Category: america

showbiz sheet

habang mabaliw-baliw ang amerika (at ang mundo na rin) sa inauguration ni obama that’s turning out to be the greatest show on earth — mairaos sana nang maluwalhati — ang dami ring nangyayari sa local showbizscene na puwedeng patulan either dahil nakakainis o nakakapagpaisip o nakakamangha.

nakakainis: all the praise and adulation for charice whats-her-name, that small girl with the big voice who sang god bless america, susmaryosep, at some pre-inaugural show.  read wrong on so many levels, my thoughts exactly.  but i don’t blame young charice, who may indeed be wanting a green card, so this was a great career move.  i blame the americans who asked her to sing a songthat should have been sung by an american.  why not an american nga ba?  to make a political statement?  see how this asian loves us?  see how we love this asian?  well they can have her.  i think she’s raw and overrated.  hindi nga siya mananalo ng singing contest dito sa atin.  but these americans, they’re too kind, too nice, to her.  i sense a touch of condescension.  kakainis.

nakakapagpaisip:  vicki belo‘s broken heart.  on the one hand, what did she expect, really.  bakit naman niya inasahan, bakit siya nag-ilusyon, na magiging tapat sa kanya si hayden kho, a horny hunk almost half her age.  painfulas it is, conventional wisdom is right, she should find someone closer to her own age who’s more likely to be faithful or at least, to be discreet.  on the other hand, i can imagine how in love she still is and her head says no, don’t take him back, but her heart says yes yes yes, give him another chance.  how hard.  it doesn’t help that her ex resorts to dramatics like that suicide attempt kuno.  men can be so mean.

nakakamangha:  bebe gandanghari.  i saw her on the buzz and, oh my, kinilabutan ako sa transformation, ang ganda niya, babaeng-babae,pinong-pino, talbog si ruffa at si kris!  kung hindi ko alam na siya yung guwapong rustom na kapatid ni robin at ka-live-in ni carmina until finally nagpakasal sila, it would take me a while to wonder who she reminds me of.  nakakabilib.  it would have been an easier life if s/he had stayed a gay rustom na nagmu-mujer lang when the urge hits or the talent fee is good.  going all the way, calling attention to her new self, career move or not, is very brave of her.  good luck, bebe!  so long, rustom.

and speaking of transformation, it was a blast waking up one morning to find my blog transformed, thanks to my techie son joel na pinagbigyan lang ako with that parchment paper effect but who was working pala on a new theme and upgrade, and i love love love it — it’s so me ;))

can obama?

president-elect barack obama’s promise of change-yes-we-can will be tested bigtime by the israel-palestine crisis the moment he steps into office.   will he, as pundits predict, go the way of bush and continue to support israel’s wars?  on matters where he agrees with bush, as on the economic stimulus package and the mumbai massacre, obama has spoken up.  but on israel’s invasion of the gaza strip he has pleaded one-president-at-a-time, no-comment, which could mean he disagrees with current policy.  silence is golden.   maybe.

obama’s deadly silence
brzezinski: obama must press agreement on israelis and palestinians
and there lie the bodies
the politics of the gaza massacre
gaza-gazing
in a nutshell: israeli palestinian conflict
light for nations: a short history of jews in the modern world
orthodox jews condemn zionist atrocities in gaza
top 5 lies about israel’s assault on gaza
trying to ‘teach hamas a lesson’ is fundamentally wrong
raising yousuf and noor: diary of a palestinian mother

changing times

i am glad that barack obama hasn’t taken or returned gma’s phonecalls.   i am glad becauseit pops the illusion that we are special to america.  i am glad because it puts us in our place.  we are a poor relation, that’s all, and america takes our support for granted.

maybe the inquirer editorial is right:

It is not difficult to speculate why Obama has been avoiding Ms Arroyo. Aside from the fact that the Philippines does not figure importantly in the US’ geopolitical scheme of things, Ms Arroyo is not exactly a political figure that Obama, who ran on a platform of change and would like to project a good, clean image, would want to be seen with. The nation’s experience with Ms Arroyo the past eight years shows that she is the quintessence of the traditional politician.”

quite possibly obama has a different take on the spratleys, mindanao, and the visiting forces agreement — maybe he wants to bring the u.s. soldiershome (would that include corporaldaniel smith, convicted rapist of nicole?) and quite possibly the uncertainty is what’s really freaking out gma — ang hirap magplano,  lol– thus the stop in chicago?  one last attempt to get to the guy?

samantala metromanila is abuzz with talk of a paranoid palace hearing midnight mass, and ding g. gagelonia wonders if the regime is in trouble:

. . . there are wagging tongues asking why Mrs. Arroyo is out of the country just as Joc Joc Bolante is set to face the Senate and amid the persistent talk of a new plot to bring doiwn her government.

A clear indication of that danger is the appearance of a web site purportedly authored by rebellious soldiers with the site prominently featuring the call of 5 ranking Catholic bishops for “radical reformsagainst massive corruption,”

Pundits are juxtaposing this angle with last Friday’s surprise midnight mass in Malacanang where churchmen, politicians, and civic leaders supporting Mrs. Arroyo where in attendance.

Is the ground shifting from under the embattled leader or will she, like before, be able to stare down the threat which her security people are closely watching?”

interesting times. obama’s triumph was no freak event.  up in the heavens jupiter saturn and uranus are configuring a rare triangle, and pluto, associated with upheavals and transformation, is changing signs this month of november.  as above, so below.

hallelujah america

gave me goose pimples, brought tears to my eyes, the sight and sound and substance of black and beautiful barack’s first speech as president-elect of the united states of america.  what a man.  what a feat.  what a winner.  i am so awed by his audacity and so excited by the change he promises — hopefully, somehow, at the very least, deep-seated change that would narrow the gap between the rich and the poor of america, and which could become the template for monkey-see-monkey-do “democracies” like ours.