Okay, fine.

It’s still a little tough to think about it, and I dunno why I give a fuck anyway because I stopped giving a damn about this game, since like, high school, or probably the time when it really did hurt, the time I accidentally made my left arm a support stick when I tripped which left a bony protrusion in my wrist up to this day, or the fact that I stopped giving a damn about boring PBA games which I religiously followed, or that I haven’t really given a damn about NBA in the first place because I think it should be named Global BA or African-American BA, but damn, that loss hurt. It hurt because they were so close. It’s tough to think because though (from my point of view) the greens were relatively ahead in most of the three quarters, the opponent was just an inch away from them. 83-79. It's a kind of loss that makes me think of these stupid conspiracy theories, eherm, ticket sales, eherm, usual b-ball entertainment. With the last two points from freethrows from someone who hasn’t really been on the floor for like five times throughout the finals, but is reportedly good at freethrows, plus he’s Slovenian. The Celtics really played a good game, it was a good game for them overall. Even though the boorish Lakers fans overpowering the Staples Center (homecourt advantage) refuse to acknowledge. Teamwork was there, and Rondo was smoking, that orchestrator. It was just bad with the fouls, especially during the last quarter. While dominating the first half, I had it in me that sense of doom. It’s like, oh my god, there will be this abrupt decline, the opponent is gonna have their revenge after being pummeled with shots and great defense. And it did happen in 4Q. I’ve always rooted for the underdog, well not really, in this case. The Celtics still hold the most number of championships, but with the Kobe team clinching this one, it’s now 17-16. Maybe because I’ve never really liked the Kobe team, and I feel like I’ve had enough fucking overblown superstar hype with KB. That Magic Johnson relinquishing the greatest player title must have blown Kobe’s liver, I bet. MVP, though given the Game 7’s picture, not at all. They should’ve handed it to Gasol, but no, the overblown superstar will have his fifth. I dunno but its like a play/act, you know. Overblown superstar not really getting into his game in the first half, being walled up by these Celtics guys and all (Scalabrine looks freakishly like Glen Hansard), missing his shots, then suddenly, perhaps the Magic of Johnson, in a crucial jumper he regained his might, rebounding like crazy, clinching his freethrows and there you have it, hero saves the day, and has his moment standing on one side of the court chairs wailing his hands having his James Cameron moment. Oh gosh, there, I think I’ve said my piece and I congratulate the Lakers fans, and Phil Jackson, what a tremendous man. Kobe, someday I'm gonna love you man, but I hate, hate, hate you now. It’s still a little tough, but I’ve moving on to catch the World Cup fever. Go Argentine!

a critical analysis of political ads for the 2010 elections.

My colleague said that such idiocy in our surroundings does not merit something as haikus. We had a laugh reciting this, I for one, think that this is my first haikus. Well, yeah, haikus maybe too divine for such idiocy that have refused to be pummeled by reluctant intelligence, but there goes the irony, right?

A lengthy piece would be such a total waste of time, so here goes:

These fucking retards

Shameless as they are shameful

Philippines is doomed.

Syempre, di ko palalampasin 'to. Our education has now depended on chipipay bon-bon shakers.

Sex-bomb girls, grind, grind.

Probe the circles, look for eggs

And shake your bon-bons.

To cap it all up, sabay-sabay: Shade, shade, AWWWW!

going for the cutesy.

Okay, like it or not, rigged or not (and I even have my reasons to back this one up), the fact is American Idol is here to stay, or at least it looks like it, proving and pulling once again its enormous strength in its eighth year, despite the Paula cut-down, which I’m sure a lot of the show’s fans actually liked, and the genesis of De Generes, and despite the earlier pronouncement of Simon walking out after this year.

I wasn’t really sure what they’re gunning at especially when the contestants sucked during the Top 24 perfs. I mean, they should know better right? But it didn’t take long, and I realized what it’s all about enough for me to even spot two potential idol winners. Of course that’ll change when they’re 12 or 10. I didn’t notice David Cook until the Billie Jean rendition, and Kris Allen in his version of Ain’t No Sunshine. These songs were performed 9 weeks before the finale, and that’s when I called them, without any ambivalence. Prognosticator? I don’t know. I’ve only watched the show since Cook’s time.

