Pen Wrath

Celtics v. Lakers 2008

2008-06-18T11:44:00.002+08:00

At 2:21, 86 - 123 for Boston, there's no other way to describe it. It's a massacre. Boy, I wish I were watching this series live, but I'm listening to the live ESPN broadcast on NBA.com so all's well. Visuals shall have to wait.

Mad Money and me (I think)

2008-04-18T00:14:00.001+08:00

How Would You Spend Mad Money?

My Result: Traveling the World

You're probably no stranger to a little break now and then, but wouldn't it be great to pull out all the stops on vacation? So, if you had a fortune, you'd definitely spend it on seeing the sweetest sights on seven continents. From hiking the mountains of Peru to strolling down the boulevards of Paris, you'd love the chance to experience all the things the world has to offer, especially if they're totally luxe.

But you don't need mad money to indulge now and then. It might just take something as small as a three-day weekend or a sunny afternoon in the park to make you feel like (you've won) a million bucks. So the next time you're at home staring at the walls, it might be a good time to plan your perfect trip — who knows, you might just be able to make it happen some day!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=madmoneyogt&c=50652

My Power Hour

2007-08-26T05:37:00.001+08:00

You're Amazing in the Afternoon

What's Your Power Hour?

Brought to you by Tickle

2007-08-08T22:35:00.001+08:00

Behind the Quezon City Hall ...

Requiem

2007-08-08T22:24:00.000+08:00

Don the Dalmatian and Tasuki, the friendliest cat I've ever known.

Live Earth

2007-07-11T23:36:00.000+08:00

1. I've just downloaded and installed Bryce 5.5 on my computer. I can't wait to start playing with it!

2. I'm watching Live Earth clips in increments on Youtube because the quality on MSN sucks when I'm using my favorite web animal. I hope more environmentally-friendly computing technology comes along after this; at the moment, my P4-powered desktop is a power-hog and I'm sure as hell not the only person using something like this. While "greener" processors have been developed and put into the streams of commerce, I have yet to see them proliferate in my corner of the world.

Unlimited storage

2007-06-19T18:24:00.000+08:00

The storage meter is history. So Yahoo! says. I wonder when Google's going to make its own "unlimited" announcement?

The Untouchables: Capone Rising

2007-06-04T21:53:00.000+08:00

300 star Gerry Butler and Nicolas Cage in The Untouchables prequel? That's two reasons for me to watch the film when it comes out. The Scotsman as Irish cop Jimmy Malone is just fascinating. Unfortunately, Nic Cage isn't on the roster anymore due to scheduling conflicts. Bring him back! I remember The Untouchables from years ago - that is one memorable Mafia movie. Of course, everything else pales next to the Godfather series, but who knows? I still think Cage would have made a great Capone.

Deaths in Malaga (not the Spanish Malaga - the Philippine one)

2007-06-04T21:17:00.000+08:00

Just a little footnote on the struggle between some sugarcane farmers and hacienda owners: 2 farmers slain, 6 hurt in Negros Occidental clash.

As the caption to the photograph on inquirer.net says, there is "Blood in the Canefields". Private security guards fired at farmer-beneficiaries of a five-hectare portion of the Hacienda Velez-Malaga in La Castellana, Negros Occidental this morning. There are two deaths as of press time, but then, since when has there been peace in land disputes? The thing is, a little trigger-finger control could never have been amiss. Geez.

Bloody geography. I never knew there was a Malaga here (Velez-Malaga, to be precise).

Hope for the Trailblazers

2007-05-23T23:26:00.000+08:00

I haven't seen a NBA game in ages, but the Trail Blazers used to be my favorite team - until they faded out of my sports news radar. After landing the monicker Jail Blazers and descending to the pits, it seems that my Trail Blazers have a chance at redemption. See these Yahoo! articles: West fumes after Portland Trail Blazers win NBA Draft Lottery and Cause for celebration.

Midnight is here ... first salvo of a bewildered LP listener

2007-05-20T02:59:00.000+08:00

Hate at first sound? Almost, but not quite.

The first time I went through the first CD of the album, I thought to myself, "Is this Linkin Park I'm really listening to?"

In the past, I would hear a LP song and know at once that it was a track by LP. The first time I ran the Minutes CD, I had to rely on my familiarity with Chester Bennington's voice and the booklet accompanying the CD. It turns out I don't know Mike Shinoda's voice when he's not rapping.

I didn't know what to make of the album. Is this the new Linkin Park, or is it faux Linkin Park? I let the CD sit for a few days. I'm sure by now that I'm not the only one bewildered by this album. Like it or lump it? I decided to sit through the CD again and it sounded better the second time around.

It's an album that's supposed to be political and comes across as a social commentary - but only if the listener is familiar with the events of the past four years.

The 1:40 track "Wake" sounds old Linkin Park, but it's so short that it's better off as an intro to a track. I was just getting into the hang of it when it ended. The lyrics of "Given Up" are oddly reminiscent of an early LP song, Crawling, I think. "Leave Out All the Rest" is a plaintive plea to be remembered in a good light, while I'm torn between interpreting "Shadow of the Day" as a modern-day dirge and as a song of curse.

"Bleed It Out" features Chester and Mike on vocals in the style of the pre-Minutes Linkin Park but the beat is slightly different. "Hands Held High" - I have to listen to it one more time, but as I go through the lyrics, I get the impression it's a dig at the American president.

"No More Sorrow" - now this is a fitting election season song:

i see pain/i see need
i see liars and thieves abuse power with greed
i had hope/i believed
but i'm beginning to think i've been deceived
you will pay the price for what you've done

---

no/no more sorrow
i've paid for your mistakes
your/time is borrowed
your time has come to be replaced
your time has come to be erased

2007-05-13T23:29:00.000+08:00

What a day. I missed a birthday party and Fran's thanksgiving party - both held today, at 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., respectively - and the latter was something I was looking forward to since the oathtaking. Blast. The bar did not stress me as much as today's events. My appetite's gone (and that is not something easy for me to lose) and I threw up and scattered my lunch and the few pieces of stir-fried kangkong I had for supper right before our front door the minute I arrived home. Sooooooo gross. I must load up on Berocca or else I'll be stressing my way to a thinner me. Not a healthy way to lose weight.

Minutes to Midnight

2007-05-08T15:20:00.000+08:00

What I've Done Lyrics

Film list

2007-05-01T20:50:00.000+08:00

Films I must not miss:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Lives of Others
Martian Child
Mr. Brooks
No Reservations
Shrek
Ratatouille
Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End
Georgia Rule
Illegal Tender
Shrek III
Journey from the Fall
Moliere
The Hoax
Burns
Poison Friends
Blind Dating
Transformers
Romantico
Paprika
Avenue Montaigne
Private Fears and Public Places

Carelessness

2007-04-20T01:41:00.000+08:00

Mr. Foot in Mouth does it again. Yes, Julia Campbell could have been careless. But it doesn't excuse the sods who took her life and probably raped her before doing it. It shouldn't even be a reason for dying. Not in this case. And hearing that mysogynist, women-shouldn't-be-so-brash-laced observation made me shout. Again. And not for joy. There was no need for that particular holier-than-thou treatment of this grisly death.

Wish

2007-04-19T20:41:00.000+08:00

I've got HYD on my mind a lot. Ever since I started on Season 2 - I'm just beginning the third episode - I've been having weird high school dreams. Eew. Thinking of the bitches & bully culture that high school dramas often showcase, I'm so lucky I didn't get bullied back in grade school and in high school.

Come to think of it, I didn't give a damn about the girlie wars and my friends didn't, either. We had major bitches back then whose barks were as scary as their pack-ass bites, but let's just say their nastiness went hugely ignored - or laughed aside as the pathetic mark of those foaming for attention. Drool packs, I think I'd call them now. But there was bullying and one classmate opted to transfer to another school for senior year because of it. I wonder if it's more of a problem now, almost a decade later?

Anyway, a translation of Arashi's Wish can be found at an Arashian thread.

Hana Yori Dango

2007-04-13T21:08:00.000+08:00

Hana Yori Dango! Oh wooo... Jun-bait. (Swoon. Seriously.) . I'm swallowing my aversion to certain members of F4 now that I've seen the jdorama HYD. The reason?

Matsumoto Jun.

[Oh, girl. You've got it bad. ]

I was on the phone last week when I heard Arashi's Wish - yup, I know the melody of that song by heart now - on GMA 7. I think I nearly woke the dead with my shouts of delight. Hehehe - I loved Matsujun as Shin Sawada. HYD is unexpectedly good - I'm really too old to be captivated by tales of high school bitches and bullies - and I'm finishing Season 1 now. What I wouldn't do to see Season 2 - or Kimi Wa Petto, while crunchy roll hasn't completed HYD 2 yet!

2007-04-04T12:54:00.000+08:00

I'm still in shock ... no tears, just deep relief alloyed with jolts of happiness. To mangle a verse of Edgar Allan Poe,

Thank Heaven! the crisis —
The danger, is past,
And the lingering illness (read: BAR RESULTS ANXIETY SYNDROME),
Is over at last M,
And the fever called “Living” (THE BAR EXAMS)
Is conquered at last.

Thank you, God. Thank you very, very much.

And to those who were there for me during the whole taking and waiting affair,

I thank you for your voices: thank you:
Your most sweet voices.

______________________________________________________________________________________________
Footnotes:
1. The Columbia World of Quotations. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. www.bartleby.com/66/. [04/04/07].

2. Coriolanus. Act ii. Sc. 3. (Bartlett, John, comp. Familiar Quotations, 10th ed, rev. and enl. by Nathan Haskell Dole. Boston: Little, Brown, 1919; Bartleby.com, 2000. www.bartleby.com/100/. [04.04/07].)

