Too many wrong turns!

Too many wrong turns!

The other day I missed my turn going to the Power Plant Mall. I ended up going to the unfamiliar side of the Makati-Mandaluyong Bridge, and had to take a U-turn at a narrow side street to get myself back to familiar territory.

Today, while searching for Paolo Cruz's badminton place, I wandered even farther off. I misread the map and motored toward Lerma St. and Quiapo Church before realizing I was at the wrong side of Espana Avenue. Attempts to get back on line had me lost again in Manila's side streets.

I have a knack for getting lost, it seems. Unfortunately it's an expensive affliction...not one I can afford to do now that I have to get back to saving money.

When I did get to Power Plant, though, I played four games each of Battle Gear 3 and Dance Maniax 2nd Mix. I've gotten a lot better with BG3; I can finally perform drifts and not crash too often in the tight Akina mountain pass now that I know where to brake, turn and control my slides with the throttle. As for DM2M, it's been ages since I played it, or gotten any decent exercise at all, but I'm still the flamboyant player using both my arms and legs.

That "workout" was a preparation for today's badminton game. I met Ran and Carlo, Paolo's friends from college, and had a good time playing them. Unfortunately I ran out of steam so early, due to the heat and fatigue from the other day, and so I lost to Carlo on both our singles games. Better to peter out now and build it up later than do it any closer to our coming all-men's badminton tournament in June.

Even so I'm planning to do this as a weekly thing. It'd be miles better and cheaper compared to wandering aimlessly around malls like I've been doing the past few weeks.

I might even make 500 km on my current tank after all, too.

"Imagine"

"Imagine"

The DLSU Pops Orchestra's concert last night was awesome. This time around they indulged in a slew of different medleys, a little music from celebrated video games (the Super Mario Bros. Medley and "Aerith's Theme" from Final Fantasy VII, one of my favorite RPGs), lesser-known songs (Chantal Kreviazuk's "Time"), hyperactive dance music (Jamiroquai's "Canned Heat") and a suprisingly lean ballad lineup.

A number of familiar faces have graduated like me, but they were replaced with an equally capable lineup of instrumentalists and vocalists who are more than capable of kicking ass on the concert stage.

Thinking aloud, rambling aloud

Thinking aloud, rambling aloud

For once, I don't know what to write about. What do I ramble about today?

I guess I could talk about my plans for the weekend. Since the Jazz is actually 4,000 km overdue for a tuneup, I'll probably waste my Saturday morning and afternoon waiting for that to finish. I suppose Honda Makati's high cost for sloppy service won't change any time soon, but I figure the Jazz still needs it as it's two years old and still within warranty period. Maybe I could spring for a replacement buckle/anchor for the rear center seatbelt...the one the previous owner crushed out of commission.

After that...I hope to make it in time for the DLSU Pops Orchestra's major concert in the evening. I want to see how they're doing. I hear Rachel and the gang might be coming over as well, so who knows? It might turn out to be one of those little reunions.

Sunday marks the beginning of the 2007 Formula 1 season, beginning as usual with the Australian Grand Prix in Albert Park, Melbourne. This marks the ninth year I've been following this sport. I haven't been informed over its off-season because it's boring to listen to tales of winter testing. However, I can't deny that the first season without Michael Schumacher should be interesting to watch, especially as things seem to have been thrown in the air and let fall where they may this time around.

I've finished watching season 2 of House. While House and Cameron's relationship was on the back burner this time, a whole other smattering of dramatic events have happened. My favorite episode has to be the "Euphoria" two-parter, where I broke into tears when a dying Foreman regretted his greed and apologized to Cameron in a poignant scene. He even trusted her enough to name her as his medical proxy over his dad.

Unfortunately, the season 3 DVDs I got run only until episode 6---nowhere near complete. I guess I'll have to find another distraction for now. Maybe I should finish watching Turn-A Gundam instead?

Had I not moved from the ensconced but lonely cubicle I was assigned to a few months ago, I doubt I would get to know my team leads any better. I realize the move was actually a good thing for me. I'm a little more inspired these days because despite their responsibilities, I got to know my superiors a lot better. Paolo J., Chielou, Jenny, Tri and Cel are interesting people in themselves who know how to have fun and have a good laugh every hour.

