Bong Revilla Jr. = Non-Sense

There is a backlog on the things I want to comment on… and life goes on and all that...

HOWEVER… 

It just has to be said: Senator Bong, please just stop embarrassing yourself and our country.

Your speech or anything that every comes out of your mouth publicly, officially or unofficially, has never made any sense. It has never impressed me. There never was any depth or any real point to anything you ever say. All of it, non-sense. Just a lot of cheap talk and a lot of cheesy acting. 

That music video, I could not even bare to watch all of it. Words cannot describe and express the amount of shame and bewilderment one can feel about that as out of no where in the senate comes an introduction for your so called original song.

Oh how this video, made by a senator from one’s country as his official defense against a corruption charge, reflects on the state of our government today. It's just depressing how things have change and yet some things remain the same.  

So I ask: would anybody who had anything decent to say opt to use his time to show a music video instead? No. 

For that matter: who in their right mind would ever think of making a music video for a senate defense? No one. 

Strategy-wise it has been said that well, Mr. Revilla doesn’t care about the thinking citizen. What he cares about and who he patronizes are the “masa”, said to be his base. He believes they don't think and he believes this music video will please them. Ok, I get it. This is his way. It’s sad, it’s true, and it is what it is.

Though if you ask me, even if he suddenly decides that he would like to talk to the thinking Filipino, I do not believe he has the capacity to actually even give a genuinely intelligent speech either. But then again, we already figured that out a long time ago. 

I will not even dwell on all the lines he drops around media outfits. All that drama and all the cheesiness at par with antiquated soap operas, the reigning themes of which are: 1. He is oppressed, 2. God is with him and 3. He loves everyone. 

Dude, whatever. And we all just roll our eyes. 

I do not even follow the events of this issue these days because I know I will just get so annoyed and exasperated. So, why bother? We all know how he and they will go about it. 

On a side note, check out this fashion statement: 

"Religion is the Opium of the Masses." Mr. Bong thinks so, does he not?!

In case you feel like your "masa" base won't get it, that GOD is on your side, well, why don't you just print it on your shirt so it's clearly out there.

On another note, a friend of mine has been excited about the rumors of his potential arrest. Well, wouldn’t we all like to see that?

The Misogyny of Inadequate Men

Just like the Maguindanao Massacre, you sometimes cannot believe how something as massive as the blatant kidnapping of some 200++ or so girls can happen just like that.

So many things can be said that I am sure have been said over and over in the modern educated western world with regards to the role of women in society. We can all be appalled. We can all cry for equality, feminist ideology, and women and human rights – but this doesn’t change how things still are in other parts of the world that are not as evolved as ours. These people remain adamant in their archaic beliefs.  

Boko Haram, the group who has claimed to have taken the girls, translates to “western education is sinful” and its leader, Abubakar Shekau, believes that “in Islam, it is allowed to take infidel women as slaves”.  He also said in a video that all students should leave school and girls should just drop out to get married.

Wait a minute. Pardon me, but I have a question to ask... 

Let me just clarify this Mr. Shekau. So, all this effort, brutality and bruahaha… just so your crew can get some and slash get married to girls?

Cause you know…  You guys kidnap girls, rape them, force them to do what you want, sell them, brutalize and terrorize them and then conveniently justify all this by claiming that your religion allows you to take women from different religions as slaves. BUT at the end of the day – it is about GIRLS, am I right?

Oh the misogyny of inadequate men...  

So these thugs who claim to do all this for their so called faith are at their core just men who apparently cannot get women in the growing real world they contemptuously call “western”.  

They believe that women must be kept low and uneducated to keep them submissive to them.

Misogynistic folks of “Western Education is Sinful”, your barbaric code is not only cowardly; it reflects manhood at its most pathetic state.  

If the only way you think you can keep your womenfolk by your side is by keeping them down, then you don’t believe you can get them if they were smart, educated and had actual legitimate professions for a living.

