the mungo conspiracy

Episode IV: A new hope, was how the Star Wars epic journey began. Not Episode I, which will come much later on, but Episode IV. And as the opening intro-credits rolled out into the infinite nothingness of space, the camera panned to an empire battle cruiser chasing after a small rebel ship. We are, without any warning, right smack in the middle of it. The genius that George Lucas was, Star Wars was a recognition that life's real stories rarely begins neatly with a slow opening where the plot is set-up and the main characters introduced. This is where we find ourselves entering a new decade, with renewed hope. For we have, by way of ballot, already done the hard part. Daunting tasks still lay ahead of us, of course. The old empire still casts a mighty dark shadow and the war not yet won. And we can not, as the Jedi Master Yoda would put it, just try. For in real life, you do or you do not, there is no try. Here's to new beginnings. To new hopes. To ...

It's nearly that time of year again, so let me go ahead with my own predictions. Both Unang Hirit and Umagang Kay Ganda, will have at least one new year episode with psychics doing their thing. How cliche can you get? I am hoping against hope that at least they would give it some twist. How about inviting back those who've made predictions for 2010 and scrutinize their accuracy? Or how about, just thinking out loud here, these supposed news programs get financial experts that can make predictions on the business prospects on the upcoming fiscal year? But that would be hoping for too much, I guess. Peddling stupidity is the current norm. And I predict more of the same stupidity for the coming year.

Another "expert" noticed yet another "error" on the new peso bills. Whale sharks are not exclusive to the Philippines, so went his logic, and therefore should not be included in the peso bills. Huwaaaaat? How's that again? Where in the new 100 peso bill did we even lay claim that we owned the exclusive patent to Butandings? Hmmm... volcanoes are not exclusive to the Philippines, get rid of that. People gathered together in a crowd, not our invention, get rid of it. And oh, we should tell Canada to change their flag since maple trees do not grow exclusively in Canada. We once had the coconut tree on our coin, that was a big mistake! Who the duck are these people? They're all coming out of the woodwork all of the sudden it seems. All laying claim to their 15 minutes of fame. Well ok,  great. You got your names in print. Go clip that from your Inquirer, save it, and take it with you to your grave. Congratulations! You are now famous. Whoever the duck you a...

I don't know exactly how it works -- the governing rules, the rhyme or reason to it all. But tomorrow is a holiday by reason of Holiday Economics. So happy Valentines Day everyone.

Merry Christmas... happy new year! ------------------- Overwhelmed by the last minute Noche Buena grocery shopping I've decided to take the supermarket owner's association's advise and do it earlier. Next time, I'll do the grocery shopping December 24 -- one year early.

image from here Critics were furious as they continued to discover more errors on the new edition of the Philippine peso bills. "I met Ninoy Aquino when he was still alive. He was not monochromatic. He was three dimensional and he was not that small!" cried one critic. How the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas have committed this oversight is simply outrageous. Surely they've seen video footages of Ninoy and Cory. And I am sure, even the long dead heroes are themselves not monochromatic and two dimensional. How can we trust the banking system now when the Bangko Sentral apparently can not accurately depict known facts? While the long dead heroes are subject to debate, it is common knowledge that Ninoy and Cory were full-sized three dimensional non-monochromatic people. How could they have done this? And to think that they would commit this grievous error now when the son, Noynoy, is the president. How things have changed simply because of a new president. Back ...

If not Hubert and company then who? This is the question that's bugging the minds of all those old enough to remember the heinousness of it all. One nondescript family living their quiet middle-class lives slaughtered in one night of sheer madness. No rhyme. No reason. Just pure evil. That mainstream media has forgotten how it was so, comforts no one. Least of all, the father, Lauro. For now the man found guilty beyond reasonable doubt by both the lower and appellate courts can buy new pants in a mall. And media will be there to cover it. It has become just another fluff story, relegated to the same category of Ding Dong professing his eternal love for Marian. My heart bleeds, for justice has not been served. And apparently, will not be served. The Supreme Court has spoken. And that is the end of it. Crime and no punishment. Not from the Philippine courts, anyway. There is still, however, the Most Supreme Court of all. The final Arbiter from Whom we can not lie. No more al...