Voice and talent notwithstanding, because you have to have it of course, AI is trying to be all the more current, which explains the seemingly lax and uninteresting/interesting personas. The voice definitely will not play the biggest selling point here; personality, charm and uniqueness will. Having said that, for the guys: Lee Dewyze, Alex Lambert, then Andrew Garcia; girls: Lily Scott, Siobhan Magnus, then Crystal Bowersox, Katelyn Epperly. Your top 7? Beats me.

bura

Walking and looking for the famous Iloilo biscocho and other whatchamacallits when I was in Iloilo the other week, I saw a Villa Estrella in one of the streets. When a news came out of some similarly named estate claiming to be disparaged by the upcoming horror vehicle, I surmise it was that. I didn't even bother to take a picture because I would run the risk of posting it here and then I could be in some really big trouble. What I learned though is that while marauding in unchartered streets, you run the risk of stepping on poop. You're busy looking at everywhere.

I recently learned that Anne Curtis, my only favorite artista whom I'm crushing on for a long time, swoons over Bloc Party. You know... Bloc Party ba... I like the band, who happens to be, again, British, though not as ultimately, ultimately as Anne. It's another straw to my liking her more. Did I mention I got to meet her? She doesn't remember me of course. Back when she spent hapless, unfortunate days as a stereotyped talent in that other network. Gosh, this is senseless.

boobtube boohoos

What is the most schizo show on local TV today? Roughly translated, it's us two, if you get what I mean and if you watch it in the first place. Oh I do catch it sometimes, and there's no point really trying to battle it out with the rest of the household because the goddamn TV that we have is such a crap. By crap means 5 channels. I don't really know if there are a dozen of schizo shows out there on local tv but I can single out the star-studded ABS show that smacks accolade-naming right in your face if only to compensate how lame-ass the "main stars" are. One minute is like a badly drawn dramatic sketch but then you really couldn't say if it is what it depicts itself to be or maybe a fucking comedy because the joke is really on us. You thought a particular moment was great acting, like in the case of Jake, who I think does better in some scenes than Amboy Gerald who delivers his lines in spasmic gasps you think he's dying or something like a bad case of hiccups. But then who are you kidding really. It's the usual disposable junk they churn out. And of course, there's Kim Mantis whose idea of acting prowess is through crying a Ganges river of tears. But what's the point right? Who gives a damn for people who appreciate 30 Rock, because they practically have cable tv anyway, or like me who have to resort to buying bootleg. Which I think I'll have to talk about in another entry because it's really fucking hilarious I can't even begin to cite which episode.

On a sidenote, I think I just came. Shit, the day ends fantabulously at least. A friend just forwarded to me Fat Segal's full version of the Skins theme, which is already too much since I was just looking for the 26 second version of it. I'm on a unit in a friggin' net cafe because martial law has been deployed on anything related to download at the office. So I asked my friend over YM to download and email it to me. So I'm like listening to it now and having a friggin' time of my life. In Cassie's words: lovely. And she's drugged and has not eaten in three days.

I'm suppose to continue on another boobtube boo-hoo but it suddenly, wait... yes, another freak of nature, Papa P, sang the Idol song this year on ASAP. The show is kinda so-so compared to crap they put up in the other channel. Fuck, he sounds like a balloon out of helium that I can see the veins on his neck on the verge of eruption. Plus, why do they even let him sing? Even Martin wasn't any good. Proof that we should refrain from being too updated because it would just suck, and they sound like phonies singing something which they think would make them cool and hip. Again, pointless inquiry. Ladies, people, would put up with it, notwithstanding.

Should I talk about the recent AI results? Well it's not really recent but I would just like to say that I predicted Kris when he sang Ain't No Sunshine. I think that's 9 weeks before the big showdown. Like when I predicted it to be Cook when he did that awesome version of Billy Jean, that was way before the Always be my Baby craze. Again, 9 weeks before he crushed Archuleta. I dunno if that says something.

Grammehhhy.

