drudgy yaups

spurs didn't make it against ferguson's brigade in the FA cup, losing one goal to three. if during the 2006 world cup christiano ronaldo was the most reviled football player in england, now the portuguese who got rooney sent off 18 months ago is closed to canonization if the church of england recognizes saints. they do not. but the manchester united midfielder is still being reaped with praises. i always believe that model behavior from every stage of a sports person's career should be part and parcel of the groundwork for plaudits, not just a superb form in these football times.

i've just discovered that glory hunters are unaware of the definition of the term. is it acceptable to be a fairweather fan? in my book, no. be loyal or be damned. if you were a miami heat base supporter two years ago, are you still a fan now?

sports frenzy

i once asked my husband if tom brady is popular because his name has been linked to statuesque beauties. hubby retorted, "no, he's talked about because he's a good quarterback." ok, i get that. but is natasha's former beau happy? as i wouldn't be able to catch the super bowl next week, i'm hoping for an upset. unlikely. but it happens.

federer lost to djokovic. for the first time in quite a long, long while, men's tennis is exciting again. spurs destroyed the gunners 5-1 at the semifinals of the carling cup. first win in eight years. would it be too much for a win against man u sunday? or the spurs players taking their top off after the match for their feverish celebration ruined the fantasy? undulating paunches for all the world to see? what were they thinking? being athletes, they're paid to display a six-packed midriffs. but my annoying prudish sensibilities gets in the way of lateral thinking and would strikingly be out of place at hef's mansion.

tedious fusions

"when not actually acting, actors should politely be ignored," concluded one london journalist in his column friday. referring to the eulogies alluded to heath ledger, the writer was tackling the culture of celebrity, of how the famous are revered for conducts other than their body of work and of why ordinary people "invest too much affection on a love object who does not know of your existence."

i admit to collecting my share of copies of the national enquirer. but i love watching films, hollywood or my local pinoy movies plus international features with subtitles. and embracing foreign celluloid takes commitment. i get heckled by the in-crowd by merely reading sonnet 141.

learning about an actor's off-camera activities is not esentially a matter of worship, it's just plain reading. no judgments. with heath ledger, i've seen only one of his films and i have reasons why i won't spend viewing hours for the patriot, casanova, brokeback or monster's ball. i will probably try my luck with candy but only because of him. in that ledger's film i've seen, i like the character more than the actor but he was vividly registered in the radar since that shakespeare storyline. the talent from perth didn't like the spotlight, but the shutterbugs were clearly unforgiving, from him sitting at courtside with heather graham in a lakers game early in the decade through that voyeuristic scene in LA with naomi watts, and the sweet new york moments with michelle williams and matilda.

so for those of us who drop by at cinemas and accumulate dvd's, heath was a familiar figure and we're saddened that he wouldn't be able to act in any more films. he certainly was aware how to parlay underlying textures into complicated roles. he could have followed the bland hearthrob route and corral the pretty boy parts, but he dared to take risks, be edgy and act. if daniel day-lewis was teary-eyed....

the radio was my helpful medium when i learned of the actor's passing. i was at work, with beholders not interested with anything other than .... i don't know. i'm forever clueless what some people like to talk about. explaining to them the yin and yang of tottenham and arsenal rivalry (the spurs just thrashed the gooners 5-1 that tuesday night) or getting the right reactions when talking about the pervading pop culture is a punishing task.

parting is such a sweet sorrow

i haven't seen brokeback mountain nor any other features he was in since that pairing with julia stiles, whether it was casanova, nor the patriot. but whenever i feel low or i need some profound background while ironing my whites, i just play 10 things i hate about you on dvd and unlike any other romcom, the poetry and the use of a few big words brightens up my aura. who wouldn't sit up and take notice of his rendition of can't take my eyes off of you? the success he's had since that tiny teenage film, a loose adaptatation of the taming of the shrew has been well-deserved. oozing with raw sexuality, deeply charismatic, highly talented, he was one of the creme de la creme of young hollywood. i've seen clips of brokeback and he was awesome, not to mention more accolades would have come his way for catapulting batman's great nemesis joker, in the dark night, to a whole new different level.

heath ledger was way too young.

cyber habitue

i reckon i would need a stint at rehab. i have an addiction. to halt this addiction, a dose of chlordiazepoxide isn't that necessary. but i would need to stop gazing as the damage to my eyesight has become palpable. i'm a cyber addict or my definition of a cyber addict. though i'm not in-depth with social networking as my facebook, multiply, myspace pages are barren, good only for raising comments on other people's blogs and photos, i couldn't stop googling the asinine to the saccharine during the available free time in my waking hours. or checking anyone who is anyone on wikipedia, including my friends. as if.

