18
Mar

Annoyance of the Week: Hyperbolic news

I long for the day when news, any kind of news, are presented in a straightforward manner. As far as I know, journalism is not a branch of creative writing.

Pacquiao, Marquez settle ‘unfinished business’
THE entire nation comes to a standstill, again, Sunday when its favorite son Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao challenges Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez for the latter’s World Boxing Council super featherweight championship at the posh Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A nation stops while a favorite son wages war
THE nation stopped while a favorite son waged war in the ring, ready to die for his country in an effort to bring honor and glory and to pursue his dream of national unity.

For One Day, Filipinos Were United Behind Manny Pacquiao
Said Pacquiao, “This fight was not just for me, this was for the Filipino people.” For one day, he united them.

Pacman reigns anew!
The whole country celebrated the triumph of Filipino ring icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao against Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez of Mexico. Everybody was glued to their T.V. sets, radios and the Internet as Manny beat his Mexican foe.

Everything stops on Sunday for Pacquiao-Marquez fight
Daily routines, anti-administration rallies, crimes and military and police operations would come to a “halt” in the Philippines Sunday, as Filipinos watch their boxing idol Manny Pacquiao enter the ring for the title bout against Mexican slugger Juan Manuel Marquez.

Filipinos unite anew for Pacquiao, even for just a few hours
The Filipino people will once again be united, even for just a few hours, to support their boxing hero, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao as he battles Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez in their much-awaited rematch on Saturday night (Sunday morning in the Philippines).

12
Mar

If she was a lolcat…

JUS DIS MORNIN I GOT TEXT TELLIN ME 2 CHECK OUT SUM BLOG WIF JUICY GOSIP BOUT TEH SO CALLD “GUCCI GANG” CURIOUSLY ENOUGH I LOGGD ON AN READ ALL TEH GOSIP AN JUICY DETAILS. WHETHR OR NOT TEH STORIEZ WUZ TRUE I DIDN’T RLY CARE 2 FIND OUT NOR DO I CARE 2 BE INVOLVD. IT MAKEZ NO DIFFERENCE IN MAH LIFE HOO DID WUT 2 WHOM IT WUZ JUS LEISURE GOSIP READ AN I WUZ JUS WAN OV TEH LOTZ DA PEEPS HOO READ TEH BLOG BUT HALFWAY THRU I BECAME QUITE DISTURBD AS IT MADE ME REMINISSENT OV TEH NUMEROUS BLOGS I WUZ ONCE TEH HAWT TOPIC OV.

BEFORE I GO ANY FURTHR I MUST STRES TEH POINT DAT DIS AR TEH NOT BOUT MAH PREVIOUS ISSUE, BUT SIMPLY TEH POINT OV VIEW OV SOMEONE HOO HAS BEEN VICTIM OV VISHUS BLOGGIN AN BLOGGIN AS NEW COMMUNICASHUN MEDIUM. 2 DOSE OV U HOO R MAS/VOLUME OR DENSE (DAT’S TEH FYSICS FORMULA 4 DENSITY 2 DOSE HOO R CLUELES) AGAIN, I REPEAT DIS AR TEH NOT REACSHUN TOWARD MAH PAST ACSHUNS.

SO LET ME CONTINUE, FURST OV ALL I BLEEV IN DA FREEDOM OV SPEECH. BY ALL MEANZ SAY WUT U NED 2 SAY. UNFORTUNATELY 4 MOST OV TEH BLOGGERS WITHOUT ADVERTISIN U GIT PAID NOTHIN. IF IN FACT U DO GIT PAID DEN HOORAH 4 U. BUT BLOGGIN, ASIDE FRUM PEREZ HILTON AN TEH OTHR HOOJ TIEM BLOGGERS (U KNOE HOO U R) IZ 4 ME SLACKR JOB OR MEDIUM AN PASTIME 4 LONELY PEEPS 2 CONNECT. UNLES U’RE IN BLOODY SIBERIA OR IN GULAG PRISON, TRY STEPPIN OUTSIDE UR COMFORT ZONE AN TURN OFF DA LAPTOP OR PC, U JUS MITE FIND SUM REAL LIV PEEPS 2 TALK 2 INSTEAD OV TYPIN AWAY IN CYBR SPACE.

ON TEH FLIPSIDE BLOGGIN CAN BE GUD SOURCE OV INFORMASHUN AN GREAT WAI 2 EXCHANGE IDEAS. DIS I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE WHETHR IT BOUT POLITICS, FASHION, FUD OR WHATEVR TOPIC U CUD CHOOSE. FRIENDLY AN HEALTHY DISCUSHUNS R ALWAYS GREAT.

