Pacquiao vs Clottey ticket sales slow

Two weeks before the event, tickets for Pacquiao vs Clottey fight move slower than the previous Pac bestsellers. At SM malls they offer a complimentary cinema pass when you buy a Pac-Clottey ticket. I counted the number of tickets sold thus far at an SM cinema as indicated by the blocked markings on the seat plan. I counted less than fifty.

Maybe because many feel Pacman will win handily. Odd at Las Vegas stand at 5-1. Arum had to come out and say Clottey can upset Manny, just to generate some interest. At a boxing forum, nobody wants a sig bet against Pacman unlike his fights before when many are willing to risk two months of annoyance in posting up Pac sigs. At Club Filipino, I heard tickets cost less than 500 pesos including buffet breakfast and sales are still slow.

Maybe fans will just watch the the numerous free showings that will be sponsored by candidates. This is election season after all. I should have thought of that when I bought tickets yesterday.

Who do we trust?

A survey says Villar is the most trusted presidential bet. We have to take into account that the (Villar commissioned?) survey was held just before the C5 controversy boiled over. I'm sure his trust ranking plummeted after that cowardly denial of his wrongdoing. I'm curious how his trust rating stands now after Winnie Monsod exposed his culpability in clear and simple terms.

Meanwhile, Noynoy is among the most trusted Filipino in an independent survey by the Reader's Digest. He was bested only by non-politicians Rosa Rosal, Lea Salonga, Jessica Soho and Tony Meloto. Noynoy is the top politician in the survey done late last year. Villar is in 60th place in the list of 80 influential Filipino personalities ranked based upon the public’s perceived trustworthiness. Rounding out the bottom are GMA, Erap, and Hayden Kho.

Many different survey results are being flaunted by the different camps. Who among the survey firms do we trust? One statistic I trust is that 83% of all statistics is made up, including this one.

But who among the candidates do we trust, really? I don't trust the unnaturally-jet-black hair and the botox-filled face of the one with C5 at taga.

White hair chronicles XXII - I remember people power 1

Tempus fugit! It's now more than a generation since the EDSA people power revolt but I still remember vividly those heady days.

In '85, Marcos was still so well entrenched despite the swelling sentiment against his regime that he confidently called a snap election when pressured by his American masters. I personally thought there was no way Cory could win, even without Marcos cheating. The people were still deathly afraid of him. In my office then, a government corporation, the staff was even scared to talk about the signature campaign for Cory to run. Young and fearless, I did what to my office mates was unthinkable. I signed the petition. The signature campaign caught momentum and since then I knew Marcos' end was near.

I became part of my office's hakot brigade in the Batasan canvassing. The session hall was divided between the pros and antis. The government hakots composed the pros. The antis sounded to have more fun compared to the nervous air in the pros side. They  boisterously cheered each time Bono Adaza noticed small defects on a canvass. They booed when the chairman just said 'asteriks'. I cheered and booed with them even if I was on the pros side. I wandered around the corridors to find a way to get to the antis. When I got to the other side, I proudly waved at my office mates. Their shock and disbelief is still etched on my mind.

On the second day of the EDSA uprising, I asked them who's coming with me to EDSA. Although still very wary, many dared and went with me. The atmosphere was still tense, anything could still happen. But I believed it was just a matter of days before Marcos goes. They couldn't kill us all, I told my friends. By the fourth day, I was at home when it was announced that Marcos had fled. I went outside and shouted at the top of my voice "wala na si Macoy, lumayas na!".  Ah, those were the days.

Pacquiao sings

Manny Pacquiao's attempts at singing. This video is at Yahoo Sports.


This is a link to a video at TMZ.com of the PacMan singing La Bamba.

This is from Jimmy Kimmel Live.

For bad leaders people power is always a threat

“The Philippines has come a long way since 1986. We regained our freedom, our national pride and our will to get the country growing. Somewhere along the way, we became complacent. People power gained a partisan meaning which started to divide the nation once again,” this believe it or not, are the words of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as read by her stooge during the 24th EDSA anniversary yesterday.

“We have to be jolted into mass action once again to realize that sustaining our growth and freedoms meant constant vigilance not only to defend our human rights but also to protect our right to good governance...a dysfunctional government resulted in insufficient investments in healthcare, in education, even in the basic amenities such as clean water and electricity to remote barangays.” She was referring to Erap's aborted presidency and in effect justifying her ascension to power.

