ihcahieh

Juin 25 - 1

Lock Yourself in a Cave and Be Happy

Soundtrack of the Week

1. Give It Up to Me [SEAN PAUL]
2. Pon de Replay [RIHANNA]
3. Catch Me I’m Falling [GONZAGA]
4. Ikaw Lamang [SILENT SANCTUARY]
5. Bang Bang Boom [MOFFATS]

Event of the Week: Zsa Zsa Zaturnah Ze Musikal

• Zsa Zsa Zaturnah is your modern-day super heroine. She has super strength although she can’t fly. Like her creator said everyday she battles various kinds of enemies from giant frogs, zombies and well you know the drill. One caveat however is that her alter-ego is not actually a SHE but rather a HE in the person of a gay parlor beautician Ada.
• Eula Valdes is one helluvan actress may it be TV or theater. I was actually surprised to see one of her FHM 100 Sexiest posters alongside Angel’s and Katrina’s who are way younger than she is. However when I saw her in tights in this production it dawned on me that she indeed deserves to be on that list. What is her rank anyway? For those who have not seen Zaturnnah Ze Musikal yet bad news: I believe the July 1 run was actually Eula’s last Zaturnnah appearance. The new Zaturnnah is K Brosas.
• The character actor who played DIDI managed to upstage everybody else which is not at all surprising because DIDI is really funny even in the comics version. I just find it odd that his memorable comics line, “Palakpak mga dukha!” was not included. I just don’t know who did the role today (not Ricci Chan) but he was definitely good. He had a lot of adlibs and the audience never failed to laugh every time he was on stage.
• I wanted to see Agot Isidro as Queen Femina but Kalila Aguilos played her role today. She wasn’t bad. She was actually funny. My only reaction is that most of the time it seemed like Julie Andrews was possessing her because of the British accent. Pero nakakaaliw siya lalo na nung nag malfunction yung battle gown niya ginaya niya si Miriam Defensor Santiago, lol.
• The transmorphication of the Amazonistas was done via a production number. Tawa ko ng tawa kasi si Nora A. yung una. Ang kulit. Every time the four of them appeared (Nora A, Vilma S, Sharon C, Dina B) there was an allusion to the actual actresses themselves. Na okray nga lang si Dina Bonnevie rito since compared to the other three she has the least memorable lines and singing/dancing capability; every time she reached a high note may sound effects ng breaking glass. Another funny thing is that their memorable movie lines were translated to English. Hehehe.
• Loved the song/dance numbers. Laughtrip halos lahat ng scenes but the best for me was the one with Femina doing the martial arts poses and afterwards Eula answering with some sort of a dance na pang Pegasus, lol.
• The set is simple and we know it can’t rival Broadway but you can’t help but be amazed by Filipino resourcefulness when it comes to props and set.

Everything TV: Paris Hilton already got out of jail. She said that her 3-week imprisonment was some sort of a wake-up call. Apparently she realized that she is 26 years old and that she has been retarded for the last uhm… 26 years? Maybe she will adopt Cambodian orphans now and join UNICEF (Angie is already in the UN, iba naman para orig.) Well wake up Paris. Sell yur Guccis and Fendis and feed the entire African continent. Wendy was not declared Big Winner of Pinoy Big Brother Season 2. She came in third place and took a little while to come out when her name was called. Maybe the ABS-CBN management thought there would be a riot of some sort. After an Araneta Coliseum-wide booing, the Wendy-haters finally found salvation and moved on with their lives (that means me + the whole online community from Peyups to PEX.) BEA won. After the realization that Wendy would have no chance of getting the million it was actually ok for anyone else to win so I didn’t really care but given the chance to change the outcome I would have let MICKEY win to break the chain of financially-not-so-well-off-female chain of PBB Big winners. The “chinita” girl who is not so financially well-off has become a stereotype of a Big Winner. My suggestion for a Celebrity edition: Let Mariel Rodriguez be one of the housemates.