It is pathetic - blaming the girls’ desire to uplift themselves in the world through education as the problem when in reality it is you, barbaric men, who cannot keep up.

I suppose, it is kind of difficult to imagine a Nigerian woman doctor getting impressed and falling in love with a man from your group who, you know, resides in some makeshift rebel camp, whose hobbies include burning down schools, cleaning your knife and other things like that. 

But dude, you must see this: you are unattractive the way you are now behaving like a brutal group of women-starved men. GET WITH IT: It's you (that's the problem), not her!

In the same vein, whenever I hear of stories of friend’s husbands and boyfriends who need to constantly put their wives and girlfriends down (or worse, need to physically abuse them) just to make themselves feel more secure... I am disgusted.

Real men do not keep women by keeping them down.

Real men will let women be the best they can be and should likewise uplift themselves to make themselves worthy of these empowered women.

-----

It is unimaginable what these school girls are being subjected to. One can only imagine what they are going through as they have been virtually forced into sexual slavery. And, the entire world just seem so powerless the way things are right now as about 1 month after their abduction, they still remain at large. 

Cara Devine

Malala Yousafzai

It might just be a social media campaign but it is something...

Here's to hoping the girls will be found. I am joining in with the netizens of the world in the campaign to #BringBackOurGirls!

Double Pope Canonization, a Marketing Success!

I have liked Pope Francis for a while now, I’ve mentioned this. But among the many other things I like about him, I would add this: he has a head for marketing!  Or he is just a natural at being "likeable" or at being in the business of making over the Church into something very friendly.

What a campaign. First off, we have a new likeable Pope who commutes, ride bikes, slums with the masses, and accepts gay people. Then he decides to canonize two other popular and friendly Popes in this trifecta of Catholic Pope Sainthood Extravaganza!  

source: the salt and light tv site

Masses of Catholics flock to the Vatican. Social media pages for this are set up! (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube…. They had it all.) They are streaming the canonization online. How very modern of the Church. How very anti of an archaic image.

from cnn.com

Old devotees (via fans of 2 Popes for sainthood) – check. Youth (via social media campaign) - check.  

In addition, they held mini remote events for Catholic countries where relics of the Popes and saints were toured! (I chanced upon it at the Eastwood Mall the other day.) Talk about bringing the event closer to the people. 

How efficient and well thought of was all that? I mean, I didn’t even plan to see these relics and there it was right in front of me that I can’t not go and see it. It was after a novelty, traveling relics and all that. And, there was no entrance fee since the Church is supposed to be an open house, is it not?

 

Such good publicity, I just can’t get over it. 3 well liked Popes, celebrated in one big worldwide event, it cannot get any better than that.  Good job, Pope Francis!

Updates / Updates

MH307

For days / weeks, I was glued to the screen even when let’s face it nothing was really happening and every scrap of small lead was turned into a sensation by CNN American (obviously I am annoyed with CNN International’s US counterpart – they pander too much, they dumb it down too much and they usually have these very American unworldly reactions to things).

Yet I continued to watch the coverage even if it was all becoming like a surreal episode of Lost, a show that also started out as compelling and eventually became so dragging that you had wondered when they will ever get off the freaking island.

Incidentally, the Lost people were flying out of Australia when they got lost... and well, you know, MH307 is allegedly somewhere near Australia as well.

Are we to imagine the passengers are slumming somewhere on an island? 

Last week, authorities declared the plane to be somewhere in the Indian ocean and that everyone is dead. How and why they are there, they have not yet actually figured out. 

Then a few days after, there were some buzz about there is still hope... (Um, what is it really?!)

Obviously, what happened is not typical of a airplane malfunction or a terrorist attack and all this is certainly strange. The conspiracy theorist in me has my antenna twitching. BUT what can we really do but wait and listen what the media will feed us next?

*Update: Well, as of now, there are still no signs of the plane and the investigation as well as the media announcements have gone everywhere – like, really, everywhere  (fake passports, pilot is an activist, the other pilot lets people inside the cockpit, plane/machine error, sabotage, hijacking, low altitude flying, radar avoidance, psychological issues, lithium batteries exploding, etc. / Vietnam, Malacca, Indian Ocean, etc.). 

