The Mad Hatter's house

Dog survivor story

2009-04-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

I love dogs and I love dog-survivor stories with a happy ending. This one thankfully ended well. :)

Dog overboard found four months later

AFP - Monday, April 6

SYDNEY (AFP) - - A pet dog that fell overboard in rough seas off Australia has been reunited with its owners after surviving alone on an island for four months, reports said.

Sophie Tucker, apparently named after a late US entertainer, fell overboard as Jan Griffith and her family sailed through choppy waters off the northeast Queensland coast in November.

The dog was believed to have drowned and Griffith said the family was devastated.

But out of sight of the family, Sophie Tucker was swimming doggedly and finally made it to St Bees Island, five nautical miles away, and began the sort of life popularised by the TV reality show "Survivor."

She was returned to her family last week when Griffith contacted rangers who had captured a dog that had been living off feral goats on the largely uninhabited island, in the faint hope it might be their long-lost pet.

When the Griffiths met the rangers' boat bringing the dog to the mainland they found that it was indeed Sophie Tucker on board.

"We called the dog and she started whimpering and banging the cage and they let her out and she just about flattened us," Griffith told the national AAP news agency.

"She wriggled around like a mad thing."

Griffith said that when the dog was first spotted on the island she had been in poor condition.

"And then all of a sudden she started to look good and it was when the rangers had found baby goat carcasses so she'd started eating baby goats," she said.

Sophie Tucker, a member of the Australian cattle dog breed, had been quick to readjust to the comforts of home, complete with airconditioning, Griffiths said.

"She surprised us all. She was a house dog and look what she's done, she's swum over five nautical miles, she's managed to live off the land all on her own," Griffiths said.

"We wish she could talk, we truly do."

Just a dream...?

2009-04-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, I used to have nightmares about war. I remember this distinct moment where I see the tank turn the corner into our street and my heart just starts racing, and I could feel the hope just draining away from me. There’s another where I’m older and I’m trying to escape but I don’t have a visa so I don’t know how I’m supposed to get out. In these nightmares, it’s always the Chinese invading us – although their tanks and uniform are strangely American. I guess that’s what I get for reading too much Anne Frank and being so obsessed with the Spratlys issue.

Of course, back then it was easy to write off my war fears to an overactive imagination and my need for some drama in my life. Apparently, it isn’t as easy now. Aside from my mom’s constant belief that we might eventually end up in the middle of a US-China confrontation, no thanks to Spratlys, now I’ve read a column in the Star* that oddly shares her sentiments. A conflict of any sort is the last anybody needs these days – with the economic downturn, the greenhouse effect and what not – and I wonder if people in the days before WW2 had the same thoughts. I mean, would anyone really know if we stand at the cusps of a world war? The thought itself is overwhelming and almost too impossible, especially when one has more pressing problems right in front of you like no food or loosing a job. It’s hard enough to get by everyday; people can’t afford to be Chicken Littles and live the rest of our lives with our eyes glued to the sky, worried that it might fall any day.

But, then again, if I were planning something, that’s exactly what I’d be waiting for: a decoy. America isn’t really in great shape now and Obama has problems left and right, internal and external to the country: the economic slump, problems in Afghanistan, Iraq, problems in his own cabinet. The country is essentially vulnerable now, fighting a battle in different fronts. And certainly, other countries have been using this slump as a way to assert themselves against not just against US, but some of it allies like the EU, who is suffering from the same recession that has hit US. Countries like Russia and Venezuela have both subtlety and publicly undermined the US within the last year, and though it’s not as frightening as the Taliban threat, the climate has already been primed. All that may be needed is a compelling reason (say Oil) to start the spark, so the idea is plausible.

Just how plausible? I hope we never find out.

*Star Article:
William Esposo, As I Wreck This Chair. “How what we don’t know will kill us”
The Philippine Star 2009-04-05

What's for breakfast? (My top 3 breakfast buffets)

2009-03-13T22:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm not exactly a food connoisseur. But I have eaten at a number of breakfast buffets around Manila and it's safe to say that not all buffets are created the same. And more choices does not (from my experience, at least) necessarily equate to delicious meals.

First off, a few notes about my eating tastes. I easily get bored, especially when it comes to food and that's why I'm a big fan of buffets. I prefer eating small amounts of everything and tasting how the flavors mix in my palate. If I had to classify my taste I would say Mediterranean: I love light meals with tomatoes, bread, oils and some wine. So basically that's how I approached these buffets.

(3) Circles Events Cafe (Shangri-la Makati)
This was one of my first breakfast buffets, I think, and I'm not even sure if they still have a breakfast buffet. Anyway, I like Circles better than HEAT (at Edsa Shangri-la) where I found the food, more often than not, uninspiring. Circles, like most buffets in the metro, boasts ample food choices ranging from Chinese, Japanese, American and Filipino. Not as exhaustive as Spiral but everything tastes so good that you don't really mind the smaller selection. What I think really separates Circles from the other buffets I've eaten in is the lightness of their food. It's not as easily filling, which really works for me. I get to truly savor the food and just enjoy the dining experience instead of feeling like I've overstuffed myself.

