Tuesday, October 31, 2006

i think, my brain is dead

or it has been that for a long time, i just did not know it. for the past 2 hours i was trying to write an article on paranormal occurrences but my dumb brain just would not cooperate. it's really dead! the article is due anytime today. great!

in fairness to my minute brain, im not that good in this particular topic. oh well, when did i become good on things? say, grammar, huh! spelling, never mind (if i were a score in this test, id be 10! 10 out of 100!!!) my job, oh ask my boss. if only i could use my bilbil to think, id probably have released a book by now.

anyway, im only rambling at this wee hour in the morning when im supposed to be resting my ass. it's as if im drunk, but im not. i just feel stupid for not coming up with an article, and for just being soo uncreative. so not like me.

by the way, i had my hair cut. new hairstyle is the same but a lot shorter that the one i used to sport. so there, ive said that and im out!

Friday, October 27, 2006

froggy night documented

there must be a thousand or so frogs hiding in the bushes just outside our house as their sounds are sooo deafening i cant sleep. this bushy area has already been trimmed, i was even wondering one time where did these frogs (and the snakes) go. and when it rained just a few days after the trimming, their presence were made known again by their "kokaks!!". they actually never left, and i love it!

anyway, this is, i think, one of the best documentaries ive ever seen:



Into the Arms of Strangers

It's a moving tale of 10,000 Jewish children/refugees who were shipped to England to be saved from Hitler's tyranny. The kids, now old (of course), themselves told their respective stories of how the events had changed their lives...

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

hilot

bisag kinsa, bisag asa, basta hilot nay hisgutan plastada jud dayun ko. mura'g adik na ko'g hilot (aka massage) halos kada adlaw magpahilot ko kay sakit man pirmi ako pako-pako. cge gud lupad-lupad. hehehe! right now, nanimaho kong aciete de manzanilla kay i just visited the manghihilot who is also a tempura/fish ball vendor didto sa poblacion. yeah, hes a guy pero kevs luyo ra bitaw and he looks nice man sad. now, im feelin good and greasy.
--

prior to my visit to the manghihilot, i went to my friend's house and saw before i reached the gate her 3-year-old boy. and he looked lonely, i learned later on he was sick. he never talked to anyone except me and only i until i brought up the topic about frogs, which are everywhere in our place (very noisy during the nights especially after the heavy rains). he was curious for a while and became silent again. so i brought him to the tempura station outside the subdivision, and there he ate a stick of tempura, and asked again for another one when we arrived back at their house, which is quite far from the tempura station. to make the long story short, we had to call for the tempura vendor (a new one this time coz the first one had already left) for this kid, and guess how many tempuras he consumed, countless! but hes sick so forgiven lang sa.

i also learned during my stay in this friend's house that her eldest, who just turned 5, has already broken up with her boyfriend Lander. hmmm...this boy is the same one who proposed to her last September. i failed to mention that here, but heres the story. last september, i went to this friend's other house (where she just abandoned two weeks ago) together with two of our friends. then her girl em-em approached me while we were eating and said: "ate magpakasal na biya ko." and all three of us were like "HOOWAAT?!!" i could not forget the shock of my other friend (the other one did not hear the news coz she was on the other end of the room). i wasnt that suprised coz ive already heard of her boyfriends in the past so if one has a bf it is just right that marriage comes after it.
then she told us about her boyfriend/classmate Lander who approached her while they were inside their classroom (k1) and spoke this line: "em, magpakasal na ta?" cutie!
the mom said this boy also told her he wanted to marry her daughter. hmmm...kamao! so i asked em-em if she accepted the proposal and she said: "yes! coz hes cute man pangag lang." toink! and the mom was like: "ang2x naman sad og bunalan na nako." she was really angry. haha!
however, yesterday when i asked em-em about her impending marriage she told me she broke up with her man, er, boy. and when i asked why, she just shrugged and said Lander had never talked to her for the past days. basin naay lain...haha! macrazy kooo...i still can remember when she was 6-month-old and would crawl in my bed while i watched mtv. now, it looks like she'll be getting married way ahead of me. waaaaah..

