Surviving

I was one of the lucky few who were unaffected by the intense flooding brought about by "Ondoy". But elsewhere, there is chaos and the unfortunate loss of lives. Let's do what we can to help those in need...

One good thing about being disconnected to the internet in the boarding house is that I was able to devote time for my papers in Anthro. Take home exam was completed yesterday after three nights working feverishly on the theoretical analysis of selected aspects of Philippine culture using various anthropological viewpoints. If there was a time that I came closest to having a "nosebleed", this is it. Whew

Stay safe everybody and make adequate precaution as another storm is making its way to our shores.

LARP*?

How many nerds does it take to recreate an online game in real life?



A LOT, apparently...


*Live Action Role Playing...it's like cosplay but with people taking it waaaay more seriously

Nobody

Talagang huli na ako sa mga uso ngayon...

On Reading

Such a mundane event but so rich in realization...

I was browsing through the stacks of the budget book shop in Trinoma when I noticed a security guard among the book prowlers. I first thought that Kuya Guard was just going about his rounds, nonchalantly observing the people in an effort to discourage a patron from going klepto. His presence was such an interesting sight for me that I also observed him from a distance. Then I noticed that my first impression was false - Kuya Guard was actively scanning the titles and he was picking out books from the shelves and scanning them. And then it hit me...

Too often, bibliophiles such as myself are guilty of this ivory-tower thinking: that reading is an enclave only for those of a certain social status (in short sosyal kaming mga readers, lalo na ang mga nagbabasa ng classics at nobel prize winners. hmp!) and even educational attainment (hoy! matatalino kami no! dats why we read...define 'praxis' nga?) I guess that was the framework operating in my mind when the presence of a security guard among the book shelves - searching for a good book and counting his money to see if it would fit in his admittedly tight budget - was quite a surprise for me.

Then I realized that reading, the pursuit of knowledge, is the most democratic of endeavors. You do not need to be a graduate student to pursue your interest in literature, you do not need to be well-versed in literary theory to enjoy a good read...all it takes is a willingness to reach out, open your mind, and let yourself into a whole new brand of experience that a good book can provide.

It is therefore not out of intellectual snobbery that avid book readers such as myself compose posts and updates on whatever tome we have our hands on. I just want to share with you all the joy I get whenever I read and enjoy whatever new knowledge or experience I get from the books. You may not know who H.P. Lovecraft or H.G. Wells are, or even distinguish between Anais Nin and Ayn Rand, or whose Bronte sister is whom, but if you are interested to view a world through the eyes of another, through interesting lenses and vistas, pick up a book, whatever genre it is (sige na nga, Twilight is okay...), and embark on your own journey.

We may be traveling through different streams, but once we find ourselves lost in the ocean of knowledge, we're bound to bump into each other. Take that first step, turn that first page, and see you around...

Ahem...

Let's butch things up with LIGHTSABERS! YEAAAAAH!



Nope. Still Gay.

Memes Galore

the online article here

This Weezer video gives a nice summary of the internet memes that have afflicted our pop culture. click here

Updates

Kas 208 paper almost finished. Ilang paragraphs na lang and the rest will be editing, tweaking, and formatting. Sigurado this week tapos na ito.

Anthro 292 take home exam finally unleashed! hahaha I'll be having fun with this one.

Kas 204 paper still hovering in limbo. May konting research. Next week masisimulan na talaga ito, or else patay tayo...

Finished Crane's Red Badge of Courage and Well's The Time Machine. Pahinga muna from the Necronomicon. whew...

I finally watched the 2nd season of True Blood yipeeeeeee!

F*CK!

Dammit! Why did it have to Alec Baldwin?

Anyway, Big Bang Theory is coming back for its third season and if Jim Parsons is lucky, he shall have another shot at greatness.

Dr. Sheldon Cooper, FTW pa rin!

Dr. Sheldon Cooper FTW!

Paganahin na ang psychic powers and let's make history...in the upcoming 2009 Emmys, who shall rise and lay claim to glory in the name of all the nerds of the world? Oh - Dr. Cooper, you want to say something?



Jim Parsons for the win at the 2009 Primetime Emmys! Go! Go! Go!

It's time for the nerds to take over! wahahahaha!

The Playlist in My Head

1. I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas



Medyo naunahan ako ni Doc Bien sa pagpost ng song. Happened on this song when I saw the vid with the crowd dancing to it on the Oprah show. Listening to this song reminded me of a 90's band and their song...

2. Innocent by Our Lady Peace



I think this band had a song on the soundtrack album for the movie The Craft. Then David Cook's rendition reminded me of them. I think I already posted a music video of this song so here's a live version.

Peas rhymes with Peace...hehe

Give the Devil His Due

This is the last Cine Europa film I will be watching. I also wanted to watch "Just Another Love Story" but there was a very long queue and the tickets were all out when I was almost at the booth. Muntik na akong maabutan ng tickets pero wala na talaga...nyemas!

