~*MY OFFICIAL 26th BDAY SONG*~

I just love the new single of Alicia Keys. Hmmm, I officially designate it as my 26th Birthday Song....


IF I AIN'T GOT YOU

Some people live for the fortune
Some people live just for the fame
Some people live for the power, yeah
Some people live just to play the game
Some people think that the physical things
Define what's within
I've been there before
But that life's a bore
So full of the superficial

Some people want it all
But I don't want nothing at all
If it ain't you baby
If I ain't got you baby
Some people want diamond rings
Some just want everything
But everything means nothing
If I ain't got you

Some people search for a fountain
Promises forever young
Some people need three dozen roses
And that's the only way to prove you love them

Hand me a world on a silver platter
And what good would it be?
No one to share, with no one who truly cares for me

Some people want it all
But I don't want nothing at all
If it ain't you baby
If I ain't got you baby
Some people want diamond rings
Some just want everything
But everything means nothing
If I ain't got you

If I ain't got you with me baby
Nothing in this whole wide world don't mean a thing
If I ain't got you with me baby


EVERY word in the song speaks MY truth. But as to who the damn hell that "you" is in the lyrics, don't ask me... I haven't the faintest idea either!;P

~*THE 80'S!*~

Haha. I couldn't resist joining the fashion bandwagon--I bought two sets of glam plastic 80's earrings last Friday! I know it will fizzle out in a coupla months, but anyway, the 80's look is back for now!

Ahh, me wants the Cyndi Lauper look. I remember last December's company X'mas party... our group was assigned to the 80's era... it was soooo fun to dress up in 80's garb! It was fun to wear shocking, bright-colored eye make-up, have my hair super-teased and bop around plus lip-sync to "Girls, Just Wanna Have Fun".

Ahh, the 80's look is so fun and uhhh, chirpy!

Gaaah. I can only be an 80's chick though during the weekends or maybe on gimmick nights... *must resist wearing my 80's earrings in the office...*

Come one, come all!
Into nineteen eighty-four...

~ Talk Shows on Mute, Incubus

~*FAMILY OUTING*~

My family had a triple celebration today: My mom & dad's anniv (Apr 14), my b-day (Apr 20) and my dad's b-day (Apr 24). We went swimming at Mystic Valley in Pansol, Laguna.

The place:

Drat... I missed the "y" on the marqee. Hmp. 'twas ALMOST perfect!


Family pictures:



BY ROW:
(R1) Dad & Mom, 31st Anniv!; With Dean, my 8 yr.old nephew; Me and my 80's earrings -- after swimming.
(R2) Dad, Mom and me (pa-cute!); Ahh, the family's divas: my sis, Mom and me :)
(R3) Me and Ate Chinkee; Me, my sis and her hubby, Joel


My artsy-fartsy pics:



"A chic-a-cherry-cola."~ I Want You, Savage Garden
I'm not a big cola fan but I luvvv cherry coke ;)



Ahhh. Yummy cool halo-halo for dessert!:)



An abandoned lifesaver...



This weird rock formation has always been there since I was a child. I remember gazing at it in awe everytime we pass by it. I took this shot by the perimeter wall of the resort.



I noticed this goat munching on one of the trees in the resort. It was sooo cute -- it stopped eating for a moment and gave me a pose!



My nephew and I stalked some goats by the parking area... I think the one on the left was the same goat-with-star-quality which I took a picture of earlier...



This cat was lurking under our cottage bench. Teehee, I went under our table to get this photo ;)


The same cat resting by our cottage sink. *I was still under the table...*


'Twas a totally fun family day. And I liked all the pictures from this day!!!*happy-happy, joy-joy* :)

*HMM, I AM EVIL*

I am 28% evil.




I try to stay away from evil deeds but succumb to temptation every once in a while. I'm not quite on my way to hell but I certainly have some explaining to do.


Are you evil? find out at Hilowitz.com


Okaaaay. And to think I was expecting to get something like at least 40% evil! *bwahaha*

~ooOoo~

Aww. My guy boss was so sweet today... he cooked lotsa callos over the weekend and then he brought us one big tupperware of callos for lunch! All four of us shared it for lunch. Mmmm. He makes a pretty damn good callos. Gaaah. Sinfully unhealthy, I know! But heck, it was so deeleesh so who cares about cholesterol?

