My sleepy mind is now getting radical. Here are some lines I just thought about while preparing myself into to slumberdom:
If drug products can have it, why not end a political infoad with “No approved therapeutic claims” as well? Makes sense, right?
It’s high time we start every political TV shows with, “Voter discretion is advised.”
“Vote moderately.” Whatever.
If a candidate shamelessly decides to make a movie out of himself, then including these lines in the ending credit might just be appropriate: “Any resemblance to a saint, prophet, or a divine being is purely coincidental and most likely were just due to the intent of the character to be depicted as such.”
Surgeon general warning: “Voting, if unwisely, is dangerous to your health.”
Several cancellations later, due to the crazy weather for weeks already, I decided to push through with my trip back to MSEUF in Lucena to do a couple of things – process my transcript transmittal to Ateneo and finally, after three long years, claim my yearbook. I went on, leaving my car at home – this, I soon regretted doing so.
Once again I experienced the butt-burning 3-hour trip (excluding the two hour waiting time at the terminal) one way and another 3 plus more hours on my way back. The butt torture could have been fine as I’ve conditioned my mind that I’ll just sit back and relax, no matter how cramped, and enjoy the sceneries – like seeing once again a stretch of funeral parlors along the highway of Sariaya, Quezon. But it didn’t happen.
Foolish me, but I must have forgotten that other than being elbow to elbow with other passengers inside the van (which most still call the FX no matter what the brand and model of the van is), one thing I have to bear with is horrific driving from its suicidal drivers. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I now seem to notice that all these drivers so far have this common way of driving that makes me wonder if a school for developing reckless drivers does exist. I’m now starting to believe that they are far worse than most bus and jeepney drivers and I wouldn’t be surprise if someday we will see another tragic news about people being killed due to these road maniacs.
***
Since my attempt to doze off during the trip have been futile in my fear that I’ll soon wake up with fluffy clouds around and some bearded man beside me (i.e., if it’s where I’ll be), my nokia 5800 became my trip buddy. On my way back, the driving became worse than the first that I shifted from listening to MP3’s to taking some video of the deadly maneuvers:
This one shows our driver changing from one lane to another with gusto as if the whole highway is a one-way road. Also captured, is another driver with a death wish overtaking despite the obvious oncoming traffic. If there’s Spy vs. Spy, I’d say what is shown here is Stupid vs. Stupid. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is defensive driving extinct in this part of the world? Well, actually, I was wishing of capturing more stunning videos but I wished otherwise as I pity those others on board – a baby, several elderly woman, oblivious lovers, charcoals and yes, live chickens. Take note: live, stinking, chickens inside an air-conditioned van who were with me during the whole 3-hour or more ordeal. Forget about waking with fluffy clouds around…I was almost in hell already.
Mood: 3/10 Honks! (at least, I’m safely back home…smelling like stinky chicken)
I love Indian-inspired food and everytime wifey makes one I’m the happiest man ever. Here’s her version of the Bengali fish curry with a presentation and taste that can shame Fish & Co’s. Really.
The job is about to start. In fact , last night I received the hit list. Eagerly and expertly, I studied the faces just like how I was trained. The facial features of the target got imprinted on my mind like a permanent tattoo. I looked at the eyes of each subject squarely without any hint of fear nor pity. Today I will see them.
This morning, I woke up early. In the darkness and chilling weather, I ran like hell to warm my body up. Stride after stride I mentally review today’s order of battle. I just can’t help but smile while every procedure seamlessly appears as if stored in an un-erasable digital format. I lifted weights and each time the adrenalin rush brings excitement and explicit thoughts. Hmmm. I’m really looking forward for this first mission. Few more hours I’ll execute it. Right now, I can already smell success.
Disclaimer: Not to be taken seriously. But then again…*LOL*
Mood: 3/10 Honks! (now if only these flabs can turn into well-defined muscles)
It looks like I was really destined to attend my first Nuffnang sponsored event last night. After cancelling the RSVP invitation when I realized that it is in conflict with my class schedule, I soon had to frantically retract it back after our professor cancelled our class as well. So last night, I eventually ended somewhere in Makati but my school. By 6pm, I was already in Bonifacio High Street, for the PLDT MyDSL Watchpad Live! event.
The event which was held at Mag:net Cafe was attended mostly by lucky bloggers (like me who got free invites), PLDT and Nuffnang Philippines bosses and staffs, and several celebrities and artists. Hosted by famous lady drifter, Pia Boren (whom I confirmed does look a lot like Hollywood actress Kirsten Dunst), it was meant to showcase and promote PLDT’s latest service for its MyDSL subscribers. Watchpad is an online service that conveniently enables one to watch, blog, chat and share, all at the same time. Visit www.pldtwatchpad.com for more info how to avail and use it.
(Clockwise from top left) Facebuko developer, HitABargain duo, Patty doing the Rockeoke, & Jonas strutting his stuff.
