How Lazy Do You Have to Be...

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A Muslim couple in India has been told by local Islamic leaders they must separate after the husband "divorced" his wife in his sleep, the Press Trust of India reported.

Sohela Ansari told friends that her husband Aftab had uttered the word "talaq," or divorce, three times in his sleep, according to the report published in newspapers Monday.

When local Islamic leaders got to hear, they said Aftab's words constituted a divorce under an Islamic procedure known as "triple talaq." The couple, married for 11 years with three children, were told they had to split.

Back From Bicol

Mom and I spent the weekend in Naga City (and in the Hi-Ace for both 8-hour trips to and back) to attend my cousin Errol's wedding. Wish I was in the mood for more detail but it's just too freaking hot! Summer weddings blow! Let the pix tell the story:

Saw this in an old issue of FHM at my cousin's house (where we stayed). It's my Beijinoy friend Tina! (shown acutal size, heheheh...)

Cousins Ai & Tin sharing a Sony Cybershot moment at the chapel. (As an aside, I was the only male in who attended in a T-shirt.)

Post wedding photo-shoot.


As you can see, the photo crew followed us all the way to the newlywed's home for mi-sua (angel-hair-like noodles) eating and tea serving. Donna the newlybride serves the ceremonial tea to the siblings-in-law.


Just some lines from the wedding missalette that caught my eye (and ear). Arrhae? A kid is carrying this, so I'm pretty sure saying coin bearer instead would get his attention faster.
As for the responsorial psalm, I think it's kinda harsh. I pictured the forgetful party's tongue getting cut off. Worse yet, he wouldn't remember why!


This was posted outside the dining hall. For some reason it reminded me of an ad for a local airline. (Or a Korean chick-flick.)

I think my relatives have the only gas station in the city where the family name is displayed more prominently than the franchise name (SeaOil).

This is why it's not a good idea to open wedding presents at the reception. Hey, an oven toaster! Now for the rest of our kitchen showcase...

The wedding car: a 1972 Mercedes Benz, bought by 3 of my cousins/brothers to start off their vintage limo rental business. Hopefully they'll be enough nostalgic newlyweds, prom-goers and period-movie film shootings around town (it does look the the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters from a certain angle) for them to recoup their money...

Parting shot: The Batmobied spotted outside a meatshop on our way home.

Also.. things I've learned from my mom and uncle telling childhood stories at breakfast:

• Uncle Pete (God rest his soul) was a bit of a klutz. Seems his adult lost-2-fingers-in-a-firecracker-accident was just a continuation to his childhood poked-a-nail-below-his-eye and dislocated-his-elbow-incidents.
• Uncle Pete, depsite all the incidents mentioned above, was one of the pioneers in the invention fo the LPG lamp. In the past they mostly used kersosene lamps, but for some reason he never got around to getting a patent.
• Aunt Rose told a story of how her mom tried to remove one of her daughter's loose milk teeth by flicking on it w/ her index finger. Funnily (or disastrously) enough the girl accidently swallowed the flicked tooth!
• Star Margarine was considered a luxury item in their time. Bread (not doughnuts) dunked in coffee was the norm.

10 Thoughts on V for Vendetta

Nose hair moustaches are gross.

Watched it in GB3 and later on went on a Marvel Oversized Hardcover buying spree at a sale in Powerbooks. ANYway...

1. On-screen oral alliteration is annoying.
2. Poor Evey (Natalie Portman) is just f@#ked up, figuratively and literally, in this movie.
3. Maybe it's just me and my having watched and listened to many British comedies like The Office or Extras, but the dialogue sounded... wrong. Yeah, it was written by Americans and the lead actress was one as well, but it was as if they couldn't sell the lines. Is this is what Wachowski brother/sisters(?) think Brits sound like when they talk, or was the script meant for American characters but read/spoken by Brits?
4. Brits do not say bollocks all the time. Maybe it's a PG thing. They could've thrown in an occasional bugger in there.
5. This scene was not in the movie. Don't ask me why:
6. So many scenes in this film were reminiscent of other flicks: Return of the Jedi, Phantom of the Opera (for obvious reasons), Fight Club, Darkman, The Truman Show and -- if that deleted scene above was included-- American Beauty. Nice to know the director kept his Storyboarding for Dummies Guide handy.
   
7. John Hurt is one pruny-faced man, and you can tell because he's on Jumbotron for the most part in the movie, barking orders and looking pruny.
8. What's with totalitarian regimes in the movies and black attire? (In the future there will be order and we must look slimming!) Also, nice touch with their double-crucifix symbol. Seems Christianity is supposed to be scary/ier when done twice. Remember: Utopian Future = silver suits, while Totalitarian Future = black suits.
9. If nothing else, the movie got me in the right frame of mind to finally read (and possibly appreciate) the original graphic novel version.
   
10. Wait for the DVD.

Street Hawk is Coming!

Seventies rock idol Rex Smith is coming for a concert. When I saw his face in the TV ad I realized: it's that dude from Street Hawk! (Knight Rider ripoff, only this time with a motorbike instead of a car.)

Ladies, do not ride a bike this way.

Naturally all this enthuiasm is sarcastic in nature (as it inadvertently shows my age). I'm just wondering if he'll bring a replica of the bike to the concert. Also, it's strange how Knight Rider star David Hasselhoff also has/had(?) a musical career. Wonder if he drives in with a replica of KITT to his concerts?

