BGM: [ Ironic ] by Alanis Morrisette

===== =====

My top 5 for the week:
1. Mad Black Machine by Nightmare
2. Don't Say Lazy by the K-On seiyuus
3. Always by Bon Jovi
4. Drink it Down by L'Arc~en~Ciel
5. Somebody by Depeche Mode

===== =====

I'm still currently super-busy at work due to, well, it's summer here in RP.

Most businesses finish their processes at the end of May, or before June, especially here in my division. Most of my projects are due by the end of the month, or so I'm told.

I'm racking up sleep debt, overtime hours and higher possibilities of having ulcer.

I'm aslo doing side jobs. They pay a lot (but not as much as my current job) and there's not much red tape but it adds up to my sleepless nights.

I might drop my side jobs for at least 6 months to replenish myself and reclaim my Saturdays again. But then, I have to sacrifice some things, like my manga/jmusic-cd fund.

On a happy note, I'm close to having 70 titles in my manga library. That's a whole lotta improvement.

3rd to 4th Year College - 12 manga
3 months at first job (May-July) - 8 manga
next 3 months at first job (July-September) - 12 manga
next 3 months at first job (September-November) - 10 manga
next 3 months at first job (November-January) - 11 manga
next 3 months at first job (January-March) - 12 manga
next 3 months at first job (March-May) - 4 manga (and still buying)

I'm also racking up a few Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat magazines. Also some Shoxx, Fool's Mate and other music magazines catering to Visual Kei fans.

It was a boon for me to not open my PC everytime I want to read manga. Scanlations are useless in cases of power shortages. Once this last April we were stuck with one day without electricity. My family was bored to death, while I was in my room reading all the mangas I have bought. Pow! Boredom killer.

But when that reaches 90, I might have to buy myself a good wooden glass-doored bookshelf.

Might as well be true. As of this moment you read this, I've already bought 2 new manga books, courtesy of the local Planet X comic store in Glorietta.

===== =====

Tom Clancy and Dan Brown will surely love to spend a day with my dad.

My dad's a pessimist and he constantly spews conspiracy theories straight from his ass.

I mean, one celebrity screws up, he says that the celebrity's using drugs (without any proof at all). One politician lands in the news, he conjures up these weird bullshit government-loves-leftists type of talk. One wrong number on our water bill and dad said the water company did it on purpose (which is untrue since it was a program error).

I'm starting to despise my old man for being such a pessimist. There's no little problem he cannot inflate.

===== =====

I'm currently looking for a webhost. Then I'll spend 3 months transferring all my blog posts from Blogspot to Wordpress and getting Twitter and Facebook accounts.

I'll try to post again soon, so ciao!

BGM: [ Seventh Heaven ] by L'arc~en~Ciel

==== =====

It feels good to finally find a way out of the jungle named "Websense". Hopefully my DSL connection at home can be resolved by Sunday and I'll be blogging happily ever thereafter again :D

Weekly Top Five:
1. Lacrimosa by Kalafina (sidenote: Kajiura-san never seems to run out of good music nowadays)
2. Naked Love by Nightmare
3. Janie's Got A Gun by Aerosmith
4. Harana by Eraserheads
5. No me Ames by J-Lo and Marc Anthony (the best Spanish song I ever heard)

==== =====

Truth be told, I really missed blogging even if I'm really absorbed by work.

But, I did have some interesting encounters throughout my invisible 3 months.

===== =====

Q.A.

It's the acronym for Quality Assurance. One of the very things a programmer both love and despise. I mean, they have the tools. What errors I cannot see in my program, they see right through it. They suggest very very beneficial things that really enhance my work. They have these beautiful ladies that saunter right through your cubicle to discuss with you. They handle the technical details of a project, paperwork, footwork and lobbying in one. And believe me, they do work hard.

But there are three beefs I have with them:

1. They never attempt to ever soften the blows. Sure, the "error trapping" they do help me. But at the same time, they're blows. Pacquiao-like blows. They never use soft words. Instead, they prefer to use blunt, chiselled words which do not fit with company wording etiquette. I actually hated my IPMsg for a while. Given a medium in which they can use very very informal words that can go unsupervised, they literally take off their gloves and suckerpunches me verbally. I prefer they use email instead, because I prefer talking using soft words in work. I reserve my salty tongue outside my workplace.

2. They attempt to "personalize" the GUIs. One project I had involved me making a standalone webpage for their "portal" which I definitely made using very very general ideas. Initially I had it both red and blue, but suddenly they butt in, and wants the header image - of all bad hues there are in this godly fucking world - semiviolet purple. Damn. I asked them for the reason why, and they said without any hint of restraint - "it's their choice". C'mon, this company we work in is in red and blue, and purple is something you get from a 5-year-old's water color palette! They insist. They have the upper hand, I surrender. But my finger is up in the air anyway.

3. They try to make the impossible demands. The list is too many to mention, but some of them were really freaky in nature. They actually tried to ask if the Javascript's Ok-Cancel combo can be changed to yes-no! Goddamn. But I learned one thing from them too: they have complete disregard for functionality as long as aesthetics of theirs are followed. I tread the delicate balance between functionality and aesthetics in a web page, and these people do not. They just play catch-me in the places of no sane return.

But I still like them. I can't really hate girls, I just sometimes disagree with them but I'll never cross the line :D and work, is just a "that's it" affair.

===== =====

It's getting really pricely to eat here at Makati.

Yes, P**T's got a canteen or two but they mostly server food that can remind you of hospital food, and I'm sick of it. The vegetables are rarely green, the meat is usually rehashed from yesterday, and the soups are rarely delicious.

If you eat here at the Makati area here in Ayala Ave., Philippines, you'll at least see me in one of these establishments at lunch time:

Max's Fried Chicken (Glorietta branch)
KFC (Greenbelt and Landmark branches)
Jolibee (Greenbelt and Landmark branches)
Food Selections (Glorietta)
Tokyo Tokyo (Greenbelt)
Landmark Foodcourt
The Enterprise foodcourt
Ineng's (Dela Rosa branch)

However, eating at these places always leave my wallet dry and gasping for more money.

===== =====

And, as usual, Philippine politics is a disgrace to the entire human race.

I'll try to drop by again soon. Thanks for dropping by. :D

Yep. I'm still alive, I'm just slowly transforming to a workaholic.

-------------------------

Top 5 for the week:
1. Kagerou by BUCK-TICK
2. Monochrome no Kiss by SID
3. Vanilla Salt by Yui Horie
4. This is the New Shit by Marilyn Manson
5. Lost in Blue by Nightmare

-----------------------

Lately I'm enjoying the little nuances and side dishes in life.

I mean, when it rains, I enjoy looking outside through a wet bus window, seeing all the sights through wet glass.

When it's sunny morning, I enjoy walking in the paths where the sun's rays are. It's not even hot - it's warm.

At nighttime, I enjoy seeing stars, counting them slowly while waiting for a bus ride home.

Maybe it's because of my freedom from school life. I rarely did enjoy school, so it became too monotonous. When graduation came and work entered, I was kind of happy that an old monotony was broken, and another new monotony comes in.

And currently I'm somehow absorbed in work, I even neglected blogging for more than two months.

It's been a hectic two months. Lots of overtime (though it pays good), side activities, and I even went into a sideline, because Saturdays seem a lot of shitty boredom.

Mostly I'm engrossed in learning more regarding web designing. My superiors told me that web designers get paid some good dough these days, and it just seems like it's a good career path. Websites are like viewable works of art to me, and I'd like to ply trade at that.

Hm...

Our office "Kris Kringle" is coming up, so I came up of a list of things that would fit in.

Something musical : a High School Musical VCD
Something sexy: a mug with two sexy drawings pf two shopping girls
Something irritating: a mug with an inscription "Brain Dead: 9am - 5pm Mon-Fri" with coconut fragrance sachets inside of it
Something yucky: A whole bag of extra-sour candies, and a whole bag of extra-bitter tea bags
Something personally made: Mini-chiffon cake (yep, I'm also capable of that)

Lately our office is cracking down on proxy websites that most of my officemates use in defiance of Websense filters.

And to top it off, most of my friends are starting to drink heavily at weekends and some weebdays, attributing to the Christmas season.

So there, not that much, but hey, I'm still able to blog.

Hopefully next week I can drop another blog or two. Ciao!

=================

My Top 5 For the Week:

1. Nexus4 by L'arc~en~Ciel
2. Athena by Abingdon boys school
3. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These) by Eurythmics
4. Gekidou by UVERworld
5. Dress by BUCK-TICK

===== =====

Now that I'm at work, it's like becoming a bit duller.
No water cooler chitchats, no colleague bantering, no amusements except those within the "personal amusement" side.

My bosses have no Websense filters. That really is something else, if you get the drift.

I kinda miss the college days, where even if the professor is discussing nonlinear equations I can still hold a discussion (albeit discreetly) with a seatmate once in a while to alleviate boredom.

Ted Turner was right. Boredom kills.

Most of my colleagues here are just like monotonous with work, it's becoming their favorite mantra - work, work and lost of work. Anyway, it's a sacrifice or else we can be headed to the unemployment dumpster. At the very least I'm grateful for a job, because Philippines is famous for high rates of unemployment, so I consider myself fortunate enough to earn at least 3 times the minimum wage rate.

It's almost the same every single fricking day.

Only my anime collection breaks the monotony every day - I download at least 6 episodes a day, so at least it doesn't bore me a bit.

===== =====

I someday plan to move out of my parents' house - I don't want to tolerate my mother's compulsion of "keeping things" anymore, nor her blatant disregard for others' decisions and preferences in favor of hers.

But I have to save some substantial amount of money to buy a decent lot, build a house and decorate it.

My goal is to save 500,000 in 6 years to fuel my ambition. Long road, but hopefully I'll manage to at least reach that goal.

===== =====

Speaking of my mother, it's plain sad to see my status with regards to "respect" with her.

Last week she blatantly ignored my previous pleas NEVER to clean my room again, and she even had the gall to justify her atrocity.

