Let's take a break!

POLITICS is such a bitch no? And especially if you're talking about the stuff that goes on here in the Philippines, you'll likely get a coronary.

I try to escape once in awhile by watching TV or my newly-downloaded episodes of my favorite shows (hurray, the new TV season has started in the States), or by going to the movie theater. Here are a few of my latest guilty pleasures:

Mad Men Season 3 (via EZTV)

(Jon Hamm as adman, Don Draper in Mad Men.)

To those who still aren't aware of this show, Mad Men is about the American advertising industry ("Mad" as in Madison Ave. where the ad firms where located) in the 1960s which was a turbulent time in the history of America. The ad industry at this time was also growing and becoming edgier in terms of concepts and ideas. w/c helped in the explosion of American consumerism.

The new season has started and the first episode, although not as punchy as the other episodes in its previous seasons, had some moments of excitement. Most notable was Sal's first almost gay sex encounter - ruined by a fire alarm though. Rats. Jon Hamm as Don Draper is gorgeous as usual. But what was up w/ that flashback to his childhood again? We get it already, Don is a tortured soul. Now move on and pick up the pace.

Entourage Season, Season 6 (via EZTV)

Based on the life of actor Mark Wahlberg, Entourage is the story of up-and-coming actor Vincent Chase and his childhood friends whose lives depend on his continued employment. The biggest change in the new season is that the storyline now seems to be revolving around E's sex life! I mean, who is the star here anyway? Isn't it supposed to be Vinnie Chase? And geez, that new girlfriend of E is just fugly and annoying!

Anyhoo, we still love Entourage bec. of Jeremy Piven's character Ari Gold who may be a pain in the ass especially to his gay asst. Lloyd, but he is morally upright at the core. (Imagine trash talking Ari frowning on his co-worker having an adulterous relationship with an agent at the office. Tsk, tsk.)

The Proposal (still showing in some theaters)

Yup, I just watched two days ago, and it wasn't a total waste of time and money, despite the warnings I got from my friends. To those who still haven't seen it, the plot revolves around Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock), a book editor who is about to be deported to Canada for some violation in her work visa. She decides to blackmail her asst. Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), who is also a wanna-be novelist, into marrying her so she could become a U.S. citizen.

The film has a few clever snarky lines written and delivered w/ relish by Bullock and Reynolds. Margaret's interaction w/ Andrews' basically psycho and in-your-face family made the firm so laugh-worthy. Of course, seeing Reynolds and his hot bod also did add points to my enjoyment. Woof!

Gossip Girl (10 pm, Sat., ETC)

I never really liked the show but lately, I've been watching it to just give my brain a rest. I dunno what season is playing right now, and don't really care. It's just stupid and juvenile it actually is entertaining. I especially like Blair Waldorf and her silly dramas and revenge plotting. Of course, evil b**ch that I am, expect me to root for the student who manages to have a teacher fired haha.


Oh yeah, the show is about this group of basically spoiled rich brats who have petty little dramas and have equally screwed-up parents that don't make you wonder why the kids have ended up the way they are. Yep, take away the fashion, it does sound like your next door neighbor's family right? Haha.

Project Runway Philippines, Season 2 (Wed., 10 pm, ETC.)

The first episode was high camp (staged drama bet. a queen and a punk graphic artist) but it's still too early to tell who will win this contest. For now I like graphic artist Russell who has a youthful edgy style, which makes the outfits of the other contestants look boring. I just wish the designers who can't speak English well, just speak in Tagalog or whatever dialect they're most comfortable with.

But I'm happy to see some improvement among the hosts. For one, designer Jojie Lloren is now more articulate in his critiques. Aside from pointing out what's wrong with an outfit, he actually makes suggestions now what the designer can do. And yes! Apples Aberin now looks/sounds awake! Unfortunately, like the first season, the sound is still crappy. With Solar Entertainment's tons of cash, I can't for the life of me, comprehend why they can't use better sound recording equipment for the show.

TMZ (Tue-Sat. 11:30 pm, ETC.)

Unlike the format of most showbiz gossip shows, TMZ features lawyer/host Harvey Levin while his staff each pitch their stories of celebrities either caught on video or on photos. The ensuing discussions and side comments of Harvey and his staff on each showbiz item is what's mostly hilarious about this show. The discussions usually border on the silly what with the youthful personalities of the staff. I like the show also bec. it does manage to outscoop its rivals in celebrity news gathering and it's features don't patronize the showbiz personalities.

