Earth Hour

Saturday, July 28, 2012

More Labbits on the Way!

Kidrobot has just released their 8-Deadly Sins Labbits when they surprised us with another set of Labbits! This time the Smorkin' Labbits, now with fried chicken.


The new18 enticing character designs by Frank Kozik feature Labbit at war, glossy, camouflaged, royal, hungry, clear, chatty, bolted, nuclear, detained, cut up, bloody, dotted, and of course, armed with chicken.  They're so outrageous, they're addictive!  I for one would get a case of these critters once they come out.


These will be available on August 9 at Kidrobot stores, kidrobot.com, and select retailers. Each of these Smorkin’ Labbits retails for $4.95 US.  Hopefully, they also come to our shores just like the Happy Mini Labbits.


(all images from kidrobot.com)



Friday, July 27, 2012

Two Rainy Days in Hong Kong

I just got back from a two days, two nights vacation in Hong Kong.  I planned this trip in February so I didn't have the idea what the weather would be like.  It turned out that my vacation would be a very wet one.

I arrived in Hong Kong the day after a strong typhoon hit the city.  We could not disembark from our plane for almost an hour because of the heavy rains and strong winds that buffeted the airport.  When I reached Mong Kok where I stayed during my vacation, the effects of the storm were still evident as broken umbrellas and other debris were strewn in the streets.



My trips to Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park Hong Kong were also rain drenched.  The rains were even worse on the second day when I was at Ocean Park that I wasn't able to shoot pictures  Some of the attractions were also closed thanks to the inclement weather. 




 But the rains did not stop people from visiting these places.  Perhaps they also set their trip way in advance just like what I did.  So lesson learned.  Do not visit Hong Kong during typhoon season which falls on July to November.



Saturday, July 14, 2012

Kronk x Kozik = 8 Deadly Sins Labbit Series

I just got my Happy Mini Labbits last Thursday and look what Kidrobot revealed with this weekend! Another series for Frank Kozik's iconic smorkin Labbits, this time committing the 8 Deadly Sins!  (Hmmm... my memory says there are only 7 deadly or capital sins though.)



South African native designer Kronk makes the smorkin' labbits even badder by committing "the oldest sins, the newest kind of ways".  These 2.5-inch vinyl figures embody the vices that have plagued us all since creation.  Which is Labbit’s favorite: Greed or Lust? Pride or Wrath? Gluttony or Sloth? Envy or Dejection?


These will definitely be part of my collection!  They are bigger than the usual 1.5-inch mini Labbits and will come with a US$9.95 price tag per blind box.  Find your vice on July 26 at kidrobot.com, Kidrobot stores and select retailers worldwide.  


(all images from kidrobot.com)




Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Dolphy, 83



DOLPHY
1928-2012



Thanks for the gift of laughter. From Jack en Jill to John 'n Marsha to Home Along da Riles, you brought funny and familiar moments to many of us.  May you rest in peace.



Stache Labbit Plush Yellow and Purple

Look what Frank Kozik came up for Kidrobot this time! Two color variants of plush mustachioed labbits.  In yellow or purple, this cuddly labbits scream CUTE and I just want to get my hands around one of them.




Available in 7 and 14-inch sizes, these icons retail for US$17.95 and US$39.95 respectively, hopping on shelves at Kidrobot stores, kidrobot.com, and select retailers July 26.  I wish one of the local specialty toy stores bring them here soon.




Anyway, whether you are looking for some yellow sunshine or purple haze, these mustachioed and vibrant labbits are good clean fuzzball fun.  

(all images from kidrobot.com)



Friday, July 6, 2012

PH Finally Gets its iTunes Store

Apple announced this week the launch of iTunes in several Asian countries including the Philippines.  This is good news for us who have an iOS device or two as we now have access to songs, apps and movies that were previously unavailable to us.  These include music from local artists, of course.  Not only that, we can now also shop for books under the iBookstore.

It is only about time that we have our own iTunes Store.  Before this, I can only populate my iPod through ripping my CD.  The only way I can download music and books from iTunes is to ask my sister to get me an iTunes Music Store prepaid card or buy one from an online seller at a higher price.  Now, I can use my local credit card to gain access to all of the goods.

Moreover, Asia is one of the fastest growing markets for Apple products.  Since many of their gadgets now come sans optical drives, Apple users here have no option but to download iOS and Mac OSX software from iTunes or the Appstore.  

iTunes music store has been online since 2003 and after almost ten years, it's here.  Well, better late than never.  Welcome to the Philippines iTunes!



Saturday, June 30, 2012

Severe Thunderstorms down Instagram, Pinterest

Thanks to Mother Nature two of my favorite  web sites went down today.

Severe thunderstorms in North Virginia caused an outage to the Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud, which took down Instagram, Pinterest, Netflix and other cloud based sites.  

Although the sites have a local hub here in Asia, it appears that all services are still routed to North America. Hence, this problem. 

