I Long for the Days of the Old NIPS Chocolate Packaging.

If you ask me, I like the old NIPS packaging better. Compared with the new NIPS packaging, the previous one is simpler, minimalist, no explanations needed, no questions asked. The new one is too chatty, (It has NIPS color fun facts. ) too colorful, and therefore redundant.

Ok, granted the damn NIPS candies, whether in their old or new wrapper, still feel oily in the hands from the moment you take them out of the bag, and will probably melt before you can even say M&M, and are less crispier, but I like my chocolates in nice packagings. :)

(Which is why some of my favorite chocolates are 1. Meiji Macadamia 2. Ricoa's Flat, and 3. Meiji Black Chocolate. They are nicely-wrapped.)

Back to NIPS. This old wrapper we found at the biking trail in Ecopark, the foresty middle-of-nowhere part of the area, with lots of trees on all sides, and just a foot-wide pathway. We didn't actually see any cyclists around biking with fury, and me and Edge were arguing if it's a bike trail or not. Edge thinks it's NOT; the rocky road is too tough on the mountain bikes' thousand-pesos tires. I think it IS because if you have a bike you can pretty much squeeze in anywhere.

No there were no bikers around, just me and Edge, and (alas) a band of high-schoolers camping out for no apparent reason, and from whom we had to acquire some distance to really enjoy the great outdoors, if you know what I mean.

The nice thing about detours is that you suddenly find yourself literally off the beaten track and onto fresh asphalt road, which we had thought would be just more hills. So the two of us climb higher, get on the road, and realize that we have breached the area, the road overlooking the La Mesa Dam. Nothing left to do but go tiptoe in broad daylight, walk to the fence, and ogle the dam, tense the whole time because someone might blow the whistle on us and yank us by our shirts. Nothing spectacular. It's just fenced-in water. So we go back.

Back to NIPS. The wrapper was just lying on our feet at the bike trail. Along with other wrappers that haven't fully disintegrated. There's a GU energy gel sachet, a product I never knew existed. Someone in Ecopark once needed calories in the form of gel, (whose price me and Edge found out days later to be a whopping 80 pesos), squeezed it into his/her mouth, got energized in the middle of the forest, and threw the packaging away. Nice.

And there's a Lucky Me noodle wrapper. The old Lucky Me packaging (if you can still remember it), a contemporary of that NIPS chocolate candy.

So many wrappers at that biking/non-biking trail of Ecopark, washed up or dredged up perhaps by the recent floods by Ondoy and Peping. And after all these years, they haven't frigging changed. The NIPS bag is still glossy and bright like hell. When they say plastic is non-biodegradable, they're not kidding.

Of course, I would love to post the pic of Lucky Me packaging, but then, I would be blogging about noodles here instead of candy-coated chocolate NIPS. Which reminds me of the new packaging of Lucky Me (the one Derek Ramsey advertises). It's elegant (the wrapper, not Derek), updated, expensive-looking (at 13 pesos), and pretty-much foil pack. Way to go Lucky Me, all the harder for nature to break down your packaging.

At our house we use two garbage bins. One for kitchen waste, one for plastic wrappers. It may not be much but it's a start.

Anyone still remember Sergs chocolates?

A Song for the Clingiest Chairwoman Ever, Upuan by Gloc 9

Kayo po na naka upo,
Subukan nyo namang tumayo
Baka matanaw, at baka matanaw na nyo
Ang tunay na kalagayan ko

Ganito kasi yan eh...



Tao po, nandyan po ba kayo sa loob ng
Malaking bahay at malawak na bakuran
Mataas na pader pinapaligiran
At naka pilang mga mamahaling sasakyan
Mga bantay na laging bulong ng bulong
Wala namang kasal pero marami ang naka barong
Lumakas man ang ulan ay walang butas ang bubong
Mga plato't kutsara na hindi kilala ang tutong
At ang kanin ay simputi ng gatas na nasa kahon
At kahit na hindi pasko sa lamesa ay may hamon
Ang sarap sigurong manirahan sa bahay na ganyan
Sabi pa nila ay dito mo rin matatagpuan
Ang tao na nagmamay-ari ng isang upuan
Na pag may pagkakatao'y pinag-aagawan
Kaya naman hindi niya pinakakawalan
Kung makikita ko lamang siya ay aking sisigawan



Kayo po na naka upo,
Subukan nyo namang tumayo,
Baka matanaw, at baka matanaw na nyo
Ang tunay na kalagayan ko



