Sobrang badtrip ako today. Radio Idol had a Wildcard episode last night. Obviously I didn't even make it.

They initially announced four names during the day, four people to fight over the 10th and final slot for Level3. But only two people actually attended the program. So sayang 'yung slot!

And when the two people were talking, dammit it was oh so freakishly boring. I don't think I was that boring, I was at best too uptight and grumpy (also tongue-tied and overly groggy). I mean, I'm probably somewhere in the bottom among to those who didn't make it (including those who didn't get in just because they didn't have enough friends to vote for them), and even I'm aware I could've done better. Hindi ako nagyayabang, it's not in my nature.

The finale? Both got the "NOT WORTHY" stinger.

If they had called me for a second chance, I would be there like 30 mins early, and I would probably do a lot better than my first appearance since my rhinitis is gone now and of course I would no longer be bouyed by two antihistamine pills.

Damnmit.

Swiped this from someone else's blog.

1. Grab the nearest book
2. Open book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post text of sentence on your blog. Please include book and author along with these instructions.
5. No digging about for the "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! (I know you were thinking about it!) Just pick up whatever is closest.


The Enchanted World: Spells and Bindings
by The Editorsof Time-Life Books

"He gave the crone his arm and led her past the courtiers, out of the hall and to the bridal chamber."

OK, so I didn't pass on to Level 3 of Radio Idol, but I got free dinner in the process so it's all good.

Yes, I was boring, I could see it, but being so nervous took over and the coward in me had let it. So I wasn't shaking as bad as the guy who passed, or I din't overdo the confidence bit or was obviously not struggling with words as the other guys, but still the panicking, clammy, serious guy in me led to my downfall. It was at the very least a fun experience, a great learning experience at the most.

No biggie.

And besides, there's probably another one next year, I just hope that the humiliation on Public Radio isn't as bad as this year's. So peeps, you haven't heard the last from me!

*insert diabolical super-Villain laugh here*

RADIO IDOL Level 2: The Challenge


I'm scheduled to go up against three other Radio Idol hopefuls this coming Tuesday (Oct 10), 7-8pm at Monster Radio RX 93.1, or live streaming over at http://www.rx931.com

Please do tune in and vote for me to get to Level3 of the competition.

Type in BATCH and send to 29761931-- the BATCH# and DJ letter will be provided at the start of the program.

Thanks!
LUiS Oliveros

Hanging Out With the Boys!

After work last Saturday, I headed for Glorietta to meet up with the boys- well, just four of 'em. Tua, TL, Omar and Tristan showed up and we pretty much spent about 30 mins goofing off, laughing our lung out and being rowdy little high school boys again, before we decided to actually do something.

Right after a quick dinner, we headed over to Park Square for some sisig and booze (and mango juice for Omar). Got tipsy, watched two girls ride on the mechanical bull, laughed ourselves silly over childish and stupid things.

Hopefully, we can make this a monthly, even weekly, event. Because I desparately need friends right now, especially now that it's been months since my bestfriend passed away and insecurities are creeping up from all direction because of my new job. I will never replace my bestfriend, but I can sure use the company.

It's been so lone since we saw each other...in fact, it's been so long since I've seen any of my friends. And it's also been a while since I had any alcohol in my system, and so I was sufficiently buzzed after round three.

Two weeks ago I decided to head for Ortigas to submit my application for RX 93.1's Radio Idol. It had to be one of the hottest days so far during the BER months this year. So there I was walking along Emerald Avenue with my long-time friend JANICE, with my sweaty shirt on.

Personally, I had an epiphany while ambling around Ortigas. I've been an RX listener since high school (although I also listen to the rock station since RX has a terrible reception at home) since then and throughout college I would make demo tapes and submit them for RADIO1. I never got any calls, suffice to say I'm a six-year RADIO1 reject and I was having doubts about joining RADIO IDOL. Doubts about my own abilities.

So to make a long, dragging story short, I went in, passed my resume (sans ID picture/s), recorded 2 minutes of voice and headed home.

Yesterday morning, I heard on the radio the list of names who were gonna be judged and I was so psyched, because I was in it. The doubts were still there but nevertheless I went on my daily routine and waited till 7pm for the RADIO IDOL program to start.

Lo and behold! I passed...I'm moving on to LEVEL2!

But I have to admit, I'm still a little concerned whether I have a good, fighting chance to win, which is why I'm trying not to border on the idea of winning, yet I'm still struggling to keep what little optimism I have. And if you know me well enough, optimism isn't exactly my strong suit.

Next week will usher in the start of LEVEL2 of the radio reality show, and I am crossing my fingers, praying that I pass on to LEVEL3.

BEGINNING TO LIKE: "How To Save A Life" by THE FRAY

BEGINNING TO LIKE AGAIN: The Morning Rush with Chico and Delamar

BEGINNING TO NOTICE: MATISYAHU

BEGINNING TO HATE: Waking up at around 4:00am just to get to work on time

BEGINNING TO GET SICK OF: the monotonous schedule

BEGINNING TO MISS: Asia Agcaoili's kinky radio program

BEGINNING TO OBSESS: about the return of LOST-- I NEED MY LOST!

I took a break from the monotony of the artwork I keep on revising and did this.

And I just realized that all of the personal projects I was doing would have to be put on hold. The comic book script I was writing/drawing, the books I was planning to read, everything. Even the band caricatures I have stacked in my study table would have to wait. I no longer have as much time as I want...heck i don't even have enough time to sleep!

