The Gospel of Asnallar

Where Dreams May Come From...

2010-08-08T16:51:00.172+08:00

I tweeted about this a week ago right after I saw Inception in the movie house. I really hadn't intended to watch the production because I was slightly turned off by the hype surrounding it. I am not a cinematic elitist in any way--I adore flashy Hollywood blockbusters and campy cult hits--but I don't like being forced to appreciate something just because other people are insanely raving about it. So I decided to watch it to know how I'd really feel about it.

The first thing that came to mind after seeing the movie was how it reminded me so much of a Charmed episode that aired almost twelve years ago called "Dream Sorcerer". In fact, it echoed a lot of episodes from the television series that it could be possible that Christopher Nolan saw those dream episodes on TV, mixed it all together, and made it into a big-budget film. Charmed did its first dream episode in 1998, and its last in 2006. Nolan first pitched his dream movie idea in 2000 and developed it over the course of the last decade.

By this time, many people must have already heard about another observation that Nolan's concept could have been borrowed from a Disney comic, which Chico Garcia writes about in his blog. There are also accusations that he might have stolen his movie idea from the 1961 French film L'Année dernière à Marienbad, but we won't really know the real story. All we can do is speculate. The only thing we can probably agree on is that, these days, virtually no idea is unique.

And so, purely for personal enjoyment, I thought I'd make a list of all the Charmed episodes that may contain similar elements as they appear on Inception.

Looking back, I was amazed by the number of dream episodes that the series had produced. Phoebe, with her powers of premonition and empath-channeling, was the character that had the most experiences with lucid dreams, limbo, astral planes, and alternate realities, or even time loops. Prue came next because of her astral projection ability. (Piper's powers were more scientific than psychic, and Paige's were more physical in nature than cerebral.) Billie Jenkins, a nascent witch with the special power of projection, also created an elaborate dream state during the show's final season.

Dream Sorcerer (1998) - The villain here is human, a dream architect, who, while sedated in his lab, infiltrates other women's dreams to punish them for rejecting him in the real world. A person dies in real life when he or she dies in the dream, especially when heavily sedated.

She's a Man, Baby, a Man! (1999) - Phoebe initially dreams of killing several men, and later discovers that she's psychically connected to a succubus. She eventually learns how to project her thoughts to the succubus in order to defeat her and to stop the killings.

Pardon My Past (2000) - Phoebe, through her power of premonition, is visited by her past life who tries to warn her about her evil past. She then finds a way to embody her past life while going on a lucid dream, where her soul feels everything that occurred in the 1920s. Her past life and current life later switch bodies when they wake up.

The Good, the Bad and the Cursed (2001) - After visiting a ghost town, Phoebe is again linked to another magical being from the past century, who now lives in a limbo caused by a time loop along with everyone else in the ghost town. Prue and Phoebe's demon lover Cole visit the ghostly limbo to save everyone involved, and to destroy the time loop.

Just Harried (2001) - Prue unintentionally astral projects herself while sleeping to manifest her suppressed desires in life. The dream sorcerer is referenced in this episode.

Enter the Demon (2001) - Piper loses consciousness and switches souls with a Zen Master who is trapped in a ghostly limbo after being mortally wounded by his dying, rogue student. The chaotic limbo represents the mistakes of the student, but is restored to a serene plane once he is sucked into the eternal vortex for recycling.

Brain Drain (2001) - The Source of All Evil, after possessing another high-level demon who can initiate dream incubation in order to steal or suggest information, captures Piper. He enters Piper's subconscious and in it, he plants a reconstructed reality in order to steal a spell stored in her mind. He intimates that her powers are imagined and suggests to give them up in order to return to the real world. Going on a lucid sleep, Phoebe and Paige--and separately Leo, using his own healing power--also enter Piper's subconscious in order to convince her to reject the evil proposal.

Witch Way Now? (2002) - Phoebe astral projects to the Demonic Wasteland during her lucid sleep so she can talk to her former lover Cole and say good-bye. Cole discovers that his soul cannot be recycled since he is half-demon and half-human. It is something that is apparently "unique to the cosmos", and thus, he is stuck in limbo.

Sand Franciso Dreamin' (2003) - Mr. Sandman brings dreams to the sisters and Leo. He plants a premonition into one of Phoebe's dreams so he can ask for help as a tracer demon is after him and his dream dust. The demon aims to remove dreams from humans altogether, which will not allow them to work out their issues. The sisters' dream subjects come to life and they must resolve their personal issues to make them disappear. They cannot kill the dream subjects because they are emotionally- and psychically-connected.

Cat House (2004) - Piper and Leo consult a marriage counselor to work out their marital problems, but Phoebe, Paige, their magical cat (a "familiar") and a warlock are all sucked into their shared memories.

My Three Witches (2004) - A demon who has the power to create alternate realities by invading the subconscious and hidden desires of humans go after the sisters. He establishes a separate world for Piper, Phoebe and Paige, but the sisters find a way to meld the three worlds together and free themselves.

Cheaper by the Coven (2004) - A very powerful Wyatt, the first-born between a Charmed One (Piper) and a high-ranking whitelighter (Leo), has nightmares after witnessing a traumatic event a few weeks back. Wyatt conjures his nightmare into the real world and creates havoc until his personal issue is addressed. The girls' deceased mother Patty and grandmother Penny temporarily exit the ghostly plane to reunite with their father Victor at the manor, to help the sisters.

Someone to Witch Over Me (2004) - Leo goes on a vision quest in his sleep with the aid of Phoebe's potion, which she learned from a shaman from her own vision quest a year earlier. In his sleep, he meets the older version of his second child, Chris, who came from the future and died in the past. His dream is intercepted by Alpha, the leader of the Avatars, who is trying to convince him to help them pursue their mission of a new world order. The Avatars succeed when Leo wakes up and joins them.

Charmageddon (2005) - The Avatars put the whole world to sleep to create a new world order called Utopia, but fail to include Kyle, a future whitelighter, who insists that Utopia is not the answer. The sisters join forces with the Underworld to return the world to the way it was, and the whole world awakes into a reversed timeline where free will still exists. Kyle dies during the shift, and is rewarded by The Elders in the end.

Show Ghouls (2005) - Phoebe discovers another time loop and decides to find out what caused it by going into a lucid dream state via a spell created by former demon Drake. The pair enters the ghostly limbo and almost never makes it out as an evil soul escapes into the real world.

The Seven-Year Witch (2005) - Leo's soul is being recycled by The Elders. They erase his memories and force him to choose the heavens over his earthly family. Piper, meanwhile, is fatally hurt by a demon and enters limbo where she meets Cole, who is actually in a perpetual purgatory with no escape. A dying Piper and a confused Leo telepathically connect with each other, as Piper is being magically healed by their son Wyatt. She wakes up and Leo is returned to his family after disowning The Elders.

Malice in Wonderland (2005) - A rising faction of demons that has taken over Magic School abducts adolescents and forces their subconscious to experience all the horrific adventures similar to those of Alice in Wonderland. Once released from this state, the kidnapped children cannot distinguish reality from the demonic projections.

The Jung and the Restless (2006) - Billie Jenkins, a new witch and very powerful charge of the sisters, turns her back on them as her own evil, older sister tricks her mind into thinking that Piper, Phoebe and Paige are selfish beings who must be taught a lesson. Billie uses her special gift of projection to enter the dreams of the sisters in order to force them to repent. The sisters realize that they are in a forced dream incubation, and that Billie is planting ideas into their subconscious. Paige is the first sister to wake up from it after a heated argument with Billie during the dream.

Hey, I did my undergraduate thesis on Charmed and Romanticism--in Spanish. I know the television series inside and out.

Kris-cross

2010-03-16T00:09:00.002+08:00

I wish people would just leave Kris Aquino alone. I saw her on TV apologizing for a recent episode that has left the whole nation in shambles--literally. That's probably one of the most degrading things a human being could endure, and perhaps one of the cruelest acts of torture: Admitting an error that one did not commit.

Yes, she may have made someone cry (that's their problem), but why is the entire nation forcing her to ask for forgiveness? People should apologize to Kris for making her life unbearably excruciable.

Critics have used Kris against her brother's candidacy, but that's unfair. I don't agree with the argument that Noynoy would not make a good president because he can't even manage his sister's personal life, let alone the entire country. Why should he? She is her own person, and she is not a puppet. In fact, no one should be allowed to manage somebody's own life. Other people may guide others, and other people may influence some. But to manage someone else's personal life? That's domestic dictatorship.

If our presidential candidates are required to demonstrate their managerial skills in public by showing us how they can forcibly control their loved ones, then many would fail the test. Gibo Teodoro can't even resolve his decades-old family feud; Manny Villar can't even make his good friends at the Senate agree with him; and Jamby Madrigal can't even recruit her favorite lesbians.

No, I am not voting for Noynoy as president on election day (and yes, Kris and I are not related). I've already made up my mind. It has nothing to do with the fact that Noynoy is Kris' brother, or that I don't like him, that's why I am not voting for him as the next leader of our country. I am voting for somebody else simply because I like that other candidate more.

Farewell, Tita Cory

2009-08-02T11:18:00.002+08:00

I never had the opportunity to personally meet President Corazon C. Aquino, but she and my own mother, Corazon S. Aquino, share the same name, so I am obviously attached to her. She was the first leader I ever knew (I was four years old when she became president), and I will forever remember her as part of my childhood--the People Power revolution, several coup d'etat, fatal earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, regular power failures, among all the other positive memories of my young life.

Farewell, Tita Cory, and thank you.

Standards shattered

2009-05-25T23:48:00.004+08:00

"Age ain't nothing but a number," like the late Aaliyah once declared.

Expectations greatly disappoint; that's why most people are afraid and just choose to stay away from possibilities. Setting standards can either elevate your self-regard because of your unrealistic aspirations--that actually impress no one, except your pride--or it can burn your feelings until they harden, because of failing to live up to what you think should have been.

So what happens when you start to strip yourself of all of these expectations?

You get love. You give love. You create beauty.

I used to have these criteria about certain things, which not only limited my way of thinking, or how I feel about a particular matter, but had, in fact, led to, arguably, undesirable results. This time, taking a risk has embolden my spirit and has inspired my heart to take chances.

Standards have been shattered.

Anniversary

2009-05-18T23:26:00.006+08:00

I remember when I was young, until around the time at the beginning of my high school years, my mother would play the loudest version of the Happy Birthday song from the music player in the living room. That was what would make me up on my birthday. (It was the same thing for other family members.) Then I would go hear Mass in Obando with my grandparents because that town celebrates its feastday on the same day. It was like Christmas for me. A very special day filled with new clothes, my favorite meal, and extra kind siblings. I wasn't used to holding a real party because my birthday falls in the middle of summer vacation--as opposed to the other kids in school who would have clowns (I hate clowns) and mascots (I'm terrified) and parlor games (I'm much too shy) after class or during recess. I bet most of my classmates didn't even know when my birthday was. Instead, I would have a special celebratory meal at home with the family, where there would always, always, always be chocolate cake for dessert.

I can't quite remember when it all stopped--and I have a pretty damn good memory--but I guess the chocolate cake has now been converted into my fondness of cookies & cream ice cream. I rarely get to hear Mass these days, and there aren't always new shirts nor special meals for me. Occasionally, my friends and/or co-workers would ask that I treat them for my birthday (shouldn't that be the other way around, though, 'cos I'm not exactly a millionaire?) and I would give in to their request with a simple meal somewhere, but I still wouldn't consider that a proper party. Since college, my bestfriend would usually come over to our house and celebrate my birthday with me and the family, which is my definition of a birthday celebration.

Except that this year, there was none of that, save for a simple potluck party a couple of days in advance that my old officemates insisted on staging for little old me (for which I am grateful).

Today, I just stayed home from work, paid some bills, ate tons of junk food, watched DVDs by myself, showered late in the afternoon, changed into regular, domestic clothes, and washed the dishes afterwards to keep everything clean and tidy.

Happy third anniversary to my blog, and a mandatory birthday greeting to me--hopefully it'll be happy again next year.

The Adventures of Asnallar (2008)

2008-12-31T12:45:00.015+08:00

1. What did you do in 2008 that you've never done before?

- receive a full scholarship from a foreign government

- become a radio broadcast segment host & work with Bon Vibar (and learn how to play Tong-Its)

- visit Chico & Delamar, Arden & Christi in the RX radio booth; meet Tia Dely at a relative's wake

- meet and train under Adel Gabot, aka Lil David of K-Lite

- become a paid contributing writer for publications (Mobile Philippines, 100) plus a little spot on Billboard.com's Chart Beat Chat

- actually turn down several job offers in the publishing industry because I would not have survived on the remuneration, or lack of it

- welcome the new year in another city

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

My 2008 resolution was to improve my confidence and get that radio scholarship (see #1), & luckily that became true. For 2009, my main goal is to keep improving my interpersonal skills. And, maintain all my websites (e.g. monthly updates at the very least). These are not resolutions, but plans.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

My first cousin (paternal side), Aisa, gave birth to her first child.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Checking out the innermost plane of the Venn diagram, I don't think anyone really close to me died this year, and thank God for that.

5. What country did you visit?

Not much of a traveller. Hopefully someday I'll be able to visit Batanes, Italy or Israel.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

An S.O.? Haha.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

- March 1, when I won the scholarship from the Asociación de la Prensa de Cádiz

- April 5, when Don, Angelo, Garry, Rich & I all hung out together at The Chicago Pizza Factory, after quite a while

- May 18, when I celebrated my 27th birthday at home with family, Don and Trish & family

- August 30, when I graduated from the Spanish scholarship in the morning, then from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde's postgrad Magazine Writing program in the afternoon;

- September 20, when I visited Chico & Delamar at the RX studio

- October 12, when I gave my birthday gifts to Don at the stroke of midnight (cos we didn't get to celebrate in 2007 as he was based in El Nido)

- November 15, mini-Orgullo reunion.

- December 15, when I started my new job at Thomson Reuters.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Two: winning that radio scholarship from Spain, and funding my own postgrad course.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not getting an S.O. after being so close to finally having one? (see #6)

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Flu, cough & cold since the start of Christmas week until the New Year's.

11. What was/were the best thing/s you bought?

My replacement notebook, a black, industrial-looking Lenovo; my white wifi router; and my shiny, black WD external hard drive.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

This is a strange question. Uhm, mine?

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Bipolar & inconsistent behavior of a few people.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Family, gadgets, postgrad school tuition, food.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Getting a new notebook, magazine writing, spending time with my best friend (cos he's based here again), E=MC² release.

16. What songs will always remind you of 2008?

E=MC² tracks by Mariah Carey; Disturbia by Rihanna; Just Dance by Lady Gaga; 4 Minutes by Madonna & Justin Timberlake; Wow by Kylie; Circus by Britney; and La Camisa Negra by Juanes.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. Happier or sadder? Happier, because even though there were sad moments, this Christmastime is better than last year's (considerin').

ii. Thinner or fatter? Thinner.

iii. Richer or poorer? Poorer (2008 has been tough!)

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Be more aggressive.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Be less sensitive & stubborn.

20. How will you be spending the holidays?

With the family, as always.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

Yes, technically.

22. How many one-night stands?

If it's during daytime?

23. What were your favorite TV programs this year?

American Idol, Chelsea Lately, The New Adventures of Old Christine

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Yes, technically. (see #21)

25. What was the best book you read?

I started reading Timelime by Michael Crichton, but I haven't found time to finish it.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Lady Gaga

27. What did you want and got?

See # 1, 2, 7, 8, 11

28. What were your favorite films of this year?

The big movies! Iron Man; High School Musical 3: Senior Year; Vantage Point; Mamma Mia

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

27 years; Dinner at home with family, my best friend, and closest friends.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Mo' money, mo' bling-blings, haha. No, more money to pay the bills & help the family.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Smart casual. I am starting to get used to dressing like a mid-20s guy, and not as a college student.

32. What kept you sane?

Loved ones, music, radio, school, internet.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Mariah Carey is in the hall of fame, so... hahaha.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Free texting.

35. Who did you miss?

Some of my closest friends, who I didn't get to see much this year: Trisha, Francis, Nins, Blossom.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Josef Calida

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:

Money is important, but love is a greater thing.

The Adventures of Asnallar

2006 | 2007 | 2008

One score and a decade

2008-12-30T17:03:00.000+08:00

Today is my parents' 30th wedding anniversary.

Golden Mom

2008-12-08T10:45:00.001+08:00

Happy 50th birthday, Mommy!

Umbrella, the Remix

2008-11-11T18:32:00.015+08:00

It's been raining all afternoon. They say we are shifting from the southwest monsoon (habagat) to cool northeast winds (amihan). In times like these, I need Juicy Fruit. Nah, I need my favorite tiny umbrella. The one that fits just one person, but could squeeze in two people if the situation calls for it.

I remember one time when Don and I went to JT's Manukan on Gilmore Street at around midnight. We drove from his store in Robinson's Place Manila, and on the way to Gilmore we discovered an ultra-wet city as it had been raining all night all over Metro Manila. To get from his car to JT's famous manukan (a rotisserie that specializes in chicken), we had to fit in my tiny umbrella in order to avoid getting drained. It was safe to say that my James Bond-style umbrella saved the day (or night).

By the way, my old secret service-type umbrella was retired last August after three years of use, so I had to buy a replacement. I spent almost three hours going back and forth inside the mall, checking out new designs, trying out the different umbrellas on display (and I could see the saleslady smile-mocking me by the second hour). At the end of the day, just before the mall closed, I ended up buying the very same umbrella.

The Specs Factor

2008-11-09T19:40:00.001+08:00

In my 27 years of existence, I have come to realize that I may come across as a snobbish and eccentric individual. I grew up as a shy child, and until now, I still am. In most social settings, I probably act distant and removed. It isn’t because I am overly conceited or arrogant; I am actually the opposite.

My alleged snotty appearance may largely be attributed to my eyeglasses. I have worn corrective, low-grade lenses since Grade 5 for my astigmatism, which is basically a medical term for blurred vision. My glasses help me see things clearly, but ironically, I didn’t see that they would make me look more stuck-up than I probably am in real life. The lenses aren’t exactly huge that they overpower the shape of my face, and that they intimidate the regular person on the street who may already think I am this uppity bookworm. Although I enjoy reading, I do not have a platinum pass to the nearest library—my eyesight was actually affected by hours of watching television. I don’t dress like an elitist preppy, and I certainly do not hang out in places exclusively reserved for snot-nosed kids. I just wear my glasses to facilitate an ocular assist.

But even with my glasses on, there are times that I still fail to identify objects in the vicinity. Unless I really focus on a particular subject, I may not immediately recognize the crack on the pavement, or the person waving at me from across the hall. Both examples would surely amplify the off-the-wall nature of my character. Even if the crack on the pavement wouldn’t mind that I stepped on it, most likely the person who was waving at me frantically from ten feet away would feel insulted because I didn’t recognize their frantic waving. But, deep inside, I would be gravely sorry that I missed them, and that I’d grateful they remember me, the snobbish bookworm, one who’ll forever treasure their friendship underneath the mishaps with the lenses.

Now if I take my glasses off—because it is tiring to wear them all the time, and even more tedious if I replaced them with contacts—it would negate the preppy appearance, as personally I think I can look ruggedly attractive without the glasses (I’d be in some cultures; apparently, my name originally meant “handsome ruler”). However, removing them in public situations may cause unnecessary embarrassment, like falling off the stairs (which I have experienced), or trying to pass through a spotlessly clean glass door (which has happened to me), or becoming prey to street robbers (which, thankfully, I have evaded a lot of times). Because of my blurred vision, I try my best to be more vigilant when I am alone in places such as the MRT or shopping malls. I understand malevolent spirits take advantage of good souls, especially since the bad guys are experts on optical illusions and devilish magic tricks. The sad thing is, in doing so, I may inadvertently miss the good guys, such as friends, when I am too focused on strangers’ suspicious movements.

Perhaps socially aloof is a better term to describe me. I do not deny that I am an introvert, but calling me snooty would be a tad too much. I am polite, respectful, and approachable, even if I might not seem to be the friendliest person in the city. If you see me in the mall or at the train station, position yourself in the best lighting possible so that I may see you perfectly, or else prepare yourself for a potential heartache that I might have overlooked your presence amid your otherwise obvious apparition. Or better yet, just approach me, as I never refuse a good personal connection.

And so, after 27 years of existence, I have come to realize that I may come across as a snobbish and eccentric individual, but it is what it is. I am may be a little different to most people, but to me, that feels perfectly normal.

28

2008-10-12T01:07:00.002+08:00

Happy 28th birthday to my best friend in the whole universe, Don! ;-)

Upgraded to a Newbie CompuNerd

2008-08-01T21:06:00.007+08:00

Note: This article was written in April 2008 as part of my schoolwork at DLS-CSB, under the mentorship of Mr. Adel Gabot. (That's Lil' David of the old 103.5 K-Lite! I'm a fan.) Our graduation is at the end of this month.

You’ve probably heard of the term “compunerd” from Mariah Carey’s music video featuring comedian Jack McBrayer. In it, McBrayer portrays a computer geek who upgrades Mariah’s network connection to “802.11 N”. While I’m far from being a self-professed IT expert, my inner geek surfaced a few weeks ago to help me purchase a new set of portable devices, all for personal use.

What’s the occasion? For one thing, my old Compaq Presario M2202AP notebook—although it had served me well for about three years—was no longer interested in keeping up with my computing needs. I didn’t really play computer games nor religiously watch movies in it. But its 1.50GHz Intel Celeron M processor, 256MB memory, 40GB hard drive, 15” TFT screen, Windows XP Home and basic combo drive was becoming a little too basic for me. I’m guessing those specs were de rigueur when I got it in 2005, but in a world where everything gets its new version every single day, I was feeling a little trapped in the past.

Another thing was the battery of my old notebook had used up its entire life cycle. It had to be kept plugged in all the time, which sort of negates its mobility. But the worst thing was the lines on its LCD screen, which would have been acceptable, if they were wrinkles on an aging human face like your uncle’s, but not on a digital companion’s.

It took me quite a while to decide on a particular product to replace my laptop with, and I went through several weeks of canvassing for the best package and searching for reviews on the net. This task took me all over Metro Manila, and finally I settled on a promo in Cyberzone at SM Megamall. In a small computer shop staffed by a knowing, understanding, skilled staff, I got myself a black Lenovo 3000 G410, with a 1.60GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core processor, 3GB memory, 160GB hard drive, 14” VibrantView screen, Windows Vista Home Basic and a super multi-drive. They even threw in a free IBM mouse and Lenovo carrying case to win me over, as it took me three hours and a day to say yes.

