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Showing posts from January, 2006

Boss, dibidi?

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dibidi (dē'bē-dē') n. 1. Filipino term for an optical digital disc containing video, illegally reproduced and sold at bargain prices on the street. 2. A corrupted pronunciation of the acronym DVD . Piracy in the movie industry has been rampant for the longest time now, particularly here, in this third world country I call home. You want a copy of the latest movie on DVD? Chances are, a vendor near your place can fix you up, for a fraction of the price of the real deal. If you're the naive type who can't tell the difference between a dibidi vendor and a cigarette vendor, all you have to do is spot those people carrying binders with transparent sleeves holding the labels of their wares. If you have your doubts, just stand still, and it's almost a certainty that one of these people will approach you with the standard sales pitch: boss, dibidi? If you look horny, maybe you'll get the other pitch: boss, x? This phenomenon has bred an underground culture of sorts

Point scored....

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More than three months ago, I wrote a post entitled: Don't they have anything better to do? which discussed the long standing on-air feuding of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) and Ang Dating Daan (ADD). TV definitely has its uses, but somehow, using it as a medium for hurling insults against a faith/religion/order/cult with opposing beliefs doesn't seem at all proper, don't you agree? Well, it would seem that someone scored a point from this broadcast bickering. Check this out: Taken yesterday. The Motion Picture Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), created during the Marcos era by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1986, has the power to power to "screen, review and examine all television programs and delete materials which the MTRCB may feel is in contravention of Filipino morals and values." However, Soriano has contested this power of the MTRCB, claiming that it "is unconstitutional in so far as it sanctions the censorship of religious TV pr

My top ten....

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Ronallan! Michelangelo finished his great statue of ronallan in 1504, after eighteen months work. Four-fifths of the surface of ronallan is covered in water. Wearing headphones for an hour will increase the amount of ronallan in your ear 700 times! If you drop ronallan from more than three metres above ground level, he will always land feet-first! Ronallan will give a higher yield if milked when listening to music. The International Space Station weighs about 500 tons and is the same size as ronallan. Snow White's coffin was made of ronallan! Lightning strikes ronallan over seven times every hour. All swans in England belong to ronallan. The average human spends about 30 days during their life in ronallan! I am interested in - do tell me about her him it them

What's Your Rank?

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Kung Hei Fat Choy!

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Happy Chinese New Year!!! 2006 - Year of the Dog 恭喜發財 Kung Hei Fat Choy! Gong Xi Fa Cai! :-) Click here to read your fortune in the year of the Fire Dog.

Marilyn Monroe's playboy photos....

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With the popularity of my earlier Playboy related posts featuring Debbie Gibson (see previous post here ) and Tiffany (see previous post here ), I thought I'd go back in time, 53 years ago to be exact, to when the very first issue came out in 1953. Featured as Playmate and Miss December 1953 was no other than the timeless Marilyn Monroe . Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jeane Baker in real life, is easily one of the world's most recognizable celebrities, and was controversial both in life and in death. Married at age 16, she was a factory worker, then a model before she signed on as an actress for 20th Century Fox. She adopted the screen name Marilyn Monroe with Marilyn taken after actress Marilyn Miller and Monroe , being her mother's maiden name. She was just 20 at the time. She became a celebrated star, owed more from her powerful sex appeal and charisma rather than her acting ability. She starred in a string of hit movies (mostly playing the role of a stereotypical dumb b

The truth hurts....

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I so want one....

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Wouldn't it be nice if Nokia , Sony-Ericsson , or Motorola actually came up with a phone with this feature? Think of all the possibilities. I want one. :-)

Social health insurance....

A couple, both well into their 80s, went to a sex therapist's office. The doctor asks, "What can I do for you?" The man says, "Will you watch us have sexual intercourse?" The doctor gasps and raises both eyebrows, but he is so amazed that such an elderly couple is asking him to observe them, for his sexual advice, that he agrees. When the couple finishes, the doctor says, "There's absolutely nothing wrong with the way you have intercourse." He thanks them for coming, wishes them good luck, charges them $50 and he then says good bye. The next week, however, the couple returns and asks the sex therapist to observe them again. The sex therapist is a bit puzzled, but agrees, again amazed that they are on such a frequent sexual schedule at their age. This happens again over the next few weeks. Each time the couple makes an appointment, asks him to observe,then has intercourse with no problems, pays the doctor and leaves. Finally, after five or six weeks

