in pop culture news (or, the post with lots of italics and parentheses)
>> I saw a Led Zeppelin biography for P95 on BookSale tonight, “Hammer of the Gods.” But I let it go. I’m still debating within myself whether I regret the decision.
>> I’ve finished the entire Twilight series. It’s okay. I don’t like Renesmee, the half-vampire kid who grows at an alarmingly fast rate and is pre-destined to spend the rest of her life with a werewolf who acts as her nanny while she’s still a kid. How can you not dislike her? She’s a half-vampire kid who grows at an alarmingly fast rate and is pre-destined to spend the rest of her life with a werewolf who acts as her nanny while she’s still a kid. And her name is Renesmee. Ick.
>> Over the weekend I saw the following on DVD: Planet Terror (it’s so bastos and hilariously tongue-in-cheek I loooove it), Teeth (a tastefully-made nightmare for guys), and the laughable In the Name of the King (starring Jason Statham who is kinda like Bruce Willis minus the endearing smugness). I found them lying around the den.
>> Okay, this prolly doesn’t count as pop culture, but I’m writing this down for record-keeping’s sake: girls’ night out with old and new friends last Friday night, first at Nine Ball in Tomas Morato then at Esquinita near ABS-CBN. Twas nice to just chill and talk. Got home 2 a.m.
>> Gossip Girl is back! I adore Evil Serena. Go give that insensitive poet (how ironic) Dan hell. I kind of hate how it’s turning out for Blair, though. But I guess one kingdom can’t have two queens (I can so imagine Kristin Bell’s voice saying that).
>> House MD is back! And it was kind of disappointing. Why am I disappointed? Maybe I was just too let-down by what happened last season. Why did Amber have to diiiieeee? Bring back happy Wilson! And give more scenes to Chase and Cameron, for crying out loud.
>> The Office is back! Jim’s proposal beats the hell out of…everyone else’s. He asks Pam to meet him for lunch, they meet at a convenience store by a gas station, she rushes out to complain about how far she traveled, and then in the rain he goes down on one knee and asks her to marry him. Are you kidding me are you kidding me. I love how unexpected and honest that was (and New York magazine did too yey!), even though it was so obvious that the writers were trying to make it look like it it was no big deal even though they totally knew it was. And oh, Ryan’s ambitiousness used to be endearing, but now he is just a scumbag.
nonstop
Twas the birthday celebration of one of my best friends, Gladdys, last night. And celebrate we did. From 9 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday, we went to four different places in Metro Manila. Yeba!
Our pitstops: Chocolate Kiss at UP Diliman, SeventySeven bar in Kamuning, Muchos in Ortigas, and Starbucks in Ayala. We even considered going on a roadtrip to Tagaytay at 2 a.m.! Haggard, haha.
All pictures taken in SeventySeven.
(l-r) the birthday girl, me, the boy who made a cameo appearance hihi
I didn’t have beer, just ladies’ drinks (Cosmo, Tequila Sunrise) and a glass of Bailey’s.
don and me. i didn't realize i was holding the glass with my pinky sticking out. yey poise!
i love friends in/and couches.
Photos courtesy of birthday girl Gladdys’ cellphone. Fun night of endless banter, spontaneous trips, and lots of merrymaking!
we are mere mortal girls
I have officially been reduced into a mindless, screaming fan-girl.
I have finished the first three books in the Twilight series,with one book per day. Yes, I can read that fast. It’s both a gift and a curse.
Anyway, I think the series is overrated. I think Stephenie Meyer is no J.K. Rowling; Meyer can’t create a magical world the way Rowling did, and I’m not just saying that because Harry Potter was about magic. I think the scenes and words in the Twilight series don’t scream originality; there was hardly a moment when I cracked up or felt any overwhelmingly strong reaction, and the mush can be too much…
But hell, reading the series makes you gradually shut down your brain. And you do so voluntarily. It’s almost scary.
I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I don’t know if it was just my subconscious insisting that I be “in the know,” but despite my better judgment I found myself losing sleep over the books. Gaaah. Tomorrow I’ll go to Fully Booked again and buy the last of the series, “Breaking Dawn.”
A moment ago I searched for the movie trailer on Youtube and found myself letting out a little shriek. Because of the romance. Ahaha.
Here’s the so-called official trailer, in high-def:
And here’s the somewhat more romantic trailer, focused on Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson–yup, Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter movies):
I was so thrilled I actually dialed Weng’s home number just to tell her about it. I haven’t used my landline in months to call anyone I know from college, but she’s my only Twilight buddy…last week we actually braved the storm to meet up so I can borrow “New Moon” and “Eclipse” and talk about how we have been enslaved. Enslaved, I tell you.
Weng has a rather interesting theory as to why this is: she speculates that, perhaps, we’ve simply grown tired of all the pseudo-intellectual reading stuff we were accustomed to that we are willing to disregard all of Twilight’s flaws and fall for its most basic pulling factor: unapologetic all-out romance. The Great W even has an analogy; she likens our situation to wearing killer heels that make us feel all great and sexy, but at the end of the day we settle for nice, comfy slippers that don’t require any effort to wear.
Hmm.
In “real life” news, there are, shall we say, interesting developments all around. Oh, I still do know know what I want to do with my life. I’m–to borrow from The Strokes’ song “The Modern Age”–just rolling in the ocean. Not necessarily a bad thing.
u!
The annual UAAP cheering competition is that one day of the year when we are free to bash other universities because we can hide under the cloak of “school spirit.”