In the words of my friend – I feel like they are only deluding themselves and that all that they are looking at are images of trash. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be too far from the truth.

I know it’s all unprecedented and it's hard to comb the ocean for debris but these days I don’t even listen too intently anymore. I have lost patience with this so called investigation. It is one thing to have a couple of initial theories disproved with valid data and another thing when things keep changing from all directions, from left to right and for the authorities to keep on contradicting themselves. 

And in the words of my aunt - these experts doesn't seem like experts at all if their theories keep on going from one point to another. Well, I couldn't agree more. 

What I don't get is why the authorities keep on announcing things that they haven't really confirmed? Why do they keep announcing things then later contradict themselves? If they are not sure, then they are not sure, why even announce it as fact? Is there really some cover up here? I am not sure as to what direction I should speculate but the more things become blurry like this, the more it all sounds fishy. 

So, until a lead is truly a lead - should we still be listening?

Indian Wells (late post) 

Yes, Federer made the Indian Well finals and lost to Djokovic. However, I am not so upset about that as it was clearly a very close game that could have gone either way.

Unfortunately, I was not able to watch it on TV as the cable TV here do not prioritize games unless they are of the basketball variety.

Let me use up this moment to complain and rant: BASKETBALL is NOT the ONLY sport people in this country watch! 

In fact, while I will cheer for my college basketball team, I do not watch the PBA or the NBA. I watch a variety of other sports and I demand my market to be served! AND, I believe I am quite valid in my demand as I truly am the market - I watch a lot of TV, do I not?

Ukraine

So, where are we now? The voting has happened. Russian has now taken Crimea. EU/US has announced sanctions. Ukraine is now hostile to Russia. So now what?

Peace Process

To be honest, I am not sure how everything is  going… BUT I am hoping that it will all go well. I would just like to note that despite all the bruhahaha of MH307 at least the Malaysian PM found the time to come visit us and help us out with this.

Pork Barrel

Wait a minute, where are we now? I honestly got lost.  Lots of people talking crap... (He said / she said, You must also investigate the pro government people, the witnesses are the real criminals, yada yada yada...)  BUT wait… WHERE in the world is Sen. Bong Revilla and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada now? Why – they are out of the country… Oh, I wonder why? 

RIP Will Gardner (late post)

WHAT THE…?! It definitely threw me off. I was so shocked. I was so dumbfounded. I am still utterly devastated.

It just came out of no where. I am still shocked. 

screen cap from the show

I was just saying last (last) week that no matter how I enjoy Suits, The Good Wife is still my favorite (current) lawyer show. And, I really look forward to Monday nights when I can get my regular dose of the show – UNTIL TODAY (March 24, 2014)  – when they killed off Will… WHAT WAS THAT?!!!

I know people (or the show runners) will say that this will make the show better, that it is a brave show and such a crafty show that it can kill of a lead character in such a shocking way. I know, it has been done in other shows (and has worked for some shows) but this trick has been done over and over and over… AND, I do not care, I just don't want them to kill Will!!!

Call me a cheeseball but like Mindy (Lahiri), I also watch shows for their entertainment value ( and their cheesy love angles) as much for their intellectual value. AND, I was quite happy with the Will Gadner / Alicia Florrick love story.

AND, since they were killing him off anyway, why couldn't they have at least exhausted all the possible lovey dovey storylines they could have churned out for Will and Alicia? INSTEAD, they spent the entire season (albeit it was a good season), tearing Will and Alicia apart. I am devastated. They parted on such bad terms and only these last 2 episodes did they got back to somewhat friendly terms but barely. AND then he dies! I just cannot take it.

Alicia finds out Will is dead (screen cap from the show)

Pardon my obvious violent reaction. I am grieving.

