Last night, I met up with MJ, one of my closest highschool buddies, who I haven't seen for ten years, literally.

Back in the days of uniforms, assignments and extremely thick textbooks, we had hours of fun just doodling on the edges of our notebooks. Give us a pencil, a black ballpen, a red ballpen and some relatively blank paper and we'd have a marvelous time engulfed in our twisted little daydream world filled with cliffs, steam rollers and cartoon versions of our classmates and professors. We had a twisted sense of humor even before pubescence.

We liked defying the laws of physics...


And the laws of anatomy...


Among other things, Disney characters were a staple in our doodles. That is the Little Mermaid amidst a chemistry computation.



For some time we were obsessed with Pocahontas. We would re-write the script and make her Kenny-like, dying in every scene but magically resurrecting after a few cels. There was this serene moment when Captain John Smith and Pocahontas meet. A waterfall-induced misty atmosphere, orchestral music, a dramatic head turn with wind blowing in Pocahontas' hair, John Smith awed by her exotic beauty...


We've always had a thing for cliffs...


And for utter stupidity...


The best doodle MJ ever made in my opinion was this...


Don't tell me you don't remember Mara Clara and the show's title card with the main character's pictures in frames with the squiggly letterings on top... this was his interpretation of the final breakdown of the martyr known as Mara.

MJ now works as a segment writer for a hit noon-time show on local TV. It's funny how things work.

Silence can say more than a thousand words.

This day shall unite us all about this unbelievable painful & shocking event and show some respect and love to those who lost their loved ones.

On April 30th 2007, the Blogosphere will hold a One-Day Blog Silence in honor of the victims at Virginia Tech. More than 30 died at the US college massacre.

But it´s not only about them. Many bloggers have responded and asked about all the other victims of our world. All the people who die every day. What about them?

This day can be a symbol of support to all the victims of our world!

All you have to do is spread the word about it and post the graphic on your blog on 30th April 2007. No words and no comments. Just respect, reflect and empathy.






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Labels: art shmart, blah (3x), kids-r-i

December 18, 2006 was a sad day for all kids that grew up during my generation. Joseph Barbera died at the age of 95. Joe and his partner Bill Hanna (1910-2001) created Hanna-Barbera and together they created most of my generation's beloved cartoons: Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby Doo, Yogi Bear, The Smurfs... the list goes on. BBC Article here.

I am a creative partner of a business we're planning to launch in January. I'll tell you more about it when our plans are tangible already... Anyways, one of the things I did for the business is creating some characters. It was during one Instant Messenger meeting with Pam that she told me about Joe Barbera's passing.


Generally, the cartoons Hanna and Barbera made are wholesome, cutesy characters with their trademark catch phrases and/or hairstyles.

• Foot-driver Fred Flintstone's - "Yabba Dabba Doo", and a similar...
  
• Scooby Doo - "Scooby Dooby Doo", and a similar...
• George Jetson - "Hooba Dooba Dooba"
  
• Pic-a-nic basket thief Yogi Bear's - "I'm smarter than your avergae bear"
• The sweet southern Huckleberry Hound's - "Oh My Darling, Clementine"
• The Mystery Machine members: Velma Dinkley's - "Jinkies!", and...
• Daphne Blake's - "Jeepers!", and who could forget...
• Shaggy Roger's - "Zoinks!"
  
• The pink Snagglepuss - "Heavens to Murgatroid"
  

There are also a few things I never quite understood in these Hanna-Barbera shows:

1. A number of the characters (Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss, Wally Gator) have collars and ties attached to I have no idea where. I guess it's one of those "toon things" like the four-fingered Disney gloves.
2. How can the blue civilization of the smurfs survive with just one Smurfette? (Thanks to Donnie Darko... I have an answer to this already)
3. How come nearly all female characters have extremely small feet? I think it is impossible to walk with them let alone run in them! in heels!.. Exhibit A: Penelope Pitstop
4. Look at Top Cat (the yellow feline at the lower left of the pic above)... Who in their right mind would wear a violet vest and a matchy-matchy violet hat, if you have yellow fur? duh...

I've always loved Velma over Daphne (like Betty over Veronica)... I loved it when the Flintstones of the elephant trunk-faucet era met the Jetsons of the conveyor sidewalk and robot nanny era. I've always wanted Elroy Jetson's hat and Bam Bam's loin cloth outfit. I think Muttley is adorable and I wouldn't mind spending an afternoon with Gargamel. These characters are manifestations of Barbera's genius. They were pop culture icons in the 70's and 80's and they are still widely recognizable today with frequent reruns on Cartoon Network.