(2) Spiral (Sofitel Plaza Manila)
A lot of people would rank this as their number 1 buffet but Spiral and I have had a bad history together. The sheer amount of food choices makes it inevitable for any sane person not to over-eat, and once or twice I've ended up tasting food I wish I have never ever eaten in my life. That's not to say that I don't like Spiral. Despite the overwhelming selection, the food remains great although a tad more fatty than at Circles, their staff is one of the friendliest buffets crews around, and the place is remarkable with its large, trademark stairs and the view of the pool and Manila Bay outside. I just think Spiral suffers from it's popularity sometimes. The taste of their food tends to be inconsistent during crowded days, ranging from oh-my-god-you-have-to-try-this to blah. And because of the number of people frequenting it, they easily run of food (i.e. bacon) so its best to come early.

(1) 7 corners (Crowne Plaza Ortigas)
Not as popular as Circles or Spiral, nor as big. The selection at 7 corners is in fact one of the smallest buffet selections I've seen for a hotel buffet. Unlike the other 2 restaurants, I've never actually tried their regular buffet. I still long for their breakfast buffet, however. It's what actually compelled me to write this.
Anyway, fewer choices but cooked better, I suppose. Their bacon was crisp and perfect, not soggy limping bits of fat sitting in a bowl of oil. The french toast was good, so were the pancakes and other pastries. I particularly liked the cheese topping for the french toast. (I have no idea what that was but, boy, did it taste good). The staff and the ambience may not have been the best but everything else seems to play second fiddle to the food. There was nothing exotic about the food, nothing out of this world or new, just old breakfast favorites served at their very best.

Heidi Klum for Mercedes-Benz?

2008-09-30T03:16:00.000-07:00

"Because in safety, you're either alive or dead"

No, not really.But it's fun to think about it, isn't it?

A few days ago, my brother and I were talking about how celebrities are "dabbling" in other careers outside their own fields. For instance, Sarah Jessica Parker spun off from her famous Sex-in-The City role to create a clothesline and a perfume. J.Lo has done the same along with a lifestyle brand. Britney Spears, Beyonce and countless others have collaborated on perfumes. Gwen Stefani has her L.A.M.B clothing line. And even starlets like LC and Heidi of "The Hills" have their Lauren Conrad and Heidiwood line respectively. As for Heidi Klum, she has a Birkenstock line, collaborated on a line of German baubles, make-up, among others.

With celebrities creating/collaborating on almost everything (they're started to come up with lifestyle brands now), it does feel over saturated, even to point of nausea, at times.But one market they have yet to collaborate on is the automotive industry. It is rather strange that no one hasn't thought about it, considering cars -- luxury cars, at least -- is as closely associated with celebrities as the fashion industry is. Celebrities have endorsed cars, but no one has really collaborated on one. Tempting as that sounds to some people, perhaps it isn't the most brilliant idea a marketing employee could think of. Clearly, is not as easy to "dabble" into engineering and automobile design as it is in fashion. And while fashion can afford a "faux pas", a mistake in a car's design can easily run up to the millions. Still, the celebrities could collaborate on the aesthetic design of it rather than in the engineering process: a signature paint job, signature seat covers, a dashboard designed with this celebrity in mind and what not. It's fun to speculate, but I don't think I'll be queuing for one if they did come up with one. Not even if they did come with built-in Seal speakers.

Of Trends and Fashion

2008-08-25T01:36:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, my brother and I went out to buy some pasta at the local mall. Since it's been a while from our last mall visit, we decided to check the computer stores for new stuff that might catch our fancy. Tech-speaking, the shop had nothing new to offer, but I was a little disturbed by the sight of the saleslady that greeted us. She looked to be around her late twenties to thirties and was dressed down in old jeans, a loose cardigan and a simple t-shirt, and over her head was a large, red bow head band. She smiled at us, not friendly, but in the forced, congenial way salesladies are supposed to do, which just made it worst. Now, she looked like a psychotic Alice in Wonderland.

Blair in her signature bow

Helga in her signature bow

I'm not a stranger to trends. I know "Gossip Girl" has for some reason made bow headbands a must have, and lately I've been seeing them on practically everyone's heads. Sure, they look nice on school girls, teenagers, and some women who frequent the mall. But it's rather disturbing to see them over thirty or forty something women, or basically women who clearly are not schoolgirls anymore. I myself won't be caught dead in one, although more so because I don't follow trends.

I can't blame them though. After all, that is point of a trend: to mindlessly emulate the look, irregardless of whether it's even suitable for one. Style for the mass market. The irony of it is that following a trend does not automatically make one look good. I remember an old "Hey Arnold Episode" wherein Helga becomes the "it girl". Suddenly everyone is wearing her signature pink bow and pink dress (much to Helga's annoyance). It's hysterical in cartoons and it's hysterical in real life too.

