facebook mania

i've heard celebrities fight over the change of status in facebook, or relationships ruined because of some updates in facebook. last night was my 54 year old father's almost the same experience. he visited a friends page (who was a devout catholic and converted to a christian religion) and accidentally clicked on his pages called Assemblies of God. little did he know that the page was added on his profile and whenever someone views his profile, they would see the Assemblies of God logo on it. being an ex seminarian, he received comments on his wall (by his ex-seminarian friends) about how he was being a traitor by saying

Raul, I AM SO SHOCKED!!! I AM SO SURPRISED.... ET TU, BRUTE!!! Are you a member of that Church now?????

he was laughing his ass off because he didn't have a clue on how that page was added on to his because after viewing the page, he logged out.

he asked my help to remove it but wewere laughing at him because he is now getting addicted to facebook and was victimized by it. harhar.

kids these days...

my sister (a second year h.s. student) told me while watching the news about survivor philippines season 2 wannabees that a lot of h.s. students from her school were absent today because Pinoy Big Brother Teen edition held auditions. there was even a class where only 10 students were left, all the other 30 students were battling it out with thousands of wannabees.

funny that these kids would rather follow an endless line under the midday sun rather than be in an airconed classroom, sitting down and listening to the days take aways.

the 1 centavo and other lapuy memories

i didn't know we still had a one centavo coin in the philippines so i kept only one when the cashier from the grocery gave me 7 of those. last time i checked, the 1 centavo coin was silver and squarish, and that was 20 years ago. i even remember the 5 and 10 centavo coins could still buy me a safari, the cheapest junk food back in the early 90's. just recently, my mother asked me before going to work, "Do you still have enough money?" i said "yes pero puro lapuy" referring to the 5 and 10 cents that sm gave me as change. i was surprised at my answer that even after 20+ years, i still called it the same way i did back when i was a kid. i realized only just today that the name originated from Lapu-Lapu who was a main 1 sentimo fixture. i laughed at the thought of having all these crazy kid stuff come to mind, and some made sense.

back in the days, i remember our school having one long sink with 20 faucets tilted sidewards, 10 on each side that served as a drinking fountain for students. i remember drinking from the only faucet that remained useful, and stopped after seeing the dog licking the faucet itself. i didn't hear anybody who got sick after drinking from that same faucet anyway.

my other school made each section compete over the most clean room from grades 1-6 then 1st-4th year high school. everyone worked their asses off while making the floor shiny and dust free. the coveted prize was a worn-out banner and bragging rights as the principal announced the winner during flag ceremony. now i realize that even back then, i was already overworked and underpaid. sheeesh.

even back then, i realized how to be discriminated and "name valued" (if there's such) all at the same time. my father worked as a curator at the third floor of the building where there were rehearsals for some play being conducted that day. thinking that i was only an usi, the guy immediately dismissed me and thought of me as someone who only wanted to watch the play for free. i cried because he didn't listen to me at all, i sat in the stairs outside the door he was guarding when someone noticed me crying, when i looked up, it was the secretary of a nearby office who knew me. the lady approached the guy and told him how he would be sorry to have not let me in because i was so and so's daughter.

an elementary student, i was always surrounded with college students because we played at their building while waiting for papa. there were these three guys who had long kinky hair and tattoos all over their arms, they had metal bracelets and goatees. rumor was that the guys had a hard time hailing a trycicle driver because they thought of them as murderers and ill-mannered people. nowadays, the anong-paki-mo-sa-long-hair-ko sort of thing is sooo in.

funny thoughts a 1 centavo coin could bring back. hope we also bring back it's value.

oysters inc.

i wanna write about these oysters that come in different shapes and sizes that i come accross with every morning.

how do i start thee?

chiaroscuro

with only 250 bucks in hand, i looked for Joel Toledo's chiaroscuro at the book store. tolentino...tiongson... i was starting to lose hope. but when i looked closer, toledo's book was stuck between two thick books making it hard for the buyers to find it.