Saw the delayed telecast of the 81^st Grammys last night. Nothing really mind-blowing like in the previous years. They were good perfs though and we just might expect inter-generational numbers in the years to come. It has become quite a fad these days. This year there was Four Tops’ remaining duo Smokey Robinson and forgot-his-name with Jamie Fox and Ne-Yo, Stevie and the Jonas Bros, and Al Green, Justin and Boyz II Men. And Katy Perry comes out of ginormous banana and strut on stage with bananas on her hips. Was that a new song from U2 in the opening number? That one kicked ass. So did the perfs from Coldplay and Radiohead. I liked most though the perf of the 4 rap gods Jay-Z, Kanye, T.I. and Lil Wayne plus the mom-to-beat M.I.A. Did she give birth immediately after that? T.I. will be serving his 66-day sentence though after the Grammys, for a previous firearm-possession charge. I like that my faves of 2008 won like Adele, Estelle/Kanye’s American Boy and of course Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. Much has been said about this recent outing, or rather, much has been said about it’s being U2-ish. You can’t help it, the tracks are so anthem-ic you can’t help but… get lost… every river that you try to cross…

Anarchic.

Before Dev Patel rose to fame, thanks to the now probably overhyped Slumdog Millionaire, he was in this British TV Series called Skins. And it was Danny Boyle's daughter who suggested to get Dev, because according to Danny, there weren't skinny boys in India who'd fit the character of Jamal (in Slumdog).

Watched the season 1 of Skins on youtube the other year, and it was one of those things that I forgot, and now missed watching especially because youtube streaming isn't allowed in the office. The original trailer for the series is somewhere here (in this blog) but I dunno if it still works. Skins has some major kick-ass trailers. Here's the uncut season 2 trailer with a song from Radiohead's In Rainbows album. It kind of took off from the party-mode of the previous to a more somber and sensual vibe. The season 3 trailer borders on anarchic and features a new cast.

Skins Original Uncut Trailer
Uploaded by cloud6969

The pirated DVD stalls don't have Skins, and it's not like any TV series that you can actually air on primetime here unless you subject it to heavy editing, and British shows are not really the type of shows that local TV would buy the rights to airing. It's the type of show that is potentially dangerous in Philippine setting. Moral pundits would condemn it and label it debauchery. Complete mayhem. But whatever, right?

Madness, Inc.

Much is being fussed over the Alabang boys case that it has now ballooned into a media frenzy with issues zigzagging here and there you feel like you're on a trip to the mountains. The only missing puzzle piece is for some opportunist to make a movie out of this, or to make it more cutesy-cutesy, spoofed by the adorable kids of Going Bulilit.

It didn't expose any social malaise, whatever the fuck you call it, because c'mon, drugs -- okay, illegit drugs -- have been snorted by kids (and I say this referring to being stuck in an adolescent nature despite age) in the 60s. Pot sessions have been conducted wherever and depressed and trouble teens have been coking themselves to kingdom come. It just that nobody really gets caught, and when there are, just little fishes in the pond. Sharks are still out there sniffing out blood. But what it does really expose though are people like Sotto who is such a laughing stock when explaining what an anti-drug czar does. When you're watching the press conference, and you think this is the guy also topbilling Iskul Bukol, you can just shake your head with such madness.

Speaking of insanity, I can't believe that Mad Men, is one of those goddamn great shows that nobody is watching, if my colleague is right in quoting an article she read. Of course that's an exaggeration, but I can't really blame the non-lovers or even haters if there are. Because Mad Men is just it. It's so goddamn mad brilliant you can't believe it's unfolding in your eyes. The womanizing, the chauvinistic banter, the endless swirling smokes, the punchlines delivered like pitches. It's stylish and intelligently written it's delicious. If you think a period film is tough, think about making a period series. Written and produced by the team that brought you The Sopranos, allow me with the cliche, but it's unlike anything you've seen. Ok, that sounded really awfully cliche. Matthew Weiner, you are the Mafia boss.

surviving the fear, reality tv-style.

