"The Velvety Ones"

I discovered this Latin American band a long time ago, searching for songs for my Span 10 class. Never got around to featuring them here, thus:

One of the first latin rock bands in Colombia, Los Aterciopelados is one of the Latin American country's top groups. The recipients of Grammy award nominations in 1997 and 1998, the band has fused its own sound by combining a rock-solid approach with a variety of Latin American musical traditions including mariachi, bolero, tropical and flamenco. The last two studio albums, Caribe Atomico and Gozo Poderoso have a definite hip-hop feel to them, whereas earlier albums were influenced more by hard rock and punk. from www.rockero.com

Sampling their songs, I immediately fell in love with the whimsical, fanciful, and slighty-bangag musical creations. Reminds me somewhat of Moonpools and Caterpillars or Belly...



Apparently Youtube now is concerned with copyright issues and has disabled embedding for videos featuring copyrighted content. But I still managed to grab ahold of these...



Live Performance of "Mujer Gala" (fine/elegant woman). Cute ng vocalist. hahaha



Thanks to 6 units of Spanish, I can now understand about 50% of whatever Spanish text I'm reading. I'm still having a hard time translating song lyrics as I hear them, even spoken Spanish, as Spanish-speakers generally talk like machine guns -- ratatatatatat! hehe

BTW, I'm surviving in my Span 11. The final exam's coming in two weeks...buena suerte a mi...

Repaso un leccion en verbos preterito perfecto simple para el examen corto a la mañana (Ditch-style Spanish grammar exercise)

JODER

Yo jodi

Tu jodiste

El/Ella jodio

Nosotros jodimos

Vosotros jodisteis

Ellos/Ellas jodieron

CAGAR

Yo cage

Tu cagaste

El/Ella cago

Nosotros cagamos

Vosotros cagasteis

Ellos/Ella cagaron

Por que no hay acento en las palabras? Como mi pasado articulo ha dicho -- jode el acento!

Que He Compro?

Yo he compro pocas cosas hoy. Una cosa es un libro como Edad Media en Europa. El libro es pequeño pero tiene muchos informacciones y mapas que muy importante especialmente para maestros de historia en sus clases y discussiones. Cuanto cuesta es el libro? cincuenta pesos! Fenomenal!

Otras cosas he compro son para mi prima Pebi. Dos DVD de las peliculas favoritos de mi prima. Una pelicula titulo de "Be Kind Rewind" dirigido por Michel Gondry. Otra pelicula titulo de "Sweetie" dirigido por Jane Campion. Estos dos directores son famosos y tienen muchos elogios de los criticos de peliculas. Los he compro para mi prima porque el semana que vieñe es su cumpleaños. Estos sera regalos muy buenos para Pebi.

No sweat Spanish. Hope it's grammatically-correct though. Anyway - Pebs! malapit nang mapasaiyo ang mga pinagnanasaan mong mga DVDs. Teka lang hanap pa ako ng cute na ribbon. hehehe

Walang Sugat!

Just got back from watching "Walang Sugat" at the UP Theater. Severino Reyes' sarswela, originally staged in 1902, still strikes a chord in the hearts of Filipinos. The challenge for the modern-day retellers of this classic sarswela is how to make the tale relevant to today's audience - which in tonight's case, consisted of a horde of coñotics from the other school that has the letters U and P in its acronym (add na lang kayo ng vowel hehehe)

What made the "historical gap" obvious (at least for me) is the montage of Philippine Revolution pictures which were projected on stage. This in my view was an attempt to cue the audience to the atmosphere of the times when the sarswela was first staged: the Americans were already victorious over the Filipino fighters and were only dealing with the last few vestiges of dissent; the Filipinos, ingenious as ever, shifted the battleground to the stage - employing sarswelas as instruments of protest and continuing dissent. Though the tale centered on a romance and the challenges that confronted the two lovers, the playwright weaved in themes of patriotism, sacrifice and love of country - ideals that were being suppressed by the Kanos during the early 1900 (Flag Law? Sedition Law? Reconcentration? ring any bells?)

Here are my thoughts on the sarswela:

1. Ever since the old days, hit na hit talaga ang loveteam sa mga Pinoy. There were THREE love teams in this sarswela. Love story nga naman oo...

