Pagtanda

Naalala ko lang ‘tong kantang ‘to kasi may kinasal akong ka-batch nung highschool kamakailan lang. Medyo may ilan na rin naman akong mga ka-batch nung highschool na pamilyado’t may anak na pero etong recent na kasal e pareho kong ka-batch nung highschool yung kinasal, kaya parang mas solid ‘yung trip down memory lane, ‘yung pagsalpok nung mga thought na “parang kailan lang kumakanta ka sa prom” e mas hebigat.

Eto, basta, kakaiba kapangyarihan ng kantang to. Kinanta to ni Tom Waits, isa sa idol kong musikero. Basta sobrang ganda lang talaga ng kantang to, maaalala mo pers lab mo, hehehe. Suwabe pa boses ni Tom Waits, ramdam mo ‘yung bigat at hagupit ng taon.

Operator, number, please:
Its been so many years
Will she remember my old voice
While I fight the tears?
Hello, hello there, is this martha?
This is old tom frost,
And I am calling long distance,
Dont worry bout the cost.
cause its been forty years or more,
Now martha please recall,
Meet me out for coffee,
Where well talk about it all.

And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
Wed packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.

And I feel so much older now,
And youre much older too,
Hows your husband?
And hows the kids?
You know that I got married too?
Lucky that you found someone
To make you feel secure,
cause we were all so young and foolish,
Now we are mature.

And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
Wed packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.

And I was always so impulsive,
I guess that I still am,
And all that really mattered then
Was that I was a man.
I guess that our being together
Was never meant to be.
And martha, martha,
I love you cant you see?

And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
Wed packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.

And I remember quiet evenings
Trembling close to you…

Temper fidelis

Have been scouring the web for a video clip of the latest display of “presidential composure” by gma, but have found no such clip. Ewan ko pero parang medyo natawa kasi ako nung nakita ko ‘yung video from ANC. Lalo na ‘yung curtain lecture niya sa staff niya, na nakuhaan ng ANC ng audio, after niya mag walkout.

(Sa posisyon kaya ni GMA bilang presidente may balak siyang mag walkout? Hehehe)

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GMA can’t really act her way out of a paper bag can she?! Her televised addresses (primary of which is the “I am sorry” speech) reeks of artificiality. Sobrang wala siya talagang karisma at konek. Of course we know that it is all scripted, but her pale-faced expression, contrived compassionate face, and monotone vocal delivery betrays the choreography and fakery of it all. Finding a sincere trace of genuine emotion in her voice and expressions is a needle-in-a-haystack task.

—

Balitang Olympics lang:

Na-tigok na pala ang tsansa ni Liu Xiang, ang Olympic Poster Boy ng mga Chinese, sa kaniyang event, ang 110m hurdles.

Grabe din kasi pressure sa tao na ito. And to think na sa isang event lang siya magco-compete.

Sabi nga ni James Fallows:

Liu has probably been under more individual pressure than any other person involved in these Games. It would be as if Michael Phelps were the only American ever to have won a gold medal in swimming — Liu’s position among Chinese male track and field athletes — and would be racing only once, in the 50-yard freestyle.

Sabi naman nung coach niya kasalanan daw ng Chinese sports program ang lahat.

—

Dun sa mga Phelps fanatic, o basta intereseted lang kay Phelps, maiging basahin niyo itong sinulat ng malupet kong college tropang si Martin.

May nabasa pala akong makulet na description dun sa feat ni Phelps–Great Haul of China. Hehe, la lang.

—

Ok din pala yung mga recent entries ni Fr. Mercado sa blog niya tungkol sa usaping GRP-MILf-MOA.

—

Relax lang muna.

Funny

See LOL Bush: The president at the Olympics by The Guardian. Funny funny.

How to Write With Style by Kurt Vonnegut

Link from Venus:

In Sum:
1. Find a subject you care about
2. Do not ramble, though
3. Keep it simple
4. Have guts to cut
5. Sound like yourself
6. Say what you mean
7. Pity the readers

“Who can stand in the way of the march of history?”

