Don't mess with men and their cars!

 

Sharp tap on silver Volvo triggers murder of US diplomat’s husband

If you read the article above, you know now not to mess with men and their cars!  Remember a few months ago when this MMDA enforcer tapped the car of this executive, wherein the executive went ballistic!  At least there, no one died and the angry executive, who was caught on video mauling the poor MMDA enforcer, can always ask for the guy's forgiveness, lie low for a while and just move on with his life, maybe even help the MMDA enforcer.

This time though, these four guys really killed someone - and a dependent of a US diplomat at that!  And they're so young pa - just in their 20s!  Even if they had US visas, they can't escape to the US since they killed a US citizen.  Dahil lang sa hard tap on their car.  Nakakalalaki kasi talaga and maybe they were drunk din, like the victim, kaya ayun, disaster happens.  If you kill someone out of anger, if you sober up, how do you say I'm sorry?  The other guy will never be alive again!  Even if he were an asshole, and unless you defended yourself, murdering someone would be very difficult to forget!  And anong mukhang ihaharap mo sa pamilya niya - sa anak niya, sa nanay at tatay niya!  Dahil lang sa kotse - nawasak na ang mga buhay nila!  Mabigat kalaban niyo mga tsong - ang US government tsk tsk

Diet soda can still make you fat

 

I admit I am one of those people who are addicted to sodas!  Coke regular, Mountain Dew, Sprite - if there are 365 days in a year, I think I drink soda 80% of those days.  Of course, that data is just pure guessing since I haven't really noted that down (I think I should do that next year - so that I would really know the real score!) but based on my weak will to go against drinking it, it might as well be true.

Which got me thinking, maybe I should write what I eat everyday, so that I can keep a log of it - and I'd know what food to scrimp on - and that includes the sodas that I so love to drink.

Diet soda can still make you fat

I Hate You But I Can't Resist You: WTF is that?

 

While watching the first few minutes of the classic romance movie Love Story, I was a bit shocked at the lines the woman in the movie played by Ali McGraw was saying to her supposed romantic lead played by Ryan O'Neal.  I knew I was watching a romance movie and I knew that the "opposites attract" formula has always been used in this movie genre, but I just found some of the lines too brutal, offensive and something I myself wouldn't take sitting down!  Funny thing is, Ryan's character in the movie is not only drop dead gorgeous, he is PERFECT! Humble, a jock for Christ's sake, not a womanizer, very smart, I mean, do guys like these even exist in real life!!???  And he takes in all the verbal abuse and just shrugs them off! This guy could outnag a nagger!!

Anyway, the last time I saw this movie formula - "I hate you but I can't resist you" being used was in the local movie of Coco Martin and Angeline Quinto (I don't remember the movie's title, but it was the first movie of Angeline).  I just saw the trailer but scene after scene and line after line showed their animosity - and still, they ended up falling in love with each other!!

Hayyy.....movies nga naman.  In real life, if another guy talks to me like that, even if he looks like all my male fantasies combined, I'd ask him to take a hike and I'd kick his ass pa!  You insult me and then you say you love me.  WTF, f*** you!

Funny thing is, in the movies, this formula actually works!!

The Trouble With Dee Dee: A Feel Good Movie Tops My Favorite TV Show This Week

Here are my favorite shows for the week ending November 23, 2012 - 

#1 Diva Universal - The Trouble With Dee Dee

This feel good story about a woman-child and her father is my favorite TV show this week.  I was surprised by the character and how generous and giving she was and how she sacrificed her well-being just to give to those who have nothing.  And it's a comedy too!

#2 AXN - Amazing Race 

I feel bad that the hippies are gone and mainly due to them foolishly losing their passports!  Also, Russia is such an interesting place which the show features very well at this leg of the race.  

#3 Jack TV -American Horror Story Asylum

Another freaking scary episode this week - and this time, we finally meet the people one of the sisters was feeding!

#4  History - The Fall of Penang

I thought this would be a boring show but I was very wrong.  It was done in a pretty interesting manner!  I hope we could have a local version of this.  The Fall of Manila, perhaps?

#5 Diva Universal - Army Wives 

I chanced upon this show about, well, army wives, and their episode today featured a battered army wife.  The character was still young but she was tough.  Domestic violence is never an easy experience.

