Taking turns

It was my last day of tenure at the office yesterday. Not many were present due to their respective holiday vacation nonetheless, it was a good day. Yelen and I went to the museum at her insistence. Granted, we've postponed the trip long enough when the museum is just a block away. The museum is not as grand as the National Museum but it archives some interesting materials from old military uniforms, swords, guns and canyons. Half of the second floor is mostly dedicated to Fidel V. Ramos, ex-President of the country and ex-Chief of Staff, with his memoirs and items all throughout his life as an officer.

Anyway, back to my division, I'm going to miss them. Not the entire department because in general, it sucks bigtime and the gossipmongers are awfully desperate in projecting their adolescent frustrations on younger employees. However, my division rocks bigtime, with the chief already on deliberation for a promotion. That mean he might be a one-star general sometime this new year. Sir Glenn is on leave so we weren't able to cajole him into a last minute treat, after all, we made the IPMS project work. Our office doesn't have complete facilities but we were happy then. I was happy then, but not happy enough to endure unprofessional co-workers outside of my division and the unrelenting hell of payroll madness.

I met up with Beth afterwards because she's been a true friend all these years, she bought my SM gift cheques. I've no use for them, after all. We had dinner at Krokodile Grill and had seafood ala-pinakbet and tuna sisig which both were on par in snuffing out our hunger. We accompanied Bevs at Conti's to buy her cakes (Mango Bravo!)--her consuelo de bobo before her execution day: today. Good luck Bevz; she has yet to text me regarding her parents' verdict which as she had said last night, she might have lost her jaw already. Beth and I dropped by Adidas in Greenbelt at my insistence. The outlet is already selling World Cup jersey particularly that of Brazil, France, Spain, Germany and Russia. I want to buy a Spain shirt but jeezy creezy, the price is overwhelming. I could probably purchase it with both eyes tightly shut but I'd do that if the shirts have corresponding players' names and their respective numbers on it. If they don't then I might as well buy a general South Africa 2010 shirt to suppress my lifelong frustration in football.

At Cors' initiative, we went to the newly opened Gelatissimo to have a taste of what all the socio-elites are going gaga about. The Italian ice creams are obviously unique, Beth had the sour-sweet Forrest Berries while I enjoyed the traditional sweet Tiramisu flavour. It was then I came to a scandalous epiphany with Beth that if the Italians' quotidian ice cream can sell like a small dose of paradise then Filipinos can offer their own version of ice cream: the sorbetes. Just as what Beth had thought, all European things are haute couture. They cannot live without the delicacies and intricacies in their daily lives. Therefore, if they can have a taste of simple yet still undeniably delicious food, they would sell bigtime. Or not? After all, Europeans do not have a tendency to be too pretentious with imported things but I'm digressing. Back to the ice cream. There's a Lime flavoured ice cream which fondly reminded me of Richard's eccentric taste in them. I might as well treat you, Chard to a scoop if you'll treat me to dinner preferably if we can schedule a date for Where the Wild Things Are or another movie.

Instrumentality

I'm finally done with the series and the OAVs of Neon Genesis Evangelion after two days. I want to write something about the anime since it has been one of the landmarks of my teenage years. It was first aired on a local TV network and seeing the complexities and psychological aspects of the series, no wonder it didn't click well with children. It is not meant for the children, in the first place. The characters, like Anno-sensei exclaimed, are too twisted and sick to be understood in a shallow manner.

In relation to watching the series, I should download some scores from Pachelbel. I don't have much of his works in my collection aside from his musical scores used on Eva which I find very alluring. I should also get something of Bach, I've been in love with Suiten fur Violoncello for years.

The BBC Horizon episodes I have downloaded for several weeks are already waiting to be watched. I might keep them in the dark until January. Going jobless will result to complete and utter boredom and I can see that my soon to be daily schedule would be either watching the episodes or reading one book after another.

Anyway, I'm off to sleep; continuous late nights have finally taken its toll on me.

Jotting it down

As much as it will pain me no to have financial support come January 2010, there's an upside to it: I will have time (again) to read. I can reason out that maybe not since I already have a new laptop and parting from it even for a day can be too difficult but no, when I'm stuck at home for the whole day with nothing to do, I tend to lean towards the bookshelf. I have several books waiting to be finished and I believe I'll have a better motivation now that I have what I need.

I invited Beth for the AFP Day, with parade and the silent drill until I realized it was too hyped and nothing special happened except if you can call seeing the President pass by you just a few metres away. I got my mug which has a pretty long hairline crack on it so I plan to ask someone (particularly some officers who obviously don't need those) to trade theirs with mine.

There's no official announcement for a renewal of our contracts nonetheless, I won't sign again so that's about it. I'm sure they can find new folks to fill our positions. I'll miss my division, they're absolutely a brilliant group but there's no love lost for me and the other civilian employees. They can rot until their retirement age for all I care. This little stunt also cleared my perception on government work. Sure, they're lenient, they have perks but the people are a big no to me. I'd rather go back to a private company for awhile and besides, I need better pay if I really plan to enroll for a master's degree already.

Do a Landa*

Everyone is alighting the jeepney.

I step out, but not before my right slipper was tripped by someone behind me.

"Sorry." The woman says half-heartedly.

I glance sideways and grunts, "You should be."


I rarely snap, but when I do, I crack the whip. When a forty-ish something woman spews tribulations of the world and how uneducated some cocky girl on the opposite end of the seat is, one will tend to ignore the tripe and prove to their likes that retaliating will only show otherwise. In behalf of levity, it's downright funny. The woman had to stomp her way towards the farthest seat from me and serve her homily for several long minutes before it even passed by my senses that all her hate was directed at me.

Ah, life. I love the abnormalities of Filipino ethos.

*Cross-posted at LJ

Aadfljsadlf

This week was packed with enough excitement and stress to make me go blind. The General Assembly finally came upon with tons of uniformed officers, an AIM professor and a very tardy Secretary of National Defense amidst the four meals we had to endure while just guarding our PDR booth. I mooched enough sustenance (from a heavy baked mac snack to the cocktails) that I didn't need to eat dinner when I met up with Richard and Bolix at Robinson's Pioneer for Inglourious Basterds. I just have to emphasize this because, it really was the visceral reaction I had upon having the first glimpse of the film, it was gripping in its intensity, enough to erase my exhaustion from the GA and let nearly three hours of Tarantino-esque entertainment to satisfy me. It is something you would rant about even after a week, still seeking for a replay of the film; enough for me to download the film through torrent and bow down to Tarantino's ingenious mind to come up with a musical scores for the film. Then there's Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox which has enough moral values to consider it an adult film dubbed in a kiddie stop-motion animation. Richard promised reviews on the two films so Richard, I'm waiting for it.

The exhaustion however, did not stop me from dropping by Megamall, Shangri-la and St. Francis Square to check around sales and buy some clothes. Mango was having their major sale but I couldn't find a good turtleneck and I'm still waiting for Zara's end of season sale in January.

The office's Christmas party is finally finalized on Monday after office hour, not the supposedly lunch time Christmas party from 10am to 1pm and then get back to work mode. Ex-O's meddling for once had its advantages. Admin the Gorilla is really such a kill joy kid. It's bad enough we share the same birthday.

Oh and Havoc is going to have a Christmas reunion tomorrow at dinner. That's Hannah, Mannel, Olay and I since Amor is in Batangas and Arianne is in Australia. I'm looking forward to see them again.

Luck is crawling

My muse is leaning towards my latest and 3rd Livejournal account where I have successfully posted 2 new drabbles for two days with the help of prompts. It's an exhilarating feeling of success. It maybe a puny product but it means the world to me. My muse is still there, I just need enough time to make it skip its sabbatical. I almost cried in joy, I tell you. Pathetic or not, I am rejoicing.

That means lesser blog posts and more LJ updates. It won't be a permanent thing, that's for sure. It's a tried and tested theory. Blogger always give me the complete feeling of privacy and publicity at the same time. Livejournal can be a second resort but it's more for my collection of vices. The two blog hosting websites are very important to me but they are apples and oranges, not and never meant to be compared.

Beyond indolence

It's long overdue but I had a great time meeting up with KD last Saturday for a dinner. Zena couldn't come on the supposed Sunday trip due to her homework so I had it rescheduled to Saturday which is okay; I got the chance to scour around St. Francis and buy some office clothes. We dined at Gotti's, a new restaurant at Megamall Atrium. The food is lovely and the prices are awesome. I brought Richard there last Wednesday because I couldn't stop thinking about their Arrabiata pasta.

Oh and really many thanks to Richard who finally saw my missing Stylus (lost it on his birthday at Alliance's library), a lovely poster of Matt Bellamy (accompanied with an excited shriek) and the subtitles for Walk on Water which was the spur of the moment while he was nosing through Gitano. Megamall's wifi is pretty decent especially around the Atrium; if you're interested to know that is.

Despite my continuous effort to know the limitation of stipend especially when Chard and I already planned to see Fantastic Mr. Fox at Glorietta on Monday, I suddenly grew some guts and bought pumps at Crossings. It's beyond comprehension why I purchased it. It might be a product of frustration when I couldn't find a size 7 for the flats I saw at St. Francis Square. Or that I really wanted those grey pumps at Charles and Keith. Cors placated me that the shoes I bought are already pretty cheap for it's style. Nonetheless, I have to mourn for the loss of more than a grand for it. Then I got to buy several undies when I dropped by SM Fairview last night; nearly bought that dark blue sleeveless shirt. Jesus Christ. Spare me. I don't know what will happen to my Christmas bonus when it lands on my greedy hands. I plan to enroll on French class again but from the way I spend at the moment, I doubt the plan will materialize.

