Saturday, July 16, 2005

The 7-hour Neil Gaiman Experience

Last Monday was a pretty good day.

After submitting our thesis I went straight to Gateway with two of my thesis groupmates Dandan and Becca. Dandan was gonna meet up with a friend later on, while Becca was there for the food (hahaha just kidding...).

I was there for the Neil Gaiman book signing. (woohoo!)


So anywayz, when we got there we headed down Pizza Hut Bistro to eat lunch (It was about 1pm then, book signing starts at 4 so what's the rush, right?) Food there was decent, although I only ate their bbq ribs (it was pretty good.) I gotta get back there and eat some more food so I could be a better judge hehe... Anywayz, we finished up at about 2pm and went our own ways. I headed up to the third floor to the Fully Booked store to line up, and when I got there....

WTMF?!?? hell, the line was looooooong... So I followed it... and followed it... and followed... and followed.... Damn! The line went all the way down the first floor and right outside the building along Aurora Blvd! What the fuck?!? I guess I underestimated the number of people coming huh...

So there I was just standing in line, waiting waiting waiting.... I haven't had sleep at all for the past 24 hours, but there I was just standing, waiting, standing, waiting, waiting... whew... What can I say, I'm a big fan... waiting waiting waiting... Finally, the line moves! It's 5:30 now. I'm usually a very not-patient person, but if I had to wait 10 more fuckin hours just to meet Neil Gaiman, I fucking would.

Turns out the wait was 7 hours... But honestly, I really didn't mind. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I mean, how many times would your favorite writer ever come up to a local bookstore and sign like hell for all his fans? Not very often. Seven hours is nothing compared to the high you get when you meet someone like Neil Gaiman (he really is an awesome guy, very nice too.)

Neil signs one Neil signs another one
Neil talks to the girl's friend on the phone. Heh Two peeps I got to meet in line, Sara and Mark
Hellgod while waiting in line... konti na lang! This is my favorite picture right now
The book I had signed You bet I will.
Awesome... One of the most memorable times of my life. Another story for the grandkids...

By the way, I got a little photoshop crazy with the one pic above, so might as well share it hehe.
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Thursday, July 14, 2005

The AntiNeoEstablishment of Cheese Vs You

When you hate the system, a good way to express it is to go against the system. Right?

If you hate the establishment, you don't patronize it. Right?

And for every establishment, there should exist an anti-establishment. Right?

So if you hate the establishment, you go to the anti-establishment. Right?

And if you go to the anti-establishment, what do you do then? Patronize it?

Hmmm... That's where you went wrong man.

I mean, I appreciate you sharing your views with me. But somehow your view didn't add up. Just. (Of course, I only realized this after thinking about it a day later) (Which is why I'm writing it here on my blog, and not telling it to your face.)

You talked so passionately about being "anti-establishment". About liking those kinds of shit, at least. Because the establishment is just not doing it for you. Because the establishment is full of pretentious, fake, elitist bitches and motherfuckers who patronize intelligence. You want the anti-establishment. Because it does the opposite. The 180. Hmmm...

Yet you were so willing to tell a total stranger (me, in particular) how deep an anti-establishment believer (without much proof, unfortunately and coincidentally) you really are.

Now THAT is so patronizing. Honestly. And in a blind way too.

You see, if you really were anti-establishment, you'd think differently. Your ideas would've been different. They would've made sense. Unfortunately, all I heard was pretentious and unoriginal psychotalk, the type you read in newspaper commentaries (except you made less sense, of course.) It is patronizing. It is pretentious. It is the stuff of good old, straight-up establishment. If you really were anti-establishment, there shouldn't have been any club for you to join in.

This is the problem I have with people who claim that they are anti-establishment. Too much talk of things that I am not hearing for the first time and too few actions that I have seen for the first time. Before they know it, they've built their own establishment (they think it's anti-establishment, but it's really anti-anti-establishment, or simply an establishment of a different kind but of the same skin), which makes their point of being anti-establishment sad and laughable at the same time. It's animal farm, baby, and they didn't even see it happen.

So before you start another discourse of your beliefs to another unfortunate bystander, remember. Don't.

One thing I keep in mind is to never talk tough while the tough road before me hasn't been walked on by my own feet yet. You should keep that in mind too.

Or else, you'll just end up as another random topic of a bored blog writer.

Monday, July 11, 2005

ummm.... teessis

Just a few hours more till the submission of our thesis. I told myself when I started writing in this blog that there are some things I'll never talk about here. One of them is this seemingly never-ending college thesis.

You may have noticed (if you wanted to pay attention) that I haven't posted much here in the past few weeks. Blame it on this bitch called "Thesis" (or you can thank the thesis for my absence, if that's what works); it sapped me of my time (and brain cells) and prevented me from coming up with something that's a little better than moronic. It's worse than a bad girlfriend. (Not that I'd ever had an experience with a bad girlfriend before... anywayz...)

Just a little less than five hours now until the deadline... Right now I'm talking with my groupmates online while we're trying to find some bugs in our system (our thesis is an Expert System,
google it.) Well, actually I'm not, but they are...

Anywayz... So it's finally done... Were passing it later... all those months of hard work, sleepless nights... It all comes down to this, the cornerstone of our college life..... Our ticket to becoming highly-payed corporate dummies..... The instant fake answer to the usual job interview questions (Interviewer: "What was the biggest challenge you've ever faced?" or "What was your proudest academic achievement?" Me: "ummm.... teessis." Interviewer: "How do you define success" Me: "ummm.... teessis"). The cornerstone of my college life, hmmmm....







Ah fuck it... Buti na lang tapos na pucha...

Monday, July 4, 2005

it's quiet down here.

Friday, June 17, 2005

Wimbledon 2005 Draw Previews

I was supposed to post something about coercing people to become anarchists, but since the Wimbledon draw is now out, I decided to shift topics...

First off, just a little bit of explanation. A Grand Slam tournament (there are 4 in all, the Australian Open played on rubberized "Rebound Ace" hardcourts, the French Open on clay courts, Wimbledon on grass, and the US Open on hardcourts again) is played on a single elimination format, which means that if you lose one match, then you're out of the tournament (Go home, get some sleep, and practice some more because you probably need more of it). The Draw of a tournament determines who you play in the first round, then the second round, the third round and so on until the Finals (there are seven rounds in all.) Click Here for the link to the Wimbledon 2005 Draw

Now these are just some predictions of mine so just chill if you don't agree.

