eHeads presscon: what's with the shades?

they filed in without saying a word, the quartet's faces registering nothing. not that you'd have been able to see any expression. shades covered most of their mugs.

attended by three generations of press people: the established, the contemporary, and the fan generations. from wrinkles to crinkles, italianni's at bonifacio high street was so jampacked, you could feel other people's cellulite. presscons always serve al dente pasta with cream sauce (or rich pomodoro), crispy veggie salad with the most fattening caesar's dressing, battered then deep-fried meat (they do that with fish too, of course) and chocolate inspired dessert - choco-topped/choco-glazed, choco-dipped, choco-based, choco-drizzled, choco everything! so, yes, cellulite!

oh, yes, back to the eHeads! for half-an-hour, they parried with the press. buddy was tasked the serious questions. raimund the wacky ones. ely and marcus took turns uttering a word each between them and pretty soon they made a coherent sentence strung together. as a group, they barely made eye contact, like strangers waiting for a ride at the bus stop - a perfectly normal rock band!

apparently, the future's so bright (still), they had to wear shades!

final set. 07 march at the mall of asia. waiting is a bitch! czek already bought tickets!

CCP at 40. midlife... all the sounds from the pavement

amidst wednesday traffic, we weed our way to the cultural center of the philippines. celebrating its 40th anniversary, the CCP reveals its plans for 2009. fantastic offerings!
lunch was elegantly simple, a dark artistic intimate affair onstage at the CCP. it was a pleasure to see tess rances and nes jardin after 7 awfully long years. saw mavic of ballet philippines. ibarra mateo (blast from my UP-louie beltran past) and michelle logarta from my award-winning history 100 class.
the CCP presented the press with previews of what the year had in store - one of my fave opera pieces "o mio babbino caro" by soprano camille lopez-molina, a dance the devil would envy from rhosam prudenciano, jr, and a live performance from leo valdez.
whoaaahh! what a week. another perk that comes with the job. i ain't complainin'!

the best perks that come with the job

had a magnificent morning last tuesday at the ayala museum. czek and i spent hours shooting toto sicangco's authentic costumes for the plexiglass slipper. moved to tears, we were, too. out of the display glass and underneath our adoring fingertips, toto's costume pieces were exquisite! it was overwhelming..

philipp

today was philipp's last day at work. (though, he'll stay until he's done with his project.) such is how things work, at work.

i started working in adobo with philipp while he was doing OJT. attended many events with philipp and enjoyed all of them. he's a fun guy to hang out with!
i got this text from him just before midnight a few nights ago.

Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault - Oscar Wilde

well i suppose charm, (no matter how minute) is a despot's luck and ally.
miss you already, P! *sigh*

baguio in bloom

hibiscus red, dainty white daisy. frail, clinging bird. in paradise is lured. fragile seedling on rock thrives.
vira arceo, tessie celestino howard, cristy serrano.
and allen velez. my thanks, gracious ladies, for making me feel warmly welcome.
allen, my heartfelt thanks for expanding my horizons - literally and figuratively. super delish the ube jam! :D

of plots, bread and a charismatic mayor

for the love of my great friend allen (velez), ASAP, and adobo mag, i joined the ad congress ad venture in baguio in 14-degree weather. freezing my butt off for three days is my cup of tea. seriously!

with people who i will spend most of the year with (centrex, DDB, ways and means, venue, trade exhibit, PR...) we trampled on the holy ground we would from then on desecrate with our chatter and prattle, on to november. after treading the walkway on what we will eventually trek 20 million times to D-day. thus ended day 1.

day 2, first on the agenda. buy scarves, caps, gloves. scarves, caps, gloves. scarves caps gloves. the cold was giving us brain-freeze! after a hectic morning of meetings, designs and a lunch interview with the city mayor peter rey bautista.. we were off. soon we were whacking bamboo poles into resisting ground with protesting stones. lining plots of yellow string to the last centimeter to make a buck for the congress. this is after all, a recession. day 2 ended with the group having a shivering dinner al fresco. WTF?!!

day 3. at 1:30am in anticipation of liverpool v stoke city, i thought it prudent to stuff myself under the covers lest i allow my ears, nose and eyelids to freeze. i had previously invited myself to attend, with the mayor's support, a project he personally champions. harvey and john chua (advertising photographer) of ASAP have organized a photography campaign to enlighten autistic children. i braved the 6AM cold to join the party and head off to la trinidad benguet. it was a fantastic day!

okay, so we braved the cold, and ate huge meals to compensate. who were we kidding? after all said, baguio is still beautiful. or should i say - beautiful once more..? or maybe because this is the baguio i miss. the cold, dreary, gloomy feel. the cottage at baguio country club was charming, but atrociously expensive. but i can't complain when i was as comfortable as a curled, napping cat in the midst of winter.

so with carefully saved money for my precious strawberry jam from good shepherd and kamote bread from my sanctuary cafe by the ruins, (as well as some goodies from raisin bread) and allen's present of ube jam, i prepare myself to face the monstrosity that is metro manila.

i've met new people, made new friends, and forged better bonds and i have fallen under the spell of baguio. yet again.

he is all right!

the universe listened and granted.
return to normal mode.
he is all right.
xabi alonso is all right.
phewww!

the grind

yes. back to the grind.
fruitful, beautiful day!
a good way to start 2009.
back to the grind.
(not a grinding halt.)

missed you, patty!
great italiani's dinner!
still no news on xabi.
why must i torture myself?

holiday things you HAVE to do when work beckons

on the last day of the holidays, i woke up with half the day gone. it was expected. i slept later than the newspaper delivery. sick with worry i was and STILL am with xabi alonso limping away and with a temp brace at half-time.

now i have to spend the day cleaning and clearing. feeding circle-bunny and my adopted street-cat mogwai. who, i am discovering, does not fancy milkfish. what a high maintenance lodger!

reality is crashing on me. i have to get to that filing of my reimbursements to start the year right. it's a feeble act. i should've done a lot of writing. articles, not blogs. and i have to wrap presents i didn't get around to giving at christmas. i am a very sorry case.

liverpool 2-0 preston north end.
i would give up that win for good news on xabi...
on xabi, no news is good news!
go reds!

photo credits : i have no idea, but thank you to you.

greenbelt

from the dark, gloomy and clandestine lovers' lane of the 80s to the gloss, glitz and glamour of the new century, greenbelt is a godsend. unfenced and sans gate, the park hosts residences, specialty shops, a supermarket, a deli, restaurants, coffee shops, a comedy club, a videoke bar, convenience shops, a drugstore and beauty bar, a music shop, a museum, (a chapel), a bookstore, a photo shop, a pond with fish and mallard ducks, fountains, gardens, a performance stage, hotels, B&Bs, clean bathrooms - did i miss anything? oh, yes, and a convenient, covered and safe walkway from the office to the train station.
what else can a weary work-rat ask for?