~* XAYMACA HALLOWEEN *~

Went to Xaymaca last night with my sis and her officemates. Got home at 4:30AM! We enjoyed Brownman Revival's reggae music as usual. Eating, drinking San Mig, singing along and dancing on top of the bench as usual.

with my sister's friends: eric, my sister, me, kel, tam and abbie


there's reden, our cool waiter -- he always reserves the nice seats at the back for us and he's ever-alert to give us our San Mig and water kaya he gets a nice tip every Fri!


mooore pictures of our flushed faces (due to the San Mig and super give na give reggae-dancing)

*********

We invaded the boys in their "new" hide-out upstairs...

Series of hit and miss pictures...

dang! i was cropped!


YEY! the super dooper complete brownman pix -- including jotay the band manager (center, wearing white tee and doing the sungay to kel) and the sound engineer dude (ricky?) (kaya lang he was cropped...); jayson on vampire mode na!

jayson still on vampire mode
buffy the vampire slayer.... heeeelp!!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

~* LITTLE JOYS FROM MCS *~

Ok, it's my guilty pleasure to buy pirated DVDs in Makati Cinema Square (MCS) during lunch break. Who doesn't buy pirated DVD? To pay P800+ bucks for something that you can get for P80 bucks is totally ridiculous and insanely illogical.

So anyway, I am soooo pleased with the stuff I got this week:

BEFORE SUNSET

This is the sequel to that Ethan Hawke non-mainstream film Before Sunrise.

I have seen Before Sunrise in cable (in WOWOW channel, would you believe?!) some time in the late 90s. I am a big Ethan Hawke fan and I endured the dragging movie just for the sake of gushing over him. The movie is artfully done and the plot was unique and romantic. My fave scenes were the mock phone call thing in the resto and the last scene wherein Julie Delphy's character takes a picture (of Ethan) in her mind. I guess the movie is not really for everybody since it takes a great amount of patience to watch only two characters in the whole span of the movie. You'd really have to be interested in artsy-fartsy cinematography and strangely beautiful soundtrack (aside from being a big Ethan Hawke fan) to truly appreciate this first installment of the story.

I am not sure how this second installment goes as I haven't watched it yet. Anyway, I heard from Mitzi (who watched this in the US when it was released) that the movie is really nice. This is the FIRST in my MUST-VIEW list this weekend ;)


ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND


I have heard raves about this movie so I got it. I'm a sucker for romance :P Looks like a unique character for Jim Carrey to portray.

CHASING AMY


Now this one--I was so pleasantly surprised to find in the stash of HK high quality DVDs! I'm sure almost everyone knows the famous quote (actually a long speech thing) by that Holden character of Ben Affleck. Eversince I've read that excerpt, I have been super curious about seeing the movie. I have asked around from people I know but none of them had VCDs or DVD of the movie to lend me. I was like "eureka!" *eyes popping* when I saw this DVD yesterday noon in one of my suki vendors. Well, here's the famous Chasing Amy quote for the benefit of the unfortunate ones who've never heard of this kick-ass script:

I love you. And not, not in a friendly way, although I think we're great friends. And not in a misplaced affection, puppy-dog way, although I'm sure that's what you'll call it. I love you. Very, very simple, very truly. You are the epitome of everything I have ever looked for in another human being. And I know that you think of me as just a friend, and crossing that line is the farthest thing from an option you would ever consider. But I had to say it. I just, I can't take this anymore. I can't stand next to you without wanting to hold you. I can't, I can't look into your eyes without feeling that, that longing you only read about in trashy romance novels. I can't talk to you without wanting to express my love for everything you are. And I know this will probably queer our friendship - no pun intended - but I had to say it, because I've never felt this way before, and I don't care. I like who I am because of it. And if bringing this to light means we can't hang out anymore, then that hurts me. But God, I just, I couldn't allow another day to go by without just getting it out there, regardless of the outcome, which by the look on your face is to be the inevitable shoot-down. And, you know, I'll accept that. But I know... I know that some part of you is hesitating for a moment, and if there is a moment of hesitation, then that means you feel something too. All I ask, please, is that you just, you just not dismiss that - and try to dwell in it for just ten seconds. Alyssa, there isn't another soul on this fucking planet who has ever made me half the person I am when I'm with you, and I would risk this friendship for the chance to take it to the next plateau. Because it is there between you and me. You can't deny that. Even if, you know, even if we never talk again after tonight, please know that I'm forever changed because of who you are and what you've meant to me, which - while I do appreciate it - I'd never need a painting of birds bought at a diner to remind me of.

