My weekend with Jessica Zafra and my iPhone

I am not a fan of Filipino writers. The only one I actually follow is Bob Ong. (Alright, I don't like reading heavy stuff! I don't need migraine. Duh?!!?) That is, of course, until Jessica Zafra came along.

Her recent book "Twisted 8 1/2" was head turner at National Bookstore. This 103 pages short stories (really short) page turner talked about the techie revolution. The story telling prowess of Jessica was spontaneous, witty and something I am sure most of my blog followers will be able to relate to (read - most of you who're reading this have to put on reading glasses).

In one of her chapters, "Requiem for the Compact Disc", she pictures her journey on the evolution of the Walkman to the Compact Disc and our trip down memory lane on what used to be music stores. How giggly we'd get at poring over all those new records, whether here or abroad.

"There is infinitely more music on the net today. You can read the album notes, visit the artists' websites, and hear samples of the music. But you can't hold the albums in your hands. You can't be among other people listening to music, judging them according to their musical tastes, and getting a kick when you realize that other people like the music you consider yours exclusively. Ah well, progress."

And I completely agree with her. With Facebook and Twitter and Multiply and all the gadgets coming out in so rapid terabytes, I have this strange feeling that before the end of this decade, machines may eventually control the humans who have made them.

Have you ever considered getting out of your house without your mobile phone? I'm sure most of us go back home to get it, otherwise suffer an anxiety attack the whole day.

I recommend getting the latest book of Ms. Zafra. Instead of reading the Philippine Daily Inquirer for the next week, this P100 short story book is a good deal to uplift your daily dose of laugh and reality check with the techie world.

Rating: 8 (scale of 0-10)
Value for money: Excellent!
Photo of the book from jessicarulestheuniverse.com

Then there was my Globe bill! Watdfuk?!?!?!? I had this iPhone 3GS since last year and thought (okay, still think) that it's the best mobile phone I ever owned. (You gotta know that I change mobile phones every 3-4 months. The longest was my Sony Experia which replaced by HTC)! It's a cool gadget! It's an iPod touch with a Phone. And camera and video. The reviews are right. No other phone has come close to the iPhone!

Then there's Globe. Hayyyyy, there's Globe. I promise to vote for Juan Ponce Enrile on the premise that he will shoot some Globe official off the wall. Included in my subscription is 10 hrs of internet charges already (you've got to pay for that separately). I got this just in case I am out of the office and need to check for emails as an emergency.

According to the customer service lady I talked to, my GFlex plan does not include my roaming, but includes GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSDPA and other Web-browsing charges. Check it out - I was on browsing for 4269 minutes (71.15 hrs) for my bill (for the months Dec 13, 2009 - Jan 12, 2010) of which only 600 minutes (that's the 10 hrs) was credited because it's supposed to be what free??!?!?! Now that is peeved me. Really really peeved me.

When I asked them (nope, challenged them) to show my how I actually consumed so much internet time, they curtly said that it was probably the phone. It has a thing for doing that...the iphone is so intelligent that it has a thing for connecting to Globe's internet...ang galing galing ng iPhone daw!! Leche!!!

Then they went on to say that maybe I did not put the push data off. I told them I was told to put it off when I got the phone so that I do not accidentally browse. Then they said that probably I did not have the 3G off. I do not use 3G, I retorted. It is always off unless I am in the US or Japan or some other country that needs 3G. They asked me to check my Wifi mode. Off, I replied. Maybe the location services is on? Off. What about the data roaming? Off. Internet tethering off! VPN not configured! Facebook chat off!!!! OFF OFF OFF OFF!!!

Oh they said it's the APN under cellular data. I should add a 1 to the internet.globe.com.ph at the end so that it does not automatically log on, according to the lady from Globe. I asked why. Oh because you automatically connect to the internet when there's no number 1 so that it does not get recognized. Huh?!?!? Built-in? Yes, was her reply.

And before we go, she nicely tells me, each time you connect to update your phone, you need to redo all these. I asked why? The iPhone is so smart that it goes back to all the default settings. The iPhone is so smart that Globe is actually making a killing for all these settings. Wow!!! Unbelievable!!! A phone that makes Globe so rich!!! Sanamagan.

To close the issue, I asked her what my flex plan included. She curtly replied, it included local data charges of internet browsing. And so, why am I asked to pay P1,253.21 of browsing time? I only spent P1158.53 on call and text charges. It's a 3500 Flex plan! Then she puts me on hold several times and comes back after 5 minutes to tell me that their system is slow today...sorry...can't check it...

