We Bring the FUN Back in Dysfunctional

Maio 21 - 27

We Bring the FUN Back in Dysfunctional

Soundtrack of the Week

1. Just Like a Pill [PINK]
2. Only Reminds Me of You [MYMP]
3. Upside Down [6 CYCLE MIND]
4. High [THE SPEAKS]
5. Way Back into Love [GRANT/BENNETT]

Movie of the Week: Honey

• Jessica Alba can dance and do it well. She's sexy and I think she can act decently naman. Maybe she should try singing para complete package na.
• This is basically a dance movie, you could consider it an Introduction to Hip Hop or something to that effect.
• It's cool how they can convert what seem like everyday ordinary movements such as dribbling a ball or kids playing jump rope into effective hip hop dance moves.
• I don't get the whole Help-Benny subplot not to mention that the kid is a little annoying to begin with. I think it is an attempt to insert some social relevance to the movie. Too cliché.
• There are a lot of cameo appearances from rappers and Missy Elliot is listed in the cast even if she just appeared twice.
• Short movie, only an hour and a half. More like an overextended music video. The main story revolves around Honey's journey to success and how she used that success to help street kids have the passion to dance.

Family Conference: It’s amazing what technology could do at six o’clock in the morning. I come home from work to a crying brother who would not tell what’s wrong with him. Who you gonna call? Call his mommy. With the aid of the Internet we were able to have a family conference sans the Daddy and talk about the problems we are facing in life. It seemed corny at first but it was actually like a recollection or a retreat. It was fun and we were able to release all the angst we had inside. We talked and promised each other to try to resolve whatever issues we have between us and change for the better. Apparently MM (I call my brother MM) has love problems and is fighting demons from his past that he can’t seem to overcome. I told them that they can’t really talk to me seriously because I’m retarded and I live in the future. I don’t know if they understood what I was trying to say because Peklat (I call my mother PEKLAT) eventually advised that I see a psychiatrist. MM admitted that he has learned to be too self reliant and that he has problems dealing with people which came to me as a surprise because I thought I was the only one in this family who has problems socializing with people (Aba aba it runs in the family?) and then Peklat told us that MM Senior (We call Papá MM as well) also has problems socializing with people (Oh my God it’s a family curse.) What valuable lesson did I learn from this experience? Well, family is family no matter how dysfunctional it could be at times. In the end you will simply realize that you don’t have to face the world alone. Corny but true. =p

Being a Kuya: I wanted to apologize to MM because I know I have not been an ideal kuya to him simply because I don’t know how to. I have lived my life distancing myself from people. I have built an impenetrable psychic wall around me that I eventually forgot I have a brother who should be able to open up to me on whatever problem he has, seek advice, etc. But how do you become a big brother to someone when you can’t even fix your own life? It’s a question I can’t seem to answer. If there are two people in the world who should understand each other and have a strong bond it should be the two of us but that just didn’t happen. It is not too late however. Hindi ko lang alam kung paano kami magba bonding. The only two possible ways to bond with my brother that I see is A) Learn Japanese; or B) Enroll in Taekwondo class. Given that I will stop working effective June 15 I would be able to spend more time with him. Learning Japanese is actually scheduled for a June 2008 head start but if it would help form a stronger bond with my brother then fine I will adjust it a year earlier. On the contrary I see Taekwondo as the answer to this problem. If there is one thing that we have in common that would be the tendency to use our legs to release all the hatred we have against the world. Maybe axe-kicking each other will work...

Academics: CRS is becoming kind to oldies with student numbers below 04. I was able to get all 19 units I need for this semester. Two Economics subjects, three majors, and Calculus. Now I finally saw one of the benefits of not working this semester, more time for Calculus so I won’t fail it, lol. I just hate that I wasn’t able to secure a slot in the Comparative Politics of Selected European States class.

Work: I went full time this week until June 10. I have barely a month to add more to the money I have already saved. I have barely a month to take advantage of whatever I could extract from the Brazilian callers with regard to their accent, culture, and everything Brazilian Portuguese. I have barely a month to assess if I could really withstand this kind of job since it is part of my long term plans.

Missing Malaysia: This is one of the weirdest things I’ve felt this week. I am actually missing Malaysia, the country which has been both my prison and my paradise. May it be Paka or Shah Alam, it seems that the country is calling me back. Going back has not really been an option given that I have a regular job but now that I will be stopping... I hope I could come back soon to visit. =)

Maging Sino Ka Man: I remember Nap Gutierrez saying in his column that Rosanna Roces will appear in this soap and that there’ll be a Book 2. I wasn’t able to watch the ending because of work so ABS-CBN, please release the remaining DVD Volumes please! My prediction is that Book 2 will come October 2007. A couple of mishaps but still IMHO the best soap ABS-CBN has ever produced. 

