the bar is low

let's break some rules here.

the blogosphere is rife with the news that once again, Philippine entertainment is scraping, nay, licking the bottom of the barrel, exerting their creative juices by making a version of Gossip Girl.

bringing myself to watch the teaser trailer, it is as cringe-worthy as you might imagine. i don't care if they are merely playing characters - i want to kill these stupid motherfuckers: the actors, actresses, scriptwriters, directors down to the PAs, drivers, makeup artists, and gofers associated with this project.

oh, that's right, the raison d'etre for this series is because, yes, today's Philippine youth also exhibit the same tawdry and stupid behavior their American counterparts have (specifically, the upper crust). yup, i've read some horror stories involving kids of showbiz/political folks, who are more likely to be of the moneyed clans (hence, they get a license to do whatever they want - exhibit A: the asshole known as Borgy Manotoc).




see, normally i wouldn't pay attention to these things - i haven't even seen an episode of Gossip Girl. i still might. posters for the upcoming second season puts the following quote from the Boston Herald: "Every Parent's Nightmare". it might convince me not to be a parent anymore.

but fine, Americans are known for TV series extolling the shallowness and immaturity of youth - Dawson's Creek, The O.C. The Hills, to name a few of more recent ones - and the audience themselves lap it up, making money all around and further fueling such behavior, because its fucking cool and its awes0me, duuuuuuuude! Gossip Girl takes it a step further, tackling teenage issues wrapped with Sex and the City sensibilities.

and we brown Yank wannabes have nothing better to do, recycling American

and don't play the nationalist card on me. what's nationalistic about copying Hollywood?

since they can't read this anyway ...

TIBET! TIBET! TIBET! TIBET! TIBET!

why are the Americans kowtowing to the Chinese? politics and money.

we have a Chinese Mainlander technician onsite now, and he's been adamant about things Japanese, World War II, and their current business practices. i've restrained myself so far about discussing Tibet with him. someone might go postal.

canine poop

aside from inanities involving dogs, here's what was on CNN.com a couple of hours ago:



on one hand, be glad it wasn't their headline. on the other hand ... is this even news? what's next, "Oprah's cat* has asthma"? i hope you choke on that grease money, CNN.


* ask Gayle King; she knows about that

the fine print

everyone has all but called it a recession, but face the facts, and please say it: we're in a recession. thanks, George W. Bush. what a way to bow out of office. i hope you get your dickipedia entry soon (right now might be too obvious).

given the subprime mess, mortgage meltdown, and escalating debt, banks really don't care - they keep offering credit cards to anyone who's desperate, crazy or dumb enough to bite.


yes, am calling you out, Citizens Bank.

see the hooks? less than 8%! not an introductory rate!

but there's always a SMALL asterisk. always look for that.



for any reason?

for any reason??

let's say the CEO of Citizens Bank was doing his duty on his throne, so to speak. in the middle of one long, hard-to-squeeze doodie, he suddenly decides to raise the interest rates to 10%. does that count? or when he fights with his wife, because he has lipstick marks on his bald CEO head? what happens when he gets into an auto accident? what quantifies "any reason"?

(wait, the CEO is a she, apparently)

and apparently, a sector of society thinks that Citizens Bank sucks anyway.



hey, its still 7.99%. right ...?

(like there's a huge difference between 7.99 and 8.00)

Flight 11

with the recent news that ATA Airlines has suddenly filed for Chapter 11, i found myself flooded with a few memories and a lot of smirking.

now, ok, am not exactly smirking for those employees who'll be losing their jobs - well, maybe some of them. those in particular responsible for me (and my boss) being stranded in Chicago back in 2002.

to make a short story long (or was that the other way around?), my boss and i were traveling to Minneapolis (home of Prince and the Mall of America) for a demo and for some reason (which is to save on airfares), we found ourselves on an ATA flight there via Chicago. Chicago is just less than three hours away from NY. turns out that was all the flight time we would get with ATA. while we were seated waiting for the connecting passengers to disembark/embark, they just announced they were cancelling the rest of the flight.

it was 4 PM and we needed to be at our destination 8 AM sharp the next day. they were not offering any acceptable substitute flights either, for us to make our appointment. needless to say, we had to get off the plane, out of Chicago Midway, and take an impromptu tour of the Windy City (and it was still winter). we finally found the Greyhound bus terminal (and i assure you, its not a place you want to spend your time in) and took the first available bus to Minneapolis.

i guess if not for this incident, i would not have been able to see Chicago or experience the feeling of traveling through Wisconsin (beer, cheese, McDonalds!) in the middle of the night, or trudge through the ice/snow in downtown Minneapolis, headed towards the opposite direction from our hotel.

and i never got to use the sorry-ass coupon ATA sent as an apology.

anyway, airlines have been an increasing annoyance ever since 9/11, what with the security checks, the elimination of free food, the rising ticket prices and incessant delays (unintentional or not - are you listening, JetBlue?). i already learned by rote and whenever i fly, i already get to the airport with my laptop in one hand, and all of my clothes on the other (including the one i'm wearing).

and with the recent news that the myth of air marshalls is just that ... a myth? who's going to protect us from the crazies now? do we all go United 93 on them?

so, am not sorry ATA has bitten the dust.

also in dire straits is upstart Southwest Airlines, whose cost-cutting may have landed them in deep trouble. i haven't flown Southwest yet, and maybe i never will.

too bad, because they make funny commercials (i guess that's where the budget for safety inspections went). to their credit, not one flight has crashed ... yet.

here are some i haven't seen: