It’s raining outside, but still the fireworks persists… just about how the rest of 2008 was for us… a healthy heaping of challenges that we rise up to.

An hour before 2008 gives way to 2009…i’m looking back, and feeling grateful.

Walang major upheaval sa buhay ko this year. Steady lang. If anything nga, there’s a lot more to be thankful for, than to be sorry about.

This year mas naging close ako to the rest of the family.

This year the Sven and Gbo Show debuted and looking for year 2! Yey.

This year i accepted responsibilities that i have been avoiding before. I thank those who trusted my abilities and i’m i didnt let them down.

This year i’m thankful for newfound friends. As some friendships goes on hiatus, im glad that i’ve met people who fills the void.

This year i got to indulge in stuffs i love. Pagbablog, writing stuff beyond what ny job requires. I got to read again.  I got into music again. I got into theater thanks to Gbo’s prodding.

This year i move on. 2007 was quite emotional for me, marked by major loses. 2008 must be healing because as i write this, thinking of some people’s names, no strong emotions rise. Wala lang. Hinahawi lang. Moving on lang.

And right now, looking back, one song strikes a chord. From a musical that seems to reverberate thru my life in portions…

Looking back, the low points of 2008 were made bearable knowing they would only pass… and the high points, more cherished because the would do the same. Fleeting. For the moment. For now.

And for now, as i’m surrounded by people who love me best… those right besidess me now, and those i know hold me in their hearts, i sit content. Let 2009 take care of itself. I will enjoy Now, for now.

Madrama and eksena. Ichinika na ni Edward kay Bella na isa siyang blood-sucking vampire living among humans in the cloudly as ever town of Fork.

Dinala ni Edward si Bella pataas… towards the forest canopy, beyond the covering clouds para ipakita kung ano ang totoong itsura niya in sunlight.

Ay ayan, sabi ko, matutunaw siya! Maaagnas! Magliliyab!

ano ang nangyari?

Nag-shining, shimmering splendid siya!

Nung una akala ko, pagtama ng sunlight sa kanya at nag-glow siya, ay! Pinagpawisan! Ansarap! Tapos super-explain niya na kusang nagtutwinkle-twinkle pala ang balat niya kaya bawal siyang makita sa sunlight, otherwise mabubukelya siya.

Hello! Mabubukelyang ano? Lulurking emo na gumagamit ng body make-up with glitter. How very metrosexual!!!

Hindi ako super excited manood ng “Twilight”. Slight lang. Pero may vampire, may mystery, may darkness. Sige na nga. Go. What made it special was Gbo and I were going on a  date with his youngest sister. Uyyy unti-unti na ba akong ipinakikilala sa pamilya? Very retail. Nung ipinakilala ko siya kasi sa family ko, isang bagsakan. Mula sa parientes, to sisterer, to pamangkins, to apo. Wholesale. Waherherher.

Keribels naman sa akin ang movie. Siguro as usual kasi, mababa ang expectation ko. Mas nadisappoint si Gbo, mabagal raw ang takbo ng story.

Kerbs. Sulit naman sa eye candy. Yummy ang daddy ni Bella (yung may bigote sa kaliwa pic). Yummy yung daddy ni Edward na mukhang jogets na pinatanda ng kulapol ng foundation na two-tones lighter na skin color niya. Hello.

Yumyumshaw yung kontrabidang si James na gustong lafangin si Bella, and not in a kiwal-kiwal nice way. At  kailangan talaga ang unang litaw ni sa movie, wala siyang pang-itaas. Spell gratuitious pec exposure naman. At yumburger with cheese din ang American indian na friendship ni Bella na si Jacob (played by the Sharkboy in that 3D movie pala, hay mababantay-bata aku!!!)

But of course ang papey of the movie is Edward, played by Robert Pattison who was the nachuging Cedric from that Harry Potter saga.