After her 10 years in office we remain off track in meeting our Millennium Development Goals (MDG) despite government-controlled statistics. Complacency crept in because her transactional politics weakened institutions meant for check and balance.

People power gained a partisan meaning that divides the nation again, GMA says. A beneficiary of people power herself, she does not get what it's all about. If the leaders forget why people ousts regimes and start to do as the ousted did, people power always threatens to divide a nation again.

Sinful and shameless

At yesterday's mass, the homily touched on confession as a powerful sacrament. The priest said fewer Filipinos are going to confession. True. Filipinos seem to never ever make mistakes. Filipinos almost never admit anything, even when caught red-handed. We don't have politicians like Clinton, Sanford, or Spitzer, and sports stars like Kobe or Tiger who come out in the media confessing their sins. We don't have the Japanese politicians who commit seppuku in shame. Instead, Filipino sports stars defiantly plead for their privacy while politicians who amassed wealth though their public office try to perpetuate themselves in power.

My women's tennis album 27 - February 2010

Presidential quotable quotes

From the web:

Noynoy Aquino: "Hindi ako magnanakaw".

Gibo Teodoro: "Hindi ko kelangan magnakaw"

Dick Gordon/Bayani Fernando: "Bawal magnakaw, Nakamamatay"

Manny Villar: (paulit-ulit, pero walang maniwala)
"Hindi ako nagnakaw."

Erap Estrada: "Kelangan ko ulit magnakaw"

PGMA: "Wala na kayo mananakaw!

Just joking 4

REPORTER: Sir, kung wala po kayong evidence, witness or suspect ano na po ang next step ninyo??
POLICE: DNA na...
REPORTER: sir, ano po yung DNA ???
POLICE: "Di Namin Alam "

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Pacquiao: honey, buksan mo na yung sweets.
Jinky : lambing mo talaga. mwah !! nasan ang sweets honey?
Pacquiao: yung sweets ng ilaw. di ako makakita… ang dilim!!

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Sa isang mumurahing airline:
STEWARDESS: Sir, would you like some dinner?
PASSENGER: Ano ba ang mga choices?
STEWARDESS: 'Yes' or 'No' lang po

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Freddie and Manny heart to heart talk
Manny: Pare, ba't naman hanggang ngayon wala ka pang syota? Wala ka pa bang napupusuan?
Freddie: Meron... Manhid ka lang!

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HOST: Ano po ang maipaglilingkod ko sa inyo?
TANDA: Pwede ho bang manawagan?
HOST: Ilang taon na po kayo?
TANDA: 98 y/o na po ako.
HOST: Wow! Ang tanda nyo na pala! O, sige po... manawagan na kayo.
TANDA: Itay, umuwi na kayo! Hindi na nagagalit si Lolo sa inyo!

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you is!
you is!
you is!
-sigaw ni Aling Dionisia pagdating sa Amerika..
Andito na Ako sa 'you is!'

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sa isang Birthday Party
Aling Dionisia: Blue!!!
                   Blue the Kick!!!!

White hair chronicles XXI - My Sharona singer dead at 57

The Knack lead singer Doug Fieger, who co-wrote the 1979 hit My Sharona, has died at age 57 after battling cancer for 5 years. The song was the biggest hit of 1979 with its easily recognizable and superb bass riff. I think this is their only song that made it big time but it is enough to cement their legacy in rock and roll history.

Back in the '70's, My Sharona plus other punk/new wave songs, were a welcome respite for teenagers who were turned off by disco music.

Fierer co-wrote the song when he was about 27. He was inspired by 16-year Sharona, making him a sort of DOM. Somebody like that is surely a jail bait (see photo). She would make a white hair chronicler a DOM too.

Have we lost that lovin' feeling?

Pinoys take pride in being good lovers. But if recent studies are to be believed, we've lost that lovin' feeling, baby!

SWS says 7 out of 10 (71%) adult Filipinos would choose a lifetime partner who loves him/her more, while 28% would choose a lifetime partner whom he/she loves more. That preference was dominant in all areas and classes. Well, that may not exactly show diminishing capacity to love, us Filipinos may just be a pampered lot.

The NSCB compiled love related statistics that show that between 1980 and 2000, the proportion of married persons has dropped by about 5 percentage points. On the other hand the number of divorced/separated has doubled over the same time period. And the proportion of women who are no longer living together or are separated, has almost doubled between 1993 and 2008.