2. I believe that the customary duet between the magsing-irog is a sublime means of alluding to lovemaking, or at the very least, making out. Ngayon all out na...

3. The ending (to which the title alludes to) is a classic plot twist. Despite the programme containing "spoilers", some people of the audience still registered surprise at the twist. I was chuckling at how the actors were giving us cues to the farce, especially the soldiers and the medic.

4. I could just imagine sitting in the audience during 1902 and the Philippine Flag was brought out at the finale...I'm sure people got arrested during those days for displaying the flag, and even applauding it - though I'm not too sure if the Philippine Flag was indeed displayed during the original run. If it were displayed, it would have been a theatrical equivalent to "flipping the bird" at the Yankees. haha in your face! motherf*ckers! a sus caras! hijo de putas!

5. In fairness, the horde from U(vowel)P was well-behaved throughout the sarswela. Pero isang tingin mo lang, alam mo na kaagad na hindi sila taga-UP. Kaya nga may vowel between the U And P eh! ano ba...

6. ang kalaban ng teatro ngayon is interference hehehe

7. Insane movie pitch: let's make a Pinoy version of "Shakespeare in Love". This time the movie will be about the "protest playwrights" and how they managed to stage their plays despite the strict laws during the early 1900s. One scene features a Filipino "informant" leading the authorities to a supposed staging area of a sarswela only to be led to a burlesque show, attended by US soldiers and some dignitaries. Americans turn around to flay the Indio, but the wily Pinoy has evaporated into thin air hahaha naisahan kayo!

8. Now I have to translate all this to español as we are required to submit a reaction paper a clase de Español 11.

Oh, BTW...

Ibon man may layang lumipaaaaaad

kulungin mo at umiiyak...

Remembrance of Things Past

Eto dagdag sa post on F*cking Amazing Songs. Ngayon lang ako nakaalala ng isang OPM song na makapanindig-balahibo ang vocals.

"FIVE YEARS" by SUGAR HICCUP



The song reminded me of my High School days. Second year yata ako nang sumikat ang bandang ito. Uso pa yung bandang galing sa mga universities in Manila. UP had Eraserheads, Sugar Hiccup was from UST. Taga-Ateneo ba (o may Atenista) ba sa Parokya ni Edgar? hehe di ako sigurado eh.

BTW, mas malala pa ang bandang ito kesa kay Tori Amos. This band sang in gibberish for crying out loud. Pero maganda pa rin...

The video, meanwhile, reminded me of the MMORPG I got hooked on during my post-collegiate, early teaching days. Imagine, after MA classes in UNO-R sumasakay pa ako ng Shopping-Libertad jeep para makagaming lang sa La Salle Avenue. Now, that's addiction - este - dedication pala...

Por supuesto, estoy un Dark Wizard en el juego. tengo un blindaje de color azul como que ves en la video. No recuerdo mi level pero estas muy alto porque tengo las alas del angeles. And now I'm trying to relive those days with Cabal. Osmium armor na ang wizard ko. hehe

Must Be The Weather...

It's been a few days since I returned and I feel that I have yet to reaccustom myself to the peculiarly cold weather here in Manila.

The rain that poured yesterday made things much worse for me. I had a pounding headache yesterday after doing my grocery shopping and I was generally lethargic -- the cold weather does make warm-blooded mammals slow down a bit in order to conserve energy and heat. Simply put, nakakatamad talaga kung maginaw...brrrrr

Thus this morning I missed my Span 11 class. I set my cell phone to go off at 9:30 am but when I woke up, it was 11:00! Holy Syet!

And since I'm a warm-blooded mammal...nagpadaig na rin ako sa katamaran and decided not to attend class. Puro na lang past tense and no lo he recibido... pwes aun no lo he comido...at di pa ako naliligo...hehe

I imagine Prof asking me:

Por que no has asistido a clase?

Sagot ko naman:

No me he levantado temprano porque me duele la cabeza y estoy muy cansado...

Take that, Romanillos! wahahahaha!

