late, as always

it's 6:21 pm on a friday night and i'm still at work. di ko pa natatapos ang ecotourism training course design. and more importantly, wala pa din akong nagagawang rockstar supernova week 7 recap... haay... sana bukas magawa ko na yun pareho, tutal wala akong klase, quezon city day.

but no, may make-up class pala kami sa IR299. akalain mo yan. ibig sabihin kailangan ko nang magbasa-basa para makabuo ng maayos na paper proposal for submission tomorrow. haay.

i've decided to change my topic from tna (training needs assessment) of ICT (info communications technology) capability ng denr staff to public sector unionism in denr (or something). haay... so unbecoming of me...

hay nakoh... puro na lang buntong hininga. tama na nga yan.

intrams na!

it would've been a perfectly pleasurable wednesday, except that i had to miss one favorite activity over another. . .

alam naman ng cmc-cal teammates ko kung gano kahalaga sa buhay ko ang rockstar:supernova... pero inasahan nilang mas kakaririn ko ang intrams.

perfect na sana: rockstar sa umaga, tapos intrams, tapos kung may oras pa, library time sa solair. e di sulit ang absenteism! pero kilala pa din ako kahit ng mga nakababatang vc mems. alam nila na dadating ako ng 10AM for the love of the game.

mabuti na lang nanalo kami. aba, alangan namang matalo pa kami sa law?! di na nga sila kagalingan, naglaro pa ng di gaano nakakaintindi ng volleyball rules. how ironic. law students joining the game without knowing the rules. ang bad trip pa, yung incompetent referee namin, palaging kinokonsulta nung captain nila. it's like the blind leading the blind. mabuti na lang mataray enough na si roge para sa team namin. i could be the calm and collected ate. (wink! wink!)

but no, natalo kami ng first set. would you believe?! i would. pano kasi mga diesel kami. wala sa kundisyon nagsimula at medyo nag-attempt pa karirin ang law. yun pala buko-bukong laro lang ang kailangan. haay. dapat talaga super warm-up before magsimula. por dat, dapat 1 hr ahead kami magwa-warm-up before the game.

the question is... would i be willing to spare that warm-up time if it meant giving up the chance to watch the supernova auditions live? (well, not really live kasi recorded version na yun.) hmmm... decisions, decisions... i'll cross the bridge when i get there.

as you wish, danee

i'm glad you asked. i wouldn't have thought about it otherwise.



click here. to see my previos post about this song (with lyrics) or read about it at the tyra banks show.

Rockstar: Supernova Week 6

photos from rockstar.msn.com. links point to video performances at youtube.com. mp3 downloads available at supernovafans.com.



reality show

gilby clarke arrives at the mansion and surprises the final 10 with bad ass gibsons.


the individual songwriting challenge allowed supernova to look into each rocker’s abilities and personality. they liked lukas’ lyrics and kinda laughed at dilana’s. it irks me a little bit that the show is depicting dilana as a player strategizing against Lukas and reacting bitterly when he’s gaining ground. . . on the other hand, i'm terribly enjoying the way lukas is being portrayed as pasaway (storbo kay ryan na mabagal sumulat ng kanta) and “dirty and sexy”! how absolutely adorable!


performance show

is it just my reproductive hormones or is magni’s kid the most charming angel?

disclaimer: I can only only appreciate the performances when I’m familiar with the song. otherwise, I lean towards supernova’s own comments, specifically gilby’s.

ROCK01 - dilana rocked The Who’s won't get fooled again with gilby in guitars. i don’t know this song, and neither did dilana when she picked it to perform with gilby clarke. “you’re a star! after that, I have no doubt that a woman can front our band.” yippee!! 6 votes!

Provided By MetroLyrics

ROCK02 - jill looked like an avril lavigne-wannabe when she sang
Tracy Bonham’s mother mother. nainis lang ako kasi the song would’ve perfectly suited her screamers. avril would’ve done a better, angstier, more appropriate version. and I can’t believe dave liked the singing and jumping!

ROCK03 - goth becomes ryan in his performance of the Rolling Stones’ paint it black. ok lang. I think I’m getting over last week’s encore...

ROCK04 - storm again demonstrates her singing and her, uhm, acting prowess when she performed Queen’s we are the champions. storm was great but I like jordis’ version more...




ROCK05 - zayra was oozing with confidence when she performed David Bowie’s all the young dudes. almost an academy-worthy performance -- she looked like an oscar trophy. no grammys for her, though -- gilby thought she was “flat a lot” (the keys, not the curves).

ROCK06 - josh was about to sing STP’s interstate love song when T.Lee suddenly begged to rock with him. josh seemed to be in a state of belief the whole time – he forgot the lyrics, was so self-conscious, and out of wits after the performance. he obviously can’t handle the big stars of supernova.