Chelsea Lately (Tue-Sat, 12 midnight, ETC.)

Chelsea Handler is a bitchy comedian who comments on current events and showbiz news in her trademark sarcastic wit She has a lot of help from her equally snarky panelists/guest co-hosts, most of whom are fellow comedians, w/c makes the show super-funny. (Btw, a regular is comedian Jo Koy is half-Filipino.) It's pure mayhem as they make fun of all these stupid celebrities or their antics. So far, most of Chelsea's celebrity guests are B- and C-listers but we hope she gets stars w/ higher wattage as more people become more aware of her comic genius. Oh, she has a Mexican midget sidekick Chuy whose presence alone make the show pure gas!

The Doctors (Lifestyle Network)

I'm not sure how often this show is on the Lifestyle Network except that I usually am able to catch it at around 12 midnight. (Tried to get the exact schedule on the Lifestyle Network's web site but no such info was available.) The Doctors feature four physicians with their own fields of specialization (a pediatrician, cosmetic surgeon, OB-Gyn, and ER doctor) and their daily topics are always interesting and highly informative. They also show medical procedures on camera w/c can make you cringe if you don't have a stronger stomach. I've learned a lot from this show. And yes, ER doc Dr. Travis Stork (and The Bachelor alumnus) does make the show oh-so-watchable :)

What about you guys? What do you do to relax from all the political chatter?

I wish I lived in Sydney

...so I could watch this! (Reposting from JR Isaac)



Hilarious spoof of The Devil Wears Prada by drag queens comedy duo Courtney Act and Trevor Ashley. It's from their hit show Gentlemen Prefer Blokes. Haha. Love it!

Ricky Gervais and Elmo

AND you thought Elmo was irritating. This is super hilarious! I'm surprised CTW allowed this to be posted on YouTube.

The Sopranos finale

(Tony, Silvio, and Paulie)

I finally got to watch the controversial finale of The Sopranos. I have always been a Sopranos addict since Tony Soprano (played by the super-brilliant James Gandolfini), struggling New Jersey mob boss, first stepped into the office of psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi (return-of-the-comeback Lorraine Bracco). Anoh ito? A depressed Mafioso?

I was always so frustrated that our local HBO didn't carry the series. I don't know how true this is but our local HBO is a feed from Singapore daw, which supposedly has strict rules on blood and gore on TV. Merese! The Sopranos is more dark comedy than anything else. Truly funny...it's like Analyze This on downers. Who would've thought that mob bosses and their employees have lives we can relate to outside of the senseless violence they always perpetrate. Sometimes tuloy, you end up cheering some of the whack jobs.

(Hala kayo, gutom na si Bobby!)

Much of the acting was understated but very effective. Each actor managed to make his or her character, no matter if they had just committed bloody murder, very sympathetic. It's quite difficult to pinpoint who my favorite characters or actors were. Of course, Tony Soprano is definitely one of them, the alzheimerish Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese, a veteran of a number of mob films), Silvio Dante (a really different Steven Van Zandt! Who knew Bruce Springsteen's lead guitarist-aka Little Steven- could act?!), Bobby Bacala (truly nakakaawa being married to Tony's sister, crazy Janice. Underacting week after week by Steven Schirippa. I just love him! He's so zany on all the talk shows!).

Too bad the oh-so-gorgeous Federico Castellucio's character, Furio (Tony's import from Italy), disappeared after only a few episodes. Kasi naman he was falling in love with Tony's wife Carmela (Edie Falco...beyoootch!). But those were cool episodes, too. And of course, who could forget the superb late actress Nancy Marchand who portrayed Tony's loon of a demanding and whining mother Livia?! Like everyone else, a lot of Tony's problems stemmed from his impossible relationship with his mother. Sa inis ni Livia, she had plotted to have her son killed! can you imagine?!

(Yummy Furio!)

Anyway, thank God for Limewire and Bittorrent! I was able to watch the entire series just by downloading each episode. (Dang! I had to pray every night that my hard drive wouldn't give out!)