To make up for my intransigence, I condemned myself to spend the entire afternoon in the main lib going over my readings. So from 1 pm to 6 pm nandoon ako sa lib, binabasa si Majul. In fairness, naka 200 pages ako atsaka andami kong notes hehehe

May hang-over pa yata ako sa bakasyon...

You're both Finished!

hay salamat at natapos na yung report ko on Otis and Schurman para sa Kas 208 ni Ma'am Camagay. It was postponed last week so this was a long overdue project. Whew!

Isa lang comment ko kay Ma'am: suabe...hehehe. I'm beginning to see why despite the workload, those who took up Ma'am's classes still enjoyed it.

At umulan ng Nagaraya sa UP Press...hahahahahaha

OK din yung examen corto namin sa Span 11. Las preguntas y los ejercicios estan muy facil. wahahahaha tingnan lang natin sa Biyernes kung ano ang score natin....

I was already dizzy with hunger by the time we were dismissed at around 7 PM. At the Coop Canteen, I sat across a kind old lady who suddenly engaged me in conversation. She knew a bit of Ilonggo and she was asking me about my course and whatnot...

Turns out she's an Adventist and was teaching in a university in Tagaytay. She asked me if I am familiar with Adventists and I said yes, because there is an Adventist school in Bacolod.

I didn't tell her that I also knew an Adventist but he's the atypical, "deviant" sort. Doesn't worship on Saturdays and spends much of his time, uh....fornicating. hehehe

Basta, tomorrow will be a "break day" for me! Kalimutan muna natin ang pag-aaral!

La Casa Ha Caido

...y con los politicos malos de Thailand.

Syet! The Thais are beating us at our own game! At tayo ang original people power people! [syet! at may alliteration pa!]

Now, La Bruja Loca (aka MaDame Senator hahaha)is talking about una revoluccion Filipina against La Pequeña Demonyita?

WTF? from nauna to gaya-gaya?

WOOOOOOW NAMAN AMF! hahahaha

O siya, review muna ako Spanish porque me hace una examen a la mañana. quiereme buena suerte por favor...Gracias!

Te Quiero...

if we will be required to present a song in Span 11. Eto yung ipepresent ko. wahahahaha

"Te Quiero Puta" by Rammstein



Ano kaya magiging reaction ni Sir?

Quotable Quotes (?)

My Anthro Prof -- while he was introducing himself to the class and describing his academic background and interests:

"My MA Thesis was on the communist movement in the Cordillera region. I did 5 years of participant observation and research: four years with the communist movement, one year in jail."

My Span Prof -- he was letting us practice the jota sound, which is a 'nasty,' throaty sound (like clearing one's throat of phlegm) Span prof approached a classmate, who was clearly a member of El Federacion, and told him to demonstrate the sound for us, saying:

"Etong isang 'to...siguradong gamit na ang lalamunan nito..."

Span prof often would spew out some crude, but cute, jokes. He always has a caveat whenever he lets loose a few of his double entendres:

"Wholesome tayo...wholesome tayo..."

Coming from a guy who seem to be fixated with the word puerta...

Something that my former Kas Prof talked about in class actually helped me in my Span class. I was the only one who was able to answer the question: Donde esta en España La Nuestra Señora de la Macarena?

Buti na lang kinuwento ni Prof yung bakasyon niya sa Espanya...hehehe

Ginadumtan...parte dos

Ari pa gid isa gali...saw it a few weeks ago at Powerbooks Trinoma. I always leave bookstores with either a feeling of exhiliration or regret.

The Collected Plays of Euripides. I can't recall the exact title but it's a collection of the surviving tragedies written by Euripides. I am so looking forward to reading them again, especially Trojan Women - which in my opinion is the most tragic of all tragedies. If Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus is the "perfect" tragedy, then Trojan Women is the "tragic" tragedy. I remember reading it years ago...the raw emotions evoked by the play left me reeling. Basta, bumilib ako kay Euripides after reading Trojan Women.

But the book price was way beyond my capabiliy at this moment. It's the Moses Hadas translation so I know maganda ang pagkakatranslate nito.

I am dying to get my hands on this one since it would complete my collection of Greek dramatists. Aeschylus - present...Sophocles - present...Aristophanes - check...si Euripides na lang ang kulang.