The Good Wife, you pulled a Downton Abbey on me! AND post Matthew, I don’t believe Downton Abbey was particularly that good anymore. And while I believe The Good Wife is a great show and have faith that they will keep it good, I still can’t say, at least for me, if it will still be the same without Will. He is one of the reasons I watch the show. His relationship with Alicia is one of the major reasons why I watch the show. Why don’t they just shoot Peter Florrick?! I liked Mr. Big on Sex and the City (though on hindsight I think about it and I now wonder why) BUT I really can’t stand Peter Florrick. Even if he is technically inside the body of Mr. Big, it’s just not working for me.

I would pray, beg and hope for the showrunners to decide to bring Will back to life, like maybe fans will go crazy and start sending random items to the studio in protest (though I doubt this since the show's target market aren't really crazy tweens or comic con people)  – except they truly killed him, showed his body bloody, covered by a sheet and everything. It’s not like it was a grey area type of killing. It wasn't like he got lost at sea (that he may return) or his plane exploded (like in Revenge when Victoria apparently never got inside the plane). It's not like this is a supernatural show (like in Heroes where no body actually dies)… So, Will is very dead. And, again, I say, I am very upset.  

Update: I have now seen the episode after the shocking episode featuring Will's death. I don't know. It's still good. I get it, how something like this is a good plot device. I get it, how something like this will make a big impact on Alicia and the other characters. But... I still don't like it. I don't think my experience of watching The Good Wife will ever be the same. 

Josh Charles, why do you have to decide to pursue other things? Why?

Veronica Mars! (late post)

Yes… 10 minutes into the movie, I was all moony eyed, so excited and everything even if nothing has happened yet. Suffice to say, I loved the movie. What Veronica Mars fan wouldn’t? The movie is not meant to play out like some summer blockbusters and it really is probably not for everyone (no super heroes, no end of the world scenes, no robots, or tween vampires) but for all the Veronica Mars fans out there, it felt like coming home and it felt like reminiscing high school but with only the good memories.

Hello Veronica! (screen cap from the movie)

Fan service, it is what it is. And, I really am not complaining! LoVe forever! I will suck it all up. Make a sequel and I will wholeheartedly cheer it on Rob Thomas!

LoVe! (screen cap from the movie)

So what are my comments on the plotlines and what everyone has been doing all these years? First off, Veroncia going to Stanford and then Columbia law school, I approve. I am all for education. When Veronica was in high school her dream was to go to Stanford and I am glad she eventually got there. I never liked Hearst College anyway.  

Would I have liked her better as an FBI agent? She’d be great at it, yes, but I probably won’t like it as much. She would be all limited to the rules of law or the FBI. Plus, her going over to the respectable side for a while (as an almost lawyer) is also something that works with the story line. Logan going all navy pilot on us, I totally applaud! Who wouldn’t? He had me at navy uniform. My only comment is that I’m not sure I like the skinny Logan. But then, I will always be biased for Logan so I accept him for who he is.

Hello Logan (screen cap from the movie)

As for Piz, I don’t really care much that much about him. Sucks to be his character but, hey, I don’t particularly care. Wallace and Mac are all doing ok. Dick (aka Candy Andy of 2 broke girls) is actually looking quite good these days. He is cute in a surfer kind of way, if only we can erase his doofus persona from our memories. 

Overall I like that a lot of the show’s characters made an appearance. Weevil, our old biker friend makes an appearance (and he has a wife and kid now!). Deputy Leo (aka New Girl’s Schmidt) makes an appearance as well. Vinny was also there. And, Gia Goodman (aka the bitch from apartment 23 and Breaking Bad’s Jane) also came out as a semi major character in the film.  

On a side note: Celeste Kane, we could have gone without her. I don’t think anyone wanted to see her. Maybe they should have showed us a scene of Duncan with his kid somewhere, if they wanted someone from the Kane family to represent. Not that I actually like Duncan because I really don’t care too much about him either. 

