Couch Potato - That's Me

With nothing much to do these days, I sometimes wind up surfing channels, reading old newspapers or reading a graphic novel: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Surprised? I am too. It happened one day that I was in the sala waiting for my husband and son to be ready so we could leave. Rather than stare at the walls, I picked up the said book lying on the keyboard of my son. I read a few boxes (it's like cartoons in book form ) and liked what I read. I'm more than halfway through. Besides the book is being made into a movie, one I'm sure we'll watch. it's well written. My son's advice: look at the graphics too. I guess he knows that adults usually read words only, haha.

Now to my couch potato experiences.

I usually start my morning TV watching with Unang Hirit. But sometimes, the news depresses me so I turn the TV off. Yesterday, I switched to She-ka but Issa Litton was interviewing some ladies in the military and I wasn't too engrossed so I again turned the TV off. A little later, I channel surfed and stopped when I saw a feature on the cartoons for the Beijing Olympics on CCTV. I guess that's China TV, no? The feature was annotated in English though, and it was very informative. It showed how the final issue of the cartoons went through a long and rigorous process that began years ago; how the mascots were chosen, how grade school students were made to see them without being told what they were for, what each mascot stood for, why the colors were chosen, in addition to the Olympic colors . Comprehensive.

Later I saw a snippet of May Lee's Faces and Places (sorry I failed to take note of the channel - it's Hallmark) and she was interviewing Philip David Henney. Who he? Well, the face was familiar to me because I saw him in Spring Waltz, a Korean telenovela. In a previous blog, I wrote about the said televonela and may even described him without a name, as usual. PDH is a Korean American who grew up in Michigan, hence his English proficiency. In the telenovela, he also spoke German. A video clip of him and his Korean mom was shown and I was impressed. The mom is short and very Korean but according to PDH, when he had to contend with racism as he was growing up in an American school, she took on the bullies. May Lee mentioned that PDH had appeared in various commercials like Samsung so I checked it out in YouTube. Wow, I saw that he even had a commercial with no less than Gwyneth Paltrow for Bean Pole. Imagine that.

By noon, as I prepared to eat lunch, I tuned in to Edu's show, Game Ka na Ba? One of the contestants was Lynn Jaleco, from my hometown, Talisay City, Negross Occidental. Not familiar to me, but not having been home in a while, that's not unusual. Had Eat Bulaga for lunch viewing but stopped when I decided to surf in the computer. In the pm, I turned on to Kapuso Network. Caught the tail-end of Magdusa Ka. Wow, everyone was screaming, fighting, hurting each other. Whew, luckily, I thought, I caught only the tail-end. Then the next teledrama rolled in. Kaputol ng Isang Awit. More of the same: screaming, meanness, fighting, hurting each other, giving each other the one eyebrow arch. They weren't kaputol, they were kadugtong. It was just so awful. I turned the TV off. At around 5 past, I switched on the TV to catch Moms. It was ok, but not earth-shaking unlike the other day when they featured parents of special children, among them Matt Ranillo, Melanie Marquez, and a non-showbiz (at least I didn't think she was) lady, Angel. Matt's youngest is harelip and he described how he felt when he first saw her with a gaping hole instead of a nose and mouth but how his wife said "ang ganda ng mata niya". Melanie has two special children: a teen or older, and a young boy. I can't remember what was wrong with Angel's child. Matt was very frank, expressing what I have long said, how mean some adults and children can be when faced with a disabled/special child/adult. He appealed for kindness. Melanie said she didn't blame God for her woes, saying maybe there was something wrong she did, not in the sense that they were punishments but she mentioned a chemical. I couldn't really fathom what she meant. I guess I wasn't listening well enough. That afternoon the hosts, Manilyn, Lani and Sherilyn were very sympathetic and tearful without going overboard. They weren't hysterical sad but were apparently affected. Manilyn didn't move her neck too much at the end of the show. Oh yes, I can't remember which afternoon now, but one afternoon, the guests of Moms were Rey Valera, Hajji Alejandro and Rico Puno. Rico is the most uncouth and green, Hajji and Rey are gentlemen. I could sense how Sherilyn didn't like RIco's jokes. She was uber dry. Good for her. I think I'd act the way she did too if Rico were cracking such indecent jokes in my face.

To go on, yesterday, after Moms, American Idol was next. I wasn't watching, the TV was just on giving me peripheral noise. Then A Sweet Life followed. I like the pair of Lucy and Wilma. They're perfect foils for each other. Among their guests were 3 young men who're with the Kapuso network for one telenovela/teledrama or something. They tested what scents appealed more to men: the traditional (fruity/flowery) or the food scents (vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, etc). The men were blindfolded as two girls each wearing a different scent paused in front of them so they could smell. The girls were then made to sit on the side.

The verdict: they liked the food scents better. I still find it queer why the following was then done. Asked to look at the girls, they were asked whom they thought wore the scent they preferred. Now the two girls were like Wilma and Lucy: fair and dark, but not Wilma dark. I found the darker girl more attractive, but I guess men really look at skin color and prefer the fairer ones. SO they said they believed it was the girl with the fairer complexion who wore the scent they preferred. Of course they were wrong. Then Lucy summarized the portion by saying that looks can deceive. For me the conclusion was, huh? I really found that portion not well processed. Pilit.

The duo then began to talk about thinning hair, featuring one older woman and a young lady suffering from the problem. They consulted a beauty salon owner and a derma for this episode. The former said the problem can be addressed by extensions (they were called wigs during our time) and volumizing shampoo, while the latter said guess what? A derma should evaluate the cause of the thinning hair: hereditary, normal (with age?), etc. Okay, point taken.

I can't remember which preceded what, the project portion or Wilma's forte: teaching two young ladies how to walk down the catwalk wearing a jacket, removing it, and holding it as one walks back. Wilma apparently knows her craft. She is such an expert on the matter. really. Oh, and by the way, in the portion with the three men earlier, they spoke about that "one night" when one commits a mistake (having sex with one's date/boyfriend). Wilma said "huwag" because she's been there, done that. But she has two children by two separate men. I guess like Lucy said, when one does it with a boyfriend, one hopes he'll be the last and maybe that's why Wilma did it a second time with a different man in the hope he'd be the last? I hope she has really learned her lesson and stops there.

Sorry this blog seems to be skipping and hopping but here's yet another seemingly unrelated topic. Last week, my husband and I saw the first episode of Pushing Daisies
on ETC channel. There was this man who when he touched someone who had died brought that person back to life but who'd die if he touched her again. This was cute. Among his victims were his mom (she died again because she was the first who was subjected unwittingly to his gift) and his high school crush. This week, my husband watched the second but he looked bored. I didn't watch myself because I thought what else could happen? Such a skill would be good for one movie or one episode, but several? How far can you stretch it? True enough, my husband said, the episode was no longer as appealing. Oh well, I guess the show will last a season at the most?

Years back, my son and I watched the movie The Stupids.. That was funny. If they had made that into a series, however, it wouldn't have lasted.

Now I remember the topic of Moms yesterday: bonding with children. Guests were Chiqui Roa Puno and Melissa Mendez, and a psychologist. Not bad, but not that engrossing.

Oh yes, I also watched Free of Eden starring Sidney Poitier and his daughter, I think. As SP vowed, he would only make movies with a message and this one had several, among them the importance of education, breaking oneself free of the shackles of destiny or the confining situation of one's birth, standing for the truth.