The Ladies' Draw
First Quarter
Lindsay Davenport(USA) vs Svetlana Kuznetsova(RUS)
- Another 4th round match between current world number 1 Lindsay and former world number 1 Kim Clijsters(BEL), a rematch of their French Open clash, but this time it's on grass which is Lindsay's better surface. (Edited to add on 6/19: Kim just won the Eastbourne Grass tune-up tournament, which means she's in good form going in to Wimbledon. Lindsay should expect a tougher match.)

Second Quarter
Amelie Mauresmo(FRA) vs Jelena Jankovic(SCG)
- Amelie lost her first match on grass in Eastbourne a couple of days ago, but I just don't see anyone on this section having the game to challenge her (Karolina Sprem(CRO) is a potential 3rd round opponent, but she's not having a very good year so far.) Serbian Jelena Jankovic is very capable of beating #9 Anastasia Myskina(RUS) (still struggling with her current state) and #6 Elena Dementieva(RUS) (the faster grass courts won't do any favors for her serves).

Third Quarter
Justine Henin-Hardenne(BEL) vs Serena Williams(USA)
- This is the toughest section of the draw, i think, with Justine, Ana Ivanovic(SCG) (see her pic on the previous post), Mary Pierce(FRA), the Williams sisters Venus(USA) and Serena all stuck together (and how unlucky can my girl Daniela(SVK) be, she's on this part of the draw too.)

Fourth Quarter

Maria Sharapova(RUS) vs Nadia Petrova(RUS)
- This is probably the best quarter Maria could have ever dreamed of being placed in, she could have some trouble though with Anna-Lena Groenefeld(GER) in the fourth round if she's not on peak form... If she survives Groenefeld and Petrova, a meaty quarterfinal match awaits her vs either Justine or Serena.


The men's draw is always hard to predict since a big server could always drop bombs until he gets to the final, whoever his opponent may be...

So I'll cut to the chase:
Roger Federer(SUI) vs Andy Roddick(Mandy Moore's ex USA) in the finals...

The Men's Draw
1st Qtr
Roger could face Juan Carlos Ferrero(ESP) in the fourth round, and a tough quarterfinal encounter to follow vs (take your pick) Joachim Johansson(SWE), Greg Rusedski(GBR), or Fernando Gonzales(ESP) all of whom can give the Fed Express a hard time if they play their best tennis.
Roger vs ... (um... I don't know who to choose) Mikhael Youzhny(RUS) na lang para maiba, hehe (He's been to the 4th round twice).

2nd Qtr
Lleyton Hewitt(AUS) looks to have an easy draw until the quarters, where his opponent is harder to predict. It could be Aussie Open champ Marat Safin(RUS), but he'll have to beat Srichaphan(THA) in round 1, Mark Philippoussis(Anna Kournikova's ex AUS) in round 2, F.Lo (umm... Feliciano Lopez)(ESP) in round 3, and Mario Ancic(CRO) in round 4. Whew. Tough one for Marat, he could go as early as the second round. But he did take Federer to a tight three-set match last week in Halle, Germany playing in what he refers to as "his least favorite surface... "
Hewitt vs (hides behind a huge rock to avoid dagger looks from the Safinettes of PEx) Mario Ancic (but I think if Safin beats Philippoussis, he'll gain enough momentum to carry him through to the semis vs Roger)

3rd Qtr
This is the most wide open quarter of all. I think Tommy Haas(GER) has a good chance of making the quarters. So does Thomas Johansson(SWE). I really don't know how French Open champ Nadal(ESP) plays on grass but he is slated to play Richard Gasquet(FRA) in the third round (again). I think it could be Gasquet who wins this time.
Haas vs Gasquet (Edited to add on 6/19: Richard Gasquet won his first ATP title at the Nottingham Open this week, on grass, which would boost his confidence definitely. And at least we know he does play well on grass.)

4th Qtr
Tim Henman(GBR) has a good draw until he faces Sebastian Grosjean(FRA) in the 4th round... Roddick might also have a hard time vs Ivo Karlovic(CRO) in the second round, but he'll survive that match and go on to the finals(i think)...
Henman vs Roddick

Having said that, I'm still rooting fror Federer and Daniela to win... (I know, Daniela doesn't stand a chance, but damn, can you really refuse that beautiful face?)

Wimbledon kicks off Monday, June 20.

Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Tennis Spittings, straight from Stade Roland Garros

Another week, another clay title for Rafael Nadal(ESP)... the just-recently-turned 19 year-old Spaniard claims his first ever Grand Slam title by winning the 2005 French Open. He beat the best player in the world, Roger Federer(SUI), in the semifinals (with some help from Federer who was playing sloppy tennis, instead of his trademark fluid, out-of-this-world, sickeningly amazing brand of tennis) and then the un-doped Mariano Puerta(ARG) in the finals.

23 year-old Justine Henin-Hardenne(BEL) also grabs the fourth Grand Slam title of her career after she beat 30 year-old veteran Mary Pierce(FRA) with an embarrassing score of 6-1, 6-1... Mary was gunning for her third Grand Slam title after winning the Australian Open in 1995 and the French Open in 2000. Justine earlier demolished Maria Sharapova(RUS) in the quarterfinals 6-4, 6-2... With the win, Justine seals her sweet comeback from a debilitating "mystery" blood virus and knee injury that kept her off the tennis tour for about seven months.

Daniela Hantuchova(SVK) won the Mixed Doubles title with Fabrice Santoro(FRA).
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Woohoo!!! Go Daniela! She lost in the third round of the Singles to Kim Clijsters(BEL) though...
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Hoping for a better result in Wimbledon for my longtime girlfriend Daniela. (Walang aangal)

There's a new Ana in tennis, except this one looks like she'll be staying on the court longer than she will on Enrique Iglesia's bed. 17 year-old, 6-foot tall Ana Ivanovic(SCG)(that's Serbia and Montenegro, btw), another teenaged up-and-comer destined for greatness, also had a pretty good tournament. She beat hometown favorite and world number 3 Amelie Mauresmo(FRA), who incidentally is also Martina Hingis' favorite male tennis player. Oops... Ana eventually succumbed to nerves and lost to Nadia Petrova(RUS) in the quarters 6-2, 6-2.

