Look, Up In The Sky!

WARNING: SPOILERS!

After all these years and after most people thought that no one can replace Christopher Reeves, Superman returns.

I can’t understand why hearing the movie theme makes me want to stand up and clap my hands. It was overwhelming. A friend of mine said he even wanted to jump out of joy. Then I overheard the person behind us in the cinema saying, “Shocks grabe ayan na…”. Weird. Now really, I am grateful that they still decided to use that. Dan dadandan darararararandadandan… However, non-superman-fan moviegoer will just probably say, “Ang ingay”.

The scenes I really like are: the airplane rescue sequence, the intimate moment with Loise, the piano-pushing part (I was thrilled by the truth it confirmed), Superman being beaten-up by Luthor’s henchmen, the crowd watching as he falls unconsciously from the sky, Martha Kent waiting outside the hospital worried about her son, and him reciting to Jason the same words his father left him.

Brandon Routh was surprisingly good. He was able to give justice to both Clark Kent and Superman. Overall, it was a good homecoming.

Pandora’s Box

I have been experiencing headaches for two days in a row. Who would ever thought that a good action would lead to something wrong, and that something wrong resulted to something good which you are not totally happy because something bad happened which you are now trying hard to turn back to the good thing it was. Even this entry is giving me a headache!

I guess I just have to accept the facts. Pandora wasn’t able to restore the evils which flew out of the box. She had to live to it, as well as all the people that was inflicted as a result of her actions. In this case, I am thankful that the box was immediately shut and no other persons were affected except the people who were curious enough to unlock the box. I just hope that time may heal the bruises and close all wounds. Until then, I think it is better to part ways.

Breaking The Silence

I run out of things to write lately. I’ll just share with you Nelly Sindayen’s interview with Imelda posted on eBalita. I was both amazed and amused. Read on…

10 Questions with Imelda Marcos

Since her husband, Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos, died in exile in Honolulu in 1989, Imelda Marcos has seldom been out of the news, mostly because of the Philippine government’s 20-year pursuit of what it considers the Marcos family’s ill-gotten gains, rumored to amount to billions. Marcos talked with TIME’s Nelly Sindayen about money, her encounters with world leaders, and—what else?—her shoes.

You’re said to be one of the world’s richest people. Just how rich are you?
If you know how rich you are, my dear, then you’re not really rich. Frankly, I don’t want to put numbers [out there], I don’t want to attract any more lawsuits. The vultures want a piece of the Marcos meat, watching every figure mentioned.

How did your husband become so wealthy?
Ferdinand was a gold trader. He was a lawyer for mining companies. When he entered politics in l949, he had tons and tons of gold. When Bill Gates was a college dropout, Ferdinand already possessed billions of dollars and tons of gold. It wasn’t stolen.

Why do you sometimes say you’re poor?
I am poor not in material things but in the truth. I’ve been called a thief—the biggest ever … The problem with First Ladies is that you have to set the standard. I had to wear jewelry then, but all that was taken away, confiscated by the government. They think they have taken everything away from me, including my shoes. But actually that’s my biggest defense: when they opened my closet, they found shoes instead of skeletons. They’ve listed my name in the dictionary—”Imeldific” is used to mean ostentatious extravagance … But the truth will prevail. At [77], I am still standing, still fighting the superpowers.

Speaking of superpowers, the U.S. filed racketeering charges against you in 1988. You were acquitted, but not before you had to post $5 million bail.
The first one to come to my rescue was [Muammar] Gaddafi, who said he was willing to post bail for me even if it were 10 times higher. Even Saddam Hussein sent his foreign minister to ask if there was anything I needed.

Many notorious leaders have been kind to you.
[Fidel] Castro too. When I visited Cuba, he drove for me. He told me he had driven for only two people in his life—his mother and me … At the height of the cold war, I visited China. When I saw Chairman Mao, I kissed his hand so he kissed my hand. “I like you,” the Chairman said. “You’re very beautiful, and childlike.”

You negotiated with Gaddafi to stop Libya’s backing for the separatist Moro National Liberation Front in Mindanao.
Gaddafi said to me: You’re a good woman, why don’t you become a Muslim? I said I didn’t know Islam. He said Islam is kind, so I said, then don’t let Mindanao separate from the Philippines. He said Islam is generous, so I said, then give us oil at a low, friendship price. I ended up getting eight concessions, including cheap oil.

Do you have a message for President Bush?
My advice to him is: do a Ferdinand in handling power. Ferdinand once told me, “Imelda, power is not used, it is felt.”