Kung hahayaan ko lang ang sarili ko na bumili nang bumili nang libro baka mamatay ako sa gutom. hahahaha

Translating Pebi's maxim into la lengua española - "comprar un libro es mas importante que comer"...in short, libro muna bago lamon Ayos!

Volvere a mi Profesora

I'm stuck at the boarding house due to the weather. Nothing to do but surf the net and read. Good thing that I checked out the CRS to see updates on my preenlistment. Last night when I checked it out, there were only a few Spanish courses available for preenlistment. This morning, however, a number of elementary courses were available and it's a good thing that there were a few Span 11 classes open.

Of course I had to enlist in a class of my former Span 10 prof. Now I'm hoping that the new 'ranking system' of the CRS would work to my advantage. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my selected classes will be approved...

I'm not too worried about the MA courses since hindi naman yan pinag-aagawan eh. I decided to take a cognate course in anthropology so let's see how this turns out next sem...

Confessional Blues

Ditch: Bless me Father for I have sinned. it has been nnnn since my last confession

Padre Salvi: Si hijo, tell me your sins...

Ditch: Father I made an oath that I cannot uphold

Padre Salvi: And what is that oath?

Ditch: Manonood po ako ng The Dark Knight this Sunday

Padre Salvi: at ano naman ang rason kung bakit hindi mo matutupad ang iyong panata?

Ditch: Lawig nga isturya Father matak-an ka lang...but if you want a one-word summary - ECONOMICS.

Padre Salvi: Sige, wala kaso. Here is your penance...

*Ditch awaits with bated breath the penance to be imposed*

Padre Salvi: Your penance will be to read 400 pages of Pearl Harbor as History, edited by Dorothy Borg and Shumpei Okamoto.

Ditch: QUE?! esta no hay derecho Padre! No tienes razon!

Padre Salvi: No, tengo razon. leed cuatro cientos pahinas del libro...

Ditch: Por que, Padre? POR QUEEEEEE?! huhuhu

Padre Salvi: Pramis pramis ka dasun indi mo man gale mahimo...gago ka pala eh...

Ditch: Ari na gani Father ginasuguran na basa...hay naku!

El Dia...Parte Dos

where was I? Oh, yes...

Having sated our artistic curiosity with the tour of the galleries, it was time to turn our attention to the symposium. Kaya nga pumunta kami dun eh. When the participants returned after the museum tour, the open forum was begun wherein the various assembled participants could ask questions to the panel of experts assembled.

Checking the contents of our handouts, I was able to review the topics discussed in the previous lectures. The first was given by a lady Spanish scholar who endeavors to reconcile the various foreign views regarding the Philippines during Spanish colonial times. This was, from what I could gather from the summary of her presentation, an attempt to reconcile both the Filipino and Spanish viewpoints with regard to our history -- to give an "internationalist" scope in presenting the history of colonial Philippines. There was some discussion regarding the impression of Spanish times as "bad" and "abusive" times but what was stressed is the cooperative effort in figuring out this important period in our history. How this can be done without eliciting an emotional reaction or response, especially from the Filipinos, I do not know...

Another lecture was about the works of a Spanish writer by the name of del Pan. The gentleman who gave the lecture on the topic was not pelted by too much questions. But looking at the bibliography of sources appended to the lecture summary I was impressed at the sheer number of works cited. So this is what it means to make a dissertation...hmmmmmm...

After having dispensed with the academic banter, it was now time for the book raffle. YAY! Earlier, when one of the panelists was engaged in a rambling lecture, Eli and I decided to loiter at the corridor and take a look at the books displayed at the entrance. They were book spublishde by the NHI and I saw some very interesting titles: a Frenchman's account of 19th century Philippines, a collection of works by Lopez-Jaena, and a Biography of Apolinario Mabini written by Prof. Cesar Majul.

Eleazar, on the other hand, was busy pestering the attendant. Fortunately, the lady seated at the display table was a good-humored person and was game to our antics. Eleazar was quite the goofball and charmer haha matinik si Eli sa chicks...

After a few minutes of nonsensical banter at the book display, we seated ourselves at our tables since it was time for one of the most awaited events...

