Talk Radio

Have you noticed lately that the differences between FM and AM radio are dwindling? The other day I had to sit through more than five minutes of advertisements. Some of them were cheesy songs about toothpaste and other products that escape my mind at the moment. Sometimes I have to endure about 23 minutes of DJ discussions + ads and about two or three songs during my 30-minute commute. What happened to the music? These stations are really tempting me to update my CD collection, grrr!

Seinfeld faux pas

I wrote in an earlier post that Dane Cook is an R-rated Seinfeld-esque comedian (Not that there's anything wrong with that). This week I just read a 1998 article on Jerry Seinfeld where he mentioned that he likes the sound of "Seinfeldian" more than "Seinfeldesque", ack! And I call myself a FAN, tsk-tsk! No soup for me :(

Sidekick salute

Entertainment Weekly released a cool tribute to 50 of the greatest sidekicks in entertainment (We're No. 2!). They are the wind beneath the wings, or the man/woman/animal behind the successful number ones. Here are some of my favorites from the list...aside from Chewbacca, of course.

1. George Castanza, sidekick of Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld)
2. Andrew Ridgeley, sidekick of George Michael (Wham)
3. Gromit, sidekick of Wallace (Wallace & Gromit)
4. Goose, sidekick of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Top Gun)
5. Garth Algar, sidekick of Wayne Campbell (Wayne's World)
6. John Oates, sidekick of Daryl Hall (Hall & Oates)
7. Barney Rubble, sidekick of Fred Flintstone (The Flintstones)
8. Paul Schaffer, sidekick of David Letterman (The Late Show with David Letterman)
9. Silent Bob, sidekick of Jay (Jay & Silent Bob)
10. Piglet, sidekick of Winnie-the-Pooh (The Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh)

Now, are you No. 1 or No. 2? :D

My friend, Google

I was so inspired by the finding my long lost friend last week that I decided to Google another friend whom I had lost touch with. Lo and behold I found her with just a nickname and a common family name. Called her up, sent her an e-mail and some photos so that we’re now up to date with each others lives. Fascinating. I think it’s a healthy practice I’ll maintain once a week :D

I’d like to thank Ricky Lo and April Boy Regino…

A funny thing that happened to me last week.

It was about 3:30pm and I was skimming through the local papers when I read an update by Ricky Lo, an entertainment writer, on April Boy Regino, an artist who migrated to the US last year. Now Philippine showbiz is my Waterloo, but I really didn’t have much else to do until 6:00pm (the end of my work day). To my surprise the article mentioned that April Boy was assisted by an immigration lawyer whose name rang a bell.

Flashback: In the summer of 1993, I took a flight from San Francisco (spent a week with cousins) to LA (spent the remainder of the summer with my Dad). On the plane I was assigned a seat beside a Filipina and her African-American husband. She asked if I was Filipina, too, and we hit it off from there. This is how dated it gets…her husband was a dolly grip (drives a cart that carries one of the camera men?) on the Arsenio Hall show so we exchanged phone numbers before leaving the plane and I eventually got to watch two live shows of Arsenio Hall that summer. I forget who all the guests were at the time but I remember 1) My new-found-friends forgot to tell us that you had to be 18 to get in so my younger sister proudly told security that she was 13 (and ended up going shopping with our Tita while I watched the show) and I lied (I was still 17 at the time) and 2) Arturo Sandoval (a South American trumpet player?) was a guest on one show and my friend gave me a cassette tape of Mr. Sandoval’s album after the show. My Dad eventually moved up north to Marin County, CA near Monterey, CA then to Pittsburg, CA in the Bay Area so I soon lost touch with the couple.

Last month I was actually wondering what had happened to them then (call it serendipity?) I came across that Ricky Lo article. He even plugged her mobile phone number in it. My best friend and I were thinking it was worth trying to get in touch with her since it’s not a very common name. I actually felt like a ditz afterwards because I decided to check with my friend, Google, and this girl’s name was all over the place (her own law firm website and a plethora of local newspapers that covered April Boy’s move from here to the US). It really was her, and, apparently, she’s like some lawyer to Pinoy celebrities who go to the US for business or pleasure. I ended my day by giving her a call (after midnight here) and I was so touched because when I said my name she was like, “Where are you?!?!” Imagine, after more than a decade, she still remembered me :D We talked for a while and I got her e-mail addy so I sent her an update later in the day.

Okay, this story would be so much better if it were some hot guy that I could have a future with, but who would’ve thought I’d have to thank Ricky Lo and April Boy Regino for helping me touch base with an old friend?