Then she, without a SMS message to inform me, hired a computer technician to "borrow" several cables from my desktop PC to fix her own. What the f**k... Damn it.

She doesn't respect me. She keeps suggesting weird clothing for me to wear to work, she keeps ignoring my requests, she keeps on hoarding despite me and my dad's pleas, and to top her maternal insolence off, she dared to get some cables from my PC without forewarning me.

Does she still deserve my respect?

===== =====

OK, so I'm going to branch off to random topic discussion.
I'll start it by a quote, then I branch to a topic that's related somehow to that quote.

If you can guess where I get the quotes (without Googling), consider yourself an anime eideticker.

> "I like that in high school we get to bring our own lunches. But it's hard getting up early to make it. "

True. Sometimes I'm tempted to wake up early but due to work-related exhaustion, and I'm the hardest one to wake up in my family, so I neglect my plans on that. Well, even if I wake up early, it still sucks in the kitchen.

I mean, there are only dry foods, sardines, meatloafs, vienna sausages, spam, corned beef, and various other canned goods in the pantry. The meat in the freezer, and most of the foods I really like takes too much time to prepare. I don't even think on bringing yesterday's dinner leftovers to work, sometimes the lefover's on the verge of spoiling, and that can give me stomachache.

So, when I cook my meals, I usually end up with a can opener and open a fricking can and fricking cook.
But cooking isn't a simple wonderland - you need knowledge and creativity. I cooked these dishes once for breakfast:

Pineapple-garnished meatloaf curry
Chillied Corned Beef (typical corned beef with lots of onion chives and green chillies)
La Sarsa, Spam Version (fried spam, then boiled 5 minutes with pure Mang Tomas sarsa)
Deep-Fried Sardines
Barakong Sisig
Cold Campbells' Chicken Soup with Chives and Oregano

Sometimes creativity runs out, and I'm stuck for several minutes with several potential ingredients. I end up cooking too fast sometimes, resulting in a few undercooked dishes.

Oh, and since I'm an Asian, rice is a staple. So sometimes I experiment with rice, and I mix it with my stir-fry meals to make myself some ready-to-eat meals without much derring-do.

And after preparing and eating, I realize I lost sleeping time, I'm already tired, and I have to wash an extra food container since my mom keeps hiding the tupperware as if she's a businessman hiding some assets when the tax inspector comes.

Sadly, I oftem miss my wake-up mark, and I end up trooping to P***'s nearest Mini Stop and buying myself a jumbo siopao.

> "I smashed that cockroach just now with my textbook."

Last week my sister screamed her lungs out at something - like those extras in staple horror movies. I hurriedly went out of my room to investigate what incited her bitching.

It was a damn cockroach.

Both of my sisters dislike cockroaches - be it alive, dead, beheaded, mutilated, squashed, solitary, or even just barely twitching. I have to say it's like an elephant being scared of a dog.

I instantly grabbed the nearest whackable object I can grab and squashed the insect to a squishy entrail puree. Too late I noticed that object was my younger sister's textbook. Then I instantly grabbed another book while she wasn't looking and claimed I whacked the cockroach with it - and later cleaning her book, but it still smells like cockroach. Good riddance.

And again last night, my mom screamed at something - a dead rat near the laundry clothes. Women.

> "Isn't it better for fewer people to die?"

The current government-MILF situation has reached that unevitable statistical category - CASUALTIES.

Most people were evacuated, and some got caught in the crossfire. One news item relates how almost one family was blown to smithereens, leaving only a few survivors - and one orphan.

But the real victims here are the children - psychological scars somehow surface later in their adult life about their encounters with war. That's the same with most surviviors of war in other countries - children who witnessed war either were encouraged to prevent war - or worse, to allow war. War only creates victims, and there are no victors.

But in the inevitable case of war, one side must be reminded to keep casualties out - or at least at a bare minimum. But so far the Philippine government has failed to do so - and many more are going to end up dead, or worse, scarred for life.

> "There will be lots of cute cats and dogs in the Cafe... and they're all dead."

Sometimes the nightlife in our place gets a little bit lonely.

Once I went home late at 4AM due to overtime, and I ended up alone, trying to hitch a bus ride home.

When I reached our block, I noticed it was cold, windy, and deserted. No dogs, no cats - only me, and the road's littered with lots of dog feces.

Then I remembered that the dogs are in their own owners' units, due to the barangay curfew also applying to pets and strays. Most of the impounded animals end up somewhere in custody until either someone claims them or someone buys them.

I also was reminded of Baguio City (up north of Luzon) where there are a lot of dogs and cats - but most of them end up as meals or siopao fillings, respectively. That's why I didn't eat any meals while I was in Baguio - it's either I end up eating real pork or real dog.

So, continuing - it was lonely without anything on that road home except me. No kids playing, no dogs barking, no cats staring at you with that queer look in its eyes - just me and the sound of my steps against the night.

> "If you tell a bald man his head is useful in the dark, you'd get punched in the face."

Bad jokes are just plain sad to hear.

One guy (a bald one) I rode with once in a public bus ridiculed a bus conductor to no end.

"My sauna bath is much colder than your aircon!"
"Your passenger seats put my dog's bed to shame."
"I pay 60 pesos for a ride and all I get is cheap freon, tattered seats and a recycled-paper-class ticket?"

Some passengers were snickering at the back while the conductor was obviosuly changing - from embarassed, to annoyed, to ticked off, and now to nearly mad.

Then the bald guy recited the conductor's last straw:

"Heck, I'd pay 100 pesos every day if this liner fires this guy and gets sexy girls to get my fare!"

the conductor swiftly did the expected action - he grabbed 60 pesos out of his wallet, and handed it back to the guy.

"Sorry sir, but if you want a bus ride that allows you to denigrate a conductor, better ride another bus."

Then the driver parked the bus somewhere legal and shouted that either the bald guy get off the bus or else he stalls the ride.

The bald guy was obviously in a hurry (he was in a business suit and he kept looking at his watch all the time), so he went off the bus. The conductor shouted a few unnecessary farewell expletives as the guy boarded another bus.

That single incident kept me preppy for at least the entire travel time from Ayala to Fairview.

===== =====

News flash: PBA's Red Bull Barako is now 90% new. The 10% remainder is Yeng Guiao.

Red Bull recently dealt Mick Penissi, their last remaining original of the Red Bull stalwarts they direct-hired from the PBL several years ago, to San Miguel in exchange for future first-round draft picks.

Then Yeng Guiao took Air21's gifted yet gravely underutilized forward, Gabby Espinas.

It's sure going to be a hell lot interesting.

===== =====

BGM: [ Xanadu ] by Moi Dox Mois

===== =====

So, for a start. My top 5 for the week:

1. Season's Call by Hyde
2. Sekirei by Saori hayami
3. Burial Applicant by thE GazettE
4. Resonance by T.M.Revolution
5. What If God Was One Of Us by Alanis Morisette

===== =====

I'm going to start another blog item change: starting from this blog entry, all my blog titles will be based from a song line from one of the top 5 songs I have for the week. If the song's Japanese-based, I translate it to English. If it's a Filipino song, I also translate it to English.

It's getting hard to pick a title; sometimes I also need help. :D

===== =====

Work sure is getting hard. I mean, at P*** they take things seriously, and I had to learn along the way.

But jobs in the Philippines are scarce, and I consider myself fortunate to even land a job.

===== =====

The 2008 Beijing Olympics is already over. Records are broken, history was rewritten, and achivements were cemented.
But one thing did not change. Philippines = 0 gold medals. Or more correctly put, no medals whatsoever for this Olympics.

I can only say one thing: the Olympics is a committment. Most of the athletes signed up for long-term training, and trained for more than 2 years in preparation. Most countries pool their resources on 2-3 sports only, and focal points were narrowed down to sports which they think they will excel. If the Philippine Olympic Commission thinks that sending half-baked cookies with little preparation to the Olympics is enough, never expect anything in return.

Lessons are learned in defeats and setbacks, but the government... never learn, and maybe never will.

===== =====

The US "Redeem Team" won the gold medal for Men's Basketball in the Olympics. Aside from that corny tag and the obvious egotistical idea of "US winning the basketball games everytime because they invented basketball" which is pure bullshit, they did fine. Now Kobe can put the Shaq image behind and truly stand out like "I can win a gold medal without Shaq". Now dig that.

===== =====

The Comiket 74 comics are quite good. I collected most of it (scans), and aside from the censurable ones it was like seeing the future of Japan's manga industry one booklet at a time.

===== =====

I'm getting the hang of this "Wiki-surfing".

P*** has this so-called great tool for self-indulgence, called "WebSense". It blocks huge virtual continents such as blogs, forums, gaming sites, social sites, disturbing sites, file sharing sites, entertainment sites, and the ever-popular carnal continents. Ugh, so much for censorship.

Thankfully only two websites are good to surf in: http://ph.news.yahoo.com, and Wikipedia.

Recently one Saturday anime marathon night I chanced upon this guy with an unusual past-time. He goes to "Yahoo.com", clicks random links, and clicks every 6th link he finds on the page until he finds a dead end, backtracks, and clicks away until he eventually tires out of his random surfing.

I tried to apply it in the office, since I'm on a free basis and maybe I could use some hour burner. So I decided it was time for idle surfing.

I had to choose a starting page, and this is what I chanced upon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_films_of_2008

Then I clicked on random links per day, and usually I chance upon weird websites along the way, but it was a pretty fun exercise. I learn, yet I am loafing the hours away. It's like an interesting set of encyclopedias and you just have to move a hand and a pair of eyes just to be amused.

Thankfully it's still good to be young.

===== =====

OK, so another spoof article for me. Hope this doesn't burst in flames.

NBA offseason now in full swing
By Michael Bird

With a few months to go before the 2008-2009 NBA season, teams are now gearing up and solidly building their teams in their hunt for title contention.