There were a lot of things to consider: efficiency, mobility, longevity, among others, since I’d be using it for my school work and actual office work. Plus, budget was a major concern. Initially, I had hoped to acquire a decent notebook for less than P 28,000 (if that was even possible). But hey, I paid P 61,000 for my previous laptop (and that was three years ago); this new one at P 35,500 seemed like a steal, and what matters is that I am happy with it. So happy that I bought a portable hard drive, a My Passport 120GB (P 3,450; SM North Edsa Cyberzone) and a TP-LINK TL-WR340G wireless router (P 1,450; North Edsa) for the house to finally enjoy that mobility that I had desired, even at home. And I can even take my laptop outside again!

I treasured my old, silver Presario dearly, but it was time to let it go. But it remains part of the family. Now my youngest sister, an incoming high school sophomore, has a new electronic buddy, albeit it came with imperfections. Who cares, right? She’ll probably care when she enters college, but by then, I bet she’s hoping big brother will have developed his nerd factor who’s intending to buy a new set of devices.

Interestingly, a “nerd” is conventionally defined as an “unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person, especially one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits”. I’m not so sure about the “unstylish, unattractive” part, but I definitely got myself some pretty shiny gadgets this year that would make me giddy for the next three years or so. Having said that (read: giddy), I realize I’ve really been upgraded to a newbie compunerd.

The Gift

2008-07-06T08:58:00.006+08:00

This is so true. Silence is a gift, but not many people can stand themselves for being so silent.

The Chicago Pizza Factory

2008-06-29T15:27:00.007+08:00

Note: Here's one of the three sample advertorials that I wrote for my best pal Don's store, The Chicago Pizza Factory. Please support him and visit his store and try out their healthy selections. I am usually there to visit him every weekend.

Being able to eat well seems like a luxury these days. Health-conscious eaters often find it hard to make choices, especially when eating out. Either it’s extremely expensive to find healthy meals, or there’s just no place to make that option. Living in Manila seemingly makes it hard for anyone who wants to eat healthy and find meals that are not too costly yet suitable to their taste and need.

The Chicago Pizza Factory, the premium brand of Jimini Whole Pizza, invites customers within and outside the city to try out their satisfying, affordable and healthy menu, where they can indulge themselves in a wide-ranging gourmet selection of pizza flavors, such as The Loop (peach, pineapples, 3 kinds of cheese), Margh’s Mile (sweet basil, 3 cheeses), Navy Pier (crabs, tuna, veggies, spices, 3 cheeses), and, the store’s best variant, Wrigley Field (Italian bacon, mushrooms, spices, lettuce, special Japanese mayo). All are inspired by Chicago, the city where the authentic deep-dish pizza was born.

When customers visit The Chicago Pizza Factory, they are welcomed by the friendly crew into a casual and comfortable pizza factory setting that’s reminiscent of the old and modern Chicago. Aside from the exciting gourmet selections, they can also try the pizza place’s other healthy offerings, such as the special blend Fruitea Juices (available in Green Apple and Strawberry), the genre-defying Grilled Pizza Bar (comes in Chorizo, Hawaiian, and Bacon Mushroom Cheeseburger flavors, and wrapped in Jimini’s version of the classic Italian focaccia), the delightful Sears Waffles (glazed in either chocolate, honey maple or cheese syrup), or more of the specialty deep-dish pizza with the Triple Classics, everybody’s all-time favorite pizza variants with three times more toppings than the usual. After the first bite, it is guaranteed that guests will be back for another.

The Chicago Pizza Factory offers each guest a truly healthful dining experience. With its Chicago-style 6” deep-dish pizza filled with hearty flavors—or a pizza that’s deep enough to hold an extremely generous amount of toppings—the restaurant aims to provide an alternative dining option that encourages wellness. One will never feel guilty with every scrumptious bite, seeing that the ingredients used are freshly assembled and meticulously prepared by the staff prior to cooking. And the dough, whether it be the classic or the original whole-wheat variety, are baked and delivered fresh daily to the restaurant, ensuring the high quality of each serving. The restaurant assures that the pizzas are not too oily and that they are low in fat and salt. Plus, it encourages the guests to try the whole-wheat crust because wheat is high in fiber, which is good for the body.

Finally, there’s a place right in the middle of the city that puts a premium on a fun and healthy menu, where one gets something in return for indulging in a delicious bite of pizza.

Who would have thought that eating pizza could be this rewarding?

The Chicago Pizza Factory can be found at the 3rd Level, Midtown Wing, Robinson’s Place in Ermita, Manila.

Happy Birthday, UP!

2008-06-18T11:23:00.018+08:00

I was in Drama Studio I at the Bureau of Broadcast Services building, taping for Filipinas, Ahora Mismo when I noticed someone familiar taping in Drama Studio II. The lady being interviewed inside looked like Pres. Cory Aquino. I remembered that face from when I met her twice during the Gawad Chanselor ceremonies in 2002 and 2003. So I asked Steph, the latest Iskolar ng Bayan who'd just enrolled for her second M.A. (she studied in AdMU and Spain), to accompany me and approach the lady. That lady was UP president Emerlinda Roman, a stately woman who is the first woman president of the University. I've always thought that she also sounded like Cory Aquino, the first woman Philippine president, because they both spoke with the same gentle yet authoritative tone. She asked Steph and I from which colleges we were. Steph shared that she would be starting her very first day in UP at the College of Fine Arts the following day, and got a welcome directly from the president. I told Ms. Roman that I graduated from the College of Arts & Letters in 2004, and my student number was '98-. She laughed hard and said she wouldn't tell us what her student number was to camouflage her age.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the University of the Philippines system, which traces its roots in Padre Faura, Manila. In honor of my alma mater's (I came from UP Diliman) centennary, I decided to answer a very popular questionnaire that's roaming around the web, the one about UP students and alumni.

1. Student number?

1998-11874.

2. College?

CAL (Arts & Letters).

3. Course?

B.A. European Languages, major in Spanish, minor in English & Comparative Literature (2000-2004).

4. Nag-shift ka ba o na-kickout?

Shifted from Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (1998-2000). I got good grades but it wasn't for me.

5. Saan ka kumuha ng UPCAT?

Math building.

6. Favorite GE subject?

STS, Comm 1 & 2, Kas 1 & 2, Hum 1 & 2.

7. Favorite PE?

Isometrics? Not really into PE, though.

8. Saan ka nag-aabang ng hot peeps sa UP?

They came to me. Hah!

9. Favorite prof(s)?

Thelma Arambulo, Beatriz Alvarez, Erwin Bautista, Teodoro Maranan

10. Pinaka-ayaw na GE subject.

Nat Sci 1 & 2.

11. Kumuha ka ba ng Wed or Sat classes?

E.L. 180 (Wed).

12. Nakapag-field trip ka ba?

Yes; Biak-na-bato, Casa Real, Clark Zone, etc.

13. Naging CS ka na ba or US sa UP?

Yes; US in 2002 and CS in some semesters. But the one award I cherish the most is the Gawad Chanselor 2003 for Outstanding Student Achievement in a National Competition. :-)

14. Ano ang Org/Frat/Soro mo?

UP Circulo Hispanico.

15. Saan ka tumatambay palagi?

UP Circulo Hispanico tambayan, AS, FC and Chem Pav, with my bestfriend's other friends from his high school.

16. Dorm, Boarding house, o Bahay?

Home (Malabon).

17. Kung walang UPCAT test at malaya kang nakapili ng kurso mo sa UP, ano yun (Given ang mentality mo nung HS ka)?

Before I declared my minor as English & Comparative Literature, I took Broadcast Comm for one semester as my official minor. Then I changed it because it was so difficult to get slots in CMC if you're from CAL. But, I think I would have continued it if the situation was different because I really enjoyed it.

18. Sino ang pinaka-una mong nakilala sa UP?

(Not counting my high school friends who enrolled there,) JR Chan from BS Architecture.

19. First play na napanood mo sa UP?

I can't remember. Basta it was at the Wilfredo Guerrero Theater in AS, a requirement in one of my classes.

20. Name the 5 most conyo orgs in UP.

I'm not sure. Five Econ and BA orgs?

21. Name 5 of the coolest orgs/frats/soro in UP.

UP Circulo Hispanico. Haha. That was my only org.

22. May frat/soro bang nag-recruit sa yo?

Yes; the one who frequents the AS parking. I was a freshman and was waiting for my mom to pick me up, then some guys approached me and asked if I wanted to hang with them.

23. Saan ka madalas mag-lunch?

UP Circulo Hispanico tambayan, AS Walk, Chem Pav, CASAA, Green House.

24. Masaya ba sa UP?

Yes. Although I wonder how it is in other schools.

25. Nakasama ka na ba sa rally?

I'm a pacifist. Does EDSA 2 count? But I didn't walk; I took the train to get there.

26. Ilang beses ka bumoto sa Student Council?

Once. I think it was my final year?

27. Name at least 5 leftist groups in UP.

I was basically apolitical. I was in EDSA 2 just to witness history unfold.

28. Pinangarap mo rin bang mag-laude nung freshman ka?

Yes. But sadly, my ending GWA (GPA) was 1.76. One needed a 1.75 average to graduate with honors. Sucked big time.

29. Kanino ka pinaka-patay sa UP?

Katrina Reyes from Span 1 & 2. And some other peeps. Wink! ;)

30. Kung di ka UP, anong school ka?

DLSU. I had already paid for the reservation fee and was ready to enroll for my LIACOM slot (Communication Arts and Advertising Management double major), but my high school friends who also went to UP presuaded me to join them. So I did. And in 2000 I met my best friend there in UP, so no regrets. :-)

Second Anniversary

2008-05-18T02:24:00.002+08:00

My blog is now officially a toddler. Aww... coochie-coochie-coo!

Boy, Interrupted

2008-03-23T00:51:00.010+08:00

So, in a couple of weeks, my resignation at TELUS International will take effect, after the usual 30-day notice. I would have wanted to quit immediately but my managers Harold Lua and Ding Lacostales had been extremely supportive of me that I really felt guilty when I told them I was leaving. However, I could not just pass up on the opportunity to receive a full scholarship from the Spanish autonomous government of Andalusia and the Asociación de la Prensa de Cádiz (APC) and join its Proyecto de Cooperación Radyo Manila, where I'll be working as special projects assistant/segment host/translator for the Spanish radio program Filipinas, Ahora Mismo. (I actually started last 01 March 2008 with my new co-scholars/colleagues Steph Palallos, Andy Gómez de Liaño and JJ Ramírez de Cartagena, and we joined our main presenter Bon Vibar and program director Christine Rávago on our first taping day on 04 March 2008.)

I really thought I'd be pursuing a career in training and development, since I am being groomed to become a full-fledged training officer at the end of the six-month leadership program that I am taking up. In fact, not too long ago, our group (of training associates) had our learning seminar with the training director of TELUS International, Joel Pelayo, and he was so good in what he does and that really inspired me. At that moment, I wanted to finish the program and get promoted shortly thereafter.

But then, this scholarship came. I have never received a foreign scholarship before, and although the training and apprenticeship will be conducted locally, it is still sponsored and administered by the Spanish government and the APC. Plus, I'll be able to practice my language/writing/translation skills, and I'll finally know how it is to experience producing and actually hosting a radio program, albeit a cultural magazine one, and broadcasted in the Spanish language at that. (After all, I am not after becoming well-known, but I am excited for the training and exposure I'd be getting from this gig.)

Boy, did my plans get interrupted! However, I believe I'll enjoy the next six months being involved with this project, and I know that I will learn a lot. Just for that last bit, I have no regrets.

27

2007-10-12T10:47:00.001+08:00

As always, he gets there seven months earlier than I do. Happy 27th birthday, Don!

Umbrella

2007-09-28T18:29:00.016+08:00

I am a guy who is not ashamed to bring an umbrella wherever I go. I live in a tropical country, after all. The ultraviolet rays here can kill, and unexpected rains are abundant. I don't want to run around in the middle of the street looking like a basang sisiw (or, wet chick--I know, a very literal translation) trying to look for cover whenever it pours.

However, I don't like all umbrella designs, especially the multi-colored ones or those with crazy floral prints. My umbrella has to be black, and it has to go well with my (limited) wardrobe and bag collection. So naturally, it has to be black, preferably London black. Honestly, I think our city would be supremely fashionable if everyone has that kind of black umbrella. Black umbrellas strangely make me feel content and satisfied, if you could believe that.

Currently, I have a normal length umbrella (the long one, like your grandma's), but I rarely use it since I commute most of the time, and even if someone drove me to get to a certain place, I still have to use public transport to get back home. So I own a much smaller umbrella, and it is a precious one. It is tiny, efficient, and black. It's so small that it resembles a bulky PDA phone (it really does--and people are amused everytime I show it to them). And it actually fits in my jeans pockets, in case I need to hide it or put it out of the way. It pleases me to no end that I can bring it anywhere like a secret James Bond gadget, always available and reliable.

Lucky

2007-09-14T22:09:00.006+08:00

This was a lucky week in terms of my ongoing DVD quest.

I was just casually checking out Odyssey in Market! Market!--where I work--when I found (gasp) a DVD of Volcano. I knew there's still a copy of it somewhere without having to resort to importing or eBaying it. This film had been on my mind since the start of the year when my strategic quest began. Then last night I was meaning to hang out in Robinson's Galleria (alone, as usual) but then something pulled me to go to The Podium instead to visit my most favorite video store. And surprise! I found a copy of Kate & Leopold (I had it on VCD format but someone borrowed it and just returned the case, lucky bastard). And not only that, it was on sale for just Php 150. A special Jollibee meal costs more than that! I also got Connie & Carla (loved it in the moviehouse) and because of Astroplus' promo, I got another DVD by just adding 25 bucks to Connie & Carla's cover price. So I got Bewitched (2005). I never saw it in the theaters before, but I really like the television show to which it paid an homage, and I'm not one to pay attention to pompous movie critics' negative reviews of the movie. If I don't like it, I'd feel lucky for the Php 25 I wasted would not be a big loss. If I do like it, that'd make me feel even luckier.

8 Facts

2007-08-25T08:51:00.000+08:00

I got "tagged". But let me break the rules of this little activity and start a little mischief in the world of social networking and tagging. Hey, I am really approachable, but not that friendly. Kidding.

Here are 8 facts about me that people might not know about me:

1. I might be autistic, which is a personal choice.

2. I don't wear perfume. Makes me dizzy.

3. I am fascinated by time travel. God, I wish I had a power.

4. I hated children's parties when I was a child. I never cared for crying babies.

5. I don't like food that are too salty, but I love putting salt on it. There's a difference.

6. I love Kris Aquino. She's frighteningly adorable to me.

7. I wish to author a famous quote someday, like, of Biblical legacy.

8. I am stupidly loyal. To people I truly love. Even if it makes me a fool. But a loyal fool.

Golden Dad

2007-05-22T10:43:00.000+08:00

Happy 50th birthday, Daddy!

Thank you, Connie Agana

2007-05-18T00:59:00.002+08:00

This blog is a year old. Thanks to all the visitors who have viewed this site and my other web projects. Please come and visit again. I appreciate your time and effort.

Speaking of visits, I smile whenever I remember my good friend Niña Manuson's story everytime I encounter the phrase "come again". (It's a long story--we'll have to ask her to tell it again.) So, thank you, Connie Agana, for making me laugh every single time.

Let's get biblical

2007-04-06T21:59:00.000+08:00

One of my favorite holidays apart from Christmas is Lent, especially Holy Week, which is the highlight that starts with Palm Sunday and ends eight days later with the most glorious day in Christianity, Easter.

I am not an overtly religious person, though I believe in God and I pray. I remember the time in grade school and high school when the entire class was made to recite the rosary every single morning, and we had to memorize all the different prayers and sacraments, coming from a Dominican school run by nuns. I used to go with my Lola and Mom, too, to church every Sunday to hear mass, although that was mainly because church attendance was checked every Monday morning and I had to write my view on the readings and the Sunday Gospel. I wasn't one of those people who went to church to socialize or mingle (this really falls into that 'I hate crowds' moments). Suffice to say, I always got high grades for my Religion and Values Education classes. I wasn't completely a good boy, but I was (and am) still a good boy.

Every Lenten season growing up, I was mystified by the Passion of the Cross, the local Pasyon Sessions, the Visita Iglesia and the Easter Salubong. In my eyes, those were festive yet revered celebrations, and I enjoyed hearing the elders' voices blasting through the speakers humming and singing the Passion of Christ. Strangely, I felt safe whenever I hear the pasyon which usually last three days (we'd had one in my grandparent's house).

These days, I commemorate Lent in my own special way: I watch religious-themed movies, specifically, Jesus Christ Superstar. Not an original idea and a tad cliché, but that's what I do. Actually I've been doing this yearly exercise since the mid-nineties, when we still watched movies on those VHS players (remember those?). For me, Superstar is one of the greatest musicals ever and basically, one of the most innovative films as well. I particularly love every part where Mary Magdalene was in, and the Gethsemane scene where Jesus accepted his role, and the ending when a mysterious shepherd can be faintly seen in the background leading his flock (a location error during production, by the way, but the director kept it and believed it was a heavenly intervention).

This year, I finally have bought a DVD of this amazing movie that never wears its novelty and its effect on me. This yearly ritual is an experience that I don't ever want to forget.

Asnallar's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" (2)

2007-02-26T14:58:00.001+08:00

The Megamall

1992 was my first time to go to the then newly-built SM Megamall in Ortigas. It was for a class field trip; we were going to watch the acclaimed movie "Sakay". For an 11-year-old child not used to travelling without his parents, I freaked out a little bit. We went there by van (our group's was a Toyota Hi-Ace) and it was a nice enough experience, like a road trip, Disney-style. I was with our homeroom adviser so I wasn't really nervous at all when we drove out of Malabon. In fact, I even enjoyed the little adventure.

I noticed that the other kids seemed pretty familiar with the mall's layout, so it seemed tha they had visited the place before. They knew where the ice skating rink was, where the arcade was, where the happening places for kids my age were, etc. As I was antisocial (since birth), I didn't care for those things. I just wanted to go home right after the film. I was pretty annoyed that it appeared I was the only one who didn't really appreciate being out there in the biggest, newest mall in the country. School was my sole hang-out during grade school (hey, I had to live up to my image). So I sat some place alone and ate my baon (snack) in my scrooge-ish solitude, hoping my annoyance would fade away. And then it came to me--I was alone. And undeniably, lost. Lonely, lost, and alone in a vast ocean called the Megamall.

Much to my embarrassment, my tear ducts were too quick to cooperate with my emotions, so there I was, with my young, innocent eyes watering. Inside my head I lambasted my class adviser, "Where were you when your student needed you?". (She has mentioned before to my classmates that I was her favorite pupil. Aww, I take it back.)

"Richard, why are you crying?," asked my class adviser, backed by a choir composed of my classmates.

Suppressing my tears, I replied, "I'm not. I'm just tired and I want to go home as soon as possible."

Well, it was the best alibi a child could think of then. And it was actually the truth; I really wanted--needed--to get home to wallow in my own embarrassing episode. Right then and there I was tempted to kick the speakers that played that extremely chirpy jingle... we've got it all for you!

Pow!

Smelly Cat

2007-02-08T16:58:00.000+08:00

Alright, I'm borrowing from Phoebe Buffay's signature song, but I think that title is perfect for this little event at the office back in the day:

Rosana: Good morning!

Everyone: Good morning, Tita Rosana!

Rosana: I brought chocolate. Get one and pass it around, Allan. I'll go to the washroom muna.

Allan: Oh, thanks po. You want?

Cesar: Sure.

Monty: Thank you!

Carmen: Oh, gracias.

Adem: Uy, thank you, thank you.

Raymond: Yay.

Cess: Thanks, he-he.

Bnsoi: Um, sarap naman.

Cheng: Thanks, Tita!

Carla: Thank you.

Allan: Um...

Cesar: Ahh...

Monty: Wait...

Carmen: Hmm...

Raymond: Yay!

Cess: Mmm...

Bnsoi: Er...

Cheng: Um...

Carla: Cheng...

Allan: Let me wash my mug in the restroom first... (throws the chocolate in the trash bin).

Cesar: Okay...

Monty: Teka, bakit parang ang baho nito?

Cheng: Oo nga!

Adem: Nagtaka nga rin ako eh.

Bnsoi: Basa pa...

Cess: Does this mean hindi na siya makakain?

Raymond: Ha? (frowns)

Allan: Nasa'an 'yung alcohol ni Ross?

Carla: Ayoko na nito...

Adem: Kakaiba amoy eh.

Carmen: Amoy... pussy!

Cesar: Pahiram nga rin ng alcohol.

Ross: (approaching) Oh, ano'ng problema sa alcohol ko?

Monty: 'Yung chocolate ni Rosana, may amoy!

Rosana: (returning) ¿Qué pasa?

Carmen: Amoy wet pussy!

Allan: Wait, Tita, paano n'yo nalaman na amoy pussy? Nang-a-amoy ba kayo ng pussy?

Well, that's more or less what happened.

Cold front (and back)

2007-01-29T21:34:00.000+08:00

A lot of Filipinos probably think that December is the coldest month of the year because of that brrr months thing, but it's actually the period from mid-January to early-February. They say the cold in China causes this new year's chill. That, coupled with the fact that January and February are the driest months in the country, makes for a very appealing sartorial display to many, especially to me. I do get cold easily, but I truly enjoy a chilly weather caused by mother nature, rather than the artificial icy conditions created by the ever-popular air conditioners. The cold temperature can sometimes cut like a knife (yeah, like the song) even in this mostly-tropical archipelago, and the best way to combat that is to wear sweaters and jackets.

When I was little I used to own maybe one or two sweaters, but I can't recall when I stopped using them. Perhaps it was during the time I outgrew them. And I didn't care much for chill gear until high school. I remember when there were typhoons and classes weren't suspended due to heavy rains and/or excessive flooding, I'd still be happy unlike the other kids. In fact, I think I enjoyed going to school during those instances, because then I would have had to wear jackets and look like one of those preppy school boys in American & Japanese movies. Oh, how I wished the Philippines had a winter season! Then everyone would have to have winter wear as well, and pedestrian fashion would instantly pick up a notch.

Perhaps the closest thing that this country would ever experience winter is in the northernmost part of the islands, in Batanes. It is a gorgeous place that mimics scenes from the Lord of the Rings and I'd like to visit someday, but it is expensive to go there and frankly I don't see myself living there long-term, even if they do have pseudo-winter. Then of course there's Baguio (the summer capital), the rest of Mt. Province, Antipolo and Tagaytay, the other chilly destinations in the country, whose residents don light to thick jackets, depending on the weather on a certain day. Oh, how I wish the Philippines had a real winter season!