Winner dba? Sooo witty! :) *imagines Ben Affleck saying those to me*

***************

Now there's only two movies left on my hard-to-find list: PRETTY IN PINK and DON'T TEMPT ME. I have found a DVD of Sixteen Candles months back but I have never ever heard of anyone spotting a Pretty in Pink pirated DVD. The tinderas go "duh" whenever I ask them if they have Don't Tempt Me. Kainis. It's not as known as Y Tu Mama Tambien. I only watch Gael Garcia Bernal flicks when it comes to subtitled foreign films. Reading through the whole movie is sooo worth it as long as it's yummy Gael;) So if anyone out there knows where to find these movies, tell me, tell me! (I'm too stingy to buy the original online... hehehe...)

Come to think of it, there are only two original copies of DVD in my entire 40ish pcs. collection. First is the Incubus concert - The Morning View Sessions -- my officemate happened to stumble upon a lone copy in Music One Megamall so he called me up pa if I wanted it and then he bought it for me first, and then I reimbursed him the next day. Second is my copy of the John Cusack starrer, High Fidelity. It was the last copy in Music One Greenbelt.

~* EARLY HALLOWEEN CELEB *~

Halloween was celebrated one week ahead in our office. By tradition, the different business units decorate their respective work areas with a certain theme. (These past few years, we've veered away from horror themes so as not to scare the employees' kids.) Tonight, the Shrek theme of the Purchasing/Warehouse Operations was probably the most photographed nook. Our warehouse operations manager was super benta with his Shrek costume --authentic big tummy and all :)

Snurckle--Vic's shih-tzu--was our BU's halloween mascot. He was so behaved and welcomed all the kids who greeted us with "trick or treat!".

P.S.
Yes, we highly suspect that Snurckle is gay. He thinks he's not a dog but a human instead... that's why he's got great people skills! ;)

~* CELLULAR *~

Just got home from watching the premiere of CELLULAR at Glorietta (as usual, courtesy of Pioneer Films, our client) . Such astig movie. The "pucha-I-got-gulat-p're" type of movie. It's got suspense, action and a coupla comic reliefs. The Ricky Martin thing is the best! Hehe ;). Nokia and Porsche were advertised tastefully in the flick.

Such hotness in Chris Evans. Watch it if only to see him and his kissable lips. 'Nuff said.

~* NOW PLAYING: THESE WORDS *~

This is a relatively new song I heard from RX. Such a happy, giddy-sounding song. A definite pick-me-upper from the sister of Daniel Bedingfield. Check out her girly uber-cool all-flash site.

THESE WORDS
by Natasha Bedingfield

Threw some chords together
The combination D-E-F
It's who I am, it's what I do
And I was gonna lay it down for you
I tried to focus my attention
But I feel so A.D.D.
I need some help, some inspiration
But it's not coming easily
Whoah oh...

Trying to find the magic
Trying to write a classic
Don't you know, don't you know, don't you know?
Wastebin full of paper
Clever rhymes, see you later

These words are my own
From my heart flow
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you
There's no other way
To better say
I love you, I love you...

Read some Byron, Shelly and Keats
Recited in over a Hip-Hop beat
I'm having trouble saying what I mean
With dead poets and drum machines
I know I had some studio time booked
But I couldn't find a killer hook
Now you've gone and raised the bar right up
Nothing I write is ever good enough

These words are my own
From my heart flow
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you
There's no other way
To better say
I love you, I love you...

I'm getting off my stage
The curtains pull away
No hyperbole to hide behind
My naked soul exposes
Whoah.. oh.. oh.. oh.. Whoah.. oh..

Trying to find the magic
Trying to write a classic
Wastebin full of paper
Clever rhymes, see you later

These words are my own
From my heart flow
I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you
There's no other way
To better say
I love you...
I love you, is that okay...?