A VERY SHORT, UNDETAILED REVIEW of “The WICKER MAN”
Thanks to my superhuman ability to listen to CHR radio stations during the wee hours of the morning and indomitable urge to join nearly every on-air contest (that does not require me to sing, rhyme, recite a sponsor’s tagline, etc.), I won for myself a pair of invites to the premiere of the Nicholas Cage movie “The Wicker Man”.

I have been seeing the trailer over the cable channels and the posters along the highway, and it gave me the impression that it has a seriously creepy storyline, made complicated with a series of elaborate lies and knee-deep in some bizarre tradition as they marinate in horrific sound effects and CG mush. This is something Hollywood has been spewing, as opposed to the now overrated Asian horror explosion which utilizes to great effect the silence and a very simplistic storytelling device.

So it was a weekday and I headed over to the radio station to claim the tickets. I sent text messages to nearly everyone in my phonebook, in hopes of finding someone whom I could whimper to whenever a ghastly scene would jump from the screen. Nearly everyone declined, the others didn’t even have the decency to respond. Dammit!

It was 7:55pm, and I was sitting inside Megamall’s Cinema1. And since it was an exclusive premiere, some celebrities showed up including members of the band Join The Club who carried the general look of having utmost glee. Next to me sat two old ladies, lively gossiping about some neighbor. Not exactly an appealing idea of being the shaking, cowardly young man beside a pair of undaunted pair of geriatric ward candidates. Hardly a good comparison to last year’s Harry Potter viewing, where I sat beside a muscle-bound, skin-headed, goateed and tattooed mammoth who cried at the end of the movie because Cedric kicked the bucket. It was cold and I felt queasy.

So after a deep breath I plunged into the horror flick…

After going through a near-death experience in the line of duty, Police officer Edward Malus (Nick Cage) receives a letter from an ex named Willow (Kate Beahan), asking his help to find her daughter, oddly named Rowan (Atkinson???!) in the remote island of Summersisle. A series of unfortunate incidents and odd meetings with the locals (including a wooden Leelee Sobieski) would ensue before Willow informs him that Rowan is his. After much more running around the island and bizarre suspense plot devices, he finally stumbles upon evidence that the entire island thrives on ancient tradition and the daughter he has yet to meet is next in line to be sacrificed for a better harvest season. Mighty enticing really, but IT SUCKED! What a friggin’ disappointment!

The trailers and poster were so misleading. It led me to believe that I would be hiding behind my mailbag by the first half, instead I felt cheated. We all got so used to guessing the plot as we watched suspense flicks, but for this film, chances are that most of your guesses were far more creative and ingenious than the actual story.

It was unbelievably mundane and dragging. You would be sitting in the theatre waiting for the movie to take off, sorry to say: it never does. However, it is highly obvious that it attempts to shock, scare and intrigue you; unfortunately, attempts, no matter how hard, do not make for a good movie.

Some scenes were indeed funny, however they tragically look candid. And how idiotic does “Step away from the bike!” sound when being mouthed by a snarling Nick Cage as he points a gun at an unarmed woman aboard a bicycle?

Although honestly, save for the deviously deceptive advertising, completely moronic script and the very old school storytelling, the film would’ve passed in my book-- if it were a short film.

In its entirety, the movie was one deceiving son of a bitch. It was a total waste of a good cast, passable production and a good direction.

Avoid like leprosy. You have been warned.

DEAD THOUGHTS: Depleting Artistry?


FURTADO RETURNS

Ever since Nelly Furtado came out with her debut disc Whoa Nelly!, I have embraced her music. OK, the lyrical approach to “I’m Like a Bird” was a wee bit bothersome, but the next few songs definitely grew on me. Her tribal/mid-Eastern brand of pop was a freshly eclectic sound amid the plethora of painful mush made up of pretentious pop-alt acts and one-hit wonders at that time (Read: Sisqo).

Though her sophomore effort titled Folklore caused no stir whatsoever, it still had the diverse sound she had established for herself. The album was entirely influenced by her becoming a mother and was inching towards a more rock-acoustic angle.

And now she's back, only this time she’s gotten a lot more urban. After all, she does have Grammy-awarded producer Timbaland backing her up. As of writing, her first single “Promiscuous” is hot item, flaring up in just about every pop station and music channel in the country.

She used to explore her vocal capacity by doing staccato pseudo-raps and some experimental form of chanting rhythms which have become part of her trademark, but now she does the Fergie/Ashanti kind of flirty, falsetto thing. I understand perfectly well that as an artist, she is probably rearing to get out of her comfort zone and that having a “trademark style” denies her artistry. If one transmutes into something that is generally a cliché nowadays, it could be of trying to reach out with a more accessible music. Although she seemed to have lost her vocal character and the eclecticism that goes with it, making her easily unrecognizable from the crop of hip-hop singers populating the scene.

And the music video for “Promiscuous” mildly annoys me. It looks like a less imaginative but otherwise superbly directed version of Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrty” vid. Present is the identically wild crowd of ravers packed in a claustrophobia-inducing grimy warehouse type of environment; where Ms. Mouseketeer attempts to have a storyline about underground female boxing, Furtado settles with the performance scenes of her singing as she explores her surroundings and a dance routine that could make Napoleon Dynamite blush.

A few minutes ago, I heard her first single, “Man Eater” as I was trying to organize my tiny CD collection. I listened to it and smiled a little. It had traces of the Nelly Furtado I appreciated before. It had some tribal drums, a lethargic and intoxicating rhythm to it that borrows some elements from the 80s music scene with a sort of theatrical dynamic. Sounds promising.