Mawalang galang na po
Sa taong naka upo,
Alam niyo bang pantakal ng bigas namin ay di puno
Ang ding-ding ng bahay namin ay pinagtagpi-tagping yero
Sa gabi ay sobrang init na tumutunaw ng yelo
Na di kayang bilhin upang ilagay sa inumin
Pinakulong tubig sa lumang takuring uling-uling
Gamit lang panggatong na inanod lamang sa istero
Na nagsisilbing kusina sa umaga'y aming banyo
Ang aking inay na may kayamanan isang kaldero
Na nagagamit kapag ang aking ama ay sumweldo
Pero kulang na kulang parin,
Ulam na tuyo't asin
Ang singkwenta pesos sa maghapo'y pagkakasyahin
Di ko alam kung talagang maraming harang
O mataas lang ang bakod
O nagbubulag-bulagan lamang po kayo
Kahit sa dami ng pero niyo
Walang doktor na makapag papalinaw ng mata niyo
Kaya...

Wag kang masyadong halata
Bato-bato sa langit
Ang matamaay wag magalit
O bato-bato bato sa langit
Ang matamaan ay
Wag masyadong halata
Wag kang masyadong halata
Hehey, (Wag kang masyadong halata)
(Wag kang masyadong halata)

nostalgia ba? check my bet for the 2009 Philippine Blog Awards

I vote for taympers
Bloggers' Choice Award
2009 Philippine Blog Awards

litmus

[repost from literotica]

i turn blue
like a star in its dwarf
stage, startled, unable
to believe its own
mechanisms, a little shy
at your hips
and your deeply pulsating
immaculate red

yes, i turn red
at the slightest
touch of you, a blushing
of a kid caught
with forbidden
candy, a gushing
forth of slit wrists, oh
this blood compact
i long for
each night when car
headlights skip a beat.

__________________
i pimp my poems:
facebook loneliness
Neoli Marcos

Speaking of Oceans

After the wake of Bagyong Ondoy, I'm watching Ocean's 11, and Ocean's 12, and later today, Ocean's 13. Yes, it's only now that I got around to watching it, and all I know about is that it's all about high-stakes theft.

And no pun intended, no disrespect whatsoever for the recent disaster that has submerged our country into raging floodwaters, a whole ocean unto itself, but I'm trying to forget things, keep myself warm and dry. That's why the DVD. But then, what do you know, behind my back, Ocean's 11 manages to turn into a love story. It is, deep deep down, a love story after all. An organized, elaborately orchestrated casino theft to prove just one point. One man willing to do anything to win back his wife's trust and love. I shouldn't be watching this.

During the typhoon, I was the only one left in the house. Mom braved the waters to pay the friendly neighborhood pawnshop some interest. Dad went to marry some couple, while Van went to work to teach Japanese some new English sentences. When they got back, it was pitch dark, the whole neighborhood and the entire nation I suppose plunged into a blackout, and they were all sharing their respective experiences with the forces of nature.

I, the undeserving survivor who stayed warm and dry and was just busy emptying all the drawers in the house of assorted junk all day, have nothing to contribute to the conversation. And without the aid of TV, or radio, or even a cellphone, I just couldn't fathom the depths of the topic. Until the next day when the power came back on and we finally caught hold of news.

I hope everyone is now safe, and has found some way to stay warm and dry despite what has happened. And maybe it's not too late for all of us to win back the loved ones we still have.

What's in a Pen Name?

from Wikipedia

"Sometimes a pen name is used because an author believes that his name does not suit the genre he is writing in. Western novelist Pearl Gray dropped his first name and changed the spelling of his last name to become Zane Grey, because he believed that his real name did not suit the Western genre.

[while] Romance novelist Angela Knight writes under that name instead of her actual name (Julie Woodcock) because she felt that her real name was a little too fitting for the genre."


and the best part is you can go visit Woodcock aka Ms. Knight's official website.



:)

This post is inspired by recent proceedings wherein I am forced to compose an Affidavit of Discrepancy of Name, to legally explain, once and for all, my variously spelled identities.

No, I'm not Richard Kwan.

Pantasya (2007), by Brillante Mendoza (directing as Dante Mendoza here) is probably one of the funniest gay-themed digital feature film you'll ever see. [There. I said it.]

Pantasya (2007), by Brillante Mendoza (directing as Dante Mendoza here) is probably one of the funniest gay-themed digital feature film you'll ever see. Without meaning to.

