telly blathers

since my sked was loaded with hibernating and staring at the wall (it's not nice to be this down), i was only able to get a glimpse of the emmy's telecast five days after its live coverage. i knew the winners beforehand but jaime pressley's win eluded my previous scans. for someone who had a playboy pitch three years earlier (or was it four?), winning an emmy is an extraordinary achievement. the telecast exceeded my three hours recorded time. i would've wanted hugh laurie to clutch a trophy for house (which i watch) or at least james gandolfini for the sopranos (which my husband allocates some viewing time). but it was james spader who had stolen from the mob. there is still next year though. i know the coverage would still be unbelievably long but hopefuly it would be worth the wait.

next season's would also be er's last as reported from sources here and there. i love stanley tucci. he was utterly adorable as a fashion editor in that prada film with streep and hathaway. in er, he's the chief -- strict, masterly and cerebral. also in er, two doctors not only look dashing but have similar features. luka (goran visjnic) is leaving. but the john stamos character, a sizzling hot, flamboyant paramedic-turned-doctor stays. i was left bewildered however. during a breather in stamos career, the many years in between full house and er, what did he pursue in a decade's span? was he PA to the olsen twins? did he scale any valley other than marrying and divorcing a supermodel?

with the temperatures settling into single-digits celsius, i still thrive in seclusion (pathetic i know but videoke leaves me disjointed). sealed dvd's, letters to send, people to locate, texts to study, papers to process are still in my to-do list. i got to penetrate my unconventional bakya side in the pinoy soaps department, something to get cheesy about after being fleshed-out dealing with the hang-ups of work. there's no such thing as a jologs or a baduy pinoy or even a chav in brit term, it's the milieu of upbringing, the lorelai-rory synergy. i really dig those slum notes queries on social networking sites. a certain film can dissect an individual's refinement. our tv choices reflect not only our personalities but our inner selves. it's comforting when a show is easy to watch, and doesn't make you think. the sopranos makes us refine our human turbulence which no single episode of women from wisteria lane can even attempt to envisage. if we watch soaps, does it mean we're shallow? not really (because i'm defending myself). it just means we're bored and boredom is part and parcel of our lives. it can also be beautiful. that's not chav.

comments gone awry

work was exhausting friday. running errands all day debilitates my frail spirit. i'm not huge on leaving work late but i had no choice. but we've all got to toil hard in order to survive. except for some people who are already floating in money or currencies, working is part of life. in the fuchsia-painted walls, everybody is hard-up or pretends to be one in order to feign humility.

trawling into showbiz tabloid sites or even a broadsheet entertainment page is part of my day. reading from computer knowing it ruins me eyes is invigorating. E! news is stale as i don't really want to re-create a jessica simpson look. i have my fill of brangelina from the enquirer (i always forget her brother's name). so i read JAS articles. and her critics are mean. the scathing comments are enough to bruise even the thickest of egos. if showbiz followers and wannabes don't like someone or do not dote on her filmography and discography, why not just ignore her publicist's spread? don't buy the album. they're not being held at gun point to go see her films or listen to her chant no ordinary love. as i've read from simon cowell, the record industry is all about business. a singer may have the most beautiful voice in the world but if she's unknown, the album would not sell and the producers would not make money. one of the acid-tongued cowell's early record producing ventures was an album by the undertaker, i haven't even heard the WWE wrestler talk. but it made money. c'est la vie.

when gilmore girls was still on the air, during the early seasons, i would read vilifying anti-dean comments from teenagers, or i presume they were teenagers. dean wasn't boring to me but i was not a teenager ( i was from the BH 90210 generation and that series made the only character i like look the typical geek -- glasses, hideous style, braces). fans were not too keen on dean. it was all about jess this, jess that. people like rebels, i get it. i'd skipped the comments section but somehow there's this temptation, a push and shove to read.

web anonymity is such a charm that it is now the medium to hurl insults on issues and personalities. andrew keen, author of the cult of the amateur, in a metro newspapaper quote, believes " it's vital to establish social parameters online rather than leave the internet to take its own course." i know it's their opinions and it's next to impossible to expect proper decorum from every individual. it's the same with video comments, viewers have so much freedom propelling jives. enfeebling these comments is, i reckon, the way to go unless there's a software to ward off offensive observations or a very strict moderator to manage entries.