WHAT’s THE DEAL WITH IMAGO?

As a long-time fan of Pinoy rock, I saw the emergence of Imago as a creative force and a Pinoy rock icon. I was in high school when “Alay” was first played over at NU107’s In The Raw.

When Probably Not But Most Definitely was released, they were being misjudged by some clueless critic as the country’s answer to The Corrs just because they had a violinist. The band proved him wrong with their horrendously diverse sound and overly experimental instrumentation that I immediately loved. Who wouldn’t? Tracks like “Alay” and “Pretty Me” and “Rainsong” were so different from one another you wouldn’t know what to expect for their next single. The album was one exciting, but unexpected, raid into rock’s soundscape where everyone joined in for the music.

And then Take 2 happened. It was here when they began exploring more conventional sounds. The violinist, Michelle, left the band. And so did Arvin the bassist, and Myrene hopped on board. If not for Aia’s familiar vocal work, you wouldn’t know it was an Imago album…save for six songs which still had their signature vibe. They got rid of the more tribal/world music inspiration and ventured forth into the world of the mainstream. Sure, “Taning,” “Bihag” and “Akap” were decidedly Imago products, but some of the other tracks sounded like they were written by some other musician. “Gratitude” for instance sounded like a SunValleyCrew composition (Rye, by the way, guests in this song). And Aia raps? Not exactly a welcome change for me. And also the catchy, bubblegum pop undertones in “Anino” suggests that it Aia probably wrote this during her stint with Fatal Posporos.

And now they released BLUSH. The title sound like a teenybopper fashion magazine, the cover art looks the part. Believe me, I am proud that they’ve grown from being underground/indie esoteric heroes to a mainstream crossover bankable act. And for their sheer talent, they’re finally getting the recognition they rightfully deserve. Though I’m not entirely sure where they are headed. First single was titled “Tara Lets.” When I first heard it from a crappy radio station FX cabs and busses prefer, I assumed it was perhaps some new act. I could not identify the voice. Though I admit that the artistic musicality is still there, and that they kept the fun attitude that became apparent during the Take 2 days, the song still sounds like something you’d hear being played as background music to some cheesy youth-oriented flick. With the chorus that repeatedly goes “Tara Let’s / Tara, tara let’s / ‘Di ka na mabibigo / whoa” playing at the back of your skull, and you know that there’s some sort of a sign of depreciation. And it makes the Imgo-fan in you ask: Is this an attempt at selling out? Like I said, I haven’ the foggiest idea, though I’m still hopeful.

NEW STUFF!
It was so freakishly hot two weeks ago that I decided to head for the malls, spend the day there, maybe buy some stuff or even watch a movie.

As always I headed for Comic Quest to visit the copy of the complied edition of “Age of Apocalypse” and went straight to Tower Records. As I was browsing through the CD racks, I spotted the special double-disc editions released by Sony-BMG.
These have already been out for weeks and it was indeed a remarkable idea, getting two CDs for the price of one. And the cover art is pretty nifty, as done by grandmaster Arnold Arre. So I grabbed a copy of the SANDWICH discs which contains all the tracks from both GRIP STAND THROW and 4-TRACK MIND.

Looking over the racks to Power Books, I decided to visit my usual haunt, the Filipino Publications section, to look for some books. But as I was on my way to the cashier to pay for the CD I passed by a listening station and saw several discs laid out and noticed that most of the Deftones CDs were on sale…local price, pare! So, disregarding my purchasing restraints, I also paid for Deftone’s WHITE PONY.

Now as I was on my way to the Filipino section, I passed by the shelf carrying all the graphic novels and found Arnold Arre’s “Mythology Class” under a miniscule spotlight. Examining it, I had surmised that it had about 400 pages or so and wondered how long it took before he actually finished it. And then I saw the tag- P525.75! I may be known to my friends as kuripot, but I’m a huge fan of “After Eden” so the inner fan in me deduced that it was really a very good investment. This coming from someone who has been looking for his “Trip To Tagaytay” for so long.

I found nothing appealing from the Filipino Publication racks, which was why I went next to National Bookstore. Still nothing I fancy from the Filipino Section…except for Pugad Baboy 18. I opened and read it on the way home, and I was laughing myself sick, though I must say that there seems to be some sort of humor depreciation I still enjoyed each page. Even if I spent more that just a couple of hundreds that day, I still felt that everything I purchased was well worth every cent.

The funniest artwork I've seen all week!

"Rak en rol hanggang kamatayan"

HOLY heck! I can't wait!

I SCORED 79- medyo sablay
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SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 80 movies, you have no life.
Mark the ones you've seen.
There are 168 movie titles on this list. Put your score in header and repost.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
( ) Airplane
( ) My First Mister
( ) The Virgin Suicides
Total: 4/11

( ) The Princess Bride
(x) AnchorMan: The Legend of Ron Burgandy
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
(x) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total: 5/12

(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total: 9/11

(x) Harry Potter
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
(x) Resident Evil I
(x) Resident Evil 2
( ) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total: 8/10

(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(x) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total: 4/10

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
( ) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) King Kong
Total: 4/12

( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
(x) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
(x) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
(x) The Ring
(x) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total: 6/14

(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
Total: 4/9

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
(x) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
(x) the Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total: 5/14

( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
(x) Se7en
(x) Ocean's Eleven
( ) Ocean's Twelve
( ) Identity
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
(x) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Total: 6/13

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Boss' Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
(x) Frailty
( ) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total: 5/12

( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
( ) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) Terminator 2
Total: 5/12

(x) X-Men
(x) X2
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Others
(x) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) Cruel Intentions 3
(x) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total: 10/17

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
(x) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old-virgin
Total: 4/11

I LIKE FOR YOU TO BE STILL
Pablo Neruda

I like for you to be still: I as though you were absent,
and you do not hear me far away and my voice does not touch you.
It seems as though your eyes had flown away
and it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth

As all things are filled with my soul
you emerge from the things, filled with my soul.
You are like my soul, a butterfly of dream,
and you are like the word Melancholy.