It would have been cool though if  Leighton Meester, the original Carrie Bishop, made it to the movie. On this note, I would just like to point out that it is kind of uncharacteristic for Susan Knight, Carrie’s friend, to go on with the gang partying like that. Wasn’t she the one who ran away because she got pregnant and was disowned by her parents?

Despite my comments, I am a very satisfied customer. I am a LoVe shipper and I definitely have no complaints! And, did I mention that I am so ecstatic that the Veronica Mars franchise has been revived?! I actually regret not donating some money to the kickstarter campaign. I didn't hear about it early on and then I thought it would be complicated since I don't live in the US. I would have loved to get one of those shirts though, the one that they give you when you donate to the campaign. They're just so cute! 

V. Mars shirt (pic from the kickstarter page)

So, for a couple of days now, I’ve been listening to the Veronica Mars (TV show) soundtrack like a crazy person. What does this say about me? I am a fan girl at heart, that’s all I can say.

Update: I’ve read the new Veronica Mars book. It’s a good installment for starving fans who just want to consume more and more Veronica Mars but for those who are looking for more LoVe, well, there isn’t much sadly. I did enjoy the book, yes. But I am one of those who want to see more LoVe action (Again, I say, I am a fan girl.), so the book left me a little bit wanting.  

The Oscars 2014

I must admit, I have not watched the other Oscar films that I said I would by now. Guess life caught up with me...

But if I did watch those movies before the actual ceremony, I would have declared that:

1. I don’t think Leonardo Di Caprio would win, perhaps, because I thought the Wolf of Wallstreet was a movie that was lacking. I thought Matthew McConaughey would be a strong contender for best actor because his movie was better (based on critic ratings).  
2. I was on the fence whether Jennifer Lawrence would bag her Oscar this year because as a whole I found American Hustle to be a disappointment.  And, apparently the movie also was a disappointment at the Oscars overall as the film didn’t win anything. I still like Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams though.
3. I think Jared Leto would win. I mean, with that role, he just seemed like such a shoe in. (Yes, I still remember him as Jordan Catalano and think that his eyes are just scary but I must admit he is such a good fit to be a trany with those super blue eyes.)
4. Cate Blanchett might win, depite Blue Jasmine (which I have seen) being a relatively less buzz-y movie vs the others. 

So the Oscars this year:

Ellen as a host was great. I have other favorites, like Jon Stewart perhaps (just because i like him) or Hugh Jackman. But I am very happy with Ellen. No one else can do selfies and pizza the way she can.

Ellen's Selfie broke twitter. Enough said.

So, Jared Leto’s speech… Wow, it was really good. Didn’t expect that from him because, you know, I still think of him as Jordan Catalano. But it was really really good. It was heartwarming (w/ his words about his mom).  His speech even covered Ukraine and Venezuela (and they way he said it, he didn’t seem to be pretentious at all). And, he dedicated his win to the AIDs people and why not? That’s what his movie is about. Might have been a long speech but it was really good.

I've always thought Jared Leto's eyes were scary.

I liked Lupita. I love her dress, so pretty on her. Nice, real and ernest speech. And, did you know her dad is a Kenyan senator? (I googled her).

I have always liked Cate Blanchett. Not entirely sure when I started liking her. Maybe it was when she played Queen Elizabeth? (As I do tend to have a thing for watching and reading random things about the Tudors) Anyway, her dress was lovely. I like it. It was pretty and sparkly and she looked good in it. Loved her as Jasmine. Her speech was pretty kickass. Smart. Substantial. Had enough humor in it. Thanked (a lot of people) as well as paid tribute to her roots. Very eloquent overall. Oh yeah and she told Julia Roberts to suck it.

Alright. Alright. Alright.

And, Matthew McConaughey: I once had a crush on you (circa A Time to Kill) and since then you’ve taken some weird surfer dude level roles and other similar unimpressive roles. I did like The Wedding Planner and How to Lose a Guy in 10 days so I forgive you (and accept you) for those but do you remember this horrible movie called Failure to Lauch with SJP? BUT now that you are back and with an Oscar win to boot, I think I will like you again! (Hey, you weren’t so bad in Magic Mike.) Alright, alright, alright!