Open 24 hours

2008-06-18T04:22:00.000-07:00

It’s almost impossible to think that barely twenty years ago there was practically nothing to watch on TV at midnight. By one am, you’ll be lucky if static hasn’t dominated your TV screen yet. Nowadays, turn on the TV at 01:00 and you’ll probably catch the start of some nice B-rated horror flick on Cinemax.

It was the middle of summer when I began shedding hair by the handful. This was not a situation a 24 year old, relatively healthy young woman generally faces. When it became apparent that the floor had more of my hair than my own head, I finally decided to see a derma. My doctor, a Vicky Belo look-alike took one look at me and without batting an eyelash began writing a prescription.

“Stressed ka ba?” she asked. I stared at her and couldn’t suppress a soft laugh.

“It’s summer…” I began. Who in world becomes stressed during those 2 long months of blissful freedom?

“Puyat?”

"Er…”

Another laugh escaped my lips, the kind that sings with guilt.

It was true; I had been sleeping for at most 5 hours a day since school let out last March. Sometimes, I would not get any at all. It was summer, land of the free and throw-caution-to-the-wind kind of existence. I had all the time to do what I want. Unfortunately, 24 hours, it seems, is really too short for a day.

The advent of cable TV, internet and 24-hour delivery services has made a bum’s life too convenient that it practically eliminates the need of sleep. Say I watch four movies (Cable and DVDs) in a day, that’s 8 hours of not even leaving the couch. If I’m hungry, I’ll pick up the phone and call delivery. If I’m bored, I’ll surf the web. By the end of the day, I still have too much calories from my fast food foray to burn, and since I haven’t really moved anything larger than my fingers all day, I’m not tired. So what’s the point of sleep, my body asks. Time is too short to waste. Why not just stay awake and spend the hours watching TV, writing or doing things I could not afford to do on school days? Practical as I am, I decide to stay up -- to a point where my hair falls off. Ironically, modern technology, in an attempt to make life more bearable, has a strange way of making us all stressed.

A decade or so ago, this would not be possible. The wee hours of the morning was a strange and uninhabitable place where, if caught in it, one was left to fend for oneself. Hunger pangs at these hours meant dragging oneself out of bed to brave the empty darkness of the kitchen to cook, and counting sheep was the treatment of choice for insomnia, not late night TV. These simple weaknesses in technology forced us to sleep earlier as there was no sense in staying up late, as there was in waking up early and taking advantage of the day. But electric bulbs, electronics, and computers, who can do without a good night's sleep, have blurred line between dusk and dawn, and oddly enough I feel the need to follow suit.

And so it seems the more modern we become, the less time we truly have for rest. I spent the end of the summer on a 4 day stint in Hong Kong, where my hair fell in great numbers thanks to their enviable business hours. Shops tend to close from 11 to 1 am, which translated to shopping until wee hours of the morning. In a span of a few days, I returned to Manila visibly thinner and with less hair on my head.

Well, so much for a holiday

Quo Vadis?

2008-04-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

Who said vacations are supposed to be stress-free?

Unlike most people my age (24, if you're wondering), I still enjoy the luxury of a summer vacation since I'm still in med school. But med school lasts only four years, and sooner or later, carefree summers would eventually give way to 24 hour shifts and the trudging year as a full-fledge working adult. This being one of my last vacations, I was determined to make the most out of it.

First, where to go?

Travel shows bombarded me with a thousand and one places to go, but the hassle of visas thankfully narrowed it down to a few destinations. US and Europe with their strict visa rules for third-world citizens like me, were naturally the first to be ruled out. Budget and current events eliminated the rest. (As much as I wanted to visit Babylon, Iran and Nepal, my parents would never hear of it.) Russia and South Africa, exotic as they were, were far too expensive. South America too far and relative alien to most travel agents that they simply stared at me idiotically when I asked about Peru. Apparently, that country has yet to exist in their consciousness.

My mother suggested Singapore. Nah -- too staid and modern. China? My father, who follows the Tibet issue, refuses to pay for a China trip. My brother insisted on Damascus. Maybe. I started the season partial to the Middle East (it being after the Holy Week) and I was alos looking into Petra in Jordan.

Eventually, I settled on India. I've always wanted to see the Taj Mahal after all. Unfortunately, despite it being geographically closer to the Philippines than Europe, it might as well be in another continent. A nice travel agent agreed to look for a tour for me. It was already mid April. Naturally, I was not expected to go traipsing around India by myself. I had to find a travel partner.

This was even harder than finding a destination. Friends was an alien concept to me. Simply put, I had none. My brother obviously became my de facto first choice. He responded by doing all he could to dissuade me from going. Why in the world would anyone want to visit India, he asked, when Indians themselves were coming to our country. Well, if they would take the Taj along, I'd be happy to stop trying to get there.

I gave up on him and turned to my cousin instead. Unlike my brother, Gwen was always game for a good adventure. Unfortunately, her tight funds did not match her vast zest for life. Unless I would pay for her, I would have to go solo.

