Gold

Last Sunday I almost tripped the hot soup I was transferring onto a bowl while watching the Argentina-Australia football (soccer) match. I think I must have shouted too. You can feel the anguish and anxiety in the Argentines’ kicks and butts and after 77 minutes of nil Argentina scored their single goal.

I remembered watching the World Cup with Italy-France battling in 2006 in a European owned bar in the city where my former German friend and colleague Peter treated me to endless booze. The crowd was roaring and the intensity of the game was just hot. Even though the Arg-Aus game was not even finals yet the intensity was just there. Hey, it’s the Olympics for Chrissakes.

After watching a grueling performance the other night, where I gaped in awe at the immense weight these women have to endure, I have now a strong sense of respect for the women weightlifters. Chen Yanqing of China is unbelievable. Unlike the Korean who looks almost like a man and who seems like she’s going to deliver a baby any minute, the Chinese’s composure was truly admirable. Even when she’s shouting and doing the final lift, it’s as if she’s walking the runway.

Michael Phelps is an unstoppable swimming god. To date, he is now the person in Olympic history who’s got most gold medals, and I surmise in any sporting event. Uh, he’s only 23, right?

The U.S. Dream Team is doing their basketball rampage. But after crushing Yao and China, they were given a run for their money with the match with Angola. I would like to see Argentina crush these bastards once again like they did in Athens. But the team looks formidable with the LeBron-Kobe tour-de-force.

Georgia, who’s being bombed by Russia now, is in 10^th place, and a relatively unknown country called Azerbaijan is in the 14^th overall rank. So are other –tan countries like Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan who also have their medals to boot. China has the most number of gold medals, with 17 but US has the most number of medals.

The Filipino athletes who competed already failed to clinch a medal. Hidilyn Diaz, the 17 year old Filipina weightlifter is promising though.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the entire nation will behold the oral arguments on the MOA on Ancestral Domain tomorrow.

Photo credit: Beijing 2008 website

quatre coups

(A) Four places I go over and over:

Davao-Bukidnon-Cagayan Road – I’d trade a plane ride for a land trip in this long strip of Mindanao landscapes.

Booksales of Victoria Plaza and NCCC Mall – In about a year, I will prolly memorize every book in every nook and cranny in these sections of the local malls.

Piracy havens of Davao City -- Because of the intensified campaign of OMB, I’d rather not divulge the specific locations or else I wouldn’t enjoy scouring my precious films anymore.

The bathroom -- how in the hell would i get clean...hehehe... (*evil grin*)

(B) Four people who e-mail me regularly: people of the Mindanao Bloggers forum; people at Google Alerts who keep updating me on Mindanao, BIMP-EAGA and peace and development news; wait that’s a lot of people already…

(C) Four of my favorite places to eat? If you’d see me now then you’d prolly say I’d eat anywhere as long as there is good food…

(D) Four places you'd rather be? A wheat farm in Oklahoma or fishing village in Rhode Island; a vineyard or apple orchard in the French Riviera; a stone house in one of the islands off Sicily; or a nipa/makeshift hut in the Phi Phi Islands of Thailand.

(E) Four people I think will respond: ugh, I hate to impose but bad sex daw for 4 years (*evil grin*) JP, Chard, Mauro, and Kuya Jon (you have to ‘Ya, hehehe).

(F) Four TV shows I could watch over and over: Arrested Development, The Practice, Six Feet Under (even though I haven’t finished all seasons yet), and Roswell or X-Files.

Chance encounters

I watched The Dark Knight last night for the third time (technically, third, because when I watched it on the opening day I repeated it being late for 20 mins on the second to the last screening), because (a) I decided to waste whatever was left with my money and not care, (b) I have preconditioned myself that unless I come home late enough I'd be witnessing another nasty bout of verbal abuse between Pa and my stepmom, and (c) I thought it good to spend two and a half hours while outside its raining profusely.

It turns out I'm wrong. When I climbed onto the jeepney, that's when it started to rain. A couple of minutes, it was already raining hard. There was only me and a lady prolly of my age when I was about to step down. She was going down as well and with an umbrella. Just before I was about to go down, she offered me hers. I thanked her profusely

While Rihanna’s infamous lyrics reverberate in my head, I was genuinely grateful of the gesture. I mean, how many out of 10 people would offer their umbrellas to strangers (even to those not criminal (adorable)-looking like me)? Or maybe, I’m just becoming jaded that such random act of kindness would strike me a bit odd? Am I really that bitter and full of shit? Full of my own shit.

