http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/ en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:51:23 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.istorya.net/forums/images/zistorya/misc/rss.jpg http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/ http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/548-finally-104-pounds.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:51:52 GMT I used to weigh between 95-98 pounds, never over 100. Today I checked my weight, and voila, 104 lbs. I interpret this as a sign of progress.

And to think I don't even eat breakfast.

-RODION ]]> rodsky http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/548-finally-104-pounds.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/pinoyapache/545-istorya-blog-1-writing-for-the-sake-of-writing.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:19:53 GMT Featured www.pinoyapache.blogspot.com on January 1, 2008 (http://pinoyapache.blogspot.com/2008/01/writing-for-sake-of-writing-and-my.html) I AM NOT a writer. I was not trained to be one. I am not schooled in the ways and techniques in writing a story, an essay or a poem. I was schooled in the art of close-quarter combat and strategy and the enforcement of laws. I have never had need of a teacher to guide me on why, how, where, when and what should I write? Still, I persevered, and I discovered that writing gives me a kind of therapy and energy. It gives me utter joy as it released all my pent-up emotions and urges that have been bottled inside of me for years. Or, were they not called memories? The quest to write something is...Read more (press CTRL + mouse click) (http://pinoyapache.blogspot.com/2008/01/writing-for-sake-of-writing-and-my.html) Featured www.pinoyapache.blogspot.com on January 1, 2008

I AM NOT a writer. I was not trained to be one. I am not schooled in the ways and techniques in writing a story, an essay or a poem. I was schooled in the art of close-quarter combat and strategy and the enforcement of laws. I have never had need of a teacher to guide me on why, how, where, when and what should I write?

Still, I persevered, and I discovered that writing gives me a kind of therapy and energy. It gives me utter joy as it released all my pent-up emotions and urges that have been bottled inside of me for years. Or, were they not called memories?

The quest to write something is...Read more (press CTRL + mouse click) ]]> pinoyapache http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/pinoyapache/545-istorya-blog-1-writing-for-the-sake-of-writing.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/544-return-to-big-falcon.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:21:35 GMT Just sharing a video (technically it's called a "machinima") that we made, using Second Life as our "shooting location" :) Most of the objects seen in this video are made by us (i.e. the Voltes vehicles/robot, Camp Big Falcon, etc.) but other items are made by other content creators. The video is inspired by the Voltes V Ending Theme.

YouTube - Return to Big Falcon



Please watch, comment, share and enjoy :)

-RODION ]]> rodsky http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/544-return-to-big-falcon.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/541-kalcats-round-three.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:05:44 GMT Took these today...found them lounging on a stairway on a lazy Friday afternoon... Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/rodsky/composition/Img_0634a.jpg Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/rodsky/composition/Img_0640a.jpg Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/rodsky/composition/Img_0641a.jpg Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/rodsky/composition/Img_0654a.jpg Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/rodsky/composition/Img_0662a.jpg *Talk to the foot!* Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/rodsky/composition/Img_0674a.jpg *Talk to the paw!* Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/rodsky/composition/Img_0675a.jpg *Peekaboo* Image: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/rodsky/composition/Img_0676a.jpg -RODION Took these today...found them lounging on a stairway on a lazy Friday afternoon...











Talk to the foot!


Talk to the paw!


Peekaboo


-RODION ]]> rodsky http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/541-kalcats-round-three.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/539-starblazers-yamato-live-action-movie-coming.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:29:35 GMT I'm a big fan of Starblazers, the English version of the Japanese anime, Space Battleship Yamato. It was aired in the Philippines sometime between 1981-1986.

I recently heard that there will be a live-action (with CGI) remake version coming in December 2010, by a Japanese film company. I thought this is great, and I hope it's as good (or better) than the Astroboy remake.