A collection of 5 short loosely-connected films that transpires in just one day, Pantasya is all about horny men daydreaming about one-night stands, albeit aborted fantasies--bathroom encounters, taxi encounters, bedroom encounters, guardhouse encounters, conference table encounters. Pantasya's whole point seems to be: if all these can happen in just one day and in various locations, then you should get out more.

All five narrators in Pantasya--and we mean all five of them--seem to be espousing Socrates' ancient proverb: The unexamined life is not worth living. And so these five guys yak like hell, each wanting to be more thought-provoking than the next narrator. And thanks to the scriptwriter, they all talk like each other.

So these five guys examine their lives down to the last detail, with metaphors so cliched you just want them to shut up and get the f*cking done and over with. It's like this: The one-word title of each short film becomes the basis for the entire script. The narrators act like efficient keyword generators, mouthing off their various plights with metaphors that have to be connected as much as possible to the assigned title/keyword of their short film.

So in the first part titled Biyahe, the taxi driver guy keeps alluding to life as a journey. (blechk) That everyone's life has a destination. (blechk) That there are different passengers, some of them have light baggage, some heavy. (blechk) That love is the crude oil that makes life run. (blechk) And so forth. This yakking goes on for some fifteen minutes, in which time you're just ready to say "Para", if only the guy wasn't cute.

When the taxi driver finds himself with a lonesome college student for a passenger--(The kid says Pandacan, yet they are seen going to Welcome Rotonda, the opposite direction.)--and the kid cries in the middle of the trip, and the taxi driver says "Pagusapan natin to" and they kiss and make out in the cab, you're almost afraid a voice-over will ensue any moment, even if the taxi driver has his tongue inside the college dude.

Nothing is penetrated in the film, no graphic blowjobs, not even pumping, like in Serbis. Everything is sanitized and well-hidden, although there's this scene where four basketball buddies take a shower in their birthday suits--a looong, rambling and very gratuitous shot, which is supposed to make you feel like a voyeur and empowered with the "gaze", but whose main point becomes to commoditize the pretty boys and their nice bods. Bold move, on their part. Consider it as their audition pieces, their eventual ticket to stardom, if ever.

And this is the main problem of Pantasya. It is a film that wants to be deep, but ends up simply pandering to the audience. It wants to be solemn, but ends up being hilarious. It wants to be art, but ends up being pretentious. The hand-held shots are not bad, but needs a firmer grip. The cinematography, on the whole, leans on the fatty side; shoot everything is the motto. Perhaps the only notable part about Pantasya is the music--somewhere between religious and revelatory, every time the narrators accidentally stumble on to something insightful about their soliloquy.

In the part titled "Bilis" (keyphrases: kulelat sa buhay, customer service, takbo ng buhay, una ang kustomer bago sarili, etc.)--corporate guy Justin de Leon is seen with his PC, making computations on the balance sheet. The overhead cost has reached some P200,000. No wonder he orders dinner from an anonymous pizza place.

Okay, I too will examine my life later today, but for now, I can't stop laughing.

Decoding You. Yes. You

[this is a repost of a repost of someone. im not in the mood for churning out anything original today.]


To this day, I have no idea how to spot a gay guy unless he's wearing light make-up. My radar's busted, so my default setting is to assume every guy out there on the streets has a tendency to kneel. It's just a matter of putting the concept of damayan at work. But if every guy out there is gay, then what's left for the girls? This, I believe, is nature's own way of population control.

So anyway, this here below is a very long list. Exhaustive, almost definitive, but you'll love it.

You can always add more here should you come up with newer ways to couch / exaggerate your attributes.

How to Decode the Profiles You See in Gay Social Networking Sites.

What it really means when a guy says he's:

1. STRAIGHT ACTING = Alam na ng lahat na bading siya puwera siya! May
goatee. Mahilig sa mga boys na pandak na mukhang callboy at gumagamit
ng Aficionado perfume.

2. GYM BODY = Does nothing the whole day but cruise inside the gym and the showers. Longest relationship was with a dumbbell.

3. BUFFED = Steroid-induced pecs and abs. Knows all sources of good protein. Favorite word: "Dude!" (Pronounced as “Dod”)

4. NO EFFEMS = Thinks that having a relationship with someone effeminate makes him a lesbian.

5. SEVEN-INCH DICK = Asus. In reality, 5 inches lang naman talaga. In
gay inches kasi, you always add two more inches to everything you
measure.

6. YM ME = Jealous type. Ayaw ng competition sa chatroom.

7. I’M NOT EASY TO GET = Desperate but trying to sound choosy.

8. I’M HERE FOR SEX = I’m here for sex.

9. HANDSOME GUYS ONLY = “I am a shallow dork and I have a brain the size of a walnut. Did I mention even my dog hates me?”

