Silver Lining

I bought a lot in Pasig -- a small, 239 sq. m. corner lot facing the northeast, in a small, relatively upscale Sta. Lucia development populated by young, upwardly mobile families. Immediately after the purchase, I began my search for an architect who shares my vision of a sculpturally modern building with lots of air and sunlight. Hubby and I were, at the same time, negotiating the purchase of the adjacent 200 sq. m. property. I was, after the heartache of the past 3 years, finally happy. But, as my luck would have it, not for long.

Ondoy had struck.

It took a month for Hubby and I to hunker down to rethink the future. Though the village itself was spared by the floods, we knew in our hearts that 10 or even 5 years down the road, the Pasig river will most certainly re-claim it, as it did many other villages in the city. Flooding in the surrounding areas and along access routes foreshadow it. Things could only get worse, for sure, and we could not allow ourselves to risk Maia’s safety. She cannot be touched by disaster, I decided. Ever. So after much dithering, we abandoned the dream of building there.

We were heartbroken, of course, not to mention P4M poorer. But in the end, we were lucky Ondoy happened when it did. We hadn’t plunked down any more money on the adjacent lot and hadn’t started building. Ondoy spared us the immeasurable heartache of spending all of our hard-earned savings on a sodden future. Ondoy allowed us to cut our losses … and count our blessings.

Wimbledon: Am Forever Happy

My friend said to me the other day that my blog is not up-to-date – I have yet to write about the Wimbledon results. Truth is, I didn’t feel like I had to.

I’ve been saying this for years now – Federer is the greatest tennis player who ever lived. The 15th Slam title just confirms the obvious and was totally inevitable. I can now and forever rest easy. It shouldn’t stress me anymore how much further (or not) he goes – the great Pete Sampras himself predicts that Roger could go on to win 18, 19, 20 ...

I am in raptures.

Hmm … That’s all I really want to say about that.

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*If you’re interested to learn about Roger’s career, here’s a good link: http://www.espnstar.com/home/news/detail/item290116/Roger-Federer-Factfile/

Solis' Mischief

Lolit Solis, notorious talent manager, is allegedly heard in an audio-taped conversation with Hayden Kho and Vicki Belo plotting the release of the now infamous Hayden Kho sex videos involving Katrina Halili, Maricar Reyes and a still unidentified “Brazilian model” (and in planning to pin the blame on 2 of Kho’s “friends”). Solis cries foul and denies that the tape tells the true story – clever editing, she says, makes it appear that she is the mastermind.

Lolit Solis will do most anything it seems to further her wards’ careers. In that, she is arguably a most devoted manager. The problem is Lolit Solis is also perhaps the most incorrigible mischief-maker in the history of Philippine entertainment. Let’s not forget that Solis engineered the rigging of the Manila Filmfest results for Best Actress and Best Actor in 1994. Recently, Solis was suspended from appearing in her own television show by the MTRCB for uttering foul language on live tv. Solis was also recently sued for libel (or is it slander?) by 2 actors, of whom she spread rumors of a gay, hotel poolside-tryst.

Solis got no jail time for her participation in the filmfest scam and her MTRB suspension is a slap on the wrist. Likely, the libel/slander suit will settle. But things surely must turn out differently in the case of the Hayden Kho sex video scandal. For this time around, Solis’ mischief has wreaked far greater damage than the loss of acting trophies. Solis has in the cruelest way ruined reputations – and lives. There must be a settling of accounts.* In Solis must be instilled some fear of God. This time, we must lock her up some.

=================================================================
*Solis and her co-conspirators, Kho and Belo, could be charged with the following crimes:

(a) Art. 359. Slander by deed. — The penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period or a fine ranging from 200 to 1,000 pesos shall be imposed upon any person who shall perform any act x x x which shall cast dishonor, discredit or contempt upon another person. If said act is not of a serious nature, the penalty shall be arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos.

(b) Art. 364. Intriguing against honor. — The penalty of arresto menor or fine not exceeding 200 pesos shall be imposed for any intrigue which has for its principal purpose to blemish the honor or reputation of a person.

Kho could also be made criminally liable for violation of the “Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004”.

