More teasers for you to post on your blog. Join the campaign for Warm Bodies 3: Nostalgia Galore. Guidelines here.

Spread the word. Copy and upload this image and this permalink. Or post the guidelines in your blog.

If GMA plans to decentralize government power to the "countryside that feeds it," then why is Monday's SONA holiday declared only in the big city?

Pundits lament the absence of the middle class in the past few weeks' political exercise, thinking nobody's left for they've gone abroad. Not all, actually. We're concentrated here down south, in industrial parks in the middle of cattle farms and at the foot of Makiling as far as Cebu. Recipients, or should I say, victims of Ramos' medium-term development plan that sought to industrialize the country by the new millenium, or so it seems. It is high time that presidents recognize our contribution to the economic center whom we expect to perform their policy-making functions on a broader spectrum. We feed you, you herd us was the previous setup that didn't work. The national center was well-fed and wanted more without giving sensible policies in return to develop the periphery to keep the cycle going. Sooner or later that milking will turn into bleeding. Thus the decentralization agenda is very much appreciated.

Engineers and techies mostly comprise these parks. And they love done deals and closures, even if there are strings attached, which certainly exist in the real world, where backup plans and safety nets come into the picture. The bottomline is, as long as the plan is solid and not designed to fail or serve only the few, then we'll go for it. These days are a lovely day to raise high our emotions but we have to go back to the drawing board and plan, plan, plan. Get ready then execute (pun not intended), get feedback and do more planning and go through the cycle one more time.

We may want GMA to resign but what should come after that? Nature abhors a vacuum. We don't live the sachet lifestyle and go from one day to the next. Some of us have shouted our lungs out at Ayala (it is expected of union members to oppose every administration and wow, are they willing to bed with the Estradas and the Marcoses) but in the end we want it clear. There is an existing constitutional successor and we are responsible for putting him there in the first place, a spare tire that has to be equally competent to the president when the latter is unable to dispense her governance. The reason why most of us took time off to the streets during Edsa Dos was because we knew that an apparently competent successor, an economics professor at that, is clearly on the way (the failure came later).

Nature prefers to go the path of least resistance, but the path is not necessarily a straight one. Who wouldn't love to topple a president perceived to turn the people's will to her favor para matapos na? Gravity, a path of least resistance, dictates bodies to fall down but it is an end in itself. Somewhere we must come around to the national goal though the goal itself is subject to different interpretations. Is it the left, right, or where the middle wants it to be--everywhere?

In the end, there is an existing adage in the engineering world that when the problem keeps coming back and the customer is raising hell over the same complaint and we have moved heaven and earth and it amounted to nothing, maybe there is something wrong with the structure or the very product itself. We have transitioned from dictatorship to democracy, deposed two presidents, but we're still the sick man of Asia. Do we really need to pin the blame on who we put into power everytime? Leave all the responsibility after we have given them the mandate (or apparently so at this time)? Make the presidency our whipping boy and remove one everytime we see it fit when we can't even stop at the red light? Lament the death of the movie industry because of piracy and not on quality acting? Pressure then blame ourselves for being a poor copy of Mother America?

The Filipino's greatest critic is himself. Too bad he turned it into his worst enemy.

Patay na raw si Tet Antiquera?

Of the only link out of the two, my blog carried her name in an 80's quiz I've done. Google searches of Tet Antiquera (and her apparent death) have formed the bulk of my hits since yesterday. Searches in Technorati, Yahoo and Balita.com proved fruitless, until Maxthon yielded this article from ABS-CBN Interactive:

A former sexy actress was found dead inside her residence in Diliman, Quezon City, ABS-CBN learned Sunday.

Teresita "Tet" Antiquera, 45, a popular sexy actress during the '80s, was found dead inside her house at 21 Premier Court Subdivision, Barangay Capitol Hills at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

Police Officer 3 Joseph Madrid of the Quezon City-Criminal Investigation Division said relatives of Antiquera immediately sought the help of their neighbor doctor.

The doctor, however, said Antiquera was already dead.

