second time's a bitch

Federer loses to Canas in Florida.This is RFed's second defeat against Canas in less than a month. The Argentine, ranked 55th in the world, showed the victory was no fluke. "I guess he played well against me both times, and I couldn't put him away unfortunately," the world number one was quoted as saying.

I like Federer a lot but I like him more when he loses.

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Photo courtesy of AP

happy ending

As a HP fan, I am very pleased to know that the Potter trio will graduate together after all. The threesome finalised their deals to star in the last two screen versions of JK Rowling's bestselling books.

Just last week, rumors about the actress playing Hermione quitting the franchise were all over the internet. I'm sure, Potterites are glad that the rumors turned out to be false. So yeah, we can all heave our sighs of relief now.

the other senatoriable

Who is a nuisance candidate?, the PCIJ asks. My cousin Lala recently joined the esteemed organisation as a writer/researcher. The said article is her third to date. You can read her previous works here and here. You can also access her personal blog here.

Just when you thought we've finally put the joke that is Eddie Gil into oblivion, comes a much bigger mockery. With Cantal's incredible achievements(?), he should've been president already. But we are not stupid. However, what's puzzling me is the inability of the distinguished(?) men and women of COMELEC to see that Cantal is more fiction than fact. If this absurdity goes on, why don't we give them a dose of their own medicine? I say let us humor them all by running for president in 2010.

Ano, call?

hermione to quit hogwarts

The actress playing Hermione in the Harry Potter movie series has yet to sign a contract committing herself to the last two film installments. Rumor has it that she's quitting. Apparently, she's tired of being known as that girl from Harry Potter.

Poor little thing is clueless. No matter what other roles she tackles, she'll always be known as that girl from Harry Potter. The sad thing about portraying a well-loved character in movies is that unless you're a big moviestar, the character will always be attached to you. It's like a stigma. Anyway, as a fan of the franchise, I hope it's not true. I like her as Hermione. And I can't wait for the Order of the Phoenix to come out.

i see hooded people

The Da Vinci victim: obsessed art expert took deadly overdose. This headline from today's issue of The Daily Mail left me distressed for a few seconds. I sat in my stool motionless, my eyes transfixed on the paper and my mind was flooded by memories from the night I finished reading Dan Brown's best seller almost three years ago.

I read the book non-stop on my journey from Manila to Sablayan in Occ. Mindoro. To say that the experience was gripping is an understatement. I was at the edge of my seat and it wasn't because of the rough roads of Mindoro. I don't write reviews because I'm just not good at them. No, make that because I can't write, period. My suggestion is for you to read it yourself so you can have an idea what I'm talking about. To sum it all up, the book left my mind racing.

There were too many questions. And the questions, instead of yielding answers, produced more questions. I was raised by pretty religous parents. All my life I went to Catholic schools. I even went to the mother of Catholic schools - the Royal and Pontifical, The Catholic University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas - to get my bachelor's degree. Everything that I believed was being challenged. My faith was under attack. Okay, I'm exxagerating. But it sure felt that way. I know it's only fiction. But my God was I shaken! As soon as I reached my parents' house, I went looking for the family's old Last Supper to scrutinise the painting. I also grabbed an encyclopedium and examined the other works of Da Vinci. All these happened before I even kissed my mother's hand; she telling me later on to mind my manners.

Anyway, I couldn't sleep that night. The information that I learned from the book made me feel privy to something dangerous, thus it should be kept a secret. I got really paranoid. Whenever I close my eyes, I saw hooded figures coming at me. I was shit scared! I remembered texting my cousin Lala (she lent me the book) and Sir Vic, telling them about my paranoia. Both of them humored me with their replies. I can't recall how I finally slept. But it was a long and peaceful slumber, I'm sure of that.

I've always known that my imagination is a bit mad. But today I just couldn't stop asking myself, was it really just my imagination?