The Bear Bitch’s Project

Its a Sunday afternoon and I’m just at home doing the dishes and vacuuming so I figure its okay to wear a kupas sweatshirt and jogging pants that don’t match with a dot of Clearasil on my nose. Next thing I know there’s a knock on the door and a friend of my brother’s, who we haven’t seen in years, walks in with his wife. There’s hugging all around and photos being snapped. Moral of the story - you’re never safe to wear anything you want and look like a swamp witch even in your own home! You’ll never know when someone will show up on your door and immortalize your zit with a digital camera.

From cmj.com
Tower Records Files For Bankruptcy
2006-08-23 12:09:24.457,
Story by:  Eric Davidson
    According
to the Associated Press, national record store chain Tower Records has
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. While threatening such an action for
years now (debt restructuring began back in 2003), this time it’s for
real. After a 2001 peak of one billion in revenue and more than 200
U.S. stores, Tower has since been downsizing and is around 80 million
dollars in debt. While placing blame on the usual subjects
(downloading, big box retailers, etc.), the company nonetheless claims
it merely needs some financial help, will reorganize, and are looking
to sell the chain. According to Tower CEO E. Allen Rodriguez, "Our
issues are financial, not operational … and we expect the prepackaged
reorganization to be concluded quickly." Though Los Angeles investment
banker Lloyd Greif, who has been hired to sell Tower, has said that
selling the company has proved more difficult than he expected.

In a blindingly obvious ironic twist, the bankruptcy filing actually occurred awhile back, the day after the Grammy Awards.

*******

Isn’t that SO sad? Being an audiophile, I love CDs and it totally depresses me that wonderful places like Tower Records and Virgin Megastore may close because people are too bloody ‘barat’ to pay for quality music that they settle for substandard free stuff at others’ expense. Yes, I admit that I do have Limewire, but I only use it to get rare or live versions of songs or on occassions when I want just 1 song and not the rest of the album. Otherwise, I actually go out and buy the CD, most especially when I really like the artist.
But don’t get me wrong. I don’t buy CDs for noble reasons like to feed starving artists (I’m certain they’re far from starving) or to "save the music": I buy CDs for selfish reasons. There’s just something different about having a physical audio library. Having 3,000 songs on your iPod simply can’t compare to having 200 CDs on your self. I enjoy arranging them (in alphabetical order then chronologically, of course), flipping through the inlays, studying the album art - all that. Sure, MP3s are great in that they allow you to take your entire music collection with you wherever you go (I can still remember the nightmare of lugging a walkman and 10 casettes on a 16 hour flight and still wishing I had brought the other 15 casettes that were sitting at home), but more often than not, the quality is pretty bad- especially if it came from a file sharing program. Ripping songs from original CDs will get you MP3s with better quality, but still not as crisp as listening to songs straight from the album. Okay, CDs have achilles heels too, they get scratched & start skipping, but if you take care of them really well, that may never happen. I also like having CDs as a backup in case something (god forbid) happens to my iTunes and I lose all my MP3s. Having the CD means I can just rerip them and all will be well. Nothing lost but the time spent reripping. I dare not think of what I would do if I lost all my music and didn’t have a way to get them all back.
I just hope that just like there are 30 year olds who insist on clinging on to vinyl, there are others like myself who’ll keep CDs alive - on life support, perhaps, but alive nonetheless.

This is my (extremely delayed) answer to Lia’s Banyo  and Tatin’s Banyo Revelations.
I must warn you, though, that my entry will be significantly longer since I’m such a product junkie. <hee hee>

* Feel free to click on the underlined hyperlinks to view the product that I’m talking about

In My Shower
Shampoo: Garnier Fructis - It smells dee-lish and keeps my hair squeaky clean.
Conditioner: The one that comes with my Feria hair dye. It’s the best conditioner!
Soap: Safeguard White - Sent to me from Manila. It’s a psychological thing- I somehow feel that its the only soap that actually cleans me.
Phased Out Favorites: Breathe Serenity bubblebath, shower cream, and in-shower moisturizer.