The best Barbera cartoon, in my opinion, is Tom and Jerry. I think it is the first show to use the cat-mouse formula, nothing like the carnal instincts of predator in prey in a non-documentary to engage the interest of children. It was censored a lot during puritan 40's thru 60's, it was ahead of it's time. Now, all the guns and slicing and explosions are as normal as the roaring lion in MGM intros. And they are invincible, Tom's cut tail always grows back, his smashed teeth always reappear, and his charred body always regains it's bluish tone... what's a few lethal weapons thrown into the plot?

Beyond the violence, what I really like about the show is the fact that they do not speak (something totally destroyed in that supposed movie). They are the feline and murine Charlie Chaplins and Mr. Beans. The absence of language adds to their universality. What really adds to the T & J experience is the music. Especially during the earlier ones, the episodes always incorporated classical music. There are the orchestral background music and there are the tunes that act as sound effects. An ascending piano run depicts Jerry running frantically to his hole. A cymbal clash, Tom's crashing into a trash can lid. We don't see toons like this anymore.

Interestingly, the first Tom and Jerry episode I've seen is "The Night Before Christmas".



Joseph Barbera started working as a tailor's delivery boy and ended up being one of the world's most famous and loved cartoonists. Hanna-Barbera won 7 Oscars for Tom and Jerry. He never got an interview at Disney (tsk tsk)

Not once in six years did I make it to the office by 9 on the dot.
-Joseph Barbera

Labels: flashback music please, idiot box, kids-r-i

Remember that cliche, "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride"? I can totally relate with it only mine goes, thanks to the fabulous Fran Lebowitz (Metropolitan Life), "Always a godparent... never a god".

I have this aura that seems to perpetually put me on my friends' godparent candidate list. I know I'm adorable and kids love me, but that's beside the point. I heard somewhere (see: I'm making this up) that if a kid you do not know personally instantly likes you as heshe looks over hisher mom's shoulder on an escalator, it says a lot about your innate likeability, or your semblance to a clown or Mickey Mouse depending on your ear size.

Anyways, godparenthood is serious business here in the Philippines. I guess the same is true in any predominantly Catholic country. Godparents are called "ninong" (male) and "ninang" (female). Their "inaanak" (godchildren) drop by their houses during Christmas to collect "Aguinaldo", basically moolah. I am not sure why it's named after a past president, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the presence of his face on the now defunct five-peso bill, and the now counterfeitable (?) five-peso coin. A local version of "It's all about the Benjamins", sort of. Give your godchild five pesos now and you'll definitely see a perplexed but clearly fuming child. Five pesos ain't worth shit, it doesn't even cover regular jeepney fare. I heard the GAP (Godchildren Association of the Philippines) is fighting to change the term "Aguinaldo" to "Aquino" (500 pesos) or "The Santos-Lim-Escoda Threesome" (1,000 pesos).

Giving gifts on Christmas and Birthdays is a welcome alternative. Godparenthood is a burdensome responbility. This is a fact a friend shouldn't even entertain in one's mind, let alone publish in one's public blog. But it is. I would honestly wanna spend my 13th month pay on a pair of Hushpuppies I saw last week or a kick-ass small-of-the-back tattoo, I instead find myself too often around Toy Kingdom or the 3-4 year old clothing section.

Giving is overrated. I like to give as much as I like receiving... scratch that, I like receiving more, but I don't mind giving. What drives me to look at Osh Kosh apparel and Bratz paraphernalia isn't the fulfillment that supposedly comes along with giving. It isn't totally the look of joy children emit when they see a new toy, although that is the best anti-depressant. It is the fact that MY godparents were shitty when I was young. They were either fictitious people I never saw in person, merely creatures I saw in a yellowish photo who were standing around a three-month old version of me, all of them clad in white and holding lit candles as a priest gives me a shampoo... OR, they did make their presence felt during my childhood Christmases and birthdays in the form of hankies or bar soap. What is a five year old supposed to do with 3 bars of Dove soap? and isn't a hanky for every birthday a tad too predictable?

I am breaking this vicious Vicious godparent cycle by being the most benevolent one I could possibly be (which isn't saying much) to the godchildren I am "active" with. Most of my "inactive" godchildren are a zip code or an ocean apart. And at times, I was a victim of a shot-gun baptism. Coercion takes on many forms.

I've nearly completed my godchildren Christmas shopping list. Unlike Santa, I do not have the luxury of crossing out naughty ones.

"Always a godparent, never a god"... Imagine what I could give them if I WERE a god... a college plan, a lifetime supply of legos, their own planet?... But I'm just a godparent.




