Neither here nor there

A few weeks back, at the wake of a coparent's mother, one father was worried after the mass. He said, "parang may mali dun sa kinain nating hopia." I asked what he meant and he said, "di ba dapat one hour before the mass we shouldn't eat?" I said but that no longer holds. He said, "Really, when was the change made?" I said "Vatican II?" He said, "I don't think so." I said, "The Jesuits, maybe?" He laughed and said, "possibly." He said all this time his family members weren't allowed to grab a bite before hearing mass.

This morning his wife texted and among other things, I mentioned the incident to her. I thought she'd laugh, but instead she said the rule still holds. Oops... she even said she'd send me a copy of the edict. ooops again. She also said her husband was always laughing at her for being so conservative. So I said oh, then maybe it's the Jesuits who said it was ok to eat before mass? (One sister of mine said that only recently a Jesuit said it was perfectly all right to receive communion even if one came in late for the mass. He rationalized: it's just like going to a party. You eat even if you're late. But I digress...) Anyway, back to the wife. Her reaction after I suggested that maybe the Jesuits made up the rule, she said, yes, perhaps. She added that she always teases her Jesuit friends that SJ means "Sin Justifiers." hmmmm....

anyway, I'll look for a copy of that edict one of these days.

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Watched Stardust this afternoon. Normally movies of this genre really make me want to sleep or leave. So why did I watch it? My husband has been waiting for it for ages because he read Neil Gaiman's book and was enamored. Our son had a paper to finish so it was just my husband and I who watched, though before we left the house, I assured our son we'd watch it again with him tomorrow. (Have you noticed -- I have a persecution complex? joke). Anyway, the movie was a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. The addition of a "chorus" like in a Greek play made it fun. The chorus was made up of ghosts who appeared in black and white. And there was a narrator who helped me follow the story (very helpful because my mind tends to wander about). And Robert de Niro was a riot! He is such a skilled actor, he always stands out in a movie no matter his role. The movie lasts just a few minutes beyond two hours. Watch it for de Niro. And watch it for the two leads: Clair Danes and the male lead who portrayed Tristan. They look well together and are good looking to boot.

At the start of Clair (Claire?) Danes' appearance in the movie I kept thinking about the negative remarks she made about the Philippines (dirty, etc.) years back, shortly after she came here to shoot a movie. But she was so into her character in Stardust that I glossed over her lack of tact. Forgive her? I'm not so sure I should...

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Speaking of lack of tact, a college friend came here to stay in the house some twenty years ago. She had the gall to point out that the light switches were dirty. I mean, hello, it wasn't as though I was charging her for her stay or the food she was eating. (Though I must admit I now look at the light switches to check if they're clean.) So how tactless of her. And she also said that my 5 year old son's drawings were not proportioned. The heads were too big for the rest of the body, she said. I was so hurt for my son who heard her say those nasty things. I haven't hosted her since. She called once to ask to see each other. I made all sorts of excuses and succeeded. We did bump into each other in a party and I was nice to her. But host her again? NEVER.

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Remember the baked goodies bazaar I said was in Power Plant for the month of September? Last weekend they were there for an "extended run." This weekend they're still there. I asked my suki how long they were staying. She said month of October. I said "sana permanent na lang." She answered, "I'll tell my boss." How cute -- as though it was as simple as that. Another funny thing re this outlet of brazo de mercedes. They sell it in two sizes: one mini and the other, small. But there was no whole or big. And listen to this: mini costs P170. Small costs P330. But guess what? Mini is two-thirds the size of the small. So why get the small? Poor mathematical sense. It happens a lot (in a lot of stores/outlets of various products) and just goes to show how people don't know their math enough to price to entice. And maybe, some buyers don't bother to think mathematically when they buy? I don't know for sure. Which reminds me of the book Freakonomics.

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My son's friend gave my son one on his birthday. He said he wanted to share a book he enjoyed reading. When I read the blurb outside, I thought it was cute. My son also told me he had read the first essay and suggested I should too. But being older, I didn't jump into the first essay but read the preface and explanatory note. Good grief, what I thought would be easy reading, one that would lead to a restful sleep, ended up bothering me. One contention in it was this: in the US, in the 1980s or 1990s (i forget which), the crime rate went down. The initial and immediate conclusion behind this phenomenon was the improved economic situation. But lo and behold, when they studied the matter further, it boiled down to one woman's having been decreed by a court not to have an abortion after which there were entities that fought to have abortion legalized. It was legalized in some states afterwards, and this, the book said, accounted for the low crime rate. Why? Because allegedly, those fetuses that were aborted were the type who, coming from the background they did, were prone to commit crimes. Their having been aborted meant they weren't around to commit the crime. A matter of predestination? I guess statistics bear out this bizarre conclusion. But does it mean one doesn't have a chance to change one's destiny? That one is doomed by one's genes to perdition? How odd. I guess they have found proof to this effect. But how sad.

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While we were in the movie house, my husband received a text message from a friend who said it was forwarded by someone from the police. It maintained that if one encounters a car whose headlights aren't on, one should just ignore it and not flash one's lights as would be the normal reaction. According to the text message, flashing one's lights would translate to being chased by that car and shot to death. The act is supposed to be an initiation rite of some group. Scary...

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In the Sunday Inquirer Magazine, one of the articles mentioned a YouTube entry of the Makati Police, several videos, in fact, on how to protect oneself while in the streets. I'll read the article again and post the link here if I don't forget. Okay, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=makati+police+videos&search=Search. According to the police interviewed, real criminals helped them prepare the videos by telling them how they did what they did. boyoboyoboy.