Hodgepodge

One poster on youtube.com exclaimed, “los chinos son dios!”

Just in case you forgot that the Chinese invented gunpowder, the spectacle that was the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics made people sit up and count their nuclear warheads, just in case. My mother, who goes to sleep at nine in the evening was up ‘til almost midnight, and would have continued watching if not for the blackout that unfortunately put a stop to the Olympic coverage (Spot casts an evil eye on the Visayan Electric Company).

I thought the program had a very familiar feel to it, and I was right (as usual, hehe). The production was directed by Zhang Yimou, who the wuxia masterpiece Hero. I was actually waiting for Jet Li to fly across the stadium. Instead, triple Olympic gold medallist and rubber shoe taipan Li Ning filled the other Mr. Li’s daunting kung-fu shoes and soared up to the top of the stadium with the torch in hand. He then proceeded proceeded to “run” the entire length of the Bird’s Nest before firing up the Olympic torch.

When I say “run”, this is what I mean.

Quoting Roomie: ASTIIIIIIIIG.

Buti na lang may You Tube.

Because whoever was in charge of the coverage of the Olympics in the Philippines is a complete MORON. I was watching the ceremonies on RPN9-C/S Sports and the ads were all over the place. It’s as if you’ve got a Trojan on your TV and the ads are popping up everywhere. As in, no kidding, 50 seconds of coverage would be followed by five minutes of commercials. It was so obvious that the idiots managing the broadcast were unprepared because said idiots had to cut the commercials as they almost missed the Philippine team as they entered the stadium!

&@$%*#!!!!!!!

I’m sure a lot of people signed up for a cell phone after watching a gazillion stupid ads! And yes, I am looking at you, Mr. M. V. Pangilinan!

Please don’t tell me that the dim-wit broadcaster did not know the order of the parade of nations. Per Olympic tradition, teams march alphabetically according to the language of the host country – the countries were arranged according to the number of strokes of the first character of their names in Mandarin.

There must be a way to find these things out…HELLO PEOPLE!!! It’s called the INTERNET!

Basta, I bet heads are going to roll at RPN-9, particularly since there was no shot of the beloved head of state. I wouldn’t be surprised to wake up one morning and find out that a certain ex-NEDA Director General has been appointed to head the station.

I am not a political person. After losing four elections in grade school, I decided to retire early from politics. So when people ask me about McCain, Clinton, Obama, etc., I usually break eye contact (“Oooh, look at the kitty!). Ask me about anything (yes, even chemistry!) but don’t ask me about politics.

So now that I’ve belatedly jumped the Putin-mania bandwagon, I must confess to my loyal readers (my mommy and my daddy), that the only reason I like Putin very much is this:

Her name is Koni, and she attends a lot of high-profile meetings with her Boss Vlad. In fact, she participated in a little KGB-style intimidation scheme during the visit of the German Chancellor, who is, reportedly, afraid of dogs. But anyone who owns a Lab knows that there is no such thing as an evil Lab.

Look at how scared Chancellor Merkel looks. Putin: Good girl Koni!

If you are not yet a fan of John Lloyd Cruz (amazing how I can go from Putin to John Lloyd), you will be after watching A Very Special Love. I thought that my cousin and I would be the only ones in the theater watching this film on a Wednesday afternoon. I was sorely mistaken. The Lloyd-ettes that packed the theater shrieked, sighed and giggled on cue. I must admit, it is entirely refreshing to watch a movie that elicits such a reaction from the audience (I remember in particular that long, collective “HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY…” that spread through the theater when Leo di Caprio appeared on screen in a tux in Titanic).

Most of it is the usual romantic sap that Star Cinema produces. But I think the actors rose above the mediocre plotline. Also look out for the witty banter of the perpetually suffering rag-tag editorial team bossed around by John Lloyd. And the cameo by Gloria Romero J.

And then there’s the Lloydy.

Although this movie was the cinematic debut of Sarah Geronimo, I’m sorry, Sarah, this film clearly belonged to Lloydy. In fact, most of the drama and the back-story was his. And the Lloyd-ettes could not get enough of the intense stare (wait, is it getting a bit hot in here?). Choice bits: the cliché “Sir, hwag po” scene, which they totally get away with, the pizza scene, and the outtakes at the very end.

And just because it’s been a long time…

Any excuse to put Toby on this page.