New Tenant
I love my new tenant's blog... check out A Pile of Dogbones

Labels: filipinowledge, holidays, kids-r-i

I can think of only two infamous Christmas villains. The Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge. Well, they aren't even technically villains, they just... during the early parts of their biographies... hate Christmas. They have entered our lexicon and any anti-yuletide energy you emit gives you the label of "scrooge" or "grinch" or "heartless, joyless, psycho-b*tch/ assh*le (use according to apparent gender)

You can't blame the Grinch for hating Christmas:

It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right. (a shrink)
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. (a Hushpuppies retailer)
But I think that the most likely reason of all (a statistician)
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small. (a cardiologist)

It's anatomical. Would you blame a short fellow for hating basketball, or a tall fellow for hating hobbit-houses? I've always loved the Grinch, his vomit-green fur, his voice done by Boris Karloff (most famous for voicing the original Frankenstein), his couture or lack thereof... of course I'm referring to the 1966 cartoon which has been as much a part of my Christmases as queso de bola. I like Jim Carrey, but that Grinch adaptation he did just sucked. Kudos to the make-up and prosthetics... "Damn you" for adding to/altering the storyline.

I think the Grinch blew it when he "stole". The eighth (spelling?) commandment applies in Whoville... and the punishment is far worse than the seventh circle of hell, it's having your heart grow three sizes bigger and having thoughts like:

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. (commercialism)
"Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!" (more commercialism?)

Ebenezer Scrooge. Poor guy, Charles Dickens succeeded in eternally associating his name with greed and malice. The billions of adaptations of A Christmas Carol agree in typifying Scrooge as an old man wearing a night gown with a night cap, round eyeglasses and is either counting piles of coins or screaming his head off holding a gas-lit lamp. This is the worst smear campaign in the history of 19th century literature! Only Dickens can transform a wise, savvy, frugal, obviously accounting-knowledgeable business man into a scared senior citizen defined by "selfishness" and "avarice". Mud-slinging Dickens... tsk tsk tsk.

He doesn't stop with the obvious libel. Dickens went as far as sending three "ghosts". We all know what these "ghosts" are. Nameless meddling spawns of Dickens: Agent Past, Agent Present and Agent Future. They, through deceit and trickery, convince Scrooge to give the money HE earned to charity. Talk about taking advantage of a poor old man with a semi-honest living! I have consulted my lawyer and he says that tombstone Agent Future showed you Mr. Scrooge is undoubtedly a death threat.

To deliver the final nail on the coffin... the plaintiff calls "Tiny Tim". The defendant, Ebenezer Scrooge, looks despondent as a 10-year old boy supported by a crutch accessorized by a nasty phlegmy cough takes the witness stand. Mr. Scrooge's attorney walks toward the stand:
"Tiny Tim, if that IS your real name," queried the attorney.
"Oh yes dear sir," Tim replied
"Tiny Tim of the Korean Mafia???," the attorney bellowed, several loud clanks from the audience as jaws dropped.
Tim looked nervously at the plaintiff.
"It says here according to your medical records that you recently had some adamantium infused into your tibula, femur and fibula!"... more clanking jaws.
Tim mumbled "I... I... I... femur?"
"Yes your leg bone "Tiny Tim"!," the attorney motioning quotation marks with his hands. The attorney swipes the crutch.
"Lo and Behold! he stands!!! No further questions your honor!" Audience clapping.

The plaintiff rises and asks Tiny Tim... "Is there anything you wanna say?"
Tiny Tim obviously rattled raised his hands, smiled and with teary eyes said "God Bless us, everyone!"
The audience oohed and aahed. Ebenezer was sentenced with two life sentences in a high security prison where he has to spend Christmas everyday with the thief Grinch and the Easter Bunny. No Bail. A million lit parols but No Parole.

He didn't stand a chance with the conniving skills of Dickens and the little boy.



It would take more than the entire Who-ville singing Christmas carols around a disheveled tree, three "ghosts" and Tiny Tim to silence my inner Grinch/Stooge.



17 days to no work, lots of food and sleep and presents aka Christmas! Whoopdeefreakingdoo!

Inspirational Christmas quote for the day:

Fame always brings loneliness. Success is as ice cold and lonely as the North Pole.
- Vicky Baum

Labels: Bookworms Anonymous, holidays, kids-r-i

I am sitting on my bed marveling at my recent purchases. Everybody knows the satisfaction of buying, the power of purchasing, the unparalleled pleasure of trading bills stamped with the faces of heroes and past presidents for things... especially things you don't really need, but want... and even more particularly when they are inexpensive.