By My Sink
Toothpaste: Crest Whitening Expressions Cinnamon Rush
Mouthwash: Astring-O-Sol Fresh Mint - Yes, also sent to me from Manila.
Dental Floss: Reach Clean Paste - My mouth feels so clean after I use this.
Facial Wash: Celeteque or Neutrogena Deep Clean - I have to alternate the two cause Celeteque can’t be bought here so I have to stretch my hoard until someone sends some over to me or until I go home. I use Deep Clean when I feel oily & grimy and Celeteque when I feel dry.
Make-up Remover: Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil - It’s always nice to have products that work and come in pretty packaging too.
Toner: Shu Uemura Depsea Nanowater - I like how it doesn’t have a "toner smell".
Sunblock: Armada - Another product that I can’t buy in this blasted country.

In My Kikay Kit:
Concealer: Shu Uemura Spot Concealer - It matches my skin tone perfectly!
Mascara: Maybelline Sky High Curves
Eyeliner: Physician’s Formula Felt Tip Eye Marker - This is the best liquid eyeliner! Its the only thing that can withstand my oily eyelids.
Lipgloss: DuWop Lip Venom - Unlike most glosses, this one is spicy rather than minty. Yum! or C.O. Bigelow Ultra Mentha Lip Shine - It’s a lip gloss and breath mint in one! It’s made of all natural ingredients so you can lick your lips and the natural peppermint extract freshens your breath like candy. How wonderful is that? or Carmex - A Classic!
Lipstick: Avon Raisin - On others it looks brown, but on me its a nice burgundy.
Mattifyers: Boscia Oil Blotting Sheets , Zui Purism Oil Clear Base and Ponds Beauty Powder - I love how you can find this product anywhere back home. i’ve bought it at gas stations, sari-sari stores, and mini-marts!
Phased Out Favorites: Foundation - Maybelline Pure Stay Liquid Foundation, Eyeshadow/liner - VMV cake-liner

Scents
Johnson’s Baby Cologne Regular - I go through this stuff like water! When I still lived in Manila I’d consume at least 1 bottle a month. I’m a bit more prudent with my stash now since its not as easy to get in this country.
Comptoir Sud Pacifique with Yodel-Ay He Lotion - yum, yum, yum!
Phased Out Favorites: B&BW Freesia, Breathe Serenity

I’ve actually got tons of other products lying around, but the ones listed above are my regulars

What kind of country is this where one can’t find book wrapping plastic anywhere and padding glue is sold in bulk? For heaven’s sake!
Gawd, I miss National Bookstore…

In reply to Tatin’s Threesomes

3 People Who Make Me Laugh: My sister Chickee, my brother-in-law Patrick, the cast of Whose Line is it Anyway?

3 Things I Love: Good books, good music, clearance sales

3 Things I Hate: Cilantro, things that are grammatically incorrect, cruelty

3 Things On My Desk (at work): Swiffer dusters, a heart-shaped crystal, a mug with 2-day-old coffee in it

3 Things I’m Doing Right Now: Updating my blog (duh), listening to my brother watch Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, ripping the audio book of Twilight onto iTunes

3 Things I Want to Do Before I Die: Visit Ireland, do another CISV village, be fluent in Sign Language

3 Things I Can Do: Write cursive in mirror-image (like Da Vinci), name all 9 of Santa’s reindeers, talk non-stop for hours and hours and hours…

3 Ways to Describe My Personality: hyper, compulsive, obsessive

3 Things People Probably Don’t Know About Me: When I was 6 I was poisoned by Dunkin Doughnut Munchkins so I sued them and won, I had memorized the human reproductive system at the age of 7, I’m VERY possesive of my nickname

3 Things I Think You Should Listen To: July For Kings, 103.5 K-Lite, your mother

3 Things You Shouldn’t Listen To: Jessica Zafra (yes, she’s classified under "thing"), people who talk with fake accents, the singing of sirens

3 Of my Favorite Foods: Caviar, Sushi, Yuk Hoe Dolsot Bibimbap

3 Things I’d Like to Learn: to whistle, (more) Sign Language, to do a french braid on myself

3 Beverages I Drink Regularly: Water, Milk, Diet Lipton Green Tea with Citrus

3 Shows I Watched When I Was a Child: Reading Rainbow, Where In the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Jeopardy

3 People I Tag to Do This: Barbs, Sazee, anyone else who wants to do it