syntax diaries

a couple of days ago, i was turning the pages on the series of reflections i wrote almost five years to the day. marked by a scruffy banbury educator, the penmanship wasn't pleasing to the eyes as always. i couldn't spell teetering and i also typically crafted my unfamiliar brand of metaphors. it wasn't my fault that the marker didn't know the etymology of picaresque, or how the word was used in the context of my sentence. there was also a note of reprimand for the extra writing i was doing on the side (how i miss those idyllic extras). rewinding back, we also did one presentation in those two heyday weeks of english language lectures where i couldn't get words out and was shaken all throughout my talk.

during the one-on-one interview with that same banbury teacher days later, i used an awkward term to describe my "mumbling and shaking" and he said "i haven't heard of that word, " not even providing a few synonyms for the phrase and dismissing me just like that as if he couldn't be bothered. checking resources thereafter, it was clearly a fine adjective to describe my below par presentation. scruffy marker also didn't concur with the high marks i got from the head lecturer. his assessments completely shattered my confidence and i've never recovered from that tumble. eight more weekly lectures followed afterwards and a new teacher was added to the group. tall and willowy, named after one of shakespeare's most famous heroines, she described the harry potter films as " too hollywood," and that she could only have affinity with european cinema. miss capulet was so high up in her lofty perch and that the blockbusters couldn't penetrate her innate snobbery. i just thought she was being haughty.

reading page after page, my writings weren't all that awful, knowing i scrawled them in a hoof. how i've changed since those uncluttered weeks. those were the good old days. i miss some simple camaraderie. but as my mom always reminded me, read to escape the hurt. don't forget to write.

west end plays

The Country Wife
Theatre Royal Haymarket
27 September - 12 January
starring : patricia hodge toby stephens david haig
directed by jonathan kent

(toby stephens as rochester in jane eyre)





Present Laughter (noel coward)
National Theatre
25 September - 3 November
starring : alex jennings lisa dillon


Macbeth
Gielgud Theatre
21 September - 01 December
starring : patrick stewart


Swimming with Sharks
Vaudeville Theatre
5 October -- 19 January
starring : christian slater helen baxendale


Glengarry Glen Ross
Apollo Theatre
27 September - 12 January
starring : Jonathan Pryce


Shadowlands
Wyndham's Theatre
3 October -- 15 January
starring : charles dance

bearing turmoils

since filipino culture is suffused on judgments that people rather gossip than show genuine concern on the downtrodden, forging lasting friendships becomes complicated. collecting acquaintances may be an easier task but sifting through the real ones creates fervors and challenges for both mind and emotion. when a friend experiences indelible losses and heartaches, one tend to become sympathetic. though empathy is more heartfelt and finer in zeal and ardor.

we're just human when we render unequivocal judgments. it always goes back to breeding. school and work are distinct social backdrafts. at school, the characters are more or less the same age and economic backgrounds. at work, it's far more varied, there could be age, geographical and financial gaps. how do people of divergent upbringings thrive harmoniously in such emulous and antagonistic milieu? it's always a matter of tolerance and learning to develop thick skins. to paraphrase my friend cj, i shouldn't let anyone drag me down. what about the narrow-minded section of the universe? my pity thoughts tend to amplify. it's a matter of digging deep into the core and be more compassionate.

since i didn't catch the virus that inflicted lohan, hilton (paris and nicky), the nightingales, et al, i will just wallow not in misery or the federer-henin express, but the ongoing pursuits to secure tickets to the foo fighters and kanye west performances at the O2 arena (separate concerts, same venue), get into the groove of sifting through mobile contacts, lose the extra weight, channel emily dickinson (that would make me even more reclusive) and creativity. read the books gathering dusts. be kind.

"I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,
Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs
But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet
Wherewith the seasonal month endows"

-john keats -

pieces and morsels

these past tv seasons, i've witnessed fans dote on mcdreamy, buoy wentworth miller in prison break, help save the cheerleader and embrace heroes as a favorite, sharpen wits in keeping up with the twists and turns in lost (apologies for all the puns). whilst i stick by my old time choices like er (i know it's not as highly-rated as greys). there are tons of shows to watch on the telly. we can peruse E! all day and take sides between holly and kendra (i take kendra any day-- how did she ever stand next to george lucas?). i've missed my share of nba and baseball actions. technology though has been kind. being quietly curious, i can pause and record. then gaze at all recorded programs in my tv menu including sights of william and harry stooping and kissing all the royal cousins and elders at the guards chapel. how diana's boys have grown. those army shoulders. those genes.