Academics: I’ve already incurred like three absences in both Economics classes. I’ve been oversleeping lately and so my morning classes are affected. I have already “practiced” sleeping early this whole week as to totally eradicate this behavior which is causing me academic mayhem. I’ve already managed to catch up by reading the book. Thank God both Economics classes discuss the same lessons for the first few weeks and have the same book as reference. We are still in the Algebra review part of Calculus so it hasn’t given me any problems yet. The Public Administration subject (Polsc 150) is a total bore but the professor is good. Again, it’s me. I am enjoying the International Private Law course (Polsc 186) although I already have an absence. It’s a Saturday morning class and so it is very tempting to just oversleep and forget about it. So far academics is good. Yahoo.

Health: I’ve just realized how I took my health for granted. I’m still adjusting my zombie sleeping hours to that of a normal human being. I’ve tried including exercise and stretching in my daily routine and it’s actually fun. It feels good afterwards because it somehow makes you feel a little bit stronger and active. Of course I would still want a medical check-up. Who knows? Maybe it will turn out that I have a brain tumor or some incurable disease and I actually have only a year to live. E di ang saya di ba! Wala ng plano plano ng buhay. Planning a life is so stressful! Kapag di ka naman nagplano sa kangkungan ka pupulutin in the future. At least if you find out that your days are numbered e di stress-free na. Enjoy to death ka na lang di ba, literally. But since I haven’t done check-up yet I’ll just assume that I have a clean bill of health and try to live the healthy life. =p

Be Happy: A message from Alfie and ihcahieh: We’ve decided to lock Dan the Wrathful in a cave for a couple of months. We both promise to see the world in a more positive perspective. We will listen to happy songs and try to be more patient. We will eat healthy food and sleep eight hours a day. If it does not work then we’ll set him free and let him handle the host body’s life the way he sees fit.

Juin 18 - 24

Hello Good Morning, May I Strangle You?

Soundtrack of the Week

1. Tu m’oublieras [LARUSSO]
2. Catch Me I’m Falling [GONZAGA]
3. It Ends Tonight [ALL AMERICAN REJECTS]
4. End of Me [RAVEN]
5. Marimar [THALIA]

Movie of the Week: Tootsie

• This is the story of a jobless character actor in New York who pretends to be a woman and lands a role in a daytime soap… as a woman.
• If you thought only Robin Williams could dress up as a woman and do a good job in convincing you that he is one then you’ll have to see this film and see what Dustin Hoffman has to offer.
• I don’t know how Jessica Lange won a supporting actress Oscar for this film (1982). She was good but not that great. Maybe competition was not very stiff that year. BTW, where is she now? Is she retired or something?
• The younger Dustin Hoffman (1982) reminds me of Roberto Benigni. Come to think of it they hauntingly resemble each other and they both have the same level of energy and presence on screen.
• I wonder why the Oscars don’t get to at least nominate actors who effectively portray roles of “women” on stage. I know that Robin Williams wasn’t nominated for Mrs. Doubtfire. I don’t know if Dustin Hoffman was nominated for this film. I think it is an actor’s most difficult challenge: to pretend to be a woman in a film and effectively create a new character that people believe to be a real person. Or maybe the Oscars is just really homophobic. But isn’t it discrimination against men? If Hilary Swank could cross-dress and win an Oscar on her first nomination and Felicity Huffman could be nominated for a transvestite role then why not the opposite? Or maybe it is because Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire are COMEDIES. Nonetheless, boo Oscars, lol.
• As usual the dilemma in this film is falling in love with a woman while pretending to be a woman and not being able to pursue that love because the woman you are in love with actually believes that you are a woman when in fact you are really a man in love with her.