Where My Heart Will Take Me

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Where My Heart Will Take Me Russell Watson It's been a long road, getting from there to here. It's been a long time, but my time is finally near. And I can feel the change in the wind right now. Nothing's in my way. And they're not gonna hold me down no more, no they're not gonna hold me down. Cause I've got faith of the heart. I'm going where my heart will take me. I've got faith to believe. I can do anything. I've got strength of the soul. And no one's gonna bend or break me. I can reach any star. I've got faith, faith of the heart. It's been a long night. Trying to find my way. Been through the darkness. Now I finally have my day. And I will see my dream come alive at last. I will touch the sky. And they're not gonna hold me down no more, no they're not gonna change my mind. Cause I've got faith of the heart. I'm going where my heart will take me. I've got faith to believe. I can do anything. I've got strength o

Star Trek: Enterprise series review....

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Warning: If you are not into Star Trek , skip reading this post. It was about three months ago when I posted a review of the Star Trek: Voyager series. I thought that would be the last Trek series that I would posting a review on. I guess I spoke too soon. This morning I finally completed watching all four seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise (ST:ENT). Like most other fans of the franchise, I too have mixed feelings about it. As an introduction to this review, let me quote an excerpt from my teaser write-up of sorts from last December: ...it's pretty common knowledge that Star Trek: Enterprise has turned out to be the most controversial Trek series ever since the franchise was reborn in 1987. Unlike the earlier three shows which lasted seven seasons each, Enterprise only lasted four due to dismal ratings. Its relatively poor viewership and acceptance by the Trek community were due in part to allegations that the series violated Star Trek canon and continuity over the course of its

A Don and his Grandson

An old Italian Mafia Don is dying and he called his grandson to his bed. "Grandson I wanna you lisina me. I wanna for you to take my chrome plated .38 revolver so you will always remember me." "But grandpa I really don't like guns, how about you leaving me your Rolex watch instead." "You lisina to me, soma day you gonna a be a runna da bissness, you gonna have a beautiful wife, lotsa money, a big home and maybe a couple of bambino. Soma day you gonna coma home and maybe finda your wife in bed with another man. What you gonna do then? Point to your watch and say, TIME'S UP?" Thanks to Annie for sending me this one. :-)

Crazy things in the news....

I chanced upon a lot of inane news today. Reading news items like these leave no doubt in my mind why this country is going to the dogs: Lozano files complaint vs JDV, House secgen Atty. Oliver Lozano, the one who filed a recycled impeachment complaint last January 18 at the House of Representatives which was promptly returned for not being endorsed by any member of Congress (see previous post here ) filed a complaint against Speaker Jose de Venecia and House Secretary General Roberto Nazareno. The complaint is based on their refusal to act on the complaint he filed. Anak ng... siya na nga mali, siya pa ang may ganang magreklamo. Naturingang abogado pa. Employers say no to 'Pacman' holiday Senator Bong Revilla's proposal to declare January 27 a special non-working holiday in celebration of Manny Pacquiao's victory is opposed by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP). Ano ba naman itong pagpapapapel ni Senador Revilla, nanalo lang si Pacquiao, gusto alang

"Walking Encyclopedia" passes away....

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Ernie Baron, host of the popular DZMM radio program Knowledge Power and resident weatherman on ABS-CBN's long running news program TV Patrol was declared dead at Medical Center Muntinlupa at 9:30 this morning. He was 65. Cause of death was suspected to be either heart or diabetes related. For many people, he was the living and breathing epitome of science wizardry and genius, always with a ready answer to virtually any sort of question phoned in by listeners of his nightly radio program. He was also known for the science snippets that he shared with viewers after giving the daily weather report. For the masses, he was the face behind science itself. Of course, like the rest of us, he had his less than desirable points too... Personally, I never did warm up to his particular style of imparting scientific knowledge. Oftentimes, I would find his answers to various queries inaccurate, phrased incorrectly, unresponsive, and sometimes just flat out wrong. There are instances that I thi

Pacquiao knocks out Morales....