10. JUST HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS = Did not make any friends in Friendster.
Was kicked out of Dogster because they found out he does not have a dog.

11. GOOD IN BED = Needs a place to crash in but cant afford a pension house. The things he does for a good night’s sleep.

12. WHAT’S YOUR PASSWORD? = “I’m so horny I want to jerk off now.” Cant afford a paysite kaya kuntento na sa mga x-rated pics ng members.

13. TOP = Has had more girlfriends than boyfriends.

14. BOTTOM = Has very bad knee injury, hindi makaluhod para kumadyot.

15. I’M NICE = Dull, boring and has the personality of an ironing board.

16. I’M BAD = Just swallowed a dozen viagra pills. Has a tattoo, nipple ring and wears an ukay-ukay leather jacket during summer.

17. My MAILBOX IS FULL = Hindi maka-check ng inbox kasi walang pambayad para sa internet café.

18. "WALA LANG" = Has a ten-word vocabulary which includes
“cool”,“hi”,“wassup”, “he he”, “ha ha” and “tnx.” Longest word he can
write is his name.

19. I AM ATTACHED = Cannot mention the word love. Has commitment problems.

20. I LOVE TO TRAVEL = Looking for a sponsor for next overseas trip.
Always starts a sentence with "When I was in Europe…" Then you ask:
"Saan sa Europe?" He says: "Ah… sa city mismo!" Wow. Europe City.

21. IF YOU’RE NOT CUTE, DONT EVEN BOTHER = Lonely and miserable. Nobody
takes care of him when he gets sick. Has 500 “friends” in Friendster
kasi approve lang nang approve kahit hindi nya kilala.

22. I AM SENSITIVE, LOVING, CARING AND HONEST = You are probably reading your mother’s [insert gay social networking site's name] account.

23. I GIVE GOOD MASSAGE/EXTRA SERVICE = A masseur who got suspended where he worked because he wears too much foundation.

24. MY MOBILE NUMBER IS = Tawagan mo ako kasi wala akong load.

25. NO PIC, NO REPLY = Nabasa lang niya ito sa ibang profile kaya
ginaya na rin niya. Ni hindi niya alam kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng
PIC. Wanna bet?

26. DISCREET = Loves to hang-out in extremely dark places. Haven’t even
seen any of the faces of all the men he’s had sex with. One of the few
people who gets excited during blackouts.

27. HAIRY DADDY = Lots of chest hair pero for some strange reason - panot.

28. CURIOUS STRAIGHT MALE = Can’t decide if he’s top or bottom.

29. A BODY PIC WITH NO HEAD = Hipon. Or Wanted by the NBI. Or against
sa religion niya ang maging member sa [insert gay social networking site's name]. Or puwede ring tabingi lang siyang kumuha ng picture.

30. KINKY = May collection ng large Liwanag candles na pang-undas. May bote ng petroleum jelly sa ilalim ng kama. Go figure.

31. SWIMMER’S BOD = Used to be gym-bod. Nagkasakit kaya pumayat.

32. FLAWLESS COMPLEXION = Photoshop beauty. Blurred. Dodged. Liquified.

33. VIRGIN PA AKO = Chances are virgin pa nga ito. Who in his right mind would be proud to be still a virgin?

34. VIEW MY WEBCAM = Frustrated Pinoy Big Brother contestant.

35. DON’T TEXT, CALL ME = Sira ang LCD ng 3210 niya kaya hindi niya mababasa ang text niyo! Tawagan niyo na lang, please lang.

36. I’M A SEX MACHINE = Disease carrier. Ouch!

38. QUIET AND SOFT-SPOKEN = Probably dead.

39. MACHO = Sinusundan ang Masculados sa lahat ng mall tours nila. Uses WD-40 as lubricant.

40. BLANK PROFILE = Has no clue who he is, what he wants and where his life is going. Puwedeng isama sa cast ng LOST.

42. MESSAGE ME = What he really wanted to say in tagalog was: "Gusto kong magpamasahe sa iyo." Baka typo error lang.

43. HOMEBODY = Unemployed guy. A bum. Free-loader. Professional
home-partner contestant in Eat Bulaga, Wowowee and Game Ka Na Ba.

44. OUT-GOING PERSONALITY = He’s just saying this to bring attention to
himself. Pero sa totoo lang siya pa rin si HOMEBODY, the unemployed guy.

