akosiallan

Will it be David vs David in the Final Showdown?

That will be the question for tomorrow’s American Idol.   Earlier this evening, I was able to watch the first songs of the top 3 American Idol contestants.  I thought the performances didn’t really make someone stood out. 

They had pretty much the same performance as their previous weeks style and it made the show a bit predictable.  The requested songs from the judges suited the contestant’s style, except for David Cook’s rendition of “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face”.  The song was requested by Simon Cowell, perhaps to see how the hard rock artist would perform the non-rock, sweet melodic song of Roberta Flack.  It’s obvious from David’s reaction upon receiving the SMS message from Simon and tonight’s performance that it wasn’t easy for him.  It was not David’s best performance, but he also did not make a mess of himself.  It’s amazing how he was able to sustain his voice during the successive long and high notes at the end of the song. 

David Archuleta sang “And So It Goes” as requested by Paula Abdul.  David’s rendition is as expected: very soothing, not forced, but also did not make David the odds on favorite for the night. 

Syesha Mercado, on the other hand, sang “If I Ain’t Got You”.  It’s also a tricky song.  The fact that the song is very popular made it hard for her to create some personal touches and not mess up.  She did not mess up.  But she also did not put on an unforgettable performance.  

In the end, everyone played it safe.  I think this will work out to the two David’s advantage.  But who knows?  Perhaps, America has other ideas in mind.  So, will it be the two Davids in the final showdown?  Or will it be Syesha and one David?  Who will it be?

I have just downloaded and installed Windows Live Writer on my laptop.  Let’s see how this post will look like in my blog.  But first, let me try to change the font color to blue.  This looks fun.  The good thing about the Windows Live Writer is that it looks like a standard Microsoft Word document.  It has the same menu and word formatting features.  Well, it’s from my Microsoft… =)

Now, let me just try to insert one of my favorite pictures. 

This was taken during my trip to Chicago.   On my background is a big, shiny, droplet-looking thing they call “The Bean”.

Ok, what else can I do?

• hhmmm…I can try to create a bullet point..
• and another bullet point…
• and some more…

Alright, that’s enough for now. 

The 2008 Thomas Uber Cup just got underway this afternoon.  It is one of the most prestigious badminton tournaments in the world.   The tournament is different from the Badminton Super Series in that it is a team event, where each country has its own team.  The teams battle each other in men’s singles and men’s doubles for the Thomas Cup and the women’s singles and doubles for the Uber Cup.  Throughout its history, the tournament has been dominated by Indonesia with 13 titles, followed by China with 6 titles and Malaysia, 5 titles.

This year’s host is Indonesia.  Their team will be led by the men’s singles olympic champion Taufik Hidayat.  The Indonesian crowd and the fans will surely rute for their home team.  But the defending champion  China will have a lot to say.  Their top 3 men’s singles players Lin Dan, Bao Chunlai and Chen Jin, World ranked 1, 3 and 4 respectively, will definitely set the shutlles blazing with their awesome smashes.  On the other end, Malaysia is also claiming that this is their year.  After a long drought in the tournament, their team will be depending on men’s singles world number 2, Lee Chong Wei and their men’s doubles badminton players Koo Kien Kiat and Tan Boon Heong to carry them through the finals and capture the title.

The tournament has just started and it’s a long way to go.  Who will capture the title this year?  Will it be host Indonesia?  Will it be the defending champion China?  Or will it be powerhouse Malaysia?

I’ve been watching “Chuck” the past few days.  It’s a new TV series about an ordinary guy, “Chuck”, who  accidentally uploaded secret government information into his brain by reading an email from his spy friend “Bryce”.   He has a very high capacity for absorbing information and got himself recruited by the CIA and NSA unknowingly.  He works at “Buy More”, an electronic shop who sells and supports electronic gadgets, computers and laptops.   Working with him in the “Buy More” store are funny guys who remind me of the “Geek Squad”.  I like this show.  It’s funny, not so emotional, and entertaining.  It makes me laugh.  Got to get back to the TV. =)

I love going to the beach.  The clear water, the white sand beach and the twinking stars at night make the beach so peaceful.  One of the best beaches I’ve been to is Boracay in the Philippines.   The above picture of Boracay beach was taken last December.  Notice how clear the water is?  It’s very beautiful.  I can’t wait to go the beach again soon…perhaps checkout Palawan…or Bohol?

