Class of 2018

Can you spot the Lagman in this class picture?

Bike the Drive

Once a year, Chicago's most scenic street (Lake Shore Drive) is shutdown to all traffic except for bikes. Here's some shots of Christine and Katie on this beautiful ride.
Click on the picture for a larger image.

A Rose is a rose, is a rose......

Green and pinkish "Rose Apple" or Macopa in Tagalog
The tree near our room full of fruits.
The red variety is the sweetest and juicier.

Pushing Tin

I never discount the job of an air traffic controller but check out this video and be thankful the next time you're on a plane during thunderstorm and complaining that you're delayed. This is a radar recording taken of the Memphis area on a particularly busy day in Summer 2003. Memphis is the HQ of the international courier company FedEx and each of the planes displayed on the screen here are Fed Ex flights inbound to Memphis. The red/yellow/green colouring is an approcahing thunderstorm.

Congrats to the newlyweds

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Brian Lagman. Hope to see you guys soon!!!

Here's the beautiful new couple.

Finally...Pics of Christine's new "baby"

It finally stopped raining in Chicago for 2 consecutive days. Thanks to Celeste for helping daddy wash the car yesterday. Hopefully, it stays clean.
Here's Christine's 2006 Honda Pilot EXL with Navigation and DVD. Prepped and ready for our first of many road trips. If you want to see a larger version of any of the pictures in the slide show just click on the picture.

Celeste's recital video - Beatle Mania

If you can't see the video click here to install Flash player.

Conspiracy Theory - If you like 24, you'll like this....Hmmm?!?!?

Some people have been asking for a link to the video so they can send it to friends so here it is http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5137581991288263801&q=loose+change

"You're Fired!!"

This anchor's Freudian slip speaks volumes. Gay, blind...what's the difference. Oops!!!

More pictures from the Lagmans farm

Some of the pineapple now ready for picking.

Mangoes that fell off the tree after the storm. Sour, sour, sour..
My chicken are also ready for "frying".

The Evolution of Dance...

Thanks for the link Rico!!!

For all the 24 Fans...

A funny song about Jack Bauer's plan. It's set to the music of Jack and Diane.

Click here

Embracing my inner nerd...

I love the smell of vinyl.
Celeste bought Christine a nice corsage to wear all day for Mother's Day. Then, we splurged and treated Christine like the queen she is. We took her to Ikea for their .99 cent breakfast special. Heck, we even splurged and got the extra side of french toast. I think the total for our bill with coffee and chocolate milk was $5.48. After we had breakfast, we shopped around and I took one step further into my addiction for vinyl toy collecting. All the designer toys that littered my dresser have now found a home in a new Detolf glass shelving unit. Hi, my name is Carlo and I'm a Vinyl-holic.

The Neverending Birthday...

Well today was Celeste's "family" birthday party. I think her 6th birthday celebration is finally over after 2 weeks. Here are some pictures and a video.

(2ND UPDATE) Tropical storm Chanchu continued to lash the Philippines Saturday, leaving at least 26 people dead as heavy rains triggered landslides and left parts of the country under water.
Floodwaters submerged two provinces in the central Visayas region and several villages in Leyte's Sogod town were cut off after landslides and floods damaged a bridge and vital highway.
Chanchu was tracking west-northwest towards the South China Sea and was expected to have moved on by Sunday morning, the state weather bureau said.
In the worst accident during the storm, the motorboat Mae Ann 5 capsized just off the central city of Masbate Friday.
Officials are unsure how many passengers were aboard, but coast guard spokesman Lieutenant Commander Joseph Coyme said 21 bodies had been fished out of the water.
The civil defense office said over 23,000 people in the eastern and central regions have been evacuated, while nearly 8,000 people were stranded in major ports after the coast guard suspended sea travel.
Chanchu was packing maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers (58 miles) per hour near the center with gusts up to 120 kilometers per hour, the weather bureau said.