My fascination with jackets started in high school when i saw my dad's preppy jackets which my mom probably bought for him. He had two of those, a navy blue and a creamy white one. I would sometimes borrow them on rainy days so that I wouldn't have to wear my regular jacket: a blue, custom-made hooded windbreaker (my sister had a purple one and my older brother had one, too, but I forgot what color it was). On my senior year, I opted to bring my dad's white jacket to Baguio when we had our retreat instead of my own because I thought mine was too Disney, since it looked like one of the characters wore in Hocus Pocus (so when I lost it somewhere I wasn't exactly broken-hearted). Since then I had a vision of having different ones tailored for different occasions, and that was the beginning of my path as a jacket collector.

When I entered college at UP Diliman in 1998, I asked my mom to buy mea real cool jacket that signaled my entry into University life, which could get windy and chilly during mornings and late afternoons and evenings. We scoured the entire Robinson's Place Manila mall just to get the right one for me. In the end I chose a creamy white one with black stripe from Bossini to go with almost anything in my humble wardrobe. And it was expensive too, because we bought it for three grand. Most of the nice jackets today, almost 9 years later, will cost the same thing. I didn't ask my mom to get me a new jacket after that, and it was only after my third year in college that I bought another one with my own money when I got a summer job. (Before that all my extra money went to albums and CD singles, another collection that I started when I graduated from high school.)

When I started purchasing jackets on my own, I made sure that I only got expensive ones because I knew I could take good of them and I didn't really believe that there'd be nice finds that cost less. So the one that I got from my summer job earnings was a navy blue Jag sports jacket, also in the same price range as the Bossini. Then my mom, knowing that I've begun to love jackets, agreed to buy me another one, this time a black Mossimo which I could use on more formal settings. I also bought a faux leather camel jacket from Hang Ten just for the heck of it, and luckily that one was on sale and I was able to get it for half the price at less than one grand.

By the time I entered my thesis year, I already got a full-time job and that was when my collection really kicked off. I bought a demin jacket, also from Hang Ten. And then I got another black one similar to my Mossimo, this time from Giordano (which, incidentally, was my last ever purchase from that store since their items are now ridiculously high-priced, and they're not exactly a high-end brand). That was to replace my Mossimo, which I gave to my best friend because I thought it fit him better, along with my Lee jacket. Then I went back to a Bossini store and got myself a navy blue one as replacement for the Lee. I also began to explore other stores where I could purchase jackets at a cheaper cost, and the best place to do that was at SM's Surplus Shop. From there I was able to collect four different styled ones in different colors between 2003 and 2004--red, brown, white, orange--which, I suppose, where imported from factory outlets in Korea and Japan.

I became known as Mr. Jacket at work because I would show up everyday in different jackets. Fortunately I didn't look weird because almost everyone in the office wore a jacket because of the very cold environment. But while I didn't want to look strange, I wanted them to notice me and note my love for jackets in a not-so-in-your-face manner. And I did just that by making sure I did not wear the same jacket on consecutive days or twice in a single week. I also made it a point to continue buying relatively expensive jackets partly because I think of it as long-term investment on my part, and because I realized that I could only buy apparel from certain stores because of body type and size. For example, I've long desired to buy jackets from Celio or Springfield, but their items are way to big for me. So I choose stores where I get my additions to my collection. Luckily once in a while there are shops that carry items that would surprisingly fit me, and for that I was able to get a dark brown jacket from G2000 and a smoky grey one from Bench.

Collecting jackets in different colors wasn't a conscious effort on my part but it just seemed practical to me to rival the rainbow if I am extremely fond of jackets. So within 2005 I also went and bought a yellow Puma jacket (which gets a UST-related comment from people everytime), a green military-inspired one from Folded & Hung, and a blue-and-beige from Human. Sometimes I regretted buying a particular jacket because it hardly matched anything I own; the entire outift has to go well with everthing, of course, down to the shoes. The stripped-brown that I got from Oxygen is an example. I've only worn that once since I bought it (although now, after more than a year of hiding in the closet, I think I'm ready to wear it again). Another example is the commemorative blue-and-gold jacket I bought from my old friend and classmate from high school. I don't really regret getting one as it was his project from college (he took Industrial Design in UST) and I wanted to support it, but the one that I got was ill-fitting, understandably because, although it was custom-made, we only made the arrangements over the phone and only met when the jacket was already finished. It's a good thing it's commemorative so I don't have to wear it at all (but I still was able to support my good friend).

Switching jackets is fun, even if sometimes deciding on which one to wear take too much time. It hasn't come to a point that it's turned into an obsession, and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't. I just like to surprise people since they already know me as a jacket-loving individual, so I play that up. In the past year I got another four, including a black Folded & Hung, a red-black-&-white one from Surplus Shop, and a really nice casual blazer from Maldita (which I didn't know carried men's apparel) that brought me back to the three grand price range. To balance things out, I started 2007 with a really cheap purchase from Surplus Shop, a black sports jacket (I love black). There are still many styles and colors that I'd like to get for my collection; after all, designers and manufactures keep coming up with different ones every year. I actually would love to have a nice white jacket to replace the Bossini one I got nine years ago, since I already gave that one to my older brother. White is a classic color and I would love to get a classic jacket that will last me for years, and as soon as I see one that fit me well, I'd buy it right away. My philosophy now is that I should not wait too long once I see an item that I adore, especially since there'd been times that I lost the opportunity to get the nice ones because I opted to wait and think if I really wanted them, like that blue one from Adidas or that dark denim from Topman. So in March I plan to get the brown blazer from Maldita before I lose the chance.

Everytime it gets cold outside, especially during this time of the year, and I see people shivering and crossing their arms to protect themselves from the lingering cold air, I keep wondering why they don't wear their jackets when they complain the weather's making them a tad uncomfortable. It is not a sin to wear a jacket when it's cold outside; that's the reason why they make them. And that's why I don't worry when I feel the chill. I know I've got ways to thaw out my cold front and back.

Asnallar's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" (1)

2007-01-04T21:35:00.000+08:00

I can't remember the last time when I laughed so hard alone, in public.

Wait a minute--I do. It was my senior year in high school. I had just come from a club meeting, and I had a free period, so I decided to linger. While going down the stairs, I saw a freshman trip. Since it was a curved descent, no one else witnessed this event other than myself. Luckily, the fperson who had a misfortune climbing the steps didn't see me staring at him in devilish solitary enjoyment. Poor guy, I thought, laughing silently.

As I continued my way down the stairs, I didn't realize that I was still laughing by myself, the evil smile still evidently carved on my face, and as I went past the curve, the majority of the senior class, who had just come out from their respective club meetings, saw me laughing, alone. Poor guy, they thought, laughing out loud.

Lechon

2007-01-01T20:54:00.000+08:00

They say it's the "Year of the Fire Pig".

In other words... lechon.

Welcome, 2007!

The Adventures of Asnallar (2006)

2006-12-31T23:54:00.000+08:00

These are the ten highlights of my (boring) year (at least, ten events that my mind can remember):

10. Acquiring my first passport. I thought I didn't need one because I didn't have immediate plans of fleeing the country, as I haven't even gone outside the island of Luzon (!) yet. But there was a job offer in Singapore, and I flirted with the idea of working abroad. So I fixed my papers and got me a passport. I withdrew my application after much discernment, though. At least now I have a passport. All I need is someone who would show me the world and finally put a stamp on it, a la While You Were Sleeping. (There's a really funny story about my journey in acquiring this passport, but that story will have to be funny in a future post.)

9. Applying for a job abroad, and then deciding against it. I didn't want to withdraw my application for a job in Singapore; in fact I'd already begun studying about that country from the currency to their MRT map. Had everything pushed through, that would have a major decision and life-altering experience for me. But the employer's HR department representative was a pain in the neck to deal with, especially during the interview process (he didn't even show up the first time and he turned up late the second time). Summoning all my diplomatic energy, I politely told my contact in Singapore that I could not continue with the process in this manner. They apologized for the inconvenience the HR guy had caused me. And what an inconvenience it had been! I couldn't make a decision if I was going to accept other job offers or not. The three good things about this experience are: 1) I discovered that I didn't want to leave my loved ones just yet by working in a foreign country; 2) I got to read about Singapore, a lot; and 3) I got to fix many documents that I might need in the future.

8. Watching the Idol finale, live. This was the first time that I entered the Araneta Coliseum, and it was such a treat because it was all free! A co-worker's friend had connections with the production team, and a day before the finale he told us that we were given complimentary seats in the blue, upper-box section, aka the Jan Nieto's supporters area, but I would've preferred to be with the yellow area as I had been a Mau Marcelo fan since the beginning of the show (I couldn't care less about Gian and his orange supporters). The Coliseum's VIP section wasn't jam-packed as expected, and luckily my party really had great connections and was allowed to transfer to where all the celebrity guests would have been seated, just a few rows from the stage. Yes, I got to see some stars, including judge Ryan Cayabyab, who is also my co-worker's friend from their OPM days. Judy Ann is really slim in person, thanks to Fitrum. Gretchen is really a goddess in her own universe. Host Ryan Agoncillo had gone bonkers by wearing that god-awful suit. Mau may be heavy, but beautiful--and talented. Her winning finale performance was just incredible and almost religious. Even through an unexpected commercial break, the entire audience were on their feet applauding Mau's performance, topping the amazing feeling when the people booed Francis Magalona while he was giving his comments after Mau's second song number (they should really replace him next year). After the show, I voted for Mau, my first and only solitary vote for the entire season. It was a promise I told myself when the series began airing: that I would only vote once, on its finale night. Mau was declared winner the next evening, thank God.

7. Adding to my cherished collections. Finally, I was able to add two new titles to my Mariah singles collection this year, thanks to a friend who gave me two Japanese CD singles as gifts. I also bought a DVD boxed set (I know, bootleg copy, but the original is still not sold here!) of my all-time favorite series, Charmed, and my dad already knows the show's theme song by heart, albeit in mockery of my witch-y fascination. Also this year, I bought four new jackets to add to my ever-evolving line-up of wintry accessories, as if we have winter in Manila (I should live in Batanes, where they have winter). I'll explain later.

6. Leaving my first real job. Some people thought I was really brave for quitting without a new job, but first of all, I don't want to call it "quitting", but "leaving". And second of all, at that time, I needed to leave and take a long break. I wanted to have a lot of time to discern what I really wanted to do and if I could do it, whatever it was, and honestly, just to rest. Since the summer of 2001 I've never had a real summer vacation like a regular student; I sat in on an elective in 2001, took summer classes and a part-time job in 2002, enrolled in full summer load in 2003, and on my final year in college, I already started working for my first real job. And after all those years without a real break, I just felt tired and knew I deserved to have an extended summer vacation.

5. Having an extended holiday. Oprah once said that before you quit a job, you must at least be covered for the next three months, financially-speaking. I saw that episode after leaving my first job. It's a good thing, though, that my savings prior to leaving last up to 6 months, considering that I pay a lot of bills (Let's just say my minimum monthly bill payments are higher than the gross salary of an experienced call center agent in Metro Manila.) Yes, I was worried that my savings won't take me to the seventh month had I chosen to extend my already extended summer holiday, but I really enjoyed my holiday. Everyday I did nothing but log on the net all day, listen to music, watch a lot of TV, lie in bed, sleep late, wake up even later, eat, and read and write. I also was able to find out what career I really want to grow old in, and that it would have to wait until I get a considerable amount of experience in that field. On top of everything else, I studied up a bit on web authoring, thus allowing me to create my very own network of sites, no matter how amateurish they appear to be in the eyes of professionals.

4. Accepting a new job offer. After months of considering and turning down a number of offers to work in different fields, I finally relented that I would be going back to the outsourcing industry, but this time I had my own terms: a fixed schedule during normal office hours, a salary higher than my previous employment, no silly corporate dress code, no interaction with a lot of people (hey, sorry, I am not a people person), and office should be in Ortigas*. My former superior, in a great twist of fate, got this new gig that met my terms, and although I gave up two chances of finally having a stamp in my newly-issued passport, everything turned okay.

3. Getting published for the first time. I almost thought I wasn't going to be published, and it was fine since it was my first time to submit an article to any nationally-syndicated newspaper. The first problem I encountered was shortening my almost 7000-character essay. Apparently they require a maximum of 5000 characters. The best I could do was drop a thousand off. The second problem was getting through their inbox; it was full for a week. The last problem was the biggest one of all. I wrote a comedic piece, lighter than what most people who got published wrote. But that was objective and I wanted to make a statement: twenty something people are not grim and all-too-serious creatures, so I wrote a funny article for PDI's Youngblood. Well, what I wrote was humorous to me. I got the surprise of my life as I saw my essay published less than a couple of weeks later while eating breakfast; I didn't think it would take that fast to get it ready as they still had to shorten it, and I honestly thought that the reason why their inbox was full was because there were tons of articles on queue. I suddenly felt embarrassed to see my name in the paper that morning and I didn't even read it until a month later--I hid the paper in my room. It was strange to have done what I did, but after the initial shock, I felt proud that I was able to accomplish my goal. And now I think I'm ready to revisit that essay and enter it in a competition in the Personal Essay category in 2007. Let's see what happens next.

2. Expanding my own, unique brand. My best friend Don must have taken an extra dose of genuisity that day in 2001 when he coined my Asnallar identity. I personally wouldn't have thought of creating that anagram for my name in the manner of Marcelo H. Del Pilar's Plaridel. This year I decided to expand this name and create my online presence by creating my own group of websites. This started in January with the newsletter Orgullo Online restructured to the e-magazine Orgullo Mundo. Then in March, I debuted my MyMariah fansite, on Mariah's birthday itself. Throughout April, all I did was create graphics and develop the style for Asnallar Online. On my 25th birthday, I posted my very first journal entry in the Gospel of Asnallar. Someday I will find a way (and the time) to expand Asnallar Online to include Rasaquino, my other identity (Asnallar is mainly for creative projects; Rasaquino is more for official functions); Automatic Genius, an avenue for random, spur-of-the-moment thoughts; Lyrical Bananas, for my amateurish poetry; and Forever Charmed, a new journal focusing on the history of my favorite witches, the legendary Charmed Ones (of course!). And right now I think of this as a joke, but if get ridiculously rich in the future, I would also utilize RASA (something I coined back in high school to promote my anti-gym class sentiments) for fashion-related merchandise (think FILA); Richard Gear (pun intended), for travel and mountaineering stuff; and Puro Café (I just love this one), for my very own coffee and pastry shop.

1. Spending quality time with loved ones. My extended holiday allowed me to be able to spend a lot of time with my family and friends, something which is very important to me. And even after I went back to work (or before I left my old job), I always made sure to find the time to spend time with them, even if it meant I'd only be getting three hours of sleep. A lot of my friends from school have left to work or study in another country; this 2006 another two of them left, Blossom and Niña. There's a reason why I choose to have only a few close friends. Aside from the fact that I'm really shy in person, I want to maintain a short list of really close friends so that I can be available for any of them whenever they need me. I'm not a dog but I am more loyal than one.

That's it for my (boring) recap. Here's to a more event-filled 2007!
_____
* Update: Since mid-January 2007, my office has been transferred to Fort Bonifacio Global City. It sucks big time, but it's a thing that I will just have to get used to.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T20:43:00.001+08:00

This, along with New Year's and Holy Week, is my favorite holiday.

And although there are people who think we should use a politically-correct, "faith-sensitive", but quite impersonal and a tad commercial greeting like "Happy Holidays", I am just not one of those people.

Merry Christmas.

Skipping Christmas, Not

2006-12-14T21:15:00.000+08:00

I can't recall the exact year when we thought we didn't want Christmas decorations set up at home, but it should be when I was still in primary school. I also can't remember why, but I think the main reason was, we (we, meaning my parents) just didn't have enough time that year. It was a decision that mostly surprised the neighbors, because they knew we had tons of decor accumulated over the years, and the finished product were always a sight. As a very young kid (who loved decorating, especially during Christmastime), I was perplexed by the decision of not putting up the decorations at all, which translated to a boring holiday to a young kid's eyes.

Christmas Eve came and we still didn't have a single holiday-themed decor, and I really thought it would be my first-ever tree-less, lights-less, lifeless Christmas. But my mom suddenly went against the original plan of skipping Christmas that year. Well, she didn't really want to skip the celebrations and act of gift-giving, but just the decorating part. The reversal of the decision garnered an immediate approval rating from this kid, so I helped putting up the tree and other things (something I'd be doing until I get old, I think--I told you I loved home decorating). A neighbor then saw us making a literally last-minute attempt to scrap skipping Christmas, and to me she looked like she was ready to break out in singing "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas". That didn't matter because I myself wanted to break out into song!

* * *

Two years ago, my mom again thought it was too time-consuming and energy-draining to dress up the house with holiday cheer, so it was skipping Christmas all over again. I was already working for almost two years by then and I, too, resisted to even attempt to open a box and start decorating. It seemed like the the holiday spirit really diminishes as people get older--at least, in a lot of cases. So what my mother did was she took out the two-foot top of our old 8-ft tree (the rest was eaten up by termites a couple of seasons back), put it in a sturdy vase, and then placed it on top of a round table where the gifts were. That year, we only had a miniature tree but never a miniature Christmas.

* * *

This year I thought it would be the same skipping ordeal, although I seriously hoped not because we had decorations up last year, and in almost full force. So I texted my mom a day before her birthday (December 8) if we weren't going to decorate at all. She replied, "Alright, start decorating". As soon as I received her message, I scrambled to get all the holiday boxes and by the end of the next day, right before her birthday dinner, I would say the task was 80% finished. I left the 20% work to my parents, so they could alter wherever it needed altering, or wire where I didn't finish wiring, or cover up where I didn't get to cover up.

A week later I couldn't help but sing inside my head: "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas". Indeed it was, and I felt like a kid again.

You're not the only one...

2006-11-26T22:56:00.000+08:00

Dear October,

I guess we have something in common now. So don't feel bad--you're not the only one.

Lovingly yours,
November

There are no vampires in Manila

2006-11-03T21:15:00.005+08:00

Finally, celebrations and nostalgic activities about the dead and the undead are over. Depending on where you came from or how you were brought up, you would have either enjoyed or loathed the past week.

Recently I watched a vintage episode of my all-time favorite show, Charmed, called "All Halliwell's Eve", where the Charmed Ones were transported to the past on All Hallow's Eve in the Year 1670 to help deliver their ancestor, Melinda Warren, whose magical birth was being threatened by evil. In Charmed mythology, demons and evil beings can walk freely on earth during All Hallow's Eve because it is when the source of all magic can be tapped into and is at its most powerful. However, in one episode of my other favorite show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this day is actually the opposite, as it is the day when all demons and vampires lay to rest. Really, it all depends on what you believe in.

Here in the Manila, lots of believers--as well as non-believers--have increasingly gone on to celebrate this day the Western way: that is, Hollywood-style, complete with costumes and free candies. The others don't give a damn, while the rest choose to stick to old-fashioned horror stories, Philippine-style, spending a great amount of time, money and effort on dealing with creatures like mananggal, kapre, mangkukulam, aswang, tikbalang, multo, tiyanak, bampira, and many other unfathomable things. When the imagination is working double-time, anything is possible.

Lately there is just one thing that I've been incessantly thinking about: vampires. Vampires are fascinating, to say the least. Over the past week I've had enough time to come up with several arguments why there are no vampires in Manila, and here's what I think:

There are no vampires in Manila because...

... they have nowhere to live. Where would they hide? In western countries, vampires supposedly reside and congregate in sewers and underground masoleums, which provide them refuge from sunlight and while still giving them instant access to the living world via extensive underground passages. But in Manila, there are no proper sewers that would fit them, let alone house all of them. And even if there were, they would constantly be filled with muddy floodwater, or worse, garbage. Vampires wouldn't survive on fast-food styro and plastic bags, right? And it would be kind of hard to escape the sun when they're in a tropical country just above the equator.

... they have nothing to eat. Unless they want to compete with hundreds of beggars on the streets, or with the packs of askals and pusakals that wander about the city. Vampires only eat blood? How many cases of dengue and malaria do we have here? I bet they wouldn't even dare suck our homeland rodents. Besides, recently-fed vampires would surely be the favorite victims of dengue--let's see them survive that.

... they can't keep their secret from being revealed. Lolit Solis and Gabby Concepcion thought they could, but in this age of Chikka Minute, nothing can be kept secret anymore, especially in a city swimming in showbiz lingo, 24 hours a day. As they say, the news doesn't sleep.

... hello? Churches, novenas, santacruzan, church bingo, saints' feast days celebrated everywhere, anywhere, all the time?

... in their bat form, vampires could easily get electrocuted by the twist-and-turns of the metro's powerlines, which also connect miles and miles of cable TV lines (legit or illegal, doesn't matter), phone lines, jumpers, and fiesta banderitas.

... there would be no new vampire recruits (or at least, I think, no one would sign up), considering the state of mind of some of our countrymen, who join cults, frats, gangs, whorehouses, etc, just to be accepted, or in order to earn a living, or even just to live. If vampires are supposed to be immortal beings and some of them can survive on rat or pig blood, I'm way sure this city would be crawling with them by now, because in this country, seemingly there's no singular animal part that is not a delicacy. Can't let those intestines just go to waste! Some folks eat bats, too. Vampires = Bats. Do the math.

... the local birth rate shows otherwise.

... of the call center industry. Honestly, which vampire wouldn't be tempted by the sight of tens of thousands of salaried (read: well-fed) kids out on the streets every single night of the year sans holiday? If there were really vampires in Manila, these kids wouldn't see the light of day, the day after they sign their contracts.

... immortality just wouldn't work in this city. People shed blood, tears, and spend big money in order to get that precious visa and emigrate somewhere else just to escape the traffic, the floods, the politics, and the perpetual poverty in Manila. Can you live with those things forever?

... if there really were vampires in Manila, we wouldn't have fantastical stories about them now, would we? Because personally, I'd be scared to death.

It's not you, it's me...

2006-10-31T22:57:00.001+08:00

Dear October,

We need to talk.

I didn't mean to abandon you, but I have my personal reasons. Please understand that I have a personal tradition to always keep anything remotely related to my bestfriend free, whether it be a weekend, or the letter "D" slots on my mobile's phonebook, or his birthday month--you. I know it's an unusual habit, but I bet your relationship with November is not as special as what you have with the other months, considering you and November have a deadly connection with which you share all things ghostly and freaky. Although I think September's been feeling pretty jipped because you two share an intoxicating festival, too. In any case, before you leave, please always remember: Everything that has happened this past month had nothing to do with you.

