Stat booster
Last Friday there was a 32 percent increase in the number of subscriptions to this blog. By Saturday the numbers had returned to their normal level. I haven’t analyzed the stats in detail, but I think the surge may be attributed to one or all of these factors:
(a) Carlo’s dates in the last two weeks all logged on to see if they were in his dream.
(b) It was a really slow day.
(c) Lots of people searched for “lithium”.
(d) Lots of people searched for “vitamin C”.
(e) Lots of people searched for “Jaime Augusto and Fernando Zobel”.
Let’s test the hypotheses beginning with (e). Last year I asked Jaime Augusto Zobel to write the foreword to a book. We met at the Starbucks in Ayala Tower One (the mothership). Jaime ordered a latte at the counter. The barista in the Starbucks in the mothership looked at the overlord and said, “Can I have your name, sir?”
I began shrieking with laughter, only silently. Think of all the possible answers to that question.
(a) “Steve Martin.”
(b) “Elvis”. Which is actually the name I use when ordering at Starbucks.
(c) “I am George Clooney’s father.”
(d) “Get out of the mothership! Out!”
(e) “Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II.” Try writing that on a small latte cup.
But Jaime only said, “Jaime”, so this story has no punchline.
Now let’s see those stats.
1904. Checked the stats, no spike. Nope, it’s not (e).
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
January 23rd, 2008 at 06:01
That is an expected reply from a true gentleman just like Jaime Augusto. Dignified, sophisticated, very old rich. It could have been a different scenario had the would be coffee drinkers been the likes of Jinggoy, Gretchen, or Ruffa & Annabelle. Contemplate on the possibility of raining fire, brimstone, scorpions, & coffee.
January 23rd, 2008 at 08:37
Write about Heath Ledger and the stats will double.
January 23rd, 2008 at 09:24
If Forbes ran an article ranking the world’s hottest billionaires, the Zobel de Ayala brothers would certainly top the list. For some reason filthy rich people are, um, not that attractive. Must be all that stress from corporate takeovers and hard work.
My boyfriend always complain that they can’t get his name right at Starbucks. Being English, he invariably gets Pita on his cups.
January 23rd, 2008 at 09:27
i used to work for one of his companies and whenever i was in tower one and saw him, i would be blushing like a school girl. he is sooooo sexy and he looks like my husband, george clooney. :)
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:22
I wish he went for letter C. Has a weird Darth Vader kind of ring to it.
January 23rd, 2008 at 13:45
i was asked by a friend who among the celebs would deserve my first picture with. after four seconds i told him it should be JAZA. he may not be an actor but obviously he’s more than that. he has these qualities of a great man: courageous, gentleman, wealthy but never greedy, down-to-earth, and a posthumous bronze statue that’s attractive to look at. anyway, counting the number of responses you got on this entry, the increase on the blog hits must be because of JAZA.
January 23rd, 2008 at 14:24
i was a barista of starbucks eons of years ago and if i saw u and JAZA ordering coffee at my till, i would’ve screamed and think that the world has come to an end (can’t you tell, i’m a huge fan of you both)…seriously, i would have stuffed coffee beans to that barista if i was with her…i mean come on, it’s Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and Jessica Zafra! or probably i would have doused myself with an americano or something…
January 23rd, 2008 at 15:00
What I’m more curious about is who volunteers to pay the bill when you’re buying coffee in a store located in a building actually owned by your companion. It’s as hella awkward to assume it’s KKB as much as it is if you offer to pay for both or assume it should be automatically his treat, all because he owns the fucking building.
January 23rd, 2008 at 16:17
how old was the barista? or is that how the training of baristas in Starbucks goes when in the presence of a zillionaire and guest cum World dominatrix…
January 24th, 2008 at 05:24
So did JAZA write you a foreword? For what book?
By the way, I enjoyed Twisted Travels.
It was perfect reading for my long-haul flight from Tokyo Narita to Chicago O’Hare.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:36
Get this people: one fine day with JAZA and JEZA at Starbucks with that barista. Hmmm. By merely being there at the same place at the same time would certainly make my day. Damn.
March 14th, 2008 at 11:25
I was drinking or sipping coffee as a baby. I grew up with my parents and grandparents substittuting coffee for infant formulas in Los Banos, Laguna.
Also, I would like to say: I appreciate your kind of writting and the ideas you expound.
Curiously, I would like to borrow a book from you, thinking what topic may assing me to read.
Hope this merits you time. thank you.