Watching Pinoy Fear Factor, Argentina, South America, World, Milky Way Galaxy, Universe last night. I needed to emphasize that because Ryan Agoncillo, the host, wants us to always remember that they were able to produce a show - another Pinoy franchise of Western reality shows - that they were able to shoot it, in Argentina, which come to think of it is not really a remote possibility. What they were able to do really is to transport half the globe a bunch of fuckable (of course, sex sells) twenty-something lousy retards who flinch and fall and fail most of the challenges (at least for two weeks it has been airing).

But for sheer consumable entertainment, I think I’ll score it a little notch higher than the Pinoy version of Survivor which really sucks like a vacuum cleaner. Having watched many seasons of Survivor hosted by Emmy-winning Jeff Probst, watching Survivor Phils is like watching the same Survivor dubbed in Tagalog. The scheming, the issues, the personages, it’s all the same, and with challenges that are not-so-challenging I could laugh. Even Paolo Bediones, who really sucked in this, rehashes Jeff’s line in Tagalog: “Nagsalita na ang tribo… (The tribe has spoken…)” Sheesh.

Filthy, sexy, moolah

Saw the pilot episode of Dirty Sexy Money Sunday night on a local channel. Another dose of dysfunctional American families. It’s so TV (writers’) fodder don’t you think, that though it’s practically entertaining (sensational, I admit is hilarious and witty at times) it tends to be mythic. Is it? I doubt. How do you gauge dysfunction? Is it the frequency, magnitude of human frailty and imperfections? That when collective or familial are vestiges of deviancy or when it carelessly stray beyond the levels of tolerance? Those that kiss cheek-to-cheek with the Burnhams of American Beauty and the Fishers of Six Feet Under. Wait, these are all Alan Ball creations. Oh, wicked.

Anyway, so the pilot opens with unabashed sensationalism and spectacle. We get to see the family in focus: the Darlings, which we will come to know in a matter of minutes, a far cry from the surname. They cannot be blamed, they can afford to be wasteful, they’re rich. In fact, the richest in New York. So every misdemeanor and coke-snorting behavior is no big deal, just leave it to the tinkering of their lawyer. Atty. George’s private plane however crashed at sea leaving no traces whether he’s dead or just disappeared. His son, Nick, played by Peter Krause, vows to track down the murderer. He seems to believe such. He’s however forced to inherit his father’s job (after he is convinced that he can still perform his humanitarian duties) by patriarch Trip Darling, played by Donald Sutherland and much to the chagrin of Reverend Brian, the badass, expletive-mouthing second son and Nick’s childhood nemesis. Yes, he is a short-tempered priest whose son was refused to be admitted to an exclusive school unless he acknowledges the kid.

Enter mother Letitia, played by Jill Clayburgh, who smashed a heavy vase to smithereens (gosh, I love saying that word) to redirect the focus of a family conversation. Exactly right there, I remembered her munching dog food and convincing a young Augusten Burroughs that eating such is safe in the film adaptation of Running with Scissors. William Baldwin plays the eldest son, forgot the name, an attorney-general. During the birthday party thrown for Mrs. Darling, Mr. on-his-way-to-becoming-a-US-senator is jolted by a call of pretty woman waiting for him downstairs. Then the unwanted visitor speaks in baritone. What the, Mr. Clean Slate is having an affair with a tranny. There’s also Karen, the elder daughter who’s still fixated with Nick that she discloses to her fiancé in a devil-may-care attitude, Nick’s deflowering of her during (of all time) their pre-nuptial meeting, with (of all people) Nick as their presiding lawyer. Then add in the attention-deficient daughter who wants to “get a life” and the yacht-slacking youngest who drove a horse to mother’s birthday party but much to the delight of mother dear though.

Whew, that’s a fucking mouthful. I guess I really would be looking forward to Sunday nights. Sorry for the spoilers. Haha.

10 things on Oscar's 80th

I know it's overdue, but what the heck.

I actually liked this year's Oscars (and I began watching it I guess since late 90s or 2000). Probably because of the following:

1. Jon Stewart was really a blast. Think his one-liners on how Oscar, now 80 years old, is eligible for Republican nomination. And that punchline on "so vote your favorite Democrat!" How about that! I couldn't help but just laugh out loud at Hal Holbrook's dumbfounded face when he heard his name.