Almost totally lost and ignored in the din of the recent Supreme Court decision to acquit Hubert Webb and company was the acquittal of Hayden Kho in the case filed against him by Katrina Halili. Senator Bong Revilla was quick to comfort the fallen actress with the statement that all women suffered this injustice with Katrina Halili. Hmmmm... really?  Maybe. But with some slight modification on that statement please Honorable Senator. Let us not forget, she willingly went to bed with Hayden Kho -- whom she knew was then the boyfriend of her erstwhile BFF and sponsor, Vicki Belo. So she was the kabit. Please. This is an injustice shared by all of the kabits. I saw the video, I am not going to deny it. She enjoyed it. There is way too much injustice going on in the world right now. I have no tears for this martyr who's only sorry she got caught. DESERVED.

A few days back I posted, tongue firmly in cheek, that one of the Wikileaks new revelations is that North Korea demanded that fresh episodes of "Friends" be aired. Well, the truth, apparently, is way stranger and funnier than fiction. Click on the link below. North Korea campaigned for Eric Clapton performance, cable reveals  From David de Sola, CNN  December 12, 2010 5:30 p.m. EST

Remember how a few weeks back I blogged that I was getting a little pissed with Facebook for constantly asking me "what's on your mind?" Well I guess my good friend, Mark Zuckerberg, is a secret conspirator and reads my blog. I don't want to take full credit, but notice how Facebook has done away with the constant nagging. It's still out there somewhere, but no longer so in your face. Jejemons can still document every pathetic detail of their jejelives if they so choose. So what's on my mind right now? Relieved. Thank you Mark. Now, if only I can get that stupid 8070 lyric manalo promo to stop texting my Smart phone, life would be just perfect. Believe me, I never registered for the darned stupid promo and even naively tried the stop option which only made it worse. The friggin thing texts me twice a day now. Somebody do something and make it stop! Memo to Senator Juan "Gusto ko happy ka" Enrile: I am not happy. Please draft a law that would p...

They couldn't have picked a better name, homeless and unloved, these Azkals were never given a chance and was considered by the experts as merely a warm-up match for the traditional footballing nations in Southeast Asia. Practically a bye for teams Singapore, and of course, the defending champion and host Vietnam. So pathetic has been our previous participation in this tourney, once named Tiger Cup now renamed AFF Suzuki Cup, that the betting is not whether we will win or lose, but by how much we will lose. And lose we have mastered, by as much 13. That's akin to losing by 200 points in basketball. We are not even supposed to be in the tournament, let alone tie or win a match. But saling-tuta or not, these crazy bunch would dare go. No fear of failure. Embarrassment be damned. They will do their darnedest -- for love of country and the glory of the game. And when they tied Singapore (1-1),  embarrassed the host nation Vietnam (2-0), and secured a...

Eight out of every ten Filipinos support PNoy's administration according to the latest survey. This is in spite of the "experts" continuing their attack on the "amateur" PNoy government. And who are these "experts"? One congressman whose infamy includes getting all of congress to work overtime to pass the (failed) cha-cha initiative when a super typhoon was ravaging his constituency. One senator who chaired the blue ribbon committee chairman and saw NOTHING at all wrong in the nine years of PGMA's reign. These are the "experts" leading the charge. With apologies to the kuliglig drivers, who want nothing more than a means of livelihood, but these experts are one with them in mentality. It matters not, whether a policy will benefit the many, or if it is against the law or common sense. What matters is "Eh ano naman ang sa akin? Ano ang pakinabang ko?" Utak kuliglig. Walang pake kung tama o mali, basta ang kita ko ang ...

Ask me if I am proud of my country and I will tell you that you are asking me the wrong question. Am I proud that 25 years after Edsa the Marcoses are back in power? Maybe not the presidency, but they are definitely back. Am I proud of our PNP? The bus episode would have been really funny except that Bitoy didn't reveal himself in the end. Am I proud that our government is known in the world as one of the most corrupt? So corrupt that our chief export is now manual labor? Am I proud that hunger exists at all in a country so blessed that kamoteng kahoy will grow anywhere one would care to stick a cutting in the ground and not even bother to take care of it? Am I proud that a despicable noon-time tv host is allowed to resurrect his career on primetime? And that our local televiewing choice has all but been reduced to either that despicable host or a Koreanovela, or worse, a local remake of a Koreanovela? I can go on and on with this list. But I'...

my latest Facebook update It's the internet equivalent of "I have to tell you something, but first promise me you won't get mad."

from the Inquirer.net This is not a joke. The magic number for the RH Bill is actually 69.  No, read that correctly, 69 is not the suggested natural method of birth control. That's 69 percent of the population favors the RH bill.  Apparently, the people of Pulse Asia didn't go to high school. I would have rounded off the number to 70, just to avoid the confusion.

