If You Ever Plan on Going to Camsur. . .

Do not book your flight with AirPhil. I repeat, do not book your flight with AirPhil.

Months ago, JabberedOnion found online that AirPhil was having promo fares for flights to different domestic destinations. She immediately notified Lead Character and the rest of the gang about it so they can have another group vacation after their super-awesome Pinatubo adventure. Their choice of destination: Camarines Sur--to try out wakeboarding at the Camsur Watersports Complex and island hopping on the relatively undiscovered Caramoan Islands.

Their outgoing flight was supposed to be from Cebu to Naga City and ingoing from Naga City to Cebu, all direct. But a day before their scheduled flight, NonFacebooker found out from a coworker that all direct AirPhil flights between Cebu and Naga have been cancelled. Immediately, NonFacebooker notified Lead Character to have this confirmed. Conferencing in NonFacebooker to the call Lead Character placed with AirPhil customer service, they found out that this is true, and that their flight had been re-routed from Cebu to Manila, Manila to Legaspi City, a good two hours away from Naga City. Same goes for their return flight: Legaspi City, Manila, and then Cebu. Lead Character's eyes popped out from their sockets. This just cannot be happening! With all the traveling they'd be doing then, they'd be required to get up at two in the morning just to catch their flights. The bigger trouble is that from Caramoan, the boat ride to the port is more than an hour, and boats aren't even available whenever they want. And the most distressing thing was that all flights to and from Naga City were already full.

To make the long story short, it took for Lead Character's phone bill to go up to Php2,500 and a couple of stops at AirPhil offices just to make it possible for them to switch their airport back to Naga City. They didn't mind the connecting flights, what worried them was the re-route to Legaspi, which would just ruin a long-awaited vacation.

The only good thing about AirPhil was the customer service rep they spoke with, Kathy (or probably her name was with a C). Even if Lead Character and NonFacebooker were already pissed about the situation, taking no for an answer and almost yelling, Kathy remained her calm and made it possible for them to be able to switch airports.

Win Backstage Passes to the Bruno Mars Concert!

Today, I'm a Tech Guy, But

Back in the days,
I worked full-time
catching grasshoppers.

They were never hard
to catch. I wondered sometimes
what good it did them,
the power kicks that soared
them through the air,
only to have them slam
head-first into the
palm of my hand.

I would drop them
in clear plastic bags
then join my colleagues
for a late lunch
at the sapodilla forest
where we climbed trees
as high as our guts took us.

We could never enjoy
a full meal.
After a bite or two,
our neighbor would come
storming out of his house,
stick in hand.

One by one, we would
jump out onto the
naked ground, plastic
bags in our fists,
kicking hard on the
field of wet grass,
hopping, soaring,

summer wind against
our laughing faces.

The Rebecca Black Argument

This is the song that could beat Justin Bieber's "Baby" to a pulp. "Friday" by Rebecca Black has already reached over 3 million views on YouTube in just over a month. Everyone who's listened to the song and watched the video agree on one thing: it has kick-ass lyrics.

Perhaps reminiscent of how Alanis Morissette took the world by storm back in the '90s with a bold confession of going down on her boyfriend in a theater, Rebecca Black courageously expresses a personal indecision: "Kicking in the front seat, sitting in the back seat, gotta make my mind up: which seat can I take?" This is perhaps Black's way of flipping off "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Rolling Stones with the implication that you don't always know what you want.

But reaching a different kind of level that other artists could only wish for is the kind of mystery that Black presents. She sings: "I got this, you got this. My friend is by my right, eh!" On the video, there is another girl by her left. Who is she? Is she just an acquaintance? A distant cousin she just met?

That is not the only mysterious thing in her song, though. When she sings "Fun, fun, fun, fun," it is delivered in a such a way that makes you question: "Is she really having fun? Or is she giving us an entirely different message that only a few can decode?"

And then we get to the bridge. We are reminded of how James Blunt repeatedly argues "You're beautiful, you're beautiful, it's true." Well, Mr. Blunt, your argument is weak. We do not know who you're singing to. For all we know she could be ugly. But Ms. Rebecca Black here gives us an argument no one can refute: "Yesterday was Thursday, today is Friday. . .tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards." No matter how you look at it, that is the correct order of days.

"Win Our Hearts" Winner

This is two days belated but Lead Character would like to congratulate "me!" aka Timothy Flores for winning the "Win Our Hearts" contest with 50% of the votes for this magical entry:

Congratulations!