TEH DIFFERENCE TWEEN JOURNALIST AN BLOGGR IZ DAT JOURNALISTS HAS 2 ADHERE 2 CERTAIN GUIDELINEZ DAT GOVERN TEH FREEDOM OV SPEECH. AN WHATEVR JOURNALIST CHOOSEZ 2 RITE BOUT—BE IT POPULAR OR UNPOPULAR—WE DO NOT HIDE BEHIND AN ANONYMOUS NAYM AN R RESIGND 2 TEH FACT DAT WE HAS 2 TAEK AS MUTCH AS WE DISH OUT. HOWEVR, I SIMPLY DETEST PEEPS HOO PLACE VISHUS COMMENTS AN SLANDEROUS STATEMENTS IN BLOGS YET SIGN THEIR MESAGEZ AS ‘ANONYMOUS.’ IF U HAS SOMETHIN 2 SAY, DON’T HIDE BEHIND FALSE NAYM. IT’S JUS PLAIN COWARDICE OV U 2 DO SO. I HAS MOAR OV DEEP SENSE OV RESPECT 4 DOSE—HOWEVR UNPOPULAR OR VISHUS THEIR STATEMENTS R—HOO POST THEIR VIEWS WIF THEIR REAL NAMEZ AN MAK NO BONEZ BOUT IT. AT LEAST THEY STAND 4 SOMETHIN; I WUD RATHR TAEK IT FRUM THEM THAN TEH COWARDZ DAT HIDE BEHIND FALSE NAMEZ.

PERHAPS IT TEH FILIPINO CULCHUR 2 FOSTR BAKSTABBIN CUZ THEY NEVR MEEN WUT THEY SAY FACE 2 FACE. JUS HOW LOTZ DA TIEMS HAS U DEALT WIF CO-WERKERS HOO WILL SMILE IN UR FACE WHEN U ASK THEM 2 PERFORM TASK OR ENGAGE IN JUS PLAIN CONVERSASHUN, WHEN IN FACT THEY R QUITE UNCOMFORTABLE WIF TEH SITUASHUN AN R FORCD 2 DO WUT THEY ABSOLUTELY DETEST WIF SMILIN FACE. I GUES IT’S TEH KIND OV CULCHUR BROUGHT BOUT BY 300 YEERS OV SPANISH COLONIZASHUN. 2 WAN PARTICULAR BLOGGR OV SPANISH DESSENT BUT WIF AN INDIO FACE, DON’T ACT LIEK PENINSULAREZ AN QUOTE SPANISH WERDZ FRUM TEH GENERASHUN OV UR ABUELITA… JEEZ AN THEY CALL ME ELITIST. TEH SPANISH RULE IZ OVAR, GIT OVAR YOURSELF AN UR ESPAñOL RELATIVEZ HOO USD 2 HAS POWR… BUT I DIGRES (OOPS, MAH BAD…) LET’S MOOV FWD.

IT’S JUS LIEK ALL DIS HULLABALOO BOUT OUSTIN GMA. U DEPOSD ERAP IN EDSA DOS. NAO U’RE UNHAPPY WIF HIS REPLACEMENT. MAK UP UR MINDZ. (4 DA RECORD I’M NOT PRO ANYBODY I’M PRO WHATEVR LESR EVIL IZ OUT THAR). U CAN’T OVERTHROW WAN PRESIDENT DEN DECIDE U MADE MISTAEK WIF UR SECOND CHOICE. I’S NOT LIEK BUYIN GREEN HERMEZ BAG AN SUDDENLY DECIDIN, OOPS I SHUD HAS GOTTEN TEH BLACK WAN INSTEAD. UNFORTUNATELY DAT’S TEH KIND OV NASHUN WE HAS BECOME, BUNCH OV WISHY-WASHY WHINERS HOO WHINE BOUT EVRYTHIN UNDR TEH SUN AN FINDZ TEH BLOG SFERE 2 BE TEH NEW MEDIUM 4 WHININ. YEZ WE DO WUT WE HAS 2 DO AS NASHUN 2 GIT THINGS DUN AN STOP CORRUPSHUN AN EVIL (I’M ALL 4 DAT) BUT WE NEVR SEEM 2 BE HAPPEH WIF WUT WE HAS, HENCE TEH COMPLAININ AN WHININ. IT JUS NEVR STOPS.