I was thinking I was going to watch an Oscar movie tonight. I was choosing between Dallas Buyers Club or 12 Years a Slave. But since 12 Years a Slave won and since I was just reminded that Michael Fassbender and Benedict Cumberland is in it, I will definitely watch it after writing this.

See there they are: Benedict Cuberbatch and Michael Fassbender

And oh Sherlock, you steal the show in your own way. Benedict Cumberbatch and his antics (photobombing everywhere)…  Love them. So cute. So so so cute.

Sherlock photobombs U2 and friends

Also, must be said (though I am not sure why)… Kudos to Frozen! It was a very cute movie. Brought me back to the time of Disney princesses. And yes, I love singing to Disney princess songs. I love Idina Menzel (though why John Travolta wouldn’t know how to pronounce her name properly is beyond me). I also love Kristen Bell so I am very happy Frozen won for best animated film and best song.

I am still contemplating if I will ever watch Gravity. Now I am actually considering seeing Captain Philips because I think the Somali nominee seemed  pretty cool and (embarrassingly) I didn’t know that the movie was about Somali pirates. I thought it was some lame-o Tom Hanks navy story. (I do not like Tom Hanks and whenever I see that he's in a movie, my mind's first instinct is to dismiss it. Sorry.)

I am also considering watching the nominated documentary The Square because I saw an interview of the filmmaker on Fareed Zakaria's show and I want to see her take on the events in Egypt.

Oh, also, Baz Luhrmann’s wife won for the costumes of The Great Gatsby. I truly loved (love love love) all the dresses in that movie (so much so that I know they are from Prada and Miu Miu) and so I just want to say congratulations to Mrs. Luhrmann!

ON OTHER OTHER THINGS:

Roger Federer won in Dubai, beating out Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych along the way! I just need to slip that in… because, to me, this is something to definitely cheer about!

Also, Ukraine is in turmoil…. Wheeling and dealings… Technically, unidentified boots on the ground abound… Intimidation, misinformation, and world leaders are working it… What happens now, we don’t yet know...

And also the Oscar Pistorius just started. Everytime I see Reeva Steenkamp's pictures, I am still blown away on how gorgeous she was. She was a TV personality and she was also a lawyer. I think of how such an accomplished and glamorous life has been wasted and it just is sad.

Disclaimer: images used in this post are obviously not taken by me.

Stan is the Man!

I had a semi full schedule last Sunday, or as full as it could be for Sunday afternoon to night time. I was going to go do yoga, hit the shops with a friend (she needs a dress for an event), and have dinner somewhere new. I begged my friend to adjust our schedule so that I could potentially rush home to watch the Australian Open Men’s finals (This was post Stan’s win over Djokovic and Pre Nadal’s win over Roger).

I had been hoping for an all Swiss final (what a treat that would have been – and if that did happened, I won’t even be upset if Stan wins over Roger) but hey, Nadal played so much better against Roger (semis) vs his level of play against Nishikori and Dimitrov (4th round & quarters). So, no all swiss final.

Stan, Federer’s buddy, was in the finals and since Federer had believed in his friend's chances, I decided to be supportive and watch the game as well. (It should be noted though that of all the predictions, analysis, and articles that I read before the finals, only 1 person said Wawkrinka had a chance against Nadal and that person was Roger Federer).

To be honest, I had perhaps believed Stan’s chances of winning were at about the 25%. That is, I thought: If Stan played as good as he did against Djokovic and if Nadal played at a lower level than he did against Roger, then Stan will have a chance.

And this is what actually happened for the first set and a half of the match. That part was what I had deemed the only legitimate part of the finals and the rest of it, I don’t know, I will just call it a freak occurrence. It was so bizarre that for a while there I think Wawrinka got confused and suddenly wasn’t sure if his initial game plan against a fierce Nadal should be tempered so as not to look too brutal against an injured Nadal. (I suppose he was thinking that at first he was the underdog then suddenly he was not?)

