Okay, Maybe a Coupla Rants

I'll keep it short. Couple of things from The Philippine Daily Inquirer's front page that made my eyes roll up so much I could see the inside of my skull. Gods, some people should never be placed in front of a microphone/tape recorder, if only so save us from their delusions.

ILOCOS NORTE Governor Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. yesterday said the Marcoses were the victims of human rights abuse because the government continued to deny his father the right to a hero's burial.

"If there is a president that should be buried [at the Libingan ng mga Bayani] it is him because he was president for the longest time,"

Gee, the fault in that's because your old man declared martial law, instituted an authoritarian regime and stayed in power more than a decade longer than he should have.

"It's the same old political issue -- that if you are a Marcos, you do not have the same rights as every other Filipino citizen.

When Ferdinand Marcos was president, he and his family thought themselves above "every other Filipino citizen" and stomped on their rights. So karma's a bitch, huh?

JUSTICE Secretary Raul Gonzalez yesterday said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration would not allow Romeo Jalosjos, a former congressman serving two life sentences for raping a child, to die in jail of a serious heart ailment.

Gonzalez drew a parallel between Jalosjos and former Senator Benigno “Ninoy”Aquino Jr. who was freed by the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1980 after languishing in jail for nearly eight years to undergo a triple heart bypass in the United States.

"Even Aquino was not allowed to die," Gonzalez said, recalling Marcos' decision to grant his foremost political rival a furlough.

Ninoy was not allowed to due under FM's watch because that would've made him a martyr. I sincerely doubt that would be the case for a kiddie rapist congressman.

And if Secretary Gonzalez or President Arroyo would take the time to look into our really $#itty prisons they'd find other convicts more deserving of clemency: Minors (who shouldn't be in the city jails to begin with) and other non-kiddie raping senior citizens with worse heart ailments.

One of "Those" Days

In high school and college I had Bad Days, where almost cinematically events in that day follow Murphy's Law like the Laws of Physics. Sometimes I call them Saturday the 14th, though it can happen on Mondays, too (kudos, Garfield).

Now I have "Even Out" days, like in that Seinfeld Epsiode. Today it was more like a Even Out Weekend. My mp3 player, once busted last night, now works again. My friend whom I thought was mad at me turns out not to be (note to self: turn off paranoid thoughts).

I like Even Out Weekends. :)

(Other) Things That Make Me Scream Like a Girly Mahn

Finding long-legged spiders in the bathroom sink, like tonight.

Switched on the lights, and there it was, long and legged. Even after squirting rubbing alchohol at it (just like dem archer fishes) and finally stamping it dead w/ my shoe (never any insecticide around when ya need it), I was still hesititing to scrape up its carcass off the counter. Like it might still wriggle or something.

Bathroom sink never smelled more disinfected, though.

Album Update 6

More album updates for Clones and On Da Street. Enjoy.

Can't I read in peace anymore?

Adventures in Computer Coloring

For nostalgic reasons this image cracked me up. With my free time I dabbled in some more Photoshop experimentation:

The original drawing

The smiling cube with the derby hat giving the Hulk the smack-down is Mr. Strong, one of many Mr. Men characters created by Roger Hargreaves in 1971. True, this was before I was born, but years later I distinctly remember having Ma buy me Meet Mr. Strong in Goodwill Bookstore. Back then several things about the character appealed to me. He was red, my favorite color. His story was short and simple. ("Mr Strong is so strong he can lift entire buildings. If you need something lifting, Mr Strong is the one to call!") The secret to his strength? Eating lots of eggs! As an impressionable kid I tried to emulate him. Also ate lots of eggs, mostly hard-boiled because in his book it looked like that's how Mr. Strong took them. Don't remember getting stronger, but I did get sick of eggs quickly. And this was before health "experts" began flip-flopping on how healthy they were. (C'mon, they came out of a bird's ass. How the hell did anyone think they'd be edible?) Nowadays I hate eating eggs by itself, hard-boiled, scrambled, whatever.