45. I DONT LIKE CASUAL SEX = Only has sex when in formal wear, like when he is in a Barong Tagalog, for example.

46. LOOKING FOR A SOULMATE = A former member of Spirit Questors. Enjoys
supernatural relationships. Cant handle the stress of the physical
world.

47. I AM NOT HANDSOME = Take his word for it. He’s being honest for chrissakes!

48. I’M HANDSOME, INTELLIGENT, GORGEOUS = Perfect na sana tong taong ito — ugali na lang ang problema.

49. STUDENT = Has insatiable thirst for knowledge… and sex. But remember: pag may STUDENT, may TUITION FEE na kasunod.

50. I AM MESTIZO = Contact lenses from Tutuban, skin peeling by
Maxipeel, hair color by Tsin Tsan Tsu and rhinoplasty from Ellen’s.
Speaks a little chabakano.

51. SHY TYPE = No serious love since birth.

52. I’M SENSIBLE = Can carry a simple conversation for 2 minutes. Beyond that he simply moans.

53. I’M A MAN OF THE WORLD = He wants to make it clear to everyone that, YES, he is from this planet.

54. I’M A REAL PERSON = People have often mistaken him for an ornamental plant in the past.

55. WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET = He has no plans of changing for the
better. He is completely content with himself. Little motivation in
life.

56. I’M NOT JUST INTERESTED IN SEX = Joined [insert gay social networking site's name]. as part of his research in molecular physics and Asian Religious Beliefs.

57. LOOKING FOR BADMINTON BUDDIES = In search for the perfect shuttle
COCK. He wants to SCORE big. Naghahanap ng RACKET. And he really wants
to SERVE.

58. BISEXUAL = A “top” with girls, a “bottom” with guys. And willing to pay for sex. Get it?

59. BOYTOY = It’s very clear that he wants everyone to know that he is
young. And he has a toy. Now, Whether he is willing to share that toy
is negotiable.

60. DOG-LOVER = A hot bitch who likes it dog-style. Loyal. Man’s
best-friend. Pees everywhere. Doesn’t mind if you tie him up to a fence.

61. YOU THINK I’M HOT? = He’s not really sure if he IS hot. Needs a
second opinion. And a third. The fourth will probably convince him…
that he is NOT.

62. NATURE-LOVER = Very kind to nature… considering what nature has done to him.

63. MALIBOG AKO = Masturbates five times a day. Has 80GB of pornography in his PC. Has the complete collection of phone scandal videos. Watches National Geographic to see naked men hunting wild boar.

64. COWBOY = Has seen Brokeback Mountain too many times. He talks to his cigarette and says: “I wish I could quit you!”

65. I’M SIMPLE YET COMPLICATED = Uhm… this one really blows me. Probably manic depressive.

66. NO CROSS-DRESSERS = Doesn’t want to share his satin gowns.

67. DIRETSO AKONG TAO = Has a very strong back. Drinks Anlene Gold regularly.

68. I DARE YOU TO SEE ME IN PERSON = Unfortunately, nobody dared.

69. COME AND GET ME = No one is sure if this is an invitation, a request or a cry for help.

70. TYPICAL GUY = He has two arms, two legs, a nose, a pair of eyes… uh, what else. Oh yes, a penis.

71. SELF-MADE MAN = He appeared into this world just by his sheer power of thought.

72. CANDY BOY = Wants to be licked allover. Comes in three flavors: BAGONG LIGO, PAWISAN and LUMUSOB SA BAHA.

73. I AM SENSITIVE = Can sense an earthquake even before it happens. He
is now being studied by scientists to warn the human race of future
tsunamis.

74. I HAVE A WONDERFUL MIND = His temporal lobe, anterior commissure
and medulla will give you a hard-on. Oh, yes… he has a pornographic
memory.

75. I AM THE LIFE OF THE PARTY = A Boyoyong party clown.

76. DECENT GUY = Wipes his feet before entering a massage parlor.
Brushes his teeth after giving someone a blowjob. Says a little prayer
before and after sex. Confesses regularly… on his knees.

77. OPEN-MINDED = His brain is everywhere except in his head. A perfect medium for séances.

78. COME OVER AND LET’S HAVE SEX = Thinks that [insert gay social networking site's name] is a delivery service.

79. HOPELESS ROMANTIC = Believes that love is eternal. Easily trusts
everyone. Gullible. Sinampal na ng syota pero naniniwalang pinatay lang
ang lamok lang sa pisngi niya. Thinks Erap is innocent.