10. In 2004, the US briefly entertained invading Argentina when the Argentines won the Olympic basketball gold. 9. Secret sauce? Ketchup and mayo. 8. Barack Obama not really black, only half black. 7. Citing national security, the CIA has hacked into Santa Claus' list. 6. Kim Jong Il, in exchange for ceasing their nuclear program, demands that fresh episodes of "Friends" be aired in North Korea. 5. Al Gore actually thought he invented the internet. 4. There are only 48 stars in the US flag. No one has just bothered to count. 3. Elvis is still somewhere in the building. 2. Victoria's Secret? She's a tranny. 1. US Secret Service codename for George W. Bush? Dumbass.

photo from here Should I feel ashamed that I am a race traitor? Am I the only one? Just once, I'd like to see the bull win the fight. Hey, in my defense, it's not like these matadors don't have it coming. Those tight pants alone deserve a good goring or two.

Militant student organizations have been protesting since Lapu Lapu killed Majellan (they figure, they would have done better using diplomacy). They will continue to protest... whatever it is government decides to do. Here's a list of what they will protest next. 1. Not enough visual aid in the RH Bill. 2. Un-fix the FPIC fuel line. Free diesel in Makati! 3. Regulate the oil industry. Oh wait, didn't we protest to deregulate that some time ago? 4. Not enough pork -- in pork and beans. Needs government regulation. 5. Smart Gilas basketball team sucks. 6. Joma Sison dies of natural causes -- while vacationing, err, on self-exile in the Netherlands. 7. Somebody hit the lotto jackpot already... the suspense is killing me. 8. Congressman Emmanuel Pacquiao should have gone for the kill and knocked out Antonio Margarito. Come on Manny, he would have lost an eye. He wouldn't have been killed. 9. The presidential comb over. 10. Free tuition fee in all state univ...

Hey, it's now less than a month before Christmas. Done your wishlist for Santa and gift-list for your ina-anaks yet? Or are you one of those hypnotized by SM's Christmas carols (since early September) and have actually started your holiday shopping 3 months ago? That's all well and good, I guess. I've nothing against tradition. Let me remind, however, in the holiday rush, not to forget whose birthday it is. You might want to include Him in your list. So what's your gift to Him? It's not Xmas, after all, it's CHRIST mas.

KFC Double Down sandwich So KFC has recently announced that it has made a breakthrough in sandwich technology -- a bread-less meat sandwich. Imagine that!  But questions:  1. Is this still technically a sandwich?  2. Was the UN and/or NATO informed about this new development?  3. Is this not a violation of a charter in the Geneva convention? Notice that in the TV ad launching this new product, you have MEN doing the spiel. But of course, KFC is no fool. This product is an action movie without a believable plot. A sports highlight reel without the boring parts. This is sex without foreplay. In other words, MEN will love it! And yes, I am now curious enough to want to try it. :)

ad from Facebook Found another brilliant advertisement on my Facebook this morning. This must be from the same folks who created the videoke scoring mechanism that comments on mediocre efforts as "just a fun!" For the love of Shakespeare and all that is proper and correct, I really don't mind that that copy is so uninspired, but at least get the grammar straight.  I fear that the internet is killing English. Check out the Yahoo news articles. Either the standards have been lowered to meet the "on-time" demand of the new medium, or these people are using an automatic translator yet to be perfected. Either way, it's just wrong. Is jejemonism  now a world menace?

Say what you will about the multi-titled San Antonio Spurs, but BORING should no longer be the adjective attached to them. Desperate housewives much?

