HoHoHo

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In the absence of Sr. Santa, Junior came to the rescue.  Yun lang, I had a hard time convincing the kids I am Santa. Hehehe.

My lights

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Our living room this December. Not much but hey I love it.


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AS with AB

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See, I told you rain will fall no more in the afternoon.
Yet still, you guys opted to sit it out.
Now you missed this one right under your noses.

Aleck Bovick came in to play airsoft with us in the afternoon.
And here is the proof!

The afternoon survivors including Aleck Bovick!

me with ma'am aleck

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The Alligator King

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Mico and me happen to chance upon in YouTube this classic video from Sesame Street - The Alligator King. I remember this video way back when I myself was just a kid. And the way it is now, Mico likewise loved it as well!

So here it is, Sesame Street's - The Alligator King.
I included the lyrics just in case you guys would like to breakdown in song.



The Alligator King

One two three four five six seven!
Said the Alligator King to his seven sons,
"I'm feelin' mighty down.
Whichever of you can cheer me up
Will get to wear my crown."

His first son brought seven oyster pearls
From the bottom of the China Sea.

The second gave him seven statues of girls
With clocks where their stomachs should be.

The third son gave him seven rubies
From the sheikdom Down There Beneath.
The King thought the rubies were cherries,
And he broke off seven of his teeth.

The fourth son tried to cheer him up
With seven lemon drops.
The King said, "I'm sorry son,
Since that ruby episode, I just haven't got the chops."

The fifth son brought the King perfume
In seven fancy silver jars;
The King took a whiff, and he broke out in spots
'Cause it smelled like cheap cigars.

The sixth son gave him seven diamond rings
To wear upon his toes.
The King snagged his foot on the royal red rug
And crumpled up his nose.

The seventh son of the Alligator King
Was a thoughtful little whelp.
He said, "Daddy, appears to me
That you could use a little help."

Said the Alligator King to his seventh son,
"My son, you win the crown.
You didn't bring me diamonds or rubies, but
You helped me up when I was down.
Take the crown; it's yours, my son.
I hope you don't mind the dents.
I got it on sale at a discount store-
Cost me all of seven cents!"
Seven!

written by Donald Hadley/William "Bud" Luckey
(c)1971 Sesame Street, Inc. (ASCAP)

cartoon written and animated by William "Bud" Luckey

Bolahan

Just when I thought I already forgot what basketball is, me and the guys decided to shoot some hoops instead of shooting bb's.
At first things got hilarious with everybody couldn't find his own range. Then it got insane with some ridiculous shots from here and there. Then things begun to heat up, that's when we got serious and old form started to kick in and whoever said we can no longer jump can disappear in oblivion and never come back. We capped the day with a victory against a younger and faster group, hate to say it but it was experience ruling over youth. Crazy.

Mico's Birthday Party at JolliTown

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Photos for the movie courtesy of Eric Caranto while the video clip i used for the movie courtesy of Eric Adug.

Birthday Blast!

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Grabe! Ang saya-saya!






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Oct11 Game: Camp Urban Zone

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DMC's first tour at Camp Urban Zone, more popularly known to vets as MMTC. Players that day numbered from 175 to 225, quite a shocker to the squad who is used to playing with 50 players on an average at NC. I used to play on this grounds way back in 2003, and it does brings back memories of the good ol'days of TMS. Physically, just a few things changed in the site, aside from the watch tower and a few demolished structures, it is pretty much the same MMTC I knew. The real difference really are players playing. How different they are from what I used to know is something I do not want to waste my time. What is important is that there are still a few good men out there who believes that airsoft is a gentleman's game and doesn't mind playing the role of a dying breed.



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photos courtesy of BigPun and RedTiger

