« September 2004 | Main | November 2004 »

October 28, 2004

The One-Finger Victory Salute

Back when Dubya was Governor: would you like me to be your President? He's going to flash that finger when he gets re-elected. (Blurs mine, but the full movie has it all.)

Goofing Around

Is My Hair Okay?

To All My Dawgs in H-Town

Hey, That Was Fun!!

October 26, 2004

Perkiomen Trail

Last weekend, we trailed through Perkiomen. Breathtaking in the Fall. Pics from local peeps.

Lovely

Lovely

The Nation: 100 Facts

I wasn't all that impressed with Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. I guess if you were around blogs and newspapers as much as I was (especially before I found a fulltime job), some of the issues he opened up were already stale. And I do think he sensationalizes a bit too much -- good for movies, bad for documentaries.

Here, however, is a more thought-provoking collection of the Bush administrations missteps, gaffes, and outright misgivings, everything from Iraq, to cronyism, the economy, national security, healthcare and the environment. A hundred indisputable facts and a better, more unbiased (less subject to editings-out-of-context), less subjective and shorter survey.

NYer Breaks 80 Year Trad: Endorses Kerry for Pres

The New Yorker has never endorsed a candidate. This time, they were compelled to:

Kerry has insisted that this election ought to be decided on the urgent issues of our moment, the issues that will define American life for the coming half century. That insistence is a measure of his character. He is plainly the better choice. As observers, reporters, and commentators we will hold him to the highest standards of honesty and performance. For now, as citizens, we hope for his victory.

Quite lucid and direct here:

But the challenger has more to offer tha the fact that he is not George W. Bush. In ever crucial area of concern to Americans (th economy, health care, the environment, Socia Security, the judiciary, national security foreign policy, the war in Iraq, the fight agains terrorism), Kerry offers a clear, correctiv alternative to Bush’s curious blend o smugness, radicalism, and demagoguery

Read it.

October 24, 2004

Singaporean Maids, Others, Addicted to Tong-Its

Hmmm, could it really be systemic? Or is it because they have nothing better to do?
October 23, 2004

Unknown is Singer's New Superman

Than A Speeding Bullet?

Brandon Routh will be the next Superman.

October 21, 2004

NYTimes: Kerry for Pres

An endorsement of Kerry from the NYTimes wasn't a surprise, but what was a surprise to me was that the op-ed piece lacked much-needed substance in endorsing Kerry. Plenty of facts against Bush, but nothing more than prospect and potential for Kerry. Indeed, the Times instead unapologetically cast a light on the Democratic candidate as merely a better than the incumbent because the incumbent was, well, a horrible failure. If you go by column inches, much of the piece was spent Bushbashing.

We look back on the past four years with hearts nearly breaking, both for the lives unnecessarily lost and for the opportunities so casually wasted. Time and again, history invited George W. Bush to play a heroic role, and time and again he chose the wrong course. We believe that with John Kerry as president, the nation will do better.

True, a lot of voters are voting ABBA (Anybody But Bush Again), but to be fair to both candidates, they're both lacking in character and record for what these times need. Record deficits, alliances in shambles, a war America didn't need, Bin Laden still a fugitive, the Supreme Court, women's rights, gay rights, healthcare and the environment at stake, and Big Business and the Far Right in charge.

What America needs is someone who can rally the people with charisma and firmness, charm her friends back, and know when to apologize for bad behavior. What America needs is someone who has unquestionable leadership qualities, true gumption and an economic acumen that can reign in the largest economy in the world. Someone who cares for the environment, the middle class and can lower crime. Someone who can stand up for stem cell research, gay marriage rights and the rights of women to choose. Someone who understands the law, can work with a partisan congress and understands that one's ability to bend under pressure is just as important as not cracking beneath it. Someone who won't put Rummy, Tom Ridge and John Ashcroft anywhere near government. Someone who won't flip-flop on key issues and weaken his position. Someone who can speak up a storm, never stutter and never have embarassing underarm wetness.

Re-elect Bill Clinton for President. And get Madeline Albright her old job.

October 19, 2004

HL2 Set for November

After a high-profile software theft, it looks like Half-Life and more importantly Counter-Strike is going to get upgraded this November.

Boxers, Briefs and Boxer Briefs

A recent conversation with my mother, who is back in Los Banos. She calls these "overseas phone calls" (mostly in Tagalog):

Mom: Anak, binili kita nang boxers, gusto mo ba?

Me: (Wondering why she'd buy it first and then ask me after) Ah, um, di na ako nagsusuot nang boxers e.

Mom: Anong sinusuot mo?

Me: Boxer briefs

Mom: Boxer briefs?

Me: Oo, iba yon sa boxers. Kasi yung boxers di mo pwedeng gamitin sa gym.

Mom: (Shouting, still in the 70's where "overseas calls" were choppy and weak.) Ano yon? Briefs?!?!

Me: De, Ma, boxer briefs. Parang briefs pero mas mahaba.

Mom: So, hindi yon boxers? Ano yon, nag bibrief ka muna tapos saka ka nagboboxers? O boxers muna bago briefs?

Me: (Entertained) Um, hindi Ma, isa lang sya. Parang briefs pero merong legs to about the middle of my thigh.

Mom: Ah, so hindi sya boxers na maluwag?

Me: Oo, three different things: boxers, briefs and boxer briefs.