The night where glowing laptops and ice-cold beers met woulnd’t have been complete if I didn’t get the chance to interact with fellow bloggers. At my table, I had a chat with partners Angelo and Christine Litton of HitABargain.com and Jonas Roque of the Facebuko.com that seems to be gaining popularity and recognition. I was also able to talk to the petite and bubbly Patty Dayrit of Patriciaspot and I likewise met the enterprising Jhong Relativo who is the owner of Kakikayan. Of course, other than the geeky stuffs (no pun intended), the 3-hour party was made lively with Mag:net’s Rockeoke night (normally done during Mondays) where audiences get to jam along with the band, The Johnnies. Unfortunately, the band’s loud music prevented me from going around the jam-packed bar to meet and talk to more bloggers. Anyway, I think it was a good night and there will be more I guess. Thanks again Nuffnang! (And a big thank you to Tina Gerolaga for not crossing me out of the list upon my cancellation.)
***
It’s a small world after all. One of those who made rounds to entertain the guests was Eric from Nuffnang and while chatting, led him to ask me my most dreaded question, “Where do you work?” After answering, Intel, he blurted, “Oh, my foosball table was from there!” Ti abi. Now, I know who got that most coveted table. Hahaha. Lucky you.
Foosball addicts, stalk this guy.
Mood: 3/10 Honks! (Will try to sleep early to be able to burn calories tomorrow morning)
Fellow Filipinos, a few more days left before the deadline of voter’s registration - October 31, 2009, and we need to act fast. May 2010 election is fast approaching as well and the last thing we want to do is pass up on the opportunity to make each vote counted. It is in May 2010 that we get to choose who will lead our nation for the next 6 years. Remember, May 2010 is a make-or-break for us Filipinos so let’s do every effort to participate - start it by being registered and end it by being an informed voter.
I saw this posted by one of the tweeps I’m following, and told myself to give these guys a chance because unlike the first time when I saw their home-made videos on YouTube.com their TV appearances however, in my own opinion, have been nauseating, disappointing and annoying just to say a few – in short and in Tagalog, korny (if not, kornier). Surprisingly, I enjoyed watching this Kapag Tumibok ang Puso video.
Moymoypalaboy’s road to fame was through YouTube.com where they posted their lipsynched versions of a number of songs made catchy by their trademarked comical facial expressions, costumes (at times), and simple yet hilarious choreographs, all of which were done while seated in front of their webcams. I don’t exactly know the history how almost all of it became viral videos, but whatever it was, it made them very popular Filipino internet celebrities (among the likes of Arnel Pineda & Charice Pempengco) with thousands of visitors, like idle office workers, dropping by and watching their antics. Later on they stepped up the ante and their fans saw them doing production videos (I remember enjoying their video of the music Crank That by Soulja Boy) and soon enough, like one good modern times fairy tale stories, someone discovered them and signed them up to appear on TV shows. They eventually became mainstays of the local TV show Bubble Gang, and likewise performed as guest on other shows and the rest of course is history.
(I love this one…)
Needless to say, and safe to assume, that money flowed into these talented duo’s bank accounts as they signed one contract after the other. But the question if whether their TV stints increased their fan base, that I don’t know because I for one consequently shifted from being a fan to being a critic as I get more and more disappointed everytime I watch their Bubble Gang segments – and I always seem to wonder if Michael V., being a creative person, ever tried to advise moymoypalaboy to improve or bust.
(…I hate this.)
Yesterday, thinking that I’ve seen enough of these guys on TV, my rating for them reached record low when while having lunch with my wife and her ex-colleagues at Magdaragat, I lost not only my appetite but also my admiration as I watch them perform at a noontime show called SOP. I really can’t believe that they can actually get worse than what they do in Bubble Gang. I can now say that either their stuff isn’t tailored for TV or if the producers and writers of these TV shows are giving them überabsurd roles or scripts to follow. But either way, they’re losing it – unless their fans’ taste went down along with their TV performances. So if one shoutout just can make a significance, I’d like to shout it out loud, “Get them back to stick to YouTube, pleassssssseeeee!” When that time comes, I’ll be once again a moymoypalaboy fan.
Mood: 2/10 Honks! (finally, he’s going to be ours)
Even before I can catch up with what I’ve read from Janette Toral’s Blogging from Home book which I bought a couple of weeks ago, but was only able to finish it while idly sitting at a car wash, comes more info from her Twitter account (@digitalfilipino). This time, at least, I got “fresh” updates and was able to immediately try both of it.
Janette Toral shared the following cool Twitter tools that tracks (or stalk?) a user’s Twitter activity.