And so, I checked my funds.

A plane ticket alone would set me back $900+, plus the tour, plus our food, plus pocket money and a possible side trip to Darjeeling. My mom gave the ok sign, but I knew paying for two would be too much. Thus, weeks of itinerary planning, tour researching and studying India was for naught.

I gave up India.

May is just around the corner. I haven't even left the country and I'm already worn out from all the planning. I don't think I even have the stamina to plan another destination, to do all that research and visiting travel agents, let alone actually go on a trip. These days are supposed to be stress-free; ironically, I haven't had a decent sleep in nearly a month. The heat is killing me. All I wanted was a perfect summer trip.

I suppose I should have just settled for Singapore.

Don't believe what you see on TV

2007-12-04T01:56:00.000-08:00

Senator Trillanes has once again out done himself. Right now, an APC is trying to wedge itself into Manila Pen’s doors as the senator holes himself again in yet another hotel and calls for people to join him in toppling the government. As much as I’d like to believe his sentiments and as much as I like and still respect Guingona (who for reasons I cannot comprehend is with the senator), his reasons for holing up in Manila Pen are rather questionable, to say the least. For starters, there’s his uncanny ability to choose five star hotels as headquarters for his rebellion (so much for our hotel safety image to tourists). Honasan did it once and suddenly five-star spots and coup-d’etats go hand in hand. With Oakwood gone, classy Manila Pen became the setting for the senator’s rally part deux.

With that done, Trillanes goes on to the business at hand. He calls the present government “illegitimate” because “it stole the presidency from Estrada”, and then ironically commits the same crime he’s charging GMA of by asking the people to join him in putting up a new government. This is obviously nothing more than a big show staged aptly for tomorrow’s Bonifacio Day in some attempt to paint the senator as some sort of hero. Unfortunately, unlike our heroes of yesteryear who had real issues to die for, Trillanes has nothing more than a personal grudge against the current administration. And that isn’t worth dying for. About 2 hours and a few tear gasses later, they agree to come out claiming that the government has no scruples because it does not care about the civilian journalists who were still in the hotel. (Again, he blurs fact with fiction, as the military had already asked the journalists to leave the hotel since they were going to attack it. Only the stubborn ones stayed.) At the end of the day, all we really got out of it was a character called Trillanes – who would do wonders in a reality TV show, a few teary-eyed journalists and a destroyed hotel lobby. No lives were lost and I doubt that Trillanes’ credibility would even waver in the eyes of his loyalist. To them, he is and will always be the freedom fighter he projects himself to be. Life goes on and people return to do their Christmas shopping.

I suppose the real casualty in the end is us. Another crazy wannabee takes over another hotel and we consent it. Estrada steals from the treasury and we pardon him. The Marcoses kill and plunge our country into 20 plus years of darkness and we thank them by electing them back into office. A few rugby boys kill a person and say “dahil sa kahirapan” and we blame the government. History has been a patient teacher and yet we never seem to learn. How much more must we endure before we finally realize that forgiving is not the same as forgetting and justice is not synonymous with kindness?

Bubble life

2007-08-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

Last year, there was a joke circulating through the text chain about politicians and entertainers. What do politicians and entertainers have in common? The entertainers run to become politicians, while the politicians do nothing but entertain. It was a joke -- a good one, too, I think. But beyond the laughs, the sad fact exists. Politicians have long lost their grandeur to the corruption that has afflicted its system. Now, they've seemingly developed a new syndrome: that of a delusional existence.

Every so often, we get a senator or a congressman who decides to speak up about some issue, and naturally the popular issue of choice remains to be about the President. So, every quarter or so, we get another one of 'em Solon talking about poverty, hunger followed by the words"Katiwalian" and "Malacanang" strung together like a neighbor's dirty laundry being bared in the open. And every quarter or so, these things fall on deaf ears, primarily because their more preoccupied with their problems, which ironically these politicians don't seem to see.

It's easy to complain and spew out accusations; but, personally, neither the congress nor the senate seems to be proving its worth to me. We spend millions on their pork barrel each year. The least that I expect is for them to at least be grounded on reality. Instead, they've lost themselves into a bubble life, surrounded by their egos and crazy notions, grossly separated from the reality we're living in. They're much more preoccupied with maintaining their own power, squabbling over the senate and house presidency; out-maneuvering and backstabbing former colleagues as if we've suddenly been transported back to the Roman baths. The next election is still three years away. Three good years they're wasting on preparing for the next election rather than doing their job.

But, that has always been the Filipino way, anyway, although never to this extent, never this stark. I can only wish that this kind of uselessness would lead at least the senate to have the decency to save some of our taxpayer's hard earned money and sign their own death warrant. Sadly, though, nobody really cares that our own politicians are making fools out of us. Self-serving Solon's are far from the exception that it is easier to just take all the problems and burdens they bring, rather than overhaul an already tired and crumbling system. Maybe we do deserve this kind of government. As the old Filipino adage goes: "Walang manloloko, kung walang magpapaloko."

