28
Jul

State of the Kingdom Address (SoKA) 2008

Our Lord Prime Syncophant, the Right Honorable Lord Chancellor, Our lords and members of the House of Reprehensibles, the Right Honorable MisChief Magistrate:

We are facing the crucial moment in history, wherein Our kingdom’s greatest generation has faced and has hurdled many obstacles. But now We are facing what is probably the greatest challenge Our government has ever faced. The economic crisis that grips the world is probably the worst since ancient times, a roller coaster of high economic growth and increasing number of poor. It is like a tsunami that is threatening to drown this kingdom.

But with Our foresight and wisdom, We have softened the shock of the economic crisis. We have enough funds to sustain Our lavish lifestyle; the royal barn is full of grain, and the royal motorized vehicles will never run out of gasoline. We thank the Heavens for giving Us the guts to institute reforms to weather this crisis. We thank the Parliament, specially the House of Reprehensibles, for its groveling support to Our glorious reign. We thank all the foolish people who continuously support Our royal lifestyle through levies and taxes and their apathy. We don’t care if Our royal reign is disliked, for We know that we get the job done – to sustain and maintain the status quo.

We have not lived with the poor. We do not care about the miserables lives they live. We are mostly concerned with our privileged life and the maintenance of Our glorious reign. It is the prime duty of the House of Miserable Lords to live with the poor, to care for them, of course, with Our royal blessing.

We praise the lowly citizens for their undying loyalty and support to Our glorious reign. While the enemies of Our glorious reign may continue maligning Our royal character, the miserable poor will continue living their miserable lives, paying no heed to Our glorious satisfaction and happiness. They will pay no heed to Our enemies.

We praise the apathetic people who do not care about Our glorious reign. For their apathy has sustained Our glorious reign, through their prompt and complete payment of taxes, while paying no heed to the activities of Our glorious government. They are truly enlightened, who see that Our actions and decisions are not in their purview. They are wise to leave the running of the country to Our royal government.

We have instituted several goals to sustain the status quo. We wanted to make sure the Our glorious reign continues till forever, and for that We have set goals. Most of these goals might have been unpopular, but We remain steadfast in our decision to levy additional taxes. The imposition of the Vulture-like Asinine Tax has been so unpopular, but We remain adamant that this imposition is important to maintain sufficiency of the royal funds to sustain Our glorious reign. Take this tax away, and see the status quo crumble. Lifting this imposition is like abdicating Our royal prerogative.

Leadership requires necessary decision, and We have firmly resolved to maintain this tax.

We have resolved, further, for the betterment of the status quo. We will continue taxing the apathetic people while lifting the tax burden of the poor. This will lead for the poor to live decadent lives, which will lead to a robust population growth. We have made this decision to satisfy the charlatans of the temples.

We will build new roads, new dams, new irrigation systems, nautical highways, village halls, basketball courts; We will improve existing drainages, roads, school buildings. This will keep the members of the House happy and content. This is also Our token of gratitude for the House’s blind loyalty.

We believe that we can do better to improve the status quo. Join Us as We lift this kingdom to Great World Status. We will not let anyone stand in Our way to glory and richness. We will not let anyone’s agenda to derail our plans. We are one kingdom under Our glorious reign.y Lords and

We are forwarding for the Parliament’s perusal Our annual budgetary requirements for the coming year. We expect that this Parliament will comply with Our royal requirements.

Lords and members of the House of Reprehensibles, may Mammon’s blessing rest upon your counsels.

27
Jul

Plurk as excuse for going out

Plurk is an interesting Web application. It is like Twitter, with the capability to display messages on a time line, plus you can view replies below the message. It is like IRC, says Jon Limjap. MLQ3 thinks so, too.

But it’s greatest use, so far, is to plan for unplanned dinners. Just this week, the Bachelor Food Bloggers had done so twice. Read on.