I like for you to be still, and you are still far away,
It sounds as though you were lamenting, a butterfly cooing like a dove.
And you hear me from far away, and my voice does not reach you:
Let me come to be still in you silence.

And let me talk to you with your silence
that is bright as a lamp, simple as a ring.
You are like the night, with its stillness and constellations.
Your silence is that of a star, as remote and candid.

I like for you to be still: it is though you were absent,
distant and full of sorrow as though you had died.
One word then, one smile, is enough.
And I am happy, happy that it’s not true.
IN MY SKY AS TWILIGHT
In my sky at twilight you are like a cloud
and your form and colour are the way I love them.
You are mine, mine, woman with sweet lips
and in your life my infinite dreams live.

The lamp of my soul dyes your feet,
My sour wine is sweeter than your lips,
oh reaper of my evening song,
how solitary dreams believe you to be mine!

You are mine, mine, I go shouting it to the afternoon’s
wind, and the wind hauls on my widowed voice.
Huntress of the depths of my eyes, your plunder
stills your nocturnal regard as though it were water.

You are taken in the net of my music, my love,
and my nets of music are wide as the sky.
My soul is borne on the shore of your eyes of mourning.
In your eyes of mourning the land of dreams begins.

JULY 6
187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar,
with 178 days remaining.

For those in a hurry to get old, I suggest you reanalyze your lives and slow things down, while you can still afford the luxury to do so. And to those who are enjoying their age -and acting like little kids- I envy you.

I turn a year older na naman.
YEeeCh! I miss those days when turning a year old was exciting and you can't wait for your birthday. Now it seems, I dread the arrival of July.

ANG TANDA KO NA!

OTHER BIRTHDAYS

• 1907 - Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter (d. 1954)
• 1946 - George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States
• 1946 - Sylvester Stallone, American actor
• 1951 - Geoffrey Rush, Australian actor
• 1975 - 50 Cent, American rapper

EVENTS

• 1785 - The dollar is unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States.
• 1957 - John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles meet for the first time at the Woolton Parish Church Garden Fete, Liverpool.
• 1964 - "A Hard Day's Night", the first Beatles film, premieres.
• 1977 - Pink Floyd's Roger Waters spits on a fan during the In The Flesh tour in Montreal.
• 2005 - Bob Geldof and Bono meet with the G8 in Gleneagles to discuss increasing aid to Africa. Afterwards, both make appearances at the Edinburgh 50,000 concert, a last concert in the Live 8 series.

• The Vulcan Eclipse (JULY 6, 1982)- The Earth's shadow begins to leave the moon, as sunlight creeps slowly back on to one limb at the lower left after the end of totality during the lunar eclipse of July 6, 1982.
  Although no direct sunlight hits the moon during the total phase of a total lunar eclipse, the moon is visible from sunlight refracted through the Earth's atmosphere during the eclipse. The moon gets its burnt orange color from scattering of blue light from the sun's spectrum in the atmosphere, the same reason the sun appears red at sunset, and the sky is blue. This particular total lunar eclipse was called the "Vulcan Eclipse" because of the tremendous amount of material in the Earth's atmosphere from the El Chichon volcano which had erupted in Mexico a couple of months earlier. Because of this volcanic material in the atmosphere, the bulk of which was in the stratosphere some 16 miles high, the amount of sunlight refracted during totality was diminished, and observers recorded this eclipse as one of the darkest on record.

I just finished reading the fifth issue- titled "A Little Known Murder in Studio 4 -of Alamat Comic's Trese. And it's definitely another winner for the Tan-Baldisimo team-up.

Previous issues have dealt with malevolent characters directly from our local mythologies, this one is no different. Alexandra Trese investigates the case of a young movie star- Heather Evangelista -at the brink of stardom who is found murdered at the studio where she was filming her latest movie. Snooping around the vicinity for evidence, Captain Guerrero and Trese comes across chocnut (!) and what appears to a child's shirt with some sort of reddish powder around it. Also, her Best Actress award is missing.

Trese seeks advice from the Nuno (now living under a manhole in Balete Drive, as showed in Trese #1: At the Instersection of Balete and 13th Street) who tastes the chocnut found in the crime scene and finds that it's overflowing with pain and despair. Finally, our detective decides to give ageing ex-actress Nova Aurora a visit- the movie Heather was making was about her, after all, and they have been meeting for some time now so that Heather could study her.

Trese and the Kambal must fight their way past an angered group of Laman Lupas to finally get to the truth. It's a fun yet simple journey that is mixes 70s crime storytelling with local ancient folklore; remarkable forensics tweaked to the mystical side.

Although my favorites are still Our Secret Constellation and Rules of the Race), the 5th ish still definitely packs a punch and grabs you by the neck for the trip. At this very moment, the Trese books are not yet available at ComicQuest and I'm not pretty sure when they'll be back, but I will definitely wait so I could buy all issues.

