12/13/08 - Ella & Dexter's Wedding

Best wishes Ella and Dexter!

Dear Mang Tsito ... (II)

Dear Mang Tsito,

          Please help me, I don't know what to do.  I posted kasi my experiences during my horrible immersion in my Facebook notepad.  (As in horrible talaga, it's like, the most disgusting thing I had to go through in my life.  Ugh!  More on that later.)  It was supposed to be private kasi but some bitch in my friends list must have leaked it out for everyone to see.  Now everyone seems to hate me, and I don't know who to trust among my friends.

          I can't stand it!  Everyone in school is looking at me like I'm some evil person.  Why ba?  What's so wrong about being honest about my feelings?  What's so revolting about thinking I don't ever want to see another Negrito in my life?  They were dirty, and disgusting - like picking their noses everywhere!  Eeeeew!  And the children, they were like worse than the ones in Katipunan.  They were naked and dirtier times ten, and they were touchy!  As in!  I wanted to shout, "Get away from me you little demons!  I swear I'll kick you".

          So now I have to keep a repentant face as if I'm sorry for everything I said online.  I try hard na nga to not talk about it so that the issue will die down sooner.  I don't like having to explain myself.  I just can't understand how people would pick on me when it's not my fault that I'm rich and those filthy Negritos are, well, filthy.  I wonder if my online detracors have ever lived with Negritos like I did.  They're like the Mr. Hyde equivalent of the masa.  Kadiri talaga!

          Mang Tsito, what should I do?  I've taken a shower 20 times na in the last 48 hours but I can still feel like there are Negrito germs crawling up my legs.  Tapos I have to deal pa with this isolation that the cruel society is imposing on me.  Give me advice naman.

Exfolliatingly yours,

Tracy B.

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

Dear Tracy B.

          Kupal ka.

          (Gusto ko sana sabihing "Gaga" para umayon sa kasarian mo, pero walang dating eh.  Mas bagay sa iyo ang "kupal".  And take note: ikaw lang ang babae na sinabihan ko ng ganyan.  Kung hindi mo naintindihan ang "Kupal ka.", ita-translate ko - "You are a lump of smegma.")

          Ang bagay sa iyo, ilublob ang mukha sa arinola na kagagamit pa lang ng call boy na may LBM.

          Pero dahil humingi ka ng payo, at dahil mabait ako, ito ang mapapayo ko sa iyo:  Maghanap ka ng call boy na may LBM tapos ilublob mo ang mukha mo sa arinola na kagagamit pa lang niya. 

          Bakit 'ka mo?  'Di ka ba nakikinig?  Bagay nga sa iyo eh.

          Kaya kong ipaliwanag ang dapat mong gawin para malampasan iyang kinalalagyan mo, pero bakit ko naman gagawin iyon?  Ano ka sinusuwerte? 

          Kung ako ang masusunod (i.e. kung ako si Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, S.J.) bibigyan kita ng expulsion papers.  Ayaw mong matingnan ng masama ng mga tao dahil sa kaartehan mo?  Pwes, lumayas ka.

Lovingly yours,

Mang Tsito

Last gasp (fart?) of the glorious basketball season

I'M somewhat glad that La Salle won in the PCCL Championship against the Ateneo.  While there's nothing more satisfying than Ateneo beating La Salle, I wanted my friends from DLSU to at least experience victory against the Ateneo this year.  (Yes, I'm kind that way.)

          No excuses, DLSU was clearly the better team.  They executed their plays better, and they defended well.  As always, the only killjoy in any league was the antics of DLSU Head Coach Franz Pumaren.  For the past decade of him coaching the Green Archers, he's made a career of false modesty by making all sorts of pre-game and post-game game statements supposedly explaining why they are always the underdogs.

Here's a typical Pumaren antic: 

Before the season/game, he will say that some of his players are injured or that they are not playing a full lineup for whatever reason.  If they lose, he will say it was expected and that they never had any hope in beating a team that was stronger than them to begin with.  But if they do win, he will gloat by saying his injured/incomplete lineup has beaten a "stronger" opponent.  It's so predictable, but annoying nevertheless.

          (Come on, Franz, the fact that your team has been in the UAAP finals for most of the time that you are head coach is testament to the fact that your team will never be underdogs.  We don't like it, but it's a fact.) 

          Again, unfortunately, DLSU's victory was tarnished by some of its supporters led by Franz' wife herself shouting racist remarks against Norman Black.  This incensed some Ateneo players who looked like they wanted to spew fire at a certain section of the DLSU side.  More than my puzzlement over the need to kick a dead horse, I can't understand how stupid certain DLSU fans are to the point of shouting something racist while their own coaching staff has someone who has African-American heritage - Dan Rose.

          All team supporters whose team loses a crucial game are prone to tasteless antics, but it seems that DLSU is the only team that has supporters who engage in such antics even when they win.  I remember during this year's semifinal match between FEU and DLSU, in the dying seconds with DLSU leading, a dejected Jens Knuttel of FEU was being taunted by two DLSU supporters shouting, "Knuttel! Inutel!  bwahahaha!".  Knuttel faced them, took out his scapular, pointed at it, and told the two La Sallites, "God bless you."

          Wow, that's an act of class that a lot of graduates from supposedly "elite" universities do not possess.  I wish Pumaren knows about this story in order to have something to lecture his wife with.  But then again, class was never one of Pumaren's strong points.

 

 

 

 

 

12/05/08 - Q.C. series 7

Quezon City Hall and its surroundings at night.

The first few pics were taken from across the Elliptical Road, before walking through the Belmonte Underpass.

The last six were taken in the pathway exiting to East Avenue.

12/05/08 - Q.C. Series 6

Shutter speed: 1/20
Aperture value: 4.0
ISO Speed: 1600
Auto-exposure bracket: 0

Belmonte Underpass

Quezon City's first and only underpass connecting the the Quezon Memorial Circle and the City Hall. It was named after the current Quezon City Mayor, Feliciano Belmonte.

At the time these photos were taken, there was a photo exhibit commemorating the 69th founding anniversary of Quezon CIty.

White balance setting for all pics is set to tungsten.

12/05/08 - Q.C. series 5

Shutter speed: 1/4
Aperture value: 4.0
ISO speed: 1600
Color saturation: high

Quezon Monument in the Evening

Again, most of the pics are in bunches of three, and the black and white pics are high-contrast.

I didn't use a tripod so I compensated for possible camera shake by jacking up the ISO speed and kept the aperture value at around 4.0 or 4.5 in order to keep shutter speed "fast". Unfortunately, camera shake still occurred.

Another thing: I forgot to use the noise-reduction mechanism of the camera, so the shots that were taken with ISO 1600 were very grainy upon closer inspection.

12/05/08 - Q.C. series 4

Shutter speed: 1/20
Aperture value: 4.0
ISO speed: 1600


President Manuel L. Quezon's tomb directly underneath the monument.

White balance settings are set to auto, unless indicated.