Summarizing College (Teaser): UPD also has its fair share of bitches who hate transferees. There was one of them who rabidly hated transferees. Maybe a transferee bit her or something; hence she became rabid. To cut the long story short YES I am a transferee and my 2.5 UPG didn’t make the cut but here I am doing English class with you and in the end I even got a better grade. Bitch.

Me Time Na!

Maio 14– 20

Me Time Na!

Soundtrack of the Week

1. Makes Me Wonder [MAROON5]
2. Walang Kapalit [AVANZADO]
3. Upside Down [6 CYCLE MIND]
4. Beautiful Liar [BEYONCé/SHAKIRA]
5. Candyman [AGUILERA] <-- Aguilera + Big Band = Nice...

Movie of the Week: Shrek 3

• Shrek, next in line as king of Far Far Away, sets sail to find young Artie so he could make him king instead. Princess Fiona is pregnant. Prince Charming rallies Fairytale Land's baddies to help him seize the throne, etc.
• I think what some people did not like about this film is that there are a lot of cheesy scenes and drama-dramahan moments which are very Un-Shrek. For me okay pa rin naman kasi marami namang funny moments.
• I don't know if this is the best or worst of the three Shrek films. Para sa akin kasi Shrek films should be enjoyed; not critiqued, compared, whatsoever. IMHO that's the purpose of a Shrek movie, make you laugh, let you be amazed with the CGI, etc.
• As usual nakakatawa pa rin yung barkada nila Pinocchio, di talaga kumpleto ang Shrek pag wala sila. Ang kulit nung flashback scene ni Gingy tiyaka nung mga pinagsasasabi ni Pinocchio to avoid lying.
• The best addition to the cast would be Merlin and Amy Poehler as Snow White. Ang kulit din nung medieval high school. Kung sa Shrek 2 e Hollywood ang parody nila, dito naman American high school kahit maikli lang yung scene.
• Ang cute ng mga anak ni Donkey. Cute din yung mga anak ni Shrek. Parang masaya sila maging pets. Hehehe, ang sama, pets...
• Masyadong maraming characters. Di ko lang alam kung strength or weakness ito ng palabas. Nag enjoy lang kasi talaga ako... hehehe.
• Main villain is Prince Charming. Revenge story niya ito. I think isa ito sa mga weak points ng film. Nakakatawa naman si Prince Charming pero mas effective na kontrabida yung nanay niya tiyaka yung King sa Shrek 1.

The EL that Should have Been: The company has been receiving a lot of hate mails lately and I am one of the few who translate them so the bosses in the US would understand. After two “Oh my God’s” and a “Damn it” I finally admitted to myself that I loved translating those hate mails. And then I popped the question to myself, “Why the hell did I not shift to EL instead?’ There’s no use crying over spilled (spilt? English sucks...) milk but then again I can’t help but think. The BA European Languages story of my life is an interesting one and unfortunately it needs a separate article of its own which I will write this week. Let’s just say that when I transferred to UPD (Surprise surprise, I’m a transferee!) Nagparamadam na ang EL sa akin but I didn’t give a damn... back then. Pero gaya nga ng sabi ko wala ng sisihan ngayon. We can never change the things in the past. Nossa...

Academics: Lectures ended Friday. We only have Monday to finish the exam and then we’re done. Ang bilis ng summer term. E bakit nung nag Math 17 ako last year parang ang bagal ng summer? Boring kasi Math 17, hahaha. Nakapag report na rin kami na ok naman din. Pinaka ok yung sa Tuition Fee Increase na report, yung skit nila na hinahanap nung Freshie kung nasaan ang TBA, lol.

Election 2007: Eleksyon nung Monday. Di ako bumoto kasi di ako registered. Mukhang ok naman ang turn-out ngayon at naging mas matino pumili ang mga bumoto. Ni hindi nakapasok si Tito Sotto, Cesar Montano at Richard Gomez sa Magic 12 ng ABS-STI exit polls, which is good. Nangunguna sila Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda, at Noynoy Aquino. Nagbibilangan pa rin hanggang ngayon.

