Morning Shower!

Spotted at Ortigas, from Greenhills, going to the business district...

At times like these, even when there's a water crisis, the Filipino still wanna smell good.

Greatest Cardio Ever!

Beats cleaning your own car!

This floor is at least a thousand square meters. How many back and forth moves would it take to polish it?

But life goes on for manong...

He gets it done 

For free? For God? 

Bob Marley in the Philippine Islands

I do not know the reason behind the appeal of Bob Marley to local beach dwellers (I mean the real island-born, or those who live near shores or in small islands). It’s peculiar how hundreds of thousands of miles from Jamaica, some of our countrymen idolize this Rastafarian. In remote Apo Island, it’s a surprise to see a full-blown gazebo selling Marley trinkets. And the music lives on… even just for during the 3 hours per day where there is electricity in the island.  

Review: Open by Andre Agassi and JR Moehringer

Reading the book, I felt on most pages that Agassi is eager to provoke controversy and ensure a blockbuster of a book. I don't know if this technique deserves some kudos: he did "provoke controversy and ensure a blockbuster of a book successfully"  without alluding to sex. But he delivered them at the expense of Pete Sampras and his repeated insistence that he hates tennis (although his arguments supporting this claim remains not solid to me). Other Agassi factoids:  

• No underwear while playing tennis.
• Snorted meth.
• Courted Steffi Graf with flowers
• Wore wigs, and was worrying about it on some matches.
• Hits Pete Sampras for being a bad tipper
• Mad jealous when Brooke Shields licked matt leblanc hands for a Friends episode (she was very excited to get the guesting job).
• also 'sufficiently' discussed affairs with celebrities.  

No one can deny however the book’s fantastic facility in describing the tennis games, drills, and struggles in-game. They are the best Ive ever read for tennis, even in comparison to the long newspaper articles that come up in SI or the sports sections, during good grandslam tournaments.

There is also the remarkable  illustration that sportsmen somehow are not very different from showmen who feels proud to put on a “good show.” There is a section where Agassi explained beautifully how he held hands with a beaten down opponent to marvel at the telecast and praises accorded to their game in the evening news.

Credit indeed must go to JR Moehringer (a collaborator) for making a cohesive book out of these courting-controversy factoids, and writing Awwwww-generating sentences, like this one of Agassi referring to his future wife Stafanie “Steffie” Graf

“She looked, somehow, as if she smelled good. Also, as if she was good, fundamentally, essentially, inherently good, brimming with moral rectitude and a kind of dignity that doesn’t exist anymore.”

Awwwww (to borrow from Jessica Zafra). 

Rebyu: Last Airbender, Ampangit, anlabo, wangkwenta

Parang teleserye lang ang dating na nilagyan nang costume at kung anu-ano. Luma na pati ang mga aksyon (hindi ba nagawa na lahat nang LOTR ang lahat nang klase nang espadahan). Ampangit pa nang taichi moves para mapagalaw ang air, water, earth, at fire. Yung ibang moves parang macarena lang. 

Trying hard pa sa kaeklatan gumawa nang mythos at pabula. At masyadong ambisyoso agad sa part 2, hindi muna ayusin ang kasalukuyang pelikula.

Ang mga dayalog e parang isinulat nang grade six para sa isang role playing sa klase ng Hekasi. At nakaantok ang maraming eksena. Sa labas nang sinehan sa Rockwell ang sabi nang isang ininterbyu: “Okey naman sya, okey naman, nakatulog ako e. hehehe.” Tyak na hindi makikita ang interbyung ito sa commercial sa TV.

Meron pang isang eksena na naghubad nang jacket ang admiral ng fire nation, na parang nagpeprepara sa umaatikabong bakbakan, pero wala naman pala. Nalunod na rin lang basta. Hehehe. Meron ding isang general na nagpasiklab gumawa nang apoy para sa wala, kala mo lalaban din, pero nagpalabas lang pala. Ipinakita lang sa madla na kaya nya nang gawin yaon tapos tapos! 

Mukhang nanarantado na lang talaga itong si M. knight Shyamalan. Mukhang sobrang lumaki na ang ulo ng narsisistikong ito. Okei lang maging narcissist basta may ibubuga at nakabala ang sunud-sunod na matitinding pelikula (tulad ni Christopher Nolan). Mukhang hindi na bagay sayo ang written, produced, and directed by Hijo. Magteleserye ka na lang muna kung ipipilit mo pa.  

Tapos, tapos, nakita ko pa ang interbyung ito kanina sa youtube…

Ang sabi nang mayabang,

I think if I thought like you I’d kill myself. Everything you said is the opposite of my instinct as an artist. The way you just thought, I literally would kill myself.

Aba, e de ituloy mo na. 

Ito ang dapat alisin kasama nang mga whang-wang!

Tang inang mukhang pailaw yan. 20 years ago na yata ang pakyut na picture na ito. Tapos, mukhang pinotoshop pa. Sinungaling pati sa picture talaga itong si Gloria. 

Mr. Miyagi vs. Mr. Han

I want Mr. Han to win. He has equipment in his hilot massage technique. Always better if you have equipment.

Both persons use a fighting style which use their opponents’ momentum against them, so the problem is who will throw the first strike? Perhaps the fight won’t even begin. They would just stare for a long time, and then decide to just eat rice in separate, quiet rooms. 

Anyway this year's Karate Kid recognized that the original movie's simple storyline is ripe for a repeat. That in itself deserves praise. Add to it how Jackie Chan bravely used his own gracious aging in his acting, the more complicated karate moves, and the serene views of Beijing, the movie is convincingly not a waste of time and money to watch. One of the best of the year so far.

[in 46 years] How an actor's face changed

I watched New York, I Love You recently on DVD. It is a collection of short, interesting vignettes all happening in, yes, New York. In one of the [practically speaking] short films, there was an elderly couple simply walking along the park and poignantly bringing out the humor of old age with pure ping-pong banters. What made the segment amazing of course were the actors who masterfully played their roles.

I then saw a familiar name--Eli Wallach on the credits. The same Eli Wallach who played Tuco (The Ugly) in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Here he was in that 1966 film:

and here he is in 2009 for the premiere of New York, I Love You

Only his nose gives away the resemblance. Amazing.

I wish everyone ages well in the work that he/she loves.

Both are great movies, by the way. Worth your time.

Jose Patrick

JP will begin to show the hunger for learning this year. He will also begin to appreciate the joy of holding a solid, tangible, comic book, and losing himself in reading. He will appreciate the brain exercise from swimming in the printed word.

He will also begin to learn to delay gratification. This will be the personality trait that will be critical in his successful career in the future.

He will begin to consider his peers, and respect feelings, want, and reputation.

He will become a happy, good seatmate, friend, son, and citizen.

Laguna de Bay

Antagal tagal ko ring natira sa laguna, pero hindi ako napadpad sa Laguna de Bay. 


Nung nagkaroon nang tsansa, nagulat ako na malapit lang pala sya sa kasuluk-sulukan nang Cabuyao na napupuntahan ko na dahil kay Talampunay.

Ito ang mga pictures na nakunan ko mula gamit asyuswal ang telepano:

pumasok sa parang eskinita sa gilid-gilid

basketbol kort at himpilan ng baranggay sa pampang mismo nang lawa. 

mga bangka

Mga namamasyal at naliligo sa kaparangan...