Big butts and humps

2007-07-21T02:51:00.000-07:00

Last year, my mum was checking the market for a new car. SUVs were all the range then, so picking a sedan was out of the question. She eventually bought a Starex, but after looking at practically all the new cars being sold then, I was quite impressed by the fact that automobile design isn't really that far from fashion designs. From Fortunners to CR-Vs (the old version), Sorentos, Cayennes, Rav-4s and Alterras, it seemed the car designers were just as obsessed about the ass as The Black -Eyed peas and jean makers are. It was all about big butts then. Even if they all looked different from the side, from behind it was pretty hard to distinguish one's booty from another. All of them pert up and tight, you'd thing they'd just rolled out of the same plastic surgeon's clinic. (A very good one, at that).

But, thankfully, fashion changes. Apparently, so has our obsession with butts. The new models out now seem least concerned about their booties and more about their edginess. The large rumps mooning us in the highways have given way to rears that hardly resemble..erm, rumps at all. The last time I saw the CR-V rolling down the highway, I thought it sure looked fanstastic on the side, but god was it a mess from behind. None of its streamlined profile is reflected in its trunk. Instead, one gets a hodge-podge of geometric figures put together, abstract and unblended. Pretty much like the incomprehensible rocker fashion that's so big right now. It's a milieu of ideas put together so badly that it just doesn't make sense. Striped leggings, flowered dress shirts and metallic beads? A rear that looks like a pear with two triangular tail lights poking out?

Please tell me next season will be better than this.

George

2007-06-27T03:10:00.000-07:00

I hold on to stone
And gaze upon my twilight dream.
In an arm’s reach
I could grasp it,
White gleaming glory
Crowned with a halo of stars

Yet, these are all illusions;
My frigid fingers
Touch only the fleeting air
And below, the abyss
Calls me
It is easy to let go,
Pretend to slip and fall…

But I refuse to do so

The steady torrid wind
Carries my heart
To the blinding, stark loneliness;
she returns my pleas
In mocking tone –
Do you think I betray
My secrets so easily?

Goodbyes are too late;
Regrets – I will not entertain
Them
I continue to hold on
Even though the purpose of it
Slowly drains away.
I’m far too high to return now
Too cold and too white
Too light…

*inspired by George Leigh Mallory

Summer Syndromes

2007-04-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

Summers' well on its way and I am suffering yet another bout of my summer syndromes. The summer, despite it being associated with smiles and a generally sunny disposition, has always been the worst months for me every year. It's just a matter of too much time and too little things to do, or rather, too little things I could actually do. There's just too much time to think and reflect, which, like summer, had never really been good for me.

Besides, summer is for the kids and not those in post-grad courses and pretending to have extended childhoods. Hence, for oldies like me, summer is for nostalgia, remeniscing and sighing about all those lost days of youth. All is takes is a whiff of that salt-sea air to transport me back to my childhood, seemingly another lifetime ago, when summers were truly for me and I took every advantage of it. The warm sun burning my occasionally pale skin brown, my cousins daring me to do stupid things (and I, an idiot, never failed to entertain them), making up the most surreal stories and seemingly living it. Not even the mall can return that sort of summer magic I had as a child. It all really means nothing now, just two months of dreary loneliness.

Strangely, though, I'm been becoming obscessed about that old anime "Robotech". I remember watching it during the summers on channel 2, although they never really finished the series. So, it took me around five years or so to actually find out how the entire series played out, which is good since I don't think I really appreciated the series back then. I remember watching it and betting on Minmey and Rick ending up together, while my cousin Mark and my brother bet on Lisa and Rick. After five years, I've just found out that I apparently lost that bet. However, I don't really care who ends up with who now. The story is so much more engrossing and complex, with an almost Star Wars-esque quality that all I really care about is finding myself a copy of the show and finishing it properly.

Maybe then, I won't have to feel like a child again to enjoy this summer

Football!!!!

2006-07-11T01:02:00.000-07:00

Football here in the Philippines has never really enjoyed the same popularity it has in other countries, which is too bad. The World Cup has just come to a close and here I am, brimming with excitement to talk about it, only to find that most of the people I know didn't even watch the finals.

Last night I risked failing my pharmacology exam just to watch the replay telecast of Italy vs France on RPN 9. (Don't get me started on why I don't have cable --- that's another story not meant for today). My Dad popped down in front of the TV to join me, and after fifteen minutes of watching the ball go from France to Italy to France then back to Italy again, he asked, "Where's the excitement?". I had been watching the same passing sequence for nearly an hour, and had been yelling at the Italians to score a goal even though I already knew the results when he came, and his question seemed to have suddenly dampened my enthusiasm. I thought -- maybe hoped -- the football would finally be the common sport Dad and I would love.

