New House(broken)guest

Guarded by fiberglass beagle.

She's adorable up to the point where you let her outta the cage and she goes onesies or twosies on the floor instead of back in the cage.

I call her Whiney. The 'h' is silent, unlike the dog.

This is her nibbling on grass (and a bit of my toe):

Good-Byes & Sad-Byes

Uncle Peter passed away this week. We weren't related. He was the husband of my mom's classmate from high school. Though the most time I ever spent w/ him was about a week (China vacation 2007), he made quite an impression on me. Hard-pressed to find a nicer guy.

So naturally, because God has a weird sensa humor, nice guys get and pass away from cancer.

That Thursday night in Santo Tomas Hospital I heard brought in the crash cart to revive him, w/c worked, but in the end it didn't last.

What I find strange is that I feel more grief from his passing than I did when my own grandparents passed away.

* * *

Speaking of nice guys... I drove to DLSU Manila yesterday (and got to park the car in-campus again) to attend Dr. Doy Del Mundo's surprise retirement party (the party was the surprise, not the retirement) organized by Mike Lim and a whole buncha DLSU students of his. First and former Pinoy MTV VJ Melanie Kasul (didn't recognize her 'til Eileen told me who she was) was co-hosting the program. As per your usual retirement celebrations there were songs sung, tributes paid, skits enacted, stories told, food served and thanks given. The only skit that caught my eye was the one depicting Dr. Doy's life after retirement, w/c apparently consisted of judging reality shows and hosting UAAP games courtside.

My birthday present to him was an actual Artistic License (too bad the final print came out smaller than I expected). I was probably the only one from ID 94 to attend, not that there weren't familiar faces in the audience, like Rache, Patty, Daniel and Eileen. There were also famous faces like Gil Portes and Bembol Roco.

After the program a good hour was spent by Doy signing autographs and having his picture taken. And boy, did these organizers miss out of some cool puns, like instead of Doy is My Boy logo done in the style of American Idol, they could have written PiDOY IDOL, or iDoy instead of "IDOL" on the custom-made T-shirts.

I wasn't able to buy the T-shirt or sign the guestbook, so I'll make do with the extreme close-up picture Eileen took of us. (Mental note: UNzoom before handing the digicam over to someone to take your picture.) Dr. Doy was a major influence on Eileen in developing her love of film and to Jemps' (wasn't able to attend) love of writing movie reviews. For me he was simply the best MassCom prof you could ask for: instructive but undemanding. So while I celebrate his new chapter in life, I pity the ones left behind (i.e. future DLSU MassCom students) who still have to put up w/ Sibayan.

Afterwards Eileen and I hung around Robinson's Ermita, checking out the even newer wing they built. I was feeling tired, most likely from hunger. After shopping for comics on sale (completed my Batman: Broken City storyline, as well as the 2nd Warren Ellis story on Ultimate Fantastic Four). I regretted ordering the salmon at SBarro's coz it cost twice as much as their deep-dish pizza, but definitely not as filling.

The Italian's Job

BF-In-Training Update: After dropping Pa off at the casino (his "afternoon delight," as it were), I stopped by the nearest Starbucks, got 2 mocha frapps, went to G's house and gave her one of them as a surprise. She gave me the dark chocolates she got me from her trip to Belgium.

* * *

After nice lengthy afternoon chat w/ HelloKittyPeanut, I got a nice surprise when I found my Italian friend Irene on YM after a lengthy online absence. She wanted me to guess where she was, w/c meant she forgot telling me in our last chat that she moved to ChongQing, China to be with her Chinese boyfriend to pursue a job and a whirlwind romance.

Funny how romance clashes with reality.

She tells me she's now single again, having split up w/ her Man (or "Chinese Boy," as she put it) after realizing she couldn't live up to the guy's mom's expectations of becoming a "proper" Chinese wife, or w/ the constant meddling of the latter. Or the concept of eating "mah kut" (w/c they prefer to eat spicy) and just spitting the bones out on the dinner table. I guess she was expecting some culture clashing (whaddya expect when spaghetti meets noodles), but I told her that those things she experienced are very Asian customs, not just Chinese, so they'll be very hard to get away from if she wants to settle w/ an Asian guy-- in Asia, at least (can't speak for those who grew up on the Westernized countries).

Then she said the words no child would admit to saying: "I should have listened to my parents."

Needless to say the guy wasn't happy she broke it off, but at least (she says) they'll still friends, and she's now residing in-campus as part of the faculty. While I'm sure this experience has revised her opinion on Asian men (if not turned off completely by it), at least she had the meatballs to take the leap and experience it firsthand, instead of just hanging out in her flat in Milan, chatting w/ the guy and wondering, "What if...?"

Ad Exdreamum

More vivid dreams, and by vivid I mean I can remember more details.