All this may data point to the Filipinos losing their traditional institutions like marriage and family. As to the Pinoys capacity to love, that is stronger than ever. In fact, what the stats do not show is that Pinoys all out of love only to rebound quickly and fall in love again. That is why tax authorities will run after motels and restaurants this Valentine’s Day.

Love formula worked for me

A mathematical formula devised by an Australian mathematician predicts the time to fall in love. The equation called the "Fiancee Formula" was created by Professor Tony Dooley works by factoring in the age at which you start looking for a spouse and the absolute oldest age you would consider getting married.

"Applying maths to matters of the heart is always a dangerous prospect. In human life when you're dealing with emotions you have to think much harder," the professor said. "But if you want to work out the right moment to start getting serious, this actually gives you a mathematical framework to think about it." He claims a success rate of almost 40 per cent.

The formula goes as follows:

1. Choose the oldest age by which you want to get married, for example, 39. Call this 'n'.

2. Decide the earliest age at which you'll start to consider a potential spouse, for example, 20. This age becomes 'p'.

3. Subtract 'p' from 'n' (39 - 20), then multiply the result by 0.368. This equals 6.992.

4. Add this to your minimum age.

This formula worked for me almost to the day. In my younger years I thought I should not reach 40 before getting married, so my 'n' was 39. At 29, I realized that the lady who's now my wife is the really the one for me. My 'p' is 29. Subtracting 'p' from 'n' gives 10. Multiply this by 0.368, the result is 3.68. Add this to 29, equals 32.68. Going by the formula my wedding should have been 8 months and 4.8 days after my birthday 32nd. I got married 5 days early.

White hair chronicles XX - death and reunion

This past weekend I met old friends from two different chapters in my life. The two vastly different reasons for the occasions are becoming recurring themes for my white hair chronicles. They always remind me of my graying hair.

An office mate from my first job lost her year long battle with cancer. She was a comadre, a very close friend, a confidante. She was a vibrant, colorful personality, definitely a character that you will never forget. When we learned about her diagnosed condition last year, friends and colleagues immediately offered prayers for her quick and full recovery. For a good part of the year, the prayers seemed to work. She regained her strength, her hair and her zest for life. But cancer is such a traitorous disease. It came back to attack her other organs. In the end, her illness may have claimed her mortal body but we, her friends who had a sort of reunion at her funeral wake, know her faith and spirit are unbowed.

Still on reunions - Facebook has brought together my elementary school classmates. A classmate who had lived in Texas for more than half of her life flew into town. She isn't the shy, innocent, prepubescent girl that we knew anymore. She metamorphosed into a sophisticated, articulate, tennis playing mom who can fix flood soaked homes DIY style. Another classmate, who we remember to be another shy girl, has a rather winsome smile and intriguingly fairer complexion in her profile photo. Facebook updates, however, can never be enough. We had to meet in person. And so we did. And we're glad we did.

Thirty plus years may add white hairs and 60 pounds (kilos to some). It may ravage our bodies. But we, my comadre and my batchmates, no matter what, will always stay forever young.

Villar has spent over half a billion pesos on ads so far

BusinessWorld Online reported that presidential aspirant Sen. Manuel B. Villar was at 14th place in the list of top 20 advertisers in the last quarter of 2009. Villar spent P543 million from October to December 2009, a 551% increase from last year. That probably does not include those ads paid for his "friends". And it's not even the start of  "official" campaign period.

There is no reason to doubt the validity of the report given that Villar's ads are really all over the media. Perhaps the figure is even understated. That figure could easily go up if we factor in the production costs of the ads.

What the voters should realize is how a politician can manage to amass a fabulous fortune by influencing the public works projects around his properties. First, make the public works department construct roads for your properties even if there are on-going road projects for that. Then, make the government pay top money for your properties even if adjacent properties are not as expensive. The politician cuts it both ways - by kickbacks on the road project and by getting paid premium price for the properties. But wait, there's more. The properties now are valued much, much more because of the road improvements.

Don't wonder why more than half a billion on advertising in just three months is peanuts, and he's not even officially campaigning yet.

Don't vote for Man, Evil, Liar

Proverbs 17:4 A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue.
(image found in the Internet)

My women's tennis album 26 - Open fashion

Tennis fashion in this year's Australian Open. Plus more photos from last year's Open.