On the current status of my in limbo muse, I can say that it's a small but good improvement that I'm able to write a few unfinished drabbles/fanfictions since last month. I don't have the stamina of before that I can finish a story in one sitting. I want to experiment and see if I can do that in another environment, preferably a library but seeking one near the area is futile. A coffee shop in a mall can be a second choice but the amount I have to spend before I can get a couch and act all yuppie and self-righteous is too adulterated already.

That said, if anyone can point me to a free for visitors library around Quezon City or even Manila, put in some suggestions. I would love to visit them.

---

The whole OJ1 went to PAGCOR yesterday afternoon to watch the highly acclaimed (who acclaimed it?) Flow, the next big production after the successful Wonders. I had no idea what it was about although some of my officemates and even Beth knew. It's a mix between musical and acrobatics. I've always hated watching the circus or any kind of production that includes strenuous body activities. No pun intended. Seriously, I guess it's part of the keen eye I have that makes me nervous when I see straining hands and legs. I go into scientific mode, analyzing too much body flexibility and resistance, and the taunting gravity. It's lovely though, a good performance for kids and worth the ticket price (around P 1,500) if you have the money to spare.

Fun will be non-existent when Monday comes as we go into overdrive in preparation for the PDR General Assembly which will be held on Tuesday. Good luck to my body's immune system.

Make your dreams

In my haste to get home early because of hunger and sneezes, I had to ride the wrong bus (it's only until SM Fairview) and be treated to Twilight (I saw the ending credits) rolling. I couldn't not watch a bit of the film which can probably prove that curiosity can kill the cat because heaven help me, I gained a gruelling headache from it. I don't even know if it's because of the bus driver's skills or my suffering from the film but it was downright terrible. At one point, I got teary-eyed from the headache I almost spilled my merienda(that's pancit and Coke) on the lovely bus isle. Oh I remember, it's the part where Bella's in the hospital trying to fight her way for Edward not to leave him. The scene was so absurd and mind boggling in its relentless intensity my mind shrieked in shame.

Anyway, it's a lovely birthday for me. My officemates had enough energy to cheer me up with their greetings, got hugs from my bosses and a lucky cash advance to boot. My asthma has toned down, thank you very much but the sneezing and snot river are unstoppable until now. The thing is, I'm celebrating the same birthday with our admin officer--the one we always tease as a monkey (a gorilla for that matter) behind his back. Don't look at me! It's the officers who initiated pure evilness. No matter, he's the ugly and hirsute side of my co-birthday celebrants. Let's look at the bright side, David Villa is now 28. I'm 23. 5 years is still probable, yes? He's one of the best strikers in the world and for Valencia's sake, please don't sell him to Man City (for 88 million). It will break my heart (and lungs) and Silva's midget love for you

Racing towards the end

It is the first of the two death defying, thrilling, more than a century old tradition of El Clasico for the 2009/2010 season. If you're not a football fan I expect a blank face, but for those who grew up watching the beautiful game you would know what I'm talking about. FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will clash--the heaven may not move and mountains may not tumble but for the fans who have always adored either of the teams, this is going to be a rough night ahead. The media fanfare surrounding this Battle of the Titans started a week ago and even the moderators of ontd_football on Livejournal already handed out a caveat about El Clasico posts swarming around the community. Adam's RealmadridTalk blog provided an illuminating preview on the match with an all out Barcelona fan and blogger. The sharing of ideas is good enough to see both team's struggles and status quo. I agree with Adam though that every expectation will be blown away by the unpredictability of fate and luck merging when it comes to El Clasico.

Everyone knows Real Madrid is not the favourite, nor are they really ready for this but everyone's got to face it one way or another. It's got enough disadvantage that most are already expecting a defeat even before the starting whistle is blown, the fact that it's an away game for Real Madrid is all the tougher. The humiliating 6-2 win last season was enough to push the club's administration for an overhaul resulting a comeback from Florentino Perez and the second coming of the Galacticos. Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka battling it out with Messi and Ibrahimovic might be the highlight of the match. I already am halfway to the expected defeat but I'm still clinging to that hope that Pellegrini's team can make it through the battle, bloodied and bruised but not altogether broken. After all, Perez ensured that the new team will have the best.

Since last night, I've been having trouble accessing Adam's blog, JustinTV and ebay.ph for no apparent reason for a non-techie person like me. I installed tons of add ons including NoScript and AdBlock Plus; assuming that they are the reason for my connection problems, I uninstalled them. I googled around and posted twice on forums to get ideas and even roused several friends online to see if they can access what I cannot. In the end, my suspicions of the ISP running amok was supported by a forum monger. I've chalked it up to calling Smartbro's customer service, suffering more than 20 minutes of waiting for get a live help only to have a shake of the head and a promise to file a report about the inaccessible websites. According to the CSR, I have to monitor for 24 hours on my connection. That's 24 hours too late to watch El Clasico. I'm past the hyperventilating stage. I'm past the white hot anger. But I'm not past the tension that awaits Real Madrid at Camp Nou. I've decided not to wake up altogether this 2 AM if I really can't find a decent stream for it. I've already exhausted all means to solve this tribulation (indeed) and I'm too exhausted to even cry about it.

That said, to Pellegrini and the team best of luck! Hala Madrid!

Not so focus

Mind you, there is no wifi here in Ricarte Room nor in the entire building but the conference's commencement is taking too long so I've decided to have a chat with myself for the mean time.

I'm back; I'm writing down a post while pausing for the conference documentation. From a mere observation, it shows that older people's comprehension are pretty much the same as of high school students. They cannot easily grasp the instruction (they really didn't pay attention in the first place) and the facilitator keeps on reiterating the things to do. It's an absolute mess for me already. From this point alone, this could serve as a basis for an overhaul in the personnel. Remove older employees and replace them with younger ones. They might have the experience but they don't have the comprehension they once had. Brb. See? They don't know if they can post their answers already.

However, in a way this can also warm up their brains. Or not. Their answers will be very interesting. I wonder how would officers react if this conference was held for them. I imagine a more efficient and effective comprehension and cooperation.

The conference as it turns out expectedly, produces tons of bones in the closet for civilian employment. The facilitator is pretty good if she were able to burst the stakeholders' bubbles and speak out freely. The exchange of ideas are spontaneous and relatively connected so thankfully, their brains are working out. However, one or two of these people are probably too loyal to the military core that they are not really giving much input for changes in the current system. Perhaps they should also speak out and give their thoughts on these and defend some.

Dash clever

Last Friday, I was absolutely sure traffic would be light because the entire human race would be flocking to the nearest cinema to watch New Moon. How very wrong; I had to stand in the bus from Cubao to Fairview, a feat very rarely encountered even during Fridays. So I thought it was a half-half situation, half of the human race racing to the cinema, the other half racing home to avoid the contamination. Beth, obviously, was one of those squealing fangirls who first got a reserved ticket. I hope she enjoyed the film because when I checked around JustinTV yesterday, New Moon was already playing.

This week is going to be full of birthday celebrants and work at the office. The boss already held a warning that everything will require a high rate of comprehension aka blood and sweat, tears and toil. I just realized, my laptop has been running for nearly 48 hours with just some trivial minutes when I turned it off yesterday to remove the battery and such.

I'm still looking for a really good iTunes alternative so if anyone out there knows a program, do tell. I've already tried Amarok to no luck. Banshee on the other hand, has some features that are not user friendly so I'm back to Rhythmbox.

---

Due to my stupid time calculation, I woke up an hour early this morning for the Real Madrid - Racing Santander match which ended 1-0 joined by 2 offsides. The game was unsatisfactory in behalf of Real Madrid; you can see that their hearts are not into it. Half of the time the match was ongoing, I was either reading fics or checking my torrents. Barcelona, who had a game against Atletico Bilbao two hours after, had a draw. That doesn't mean that should make Real more lax. I'm sure Pellegrini's doing his job but it's high time some improvement in the defense should materialize. Even in the absence of key players. Even the cameras were bored enough to pan the view to Cristiano Ronaldo high up in the stands texting.

The 29th of November is going to be a doomination mostly felt by Madridistas. We're obviously not yet ready; perhaps the second half of El Clasico would bear fruit on our side, but at the moment? We're still crawling around.

Pasty

It is rather pretty weird that I am inclined to write another post; the humid weather must be a plus factor. I suppose I will go back to SM later to buy that polo shirt and another at Surplus. I couldn't purchase it yesterday since BDO was offline and the queues at the ATMs are light years. I scheduled today to clean up and transfer files from Bisyo to Gitano but my sister brought my ipod with her. Bummer.

Cors is restless to land a job and I am too but the schedule I have at work right now makes it a bit difficult to produce another alibi why I have to take a half day. Ateneo called me again for another interview and I suppose I really should try it just for the sake of. Who knows, the offer might be really good.

My Ayala Museum ticket is itching to be used. Cors, Beth, Richard or anyone? It would be nicer to have a field trip with someone. The reception area of the museum is already lovely so I'll probably be awed beyond cognition when I get to the museum's 4th floor.

One of the crazy things going on in the office is the collection of Coca Cola Santa caps. In exchange for 7 caps, you'll get a Coke collectible plate! Awesome, isn't it? Good thing most of us are in love with Coke.