Slowly I've also realized they have problems of their own, and lately I've been fortunate enough to have some of them share their pain with me. Despite age and career level differences, I found that we're not really all that different.

I'm a little sleepy now...

Staying inside the 'house'

Staying inside the 'house'

I've been silent for a while on this blog. I sort of figured you hundred-something guys who view this blog every week might be sick of me moping my sorry ass off, so perhaps I should give you a break from me.

Then again there's also another reason why I've been off the Internet for a few days. I finally scored DVDs of House and I've been watching them on a staggered marathon session. By "staggered" I mean I watch a bunch of episodes, sleep, and when I get up early enough I sneak in one episode before I haul my ass out of bed to take a bath and prep myself for work.

I'm hooked.

I literally postponed sleep to see episode 20 of season 1, where House and Cameron go out on their promised date. I was on the bed, smiling like a giddy fool because I wanted to see what happened between them. I am amazed by how they solved their baffling medical mysteries too, but the real stars are the team of doctors that make Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital an interesting place to be in.

Season 1 has been put to bed rather prematurely (it turns out I've seen quite a few episodes on cable already) and I've started on the first few episodes of season 2. So far so good. House is one of the only things I even bother to watch on TV these days that isn't related to sports, and now that Monday nights are for sleeping in early, watching it on cable isn't exactly a very good option.

My birthday present came a week early.

My birthday present came a week early.

Due to the slightly greater need for watching DVDs—after all, my sister has also been complaining—over getting a music-playing cellphone, I decided to buy the Philips DVP5965K player as my birthday gift a week early. I brought it home by cash and what remained of my SM gift checks from Christmas (I could have sworn I had PhP1,500 of them so why was I missing PhP500?).

The DVD player worked quite well, playing a lot of media in different formats, although I was curiously disappointed as to why some of my DivX material on CD didn’t run. The manual suggested it might have been due to an unfinalized CD-R. Hmmm. At least it has a USB port to test this further, and it’s appreciably lighter and thinner than our old DVD player that now refuses to read any disk laid on its loading tray.

Even so, the hole the DVD player made on my wallet didn’t stop me from window-shopping for the Nokia 5300 even further. It seems like I’ve already found the absolute rock-bottom price it’ll sell for…and maybe I’ll add a little more for a large-capacity MicroSD memory card and those spiffy Bluetooth wireless headphones. All that won’t come in a while, though. I’ll need to recoup my funds again if I don’t intend on blowing my pending bonus in one spurt.

Before blowing my paycheck in the afternoon, I had attended the first session of the chorale singing workshop I had signed up for from the office. It was interesting to see how singing well isn’t just a function of the throat and vocal chords; rather it actually involves the whole body, from head to foot, and it begins with proper posture, breathing and vocal onset. The twenty or so fellows I shared the class with were a nice bunch, too, and so far I don’t have any reservations about spending four more Saturday mornings at MSE.

Finally, I took up Chen and Aileen’s advice. I went to a nearby florist’s and looked for roses for the girl I like.

Hmmm. Maybe the less I talk about this particular tidbit of news, the better. Even a talkative bastard like me knows the value of suspense.

"Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo"

"Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo"

Gracey, Paolo C., Cora, Jho, Jacky, Jona and I watched “Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo” last night. We figured we should catch it before the movie theaters stop showing the 2006 Metro Manila Film Festival entries and replace them with stuff like “Eragon.”

The girls were enjoying themselves, laughing their guts silly while I was criticizing the movie from a film theory perspective—the stuff I learned from and had to submit every week in INTROFI in college. (Warning: This is not a casual observation of the film but a technical one.)

I found it odd that Jose Javier Reyes intentionally used shallow focus and kept the emphasis on Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo, especially at the beginning. The supporting actors like Derek Ramsay and Lui Villaruz were going to be given important roles and lines anyway, so I don’t understand why they had to appear blurred in the first 30 minutes, unless Reyes wanted to drive home the point that Judy Ann and Ryan were the only actors worth paying attention to.

