Never Let Anyone Steal Your Sunshine...

Another heartbreak. But I keep on convincing myself that its the lover not the love (oh, that so familiar song lyric) that broke my heart.

Love- such a lonely word.

Losing my Blackberry and faith in the police...

It was a rainy Saturday, 28th of May 2011, and I was on my way to meet a friend and his nephew to watch Kung Fu Panda 2. I carefully parked my car infront of an "ukay-ukay" near the highway so I can catch a bus that would take me to the mall. I do this every weekend because I hate riding a tricycle going out of the subdivision where I live. It was supposed to be like any other weekend, but the events of the next 30 minutes changed my life forever.

As I was crossing the street on my way to the covered walk-way beside the local 7-11, I got myself stuck standing in the middle of the rather busy street. There were lots of cars going to and fro and I decided to stay in the middle until the road clears of traffic. Beside me was a woman with some kids in tow. The traffic behind me went to a standstill as a few more people crossed the street. After almost a minute, I went on my way to the bus station. But before I can even reach the pedestrian overpass, I decided to text my friend to say that I am on my way to the mall. As I was reaching for my bag, I noticed that the back pocket was open. I didn't pay much attention to it at first and thought that I just left my phones at the car. So I went back and noticed that it was not there! Then it dawned to me... I lost my phone to a pick pocket!

I immediately drove my way to the nearby police station and was greeted by two police men who were lazily seated in their rather rather cozy, cold office. I told them that I lost my phones to (a) pickpocket(s) just a few meters away from the police station. A lanky police man said, "wow, ikaw na ang pangalawa ah ngayon!" (translation: " you were the second victim in the past hour!") Then they told me that there was nothing they can do for me and asked me to report the incident to the central police station over at the city hall.

So I grabbed my keys and drove myself to the central police station. The police on duty wasn't really helpful either. After reporting my story, all he did was write down my story at this "logbook" and told me that there is nothing much they can do for me. They can't deploy people to work on my complaint because: (1) it was a Saturday and they were operating on skeletal duty and (2) it's beyond their jurisdiction (my jaw dropped at this point). The police officer told me that I should have reported this to the nearest police station where the incident occured which is like located in the ghetto part of the city. Geez.

Then I said to myself, wow, great! Just like the movies.

After pleading for minutes, they said that I can just go back on Monday to get the police report. I told the officer that I would rather get it now than go back on Monday. What he told me almost broke my heart:

"Iho, walang opisina ngayon, Usually bente pesos lang itong report pero since ipriprint pa namin ito sa loob, isang daan ito!" (translation: "Sorry son, its a Saturday and no one will print this report. However, I can have this printed for you for 100 Pesos. If you come back on Monday, it will just be 20 bucks")

Another wow moment. Corruption right before my eyes. I just said yes because it would be fruitless arguing to a greedy policeman. I left the police station with my police report, a broken spirit and a soul that resigned to the feeling that I was robbed twice in the span of 30 minutes: first by an unscrupulous individual who took my Blackberry and Nokia phone, and lastly by a police officer who took advantage of  my helpless situation for a quick buck.

I was a victim til the end.

The 53rd Grammy Awards Nominees and Winners

This year's Grammy Awards is one of upsets, red carpet drama and Gaga. Yes, Gaga. Lady Gaga stole the show with her prostetic horns and uber grand entrance. In true Gaga style, she entered the Staples Center encased inside a huge egg, carried by three scantily dressed men in a procession lead by what seems to be an alien princess. She was one of the night's top winners taking home the Grammy for Pop Vocal Album, Pop Female Vocal Performance and for Short Form Music Video of the Year. Quite an impressive haul I must say.

Another big winner of the night is Lady Antebellum who won two of the top honors of the night: Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Need You Now"; beating out pop favorites Bruno Mars, Eminem, Rihanna and Alicia Keys.

Lady Antebellum "Need You Now"

Grammy Song of the Year and Record of the Year

The biggest shockers of the night came when Album of the Year honors went to Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire and when jazz artist Esperanza Spalding beat out early favorites Drake and Justin Bieber for the Best New Artist award. A virtual unknown, Twitter buzzed with surprise and a deep interest on Esperanza after her shocking win.

Bruno Mars "Just The Way You Are"

Grammy Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

R&B singer Bruno Mars snatched the Male Pop Vocal Perfomance Grammy for his song "Just The Way You Are". And the biggest snub of the night belonged to Katy Perry who was 0 wins out of her impressive 4 nominations. Here is the partial list of winners:

Record of the Year:
* Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
Nothin' On You, B.o.B. feat. Bruno Mars
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem feat. Rihanna
F*** You, Cee Lo Green
Empire State of Mind, Jay-Z and Alicia Keyes

Album of the Year:
* The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
Recovery, Eminem
Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream, Katy Perry

Song of the Year:
* Need You Now, Lady Antebellum
Beg, Steal or Borrow, Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs
F*** You, Cee-Lo Green
The House That Built Me, Miranda Lambert
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem, feat. Rihanna