ROCK07 - magnificent magni was unaccompanied when he performed Live’s the dolphin’s cry. this is among my fave Live songs and magni did a great GREAT job! his intensity matched Live’s and he did it all by himself, armed only with an acoustic guitar.



ROCK08 - patrice perfrmed John Lennon’s instant karma. she has a nice rocker voice but she’s just not very entertaining/interesting. nice hair, though.

ROCK09 - lukas sent goose bumps when he performed Radiohead’s creep. nothing but love for you, lukas!



ROCK10 - toby rocked the Talking Head’s burning down the house. I’m not familiar with the original version but I like the version from Tom Jones and The Cardigans (cool video, too... bagay na back-up dancers ni zayra). I wasn’t so hot with toby’s megaphone prop, either, since JD Fortune worked it already in Rockstar: INXS. (but I didn’t dislike it as much as dave navarro)


elimination show

the first encore was awarded to lukas rossi. magni took the second encore in electric version. the boys did great, although I prefer their performance shows. mas malakas ang dating.



bottom scare went to jill, josh, zayra, ryan and patrice. ryan’s rearrangement of Depeche Mode’s enjoy the silence saved his ass from elimination. jill screamed (again) Aretha Franklin’s respect and josh strapped himself (again) in his guitar with Bad Company’s shooting star.

just as two rockers were rewarded with encores, two axes eliminated jill and josh. why am I not surprised?

Rockstar Supernova Week 5

i’d rather give a recap of week 4 but that would be too late. so here’s my take on week 5... photos from rockstar.msn.com. links point to their video performances at youtube.com. mp3 downloads available at supernovafans.com.


reality show

last week, gilby clarke facilitated the songwriting workshop. now it’s a stage craft clinic c/o jason newsted who showed them their week 4 performances. the show featured an unsurprisingly talkative jill and the unsurprisingly unsympathetic lukas enjoining toby to play a more interesting tic-tac-toe game. . .



can dilana be any more perfect? She’s beating herself up for her less-than-perfect vocals in “time after time”, she said that when she performs everything is about her audience, and she showed sincere empathy while watching magni' family video. to my eyes, she's the most beautiful person in the group. . .

and if dilana is the most beautiful person, lukas must be the most pasaway. song selection did not cause much drama except when lukas took the songs from "the room" to the group outside. "i'm not into rules. . ." don't you just love him?


performance show

ROCK01 - tommy lee in his fuzzy drums performed the chili peppers' higher ground . oh yeah, and patrice did the singing in mohawk. i'm still not impressed, especially after she wasted a song from the great black crowes last time.



ROCK02 - josh kept it real with the hiphop reggae santeria by sublime. the theme: magpakatotoo ka!. good for you, josh. both you and zayra.

ROCK03 - dilana, as always, gave something extra special when she performed can't get enough by bad company. can't relate lang ako kasi di ako familiar sa song. still, five votes for you dilana!!!

ROCK04 - toby's pennyroyal tea by nirvana was entertaining. i'm still waiting to be really impressed, though.



ROCK05 - zayra sang about some girl's phone number. the leopard print attire added to the lesbo theme. fun, at the least. i gave her one vote, in honor of her lone fan, my friend, pebols.

ROCK06 - magni sings clocks. i can't even remember....

ROCK07 - jill screamed her way through simple minds' don't you forget about me. sayang ang kanta. tsk! tsk! dave thought her performance was the type where you get an opportunity to go to the bathroom, grab a drink... anything to avoid watching her.

ROCK08 - ryan performed losing my religion by rem, using a baby grand piano. i loved his version. very creative.

ROCK09 - lukas, to me wasted the great hole song, celebrity skin. worse than jill's violet. i couldn't help but give him one vote. god save lukas. please.

ROCK10 - a very polished and business-like-rocker, storm sings her heart out to changes by david bowie. sabi ni pebols kamukha nya si geri halliwell.

ROCK11 - i can't remember much about dana's performance.


elimination show

ryan deserved the encore, toby deserved the scare, zayra deserved the break, jill & patrice deserved the bottom 3... and i guess dana deserved the elimination.

i enjoyed jill's performance of heart's alone. much much better than carrie underwood's version. chills me to the bone.

State of the Nation 2006

The Future Is So Bright


I listened to GMA’s SONA without expectations and much interest. I barely remember her previous SONAs, except for the fabulous gowns, the defensive demeanor, and her charms wearing thin. This time, however, I had to smile.

In a trainer’s perspective, the President did rather well. She kept the speech interesting, using clear and comprehensible language and effective visuals. Her gown, again, looked fantastic. Her confident smile reached from ear to ear.

And why not? She claims to have the resources to implement the projects she enumerated in her speech. She had the firm support of the military and local government officials so crucial to her success.