Just Joking 3

Tawagin na lang natin syang si Super Isko!

"Isko" is a  Filipino nickname for Francisco.. 

A boy named Isko was very sad in his class.. 

The teacher asked, "Isko what is your problem?" 

Isko answered, "I'm too smart for the first-grade. My sister is in the third grade and I'm smarter than she is. I think I should be in the third-grade too!" 

The teacher had enough. She took Isko to the principal's office. While Isko waited in the outer office, the teacher explained to the principal what the situation was. The principal told the teacher he would give the boy a test and if he failed to answer any of the questions he was to go back to the first-grade and behave. She agreed. 

Isko was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he agreed to take the test. 

Principal: "What is 3 x 3 ?" 
Isko: "9". 

Principal: "What is 6 x 6 ?" 
Isko: "36" 

And so it went with every question the principal thought a third-grade should know. 

The principal looks at the teacher and tells her, "I think Isko can go to the third-grade." 

Teacher says to the principal, "I have some of my own questions. Can I ask him?" 

The principal and Isko both agreed. 

Teacher asks, "What does a cow have four of and that I have only two of? 
Isko: After a moment, " Legs." 

Teacher: What is in your pants that you have but I do not have? 
Isko: " Pockets " 

Teacher: What starts with a C and ends with a T, is hairy, oval, delicious and contains thin whitish liquid?
Isko: Coconut 

Teacher: What goes in hard and pink then comes out soft and sticky? 
The principal's eyes open really wide and before he could stop the answer, Isko was taking charge. 

Isko: Bubblegum 

Teacher: What does a man do standing up, a woman does sitting down and a dog does on three legs? 

The principal's eyes open really wide and before he could stop the answer.... 
Isko: Shake hands 

Teacher: Now I will ask some "Who am I" sort of questions, Okay? 
Isko: Yep. 

Teacher: You stick your poles inside me. You tie me down to get me up. I get wet before you do. 
Isko: Tent 

Teacher: A finger goes in me. You fiddle with me when you're bored. The best man always has me first.. 
The principal was looking restless, a bit tense and took one large Jack Danielpeg. 
Isko: Wedding Ring 

Teacher: I come in many sizes. When I'm not well, I drip. When you blow me, you feel good.
Isko: Nose 

Teacher: I have a stiff shaft. My tip penetrates. I come with a quiver. 
Isko: Arrow 

Teacher: What word starts with a 'F' and ends in 'K' that means lot of heat and excitement? 
Isko: Firetruck 

Teacher: What starts with a 'F' and ends in 'K' and if you don't get it, you have to use your hand. 
Isko: Fork 

Teacher: What is it that all men have one. It's longer on some men, than others, the pope doesn't use his and a man gives it to his wife after they're married ? 
Isko: SURNAME 

Teacher: What part of the man has no bone but has muscles, has lots of veins, like pumping, and is responsible for making love ? 
Isko: HEART 

The principal breathed a sigh of relief and said to the Teacher: 

"Send this boy to Harvard University !! Even I got the last ten questions wrong myself!"

The coward from Tondo walks ater the talk

Sen. Villar tried to defend himself from his colleagues' accusations over the C5 controversy. He proudly said "walang pong duwag na taga-Tondo". The senator from Las Pinas could not be referring to himself because he quickly left the hall and refused to be interpellated. He did not walk the talk. He walked after the talk.

Villar denied the charges and refused to recognize the committee that handles the case. He presented data that obfuscate the issues already made clear and simple by Monsod. He could have salvaged some public sympathy had he answered questions credibly. Perhaps he simply doesn't have the answers.

"You can have all the facts and figures, all the supporting evidence, all the endorsement that you want, but if you don't command trust, you won't get anywhere", said Niall FitzGerald, former chairman of Unilever, as quoted by Stephen Covey in his book The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything.  This is what Villar has been reduced to - an untrusted candidate that won't go anywhere. As Gandhi once said, "the moment there is suspicion about a person's motives, everything he does becomes tainted."

The people will not vote for the beneficiary of the C-5 anomaly

Nakaligo ka na ba sa gitna ng basura

Nagpasko ka na ba sa gitna ng kalsada

yan ang tanong namin

tunay ka bang isa sa amin

 Si Money Bili-yar dapat lang ibasura

Dinoble niya ang budget sa iisang kalsada

yan ang alam namin

ayaw lang niyang aminin