Pet Peeve #23

Asked Bitey^TM about pet peeves yesterday. She couldn't name hers off off-hand. On the other hand I was reminded what one of mine was later in the day:

Kids in the gym. Specifically, kids allowed to wander around the gym's weight area.

My house has a gym of sorts. Weights, aerobics and a treadmill in a small area just outside my room. Imagine an area small enough to barely accomodate all those 3 workouts being done simultaneously. Now imagine it with kids.

As much as I love my nephews and nieces, I can't stand having them around the gym area, mainly because they treat it like a playground, which it's not. The sit-up bench is not a slide. You do not lie down on the treadmill. If the jumprope is longer than you even when it's folded in half you can't use it. One almost tripped over those latches used to hold a barbell's weights in place, for crying out loud.

I probably wouldn't mind as much if I didn't have to watch over them, w/c takes me away from my own workout time. When they're up there I don't want them to be just supervised, but controlled like mindless puppets, forced to sit/stand at the corner and away from the weights.

So, to clarify: You bring your kids to a gym, either keep 'em onna leash or make sure that if they wander aimlessly it's only at the aerobics area. Lots of space, nothing but floor and mats. If the kids still manage to bump into each other's heads, they're idiots.

Safe to Say She Didn't Hear it Coming

From CNN.com:

Miss Deaf Texas struck by train, killed

Tara Rose McAvoy, 18, was walking Monday near railroad tracks when she was struck by a Union Pacific train, authorities said.

A witness told Austin television station KTBC the train sounded its horn right up until the accident occurred.

Em. Em. Dee. Hey!

While on the road today on bizness, an MMDA traffic enforcer stopped the Hi-Ace. Said we crossed the yellow lane (for buses). Not paying attention beforehand I really wasn't sure whether we did or not. What I do know is that the guy stopped us out of convenience. Lots of other cars went the same path we did, but apparently we were the slowest looking vehicle or something. I'm guessing he saw me taking a picture of his ugly mug, so in the end we didn't get a ticket.

* * *

Strange sight of the day: Lady and child out on the parking lot of a Robinson's Mall, where the kid just finished whizzing behind (I'm assuming) their car. If that wasn't their car, I feel sorry for the actual owner.

Lady, you're near a mall! I'm pretty sure they have restrooms inside. Don't treat your kid like a dog nor a rear tire like a fire hydrant.

* * *

Just had chilled white wine. Already feeling slight buzz after just 1 glass, so tolerance obviously still low (duh, not like this improves overnight). Lemme tell ya, wine goes down much easier when you're taking it while eating fruit (in this case, ripe mango).

Filed Under, "Bad Anecdote"

In light of my recent issues with cholesterol, I decided to try some wine-drinking therapy. A glass of wine before bed. Upon further reading (and not-really-well-done research) I found that this particular remedy was for those having trouble sleeping at night. (Coz' who needs milk when you can have fermented grapes?) And it works, too. With my current low tolerance to alcohol getting sleepy was easy.

Last night I finished off the red wine from the bottle I opened on New Year's, so I decided to try white wine this time. I got the "tamest" one I could find (12%), drilled in the corkscrew, and, voila... the dang cork wouldn't come off. In fact, it disintegrated.

(And that is why wine should be stored on its side: to keep the cork moist.)

My mind raced...

Uh, oh. Drilled a hole right through the cork. Crap, this won't store well. Quick, look for another container. Crap. Best container already has spaghetti sauce in it. Hmm, this big glass jar with the "airtight" cap should do. Now how to pour in the wine without getting bits of cork into the jar? Get a clean facecloth. Place over mouth of jar. Now put a sieve on top for good measure. Pour wine.

Crap, facecloth's absorbing the wine! Ugh, getting messy. Keep pouring.

Crap, wine barely filled a third of the jar. Looks like pee. Not too classy.

Look for another container. Hmm, wonder if it'll fit in my gym water bottle? Ooh, perfect.

Oops, almost full. About a shot glass' worth of white wine left. Ah, hell, dump it in the sink.

Place bottle with cork inside in the bodega. Place gym water/wine bottle in the fridge. Never speak of this idiotic incident again.

One of Those Days

Snapped at the teller at the bank. Probably shouldn't have done that. Wanted to apologize but apparently easier thought than done.

Worse, when I called the bank to apologize, the teller didn't hang up the phone properly and I overheard one them talking about me. Suffice to say what she said wasn't flattering (New Accounts girl, not the teller).

What interesting things you hear when people don't know you're around...

Dee was right: New Accounts Girls is a bitch. Good thing we only went out once.

I Won!

Who says hours fiddling w/ Photoshop during office hours gets u nothing?

Out of a whim I decided to join Socialitelife.com's Sketch35.com contest. Basically you take one of their photos and Photoshop it to your heart's content. Prize is a sketch from Cojo.

Yeah, I never heard of him, either.

I also didn't now who that guy next to Paris Hilton was, but as I soon as I saw the picture I thought, "Sonny & Cher!" Took a while to get reference photos, but I finally got one from Google. Couple of hours later I was done and emailed my submission. Couple of days later I got an email saying I won! I replied saying that I hope the fact that I l live on the other side of the planet won't cause any trouble concerning postage.