And at P30.00 an ish, there's seriously no reason why you shouldn't buy yourselves copies.

Just got from Comedy Centrals's daily joke email service.
So blonde's do get more fun!
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Not Going To Try This Again

A blonde decides to try horseback riding, even though she has had no lessons or prior experience. She mounts the horse unassisted and it immediately springs into motion. It gallops along at a steady and rhythmic pace, but the blonde begins to slip from the saddle. In terror, she grabs for the horse's mane, but cannot seem to get a firm grip. She tries to throw her arms around the horse's neck, but she slides down the side of the horse anyway. The horse gallops along, seemingly ignorant of its slipping rider.

Finally, giving up her frail grip, the blonde attempts to leap away from the horse and throw herself to safety. Unfortunately, her foot becomes entangled in the stirrup, and she is now at the mercy of the horse's pounding hooves as her head is struck against the ground over and over.

She starts to lose consciousness, but to her great fortune, Bobby, the Wal-Mart greeter, sees her and unplugs the horse.

Dead Thoughts

I just woke up from a long sleep that was neither refreshing nor restful. I had an odd dream that I was conducting an interview with Naima from America's Next Top Model 4. I seriously find it particularly weird because not only don't I care much about her (because I like Brita), but I only saw one episode- and that's the one where Brita got the boot.

Here's something to wait for! And I'm a little excited, especially since I missed on last year's leg, where they featured my favorite bands (Twisted Halo, Sugar Free, Imago, Cambio among others), simply because I didn't have the cash.
Now, this year's event features 6Cyclemind, Hale, Itchyworms, Urbandub, UpDharmaDown and The Dawn. Athough I must admit that I'm not that excited with The Dawn being in the list, and I care about Hale as much as I would a wart in some Chinese girl's toe in Tibet. But Urbandub and UpDharmaDown makes the event a whole lot more interesting!

I've been wanting to buy Budjette Tan and Ka-Jo Baldisimo's collaborative work titled Trese. It's an awesome work that is expressed in monochromatic pages ala-ashcan comic.
It features occult investigator Alexandra Trese as she investigates one mystical case to another, spanning mostly everything from local mythical creatures to crime noir stories.
And this is a great project for Alamat Comics, since it has been a while since they released something new. And I am determined to collect each and every issue. Even if you can read some of the issue here, I still prefer the feel of the pages of the comic in my fingers.

During the start of the week, I made the mistake of passing by Megamall on the way home. And almost impossible to avoid was a casual peek at both Comic Quest and Filbar's. And now, I'm itching to buy both the compiled editions of X-Men: Age of Apocalypse and DC's Infinity Crisis.

So I'm guessing Infinity Crisis is created in the mold of Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour; a way to wipe the entire DCU slate clean and restart the entire universe. While X-Men:Age of Apocalypse is the compiled edition of the Age of Apocalypse phenomenon Marvel launched during the late 90s. Although I've managed to read some issues and eventually how the entire event concluded, I want to read the entire story to know how the other books' scenarios affected the main storyline.

My first rest day in the production floor is nearly over. And since it's a Friday, most of my friends are probably out partying or in some bar getting too drunk, while I'm at home trying to recuperate from an untterly exhausting week. Frankly, I was beginning to think that the week would never end and I ended up forgetting what day it was. Those were two very unpleasant feelings I did'nt really miss when I resigned from Ambergris. Plus add the bizarrely savage treatment I got from my TM during our talk, and I guess it's safe to say that I WANT OUT!


In a few hours, I will be going to bed and sleep. And I am desperately hoping that when I wake up, I'd find myself still working on the Tanduay Cofeetable Book!


I sorely miss seeing my byline printed in a newly published copy of a magazine. Those were the days when I had fun interacting with people, interviewing sources and finding time to write for other magazines on the side. Those were simple days when my biggest joy would be to get a free CD of a band inside the PR kit for an event I'm covering.



I miss Admit One and, of course, Twisted Halo so much. The crux of the matter is that I miss the entire gig/concert setup of a stage (no matter how small), screeching guitars, pounding skins and the cheering crowds and hearing my own voice go out as I shout my aggressions away. I miss feeling the bass drums and bass guitars vibrating through the floor, the guitar solos and the effects crawling up my skin to the tips of every strand of my hair and the everyone singing in unison.

It's the communion of music. A mosiac of emotions and every sensation trickling from every iota of your being, as you are transported from one facet of your psyche to another tucked in the pocket of your sanity, where everything cascades in the ebb and flow of the rhythm, and all confines of the physical attributes have no recourse than to anwer to the beat.

This is the cabbalistic chant of he soul.

I am now in the middle of my second week of aBay. Got past the first one without a cinch, but for this week, all nine of us remaining ZEN TS agents were divided for the other teams to partake.

Last Friday I asked our beloved floorwalker if I have a nice TM. She frowned. I stared unblinking at her.

So I let the week slide.

Moday. Got to meet the dreaded TM. Although I didn't sense anything sinister in her aura, I can't help but think of how the week would end up.

Tuesday.

Wednesday.

The week seemed to be exhaustingly long, the calls dragging and I found myself surprisingly somewhat uptight, somehow I felt I wouldn't like my stay with my new team wouldn't be that pleasant.
I dropped by the church on the way home and attended mass. My first mass in a while. Surprisingly, I finally felt relaxed. The priest's sermon was about asking/expecting something in return. And it sounded like it was directed towards me.

