Recording for Teachers and Credit Card Bills
Left the office early and went to Rachelle's "studio" (actually they're just sharing office space with a sanitary services company) to do some voice work for some teacher seminar tribute at the end of the month. Sort of like automated talk show announcer. All in all it took about 3 hours plus. For all my bravado of being a "professional" voice talent admittedly I have a lot to learn, emoting, for one. "Soft sell" is a lot harder than it looks... uh, sounds. Afterwards I got a talent fee, they fed me lunch and gave me cab fare for the trip home.
Got a copy of the credit card statements regarding my Ebay purchases. So far (save the PayPal registration fee) it all seems okay, except for the transactions that got charged to card with the more expensive exchange rate (Citibank) when I specifically chose to pay with the less expensive one (BPI). Turns out my brother-in-law, who physically had the card (while I just did e-shopping) used it to pay for a recent family dinner. With that expense plus my Ebay purchases the BPI card quickly went over the 20,000 limit. For some reason Billpoint carried over my remaining transactions to the Citibank card. Long story short: I got charged more than I should've. I'd like to contest this matter with Citibank but I'm wondering it it's worth it.
Aug 27, 2002
Aug 25, 2002
The Bone Doctor, and Offended Dates
I went to see a bone doctor with Ma yesterday at Cardinal Santos hospital. She went to check up on her bone density readings while I wanted my bad knee looked at. We saw a father-son pair of doctors, though the father has his office on the ground floor while sonny has his on the second, and it was decidedly more crowded. (That's a paradox to me. You'd think more people would like to see the older, wiser doctor. Maybe they think the younger one's more up-to-date with technology and whatever the ailment du jour popped up while the elders weren't paying attention. Oh, well.)
After almost 2 hours of waiting (with a brief interlude of Ma seeing the father doc and both of us reading almost of the Time magazines in the waiting room) the son doc finally saw us. Within 3 minutes of talking to Ma and reading her bone density report he immediately scribbled away a couple of prescriptions for her. Like she wasn't much of a pill-popper now. Then again, what am I complaining about? Isn't this a sign of scientific progress? No physical therapy, no surgery. Oh, wait, the doc said her bone density had nowhere to go but down, so this popping of painkillers and calcium, vitamin D and anti-fat absorption pills might just be delaying the inevitable. (Oh, and she's sixty. How embarrassing: I didn't know what year my own mother was born 'til the doc asked her. May this piece of information now make it easier for me to shop for presents.)
Then the doc checked out my knees. Good news is he says I can run and do aerobics if I wanted to. ('Bout time. I've been feeling the "annual bulge" creep in since I stopped after the accident.) The tender, slightly numb portion of my bad knee is a callous, the biggest I've ever seen. Worse case scenario: x-ray and physical therapy. WorST case: prodding and surgery. Right now he has me taking the same painkillers he prescribed to Ma.
On the way out of the hospital Ma shared some interesting information about the Sunday night dinner with Che's friends. Turns out they (including Che) were offended by some of the stuff I said (all in jest, I assure you), my teasing Jeannie about taking the restaurant coasters among them. (Hey, she brought that quirk up.) For someone who takes criticism well (or at least with civility) that revelation bugged me the entire day. I just couldn't understand. I was being myself. I was under the impression the evening went fairly well. They were laughing sincerely (or so I thought), for God's sake. Save for that one almost foot-in-mouth moment with Jeannie for which I said, "Biro lang," surely they didn't expect me to end every sentence that way? I wasn't even wearing my serious face. How could they not tell I was kidding? I'm not sure what ticks me off more: that fact that they gave fake laughs or that I sort of ruined an evening in which it wasn't "my" date to begin with. Also, Ma said I was the only one they complained about. Evett and Oti? Nothing. Well, at least I made an impression.
Note to women: If you are offended by what your date says, PLEASE GIVE US A HINT. Don't give a convincing laugh then complain about it later. Christ. And they wonder why men find them hard to read and understand.
