what has the world gotten into? v1.1

your food is made from china. even toothpicks are made from china. can we not make anything?

and the tainted products from china. getting scarier every time.

starbucks is expensive. but people are hounding to sip their banal coffee.

oil is at $60 per barrel. but local oil companies refuse to trim it down one time, big time.

north pole is melting but nobody seems to notice.

none of the culprits of the collapse of the american economy is prosecuted yet.

when uncle sam sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold.

iceland is on a meltdown. pun not intended.

the bucks are getting scarce. but the ceos, even fired, get a hefty chunk. that's a farce.

free market is dead. like latin. and stalin.

fidel castro is getting old. cuban cigars are still expensive.

obama being branded as a terrorist because of his name. being un-american because he is black.

mccain as president? palin as vice-president? oh no! a tandem of stooges.

paris hilton for president? almost! 

the movie, body of lies, made us realize that america is capable of creating fake wars. 

the witches are out to get sarkozy. voodoo doll of the french president for sale, any?

scientology as a religion? tom cruise is really mad.

the uber-expensive scientific curiosity hadron collider is switched on. and the glitch that stopped it.

the contents of the internet is getting scarier. virtually anything imaginable and unimaginable.

###

what has the world gotten into? v1.0

a pretty lady holding another girl's hand. a decent man in another boy's arms.

a couple wrangling over money. while the son guilelessly looking at them.

pregnant lady standing in mrt while the men perched comfortably, pretending not to notice.

children dangling in jeepneys, wiping passengers' shoes cadging for pennies.

children calling their parents by their first names. siblings calling their elders by their first names.

kids no longer play patintero. piko. sungka. sipa.

the emo look? i don't get it! is it the modern marilyn manson?

facebook's tagalog translation of 'confirm requests' is 'talaga lang ha'.

a family going out of the church mid-ceremony because they had attended the last half of the previous ceremony. just like watching a movie, eh?

teenagers would rather be an actor/actress than go to school.

being famous for speaking barok english.

politicians can be actors too. and actors can be politicians.

journalists are killed for their words. now the sword is getting mightier.

the culture of corruption is way going overboard.

the thin line between news and gossip is getting thinner.

truth is becoming subjective. not absolute.

why apathy? is it our way of saying, 'there's nothing we can do' to the world's ills?

###

before sunrise. and the milkshake poem.

in times of gloom, one turns to introspect and inspect his troves. 

as a cinemaphile, i turned to my stack of dvds. grabbed the stunner tandem film, before sunrise/ before sunset. watched it for the 3rd time since i bought them.

it's one of my favorite romantic films of all times. although, im devoid of such fancies (i consider myself insensitive), im quite fascinated with the thought of travelling incognito and meeting someone along the way that pique your interests. someone who share the same passion for dialectics. someone who has different take on issues like love, religion and death. someone you can finally connect. close to being soulmates, that is.

anyway, what's striking about the movie is the flow of their conversations. all through out, you can hear them talking just about anything. jesse is on his way to vienna to catch his flight to america. while celine is on her way to paris to resume her studies after a brief visit to her grandma. in the lounge car of train bound for paris, they met and struck a very engaging talk, probably the best talk of their lives. but when the train arrived at vienna, jesse had to get off. and he managed to convince celine to accompany him to the streets of vienna and talk some more. he premised that this could only happen once in their lifetime. they could have their own lives apart in the future but they can still look up to the day that they had met.

the highlights of the film are as follows:

- at a restaurant. they pretended to phone each other's friends and talked about how they meet each other. and what they think about each other. mushy. but it clicked.

- the first kiss. in a giant ferris wheel in the prater. but the events that led to the kiss made it more eventful.

- celine's thoughts about God. how does he manifest himself? she said in spaces between people.

- jesse's thoughts about people. that they hate themselves because they are always around themselves. and they're sick of that. i kinda agree. i have yet to experience that. consciously.

- and the anonymous street poet by the river danube who offered to make them a poem on just about anything. the couple suggested the keyword, 'milkshake'. and here's how it goes:

daydream delusion, limousine eyelash

oh baby with your pretty face

drop a tear in my wine glass

look at those big eyes

see what you mean to me

sweet-cakes and milkshakes

i am a delusion angel

i am a fantasy parade

i want you to know what I think

don’t want you to guess anymore

you have no idea where I came from

we have no idea where we’re going

lodged in life

like branches in a river

flowing downstream

caught in the current

i carry you 

you’ll carry me

that’s how it could be

don’t you know me?

don’t you know me by now?

ravishing, isn't it? anyway, after 14-hour fleeting moments together, because jesse had to fly to america, they decided to meet again. at the vienna train station, six months later. thus, the sequel. but not entirely so. you'll know.

###

the stooge who ruled the world

i am the captain of my ship

and i shall abide by the gaze of the north star and the whispers of the wind

gone forty thousand leagues, from the seventh seas to the nth

the unwavering tides would halt you, even the wind might daunt you

but the perils are inevitable, takes a lot of mettle to persist.

when you get there, when you prevail, it doesn't culminate the travail.

the journey just got better. for another one will commence.

who would say nay to the advances of the universe?

the alchemist once conspired with it, the synergy is compelling.

sahara may be vast and endless but the little prince endured it.

albeit seemingly guileless, yet intrepid.

wanderlust led him to wherever his heart desires. 

he prevailed. they prevailed.

consumed by hope, mired by hops and hoops

you won't just stare at the labyrinth, you must get through it.

for life is a farce

the bitter the better. rest assured, no one will laugh at you. 

they are just mere spectators.

when you prevail, they will exclaim your masterpiece.

the punchlines just got even better.

for when you stop, the world will stoop at you.

the joke is on you. and they will start laughing.

###

anodyne for the wretched soul

they dumped me!

yes they did.

and for the life of me,

i succumbed to the pain

reeking inside the once-placid halls of my existence.

i was muted in disbelief

when i first heard it.

but when it finally sunk in,

i felt a dagger leaving my venter

then a profuse gush streaming through the incision.

shaken, aghast with their valid torment.

however, i no longer can dwell on what has elapsed.

can i move on? or shall i persist?

for now, how do i find solace? how do i find calm?

even if it's fleeting, i need it.

even if it's way beyond me, i'd nourish it.

give me my anodyne. 

...

numbed.

###