Love is in the Air

Mon and I are surprising my friends from high school later tonight. And no, I am so not cooking, lol. (I wish!)



Can't wait to start Christmas celebrations and turn over a new year -- 2009 has been horrible to the Philippines, some friends and acquaintances; I've had a few stumbles as well. Looking forward to 2010 and what better way to do that with a pre-Christmas dinner which includes crispchon!

Mirror, mirror on the wall, Part 1

Image is important to me -- not that it's an all-encompassing means to judge a person, but still, it is enough to establish or destroy a reputation.

In any case, this is not about me. This is about the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

We pretty much know who are in the running for the top two posts in the 2010 elections, especially with the announcement of Edu as Gibo's running mate, and despite Villar's silence -- as Loren is his safest bet. Given this scenario, we have:


Gibo and Edu


Erap and Jejomar


Villar and Loren
(Let me just point out that only Villar cannot be referred to on a first name basis out of context; ah the travesty of having the same name as a Filipino boxing legend!)


Noynoy and Mar

Here's how I perceive them to be if I were to relate them to, as Sesame Street puts it, "the people in your neighborhood."

The Pogi Boys

Gwapo, maporma, mukhang mayabang and as @heyjay pointed out, mga La-Sallista (whether that's good or bad, well that is up for debate, lol); The conyo boys raised by an evil stepmother (read: GMA)

I sincerely like Gibo but my problem with him is -- aside from the obvious and that is his Arroyo connection -- he seemed to have sprung out of nowhere. He wasn't heard of as a Congressman and not as Defense Secretary, at least until he announced his presidential ambitions. Given his outstanding and attention-grabbing educational record -- a law degree from UP, top spot at the 1989 bar, and a master of laws from Harvard -- how could he have been under the radar all this time? How could he have not excelled in public service? Given this missing piece -- a popularity and charismatic appeal earned through years under the public spotlight -- he should have tried being a senator first.

As for Edu, let's imagine he wins. And then let's imagine the President dies. I cannot imagine the dude who sang and danced to the Papaya Song, as my President. Also, granted that eradicating piracy is hard, do we vote for someone who cannot solve a hard problem? Do we also vote for someone who cannot even win Makati? A losing streak is a considerable image problem.


Ultimate Pogi: Bill Clinton. If only these guys were half as good.

Lolong manyak na tambay sa kanto with sidekick

Si lolo na manginginom, sugalero at sabungero. Yung sidekick na pang-comedy na laging nababatukan, ala Babalu or Panchito.

I won't expound on Erap -- I highly doubt his candidacy will be be considered legal. Jejomar is a minor player aspiring to join the big leagues. Being mayor of Makati, as rich as the city may be, just won't cut it.

Besides, Binay is not Makati; the Ayalas are.

And seriously, these two put together is so depressing: they look dull and gray. Heck, one of them walks as if his scrotum can barely hang on to its balls. That image just doesn't inspire.


Ultimate lolong manyak: Nicolas Sarkozy -- Leaves wife to bag the supermodel -- to positive and improved popularity rating!
Ultimate sidekick: Dick Cheney -- when the sidekick is actually the evil, scheming master

Part two, Villar and Loren; Noynoy and Mar.

Militants

From the report, Clinton Arrives in Manila.

American aid officials have defended the agreement, saying it allows US troops to quickly respond to calamities.

But demonstrators said no amount of humanitarian work by the US military justifies their continued stay in the country.

"The visit of Mrs. Clinton in the Philippines will be a mere publicity stunt, and the entire promise of the Obama administration -- that it is going around the world for a renewed multilateralism, and for the opening up of the United States towards greater involvement in the world -- will be all for a sham," said Terry Ridon, secretary-general of the League of Filipino Students.

Please translate. All I read was, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

This is the same problem I have with people who claim to be animal lovers but continue to eat meat; or if they are vegetarian, continue to wear leather. I believe the Joker phrased it as, "misguided sense of righteousness."

I'm sure Typhoon Ondoy victims appreciated the help by anyone -- whether by fellow Filipinos, many of whom continue to destroy the environment; by the Japanese government, who still refuse to properly compensate, much less acknowledge comfort women; or by the US, whose sins are apparently so huge that "no amount of humanitarian work" may justify its errors.

I hope these militants are as perfect as they expect The System to be.

What am I reading/looking at

Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama. The Sartorialist by Scott Schuman. Bringing Home the Birkin by Michael Tonello.