~ooOoo~

Saw MXY Presents INCUBUS when I got home around 9pm. Oooh, Brandon Boyd is sooo hottt. *more mind-molesting...hahaha!* Jose got a bit chubby so he was not as cute as before. And Mike Einziger!!! Awww, he's so, uhmm, fuzzy-wuzzy... he looks like an adorable troll.

Gaaah. Can I just say... I just wanna boink the head of that super arte VJ Karell (whatever the spelling is). Gaaah. VJ Heart and Karell is just so.. ughhh... disgustingly TRYING to be cute. And hello??? Mag gush lang daw ba forever si Karell while the Incubus Press Con was going on behind her? Yes, the whole universe knows that Boydie is hot but hellooo, you are a VJ, you are supposed to say smart, relevant, comprehensible stuff when you're "annotating" an event on air. Gaaah, a valley girl airhead!

Oh and Heart? Yes, I think she's pretty but yuck, all the while she is trying to project this wholesome, pa-tweetums image... but helloooo, somebody took her pics in this bar... this was after the Incubus gig... and OMG, she looked like she was drunk and was openly and heavily making out with her boyfriend. (Hey Abbie, the guy's from Sta. Rosa daw???) For pete's sake, get a room!

Okay. That was my bitchy gossip for the day.

~ooOoo~

Arghhh. I just caught a view of this drama on TV when I just got home. Yuuuuck. Of all the people I'll see, I saw Angelica dela Cruz. Ewwww. She looks like an annoying female version of Astroboy. She also looks like a sickeningly *trying to be* sweet version of Tweety.

Ok, while we're on celebrity look-alikes... Pia Guanio disturbingly looks like Stuart Little.

~ooOoo~

You know what I find annoying? This guy on my friendster who *pathetically* keeps posting "Pahingi ng testi" like every other day. I mean, yes, it would sure be nice to get nice testimonials, but to pathetically beg for it almost every day and SPAM my friggin' bulletin board?!? Gaaah. C'mon, get a life dude!

Hmm. I can't freakin' delete him coz he's a cousin of mine. Grrr.

~ooOoo~

Hmm. Some people just don't know proper email etiquette. I mean, isn't it annoying to get a forwarded email where aaaaalll the previous "To-From" lines are still on the email body? I am not interested to see how far the email has "travelled" online so can people just delete all the "to-from" lines/ original path thingiemajigs and just spare me the agony of scrolling for a good 30 secs. before I actually read that lame thing you sent me?

And for pete's sake, save your friends from spam by using blind carbon copy (bcc:) instead of broadcasting everyone's email address on the "to:" and "cc:" line!

Oh and another thing... use your common sense when hitting the "Reply" and the "Reply to All" button!!! I mean, what do I care about your friggin' shirt size?!? I don't friggin' care what your shirt size is. In fact, noooobooody cares about your friggin' shirt size!!! You only have to reply to our team captain who asked you about it. The rest of the team doesn't give a damn if you are S, M, L, or XL. It's simple--if I am not at all concerned about it or if I will not be affected by what you are saying in any direct, drastic way, chances are-- I don't friggin' care about it!!! So do not spam my email with your stupid reply to all.

Friggin' simple, right?

Okaaay. That was the annoyed yahooligan/lotus notes user talking.

~ooOoo~

I hate it when people rant out loud when everyone already knows that something actually sucks.

So I was falling in line for the shuttle to home... The dispatcher dude didn't want us to ride the idle Urvan parked on the terminal because of some stupid reason. So anyway, most of us who were in line were already pissed off. It was pretty hot, we have been standing & falling in line for a long time, ergo, the pissed off commuters. So I was quietly cursing like hell in my mind while this lady behind me was "tsk"-ing and ranting loudly. I ignored her but in my mind I was yelling at her "Shut up, lady!". I just hate people who complain out loud when we all very well know that it IS bleepin' sh*tty already. I mean, it agitates me even more. "So shut the f*** uuuuuup!!!"

And then, so were in the process of sitting ourselves in the van... and this same lady complains loudly again about her being seated at the back. Gaaah. In my mind: "Grrr. Will you just shut up and take your seat?!? If you don't want to sit there then get the hell out of this van! Grrrr." or... "Grrr, can you just stop complaining. SHADDDDAP!!!" Gaaah. Stupid whiny a**.

Gaaah. I was a pissed commuter today.

~*ALMOST OVER*~

Gaaah. My holiday is almost over. Wow, I haven't been working for *SIX* days!*woohoo* I'm on vacation leave today and I am savoring the last few blissful hours of my work-free day.

