what i learned today from long lines and industrial-strength ink

so i was forced to vote in the SK elections this morning (learning process. then we're carefree about however we want to vote next time - which is never). the highlight(s) of the whole shebang were an old man humorously trying to join in the line of us SK voters (because, he says, he's "seventeen". don't worry, he wasn't even half-serious), discovering an uncle's long-lost real name, and finding out that the moran family is an amalgam of all the other "it" families in sta. rosa. i'm actually amazed that we're not suffering from inbreeding.

i was also amazed at the fact that i was actually wasting taking some time out to vote for people i barely don't know. my dad told phim and i to vote whoever had "rico" in his name, because apparently he/she was a relative. it seems that while sta. rosa may be a city, it's still not big enough. that or the whole clan was amusingly bigger than i thought it really was.

in other news, leiron and i are world-building for a new fantasy e-novella we're writing (yes, i'm calling it a novella... but only for now). if it goes well, we might be singing to the tune of "we got a hit". good news.

plug: go buy the eagles' new album! quoting will smith, "don't download, go out and buy the record!" for the record, i will personally be refraining from torrenting the album - i'm spending cash, because the eagles deserve to be paid.

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Now playing: Brad Paisley - We Danced
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part two! part two!

have you heard the latest? jon stewart calls cory aquino a slut!

and here i call it once more:

SO WHAT?

i have said earlier that you're not supposed to take desperate housewives seriously. guess what: ALL THE MORE you're not supposed to take jon stewart seriously!

to all of you calling him the "worst comedian ever": have you ever even watched a single damn episode of the daily show? do you know how many times he rags on each and every politician, including dubya himself, in one episode because they fucked up on real news? do you see each and every politician sending him hordes of forum and blog posts telling him to stop it with the damn daily show? no, you don't!

you think he really meant it deep down to call cory and thatcher a slut? you think he's really picking a fight? it's part of the show, people! learn to live with it! he's a comedian, and his political views haven't been more right than any straight political show on tv. all of you who are anti-bush, watch the show and see how he rags on bush, in the funniest ways ever.

jesus, philippines, learn to differentiate the damn difference, i'm getting sick and tired of everyone's all-caps "WE DEMAND A PUBLIC APOLOGY" bullshit. you might as well send a letter to the screen actors guild and tell them to put "don't put filipino jokes in movies and television" in their guidelines.

guess what, guys: i've seen the clip, and i have found it funny. call me whatever, but just by being level-headed, i win and i totally own everyone who wants a public apology. it's funny because it's funny, it's funny because it's not trying to be as tongue-in-cheek as DH was. it's funny because it wasn't trying to generalize on every one of us, it's funny because it was targeting a political figure, one whom we've already targeted before.

oh, and for the uninitiated: the daily show is on comedy central, not on CNN. yeah, you lose, you're owned because you were fooled.

black, white, cuban or asian

so the latest issue tonight is this desperate housewives clip that's making the rounds of the general philippine sphere of internet influence. (i made that up, doesn't it sound cool?) what's interesting about it is that teri hatcher's character makes a racial slur about filipinos (she says a line along the... lines of, "can i check your medical certificate, i just wanna make sure you're not from some med school in the philippines") and now it seems that most people are so much into an uproar that they're forwarding chain messages and they actually have a petition.

all i can say to that is, "wow". and to quote my very good friend mondi, "take a chill pill".

so the writers said a racial slur. from what i've heard, it's not the first time it happened in DH. and besides, DH is a show that is definitely not meant to be taken seriously. have you seen the crazy-ass shit that goes on in it? seriously, folks, if i had a penny each time i heard a racial slur against us on american television, i'd probably have a lot of dollars.

that's exaggerating already, but my point is it happens all the time. not just against us, as i'm sure you know. not that i'm condoning it either, but it's so commonplace that it's not surprising anymore. and besides, didn't jesus tell us to cast the first stone only if we are clean from sin?

point is: don't support this petition, it's just a waste of your time. start petitioning only when you can get miriam to shut up.