Sunday, October 22, 2006

today i buried my old and precious email addy and spent the entire day crying in El Salvador

Yes, thats right. im over with it, or im tryin to. yesterday, i asked a number of people (and some voluntered to help) on how i could reactivate my yahoo email address. not that i have been so crazy about it. it's just that, it has been somehow a part of my work and other things relavant to it. there was not a single day that i did not open it even if only jokaroo humors (and lately mails from my yahoo group--name withheld--i subscribed in) would greet me. that address had even more spams than real mails as i had it during the time when there was still no spam control, and when that pesticide of a thing came i was already used to deleting more than 100 spam mails a week. and besides i dont know how to block this type of mails. an IT grad/friend told me one of those mails might have caused the deactivatation of my account. i swear, i would never know coz Yahoo never notified me prior to the bullshit deactivation. it just happened. i know im not a computer genius, never since. yeah, i can always make another one, i just did, by the way. vatski54 (at)yahoo (dot) com, save that please, and send me something so i could start saving your addresses again. that and the loss of all my treasures have really pissed me off. i dont really know how to describe the feeling. but it's like losing something you dont know youve already lost, and you can never figure out for the life of the lifeless why it has been taken to you or at least see that "brighter side" of the sad story. this is just an electronic address, i know that. but it's my treasure trove of sort. i have saved all my stories there, and pictures and books and very old mails. but no more bullshit this time, it's useless. so i burried the past, and along with it are your addresses...busa pag-email namo nako woi kay haron back to normal na atong life.

"it's like i can't breathe" (kelly's) akong drama for the past three days. glad, our editor (for the metro page) suggested we go somewhere so we could plan for the improvement of our page. he said it just before the week ended and with text messages, a few calls, and a number of emails (my 2-month-old vatsi(at)gmail (dot)com addy was very handy during these times) all five of us who see each other very rarely had all agreed to the idea.

El Salvador, Danao

Over two hours away from Talisay City, several kilometers from Cebu City, and two inches of accumulated dust in mostly at the back of your right ear if you sit on the right side of the vehicle and open all doors to see the sight on the your way there, is the El Salvador. It's a resort that the facade reminds me of City Sports Club. And just like the latter, it also has swimming pools, and not like the latter it has a white sand beach complete with jet skis that i never got to ride because i was not in my swimming attire and besides i could not afford. it's really expensive! there were food of course. and we ate and talked. they talked about their families, problems included, while i continued with my task: devouring all the mangosteen in the table. well, from time to time i also offered some advices on their respective domestic woes and in fairness, they listened even if i look a woe personified. but hey, i can be a good advisor sometimes. just dont look at me when i talk. and to give them time to themselves, i excused myself when i saw a vacant lounge chair down the beach. and there i stayed and enjoyed watching a young lady talking to her old foreigner, who i never heard say a thing. so i shifted my attention to a cute baby walking around with her equally cute bikinis. everytime she passed by my territory she would stop and watch me. must be because of my big shades or she might have seen the little ants slowling gaining control of my refuge. i did not see the ants at first, but i already felt some stings. when i looked on my left, there! thousands of them queuing at the coconut tree, an inch's gap from my arm. run! the kid was gone, and i was back at our cottage. back to eating, and giving untested advices. believe it or not, they were all taken. so my stay was not all about food and cowardice versus microscopic enemies, there was some good to it, i just could not figure it out yet. but they sure were happy with my company they wanted to have a part two of that retreat next sunday. of course with me, and guess where we are doing it? at the casino!! hahaha! slot machines for 2 pesos, i want to try. and if i should try gambling, i should only bring 20 pesos as im planning to save up P50,000 for the next 6 months (for a business venture that sounds like a joke when discussed by one joker and one believer. hahaha!). i dont know how to do it. first, im not good at saving up. second, i have nothing to save. and, i cant rob a bank! but, i can keep a promise. pero try lang. P50K!?!?! slot machines, they say, can win you that much. hmmm...

so anyway, i lost my antique addy, got a relaxing day in El Salvador, and would like to win some instant cash for a joke business. who knows, people listen to me talk too, and jokes are half-meant. but the important thing is, i need to sleep now. gnyt!

Saturday, October 21, 2006

bullshit!!!!

i feel so bad, i want to kill!!! it is just so not fair. yesterday, i could not open my yahoo account (that liv_ffs@yahoo.com) and i was thinking it would be alright the next day as it already happened before and there was no damage done. and so just a few minutes ago, i tried again and there, i was notified that this address, the official one that i have been using since i was 2, HAS BEEN DEACTIVATED. Bullshitttt!!!! i did not deactivate if for hezbollah's sake. cripes!! i feel like i want to strangle someone. i dunno why it happened, i never gave anyone my password (never!). i did not delete it, why would i, it's my only connection to my relatives and some friends abroad. and now i lost it. damn it!!! i want it back, so if anyone of you down and up there can help me, please do so. pleasssssssssse...oh, im gonna cry now :( a very bad saturday morning. again, bullshit!!!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

i am happy now, very!