Relatives of the victim said Antiquera might have died of complications due to hypertension.

Hope this helped, Googlers.

The editors of Warm Bodies are now accepting entries for its third offering, tentatively titled Nostalgia Galore. Submissions should be reflective of the era most of us grew up with, from the late 70's up to the 80's. Aqua Net, Mazinger Z, leg warmers and Young Love, Sweet Love, to name a few, wishing it was 1984 again when Kuya Bodjie and Ate Sienna helped us get through the day. Here are the mechanics, we'll take care of the audience impact. Roll VTR!

The Blogger Participant
1. Must be a blogger, of course, from the Philippines or calls the Philippines home.

The Blog Entry
1. Must be appropriate for the theme "Nostalgia Galore".
2. Full entry submissions are not necessary. Participants can just submit the entry URL. Ergo, index URL's are not allowed. The editors don't have the time to wade into a blog and scour for entries appropriate for the theme. e.g. This is what we like: http://nominatedblog.blog.com/nostalgia.html. Not this: http://nominatedblog.blog.com. Broken links likewise go directly to the trashbin.
3. We require the entry to fill up a standard computer screen, in normal internet font sizes, at the least, in terms of length. Images, marquees and buttons to fill it up are not counted.

The editors are empowered and discretions will be made when appropriate. "Judges' decisions are final."

You can send the entry URL's, a short description of yourself, and your blog URL, to this e-mail address: warmDOTbodies3ATgmailDOTcom. We'll be collecting entries until Sept 15, 2005 Midnight Philippine Standard Time.

Stay current by joining the Warm Bodies Yahoo! group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/warmbodies/.

Please pass around. You could be the next lucky homepartner.

Warm Bodies 2: Orange Sunset draws on the Pinoy blogging community’s reception of the first Warm Bodies anthology, The Kris Aquino Complex. The unified theme for this offering is Change, compiling select bloggers’ interpretation of the only thing that a cliché brands permanent in the universe.

Aside from sequels, that is—movies and revolutions aside.

Download Warm Bodies 2: Orange Sunset here or click directly on the image.

Download Warm Bodies: The Kris Aquino Complex here.

Spread the word.

UPDATE: You can also download Orange Sunset at the UP Alumni website.

*colegiala accent*

Malapit na sya!

Yet another meme, tagged by Silverginn and Marlon:

List five songs that you are currently digging... it doesn't matter what genre they are from, whether they have words or even if they're any good but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the artist and the song in your blog along with your five songs. Then tag five other people to see what they're listening to.

1. Say You Love Me--DL Project
2. Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)--Sheena Easton
3. Train in Vain--The Clash
4. Build--The Housemartins
5. We Belong--Pat Benatar

Syempre 80's. Since I don't usually follow instructions I'll spare you this meme. But it's your call.

From Markus:

Three names you go by:
1. The formal Oscar, for professional publications, meetings and other serious stuff.
2. Bryan, for the inner circle until the 5th degree of separation.
3. Buddy and Sky, alternicks in the www.

Three screen names you have had:
1. Armagosa
2. Perfect Circle
3. Pablo Javka

Three physical things you like about yourself:
1. Ahm...
2. *looks up*
3. Personality. I like my personality very much. I, thank you.

Three physical things you don't like about yourself:
1. Ahm...
2. *looks down*
3. My long-legged legs...and world peace. I, thank you.

Three things that scare you:
1. Manila
2. Apparitions
3. Phone calls in the middle of the night.

Three of your daily essentials:
1. Poop
2. Bath
3. Brush

Three things you are wearing right now:
1. Perfume
2. Handkerchief
3. ID

Three of your favorite bands and musical artists:
1. Oasis
2. 10,000 Maniacs
3. Everything But The Girl

Three of your favorite songs:
1. Do You Get Me? (EBTG)
2. Nightswimming (REM)
3. Don't Talk (10,000 Maniacs)

Three things you want in a relationship:
1. Holes to fill
2. Gaps to bridge
3. World peace. Because peace begins with me. I, thank you.