~* HAPPINESS VS. SECURITY *~

It was as if I knew it was easy choosing between the two and actually making the decision. Theoretically, in a perfect world, happiness is the ultimate goal of every human being. Ahhh. The bittersweet pursuit of happiness. I am surprised at how easy my advice rolled out of my tongue. I was listening to the problems of my 30-yr old officemate who was torn between two lovers. Guy #1 was her ex. They've been together for like around 2-3 years. He was a guy with a happy disposition. He has a good job. The catch here is that the guy's family, esp. his mother, is not so fond of my officemate. Marriage was such an issue because the guy seems to have to please everyone esp. his mother. Therein lies the potential marriage problem. This guy didn't seem to have the balls to fight for their relationship. Guy #2 was a bit older guy. He had a mature, serious disposition. He can be funny at times but most of the time he was daddy-ish in terms of behavior. She met him months after she broke up with Guy #1. They've been together for around 3 months. This guy was the type who spoke in terms of "we" and he seems to be in the direction of marrying her. However, he has trouble totally giving his all-out affection for my officemate because he claims he is scared that he'd get bitten again (he almost got married but his fiance ditched him for another guy). This is the third time (more or less) that my officemate has broken up with Guy#2. Guy #1 still loves her and wants to prove his worth again. Guy#2 also wants her back.

My officemate is pretty confused with the whole thing. I kidded her to make a SWOT analysis of the two guys to help her in deciding which guy to choose. I asked her questions like "Kanino ka mas happy?" "Sinong mas emotionally-mature?" "Sinong gusto ng mom and kapatid mo?" "Who's more stable?" "Do you see yourself growing old with him?". I would rather let her realize by herself what she really wants than point out who I was rooting for. I asked her what was most important to her: happiness or security? The dilemma is whether you think with your heart or with your brain. To think with your heart would mean to choose happiness while to think with your brain would mean to logically choose security.

I am a hopeless romantic and I root for genuine love and happiness. After all, isn't that what all of us have always been searching for? One's meaning and purpose as a person is only as good as having that hand to hold and shoulder to lean on forever. You can bear domestic problems and hardships for you know that someone will be holding your hand and will be willing to go through hell with you. This may bash the state of being single but I do not want to be a hypocrite and lie that I am happy being unattached. Singleness is a bitter pill I've swallowed. I have maximum tolerance for things, as Abbie had said in one of her Friendster testimonials for me. But being at this age when some of my friends are married and have kids, I can't help but be pressured and sulk at why the hell I am so off-track when it comes to that department. I'd want someone to be there for me and be my last call of the day but God, who seems to have other plans, instead, decided that it is in my best interest to prolong my suffering and lonesomeness. See, that's another thing. I have been consoling my officemate all the while with bullsh*t cliches that I would not even want to hear someone say to me. But cliches do become the cliches they are because there is truth to them. I told her that things happen for a reason... that there is a purpose why someone comes into our life... that there are lessons to be learned in every relationship. I envy her a bit because in a span of a year, she is now on the verge of being enlightened by the purpose of all the crapdom she has experienced. As for me... helloooo?! I've been having a sh*tty love life since high school! How freakin' long must I hold the Drama Queen throne?

Oh well. I have digressed quite a bit now. 'Got a wee-bit emotional there! Let me get back on track... Soooo. Happiness vs. Security? I choose happiness.

~* TWO DEATHS AND A COLD *~

Did you know that it's wrong to say "I have colds?" The correct way is to say "I have a cold." Something like that. I heard it on the Morning Rush's Top 10 Common Grammar Mistakes (or something to that effect...). It's coz "cold" is actually an acronym which means "chronic obstructive lung disease". It puzzles me though why it is still referred to as "colds" when speaking in general terms (think: "for colds, fever and flu"... Nobody sez fevers, flus, diarrheas, coughs in those damn medicine commercials...). Sometimes I read articles that say "cold" while others say "colds". Anyway, I vaguely remember reading about this common grammatical error from the same book which taught me that it is wrong to say: (1) "with regards to" (the correct phrase is: "with regard to"; (2) "staff" when you just mean one person (say "staff member" instead); (3) "handcarry" (coz strictly speaking, there's really no such word); and (4) "request for" as a verb (drop the "for" because "request" already means "to ask for"). Ahhh. Geez. You don't learn those kind of things in kindergarten. And hello, it is bobo to say "no parking on both sides". Mag-isip naman kayo! Hellllerrr?!