It's not you, it's me.

Sincerely yours,
Asnallar

-----
P.S. These are the type of sentences people should not use when they feel the need to talk with their partner.

26

2006-10-12T01:16:00.000+08:00

¡Muy feliz cumpleaños a mi mejor amigo, Don! Se cumple 26 años hoy.

The End of an Era

2006-09-25T23:17:00.000+08:00

It is done. My last holiday met its end today.

Geniusity!

2006-09-22T00:01:00.001+08:00

It's all over the internet and entertainment shows and magazines. The music industry is clamoring for a Mariah Carey-Janet Jackson duet!

I've been dreaming about this for a very long time, and this time my dream could actually come true, because the artists themselves have teased the fans in several interviews they'd given. And I have been working my brains out, trying to imagine what could be the realization of one of my fantasies.

The "Mimi"-"Damita Jo" duet would definitely be a music industry event. Tricky, though, because the song has to be perfectly executed from conception to recording. I hope it'd turn out to be something like "The Boy Is Mine" (a smash hit released by Brandy and Monica in 1998). I know my two favorite artists can pull off this type of song for the following reasons: it's a mid-tempo track that could pass for a slow jam, it's a true-blue R&B composition yet it doesn't alienate the pop and cross-over audience, Janet wouldn't drown in the vocal arrangements, Mariah can still belt out her parts, Janet can show some dance moves, Mariah can preen and pose around in the video, they can both be (almost) naked and sensual yet they can still be child-like and playful, and basically it's on fire!

A "When You Believe" kind of duet that Mariah did with Whitney Houston in 1998 wouldn't be believable if Janet was the other singer, and a track like "The Best Things in Life Are Free", the dance song that Janet and Luther Vandross did over a decade ago, would only work if it's a re-recorded club remix of a Mariah track, but not as the main LP version.

Now, Janet's 20 Y.O. pre-planned album re-release could only work half a year after the original release date (like the way Mariah's massively successful The Emancipation of Mimi was relaunched with new songs seven months after it was first issued). This time frame would be around March or April. Mariah has said that she hopes to release a new album by spring next year, and that's around March-April in North America. Their duet could be the debut single from Mariah's new studio album and the first single off Janet's re-released CD (and fourth over-all). This would mean big news for both of them since it's the first-time that there would be a high-profile collaboration between the two music icons. Most likely, the song would be penned by the two artists themselves, since they always have a hand on their recordings, and they should be getting assist from mega-producers Jermaine Dupri, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Jim Wright, who are their regular collaborators.

Jermaine Dupri, or JD*, is one of Mariah's real-life best friends and has been working magic with her since 1995 when they worked on a couple of songs on her Daydream album, which includes my all-time favorite song "Always Be My Baby". The team of Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and their junior associate Jim Wright have been Janet's hit-making partners since her Control days, a full two decades ago. Mariah, meanwhile, is also friends with Janet's team and she's been collaborating with the trio since 1999's Rainbow until her Emancipation in 2005. Janet, in turn, is Jermaine's fiancée and they've started producing their own original projects** together earlier this year, churning out the moderate hit "Call on Me".

All of them can work on the production of this song while Janet's third single from 20 Y.O. is being played on the radio worldwide, from November to December, which is after Mariah's world tour and around the same time that Mariah is filming for her new movie Tennessee*** (with award-winning "Monster's Ball" producer Lee Daniels). Then they can release the duet to radio around mid-January or early February, hopefully after David Morales (Mariah's close friend and regular remix producer) and Junior Vasquez (Janet's old remix partner) have worked out their spanking new mixes for the clubs.

This is genius! Now wake me up before I completely lose it.
_____
* JD and Mariah indirectly teamed up in 1994 for the urban remixes of her promo single "Never Forget You" from her Music Box best-seller when he was still an underground producer, but they have never met until they worked on Daydream.
** JD had previously remixed Janet's 2001 song, "Someone to Call My Lover".
*** The extremely strange connection here is that, Mariah's role in the movie, the aspiring country singer/waitress Krystal, was originally supposed to have been played by Janet, until Janet had to give it up to finish production on her latest album. After that, the producer hand-picked Mariah for the part.

Because!, Part 1

2006-09-16T02:14:00.000+08:00

Why did SM call its newest baby in North Edsa "The Block"?

Because it's there to block northside customers from flocking to Gateway and Glorietta.

* * *

Why don't I usually give my seat in the bus or the MRT to girls?

Because--with all due respect to "equal rights"--I paid for my seat, just like they did, only I got to it first. Besides, that's what "equal rights" mean to me. Alright, I'd let them have my seat if they were pregnant, or if they are aged, or if they were both (sweet menopausal baby!).

* * *

Why is it sometimes necessary to always think that everybody in a public place is a crazy maniac/criminal?

Because that's an effective way to avoid getting held up. Works for me!

The Object of Objection

2006-09-12T22:11:00.000+08:00

I love watching make-over shows. There's something about going through the process of "before" and "after" scenarios that appeals to me. It's like, when the ugly duckling finally turns into a swan, the natural order of things as they should be in a perfect world has ultimately been fulfilled. Hide the ugly, show its beauty. And the duckling doesn't even have to be a person being made over for me to like the program. It can be about any subject in this reality, really.

One of my top favorites is Sensible Chic hosted by Susan Blake (shown here on the Lifestyle Network). The show features one interior designer every episode who takes on the challenge of remodelling a particular room to mimic a very expensive designer room--the cost of which sometimes can shoot up to US$100,000--while keeping their expenses at around a couple of thousand dollars or less. The task may be daunting in paper, but the in-house designers are extremely creative and thrifty yet classy and stylish. There are times that the producers are even able to get the original designer who created the "inspiration room" who's also willing to do their own "sensible chic version" for the show. A little assistance comes from "sensible shoppers" (producers Lisa Quinn and Mollie Allen) who provide viewers some helpful tips on how to shop for chic items with a very inexpensive budget. After the room is completed, the host gives the guest designer the "$500-challenge", that is, to give viewers pointers on how to start a similar project in their own homes with a very reasonable starting budget. What I love about this show is the emphasis they put on money-saving planning to achieve that designer look. My favorite designer from this show is Stuart Piontek who really amazes me with his great ideas and design strategies. Plus he interacts very well with the host which makes their on-screen time exceptionally engaging. I just learned, though, that Susan Blake already left the show to work with an NGO focusing on inner-city youths.

Another favorite of mine is Clean House (Lifestyle Network), hosted by the very funny comedienne Niecy Nash (who's also seen on Jack TV's Reno 911). Nash chooses a family every week whose cluttered house is far from being a home. The remodelling budget comes from the homeowners themselves, who find themselves conducting a garage sale--with guidance from the show's "yard-sale guy" Allen Lee Haff--and donating everything that didn't sell to charity. After they establish their budget from sales, the producers will churn out the same amount, which "the decorator" Mark Brunetz and "the organizer" Linda "Koop" Koopersmith split . In this program you will see families break down and cry over junk they store in their houses, only to become advocates of clean houses at the end of each episode. Thankfully, Nash's diva-like attitude and comic expertise, combined with the co-hosts' over-the-top personalities, keep the families from losing it altogether. Plus, the idea of the yard sale, meaning the money comes from the homeowners themselves, is a practical way of purging the house of all the clutter and unnecessary mess and is very rewarding in the end.

Knock First (shown on ETC), meanwhile, features teenagers' bedrooms as subject. The crew--which includes an in-house designer (my favorite one's Taniya) plus two carpenters Andy (who could double for Ben Afflect in the movies) and Patty (who, in turn, could be a "woodwork barbie" because she's such a pretty girl with a degree in industrial design)--has a total of 24 hours (12 on the first day and another 12 on the second) to finish renovating the teen's personal space. Also invited to participate are a couple of the teen's friends. The catch is, they all have to help with the makeover, starting from choosing a pre-selected array of materials and designs, to actually re-building the bedroom. If the kids couldn't finish all the tasks in 24 hours, they get half-a-space. However, if they complete everything assigned to them on schedule, they get their dream bedroom plus a few gadgets on the side as reward. I like how this show teaches kids on how to be responsible young adults and teach them to learn how to work hard for something they want to achieve.

Decorating Cents, hosted by Joann Steffend (Lifestyle Network) doesn't require the homeowner to assist in redecorating a room in their house. What's different here is the host and the guest designer must be able to stretch their $500-budget to complete the design challenge. Since they have skimpy resources, they have a portion called "Trash-to-Treasure" where they feature useless junk and transform it into stylish decor with a little touch of creativity. The downside to that is, due to the limited means of this show, sometimes the room turns into gaudy models filled with cheap smokes-and-mirror tricks. But when they hit the jackpot with the $500, they really do. Of course, it wouldn't compare to the projects presented on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (RPN). In that show, the entire home gets renovated (and sometimes expanded) to fit to each family member's individual lifestyle. The whole renovation is fully-sponsored down to hotel accomodations of the family being made over. However, those branded furniture and appliances aren't the focus here, but the family's life and how the makeover would change their domestic and intra-personal relationships. The Oprah Winfrey Show's regular segment featuring celebrity designer Nate Berkus (Star World and Studio 23) also targets the homeowner's spirit, as Oprah and Nate are known to be very spiritual persons, especially Nate, who survived the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami but lost his partner. Now if I personally would be able to get sponsors to remodel my own home or build a new one from scratch, the Oprah and Nate duo is the way to go. The two have an ongoing project of establishing a new community in Texas for the Katrina victims. Oprah donated the land and titles, Nate designed each and every home, Oprah's best friend Gail chose all the groceries, and their friends donated everything from fixtures in the bathroom to plants in the garden. The houses definitely get top-of-the-line treatment and, even better, a spot on the Oprah show.

Now what would beautiful interiors mean if the exteriors don't match them, right? That's where Curb Appeal (Lifestyle Network) comes in. This show recognizes a cry for help whenever it hears one. The landscape architects and designers involved aim to remodel the facade of select houses that don't particularly shine in the landscaping department, turning them into manicured model homes at the end of each episode. The program demonstrates the step-by-step process using high-tech computer-generated imagery. I used to be so interested in this show when I was still majoring in Landscape Architecture in UP, but these days they don't even show it anymore here. What I'm still interested in, though, even though I don't have a car of my own, is Pimp My Ride (the US version is shown here on MTV Philippines). This makeover show for automobiles also present the process on how to customize simple and/or dilapited cars into ridiculously-fancy, rockstar-like wheels. Hosted by rapper Xzibit (and assisted by West Coast Customs in its first four seasons), the show however falls short on the practical aspect. But hey, they transform junk to dream autos fit for Jay Leno, so that's forgivable. In fact, the car owners couldn't even begin to "pimp" their rides without being sponsored by MTV, because they wouldn't be in this show if they could. The sponsorship they receive for their free, extravagant ride is part of the thrill, after all.

Of course, with all those beautiful homes filled with beautiful things, and beautiful lawns filled with cars with beautiful blings, it's also interesting to watch shows that get a little bit more personal to complete a makeover. For instance, soap opera actress Finola Hughes (also seen on Charmed as the "Mom") and host of How Do I Look? (Lifestyle Network) invites family and friends to nominate their loved ones to be made over on their clothing, grooming and how they carry themselves in general. The ones who nominate will secretly strategize and come up with their own fashion selection which they think would work best on their loved one. In a little game show twist in the end, the nominee will then choose a design they love the best, afterwhich the mystery designer is revealed. I also like to watch certain episodes of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which is a lot of fun, but sometimes the hosts' fashion choices for the guys are way too out there and freakishly Marilyn Manson territory, albeit on the pink, fluffy side. Its short-lived spin-off, Queer Eye for the Straight Girl (ETC), comes off as marginally better for me in terms of presentation, and the series' parody, the crude Straight Plan for the Gay Man (Jack TV)--emphasizing a reversal makeover or a deconstruction of sorts--is also generally amusing to watch.

Meanwhile, The Swan (Studio 23) is not what many people can call amusing. This show literally showcases ugly ducklings being turned into swans with a lot of assist from modern science and medical experts, and provides a play-by-play on plastic and cosmetic surgical procedures, presenting the struggles of a person going through a painful process in order to obtain that beauty queen look because they will need to compete in the pageant at the end of the season. At best, this show is intriguing, in a melodramatic, reality TV sort of way. Another play-by-play is featured on Becoming (MTV), but it is a little less harsh on its subjects as MTV's Creative Content division only resorts to glamorous make-up and complicated hair bleaching applications to copy a celebrity's famous looks, and the whole experience is actually a lot entertaining to watch. The same production company, however, strikes back on I Want a Famous Face (MTV)--Nip/Tuck in real life, by the way--showing the actual bloody surgery on TV behind opaque lenses. Even failed operations and ugly lawsuits associated with them make it on-screen, probably in an effort to reach out to potential patients, making sure those who would go for a costly and dangerous surgery really want to go through with it. But if I myself don't have the courage to go through watching all those expensive and elaborate makeover projects with humans as lab rats, Ambush Makeover (ETC) brings me back to basics, as the show's "style agents" (Mary Alice, the blonde one, is my favorite) usually just spend an afternoon with their subjects to go through hair & make-up and buy a new outfit (and sometimes, a little dental check-up too, if they have enough time) for a complimentary dinner in a nice restaurant at the end of the day.

After each project is completed, seeing all the faces of the people involved in any makeover is priceless, it's almost magical. "Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the seen to be unseen." This was Paige's favorite spell on my most-beloved TV series about good witches, Charmed. That incantation kind of sums up the bewitching transformation that happens on my favorite make-over shows. And maybe, that's what it's all about: Magic.

Outside

2006-08-30T20:46:00.000+08:00

Outside the immediate family of the recently re-defined Solar System's group of planets is Pluto, a dwarf planet in this modern age, which, technically, isn't a planet at all. While this development will force every science textbook publisher around the globe to edit and reprint all their materials, and science teacher to un-learn what they know and change their curricula, this will be a great opportunity to show the kids in school the nature of learning, of science, and of discovery. Personally, I think that this activity of the astronomers (which they have been doing for the past decade, bordering on nerdville soap opera) was not a complete waste of time and money altogether. Plus, it is just right that they now have a concise, universal definition of what a planet is--finally. One shouldn't have to wonder why these astronauts, rocket scientists and astromoners spend so much of their lives on something that they could not even properly define.

* * *

Outside, thousands of nursing graduates are complaining that the innocent should not be punished. Understandably, a lot of them don't want to go through the examination process again as it is tedious, costly and nerve-racking. Shame on those who cheated! How desperate could they have been? They should not be given their licenses at all. But what about those who did not cheat? Should they carry the burden also? Not at all. There was an offer that they re-take the exams without any additional expenses, but apparently they refuse to undergo another board assessment. That, I don't understand. I don't understand why they wouldn't want to take another test if they didn't cheat. Are they afraid they'd fail this time? But wasn't the point of the board exam to assess what they know--what they've been studying in school and in their OJTs--as measurement of their aptitude in the field of nursing, and determine if are indeed qualified/skilled to become registered nurses? Certainly nothing significant have occured in the world of nursing processes and knowledge in the last two months since they took the first exam. In fact, they would be more prepared this time as they would have known how the questions would be phrased or presented. If they would have to take a renewal exam ten years from now, this reaction would be more comprehensible. I don't understand why most of them are terrified. If they are meant to pass based on their own merits, they should pass, even if they had to take that darned exam five times. It's just like taking the typing speed test: surely our WPM standing would be the around the same as last month's. Unless the examinee practiced and studied more about the proper typing technique, which should favorably give them a higher score (assumably), or they broke a finger or had amnesia and forgot all the letters' positions on the computer keyboard, or they really cheated and maliciously inflated last month's results, to fail miserably the next time.

* * *

Outside of the ABS-CBN Compound in Quezon City is where they built the house used for Pinoy Big Brother. I've seen it from inside the cab or friends' cars many times, and it really looks like a real, cozy house from afar, only it isn't, since the facade is misleading--it is really a huge sound stage. This year, it doesn't even look like a house anymore as they covered up the main entrance to simulate a boarding school for the local franchise of Spain's Operación Triunfo and France's Star Academy (where the lovely Mariah Carey is a frequent special guest). They named it Pinoy Dream Academy for the local version, and since its creator, Endemol, is the same as the one that designed the Big Brother format. Dream Academy will basically be the same as PBB, only the challenges are always musical and there will be live performances every week. Will it be a hit? Yes, as the local viewers have come to love the format. My early prediction is the female contestant from Dubai will win a lot of fans who shall regard her as their hero (other than being the OFW kind of hero). But how will it fare with the competing program, Philippine Idol, whose foreign counterparts are more well-known here? I am a fan of American Idol and I've watch all the weekend editions of Philippine Idol, and I must say the franchiser, Fremantle Media, did a good job on choosing ABC as its franchisee in the country. ABC has been following the tried-and-tested formula by-the-book, and all my fears of watching a poorly-executed local version (like what they did with The Price is Right and Family Feud) were washed away. Philippine Idol, like its international sister-programs, will point out the mistakes of aspiring recording artists right in their faces so they can be successful, while Pinoy Dream Academy will train those aspirants--the dreamers--and tell where their strengths lie and hone their talents so they can be successful. We'll see in a few months which treatment works best for local artists and music fans.

* * *

Outside the "more urbanized" metropolis is the suburb of Manila called the Camanava area, a geographical group of three cities and one municipality in the northern part of the National Capital Region: Camanava, which stands for Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela. If you follow the grouping made by the archdiocese or some school districts, it usually leaves out the one more associated with Bulacan, which gives us Calmana, for Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas. If you use the political zoning for congressional districts set by the national government, Caloocan is technically the oldest city in this part of Metro Manila and therefore entitled to its own list of congressmen, thus, it distances itself from the infamous group. However, Malabon and Navotas share a lone congressional district, probably because historically, Navotas was a barrio of Malabon until it became a town itself sometime in the last century. Malabon is where I have lived my whole life (alright, at least the first 25 years, as my whole life isn't over yet), and it is basically famous for its below-sea-level altitude and incessant flooding. The floods are such a pain, I tell you. But sometimes my little town (now a city, but still a town, really) is not all floods (let's not forget: Imelda's lame project of converting hectares and hectares of fish ponds so she could give away land titles when she was Metro Manila governor paved the way to Brgy. Dagat-dagatan--the name of this area just reminds us of its previous role, which was a basin of rain- and floodwater). There are several kinds of festivals, like the pancit festival and other religious ones, the old bahay-na-bato that reflect its 400-year history, the SME's like Rufina, Nanay's Pancit Malabon, Dolor's Kakanin and Tropicana Studio (favorite among Sampaguita and LVN stars), the welcoming smiles of different families so sincere it's almost provincial, and some other little things you probably won't find in bigger cities. There may not huge cyberparks or supersized-malls in this "oriental Venice" but at least most people are not the dried-up urbanites/socialite kinds. Not that there aren't any kind of bad souls living here, but most probably the good souls would readily outnumber them. Plus, there wouldn't be any major political rallies or ugly bomb threats in these parts, so that's a good thing.

_____

Outside (core-meaning) -- a grammatical word indicating the outer surface or appearance of something (according to the Encarta ® World English Dictionary).

Grr, Part 4

2006-08-25T16:48:00.001+08:00

24 Horas' entertainment news segment, Chikka Minute with Pia Guanio, has increasingly become a source of excitement on Philippine television. But before you ring the alarm and send me to the loony farm (hey, that rhymes!), allow me to provide you with some examples. I guess this TV segment falls under the category of what they call "it's so bad, it's good".

* * *

Pia: Mamaya sa Chikka Minute, abangan: Ang reaksyon ni Angelica Jones sa balitang nai-insecure siya kay internet diva, Alyssa Alano. Totoo nga ba ito?

Mel Tiangco's thought balloon: Importante pa palang malaman namin 'yun?

Mike Enriquez's thought balloon: Ano kaya'ng ulam sa canteen?

* * *

Pia: Thanks, Mike. Ngayong araw sa Chikka Minute: Alice Dixson, binenta na lahat ang ari-arian niya sa Pilipinas. Hudyat na nga ba ito na hindi na siya titira sa bansa at mamalagi na lang sa Amerika? Abangan ang kasagutan mamaya.

Mike Enriquez's thought balloon: Ay naku, hindi pa hudyat 'yan! False alarm.

Mel Tiangco's thought balloon: Wala lang 'yan. Gusto lang niya ibenta lahat tapos makikitira na lang siya sa squatter.

* * *

Pia: Salamat, Mel. Jennilyn Mercado, proud na proud sa bago niyang pelikula, ang "Eternity" ng GMA Films. Ano kaya ang masasabi niya?

Jennilyn: Panoorin niyo po, napakaganda pong pelikula. Pinaghirapan po naming lahat. Kasi 'di ba, lahat naman tayo may pinagdaanang "past"? So I'm sure makaka-relate silang lahat.

Pia: At iyan po ang Chikka Minute. Abangan sa Lunes kung ano ang masasabi ng iba pa niyang co-star sa pelikula. Mel?

Mel Tiangco: Salamat, Pia. At iyan po ang aming tinutukan sa nakalipas na 24 horas!

Mike Enriquez's thought balloon: Mamaya, may pupuntahan naman akong "future". I'm sure makaka-relate si Madam Auring.

Baby Boy

2006-08-19T01:42:00.000+08:00

Someone sent me an e-mail about the usual characters of most people born in a particular month. I am usually fascinated by these so-called analyses, not because I believe every single thing written, but because they're a fun read. And I like fun, fun, fun! For May-born babies like me, they say these are their major characteristics:

Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Shy towards opposite sex. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High-spirited.

The e-mail did not warrant any reply, but I replied nonetheless, as I had extra time to dissect the little piece of analysis and tried to see if there's some truth to it. Here's what came out of it:

Stubborn and hard-hearted. --STUBBORN, TO A DEGREE. HARD-HEARTED, NO--I'M A SOFTEE.

Strong-willed and highly motivated. --YES.

Sharp thoughts. --HELL, YEAH.

Easily angered. --ONLY IF I HAVE A VALID REASON, WHICH USUALLY IS THE CASE.

Attracts others and loves attention. --HMMM, YOU TELL ME.

Deep feelings. --LIKE THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN.

Beautiful physically and mentally. --TEE-HEE.

Firm Standpoint. --YES.

Needs no motivation. --SOMETIMES.

Shy towards opposite sex. --SHY TO EVERYBODY. (BUT MAKULIT TO LOVED ONES.)

