the babel machine

filipino crowned world pool champion

nobody@vox.com(babelmachine) — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 18:02:50 +0800

He was one of 21 Filipinos competing in the World Pool Championship, which was held for the very first time in the Philippines, but Ronato Alcano was practically unheralded, lost in the shadows as the spotlight was on the big guns of Filipino pool, Efren Reyes (the 1999 champ), Francisco Bustamante (2002 runner-up), and Alex Pagulayan (2004 champ).

Now this was a true underdog story, and in the final against a former world champion, Germany’s Ralf Souquet (who was champ in 1996 and the runner-up in 2001, losing to Finland’s Mika Immonen), Ronnie shocked the world even more by completely dominating the Kaiser en route to a 17-11 victory.

Relive the glory in this clip of Alcano’s winning shot.

World Pool Championship 2006 Champion Ronato Alcano

I had goosebumps watching the match on TV yesterday, and I’m so proud of Ronnie Alcano. I felt bad for Souquet, and the predominantly Filipino crowd, though naturally rooting for Alcano, was full of respect and admiration for the great German player, who has over the years proven himself to be one of the nicest as well as greatest pool champions in the world. It’s in stark contrast to the boorish behavior of Earl Strickland.

I was shocked to see the usually stoic Souquet in tears as he talked about how much he wanted to win the championship in the Philippines, and it was heartening to hear the crowd chanting, “Souquet, Souquet” in a show of support for the defeated German. See this clip of the award ceremony.

2006 WPC presentation

Here’s to you, Ronnie. You’ve made us all proud.

By the way, I’ve noticed that Ronnie Alcano doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry yet — maybe somebody could remedy that?

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democrats complete sweep

nobody@vox.com(babelmachine) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 08:41:42 +0800

It’s official: the last hope the Republicans have of retaining control of the Senate, incumbent Virginia Sen. George Allen, has conceded to the Democratic candidate Jim Webb.

With this development, the Democrats have completed a stunning sweep in the US midterm elections, grabbing control of both houses of Congress after 12 years in exile since the Republican landslide of 1994.

Allen, who was once considered a strong candidate for the US presidency in 2008, gained notoriety for his alleged racism, triggered by the infamous “macaca” incident. See this YouTube video of Allen calling a dark-skinned campaign volunteer of his opponent Webb, an American of Indian ethnicity named S.R. Sidarth, “macaca” and saying “Welcome to America.” Sidarth was filming Allen’s speech to an all-white audience of supporters, and the video circulated all over the Internet.

George Allen introduces "Macaca"

In the wake of the furor, Allen claimed he “made the word up” and didn’t know “macaca” was a racial slur. You be the judge.

George Allen Claims He "Made Up" Macaca (Macaque)

Oh, and apparently Allen hadn’t been aware of his Jewish heritage — his mother has Jewish roots. Though why he would bristle and say the question isn’t relevant is puzzling — he wasn’t being asked about religion but about ancestry. It couldn’t be that he’s ashamed of his Jewish roots, is he? “Aspersions”? It reminds me of some Fil-Am or Fil-whatever celebrities who once denied they had Filipino blood.

George Allen Is Not Jewish

Nevertheless, he’s since recognized his Jewish roots, and has been added as the “51st” in the Forward 50 list of most influential members of the American Jewish community.

So long, Senator Allen, and good riddance. Welcome to the real world. You know, the one where not everyone is a white boy or a Christian.

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republicans flushed away

nobody@vox.com(babelmachine) — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 20:03:58 +0800

Sorry, George, but reality has finally caught up with the Republicans.

It’s about time Americans punished Dubya, and the fallout has certainly hurt the Republicans. I’m still hopeful that the Democrats will also capture the Senate, and that the Democrats will actually be able to chart a new course.

Let’s face it, the Democratic resurgence was less about the Democrats offering clear alternatives as it was about voter anger directed at Bush and the Republicans, but at least the first step toward change has been taken. It’s up to the Democrats not to waste the opportunity they’ve been given.

In the spirit of celebration, here are YouTube clips of the inimitable Stephen Colbert, one of the ballsiest guys in the world, satirizing Bush right to his face — and this was months ago during the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on April 29, when the idea of the Republicans suffering this kind of debacle was mostly just a Democratic fantasy.

part 1 - Stephen Colbert (part 1 of 3)

part 2 - Stephen Colbert (part 2 of 3)

part 3 - Stephen Colbert (part 3 of 3)

Click here for a transcript of Colbert’s speech. The best part of the speech for me?