So anyway, I have a freakin' bad case of cold. Yesterday my nose was so runny-- I consumed like half the roll of the tissue paper in the office. I was almost tempted to plug my nose with tissue coz it dripped like every 5 seconds. The medicine that our company nurse gave me was making me drowsy. I was still in blow-ur-nose-every-5-seconds hell today. My eyes were watery. I felt feverish. I looked like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. I sounded ngo-ngo. The cold air in the office was making it sorta "painful" to breathe through my nose. I felt a bit chilly. My only consolation is that my nasty sore throat was gone. It would be totally hellish if I had both killer sore throat and a killer cold. Well my Betadine gargle bottle is half-empty now so I guess that's why I don't have a sore throat anymore. *Now suddenly I just thought: who the freak cares about the half-empty Betadine gargle bottle sitting beside my restroom's sink?!?! Let me move on to another topic...*

So Rio Diaz died. Christopher Reeves just died. Two less good souls living in our world. I just saw a part of the coverage of the mass/service for Rio Diaz. Gary V sang The Warrior is a Child. A Josh Groban song was playing in the background while Rio's montage was showing. It got me into thinking about the "soundtrack" of my burial. Anyway, I have two songs in mind so far: I Will Remember You by Sarah Mclachlan and It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday by BoyzII Men. Nah. I'm not being morbid. I just wanna make sure I have a freakin' good drama queen-type soundtrack for my burial. I would not want people with bad taste in music to choose some random, hackneyed burial song for my last shebang on planet earth. So my dear friends, if I die, make sure that these songs will be played. Or else I'll make kalabit to you when you sleep at night. HAH!:P

Oh, and one more thing... If I get buried in a casket, I want it to be either white or a tinge of lavender with silver metal accents. Oh and please curl my lashes and don't dare put some whorish shade of red lipstick on me! Something like the shade of Body Shop's Strawberry Born Lippy would be nice. I do not want my lips to be matte. I want it glossy. Use powder blue, lavender or light pink for my eyeshadow. No dark-colored eyeshadow please! And don't forget the natural-looking pink blush. Please make sure that the make-up artist does not make my cheeks look stupidly clownish with a blob of red blush. Make me look like Sleeping Beauty for Pete's sake (who's Pete anywaaaay?)! Otherwise, if they cremate me, my ashes would be happy to be stored in a pinkish marble jar with silver inscriptions.

I have yet to decide what catchy cool quote to put on my tombstone or jar. This requires a considerably lengthy deliberation so I'll leave it up in the air for now.

In the meantime, let me go back to blowing my nose... *sniff*sniff*

~* PASS THE DUTCHIE *~

Twas the longest Friday ever. I got home at Saturday 7:30 am already. Basically twas Xaymaca at 9pm til 3am. Then went to eat shawarma at some place in QC. Went to my sister's office in Makati after that coz she had to sync her 02 XDA to her PC before she leaves for Germany today. I was quasi-braindead by the time I was hanging out in the waiting room of her office. Slept there while I waited. Left her office around 6ish am and then got home in time for Saturday breakfast. Friggin' looooong day for me. Now to backtrack a bit...

My sister leaves for Germany today for a 2-week business trip. She had her despedida at Xaymaca yesterday together with her staff, some of whom I've hung out with already in our past Friday-night-at-Xaymaca gimmicks.

Felt the earthquake around 10:30pm. Me and my sister were like: "Hey, teka, hindi pa naman ako lasing ah..." Heck, I haven't even ordered my San Mig Light yet! We thought we were just tipsy or something but then the freakin' earthquake was quite long. It was not an oh-u-missed-it-sorry kind of quick jolt. It was so surreal. Everyone inside and outside the bar were like sorta spaced out at one point and then a wee-bit panicky when we realized it IS an earthquake and not all of us being tipsy at synchro-mode.

During the earlier part of the night, this young punk-ska band (looks like UP peeps...) who call themselves Jeepney Joyride jammed before the first set of Brownman Revival was due. The vocalist of Jeepney Joyride was, ermm, let's just say, talbog si Dino sa stage presence. May ocho-ocho pang nalalaman. Hayyy. Crazy and funny in a baduy sort of way. They redeemed themselves when they performed Hard to Handle by Black Crowes. I luv that song :) *Hey, little thing lemme light your chemicals oh momma I'm sure hard to handle now...* (Did I get my freakin lyrics right? anyway, i love that tongue-twister chorus!) And then the super-patok thing they did was their encore number: a cross between Beyonce's Crazy In Love and Parokya ni Edgar's Yes-Yes-Show (?). Asteeeg. That was an absolute riot! The ho-hum Brownman audience was finally genuinely entertained by the crazy Jeepney Joyride dudes. I could even see Jayson (trombone, BMR) and Jao (bass, BMR) being thoroughly amused by the novelty act. Dino (vocals, BMR) who walked in looking like a schoolboy clad in white shirt and backpack managed to catch the last part of the Beyonce-Parokya hybrid. He was pretty amused too.

