5.31.2005

Frances Bean is all grown up

Blame the fangirl in me but I'm so stoked with this pic.

courtneyidol
Courtney Love with Frances Bean
taken at the red carpet of
the American Idol pre-show on E!
(from Stereogum)


Aww, makes my heart ache to know he will never find out how his daughter is turning out. (Which makes me wonder about the other "live" fathers out there who know next-to-nothing about their own daughters or sons as well. What's their excuse?)

5.30.2005

Summer Days

So, here we are. Saying some of our final goodbyes to the wild hot sun. It may have been the hottest summer we've ever experienced so far but I'm not really looking forward to the rains. Especially now that I am so dependent on trains. and you know how it is in this country of ours. the slightest rain can cause major traffic build up and stall a train mid-station. Hay.

As earlier planned, we went back to puerto galera to celebrate raimund's birthday. this time, we had the kids with us. Maps and Raims brought Atari and we had our bebe with us, too. Zach and Aiabebi joined us, too. Rounding out our merry band of beach bums was yaya Nemia. Won't go into details anymore. Just happy and glad that we were able to have this one last 3-day hurrah before summer ended.

private beach anyone
private beach, anyone?

spent our 2nd morning at this private beachfront property. (won't tell you where it is exactly. part of the fun is in the discovering) It was deserted and gave us the illusion that we're the only ones at the beach. Life is good.

And here's my moonchild throwing water at the sea. I dunno why, though.

alone
tapon, tapon mo

now compare the two previous photos to this one at White Beach. Megamall ba? YOu shoulda seen the crowd during weekends at the height of summer. Parang me 3-day sale.

megamall
uy, me sale ba ng board shorts?

And this is how I will remember this particular galera outing.

laughter
monster laugh

They were such fun. Totally behaved (for their age, ha). Love, love being with my little girl. Couldn't resist asking Maps, while we were walking along the beach heading for our accommodations (the kids were ahead of us): Did you ever imagine, when they were just wee babies and kept waking us up at ungodly hours, that we'd be doing this with them? the answer: No.

=====
since i've written so much about Galera, might as well provide you with the contact details of the places we stayed in. Dalawa lang naman.

Lodger's Nook (White Beach): 0916.756.5196
Tamaraw Beach Resort (Aninuan): 0916.613.2845

5.27.2005

Live Aid follow up

Found this via Guardian Unlimited:

Sir Bob Geldof, former Boomtown Rats singer and organizer of the original Live Aid 20 years ago has announced the follow up to the massive charity concert.

liveaid-1
making a point. photo from And All That Malarkey


Teaming up with Midge Ure, former Ultravox singer, the follow up concert shall coincide with the G8 Summit scheduled this July. The concert, already attracting a number of big-named bands and artists shall have a more political agenda.

They're also "rumoured to be planning a series of concerts around the world, including one in Hyde Park, central London, to put pressure on world leaders during the summit to cut third world debt, reform trade agreements and increase aid to the region."

Read whole article here.

Goody two shoes?

I am 43% Asshole/Bitch.
Part Time Asshole/Bitch.
I may think I am an asshole or a bitch, but the truth is I am a good person at heart. Yeah sure, I can have a mean streak in me, but most of the people I meet like me.

5.20.2005

hello. how are you?

I dedicate this song to you.

To you who once held a central spot in my young life. May you truly find whatever it is you're looking for.

High and Dry
(Radiohead, The Bends)

Two jumps in a week I bet you think that's pretty clever don't you boy
Flying on your motorcycle
Watching all the ground beneath you drop
You'd kill yourself for recognition
Kill yourself to never ever stop

You broke another mirror
You're turning into something you are not

Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry

Drying up in conversation
You will be the one who cannot talk & all your insides fall to pieces
You just sit there wishing you could still make love
They're the ones who'll hate you when you think you've got the world all sussed out
They're the ones who'll spit at you
You will be the one screaming out

Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry

It's the best thing that you ever had
It's the best thing that you ever had
The best thing that you've had has gone away

So don't leave me high
Don't leave me dry
Don't leave me high
don't leave me dry

5.18.2005

what the hell?

so i was at the ladies' room today. i noticed one door was slightly ajar. I assumed no one was there. i carefully pushed the door and what do i see?

this 40-ish lady squatting on the goddamn toilet bowl. wow! i didn't know whether to be embarassed for her or for me. Naknaman ale, that's so 80s. hahahaha

but isn't that pathetic though? Lady, there are various ways to do the deed without your bum touching the effing ceramic. you just need to be creative.

aghh.. i feel bad blogging this. but i had to. otherwise the image will remain stuck in my brain in the days to come.

it feels though, like i'm adding ammunition to the arsenal of "wise" people out there who think of blogging as senseless and useless and consider blogs as "pretenders to the throne of true essay writing. They mimic the essay much as Eliza Doolittle mimicked the Queen's English before Professor Higgins got his hands on her." (via Metafilter)

Well is it? the blog i mean?

