adventures in neverland

for a lazy satur/sunday stroll on a warm sunny day in soho, lan kwai fong or just lkf for those in the know, roxas boulevard or bonifacio high street, i would luv this look: relaxed, simple yet so elegant. or this one: perfect for showing off that well-toned bod for everyone to lust upon. or these on the beach: oh well, jfk jr looked ravishing (even in roller blades) in everything, but especially when he was wearing next to nothing, don't you think? he was my ultimate crush. i don't like men who wear speedos on the beach. too mafioso. enjoy your weekend princesses and mistresses of the universe! kiss! ( note: all pictures taken from the internet.  no copyright infringements intended)

just because you have seen both the original and the remake of joey gosiengfiao's campy temptation island and almost all of the local indie sexploitation movies that portrayed the stereotypical gays (parlorista, effiminate, cross dresser, pimp) and their typical luvers (call boy, macho dancer, masahista, estudyanteng walang pera, provincianong ambisyoso, durugista) does not make you a pink cineaste. i don't pretend to be one (pink cineaste, gagah), but i have seen several really good films about gays from all over the world. charrr!! here are some of the noteworthy ones. take note that most of the actors who portrayed gay roles in the following films were (and still are) big stars in their own countries. in the case of brokeback mountain , both jake and heath are well known globally being products of hollywood's multi-billion dollar star factory. what i am trying to say is that in other countries, superstars are not afraid to tackle gay roles replete with sexy scenes ...

i never had a surplus of time. until now. i am drowning on it. tick tock tick tock. this must be how my mother felt all her life, being a stay at home house maker. maybe that's the reason why she is always chill, she hardly ever loses her cool.

are we there yet? as the united states of obama remains on a deadlock over the issue of raising the government's borrowing cap and credit rating agencies threatening to cut the country's debt ratings from triple a, the rest of the world is on the edge, watching, holding their breath on what will happen next. analysts, fund managers, economists, policy makers, etc had warned that the storm that will be unleashed by a u.s default and subsequent rating cuts will even be worse than the most recent financial tsunami that nearly plunged the united states into a depression and pushed the global economy into the brink of a double-dip recession. already, investors are dumping the u.s. dollar, stocks and bonds in favor of gold, considered a safe haven in dire times. here's what the influential people on earth are saying about the impending financial armageddon knocking at the gates of financial markets globally. ******** "on the debt ceiling, the clock is ticking, an...

it's like waking up in a twilight zone. or being inside a movie within a movie directed by joey gosiengfiao, written by pedro almodovar, with the set designed by salvador dali. sometimes i feel like burying my head ala alice into the rabbit hole just to escape from this sick circus, where the mad hatter it seemed had established his fiefdom. oh i am not being pretentious here. you know me better than that! ****** at the senate hearing, former chairman of the philippine charity sweepstakes office (the government agency in charge of the lottery) manoling morato, dapper in a beige suit, apologised to a senator over a remark he made a few years ago on his tv show. morato apparently called the senator, then running for a senate seat under the opposition, a liar. the usually feisty morato, who was tongue tied for a few seconds, even asked for his forgiveness. the senator just smiled. i was disappointed. i like morato when he is baring his fangs, ready to bite and kill. ...

it was a sad sad week. it was all about death and debt. first the killings of nearly a hundred young people in oslo, the picturesque european city seen as least likely to fall victim to such gruesome crimes. then the great amy winehouse was found dead in her london apartment for what many believed was related to her alcohol and drug addictions. may they (amy winehouse and the oslo victims) rest in peace. ********* as if these were not enough, the united states of obama is facing a debt crisis as congress is running out of time to hammer out a legislation that would raise the country's debt ceiling from $14.3 trillion. the deadline is for lawmakers to pass the law raising the credit limit by august 2. if not, the once mighty economy might lose its triple a debt rating that could lead to higher borrowing costs. the rise in interest rates may make it more expensive for countries like the philippines to service foreign debt. already, the philippine government is spending a...