2. In the spirit of fun, I think everybody wanted to catch up on the mania. I loved that Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill take on Judi Dench-Halle Berry vibe, Cameron Diaz's cimenatography (which she corrected emphatically)... and what's up with the slippery floor that almost made the Colin Farell and John Travolta slip one of the most memorable moments for the next 80 years?

3. Once's very own Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova singing "Falling Slowly" (despite the inaudible voices) and winning the Best Original Song. That almost made up for Once being snubbed in the main categories. But still!

4. Marketa Irglova's make-up speech (can you believe the sound engineers cut her off). Laura Linney must really love Once. Did you see her beaming when Mar spoke about how the song was really about hope and all that? I must see The Savages.

5. Sorry Julie, you were devastating in Away From Her, but I just can't help but push my hopes for a Cotillard win. I think Marion was one for the covers that night. She really was beautiful and that speech sounds like you heard it from a classic Capra movie.

6. I dunno if it's mere gimmicky but I liked when the Coen brothers received their Adapted screenplay and Directorial trophies. And Ethan's seeming lost for words is really funny. And that what they are doing now is not necessarily remote and different when they were 11-year-olds playing with their Handycams.

7. The eloquence of Daniel Day Lewis. He seems to be really in it. First it was the SAG and then he capped it with something for the fathers-and-sons. Did the Brits once again prove they're better off even with the agonizing speeches?

8. The supporting wins are most truly deserved I think. Bardem's win and speech was a moment. He actually starred in almost (?) a hundred Spanish films (he was once nominated lead actor in Before Night Falls losing to Russel Crowe). For donning the mop-hair ("which will probably go down as one of the worst haircuts in history") and being Anton Chigurh, let's give it up for Jarvier, este, Javier Bardem (Jennifer Hudson, please check the spelling and put some thrill). Applause for Tilda Swinton's surprise look. That woman is monstrously tall. I sensed Alan Arkin was surprised himself. Swinton compared the statuette to his agent who looks almost exactly alike. Yes, even the buttocks.

9. Two records are worth noting: first-time nominated directors (don't worry PTA, you'll get your hands on that darn golden statue soon) and non-American acting wins since 1954 or 64?

10. As one of the sites pointed out, the price of honoring the good films need to be paid even for massive ratings plunge. The risk needed to be taken and thanks, the Academy put on with the show.

Flights of logic

No amount of entertainment can ever add up to watching primetime Pinoy TV. Like me who doesn't have cable, amusement and annoyance is still rest assured. Last night while occasionally glancing at the TV (I was reading a book), which is now officially owned by my two little half brothers during primetime thanks to Super Twins and Aejan Jejurs (go figure):

1. The daily dose of political crap-o-mercials with sickening pop tunes and politicos smiling devious laughs in sheep's clothing. (Magsaysay, tara-tara-taralets. Fuck, I swear he's from some kind of hybrid alien who dropped on Earth with a big thud.)

2. Dina Bonnevie comparing the aging of Vic Sotto to THE George Clooney. Clooney is a film writer, producer, director and actor rolled into one with a witty political consciousness to beat. Vic is Enteng Kabisote. I rest my case.

3. Super Twins. I know its for kids, but couldn't Pinoy superheroes (and their writers) exhibit some sentido kumon? Naman naman!

4. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita wished for birthday boy Erap long life and many more birthdays to come. (Update!) And Erap adamant in the new GO pol-ad saying that we should revolt against corruption in the government.

5. Pacquiao impersonating Mike Enriquez.

6. The histrionics of self-important wannabe artistas and their self-important life stories in Half-Pinoy Big Brother. (How come it's Pinoy when everybody seems to be half-something. Half-German. Half-Aussie. Half-British. Half-Alien. Half-Male. WTF??!!

7. Christian Bautista's effortless attempt at being gay. Sing: Sa Pinoy care, walang tatalo, Pinoy care, handog mo sa mundo!!!!

8. (It's not Pinoy but I'm counting it.) Oprah interviewing Janet Jackson.