The young lady was not really awful looking. Fair-skinned and wore glasses. Not that I would take interest immediately at such a chance encounter. I hailed another jeepney en route home and I thanked her again without even looking at her. Made the urgency of heavy downpour an excuse to myself.

In college, I’d frequent the university chapel, sometimes because I want, need the silence. And I was a crybaby at times when the shittiness of my life and how messed up it is screams at me in the face. And so I go there for silence, sometimes cry. One time, this pretty girl approached me and offered me her scented hanky. She was a familiar face, one or two years my junior. Pretty and could prolly passed off as a model. I knew she was intelligent.

She was on a front pew staring blankly at the crucifix or something. Perhaps I was sobbing and I prolly turned red in the face when offered the hanky. She said I could have it. She did not say anything else or offered pointless words of comfort. The smile and apologetic face did it all. When she left, I wiped my tears and blew my nose with it. I kept the hanky until I lost it.

I see her on campus but my wits are battling if I should even talk to her. I mean just to say thank you. Didn’t you thank her already? She graduated to be summa cum laude and had a Korean boyfriend at the time.

When I lost the hanky I messaged her over MySpace. She replied, never mind. I think the short message went on to say I needed the hanky or something but I lost my MySpace password.

What with all these chance encounters with random acts of kindness? Am I bound to be unlucky bastard after all? Am I just being too melodramatic? Do I pass myself off as someone who badly needs being taking cared of? Is Venus just spitting on my face? Should I just leave it all to chance? I’m just having a bad day.

why so serious?

See the little koala bear underneath holding a boomerang? See the transparent skeleton of my office CPU with my 2 favorite films of 2007 I'm Not There and Control on top? See those post-its, loose change, dismantled books, pen holder and other crap? Closer anatomy of a cluttered desk.

Wait, that's not really it, I'm sure you know I'm diverting you of the obvious. If you look closely at Batman, the decapitated arm is unintentional. It's been there for many months and I just can't locate Bruce's left arm. Just so you know, I'm not aiming for something metaphorical or thematic in the contrast. But if you've seen the film, it may offer a glimpse of depth. If not, prepare for it.

Ok, so here goes. Oh my God, The Dark Knight is fucking brilliant. Chris Nolan is a friggin' genius. Heath Ledger is the creepiest, most terrifying villain EVER. And I hate Nolan, who might prolly have a hand at the thesp's untimely death because of how amazingly he immersed himself into the role, he prolly messed up. Oh my god, everything is just so fucking awesome.

The Dark Knight is unsettling and unforgettable. I hope I can muster the courage to even write my take on how moved I am of the experience.

Honey, honey

Oh gosh why am I beaming when Amanda Seyfried started singing I have a dream/A song to sing, and why can’t I help myself but mouth Super Trooper/Lights are gonna blind me/But I won’t feel blue/Cause somewhere in the crowd there’s you? Super Trooper is actually my favorite Abba song. Father used to own this double cassette Abba collection, and that’s precisely the reason – me growing up listening to Abba tunes – I trooped to the theatre and watched Mamma Mia. Ok, so it’s so girly or rather so grandma-ish. I was actually sandwiched by two old ladies on my left and an old couple on my right. The theater though not really full was littered with old people ranging prolly between 40 to 60.

I first saw Ms. Seyfried in a Justice episode where she was mistaken a college high-class hooker -murderer and her partner Dominic Cooper appeared in the film adaptation of the play The History Boys. And yes Meryl Streep can sing, so does Mr. Brosnan. Maybe she’ll do a superhero movie next year. Who knows what she can do? Might as well do everything and risk life and limb. It was an okay musical, a bit mushy – it’s a celebration of mothers and daughters, what’d you expect – but totally enjoyed it. Abba, the phenomenal Swedish pop sensation, will only be further indelibly marked in the minds of those who grew up with them, who grew up singing to their songs, and will be introduced to the now generation who will hear for the first time some of the songs other than the much-karaoke-maligned Dancing Queen. Contrary to the now generation pop music, Abba songs will likely to remain for the longest time.

Speaking of disposable poppish (I actually just invented this word) tunes, I will officially confess my guilty pleasure recently -- oohhh, this is an SOS/don’t want a second guess or when you look me in the eye/I catch a glimpse of heaven. Yes, those squeaky pre-pubescent boys of the Jonas Brothers. I can’t get out of the friggin LSS. You can now laugh and crucify me. Speaking of more boybands, why are the pre-BSB and NSYNC groups suddenly arose from their boyband graves? New Kids on the Block and Menudo released their reunion singles recently. I’m guessing Marilyn Manson’s ears are bleeding right now.