Gotye dead - or just another joke

From CNN's iReport, a citizen journalism site:

link

A few Google search pages later, couldn't find another article announcing the passing of the "Somebody That I Used To Know" singer. I am convinced this is a very, very bad joke from someone either mis-informed or very famished for fame.

UPDATE: Gotye is alive and kicking. The hoax was sky-rocketed by the iReport from CNN. Again, iReport are reports submitted by CNN readers, and therefore not automatically vetted by CNN. Looks like a group of people suddenly just decided to tell the world that the singer is dead. Crazy humans on the planet! 

Man-date at an Arcade

Earlier today, an argument ensued inside my head: "To go out and buy a computer mouse or not?"

After a few hours and a bath later, I was ready to go with my roommate who was very enthusiastic about using his LRT card again. What do you do when you anticipate another school week of confinement? You go out.

So we went out and I hauled all the computer periphery I needed (a cheap mouse and a cheap pair of earbuds as replacement to the ones I lost). My roommate is an arcade-goer and I wasn't but I was in the mood to try something unusual. If you have a friend who always whines when you're having fun at the arcade, you already know me well. 

Upon entrance, I spotted this trivia game and I convinced my roommate to try it with me. We were about to play against each other until a random girl joined in. Now I understand the thrill of arcades: going against total strangers! I was intent to crush that random girl's morale. Very inspired, I won first place. My roommate came in close second. The girl got third. Haha. Run home, random woman, run!

But my roommate Rej (pronounce "Rei") wasn't into being quizzed some more so we proceeded to the next less academic game. 

Sorry for the blurry photo. I think this was House of the Dead 4 or something that sounded as depressing. It was a gory game where one of the bosses is a rotting green pile of fat. Rej was always ahead of me and he knew every turn in the game. Obviously, he was in his zone while I was awkwardly shooting at every moving thing I sense while sweating profusely.

But Rej had to notice my innate skill at handling fake guns. Unknown to many, one of my darkest desires is to hold a gun in a combat and shoot enemies. I was thinking about joining the military because of this but it was never something I pursued because I had no firm grasp of my actual intentions.

He exchanged the points he already had and some of our points to obtain this deformed semblance of an owl.

It couldn't be an owl. It's purple.

Arcades give an illusion of physical exercise so we headed off to Burger King to reload on calories we felt like we lost.

It was a good meal. I can't really review fast food as the taste is so carefully crafted to suit millions of tongues. Probably regained all that I lost shaking the hard plastic guns for reloading.

Note: Please do not ever cite the resemblance of this Sunday to the sweet, arcade dates often inserted in movies to begin a wild love story between two characters. This was definitely a fun man-date. A man-date!

Ateneo LS RecWeek 2012 - and that's a wrap

I don't usually blog about my school and the things that happen in it because I am not that type of blogger but let us make an exception this time because I'm starting my second year in the university and moving on to another year entails a lot of changes.

Here is a letter "e" observed under a LPO microscope. Because of its asymmetry, it is easy to observe the flips the optics of a microscope do to an image. Twice a week I have a four-hour lab with a separate lecture class this semester and they're not all that I'm taking. This is a tough semester.

The Loyola School Recruitment Week (LS RecWeek) is the time for the organizations of Ateneo to seduce entice members of the student body to join. Organizations in the Ateneo share a belief in "the more, the merrier" so RecWeek becomes this fun carnival of people in costumes, dancing to music by Nicki Minaj or that pubescent boys in a band.

It is fun. Organization life in the Ateneo, as a learning experience, is very rewarding and you get to meet a lot of people too!

I joined two organizations because I learned from my freshman RecWeek that it is not about signing up, it's about keeping up and being active.

PMSA was probably the only org I was worthy of membership from last year. I signed up on every registration sheet I could find but ended up not participating - except, of course, in PMSA. As a pre-med student, there is a constant need for inspiration and the PMSA, while doing the public good, offers exactly that: medical missions (where you get to assist doctors), talks (where you listen to doctors) and a lot of mingling with fellow aspiring MDs. Pre-Medical Society of the Ateneo is only one of its kind. And my first year with this org was too awesome to not repeat.

I have a blog because I am a frustrated writer and as a frustrated writer, my greatest desire is to get my work read. Well, not really. I'm content with the one-way blabbing I do here. But moving on, I joined The Guidon (pronounced "Guide-on", it was an embarrassing mistake). The Guidon is the official English paper of the Ateneo and of all the issues I have taken from their stands, all the articles were of wonderful quality. Consistent quality everywhere! It's definitely a big thing so the application procedure is not easy at all. So I will try my best to do all the requirements and make it to the deadline alive. If I ever get in, I'll be a happy, busy boy.

I'm really focusing on school this semester. Most of my activities will have some kind of affiliation with the university. Am I learning to focus? Or am I feeling the sharp bite of conscience? I have no idea.

Horrible mean reds

If you can't grasp the concept of moodiness (intended to use bipolarity instead but realized it was too extreme and worrying), you should meet me. I've been really down the past few days. Quoting "Breakfast at Tiffany's":

Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?  

