Toph luck

Ugh.  I was so looking forward to seeing all the cartoon characters portrayed in The Last Airbender movie in July.  But apparently, they're following the books to the dot.  So Toph --that wonderfully cranky, ultimately feisty earthbender-- will make her debut in the second movie come 2012.  And I was so looking forward to seeing her. :(

Oh well.  At least we know the producers have everything planned.  I just hope they find the best tiny, cute, quirky, creepy actress to play her.  So far, I'm loving the whole cast of The Last Airbender 1.  The people behind this epic movie know what they're doing.  I just hope this ideal casting call can act as good as they look.

Too Much Tech

So near and yet so far. That's how I feel about this program called Tech4Kids. It's the ideal program for Miro --robotics to the hilt. Kids don't just design and assemble their robots. They program their robots to follow orders ...and MOVE! Now THAT is ROBOTICS in its MOST righteous form! How can it not be? Tech4Kids is the sole distributor of Lego Mindstorm --the toys that Dexter and Jimmy Neutron might actually play with!
The program comes at a reasonable price, too.
Just one setback though. Kids MUST bring their own laptops to the sessions, for individual robot programming. WTH! I only have one macbook and it stores all my work files, my children's photo albums from since they were babies. I can't just let my son take a valuable box of memories to class! Guess Tech4Kids assumed that all 8-year old kids have their own laptops nowadays. Geez. Am I just so friggin out of it?!!
The bright side: the program runs year-long. So when...IF!...Miro gets his own laptop in the not so near future, yeah, we'll make him a Tech4Kids kid.

The Real Avatar is coming...

Remember the time I got so pissed when I found out that the movie Avatar had nothing to do with Nickelodeon's Legend of Aang?  Well now, vengeance is mine!  The Last Airbender is finally making it into theaters this year.  

The sad thing is that the movie didn't use 'Avatar' in its title anymore.  Guess the blue men beat them to the rights or something.  I can only imagine the frustration the producers must have gone through during titling stage.  After all, the word 'Avatar' is originally owned by Nickelodeon's The Last Airbender.

Anyway, I'm sure The Last Airbender will rake in more than enough dough to pay for their frustration.   I mean, I will definitely watch this to pay for my Avatar disappointment.  In fact, my socks are pathetically more rocked off about this than my kids'.  I'm just so pumped to prove what a better movie the original Avatar will be than a movie about oversized Smurf wannabes.

*my apologies to the Avatar fanatics.  I purposely didn't watch your beloved movie.  I just don't go for title knock-offs.  Peace?

How To Train Your 3D

This is pretty embarrassing to admit...but yesterday was the family's first time to watch a movie in 3D. *cringes from the social bashing*  

Ok, it's not as embarrassing for my 6 and 8-year old boys.  But for me and my husband, that's pretty telling of how backwards our lifestyles can be.  We're just stubborn old wet blankets who believe 3D movies are nothing more than a waste of good-earned cash.  I mean, you still get the story on a 2D, right?

Well...last night's movie proved us sooo wrong!

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON MUST BE WATCHED IN 3D!  There's just no other way!  The flight sequences are just so much better when you feel like the dragons are actually lunging at you, teeth-bared and fire-a-kindled.  It's such a fulfilling feeling to see my boys screaming and jumping out of their seats.  Kenji literally ran to the back of the theater at one point, screaming, "Aaah!  The dragon's gonna eat me!".  Now that's a golden 3D experience if I ever see one.

Jing and I promised that this will be our first and last 3D movie.  Simply because we came home poorer than we already are.  You do what you must for your kids, I always say.  But one sacrifice is good enough.  At least, in the future,  we can all live to say, "Oh yeah, we've seen a freakin awesome 3D movie." --and feel a little less left behind.

Yes, it IS rocket science!

Miro, my young mad scientist, has challenged me to the hilt with his summer science program needs. It's not easy.  But there are actually tiny nuggets of good summer programs with a scientific/technological theme to them.  Not much.  Maybe a pocketful.  But they're there if you look hard enough.  And that I did!

I found the 5-day Mad Science Red Hot Robotics program, right?  I would've gone with it, but practicality nudged me on the noggin.  Really, P4500 for 5 days?  Hardly worth it.  10 hours is hardly even a camp!