That was the sad part, the “injured” Nadal. I wanted Stan to win convincingly and given his performance during the first set, I believe that he really deserved a better victory. I wanted him to win but not like that.

I respect Nadal’s talent and his impressive come back from a major injury and from months of being out of the tour. What had always bothered me about him (and not just against Federer but against everyone) was his consistent grey-area on court behavior: time delays tactics / violations, (suspect) timeouts, coaching violations and everything else that he does (such as touching himself in all places before he finally serves).

What happened last Sunday wasn’t pretty. Yes, Nadal might have really been injured (was this just a sudden cramp thing or did he just break something there or was this an old problem, who knows?) but the way it all panned out, it just felt iffy.

Headlines then read that Wawrinka won over an “injured” Nadal, which just takes so much out of Wawrinka’s well deserved win, which is just unfortunate because I believed that even if Nadal hadn’t been injured Stan could have won anyway the way he was playing.  Stan had really really really been that good in that first set. If things progressed the same way, then Nadal would have lost justly, sans all this injury drama.

It should be noted though that instead of retiring, Nadal stayed in there to let Stan finish the match, which is a nice gesture and which is also what I would have expected him to do.

photo from the ausopen.com

BUT no matter, a win is a win. Again, we must remember that this is Stan’s moment.  At the end of the day, you’ve won a Grand Slam #Stanimal! Congratulations, you deserve it! I am happy for you!

Notes on Roger (even if this is Stan’s moment):   

Roger played unbelievably well this whole Australian Open vs. his not so great performance of last year (or the last few years). This fact alone gives me enough satisfaction. This gives me some hope. This makes me happy. (I am a fan of his so why wouldn’t I be?)

He is a 32 year old guy who still plays this good, who can still beat top ranked guys, and who still brings so much to the tennis world. He has worked for it too. How can he not, when all these odds against him now? He may not be #1 but he is still this good. It is what it is. (Haters, stop raining on this parade please.)

Also, forgot to comment about this: VERY VERY VERY Happy for Li Na! 

photo from the ausopen.com

I like her. I still remember her as being this semi good, semi consistent, Chinese player who played at the time of Kim Clijster and Justine Henin.  Well, she’s still here and she’s come a long way. She’s so funny and so real. She’s a good representative of the Asia Pacific (as the Aussie Open is the Grand Slam of the Asia Pacific, is it not?). She is Chinese, 31 and still competitive on tour, her story is definitely one of the good ones!

This is one of those tournaments wherein I’m happy about both the men’s and women’s champion.

The Pork Files Continues

Just an understatedly brief recap, sometime last year this happened: 

Yes, that was Miriam playing at being Katniss Everdeen. It's gimmicky but, I suppose, it served its purpose. Nice touch (?) that Miriam went young, trendy and (I don't know) revolutionary with this one.

Meanwhile, Enrile was playing Bejeweled. Enough said.

Yesterday, this happened: 

Is this an unfunny standup comedy show? Oh, no, it's not.

If I needed further confirmation (which I really don't) of my assessment of his character and intelligence, this is it.

My 2 major memories of Bong Revilla Jr. now are: 1 - His equally ridiculous anti-Hayden speech and 2 - this delusional (unbelievable / bizarre / cheap / desperate / insulting / embarrassing  - insert preferred adjective)  scene.

Old trapo style politicians may have been comforted by the idea that even if they can't fool the literate part of society, they could always fool the masses with showbiz tactics. Well, I just overheard our household staff discussing the issue a while ago and they were also in complete disbelief with Revilla’s statements. That's a slice of the people's mind right there for you, senators.

I suppose, as can be deduced, their camp's game plan goes like this: 1 - Muddle the main issue with so many other random issues (to hopefully confuse/distract everyone), 2 - Immediately counter-accuse your accuser (hindi ako, ikaw noh, hindi ako, ikaw din noh!), and 3 - Pull all the cheesy shenanigans you can think of (and hope for the very best).