I went to three evanescent bazaars this afternoon with my sis, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. The first is an annual Christmas Bazaar at the Brent International School. They raise money for some cause, I've been going to said yuletide sale for four years now and I'm still shady with the details... I come for the merchandise. Christmas tree skirts, gold tinted candlestick holders, reindeer cookie molds, elf outfits for toy poodles... Red, green and glitter all over, it's as if Santa and a couple of multi-sequined drag queens exploded in the auditorium. Technically, these aren't what drag my lazy ass here, it's the little knick knacks hidden among them. Last year I found a complete set of the Narnia Chronicles, which I read like an avid ten year old for the week that followed. This year, I hit the jackpot...


Felix the Coin Purrs Purse
Retail Price: 70 pesos
Real Function: To hold change
Actual Function: To display my age whenever I draw the thing to draw change AND my penchant for monochrome felines. Hmm, hmm... Two birds with one stone! Me likey.

The next pit stop was a weekly sunday garage sale about 5 blocks away near this cool, relocated fifty's themed restaurant with waitresses on rollerskates. A lot of interesting stuff here as well, you just don't know what you'll see on the particular Sunday you go there. And I bought my very first...


Chicky Bank
Retail Price: 20 pesos (Beat that!)
Real Function: To hold savings in coin form
Actual Function: To have a delightful yellow ornament in my room that seems to have hydrocephalus. I know I'm not the only one hoarding 5 and 10 peso coins (I heard it was illegal or something) I've transferred the coins I have from their original container (a sunglass holder), and I've got the thing filled right under its bulbous head.

The last place was PEZA (formerly EPZA, and nope, I don't know the reason for the name change and pretty sure you don't even care... hehe) It's a clothing factory and weeks before the yuletide season they sell turtlenecks and 6 feet scarves and table napkins and what nots. I bought tube socks. *Yawn* Although they did sell some incredibly scrumptious "Chicken Nuggets". Not the frozen chicken fillets in sealed packages they sell in supermarkets, these are the streetfood variety. Basically, breaded chicken intestines. I just might convince a couple of friends to go back there just for them.

In the tri-colored pink (arguably mauve) car on the way back home, my nephew used a toy gun to shoot plunger like ammo that stick to the car windows, my niece bobbed her head feeling the pink dangling earrings swing on her lobes like pendulums, and I hold my coin purse of a washed-up monochrome cat and a ceramic chick with a head larger than its torso... I may be mistaken, but... I think I'm the adult.

Labels: baguio, blah (3x), kids-r-i, quarterlife

I just finished watching the simultaneous Midterm Midtacular special of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report (I still utter the "t's") With a freshly lit Marlboro Light between my fingers, I slumped on my bed intending to blog about Voltron (Defender of the Universe), I recently rewatched the first four episodes, Pidge is so gay... Anyways... The moment my butt touched my mattress, a familiar tune resonated from my bed. This is a silly prank me and my brother pull on each other.

My dad gave my niece a toy phone. It plays a number of dreadful tunes (I could not even make myself call them songs) whenever you press one of its "astronomical" buttons. One of the tunes is a remix/mutation of what I think is an Aqua song. This is the group that did the anti-Grammy hit, "Barbie". The phone plays a bubblier, Alvin and the Chipmunkish version of the song... as if the original one wasn't bubbly and chipmunkish enough.

My niece and nephew pressed the phone's buttons alot when they first got it, much to the exasperation of my brother and me. Listening to the sounds from that toy phone is a lot like being one of those martians in Mars Attacks when they played Slim's Whitman's Indian Love Call in the movie. A neural implosion was inevitable, so I hid that phone whenever I could and never divulged it's whereabouts until one of the kids asks for it... crying.

I lifted my mattress to see the toy phone placed intentionally with it's buttons up so that the slightest pressure would trigger this push-you-over-the-edge audio device.

This reminds me alot about the time when we, SV2G, lived in an apartelle. We were preparing material for an architecture exhibit we were organizing. (We made a +/- 8 foot tall replica of the Eiffel Tower) On one of the mornings we spent there, we planned to wake up early to do some "jogging". To me, "Jogging" = walking with a cigarette. I bolted right out from my sleep/bed when an alarm clock with it's volume at maximum resonated in the loft we slept in. Still half asleep and fully irate I overturned sheets, pillows and beds to find the drasted alarm clock. Bert placed it under my bed. The Doppler Effect doesn't work at 5 in the morning. Well, it could have been worse... Bert once left the same alarm clock, volume at max and with a new AA battery, in his locked drawer in the apartment he lived in during college. While he was happily enjoying his Sembreak, his roommate who stayed behind suffered the wrath of that alarm clock for 5 minutes everyday at 5 am... and again at 5 pm... until the battery died, which was close to the length of the Sembreak.

