Far From Neutral Notions - Philippine politics, culture and stuff

Two years ago today, I had no inkling that in less than three months, Poodle would be dead, and everything would fall apart. The last time I visited Poodle’s gravesite was on the 17th, Lola’s death anniversary. It just felt like the place to go, for some reason. Today, I needed a quick fixer-upper (I’ve been having anxiety attacks lately), so I decided to visit Cute Overload — my happy place. And I saw that hamster in the photo above. More cuteness inside. Read the rest of this entry »

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A couple of days ago my mother had a panic attack, thanks to a friend speculating that I had diabetes. Seems he noticed that I went to the li’l boys room a bit too often, but never factored in the fact that I drink copious amounts of water (over 3L a day) and the inordinate amount of Vitamin C I intake. As a result, I am on a coke diet — despite having normal blood sugar levels. Better safe than sorry, they say. But darnit, I miss my coke fix.

Another funny thing — it’s been noted by more than a couple of people, so I guess I’d better put it to rest — I am not on hiatus. Although I’d have to admit, it’d be very Jorge, quitting after winning. But no, to clarify, I meant to blog this Holy Week, but Prison Break got in the way. I still can’t believe it lasted two seasons, much less starting on it’s third this fall. Halfway through the first season I was like, come on! Get it over with! I mean, seriously, the amount of crap the inmates have gone through is insane, to the point of inanity. Season 3’s tagline may very well be Prison Break: Murphy’s Law. That said, it’s addictive! Some things:

1. Agent Paul Kellerman reminds me of Dan Akroyd. I’m glad he had a more three-dimensional character in season 2.
2. I hate Bill Kim. What is it with Asian-American villains portrayed as being so devoid of conscience? Agent Sandoval in Earth: Final Conflict comes to mind.
3. Allan had a good laugh, noting that the internal affairs guy chasing after Mahone looks a lot like Kevin Pollack.
4. Mahone looks a lot like Clint Eastwood. And we were half expecting him to run along the presidential limo ala In the Line of Fire.
5. I’m glad C-Note got a happy ending. I do NOT want to see him in season 3, because that’d mean things went wrong. Again.
6. Speaking of C-Note, I’m still convinced he’s LL Cool J.
7. T-Bag is the kind of creepy lowlife that I can’t help but root for.
8. The Les Miserables scene with Sucre and the old man is awesome.
9. Thatcher Grey.
10. For some reason, we keep expecting a train or a bus to crash into whatever car Michael or Lincoln are in at the moment whenever there’s a lull in the action, or they’re feeling pretty good about themselves. Yes, their karma is that screwed up.
11. Does Bellick have any redeeming qualities at all?
12. I think Henry Pope would make a kick ass Jim Gordon if ever Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is translated to the big screen.
13. Speaking of Batman, Michael Scofield would make for one kick ass Dark Knight. Always three steps ahead? Check. Swagger? Check. The unwavering belief that he will always win? Check. Just add some martial arts expertise and a Bat Suit (without the Bat Nipples) and you’re good to go.
14. On that note, T-Bag would be perfect as Joker. Did you see how he looked at Suzie when she refected him again? Classic.
15. I just realized Lincoln Burrows played Dracula in Blade Trinity. Ugh.
16. Sara Tancredi is the hawtness. But maybe that’s because, after that girl Tweener did the horizontal tango with for an episode or two, she’s the only pretty girl in the whole series. Still, she bears an uncanny resemblance to Natalie Portman on certain angles.
17. There had better be no season 4.

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It went by so fast, but this weekend has been one of the most eventful, personally, in my recent memory — which, truth be told, isn’t all that good anyway. I’m kinda like Dory from Finding Nemo, only I forget stuff after a few days rather than after a few minutes. So just to pinch myself and make sure it really happened, I’ll recap:

Saturday

With Allan back in Manila, the troika of Czarelle, Allan and myself is once more complete, and we decided to cap the event by hanging out at Baang Coffee at Tomas Morato. Along the way, I met ran into Rome Jorge, the guy singularly responsible — by sheer example — for inspiring me to get into not only desgin, but citizen journalism as well. For those who don’t know him, he’s the man behind KaKosa.com and Hanep-Designs.com (both now defunct, but he says he’s working on getting them back up), and was a founding member (I think) of Philweavers.net, the premiere Pinoy web design community.

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I’ve been trying to fight a recent bout of homesickness, but several things happened that just reminded me of how much I miss home.