I was at Mendiola Street standing outside Holy Spirit College (University?) when I see Eileen coming towards me, dressed all in white and looking svelte. I complimented her on her looks while we walked together towards...

I'm in a church w/ a majority of my high school batchmates. We're doing some kind of formal full dress-rehearsal for a wedding. Not sure who the groom is, but the bride kept switching between 3 of my high-school crushes: J, M and S, all of whom are -- not coincidentally -- married in real life.

Even back in my SJCS days, during programs like this I never stay in my seat, but instead hang out "backstage." They showed the audience a video on the giant white screen where they usually project the church song lyrics. It was mid-afternoon and the lights inside the church weren't on, which was fine; that way they'd be able to see the video. It was R (lesbian batchmate) showing us around J's place and going through her stuff like some hybrid reality show-mix of Cops and MTV Cribs.

Backstage I was hanging w/ KV (not sure if he was part of the entourage or hosting this thing) when I decided to go the entrance of the church to see if they could do something about the heat. No lights inside, but no fans, either. While sweating in my barong Tagalog I remember thinking we're using money from the alumni funds, w/c wasn't much so we probably didn't pay the church much. I saw Edrich seated in the back, but I confused him for Sherman (both of them being big dudes) and complimented him on an excellent softball game we (never) had last week. I then made my way back to where KV was when I realized we were on a break. L was coming down the altar looking bushed. We stopped by our dining room (w/c looked like the one in my house) and got some water from the cooler. Shelby checked up on her too see if she could still go one more round.

Strange Dream Time

(Then again, when isn't a dream strange? )

Mine involved me, BoiT and a 3rd person whose face is being obscured by the nature of dreams fading quickly. I can only remember the last moments of it.

We were at my old high school (again!?), and encountered 3 white horses, strapped but w/o saddles. Somehow we managed to get on them and trotted our way... back into the school? After we got off some politician was calling out for Boit, but for some reason we ran in the opposite direction, right into a crowd of people waiting to the arrival of President Arroyo.

While nudging and shoving our way into the crowd we suddenly found ourselves in front of the President. Correction: I found myself in front of her. I felt time slow down and was left speechless.

Finally I just took my hand out and shook hers, saying "Merry Chirstmas, Ma'am!" Boit wouldn't stop giving me grief, saving over and over: "That's it?" I told him I had something in my head I wanted to tell her, but my mouth was disobeying my brain.

S.P.I.T.fire

Had an early dinner, then drove out to Bonifacio High Street in Taguig to catch Aryn Cristobal's show at the Mag:Net cafe. Turns out she's part of S.P.I.T., an comedy improve group (think Who's Line Is It, Anyway?). The Silly People's Improv Theater was founded by Gabe, the rotund dude you might recognize from recent Yakult TV commercials, as well as his own show Noypi.

The show started 2 hours later than what Aryn told me, so I had plenty of time to kill. Good thing Dee and KV showed up around the second hour. I was buying the food, Dee the drinks and KV the tickets. Talk turned up some interesting bits about their social lives. Dee was sotra seeing some pastor-in-training, while K broke up w/ his band-singer girlfriend (and subsequently removed any trace of her in his F'ster page), and was contemplating making contact w/ another ex who's already married and has 1 kid. Times like this I'm glad me and G are taking it slow. (Insert ironic smirk here.)

And how do D and K know each other? Not from our Beijinoy days, as I thought. Turns out D's good friends w/ K's ex, Band-Singer Girl. This time they're the ones that hang out. (More ironic smirking...)

Anyhoo, on w/ the show. Aside from contributing to some of the bits Aryn acted as the emcee. Each member seemed to have their own way of "delivering the funny," from bad puns to one-liners to dryly delivered but quick comebacks. Kenneth (the only Tsinoy in the group?) was impressive with his talent for spewing historial trivia (some of it may even be factual). Joel Trinidad (last saw him in Avenue Q as Trekkie Monster) lay down his vocabulary skills with the Alphabet Soap game. I can't name the rest of the cast but rest assured most of them were good. Not-so-good? The singing games. Lord, this time I'm sure the guys in Who's Line do multiple takes of Hoedown and Irish Drinking Song. Verbal improv is hard enough, but to give it rhyme and melody? If I was onstage doing that refunds would be a standard.

We also saw a bonus show of sorts. Some guys from MTV Demark were there to shoot a music viedo and proceeded to shoot around the audience. It was surreal seeing big dudes bump your table and run backstage while S.P.I.T. was still performing. First I thought someone was playing a prank and pissed off the guys who were chasing him. Turns out it was just Take 2. (Hope they captured my good side.)