Slow?!!?!?!?! Duh?!?!?! And they sell internet subscription?!?!?! Sanamagan the mobile services in this country. The reason for this kind of service is plain and simple - monopoly! You need to open up the very core of this kind of service to more people and the government should be more lax in providing incentives to competitors so that it is not only the Ayalas and the Pangilinans, or the Gokongweis who end up as the major players and cheat the public out of every little earned peso? While I can afford to pay for this - it's the principle that counts. One thing I hate is a cheater and big business that cheats consumers are the scum of the earth.

The only consolation I get out of this blogging is this is where I get to unleash my dark side. Thank God for that because I have a type A personality and Miriam Defensor-Santiago is on my idol list!

I will trod off to the nearest business center of Globe and politely ask once more regarding this. God help me!

Postmortem: As of this blogging, Brian Viloria lost his boxing bout. Knocked-out on the 12th round in his own country, the Philippines. This Fil-Am guy should retire. One more Pinoy boxer bites the dust. My take? Pilipit ang dila eh. Tingnan mo si Manny Pacquiao, tigas pati dila!

Bitching 101 - The Looney Bin: Bow!

Neurotic, psychotic, schizophrenic, autistic...you name it, we've got it!

Marlene Aguilar-Pollard: "Briton is informant, gunman" - Dang this woman! She is the mother of suspected murderer Jason Ivler and the sister of rockista Freddie Aguilar. She's got this conspiracy theory that Renato Ebarle Jr was killed by her British bodyguard Mark Hauser to frame her son on orders of people who don't like what she's been writing in her "book". Well definitely, she's no Tom Clancy or John Grisham, but wow! Fantastic! With the assault weapons her son's got and the footage on his shootout with the local National Bureau of Investigation, this has got to be one of those fantasmagoric tales that only a cookie would probably conjure. Not that she's unbelievable, but hey, you gotta hand it to her. Her story is one for the books. CIA, conspiracy, who'd believe the mother and son tandem? The media should stop printing her stories. Darn. It's getting to be a headache and puhlizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, can we get their family to see a shrink?

Manny Villar: They're playing politics. Okay, so they're dirty. So what? It's the political ballgame dude. You gotta face the music if you wanna be president! The continuing saga of Manny V's efforts to ditch the ethics and misconduct charges are akin to GMA ditching her efforts at accusations of graft and corruption. And he's not even president yet. You gotta hand it to him. He's using all that moolah of his to get people singing the tune of "...si Manny Villar and aahon sa atin sa kahirapan" (Manny V is the one who will lift us from poverty). Sanamagan. You use these mendicants to sing the song and air it on prime time and on the radio, it might just work! I am saddened though that there are respectable personalities that believe this crap! Manny had taken this complaint to the Supreme Court already to file for a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction to stop the senate committee from continuing its investigation. But time and again, his complaints have been foiled. Now he's using his moolah and fanatics (or should I say his insignificant followers including the once credible Gilbert Remulla) to move his current residence to Malacanang. Face the music first Manny. Unbelievable! The guy is so much like GMA. Deja vu? Jamais vu?

Jamby Madrigal: Doesn't believe in surveys but her own. Even if she's trailing at the bottom 0.2%, she thinks she'll still make it. Her reason? The SWS and Pulse Asia surveys didn't even think she'd make it as Senator in the last election. But she placed 4th among the winners! In your face SWS and Pulse Asia!!! But then again, she's got the Ladlad Party and the other gay groups in the senate and congress and wherever to bring this cookie to the palace. Who knows, she may be right? After all, she's in good company with the rest of them.

And the only place these people should be is actually the nut house! Philippine Politics is pathetic. We're nearing the presidential election and we've got loonies in our midst. Bow!

CSI Manila (Jason Ivler arrest)

You gotta hand it to the Filipino police (or should I say, NBI, but what's the difference)!

I was watching the news of the arrest of Jason Ivler, the fugitive Fil-Am who's wanted for 2 counts of murder. The long and short story of it was that he has involved in a road rage a year ago, and a repeat performance of his anger on a few months ago. A P1Million ($22,000) had a bounty on his head, after the second murder on the son of a Malacanan official.

I am attaching the link as seen on You Tube on his arrest.

It was interesting how media men handled the crime scene by being on the way, grabbing the camera during the shooting melee, pointing at the weapons and places in the house where the arrest took place with their fingers, how Ivler was carried out of his house with barely his shorts and underwear showing and his butt all in the air.