Off to write itineraries. Oh and La Liga is back later with Real Madrid and Racing Santander, definitely will watch unless Sleep tells otherwise.

El Gitano

Introducing my new baby, Gitano. If you're into football you'll know whose famous moniker is that for. I'm actually not that thrilled to have this after all, I've been pining for a new laptop for almost a year. Good thing my impulsiveness had its use. Margz and I went to Gilmore for this. It was a total boon that the shop upped the memory from 2GB to 4GB. I also got freebies. Bravo.

First week upon purchase, I already had to install 9.04 twice to update to 9.10 seamlessly. I skipped a 9.04 update on the first install so it's mea culpa. I still have a lot of files to transfer after getting copies of my documents and pictures. There's my ongoing torrent downloads and gigabytes of films, concerts and shows stored in Bisyo. This is going to be a tiring weekend.

---

Happy days at the office ended today. Starting next week I'll be drowning in the sea of planning a personnel doctrine. Heaven give me strength for that. Not for the lack of effort on my superiors' side but they fail to recognize that we don't know the military laws like the back of our hands so they can perhaps start explaining the project by starting from step one and not jump in the middle and let luck lead them to which topic they want.

Pushing ebay.ph scammer

I'm still fuming enough to write this rather useless post about an ebay.ph scammer.

*angelmariesto.tomas is hellerwatermeller

Beware. Caveat. Caution. Fuck off.

Ominous November

Everything in the match was going pretty satisfactorily until the second half when Sergio Ramos was furnished with a red card for challenging Kun in the penalty area which, admittedly was a foul but not enough to deserve a red card. It was painfully gripping, I had to pathetically cover my eyes in the last ten minutes, after Forlan and Kun managed to push their way through our 10-men team to score 2 goals in under a minute. On the other hand, before doomination struck the derby, the first half presented a good performance for Real Madrid, showing weak points in Atletico's defense when Kaka scored under the 5th minute unmarked followed by Marcelo's incredibly angled goal and Higuain's brilliant footwork that produced a "What was Perea thinking?!" from the commentator. Now with Adam's tweet that Sergio and Albiol will miss the El Clasico this month, worse comes to worse and expectations should run low unless I suffer from cardiac arrest. I might not even watch the entire match fearing a waterfall of tears bursting from the first whistle.

I thought I would not be able to sleep after the match, as it turns out I got another 6 hours of rest full of Real Madrid-induced dreams. The sad thing is, I could not recall any of it though it was a lively one.

---

I cannot wait for my contract to end. Everything in the office is so stuffed with rules, other employees are bordering on obsequiousness and I just want to quit if not for my decent division and cool bosses. It's a good thing my bosses are level headed and knows how to share timely caveats otherwise I would've filed my resignation already. Hell, even me is succumbing from the absurd weekly meeting with nothing but mud throwing and gossipmongers. Government employees indeed. It's despicable and it's amazing how much of my patience is suffering just from shutting my gob up. I just wish December would already close in.

Torrent news! I finally finished downloading Casino Royale and Muse's Hullabaloo. I don't know when will I have the time to watch those since I still have pending BBC specials in my book but perhaps I can take a peek or something afterall, it's Daniel Craig and Matt Bellamy.

Be a saint

Let's face it Madridistas, we are not yet ready for this month's El Clasico. Watching the Real Madrid - Getafe match proves that we still lack the defense, coordination and communication amongst the team. Gago's skills (dribbling and passing) are seriously almost non existent (I even wonder wonder why women fall over him excluding his looks, he's not extraordinary) and Marcelo looks like he forgot his daily dose of vitamins, in other words, lame. Iker Casillas has made tons of save, part of a goalie's job but seriously, the defense is not led by a goalkeeper. Pepe and Sergio Ramos are thankfully doing a decent job but it's not enough to mark your opponents. Getafe's defense is downright envious, a mile wide from Real Madrid's shabbily built one. Set pieces make me nervous as hell not to mention the irritating referee of the match. Seriously, he was getting trigger happy handing out yellows and reds in the most illogical sense. Albiol's red tops the most ridiculous decision overall. Even Kaka who stumbled near the penalty expressed disbelief when the referee did not raise a penalty.

The consistent average to poor performance will not make us a leading team in the CL and we cannot always rely on comparing Real Madrid to Barcelona. It's unfair on both parts. Barcelona's in top form because they've established their stability and consistency throughout several months. Like what Adam said on his very illuminating review, it's not all the players and the coach's fault that these defeats are happening, it's all part of a change. It won't simply take 3 months to polish everything and expect a spot on the CL finals. We have to have enough patience to see that there are small, sure improvements happening to the team. So let's have faith in Pellegrini that he can help change and develop the team's identity and philosophy and let's have faith that the players are working their best to establish a better relationship with each other.

Hala Madrid!

In bullets

- Finally finished King Lear. I loved it. One of the best tragedies I've ever read.

- Currently reading Origin of Species.

- Loving Auntie Anne's Cinnamon Sugar pretzel.

- Just saw Eytan Fox's Yossi and Jagger. Film review postponed for another year or so.

- Sleepy as hell.

- Looking for a laptop already although my savings is still pretty shaky. Crap.

- Work? Just fine although I have to polish that damn spend plan.

- I'm probably going to join my uncle and his wife to celebrate tita's birthday in Makati. Expecting exhaustion.

- Getting addicted to ebay.

- I miss the unemployment era

- Hoping for a Real Madrid miracle soon

Project day off

Pushing through 1986 with the brilliance of a John Hughes.

Double trouble!

There's the perennial maxim "speak nothing but good of the dead" that lacks the fact of questioning what led to gain a consequence of death. That's a very Pinoy thing; terribly salient especially in times of calamities like now. A report earlier mentioned that the authorities had to threaten people at gunpoint for them to get the point (pun intended perhaps) and evacuate their homes before the Typhoon Pepeng can do more than make them eat bullets. It's appalling yet it's ingrained in us. Yes, you can't leave your dream house, your flat TV and your priceless documents so never mind dying for them. So it's like this, if people don't want their safety offered to them (because god knows they know better than other people, riiiiight), do me a fat lot of good and make the world a better place. Less people, less pollution hey? Double trouble!

Or waters high

It was the exercise that I wanted that I really did not want. Obviously, if you're cohabiting with me in the same country, much more, in the same region, you would've been treated to the massive ocean Metro Manila became in a day. I was part of those stranded folks out there. Mom already discouraged me earlier that there's a typhoon and I could always re-schedule my orthodontic appointment at Roxas (QC). I insisted and the big idiot that I am wore my rubber shoes thinking that the rain would be consistently moderate. How I was fucking deluded. I woke up from my hypocritical thinking when I bought slippers and bagged my waterlogged Cortez. I was stuck at the clinic for an hour before I decided it was time to conquer the rain or something equally pathetic that by the time I got to Roosevelt the length of Quezon Avenue I can see was clean as paper. An MMDA officer told me that just past Pantranco, the flood was thigh high already. I felt faint when I really saw that. It's a pretty typical sight when you live in this moribund country but seeing it in front of me with people intrepidly walking past it was downright daunting.

After much pondering with more than half of my body already soaked, I was able to detour to Kamuning thinking that there would be enough buses still traveling to get me a ride home. Wrong. In the end I had to walk with tons of stranded people from GMA 7 to Luzon (just past Iglesia ni Cristo main); met a bunch of folks here and there sharing the same exhaustion and adrenaline rush to get home even just by walking. All of that under 5 hours. I realized that if you're under that kind of stress (soaked, exhausted, thirsty, hungry) you won't notice how much will pass by. Seriously. Beth did a great help while I was stranded so a big heatfelt thanks to her. I hope they're doing well; I think Las Pinas is still out of electricity.

One level down

I could not stop thinking of that espadrille from Celine so I finally bought it; must be madness at first sight. As I've promised myself I went to Booksale and scoured the shelves for treasure. I got 5 classic books for 210 bucks. A great deal isn't it? The only thing I regretted was leaving 1984 for another day. Here's the list of books I got:

P75 - Vintage Nabokov
P40 - Pudd'nhead Wilson - Mark Twain
P40 - Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
P40 - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain
P15 - The Merchant of Venice - Shakespeare

Mom insists I already got a copy of Tom Sawyer but all I can find with my adept indolence is Huck Finn so I bought one. As for my list of Shakespeare books, I have yet to finish King Lear--I think I've postponed reading it for like a year or so already--so the new one will be the second in line. Anyway, it's all going down my Shelfari archive. Yep, I got one. Made one a month ago I think just for the heck of it. Want to be buddies there (although god knows I don't do such)? Send me a message through any means.

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I will try to watch the Villareal - Real Madrid match later but I can't promise anything. I'm pretty much knackered already. Ciao.

Messy dream

I dreamt of being chummy with Lionel Messi. What in the name of Barcelona is the world coming to? Pretty funny that the dream itself had an air of fantasy; I rubbed elbows with Messi when I passed by him and greeted him a happy birthday. Intriguingly, the idea of me as a Madridista never came up. Ah, it's probably because in my dream I kept thinking what his name was. I actually loaned a book from him, surprise, surprise. Is he actually smart in real life? And I was looking for my rapier. I never thought I would like fencing.

I watched the Real Madrid - Xerez match and it was a good thing that I got up an hour early to pick a good live stream although with gritty graphics. Cristiano Ronaldo's goal under one minute pretty much woke up Xerez. And woke up they did. Their defense is pretty tight for a recently promoted club. Half time passed by and the score was still 1-0. Gago was a starting line up and it made me a tad nervous. The team obviously missed Xabi Alonso's ability to handle the pace; I actually thought the match was going under Xerez's pacing.