Weekend Meets & Greets (Updated w/ Pix)

FRIDAY: Dinner w/ Eileen at Greenbelt 5. While waiting for her I caught a bit of Julia Fordham's performance at GB Park. Jazzy is as jazzy does. Didn't even know she was British. Before the last song I heard her perform she was encouraging the audience to get off their bums and dance. Good luck w/ that, Julia. Pinoy concert audiences are the "have seat, will sit" type, and probably wouldn't be caught dead bustin' moves at a jazz concert, anyway.

After dinner we headed for Murphy's Bar (and got flagged and fined by a --gasp-- honest traffic cop for an alleged illegal left turn) for Ana Gonzalez' B-day bash. My actual appearance (as in showing up, not my looks) seemed to have left as good an impression as my birthday gift: Neil Gamain's Fragile Things audiobook on CD. Met her little sister. Saw Andy, Grand and Ferds again. Had a surreal chat w/ Ana's soused beau Igo, w/c was my first enounter w/ someone who was drunk but acted comtemplative. Eileen had an alkie-choco drink while I ordered light beer.

SATURDAY: Forced to mall around SM Centerpoint (IMO the most mediocre of the SM Malls I've been to, probably due to the lack of a decent book shop. Then again, Centerpoint shoppers don't strike me as the bibliophilic type. I think they're just making due w/ the dog-eared 'zine section of NBS) waiting for Ma and 2-Kim to finish their shopping on this 2nd day of the 3-Day Sale. While waiting I had a snack consisting of the toughest chicken breast fillet sandwich Wendy's had to offer. Bad enough local taxes are applied on top of the VAT, now they're serving me really salty fries and leather chicken.

When we finally got home I spruced up 'coz I was supposed to meet Cathy Yao for dinner. We decided on Trinoma and tried out that Greek restaurant Cyma. They literally seated us in the corner with a window view overlooking a parking lot. Ariel Ureta (and his wife, I assume) was seated two tables away. Cathy didn't know him, though. We ordered a cheese dip flambe (w/ bread), an appetizer w/ the extra entertainment value of having the waiters light the cheese on fire and yell, "O-PA!" Unfortunately they had to do it near Ariel Ureta's table instead of ours because we were in a narrow section, and the lamp shade above us was made of wood. Seems whoever designed this resto didn't consider flammable lighting fixtures and waiters who'll occasionally play around w/ open flame a safety hazard.

Our main dish of spaghetti topped w/ stewed beef shanks was unfortunately garnished w/ two of my least favorite herbs/or spice: coriander (aka cilantro) and cinnamon. Had those 2 ingredients not been added I might've been enouraged to finish off the "shared" serving size (made for approx. 3 people), but instead now I have big beef shank bone stuck in the fridge.

Our nightcap was at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (or NAMBLA), where discussions on faith and religion got spirited, to say the least. Cathy's views on life appear to be defined by her faith, w/c clashes my my somewhat agnostic take on it. Two encounters in, and there's still something missing. That spark. And I think I know why. And I think in the back of my mind I've always known.

(Also, I'm not going full disclosure on all this, 'coz Cathy knows my blog address, and I'm a wimp.)

SUNDAY: Had brunch w/ G in Kulinarya at the PowerPlant Mall. Days before I had a set of questions and other things I wanted to ask and tell her. Definitely easier thought than said. In the end I could only ask her how she thinks we're doing as a "couple." She said she enjoys the companionship but wouldn't want to change things, at least not drastically. (Cross out making out under the bleachers during the big football game...) I said I wished she was available more often, if only it wasn't for her busy work schedule. And I asked for her home phone number.

(I like her. I like being w/ her. I like myself when I'm w/ her. Hmm, it occured to me that in all the times we've gone out I've not once held her hand. Nor kissed her (save for that peck on the cheek in church). Slowly but surely can be a real pain, sometimes. Step up, foo'. Nuffa dis "friend date" stuff.)

We had a bit of trouble finding it, but we finally got to the church where G's officemates were getting married. I had to leave her there 'coz of the Batch '94 alumni meeting at Little Asia's Tomas Morato branch. Sherman Oranga and Jasper Soon were there when I arrived. Winston Co followed, then fashionably late (w/ her red "Seriously..." Grey's Anatomy t-shirt) Jehan Sia, Josephine (Mapua) De Lucia, Henrison and Khristine (Chan) Lim, Chris Karen (Sy) Uy and Jervy Santiago. While enjoying the crepe and spring rolls we discussed fundraising plans and official appointents. I was appointed head of communications.

Better get started on a new webpage...

Clone Today, Gone Forever

Sony closed down its Imagestation site this month, taking w/ it my uploaded Clone Pix Series. Sigh. Bad enough the Agno PC crash of '07 made me lose all my pix from 2005 onwards, now the Internet's working against me.

I should've stuck to Multiply.

Don't u fail me, Blogger. I'm starting from scratch. Again.