Manny Pacquiao finally got his revenge. Early last year "The Pacman" was defeated via unanimous decision by Mexican bruiser Erik Morales. A lot of us felt that Pacquiao was cheated of victory. A rematch was inevitable to finally settle the issue. Pacquiao had a lot of excuses then. Now, after their second meeting in the ring, he didn't need any. Only a few hours ago today (January 21 in Las Vegas), he finally got back at the Mexican, landing a variety of hard blows to knock him down twice in the tenth round. The second knockdown ended it for Morales, with referee Kenny Bayless waving the contest off 2:33 into the round, amidst the cheers of more than 14,000 boxing fans at the Thomas & Mack Arena. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for the next couple of weeks. More likely than not the country will be preoccupied toasting Pacquiao's victory rather than be taking potshots at her Presidency. And that's just fine with me. We r

Currently watching....

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The other day I got a whole bunch of DVDs to watch. I probably got a lot more than I should, since this means that watching them at the conservative rate of one DVD a day, I have enough to last me for the next six weeks. What can I say? I'm a pretty bored individual. Seasons 3 and 4 of Star Trek: Enterprise (see previous post here ) Watch this space for my Star Trek: Enterperise series review soon. Seasons 5, and 7-12 of The Simpsons . If you can't tell, I'm obviously a fan.

Rock bottom....

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You know you've hit rock bottom when your dinner consists of microwaved popcorn...

Sonnet CXXV

Were 't aught to me I bore the canopy, With my extern the outward honouring, Or laid great bases for eternity, Which prove more short than waste or ruining? Have I not seen dwellers on form and favour Lose all, and more, by paying too much rent, For compound sweet forgoing simple savour, Pitiful thrivers, in their gazing spent? No, let me be obsequious in thy heart, And take thou my oblation, poor but free, Which is not mix'd with seconds, knows no art, But mutual render, only me for thee. Hence, thou suborn'd informer! a true soul When most impeach'd stands least in thy control. - William Shakespeare

Sigh....

Can't think of anything to blog about lately. I seem to be suffering a rather severe case of writer's block again. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow something will come to me. So that your visit today isn't a total waste, here are a couple of things you may consider doing while you're here: Add me to your Friendster list ; Visit me on MySpace ; Join me on hi5 by clicking here ; Add me to your Yahoo! Messenger contacts. My Yahoo ID for this blog is ronallandottk ; Add me to your MSN Messenger contacts. Use racp_2k1@hotmail.com ; Sign my guestbook Yes, this blog actually has a guestbook. I oughta just delete it, since guestbooks are so 90s, but since I already have it up, might as well use it; If you like what you see on this blog, link me up. My URL is http://ronallan.blogspot.com/ ; Perhaps you'd also like to subscribe to my feed. My RSS feed is at http://feeds.feedburner.com/QuaereVerum ; Vote for this blog on PinoyTopBlogs.com by clicking here . Frankly, I don't

A Cup of Coffee

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old University lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups(?) porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee. When all of them had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said: "If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other's cups." "Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and

Shit Happens

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Been facing a dry spell on the blogging front lately, with a recent relapse of writer's block again. Well, until my writing powers return, here's something I picked up from Guy's blog , but with a little twist of my own at the end. :-) SHIT HAPPENS Close-to-complete Ideology and Religion Shit List. 1. * Taoism: Shit happens. 2. * Confucianism: Confucius say, "Shit happens." 3. * Buddhism: If shit happens, it isn't really shit. 4. * Zen Buddhism: Shit is, and is not. 5. * Zen Buddhism #2: What is the sound of shit happening? 6. * Hinduism: This shit has happened before. 7. * Islam: If shit happens, it is the will of Allah. 8. * Islam #2: If shit happens, kill the person responsible. 9. * Islam #3: If shit happens, blame Israel. 10. * Catholicism: If shit happens, you deserve it. 11. * Protestantism: Let shit happen to someone else. 12. * Presbyterian: This shit was bound to happen. 13. * Episcopalian: It's not so bad if sh

Political sabotage....

What's wrong with this picture? Two days ago lawyer Oliver Lozano refiled last year's impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the very same one endorsed by the opposition. No, it is not a new impeachment complaint. It is exactly the same one filed last year. Nothing more, nothing less. No, it wasn't reendorsed by the opposition as well. The endorsements affixed on the impeachment complaint are also those from last year. Par. 5, Sec. 3 of Article XI of the 1987 Constitution prohibits the initiation of impeachment proceedings against the same official more than once within a period of one year. As a lawyer, Atty. Lozano without a doubt is aware of this. Yet he still went through and refiled the impeachment complaint. Why? He gave the following reasons: He wanted "to pre-eempt" threats of a coup d'état; He did not want anyone to get ahead of him; and He wanted to put a closure to political issues and controversies. Is he out of his min

Where there's a wheel....

