You're in Good Hands

My ass.

Before the clocks struck nine, I have been to four Metrobank ATMs and they were all sorry for being temporarily unable to dispense cash. All this time I thought that that was what ATMs were for. Four separate ATMs in four separate locations within Makati - the financial district of the country - all do not have cash. WTF? It is not as if the bank is unable to foresee this. It is payday, you morons. It happens twice every effing month. Tomorrow, it would already be December. Remember Christmas, you dimwits?

Salaries are deposited to ATM accounts precisely for convenience, you pricks. If your ATMs are going to run out of cash every payday, we might as well go back to lining up before the cashier to collect our paychecks. At least, we won't be disappointed and tired. Until, of course, we see our payslips and see how much our respective congressmen are getting from our salary.

But that's another story.

He's Back

Voldemort, that is. While the rest of humanity has seen it fit to watch the fourth installment of the highly popular Harry Potter series almost two weeks ago, I decided to let the panic subside a bit and watched it yesterday. It is not Star Wars, after all. Nevertheless, "the boy who lived" still managed to fill up Power Plant's Cinema 3, although most of the people who filled up the seats probably got their tickets just before the show was about to start.

I have not read a single Harry Potter book. Not knowing what will happen next, I think, makes the film more enjoyable to watch. I am even willing to go out on a limb here and say that Voldemort's reincarnation is many times - nay, infinitely - more compelling than that of Apo Abukay's.

Conversely, I try not to watch any of the film adaptations of the books that I have enjoyed reading. So, I purposely did not watch The Cider House Rules, or Simon Birch (A Prayer for Owen Meany). I saw Hotel New Hampshire via my PS2 and Breakfast of Champions over RPN-9, and both films were definitely disappointing. An exception to this rule would be any of Stephen King's novels. I couldn't care less how many times one has read Different Seasons, particularly Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, you still have to see The Shawshank Redemption. It's that good.

Why the AHEAD billboard along Katipunan was taken down

Random Rants

I am still adjusting to sleeping at 1 a.m. at the earliest, yet again. I am still trying to figure out how to prepare given the wretched schedule that we have.

We have HR for ObliCon, and he is quite a character. He does not laugh. He guffaws. I have to agree with him when he said that the money that we spent for his time, is insufficient for the entertainment that he provides.

DG is DG. I cannot think of his class without the word "drop" constantly popping in my head.

Quoting La Aunor in Minsa'y Isang Gamu-gamo is in fashion again. After the alleged rape in Subic last November 1, everybody and everybody's mother is reciting: "My brother is not a pig!"

PBB is one big scam. Toni Gonzaga is effing annoying (imagine fingernails and blackboard). Bastusan na mangwarta ang ABS-CBN.

Da Bears

When I left for Manila almost six years ago, I said that one of the things that I would miss most about Chicago was watching the Bears live. When I was there, the Bears were still bad. Not the kind of "bad" that would put fear into their opponents' hearts, but the kind that you need to flush. They were consistently at the bottom of the division, or at best, somewhere very near it.

I used to take the train, or drive and park somewhere near Northwestern station, and take the bus to Soldier Field. There is nothing like it. Not even a Bulls game at the United Center (granted that when I saw a Bulls game live, nobody was wearing #23). Believe me, there is nothing that comes close to the experience of watching a football game. Live. In the middle of winter. In an open-air stadium. Sitting on a lake.

The Bears are now 6-3. They lead the division, with a two game lead over Detroit (4-5), which they have already beaten twice, and Minnesota (4-5). Now, if only they could figure out a way how not to screw this up...

Thirty One

On this day in 1974, 63rd Davis Cup: South Africa beats India in (w/o).

It is just uncanny that the most significant event on that day just happened to be a sporting event (which by the way, has absolutely nothing to do with the November 4, 1974 cover of SI, above).

Untitled

Hell starts anew in less than a week. I spent the break reacquainting myself with sleep, television, pirated dvds, and more sleep. I am also reading a book which so far do not contain the words: petitioner, respondent, provision, wherefore, etc.

Initial returns are acceptable. I will leave it at that.

I have learned that a friend is studying Nursing. God bless her. I took up Computer Science partly because I believe that one's choice of major is purely a decision on what kind of garbage one is willing to handle on a daily basis. So I myself, have learned very early in my life, that Nursing is not for me.