Filed under: Lurchur
The first time I saw writer Sarah Vowell was on The Daily Show, promoting her book, The Wordy Shipmates. She extensively talked about early American history and surprisingly, it didn’t bore me. There was actual interest in the subject on my part. Then I read one of her essays “God Will Give You Blood in a Souvenir Shot Glass” and became a full-fledged devotee. I couldn’t access the essay because it seems that the web page is no longer there, so I give you an excerpt of her piece on Tom Cruise:
I’d never given Tom Cruise’s cock much thought before. I’d thought about the members of his contemporaries Nicolas Cage and Johnny Depp and, as long as we’re on the subject, Steve Martin. But if you’d asked me to draw a nude Tom Cruise before seeing the bulge protruding out of his white underwear as he strips in “Magnolia,” I probably would have given him the smooth anatomy of a Ken doll. Of course, where Tom Cruise sticks his privates is the speculation of the is-he-or-isn’t-he homosexuality rumors that pervade his persona, but I never gave Cruise’s sexuality much truck one way or the other. Because, watching his movies over the past couple of weeks, I am constantly surprised when Cruise is in the same room with another person, much less the same bed.
The rest of the article is here.
Filed under: Pop Culture
Skin color aside, I’m a black woman. I keep it real, I booty walk, I even snap my fingers after saying “work it.” And like all black women, I have issues with my hair. These were made clearer to me, however, after watching Chris Rock’s Good Hair.
The documentary is an eye-opening look into the world of hair: hair care, hair products, hair shows. It opens simply enough with a question from one of Chris Rock’s daughters: how come I don’t have good hair? How do you get good hair? Enter sodium hydroxide. Known as relaxer (known as perm to us black people), these transform kinky hair to pretty hair. A miracle right? Well not exactly. We’re treated to a brief experiment to see that the real miracle is how perms can dissolve a can of soda–Ta-da! Weaves also get their origin story in the film; its roots tracing all the way to India, where women sacrifice their hair for religion. Hair, which is then sold to companies, which is then sold to us as weaves. It’s a circle of life people, it’s a circle of life. Rock also travels to the Bronner Bros. convention to prove hair is big business–business that’s dominated by Asians.
There are weak moments, particularly the hair show competition which is stretched throughout the whole duration of the film. But let’s put it in perspective, it’s a good first step toward a discourse of hair. As for mine, it’s such a disaster that the Red Cross won’t even give it coffee.
At this point, I’ve completely fallen in love with the whole Manny-Pacquiao-screwed-around-with-Krista-Ranillo fiasco. Here what you need to know about Krista Ranillo. She’s the daughter of actor Matt Ranillo, whose claim to fame was playing Jesus (also known here in the Philippines as Kristo)–ok, i guess that’s pretty much all you need to know about Krista Ranillo. Now, the whole thing is hilarious because Jesus’ daughter–allegedly–boinking a world-famous married boxer is just something that you can’t write. I mean, come on, if Jesus was your daddy, it’s kind of an unwritten rule that anything you do must be done by the Book. See, this is what happens when you try to name your child after something that they won’t live up to, they tend to go the polar opposite. But of course, Pacquiao isn’t as guiltless as people think. See, he’s not the perfect family man that the media makes him out to be. One of my good friends told me that they’ve seen him blatantly making out with several teenage girls at the VIP lounge of Embassy Bar.
This is all speculation. But it’s gossip, and it’s good enough for me.
Filed under: Happenings
I got this conversation from three people on Facebook, without their permission (hence the generic identifications). But their exchanges are exactly what people need to hear to shake themselves out of “the power of celebrity”:
Person A: I think that view is so dishonest. A bareface disregard of the fact that Noynoy’s candidacy was egged on solely on the basis of his relationship to Cory and on the fact of her death. His legislative record is an embarassment considering the many years he’s been in the congress. It being courteous to say that his record is paltry. He has no prominent advocacy in or outside of the congress. If Luisita is any measure Noynoy is even anti farmer and anti poor. Had Cory not died no one would have been inclined to “clamor” for Noynoy. Don’t pretend that Noynoy has any merit of his own independent of the influence of his blood relation to Cory as would give the temerity to even imagine himself aspiring to become president of the republic. It’s dishonest, insulting and offensive to even suggest that blood relations and personality are not factors in this election. Because in the case of Noynoy those are significant if not the only grounds of his candidacy.
Person B: We have a double standard. We forget about the son of revered justice Claudio Teehankee, the son of church and sports leader Freddie Webb, and the daughter of Diosdado Macapagal, but we assume that the son of Ninoy and Cory will be as heroic as his parents.
Person A: They didn’t measure up to their forebears. And Noynoy won’t be any different. I think his presidency, if ever, will be worse than his mother’s. Or may even eventually turn out to be more corrupt than GMA’s. Remember, Noynoy’s record is a record of mediocrity. His wealthy friends and relatives will manipulate him to do their biddings. And he wouldn’t even notice it. He will play into the expert hands of corrupt political operators.
Person C: Cory deliberately left out Hacienda Luisita when the Agrarian Reform Law was enacted and became a law. For me, that’s blatant moral corruption on her part. To my horror, she’s now a modern day saint. Time for the people to stop living a lie.
Person C: Noynoy, as I keep saying, will put the country in suspended animation, just like his mother during her six-year term. As for the RH bill, he’d simply bide his time, if he was elected, then would dump it like a hot potato…after all, he is beholden to those nuns cocooned in their tiny world tucked away from reality and who had never traveled or had never had the privilege of world travel. Noynoy is insular, inward-looking, lacking dynamism, personality and drive. He lacks the “it” factor.
