Feb-ulous!

I'm glad to report that Marissa Loh from MTV has confirmed that my loot is en route! The loot is en route! Yeah, she'll be passing the Motorola Bluetooth DJ headphones and my ultra special edition U2 18 singles cd. Alright, Marissa! Wooh!

U2 ::: Italian Cinema

By now, the World Economic Forum annual meet in Davos should replace Sir Elton's post-Oscar ball as the celebrity party to bum-rush. The President herself is en route and will be speaking at one of the meetings, according to the Bulletin.

Arroyo has attended this conference and spoken with Bono more than once. I'm pretty sure they'll cross paths again this time and I'd really appreciate it if she could take him back with her. Why not? They've got room in the plane and the wine is free-flowing, ain't it? Incidentally, about five years ago, Arroyo shared the stage with Bono and Bill Gates at the WEF in New York City. That alone makes up for coming up negative in the surveys any time, don't you think?

MCA Music will screen U2's Milan Vertigo Tour concert at the Greenbelt 3 Cinema 1 next Tuesday, January 30th. I only found out about this when I got in this morning and started browsing the papers. Apparently, PulsePH is also giving away passes.

Yeah, I know, it's nowhere near being at the actual show but I've read much about the European leg having a more grandiose feel than the first one. I am hoping. however, that the size of the place won't have Bono gasping "help me" in the middle of a song. Note that this will be the entire Milan concert, not just the live videos included in the 18 Singles limited edition bonus DVD. U2Tours.com has this complete setlist:

Main Set: Vertigo, I Will Follow, The Electric Co., Elevation, New Year's Day, Beautiful Day, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, All I Want Is You, City of Blinding Lights, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One

Encore(s): Zoo Station, The Fly, With or Without You, Original of the Species, All Because of You, Yahweh, Vertigo

The only way to get in is to win passes from a contest at the one radio station I don't have any drones in. But no worries, as of this writing, I scored two of these precious invites and will be picking them up in the next couple of days.

Weekend after next is RODCON 2007. You can get two-day and one-day passes at cheaper rates 'til the end of the month at Powerbooks. They will cost more come Feb 1.

Where are the prizes?

OK. Obviously, I've been busy the past couple of weeks and that's good because I've got stuff accomplished and in the bag. But where's my loot, MTV? A couple months back you tell me I won topic of the week and I get a cd. Well, guess what? No word from y'all on when that'll get here, if at all. Then last week I get an saying congratulations for being December's best blog. I went ahead with the info you requested and still nothing. What am I supposed to think?

Hey, Fiz. What did you do to get your goodies so fast?

Switchin to High Gear

It's my first post for '07, people! How merry was your Christmas? Mine was meritocatic! ("Look at the Philippines", he says again. Geez!) Granted, our large family has slimmed down a bit this year, down to the bare essentials, actually. What with my sister abroad and my brother at work. But that has never been an issue for us. We partaay whenever and however. Just as long as you got food and singing. Ain't that how it is with all Pinoy gatherings. Music is our wine!

So, anyway, at the moment, I'm planning for a change of atmosphere which I hope will materialize within Q1. I don't know how good I am at surveying before I jump into totally new terrain but I want this bad enough, I figured I'll get by.

I KNOW that last paragraph just didn't make any sense at all. Just bear with me this one time, I'll reveal things when it's within grasp.

That will be all for now. By the way, I got POP Inc back on TV. Weird.

COVERAGE ::: The Lonely Mountain (Conclusion)

We were now on a narrow road that lead to Legazpi City. It was dark all around as Reming had knocked down everything in it's path. I saw a sign that told me we were now in Camalig, one of the severely affected towns. The amount of damage swayed conversation through various degrees of disbelief. Large mounds of earth had been shoveled to the sides, abandoned houses with their roofs blown and windows torn, downed electricity posts and trees, and empty streets.

Now, the windows were down because our driver wanted some fresh air and it had gotten rather chilly with the A/C on. As we surveyed the ghost town that was Camalig, we passed an area that smelled so bad and so we had to roll the windows back up as quick as we could. Then I noticed some men with surgical masks and gloves on. I told the guys that it must be where they were still digging up those carried off by floodwaters. Several white wooden crosses were also found on the side of the road not far from them.

COVERAGE ::: The Lonely Mountain

When I got word that they were bringing along a writer for the "Malacañang to Bicol Mercy Mission", I knew I was the one going. Seriously. I'm 99% predisposed for assignments to far-off places so I wasted no time and signed on for it. The remainder of that Monday afternoon (and evening) was spent packing and unpacking.