My dad was the typical NBA-loving Filipino, who called home during the finals to ask me who had won. Unfortuunately, I am probably one of the few Filipinos who simply cannot understand the magic of Basketball. I just can't understand it. In fact, I have grown to abhor the NBA finals, which stole most of the primetime time when I could have been watching LOST rather than Shaq do a lay-up (whatever that is).

I preferred other sports. While most people could name basketball players or boxers (the newest IT sport here), I did my research on figure skating stars, olympic gymnasts and swimmers, F1 drivers, WRC drivers, and of course Football players. I'm rather new at football, though. The first World Cup I watched the one held in Japan/South Korea. I remember sneaking back to the dorm at 10 in the morning (when everyone was in their class) to catch a telecast on PTV 4. I was a big Germany fan then, though most because they had the most cute guys. I'd like to think that four years has matured my football IQ, even though I don't keep up with the commercial teams. At least, cute faces and familiar names weren't my only basis for picking my world cup favorites (who happens to be the Italian team).

Back to the final match. Dad leaves in the middle of the extra time, before all the exciting stuff begins to unravel (i.e, Zidane's red card). I suppose there's just no way one can try to make him love this sport, just as I can never abide NBA. I don't even know why I -- the self-confessed sports hater -- could love it. (Though I have to admit, watching the likes of Oliver Kahn, Cannavaro, Buffon, Zidane and Henry play are reasons enough). Football is a hard sport to love that it's unbelievable to think that something as mundane as a ball in a net could hold the world in a standstill. Fans can't really deny the magic that soars when someone scores that elusive goal. It makes you want to cry out, just like the Mexicans: GOALLLL!!!!!!!

Moving

2006-05-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

How do you pack 22 years of your life in boxes? Im about to find out. The landlord called today to say that he was finally selling the place (for good) and we had until July to move. I tried to keep a straight face when Mum told me about it, but inside I was in anguish. I love this place. I grew up here and Ive never known any other home than our wide rented apartment. My attachments to 2658-C are practically umbilical in comparison, and the thought of leaving it just feels as if I have to be thrown away from a dear friend.
Packing will be the hardest thing I would have to do, I think -- harder than college or med school; harder than failing or facing my fears. The truth is I dont think Im ready to see the entirety of my domestic existence packed neatly in moving boxes. Its probably the closest thing Id come to being judged at the gates of heaven: prodding, looking, reminiscing and regretting every sentiment a trinket remind me of.
I cant write this anymore. I feel stupid being so melodramatic about moving. Im sure our new house will be fine. But still, I dread that moment when Im finally wrenched from the comforting cavernous spaces of our old rented home. I think Ill just take lots of pictures.

Vous,

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely

2006-02-11T20:42:00.001-08:00

"With great power comes great responsibility"

So goes the always quoted and cliched line from the Spiderman movie. And yet, even though nearly everyone in the world is familiar with this line, the truth of Uncle Ben's words seems to elude most Filipinos.

The recent and never-ending bruhaha about Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Proclamation 1017 is just the tip of the iceberg in this long-going GMA resign movement. Even though 1017 has long been buried, the opposition refuse to let this matter rest -- especially since it provides them with so much ammunition against the president. There are cries of unlawful arrests, curtailing the freedom of the press, Gloria resign, yaty-yaty-yata...

Only the feeble minded will fall for tactics like this. Even someone as young as I am (with just eight years of political-watching experience) has come to realize that whenever a politician claims to be doing something for the country, he never really does. With such a long standing history of corruption in the government, after all, traitors to the country are not an exeption but the norm, and we have to ceased to expect anyone to die for the country.

Things are bad enough as it is, but the entrance of new player in this political arena is making things worst. Media, that institution which claims to work for objective truth, has been corrupted by the ugly claws of politics. Philippine media -- notably ABS-CBN -- has hardly been objective. For years and years they have been infusing a certain belief into the masa's thinking through their shows and the news they show, almost like a hidden message concealed in music. It's no secret that they choose their news, and that most of their reporters are leaning close to the opposition to the point of trying to sway the public into joining them.

While I have nothing personal against ABS-CBN, but it's abhoring the way they're abusing their power. Media is a powerful entity, and ABS-CBN being one if not the highest rated network in the country, holds much of this power. Looking back to twenty years of Filipino culture and it's easy to see that how much we have been influenced by what we see in TV. People dress as the stars dress on TV, talk in the same way people talk in TV, and even think in the same way as TV wants them to think. And in a country where majority of it's people do not even finish high school, that is a disaster. (And to think, media could have helped alleviate this by showing more quality and intellectual shows than just giving us the same shit on TV.) We're practically living in George Orwell's 1984, but with media being the Big Brother instead of the government.

Thus, their recent complains about 1017 being "against press freedom" is starting to sound like the complains of a spoiled, rich brat. Media is enjoying so much freedom as it is that it gets away with what other countries would consider libel or even rebellion. I mean, if they can censor every good things GMA does, why can't they be denied Military information when they know it would only lead to chaos rather than a spread of truth? Freedom and power, like everything else, comes with responsibility and is not absolute. I can understand this, even little kids who know Spiderman can understand this. It seems that media has already become so used to this kind of absolute power, that like an old dictator, it simply refuses to take a hint.

