The Bear Bitch’s Project

Any Filipino ashamed to be Filipino is crud and does not deserve the honor of being a Filipino at all.

Yes, that’s a bit redundant but I’m too peeved to think straight, let alone compose a grammatically correct sentence.

Damn right, I’m proud to be a Filipino - that doesn’t mean that there aren’t times when I’m ashamed of other Filipinos, I mean, I can’t help but cringe when I see Pinoys take all the little pencils from Ikea "para sa mga apo ko!" or try to smuggle bagoong onto the plane, but that’s natural. Everyone, at one point or another is embarrassed in public by a tactless mother or loony uncle; that doesn’t mean you should go off and disown them or change your last name (unless you’re Maui (Fainsan) Taylor, of course, but that’s a whole other issue…). I swear, those pathetic, ignorant, heritage-hating scum from the bottom of the Pasig river make me sick.

Whew. Blogging really is cathartic. I feel a lot better. I think I can finally go to sleep now.

Good night!

Browsing through Friendster/MySpace/FaceBook is depressing. Seeing your old grade school and high school friends skinny and pretty while I still have 15 lbs to lose in a month sucks.
I’ve been trying to lose weight for what seems like forever. I lost 2 lbs and got stuck. No matter how much I increase my time on the Elliptical/stationary bike/ treadmill, I just cant seem to get below this goddamn weight. I’m so bloody frustrated I want to scream. I haven’t lost a single pound in 4 effing months!!

Happy Halloween!

I’m totally basking in the glory of my "Best Costume" award. I actually only got 2nd place, but I’m still pretty happy with that.

Accepting my prize (Jamba Juice gift card)

With the 1st and 3rd place winners

Doing a dry run in my bedroom

I have been staring at the photos of the Glorietta blast for 4 days and I still can’t believe what I’m seeing. The damage is just unbelieveable; I’m dumbfounded. Glorietta is practically my second home in Makati: I spend more time there than I do at my Dad’s place or any of my siblings’ houses. Yes, I am quite the mallrat. My Dad practically raised me in Viramall, Makati Cinema Square, and Rustan’s.

The latest reports are that the blast was most likely caused by either a diesel gas leak from a generator or a build-up of methane gas from the waste water treatment facility. For most of us, this is definitely a relief; if it had really been caused by a bomb planted by some terrorist group as originally reported, the repercussions would be far greater. Our reputation as a terrorist-y country would be strengthened, we would be mentioned in the same breath as Afghanistan and Palestine, and, of course, our poor economy would take the blow. The United States announced a travel advisory before the dust had even settled. But I’m sure this doesn’t make it any less painful for the family and friends of the victims. Is it really a consolation to them that their loved ones died because of the negligence or indifference of the Health and Safety officials? They say that no one is to blame in accidents and if this really was a true accident, then fine; but if this catastrophe was a result of carelessness or laziness, that’s a different story. In a mall that large, generators are essential so it must’ve been someone’s job to make sure they’re well maintained and ready to start up if/when a "brown out" hits and they should have noticed a gas leak if there was one. Similarly, someone must’ve been in charge of the waste water treatment facility. Where were they? Shouldn’t they have been concerned over the methane build-up and brought it to someone’s attention? These are questions that I’m sure will never be answered but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be asked all the same.

I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and as tragic as this incident is, I do hope that this serves as a wake-up call to the mall security. This (may or) may not have been a terrorist act but that doesn’t mean that mall security should relax. I’ve always been amused by the guards who "check" your purse by sticking the tip of a 7 inch ballpoint pen into it without taking their eyes off the cellphone which they’re texting on with the other hand. I can’t even count the number of times my Dad (Senior Mallrat) and I have driven into the mall parking lot, stopped at the security check-point, watched with amused smiles on our faces as the guard pops the trunk open, looks at the 2 shotguns, basketfull of shotgun ammo, and bow & arrow set, blinks, slams the trunk shut, and waves us through to the ticket booth without a second glance while my dad shakes his head and mutters under his breath "stupid seku-". I was always amused by the whole thing because I know that if the guard had indeed stopped us and prevented us from parking (which would result in us missing the current war movie that my dad would so be looking forward to) then Dad would raise bloody hell, but now that I see the result of what could have been a bomb going off in the mall, I know that a little inconvenience is a small price to pay for safety and I know that Dad (now) feels the same way. Obviously, the mall is Dad’s second home as much as it is mine so I’m sure this blast shook him up as much as it did me.