Following the rebuilding success of the Boston Celtics, several teams have started to move and free-deal with other teams in order to bolster their lineups. Memphis Grizzlies, in dire need of a huge superstar in the exodus of Pau Gasol, turned to a hometown son for a much-needed shot in the arm. After 20 years of absence, Tennessee scientists have genetically resurrected Elvis Presley and injected him with sweat extracts of Michael Jordan and Bill Russell. The Grizzlies coach was impressed with his aging rookie, but added that Elvis continually insists on not wearing rubber shoes on the court, instead wearing only his "blue suede shoes".

In other basketball news, the Los Angeles Clippers, jealous of their co-Californians Los Angeles Lakers, tried to take a few talented (even if not in basketball) stars out of TinselTown. According to the various media journals, the Clippers have tried to sign Freddie Prinze Jr., but since Vince McMahon beat them to the punch, they had to swallow their pride and sign up Rob Schneider, based on his very dismal performance on "Big Stan", and Adam Sandler, but the management insisted he keep the Zohan persona and use it on the court to play Hacky Sack with the basketball. In retaliation, the Lakers then signed the Phantom persona of John Turturro and the rest of the homosexual guys that were in that Schneider movie.

The Atlanta Hawks, in a desperate attempt, unloaded 3/4 of their team roster to sign up the core members of the famed 90's Chicago Bulls championship roster. Sadly, all of them have retired and moved on with their rings and their lives. Instead, the GM decided to unload his entire team and contacted Warner Brothers for the rights to sign up the entire Space Jam team, excluding Michael Jordan.

In related news, the Charlotte Bobcats and New Orleans Hornets were in a tug-of-war for the services of Richard Fleihr, more popularly known as "Ric Flair". Recently WWE has released Flair, allowing others to sign up the talented wrestler. The Bobcats have already beefed their roster with huge wrestling acquisitions, including Paul Wight ("Big Show"), Dalip Singh ("The Great Khali") and Mark Calaway ("Undertaker"), and would like to expand their base further with signing Flair. The Hornets, on the other hand, has signed the smallest point guard the NBA has ever seen, signing Dylan Postl ("Hornswoggle") to a multi-million-cloverleaf sheet to play as Chris Paul's cheering squad.

More teams followed suit as Dallas traded Dirk Nowitzki to Houston for Yao Ming and 100 sacks of Szechuan spices, Chicago Bulls signed up Saddam Hussein, Phoenix traded Shaquille O'Neal to Denver Nuggets for 2 copies of Bruce Willis' Greatest Hits album, and Denver Nuggets signed Simon Cowell.

EuroLeague officials were unavailable for comments, but their chief spokesperson said that "the NBA is sure getting a bit more interesting than kiwi-flavored apertifs".

===== =====

BGM: [ Ride on Shooting Star ] by The Pillows

===== =====

I meant that misspell.

Top 5 for the week:
1. Resonance by T.M.Revolution
2. Candy Holic by An Cafe
3. Kona Yuki by Asian Kung-Fu Generation
4. Kirei na Kanjou by Akino Arai
5. Balisong by Rivermaya

===== =====

I never knew a MiniStop could be such a "holy" place.

I mean, they keep playing these holy inspirational songs around the afternoon while I'm there sipping some cafe latte. I constantly feel like I'm back at my teenager days again as an altar boy and I'm drinking leftover mass wines and eating the leftover shove-in-your-hands-or-mouth chips.

Come to think of it, coffee without cream looks a lot like hot mass wine.

I can't stay for more than 15 minutes inside MiniStop (the one near the PLDT-RCB building) at the afternoons, because I don't like feeling a lot nostalgic and such while having my cup of coffee.

I regretted back then going to college back in 2004, because then I have to abruptly leave my church servitude, due to me being of breaching the age limit of 16. And as my previous senpais have done, and I know fully why, I never had a formal leave. I never told anybody, I never told the altar boys handler, I just left my "sutana" hung nice and clean on the sacristy room, and left without a word. I did not have the propensity to say "goodbye" to any of them, and the only way I can say I'm done with the service is to leave my suit for somebody else to wear. But then I highly doubted anybody would wear mine, because I was the tallest altar boy back then. And I stopped going to my local church for a year or so, because everytime I go I feel like wearing that white cape again, which is not anymore the case, and it's kind of like a self-imposed rehab for me. Two years later I had the strength to go back to my local church and attend a full hour of mass without having that pang of pain. Many things changed, which was good. The altar boys now wear the "San Lorenzo Ruiz" attire, the priests keep changing skin colors and nationality, and the atmosphere in the church is way more disciplined than before. I think the altar boys handler also have limited further the age limit from 16 to about 14. But I couldn't help back then to be reminded of the old days and those Christmas overnights.

Nah. I'll manage. Nostalgic feelings always keep coming back, but it's like a gentle wave on a beach, it will recede.

===== =====
 
Andrew Stephen T*d is now back. Officially a royal pain in the you-know-where again :D

*sound of a trumpet*
Behold, he hath summoned this humblest, lowliest of peasants, is given the honor to seek and be returneth the Lord's ye olde Calculus bibliotheque and doth be delivereth to his most glorious Kingdom, and be the King hast rejoiceth over his treasure, basking him in glory. He shall use His powers he summoneth from the bibliotheque to cast demons out of ye town hamsters, make apple wine out of spent banana peels, revive ye most flaccid of Numerical Methods, and be able to riseth the most downfallen of grades and returneth it to a most knightly status worthy of a saint.

And enough of this ye Old England haggis. :D

By the way, that book I borrowed two years ago has never changed in shape, in content and in the number of pages. Still as dilapidated as ever, but at least it's clean because I kept it where molds never dare to traverse, my anime CD collection cabinet. I have to be grateful to that book; it served as my handy spare cabinet key hideaway, it functioned as a very good deterrent from my parents to disturb me needlessly, and helped me with a couple of algorithms for my thesis. Truly a trash made of gold, or vice versa.

I went back to my alma mater this last July 19 to hunt that bastar... er, man down. Met some old friends, including some people who I felt should've had the privilege to graduate on time but a sinking-ship badass hauled them down to his shitty grave. I can't blame both parties; one side had very congenial personalities but didn't do any diddy shit on the thesis, one side did almost everything in programming-wise contributions but had a personality of a 1940s Japanese kamikaze pilot. Bound for disaster.

And I shoved that God-forsaken book back to it's owner's bookshelf. :D Hope T*d didn't mind my little friendly pokes, hehe.

1CSB are always friends, excluding that guy with a "personality of a 1940s Japanese kamikaze pilot".

===== =====

I'll probably pursue a permanent career after this. I'm just a guy with a plan. I'm not that materialistic to begin with.

A***nt*re keeps calling me at work, but as a work ethic follower, I always keep it in silent mode. The only problem I had with A***nt*re is that they never called again after that initial April interview. That sucked big time for me, since it hit home hard that work never comes on a silver platter, unlike some of my illustrious, medal-laden, honor-bound classmates who got companies clamoring for their services. So I decided that the first contract signing that comes my way will be my first career path. I believe that opportunity only knocks, only you choose when to open the door. A***nt*re only went to my doorstep and walked away.

So now that I already signed 5 pages of a contract (and now quite OK), and now happily at P**T, why would I answer the phone anymore? Besides, I get to work with some of the best companies in this country, and apply for better things after spicing up my resume. I'm exposed to different company procedures, multiple vouches, and good reputation, why not?

I take less for now and will get more in return. The next problem for me is the prospect of being away from my family someday, has its ups and downs, but that's a problem for another year.

===== =====

Truth be told, I love weird snacks.

I eat that food that Americans find the most disgusting in Asia, "balut", but I only eat the yellow part and give the chick to my dog.

I really love to eat that Oishi ridges snack, wasabi flavor. Imagine that.

At home, I mix apples, bananas, and ube ice cream for dessert.

I somewhat like the aftertaste of Lucky Me's "Tom Yum" hot noodle. Somewhat tangy.

Once, I bought freshly sliced and prepared sashimi from a metro sushi bar and took them home, I told them it was raw tuna meat and the ones raw beside it was scallops sushi and some ootoro. No one would dare eat it beside me, they don't like it raw. If I left it, my father would have probably fried the sashimi slices. I downed 10 slices.

I love milk tea. Without sugar.

I once recycled the hotdogs on the ref and made myself hotdog curry.

Once as a dare I ate a slice of ripe mango with a spoonful of ketchup. Yum.

I did a version of that "Cement Mixer" cocktail, but using softdrinks. I mixed 2 glasses of lemon soda with 1/2 can of condensed milk, and it was like clogging down my throat with every gulp.

I usually eat street food if I see it to my liking. But as a principle I don't eat one-day-old chicks and chicken feet. They're street food, but these two food types I mentioned earlier are just a waste of money to eat.

My favorite food is "pinapaitan", literally "bittered", which is a stew made of goat innards, goat meat, goat skin, goat fat, maybe some beef meat here and there, and the soup's bitterness comes from a green substance extracted from the goat's bile and/or pancreas. Nice.

My favorite iced tea flavor is One Tea's "Four Seasons". I sometimes make it "Six", adding other tea flavors.

I like my noodles COLD. Like I cook some cup noodles, I prefer that it cooks for the recommended 3 minutes with hot water, then I place it in the ref for 2 hours.

I once did that "Pulp Fiction" thing, eating french fries with mayonnaise instead of ketchup.

John Travolta: "I've seen them do it, man, they fuckin' drown them in that shit."
Samuel L. Jackson: "Yuck"

===== =====

The anime "Mnemosyne" is now over, officially.

It was great, more like an "acquired tastes" type of anime. For mature audiences only.

The ending was quite like a downer for me, actually. The anime series makes most audiences wanting for more of the "aftermath", but ending it with a babyshot is just a bit of a lowdown.

Also, Junjou Romantica is also done for now, with 12 episodes plus a DVD-only seiyuu dubs. If I have to say, of all the yaoi anime I watched, this one hits the spot. Where else can you get 3 yaoi pairings in just 12 episodes? Just great. Guaranteed I'll buy the DVD releases (secretly).