there it was, in one plastic covered piece as if it was meant for me and is just waiting for me to buy it.

the kuripot in me told me: "you may need it for now but after submitting your paper, will you still read it? you can borrow from someone else and return it once you're done"

i secretly opened the book covered in plastic and flipped through the pages, i wanted it so badly but the kuripot in me kept talking. "go buy ricky lee's novel instead, you want to read it diba? just add P50 and you'll have yourself a Para kay B"

with the poetry book in hand, i scanned through the pages of Para kay B, read the blurb and loved the illustrations. thing is, i had money enough for me to buy 1 book only. i put down the ricky lee and went to the cashier to pay the toledo. until now, i still can't believe how i ignored the kuripot in me and went for what i really wanted and got myself my first filipino poetry book (hah. go figure). having this book feels really really different that no matter how i repeat the words really before different, it still won't describe how surprisingly happy i am with this.

as for Para kay B, whoever has it, can you let me borrow one?

dreams and do its

i've always dreamt of being able to write and illustrate my own books for children and admire shel silverstein for being able to do it.

and of course, i've always admired filipino illustrators like beth parrocha-doctolero and brian vallesteros for being able to produce such wonderful work of art. i hope i can be like them and shel someday.

<<

my stomach flipped when i saw him waiting for the tour to start outside the Ateneo Art Gallery. after listening to the curator, we had time to go around and look and take pictures and since we sort of cornered him, he obliged to have his picture taken with us. he looked surprised as he stared at the giddy me. and so i told him,

"i read your blog."

this time he was more surprised, placing both of his hands on his chest,

"You must know too much about me already."

i laughed and said

"oh yes including your love life and all"

referring to his recent posts about a break-up and the drama of moving on.

i never saw him again (facebook aside) until i revisited his blog yesterday and it was as if i was back in Taboan, 2 thursdays ago in Ateneo while reading the first few paragraphs of Ian Rosales Casocot's feb 18 blog entry.

epol/apple;star/stah

...to access voicemail, you must dial star 96.

what? 496? says the customer on the other line.

no.

star. like twinkle twinkle little STAR.

(customer laughs) ooooh stah!

apparently our customers pronounce it in their aussie slang as STAH. but if we directly say stah, we would get a markdown from the communication coaches for not knowing/pronouncing the word as it is. hence the kani-kaniyang imbensyon.

thanks to dr. cruz for making me realize that i have a lot of things to write about. i get to talk to at least 30 people a day and each of them have their own funny, sarcastic and annoying moments.

ka-ching ka-ching

P288,146,473.20

if someone could have money this much, would one still be happy and feel at peace?

i think not.

hope a lot of people will benefit from this.

wawa-r veterans

http://www.nancarrow-webdesk.com/warehouse/storage2/2008-w45/img.404791_t.jpg

call me a drama queen but i felt like my heart was being small-pinched while watching the news. the war veterans were earnestly waiting for the processing of their papers outside the U.S. embassy accompanied by their equally old wives. they deserve it, no question. but how come after so many years, and after so many of them died, they were only able to benefit from it now? and then there was ambassador to the U.S. being interviewed, feeling happy, feeling great for the veterans, all smiles facing the camera.

ang nasabi ko lang:

"ma-showbiz siya noh?"

to each his own

got this from an email that i received a couple of days ago. perfect timing because i've been a little too busy with schoolwork lately and yaman din lamang that this person has gained most of the attention since he outed himself, might as well take it to a higher level. i vividly remember him as a handsome and honorable soldier in one of his supporting roles alongside his brother. now there's still the soldier in her that's brave enough to be all she can be.

anything goes

“My short response is: She should read a book on menopause,”

“My long response is: Question 1 – Why doesn’t she [Hontiveros] run for senator and win? Question 2 – Why doesn’t she have the guts to deliver a privilege speech in the House and subject herself to the interpellation of her colleagues?”

“Then what rules should be applied?”