And so, while I am posting this entry... the toy phone is lying snug under my brother's pillow, awaiting for the weight of his head. Mwahahahaha... Revenge is best served cold... at 1230 in the morning... Mwahahahahaha!

Labels: flashback music please, i-rate, idiot box, kids-r-i

Last night, my United Architects of the Philippines Chapter, UAP Summer Capital, celebrated its fourth anniversary. By professional organization standards, UAPSC is still very young. The 20 charter members of UAPSC were originally members of UAP Baguio but due to some conflict, which I can't piece out perfectly well yet (but my assumption is some communication problems between older and younger members), the younger members decided to secede from the mother chapter.


UAP Summer Capital has been chosen, after bidding, as the host chapter of the 16th (or 17th?, haha...) National Convetion of Architects (NCA). This will happen during the last week of October. The usual once a month meetings became a once a week thing because of the demands needed from the organizing committee. UAP Baguio has offered to help us with the preparations for the convention. The great thing is I can see the steady bridging of the gap between the two chapters.

Choosing which organization to join when I finally got my license was a bit of a dilemma. My college professors and some friends were in one chapter, while two of my mentors and some friends were in another. In the end, it became a decision of where I can be comfortable and where I can be "under the radar" more. The demands of my job then were too much to even schedule a monthly UAP meeting.

However, during fellowships like last night when we have a heated argument on who's the youngest member, when we recycle a small cake (5" diameter) to greet 6 birthday celebrants, when Arch. Jovit proves by dancing that he's the "sexiest man", when even our event coordinator endearingly called "Tsang" was downing a SM Light, when I have smoking classmates with uber hilarious stories, and when everyone (regardless of age or accomplishment) is just downright silly, that I am overly ecstatic I joined the chapter.


The closest comparison I could think of in relation to last night was a merge between a children's party at Jollibee, a gathering around a campfire and a night at a comedy bar.


It's very comforting to know that despite the mature outfits, the professional licenses, the jobs, the karaoke, the booze, the cigarettes and the looming convention... We are all still immature and capable of silly antics.

Labels: baguio, kids-r-i, quarterlife

Before PS2, before the Xbox, before the Gamecube, before 3d graphics, before surround sound and sound cards... We had this...


Nope, its not a Tupperware product... nope, its not a transformer... and nope, its not a child's toy sold in Divisoria. Its one of the first and the bestest (double superlative required) game consoles ever made!!! The Nintendo Family Computer. I remember feeling so ecstatic when we bought our very own 32-in-1 tape (basically, 32 games in one tape) I know, I know I'm reminiscing again, that seems to be the theme with my past 4 posts or so. Its a phase I'm going through. Just humor me. Also, I have decided to post my top 13 thingy on every thirteenth of the month as a tribute to SV2G, but I can't help myself...

Here are the Top 13 kick-ass games of my generation... (Warning to younger readers: Obsolete games ahead)


Super Mario Bros. 3

No game console will be authentic without a Mario game. This is the third installment on the Famicom. It had flutes transporting you to future stages, It had a giant stage (where everything is enlarged except Mario) and it had a lot of minor bonus games integrated into it. This is the best Mario game ever if you ask me. Best feature: Mario flying and Mario swimming in a frog suit. Irritating feature: It still had that "Thanks Mario, But our Princess is in another castle" plot done in Mario 1.



Contra

"Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, select, start". This was the first game cheat I've ever known. It was a rite of passage into the Famicom gaming world. You had two rambo-like characters played by the first and second players who did somersaults when they jumped. Best feature: an array of gun types of which I like "Spread" the most. Irritating feature: The other player can steal lives from you. grrr...




Battle City

Two tanks protecting one base... Other tanks trying to destroy it. This is one of the best quick paced games on the Famicom. You could grab enhancements on your tank or your base when you disintegrate another tank (I think?!). Best feature: you could customize the map and make your base impenetrable and enemy tanks surrounded by water. Irritating feature: You can accidentally (or intentionally) fire at your own base, destroy the eagle and end the game.



Duck Hunt

Before counterstrike, before half life... we had Duck Hunt, the first first-person shooter game (I think?!) What's cool about this game is you used an orange gun you attach to the Famicom to shoot. Aim: shoot the flying ducks. Best feature: the orange gun. Irritating feature: A dog in the bushes laughs at you when you miss the ducks.





