Section 8

Tagged by the guy who doesn't smoke joints (or runs a joint where smoking is strictly prohibited). Wasn't keen on doing the post at first (you could say I was indifferent to it. hehe), but what the hell.

But first, the rules:

1. list eight (8) things/facts about yourself that people don't know (why 8? why not 9? i don't know, why not 10?---so, 8 it is)
2. then tag anybody you wish to tag (can be a friend or a relative or someone who has a blog; or wastes time maintaining one)
3. leave a comment on his/her blog telling them they're tagged (it's not mandatory, but do it anyway)
4. have them post the meme on their blogs and do the same thing (it's a simple instruction, don't you think?).
5. remember, there is no pressure. we're just keeping the cycle running.

Here goes:

1. I watched Sharon Cuneta in concert. Hey, I was a kid, seven years old, I think. This was waaaayyy back in 1984 or 1985 when our family lived in Las Pinas but I had to stay during the weekdays with our relatives in San Juan since I went to school there. They were complimentary tickets and most of the people in my grandma's house went to the concert. And since I didn't want to be left alone in the house, I had to come along.

2. I experienced a bomb scare. It was in 1986 and me and my parents were doing our Christmas shopping in SM Cubao. We were in one of the upper levels, shopping for shoes when someone shouted there was a bomb and people started running to one side of the building. Me and my parents of course ran along. We found ourselves huddled with the rest of them, waiting for the big kaboom that will send us to our big sleep. Or maim us, at least. No bomb exploded.

From what I can remember, someone from the upper levels saw some people in one of the lower floors running for some reason. Turns out Gary V. (or some other celebrity) was shopping there and people rushed to him for autographs or whatever. Some idiot thought there was a bomb (for I can faintly remember that there were some bombings in the Metro during that season) and saw it fit to alert the rest. Or some idiot got his kicks from seeing mass panic and shouted “bomb!”

3. I watched an episode of Kuya Germs' GMA Supershow live at the Broadway studios. Kindly refer to item number one, only a couple of years later. Moving on...

4. I drank my first shot of alcoholic beverage at age 14. My father's Rotary club was hosting a delegation of their sister club from Taipei. They took the guests to Subic (this was a year or so after the Americans left) for an overnight stay. Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant and the Taiwanese guys kampai'd everyone to their favorite rice wine. No exceptions. The old guys tried to intervene when it was my turn to take a shot, saying that I was underaged. The Taiwanese guys said that rice wine is okay for my age. After getting the okay from my parents, I took the shot of rice wine. I caught a whiff of it and it smelled like our local patis. I poured the wine into my mouth and it tasted like our local patis. The salty liquid quickly turned into an accelerant, forcing me to gulp it down, trailing fire down my throat. I downed a glass of ice cold Coke afterwards.

5. The first time I encountered wasabi, it almost burned my face off. Or at least it felt like it. It was in Taipei, some months after the rice wine incident. (Needless to say, bottles and bottles of rice wine were downed during that trip.) We were at a formal dinner; suit and tie stuff. Appetizers were served, some kind of raw fish, soy sauce for dipping and a small saucer of green paste. I saw someone in another table put some of the green stuff into the soy sauce, and-- monkey see, monkey do--so did I. I dipped a piece of fish and eagerly put it in my mouth. I think my face went red instantly. But instead of swallowing, I held it in my mouth. I hesitated spitting it out because, come on, I was in a formal dinner! To make things worse, drinks haven’t been served. Not even water. I stood up and headed for the restroom where I spat the vile thing into the toilet and flushed it away. I then rushed to the faucet to rinse away the burning in my mouth. I was there for quite a while.

6. I am wary of open doors. I dunno why. Natural paranoia, perhaps?

7. I used to have delusions of being a comics artist. I used to draw a lot. It was spurred on by seeing and admiring the works of superstar comics artists Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio during their X-Men days. I wanted to be like them so I practiced drawing, starting out with copying comics art line for line. When the time came, I took entrance exams to a couple of fine arts schools but failed them both. That didn’t stop me, though, and I still kept on drawing. Even bought Burne Hogarth’s Dynamic Anatomy on a trip to Canada. The drive to draw eventually tapered off sometime during college. That was when I began having delusions of being a writer, I suppose, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

8. I love walking. I think I started appreciating walking towards a destination instead of taking a car or commuting when I lived in Cubao where every place I want to go to seemed to be within walking distance. With walking, I can take my time, take everything at my own pace. I get to really see a place, a street, or a neighborhood instead of just catching glimpses of it as the vehicle I’m in speeds along (or not, if I’m stuck in traffic). There are obvious downsides, of course, like letting my lungs wallow in the city’s pollution or the risk of getting mugged. The former is inevitable while the latter, thankfully, has never happened to me.

Whew. As for who to tag, um... anyone who comes across this blog and would like to try this meme. (Not that anyone really reads this blog...)

Japaholic

Eiga Sai's here. It's usually held during the first quarter of the year that when said first quarter went pfft and no announcement regarding the filmfest has been made, I thought it was discontinued. Glad I'm wrong. Contemporary Japanese films are the focus once again and aside from Takashi Miike, I'm not really familiar with a lot of the films and directors.

And Miike's film in the festival--Shangri-La--is a bit odd. Miike usually deals in ultraviolence and perversity (sample Audition and Ichi the Killer, if you can stomach the grisly violence) and from what I've read, Shangri-la is a feel good movie. Then again, it's a revenge film and calling it a "feel-good film" could be a relative way of looking at it.

As for the other films, Blue Spring sounds interesting and according to film critic Noel Vera, Harmful Insect is good.

Check out the Eiga Sai page for sked info and film synopsis. And as usual, admission is free.