blame my gun

(O huwag mo kalabitin ang aking gatilyo)

"The lesson today is how to die..."
Which Strange Little Girl would you be?
You have a strong sense of justice, and believe that ultimately people should pay for their crimes.

Chocolates, the old-fashioned way

Today, I ate chocolates, the old-fashioned way.

It was dessert after my father's filling birthday lunch. My sisters and I pounced upon the box of See's chocolate that one of my numerous aunts in the US gave to our family as pasalubong. After gingerly opening the white cardboard top, we stared admiringly at the luscious various chocolate shapes and sizes for a few seconds..."Wow!"

Then we automatically looked around for the piece of paper that describes each chocolate in detail, which now usually comes with those boxes, what with the 21st century consumer sensibility. But we couldn't find one. It dawned on us that it didn't have one.

Suddenly, excitedly, we muttered the classic Forrest Gump line: "Life is like a box of chocolates...You never know what you're gonna get." And so the adventure began.

My first choice was a heart-shaped candy striped with white chocolate. Looking so pretty and distinctive, I though that it might taste good too. But then I suspiciously thought, it looked too good to be true. I put it down and my eldest sister picked it up instead.

"Eeeww...ang asim!" she said. That lovely piece turned out to be pineapple-flavored.

Haha, I said, while biting down on my own piece, which was coconut (not good, but not that bad).

My other sister got lucky, her rectangular-shaped choice oozing caramel. Immediately, I reserved the other one that looked just like it, ensuring myself at least one perfectly blissful bite (and it was hmmm, sarap).

The others didn't do very well. My sister who got pineapple on her first attempt got cherry on her second attempt, grimacing as the chocolate middle showed bright red. My younger sister got the dreaded orange-flavored piece. They fretted in disgust: Why in the world do westerners love fruit in their chocolate? My mother meanwhile claimed that every piece was delicious and reminded us that the whole box costs $14.

When my sister's husband's choice turned out to be made of soft nougat, I seized the box and asked for his best effort to point out the kind of chocolate he took. It was my last choice. My younger sister sniffed each remaining chocolate before taking her pick. My older sister hesitatingly took a big round one.

Ready? 1, 2, 3...and we bit on them all at the same time. My older sister and me triumphed-- hers was dark chocolate, and mine was, ta-da, soft nougat! But my younger sister wailed, "coconut!" So we let her bite on ours, and when the last piece disappeared, everyone was rather satisfied (and giggling like kids).

Like how it can sometimes be fun re-discovering cliches, there are just some things more fulfilling done the old-fashioned way.

posted by: ilangq at 14:28 | link | comments (1) |

Protestang SONA

Dalawang taon na akong hindi nakikilahok sa kilos-protesta tuwing SONA dahil sa tungkuling i-cover ang aktuwal na State of the Nation Address Address ni Pangulong Arroyo sa Kongreso. Buti na lang ang protestang SONA ngayon taon ay parehong nasa loob at labas na ng Kongreso.

Nang dinaanan ng Senate convoy ang rali sa Commonwealth Ave. noong Lunes, natuwa ako dahil minuto rin ang aking binilang bago nalampasan ng aming sasakyan ang makapal na bilang ng mga taong dumagsa sa lansangan sa layong patalsikin si Arroyo mula sa ninakaw na poder. Iyon na siguro ang pinakamalaking rali kontra-SONA sa panunungkulan ni Gloria. At wala akong magawa kundi tumingin mula sa bintana.

Natahimik na lang ako sa pag-iisip na sa oras na iyon, libu-libong kopya ng aming dyaryo ang ibinebenta sa parehong lansangan, at libu-libo rin ang nagbabasa ng mensaheng higit pa sa maipararating ng aking presensiya.

Masaya rin naman ang SONA sa loob ng Kongreso. Para kasing isang nasusunog na effigy ni Gloria tignan si Senate President Franklin Drilon, na kulang na lang ay mangulangot sa tabi ni House Speaker Jose de Venecia, huwag lang palakpakan ang retoriko't pambobola (obvious sa kawalan ng konkretong datos na gumanda ang buhay ng mga Pilipino at sa pag-iwas sa pangunahing isyu ng pandaraya). Katawa-tawa rin naman ang dagat ng mga pulitikong pro-Gloria dahil ginawa nilang mistulang laro ng basketbol ang SONA. Aba't may ritmo pa ang palakpak pagpasok ni Gloria sa plenary hall! Hindi naman kayo OA noh? Palibhasa nasa inyo ang home court advantage. Eh kung lumabas kaya kayo sa apat na sulok ng Kongreso? Tignan natin kung hindi lunurin ng mga galit na hiyaw ng taumbayan ang inyong masunuring palakpakan na pampalakas-loob sa talunan.