Overdose ng glutathione anyone? Magtampisaw tayo sa Lyna.Magugulong tayo sa Chinchansu! Tapos umemote tayo ng todo. Ewan ko pero parang kung nagkaanak sina Robert  Smith of The Cure at si James Dean, si Edward ang lalabas. Wag niyo nang itanong kung sino ang magbubuntis. Lech.

Either that o si Edward ay ang nagbinatang Edward Scissorhands. Naging busangot lang siya.

“Twilight” is very much unlike other recent movies for young audiences. While the other films contain contents that would appeal kiddies as well as the accompanying adults, Twilight is unabashedly geared directly to the tween market. Pangjogets siya talaga.

At maganda naman ang message to the teens… it’s cool to wait for the proper time to give “it” up. (parang parallelism ng virginity at vampirism kasi parehong may dadanak ng blood hihihi)

At sa ending, may parallelism din sa bible. As Eve tempted Adam with the apple, Bella tempts Edward with her leeg na (dapat) walang adam’s apple. Ewan ko lang kung anong message ang sinisend nun. Basta alam ko ang tawag kay Bella.

Pakakak.

Aside from some wrist pains, may chronic pains na rin ako sa forearm at sa siko. Dahil siguro ito sa kakalaro ng badminton without warm ups nor proper training so i’m sure malimali ang porma ng braso ko pag tira.

As the matter in fuck (wehe), slightly naborkot ako last friday dahil after the games, my siko was mainit to the touch. (lech very colegiala de ba?) Possible raw friction ito. Ayyy! Kulang na sa langis ang mga joints ko kaya nagpi-friction?

It could possibly be tennis elbow raw.

Watdat? Antanga ko naman na magkakasakit lang ako dahil sa sports, maling sports pa ang sakit ko. Tennis elbow dahil sa badminton. Chaka.

Kaya i tried playing tennis na lang. At least pag nagkatennis elbow ako, malinaw ang rason, delia razon.

It’s totally informal. Walang instructor-instructor pa. Pinahawak lang ako ng raketa, pinatuntong sa court, konting palo ng bola for serving kuno…. aba game na.

…At syempre nilampaso ako de ba?

So the next time i played, I tried to channel my inner Jankovic… kaso si Wierd Al ang dumating, hindi si Jelena.

I tried channeling my inner Djokovic… kaso naging big Djoke ang nangyari sa game ko.

Ayoko namang i-channel ang inner Venus o Serena Williams ko dahil baka ang lumabas ay outer Venus o Serena. Happy naman na ako sa itzu ko.

I grunted channeling Sharapova… I sliced backhand channelling The Fed…

I even kalikot my wetching to channel Rafa Nadal.

Ang score…6-0, 6-0, 6-0

But i persevered. The next week i managed to win one game the whole afternoon. The following week, i managed to win two. Kahapon being the fourth time, i was aiming for 3 games. Slowly but surely ang plano ko.

Lo and behold, nag-overachieve ako. Sa first set pa lang i won 3 games na. Sa second set i won 2 games. At sa third set, which went to a tie-breaker, i achually won the set.

Hurray, nagpi-pay off na ang taon nang pagpupuyat sa Wimbledon, Roland Garros at US Open telecast… may natutunan di pala ako sa kakanood lang…

… saka it kinda helped din na by the 3rd set, pagoda cold-wave lotion na ang kalaban kong about 20 years my senior na, at kakahinto lang recently sa kanyang 2 packs a day smoking habit. Keber. win ako wihihihihi.

Da who?

Trekkie and Kate Monster are characters from the Sesame Street parody-musical Avenue Q, one of the highlight of my theater viewing this year. Popular, in turn, is a showstopper song from the musical Wicked.

Ironically, Wicked is the goliath of a musical that the the relatively smaller Avenue Q beat in the 2004 Tony Awards race for best book, best score and best musical.

Enjoyed Avenue Q, can’t wait for Wicked to reach our shores.  Meanwhile…

Opening day ng “One True Love”…

….pero hindi yun ang pinanood namin nuh! So hindi ito review nun.