i depend on the generosity of strangers on you tube for my ysabella fix. having abandoned the lopez network when eat bulaga was not renewed in '95 and had to transfer to GMA, i just go back for the usual dose of JAS soaps or guestings. pinoy tearjerkers aren't that mesmerizing. but i do check on JAS when time indulges it. i've heard and read all the scornful opinions of her (look who's talking?). although i've missed esperanza, bkk, krystala and sa piling mo -- almost half of her output, i was here and somewhere, unable to tune in. hopefully the dvd's would come on trickling not only for my vacuous stabs but to the engaging pop culture references of the gilmore girls and the hypnotic sarcasms of house.

when i was romping in contemplation the other day, it occured to me that i haven't been exposed to a karaoke party in two years. not that my retiring self mind too much. it's just too much solitary confinement that it's already bordering on weirdness. i don't fancy an invite. i can't sing. but despite keeping to myself during days off i haven't been an omnivorous reader. not enough fiction in my to-read list. not enough fiction either in my to-write list. i'm trying. but not desperately. there's a dearth of visuals as well. knocked up is so ingeniously jocular, loaded with caveats. but why am i not chortling in the cinema?

the ordeal of the past months will never be abated. i will always remember and never forget. people brush it off, submerged in their own quandaries. there's this pinch of yearning. at least you were not able to experience my throbbing twinges. or those haunting visions.

away to fulham

tottenham hotspur 3 fulham FC 3

craven cottage
1st september 2006

"four thousand disenchanted tottenham fans couldn't believe their team had thrown away a two- goal lead to a quite frankly an inadequate fulham side who would be lucky to finish in the top half of the season," quoting my husband, a tottenham fan, a day after the fact.

accents and drawls

azing at the very tiny screen and trying to relate to harry potter's accent, i can't help feeling a tinge of envy, this assemble of talents in the movie franchise enunciates beautifully. granted that robbie coltrane is scottish (and we've all heard of scottish accents, right?) but he could change drawls in a click, just like james mcAvoy, who was so impressive in shameless sporting a manchester tongue. the other members of the harry potter cast-- maggie smith, david thewlis, richard griffiths, emma thompson, alan rickman, julie walters, gary oldman, i can go on and on are stalwarts of british theatre. all capable of speaking posh and probably spoke posh in their normal existence.

     

daniel radcliffe, emma watson, rupert grint had lived comfortable lives, gone to public schools (term for private learning institutions in britain) and by a stroke of good luck made even richer being cast in the harry potter film series. these kids need not go to university, read literature at cambridge (oxbridge grads are set for life anyway and reading i think is a very english term for a bachelor's degree), get stuck at dead-end jobs. glancing through her profile, emma watson attended headington school, a very expensive learning hide-out for the rich and a stone's throw from my former abode in oxford.  while both daniel and rupert attended all-boys schools.

as i currently read and try to grasp stephen fry's first novel, i think of hugh laurie and my dilly-dally decision not to have acquired the dvd of the first season of house. the high brow comedies with both fry and laurie such as blackadder and a bit of fry and laurie comes to mind as well as those members of the cambridge footlights revue -- fry, laurie, emma thompson, ben elton and their success stories. before a peek of blackadder, i didn't even know that mr. bean graduated from oxford and through a profusion of coverage in british publications, these hollywood deities attended oxbridge; actors rachel weisz, rosamund pike, hugh grant, even kate beckinsale though she didn't finish her degree at new college oxford, directors' paul greengrass and stephen frears. adding those intellect to their specialized talents endowed them to parlay their creative side. hollywood though is a great leveller. la lohan didn't even go to high school but continues to make a dent with her projects and tabloid exploits. only two people from the cast of friends graduated from college -- lisa kudrow and david schwimmer, but it made the ensemble of six comfortably rich.

we may not be able to decipher the hierarchical differences in american accents except through geography i.e. southern, redneck ( i'm addicted to jerry springer), boston, texas. in britain, it's not only through the intricacies of the map, the endless deviations in the class system never cease to create an imprint in people's lives. although being northern is considered prosaic by southerners. just like the rest of the world, the level of connections and/or gaining access into the best schools provide great support for a noteworthy career.