word cloud

i saw this entry from tasha's shoe collection and liked the word cloud. it turned out that she discovered it from abaniko's blog. word cloud summarizes what i have been writing in this blog for the past few months.

so thanks to tasha and abaniko. oh, to get your own word cloud go to this site.

yo! motherbaker

it was friday night and i had nothing better to do except to vegetate in front of the boob tube. i planned to watch a marathon of old 'friends' episodes. i needed something to keep me from throwing bombs at Malacañang to drive out the evil sorceress living there.

in just two minutes of watching the wacky world of 'friends' i was in another universe---one where gloria and her lying and cheating gang do not exist. i was rolling on the floor laughing my head off when suddenly mr. steady lang texted me and invited me to join him at the opening of mikee's exhibit at the farflung gallery in cubao. it was supposed to open last february 24 but then gloria had a vow of messing up our lives and issued the infamous PP 1017 so mikee decided to move the launch/opening on march 3.

mr. steady lang and i agreed to meet at the coffee beanery in gateway mall at 830 pm. he arrived late, as usual. in all the years i have known mr. steady lang he never arrived on time. never. we extracted ourselves from the caffeine zombies and walked nervously towards marikina shoe expo where farflung gallery is located.

mr. steady lang: ang dilim pala dito.
twistedman: oo nga. parang di friday.
mr. steady lang: we're just a few meters away from gateway and it looks like we're in a different part of the city.
twistedman: mukhang anytime merong haharang sa 'yo para magsabi ng holdap.

then, a furry thing came out of nowhere and leapt onto the pavement in front of us. we froze in our tracks and yelped. it stared at us. we stared back. sixty seconds later the cat nonchalantly crept behind the wheel of a parked car. we exhaled, stared at each other and chorused: "you're a wuss."

we arrived at the farflung gallery five minutes later and went straight to the bar. we drown ourselves with pints of beer and never uttered a single word to each other for the rest of the night. by the stroke of midnight i dashed out of the gallery and passed out into oblivion. i never had the chance to see up close mikee's works. they said the collection was good. if you have the time go check out "my mother is a baker,' a collection of watercolor paintings at the farflung gallery, marikina shoe expo, cubao, quezon city.

protest action for the rich

For all you 'sosi' activists out there, enteng of e-mandirigma and black and white fame has just devised a great way to show your disgust against PP 1017 of Gloria Arroyo: flash mob/protest at Starbucks.

why starbucks? why not figaro, which is pinoy-owned? why not jollibee? dodo said they asked the same questions to enteng and here are his replies:
1) ang pakay ng ganitong uring alternatibong pagkilos ay mahikayat ang mga middle class na di pa gaanong kumikilos, lalo na sa mga rally; at
2) mas kakaunti ang starbucks outlets kaya't sana'y mas maiipon ang mga tao at mapapansin, kaysa kumalat sa napakaraming jollibee (na mungkahi ngiba) o mcdo.

oh well. for those who are interested to join the flash protest tomorrow, 3 March 2006 please read the details below:

Designated time and place of flash protest for March 3:
Any Starbucks Cafe, 6 to 7 PM

Plan of action:

1) Wear black.
2) You and your friends proceed to any Starbucks Cafe near you anytime between 6 to 7 pm.
3) Buy a drink. Each person should queue up at the counter, instead of just one ordering for the group.
4) After getting your drink, take a seat or just stand up outside the cafe and hang out for about 30 mins.
5) When your group decides it's time to leave, someone should give the cue and everybody should do the "thumbs down" sign.
6) Disperse as peacefully as you came in

Suggested preparations:

1) Invite as many friends, or officemates, as you can
2) If you're an employer or a manager, invite all your subordinates to join you. Offer to "treat" them, if you can afford it.
3) Agree to meet in a place (not Starbucks), or if you're from the same office, arrange for carpooling
4) From the meeting place, proceed to Starbucks as a group. This will have more impact than just agreeing to meet at Starbucks individually
5) If you're staying in a city where there is no Starbucks, any other "cafe" or restaurant will do.

Forward this message to as many friends, relatives, colleagues, and egroups. I've also included below a brief description of the Black Friday Protest Movement, so those receiving your forwarded mail and hearing this for the first time will understand what we're trying to accomplish. Let's paint Starbucks BLACK on Friday.

From: Enteng Romano

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BLACK FRIDAY - A NEW FORM OF PROTEST

The Black Friday Protest Movement was launched by eLagda on March 1 to give professionals, students, businessmen, and other sectors a venue to express their protest against the continuing and escalating acts of repression of the GMA administration as manifested in its series of proclamations - CPR, EO 464, and PP 1017 - all designed to curtail basic rights and oppress the people.

Patterned after the flash mob concept, the Black Friday Protest calls on people to gather at a designated time and place every Friday wearing a black attire as a symbol of protest. There will be no programs or speeches. Instead, people will be given specific instructions on what to do, and the whole exercise should last about 30 minutes at most.

It's safe, non-confrontational, and within the bounds of the law, even under a repressive one like PP 1017. The mere "flash" gathering of the people is the expression of protest.

Where will people get instructions?

Details of the Black Friday Protest action for the week will be published at its blogsite - www.BlackFridayProtest.blogspot.com every Wednesday evening. Those who would like to receive instructions directly can also subscribe to the movement's bulletin service by sending a blank email to BlackFridayProtest-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

which wolfgang song are you

TwistedMan is Meckam! Thanks for this quiz Yowee.
Which Wolfgang song best fits you?

we will prevail!

It is highly ironic that while we, Filipinos, marked the 20-year anniversary of freedom from the Marcos dictatorship we suddenly found ourselves living under the shadow of the state of emergency, this time imposed by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

I believe that the emergency rule will just give rise to increased human rights violations, leading to more violence, as evident from our experience more than 30 years ago. It is not only illegal; it is farcical as well. Why did Mrs. Arroyo put the country under the state of emergency when she, herself, believed that the ‘crisis’ is under control. We know that the real reason for the declaration of Presidential Proclamation 1017 is to keep herself glued in the seat of power. She is an illegal president and she has no right to govern us in any other circumstance.

I am also suspicious of certain provisions in PP 1017 aimed at muzzling our constitutional right to free speech and other civil liberties. The raid on the offices of the Daily Tribune and her lieutenant’s recent pronouncements seeking to censor broadcast media sent chills down our collective spines. These actions bring back painful memories of the Marcos brutal regime. It is a paradox that 20 years on, the Filipinos' cherished freedoms are again being taken away.

She must immediately revoke PP 1017. She may believe that she has effectively silenced us through PP1017 thus ensuring her continued stay in power but in truth she only accelerated her downfall. The people will not be cowed by PP1017, we will prevail. (In Photo from Akbayan.)