To get some further insight into the matter I called up Tina. After postponing our movie plans for today I asked her if I was offensive. As expected, since she knew me long enough and was used to my attitude she said not really. What did irritate her about me (or at least about our phone conversations) was that I don't let her get a word in edgewise at times. Sadly, this was true. When we chat a dozen topics sometimes go through my head and I feel the need to interrupt her train of thought, 'lest I forget them, in complete disregard for her own train of thought. It was amusing back then but now when I think about it, it was just plain rude. Lesson learned, I apologized to her and promised not to do it again.
Maybe I should stop wondering why it's so hard for me to get a date. "Sense of humor," my ass...
Well, according to the Microsoft Word's spell-check function my typing skills are improving. Either that or my proofreading.
I went to see a bone doctor with Ma yesterday at Cardinal Santos hospital. She went to check up on her bone density readings while I wanted my bad knee looked at. We saw a father-son pair of doctors, though the father has his office on the ground floor while sonny has his on the second, and it was decidedly more crowded. (That's a paradox to me. You'd think more people would like to see the older, wiser doctor. Maybe they think the younger one's more up-to-date with technology and whatever the ailment du jour popped up while the elders weren't paying attention. Oh, well.)
After almost 2 hours of waiting (with a brief interlude of Ma seeing the father doc and both of us reading almost of the Time magazines in the waiting room) the son doc finally saw us. Within 3 minutes of talking to Ma and reading her bone density report he immediately scribbled away a couple of prescriptions for her. Like she wasn't much of a pill-popper now. Then again, what am I complaining about? Isn't this a sign of scientific progress? No physical therapy, no surgery. Oh, wait, the doc said her bone density had nowhere to go but down, so this popping of painkillers and calcium, vitamin D and anti-fat absorption pills might just be delaying the inevitable. (Oh, and she's sixty. How embarrassing: I didn't know what year my own mother was born 'til the doc asked her. May this piece of information now make it easier for me to shop for presents.)
Then the doc checked out my knees. Good news is he says I can run and do aerobics if I wanted to. ('Bout time. I've been feeling the "annual bulge" creep in since I stopped after the accident.) The tender, slightly numb portion of my bad knee is a callous, the biggest I've ever seen. Worse case scenario: x-ray and physical therapy. WorST case: prodding and surgery. Right now he has me taking the same painkillers he prescribed to Ma.
On the way out of the hospital Ma shared some interesting information about the Sunday night dinner with Che's friends. Turns out they (including Che) were offended by some of the stuff I said (all in jest, I assure you), my teasing Jeannie about taking the restaurant coasters among them. (Hey, she brought that quirk up.) For someone who takes criticism well (or at least with civility) that revelation bugged me the entire day. I just couldn't understand. I was being myself. I was under the impression the evening went fairly well. They were laughing sincerely (or so I thought), for God's sake. Save for that one almost foot-in-mouth moment with Jeannie for which I said, "Biro lang," surely they didn't expect me to end every sentence that way? I wasn't even wearing my serious face. How could they not tell I was kidding? I'm not sure what ticks me off more: that fact that they gave fake laughs or that I sort of ruined an evening in which it wasn't "my" date to begin with. Also, Ma said I was the only one they complained about. Evett and Oti? Nothing. Well, at least I made an impression.
Note to women: If you are offended by what your date says, PLEASE GIVE US A HINT. Don't give a convincing laugh then complain about it later. Christ. And they wonder why men find them hard to read and understand.
To get some further insight into the matter I called up Tina. After postponing our movie plans for today I asked her if I was offensive. As expected, since she knew me long enough and was used to my attitude she said not really. What did irritate her about me (or at least about our phone conversations) was that I don't let her get a word in edgewise at times. Sadly, this was true. When we chat a dozen topics sometimes go through my head and I feel the need to interrupt her train of thought, 'lest I forget them, in complete disregard for her own train of thought. It was amusing back then but now when I think about it, it was just plain rude. Lesson learned, I apologized to her and promised not to do it again.
