less is more

a new judge, a more pseudo - raw and emotional feel, and the likes of Bikini Girl, Tatiana "Please-vote-for-me-this-is-my-dream-i-know-God-put-me-here-for-a-reason-which-is-why-i-want-you-to-vote-for- me" Del Toro, and *shudder* Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle.

does this sound like something American Idol would cook up? well, right now, i'm not sure what the American Idol producers are even capable of.

finally, after a century's worth of confidence with American Idol, maybe, just maybe, with Nigel Lythgoe washing his hands with Season 8, the production might be going way downhill. I read a few snippets of how different this season would be from its predecessors, and apparently their keywords, since time immemorial, have been "bigger" and "better". now, after watching the first two weeks, i would have to say that though the talent is definitely better this year, the new format just killed it. three weeks with twelve contestants each would each produce a top 3. though a similar format worked in season 3 (Fantasia's season), the add-ons (like last week's parent interview) plus the fact that some good ones couldn't really shine if Danny Gokey was within a 10 meter radius (like Anoop), made the show so dragging, verbose (like this entry, haha) and uninspiring. maybe four years of the watching a top 24 perform just created a norm that's well, too normal. maybe i'm narrow-minded, but given that the previous seasons produced pretty strong favorites (disregard Taylor Hicks for a minute), it's just not right. i can't wait for the top 12.

but anyway, on a lighter note, i'm glad that they spared us from more torment by scrapping the whole interview with the parent/significant other after every performance. which leads me to why i'm writing this in the first place. now, less cheesy is definitely more. but does it have to come at the expense of watching him perform??




i swear, if Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle does get into the top 12, i will stop watching American Idol. he is a flamboyant piece of crepe paper that can carry a tune but not even a shred of dignity. he's in it for the exposure, and the producers probably coerced the judges into letting in to season 8 for the ratings. the world doesn't need another Sanjaya, and there's so much garbage out there in TV land that American Idol doesn't need to taint themselves with more.

After all, they do have Paula.

blurb

experience aside, the next best teacher would have to be failure.

lovebug part 1

i always had a secular idea of what valentines should be like. exchange of roses between significant others, chocolates being consumed like Valium, and busy chinese florists giving you baby's breath instead of tulips. you know what i mean.

well, my valentines went really really great! i spent it with my classmates (from high school and college). this was actually the first time i celebrated it with a lot of people, since the date usually falls during weekdays.

for the Berchmans, in a real effort to make the girls feel, um, "loved" (hahaha), chipped in to buy roses for each of them (by them, i mean the ones who actually showed up). it was supposed to be a surprise, but since they are kinda smart, they caught on fast. LOL. it was the girls who really surprised the boys with Mister Donuts Beligian Bites! i just had to make it a proper noun because i loved them to the point of committing a crime in the name of chocolate. YES, I DID STEAL ONE MORE BOX FROM THEM. HAHAHAHAHA



anyhoo, we were the only ones who participated but it was an effort well received. Yes, mukhang picture ni Floyd talaga ito. haha

**** to be continued. i haven't studied yet!!! and it's 1 am!!!

what a parent should be like

On Children
Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

we read this for our Lit midterms. I was pretty amazed at how this succinctly puts everything i've been wanting to say to my parents ever since the thought of college came. interestingly, the last part of the exam instructed us to write a reply to that, in the POV of the child. and another thing which kinda served as another impetus for me to resurrect my idea of shifting was a glimpse (worth a second) of how it was like to manage a photshoot...but that's another story. haha

I want my parents to watch "Dead Poets Society", as well as "Gossip Girl episode 6" (there's a little Rufus and Jenny Humphrey moment there which i really liked), which has some themes similar to Gibran's. So they know exactly how i feel right now. Yes, in case you're asking, i definitely wished i could turn back time and so i could have chosen a different course. every time i mention how i hate my course, my mom's tone of voice would suddently change into a medley of frustration and disappointment. and that's what i hate. it's the kind of tone which makes you feel all the more guilty and angry. well, what can i say, my family doesn't want happiness. they want a green card holder.

torrential speed

i have been critical of my internet speed since time immemorial. this is a far cry from the time i patiently waited for around 30 minutes the Archie comics website to load. i was around 8-9 years old then, and my mom's office computer was running on the then-popular dial-up speed. so when our pc finally graduated from running on dial-up, i was ecstatic. i thought PLDT DSL would finally be the milk and honey my lost nation was craving for.

so how has it been? well, it's not spectacular. but it's not totally inadequate either. but you know the feeling when some pages take too long to load, and limewire just kills your productivitiy ---- frustrating. but (and i'm using a term i recently learned), yawat na yan. i think it means it'll do.

i'm already over and done with envying people who have incredibly fast internet speeds given by way way better internet service providers, but i was left dumbfounded (hey i know little about the other side, ok?haha) when i was, as usual, looking for torrents to download off isohunt and i saw the comments for "Heroes episode 6" which read:

GoldSeven

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:46 am Score: +2 Real - thanks, uploader! Getting DL speeds of 30-40 - which is quite good for me. snore

Coso	Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:41 am Score: +3 It good! Great speed! 70-90 kBs.

reuvengfn

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 1:17 pm Score: +3 it's good. great speed 230-240 KBs, downloaded in 30 Min. THANKS!!!

WTF?! i happy enough as it is if i'm getting download speeds at 11kb/s! MY DL SPEEDS HAVE NEVER REACHED 15KB/S! It takes a day for me to downloaded a single episode, that is if i leave the PC on for the night!!!

i ticks me off that i have to settle with 3rd world download speeds. and i'm only ranting about it now because i never really thought of downloading episodes via torrent. i only got into it after some of my classmates told me about it.

the grass is greener on the other side!