So I went with art, since Miro said he liked art anyway.  I planned to close the deal with Powerbooks AIR (Artists in Residence) for giving me 8 sessions for P3500.  

But this was half-hearted.  Miro already did an art program last summer.  I just didn't think this would be anything special for him.  Plus, it runs for only a month.  So that would mean I'll have to look for another program to fill his May.  Ugh.

So I decided to look again and found the Nido Science Discovery Center Summer Program teaser.  I say teaser because they don't have a clear schedule yet.  But they already flagged their itinerary and it's mighty impressive:  Robotics, Planets, Vortex, simple experiments and more!

They didn't have the price list either --which sort of just gave me false hope.

A little down now, I simply went about surfing aimlessly.

Then...voila!  I chanced upon Gakken Science Experiment Classroom!  10 sessions of a plethora of hands-on experiments, children-initiated experiments, discussions and debates (and you know Miro loves debates!), take-home science kits, and a mothafuckin' Science Fair cum Recognition Day on the 11th day! --all for a handsome P4500 price tag.  So it doesn't have robotics.  But with 25 experiments, I bet Miro will be happily busy enough.

Can you tell I'm reeling from the buzz of inane excitement again?  I've already registered Kenji to the Alaska Football Power Camp.  Next step:  Miro's Gakken Science Camp.  

Whew!  Summer is rocket science to me!

Boy Differences and Summer Challenges

Summer programs remain to be the bane of my existence.  Specially now that my boys are exhibiting their vast differences.  It wasn't like before when I can just dump both of them in some workshop and that's that.

Now, Kenji wants the active activities.  He's gunning for either the Alaska Football Power Camp or maybe football and basketball with Milo Sports Clinic.  Better if I could afford half football/half basketball though.  Miro, on the other hand, is rooting for creativity.  I've got the ultra expensive Mad Science Robotics program for him and looking at the Powerbooks Art Exhibit, too.  We might just end up putting him in the art exhibit since it's cheaper and near.  But again, if I could, I'd give him both.  The problem with Kenji's programs is that they're all far from our city --all of them requiring playing fields that our city has none of.  Either way, there will be a whole lot of shelling out.  I do everything for my kids so I might just give in to their whim.  Getting money by hook or by crook in the process.  But the options are just so many.  The obstacles even more.  My budgeting and organizing skills are again tested to the hilt.  I'm not complaining.  I love the challenge.  It would just be easier with easy-cash though.

SPONGEBARONG (ver.2)

Remember how I got completely obsessed with this barong tagalog with the cute Spongebob design for Kenji's Graduation Day?  The one with the irreverence that simply spoke to me?

Well, since I'm a complete cheapskate and because I plead personal creativity, I decided to do it myself --as if I haven't learned from my last disaster that was my DIY Kenji's birthday cupcakes.

I went through bouts of grief and sleeplessness soon after that.  I researched on barong tagalog fabrics and on the proper ink or paint that would adhere to it.  It was tough since none of the pro barong handpainters would spill their secrets online.  I was considering iron-on prints, acrylic paint, fabric paint, stick-on tattoos, even Pentel markers.

Come D-Day, Jing came home with an embroidered barong tagalog that freaked me out, to say the least.  I said we needed a the plainest barong tagalog!  When you're doing art, you don't use a used canvas!

Jing, forever patient with my stubborness, told me that there was no such thing as a plain, empty barong.  And that I can still add Spongebob to the design.  And I did!

With frakken' embrodery!  Embroidery was on the canvas already.  Adding a different medium will just cheapen the look.

But really, the last time I embroidered was in 6th grade Home Ec --so it's a dream that I actually managed to pull this off.

After 5 hours of sewing, fouling up, and resewing (and not sleeping a wink), the result was a classier version of the online Spongebarong I have been excessively preoccupied with the past few days.

People ate it up!  Even the prudes at school thought Kenji's barong tagalog was unique and clever.  And I beamed like a beacon.

Personally, I think it rocked.  Rocked even  better than the inspiration, I might add.  And for only P200.

Job well done and sleep well deserved.   God, my obsession for the inane is insane!