Maybe I should stop wondering why it's so hard for me to get a date. "Sense of humor," my ass...
Well, according to the Microsoft Word's spell-check function my typing skills are improving. Either that or my proofreading.
Aug 22, 2002
DVD Run Done
As of this morning I'm the winner in the auction for the Moulin Rouge DVD. My primary wish list is complete: Snatch, Fight Club, The Usual Suspects, JFK and MR. Okay, there's a matter of settling the payment with the TUS DVD but that should go well. 'Course, the one thing that's ticking me off is how I'm winning auctions at a time when the Peso-Dollar exchange rate is at an all time high, or low (52:1!).
As of this morning I'm the winner in the auction for the Moulin Rouge DVD. My primary wish list is complete: Snatch, Fight Club, The Usual Suspects, JFK and MR. Okay, there's a matter of settling the payment with the TUS DVD but that should go well. 'Course, the one thing that's ticking me off is how I'm winning auctions at a time when the Peso-Dollar exchange rate is at an all time high, or low (52:1!).
Aug 20, 2002
The Week That Was (Sort Of)
As it turned out dinner last Sunday was at Green Eggs at Blue Bacon, located in New Manila. Boit and I had dinner with Sis, Aissa, Evett, Che Che and her friends Sandy and Jeannie, also from New Manila. At least there was a slim chance of getting lost. The purpose of the whole dinner thing was to introduce Jeannie to Evett. I just came along for the food. The lively conversations were a plus. As for looks, Sandy and Jeannie were okay. And as further proof of how small this world is turns out Jeannie works in the same office as Dulcie, who's currently stationed in the US. Sandy's into action flicks. Jeannie (not even sure that's how her name is spelled) seems sensitive to my side comments (I'd like to call them "over-witticisms"), maybe it's because after I make the comments I don't say "I'm kidding" afterwards (which I was and which I did that one time because it turned out that the person I made fun of was her mother). If you didn't know me well you'd think I was outspoken, which I'm not. Anyway dinner ended well and now the ball's in Evett's court, so to speak.
My Ebaying by proxy bidding turned out well, with 4 out of 5 "must have" DVDs now in my grasp. Now I have to stop soon as the current exchange rate is 55 pesos to the dollar and I've already spent more this month than I have all year. Probably.
Did I mention the Imesh program at the office is working again? Now I may finally get to complete my downloading of Six Feet Under and The Sopranos. And maybe a few movies along the way.
As it turned out dinner last Sunday was at Green Eggs at Blue Bacon, located in New Manila. Boit and I had dinner with Sis, Aissa, Evett, Che Che and her friends Sandy and Jeannie, also from New Manila. At least there was a slim chance of getting lost. The purpose of the whole dinner thing was to introduce Jeannie to Evett. I just came along for the food. The lively conversations were a plus. As for looks, Sandy and Jeannie were okay. And as further proof of how small this world is turns out Jeannie works in the same office as Dulcie, who's currently stationed in the US. Sandy's into action flicks. Jeannie (not even sure that's how her name is spelled) seems sensitive to my side comments (I'd like to call them "over-witticisms"), maybe it's because after I make the comments I don't say "I'm kidding" afterwards (which I was and which I did that one time because it turned out that the person I made fun of was her mother). If you didn't know me well you'd think I was outspoken, which I'm not. Anyway dinner ended well and now the ball's in Evett's court, so to speak.
My Ebaying by proxy bidding turned out well, with 4 out of 5 "must have" DVDs now in my grasp. Now I have to stop soon as the current exchange rate is 55 pesos to the dollar and I've already spent more this month than I have all year. Probably.
Did I mention the Imesh program at the office is working again? Now I may finally get to complete my downloading of Six Feet Under and The Sopranos. And maybe a few movies along the way.
Aug 18, 2002
Lessons Learned
I'm a half-hour away from getting a call from Aissa to inform me and Boit what tonight's dinner plans are. Presumably it's with my sister-in-law Che Che and friends. Whatever. A dinner out is a dinner out, and it matters even less when I'm not the one paying for it.