#6 History - Mankind: The History of All of Us: Empires

A magnificent documentary!  The episode I saw featured the Roman and Chinese empires.


#7 Bio - Celebrity Ghost Stories 

I love this show and this week, they featured Houdini and Jonathan Scaech.
 
#8 Bio - Ghostly Encounters

Another show that I love watching and this week was really scary - theater ghosts!

#9 Bio - Ghostly Encounters 

This episode featured a CD moving in a haunted house!

#10 Nat Geo - Is It Real: Vampires


A nice documentary featuring real vampires.

Grace That Works Every Day

 

I read a great article today by one of my favorite PDI columnists, Fr. Tito Caluag.  He writes, "If we weigh all things properly, there are always more things to be grateful than to feel sorry about".  I admit it's always a constant battle - a daily battle of fighting anxiety - anxiety over not being able to pay the bills on time, anxiety that a wrong decision or a wrong move can lead to disaster in my personal life!  However, daily prayer and focusing on the positive and hoping on hope has always stopped me for falling over the cliff.  Each day is different and there are good days and there are bad days, but just like most of humanity, we plod on, hoping that tomorrow will still be a good day - with God's grace.

E.E. Cummings Poetry and In Her Shoes

 

 I was channel switching last night when I came across the movie In Her Shoes, which I saw years ago in the cinema.  The funny thing is, I was able to appreciate the movie more, now that I saw it on TV.  It must've been a case of me falling asleep again when watching movies!  Crazy eh!

Anyway, the scene that I caught was the best scene of all.  It is where Cameron Diaz's character reads an E.E. Cummings poem which she dedicates to her sister, played by Toni Collette.  The title of the poem is "I Carry Your Heart With Me".  I had tears in my eyes after Cameron read the poem!  I was just so moved by the words!  

So anyway, here is the whole poem.  Cameron reads all of it in the movie.  If you took a poetry class in college, you would know that E.E. Cummings writes his poems this way.

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

                                                      i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

FABE Fashion Show: Heights of Sophistication

American Horror Story Asylum Is My Favorite TV Show of the Week

I was lucky to see two episodes of American Horror Story Asylum one after the other this week in Jack TV because the show's story is really good!  I love it!  It's so sick!  My favorite episode of the week involved an exorcism which was filmed really well, it could rival a movie!

Here are my favorite TV shows for the week ending November 16, 2012 - 

#1 Jack TV - American Horror Story Asylum - exorcism scene

My second favorite TV show was this episode of Criminal Minds where the story was of two elderly people who kidnapped kids!

#2 Universal - Criminal Minds - kidnapper of kids

Most of the episodes of Grimm that I've seen are not really scary but the one I saw this week about a bunch of wendigo brothers was pretty scary!

#3 Jack TV - Grimm - wendigo 

I love this show!  This week, they featured this perky girl who already had a heart attack at the age of 19.  Pretty cute!

#4 Lifestyle Network - What Not to Wear - girl with heart attack

The Amazing Race continues with the hippie boys losing their passports.  

#5 AXN  - Amazing Race 21

This was another scary episode of Celebrity Ghost Stories, my favorite, being that of designer Cynthia Rowley.

#6 Celebrity Ghost Stories - Cynthia Rowley

In this episode, Evan Peters is being entered into the asylum, accused of raping and killing women.

#7 Jack TV - American Horror Story Asylum - Evan Peters

This was a fantastic documentary as it showed man's history.  I saw the part until the Roman empire.  Can't wait to see to the end!

#8 History Channel - The History of Mankind The Story of Us All

This 30 minute show features common people and their encounters with ghosts


#9  Bio - Ghostly Encounters - haunted hotel

This hippie guy brings drugs to Chile after successfully bringing cocaine out of Peru into the US

#10 National Geographic - Locked Up Abroad Chile

TV Talk: A Market Our Local Networks are Not Tapping

In the recent survey by Kantar Media on what Philippine households are watching, it came out that ABS-CBN got a 48% share of the audience during the primetime slot (6PM to 12 mn).  GMA-7 is second at 28%.  The share of both TV stations is at a staggering 76%.  Well, our household does not belong to that percentage though.  

Bandila and the current affairs programs are the only things I watch in local TV.  For the past 20 years, I think it was only Marimar which caught our family's fancy, otherwise, unless it's the maids watching TV, we would normally shift to cable for our entertainment needs - which is a pity really, because there is a segment of the Filipino population that these big local networks are ignoring.  Basically, that segment is me and my friends.  