Don't worry my new favorite young sex kitten tennis player, you'll win one of these Grand Slams soon enough.

Virginia Ruano Pascual(ESP) and Paola Suarez(ARG) won their (count 'em) fourth Roland Garros title together after beating Cara Black(ZIM) and Liezl Huber(SAF) in the Women's Doubles final. They have partnered to win 8 Grand Slams in all, so far. Max Mirnyi(BLR) and Jonas Bjorkman(SWE) took home the Men's Doubles title after beating the Bryan Twins Mike and Bob(USA) in the final. Bjorkman has now won all four Grand Slam Men's Doubles titles.

Back to Federer, he remains at the top of the ranking after the French Open. Nadal goes up two places to number 3, while losing finalist Puerta jumps 26 spots to a career-high ranking of 11. Justine Henin-Hardenne enters the top 10 for the first time since her injury/illness break at number 7. Mary returns to the top 20 for the first time in some years (after falling out of the top 100, also because of various injuries) as the 13th ranked player in the world.

Last year's Men's finalists Gaston Gaudio(ARG) and Guillermo Coria(ARG) both fall out of the top ten (12 and 14 repectively). They are replaced by Roland Garros semifinalist Nikolay Davidenko(RUS) who jumps from number 12 to number 7, and Joachim Johansson(SWE) who didn't even play in the French Open but got lucky anyway. Last year's French Open champ Anastasia Myskina(RUS), who lost in the first round, barely hangs in the top ten as she falls four places (from #6 to #10)

Wimbledon gets going two weeks from now with Roger Federer(SUI) and Maria Sharapova(RUS) as the defending champs... Hope my favorite players win.

On a slightly different topic:

Another Grand Prix, another good win for Renault's Fernando Alonso in the European GP at the Nurburgring in Germany. He leads the Driver's Championship table, while Renault dominates the Constructor's Championships, with no Michael Schumacher nor Ferrari in sight. Since this happened last week, I am now less upset of the fact that Kimi Räikönen's car totally gave way (tire blew, suspension failure, etc. etc.) 3 miles from the finish line. 3 miles! 3 fucking miles! and he was leading the whole way! Right from the first turn of the race, he was leading the whole fucking way! He was successfully holding off Alonso for the top podium finish and 3 miles from from the finish line, his tire just fucking flies off! Boom. Gone. Kimi spins out to the gravel. Alonso goes on to take the win, while Kimi? DNF...

Now that I think of it, I still am upset.

Saturday, June 4, 2005

Conversation #2

hellgod: Hey...
You're still here.

asdfg: Yeah. I thought my plan over. Didn't quite pan out.
hellgod: What plan? Oh, the sell your soul to the devil, get rich quick plan?
asdfg: On second thought, it just didn't seem like a good idea.
hellgod: Well, in my book, any plan that involves suicide as step number 1 is usally not a very good idea.
asdfg: It's not exactly suicide... I mean, I still get to live... I just have to be the devil's bitch, that's all.
hellgod: mmm... doesn't that sound so much better.
asdfg: Yeah... Doesn't it?
The next time I get another idea like that one, just kill me instead?
hellgod: Sure, no problem. But that's one favor you owe me.

hellgod:
I'll be seeing you then... Alive I hope?
asdfg: I'll be around...

hellgod's phone rings. It's his friend, a part-time hooker/waitress/linesperson in Amsterdam who sells sharks, pugs, mosquitoes and semi-used underwear on eBay. She wants him to send her a rosary, the one with six mysteries.

"Give me 9 hours"

He hangs up.

The next time he looks up, he'll find asdfg gone.

They will never see each other again.

Friday, June 3, 2005

Conversation #1

hellgod: hey...
asdfg: hey
hellgod: I hear you're selling.
asdfg: How did you know?
hellgod: So you are selling.


hellgod: Why? I mean, why to him.
asdfg: He pays well. And I need the money. so...
hellgod: You know there's no backing out once you sell. You're never getting it back
asdfg: I know that. You don't need to tell me. I don't need to be told.
hellgod: Would it even make sense if I try to stop you?
asdfg: Try.

asdfg: I make my own decisions. I kick my own ass. I save my own skin. Same as you.
hellgod: No... that's not the way I do it.
asdfg: In a way.



hellgod: Well... call me when you get there.
asdfg: Definitely.

Or maybe, I'll see you when you get there.


hellgod: I hope not.

Sunday, May 29, 2005

8 years

Today is the eighth year of Jeff Buckley's passing. The man may be gone, but the music remains for all of us to enjoy. I don't think I have any friend who's a Jeff Buckley fan like me, so if you fit the bill, stand up, raise your hand, do some cartwheels, say hi...

Anyway, let me share with you two of my favorite Buckley songs:
Last Goodbye
This is our last goodbye
I hate to feel the love between us die
But it's over
Just hear this and then I’ll go
You gave me more to live for
More than you'll ever know

This is our last embrace
Must I dream and always see your face
Why can't we overcome this wall
Well, maybe it's just because I didn't know you at all

Kiss me, please kiss me
But kiss me out of desire, babe, and not consolation
You know it makes me so angry 'cause I know that in time
I'll only make you cry, this is our last goodbye

Did you say 'no, this can't happen to me,
And did you rush to the phone to call
Was there a voice unkind in the back of your mind
Saying maybe you didn't know him at all
You didn't know him at all, oh, you didn't know

Well, the bells out in the church tower chime
Burning clues into this heart of mine
Thinking so hard on her soft eyes and the memories
Offer signs that it's over... it's over

Man, everything about that song above just kicks my ass... That song pulled me through in a lot of my "I'm down" times.

Grace
There's the moon asking to stay
Long enough for the clouds to fly me away
Well it's my time coming, I'm not afraid to die
My fading voice sings of love,
But she cries to the clicking of time
Of time

Wait in the fire...