Learning more and more from my Ebaying, like the concept of proxy bidding. I used to think it meant that someone else could access my Ebay page and bid for me when I'm not available, which I thought was a hassle since that same someone might screw up. Turns out it meant than I can place the maximum amount I'm willing to spend on said item, then Ebay would place it for me anonymously. That way even if the current bidder beats the current bid (but not my maximum bid) I win the item. It also meant no more getting up at ungodly hours and getting butterflies in my stomach watching the last few minutes of auction time go by while guarding against "snipers" (Ebay's term) who outbid you at the last minute. I did that last Thursday and all I had to show for it was one Daredevil GN.
Yet further research indicated that "snipers" may not exist, and my constantly being outbid instantly simply meant that I bid lower than whasisname's maximum proxy bid. Man, that's a load of stress off my mind. I will miss the adrenalin rush of watching against them, though, just not during the aforementioned ungodly hours.
I'm a half-hour away from getting a call from Aissa to inform me and Boit what tonight's dinner plans are. Presumably it's with my sister-in-law Che Che and friends. Whatever. A dinner out is a dinner out, and it matters even less when I'm not the one paying for it.
Learning more and more from my Ebaying, like the concept of proxy bidding. I used to think it meant that someone else could access my Ebay page and bid for me when I'm not available, which I thought was a hassle since that same someone might screw up. Turns out it meant than I can place the maximum amount I'm willing to spend on said item, then Ebay would place it for me anonymously. That way even if the current bidder beats the current bid (but not my maximum bid) I win the item. It also meant no more getting up at ungodly hours and getting butterflies in my stomach watching the last few minutes of auction time go by while guarding against "snipers" (Ebay's term) who outbid you at the last minute. I did that last Thursday and all I had to show for it was one Daredevil GN.
Yet further research indicated that "snipers" may not exist, and my constantly being outbid instantly simply meant that I bid lower than whasisname's maximum proxy bid. Man, that's a load of stress off my mind. I will miss the adrenalin rush of watching against them, though, just not during the aforementioned ungodly hours.
Aug 14, 2002
Slow Week
Aside from getting a lot of issues of Captain Marvel and Wizard from the SM City sale and playing with my nieces Mia and Jasmine, nothing else came up last week that I'd consider worth mentioning. Okay, there's the 3 big wins on Ebay, but those items weren't exactly on my "must get" list... more like "I got them at bargain prices (Alias hardcover, Green Arrow hardcover, 2 Daredevil and JSA trades at almost half the price)."
Received an email from Paul Eric So Tiu (aka Pest), who's currently living in London and from what I can gather is rubbing elbows with so many celebrities the sleeves on his suits have worn out. (I kid, I keeed...) I've told Eileen of Pest's exploits and she thinks he's making it all up. I'd prefer to take his word on it, since it's nice to think at least one other batchmate aside from Tim Yap is living the high life. Still, it wouldn't hurt for him to email me some pictures.
Speaking of friends abroad, it turns out Cathy Sy is now stationed in Hong Kong. Guess that's why she didn't reply to my text invitation for lunch this Friday.
Aside from getting a lot of issues of Captain Marvel and Wizard from the SM City sale and playing with my nieces Mia and Jasmine, nothing else came up last week that I'd consider worth mentioning. Okay, there's the 3 big wins on Ebay, but those items weren't exactly on my "must get" list... more like "I got them at bargain prices (Alias hardcover, Green Arrow hardcover, 2 Daredevil and JSA trades at almost half the price)."
Received an email from Paul Eric So Tiu (aka Pest), who's currently living in London and from what I can gather is rubbing elbows with so many celebrities the sleeves on his suits have worn out. (I kid, I keeed...) I've told Eileen of Pest's exploits and she thinks he's making it all up. I'd prefer to take his word on it, since it's nice to think at least one other batchmate aside from Tim Yap is living the high life. Still, it wouldn't hurt for him to email me some pictures.