I think I watch too much CSI, Criminal Minds, the Mentalist, and other American detective shows that I think we treat crimes here like some sensational show. Darn it! And when the media men get shot during the operation, they cry that the cops didn't handle the scene of the crime well. Sanamagan this country!

Of course, had the media not been there (not only to blunder the whole operation and cover the arrest), Ivler would have met Satan earlier!


Watch the video clip:





POSTMORTEM

While I am not a fan of GMA, I am in awe with Cerge Remonde, her faithful press secretary. She is lucky to have had someone who would die for her (literally and figuratively). My condolences to his family whom he left behind. At 11:54AM this morning, Mr. Remonde, at 51 years old, passed away after a heart attack in his residence.

Sitemeter

So there's an added feature on my blog. It's the sitemeter. Someone asked me when I installed this sitemeter thingy. Well, for everyone's knowledge, I only learned about how to attach this tracking device last week. Officially, my sitemeter was installed January 11, 2010 (01/11/10)! Nice number huh!

Now stop asking and just get back to reading the blogs.

Bitching 101 - Okrayan na!!

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Bitching 101 - Today's Headlines

My friend once told me that the best way to get depressed is to stress oneself. And the best stressor is the Philippine newspaper, in general, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer in particular.

I classify newspapers in the Philippines into two categories - the legitimate newspapers and the tabloids. The former are made up of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), the Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, and then there are others (Business World, Manila Standard). Then there are the tabloids. These are a sleazy bunch of newspapers that have nothing but gore and sex on the headlines. The latter are the staple reading materials of drivers, lackeys, and the average Pinoy who has nothing better to do than read smut in his spare time.

On my way to work, I have this newsboy that runs up to my car to bring me my daily fix of horror or stressor stories for the day. My favorite section of the newspaper is always the OP/Ed (Opinion and Editorial) page. Any my favorite columnist is Conrado de Quiros. I like his acerbic tongue. Then the business section is second on the list, where I try to follow the foreign exchange market and the Philippine economy (as if I understand this part of the business sector in the country). Finally, I browse through the entertainment section to find out who is slapping who in local showbiz. Unless of course the headline reads that some dwarf in the palace has turned into stone, the other news events are usually lopsided. Lopsided based on what is to the interest of the mediamen and not necessarily on the nation (but that's my opinion).

In today's PDI, the front page hits were:

"Earthquake shatters Haiti" - so why was this the headline? When Ondoy devastated Metro Manila, did Haiti even blink to make this as headline in their newspaper? Duh? And PDI ran a whole story on the political history of Haiti. Through the courtesy of PDI, now I know that the Philippines even has a peace keeping mission among our police officials in Haiti. What the?!?!!? Why not just send them to Maguindanao? My golly gee wow!! Can't understand why we need to be sending our Pulis Patola to Haiti, when they can't even catch Ivler in Manila! OMG!!!

Ampatuan Massacre: Andal Jr fired first, says witness - and we are obsessive compulsive over the this saga of murder/massacre/greed/money/Muslims/guns/terror. If this were made into a movie, it would probably in the proportion of the Saw series. I only follow the news about what's happening. What makes me puke are the lawyers of the Ampatuans. Noted for their high profile cases, the Fortun law firm seems to be cash strapped that taking on the Ampatuans side is a sign of desperation. Of course, as CHR head Lilia de Lima points out, until proven guilty, the Ampatuans are just suspects. According to Atty Fortun, his clients can't speak nor understand Filipino or Tagalog or English. In the last interview of ABS-CBN the other day with Andal Jr., the guy could speak AND understand Filipino and Tagalog and English and Taglish. Either the lawyer is a dump or a liar. As they say, all lawyers are good at the latter. But the plot thickens. And like all telenovelas, this will probably drag on...until either boredom sets in, or the series is canned and everyone forgets.

JPE urged to quit post for smooth transition - the guy who has lasted all of the other presidents should retire. Enough said. I've always made my point - NOBODY after 65 should lead a nation. There are people younger and with more experience and less corrupt who should be given the chance. Statistics shows a positive correlation with years in office and graft and corruption - the longer you stay in public office, the higher the probability of practicing graft and corruption. JPE - retire already - you can drag Erap into exile for all we care!