sus! i wish i knew this back in college. haha!

um, korek!!

etcetera pa! hahaha




HAHAHAHAAHAH

Sunday, October 15, 2006

WTC reviewed and fiesta ignored (updated)


WORLD TRADE CENTER (premiered here last night)

Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, and the papa Jay Hernandez

I was expecting to see a real action (and of course drama) while the authorities tried to evacuate the people from the twin tower. Sadly, these people just go on and about the place as if they don't know that a plane that hit the building they are in does not spell disaster yet. They just casually walk from all directions, while the police and the firefighters, all geared up, are on the other side of the picture not actually shooing these people out of the place that is already burning. And then boom! But too late to run now.

Sgt. John McLoughlin (Cage) and the rest of his five-member group are among those trapped in the building when it collapsed. They have not saved a single soul. It's like they came down to this place and be among the fatalities. Tsk tsk! Yeah, I understand it's about bravery and courage and service. But it would have been better if they included the other victims too. There were close to 3,000 people who died on this tragedy, and this film only shows us the three cops who are struggling for their survival (the other two just disappeared!). Jay dies here, sooo sad. But he is still cute even with that blood oozing from his mouth.

Anyway, don't be discouraged as this film still has drama in it. And some things you don't expect a big film, which is based on real events, will give a damn. My seatmate was so glad to see that part. Cheers to the faithful! Haha!

Some drama, some good. Worth going home very late.


---

FIESTA (Talisay City--my home)

I'm sitting in front of the pc right now hungry. Pista man unta and daghan food sa table but wa jud koy appetite, paet! Atimana Chamyto ra jud akong gilaklak ron, matay na'ng bitok nako ani. Ug dia pa, duty kuno ko ron, pista lagi. So at 1pm, i will be running to the next village to cover the Inasal Festival, a parade of lechon baboy that my beloved city is known for. Hot! And cold, I have here. But what can I do, trabahante lang ako. Sino'ng mapalad, sino ang tunay na baliw! Mao na ni resulta sa way kaon! But before I get there, let me tell you what's going on around my city of joy ;)

Down there in Poblacion, that's next to where i am, is the peryahan. That is where the bingo thing is. I love bingo, i played it with my friend twice this week even if we both did not know how it's actually played basta we just sat there and asked for a piece of chalk and gave some coins and voila nag-check-check na mi. Hehe! There's also this "color game," where you bet with at least a peso that can win you P16. It's not the win that's exciting, it's the ball (a soft rubber ball, no, not the basketball, basta easier to throw ra) that when it's thrown to the numbered holes people scream when it gets near to the number they are betting. I love to join the screaming too. Hehe! Never mind the loss, im not really good in gambling. The itsa-itsa. You only need several 25 cents and through them, one at a time kay magkatag jud, at those checkered board. When one hits inside a little square you get P1. Again, it's not the prize, it's the fun. Next to all these game booths are the "shooting ranges" with those little plastic soldiers, gone are the ducks i used to shoot when i was a little kid (i remember, when i was in Bogo town, 48 years ago and five years away from Talisay, I hit a match stick using that pellet gun. amazing! tsamba ra gud to!). This is not much fun anymore, but it's cheap. I think P2 will give you three shots. I'll check tonight when the crowd is not that suffocating.

On the other side of the peryahan is the horror train. Yeah, we have that there too. But i think it's stinky inside. I came to check on it last weekend and...hmmm...Okay, there's tonight. I just need some back up.

There are so many things going on in this place, there's some band competition at the sports complex and other events i am actually invited and never have the time to drop by coz im busy here. so i think i should move my ass now before it moves by itself. i will be right back for more news, definitely!

--

It rained during the night. Of all days!!! I pity the thousand of people (mostly youngsters) who went out to enjoy the fiesta. Before it rained, I was at the main thoroughfare too, with my friend. But we left when we saw that the crowd was just too thick for us to get through to wherever we wanted to go. So we just bought some few things: cool flip flops for P45 and some personal stuff. And just enjoyed the sights and the walk that was without a direction. And we went to another friend's house to sample her macaroni salad and breathe in as her place, contrary to the scenery outside, was so peaceful. She had no visitors actually. Haha! Well, it was her first fiesta in her new home so wala pa siya'y suki. After two bottles of coke and a crazy talk with this friend's 3-year-old boy about his fish that he fed with my coke, I went home to sleep. Then it rained. Tsk!

