Forever(pa)more Observations

I've been in the Philippines for nearly six months, so naturally, my update is about a Pinoy soap opera called Forevermore.  I've been busy with farming/gardening as well as raising chickens and I also have some random observations about the Philippines since moving back, but maybe I'll post about those later.  In the meantime, here's some observations about a soap opera set in my hometown:

Disclaimer: I’ve only watched the first 30 episodes.

1) The truck owned by the Calay’s has an Igorotak sticker. Cool.

2) Cool also that they sometimes speak Ilokano.

3) More cool stuff: the two main characters did a native dance with what appears to be Ibaloi garb.

4) The show is pretty funny, e.g. lines from Mang Bangky.

5) ‘Mang Bubs’ sounds like ‘man boobs’.

6) The ethnic group of the farming family is ambiguous. It seems like they’re Ibaloi, but its unclear.  I wonder if that's intentional on the part of the producers. 

7) Its pretty funny that everytime someone is having a conversation in the show, there’s a 90% chance that someone will happen to overhear the conversation. Probably a standard soap technique.

8) Although occasionally corny and over the top (hey, its a soap), this show is pretty good. I was originally going to joke that it looks like that the verbal abuse of the director must’ve paid off. But then, it turns out the verbal abuse was only directed towards the extras.

9) The theme song sounds like Cat Stevens ‘The First Cut is the Deepest’.

10) The best thing about the show, of course -- it was shot in Baguio.

Seis Pensamientos del Momento

1)  Food -- in Cameroon, it was rice and beans.  In Panama, its rice and lentils. 

2)  Things I am Tired of -- links to articles on the sidebar about wives and girlfriends (WAG) of athletes while I'm trying to read the sports page.  Who gives a sh*t?

3)  That's a Switch -- I'm living with a host family whose members all have smartphones while I have a dumbphone.   

4)    Quote of the day -- I think Buddha once said that life is suffering.  Life is pain.  Or as Sgt. Barnes would say, "Shut up and take the pain!  Take the pain!"



5)  Music in my head -- Jonathan Richman's True Love is Not Nice, U2's Elevation and Bruce Springsteen's Badlands. 

6)  "… and that has made all the difference."

Just Sayin'

I don't get why Facebook is always telling me what my profile page should look like.  They tell me I need a cover photo.  All of a sudden we need a cover photo.  If you don't have one, they'll just make your cover photo some grayscale image.  Good thing that that's what I was going to make as my cover photo anyway.  I'm a minimalist like that.  They also tell me my profile is only 80% complete because I don't have info like my hometown.  Really, Facebook?  Facebook has become that annoying paper clip in Microsoft office:

Just let me log on, man, because as Hasan Minhaj said, I just need to see who checked in at Pinkberry.  Or find out what people had for lunch.  Note:  I had no idea what Pinkberry was before doing an internet search.  It's apparently a SoCal thing. 

Zany Zidane

I've been following all the hubbub about Zinedine Zidane, the soccer player who...ahh, well, you know the story. Zidane is apparently a sensitive chap. He probably wouldn't last one second in the NBA, where trash talk is much worse. He would probably be head-butting people left and right. :D Anyway, if you haven't seen the youtube video of people randomly head-butting other people in the street, you should check it out b/c it is hilarious. I also like Conan O'Brien's joke where he said that Zidane learned his sportsmanship from an "angry billy goat." I think that's how we should resolve conflicts from now on. If you disagree with someone, just give him or her a swift head-butt to the chest. Try it at work. ;) I also like how the media always has to mention that Zidane is balding. They might as well call him "chrome dome" while they're at it. Why not "cue-ball"? And I wonder how much of Materazzi's response was genuine and how much was acting. I mean if you patted Materazzi on the shoulder, would he immediately crumple to the ground? ;)