Best New Artist:
* Esperanza Spalding
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence and The Machine
Mumford & Sons

Best Pop Vocal Album
* The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga
My World 2.0, Justin Bieber
I Dreamed a Dream, Susan Boyle
Battle Studies, John Mayer
Teenage Dream, Katy Perry

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
* Lady Gaga, Bad Romance
Sara Bareilles, King of Anything
| Beyoncé, Halo (Live)
Norah Jones, Chasing Pirates
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
* Bruno Mars, Just the Way You Are
Michael Bublé, Haven't Met You Yet
Michael Jackson, This Is It
Adam Lambert, Whataya Want From Me
John Mayer, Half of My Heart

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:
* Hey, Soul Sister (Live), Train
Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals Version), Glee Cast
Misery, Maroon 5
The Only Exception, Paramore
Babyfather, Sade

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals:
* Imagine, Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare
Airplanes II, B.o.B, Eminem & Hayley Williams
If It Wasn't For Bad, Elton John & Leon Russell
Telephone, Lady Gaga & Beyoncé
California Gurls, Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg

Best Dance Recording:
* Only Girl (In The World), Rihanna
Rocket, Goldfrapp
In For The Kill, La Roux
Dance In The Dark, Lady Gaga
Dancing On My Own, Robyn

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:
* Tighten Up, The Black Keys
Ready To Start, Arcade Fire
I Put A Spell On You, Jeff Beck & Joss Stone
Radioactive, Kings Of Leon
Resistance, Muse

Best Hard Rock Performance:
* New Fang, Them Crooked Vultures
A Looking In View, Alice In Chains
Let Me Hear You Scream, Ozzy Osbourne
Black Rain, Soundgarden
Between The Lines, Stone Temple Pilots

Best Rock Song:
* Angry World, Neil Young
Little Lion Man, (Mumford & Sons
Radioactive, Kings Of Leon
Resistance, Muse
Tighten Up, The Black Keys

Best Rock Album
* The Resistance, Muse
Emotion & Commotion, Jeff Beck
Backspacer, Pearl Jam
Mojo, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Le Noise, Neil Young

Best Alternative Music Album
* Brothers, The Black Keys
The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
Infinite Arms, Band Of Horses
Broken Bells, Broken Bells
Contra, Vampire Weekend

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:
* Wake Up! Everybody, John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Commo
Nothin' On You, B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars
Deuces, Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem & Rihanna
Empire State Of Mind, Jay-Z & Alicia Keys n

Best Rap Song:
* Empire State Of Mind, Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
Love The Way You Lie, Eminem & Rihanna
Not Afraid, Eminem
Nothin' On You, B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars
On To The Next One, Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz

Best Rap Album:
* Recovery, Eminem
The Adventures Of Bobby Ray, B.o.B
Thank Me Later, Drake
The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z
How I Got Over, The Roots

For a complete list of the winners and nominees, visit http://www.grammy.com/nominees

How to Escape a Zombie Attack

Zombies beware! The human race is getting ready for Z-Day! (Well, not exactly.) After watching a number of zombie movies (special mention goes to George A. Romero's 1968 masterpiece "Night of the Living Dead") and the Fox series "The Walking Dead", I'm convinced that the world should prepare for Z-Day.

A Zombie is a reanimated human corpse who feed on human flesh, often specifically, the brain. Sounds scary, right? Just like vampires, they could just very well be working underground waiting for the perfect time to come out and take over the world. So, for now, what can we do to prepare? With that in mind, I have come up with a list of things to do to survive a zombie attack.

Should you wake up one day, and find yourself surrounded by brain-hungry zombies, the first thing you should do is to find yourself a pretty comfy place to stay. The shopping mall is a pretty popular choice. Do take note that zombies love the city for they know that there would be lots of people to eat out there. However should you decide not to venture outdoors, lock yourself up at home, but please avoid windows.

Arm your self up. Preferred weapons include baseball bats, high-powered guns (stock up on bullets), axes and chainsaws. Never use your hands in battle. You can get bitten by 'em evil scums. Once you get bitten, you would never have the chance to use this list ever.

Should you find yourself in the presence of a zombie, you have two options: you can either hit them on the head (but please, don't miss!) or if you are unarmed, just run away like a madman. Important reminder though, always be sure to wear comfy footwear. Leather shoes are a no-no. And if you are unprepared for battle, just run away. There are conflicting reports on whether zombies can run or not. But to be sure, run away as fast as you can. I'm not sure if you can outrun a zombie. So choose your battles wisely.

Heroes became heroes for a reason. But for a zombie invasion, choose to save yourself first. No one will remember you saving someone from a zombie.  Don't be a statistic.

And finally, if you can't beat them, just join them. Another way to survive a zombie attack is to just act like one. Drench yourself with blood and guts from a corpse and act like a brain-dead looney by walking like a zombie. If don't know how to do a zombie walk, try to remember the time you got very drunk. That would be a good start. Imitate and observe their every move. But of course, be very aware of the weather. Don't go out in the rain. The blood you have so carefully placed in your body would just wash out and make you very vulnerable for an attack.

