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Firecrackers and Hackers

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       Lots of people were already lighting firecrackers even weeks before Christmas, and one thing was already noticeable then: those firecrackers are louder, thus more dangerous. And it is even more alarming when you see that majority of peeps exploding them are kids (12-16 years old). So it was sort of inevitable that you’d hear somebody dying from it. And just yesterday, news of a boy dying and another one being critically injured after a firecracker exploded on them hit social media. Centuries ago, when I was a lot younger, we’d hoard firecrackers (the loudest ones) inside our house days before Christmas (they’d get expensive as New Year comes near), never caring that they were fire hazards, but decades ago, as I mature, I saw the pointlessness of it—and so we ditched firecrackers and just drank and ate during New Year’s eve.      This morning, Facebook warned me that somebody from Mindanao logged on to my Facebook. I live in Manila. Was it me ?...
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Rob Reiner and the Spinal Tap

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        "These go to eleven..."           One of my favorite comedy movies is This is Spinal Tap (1984), a rock mockumentary that follows the American tour of Spinal Tap (a fictional heavy metal band). I’ve watched this film multiple times and I still find it funny each time. The film satirizes the “behavior and musical pretensions of rock bands.” This is Spinal Tap was critically acclaimed and is considered one of the funniest films ever, and was followed, 41 years later, by a sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues  (2025) with the same cast and writers, which is also very funny, though the first film, for me, is funnier.       The running joke about their drummers all dying and suffering bizarre deaths while with the band is hilarious. One of their drummers died when he choked on vomit… someone else’s vomit. Lol. And they weren’t able to find who owned the vomit. And their concert with the Stonehenge? Also...
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Malls, Fully Booked, Netflix and Chill

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       The nearest mall from our house is SM San Lazaro. No, I think it’s Lucky Chinatown in Divisoria. Okay, it’s probably a tie, but we frequent SM San Lazaro more. But whenever I was planning of thinking of buying a book, I had to go to a different, farther mall because there’s no Fully Booked in SM San Lazaro (Or Lucky Chinatown Mall for that matter, as National Bookstore has ceased to a be a real bookstore). Not anymore, because there’s now a Fully Booked store in SM San Lazaro. I was in the mall last Saturday and was surprised to see the store. It wasn’t there the last time I went to the mall, which was just around two weeks, I think.      Coincidentally, I just watched a Facebook reel by comedian Anthony Jeselnik, who’s known for his really dark humor, and I screenshotted some of the books he reviewed. I was thinking of buying a book or two from the review as a Christmas gift for myself, so I went inside Fully Booked, and showed one of the sto...
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The Restaurant Manager

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       It’s like you were assigned as a manager of a fast-food restaurant and was given the authority to pick all the members of the crew, from the cook to the waiters and to dishwasher and the cashier and whatnots. But many months had passed, and the restaurant was yet to operate, and when asked why, you said that “the cook I chose hasn’t reported for work, and also the waiters I personally picked, and the cashier, no one has talked to me since I hired them.”      “Why is that?” the dishwasher asked, who had just finished washing the dishes the two of them ate from.       “I have no idea,” you said.     “Have you tried communicating with them? Like chatting on them on Messenger, asking them for updates, encouraging them to work.”      “No, I haven’t,” you answered. “I’m still waiting for them to message me first.”      “Maybe they’re sick or are now busy working for other restaurant...
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The Fruit

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       I don’t follow the page, Cosmopolitan Philippines, but one of their posts appeared on my News Feed a few days ago, one that tackled the taste of something. And this morning, it appeared on my News Feed again. I looked at the picture, and yeah, I nodded gently, I’ve eaten lots of it. Its taste? It’s oftentimes sweet, sometimes a bit tangy and sour. Google says its taste is a cross between apple and grapefruit with hints of tangerine, and I tend to agree.       It’s a bit acidic but it’s certainly delicious, especially after you’ve washed it and cleaned it, and moreso when it’s juicy, like when its juice is dripping down your tongue and lips and fingers as you lick it and eat it—wait, oh, the thread, it’s not really talking about the fruit in the photo, it’s not talking about pomelo, it’s talking about… darn, about women’s most private and precious part. I kinda got confused there.      Well, I don’t wanna comment on that bec...
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Songs Inspired by True Stories

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       Like movies and TV shows, many songs are based on or inspired by true, often tragic, stories. Here are some of my favorite songs that were inspired by true events:      Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy”: In 1991, a fifteen-year-old boy named Jeremy shot himself in front of his classmates.      “Jeremy spoke in class today…”     Fastball’s “The Way”: In June 1997, an elderly couple rode their car and left their home to attend a festival, two weeks after, they were found dead at the bottom of a ravine.     “You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere, they won’t make it home, but they really don’t care…”     Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb:” Pink Floyd’s bassist and singer Roger Waters, feeling ill before a 1977 concert, was injected with tranquilizers so the show could go on.    “Can you stand up? I do believe it’s working, good, that’ll keep you going through the show, come on, it’s time...
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December

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  December promise you gave unto me December whispers of treachery December clouds are now covering me December songs no longer I sing…        Today is December 1, so Christmas Day is just twenty-four days away. Famous celebrities whom I am a fan of who were born on December include Larry Bird (7th), Manny Pacquiao (17 th ), Jake Gyllenhaal (19 th ) Samuel Jackson (21 st ) Eddie Vedder (23 rd ) and Denzel Washington (28 th ).      Nostradamus was born on December 14.      On December 19, 1843, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was published. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. John Lennon was shot dead on December 8, 1980.      I had an uncle born on December 8, a nephew born on December 10, my favorite former colleague was born on December 26. Coincidentally, on December 26, two of my siblings and a brother-in-law would travel to Europe and would stay there for a week to be with a nie...
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