th installment of this series is mixed by DJ Phynn a youngling [he's about 22 yrs old] from Holland. This kid has got talent. Tracks in this album are from the proggy and tech trance side. The mixing was top notch IMO and listening to it the whole morning gave me an uplifted feeling. I think that is what music is about anyway... so in this matter this album and DJ Phynn has been successful. This album is for everyone who has put their trust in trance, you won't be disappointed ;o)

Did some minor changes to my blog... removed the ' Featured Videos' section [I felt that this was slowing down the loading needlessly], added some background tunes to my blog... something relaxing and not over the top . This month it's Claire VanDerBoom - Do What You Want [Max Graham Afterhours in Montreal Mix] taken from Tiësto's ISOS 4 I'll probably change this up every month or so. -- New Section: MY CHATBOX I've put a new chat section powered by Flooble . Hope it is better than previous chat boxes I've used. So far no one has chat with me yet :( if no one uses it I might do away with it as well [I'll give it a week or two] -- I may do some more code improvements, but for now here is version 5.7.17 of The Beanster™ Blog -- Oh yeah I've hit the 5,000 hits mark [actually at 5,503 as of this entry]... wow I didn't notice that!!!

Category: Music Genre: Dance & DJ Artists: Armin van Buuren ft Nadia Ali -- Armin van Buuren teams up with Nadia Ali [the voice behind Iio] to give us Who is Watching a slow paced vocals and guitar laden track from van Buuren's Shivers album. The track got my attention even if it wasn't really a trance track because of the powerful vocals and the soothing melodies, I knew that remixes of this track would definitely take it to the next level. Lucky to have copies of Who is Watching Remixes... So far I've been able to get 4 remixes from 2 Vinyls. They are awesome! I'm sure we'll be hearing this in clubs pretty soon... :D -- Who is Watching 1. Tonedepth Remix 2. DJ Remy & Roland Klinkenberg Remix Who is Watching Part 1 The House Mixes 1. Mischa Daniels Remix 2. Oliver Moldan Remix

Category: Music Genre: Dance & DJ Artists: Various Artists -- One of Germany's oldest dance compilations [now on it's 12th year] Trance Nation is back! This compilation is made of 3 CDs. Heller & Enkie, the German duo responsible for Trance Nation have invited Misja Helsloot from the Netherlands to take charge of CD1, and boy does he take charge! The Dutch DJ/Producer did a real good job IMO. If you are getting yourself a Trance album this summer make it Trance Nation 22, you really can't go wrong with this compilation. Trust in Trance! ;o) -- Disc 1 mixed by Misja Helsloot Disc 2 mixed by Heller & Enkie Disc 3 Full Maxi Singles [un-mixed] -- Info/Tracklist

Last week I remade tones from Tiesto's Just Be Album. Really excited about the 31st! Wooohooo! The tones are up on my multiply website here is the link. -- >> Tiesto - Just Be Ringtones [Multiply Site]

Bean really busy lately both at work and with a project am working at with some friends and my bro. I hope everything falls into place soon, been stresssing about this project for awhile now. Really haven't been blogging that much for the past week my blogs has degenerated into a Birthday banner of sorts.

Happy Birthday: -- Jeremy T. Lim -- May the Force Be With You...

Happy Birthday: -- Sarji Ruiz -- May the Force Be With You...

Happy Birthday: -- Pat Pua -- May the Force Be With You...

Happy Birthday: -- Aaron Kaw -- May the Force Be With You...

Happy Birthday: -- Cindy Tiu -- May the Force Be With You..

I don't drink, I don't like the taste, the smell and the feeling. But if you're going to a place called 'Beers Paradise' you might as well taste some of their beers! They have a very wide selection of imported beers. The prices are a bit steep but I think it is worth it if you're a beer afficionado. The cool thing is that each beer brand has a unique and special mug that you use. Oh yeah and you get free cheese, nuts, and chippy as pulutan. The place is nice and well lit perfect for relaxing and enjoying your drink. -- [Click the Image for Some Pics]

Happy Birthday: -- Timo Roxas-Chua -- May the Force Be With You...