80. I AM FUNNY = That fact that he has to say that he is funny is hilarious.

81. PURE TOP = Has a ten-picture exclusive contract with a porno film
outfit which prevents him from being a bottom. Will only become a
bottom when the ‘right’ project comes.

82. EXTREME TOP FOR EXTREME BOTTOMS ONLY = Will only have passionate
sex with an Extreme Magic Sing microphone shoved up their asses.
83. TRIPPER = Has a marijuana plantation in his backyard. Uses tie-dyed
shirts, showers twice a month and responds to "Tsong." Does not a have
a day job.

84. ASTIG 2 ASTIG LANG = A former seaman. Ideal places for sex:
barracks, breakwater, inside a jail cell. Must have during sex:
handcuffs, Purico cooking lard and a cd of Aegis.

Santino Made Me Write This Entry

As a rule, I do not watch May Bukas Pa. Usually, someone (i.e. Daddy) has to hold the remote control and force it down on me.) It reminds me too much of 7th Heaven, where everything is peaceable and resolvable. Too miraculous. Sometimes, when May Bukas Pa gets episodic as it features a guest star every week, Santino always manages to interact and involve himself with the guest star.

Okay, if you have healing powers, you'd be much sought-after too. But Santino is just too meddlesome. Plus I still cannot get over the fact that he's the lip-synching kid in that Tide Commercial, which for the longest time I thought was made in Thailand.

But look what's showing on GMA 7: Yet another remake of Darna. Frankly, we've grown tired of superheroes. And GMA's constant recycling of its shows, whether from Mexico or Korea. This is just plain lazy on their part.

So between a morena Darna and a meddlesome kid who acts as spokesperson of Jesus Christ to an entire, seemingly fortunate barrio, we'd go for Santino.

At least this is an original concept, even though faith healers have been figuring in Philippine society for so long. At least this is a show where you don't know what will happen next. In Darna, we already know Valentina will guest star someday with her snakes.

And who would have known a seemingly-corny show such as May Bukas Pa could strike such a chord with so many Filipinos.

After all, in this country, faith is wealth, and that's what many of us still have intact these days.

We're still suckers for happy endings and miracles. So forgive me and Edge for the crucifixes.

Iglesia ni Cristo and the Happy Bus Drivers

I would say Today, despite all the traffic and roadblocks, is any bus driver's dream: they get to take detours. Lots of detours. Which, if you think about it, is pretty ironic, since all the traffic concentrated in Commonwealth today is due to a man whose church features the unique characteristic of block-voting. One-minded voting of a single church-approved candidate during elections, for those who haven't heard of it. (It's most famous product endorsement is Former President Joseph Estrada, who ended up being impeached and jailed.) (To the readers of this entry who are INCs, I mean no disrespect.)

As our bus melodramatically crawled along Commonwealth Avenue today because of the roadblock at Central where funeral preparations for Mr. Manalo were underway, I couldn't quite accept the fact that the only thing I know as Iglesia ni Cristo's contributiton to the country is block Voting.

Many months ago I overheard some college students discuss who they were going to vote in May 2010. One of them said, "Ang iboboto daw namin ay si [insert candidate's name]."

On the surface, this seems lovely: people united in a single decision. Doing something just because everyone else is, as if it's a barkada thing. But it's really scary when you think that this decision stems from someone, and that the followers are supposed to swallow it in one piece, no questions asked.

But it's not as if my own Catholic religion doesn't have its share of sparkles. After all, the Catholic religion has been known for its witch hunts, crusades, inquistions, lots of bloodshed. For a religion, Iglesia ni Cristo is already peaceful.

And then you suddenly have all these drivers deciding for themselves which is the best route to take to avoid traffic, never mind the traffic enforcers. They will not be told what to do. Today is the day they ignore their designated routine routes, knowingly deviate from the conveyor belt, and take their vehicles for a real spin.

As our bus conductor put it, "Lahat pwedeng daanan ngayon."

Sure, the detours take a toll on the gas tank, but consider the many new sceneries we get to see and discover just because our bus is no longer dutifully rolling on the same patch of road we see single everyday. Today we were literally on a field trip, all of us passengers looking right and left as we are transported to a new land.

Instead of Commonwealth, we take Maginhawa St at UP Village, then Katipunan Avenue, then Aurora Blvd, until were in the beautiful land of Marikina. Then we pass by San Mateo, and exit through Sandiganbayan. Familiar land again.