“If the prosecutor or judge later throws out the case recommended by Congress for non-compliance with the Rules on Evidence, what is her alternative?”

“I’m very glad to say that my colleagues were solid and spoke as one in this matter, that there should be no effort [to affect the Senate inquiry], especially by an external factor such as an anonymous little insect…who just wants publicity for herself [by] trying to teach the Senate what to do,”

these are the quotable quotes that could pass as telenovela one liners or forwarded text messages. miriam is unbelievable! tss.

full story HERE

we are family

nope. they're not the brother and the sister of this baby girl.

they are her parents.
as in 15 y.o mum and 13 y.o dad.

i've read this story in two blogs already. one in Keiranazril’s Blog and another in Karen Anne's Blog

for the full story, click HERE

my Leyte High, alma mater ever dear

i studied in the same school as them. i don't know though if i ever entered or had classes in this same room.


back when i was in high school, the Leyte National High School had more than 50 sections per year level. each section had 45-50 students. there were "higher" and "lower" sections, there was also SPA (special program for the arts). since i was in the second section, i pretty much wasn't able to celebrate the prom together with the first and third sections because we celebrated our JS prom in two days, from 1pm-7pm and the attendees for day one were sections with odd numbers, and the second, with even ones.


since there were a lot of students, subjects like MAPEH and THE were done in rooms "ha bukid" (at the nearby hill) and we travelled from the "lowlands" to the "highlands" depending on what the subjects were. we cut grass after classes for CAT and discussed computer in the room but the practical exams were with the use of a "bolo" and "silhig" (machete and broom).

for the periodical exams, the "lower" sections had to take it in the morning, and the "higher" ones, in the afternoon, being given the entire morning to study.


during foundation days, motorists anticipate the heavy traffic in the small town and watch from the sidelines instead.


no matter how we emphasized the word higher when we mentioned that we come from the "higher" sections, we were still equal with the ones on the "lower" sections on the demeaning remarks of people. they'd often tag the school as one for repeaters, drug addicts, thieves, bastards and all the negative things they could think of. inspite of this, a good number of our alumni end up studying in a whole variety of prestigious schools.


as for me, i am proud that i chose LNHS to be my high school alma mater. my parents could have sent me to a private/chinese/exclusive school and let me experience high school with the comforts of airconditioned rooms, computers and real stairs instead of a paved way to the bukid but they knew that i would have more fun being around with different kinds of people and learn not only academically but also street smartly.

i

just can't get enough...
still find it hard to believe that i was side by side with other writers...
have a really bad stomach ache...
have lots of things in mind...

shouldn't be writing then if it's all about me that i'm gonna write about...

i'm gonna stop now.

tah.

Taboan

non visayans read it as tabowan instead of tabo-an which comes from the word tabo. i don't have the exact definition of the word but as far as i can remember, it was a day where the goods being sold were cheaper and the earlier you go there, the cheaper the goods will be. i used to tell my mother to go there later than the scheduled time since i wanted to go with her but was still sleepy. she just simply told me that it would defeat the purpose.

it turned out to be the same with the Taboan: The Philippine International Writers Festival 2009 where you won't be able to catch the talk, if you're too lazy to go early or squeeze yourself into a roomfull of audience.

it was a wonderful experience to be in touch with the writers whom you get to see only in the author's info of their books.

going back...

today was a reunion with my what-am-i-here-for? questions.

and i got my answers.

for the past terms that i have been studying, although i really learned a lot of things, i felt that there was something that was still missing.

i thought i already found it in CNF and was very happy about it that i even wrote an entry about "hearing my calling."

until today.

when i attended the talk about children's literature.

it reminded me of the things that i really wanted in the first place.

my dreams and do it's.

it made me dig up the files and look for my letter of intent to study creative writing.

"I also see myself having a published book for young adults already." (answering the question, "what would you be in 10 years?" haha. and i thought it was that easy to publish one!)

