I have to say that I already saw this one coming years ago. It’s a political strategy, one of many involving political figures and ABS-CBN personalities that took years of mindful planning, control, and execution.

Oh well. Might as well hand over the keys to our nation to that tv network. When you’ve got their minions (and their spouses) running this country and a nation of people here and in diaspora mindlessly adoring their recycled trash that is their tv shows and hordes of bland artistas, what you have is the (first?) case of a republic being willingly trapped in a corporate snow globe.

Perhaps the illusion of falling snow may never be as cool as the real one, but many would find it “better” than being completely immersed in the stark reality wake up to everyday.

People may be collectively deceived and emotionally and mentally abused,
but at least, in front of their tv sets and with empty stomachs, they die gratified and amused.

I don’t know about you but despite all the political insanity and economic absurdity and national incongruity that our country constantly finds itself in, I managed to feel the rare warmth of Christmas this year.

I guess it’s a good thing to feel “okay” amidst the sucking reality that we’re always thrown into.

I hate how the media is turning the highly-anticipated return of Jocelyn Bolante into a fiesta. (And what kind of parents would name their male child “Jocelyn”?) Sure, the former undersecretary of agriculture needs to answer some questions regarding his involvement in the fertilizer fund scam. But the way main stream media is treating the whole event, it’s like watching a circus.

It almost reminds me of Gabby Conception’s recent return to the regressing showbiz industry.

Michael Phelps, the star swimmer of the US contingent in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is perhaps the greatest Olympian of this time — winning the most number of gold medals in a career; achieving 8 of the 14 in the current Olympics, breaking the 7-gold-medal record set by Mark Spitz back in 1972; and breaking world records in 4 individual events and 3 relay events.

The US media coverage being given to him reminds me of the attention given to Manny Pacquiao. And with the slumping economy affecting the esteem of the US, Michael Phelps amazing year in the Olympics is a sure upper for them.

In international news, Russia will be pulling out from Georgian territory soon, and back into South Ossetia. All the while, I thought it was Russia wanting to expand its territory by invading (or taking back?) Georgia — Iraq-ish in a sense.

Reading up a bit showed that the Georgian military essentially initiated the conflict, trying to weed out the separatists in the South Ossetia region, which was essentially backed by Moscow. Increased offensive on the separatists prompted Russia to aid them, later spilling over into actual Georgian territory.

Now, an agreement has been reached between the warring nations, prompting the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops back to the South Ossetian region.

I haven’t written any entries. And yet some people still manage to land on my little corner of the blogsphere. Despite the numerous events since my last entry, yes, I’m still not in the zone so-to-speak to cough up new blogs. Except this one perhaps.

Do you ever get that feeling that our country is living in a time loop? That everything seems to fall in a cycle of sort? Military uprisings, attention deprived politicians, Pacquiao fights, remake tv shows, uber-recycled story lines, sea tragedies, problem-plagued educational system, rising prices of commodities, ancient UAAP rivalries, old-new showbiz personalities, ratings-hungry tv networks, etc.

You name it. It’s becoming more apparent that so-called “current” events that aren’t really current, but are mere re-occurences of the past — both recent and not-so-recent.

Maybe we should just make it official: our country has stopped moving forward. And it’s not just the government nor the media.

Or maybe it’s far worse than not progressing: bilang bansa, tumatanda tayo ng paurong. (We’re regressing as a nation.)

The victory could have gone to him. But because Pacquiao knocked him down in the third round, he lost.

It’s funny to hear that there are people who aren’t entirely convinced that Pacman won the fight. That even though we’re not experts and are mere spectators of the sport, our gut feeling somehow tells us that the match could have easily gone to Marquez.

Oh well. It was a tough fight with both boxers bloodied. And with an unconvincing victory, I’m already expecting a third rematch.

I almost couldn’t sit through out her question and answer portion. I wanted it to end as soon as possible; it was just too painful to watch. The two-minute or so moment seemed to drag on forever.

How I would like to think that she simply choked at that very moment. And that she could articulate her thoughts well even before the pageant night. Yet after watching the segment on Youtube, I highly doubt that.

And yet she won and a major title at that.

And again, the overwhelming reaction after demonstrated how really mean people can be.

The poor thing. I hope she manages to prepare for the Miss World pageant.

The sudden death of this actor has caused quite a stir. I didn’t get to watch him in the highly acclaimed Brokeback Mountain, but I did find the preview of the Dark Knight interesting. His portrayal of the Joker reminded me of Jack Nicholson’s playing the Joker in early Batman movies. Which I liked far better than the not-so-recent installments.

Doesn’t it sadden you when the public is forced to watch the darkness lying behind the glamor? All this time, you think that being a celebrated artist,  their lives are automatically better than your average citizen.  But it is revealed, again and again, that no matter how public their lives are, some of these artists are probably dealing with problems that we cannot even imagine.

And so the past holiday season was busier than expected. Which was good. It felt christmasy, the way I used to remember it during my younger years, when work didn’t get in the way of enjoying the hustle and bustle of the season.

I didn’t report for work for a week or so. I flipped out when there was work on the 24th. The schedule wasn’t even a half-day thing nor was the load lighter. It was a full work day. So I at the end of the day, I told them I would be absent.

Came back to work the first week of January. At first I thought I would get sanctioned for being absent without the approval of upper management, but looking at my recent paycheck, apparently my absent days were paid. I didn’t really care if I got paid or not. I just wanted not to report to work when the schedule was that crazy.

It still is though. But now is not the time to quit.

In other news, I feel that following political news is starting to bore me. I think I’m in one of those phases wherein nothing really new or interesting is happening in society or to our government. It’s like the start of nineteen something all over again, only digits are different.Anyhow, I don’t think this new year will be better than the last one. But I think it will be different. Mainly because I intend to make it so.

I hope your fingers are still complete after the new year!