Pellegrini doesn't look too happy with the results too; probably underestimating Xerez led to that. Sergio Ramos is back however the defense still has more to improve. Marcelo's play makes me cringe. He often loses the ball and can't even get a decent pass or cross. By Real Madrid's performance on the second half, on what I would have seen, is a proof of them being rattled by such a puny team. Cristiano Ronaldo scores (I wasn't able to see who made the pass). Guti scoring the third goal is the last thing I saw before our Internet connection died. Ruud Van Nistelrooy finally played! How unfortunate that I wasn't able to get a good glimpse of it because of my disconnected Internet; I'm already looking forward to Adam's podcast and review on the game.

A 3-0 (assuming this is the final score) is an appalling play, I have to say. It's not that I have to compare it if Barcelona took up Real Madrid's place and pounded Xerez to a 5-0 or more; it's more of the air of underestimating a promoted team that's faulty from the start. Pellegrini failed to give Xerez the respect they deserve by assigning Gago and Marcelo (did Garay play decently? Blame the gritty video quality) as part of the starting XI. I would've given the best line up I could If I were the coach to show that Real Madrid takes all competing teams seriously. Understandably however, there is Pellegrini's rotation on players and the compressed schedule of La Liga and Champions League matches in preparation for next year's World Cup. All players are under duress and it's not helping Real Madrid that they still have to improve their correspondence among players.

---

I'll be off to my former employer at Makati tomorrow to get my backpay. I'm looking forward to seeing my former officemates not to mention the latest in the gossip mill. My former boss has finally resigned, albeit forcibly, because the new boss (my ex-department) is gay and will stand by what he wants and needs. The Root of All Evil Fruits might be next, according to intel. If that ever happens then the world is pretty much aligning with the stars and the planets already. It will be a good deal for the company although with the current knee deep in debt they are suffering from I doubt if they can surface from it. Even Beth partially agrees with me on that. The retrenchment is still running with a former colleague and one of the longest employees in the company immediately sacked. It's bad enough that he has recently suffered from a personal loss but he also recently turned down an offer from ADB. His partner, who is still in the company, is down to being a contractual employee. That's how the company treats their employees fair and square. No amount of justifications and alibis will suffice that kind of treatment. And that's one of the many reasons why I think the company will go down.

On another note, I'm getting addicted to BBC's special programmes. I've actually downloaded several torrents of BBC Horizon and I'll try to look for more of the sesquicentennial celebration specials on Charles Darwin. I might write reviews about it, god knows I need it for posterity's sake, although I'm sure it won't be halfway decent. I promised myself that before my pittance dissolves into thin air I will buy a book or two. I'm hoping for a treasure like The Origin of Species on Booksale; NBS is still on big books sale. right? It's a good thing I drop by Cubao everyday. There's two NBS branches and a Booksale to feast on.

ETA (22 Sept 2009, PM): Real Madrid ruled the match with a fantastic 5-0! I got my own predictions right! Benzema and van Nistelrooy scored! Fuck yeah! On the downside, RVN injures himself with his goal. C'est mal. I got my backpay (I told you, it's pure pittance all right) and my quest for a decent pair of shoes has failed. I've already scoured Naturalizer, Aerosoles, Easy Spirit, Bass, PabDer, Ecco (6 grand, wtf?) and Nine West without a good choice. Sacrificing aesthetics for comfort is a bit wrong. I actually saw a good pair of light pumps from Celine but I'm getting skeptical over it (aesthetics > quality?). Yvette, we should meet up this week already before my moolah flies off the window.

What's that?

I really wanted to watch a film or two at Cineuropa it's just that I'm often blinded by indolence and exhaustion after work; I'm not even properly working in the first place so I don't know what it's all about. First week and a few days of employment are so-so. Not too much work and I'm slumping on the table, never mind my bosses walking around seeing me like that. They understand it on a certain degree, my work is seasonal. The food is outrageously on rotation. Every conference is filled with snacks and lunches and merienda and whatnots. If I go to meetings twice or thrice a week continuously, I will be a pig by the end of the month. Good thing Tuesdays and Thursdays are Exercise Days so I will opt for some jogging sessions starting next week.

Last night I met up with Cors and Beth to watch the 9pm film but the gossip swapping segment of our dinner got extended and by the time we went to the ticket booth, the queue was like a John Lloyd - Ruffa fans days affair. Richard informed be about next week's Korean Film Festival which I think has a more low profile advertisement so hopefully there won't be enough school field trips and capitalizing elites trying to fish for pro bono films when they can very well go abroad and get lost there.

As planned, Cors went home by 8:30pm to try and catch for a bus trip back home while Beth and I, seeing the absurdity of the free film decided to stroll around Shangri-la. Or it could be that I dragged her to Kamiseta because they're on sale and I was able to buy a dark blue tunic top using Beth's cash. I still owe her a thousand bucks but I swindled some money again because I lack the cash. Not to worry, I paid her that same night. I'm going to the office in Makati on Tuesday to get my backpay. Finally. After several weeks of hypocritical reasoning of the HR from shortage of cash (oh come on!) to a re-computation I'll finally have my hands on my millions. Let's see how much of a pittance will I get.

Saving grace

I survived my first week at work with the presence of ennui and Robert Louis Stevenson's aid. That's a given, isn't it? The first week will always be filled with observing and trying to socialize with your new officemates. I'm the hapless lass stuck with nothing much to do and with a building frustration over the poor means of correspondence. That's what irks me the most--I can deal with dilapidated buildings and restrooms and even hollow officemates but not the lack of IT infrastructure. It's maddening! Another onus is the goddamn fucking delayed pay; is it not enough that we're only receiving pittance for an absolutely cheap work? I've got no idea about stenography yet I have to jot down the minutes of the meeting. What surprises me the most is the teeming funds being utilized inside the institution. Every meeting is funded with sustenance, not to mention the quarterly socials that is bombarded with a feast of food and prizes. Why not use those funds to buy new facilities like for IT? It's frustrating! I want to file for resignation already. It's only for the sake of those people who got me in who treated me fair and square that makes me waver. Anyway, it's all fucked up.

The 3rd quarterly social was held last Friday to which I quaffed a bottle of Novelino wine which made me indubitably tipsy due to my inability to hold down liquor. Can I be blamed? I have never drank that much in my entire life; the hunger pangs only forced me to fill my stomach with what's available.

On another note, I was supposed to watch the Espanyol vs Real Madrid match this early morning but had decided to sleep out because it was cold and I thought I can watch a replay. It was a bad decision. Real won by 0 - 3 with Granero (yay!), Guti (whoot!) and Cristiano Ronaldo (ah). Adam provided a link for the match's replay which I had enough patience to finish the first half then switched to YouTube to see the goal highlights. Cristiano Ronaldo's goal is lame! Kaka's assists are brilliant and he's seriously proving that he is worth the moolah. The defense is still bad; without Pepe and Sergio Ramos I think they still lack the knack for defense leadership (I agree with the concrits at RealmadridTalk). I promise myself to watch their match against Zurich though, it's a must! It will be Real Madrid's opening game for the Champions League so work be damned I will get up on Thursday morning. I'm actually thinking of installing Veetle already to facilitate a better match feed.

Too slapdash

Funny how my libido for blogging only lasted during my unemployment period. That pretty much expresses how fucked up my new job can be. Tomorrow's the big day and I've realized how nasty my new itinerary is. Anyway, last Saturday was a total blast! Shows how much I've missed my buddies. Cors and Beth met up earlier and then I dragged them to St. Francis Square where I squandered two grand on dress pants, a button down shirt and an adorable pair of flats. To top my shopping off, I bought a knitted cardigan at the department store. Now I'm itching for my first pay check no matter how puny it is.

Bigby's, which was referred to me by Aya, had an amazing ambiance. They pretty much lacked an eyeful of menu (they currently got no desserts) and the food was hunky-dory. That goes for the seafood pasta which Cors mentioned tasted similar to palabok to which the four of us unanimously declared that Gumbo's counterpart still reigns supreme; the steak was downright brilliant. The chatter was as vivacious just like always--from the latest gossip at school to this year's disappointment and aspirations. We went to Crepes & Cremes for dessert and parted ways too early for my liking; provided that Cors and Beth live on the other side of the planet so it's pretty understandable. Beth loaned me her Sherlock Holmes vol. II which I plan to read after slowly dissecting Kidnapped (I found it! My grandma kidnapped it); I'm looking for a hardcopy of 1984 (I got an eBook and I can't enjoy it) because Orwell deserves that. On a bright side, I'm through with Eco and it came with a big sigh of relief. It's not everyday that your brain goes down the drain, eh? You can just imagine how ridiculously elated my face was upon briefly scanning Doyle's book and found that I won't have to deal with semiotics and mull over each sentence's correlational dimensions.

Now I'm wondering when I can drop by at the office to get my pittance, oh excuse me, my lovely backpay. As the norm, the personnel's services are shitty beyond comprehension. I don't even have an idea how much of a pittance will it be so I'm guessing most of it will be thrown to books, clothes (my new work is pressuring me about dress codes, merde) and treats.

And lastly, a big happy birthday to my high school buddy Hannah! I miss her. Mannel still owes us, or rather me, a big dinner. I wonder when will that come to pass.