By 11pm, Brownman Revival started their first set. What's great about BMR is that they constantly change their set list. Every Friday, at least half of the songs they perform would be something that you did not hear the previous week. They mix their original songs with UB40, Big Mountain, VST and Bob Marley songs. That's why it's not nakakasawa for me to be there every Friday. One fix that I totally look forward to is their version of Eraserhead's Maling Akala. With the way the Xaymaca crowd was singing, one could easily tell that the song is a cult fave. I also love the reggae flavor they've infused for their version of senti staples: What You Won't Do For Love, The Only One, Reasons, Just Don't Wanna Be Lonely, Sharing the Night Together.

Tuesday Vargas happened to be there last night. I know-- it's not such a stellar find, but hey, Ryan Agoncillo was there the other Friday with his girlfriend. Now that was eye-candy! So anyway, I was surprised that Tuesday actually looked OK in person and not as jologs as her songs portray. But if my sister didn't point out that it was her who was on the side of the stage, I wouldn't have known that it was her. Funny though when some guys started humming "(Di ako bakla)Kla-kla-kla-kla..." :P. She jammed with BMR when they sang Waiting in Vain.

Now for those gals who were there last night (In case, some Xaymaca denizen out there stumbled upon this blog...), don't you just wish you were THAT gutsy chick who managed to dance with Dino, be hugged by him while dancing and then be kissed on the neck (although at the risk of being despised by all the Dino-crushers and being seen as, ermm, whorish *sorry!*)? Oh well. Whatever floats her boat!

Why pass the dutchie on my title? Coz I find it funny how I've been hearing the song all this time and it was only last night that I realized that THAT was the Pass the Dutchie song. With the Jamaican accent, I thought it was some weird jargon of foreign phrases (imagine hearing: "poss dee dotchi on dee lep hund sayde..." against lyrics: "pass the dutchie on the left hand side"). Tricky, isn't it?! And then I was like, WHAT THA HECK DOES PASS THE DUTCHIE MEAN ANYWAY? I also vaguely remember a Missy Elliot song with the same phrase. So predictably, it's weed-related according to the Urban Dictionary:

To 'have a dutchie', is to smoke a lot of weed in a small unventilated room. So that the room quickly fills with a smokey haze, getting all the occupant's of the room very high.

Yup. You got that right! Very Xaymaca-ish indeed. Xaymaca is small and by the time it's packed with its denizens, the aircons, the electric fans and the exhaust fan will not make any diff at all. (SIDEBAR: Now everyone is friendly at Xaymaca, but when you turn off the freakin' wall fan just so you can stand on the chair beside it... that means WAR, mhen! I can't believe how moronically inconsiderate some people can be!) And to say that nobody there smokes joots is the same thing as saying that all of us never ever lied in our entire lives. I am worried at the thought that I am techinically smoking weed (and regular cigs) and having read in Cosmo that maryjanes stick longer in our lungs than regular tobacco is not making it easy for me to ignore. I have asthma and yes, it is long-term suicide for me to expose myself in such environment. But what can I do? It's friggin' fun to hang out there. Besides, everyone dies anyway. Ain't it twisted how the reggae-dancing and profuse sweating is good for my health but then their benefits are totally negated by the fact that the place is a smoke house? Hayyy. Tough luck. Life's not fair indeed. Can't have my cake and eat it too. Ho-hum. Must figure out a way until wearing gas masks become in vogue.

~* ONE-LINERS *~

* if we scatter seeds of kindness everywhere we go & we gather buds of love & watch them grow, we can find happiness more than we will ever know.
* animo la salle!!!
* happy birthday dear heartache.
* gusto ka daw nya makita!
* duh, why am i still asking you if you're going to xaymaca when you are wearing your xaymaca attire?
* where is the tissue guy when you need him?
* dogs are better than cats, coz, hello, have you ever heard of a cat-style?

to thee who are lost, go to the quasi-secret bloggie.