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Now playing: The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice
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uaap =/ wwe

no, that's not a smiley. it's the "not equal to" sign. i've been trying to write this post for the past couple of days now, and i just couldn't get the groove. now that (both) the ateneo-lasalle series have concluded in our favor, i finally have my thoughts organized. this is mainly about the accusations of game fixing.

the promotion of the two entities may be based on the same principles, down to the heat of the rivalry, down to who's the most over worker in both teams, down to the booking of an ateneo-lasalle game every other day, but at the end of the day, the differences are significant.

you can't book a botched free throw, you can't book a fight breaking out, you can't book each and every foul thrown in the way, you can't book chris tiu not performing his best. it can't be done. it's not possible.

i may be a bit naive in my statements here, i do accept that it may be existent, but i'm too much of a wrestling fan to know what's actually predetermined and what's not. even though i mark hard every time i tune in to raw, smackdown, or ecw, suspending my disbelief.

you can't book it. it's pure skill, pure coincidence that it came to this. you can't book heart.

hey who's to say, you know i might have changed it all / post for allie

this morning allie and i, after our first periods and her cutting her second period, were musing about the direction our college lives are going. as of this moment, i'm failing my kas1 subject (can you believe failing both tests, the map test horribly and the first long exam by a margin - however the term is not over yet and there are still a number of things that can at least save me from a 5) and she's failing her math17 (which is a bigger problem because it's a major in her course). somehow i've decided to accept, with these kinds of grades, that i'm not shifting out sooner than i thought it would be. or maybe even not at all. or maybe shifting but not to the course i had planned to shift to. either way, it's a tough choice.

the thing is, we were musing about how we hated college because of all its pressures (on our oh so fragile first-year selves) and how we wanted to transfer to DLSU because at least, i had gotten in the course i applied for there. we then went from that to thinking about what the hell is gonna happen to our futures this way. strictly speaking and horribly cliched, i want my kids to not live how i'm living right now.

from that, we went to reminiscing about how we didn't have to work our asses off as hard in high school, about how i could sleep in ms. barcelona's class and she would still give me a grade enough to get a third honor, about how we never really had to lose limbs and minds all the damn time back then. what the hell happened? chua's supposedly a DL and we're here struggling the hell through first freaking sem.

i guess we learned a little late that this is, to blatantly steal a tired phrase, a whole new ballgame. this is not high school, my physics teacher isn't sir lasap, my math teacher isn't sir chavez, my english teacher isn't ms. denden. and you know what, it sucks, but who are we to do anything about that? we learned a little late that you're not supposed to just be sitting there when you have to do something.

however, luckily it isn't too late to learn that a completely rejuvenated hustle can still save you. it still could. it's not over.

though, i've yet to learn what i really really really REALLY want to do with this life of mine.

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Now playing: Garth Brooks - The Dance
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beautiful ink part 2

with the invention of the keyboard, the traditional pen and paper has been quite overlooked, and damn, that's quite the shame. there is a certain something in just taking a pad of paper and your favorite pen that writes just exactly the way you want it to write, that feels right as you trace lines and curves on the surface of the paper, and just plain letting loose. screw typing - the real you bleeds out as the ink of the pen.

i once read something from julie andrews, something her husband had told her - to just write and write away, because you can always go back and make changes. i just love letting loose with a pen because with it i am truly candid and there is less bullshit in what i say. if you just wield a keyboard, you can quickly cover yourself up without anyone noticing.

however, the instruments are only one-half of it. for some, rarely does the drive that makes the pen go and your fingers cramp come to them. it's the more frustrating part of the whole process, really. if you always had inspiration, you'd be making millions right about now. or you do have the inspiration but you're too slow to pin it down, and it flies away as another wasted opportunity.

and love can only go so far.

living someone else's life

i just got wind that westlife's covering home by michael buble for their next single. (that would make it the second song also called home in their catalog.) while i respect westlife as a cover band now (they sort of pigeonholed themselves into the category anyway... they did it sparingly and surely early in their career but now they're blatantly turning it into a living - but do listen to their rendition of more than words and all out of love), it annoys me that home became their next target.

why? aside from the fact that i am indeed a big buble fan (and i do see the irony that he also makes a living singing covers, but the main difference is that michael is singing a genre that does call for covers and innovation), they're completely rearranging the song from quiet, chilled love song to a power ballad replete with the trademark westlife backing chorale.

once again, it may be a matter of getting used to, but i don't like it. messing with michael's chemistry is not a wise move, in the case of more mainstream pop artists. this song doesn't need your help.

on the day that i die, i'd like songs to be sung

so i was listening (or more like forced to listen) to the news earlier tonight and they were still going on about chris mendez's funeral a day later. ah, well, who watches the news on sunday anyway? anyway, of course i wasn't paying that much attention (however, his mother sounded like a witch casting an evil curse to the murderers when she talked) but wasn't tuned out completely: i heard the background music, and man, was i both amused and iffed at the same time. (by the way, if you're wondering about what my stand on the whole hazing issue is, i blame the victim - why'd you join if you probably knew that you couldn't handle the haze?)