Speaking of friends abroad, it turns out Cathy Sy is now stationed in Hong Kong. Guess that's why she didn't reply to my text invitation for lunch this Friday.
Aug 5, 2002
Chicken Run
Philip and his friend Dee stayed over for dinner, so we ordered a bucket of KFC. When we sat down for dinner the chicked tasted like it was laying under the restaurant's warming lamp for quite a while, then tossed into the styrofoam bucket in a hurry. No biggie, I thought, as long as it wasn't spoiled or some shit like that. Ma, on other hand, thought otherwise. She wanted to call KFC and have the chicken replaced. This after we've already eaten more than half of the order. Forget it, I said... like I had any real say in the matter.
After dinner she did end up calling KFC. After being given a slight runaround by that branch's staff, not only did she get the "bad" chicken replaced but she got a whole new bucket. As a consolation she wrapped up 4 pieces for Philip to bring home. I'm taking some with me for lunch tomorrow.
Maybe KFC did it because they thought they were in the wrong. Maybe the did it to shut Ma up. Either way, it's funny how things clucked...er, worked out.
Philip and his friend Dee stayed over for dinner, so we ordered a bucket of KFC. When we sat down for dinner the chicked tasted like it was laying under the restaurant's warming lamp for quite a while, then tossed into the styrofoam bucket in a hurry. No biggie, I thought, as long as it wasn't spoiled or some shit like that. Ma, on other hand, thought otherwise. She wanted to call KFC and have the chicken replaced. This after we've already eaten more than half of the order. Forget it, I said... like I had any real say in the matter.
After dinner she did end up calling KFC. After being given a slight runaround by that branch's staff, not only did she get the "bad" chicken replaced but she got a whole new bucket. As a consolation she wrapped up 4 pieces for Philip to bring home. I'm taking some with me for lunch tomorrow.
Maybe KFC did it because they thought they were in the wrong. Maybe the did it to shut Ma up. Either way, it's funny how things clucked...er, worked out.
Aug 2, 2002
Ebay (Mis)adventures (No Thanks to Paypal)
Well, two days ago Paypal rejected my application, even though the items I won on Ebay would go either to California or Vancouver. Guess where the money's coming from is more important than where the stuff the money's paying for going. Billpoint, on the other hand, is less troublesome.
My current dilemma is how to pay for the items that won't accept Billpoint. No Paypal; money order's too expensive (Pay 30 bucks to send 10? Forget it.); cheques are risky; giving the buyer my CC number even riskier. I may have to open a dollar account. One that isn't stuck in a time deposit.
Lessons learned? Well, for one, don't bid on items right away. Put it in a watchlist first, and then see how it goes. If it gets too pricey delete it from the list, so your Ebay page won't get cluttered. It also saves you from either regret for bidding too high, or disappointment from being outbid.
Second? Until Paypal accepts applications from The Philippines pay attention only to items that go for Billpoint or Ebay Payments via Billpoint.
Third: Cheap DVDs are harder to come by than I thought.
* * * * *
Speaking of lessons, my sister is learning a hard one: her son Han's Chinese assignments. All those years of studying (and forgetting) Mandarin in Saint Jude Catholic School, we Santos kids wondered when would any of it ever prove to be useful. Apparently it's when you want your kids to learn (but not forget) Chinese as well. Something like this might strengthen my resolve to either find a G.I. girlfriend or just have any future kids learn a European language, instead.
Well, two days ago Paypal rejected my application, even though the items I won on Ebay would go either to California or Vancouver. Guess where the money's coming from is more important than where the stuff the money's paying for going. Billpoint, on the other hand, is less troublesome.
My current dilemma is how to pay for the items that won't accept Billpoint. No Paypal; money order's too expensive (Pay 30 bucks to send 10? Forget it.); cheques are risky; giving the buyer my CC number even riskier. I may have to open a dollar account. One that isn't stuck in a time deposit.
Lessons learned? Well, for one, don't bid on items right away. Put it in a watchlist first, and then see how it goes. If it gets too pricey delete it from the list, so your Ebay page won't get cluttered. It also saves you from either regret for bidding too high, or disappointment from being outbid.