First thing I'm gonna do when I win the half-billion-peso lotto jackpot is buy myself a tricycle. That way I no longer need to pay the exorbitant 14 peso fare for the short trip from the wet market to my apartment. --------------- "Pilipinas Kay Ganda". Clearly we have geniuses running the Department of Tourism. These people deserve to work in government. --------------- "Willing Willie" will wilt, I predict, under the intense competition on the prime time slot. Sure, the show posted big numbers when it opened. But that is an aberration. Nothing more than curiosity for a new thing. I am giving the thing 6 months. What the geniuses at TV5 do not understand is, for households with only one or two TVs, once the amo gets home, the chima-ah no longer holds the remote. This is what prime time competition is all about. If I have to explain to you why the chima-ah audience is crucial to Willie's success, then forget it, you will never understand. --...

Far too many loosers on the internet right now who can't even spell loser. That's either a failure of the educational system (again) or not enough right fitting clothes in the world.

The Philippine National Police recently announced that Santa Cops will not be patrolling the malls this Christmas season. Greatly disappointed. I was so looking forward to that. Which reminds me. I believe we need at least one more punctuation mark. Aside from periods, question marks, and exclamation points, we need one that indicates sarcasm. ------------ Much respect to Antonio Margarito. Mexicans should be proud of his effort. "I am Mexican, we fight to the end." was his only reason why he didn't quit when the final result of his fight with Manny was no longer in doubt. Floyd Mayweather should learn a thing or two about COURAGE from this man. ------------ Getting a little irritated with Facebook at the moment. The thing keeps on asking me "What's on your mind?" every time I log in. ------------ Curious, I checked out (founder of Facebook) Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook page after watching the movie "Social Network". Cool. Was a litt...

photo from here And so it was, as every expert had predicted, a mismatch. And no, the mismatch was not for the bigger man. All of 20 pounds heavier and 4 1/2 inches longer, the tale of the tape was not enough to sway the expert opinion Margarito's way. And rightly so, for once again Manny Pacquiao proved that he is truly in a class all his own. It was all over but the shouting as early as the fourth round when Manny drew blood -- a cut on Margarito's face that would eventually grow into an ugly mess before the final bell mercifully ended the one-sided slaughter. If you watch closely the latter rounds, you will find Manny tapping Margarito in the face and no longer really punching the taller/heavier Mexican champion, figuring he had already inflicted enough damage on his totally out-classed foe. There was simply no way Margarito could have won this fight. He can not even find the elusive Manny inside the ring. By the time Margarito can load up for a super-welterweight...

Two days straight now and the Inquirer headline is nothing but Pacman news. And since when did the number one broadsheet in the Philippines become a sports daily? I didn't get that memo. And mind you, the fight is not until tomorrow. So expect more of the same tomorrow -- maybe until Monday. Well, ok, I got my (free) ticket (to a live viewing in a sports bar) booked for the thing since last Sunday. So I am not going to be a hypocrite about it -- I am just another Pacman fan. And yes, I guess we should all be thankful that something so inconsequential is hogging the headlines right now. I'll take this over some lunatic taking hostage a tourist bus any day. No news is still good news. So let me dip my cup in the same kool aid as everyone else and just say, GO PACMAN!

Like the proverbial turd that simply won't flush, Willie is back -- and back with a vengeance. And on prime-time too. WTF?! Reading the Inquirer news today , I've come to the sad conclusion that we are doomed to elect this idiot as president someday, or at least senator, given that Willing-Willie's rating is fast catching up to 24 Oras -- the top rating hardcore news on the same prime-time slot. So ok, even if 24 Oras is more tabloid than broadsheet news. Whatever. News is still news. How can the average Juan and Juanna dela Cruz prefer something totally brainless over information that concern their lives? Are we, as a people, all brain-dead? Wake up people! And shame on you TV5! Pandering to the least common denominator instead of catering to our greatest common factor. May you all suffer perpetual boils on your asses until you rid your airtime off this scourge to our collective psyche. As for GMA-7, I am giving you permission to fire all your cannons to fight t...

Manny Pacquiao uses Head and Shoulders And thanks for sponsoring my blog Manny. I shall see you Sunday! Good luck.