The film that I was able to watch was from the Czech Republic and featured the Devil as the protagonist, fairy godmother, and dispenser of justice. The story was made out to be a fairy tale, with all the usual conventions: evil stepmother, various challenges to be hurdled by the protagonist, a love story, etc. but what I found interesting was the role of the Devil as social arbiter and equalizer.

Here the Devil (aka Lucifer XIV) sends his minions to claim sinners. The movie, however, presents this in a positive way as the Devil seems to have a liking for greedy people. Putting this in the context of the film, which was released in the 1980s, this seems like an attempt at social commentary. There are implicit criticisms of the “higher” class (greedy, snobbish), the military (inept, venal), government (ditto), and even war (motivated by greed) in this film, and a sympathetic take on the plight of the working class. The Devil and his minions are portrayed as agents of social justice who punish those in power who use their influence to disenfranchise and abuse their fellowmen. Parang familiar ito ah…

Despite the clunky special effects (pasensyahan niyo na 1980s pa kasi) the film was an enjoyable experience. And, as all fairytales go, the guy got his girl, the poor became rich, and the Devil got his due.

This Better Be Good...

Heroes Season 4...Redemption...



So the formula for Redemption, from what I can see, is recycling some themes from the first season: Peter Petrelli working to save human lives in the allied medical services(he was a caregiver in season one) and Claire back in school and rehashing the "caught-between-two-worlds-but-I-wanna-be-normal" storyline and getting a new confidante (Season 1: gay; Season 2: lesbian?!)in college. But I'm guessing there will be some surprises for us along the way...The new villain, Samuel, looks a bit like Little Nicky's evil brother. Schnapps, anyone?

Heroes, for me, lost its way during the 3rd Season - buckling under the weight of some overwrought storylines, and finding some difficulty on which stories to focus on. Plus, there's the disappearing then suddenly reappearing characters.

Season One is the best of the series. Here's hoping Heroes can redeem itself this season...

The Sun Still Shines

After two weeks of incessant rains and overcast clouds, I could finally taste sunlight once again.

And so life here at peyups seem to be returning to its normal routine. I am now back haunting the shelves of the main library tracking down books for my 208 paper. The 204 paper is still in the works, but I'm confident that I will be able to finish it this month.

It took me two weeks to shake off the lingering lethargy from my recent vacation...heh.

WTF? Weird Sex Questions...

WARNING: suggestive and explicit content featured...

Just stumbled on this site featuring the weirdest questions on sex which were posted on Yahoo Answers, believe it or not...

click here to read. I think I understand the meaning behind question #2 but I won't share it with you perverts. Ha!

At May Sequel Na!

Just watched [Rec] with Pebi at Edsa Shangri-la Plaza, and it was one hell of a blast.



Just replace "Mierda!" with "Putang-ina, ano yon?!" and you'll have an idea of the reaction of the audience at Cine Europa.

The storyline reminded me of the Left for Dead game. The final "boss" in the movie looked like the Witch in L4D. And the people becoming "infected" and not "zombified" is just what the L4D Infected were. The upcoming sequel to this horror film just might confirm the relationship between the movie and the game...



Manu is back! and so is Jennifer! And was that a Boomer spewing blood? Wait a minute, where the f*ck is Angela? Donde esta, Angela? Donde?!

Die Welle

Just got back from Cine Europa at Edsa Shangri-la Plaza. I watched the German film "Die Welle" or "The Wave"



A charismatic high school teacher introduces a novel project to make his students understand the concept of an autocracy. One week later, one kid gets shot, another blows his brains out, and the teacher goes to jail...

One observation: the "Wave" salute featured in this film is oddly similar to the "Oishi" hand motion as seen in the commercials, had it been done closer to the chin. wala lang...

Bukas, Spanish horror film with Pebi. The nightowl meets the slacker...hehe

Trimming The Fat

editing...
copy reading...
rewriting...
copy/pasting...
deleting...
reconsidering...
un-deleting...
oh, wait...
deleting...
staring...
pondering...
head scratching...
sighing...
web browsing...

paper's doing fine.

Pushing Daisies

Still finishing the 208 paper. This week i'll be done. I hope. Here's my new distraction this week...



the chair...it moved! it MOVED! hahaha

Terminatrix Blues

Ang Kasiyahan ko ay nasa ulan...halina't ibuhos ang lungkot at karimlan...ako'y masaya't nakaantabay sa kadiliman at ulan...

Ayus.

You Are What You Read

I'm still not finished with Lovecraft's Necronomicon but I find myself saddled with a number of additional books. Sale kasi sa Powerbooks so I just couldn't help myself...