Thursday. I started the day, with remnants of the inner peace I encountered the day before. Got to the MRT station at around 5:15am so I knew I was gonna be early. However, it wasn't until 6:00am when a train did pass by- and I had no idea why. I guess this is what literature majors would consider an omen: something seething was on its way. Suddenly lost my peaceful state of mind.

Halfway through my shift, my TM talked to me. Apparently, there's a 75% chance I 'd get the boot even before the week is over. Good grief! This was one of the reasons why I was eager to migrate to Xbox; I knew my technical skills all too well to expect myself to pass this account.

So, Xbox or no Xbox, I want out! Now!

I was browsing through Jenn's blog when I happened upon a post. It's probably one of those forwarded emails but I still think they're funny. And since I am indeed in a crossroad (sorta like a pre-mid-life crisis really) because I know I'm getting OLD (a feeling that is both equally overwhelming and confusing), I found it appealing that some of them are actually applicable- although I won't tell which ones are.

25 ways to know if you've grown up...
1. Your house plants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of "hookup" and "break up."
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."
10. You're the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You take naps.
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead ofthe beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
19. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff"
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never going to drink that much again."
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25. When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate them instead of asking "Oh sh** what the hell happened?"

Bonus: 26: You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you and can't find one to save your sorry old ass. Then you forward it to a bunch of old friends 'cause you know they'll enjoy it and do the same!

May 2006. During my initial application interview, Dodie (my interviewer / accent trainer) asked me if there was an account I’d specifically want to be a part of. I answered promptly: “I’d LOVE to be with XBOX.” And it was to my slight dismay that when I was called back, I was proudly told by an HR person, “Congratulations for passing our evaluations for the Technical Support positions.” I was mildly stunned. Me? Tech support? I don’t even believe in my own technical skills, and now people from the US are gonna call me up for technical help/advice?

But I decided to go along the flow, hoping that there’d be a chance to move to Xbox. Hey, if the opportunity doesn’t show itself, I can always wait until the sixth month (IF I survive the initial months) and resign and go back to writing and research work.

Jump to our last week of Product Specs. People from up above (aka the Big Bosses) got inside our doorknob-less training room and announced that they were looking for agents to migrate for the new Xbox CS account. And that made the entire class think about their future with this company; and both Jenn and I squirmed with delight! Xbox was, after all, the entire reason why I even decided to march with my resume in tow and sought employment here despite my inner writer’s protests.

And so naturally I signed up and had my interview a week later. The next day was our second day of nesting, some of my batchmates were being pulled out one by one and asked to go a room, with glass windows. I could see them all sitting and looking at each other, wondering what it was all about.

A few minutes later, I could see them staring intently at someone I couldn’t see, and then came their exultant cheers. They turned to me and motioned that they have just been accepted for Xbox.

I didn’t. Blast it!

Your results:

You are The Flash

Fast, athletic and flirtatious.

The Flash 80% Green Lantern 70% Robin 65% Iron Man 65% Spider-Man 60% Hulk 55% Supergirl 50% Superman 45% Batman 40% Wonder Woman 30% Catwoman 30%

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

It's been more than two weeks since I began losing sleep, all in the name of the money-making devise we all have come to know as Call Centers. Yes, once again I drive myself headfirst onto a couple of training sessions. First up was the unavoidable accent training, which I actually had fun attending, and now I'm on my second week of Client Specs, which is the wierdest I've ever attended thus far since we don't have a manual.

It's been seven months since my last gig. I even missed out two integral events of my entire gig life - the Sugarfree annual party and Twisted Halo's farewell gig. I was in the middle of the Accent Neutralization when they took place. I'm roaring to go back to the gig scene and have fun with my friends. And it sickened me that while most of my gig buddies were drinking themselves blind as they bounced around to live music, I was behaving myself listening to lectures and slide presentations.

It's been two months since my last venture into the cinema. I saw Rent in April. But last Saturday, right after last Friday's training and a drinking sessions with my batchmates, I finally saw X3:The Last Stand. I almost didn't because my batchmates were telling me that it sucked big time. I knew it I'd be severely disappointed if I watched it as the big comic-book fan that I am, so I tried to see it as cinema viewer and avoided all expectations.

More on the movie later

Two posts a month. Now that's a low. Not that I've been gone for months, but this is a lowest I've gone following a blog overhaul. But of course, there's nothing new in my life and I've pretty much gotten stagnant since February, so naturally there's nothing new to blog about.

I did, however got out of the house and met up with Donna last Saturday to watch a movie. Kudos to her for successfully getting me out of my hermit state!

We had planned this three days ahead and I was prepared to see some gory scenes with the horror flick The Hills Have Eyes but when we got to Glorietta, we both agreed that we were not up to it. So instead, we trooped over to the Greenbelt Cinema and paid to see Rent, a decision we made because 1) we seriously doubt we'd get to go to New York and see the original Broadway musical within the foreseeable future, 2) I wanted to see what Teza has been raving about since college, 3) as Donna would put it, "we need some culture" and of course 3) Rosario Dawson's in it.


With tickets in hand, we stared at the poster in the lobby, and noticed a sign declaring that "During the last full show, singing will be allowed." I admit I'm not exactly a silent viewer most of the time, but I would probably be raving mad if someone seated next to me is a Broadway nut and keeps on pointing out the difference between the play and the film in a condescending tone, or worse, he is part of a group and they break into song and dance numbers during the movie.