This week had been busy in terms of dining, no thanks to MLQ3’s plurks. It began exactly a week after Juned, MLQ3, and I ate at King Crab. Via Plurk, the Bachelor Food Bloggers Fritz teh Rockstar, Grand Meister Juned, Emperor MLQ3, and page boy me went to Mickey’s Delicatessen last Wednesday; Juned suggested that we try the place. It is located along Jupiter Street in Makati.

Mickey’s is a German restaurant. It has old European house feel to it, with wooden chairs and benches, wooden tables, and waiters in traditional German clothes. The German owner is usually there; he asked us if the food was good. We’ll see.


Juned ordered crispy pork knuckles, aka crispy pata, the Emperor’s favorite. It was very lean, and very tasty, the skin was crispy enough. The gravy was love – there was a hint of wine with it. I prefer eating fried food less dippings and condiments, but you have to try the gravy. The Rockstar kept on warning the Meister about his blood pressure.


The Emperor ordered German potato salad. Contrary to the usual potato salad that we know, this one is mashed, and tastes sour. I did not like it much.


And the piece de resistance – Mickey’s Super Sandwich. It is about 2 feet long, stuffed with cold cuts, cheese, onions, tomatoes, pickles, some green vegetables, and mayonnaise. It is good for 4-6 persons. Personally, I find the bread too tough for me to bite and chew. For the Rockstar, it was surprisingly light for a sandwich, though he had to take out the tomatoes and the pickles. The Meister just kept on chomping, while the Emperor had to take home the half of his sandwich.

We stayed on for some stories (the Meister is a good story teller, he knows a lot). Went home late. Mom spanked me.

Plurk has its uses, if it works. You can post open invites for whatever. If someone replies, great. If none, too bad. Most of the time, it works. MLQ3 exploits that to the fullest.

So I was again surprised when I got a text message from Juned regarding another dinner plurk from MLQ3. This time, we were joined by Marcelle the Mentalist and Bernard the Habagat. Marcelle suggested this place at Balara called Mang Jimmy’s.

The traffic along C-5 to Katipunan made MLQ3 and Juned hungry (though ABBA and movie/TV themes kept us entertained), then we picked up the other two, and off we were.

Mang Jimmy’s is like a typical carinderia catering to students – it is near UP and Ateneo. It is not surprising that it was full of noisy students when we got there. So we ordered liempo, lengua, blue marlin (me thinks) and tapa – which Marcelle claims to be the house specialty.



Simply put, it was great. It was sweet, tender, and made of awesome. If you find it too sweet, add calamansi to counter the sweetness.

I found the liempo tough to chew, so I let Juned finish it. I like the lengua, but only one plate was ordered, and I was not in the position to complain. The fish was largely ignored. And Bernard was scared by Marcelle’s bended fork routine.

After that, we retired to Bo’s Coffee Club along Katipunan, where Marcelle explained some ideas about mentalism.

And to add more proof, as of this moment, there is another pending plurk invite for dinner. Let’s see where it goes.

What is Plurk for you?

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27
Jul

Krispy Kreme-y goodness

There has been much buzz about Krispy Kreme. I had tried it twice, given by officemates, and I must agree it was heavenly. And sinful.

One of the perils of my current work is that Krispy Kreme is just across the street. It is a temptation that I battle continuously, regularly. But one day, I gave in, no thanks to a friend who I had not seen in quite a while.

The Krispy Kreme at Ayala Ave. is friendly to laptop-toting sugar lovers. And there’s free WiFi also. The seats were comfy, though seating cafeteria-style at the glass window is kinda awkward, unless viewing people is your thing.

Anyway, I had ordered a Cookies and Kreme donut, plus the original Honey Glazed one. For drinks, I ordered their Original Kreme.


When eating at Krispy Kreme, always remember: moderation. You might get greedy, but trust me, on your second one, you would have enough. It’s that sweet. The donut was soft, and so nice to eat. If only it was not that sweet. I didn’t like the drink, it was sweet enough, but it reeked of chemicals. I will definitely avoid it the next time I get there.