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Photo taken at some wheel and tire shop near my home.

Marines not above the law

This is the editorial of the January 6, 2006 edition of The San Francisco Chronicle which advocates the conduct of an investigation on the allegations that four U.S. Marines raped a 22 year-old Filipina on November 21, 2005. It's good to know that there are still some who are vocal enough to say that Americans, American Marines in particular, should be held accountable for any crimes they commit, especially those committed on foreign soil. Marines not above the law Editorial, The San Francisco Chronicle, January 6, 2006 THE TROUBLING case of four U.S. Marines charged with raping a 22-year-old woman in the Philippines on Nov. 21, 2005, has justifiably sparked outrage among Filipinos at home and abroad. On Tuesday, a Philippine judge vowed he would seek to obtain local custody of the Marines, who are being held at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. On the same day, lawyers for the accused asked that the case be dismissed. The men, who were in the Philippines because of a bilateral accord

The Fern and the Bamboo

One day I decided to quit. I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God. "God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?" His answer surprised me... "Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?" "Yes", I replied. "When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo." He said. "In the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In the fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. "I would not quit." He said

Cigarettes and Tampons

A man walks into a pharmacy and wanders up and down the aisles. The sales girl notices him and asks him if she can help him. He answers that he is looking for a box of tampons for his wife. She directs him down the correct aisle. A few minutes later, he deposits a huge bag of cotton balls and a ball of string on the counter. She says, confused, "Sir, I thought you were looking for some tampons for your wife? He answers, "You see, it's like this, yesterday, I sent my wife to the store to get me a carton of cigarettes, and she came back with a tin of tobacco and some rolling papers; cause it's sooo-ooo--oo-ooo much cheaper. So, I figure if I have to roll my own ........... so does she." (I figure this guy is the one on the milk carton!)

Sandalan

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Sandalan 6 Cycle Mind Kanina pa kitang pinagmamasdan Mukha mo’y di maipinta Malungkot ka na naman Kanina pa kitang inaalok nang Kuwentuhang masaya Parang sa’yo’y balewala Sandali nga Teka lang May nakalimutan ka Di ba’t pwede mo akong iyakan Sige lang Sandal ka na At wag mong pipigilan Iiyak mo na ang lahat sa langit Iiyak mo lang ang lahat sa akin Andito lang ako naghihintay Lagi mong tatandaan Di ka naman nag-iisa Andito lang ako makikinig sayo Sa buong magdamag Sa’kin di ka balewala Sige lang Sige lang sige lang

The gold trick....

A friend at work once told me about a certain type of con known as the gold trick . It was supposedly a popular con during the 80s and presumably earlier, but this is the first time that I've ever heard about it. It seems so bizarre, but this friend of mine swears it's true, and she even knows of a family that actually fell for it about fifteen years ago or so. So, what is this gold trick ? The story goes something like this (slightly embellished for dramatic effect): A man is walking around an undeveloped part of the land he owns. Its still full of trees and various animal life. It's practically still as natural as nature intended it to be, with no buildings, no houses, nothing. No manmade structures of any sort. While surveying his property, he thinks he hears someone speaking to him. He looks around, but sees no one. He hears the voice again, clearly, distinctly. Its not like any voice he has heard before. It is so unearthly that he shivers in fear. The voice seems to b

The new face of Virra Mall....

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The recently renovated and reopened Virra Mall in Greenhills. A far cry from the somewhat sleazy excuse of a mall that I had been frequenting since the 80s whenever I was looking for some electronic doodad, software, or a pirated DVD movie. I miss the old Virra Mall. :-)

Flash drive on the cheap....

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Here's a tech tip. If you have a lot of spare memory cards ( MMC , RS-MMC, SD ) lying around, you can use them as portable file storage by means of an inexpensive USB memory card reader/writer only a wee bit larger than an actual flash drive. Gives those small capacity cards, the ones they bundle with digital cameras and cellphones that we upgrade right away a new lease on life as a flash drive. And it certainly beats walking around with a floppy disk in hand. Compact card reader/writer manufactured by TwinMos with a 64 MB RS-MMC installed.

Words

A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000. The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men... The husband then turned to his wife and asked, "What?"

Another conversation....