I SUPPOSE I STARTD SUM KIND OV TREND BY ELICITIN NASTY COMMENTS AN REACSHUNS VIA BLOG CUZ OV MAH INDISCRESHUN. BUT IT SEEMS 2 BE COMFORTABLE MEDIUM 4 PEEPS 2 VENT THEIR ANGR ON JUS BOUT EVRYTHIN THEY DISAGREE WIF. I HAS BEEN CALLD AN IRRESPONSIBLE JOURNALIST SO WUT DOEZ DAT MAK U? IT EASY 2 HIDE UNDR TEH GUIZE OV ANONYMITY U CAN SAY JUS BOUT ANYTHIN U WANTS CUZ U HAS NO REPERCUSHUNS 2 DEAL WIF. IT’S EASY 2 HIDE BEHIND FALSE MONIKR ISN’T IT?

JUS THOT 2 PONDR ON… MAYBE I SHUD START AN ANONYMOUS BLOG AN RLY LET GO… BUT DEN AGAIN I DON’T WANTS 2 BE RESPONSIBLE 4 WURLD WAR 3 AN I WUD SLEEP MUTCH BETTR BEAN BRUTALLY HONEST IN UR FACE THAN HIDE BEHIND AN ANONYMOUS NAYM. WOULDN’T IT BE HILARIOUS IF I STARTD BLOG JUS 2 SHAEK THINGS UP AN GOT TON OV MONEY IN ADVERTISIN? IF I DOEZ DECIDE 2 DO DAT I THANK U ALL IN ADVANCE 4 INSPIRIN ME… I’M ALWAYS GLAS HALF FULL KINDA GURL ANYWAY…

Image by ICANHASCHEZZBURGER.COM, text by me
Translation by Speak LOLCAT

10
Mar

Annoyance of the Week: Cable to the sky of annoyance

There are two reasons why Sky Cable ads annoy me.

One, they keep on plugging their freaking promos and subscription plans, but they also keep on making the fine print – their promos and premium plans do not cover CAMANAVA/Rizal areas. Yeah, I live in Caloocan, and no, I cannot join their promos, nor subscribe to their hideously-priced platinum plan. What a way to lose potential premium customers. Not that I have any plans of paying top buck for sucky channels anyway (even if I could afford it, which I cannot).

And the most annoying thing – they keep inserting their freaking commercials on non-Sky Cable channels. It can be most annoying, specially if they manage to interrupt a program that you are watching. While they only insert ads when the program is on a commercial break, on several occasions their ads were longer than the commercial break.

What annoying things have you experienced with Sky Cable?

7
Mar

Climb every mountain err.. stairs

This happened two years ago, back when I was working at a place whose name is a misnomer. I arrived at the building where I was working a bit late than my usual time (that is, an hour before start of work). A lot of people were standing at the lobby, huddled in groups. Approaching the elevator, I found out why – all the elevators were offline for repairs. The building administrators assured in the memo released the night before that the elevators would be online within a hour.

I wasn’t able to read the memo beforehand, since I worked an every-other-day shift back then. And since it was just 10-20 minutes before shift starts, waiting was not an option. The fact that the office was on the 14th floor meant a long climb.

The climb was testament to my state of health back then. By the 10th floor, I was huffing and puffing, my legs refusing to take another step; there must be some credibility in the mind-over-body philosophy or else I might have given up at that point.

So I got in via the service stairs door. There was an RFID terminal there, so I tapped my card, and entered. I was sweating like a pig, and so I went to the toilet, using a roll of paper towel, and dried myself.

After that, I went to my little kingdom in the office, and surprised to see another officemate, who just arrived. She appeared as if she exerted no effort – she used the elevator.

And to add insult to injury: apparently, the RFID at the service entrance does not log the time when an employee enters. So of course I was “late.”

PS:

Since most buildings in the Philippines do not have a 13th floor, how many floors are there in a 30-story building?

5
Mar

Depapepe – Pachelbel’s Canon

Depapepe is a duo of Japanese guitarists Takuya Miura and Yoshinari Takuoka. Almost all of their recorded works are instrumental, using only two acoustic guitars. The video above is their performance of Pachelbel’s Canon – using guitars, of course. This performance is part of their single DEPACLA – Depapepe Plays the Classics. Excluding the outrageous hair, I think they are good performers.

1
Mar

Security breach

I went to Makati yesterday with two friends. After looking around, listening to speeches, gawking at faces and merchandise, and met some prominent personalities, we went to this strip mall to grab something to eat. The fastfood store has two doors – one outside, at the side walk, the other inside the mall. The mall entrance had a lone guard. The door to the fastfood facing the sidewalk had no guard, and you can actually get in the mall without undergoing security check.

