Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista dons Captain Barbell costume to inaugurate the new City Hall and promote his new movie.

Possible, yes? No?

Ara Mina, Alfred Vargas, Ogie Diaz, “Tado” (WTF?), Jestoni Alarcon, Anjo Yllana, Joey Marquez, Rico J. Puno, John Lesaca, Cesar Montano, Christopher de Leon, Lucy Torres-Gomez, Herbert Bautista, Aiko Melendez, Marjorie Baretto, Angelica Jones, Roderick Paulate, Glenda Garcia, Maria Isabel Lopez, Ricky Davao, Lani Mercado, Monsour del Rosario. Just to name a few. Some lost, some are in Congress, some are Councilors. It seems like being in show business is a prerequisite to be a lawmaker. We should be prepared for Ramon “Bong” Revilla. He always tops the Senatorial seat every election. Who are you to think that he won’t be aiming for the presidency soon?

The circus is in town and it is here to stay.

Learned a new word during the election: Disenfranchised.

to deprive (a person) of a right of citizenship, as of the right to vote.

I am so excited to vote on Monday. I can’t wait to feed that long piece of paper in a PCOS machine. The COMELEC said that the election on May 10 will happen and I believe it. I want to stay positive about this but I thought that it was premature of them to toast champagne after the last ballot was printed out. Too early a celebration guys. Some CompactFlash (CF) cards are nowhere near to the far-flung PCOS machines and they won’t make it on election day. What are the voters in those remote areas supposed to do now? Hold voting off until the CF cards finally arrive? I see a potential problem too. Our public schools don’t have air-conditioning. In this jello heat we are experiencing this summer, will the PCOS machines survive it? I really really hope so.

Fruitas G1BO cup

If only I could do the same in the coming election. I would be more than happy to vote for him over and over again. Today (May 7) at 5:00 PM is G1BO’s Grand Meeting De Avance at the Rizal Track & Field Stadium (near Harrison Plaza). Be counted! SULONG!

Speaking of irritating text messages…

The people who type like SHIFT key crazy have evolved into something that they are now given a name. Jejemon’s are what they are called. Just go to Jejemon.com (yes, somebody was really that quick to register “jejemon.com”) to get a full grasp of what they are all about. Urban Dictionary explains it too. I just don’t know what to make of of their 3rd entry for the meaning of “Jejemon”:

A pejorative term most middle to high-class Filipino teens use to refer to their poor countrymen who dress up as ‘GaNgZtaHz’ and use txt language. What the upper class fail to see is that these Jejemons do not know any better and that’s caused by their inherent poverty.

The elite and affluent, not to mention spoiled teens find yet another way to degrade their already impoverished brethren. Instead of helping the trampled, the high-class Filipino teens jeer at the destitute who they know can’t afford the luxurious taste they have. Of course, they cover this up by volunteering in charitable works just to show that they are impeccable and far better than the so-called Jejemons.

This just goes to show how divided the Filipino people are. Social classes will never break boundaries because the discriminatory elites will never accept the poor in their society as equals.

I wouldn’t say that “Jejemons” are exclusively made up of the “impoverished brethren”. Check your favorite social networking site. One of your friends has surely abused the exclamation point or used “ha ha ha” way too much. It would be unfair not to count them as a “Jejemon“. If not, then it’s not that far that their kind will be given a name too.

Check out running-for-president Gibo Teodoro’s plan for “Jejemons”:

GIBO vs. Jejemons

I remember him saying before that one of his pet peeves is wrong grammar or wrong spelling. Check it out at 8:50:

Eh well, there goes my dream of working for him but guess who I am voting as President this May 2010.

What is going on DOH? I hope you weren’t hacked again. And that whoever is in charge of the websites of the government agencies mentioned above have already changed or strengthened the passwords. Rockyou.com, a social network/data storage website of some sort (i really am not sure) was hacked on December 2009. The attacker got through the database of usernames and passwords of its 32 million users. To make it more fun, the attacker posted those username and passwords in the internet. Imperva, a data security firm, analyzed the passwords. They just released a report entitled “Consumer Password Worst Practices” and in it is the 20 common passwords in the database list:

Numbers 4 and 7 takes the cake. I’m wondering if any of these were the passwords of the government websites that were hacked.