Easily consoled. --SEE? I'M A SOFTEE.
Systematic (left brain). --YES, AND ARTISTIC, TOO! HAHA!

Loves to dream. --WHO DOESN'T?

Strong clairvoyance. --I THINK SO, TOO. I'VE GOT (CHARMED) POWERS.

Understanding. --MOST DEMOCRATIC PERSON IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. BAH!

Sickness usually in the ear and neck. --WHY NECK? I'M A PAIN IN THE NECK???

Good imagination. --JUST GOOD? IT'S GREAT!

Good physical. --PHYSICAL... HEHE!

Weak breathing. --YEAH... HAD PRIMARY COMPLEX FROM 1998-1999. (YOU WOULD HEAR ME BREATHING HEAVILY ON THE PHONE, AND IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF SOME PERVERTED PERSONAL QUALITIES, BUT BECAUSE I TAKE IN AIR HEAVILY.)

Loves literature and the arts. --YEAH... I THINK... HARHARHAR.

Loves traveling. --ONLY TO NICE PLACES. HAHA. I'M A LOYAL PASSENGER. TAKE ME ANYWHERE.

Dislike being at home. --WRONG. I LOVE BEING AT HOME. NO WORRIES, NO SUN, NO SMOKE-BELCHERS, NO TRAFFIC.

Restless. --DEPENDS.

Not having many children. --UGH. HATE CHILDREN. HEHE.

Hardworking. --YOU GOT IT.

High-spirited. --DITTO.

Other than one jarring inaccuracy, the whole thing is quite representative of me. Don't you love having free time?

Happy Hour

2006-08-16T00:38:00.001+08:00

Even though I don't look it, I can probably outlast most of my family and friends at the dining table. I eat a lot, especially when I love what's being served, and I eat a lot of times in a single day. I am always craving for something to munch on, and it's not just junk food that I long for, as it seems to me that I've outgrown that. I always desire for something I could sink my teeth into, like burgers or donuts or a full Filipino meal.

Yes, lots of rice and some delectable dish to go with it.

Thankfully, I don't eat with my eyes. Presentation is not the main crowd-drawer for Filipino dish, anyway. But I must admit that I pick what I eat based on my nose's reliable decision-making skills. An hour before the traditional meal-time, I am found lingering about the dining table or kitchen. Like a hawk waiting on its prey, I perform an act that never fails to elicit a remark from my parents. It's such a pity that I never learned how to cook, as I wouldn’t have to wait for food to be served. I don't even know how to properly boil an egg without its shell cracking for being overcooked—a sad fact of my life. When I was younger I attempted to fry hotdogs or make me some sunny side-ups but for some reason, they usually never turned out the way they're supposed to be—edible. Now that I am older, that reason appears to be that I am afraid of cooking oil. Which is a perfectly valid reason. That's why it amuses me to watch all those celebrity chefs on TV, or even just my father or my brother (and in recent years, my mother, too) work their way in the kitchen and not be bothered by oil-related injuries close at hand. Having grown up without acceptable culinary skills whatsoever, I've learned to appreciate canned food to alleviate my hunger at any given time. Canned food requires no heating, no frying pans, and no fencing-with-the-angry-dancing cooking oil. One of my favorites would be Ma-ling or Spam, whichever is available at home or easiest to buy from the nearest store. I then partner the luncheon meat with rice and sauce that my mom loves as well: patis with calamansi.

Another favorite of mine is Spanish-style, spicy sardines, again coupled with rice and the mom sauce. I usually crave for Spanish sardines around midnight—my very own happy hour. Admittedly, most people might avoid eating a full meal at that ungodly hour, but not me. It's not like I have to worry about gaining weight. In fact, I've always wanted to gain more mass and weight ever since I was little, and people would advise me to eat more, and give me vitamins so that I'd eat more. And I did eat a lot, notwithstanding assistance from vitamins, since I feel like I am a live Jughead Jones, someone who always eats but never gains an ounce, and whose weight magically stalls at around 120 lbs.

I know I have unusual dietary habits, but then again, who doesn't? Here’s another example: In roasted or broiled chicken (or any kind really, as long as it’s chicken), my favorite part is the white meat, i.e. the chicken breast, or the part where most people dare not cut because they say it doesn't taste anything. Not true, but I let them be. That fear of theirs leaves me a whole lot of chicken parts to finish. And fried bacon? I don’t like it crispy. It has to be extra soft and barely cooked, just so the juice and flavor are kept intact. (Now that’s something that I share with my best friend.)

Even when I am in a public venue, I am used to eating alone. These days, eating alone can be a normal scene in a fast-food restaurant. But I am also not ashamed when I'm alone in casual dining places, like when I savor an order of pizza and chicken basket with lots of extra mojos at Shakey's, or when I finish half a spring chicken at Max's, or whenever I take advantage of the unlimited soup and salad servings at Cravings, all by myself. It would be a bonus if there's something like a fish-bowl iced tea in the menu like at Jack’s Loft, or bottomless iced tea like at Pancake House. I’d (almost) feel so sorry for the waiter assigned to refill my glass.

I must say, though, that I still haven't tried eating by my lonesome at a more formal, fine-dining joint. I think I would probably feel silly there, and most likely wish that I should have just gone home and had my happy hour in front of the TV in the living room.

Oh, look, it's my happy hour. Let's eat! I'm famished.

Why?, Part 4

2006-08-11T15:20:00.000+08:00

Why...

* do jeepney drivers feel it's alright for them to forget giving a 50-cent change but they go ballistic when passengers lack 5o cents in their minimum fare?

* do cab drivers tip themselves?

* were the locals near Mt. Mayon clapping when they saw the volcano erupt?

* did Drew Arellano say "Ahh, that's good, Sir" when the PAG-ASA representative he was interviewing was explaining that the typhoon (formerly known as Gloria) would bring strong winds and cause excessive rains in the next few days?

* people never ever realize that Teng and Captain Barbell are the same person when they've all seen his face in either guise, is beyond comprehension.

SuperFun

2006-08-06T13:12:00.002+08:00

I miss the SuperFun days, when I was younger and where, in my eyes, everything in this world generally seemed better, even if those days were considered a time of frugality in the midst of extravagant ambitions. When we were still observing Daylight Savings Time during the summer months, during which there would be 12-hour rotating power outages and the kids would have no choice but to learn how to play traditional games in order to amuse themselves without electricity. When the Asian financial crisis hadn't hit the region and affected every industry and, most importantly, every Filipino family. When the World Youth Day celebrations were at their peak, and when Pope John Paul II was still alive to bless us with his prayers. When Mariah Carey didn't have the Glitter burden yet that put an unjustified blemish in her track record. When the Spice Girls were cooking great tunes instead of all-ginger The Pussycat Dolls. When Chico and Delamar were just starting as a duo and building an army of followers that would eventually be called the Rushers. When every young boy and girl watched Ang TV, Princess Sarah and Cedie and knew from where the term esmyuskee came. When there were no local "fantaseryes" yet, which are essentially just plagiarized versions of foreign productions. When local shampoo commercials were classy and elegant instead of the cheap-o karaoke sing-along clips that we get these days. When Disney was still producing captivating 2D animated features during their Renaissance period that started with The Little Mermaid and ended (arguably) with Mulan. When Arnold (Ah-nowd) made certified blockbuster films like True Lies and Eraser which provided moviegoers an equal dose of action, comedy, romance, suspense, and campiness, unlike this decade's films (although Charlie's Angels and Mr & Mrs Smith come close). When every establishment in the city didn't need to inspect and check-in bags. When the subject and storylines of Hollywood terrorist films were just make-believe.

I miss the '90s.
_____
SuperFun is what Chico calls Delamar when she tells hilariously corny jokes on their 10-year-old radio program called The Morning Rush on Monster Radio RX 93.1.

My Alphabetopedia (incomplete)

2006-07-22T11:00:00.003+08:00

A - Available? Yes
A - Album (all-time): "Daydream" by Mariah Carey (1995)
A - Actors: Holly Marie Combs, Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, Jaime Lee Curtis, Fran Drescher, Mark Ruffalo

B - Best Friend: Marc Anthony C. Flores, aka Don
B - Birthday: May 18, 1981
B - Birthplace: Manila

C - Childhood Crush: I'd melt away if I reveal it.
C - Color: Earth colors, Black, White
C - Concert: Charmbracelet Tour in Manila: One Night Only (2003)

D - Drink: Iced Tea, Mango Juice, Sprite, Royal
D - Dissertation: "The Romantic elements present in the magical spells used in the American television series Charmed (Seasons 1-5): A literary analysis of the Spanish translation of the spells utilized in the hispanic dubbed version, Embrujadas."
D - DJ: Chico & Delamar (radio), David Morales (remixes)

E - Education: University of the Philippines-Diliman, St. James Academy
E - Eggs: Sunny-side up
E - Email: asnallar@yahoo.com

F - Food: Steak, Pizza, Home-made Fries, Pork Sinigang, Balut, Fried Chicken, Bacon, Amazing Aloha, Pancit, Lugaw & Tokwa, Isaw!
F -
F - Fear: Spiders, Big crowds

G -
G -
G -

H - Hair Color: Dark
H - Holiday: Christmas, Holy Week
H -

I - Ice Cream: Cookies N Cream, Chocolate Marble, Vanilla, Chocolate
I -
I - Icon: Mimi

J -
J - Job: Product Support-Spanish (2006)
J - Joke:

K -
K -
K -

L - Languages: English, Tagalog, Spanish
L -
L -

M - Music: Anything that sounds good; mostly urban music, R&B, pop, dance, house, remixes, adult contemporary, pop rock, rock, rap, blues, even country
M - Movie I can watch over and over: One Fine Day, Only You, 13 Going on 30, Just Like Heaven, Jesus Christ Superstar, Chicago, Bring It On, Van Helsing, Volcano, Legally Blonde, Sister Act, Hocus Pocus, Miss Congeniality, The Lake House, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Last Holiday, The Others, Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, True Lies, Back to the Future

M - Magazine: T3 Philippines, Chalk, MetroHim, Enterpreneur, Better Homes & Gardens, Reader's Digest

N - Nickame: Allan, Poppers

N - Number of Siblings: 3
N - Newspaper: Philippine Daily Inquirer

O -
O -
O -

P - Parents: Ernesto Jr and Corazon Aquino
P - Philosophy: Better late than absent!
P - Politics: Apolitical

Q -
Q -
Q -

R - Religion: Roman Catholic
R - Restaurant: Pancake House, KFC, Jollibee, TGIFriday's, Steak Town, Cravings, Shakey's, Mister Kebab
R - Radio Station: RX 93.1, Magic 89.9, Wave 89.1

S - Song (all-time): "Always Be My Baby" by Mariah Carey (1995)
S - Siblings: Andrew Christian, Jo-Anne, April
S - Store: Tower Records, Odyssey, Megamixx, Folded & Hung, People'R'People, Oxygen, Wade, National Bookstore, Booksale

T - TV Show: Charmed, American Idol, The Nanny, Friends, Will & Grace, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mad TV, Sensible Chic, Tonight Show with Jay Leno
T - TV Channels: Studio 23, Star World, ETC, National Geographic, Lifestyle Network, HBO
T - Time of Day: Madrugada

U -
U -
U -

V - Vegetable you hate: Ampalaya
V - Vegetable you love: Beans, Eggplant
V - Vision: 175/150

W - Webpage: www.asnallar.co.nr
W - Website: Mariah Daily, Mariah Journal, Mariah Connection, MCArchives, Wikipedia, The Charmed Ones, YouTube, Billboard,
W - Weather: Cloudy, with scattered drizzles all throughout the day

X - X-Factor: Loyalty
X - X-Rated Alias, aka Pornstar Name: Brownie Sioson (old-school), Brownie Adante (contemporary)
X - X-tra special condition: Primary Complex from 1998-1999

Y - Year you were born:1981
Y - Year it is now: 2006
Y -

Z -
Z - Zodiac: Taurus
Z - Zip Code: 1470

Asnallar the Bloody Young

2006-07-20T09:56:00.002+08:00

Three months ago, during the height of my self-imposed vacation, I decided to write an essay about my great dislike for sports and PE class. I'm quite known to my friends for having an abhorrence for these two, so why not? And after I came up with the idea, I made sure my target audience would be the Youngblood readers.

I've been reading the print version of the column since high school, and while I've enjoy reading many of the articles members of my generation have sent in, I'm usually amused at the way they write their essays. It's strange that most of the contributions to Youngblood are so serious and pensive, like I'm not sure if I'm reading a Highblood column (written by senior citizens) instead of essays written by the twentysomethings and below. It's perfectly alright to be contemplative, but at age 16 or even 29, it is quite hard to fathom that these young people already know what life means and have found out about "the truth" about everything. They board a jeepney in Quiapo, and they instantly realize how life works. They encounter a beggar in EDSA, and their whole world crumbles. They cut a paperdoll when they were 10 years old, and they're so certain of the future. Lucky for them if they really do--we should be able to experience utopia in the next decade because of those realizations. But someone gave a great reminder to all young adults and teenagers: that it is also absolutely alright to be young and not know everything. As Mary Schmich put it, "Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't."

So I decided to send in my contribution. I originally intended to send it in before my 25th birthday, so that if in case it gets published, it could act as a birthday present. I had somehow fantasized that my first nationally published essay would coincide with my quarter-life anniversary, to emphasize the youth factor (yes, 25 is young, Beyoncé is turning 25 in September and she's going to celebrate her youth by issuing a new album). Besides, considering that the Youngblood column only accepts articles from 29-year-olds and below, I would only have four more years left to get published beginning this summer, and I'd have to wait for 30 years to qualify for Highblood.

After a couple of days of thinking about my thesis statement, I finished my composition, but I realized it was too long--with 6000 characters, perhaps longer that Mike Tan's page long column--and I was afraid the Philippine Daily Inquirer wouldn't accept it as it might not fit the page. So I did my best to shave at least 500 characters off of it. Then I tried to e-mail it to them, but Youngblood's electronic inbox was always full and could not accept new mail. Everyday that month until June, I always attempted to send it in, only to get a notification two minutes later that sending failed. Amazingly, on our Independence Day, I was able to finally e-mail it to PDI. And it was perfect timing because of the World Cup. That time I even daydreamed to get published during the World Cup finals week, just for the irony of the whole situation. It didn't happen though, and I thought my essay didn't make it because of its tone, or perhaps the editors decided I was too crazy for writing and sending it, or maybe both. After that week, I didn't look for my name anymore in the paper.

It was a letdown, because my friends and teachers have always liked the way I write, and if I could not get published in a column for young people by young people, then maybe my style* sucks or is not suitable for young audiences--psychiatric guidance is advisable. What I wrote for Youngblood was comedic in tone. While the subject matter was very personal to me, I wrote it in a manner I'm most comfortable with: Romantic, humorous, sardonic, whimsical, particular, and at times, innocent. The essay was not stern or rigid at all; it was airy, nostalgic and, if I may say so, funny. That was what I wanted to show--not all twentysomethings who want to contribute to their column are grim or wistful all the time, nor do they want to read deeply-serious articles every single time. If my comical piece got published, then PDI readers would also get to know one side of the young, the amusingly peculiar side, one that is not usually emphasized in the column. Besides, the PDI invitation says "We want to know what the young are thinking about." Well, I'm a reticent comic (believe it or not), so here's what I think:

Just Hate It

They shortened the piece a bit, and changed the title. At first, I wasn't sure about the new title, but I'm alright with it now, especially since I used it in high school for my personal crusade, that is,

The Sports Crusades

The second one was the original title of the essay, and it's rather ambiguous, knowing that I don't fight for sports at all.

* * *

Now that the Inquirer published my composition, maybe I'll enter it at next year's Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature's division for individual essays and see if the judges would accept an off-the-wall, humorous entry. There's nothing wrong with trying, right?

_____
Click on the titles to read the old and new versions and spot the difference. The PDI version appeared in the paper's July 20, 2006 edition, on Page A11--my first-ever published piece in a national publication. Mission accomplished.
* I'll write about this in a future post.

Why?, Part 3

2006-07-17T07:19:00.000+08:00

* Why is David Celdran looking more and more like Matt Lauer??? Is that deliberate? Same balding head, same hair cut, same reports (except David has no morning show), etc.

* Why is there no local counterpart of Anderson Cooper?

* Why is it extremely freaky when Mike Enriquez says, "Para sa Chikka Minute, ano ba ang balita ngayon, Jolens?"

* Why can't Martin Nievera speak straight Filipino when he's lived here for over 2 decades, and Alex Compton can?

* Why did they ask Lucy Torres-Gomez to endorse a whitening cream when she was born naturally, frighteningly pale?

Digital Let-down

2006-07-11T15:52:00.000+08:00

On Billboard.com's Chart Beat Chat column by Fred Bronson, reader Jeff Pearlman commented regarding the demise of singles, or 45's, as he particularly mentioned. He told Fred, a long-time columnist and researcher for Billboard magazine, online and radio: "I'm pretty sure I've written before about my continued dismay over the disappearance of "physical" singles, but this is big ."

I, too, am sad that physical singles may soon be extinct anywhere. To be honest, I'm not a fan of this digital music "revolution." As a music lover, I would like to have music that's tangible, where I have a compact disc (or even cassette--being 25 years old, I grew up with CDs and cassettes, although I did get to see my grandparents' records collection), a picture sleeve or inlay with nice pictures of the artist and information on credits. On digital copies, the information or "tags" may be changed or deleted, the quality of the music may be compressed or mutilized, and I feel for the songwriters, producers, engineers, et al, if some of them are against digital distribution of music, especially when it first came out a few years ago. While I recognize the fact that this development helped and continues to help a lot of up-and-coming and independent artists to distribute their works, and allows music compression for music libraries and players, digital song copies somehow promote piracy. Plus, it's like buying a book that you love but you can't flip its pages, or a looking at a favorite photo without being able to hold it. Now, imagine a delectable hamburger in tablet form a la aspirin.

The main reason why I'm a little upset about the phase-out of CD singles is because in this country, the record/CD stores (e.g. CD Warehouse at Galleria, Megamixx at Megamall, Odessey XL at SM City, O Music & Video at Rockwell and Tower Records at Glorietta) used to import the US single releases in the 90's 'til about 2005, when all the stores carrying singles either closed down or removed their singles sections, presumably because the US market stopped producing them. Now I don't have any way of buying them (I collect them for the special remixes) unless I order through the web and import from other countries (which I'm afraid to do because I don't want my credit card info on the net). In Europe, Australia, Thailand and Japan, they still have physical CD singles and digital singles. Why can't they continue that in America? I'm pretty sure there are a lot music lovers who want the physical singles. The dance releases still have them (maxi-singles), then why not for all the singles?

Digital music comprise of actually a little percentage of music sales, that's why it surprises me that this is given much importance in promotions and it's called the future of music distribution. Perhaps it is because it gave new life to the dying singles market (singles were slowly phased out in the U.S. starting in the mid-1990s, and since 2002 no major artist has released one except for promotional copies for radio and club play.) These days, consumers can choose to purchase just a single song if they don't like to get the rest of the album. It is a thoughtful concept, but it undermines the abilities of producers and and efforts of the artists, and the concept of albums in general. Thankfully, a few wise executives still believe in the CD format like me, and they will make sure CDs are here to stay for a long time. Besides, physical singles were created for the same reason. I'm pretty sure it was as hard for the older generation to accept the technological innovation called compact discs when they had vinyls, but this digital revolution is different, because we can't touch the music anymore. We can hear it, but we can't feel it.

Someone previously commented on one of my favorite Mariah Carey forums on the net that they miss CD singles as well, especially from their favorite artists. And if you know Mariah Carey fans, you know that they are avid collectors of actual singles. That person said that digital singles mean, "Yeah-this-sounds-interesting-let-me-download-this-song-and-see-if-I-like-it" compared to buying the physical single, which means "I-love-this-song-and-I'm-willing-to-do-extra-by-going-to-the-store-and-pay-for-a-copy".

Forgive me but I'm buying the CD.

Grr, Part 3

2006-07-06T19:45:00.001+08:00

* Wer na u?

If the sender is 12 years old like my youngest sister, I might answer back. But if they are 13 years or older, I won't show up. Gone na me.

* Iskedyul, etsetera.

I must admit, I am not a supporter of Filipinized spelling of foreign terms. The words just look weird when spelled that way. It's either: stick with the original word, or use Taglish, or find an appropriate translation. In our country, it seems weird to speak in straight Tagalog, though, right? So I'm alright with Taglish on certain occasions.

* Chikka

For some reason, it really freaks me out when Mike Enriquez introduces Pia Guanio's segment "on the latest showbiz happenings", Chikka Minute. Hindi talaga pahuhuli sa mga bagong chikka, Pia!

* Dude-Pare-Tsong

I have never used these words, particularly in this succession, and I never intend to.

* Pffft!

I understand why Jeepney drivers feel offended when uncivilized passengers used this, or knock on the ceiling, to stop the jeep. How hard could it be to utter "Para"? From what I have learned in my linguistics classes in English and Spanish in college, the sound of "pffft", a combination of labial, labio-dental and glottal actions, is much, much harder to do compared to simply pronouncing "para". Pffft!

Attack of the Young 'uns

2006-07-01T23:54:00.000+08:00

If 2005 was the year when the divas live again, 2006 is starting to look like the attack of the young 'uns. Well, at least the latter half. Expected to release new material in the third and fourth quarters are Beyoncé, Monica, Brandy, Jojo, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, and Jessica Simpson (and yes, some of them have last names). If the media buzz is any indication, these pop stars are as racy as ever, and they most likely would capitalize on that to resurrect the recently departed "teen-boom" in popular music--an era embodied by the once virginal Britney Spears, who's again pregnant, with her second child, and thus, effectively personifies the statement that teenpopdom is no longer the ruler in the charts. These teens are no longer teens, they've grown up a bit, and their audience's tastes might have shifted, but they plan to fight all the odds. Justin has decided to echo's Britney's sexual evolution with his second album by calling it "Future Sex/Lovesounds"; Jessica is out to overshadow the recent solo success of her ex-husband Nich Lachey's sophomore effort by letting it all out with her summer-jams collection, "A Public Affair"; Monica is aiming to bare her soul in her attempt to recapture her maturing contemporary R&B audience with "Raw"*; Christina is bound to push musical boundaries with her ambitious double-disc "Back to Basics"; and Beyoncé is capitalizing on the novelty of her young adulthood with "B'day", an album she's releasing on her 25th birthday with an experimental 70's soul sound she so loves that she just had to showcase it by starring in an Austin Powers movie a couple of years ago and singing its theme song.