When she began her speech with a roll call of thank yous, she exhibited the grace of a powerful woman who understands the true meaning of teamwork. She is willing to credit the elected and the appointed, not only for their efficient cooperation but also for their effective initiatives.

When she emphasized the need to focus the country’s resources on regional development by building up SUPER-REGIONS, I almost gave her a standing ovation myself. She laid out plans for long-term success through ecotourism, agri-business, infrastructure and vast improvements in transportation and ICT.

I was all smiles after GMA’s speech. I was looking forward to doing what I can to support her.


I Gotta Wear Shades

I couldn’t help, though, but listen to commentaries about her speech. Some critics sounded like sore losers, while some expressed valid concerns.

Some politicians immediately criticized her roll call of who’s who in pinoy politics, her crash course on Philippine geography, and her use of human props in the person of the everest climbers, the miss world beauty titlist and the ultimate pinoy champion, many pacquiao. They sounded to me like trapos who had such sour (or should I say bitter?) tastes in their mouths.

The concern that I did find real and valid came from Atty. Dong Puno when he expressed his pessimism with the success of her mega-projects as far as funding is concerned. The President could simply insist that “we now have the funds” but, likewise, she could easily enumerate excuses at the end of the day. Yes, she seems sincere enough and determined enough to work hard and do her best. But is that enough? Can she be trusted?


The End Does Not Justify the Means

Later that week, I was in a heated battle with an officemate who said her praises to GMA. When another officemate insisted that a cheating president is not a president worthy of any trust, the GMA fan replied that it shouldn’t matter anymore that she cheated considering her job-well-done.

Of course, I had to join that debate. Disclaiming that I likewise admired her speech, I also explained that I am not for a leader who justifies a successful job only by its final merits. GMA’s overall success is yet to be seen, considering that this SONA consisted mostly of promises begging to be officially funded. For now, we can only judge her by her means to that success.

When the GMA fan compared the “great” president to our “unfair” boss, I enumerated to her the similarities in their Machiavellian leadership. They both take pride in successful endings, without much care how they got there. They took pride in their efforts to work terribly hard but displayed fake attempts to build relationships. They’re also both, uhm, vertically challenged women who held their husbands by the neck. The GMA fan was stunned. Perhaps she had something to think about now.

What I failed to mention to her, however, was that I understand the need to at least support GMA because, indeed, she had great plans for the country. And if I may say so, I have the opportunity to do my part in my office’s efforts to contribute to the business of tourism by conducting ecotourism trainings for DENR staff supervising protected areas in the country.

There is hope for the Filipino people -- at least for now. GMA still has much to prove and there is much work to be done. Hopefully, those who watch her with critical eyes would also do their part.



****************
Links:
Complete SONA Technical Report and Executive Summary
Sen. Edgardo Angara's opinion on GMA's 2006 SONA at Manila Bulletin Online
A rare criticism from administration Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago

thank god for You Tube

the most awesome videos sending chills down my spine . . .


Teardrop by Massive Attack

Love, love is a verb / love is a doing word / fearless on my breath / gentle impulsion / shakes me, makes me lighter / fearless on my breath / teardrop on the fire / fearless on my breath / Night, night of matter / black flowers blossom / fearless on my breath / black flowers blossom / fearless on my breath / teardrop on the fire / fearless on my // Water is my eye / most faithful mirror / fearless on my breath / teardrop on the fire / of a confession / fearless on my breath / most faithful mirror / fearless on my breath / teardrop on the fire / fearless on my breath // It's tumbling down (as in love falling apart) /It's tumbling down (as in love falling apart)



Mad About You by Hooverphonic

Feel the vibe, feel the terror, feel the pain / It's driving me insane / I can't fake / For god sakes why am I / Driving in the wrong lane / Trouble is my middle name / But in the end I'm not too bad / Can someone tell me if it's wrong to be so mad about you / Mad about you / Mad // Are you the fishy wine that will give me / A headache in the morning / Or just a dark blue land mine / That'll explode without a decent warning / Give me all your true hate / And I'll translate it in our bed / Into never seen passion, never seen passion / That is why I am so mad about you / Mad about you / Mad about you / Mad // Trouble is your middle name / But in the end you're not too bad / Can someone tell me if it's wrong to be / So mad about you / Mad about you / Mad // Give me all your true hate / And I'll translate it in your bed / Into never seen passion / That is why I am so mad about you / Mad about you



