Dexter Season 3 Is Here!

I don't know about you but I have been waiting for forever for the 3rd season of Dexter. Finally, the first episode was aired on Showtime!!!

I had to refresh my memory as it has been months since I saw the last episode, but I have to say that the season premiere did not disappoint. Well, actually, it kinda did, now that I think about it. Somehow, Dexter having a baby and living with his family just didn't seem right. The whole interaction just takes something out of his character, in my opinion. Even when made his first kill, it wasn't as thrilling as it usually is.

Then again, the last scene more than made up for it. I will not spoil it for those who have not watched the premiere but I will tell you that it will leave you yearning for the second episode.

Here's a piece of trivia: did you know that Dexter and his sister (in the show) Deb are married in real life? Keeping it in the family, huh?

Money Matters in Marriage

I have never been one to pay attention to money. Well, I do, but only in that I pay attention to how to get money and then spend it. I'm used to doing what I want, whenever I want to.

Lately, though, my wife has been on my case about budgeting and saving. It really gets my goat when she does this, but I also am starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, she has a point. We've been married four years and for the most part, we make a pretty decent living. Despite that, we don't have anything we can call savings. None. Zero. Zilch.

I guess she woke up one morning and realized how much debt we have, and how our money seems to be slipping through our fingers day in and day out. Now she is on a budgeting mission. She has tons of Excel sheets and even uses this open source software to keep track of income and expenses.

I doubt I will be joining her in keeping tabs using these tools, but I think I'll go along with the paying more attention part. I was just wondering, is this how it works for other couples as well?

Bruno: One Of The Stupidest Movies I Have Ever Seen

Believe me, I have seen my share of stupid movies. You could even say that I have a tendency to watch them. After all, sometimes everyone just needs a little stupid in their lives to de-stress.

So anyway, after seeing Talladega Nights and Borat, I knew I couldn't miss out on Bruno. The character pissed Eminem - heck, who wouldn't want to see the movie?

Unfortunately, it was horrible. Seriously.

While there were two scenes which made be bust out in laughter, we had to suffer through the rest of the movie. Bruno in the National Guard training camp was hilarious. Just imagine a group of young men trying to be as tough as nails, and then having to handle this new cadet who adds a scarf to his uniform!

His song number with Bono, Sting, Slash, Elton John, and Snoop Dogg was brilliant. I wonder if these guys knew what the rest of the movie was like? I wonder if they would have agreed to appear in it if they did? Here's a video from YouTube:

If you have not seen the movie, don't waste your time and money.

New PS3 On The Way?

Some of you may know that I have been without a PS3 for over 6 months now. My beloved Jethro died on me in January - apparently due to a motherboard that got crisped. We have been planning on buying a new one but with our expenses, we just haven't been able to afford it.

My birthday's coming up, though, so you never know if a kindhearted soul would send one my way. (Hint!)

In any case, did you know that there is new PS3? It's the slim version and is supposed to weigh much less than the original. It is also much less bulky than Jethro. More details, according to Amazon, which has it on sale now:

• HDMI + Bravia Sync functionality that provides both 1080p output resolution, and instant in-synch connectivity between your PS3 and other Sony HDMI enabled products without the use of multiple remote controls.
• A new 33% slimmer, 36% lighter PlayStation 3 entertainment system that is also more energy efficient.
• Includes a Dualshock 3 wireless controller and a built-in 120GB HDD for storing games, music, videos, and photos.
• Built-in Wi-Fi for connectivity anywhere and multiple media format compatibility, including Blu-ray for crystal clear video on High-Definition TVs, CD-ROM, DVD, and others.
• Free membership and access to all the events, as well as game, movie, TV and other media content available on the PlayStation Network (PSN).

The question is: should you buy the PS3 slim or the original one?

It is actually hard for me to decide but the more I think about it, I think that going for the original one would be the best choice. When I bought Jethro, he was part of the first units released. As it turned out, there were some manufacturing/design flaws that resulted in the board melting down. Who says it's not going to happen with the first batches of the slim?

What do I like about The Philippines?

Well let me start by saying I was not too thrilled when I first got here. I missed the conveniences I had in the U.S. There are so many things that I can't get here that I could easily get in the U.S. Some of the things I really missed was hot water, my car, and the freedom to go when ever I wanted to. Its been 4 years now since I set foot on U.S. soil and for the most part I really don't miss it. I miss my family, yeah, but that's about it. I am sure if I sit here and think, I can think of some more but that's the main one.

So what made me think of writing this? Well, for the 2nd time my wife's laptop broke and I had to take it in because she had work and I did not have to be at work till 5. So I left there at about 2 and was there and done by 2:20. I had not had lunch yet so I was hungry, got a cab and went to the building I work in.

They have a McDonald's so I had lunch there. I could not figure out where I wanted to sit and I was restless so I took a booth. Then I saw that there were tables outside, so I went out there to wait for my food and smoke. I don't know why I thought of this; maybe it was because as I sat there I did not hear anything, and I realized they were playing the new T-pain CD unedited in McDonalds. Can you imagine the fuss that would be made in the U.S. if some upper class folks took their kids to eat at Mcdo and T-pain was playing??? I can hear the "Well, I never!" already.