Here’s one coming from www.twitteranalyzer.com which perfectly reflects the surge of my Twitter activity at the height of typhoon Ondoy. I was among those who felt hopeless and guilty about not being able to help those victims as news about them is broadcasted on TV and the Twitter-verse (twitter universe for those unfamiliar with the word). And the only contribution that time that most of those stuck at home, and like me were unaffected by the flooding, is to re-tweet or RT (again, this is the twitter version of the word relay) informations coming from those on the field like mediamen, public officials, and celebrities whose network of tweeps helped spread the critical infos, updates and even pleas for help. That day,twitting somehow lessened the guilt. Twitteranalyzer by the way also shows more like who mentioned your tweets, who’s tweet have you RT’ed the most, trending topics, etc.
This next one is provided by www.tweepsinfo.com . It’s a little bit simpler than twitteranalyzer but shows informative data as well. What I find amusing though is that it indicates how social a user is. It say’s I’m 60% social. Hmmm. What does it take to be 100%? Let’s see in the next days to come. Twitter tweeps here I come.
Mood: 3/10 Honks! (sun was up, food was great, had a couple of beers…and the whole time I was with my family – that to me is what Sundays should be.)
Greetings from the Philippines! I’m one of those drivers whose daily commute has either brought me more wrinkles on my forehead (plus the accompanying white hairs) or, luckily, brilliant ideas about how I can help you decide on what to do for your next car models. I’m presenting here a list of those modifications that I see will best fit our driving styles and road conditions.
Here are the parts that should be taken out of the 2010 models as we really don’t find any use for each one:
Seat belts. We hate it. It restricts our movement and wrinkles our well-pressed working clothes. It also has this annoying vibrating sound whenever we pass by bumpy roads. Moreover, we use it only when we reach the toll gates or if we are apprehended by our professional policemen.
Side mirrors. The only people who finds this useful are those outside our cars. It’s either they pick their noses when they pass by it or they pry it out for good just to be sold elsewhere and to unsuspecting buyers who may even be its original owner in the first place.
Rearview mirror. We drivers don’t care glancing at it every now and then when driving. Although, our wives and kids love using it as a vanity mirror. (In that case, retain it, but make it longer and wider so that my wife doesn’t have to lift her chin at a level where everyone outside will see her nose hairs.)
Turn lever and signal lights. This will result to a huge saving in cost and a significant weight reduction once pulled out. We change lanes here without even caring to switch it on accordingly. And while you’re at it, please take out the brake lights in the process. We don’t give a damn if its bulb is busted or not anyway. Lastly, do not forget to include the reverse lamp. At least, your designers will now have one less problem with the car’s rear part.
Speedometer. Other than being distracted by that illuminated needle or digital display, we don’t read it – and if ever, we don’t understand it. Take it from our jeepney and bus drivers, they work everyday and none of them ever look at it. Now, that’s one less dashboard instrument. Nice, right?
Of course, if I suggested removing the parts stated above, I however would like some additions or enhancements for the following:
Fenders & Bumpers. Back here, we need re-enforced versions of these as we need to compete with our beloved jeepney and bus drivers as they weave in & out in front of us. If you can add 7 more layers to the paint, that will be a big plus.
Suspension. We need you to make those rally-grade suspensions built-in into our stock cars. With the way our beloved politicians and public officials build roads, we should expect more and more roads similar to what Neil Armstrong saw when he landed on the moon. Which reminds me, if you can manufacture one with several wheels like the lunar module, that might sell like hot cakes as well.
Brakes. We love stop-and-go traffic scheme. Yes, I know. You probably haven’t heard or even experienced such excellent idea. It’s hard to explain as even our traffic enforcers themselves are clueless of what they’re doing although they seem to enjoy it every time. We also love sudden stops whenever our jeepney and bus driver friends find it fit to make use of that tiny gap to change lane during bumper to bumper traffic. Of course, how can I forget our barefooted motorcycle drivers who find those narrow space a chance to practice their slalom skills. Now isn’t that compelling enough to improve the stopping distance of those current brakes?
Horn. This is actually my personal request. If you can put a lifetime warranty for my horn, then I’d be your customer forever. I love using my horn second to my brakes.
I’m presenting you an opportunity here. If you’ve made JDM or USDM cars before for the Japanese and American market, respectively, I guess this request to specially build one for the Philippine market, isn’t too hard to handle. You can call it then PDM – even if it might mean Poor Driving Manners. Consider this a win-win scenario even if it clearly looks more in favor for your business – you take out 5 parts, you modify only 4 – rather than ours. Please contact me if you have questions about this proposal. I’d love to be of help if you need further explanations or in case you are wondering if I can actually suggest more things to be removed and modified. Let’s talk about it over the phone. You can call me even while I’m driving.
Best Regards,
Cris
Mood: 3/10 Honks! (My side mirror was hit by another car on my way home. Perfect!)
(Clockwise from top left) Facebuko developer, HitABargain duo, Patty doing the Rockeoke, & Jonas strutting his stuff.