A fish named Wanda

A fish named Wanda. No, not the movie. Just my 10 year old gold fish. Yep, you read it right - 10 year old. That should give you a hint why I named her Wanda - slang for wonder. You see, I got Wanda way back in 1998, as part of an aquarium package from a friend when I decided to try my skills in taking fish as pets. Fourteen small gold fish, a 36 gallon tank complete with water plants and lots of accessories is the whole thing - all for 600php. That was when I am still a bachelor. Then in 1999, I got marry, moved out of our home and in our own apartment, Irene and me and with us to move are the fish. By the time Matthew entered this world in 2001, a total of five gold fish bid goodbye and now I am left with nine. When Matthew was three, I sometimes let him feed the fish, and it would always make him smile every time feeding frenzy erupts amongst his golden friends. We then moved to another home by that Matthew was six, and from nine, to eight, to seven, to six gold fish what was left now is one. I could have introduced a new set of fish to Wanda as a company but I don't wanna take the risk of contaminating the water on what will now be foreign to it. Wanda is settled so I let it be. At this point in time, my fish is a 10 year old keeper, through her bubbly eyes she saw my son Matthew grow up, she even witnessed my family grow from three to four with the arrival of Michael. Wanda doesn't show sign that she's slowing down, majestically with her floppy and wavy fins she criss crosses the tank back and forth and to the delight of my wife Irene, Wanda would even do a backstroke from time to time.

Ten years, three houses, two kids. In a city there is a village, in a Village is a house, in that house is an aquarium, and in that aquarium is a fish, and in that fish is a story - a fish named Wanda.

NC@2 and a Swan dance

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Crazy weekend we had, but it was fun! NorthCamp celebrated its 2nd year with everything green and black. More than 70 players came to play and celebrate, more than we expected, none the less the food for the boodle fight was more than enough with plenty to spare. Problem is, the table we prepared came way too short and we had to resort to paper plates instead of the spreaded banana leaves.

My long time team buddy from TMS Chris "WildSwan" Avellana came in to play and just like the good old days we did the TMS run! GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN GOOD BUDDY!





Chris and I played along side the "men in black" - NC's DMC group.
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Kay L A G A L [ O G ] Tayo!

Going through Oggie's L A G A L [ O G ] blog is like reading National Geographic; great write ups and amazing images! This guy got talents, LAGAL[OG] deserves to win.



FOR

Are you watching closely?

::

There are three parts on a magic trick, the pledge, the turn, and the prestige.

The Pledge
The first part of a magic trick is called The Pledge. This is, to say, the setup. A magician turns to his audience and introduces "something ordinary,"

A platoon is on a pursuit against our squad of twelve. Upon agreement, Reggie, Jeff and I will form a blockade to hold off would be pursuers while the rest of the squad escape and continue on the mission.

The Turn
The second part of a magic trick is The Turn, the magician simply turns from his audience to induce what can be refer to as the extraordinary portion of the illusion.

As planned, the rest of the squad continue on their escape, while the three of us fortify our positions and wait for the enemies.
More than twenty feet apart, we formed roughly a triangle with me on the tip. Initially all of our muzzles are pointed towards where our enemies will be coming - head on. Slowly I completely turn my back, bury myself in the bushes, cover what ever part of my body I can with leaves and grasses. Now I am pointing opposite Jeff and Reggie. And hidden.

The Prestige
The third, and final, part of a magic trick is The Prestige, during which the effect of the illusion is produced.

BB's rang, flying and I could hear it hitting just about everywhere. Peeking through my cover, I could see Reggie firing from the bushes and I know Jeff is likewise. Enemies behind me are now on my sides and a couple in my front and one literally besides me. Since I am at flow with them they must have though I am part of their group. Now the illusion is complete. With just a few feet from them I can easily take them down, but it wasn't yet time, I can still hear four or more behind me and I needed them advance up front to effectively make my move.

More than ten minutes into the game, and after hitting as many enemies as they can, Jeff and Reggie was finally overwhelmed. And now it was all but me. Our opponent took this chance to move up front, the thing I am waiting for and the thing that is futile for them. First to go was the one besides me, an induced knife kill. Moving out, I aimed Yinyan (my M4) and next to go was a tandem taking cover on a tree. Moving further to my left four more enemies came into my full view and I have to pick them one at a time. It was fast, they were not able to retaliate, too damn fast even for me that I am too late when I came into my senses that one of my victim was a kid soldier. (I never enjoy knowing I hit a kid).

Conclusion
I out did myself that time. Doing something I never imagined would be doing and never dreamed of doing it all over again.


I ended my game prematurely that day because of scheduled commitments, nonetheless, before stepping out of the Camp, like every good performance, I turned my back, raised my head up into the heavens and did a bow.


The red circle is the spot where I am hidden, four enemies visible with the kid soldier on the far right.

photo courtesy of Maralex

Under the Sea

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Manila Ocean Park - the Philippines’ first state-of-the-art Oceanarium, open water marine habitat, boutique mall, restaurant row and function facilities all located in one complex at the back of the Quirino Grandstand.

