The eligible

Ah, weekend. You’re the love letter from the prettiest girl on campus. I treasure you.

Sappy intro aside, and before I plunge into another night of Homeland marathon, let me just share this week’s good news: I nailed the Civil Service exam! And with flying colors! Second in a group of 30 examinees with only four passers.

Yeah. Who would’ve thought that this long-haired, rum-drunk (tonight) freak here can be what those Civil Service people call an “eligible.” Now all I need is that promised phone call from a college buddy and boom! Hello Government Service. May you welcome this fella here hungry for long weekends and normal working hours.

Now excuse me while I watch Claire Danes chase a terrorist…

What he said: George R.R. Martin on jobs

In an interview published on the fashion blog(!) Feather Factor a day after Valentine’s, George R.R. Martin, bestselling author of the popular fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, has this little piece of advice to share:

“The best advice I ever received was a long time ago — to find a job you love. People have to find their happiness in life. I see and have met in my life so many people who don’t like their work. They do their work for money and they do it to support their family or something like that, which of course is understandable. But so many of them are miserable. And it’s weird to me because we work for so much of our lives, we do it for five days a week, we spend a majority of our lives at work. And money aside, you need to do what makes you happy. You have to find something you love.”

Couldn’t have bumped into this article at a better time. Now I really need to think about what I really want in life and come up with a big decision — a decision that may be unpopular to many but is a must in the name of self-preservation. But that’s getting ahead of myself.

Read the rest of the interview here.

No punch in this rum

A viewer can only appreciate The Rum Diary if he/she:

• is a die-hard Hunter S. Thompson fan who will suck up anything associated with the late gonzo journalist,
• once worked in a newspaper and wants to relive the mayhem — nay — experience,
• wants to ogle Amber Heard/Johnny Depp for at least two hours,
• is a chain-smoking booze hound who wants to see his/her pathetic lifestyle romanticized in film,
• hasn’t seen a single movie in 10 years

The only part of it that got a reaction from me is that one where Paul Kemp (Depp) and Sala (Michael Rispoli) got chased by a bunch of wild Puerto Rican drunks. That shit is hilarious, man. Some brownie points for the dialogue too, but not much. File it under watch and delete. You’ll be needing that extra space in your hard drive for something better.

The producers (which included Depp) shouldn’t have tried to court the mainstream. I think that’s where the problem lies.

A man named Fundador

Faces from the past leap from nowhere and bring instant nostalgia. Sometimes they come in neat little packages, like this excellent piece of showbiz journalism here.

The writer used to be one of my bosses, back in 2000, when I was working as a translator in a Tagalog broadsheet that had long since gone the way of the dodo. I remember him for bringing “big time celebrities” to our Christmas party that year, namely the couple Dingdong Avanzado and Jessa Zaragosa who, during the event, both tried their best not to look like they were having an out of body experience. Can’t remember if Jessa treated us with a song number. Perhaps she didn’t. But I remember Dingdong giving a very meaningful and moving Merry Christmas speech that lasted for about 10 seconds. Then they were off into the night. Fundador Soriano must’ve felt like our prince for those two awesome guests.

I also remember “Ka Fundy” for sending dishes and glasses flying in our canteen one day because they made him sit at a table that hadn’t been cleared yet. Those dumb clueless canteen people! They should’ve known that the sun rises on Ka Fundy’s ass. If he doesn’t fart in the morning, then we’ll all be in darkness.

So much for nostalgia.