Attack of the young' uns?

Does this mean Janet Jackson's new "20 Years Old" CD, which celebrates her 20th year as a major music superstar, wouldn't make much of an impact?

Perhaps it is interesting to note that while those young pop stars have quite a large fan base of their own, none of them hasn't had a major radio hit in about 3 years (with the exception of Beyoncé's "Check on It" [2006]). But response to a couple of released lead singles, such as "Deja Vu" from Beyoncé, "Ain't No Other Man" from Christina and "A Public Affair" from Jessica, has been overwhelmingly positive, with the first song debuting in the top 50 of Billboard's Hot 100 charts after only a few days of airplay, and the latter two debuting in the top 20 and top 40, respectively. Now, compare those figures to the veterans' current singles, like Janet Jackson, whose new song "Call on Me (featuring Nelly)" entered the charts at number 73; Mariah Carey, with her fifth single from the Emancipation of Mimi, "Say Somethin' (featuring Snoop Dogg)", peaked at number 75; and Madonna, whose "Get Together" which has tons of dance remixes by high-profile DJs, did not even reach the top 100.

Attack of the young' uns?

The battle is apparently not over yet.

______
* Monica's new album title has been changed many times. It used to be "Street Butterfly", and when I wrote this post it became "Raw". Last month, the title was again changed to "A Dozen Roses", but as of July 28, 2006, Monica is naming her comeback CD "The Makings of Me", which, hopefully, will be the final official title.

Why?, Part 2

2006-06-29T22:31:00.000+08:00

Why...

... does no one ever say "no" to Ms. Oprah Winfrey?

... can't people recognize Superman in his human form, when he just have glasses on and less pomade?

... is the Tyra Banks Show so boring?

... does Jughead Jones hate girls?

... does Britney Spears love "K-Fed" so much that she ruined her career?

Still Names

2006-06-28T15:26:00.000+08:00

*The following journal entry is the last of my Names Trilogy. I wrote it for my Communications 2 class at the University of the Philippines, Diliman in 1999. This appears in a slightly different version than the original.
*These are the first and the second parts.

The following is the first sentence from an essay titled "The Ways of Seeing": Seeing comes before words. I agree, since we all have experienced that as infants.

There are times that I deeply wonder how our words became what they are today, or how images were named or called. For example, a door wouldn't be a door if our ancestor didn't call that thing a door in the first place. Of course, the word has its origins, but where does the origin originate? There has to be a mystery there, for the people called the object a door based on the origin of the origin of the word. There's just no end to this query, and as exciting as the etymology of the terms that we use in the present, it's just a place to which most people wouldn't want to go.

But the images are always there to marvel at and will always be. In fact, something that my Philosophy professor (Sir Mabaquiao) said comes to mind: that names are indirectly related to the entities they refer to. Makes sense, doesn't it?

High School Massacre

2006-06-27T06:59:00.000+08:00

Watching films about high school really brings back memories. After all, I, like most everyone else, was in high school once, and it's nice to relive those moments and experience those old feelings and juvenile dreams. It feels great to remember that we all used to be so young and immature and eager and silly and driven and clueless all at the same time.

I searched for my high school senior yearbook and here's what they wrote about me:

One of the most sensible seniors. Richard has a passion for music--he dreams to have his poems be made into songs, he has every Mariah Carey video, tape and CD, and love's being a play's musical director. He may appear shy around many people but once he starts cracking jokes, he sure can give you a good laugh. Knows not how to say no. Money-lender (how much do you need?). A great host (he has a perfect place for practice--with no hungry moment!). An excellent writer with an excellent handwriting. A responsible student-leader. And a good listener. Spread your wings and begin to fly, Ritchie Boy!

All right, the issue regarding my old nicknames had been fixed when I entered college, and I am glad that, although the name that people call me has changed, I am basically that same person to the core, with a few enhancements. Of course, my Mariah collection has grown since then and I've never lost my love for music. Writing's still a passion and my nice calligraphy skills, thankfully, are still there (but all these years of just typing might have affected the fluidity of my hand muscles already). However, I am not as painfully shy as I was in high school, which is a great development, along with discerning how to say "no" during the right occasions and being able to crack more sardonic and hard-hitting jokes with my friends. I think I'm a better listener than ever, so that's a good thing. And ever since I started working, I knew how to handle my own money and I've discovered what real responsibility is.

Looking back, I realize I wasn't one of the "cool" students in high school. In fact, based on my records, I may have looked like a geek (read: I was a member of the Booklovers', Mentors' and Art Clubs, and was the Science Club Vice-President, Class President-Homeroom, school paper Science editor, and yearbook staff writer. I even joined the Philippine Math Olympiad Divisions Level 1994, became a finalist for the Spelling Bee and Histoquiz and was a quarterly honor student), but really, I didn't classify myself as a geek. I didn't suck up to teachers, I prayed for strong rains so classes would be suspended, I didn't always adhere to haircut regulations, etc. Believe me, I was just a polite kid who was grade-conscious and that's it. It was hard to categorize me as I wasn't one of the nerds/overachievers, nor the drama people, nor the eccentric artistic kinds, nor the campus royalty/celebrities, nor the ridiculously rich kids, nor the CAT officers, nor the school jocks (God forbid, no!), nor like anyone else. Not exactly autistic nor Mr. Popularity, I was kind of a loner (still am), who could participate in different cliques' conversations and gatherings just because they think I was a good enough kid who could level with their group, would get their jokes and wouldn't tell even if teachers would expect me to. It's really hard to explain, but I'm just glad that I didn't feel like I was an outcast who lived in oblivion. That's good enough for me.

In 2008, my class will celebrate our 10-year high school reunion. I can't imagine it's been 8 years since I graduated from St. James Academy, but I'll be extremely excited to see everyone again (and maybe ask some of them what they really thought of me). I hadn't gone inside my alma mater since then but I know it's definitely changed a lot (My sister Jo-Anne works as a pschometrician there, and our youngest sister, April, is in Grade 6, and they say the place has elevators now, is fully-airconditioned and has another gym--which doesn't really excite me considering I didn't like PE, let alone see two gyms!). But before there could be a reunion, I plan to write a fictitious story about today's high school kids' lives and aspirations, called "High School Massacre", which would be a parody on pinoy high school life and stereotypes, full of comedic and pop culture references (and maybe fantastical elements on the side) and all that silliness and drama associated with teenagers. I'm still thinking of the characters to create and what stories to explore, but I am sure I want to write it in Taglish because I rarely get to write in Filipino anymore (this journal is in English and Orgullo Mundo is in Spanish). I'll try to write it in a one-hour TV series format, with four seasons representing four years in high school, and each season will consist of 13-22 episodes each. It will be my first attempt in writing something like this in this scale, so I hope I get to start on it very soon. There's already an idea lingering in my mind for my 3rd season finale, which, of course, will cover 3rd Year high school. But other than that, it's pretty much a blank. I might even decide to change the title later if I found it too depressing.

Ahh, I had better get my muses for lots of inspiration!

_____
Update: I now have ideas for the pilot, season 2, 3, 4 story arcs, premieres, and finales, plus the series finale. Progress. This is good!

"High School Musical" Review

2006-06-27T00:32:00.000+08:00

Directed & Choreographed by: Kenny Ortega
Starring: Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel
Music by: David Nessim Lawrence, Andrew Seeley

The original made-for-television movie from the Disney Channel called "High School Musical" was finally shown in Asia last June 25 (originally released in North America on January 20, 2006), and I've been waiting for it partly because the hype that it got was overwhelming and because I generally enjoy teen (mostly high school) flicks and musicals. And now, here's a movie that incorporates all that.

"High School Musical"'s premise is really simple: it shows how people (i.e. the parents, teachers, classmates) view stereotypes in high school. The popular jock, Troy (Zac Efron), who's supposed to be just an athlete, and the Math geek, Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens), who cannot join any other group except her own nerd squad, had desired to avoid becoming one-dimensional characters, and when the opportunity for them to try out for the new high school musical production, they inspire others to become well-rounded individuals. Along the way, everything seemed to fall into chaos, though, when everyone aspired towards a dream that don't quite "stick to the status quo", and they aptly sing about it in a dance sequence in the cafeteria. But, as Disney movies go, all ends well with a flashy production number, this time starting in the auditorium and builds up to a grand finale in the school gym with all the characters merrily singing and dancing 'til the credits roll up.

It was a short movie, running at 93 minutes, but it was intented to be that way as it is a children's movie, and this is actually just part one of a trilogy for the channel. In the previews, the actors admitted that it was specifically written and produced in a manner that kids would love. Most of the much-hyped songs pale in comparison to the great Disney songs from the 1990's, but that's forgivable as this was produced for television. But what's unforgivable was the way the songs were introduced into the scenes. The transition was not smooth at all and the speaking and singing voices literally were not the same loudness and quality, even if they were sung by the stars themselves. It is commendable, though, that the kids who starred in the movie--the main actors and supporting cast (Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel)--are the whole package: actors, singers, and dancers.

Probably the best song to have come out of the movie was "Breaking Free", as it embodies the premise and message of the film and, because it plays an integral part in the development of the two main characters and their relationship and the movie itself, is one of the best-written and -produced stand alone songs from the soundtrack. The best sequence, meanwhile, was the cafeteria scene where they sing "Stick to the Status Quo", which presents the dilemma of the story and what impact Troy and Gabrielle's actions had on the entire school. Coming a close second best sequence would be the big finale in the gym while singing and dancing to the tune of "We're All in This Together", as they show that all their dreams are realized and problems are resolved, at least until the next big one comes up in time for the sequel, which producers target to debut in Summer 2007.

* * *

It's funny that the production numbers reminded me of the previous high school musical, such as "Grease" and "Grease 2", like when Gabrielle does a solo number to illustrate her sadness and loneliness. The internal and intra-personal conflicts are also reminiscent of the scenes in "Pleasantville", but presented in a light manner, particularly the one where Troy loses his drive and misses the basket when he was supposed to be the star basketball player. But what's nice about "High School Musical" is that it never pretended to be something else other than a TV-movie that Disney Channel target demographic will/can relate to, watch over and over again, sing- and dance-along to, and enjoy with their friends or family.

Divas Live Again

2006-06-25T23:31:00.000+08:00

I've been reading about and researching on the "flop" albums (note the quotation marks) of the divas in the past four or five years. It all began with Mariah Carey's infamous "Glitter" the movie and "Glitter" the album (2001). The soundtrack was highly anticipated but failed on expectations, although it was certified platinum. Later, she released the slightly more successful "Charmbracelet" (2002), another platinum disc which was widely seen as damage-control to the previous album, and, as part of contractual obligation to her old Sony Music contract, she agreed to issue two compilations called "Greatest Hits" (2001), which received no promotion, and her lowest-selling album to date, "The Remixes" (2003), the only one without any certification--though it sold over a million units internationally, it was still a far cry from most of the albums in Mariah's entire catalogue, which normally sold 10 to 30 million copies prior to "Glitter".

Janet Jackson's "Damita Jo" (2004) and young, award-winning diva Lauryn Hill's "MTV Unplugged 2.0" (2001) were certified platinum records like "Glitter" and "Charmbracelet", but no singles were remotely successful and the artists' reputation further suffered.

Madonna has had a fair share of failures of her own in her 23-year career. Her "American Life" (2003) CD, though musically progressive and reached number one on the albums chart, was a critical and commercial failure, and the singles only charted in the minor dance charts. "Remixed & Revisited" (2004), released as an album in North America and Asia but as EP elsewhere, sold poorly.

Toni Braxton, who had a brief resurgence with 2000's "The Heat" album following her 1998 bankruptcy, has suffered consecutive huge flops with "Snowflakes" (2001), "More than a Woman" (2002), "Ultimate Toni Braxton" (2003), "Toni Braxton Platinum & Gold Collection" (2004), and "Un-break My Heart: the Remix Collection" (2005) and "Libra" (2005). And Whitney Houston was directly sent to oblivion with her "Love, Whitney" (2001), "Just Whitney" (2002) and "One Wish: the Holiday Album" (2003), all of which failed to spark any interest.

It seemed that the world had turned their back on the great divas at the turn of the century. I personally believe that "Glitter", "Charmbracelet", "More Than A Woman", "American Life" and "Damita Jo" are very good, ambitious albums--I bought all of them to show support (I love the divas!)--but they were sorely underappreciated and unjustly panned by the media mostly due to the following negative events: Mariah's much-publicized emotional breakdown, the status of her signature powerful voice, her aging fan-base, the lackluster performance and timing of the "Glitter" movie and singles, and the subsequent buy-out of her $80-100 million contract with Virgin Records; Toni's legal battles with her labels LaFace Records (until 2003) and Blackground Records (2003-present), and creative differences with her producers; Madonna's political statements, absurd lifestyle and controversial gimmickery, such as kissing Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on the lips at t he MTV Video Music Awards; and Janet's popularity issues, overtly sexual image, and the Superbowl wardrobe malfunction on live television where Justin Timberlake tore part of her dress and showed her bejeweled nipple. All these reasons, magnified by the major introduction of younger (and racier) recording singers like Britney, Christina, Jessic Simpson and Beyonce Knowles, proved near-fatal for our beloved divas.

(In contrast, Whitney's "Just Whitney" was really just a bad album altogether as it contained only 10 mediocre songs, plus her chaotic personal problems concerning Bobby brown and illegal drugs did not help her cause. Meanwhile Lauryn's strange, unstable and unlistenable output in "MTV Unplugged 2.0" alienated her audience and label as well. I did not buy their albums during this period for those reasons.)

The artist who probably suffered the most during these times was Mariah Carey, who, prior to "Glitter", has never had a real flop and was used to being on top of the ariplay and sales charts all the time. It was unfair for people to have judged Mariah's music on the basis of the movie and bad press and relentless gossips. Her "flop" albums were the most talked about during this period because her previous successes were so massive and the soundtrack and its follow-up did not live up to the sales of her other albums. Aside from the fact that her former Sony boss and husband Tommy Mottola stole quite a few musical ideas from Mariah to give them to Jennifer Lopez, it is interesting to note that many reviews for the "Glitter" album were generally positive and some even called the CD her best and adventurous yet classic Mariah, until they turned 180 degrees when the album was released on September 11, 2001--the darkest day in modern America.

Those dark ages are thankfully over, as Mariah is enjoying her biggest success thus far in her 16-year career: she won three Grammy awards (among countless others) for "The Emancipation of Mimi", had the biggest-selling album of the year, broke several industry records (which coincidentally, were also her own), and got her 16th and 17th number one songs, securing her place as the only possible contender for the Beatles' record of 20 number one songs. Industry experts say that she's even more successful now than she ever was in the 1990's, and to say somehing like that for the artist that owned the previous decade was simply phenomenal. It was truly the "return of the Voice", and what a comeback it was!

I had hoped that starting with Mariah's inspirational success last year, the other music icons could follow in her lead and rebuild their careers so we would get rid of the untalented, undeserving and manufactured "recording artists" out there like J.lo and Ashley Simpson. (No offense to J.lo and Ashley fans.) And true enough, Madonna made her global comeback late last year and set a record for the highest-grossing arena tour in history for "Confessions on a Dancefloor". And this year, Janet's taking her turn to return to the limelight where she has been since 1986's "Control" but lost her path two years ago. To celebrate this event, her new CD is called "20 Years Old", in honor of her first mainstream success, and she got critics to be excited again. Toni is also set to reclaim her position in the adult contemporary crowd--after the minor setback in "Libra"'s unpromoted release last year, she's repackaging the album and starting to show control and confidence again in performing on stage, as shown in her number with Il Divo during this year's World Cup opening.

A record executive once said, "Artists do fall apart. The most commonly held falsity in the game is that they have it all together. They fall apart." But if they manage to come out of it alive, like phoenix rising from the ashes--as Mariah, Madonna, Toni and Janet have shown us--then that makes them true legends, those who could withstand the test of time and bad press (Whitney and Lauryn had better be taking lessons). The enlightened public welcomes these legends back into their hearts once more, and the divas live again.

Why?, Part 1

2006-06-24T20:12:00.000+08:00

Why...

... do policemen anywhere get away with not wearing their protective helmets when riding their motorbikes?

... do celebrities feel the need to change religions in order to stay in showbiz? Were they sincere at all in renouncing their old faith and join a new one just like that? Do they feel accepted more in the industry because they joined their producers' or barkada's religion?

... do AM radio reporters add the suffix "-ah" to every word? "Ako-ah po-ah si-ah Asnallar-ah... Nag-uulat-ah!"

... do they celebrate Beyoncé's chicken legs, but criticize Mariah's billion-dollar stems of a goddess?

... do people always want to loose weight? Oh, please let me gain more!

Sunflowers for Asnallar

2006-06-23T00:15:00.000+08:00

When Mariah Carey's father died in 2002 of cancer, she wrote a very personal song for him about their relationship, and used the symbolism of the sunflower, which signifies "warmth, abundance, longevity, and prosperity. The sunflower also serves to point you in the right direction and is a source of spiritual guidance. Even through difficult times, you will persevere."

It was a tough time for Mariah, as she had just separated from Luis Miguel after their two-year romance, her song ideas were stolen by her former music label, the $100 million contract with Virgin Records was terminated, she experienced the first real flop of her multiplatinum career during the whole Glitter debacle, suffered an emotional breakdown, and encountered the most terrible press all these created. And to top it all off, her father died.

Sunflowers for Alfred Roy
(Charmbracelet, 2002)

Thank you for forgiving
Hurtful things I've done as a child
Adolescent or woman
Thank you for embracing a flaxen-haired baby
Although I'm aware you had doubts
I guess anybody'd have had doubts

Please be at peace father
I'm at peace with you
Bitterness isn't worth cling to
After all the anguish we've all been through

Thank you for the mountains
The lake of the clouds
I'm picturing you and me there right now
As the crystal cascades showered down

Strange to feel that proud, strong man
Grip tightly to my hand
Hard to see the life inside
Wane as the days went by
Trying to preserve each word
He murmured in my ear
Watch part of my life disappear

Father, thanks for reaching out and lovingly
Saying that you've always been proud of me
I needed to feel that so desperately
You're always alive inside of me
Now you're shining like
A sunflower up in the sky
Way up high

This song is somewhat radical in structure unlike most of Mariah's past songs because it doesn't feature any chorus or refrains, just four verses and a subtle bridge. The whole concept of Charmbracelet was based on the feelings and images created by this particular song. I guess that's why the album feels so different and personal, but sadly, not a lot of people accepted the concept, at least not at the time of its release.*

I especially loved the idea of sunflowers as it summed up all the lessons Mariah learned, all the emotions she felt, all the hope she needed, and the events she went through, in relation to her father. In fact, as far as I can remember, even before this song came out, I've always liked sunflowers in general--they way they look, their grandness, and the purity of the emotions they invoke when I look at them.

There's only one place in the country that I've seen sunflowers, along University Avenue in the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City, my alma mater. They adorn the long stretch of road that leads to the Oblation replica in front of Quezon Hall. And they're not there all-year long; they only grow them during summer. Once the rains return in late May, the sunflowers would soon be gone.

In a way, the sunflower stands as a metaphor for life. People, like the sunflower, need warmth, pray for abundance, aim for longevity, and strive for prosperity. They say that the sunflower was named after the sun god, and we all know that life on earth greatly depends on the sun. These flowers are hard to grow, and like humans, they mostly demand relentless guidance in the early stages of their lives. Sunflowers, in this regard, could be the antithesis of death.

And so, this is what I want: When I die, I would want sunflowers to be the official blooms in my wake. And since that would be my main requirement, then I should probably die in the summer. Everyone should be dressed in white, or neutral, earth hues like brown, black and gray, but majority should be in white. There must not be any colorful shirts or umbrellas, as the colors would be provided by the sunflowers themselves. Music would be provided only by string instruments (mostly violins). Obviously, I wouldn't be able to control the feelings of those who would attend, so if they cry or not, it's up to them. I know wakes are for the loved ones left behind, but before the funeral, I would like them to remember me.

Once they cremate my remains, I would want them to still leave my ashes in a nice cemetery, full of green grass, where the urn holding me would rest inside a mini-tower flanked by a statue of a grieving angel. (My bestfriend Don knows how everything would look like.) And, hopefully, every summer, sunflowers would bloom around the area, cheering up the grieving angel, reminding her that "even through difficult times, you will persevere."

* More on this in a later entry.

Last Holiday

2006-06-22T04:34:00.000+08:00

What would you do if you discover that you have three weeks left to live? Would you go to receive all the Sacraments that you've neglected? Would you tell your high school crush what you feel about them? Would you quit your job and blow all your savings away?

No, I am not dying! But I am grateful that even though it's not yet my time to go, I get to spend my last holiday.

Here's the story: Last March, I submitted my resignation letter to my shift manager. Actually, I did not give it to her, I just left it on her desk when she was not around. She was expecting that I was going to leave--she'd known that for a full month. Everyone at work knew I wanted to leave, and it was something that I had intended to do for the last 7 months. I'd been working there for almost three years. It wasn't a job that I wanted, and it wasn't anything that I imagined I would do. The jobs dealt with tons of people, and I am definitely not a people person. But I did it, and when I joined the company in July 2003, I committed myself into doing that unimaginable thing, and I even became known as the "exceed guy", someone who's always given a monthly cash incentive for performance. Not bad for a guy who lives by the motto "better late than absent." But since July 2005 , I wanted to move on and follow my dream. So last March 31, I resigned.

Leaving wasn't as hard as some thought it would be because I had prepared myself. I didn't even know if I could change careers, but I knew I desired to have a real career--that is, a career in writing, magazine publishing, research and creative content development, or maybe even advertising. In order to do all that, I mapped out a plan. Since my old laptop is no longer with me, I bought a new one last July, and with my sleek, silver Compaq Presario, I got myself a whole new set of accessories: a printer-scanner-photocopier, a webcam, a microphone, a flash drive, and I made sure that my new notebook can burn CD-RW's. I got an unlimited internet dial-up, and after six months, I terminated that contract to transfer to a broadband wi-fi service. My online Spanish newsletter was revived after a year on hiatus. I joined and contributed on Wikipedia, and also studied a bit on web publishing. At the start of 2006, my newsmagazine dedicated to my UP classmated made its debut, and on March 27, a few days before I gave my resignation letter, my first attempt into making a website was promoted on Mariah Daily, one of the biggest Mariah Carey sites on the internet.