Second? Until Paypal accepts applications from The Philippines pay attention only to items that go for Billpoint or Ebay Payments via Billpoint.
Third: Cheap DVDs are harder to come by than I thought.
* * * * *
Speaking of lessons, my sister is learning a hard one: her son Han's Chinese assignments. All those years of studying (and forgetting) Mandarin in Saint Jude Catholic School, we Santos kids wondered when would any of it ever prove to be useful. Apparently it's when you want your kids to learn (but not forget) Chinese as well. Something like this might strengthen my resolve to either find a G.I. girlfriend or just have any future kids learn a European language, instead.
Jul 27, 2002
Ebay-sive Action
A couple of days ago after establishing a "base of operations" (Joceyln's brother Jeff in California), I starting bidding on items on Ebay. Like the first time I experienced ordering comics online, a small twinge of excitement came over me. This feeling had to be coupled with self-control as I wished to avoid going overboard. Cheap or not, I'm still paying with dollars that I technically don't have as it still has to be converted into pesos when the bill comes. And there's the risk of making what I call purchasing mistakes: stuff that looked cooler in the "catalogue" that it did in real life (i.e. Superman hardcovers, B&W indy comics and other things I regretted buying in the end).
It wasn't that easy setting up. For a while I considered acquiring the services of Johnny Air Cargo, with it's (what I thought was) enticing price of $9/lbs. per shipment. Turns out that price excludes other freight charges, which totaled $20 minimum. Suffice to say that would wipe out any cash I sought to save, not to mention defeat the purpose on shopping online. I opted for looking for a kind sucke...uh, soul who'd let me use his/her address in the US to drop the stuff at. And of course there's my relatives in Canada, as well. After registering at Paypal I was (almost) ready. (As of this blog entry I'm still 4 membership numbers short of completing my registration, no thanks to Paypal for taking so freaking long to send it to me.)
As with real auctions there's the matter of being outbid. Orange on Ebay is quickly becoming my least favorite color as it's always that dreaded orange text that tells me I've been OUTBID BY ANOTHER BIDDER. Personally I couldn't believe that someone else online wants that copy of Going Simpsonic with the Simpsons CD as badly as I do. Why I Hate Saturn was giving me trouble too. Not surprising, though, considering that it's currently out of print.
My real goal? Getting good quality DVDs cheap. Ironically from all the stuff I'm currently bidding on not a single DVD is among them. Hey, with all the piracy that's going on I've yet to establish what constitutes as "cheap," particularly for the complete 1st and 2nd season set of Sopranos DVDs.
* * * * *
Just finished watching the premiere episode of Project Greenlight on Cinemax. Cool stuff so far, in an I-was-a-film-student-so-I-can-relate sort of way. I do not envy these guys' (and girl, the co-president of production on Miramax, which made her the biggest kahuna of the bunch) job of having to pick out 10, then 3 then 1 screenplay from literally thousands of entries. I already knew who won but it was still fascinating to watch the process, particularly because it was like my screenplay thesis all over again. Same wrecked nerves, same deconstruction and intense scrutinizing of the screenplay in front of the finalists, same hey-it-sounded-cool-at-first-but-in-the-end-it-wasn't-actually-that-great ideas and vice versa. Brian Bendis was right on one thing: this is all a crapshoot. The right script and the right time get you the job. So that simultaneous feeling of envy and contempt (like I feel for Tim Yap) is around a lot for winner Pete Jones. His screenplay (from what I can tell) would probably mesh well as a Hallmark movie, but it was his zeal (and necessary arrogance mixed with enthusiasm), coupled with his felt-scripted-but-was-probably-the-editing speech to the panel at the end that got him the job.
Rachelle doesn't get Cinemax. I should tape this for her.