Remonde's Booby Blooper

So the President was secretly hospitalized on account of a silicone implant leak. Press Secretary Remonde’s reported reaction at an ambush interview to the news leak (oops) was to bristle with indignation at what to him was intimation that the President is shallow: “Si Presidente ba mukha na iyong tipo ng babae na magpapaganun (Is the President the type of woman who would do that [breast augmentation])?” As if that wasn’t stupid enough, he reportedly stated, “Kayong mga lalake, alam niyo naman tingnan kung ang babae nagpa-retoke. Res ipsa loquitur [literally, the thing speaks for itself].” Other reports quote Remonde as saying, “Just look if the President had a breast implant. That’s a private matter. It’s obvious if women have had breast implants. The sexy actresses with (unbelievable) boobs, they’re the ones who underwent breast implants. We can’t say the same thing of the President.” Oops.

Remonde is in trouble on many different levels. For one, has he already told the President, now that the truth about her breast augmentation is out, what “type of woman" he thinks she is? Has he explained to her why he feels he can speak in such a slapdash manner to the public on what he perceives to be the President's physical flaws? (Or, for that matter, why he is entitled to express any opinion on her breasts or her sexiness at all?) Has he explained to her why he even looks at her breasts and why he feels entitled to size them up, literally, against the boobs of “sexy" actresses? And has he been able to justify to her why it’s part of his job, as Press Secretary, to direct the nation to likewise look at the President’s breasts so we can all satisfy ourselves that they’re real?

Did I mention this clown’s the Press Secretary?

Hello, World!

Hi. I've just found the courage to publish to the blogosphere. Welcome.

A lot of what's been written here in the past is hogwash (my nonsense -- a lot of which, fortunately for you, I have exported onto another blog; but I may have missed some; apologies), but I have resolved to re-build this blog into something hopefully more interesting, one that perhaps would be of more interest to the general public. I don't know if anyone should even care what my thoughts are on what's happening out in the world-out-there, but the canvass is available and I am minded to make full use of it, for whatever it's worth.

If anyone (outside of my circle of loyal friends) should ever read this, just please be kind.

In respect of Katrina Halili ...

I was having lunch with my in-laws a month or so ago (it was Hubby’s birthday lunch celebration) when the subject of the Hayden Kho-Katrina Halili sex tapes came up (as it invariably did in all conversations those days). My youngest brother-in-law says it was “totally unbelievable” the way Katrina Halili kept bemoaning her humiliation during the Senate hearing, how she hadn’t received offers for work, how she had lost all her endorsement deals, yadda yadda yadda, since the infamous video was released. “Sobra naman how she ranted on and on like that;” he said, “She’s a bold star naman ...”

My mother-in-law chimes in, “It’s also the fault of those girls, [referring to Katrina, Maricar [Reyes], and the still unidentified “Brazilian model”]; they were doing an immoral thing … They have no one to blame but themselves.”

A sister-in-law adds, “Especially that Katrina Halili – she and Hayden were cheating on Vicki Belo. Kulasisi siya; eh di kasalanan niya.”

I was feeling mighty peeved as it then stood when another sister-in-law says, “Kawawa nga si Hayden sa hearing; I actually feel bad for him.”

That did it. Against my better judgment, I snapped, “I have a hard time feeling anything but disgust for him, actually,” trying to hide my scorn.

She quickly defended, “But he’s not the one who distributed the video!”

“But he took them, didn’t he? And without those girls’ consent! …”

I was poised to give my 65- or so-year old mother-in-law and her progeny, natural and otherwise, a stern lecture on prejudice, God help me; but I held my tongue. I figured I would be on the losing end of any debate on the issue anyway – it was 1 against 8 – and God forbid that at the end of it, I could be labeled as “no better” morality-wise than the now infamous and debauched Katrina Halili herself and damn my daughter forever in her family’s eyes as kawawa for having such a misguided mother.

I found myself getting angrier and angrier as the conversation and the day wore on however. Over the course of the next few days, I got angrier still. Everyone I knew and spoke to (excepting only my mother and sister, bless them) shared the view: it is easier to feel sorry for Maricar because she and Hayden were then in a relationship. More importantly, Maricar is a doctor. She deserved better than to be treated like a whore. Kawawa naman. But no sympathy could be spared for Katrina – she is after all not only a bold star but more importantly a kulasisi, and as such was herself committing an act of betrayal against another when the video was taken. Poor Vicki, Hayden’s true girlfriend, they said. Poor Dr. Vicki Belo. Katrina deserved what she got.