(In the midst of all of this, I even got enjoyed a detour when ABS-CBN's Creative Programs, Inc. hired me as a producer/copywriter last October. Considering that I had no professional experience at all, I felt proud that they even asked me to work for Cinema One. It would seem that I had my way out from my previous unimaginable work experience, but the timing wasn't right as I still couldn't leave my old job then and I had to quit Cinema One after just three days of working there. Struggling with that decision, I found myself trekking my original route ince more.)

With all the free time that I had by April this year, I decided that I wanted to give myself a gift since I was on vacation. After several days of planning, I started to build the Gospel of Asnallar. And since my pseudonym, Asnallar (an anagram that Don created back in 2001), was starting to become a brand on its own (think "J.Lo" or "O", as in Oprah), I figured I had all the time in the world to create a personal, official website. There's no law anyway in prohibiting non-celebrities into making an "official website", and so, Asnallar Online was conceptualized. I did the designs and conducted a test run and later created Asnallar Portal to promote all my online projects. I knew I still lacked experience in the field that I wanted to work in, that's why I started my own little empire, with the "asnallar" as the main brand and product. It's something I wanted to do for myself, my future, and it's something to do, something worthwhile, at least for me.

To make everything extra special, I wrote my very first entry on my 25th birthday, May 18, for the Gospel of Asnallar. The website, meanwhile, is still under construction, but most of the pages are already available and it's got 3300 hits already. People might ask, "who is this guy?" I'd tell them, "this guy doesn't like Friendster or MySpace so he created his own space." I began sending contributions this summer to get some of my work published, and even though I was not sure if they would get accepted, at least I have my own websites to upload them to where I can continue doing and practice what I want to do. After all, I'm on a holiday.

Yes, I am on a holiday. I don't have to wake up at a certain time to go to work, I don't have to dress up, I don't have to style my hair, I don't need to worry about not getting a cab or being stuck in traffic, and I don't even need to go out. This is my idea of a holiday. Not beaches, not bars, not malls, not travel. Just me, my favorite music, my cellphone, a TV set, a radio/CD player, and hi-speed internet.

Of course, this would have to end at some point. Bank account figures don't multiply by themselves, right? They need to be fed, too. But the past few months on a holiday has turned out to be an extended summer vacation. Now I understand why people who have been working longer advise college students to enjoy their summer breaks because once they graduate, there'd never be another long break for them. So I am enjoying my holiday. It's 8 in the morning and I still haven't slept. I've been like this for the last 3 months. I know once I get started on another job--which, hopefully, would be something that I've been aiming for--I would probably not get another holiday like this one in a long time. Not to be morbid about things, but for all I know, this could me my last holiday.

The End: the Scientific, the Religious and the Magical

2006-06-18T04:04:00.000+08:00

A few weeks ago, the Discovery Channel showed Sam Neil's Hyperscience, where it mainly talked about the end of life. The episode featured several theories on how life on Earth could possibly end, with hypotheses about asteriods, comets, or other celestial bodies hitting our planet and starting a new era of extinction that mirrors fate of the dinosaurs.

Are we--humans--the new dinosaurs? Are we just part of the cycle, and when that cycle of human domination ends, we are out of here? If we think about it, the dinosaurs rose to prominence after the previous extinction level event that destroyed other mammals and amphibians. And of course, once the dinosaurs' time was over, it allowed the human species to evolve and here we are. We're currently on top of the food chain and, to quote Jack Dawson from the fictional Titanic, we're "the king of the world." But, the big question is extremely intriguing to the core: What if humans won't see the end of the world?

They say that the world is currently experiencing a great Extinction Level Event, or ELE. Some of us might have heard of this term from the 1998 movie, "Deep Impact", and we "saw" what it would be like if the world would end in another film of the same theme, 1998's "Armageddon". A recent film, 2004's "The Day After Tomorrow" tells a story of the fat of the world: The end is near. Clearly we don't need any movie to remind us of what's happening in the world today, as we've seen what Mother Earth can do: the Indian Ocean earthquake, the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, flooding in China and Europe, and right in our own backyard, four volcanoes are on alert levels (Kanlaon, Bulusan, Taal and Mayon). They say these are the signs of the time, and we'd all soon star in our very own reality blockbuster, disaster movie.

It doesn't help that religious cults and street prophets contribute to the paranaoia by predicting the world's demise, the coming of the Anti-Christ, the final judgment--the end.

(I, personally, would be humbled by the Lord's second coming, so I don't care if time ends there. Who doesn't want to see God?)

But according to a National Geographic special, called Apocalypse, all these talks about the end, whether based on science, on hunches, on predestination, or whatever it is, may be taken by many the wrong way. It's because the etymology of the word "apocalypse" actually means great cleansing, or catharsis and renewal. If we would look at it in a religious point of view, that argument actually makes sense. For it should be a disastrous future that we are headed towards, but a great renewal--a new beginning. It is when every life that originated from and evolved in sin would be cleansed and forgiven, and the world begins an era of glorious, heavenly bliss.

However, it also takes us back to the scientific theories, especially the concept of ELE. In that Discovery Channel special, the episode ended with a presentation on a much grander scale: the end of a galaxy (or galaxies) like our very own Milky Way. Such ruin can only be accomplished by something so insidious and tiny that it would be hard to fathom how it could be done. A black hole can decimate stars and galaxies and everything in between. A small black hole, with a size smaller than a pea, can do all that. It blew my mind just imagining how it could possibly exonerate an entire star, let alone a group of galaxies. Scientist say nothing would ever be able to escape it, and in the future, millions of billions of years from now, the universe will be inhabited by millions of black holes that have squandered the future of anything they touched. This scenario, I guess, answers the question whether or not we're going to see how it all ends--we won't. The end won't even happen in millions of years, so for now, let's enjoy the doomsday movies that they show in the cinemas. After all, that's what they're there for, as entertainment. At least, in our hearts and imagination, we would have a picture of at least a couple of scenarios on how our world ends.

Speaking of imagination, here's a magical take on all this talk about the end. This concept, taken from the supernatural drama Charmed, tells of a theory on how all life would be destroyed. It sort of combines elements of science-based and religious theories, and will be facilitated by an essence called "the Hollow".

What is the Hollow? Here's what I wrote on my Wikipedia article:

The Hollow is an ancient vapor and the most powerful force of unknown origin which absorbs all forms of magic it comes in contact with, whether it be good or evil. It appears in a swarm of vapor-like particles floating in mid-air that constitutes a power similar to a black hole, and it can also reside inside a magical living being, thus possessing their corporeal form. It cannot be destroyed by any known means, rather it can only be contained when powerful representatives from both sides of good and evil join forces. It actually possesses no mind or personality but rather acts like a virus in a vacuum, mindlessly consuming all magic it touches, thus was always referred to as the "void" by the Seer and the Avatars. It is kept in an ancient burial ground as a pact agreed upon by both sides and is heavily guarded by powerful beings. It has been said that this is the "ultimate power" that will be the end of good and evil, therefore creating a void as a reality

and in effect, the end of life.

I was really quite happy when they introduced the Hollow in Charmed's fourth season. It's a very well-thought of fantastical concept that brings out the reality of the world of science and religion. And I was extremely satisfied that they used this concept again in the series finale to demonstrate how ultimate battle works out--everyone loses. And unless everyone joins hands to prevent someting as catastrophic as the end of life, nothing would remain.

That's what ELE theorists and a number of scientist are saying, and that is what something like the Bible teaches us.

Grr, Part 2

2006-06-15T22:39:00.001+08:00

The following is the "artista talk" that I don't like at all:

* Actually -- Actually, this isn't a bad word, but it becomes one when the showbiz stars and starlets overuse it to death. I especially don't like it when Ara Mina murders it even more by pronouncing the word as "Actulii".

* Senti -- as in, "sentimental". It's best to just utter the whole word, or pick another term. Please.

* You know... -- Jennifer Lopez, you know, popularized, you know, like she, you know, made this, you know, phrase, you know, famous, and now, you know, she cannot even stop saying it and has a rule of injecting the poor phrase every three syllables. Insert diva laugh here.

* MU -- or, "mutual understanding", the state of being reserved for each other but without commitments. Sadly, this is already part of local usage.

* "Yuh!" -- Uhm, it's "yeah", and unless you're being playful, it's not to be said in a thick German accent.

Interviewer: Can you describe yourself in just ONE word?
Starlet: Yuh naman po, Tita... Actulii, you know, I'm really, you know, just
another, you know, senti person, you know. Actulii, I love love songs, you know, that's why nga, you know, MU na kami ni "You know", Tita, you know. Yuh!

Let's Talk About Names

2006-06-10T04:22:00.000+08:00

*The following journal entry is the second of my Names Trilogy. I wrote them for my Communications 2 class at the University of the Philippines, Diliman in 1999. This appears in a slightly different version than the original.
*This is the first part.

I have always imagined what I would have been like if I were given a different name. My name, Richard Allan Aquino, is alright, although it sounds too American (except for the surname, of course). I think my full name would sound a lot better if I had a hispanic-sounding first name, like Paolo. Paolo Aquino. It feels consistent and sounds like I could be a descendant of a very wealthy person. (And what a great bonus: all Paolos look good. Well, maybe except Paolo Santos--sorry.) But I wouldn't change my name; it's not like a have any legal reason to change it. Besides, it's way too late to consult the baby names book, and I've already accepted what my parents gave me. I like my initials (RASA) because if you read it backwards, it becomes ASAR.

All this time I spent thinking about names made me think about the decree that Governor-General Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa imposed on the native Filipinos that required them to adopt a family name from the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos ("Alphabetic Catalog of Surnames") that the clergy distributed to the parishes throughout the archipelago. The main purpose of this order was to standardize surnames, familial affinity, local genealogy and to properly collect taxes. In theory, this was a fairly good project by the colonizers, but the execution was less thn stellar. Some provinces got only a certain chapter of the catalogue, thus, there are areas where most of the locals only got variations of the same surname (e.g. in Cebu, a lot of family names start with the letter "V").

to be continued...

Forever Charmed

2006-06-08T07:18:00.000+08:00

"There's a reason for everything."

That's one of the many lessons Charmed has taught its viewers during its run, and hopefully, the lesson will remain in our hearts forever.

I have loved Charmed since its debut eight years ago and I was truly excited to see the final episodes that led to the series finale, "Forever Charmed". And I am happy that it turned out to be one of the best finales any fan would dream of, considering that some of them stopped watching the show because they they did not agree with the direction of the series or how the creative decisions of the producers were executed. But I agree with executive producer Brad Kern's vision: It started with sisters, and should end with sisters. And he's right--you just could not please millions of viewers around the world with a single storyline they developed for the show.

Take the case of internet forums. Charmed was and still huge on the internet, and its fan base contribute to several online forums to discuss everything about the show. I read some of them and, although I am not fond of internet forums because ot their violent tendencies and a lot of negative things happen there, I just had to join in the three big communities to defend my beloved series. Yes, I know everyone has a right to his or her opinion but I could and would not go on reading posts like "I hate Charmed", "It should have ended seasons ago", "This character is useless or has gone boring", "Brad Kern is crazy", "The story arc should be realistic", "The storyline should be fantastical", "Shannen/Cole ultimatums", "The old Charmed is gone," "Should've", "What if", and so on. I could not take it and I did my best to present the best arguments and transform them into fruitful discussions. And my standard defense was: "Charmed is a television show where they tell you that love is the greatest power of all. And you're all here hating the show after giving you a fantastic eight-year run! It's as if you learned nothing at all."

I happen to love the show wherever it took me. It's being shown all over the world and it was not possible to keep every viewer's whims come true. The producers followed orders from the executives and the WB network and Paramount, which were beyond their control. There were just certain things that would not work out and there's a lot of valid reasons. For example, it would have been useless to ask former lead actress Shannen Doherty to come back if on the website which the actress endorses, Doherty has posted many times that she would not come back. Of course, I would have loved to see her character return as Prue was my favorite sister from the first three seasons, but I had accepted a long time ago that Doherty was not willing to come back (according to the posts she made on that website). So I don't blame anyone if they did not ask her a pointless request to return as a guest star because it just wasn't meant to be; her time has gone, and the character's been dead for years. (According to her biography, Doherty owns 5% of Charmed and her images as Prue Halliwell so they couldn't show photos or clips of her face or voice). Asking her to reprise her role would have been like seeking help from another ship to pull the Titanic up from sinking in the Atlantic, when the solution was to move on. Besides, you don't really mention a family member who's been dead for five years in every other conversation that you have. Realistically, have you even thought about your grandma or auntie who passed away five years ago and mentioned them in your daily activities?

And Cupid. He was not a rushed idea as other viewers pointed out. Cupid appeared in a Season 2 episode called "Heartbreak City" and bringing him back in Season 8 tied in with Phoebe's main storyline. Phoebe has always been about emotions (she's an empath) and finding the path to true love, just as it was a central theme for Piper to be the grounded, family-oriented sister--the heart of the family. Their eldest sister Prue was the protector of the family and she prepared them to learn to take on responsibilities so that they could move on to the future once she was gone. Prue's death led to the discovery of their long-lost half-sister, Paige. It was the main theme for the half-Charmed, half-whitelighter yonngest sister to discover her individuality and independence, so that she could fully embrace her duties as an angel (as Sister Agnes in Season 4's "Charmed Again" said, Paige "came from angels") and she could finally fulfill her destiny to help those who are in need, something she had been preparing for all her life as in social services, in her numerous temporary jobs, and as headmistress of Magic School.

The ending tied most loose ends, and it ended the series beautifully, incorporating most of the lessons we learned for the last eight years. I particularly liked how Phoebe ended up with Coop, as it was previously explained (in Season 3) that her true love's name begins with a "C." In Season 1, she truly loved a character named Clay (her boyfriend when she was in New York a year earlier), and she also most definitely loved Cole. But before Cole, she had met a cupid, and now she crossed paths again with a cupid named Coop who was the destined father of her children. I loved how Victor accepted her daughters' charmed existence, and how the girls' mother Patty accepted the reality that she would die as soon as her youngest child was adopted by a mortal family, as her destiny would have already been fulfilled once Paige was born. I loved that Grams lived old enough to take care of the sisters until it was time for them to receive their powers. I liked the timing when Prue died, as she had already loved and been loved (with Andy), finally got her dream job as a professional phtographer, welcomed her father back into her life, accepted her mother's death, and fulfilled her personal destiny as family protector once Phoebe had graduated from college and Piper married Leo. Prue's death was the catalyst to the girls' accomplishing their original destiny of destroying the Source of All Evil, and how her death was the trigger for the girls' growth as strong women and for the entire family to chart a whole new destiny.

I appreciated how the sisters have had to deal with a loss of a sister, and how they accepted their half-sister Paige. I enjoyed the fact that Paige searched for her roots and inner self, and that she started her own family with a mortal like Henry, someone who would keep her grounded and human, as she (being a daughter of Patty's whitelighter, Sam) was the first-ever "twice-blessed child" after inheriting Prue's powers. Similarly, I relish the idea that it's always been Chris' role to keep his ultra-powerful, twice-blessed older brother Wyatt grounded, and be his guardian even as toddlers. I loved the manner the boys' mother Piper has evolved into her own person, so that she'd be suitable to carry out her destiny to start the next generation of the legendary Charmed line and become the family's new matriarch. And I adore the producers and writers for making sure that the final season would be about family and sisterhood, with Billie and Christy representing a twisted sense of morality, power and bonding, as opposed to what the Charmed Ones exemplified and epitomized.

Yes, I do have my favorite seasons (the third and fourth), episodes (usually the time travel or family-related ones), characters (after Prue died, it was Piper), storylines (I loved the Avatar arc and the whole of Season 8), and approach (like how they presented the reality in every episode using fantastical elements). I think the Cleaners and the Magic School concepts should have been refined (but not written out, for they had a purpose) but I still take it. I might be obsessed (or extremely passionate) with the series by defending it to strangers, but it's family for me, and "you don't turn your back on family," to quote Darryl Morris' wife Shiela from the Season 6 finale. But I also never forget that it still a supernatural drama about sisters who happen to be witches (and not witches who turned out to be sisters), and it is ridiculous and silly at times, but real-life families are inherently ridiculous and silly most of the time. So I love it for that and I take it. The show could not have remained what it was for the first three seasons and still go on their eighth. Actors leave, crew/staff changes members, executives demand plot twists, and so forth. All television shows go through that, and this show was not an exception.

I understood why Brad Kern, after the departure of series creator Constance M. Burge and stars Doherty and Julian McMahon, had to take less-liked routes to keep the show going, because I know how it is to deal with executives and still be able to work your creativity in and please yourself and please your audience and please your bosses with all of those factors to consider. It was with great respect to other people who say disapproving comments about the show that I defended Charmed. It was like going through a real-life episode of "Crimes and Witch Demeanors," where the Charmed Ones were put on trial. I just hope other people would not attack the characters, the actors, the producers, the writers or whoever. The people who give off-putting remarks most likely have not been following the show religiously so they might have missed a pivotal element, or they do not get the lessons and the grand design of the show at all. The crew did the best they could--with little support, promotion and budget from the home network. Holly Marie Combs was exceptional, Shannen Doherty was terrific, Alyssa Milano was amusing, and Rose McGowan was endearing. Brian Krauss was charming, Julain McMahon was dazzling, Finola Hughes was adorable, James Read was hilarious, and Jennifer Rhodes was perfect. I thank everyone for staying for eight long years and continuing to fight and keep the show on air until they can fulfill their contracts, fulfill the Charmed Ones' destiny, and had made sure that in our hearts, Charmed will live on forever.

My loyalty to this show is eternal. I've been a fan since I watched the first episode "Something Wicca This Way Comes" (and even watching the unaired pilot is special to me after I watched it). I taped the episodes, collected several pocketbooks and the companion book, bought the soundtrack, read the official magazine, corrected inaccurate Wikipedia articles and created new entries, and promoted the show to my friends relentlessly. I panicked when everyone thought that Season 7's "Something Wicca This Way Goes" was created as a pseudo-finale, since they filmed it without knowing they'd be allowed to return for an eight season. I wrote several papers back in college about the literary element of the show and about the popular culture impact of Charmed for my English and Comparative Literature classes. And I promised myself that for my undergraduate thesis, it would still be about the series, so I did just that. My advisers loved my thesis with a twist: "The Romantic elements present in the magical spells used in the american television series Charmed (Seasons 1-5): A literary analysis of the Spanish translation of the spells for the hispanic dubbed version, Embrujadas". It was all written in Spanish--and it felt great to have applied all that I've learned from my major and minor disciplines, and to have ended my college life with someting that I grew up with and was truly fixated on.

"There's a reason for everything," Grams used to say. There's a reason I fell in love with this show: it became my extended family and it taught me to accept myself for who I am, to accept other people for what they are, to learn how to forgive, to protect what I believe in and fight for it, and ultimately, that love is the greatest power of all.

Thank you, Charmed, for the most magical eight years of my life! Blessed be.

Music

2006-06-06T04:44:00.000+08:00

My ultimate dream (besides ending up in heaven, of course) is to establish a music charts magazine that will monitor airplay and sales of songs, albums, videos and ringtones (and maybe, club and karaoke tunes, too). It would cover every major radio station in the country and three music channel countdowns, from MYX, MTV and Channel V Asia. Every retailer and label would also send in information to help the magazine rank the items monitored. Every artist would want to know what their ranking is each week, or how popular their compositions are. And every music fan would buy him- or herself a copy.

Contrary to popular belief, music charts, like Billboard, are actually compiled not for the fans or the public, but for the record industry. They are there to give the industry a feedback on what the public wants and buys, and they are there to guide the executives and record labels an overview on what directions or actions they might need to take. But the fans have been following the charts religiously to support their favorite artists. Which isn't a bad thing, considering that what it took for a publication like Billboard to gain wide acceptance and be regarded as the official music charts company for the United States. It eventually gained recognition internationally, and arguably, it is the most important chart in the world, as the US is among the biggest markets for music.

My dream music magazine could be just like that. It would be difficult to produce such a magazine on a weekly basis, though, as I would have to have support from the entire Philippine music industry. That means I need the support of the artists, songwriters, managers, labels, radio stations, music video channels, music publishers, retailers, eventologists, DJs, club owners, advertisers, everyone! Getting their trust and respect would be a very tricky thing to do. But I'm sure they, too, would want a unified music chart for the entire Philippine music scene. Hopefully, the magazine would get recognized throughout the world like the US Billboard or Australia's Aria Charts. And hopefully, this would create an image for the country that we, too, can agree on at least one thing and know what real unity is, albeit just in music.

That's my dream.

Pop Quiz

2006-06-04T04:09:00.000+08:00

Your Birthdate: May 18

You are a cohesive force - able to bring many people together for a common cause.

You tend to excel in work situations, but you also facilitate a lot of social gatherings too.

Beyond being a good leader, you are good at inspiring others.

You also keep your powerful emotions in check - you know when to emote and when to repress.

Your strength: Emotional maturity beyond your years

Your weakness: Wearing yourself down with too many responsibilities

Your power color: Crimson red

Your power symbol: Snowflake

Your power month: September

[ What Does Your Birth Date Mean? ]

Hmm. I am so intrigued about that September thing.

You Are 20 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

[ What Age Do You Act? ]

See? I didn't lie at all.

News from the Heart

2006-06-02T20:03:00.000+08:00

I always get a kick when I hear this one:

Mel: At iyan po ang mga balitang aming tinutukan sa nakalipas na 24 horas. Maraming salamat sa inyong pagtitiwala. Hanggang [bukas], ako po ang inyong Kapuso, Mel Tiangco.

Mike: At ako po ang inyong Kapuso, Mike Enriquez. Ito po ang GMA--walang kinikilingan, walang pinoprotektahan...

Mel: Walang kasinungalingan. Serbisyong-totoo lamang. At dahil hindi natutulog ang balita...

Mike: Nakatutok kami, 24 horas. [Captain Barbell] na po!

It takes a whole 30 seconds for them to say good-bye, and a few seconds longer if there's a holiday, when they add customary greetings on television. Or if it's Mel's, Mike's or Pia Guanio's birthday, when they allot a minute more so they could sing the birthday song and blow little candles on a nice cake.

Awww.

The Grand Design

2006-05-31T04:06:00.000+08:00

I've probably seen National Geographic's "Gospel of Judas" presentation around 7 different airings, and I love it. It's not an invention of crafty quasi-historians' imagination; it's existed for at least 1,800 years.

Three things about this gospel:

1. It's amazing how those experts were able to piece together an incredible pile of deteriorating papyri. I can't even recall finishing a 100-piece puzzle cut down by machine to perfectly fit one another.

2. The gospel is written in the point of view of Judas, hence, the name. And so it should end abruptly because Judas ended his life shortly after fulfilling his destiny. It baffles me why some people criticize this gospel as incomplete just because it ends right away.