Animal Welfare

2007-04-03T02:16:00.000+08:00

Playlist: Variations I & II

1. Animal rights group gets threats after dog fight bust

Yeah! The persons arrested in the dog fight bust have reportedly been charged with violation of the Philippine Animal Welfare Act of 1998. I just bet some people are foaming mad right now because of PAWS' intervention, but I'm glad the police didn't just laugh the dog fight off.

2. Mornings like this, I sometimes wish I had a vice. Seriously.

Shinkumi

2007-03-30T17:31:00.000+08:00

I didn't catch Gokusen (1) when it was aired on GMA 7, so I went on a Gokusen marathon recently. Go, Shinkumi! Can't wait to lay my hands on the manga!

State of Tech

2007-03-29T03:46:00.000+08:00

According to the World Economic Forum's Global Technology Report 2006 - 2007, the following countries topped the Network Readiness Rankings:

1: Denmark (3)

2: Sweden (8)

3: Singapore (2)

4: Finland (5)

5: Switzerland (9)

6: Netherlands (12)

7: US (1)

8: Iceland (4)

9: UK (10)

10: Norway (13)

Source: WEF

According to the BBC news article "US 'no longer technology king"

Countries were judged on technological advancements in general business, the infrastructure available and the extent to which government policy creates a framework necessary for economic development and increased competitiveness.
The Networked Readiness Index, the sixth of its kind published by the World Economic Forum with Insead, the Paris-based business school, scrutinised progress in 122 economies worldwide.
Despite losing its top position, the US still maintained a strong focus on innovation, driven by one of the world's best tertiary education systems and its high degree of co-operation with industry, the report said.

The country's efficient market environment, conducive to the availability of venture capital, and the sophistication of financial markets, was also given recognition.

The Philippines ranked number 69 out of the 122 countries/states that make up said list.. Ouch! But in the light of our country's other problems - which the upcoming elections can either multiply or resolve - I can only say, hopefully someday we, too, will find our way.

ID Society

2007-03-21T11:08:00.000+08:00

Music Playing: My Maksim playlist

It's hard going about without a satisfactory form of identification these days, and I can't help but wish for those (long abandoned) days when I didn't have to produce so many forms of identification just to prove that I am who I say I am. While I do get the idea behind the extensive I.D. requirements in these 'terror-ridden' days, I feel that sometimes it's a case of paranoia plus = overkill.

Since I'm no longer a student, my UP I.D. doesn't always work the wonders it did before. I'm working on getting a passport, a postal I.D. and a driver's license but blast, now that my I.D. is no longer "current", it really feels as if I'm living a half-life. Come to think of it, a half-life is kinda ... viral.

Last month, I received two checks from DDL for some research work I did. They got my name right but the hens of red tape came in to roost. I couldn't encash it and I couldn't deposit it. The drawer's bank wanted proof of identification that my papers apparently couldn't satisfy: no driver's license, no SSS/GSIS ID, no passport and no voter's ID but wait - I have a NBI clearance with my picture on it and other information that would have appeared on, say, my driver's license if I had one - and it's a government issued thing. Still, not good enough.

Add to the aggravation the fact that I couldn't deposit the checks into my accounts because, according to the helpful bank personnel, I did not submit proof of billing when I opened my accounts and I had no government IDs then. What in Olida - living with the parent and leading a simple life sure have a lot of drawbacks. Free food, water and no bills to pay (though I try and give my token of appreciation in cold cash) and all that.

I still got my money's worth, though. Negotiability - don't you just love it sometimes?

iBlog 3

2007-03-21T10:50:00.000+08:00

Music Playing: Music & Lyrics OST

Event in the horizon: 3rd iBlog will be held on April 13 to 14, 2007 at the UP Diliman School of Economics Auditorium.

Notes:
The 2nd iBlog summit held in April 2006 was an absolute blast, even though I was more of a spectator there than - well, I was a spectator, period. This year, it's still an April thing that I still would want to attend.

Pleadings - the new cover letter?!

2007-03-12T20:33:00.000+08:00

Follow this link and you'll come across something I reeled in on one of my frequent clicking expeditions.

Several years back, The Smoking Gun's feature on a (then) 25-year old law student's unique job pitch elicited a lot of gasps of entertainment (and outrage) from the legal and non-legal community. According to the TSG, the applicant, in his pleading-styled "letter",

promised prospective employers that, "If my mother's funeral was the day of a key deposition, I would do the eulogy via teleconference after the deposition."And if his wedding was on the date of a key trial, "the wedding would be postponed. If the wife to be did not like it, I would inform her that work comes before EVERYTHING ELSE and that if she does not like this, she is free to find a competing husband."

I don't know how effective the interview request was in landing Matt Toll his dream job, but it sure is a riveting read. It flummoxed me how this guy could even summon the nerve to write it, at the same time that it sent me into gales of laughter. Dare I make something like it?

2007-03-09T21:01:00.000+08:00

Check this skateboarding puppy out! Well, he's not a puppy anymore, but what the heck!

2007-03-06T22:27:00.000+08:00

Izzie (?) toValeria (the arch-enemy of Bakekang):

"Kung talagang nanggaling sa Amerika si Karisma, bakit wala siyang ... English accent?"

LOL. The one time I watch a locally produced show and they mess it up.

2007-03-02T11:19:00.000+08:00

Summer's here again, and while I'm an iced tea type of person, there are moments when nothing beats Coca-cola. Cheers!

Corporate ownership negotiation or in-game terrorism 101?

2007-02-25T18:00:00.000+08:00

In 2002, T.L. Taylor came out with the paper "Whose Game is it Anyway? Negotiating Corporate Ownership in a Virtual World. According to Taylor,

While multiplayer games are at their most basic level simply that, a game, they should be more richly seen as spaces in which users come together online and invest enormous amounts of time inhabiting a virtual space, creating characters, cultures, and communities, gaming together, making dynamic economies, and exploring elaborate geographical terrain.

In their Laws of the Virtual Worlds (92 CAL. L. REV. 1, 14 (January 2004), Lastowka and Hunter also described game worlds as places where large numbers of people come to play, trade, and socialize.

Recent developments in the highly popular in-game world of Linden Labs' Second Life leads me to wonder, though, if game worlds have also become places where large numbers of people can terrorize each other.

The game god syndrome and in-game freedom aside, it just isn't right for the Second Life Liberation Army to set off computer-code versions of atomic bombs in SL stores.

Yes, in-game worlds are better viewed as a collaboration between the game developers and the players. No, griefing is not the way to achieve it. Griefing. What SSLA's actions amount to when innocent bystanders get caught in the explosions.

Politics is not the be-all and end-all of any kind of life - even in games. What do people play for? It may be for the money. It may be for the companionship. It may be for the challenge. It may even be for love.

Besides, who made the SSLA representative of the four million residents of the Second Life metaverse? How many of the four million residents even want the SSLA to represent them? I certainly don't.

As for the SSLA declaration that

"When the SLLA succeeds in its aims it will disband and hand power back to the political wing of the movement."

all I can say is, "Seriously?". We're not talking about neutral avatars here. We're talking about avatars who are essentially in-game extensions of their humans. Come on.

Rage of Angels in the Philippine Legislature

2007-02-22T16:56:00.000+08:00

Last Tuesday's special legislative session came straight out of Rage of Angels. Yes, Sidney Sheldon. Remember Jennifer Parker, Michael Moretti, Robert Di Silva? Think of last Tuesday's drama as the yellow canary chapter with a legislative twist, a gender exchange for two of the three lead roles, and a foiled communique.

Sources say that X passed on to A(legislative page) a note for Representative Y. It seems that Y did not immediately read the note, but when he did get to read it a few minutes later, whatever was in that note was enough to send his temper skyrocketing. There was a storming of the central gallery's left staircase by His Furiousness, and X and his seatmate, as well as two women a few seats in front of them, had to leave - amidst much fanfare and media coverage.

As far as dramas go, that 30 second display of legislative ire by the Representative was positively camera - err, eye-catching. But His Furiousness's temper fizzled as quickly as it had sizzled, and a few minutes after the scene, while his sisters-on-the-floor were gracing the cameras with their explanations and opinions, he was already well on his way to becoming His Cheerfulness. Go figure.

Some of the legislative staff said that the note allegedly wanted His Furiousness to question the presence of a quorum in session. After all, there were barely 20 members of Congress actually on the floor, in attendance, at the time. It wasn't proper, one of the staff said. Why dictate to a Congressman? Why, indeed?

Could this fantastic departure be the reason why Streaks was seen shouting "Yes! Yes!" into a cellphone while pumping an arm up and down in that classic display of triumphant jubilation on the way to the glassed sitting area just beyond the gallery? A page-headturning exit from the gallery. When Streaks returned, it was to high five some people also seated in the central gallery.

Whatever that note contained, the session still went on, and votes were taken on the controversial bills for the night, the presence or absence of a quorum notwithstanding. Apparently, ink on paper hasn't the charm of a strangled canary as the lobbyists who got thrown out found.

The never-ending session

2007-02-20T01:24:00.000+08:00

I've been to several sessions of Congress already this year because of this project I'm working on with a friend for the employer of a friend. (I know. It's a circuitous way of working.) Still, I get hit by the wow factor each time I attend a session.

Wow. There are cuties here with brains to boot. (Too bad that they are too few and far in between.)

Wow. I can't believe the session is being conducted this way. Where else can you see just about a dozen "warm bodies" on the floor during the roll call and end up with 12 + 8 = 128? Seriously.

Wow. It's fun listening to lobbyists bitching about the other side.

Wow. It's amusing to hear the tones in which some lobbyists refer to lawyers - as if lawyers are the most insidious undesirables in the halls of Congress, but it's better not to piss them off to their faces anyway.

And when the session drags on and on ... Wow. So many suspensions, each suspension a class of each own. It's like basketball. A minute can fly, or it can be just three seconds long.