A couple of days ago after establishing a "base of operations" (Joceyln's brother Jeff in California), I starting bidding on items on Ebay. Like the first time I experienced ordering comics online, a small twinge of excitement came over me. This feeling had to be coupled with self-control as I wished to avoid going overboard. Cheap or not, I'm still paying with dollars that I technically don't have as it still has to be converted into pesos when the bill comes. And there's the risk of making what I call purchasing mistakes: stuff that looked cooler in the "catalogue" that it did in real life (i.e. Superman hardcovers, B&W indy comics and other things I regretted buying in the end).
It wasn't that easy setting up. For a while I considered acquiring the services of Johnny Air Cargo, with it's (what I thought was) enticing price of $9/lbs. per shipment. Turns out that price excludes other freight charges, which totaled $20 minimum. Suffice to say that would wipe out any cash I sought to save, not to mention defeat the purpose on shopping online. I opted for looking for a kind sucke...uh, soul who'd let me use his/her address in the US to drop the stuff at. And of course there's my relatives in Canada, as well. After registering at Paypal I was (almost) ready. (As of this blog entry I'm still 4 membership numbers short of completing my registration, no thanks to Paypal for taking so freaking long to send it to me.)
As with real auctions there's the matter of being outbid. Orange on Ebay is quickly becoming my least favorite color as it's always that dreaded orange text that tells me I've been OUTBID BY ANOTHER BIDDER. Personally I couldn't believe that someone else online wants that copy of Going Simpsonic with the Simpsons CD as badly as I do. Why I Hate Saturn was giving me trouble too. Not surprising, though, considering that it's currently out of print.
My real goal? Getting good quality DVDs cheap. Ironically from all the stuff I'm currently bidding on not a single DVD is among them. Hey, with all the piracy that's going on I've yet to establish what constitutes as "cheap," particularly for the complete 1st and 2nd season set of Sopranos DVDs.
* * * * *
Just finished watching the premiere episode of Project Greenlight on Cinemax. Cool stuff so far, in an I-was-a-film-student-so-I-can-relate sort of way. I do not envy these guys' (and girl, the co-president of production on Miramax, which made her the biggest kahuna of the bunch) job of having to pick out 10, then 3 then 1 screenplay from literally thousands of entries. I already knew who won but it was still fascinating to watch the process, particularly because it was like my screenplay thesis all over again. Same wrecked nerves, same deconstruction and intense scrutinizing of the screenplay in front of the finalists, same hey-it-sounded-cool-at-first-but-in-the-end-it-wasn't-actually-that-great ideas and vice versa. Brian Bendis was right on one thing: this is all a crapshoot. The right script and the right time get you the job. So that simultaneous feeling of envy and contempt (like I feel for Tim Yap) is around a lot for winner Pete Jones. His screenplay (from what I can tell) would probably mesh well as a Hallmark movie, but it was his zeal (and necessary arrogance mixed with enthusiasm), coupled with his felt-scripted-but-was-probably-the-editing speech to the panel at the end that got him the job.
Rachelle doesn't get Cinemax. I should tape this for her.
Jul 22, 2002
Ass of U and Me
It's 8PM and I'm still at the office because Boit failed to pick me up...because Bebot called him telling him Ma was in the Makati area...so he just assumed I was going home with Ma. All of this would make more sense if any of them told ME about it. Granted when Bebot called I was at the gym sans the cell phone. But the point is: when I want someone else other than Boit to pick me up I DO THE CALLING. I make the request. When everyone starts assuming that one person talked to the other except to the person they should've talked to this shit happens. If it seems like I'm babbling it's because I'm "stranded," pissed and hungry.
It's 8PM and I'm still at the office because Boit failed to pick me up...because Bebot called him telling him Ma was in the Makati area...so he just assumed I was going home with Ma. All of this would make more sense if any of them told ME about it. Granted when Bebot called I was at the gym sans the cell phone. But the point is: when I want someone else other than Boit to pick me up I DO THE CALLING. I make the request. When everyone starts assuming that one person talked to the other except to the person they should've talked to this shit happens. If it seems like I'm babbling it's because I'm "stranded," pissed and hungry.