THE BOOK RAFFLE! I was quietly hoping to get the French account of 19th c. Philippines. Though the books were priced at a bargain, it wouldn't hurt to get a freebie...

Malas namin, walang nanalo sa amin hahahaha the numbers kept avoiding us. The emcee would call out various combinations of numbers but never our ticket numbers.

The brief interlude before the dinner marked an opportunity for the guests to make their way to the book display and make their purchase. When I made my way to where the crowd was, I discovered to my dismay that the French guy's account was already gone -- nawala ang lahat ng kopya na parang bula! Luckily, there was a lone copy of Mabini left and this I swiped off the table with greedy hands, together with Lopez-Jaena. Waldas Index strikes again hehe

DINNER TIME! the first time we lined up at the buffet table was a fluke...turned out the invited singers were given the time to have dinner prior to their performace. A night of Spanish songs was scheduled after dinner and surely the assembled chanteurs need their calories hehe After the singers have partaken of the food, it was a wild dash to the buffet table. The food was muy bueno y delicioso. My fave were the macaroons hahaha Nakadalawang balik ako ng dessert stand. Not surprisingly, Eli was chatting up the pretty caterers...para madagdagan ang servings niya, no doubt...

DINNER CONVERSATION CLASSIFIED -- basta it has something to do with verduras y montañas...and a telephone's dial tone. hehehe

I did not stick around for the singing, unfortunately. Another group of MA students invited me to join their group as they will be returning to UP after dinner. Since Eli has other plans (which will remain classified) I took my leave of the boys and escorted the ladies as we went outside in search of transportation. The original plan was for the four of us (me, Ate Lualhati, Ma'am Cecile, lady-with-no-name) to take a taxi. It was decided to take a jeep instead since there were few available taxis in the area.

THE TRIP BACK TO QUEZON CITY TOOK MORE THAN AN HOUR! SH*T! sumakit ang pwet ko sa tagal ng upo sa jeep. The traffic was a terrible way to end the day. But nevertheless, the events during Fil-Spanish friendship day were quite interesting and informative. Plus, I have two new books to add to my collection.

Now, to lobby Prof Llanes to give us participants incentives...por favor, Señor Llanes!

El Dia Filipino-Español con Compañeros en El Museo Nacional - Parte Uno

since today is Filipino-Spanish Friendship Day, I thought I'd put in the title in Spanish.

'langhiya nung Independence Day late yung Independence Day post...ni wala ngang post on Rizal Day hahaha the reason for this is that today was full of "happenings" na di pwedeng palampasin na hindi malagay sa blog...

I was at first ambivalent about attending the symposium at the National Museum since the location is soooooo muy lejos! But since we were invited by Prof Llanes at nagyaya na rin si Eleazar I guess I better take the opportunity since this would be the first time I'd step into the National Museum.

Turned out both Eli and I were like lost strangers sa kalakhang Maynila. It took us a few minutes to get our bearings and decide on the best route and jeepney to take us to the National Museum. The symposium was a whole day event but I had to wait for Eli since he had classes until 1 PM. Nagyosi na lang ang kawawang bata sa labas ng library para mawala ang gutom.

Back to our trip to the National Museum...it was a long jeepney ride and during the ride we fell into talking about the assigned research topics in our Kas 110 class. Eli was still undecided about which topic to write about -- he was thinking about doing a local history paper about Krus na Ligas. Our brainstorming turned to other matters and that was when I realized that long haired, hippie Eli was pretty much a bookworm like me. Turns out we both knew George Orwell -- I have read Animal Farm while Eli's read 1984. Thus we agreed on a book swapping of sorts -- I will lend him Animal Farm while he lends me 1984.

After about 40 minutes, we finally reached our destination. The Pambansang Museum used to be the old Legislative building--but that was not the place where the symposium will be held. Turns out it was the other National Museum building across the street. Thus Eli and I braved the treacherous avenue filled with cars, buses and ten-wheeler trucks to reach our destination. It was already 3 PM.

The first person that I met at the entrance to the conference hall where the symposium was held was none other than my profesora en español diez Maria Luna. So it was buenas tardes Maria, como estas?, estoy bien! por que estas aqui? para una clase del Profesor Llanes...it was a moment to exercise my insufficient Spanish pero since nagkaintindihan kami ni Ma'am medyo OK na rin hahaha. Our meeting was a bit ironic given today was a day for a meeting of Filipino-Spanish culture and history.