Alabangin' BBQ

Last Friday I was still in the midst of deciding whether to host a small dinner party Saturday at my place w/ Bejinoys Des and Ferndinand or just grab a bite at Rockwell. Fortunately Fernds had a better idea and invited us to attend his friend CB's birthday BBQ in Ayala, Alabang. I left the CRV (and inadvertently my cellphone) at Fernd's Asia Tower condo before we (along w/ Des and Ferd's Chinese-American friend Andy) took his AUV.

Traffic was terrible, but we still arrived plenty early at CB's house. Dude works in private security, w/c would explain all those flak jackets that hung in his room. Not sure how to explain the presence of his 30-pound cat, though. At the garden/pool grounds I tried out their 2-wheel rocking skateboard, w/c was definitely as difficult as it sounds to ride.

In the course of the evening, my tolerance for alcoholic drinks was tested (totaling 2 Red Horse, 1 SanMig light and 1 shot of J. Cuervo, w/c burned the back of my throat), but I got to meet cool folks like Anna (the unofficial party photographer/ part-time painter), Frisca (architect), Aryn (hand model and fellow VO artist), Rosanna (architect), Justin and Ria (San Miguel Marketing), Pico (other unofficial photographer w/ the better camera) Charisse and Carlos. I definitely forgot to mention some people or misspelled their names, so apologies in advance.

Initially we thought of only staying a couple of hours, but ended staying past midnight. Initially we were delayed because Fernd's brother Grand took the AUV to pick up his friends in P'que. But even after they returned we were all still mixing and mingling w/ the other party guests.

So just to make it clear, I'm not complaining. My worries were for w/ my "missing" phone (didn't know it was at Fernd's condo at the time) and not being able to text Elaine to tell her we wouldn't be able to meet her in Rockwell. When we finally left we still dropped off Des at Embassy before returning to Asia Tower.

I really glad I went to the party, as I rarely get a chance to meet new people and make new friends. Also really glad the 'Rents were in Naga for the weekend (to attend TinTin's engagement party), since coming home past 1AM is something they would've bugged me about the morning after.

10 Thoughts on Cloverfield

Caught this at Promenade w/ Des (and her kidney curing elixer, w/c smelled like used gym socks), who's here from Cotabato on vacation:

• Apparently there are no ugly people in Cloverfield. Even when they die from falling with a collapsing bridge or from a chopper, blown up by army missiles or explode due to an infected monster bite, they retain their good looks. (And not one Pinoy in that Manhattan party? Imposible!)
• As a MassCom student I've learned to appreciate proper stance and arm position when using a video camera. Granted that Hud, as the main video camera operator, was probably using one the size of a pocketbook (as opposed to the Harry Potter hardcover-sized models I used to have) and wasn't really an expert, but if I were him I woulda kept the steady-shot button on. And in real life vidcam jump cuts are not that noisy.
  
• Personal video cameras are lousy w/ night shots. Though it would've killed most of the suspense, I wish the monster attacked during lunchtime. Also wish the movie was as well-lit as their publicity photos.
• The eye-level view was part of this movie's charm. Comic-wise this was the equivalent of Marvels. You feel you're with them as they try to escape the shower of debris from the sky, racing down the subway tunnels to avoid the monster (or getting hit by bullets) or wondering how the hell that one chick ran around in a panic while in high heels.
  
• Only recognized one person in the whole cast: Lizzy Caplan, who played the tomboyish Kat Warbler in the canceled sitcom The Class. It's that obscure. Guess that's party how they kept the film budget at 25 mil. No big names. Just big CGI monsters.
• Monster movie equations: Lots of people moving slowly + suspension bridge = Death. Also, 4 people + 1 darkened tunnel = Death. Finally, couple waiting under a bridge - inability to get the hell outta there + army carpetbombing the city = Death.
• Possibly the freakiest (i.e. best) scene was in the subway tunnel the moment Hud switched the camera to "night mode" and we saw the Cloverfield Monster's spawn crawling on the ceiling. The more talkative audience member gasped then shut up after that. Second freakiest goes to the full-on encounter w/ the monster in the climax, w/c gave me some Jurassic Park flashbacks.
  
• Suspension of disbelief was tested not w/ the monster seemingly going around Manhattan in circle, but w/ the army guy letting the main cast (those still alive, at least) go back into the city to rescue a girlfriend. This was so the plot would move forward, I know, but the dude should have at least given them a weapon.
• Yeah, Mr. Helicopter Pilot, instead of flying us to safety, hover over the disaster area while I try to get a good shot of those planes blowing up the monster. What could possibly go wrong?
• This movie is best seen in the theater for the full visually visceral experience. (Probably better on IMAX, but would worsen the inevitable motion sickness.) Kudos to director Matt Reeves and writer Drew Goddard, and sorry that producer JJ Abram's name seemingly overshadowed your hard work in the marketing of this film.