These recent earthquakes are making me nervous. Did some research and stumbled into U.S. Geological Survey’s website. Check out their comprehensive earthquake information about the Philippines. And here are some earthquake safety tips taken from National Geographic:

Safety Tips

* Have an earthquake readiness plan.
* Consult a professional to learn how to make your home sturdier, such as bolting bookcases to wall studs, installing strong latches on cupboards, and strapping the water heater to wall studs.
* Locate a place in each room of the house that you can go to in case of an earthquake. It should be a spot where nothing is likely to fall on you.
* Keep a supply of canned food, an up-to-date first aid kit, 3 gallons (11.4 liters) of water per person, dust masks and goggles, and a working battery-operated radio and flashlights.
* Know how to turn off your gas and water mains.

If Shaking Begins

* Drop down; take cover under a desk or table and hold on.
* Stay indoors until the shaking stops and you’re sure it’s safe to exit.
* Stay away from bookcases or furniture that can fall on you.
* Stay away from windows. In a high-rise building, expect the fire alarms and sprinklers to go off during a quake.
* If you are in bed, hold on and stay there, protecting your head with a pillow.
* If you are outdoors, find a clear spot away from buildings, trees, and power lines. Drop to the ground.
* If you are in a car, slow down and drive to a clear place. Stay in the car until the shaking stops.

2. Whoever gets elected president will be the 15th President of our country.

3. The 2010 election, in compliance with Republic Act No. 9369, also known as Amended Computerization Act of 2007, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) will administer the first national computerized election in the history of the Philippines.

4. Official campaign period:
Candidates running for national positions – February 9 to May 8
Candidates running for local positions – March 26 to May 8

ELECTION TRIVIAS: Did you know…
In Australia, voting is compulsory for all adult citizens aged 18 years or older. Non-voters will have to provide a reason for their failure to vote or pay a $20 penalty. Compulsory voting is also enforced in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Singapore, Switzerland and Turkey.

From DiscoveryMagazine.com: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About Elections:
There are 2 things that are worth reading in relation to the coming election–

17.  Ballot layout matters. There’s the “vertical proximity effect,” whereby unknown candidates whose names appear near those of popular candidates get extra votes.

18. And then there’s a tendency among voters simply to vote for the first name on the ballot. In Australia, where voting is compulsory, these votes could account for as much as 1 percent of the total.

A person’s bias is based on facts, but prejudice occurs without a person knowing or examining the facts. Vote wisely, people.

But to play Quit Playing Games at almost 4 in the frakkin’ morning?! Are you kidding me?!

At first, I was hesitant to buy it. I was debating with myself if it’s appropriate or insensitive or whatever. Mayon Volcano is ready to erupt any time soon and it’s making people nervous and on their toes. But then, I figured it’s just a stupid replica of the real thing and it’s all about nature so it can’t be bad. And I wanted to be relevant and timely as much as possible. It’s hard to give a 9-year-old a gift, yo. Especially if you can’t afford that PSP or Guitar Hero. Or if you’re cheap like me. This one is only 299.50 pesos. Not bad, eh?

And ooh, when I was going around the toy store, I did a double-take when I saw this:

What the heck, right? Speaking of being inappropriate, i thought their name was. Or maybe it’s just me. Why “Naked”? Why why? Wikipedia explained it all to me.

So SM thought it would be fun to do a band parade inside the mall. You can hear them playing Christmas songs from afar and you just can’t wait for them to come around your corner. I burst out laughing when I saw them:

Because I thought they looked like Jigsaw from the Saw movies:

No wonder there was a kid who looked scared of them. “Hello, Michael. I want to play a game.” Merry Christmas to you.

Here’s the Iron Man 2 trailer. Watch out for Iron Man/Tony Stark’s casual “You complete me.” to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts. Damn funny.