Since 3 PM na kami nakarating we were unable to hear the scheduled lectures. The conference hall was empty since the participants were on a tour of the museum premises. Hindi na kami humabol. What Eli and I did was we held our own tour of the nearby galleries featuring Filipino artists and Japanese photographers. We were joined by three other classmates in our Kas 110.

Viewing the various works of art displayed was a wonderful experience. To summarize: Pinoy artists -- supeeeeer talented! As in! my most favorite work was one entitled "Basta Driver, Sweet Lover" which is an artwork made using ballpen on cloth. the whole 3x6 canvas was covered with a complicated, intricate art design echoing Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel works or the Grecian frieze artworks. Second fave was a picture of a full sized man lifting a canvas -- kung titingnan mo sa malayo akala mo may taong kumakabit ng painting sa sulok. Astig talaga ang mga Pinoy! Hanep!

On the other hand, the Japanese photographers are weeeeeeeird! the most provocative work in my opinion was a set of pictures made by a photographer who shot exterior shots of buildings through the windows of a MENTAL INSTITUTION. It was, according to the photographer, an attempt to capture the perspective of the people locked in the mental institute. The pictures where then transferred on cloth/canvas and stretched over boxes which were then illuminated from the inside. Para siyang installation art and the effect of the images on cloth and with the lighting made it even more eerie. Kaya nga eh -- weird ang mga Japanese. Period.

Then we went into another gallery showcasing indigenous clothing. Some of which I believe are more than a hundred years old since the info on the display panels said that some of the articles of native clothing were displayed in the St. Louis Expedition held in 1904.

After a few moments of strolling around we finally made our way back to the conference hall. We were motivated to stay because of the free snacks, dinner and a book raffle. All of which I will blog about next time hehe

Mierda! Que Se Joda!

por que no puedo entrar una clase en español? POR QUE?! unas clases estan cerrados. esas clases abiertos no puedo porque hay muchos conflictos con mis otros cursos. Que horror!

Mierda! Leche! Puñeta! Que se joda!

no quiero tomar una clase en español para este semestre! Bahala na. I'll make do with my fractured Spanish for now. I'll have a talk with the department chair about this travesty very soon...Grrrrrrrr

I'll miss Ma'am Luna...huhuhu

Leave Sinead Alone!

Daw obvious man nga wala ko masyado himuon diri sa boarding house except surf the internet for hours. hehehe my previous posts have featured several vids from my suki Youtube. I stumbled across these and I just can't help but blog about this.

As I revealed during an earlier post, one of my pet peeves is if musicians try to rip off songs that I like, mangling the classic tunes in the process. Whatever happened to originality -- or at least innovation?

Note to musicians who want to make covers of other people's songs: make sure you understand the subtext or "meaning" of the songs, especially if you're ripping off songs whose lyrics are supposed to mean something, whose music, and the artist's singing were supposed to evoke a certain feeling.

It's not enough that you liked the song therefore you're entitled to a remake. Remember that you're musical artists and if you wish to build upon a work of another, make sure that your work either surpasses or at least comes to equal that of the original...

In short, nugay kamo kopya kung indi nyo man lang mapanindugan ang kanta nga original. Mga bwiset kamo!

Leave "Nothing Compares to You" Alone!

Leave Sinead O'Connor in Peace you Bastards! grrrrrr....

First in line for the firing squad is Stereophonics. Medyo pasado na sana but the style of singing, given Kelly Jone's raspy voice is not suited for the rendition. Stereophonics shouldn't have touched this song...Nice try, pero es peor!



Ari ang sadya, Fall Out Boy's performance during one of their concerts. Pasintabi sa mga fans sang Fall Out Boy pero I feel like killing them when I heard the first few seconds of their rendition. Ano ka, feeling Billy Joel or Elton John? Your vocal calisthenics are merely for show and are too distracting. A shameful, amateurish attempt...good thing you didn't try to sing the WHOLE song. Su version es El Peor!