Unemployment: It has already been two days of unemployment and everything is going fine. I’ve slept normally in the last two days and I have lots of free time now to read the books piled up on my book shelf. I now have time to do advance reading of some lectures. I now have time to watch PBB season 2 and get irritated by Miss Wenn D. Moño’s stupidity and ka-KSP-han to the max. I was able to watch Maria Flor de Luna’s ending which tried hard to emulate Pan’s Labyrinth’s. I’ve saved enough dough to support my career enrichment plans (as in books, enrollment to different institutions) and other stuff. I don’t know if I would still apply for another part-time position when the semester ends. Me Time for now.

Academics: I could have been wrong when I included Economics 100.1 and 100.2 in what I called as “Three Henchmen of my Academic Apocalypse.” After a week of lessons I’ve realized that you could actually relate the concepts in Economics to your everyday life and that you could easily think of something tangible to apply the concepts on. When you see a demand curve or a supply curve you could easily think of something from the real world to represent them. On the contrary Calculus is so abstract. When you talk about rational expressions or any of those Algebra hangovers necessary for Pre-Calculus you can’t help but wonder how you could actually apply them to your everyday life considering that you are a Political Science major. Of course the Econ majors would say, “Well wait ‘til you get to higher econ courses.” Good thing is I won’t have to, so belat!

Work: When it has finally come to the point when you want to strangle a client more than you want to help him/her it’s a clear indication that you have to stop working. It’s obviously the combined effects of sleep deprivation, lack of exercise, and stress that lead to this. Of course I did not have this dilemma last semester when I was also working and studying, which was mainly due to my schedule. My earliest subject back then was 1 PM. For this semester my earliest subject is 8 AM and then I have to work before the day ends, go figure. And so my mind has started to contradict itself. It used to say “Go for the extra dinero! Extend!” but now it says, “Puttanesca matulog naman tayo!” You are in a very difficult situation when of all things you could probably get tired of you choose to deprive yourself of sleep. I’m now officially unemployed effective Friday, June 22. Yahoo!

Languages: The German book I have ordered already arrived! Ang saya saya! Maybe I’m just excited to get a break from Romance languages by introducing a Germanic one. I’ve been reading the book (leisure read) and it’s a tongue twister everyday. Try saying this fast: Meeresgrundforschungslaborauswertungsbericht. It means “sea-floor research lab evaluation report.” Fun isn’t it?

MM Watch: I came home from work one day to find his door locked. I knew he was there but I didn’t know what was happening inside because there was no response even after a thousand knocks. And so after doing a lot of noise that could have waken even Sleeping Beauty up I got a hammer and destroyed his door knob. He was there sleeping. He opened his eyes and just looked at me a little bit annoyed. Well I was just worried. Malay ko ba kung naglaslas na siya ng pulso dun o kaya nabagsakan siya ng cabinet niya o kaya kinuha na siya ni Sadako. Concerned lang naman ako no. It’s not as if mag isa lang akong nakatira dito. We barely see each other lately because of school and work. Pag alis niya sa umaga tulog pa ako at pagbalik ko naman sa gabi tulog na siya. So ano ang ending? Wala na siyang ila lock ngayon. Walang door knob. Pa lock lock pa kasi e.

Juin 4 - 10

Hindi Nahahati ang Langit pero ang Career Plans Pwede

Soundtrack of the Week

1. El Beso del Final [AGUILERA]
2. Kembot [AMBER]
3. One Night Only [BEYONCé]
4. Makes Me Wonder [MAROON5]
5. La Descarada [REYLI]