Owww. I think I just got carpal tunnel syndrome (hypochondriac!) I have been in front of my PC for like 80% of the time these past few days. I'm trying to finish the pages of my revamped website. It's taking waaaay too hard coz I totally switched from *frames* layout to *tables*. Gaaaah. Oh but it's gonna be a kick-ass new version! I changed my navi buttons, put some cool mouse-overs with audio, put some new artsy pictures, changed my web banner and side bar. *excited* I can't wait to upload 'em! But, errmmm, I HAVE to wait. *toinks self* I'm like just a bit over halfway done only. Gaaah. Like, about 12 more pages to revamp...

SHAMELESS PLUG: Ahhh, I can't believe it's just 8 days to go til my birthday. Oh fudge. I am already knocking on 30's door. Turning 26 can be very emotionally traumatic. Hmp!

~* DELIGHTS, DELIGHTS!!! *~

MORNING DELIGHT:

Abbie texted me this morning and told me that Jay R is on Phil. Star. today... a Ricky Lo article. Grrr. We don't have Phil Star here at home and I was too lazy to go out and buy one coz it was so bleepin' hot. I just remembered about it again now (11:30pm). I found the online version of the article: http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200404111701.htm. But alas, there was not a single yummy Jay R photo on the web page. Grrrr. Abbie said there was/were picture(s) of Jay R. ( *Oh Abbieeeeee... you said you'd email me a jpeg, right? pretty please? *bats eyelashes like crazy*)


EXCERPTS:

What do you have that other singers don't?

"I think..." (Breaking into a wide smile) "...an American accent. There's a lot of very good singers here but very few have American accent."

*** Oooh yeah. He does sound extra-sexy with that Am-boy accent (sigh) ***

You could be a bold actor.

"Ay, hindi po!"

Why not? You have the body for it. If and when, what would make you drop your pants?

"None that I can think of."

*** DRAT!!!! Sayang!!!****

What if, ehem, the price is right?

"Price has nothing to do with it. But then..." (Adding with a laugh) "...I could get carried away in a scene and it just might happen. You know what could happen if your adrenaline is high."

***Oh yeah, baby! Now yer talkin'...***


Are you vain? Most good-looking guys are, you know.

"I'm an exception. No, I'm not vain at all."

***Awwwww...***

~oo0O0oo~


EVENING DELIGHT:

Got a text from Tere around 10:30pm: "Psst. Gising ka pa? Watch MTV. NOW."

I quasi-fainted the moment I switched the channel to MTV. Gaaaah. HIS ROYAL HOTNESS was on MTV. It was MTV's AFTER SKOOL ROCKS which featured heavenly Brandon Boyd *triple sigh* and Mike Einzeger (teehee, I suddenly remembered the girls holding the BIG sign during the Incubus gig last March... it read: MIKE, YOU ARE OUR HOT DANCER -- an homage to an old Incu song "You Will Be A Hot Dancer" which I absolutely have no idea how it sounds like. Oh well... moving on...) Twas a hosting thingiemajig for After Skool Rocks. They talked about their vids and stuff. I'm not too sure though if it was taped here in the MTV Phils. studios or in MTV Singapore. Hmmm. I envy the lucky camera man whoever he is. I hope he's not bading though or he must have already mind-molested my dear Brandon.

EXCERPT:

Mike was talking about "music video suckdom" (hmm, "suckdom"... I like that term!). They were proud to say that they NEVER had a video wherein they played in a FAKE stage with a FAKE crowd who pretended to like them. It was just not them, accdg. to Boydie-dear. HAHA. There are indeed lotsa vids of pop rock bands with fake stage and fake groupies. I wonder if Blink 182's and Simple Plan's were REAL.... hmmm.


So basically, Tere and I were texting each other about how elated (ecstatic, even. I was in throes of palpitation...) we were feeling as we were watching yummy Brandon Boyd. There were some gushing, sighing, fainting and kissing of the TV screen... Ahhh, Brandon-blissssss. ;)

Grrrr. Tere, I checked both the MTV ASIA and the MTV PHILS. schedule online... I can't freakin find a replay! *sob, sob* Weird coz I was looking at today's schedule and it didn't even say "After Skool Rocks" for the 10ish time slot. The schedule indicated MTV Mush or sumthin'. Weirdness. I HATE INACCURACY!!! Hmp, hmp... you incompetent mtv.com webmasters you!!! Grrrr.