Anyways I thought of making and putting up a video of the Argo (Yamato) in earth orbit, using an addon for Orbiter Space Flight simulator, with the Starblazers intro theme playing in the background...here's the result of 45 minutes worth of work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZIHRNFKquk

People in their mid or late 30's will hopefully feel nostalgic about this :)

There's also a Gatchaman (G-Force) remake in the works (from the same group who made Astroboy) but I haven't heard additional news about it yet.

-RODION ]]> rodsky http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/539-starblazers-yamato-live-action-movie-coming.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/luthienne/537-facebook.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:48:38 GMT My parents just befriended me on Facebook. Gulp. I'm no saint but most of the time I'm behaved. I don't have pictures of me getting drunk because I simply don't drink (this is not saying I'm better than others because I don't drink). I drink tiny gulps maybe once a year which is not enough for me to claim that I do drink. The 'evil' things I've done I don't talk about anywhere because I'm not proud of them and I'm just not the kind of person who updates all her friends about everything that's going on in her life. Still I found myself going over my FB page making sure it doesn't contain things that would make my parents' eyebrows raise. I'm glad I didn't take that "which *** position are you quiz?" and had it shown in my profile. Or did I? ]]> Luthienne http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/luthienne/537-facebook.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/531-kalcats-round-two.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:35:48 GMT These are actually older photos, than my first batch, but was too busy to upload them first. All these cats live where I live.

"Whaddaya Lookin' At?"


Encounter


Sleek as Night


The Classic Alley Cat


-RODION ]]> rodsky http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/531-kalcats-round-two.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/malic/527-made-in-the-image-of-god.html Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:39:35 GMT The God within you

I remember, if my memory serves me correctly, we can find in the bible a verse in plain delivery declaring that we were created in the image of God. Now, others for lack of proper investigation on the verse would quickly assume an interpretation that God looks like a human being since man were created in the image of God. I think that this position is coated with defective logic. God is spirit or should I say Ultimate Divine Reality is not made of flesh and bones, IT (God) can take on a human skin but its essence is spirit (non-flesh and bones).


So what is “made in the image of God” means?

This is my position, and I am anticipating opposition from the Christian camp, that the word “image” refers to that spirit inside of us and it resembles that which is Divine. In other words, we are the spark of the Divine Being whom we call God. We are not the skin and bones as the materialists would like us to think but we are made in the image of God in essence and beauty. It further means that we share the same qualities (unborn and eternal) of the Divine. This amazing realization would then take us to another verse found in the bible which says “know you not that ye are gods”? Now, I’m expecting a stronger opposition from the Christian camp. Imagine an ocean and a cup of liquid taken from that body of water. The ocean-water in the cup has the same quality and composition of the Ocean outside of the cup. In the same sense, our soul is taken from the Supersoul, therefore we share the same essence with the Divine. That’s who we are, a spark of the Divine trapped inside a human flesh.


Recapturing our original state

In the Garden of Eden, man after the fall, said to have been clothed by God with animal skin. Again, for lack of proper investigation, people would quickly take this to mean “an act of salvation and forgiveness” from God. From their perspective, the putting on of animal skin by God is suggesting an idea that there was a sacrifice of animals made for the forgiveness of their sins. Mystics particularly the cabbalists, the keeper of the ancient wisdom of the Hebrew race, suggest a different concept. The putting on of the animal skin was the moment where Adam was clothed with flesh.
The bible talks of being born again in the spirit. Well, it can be expounded differently. But if we are to interpret it under the light of esoteric knowledge, being born again in the spirit means that we are to awakened our spirit/soul nature, a spark of the Divine in us. The flesh created an illusion to the soul. It lulled the divine spark to dream land. This temporary “sleep state of the soul” is creating most of the problems facing mankind today, according to the Masters. To get rid of the problem we must eliminate its cause, the illusion.


How to destroy illusion?