This is not an abandoned blog.  I'm just real busy right now with, among other things, making my new apartment live-able (I moved back to the city last Wednesday). It's nearly there and the SO is very happy about it. But I need to fix everything by tomorrow because I will again go on a road trip, break of dawn, Tuesday morning. Be back Thursday or Friday. Then there is the Sunday whole-day thing with the new client. But hey, it's not so bad. Meeting will begin with the Pacquiao-Margarito fight and will end with the Formula race to be shown live in one of those plush Makati sports bars. Free food and drinks, yey! And yes, part of my new (second) job is to watch live sports coverages. Be blogging about those soon. Till then, I will let Zynga carry my blog. Believe it or not, I am still getting my hits if only because of Zynga. Who would've thunk it! :)

10 millionth chip Just made my 10 millionth chip last night (actually around 1 am this morning). So for all those who'd been harassing me that I don't deserve the title Zynga Poker Champion because I can't even get to 10 million, here's the proof! I was 6.8 million early this week, 8 million yesterday, 10 million today. And only because I've temporarily suspended giving chips to buddies for the week and not once played at the lower tables to chit-chat and play with buddies (miss me much buds?). Of course, this only means that I need to get to 50 million next!

Someone ought to tell Ms. Carmen Mislang that she is serving under the wrong president. This is not the president that spends 1 million pesos on dinners. This is the president that eats hotdogs from sidewalk vendors. Who crowned this social-climbing female dog, queen of the Philippines and thinks she can now tweet that the wine served in a state dinner sucks? Ms. Mislang, if you are going to post anything on a social networking site, go post pictures of yourself on Facebook doing model-like poses. That ought to be a good for a few laughs. But to INSULT another country because your royal palate was displeased, then PLEASE do the country a huge favor and stay home. Go duck yourself with the collection from your expensive wine cellar. No one cares. Paalaala sa lahat ng naninilbihan sa gobyerno, may kasabihan sa Tagalog, ang BANGAW kahit pa nakatuntong  na sa kalabaw, BANGAW pa rin. Where does PNoy get all these people? (read for details)

Allergies. I am lactose intolerant. Not too bad though, I can get away with cream on my coffee, even eating some ice cream. But anything more than a small amount would give me indigestion. I am allergic to dust, pollen, and most alcohol based perfumes. They give me sneezing fits. Alcohol based perfumes is of particular annoyance when I am in confined spaces. And because there are people who insist on using these perfumes, knowing full well of my condition, it can be said that I am allergic to some people. I am allergic to strong detergents, adhesives, and even diesel fumes. When I wash clothes (even if I use the washing machine) my hands get itchy to the point that it becomes flaky and it bleeds. I used to be a video editor. When I was still using the linear editing machines, I needed to constantly label and re-label tapes -- a simple enough task if not for the fact that it required me to touch adhesive tapes. That was a pain. I used to wear an earring. I can not wear...

Only those who've thirst to the point of pain can truly appreciate a glass of water. Be grateful for the boring day.

A Toyota fan. I am the fourth son with three older brothers and one younger sister. I am tempted to say that I was my father's favorite, but that might start another debate between us siblings. So, let me just say that I was my father's pet. When my father was still assigned at the Theft and Robbery division of the Western Police District, I believe he used me as a convenient excuse to get away from the Sunday chores of filing paperwork for the week and manning the store. Sundays should have been rest day anyway, so my Dad did all the paperwork at home and would go to the station with assignment done and me in tow. "Hey I'm taking my kid to Luneta later!" was often his excuse to his colleagues whenever asked if he can man the store for the day. So Sundays was Luneta day for me and my dad. He wasn't making much money at the time and Luneta was free. After Luneta, we'd go to Araneta Coliseum to watch basketball. I don't know how much tickets cos...

one year old me Near death experiences: Three times I nearly died before I turned 9. The first one was when I was around 3. An electrician was doing some work in the house and I don't know how it happened but I got electrocuted. I don't remember the event. But I have some faint memory of having my left hand in bandages as it was badly burned. My mom attributes the event for giving me superior intelligence. The spider-bite gave Spiderman his powers, electrocution gave me the powers of math even before I started school. When I was 6, me and my brothers went along with an uncle who had this contract to build a pier in Iligan. Naughty me fell into the very deep waters and nearly drowned. I remember being very calm about it. So this is how it is going to end. This is what it feels like to die. A cousin rescued me in time though. But not soon enough that I was traumatized for a time. But my father would have none of it and got me over it quickly. He would take me swimmin...