3. As a Roman Catholic, I've always thought that it was Judas' mission all along to betray Jesus so that He could die and save mankind. That is what the translation of the Gospel of Judas says--that it was Judas' destiny. Growing up, it has always been my understanding of the different Gospels and the story of Jesus. I never even thought that purists or other Christians would call this blasphemy, because for me, it isn't. Jesus was one with God as His Son, and although Jesus was human, part of Him knew that. Why else would He let it all happen? Why else would He think Peter would deny Him three times? Why else would He know that Judas will betray Him? Yes, there is the issue of free will. But Judas accepting this task--this destiny--is where free will comes in. There's a reason for everything, otherwise there would be no point in any single thing that happens in our lives. It's all part of God's Grand Design (at least, according to my understanding).

This whole gospel experience has made me realize another three things:

1. National Geographic is better than Discovery Channel. Think about it.

2. Some fallacies in the past might just become truths in the future, for the earth was the center of the universe.

3. I should probably start my own gospel in hopes that someday a group of believers would be able to dig it up and find out all about the truth.

And so here it is: the Gospel of Asnallar.

The truth is right here.

The Sports Crusades

2006-05-30T05:55:00.000+08:00

* I was saving this idea for Philippine Daily Inquirer's Youngblood section (print version). I've been trying to e-mail them for a month but it just kept bouncing back because they are flooded with contributions. Someday, though, I hope this still gets published somewhere. Sigh.

I have never liked sports. As a child, I always wanted to stay indoors and just read the encyclopedia or Archie comics or watch a lot of television (but skip the sports channels) or listen in to my grandmother's AM radio programs. There were just too much elements in sports that did not sit well with me. Sure, I enjoyed playing those traditional children's games like patintero or hide-and-seek. I loved them immensely. But I was not one of those kids whose interests crossed over from kiddie challenges to basketball or football or any real sports. I just didn't like it.

There was a point in my childhood when those baseball and basketball cards were extremely popular among kids. They had hundreds of them, and from what I know, those cards can cost a lot. The kids protected them like ancient documents, neatly organized in their special books with small plastic slips, which they brought everywhere they went like it was their Bible. It all seemed just a waste of money and effort for me. But then again, that was a passion for them, just as it was a passion for me to avoid sports at all costs.

Once when I was in third grade, I was stunned when our teacher told the class that we needed to go out and play in the field while he carried a bag that contained basketballs, volleyballs, dart boards, and ping-pong equipment. All my classmates cheered on as they helped the teacher carry those sports stuff. I was appalled, and mostly, bewildered. I had always thought that Physical Education in elementary level would only deal with nutrition and a little morning exercise. How did my classmates know how to shoot that basket or spike that volleyball? Feeling betrayed all throughout that class period, I just sat in a corner in my neat PE uniform and watched the sweaty little brats dribble a sticky, gummy, orange globe.

After that school year ended, my parents sent me and my siblings to a summer camp. It was my first time and I was excited. But the excitement abruptly faded as the camp counselors relayed the three-day program to us. There were competitions every hour: swimming, running, and hiking the woods (5 miles one-way), among other horrible things. We had to rough it and we're supposed to participate in those ghastly activities called sports contests? It was a conflict of interest for me, and gladly, I was never sent to that camp again. And most importantly, I was never asked to join one of those sports conventions sponsored by a popular chocolate drink. (Besides, I drank their competition.)

High School was different, though. There were no more third grade co-ed PE sessions where I could sit in the games. No more neat uniforms. I had to participate. It was a even requirement for all the guys to sign in for at least one sport during the annual intramurals. I had to think fast. After all those years of abhorring sports, I was forced to pretend to act sporty. It was like an attack to my personal tradition! But as an honor student, I knew I had to in order to get at least 85% in PE, which was required. There were terms that my adviser would lament that I didn't even get third honors, all because of PE (where I would receive 83 or 84%, imagine that). Luckily, two out of four quarters in our academic year were usually devoted to sports theories only, and I would receive a 94% in PE. There was even a time that I knew all the rules and the history of a number of sports like basketball, badminton and volleyball, better than my classmates who played them. My PE teacher noticed this, and he would often assign me as a referee or judge (and sometimes I just picked the stray balls thrown out-of-court). But he wasn't content with that compromise. He still wanted me to like sports.

For all four years of intramural games, I ended up signing for volleyball even if I was afraid of the ball hitting me in my face (which it did on several occasions). I was always happily benched after opening my team's games with 2 to 5 serves, where I would always score at least 2 points because the opposing team wouldn't expect where the ball would land. As an act of unfaltering protest, though, I borrowed the “Just do it” check sign and inverted it to signify “Just hate it” and I would paint my left thumbnail with that image using a black sign pen.

When I got to college, I stopped painting my nails, but my personal crusade lived on. Twice I was reprimanded by my volleyball teacher. I could understand the first one; I did not do well in once of our exercises. But the second time, she threatened to fail me because I misspelled her “famous” nickname by a single letter! That was unacceptable so I showed her that I could play her game and I passed. After that semester, I aimed to enroll in less strenuous gym classes but strangely, the Philippines Games class was always full (probably filled with my fellow crusaders). So I took duck-pin bowling, physical fitness theories, and isometric stretching. All those years I used my sole pair of high-end cross-trainers that I bought in third year high school. I never owned any rubber shoes before and after having that pair. I just got myself an expensive pair in order to enjoy the shoes while I agonize in my sweaty sporty get-up.

While I appreciate the values those players hope to learn from sports—wellness, teamwork, determination, patience, discipline, honesty, conquering one's weaknesses, and learning a vague concept they call “sportsmanship”--I still believe I could learn those elsewhere, and I have. I'm happy I am not one of those sportsmen who grew up away from loved ones because of training, only to end up with broken bones and dreams. Or those sports fanatics—or sometimes the players themselves--who go home with stitches caused by riots started in sports events. Or those who lose money in illegal bets on sport events. Hey, I thought there were values to learn from sports?

Perhaps the one sport that I hate seeing the most is golf. Whenever I see players on TV hit that golf ball with oh so much concentration only to walk hundreds of meters to catch up to where it landed so they could hit it farther, I smirk. Why hit it then? And what about boxing? Way too violent for the pacifist in me. And I don't even want to get started with those “extreme sports,” but I saw someone on TV who attempted to up his level in his “extreme sports” but ended up with broken body parts in the ER. As the guy defended his failed activity, a passer-by wisely commented, “That's not sports; that's stupid.” If I wanted to prove something, I would rather prove it by staying intact and alive.

And this doesn't mean I don't like being active. I love swimming, but only as a recreation to be enjoyed with loved ones, and not to be endured with panic and frustration as in a competition. I enjoy walking and I walk a lot. (You would, too, if you studied in the UP Diliman campus and had to walk several meters to get to your next class in another building. Or if you worked in Eastwood and had to walk the entire length of Araneta Center everyday to get to the bus stop headed to Malabon.) Although I'm not athletic, I am not a lazy lamppost because I don't have any sports.

Those board games I won or lost with my family and classmates? That's bonding. Those euphoric neighborhood challenges that I used to play with my friends? That's recreation. The spectacular Olympics opening ceremonies? That's entertainment. Cheerleaders dancing and chanting witty verses? That's poetry. Sports? That's just pain.

Grr, Part 1

2006-05-30T04:14:00.001+08:00

These are some words or phrases that I am not too fond of using--ever.

* Buff -- this colloquial term is used to define a person who is very interested and has a wide knowledge in a particular subject, e.g. sports, so he is a "sports buff." Why not just use "fan" or "expert"?

Seinfeld: "I wanna be a buff. How do you become a buff?"

* Savvy -- well-informed, e.g. "internet savvy." I particularly hate it when I see it on advertisements. This word is so flamboyant, it's gaudy.

* EB -- a.k.a., "eye-ball," as in "assembly or gathering," usually an act that has no precedent among concerned parties. When there are already so many words that substitute for "meeting" or "encounter," those people had to create this term. Ugh.

Texter: "Sa'n ang Grand EB"?

* Bum a cigarette -- or anything else. If you must have a vice, then you should have the means to support that addiction. Don't beg other people for supplies. Lucky for me, I don't really have a vice. I'm a thrifty goody-goody for my owngood.

Bum: "Hey friend... pa-bum naman ng yosi o..."

* The rest, as they say, is history. -- Geez, you can't avoid using a cliché by simply modifying an old one. You can avoid it by not using it at all.

There are tons of other terms that I don't like. This bête noire series of mine will be like the James Bond franchise.

Let me end this journal entry with one of my favorite quotes from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

Buffy: "How do you get 'renowned'? Do you have to get 'nowned' first?"
Willow: "Yes, it's a whole 'nowning' process."

My American Idol Experience

2006-05-27T01:24:00.000+08:00

The "druken dad at a wedding" is now living the American Dream. His name is Taylor Hicks.

Taylor was not among my favorites when I was religiously watching American Idol. My early bets were Chris Daughtry (for the male division) and Lisa Tucker (female division) based on their earlier performances. But I lost my faith on Lisa after she performed "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" and "Because of You"--which were not great according to my Mariah-trained ears--and switched allegiance to the amazing Paris Bennett, who was later voted off, strangely enough after an incredible episode where she performed "Kiss" and "Be Without You". So, without Paris, I continued cheering on Chris to become the next AI top 2 finalist, as he had been the three judges favorite, especially after he sang "Hemmorhage" during the semi-finals. I really believed that Chris would go on to reach the final week.

Of course, everyone was shocked when Chris was eliminated, leaving as fourth placer. Oh, I hated Katherine McPhee so much that week, even if she gave good performances in previous episodes. Thank goodness, I caught the McPheever after she nailed "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" the following week, in an Idol event comparable to Fantasia's "Summertime" back in 2004. But, I still didn't like how she moved on the final round at the expense of Chris. And realistically, I didn't think that she could win over Taylor, one who had never been in the "bottom three" and one who is actually an outstanding performer, save for the electrifying dance routines.

During the week of the final three, although I already forgave Katherine over a rainbow, I prayed so much that she would still be booted out only because I wanted to have a finale showdown with the gray-haired Taylor and my new favorite, Elliot Yamin, who was the underdog of the whole season. Elliot gave exceptional performances that week that he could have been the dark horse of the competition, especially when he sang "A Song for You," his audition piece. Elliot did not register in my radar during the early part of the season, though, perhaps because he did not use gimmickery to be noticed by people. He did not project the rock star image like Chris when he wore those sunglasses, or danced like Taylor like in every song number, or changed hairstyles every week like Paris, or sang on the floor like Katherine, or showcased a very ditzy but adorable demeanor like the southern belle Kellie Pickler (who has a great personality but not the best voice this year). Elliot was just being himself all throughout and has remained humble, with the only change that I saw was his improved stage presence that complemented his evolution as a singer and performer.

But we all know what happened after that. After a tight voting, Elliot left AI as 2nd runner-up with great respect from the fans, his fellow contestants, the crew, and the judges. Elliot turned out to be my ultimate favorite this year, and when the idols come out with their own albums, I will definitely buy Elliot's, and also Paris' to show my support because I am proud them.

It would have been great to hear how Elliot would have sung the (male) winner's single "Do I Make You Proud" if he stayed on to battle Taylor 'til the end. For what it's worth, Taylor still deserved the title because of his talent, drive and charisma. But my American Idol this year will still be Elliot, someone who stayed true to himself and sang his heart out. This season is my favorite now, replacing Season 3, as the judges were crazier than ever. I particularly loved the finale when they showed the Idols performing with the legendary Dionne Warwick and the jurassic Burt Bacharach on a medley of the two's past hits. My mother sang along the Idols during the performance and said, "Oh, I miss Dionne Warwick." And then Paris introduced Dionne. It was such a great moment on TV.

After the finale, I looked for recordings of my favorite AI performances from the last 5 years (except Season 2--I never liked anyone that year). I was lucky to find the audio for the audition of my favorite contestants (Kelly Clarkson; Fantasia, Jasmine Trias, Camile Velasco; Carrie Underwood, Constantine Maroulis; Taylor Hicks, Katherine McPhee, Elliot Yamin, Chris Daughtry, Paris Bennet, and Kellie Pickler) and two of their best on-cam performances. Thankfully, each song number runs for an average of 1.5 minutes that I was able to record a 39-track live album. I also e-mailed Dionne Warwick (yes, her) to tell her that my mom and I love her songs. Half an hour after I sent the e-mail, her webmaster replied, thanking me for the note and that he'd tell it to Dionne herself. I few days later, Dionne left a message on her online journal that she did get the positive messages that the fans sent her. This really is my favorite of all the seasons yet!

Ladies and Gentlemen...

2006-05-24T20:55:00.000+08:00

*The following article is the first one of my Names Trilogy. I wrote them for my Communications 2 class at the University of the Philippines, Diliman in 1999. This appears in a slightly different version than the original.

When I was named, I wasn't consulted. And I thought it was my day!

My mother, I was told, had wanted my name to begin with the letter "A", and my father had wished that I have two names. Without even asking the Great Baby Book, they eventually decided to call me--a very lovable and huggable 7-pound baby--Richard Allan Santos Aquino after I was delivered at 1:31 pm on May 18, 1981.

I could have been baptized something else, considering the events that happened near my birth. I could have been "Edmond," after the day I was born on, Monday. Or "John Paul," for the Pope had visited the country a few weeks earlier. Or simply "Pope," because John Paul II and I share the same birth date. And since I was conceived before Martial Law ended, I might have been "Marcus," "Mark," "Ferdinand," "Fabian," or "Ver." Or "Claro" perhaps, because they celebrate Santa Clara's feast in Obando, Bulacan on this day. "Ronald" and "Reagan," after the American president at the time, also follow the parade. However, it is all good that I didn't take any of those names for I would have hated it. I also love the fact that I could never ever have been christened after my birth month.

Of German origin, my name Richard means "hard, ruler" and Allan, a Celtic name, means "handsome, fair, harmony." Combined, my name means a handsome and fair but hard ruler. I like the sound of that! That kind of makes me King Solomon. Of course, as a little child, my parents (like any other parents) would tell me I'm a good-looking kid who teased me that I got my mother's fair looks. In contrast, my high school classmates told me that I was a good class president (considering that I didn't want to be voted president), for I welcomed their suggestions and respected their opinions, and I always tried to get the job done so as not to disappoint them or myself.

My Lola Tanda, as we fondly addressed our great-grandmother Geronima, made it known before she died that she didn't like the idea of her grandchildren having two or more names. She said that the kids might not be able to spell their names easily in kindergarten. (My older brother, the first grandchild ever on either of my parents' sides, has two names: Andrew Christian. My younger two sisters, though, only have one first name each: Jo-Anne ,the one after me, and I think the first beneficiary of that request, and April, the youngest--almost 13 years my junior--and the only one among the four of us who did not meet Lola Tanda.) Luckily, I didn't have any trouble with writing down "Richard Allan S. Aquino" as a child as I have the gift of manual dexterity in calligraphy. And just look at the bright side: I didn't need to create a nickname; I can just use either one of my two names. I speculate that giving two names was the trend at the start of the 1980's because most of my classmates have two, too. Was I an 80's fashion victim? I think everybody in the 80's was.

According to the Reader's Digest Encyclopedic Dictionary, tradition tells me that I can have, as nicknames, the following: Dick, Dickie, Rich, Richie, Rick, Ricky, or Al. But I've only used these: Richard and Allan. My family and neighbors call me Allan, but all through grade school and high school, I was called Richard, which I had hoped would become a thing of the past once I entered in college. I never liked Richard at all for me, just because it sounds too elaborate and Rococo, compared with the very homey Allan, which suits me fine. There are still people who call me Richard, mostly my pre-university friends and strangers who assume that Richard is my preferred name, and it is not their fault. So when I got to UP, one of my tasks were to make people address me as Allan, which I gladly accomplished (remember that there's a King Solomon in me). However, I did look at that encyclopedic dictionary again before I finally settled on Allan, to check out my options once more before it was too late.

Al?

Well....

Richie?

No.

Rich?

This is conceivable....

Dick?

Oh, brother.

Dickie?

People! Please!

Mr. Ice Cream Man

2006-05-24T04:37:00.000+08:00

I love ice cream. But I'm picky with the flavor. I usually like something with vanilla and chocolate in it, like Cookies 'n' cream, Chocolate marble, Rocky road, Double dutch...

Yum!

The thing is, an ice cream purchase will not last 2 days in our house. Everybody wants them. Heck, I can eat a half gallon and still want more. I'm also in love with the dirty ice cream kind, and I usually ask for cheese with chocolate in sweet cone.

Yum!

Last Monday was my dad's 49th birthday (which is the last of the birthday season for our family, which is generally between December and May). We didn't have ice cream (I don't recall him craving for that--ever--which makes him the only one like that at home). My brother's family came over to help with the food and my dad's guests. My brother brought a compilation CD-r, which, according to my nephew, he's been dancing to all weekend. Included in the playlist were two Celeste Legaspi classics: Saranggola ni Pepe and Mamang Sorbetero. I've always loved those songs for their pop merits and breezy atmosphere, and I didn't know other people about my age--most especially my kuya--would enjoy them as much as I do.

He played that track over and over again, as I remember reading an article about that song being originally written in English. It turned out I was right, and I spent the night looking for a recording of the two original English versions composed by Jose Mari Chan (the first one was a promo for domestic tourism titled 7,000 Islands, and the second one version became a protest song called Mr. Songwriter, until he re-wrote it to become Celeste's local traditional pop hit). I did not find any sample of the English version, so I just listened to the tracks in a loop, all the while salivating for ice cream.

Yum!

20 Years Old

2006-05-19T21:31:00.000+08:00

20 Years Old is the title of Janet Jackson's latest album*, which celebrates the twentieth anniversary of her breakthrough record, Control. If you think about it, Control's singer seems eons away from the Janet that we know today. The younger Jackson showed less skin, had heavier thighs, went around with a crazy spray-net 'do, and danced with cringe-inducing 80's choreography. Twenty years is a long time for most people, and a lot could happen in that timeframe. Yet when I think about what has happened in my life so far, I realize that my first twenty or twenty-five years could not be that long. Or could it?

I turned 25 last summer. But do I feel 25? Not really, because I feel young, I act young and I look young. I feel young because I know I still have so much to go through in life. Sure, I have been hospitalized many times in the past due to potentially fatal illnesses (i.e. measles, and dengue--twice), which is part of "going through life", but I am still a young soul. I can still vividly recall many things that happened when I was younger. There are still many dreams that I hope would come true, there are certain places that I wish I could escape to, there are a few special people that I pray I would meet someday.

I act young. Up to now, I still haven't attempted to drink traditional coffee. Coffee, I think, is for old souls. No cigarettes for me, either, unless I want to project a burnt-out look. Iced tea and soft drinks are my indulgence, not beer or hard liquor. Surfing the television is an art for me. I do that not to annoy older people with my constant clicking and channel-switching, but to enhance my multi-tasking skills and allow myself to enjoy several shows simultaneously. I listen to urban, house and pop music; I grew up to them. I really don't have friends younger than me (except for some of my former classmates who are younger by a year or two). A number of my friends were born during the height of the Martial Law era. In contrast, I was born months after Martial Law was lifted. Now, by surrounding myself with older, wiser (that is, by way of experience), and mature people, I can stay young. And most of all, I am allowed to stay and act young, which is not a crime. It's not the Peter Pan complex, because I don't want to get stuck in a never-ending childhood, but unlike other kids, I was never in a hurry to grow old.

I look young. At least, there's no doubt about that in my heart. Once a driver gave me change for a discounted fare for students when I did not even ask for it, nor did I carry a bag or a book, nor I boarded the jeep near a school. Nothing like that. I just looked young to him. I always sport a goatee to maybe look a bit more like my age, but perhaps some people think it's just the fad among kids nowadays. I also often kid my friends that cinemas would not allow me to enter an R-18 movie showing, a joke to which they respond with a very nostalgic "esmyuskee". And this year, I thanked the people who wished me "Happy Birthday" by telling them that finally, I am 20 years old. Another "esmyuskee"!

When I was actually just 20 years old, back in 2001, my best friend Don and I, along with some classmates and friends of ours, went to Malate and Makati to bar hop. Don is a few months older than I, while the others are actually younger than me by several months. Our last stop was a glitzy Makati bar filled with young professionals in their GQ and Vogue apparel and everyone was holding a glass of alcohol. It was around 3 a.m. and it was my first time to go there. While all of us totally dressed the part, I felt I looked way too young to go inside the bar, and much too young even to pretend to enjoy holding a glass of anything they served in there. So what I did was I let the girls enter first and sandwiched myself between Don and Ian, another classmate who is a year younger than I but looked otherwise. We were already at the door when the bouncer asked for my I.D. Thinking that they didn't allow kids under 18 to enter, I told him my real age: "Oh, I'm already 20 years old." And then the bouncer politely apologized, "I'm sorry, sir, but this is a '21-and-above' establishment." Ian was 19 then and they let him in! All my friends were already inside while I waited outside until Don was able to explain to them why we had to go some place else (unless they wanted me to stay outside waiting for them). All this because I looked young.

And so, on my 25th birthday, I jokingly told people that I was just turning 20. I welcomed their "esmyuskees", and I welcomed the lines on my face that have started to show. Wow, maybe even twenty years has been a long time, after all.
_____
* As of July 31, 2006, Janet's new album title has been modified to 20 Y.O. based on fan suggestion.

The Emancipation of Me! Me!

2006-05-18T01:26:00.000+08:00

I am a quarter-of-a-century old today and it is time for the emancipation of Me! Me!

I've waited for a very long time to start my very own, personal blog. For it to be extra special, I had decided to publish this first-ever entry on my birthday. Originally planned as a gratitude journal (as in Oprah's gratitude journal, where one writes down at least five things to be thankful for that day), my version will be a collection of articles where I discuss anything about me and things that interest me. Alright, that probably means my journal will be filled with entries about Mariah, Charmed, TV, music, me, my closest friends, etc. But there are a lot of other things that I am passionate about, and I usually talk to myself about them inside my head where I would sometimes argue about certain topics or issues, where I would rationalize or elaborately fantasize about certain events, and where I would create or exonerate varied concepts about my life. Like why I think things don't or do turn out the way they do, or why I never liked sports, or why I like to have a small circle of friends, or why I talk to myself (ah, but remember, I do it all in my head). Beginning today, I am going to talk to myself elsewhere.

This journal will be an extension of my being, my essence, my soul.

This is the Gospel of Asnallar.