Now your turn.

the doctor is in

Almost all of us when we were kids might have fancied becoming a doctor. Clad in antiseptic white medical gown, the most recurrent childhood image would be one with a hanging stethoscope by the neck. I always had this caricature in mind being a kid who once ambitioned to become a life-saving hero. Such aspiration wasn’t sustained though unlike those who really went on to labor through pre-med to med school. But truth is, surgery is where the real action is. A doctor could get some serious ass-kicking saving lives when he's best a surgeon with the OR as his playing field.

This surgical action is what really makes me stick through every Grey’s Anatomy episode. The melodrama is a bit soap-ish but then it humanizes the mechanical and artificial feel of the Seattle Grace Hospital. In the operating room, you feel the tension and the knife-sharp precision of every procedure. You think you’re watching real doctors, but in fact they’re really characters who one minute away from the OR are irritably twitchy, sex-starved, egotistic, attention-grabbing bitches and assholes.

They get weird sometimes and totally unpredictable. As weird and unpredictable from the cases they handle – male ‘pregnancy’, spontaneous orgasms, a ticking bomb inside a thoracic cavity. Their candid exchanges sometimes feel perfunctory and unflinching as their initial diagnoses. But they feel – sometimes putting enough emotional baggage in a patient – and sometimes they cry over the death of someone whose life they were heroically saving a minute ago.

I just finished the two-season marathon of the series. (The local channel showing it has 3 episodes left before the explosive finale.) After 30 or so episodes, I realized it was not the amount of blood shed or flesh cut, that would have prevented me from being a surgeon or a doctor for that matter, but the feeling after one declares the time of death. That sudden plunge into silence and grief. Having faced death, it's an emotional pit I don’t think I could ever get out of. It’s a difficult feeling knowing that you could not save lives at all times.

read and watch this.

David Denby, The New Yorker film critic, sheds light on current trend in filmmaking. He refers to it as ‘The New Disorder’. This emerging type of film narrative distorts time and chronology and (for me) actually makes fun out of the unsuspecting audience. The Innaritu-Arriaga trilogy which ends in Babel falls perfectly. Others: Traffic, Pulp Fiction.

Some of the directors may be just playing with us or, perhaps, acting out their boredom with that Hollywood script-conference menace the conventional “story arc.” But others may be trying to jolt us into a new understanding of art, or even a new understanding of life. In the past, mainstream audiences notoriously resisted being jolted. Are moviegoers bringing some new sensibility to these riddling movies? What are we getting out of the overloading, the dislocations and disruptions?

***

I’m prolly on my way to a new addiction. It’s called Justice. No I didn’t join the Crusade Against Violence. It’s the legal thriller/courtroom drama which just premiered last night in a local channel, which is a miraculous thing to have (for those who can’t afford cable), given the tons of crap on TV right now.

Victor Garber who played Sidney Bristol’s father in the recently concluded Alias is ballistic on last night’s episode. I can sense his character is way different than his laid-back one on Alias. And there’s Kerr Smith who you may not prolly remember because you were swooning over James Van Der Beek who, by the way, is where now?

I haven’t seen Boston Legal so I have no chance to compare. But I can sense this will be the closest I can get since The Practice.

The lawyers’ swagger and their scorching arguments (objection your Honor, argumentative!). The unbelievably convincing witnesses. The judge who we could care less about. The conniving jury. The evidences (exhibit 288A) and crime scenes displayed and re-enacted in such sensational fashion.

Sounds like fun.

riot with balls

I was watching the local news’ reportage on events around the globe. The news about the soccer riot in Italy caught my eye. It seems like Italy may have seen the best of the game. Italy, of course, the 2006 FIFA World Cup champs, has recently been caught in a soccer scandal months before. Now, they may have seen the best of it, as a riot ensued between a game of two Italian teams causing the death of a police officer. A soccer official threatened to cancel games for quite a time.

See story here.

I continued to read Sophie’s Choice while my two young half-brothers were watching Atlantika, a local fantaserye (as what it’s called). Since we’re living in one cramped room, I often glance at the TV to see what’s happening. From what it’s called, you can easily guess it is largely a Filipino version of Atlantis: The Lost City.