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After what seemed like forever (but in reality was less than a week), my internet connection at home is up and running again thanks to the Comcast technicians who came over yesterday to sort everything out.

What was actually just a simple matter of an inverted splitter became a convoluted problem of deactivated modems, degraded cables, and drained internet-testing machine-thinggie batteries. Yeesh.

Its no secret that I’m quite the couch potato - there’s an actual, physical indentation on the couch where I park my butt - and when I haven’t got my nose buried in a book, my eyes are glued to the good ol’ telly.
The last fortnight was absolute heaven because not only was it the one time that the 2 seasons overlapped, but they were great episodes to boot. The Summer series were wrapping up so Eureka  and Doctor Who  had 3 episode story-arch season finales while the Regular series were just starting so they had great edge-of-your-seat season premiers.

Heroes 

Its great to have Heroes back again. It was definitely the breakout show of last season and I was hooked from the very beginning. On the one hand, just like last year, the season is off to a slow start. Its a bit like a diesel engine in that it take a while to really get warmed up. Don’t get me wrong, the first 2 shows were exciting, but having seen the previous season, I know what the show is capable of so I know that they’re still trying to get the momentum going. I guess that’s the thing with having so many "main" characters. It takes a while to catch everyone up and fill everyone in on where the characters are now and what have they been up to since we last saw them. And it doesn’t help that they’re also introducing so many new characters. On the other hand, the one thing that made the last 2 episodes so great is that ‘the Annoying Family’ wasn’t there at all. I can’t stand that psycho blonde (Nikki/Jessica), her obnoxious offspring (Micah), and her even more obnoxious husband (DL) who seems to have a permanent pained expression on his face. I vote to get rid of the lot of them and bring back Claude (the invisible man who taught Peter how to control his powers). Now he’s a really interesting character - but I’m biased, of course.

Chuck

Chuck is a new show about a computer geek with an amazing memory who suddenly finds out all the secrets of the US government and has it stored in his brain (or something of that sort). The only reason why we watched the series premier was because it airs right before Heroes but after having seen 2 episodes, we’re glad we did. The show is both funny and exciting and constantly keeps you guessing who is the good guy and who’s the bad. The show has a lot of potential so I have high hopes for it.

On a side note - the blonde chick is starting to get on my nerves - I think its her absurd Bugs Bunny teeth. How can you take anyone seriously when they’ve got 2 front teeth like Chicklets?

Eureka

Season 1 of Eureka was good, but boy, oh boy, did it get so much better in Season 2. I did some research and apparently, Sci-Fi channel didn’t air the season 1 episodes in the order in which the writers intended which caused a lot of last-minute editing and inconsistencies. In spite of all that, I still fell in love with the show - imagine how great it would have been if it had been aired the way it was meant? They really stepped it up for season 2 and Eureka became my favorite (currently showing) TV show. I do think that they could develop the characters a tad bit more but, being a summer series (i.e. roughly 14 episodes per season vs. regular series’ 24 episodes per season), its understandable that there are so many things to focus on and so little air time. The season finale was definitely one of the best of the season. It answered a lot of the questions that were slowly building up over the last 13 shows but it also opened up new ones to torment you until season 3 which is an excruciating 9 months away. I loved that nearly all the main and recurring characters made appearances so you’re not wondering what happened to them and I really, really love the fact that the one and only recurring character that was neither in the episode nor mentioned at all was Callie, the irritating flirt, who’s trying to snag Carter. Out of all the characters to ever be on this show (and there are quite a lot), she’s the only one who annoys me - and she annoys me BIG TIME. I think that’s the main reason why I loved the finale so much . . . well, that and the fact that Barclay Hope was there again (blush). Oh, and in case you’re wondering, no, Callie isn’t blonde!