"I have noticed that unlike in the States, there are just a few books specially made for young adults here in the Philippines. It could be the reason for these young adults to be more interested in watching the television than reading books. Hopefully, with my graduate studies in hand, I would be able to help promote awareness by making fun and entertaining books for them to find out that there are lots of things that they can learn from books alone. Thus, there will be more children or young adults who would be interested in reading not only books but also the broadsheet and will have broader knowledge when it comes to politics or stuff that they need to be aware of."

"I would be interested in investigating more on the things I discussed aforementioned. Books for young adults in the states have different variations. Almost all the things that they experience as young adults are written. From cliques, popularity and jocks to school activities, secret crushes and friendship. Here in the Philippines, I have read one so far but it would be better if there are lots of choices and would be of different topics. I am aware of children’s books and chic lits being written but have not heard any other books by Filipino authors in between the mentioned genres that focus on being a youth. I hope I can make it possible."

wanting to write about cliques, popularity, jocks, school activities, secret crushes and friendship was a year ago, before i started MFA. but i start to realize that there are a lot of things that has not been written about yet. The experiences of a Filipino young adult specially in times like this would be a good start.

it was a wonderful experience listening to the speakers (and meeting them too)

children's lit is love.

isang taon...

mula nang lumantad si jun lozada
mula nang sinubaybayan ko ang mga hearing sa telebisyon at ang mga palitan ng mga maaanghang na bintang at salita
mula nang maging mala teleserye ang congreso sa mga luha at pighati ni jun
mula nang bumisita siya sa mga paaralan upang magbigay ng "talk"
mula nang mamulat ang sangkatauhan at nagtipon sa makati upang maisaboses ang ipinaglalaban
mula nang idinaos ang samu't saring misa para sa kapayapaan, sa katotohanan.

isang taon at marami pa ang nadagdag na katiwalian, katarantaduhan, at kalokohan.

isang taon at walang nangyari sa ipinaglaban ni jun lozada.

isang taon ngunit parepareho parin ang mga problema.

may pag-asa pa kaya?

...

"buti pa ang mga dolphin, napa-alis ng matiwasay. ang mga buwaya kaya kelan?"

-a text message by a listener to a radio program.

binoe clones

walking slowly on my way home, i thought of all the things in school that were nearing the deadliest deadline. i have more than 4 papers to finalize, 2 to make and 2 more to edit. maybe, thinking of all the deadlines slowed down the brisk walker in me.

all of a sudden, there were these giggly girls in pleated maroon skirts, white blouses and black shoes having all the fun they could possibly have while walking in pairs, telling jokes at each other, laughing loudly and screaming, "think positive, wag kang aayaw! think positive, wag kang aayaw!"

i laughed and remembered binoe's (i still can't get the logic of spelling binoy with NOE instead of NOY. hehe.) comercial. and now i have robin padilla and his clones shouting at me altogether "tink pasitib, wag kang aayaw! tink pasitib, wag kang aayaw!" and i can't get them to stop.

think positive because bawal umayaw.

can't get enough

while looking up for the picture of the book with the longest title on my previous post, i came accross this site called THE LONGEST LIST OF THE LONGEST STUFF AT THE LONGEST DOMAIN NAME AT LONG LAST . remove the spaces and add .com and you got yourself the url of the site.

here are some interesting info that i found:

What is the longest job title in the world?
London, England News Ad:Wanted: Temporary part-time libraries North-West inter-library loan business unit administration assistant.


How long was the longest lecture in the world?
From March 21 - 25 Errol Muzawazi, of Zimbabwe, gave a lecture on 'Democracy' in Poland lasting an incredible 88 hours and 04 seconds, beating his previous record of 62 hours 30 minutes.
Errol Muzawazi was able to take only a short break every 8 hours to eat, go to the bathroom and take a quick nap. His audience was not bound by the same rules and Errol was often found talking to himself as the audience slept.