Practice pa kamo mga toto because if you think you've done something original or very fantastic, chances are there were older bands who did it earlier and way better than you. In fairness I'll just condemn you for this rendition as I have yet to listen to your tunes, tiempohan ko gid kamo beh...

Niki Evans: good voice, but lacks the subtlety of the original, every note feels like a punch -- walang finesse. the way she drags out some of the notes was a bit irritating, and the backing vocals sound creepy.



ari ang original para makit-an nyo kung nga-a ginhigh-blood ko tungang gab-i.



May Spanish subtitles pa na hehehe

Now THIS is a classic. May ma-angal?

Canciones por Mujeres Muy Lindas

1. "Jackie's Strength" by Tori Amos



2. "A Simple Kind of Life" by No Doubt



3. "No Man's Woman" by Sinead O'Connor



que piensas como unas canciones?

Sin Noticias de Ditch...Pero Hoy...

the title of this post is a rip-off from a Spanish film that made me see Penelope Cruz in a different light hahaha.

I wasn't able to gain access to the internet during the last few days of my vacation in Bacolod so this post is now being written at the boarding house -- where one of the (paid) perks is unlimited internet access...bwahahahaha

So before my early-onset Alzheimer's kicks in once again, allow me to recapture some of the memories of vacation in this second-to-the last part of the 'Noticias/Mga Nakaw Na Sandali" series...

Yearbook 2007

Finally! the masterpiece of UNO-R HS batch 2007 is just a few months away from being released come Sembreak 2008. The long delay from last year's sembreak when Lelis and I finally completed the yearbook (dummy-form) was due to the very hectic schedules of Sir Harry, to whom the task of final approval was assigned, and Mrs. Song (final text corrections naman ni kay Ms Alon). Thus, the final submission of the yearbook to Alpha kept getting postponed. It was only when I arrived that Sir Harry had enough of a break so that both of us could finally deliver the final, approved blueprint of the Yearbook to the prnting company.

When we finally delivered the blueprints to Alpha, the staff informed me about a complaint that was brought to their attention regarding the Yearbook. I won't delve much into details since I already addressed this issue in a very LONG friendster bulletin but suffice to say that the concerns aired were unfounded and though initially I was irritated by the news, we finally laughed it off as a misunderstanding which was unduly complicated by rumors and tsismis.

A great weight has been lifted from our shoulders (and minds) as Sir Harry and I finalized the details of the yearbook. Now, all that's left is to wait for a few months until the eventual release of Yearbook 2007. Lelis, the Yearbook EIC, herself is excited but we still have to iron out the details of our respective sembreak schedules so that we can be on hand to oversee the release of the Yearbook.

Initially, the Yearbook staff and I envisioned Yearbook 2007 as the first yearbook to be released within a year upon graduation. Since that goal was not met, consolation prize is that there is a great possibility that Yearbook 2007 will be relased earlier than Yearbook 2006. haha!

Though earlier I announced that the release of the yearbook will be on September 2008, a quick glance at last year's school calendar revealed that sembreak starts on October 2008...oh well, nothing another announcement can't fix. Basta Batch 2007, release of Yearbook will be during the Semestral Break. I will be confirming within the next few months if indeed it'll be September or October. Apologies for making you wait a bit longer but I promise that your yearbook is worth the wait...

Noticias (a.k.a Mga Nakaw Na Sandali)

hehehe had to come up with a "cute" title for these series of posts regarding the "happenings" here in Bacolod while yours truly is on vacation. I'm currently in Netopia in SM Bacolod renting a PC for 48 pesos an hour -- Mierda! That's why "nakaw na sandali" ang subtitle sang post nga ini hehehe
the phrase could mean two things: ako ang gapangawat tiempo o ako ang ginkawatan 48 pesos...

hinay aircon di SM Bacolod ah! hehehe

OK, updates, updates...

Arrival

My flight touched down at the new "Bacolod-Silay" Airport. Though I found the terminal small compared to the other terminals of international standards like in Manila and Cebu, I found the place adequate in its facilities and the location itself is indeed appropriate for an airport which I suppose in the near future could be upgraded for international service.