Ati and i made a date to watch “The Women” that night. Kaso wala na pala sa Gateway, and ayaw na naming lumipat so we jut settled for “Burn After Reading” na lang.

Yes, two vekveks, second choice lang sina Brad Pitt at George Clooney. Hehehe.

Looking at the cast sa poster ,na mas malaki pa ang font ng name ng artista kesa sa title, i surmised na ensemble movie itu and i was right.

Wala pa akong napapanood na Coen Brothers movie pero kinda trippy ang reputation nila for me. This movie proved that much to me. Kakalurki siya. Sa buong movie, iisang character lang yata ang sympathetic, supporting pa.

John Malcovich plays an low-ranking aging pathetic lasenggo CIA agent. Tilda,
his a cold bitch of a wife. Si George naman, a sexual predator and a sorry cad na friend ni John pero kakangkangan si Tilda. Si Frances, a selfishly misguided lovelorn woman na kakangkangan rin si George at gustong iblackmail si John. Friend ni Frances si Brad, a gymrat na wala lang, bonggang-bonggang tanga lang.

All the main characters are deliciously flawed and seemingly deliberately written, directed and acted to be dislikable and unsavory. The challenge was to make the audience still take to the characters given these personality defects.

I must say successful ang mga filmmakers dahil nakakainis nga ang mga bida, pero hindi sila nakakairita. You know what i mean? Yung nakakainis sila dahil nakakainis talaga ang ugali ng ng characters nila. Pero hindi sila nakakairita dahil you understand na kahit anu yung ginagawa nilang kaeng-engan, their personalities dictates it at hindi dahil sabi ng director para lang magkaroon ng twist. Basta. Yun.

For a comedy, ambigat niyang dalhin. May bodycount pa. Unlike other movies na may pagpapa-feel good ekyems na kung anu man ang nangyari, it changes the lives of the people around, sa movie’ng ito iba.

Dito nagkandaleche-leche na ang buhay nila, yung iba natigok pa tapos… wala lang. Ang reaction lang ng pinaka-bossing after being given the masalimuot ng
mga pangyayari…”What a clusterfuck…”. Yun lang. Ni walang
exclamation point. Minor irritation lang na may nagkapatayan.Walang redemption. Walang realization. Wala lang. Sa dami ng nangyari, it was slice of worthless live lang pala.

Nice wake-up call sa mga feeling important dyan sa paligid. In the scheme of things sa buong mundo, you never know… tae lang pala kayo. Eto inyo…

Last sunday isinama ko si Gbo sa tennis date namin nina Peter and Walter sa White Plains.

Ooooooo shala de ba? Nagtetennis ako sa White Plains. Bahagi ng pagpapanggap mayaman, bwahahaha. At sorry walang pangpictures dahil hindi naman yun ang topic nitong post na itu.

After ng game kunsaan nangarag si Gbo kapupulot kesa pagpumalo ng bola, we decided to drop by sa Bite Club along Katipunan. Ito yung nirerecommend ni Walter ng burger place na meron race burger na nagpapapanggap ng throw pillow.

We ordered the XXX burger na may tumataginting na 1lb ng beef, with gulaygulayan at tomatoes at drenched in cream cheese and mushroom sauce with potato wedges on the the side.

At pagdating ng order namin, daaaaaaay totoo siya. sinlaki siya ng fez ni Gbo….

Buti na lang, salamat sa derma ni Gbo, kasinlaki lang at hindi kasintextured ng burger ang fez ni Gbo.

Slightly kakorte lang, pero walang sesame seeds. Charos. Waherherher. Wabyu Gbo hehehehe!

Nilafang namin ito ng bonggang-bongga at syempre kailangang maghati kami para maubos. Grabe. Ansarap at mabigat sa tiyan which made us swear na yun na ang dinner namin that day dahil 6 pm na rin naman…

(…which of course meant na by 11 gutom na uli kami so lumabas uli kami at lumafang sa ng Dimsum sa Causeway Bay Resto sa Banaue. Light lang naman… beef balls, pork knuckles saka mafo tofu… sa kanin. Kasi matutulog na kami after…)

Seryoso yata ang mga indie filmmakers na gawing gayfilm capital of the work ang Pinas. There was a time that pinoy gayfilms were as rare as truthful pronouncements from Gloring.

