Post-Milenyo Notes, etc.
1. I feel like I’m in Kabul. No power, no telephone service for two days. My Mac (James Tiberius Kirk—now you know what the T stands for) is powered by a very long extension cord plugged into the generator on the ground floor. There’s light in my building, but the generator hum is driving me nuts.
2. Is anyone actually named “Milenyo”? Then again there are people named “Heherson” and “Jejomar” so anything’s possible.
3. The malls are packed with humans driven out of their houses by cabin fever. Many areas still have no water service and electricity, so most everyone looks like crap. Remember in Tim Burton’s Batman where the citizens of Gotham stop using hairspray and other beauty products because The Joker has laced them with deadly chemicals? That’s what people look like.
4. You’d think that after a big storm it would at least be cold, but it’s hot and clammy.
5. From the Lifetime Underachievement Awardee: “I’m hearing that it could take up to two weeks to get The Big Queasy back to just the normal fucked-up conditions.” Manila, The Big Queasy. Brilliant.
6. Meanwhile, in Baguio, they’ve just unveiled the longest longganisa in the known universe. They can serve it with the biggest “toss salad” in the galaxy.
7. The streets of Metro Manila are covered with fallen billboards, electric posts and trees. The taxi driver put everything into perspective. “Wala na si Kris Aquino!” he cried, cackling madly.
8. My friend Tina went to Cash and Carry the day after the storm and reports that the shelves are well-stocked with rice and other food supplies. However, they are completely out of chips, chichirya, and soft drinks. Faced with impending disaster, the citizens panic-buy the basic food groups: junk food and soda.
9. Goddamnit I’m going to miss the replay of Jon Stewart’s interview with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. And Veronica Mars, which is my Buffy the Vampire Slayer substitute.
10. I’m always quoting from Say Anything (Cameron Crowe’s first movie, starring John Cusack and Ione Skye) and I just realized that I don’t own the DVD. Got Say Anything? I’ll buy you a coffee at UCC Rockwell.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
October 1st, 2006 at 23:25
I got both Lloyd Dobler and Pervez Musharraf/Jon Stewart (fine quality not that YouTube crap) on DVD. I can lend you Lloyd and give you the Perv. Coffee makes me scamper for the crapper so I’ll pass on the UCC. I love burgers though.
October 1st, 2006 at 23:29
Anything on those talk shows really, really worth seeing for your pop culture fix, you can get on youtube.com. Of course,they’re all mostly a waste of time. I’m just saying.
Dis iz a shoutout to all u hu mizd da Tom Cruise on de couch highlite. Yo.
October 2nd, 2006 at 10:11
Say Anything is on sale at Amazon.com for $9.77. See this link http://www.amazon.com/Say-Anything-John-Cusack/dp/B00003CXCI/sr=8-2/qid=1159754693/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-4367598-1168051?ie=UTF8&s=dvd.
It’s a special editon DVD so must be good.
October 2nd, 2006 at 13:01
This wouldn’t be the first time a piece of meat caused traffic in downtown Baguio. A gloveless Miss Longganisa holds the oily meat for photos, afterwards unaware of the cameras feeding the TVs of Baguio households, She fixes her hair. Gee… your hair smells of pork.
October 2nd, 2006 at 13:02
can you request jack tv to replay the pervez musharraf interview, jessica? kilala mo naman yung taga solar diba?
nagkaroon lang ng ilaw sa amin kagabi (sunday).
October 2nd, 2006 at 14:30
The awesome benefit of having Youtube is that I can actually catch up on what’s going on in The Philippines without necessarily having to subscribe to any of those Pinoy channels on cable. They charge an arm and a leg for a connection!
Anyway, I hope everyone out there has been doing much better and that things are getting back to (ab-)normal after going through that storm.
October 2nd, 2006 at 15:37
Can this pep you up? Roger Federer is now a fellow blogger like you! You probably already found this, but here’s the link anyway:
http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/blog/current_federer.asp
I’m sure you’ve read Dmitry Tursonov’s blog too right? Apparently he rules the blog universe, tennis section. Also, the Feder-Bear blogs himself. The bear is better than me.
October 2nd, 2006 at 16:18
[…] So widespread public grumbling aided and abetted by class-conscious reporters, continues (the symbolism of things like the by-now-famous Rockwell photo made it irresistible). Jessica Zafra’s friend baptizes the metropolis as “The Big Queasy.” […]
October 2nd, 2006 at 18:06
Reaction to Factlets
1- Generators have to rest at least one hour each day. Or so my condo admin says
2 – In a country where I know someone named “Circumsicion” nothing should surprise you
3- Only half of Glorietta had power on Saturday. Unfortunately this was not the half where Powerbooks and Tower are.
5 – Normal Fucked-up has a nice ring to it you must admit
6- Only if the restaurant isn’t “close” for business
8 – All the chickens in the freezer section of Cash & Carry are now shaped variously. Don’t buy them.
9 – there is no such thing as a “Buffy” substitute. Not even Angel. Nor even Dark Angel. Nor Firefly for that matter. Joss should just rest on his laurels I might add.
10 – I don’t need coffee that badly. Not even UCC.
October 3rd, 2006 at 01:37
I was gonna offer up Say Anything, but someone already got to ya…:)
Nice site! You’re now on my daily reading!
October 3rd, 2006 at 13:46
Hey there,
It’s been a “milenyo” – hope all is well. If you’re ever in Sing, give me a ring so we can catch up. Meanwhile, requesting permission to put your link into my “other planes of consciousness” section. As they say in this part of the world, “Can or not?”
Noelle
(de Jesus)
October 5th, 2006 at 02:58
What’s the hell is the deal with these Baguionians (Baguionese? Baguionites?) and making/breaking insignificant world records?
The world/Philippines still does not know/care about you, Baguionenses.
October 6th, 2006 at 09:37
Without power, I finally scrabbled through four two-foot stacks of books moldering on the bamboo table. I picked five to read: Elizabeth David’s ‘Is There a Nutmeg in the House,’ Scott Bradfield’s strange ‘The History of Luminous Motion,’ Chip Kidd’s graphic-designed bon bon ‘The Cheese Monkeys,’ James Ellroy’s OTT ‘The Black Dahlia,’ and Jack Kerouac’s ‘On the Road.’ I also dug up Joan Didon’s ‘Salvador,’ which I’ll read next cos I just saw her new memoir on paperback two weeks ago. But with the ilaw on, I guess I’ll be trading pulp for ‘Bakekang’ na naman.