C is for 'Cookie,' Dammit!

From Ben's Blog:

Read online that the latest season of Sesame Street will focus more on a health angle.

Think Sesame Street's Cookie Monster and think ... broccoli? In a fit of drastic behavior modification, the cookie-addicted bundle of fur is declaring that cookies are, in fact, only a "sometime food."

Am I a purist for thinking this is wrong? It's Cookie Monster. What he does is eat cookies, among other things. (Let's face it, he's the show's garbage disposal, w/c is probably why Oscar the Grouch never had him as a houseguest). That's what he is, googly eyes and all. What next, Big Bird as a poster child for gigantism?

(On a side note, I'm surprised the conservative Christian groups that accused Spongebob Squarepants of being gay didn't hurl accusations at Big Bird first. C'mon, it's Big, naked yellow bird w/ a high pitched voice. And if you dressed up 2 guys in Big Bird's and Spongebob's clothes --as in one in a shirt and tie with... square pants, and the other in yellow feathers and orange leggings with pink horizontal stripes-- who do you think's gonna be mistaken for gay?)

Sesame Street's producers should leave the Big CM alone. I mean, this is the guy who would eat the safe Ernie locked the cookies in, or Kermit the Frog's microphone during an interview. Hell, when he plays Alistaire Cookie for Monsterpiece Theater he eats his pipe in the end. What sane parent would even think that Cookie Monster was someone to emulate in terms of eating healthy?

I'm all for the show leaning towards a health angle, but maybe they should limit it to the human characters, or at least the humanoid muppets (Bert, Ernie, Sherlock Hemlock, etc.). Just let the monsters be the monsters that we know and love. Num num num num num...

My Dates w/ Dave (or How I Spent My Dinner for 2 Nights )

Aimee, Edison, Vanessa, Debbie, Robert, Kelly and Dave outside UCC Cafe.

I met up with 2 batches of Beijinoys for dinner Friday and Saturday night. Aside from me and Dave showing showing up at both dinners, the only other thing they had in common was me missing gym. (Forgot to bring a towel Friday and reached both Makati branches of Slimmer's World too late Saturday.) Good food, but, good god, I'm gonna bloat up.

The first dinner was at Burgoo at The Podium, w/c brought a deja vu moment since the last time I met up w/ Dave we have dinner there as well, only it was at the Greenhills branch. While waiting for them to arrive I roamed around The Podium (and confirming my earlier assessment that this was one dull mall) The San Miguel Choir (the beer company employees who felt like forming a choir) was performing for a series of free concerts on the ground floor. I was watching from the third, though I was actually listening to the Visions of Escaflowne OST on my mp3 player. After dinner I ran into old classmate Rachel Go (whose family had an optical shop on the ground floor), who was also having dinner and watching the mini booth they set up on 3rd floor selling shades at a disount. I asked her to help me pick out a pair but they all N.G. for me. Hitched a ride w/ Robert and Debbie (who goes back to China on the 8th for a job at a paper mill in GuangZhou).

The second dinner was at Grappa's, a restaurant I've only eaten in once before (either celebrating Aimee Uy's or my birthday). Skipped the buffet, but the spinach lasagna was good.

Damn, neglected to take a picture of Fernds and Abby (as well as Stephanie and her boyfriend) when they joined us at Max Bremmer for our nightcap.

Today also markes the first time I drove home alone to and from Makati alone since I came back. It was almost mechanical, meaning I still knew the way. Acutally the way home took a bit of luck, but don't tell Ma that.


Dave, Joyce, Hy-C, Jella, Die's sister (sorry, forgot her name), Die and yours truly at Grappa's.

FRIENDS Predicts the Future?

On one episode of Friends (a series I have enough knowledge of to talk about, even thought I hate it), Joey is mistaken for someone with a STD when the ad he models for is posted all over New York. (Really, is it that hard to find someone with STD to model? They get the bucks needed for treating it, and they don't have to use their real names.)

Now, reality bites: Models Who Posed as Wife Beaters Sue Over Ads

What IS it with Syphilis?

While reading The Big Book of Weirdos, I noticed that a handful of famous (and infamous) historical characters could credit their fame (and infamy) to syphilis. Caligula, Ivan the Terrible, Guy de Maupassant (okay, barely heard of him 'til this book). Geez, if you thought STDs sucked now, think of how it was back then. Being HIV positive could still leave you living a relatively healthy life. Syphilis causes dementia. Granted, its okay if you were the leader of a country (where they'd call you eccentric first before a doctor checks you out, and sometimes only when you die), but ordinary joes are just plained screwed, no pun intended.

