Election, schmelection

Explanation here

Watching the news tonight, it boggles my mind that so much effort and money has been expended by some candidates running for positions on the baranggay level. I mean, really. It's a baranggay level position.

Yes, I know that there's a lot of money involved in baranggay positions. And that the fact they can hold multiple terms makes it especially lucrative for corruption. But still. IT'S. A. BARANGGAY. POSITION.

Maybe I'm just too much of a snob for my own good.

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As most of you guys know, I've had my phone stolen, I don't know, a bajillion times. And as anyone who's ever had their phones stolen from them, it's the loss of the contacts that hurts more than the actual phone.

Boy do I wish that all those thieves were as considerate as this Swedish thief.

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Finally, here's a link to The Evolution of the Geek.

Suddenly, Singapore!

I just returned from Singapore a few days ago, and it hasn't been hard to fall back into the daily grind as I thought it would be. There were a couple of times last Thursday where I thought I wouldn't be up to doing anything besides sleep, but I managed to rouse myself anyway and get back to work.

So, about my trip. As most of you guys now, I've been planning to go on a vacation for what seems like years now, and I finally got to do it several days ago, when I went to Singapore and stayed there up until Wednesday afternoon.

My visit was far from being my first time there. I think I've been to Singapore four times previously, and I've gotten so familiar with the Island -- as J would call it -- that I didn't even need to have D pick me up or anything from the airport.

This visit, however, was the first time that nobody was bankrolling my expenses. I was staying over at 's apartment, and while he graciously paid for most of my food and for the tickets at the Asian Civilization Museum, I was on my own for anything else.

Thankfully, I wasn't there for Singapore's numerous malls. After all, I've visited them often enough before. What I was looking forward to was spending time with friends I haven't been able to see for quite some time now, and in that regard Singapore did not disappoint.

Just being with my friends gave this visit an entirely different dynamic. For one thing, I wasn't staying at some hotel on Orchard Road, but one of the estates at Lengkok Bahru. Staying there certainly made a lot of difference, as it felt like I was in Singapore and yet, not in it as well.

For one thing, there were quite a lot of us staying under one roof, and when Filipinos get togeher we get LOUD. Even Neil Gaiman acknowledges this. Add to that the constant stream of Filipino shows from TFC and it didn't even feel like I left home at all.

And yet, all around me was that heavy silence that doesn't exist even in the provinces over here in the Philippines. Even in remote places here in the country, there's always the constant buzz of nature in the air. Compare that to Singapore, where silence definitely means silence. It was relaxing and unnerving at the same time.

I also made a conscious decision not to visit touristy destinations this time around, and I think that decision worked out well since I got to catch a glimpse of Singapore without going through the filter of tourist guides.

It's the best way to see a country, honestly. For once, I wasn't thinking of Singapore as a a mall that found itself turned into a country, I was actually looking at it and seeing a little of what the locals get to experience everyday.

For instance, I would never in a hundred years have expected to spend a night in Singapore just sitting quietly in a bar, listening to poetry and talking about the nature of friendship. But that's exactly the experience J gave me my third day there. I got to swim in a public pool (I think that's what it was) with locals and eat the same way office workers do at Lau Pa Sat. And that pole dancing recital I attended with D certainly helped ease my view of Singapore as a sexless city.

All in all, I felt like it was a great four days. I reconnected with old friends and met a lot of new ones. Sure, I didn't get any shopping done or gone on any of the amusement park rides, but who really cares about that?

NOW FOR PICTURES! I didn't get to take a lot, though.

Chinese lanterns over at Chinatown. Because it would be weird if they had...uhmm...non-Chinese lanterns?


's J being Korean.




A Hindu temple over at Chinatown. I used to know what they call this. In fact, I think I have it labeled in a previous entry, but I'm too lazy to search.


I like this building's facade. Am not an architect so don't blame me if this comment is uneducated and uninformed.


I don't know if these posters are authentic, but I wanted to take one home with me.


Also in Chinatown. I have this uncontrollable urge to take photos of sex shops in Singapore because I have always thought of Singapore as a sexless city.




This is the construction happening over at the Marina, seen late in the afternoon.


Dinner at Lau Pa Sat with D and Y!


The view from Y's digs.


Still from Y's digs.


C and her pole dancing certificate!


The Singapore posse.


K and C battle for pole dancing supremacy!








Presented with no comment.

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Mr. Gwen Stefani

I may not have been into his music at the time, but I definitely knew I was into Gavin Rossdale. And it seems that for some time, Mr. Rossdale was also into dudes.