deciding to become merely an occasional lurker in one fan forum has been a good decision. it's hard work to read and backread anonymously as downloads are precisely way slower (the moderator wouldn't allow me to lurk without posting). but this unquenchable desire to take a dig at certain subjects has always been my kryptonite. to answer one ginger spice lookalike, i'm not a gossip. i hardly use my phone or e-mail anyone (paging friends to answer my e-mails), or squeal the latest schadenfreudes to my contacts. i read rags and reviews, coated scrutinies that lulls ordinary earthlings to sleep.

indoctrinated in the ways of the uncluttered, i have to spruce up the backlog of paperworks. and make a list. i know it's humdrum but got to explore and dichotomize that list and emerge from the shambles refreshed and rejuvenated, ready to blog stimulating ventures.

ysabella postlude

it was a crappy seven months and the good thing was, i wasn't able to subscribe to TFC. my account seems incompatible or unacceptable, whatever. i had to go through the backdoor to gain web access to ysabella's downloads. the ending would have been the consolation, with the teleplay's blatant loopholes. but televison being the writer's medium got entangled with freudian fantasies. to the powers that be, not all of us are besotted with six-packed abdominal muscles, or playgirl magazine's centerfolds. there are a few individuals who cerebrate. of course, soaps are not intruments for cerebrating. nevertheless it's an escape from the dreariness of reality. to sell ysabella as a juday-ryan material and kill ryan's character not once but twice to launch a career is simple injustice. if i knew, i wouldn't have wasted my time.

i don't care about twists. ysabella's plot was already prolonged. some storylines did not generate their necessary finishing touches. why i saw little of aiza's character, i don't know. ratings-wise, the world does not revolve around metro manila. plus early evening programming is crammed with four soaps of different genres and are pitted against the same crop of confounding dilemmas from the rival network. in the early part of the new millenium, two or three serials were enough to whet this appetite for dramatic fictions. these are the days when sitcoms are no longer considered sound investments and these so-called teleseryes are a means to drive a struggling democracy forward.

anyway, i only followed ysabella because of the obvious. my friends know. my husband is a witness to my daily quirks and finds it amusing.

definitely looking forward to ploning and the beauty of cuyo, palawan.

felicity recall

it wasn't long ago when keri russel was felicity, torn between two dashing guys-- the geeky noel and hot, hot ben.
i thought noel was the ideal. felicity though didn't agree with me. she opted for the hot ben. oh, well.










since the show's run, keri russel has blossomed into this beautiful actress. but despite mission impossible III, her career trajectory is still lagging behind jennifer garner and katie holmes.
oh, well.

nosh spiels

despite the lack of faith, i still get this earnest craving for culinary respectability. but the worldwide web and the infusion of internet television has fostered a profound collision with my other passions. i've been really crap in time management the last few years

nevertheless, if there's a will, you know what they say. for the clever girls who have shared with me their masterpieces -- the cassava cakes, the egg pies, the maja blancas -- my heartfelt applause. cheers. any thoughts of sending me the secret ingredients?

how i wish i've prepared all these food. but my loved ones did. with my prodding they got cajoled into food photography.
across continents are the food photos from my family.

first my brother :











the hubby:
i've been told to add more vegetables in my diet.
i know the drill. i'm trying. off to the food blogs.

blogging highs

the holidays are over. we've taken down the christmas decors. my husband and i welcomed the new year at work, gazing over the london skyline, watching with delight the frivolous fireworks. i'm still in the grind, still absorbing the weariness that continues until this week. then there's this void left by my parents. nothing could replace my trivial conversations with my mom. it's her birthday on january the ninth. i would evoke a day of silence, commemorating all her wonderful attributes.

just like my mom, i have this unfulfilled satiety for sentence structures. my idea of a good time have always been to nourish myself in the magical world of words. a bit dejected that i couldn't find time to meander in the stash i've stumbled upon in bookstores. i know a few days of respite and hibernation from the call bells would surely kick off my forlorn spirits. i hope as well that the writer's strike in america would come to an end soon. what's the next step for henry and betty? how many csi episodes have i missed? what's up with dr. house and his team?

although shiloh's mom still got nominated for the SAG awards, atonement and it's female lead star didn't get the nod. sure, i haven't been to the cinema the whole year and our stockpiles of unopened dvd's are accumulating. but in the words of the venerable sonia, thou shalt not comment on things you haven't seen.