What should have taken us 30 minutes on an ordinary day took almost an hour. But what the hell. And Thank God.

P/Review

I've never been reviewed before. I'm writing this at 5 am in the morning, I've just fixed my sister's PC's audio, and I haven't caught a wink yet, so I don't exactly know what I should feel about having been reviewed.

Fiona Apple wrote a poem which goes "When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You'll Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You Know That You're Right", after reading bad critiques of her.

Don't worry. There won't be a review.


from http://charles-tan.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html


"Tiramisu with Eggplant" by Neoli Lancel Marcos is what you get when you combine literary fiction techniques with a Choose Your Own Adventure narrative. For example, your first scene includes an opening sentence that's a blocky paragraph long and features details that add verisimilitude by including cliches of local traffic. Later on (depending on which path you take), there's eggplant and the objective correlative it represents, as well as a reflection of the main character on how her mother affected her personality. Reading this is actually short, considering you don't select all the diverging branches. There's the additional value of re-reading as one tries out the other choices and this is unfortunately a reviewer's nightmare (how many times do I have to re-read this to write a fair review?). As far as technique goes, it's actually well done and whether it's description or tackling characterization, it's quite impressive. Hopefully, we see more longer work (or rather one that doesn't follow this format) from the author in the future.


The problem is I do not know where to take up where I left off.


Tiramisu With Eggplant. To Be Posted Later.

I'm into Origami Because...

Congratulations! You are reading a new segment called "I'm Into This Because.." where we investigate the chain of events, whether accidental or voluntary, that led me to something. (Yes, this is about me.) Today, it's origami.

Now before I got into this, about the only things I can fold into beautiful stuff from paper are: 1. boat 2. airplane 3. cup 4. ninja star 5. crystal ball. A friend taught me how to do cranes before, but for the life of me I cannot make them anymore.

So now I'm Into This Because

1. Last July I met this guy named Pepper at an office fronting Manila Bay, an Atenean, has good hearing and transcribing skills, and even joined me and Edge for lunch at McDo Morayta. He tells me about a Portugese gay film he saw called "Fantasma."

2. A month later, I Google "Fantasma" for images and got this: http://www.blargg.com/images/fantasma.jpg

,which is of course an origami of a ghost, a phantasm.

3. So I googled "Fantasma Origami" and found a YouTube link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjU88Astjds). Which try as I might, could not fathom how to properly fold the paper. The diagram skipped something. The video fastforwarded too much.

4. After 4 hours, I managed to crack the damn tutorial and got myself an origami ghost. A triumphant fantasma. By which time I had also successfully contracted a fever.

5. Checking out the rest of that origami site, I found out about the horses, googled them, and got this http://www.squidoo.com/origamihorse

6. And that is why I'm into origami these days.

7. It turns out the film is "O Fantasma". I missed the O. In which case, you'd be getting this instead.

Marcos vs Marcos

"See me in Perdon so you can know me better..................................

......................."

-anonymous profile blurb in a gay social networking site

The first thing you have to know about me is that I wear Chuck Taylors during interviews. Nothing personal. If others find it offensive, I can't possibly hold a grudge against them. But the shoes stay.

Today though, it's not the grimy white Chucks, but my old Adidas trainers which I realize looks so bulky, like a boat, but I have no choice. In this rain, it's waterproof and will probably even float.

The other guy who would be taking the exam with me at 11 am (changed to the last minute from 8:30)--the guy has nice leather shoes. Plus a striped polo shirt actually tucked into his pants. Something I can never pull off well. I'm just in a blue shirt and jeans and a army green jacket.

After depositing us two at the back of the room, the proctor gladly introduced us two to each other. Marcos, meet Marcos. Ah, a common ground with the competition. The other guy however uses my surname as his first. Then the proctor leaves us to our own devices and attends to the rest of the guys taking the exam as scheduled at 8:30. She was nice though, so I'm letting her off the hook.

I ask my namesake where he lives.

Marcos: Sa Novaliches

Wow, the coincidences never ends.

Marcos: Talaga. Kami rin.

Marcos: Sa may bayan kami.

Marcos: Kami sa Deparo.

Marcos: Malapit lang kami dun.

Marcos: Actually sa may Llano kami. Mas kilala kasi Deparo.

Marcos: Sa may Llano nga kami.

Great. Sige magkopyahan tayo ng pook. I should beware during exam hours.

Marcos: Sa may BF Homes kami.

Marcos: Sa may Silanganan.

At this point, I find that I'm no longer surprised. After all, it has been established early on that we both share names. Nothing should surprise me after that.