Friday, October 13, 2006

Music Meme and Scarlett's headphones



This is how it's done: Post your top 15 bands/artists, (1) the first song you heard of theirs, (2) the song that made you fall in
love, and (3) your current favorite. That is, if you want to do it.

(not in order)

1. Kelly Clarkson
A Moment Like This
Because of You
You Found Me/Thankful

2. Lisa Loeb
stay
stay
stay/I do

3.Spicegirls
Wannabe
Viva Forever
Goodbye

4.Michelle Branch
Everywhere
Game of Love
Are you Happy now?

5.NSync
I Drive Myself Crazy
God Must Have Spent (A Little More Time On You)
This I Promise You

6. Nina
Heaven
Jealous
Jealous

7.Britney Spears
Baby Hit Me One More Time
Sometimes
I Love Rock N Roll

8. Joe
No One Else Comes Close
No One Else Comes Close
No One Else Comes Close

9. Lea Salonga
A Whole New World
Journey
Reflections

10. Eraserheads
Magasin
Toyang
With A Smile

11. Janet Jackson
Again
Everytime
Everytime

12. 98 degrees
Invisible Man
Because of You
I do

13. Celine Dion
Beauty and the Beast
Falling into You
I’m Your Angel

14. Whitney Houston
I Will Always Love You
Heartbreak Hotel
When You Believe

15. Vertical Horizon
You’re a God
You’re a God
You’re a God

See, ive got bad taste. Now, it's time you show me yours too ;) I tag Wengkat, Clare and dude. Or YOU! Yeah, you!!!!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

delirious

im down with a cold. aaargh! well, almost. im trying to fight it with neozep (non-drowsy) so i could still go to work. now, im working and trying to kill myself. i just wish i would not get feverish while im at it, although, i think, im immune to that. never had that since grade school. shet! oh shet! get out of my system damn virus!!! i dont like you!!!

Sunday, October 08, 2006

for this weekend:

I went to the cinema to watch Scoop, and the rest were picked in Video City.



SCOOP

A student journalist (Scarlett Johansson) investigating a huge story that involves a rich man (Hugh Jackman), who is alleged (by a ghost) of serial killing. Yeah, it's a comedy. And a little bit of everything. Anyway, before she knows it our bida falls in love with her subject. She even sleeps with him just to get "something" from him that will help her establish her story. Darn, I was told (in college and by some credible journalists) that "no story is worth your life," not even your virginity (that's from me). But she's American and im a Talisaynon. i rest my case on that issue. So there, by falling in love with the papable rich guy she becomes his next victim. But you can't kill the bida right? Oh, never mind The Wicker Man, that was weak!! brr...

Anways, Woody Allen (also the director) has so many witty punchlines in this movie. That at least compensates for the not-so-good performances they have here.



FRIDA


After 48 years, I finally saw this movie. And no doubt it is amazing! Oh yeah, there are a number of sex scenes here but heck, they are even funny in a way. So many things discussed here: political activism (communism), artistry, and...infidelity? That should explain why the director put those sex scenes to tell that Frida's husband is unloyal to her. Anyway, the script is a masterpiece (if they used what is in the book, Hayden Herrera must be that good). And the performances are intense, except for the sex scenes which is just as well kay makahilak nya ta'g tansan. haha!



BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE

AnnaSofia Robb

It's about a 10-year-old girl who just moved with her dad to new place where there are only 4 kids: one is a five-year-old who always sucks her knuckle, another girl a bit older than our bida who always has her face pinched up like shes smelling something awful, and the twin brothers who are a wild pair. Not much to get along with little Opal. Then one day, while she is in the grocery she saves a homeless dog from a dog pound team. To make the long story short, she makes a friend with this dog she called Winn Dixie after the grocery's name. Really cute and touching, but not to the core.



DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS

Vampires. They sleep in coffins during the day, drink blood to quench their thirst when they wake up at night. That's what they do in this film. I had fun actually. Oh, I love vampires!! brrr...





SILENT HILL

Radha Mitchell

This is good. Not scary (except for the movie's site-that girl, shes really scary. try opening it at this hour: 11:53pm!!), but it makes you ponder too. Well, I was pondering, yeah! And I love abandoned places. Cant wait to go there, wherever that is.




PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen

I almost fell asleep last night when i watched its first half. yeah, boring. and this afternoon, i almost slept with it still on. yeah, boring. but i watched it anyway, i love movies right? brrr...