I tried loading some pictures on Instagram and either I waited for eternity for the site to come up or I just got pieces of it.  Netizens expressed their frustrations on Twitter and and the affected companies also took to social networking sites to send their messages that they're having some technical problems and were fixing it.  

It's not the first time that Amazon's cloud server was affected by outages due to weather. Many tech experts are beginning to worry that this may lead some industries to have second thoughts on embracing the cloud technology.



Saturday, June 23, 2012

Micrsoft Unveils the Surface

Microsoft recently announced its own tablet called the Surface.  It is a 10-inch tablet that comes with a touch screen.  The Surface will come in two flavors - one with an ARM processor that will run on Windows RT, and the other powered by Intel's Ivy Bridge chip running on Windows 8.


Another difference between the two machines is their thickness and weight.  The Windows RT Surface comes in at 9.3 mm thin and weighs 676 grams.  The Windows 8 Pro version is a bit heftier at 13.5 mm and 903 grams.  Microsoft touts the casing as a product of a unique approach and calls it the VaporMg (pronounced as Vapor Mag) which resulted to the thinner form factor of both machines.  It also enabled the inclusion of a kickstand to its design.

And yes, it has a 3 mm touch cover that clicks in on the spine of the Surface.  Microsoft took a swipe at Apple by saying that the pressure sensitive technology on the touch cover allows a user to touch type faster than on an on-screen keyboard.  The user can also add a thin click on cover that will make typing more natural.

It's not even out in the market yet but there already those who give this new gadget the death sentence.  One of them is even a Microsoft partner: an Acer executive declared that the Surface will be a total flop.  Online analysts believe that this must have stemmed from the fact that the company will now directly compete with its hardware manufacturing partners.

We'll find out about that once the machine hits the market.  For now, Microsoft has not even announced when the Surface will, umm, surface in the market and at how much.

(all images from microsoft.com/surface)



Sunday, June 17, 2012

ToyCon 2012: Met Angry Woebots

I was at the ToyCon 2012 this afternoon just to watch the Cosplay Competition.  I also got some ThreeA WWRp Armstrong at the VinylonVinyl booth this afternoon.  Who would be at their booth but no less than Angry Woebots! 


Angry Woebots


Aaron Martin was there to sign autographs and do some customizing of his famous panda figures.  I ended up getting one of his sketches. Sorry for the bad photo I only have my iPhone4 with me.


Angry Woebots

Angry Woebots at ToyCon 2012




Monday, June 11, 2012

Apple WWDC 2012




In a few hours, Apple CEO Tim Cook will deliver his keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2012,  The keynote address during the WWDC has always been anticipated part of the event and I suppose will also be this year.  It's when the late great Steve Jobs usually revealed what the company will release in the succeeding months.

Since a few months ago the Apple blog universe has been full of rumors of what Cook will reveal this year.  Apple itself has revealed at least two products that will be announced during the keynote and these include:



Mac OSX Mountain Lion.  The latest iteration of the Mac's operating system.  It will reportedly include the following features: Notification Center, iMessages, iCloud, Airplay and more.  Apple touts the new Mac OS X as inspired by the iPad and re-imagined for the Mac.  I won't be downloading this one immediately though and perhaps just wait for it to be available in the next generation Macs which I intend to buy anyway.


iOS6. This one is expected.  Photos of banners for  iOS 6 being put up circulated in the Internet days ago.  What it includes are still up in the air but rumors are rife with Facebook integration like Twitter in iOS 5, a Siri for iPad. The biggest addition to the iOS would be Apple's own mapping solution which could replace google maps in all our iOS devices.

from cnet

Because of iOS 6, many speculate that Cook will also announce the next generation iPhone. Also, there have been sightings of alleged parts of the next iPhone which led people to believe the announcement more likely to happen.   I highly doubt it though.  The announcement for Apple's smartphone has its own event usually in September or October.  So I think Apple will stick to that schedule.

There are also stories about updates of several Macs including the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air , the iMac and the Mac Pro.  Aside from thinner MacBooks, there are rumors about Retina Display on the iMac and all Mac portables.  I am not an expert on this one and I will wait for Cook's announcement.  But Retina Display and touch capability on the iMac are features that will definitely make me get one.

These are the things that I will be waiting for later.  I might stay up late tonight and hang around the sites that will have a live coverage of the event.



Saturday, June 9, 2012

Meet Puck from Okedoki X VTSS

Meet Puck, a cute little pug designed by Okedoki and produced by VTSS Toys.  He is coming out on July 5.  We're a lucky bunch because we're one of only 5 countries where Puck will be released.



Below is the colorway for our country which will be available from SecretFresh.  Only 30 pieces will be available for all of us.



Watch the video below to know more about this cute doggie.