Now I have to just sit tight and wait for the release of the anime version of Kurogane Kenn's "Shoujo Sect", which is pure unadulterated yuri. It's like the reverse of "Junjou Romantica", lots of pairings, lots of action and lots of drama. Good stuff coming and I'm itching to watch.

Currently there's "Zero no Tsukaima 3", "Special A", "Kanokon", and lots more of the good stuff, so I'm full on the anime fodder.

I'm also interested in acquiring some shows that can surely generate a big laugh. I currently have these on my PC just to amuse myself on downer days:

Clerks
Clerks II
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The "Scary Movie" series
Epic Movie
Borat
Mrs. Doubtfire
Good Morning Vietnam
Big Show vs Floyd Mayweather (Wrestlemania 24)
Kung Fu Panda
Shaolin Soccer
a few Eminem music videos
also a few Al Yankovic parodies

My PSP currently has a few animes in it, considering I got bored of playing Silent Hill Zero.

===== =====

I'm also kinda out of the loop with regards to some music releases. I mean, work takes a f**king lot of me. The only way I get the latest music is by Aznmedia and nihonGaku torrents, I download them by weeknights and listen to them in between bus trips to and from work.

Mostly these two music release groups release mainstream mp3s. Like Nightmare, Ayabie, the GazettE, Hyde, Vamps, etc. The only thing I miss is the indies, like exist+trace, Fatima, uchuu pops sentai noiz, and the like.

Probably by Saturday I'll try to catch up.

===== =====

So, another spoof article from me. I'm bored.

Opposition Disbanded
by God-Knows-Who

Millions upon millions of Filipinos from around the world were happily surprised by the sudden turn of events in the current Philippine political situation as the political group known simply as "the Opposition" has finally decided to disband.

Senate Pr-ass-ident Money Billiards hastily called a press conference today at 12:01 AM to announce the disbanding of the group that generated more heel heat that WWE's Adam Copeland (known for his in-ring name "Edge"). He talked briefly during the conference, citing that the now-former members of the group simply wanted to go their separate ways, due to the upcoming 2010 Presidential elections. He also said that some are now disillusioned over the premise of a united opposition, and that they wanted to diversify to different fields and facets of life for a change.

"Lintik yang mga yan, bwisit. Baka ako pa ang nanalong presidente. (I respect their individual decisions and I wish them well in their endeavours)." Billiards said. Most journalists on the Senate press room were simply stunned by these sudden turn of events. It was widely known that the Melacanyang's President Glory Macapunong Adobo is the leader of the group simply known as "the Administration", and the group is worried that their chances of retaining their seats are endangered by a possibility of a "united Opposition", given their current popularity ratings and involvement in such corrupt practices such as ZET, Sex-ecutive Privileges, meetings with their "Client #9", rice oversupply, and electrical shortcircuits. And with this sudden development, the minions of "the Administration" simply let out an Indian war howl while banging their privates.

The fates of the disbanded "Opposition" remains unknown. Mokati major Jejibar Monay is planning to revive the now-defunct group and re-christen it as the "Eraserdickheads" and erect their building at Buendia. Other members have started to go to the US and Europe under different names, notably one famous Senatore who remaned himself "Frank S. Scudders", an English national. Others also registered names such as "Sabeer Ocampo" (now an Indian dual citizen), "Pietro Alan Kaetanous" (a Greek expatriate), "Chandry Madrival" (a Swede) and "O-ren Barracuda" (a Japanese transplant). Some re-integrated themselves into Philippine society, with some hoping to return to the seminary where they once have been incarcerated. One congressman announced he was also going to be an inventor again. The congressman gained early notoriety in his career due to his invention called the "Male Sanitary Napkin" which won the 2003 Chindogu awards in Japan. Another second-generation Sennattore also expressed interest in going back to show business, due to the success of his previous blockbuster films such as "Gatas ng Ama", "The Major's Privates", "The Dick Dorgon Story" and "Nefertiti, Queen of Egypt".

In other news, it was also reported 12 hours later by our correspondents that the National Treasury lost $780 billion in one day, said Deputy Director Walla Cuenta. It was purported that a Senator warranted the release of such a fund amount yesterday to support his drive to "cleanse this country of corruption". Cuenta also denied that Nicolas Cage is involved in this controversy.

The said Senator was unavailable for comment due to overseas commitments.

===== =====

BGM: [ Without Me ] by Eminem

===== =====

Oh yeah, now it's on, on my job, lots of programming work. But I love pressure.

Top 5 for the week:
1. Midnight Venus by w-inds
2. Resonance by T.M.Revolution
3. Gekidou by UVERworld
4. Athena by abingdon boys school
5. Iris by Goo Goo Dolls

===== =====

Pacquiao wins, again. The stakes are getting a bit higher every time he wins.

David Diaz got floored solidly at the 9th round, and with that Pacquiao took his belt, and that bulls-eye off his back.

If this is an indication, Pacquiao could very well stay at 135lbs until his body is comfortable enough to accomodate 140lbs.

Now he's leading the charge of superfeatherweights invading the lightweight division. And Floyd Mayweather's retired, so now he's the de facto top boxer in the world.

The only problems with Manny Pacquiao now are these three factors:

1. Home, Country and Politics

I swear, politics and sports can never ever mix very well. Pacquiao should ditch the politicians hounding him, because what those politicians only want is a share of the kissing space on Pacquiao's ass. If Pacquiao really wants lips pressing against his buttocks, let him be.

Pacquiao should never ever train again in the Philippines. Roach and Arum are right; there are way too many distractions in RP for a boxing trainee like Pacman. Commercials, ad placements, endorsements, show appearances, showbiz. And that really sucks big time if you're in Roach's shoes.

2. The "Time To Hang Up The Gloves"

Now that he's Top Rank's prime cash cow, when will Pacquiao see fit to retire?

When he's basically at the top of his game like Mayweather did?
Or when he's a whipping legend steppingstone used by rising boxing stars much like how Pacquiao did with Marco Antonio Barrera?

Time will tell. Or maybe his body will.

3. Where does his money go?

Admittedly, Pacquiao earns millions of pesos with each megabuck fight. And he should be wise where his money goes, because if he just looks at his own back, he can see his friends... and people with money on their sights.

It's not a cynic point of view with that and Manny; it's true. Pacquiao ran in the elections last year, and most of his "friends" took huge sums of money for trifle expenses that cost a pittance, much akin to collecting 10 million dollars just to buy a pair of plastic scissors at Wal-Mart.

Pacquiao should learn from the bitter lessons from past famed Filipino boxers like Luisito Espinosa, William Magahin, and Mansueto velasco, each whom earned millions of dollars and were the Philippines' pride in the past but now live in poverty and obscurity.

Money eventually is spent. The only matter is "how fast" does it go. The slower the better.

The good thing now is that Pacquiao is getting a university degree in business administration. That's great, now he can handle his business by himself.

===== =====

Well, frankly, my mom's getting a little annoying. It's akin to a tonic water that tastes just like yesterday's stale used bath water; it's toxic, disgusting and leaves a very bad taste in the mouth. And that, describes my mom's current state.

My mom always advises us to sleep early. Yep, and I saw her watching a telenovela late in the night.

My mom advises me to wake up early. Yep, and my natural sleep rhythm gets disrupted, and the worst thing is that when I get out of my room she dishes out a few unsavory words. I haven't drunk my coffee yet.

My mom tells me to do more work and less talking. Hell yes, and she was still castigating me heavily with atrocious diatribes while she was doing house chores. Great example.

My mom keeps saying I should leave on time to be on work on time. yep, and she tells me always her departure time for work is this time, and always leaves late. She tells me she can go anytime she wants because she's the manager. Screw the DTRs.

My mom's greatest enemy is not her son, not the rising costs of common commodities, and neither is my Dad being a procrastinating Sun Tzu with a belly larger than that Buddha on a Meiji shrine.

It is herself. Contradicting oneself, and being a hypocrite at the same time. Now I know where my sister got such a egocentric bitchy attitude.

===== =====

Now I know the local ube (a root crop product) sandwich spread and a few drops of vanilla extract in the container bottle, mixed together, tastes great.

===== =====

When I was in Grade 6 I was also enthralled with cryptography. It was when I got hold of my mom's first set of encyclopedias (she used to sell them as a sideline), I was reading random lexicon book letters weekly, devouring them due to the lack of JK Rowlings (though years later I bought her first book), Dan Browns, and Bob Ongs. Though I enjoyed most of Coelho's novels at the school library too.

Don't get me wrong though; I also consumed my high school library's set of Hardy Boys detective novels (I managed to befriend the high school librarian and permit me to enter only for reading).

The World Book 2000 encyclopedia sets also included an A-K dictionary with a section of it dedicated to cryptography. I was riveted to it instantly. I never knew then people need to hide their messages while giving it - the irony of it, giving away to the public something only a select few can only understand, a language never native.

In the movie "Con Air", the character played by John Cusack read a one-sentence English message from a Spanish consulate paper through the holed-out heads of the 12 apostles on a Last Supper postcard. Now that was cool. Hey, who said cryptography always needed math?

There's simple substitution. Like substituting A-Z with any letter as long there is a guide on what is and what isn't.

Some very complex. Take for example, a Reader's Digest article pertaining to one war veteran who used a 36-letter key and arranged it in ascending order.

Like ADOBEREADER becoming AABDDEEEORR.

Then composing a diary in a 36 by 36 mathematical grid-style notebook using numerical positioning, becomes a set of randomly arranged letters until someone knew how.

In history there's Enigma. And Caesar cipher.

Some also used columnar substitution. Arranging the letters in columns and rearranging them using a numeric passkey from 1-9. Or if he's more sadistic, a column-row substitution with 2 passkeys.

In computer science too, the crptography field is also necessary. Cloaking private communication is one. Even the way of reading analog to digital signals is also a slight part of crptography, from 0s and 1s to readable information. Sometimes the art of cryptography in this science is called "encryption".

