Monday, March 21, 2011

Guess Who's (Not) Coming

Monday, March 21, 2011 0
My celebrity guest wish list...

Ate Gay

My dream wedding party host! No kidding. I mean, just look at that face! Ate Gay is cool...makes people laugh without trying too hard, and does it without having to insult others (take that, Vice Ganda). Probably too busy conquering the comedy bar-pistahan circuit all over the Philippines by that time (I haven`t really asked her, though). 




Dave Matthews

Obviously I wouldn`t be the first person in the world to fancy Dave Matthews Band singing for my wedding party (read related news here). Guess I`ll just have to contend myself with bootleg videos of I`ll Back You Up on YouTube. But no sweat, DM. Maybe someday, someday...





Ben Folds and Regina Spektor

'gone to heaven with the news that Ben Folds and Regina Spektor have teamed up. And knowing the quirkiness of these two, you wouldn't expect nothing less than a bouncy, anti-love song that dares to say why things could go wrong in the first place: "You don't know me at all."  


 
I'd imagine them just jamming, Ben and Regina side by side on the piano, with Ate Gay slithering on top, ala- Michelle Pfeiffer in "The Fabulous Baker Boys"!

and last but not the least...


Don McLean

2004... I was doing field work in this very remote village up in the north that can only be reached by crossing a network of  rivers. No electricity, no clinics, no cellphone signal. Everyone seemed to talk and behave cautiously, as this village has seen many encounters between government soldiers and rebels (who were probably mingling with the local people in plain sight). Night time came in, the lights went out, we were tucked in our beds, and there`s nothing but a stream of songs from a neighbor`s cassette player lulling everybody to sleep...folk classics from Asin, Coritha, and yes, Don McLean. Because good music encompasses generations, geographic boundaries, tastes and classes...I bet everyone in the wedding party would agree...



"I don't want you to pledge your future, the future's not yours to give. Just stand there a little longer and let me watch while you live..."

Now that is romantic.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Am I Bridezilla?

Saturday, March 19, 2011 0
The Urban Dictionary defines "Bridezilla" as:
1. One ridiculous spoiled bitch that thinks she is the center of the universe, just because her "show" (the wedding) is 18 months from now. Everyone else in the world has to drop everything and come running in this prime-donna's mind. The marriage will not last more than a couple of years,if the groom to be is lucky.
 2.noun. Formed from blending of the words bride and Godzilla (Japanese movie monster). Used to describe a woman whose behavior becomes outrageously bad in the course of planning for her wedding.
 3. Bridezillas are a new breed of soon-to-wed women who abuse the idea that weddings are their "day." They terrorize their bridal party and family members, make greedy demands and break all rules of etiquette, to insure that they are the single most important person on the planet from the time they are engaged to the time they are married.
Before all of these happened I am just one of those single people who just find it funny and ridiculous, the idea of a once- rationale, self-composed female of reproductive age suddenly transforming into a conceited monster who could literally crush everything and everyone crossing her path to perfectly wedded bliss. 




Then I chanced upon this movie, Bride Wars, on cable TV (blurb:  Two best friends become rivals when they schedule their respective weddings on the same day). More than an hour of seeing how these supposedly educated, lovely girls scheme to sabotage each other`s weddings is not cute, but screams of misogyny. Sorry. 


Two months into my own wedding, I could now relate to the jitters that brides feel, especially those who are hands on with the preparations and on tight budgets and schedules. I have gone from  "Oh it`s just for an hour, what`s all the hoopla about...I want a simple, no-frills wedding" to "There is no such thing as a simple wedding, that is an oxymoron." 

As much as I would like to have a good control of things, I now somewhere along the way some form of kapalpakan will ensue, and there will be nothing I can do about it...I am not Bridezilla, I know I will do have moments when I`ll lose it, and I will also be this beast...but a beast more scared than scary, insecure and clumsy...



"I just don't think I could take that kind of rejection!"
Rex from Toy Story?



Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Reasons Why You Wish You're Single (or Married)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 0
Why Chico and Delamar's listeners wish they stayed off or keep hooked.

My favorite entries, the second one coming from Del herself:

I wish I was single, because I miss my loneliness.
I wish I were married, because it means two things: 1) that whatever I'm looking for, I have successfully found, and 2) that I have already reached a point beyond all fear, beyond all worry,  and beyond all craziness in my head, that I have met someone I want to bet on...I don't know the future... but I'm gonna bet on this guy. 

Monday, March 14, 2011

Our Polaroid Selves

Monday, March 14, 2011 0
Discovered this wonderful app called Poladroid which instantly converts digital images into Polaroid-like photos. I love Polaroids. I once attended a party hosted by my lab in Tokyo, where they had this clever idea of having an instant souvenir album for the affair by having everybody's picture taken by a Polaroid camera, after which each one could just write his or her personal message on the sheets where each person's picture is pasted.

I had a great time toying around with the app!  Here are some of my favorite "snapshots":























Dear Japan

Japan will always be an important part of our lives. After all, this is the place where we first met (and probably the only place where we could possibly meet).

All good memories...especially of Todai and the professors, labmates and friends we made in grad school.


2008, in my professor's office, celebrating the end of another semester



With the Koyanagis , who treated me like family. Beside me is Tomoyo,
who took care of my needs when I was starting out my life as a student.



In front of Yasuda Hall, where many good times with fellow students were spent

Can't wait to see this tiny, mighty nation rise on its feet again after all the devastation and heartbreak from the earthquake and tsunami.

Our hearts go out to you, dear Japan.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Snooty Wedding Coordinator from Hell

Sunday, March 13, 2011 0
...as played by the comedian Shivaker in the TV show "Pepito Manoloto":

Canvass..? Ano`ng canvass-canvass?!
Hindi ako construction supply!

Snooty little Madam

Thursday, March 10, 2011

For the Littlest Ones

Thursday, March 10, 2011 0

I didn't like the idea of spending a lot for our nieces' dresses on our wedding day because they'd outgrow them all too soon. We chanced upon this lovely printed blue dress in a mall; it has a petticoat to make it look dressy enough for a special occasion, and is made of cotton which is comfortable to wear. Plus, the price is really affordable, so I took the chance of buying a pair in a size which I think would fit the two girls (both two years old, born in the same month and year) two months from now. 

And so here's how it looks when we tried one on my niece (who only relented after some bribery of cashew nuts, candies and a promise that  the dress will be worn when they go to the TV station to watch "Willing Willie"):



Isn't the dress/she cute?! It's a little too big for her now, I just hope she doesn't get too fat, and in fact asked   her nanny not to give her too much candy.Someday I hope she'll forgive me for this. :(

Swatch


Much ado about Japan silk No. 13
Not quite the color that I had in mind...a bit darker than the one I want. But as Tim Gunn says in moments of doubt, "You'll just have to make it work."




 
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