Not anymore.

Linggolinggo yata may nagbubukas na pelikulang veklaan ngayon. and Walang Kawala is one of them

In fuhrness may effort naman ang movie to inject  timely issues sa pelikula pero parang na-imagine ko na ang usapan sa storyconference.

Produ 1:
Tara bakla gawa tayo ng movie. Yung Baklaan.

Produ 2:
Tungkol sa beaucon? Been there, been that na. Hindi kumita.

Produ1:
Gagah! Syempre hindi. Dapat mga mga lulurking nagrarayrayan. To death!!!

Produ2:
Ano kwento?

Produ1:
Kebs! Basta nga may mg lulurking nagrayrayan!

Produ2:
Keribels. Tara shoot na tayo.

Produ1:
Paano ang script?

Produ2:
Kebs. Unahin muna natin ang mga lulurking nagrarayrayan.

Lulurki:
Basta may bonggang moment ako ha.

Produ2:
Sino itechi.

Produ1:
Gaga yan si Produ 3. Magddatung rin.

Produ2:
Go ang mga lulurking nagrarayrayan with acting moment. Take 1!!!!

Charos lang syempre…. Pero Parang.

Cards on the table. Pinanood namin ang Walang Kawala para sa binuyangyang na pututuy ni Marco Morales. Yun naman kasi ang ibinebenta ng mga tabloids eh. Yun saka yung laplapan nina Joseph Bitangcol at Polo Ravales.

At hindi siya nagdisappoint. Trulili nga ang pina-hello na pututuy with umalog na jugeyla ng bilay on the side. I just wonder kung gaano kalakas si Manny Valera at napalusot ang mga eksenang ito considering sobrang gratuitious nung eksena. Pambenta lang talaga ng pelikula at walang itinulong sa pagsulong ng kwento.

Sobrang baba nga yata ng expectation ko sa movie na ito na since hindi siya todo-todong basura eh parang keribels na rin lumalabas. May attempt pa sila sa icorrelate ang buhay ng mga aquarium fishes sa buhay ng mga bida kaso dinaan sa dialogue. Ay!  Tele-aralan ng Kakayahan Aquarium Fish Raising Edition pala itu.

Regarding performance naman well si Althea Vega, nagpakita ng jugeyla saka nagmura. Si Marco Morales, even less, nagpakita lang ng pututuy. Si Joseph, bukod sa rayrayan with Polo, nagmacho dancing nang may poot. Naks!

In furhness to Polo may moments naman siya. Wag lang masasabay kina Emilio o Jean Garcia dahil nanglalamon ang dalawa. Jean did the suffering wife schtick effortlessly…. which is good AND bad. Emilio, for me, fared better dahil he managed to avoid the Bwahahaha Kontrabida School of Acting. He’s actually a good actor… saka teammate ko siya sa badminton eh hihihihi.

Bottomline question, is it worth the ticket price? Maybe not but as support sa film industry natin, sige na rin…

… tapos get ka sa quiapo ng DVD copy para marewind at freeze frame yung important parts at your convenience.

President na si Obama.

Ok.

Yun lang.

In fairness, dalawang araw rin akong tumutok sa CNN coverage ng US Presidential Election. Wala lang. Paki ko naman kung sino ang magiging presidente nila de ba? But the coverage itself made for engrossing infotainment. Hi tech! Ang ganda ng studio. Pati ang mga nagcu-cover, never nagmukhang ngarag.

Never pa akong nakatuntong sa Steytz but salamat sa CNN ngayon alam ko nang two colors pala ang lupa sa US…. mapula sa gitna tapos kulay blue sa gilid-gilid. Angganda!