And she weeps on my arm
Walking to the bright lights in sorrow
Oh drink a bit of wine we both might go tomorrow
Oh my love
And the rain is falling and I believe
My time has come
It reminds me of the pain
I might leave
Leave behind

Wait in the fire...

And I feel them drown my name
So easy to know and forget with this kiss
I'm not afraid to go but it goes so slow

The way Jeff Buckley sang that last stanza on that song, man... another song that kicks my ass each time I hear it.

ps: If you wait long enough (depends on yout connection speed), you'll hear some Jeff Buckley music playing in the background.

Saturday, May 21, 2005

The Five People You Kill In Heaven

1. People who are dumb

2. People who are irresponsible

3. People who are careless with other people's properties

4. People who do not deserve a piece of heaven but get it anyway

5. People who do not agree with me

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Ito Ang Sagot Sa Problema ng Pilipinas

In this searing summer heat, there's nothing more satisfying than:


A.) Going to Boracay with your friends, enjoying the nice, powder-fine, sugary-white sand beach of the paradise island.


B.) Going up to Sagada with your friends, enjoying the awesome cool temparature, the calm and relaxing atmosphere, the amazing views of nature at its finest.


C.) Going to El Nido or Coron in Palawan with your family (since it's quite expensive, it's better to let your parents pay for the whole trip) and enjoying the white sand beach, the beautiful limestone cliffs, the soul-stirring sights and sceneries, and the crystal-clear blue waters.


D.) Taking a dull, rusty bread knife and slitting April Boy Regino's throat open, tearing out his vocal cords, and shooting him on the head with a .308 caliber bullet, preferably point blank so that his brains would liquefy and squish out of his broken skull.



.....
....
...
..
.



OKAY, Time's up!




Whew, that was fun.

Sorry, but I just had to get that out of my system. After sitting through thirty minutes of traffic on an FX taxi with faulty air-conditioning and an agonizing April Boy album as background music... Well, let's just say there's only so much a 20-year-old self-diagnosed neurotic, manic-deppresive, obsessive-compulsive boy can take.

So humor me on this one.

Saturday, May 7, 2005

A shitload that explodes right on your face (or The Reason Why I Need A Sony iPod Shuffle Killer)

I’m losing it.

I used to think that I had good control over my emotions. In the past, I had no trouble setting aside negative personal feelings and fucked up emotions, and that allowed me to keep a cool head, a calm and collected disposition. But now, I don’t know…

Earlier tonight, I met up with some college friends and had dinner with them in Café Metro’s Recipes, GB3 (Great place, great food, General Chicken rules) and enjoyed dessert in our favorite dessert place (guess where.) It was great catching up with them, some of whom I haven’t seen in almost a month; two of them, both Globe subscribers back in college, have just started working for Smart at the start of the week. It had so far been, over-all, a great night (great food, great friends, of course it’s a great night), until it was time to go home (on a Friday night, I know, too early).

I was on my way home, and since I was all alone, I did what I usually do when I’m alone in a public place. I started talking to myself. No – not in a crazy way, but just in my head, just contemplating on recent and not-so-recent events, thinking about shitty things I’ve done, shouldn’t have done, and should do. Basically just talking to the strange voices inside me, sometimes arguing and debating – okay, so it is crazy.

I’m not gonna bore you by telling what exactly it was that I contemplated about (that is, if I haven’t bored you yet as of this lette r.) Besides, it’s way too personal to talk about here. Just pretend that you’re hearing a fake intellectual conversation filled with big highfalutin, pretentious words and stupid, unnecessary interjections and you’re halfway through reading my mind. Easy.

My point is that with the great night I was having, the moment I was alone, things went on a downward spiral. By the time I got home to my place I was feeling a little down and depressed. I think my problem is that I analyze things too much. More importantly, I analyze myself too damn much. It’s like I open a shitload of Pandora’s Box and everything just explodes right in my face, and I can understand why it exploded yet I can’t handle it.

Notice how many ‘I’s there are on this writing?



I don’t think we’re supposed to understand ourselves too well. It makes us go crazy.

Wednesday, May 4, 2005

I would’ve preferred a Mazda 3

It's been awhile since I last posted updates here. Blame it on the combination of my uneventful post-Boracay daze days and being busy on thesis some academic stuff.

As I said, nothing much has really happened lately. Except for my 20th birthday last week, which is pretty much a non-event, really. I remember reading something from a comic strip some years ago about how the older we get, the farther the words “happy” and “birthday” come together. Yeah… I think I would agree.

Not that my birthdays are getting unhappier each passing year, nor am I getting unhappier as I get older. (Just to clear that up.) In fact, it is pretty nice to finally get to say that I’m not a teenager anymore without having to lie.


[Skip this if you don’t want to hear some self-righteous gloating]
I’d like to think that when I was younger, I always tried to act like I was already 20-something. You know, someone who was more *cough*mature*cough* and independent and *cough cough cough*ahead of his time*cough cough cough* than the average high school boy. I just hope that now that I finally am in my twenties, I don’t start acting like I’m a high school kid.
[/end of gloating]

Okay...

Anywayz, since it was my birthday some days ago, I decided to give myself a gift. I bought The Sandman Vol. 6, Fables and Reflections by (who else?) Neil Gaiman. This volume of The Sandman is actually a compilation of nine short stories, and so far I’ve only read the first one, called “Fear of Falling.” Good stuff. I also bought Jessica Zafra’s Tw7sted, the latest in her Twisted series. So far I’ve read the first five articles, I think. Good stuff, too.

My dad just bought an air con for my room. Says it’s his birthday gift for me. Not that I’m complaining, but I would’ve preferred a Mazda 3. Heh.


To everyone celebrating(?) their birthday today… Happy Birthday!


p.s. Happy Birthday Erika!