I am reminded of antiquated* legal cases I read in law school on rape (which Merriam-Webster defines as “an outrageous violation”, among other more common definitions), where the accused’s guilt or innocence rested largely on whether the victim was “virtuous” or a “loose woman.” If the victim was the latter, the cases seem to say, she must have consented, or worse, she must have asked for it. In any event, at the very least, she most certainly must have deserved it. In one 1946 rape case, Justice de Joya wrote:

"A beautiful woman is said to be a jewel; a good woman, a treasure; and that a virtuous woman represents the only true nobility. And they are the future wives and mothers of the land … "

It’s maddening, isn’t it? Because we all know (at least if we are to be PC) that rape is rape – and a rapist is a rapist – no matter who the victim is. Even the new laws now say so, thank God. ** Rape is an “outrageous violation”, be the injured party a saint, a sinner, the rapist’s wife or a prostitute.

The fact is that both Katrina and Maricar were violated, and outrageously so, their trust betrayed by a man with whom they chose to share their bed and their bodies. Any woman, anyone in fact, who’s ever known such intimacy, who has ever given herself completely to someone in that most private way, must surely understand or at the very least imagine the pain of having that trust betrayed.

It is shocking and sad to me how quickly we stack up Katrina and Maricar against each other, and how almost instinctively we condemn Katrina in the end. For Katrina and Maricar are no different, despite the difference in their “professions” and their personal circumstances. Maricar is entitled to no more sympathy because she is a doctor. And Katrina is no less a victim simply because she’s a sexy star.

We are losing sight of the real issue here – and the real culprit. The “tale of the [Hayden] tape” is not about Katrina or Maricar – their virtue or their honor (or lack of it). It’s about the perversion and treachery of Hayden Kho.

It is Hayden Kho’s betrayal that deserves our absolute condemnation. And Hayden’s outrageous violation of trust is no less deplorable in Katrina’s case because Katrina is a FHM centerfold, and Hayden’s mistress.

The simple truth is: Neither Katrina nor Maricar consented to the videos being taken; let alone broadcast to the whole world. Hayden Kho simply had no right. Regardless of what your views are on sex, or what your definition is of morality, or of rape, what Hayden Kho did was wicked and malicious. It was evil.

Hayden Kho is the villain. He is the immoral one here. Please, let’s not forget that.

A rapist is a rapist. No matter who the victim is.***

====================================================
* I say “antiquated” but really, even less than 2 decades ago, our Supreme Court Justices were writing sexist crap such as this: “No young Filipina of decent repute would publicly admit that she had been criminally abused, unless that is the truth; for it is her natural instinct to protect her honor”; and “We take judicial cognizance of the fact that in rural areas in the Philippines x x x young ladies are strictly required to act with circumspection and prudence. Great caution is observed so that their reputations shall remain untainted. Any breath of scandal which brings dishonor to their character humiliates their entire families. The fact that Arlene agreed to engage in pre-marital sex is already a disgrace to her family, what more of her acquiescence to have sexual intercourse on a stage near the vicinity where the JS program was being held and prying eyes and ears abound. Thus, she must have reasoned that it is better to cry "rape" and bring suit thereon to salvage her honor in part than to have her reputation sullied in the community by being bruited around and stigmatized as a woman of loose morals.” Unbelievable.
** See http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Anti-Rape_Law_of_1997: “The crime of rape, under the old provisions of the Revised Penal Code, was considered a "Crime Against Chastity," implying that only "virtuous" or "chaste" women can be victims of rape. More emphasis was placed on the "loss of chastity" of a woman or the denigration of her "value" and the staining of her honor, rather than a violation of her being. It was considered a private crime, and only the injured party or specific family members could file a complaint against the perpetrator. Even then, most rape survivor-victims kept quiet about their violation, because prosecution of the case leads to embarrassment, as the defense-respondents often sought to prove that the victim was not "chaste"--thus no rape occurred.
“The Anti-Rape Law of 1997 sought to remedy the failings of the old provisions of the law by reclassifying rape as a Crime Against Persons, thus making it a public crime. This meant that anyone who knew about the crime could file a complaint against the offender, and even if the victim later pardoned the offender or dropped the case, prosecution of the case could still continue.
“It broadened the definition of the crime of rape, made marital rape punishable, and provided certain circumstances wherein rape was considered a heinous crime meriting the death penalty.”
***As I was looking for a cover picture for this post, I ran across this one - http://seriousprattle.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/katrina_halili_sex_video_scandal.jpg -- Absolutely horrifying.