I'll post it later. :thumbsup: ]]> Malic http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/malic/527-made-in-the-image-of-god.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/luthienne/523-so-where-is-ithaca.html Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:56:45 GMT Last Thursday I was browsing around the library while waiting for an important text message, and deliberately winding my way to the fiction corner, found a couple of author's names that were known to me. I saw the Wheel of Time series, although incomplete, stack up in one corner. Me and my brother have been wanting to collect all books from the series again - again because he lost the few copies that he had. Although I felt my eyes grow wide with excitement for a while, I didn't pick these books; I wanted something not too thick to read. I saw Dean Koontz, whose books (a few and none of them I can remember, sorry to Dean Koont'z fans) I started reading when I was in highschool just before I discovered Anne Rice and Stephen King, and lastly Paolo Coelho. I picked Paolo Coehlo's The Zahir and went to find a table.

Eleven Minutes, the last Paolo Coelho book that I read disappointed me. I mean it's not that he couldn't write, it's just that his writing failed to consistently want me turning the pages with beloved urgency. I had to skip pages because I felt the story has been dragged out too long.

I flipped the front cover of the book, read about who it was dedicated to and the meaning of the word zahir which is Arabic in origin and very interesting. Then on one page was written a poem, which is what this blog post is really all about - I wanted to post the poem. :D


Ithaca by Constantine P Cavafy

When you set out for Ithaka
ask that your way be long,
full of adventure, full of instruction.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - do not fear them:
such as these you will never find
as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare
emotion touch your spirit and your body.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - you will not meet them
unless you carry them in your soul,
unless your soul raise them up before you.

Ask that your way be long.
At many a Summer dawn to enter
with what gratitude, what joy -
ports seen for the first time;
to stop at Phoenician trading centres,
and to buy good merchandise,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensuous perfumes of every kind,
sensuous perfumes as lavishly as you can;
to visit many Egyptian cities,
to gather stores of knowledge from the learned.

Have Ithaka always in your mind.
Your arrival there is what you are destined for.
But don't in the least hurry the journey.
Better it last for years,
so that when you reach the island you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to give you wealth.
Ithaka gave you a splendid journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She hasn't anything else to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka hasn't deceived you.
So wise you have become, of such experience,
that already you'll have understood what these Ithakas mean.

The poem gave me goosebumps. I'm lovin' it and it's now one of my favorites; thanks to Paolo Coelho for putting it in his book. Although, when I read the first few pages of The Zahir, I uhhh... couldn't go on. I'm not a hater. The first Coehlo book that I read was The Alchemist, about six years ago, and I loved it. It's just that sometimes, when I cease liking something the way I used to, like a book or an author that once had a profound effect on me, it makes me wonder and ask "what changed?" And with that question comes a tinge of sadness that I couldn't quite put my finger on to explain. Then again maybe, that's just part of my journey to Ithaca. ]]> Luthienne http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/luthienne/523-so-where-is-ithaca.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/520-moonworld-a-lunar-mission-simulation.html Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:44:21 GMT I want to share this effort made possible with assistance from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The project is spearheaded by the Center for Educational Technologies ( http://www.cet.edu/? ) based at Wheeling Jesuit University ( WSJ, http://www.wju.edu/ ), with our company, Avatrian LLC ( http://www.avatrian.com ) providing the content work and programming. This is what's been keeping me busy for the past 3-4 months.

This "music video" we made are based on film clips we took of the simulator itself. This whole experience runs inside the virtual world of Second Life ( http://www.secondlife.com ).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXpTKp35clg

It looks fun, but this is a serious learning and training tool. Mission Specialists will have the chance to visit the Timocharis Crater area of the moon, sample rocks, drill a core sample, drive a lunar rover while visiting no less than 16 sample sites. You only have 2 hours of air in your Life Support system. Once you finish the sampling, proceed to the Research Facility to analyze your samples and check the knowledge you have gained while on the mission. See if you have what it takes to be a Lunar Explorer.

MoonWorld will be open to the general public sometime this week.