so the point that i'm trying to drive at here is that when i die and when we're all on the march to the sematary, i don't want the hearse to be playing the funeral home's damn stock, slow, dreadful mourning dirges. no, let's be more creative than that, could we please? i'd want you to feel anything other than boredom in a funeral.

the last playlist:

1. the allman brothers band - in memory of elizabeth reed
2. the who - old red wine
3. tupac - i wonder if heaven got a ghetto or only God can judge me (di naman kasi ako nakatira sa public housing/ghetto eh)
4. alter bridge - in loving memory and/or preferrably, metalingus
5. creedence clearwater revival - long as i can see the light
6. derek and the dominoes - the latter half of layla
7. eagles - already gone (yes i'm taunting ya)
8. queen ft. elton john and/or queen + paul rodgers - the show must go on (MUST be either one of those two versions, nothing else)
9. T.I. ft. jamie foxx - live in the sky
10. U2 - city of blinding lights
11. and lastly, to close powerfully, rush - YYZ

obviously the list is subject to change as long as life goes on and i'm still alive. =))

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Now playing: John Cena and Tha Trademarc - Summer Flings
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because whatever will be, will be

at first play, i didn't like queen's innuendo. i thought it was too slow, too crawling, freddie's rough vocals partially wrecking the song (though this would be the case in late queen albums anyway), steve howe's guitar solo only eliciting a meh from me, etc etc. in short, i thought it was a stain in what was a good greatest hits II compilation (next to headlong, but its tempo saved it a little).

but of course, such music that grows on you over time does exist, and innuendo is one of them. maybe my first time hearing it, it was a fleeting moment. maybe i wasn't paying attention too much. first, i gained respect for the classical guitar solo, followed by brian may's own rendition of it on electric guitar. then i gained respect for the very elaborate orchestration. and then i really just loved it for what it is, down from the first note to the lyrics. then i learned it was a tribute to led zep's kashmir. (it does sound somewhat like it. makes it better.) that just took the cake.

so, here it is - innuendo. one of the most underrated masterpieces in the catalogue.

why does love got to be so sahaaad

this morning (somehow i just don't want to sleep yet) i'm downloading the rest of layla and other assorted love songs - which is, like, the songbook of songbooks about unrequited love - while downloading allman brothers band songs (there's a connection between the two, figure it out, click the link, read). they're quite ethereal, perfect for a long night.

anyway, i'll upload the pictures when i regain the gumption to even think about some of them.

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Now playing: Derek & the Dominos - Bell Bottom Blues
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she can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye

it seems that don henley was right, apparently, it's interesting when people die. i can't take the news anymore, friends, ladies and gentlemen. it's sickening now. i know i'm strong of heart and definitely not the queasy type, but jesus, every anchorperson who's on at 7:30 tells of murders and deaths with such an interested, and almost, just a teeny bit, happy tone!

i personally like mike enriquez but i just can't get with the program here anymore. he says the word "patay!" as if he's actually happy about it. i'm sure he doesn't really give a rat's ass about what happened or who died, since that's pretty much 60% of everyday news, but damn it, he makes it sound like war is finally over and peace finally reigns on earth. okay, i'm exaggerating, but any tone that is not somber when talking about death and destruction, jesus, it's just not right.

the news has no more integrity, my friends. right now its only use is to tell us when to not get up early.

but we can always whistle that mike post theme! that's the beauty of suspension of disbelief, isn't it?

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Now playing: Chicago - Mongonucleosis
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out of my hair

some two weeks ago (actually i don't clearly remember when it began) my mother started pestering me about having a haircut. obviously, i not-really-all-that-politely declined to her suggestion. not so obviously, i thought the discussion ended at that. apparently not, i shoulda thought so.

i would've been fine with normal pestering, really, but after a while she began to cite reasons that ranged from the subjective ("it looks ugly") to the absurd (it causes my slight sudden outbreak of pimples - it does come as a surprise really because my face is generally pimple-free) to the so-degrading-it's-kinda-pathetic-really (mukha akong taong grasa, to which i responded that negs looked more like a hobo with his scraggly beard =)) peace, my brother) to backfired degradation (i look like a lion, to which i said, cool) to comparison with my friends (si leiron ba nagpapagupit?).

my stance is, obviously, no. i am not ready to go back to hair hell zobel put us guys into. because really, i would much rather look like james howlett or rufus scrimgeour or better yet, lionheart himself, than either stan laurel or oliver hardy. sometimes i do feel that shorter hair does look more organized, but it's so... blah.

i shall keep resisting the scissors until... i don't know. =))

anyway, i watched silent hill yesterday and really wasn't the least bit disturbed. i did love how it does the flashbacks. kinda reminds me of the fayth flashbacks myself.

vida loca

this morning, on DZBB (yes, i know, it's news, but i was trying to sleep, so...), mike enriquez and joel reyes-zobel were going on with this piece of news about indian families having a lot of kids, and in a statement the indian government released in response to that certain phenomenon, they implore the males to control their libidos.

in reaction to that, mike goes on the most awesome rant i've ever heard from him; it's obviously too long to remember but the gist of it was:

why are you only telling guys to control the heat? girls get horny too!

owned.