But when I grew older and the enthusiasm waned away, I retained three from those experiences;

One, I don't have to use cryptography at home; I am the only intellectual at home and even my dad doesn't know much about history let alone to read a book explaining chaos theory. He knows no Shakespeare, no Sartre, no Dumas, no Homer, no Descartes, nothing. Just history in his experience and nothing more and less of it. I can just simply guise my home paper writings, anime CD Titles, file bindings and the usual hide-from-parents stuff, littering it with computer science jargon and linguistic wordiness and it becomes unreadable. Say I have anime DVDs stacked in a cylindrical plastic 20-pc container. I usually title it "2D Animation Installation and Reference" which is not entirely wrong, but is effective repellant for most.

Two, I can place some cryptography in my programs for fun. Like for example, I presented a good program in C language to one of my professors at UST a few years back. If you see the C code, it's just normal. But if you take the floating random jumbled letters in some of the comments part of the program and arrange them in sequence, then placing the letters in an 8 by 8 grid and reading it from right to left (Japanese way), you'll see a nice little tirade about my professor. I liked it especially that the professor graded so good a program filled with encrypted filth about him.

That was hard to do, but was made easier with graphing paper.

Some people (usually underclassmen) ask me to create their COBOL, C++ and Java programs. I always manage to insert my copyright and authorship in each, discreetly. I really love the 62287 number, that's my birthdate in short date format. So I insert my copyright in the comment form (using double backslashes in C++ and Java) or some unnecessary jumbled letters in comment form in COBOL. In C++ and Java, just collect all strings and codes in comment form, get the 6th, the 22nd, the 8th and the 7th alphanumeric letters of every line (using the selected position to move 2 rights and 2 lefts, start with 0), beforehand this time replace all + with t and @ with a.

For example,
//this may be a step for numb. control and manipulation
//force reset = 0. It is necessary, to abort system redundancy
//1 reset01 variable paramtr. to be used as requirement for this funct'n.
//siml'n return glitch in some code runtime, but very minimal and irrelevant.

I hid my name in those 4 lines. Can you try?

Sometimes it needn't be complicated. One of my PHP pages I did for my projects had a little salt in the coding.

Three, it's not always the English alphabet that's suited for coding. Take the Chinese writing characters. They also have a different reading style when used in Japan, so it's a perfect vehicle for cryptographers to use. Or we can use historical references. Like word etymologies, geographical references and even blood-sugar content computation. Now that's some serious coding there.

Imagine the possibility: intercepting a letter written in fluent Chinese but using English letters. Then convert it to standard Chinese symbols. That is hard, but in the share of the pie that's the easy part. Then converting it to its equivalent Kanji reading and convert it to English. Only linguists will have an easy day for this.

Bonus: my thesis program was devoid of any of my copyright and/or sarcastic cryptography. why? it is itself like a decrypter of jargon, heh. didn't bother me much to write something hidden in there. if the program will be open-sourced then it would be lost.

===== =====

Yesterday I got REALLY sick, for the first time in 2 years. Well, it could be 4 months if you include me being "sick to my stomach" regarding my Theory of Automata subject, or being "sick" of Java usage in my thesis, or being "sick" of my dad constantly pushing me to find work instantly 3 days after I graduated.

But I mean, physically sick. Try coupling cough, headache, stomachache and fever, all in one day. That sucks, but that's what happened to me.

At 4:30AM, I'm supposed to wake up, but I couldn't get up. I tried again, but then I felt my breathing was as hot as steam off my usual lukewarm morning bathwater. And my head f**king hurts.

I already had a high fever the day before yesterday. My mom went to panic mode the moment she touched the side of my neck (damn, shouldn't have let her in) and gave me heckuva dosages of pills. Ascof, Alaxan, Biogesic, Ascorbic Acid, Decolgen, Bioflu, maybe she should have included baccardi and shots of heroin because I'm terribly pissed off.

I obediently drank my pills and wondered if the sun will still shine for me tomorrow.

Good news; it did. The bad news is that my sickness got worse. Damn.

Luckily my mom went to work earlier than usual, so I didn't have to worry about her transforming to caregiver mode.

I pulled the trigger and made the decision to skip work. I texted one of my workbuddies that I will miss a day of work, and with that I slept again and hoped that my sickness will fade.

I figured out REST was the thing I badly needed. At afternoon most of my ailments dissipated, and the fever subsided to a manageable level.

Thankfully, I was able to go back to work without any problems. The only remaing thing is that 2 problems came up at work: GUI and some minor VB.NET revisions.

Now back to work. Hopefully the fever goes away. Damn that storm named "Frank".

===== =====

Now I have to flex my journalistic abilities a little bit here, they're getting a bit rusty on the side.

So, a spoof article by me. Hopefully it won't be taken seriously, it's a joke.

300 Found Alive In Capsized Ferry
by Bye Bye delas Alas

The capsized ferry M/V "Prince's Ass On The Stairs" was unflipped yesterday by certified public accountants off the coast of Romblog, in a massive search-and-rescue operation (sponsored by Nike) that amazingly yielded 300 survivors, 2 politicians, 10 goats, 5 cows, 2 racehorses and one dead camel.

President Glory Macapuno-Anunsyo praised the efforts of the Congress for pulling all the stops to ensure the successful retrieval operations and the subsequent rescue of the 300 survivors found inside the ferry, although no comments were further given regarding the 20 animals found along with the survivors.

"The power of the Congress has prevailed. Even though they're in a shopping spree in Berlin they were able to facilitate the rescue operations." the President added sarcastically.

The 300 survivors found inside the ferry were actually the same 300 people from Sparta, Greece who came on the Philippines for rest and recreation after the success of their international film, "300". Their king, Leonidas, was not able to join the crew on the holiday due to him facilitating another movie in Moscow that requires 300 stuntmen for Keanu Reeves jumping off a cliff.

Most of the survivors survived in the kitchen area of the ferry. Finding themselves with ample food supply, according to them, they managed to live in very "spartan" conditions. One survivor even remembered his encounter with the ferry's "captain's pulutan" supply. Rescuers found evidence of the survivors' inner human fortitude and tenacity for living, even managing to see that the survivors managed to set up their own disco hall and videoke bars.

"One Filipino passenger wanted my life jacket. I said 'This is for Sparta!' and he kicked me in the balls. That was his mistake," one of the survivors told CCTV moments after he was extracted from the ferry's exhaust pipe, "and he got my life jacket, a FedEx package, a pair of rollerblades, and a Wilson standard leather volleyball. Don't know where he is now."

Another Spartan survivor recounted his bizarre encounter with the ferry's captain. "This captain - weird. He went in the deck and came out with four violinists in tuxedoes and played this godawful violin quartet. They told me they were from the Titanic."

The ferry apparently carried some highly unusual items such as enfozuldan, a highly addictive shabu supplement, and a few animals such as female camels, goats, cows and male racehorses (including the politicians). A survivor found them near the hull entrance, and managed to use the animals to benefit their surviving group.

"We so hungry, we only have fire and caviar. We took goats, ate them. One friend Sadik took the camel to his cabin. The cow, we ate. Sadik also take racehorses, said camel dead. Sadik not with us." recounted the survivor.

The survivors unabashedly hugged their rescuers, even the certified public accountants, for helping them escape their horrible ordeal. The accountants were certainly pleased that the operation went smoothly despite the obvious absence of engineers, who were hired by Sen. Panghilo Lakson to engineer a successful comeback for the ZTE scandal.

"It was all about balance. We computed the assets and the liabilities of the ship, and its capital, and by the power of our balance sheets we were able to balance the accounts and eventually be able to unflip this ferry." said Wilmer Doesnt, the chief accountant of the rescue team.

The owner of M/V "Prince's Ass On The Stairs", SulPiso Lines Inc., declined to comment on the survivors and the eventual "The Buzz" appearances, product commercials and lawsuits that might entail the rescue, but had plenty of excuses to offer, ranging from interplanetary space gravity disalignment to NOPAGASA's inaccuracy of weather forecasting.

SulPiso Lines Inc. also have started the bidding for the auction of the capsized ferry to be portioned per kilo of its metal parts and accessories.

The other passengers of the ferry are still unaccounted for, says the rescue team leader. "We are currently still trying to find the other casualties of this horrible accident, dead or alive", said the team leader. He also said that the relatives of the survivors and missing passengers are now being given free ferry tickets to Romblog, aboard M/V "Apo ni Dona Paz".

In other news, a savage man was found in a makeshift wood raft near the coasts of Tonga in Polynesia, rambling in a foreign language (presumably Filipino) and was claiming to be a survivor of that capsized ferry in Romblog. As of informants' information he kept saying the name "Wilson" while clutching a volleyball with crude face paint.

===== =====

I just have to be clear on my blog title.

I derived it from Dan Brown's book, "Digital Fortress".

Ciao for now!

BGM: [ Ironic ] by Alanis Morissette

===== =====

Today's my birthday. Nothing much has changed since last year, but now I'm running a BlogDrive blog for four years now, and if I include my old Blog-City account, six years.

I'm glad to be out of the confines of the University of ST walls, but I feel a bit jittery now I'm actually out. My professors always tell me that the real battle begins when I graduate, and now marks the 21st year I have been in the battle called life.

Life's a rollercoaster, a battle, a box of chocolates, a bitch, and a whole lot more if I include more descriptions. But whatever it is, I have my whole life to describe and feel it myself.

I'm now 21. 7665 days of my life and joys and downs and ups, and a whole lot more is coming on my way, I'll just take it a day at a time.

===== =====

Thank God I now have a comfy chair at the office. And my birthday (which is today) fell on a Sunday, so I don't have to deal much with officemates aksing for a blow.

Top 5 for the week:
1. Midnight Venus by w-inds
2. Athena by abingdon boys school
3. Resonance by T.M.Revolution
4. Gekidou by UVERworld
5. Ironic by Alanis Morissette

===== =====

So now the Lakers are done and out, 4-2. I successfully predicted a Celtics win by Game 6, and now my Dad lost (he's a Lakers fan).