“The greatest thing about this man is he’s steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday. Events can change; this man’s beliefs never will.“

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buy tv episodes online via xbox live

nobody@vox.com(babelmachine) — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 12:29:55 +0800

This one could be really huge, as Microsoft opens up a new front in the console wars by announcing that US Xbox 360 gamers will be able to download TV show episodes and full-length movies via Xbox Live starting Nov. 22, the first anniversary of the Xbox 360.

Check out the hackenslash GameBlog post for more details.

Of course, they’ll need to offer a bigger hard drive for the Xbox 360 to really make this service viable, plus you can expect Sony to counter this with a similar service on the PlayStation 3.

Here’s hoping Xbox Live subscribers outside the US will also be able to enjoy this new service.

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mascots gone wild

nobody@vox.com(babelmachine) — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 17:03:16 +0800

Check out my CNET Asia tech blog entry "Mascots gone wild."

Here's an excerpt:

What do you do if you're a company with a kid-friendly image, only to find to your horror that a video clip of your mascots is circulating on YouTube?
I'm not referring to one of the many innocent clips of children's parties featuring these mascots, but rather of them doing their own rendition of "my humps"--and I'm not talking about The Black Eyed Peas song.

Read the full story.

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vox is cool

nobody@vox.com(babelmachine) — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 09:20:21 +0800

OK, this is my first real post -- real in the sense that the previous entries came from my existing WordPress blog, heh.

I think Vox is really cool and I'm seriously considering moving my blog here. It's great that it has native support for different multimedia apps, plus a truckload of templates.

Let's see. Will experiment with Vox some more.

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sam's bulaklakan video

nobody@vox.com(babelmachine) — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 09:10:03 +0800

Here's our daughter Sam, who's turning 5 this December, performing the traditional Filipino dance known as the Bulaklakan together with her classmates during the celebration of Linggo ng Wika (National Language Week).

Sam's Bulaklakan Dance Video

Sam's the one in the red dress. Here are some photos of Sam from the presentation:

Samwika

Sambulaklakan

Here's Sam with my wife Ellen Quijano-Alarilla:

Samellen

And here's Sam with me:

Withsam

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do you want more frickin' pirates?

nobody@vox.com(babelmachine) — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 08:36:24 +0800

Here’s an excerpt from my latest CNET Asia blog entry:

How frustrating is it, particularly if you’re tech-savvy, to be willing to shell out good money for digital content, only to be stymied by the fact that this online service isn’t available yet in your country?

I’m sure many users across Asia are experiencing this, just as I’m sure many Internet users are using BitTorrent and other peer-to-peer apps to download files, many of them illegally.

By denying users a legal alternative for downloading content, are companies just encouraging more people to become pirates?
I’m really torn over this because while years ago I made a public stand against piracy and stopped buying bootleg discs of any form–whether games, apps, music or movies–I also think DRM as it exists today is mostly stupid. And what’s an even more bitter pill to swallow is that even when you’re willing to play by the rules, it so happens they don’t want you to be part of the game.

Read the full story.

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luli comes to defense of filipinos in naia queue

nobody@vox.com(babelmachine) — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 08:33:16 +0800

This guy’s unbelievable. Bastos talaga.

Here’s an excerpt from the INQ7.net story:

Luli, accompanied by her sister-in-law, Kakai Manotok-Arroyo, and the latter’s young daughter, was on her way to Hong Kong to join her parents, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Jose Miguel Arroyo.

This was how the source recounted the turn of events:

The Arroyos were waiting in line at the Bureau of Immigration’s special lane for diplomats and VIPs when Luli saw that the foreigner had cut the line and the immigration officer had started processing his travel documents.

Luli went over to the officer and asked why he had allowed the foreigner to get ahead of everyone else.

To the surprise of onlookers, the officer snapped at Luli: “Hindi ka ba marunong maghintay (Don’t you know how to wait)?!”

What’s tragic is that the guy doesn’t even get it -- that the point is not that he failed to recognize the President’s daughter, but that he shouldn’t have done that to anyone, period.

Of all people, Luli’s someone who has never asked for special treatment or thrown her weight around -- those who’ve met her can vouch for that.

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eraserheads pa rin!

nobody@vox.com(babelmachine) — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 08:29:22 +0800

Para sa mga katulad ko na Eraserheads fans pa rin, here are two YouTube videos featuring exclusive interviews with the Eraserheads.

Here's the Eraserheads Story, Part 1:

Eraserheads Story Part (1)One Plus Torpedo

And the Eraserheads Story, Part 2.

Eraserheads Story Part (2) Two

What's your favorite Eraserheads song? Sure, they’ve had better songs since, but to me, “Pare Ko” pa rin! And it’s not the “langhiya” version, OK, heh.

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