Thank God I can play Tango in Ebony when I'm bored, or imagine Handel's Sarabande being played against a backdrop of warring mechas.

2006-12-21T19:34:00.000+08:00

I know some of the undergrads think of the College as an ivory tower populated by lily-assed, blinkered and soussed-up nerds, but honestly, what were they thinking of, storming its halls like that?

2006-12-20T01:27:00.000+08:00

Have you tried sitting for mass with gold coins and magic weapons dancing before your eyes, or with your subconscious busy strategizing the next attack? I found it to be a rather unsettling experience last night, when I attended the anticipatory mass at the St. Andrew's Parish after I had just fragged the neverwinter uber-villain to bits.

It was quite a challenge to get out of my D& D character in time for the mass because when I play, I really internalize my avatar. I'm not just a job-hunting 2006 bar examinee and journ/law graduate. I am Ienni Kierdis, a half-elven rogue/fighter/assassin with thousands of gold pieces in the bank and a fantastic array of spells and weapons at my disposal.

I play a rather mercenary PC with a thuggish henchman as a back-up (or is it cannon fodder, given that I send him out to test the battlefield first?), and as in all hack-and-slash games, I see my own share of action. I do visit temples - within the game they are places of healing and trading; I get missions and my pecuniary rewards. But do I pray there? Nah. I do it outside the game - even if it's for the completion of a quest. If it's particularly difficult, I hit the space button and turn away. Then I pray.

When I walked into the church I was still plotting what path to take in the expansions. Thankfully, the church had that aura of tranquility that helps dispel violent thoughts. The priest had some presence, which made it easier for me to listen to his homily though at first I thought he was saying Lloyd (Lloyd who?). Then it dawned on me that he was saying "Lord". I can't really give him grief over that, since I have my own issues with my s, l, and r.

The turning point, I guess, was when he began to talk about the Nativity movie. He started with, "Who has seen 'The Nativity Story'? Please raise your hand." No one before me or beside me raised a hand. You can imagine the priest's dismay.

"You are missing a lot", he then said. "It has the recommendation of the Pope", he added, and it was at this point that I had the sinking feeling that there would be a movie-bashing before mass's end. Sure enough, he tacked on to that statement that it was a treat after the "blasphemy that was imposed on us by the Da Vinci Code". I would have bet that most of those in attendance for the 8 o'clock mass have seen the latter film.

That got me thinking about how this movie which I've never seen still manages to incite the ire of Roman Catholic officials. Dear me. I should watch it to see just what the fuss is about. I can hardly complain that I haven't the time now.

The church choir sang a notch better than usual (not that the choir sings badly), and the priest sang along for the most part. I realized that I've never heard a priest sing badly in all the masses I have been to. Wow. Either I'm lucky, or Filipinos are really very gifted when it comes to music.

Mass ended and I went home - to the spectre of primetime soaps. Geez. The Da Vinci Code may be blasphemous if the Church is to be believed, but the storylines of the local soaps are quite unbelievable. Why can't the characters figure out how stupid their actions are, or how glaringly obvious the solutions to their problems are if common sense is applied?

By the way, I've finished the original neverwinter campaign - after I sat down and prayed for Morag to finally be defeated. Thank you, God. I thought it would take me ages to finish the official campaign.

Yahoo! Launchcast

2006-12-19T01:38:00.000+08:00

My top Yahoo! LAUNCHcast stations:
1. Classical Crossover
2. Classical
3. Video Games
4. Film Scores
5. Show Tunes
6. The Coffeehouse

Another reason to stay up very late ... even when I'm not trying to kill Morag. No, that's not a mog. Mogs and the medieval don't seem to mix.

2006-12-15T02:26:00.000+08:00

Sheez. Blast it. I should never have left off unpacking this long.

I've just learned that I lost piles of stuff in the process of checking out of the dorm - two months after the fact. Not only are my Nachura and Jurado missing as of posting (Gasp! Moan!), I also can't find my 2-volume hardbound Lexicon of the English Languange (edited by R. Pei), my sketches and watercolors, my art books, my anime poster collection, my photocopies of certain law school readings ... the list goes on. And on. And on.

Moan. Wring hands. Rant. Rant. Scream. Scream again. Run hands through hair. This is a disaster. A disaster!

My books, my books. I'll trade a fortnight of suppers for those books... Please come back, you painted and glossied bits of wood stock.

I know. I sound loony, but I can't stand to lose my books! It's the stuff of really bad dreams for me.

2006-11-19T10:46:00.000+08:00

Pacquiao! Pacquiao! Pacquiao!

Chief Justice told: Lie Low

2006-10-22T03:24:00.000+08:00

Chief Justice told: Lie Low

The sheer audacity of our current DOJ Secretary makes me wonder if there's anyone home when I read the things he reportedly says. Seriously, is he for real? Then I start thinking, is this administration for real? Sometimes, the things political in this country can be so surreal.

State of Play IV!

2006-10-02T17:23:00.000+08:00

Ohmigosh! State of Play IV is going to be held in Singapore in January 2007! That is like, so next door (well, compared to the United States). Take a deep breath. Again. Again. I wonder what kind of magic I can spin in the next three months to have a chance to attend?

Wondering wanderer

2006-10-02T16:37:00.000+08:00

Well... that's it. The waiting begins, and I can't help but wonder if I have what it takes to stay sane until the bar exams come out in March 2007. Oh yes, I have my work cut out maintaining all that "I'm so not GC" attitude and my own particular brand of Zen going. And all this time on my hands is a double-edged sword. Darn. I still sound so spaced out and it's been over a week since that final Sunday.

No more rants for this post. Just a thank you to everyone who tried to make September 2006 (and the review period beforehand) as easy as possible.

2nd sunday

2006-09-13T10:23:00.000+08:00

I've one thing to say about Tax: waaah!

Friday blues

2006-07-28T19:53:00.000+08:00

Sigh. It's the kind of weather that makes my head go "Ouch". Hot and humid during the day, and quite overcast in the late afternoon. As much as I love the rainy days, I'm so glad that it's not raining like there's no tomorrow right now.

I'm spending some time in the net cafes this week, but I sure do miss my 24/7 internet. The connection in the shops I frequent have lapses now and then, which makes listening to Yahoo! launchcast a not-so-pleasing experience. One of the cafes' ISP is blocked for spamming and that sure isn't good news when I want to post something somewhere, and I'm scared to access any sensitive accounts in case spyware and keyloggers are lurking in the background. Double sigh.

2006-07-27T17:53:00.000+08:00

Nice Rats, Nasty Rats: Maybe It's All in the Genes

I wouldn't mind having a tame silver fox at home, but no way would I ever want to raise rats and mice in my menagerie. Not even those cute guinea pigs - one look at those little furballs and my white rag hunter, Niko, will go charging into places he usually dares not tread on. It doesn't help that I sometimes get this urge to put my three-colored must-be-a-Manx-with-that-tail Tasuki on the hunt to test how much domesticity has repressed the killer's instinct in her.

2006-07-27T17:31:00.000+08:00

It's nearly the end of July ... and I'm doing my best not to freak out. There's still a lot to cover, and so little time. Oh, my inner crammer, do not let me down!

2006-07-25T14:54:00.000+08:00

Because food is always interesting ... Choice Tables: In Northern Italy, a Crossroads of Culinary Arts.

Anonymous Annoyances, Inc.

2006-07-10T15:03:00.000+08:00

Grrr. It's the season for messiness.

It just really bugs me when someone uses my Lounge slot and leaves it all messed up afterwards. S--thead. I don't mind it when my desk is used and and my lamp and bookstand are both askew when I get to the lounge. But I draw the line at picking up after Anonymous Annoyance's garbage. Puh-lease. I'm tempted to do a Fran right now.

And back at the dorm, it's no better. There are a lot of new residents in my wing right now. And one of them has got into the habit of using a particular cubicle and not cleaning up afterwards.

Yep. I don't know how that resident (another member of Anonymous Annoyances, Inc. so far) goes about her business, but that cubicle is on its way to the height of gross. I mean, it gets tidy after the manang does her rounds, but after? Where's the nearest Academy for Projectile Vomiting?

And why can't I double-space this entry?

Tidbits

2006-07-05T23:34:00.000+08:00

My dorm room is an oven in the making. Hell. The air conditioning has been restored in the Lounge. Blissss. I'm surfing e-bay again for pocketbooks. Delightful. I haven't been to the movies but plan to do a virtual back-to-back in the coming seven days. Almost can't stand the suspense.

A Post-it world

2006-07-01T18:19:00.000+08:00

At three a.m., note-taking can be particularly tedious process - especially when it means that my dorm desk looks as if it's an art project gone awry. I can hardly move my arm without dislodging any of a hundred and one things that have taken over the 60" x 24" processed wood estate.

Codals and commentaries vye for space with scissors, transparent tape, pens & pencils, rulers, erasers, diskettes, stacks of bar review materials, a half-dozen highlighters, a mouse, a keyboard, acomputer monitor and a printer. Add to the mess a cup for milk, my polvoron container, a perfume spray, three hybrid ponkans, my cellphone and my watch. And lest I forget, the nth generation of post-its in and flaguettes to grace my study area since the bar review began.

As I stared down at the mess in front of me, the kind of which I never had any problems with as an ordinary law student, it occurred to me that never before in my whole academic life had I been such a devoted consumer of 3M's products. Sure, I had the occasional adhesive notepad in undergrad, but one pad usually lasted me a sem. In the past few months, however, every time I enter a National Bookstore outlet, I would exit with at least two 3M products in tow.

Notes grace not only my desks at the dorm and in the Student lounge, but also have taken over my computer. When my PC is up and running, the first thing I see on the monitor are yellow electronic versions of the notepads with reminders and schedules and prayers and curses and the minutiae stuff that I absentmindedly scrawl out. The notepad god's presence cannot be denied.

