A Class Like No Other

If you ask me, I think last night's reunion was a rousing success.

Despite the low turnout, those who did make it to the reunion had a wonderful time seeing old friends and making new ones. The Ramon Magsaysay High School Class of 1996 held a special reunion event at the Aquasphere in Malate, and I got to see some of the old familiar faces that I used to see everyday at school. So much has changed in the last decade or so, but it was nice to see that the friendships that were forged nearly 15 years ago still stand strong even to this day.

Kudos to the organizers of the event, headed by Marc Mendoza, for putting together a very successful get-together.

I will be the first to admit that I never knew some of the attendees, owing to the fact that I was only a transfer student back in our junior year. But those last two years that I spent at Ramon Magsaysay High School were undoubtedly the best years I've spent in high school.

At last night's reunion, there were plenty of food and drinks. Souvenir shirts were also given out to those who came. The organizers rented out the pool table and the swimming pool, although only a few decided to actually bring swim gear. I didn't, but I sure wished I did when I saw the guys cooling off in the pool. This heat is just terrible. But I digress.

As far as names go, here is my feeble attempt at remembering them. Just from the top of my head, some of the attendees included: Mercy Flores, Jocelyn Jordan, Alan Reveche, John Madrigal, Felix Awayang, Niño Aguinaldo, Jun Quintero, Mary Grace Camarines, Cherry Asia, Edward Teraña, Raymond delos Santos, Normita Pangan, Elaisa Aguilar, John Henry Lim, and Michael Liguit. Sorry, I'm terrible with faces and much worse at remembering names. The old noodle's not as reliable as it used to be.

I sincerely had a great time last night, and here's hoping for another successful reunion in the near future. Cheers!

RMHS Class of '96. Well, at least some of them.

7 comments »

Party of One

Posted in mundaneity

Sometimes living in the past can be a real bummer.

I ran into Noel, an old friend who I knew way back, and because these days the term "running into" can mean finding someone on the Internet, we chatted about the good old days. We were co-workers at one of the leading video stores in the 90s. Yeah I know, video rentals died when piracy was born. But back then I had what was arguably the best job ever.

I mean, we were getting paid just to stand around and dust off old laser discs and VHS tapes. Back then money had real value, I had a more aesthetically pleasant figure, and I was working with friends who smoked and partied with me nearly every effin' day of the week. No kidding man, it was like "Hey wanna go out and party?", and I was all "Oh yeah sure let's go!". Life was just so much easier back then.

So running (virtually) into Noel brought back old memories about that part of my life. Then I think about today and I felt pretty bad about how I turned out. Back in those days my life was the ultimate party. The nights, the sounds, the women - my life back then was nothing short of a really good orgasm. But all that's in the past, like dust swept and shoved under the carpet. Today I'm a single grown man living with his mother (which in the Philippines isn't so bad), living off a meager call center wager (which I do not have right now), watching in the sidelines as the people who I grew up with fly off to different countries all over the world, or talk about their latest gadgets or business ventures on Facebook.

I'm still a nobody.

This is the point in one's life where you simply have to kick back and look at where you're standing, and decide on what you want to do next. I dunno about you guys, but I know what I want to do.

I want to party!

Life really ought to be the ultimate party.

3 comments »

Articles and Lyrics

Posted in funky music, mundaneity, subservience

Once again, I am writing about me and all the mundaneity that comes with being me. I suppose that's what personal blogs are for anyway, so quit your yapping and just read.

I tried my hand again at song writing after a really long while. I figured since my schedule's pretty much wide open right now I might as well do something to keep the old noodle working. As it turns out, I make a pretty good lyricist if I say so myself. I was with a buddy of mine last night, and I was helping him write a song for this new band that they were forming. Nah, my band days are over. Way over.

Anyway, I wrote some lyrics and he laced them with chords on his guitar. We only made it up to the first verse and the chorus because the booze started to kick in. I just hope the song makes it on to their planned album, if they get around to recording. Me, the lyricist. Wouldn't that be awesome?

I noticed there wasn't enough sh*t happening in my life lately, so my blogging has been dead in the water. So as much as it pains me to write about me, myself and I over and over again, here I am. I am slowly learning that sneezing on command is easier than finding the inspiration to write. And it's really hard to sneeze at will.