Bomberman

My Dad was more addicted to this than his children were (haha... I hope he never reads this) You control a weird white suited character who drops bombs like crazy to kill the enemy creatures and to demolish brick walls. Best feature: there are enhancements you can get all over the map, the best of which is the ability to walk through walls. Irritating feature: It's timed. I get all panicky when the timer counts down from 10.




Tetris

This game bored me to death but I know a lot of people who liked it. Its the older version of Collapse. You have to form straight lines to prevent your blocks from reaching the top (which means Game Over) while some Russian folk music plays in the background. Best feature: Its easy to play. Irritating feature: Its too easy to play.






Castlevania

I had nightmares from playing this game as a kid. You are a hero fighting ghouls and vampires using a whip, among other weapons. There are hidden doorways and hidden treasures everywhere. You're regular haunted castle. Best feature: The holy water flask, all surrounding creatures die when you use it. Irritating feature: the flying bats.





Balloon Fight

One of the most fun games on Famicom. You hold onto 4 balloons or so and fly around the screen. The Aim: to pop the balloons of enemies with your feet. At first, its depressing having your character plummet to the water below but once you get the hang of it, its sadistically fun. Best feature: the simplicity of the objective. Irritating feature: Enemy balloon poppers.





Kung Fu

This was our version of Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and Tekken. You control a Bruce Lee like character who can do perfect broadway high kicks, and do it tirelessly if I may add. You battle your way through henchmen, ninjas and snakes so you can reach the end and battle martial arts masters. Best feature: Enemies blindlessly and voluntarily run into your kicks. Irritating feature: the sound your character makes when he does the kicks.




Ice Climber

Another fun Famicom game. Two eskimoes with mallets (or ice picks?!) climbing a mountain and hitting some creatures along the way. Your aim is to reach the apex and grab onto a flying bird. Best feature: If you find your co-player slow and unchallenging, you can leave them behind and have them leave the game. Irritating feature: When you're the one who got left behind.





Donkey Kong

You are mario, Donkey Kong has held your Princess and you must save the damstrel in distress. You need to jump over barrels, climb ladders and avoid the walking flames. Donkey Kong never seems to run out of barrels. Best feature: It gets your heart pumping when Donkey Kong throws three barrels in a row. Irritating feature: Those broken ladders.





Road Fighter

This is the first car driving game I've ever played. The graphics are so pathetic compared to Need for Speed and other racing games now but the gameplay is as exciting. (haha... I'm totally gonna defend the Family Computer). Best feature: It is played from the top. I get nauseous when I play a first-person racing game. Irritating feature: Those cop cars.





Galaga

Fighter spaceships shooting alien flying thingies. This is also a fun arcade game. Best feature: The feeling you get after the first time you do the two-spaceships side by side (as seen on the picture to the left). Irritating feature: The way the fly spaceships look like when they come nearer and nearer.








On a more disappointing note, The Text Twist game I've been taking care of for the past months has ended out of sheer stupidity. The game ended on the word "SCAMPI". I hate that word, which as it turns out is a shrimp dish with garlic. The PDA version of the game can be paused hence the 17 million score. haha.

Labels: area 13, idiot box, kids-r-i, quarterlife

I never liked Jessica Simpson. Celebrity divorcees seem to gain insta-fame after the break-up. Jennifer Aniston post-Brannifer makes a zillion movies, Nicole Kidman sans psychotic- nearly- killed- Oprah Tom Cruise goes off to win an Academy award. Anyways, back to Jessica... I love her new video "A Public Affair". Not because of the disco throwback (ala Kylie Minogue), not because of the darling Christina Applegate... but because of the rollerskates!


Flashback: I remember the Burnham Park skating rink. Burnham is one of our major parks (like a less glamorous, smaller NYC Central Park). In grade school me and my siblings would skate tirelessly around that concrete rink. We did it without helmets, knee pads or elbow pads. I learned to skate on one of those metal skates that had leather straps. It didn't have shoes attached to it so you used the straps to attach the tetanus skates on your regular shoes... Those skates were heavy and extremely painful. It had protruding screw heads that left marks on your soles. I still have a scar on my knees from learning to skate.