Nadal, who?

What I wrote about Federer's records just doesn't do justice to him. Below is another avid fan's listing:

* Longest winning streak on hard courts: 56 (2005-06)
* Longest winning streak on grass courts: 65 (2003-08)
* Longest winning streak against top ten players: 26 (2003-05)
* Longest tiebreak in Masters history: 20-18 (W)
* Best 1-season tournament winning percentage: 94.1% (2006)
* Best 2-season match winning percentage: 95.0% (2005-06)
* Best 3-season match winning percentage: 94.3% (2004-06)
* Best 3-season tournament winning percentage: 69.4% (2004-06)
* Best 4-season match winning percentage: 93.0% (2004-07)
* Best ranked player every week during a calendar year. Tied-Five players in history
* Best 7-Grand Slam final record: 100% Tied-Three players in history
* Best single Grand Slam tournament win %: Won AO without dropping a single set. Tied-Four players in history
* First player to reach the finals of each Grand Slam at least four times
* First player to win four Masters Series in one season (2005)
* First player to win four Masters Series in one season consecutively (2005-'06)
* First player to win four Masters Series and Masters Cup in one season (2006)
* First player to win at least 10 titles in a season without losing in a final: 2004
* First player to win Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back, consecutively: 2005-06
* First player to be number one ranked for four consecutive physical years - 2/2/04-8/18/08
* First player to win their first four Grand Slam finals. Open Era
* First player to reach the final of all four Grand Slams in a calendar year. Open Era
* First player to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles in two seasons. Open Era
* First player to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles in two consecutive seasons. Open Era
* First player to win three different Grand Slam titles at least three times each (3AO, 5Wi, 5US)
* Most Grand Slam singles titles: 14 (tied with Pete Sampras)
* Most Grand Slam singles finals: 19 (tied with Ivan Lendl)
* Most Grand Slam singles titles won by a player having achieved the Career Grand Slam: 14
* Most singles finals won, consecutive: 24 (2003-05)
* Most grass court titles: 10
* Most Masters Series titles won in a season: 4 (2005, 2006)
* Most career prize money (male or female): $46.5 million
* Most prize money in one season: $10,130,620 (2007)
* Most tournament finals won in succession: 24
* Most Grand Slams won in last 7 attempts: 6
* Most Grand Slams won in 10 attempts: 8
* Most Grand Slams won in 14 attempts: 10
* Most Grand Slams won in 16 attempts: 11
* Most Grand Slams won in 18 attempts: 12
* Most Grand Slams won in 22 attempts: 13
* Most Grand Slams won in 24 attempts: 14
* Most Grand Slam wins in 2 years: 6
* Most Grand Slam wins in 3 years: 8
* Most Grand Slam wins in 4 years: 11
* Most Grand Slam wins in 5 years: 12
* Most Grand Slam wins in 6 years: 13
* Most Grand Slam wins in 7 years: 14
* Most Grand Slams won in first 7 finals: 7
* Most grass tournaments won: 10
* Most singles titles in a single season: 12, Tied-Ten players in the Open Era
* Most singles titles won by a year-end No. 1: 11 (tied). Open Era
* Most US Open titles: 5 (tied with Pete Sampras and Jimmy Connors)
* Most Hamburg Masters series titles: 4
* Most Indian Wells Masters Series titles: 3 (tied)
* Most Gerry Weber Open Series titles: 5
* Most Dubai International Gold Series events: 4
* Most Basel International Gold Series events: 3 (tied with Edberg)
* Most US Open titles, consecutive: 5
* Most Madrid Series titles: 2
* Most Indian Wells Masters Series titles, consecutive: 3
* Most Dubai International Gold Series titles, consecutive: 3
* Most Gerry Weber Open Series consecutive titles: 4
* Most Basel International Gold Series titles, consecutive: 3
* Most Wimbledon titles, consecutive: 5 (tied with Bjorn Borg)
* Most International Gold Series titles: 8 (tied with Nadal)
* Most Masters Cup Championships in a five year span: 4 (tied)