The survey said the finale of ABS-CBN's Walang Hanggan was watched by a staggering 45% audience share.  Except for one gay man I met in a bar, no one among my social set talked about that show's ending - or maybe, did not want to admit to haha!  But seriously, I don't think any of them watched it.  Walang buzz e.

But if you say, Big Bang Theory or Modern Family, they would most likely know the characters and who this is and who is that.  Pity really since those two comedy hit shows can easily be replicated here - of course, in a more Pinoy setting.  I know we have many creative minds out there who can do witty writing.  Sayang lang na our networks won't let them do their work.

I think the bottomline is, we can't relate to what they are releasing in local TV.  So we don't watch their shows.  Buti na lang their current affairs programs are more interesting!  As for their news - may choice pa ba kami, e we really have to hear the local news!  It's really infotainment, not a news program.

Things A Job Applicant Should Know - From the Point of View of an Employer

Our major newspapers all have a section on Recruitment and Jobs, articles which discuss how a fresh graduate -or any graduate for that matter, can snag his or her dream job.    I chanced upon an article today, entitled, "Seven Ways to Improve Your Chance of Getting Hired Today" by Ruben Anlacan Jr. and it got me thinking, ok, I myself am an employer, how do I hire my own people.

Well, I have been hiring employees for almost for more than 20 years now and based on my experiences, here are the reasons why I am going to hire you -

#1 good grasp of English grammar - since our work is on research and writing, the applicants' English grammar should be understood and grammatical errors should be at a minimum

#2 shows initiative and determination - I dislike people who always asks for help, who never tries to figure out something by themselves.  I also don't like employees who give up easily on a task. 

#3  Taong nangunguwenta -  I had to write this down in Tagalog since I could not think of an English word equivalent - it just means a person who feels he or she is deprived if she has to do more work or if she exceeds her time in the office by a few minutes

 

#4 An employee who's always looking for something that is not there.  Not all companies are equal and can offer certain services.  I remember an employee asking why we did not have a clinic or a nurse?  Well, we are not a factory so there is no danger of you cutting your hand or something like that.  I immediately fired her for being an idiot.

#5  A person who cannot think on his own.  If I have to make all your decisions for you, then you have to go.  Just make a decision.  If it's wrong, I will tell you why, if it's right, then you used your instincts well.  Don't be indecisive.

#6  Respect your officemates.  Yes, there will be some form of hierarchy and since you're the new guy, alamin mo ang lugar mo.  Wag masyadong mayabang.

#7  I hate getting no for an answer.  I prefer that you say yes to my queries.  I love employees who are resourceful and think on their feet.  This is not a perfect world but there is a solution to every problem.  So figure it out.  If I have to do your job for you, then I might as well fire you.

#8 Respect office hours.  I am very lax when it comes to this, but I like employees who have the discipline to do their work with minimum supervision.  You are not in pre-school anymore so I don't have to constantly watch over your shoulder.  You know your job and you know its deadline.  Don't let me come to you and ask for your work.  Send it to my e-mail before you go home.  If it's not finished, have the decency to tell me why.  I hate being left in the dark.


Oh well, this is such an impromptu article  but these are the things that came from the top of my head.

Fabe Magazine Launch: The Boys

Well, I will just let the pictures do the talking.  
 

 

John Spainhour and FABE Magazine

I've been trying to find a photo of John Spainhour holding the maiden issue of FABE magazine.  We actually hired six photographers for the magazine launch and I was hoping at least one of them asked John to hold the magazine.  I couldn't find any until today!! Thanks Bittersweet Waxing Studio and Jarl Gamonez for this picture!

The Art of Rashid Johnson

Exhibitions in Manila of internationally-known artists, alive or dead, are pretty rare and while the rest of the art world capitals like London and New York have them on a fairly regular basis, I would have to depend on the media to inform me of what's new in the art world.  

The BBC recently featured American artist Rashid Johnson who was due to have a show in London.  Here are the art works that he made for the show.  His explanations were pretty intriguing, and although I am no art expert, you do get to think of the significance of what he has done.

FABE Magazine Launch: After Show Pictures

Towards the end of the show, we asked John to pose with the people who came to the party.  The members of the audience had the chance to ask for his autograph and pose with him for pictures!