Piranos (Paolo Contis) is beating the hell out of Aquano (Dingdong Dantes), but a fit of conscience occurred to him and offers Aquano a fair chance at their battle (believe me, it’s not like any battle you’ve seen). He lets Dingdong choose between his love Amaya (Iza Calzado) and her mom. On the other side of Atlantika, Katrina Halili and Jean Garcia were wailing because they have been captured by the Centurions and were awaiting their doom. (Don’t you wonder why damsels keep on wailing “bitiwan n’yo ako!” in unbelievable octaves when the fact remains that the abductors aren’t close to letting them go, and never in a thousand years?) The badass of a ruler, Barracud (Ariel Rivera) and his aliporeses are entering the portal to the new Atlantika signaling the old one’s destruction. It seems like everyone is set for cinematic grandeur only that it isn’t close to even the smell of it.

cast away

I have been a devout fan of Survivor, though I fail to watch I guess a couple of seasons. But once I get to watch the first episode, I will sit through its entirety. There's nothing like the game of Survivor. It's full of twists and there's something new every season.

Lately, the series have incorporated the concept of 'exile island' where a winning team in a challenge (usually reward) gets to pick someone off from the losing team to spend a day secluded in the exile island. The 'exiled' gets to battle of his/her wits because the night can be pretty unpredictable -- storms and 'nightcrawlers' alike. There was also an interesting turn during the Vanuatu Season where a single-person team pitted against the other 9-member team. The cast away, Stephanie, proved to be a real survivor, and popular to boot as well.

This season the cast aways have to outwit, outplay and outlast in the Cook Islands. The catch this season was revealed during the first part where the group was divided according to ethnicity: Hispanic, Caucasian, African-American and Asian-American. After a week, the 4 tribes were assimilated to form two tribes, this time not based on ethnicity.

During one of the earlier tribal councils with the already assimilated group, the host, Jeff Probst asked Jonathan, an originally Caucasian tribe member (who most likely will assume this season's ultimate villain) if ethnicity is still an issue with the tribe, whether in aspects of belongingness or whatever, and he said no, that it isn't a factor and definitely wouldn't be a contributor to who's gonna be voted out.

Halfway through the season already, the assimilation process took a different turn albeit not explicitly revealed. On one of the reward challenges, Jeff posed a shocking twist: the contestants were given the chance to switch tribes. With 10 seconds, Caucasian-Americans Candice and Jonathan stepped out of their tribe's mat indicating their want to transfer. It was later revealed that this move of the two is for the reason that they want to reconnect with their orginal tribemates, Adam and Parvati. It was also revealed (I didn't think it was on the show though), that Jonathan wanted to have an all Caucasian-American final four.

So what's with the ethnicity-is-not-an-issue shit? As the show later revealed, the bond between ethnicity, the bond among the four original tribemates implicitly prevailed. And Jonathan might want to pursue the final four indeed. This took toll on the other tribemates who eventually became outcasts. And of course, Jonathan's maneuverings paid off as this caused Jenny, the second Filipino-American aside from Brad Virata, to be voted off after the shocking back-to-back votation. The season promises more revelations in the next episodes.

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Whether in truth (reality TV after all is not 100%) or in fiction, the Survivor series is a good case for sociological and behavioral study. While it can be pure entertainment for some, the interplay of power among individuals in the game can prove to be more interesting and intriguing than the twists and challenges. It's also interesting to observe how behaviors can immediately change in a matter of 24 hours and how this can entirely change the fate of the game.This aspect makes watching every episode more worthwhile.

It would have been nice to seen either Brad or Jenny in the final two. But just you wait until Survivor Asia comes, the unlikeliest of hero may arise. Haha.

Here are some links to get to know more about Survivor:

1. Survivor: CBS

2. SurvivorFever

3. Survivor Skills

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quotes arrested

I'm sharing some few lines from six episodes of Arrested Development which I watched last night.

Suit yourself.

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Lindsay: (To the activist who has made a home of the remaining unbuldozed tree of the Bluth estate) You know, we're not the only ones destroying trees. What about beavers? You call yourself an environmentalist, why don't you go club a few beavers?