I know you're trying to sneeze right now but you can't. See?

I'm preparing myself mentally for something I'll have to painstakingly endure for one entire night - my high school reunion. I know I'll be hearing plenty of gasps and comments that talk about me being left in the kitchen too long. While I'm looking forward to seeing old faces, friends whom I haven't seen in nearly 15 years, I'm not exactly looking forward to seeing the look on their faces when they see me.

I can't wait to get the reunion over and done with. Maybe then I'll get enough sh*t to write about.

Oh and wish me luck, readers. Yes, all 5 or 6 of you. I'll be working full time soon, and I sure hope things work out. I really want to stay out of the call center business if I can avoid it. I just want to keep writing and learning until I can't write or learn anymore.

Or maybe just until I find out I'm related to Bill Gates or something.

2 comments »

Free Willie 3

Posted in infuriatum, mundaneity, sports TV and current events

No, this is not a review of the movie that was about liberating a killer whale that flopped in the cinemas with its flippers. This post is about Willie Revillame. Now I know what you're thinking (Willie who!?), but I was asked by a good friend of mine to write about my thoughts on the whole Willie-Revillame-threatening-to-resign-if-Jobert-Sucaldito-is-not-fired brouhaha.

Willie Revillame is an actor slash noontime show host slash complete idiot here in the Philippines. I obviously am not a fan of his; never has been and never will be. That doesn't mean I'm on Sucaldito's side, though. Jobert Sucaldito is a local celebrity news reporter slash radio show host slash newspaper columnist slash mother of all gay pride parade participants. I could honestly care less if these two media personalities go at it. Fight, I mean. You malicious pervert.

But word about Revillame vs. Sucaldito has been in the news lately for as often as I could stand it. I even see quips from both supporters and condemners on Twitter and Facebook. So when my good buddy Jao asked me to write about this heated rivalry, I reluctantly obliged. It's not like there were more important things on the news these days anyway, such as the Philippine 2010 election results or GMA's questionable last minute cabinet appointment. Duh.

Anyway, according to Revillame, Sucaldito had been continuously attacking him verbally on his radio show and in the newspapers. Revillame said this assault on him and his noontime show Wowowee had been going on for years, but he never paid any attention to it. But recently, Sucaldito apparently hit a nerve when he started lambasting Wowowee contestants and their below-average high school report cards. He succinctly pointed out that the show should not have featured students with such low grades. For Revillame, that was the last straw, or so he says.

Anyway, the exchange of words went on for weeks culminating in Revillame taking a leave of absence from Wowowee. Again, I didn't care. But many did, and soon everybody had their own opinions and reactions to Revillame's stunning (not to me it wasn't) announcement on his show that he will supposedly resign if Sucaldito is not fired by the TV network, ABS-CBN. Do me a favor Willie and stay out of television for good.

Days later, perhaps devoured by remorse upon realizing the embarrassment that this utterly ridiculous word war has been bringing to the network, or perhaps seeing a wide open opportunity to garner more publicity, Revillame sent a letter to ABS-CBN management asking them to rescind his contract. The network remains mum about Revillame's plea as of this writing, but I'm sure they're also benefiting from all the attention this drama has brought to the network.

If you ask me, the whole thing's starting to have a Pacquiao fight feel to it. If only I cared enough to give a sh*t.

This is the most I've done to write about something I could care less about.

3 comments »

The Rivers of the Subconscious

Posted in feebility

Summer ends at dawn

Water trickles down the Earth

Rivers formed from thought

The rivers run deep

Gushing with undercurrents

Carving thought canyons

Water cuts through soil

Washing thoughts and emotions

Confusion sets in

Rocks turn to rubble

Imagination runs wild

New rivers are born

The mind embraces

Rivers open out to sea

To slumber is bliss

0 comments »

Indelible

Posted in mundaneity, sports TV and current events

For months now I had been avoiding the subject of politics and the 2010 Philippine elections in my posts and even in my conversations with friends. I feel that the topic only highlights everyone's differences in opinion, which is something that easily ignites feuds and arguments. Sure, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but there are those who simply feel that only theirs matter. If your opinion goes against theirs then you are wrong. Sadly, I know many very intelligent people who are like this, and simply refuse to respect other people's points of view.