That is what we call a security breach. Arbet, welcome to the Enchanted Kingdom of Gloria Arroyo.

24
Feb

Annoyance of the Week: Broken database

This week, I got two phone calls from telemarketers of this cash loans firm.

Day 1:

Male telemarketer: Hello, is this Mr. Arbert (sic) Bernardo?

Me: (oh no, not again). Yeah, speaking.

MT: Hi, sir, this is *name of telermarketer* for *name of company*. You have pre-qualified for a cash loan…

Me: Sorry, not interested.

MT: But why, sir?

Me: I don’t have a need for a loan.

MT: OK, thanks sir.

At least the guy surrendered easily and with grace.

The next day:

Female Telemarketer: Hello, is this Mr. Arbert Bernardo?

Me: (again?) Yeah.

FT: Sir, this is *name of telemarketer* from *name of company (same as yesterday)*. Please be informed that you have pre-qualified for a cash loan.

Me: Sorry, not interested.

FT: But why, sir?

Me: I don’t have a need for such a loan.

FT: Don’t you have any credit card bills to pay, sir?

Me: None, of course (though I have one, but it is on an installment basis).

FT: Can you recommend anyone sir? (This girl’s tenacity is annoying)

Me: Uh, no.

FT: If so sir, here’s my number *gives the number*.

Me: Ok.

FT: Thank you, sir. Bye.

The number’s forgotten, of course.

21
Feb

Want to sing

Love is better expressed through songs. Here’s one in Japanese.

Uta Utai no Ballad
Bank Band

ah, utau koto wa/muzukashii koto janai
tada koe ni mi wo makase/atama no naka wo karappo ni suru dake
ah, me wo tojireba/mune no naka ni utsuru
natsukashii omoide ya/anata to no mainichi

hontou no koto wa/uta no naka ni aru
itsumo nara terekusakute ienai koto mo
kyou datte anata wo omoinagara utautai wa utau yo
zutto ienakatta kotoba ga aru/mijikai kara
kiiteokure ai shiteru

ah, utau koto wa muzukashii koto janai
sono mune no mekakushi wo sotto hazuseba ii

sora ni ukanderu kotoba wo tsukande
MERODeI wo noseta kumo de tabi ni dekakeru

jounentsu no kanata ni nani ga aru ?
ki ni naru kara ikou yo
mado no soto ni kitakaze ga
udegumi suru BIRU no kage ni fuku keredo

bokura wo nosete/ melody wa tsuzuku

kyou datte anata wo omoinagara uta utai wa utau yo
dou yatte anata ni tsutaeyou
ame no yoru mo fuyu no asa mo soba ni ite
HAPPII ENDO no eiga wo ima imeeji shite utau yo
konna ni suteki na kotoba ga aru mijikai kedo kiiteokure yo,/ai shiteru

(English translation by The Runaway Cat. Disclaimer from the translator, and I quote: “I do NOT guarantee the accuracy of the lyrics.”)
Ah, singing
It’s not a difficult thing to do
Entrust your body to my voice now
Just empty your mind

Ah, if I close my eyes
I can reflect everything inside my chest
Things like the dear memories I had with you everyday

Truth
They can be found in songs
Even embarrassing words that I can’t say

However today I think back about you and
I wanna sing this song
There are always words I could not say
It’s short but please hear me, I love you
Ah…

Ah, singing
It’s not a difficult thing to do
It’s better that I slowly remove this heart’s blindfold

I catch the words that rise into the sky
Riding the melodies on a cloud
I go out traveling

What is there in this passion’s spot?
Because we can reach this mood, let’s go
With the north wind outside the window
We fold our arms as the wind blows on the building’s shadows
The never ending melody rides on us

However, today I think back about you and I wanna sing this song
Somehow I’m gonna let you know
Even on the rainy nights and in the winter mornings, I’ll be by your side
Now I’m singing with the image of a movie’s happy ending in my head
Although short, there’s such a wonderful word and I want you to hear
I love you…

13
Feb

Bitterness to the extreme

Got this via SMS at an ungodly hour (1:58AM) from an unknown source.

Lord,

Kung wala kayong ibibigay na ka-date sa akin ngayong Valentines…

Please…

Dapat lahat ng friends ko,

Wala rin!

Damay-damay na to! Wa ha ha ha!

I almost threw the phone away. Almost.