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Now playing: Hall and Oates - She's Gone
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rain, please tell her that i love her so

i'm actually a little disappointed that classes are suspended today - on a day that classes are naturally suspended, and by the fact that i don't get to keep the house for myself.

ah, well. next wednesday is definitely gonna be a little better.

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Now playing: Dan Fogelberg - Rhythm of the Rain
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this is mine, you can't take it

i confess that i'm a hoarder.

the reason why it took me this long is not because i've been in denial, but rather, i've been unaware that i am, in fact, hoarding. it was only when reading a classmate's concept paper draft a coupla' weeks ago, wherein she wonderfully defined what hoarding is.

case in point: i have 2200+ songs and i only listen to, what, 30% of them in any given period of time? some songs i haven't even heard yet? but i don't throw things away because, ya know, i might use them in the future. or not.

another would be the stashes of things i have in my wallet. i keep receipts and never throw them out (one good example is the receipt from this day. it's all faded and gray already, but i still keep it!) and if you would check out the "secret pocket" in the wallet, you'll see that it's full of such flotsam and jetsam (without water). which reminds me, i have to retire this wallet as well.

my senior year things (books, 2nd & 3rd term papers) are still stacked up in a little niche in my room. i don't know when i'll throw them out. in fact, i don't know when i'll throw anything out. it's not directly bothering anything in my life, so why bother, right? it's a little problem that isn't bothering anyone and it really ain't that bad (i'm not exactly filling up an apartment with little tchotchkes i find in the street).

so, this is mine, and you can't take it.

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Now playing: George Harrison - Got My Mind Set On You
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good guys need a break

shit. i suddenly feel like adam sandler in click. no, i didn't receive a universal remote, but i feel like i was just on autopilot for a few minutes.

i gotta get unhooked from this thing. or maybe it really is just short-term memory loss.

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Now playing: Boney James/Rick Braun - R.S.V.P.

pulsus, fidelitas, veneratio

tonight i have proved to myself (and certain other people) that my hustle will be a force to be reckoned with. same goes for my loyalty, because, anyway, without loyalty there is no hustle. i own.

i am "material". =))

my respect needs work, though.

you belong to the city

by spending a big chunk of my money (when i say a big chunk i mean i am left with barely enough to pay for an fx ride) last saturday to invest in a new copy of SimCity 4 (the old copy i lent humphrey and i never got it back. it's okay, it was a little defective anyway). and i gotta say, it's money well spent. it ain't common that i get to say something like that anymore.

since i am a little rusty i got a nudge over at gamefaqs. now i would consider myself a good mayor... if i decided on keeping my city a little hamlet in the san francisco region. but an urban jungle must sprawl, and as it grows, you have to feed it, and as you feed it, you waste more money on maintaining big things. therefore, my budget is currently a sinkhole, compared to when the city was a little smaller, i was earning.

guess it's time to build a neighbor.

and i would like to get simcity: societies but man, new things don't run smoothly (*cough*oblivion*cough*)

animo baby

i may be in college, and external influences are always trying to persuade me to change colors, but i'm keeping green.

i still have my ties, my people, my boys and my girls back at the green side. so no, i don't imagine myself 100% maroon, but there is this natural support that you give the school you're in, however minimal. after all, they did take you in out of how many people.

the soljah

in accordance with my newest-ever mantra for my life (for those of you reading this on multiply, just look up at the header), here is a "progress report" of sorts.

hustle - i've been giving the better part of my hustle for little or nothing.
loyalty - i've always been loyal, but once more, for little or nothing.
respect - i give all my respect but i rarely see it go my way.

now without going on too long and sounding like a fanboy, i shall end with this. life is hard but one has to keep going. might as well, because something better might be waiting.

meanwhile, i couldn't find a better song to convey my thoughts than terry kath's indignant declaration of wanting freedom. i just wanna be free, from all the hurt, from all the pain. i just want to end these lonely hours, end these lonely days.