I've been reading Dreams From My Father for over 6 months now but I'm finding it harder and harder to stay interested. (I'm in the part wherein he recounts his days as a community development organizer.) Just a couple of pages in and I doze off. Don't get me wrong, he writes extremely well for a politician as he keeps his prose simple and direct to the point. I just can't relate to his musings, particularly on racial issues, which is the book's center of discourse. This just might be my new Catch-22, the book by Joseph Heller which I never got to finish and never plan to pick up again.

The Sartorialist is a street-style picture book featuring some of the best personalities and celebrities to have graced Scott's blog site. I simply flip the pages to wherever and observe the subject's style -- his color choices, the proportion of his clothes, his quirks, silhouette, accessories. Mostly, I look at the subjects with admiration as I've yet to be inspired by their style, and conversely, translate them into my wardrobe. In some of the photos, Scott would offer an explanation as to why the person interested him and this makes me wonder how many times have I let inspiration escape me due to my blatant lack of interest in details. (Ergo, why I will never be a successful editor and why I've no huge dream of becoming one, either.) By the way, this was Pam and Jill's birthday gift :-)

Mon and I discovered a new favorite hangout with the most delicious coffee and highly glamorous toilet (LOL!) and while lounging around, I saw a copy of Bringing Home the Birkin, which I remember Pam telling me about. This is Michael Tonello's account of how he became a successful eBay reseller by auctioning rare and hard-to-get Hermes items. He offers tips on how to get that sales assistant sell you a Birkin, a bag that has a waiting list of two years. In other words, an advice which I don't see any need for unless I win the lottery. The author can be overindulgent with his prose, and I suspect, this is to stretch his material to come up with XX number of pages, but one cannot be so critical of "chick lit." I'm halfway-through the book and I must say, it's a refreshing change from Obama. :-P

Spooky

This happened early this morning.

It was about 4am and I was half-asleep, when I felt that it was colder than usual so I reached for my blanket and tried to cover myself with it. "Tried" because as I attempted to do so, I could feel something else tugging the blanket to the opposite direction. I tried doing this several times, me tugging the blanket toward my body, but when it dawned on me something was preventing this, I got jolted awake. I got very scared so I kept my bedside lamp switched on.

I fell asleep and I dreamed about my lola, who passed away 13 years ago. In the dream, she was alive but in her early stages of cancer (she died of cancer of the lymphoma). The entire family was hearing Mass and I just kept crying and crying as if we were so close to each other (we weren't in real life). When I woke up, I felt as if my heart got lifted off its burden -- what one usually experiences after crying in a very long time. It may have just been a dream but it was the first time I cried for my lola.

* * * *

In other news, these were taken during my Cebu trip, at the Basilica of the Sto. Nino:





Figure is a little hazy, but if you take a closer look, there's a white silhouette of a kid in this one:




... and that of long-haired lady, peering out of the window (perhaps, staring into the camera) in this one:

Linear control

Found this interesting photo over at http://yvanrodic.blogspot.com taken in Seoul. I'm not sure what it is exactly but it's a very intriguing concept: demarcation lines is all it takes to mark boundaries and lanes on a street.


Photo by Yvan Rodic

I love that it is minimalist; more so what it says about self-discipline. No need to put up barricades like fences, wires and cement blocks (in the Philippines, such construction projects are susceptible to graft and corruption). Also, said blockades, which have taken up a lot of space in Manila's main thoroughfare, EDSA, are still not effective enough to discipline drivers, and have also been known to be causes for accidents.

If implemented in Manila, you think this will only create mayhem? How much trust do you place in Filipino drivers?

I'm pretty sure Ruby will say zero :-P

What's going on?

I lost the Looklet Ludic Contest. I'm thankful for having been nominated and getting a decent number of votes. In terms of ranking, parang Philippines lang sa Miss U, haha.

Thank you to those who voted :-)

* * * *

Mon's Looklet for me while I was bedridden for six days last week:


Cuppycake asked the Gift Lady to bring these presents to Bluearden: (1) a Tenderheart Bear toy, (2) some flowers arranged by the Flowers Guy, (3) a BIG KISS, and (4) a "My Heart Belongs to Bluearden Alone" balloon. Get well soon, Pogi. Mwah! :-)

I told him I wanted to see him dress like this in real life, haha.

* * * *

And one of my city series creations, which I dedicate to Auee:


London

* * * *

Isn't Glee just the most awesome new TV show? It made me drop Gossip Girl off my viewing list; GG characters have become too emo and Lindsay Lohan for my palate.