Evan Osnos’ recent article in the New Yorker presents the most nuanced rendering of present-day China. A panel speaker in a conference I’ve attended said that China is so complex two people could say two entirely different things about China, and they could both be entirely right. The views, sentiments and philosophies of the middle-class Chinese youth, the primary gatekeeper of China’s future, is well represented in the Osnos article. From where I sit, I see a cross-strain of Western ideologies and inherently Chinese values, like nationalism, pervading the post-Tiananmen generation. Chinese Publisher Li Datong states in the article that the Chinese “young conservatives” (described by Osnos as “neocon nationalists”) possess a conservatism “distinct from a status-quo conservatism, because they are not satisfied with a country that has only a status-quo and not a principle.”

The article is also written very well. You have to allot a bit of time though as typical of NewYorker articles, the report sprawls to a breadth of 6,000 plus words. The stacatto tone of the ending paragraph, with sterling economic use of short sentences, is pure awesomeness. Short sentences is the shit y’all!

—

Sinologist Orville Schell, in a recent Newsweek cover article, states

While honest criticisms should not be muted just because Chinese leaders find them grating, we foreigners should be mindful of this complex psychological landscape. In reacting to contemporary events, we tend to forget just how deeply implicated we are in how China came to experience and view the modern world. This long relationship has created a still rather unyielding tension as each country interacts with the other. Despite the fact that China has gotten closer than ever to escaping from this past, it’s important to understand that its leaders and people are still susceptible to older ways of responding to the world around them. Now is not the time to provoke them further and impede their progress toward a new, more equal and self-assured sense of nationhood.

Roderickrolling

Tals Diaz, one of that rare dying breed of sensible Filipino lifestyle writers, wrote about the Rick Astley concert at the Araneta Coliseum, and the attendant OMG!-factor of the event.

Filipinos may suffer from short term memory when it comes to dictators and corrupt government officials, but we are blessed with long-term recollection and undying sentimentality for one-hit wonder bands and singers that got people once upon a time to “ledge dance” at Faces.

See also her multiply account and Gabe Mercado’s.

Galeng ng lead

Rick Warren has Rick Warren syndrome. That’s not a joke. He has a brain disorder. “I was born with it,” he says. “I went to the Mayo Clinic, and the doctors said, ‘We have found a dozen or so other people with this. There’s no name, so maybe we’ll just call it the Warren syndrome.”

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Itong essay na ‘to, binabalik-balikan ko. Galeng din eh, kakatawa. Galing din sa Time.

Like NASA before the first moon landing, I have been soliciting advice about what to say when I wake up from brain surgery. That’s right, brain surgery—it’s a real conversation stopper, isn’t it? There aren’t many things you can say these days that retain their shock value, but that is one of them. “So, Mike—got any summer plans?” “Why, yes, next Tuesday I’m having brain surgery. How about you?”

Text-speak is not that bad after all

It is easy to dismiss text-speak, or “textese,” as a pedestrian bastardization of the formal English language. I also thought text-speak is bad. This newsweek article, reporting on a new book by a British linguist, states otherwise. I learn new things everyday.

“jOePM”

After Travis Kraft, meet Chris.

Influences: Azi, OPM (“Original Pinoy Music”), Philippine rakenrol, Hoboken, New Jersey, Gweilos Makati, Big Sky Mind, Kalookan, Quezon City, San Miguel Beer + balut for pulutan, and last but not least, daing na bangus and pandesal for making my breakfast masarap!
Sounds Like: …a white boy singing in Tagalog. It’s OPM with an American twist – I call it “jOePM”.
City: Hoboken, New Jersey
Country: United States

20 Album Covers Recreated in LEGO

Click here.

Best of luck to China…

There would be no substantive benefit to be gained should the Chinese, warts and all, be humiliated from a disaster in the Olympics. (I hope I have the benefit of time to elaborate, well…).   That said, here’s to a succesful Olympics in Beijing! (And a Philippine medal! Asa…)

Click here for a charming account of the way things are, and have been, going in the mainland in preparation for the games.

Gusto ko manood ng lumang Pinoy films…

Poster for Gerardo de Leon’s “Ibulong Mo Sa Hangin.” (Di ko rin alam bakit “Blood of the Vampires” ang nasa poster.)

Kuha ko sa blog ni Noel Vera.

Sino mayroon?

Isaac Mao, China’s “first blogger,” on blogging in the mainland

“Looking at the experience in my homeland, I also believe the abuses of censorship produce a certain level of social fear – which leads to less creativity.”

(I actually met this guy at a media conference in Bangkok. He was very nice.)

“I am Paris Hilton, and I approve this message…”

“I’ll see you at the debate bitches.”