I looked at my wristwatch. Our showing's gonna be at 6:15, and that can't be the last full show. At least I hoped it isn't. And unlike most of the things I had hoped for in life, I was right.

Unfortunately, I cannot write a decent movie review right now. In fact I haven't written anything in months. But I have to say the film was absolutely terrific. Maybe there are songs and entire scenes part of the original work that were deleted for the film, but still Chris Columbus did a swell job of repainting it into film with his direction and Stephen Chbosky with his screenplay.

It's basically a story about friends living in New York's East Village at the end of the 80s, dealing with their foray into everyday life in the city as they face poverty, creative difference, AIDS and firmly standing up for what you believe in. And it rocks!

Playing narrator is the nerdy filmmaker Mark Cohen (Anthony Rapp), he lives in an unpaid apartment with his musician
roommate Roger Davis (Adam Pascal), their seasonal roomie and MIT hacker supreme Tom Collins (Jesse L. Martin). Living in the apartment below is stripper and junkie Mimi Marquez(Rosario Dawson) who falls for Roger. On Christmas Eve, Collins is mugged in an alleyway as he is getting in the apartment, and is cleaned up and taken cared of by Angel Dumott Schunard (Wilson Heredia) and the two become lovers. They are hounded mostly by Benny Coffin III -Mark and Roger's former roommate who married for money and now serves as their landlord- for the apartment's rent. Incidentally he used to date Mimi. Meanwhile, a protest is at hand, lead by Mark's ex, Maureen Johnson and her new lover Joanne Jefferson (Tracie Thoms). And to top it all off, half of the these people have AIDS.


My favorite scene has got to be the after-protest celebration dinner at the restaurant. They did this extravagantly fun number title "La Vie Boheme" as a mock funeral of Bohemia. It's been a week since I've seen the film and I am still singing that song in my head. It starts with Mark, likened to a priest officiating a funeral mass. It's fun when a song keeps on dropping names with neither product placements nor apologies, au contraire the songs is one big salute to everything and everyone Bohemian.

Another great song here is "I'll Cover You" sang by Angel and Collins. It's one of the most sincere and honest, but simple and humble, love songs that I've heard so far. The lyrics are straightforward but sweet, and their voices are splendid and soulful. Collins is black and Angel is Latino. Figures! No white guy can convey such compassion in his voice. Only problem is -and this really throws me off- that this is a song sung by two gay guys for each other and right after the song they share a very intimate kiss. Eyng???

And shockingly enough, I dunno about Jesse L. Martin, but Wilson Heredia is not even gay. So Donna was right.

Also a constant cranial soundtrack is "Seasons of Love" and the opening scene where all eight characters are singing in onstage in an empty theater is very memorable. A line from that song that very well describes the scene, "celebrate, remember a year in the life of friends." It's like, here they are standing here for everyone to see, examine and judge; and they have opinions to prove, ideas to convey, stories to tell, strenghts to show and weakneses to confess.

DEAD THOUGHTS on RENT

With a musical as successful as RENT, how come it took more than 10 years for it to be translated into cinema?

I love Rosario Dawson.

Wilson Heredia has an uncanny resemblance to a fag back in college. I don't know him enough to even know his name, though.

To Hollywood: MORE MUSICALS and none of the Steven Seagal/Vin Diesel crap they keep on coming out with!

American Idol

I never got to see seasons one to three primarily because my work made it impossible, and also because I rented a teeny-tiny room in Mandaluyong with no TV. So I never saw who Kelly Clarkson, Rueben Studdard and Fantasia competed against. But that's ok.

I saw snippets of the previous season because I had resigned from work and moved back to Angono where my neices watched every episode. What got me hooked was when Constantine left his band and his bandmates where so pissed off with his decision. Personally, I wanted to see if they'd beat the crap off him. I wanted Bo Bice to win for three reasons: 1- he's a rocker, 2- he has this deep sense of theatrics and showmanship that many singers today lack and 3- because I don't like country music which is Carrie Underwood's weapon of choice.

This season, I've watched almost every episode since the auditions. And just like the next Idol junkie, i have my favorites and most hated contestants.



And here are my notes in alphabetical order:

Ace Young looks and sounds like a relic from the boyband era. I don't undertand what the deal is with this guy, but almost everyone from the show is like cumming at his very existence. They keep on raving about his wide-eyed, "emotion-dripping" eyes, and I don't fu--ng get it because he looks like a retard who's lost in his train of thoughts!

Bucky Covington is one of those people who you like the first time you hear him sing, then you disregard because you realize that the people singing after him are way better. Plus he does mostly country song, so that's a downer for me.

I will admit that Chris Daughtry indeed has a very strong voice, his rock influence (as reflected by his song choices) is impressive. My only problem is that he has but one style, and he sticks to it and refuses to do anything else.

Elliot Yamin isdefinitely one of my favorites. His voice is so fu--ng amazing. He looks like a rocker but he's clearly not. There's just something icky about his mouth, like he's got eight more teeth than the normal person, or he's got more gums. Whatever the case may be, there's probably saliva stocked in his cheeks. But still, he's a great singer.

Katharine McPhee,aside from the odd spelling of her first name, I find her very generic. She's like the nondescript girl in your classroom who sits at the back and nobody would notice her absence. And her voice is nothing we've never heard of before.

And then there's Kellie Pickler, a cute blond from North Carolina who keeps on singing country songs. Again, my pet peeve. Also, she looks like a perfect bitch under a veneer of the angelic and adorable virginal face. Think Sharon Stone.