Saturday, October 07, 2006

i am grieving

i am grieving for the man i barely knew
i felt tina's (Panganiban-Perez) pain when she reported in GMA 7's Flash Report the accident that killed him. she almost broke down.

a fellow cebuano, a fellow reporter
ghad, a young man

Dan Campilan
May you rest in peace

Friday, October 06, 2006

coming soon



THE GRUDGE 2

I remember (not quite though) in the first movie, Sarah Michelle Gellar's character was "stunned" when she saw that ghost...??? Was there some anti-stunning-power chant that healed here, that now she is back again? Nice try. Sequels are almost always overshadowed by their firsts. But anyhow, this is horror, this must be something else. If not, di wa tay mahimo kundi magyawyaw diri. brrr...



HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

One of the very few reasons (faith should come first pipz!) why everyone should hang on despite all the bagyos and wars and deaths. Yez, Harry and his friends are coming next year (filming ends anytime this month). HP 5 used to be my most favorite of all 5 books until the 6th came. Now, Im keeping my fingers crossed director David Yates will not mess up the fight scenes. Cant wait for next year.

Anyway, J.K. Rowling is almost done with HP book 7. No date of its publication yet, not even a title for this book. It may be out next year pud ngali. And hopefully, Rowling would not kill Harry here. Or it'd be the end of the world.

In one of her interviews, Rowling mentioned that she had written the last chapter of Book 7 in 1990 but had done some rewriting since then. And in another interview, she stated that and I quote: "One character got a reprieve but I have to say two die that I did not intend to die...A price has to be paid. We are dealing with pure evil here. They don't target extras, do they? They go for the main characters. . . well, I do." She did not specifically state, though, if one of the casualties (plural jud, yati!) would be Harry. It was already sad that she killed Dumbledore in book 6. There were even hopes (including here) that he'd resurrect in the final installment, but those were just hopes. She killed him anyway. Okay, Dumbledore's dead then, I just wish she'd not touch the three main characters (Harry, Hermione and Ron) this time or nah! kamatay jud ba!! Oh pleasssssssssse...

Thursday, October 05, 2006

kape

i told myself no more coffee. last Friday, i started abstaining from it. palpitation and this not-so-good feeling when you are riding a public vehicle and some crazy-looking person sits beside you and all you think is "hold-upper!"...those were the turning point. hold-uppers can be killers, too, coz they are also crazed by coffee, (or a much more strong substance) perhaps. and there's this makurat nalang kag kalit bisag salida sa sine. not good, definitely. but did i succeed? no! i guess, the palpitation is from the bilbil that is bursting from my pants' waistline. and the hold-upper thought is all in the mind. thought nga e! :P

yeah, im back with it! coffee is like a nailcutter, something you can't take away from me.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

a story from my window

she was probably in her mid 20s, i dont know as im not good in age estimates. she was carrying this little boy (barely 1 year old) and on her right was a walker. i first saw them before i took a bath. over 30 minutes later, i saw them again from my room's window. and they were on their way out of our place. the job she was in was really not easy. she was thin and short, by the way. and why she was carrying that thing (whe she could have left it somewhere), i would not know. i was several meters away from them (and i would never dare ask). anyway, it was just an ordinary sight: she walking her way to the subdivision with that kid of hers and, yeah, that walker that could not walk by itself. the strange thing was, she came back (actually out)with that stuff, again!
on the bend going to the main road (where the trisikads are waiting), the thing's weight might have taken its toll on her as i saw her put down the kid. well, moms do that all the time when their arms already feel numb. but this one mom did it while they were passing a small pool of rainwater. she was not normal, for sure.
so she made her way making through that dirty water leaving her kid (also splashing his way...) behind, while the walker was safely tucked in her right arm. the other side of the road was dry woman! and your kid!!!
i went on with my task tsking and trying to forget the scene. but i came back with it anyway. and the woman was gone (from my sight), while her boy was just meters away where she left him. he was walking back and forth (already meters away from the water), picking up something from the ground. he was quite far away from where i was, i could not hear if he was crying but he looked like he was enjoying his liberty. the mom was gone, and i blamed that walker! if she was not carrying that walker, she would have all her strength solely to her kid...but oh, she was not normal.

who would get the kid? the first person to come out from this place would surely get him, or at least do something for him. i was almost done, and i would be that first person, if ever. but before i came down, i saw that same woman scooping her child up, and brought it out of my sight. Phew!

lesson learned: walkers are not for moms.