G.I.

::

While I was drowning myself with all the medication to get rid of the flu I have the whole weekend now, I happen to chanced upon this reading on the net, I thought I'd share it with you guys.

In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America, he said:

"A simple way to take measure of a country
is to look at how many want in...
And how many want out."

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:

1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

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When it rain, it's four!

Well now Mr. Meteorologist guy, have you solved the mystery why weekends and rain has this mutual attraction with each other? Saturday morning, the sun is all up, plenty of light and heat and all it's glory. Afternoon came and so did the dark clouds. Eight games rolled, and even before we could call it a day, rainburst chased us all over the field. Teams had to compete with intermittent shower throughout the remainder of the play and more rain came to bid us goodbye in the end.

There is not much you can do when it is raining. At least, that's what i'ved learned during a stalking game, so I let it be. I let the rain fall down on me. I let the rain kiss me. I let the rain beat upon my head with it's silver drops. And amidst the chaos it brought to the game, I let the rain sing me a lullaby and it brought me peace.

Photo courtesy of Niño Cadiz, cs:EagleOne


...by the way, I got Veronica up and running again. After a six grueling hours on my work table tinkering, I finally fixed her. Many thanks to Rameses who supplied the much needed sector gear. Much to my delight, the replacement part is a genuine TM, so I can say, my Veronica is still a full blooded Musashi!

When it rains, it pours!

August the 28th, 2008, Monday. My ever reliable secondary weapon, the TM HiCapa 4.3 went dead! My combat boots, a veteran of so many killing fields got ripped! And then, that same day, after 6 years, Veronica finally went into a, literally speaking, grinding halt. Her gears suffered a major damage, particularly the sector gear which gives power to the piston head, gear teeth got broken.

Veronica on my work table.

The culprit, a worn-out sector gear.

Congratulations to NC's DMC Squad

(For being hiatus for almost a month, i missed a lot of things and I need a lot of catching up to do.)
I wrote this entry way back June, and I am gonna post it only now. Sorry guys. ü )

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NorthCamp's Delta Mercenery Crew (DMC) Squad placed 2nd Runner Up in the recently concluded airsoft speedball competion during the TransCo Anniversary last June 26, 2008 at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City.

Six teams filled in for the said event with Team Lost Command (TLC) emerging as champion, TransCo Airsoft Group (TRAG) came in as first runner up while team DMC landed second runner up. And for a rookie squad (DMC) and entering on their first ever airsoft competion, that is quite a feat.



The DMC contingent: Loloy, Dhudz, Janno, William, Bhing, Eric and Menrick.

Sunshine

::

Today I did something very significant.

I forgave myself.

I forgave those I thought wronged me.

And most important of all, I made peace with God.

::

Loyalty Betrayed

::
I am still numb up to now.
got hit by something I really don't know.
yet from the smell of it
you'll know it's more than just rotten fish.
something you wouldn't dare step onto,
but I just did!

no story to tell.
just words playing in my mind.
::
loyalty kept.
::
loyalty guarded.
::
in the end, loyalty betrayed.
::
during my tour, i've seen a lot of soldiers being left behind.
and we've left behind good soldiers.
now its my turn.
and they say they have to do this for them to survive.
::

Zombie in the field

"Sir hit ka na!" a player shouting at another player, "ikaw! yung nasa puno hit ka na! kanina pa kita binabaril hit ka na!" he continued. Then he let loose some more bb's. "hit ka na sabi!" Then the player he allegedly shooting at replied, "sige na tumigil ka lang!" then that player stood up and move out towards the safe zone and to me. Its a newbie guy.

"Were you hit?" I asked.
The newbie replied "No!"
"Then why did you moved out?"
"Eh ang kulit nya! He kept on hit-calling eh hindi naman talaga ako tinatamaan! Di ba senior yun? He should have known better!"
Then this guy in the field continue to rant. "Hay naku puro zombie! Nakakasira ng laro!" He then stood up and in disgust fired shots in the air. And walks out towards his stuffs.

WTF! I recognized this guy! I just pumped three bb's on his chest during the morning scenario game. I cant forget that because he said "Sir! Its a friendly" and he continued his way through the bushes! I swear I got him on the chest, even though I did a blue-on-blue, he should have called hit. But he did not. And on that same scenario game, he was again in the receiving end when he exchanged bb's with an opponent (a visitor) whom he alleged as also a zombie. He got bb marks on him from that scene and I was saying to myself, he should have not gotten those bruises if in the first place he had called himself hit when I accidentally got him.