Mom: So aanhin ko tong boxers na binili ko?

Me: Um, baka si Kuya gusto.

Mom: Ang dami e.

Lagot kayo sa Pasko, pre, boxers ang pasalubong ko sa inyo. ;-)
October 14, 2004

Everything I Learned, I Learned from The Beatles

I just realized that every worthwhile guiding principle I have in life, I learned from listening to my mother's Beatles' albums. I love you Mom, thanks.

Hope - Here Comes the Sun

The Rewards of Hard Work - A Hard Day's Night

Knowing How to Compromise - We Can Work It Out

Tenacity - I'll Be Back

Understanding Deceit - The Night Before

Healthy Obsession (and Family Planning?) - Eight Days a Week

Teamwork - Help!

Friendship - With a Little Help From My Friends

Self-Confidence - Act Naturally

Drugs, While Exciting, are Not Good For You - Lucy and The Sky with Diamonds

Delivering Friendly Advice - You're Gonna Lose That Girl, Hey Jude

Dealing with Rejection - Ticket to Ride

Your Hometown Buddies are Your Best Friends - Yellow Submarine

The Government is Evil - Taxman

Unrequited Love - You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

Compassion - Eleanor Rigby

Accessibility - From Me To You

The Importance of Love - Here, There and Everywhere

The Importance of Remembrance - In My Life

Reflecting on Current Events - Day in the Life

Hedging My Bets - If I Fell

Having Career Goals - Paperback Writer

And Love, Of Course - Til There Was You

Marikina One of Asia's Healthiest

A friend of mine who lives in Marikina loves his mayor -- for doing the right thing, being tough on crime and garbage, and making sure Marikina is a pleasant place to live in. Sure they may not have huge malls, but they have riverside bike and walk trails.

Here is another feather in BF's cap. I wonder when other mayor's will stop being ganglords and start being more like heroes (pun deliberate of course).

Election

I haven't really weighed in on the upcoming U.S. elections, partly because everyone else is, and mostly because I haven't gathered my thoughts well together enough to blog about it. Not to mention the flurry of events that are all worth looking into (the Norwegian's ad in WP, Bush wearing a wire, Cheney never meeting Edwards, blah, blah).

That, and a new phase (teaching Page Layout) plus weekends trailriding. So I give the reader some of the most poignant images I've come across while reading about the debates, the campaigning and the upcoming U.S. elections.

Smirk

Wire?

Nice to Meet You

Democracy

October 12, 2004

New iPod 60 Gig *and* Pics from Your Holiday?

From all over, just in case you haven't seen it yet.

Fan sites are abuzz with messages that Apple Computer Inc. is fine-tuning an enhanced iPod with roughly 50 percent more storage and a color screen to display photos.

This could only mean one thing good for me (the future iPod owner): that the early generation ones, and the smaller ones could get cheaper.

Frances Glessner Lee, 1940's Crime Scene Dollhouses

Did you dust for fingerprints?

Ms. Lee's work pioneered crime scene investigation -- and showed noobs their mistakes in an exhibition called "The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death". They're at the office of the state examiner in Maryland. Pretty dollhouses, corpses, nooses and blood smears.

Article is in the NYTimes, free registration, yada yada.

October 11, 2004

E.T Go Home

Someone running SETI@home on an office server gets sacked. Sabing at home eh.
October 10, 2004

An Open Letter to The Filipino Youth

Dang. Somebody tell these folks what's going on. And, if you ever get to read it, for those of you who went to U.P., doesn't the whole "U.S. Imperialism", "underground revolutionary" and "armed struggle" language just conjure up so much disgust? When will we stop blaming the U.S. and start looking at ourselves for our systemic "delusions"? Kainis.
October 05, 2004

He-Man, Battlecat, to Return

And John Woo's directing.

Action director John Woo has been tapped to helm a new, live-action version of the 1980s toy-rific toon, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ,Daily Variety reported Monday.

According to the trade paper, Woo ( Face/Off ) will do double duty as producer, writer/director Adam Rifkin ( Detroit Rock City ) will pen the script, and Fox's Fox 2000 division will bring Eternia back to life.

October 03, 2004

Lechon Manok vs. Peking Duck

Was shopping in myayala.com, and found these two:

Lechon Manok

1. Lechon Manok, one piece at Php 1,365.00 a chicken.

Peking Duck

2. Peking Duck, one piece at Php 900.00 a duck.

Now, if that chicken doesn't come with a stripping chef...

Saint Bill

I'm a fan (Kerry's a lesser Dem compared to him), and this is tongue-in-cheek fun. Check out the bumper stickers too. (I should get my stuff ready for Cafepress.)

Gold Rush in QC Canal

Are you sure it wasn't just a piece of chicken?

Hundreds of people have flocked to a creek in an overcrowded squatters’ area in Barangay Del Monte in Quezon City after some residents found gold nuggets, witnesses said yesterday.

A barangay captain said it was a puzzle as to how the nuggets got into the trash-strewn and heavily silted channel.

"It is a puzzle. All we got from this before was trash," he said.

Alfredo Gallo, 15, found a "nugget" of gold after scouring the waterway under the bridge near Feliz street in West Riverside on Friday. His father sold the gold to a pawnshop for P30,000 and bought a television set and a bicycle.

Read here.