Monday, April 25, 2005

Endless #3 Is Playing A Game On Me

Last night I dreamt
That somebody loved me
No hope, no harm
Just another false alarm

Last night I felt
Real arms around me
No hope, no harm
Just another false alarm

- The Smiths, Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me

Last night I had one hell of a weird dream. I dreamt that an axe murderer who just got out of prison was gonna hack a friend of mine's head off using this big bad-ass axe. Apparently, my friend was the one responsible for getting him into prison (don't know how, don't know why, don't know anything, hey remember: this is a dream...) and from then on, the axe murderer vowed that it was his life's mission to make my friend's head a house ornament, in a poster-boy-of-Goth-style kind of way. We were inside a building that looked like one of those hospitals I've been confined to in the past, just waiting for the axe murderer to come and hack my friend's head off (instead of running our asses off to the police or something... turns out we're not that smart in the dream world.) Finally, dreadfully, the guy a.k.a. the axe-murdering ass arrived. He asked me to go to one of the other rooms in the building and leave my friend there with him so that he could finally do what he had set out to do. Of course, being the good friend that I am, I obliged to his request.

When I got to the other room, I found my other college friends there. They were all pretty anxious (so was I, since, you know, friend, other room, alone, axe murderer, seeks revenge) until finally the axe murderer went inside our room, which I took as a signal that he was already done with the hacking part. So I went to the other room to collect my friend’s body. I was (in the dream) so fucking freaked out because I was expecting to see my friend's body, minus head, as I slowly opened the door. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), once I got in the room, there was nothing to see except an unmade bed on a dusty floor and my friend's cell phone lying on it, no decapitated body, no blood, no nothing to tell me whether my friend lived through the axe murderer or not.

I woke up in a bad mood.

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Speaking of Dreams, Neil Gaiman's Manila Trip has been confirmed! He'll be coming over July 8-12 Read here for more

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The Philosophy of Buddha would tell us that attachment is the cause of misery. Would detachment then cause happiness? I find that hard to swallow. I’m too young to be detached and happy.

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If you are someone who gets bored with beauty, then I suggest you stay away from Boracay. Tell you about some of my Boracay insights in a few days. I’ll also post some pictures of The Amazing Boracay Trip next time (most of our Bora pictures were taken using my cousin’s digicam, and since he’s gone back to Chicago, I’m just gonna have to wait for him to send us copies of the pictures.)

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On a lighter note: Woohoo! Alonso wins in Imola! I was going for a McLaren win actually, but a Renault win isn’t too bad either… Fernando Alonso won the San Marino Grand Prix, doing a good job of holding off MS up to the checkered flag. Also, my team (team hellgod) remains at number one (as of this writing) in the PinoyTennis.com ATP Fantasy Tennis Game! Getting Rafael Nadal(ESP) and Juan Carlos Ferrero(ESP) was a good decision as they’re doing pretty well (read: kicking ass) on the clay season. I’m banking on Roger Federer(SUI) and Mario Ancic(CRO) to hold my team up for the grass season. Woohoo!

Friday, April 22, 2005

From Boracay to Coron (well, sort of)

I just got back from Boracay last tuesday afternoon. Boracay is one hell of a beautiful place. Six days into it and I was still amazed at how beautiful and fine and white the sand was. But that's for a different post. The same night that I got back, we (my whole family, my cousin Kuya Ren who's having his vacation here from Chicago and his girlfriend, and my cousins and their parents) went to Gerry's Grill in Glorietta to have dinner together. We (mom, dad, me) came in about an hour late because we still had to wait for my dad to get back from the office (traffic was really bad ass, he was stuck in front of SM Southmall for twenty minutes). We (the cousins, siblings and me) were supposed to spend the night at their (cousins) place in Katipunan but I backed out since my back was aching (don't know why, must be the bed I slept in in Bora), my head was aching (could it be hangover??? Nah, I never get hangovers... I get hella drunk but I never get hangovers.) and I still had some other shit to do.

Yesterday (Thursday), I drove my parents to the domestic airport because they'll be flying to Coron, Palawan for a four-day vacation with my bro, his wife and some of their friends. I would've gone with them but I only had enough money for ONE summer trip, and I chose to go to Boracay instead. And I am happy to say that I do not regret that decision coz I had one hell of a good time in Bora (although it would have been better if I made it to both trips.) On our way back (I was with Kuya Ren and my sister) I almost crashed into this stupid ass FX taxi who stopped right in the middle of the road (although it was probably partly my fault since I was still kinda sleepy, it was about 5:30 in the morning then.) Good thing nothing untoward happened or else I would have been in deep shit with my Dad. He'll probably never let me drive again. So thank you, Lord. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. On Saturday we're (cousins) planning to go swimming in this resort in Tayabas, Quezon. Another opporunity to bake my skin in the sun. Heh.


I'll talk about my Amazing Boracay Trip on my next post and I'll try to post pictures too, ASAP.
Till the next post.

Thursday, April 14, 2005

6 days in Boracay

I'm off to Boracay in a few hours (flight leaves 9:30 am)... be back on tuesday... hell, I sure am excited... can't wait...

But before I go have fun in paradise, just wanna extend my congratulations to the Most Outstanding Thesis Awardees, the clickthecity.com group of April, Cla, Theresa and Bodie, and the Olympic Village group of Gino, Kristine, Fed and Prec. Great job guys! and I heard the project defense/presentation was one hell of a show too. Too bad I wasn't able to catch it. For a better read on the IT Thesis Gold Medalists, read this blog ->
Joanne: Presence

Some more congratulations: Congratulations to The College of Computer Studies for once again winning the Best College Day award! Man, do we own that award or do we own that award?? This year's College Day could not have been possible without Del, the CCS Day Head, and Katz, the Asst Head, as well as the Committee VPs Maine (Diva Diaries)
of Activites, Kentot of Marketing, Mico A. of Logistics, Mico G of Publicity, Finance VP Gino, and of course Cheska, our very patient Documentations Boss (hehe, sorry I wasn't too much help in doing the docus Cheska)...

Okay, that's all for now... Updates when I get back...

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Preludes and Nocturnes, Pt. 2

Allow me to be sentimental.

Yesterday, I took the last three classes of my whole college life. Last. Three. Classes.