House

I’m quite a new House fan. When Star World first started showing the commercials I was really excited, firstly because it was a new medical drama and I had already lost interest in ER, and secondly, well, because Robert Sean Leonard was in it and he’s in 2 of my all-time favorite movies (Dead Poets Society and Much Ado About Nothing) so obviously I had such high hopes. Oddly enough, the first episode bored me to sleep - literally. 2 years later I gave the show a second chance (for lack of anything better to watch) and found that I enjoy it a lot. Sure it helped that cutie Jesse Spencer is in it too, but the stories themselves are really compelling. In just 3 episodes I found myself really into the show and had to keep bugging Tatin to give me the basics and who’s who. After last season’s finale, I was so relieved to see the names of Omar Epps, Jennifer Morrison, and Jesse Spencer in the opening credits of this season’s premier. I actually let out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding. As much as I love Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard, the show definitely wouldn’t be the same without those 3 stooges.

Ghost Hunters

  Most of you who know me well will be surprised to find out that this is one of my favorite shows, seeing as I’m an absolute scaredy cat. Well, the reason I like this show so much is because what they do is they try to disprove the haunting. They study each case and look for every possible explanation for the "ghostly" activity. And even when they aren’t able to "debunk" a haunting and actually go ahead and say that a place really has paranormal activity, the things that they do catch are very rarely scary. Heck, I was more freaked out over ‘The Empty Child’ on Doctor Who than I ever was over any Ghost Hunters episode.

The most recent episode of Ghost Hunters was extra cool cause they investigated Lullaby Lane, which is a baby store near here that my sister used to always go to when my nephews were small. Its pretty neat to watch them investigate a place that I actually know!

Doctor Who

Its funny. When I first came here, my brother, who has been a Doctor Who fan since the 60s, kept trying to get me into the show but for some reason, It just couldn’t seem to hold my attention. I must’ve fallen asleep during the first 3 shows I watched and, though it wasn’t necessarily unpleasant (like that show, Jericho starring Skeet Ulrich. Its definitely a bad sign when you find yourself hoping all the main characters die in the first episode), it wasn’t captivating either. Thing is, I don’t really remember when it happened or what episode "turned" me but now I’m a total Doctor Who fan. I literally went from falling asleep 10 minutes into it to ordering an action figure of  The Doctor from Amazon.co.uk. Yeah, I’m that far gone.

My one qualm with this show is the cast. I’ve never been one to embrace change at the get go so it annoys me that every single season of Doctor Who has a different cast. I was just heartbroken when The Doctor changed at the end of the first season. Sure, your first doctor will always be special to you simply because he’s your first but it really took me a while to warm up to the 10th Doctor. Just as I was starting to be comfortable with this new guy and Rose, they get rid of Rose and replace her with Martha. Now, I kinda liked Martha from the beginning because she’s smarter, more mature, and less whinny than Rose but she lacked the chemistry that The Doctors (both the 9th and the 10th) had with Rose. So even though the 10th Doctor lived to see another season, the finale still bummed me out because of the loss of Martha. I hear that Donna will be the new girl in the upcoming season so she better be good; she’s got 2 pairs of enormous shoes to fill. I had mixed feelings about the season finale. There were some really hokey parts (like when The Master turns The Doctor into some Gollum/Dobby look-alike and when the people turn him back by all saying his name simultaneously) but it answered a lot of questions, it was exciting, it had Captain Jack in it (always a welcome addition), and it proved that David Tennant is a really, really good actor. Oh, for those of you who don’t know who David Tennant is, he’s the guy who played Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Speaking of "Doctors" in movies, Christopher Eccleston, (aka Claude, the invisible man in Heroes) who played the 9th Doctor, has a new movie out now called The Seeker: The Dark is Rising based on the book by Susan Cooper.  I’m pretty excited to go see that. I’ve already done a TV show review so maybe I’ll do a movie review next. I’ve seen a few movies lately so there’ll be a lot to write about. I’ll also be doing a (long overdue) book review soon so stay tuned!

What is it about writing in reverse cursive that’s so therapeutic?