About the finale, it became controversial because it seemed like it was a hanging ending...as Tony looks up from the table in the diner where he and his family are eating, everything fades to black. The series' creator David Chase was heavily criticized for what appeared an unresolved conclusion (doncha just love indefinite endings?). Some felt they were shortchanged and Chase had set everybody up in preparation for a Sopranos movie. But after the initial..."What the....?", I thought it was an outstanding ending as well. It's a finale everyone will continue to talk about and have his own take on what actually happened. Gee, and I thought only we Pinoys wanted our endings to be really final and spelled out. Let your imagination work naman, noh!

(Livia and Uncle Junior out for a drive)

Personally, I think Tony was whacked. Like all mob bosses, how else could he go (unless he turned FBI witness), di ba? Sad pero, that's how it should be. Sure it's unfortunate the series ended. It had a great run and I don't think any other series after this will be able to match the excellent acting, well-written characters, and TV-defining episodes of The Sopranos. But as Tony always says, "Look at the bright side!" May the series live on in worldwide syndication and pirated DVDs forever.

Pinay makes it big on YouTube

I've watched a few of Christine's vblogs, and she is hilarious! There have been a handful of Fil-am comedians out there who have been charging good money for spoofing their experiences growing up as Flips. Most notable of course is Rex Navarette who has been coming to the Philippines regularly performing sketches about his mother as well and growing up in a country where people spoke 'wers-wers.'

But Christine has pushed the envelope by taking her comedy to the Internet...thus her newfound fame (or notoriety?). Asian Sentinel features her in its latest issue. Read on...

For decades, actors of Asian descent have been trying make it big by breaking into mainstream Hollywood, usually with limited success. Thirty-one year old Christine Gambito, an American born to Filipino immigrants in Virginia, took a different route and achieved what others have been trying to do for years in only a matter of months – become famous.

With a little help from technology, Christine is now one of the most popular faces on the Internet. Proof of this is that an entry from her video blog, or vlog, HappySlip.com, garnered enough votes to be named second Best Comedy at the 2006 YouTube video awards. Her video “Peelings”, which is a spoof on a fractured conversation between three family members – all of them played by Christine ‑ has had more than 200,000 viewers on YouTube and admirers have even begun posting videos about Christine herself on YouTube, praising her as a new star for the Internet age.

Happy Slip, which is a one-woman production team, is a play on the term “half slip”, which her mom, in her Filipino-English accent, always reminded her to wear as a young girl. “Christine, put on your happy slip!” she parodies in one of her videos. (More on Asia Sentinel, April 13, 2007.)

Imelda Marcos in Vanity Fair...hilarious!

(Who would've thought former First Lady Imelda Marcos's kookiness would eventually land her in the pages of the much respected Vanity Fair, in an interview with celebrity journalist George Wayne no less! Aba, talo pa nya si GMA!)

* * *
Vanities
The First Lady Treatment

Imelda Marcos talks about her new fashion line, remembers her New York trial, and learns that she's a drag-queen icon.

Q&A by George Wayne February 2007

Former Filipina First Lady Imelda Marcos, 77, is known as much for her shoe collection and family controversies—the Marcoses were accused of looting as much as $10 billion in assets from the Philippines before her husband's regime was toppled, in 1986—as she is for her philanthropic heart. As Marcos releases her new fashion line, the Imelda Collection, our correspondent learns that there's a little bit of Imelda in all of us.

George Wayne: Imelda, darling, I hope you are ready to get your freak on.
Imelda Marcos: Oh, well, it is a pleasure, because the Imelda Collection was my grandson Borgy's idea. He is a huge Philippine idol here, on television, in magazines and movies.

Is he the ruling playboy of Manila now?
He is the crush of the nation.

So here you are at 77 years old, Queen Imelda deciding that it is time to take up fashion.
I know, the nerve of this woman, Mrs. Marcos. When I was First Lady, for 20 years I was always trying to get the best—in paintings, clothes, jewelry, whatever.

(Read on at Vanity Fair. Hysterical stuff! Illustration by Risko from VF.)

Stephen Colbert and Bill O'Reilly face off...hilarious!

COLBERT ON THE FACTOR, Jan. 19, 2007



'PAPA BEAR' ON COLBERT REPORT, Jan. 19, 2007