marunong ka bang mag-basa?

Jessica Zafra said:

"This is the idea: I’m going to campaign for Reading. I’m going to devote time and energy to persuading (and if necessary, forcing) people to read books. In my personal observation, there just isn’t enough reading going on in this city. Ever sit alone in a restaurant reading a book? Before long, someone’s going to come up to you and ask who’s with you. Are you waiting for your friends? Can they sit with you until company arrives? Because surely you can’t be sitting alone, reading a book by choice. How do you explain that the book IS the company?"

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It's a wonderful idea to campaign for Reading. Books tell us a lot of things. The past, present and future. Here, there and way beyond. They give us answers to Who, What, When, Where, Why and How? I myself did not get into it till my 20s. And when I did, I asked myself why I haven't started earlier on. Ask my brother and two sisters, and they will tell you how I always tell them to pick up a book. They don't have to be the classics. It would be great if it was a Steinbeck or Shakespeare. But we've got different tastes, I know. So it doesn't really matter, sometimes.

To Ms. Zafra, I wish you goodluck. Who knows? Perhaps one day, we all can get them brown asses inside museums.

ipiiiiiiis!

Weatherman Cockroach Freak out

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This is hysterical. And you thought Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was funny. Hah!

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ang paksa ng pasko ay paksiw

I am pleased to announce that I'm definitely going home for the holidays. I got my passport back and I'm thrilled to find it stamped with a resident visa valid for a few more years. Spending Chritmas at home is definitely worth looking forward to. I spent the last two Christmases here in the UK and it's nothing compared to what we have back in the islands. The scrumptous and rich food my family will prepare makes my mouth water just by thinking of it. To hell with eating in moderation. When you've got dishes like Dinuguan, Humba, Pansit, Pork Barbacue, Lechon at Paksiw and a lot more on the table, you don't eat enough. You eat more!!!!!

The missus and I are also meeting for the first time after her UK visit. Speaking of that trip, here are some photos we took in London.

game 1.0

A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading Douglas Coupland's newest novel, JPod: Microsefs for the Age of Google. The book follows a group of twenty somethings working in a game publishing company in Canada as they face issues that defines our era. The plot is a bit ludicrous, but nevertheless possesses clever and witty lines. And just like any other Coupland novels, the characters are interestingly strange albeit almost unreal. There are word and number games too. Which inspired me to do this entry.

The following is a list of 202 cities. Only 197 of them are World Capitals (official, de facto, administrative, legislative and judiciary included). Can you name the other 5 cities not supposed to be in this list?

Sucre * Sarajevo * Gaborone
Brasilia * Bandar Seri Begawan * Sofia
Bissau * Georgetown * Port-au-Prince
Islamabad * Koror * Panama City
Port Moresby * Asuncion* Lima
Manila * Warsaw * Lisbon
Doha * Bucharest * Moscow
Kigali * Basseterre * Castries
Kingstown * Apia * San Marino
Sao Tome * Riyadh * Dakar
Belgrade * Victoria * Freetown
Budapest * Tegucigalpa * Reykjavik
Jakarta * New Delhi * Tehran
Dublin * Baghdad * Jerusalem
Kingston * Rome * Tokyo
Bujumbura * Ouagadougou * Phnom Penh
Ottawa * Yaounde * St. James
Bangui * Praia * N'Djamena
Beijing * Santiago * Bogota
Brazzaville * Moroni * Kinshasa
Yamoussoukro * San Jose * Abidjan
Havana * Zagreb * Nicosia
Tirane * Kabul * Algiers
Astana * Amman * Nairobi
Pyongyang * Tarawa * Seoul
Andorra la Vella * Kuwait City * Luanda
Istanbul * Saint John's * Buenos Aires
Prague * Copenhagen * Djibouti
Santo Domingo * Roseau * Dili
Quito * Cairo * San Salvador
Asmara * Malabo* Tallinn
Suva * Addis Ababa * Bishkek
Riga * Vientiane * Rabat
Podgorica * Ulaanbaatar * Maputo
Rangoon * Windhoek * Yaren District
Amsterdam * Kathmandu * Wellington
Niamey * Managua * Abuja
Oslo * Muscat * Beirut
Monrovia * Maseru * Tripoli
Vaduz * Vilnius * Luxembourg
Skopje * Antananarivo * Lilongwe
Kuala Lumpur * Male * Bamako
Majuro * Valletta * Nouakchott
Port Louis * Mexico City * Johannesburg
Palikir * Monaco * Chisinau
Pretoria * Paris * Tbilisi
Helsinki * Libreville * Berlin
Banjul * Accra * Saint George's
Guatemala City * Yerevan * Athens
Conakr * Canberra * Vienna
Cluj-Napoca * Dhaka * Nassau
Baku * Belmopan * Manama
Bridgetown * Singapore * Bratislava
Brussels * Minsk * Honiara
Porto-Novo * Ashgabat * Kampala
Ljubljana * Washington D.C. * Port-of-Spain
Mogadishu * Abu Dhabi * Tunis
Bangkok * Montevideo * Kyiv
Lome * Funafuti * Vatican City
Nuku'alofa * London * Tashkent
Ankara * Harare * Hanoi
Port-Vila * Cape Town * Lusaka
Caracas * Madrid * Sanaa
Bern * Colombo * Manitoba
Bloemfontein * Paramaribo * Khartoum
Mbabana * Dushanbe * Thimphu
Stockholm * Damascus * La Paz

salvaged

I am re-posting entries from my previous blog. Why? Because I can.