Reyes uses a toned-down montage technique in “Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo” to good effect. It certainly doesn’t distract the audience with rapid-fire cutting, and it didn’t bore them by overly long takes either. Shot placement deliberately avoids jump-cuts and seems well-done.

Judy Ann’s acting was good. She fleshed out Anj’s traits well and did not shirk from the less savory stuff, such as a scene where she lets out a loud fart in front of Ryan’s Jed, much to his disgust. Ryan was a little more one-dimensional and I consider his acting merely adequate for the role, but effective nonetheless. Both of them, however, pale in comparison to Gina Pareno’s charismatic portrayal of Anj’s boorish mother-in-law. Pareno is not known for her comedic prowess, but all the laughable things she does will make audiences think otherwise. She is totally comfortable in her role and runs away with it, almost stealing the show.

There are still some “duh” moments in “Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo” where the solidity of the writing shows some cracks, most of them delivered by Gloria Diaz and sadly compensated for by her rubber-faced antics. Not everything is explained sufficiently either, such as Jed’s knack for collecting Batman toys and keeping them in mint condition. Not all Pinoys will understand that collectors like Jed treat these as investments, and taking such toys out of the box rapidly erodes their value to other collectors, so even a line or two about this fact should have made it in there. Lastly, this movie’s ad placement is too in-your-face. What is this supposed to be, a movie or a 120-minute advertisement? There are ways of making the promotions more subtle.

Still, I like the little things the writers did to emphasize the importance of the marriage aspect. Jed and Anj are not shown having sex until they are married—a welcome respite from most other films that influence audiences into sex outside of the marital bond. The insistence of the couple to do things independently, without intervention/interference from in-laws is remarkable, too. The infidelity aspect of the movie felt a little undercooked, however, especially as it made for a slightly flawed climax.

Overall, this is a good movie, the kind of which should be made more often. Still a bit rough around the edges, perhaps, but “Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo” ranks up there with big-name marquee foreign feel-good comedy films in many aspects. Films like this offer a beacon of hope for the Filipino film industry.

My 2001 top 100 20

My 2001 top 100 20

This game was taken from Tin, and I know she got the rules somewhere else.

How to play:

• Get the list of the Top 100 songs the year you graduated from high school from here.
• Bold the songs you like.
• Strike out the ones you hate.
• Ignore the ones you don’t remember or care about, and
• Underline your favorite.

Here’s what I came up with:

