Journey: Revelation

Revelation is finally out!  According to Wal-Mart Journey’s latest 3-disc set album has sold 104,000 copies in its debut week, their biggest since 1996 (Trial By Fire). In the Billboard Top 100 album it’s sitting at No. 6 and No.1 on the independent and pop charts. There’s something to be orgullo here for the voice behind the rock band is You Tube phenom Filipino singer-songwriter Arnel Pineda, if you do not know him yet here 1 2 3. According to the website New York Times hailed: “…the band seems to have taken rock vitamins: it feels alive.”

Had listened 9 (of 11) new tracks and if you’re a hardcore it’s the ultimate fan collection. Pineda’s vocals has resonated Steve Perry’s soaring tenor though Perry’s voice is unique and no one can replace him — but Pineda’s voice will get you 80s nostalgic again somehow, I was looking for rock ballads which they found fame for … of  the 11 brand-new tracks my personal favorite were After All These Years, Like A Sunflower, Never Walk Away and Faith in the Heartland.

Komiks

What’s in a name? If you’re familiar with them then you belong to the lucky ones who’ve witnessed Philippine komiks during its glory days but if not then you’ve missed a lot, these are just few signatures of (my) most admired pencillers/inkers. Growing up reading at the pasillo of the supermarket is worth cherishing during the martial law era. Some of them are I hope still kicking well as they will linger in my noggin ’till dementia. From the popular Mar T. Santana, Joey and Louie Celerio, Abel Laxamana, Gonzales, Jim Fernandez, Rico Rival, Floro Dery, Tony Henson, Rod Santiago et.al. I will not forget da man, Carlo J. Caparas without his imagination nothing would have been made (I happened to watch a segment dedicated to him and the komiks industry over ANCs Story Line). Komiks immortals such as Flavio, Invinzor, Totoy Bato, Mong, Shanghai Joe, Zuma, Joaquin Bordado, Bakekang, Banaba etc. etc. made me appreciate art deeper despite not being good at it.

How I was wish I could go back in time and pursue fine arts in college, my parents could not afford (even now) sending their kids to Manila and choose preferred courses. I grew on these komiks and even taught myself to draw. Resurrecting the komiks industry now will never be as successful compared to 70s/80s especially how technology changed this generation.  The new breed such as Leinel Yu, Whilce Portacio, Chester Ocampo, Gerry Alanguilan, Francis Manapul, Lan Medina et.al are now respected for their skills outside the Philippines working with DC, Marvel, Top Cow must have been inspired by old great Pinoy pencillers/inkers.

Spread Firefox

8 Million plus downloads in just 24 hours and as the tagline puts it will change the way you use the web, which has been for me – a (very) satisfied Mozilla Firefox [download here] user since its introduction in 2004.

Significant changes in version 3: Cairo used as a graphics backend. Cocoa Widgets included in OS X builds. APIs implemented from WHATWG specs. Changes to how DOM events are dispatched, how HTML object elements are loaded, and how web pages are rendered. New SVG elements and filters, and improved SVG specification compliance. Acid2 test compliant. New UI improvements, including default themes for different operating systems and new download manager. Windows 95, 98, ME, Mac OS X v10.3.9 and lower, and GTK+ 2.8 and lower are no longer supported. Addons.mozilla.org integration in the Add-ons window. Support for APNG files. Wikipedia