Since you're in Vancouver, you cannot really enjoy the prize of 2 movie tickets at SM Cinema, so feel free to award it to anyone in the Philippines. Just post in the comments section below who you want to transfer it to, and his/her Philippine mobile # (I will not publish it).

Of course, if you do not transfer it to anyone, you can enjoy it whenever you're here.

Congratulations again. You deserve it!

"Win Our Hearts" Contests - The Final Showdown

Lead Character would like to thank those who participated in this very inspired contest. Even with just four entries, Lead Character feels they're enough to make hearts skip a beat or two.

To read all four entries and to vote for your favorite, click here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

UPDATE (2/26/2010): I will be putting the entries up for votation on Facebok on February 28th, 2010, 8PM. After a week, I will be announcing the winner. As my apology for the delay, I will allow the winner to pick an IMAX or 3D movie for his/her prize.

Anyone can still submit entries until February 28th. :)

---------------

Since it's already Valentine's Day, Lead Character figures he'd feature the two valid entries from his "Win Our Hearts" contest.

These are magical words that truly celebrate this day.

From tryitonce!:

I’m Yours

Know that the song you gave me will be the standard by which future notes, melodies, and rhythms will be judged…

Know that my eventual emaciation is borne of the fact that food has lost its taste because I cannot dine with you…

Know that drink will continue to be of no value unless we are toasting each other…

Know that my past intimacies with others have, in hindsight, become pathetic and spiteful comparisons to the smidgen of physical affection you granted me…

Know that all conversations I will now deem trivial in the light of the simplest greetings from you…

And know that while you shun and turn away from me, I will take each act as acknowledgement of my existence, that you know I’m here.

I miss you.

Until that day when we are free from what bars us from being together – the distance, OUR convictions, the eyes of those who are hasty to pass-on judgment – I will wait…

Until such time that I will have met another who is as deserving of me as YOU…

I’m yours.

From Uh-Huh Girl, MD:

I remember how it happened. We were in the car, at the parking lot when you turned off the engine. You took my hand and said "Will you give me the chance to love you?" I went blank for a few seconds and then was able to croak out a "Yes". It's freaky actually when you've had a dream wherein the exact line was spoken and then years later, it happened. From that incident I had an inkling that you might, just MIGHT be "the one".

Then one stormy afternoon, you fell asleep. I looked at you and you had that look of a man with no worries, a man well loved by his family, friends and employees. It was priceless, and made me wonder if I could see that look again in the same lifetime. In that moment, I knew that I had to keep you. Now three years have passed, I know that you're not the type who says a lot. You have not promised me the moon, nor have you pledged me your undying love. But every time you tell me "I love you" just out of the blue, it always feels like I'm hearing it for the first time. My heart beats faster, my pupils dilate and for a moment I'm breathless. Your kisses are plain magical. Whenever you plant one on my forehead when I'm sulking or in "search and destroy" mode, I just forget and let things slide. Whenever I'm with you, everything seems to be at the right place and time.

I'm not just in love with you, I'm enamored and enthralled... to the point that I want you to change my name, and I would gladly pack my bags and leave my beloved Cebu just to be with you. After all, you are my home.

If you think you can express love or infatuation just as well as they have, feel free to join the contest. Just post in the comments section below whatever you wish to say to that special person in your life.

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Win Our Hearts!" Contest

After the dismal ending to Love and Other Drugs (in Lead Character's humble opinion), Lead Character cannot help but wonder if perhaps there's someone out there who is capable of delivering a big romantic speech that can win anyone over in a heartbeat.

Jerry Maguire in his living room speech, not knowing he's
already had his wife at hello.

Sure, it might be hard to top this:

"Our little project, our company, had a very big night. A very, very big night. But it wasn't complete. It wasn't nearly close to being in the same vicinity as complete because I couldn't share it with you. I couldn't hear your voice or laugh about it with you . . . I miss . . . I miss my wife. We live in a cynical world, a cynical world, and we work in a business of tough competitors. I love you. You . . . complete me."

But it's not impossible to be just as romantic. After all, it wasn't only Jerry Maguire's speech that made Lead Character's heart go aflutter.

In Rumor Has It, Jennifer Aniston's character tells Mark Ruffalo's:

"I'm not here to tell you I can't live without you, because I can. It's just that I don't want to."

"Skins" characters Emily and Naomi.

Even on TV, writers have managed to make us fall in love with lines like:

"I know you're lonely. I think you need someone to want you. Well, I want you. So be brave and want me back!"

That was Emily to Naomi on the Brit series "Skins."