I started writing in "mirror-image" when I was about 13 or 14. My sister, Chickee (who can do a double-whammy by writing upside-down, reverse cursive), showed me how and once I wrapped my mind around it and figured it out, I was completely hooked. I practiced whenever I could and even convinced my friend, Karen, to use it whenever we passed notes in class and wrote each other letters. Though I became quite good at it, to the point where I am able to do it without much thought or effort, I did it less and less. E-mail became the mode of communication of choice and scented stationeries with matching stickers and envelopes became a thing of the past.

But recently I’ve picked up the habit again and, curiously enough, I noticed that the urge to do so is strongest when I am upset. Sure, I do it every once in a while when I’m bored and doodling in a meeting or some other similar situation (thank goodness my supervisor isn’t reading this - or is he?), but more often than not, it is something I find myself doing when I’m pissed off. And what’s even more interesting is that I find that it calms me down significantly. I’m not sure if its because my mind is somewhat concentrated on flipping letters that I’m able to stop myself from actually flipping out (and flipping someone the finger), or if it has something to do with being able to rant and swear and let off steam without fear of someone reading it over my shoulder. In other words, is it the actual writing or is it was is being written? Well, whatever it is, I find that it really works for me. Leonardo Da Vinci used reverse writing for more practical reasons (he was left-handed and writing right-to-left was more ergonomic and didn’t make the ink smear as much), but for me, its more of a pacifying thing.

You should try it sometime. I highly recommend it.

Sample of Da Vinci’s penmanship:

Here’s a page from my note book:

Ah, peer pressure at its best.

Every time a friend tells me to join some networking website or another, I do and now I’ve found myself with pages on Friendster, MySpace, and now Facebook. I must admit that playing around with Facebook is loads more fun than MySpace, but I wonder how long the novelty will last.

To Americans and most of the Western world, September 11th is a day of deep sorrow, anger, and loss, but today, September 11 has taken on a new meaning for Filipinos and it is quite the opposite; today we are finally seeing justice served.

MANILA (Reuters) - Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday after an anti-graft court found him guilty of plunder and barred him from holding public office again.

What a pitty the death sentence was abolished. That definitely seems more fitting for someone who stole millions from a country, from the masa who love/d him, supported him, and trusted him. I don’t think there is any betrayal worse than that. And it wasn’t just the money: the country’s reputation was pretty much pulverized. We had a bloody oaf running the country; we were the laughing stock of the whole world and sadly, we deserved it. The Philippines was suddenly known all around the world, but not for positive things like our beautiful islands or talented people or excellent mangoes; the Philippines was known as one of the most corrupt countries in the world - our name was tarnished!

My blood boils and my stomach twists everytime I think of that effing bastard. If you ask me, Erap deserves nothing less than a firing squad - or a noose.

Oh, and while we’re at it, lets hang Claire Danes right along with him.

Discrimination comes in many forms; there’s ethnicity discrimination, age, gender, religion, class, sexual preference…
And then there’s the very prevalent yet rarely acted on (Personal) Computer Discrimination.

Yes, this is an actual phenomenon. I’ll bet if you "Google" it you’ll come up with a significant number of search results, one of which may possibly even be "Federal Government Discriminates Against Mac Users" (actual article. I kid you not).

As most of you already know, I own a Mac and though I love it dearly and honestly think that Macs are indeed better than PCs, I’m unlike a majority of Mac users in that I neither have an exaggerated repulsion for PCs nor do I set out to convert every PC user I have a conversation with (though I am quite proud of my one and only successful conversion - but that’s a story for another time). I’ve used PCs since I was a kid and continue to use one everyday at work so in my book, PCs (in general) are okay - but that doesn’t mean I don’t get bloody frustrated whenever I discover yet another program or accessory that isn’t compatible with Macs. Or worse! That a Mac compatible gadget is a whole $10 more expensive than its absolutely identical PC compatible twin. Whatthefux up with that??? I tell you, if that isn’t blatant discrimination then I’m your uncle! I mean, seriously, If some nerd is smart enough to write a computer program then he/she should also be smart enough to know that Mac sales are rising every minute; more and more people are getting Macs so, Dude, get with the program (no pun intended)! Besides, I’m willing to bet my bottom dollar that more than half of those computer programmers writing "PC-only" software own an iPod. Tsk!

Yup, just like a true Pinoy, my book is covered in plastic!