Vous,

The fuss about Pinoy Big Brother

2005-12-10T19:34:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one who thinks Pinoy Big Brother isn’t all that? I know that the show is ending tomorrow, but even after more than one hundred days of gluing to the TV set wondering what the hype is all about, I still don’t get it. Frankly, Pinoy Big Brother comes across as nothing more than a money/popularity-wagon for the station. From day one (and even before that) they have been milking the show like nothing we’ve ever seen on TV. Despite the tagline “Teleserye ng totoong buhay” PBB reeks of something fake, of something coined by the popular media to make us believe that this is the truth (sounds family, doesn’t it?). The multitude of celebrity walk-ins, ridiculous tasks and punishments (obviously, Big Brother doesn’t give a damn about health care and psychology), hyped-up rules and regulations scream absurdity and yet we Filipinos still lap it up as if we were given trash and think its gold. Ask any ordinary Juan de la Cruz why they are hooked on PBB and they’ll give you the trademark answer, “Kase Teleserye ito ng totoong buhay” and all that yatiyatiyata about “katoohanan”. Has anyone of them even considered what was “totoo” about this show? About the only real thing in PBB are the people and their relationships, and this is pretty much the only good one gets out of it. Everything else are carefully molded to tap into the Filipinos’ most primal indulgence --- ang mangusisa.

Take for instance the very famous Say-JB breakup. What was the logic is putting Say and JB, who obviously are not comfortable around each other, in one room just to explain what the hell happened between them? Since when did a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship suddenly become a nationwide affair? Whatever happens between Say and JB beyond the house is their own business. They had no obligation to explain to the world why they stopped liking each other, most especially after such a painful breakup. Big Brother should have been decent enough to know that and respect their privacy. Instead, he calls them back for another 100 seconds to explain, to announce, and to be subjected to a one-of-a-kind big brother intervention set to make you wonder what kind of Pinoy values do they really want to show.

I suppose one can’t really blame the show. The pressure to try and project themselves as a credible show aside from being plain vulgar has been too much. All the criticism about PBB having no positive Filipino values and too much sexy scenes have gotten to the producers. They simply had to MAKE the show more credible. Hence the charities; while I firmly believe in charities, I don’t believe in charities that have to be glorified. Charities are helpful and they are great source of hope for the poor, but to saturate primetime with the PBB charities and housemates being heroes and other celebrities suddenly jumping in the charity bandwagon makes a mockery of it. The point of charity is to help those who cannot help themselves, not you. What we are being presented instead is a glorification, charities that help propagate the popularity of the show. In other words, an Advertisement and like most advertisements, it leaves a bad taste on the idea of charities. Charities are not supposed to end with giving away things. It’s supposed to start with that and end with change. Unfortunately, the charities that are being constantly shown to the viewers doesn’t give one a chance to see that and it’s betraying us into believing that charities are the end to our poverty.

The media is a powerful tool and PBB has proven itself the best in its field. Every PBB episode, ad, and special episodes about PBB in other ABS-CBN shows come across as propaganda, strikingly similar to what George Orwell’s “1984” Big brother would have; each propaganda carefully controlled and manipulated into deluding us that what we are being presented with is the truth. This is nothing new in Philippine media, a hotbed for sensation rather than truth, and it is tragic that this should happen to our country wherein a growing majority of our people does not finish grade school. The irony of it all

Vous,

Left Behind

2005-10-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

The sun arrives when rain leaves
Yet I miss it
The gentle patter of a loved one
Echoing through the ocean
Of puddles and mud;
The slam of the door,
The shining rays
Breaking through;
This isn’t goodbye
Like they say in the movies,
Still I resent the silence
I return to
The cavernous void;
Heart chambers,
Heavy yet empty;
I forget I still live
As I listen to ghosts
Happy in their world,
Well aware that
Tomorrow shall never hurt them.
Where is the thunder
To drown the scream of the jet,
As they leave me stranded
In the island of my bed.

Vous,

The Stranger

2005-09-09T01:29:00.000-07:00

He sat across me,
a familiar face
in the montage of time
that rushed into the train.
A nameless man,
on his journey to where
I know not.
Yet there he stood,
filling me with a wave of recognition,
an unwitting friend; my anchor
in the sea of strangeness.