I was actually supposed to blog about something else, but after reading Guy 's A conversation... , I remembered a somewhat similar experience which happened to me about four years ago. The experience was so striking that it was seared into my very consciousness, never to be forgotten. And now, I'll share the story with all of you. :-) But first, a backgrounder. The year was 2001. The date was January 19. It was a Friday. The members of the prosecution team in President Joseph Estrada's impeachment trial just resigned two days earlier as a result of the Senate voting 11-10 to not open the controversial second envelope allegedly containing highly incriminating evidence. This sparked a wave of protests, as people started thinking that President Estrada was likely to be acquitted. People started massing at the EDSA Shrine, demanding that President Estrada step down. The huge volume of people in the area causes a great traffic jam, stopping cars in their tracks even from sev

Kung Wala Ka

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Kung Wala Ka Hale Natapos na ang lahat Dito pa rin ako Heto nakatulala Sa mundo, sa mundo... Di mo maiisip Di mo makikita Mga pangarap ko Para sa'yo, para sa'yo... Ohh...hindi ko maisip kung wala ka Ohh...sa buhay ko.. Nariyan ka pa ba? Di ko na madama Kung merong madaraanan Pasulong, pasulong... Ohh...hindi ko maisip kung wala ka Ohh...sa buhay ko.. Sundan mo... Ang paghimig na lulan ng aking pinagtatanto Sundan mo... Ang paghimig ko Ohh...hindi ko maisip kung wala ka Ohh...sa buhay ko...

Once there was an email....

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Last month I received an email from an old colleague of mine. By the way, he's a he . If you don't see how that's relevant, just read on. The email was addressed, I assume, to virtually everyone in his address book given the huge volume of names in the header. This was the message (names have been blurred to protect the identities of the people concerned) : I took note of the number, and went on as I usually did. After a few days, another email arrived: What the f...? In the days that followed I get even more email: Eventually, my former colleague, the one who sent the very first email, decided to come out into the open and issue a statement of his own. After giving a brief background about he and the other guy met, and his disappointment over the other's lack of discretion, he said this: He then picks himself up and then says: I guess he finally came to terms with the entire incident. The last installment in this email thread is from someone who summed everything up qu

Wife vs. Husband

A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position. As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?" "Yep," the wife replied, "in-laws."

Veiled threats?

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The banner headline on yesterday's issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) says it all: Ramos gives GMA until mid-'07 to quit . Fidel V. Ramos, the 12th President of the Republic of the Philippines, has just issued an ultimatum to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the 14th President of the Republic of the Philippines, for her to step down and make her decision whether she would run for parliament under a new constitution by June 30, 2007, or else . Is it just me, or is there something amiss here? What business does a former president have making demands to a current one? Who is Ramos speaking for? Does he represent a group of concerned citizens? Does he represent the masses? Does he represent any organized group? Does he represent the armed forces? Or is he just representing his own interests? I honestly don't know. What do you think? It is only here in the Philippines that politicians love politics so much that ex-presidents still get into the picture, despite the fact that

Creation

A man said to his wife one day, "I don't know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time. "The wife responded, "Allow me to explain. God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!"

The bored office worker - a photo essay....

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While drafting yesterday's somewhat offbeat post and while combing though my My Pictures folder searching for a pic of our cat, I came across a lot of archived old photos that I took with my camera phone quite a number of months ago. I never did get to use many of them here on my blog, but some of them seem good enough to be blog-worthy, and it would be shame to let them go to waste. Even found a common theme for them, which is actually the title of this post: The bored office worker - a photo essay.... If anything else, these photos only demonstrate how much idle time I have on my hands: A southeast view from the 19th floor of my office building. That's Shaw Boulevard. Another view, from precisely the same vantage point, at night. I have a similar set of pictures, looking westward and with different weather conditions on my earlier post entitled The Pasig City Skyline.... While I may not like working in this office, I certainly have no complaints about the view. This is the

Marriage Seminar

While attending a Marriage Seminar dealing with communication, Tom and his wife Grace listened to the instructor, "It is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other." He addressed the man, "Can you describe your wife's favorite flower?" Tom leaned over, touched his wife's arm gently and whispered, "It's Pillsbury, isn't it?" The rest of the story gets rather ugly, so I'll stop right here.

Building a better mousetrap....

