After 1 Month…

It’s been a little over a month since I started regularly exercising again. I feel fine (I don’t get that dying feeling after briskly walking for 20 minutes. LOL.). I did gain a couple of kilograms of what hopefully is muscle…

Escher-esque

This is one of my all time favorite YouTube finds. It’s amusing and unsettling at the same time – entertaining overall.

Sine

Mahilig akong manood ng pelikula – foreign man o lokal panonoorin ko basta medyo interesting ‘yung kwento. Suki ako ng HBO, Star Movies, Cinemax, Cinema One, at kung anu-ano pang istasyon sa TV na nagpapalabas ng pelikula. Oo, marami-raming oras na ang ginugol ko sa panonood ng mga pelikula. Enjoy kasi, e.

Kung trip na trip ko talaga yung pelikula, panonoorin ko ito sa sinehan. Iba ang feeling ng nasa sinehan, parang mas espesyal at exciting yung experience. Balewalain na ang malagkit na sahig, ang mga naghihiyawang bata, at ang mangilan-ngilang tao na hindi marunong mag silent ng kanilang mobile phone. Eto na ‘to. The movie is about to start in 3… 2… 1…

Ngayong taon, napanood ko na ang Watchmen, Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen sa sinehan. Panonoorin ko yung bagong Harry Potter kapag bumuti na ang aking pakiramdam.Lahat foreign. Ang huli kong pinanood sa sinehan na pelikulang Filipino ay Agent X44 dalawang taon na ang nakakalipas.

Hindi ako nagpapaka-sosi. Talagang nahihirapan lang akong mamili ng panonooring mainstream Pinoy movie sa sinehan.

Sa TV, ilang pelikula na ni John Lloyd Cruz ang aking sinubaybayan. Na-enjoy ko ang mga pelikula ni Cathy Garcia-Molina. Lahat ng Enteng Kabisote at Mano Po movies ay napanood ko na at marami pang pelikula mula sa Star Movies, Regal, Viva, Seiko, atbp.

Libre kasi e.

Sa totoo lang, mahirap ma-excite sa mga pelikulang Pinoy dahil kung hindi horror e panibagong love story na naman “tampok ang pinakabagong love team ng bayan” ang ipapalabas. Taon-taon din ay may sequel ang Shake, Rattle, and Roll, Enteng Kabisote, at Mano Po.

Hindi ko namang sinasabing pangit ang mga bagong pelikulang Pinoy – masyado lang formulaic. Nakakasawa na. May limit din ang pelikula ni John Loyd Cruz na kaya kong panoorin.

Tama na. Sobra na. Iba naman po.

You Have To Watch, Man!

I just figured out how to add videos in my posts. Yup, my mind’s in a hebetative state lately but I’m currently trying to remedy that by doubling my intake of comic book and graphic novel reads and doing more Internetz than usual… F*ck yeah…

Whores Galore

Just saw Manny Villar’s personal/political ad that bastardized the song “Akala” by Parokya ni Edgar. It’s a cringe-inducing mix of old school TraPo rhyming and an aging man’s effort to be cool, hip, and current – akala mo ay TraPo/’yun pala katropa. It’s atrocious. It’s like watching a 60 year old man trying to fit in a tropa of kids that’s a third of his age and failing miserably. The collared orange shirt isn’t really helping him, either.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Mar Roxas who cranked the drama in his ad to 11. It really was all that I needed to safely and conclusively say that my day is officially ruined. From Mr. Padyak, Mar is now going back to the public market setting to try to reprise his role as Mr. Palengke (his alter-ego that landed him a seat in the senate). His team also added a slew of new supporting characters because two poor kids aren’t enough to show how pro-poor and masa he is.  Like Jesus Christ, Mar is approached by a sizable number of people looking at him for a miracle guidance and help. His reply is “lalaban tayo“, not necessarily  an answer to any problem raised in the ad but it’s a pretty good campaign slogan – it’s like we might win something if he leads us. Might. Additionally, Mar may actually win an award for the most dramatic face/s in a political ad if there’s such a thing in FAMAS. Oh, unlike Villar, his blue polo shirt costume actually fits him.

Kudos to both Manny and Mar for continually exploiting the poor and upholding the old and rotten political system that they both want to change.

Yet Another Blog

Since I’ve accumulated quite a number of junk over the past years, I’ve decided to create another blog dedicated just for reviewing them. It’s titled Totally Random Reviews over at Blogspot. It’s still empty but I’ll be putting some entries in soon.

UFC 100

UFC 100 was one really entertaining event. We were promised an entertaining show and the fighters delivered:

Henderson v Bisping: Henderson shuts Bisping’s mouth good, as promised. Hendo planted two devastating right hand to The Count’s face in round 2.

St-Pierre v Alves: GSP proved that his “skill beats size…technique beats strength all the time” ideology is true – he neutralized Alves’ strength with his takedowns and superior wrestling game. All 5 rounds showed how good and smart a fighter GSP is.