War of the dormers

2006-06-10T01:05:00.000+08:00

Last night, net users at my dorm had another meeting on the wisdom of continuing the internet subscription with a local provider amidst the yo-yos and verbal okays of certain uni people. It was supposed to be a GA, but out of the 50+ users, only 14 showed up.

Are we, or aren't we going to terminate the internet subscription? Well, tuloy pa rin, tita. Pero sila na iyon. Even if what the proponents of continuance are holding on is so tenuous that it isn't at all practical to stay online from within. Even if it's not our (net users') asses directly skewered out there on a barbecue stick, but someone else's. That someone stands to lose employment, qualification for other government positions, benefits, and possibly, freedom. Or, maybe, more so because the net users as a group aren't hanging out on a limb just yet. I don't know.

I don't agree with the reasons being given for a C&D order on the internet, but there is an order that apparently has been out there since March. Methinks that in this instance, compliance should be the rule and negotiation must follow. But then, so many eager beavers are so selfish that they couldn't care less about the consequences, and so that's that.

I'm like, adios, internet adorada. At least, from within the dorm. And I'm off the internet committee as well, because of my strong stand on the matter.

Ah, well, that's life. At least I'm enjoying reading my Comm Law stuff and attending ObliCon lectures. Despite the heated confrontation. Despite an attack of tonsilitis. Despite the impending (or is it already actual) meteoric rise in the dorm charges for the electric consumption of PCs, electric fans, cellphones and radios.

Miravite, here I come!

From pages to film reels

2006-05-31T03:55:00.000+08:00

1. The WB film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel 300 is slated for release in 2007. According to the synopsis on the website:

Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Miller’s (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale.

300 even has a production blog to whet the film enthusiast's appetite. Of the five video journal entries so far, I was able to download only the fifth as an exclusive from Apple Trailers. But what an interesting fifth entry!

According to stunt coordinator Damon Caro of 87eleven, he and his companions had to look at a lot of different methods that they had trained in since there were no records of the actual techniques and tactics used in the Battle of Thermopylae.

Thai kickboxing and other more popular Asian martial arts are a given for inspiration, but here's something Pinoy martial arts/sports/culture enthusiasts should be raving about.

Caro says that the weapon bases, ( I hope I got that right) specifically, are heavy on, among others, Filipino influences. Chad Stahelski, also of 87eleven, also mentioned eskrima and arnis as something they used in the unit shoots of the Spartans.

Just an interesting footnote: 87eleven worked on the stunts of The Matrix trilogy, , Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Troy, Constantine, Van Helsing, V is for Vendetta, Troy, The Bourne Supremacy, and Fight Club.

2. Check out Ghost Rider's interesting trailer. I never thought I'd see Nicolas Cage do the Marvel rounds, but what the heck! I've marked my calendar for Feb. 21, 2007. The action, as far as I can tell from the trailer, looks promising.

Just two words: "Daddy, Daddy"

2006-05-29T18:34:00.000+08:00

In Villagers Mourn Loved Ones Lost to Quake :

JAMPRIT, Indonesia (AP) -- Poniran's daughter was breathing when he dug her from the ruins of his house. But 5-year-old Ellie died in his arms as they waited for treatment at a hospital overflowing with injured.
''Her last words were 'Daddy, Daddy,''' said Poniran, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. He took a break from searching the rubble of his village for salvageable items. ''I have to start my life from zero again.''

In today's issue of the Phil. Daily Inquirer, a news article beneath a full-colored front-page photograph of villagers burying their dead in Indonesia bears the headline "Her last words were 'Daddy, Daddy". The lead paragraphs:

BANTUL, Indonesia - his daughter was still breathing when Poniran dug out her out of the ruins of his house. But the 5-year old died in his arms as he waited for treatment at a hospital overflowing with the injured.

"Her last words were 'Daddy, Daddy," Poniran said as he took a break from searching in the ruins of his quake-devastated house for salvageable items. "I have to start my life from zero again."

Same subject (the quake that rocked Indonesia on Saturday). Same newswire source (the AP). Different readership. Same picture of grief.

Father's Day is not far off.

A lot of persons won't hear themselves be called 'Daddy'. Others won't have anyone to call 'Daddy.'

The Way of the Petticoat and other items of interest

2006-05-28T22:57:00.000+08:00

Time constraints mean that I don't visit the NY Times site regularly, but when I do, I find some good reads there.
1. U.S. Plan to Lure Nurses May Hurt Poor Nations. The up side of working for a green buck, and the downside of leaving home.

2. Another interesting article, this time from the New York Times, about a subject that I most definitely understand: Where's the Petite Department? Going the Way of the Petticoat by Michael Barbaro.

3. Gym notes: 24-Hour Sweaty People. How I wish the gym in the University Hostel area would open 24/7. I'd be there every other midnight.

4. And because Italy has always fascinated me: Exploring Tuscany's Lost Corner.

Prayer for the Dead & the Wounded

2006-05-27T19:59:00.000+08:00

As of the second update at Inq7, at least 1,700 persons have died from the early-morning quake that shook Indonesia today. Prayers and aid are sorely needed by our devastated Asian neighbors. If we cannot give one, perhaps we can give the other.

Sex in Gaming and in Literature

2006-05-25T01:09:00.000+08:00

I went through my gmail, and saw that there were several other unopened issues of The Escapist in my mag rack.

Issue 43 looked at sexual content in gaming, and "Youthful Indiscretions" is a short but potentially controversial peek into the issue of sex in gaming. One observation in "Youthful Indiscretions" about sex and sexuality in games applies just easily to sex and sexuality in the romance novel genre. According to author Charles Wheeler:

The game developers realized that for sexual content to be truly compelling, it would require emotional attachment.

Cultivating such an emotional attachment is a difficult task, but not an impossible one, as can be attested to by the legions of fans who have mourned the loss of their favorite characters over the years. If the ability to create both emotional attachments and sexually desirable characters exist, why are they rarely, if ever, combined into a single product? It may be because the power of emotional attachment ensnares not only the players of games, but the developers, as well.

There's a grain of truth somewhere in there. While red hot reads are attention-grabbers, they are easily forgotten if all they have to offer are tales of mere wham-bam-thank you-ma'am. But if they've got that something more (an excellent storyline, characters readers can identify with or get attached to, and not just lust over - because lust is a temporary attachment), the ensnarement is longer, more permanent, and no less binding than novels of other varieties.

And for those who severely oppose sex in gaming (remember that GTA: San Andreas furor?), here's another observation that's apt to get them all riled up, again from Youthful Indiscretions:

Gaming is going to want to get better at sex, and the only way to get better is to practice.

Me? I don't mind sex in my videogame. Or in my books, for that matter. But I would mind it very much if my many toddler nieces and nephews were to access such stuff. But if the viewer/reader/player is all legal, it's fair game.

That said, I'm going back to reading my Nachura. Issue 44 has something on IP in relation to the future of independent game studios, but that will have to wait until I start on Comm Law.

Game Design

2006-05-25T00:40:00.000+08:00

Writing a game isn't that easy, and trying to realize a personal game designer's manifesto can be sheer hell. Here's an entertaining account from Max Steele on the difficulties of creating a role-playing module.

Prepaid Culture

2006-05-24T02:05:00.000+08:00

We all know that going prepaid is a very Filipino way to do things. Internet access. Cellular phone load credits. NDD and IDD calls. Online gaming. It's a micro-marketing strategy that works not just for the consumers who are counting their pesos and cents, but also benefits the vendors. Call it the mini-size me equivalent of the ICT sector.

If you look at it, going prepaid seems to work in a service-oriented setting of the tech & society variety. Microsoft wants to take it one step further with its Pay-As-You-Go Personal Computing. The tech giant has joined hands (and to a certain extent, purses) with Chinese PC maker Lenovo (IBM, baby) to make - drum roll - PC-ownership more of a reality for people with "variable or unpredictable income".

How does it work? Microsoft claims in its PressPass page for the Pay-As-You-Go venture that with its Microsoft FlexGo technology, hardware, software and service solutions have been 'aligned' "to work in unison to meter and add time to the PC, so retailers, telecommunications providers, banks and OEMs can offer PCs to a broader community of customers ... The technology informs users of time used, showing them how to add more hours by simply typing in a number from a prepaid card. If time is not added, the PC gradually moves into a “reserve tank” or limited-access state until customers purchase more time either online or at local vendors. The PC is owned outright after a set number of hours are purchased."

Sounds interesting, but it's not as easy as it sounds. The customer has to cough up half of the purchase price before he/she/it can take home the PC and go prepaid. Oh, well. Come to think of it, Pay-As-You-Go in the FlexGo sense combines the prepaid way with the traditional method of purchasing on installment.

Microsoft has expressly said in its website's PR pages that market trials have been conducted in Brazil. The next round of pay-asy-you-go and subscription trials will take place in Mexico, China, Hungary, India, Russia, Slovenia and Vietnam.

The Philippines is not on the map. At least, not for the next round. Darn. But maybe the computer giants are concerned with the piracy issue, or they think that we're such a security risk. After all, what's to stop people from plonking half the price in cash, then instead of buying the prepaid cards, re-arranging, if not cannibalizing the specs of the PC? But then, who says it's only in the pearl of the orient that such things happen?

I really wish they'd try out Pay-As-You-Go here. Who knows? It may actually work.

Delay in the Blogger mail

2006-05-22T03:16:00.000+08:00

Jill and Toni, for some reason, I just received notice from Blogger about your comments for that archaic Inter-dorm blues post yesterday morning. I know, those were made on January 19, 2006. February, March, April, May. Unbelievably true.