I'm curious as to which one of them is telling the truth. Was it really just a one-time thing, as Rossdale claims it was? Or was it really a five-year affair? Because I wouldn't call a five-year relationship an experiment.

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User's Guide: Going to Butt Town.

My goodness me, that's a lot of steps. Also, the constant references as to how it's going to hurt do not make it sound appealing at all to me. Still wouldn't turn down an offer, though. From an acceptable individual.

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"Uh, no I didn't enter."

Finally, The Top Ten Classic Homoerotic Movies That Need Sequels. LINK SO NSFW LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE.

The Cassandra Clare dilemma

I'm supposed to review Cassandra Clare's latest release, "Clockwork Angel", and to bone up on the mythology I spent the past two weeks reading her series, "The Mortal Instruments".

Overall, the novels are entertaining enough, if a little predictable at certain parts. Besides, the predictability is offset a little bit by the possibility of an incestuous relationship between its two main protagonists. If I didn't know more about Clare, I would have had no trouble recommending her novels to YA-reading friends.

But the problem is that I know all about Clare's tumultuous past. And by "tumultuous past", I mean she is an "alleged" plagiarist. Do click on the link if you want to know more. It's a great read in and of itself.

This is where my problem lies. Even if I do find good stuff in Clare's work, there is always a nagging voice at the back of my head asking "But are these her actual words? Or did she just copy them?" It doesn't help that Clare's background in Harry Potter fanfiction makes the derivative elements of her work become even more prominent.

Would it be fair to bring this up in my review? Or would that be too unfair? I've always been told to separate the author from the book, but what if what the author has done something as serious as plagiarism?

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Growing up, the big author rivalry was between Christopher Pike and R. L. Stine. I always favored R. L. Stine, although for the life of me I can no longer remember why.

ANYWAYS. It turns out that my preference for Stine was well-placed, as Christopher Pike has turned out to be a major douchebag.

The high points:

1.) Christopher Pike's editor telling a Turkish woman that he, an American man, knows more about Turkish culture than she does.
2.) That "editor" turning out to be Christopher Pike himself.
3.) And Christopher Pike, through this "editor", has been leaving orgasmic reviews of his own books on Amazon.

There is so much more wank than I've outline here. And the best part is that Amazon still hasn't deleted most of the comments coming from the "editor".

Of fuck lists and feminists

Here's something I stumbled on a couple of days ago: The Duke Fuck List.

In case you don't want to click on the link, it's a PowerPoint presentation made by a recent Duke graduate about the multiple sexual encounters she's had with 13 Duke athletes. It's quite a detailed list, wherein she breaks down the penis size, aggressiveness in bed, and overall attractiveness of the guys she's slept with.

She had initially forwarded it to two friends and thought that it would remain between the three of them. But as often happens to things shared over the Internet, the list quickly became viral and now everyone is either pissed, embarrassed, or really smug, depending on how they placed.

But what has been interesting to me has been the discussions about what this list means with regards to what it means to be a feminist.

When I first saw the list -- and got my laughter under control -- the first thought in my mind was "You go, girl1!" Why shouldn't a girl enjoy her sexuality and engage in consensual sex? And why shouldn't she objectify and rate their performance as well, since men have been doing that since forever?

And some of the disparaging stuff she says really would cut a man down to size (heh). For instance, she describes one guy's penis like this:

"That gorgeous, perfect body of his was supporting a penile structure so disproportionately small I had to take several deep breaths and force a smile before commencing the hookup session, lying every few minutes (when asked) about how he was 'the biggest I had ever seen'. Also, he came pretty damn quickly."

I thought all the negative comments would be from guys who would predictably call her a slut and a whore. So I was surprised that a lot of the commenters objecting were female, and that they were objecting about things I didn't even think about.

Take this comment, for example:

This is shitty because she is treating her male partners in the very way that we discourage the males to treat their women partners.

How the hell is degrading men a 'success' for feminism?"

And I have to admit that I honestly have not thought about feminism in that way, ever.

So, I wanted to ask you guys: Is this lady an enlightened and independent woman enjoying her sexuality? Or is she hurting the cause of feminists everywhere?

Tangentially related: I am never e-mailing anything personal to ANYBODY EVER AGAIN.

Also, also: I have copies of the slides unblurred and with the names not redacted. If anybody's interested.

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Additional information here

I was going to write about Tyler Clementi and the spate of gay suicides that happened in the United States as the main topic for discussion, but everybody else has been doing such a great job already that I'm just putting this up as another voice in the growing crowd.