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Seriously, do we really need a better mousetrap? Somehow, I don't think anything beats the old reliable, sticky paper . I'd rather use sticky paper than conventional mousetraps, or even rat poison. You don't have to get rid of the dead rodent and reset the trap, or worry about pets and children eating the poisonous rat pellets. Just throw out the entire thing, trap and rat, and that's that. While our house is for the most part, rodent-free, exposed sacks of rice stacked right on our pantry floor, or for that matter, any huge concentration of food seem to bring them out of the woodwork. Like in the movie Field of Dreams , if you build it, they will come . I hate mice. Oh, I can tolerate the critters running around the floor, but somehow it really gets my goat when I see various wires and cables of electronic equipment, make that expensive electronic equipment, full of bite marks from the little monsters. And the sensation of their teeny-weeny feet on your flesh is disgu

Taking it easy....

It would seem that for the past several days, most, if not all of the topics I have been blogging about have been pretty mundane. After a while, one just gets tired of writing about politics, history, philosophy, life, and other toxic subjects. Does that mean that I'm giving up my search for the truth ? No, of course not. I still fully intend to live up to this blog's name and continue on, seeking the truth in all facets of human existence. But for now, I'm taking things easy, and blog about the simple stuff for a while. I have a lot of heavy posts waiting in the wings, still in draft stage. I'll get around to finishing them sooner or later. Till then, I have to make do with the uncomplicated stuff. Just like my next post. Unfortunately, it seems to be quite gross and disgusting as well...but I'll let you be the judge of that...:-)

New Year's message....

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A beautiful New Year's message from Kadyo . Best wishes, and a happy and prosperous New Year to you and your family!

Women's Revenge

"Cash, check or charge?" I asked, after folding items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet, I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse. "So, do you always carry your TV remote?" I asked. "No," she replied, " but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally."

Old magazines....

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A week or so ago, after Christmas and just before the start of the new year, I found myself in a cleaning frenzy of sorts, sifting through a lot of my old stuff for items that would be better tossed into the trash. Some of this stuff even met their end in a blaze of glory, literally (see previous post here ). Among the stuff that I threw out were several kilos worth of old magazines, some dating back 20 years. If I had my way, I probably wouldn't be getting rid of them, but considering that most of them had been contaminated by the excrement of mice and various insects, I decided to play it safe (watching all those programs about various disease-causing pathogens on the Discovery Channel can really make you paranoid) and commit them to the trash heap. While I was sorting through these old magazines, I just realized that even as a kid in my early teens, I already had a voracious appetite for reading. Remember, these were during the days before cable TV and internet access were comm

One Glass of Milk

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One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?" "You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept payment for a kindness." He said... "Then I thank you from my heart." As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt; stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit. Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly

With A Smile

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With A Smile South Border Featuring Kelly Badon Lift your head, baby, don't be scared Of the things that could go wrong along the way You'll get by with a smile You can't win at everything but you can try. Baby, you don't have to worry 'Coz there ain't no need to hurry No one ever said that there's an easy way When they're closing all their doors And they don't want you anymore This sounds funny but I'll say it anyway. Girl I'll stay through the bad times Even if I have to fetch you everyday I'll get by if you smile You can never be too happy in this life. In a world where everybody Hates a happy ending story It's a wonder love can make the world go round And don't let it bring you down And turn your face into a frown You'll get along with a little prayer and a song. (Too doo doo...) Let me hear you sing it (Too doo doo...) In a world where everybody Hates a happy ending story It's a wonder love can make the world go round

Remember the Eraserheads?

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Remember the Eraserheads ? The Eraserheads was the Pinoy band of the 90s, responsible for bringing alternative Pinoy rock into the mainstream, and sparking the resurgence of band-based original Pilipino music (OPM). Consisting of four University of the Philippines (UP) students Ely Buendia, Marcus Adoro, Buddy Zabala, and Raymund Marasigan, the quartet often referred to as "the Beatles of the Philippines" because of their innovative and experimental styles rocked their way through the 90s and the early part of the new millenium with no less than eight full albums, two extended play (EP) albums, and a compilation of their greatest hits. Sadly, the E-heads, as they were fondly known, disbanded in 2002. But not without leaving us a legacy of music that remains very popular to this day. Virtually all of their albums, from their first, Ultraelectromagneticpop , followed by Circus , Cutterpillow , Fruitcake , Sticker Happy , Aloha Milkyway , Natin99 , and Carbon Stereoxide have