Ava Adore by Smashing Pumpkins

It's you that I adore / You'll always be my whore / You'll be a mother to my child / And a child to my heart / We must never be apart / We must never be apart // Lovely girl, you're the beauty in my world / Without you, there aren't reasons left to find // And you'll pull your crooked teeth / You'll be perfect just like me / You'll be a lover in my bed / And a gun to my head / We must never be apart / We must never be apart // Lovely girl, you're the murder in my world / Dressing coffins for the souls I've left to die / Drinking mercury to the mystery / Of all that you should ever seek to find / In time // In you I see dirty / In you I count stars / In you I feel so pretty / In you I taste God / In you I feel so hungry / In you I crash cars / We must never be apart // Drinking mercury to the mystery / Of all that you should ever seek to find / Lovely girl, you're the murder in my world / Dressing coffins for the souls I've left behind / In time / We must never be apart // And you'll always be my whore /'Cause you're the one that I adore / And you'll pull your crooked teeth / You'll be perfect just like me // In you I feel so dirty / In you I crash cars / In you I feel so pretty / In you I taste God / We must never be apart



Home by Depeche Mode

Here is a song from the wrong side of town / Where I'm bound to the ground by the loneliest sound / And it pounds from within and is pinning me down // Here is a page from the emptiest stage / A cage or the heaviest cross ever made / A gauge of the deadliest trap ever laid // And I thank you for bringing me here / For showing me home / For singing these tears / Finally I've found that I belong here // The heat and the sickliest sweet smelling sheets / That cling to the backs of my knees and my feet / Well I'm drowning in time to a desperate beat // And I thank you for bringing me here / For showing me home / For singing these tears / Finally I've found that I belong / Feels like home / I should have known / From my first breath // God send the only true friend I call mine / Pretend that I'll make amends the next time / Befriend the glorious end of the line // And I thank you for bringing me here // For showing me home / For singing these tears / Finally I've found that I belong here

ynseng recommends: arts & letters daily

my professor in IR201 once asked us what we were reading at the moment. panic attacks suddenly filled my classmates' eyes as they dreaded th thought of the prof asking us one by one. lucky for me, i wasn't called. i don't think a jackie collins book would translate as "impressive," "clever," or even "cool" to my younger classmates.

but i did have a witty answer in mind. i would've been proud to let my classmates know that much of my "intellectual" reading is sourced from the arts and letters daily's collection of articles from the net.


i do recommend this site to the intellectually hungry. the writers are good, so unlike the assigned readings in my class. below are some of the articles i've noted. i haven't read them yet but i'm blogging about it to remind myself to read them.

Some Dark Thoughts on Happiness
>> Learn about the Authentic Happiness Inventory (i think it's supposed to be a tool that objectively measures authentic happiness. or something), and the people who study happiness for a living


'The Most Optimistic Country in the World'
>> Discover the growing purchasing power of the middle class of india. "Socially and economically, India is developing at a galloping pace when compared to the rest of the world." my professor warned the class about this. make way for the new india.


An excerpt from The Economics of Attention
>> I've read somewhere that while information technology is the thing of this century, the next will be creativity. Richard Lanham tells us more in this article as he claims that artists are the ultimate “economists of attention,” the real experts in grabbing their chunk of our mind-share.


The Freedom to Ridicule Religion -- and Deny the Holocaust
>> Although I don't absolutely agree, I have deep respect for Peter Singer's writings on philosophy, particularly on the subject of animal rights. Here, he maintains that "...we must preserve our freedom to deny the existence of God and to criticize the teachings of Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, and Buddha..." and that "freedom of expression must include the freedom to ridicule as well." surely, a good read...


Goodbye, Blog
>> Alan Jacobs explores the architecture of blogs and the impossibility of real conversation in the blogosphere. he's right: life is too busy to keep the momentum of debating. ironically (or perhaps intentionally), there is no "comments" link at the end of his article.

"Dilana... I wanna..."

tommy lee sounds so cheesy and scripted sometimes.
but this time, i gotta agree.

i don't particularly like the cranberries' zombie.
very irritating vocals, if you ask me.
but i can listen to dilana's version over and
over and over again...




HELL, YEAH!

singular thoughts II

happy 28th birthday ynseng! happy 1st birthday jessie!






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i finally got my yabang pinoy wrist band. akala ko maghahanap pa ko sa mga stores where the band is available. buti na lang i found their booth nung DENR day sa parks and wildlife.

i support the cause, that's why i'm wearing it. i was hoping though that they'd have it in funkier colors.




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i've had the chance to see the beautiful mount malarayat golf and country club in lipa city, batangas. kaso wala namang time makita ang magagandang view kasi sinulit talaga ako sa trabaho. still, it was a rather pleasant stay. the food was great, our loft was great. i'm not sure though if the people from sun microsystems would recommend it. they were the ones directly coordinating with mount malarayat people and i think there were quite a bit of booboos. still, i'd go back if i can afford it...



photos from malarayat.com


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x-men was great. x-2 was good enough. x-3, the final stand was awesome! (at least compared to the da vinci code).

spiderman 1 was good. spiderman 2, much better. now, i'm really looking forward to this...