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience. Now, if only (1) it is not too sweet and (2) it is not too pricey.

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22
Jul

Wat – Toki Wo Koete – Fantastic World

It’s been a while since the last JPop post. So here’s Koike Teppei and Eiji Wentz, aka WaT, singing Toki Wo Koete – Fantastic World. This is a large video, smaller version at the end of the post. I have included the lyrics in Romaji. An English translation of Toki Wo Koete-Fantastic World is also included below.

Toki Wo Koete-Fantastic World
WaT

Ima o ikiru koto ga
Mirai tsukuru no nara
Asu ni kakeru hashi ni narou
Woh woh woh

Asa no hi ni somaru machi
Hajimari o utau kimi
Kizamareru toki no naka
Kimochi wa kasanariau

Nagare yuku hito no nami
Sono naka de bokutachi ga
Meguri au kakuritsu ni
Omoi o hasete mita

Sure chigau hito sorezore ni
Taisetsu ni omou hito ga ite
Boku mo mata (boku mo mata) Kimi to iu(kimi to iu)
Kizuna ni deaetan da

Itsuka tadori tsukeru
Haruka tooi risou e
Kimi to tsunaida te wa hanasainai yo
Hashire! Toki o koete
Egao afureruhodo
Sekaijuu ga kagiyakidasu
Woh woh woh

Sugite yuku nichijo wa
Nareru ma mou nai kurai
Itsudatte ichido kiri
Yarinaoshi wa dekinai kara

Guuzen mo hitsuzen mo
Koeta you na meguri ai
Kimi wa mou kizuite iru
Sono toki ga ima nan da

Kokoro kara wakariau nante
Deki wa shinai to shitte iru kedo
Sou negau (sou negau) Boku ga ite (boku ga ite)
Kimochi wa tomerarenai

Ichiban daiji na mono
Sore ni kizuita toki
Kimi ga ima made yori mo chikaku natte
Hashire! Toki o koete
Egao afureruhodo
Sekaijuu ga kagiyakidasu
Woh woh woh

Itsumo wasurenai de
Itsumo tayasanai de
Kimi no egao ga sekai gaeru kara

Itsuka tadori tsukeru
Haruka tooi risou e
Kimi to tsunaida te wa hanasainai yo
Hashire! Toki o koete
Egao afureruhodo
Sekaijuu ga kagiyakidasu
Woh woh woh

English translation of Toki Wo Koete-Fantastic World by ndhaa

If being alive now
Creates the future
Then I’ll form a bridge to tomorrow
Woh woh woh

The morning sun colors the city
You sing praise for the day’s beginning
As time ticks away
Our emotions are as one

The crowd keeps moving on
Within it we try
To turn our thoughts
To the probability of meeting each other

Every person that passes by
Has someone dear to them
And I too have found
The bond that is you again

*Someday we’ll be able to reach
That faraway ideal
I won’t let go of your hand
Run! Last for all time
The whole world starts to shine
As if it’s overflowing with smiles
Woh woh woh

Each day passes by so quickly
We don’t have time to get used to it
We only get one chance
Because there’s no way to do it over again

Meeting you was more than coincidence
It was more than inevitable
You already know
That moment is now

I know it isn’t possible
To understand each other from the heart
But here I am, wishing for it
And my emotions can’t be stopped

When I realized
What was most important to me
You were closer than ever before
Run! Last for all time
The whole world starts to shine
As if it’s overflowing with smiles
Woh woh woh

Don’t ever forget it
Don’t ever stop it
‘Cause your smile will change the world

(Repeat*)

18
Jul

A comment on Arroyo and Roman Catholic Taliban re population control

Let me allow Owen Meany to express my opinion on the Gloria Arroyo-Roman Catholic Taliban’s stand on family planning:

AND LOOK AT WHAT WE CALL ‘RELIGION’: TURN ON ANY TELEVISION ON ANY SUNDAY MORNING! SEE THE CHOIRS OF THE POOR AND UNEDUCATED – AND THESE TERRIBLE PREACHERS, SELLING OLD JESUS-STORIES LIKE JUNK FOOD. SOON THERE’LL BE AN EVANGELIST IN THE WHITE HOUSE; SOON THERE’LL BE A CARDINAL ON THE SUPREME COURT. ONE DAY THERE WILL COME AN EPIDEMIC – I’LL BET ON SOME HUMDINGER OF A SEXUAL DISEASE. AND WHAT WILL OUR PEERLESS LEADERS, OUR HEADS OF CHURCH AND STATE… WHAT WILL THEY SAY TO US? HOW WILL THEY HELP US? YOU CAN BE SURE THEY WON’T CURE US – BUT HOW WILL THEY COMFORT US? JUST TURN ON THE TV – AND HERE’S WHAT OUR PEERLESS LEADERS, OUR HEADS OF CHURCH AND STATE WILL SAY: THEY’LL SAY, “I TOLD YOU SO!” THEY’LL SAY, “THAT’S WHAT YOU GET FOR FUCKING AROUND – I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO IT UNTIL YOU GET MARRIED.” DOESN’T ANYONE SEE WHAT THESE SIMPLETONS ARE UP TO? THESE SELF-RIGHTEOUS FANATICS ARE NOT ‘RELIGIOUS’ – THEIR HOMEY WISDOM IS NOT ‘MORALITY.’

THAT IS WHERE THIS COUNTRY IS HEADED – IT IS HEADED TOWARDS OVERSIMPLIFICATION. YOU WANT TO SEE A PRESIDENT OF THE FUTURE? TURN ON ANY TELEVISION ON ANY SUNDAY MORNING – FIND ONE OF THOSE HOLY ROLLERS: THAT’S HIM, THAT’S THE NEW MISTER PRESIDENT! AND DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE FUTURE OF ALL THOSE KIDS WHO ARE GOING TO FALL IN THE CRACKS OF THIS GREAT, BIG, SLOPPY SOCIETY OF OURS? I JUST MET HIM; HE’S A TALL, SKINNY, FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY NAMED ‘DICK.’ HE’S PRETTY SCARY. WHAT’S WRONG WITH HIM IS NOT UNLIKE WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE TV EVANGELIST – OUR FUTURE PRESIDENT. WHAT’S WRONG WITH BOTH OF THEM IS THAT THEY’RE SO SURE THEY’RE RIGHT! THAT’S PRETTY SCARY – THE FUTURE, I THINK, IS PRETTY SCARY.

(Taken from A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.)

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17
Jul

Yet Another Pork & Beans Recipe, Au Gratin

This recipe will shatter all misconceptions that everything cooked using a frying pan entails serious work. I assure you, once you have all four ingredients on hand, you’ll only spend ten minutes in your kitchen. Max.

Ever heard of pork & beans cooked with egg and topped with grated cheddar cheese? No? Ever tasted one? Then this is your lucky day! Took these shots last night while I was doing my late night dinner. Cost is under P50 if we apportion the cost of the cheese.

Here’s what you’ll need (aka, the Ingredients):

230g can of Pork & Beans1 Egg1/5 of a 180g block of cheddar cheeseground black pepper

The procedure is very simple.

Empty contents of a 230g can of Pork & Beans in a pre-heated frying pan.

Add 1 egg. Springkle mixture with a dash of ground black pepper. Stir thoroughly until egg is cooked with the sauce and the beans.

Take the pan away from heat transfer contents in a serving bowl. Top with 1/5 of a 180g block of cheddar cheese (or as much as you like) to taste.

Finished product (with more cheese than usual, I know). Best served hot. Serves one hungry bachelor. Grub away!

16
Jul

SC strengthens executive privilege

Those who are expecting this Supreme Court to overturn Neri v. Senate should wake up. It will never happen.