I don't care what the author says. I believe that blogs have their own uses in these times. Sure some are like online diaries with its meaningless chatter and self-congratulatory entries. But blogs are nonetheless revolutionary in the sense that people have access to technology that puts them on equal footing with the powers that be. It's a venue where, with minimal knowledge re web applications, pseudo-intellectual undergrads can argue, debate or counter their more seasoned, older counterparts. it's also a launching pad for change (a number of succesful cyber advocacy campaigns were launched because people blogged about their issues), a space where you can generate funds for a worthy endeavour (like Pia Faustino, who through her LJ, asked virtual strangers to help her out with her trip to barcelona to join the world youth day, in exchange for good deeds), and a space where people sort out their deep-seated personal issues.

No matter how banal and immature or how poetic and profound a blog may seem, i believe that at some level (maybe not as apparent as we want it to be), blogs help us find ourselves, help us set our life directions. A blog is a potent tool in helping us articulate our thoughts on issues (personal or public) that currently beset us. It's also nice to see how we got from point a to point b. i'm sure you have your own reasons for starting and maintaining a blog and every single one is valid.

now, if we can only make sure that everyone (down to the last rural folk) have access to the kind of technology that let's us blog, then we'll truly have a revolution in our hands.

5.12.2005

Cheers for Joyce and Uchenna

Woohoo!!! Everybody now, Hep Hep (hep hep), Hep Hep (hep hep)

Uchenna and Joyce
million dollar babies

Amazing Race 7 was so intense, entertaining and ultimately gratifying. It's just so wonderful and positively affirming that the couple won. Good guys finish last, my foot.

For awhile there though, we were really worried (the whole family was glued to AXN sitting through the endless TV ad prompting the little girl to say: "Oh, ayan na naman") especially when they started the last part with no money and they had to go to the airport to beg for money. I bet they never even thought about asking money from the other teams. They knew they'll just get the cold shoulder treatment with some sarcastic remarks thrown in for good measure.

I was really sorry for them when they were rebuffed by these departing white tourists. It maybe argued that they didn't help them because a) they were strangers and they just said they were part of a race (no mention at all of AR) or b) they were leaving Jamaica and therefore are down to their last dollars. I still have the sneaking suspicion though that it was because of Uchenna and Joyce's skin color. Call me jaded or paranoid, but discrimination still persists in all parts of the world.

Though they spent so many hours at the airport and the other teams were done with the first task of the leg long before they even got to it, they were very resilient, persevering and strategic. They even managed to catch up and even make it on the same plane to Miami with the vile couple, Rob and Amber leaving the other sad couple, Ron and Kelly behind.

I will not bore you with the details anymore (for a recap visit the Amazing Race 7 website). Suffice it to say that I'm so glad that they won. They're probably the nicest couple (and not in a put-on way, ha. They're genuinely good people) that have joined AR. I think that the elderly couple wouldn't have made it to the top 4 if it weren't for Uchenna and Joyce's help although to be fair, their staying power is inspiring and remarkable on its own. (Kudos to lolo Meredith and lola Gretchen!)

And wasn't that a big comeuppance for Rob and Amber? When I heard that the last 2 roadblocks had to be accomplished by Amber, I knew they're in for big trouble. She's so vapid - always relying on Rob for instructions and Rob is just more than willing to oblige. This is probably the reason they're selling the TV rights to their wedding. Tacky couple! So, join me: "beh buti nga sa inyo!" The disappointment in Rob's eyes is priceless.

As you can see, I've invested a lot in this season and thank God, it didn't disappoint.

Funniest scene: Rob carrying Amber on his back (she can't walk because she swam to get a clue) with her butt cheeks hanging out. Juxtapose that with earlier shots of them all cocky and vile just cause they're "survivors."

We can only thank the casting people of AR. They know their shit. They know exactly what personalities to combine to make the race more interesting.

5.09.2005

Disney HK update

here's one hypocritical post. hehehe

found this on boingboing and it made my heart beat go faster.

Punyetang globalization yan. I know how bad it is: for our economy (no matter what GMA says, opening our markets to foreign products while not making sure that local products can compete or at the least providing some subsidy to make sure local manufacturers don't die at the onslaught of cheap imported stuff), for our culture (disney for my batibot), for our own personal spending (why coke when you can have Zesto's dalandan soda? et al), bad for our workers earning below-minimum wage (sans the 'safety' of being a permanent employee, most are contractuals) and working in sub-standard environs in those export-processing zones so that Nike and the rest can sell to us 3rd worlders over-priced sneakers, shirts, bags, etc.