~*SYMBOLISMS in THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST*~

Got this from an email. Pretty interesting...

If you have not seen "The Passion of Christ" or if you are planning to go and see it again, this may help you understand and relate to the many symbolism that Mel Gibson used.


NOTES ON THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST SYMBOLISM

These are personal notes from a group discussion with a priest called Fr. Sean of the Legionaries of Christ. The discussion took place on Friday, February 27, 2004 at the St. Joseph Center in Alhambra. Fr. Sean said he has seen the movie 6 times and that his order had a priest on the set every day that Mel Gibson was shooting the movie. Because of this, he was privy to much information about the symbolism throughout the picture. Please forgive me if the notes seem to ramble. They are merely a guide to ideas brought up in discussion that night and are by no means a comprehensive list.


1) What was the meaning of the evil baby that Satan was holding?
That image of Satan holding an ugly child is an anti-Madonna image. The child represents the future persecutions of the body of Christ, the Church. The child is ugly because evil is a deformation of good. The child is stroking the face of Satan because evil perverts what is good. The stroking symbolizes the love of evil, much like a child would love its mother, but in a perverted way. Remember this image happens when Jesus is being scourged. His body is being wounded. His body is being persecuted. It is an image used by Mel Gibson to show Satan flaunting his future plan of persecution of the Church in the face of the sacrifice of the Lord.

2) Why is this movie so violent?

The violence you see Jim Caviezel endure as Jesus is really a reflection of the violence that sin does to our souls. Violence is the effect of sin on our souls. It destroys and disfigures us. It maims us. It makes us look inhuman, ugly and hideous before the Father. The violence also represents the price of our redemption. Since Jesus took on our sin, He was made sin for us according to St. Paul, He took on the punishment of that sin. ["For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21] This is the purpose of the violence in the film, to get people to realize the price that is paid by the body of Christ when people commit sin and the price paid by the Savior to set us free.


3) There was a discussion about the Agony in the Garden scene.
Fr. Sean brought up the idea that the reason Jesus suffered in the Garden was because that is the moment He took on sin for us. St. Paul says that God the Father made Jesus "to be sin." This is the moment when it happens in the garden. Since Jesus is the Son of God and God is pure love, taking on the sin of the world, yours and mine, the sin of a Hitler, a Stalin, a Genghis Kahn, etc., was an excruciating experience for Him. At that moment, pure Love was forced to coexist with the evil effect of sin in the agony Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane.


4) In the Garden of Gethsemane, what is the snake a reference to?

Genesis 3:15 - "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Notice that Jesus suffers immensely while Satan adds to His burden but then Jesus makes a decision to do the Father's will and with that resolve he stomps on the snake to kill it.

5) There are plenty of Mass references in this picture.

When Jesus is being stripped, the movie flashes back to the Last Supper when the bread is brought to the table and uncovered. When Jesus is being elevated on the cross after being nailed to it, we see a flashback to the Last Supper
when Jesus raises the bread and says, This is my body... The apostle John is shown as the one who remembers these flashbacks and who makes the connection between the Bread of Life on the cross and the Breaking of the
Bread at the Last Supper.


6) When is the first time we see Mary?
Just as Jesus is arrested and put into chains. She wakes up saying "Why is this night different than any other?" And Mary Magdalene responds that this is the night that they were set free from slavery. Where do these lines come from? They are the words that the youngest says to the oldest at a Jewish Passover/Seder supper ritual. In this case, the oldest was saying them to the youngest because this was THE night that would set in motion the plan of salvation to set us free from sin. The new Passover had begun with Jesus as the Lamb. Maia Morgenstern, a Jewess herself, had the idea to use these lines in the scene and when she explained them to Mel, he agreed they had to be included in the picture to tie everything together.


7) When is the first time we see a maggot?
In the Garden of Gethsemane when you see one crawling in and out of the nostril of Satan. It is a very quick scene. When do we see a maggot again? When Judas finds himself sitting next to a maggot infested mule. The maggot
represents death and corruption.


8) In this picture Pontius Pilate was portrayed sympathetically. Why so?
Mel wanted him to represent the struggle of every man when faced with moral choices. It was obvious to Pilate that Jesus was an innocent man. It was obvious to Pilate that Barabbas was corrupt. (It was no accident that
his makeup made Barabbas look even more evil and deranged.) To Pilate the right choice was obvious but he did not make it because of his own fears and the pressure from an unruly crowd he wanted to appease. Mel's message was
that every time we choose sin, the choice is always obvious like the choice between Barabbas and Jesus. Of course there are times when the temptation that approaches us is very beautiful in appearance, but down deep inside, we
know what the choice should be and very often we do exactly what Pilate did and afterwards try to wash our hands to relieve our guilt.