It's another poem. Obviously I still haven't grasped the technique, so indulge me (again). :)

Vous,

Tonight

2005-09-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

TONIGHT

The man in the moon
Smiles tonight,
And listens to promises
Sung in the night,
Romeos and Juliet
who plan their flight
Over the heavens
And beyond the light.
Clandestine twilight,
Covert plights
While our little selves
Dream of sights
living on the side
Hidden by the night.
The paper stars beckons
Before it strikes midnight
To believe once more
In pumpkin flights.
And though our bodies,
Our journey blights
We fuel our boats
With imagination’s might
To fly high
By the moonlight
Towards where the sandman
Drinks tonight
And the winking moon
Shall rise up the heights
Magic and beauty
To a poet’s delight
While lovers kiss
And lovers fight
Tonight

I know most of it sounds a bit cliche, but indulge me. I'm new in poetry. :)

Vous,

Playing Games

2005-08-31T08:56:00.000-07:00

"Katotohanan"
It's funny how that word gets around. This day alone, it was probably spoken at least a thousand times in the impeachment case as opposition congressmen tried to fire up the sparks to back their case. Instead of firing me up, however, it only helped to make me more dubious of this entire affair. The impeachment trial is looking more and more like a game to me, wherein each side claims to be for the Filipinos. Their strategy is, of course, stirring up people's feelings because in a country where education is almost a luxury, feelings are the closest thing one gets to rational thinking. Thus, their constant reference to the impeachment case as "katotohanan".
But is it really the truth?
The truth is most of the time a universe away from what media presents as the truth. (Well, in the Philippines, at least). What they call katotohanan is not all katotohanan. I'm not saying that GMA did not cheat or that she never called Garci, but in their constant reference to the impeachment as katotohanan, they are actually lying to the people. The impeachment is far from finding the truth. It does not take a dummy to realize that. They've been dropping hints, even through their carefully worded speeches. Their belying vigilance to the truth only brings out the real truth as to why they are so adamantly pushing for GMA's resignation. Party politics.
The impeachment is about politics. It's a game wherein the side that rallies the most people wins.

Horrible

2005-08-29T23:09:00.000-07:00

Still no cable and I'm suffering from watching too much Filipino shows. The show that really ticks me off is "Pinoy Big Brother" --- all that fuss for nothing. I mean, they were making such a big hype about it and this is what we get? A spin-off of yes yes show or something? I thought it was supposed to be real, but I guess there's no such thing as real, not even in reality shows in the Philippines. Here goes ABS-CBN putting as much fiction as they could into a show that's supposed to be real. I suppose one cannot really blame them. After all, the Filipinos are not as wild as other societies, and the only interesting aspect of our society is our daily struggles against poverty. (A fact they obviously took away in Pinoy Big Brother). We can't even imitate well.

Where's my umbrella????

2005-08-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

Someone stole my umbrella today. I was in the library,studying, and like a good student I left my umbrella outside. Lo and behold when I get back got out, it vanishes without a trace as if it had been in the bermuda triangle. Now, obviously umbrellas can't walk so I have come to my conclusion that my precious little red rain buddy has been stolen.
I suppose I got what I deserved. This isn't really the first time this had happened. Back in college (and it what many would say a more elite school) my black umbrella was stolen. Well, I didn't learn my lesson, and now in a new school, a new thief has stolen my umbrella. (I wasn't the only victim though, two other girls couldn't find their umbrellas, therefore strengthening my belief that it was stolen). It's annoying to think that I am a victim again, but am I to be completely blamed for trusting that no one would steal an umbrella? Are times that hard, or are our values that screwed up that people have no qualms about just taking something. I used to think not, but frankly the more umbrellas they steal from me, the more I don't believe in the people's integrity.

Henry James

2005-08-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

I just saw Benjamin Britten's "The Turn of the Screw" last friday. Absoluetly loved it, although it was heartbreaking that Miles should die at the end. I still haven't figured out much of the story. I mean what happened to Miles, and what did Mrs. Grouse mean when she said Peter Quint was free with both Miles and Ms. Jessel? Hmmmm. I suppose I have my entire live left to figure it out. Henry James is such an intellectual writer, he attacks a story as if it were something made out of science and not imagination. Yes, he turns story writing into a science, which makes his writing harder to read for me. I tried to read "Turn of the Screw" and got lost in his ocean of words and words and words. Nevertheless, I still adore him. His "Daisy Miller" was one of my early favorites, and so is "Portrait of a Lady". He has a way with writing subtle, sad imagery, which always outweighs the intellectualism of his writing.

The Old man and Me

2005-08-04T02:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, the loneliest place in the world is being inside a room full of people. Loneliness is a sorrow given to but a few people, or so I think.

This afternoon I saw an old man gathering up empty plastic cups that was litering the gutter. I was eating then when I saw him and I almost cried. I don't understand why I feel so much for lonely old men. Maybe it's because I know how it feels to feel so alone in this world. There are no words to describe how vast and empty the world feels when you're lonely. It's as if everyone had simply left you behind because no one cares about you. It's absolutely devastating.

Someday I'd like to help old men like him. I wished I could have helped him now, but what could a poor student like me do, not only to him but to others like him? Maybe I'm being too much of dreamer to think that I'll help him later. The truth is, I'll probably forget about him and others, and succumb to the temptations of money and luxury. Or maybe I'll end up just as poor and helpless as him. I hope I don't, but the future is still wide and open in front of me. All I can really do now is hope, for him and for me.