1st Typhoon 2006

It is still raining today, after almost 3 days of rain. Everything outside is soaking wet. This typhoon really brings memories of my childhood days. During rainy season it is possible to experience continous rain for 30 days. My fishponds are overflowing, my fruit trees are losing fruits everyday, and the landscapping is a mess with several trees uprooted. Cleaning up started yesterday but because of the rain, it is a painstakingly slow process. At least the roof is holding out, no leaks. However the aluminum windows are not too tight. The strong winds the other night brought in some water inside. I will attach some pictures and some news prints. Dad

Mother's Day Tea with Celeste

Celeste had a special treat for Christine at her school. The kindergarten class put on a special program for all the mom's while they had tea. She and her class sang several songs and danced. They have been practicing all year for this day and they all did very well. Celeste said she made no mistakes during her dance.

Rotofugi spree

Part of Celeste's birthday present was a $20 shopping spree at Rotofugi which we all know was just an excuse for her dad to do some shopping of his own. Since the easter bunny got her a full size OX Uglydoll for easter she wanted to have all sizes. She picked up the Little Ugly Ox as well as the Mini OX keychain. She also bought a Yellow Cracle Cra Cra Keychain to match her grey one. Here's what she scored..
And here's the whole OX Uglydoll family

Dad never leaves Rotofugi empty handed. The biggest score was a Tado Mad*L figure. I got really lucky because they only had 6 of these and they sold out in 20 seconds. I ordered it on their website for pick up in the store. I guess I have fast fingers. I also bought 2 Cardboy Series 1 figures, a couple OXOP QEE's Series 2a and 1 Trexi. All in all a very good day. They'll all look great in my new cabinet.

Mom and Dad's trip to the southern islands

First we went to Zamboanga City on the 27th of April to attend our Rotary club district convention. The convention was from the April 28 to 30. It was attended by Rotarians from Panay Island, Negros and Zamboanga. Zamboanga is in the south western part of Mindanao. The first night dinner theme was western that is why we were all wearing western customs in some of the pictures. From Zamboanga we went to Davao. From Davao we went directly to South Cotobato (Lake Sebu) to visit your uncle Tom's sister who is the head of a mission there (with the T'Boli tribes in lake Sebu). We spent two night with her. She took us around her area which is really beautiful. We were also entertained by the T'Boli tribes with their native dances and songs in our first night there. Lake Sebu is situated near the top of the mountain yet it has several big lakes and waterfalls. You will like the place if you like living close to nature. We really like the place. From Lake Sebu we drove back to Davao and visited the sights over there. We went to Pearl farm resort and Eden garden. The Pearl farm resort is about the same standard of accommodations as Thailand. The price is of course Western standard too. It is very nice though. We spent 3 nights and four days in Davao enjoying the scneries and their fruits. They have many varieties of fruits and base on Filipino standards they have the best. But because we have tasted the fruits in Thailand, there is no comparisson. Bangkok fruits as far as we are concern are still the best. Your mom near the end of our trip was really tired because she has not fully recovered from her trip abroad yet.

Crazy Weekend...

Celeste's birthday was Friday. After school we took her to her new favorite restaurant, Benihana. After eating there for auntie 'becca's birthday she can't get enough of the "live" cooking.

On Saturday, we spent 3+ hours at the Honda dealer picking up Christine's new baby. A new Honda Pilot. I'll post a pic later as well.

On Sunday, Celeste had a party for all her friends at the movie theater. All the kids were VERY excited to see the new Disney movie, The Wild but first they were treated to pizza and french fries. Then, Jen led the kids in some fun games. After that, we all sang happy birthday to Celeste and had some delicious strawberry filled white cake. Uncle Ramon and Kira showed up and Ramon led the kids in a game of simon says. Then all the kids were given snack packs with popcorn, candy and drinks before going to see the movie. All the kids gave the movie a big thumbs up. Thanks to Jen, Ramon, Kira, Marlon and Scott for coming to see Celeste and for helping us out.
Here are some pictures.

Happy Birthday Celeste!!!

On this day 6 years ago, we were given a gift named Celeste Tagle Lagman. Please think of her on her special day. We Love You Big Girl!!!

The world's smallest tribute band

Thanks to Carla for this submission. I guess she's spent a little too much time looking for a band to do her wedding. I think booking these guys for your wedding would rock!!

MINIKISS Website

No turning back...

The deposit has been put down on the new family truckster. Accessories are being installed tomorrow and Friday. I'll post a picture as soon as it arrives. I'm dreading going into the dealer. Hopefully it's quick and painless.