So what exactly is the longest word in the world?
It all depends on your point of view, but here goes:
Officially the longest word is 'floccinaucinihilipilification' at 29 characters, meaning 'the act of estimating as worthless'.
Then there's 'antidisestablishmentarianism' at 28 letters, meaning 'opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England'. It is often considered the longest word as it has an actual meaning instead of being created just to be long.
Unofficially the longest word is 'pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis' at 45 characters, meaning 'a lung disease'. It was created solely for the purpose of being the longest word, however, it does appear in a few dictionaries.


What is the world's longest place name?
A little village in Wales boasts the longest place name at 58 letters:Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch...
...But New Zealand makes the same claim with a hill containing 92 letters:Tetaumatawhakatangihangakoauaotamateaurehaeaturipukapihimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuaakitanarahu...
...But after some further digging we found the winner to be Bangkok. OK, so that's only 7 letters, but the official ceremonial name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon for short meaning 'City of Angels'.
The full name of Bangkok has many variations in spelling but we found what is believed to be the official spelling coming in at 163 letters:Krungthepmahanakornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayamahadilokphopnopparatrajathaniburiromudomrajaniwesmahasatharnamornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit

Longest Title of a Book

i was browsing through the guinness website to look for the list of the world's greatest thieves but i wasn't able to find it (yet). so i searched through the site and found a lot of interesting things. for now, i'm gonna share info about the Longest Title of a Book which i got from the Guinness World Records website.

here's the 411 about it:

WHO: Davide Ciliberti
WHAT: 1,433 characters (290 words)
WHERE: Italy
WHEN: July 2007

The longest title of a book is 1,433 characters (290 words) and was written by Davide Ciliberti (Italy) in July 2007. The book describes the idiosyncrasies of the PR world. The full title is "Per favore dite a mia madre che faccio il pubblicitario lei pensa che sono un pierre e che quindi regalo manciate di free entry e consumazioni gratis a chi mi pare, rido coi vips, i calciatori le veline e le giornaliste, leggo Novella e mi fotografano i paparazzi, entro neI privé saltando la coda, bevo senza pagare, sono ghiotto di tartine e gin tonic, ho la casa piena di oggetti di design, conosco Paris Hilton, Tom Ford ed Emilio"

Oh My(chael Phelps) Gosh!

michael phelps who had won more gold medals for himself than our country in the beijing olympics made a big mistake by smoking marijuana just weeks after winning the medals.

got this news (and photo) from timesonline.co.uk by Kevin Eason, Sports News Correspondent




A mixture of shock and disbelief swept the United States yesterday as the nation woke up to an abject apology from the man it had hailed as its greatest Olympic athlete. Michael Phelps was a hero and role model for millions but now his career will be stained forever by claims that he smoked drugs.
The world's greatest swimmer was forced to say sorry after a British tabloid newspaper showed a picture of him appearing to smoke marijuana through a glass pipe, known as a bong, at a student party just weeks after creating history at the Beijing Olympic Games. In a spellbinding week, Phelps had won a record eight gold medals and turned himself into a $100 million superstar.
But his reputation is in tatters. As Phelps's face beamed out from cereal packets on millions of breakfast tables throughout the US - the lucrative result of just one of his many sponsorship deals - his apology came as a desperate act of damage limitation.
Although marijuana is a recreational drug not considered to be performance-enhancing, it is banned under World Anti-Doping Agency rules and athletes caught smoking dope could face a ban of up to two years.

“I engaged in behaviour which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” Phelps said. “I am 23 years old and, despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

Phelps has never failed a drugs test and even offered to take extra tests before the Olympic Games last August to promote an anti-doping campaign. Phelps has not broken any of his sport's rules as he has not tested positive for a banned substance, but his high profile may force the US Olympic Committee to make an example of an athlete who, on the face of it, may be regarded as untouchable.

USA Swimming, the sport's governing body in the US, said that it was disappointed by Phelps's behaviour. “Our Olympic champions are role models who are looked up to by people of all ages, especially young athletes who have their own aspirations and dreams,” a statement read. “That said, we realise that none among us is perfect. We hope that Michael can learn from this incident and move forward in a positive way.”