Lesnar v Mir: Lesnar showed that immense strength + improved technique + excellent strategy is a really dangerous combination. Lesnar proved that he has the right to be the heavyweight champion by decisively defeating Mir. Unfortunately, Lesnar also proved the Mir has more class than him.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Gusto ko sanang mag-comment sa sinabi ni Freddie Aguilar tungkol kila Arnel Pineda at Charice Pempengco, pero hindi lang kasi yung pagiging gaya-gaya natin yung nakikita kong problema e. Sa issue kasing ito, parang sa mga informercials, mayroong isang malaking “but wait, there’s more!” na bonus na problema na hindi pwedeng hindi pansinin – ano nga ba ang maituturing na likas na “Filipino” sa panahon natin ngayon?

Dahil nagsimula na rin naman ako kay Freddie Aguilar, sa panig ng musika natin tingnan ang isyung ito. Ano nga ba ang musikang Pinoy? Ang kanta bang “Anak” ay masasabi nating sumasalamin sa uri ng mga awitin ng ating bansa? Paano ang kundiman? Paano ‘yong mga folk songs mula sa iba’t ibang rehiyon na ating bansa? Kapag ba may kudyapi at kulintang na ang kanta, mas Filipino ang dating nito? Ang mga kanta ba  ng Up Dharma Down pwedeng maging representative ng musikang Filipino? Si April Boy? Slapshock? Eraserheads? Ano nga ba ang tunog na masasabing sariling atin?

Mahirap sagutin, di ba?

Sa isang banda, pwede nating sabihin na kapag Filipino ang gumawa, Pinoy ito. Mga banda tulad ng Juan Dela Cruz, Apo Hiking Society, The Dawn, Wolfgang, Eraserheads, at iba pa, hiram din naman ang ilang elemento ng kanilang musika pero masasabing Pinoy na Pinoy ang kanilang dating, di ba? Sa isang banda, yung mga tulad nila Charice Pempengco, Regine Velasquez, Pops Fernandez, Martin Nievera na hindi mabubuhay kung wala silang gagayahing artista mula sa ibang bansa. May mga orig din silang kanta pero mas sikat sila dahil sa kanilang revivals. Pero kahit anong sabihin mo, Pinoy na Pinoy rin sila dahil, sa ayaw mo’t sa hindi, nasa kulturang Pinoy na ang pagkahilig sa mga singers na wala nang ginawa kundi bumirit. Mahirap namang pumili ng folk songs na pwedeng sabihing tunog Pinoy dahil isang katutak na ethnic groups ang mayroon tayo…

Sa madaling salita, kung sinabi nung artist na proud siyang maging tunay na Pinoy (hindi counted ang Pussycat Dolls, si Jasmine Trias, si Camille Velasco, si Chad Hugo, si Enrique Iglesias, si Kirk Hammet, at iba pang tulad nila na may ilang patak lang ng dugong Pinoy sa kanilang katawan at/o gusto lang ng abodo), e i-consider na nating tunay na Pinoy ‘yan at maging medyo proud ka na rin na kalahi mo sila. Oo, medyo mababaw na basehan ng pagka-Filipino ngunit sa isang bansang kinakapa pa ang national identity mas mabuti na ‘yang alternatibo kaysa sa wala.

Ikaw mismo. Gago.

“Ako mismo, hindi magbloblog nang ikakasira ng bansa ko.”

Kung sabihin ko na ang unano pinuno ng ating bansa ay corrupt at maraming pagkukulang sa kaniyang mga nasasakupan, ikasisira ba ng bansa natin yun? Isa ba itong blog entry na hindi dapat ilathala dahil magbibigay ito ng masamang imahe para sa ating bansa?

Marami akong gustong sabihin na “ikakasira” ng bansa natin – mula sa pinaka ordinaryong bagay tulad ng pagkahilig sa pagdura ng iba nating kababayan sa kalye hanggang sa kagaguhan ng ating gobyerno – ngunit hindi ibig sabihin nito na pakay kong sirain ang imahe ng ating bansa. Ang pagpuna sa mali ay hindi kadalasang nangangahulugan ng paninira. Gets?

Para sa iyo na “hindi magbloblog nang ikakasira ng bansa ko”, inutil ka. Mas pinili mong magbulag-bulagan kaysa maging kritikal sa mga pangyayaring nagaganap sa iyong paligid. Minsan, kailangan mo munang sirain ang isang bagay para mapabuti ito. Olrayt?

Dodo!

From Inquirer:

The breast implant procedure done on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo back in the 1980s was a “medical necessity” and was not spurred by vanity, her deputy spokeswoman, Lorelei Fajardo, said on Monday.

Mrs. President and company, you’ve been lying to us for years now and that’s the best you come up with? Seriously?