World Pool Championship : Django Falls to Peach

In the latest drama in the 2007 World Pool Championships in the Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines, the local favorite Francisco “Django” Bustamante lost to Peach in a match colored with controversy in the 20th rack with Bustamante leading 10-9. It was a painful exit for Django who thought he already won the match when he pocketed the Nine in the combination with ball 3. However, the referee had to resort to the replay of the shot as it appears that the Nine ball was first hit. It was a possible foul that would turn the tide in favor of the Englishman.  

After careful review of the video from different angles and a private meeting with the two players, it was decided that the shot was a foul. The Nine ball was re-placed in the center table and Peach had a ball in hand. With all the remaining balls evenly spread across the table, the englishman cleaned them up to force a tie at 10-10. Since WPC has a winner’s break format, Peach had the opportunity to break for the last rack. With his precision soft break, he was able to clean up table and clinch the win to the dismay of Filipino fans.

This leaves the Philippines with only two remaining players in the race-to-11 quarterfinals. As of posting, Philippines’ Roberto “Superman” Gomez is playing against Chinese-Taipei’s Kuo Pong Chang leading by 3-0. The other remaining Filipino player is Juven Bustamante.

This is the second time World Pool Championship is staged in the Philippines. Romy Alcano won the championship last year but he bowed out this time at the round of 32. Efren “The Magician” Reyes also lost to the Russian player on the same round.

Paradise Philippines SEO Contest

Marc of macalua.com has launch an SEO contest. He shelling out P600,000 for the contest and everybody is just so crazy about it. My friend, skiper, has even joined in the contest. The keyword is Paradise Philippines and if you want to make some money, hop in! To know more about the contest, click here.

Marc is really a brilliant guy. With expectedly tons of backlinks he’ll gather, his site will definitely benefit for it. Yes, he may need to shell out a lot for the prizes but man, those links will gonna be forever. I even gave him one. hehehe… And oh, did I say that he has sponsors for this?

Nikon D40X : My New Baby

I got myself last week a present, a brand spanking new DSLR from Nikon called D40X. I’ve been itching to buy one since last year but the budget constraints prevented me. I simply had other priorities before and this one has to wait. And it’s all worth it.

I chose between D40X and EOS 400D but ended up with D40X partly because of good reviews as compared to 400D. Most notable of the reviews is Ken Rockwell’s review. Ok, he actually recommended D40 than D40X due to price difference but I can’t help myself but get the newer one.

I also own a Canon Rebel XTi, and I hate using it compared to my D40.

The D40x is 95% the same as the excellent D40, with the following changes…
–ken rockwell

I got mine from Jerry and had it delivered in my office. I recommend buying from him if you are planning to buy a Nikon Digital SLR camera. The package I got included the whole kit (with 18-55mm AFS Nikkor), 2GB SD card and a Tamron Velocity 6X bag. Add to that is a DPP magazine and membership to Digiprint. That’s all for around 31K. Yes, you can buy the kit at cheaper price in Hidalgo but if you add up, the price is almost the same and I saved myself the hassle of going to Quiapo.

I’m still new to photography but I have already been playing with my IXUS800IS point-and-shoot. That’s one fine camera and it actually inspired me to move to SLR. I’m still learning and hope to get the hang of it in the near future. I also plan to have my wife to attend photography classes so that she’ll just teach me. Besides, she’s also very much into it now. She’s as excited as I am. What? Ok, I retract. I’m more excited but she’s not far behind. haha.

I’ll post some sample pics later.

AGLOCO - Get Paid being online

Browsing at FilipinoPal.com, I’ve seen a blog on AGLOCO. When I checked it out, I found out that it’s like a social networking site where members can earn money. For MySpace and Friendster addicts, this is a good chance to cash in on your time spent for surfing the net. AGLOCO actually has several ways for its members to earn money as listed below. From the company’s website,

UAA Event : North Vs. South 2

I am deep envy with my teammates who attends the United Airsoft Alliance’s North vs.South 2 today in RubberWorld complex in Quezon City. I am very sure the event is very successfull. It’s a major airsofting event that groups the players in two with Pasig River’s Guadalupe bridge as median point. Players and teams based from Guadalupe bridge up to Appari will join the north team while from the same bridge down to Jolo will be under the south team.