First Class:

I woke up late. Again. I set the small alarm clock I have on my side table to ring at 7:00 a.m. since my class starts at 9:20 a.m., and as it was the last class of the term for that course (Art Appreciation, btw) I sure as hell didn't want to be late. Again. (It was my first class every MWF so it stood as the sacrificial lamb for my other classes, I was probably on time for that class on about 7 or 8 occasions, 10 max, for the whole three-month term. On the otherhand, my presence in that class assured that I was not going to be late for the next classes since all I had to do was walk to the next building.)

Okay, lost again... Where was I... small alarm clock... right...

I'm not sure it's right to blame my own shortcomings on inanimate objects, but that small alarm clock is really the friggin culprit here. Its sole purpose is to sound the hell off and wake me up on the time I set it to alarm (okay, so that's two purposes. Okay okay so it's also supposed to tell the time. Three purposes, fine...) but for some reason, IT JUST DOESN'T. (It alarms, it just doesn't wake me up. It also tells the time, which is how I find out that it didn't wake me up.) Usually I'm just off my wake-up schedule by ten to twenty minutes, but since this is a (sentimentally) important day, Murphy's law kicks in and I wake up not at 7:10, not at 7:15, not even 7:30, but at 7-friggin-50 a.m. So typically, I came late for class. So fucking typical. But anywayz, when I got to class, only about 5 people were there (including my professor). Turns out there were no classes, we just had to pass the critical paper for Painting/Sculpture that was due that day and we can leave. So the last-three-classes day is now down to last-two-classes day.

Second Class:
The second class is for Literature. That day, we had to do a dramatic reading of the play "Ang Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio", which if I understand correctly, is a biting social commentary. On society. As social commentaries usually are.

If you read through the sleep-inducer that was my last post, you'd know that I'm not one who would easily turn away from potentially embarrassing moments. So when my groupmates asked me to be the one to read the Serapio part, wherein he was on the verge of going wacko and was aimlessly spitting random words (just like me when my sugar level is low), I accepted the offer. It wasn't as embarrassing as I thought it would be since each member of the class had to do a dramatic reading of at least one part of the play and the chances that there would at least be one more person who would deliver a relatively more embarrassing performance than me was in a way comforting.

End of second class. Our group got an okay grade for the reading. Last-two-classes day is now one-last-class day.

Third (and last) Class:
Biology 2, Environmental Science. We had to pass a project (the Flash presenatation I was talking about in the previous post) then take our final exam, a 50-item quiz where half of the questions were about topics I was encountering for the very first time. Nothing special really happened on this class. I finished the test in about 10 minutes, but stayed on my seat for about 6 minutes 18 seconds more (kidding, but more or less 7 minutes more) just sitting there. Staring at my paper, staring at my seatmate's paper (just to see what part he was on), looking at my other classmates, looking at the white walls, etc. I was just sitting there looking around (okay, here comes the sentimental part...) and then I decided to stand up and pass my paper, get my stuff, and get out of the class. And my one-last-class-of-my-whole-college life is now just another day I'm writing about on my blog. (Yep, that's it. That's the sentimental part. It's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it thing.)

Classes Over:
That's it. No more classes to attend (and be late for). No more getting bored and sleepy on boring and sleep-inducing lectures. No more days of regularly going to school. My classes are over, but I'm still not gonna graduate because of one more thing I have to finish (a topic I told myself I will never mention on my blog, so lets just leave it at that.) As I was on my way home, waiting for a bus in front of the Gokongwei Hall, some people I knew walked by and got on their rides that were waiting to take them home. Then it crossed my mind. I probably won't be seeing most of those people again. All the people who I knew but was never really friendly with (and there were a lot, with my personality), I would most probably lose touch with them in a couple of months. I'd probably never get the chance to talk to them ever again. And if I ever will, it will be probably be one of those rare occasions, and we'd talk just to be polite to each other. Which is sad if you really think about it.

I'm not someone who likes to look back at the past and wallow on my mistakes, or regret over what I should have done but didn't. But I gotta admit, if there was one thing I could have done differently, it would have been to try to establish a more solid personal relationship with all the people I met. Because I could just imagine, ten years from now, if I were to meet all these people again, only about two dozen would probably walk up to me and have a real conversation with me. Not that it's saddening... It's just... spilled beer worth feeling sorry for, if you get what I mean.

Okay, gotta end this sentimental bullshit now...


P.S. If I ever get this sentimental again, feel free to bitch-slap me...

P.P.S. Do me a favor, will ya? Help make me feel better. Promise to talk to me in 10 years.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Black Saturday, Easter Sunday, Burning Monday

Just a little recap of the weekend for this post...

As i said in the previous post, our whole family (up to the second degree, on my mom's side) holds an annual family reunion every Black Saturday. And since it was that time of the year again, we made the trip to our hometown of Gumaca, Quezon. We usually go their a day before the reunion and join the Good Friday procession around town, but for some reason we didn't do that this year. Instead, I had to wake up at 4-friggin-am (after going to bed at 2am that night.) Being the non-mid-morning person that I am, I took a liesurely, long, sweet time preparing myself for the trip (read: slacking inside the bathroom doing nothing because I was still too sleepy to take a bath, but didn't want my mom or dad to disturb me so I just locked myself in and pretended to be already taking a bath by turning on the faucet and splashing water every 30 seconds), so we actually left the house about an hour and a half later because they had to wait for me to finish up.

Time of Departure: 5:30 a.m.

Then, we met up with my sister-in-law's brother and his wife (who are also my dad's inaanak sa kanilang kasal) at the Shell station in SLEX because they were taggin along for the reunion. We also picked up my aunt, Tita Ima and my cousin Trilan (that's her childhood nickname, she's now called Joeza now that she's turning 18 soon) in Pagbilao. We made a pitstop at the zigzag road in Atimonan. It didn't cross my mind to take pictures, but anywayz, that place is really beautiful. It's actually part of the Quezon National Park.

After a short four-hour trip, we finally got to Gumaca where we stopped by my grandparent's (father's side this time) house/dry goods store. We didn't stay there for too long since we still had to make a 15-minute trip to where the reunion was happening. It's actually in a farm. You see, my grandparents' (mother's side) house is right smack in the middle of rice paddies(tubigan), and you have to cross the tubigan just to get to the house. I can tell you one thing: Every trip there is an adventure (most of the time, my sister falls on the muddy tubigan so on this trip, she just stayed on the other side because it was raining that time and chances were big that she was gonna fall again.)