I actually think they played the Lakers for fools at Game 5's 4th quarter. Basically they trailed the Lakers by thin margins, and when the Lakers pulled away the Celtics threatened to close it out.

It's like saying "We want to win our 17th title at the Garden, not at the Stapl-ass Center. We're just reminding you Lakers that we can kick ass anytime we want to, and Game 6 we definitely want to. We don't like winning by blowouts, like 4-1. We'd like to have record books for 4-2. Consider Game 5 as a gift."

Did anybody expect that the Lakers would prepare green confetti for Boston in case Game 5 turns to the Celtics? Nope.

That's what Rivers and Pierce's faces said after Game 5. Now the Beantown's full of confetti, and about 11 people are now world champions for the first time (include the coach). Let them get it, after all, they deserve it.

Probably Seattle and Minnesota deserve a few thank-you cakes.
And Memphis, *does DX crotch chop*

And now the theory of "get-a-star-from-an-obsolete-team" works seeing how Garnett, Allen and Gasol went to the Finals in their first season as transferees, I think many NBA powerhouses would like to have some of that success.

And predictions... well, I predict these players will make the move. No matter what team, they will get out from their mother teams.

1. Tracy McGrady
Houston is a dead team now after Steve Francis and Hakeem Olajuwon left. The only 3 stars of Houston is Yao, McGrady and Alston. Unless their GM pull some strings from any team (except Boston, who's sure to stick to their lineup tighter than Mighty Bond) and get a star to complement their C-SG mix, Tracy would demand to be traded or released. Take that.

2. Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, Richard Hamilton
After that Boston debacle that they failed to overcome, Detroit's "stick-to-a-core" team strategy has failed since 2005, and now their GM could be looking for prospective buyers. After all, Detroit is getting old in terms of average player age. If they can get a bunch of young but talented players, they can make the team "The Troit" again.

3. LeBron James
Yep, he reached the Finals. He's Cleveland's cash cow. But he only have a Finals appearance at his resume, and that was a year ago where they were blasted convincingly by San Antonio. LBJ's problem is that he's in the same position as Paul Pierce a year ago; he's surrounded by players who can't get the job done. He's the solitary star at his team, and that's no good. If he wants to stamp himself as a big-time NBA player at his age, he's got to go anywhere but Cleveland and Boston. I predict he could go to either Utah or Miami, where these teams have a huge surplus of trade baits. Imagine a Williams-LBJ tandem or even a Wade-James deadly duo? It's a sure adrenalin shot.

4. Jason Richardson
Being traded from a loser team to another loser team is definitely no fun even if you're highly paid. The allure of a championship bling on your finger is a big factor, and if J-Rich wants to be THAT rich, he's got to bail out of Charlotte. How about Houston?

5. Rashard Lewis
Shifting from a loser team like Seattle to Orlando without being traded is good. At least he made it in the playoffs. Maybe he needs to "shift" again. How about going to the Lakers?

6. Andrew Bogut, Michael Redd
After seasons of failure, maybe these two stars ought to find a team that can at least offer a legit shot at a playoff berth next season.

7. Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd
Being surrounded by people and an asshole who has money but no guts at all, he should look somewhere else and leave the steakhouses in Dallas. Maybe Jason Kidd can try and hitch with him, too. How about Atlanta? They have Bibby, Smith and Johnson there. Or Denver, they have trade baits.

8. Kirk Hinrich
OK, so being drafted by the Bulls who are in search for the next Jordan, Hinrich is definitely not a Jordan material but he can at least wear the same rings Michael have. So how about transferring?

Shaking the NBA foundations is good. Let's see in the offseason, who will start making the moves? I am sure it isn't Boston.

===== =====

I have to predict that the Maynilad/MWSS and Philippine household water supplying companies will be selling "miniature mineral water filtration machines" someday in the near future, given the current Philippine penchant for clean potable water (especially bottled "mineral" water).

And speaking of predictions, I have a few ones.
1. By 2040 onwards crude oil supply is almost extinct, and Shell, Petron and Caltex start selling biofuel and phasing out diesel and gasoline.
2. Hillary Clinton will eventually win the US presidency by the time Barack Obama steps down from the White House.
3. 120GB flash drives will be common standard for f-drive sizes by 2012 onwards.

===== =====

The anime "Mnemosyne" sure takes a lotta more time in the limbo. Maybe it's like "Murder Princess", but I like the maturity of "Mnemosyne"'s style and artwork. So maybe it's worth waiting for.

In other news, BLEACH sure is a pain to download as a batch. Currently the manga is catching up for lost holiday time, and so far it's still history news for BLEACH fans out there.

The Naruto storyline is sure getting a bit more interesting. I'm interested with what Itachi "fed" Naruto inside that Sharingan illusion he created upon that chance meeting with Naruto. I know it's some of Itachi's power, but what it would be and how it would manifest upon meeting Sasuke would be a delicious mystery even Neuro would die to devour (another anime reference). But as a wild guess (or hypothesis) it could be Amaterasu. I deduced that after seeing how easily Itachi implanted Amaterasu in Sasuke's eyes by just a finger's touch on the forehead. But as the manga depicted, Naruto swallowed one huge crow illusion. It could be something bigger than just that, maybe a temporary use of the Sharingan, or worse, a Susano'o conjurement, would be logical for that.

So Madara Uchiha's the "Mizukage" eh?

The to-LOVE-ru manga is also getting somewhere. Rito easily becomes the focal target of 5 girls (maybe 6 if Mikan is included), and turns out to be a more comedic version of Love Hina, although that iconic manga is at a level on its own.

Magister Magi Negima! sure is going to a little swervy down the middle of its story arc. As seeing that Asuna really is the  princess of Ostia's old self, Vespartia, and Negi's mastering the dark arts, let's see where this will go.

And in other news, I'm not yet done downloading the entire scans of the last Summer Comiket, which is about 4.2 GB in a torrent. Too many. And probably even by July I'm not yet done reading them.

===== =====

In terms of viewing "villains" in movies, anime and novels, I always prefer that the villain has an internal reason or motive as to why he wanted to do such despicable acts. Try National Treasure II; the one who framed Gates' family and heritage just to find the Lost City merely wanted credit for his family name, although he redeemed himself in the end. Or General Hummel at "The Rock" where he masterminded a poison gas rocket bombing threat in hopes the US government will give benefits to his uncompensated troops and men who died in Iraq. Ironically, both characters I mentioned were portrayed by the same actor, Ed Harris.

Basically, in describing my ideal villain, here are some details:
1. Has motive : nobody likes that villain who's basically a guy with a thing for blood anymore, I prefer reason over impulse on villains.
2. Has that standing in life/physical looks/position that almost nobody would associate with someone who would be a villain
3. Has the means to impose his will
4. Has the ability to execute well
5. Is difficult for the hero/s to defeat/convince to concede
6. Has no plans that are so cliche like "ransom","world domination","rule nations",etc. More like "genetical modification of babies to become the 'ideal child'" or "collecting all state secrets of all countries with Intelligence agencies" or "manipulating the moon's construction to become a controllable gravitational space object that can be used for terrorism and leverage" or "stimulating public awareness using manipulated data and falsified news articles".

More plus factors:
7. Has that civilized demeanour
8. Inner angst
9. Composed and resolved to do his actions
10. Is not manipulated by so-lame factors like money and sex and revenge
11. Has that penchant for throwing his fate right back to Fate's face

===== =====

While snooping around my new office PC's disk drives, I chanced upon its old owner's mp3 collection of Billboard 100 top hits from 1981 to 1995. So now I can check out a few history bits while I'm bummed out from programming work.

Forgive me if this is a long entry (aside from the usual politics and anime banter like last entry) but I'm pretty free in work and I have nothing to do than diss the classics.

Let's see what we can check out:

---------------------------

1981 :: Mostly pop songs and a few country interspersed here and there.

001 - Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes (Carnes who?)
...
004 - John Lennon - (Just Like) Starting Over (oh god, he's still in 1981)
...
011 - Joey Scarbury - Greatest American Hero (who is he referring to?)
...
022 - Taste of Honey - Sukiyaki (??? the hell is this?)
...
040 - Don Mclean - Crying (isn't this the same guy who sang "American Pie"?)
...
044 - Kenny Rogers - I Don't Need You (a perfect break-up song)
...
056 - Journey - Who's Crying Now (currently the band's new vocalist is a Filipino, and he is a good fit)
...
057 - Police - De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (aka "The Sound Of A 2-Year-Old Kid On A Crib")
...
069 - Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster (Jammin') (finally, a Stevie song that isn't related to "sight")
...
086 - John Lennon - Watching the Wheels (can't he just be content with watching hamsters on a cage?)
...
100 - Andy Gibb - Time Is Time (apparently the Bee Gees are still on hiatus)

---------------------------

1982 :: This is weird. The top song for this year belongs to a song for gym exercise enthusiasts. Is America getting fat?

001 - Olivia Newton-john - Physical (see?)
...
002 - Survivor - Eye of the Tiger (the only song fit for Western kung-fu movies)
...
003 - Joan Jett - I Love Rock & Roll (finally... this song is one of my faves from the old ones)
...
018 - Melissa Manchester - You Should Hear How She Talks (... Like A Bitch)
...
019 - Foreigner - Waiting For a Girl Like You (ironically, 18 and 19 are related somehow by a gender)
...
046 - Roberta Flack - Making Love (this is a stupid song)
...
047 - Juice Newton - Love's Been a Little Bit Hard (yep, try your little love handle)
...
054 - Diana Ross - Why Do Fools Fall In Love (good question)
...
055 - Alabama - Love In the First Degree (how about on the second degree?)
...
057 - Crosby, Stills & Nash - Wasted On the Way (isn't this supposed to be sung by drunkards staggering out of winebars and beerhouses?)
...
067 - Flock of Seagulls - I Ran (i remember this from Pulp Fiction as Jule's reference to a couch guy's hairdo)
...
079 - Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (could be an inspiration for "Sabrina the Teenage Witch")
...
090 - Billy Idol - Hot In the City (try Mexico)
...
100 - Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen

---------------------------

1983 :: I kinda noticed the existence of the predecessors of the "Dave Matthews Band" type. And they all plain suck.