Ever wonder why I wasn’t there? I’m here at Fontana in Clark, Pampanga to celebrate my sister’s birthday. It’s also my birthday on the 19th and so it was a good chance for the whole family to gather and bond. It is not everyday that I get to see my mother, my siblings and their kids. I’m sorry Airsoft, family comes first. Anyway, it is a blast in its own respect.

I wish everybody a fun and enjoying airsofting day and congratulations to the event and site organizers.

TeamCobra Anniversary

Our airsoft team, Team Cobra, has celebrated its first anniversary last Saturday at the U.P. DMZ. It was also like a re-enlistment game for the team since most of us went semi-retirement for various reasons…. mostly due to work. A lot has changed in the team compared to its early days as neophytes using all-china-made guns. The team has upgraded its arsenal from the lowly DEM83A2/GBMP5/BE AUG into Well-R6 and Classic Army CQB and some TM. Back in August 2005, we didn’t think we’ll eventually upgrade to CA even if CobraCommander is urging us. The price is just too high…. until Bonus time when everything seems to be a bargain. Initial team order of Well-R6 and R5 reached 18 units and then the others (including me) followed suit later. But for some, R6 isn’t just enough and that’s why you see a lot of my teammates holding a TM or a CA.

Back to the anniversary games, I would say it was one hell of a blast! U.P. DMZ is highly recommended. I always liked playing in a jungle/open field as compared with CQB and the DMZ offered a number of scenarios several areas to play in. And with a very competent team of marshalls from SOE-Force1, what else would you ask for? Food maybe? Well, it was our team anniversary and food is provided for.

Here are some pics

TeamCobra
Picture by Mudspike

Here with Kachu, Lacoste(Sgt. Bilko the croc), ScaredCrow(kwatog — that’s me!) and Sir Falluja
Picture by ogre © 2006

Erik, Skiper and Me
Picture by Mudspike

United Airsoft Alliance

Latety, a new organization of airsoft hobbyist was formed. I liked the idea because it wishes to unite the airsoft community in the country. You may not know it but there’s a huge number of airsoft hobbyists in the Philippines today and there’s currently no unifying organization that represents them until UAA came. Finally, the quest for government accreditation is becoming clearer.

UAA is actually a non-governing body but a representative and broad-based organization of airsoft hobbyists. It is non-governing because teams lonewolves will still maintain freedom, identity and autonomony. The only limiting factor is that members must adhere to the Code of Ethics of the alliance. Here’s some quote of the UAA’s code of ethics…

we are a small group of individuals. but all great things begin with little people with great big dreams. we dream of making history for airsoft by uniting teams and lonewolves, hi-end and ACM, and all regional and provincial teams and individuals, with a common voice.

We used the word “united” because this is an effort to unify both hi-end and ACM players, as well as lonewolves and teams. The term “alliance” was coined to denote the freedom of individual members within a non-governing organization, while adhering to a concrete set of principles.

We denounce high velocity guns which serve no other purpose than to injure other players, provided that the use of specialized high powered guns are left to the individual conscience and responsibility of the users thereof.

More of it can be found at http://uaaph.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=2

The team I belong to, TeamCobra, is already a member of the alliance and I’m happy to be part of it. It is still on its infancy but their intention and motive is clean and I believe them. I’m looking for more fun and responsible airsofting.

I’m also glad and honored to be part of the developers of UAA’s website. It has been a great learning experience for me. TeamCobra sponsored the site.
Goodluck to UAA and to all Filipino airsofters!

Airsoft DIY: Well M4 Suppressor

Over the weekend, I’ve finally had some spare time to start my long overdue project for my Well M4 (R6). The idea is to add a detachable suppressor in R6. It’s a cosmetic upgrade on the very basic looking but potent airsoft gun. (Actually, my lowly DE M83A2 looks better than my R6). So, to give add some facelift to my beloved R6, I thought my brother’s MP5SD6 suppressor that he doesn’t use would fit the job.

Materials:

• (1) Stainless Steel Nipple Coupling ; size is 1/3′ (see image)
• (1) Stainless Steel Adaptor; size is 1/3′ (see image)
• (1) GB MP5SD6 Suppressor
•    Sand Paper
•    Super Glue
•    Saw

Here’s how I did it.

1. Mark the points for cutting. The marks are 1cm and 2.5cm from the end of the sight for 1st and 2nd marks, respectively. The third one is at the end of the inclined area. That’s about 3.5cm from the end of the sight.