Anyway, everytime I talk to someone they ask the same questions. How long have you been here? You have a Filipino wife? The the key question is "You have been here for 4 years? What made you stay or what do you like most about The Philippines?"

Now 9 times out of 10 I will say because it cheap or my favorite saying "It's the only country I have been to in the world that you can walk in to a store and buy a beer for cheaper than a Coke." Just so you know, that is true. At 711 a beer is 20 pesos and a Coke is 25 to 28 pesos.

But as I sat there eating my quarterpounder with cheese plain, it came to me that it's not true; that's not the reason I like it here so much.

To answer that I have to go back a few days as I was eating lunch and decided to watch a Michel Moore film for the first time ever. I have never wanted to watch anything this man has ever made but boredom overcame me and it was the only dvd I had that I had never seen. The movie was called Bowling for Columbine. I know what the movie was about. I heard people talking about it and still I did not want to see it.

So anyway, I watched it and I really did not like it. It was what I thought it was - people bitching about things that they don't like. Yeah, there was some valid points in there and I feel for the parents of the kids who died in shootings and I really do see there point. I am not saying this movie helped me in any way am just saying it reminded me of what I did not like about the U.S.A.

So what is it that I don't like about the U.S.? Americans are selfish. Yeah I said that. Now don't get me wrong - I love my country and always will. It is the best country in the world for many reasons, but in the U.S. if someone don't like something, they want to tell the world about it and think everyone should think they way they do.

If someone don't like guns they think everyone should not like guns. If someone wants to not eat meat - you guessed it - everyone should not eat meat! If you think diffrent, then you are a bad person. Now I am not saying there are no vegatarians here or that there are not people who don't like guns or want to save the envirment.

There are alwasy rallys where people say what they want and stand up for what they believe in - they just don't take it to extremes. They want to save the envirament, they hold a peaceful rally. In the U.S. some people go and burn down Hummer dealerships or vandalize people's cars.

Someone wants an abortion, people picket the clinics and call the women killers and sinners and whores. They don't know why that person is doing what they are doing. They just want something to bitch about.

The one thing that really pisses me off is when people commit a crime and blame it on video games, music, or a movie. That really chaps my ass. Michael Moore - and as much as I hate to say it - did bring up a valid point. In other countries, they have the same video games and movies and music. So why don't people there go on a killing spree and say GTA 4 made me do it or burn down a building and say the devil told me to do it when I played a Marilyn Manson cd in fast forward?

Does the devil only speak English? I don't know, I have never head him talk. I have played video games and watched movies and I still have Marilyn manson on my playlist to this day. The funny thing is I forgot how much people blame the things they have done on others or on something that can't define.

Like I said before there are people here who don't believe in eating meat or having guns or driving big SUVs, but they don't think everyone should think the same or try to make everyone believe what they think.

I have been about people here who ask me why I eat what I eat or what is it about guns you like they are violent or why would you want such a big car. My only answer is because I can and its what I like and to my amazement they say ok its your choice but I won't do it. To this day when I talk to anyone about things that like and they say that I am speechless.

I want to be like, what you not going to sit here and argue with me for 6 hours or until I get pissed and leave to try and make me think the way you do? WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They express their feelings and the way they think they just do it in different ways. They try to change the world one person at a time and to me I really believe that's what it takes. Don't try to change everyone at one time. Take your time if you really believe in what you are talking about, you won't give up no matter how long it takes and if you get 3 people in your life to change then that 3 will turn into millions over time not over night. There is one person who won't give up on me about my religious beliefs...those who know me know who I am talking about so no need for names.

So in closing I will, for the first time answer the question "What do I like most about The Philippines?" That the beer is cheaper than a coke - just kidding.

The reason I like The Philippines is that PEOPLE ARE FREE TO BE WHO THEY ARE AND NOT JUDGED ON WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN. (Now like everywhere you have your extremists, but they don't go on TV everytime something don't go there way and say seeeeeeeee I told you if you would do it my way this would not have happened.)

Updates

Much has been going on lately, and I haven't had the time to write in this blog.  In the first place, I am not one to write, but I guess it serves its purpose every now and then.  Just to give a quick update:

• We moved to a new condo last month.  It's right across my wife's office so it's better for her.  It's also very convenient for us, since most everything is just downstairs.
• I have been working for almost four months now.  I also took on a second job to keep me out of the bars at night.  I am tired though, and I am thinking of taking a rest when my contract ends this month.
• We have no Internet at home.  Our building is awesome but a certain provider has the monopoly and they suck.  We're using a prepaid wireless broadband kit that is just NOT doing it.

I guess that is all I have for now.  It's pretty much work, home, work, bar, and home again for me.

EMP Anyone?

I was talking with some friends about converting media files - I have come to rely on download in the past years.  I thought I knew all about the existing files but I was wrong.  I recently discovered the File Extension EMP, which is apparently associated with more than one product.

One such product is online music which you can download from eMusic.com.  Most files with 

the File Extension EMP are actually music files.  I do not know much about the quality of these files as of yet but from what I hear, they are quite good.  The only caveat is that you cannot use .emp files directly with iTunes and other similar software - you need a converter to do that.  

It sounds pretty interesting, though, especially if you find some good music at eMusic.