Work: The call center here is closing. It will cease operation as a CALL CENTER by June 15, 2007. However, it will remain as a DEPARTMENT of the company. Guess what? FRAUD DEPARTMENT. In short some people will stay and since there are many fraud incidents in Brazil, I am one of the eight being offered to stay. Here is the caveat: The shift would strictly be MTWThF 9 pm to 5 am. Wala namang problema sa schedule. Actually magagawan ko yan ng paraan kung gusto ko. Ang problema lang talaga is that I really have to take Economics 100.1 and 100.2 this semester or else I will be delayed for yet another semester. E ang arte arte ng schedule ng dalawang Econ subjects na yan kapag first semester. I don’t actually know how I will survive talking to Brazilian fraud victims/suspects in the early hours of the morning and then going straight to an Economics class right after. Ano ito, joke time? Therefore I have reached the conclusion that I will just STOP WORKING. It’s final. I will grab the separation pay and walk away. Kung si Carmina may Moo Time, ako may ME TIME: no work, no hassles, just academics and ME until October and then I will decide whether I want to work part time again or just wait until May next year. The 6-month Brazilian Portuguese immersion ends June 15. Great experience, will always be remembered. Done.

Languages: Here is a tip for those who want to learn Romance Languages: Spanish – Portuguese – French – Italian – Rumanian. Spanish will prepare you a big deal for Portuguese kasi halos magkapareho ang written tradition nila, mas complicated lang ang grammar ng Portuguese. Portuguese will prepare you for French because it will introduce you to the different sounds present in both languages like nasals and some grammar rules such as the position of objects and verbs in a sentence. French will prepare you for Italian kasi malaki ang lexical overlap, pagdating kasi sa cognates laging Spanish/Portuguese and French/Italian ang pairs. Italian will prepare you for Rumanian naman in a way kasi marami rin DAW words na pareho. But come to think of it, who wants to learn Rumanian? Buna dimineata. Ma numesc Dan... Multumesc... lol.

MSKM DVD: Advertisement muna. Bumili na kayo ng Maging Sino ka Man DVD’s! Available na hanggang Volume 3 sa inyong mga suking tindahan ng DVD, VCD at CD, in short Record Bars! Hindi ko alam kung available na rin sa Quiapo pero bili na kayo! Masaya mag reminisce lalo na’t one week na lang ay tapos na ang palabas na ito at medyo di maganda ang happenings lately...

Bitin

Maio 7– 13

Bitin

Soundtrack of the Week

1. Walang Kapalit [AVANZADO]
2. Upside Down [6 CYCLE MIND]
3. Makes Me Wonder [MAROON5]
4. Way Back into Love [GRANT/BARRYMORE]
5. It’s Not Over [DAUGHTRY]

Movie of the Week: Death Note

• Light, a law school student, finds a notebook called Death Note.
• A person whose name is written in the Death Note will die of a heart attack in 40 seconds. Cause of death (aside from heart attack) could be specified within the 40-second period and the details written within 6 minutes for it to take effect. In short, planning someone’s death is possible.
• In writing the name, the one writing the note should have the person’s face in mind as there are people with the same names.
• I love this film! Wahahaha. Actually the first film was great and the best thing about it is loyal siya dun sa anime version. May mga scenes pa nga na parehong pareho talaga. The second film was boring or maybe the subtitles were the problem. The side effects of buying pirated DVDs… The subtitle for the first was a joy ride; the second was a train wreck.
• Magaling ang strategies ni Light to outwit L pero foul naman yung ginawa niya sa girlfriend niya.
• Ang sad ng story ng Shinigami na si Jealous... A way to kill a Shinigami (“Death” sorta angel of death or something) is for it to fall in love with a human being and use its deathnote to save that human being...
• Parang masaya maging pet si Ryuk, alam mo yun babatuhan mo siya ng apple tapos kakainin niya, tapos palipad lipad siya sa vicinity, lol. Ayoko kay Rem (Rem ang sabi na name dun sa subtitle) para siyang baklang rock star na hindi alam kung anong fashion trend ang susundin, lol.
• I don’t like how the sequel ended or maybe I just really empathize with the bad guys but then again how do we define what is bad and what isn’t?
• Ayoko rin kay L, mukha siyang kuya nung bata dun sa The Grudge.

Diabetes Delight: A part of me says I shouldn’t be alarmed but with a family history of diabetes I think I should be. Alam ko naman ang symptoms ng diabetes at wala pang nagpaparamdam na symptom but I think I should lessen my sugar intake. Lately kasi ay naa addict ako sa matatamis na pagkain. Favorite ay yung Chocolate Beehive ng Aristocrat. Rectangular brownie siya na merong mala whip-cream na meringue sa ibabaw. Hindi mo makikita na puti yung meringue kasi chocolate coated siya. Kamusta naman, and to think I devour one of this almost everyday during office break. Another favorite is that devil Chocolate Chip Cream something something from Starbucks. Dapat kasi talaga di ko na ni-try yun e, ayan na addict tuloy ako. Pestilence. Di bale, revamp na lang ng diet this coming June. Kailan pa ako nahilig sa matatamis ha? Ha? Ha! Tsk tsk tsk...