Masaya sa aktuwal, pero malungkot panoorin sa telebisyon ang mga naganap noong SONA. Unang-una,  unfair ang treatment sa protesta (hindi ipinakita ang mahabang bulto ng mga taong dumalo o kinuha ang kanilang pulso, kundi nag-pokus sa mga walang kakuwenta-kuwentang panggugulo ng maliit na grupo ng mga anarkista). At tulad ng dati, pinakita ng pulisya ang kanilang either a) kabobohan sa basic arithmetic, b) kalabuan ng mata, c) tungkulin na pabanguhin ang estado at maliitin ang lakas ng mamamayan, at d) all of the above.

Pero ang mas nakapanggagalaiti kaysa maling representasyon sa protesta ay ang tamang representasyon sa mga rali na Pro-Gloria. Gamitin ba daw ang sexy stars (D Bodies) para aliwin ang mga kawawang mahihirap na sinuhulan/nilinlang para dumalo? Ginawa na nga silang tanga ng administrasyon, pinalabas pang hayok sa aliw ng laman. Rurok ng pagkawalang-galang sa masa. Ang gobyerno pala ang tunay na nagpapatakbo ng mga bastos na palabas sa lipunan.

At nasa gobyerno rin ang mga nangungunang puta. Suot ay mamahalin, makukulay, at makikintab na terno't barong upang ipakita ang dignidad ng katawan, pero alam ng lahat na upahan ang kanilang kaluluwa. At walang naaaliw sa kanilang sayaw na Cha-Cha.

posted by: ilangq at 22:00 | link | comments |
political chuvachuva

A long delayed I-met-Neil-Gaiman post

 For a certain closure, I fancy posting an account of my meeting Neil Gaiman, though it happened weeks ago.

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't go about it scrupulously, which only means one thing with regards to a book signing with a world-famous author: I cut the line. The god-awful loooong line. Actually, the friend who was saving a place for me did. It took me about 30 minutes of standing around with him and a brief, nerdy acquaintance of ours in college to figure it out. By then, then was no turning back. Eventually, we ended up taking our acquaintance's place (he had, amazingly, an 8'o clock curfew) and having to suffer the guilt of hearing the couple behind us complain of having stood in line since 2:30 in the afternoon (they might as well have whispered in our ears, die, you line-cutting scum!!!).

It rather shocked how much Filipino fans Neil Gaiman had. He was pretty shocked himself, by his own account. In his 3-day stay, he signed for about 3,000 people, gained an addiction to calamansi juice, and declared the Philippines as the world's most enthusiastic place.

My friend (hello, pingas!) says in his blog that he underestimated Gaiman. Personally, though, I think I underestimated middle-class Pinoys and their capacity for sophisticated escapism.

When I got to the front of the line, I asked my one question that a strictly 20-second turn permitted: So, have you talked to your friend Tori Amos lately? He laughed and said, no, but I have been told to tell her that she should come visit the Philippines.

It was only later that I realized I didn't give him justice by asking about another artist in my very brief brush with him, and not saying a word at all about his own greatness. Oh well. At least I got the answer that I wanted. And, oh, that kiss! Hehehe. The other girls were doing it (and a whole lot more), so why shouldn't I? Just a light beso-beso. AND I HAVE IT ON VIDEO. Enough said.

posted by: ilangq at 20:56 | link | comments (5) |
popcult madness

DVD glutton

I was so proud of myself today for finally having enough free time to watch 3 movies in a row on my new DVD player. It  somehow cut down the number of "those DVDs that I bought but haven't watched," which has been taunting me ever since I went on my DVD buying spree in Quiapo last week.

And boy, what a jolly spree it was. Being a frustrated movie aficionado, who for years had to mainly content myself with  standard Hollywood fare in cinemas and Video City rentals since I wasn't part of any indie artistic circle nor had the money to go into serious film viewing, I almost went berserk.

The very first DVDs I bought were cautious experiments pitting the products sold in those air-conditioned stalls that cost P60 each against those that were sold at the bangketa at 3 for P100. According to the air-conditioned vendors, their DVDs were of much better quality (their discs were yellow, as opposed to the blue ones). According to the bangketa vendors, the air-conditioned vendors just jacked up prices to compensate for their high rent. The bangketa vendors' arguments made much more sense to me. Besides, the "Kinsey" DVD that I bought from one bangketa vendor was, true enough, damaged--- but was also YELLOW, thus demolishing the air-conditioned vendors blue vs yellow disc logic. At least throwing away P30 pesos isn't so bad as compared to throwing away P60.

Then I discovered that you need not throw anything away at all when buying DVDs. You can actually ask bangketa vendors (which I have happily settled on upon my next visit) to mark the DVDs that you bought from them so that you could return it in case of defect, without the dread of going through heated "dito ko binili yan-hindi sa amin yan" dispute.