2. Cut the barrel. Make sure the cut is consistent.Use the sand paper to smoothen the ends.

3. Place the end of the adjuster into the nipple coupling and insert them to the barrel as shown below. This is a perfect fit so you shouldn’t encounter any problem. Put some super glue to for

4. Insert a paper around the barrel so that it won’t wiggle. Remove excess paper.

5. Attach the stainless adaptor into the SD6 suppressor. The adaptor and the suppressor is a perfect fit (again, by lucky coinsidence) so you won’t have any problem there.Check the alignments(quite tricky) and hold the barrel for a while until the adaptor and the suppressor have totally bonded.

6. Screw in the suppressor to your R6 to re-check alignment. Firing a few rounds is recommended to make sure the BBs don’t touch the inner wall of the suppressor. Once satisfied, spray paint your gun.

The nipple and adaptor couplings are great because it fitted perfectly into the plastic barrel. Actually, I can modify the original Flasher so that I can also screw it into the modified barrel to replace the suppressor. That would make my R6 look like a shorty and would be great for CQB games.

That would be my next project. For more pictures, please see them here.

The Last Resort

After a couple of weeks off, I was again able to play my new favorite sport — AIRSOFT! Of all the games I played, I would say that this is the one that I enjoyed most. I may have more exciting games in the future but for now, that’s the best!

I used the gun of my Cobra brother, MajorVP, who is by the way is one of the VPs in our office. That’s the reason why we called him that in the first place. He has several guns in his mini-armory, if you call that, and he lent me his MP5A5. I actually don’t want to use that gun because that was clocking at 480fps. That’s way above the limit we set for the game which is 400fps and the average rate of the airsoft guns of my friends is 350fps. Also, that would mean that I would be playing as a sniper. But since I do not enjoy sniping( especially in a jungle-type scenario), I set it to semi-automatic mode. At least with that, the damage will be less and I’ll be sure that I’m not gonna accidentally hurt my friends.

The game was held at one of SOE’s gamesite called “The Last Resort”. Actually, it was a resort that was never finished with at least two large swimming pools. Basically, it is an idle place now grass as tall as 7 feet. The vegetation is too thick one can actually crawl under the bushes and crawl I did. That allowed me to knife-kill some of the opponents. I just felt bad because I think I hurt one of them when I didn’t notice that I’m already in automatic mode. But overall, it was fun!!! Lots of fun!!! I went home at around 1200hrs because the heat of the sun is so intense already I think we’ll have heat stroke. I can’t wait for the next game!

AIRSOFT D.I.Y. Mesh Goggles

WARNING: Use of DIY Mesh Goggles are no longer recommended. This mesh google will not stand a 450fps bb fired at point-blank. Take note that the post is created in September of 2005. That’s the time of first generation of All-China-Made airsoft guns like DEM83 and BE Steyr Aug.

This one is for my fellow airsofters.

I’m sure some of you may have experienced playing on a very humid environment.
I’ve been in several games myself and it’s an awful experience playing with your vision blocked by moist. I even bought an ‘anti-moist’ goggles but on extreme conditions moist still appears on the lens so I thought a wire-mesh goggles mustbe great. However, vader mask is a bit pricey

After seeing the 120kph’s modified Peels, I immediately thought of doing the same thing on my own PEELS goggles.

Hmnnn… enough for an introduction crap. Let’s make our hands dirty. Here’s how I changed my lowly PEELS googles

into something like this..

Here’s the materials to use.
1. PEELS Goggles (or any other goggles with lens)
2. Wire Cutter
3. Mesh Wires (I used a garbage can)
4. Flat Black Spray Paint (I used RJ Adhesive Paint –Dull Black)
5. Marker

Here’s the steps:
1. Remove the lens from the frame to use as a pattern.

2. Using the cutter, cut through the garbase can tracing the pattern created.

Make sure that the lens and the cut-out is of the same size.

3. Spray the cut-out mesh with the paint and insert into the frame

4. Spray the whole goggles with the paint to make the color uniform.

5. Be proud of yourself, you have just done it!

6. Pack your goggles and sell it. haha!

Here’s the cost:
1. PEELS Goggles = PHP180.00
2. Wire Cutter = Free
3. Trash Can = PHP230.00 (since you can make six screens per can, that would be PHP38.30)
4. RJ Adhesive Spray Paint = PHP129.40 (you can reuse this.. good for 6 so, 25.60)
5. Marker=FREE

Total : PHP243.9
Finished product sells at PHP400.00