* Ateneo Repeats for the Third Time

The Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles reigns as the UAAP Season 73 Basketball Champions by beating first seeded team FEU (2-0) in the finals series. With no main man or scorer like a Rabah Al Hussaini and Noy Baclao the Ateneo Blue Eagles still remains to be a team to beat in the series.

Ateneo won the second game with the final score 65-62. Former rookie of the year Ryan Buenafe named Finals MVP exploding during game 2.

Normal Black now joins other great coaches like Franz Pumaren and Aric Del Rosario for winning three straight championships

* Clavel Sneaker Magazine with Paloma at Urban Athletics Greenbelt 3

with Clavel Cover Girl Paloma

I missed the launching of the shirt and magazine held at The Attic and also the Autograph signing at Greenbelt so I told myself to attend the signing at Urban Athletics store at Greenbelt 3. They are also selling the Paloma Kikstyo shirt and Clavel Magazines and every purchase comes with a very nice poster. It was nice seeing Koreans having photos and having their magazine signed by Paloma.

* UFC 119: Mir vs Cro Cop

September 25, 2010 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The original main event was between Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira who was replaced by Mirko Cro Cop because of injury. The event got a negative feedback because all of the fights except the main event was all via unanimous decision. Watched it live at Balls and it was kinda boring, the crowd are booing during the fight and good thing Mir was able to KO Cro Crop by knee in the face.

Preliminary card

Heavyweight bout: Mark Hunt vs. Sean McCorkle McCorkle defeated Hunt via submission (kimura) at 1:03 of round 1. This bout aired on the Spike broadcast following the Dollaway vs. Doerksen fight.

Welterweight bout: TJ Grant vs. Julio Paulino Grant defeated Paulino via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Lightweight bout: Steve Lopez vs. Waylon Lowe Lowe defeated Lopez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

Lightweight bout: Thiago Tavares vs. Pat Audinwood Tavares defeated Audinwood via submission (standing guillotine choke) at 3:47 of round 1. This bout aired on the Spike broadcast following the Hunt vs. McCorkle fight.

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Heavyweight bout: Matt Mitrione vs. Joey Beltran Mitrione defeated Beltran via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Middleweight bout: C.B. Dollaway vs. Joe Doerksen Dollaway defeated Doerksen via submission (modified guillotine choke) at 2:47 of round 1.

Main card

Lightweight bout: Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens Guillard defeated Stephens via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27).

Lightweight bout: Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham Sherk defeated Dunham via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

Welterweight bout: Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle Lytle defeated Serra via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Light Heavyweight bout: Antônio Rogério Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader Bader defeated Nogueria via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Heavyweight bout: Frank Mir vs. Mirko Filipović Mir defeated Filipović via KO (knee) at 4:02 of the third round.

* Clavel Sneaker Magazine with Paloma

This is my second Clavel Sneaker magazine the first one was with Jinri Yuriko Park on the cover and now a friend of mine Paloma. Saw the behind the scenes photos in Japan for this shoot. The shoot is for Kikstyo an international seller (also online) of shirts, caps, hoodies and more. I checked the website www.kikstyo.com and saw their items and it's very nice.

Clavel Magazine is mostly about shoes, reviews, news and the latest about the sneakers world. The issue was very nice and sexy. The photos are really nice and classy. The launching was held last September 18 at Attica in A.Venue and too bad I have work and I wasn't able to attend.

Anyways Autograph Signing will be held in the following venue

September 25, 2010 Saturday, 4PM
BUNKER, Ronac Art Center, Ortigas Avenue, Greenhills, San Juan City
Beats by DJ ARYAN and Special Guest DJs!
Booze available too!

September 26, 2010 Sunday, 3PM
URBAN ATHLETICS, 2nd Floor, Greenbelt 3, Makati City

* Resident Evil: After Life

After years of waiting for this movie, finally I was able to watch it. I'm a big fan of the game since Playstation 1 days and also the movie. This time Alice (Milla Jovovich) returns again for Resident Evil: After Life. The movie is also available in 3d version by the way.

The movie as always has tons of zombies infected by the virus but guess what Chris Redfield is featured in this film portrayed by Wentworth Miller also known as Michael Scofield of Prison Break. Chris and sister Claire got together in this sequel after being separated for years. Alice still on her pursuit to destroy Umbrella together with her clones and six months later tried to locate "Arcadia" or the promise land because it was told to be a safe area somewhere in Alaska but no one was there but instead she found Claire. Together Alice and Claire went back to the Los Angeles and found survivors in a prison, there they found Chris Redfield. Zombies were able to go inside through the sewers so Alice and company tried to escape and went to the real "Arcadia" which is a ship. In Arcadia they found a lot of survivors who where supposed to be subjects for experiments for Umbrella. There they found Albert Wesker and beats him. Wesker tried to escape and tried to detonate Arcadia but Alice however transferred the bomb in Wesker's jet. Alice and company where able to free the survivors in the end. The movie ends where a lot of Umbrella choppers are on their way to Arcadia and now I don't know what will happen next, still needed to wait for a year or two for the sequel.

