the (not so) secret life

Here’s my Christmas wish list. These are the things I truly deserve… after being all naughty and nice all year round.

1. Office furniture for my soon-to-be trading nook in my living room.
I can totally imagine waking up everyday saying “Time to wake up! I gotta rush to the office! I might be late for work!”, rushing to take a shower, and in less than 10 strides… “Reporting for duty, sir(s)!”

Bush Vantage corner computer desk and mesh office chair from Chicago Chair Company. Come to think of it, we have almost the same office chair model in our playground errr, “office” in Technohub. I should take one of those babies home, you think they’d notice?

2. Roland G70 Harmonizer and 17-track Recorder Keyboard
… or any other kick-ass keyboard would do. At least 6 octaves please. Thanks.

3. Yamaha DD65 Digital Drums
This should be the el cheapo one, now that the DD66 is out. Must! Learn! Drums!

4. iP9SR iHome Clock Radio and Audio System for iPod plus Skullcandy Double Agent Emerald White Headphones
Oooh la la. Audiophile much?

5. Hyundai Genesis Coupe in black. RAWRRRR.
Maybe in a couple of years, yes?

And a happy Christmas to you too!

“We are not dealing with normal elections governed by normal electoral rules and normal campaign methods. … this is an EDSA masquerading as an election.” - Questions, There’s the Rub (10.27.09)

“Quite apart from that, the last thing Filipino students abroad can count on is that their government is behind them. Or probably more to the point, the first thing they can count on is that their government is behind them—lifting their wallets from their back pockets.” - Coming Home, There’s the Rub (10.26.09)

I know I don’t ask for much but at least show me some respect. I don’t expect you to treat me like a princess but I think I deserve to be treated much better.

The fact that you did tell me that you were going home later than usual is not the point. I’m disappointed because, once again, you’ve displayed an overwhelming lack of consideration. Texting me in the middle of the night to say that you’d be extending for an hour (and another hour after that) does not qualify as “asking permission” and I’m sorry but saying “Hindi naman kami uminom” in your defense does not absolve you from anything. That’s not my problem. Stay out late and get wasted all you want, for all I care… Just don’t make me wait up for you.

Your inability to figure out the problem bothers me. And don’t you be all charming and expect things to get better real soon. I need to be convinced. I’m having a tough time believing that this is all worth it.

THREE by Conrado de Quiros, PDI

One, after Fernando Poe, Jr. died on Dec. 14, 2004, they did an inventory of his things. In one bodega, they found cartons of relief goods that were meant to be delivered to Infanta, Quezon. Infanta had been buried in mudslides a couple of weeks before his death and, along with many others, FPJ had bestirred himself to help.

With one difference: While all the other relief-givers were busy putting their names on their donations—or as in the case of many public officials, putting their names on other people’s donations—FPJ was not. His people would swear later he would not hear of it. He gave strict orders for the relief goods to be unmarked and just sent where needed. It altered my view of the man completely and made me vow to make amends to his family for some of the things I had said about him.

That is class. Which makes me furious today about the politicians who want to exploit the misfortune of others for their ends. Or indeed their continuing travail, many of them having lost everything in one of the worst disasters ever to hit this metropolis. It’s a sentiment I know is shared by many, even those who were not directly ravaged by the floods, as I’ve seen in news reports and blogs.

Heading the pack is Willie Revillame who was busy announcing that “kami nga ni Senator Villar” have been tireless in delivering relief goods to the needy. You’d think the guy would have learned a thing or two from being crucified after he vituperated about Cory’s coffin being shown on his show, consequently disrupting his and his audience’s fun. Clearly his chastisement hasn’t chastened him enough. Or he’s just fundamentally tasteless he cannot see that the last thing the victims want is to be treated like contestants, or supplicants, of “Wowowee” waiting upon his generosity.

Thankfully the tack is likely to backfire. People are in a foul mood and are not likely to remember Revillame—or his principal—with fondness come election time.

The last thing we need is to see politics mix with relief. “When you want to shoot, shoot,” as Eli Wallach said in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” finishing off the guy who was threatening him with all sorts of mayhem. Same principle here: When you want to give, give, don’t advertise. All you’ll get back is mayhem in the minds of the beneficiaries.

Two, on Tuesday government’s disaster council gave a briefing. They were three days late. The time to have done that was Saturday at the height of the rains. The time to have appeared in public to calm down a metropolis in the grip of panic was last Saturday. The time to have gone to the aid of people who had every reason to panic (some of them were huddling on the roofs of their houses, along with their children and their aged, pounded by unceasing rain) was last Saturday. The time to have unleashed the full resources of government, which should have been there because government has—or should have—billions of pesos in calamity and emergency funds, was last Saturday.

In fact the monumental thing that happened last Saturday was the complete absence of government. The only government there was were the media, notably ABS-CBN and GMA-7. You can forgive both for advertising their wares, or relief efforts, under the extenuating circumstances. They were the government. They were the central authority apprising the public of the situation. They were the central authority coming to the aid of the victims. They were the central authority running the country.

The Internet is full of reports that the emergency fund is depleted, having gone to fund Arroyo and company’s not-very-emergency trips abroad. I’ll leave that for when it’s confirmed. But the breakdown of government is staggering. Arroyo should thank God, or whatever entity she worships, we have elections—the same elections she tried to monkey with earlier with Charter change. Without that she would probably not last this week, given an incensed citizenry, given an aroused citizenry, given a citizenry that will no longer brook abuse. This is as angry as I’ve seen residents of Metro Manila in a long time.