Friday, June 8, 2012

DUNNY Series 2012



Kidrobot has finally taken the lid off the 2012 iteration of its popular Dunny Series yesterday.  This year's series features the handiworks of artists Andrew Bell, Attaboy, Scribe, Jeremiah Ketner, Jon-Paul Kaiser, Junko Mizuno, Kronk, MAD, Mauro Gatti, Sergio Mancini, Nakanari, Pac23, Tara McPherson, and Triclops Studio.  Those who would buy a case will get their hands on an exclusive dunny by Sucklord.  





The 2012 Dunny Series will be available online and in Kidrobot stores and retailers worldwide on June 21.  Hopefully these figures get to our shores.  I hope to get the Tara McPherson and Andrew Bell figures.


(all images from kidrobot.com)





Friday, June 1, 2012

Bourne Legacy Official Theatrical Trailer

I just got a look at the official theatrical trailer of Bourne Legacy starring Jeremy Renner.  This is the film that was shot here earlier this year and got local government officials pumped up over the "benefits" the country will get from the experience.

One can get from the trailer that there was this project that created an elite force and Jason Bourne is just one of them.  One agent happened to be this new character played by Renner. What the trailer did not say is why he is in Manila.  

The streets of Manila looked so glossy and yet the chaos cannot be denied. And honestly, I never thought I would see a public utility jeepney involved in a car chase scene of a Hollywood movie! The movie opens in August.  In the meantime, take a look at the trailer below (from youtube.com).





Thursday, May 31, 2012

Secret Fresh releases Puchaa 06.02.12

Secret Fresh is all set to release this Saturday, June 2 its latest exclusive toy named PUCHAA.  A collaboration between Huck Gee and Christian Tamondong, Puchaa is a mix of a tea cup based on Tamondong's painting and Huck Gee's signature angel-winged skull-headed Puto.



photos from Secret Fresh


Huck Gee is now in town to personally sign the Puchaa figures of fans and collectors.  By the way, the  release is limited to just 50 pieces.  Head to Secret Fresh this Saturday at 2:30 PM to add Puchaa to your collection.


photo by Rommel Chua


Secret Fresh is at the Ground Floor of RONAC Art Center, Ortigas Ave,, Greenhills, San Juan Metro Manila.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A slew of labbits

I think it will be a very busy year for my pocket. I've just purchased two version of Frank Kozik's labbits (the glossy and bondage) that were released this year when news came out of his latest creation, the pink and blue clear smorkin' labbits.



It's been almost a month since Kidrobot released the clear labbits and they still have not reached our shores.  I am still waiting for their arrival here and availability in my favorite local store when Kidrobot announced the release of mini Labbits happy version next week (June 7).


from kidrobot.com


I am so tempted to buy a case of these labbits from an online store and have them shipped here.  My only problem is customs might charge me more than what I paid for the figures. Sigh...





Friday, May 4, 2012

Tennis Pro


Tennis Pro
Originally uploaded by Rom Asuncion
I got this as a birthday gift. It's an 8-inch Dunny created by Frank Kozik for the Swatch x Kidrobot collaboration. It also comes with a transparent Swatch.

According to online sources, Kozik does not play tennis so it was quite a surprise that he called this toy a tennis pro.





















Saturday, March 24, 2012

Defending Jacob: A Family Drama (SPOILER ALERT)

Defending Jacob by William Landay is a court drama, a family story, a suspense-thriller all rolled into one. The story is told to us by the father, Andy Barber, the First Assistant District Attorney of a small town in Massachusetts whose life and career took a bizarre turn when his 14-year old son was accused of  murdering a schoolmate.

Landay tells how this once happy suburban family became a portrait of a troubled family.  While he was able to keep his son out of jail and keep his family intact, it resulted to the loss of friends and colleagues. The reader could earlier surmise that what ever the outcome of this trial, Barber is finished.

Landay keeps everyone guessing whether Jacob actually killed his classmate thus laying out the groundwork for everyone to make a judgement.  And then he pulls out a twist.  While Barber insists that his son is not capable of murder, it turned out that violence do run in the family.  It was revealed that Andy's father and Jacob's grandfather is behind bars because of killing a girl.

This revelation will ultimately result in an horrific ending that one would probably not see coming.

The book is a real page turner, the details of what goes on in the life of a defendant in a murder case and how it could impact in the family will keep the reader involved.

(Defending Jacob by William Landay 421 pp.)


Saturday, March 17, 2012

Flora Filipina 2012

Last week, we went to see the Flora Filipina Expo 2012, a garden and orchid show at the Quezon Memorial Circle.

It featured garden settings and floral arrangements, as well as orchids. Naturally, it's best seen than read about. Here are some of my favorites.


Flora Filipina Expo 2012


Flora Filipina Expo 2012


Flora Filipina Expo 2012

Flora Filipina Expo 2012

Flora Filipina Expo 2012

Flora Filipina Expo 2012

Flora Filipina Expo 2012

Flora Filipina Expo 2012

and here's my favorite display.

Flora Filipina Expo 2012