The following morning, at the rendezvous, I found out our destination was Legazpi City, 577 kilometers south of Manila and, based on Kuya Cesar's last trip there, a 14-hour drive. Obviously, I've never been to Bicolandia and seeing Mayon Volcano with my own eyes would be akin to demystifying something abstract. I mean it's something you're told about year in and year out since starting school but you don't really grasp it. At least, that's how it was for me.

Anyway, we rolled out at around 11 am on Tuesday morning after a brief send off/photo op with the President and the news media. You all know they go: photographers are wolves and cameramen are bears, somewhere in the middle of the mess is your tiny head of state trying to give a speech. But hey, it's her circus.

By 11:30 am, we were plying SLEX, speeding ahead and darting in and out of lanes so Mr. Photographer can take photos of the caravan en route to Bicol. This can be a little bit nauseating because just as I got adjusted to the speed, the car would slow down to park on the side of the road.

We made a stop at Atimonan, Quezon to take one last group photo with the baby blue waters of the Philippine Sea as our background. It reminded me of the highway to Ilocos. Really nice. Unfortunately, we weren't even halfway to our destination so we continued on as the sun was hurrying to set.

RIGHT BRAIN ::: Break Out that Wham! Classic

The title just means I'm hearing "Last Christmas" more often than what is mentally healthy. I'm not kidding. People in this country love that song. Anytime it's a "lost love" kind of thing, it sticks in society's psyche...just like ol' Yorgos' sissy dance. Ah, weeell.

This office is like Amazon.com's fulfillment house right now. You walk in and it's wall-to-wall Christmas giveaways, things my fellow employees could only wish would trickle to them. There's a stack of DVD players, a TV set, iPods, a couple of desktop computers, Christmas baskets of imported stuff, and a refrigerator. Now, imagine yourself trying to come up with an article at your desk somewhere in the midst of all that. Pretty insane but that's the price of "keeping good relations" with the freeloaders. Ye know who y'are, y'extortionists.

I finally heard Window in the Skies and I think their Sgt. Pepper collab with Macca did rub off after all. I'm not too fond of this song. Maybe that's the reason why I haven't picked up the new product. Or maybe I'm just making it easy for anyone thinking of getting me something for Christmas.

Speaking of joint projects, I was pleasantly surprised to learn about they're nominations for next year's Grammys. I wasn't expecting that they'd be up for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for One with Mary J and Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for The Saints Are Coming with Greenday. Very nice! High five! I mean, usually, after an album gets released, U2 will make two Grammy appearances and disappear for a couple of years. Well, except for Bono who would come to a show to present and flaunt a new 'do. But he would rarely be a nominee, right? I don't think they'll attend anyway.

I hope that everyone going to see them tomorrow will have a great time. Man, you people suck.

Post-grind Movie Night

Yesterday morning at work, my co-writer offered me invites to a movie premiere (of which our company was one of the sponsors) that evening and I accepted. That's nothing to fuss about, I know, but I normally would've declined them since I'm not keen on going anywhere else but home after a long 10-hour work day...unless, of course, I were off the next morning. (I really gotta ease up on these long sentences!)

So a little after 7 pm, Bacolod Chicken (another co-worker) and I hopped on a cab for Greenbelt 3 to see the Russell Crowe-Ridley Scott movie "A Good Year".

Traffic was surprisingly moderate on that full-moonlit night (heh!) and we got to G3 after about half an hour. It was also a great plus that there weren't many people strolling or hanging around. Maybe it was still early? Anyhow, I've come to expect Russell Crowe movies to be either epic or cerebral dramas. This was neither and, boy, was I glad.
Most of the story takes place in Provence, you know, with rolling meadows, vineyards, rustic estate, and yellow-orangey hues all around. Think "Under the Tuscan Sun" from 2003 except Tuscany's in Italy. You get the idea.
Nobody can deny that Russell Crowe is a serious actor, the guy knows what he's doing. But we rarely see him making a fool himself in character. Here in this movie, he falls, he's messy, he says funny lines.

He's not the only actor to delight in this movie. They've got Albert Finney and Freddie Highmore. Yes, the Brits are well accounted for. And then there's the actor who plays Duflot, the French steward of the vineyard. You'll love him in a William H. Macy type of way. He looks like Vincent D'Onofrio though.

Okay, that's all I've to say for now. Hope everyone's enjoying all thing's Christmassy but never forget that its first six letters are what counts.