This should have been done at the start of the blog. And apparently is now the trend with my ka-bloggers. So let me share something really personal about myself. But let me do it one item at a time. First thing about me (favorite food): (1) My most favorite meal in the world would be fried to a crisp tinapa served with tahong stewed in sprite, and of course steaming hot plain rice. The entire meal would roughly cost no more than 30 pesos per person. That this is so cheap is one of those things that makes me believe God is fair. You do not need Bill Gates' salary to enjoy the most glorious meal in the world. I've had caviar, lobster, and 1,000 Php steaks. If I have to choose just one meal to eat everyday for the rest of my life, believe me, I'd choose my tinapa, tahong and plain rice.

My GF found the t-shirts above for sale on her FB account. Cute 'no? But before all you female readers suffer from an epileptic seizure over the "cuteness" of the thing, let me say this one bit of warning, good luck in making your husbands/BFs wear the t-shirt. I can -- if she's not wearing the counterpart. But that would be missing the entire point now, won't it?

print screen from the inquirer.net Since when did we start giving storms/typhoons MALE names? Is this a new directive from the PNoy administration? Is this the new improved PAGASA PNoy was bragging about in his first-100-days report to the boss? Would giving male names to typhoons make them more reasonable and less temperamental?

Ricardo Cardinal Vidal promises to violate the RH Bill if ever it becomes law according to GMA news. And he doesn't care if he goes to jail. Well, the question of course is HOW? How does one violate the RH Bill? By having unprotected sex? I believe I need to watch the full news and not jump into conclusions from reading the ticker. ------------ Notice that I didn't do a graphic illustration for this. :)

Rebel Senator Antonio Trillanes First thing I'm gonna do is order free drinks for everyone! Join me at the Manila Pen when I get out. See you all there.

Sen. Pag-bad-ka-lagot- ka What the duck were we thinking? The name should have been a giveaway. But no, we believed his catchy campaign slogan and elected the joker to the senate. Where he was SILENT all those years. A silence so deafening I almost forgot he was a senator at all. Imagine all the scandals of the past admin and nary a whimper from the pag-bad-ka-lagot-ka senator.  And now he speaks?! Now that the fake president has stepped down? Now he has the gall to question improprieties? After all the stench he has somehow managed to ignore all those years? Ah senator ka pa pala. I remember you... vaguely...   But sadly the joke is on us. On all of us. Someone send out the Bat signal.

my hero (nominee #9) Please log on here  and vote for TACK. She is a hero. All proceeds shall go to her if ever she wins. Please take 5 minutes from your precious internet time to register and vote. It would help too if you would paste the link on your FBs. Thanks.

Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Actually, what I am really sorry for is that I got caught. And now, looking back, what I am  really sorry for is that I ever made the "I am sorry" speech.

Pres. Noynoy Aquino Perhaps I didn't explain my position well enough, I am an environmentalist and will not ax puno.

print screen is from the inquirer.net edition today You become Mr. Judy Ann Santos, good career move. And Juday's not that bad. All you condescending hypocrites, just erase from your memories the image of Ula Batang Gubat, and Juday is actually kinda hot -- admit it! Your first born is a boy! Congratulations, Ry. The entire nation rejoices with you. The government in fact has seen it fit to declare one day as a national day of celebration -- Oct 25 has just been declared a holiday. Don't anyone dare tell me the two events are unrelated. I am a conspiracy nut, remember. Everything is connected. It is the barangay elections that is the convenient excuse. Congratulations Ryan and Juday!

me at work I work for a company tasked with the technical support for the high-tech equipment you see above. That's me at the main bridge of a full mission ship handling simulator that can be linked to an engine room and 5 cubicles representing 5 independently controlled ships that can join the same simulation scenario. From the control booth, the instructor can simulate storms, engine trouble, rough seas, even make it snow in Manila Bay. As far as the simulation goes, the instructor at the control booth is god. He can, of course, always give the students smooth sailing conditions -- the perfect easy life. But this is almost never done. For that would be just a waste of simulator time. The simple fact is, rough seas make better sailors. Maybe that is something to think about whenever we encounter rough sailing in life. Perhaps someone at the control booth wants to make better sailors out of us.