Two truths and one lie (in no particular order):
1. I'm a member of the Mile High Club.
2. Nigella Lawson is The Bomb.
3. I always lie.

Three physical things about the preferred sex that appeal to you:
1. Ahm...
2. *looks up*
3. Personality. I believe it's personality that counts. And world peace. Thank you.

Three of your favorite hobbies:
1. Take pictures.
2. Climb mountains.
3. Read. And write some.

Three things you want to do really badly right now:
1. Not really want, but forced--a qualification report that's overdue.
2. Watch Amelie until I fall asleep.
3. Pull in Saturday and stretch Sunday for a month with endless sex in between.

Three careers you're considering/you've considered:
1. Writing
2. Architecture
3. Answering surveys and memes

Three places you want to go on vacation:
1. Iceland
2. Batanes
3. Glorietta

Three kids' names you like:
1. Kired
2. Pithaya
3. Lupita

Three things you want to do before you die:
1. Be rich. Filthy rich.
2. Spend for a fabulous funeral.
3. Then take my last breath.

Three ways that you are stereotypically a boy:
1. I have a penis and testes. Obvious ba?
2. I start loudest-fart contests.
3. It takes me so long to answer surveys and memes.

Three ways that you are stereotypically a girl:
1. I'm very concerned about body hair.
2. I change undies twice a day.
3. I ask for directions--to the toilet kapag natatae na ako.

Three celeb crushes:
1. Nigella Lawson
2. Monica Bellucci
3. It's a tie--Isha Abubakar and the object of my masturbation affection Kylie Minogue.

Three people that I would like to see take this quiz now:
1. Kahit
2. sino
3. pwede

I don't think I'm making any sense.

500 baby steps from this road and you'll see where The White Papers began. I'm missing my birthplace already.

Recto Street, from the Batang Baler blog. (I'm back!)

Si Gelay po ito:

London Terror Bombings Kill 37, Wound 700

British Prime Minister Tony Blair blamed Islamic extremists and said the bombings were designed to coincide with the opening in Scotland of a G-8 summit of the world's most powerful leaders. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the bombings — which came the day after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics — have the "hallmarks of an al-Qaida-related attack." [Yahoo! News]

Yung professor ko kanina ito yung halimbawa niya sa lesson namin about schemas. People already have a set of information in mind na kapag may mga bombahang nagaganap, automatic na Al-Quaeda ang gumawa. Of course, as far as we know we still cannot confirm if extremist groups such as Al-Quaeda really did this, pero sila man ang gumawa nito o hindi, chances are we will discredit the idea na they are innocent (if ever) about this accident.

But still, it's sad that people lose their lives just like that. We all strive to find meaning in our lives pero mamamatay na lang nang ganoon.

Si Gelay po ito:

A friend of mine announced that current UPD students can now access their grades through CRS. O di ba sosyal, parang WebCT.

Naging mabait sa akin ang CRS dati, lahat kasi ng pina-preenlist ko ay nakuha ko. Pero sa kasamaang palad may favoritism ang CRS. Hemingway, mahirap din ito kasi madalas ma-down ang server ng UP, tapos kung sabay-sabay pa nag-online ang mga iyan, patay sila sa bandwidth. Lugi nga lang din ang ibang UP campuses dahil iyong iba sa kanila hindi pa maka-preenlist sa CRS, eh sila nga itong mas konti ang bilang ng estudyante. Dapat fair para sa lahat ang access nito, di ba?

Ay, ano pa bang aasahan, eh kulang nga sa budget. Tiis na lang muna sa pila.

Isa pa pa lang hirit, bakit di pa nila inaasikaso ang layout ng website nila? :\

I'll be on blogging hiatus for one week starting today. Not that the boss found out about this blog, but to focus on the second ish of Warm Bodies, some celebrity engagements and guest appearances (yeah, right) and (surprise surprise!) on work which is now eating most of my blogging time.

Meanwhile I'll be leaving you with one of our best-loved personalities, Gelay who will be my guest blogger for the duration. No further introductions but it's a different kind of fun. Take it away, Gelay! Not all, I hope.