My name is not Audrey

Right. It's a bit disconcerting that I was only unemployed for exactly one month. I pretty much had some inkling of a hunch the first time I was interviewed at AFP that this might be it. And it is. And that's the downside of everything. I went back to the headquarters yesterday for a deliberation which I seriously had no idea what it was all about. I had to wait for nearly two godforsaken hours before I was called up for, who might've guessed, a panel interview. For a researcher position. I aped a goldfish for some moments there when the captain (who was familiar to me) gave me last minute pointers.

"Did I apply for the wrong position? CEO position or something?" Was what I would've said if the captain didn't abruptly open the door and ushered me inside the conference room. How's a round table with four 3-star generals and the Chief Admin Officer and a singular chair positioned in front as an interrogation process? Honestly, if they wanted the terrorize-the-applicant they did not succeed with me. All the time they kept inquiring, I had to stifle the urge to smile goofily or even laugh outright at the absurdity of it. All throughout those minutes asking me about my perception of the military and how can I adjust to the workload there was the notion of hilarity that could not escape my consciousness. The atmosphere did not exactly oozed of intimidation; I could almost dub the whole interview as a jolly good ol' conversation among peers and a newbie. It didn't help that the highest ranking general (I think, since he was leading the group) looks like a genteel grandfather.

There was another candidate who surprisingly went with her mother who chatted me up while her daughter was terrorized, er, interviewed. As it turned out in the end, I was already off for Makati, when the captain called me up because, hey! I got the job! Only the line was not decorated by an exclamation point but rather an ellipsis. I mean, why the hell in Merlin's name was I chosen? I exuded enough chutzpah during the panel interview (I had the guts to volley underhanded comebacks to some generals) because I got nothing left to lose. I am not dying to have this work but somehow karma's giving me the finger again so I'm stuck here. The only good thing about this is it's contractual and my contract will run until December. They will renew it if my service is still needed although I'm hoping it won't be since by that time my civil service exam result is out and I'm off to NCMH.

There is a foreboding air about this new job that is hauntingly similar to what I had felt two years ago when my former employer called me up for getting the job. That is, I'm leaving my professional bum status with an unappeased lust for loafing. Unfinished fanfictions, stacks of to-read books, my supposedly to-edit works, unfinished BBC programs, albums to listen, ad infinitum. I know I'm much of a turtle when doused with indolence but I'm leaving everything behind without polishing things and it's already grating my nerves. Frustrating!

On another note, the chief admin officer softly reminded me that dress pants and formal tops define their dress code and not jeans. Bummer. Now I have to buy last minute dress pants on Saturday and some collared tops provided that my dwindling money is still clinging a bit. I'll meet up with my college friends on Saturday also for Cors and Beth's long awaited and delayed annual dinner treat. I'm hoping for juicy gossip and current news about college friends I haven't seen since the Pleistocene Age.

Progressive crawl

Most would agree that the whole world will be watching Real Madrid's first proper game of the season with the La Liga kick off. At the final whistle with a 3-2, the pundits and fans are divided by the optimism of continuous improvement and the omen of not living up to the expectations. Personally, for all the two hours I stayed up in the middle of an ungodly hour (there is a six hour difference between my country and Spain), I haven't enjoyed some decent 10 minutes or so of the match with the stuttering live streams from all those websites hosting it. Unfortunately, whenever I got a glimpse of the match, it was showing tons of proof that our defense is still loosely created without Pepe and Sergio Ramos to concrete it.

I watched the match highlights today for the sake of not wasting my sleep earlier; Kaka's magnificent pass between two players' legs absolutely nailed the proof that he deserved that transfer money let alone his humility itself would outshine any gaffe he could've committed during the match. The pressure for Cristiano Ronaldo was understandably onerous what with the dubbed highest paid transferred in football history. Unfortunately, the almost caught penalty kick will not suffice the fans' exigency for a golden ticket to the CL finals. Lass' goal was brilliant and I think with how he sliced the defense of Deportivo for several times showed that he's one of the best players in the match. The defense, from what you can glean of the 3-2 score, is obviously wobbly. That will not do if we are to face more difficult teams ie. Espanyol next week. Pepe is still under ban and Ramos is injured so it will be Pellegrini's job to stabilize the defense, which has been the team's problem since everything went downhill.

On another note, Bayern Munich's Robben and AC Milan's Sneijder served their revenge best cold to Perez with 3-0 and 0-4 victories over their respective matches. Robben hauled 2 out of the 3 goals with the help of Franck Ribery, who was rumoured to be in exchange for Robben's immediate transfer to the Bundesliga club. It's terribly unfair that Robben, who's got the speed of a bedeviled Ferrari albeit always prone to injury, would easily be disregarded for another player, brilliant or not. It should've been a fair exchange with Robben in Bayern and Ribery in Real Madrid now and not next season or next year. It's sad how the management is treating their transfers with half a mind from the inexplicable based on the players' statistics and the embarrassing tag prices. Real Madrid should be one of the leading clubs for usurious rates, what's the point of being a rich club if not for a little graft and/or corruption for well-deserved players?

Tons of Barcelona fans are already pointing out that even with tons of money utilized for the transfers, Real Madrid will not be able to beat them. Admittedly, there is some truth to those cocksure statements. Almost half of the squad are new and establishing good communication amongst the players will not be a cake walk. The good side of things is that with the good atmosphere built around the friendlies and a acceptable win against Deportivo, I'm all for the continuous progress of the team's performance. One cannot expect an immediate 5-0 victory just because it is possible once in a while. The promised beautiful play by Pellegrini is on the works from what Kaka, Lass and Xabi Alonso have shown. Fans are still going to breathe down Cristiano Ronaldo's neck and Benzema's consistent performance is a good foretelling of what can be achieved for this season.

So, Hala Madrid!

Get off the high

Camp Aguinaldo, unknown to an inutile like me, is actually the AFP Headquarters in Santolan. Apparently, it's not shown on the gates unlike PNP's Crame (who knew Crame is actually a person, lol). Anyway, I was led to Gate 1 where I was welcomed by tons of octogenarians for god knows what purposes. I kept on asking about the CPAD OJ1 which 3 out of 4 personnel of the camp did not know of. The official headquarters building (because the whole goddamn compound is the headquarters) was like 5 miles away and I was running on borrowed time. It's all my fault actually when they emailed me for an interview I mentioned I would be available before lunch whereas they never actually gave a specific time. So I went to the main building and was ushered to the chief admin officer who, by all means, was friendlier than the stereotype government employee. You can't deny it, most of government employees are snobbish beyond your tower of patience. But somehow, it was a pretty good day and she welcomed be with all smiles before hauling me towards the actual interviewer, a captain. Now, I was never born in a family of military personnel so seeing a room half full of uniformed men was a new and a tad formidable scene for me. Until I was presented to the captain who was pretty friendly too and a bit young for captaincy (if my ken on military ranks is softly accurate). It was not a room stacked with cubicles so asking me bluntly how much my former salary was was a bit disconcerting. Everyone's got some sense of discretion and it somehow left a sour taste in my mouth that I had to tell it. He explained that it might not stack up with my former salary which I had promptly answered with some lack of tact because who in their right minds would apply in government institution and expect the gold mine of a call center? I won't mind much of the money because it is a contractual position; I don't want to rot with the government at an early age. I was kind of expecting a test but it still surprised me that there was an actual test. There were 4 varied questions from the standard definition of success, a difference in case I get hired to the downright Ms. Universe queries of what makes a woman/man special to how to fit in an authoritarian leadership as per the institution's method of management. It sucked bigtime because as I was sitting in front of the PC, I knew my brain was still sleeping. It was not working the way I wanted so I kept shitting about pure instantaneous rubbish. Manic and chopsuey. It was full of tautologies and pompous barbs even critters would have scoffed at it. It was more pathetic since every question should be at least 250 words. My first draft of essay was like 80 words per question. It totally fucked me and I could do nothing about it. The bigger shit of it was I had to present it in a powerpoint presentation in a professional way, as the captain emphasized. And I say, what the hell. I believe I have evolved enough not to put peewee and cute cliparts to go with every slide. In the middle of making the presentation, I had an epiphany of being thankful to my Computer 101 subject back in college who, despite her wordy gaffes, really taught us tons about MS Office. As for passing the test, I might have signed my rejection already with the total crap I made.

Here are some souvenirs because obviously, I will not be back here. I actually liked inside the compound, it's clean, quiet and pretty much vehicle-free. The only problem I saw was that despite the cleanliness there was no sign of a garbage can for like a kilometer or something.

The grounds

The main headquarters

Along the main headquarters

The walkway

Anyway I had to go home in the middle of the blistering weather by past noon because my feet were killing me. Rode a jeep, assumed it will drop me off Santolan, but as it turned out, went to Cubao. Fantabulous. The temptation to buy new earphones was seducing me like no tomorrow and the hedonistic whore that I am, my feet had dragged me to SM Cubao which by the way, has been recently renovated. I went to the appliance store and out of the 3 SM Appliance Stores I had visited for the past months, this one totally owned in terms of the earphone selection. There were tons! Tons of Philips and Nike but no Sennheiser (which surprisingly was available at SM Fairview back then). I bought the same earphones which I already had thrice. It's the cheapest and it's the only thing I can afford as my financial support is already dwindling beyond comprehension.