I’ve just watched American Idol. As usual, David Archuleta and David Cook both put on very strong performances tonight. One David is a hardcore rock artist. The other one is a balladeer. I hope they get to the final showdown. It’d be one hell of a show.

It’s a bit of a challenge to compare the two though since they are very good in their own genre’s. Who’s to say that the rocker is better than the balladeer? Perhaps those who like rock. But all those who like ballad would surely love to hear the other one sing. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. There’s really no point in comparing. Which reminds me, American Idol is an entertainment business after all.

In the end, they are both very good singers. Any of the two will surely make a great album. Selling the album will be another story.

I’m watching “Life”, the TV Series. It is not as witty and surprising as “House”, and it is also not as scientific looking as CSI, although they both deal with crime. I guess, it has its own merit in terms of connecting all the episodes together on a central idea, to know who was responsible for framing the main character up. The TV show also tries to make it appear as a “reality” show by inserting some interview clips of people around him, the same trick the “Friday Night Lights” TV show overdid on season 1. I have watched only a few episodes. I’m not as hooked as when I watched “Heroes” the first time. It’s still a long season to go. Maybe there will be some surprises along the way. Until then, I’ll have to enjoy this one for now.

I’m craving for “danggit”, fried “dilis”, salted egg, fried eggplant with bagoong or soy sauce with “kalamansi”. I really love my favorite longganisa, adobo, and Purefoods tender juicy hotdog. Of course, nothing is good unless there’s rice. “Sinangag”, the Filipino fried rice in garlic or soy sauce, or just plain rice, is the best partner for these delicious treats. I miss having breakfast in the Philippines.

Top it up with a nice “barako” coffee from Batangas and it surely is a great breakfast in the taking.

I’ve been watching the NBA playoffs these past few weeks. Just this morning I checked out the NBA website and was surprised to see all playoff teams already in the second round except for the Boston Celtics. Boston Celtics had the best record of the season. They have the “big three” superstars Allen, Garnett and Pierce. It’s even more surprising to see that the reason they are not yet in the second round is that an 8-seeded Atlanta Hawks team forced them to a game 7. Atlanta Hawks, the team with more losses than wins during the season, the team with young talents.

I can’t wait to see game 7. Will the Boston Celtics choke? Will the Atlanta Hawks pull out the biggest upset of all time? It remains to be seen. But it certainly is entertaining.

I’m fond of going to the bookstore and see if there’s anything new. I like to read on the lives of great people. I’d like to know how they think, how they got to where they are, what they stand for.

After reading iWoz, a book written by Steve Wozniak, I had a renewed appreciation for Engineers. Steve Wozniak is an Engineer by profession and he created the Apple II computer. He is an excellent designer, using as few chips as possible, continuously making improvements, finding delight in the thought of beating himself.

In some ways, reading the book made me remember the wonderful days I had working with chips as a student. I worked on some small projects at school. At one time, I had to attach a keypad and an LCD display on a microprocessor chip, added a few resistors, capacitors, transistors and make it do some neat things. If you type in a number on the keypad, the number appears on the LCD and then starts counting down. Once it reaches zero, it blinks three times as if to explode. It’s a bit scary walking around with it going to the malls. The security guys might mistake it for a bomb and have me arrested.

At one point, I was also involved in creating a fingerprint-identification system for use on office time-in/time-out. I can still remember my delight when I was able to make the thing work at the middle of the night. There I was, watching my own fingerprint on the computer screen, smiling up to my ears, as if seeing the face of a beautiful girl.

I guess, I just miss those days. It was a wonderful experience. I hope I get to experience the same feeling again in the future.