A few days ago I bought Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage and H. G. Well's The Time Machine. At 50% discount these were amazing finds. A weird scene unfolded when I was about to cash in my loot at the cash register: while I was gleefully handing in part of my allowance money for classic books devalued at half-price since apparently no one wants to buy them, the teenaged girl behind me was happily clutching a special edition Twilight book -- the one in the metal case that looks like a miniature version of lunchboxes we had in grade school. Oh, the irony...

Just today I bought America (the Book) by the writers of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I'm technically reading three books simultaneously.

"Dyinggel" Factor

I believe I have found a new personal standard for rating films -- the "dyinggel" factor. Movies that make me want to hold the urge to urinate until the almost inevitable moment rank high, while those movies in which I just take a leak at the slightest stirrings of my easily excitable bladder would be lower rated.

So far the films I have seen in the past few weeks have been highly rated by my bladder. In "District 9", I was able to abstain from peeing until the end credits. "Bruno" elicited the same reaction despite having drunk a large-sized iced tea drink. Another factor may have been the fact that the movie had been shortened by (very) apparent edits which eliminated entire scenes. F*king censorship sucks!

And though I very much wanted to bestow the same "non-peeing during the entirety of the film" honor on "Kimi Dora", the iced tea I consumed earlier while watching Bruno finally sounded its clarion call in my nether regions. Good thing it was almost toward the end. Eugene Domingo does a masterful comedic performance, and the movie itself stands as one of the better comedy films of this year -- featuring Miriam Quiambao in a masochistic role, a cockroach killing maid with an indestructible face, Dingdong Dantes acting geeky, a vomit-eating askal, weird-looking special effects, a farmer with incredibly fine skin texture, a hilarious and creative use of rifle laser sights, and the most good-looking catering service ever.

Prince...Yebah!

I've been looping Prince's "Gold" on my media player for days now. Prince holds the distinction of having penned and sung songs that alternately make you want to hit him in the face or induce such an experience that would make you go down on your knees to worship him.

The guitar solo in "Gold" is a killer. My personal definition of a good guitar solo is if it evokes the image of the entire song - nay, the universe even - in the throes of an intense, mind-blowing orgasm. At almost 8 minutes, the song delivers the goods and the guitar solo is one serious mindfuck. Really. Sayang lang at walang video ng Gold sa youtube...

Here's the once unnamed one giving us a taste of his mean axe-handling. Prince appears at the second half of the song but effectively steals the scene from the old fellows and the guy who looks like the vocalist of Suede. My, that red hat...

I Want My True Blood!

And i want it now! bought a 2nd season DVD but it wouldn't freaking play on the laptop. Now I'm just sating my thirst (pun intended) for True Blood by viewing the online clips...but I can't find complete episodes online...damn that copyright, I want my True Blood now!

Hypochondria by proxy

Other people continually worrying about your state of health...doctors should come up with a term for a condition wherein the worrying becomes an obssession...ano ba yan?!

Breaking News!

Saw the news at the Shopping Center while waiting for some photocopied materials. I just couldn't help myself, so here goes...

MAR ROXAS COMES OUT! -- Mar Roxas is out of the presidential race, giving way to Senator Noynoy Aquino.

MAR ROXAS BUMIGAY! -- Mar Roxas gives way to Noynoy Aquino in the upcoming presidential race...

MAR ROXAS UMAMIN NA! -- na siya ay hindi tatakbo bilang presidente. Siya ngayon ang magiging running-mate ni Noynoy Aquino

The Professional Heckler does a much better job, so here's his blog.

All Hail Cthulhu!

Bought a collection of the classic horror stories written by H.P. Lovecraft last Sunday at Bestsellers in SM North. I have been eyeing the "Necronomicon" a few months ago but only recently have I gained the opportunity (read: MONEY) to purchase it. I was originally going for Frank Herbert's "Dune" pero walang akong nakita so instead of classic scifi, classic horror tayo!

The saleslady at Bestsellers remarked that the horror genre is hit with kids nowadays. Lalung-lalo na yung vampires, raw...

Vampires? Twilight?

*snort of derision*

You haven't seen (or read) true horror if you haven't read Lovecraft!

Tonight, the dead shall rise from their graves and torment the living

Unspeakable horrors shall emerge from the dark shadows of forgotten catacombs

Empty cities shall ring with the cries of lost civilizations

The Old Ones slumber beneath the cold deep...

Cthulhu shall rise again!

*cue maniacal laughter*

This is gonna be fun...

Long Delayed Updates

Hello to everyone who still have the patience to keep up with this blog. My apologies for the long intervals between posts -- it seems I am growing jaded to this adventure here in Manila and only a few instances of wonder (or weirdness) finds its way to this blog.

I'm still getting my bearings with my life here in Manila after having been away for a few days. The past week has been a blur, full of activity and excitement. One moment I'm in the sandy shores of Boracay, the next I'm weaving my way through traffic in Makati, spending one night in a cheap-ass hotel with the Browns. The past few days were hectic and fun...and I'm still recovering. hehehe