Anywayz, as always the reunion was loads of fun. We're the only ones in the family who live in Manila (everyone else lives in Quezon except for one Aunt who lives in Laguna) so it is always nice to come back to my hometown and meet up with my cousins and my Aunts and Uncles and my Grandparents. My brother and his wife and her brother and his wife were going home that same day because they still had some things to do the next day, and since I also left a lot of work to be done at home, I decided to tag along with them.

Time of Arrival: 11:00 pm

Easter Sunday: Start of Day: 9:30 am. I was home alone (if you don't believe in ghosts), did the usual stuff, which is watch TV, surf the net, although I was also able to do some school stuff (a Flash presentation for my Biology class, my first ever attempt at doing Flash animation. I love Flash, I wish I could just do that instead of an Expert System.) End of Day: between 2:00 am and 4:00 am, as usual.

Burning Monday: Why burning? coz it was about 35 degrees C outside. Woke up late. Missed my Art Appreciation class. 20 minutes late for my Literature class, where we were having a long test about Smaller and Smaller Circles by FH Batacan (it's good read btw). Finished the test five minutes before the end of the period. Met up with Del and Charmaine (Diva Diaries) at the Gox lobby and gave them the Flash thing I did for Bio, then we went to the fourth floor of Gox to Maine's thesis room, and then Mark arrived and we started talking about his Boracay trip, where he saw the Ateneo basketball team and the Viva Hotbabes. Then more people arrived and they really started talking about Bora (specifically: our own Boracay trip this April). Then, it was time for my Biology class, which I didnt attend because I had to meet up with my mom and sis because they'll be paying for our Boracay trip (woohoo). I'll actually be in Boracay for 6 days (another woohoo). The first few days, I'll be with my sister, my cousin and his gf. The last few days I'll be with my La Salle friends. This early, Maine has already dared me to down 15 shots of tequilla and of course since I'm not one who likes to turn away from potentially embarrassing situations, I accepted her dare.

However, on hindsight, i think I should pull out of that dare. As much as I have the reputation of being an alcohol-whore, uhmm 15 shots of tequilla? I don't even like tequilla. I'm more into the sweet and fruity kind of drinks. Maybe if they offer me money, I'll do it (*hint* *hint*).

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

headaches and brain cramps

My head was aching last night so I wasn't able to accomplish anything significant. Good thing there's no more headache today, I can finally attempt to be productive again.

Right now, I'm not. Just burning time in between my classes (I only have two classes on Tuesdays. The first one ends at 11:00 am, or even as early as 10 sometimes, while the second one starts at 4:20 pm. The five hour+ break usually inspires me... to just go home and not attend the second class.)

But since I'm in front of the pc anyways, I thought I'd write something here. Except I don't think I have anything to say. I think that last post took a lot of sense out of me. (Note to self: I should stop talking about religion, politics, or social ills on my blog. It puts me at risk of suffering from brain cramps. Revert to talking about cartoon shows instead.)

Image Hosted by ImageShack.usJust remembered: Just have to (want to) congratulate all my friends who have finished their thesis and are gonna be graduating in a few months. GREAT JOB GUYS!!! Don't forget to treat me to dinner when you get your first paychecks, ok?

And to the rest of us who aren't graduating (yet), we'll get there so hold your heads up and don't feel like shit.

What else... oooh, tennis results: Roger Federer(SUI) just won his 4th title of the season in Indian Wells, Calif. when he beat the crap out of Hewitt's(AUS) ass (haha) in straight sets. This is his seventh straight win over Hewitt. You know that the man is at the top of his game when the No. 2 player in the world can't even manage to come close to getting a match point against him...


Kim Clijsters(BEL) won the women's title by beating current number 1 Lindsay Davenport(USA) in the final. Nice win for Kim, who's making a come back from a long injury layoff. The most interesting match however was the Davenport-Sharapova(RUS) semis match where Lindsay whooped (and when I say whooped, I mean she really whooped) some Maria ass 6-0, 6-0... I was really surprised with that result, I was expecting Maria to win that match in a close three-setter, but for her to lose the match without even winning a single game, that's just crazy...

I think it's just about time for Maria to get a little rest and relaxation (she should try going to Boracay between April 14 and April 19. Just a thought...)
Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

This week, we're gonna see some action from Key Biscayne, Florida where all the top players will be playing at the Nasdaq100 Open, which is considered by many as the biggest tournament after the four Grand Slams (which makes it the fifth biggest tournament in all... Got that? Heh). Justine Henin(BEL) is gonna be making her own comeback on this tournament after spending most of last year down with a mystery virus. So this tournament will have The Williams Sisters vs. The Russians vs. The Belgians (but I'm really hoping for a Daniela Hantuchova win here.) The Federer Express will most probably win on the men's side. If not, I hope it's Marat Safin or Tommy Haas...




I'm not as brain cramped as I thought I was... I guess that's good.

By the way, it's Holy Tuesday today. The Climax of Lent is coming up... We'll be going to the provinces for our annual family reunion that we usually hold every Black Saturday. Don't ask me why.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

An Aimed Spitting

Disclaimer: I do not promise to be fair or unbiased in my opinion. I do promise that what I will say here is a slightly uncensored, completely honest, immediate reaction to what I have just read in the papers this morning.


Beware: The Catholic Church holds great power. And they are not afraid to (ab)use it.

I'm fucking annoyed and sickened with how the Philippines Catholic Church is quasi-excommunicating health workers who support population-control-via-modern-means programs. A Catholic bishop in Misamis Oriental recently barred people who openly support the Responsible Parenthood and Population Management Act and the Ligtas-Buntis program of the Department of Health from taking the Holy Communion. Sure, the Church exists as our moral guardian, but if our moral guardian is an organization who has a one-track, narrow-minded view on these kinds of issues, then were in big trouble... Let's all just say goodbye to that prized spot in heaven now, shall we?