With my new earphones, it made me a happy monkey. It actually stemmed from my latest addiction to the Rolling Stones' Forty Licks. Sorry about the X-Files OST, haha. But no, Forty Licks is brilliant! To think the online reviews proved otherwise because 40 of the best songs are not enough I suppose. But for me, the songs were lovely; provided I have yet to finish all 40 tracks (I'm down to the 11th) but from the songs I've heard they are amazing and awe-inspiring. I actually liked it more than Zoso but that's for another day of explanation or something. Back to the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger's voice is fucking sexy as hell and the first few tracks had me signed, sealed and delivered to his godly feet. Of course Bellamy's got my perennial fealty but I can always extend it by a few fingers or toes to others. My favourite track would currently go with She's A Rainbow--the melody and harmony are downright brilliant and the simple, which simply proves that Jagger and Richards are genius.

--

I can imagine that the James Bond films are pretty famous around air-conditioned buses around the metro. I can't even remember how many Bond films I've seen throughout my life of commuting. On the way to AFP, it was with luck The World Is Not Enough was just starting. The opening credit (yes, with the usual dancing naked women) was lovely and totally suited Garbage's sultry interpretation of the song. The delightful and sophisticated Sophie Marceau probably thought the film was not worth her time because I thought she was just swaying along with the film's flow. Dr. Christmas Jones, played by the back then alluring and sexy Denise Richards, gave a shitty version of her Russian tongue. Pierce Brosnan gave a better accent, I suppose but that might be an unfair call out since Richards' line was longer but her last two Russian syllables totally curled with an American accent. Absolutely funny. Yes, well she was playing an American doctor so the accent must have been a requirement but I don't know, it was not convincing but her barbs were amusing. Unfortunate that I had to drop off at Timog.

Anyway, I'm all petered out and Duran Duran is not really encouraging a sleepy environment so I'm signing off.

Fuel it up

In limbo as usual, it's pretty useless to write these posts even for my own pleasure since it's all bland and plain as bread. I'm in the middle of a battle in finishing The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco. Despite all my proclamations for the author's capacity to encourage headache and eye strain I still forged on because hey, it's been a while to read a challenging book. Too bad my tongue ran before my body could accommodate such onus. I mean, seriously, if we'll go back to the time I last read a decent book it would be during my college years. Obviously, I've been pertaining to the death of my creative juices upon my first employment which is so shitty all my grey matter fluidly went out of my arse. It's terribly appalling and the more appalling thing is that it's taking me light years to regain what I had back then. Provided, classes for five days a week will make you push your stone towards the hill but it's no excuse, isn't it? I'm still hell bent on finishing the book before shifting towards the bookshelf-worthy ebooks I downloaded a few days back. I should probably go slow and mild again with the short stories, mythology and fables before donning a chainmail for Shakespeare and Tolstoy.

Books aside, I've finally downloaded the long desired X-Files Fight the Future album which was in tandem with the 1998 movie. I have a cassette copy of this album which is probably ruined beyond grace with all the continuous playbacks it suffered. Absolutely missed listening to the collection. Many are not satisfied actually with the album but this was one of the few albums which totally blew me away because I was still in grade 5 back then. Imagine that, I've been acquainted with Bjork for more than a decade. You should listen to some of the songs like Ween's Beacon Light and Sting & Aswad's Invisible Sun. Fucking brilliant. It simply tastes of my childhood years. It's fortunate by the way that I've nicked this torrent because I recall a few months ago I was coercing Aya to look it for me too. Luck's shining on me this time for this so I'm not being selfish so I'm seeding it.

These past few nights I've been having a highly imaginative and colorful bunch of lucid dreams. They are lucid enough for me to know that it's still playing in my brain while I'm on the brink of waking up before dragging me back to sleep. The most memorable would have to be like two days ago. It was me and my other 3 college friends aboard the MV Princess of the Stars. Oh, pretty fucking incredulous but I'm not fibbing. The ship unlike the real one is pretty nice and new, something like a Super Ferry although I haven't been in one so this is pure assumption. Anyway, it definitely went down and lo and behold, I managed to convince myself and my 2 friends to jump off the ship before it totally turned around. Beth's got a starring role in it for dragging me down the water while trying to save her, similar to what she did back in our swimming class. The next thing I knew we were saved by a small ferry with Julius Babao sitting a few feet from us typing on his laptop; not before Cors catching me trying to forage a bag for money (how barbaric of me) for our survival. To think Cors glared at me; I should've left her inside for her to drown. Haha. Anyway we had moored on an unknown province which totally did not look like a port but what the hell, we went to a nearby mall and ate at the food court. It's pretty twisted already and that's saying something. Now then, bring out your Freud's Interpretation of Dreams and let's see if we arrived at the same conclusion.

Of course before I forgot, a big belated happy birthday to Cors! One of the few snotty people whom I can protract my patience for. That's how much I love her. So there.

Blinding heights

Palazzo Barbaro, Venice. Photo by Jandudas

When I was a kid, I was always fascinated by a book's cover depicting a statue of a girl, head cocked to the side, palms turned upwards holding a bowl each. It would give off a fey air with a tinge of dark atmosphere as it seems that it stands upon a cemetery. A few years later, as I have had enough consciousness to delve into books, I read John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil wholly assuming that it was a fictional novel until I turned to the last page. An edifying moment occured after relishing the novel's festal yet daunting air as I drank the cover that it was a non-fiction work.

Berendt regales again with his second non-fiction work with The City of Falling Angels, a turn towards the city of Venice, far from the cemeteries and idiosyncrasies of Savannah. Introducing elites and dilettantes throughout the floating city, Berendt leaves one grasping towards the subtle nuances of each person, families, palaces, histories and relationships towards the neighbours and the beloved city. Centered around the hubbub as the Fenice burned down, the consequential vicissitudes throughout the murder of a precious landmark marks the connection of Berendt's people. On a side, it leans towards the situation of the conflagration--was it an accident or a crime of negligence? Malfeasances and eccentricities sprawl out through Berendt's signature seamless inquiries as it stretches towards the important people of Venice. From the formation of organizations, Venetians who are not and the seemingly innocuous happenstance of crimes and Venice's version of bilious elegance and unending secrets.

The book gives a vicarious air not as much as a coup de cœur with Savannah but a dilatory and forbearing ken of what Venice is about with its citizens and denizens alike. One would adore the city and the people long before the conscience acknowledges it. As famous and infamous people who were seduced by the city's unique allure for fame, power and quietus, the title of the book seems ironic enough.

Partial resistance

I dropped by the office last week only for them to drop a bomb on me. As it turned out, a senior employee walked up to me and calmly inquired if I would be interested to re-apply in the company under another department. To say I was flabbergasted would be quite apt since from what I had reasoned out, I resigned in the first place to look for another career and start anew, not enjoy a 2-week vacation and come back as a converted employee. Admittedly, the offer has the telltale signs of spark and interest since the position would assure a constant challenge per project and the unending writing of reports. Sure, I had said in the end as I submitted my updated CV and would welcome an interview any time despite the steadfast notion of not considering the opportunity as a priority. Obviously. I would be not half crazy to join them in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, not many offers are flying towards me. It can be blamed to the fact that I lost the aggressive drive to apply online after the 2nd week of unemployment. It would be nice to get my civil service result already and properly woo NCMH for a position.

Richard and I were chatting about our respective so-called careers when he asked if I was seriously considering things based on the formation of a career. Technically, I would agree with it. It would be a terrible waste if I swivelled towards another career veering off my major since in the first place, I adore psychology. I adore it so much I would suffer the lack of air-conditioning and the pungency of wards if it meant I will learn how to interpret Rorschach. It doesn't matter if I wasted 2 years of my life proofreading reports from day 1. However, turning towards a new career would not be so bad if I am agreeable towards it. Who wouldn't? By the time I submitted my resignation letter and had released a big sigh of relief it dawned upon my pathetic self that what others said were true: money cannot buy you happiness. In my case, by the remaining days of my employment back then even a 100% mark up on my salary would not have made me wary of my ultimatum. It's a powerplay between earning a satisfying bunch of moolah and achieving the satisfaction your mind's exigency.

That said, I'm still stuck jobless and dead broke.

Pass the bread, spread the jam

- Should make a review on Berendt's The City of Falling Angels. I owe him one since I was not able to write something about Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil back in college.

- Currently trying to stomach The Mosaic Crimes. I bought it from Bolix; the prose is as crippled as of The Da Vinci Code. Understandable perhaps since it was originally written in Italian nonetheless every page always leaves a bitter aftertaste on my mind.

- Too lazy to even read anything online.

- Recently reformatted my laptop again due to some unprecedented problem on the memory. I had to endure a day of downloading the updates and upgrade for Ubuntu. Pain in the arse, totally.

- Too lazy to apply online. Again. I'm relying on pestering acquaintances to refer me to a semi-decent job somewhere near home.

- Got several films to watch and I got the whole day and I don't even give a whopping pile of horse shit to play it.

- Currently downloading ZOSA and Forty Licks. Still part of the perennial ennui.

- At some point, I have to make a list of what I should listen to. I know I got tons of songs on my iPod although I only appreciate a quarter of it. It's probably time to change that while I still got the time.

Pushing and pelting

A week of indolence made me intolerable to travel already. Barely halfway to Ortigas I was already gaining a major headache and a grouchy demeanor. Perhaps the headache also rooted from a restless night of sleep but the bus travel really topped it off.