In highschool, The skating rink was one of our main hang-outs. Baguio was so much better then, less people, lesss cars, less traffic, less pollution... We'd were casual clothes under our uniforms and it was straight to the rink after dismissal. It was the Saturday afternoon place-to-be then. That's where Boys' High (exclusive Catholic boys school) and Girls' High (exclusive Catholic girls school) converged. We'd skate until night, the rink had halogen flood lights. There was the occasional awesome skater who did twirls, axels and led caterpillars (The awesome skater skates backward and holds onto another skater, other skaters would hold onto the hips of the one infront of them creating a rolling Conga line and the awesome skater would lead us into zigs and zags and number 8's)

There were two other rinks then, both in Camp John Hay. An indoor skating rink (aerobics center on weekdays), It had wooden tongue and groove flooring that made you vibrate when you skated across the grain. There was also an outdoor skating rink at Scout Hill. (Baguio residents... I know you've been there)

Skating, unfortunately, has become obsolete here. The Burnham skating rink is now used for bikes and concerts (not done simultaneously... although that would be a fun idea) The Skating rinks at CJH are now demolished. They turned that once free-for-all recreational area into a semi-exclusive country club. Exclusivity sucks. Country clubs suck.

Teens now are too eager to grow up. If only they knew that that age is best experienced as teens. They rather go to bars than to "skating rinks". I can't stand bars with loud underaged kids.

What I'd give to have the skating rink back.

Labels: baguio, kids-r-i, music, quarterlife

I have posted 20-something posts now and I noticed something. I inadvertently attached images of cartoons to most of them. I can't figure out why yet.

I remember as a child how watching cartoons became my first form of rebellion. We were always made (no... forced!) to sleep in the afternoon when me and my siblings were still too young to protest. We'd pretend to sleep (snoring a little to add to the effect). When my mom or nanny was satisfied in confirming we were asleep, we'd turn on the T.V. (volume to minimum) and watch afternoon cartoon shows. Of course, we'd occasionally get caught.

Cartoons then ranged from the cutesy Care Bears and My Little Pony to the violent but save-the-day Thundercats and Daimos. I learned some of my first life lessons from these doodles. Garfield taught me to hate Mondays. Linus (Peanuts) taught me to love Christmas (and to hold on to security blankets) He-man taught me one man can save the world and The Smurfs taught me that a whole civilization can survive with just one woman.

Kids nowadays have it all. My niece and nephew watch cartoons 24-7 (adults always lose "The Battle of the Remote") Then... watching cartoons was a reward for doing chores. You could only watch them on weekends and afternoons for holiday-weekdays. The longest back-to-back cartoon shows happened on Sunday mornings. After church, we were allowed to watch cartoons until lunch time (this was during the whole Mr. Bogus - Ninja Turtles era)

Growing up is like a sieve. The holes of the sieve get wider as we grow and more of the things we like pass thru the mesh into oblivion. I can't see the appeal of some of the 80's cartoons anymore. I saw reruns of the Care Bears with the kids and I wanted to shoot myself 5 minutes into the show. Those bears are insanely naive!

I like my cartoons with a dash of sarcasm, 5 tablespoons of irony and 6 cups of black humor. The Simpsons is one of my indulgences. Yellow-bellied humor and Homer's slapstick eccentricities aside, it always has a multi-layered plot and the characters (major and minor) are well-developed stereotypes. Other cartoons that I find stimulating are Hey Arnold!, The Family Guy, Dexter's Lab and Southpark. Cartoons that I absolutely love but have already ended are Ren and Stimpy, Beavis and Butt Head, Aeon Flux and Daria... all of which aren't for kids.

I like cartoon characters for their permanence. Bart will always be 10 years old. Butt Head will always wear the same AC/DC shirt. Kenny will always be resurrected after every episode. The permanence of their appearance and demeanor is comforting in a sense.

I also like the consistency of cartoon characters. Homer will always be stupid and in-your-face... Homer will always be Homer. You can't say that about real people. The lovable (oh so fabulous) Karen Walker (Will and Grace) transforms into Megan Mullally at the end of every taping and regains a normal voice, losing the high-pitched one Karen has that everyone loves. Sadder transformations... William Wallace aka Braveheart doesn't remain as a face-painted Scottish hero... He gets arrested for DUI. The adorable kid from Jackson 5 doesn't sing "I'll be there" forever... He grows up, discovers plastic surgery and creates Neverland.

Cartoons have helped my generation (I think) cope with the more real events happening around us... an escape from reality. That, I think is their appeal.


"Hi, I'm Alternati, I'm 26 and yes... I still watch cartoons."

Labels: blah (3x), idiot box, kids-r-i, quarterlife

Cliche... Laughter is the best medicine. Just as there are many types of medicine used for specific symptoms, there are also many types of laughter for various circumstances. Laughter is like DNA, everyone I know has their unique kind of laughter... The following are 13 of the most iconic laughs I could think of. I tried looking for clips for all these laughs and got 12 out of 13. No one laughs like the following characters in real life(I hope not).