* Most different opponents defeated in Grand Slam finals: 11
* Most Grand Slam appearances as top seeded player: 18
* Most Grand Slam finals in a calendar season. 4. Tied-Six players in history
* Most continents to win singles titles, single season. 4. Tied-Three players in history
* Most finals reached out of 17 tournaments: 16
* Most times to win two different Grand Slams: 5 (Borg, Sampras)
* Most times facing the same opponent in Grand Slam finals: 7 (tied)
* Most times winning at least three Grand Slams in a season, three times: 2004, 2006, 2007
* Most times winning at least three consecutive Grand Slams, twice: 2005-06, 2006-07
* Most times reaching the final of all four Grand Slams: 3, Open Era
* Most times winning three Grand Slams in a calendar year: 3 (2004, 2006, 2007)
* Most times to appear in 3 Grand Slam finals in a calendar year: 4 (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008)
* Most ranking points at the end of the season: 8,370 (2006)
* Most ranking points at any time of the season: 8,370 (November 20, 2006)
* Most tour race points: 1,674
* Most ranking points lead (Weighted %): 1.918 (June 2005)
* Most year-end ranking points lead (W %): 1.872 (2006)
* Most winning streaks of more than twenty matches: 5. Tied with Borg.
* Most consecutive weeks as the top ranked player: 237 (2004-08)
* Most consecutive hard court Grand Slam titles, at least two different Slams: 5 (2005, 2006, 2007 US Open with 2006, 2007 Australian Open)
* Most consecutive hard court Grand Slam finals, at least two different Slams: 5 (2005, 2006, 2007 US Open with 2006, 2007 Australian Open)
* Most consecutive 10+ title seasons: 3 (2004-06)
* Most consecutive years reaching the final of all four Grand Slams in a calendar year: 2
* Most consecutive Grand Slam singles finals: 10 (Wimbledon 2005-US Open 2007)
* Most consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals: 20 (Wimbledon 2004-present)
* Most consecutive Wimbledon finals: 6 (Tied with Bjorn Borg)
* Most consecutive French Open finals: 4 (Tied with Rafael Nadal, [[Ivan Lendl] and Bjorn Borg)
* Most consecutive straight-set victories in a Grand Slam: 11
* Most consecutive sets won in Grand Slams: 36, Open Era
* Most consecutive match wins at three different Grand Slams: 19 (Wimbledon, UO, AO)
* Most consecutive match wins at two different Grand Slams (Wimbledon, US Open): 34
* Most consecutive years winning at least 10 singles titles: 3 (2004-06)
* Most consecutive French Open runner-up: 3, Open Era
* Most consecutive finals at two different Grand Slams: 5
* Most consecutive years winning at least two Grand Slam titles: 4 (2004-'07) Open Era
* Most consecutive Masters Series sets won: 31
* Most consecutive Grand Slam final appearances of all four: 2, Tied
* Most consecutive Masters Cup Championships: 2 (tied)
* Most consecutive Wimbledon and US Open same year wins: 4
* Most consecutive times to win two different Grand Slams: 4. Tied
* Most consecutive singles title at two different Grand Slams: 5
* Most consecutive Grand Slam finals out of 16 appearances: 15
* Most consecutive winning streaks of at least 20 matches: 5 (Tied with Borg)
* Most consecutive times winning the same two Grand Slam singles titles back-to-back: 4
* Most consecutive times winning at least two Grand Slam titles: 4
* Most consecutive Tennis Masters Series match wins: 29
* Most consecutive times Year-end number one: 4. Tied-Five players in history
* Most consecutive singles wins in North America: 55
* Most consecutive years to have won at least 10 singles titles: 3
* Most consecutive games won in an entire tournament: 49 - Broke his own previous record of 43 in Doha '05
* Completed a Small Slam. Tied-Nine players in history
* Earliest to clinch the year-end No. 1 ranking: September (2004)
* Only player to have won at least 70 matches for four consecutive years
* Only player to win the first two Tennis Masters Series events of the year two years in a row

Nadal, who?

