Guetta, Glee, and Babae sa Isla na Asul

Nang Hani (our editor) and I were supposed to meet our adviser to update her about the plans for our Christmas party. We ended up sending her an SMS instead. Then wer hopped onto a jeepney and headed to the mall to buy the gifts for our secret partners.

The secret partner type of gift giving is predominant among older (and by that I mean high school and college and post college people) people and has the thrill of guessing who picked you or who did you pick. The silly part is that almost everyone tells everyone who they picked.

Not me. I got it all covered. I'm a neat secret keeper you know.

Nang Hani first helped me what to buy. I said I would buy my partner a sign shirt knowing that she loves reading one. Okay, I let it slip that my 'SP' is a girl. No matter, it's still vague enough. I bought two shirts a hundred a piece. Solved!

Then it was Nang Hani's time to be troubled. She hasn't picked anything to give yet to our adviser.

Yes, Nang Hani's 'SP' is the adviser we would've contacted that morning. How did I know? I made my trap questions that I learned from our debate, put them in my small handy notebook and in one afternoon before we bought sundae cones, I tricked her into saying it. No, that was a lie. She just told me. I don't need to ask, silly.

Our adviser has indicated a few things in the wish list.
1. something about relaxing
2. something about crafts
3. something about vacation
4. something about peace

Whew. How could she fit that in a few hundred pesos. First we fought with our stomach (my stomach that is) to find a pair of comfy slippers. The weird fluffy ones. Yes if you need comfort, sometimes you just have to shun the fashion trend away. step on them with fluffy slippers.

But let's forget the fluffy slippers. They're too way off the price marker. At 600 pesos a pair, you can have them. I'll buy cotton balls and stick them with glue to a 56-pesos pair of slippers from downtown, thank you very much.

Next stop, the two books stores to find something to read. Daily Bread? No, I think ma'am has them. A crossword and Sudoku book? Is that what you call relaxing? Finally, Nang Hani found a book on origami. I agree that is relaxing. But is it relaxing for the pocket?

The book costs a whooping 700 pesos. Next option please.

We move onto a cd store because I was looking at the price of a Guetta cd. I was dying to get a copy and hear my own ear thump on its won eyt I was still lacking funds. Then I saw a Glee compilation cd and at the exact moment, Glee's version of "Gold Digger" was playing. Damn was I tempted. But I didn't give in. Sorry, your advertisement won't do its trick today.

Then I had an idea. Why won't we give ma'am a cd for relaxation. A sort of background lounge music for her office. Hani agreed and we proceeded in picking the right one and after that we scanned a selection of happy-feel-good movies. That's option number to when we encountered something funny. The cd store was now apparently a hub for x rated material.

I asked myself, would anyone buy this publicly? And in a mall? I think one should save porn watching to their private selves. And if the people who made these films say these are art. Please tell them their funny because their covering up for soft porn. You can easily tell the difference of these films form the real films.

Note: They don't have nude people in the cover. Plus their titles wouldn't suck. Who wouldn't think it's a porn film if your selling it by the act itself. SEX Reels: Ang Babae sa Isla na Asul. Sort of. After that we enjoyed the liberty of having to inspect every x-rated ish material of their titles. If you come to watch at the titles for a long time, you can't help but to suppress a laugh. Call it being malicious but these titles make sex sell.

However, I am totally depressed as to what some movie makers think as a breakthrough. Independent films (indies) are hot on the market today. And if it's not sex their selling, it's prostitution. And movie goers still think that some of it is still art-able when in fact their just eager to get some money by making someone bear flesh. Some indies are indeed worthy every penny. But some are just plain nasty.

After buying the cd, we head of to heaven. Unlimited Rice! Yeah!

This book is for you

Ladies and gentlemen, an alternative reading. And I hope you read this one so. A prequel (according to the author) of his other book. Some say it's like pancake. Hot and steamy. Others say it's like chilled coffee, cold yet still satisfying. You be the judge, after all, you are the reader.

Stomach

Okay I admit that my brain sometimes does not work as it should be. I get this blank air moments that no ideas seems to flow through this heavy poundage. I admit that I am unusually lazy as to normal people should be and I totally admit the fact that I am an eatinf frek.

Sorry, I mean eating freak.