To think that if I hadn't enabled Comment Moderation on Blogger on a lark, I wouldn't have learned about those messages! Here's the screencap from my mailbox:

So, Jill, I'm using bigger fonts from now on. Rest assured I didn't use those quaint fonts just to spite your eyes.

Toni ... but maybe SM will be raking in a profit when X-men rolls into local theatres? A small comfort for the policy-makers of Sy's cinemas...

A Passion for Repression

2006-05-19T07:37:00.000+08:00

I started the day hungry. First, for food. I started on Poli Law last night, after a prayer meeting, and after I decided to do the remaining 300 pages of Azucena's vol. 1 in hourly installments for the next week or so. I'm done with volume II, by the way. At this point, I find it a more interesting read than volume 1. I finished several articles of the Constitution and started on Nachura at around three am, but 27 pages later, my stomach was growling. So, I downed a cup of Soupy Snaxx, hoping that the black hole that is sometimes my gut would be temporarily sated, at least until mid-morning. Unfortunately, my gut screamed back at me, "I want some more." Quite persistently, in fact, that I started having visions of the breakfasts my mama used to cook for me as I lay there in bed trying to capture sleep. Bacon and rice, steaming hot chocolate and iced tea, eggs sunny side up with the yolk breaking under the pressure of toasted pandesal ... Morpheus didn't want weave his spell yet, and the dawn caught me gripped in the anticipation of breaking my fast.

And in my quest to break my fast, I derived two pleasures far removed from the culinary. The first pleasure was seeing the sun rise. It may seem odd to some, particularly to those who are, for all intents and purposes, the "larks" of the human race. But for those like me who are favored by the night, or whose blood only start to quicken when darkness falls, the beauty of the sunrise is a gift rarely seen.
My second rush of pleasure came as I held my first newspaper in ages. Well, my first newspaper since my grandmother went back to the province. I can almost hear you say, "A newspaper? Come on." I would probably have mirrored your incredulity with the utmost sincerity and empathy on some other day. But not today. Oh, not today.

My second hunger was for information, the variety of which was different from the bar reviewee's compulsory fare. News. I wanted news. I hadn't seen a newscast, much less cracked open a timely issue of any newspaper in what felt like an eon. Reviewing for the bar sometimes takes away the desire to touch anything with text on it immediately after a lecture or even a personal review session. There's this faint tendril of anxiety of information overload. And then, wham! You realize that you've become so immersed in your law books and law friends and everything law that you're in the inside of a glass compartment looking out.

So, I got myself a newspaper. The Inquirer, what else? I would dearly love to read a Businessweek as well, but spending P50++ on newspapers when I'm on a budget deficit is anathema at this point. I got myself a paper and was almost instantly reminded that for every pleasure there is a corresponding pain.

The first thing that caught my attention was the full color photograph of Erwin "Pastor" Emata, left arm extended to the pale yonder of a snow-covered portion of Mt. Everest.

The headline read: "Second Filipino conquers Everest, Garduce expected to reach summit tomorrow." I hadn't even known that compatriot Leo Oracion had reached the summit 24 hours earlier. Good for them, and I hope Garduce reaches the summit safely as well, and that for each mountaineer the journey down is just as untroubled as the climb. If truth be told, however, all that media coverage was a bit off a turn off. It wasn't just the glory of spotlighting the first Filipinos on Everest that motivated all this press, I should think. One media outfit trying to scoop out the other in a never-ending networks war is what primarily comes to my mind.

"Time mag writer placed on watch list." According to the news article penned by Armand N. Nocum, "Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales yesterday said he had ordered the Bureau of Immigration to put TIme's Philippine correspondent Nelly Sindayen on the list [watch list of politicians and businessmen allegedly behind the alleged coup attempt of Feb 24 against PGMA] to compel her to shed light on the alleged plot.

Gonzales is reportedly adamant that Sindayen is a key witness to an alleged meeting between civilian and military personalities determined to withdraw support from PGMA. Sindayen and Cojuangco (one of those Gonzales pointed out as having participated in that meeting) are equally adamant that no meeting of that nature occurred.

Gonales is reported to have said that the correspondent's testimony is key to unmasking those behind the failed coup. He is quoted in the same article: "She won't be arrested, but she must cooperate. We're not asking for anything except the truth. We just want to talk to her." In addition, the article quoted Gonzales as having said: "The NBI report is not completed. We want to know why they were in that meeting. We will file charges against these individuals if I find that there's probable cause."

Okay.

When the good secretary of justice said that Sindayen wouldn't be arrested, but she must cooperate, what exactly was he saying? The directive for the journalist to cooperate is mandatorily voiced. Must cooperate. What are the consequences of a failure to satisfy the "powers that be"? A cordially extended invitation to glove the coercive hand of "justice"?

The Secretary says "we" are not asking for anything except the truth. Who comprises "we"? And would they even know the truth if it bit them one by one on the nose? Or is it that they want to put truth in a noose?

Another thing. When will the NBI report be considered complete? When all the facts are in, or when those who are demanding that report get a report that paints a picture that satisfies them? What face truth?

The witch hunt is on.

Just as disturbing is this news article, "City of Manila bans Da Vinci Code". The movie. Manila's dads have banned the movie.

For Pete's sake. Brown's Da Vinci Code is disturbing to some, though I must admit that I love the way it was written. It's a book. A work of fiction. A facet of Dan Brown's literary landscape that I inhabited for those few hours that I was immersed in it. And if it is not fiction, does it necessarily make everything else a lie?

Father James Reuter is reported to have said that "Rome, in general, has condemned it...{But) the Holy Father has not made it a sin if you watch it." I am not Rome, and Rome is not, and never will be me. And the judgment of whoever makes up "Rome, in general", is not mine to adopt blindly.

I have all the respect for the Holy Father; all the love my heart can muster for the right hand of God on earth. But if God has not spoken in the negative, and the Holy Father has not made it a sin for people to watch the movie adaptation of Brown's book, who are these politicians that they dare strangle the freedom of choice of others on the altars of their personal beliefs?

So much for going to bed after breakfast.

Of Friday night

2006-05-13T03:25:00.000+08:00

M:i:III is a good enough film to unwind in. Lots of action, just enough neat blood to balance the syrupy sweetness between Agent Hunt and his wife. Thankfully, this movie doesn't end like In Her Majesty's Secret Service. Those of you who were old enough to catch, or interested enough to go back to the old 007 movies get my point. It raises the question, though. if ever there's another sequel, will Mrs. Hunt still feature in it? If she doesn't, what kinda excuse are they going to give? Divorced? On vacation? Involved in an extended medical emergency? What? The film is open-ended enough to admit a fourth installment. The rabbit foot isn't explained, not really, and going on honeymoon isn't retiring.

By the way, wasn't the pilot/driver there the coach in the indie film Bend it Like Beckham? And somebody tell me if the computations being scribbled across the glass pane by Hunt were actually equations or plain gibberish.

M, thank you for Seduced by Moonlight. I've actually scanned two of the earlier books in the Merry Gentry series. The world of the fey didn't really do it for me in the beginning, but let's just say that it grows on you. Not you, literally, but I'm excited about the whole stuff now. There's a possibility I'll complete the series to see

Whether Prince Cel (Celtic: KEL) is a completely insane sadist who deserves rightly not to ascend the throne of the Sidhe, and
Which of the former Queen's Ravens Merry ends up with, the Queen's Darkness or the Freezing Frost.

The clincher was the bibliography at the end of the novel. I know. But I really like checking the biblio. Plus, it's easier to collect the four books, compared with the 14-novel Anita Blake series. Toni, Danse Macabre is coming out on June 27. I hope to read just a tad less about the ardeur there, and more about lycanthropic and vampire politics.

Chapel Cat

2006-05-07T23:29:00.000+08:00

Cats and roads aren't exactly the best of friends. Cats and busy roads make for disastrous ends. Roadside venturing felines rarely make it to adulthood unless
1. They have learned to be traffic-savvy and avoid anything round that growls and moves, or
2. They are extremely lucky
Otherwise, cats account for prime roadkill. Followed by frogs, rats and even dogs. Roadkill. Not my favorite sight. All those bloody entrails, matted fur and goggle-eyed mess. The last part is if there's still a head left. Puke ... puke ... bloody drivers @#$# ... cry ... turn away.

So, when I saw a cat crossing over from the UP Chapel to the UP Infirmary last Friday afternoon, I nearly got a coronary because of the suspense of watching it cross the busy street. To be, or not to be roadkill? That was the question.

Chapel Cat moved cross the street like an old lady taking a walk in the park. CC just ... strolled. And when I say stroll, I mean stroll. Leisurely putting one foot in front of the other, no hurrying. Just getting from point A to point B as if nothing else was there. No cars, no PUJs, no people. Weird. No stopping. No looking. And no listening.

So, there went the cat, middling in the late afternoon across the street. Two cars were coming from the direction of the UP Post Office,and I was muttering "C'mon, c'mon,cat." Inside, I was, like, "Speed up. Run! Run! Why aren't you running, you little furball? I don't want to see how roadkill becomes roadkill. The car's coming."

The car up front sounded the car horn insistently. But did CC speed up? Oh, no, not this chapel cat. No change of pace there. It wasn't just me waiting with bated breath for the question to be answered. Just about every vehicle coming in CC's direction slowed down, and the car did stop for a few seconds to wait for clear passage. Thank God the driver of the car up front apparently saw the cat and wasn't one for testing CC's nine lives. And so did the PUJ coming from the opposite direction.

That little scene must have taken the whole of forty-five seconds, but it felt like an hour. Was the cat suicidal? I don't know. It just occurred to me that perhaps it was deaf. I don't know if the fact that the cat was crossing in front of the church made a difference, and drivers were just reluctant to challenge God's dominion over the life and death of CC, or they were naturally kind and not predisposed toward making giniling out of animals crossing the street. Whatever the reason, I'm glad CC made it, if only for the fact that I didn't witness a roadkill-making exhibition.