A shoe in for American Inventor

Thanks to Rico for this awesome submission to the blog.

A Cruzin Cooler is what every tailgater needs. Imagine the possibilities...


Have a friend or need to carry something other than cold beverages? Well they've got you covered.

The $39 Experiment

"Nothing in this world is free..."
That's what my parents told me everytime I wanted to sign up for those Columbia House Tape or CD "clubs".

Well what can you get for $39 worth of stamps and some envelopes and paper? A guy named Tom Locke tries to see what companies will give him for free just by asking. He calls it The $39 Experiment. Read the article and see some of the funny responses and stuff he got. My parents also said "You don't get anything without asking" so there you go.

The Winning Eleven - Countdown to Germany

Today was a day that U.S. Soccer fans (Me and Rico) were waiting for. Coach Bruce Arena announced the U.S. world cup roster. There were a couple of surprises (Conrad, Olsen, Ching) but overall it played out as expected. The U.S. is ridiculously currently ranked 4th in the world according to FIFA but is in the dreaded "Group of Death" and must find a way to beat out Italy, Czech Republic and Ghana to get to the knockout stage. Their first match is against the Czech Republic (ranked 2nd in the world) on June 12th. I'll definitely be "working" from home that day. Here's your U.S. Soccer team for this year's world cup.

Goalkeepers: Marcus Hahnemann (Reading), Tim Howard (Manchester United), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach)
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Cory Gibbs (ADO Den Haag), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Eddie Lewis (Leeds United), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake)
Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven), Bobby Convey (Reading), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), John O'Brien (Chivas USA), Ben Olsen (D.C. United), Claudio Reyna (Manchester City)
Forwards: Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Brian McBride (Fulham), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards)

Reserves
Goalkeepers: Tony Meola (New York Red Bulls), Matt Reis (New England Revolution)
Defenders: Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus), Todd Dunivant (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Midfielders: Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), Chris Klein (Real Salt Lake), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution), Steve Ralston (New England Revolution), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards)
Forwards: Conor Casey (FSV Mainz), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)

Back to reality - the girls are back from NYC

Well it sounds like Christine and Jen had a incredible time in NYC. Did someone say gift bag? Where do we start...Hoboken, a Broadway Show, Cafe Wha?, Magnolia cupcakes, Soho, Little Italy, Times Square, the Village, Empire State Bldg, Ben's Pizza, Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero and more. The Big Apple from a local's POV. Can't beat that. Thanks Cath and Brian for being such amazing hosts.
Check out the slide show of their adventures

Feed your head - RSS Feed that is...

I've been trying to add as many features as possible to this blog site and the latest is a RSS feed. For those of you familiar with feeds the links are below. For those that aren't, RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication and it basically provides web content summaries/updates of a website. What this means for this site is that you'll get a feed with any new posts. If you use yahoo or google then you can use their readers to get the feed by clicking on the appropriate link below. I did a terrible job of describing RSS feeds so just look it up on google or wikipedia. The feed links are permanently posted on the right side of the blog in the archive section.

Da Bulls!!

I didn't watch the Bulls as intensly as I normally would have this season but Skiles has them ready to play for the playoffs. They may not get past the Heat but they come ready to play.

Kobe's been getting a lot of press lately. I saw that he posterized Steve Nash the other day but we all need to remember who was responsible for the term posterizing in the first place. King Lebron definitely has the potential to be named with Jordan but for now watch the first and only real King.

Let the games begin...

I sent out emails to 12 dealers today for a price quote on the new car. Now the fun begins. If anyone has ever purchased a new car, they know it is definitely one of the most painful experiences that someone can have. I think it ranks just behind a root canal. This is why I am strictly dealing via email. Hopefully, the hyper-extensive research and time on those forums pays off.

"You say you want a Revolution"? Well too bad...

So Phil told me that the new Nintendo system isn't going to be called Revolution. Apparently, the name is now Wii (pronounced "whee"). I'm not a big Nintendo fan since I spend most of my time playing sports games and shooters which is not really their forte. The wireless controller for this thing looks like a remote control for your DVD player and if it operates like one then there will be a very short learning curve for most people out there.