In "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Spike tells Buffy:

“When I say, 'I love you,' it's not because I want you or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman.”

That being said, Lead Character would like to invite his readers to post in the comments section below the most romantic lines they would like to tell someone. To make it even more powerful, write something you're dying to tell a real person in your life that you either like, love, or lost and want back. Make it romantic, but not cheesy. Make it work, make it real!

But it doesn't even have to be romantic. If you're someone who has no romantic feelings for anyone, just come up with something meaningful that you'd want to tell someone special in your life. It could be something you'd want to tell either of your parents, or your best friend, or your brother, or the professor back in college who inspired you. Make them feel loved in your very own words.

Deadline of entries will be next Wednesday, February 9th Thursday, February 17th. The winning entry will be determined via Facebook likes from February 9th February 17th through February 21st.

The winning prize: two movie passes at any SM Cinema* in the country (not valid for 3D or Imax, though). And you can pick any movie on any day this month.

So what are you waiting for? Let it out!

* Of course, when I say any SM Cinema, I mean any movie tickets that can be purchased through www.smcinema.com.

It Had Me at Drugs, but Lost Me at Love

Love and Other Drugs by Edward Zwick (About Last Night..., Legends of the Fall) opens to the Spin Doctors' "Two Princes," which instantly takes us back to the '90s--Lead Character's favorite decade! (Alanis Morissette! Fiona Apple! Magnolia! Boogie Nights! Highschool acne!) Lead Character finds himself tapping his feet on the floor. If you want to take your viewers back to the '90s, you don't really need to show cassette tapes or Motorola cellphones or denim jumpers for women or Viagra; just play the frickin' music!

Starting out with a lot of promise, the movie progresses pretty deftly with solid character buildup and terrific performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and the ever reliable Anne Hathaway. Gyllenhaal's character, Jamie, is a pharmaceutical sales rep who meets Maggie (Hathaway) at her doctor's clinic. Maggie has stage 1 Parkinson's disease, which doesn't really show yet so Jamie and Maggie have all the sex they want. Unfortunately, MTRCB intervened again and mutilated all the steamy lovemaking. This isn't completely bad, though, because everytime Jake Gyllenhaal calls Anne Hathaway "Maggie," his real-life sister comes to mind.

Just like any other romantic dramedies, the drama eventually surfaces. Maggie's Parkinson's disease is real, and Jamie and Maggie are then forced to acknowledge it, which paves the way to the story's resolution. In his head, Lead Character starts to wish, "Please, don't be cliché, please, please, please...." And to his dismay, they go that exact, horrific route.

Why do they always have to do this--have one character run after the other to make a big romantic speech about why they should be together? And they expect us to swoon? Why do they feel the need to do this when they know they cannot top Jerry Maguire? Why?!

This leads Lead Character into coming up with the top romantic comedies he's seen whose endings stood out:

Say Anything..., Roman Holiday, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Break-Up, and of course, even if marketed as a horror film, Lead Character considers Lars Von Trier's The Antichrist a romantic comedy with an ending that redefined romance.

Lead Character Frenches Up His Shirt

Season 2, Episode 10

One of Lead Character's college friends, Eng, has been having his own designs printed on a shirt, just for his sake and his alone. What impresses Lead Character is how the designs, simple as they may be, are nice to look at and at the same time a very good way of expressing oneself. No, a Facebook status update is not enough. If you want to express yourself, print it on your shirt.

Eng used Japanese characters, something that not everyone in Cebu can understand. Lead Character thinks it's sly, hence he asked Eng to send him a design, one that says something offensive like "I'm a fudgepacker."

But Eng never did deliver, so Lead Character decided to make his own design instead.

The whole process hadn't been easy. Lead Character wanted a ringer T-shirt, not just any plain shirt, for his design not to look too bland. After all, his design is simply a French term in a red Ampersand font. The shop that prints out your designs for you, Transfer It! (located on the first floor of Robinson's), only had plain shirts available, so Lead Character had to search the entire city. The bigger challenge was not just to look for ringer T-shirts, but ringer T-shirts that didn't have prints on them. After hours of looking, Lead Character finally found ringer T-shirts with no prints at Giordano in Ayala.

The idea behind Lead Character's design is to go for something as sly as using Japanese characters, and with his life-long fascination with the French language, he went all out with it--something desperate, something sad.

And viola...

It's "fuck me" in French.

Note: Thanks, Chris and Chris, for teaching Lead Character useful French terms. Soixante-neuf, anyone?