Getting serious

2006-05-05T01:18:00.000+08:00

Graduation has come and gone. My grandma has come and gone (back to Laoag, not to the hereafter). My cousins (both the pesky and the cuddly varieties) have come and gone. Moments of sleeping the heat away have come and gone. It's time to get serious about the bar exams. Really. That's what I'm telling myself. And today, after two weeks of trying to get into the game, I finally feel my inner warrior stepping to the fore. I'm ready for the books, the reviewers, the lectures, the endless hours and the early mornings. Bring it on.

Graduation Rites

2006-04-26T18:53:00.000+08:00

University graduation 2006:

1. Intense sun + no lunch + no shade + nondescript guest speaker = aggravated boredom
2. 12 summas + 100-odd magnas + 500-odd cum laudes + thousands of average graddies = long afternoon
3. Digital cameras + camera freaks + nothing else to do = photo ops before, during and after speeches
4. thirsty crowd + absence of wandering vendors within the grounds = graduates upping and leaving for cooler pastures

College Recognition Rites 2006:
1. Hot midday sun + persistent and misleading corsage vendors = enemy at the gates
2. Ill-fitting togas + safety pins = pricked fingers
3. Hardworking graddie + many awards = race to the stage
4. Graddies with kids + Dean on stage = grandfather syndrome
5. High heels + spray-wired hair = immense discomfort

Solution: one biggie Wendy's iced tea + 12 hours of sleep

2006-04-20T01:22:00.000+08:00

I couldn't access Blogger earlier, and I wanted to say something connected to this inq7.net article that came out last night, so I made my first post in another months-old blog at Wordpress. For more, read here.

After iBlog 2

2006-04-20T00:33:00.000+08:00

iBlog 2 was fun, but now it's over. Sadly.

I ran myself ragged running to and from the Sta. Ana room at the third floor of the UP College of Law and the penthouse of the UP Law Center, where the first bar review sessions were taking place, but it was worth it. My blockmates know how tech-oriented I am, so they were quite understanding of my disappearing act during the bar techniques lecture. Thank the heavens for friends who know when not to nag about attendance!

It was an interesting eight hours of hearing bloggers talk and take on different perspectives, and I learned a lot from the tracks that I attended. A lot of people attended, and the diversity is astonishing. I saw the old, middle-aged and the twentuy-something crowd pack the Sta. Ana room, and it was a blast to listen to one mother talk about how she got interested in the internet and in blogging because of her two kids.

Rebecca MacKinnon of Global Voices was there, and I found her keynote address a joy to listen to, sans the cat blogs remark. I first heard of her while researching on the State of Play Conferences for my paper. I shouldn't be surprised at her enthusiasm about blogs, if she can relate to the prospects of online gaming.

Dean Alfar fails to bore, and I found his enthusiasm about the writing process very infective. He was so right when he said talent can only carry one so far, but that it will eventually fail the writer. The importance of practice can never be gainsaid. I should know. As a journalism student years before, I was writing so much that I got grades ranging from 1.0s to 1.75s on pieces that were just on the first draft. Yeah, you may say it was arrogant of me, but I usually wrote at the last minute.

After four years in law school, and with my writing shelved for the most part, I now understand why writing is such a pain in the ass. It's a bit harder to rev up my creative engine nowadays, to enliven the link between the ideas in my mind and the pen that inks out the words. But it is a comfort to find out that once the fire has been well and truly lit, it's hard to stop the words from spilling.

Mike Abundo is persuasive on the "marketing your blog" angle, but then it's mostly common sense. Good tips, there, though. Psychologically sound advice. He reminds me of Josh Groban a little. Same impeccable kind of get-up, dark, wavy hair and very pale, clear skin. Skin that freckled and oily-faced femmes surely appreciate.

While Ellen Tordesillas could have been more relaxed in front of so many people, I do find the fact that she is a self-confessed un-techie who is doing her darn best to keep up with techie stuff very appealing. There was another speaker who kept on referring to persons interested in probing deeper into ICT and related stuff as nerds, or nerdy-geeky types. I can't remember the name, but that was a highly flammable subject. Filipinos must be really polite or repressed (count me in, on occasion), to let such remarks go unchallenged.

I'm just sorry I wasn't able to attend the track on blogs and the law. That was the track I most definitely wanted to attend, but it coincided with Dean Alfar's and when push came to shove, the latter was so funny I couldn't just walk out of the Sta. Ana room to go to the Binay room.

Oh, that's just the downside of iBlog2. Setting the sessions in simultaneous tracks definitely meant that I'd have to choose which ones I would prioritize. The thing is, I wanted to go to all. I guess I'll just have to wait and download the podcasts when these are finally brought online. Bummer.

2006-04-11T03:07:00.000+08:00

"Old age, believe me, is a good and pleasant thing." (Jane Harrison) Particularly when it allows the geriatric to get away with words and deeds that he or she wouldn't have dared utter ten or fifteen years ago. Specifically, when that same geriatric was in the wrong to begin with.

Forgive my irreverence, and my apparent indifference to the customs that dictate respect for the elderly. I usually feel honored to give my seat away to lolas and lolos, and I strongly feel for the old bag ladies and sampaguita vendors who stay out in the streets to earn their daily crust. By rights, the elderly should be enjoying the fruits of their labors. Truly. I just don't believe that old age is an absolute license for someone to be an absolute and misplaced boor. Which is precisely what I nearly called that charming old lady in a bland-colored frock at the Guadalupe MRT station.

I was the first person in front of the lift at the southbound side of the MRT III in Guadalupe at around four in the afternoon yesterday. There were several moments of bliss when there was no one behind me to act as the irresistible force that moves me into the lift's tiny compartment. I stood about a foot away from its doors. Of course, those moments of solitude are as fleeting as the shadow of a swallow's wing over the lake.

The doors opened, and I moved a step back to allow the passengers of the lift to depart from its coveted interior. There is nothing as annoying as having to wrestle one's way out through a doorway. There were seven other people behind and to my side. I stepped forward to take my rightful place (don't I just sound like an arrogant so and so?) in the lift, but this old woman had the smart idea of pushing herself and her grandchild past me first. Well, she wasn't that old. Probably sixty, if a day. Because of the physics of boarding a lift, I couldn't very well curtsy and say, "Please. Go ahead' at that precise moment. Okay. I could probably have done just that - and ended up on my knees, squashed face flat against the inner wall of the lift. Apparently it does not please the overtaker to have the intended overtakee move as well. Never mind that the door can accommodate the two of us and a Dalmatian all at the same time.

I don't know if the old woman was high on the thrill of the impunity against reprisal that senior citizenship sometimes adduces, but she then had the gall to complain, "Ba't kasi nauuna ang mga bata" in that aggrieved, censuring tone. I was the only one of my age bracket there, and I've been repeatedly told I that I look much younger than I really am.

Bullocks. What was she expecting, the red carpet or something? I would have dearly loved to make a cutting retort, but that is one of the heights of rudeness, and I don't want aspersions to be cast on la mia famiglia's ability to impart the Ps and Qs. So I contented myself with donning an air of innocence and serenity, whilst I seethed inside and hoped it would rile her to be ignored.

Aargh. The things people have to bear with in the name of civility and good manners. There are times when I just want to bury Miss Manners' book six feet under.

The VLM Soup - There's more to Ragnarok than just fragging

2006-04-08T02:23:00.000+08:00

Before Anita Blake, all Ragnarok meant to me was the online roleplaying game that became so popular during my undergraduate years. Then I stumbled upon a particularly interesting narrative of the rituals of power changes in a pack in The Killing Dance, and the words Ulfric, Fenrir and Ragnarok.

In Blake's world, lycanthropes aren't your ordinary cutthroat, solitary deranged were-thingies who always stay in the shadows. They form communities that have indicia of ordinary human and animal social groupings. In their human forms, the lycanthropes are like any other man or woman. To have money, they work. For their bodies to function, they eat. To have fun, they play. Whatever play means. Well, most of the time. But for lycanthropic communities, the dynamics of pack behavior are not to be disregarded.

Just as ordinary wolves have packs, so do the werewolves. And just as ordinary wolf packs have alpha males and females, so do the werewolves. The alpha werewolf of a pack is known as the Ulfric, while his mate is the lupa.

The Ulfric and his lupa are, like, the wolf-king and queen. They are superior in strength and intelligence to most of their brethren, and lead their pack any which way they like. But alpha does not mean forever. Not in terms of lifespan or right to rule. A king can lose to a challenger. But if the Ulfric dominates the fight, the upstart pays for his impertinence, more often than not, with his life.

Transplanted into Anita Blake's world, Ragnarok is the battle for supremacy between the Wolf King and his challenger. Think of a big clearing in the woods bathed in the full moon's borrowed light, or its equivalent. Think snapping jaws and fangs, swiping claws and the lust for blood.

It's not pretty, and it definitely is messy. But, in terms of politics, it's a cleaner way of ascending to the throne, so to speak. If the Ulfric loses, that's it for him. The lesser animals in the pack will not dispute the right of the Fenrir to become king. There's no mass uprising, though the downside of it is that the new Ulfric can lead his pack into hell with nary a whimper from his wolves. For many of the species in Kingdom Animalia, the dynamics of power are crystal clear. The strong survive, the weak perish, and if there is safety in numbers, flock together.

People follow this dictum as well. Subconsciously. But somehow, because people are capable of reason, and of other desires that have little to do with survival, there are variations on the theme. Yes, the strong survive, but who are the strong? The weak perish, or languish under the dominance of those who are stronger, but who are the weak? And speaking of safety in numbers, well, the pitfalls of overpopulation show that moderation has its attractions.