Three, indeed to this hour, what government we have is courtesy of the private sector where voluntarism has sprung like wildflowers. That is the bright spot in all this, the light amid the darkness, the blazing sun after the storm. Truly the Filipino rises to his finest self during trying times, the more trying the times, the finer the rising. Or it is in times of disaster that the Filipino ceases to be a disaster, thinking of others first before self.

It’s especially heartening to see the kids go en masse on relief mode. Many of the kids in my neighborhood have done so, teeners who normally while away the holidays playing basketball, flipping rollerblades, and drinking beer in the stores. They’ve enrolled themselves to help without thought of pay, without thought of recompense, without thought of reward. Just the thought of doing something nice for a change, just the thought of doing something to make things better.

It rekindles memories of the July-August floods of 1972, when students also went in droves to places in Greater Manila no longer traversable by land, or indeed outside the metropolis where they were greeted by a greater ravaging. But then there was activism to fuel, or goad, or flagellate the youth to idealism. Well, there was also the prospect of meeting a cool chick or a cool cat while on your best form. Today, there’s just spontaneous goodwill to do the trick. And the prospect of meeting a cool chick or a cool cat while on your best form. The kids come home happy, comparing the welts and bruises on their arms from lifting crates while drinking beer in the stores.

Makes you wonder what on earth you need government for.

Goog-Lyeah?

Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Julia Roberts (Is it just me or do all the hottest ladies have names starting with ‘J’?)…

Anyway, trailer!

Let’s hope MTRCB doesn’t go retarded in February and releases this in, oh, June? Me thinks February is still within the post-MMFF hangover stage but I’m crossing me fingers. Otherwise, there’s always torrent. Gotta love the power of the internets.

Kurt’s dad catches him dancing and singing to Beyonce’s Single Ladies…

I can’t help it, I’m a GLEEK!

Thank god magaling na mag-YM mom ko…

I was complaining to her how my cousin, who is about to get married to this skanky gold-digger of a bitch (oops, couldn’t stop my self there) in January, kept changing schedules for the gown measuring. And, get this, I’m supposed to pay for my own gown?! What the fuck is kuripot?! PLEASE. But that’s not the worst part… Their motif is yellow. As in pee YELLOW. I hate it. Basta, I pay them 500 pesos. I’ve never, I repeat NEVER, made patahi a gown ever in my life. Not even for prom. Or grad ball. Or graduation. All because I plan to make patahi super super duper nice gown for MY wedding…

Anyway… You know I really wouldn’t mind if it were a close friend of mine getting married. Gimme the worst possible gown design in the worst possible color with the most unimaginable theme. I wouldn’t mind. But this… I don’t even know this cousin of mine. All I know is that he’s stupid enough to be unemployed for more than an entire year and to get married to some 39-year old paper trailer. And this 39-year old….? Geez, what could she possibly see? Easy money? Damn girl. By 39 you have got to be really desperate.

Arrrrrrgh. This is me thinking of coming up with a “work” excuse to just fly to HK or Singapore in the New Year and totally miss their wedding.

And this… This is just going too far…

Chai Cadelina (9/18/2009 2:43:25 PM): oo ganun kakapal sila! even yung gf ni chit kainis din- medyo mayabang- tingin samin “poor relations”…
me (9/18/2009 2:43:32 PM): fuck them
me (9/18/2009 2:43:41 PM): oo nung pinakilala ako ni dadi
me (9/18/2009 2:43:43 PM): tangina makatingin
me (9/18/2009 2:43:45 PM): yabang mo ah
me (9/18/2009 2:43:48 PM): tanda mo na eh
me (9/18/2009 2:43:59 PM): bakit ngayon ka lang ikakasal what’s wrong with you
me (9/18/2009 2:44:03 PM): yoko na. period.
me (9/18/2009 2:44:11 PM): di ako sisipot sa measurements
me (9/18/2009 2:44:12 PM): kasal
me (9/18/2009 2:44:13 PM): wtf
me (9/18/2009 2:44:24 PM): di ko naman kamag-anak yan
me (9/18/2009 2:44:34 PM): masira pa new year ko
Chai Cadelina (9/18/2009 2:47:14 PM): ganun nga makatingin! sobra manlait! Anyway, tignan ko kung pwede pa umatras; if di na, well… sipot na lang tayo at baka pagalitan ako ng husto ni dadi coz ng oo na tayo

I know, I know, I know! I bring Kanye West to interrupt their wedding! “You know what, this ceremony in Tagaytay is great and all but Beyonce has got the best video of all time. Of all time!”

Okay, time to release my inner pop culture fanatic…

Fame

A modern remake of the 1980 classic, Fame chronicles the lives of several young teenagers who attend a New York school for performing arts. Step aside Save the Last Dance, Step Up, Centerstage, and all them ghetto dance flicks… This is the motherlode of all dance movies. Trailer says it all. In theaters September 25! I! Can’t! Wait!

Michael Jackson: This is It

Never-before-seen footage of the King of Pop’s concert rehearsals. Ooh goosebumps! Showing October 28.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Fantasy flicks aren’t my cup of tea but Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farell, and Jude Law. Need I say more? Fine. Here’s the synopsis from IMDB: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’, a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this ‘coming of age’ milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all… See, we should have just stuck with: Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farell, and Jude Law. ‘Nuf said.

Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides
Depp, Depp, and more Depp. During Disney’s D23 Convention in California, Johnny Depp, clad in his full Jack Sparrow costume, announced the title and release date of the fourth film in the Pirates franchise. The film’s plot involves Jack Sparrow meeting up with Captain Barbossa and embarking on a quest for the fountain of youth. Release date: July 2011. Plenty of time to watch the first three installments all over again.