The online English tutorial center is actually a rather small room with cubicles reminding me strongly about the workplace I just left. The overall atmosphere is one of loose office rules and minding your own business. There is no interview actually, only a grammar test which I passed despite my mind off somewhere I can't reach. The recording-something which could not take place at that time will be held upon a next call up. That rather sums up that their recruitment process is as shitty as crook and I'm not that interested in coming back and wasting my precious savings on them. My feet were also killing me, the damn cheap flats I bought (I just loved the colour green) had something inside which made my left heel aching. I managed to peek at the building's directory and saw the British Council as one of the tenants. I went to their floor, inquired about a vacancy and in which the security guard informed a hapless me that they had just hired 4 new employees. I was already nearing Megamall when I realized I should've dropped off my resume with the guard vacancy or none. Anyway, if the damn tutorial company decides to call me again for another round I might go just for the sake of submitting my resume to the British Council.

In time for the baptism ceremony on Saturday, I checked Music One for my target gift: an apt CD for a baby. Apparently, not only Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss decided to expand their posthumous career towards the oldies but also other composers and musicians from Straub, Vivaldi and Schubert just to name a few. I was hoping for a Saint-Saens or a Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninoff CD for babies but there were none. There were also CDs for different occasions such as for waking up, sleeping time and pasta time, the last of which really interested me. I mean, what better way to gorge off pasta while rocking to the music of dead composers? Anyway just merely foraging around the peewee Music One had me totally tuckered. Despite the blistering sun with a whopping 32 centigrade temp, I decided to go home and have my well deserved rest.

Apparently, while I was trolling around Ortigas that noon, PES had their new manager by a person who was a former point of contact from FADV. When B mentioned it through chat I had to laugh at the simplicity of the company's solution. Perhaps E had a had in pirating the new manager who was as soft spoken as a lamb. My officemates mentioned pointedly that my voice is decibels louder than his. Oh well, he would probably exhaust his lungs by 3 months' time from the pain in the arse resuscitation of our department in the hands of a nitwit and their psychotic superior.

I got a call this early evening regarding a part-time position for training at Pharmanex, a company which has a rather not-so clean reputation from what I have gathered on the internet. The girl on the other line is either in a hurry that she has to screech every damn line she is saying or she's just plain nettling. I wouldn't mind doing another interview in Ortigas by Friday since I'm off for a celebration at MOA (fucking far for a goddamn dinner) by the evening. The problem is I have to dress up formally for the interview but I need casual clothes for the dinner. Something has got to give, then.

On the brighter side of the day, I'm already done downloading Eddie Izzard's Glorious show. Bravo. I should've downloaded Definite Article first since I believe I've watched 9 out of the 10 chopped parts of Glorious on YouTube, nonetheless it would be worth guffawing over Izzard's wackiness again. I rather miss Dress to Kill, the very first show I downloaded back then. Too sad it got erased when I reformatted my laptop when I thought I transferred the file to my iPod.

Big fish, little pond

The only other complete Coldplay album I have is X&Y, the record that preceded Viva La Vida. As much as I have hated the first few songs of X&Y, there is something in the new album that leaned towards the signature Coldplay style: solemn, haunting, heartfelt with enough nuisance here and there that would somehow make the album work out.

From the opening instrumental Life in Technicolor (which is part of The Escapist), it already suggests a mile-wide leap from what I think was a colossal mistake of X&Y. Coldplay had stripped their latest songs of the techno mad dash from X&Y and delved more into the baser tunes which initially made the band rise up to the mainstream: the impressive heavy organ music and Chris Martin's lucid and wavering voice. Halfway through the album I can definitely say that the intros are well established for each song to push through with the subtle peremptory force to make you finish it until the last note fades away.

It's one of those albums you can sleep through while listening; not entirely said in a dismissive and insulting manner, the album works out if you want it to work out. It's a good thing I did not bringing a cent of expectation before conditioning myself to at least listen to half of the songs or this would have been a slap-on-the-counter review. It means it would've been ten leaps more rotten than the one I have right now.

On another note, it seems that Chris Martin seriously took up Matt Bellamy's tripe regarding his voice. In this latest album, his voice is surprisingly clear-cut and unruffled unlike in X&Y where he sounded like he had just come from a funeral and was goaded into recording the songs halfway through his lugubrious day.

Nugatory ramblings

Nothing new at all. My dog pissed on my bed. Again. What in the seven hells is going on with Cenko? I don't know what it is he can smell on my goddamn bed. I mean, it's not majestically nice and comfy; it's old, a tad smelly, lumpy and heavy. Sure, he was born in my bed when Chewy had decidedly gone into labour surrounded by my pillows. Throwing a tantrum was my specialty but mom was adamant back then that it would be difficult to transfer the dog so with the authority of primogeniture I ousted my sister's right on her bed atop mine and slept on it. That's the often situation for the past days whenever I had to vacate my bed because of dog piss. Anyway the sun obviously has not been shining throughout the archipelago for several days and it's making me barmy. I have yet to grill my bed under the smouldering heat so with a pathetic sense of scientific eureka, I turned my octogenarian laptop on and had it simmered atop the piss spot with the hard drive's heat eventually drying the wetness. Poor replacement for the sun's natural heat, I know, but it's the best alternative I can think of so there.

Before the internet went down I was able to check my email and saw that I was called up for an interview in a call center cum english online tutorial center for Monday in Ortigas. I'm not sure if I'm going to show up but I might as well since it has been a week and despite continuous online applications, job opportunities are still dried up. It's going to be a double purpose too since I have to buy a baptism gift for Ate Gigi and Kuya Ferdi's son for next Saturday's party. Richard and I agreed to share a gift with his ingenious nicking of a French kiddie book partnered with a For Babies CD. Banters thrown about, we could also choose Kris Aquino and her son's We Are One collection. Richard and I won't probably be invited to the reception if ever. Imagine having a Buddhist for a godmother. Come to think of it, I am a godmother to 4 baby boys, Ate Gigi's son accounted for; is it fate giving me the golden finger that I shall only guide snivelling prats into adulthood? Perhaps, seeing as I'd rather join a rough and tumble episode with those kids at any rate than play dollhouse.

Mysteriously or not, Stevenson's Kidnapped is, well, kidnapped. It has been missing for several days already and it's not as if our house is a piano nobile to be unable to find it. I'm just practising my right to indolence. That declared, I've decided to read John Berendt's The City of Falling Angels. Review or what decent prose I can justify about the book shall be published after I'm done with it. It won't be long enough I assure you, I started reading seriously just this afternoon and I'm already halfway through. Considering my very active book reading libido, I shall say that I am proud of myself for eating half of the book in a short period of time. Back then in college, I can finish even a thick book in one sitting, nonetheless it's futile to stack what-ifs.

With the lack of internet, I've decided to explore Ubuntu out of ennui. It has been my running OS for several months already and this would be the first time that I have to sniff around for something exciting since if you know me personally, even the most trivial of novelties can make me happy. Anyway, all I ever did was customize the appearance of my overall theme using black and add and edit some widgets on my panel. I have to say though that the Fish widget is the ace of them all; pointless accessoire without a doubt from its About tab to the simple animation; clicking on Wanda, the animated swimming fish, would present you with a fortune cookie surprise from bad puns to quotable quotes. It's lovely, you can change the animation from a goat to a monkey or even a clock but I prefer the original Wanda the Fish. I would've named her Horace but her eyelashes are too feminine looking to be renamed as a male.

Go home

My dog fucking pissed on my bed, only realizing it too late to strangle him to asphyxiation. I had to sleep in my sister's bed and suffer a night long nose irritation with continuous sneezes and sniffing. It was hell; I kept twisting and turning for two hours despite listening to Muse. Even Matt Bellamy cannot save me sometimes.

Right, so yesterday came the not so surprising news of Xabi Alonso transferring to Real Madrid after too much drama and grief. Liverpool fans are already consigning Real to the nth level of perdition for nicking their precious midfielder; the question often posed of why would Alonso choose Real amongst other Spanish clubs run abound. For one, I don't think other Spanish clubs are interested in buying Alonso, they would've joined the bidding otherwise or at least proclaimed an interest. Secondly, Real Madrid under Perez's new era is establishing itself with enough pelf to incite anger and injustice in the football world by purchasing almost a new squad this season. Granted, it would not guarantee a golden ticket to the CL finals nor the La Liga title nonetheless, that's what coaching and continuous training are for. If Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos could not agree on what hair products to use or if Paris Hilton got enough technique for a one night stand, then so be it. But I'm obviously digressing. The bottom line is, Xabi wants to leave the club for whatever reasons he may have. Real Madrid has the money Liverpool needs so emotional outbursts aside, I think it's fair that he goes to a good club instead of being dumped in some corner like Deportivo.

From what I've read most, football fans consider Real Madrid as the Manchester United of Spain, something that is too criminal to be even taken seriously. Real Madrid is not a jerry-built team nor does it buy fugly players. They got tons of accolades throughout their years and like it or not, no other club has yet to make that kind of mind blowing history. And no, my mouth is not uneducated enough to sprout curses.

---

I'm having a Serbisyong Pilipino campaign where I edit and organize the blogs of my friends. That's how bored I am. It rained the whole day and my bed has yet to get acquainted with the sun. That means I'll sleep in my sister's bed again. Oh, the horror.

ndebvyahu2

Pass on, move on

With the La Liga and the football season starting in a few weeks, everybody's on their toes with the last trickle of transfer rumours. Apparently, Real Madrid's overwhelming signings for this upcoming season seem to be the root of the gossip mill for this summer. From Cristiano Ronaldo's highest paid transfer to the volleying negotiations Real Madrid is having for Liverpool's midfielder, Xabi Alonso. Personally, from Xabi's reluctance to stay at the red club and Real's unrelenting bids, I would let the player go instead of forcing him to play again for Liverpool for another season and have an eternal tiff with Rafa Benitez. Florentino Perez's stand on not meeting up with Liverpool's offer is making everything complicated. Adam's take on the Xabi Alonso Transfer Issue has a more accurate take on it. Not to mention the rather vitriolic response some Liverpool fans are throwing at my club with the final offer proposed.