* DLSU Lady Spikers finishing 2nd in the UAAP 73 Beach Volley

The Lady Spikers consist of Charleen Cruz, Amanda Villanueva and Mikaela Esperanza who finished 3rd place last year (with Joanne Sy and Jacq Alarca) ended 2nd for the 2010 UAAP Season 73 beach volley tournament held at UE Caloocan Campus.

Cha Cruz and Amanda Villanueva

Entering the semis in 4th place the Lady Spikers first game is againts the 3rd seeded UST team. DLSU won 21-19, 8-21, 15-9 then FEU 21-14, 18-21, 16-14 to go battle the defending champions Adamson University.

The Lady Falcons dominated both sets 17-21, 14-21 in the finals. Lady Spikers may felt the stressed already playing 3 games in 2 hours and also with the heat of the sun. Better luck next year and wish to finish as number 1.

* Muay Thai 101

It's been months that I am planning to try "Muay Thai" or the "Art of Eight Limbs", Eight limbs becauseof the usage punches, kicks, elbows and knees. This self defense originated from Thailand 400 eyars ago, some calls it Thai Boxing.

There is a Muay Thai gym near in our place and some of my friends in the gym have tried it as well and they said that it was not easy. I got curious and asked a friend of mine to also try it and he obliged. Meet Ken a Muay Thai practitioner for more than 2 years but he started with boxing then shifted to Muay Thai. He first taught us the proper stretchings. Next is the background and history of Muay Thai then we proceeded to the proper "Muay Thai Stance" and it's purpose, I can say that it's really not easy and hopefully I'll get used to it. Next we proceeded to the movements while in Muay Thai Stance (sidewards, forward and backwards) and finally we proceeded to the basic punches (jabs and straight), I thought that punching was just swinging your arms with full force, it looks very easy when your watching it in the UFC but really it's not. Sir Ken put hand wraps in our hands and we put some gloves. tried the jabs and straights in the punching bags. It was a fun experience but sincewe are newbies it felt awkward being watched by the other practitioners. Looking forward for the next session and hopefully looking forward to learn more and get better.

* FEU wins over DLSU in the UAAP 73 Final Four Series

Number 1 seeded team FEU Tammaraws won in a an action packed game yesterday in overtime against the DLSU Green Archers. With around a minute left with Archer's leading by 3 points, Paul Sanga nailed a cold blooded three pointer and tying the game at 55 all and sending the game to overtime.

In the overtime period a lot of free throws was missed and Terence Romeo made a three pointer at crunch time and led the FEU winning 59 - 69. Joshua Webb led the Archers with 15 points and RR Garcia who struggled had 11 points.

* Bleachers - John Grisham

Another Football related story by John Grisham. This time it's more on stories about the past, triumph and fall of the characters. Story is about the famous "All-American" Quarterback Neely Crenshaw of the Messina Spartans who went back to his town to visit his highschool fotball coach Eddie Rake. Former players gather and recall their football days as Spartans. Stories of the players and what happened to them after all those years and how they loved the game and showed dedication to every game.

I'm a fan of John Grisham and I like this book because of the drama, I can say there are missing parts but the way the story was told was really nice.

* Urbandub Apple Store Tour

I'm a big fan of Urbandub but because of some reasons I wasn't able to attend this tour. Anyways here are the list of the stores that the band visited

September 4

3pm - Power Mac Greenbelt

5pm - Digital Hub Market Market

7pm - iStudio Boni High Street

September 5

3pm - The A.Shop Podium

5pm- Power Mac Trinoma

7pm - SW!TCH UP Technohub

A friend of mine just show me this video and it was really really cool. Urbandub playing "The Fist of Summer" using Ipod Touch

* Playing For Pizza - John Grisham

Finished another book after reading For One More Day and this time it's John Grisham's Playing for Pizza. I'm a fan of John Grisham's books and movies based on his book and most of all are about laws, lawyers, trials, juries, court and more. I was able to drop by at a book store and saw this book. Read the summary and I was amazed that this book is not about the other Grisham's books because this one is about sports.

The book is about a NFL Quarterback named RickDockery who made a lot of mistakes in their AFC Championship game that made the Cleveland Browns losing the game and missing their first Super Bowl appearance. People called him Goat/Choker, Rick was cut from the team and everyone is mad at him. No one wanted to sign him as a player and he is to young to retire, Arnie his agent helped him and as a last resort he was offered to play in Italy for the Parma Panthers. The story goes on and how Rick became a better player and loved the game and his teamates.

Another good read :)

* For One More Day - Mitch Albom

I wasn't able to read book for several years now, last time I finished reading a book I guess was way back 2007. I told myself that I needed to read books again and have some break from sitting in front of my computer surfing the net. May this year I bought two books from Powerbooks MOA which is The Last Song of Nicholas Sparks and For One More Day by Mitch Albom. I can say I'm a fan of Mitch Albom's book from Tuesday with Morrie to The Five People You Meet in Heaven and now here's For One More Day.