Academics: Matatapos na ang summer term. Ang bilis bilis ng panahon. Ang corny ng topics for STS after the first exam. Ang masaya lang ay yung Love in the Time of the Internet. Masaya kasi interesting yung topic, merong mga theories na ni-present, enjoy mag lecture ang lecturer. Yung ibang topic snorefest na, malamig pa naman sa CS Audi. Malapit na kami mag present, next week...

Random Events: Makukulong si Paris Hilton. Eleksyon na bukas kaya walang pasok. Na disqualify na yung isang Cayetano na nuisance candidate. Last two weeks na ng Maging Sino Ka Man, meron daw Book 2. May nag explode na supernova pero hindi naging black hole (something to that effect). Natalo ni Mayweather si de la Hoya. Tag-ulan na! Palabas pa rin ang Spider-Man 3.

Future: Dear ihcahieh: You are a moron. Ano na naman itong kabalastugan na magse second degree ka pagka graduate mo? Get real. You can’t even stay an hour in a Math class without feeling uneasy tapos mage Economics ka pa pagkatapos? Ambisyoso ka masyado. I know you love school very much (which for me is so retarded) but this school love should stop some time. You can’t be a student forever. You can obsess with languages, that’s already a given, but I think six years in college is enough and hell no we are not staying for another two-year extension. You better think about this or else an inevitable take-over will happen very soon. I know you won’t give up without a fight. Aray! Wag mo kong pahanginan gago ka, dalawang fireballs lang ang katapat mo! Don’t test my patience. I know even Coma-Boy over here would side with me. Dan the Wrathful

Work: Binibitin kami ng aming opisina. Hindi namin alam kung maa absorb ba kami ng ibang kumpanya or magsasara. Nag apply na nga ako one time pero good time lang yun, I mean hindi seryoso. E gusto ko na nga mag apply ng seryoso ngayon pero di ko magawa kasi konektado pa ko sa company na ito. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ayaw nila mag announce, siguro surprise kunwari. Working full-time is not a choice; I’ve already ruled that one out. Sa ngayon it’s either stop working or continue working part-time. The problem is maraming opening ng Spanish agents ngayon pero wala halos part-time. Kung hindi naman ako makakakuha ng Spanish part-time, ano, English? Una sa lahat pag nag English ako the salary would be cut in half, as in. Pangalawa, kakausap ako ng mga irate na kano? Come on. Believe me when I say that it is way better to listen to an irate Brazilian. Kung magpa part-time man ako ng English, okay lang kahit half ang salary basta ba BRITISH or AUSTRALIAN account. Working in a call center is a tough job at hindi dapat ang kumpanya lang ang may nakukuha sa yo, dapat may nakukuha ka rin sa kanila. So if I could grow a British or Australian accent with half the salary and the same work load then fine. Pero American English? Nyek. Magfo focus na lang ako sa academics. Suspense thriller, yahoo.

Languages: I’m reviewing my Spanish, nag uulit ng librong nabasa ko na dati, nanonood ng TVE. Plano ko mag placement exam sa Instituto ngayong June para makapag enroll at makapag skip ng levels. Kukuha na ako ng DELE sa November para naman may pinanghahawakan na akong proof ng language proficiency. Magagamit ko rin naman ito in the future. Nakakapagod na rin minsan...

On Baptisms, Boredom, and the Question “Why”

Maio 29– 6

On Baptisms, Boredom, and the Question “Why”

Soundtrack of the Week

1. All You Wanted [BRANCH] ß swak na swak!
2. Makes Me Wonder [MAROON5]
3. Imprescindible [BEYONCé]
4. Love Team [ITCHYWORMS]
5. Way Back into Love [GRANT/BARRYMORE]