Footnote: In Norse mythology, (at least, the Sunday School version), Ragnarok is that final battle between the Gods and the Giants. After several years of uninterrupted winters, Odin will die at the hands of the monstrous wolf, fenrir, and a new order will arise.

Iblog Summit

2006-04-08T01:04:00.000+08:00

Gosh, it’s been ages since I last wrote anything for this blog. Oh, well. Sitting for one’s super final exams and worrying one’s head off about bloody (but interesting) OLA matters really take up a lot of time. Before I write about anything else, here’s a shameless plug for one of the more interesting events of the summer that I plan to attend.

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= iBlog2: The 2nd Philippine Blogging Summit shall be on Tuesday, April 18 at the U.P. College of Law, U.P. Diliman, Quezon City from 9 am to 5 pm. Same as last year, this event is FREE!
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I missed the first one last year because of an ill-timed but nevertheless enjoyable trip to Caliraya. I heard it was a blast, and if this year’s programme is anything to go by, April 18 will not be just another day.

Phase of Darkness

2006-02-27T01:31:00.000+08:00

Last week was not my kind of week. Good intentions indeed pave the way to hell, as I have learned to my utter consternation in the last two working days of the past week. Here’s to hoping (and praying) that hell is indeed comprised of several levels, and that last week’s version is the only one I’ll ever touch, and that it ends then and there.

But my headaches pale in comparison to what the nation is facing. I’m not one for rallies, and sometimes it’s a case for bully to the opposition. Friday’s and Saturday’s events, however, do not make for a convincing case for the current administration.

I can do my darned best to believe the reasons offered by the Arroyo administration for cutting down on dissent and criticism, but it has gone too far down the road of curtailment in the past few days.

Sure, it’s easy to understand why businessmen from all over would hesitate to make significant investments in a scandal and uncertainty-ridden economy, but political drama aside, our economy has been showing some signs of recovery. In the weeks preceding this last, I had begun to think that perhaps Arroyo and her people have been doing something right. Not so now.

The President seems hell bent on undoing everything that has appeared to work for her. PD 1017 is a self-serving piece of executive legislation with no other intent but to shush up anything that shows the President in a bad light. Too bad Her Excellency never stopped to consider that PD 1017 tars her feathers several shades darker than anything ever thrown at her by the opposition.

What state of emergency is she so strung up about? The coup that Malacañang says it has stopped hours before the release of PD 1017 unto the unsuspecting country? If there is no coup, what danger does she have to guard against? The masses who wanted to gather at EDSA, wave their flags, sing songs, make speeches, and generally litter the streets with what the administration considers to be the unwelcome debris of democratic dissent?

The EDSA celebration has been caricaturized beyond recognition by the President and all the President’s men. Imagine the cheek, saying that the EDSA shrine is a place of prayer and that there is no place for rallies around it! Memory is a convenient tool, but even more so the imagination. Did not Her Excellency dance attendance to and benefit from the rallies held around the same Shrine in 2001?

What gall. The sheer nerve. Or is it pure paranoia? After all, what goes around comes around.

The true state of emergency is the fact that PD 1017 exists. The true cause for alarm is that information and expression are both being controlled. Balls and chains are not feared because of their names, but because of their existence. The unnamed fear does not become less valid just because it has no definite nomenclature.

Midnight of Dreams: The VLM Soup

2006-02-21T02:02:00.000+08:00

I’m not into Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though I did dig Angel once. Yeah, I’ve a thing about the undead and the preternatural. The stuff freaks out my roommate, and I certainly did not get this fascination from my mother. She’s so scared of the dark, she won’t go down the stairs once it’s ‘lights out’.

I started out with Anne Rice – boy, can I quote from her early books! Lestat de Lioncourt was my poster boy for the undead during high school, with whining Louis, out-of-place Armand, and fascinating Marius as runners-up. Nicolas and Magnus do not have the same allure as the Coven of the Articulate, though.

I still have substantial recall of the first lines of The Vampire Lestat, and I admit to being almost word-perfect with Lestat’s “Requiem for the Marquise” in Queen of the Damned: “And does she hear my hymns tonight/Of kings and queens and ancient truths/Or does she walk some distant path/Where rhyme and song can’t find her”

I’ve branched out, though. It’s not just vampires that I find fascinating. Now, I find the combination of vampires, lycanthropes and mythology a very tasty soup for the imagination.

Isn’t lycanthrope a fine euphemism for werewolf? You might be thinking that. Or you might not. Ever read a Sherrilyn Kenyon DH (that’s Dark-Hunter for the unitiated) novel, or an Anita Blake? If you have, I guess you’ve had your lycanthrope cherry popped.

In both authors’ books, the “were” is a suffix not only for wolves, but for panthers, bears, tigers, jackals, and yes, rats. Most kinds of predator mammals, I guess – except the lion. I have yet to come across a were-lion, and I must admit, it doesn’t quite have the same ring as werewolf, or were-tiger.

The term vampire isn’t all about Count Dracula anymore, as well. In Kenyon’s novels, vampire is a generic word applied to several classes of blood-drinkers. We have Artemis’s elite (and hot, Alpha male) warriors, the Dark Hunters, as well as the Apollytes of Apollo (pardon the pun) and the Daimons.

The paradox portrayal of the vampire as sexless seducer has also changed. Blood will always be a part of the vampire tale. It is a significant foundation of vampire literary history. But it is not only about the blood.

That vampires have an emerging sexuality may be a reflection of changing mores. The growing acceptance of the place of sex in the preternatural scheme of things in literature may also be due to the way it is portrayed.

Count Dracula jumping into the sack with his virgin? I agree: Eeew! Turn off the lights! But a date with some sexy “Mad, Bad, and Immortal” like Kyrian of Thrace and Acheron Partenopaeous? I guess ‘immortal’ is a better inducement for getting the reader hot to trot than ‘undead.”

It’s getting a bit late, so I’ll put the cap on the pen. But do watch this space. I’m not yet done with the VLM soup.

Midday meanderings of my mind

2006-02-17T13:53:00.000+08:00

Music may be food for the soul, but could it also be the key to physical starvation? If I don’t watch out, it just might be.
I blew several days’ allowance to acquire not one but two CDs while running some bank-related errands at SM North. I’ve always wanted to buy Maksim’s latest CD, but due to a series of unfortunate or inopportune events in the past few weeks, I had to temporarily shelve that particular goal. I guess I just ran out of patience a hearing, two midterm exams, and several class days after my Nunc Pro Tunc post.
I headed for SM North’s Tower Records immediately after IPL, and picked up a copy of Maksim’s A New World album. Not new age, but classical crossover. I can tune into straight classical without falling asleep but classical crossover music makes me feel alive. It helps that the seriously talented pianist is quite a piece of eye candy, too.
Just as I was about to have the CD tested, another CD caught my eye. It was a 2-CD compilation of classical music – soundtrack pieces, and film devotee that I am, I just had to have it.
So, now, after having seriously dented my intended budget for this week, I find the prudent part of me raising its rarely-seen head, and the prospect of spending a lot of money on food makes me feel as if my guts are tying themselves up.
I have an eye on buying the Grammy 2006 nominees CD, Linkin Park’s Meteora, and Shakira’s Fixacion Oral vol. 1 & 2 next. At the rate I’m going, I’ll have to cut back on pocketbook purchases. Not that my little bookshelf will mind – after all, it’s already groaning under the weight of all the books piled on it!

Addendum: I can almost see eyebrows rising. Banking … in a mall? The idea’s not so outlandish, especially when the bank has a branch within the mall. It has a tinge of the counter-intuitive, though, where building a bank account is concerned. The mall is one of the most effective innovations in inducing people to spend.

Sex, Law & Gaming 1

2006-02-02T00:56:00.000+08:00

I entered the world of PC gaming during the sem break of AY 2002-2003 via Bioware's Neverwinter Nights, and I was so immersed in it that the PC was on virtually three-fourths of any given day. I hacked and slashed my way as a Rogue through the Docks and other parts of Neverwinter's first Act, and I remember thinking that it was a pity I couldn't convert all the gold and jewelry I could lay my mercenary little virtual hands on into real-time cash.

I accumulated virtual money, lived a life of virtual crime and heroism (depending on whose side I was on as a Rogue with a neutral evil alignment), and breathed PC gaming for a fortnight until law school beckoned once more. While it was only a fortnight, the time I spent playing before I went cold turkey piqued my interest in gaming as an environment of social, economic and legal possibilities.

I never returned to Neverwinter in the three years that followed mainly because

Of PC specs and (several) hardware failures.
I was scared of getting addicted to the point of neglecting my studies.
There was a lot of law school stuff to deal with.

Then, last semester, while banging my head on the wall in frustration after having two topics for SLR virtually rejected for (1) having been done to death and (2) being unique but [the professor was] not sure if [my] concerns [were] involved, I sort of stumbled back into PC gaming when I found intriguing references on the net to the link between law and gaming.

From what I've encountered on the research trail, it's clear that many economists and legal theorists see at least one nexus between online gaming and the law. While there is a connection, they just can't agree on how to view the relationship between the two.

After getting the go-signal from the professor, I got more and more involved in PC gaming from a legal view point, and at the end of the semester, I turned in a 50-page paper entitled Play/Law: Identity, Property and Control in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games.

And now, several months after turning in that paper, I find another interesting twist to the online gaming scene. It's funny, really, but not unexpected, to see that nothing is completely asexual. Sex is a subject that screams "relativity", and in online gaming, it's no different.

Do gaming guilds have to be apparently asexual so as to keep the nod of game developers? When the game gods rule adversely against GLBT guilds, can the guild members retort in real time, "F--- you. We've got rights and you're discriminating against us"?

We know that chatrooms can be sex dens, where words at play jog the imagination as well as some other interesting ... uh ... parts, but what about game avatars? When one player comes on to another player in, say, a Guild Wars campaign, and they get on like a house on fire and "have sex", is it sex? If it is sex, is it then an act subject to censorship?