Finished the book in 2 days (maybe slow for others but the fastest so far for me) Like the author's previous novels, this book is very heartwarming and it's about our Mother.

The books tells a story about a troubled man named Chick Benetto who is a former baseball player and his life from his childhood to his life as an adult. It tells his ups and downs from his career, with his family and his parents. A very inspirational book and after reading the book I can say that I gave more importance to my parents, specially my Mom.

Heard that there is a movie version of the book but I haven't watched it yet.

* UFC Undisputed for PSP

It's been a while since I used my PSP for hours in a day, I thought of buying a PS3 console in the future for the UFC Undisputed game but of course I need to save for that. Then I saw my brother downloading a PSP version for UFC Undisputed. Transferred it to my PSP and tried playing it and I can say I liked it. Graphics wise is far from the PS3 game but it's fun. Different divisions from Lightweight to Heavyweight. MMA stars can be selected BJ Penn, GSP, Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Brock Lesnar and more. Gamers can select Stadiums and Referees as well. There is only one person missing in this game which is Randy Couture, I'm not sure if he's a secret character here or there's a task that I need to complete so he can be selected. Well overall I can say it's a good game especially for MMA fans. KO's and submissions are very cool.

* UAAP 73 Beach Volleyball [Day 1]

My blog is super late, anyways I arrived late and wasn't able to watch the opening match between DLSU and Adamson but Adamson won the game.

Second game is between NU and UE where UE won.

Sharah So of ADMU

Third game is between Ateneo and UP, where Asia Urquico and Sharah So of Ateneo won against UP.

Last game for the women's division is between UST and FEU. UST dominated the 1st set and FEU got the momentum and won the second and third set. It was an excited match and Shaira Gonzales and Shedd dela Pena did not give up and made an upset against their opponent.

* FHM September 2010 Issue with Bianca Manalo

Bianca Manalo

It's the "BER" month and FHM has a new cover girl beauty queen (2009 Bb. Pilipinas - Miss Universe) and actress Bianca Manalo. The September issue is a dual cover where Bianca is on the other side while Cesar Montano is on the other side. There's a lot of good interviews like the one with Senator Cheese Escudero.

The issue cost 150 pesos and it's all worth it, I like the photos of Bianca Manalo, the reviews and the other content of the issue.

The Autograph Signing for Bianca Manalo was held September 4, 2010 at Robinson's Movie World (6pm - 8pm). The line is not that long and I can say that the signing kinda sucks, until now I can't figure out not only me but other FHM supporters/fans why there is a need for bouncers (not one but two) in the event. They are so strict it's like we are at the high-end bar. To FHM staff if your reading this I hope you could make improvements with your autograph signing because those bouncers really doesn't belong there. There's a lot of signing that happened without any bouncers involve and it was fun and successful. They only allowed one signature at the cover of the issue which is fine for me. Hoping for more improvements and looking forward for the next issue.

* UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2

UFC 118

The much awaited rematch for BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar happened August 28, 2010 at Boston but before that the other match that people are waiting for is the Boxing vs MMA match by Boxing Champ James Toney and UFC Legend Randy Couture and as expected Couture take the boxer down and finish him via arm triangle choke in the first round proving that MMA rules over boxing. The main event was the rematch between Penn and Edgar. Edgar surprised Penn with his speed and take Penn down several times in the first round. Penn was outclassed and can't figure out how to handle Edgar's speed. Edgar winning the rematch and proving his is king of the lightweight division and not Penn anymore.

Results:

Preliminary card

Welterweight bout: Mike Pierce vs. Amilcar Alves

Pierce defeated Alves via submission (straight armbar) at 3:11 of round 3.

Welterweight bout: Nick Osipczak vs. Greg Soto

Soto defeated Osipczak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Middleweight bout: Dan Miller vs. John Salter

Miller defeated Salter via submission (ninja choke) at 1:53 of round 2. This bout aired on Spike TV after the Lauzon vs. Ruediger fight.

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs. Nik Lentz

Lentz defeated Winner via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27).

Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger

Lauzon defeated Ruediger via submission (armbar) at 2:01 of round 1. This bout aired on PPV following the Edgar vs. Penn fight.

Main card

Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis

Diaz defeated Davis via technical submission (guillotine choke) at 4:02 of round 3.

Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard

Maynard defeated Florian via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda

Maia defeated Miranda via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs. James Toney

Couture defeated Toney via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:19 of round 1.

Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (c) vs. B.J. Penn

Edgar defeated Penn via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) to retain the UFC Lightweight Championship.

* Happy 60th Birthday Dad

It's been years since the last time I saw my dad. It was a short notice that he is going here in Manila with my step brother to celebrate his special day. So after work I went to Paco, Manila where our mini reunion and his birthday will be celebrated. I was happy to see my dad, my brother and my other relatives. Wishing you dad more good health and more blessings to come.