Until now I wonder why Kevin Covais even got to Hollywood. He's got one style which he exploits and it appears like he's gonna lose his breath in mid-song. Sex symbol my ass! Good thing he's out of the competition, whew!

I'm still "mourning" that Lisa Tucker is out. America must not like her that and I can't see why. Her voice is amazing. She even looks like Aaliyah.

Mandisa does not appear to have a surname. Her choice! She's huge in confidence and in physical mass but her talents seems to have no end. Her ass starts from her back and ends in mid-thigh and her armpits are way, way blacker than her chocolate-toned skin, but she keeps on wearing those sleeveless blouses and tight-fitting pants.

Melissa McGhee looks like those teen villains in Nickelodeon. I can see her playing the evil queen bee in another teenybopper crap opposite Lindsay Lohan. She's pretty, but in a sinister, i'll-bitch-slap-you-from-here-to-australia way. In fact when she was voted off, I can imagine her vowing to kills each and every American who didn't vote for her ala-The Bride from Kill Bill.

There seems to be no end to the things Paris Bennett can cry about. When something happens, positive or not, she's ready with her tears. Somebody gets voted off, she cries, she gets a compliment from the judges, she shed a tear. And her crying spree is rivaled only by her annoying bubbly attitude. But since both Lisa and Kevin are out, she's now officially the baby ofthe group so I guess that kinda gives her the right to act like a baby.

Taylor Hicks is on top of my list. He's nothing like anything in the pop-world that you've seen before. He sings in a soulful, jazzy way and he performs like he's having an epileptic seizure. It's practically a variety show when he's onstage.

And by the way:

Gedeon can smile from ear to ear, literally.

Sway, even if he's Pinoy, wasn't thinking logically when he chose to sing "Overjoyed" and so was Bobby Bennett when he did "Copa Cobana". I mean, come on! Seriously, "Copa Cobana???"

Becky O'Donohue has got to be one of the hottest babes I've ever seen, and it will be to my astonishment if she does not become a model or an actress.
Want proof? Here:


More? Here:

Plethora of Babes

Since our lousy cable company suddenly showed some signs of coolness and added JackTV to their channels, it had been hard to sleep at night. We don’t really have Comedy Central in this blasted region of the world (speaking of which, why isn’t there something like Comedy Central-Asia???), and they’re the next best thing. I’m not saying that JackTV is the best channel this side of the cosmos, but they do carry some very notable shows.

I understand that it is but common for local networks to show foreign programs more late than their foreign counterparts, but multiple showings of a replayed episode is not fun. It’s not I don’t like watching Drawn Together and Southpark and The Man Show, but COME ON! I don’t need to see Xandir’s gay bash, or the Barbra Streisand/Robert Smith Mecha battle every week!

The Man Show’s a whole lot worse, we still see Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla cavorting with the juggies in the same damn episodes, it’s like Jack only has one season so they’re limited to showing those episodes every week. Oh and Jimmy and Adam left the show way back in 2003.

So here’s a list of things I would like to tell the JackTV people:
-Stop showing BANZAI. It sucks!
-I would like to see Comedians of Comedy with Patton Oswalt, ZachGaliafanakis and Brian Posehn, Mind of Mencia and
-You know I absolutely like both Morgan Webb and Adam Sessler, but again the reruns have got to stop! I just saw X-Play’s the Best of 2003 episode.
-Despite what some misguided girly teen magazine writer seem to think, SIB is not CHARMING and FUNNY. He is ANNOYING. He’s trying the obnoxious and hilarious bit, but IT-DOES-NOT-WORK! The guy couldn’t be funny even if you hold a shotgun to his head, force him to bend over, pull his pants down and ask some 6’5 tall fag to commit sodomy. The segments on his show, The Sib Show and now JackYard, are fairly ok with just one severely sore problem, he’s in it.

Haven’t been blogging for the past few days...my last post was February and it’ll be April in two days, who am I kidding? I seem to be having less time for anything, although I haven’t been productive lately...i'm barely out of the house, always in my room again, who am I kidding?

News is that I am between jobs, or at least I think I am, since I wasn’t really a 9-5 drone, it wasn’t immediately apparent on my schedule. Hard to say this, but the magazine I work for appears to be just a dead end, no future one issue project- either that or this is the longest and most pointless hiatus a magazine has ever been in. And the reason I stayed jobless was because I hoped that the mag can still push through or I’d soon get another Research post for a new book. But I can’t wait forever, in the name of income.


And so I corkscrewed onto the classifieds during the weekend, and found myself staring at pages and pages of ads looking for call center agents and medical transcriptionists and nurses. Aside from those, I found nothing I liked or I qualified, unless I say I’m a driven 31 year old graduate of Business Administration with a 5-year experience in marketing, can work at long hours and willing to relocate to Basilan. So unless I find something I like, I think I’ll succumb to whoring myself on the phone again. I know I told myself I’d never go back to call centers, but I figured that I could do it for just a few months, save up and then move on- unless I have so much fun with my coworkers then I could probably stay like last time.

SO for now, I'm considering applying for a call center position over at Quezon City. Let's see har far I'd go in there.

Para sa isang nawalan ng kapatid, araw-araw ay ang unang araw.

Salamat sa mga gabing hindi tinulugan
sa mga kalyeng dinaanan
mga asarang hindi pinalampas
mga pagkakamaling tinawanan
mga kalungkutang dinamayan

salamat Elad.

Hanggang sa pasasalamat na lamang, hindi ko kayang magpaalam.