YIKES: Just saw a report on ANC's Business Night that featured my old classmates Kathy Bacosa (Lucky Strike Junior Executive, according to web research) and Charlemgane Lim (Little Asia restaurant owner). It was about my generation saving up money for the future. Long story short: Kathy isn't saving, Charlemagne is. Kathy's like me right now, living/ working one day at a time. Frankly I thought her looks would've gotten her further in her life by now. Charlemagne I simply resent since he was a jerk/ bully in grade school.

I'm getting into another "what have i made of myself?" kind of mood. Almost a third of my life lived, and what have i got to show for it? Better physique?

I am thankful my folks thought to save and invest in my future, since financial matters are pretty much Greek to me. There were times when I thought about making it big with an original (or "borrowed") business idea, only to be shot down either by my folks (ironic) or loss of interest (inevitable). Sometimes I think I have to be spoonfed these things.

Dammit, I have dreams and aspirations; it's just that they stay that way. The realization of it is another matter.

Easter Wrap-Up

I'm ending the long weekend with collecting and tweaking photos, plus some exercise. Wrist still hurts, w/c makes typing a bitch.

Holy Thursday, Batman!

Today I did a little swimming, had a good lunch, and read comics all afternoon. I realized that if I did this all the time, summer vacation would have no meaning. What's there to look foward to if it becomes monotonous? (Unless new downloads come in everyday, that is.) Actually what bugged me is if I did all that w/o the benefit of working out I'd go back to my old weight. (shudder)

Happy Birthday, Dad

The nieces and nephew race to blow out the only candle on the cake. Saliva ensues

For Pa's birthday we had cake at home and a buffet dinner at Shangri La Hotel in Makati. The ballroom on the second floor was hosting a prom for Merriam High School. Maybe I'm getting old but the gowns on the jailbaits seemed to be getting... skimpier, or simply more revealing. And an air of pretentiousness was just reeking off the guys, so much than I wanted to just smack their faces in. (heheh). Hopefully they, as I did, will come out of this thinking, "We should've just had a beach party."

Celebrity sightings of the evening include Imelda Marcos (not as tall as I thought, even with the hair) and Bishop Teodoro Bacani (doubtful he'd remember me from the TeleAll days).

Okay, I've Snapped Outta It

Was down, now not. (F*ck her and her nervous laughing, anyway.) Ever had one of those days where things didn't go exactly as planned, yet you wouldn't have it any other way?

Met up with Lyndon, David, Marco (and girlfriend), and Dennis for dinner at Burgoo. The original plan of watching Robots didn't push through, but I was ok with it. Dianne was even able to catch up with us for a nightcap at Gloria Jean's. (Speaking of w/c, note to self: do not order frozen fruit teas.) At first I was stressed out from all the planning all, this, but tonight proved itself worth it.

I'm Down and I Can't Stand It

Feeling blue at the moment. Not sure if it's over a girl or what I think her current impression of me. Our last conversation was filled with laughter, but her was almost nervous in nature. Her words half-serious, half not so. Don't encourage him. Try to let him down gently but don't be direct in case he's just kidding. Hope to God he's don't be dense.

And there was this other girl. Her messages to me used to end in those smiley typographs (:)). Now when I slowly let my guard down (possibly misinterpreting her friendly nature as something... more), the :)'s have disappeared. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe not.

This always happens, and I always blame myself. It's almost like the improved me is just like the old. Am I coming on too strong? Too weird? Am I reading too much into all this? I enjoy friendly flirting. The problem lies with what happens when you want to be serious about it afterwards. I hate this not knowing feeling. The again, I'm not the Sun. The world does not revolve around me. Nor am I a mindreader. My cousin has cautioned be about trying to be more senstitive to other people's feelings, but this is different.

I used to think I have a good vibe for things like this, when someone I like doesn't or no longer feels the same way, but I hate going by vibes. It's so...irrational. Of course the direct approach--just asking the person-- is the simplest and hardest solution at the same time.

Finished

Recently finished the 3rd season of 24 on DVD, and all I can is, "that's it?!" What was the point of infecting President Palmer with some virus as a cliffhanger in Season 2, only to give it a passing mention afterwards? (And not even a glimpse of Mia Sara, dammit.) He recovered. Great.

As always, the series had its predictable moments (Kim doubling for villain Saunder's daughter, for one) and blah-blah drama moments. One downside to having fast-foward is the killing of any suspense since I end up ff-ing the drama and action scenes.

Speaking of finished (can't get more tasteless than this) another grand-relative passed away. See Chak Gong, or my Paternal Fourth-in-line-Great-Uncle. The nice thing about the Chinese language is the specificity of the family tree. You get relation and ranking. I remember as the most... cognitive of my male grandrelatives. He was nice to chat with, at least when he still recognized me; though to my knowledge was more his eyesight than his mind that was going as he got older. He was probably the last of his generation where having a second wife (one in China, one here) didn't raise eyebrows.