Picking up his things, I hear him say, "Makauwi na lang! Ang ganda-ganda ng airsoft nasisira lang sa mga zombie!" He got his stuffs carried it. On his way out of the Camp he continue his rant.

Man, talk about zombies!

Its a sad thing to see this kind of thing happen. But I really dont mind this guy leaving the Camp, I myself don't mind it all. For all you know, he could have done us a favor that day.

Salamat na rin sir.

Kudos to Team DMC

DMC came in full force last weekend for a Saturday game at the Camp. Alvin, Arvin, Melvin, Loloy, William, Dhudz, Ariel, Eric, Royce, Menrick, and Bing was there to amply beefed up the group. I tagged along with them and even co-commodered a successful mission game that morning. I've been hearing a lot of nice feedbacks on the group from CCAG vets and I for one admire the camaraderie and discipline the group (i've been with these guys even before their airsoft days) possesses in and out of the playing field. And during a private game with them yesterday (Sunday), Eric announced a very good news for the team from CCAG, I won't divulge anything in here except that it is a GOOD NEWS! You guys from DMC knows what it is. Kudos to you comrades! (hoy eric! mag pa-cheese burger ka naman!)
Me and Joner of CCAG with DMC's Dhudz, Jeff, Janno, Emil, Loloy, Ariel, Melvin and Arvin at the Camp.
Photo courtesy of Eric.

GREETING FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GLOBE!

NC Send-Off Lunch/Boodle Fight

May 24, 2008. Saturday. NorthCamp recently held a boodle fight/send-off lunch for two of it's most respected leaders - Fr. Bong "BlackPope" Turingan and Giovan "BrokenArm" Paz who will for now be on an indefinite leave. Giovan will be migrating to the States while Fr. Bong will be preparing for his coming ordination. Their presence will be truly miss by the NorthCamp family.


BlackPope and BrokenArm

additional photo courtesy of Eric "Kerygmatic" Adug

My sweet surrender

Hello all. Did not play AS this weekend, but I went to NC to take a look at Alvin's very first AS game and to know how it went. And while I was listening to their story someone broke a question addressed to me.

"Why did you surrender?"

He was pointing out a game we had almost a month ago (naalala pa nya yun!) wherein the only one left to defend our base is me up against five or more Neps advancing to where my position is. And from where I am, I could have given them a good fire fight and I could easily taken down at least two of them with me. However, it was easy to recognized it was a no-win scenario, that is why I did not. And before things get chaotic, I stood up to reveal myself, I hold up my weapon and I walked out. Whether I stood my ground or not, to me it is still a form of surrender in one way or another.

My answer, "I dont wanna hurt no body and i don't wanna get hurt either. That is why I surrender."

And in my mind I whispered, "...more than anything else, I dont wanna give them the GLORY of they, hitting me..."

Haha!

We lost a comrade

Just awhile ago I received a text message from Tin (Tintoot TMS) saying that a TMS teammate of ours past away this morning. Our good friend Mark Franco (RB/ragingbull) died due to complications from the gallbladder operations he underwent.

Mark Franco -RagingBull, a friend and teammate, warrior and a gentleman. We will truly miss you good buddy.

"The world will be a lesser place because of Mark's passing but heaven will be graced by his presence." -Art TMS

Mark Franco June 6, 1978 - May 12, 2008

Photo courtesy of Jon TMS

A piece of feast

I still have a bit of hangover from all the drink i have to take down, its fiesta and you couldn't get away with it. I don't usually go to the extreme when I drink but this one is an exception. So I say. hehe. Today's Fiesta celebration was a far a lot better than recent fiestas we have in the Village thanks to brother Dhudz and his rug-tag-team (kami!) in making the celebration a truly wonderful event. No thanks to the people who did not believe in Dhudz and abandoned him in this undertaking. Iwan ba naman sya sa ere kung kailan mainit ang labanan? Tama ba naman yun?

One word I need to say - amazing! And thanks bro for making everything alright!

No rain. Just cool fine weather.



and last, but not the least... to all those great moms out there...

To the world you might just be one person...
but to one person you might just be the world...


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