Sample Photos for our upcoming calendar and photobook collection

Gambling and mental sharpness

My nephew, a registered nurse, and a computer science graduate (yes, the tendency to take multiple courses runs in the blood) took an exam to be poker dealer for PAGCOR. Well, He took an exam to be nurse for PAGCOR and he passed --- that is not the point. PAGCOR was also giving out tests, all math-related...and if you passed, you get to be a dealer. Now why the heck do u want to be a dealer? simple, aside from the tips you get, the salary is basically higher than that of the nurse's. What's the catch? you have to pass the test first. Easy? sure, you just have to mentally calculate complicated mathematical equations. Perfect. and oh, my nephew failed...along with the whole batch who took the test. *ahahaha! Not a very bright bunch...

we get to laugh at it because the whole group failed...if he was the only one who failed...I would not have laughed as much as I did, I'd be plotting to murder him because of the disgrace he's brought to the family.

Ironically, we are a family of accountants. My dad, my three 3 brothers, my sisters, not to mention my in laws. We had an accounting firm and I see people of great skill in math coming in and out of the house everyday...Sadly their genius on numbers did not rub on me...or on my nephew.

My dad and his friends also has this monthly casino thingie that they do for charity. I never was able to attend those...well, mingling with people who cannot hear you is not fun, so I was not motivated... (nyehehehe)

Anyways, I stumbled on an online casino thingie -- ooops, i didn't know that, never thought that online casinos are existing... I mean, I've seen stuff and I've seen advertisement, but never really thought it as a huge thingie...wow...I got lulled at how complicated it is. Click on the link to see what I mean. They have instruction and manuals that makes me wanna say waaaahhhh!!!!

It looks fun though , and i got into browsing it and stuff...and got dizzy for a moment.

One thing I noticed though is that, gambling, whether its online or not, creates a great requirement -- one must be a genius in mental calculations. I used to look at people gambling as something weird, but the inner workings of the game and the brain ticking behind their very composed posture is something I did not expect to be very sharp.

It's not actually a matter of luck, but a matter of being able to calculate your opponents "cards" by studying his throws and his expression and posture. That's why, they sit still, expressionless, and more like a statue than a player, because every sense of given emotion and expression is actually a variable for them to understand what numbers you may have in front of you. of course...this is no mental telepathy, and this is not really that accurate, but isn't math also about probabilities?

as the chinese say, they don't try their luck...they gamble. Pretty accurate in terms of how we're supposed to face the future, right?

Please nod. Perfect. It's not a matter

let me round you guys up...

We will be having an event where all business owners, budding enterpreneurs, and all people who are thinking of starting up their businesses are invited. No, it won't be a business convention, it's gonna be a party where business cards exchange is required. There will be performers and a little fashion show to entertain everyone.

This is a party as an introduction to next year's high profile business event where we would only exclusively invite business owners who participated on this party to meet with invited foreign guests and investors.

Will post details when date and time is confirmed.

Sponsorship is welcome. contact me for details, leahvalle@gmail.com

We will be printing calendars and a photo book featuring our sponsor's products and services with their business details and contact information.

camping up for wordpress

never thought newsletter and the like are actually that important, until i learned about this upcoming event for september.

When I received my update of posts from the mindanao blogger's community newsletter my eyes just swept on the current discussion taking place...and hola, I saw the word wordcamp in flashing lights similar to that of the 60's old cabaret headers that shouts the name of the performers entertaining tonight...except that wordcamp cannot dance like sexy showgirls...it doesn't have feet to begin with...but this one word has brought out an excited flutter of feelings within me...that i can almost see me raising my leg alternately doing the new york, new york routine. Not that I know how to...but hey tyson bit his opponents ear and i forgave him, why can't i do a fab routine in a sucky way and can't be forgiven...and besides, well-kept heartaches are deadly, it can result to a heart attack -- see? sentimental dudes don't last that long on this earth... they either get hit by a bus becuase they are not very mindful of where they are going or they just go eck! as they fall forward (if the attack didn't kill them, the rock hitting their head when they hit the ground surely will -- heeh morbid)...

anyways, going back to the real reason of this post --

attending the wordpress camp in manila is obviously the first choice to be able to attend a formal event in terms of blogging and stuff for me...and although it is just an hour flight from davao - acquiring a ticket -- no, spending money to buy a ticket, getting a hotel room, being in a place i could never ever understand the directions, and being in the middle of people talking in tagalog fluently when i have a hard time composing tagalog sentences and saying them correctly, accent-wise, is a risk I've been brooding over these past few weeks...

apparently, i'm not alone...turned out majority of us living in davao cannot go to manila for various reasons -- my gosh, it would be a sight to flock in NAIA all speaking in visayan, with the exception of few people who would try to speak in tagalog regardless of the hard southern accent -hehee (we'd drive the guards crazy...) -- by virtue of luck and wishful thinking -- WordCamp is crawling its way here! wohoo!

I just registered and am happy I did. I wonder what type of event this will be... I bet almost all of the bloggers attending will individually haul their laptops as they grope to simultaneously apply whatever bitty-boo taught by whoever-wordpress-master- is-in-charge-of-scrambling-our-poor-brains. Regardless if how it will be, I bet it will be something I'll be very happy about, scrambled brains and all. (Eoow, i just had a vision of someone opening the upper part of my head, as if it was a lid, and stirring it with my brains turning all goooey....gross).

anyways, wordcamp will be one sept. 4, 2 days before the manila wordpress camp...nyeheheh! so that meansMatt Mullenweg, the founder of Automattic, is coming first before he face the blogger crowd of manila in WordCamp Philippines 2008 ...

that means, if all of us, Davao Bloggers, unite to capture him and put him in a sack, to hang from a sturdy jackfruit tree, the wordpress camp in manila is gonna be missing one important person... the most important guest in their event, actually...

I wonder if he goes missing, will they be able to figure out that their beloved Mr. Mullenweg is missing in action...will they be able to find him on time before the victim gets a stomachache from his hanging jackfruit buffet ?-- or before the bow breaks... whichever gives in first...

i'm just kinda confused with the schedule...on the registration form, it starts around 6pm-10pm...when you click the schedule...it starts early...or i just missed something? -- like the two sets of activities are actually happening on different dates? sheeesh... now i'm embarrassed... help?

anyways, here are the list of the sponsors that made this all possible to happen:

• i.PH: the Domain for Individuals
• Free Online Flash Games
• Wazzup Manila Philippines
• Real Estate CRM
• Real Estate Website Designers
• Orange County Real Estate
• Auto Insurance Quotes
• Lane Systems Inc.
• RedMedia
• Orange County Business Lawyer

ps - please don't mind that it is being posted in blogger -- this blog baby has already been a personal favorite not for any specific reason -- anyways, i'd like to make it clear that i do have a wordpress blog...

really =D