Nelson Muntz

Notorious bully of The Simpsons. His is my favorite laugh... concise, filled with contempt and totally unforgettable. Laugh like this when you find other people getting hurt amusing. This laugh is best done with a finger pointing at the one you're laughing at.
Listen to Nelson's Laugh



Doctor Evil

He has more charisma than Austin Powers. Whether he is plotting to destroy the world or merely petting Mr. Bigglesworth, Dr. Evil is the most infamous bald villain since Hannibal Lecter. The Dr. Evil laugh is best enjoyed with some brown-nose cronies.
Listen to Dr. Evil's Laugh



Kitty Foreman

The 70's show's bubbly (but emotionally repressed) mom. Debra Jo Rupp plays this puritan, meatloaf cooking housewife very well. (She has the bounciest hair) The Kitty laugh is an effective awkward moment tool (can also be used for jokes gone awry)
Listen to Kitty's Laugh



Eric (Theodore) Cartman

The most foul-mouthed, egocentric, greedy, manipulative, (but extremely loved) 9-year old character ever created. Southpark's Cartman is a politically incorrect bigot who gets away with it because of his age. Rejoice when the Cartman laugh isn't directed at you.
Listen to Cartman's Laugh



Beavis

The quintessential MTV-obsessed, brain-fried slacker. Beavis, sidekick of Butt-head, always wears the same blue Metallica shirt and transforms into "Cornholio" when he ingests too much sugar. This unflattering laugh should never be done by anyone not named Beavis.
Listen to Beavis' Laugh



Dr. Julius Hibbert

My second Simpson character and second Doctor. Dr. Hibbert is a resident at Springfield Medical Hospital and is one of the few recurring African-American characters on the show. The Dr. Hibbert laugh is characterized by the tendency to laugh during extremely inappropriate moments.
Listen to Dr. Hibbert's Laugh



Muttley

A mongrel and sidekick to Dick Dastardly of the Wacky Races. Muttley doesn't talk and makes just two sounds. The first is a grumble of complaint (often directed at his master) and the second is his laugh... it has an asthmatic and wheezing quality that's hard to describe, listen to the clip.
Listen to Muttley's Laugh



Betty Rubble

She is the ginger, soft-spoken, blue-dinosaur-skin clad (with matching ribbon) hot mama of Bedrock. Betty is Barney's wife and Bam-Bam's mom. Betty's unique laugh is done (as I imagine it) by pursing one's lips and forcing giggles out of your mouth.
Listen to Betty's Laugh



Yosemite Sam

The belligerent, gun-crazy, long mustached, Looney Tune. Sam is one of Bugs Bunny's adversaries. He is an extremely impatient and hot-tempered cowboy who (magically) never runs out of ammo. Yosemite Sam has an evil laugh, best enjoyed when plotting ways to catch rabbits.
Listen to Sam's Laugh



The Riddler

My favorite Batman villain because of his green outfits and especially after Jim Carrey played him. The laugh of The Riddler I remember however is done by Frank Gorshin in the 60's Batman series (the one with the large "POW", "BAM" screen inserts when people fight)
Listen to The Riddler's Laugh



Krusty the Klown

Bart Simpson's ungrateful hero. His full name is Herschel Pinkus Yerucham Krustofsky. He is Luke Perry's half-brother. He Krusty has a husky voice (from chain-smoking) but his laugh is high pitched and eerie, reminiscent of The Joker (also a clown).
Listen to Krusty's Laugh



Fran Fine

Fran Fine aka The Nanny (played by Fran Drescher) is a colorfully dressed, high-haired jewish lady from Flushing, NYC. This series was famous during the early 90's and was made famous by one thing... Fran's nasal voice... and probably complemented by her unforgettable nasal laugh.
(Fran Fine's laugh is the only laugh I couldn't find a wav file of... waaa!)



Popeye

... The sailor man, toot! toot! He is short but has humongous arms with anchor tattoos. One of Popeye's eyes is always squinted and always has a wooden pipe in his mouth. His steroid of choice is spinach and his laugh is extremely annoying.
Listen to Popeye's Laugh




Honorable Mentions

• Angelica Pickles Rugrats
• Ace Ventura
• Bart Simpson
• Homer SImpson
• Bugs Bunny
• The Count Sesame Street
• Curly The Three Stooges
• David Letterman
• Elmo
• Scooby Doo
• Urkel
• Woody Wood Pecker
  

Credits:

Most of the wav files are from Bill Auclair's EARchives
Photos are stolen all over the net

Laughter is an orgasm triggered by the intercourse of sense and nonsense.
~Author Unknown

Labels: area 13, idiot box, kids-r-i