To insist on the natural methods of birth control is practically tantamount to the insistence to a population boom. That's because the natural method of birth control cannot be effectively implemented at all. Married people get horny and they fuck. And they won't wait it out. They'll fuck whenever they feel the urge to fuck because they're husband and wife and no one's gonna cast a stone on them for doing so. (The declaration "You may now kiss the bride" is just a euphemism.)

*cartoon sound of something flying*
Did you hear that? That's the sound of the natural method flying out the window.

And promiscuous single people who do not use condoms (if you think they are just isolated cases then go to the nearest junk shop and donate your rusty brain there), well, they'll fuck and go to hell, yes. But not before giving birth to AT LEAST one child. It's human nature to be hedonistic once in a while, to satisfy their cravings. How do we stop it? That's the hard question. But we can sure stop its consequence.

Oh by the way, I forgot to mention one other thing. Even priests fuck.

Some people might argue that it is unholy, un-Christianly to promote modern methods of family planning and birth-control. But isn't it just as unholy to allow people to bring life into this world when all they could offer is a life of misery? Is it christianly to bring life to a child who will grow up to have nothing to eat? If someone could convince me that natural methods of birth control is more effective than the modern methods (I mean condoms and contraceptives) in stopping the uncontrollable population boom (especially in the low income class), then I would willingly jump ship. But I really don't see that coming.

On another related news article, an economist by the name Bernardo Villegas, a member of the influential Catholic group Opus Dei, said that there is no basis of overpopulation in the country. A country of more than 80 million people with a land area of about 300,000 square kilometers, with more than half of its population living below the poverty line, with the unemployment rate continually rising (it's now at 11.8%), with pollution becoming unbearable because of urbanization, and he can still say that claims of overpopulation is unfounded? I know some people who came from Opus Dei schools and they are not anywhere near as dumb as this, so what gives?

I'm not condemning people who put their complete faith and belief on the effectiveness of natural methods of birth control. But please, don't condemn the rest of us who do not take your side.


I'll say this as an ending note: Before I totally dump the Catholic faith behind, I beg someone to PLEASE enlighten me on why the Philippine Catholic Church is subscribing this brand of stupidity.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Random Spitting

my blog is starting to become a once-a-week affair, so I'm gonna post something to stop that cycle but since I'm too lazy to write something coherent, detailed or rational, here is a series of unfortunate thinking (tm Snickett):

  1. Why do pinoy politicians think that they are here to entertain the general public? I'm talking to you Jamby Madrigal. Stop getting your face on music channels. You don't belong there. SENATORS don't belong there. Do your fucking job. IN THE SENATE.
  2. The latest (7th) installment of The Amazing Race is having a great start. Looks like its gonna be better than the last season (which is not really hard to top)
  3. If you tell a girl that she runs like a boy, should it be considered an insult the same way that telling a boy he runs like a girl is (an insult)?
  4. Why do I have to do so many senseless things just to get a college diploma?
  5. People are not naturally evil or stupid, or evil and stupid. They choose to be that way.
  6. People do not choose to be good or intelligent, or good and intelligent. They just are.
  7. People who are in between? Will have to climb the tallest mountains to be recognized for their slighter levels of goodness/intelligence/stupidity/evilness.
  8. I am perfectly aware that I could be totally wrong about reading people's behaviors.
  9. So don't comment on this post telling me that I am wrong.
  10. The promise of money shouldn't have been a factor in choosing which degree I would take.
  11. If you have the opportunity, include your name and signature on the Haribon Signature Campaign. I don't care if you don't care about our environment. JUST SIGN THE DAMN THING. Click here -> http://www.haribon.org.ph/ There's your opportunity right there.
  12. There are many things I wish I didn't regret, but do. There are some things I wish I regretted. But I don't.
  13. Regrets are for losers. Being a loser is not necessarily bad. Losers make winners look better than what they actually are.
  14. I wonder what fuels atheists to continue not believeing in God, or on a higher being in general.
  15. I wonder what fuels bus drivers to keep on tuning in to 90.7 Love Radio.
  16. Beware: Madame Auring is rumored to have her very own sex video circulating. According to a reliable source(Madame Auring herself), it's being inserted between scenes of the latest movies currently showing around the metro. Don't worry, I hear there's a money-back guarantee.
  17. I'm currently addicted to Imago's Taning and Akap. Both coming from their independent release, Take Two.
  18. Doesn't it just suck when your looking at a certain direction, and after a few minutes of staring, you realize: You're walking on a one way street. And no one is even walking with you.
  19. I recommend you listen to Lauryn Hill's Ex-factor. And make sure you have the lyrics so you could sing along.
  20. I don't want to go to Boracay if all I'm gonna see there are people who think they are in Greenbelt on a Friday night.

Monday, March 7, 2005

a heavenly way to die

I've just recently discovered the music of The Smiths, being a kid of the 90's deprived me of experiencing good music coming from the 60's, 70's, and 80's... Strangely enough, my first encounter with this 80's brit rock band wasn't on a radio, or on TV, or for that matter, any other medium that will allow me to actually hear music. I've never even heard their music yet I became an instant fan.

It was because of a white t-shirt with the words "And if a double decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die."

I was struck by it. After I saw those words, I immediately took out my cellphone and copied them to my message box. When I got home, I googled the words to find out where it came from. I didn't stop until I finally found what I was looking for because I knew that my obsessive-compulsiveness will not allow me to sleep if I left a thought hanging on my mind.

I've been writing songs since way back when I was about ten years old I think, although it was mostly crap and I've never really allowed anyone to read or hear it because I was too embarrassed to let someone else read my thoughts and feelings. When I was in high school, I always got bored in class so I take out my pen and paper and blocked off everyone (and everything) else and I wrote songs. Each time someone tried to take a peek over my shoulders, I would... wait, this is getting too personal... Why did I even start talking about me? Where was I? Oh google, The Smiths... yeah... I'll get back to that.

(awkward silence)

Okaaay, back on topic... I found out that the words came from the song "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out". Only a genius would have been able to come up with lyrics like that, so even without knowing how the song and the band sounded, I became a convert. I would later find out that they didn't sound anything like April Boy, so that's good to know...

And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine

It's lyrics like these that make me feel good, as morbid or romantically dreadful as they may sound. It's songs like these that make me a frustrated musician.