But ooh, isn't this really pretty?

disneymtr

The train runs four carriages with red-trimmed, Mickey Mouse head-shaped windows, the body painted with intertwining ribbons of gold and “pixie dust”. Hand-rings have Mickey ears. Completing the theme are vintage photos of Walt Disney, along with bronze statues of Disney characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, Pluto, Chip ‘n’ Dale, Tinker Bell, and Snow White.

disneymtr2

HK Disney, choo choo. And away we go.

5.06.2005

FX muzak

what is it with FX taxis and that station that annoyingly plugs "kailangan pa bang i-memorize yan?" every 10 minutes or so?

for three weeks now, i've been going to one of my doctors (naks, i've lots of those now: cardio, neuro, ob/gyne, optha and of course aling thelma, my alternative 'doctor') and has been riding those FX taxis plying Taft and España.

So, that's one round trip a week and more often than not, the radio would be tuned into that station. I now forget its call numbers. Kakatanong nila ng memorize ek nila, nakalimutan ko na talaga. Now that's irony for you.

Anyway, not only are their djs and their jokes corny, they also have the worst choice in what they pass off as music. I mean that's where i heard this really ugly song who's gist went something like: sana di mo na lang sinabi, hindi pa naman kita mahal, kakagaling ko lang hiwalayan, kawawa naman ako kung masaktan muli.

Gah, there's such a thing as workshopping your song, ok? Not everything heartfelt is lyrical. That's why there's a 1st draft and a 2nd draft when it comes to writing anything: articles, lyrics, poems. hell, some blogs are written in drafts first. (not my blog though, so you'd have to excuse my grammatical lapses.)

back to the FX taxis. I was riding one just an hour ago and like clockwork, the DJ played the hottest dance tunes this side of Manila. Starting with that "chocolate song" which swiftly made way to that "bose, bose, bong, bong, bong" one which then smoothly sequed to the "chopeta, marinero" song. Really exquisite. Exquisitely painful, that is. If only I had the money now and am not thinking of educ plan payments and tution fees, i'd grab one of those covetous ipods and plug myself into my own world. (in a few months maybe)

What's even more painful is seeing my little daughter sway and try to gyrate her little tummy each time she hears them on the radio or on TV. Kaloka.

so this is what the real world looks like, hahaha.

5.03.2005

sunday in the park

Thank God(dess) for Quezon City.

Though many people would regard QC as boring with its suburban lifestyle, malls and general lack of artistic ambience (whatever that means), i'm eternally grateful that i live in QC. I am doubly thankful that our modest home is situated near the UP campus with its trees and fresh air (i know, i know we may never sever our umbilical cords) now that i spend at least 40 hours a week in smog-laden, traffic-congested Manila.

Last Sunday, as part of our welcome activities with Joseph and 5-year old Gabriel (they're visiting the Philippines sans Aimee for 3 weeks. We promised Aims that we'll take good care of her husband and son while they're here :) , we spent the afternoon lazing at the UP Sunken Garden. My family got there first around 4 pm. Our little one, who spent more than two weeks being cooped inside her grandma's house doing nothing but watch TV and spend a few minutes outside, was ecstatic to have such a vast space for her playground. She ran, kicked ball, etc.

sunken garden
UP sunken Garden at 5 in the afternoon

After an hour the Santos clan arrived led by Carlo and Aloy. Immediately, they started working on the kites. We had fun flying the kites. The others tried assembling small airplanes which didn't work prompting Jorick to declare that "all the stuff we bought in Tagaytay are crap!"

kite
Green kite in the sky

As darkness started to blanket UP, we decided that it's time to pack up so we can prepare for the welcome dinner at El's place. Dinner, as always, was a great affair. Since Joseph is a vegetarian, most of the dishes were catered for him. El made a mean pasta sauce with sundried tomatoes (pasalubong fr Aims), bruschetta and salad. I brought an Indian potato salad (with wansoy, mongo sprouts, lemon, etc) as well as bbq chicken with satay sauce (copped from a recipe from Food magazine - i love this mag!) The Santos family bought pork bbq and we also grilled vegetables on our "pangit na ihawan."

welcome dinner
Food!

it was a relaxed party. The three kids were just bonding with each other with minimum fuss. Everyone was sated and by 9:30 pm, half the guest have left. It was a slow evening but it was still a lot of fun. And to top it off, the following day, a Monday, was a non-working holiday. Hurrah!