Movie of the Week: Spider-Man 3

• Alam mo MJ natanggal ka sa trabaho kasi obvious na obvious naman na di mo boses yung kumakanta. Anong akala mo sa amin, tanga? Magli lip synch ka na nga lang di pa kapani paniwala. Kung si Kirsten Dunst man talaga ang kumanta nun, pasensya na pero di talaga believable.
• What I like most about Spider-Man movies is that the opening theme serves as a refresher showing important clips and stills from the last installments, tapos meron pang X-Men feel.
• Of the three Spider-Man films this is by far the weakest but this will surely be the one with the highest gross since people think that this will be the last. Unfortunately there are rumors that a fourth film is being planned already. I think it is a bad idea, they should stop at three.
• This film already broke numerous Filipino Box Office records. Some of them include: FASTEST TO Php200 million (6 days), Highest Single Day Gross for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I don’t know which film holds the Highest Single Day Gross for Monday or if it has already been beaten as well.
• $151 Million opening weekend in the North American Box Office, beating previous records set by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest last summer. Already #120+ on All-Time North American Box Office in just after 3-4 days of release.
• The problem with this film is that there are just too many characters. Ano ito, X-Men? Two villains + one villain turned sidekick. They should have just developed that one villain turned sidekick into a hardcore villain and reserved Venom for the fourth installment.
• What happened to the Sandman in the end? Did he die? Did he go away to a retreat house or something? Walang closure, ano ba.
• While Tobey Maguire’s “dancing skills” provided a comedy feel for the movie, I think he should just stick to web-slinging.
• As of press time, Spider-Man is #7 and Spider-Man 2 is #10 in the all-Time North American Box Office, obviously Spider-Man 2 will fall out of the Top 10 to make way for this third installment. Sayang, if it just grossed higher ito sana ang first movie installment ever to have all installments in the all-Time Top 10.
• Mas maganda yung naunang dalawa sa series...
• May “WTF-that’s it?!” factor yung ending.
• Balik eksena si Uncle Ben dito, wala lang... hehehe

Binyag ni Summer: Nabinyagan na si Summer Audrey, ang panganay ng susunod na henerasyon ng mga Millar. Ninong ako, actually ang dami namin. I don’t know how to fulfill the role of a ninong but I will try my best. To me this kid is special because she will lead the new generation of the clan. Furthermore she is a living example that we (cousins and I) are not kids anymore. She is a screaming billboard saying: “Oh grow up!” specially to immature people like myself, hahaha! At dahil may binyag, merong party pagkatapos. Like I always say, parties and I don’t mix. Pumunta rin ang mga kabarkada ni Aina na batchmates namin (Altair, Charm, April, Chiqui, Rissa, did I miss anyone?) Actually nahihiya ako kasi di man lang ako nakihalubilo sa kanila. Ang labas tuloy nag suplado ako. Well, I hope they could read this blog entry. This is another example of that “It’s-not-you-it’s-me” issue. There is definitely nothing wrong with the people in the party (my cousins included) but there is definitely something wrong with me. I just don’t want them getting the idea that I don’t enjoy their company because that’s not the case. Let’s just put it this way, the sarcastic-fairly social “Dan” my batchmates knew from 2002 and beyond ay nag AWOL. The “Alfie” that my cousins knew from four years ago tagged along with that “Dan” and honestly I don’t know when they would come back or if they will ever do. I think I have lost the ability to socialize with people (which is weird for some but trust me, not for me). I think this is what four years of boredom does to someone. Honestly I couldn’t blame anyone other than myself because I chose to live my life this way. I just hope that people around me would understand why I am like this and not judge me as a self-centric a-hole. Summer, maligayang pagdating sa mundo!

Work: I therefore conclude that my job has finally become a real JOB. Jobs are boring and the main reason for having one is financial in nature. I used to think that mine was more of a language enrichment exercise. That was how it used to be but now it is no longer true. Ever since most of the Spanish agents left the office has become a boring place. Boring place + Boring self = Boring job. Wala ring kasiguraduhan sa patutunguhan ng kumpanya. Kung lilipat sila ng Ortigas definitely ayoko sumama. I could find part-time jobs in other call centers nearby, marami namang naghahanap ng Spanish kaso parang tinatamad na ako. Hihinto na lang siguro ako for this semester. Hindi ko alam, naguguluhan pa ako. At least makakapahinga ako kung hihinto ako magtrabaho for the first sem and manage to have a successful academic comeback. Bahala na. Go with the flow.

Languages: I’ve realized that for Filipinos like us the easiest Romance language that we could learn is Spanish for various reasons. The thing is that the accents could confuse you a big deal. I recommend Italian for those who want to learn a Romance language. It is hard at first but when Italians speak the sound is almost always crystal clear. It will definitely be an easy task to recognize the words.

That Interrogative Pronoun WHY: “WHY” is the question word I’ve used the most this week. I guess I’m in that stage of life where a person asks a lot of questions beginning with this word! Nakakabaliw, to think baliw na ako in the first place. Kahit gumamit ka pa ng “WHY” sa iba’t ibang lengwahe nade detect pa rin ng utak mo. Nakakapagod din pala mag isip. Give up or carry on? Why?