ALSO, I would like to repeat this: If you keep on saying that you were bribed to vote against Corona and you subsequently did vote against him then this would also mean that you are ADMITTING TO A CRIME and are, in fact, INCRIMINATING yourself. (facepalm)

2014, this blog is waking up (for a while at least)

Ok, things have come and gone without (my) comment…

I have also caught up with a whole lot of TV last December. You’d think that would have been depressing but it actually wasn’t that bad. You’d think I’d hate that the Game of Thrones strayed too much from the books but I actually have forgotten enough of the books to not be a nitpicker about it. 

And, who would have thought that The Mindy Project is a very good companion for the holidays. It cheered me up so very much! (What does this say about me?!)

So, moving on…

Last week the Golden Globes just happened (it's award season time!) and the Australian open just started.  

I should have been happier about all this though. I don't know, it's not doing it too much for me this time. Maybe my mind is telling me that I no longer like being a couch potato (yeah, right).

So, yes, I did watch a ton of tennis last week. Basically, the TV was on while I did a bunch of random things like updated websites, typed documents and experimented on products (yes, I’m a multi task-er that way). 

The Aussie Open

So far though, things are moving along at the Aussie open. Serena Williams is out. (Yey! Because while I acknowledge her talent and everything, I don’t really like her.) Del Potro is out (No reaction. Though partially glad because the bottom half of the men’s draw is really really crowded). Bryan brothers are out (sad). Maria Sharapova is out (sad). Ana Ivanovic is just out (sad but happy as well because at least there is some semblance of hope that she will be moving up).  I am happy as well for the 19 year old Canadian who beat Ivanovic. She seemed nice. (Even if she said she wanted to date Justin Bieber - what is up with that?) 

Djokovic is out. Gasp! (I don't particularly dislike him but I just prefer to cheer for Roger’s friend Wawrinka so the result makes me happy. Amazing game. Well-deserved win.) 

Happy For Stan! (pic from the official website)

And, what else? Roger is still in. (Yes! Just crossing my fingers for now though. Well, what else am I going to do otherwise?)

The Golden Globes / Oscars

I have watched The Wolf of Wall street. Wasn't really impressed but I already expected this based on the reviews I’ve read. I have also watched American Hustle. To be honest, I was slightly disappointed partly because I had super high expectations of the film. I still like Jennifer Lawrence even if her role as a semi narcissist crazy woman touched too close to home, which scared me a bit. I also got some copies of other Oscar movies (12 years a slave, Blue Jasmine and the Dallas Buyers Club). I am looking forward to watching these soon.

Still reserving my judgement on the other movies until after the Oscars and one of them wins something. I mean, I know, a lot of people have raved about Gravity but I'm still turned off by the whole space thing.  

It should also be noted that the Wolf of Wallstreet is the only Oscar nominated film that’s not rated 90+% on rottentomatoes.com. It’s just at 70%, I think. In fact, after watching the movie with my dad, he said this: the movie with the freezing we watched the other week was better than this. That is, that movie was the animated film Frozen. (Actually, Frozen, if I'm not mistaken, got 89% on Rotten Tomatoes so he’s not wrong there.)

I don't have particularly have much to say about the TV section of the Golden Globes. I don't know, do I not watch award winning TV anymore? I am happy for Amy Poehler though. I love Parks and Recreation. 

LOVE them! (pic from TV.com)

Also, I truly truly love Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting the Golden Globes. Just had to say it.  

- 

So my January has been somewhat eventful and yet it feels like nothing had actually happened. The new beginning that I had hoped to be taking place is not yet happening…

Oh well.

New Year’s Resolutions      

1. Exercise More / Eat Healthier ( = look better)

2. Earn More…

3. To be able to Live Life

Seriously, for the past few years or so… this has been more or less my list. What does this say? (Ok, I don’t want to think about that). 

Moving on…  I will try to do them this year...

It's still pretty early. I still have 11 1/2 months to go you know.