Marcos: Niloloko mo na lang ako. Sa Silanganan din kami e. Anong street kayo?

Marcos: Yakal.

Marcos: San yun?

I do not explore my own subdivision. Although, all our streets are named after trees.
Marcos: Sa may Phase 3. Malapit sa Kamagong. Kayo?

Marcos: Sa Mahogany.

But I have to stop now. This is too much information already. The bloke really lives in my subdivision, and is even friends with my neighbors, although I have never seen him, but then again I'm not friends with my neighbors.

Let it be known that should you take interest in stalking me, I have nothing to offer. The other Marcos though is cuter, taller, has more muscle mass, and makes pretty decent living from his two-months call center stint, so he's all yours.
Then I ask him if he's come for the same position as me. Nope. He's applying for video editor. So he is not the competition.

Your competition, Mr. Marcos, is yourself. Whoever that is.

P.S.
(The company had scheduled us at 8:30, but changed at the last minute, and, gee, I've been asked to come to their office for four times now since June and still have no clear idea about my application. (I learn there are some who's been applying since May. Lovely. The company takes it sweet time.)

Time-Traveling Twins of Desperate Housewives

How the hell did Preston and Porter grow up so fast? And Desperate Housewives didn't even bother to prime me last night. Three minutes before the end of the program, a teenaged boy shows up in court ready for his testimony, Lynette realizing right away that it's not Porter but Preston, but what the hell, let's get inside the room anyway.

Wait, did she just say Porter and Preston? The twins who just two nights ago I was wondering how they would look when they get older? There I was suddenly replaying episodes of Season 3 on DVD because I wanted something funny to forget my "mildly infected", as the doc put it," left eye, thinking the Scavo twins look adorable, and I know I haven't bought Season 4 yet, and neither have I been faithfully watching the show on TV, and now a new set of older twins springs on me just like that.

Apparently, I'm not the only one confused. I typed this in Google: "porter preston how old desperate housewives", (I know, I ignore grammar when Googling.), and got these from Yahoo Answers:

"In Desperate Housewives, how old are Porter and Preston Scavo (the twins) they were 15 in 4.17...(+3) (+10)?
They were 15 at the end of episode 17 series 4... so now? I don't watch it so I don't know if it has been a year, I'm still on series 1!"

"How old are Porter and preston in season five of desperate housewives?
in season 3 they are eight apparently but in season 5 they are said to be 16 but they should only be 13 because season 5 is only 5 years in the future."

Which is worse for me because I didn't even know Desperate Housewives flashforwarding into the future.

So I must have been living under a rock, like the scurrying creatures I'd find in the garden whenever I'd do housekeeping. I just wrote last week how time flies and the cosmos and the Mexican sunflowers in the garden have come and gone. And now the twins in Desperate Housewives have time-travelled, and are older, and have left me behind.

Your next move, Neoli.

An Open Letter to Rico Blanco

I do not know why I'm suddenly writing you a letter. I've never written a letter to a celebrity--although there's this one time I wrote to David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson and got a postcard with their merely printed signatures--but I'm not expecting a reply. I'm not your fan, anyway. I do not know Rivermaya's complete discography nor your new songs. At best, I just know a few, the ones that made it to the radio obviously, but they're enough to get by on.

And really, I was doing fine before, with you just a voice unexpectedly issuing out of the jeepney's speakers early morning going home alone, with the asphalt road black as ever from the rain or muck or just the night still unerased. Or you as a face, the first time I saw Antukin's video, the factory theme reminiscent of Bjork's Declare Independence, but of course, her song is about freedom, while yours, love, and on any given day, I'd choose the latter, despite all its prerequisite rain, muck, and approaching night.

I should have thanked you before, when you wrote Balisong. I know it's not for me, but of course, we all take what we can get out of it. And now, this sleepy song of yours. Thank you for the words. I have no idea which airplane just left, but I'm glad anyway because an airplane figures in the song. I see it leaving a contrails of smoke in the sky, as it leaves a loved one below ground, although technically that would be a jet, but an airplane's slow hesitant departure makes it all the more painful.

There are other words to the song of course, but I don't know how else to tackle them. This is not literary criticism after all. I'm just glad nothing about Antukin is cliched like all the other songs in the radio are, and I can listen to it over and over again and feel I've missed something and will hopefully catch it the next time. Beautiful frustration. Don't worry, I haven't fallen out of love or anything. I'm just simply looking forward to the future.

And the piano during the coda is simply marvelous.

I should stop now.