Awesome things that are cool but sucks at the same time: - Finishing second in a competitive tournament. - Setting the world record time in plastic cups stacking. - Being really good at something you are not really that interested in. - Being a good karaoke singer. - Being the perfect look-alike of Mike Enriquez. - Almost superhuman ability to predict bad things in the future, but having no power to prevent the bad thing from happening. - A hole in one in golf, and no witnesses. - Becoming a YouTube sensation over some dumb thing you did. - Secret affair with Megan Fox that will end and she will deny if ever anyone finds out. - Getting the fame and recognition you deserve, after you die. - Having Google declare you as the "Zynga poker champion", but not really, since you used a pseudonym.

click here to go to Alex Noriega's blog There is this new blog that I am stalking. Four days now and I've read every single cartoon he has posted on his two blogs (the third one is his sketch pad). It's really cool. And I have posted here a link in the "really cool blogs" section. Funny thing about Google though, even before I posted this entry, I got *three hits from Cataluna, Spain, via Google with the search keywords "stuff no one told me", all because of the link I posted. Blogging tip/reminder: photos and images, do not get indexed by Google unless you give it a descriptive text support. I've e-mailed Alex about it. Oh yes, we are on first names basis now. He's a pretty cool dude who responds to posts (questions), but I try not to hassle the guy too much, as he is getting a LOT right now from fans.  Hey, do drop by his blog and check it out. Tell him I said, "hi!"  * Another hit from Cataluna, Spain within min...

image sourced from here When our very own Manny Pacquiao takes on Mexico's Antonio Margarito this 13th of November in Texas, expect an epic battle of biblical proportions. Giving away 4 1/2 inches  in height and a full 6 inches in reach, this will be nothing short of a David versus Goliath battle -- almost literally. This is one fight that needs no hyperboles. Margarito is half a head taller and at least one fist longer. The numbers speak for themselves. Don't kid yourself folks, even against a mediocre taller-longer opponent, giving away that much in height and reach is no small matter. And Margarito is no mediocre opponent. He is the man responsible for Miguel Cotto's first defeat. The man can punch. And the man can take punches. As to his sullied reputation for coloring outside the lines, that should cause for more worries. Pro boxing is not exactly a gentleman sport. Manny should be ready for anything.  But I have faith in our champion. Height and reach i...

click here to access the "blog " You gotta love the internet. If nothing else, you get to "meet" people of the same "persuasions". Remember my blog entry on how I wanted to "gouge" out my own "eyes" for all those misplaced "apostrophes"? Well here's one "blog" solely dedicated to "quotation" marks. Really funny. Check "it" out.

One of the funniest and most painful scenes in that Ben Stiller classic movie, "Zoolander" was when he WRONGLY accepted his Model of the Year award. The movie is an exaggeration of course. That'll NEVER happen in real life as you can see.  Australia's Next Top Model with host Sarah Murdoch ------------ Hey, I just noticed. It's September 30 -- the end of the month. And I have 30 entries for September. That's one entry each day. I did it! One blog update everyday for a month. I think I will take rest for a week. :)

Sen. Joker Arroyo asked "Must the Filipinos be last to know?"  Simple straightforward answer dear pag-bad-ka-lagot-ka senator, no. But then again, we need not be the first either. Perhaps the good senator has forgotten this fairly reasonable protocol that it is the family of victims who are usually given first look as regards the details of such incidents. By giving the Hongkong authorities that first look, we've thus passed the burden onto them. No dear senator, the Filipino is not the mainstream news media who always needs to out-scoop everyone, at whatever cost. We don't care if we are second, or third, or even fourth in getting the bad news. We don't even care if we don't get to see live the interview of that insane cry-baby of a madman's brother.  What we care about is whether our elected officials, senator in your case, has actually lived up to his campaign promise, and have not simply resorted to cute sound bites that media will surely pick up ...

When Philippine President Noynoy Aquino met with US President Barack Obama at an event in New York last week, the US organizers had the Philippine flag hanging upside down. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal. And the US embassy has already apologized for it.  But check out the reaction on  Yahoo!News ,  read the comments. Such a minor thing and the Obama detractors are up in arms predicting the end of US civilization itself. Well, that's one more thing the two Presidents have in common. Every little misstep, even bad personal habits (smoking), are sure signs of the apocalypse.