'Diyos at Bayan' my slogan, Bro. Eddie tells Noynoy - puwede ba? Eddie V should be reminded that he is no Moses and that the Philippines is no Egypt. God is not on his side and can we for once stop using God's name in vain? Damn these Pinoys who always use God God God and Jesus Jesus Jesus for all the things we do right and wrong. Everyone has the right to use God's name because God is no one's property. Combining God with country is not Eddie V's own idea. The American presidents were actually the first to use this catch-phrase. Tinagalog lang ni Brother Eddie. This nuisance candidate should just take a rod and staff and curse Malacanan and the dwarf in the palace. But unless he can show to the people that he is the deliverance sent by heaven, he should just shut up.

Interestingly are other news but not necessarily headliners.

LTO stops tagging vehicles - too much fuss about the RFID (radio frequency ID). While I have no objections to this added scam of the LTO, they should be able to produce CR (certificate of registration) first. It's been over 1 month that the LTO has not released the CR of my car. Their reason - no paper. Walang papel!!!! Anak ng pating!!! Anong klaseng buhay naman meron tayo? May sticker para sa bagong raket pero walang papel para sa basic requirements ng kotse? Sanamagan talaga itong bansang ito! Grabe!! If I were the president, all these non-performing government employees will be reassigned to Maguindanao for life!

Ang Ladlad: Bishops assail SC ruling on gay party - Borongan Bishop Crispin Varquez told the Church-owned Radio Veritas his adamance to the idea of partly list representative "Ang Ladlad", saying that it's a very dangerous move. According the Varquez, "There's a big possibility that they will push for immoral bills. They are already in favor of pre-marital sex and for sure they will push for same-sex marriage. That's why they should not be allowed in the party-list elections". My take? These are big IFs and BUTs. Varquez should look at his compatriots in robes and not forget that the Vatican had to pay off so many people for sexual crimes committed by the priests. He who has no fault, should cast the first stone. Was that not part of the bible or did Varquez come from a different religion? I personally believe that there should be no representation anymore for the gay group. After all, we are well represented already. Even in Church.

Talent show faces censors' sanction - "Showtime" has been banned for 20 days after Rosanna Roces shot back at Vice Ganda during it's January 4, 2010 program with apparently cussing words.
The exchange went like this:
VG (to RR): Pagkatapos mong makipaghiwalay, hinete agad ang ipinalit mo (After splitting up, you quickly replaced him with a horserace jockey).
RR (to VG): Walanghiya ka talaga, hayop ka, demonyo ka. Wag kang ganon, nangbubuko ka ever. Di ka naman maganda. Vice Ganda lang ang pangalan mo. (You're shameless, a beast, a demon. Don't do that. You're revealing things. You're not even beautiful. It just happens to be your name).
So what was wrong with this? RR was telling the truth. VG is not beautiful. The better description of VG is actually the animal that the horsejockey rides. And they were cuss words? I hear them on the various telenovelas in Primetime where slapping, shouting, hair-pulling, water throwing, murder and sex are the basic themes (and attires). Gimme a break. Somebody should just put MTRCB chair Marissa Laguardia in a room and show her the basics of censorship. It should also be a rule that the prude and stupid should just join the convent.



A FINE DAY

Fill in the blanks:
1. BOO_S
2. _ _ NDOM
3. F_ _K
4. P_N_S
5. PU_S_

Answers:
1. BOOKS
2. RANDOM
3. FORK
4. PANTS
5. PULSE

If you had a different answer, you must be on the same wavelength as Laguardia. Pervert!

a good fall

At the airport in Hong Kong on my way back home, I chanced upon the latest book by Ha Jin.

The book is a compilation of 12 short stories. Except for the last story, A Good Fall, the rest have been published in magazines or newspapers.

All the stories take place in Flushing, New York, where the characters are all Chinese immigrants who deal with life in America. These daily struggles take us from the young monk to the elderly grandparents who have uprooted from struggling communist China in order to "make it there" in America. In one of the stories, the protagonist says, "You can always change. This is America, where it's never too late to turn over a new page. That's why my parents came here."

The book is light reading and deeply moving and for some reason, I could relate to the characters in the book. Han Jin is a masterful story teller. He immerses you into the scenes of the short stories. His writing is highly engaging and you will be transformed to the scenes as he vividly yet simply describes the various scenes in this book. His stories are short and leave a lot to the imagination for each short stories' ending.

You do not have to be of Chinese descent to appreciate this book. It transcends nationality. Even the typical Filipino or any Asian immigrant will see a mirror when he turns the pages of "A Good Fall".

Cost of the book at Relay Bookstore (HK Airport) - $250HKD (P1500.00)
Recommended reading: 9 (scale of 0-10)