Last night I got a package from my dad; he’s transferred his Fortune subscription to me, and he sent me an mp3 player. And to get an idea as to how much that means to me, let me tell you two things about me: I love to read, and I love music. And I love free gifts

Then, there’s this Inquirer feature on my aunt back home. The mere mention of bagongon is enough to make my mouth water — it’s been months since I last had some, and as good as some of the food is here, it can’t hold a candle to genuine home cooking. My home, anyway. Read the rest of this entry »

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And now! At Last! Another post completely different from some of the other posts which aren’t quite the same as this one is.

It’s been a while since I posted something personal — which suits me just fine, except that now, after not getting any sleep because of something I ate, I’m watching my first sunrise in months, and suddenly I feel like I’ve been missing out all this time.

I used to love sunrises. Then, somewhere along the way, I didn’t.

Ever get the feeling something’s trying to tell you someone? Yes, very Neil Gaiman of my John Constantine.

Turn on your magic beam, sir.

Vesti la giubba,
e la faccia in farina!

LOL, this post is just chock full of unrelated references, innit?

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I think of all the education that I missed.
But then my homework was never quite like this.
Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad,
Im hot for teacher.
I got it bad, so bad,
Im hot for teacher.

Hot for teacher ~ Van Halen

We interrupt the normally droll political commentary for something from way off left field, and totally without a point or merit: I was watching Wishin’ and Hopin’, the 14th episode of Season 3 of Grey’s Anatomy, and I dare say, Addison (Montgomery, played by Kate Walsh) is hot. My apologies if you don’t watch the show and have no idea what the hell I’m rambling about, but hey, really, it’s your fault What can I say, I was a sucker for Ally McBeal, too.

Do not get me wrong: Meredith (Ellen Pompeo - who is by the way in her 30’s) and Izzy (Katherine Heigl) still reign supreme on the hawtness-o-meter, but man oh man did this scene (left) where she’s checking out Alex Karev ever put my internal iPod on Simon and Garfunkel LSS mode.

Hot older women (and by that I mean older, not OLD. Just so we’re clear ) have always fascinated me: I loved The Graduate, and I found it’s spinoff, Rumor Has It, incredibly entertaining. My ex was a year and a half older than I. The hot teacher. The nurse. The doctor. The boss. Upperclasswomen. Then there’s Gretchen Barreto (rowr). Sophia Loren. Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct 2. And now, Kate Walsh.

There’s an aura about a more experienced, emotionally mature women that is incredibly erotic. They know what they want, and what they’re doing. There’s less inhibition, less BS. There’s a certain sense of sophistication and poise that a younger woman can’t match. And inasmuch as the cuteness of youth has its merits (of which there are many), the authority and confidence an older woman can be just as intoxicating. The famous scene where the camera shot from under Mrs. Robinson’s leg, and Dustin Hoffman was stammering, “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me”, is the perfect illustration. And an incredibly steamy scene to boot.

Which brings me back to Dr. Addison Montgomery, Kate Walsh. Cheers!

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I was a send off that would make Weslu happy, I think. It was our way of saying goodbye through the medium we knew him best: music. No FMD pics, though we played. None of our friends had a camera, and I ran out of film (I only brought one roll of 24) halfway through the whole thing.

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“O galit na! Galit ka na e!”

That’s what Weslu (founding member of G.I. & The Idiots, and PUT3SKA, and recently pounding the skins for Brownbeat All-Stars, Juan Pablo Dream and Shuffle Union, among others) would say, often out of context, just to break the tension and illicit some laughter. I didn’t know him that long, or at all that well, but he was fun to be around with, and he was one hell of a drummer. I’m thinking, well, Heaven’s probably a rocking place right about now, with the Celestial Choir jivin’ to the grooves of ska.

I met Welsu sometime late last year, in Malabon. He was sessioning for Juan Pablo Dream and Shuffle Union at the time, and we were going to play the same gig. I remember he was always supportive of the Malabon band scene, ready to give advice, help, and the occasional quip. And the underground scene being what it is, his good-natured ways was a breath of fresh air. He didn’t have issues and he wasn’t one to bullshit.

So it’s just a shame that he had to go. The world is definitely poorer with his loss.

Rest in peace, Weslu Guiang.

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I have never been, to my chagrin, an outdoorsman. Don’t get me wrong, I have strong feelings for the environment, and I love nature as much as the next leave no trace guy… it’s just that getting to those places can be such a pain.

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