Event of the Week: Hindi Nahahati ang Langit

• In the very rare occasions that I get to watch that Piolo-Claudine soap entitled Walang Kapalit I never fail to notice that there is some sort of disclaimer in the opening credits saying that it is based on a film (or is it a novel?) called Hindi Nahahati ang Langit. Hello, Cinema One.
• CHARACTERS: Claudine Barretto’s ‘Melanie’ role is played by Lorna Tolentino. Piolo Pascual’s ‘Noel’ role is played by Christopher de Leon. Jodi Sta. Maria’s ‘Cynthia’ role is played by Dina Bonnevie, whose role in the TV remake is played by Gloria Romero in the movie. Bobby Andrews’ ‘Ronald’ role is played by Edu Manzano, whose role in the TV remake is played in the movie by that old actor always paired with Gloria Romero.
• SIMILARITIES: The young Melody/Melanie also broke a glass figurine. In the end she also gave Noel a glass figurine as a gift, a scene that is seen in the trailers of the TV version. Magkapatid na di magkadugo din yung 2 bida. Pero ang nakakaaliw dito ay yung ‘Ronald’ character, parehong pareho ang pagkakaganap ni Edu Manzano tiyaka ni Bobby Andrews.
• DIFFERENCES: The name of the female lead is MELODY, not MELANIE. No one gets pregnant in the movie. No one goes to jail in the movie. In Piolo’s music video of the theme song it is shown that Claudine’s character will get pregnant and go to jail. I wonder why. The Cynthia character in the movie is naive as opposed to the aggressive TV version of the character. The Cynthia character in the movie is from Baguio, not Australia.
• ENDING: Hindi sila nagkatuluyan. Binigyan lang nung Melody ng glass figurine gift yung Noel. Namatay sa car accident yung Ronald. Nagtangkang mag suicide yung Cynthia pero nabuhay, balik na lang daw siya ng Baguio (Tanga, kung magpapakamatay ka muriatic acid ang tunggain mo para walang ligtas.) I think they’ll use the same ending for the TV version, may scene kasing pinakita sa music video na binigyan ni Melanie ng glass figurine si Noel sa airport tapos they went opposite ways.
• Bakit sa mga 80’s films nagi Ingles lagi yung character kapag nagagalit?

Riyo Mori’s Blog: Judging from the content mukhang kanya naman. I’ve never really bashed Riyo as much as I did Zuleyka pero kasi lagi ko na lang sinasabi na mas deserving si Kurara kesa sa kanya. After ko mabasa yung English entries ni Riyo (kung talagang siya nga) na guilty ako kasi puno ng pangarap yung tao tiyaka determined talaga siya magtagumpay. Yun siguro talaga ang nagpanalo sa kanya. So Riyo, accept my apology for being such an ass. Congratulations. =)

Kuya Watch: My brother is now sporting reading glasses, yung walang grado, that accessory pseudo-intellectual jocks really love. He went home pissed off from his first day of school. He wasn’t voted president. His vice president last year was voted for the position instead. My brother is neither a jock nor a pseudo-intellectual. I think he’s a politician! Ahaha, may politiko na sa pamilya! Wahaha!

Past Journal Entries: Simula kasi nung nag 18 ako nagsusulat na ako ng journal entries daily. Nung una sa MAUI na hardbound notebook lang siya nakasulat tapos naging computerized. Grabe tawa ko ng tawa, ang saya pala talaga magsulat ng diary kasi mababasa mo paulit ulit yung mga kagaguhang sinulat mo tiyaka talagang maaalala mo yung mga nangyari sa nakaraan. Gusto ko sana i publish kaso yung mga daily journal entries ko NO HOLDS BARRED, in your face talaga ang mga nakasulat, e ang pangit naman kung ise censor. Siguro ipa publish ko na lang online yung mga unang araw ko sa trabaho, title: REMEMBERING TELEXTREME, pero hintayin ko muna matapos hanggang June 25 para hindi foul. Hehehe. Ise censor ko na lang yung ibang parts dun para reader friendly na siya, hehehe. Magsusulat na nga ako ulit ng dailies… saya e!