Here goes some of them:

4 Little Indian Boys

The Brown Brother was eating Manggang Hilaw with guinisang Alamang in his room when somebody knocked on the door.

1st Little Indian Boy: "Hi, can I watch TV with you?"
Brown Brother: "Sure, you can. Come in."
1st Little Indian Boy: "Your room stinks."
Brown Brother: "Oh, that's because you're in my room."

---------------------

The Brown Brother together with the 4 Little Indian Boys are going out to the Club. Brown Brother decided to wear a bandana on his head because he's too lazy to put gel on his hair.

2nd Little Indian Boy: "Brown Brother, you look like a ninja. Hiya! (Imitates Bruce Lee and then laughs) Where is your sword?"
Brown Brother: (Obviously annoyed) "Didn't you notice? I just shoved it down your arse!"

---------------------

The Brown Brother has an ear piecing. As it is not allowed to wear earrings at work, he only wears it during his days off. One day, he was sporting his jaunty silver earring when the 3rd Little Indian Boy noticed it.

3rd Little Indian Boy: (Looking surprised) "Brown Brother, you have a hole in your ear?"
Brown Brother: "Yeah, they're called auditory canals."

---------------------

The Brown Brother was eating his lunch, while the 4 Little Indian Boys were talking about something in their native tongue. The Brown Brother doesn't have a clue what they're talking about but he reckons the topic is about Famous Indian Boys or Girls.

4th Little Indian Boy: "Brown Brother, name a famous Indian Boy or Girl."
Brown Brother: "Gandhi." (Directed to the 3 Indian boys) "Name a famous Filipino."
Three cars passed.
4th Little Indian Boy: "Abu Sayaff!"

The Brown Brother finishes his meal and walks up to his room feeling defeated.

of rides and airplanes

I am scared of heights. Actually, make that petrified! I cringe whenever I watch people doing stunts up in the air on Fear Factor. I could not bear to look down the ground even if i'm only on a 4 feet high platform. Though I wouldn't go too far in saying I have acrophobia, my problem with heights is pretty serious.

Having said that, I could not explain my fascination about flying and rollercoasters and rides that defy gravity. Whenever I'm on a plane, I always ask for a window seat. I love to see the clouds kiss moutain tops. And to look on what's on the ground. Cars, trees, houses, the ocean, people. It makes me feel like Big Brother watching everybody. hehehe!

And yeah, rollercosters! I've been on a few. Manhattan Express and X-Scream in Las Vegas; Jurrasic Park in Universal Studios; Texas Cyclone, Batman the Escape, Serial Thriller, Viper, Dungeon Drop in Astroworld Houston and Master Blaster in Schlitterbahn. Just today (18 July 2005), I rode one of those Bungee rides (click here for the photo). I was with friends in Hounslow for the 21st Annual Barrio Fiesta, which I have to say is the biggest gathering of Filipinos outside the homeland that I've seen. It was brilliant! The ride, I mean. I must concede, that I was terrified just before I went into it. But as soon as I shot up 100 feet in the air, it was the most amazing thing. The rush it gives is indescribable. I would do it again.

Mad, maybe?

push

the more you think about it;
the most likely you're not going to do it.
be bold.
go.

sa-PAC MAN

Eh kaya naman pala nag-alboruto si Manny eh. Ikaw ba naman ang makunan ng ganitong picture, di mo pa patumbahin 'yung kalaban?

Pambansang Kamao

Mabuhay ang Pilipino!!!

Gringo

The news of Gringo's capture reached me several hours late. Blame it on geograpy and time difference. While Manila was abuzz about the arrest, I was buzzing in sleep dreaming of a river. The former military officer and ex-senator has been hiding from the law because of his alleged involvement in February's failed coup attempt.

One of the first on his side was opposition leader Tito Sotto. According to him, Gringo is still likely to run for senator despite the arrest. He hasn't been convicted, he added.

Coup d'etat is practically Honasan's middle name for crying out loud! My judgments maybe harsh and hasty, but there is no doubt in my mind he had a hand in that coup. All we have to do is look in the past. Does anybody remember the failed coup attempts he masterminded against the Aquino government? Why he wasn't punished for that, I don't know. I've read somewhere he was given amnesty, a big mistake! The guy, bless him for not recognising the dummy presidency, is as evil as that buck-toothed gnome in Malacanang. Power obtained through violence is dangerous. And Honasan's hunger for power is clearly evident in the violent and deadly ways he's resorted in the past.

If we Filipinos want the government to change, we should shun people like Honasan in the coming elections. We shouldn't go around supporting anybody just beacuse they're against the administration. I wish our election is like that in the States when people vote for the party's principles and agenda not because they're pogi and mukhang mabait.

I wish Pinoys will vote for those who won't give us money but those who'll give us jobs. Candidates who will offer a quality education and decent healthcare not patronage and favors. People who will care for the environment and not their own backyards. Sana may mga taong ganoon. At kung meron man, sana iboto natin sila.