Top 100 songs from 2001

1. Lady Marmalade Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya & Pink
2. Fallin', Alicia Keys
3. I'm Real, Jennifer Lopez
4. Family Affair, Mary J. Blige
5. Butterfly, Crazy Town
6. Thank You, Dido
7. Don't Tell Me, Madonna
8. He Loves U Not, Dream
9. Gone, 'N Sync
10. Love Don't Cost A Thing, Jennifer Lopez
11. Hero, Enrique Iglesias
12. Hanging By A Moment, Lifehouse
13. Drops Of Jupiter, Train
14. Jaded, Aerosmith
15. U Remind Me, Usher
16. Hit 'Em Up Style, Blu Cantrell
17. Survivor, Destiny's Child
18. It Wasn't Me. Shaggy featuring Ricardo "Rikrok" Ducent
19. All For You, Janet Jackson
20. Angel, Shaggy featuring Rayvon
21. Turn Off The Light, Nelly Furtado
22. All Or Nothing, O-Town
23. How You Remind Me, Nickelback
24. Someone To Call My Lover, Janet Jackson
25. Fill Me In, Craig David
26. It's Been Awhile, Staind
27. I'm Like A Bird, Nelly Furtado
28. Bootylicious, Destiny's Child
29. Again, Lenny Kravitz
30. Let Me Blow Ya Mind, Eve featuring Gwen Stefani
31. Everywhere, Michelle Branch
32. Stutter, Joe featuring Mystikal
33. Irresistable , Jessica Simpson
34. I Hope You Dance, Lee Ann Womack
35. Nobody Wants To Be Lonely, Ricky Martin & Christina Aguilera
36. Here's To The Night, Eve 6
37. Beautiful Day, U2
38. Emotion, Destiny's Child
39. Superman (It's Not Easy), Five For Fighting
40. Southside, Moby with Gwen Stefani
41. The Space Between, Dave Matthews Band
42. Play, Jennifer Lopez
43. When It's Over, Sugar Ray
44. Drive, Incubus
45. More Than That, Backstreet Boys
46. What Would You, Do City High
47. Be Like That, 3 Doors Down
48. I Wanna Be Bad, Willa Ford
49. Peaches & Cream , 112
50. Ride Wit Me, Nelly
51. Only Time, Enya
52. Where The Party At, Jagged Edge with Nelly
53. Standing Still, Jewel
54. Pop, 'N Sync
55. This Is Me , Dream
56. Never Had A Dream Come True, S Club 7
57. Crazy, K-Ci & JoJo
58. You Make Me Sick, Pink
59. What It Feels Like For A Girl, Madonna
60. E.I., Nelly
61. Dig In, Lenny Kravitz
62. Get Ur Freak On, Missy Elliott
63. Breathless, The Corrs
64. Every Other Time, LFO
65. Yellow, Coldplay
66. Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning), Vertical Horizon
67. One Minute Man, Missy Elliott
68. I Do, Toya
69. Fly Away From Here, Aerosmith
70. I'm A Slave 4 U, Britney Spears
71. Smooth Criminal, Alien Ant Farm
72. Still On Your Side, BBMak
73. No More (Baby I'ma Do Right), 3LW
74. My Everything, 98 Degrees
75. Ms. Jackson, Outkast
76. Start The Commotion, The Wiseguys
77. Free, Mya
78. Baby, Come On Over (This Is Our Night), Samantha Mumba
79. Hemmorhage (In My Hands), Fuel
80. Drowning, Backstreet Boys
81. Around The World (La La La…), ATC
82. Thank You For Loving Me, Bon Jovi
83. AM To PM, Christina Milian
84. Izzo (H.O.V.A.), Jay-Z
85. Flavor Of The Weak, American Hi-Fi
86. What's Going On, All Star Tribute
87. Stronger, Britney Spears
88. One More Time, Daft Punk
89. I'm A Believer, Smash Mouth
90. We Fit Together, O-Town
91. Differences, Ginuwine
92. Follow Me, Uncle Kracker
93. There You'll Be, Faith Hill
94. So In Love With Two, Mikaila
95. In My Pocket, Mandy Moore
96. Mad Season, Matchbox 20
97. Bad Day, Fuel
98. What's Your Fantasy Ludacris
99. Liquid Dreams, O-Town
100. Babylon, David Gray

Wow. "Flavor of the Weak" by American Hi-Fi was one awesome song. It holds the distinction of having the cleverest song title I've heard (it's often misspelled as "Flavor of the Week"), and being one of the first songs that hooked me on NU107 way back when. It was a happy day when I found their album...and also a sad one, because I gave it away as a birthday present to my college friend Kate.

She paints her nails and she don't know
He's got her best friend on the phone
She'll wash her hair,
His dirty clothes are all he gives to her
And he's got posters on the wall
Of all the girls he wished she was
And he means everything to her

Her boyfriend, he don't know
Anything about her
He's too stoned, Nintendo
I wish that I could make her see
She's just the flavour of the week

It's Friday night and she's all alone
He's a million miles away
She's dressed to kill
But the TV's on
He's connected to the sound
And he's got pictures on the wall
Of all the girls he's loved before
And she knows all his favourite songs

Her boyfriend, he don't know
Anything about her
He's too stoned, Nintendo
I wish that I could make her see
She's just the flavour of the week

Her boyfriend, he don't know
Anything about her
He's too stoned, he's too stoned
He's too stoned, he's too stoned

Her boyfriend, he don't know
Anything about her
He's too stoned, Nintendo
I wish that I could make her see
She's just the flavour of the week

Yeah she's the flavour of the week
But she makes me weak...

Where is American Hi-Fi now? I wonder...