Team-mates and friends were quick to defend him. Jason Lezak, who swam the anchor leg in the 400 metres freestyle relay that kept Phelps on track for his gold-medal record, said he was saddened by the revelations in the News of the World. “If my wife and I can help him in any way, we will,” he said. “I believe he will grow from this and be a better person.”

But the fallout could be huge according to marketing experts, who believe that there could be a mass bail-out by the sponsors who had clamoured to sign up Phelps after Beijing.

“If this is all true, it will be nothing short of a disaster,” John Taylor, chairman of Sports Impact, one of Britain's leading sponsorship agencies, said. “Every sponsor has something called a disrepute clause written into their contracts and I will bet a few of them will be running through the small print first thing on Monday morning. This is terrible for his image.”

Phelps earns up to £5 million a year from deals with ten leading companies, including Hilton Hotels, Omega watches, Kellogg's cereals and Speedo swimwear. Speedo paid Phelps a $1 million bonus for capturing his eight golds in Beijing. His appeal has spread around the globe since he turned the Olympics into a personal triumph. Only last month, he became the face of Mazda cars in China.

He has been here before: in 2004, shortly after winning six gold and two bronze medals at the Athens Olympics, he was sentenced to 18 months' probation for drink-driving. It seems that the Olympic curse has struck America's sporting hero once again

family picture

the streets were crowded with buses and jeepneys again because of the 5pm traffic jam. i was stuck in a non-aircon bus waiting for it to drop me off at my destination. on my right was a view of a filipino community enjoying the breezy afternoon in a place they treated as home-- the bridge. 'twas a scene with little kids running around the streets not aware of the perils of big buses and jeepneys, with mothers tending their tinging candy and yosi stand and with men, four of them, facing each other, seated on bangkitos, playing cards, one reaching for his pocket and buying a stick of cigarette while his left hand held the set of cards. it was good enough material for documentaries showing how filipinos still manage to be happy despite the crises.

after a few minutes, despite the traffic light giving the go signal, i was still in the same bus that overlooked the same picture. funny how my thoughts changed rapidly from being envious of those who were able to do a lot of things because they did not have to work, to feeling lucky and contented with what i have despite the struggle to balance a lot of things.

that picture reminded me that the irony in this society still has not been resolved. people who have more income have a few or no children at all. on the contrary, people who have less have the most number of children. people who have more resources work their butts off to earn money while people who have less, sit out the afternoons and play cards (and smoke cigar)! ahhh, the paradox of life.

dissappointed

i slept late last night because i was trying to renew the books i borrowed but it didn't make me do anything because from the red letters written on the page, i had an overdue book that was supposed to be returned last jan27. after checking all the places that i might have left it, i was certain that i did return the book personally last january 24, saturday, with my classmates. i even remember us talking to the librarian because a classmate renewed it online but the system did not recognize it so she had to pay the amount equivalent to the number of days it was overdue.

today, i went to school, with me were the three books i was supposed to renew online. i brought it with me just in case there were instances where the books were needed. i was told by the librarian to go to the third floor to check since it was evident that he did not know what to do next. irritated already, i went to the third floor and told them the scenario. I asked them politely,

"how can i prove that the books were returned? do you give a receipt or acknowledgement that it has been done?"

the librarian instead told me to check back in a few days after they search for the book. (read:NO)

"so what if you don't find the book? will it be charged against me or my records?"
she nodded and said that i would have to complete a form stating the loss of the book and for the mean time, i was to return the other books that were due. "but i need these books and i don't think it would be fair from being restricted to renew because of a book that's missing which clearly was not my fault" despite the things i told her, i was left with no choice but to return the book. i waited while the mister in the 4th floor was talking on the phone despite the queue. he told me that if i was only to return the books, i was free to go since nothing was needed from me. i told him that i'd wait and see for myself that he scanned the barcode. curious, he asked me what the problem was and for the third time, i told him the dilemma. the other employee heard it and said that the 3rd floor people already cleared me from what happened and that i was free to borrow the book again.