And bashing we did today. And cheering. A hell of a lot of cheering.
During my four-year stay in UP, I was satisfied with just watching the event on TV–mostly because I was too lazy to exert effort at finding tickets and joining the cheering crowd. But today I dragged my ass to the Araneta Coliseum to watch the competition live because one of my friends, who is pretty well-connected in college athletics, managed to get us Upper Box A tickets at the last minute.
I wasn’t so impressed with UST’s performance, and I’m not just saying this because I’m from UP. Oh, it was well-executed alright, but I thought it was pretty forgettable. The other pep squads were surprisingly okay, particularly Ateneo. I think it must be frustrating for some of the teams because the same universities end up in the top three.
UP deserved to win, though. Are you kidding me, the tribal concept alone screams “for the win.” Watch the entire fantastic routine below:
I love my alma mater 
Afterwards we had dinner, and then free coffee at CBTL courtesy of our ‘rich’ friend hihi. Once again I got home shortly before midnight. See, the bus I was riding in sped past EDSA Crossing where I was supposed to get off, so at about 10:30 p.m. I was walking along EDSA alone. Gaaaah. Buses are slowly losing their charm.
catching up
This week I bought four books: three from BookSale, and one from Fully Booked.
yes i caved in to the 'twilight' fad. sue me.
The books from BookSale, I got for only P40 each yey:
1. Dreamside by English speculative fiction writer Graham Joyce, about two couples exploring “lucid dreaming”–the art/science of being able to control your own dreams–and how their experiments spun out of control. It’s good, and kind of spooky; I finished it in a day.
2. ‘80 by Whit Johnston, about New York in 1980 told through the eyes of an undiscovered yet talented photographer. So far I’ve only read about 30 percent of the book, but I’m already liking the pop culture references (the Yippies’ Abbie Hoffman, Conde Nast, etc) inserted within the fictional photographer’s insightful diary entries.
3. Emily’s Reasons Why Not by Carrie Gerlach, about a 20-something looking for *drumroll please* love. I’ve yet to start reading it.
And then from Fully Booked I got Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Yes, I joined the bandwagon. It actually wasn’t so hard, not like how I felt when I decided to buy skinny jeans, haha. If I end up liking it, I’ll buy the rest of the books in the series next week. I’m pretty sure I will though, because what’s not to love about a vampire love story? Hihi.
what i learned today during wordcamp
1. That sometimes vendo machines lie; that even though one minute it tells you it has sold out every soda can, a Coke Zero can may pop out if you push the right button. Okay, all the buttons. What, we were desperate.
2. That I really don’t know much about WordPress. I didn’t even know the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org until today.
3. That I do get initially attracted to guys with long hair.
4. That I miss being in college. The lecture Sir Arao gave on blogging and journalism made me feel kind of nostalgic because I was furiously taking down notes, like I did in college (ohwhoamIkidding, I hardly took notes in college. But still.)
And the greatest lesson of all…
5. That I will probably melt in the presence of The Strokes. This seriously upset me. See, I had to ask WordPress founding developer Matt Mullenweg a few questions after the event, and I felt kind of…nervous. If I feel shy around an American I’ve only known for a day, how in the world can I be all cool and casual around The Strokes? I’d probably die if Julian Casablancas so much as glances in my general direction, hahaha.
Then again, I might not have the chance to be their groupie/publicist/assistant manager/whatever after all. On the way home I met a man who said two other men were following me, presumably going after my bag. He said he kind of has a third eye, and warned that he feels I am in grave danger.
I thanked him for his concern but said I don’t believe in those things. However, I kind of got spooked afterwards by the idea of two men following me, so I prayed right then and there inside BookSale in EDSA Crossing. I got home okay 
Oh, life. Oh, damn camera with crappy quality and nonlasting batteries.
the bad shot is only 55 percent my fault
the long overdue post
“Eto na siguro ang pinakamahabang 10 minutes ng buhay ko,” one of Amita’s Pupil friends said while we waited for the end of the 10-minute countdown of the Eraserheads reunion concert last Saturday night.
I was dying from the heat, sick with the flu, and dead exhausted from Friday mornight’s gimik, yet there I was behind the rails separating the SVIP and VIP area, eagerly anticipating the four’s opening song.
It turned out to be “Alipaap,” which couldn’t have been more perfect. There were fireworks, too, and I’d write positively about this bit had the ashes not fallen on our sweaty bodies haha.
I was glad to be part of history, despite feeling physically and emotionally sick that night. After all, it’s not everyday that possibly the greatest Filipino band of our generation reunites, and it’s certainly not everyday that I get to be in a big concert’s VIP area for free.
hello, ticket to sweaty music heaven
After the concert ended abruptly, I looked for Don, Weng, Glads, and Don’s friends, and we drove to Something Fishy at Eastwood for the breakfast buffet. It was 12 a.m.
The place was crowded. It was Saturday night after all, and I guess some of the people came from the concert too. Don said there was a sort of ruckus between two customers who had a heated exchange of words after one of them tried to cut the line.
Ah, what people will do for unlimited servings of yummy food for only P115. In my case, what I did was heap a little of everything on my plate. Bad move; I nearly threw up from the deadly combination of overeating, exhaustion, lack of sleep, and emotional baggage.
On the bright side, I got over what I was so upset about that morning.
All in all? It was a good night.
Note to self: The concert date was Aug. 30, 2008. Your phone’s battery failed you bigtime, which explains the lack of pictures. Booooo.