001 - Police - Every Breath You Take (good song)
...
002 - Michael Jackson - Billie Jean (he should be black because he sucks being white)
...
004 - Men At Work - Down Under (aha... they're working on the sewerage systems now)
...
005 - Michael Jackson - Beat It (...To Your Nearest Plastic Surgeon For Instant Caucasian Skin)
...
006 - Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart (good song too)
...
007 - Hall and Oates - Maneater (isn't this the same title as a Nelly Furtado song?)
...
010 - Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (another good song)
...
011 - Culture Club - Do You Really Want To Hurt Me (in desribing sadists and masochists)
...
030 - After the Fire - Der Kommissar (try singing in German... like Rammstein)
...
032 - Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing (just like 1982's #46, another stupid song. And his surname is "Gaye".)
...
046 - Naked Eyes - Always Something There To Remind Me (desribe a Post-It)
...
049 - Michael Jackson & Paul Mccartney - the Girl Is Mine (Ironically, two men are singing this)
...
054 - Men At Work - Overkill (apparently being "Down Under" sucks)
...
059 - Laura Branigan - Solitaire (can't you just play the friggin' card game?)
...
084 - Stray Cats - (she's) Sexy + 17 (this is a vague song)

---------------------------

1984 :: I actually think that Prince's conversion to a symbol was a good marketing ploy, but executed at the wrong era.

001 - Prince - When Doves Cry (and Pigs Bark and Dogs Meow ...)
...
005 - Phil Collins - Against All Odds (ohh. good song.)
...
010 - Culture Club - Karma Chameleon (I remember this was Boy George's, right? Sounds like a fart)
...
015 - Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want To Have Fun (ushering the era of the "boppy" girl fashion)
...
019 - Romantics - Talking In Your Sleep
...
020 - Laura Branigan - Self Control (ironically, 20 answers 19)
...
026 - Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me (the song for paranoids)
...
036 - Corey Hart - Sunglasses At Night (Is A Fashion Disaster)
...
039 - Billy Joel - Uptown Girl (inspiring a godawful rendition by Westlife)
...
050 - Julio Iglesias & Willie Nelson - To All the Girls I've Loved Before (players)
...
056 - Huey Lewis & the News - I Want a New Drug (try playing this song at the local pharmacy)
...
068 - Quiet Riot - Cum On Feel the Noise (I'm not pointing out the "sic" part)
...
078 - Michael Jackson - Thriller (oh... that scary song... as if his nose ain't scary enough)
...
086 - John Cougar Mellencamp - Pink Houses (if MMDA were housing contractors...)
...
100 - James Ingram & Michael Mcdonald - Yah Mo Be There (???)

---------------------------

1985 :: Still no signs of the invasion of black rap.

001 - Wham - Careless Whisper (I remember Hyde covered this song)
...
002 - Madonna - Like a Virgin (that iconic song from Madonna)
...
007 - Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule the World (how true)
...
010 - A-ha - Take On Me (the one-hit-wonder)
...
014 - Starship - We Built This City (good song)
...
023 - Whitney Houston - Saving All My Love For You (good song too)
...
035 - Duran Duran - A View To a Kill (that good Bond intro music of the same movie title)
...
038 - Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance (science overload)
...
050 - Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin - Separate Lives (another good break-up song)
...
058 - Madonna - Material Girl (this is where Madonna got her infamous nickname)
...
062 - Sade - Smooth Operator (another good song)
...
077 - Julian Lennon - Too Late For Goodbyes (yep, true for you)
...
079 - Power Station - Some Like It Hot
...
082 - Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire (try 79)

---------------------------

1986 :: Oh lord. Eddie Murphy on the charts?

001 - Dionne Warwick & Friends - That's What Friends Are For
...
005 - Mr. Mister - Broken Wings (wonder if there really is a surname going by the name of "Mister")
...
007 - Eddie Murphy - Party All the Time (see?)
...
023 - Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer (Triple H's favorite hardcore weapon of choice)
...
026 - Nu Shooz - I Can't Wait (To Remoove Yur Stoopid Sung Frum Thiz Chart)
...
029 - Madonna - Papa Don't Preach (I remember Kelly Osbourne disparaging this song)
...
030 - Bon Jovi - You Give Love a Bad Name (and this one was converted to disco by Blake Lewis)
...
043 - Janet Jackson - What Have You Done For Me... (...when I had that wardrobe malfunction)
...
055 - Inxs - What You Need (I only remember this band from that reality show)
...
078 - Dream Academy - Life In a Northern Town (?)
...
089 - Run-dmc - Walk This Way (Okay... the song that re-catapulted Aerosmith back)
...
100 - Stevie Wonder - Go Home (the best song for barhouses and wine bars)

---------------------------

1987 :: Okay, so now the influences of rap are coming.

001 - Bangles - Walk Like an Egyptian (racists)
...
006 - Robbie Nevil - C'est La Vie (the joys of using French)
...
011 - Los Lobos - La Bamba (probably inspired that stupid "Macarena" song)
...
024 - George Michael - I Want Your Sex (another stupid song... are these artists depraved or what?)
...
038 - Prince - U Got the Look (that use of "U" is ominuous)
...
044 - Samantha Fox - Touch Me (I Want Your Body) (another depraved artist... and her surname's "Fox")
...
046 - Madonna - Causing a Commotion (hey, this woman caused enough commotion back then)
...
059 - Michael Jackson - Bad (prelude)
...
066 - Swing Out Sister - Breakout (good song)
...
098 - Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right (To Party) (another good song from Eminem's predecessors)

---------------------------

1988 :: Another bland year... I wished RATM was formed in the late 80s.

001 - George Michael - Faith (see? bland enough)
...
021 - Michael Jackson - Man In the Mirror (Is A Negro Caucasian-Wannabe)
...
(too many friggy love songs)
...
034 - Aerosmith - Angel (good song)
...
041 - Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine (a perfect pharmacy radio song)
...
061 - Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana (the perfect antithesis for Elton John's Candle In The Wind)
...
066 - Pretty Poison - Catch Me (I'm Falling) (damn)
...
071 - Elton John - Candle In the Wind (eventually remixed to fit Princess Diana)
...
081 - Brenda Russell - Piano In the Dark (try being in Stevie Wonder's shoes)
...
089 - Whitney Houston - One Moment In Time (that godawful Olympic tune)

---------------------------

1989 :: The advent of the boyband craze. Remember The New Kids On The Block?

001 - Chicago - Look Away (sorry, I'm still looking)
...
004 - Paula Abdul - Straight Up (before 1990 she was hot)
...
006 - Paula Abdul - Cold Hearted (wish she was in American Idol instead of Cowell)
...
007 - Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings (in RP "Wings" means a Whispers sanitary napkin)
...
012 - Boy Meets Girl - Waiting For a Star To Fall (that would be Armageddon)
...
024 - Simply Red - If You Don't Know Me By Now (we don't remember you now until we crack the history books open)
...
026 - New Kids On The Block - I'll Be Loving You (Forever) (and we'll be damned)
...
035 - Cher - If I Could Turn Back Time (you can remove the iceberg before it hit the Titanic)
...
049 - New Kids On The Block - Hangin' Tough (another BS from NKOTB)
...
052 - New Kids On The Block - You Got It (The Right Stuff) (and another bad stuff)
...
062 - Duran Duran - I Don't Want Your Love (another perfect break-up song)
...
073 - New Kids On The Block - Cover Girl (at least Playboy magazine adds were an inch hotter than NKOTB's chart status)
...
081 - Aerosmith - Love In an Elevator (the last time that happened in RP a porn scandal broke out)
...
087 - Samantha Fox - I Wanna Have Some Fun (apparently Cyndi Lauper forgot to take Samantha Fox into account)
...
093 - Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal (that's how he eluded his court conviction)
...
095 - Bobby Brown - Rock Wit'cha (sorry, we don't git'cha song's meaning except you blew Whitney up in weed smoke)
...
100 - Soul II Soul - Keep On Movin' (at least the brothers out there know their soul and RNB)

---------------------------

1990 :: Oh wow. America's quite fixated on female lead vocalists and female... ah, just female. Except the #1 rank.

001 - Wilson Phillips - Hold On (see?)
...
002 - Roxette - It Must Have Been Love (good song, BTW)
...
003 - Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U (if she titled it "N0+41n c0mp@r35 2 U" it would be complete)
...
005 - Madonna - Vogue (another song from Madonna... although the iconic songs are in the 80's now)
...
006 - Mariah Carey - Vision Of Love (the year Mariah Carey cracks the charts)
...
010 - Jon Bon Jovi - Blaze Of Glory (the third iconic song from Bon Jovi... mostly used in victory parades)
...
014 - Paula Abdul - Opposites Attract (marry Simon and prove your song is right)
...
016 - Heart - All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You (another depraved artist)
...
025 - Glenn Medeiros Featuring Bobby Brown - She Ain't Worth It (are they pertaining to Whitney?)
...
034 - New Kids On The Block - Step By Step (thank God they're slowly getting ditched in the charts)
...
040 - Tommy Page - I'll Be Your Everything (try being my morning coffee brewer)
...
043 - Soul II Soul - Back To Life (good song)
...
046 - Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby (oh, Eminem's non-biological grandfather)
...
048 - M.C Hammer - Have You Seen Her (yep, she was running out of your concert after you sang "U Can't Touch This")
...
050 - Janet Jackson - Come Back To Me (who, Justin Timberlake? He's now with Madonna's entourage)
...
056 - MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This (your what?)
...
062 - Aerosmith - Janie's Got A Gun (basically a "Beretta-brandishing Bitch")
...
067 - Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence (yep, the song was loud enough for a middle finger salute)
...
076 - Mariah Carey - Love Takes Time (true, took you 18 years from 1990)
...
090 - New Kids On The Block - This One's For The Children (sorry, rated-18. go away)
...
092 - Kiss - Forever (oh wow. Gene Simmons and the band are still in. talk about "undead")

---------------------------

1991 :: A decade later, America still entertains sexually-depraved artists.