Made some ISOS4 [ In Search of Sunrise 4 ] tones today... getting really excited about Tiesto's Manila gig! Anyway you can check em out at my multiply site [I am not sure if you have to be a member to download them though] -- >> Click Here for ISOS4 Tones

Happy Birthday: -- EJ Leung -- May the Force Be With You...

Happy Birthday: -- Ronald Chong -- May the Force Be With You...

The first 2 nights were so cold, it's ok as long as it isn't too windy. Met some nice Fil-Chi folks, saw my shobe, and did some stuff for GG. Overall I think this trip was a success, it's a pity though that we didn't get to see a lot of things [that we were interested in] in the exhibit. Charge it to experience I guess. Many thanks to Mick, Jose [aka Mang Jose], Caril and Anna too, for letting me and Yap crash at their flat for the duration of our stay and showing us around Shanghai. -- Here are my accumulated pics of my Shanghai Trip: -- -- [Click Image for More]

Category: Accessories Type: Stereo Bluetooth Headset Price: RMB 500.00 [PhP 3,350.00] -- Specifications: Bluetooth 1.2 Class 2 Profiles Supported: A2DP, Handsfree and Headset 2.4 GHz Frequency Charging Time = 3 hrs Talk Time* = 7.5 hrs Music Streaming* = 7.5 hrs Standby Time = 150 hrs Dimensions [in mm] = 90 (L) x 80 (W) x 119 (H) Weight [in gms] = 67.6 *may vary due to usage. -- I've been looking for a pair of Stereo BT headsets for quite a while so when I saw these I went and got them. They look exactly like the ANYCOM and SURECOM varieties [probably just re-branded]. -- The Box: What's in the Box? The headset, charging adapter, a CD for MSI Blueplayer, English and Chinese Manuals. -- Checked the CD and it includes MSI Blueplayer for select Nokia S60 devices. The charging adapter is also compatible with Nokia's charger I suspect that iTech was targeting Nokia mobile owners with this device. Anyway I don't have a Nokia anymore so I can't test the app. -- Pairing wi...

Category: Accessories Type: Work Space Enhancement Price: RMB 29.00 [PhP 194.30] -- Got this cause I need a nice table for myself I am constantly hunched over my side table. So I got this so I won't be hunched over all the time. The quality is top notch and it fits my notebook nicely. I think this was primarily designed for breakfasts in bed. But works as a nice bed table for me :o) -- [Click Image for More]

I'm back from Shanghai. Damn it's so hot here in Manila, I'm not feeling to well... I think the sudden temperature change is contributing to this. The trip back home was ok delayed for a few minutes but I got off the plane quick, got lucky with immigration [lined up in a newly opened station so I was first], got my checked in baggage pretty quick [props to Grace for the extra priority baggage tags], and breezed passed customs [buti na lang cause I was carrying some samples na baka pag-initan].

Happy Birthday: -- Maina Co -- May the Force Be With You...

Happy Birthday: -- Milton Chua -- May the Force Be With You...

Shanghai Day 2 , originally uploaded by bnycastro . Wasn't as cold today compared to yesterday (or my body is just adjusting more). Anyway we went to the exhibit today. I must say it is a bit disappointing since we did not see the items we were looking for. We'll be heading back tomorrow; as there are about 5 more halls to check on (we just finished 2 today). -- On another note I finally got myself a stereo Bluetooth headset. It's a I.tech Blueband (am attaching a snap of it), I'll be sure to come out with a review of this new gadget when I get back to Manila

I'm off to Shanghai with Yap for a few days to go see an exhibit. Really psyched to go back to Shanghai haven't been there for a few years. Been checking the weather and it seems that it will be really cold... Anyway I hope we see a lot of opportunities and also to check up on my shobe who is there to study Chinese. I've decided to leave my notebook as I'm already bringing so many things [mainly jackets ;-)] I'll probably be posting using my 838 if I've the time. I better turn in... so I'm well rested for tomorrow's trip.