I eat a lot. That is an undeniable fact. And for some who may scoff at that statements, may I kindly refer you to my friends who would truly attest to the truth that I, unfortunately, eat. Eat more than you that is. And yes, a 54-kg skinny body can hold four cups of rice, two types of viand and a 12-oz. bottle of soda in one meal (excluding here are what we Filipinos call 'pica-pica' snacks which I also enjoy to the fullest). That is why I enjoy eating at establishments offering unlimited rice. I am a Filipino and I think I couldn't survive a meal without my precious grains.

And this is where my problem start; with eating. See I live in the student budget which means I have to fit an entire week of food consumption, photocopies, alamutans with my one thousand peso allowance. And almost 7/8 of these goes to food. Sadly, I have no money left for other things when the snakes in my stomach start to do somersaults. It's hard enough to live alone in the city but starve? No freaking way.

So this is my revolution to my eating problem. Stop being lazy, do work. Everyday and try to forget eating once in a while. Though it is my parents dream to see me all plumped up, I may have to prolong their wishes a bit longer. Right now, I need to live within my means. After this, i'll be eating at McDonalds.

Errors

We just finished publishing our tabloid for this year (finally!). And as any tabloid, any project that involves numerous texts, any idea or executed thought; we had flaws. A little typo on this page, some grammars don't on this. Some major and some passable.

And of course our own critics are ourselves. What figures.

We have that student sickness that every after exam, we check our notes if our answers were right or not. We sigh at our mistakes and jeer that we had made the risk and pulled it of great. We want to get those tabloids and just start all over again. Too many mistakes on these and that. I think we need correction markers and a lot of them.

For me committing mistakes like these are just part of our learning process. This does not mean however that we should use this as an excuse in doing what is less of our capacity. As former (and hopefully future) Graciano Lopez-Jaena Awardees for Best Departmental Publication, we should give out our best, bring our best foot (if there is any) forward and bring down the house with the best that we can do. This incapacity to sometimes not see eroors should be used to the fullest extent in making and producing quality materials that the clientele is asking for.

However, it is true that we sometimes just say things and not mean it at all. I hope that we could 'execute' the next ones properly. No, we SHOULD execute it properly.

Lesson learned. Pramis, next time it will be sweeter. Mamatay man si Batman.

this is losing

This post is in Filipino. Bob Ong slash Atalia-Reyes Mode.

Gusto ko talagang sumali sa mga patimpalak. Ewan ko ba kung sakit ito o makating buni na di matanggal-tanggal pero nasisiyahan talaga ako kung sumasali. Para mamamanhid ka sa thrill na hindi naman sumasakay sa roller coaster. Mapa essay writing, photo contest o tic-tac-toe, talagang kakagat ako dyan.

Baka siguro kasi competitive kami sa bahay. Unahan sa pagkain (kaya kung huli kang magising, matuto kang tumiis ng pandesal), sa remote (bahala kakung cartoons trip ng tatay mo) at sa banyo (pigilan mo, pasensya ka). O kaya sa skul kung saan maninigas ka muna bago ka makaranko nang ika tatlo.

Siguro innate na nga sa akin to dahil sa environment na kinalakihan ko. Palaban sa labanan kahit na-iihi na. Kaya nga nang sumali ako sa dagliang talumpati kanina (extemporaneous speaking) e medyo nasayahan ako. Una, kasi magaling ang kalaban. Pangalawa, kasi may ranko ako-ako ang ikalawang lugal. Nasayahan ako kasi hindi ko ito inaasahan. Parang natatawa pa kasi yung mga hurado sakin kanina. At yung tanong sakin, parang pang-beauty pageant sabi ng kaklase ko.

Yan talaga ang sinasabi nila na kung minsan, di mo hinihingi, kusang pumupunta sa'yo (pa-feel lang to). O kung minsan kahit na nandyan na, mawawala pa (pa-feel din ito).

Hanggang sa susunod na taon.

The start.

If you are staying in Iloilo you know for sure what Dinagyang is and when it is. Some wait for the auspicious posters to be hanged on the streets. Some wait for the real day of "Merrymaking". I wait for the sound of drums.

A few weeks before, I had already heard and seen some high school students play the upbeat tunes in their make-shift drums. These can be heard in the wee hours of the night for in their hope that their opponents would not hear it. They would practice when the sun is hiding in its blankets.

Tonight, I hear the drums once more but much louder. Dinagyang is here.