Pero ang pinakamahalagang rason upang tutukan ko ang CNN coverage ay…the silver fox…

Yum-yumminess! Itsurang Calvin Klein model lang de ba? With brains!!!  May chismis of course na isang bekbek itong si Anderson Cooper. Hello. Kung nanay mo ay si Glori Vandebilt, parang tadhana mo naman yatang maging bekbek nuh.

At isang malaking carebare kung bekbek man ang Anderson nuh. Ganyan ang itsu, may brains tapos rich… magpapakachoosy pa ba ako? Wit na de ba? Gets na ng wasabi paste at kikoman, keber na sa chopstick,  dahil may i-habhab ko na siya ng hilaw! Anderson Cooper sashimi-habhab.

Ang fault lang na napansin ko is.. ano’ng klaseng eleksyon meron sa states?  Nakakaduda kasi. Biro mo maski magkakaiba ng time zone ang mga states across America, by the end of the day may presidente na sila! Anu yun? Mali ang ganun.

Dapat more than one week ang bilangan ng balota. Tapos dapat may reserbang balota sa likod ng bawat city hall na pang back-up kasi napakawalain ng mga ballot box ng election returns,di ba? Andaling mamisplace, parang cellphone lang.

At asan ang mga manila paper na gamit sa canvassing? Asan ang mga puyat na teacher? Asan yung mga botante’ng parang nagba-barhopping lang sa paglipat-lipat ng voting precincts?

Sad na masyadong delayed ang US kumpara sa atin sa election technology.

Charot.

I like theater.

I’m also a cheapskate.

So since theater tickets don’t grow on trees, and nobody is showering me with complimentaries, i get the cheapest seats. Which means sitting in theater siberia. Seats so far and high up away from the stage, you get altitude sickness and , yep, nosebleed.

Several of our monthly brunchpacker are slowly turning into a theater going bloc and Master Class was our latest excursion.

It stars Cherie Gil as Maria Callas, the opera diva…

So why is Cherie channelling Joan Crawford instead?

My bad, wehehehe.

I just wonder how Cherie feels spending 6 months getting into the La Divina’s skin and then just getting doing all of 5 performances for it. Di man lang umabot ng 1 performance for each month de ba? And career mode ang lola niyo dito. Hindi siya second-rate trying hard copy cat.

Cherie was at her best when trading barbs with her costars. She kinda lost me on her longish monologue at the end of Act One though. From the nosebleed section, parang nalunod siya sa dami ng words and just tried to wade across until the act ends.

She more than made up for it though, in her long evoctive monologue ending Act Two. Yun naramdam ko ang emote even from high up. Bravo.

Her costars, while serving as trampolines for Ms Cherie’s star turn, are quite oustanding as well but it was all-Cherie all-the-time, from the moment she stepped on the stage… with the exception of the cutie “stage director” character who was notable not for his presence but his virtual absence on stage. Bonggang-bongga ang exposure ng paparoo sa souvenir program pero sa actual play nagpasok lang siya ng footstool, tapos nag pasok ng unan, tapos nagpasok ng pitsel ng tubig. Yun na. Pero cute siya. Ahem. Ikaw na ang maging… wag na nga… hehehe. My bad uli.

Hindi nga ako busy.

Almost one month nang natapos ang last project ko at wala namang dumating na kapalit. Badminton pa rin lang nag pinagkakaabalahan kong gawin beyond the routinary writing job. Saka matulog.

Di ko pa nasisimulang panuorin ang mga nahiram kong dvd collection. Hindi ko pa napupuntahan ang gym na sabi kong pag-eenrollan ko once nagkaroon ako ng time. Hindi ko pa napupuntahan ang nag-offer sa akin ng free tennis lesson. Pati nga ang pagsusulat ng blog entry na ito ay A for Ayffort.

Antamad ko.

Whoever cares to, give me a big kick in the butt para magising uli ang diwa ko.

Go ahead…

Badidea Burr:
Pwede sa face na lang? Magkahawig naman eh.

Ishna:
Tarantado.