Work: Tinawagan ako ng ICT. Walang part-time pero pag kailangan na raw talaga e baka kumuha na rin sila. So ang sinabi ko is magfa follow up na lang ako sa kanila after the 15th. Hanggang 15 na lang kasi talaga ang kontrata ko sa current company. Yung hanggang 25 e optional naman yun. Kung makukuha ako sa ICT na part-time o kahit sa ibang call centers for that matter then I would grab the opportunity. I know my boss would understand naman, I’m after job stability. As for the current job medyo na trauma lang naman ako nung Tuesday. E paano ba naman kasi yung 3 Portuguese CSR na kasama ko dati Monday lang ang dayoff so ako lang talaga mag isa. Aba nung Tuesday ba naman wala rin silang tatlo. E di sa akin lahat ang tawag. Kaya nung Wednesday ayun hindi ako nagising sa oras sa sobrang ngarag, absent ako. Hehehe. Full-time is done. Normal na ko ulit!

Future: Welcome to another week of boring future plans! It’s hard to be an ambitious ass like me… The current plan (which could change next week or tomorrow, duh): University of the Philippines [BA Political Science] 03’-08’ (Sa mga hindi pa nakakaalam matagal na po akong nag shift sa Political Science pero di ko binabanggit kasi ayoko na makipagpaliwanagan kahit kanino. Ang magtanong kung bakit, kakagatin ko, promise.) - University of the Philippines [BS Economics] 08’-10’ while working full-time call center (Dapat day shift na Spanish. Meron sa Ambergris. To those who hate the idea of working in a call center, go to hell.) – National University of Singapore [MA Southeast Asian Studies] 10’-14’ (Padalawa dalawang subjects per sem habang nagtatrabaho sa HSBC o kaya sa Deutsche Bank, ambisyoso talaga shet. This is where the Econ degree comes in. I don’t know but I think this is the only way I can penetrate Singapore.) - London School of Economics and Political Science [MSc International Political Economy] 14’-15’ (Dapat makakuha ako ng Chevening Scholarship, 4 years experience na naman by this time. This is the marriage of the two undergrad degrees into one MA degree. Tapos either UN or ASEAN 15’-20’. Tapos Foreign Service 20’-35’. Dapat ambassador na ako by 50 (2035) 35’-45’ lol.

Maio 28 - 3

Night of the Living Dead: Redux

Soundtrack of the Week

1. Makes Me Wonder [MAROON5]
2. Way Back into Love [GRANT/BENNETT]
3. Upside Down [6 CYCLE MIND]
4. Kembot [AMBER]
5. Imprescindible [BEYONCé]

Event of the Week: Miss Universe 2007

• NATIONAL COSTUMES: Mukhang mangkukulam si Georgia; Bakit may dolphins yung costume ni Dominican Republic, nagsusuot sila ng dolphins dun? Mukhang anorexic si Italy.
• TOP 15: Siyempre kasali si USA (Si Donald Trump ang may ari e); Siyempre kasali si Mexico (Gusto niyo magka riot sa venue?); Siyempre kasali si Venezuela at India (What’s new?); Siyempre kasali si Tanzania (Kailan pa ba nagkaroon ng kalbong contestant dito, ngayon lang di ba)
• I thought we would make it. Among the online community it’s almost a consensus that Japan, Korea, Thailand, & the Philippines are strong contenders this year. Kaya nung natawag yung tatlo kala ko pasok na rin.
• Parang tanga sila Boy Abunda, may padasal dasal pang nalalaman samantalang na announce na sa Star World na laglag na tayo sa Top 15.
• I actually don’t like Miss Universe 2006 because she STOLE Kurara’s title. Japan dapat ang nanalo last year, hahaha bitter pa rin hanggang ngayon. Pero in fairness sa Puerto Rico, mas gumanda si Zuleyka ngayon. To Spanish speakers, have you noticed how her final S’s disappeared and how her V’s came out as B’s when she was being interviewed? Hehehe…
• Masyado namang energetic si Japan dun sa swimsuit portion, akala ko nga tatalsik sa audience yung bewang niya e. Mas maganda si Korea lalo na dun sa evening gown portion.
• Sumemplang si USA nung evening gown portion. Kumita na yan hija, blockbuster pa nga kasi nag first runner up si Miriam.
• Parang tanga si Angola, kapag magfo focus yung camera sa kanya she will try to flirt using her eyes, hindi naman effective. It was more of scary than attractive, parang Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara.
• The two half-Pinoys (Norway and Germany) didn’t make the cut as well.
• Is it me or was there really no UK or at least England this year?
• Hindi tayo kasali sa Top 15 kasi lagi naman daw tayong nananalong Miss Photogenic. Internet addicts hinay hinay lang, masyadong obvious…
• The interview portion was fun: a mix of Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Venezuela), and English. San ka pa! Unfair however, those who used translators should have been given twice the time. Is it me again or was the audience booing USA when she was answering her question? Kawawa naman yung tao nadapa na nga siya e.
• And so Japan wins. Ano to pampalubag loob kasi dinaya niyo si Kurara last year? Korea dapat ang nanalo no. Walang kwenta.