9) Why was there a scene when Jesus falls over the bridge only to find Judas at the bottom?
Judas has just denied Jesus in the Garden. At this moment, Judas represents every man who when faced with the truth denies it. In this scene, he represents every man who runs away from the truth and Mel Gibson wanted to remind the audience that you cannot run away and hide from the truth because the truth will always find you. In this case, Jesus has been arrested, is beaten and falls from the bridge while hanging in chains right in front of Judas. The Truth found Judas even though he had denied Him and tried to hide from Him.


10) Notice that in the picture whenever Satan is shown, he is always in the background moving behind the scenes. Notice he is always in the background whenever there is intensity and anger in the foreground directed towards Jesus. This is symbolic of his actions motivating the aggression and intensity of persecution against the Body of Christ, the Church, and also is symbolic of his responsibility behind all evil motivations.


11) When Jesus is before Pilate, He notices a dove in the sky above Him.
It represents a reminder of the vertical dimension, the relationship between man and God. We as human beings are often caught up in the horizontal dimension (relationships with men and worldly affairs) and forget there is a vertical dimension. The vertical dimension represents the spiritual life, the relationship of a soul with the Father. The vertical dimension is what is more important and the dove is a reminder to Jesus that the vertical dimension is in control despite the appearance of the situation.

12) Why do Mary and Mary Magdalene clean up the blood on the cobble stones after Jesus is scourged?
It is because it is Jewish tradition to save the blood. Life is in the blood. Blood had to be collected. This is also representative of the cleaning of the vessels at Mass when a priest is done with the consecration and giving out the Eucharist. The blood was precious and Jesus' blood particularly is precious. Notice that they also collected the instruments that made Him bleed at the very end of the film when you see the crown of thorns, the nails and the hammer at the foot of the cross as they take down the body of Jesus.


13) There is a scene at the crucifixion where Mary Magdalene is the only one who sees a miracle happen.

It is a very quick scene and it happens when she is on her knees (notice that the only ones on their knees are Mary,
John and the Magdalene at the crucifixion). Jesus has been nailed to the cross and the Romans are turning it over. You expect Jesus to smash His face into the ground when the cross falls over but it does not happen. Instead what you see is the Magdalene looking up to see that the cross is floating above the ground. She is the only one to see that Jesus is floating a few inches above the ground the entire time that they are hammering the nails on the back of the cross to secure them. It is a representation of God still in control of the whole crucifixion process.


14) Every time that Jesus meets His mother Mary along His Passion He is strengthened and has new resolve.

This is especially noticeable after Jesus is scourged the first time. The Romans have beat him over 70 times and
He has collapsed. He sees Mary and finds the strength to stand up much to the dismay and surprise of the Roman soldiers who then decide to use a more vicious whip with metal tips. This scene represents the idea that Mary is
living proof to Jesus that the sacrifice He is about to make for mankind is not in vain. The film shows that Jesus comes to a decision to continue on the path to Calvary each time they look at each other. Some say it reinforces the idea of Mary as co-redemptrix.

15) Simon of Cyrene represents every man who is faced with the cross and does not want to carry it.

He also represents those who do not want to help others carry their crosses. Yet, in this film he also represents the person who is forced to carry the cross and then becomes so engaged with Christ that he wants a deeper relationship with Him. The arms of Jesus and Simon the Cyrene are intertwined as they carry the cross together and that image
represents the efforts of each soul carrying its cross with the help of the Savior. That final look that Simon gives Jesus after he has finished helping Him, represents the longing of every soul to have a deeper relationship with the Lord after coming face to face with Him. It was through carrying the cross that Simon came to have a desire to have an
intimate relationship with Jesus much like that of the soul who longs to know Christ better in the midst of suffering.


16) Notice in the Garden of Gethsemane scene when Judas denies Jesus that the Lord never takes His eyes off of him when he denies Him. The Lord never takes His eyes off of Judas even when Judas runs away. That is representative of the Lord's own relationship with us. Jesus never takes His eyes off of us when we deny Him or turn away from Him


Man, I wanna watch that movie again!