One out of every five human being lives in communist China where  ALL blogs  are banned, even Facebook. Think about that for a second, and realize how fortunate you are to be reading this. I know that most of what you read on blogs (including mine) are mostly inane stuff. As for Facebook, well, I mostly just scan through it so I can lol at the pictures of the manang beauties who do model-like poses. What the hey? Are these people on drugs? But all that said, there is something to be said about freedom. Yes, even to read the inane stuff, or do model-like poses for all the world to see. Freedom to have an opinion. Freedom to voice out that opinion. Freedom to have the "wrong" opinion. So let us all pause for a moment and appreciate the fact that Aljur Abrenica's current state of affairs is just a few mouse clicks away somewhere in blogosphere.

Bored, I decided yesterday to play my girlfriend's Facebook Zynga poker account. She doesn't play much and her chip count was around 30K (mine is already more than 7 million). So ok, fine. That only means I have to play shootouts once more where the buy-in is just 2K and I would have a shot at winning 500K at one go. Problem with the girlfriend account was that her avatar is kinda cute. My girlfriend is real pretty (and this is not kissing ass, lol). At first I was kinda pissed and can not concentrate as I was busy fending off all the unwanted attention. Buddy requests, virtual gifts, and attempts to chat me up. In the beginning, I made the effort to explain that I am not actually the person in the avatar, that I am the BF trying to bump up the GF's chip count. But after awhile, this became tedious and I just didn't bother with it anymore. Let them think I am a girl! It wasn't too bad. Some guys are actually interesting to chat with once I've relaxed enoug...

I'm sure by now you've seen it. It's gone viral on Facebook. That is Charice's performance on Glee. Alright, before I go on, let me admit right here, that was actually the first time I've seen Charice perform an entire song (haha). I hope you can all forgive me for that. But hey, I am always behind EVERY Filipino who makes it in the world stage.  One constructive criticism though if I may. And I hope you people do not read into it that I am a crabhead or anything like that. This is CONSTRUCTIVE! What's with all the arms flailing? Charice can do without that. I was watching the video, impressed by her voice, but her limbs flying about in all sorts of odd ways was distracting! Come on. She can do without that. Voice lessons apparently worked. Now she needs a professional  choreographer for her total performance to be even better.  What do you guys think? Here's the Facebook link .

Willie Revillame calls ABS-CBN countersuit "horrendous", this according to the Inquirer news .  Of course, you know it is the lawyers talking. Does the idiot even know the word "horrendous"?

I'm a big fan. Conan O'Brien is the best (after a non-senile David Letterman that is, haha). It's still 47 days according to his  countdown before the new show "Conan" airs on TBS. Last night, when Globe decided to die on me again, I just watched for the nth time Conan's final show as the host of "The Tonight Show". For non-fans who just don't care, "The Tonight Show" is the Holy Grail for all late show hosts. Even David Letterman himself never got to host that. Not even for just seven months, the length of Conan's tenure. Parting words from the Conester was quite unexpected. You don't expect that much class from someone who brought on TV, a masturbating bear, an insult comic dog, and Preparation H Raymond. He thanked NBC with all the sincerity he can muster given all the blood spilled in their messy divorce. Then he thanked the fans who all supported him in his war against his home network. Then a final word to the youn...

So, September 21 came and went without much fanfare nor remembrance. Hardly a word from anyone. I only remembered the significance of the day from Eat Bulaga (of all places) as the TV on the bus I rode was tuned to it. For once, given our current circumstances, I am glad that we as a people have this talent for collective amnesia. And mainstream news media should take note before they raise the boogeyman of Martial Law to protect their collective asses. No you don't get to play that card. The people do not care. They don't even remember. Say what again? You want self-regulation? But that bus left the moment you shoved your microphones onto the face of that madman's even crazier brother as he was being collected by the police. It was being aired live! What were you thinking? No, gaddemit, you had your shot at self-regulation. Look where that got us. It got us here.  I am tempted to insert a Spiderman quote right in here. But let us keep Hollywood out of it and th...