Work: Well prepare to get bored because this week I will be talking mostly about WORK! Let’s just say that once upon a time there were 4 Portuguese speaking call center agents in the Philippines (2 Brazilians and 2 Filipinos) who received all the calls coming from Brazil. The call center in Brazil already closed and will reopen on the 25th of June and surprise surprise, our boss is asking who wants to extend. Who could really say no? And so I said yes. It would be part-time still and so I have a job until the 25th. The week has been an endless barrage of “Where-are-my-commissions?” drama and eternal bitching about having to stay on the line for 45 minutes without getting answered. Well surprise Brazilians clients. There are 4 of us and how many of you, a million? Kamusta naman. It’s been two weeks of full-time work and I am dead tired already. In short, Night of the Living Dead na naman ang drama ko. Just when I thought my eyebags couldn’t go any deeper… On another issue since most of these clients are almost always irate and never fail to comment that my effing sotaque is deferente, I tried talking to them using the Big Brother voice which goes a little something like this: Allo. Pause. Bom dia. Pause. Meu nome. Pause. é Alfredo. Pause. Em que posso. Pause. Ajudá-lo. Pause. It actually sounded weird and was actually more exhausting since I have to do many stops and so I stopped it but it did eliminate the everlasting “my sotaque is deferente” comment. Where the hell can I buy a genuine Brazilian accent? But in the end it all boils down to understanding and being understood which is the main purpose of language. I know what they want. They understand me even if my accent is different and so what’s the problem? So when they ask, Você é Americano? Just to get it over with I reply: Sim! Sim! lol.

Reversing your Body Clock: Full-time for two weeks now and another more to go. I think I won’t last a year in a call center if I have to work on a graveyard shift. Just two weeks of full-time and I already feel dead. Maybe this is the sign that I should get rid of the call center industry as an integral part of my long-term plans. Besides, waking up at 6 PM and snoozing at 7 AM is so NOT normal.

Future: Right now I’m basically torn between various plans after graduation. It’s already my last first semester and I have barely a year to go before finally bidding UPD goodbye. The prevailing plan is to work two years full-time in the call center industry and hoard the big bucks before packing my bags to kick start a career in a foreign country (One needs a lot of gas to trail blaze a career, at least for me,) which is by the way the new motto: Careers Start at 25. And now after realizing what just 2 weeks of graveyard shift could do to my sanity I don’t even want to imagine what 2 years could do. This brings me to yet another round of regret and self-blaming to the tune of: “If you shifted to EL instead this won’t even be a problem.” I guess I need a new plan of action before the school year ends. And so like I said to most of my clients, Sim, é muito compricado senhor.

Kuya Watch: What’s up with the brother? Well after the Internet guided family conference we have successfully averted any form of physical aggression against each other. There were only two shouting incidents for the whole week. There aren’t so many developments regarding bonding with each other but just to sum it all up we’re good. Well only 2 shouting incidents in a week is BIG development.