I also discovered the existence of P20 DVDs-- "walang papil, malinaw," as one sign described, and even, 3 for P50 DVDs. I can at least attest to the fact that the "Sideways" DVD I bought for P20 played without a hitch.

On my first visit, looking leisurely through the air-conditioned stalls, I was disappointed at the limited choices the pirated DVD world seemed to offer. But last week I got down and dirty. Painstakingly I rifled through those thin rectangular plastics one by one until I found an Akira Kurosawa here, a Spike Lee there, a Gus Van Sant somewhere, and interesting foreign movies from just about every region of the globe.

All in all, I bought 15. So far, I have watched five. So my backlog would've been down to ten, if I haven't been such a dunce to stop by Quiapo again this early evening on my way home. Supposedly, my aim was to buy at least a couple of Hollywood movies because my boyfriend has been complaining that he wants a movie that can actually relax him (in order words, not make him think) after a day at law school. Fair enough, I thought, tired after reading subtitles for hours.

But then I spotted Wong Kar-Wai's latest, a Mike Leigh, another Kurosawa, a movie about the Cuban revolution, and finally ended up buying 8 new DVDs, only one of them standard Hollywood---"A Series of Unfortunate Events."

So now I guess  I'm a certified DVD glutton. No, actually, I'm a certified "takaw-mata." I acquire more than I can consume. I figure that 18 movies times approximately 2 hours each is 36 hours. In the midst of all the work the current political atmosphere entails, just where am I gonna find that time, huh? Considering that my DVD is not portable and is stuck in just one of the three places I frequent. Sigh. Oh well.

Just like how problems are tackled, pleasures have to be enjoyed, one at a time.

posted by: ilangq at 18:22 | link | comments (5) |
popcult madness

Kung bakit P64 pa rin ang Chickenjoy

Ang sabi nila, masama raw sa ekonomiya ang pagprotesta.

Bumabagsak ang stock market, sumasadsad ang halaga ng piso. Nagugulantang ang mga dayuhang mamumuhunan tuwing nagla-landing sa CNN ang wumawagayway na mga pulang bandila at makakapal na bilang ng mga Pilipinong kadalasa'y nais lamang nilang itrato bilang estadistika. Natatrapik ang mga ehekutibo sa Ayala at nala-late sa mga board meeting kung saan tinatalakay kung papaano huhuthutin sa publiko ang kita ng kompanya.

Masama raw sa ekonomiya ang pagprotesta.

Kaya nga ayon sa mamahaling full color na tarpaulin ng mga never heard na grupong tambolero ng Pangulo, "Trabaho, Hindi Gulo!" (Teka nga, in the first place kung binibigyan ng gobyerno ng trabaho ang mga tao hindi magkakagulo) at "Ekonomiya, hindi Pulitika!" (Er, hindi ba ang bulok na pulitika ay repleksiyon lamang ng bulok na sistemang pang-ekonomiya?)

Basta ako, alam ko kung bakit nananatiling P64 ang Chickenjoy meal na nabibili sa Jollibee. Hindi ito dahil kay Gloria kundi dahil sa mga kilos-protesta laban sa patuloy na panunungkulan niya. Binuko na siya ni Cesar Purisima. Iniutos ng Pangulo ang TRO (temporary restraining order) sa E-VAT ( expanded value-added tax) noong Hulyo 1 upang maisalba ang sarili mula sa nag-aalimpuyong galit ng mga mamamayan.

Kung hindi tinanggap ng taumbayan ang pakikipag-phonepal ni GMA kay Garci nang nakaupo, paano pa kaya ang pagpapatupad sa isang batas na lalong magdudukdok sa mga Pilipino sa kahirapan, higit pa kaysa pagbagsak ng halaga ng piso, higit pa kaysa pagbulusok ng stock market?

Ayon sa mga ulat, noong kinukumbinsi nina Purisima si Noli de Castro sa Hong Kong na maupo bilang Pangulo, isa sa pag-aatubili ni de Castro ang pagpasan sa pagtutulak ng E-VAT na kinaduwagan ni Gloria. Natatakot raw siyang kamuhian ng mga mamamayan.

Kung muhi at tanging muhi lamang ang makakapagpigil ng pagtakas ng mga pinaghirapang piso sa siwang ng mga daliri sa kamay patungo sa masibang kaban ng mga kurakot na pulitiko, palagay ko hindi lang ako, kundi laksa-laksa pang mga Pilipino, ang tutungo sa mga bukal ng protesta.

At doon, sabay-sabay na isambulat na ang rehimeng Arroyo, alipores ng gobyernong US at IMF-World Bank, ang siya ngayong pinakamalaking salot sa ekonomiya ng bansa.

posted by: ilangq at 11:55 | link | comments (1) |
political chuvachuva

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