A critique of a critic

Stephen King had a lovely article in Entertainment Weekly last 17 January 2005 on how a female newspaper writer reviewed a book that he thought was ok. He gave me words to direct at the number of questionable articles I’ve read through the years by people who are actually paid by newspapers or magazines to share their thoughts with the public. He says, “Any critic can dislike anything he or she wants. Hell, it’s what makes America great. What I don’t like was the ignorance of American Popular Fiction displayed in her essay. What made me crazy was the condescending who-cares-anyway tone. The final message of too many self-anointed critical smarties, whether stated or implied, seems to be, we don’t really need to read this stuff to know it’s junk, do we?” ;)

The price of publicity

I chanced upon the transcript of Britney Spears’ Dateline NBC interview with Matt Lauer then went to different sites to see the comments of some viewers. Sadly, the overwhelming opinion was not good since she is pregnant and decided to wear a low top, a short denim skirt, dark mascara and fake eyelashes, had unkempt hair, chewed gum throughout the entire interview and gave some off tangent answers. Some opinions that stuck with me were genuine trailer trash country bimbo, act/dress/talk like trash = trash and pure white trash through and through, yikes! Personally, I hope that she finds some balance in her life for the sake of her children.

Snippets

My American Pop Culture fix of late has been www.danecook.com. It’s the website of an R-rated Seinfeld-esque comic who has reduced me to a giggling schoolgirl at my work station in the middle of the day. Check out videos of his routines and you will see what I mean.

The song lyrics in my head at the moment are from Yahweh by U2:
“Take this mouth
So quick to criticize
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss…”

The latest addition to my Stephen King intake is The Pop of King in Entertainment Weekly. Trust me, he can write a lot more than just horror and fantasy.

The coolest surprise I’ve received this year to date is news that my cousin-in-law in Hawaii, USA and my cousin in California, USA are pregnant. It’s time to renew my US visa and pay them a visit come 2007.

Two life altering books I’ve immersed myself in recently:
1. Bono: in conversation with Michka Assayas (best read while listening to U2)
2. Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
In a weird way, I feel my age since I’m reading and enjoying biographies.

I tried solving a crossword puzzle about Hollywood last month and I’m ashamed to say that I only got 23 correct answers out of 85 numbers, ack! Must improve / redeem myself!

A thought stimulating conversation over Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters:
Sister A: If you could end up with a Mythbuster, who would it be? Adam or Jaime?
Sister B: (Deep internal analysis) Jaime, if he shaved his moustache.

My favorite challenge for my sister is to choose between someone or Johnny Depp.
Guess who always wins?
More often than not without batting an eyelash?

My Summer 2006 in the blink of an eye

Wow, it seemed like I just took a quick breath and it’s already July 2006. Pardon the long pause, it’s called the Office Firewall. My challenge since we migrated network has been to find websites that appeal to my EQ and can get through the darn Access Denied display. Goodbye yahoo, msn, cnn, cbs, blogspot and so much more, grrr! Thank goodness for Entertainment Weekly (general information), the Leaky Cauldron (Everything Harry Potter), curlio.com (Rock Star and American Idol updates) and csifiles.com (My CSI Vegas/Miami/NY fix) to name a few. I also snicker at the fact that others such as stephenking.com, brucespringsteen.net, neilgaiman.com, megcabot.com and martycasey.org make it through by the skin of their teeth (limited access). Well, I’ve accepted my faith for this is all in the name of office network security.

April 2006 was a headless chicken month since we had a number of visitors from our international offices plus we had to prepare documents for the mid-year international travel of our local executives. I don’t think I got to touch a book that month. On the family front, we did join a Country Club so my sisters and I worked on our tan almost seven days a week that month.

May 2006 started out with a road trip for Lulu, family and me :) We celebrated our Mum’s birthday weekend in Tali, Batangas. It was a nice drive down south and we just spent each day under the sun and each night under the stars. Well, we slept in our bedrooms, haha. I can’t believe I survived two whole days without television. The sad part of the trip was that it was the first time we left Maximus, the destroyer / family dog, at home with the household help. He didn’t take it too well since he slept at 1:00am of Saturday morning, ate his Friday breakfast on Saturday afternoon and wouldn’t leave our side when we got back home on Sunday afternoon. I also got to be an Assistant Party Host for an afternoon that month. It was a very fulfilling experience and I gotta give props to these hosts for it’s an insane job.

June 2006 ushered in my last year on the calendar. I celebrated my special day indulging in bowling and buffet with family and friends. After four (4) games, my highest score was still below 100 so I know bowling’s not my sport. The actual birthday was spent doing errands for the home (brought Max to the vet) and the office (bought the month’s pantry supplies). It’s also the anniversary of my employment in my present office, yay! The rainy season also made its entrance so my swimming schedule has been slightly disrupted.

Anyway, its July now and I can’t believe we’re halfway through with this year. Nonetheless, I’m excited for what’s coming around the corner.