Upon exiting the terminal I was immediately assaulted by my nephew, Brian, screaming like it were the end of the world. My niece Irene, though initially aloof, began to warm up as we got to the car and during our dinner at Pala-pala, she was back to her normal self -- hyperactive like her brother. Mama and Nang Jenelyn were there as well but most of the time during the dinner I had to play referee to the extremely kinetic brother and sister tandem of Brian and Irene. Brian managed to lose his toy car in Pala-Pala -- accidentally dropping it into the artificial pond --and I had to play the role of grief counselor to the kid, who at first wouldn't stop crying but later calmed down well enough to occupy himself with other matters -- like testing the limits of the rotating Selecta signboard.

One interesting anecdote during my trip back to Bacolod was about my UP shirt. I wore one of the UP shirts that I bought on the day of my departure from Manila. It was a black shirt with the name and seal of UP printed on the upper left portion, small enough to remain inconspicuous to the casual observer I believe -- wrongly, it turned out. The first to notice my shirt was the taxi driver who took me to the airport. Though it wouldn't take him a lot of brain power to figure out that I came from UP since I hailed a taxi inside UP, the T-shirt I was wearing became corroborating evidence that I was a student of peyups. The taxi driver, after having received my affirmation that indeed I was studying at UP, went on a monologue about how smart and talented UP students are -- as in "alam mo, lahat diyan ng mga nag-aaral sa UP matatalino..." then mr. taxi driver then proceeded to the conclusion that I also was one of those "intellectually superior" specimens from UP. Then he commented on the way I spoke tagalog. Since early in our conversation (a taxi verion of "kwentong kutsero") I happened to mention that I was from Visayas -- Manong taxi driver was from Bohol -- he remarked that my tagalog had no "tono" unlike the other Ilonggos who were in Manila. So it is really a big deal for an Ilonggo to speak tagalog without the characteristic tono ala Miriam Defensor Santiago...hmmmmmmm

And confirming that my shirt wasn't as inconspicuous as I thought it would be, I was accosted by a security guard at the NAIA domestic terminal who had been eyeing me since I got my boarding pass. He was unusually courteous and accomodating and the reason for that was confirmed when he asked me, "estudyante po kayo sa UP, sir?" I had to suppress a smile when I answered him: "Opo..."

To which the guard said: "Matalino po pala kayo, sir..."

At that point I couldn't help but chuckle. It seems that UP still maintains a high standing in the eyes of the masses, which is a good thing.

I think I should've bought a shirt with bigger prints on them...hehehe

Haircut

Yes, people. After about ten months of boycotting the barbershops and hair salons my mother finally convinced me to get a haircut yesterday. The result of which was a not-so-astounding-or-amazing-make-over but still presentable, though. My hair is still long but I'm comfortable with the way it turned out. What was interesting about the experience was when the hairstylist started blowdrying my hair and it came out straight. I looked at myself on the mirror and nearly burst out laughing. So THAT'S how I look IF i had long, straight hair hahahahahaha

For a few hours, there was this nagging smell of toasted hair follicles hovering around me. A long bath and a few hours later, my hair was back to its old wavy self.

Lessons learned from the experience: always have an idea of how you want your hair to turn out. If possible, bring a picture of the hairstyle that you fancy. Second, I think I need to let my hair grow a bit longer so I could have several options regarding the hairstyles I want to have. The hairstylist remarked that she can't do much with my hair because "it wasn't long enough." OK, so i guess given that I just had my tresses shortened, I suppose that my next haircut would be about a year from now. I could just imagine how I'd look a year from now...

Laika y otras cosas

El nuevo perro en la casa se llama "Laika." No seguro como escribo se nombre pero mas prefiero. Laika es muy negra y muy loca, siempre corre todos los dias. Laika es muy amable y muy linda. me gusta muchisimo esta nuevo miembro mi familia. Realizo esta nombre "Laika" es de una telenovela sobre una mujer cambia al perro blanco.

No veo mucho telenovela hoy pero mucho veo documentarios en National Geographic y Discovery Channel. Me gusta mucho el serie como "Mythbusters."

Basta! No mas cosas para hablar pero otro tiempo estoy online doy mucho noticias sobre mi adventuras en la ciudad de sonreir. Adios!