In a 10-4 decision, the Supreme Court upheld executive privilege, this time on the issue of JPEPA. This decision (not yet available online) comes right after the same court dismissed the case Suplico v. NEDA.

According to the news report, Chief Justice Reynato Puno dissented once again, citing that the public has the right to know.

So what is next for us? Will comment on this when the decision is online. As for me, JPEPA is a treaty, and all its annexes (except for security-related ones) should be open for scrutiny. So is this regime hiding something, again?

14
Jul

Integrity

Integrity is one of the words that is hard to define at first, yet it is a word that means positive, a value that most of us wanted to have. It is so abstract that we can’t define it on the first go.

M. Scott Peck defined integrity by contrasting it with the opposite. He cited an example called the Sunday-morning Christian (best exemplified by that Yano song, “Banal na Aso, Santong Kabayo”). He said that our brain is like a cabinet with a lot of drawers, and we tend to open a drawer only when needed. He also said that maintaining one’s integrity is hard because it is a conscious effort and most of the time it causes us pain.

Integrity means sticking to what one believes; it means walking the talk. This is hard, for it can lead to inflexibility. But sacrifice it, and see your principles crumble, see your reputation crumble.

You might say that integrity can’t feed you. True, but that’s the problem, actually. Why sacrifice integrity so that you can eat? Hence we see our politicians switching parties like switching underwear just to win elections; we see officials eating their words just to save their comfortable office seats; we see religious leaders discreetly abandoning their morality to increase their church’s coffers.

And the most unfortunate part of this: we are teaching our children the same.

12
Jul

Political bloggers are human beings, too

Most people think political bloggers are stiff, serious all the time, aloof, ivory-tower-dwelling persons who don’t know how to crack jokes, and who won’t laugh at any jokes. They don’t have the time for frivolous things; they only talk about politics and social issues (and the occasional gossip). The political bloggers have this reputation that somehow turns off (well, not really turn off) some people, and some even shout “nose bleed!” when talking with political bloggers.

But. They are human beings too. They laugh, they cry, they agonize, they take a bath, they eat, they visit the crapper when needed, they breathe the same polluted air.

And to prove that political bloggers are human beings, too, just invite them to videoke. Nothing beats a microphone and a loud sound system blaring YMCA.

So that’s what Ria Jose found out last night when we went to Red Box Greenbelt 3, together with Juned, Fritz, Poyt, Billycoy, Marcelle, Arpee (who went home agad, ander kasi), Markku (with girlfriend), and Jayvee (with girlfriend). Unfortunately for you (and fortunately for me), there are no incriminating evidence. Yet. Anyway, it was a fun night, which was definitely a concert by Marcelle, with occasional assist from anyone. And for the first time, I came home super duper uber late. Lagot ako sa nanay ko.

And thankfully, by mutual consent, there are no videos. Ay, meron yata. Yari ako. Huhuhu.

So there. No wonder a noted political blogger avoids videoke like SARS. I now understand.

10
Jul

Question of the Day: Dealing with price increases

I know everyone is reeling from the almost daily price increases, and most of us wee office workers have to scrimp and save to make ends meet. And with salaries going nowhere (unless you go some place else), our expense lists tend to be slashed – I mean, we slash the expenses that are not really important in order to fit the important ones in our budget.

For me, it is the transportation budget that gets the biggest hit – this item is directly affected by the weekly price increases in gasoline and diesel. I am now exploring the most efficient route to take going to and from the office, while at the same time I won’t be late when I go to work and I won’t have to suffer from the stress called MRT twice a day. It is actually a tradeoff issue, but as long as the budget holds, I am OK, I guess.

The first casualty in the list is entertainment. This is not really a big issue, since for this year, I had only seen one movie (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian), and I am not big into entertaining anyway.

So I have two questions for you:

1. How do you cope with the price increases?
2. What is the cheapest way to entertain nowadays?