before going home, i checked OPAC and found the book labelled "for shelfing" so i dropped by the third floor and asked the librarian personally if they found the book already. she said yes and that i wouldn't be able to renew the book i had (pointing to the books i held) if i wasn't cleared. i thanked her and went home.

i didn't even get a "sorry" or even a "pasensya na sa abala" from any of them after all the things i had to go through because of someone's carelessness.

i'll be carrying a little notebook from now on to let them sign once i return the book no matter how silly they think of me.

mobile art

while i was doing the dishes, my father took advantage of the laptop and googled several images of the jeepney which he will be using as reference for his next set of pen and ink drawings. i taught him how to organize the photos and found this:

http://www.stuartxchange.org/

"iba iba pala sila" was my initial reaction but of course at the back of our minds, we know that they vary in color, size, design, style and even their blings but how many of us take time to really appreciate the intricate details of these kings? a lot of us disregard the jeepneys around mainly because they stop anywhere they want to, don't observe road courtesy, take time to call on passengers, and wouldn't care at all even if they cause the traffic jam. they are everywhere and there are sooo many of them and it's irritating most of the time. but how many of us take time to enjoy the perks of this mobile art?

same with colleagues and friends (and family too!), we have them around us everyday that we get used to it but we forget to thank them for simply being around.

what's wrong with this picture?

easy.

manny pacquiao without his hangers-on? that is sooo not right.

while waiting for the family to get dressed for the 10am mass, a copy of the Sunday Inquirer Magazine caught my attention and forced me to sit down and take a few minutes of my waiting time to scan the pages of the magazine. pictures of Manny Pacquiao were splattered on the pages as if he owned the magazine. there was young manny with blonde hair, manny and his OscarDLH bout, manny and JMmarquez in the boxing ring and many others. but the picture of the motorcade of this whole manny-beating-the-golden-boy-thing caught my attention and made me laugh. this is a PDI photo but since i was not able to find a clearer, better one, i just took a shot from my phone.

for those who still aren't able to laugh with me, let me tell you why.

manny is a celebrated boxer that at the end of his fight, many politicians jostle for every photo-op moment. this and that calls him so their names would be mentioned in one way or another. some would make him wear caps or head bands with the logo of the product he endorses. and poor manny, obliges with neither protest nor hesitation.

now every time he tours the metro for his motorcade, his tatay-tatayan (and family) is always beside him. in this photo, he was covered by the philippine flag no less but the trademark red and white (polo shirt) flower ensemble can still be seen.

it just seemed wrong to see manny all alone without his hangers-on and for the first time, (only in this photo) it did look like an honest-to-goodness victory motorcade and not an early campaign.

PASINAYA '09

it's the time of the year when everyone gets to enter and watch as many shows as they can in CCP. no matter how they say that the CCP is for everyone to enjoy, sad to say, it's not what it turns out to be because only the upperclass can afford concert tickets of worldclass performers. but today, the CCP was packed with all sorts of people (whether it be from upper, middle and lower classes) to enjoy free (snippets) MUSIC, DANCE, FILM, THEATER, VISUAL ARTS, LITERATURE, CULINARY ARTS, KIDS' ZONE, and BAZAAR.

(L-R) outside the CCP bldg., the chiang kai shek college youth choir, the pasinaya programme,(second row) the bayanihan philippine national folk dance company, sining bulakeno and audience and performer(s) at the main theater lobby, (third row) sibul dancers, the ccp staircase, father and child, me and my sister with the higante from Angono.

the filipinos have sooo much talent to show.

in the pasinaya alone,there were more that 85 groups and each had more than 20 performers.

it's actually an event to watch out for.

too bad for literature, there was only one event (WORDJAM) scheduled almost an hour after another. worse, it was in the 4th floor hallway pa!

unfotunately, pasinaya is only for a day but for those who were not able to watch it today, it's ok coz feb is the National Arts Month and for sure, more talents will be showcased.