But Bush has to face threats like Osama bin Laden.
I beg Osama to stop warring. He is a Muslim, and Islam means peace. Nobody wins in a war … I wish I were tapped in the problem about Iraq. I knew Saddam enough that I could have talked him into surrendering. But it’s too late.

What will you do next?
I will come up with a project that will wipe out poverty in the Philippines in two years. I want to remove the people from economic crisis by using the Marcos wealth. Long after I’m gone, people will remember me for building them homes and roads and hospitals and giving them food. The people should stop laughing at all this. They should stop thinking that I’m a bit touched in the head.

You’re as controversial as ever.
Being controversial is being whole. It’s yin and yang. I used to be yin when Marcos was still alive, and he was the yang. Now I am both yin and yang.

Happy Birthday Friend

 

This is one of the cards KR sent me while he was in Guam. I find the passage true with our friendship. We never really knew the time where we started to treat each other as best of friends. It just happened. With that same spontaneity did our friendship ended. We woke up one morning lost of any idea on what was happening with each others’ life. Perhaps it was the miles.

Anyway, I just hope he had a meaningful and a happy birthday.

… and friends are friends forever, if the Lord’s the lord of them…

Coffee, Botting, and Forced Eviction

I like my coffee cold, ice cold. So yesterday I finally got hold of Dunkin Donuts‘ iced coffee paired with their ham and cheese bunwich. It almost tasted like Maxwell House‘s rich original, naturally decaffeinated coffee. I actually like the taste pero nabitin pa ako doon sa medium size nila. I think I am up for another cup and I hope they have a bigger serving.

~ * ~

Level-Up Philippines, the company responsible for bringing games such as Ragnarok and Rose Online here in the Philippines, is now legalizing real money trading (RMT). They will even be lauching auctions where gamers can buy rare ingame items in exchange for a handsome amount of money. I also read that the company will loosen their policy on botting. Botting is a case where a gamer uses a third party program to enable their character to level up by themselves without manual supervision. But they gave out a warning that gamers bot at their own risk.

In my case, I decided to give my characters (shown on picture) an indefinite and temporary rest.

~ * ~

Marlon texted me earlier that a former officemate who was “forced” to avail a voluntary separation pay was hired by Lexmark and is bound for the USA this month. Sometimes we must be forced out of our comfort zones in order to see a new horizon.

Race The Passport

I was a bit frantic last Monday when my Aunt called to ask for my sister’s passport number and it turned out that little sister haven’t yet applied for one. My Aunt have to submit her papers within the week or her chance to go abroad will be doomed ’til kingdom come. I know that a rushed passport can be released within two working days but I have no idea on the fastest time it takes to release an NSO birth certificate on security paper.

Good thing Mom knows a thing or two about this matter and so sister went to the provincial capital early in the morning and had her birth certificate released 10am on that same day. She then proceeded to the DFA to apply for her passport and yesterday I fetched it for her.

I have been to DFA twice and both visits have been pleasant enough. The first one was when I applied for mine. Although there were long waiting lines, processing was fast enough and took me around two hours to finish the whole thing. I had it delivered door to door.

Yesterday I arrived around 3:30pm, submitted the receipt, had my ID photocopied, sat down on the waiting area, waited for the name to be called, presented the authorization letter, checked the passport’s details for any mistakes, and voila! I’m done in 30 minutes. The passport specifically states,

My sister is going to Greece anyway.

Girl With A Pearl Earring

I will paint you as I first saw you.
Not a maid. You.

Delft, Holland, 1665. After her father, a tile painter, is blinded in a kiln explosion, seventeen-year-old Griet must work to support her family. She becomes a maid in the house of Johannes Vermeer and gradually attracts the master painter’s attention. Though worlds apart in upbringing, education and social standing, Vermeer recognizes Griet’s intuitive understanding of color and light and slowly draws her into the mysterious world of his paintings.

Vermeer is a perfectionist, often taking months to finish a painting. His shrewd mother-in-law, Maria Thins, struggles to maintain the family’s lavish lifestyle on the income from his painstakingly meager output. Seeing that Griet inspires Vermeer, she takes the dangerous decision to allow their clandestine relationship to develop. Plunged into a chaotic Catholic household run by Vermeer’s volatile wife Catharina, surrounded by an ever-increasing brood of children, Griet is increasingly at risk of exposure or worse. Twelve-year-old Cornelia, a mischievous girl who sees more that she should, quickly grows jealous and suspicious of Griet and is determined to cause trouble.