Eggs beat Gamma Rays

But I digress. My old problem with coloring line art was how to color without painting over the actual art. One Darken command later and I was up and running. This piece is very amateur, w/c is to be expected, and I always have trouble deciding on a good background color. I did achieve the desired effect shading Hulk's green physique to give the illusion of depth.

Hope you like it. (Wait. Who am I talking to, anyway...?)

In Today's PHILLIPPINE STAR

Professional host/ columnist Tim Yap is a friend of mine, so far be it from me to make fun of a guy who bought a whole house/apartment just to make room for his wardrobe or tries to dance (and, boy, does he try) on public television every week. Then I spot this piture in The Philippine Star:

"I vant to suck your..." okay, that's just too easy.

'Kay, I know he likes to constantly change his looks, but I've never known "Creepy Albino Vampire chic" to be a hit anywhere outside of Prague, at least when they were still shooting Blade II. And the man travels with his photographer, or crying out loud (and/or brings his own digicam. That much I can remember from our last encounter at H Salon. Don't ask.) You'd think he'd have final say on what creepy looking photograph gets published.


It's a MIRACLE!!!

Anyhoo, speaking of pictures in the paper, this came out in the World News section of the same broadsheet. I've always said/joked that Bo Bice is Jesus reincarnated, and that if someone like Jesus can get eliminated outta American Idol, whoever wins had better be Really Good. (Granted Ye Son of God was raised a carpenter, and the last time a carpenter became a successful singer was about 2000 years after his death, and even then that woman died from complications brought about by an eating disorder. And she wasn't a carpenter by profession.)

1 Night in Greenbelt

Met up with Des (who came in from Cotabato and will be in town for a while) in Greenbelt. We couldn't find Kym at first, and both of us were hungry already. Had dinner at Bubba Gump, where I had their ribs for the first time. Not too bad. Fernds joined us awhile later, and I gave him a necktie with a sheep pattern for his birthday. Afterwards we headed for Nuvo.

Fernds, Kym and Des

Des insisted on ordering shooters. Kym (who was attending/organizing) the Rampage fashion party at the restaurant next door (eek, it's Maurice! is that Phomela...?) joined in us just as the B52s, Long Island ice teas and my SanMig light beer arrived. How to describe my first taste of B52, aflame and sucked thru a straw: chocolatey, with the burning sensation hitting your throat immediately afterwards. Debbie calls it a "sexy drink." At 195 bucks a shot, it better be.

3/4 ounce Kahlua + 3/4 ounce Baileys + 3/4 ounce Grand Marnier = My face as red as my shirt

"So, dinner at my place...?"

After the somewhat disappointing reunion in Greenhills (again, no reflection on those who came, particularly the ones I recognized), I took advantage of the 'rents not being home (Hong Kong) and decided to throw a small pasta dinner party. Again logistics had me deciding whether to invite Old Batch or New Batch. Settled for the former when the latter didn't RSVP. Whoda thunk some last minute invites would actually make it? Glad they did.

Generation Pastel

I prepared spaghetti and salad, Dianne brought drinks, while Tiffany and Pyao graced us with (coincidentally) chocolate mousse cakes. A good meal was had by all. Sure wish I had them model for "clone" pix, though.

Assassinaversary

I heard on the radio yesterday that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport was getting ready for celebrations on the anniversary of the assassination of its namesake, the late Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino III.

Why an airport would want to celebrate the worst security lapse in its history of operations is beyond me.

What Does THIS Button Do...?

I dunno why, but this pic I took just cracks me up.

My dad's a bit slow on working electronic appliances. He's handy at garden work and house utilities, but god help him if you left him alone with the universal remote. (Now I'd understand having difficulty in using the remote if you were a houseguest... but, geez, the man lives here.)

At least he didn't use Post-Its...

So in order to remind himself how to work certain buttons on the remote (in this case the picture-in-picture function), he encircles them with a red felt pen. He's done the same with the DVD remote, so as not to confuse PLAY with PAUSE, as well as ON/OFF with OPEN/CLOSE.

I just look foward to Father's Day, his birthday and Xmas because if gives the family/house a chance to buy new gadgets he'll never use himself. (What, you actually thought he could work that Sony Handycam?)