Nothing but the good

In a little more than two decades of living, I have had witnessed enough tragedies and accomplishments this world has ever known. A dead pope, 2 dead Philippine presidents, 2 People Revolutions, a black man in the White House, Michael Jackson dying too young and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie producing children. Waking up to the news of Cory Aquino dying is as surprising as a wet pavement on an August day. She's been suffering from cancer for almost a year and I think she, or anyone else, would have been better off dead than be confined in a hospital relying on an arsenal of machines with your family on the brink of tears every time you open your eyes. I might be a bit short of compassion but it was a tad depressing that people on the streets don't seem to project some empathy for a dead former president. I was never born to delve in Philippine politics and I may not know enough to exalt Aquino but I think we owe her some prayer or two for the people revolution. It's as bad as that hydrocephalic kid being pimped at MRT stations. I've seen him (or it might've been a her) for like two years already and I wish for nothing more than him/her to die than to be pandered around for alms. It's pathetic and it's a moot point to even question adults' alibis for such; that kid does not deserve that treatment and it would've been better if that guardian died somewhere in a gutter right about now.

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My last day in the office consisted of boredom, boredom and boredom. I obediently passed my work to my colleagues, left enough emails to clients to ensure a suave transition of correspondence and cleared my clearance before 6pm. I'd like to attest that I am pretty much well loved with the card B gave me and the box carrot cup cakes that I simply adore that L promised me. The boss joked a "good riddance" comment the day before and I cannot agree more on my side of the world. She would've been a good riddance too if not for the Powers That Be that bargained her now demoted tenure for an innocent bystander. Changes will be implemented and gossip will flourish. I can't say I was not saddened by my departure but the future of being free from the company's clutches surpassed my doubts.

Work is still far from the reach of my grubby hands. I'm thinking of enrolling for a master's degree if my financial instability can support me. I am simply burned out. I don't know where to apply to despite reiterating that I would enjoy wreaking havoc in a money producing government agency. It's like being a fresh graduate all over again. Undecided and in limbo.

Savour the flavour

As much as I would love to see my superiors biting the dust a few days before I hit the axe, I am now befuddled as to where my resignation might bring me to. Sure the operations review held some amazing results and it was all capitalized "SUCK IT UP LOSERS" but with the HR Director gone I don't know to whom I can run to do my clearance. Perhaps to that hot flashing Finance Manager or the left behind, downright stupid whore of an assistant who loves to suck it up to the bosses? I don't really know. My back pay is still light years away from my grubby hands I'm sure. It would've been better if I were part of that retrenchment batch with the package. Nonetheless it was a brilliant move that the Powers That Be had never imagined. It has shaken up the tree of dependency in the company but I'm sure with all the cost cutting done barely within 2 months, luck will bring forth a bunch of fresh faces and disease-free employees.

I skipped office today since I am downright tired and sick of loafing in the office again. The workload has died down and I've been merely reading tons of gossip and fanfiction online. The tension in the department is palpable enough to make our paranoid boss well, more paranoid. It's pathetic. Monday will be the start of my last week with them. I have never felt more excited than this, personal financial crisis be damned. An officemate mentioned to me earlier that the top boss will meet with our department before 6pm. Alas, the one thing I have been looking forward to is going to happen without me in it. The sad thing is our own boss will be with us all the way. Obviously, would it be possible for the staff to be able to speak freely without their boss breathing down their necks? I thought so.

Ma Yogi Bear (23 avril 2009 - 21 juillet 2009)

Mom brought her to the vet early this morning because she was already too weak. Vet said even if she were to be confined, she might still not make it. Mom sent me a text a few minutes before lunch informing me that Yogi's dead. I thought it was a joke, which is often the case whenever one of our dogs is sick. I called up mom and her crying and mumbling more than confirmed what I feared; I have never seen nor heard my mom mourn like that. I had to slide down the wall and clench my jaw to stop myself from weeping. I lost the energy to work which led to my undertime.

It sucks. She is the 3rd female pup that died in our house.

To live and die for music

C'est saison de meme! I'm just plain bored. I slept like a sealed pharaoh for 3 hours and I was rather hoping that it would've continued until morning however obviously, was not the case.

Nicked this from Lante then posted this on my old blog back in 2007 then I'm trying for better luck this time.

On vas!

Here’s how it works:
1. Open your library like iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod and so forth.
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool. (Yes, however I can press the next button again if it stops by my French lessons obviously. I don't think anyone can benefit from me yakking about the difference between peux and veux, yes?)

Can I like put this meme on all of my Muse songs only? No? Fine but if I get songs from my sister's side of my music chest I'm going to strangle her. Feel free to get this, after all it's for everyone's enjoyment.

On vas!


1. Opening Credits: Save it for Later - Splender - The Best of Splender
Haven't heard of this song from the band yet although I love their melody.

2. Waking Up: Risingson - Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Love MA as much as I love Faithless. They produce a cooler aura-like environment whenever I listen to them. First time to hear this too, I prefer 100th Window.

3. First Day at School: Mutante Médiatiques - Prototypes - Génération Française 6
One of the cool songs of GF6. I actually like this and it's just now that I now the title since whenever I listen to this album it's always on the road with me trying to sleep.

4. Falling in Love: Waltz no. 9 in A Flat Major op.69/1, "L'adieu" - Mozart - Kleine Stüke Großer Meister
One of my favourite pieces on this album because I can hum with it. However with it being part of L'adieu I don't think it's apt to be in this "falling in love" category.

5. Fight Song: Thoughts of a Dying Atheist - Muse - Absolution
Not really one of my favorite songs of this album although it's catchy and I like the lyrics. I would've preferred Plug In Baby for a fight song.

6. Breaking Up: Home (live) - Elliott Yamin - American Idol Season 5
I like Elliott way back from the AI season; I can't say anything about this category though since I haven't endured such travesty as of date.

7. Prom: D'you Know What I Mean - Oasis - Be Here Now
Not really that fond of Oasis although with my trend based on how I like music artists, they should be one of my faves by merely checking Liam and Noel Gallagher's ego heights. Prom, in addition, was not that special although my friends and I back in high school thoroughly enjoyed panning our classmates and fomenting gossip.

8. Life’s Ok: Amazing - Kanye West feat. Young Jeezy - 808s & Heartbreak
Finally, a perfect match. Love this song and I'm in love with the then-rapper now-singer Kanye. Admittedly, I haven't listened past this track on his latest album. I've always been selective of his songs and I simply consider College Dropout one of the best albums in the universe. I'm exhausted, barely breathing/Holding on to what I believe in~

9. Mental Breakdown: I Don't Want To Be - Gavin de Graw - Chariot Stripped
Anna initially introduced me to Gavin de Graw back in college and I liked him for the reason that he's not like any other pimp like John Mayer (who loves cheesy double entendres--you're body is a wonderland? goodness) and he's not that famous in the country. Anna got a copy of this album with the toned down songs in the Stripped version. I absolutely adore his A Change Is Gonna Come version.

10. Driving: Crestfallen - Smashing Pumpkins - Ava Adore
I still owe Billy Corgan & Co. some hours of dedication to their music. Just by listening to their eponymous first single of the album, I think it already justified why it's one of the best albums the Pumpkins produced. Dark, electronica with Corgan's signature wailing.

11. Flashback: Alejate - Josh Groban - Josh Groban
Is this Italian? I couldn't even be buggered to check what language Groban is crooning. It's a perfect song to go maudlin, I'd say. Soothing with the barrier of not knowing the lyrics for one to interpret it the way it merely sounds.

12. Getting Back Together: Your Soul Today - Chris Cornell - Carry On
I can forgive any wrongdoing Cornell had even with his cheesy line from Heaven's Dead. I still think he's better off with Audioslave than as a single artist though.

13. Wedding: Mondo Bongo - Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros - Mr. & Mrs. Smith Original Soundtrack
Appropriate if you want that spicy, somewhat sadomasochistic type of relationship. I like the film because the tension and the spark are there and it's a no brainer movie and I get to see Brad's bum. What more can you ask for?

14. Birth of a Child: Alive - Pearl Jam - MTV Unplugged
I think it's perfect in a haunting and sublimated form considering it's Vedder's lifestory.

15. Death Scene: Save Tonight - Eagle-Eye Cherry - Desireless
If you're of the same age range as I am and you grew up as an MTV baby then you would've recognized this song in an instant. I adored this way back and I've always considered Eagle-Eye as a cool artist.

16. Funeral Song: Lightning Crashes - Live - The Very Best of MTV Unplugged
I'm not that fond of this song despite many Live fans disagreeing to it, however I appreciate the sentiment Ed Kowalczyk's masterpiece.

17. End Credits: Time is Running Out - Muse - Absolution
Because I am in love with Matt Bellamy at the moment, they deserve two slots in this meme. Have you seen the video for this song? He cleans up nicely and he's fucking sexy as hell atop the table. Dom looks dapper with his old hairdo. First time I loved this song was the live version in their HAARP concert, when I listened to the studio version I was totally blown away by Matt's suave voice.


Oh I'm not familiar with half of the songs picked here. I got more than 3,000 songs but I only listen to a third of it or something.