Alone and unprotected, Griet also contends with the attention of Pieter, a local butcher boy, and Vermeer’s patron, the wealthy and lascivious Master van Ruijven, who is frustrated that his money does not buy him control over the artist. While Griet falls increasingly under Vermeer’s spell, she cannot be sure of his feelings for her. the Machiavellian van Ruijven, sensing the intimacy between master and maid, gleefully contrives a commission for Vermeer to paint Griet alone. The result will be one of the greatest paintings ever created, but at what cost?

taken from the official movie site

“Great costume design, fabulous cinematography,
and a stunning performance by Scarlett Johansson.”

~iRonnie, I Set No Corner

108 Years Old

I wasn’t able to make an entry last Independence Day simply because the occasion wasn’t enough to inspire me writing about it. May nabasa akong quote about freedom.

“There is no such thing as a little freedom.
Either you are all free, or you are not free.”

So ano kaya ang lagay ng Pilipinas ngayon? Are we free or not free? Ayoko ng pagmunimunihan yan.

Okay iyong ads ng Jollibee in time for the Independence Day.

Tama siya… what we need is a change of attitude.

I Am No Papa’s Boy

I can say that I am a mama’s boy. Bakit nga ba bihira ang papa’s boy? Kung tutuusin dapat mas nagkakaintindihan ang mag-ama. Sabi dati ng kaibigan ko, hindi daw nagkakasundo ang anak na lalake at ang ama dahil pareho silang mayabang and so they tend to clash each other. Mukhang sa parent-child relationship pa lang nae-exhibit na ang pagiging complementary ng babae at lalaki.

Bakit nga ba hindi ako naging papa’s boy? In my case, my dad was an underwriter and so lagi siyang wala sa bahay. Mom’s firstborn son lived for only a day and after a year ipinanganak na ako. Mahina daw ang lungs ko noong bata kaya pagpawisan lang ng konti inuubo na. Kaya naman talagang baby ako ng nanay ko, I was their only child for seven years. Plus the fact na nag-Saudi din siguro si papa and the saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder didn’t hold true for us.

Nagtataka din ako kung bakit mas naaalala ko ang mga not-so-good memories ko with my father rather than the good ones. Siguro the greatest mistake ng tatay ko sa relationship namin was that he wasn’t able to establish iyong trust ko sa kanya. Natatawa nga akong isipin na ayokong umupo sa breakwater na pinapasyalan naming pamilya when I was a child kasi natatakot akong itutulak ako ng tatay ko.

That is how it is with us. I just hope that I can be a better father to my own children when the time comes. Hindi naman siguro iyon sinadya ni papa, siguro hanggang doon lang talaga ang kaya niyang ibigay.

Advance happy father’s day…

A First Step In The Waters

I really don’t enjoy going to outings kapag swimming. Hindi kasi ako marunong lumangoy kaya malimit naiiwan lang ako sa cottage. Good thing though na lagi kaming may kasama na hindi rin trip lumangoy. Minsan naman batch by batch ang nakakasama ko. Kapag lalangoy na ang tropa A tyempo naman na magpapahinga ang tropa B. Yup, boring talaga. Kaya I’d rather not go kapag swimming ang outing.

There is a couple of reasons kung bakit hindi ko nagawang mag-aral lumangoy. Primarily I think I have developed a phobia. Malimit kasi akong magkasakit noong bata pa ako. Nagkaroon ako ng sipon at may kasabihan, hindi ko sure if may clinical basis, na nakakatulong daw ang tubig dagat para madaling mawala ang sipon. Since Cavite is a coastal city, dinala ako ng tatay ko sa dagat malapit sa amin. Kahit na karga ako ng tatay ko ay takot na takot ako noon. Lumulubog siya sa dagat kasama ako at dahil may sipon nga ako, naging mas mahirap sa akin ang huminga plus the fact na unpleasant for a kid ang saltiness ng dagat. Yun ang first experience ko sa beach. Yes, it was traumatic.

I only experienced the joy of swimming last month ng pumunta kami sa buri. Since konti lang ang tao sa resort malimit nasosolo namin ang pool and with the help of a lifevest and a snorkel, I had my first swimming experience. Grabe ang sarap pala!

Future plan ko ang matuto na talagang lumangoy ng walang vest and snorkel. Medyo mahirap daw ako turuan sabi ng kaibigan ko kasi masyado daw akong kabado. Well at least I made the first step. Unti-unti lang, pasasaan ba and I will be able to totally conquer my fear.

OT: Today is 060606 and there is no fuss about it. Mukhang pagod na ang mga tao sa pagpatol sa date scare.

Next Page »