The Greatest

My man, Roger, has just made history, again. But this time, he writes finis to the hitherto unanswerable question as to who is the greatest player of all time. 14 Grand Slam Titles, including now a French Open (after 3 years a runner-up), the only title which eluded the great Pete Sampras (the only other man with 14). All 4 Grand Slams in hand. Still the longest consecutive weeks at No. 1 (that's 237). All-time highest career prize money. The only man ever, in history, to win 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles AND 5 consecutive US Open titles. What else is there ever to prove?

I cried with him during the 2009 Roland Garros trophy ceremony. I was ... relieved, no ... immensely proud, yes. And well, happy. Deliriously so, for the man who has made it, finally, back home to Olympus.

Meet Barbara Gordon

The choice was one among: (a) a 2.4L Volvo C30 (which I had heard was hailed the “sexiest car of the year” in 2008); (b) a 1.8L BMW 1-series; (c) a Mercedes Benz B170 (1.7L); and (d) a 2.4 L Honda Accord.

I took each one on a test drive. It was the most fun I’d had in years.

By far none could beat the Volvo in terms of driving pleasure. The car literally purred. It was nimble, handled like a dream, and didn’t break a sweat when pushed. Hell, it was really sexy – inside as well as out. But I was wary about its potential re-sale value.

By far the worst drive has got to be the B170. I kid you not – within 5 minutes of taking the wheel on EDSA, I felt like jiggled jell-o. I couldn’t believe Benz could have produced such a car. It felt and looked too much like a “mommy car”, too, which was probably the bigger turn-off.

The Accord was a solid piece of machinery. It actually drove like a plane on a runway. The downside? It drove like a plane on the runway. It was just far too big a car to zip around traffic in. And it could be potentially expensive – it’s meant to be chauffeur-driven. Another turn-off: that dashboard literally gave me a headache. I couldn’t find any of the buttons I looked for. It was just such a … busy car.

The BMW 118i was by far the most well-rounded. It was powerful, responded well on demand, drove like a much bigger sedan. The interior was also simple and elegant. I also felt it somehow was a girl’s car. Not that it was in any manner “girly” – the short drive around Ortigas proved clearly it had muscle. There’s been some criticism about its looks; but I think it’s quite purrrty. The handling is absolutely to die for. The bottom line is, it’s a BMW. Period. Enough said. The choice was made.

Yellow Heaven

I sleep beside my daughter, in her bed, when I’m feeling sad. It’s a single bed. 75” in length. 36” in width. With both the little girl and myself in it, I have to sleep on my side just so I don’t fall off and wrap an arm around her the whole night, my butt literally suspended off the smoothened pinewood edge.

The bed is yellow. I chose it precisely because it’s cheery.

The thin plyboard that holds up the mattress (a mattress too soft it hurts my back sometimes) creaks a bit. The bed’s built to bear the weight of a young girl’s but not that of her mother’s too.

But I love sleeping on this yellow, cheery, creaky bed.

Most nights these days, my little girl is in deep slumber by the time I come home from work. So late at night, when all is done, I climb into her bed slowly, careful not to wake her, and gently snuggle up. I whisper ‘I love you’ and kiss her on the forehead. I watch her sleeping for a bit. She looks so serene, so angelic, I am calmed, and all the sadness and stresses of the long day are swept away. Her scent – that fresh, honey baby scent she at 4 hasn’t lost yet – soothes me like a lavender bath. The rhythm of her breathing is as a lullaby. I am quieted and filled slowly but surely with sweet sleep. I try to fight it off even so, that sleep, so I can relish the moment, aware, just me and my contentment, as long as I possibly can.

I wake to her stirring sometimes in the middle of the night. I run my hand up and down her back tenderly to reassure her I’m there. The nightmare goes away soon enough. Mommy’s here. She too seems comforted by the soft beating of a loving heart close by.

I am at my happiest and wish the morning would not come, as it invariably does, too soon.