i rooted for him when he decided to run for president. i am not embarrassed to admit that despite the endless teasings i got from friends (take note, they were ateneans too) who argued that he was too callow and too timid to run a country that needs a bold leadership with a vision on where the country should go amid the backdrop of a sinking global economy. i know, i know. i was carried away by nostalgia (those glorious days of the first edsa revolution that threw away a dictator) and the memory of his luminous parents, the heroes of that revolution: his namesake senator ninoy aquino (his death sparked the revolt) and president cory aquino (her grief became the nation's sorrow). i just shrugged off these teasings that could turn nasty at times, especially after a few tequilla shots. my firm belief, just like the rest of those who voted for him, was that he was the least likely to steal from the government and won't tolerate corruption. i was simply tired of presidentia...

today is a luvly day. ******* i enjoyed eugene domingo's cinemalaya entry,  ang babae sa septic tank .  it is such a refreshing movie with an innovative script and excellent acting, direction and cinematography. i am not romanticizing poverty but i luv the picturesque shots of the dump site. actually, the story is simple and trite (it was the execution that gave it an edge and novelty). it was about a day in the life of three wannabe independent filmmakers -- the director, the producer and the production assistant -- who met in starbucks to discuss the movie about a poverty stricken mother who was forced to sell her child to a pedophile. (you guessed it right, it's a movie within a movie like the french lieutenant's woman or...sorry i can't think of a filipino film with the same format or genre.) ****** the director and producer argued on who will play the lead character (mila, the struggling mother). they talked about some revisions in the script including ...

cynics have long predicted the death of local cinema citing the drop in the number of movies produced and shown in the past several years as well as the deterioration in the quality of these films. these pessimists do have a point. the dominance of hollywood movies, the advent of the internet, the belief that pinoy films are dumb, baduy and lousy (excuse me, hollywood blockbusters are just as stupid, bad and bakya.) simply kept the audience away from local films. ****** i luv filipino movies, especially the ones made during the so-called golden age of local cinema when lino brocka, marilou diaz abaya, laurice guillen, mario o'hara, ishmael bernal, mike deleon, mario delos reyes, joey gosiengfiao lorded over the industry. when regal films, viva films and some smaller production companies always made it a point to come up with one or two brilliant movies a year. ***** ((i don't know about you, but i will choose bona, kapit sa patalim, sister stella l., insiang, kisap ...

after that mind bending exercise from my last post about the central bank's management of liquidity (or too much cash flooding the country's fragile financial system), let's take it easy by looking at pictures i really enjoy. mind you, i have other visual interests other than pictures of men showing off their lean, toned abs while wearing next to nothing. ******* anyway, it is sunday. to paraphrase or plagiarise a song..."sunday time and the living is easy.." reminds me of the summer of my childhood when i did nothing the whole day but ride my bike and swim in the beach afterwards. where did it go? i wish there is a parallel universe that i could go to anytime to revisit those days. what's that song again? "i wish i had a time machine..." it's paris, need i say more? i luv fashion. i have always wanted to be a designer and create fabulous costumes like this one. unfortunately, i don't have the talent, patience and money t...

on wednesday the 13th (my lucky number. what can i say, i am a witch.), i attended the economic forum sponsored by the economic journalists association of the philippines or ejap. a star studded affair attended by the central bank deputy governor diwa guinigundo, the finance head cesar purisima, the world bank's country manager bert hofman, as well as bankers from bdo, citibank and standard chartered bank. aside from lending glamour to the event and supporting my friends who are officers of ejap -- the country's only organization of business journalists covering, what else, business and economic beats -- i was intrigued by the forum's topic: awash in cash: making liquidity work for the economy. ********* i luv the topic. a bit technical but could be understood if you are patient enough to listen. then do some readings afterwards. i did. the question on most reporters' mind (including myself) was: where is that extra cash? how come we remain dry? (no pun intende...