Paul Varjak:  The mean reds, you mean like the blues?

Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?

It might sound really, really sappy and unreal, but I turn into art when I'm sad so that is why I read or attempt to read and write poetry and lose myself in things beautiful (like Twitter, haha).

Coffee

Wrapping the fingers
around the feverish ceramic mug
of night in swirling milk.
Hot, as if it is sun.

Bitter. Boned barrels down my throat.
Triggered by the lack of reflection
or echoes that do not fit.

Caffeine drops on ailing corneas
Melt and liquify the edges of my body
so that the ceramic mug won’t be the bowl,
barrels touching the walls of my hope.
Explode! - and help me breath.

Wrote "Coffee" just tonight because something that I have been trying to lose by letting it fall off is coming back and I don't like it at all. What a bad stretch of days but I won't worry too much because as usual, it will be too dark and bad that the only way to go would be up.

PS: I have a feeling I'm only being emotional because I can't find my Apple earphones. Earphones are a necessity and my pair was already turning yellow because of loyalty and durability. Hate this. =(( Ironic: iTunes Philippines just opened.

Two Door Cinema Club Announces New Album

I have a 25-item quiz on Biology tomorrow but do I care? No. Because I have to watch episode 8 of Game of Thrones as backlogs are bad things. I was on the brink of worrying about the status of my education but something epic just came in (to my Facebook).

Two Door Cinema Club (Hereafter TDCC) will be launching a new album and they're calling it BEACON*.

*This is the part where we pee our underpants.

"The devil will want you back, and you'll never find love in an open hand" 


- new song from the preview!

They definitely updated their sound! I don't know how to put it in words but TDCC's upcoming album would be an adventure from the previous awesome ones. Since "Something Good Can Work", I've been banging my (ear)drums to Undercover Martyn and What You Know. Last term break, we were playing  sports on an XBox with Kinect and "You're Not Stubborn" instrumentals were on. Of course, we went wild. Microsoft, you awesome.

Note: Kill someone if release don't reach Philippine shores.

Update:

Speaking about the new album, singer Alex Trimble said: "'Beacon' is a much more intimate record than our first, but at the same time, it's much bigger and more inclusive. Trying to find that balance has been our goal for a long time and this record takes us one step closer to the band we've dreamt of becoming" 

- NME.COM here. Full album details also available!

Awesome photo above released a few hours ago (which I immediately shared). Didn't know it was hinting the announcement. YAY!

UPDATE: Album release on September 03, 2012 here.

Finally, something to collect

As a young kid with a father who wore thick-ish glasses, I have always wondered how people with bad eyesight see (I am not bashing my father here, it is a fact of life). Having perfect eyesight back then left me wondering how spectacled people see the world without their glasses. I was curious for the manner of blur they saw (pixelation, doubling, etc)

Before I even neared the middle of high school, I got an answer. My eyes turned out to be late-blooming failures and I am doomed to wear seeing aids. In several cases, friends would wave their hands to acknowledge my presence and I can't say hi back with confidence because all I can see where their faces should be is a pastel mush of colors. And it is almost laughable how teachers would point at hazy figures on the board, especially when I'm sitting at the back of the classroom.

Of course, when choosing the spectacles, there is an inclination towards designer labels that cost too much money. And I have already exhausted several sets of those by either vandalizing them with deep scratches, or losing them. To solve the problem, I have come up with a solution: I will buy interesting cheap frames from cheap places!

The brown frame above already had my prescription lenses fitted in them back in Iloilo. Excuse the hipster-ness, my mother owned the frame and it was just lying around the house I was compelled to use it. The red one above is a cool, red plastic frame totally opposite of brown one. It has yet to be fitted with graded lenses.

No. I am not one of those who wear glasses for fashion or the lack of it.

*This idea actually comes from the awesome conquerer of the universe at JessicaRulesTheUniverse.com (she writes Emotional Weather Report for Philstar and my sister adores her).

Tagalog Expletives

Photo grabbed from a blogpost here. 

A few months ago, I first encountered Miso soup. Orangey and would reduce to layers of unidentifiable Japanese matter when left alone but it had this heartwarming taste that I really, really liked. Walking like a ninja along the aisles of Rustan's I spotted Nissin's Japanese-style Miso soup. I am unsure if other nationalities have their own styles of Miso but I was sure that what I tasted and liked came from a Japanese place.

I bought several servings of the instant Miso (having previously heard the availability of awesome Miso soups in sachets) thinking it will be similar to what I have tried before. Wrong. The soup in this one is white and it tastes like sugar water (which is water with sugar in it). I don't like it. No offense, Nissin,  but my personal preference disagrees with your grasp of the Miso flavor.

In other news, I have been learning Tagalog slang from my friend. They are not very nice words and I won't suggest usage - but knowledge is power. I have dugyot, olats and a few others unfit for public release. So there you go.

My life so far: Instant noodles and expletives. Joy to the world. #sabaw