Sulit!

Of all the hoopla surrounding the new pope, the Filipinos do the worst job of delivering the news. The coverage/post-coverage was simply pathetic... I bet they don't have a camera B getting another view of the action. And from the looks of the continuous looping of the footage, they probably took the film from a 20 minute tapecan.

Anyways, seeing that the new Pope is German... and John Paul II is Polish...

I hear 'boos' of varying magnitude... okay, what if the crosses on his tie turn red and black on us? What if Ol' Benedict grows a fullerbrushman moustache and begins re-cleansing Poland. What if he's a closet Nazi.... THERE I SAID IT!

This what if scenario has been bubbling up in my cortex since hearing about a German cardinal being top pick to wear that uberMitre.

Eggs Benedict aside... nothing much happens here in my summer hole. I realize I suck at playing again. I got creamed at Quake... I'm not angry or anything, but my programing has seriously degraded my playing skills. I rock at THUG2 though.

Week two of the summer has brought me closer and closer to having a nice spot in the insane asylum's solitary ward. I'm more a recluse here than back home now that I think about it. Day in day out, same faces, same food, same lack of things to do...

QUE? Manila and nothing to do? Considering my severe lack of money, yeah there's nothing to do. Expect me to grow thinner when I come back to Baguio though. And by the time I get back, I could finally undelete those Indonesian channels from the cable. MTV Land could be great show, afterall.

New Old Songs

It's weird and unsettling... I feel like I'm reliving a recurring nightmare here in UP Diliman.

Every place seems oddly familiar and as if I've been here before. Same song from a new artist. It's supposed to be a thrill, yet feels more as a chore living in this place. People you meet are generally... well, cold and distant, unlike back in Baguio where everybody is patient and open enough to stop and chat a while to strangers.

There's nothing to do, but an eternity to do everything. Sure, Manila/Quezon City is a big enough place, with plenty of activities to placate the most hyperactive of all people... but it's no fun trekking yards and yards of smoking asphalt from one place to another. Even less fun if you are alone.

I'm but one soul here, and the nearest trusted person is about a busride-tricycle-hike away... I'm not one to do that everyday. Friends are nice, but family is better. Kind of pathetic in my part to miss them now, when all I did was treat them as "housemates" instead of loving family. (If my brother is reading this, tell not a soul, or I'll wring your pencilneck so hard... OOPS! Idle threat!)

It will pass though... I mean I'm just three days into Boredom City, and I'm quitting?!? Scratch that! After all, if you look past the phlegmatic "student personnel", the infernal heat, the soporific atmosphere in every single room, and the constant thirst giving my mouth an acerbic taste everytime I wet it... UPD is a pretty good place...

I miss my bed though... sleeping on a wooden plank is murder on my back...

Duct Tape

The UP System takes red tape to another level. It actually takes a form to procure forms in this place where bureaucrats are made. And to add to the dizzying amounts of forms to fill here (some in quarduplicate), the lines to validate these forms are about as long as a roll of industrial-sized duct tape (SEGWAY!)

Lines don't bother me much... I like standing in line. Its my chance to stretch my legs once in a while. The whiny, "My feet are killing me", stiletto-wearing, people with overbearing perfume standing next to me I can't stand.

To add to the aural assault of whiny people of the Queue Society, The people behind the teller takes MYOB to level 50. Aside from the eating in work and the constant chatting and the oustandingly slow motion validation... Either they are signing an autograph, or writing the entire Bible on their signature in Olde Latin.

And to top it all off, they come in when they please... usually about 3 pm and close their windows at 4 pm... At the rate they process these copious amounts of forms, I probably finish completing all these forms in two days or so. Just for pre-enrollment... then enrollment comes along and the whole thing repeats again (Whoa, repeats again...)

We probably make the BIR jealous of all of our red tape.

Employment Discrimination

Finding a summer job in Suburb-Esqe Baguio City is very tiring.

Seriously, tiring, exasperating and aggravating. It seems that the jobs posted on todays brick and mortar shops favor a female to take the post. Do people think that guys just galavant, drink and go chick watching as a summer hobby?

Aside from the cliched description of the college undergrad during spring break, some of us want some cash... hard earned and most of the time legal cash. We want to work too. Being labelled a bum due to the discrimination of the males during job seeking makes me want to tear my hair out... not just my head hair mind you.

Take an example, I saw an ad for an Internet Conversationalist. (Yeah, a poor excuse for Professional Chatter). I assume its for every Jack and Jill since it didn't say any gender exclusion. I tried to apply, but the fat guff behind the counter said "it be for the ladies only".

It should really say that on the sign. Same thing for the next store I saw that offered summer jobs. And the next. It goes on like this for ever until I saw a Help Wanted sign. I asked for any job for us guys... Heavy lifting and truck driving.

We guys are being slowly typecasted as burly apes fit only for menial labor and the occasional janitorial service. Typecasted in an eventually feministic society. We all strive for equality and the eradication of stereotyping, but girls, this is just too much. Next thing you know, undergarments have to be made of silk... or something.

I'm for women's equality, but come on! We have to stop this gender discrimination in the employment/unemployment line. There are some guys want to be salesguys and professional sewers as there are some ladies that want to drive trucks and lift weights for a living.

But I draw the line at coed showerstalls and bathrooms.

Disposing Heresiarch

Yup, the topics seem to have a unifiying theme today... Holyman to demonic leader of heretics.

Heresiarch: The leading heretic, master of heresy
Sub-boss of ye olde game called Hexen.
Leader of the armies of Korax, the Second Serpent Rider

Hmmm, how to kill the bastard...

• First, have a spitload of Quartz Flasks to keep your health up.


• Second, KEEP MOVING! Practise and massive amounts of lifeloss brings about a pattern in Heresiarchs attacks. Heresiarch become invulnerable if you attack him from the same spot. In other words, circle-strafe/ move in a circle around him and blast his hide from all directions.


• Thirdly, ignore his minions. He has unlimited supply of Dark Bishops.


• And finally, Use a cleric. His flechette when used becomes a poison cloud, and the Heresiarch seems to take damage from this continuously, even with his barrier of invulnerability

So there you have it... HEY! I could set up a site to help classic gamers!

Il Papa

Ashes to Ashes,
Dust to Dust,
We proudly stick Karol,
Into the Earth's Crust...

Or whatever they do to Popes when they kick the bucket. It was one hell of a ride. John Paul II has done more during his Popedom than any other in recent history. When he will be called a saint, I hope I live to see the day.

One thing that bothers me about the bruhaha in the news is, why pay tribute to a man who is still alive. Many times while I was channel surfing, almost every news network had a "Tribute to Pope John Paul II" festooned on their broadcast. I even though the actual death time of Karol was another one of those tributes.

Well, I'd better end this short today, for all I know every Jake and Jane's blog will probably have the news posted on their sites anyway. Good luck Karol, whichever direction your grave faces, it will be one great view in there... guaranteed.

Ciao, Il Papa.