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Narrator: Tobias recently lost his medical license for administering C.P.R. to a person who, as it turns out, was not having a heart attack. (flashback of the actual incident)

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Michael: (After hearing his mother she is designating Buster as the head of the Bluth Company) Buster? The guy who thought that the blue on the map was land?

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Lucille: (Looking at Buster) He's a beautiful boy...they don't appreciate him. It's his glasses...they make him look like a lizard...plus he's self-conscious.

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George Sr.: (Regarding Buster) Maybe it was the eleven months he spent in the womb. The doctor said there were claw marks on the walls of her uterus. But he was her 'miracle baby'.

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Michael: I can't believe she got that driver's license renewed. (referring to her mother)
Gob: She didn't. I dummied her up a new one. Not my best work, though. She wanted to look 48. I nearly airbrushed her into oblivion. Ended up checking "albino" in the form.

arrested development

I am so waiting for payday.

Last night, I accompanied my friend who just flew to Pampanga early this morning for a call center work there. While walking along the 2nd floor of Victoria we passed by a pirated DVD store who was playing a Jackie Chan movie in their TV set. I saw DVD copies of the The Queen (an early Oscar favorite) and a slew of movies that are yet to be shown here like The Covenant and World Trade Center. But what delighted me was finding a copy of Lost Seasons 1 and 2 and Arrested Development Seasons 1 to 3. Im such a huge fan of these shows though I do not have the luxury of watching it all the time, especially AD which is on cable. I used to download the latter's some episodes and use to catch it on cable when I'm in a hotel during travels. I saw the exact DVD cover when I was gallivanting the Jones Circle in Cebu, but I just couldn't shed off my money because I did not bring any extra aside from the allowance. Luckily, it's here now in some pirated CD haven.

I recall this one funny episode (after all, what is not?) wherein one character Tobias Funke (To-ba-yas Fyunk-kay) is being pounced on by her materialistic bitch of a wife (Portia de Rossi) on what a dumbass he is for giving up a job to pursue his acting career. The next scene was cut to a close-up of Tobias' business card. He had two professions analyst (of what?) and therapist but which he combined to form as AnalRapist. Now, go figure. I laughed my heart out till tears were shed.

I think what made AD such a cult classic in the US, aside from the uproariously funny narrative (the narration courtesy of Ron Howard) without so much as to lifting a finger, is the unconventional use of camera and editing style. The episodes are densed with brief flashbacks. Most of the scenes are shot hand-held, giving it documentary-feel. It's like chronicling the mishaps of an American family who has only one member whose mind has not gone totally deranged. Despite being Emmy-awarded and critically-acclaimed (America has so much love for the inane, asshole attitude -- look at the success of the Jackass series both TV and movies, and recently the movie Borat, whose subtitle is enough to lure you into curiousity -- Cultural Learnings of America for the Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan -- rottentomatoes.com even gave it 96% FRESH rating), I've read in a mag that it was axed for some time.

I can't help but to allude to yet another example -- two of them actually -- which made me wonder if tackling dysfunctionalism in America in TV and movies is really their cup of tea. Specifically, dysfunctional families. Perhaps, it can be attributed to the fact the American Beauty and the cult HBO series Six Feet Under is under the helm of the same writer (Oscar Winner Alan Ball). AB is one of my all time favorite movies and Kevin Spacey is just so fuckin' awesome in every scene, with his nonchalant no-bullshit attitude. There's this one hilarious scene in the shower and he says "Look at me. A 40 yr old man (or something like that) masturbating in the shower. This is the high point of my day. Everything's downhill from here."

The dark theme and writing was carried on in SFU, and this time the show's eccentricities is highlighted in the family-run business of funeral services. I only happen to wath the first three episodes so I can't speak so much about the development of the narrative. But still, basing on those episodes alone, the theme pretty much centers on a dysfunctional family's attempt at being normal.

Which makes me think. Is America's cloak of superficiality hiding the arrested development of even its own families? Or perhaps is it just simply telling us that despite the milk and honey, their world is not so close to perfect?

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