The Earth Hour

Last Saturday (March 28) at 8:30pm to 9:30 pm around the world, people have been encouraged to support the earth hour by switching off lights and other non-essential appliances. The Earth Hour is supported by various organization and cities across the world.

I became aware of this one-hour lights off event while watching National Geographic Channel. And on Friday, a coworker of mine sent me a text regarding the event.

I had every intention of joining this event and planned on switching off lights and other non-essential appliances (my TV) but on that particular night, I was so tired from going to Uratex in Quezon City, going around with my brother and doing some work that I totally forgot about this. What's worse, I fell asleep before the appointed hour, leaving my TV, my electric fan, my refrigerator and lights on. And this went on until I woke up the following morning (about 4am). Not only was I not able to join the event, the hour passed with basically all of my electricity-using appliances turned on.

Not that I don't support the environment. I do my part in my own small way, like avoiding having my purchases put in plastic bags when such is avoidable. But being in the Philippines and paying one of the highest electricity charges in Asia, I find it ironic that we are being told to conserve electricity (even by Meralco) to minimize the amount that we have to pay (this being true). However, as a whole (I mean all consumers in the Philippines taken together), we are paying to the power-producing plants for electricity that is not being produced and distributed because of contracts that the government entered into (during the blackouts of the Ramos administration).

On my part though, conserving electricity is still a good way to save money. If my electricity bill is at or a below a certain kilowatt-hour, I see a deduction in my electricity bill for "subsidies" while if I consumed electricity above that level, I will be subsidizing others for their electrical bills. Better that I am subsidized by others AND help minimize electrical production (not sure if my saving electricity will have an impact on total production).

28th Birthday

Today is my 28th birthday.

Hurray that I've made it this far and hoping for more years to come.

Wishing for a better health, more wealth and more good friends.

:-)

Birthday Blues

I woke up today like in so many other days before. I dawdled, watched some TV before getting the resolve to take a shower and go to work.

While I was showering, I realized that in 2 days time, will be my 28th birthday. Goodness I'm old!

For me, growing old is not bad, it's good. It's just that growing old without having some sense of accomplishment. I wouldn't say that I have not accomplished anything. I have a decent-paying job. I can manage to live independently, etc. But I do feel that something is still missing.

Maybe it's just the birthday blues. I'll feel better once my birthday is over.

Andrew Knowlton and Long Hair

I must admit that I'm a sucker for guys with long hair. Actually, I'm attracted to guys with good-looking hair. I guess it's because I don't like my hair. I have a full head of thick hair but with very small strands. It's not jet black and shiny, rather more like very dark brown with some frizz, especially when I don't wear any hair products.

On long hair, what attracts me more to them are the fact that some guys can carry it while others (including me) cannot. First of all, a guy has to have a face and body proportion to do this. A head too big for the body (like me) would only be too noticeable with long hair.

Andrew Knowlton is the editor of Bon Appetit magazine and he frequently judges Iron Chef America (that's how I first saw him). He's not that gorgeous, but given the right angle and lighting, he is cute. And he's got long hair!

Watching the Lifestyle Network and Asian Food Channel made me have a crush on some food guys with long hair, including Andrew Knowlton, Jamie Oliver (I don't know why he is called the Naked Chef, I mean he's always fully clothed) and chef at home dad Michael Smith (not handsome but there is something very manly and comforting about the way he cooks and speaks. Also, i love his fabulous kitchen, with a room - bigger than my room - just for stocking spices and other cooking ingredients).

Life as I Know It

Updates:

• Whereas in the previous year or two, I was collecting DVDs (which by now must have cost more than P90k), I am now into buying household stuff (kitchenwares, organizers, home accessories, etc.)
• My idea of relaxation now is to go to Japan Home Center and go through each rack of cheap but good quality home things.
• I'm still bored with work.
• I still come to work late.
• I am now into watching "The Golden Girls", finally a series to watch. I've watched Friends too many times already. Writing of the Golden Girls is quite similar to Friends. I have finished watching season 1 and am almost halfway through season 2.
• I bought a 3-in-1 shredder (shreds paper, CD and credit card) from CD-R King yesterday (P990). I spent last time shredding paper (mostly credit card billings) and cleaning the house (the paper shredder turns off automatically after sometime to prevent overheating). I now have a large plastic bag full of shredded paper.
• I finally had the resolve to decrease drastically my smoking. Before I have a 2 cigarettes before work (one while in the toilet and another while walking to work), 1 or 2 during my morning break, 1 or 2 during lunch time, 1 to 3 during the afternoon, 1 while walking to the tricycle station on going home, and about 2 to 4 at night while watching TV/DVD. Yesterday, I only had 1. Today, so far only 1 cigarette and I do not intend to smoke another stick.
• I realized the key to decreasing smoking for me is not to have a stock of cigarette in the office or at home.
• Instead of smoking, I resolve to clean my house everynight to alleviate my restlessness from the decreased level in nicotine.
• I am now restless since my body is not used to such low level of nicotine yet.
• I did not go to work yesterday. I went to Japan Home Center yesterday (spent P1000+ on some garbage bin, plastic ware, colored pencils, fancy scissors, etc.) then went to CD-R King Waltermart to buy the paper shredder.
• I'm still looking for a cheap steering wheel that I can use for my PS-2. I want to play driving on my PS2 so I can get my license and be confident on driving a real car. The steering wheel lent by my brother is so hard to use, it is actually easier to drive a real car than play a PS2 game with using that steering wheel.
• CD-R King has several models of the steering wheel for computer games with prices ranging from P680 to P980, no luck finding a branch that still has stock.
• I am thinking of buying a wall fan for my room, so that no valuable floor space is wasted by my electric fan.
• I want to buy a drill to install the wallfan and to do other home projects. The wallfan will cost probably around P1000, the drill to install it would probably cost as much.
• I don't know to maximize space at home while keeping most of my stuff on the second floor of my house. Third floor is just for the bathroom/toilet, room used solely for keeping all my clothes and a roofed terrace for doing the laundry (which my mother does when she visits my) and keeping all the boxes from all the stuff that I buy.
• I have a satellite dish and a cable connection. I am paying P200 per month to share the SkyCable line with the tenants. I bought a satellite dish with DMBox converter for P3,800. I don't use the satellite dish. The channel lineup and video quality of SkyCable is so much better than those obtained by using the satellite dish.
• I'm thinking of buying a P3,400 telescope from Makati Square. It's supposed to be for looking into space. Maybe I can now look into the scarred face of the moon that has for so long been compared by poets to the face of their beloved.

Mamma Mia!

I just finished watching Mamma Mia! and I was just so inspired to write about it. The movie is sooo blog-worthy.

Ok so most people know about Mamma Mia! That is a movie (based on a musical play) consisting of ABBA songs.

I do not intend to write a review of this movie. Just some observations.

• First of all, if you are a fan of or at least familiar with Filipino movies, where near the end of the movie - just before the climax - the lead male comedian/s will ask his/their love interest to an outing/picnic, you will not be alienated by this movie. As a matter of fact, this movie has three of this. Being set on an island and being a musical movie, the stage is set just for this scene. Where the leads will sing a song, do a dance number and random people who are there by chance just get to sing along and dance in a choreographed manner knowing all the lyrics and dancing all the moves.
• Despite being a musical movie, this movie is not in the tradition of Phantom of the Opera, Chicago or even Moulin Rouge, where accomplished singers (or actors with good voices) sing the songs. Pierce Brosnan, Dominic Cooper and the other lead cast are not accomplished singer. In fact, the movie seems to go along like a succession of listening and watching the actors do a sing-along karaoke to ABBA tunes. Even Meryl Streep (who said that she would rip Madonna's throat if Madonna gets the part in Evita, where Meryl also auditioned) is not that good a singer.
• The movie seems not to be a well-thought, well-studied movie. The actors/actresses (even the great Meryl) didn't seem to have prepared much for their roles. For instance, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth didn't seem to have prepared their bodies for baring them onscreen. Only Dominic Cooper seems to have buffed up (yuuummmy!) for his role. Though I must say Amanda Seyfried looks stunning in her wedding dress, with her blonde her and tanned skin, absolute beautiful.
• The movie seems to be just actors having fun not minding that someone is filming them. Even so, the actors' state of mind during filming absolutely shows to the audience.
• The guys (extras) are gorgeous, with their nice bodies and tanned skin. Take away the lead cast and you could have mistaken this for a movie directed by Federico Fellini, what with all those Italian/Greek-looking guys and old woman.
• The church is beautiful, or rather, the setting of the church is beautiful.
• Meryl Streep is so different in this movie. She is so vibrant and full of youth that it was jarring at the beginning. Its somehow hard to reconcile Meryl, the dramatic actress, with Meryl, the singing, dancing, jumping and gushing single mother in the movie.

Ok, that's just about it.