So I chose to be silent about my opinions on the 2010 elections, not because I am ashamed of who I'm rooting for. Every one of the presidential candidates had their own reasons for being on the ballot, but the candidate whose egg-shaped circle I shaded out was a candidate chosen out of sentiment. Let's face it, all of the intellectual choices for the top spot in the Philippine electoral system had repeatedly failed to bring economic prosperity. More importantly, the "intelligent choice" had constantly failed miserably in the fight against corruption. So I went with my guts this time.

Now that voting is almost over, everybody's abuzz with anticipation. Everybody wants to know who the star of the circus that is the Philippine government will be. Personally, I ain't holding by breath. After the votes are electronically counted, and after all the victims of election-related violence have been accounted for, will we actually see change? Or will we walk down the same dirt road we've been trudging on for almost three decades now? Will our ball and chain known as poverty and corruption in the government be as indelible and hard to get rid of as the ink on my finger right now?

We can only hope.

0 comments »

Try Not to Die of Heat Stroke. Seriously.

Posted in infuriatum, mundaneity

Seriously, what is up with this hot weather?

Summer in the Philippines used to be more about beach balls and halo-halo. Now it's like sunblock and SPF and UV rays. Man, we really did a number on the ozone layer, didn't we?

With heat like this heat strokes are a very real possibility. With temperatures threatening to scorch up to 37 degrees Celsius, anybody left out in the sun for too long can really get his noodle cooked. Even if you're Japanese.

The trick to beating this kind of sweltering heat is to take plenty of liquids, and hide your elderly. Grandpa wouldn't last very long under the sun in this kind of heat. He's already turning out to be a real prune all by himself, he doesn't need the hot summer sun to cook him up. But really, rehydrate. The heat forces our body to sweat a lot more than normal, if that's even possible, so keep refilling your body's liquid supply. Don't go out at noon if it can be avoided. Try to wear light-colored clothing, as dark shirts tend to absorb sunlight instead of reflecting it.

And as if I could stress it enough - rehydrate! It doesn't have to be some fancy new-fangled energy drink concoction, plain old water will do just fine. And hey, it doesn't hurt to have ice cream or halo-halo. And for cryin' out loud, there is no law against taking multiple baths in a day! Really, there isn't. So hit the showers as often as you want, in order to cool down a bit. Personally, I wouldn't hit the beach in this heat, even though a road trip really does sound nice.

I can't wait for the rains to come in. Then we would be talking about floods and malaria and loose bowel movement. Classy.

1 comments »

Opportunism at a Neighborly Level

Posted in geek speak, infuriatum, mundaneity

They say one needs to make hay while the sun is shining. I don't even play Farmville but I know what they mean by "making hay".

For the last 2 weeks or so my Internet connection's been on the fritz. It began with being intermittent, and then it turned into an ugly and utterly disgusting loss of connection. I just saw my hand and it was dirty, ew. Anyway, so for the last few days I've been "stealing" my Internet connection from one of our neighbors. I took my trusty old router there and hooked up a really - and I mean really - long ethernet cord. I know you can only go so far with ethernet but hey, for now it works. At least until the people over at my ISP decide to get their fat asses off their fancy swivel seats and send a repair truck my way.

But I am seriously considering switching ISP's. There's just the matter of concealing a not-so-inconspicuously-looking computer rental shop before any potential new ISP comes over for the initial installation. I'm thinking of DSL.

No I do not miss the tech talk, thank you.

For the mean time, I will settle for this temporary arrangement that allows me to connect to the Internet only when the goddamn neighbor feels like turning the connection on. The way they had it set up turns the Internet connection off when they turn their PC off. I think their modem's powered by USB or something, I just didn't want to mess with their wiring. But that's what I'm up against. When they want to go green and save on electricity I get kicked off the Internet like a nerdy geek at a fashion show. Oh well. I just realized there were so many acronyms in this entry.

I have loads of articles I need to catch up on. Let me go back to making hay.