-RODION ]]> rodsky http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/520-moonworld-a-lunar-mission-simulation.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/519-kalcat-photography.html Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:09:00 GMT I see cats all over the Lahug area. The place I live is full of cats, and also the place I work. About time I took photos of them. Yes I like cats better than dogs.







I call them "KalCats"...Kalye Cats :D

Taken with my Canon PowerShot S3IS.

More soon.

-RODION ]]> rodsky http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/519-kalcat-photography.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/518-recent-book-purchases-part-deux.html Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:36:54 GMT Warrior face on.


Story of ill-fated "Operation Red Wing", from the eyes of the lone surviving SEAL TEAM 10 member, Marcus Luttrell.


Rickenbacker hunts the Red Baron!!!

To complete the warrior face...I actually cut my hair. Feels good to get rid of all that extra weight hehe. "Hi speed, low drag." (insert Rainbow Six theme here)

-RODION ]]> rodsky http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/rodsky/518-recent-book-purchases-part-deux.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/soul-doctor/516-why-ill-never-miss-marikina.html Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:55:43 GMT The first time I was in Marikina was June 19, 2007.
I went there to promote Powerchess since I heard people there were very sports minded. It was just a side trip though. I planned to play Powerchess with GM Eugene Torre that time. We were scheduled to meet in the evening at the Richmonde hotel in Ortigas.
So I have time to visit Marikina that day. I took a jeepney from a terminal in Farmers Cubao to Marikina.

As soon as I got there I was really impressed.
It was clean as a church.
You could not find a piece of candy wrapper or ice water plastic in the road side.
No cigarette butts anywhere as you normally see everywhere else.
The first few minutes i wanted to live there when I get old.
I was hungry so I looked for a carenderia.
I ordered a pancit palabok.
The palabok was ordinay.
Not much spiciness, and no life in the flavor.

I noticed that people there were cold.
They do not greet each other even if you knew they knew each other.
Business were noticeably slow compared to other places like Cebu.

As I entered their sports center, I was amazed how big it is.
It was ten times as big as the Cebu City Sports Center in Abellana school.
Parents bring their children there. They all looked very competitive, children and parents. Still they are colder compared to Cebuanos.
I introduced powerchess there for an hour.

When I went out of the sports center, I meet a family walking towards me.
Though there were other people there too.
But this family caught my attention.
An older woman was laughing
and seems to be throwing a joke at a young couple and their child.
Suddenly the younger woman screamed at her mother, hit her in the forearm and started cursing her.
What was odd was that the crowd acted like it was natural.
I was the only one standing there watching while people just pass around them like nothing happened.
In my mind, I wonder if people there are that cold. So cold that they don't care what other people do as long as they are not violating their laws or city ordinances.

I was riding the jeep back for cubao when we passed a residence there where a helper was watering the plants with a water hose.
Soon a lady came out of the house and slap the poor girl in the face and scolded her for using the hose. Again, I noticed that the passengers are not reacting to the scene. They act like it was a normal thing to do-- slapping a helper.
It was then that I realized that I do not want to live in that place anymore.
I think people there are so preoccupied with cleaning their surroundings that they forget to be human.
The government there is very strict that they lost their hearts in the process.
I pity the people living there.

Now after Ondoy.
You could see that they do not help each other like Cebuanos do.
Its funny what nature did to the cleanest city in the country.

I still believe that relationships with other people is much more important than cleanliness. ]]> Soul Doctor http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/soul-doctor/516-why-ill-never-miss-marikina.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/demonociety/513-von-satanic-blood-angel-album.html Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:03:29 GMT Image: http://i38.tinypic.com/11mayva.jpg ]]> DEMONOCIETY http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/demonociety/513-von-satanic-blood-angel-album.html http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/demonociety/512-sleepy-hollow-1989-1992-rest-in-pieces.html Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:01:45 GMT Image: http://i34.tinypic.com/23ic56o.jpg ]]> DEMONOCIETY http://www.istorya.net/forums/blogs/demonociety/512-sleepy-hollow-1989-1992-rest-in-pieces.html