001 - Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You (oh, that Robin Hood theme song)
...
002 - Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up (very Badd song)
...
004 - Paula Abdul - Rush Rush (that wonder hit from Paula)
...
011 - Boyz II Men - Motownphilly (another group who knows their soul music)
...
015 - Bette Midler - From A Distance (good song)
...
029 - Ralph Tresvant - Sensitivity (the only interest he generates is when people hear his surname)
...
033 - REM - Losing My Religion (that iconic REM song... and so far none)
...
057 - Vanilla Ice - Play That Funky Music (and again?)
...
069 - Mariah Carey - Love Takes Time (spanning two years, this song is good)
...
075 - Seal - Crazy (didn't this guy marry that German supermodel Heidi Klum?)
...
090 - INXS - Disappear (and that's what they did the next decade and a half)
...
099 - Rod Stewart And The Temptations - The Motown Song (apparently Detroit is a bad place considering this song's quality)

---------------------------

1992 :: Now America's in power balladeers and duets.

001 - Boyz II Men - End Of The Road (good song)
...
006 - Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven (the only Clapton song that made me listen twice)
...
014 - Michael Jackson - Black Or White (2008 Democrat Presidential Nomination OST)
...
015 - Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart (that one-hit wonder)
...
019 - Michael Jackson - Remember The Time (When You First Saw Me In A Ghost-White Skin)
...
026 - George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (good song)
...
032 - Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (the only Nirvana hit)
...
036 - TLC - Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg (2 ambiguous 2 tell)
...
039 - Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (oh, that one song from hell... and I thought only the Bee Gees had that trademark falsetto)
...
046 - MC Hammer - 2 Legit 2 Quit (another song that's 2 stupid 2 comprehend)
...
054 - Michael Bolton - When A Man Loves A Woman (try singing that in Elton John's wedding)
...
064 - Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson - Beauty And The Beast (when Disney breaks in the charts)
...
073 - Paula Abdul - Blowing Kisses In The Wind (she does that to every hot male contestant in Idol)
...
084 - Boyz II Men - Uhh Ahh (uhh... I think that's not a good title)

---------------------------

1993 :: Apparently the more weirder and ambiguous the singer's name, the better for Americans.

001 - Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You (okay, the only good song from Whitney)
...
009 - Wreckx N Effect - Rump Shaker (see? that's one)
...
011 - Dr. Dre & Snoop Doggy Dogg - Ain't Nothin But A G-Thang (apparently they even created their own nigger language)
...
016 - Duice - Dazzey Dukes (and another)
...
028 - Spin Doctors - Two Princes (okay, another one)
...
030 - Whitney Houston - I Have Nothing (Left After 12 Years)
...
031 - Arrested Development - Mr. Wendal (and another one)
...
035 - Tony Toni Tone - If I Had No Loot (ah, damn)
...
036 - Meat Loaf - I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) (WARNING: "No Pun Intended" tag spotted)
...
039 - Whitney Houston - I'm Every Woman (sorry, no woman wants to be you anymore)
...
045 - Naughty By Nature - Hip Hop Hooray (candy-sucking kids)
...
050 - 4 Non-Blondes - What's Up (pretty watered song)
...
054 - Brian McKnight - One Last Cry (good song)
...
055 - Xscape - Just Kickin' It (dang it, these keep on coming)
...
057 - Bon Jovi - Bed Of Roses (the second iconic song from Bon Jovi... the iconic song is "It's My Life")
...
061 - Ugly Kid Joe - Cat's In The Cradle (what an ugly name)
...
063 - Positive K - I Got A Man (and that man's in for his death ride)
...
067 - Madonna - Rain (this is one of Madonna's songs I liked)
...
070 - Boy Krazy - That's What Love Can Do (nope, naming yourself "Krazy" doesn't help)
...
079 - Captain Hollywood Project - More And More (now the name sounds more stupid than... "stupid")
...
080 - The Heights - How Do You Talk To An Angel (try inserting a P.S. after your usual prayer to God)
...
081 - Digable Planets - Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat) (digable... ???)
...
084 - EnVogue - Give It Up, Turn It Loose (sometimes creativity outlives its purpose)
...
092 - Joey Lawrence - Nothin' My Love Can't Fix (try fixin' my house plumbing)
...
097 - Tony Toni Tone - Anniversary (how do i spell "tony"? let me count the ways)

---------------------------

1994 :: Still the same as 1993, except "weirdness" has more than whetted the US music appetite

001 - Ace of Base - The Sign (well ok, suit yourselves)
...
003 - Boyz II Men - I'll Make Love To You (and again, another one bites the dust)
...
005 - Mariah Carey - Hero (still the same Mariah)
...
007 - Toni Braxton - Breathe Again (another good song from toni braxton)
...
014 - Salt-N-Pepa And EnVogue - Whatta Man (when weird worlds collide)
...
018 - Elton John - Can You Feel The Love Tonight (sorry, nope. sing that to your partner instead)
...
024 - Aaliyah - Back And Forth (Remix) (oh, aaliyah. that one)
...
029 - Salt-N-Pepa - Shoop (damn)
...
032 - Michael Bolton - Said I Loved You . . . But I Lied (another perfect break-up song)
...
035 - Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm (aka "The Sound Of A Person With Duct Tape Covering His Mouth")
...
037 - Da Brat - Funkdafied (damn)
...
040 - 10,000 Maniacs - Because The Night (that's a wholotta maniacs)
...
046 - Crystal Waters - 100% Pure Love (i thought it read "Pure Loves - 100% Crystal Water")
...
050 - Beck - Loser (that's you)
...
052 - Snoop Doggy Dogg - Gin And Juice (Remix) (actually, that tastes good depending on the juice)
...
053 - Immature - Never Lie (thanks for being honest)
...
056 - Luther Vandross And Mariah Carey - Endless Love (Mariah really loves black guys, yeah?)
...
061 - 2Pac - Keep Ya Head Up (another one of Akon's ancestors)
...
062 - Snoop Doggy Dogg - Whats My Name (yep, a legit question, because for sure your legal name isn't "Snoop Dogg" either)
...
063 - Real McCoy - Another Night (and now we have to find the "Fake McCoy")
...
066 - Jimmy Cliff - I Can See Clearly Now (perfect song for lasik treatment centers)
...
074 - Zhane - Groove Thang (can't they even run Spellcheck on their word processors?)
...
081 - Craig Mack - Flava In Ya Ear (oh, so you're Craig David's ancestor)
...
082 - Queen Latifah - U.N.I.T.Y. (yeah, and we can S.P.E.L.L. too)
...
085 - Ini Kamoze - Here Comes The Hotstepper (damn)
...
099 - Heavy D And The Boyz - Bop Gun (I won't even trust these people with a potato gun)

---------------------------

1995 :: And the number 1 song is... "Gangsta's Paradise"? Well, 1995. The year that rap comes in hood first.

001 - Coolio & LV - Gangsta's Paradise
...
002 - TLC - Waterfalls (the only good TLC song)
...
004 - Seal - Kiss From A Rose (good song)
...
008 - Madonna - Take A Bow (another one good song... I remember the music video of this one involved a matador)
...
010 - Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It (no, only you do it)
...
013 - Adina Howard - Freak Like Me (freak out, bitch)
...
016 - Bryan Adams - Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman (yep)
...
018 - Shaggy - Boombastic (actually, this song fits "Arabic-sounding voice" to a T)
...
021 - Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone (yep, and if you're gonna retire this world would be)
...
031 - Vanessa Williams - Colors Of The Wind (try car smoke emissions)
...
047 - The Notorious B.I.G. - Big Poppa (and maybe this inspired Scott Steiner)
...
048 - 4 PM - Sukiyaki (hey, remember 1981's #22?)
...
051 - 2Pac - Dear Mama (... your big boy 2PAC is making millions out of convincing people his shit is worth their auditory time)
...
056 - Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson - Scream Childhood (I didn't watch Free Willy 2 because the two Jacksons are in the promotional bandwagon)
...
057 - Jodeci - Freakin' You (try freakin' Adina Howard)
...
079 - Faith Evans - You Used To Love Me (another post-breakup song)
...
081 - U2 - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (yep, describe a total Hollywood marriage)
...
096 - N II U - I Miss You (talk about being lazy)

===== =====

So, just a footnote. Let me post a top 10 list here, just for the sake of me getting out from the 3-headed dog called boredom.

Top 10 SONG TITLES THAT WERE INFLUENCED BY MAMAJUANA (including JBL's little romantic Gatorade)

10 - 1986 #046 - Robert Palmer - I Didin't Mean To Turn You On
09 - 1981 #063 - John Mellencamp - Ain't Even Done With the Night
08 - 1983 #032 - Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing
07 - 1983 #066 - Air Supply - Making Love Out of Nothing At All
06 - 1990 #016 - Heart - All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You
05 - 1987 #024 - George Michael - I Want Your Sex
04 - 1991 #002 - Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
03 - 1994 #003 - Boyz II Men - I'll Make Love To You
02 - 1987 #044 - Samantha Fox - Touch Me (I Want Your Body)
01 - 1992 #084 - Boyz II Men - Uhh Ahh

Top 10 MOST "I Don't Know How I Was Inspired To Name This Song As This" SONG TITLES

10 - 1992 #036 - TLC - Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg
   - 1992 #046 - MC Hammer - 2 Legit 2 Quit
09 - 1984 #100 - James Ingram & Michael Mcdonald - Yah Mo Be There
08 - 1985 #038 - Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance
07 - 1982 #042 - Buckner & Garcia - Pac-man Fever
06 - 1988 #042 - Beach Boys - Kokomo
05 - 1993 #093 - Green Jelly - Three Little Pigs
04 - 1995 #076 - 20 Fingers - Short Dick Man
03 - 1982 #016 - Tommy Tutone - 867-5309
02 - 1981 #057 - Police - De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
01 - 1994 #035 - Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

===== =====

So ciao for now.