In Newsweekl y has this news item on GLBT in the monster MMORPG, World of Warcraft. There are some interesting posts on gaming blog Terra Nova, too, like "But is it PrOn?" and "Virtual Transvestitism: An Introduction". I wonder what's going to be said next?

Gmail ads and my e-mail

2006-01-28T19:31:00.000+08:00

Is it just me, or is there something I missed in the Gmail EULA when I signed up for my Gmail account? Last night, I spent well over two hours composing an e-mail about several important aspects of a website the administration of which I would be turning over to a fellow law student. This e-mail was all about site security, passwords, access and the like. Just 15 minutes ago, I opened my Gmail and what do you know? Next to the threaded ‘conversation’ of that e-mail, I found some ads that were a tad too spot-on for comfort. I surfed through Gmail and here's what Gmail has to say via its Help Centre. The issue of targeted ads is discussed by Gmail more fully here.

Story Lane 1: On a Bicycle Nightly

2006-01-28T00:34:00.000+08:00

Aling Fidela makes her way up J.P. Rizal Street on her rickety bicycle every night, scouring the sidewalks for the garbage that is her livelihood.

She is a fixture in one of Makati’s busier roads from midnight to five in the morning, unmindful, or perhaps immune to the bone-freezing cold.

Her face is bathed in shadows, but the weariness in her eyes is there for all to see. She looks so ancient under the incandescent glare of the streetlight, with her graying hair, almost toothless smile, and heavily wrinkled skin. Her back is bent not only with age, but also because of osteoporosis.

The fragility of her build makes you wonder whether a strong gust of wind will sweep her away in its wake. Yet Aling Fidela isn’t more than fifty years old.

As she eases her brittle frame unto the cold and hard sidewalk, the fat cats tearing greedily into leftovers scatter like confetti. The rats that skulk in the corners waiting for their turn also flee – they don’t want to be Big Tom’s midnight snack.

Her gnarled and wrinkled hands are unprotected, but they delve unhesitatingly into the first garbage bag. She does not seem to care that her knobby fingers are going where millions of germs love to tread. And even if she cares, she does not show it.

Out comes a piece of paper, and she inspects it swiftly with the care of a detective. Can it still be re-sold? Yes. Satisfied, she drops it into the kariton attached to her bicycle. The kariton is filled with paper, Styrofoam, soft drink cans, and other things that could be sold for a meager sum.

In goes her hand, then out again. Each trip into the trash is a waltz with danger. With every sojourn into the territory of ultra-micro beings, she raises the risk of being infected with a multitude of illnesses.

When she is done with one trash bag, she goes on to the next, and the next. Then it’s on to the next pile of garbage in the next block. She ignores the people hanging outside the neon yellow and green sign of the 24-hour Techno Craze Internet shop, or the Seven Eleven outlet, until her kariton is full.

She sells her scavenged wares to bottle and paper collectors for just enough to cover her meals. Each meal varies, yet eventually they are all the same. Plain bread, a little rice, tuyo, perhaps an egg ... none of the sinfully delicious pastries, or rich, warm broths most of us are accustomed to.

For many of us, her life is unimaginable. The prospect of being reduced to scavenging through our richer neighbors’ refuse is as desirable as being infected with the Ebola virus. For Aling Fidela, this state of deprivation is the only life she has going for her.

Her parents were poor farmers from the provinces, and money, even then, was always scarce. The third of eight children, Aling Fidela witnessed how difficult it was for her mother and father to make ends meet. She was able to finish elementary in a public school, but could not afford higher education.

She left home not long after she was recruited to work as a housemaid in Manila, believing her luck would change. When she met the man who would become her husband, she was so happy, though he was only a construction worker.

They had one daughter, Sonia, whom they both adored, and though they still had to budget, they were able to afford the occasional picnic in Luneta. Then her husband died in an accident, and things took a turn for the worse.

With no work experience other than as a maid, she applied for various jobs but was rejected. Being a widow wasn’t so much a problem as having a child to care for, in the eyes of her prospective employers.

Aling Fidela got herself a job as a maid for a rich family, and stayed there for several years. But when her daughter was sixteen, a bracelet went missing, and they were accused of taking it.

“My daughter didn’t take it. I know it in my heart. I know my child,” Aling Fidela denies, her eyes watering. They were cast out into the streets, and had to erect shanties at various places.

Being so poor strained her relationship with her daughter, who decided to become a lady of the night in Ermita. Aling Fidela and Sonia argued, and the latter stormed out. This was more than ten years ago, and though her daughter has tried to make amends, Aling Fidela says that she can’t eat live under her daughter’s roof knowing that she is selling her body.

“Mahal ko siya, pero mas gugustuhin ko pa ang buhay ko na ganito, halos palaboy na kaysa makinabang sa pinagbentahan ng katawan ng anak ko,” she says crudely and fiercely.

She doesn’t want to ask for help from the city officials because in her opinion, they’ll just use her for their campaigns in the next elections. Neither does she want to be a regular for the NGOs because “magsasawa din sila.”

“I’ll just crawl into the Makati Cemetery when my time comes,” she says. “Some kind priest will bless my body anyway, it’s expected,” she also adds. And she goes on to board her bicycle, before making her way into the sunrise.

Nunc Pro Tunc

2006-01-25T00:41:00.000+08:00

First, ten cents’ worth on Narnia: A tad too sappy and moralistically monochromatic for my taste, the bright spots of the movie are neither the daughters of Eve nor the sons of Adam, but the other members of Kingdom Animalia.
All that wide-eyed innocence by the little girl started to grate on my nerves 15 minutes into the movie. Edmund’s obsession with some concoction the witch served out of ice and snow was a bit, like, hello? Also, his rebellion against his brother was a bit out there, but then, that’s sibling rivalry for you. (Yup, I speak from experience.) I thought Susan would be having more action scenes. It was a bit of a letdown to see only the guys fighting.
I think Aslan’s terrific, although I’m not sure lions can grow that big in real time. At least, the sorry lions at the Manila Zoo won’t ever be that big, especially the ones in the cages. How many lions are there in the said zoo, anyway? Well, the lions in The Ghost & the Darkness were huge and terrifying, but that’s another story altogether.
I didn’t want to see Aslan die on the stone slab. I know it’s a bit silly, but while the witch was being bitchy, I found myself thinking that Edmund had better be worth the sacrifice of Aslan’s life. The scene gives a new meaning to the saying, “Life’s a bitch, and then you die.” When the life blinked out of Aslan’s eyes, I wanted to run home and hug my kitty (whose name is Sushi, go figure). Well, I wanted to run home and hug all our cats. Yes, all ten of them.
The baying of the wolves made shivers run up and down my spine, and poor Fox (that red-coated, pointy-nosed little fella was a fox, wasn’t it?) was really fodder for his bigger cousins. Family squabbles abound in Narnia, it seems. Did anyone notice the snow tiger go head to head against the cheetah in the final battle? I would have bet on the snow tiger any day, though I don’t mind having a tame cheetah for a friend.
The cinematography of Narnia is impressive, though it is nowhere near the scale of LOTR or HP. Much of my dissatisfaction with the movie lies in the fact that I prefer a bit of a twist to my stories nowadays, but in general, I think it’s a good movie for kids. They get to learn the basics of good and bad first. Expectations of intricacies aside, it’s a commendable family- and values-oriented film.

Shattered glass: Monday went well. Baviera’s hirits are funny. Sometimes. I was awake the whole period, unlike last Friday’s session when I found myself dozing off. No kidding. I could here the professor droning on about easements – well, just her voice, but not what she was actually saying. Then, horror of horrors, I was called on to recite on Art. 596 of the Civil Code! That went fairly well, notwithstanding the fact that I was just a few winks away from dreamland some moments earlier. Then I had to recite on the Sun Brothers Co. case, and I was all fuzzy about the names. Thank God I got the groove back when discussing the ratio decidendi of the case and answering the professor’s questions!
I wanted to buy a new Maksim CD after the Banking midterms, and I should just have gone out immediately after class to do so. Aargh! Procrastinator that I am, I decided to do it before attending Civ, but what do you know? Monday morning, my specs slipped from my fingers and landed face down on the bathroom floor, and wham! Three marvelously well-defined cracks in the right lens of my super thin-lensed eyewear, and that was that. Since I'd left my contacts in the dorm, I was quite worried about going to school as I couldn't read the signboards on the PUJs or PUBs. That's when I truly appreciated the term "visually-impaired". So, I guess Maksim will just have to wait another day before he profits from me...and I'll have to wait until Thursday before going off contacts.

Inter-dorm blues

2006-01-17T23:03:00.000+08:00

Tonight wasn't really that great a night, what with Ipil sliding down to a 1-2 win/loss record in the inter-dorm women's basketball. Oh, man, I hate losing a game! It makes all my aching joints, skinned elbows, palms and knees and bruised right side hurt all the more.

On the flipside, it's fun playing with the residents of other dorms, though with the bad lighting I might not recognize any of them in the light of day.

It's also amusing to hear all those youngsters (well, even the seniors have to be at least three years younger than me!) saying, "Sorry po, ate!" and "Okay po ba kayo, ate?" Then, there's the added bonus of having a workout, because these kids keep on running up and down the courts. My new Nikes are being broken in thoroughly, and I haven't a point under my name yet! Paging Sanggumay residents! If anyone there plays ball, we could sure use another player.

On a lighter note, that graphic up there is a screencap of my current desktop. I keep Winamp on most of the time that my PC's running so that she won't shock conservative visitors to my dorm room. Nice positioning, huh? The lady was rendered in a 3d app by Luciferino of Renderosity, and it's really amazing what can be done with all these software these days.