Its better to be prepared than be surprised when Z-Day finally comes. Print this list and post it on your refrigerator door. Stay safe and go beat 'em evil zombies.

* Disclaimer:
The author is not responsible for any unsuccessful attempt in surviving a zombie attack. Z-Day or zombie attacks may or may not happen in your lifetime.

And the 2011 Academy Award nominees are...

The nominees for the 2011 Academy Awards are out! And again, the critics say that the roster this year is one of the strongest and most diverse in history. Out of the ten nominated films for Best Picture, I have only seen 2 and I am looking forward in seeing all of them both on the big screen and on DVD.  The nominees for Best Picture this year are: "Black Swan", "127 Hours", "True Grit", "The Kids Are All Right", "Inception", "The Social Network", "The Fighter", "Winter's Bone", "Toy Story 3" and "The King's Speech". 

Kudos to "Toy Story 3" for making it on the list, it being an animated feature film. It becomes only the second computer animated film in history to be nominated for Best Picture (the first film to achieve this milestone was Disney Pixar's "Up" in 2010). Also, "Toy Story 3" is the only sequel to be nominated for Best Picture without any of its predecessors being nominated. Obviously, this is my personal favorite to win this year.

I'm also glad that "Inception" got a nod for best film of the year but I was somehow disappointed that Christopher Nolan was snubbed for his great directorial effort.

For the next 3 weeks, I will be watching all the nominated films. And just like any year, I will make my predictions on who will win the major awards before the trophies are handed out later next month.  I will be posting my "Oscar ballot" in the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, not all the nominated movies will be shown locally and after checking the movie listings, the following films are scheduled to be shown in Manila:

Feb 09- 127 Hours

Feb 23- Black Swan

Feb 23- True Grit

For the complete list of nominees, go to http://oscar.go.com/ 

The 83rd Academy Awards will be telecast live all over the world on February 27, 2011 and will be hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco.

The Story of the Lucky Charm Bracelet...

"Now, make three wishes..."

This was what the Chinese lady told me when I bought a lucky charm bracelet from her stall at the mall.  She placed the "Lucky Ram" bracelet (from the year I was born) on a metal bowl, gave it a gentle tap, and uttered chants in an apparent effort to bless it. So there was I, looking at this bowl while making three innocent wishes with a rather skeptical cloud around me. What do I have to lose, right? (besides my money of course).

After the purchase I went on my way to the the department store to buy some personal supplies. To the left of the store entrance was a really busy stall that caught my eye. It was a lottery outlet. Then, a light bulb moment! What if I test this supposedly lucky bracelet by betting in the insta-scratch lottery? Sounds like a plan to me. So I took out my lucky bracelet, wore it on my left wrist and handed out my twenty pesos to the Cashier and got myself a "Bee Lucky Game" ticket.

To win, I should match any of the two winning numbers with those six numbers I was given to scratch off. So I scratched the ticket and true enought, I got the surpise of my life... I won! I won!  (prize amount withheld LOL). Wow, this lucky bracelet does work! I was not out to push my lucky by buying another ticket, so I just got my winnings and drove home with a smirk on my face. Yes, I forgot to buy what I came to the mall for. Oh well, there's next weekend to buy them (and probably another lottery ticket).

The New Zodiac World Order. Enter Ophiuchus.

Enter Ophiuchus.

Ophiuchus is the thirteenth constellation that shocked the Astrological world. And yes, there is a new Zodiac world order. Apparently, due to shifts in the earth's rotation and orbit, the sun now moves through 13 constellations, not just 12. What was supposed to be a very trivial astrological development caused a stir in the news, and all the social networking sites. The inclusion of Ophiuchus in the Zodiac raised a lot of eyebrows (including mine). I'm not really sure if this is just an alternative list or if this now really how your Zodiac sign would be determined.

Now, who is Ophiuchus?  Its Greek name means 'serpent-bearer', and it is commonly represented as a man grasping the snake that is represented by the Serpens constellation. Having said this, go check out the new 13 signs of the Zodiac:

Aries: Apr 19 - May 14
Taurus: May 14 - Jun 21
Gemini: Jun 21 - Jul 21
Cancer: Jul 21 - Aug 11
Leo: Aug 11 - Sept 17
Virgo: Sept 17 - Oct 31
Libra: Oct 31 - Nov 21
Scorpio: Nov 21 - Nov 30
Ophiuchus: Nov 30 - Dec 18
Sagittarius: Dec 18 - Jan 21
Capricorn: Jan 21 - Feb 17
Aquarius: Feb 17 - Mar 12
Pisces: Mar 12 - Apr 19

As I checked out the new list of Zodiacs, it seems that my June 20 birthday now falls on the sign of Taurus. I used be to be a Gemini and I refuse to be a Taurus! All the people I know can affirm that I am a true blooded Gemini! I'm not really sure if I would follow this new Zodiac listing, or if I should be affected by it, but for an astrological junkie like me, this is truly earth-shaking news.