TheFranciscos.Net

News for today

• Chandra Levy’s body has been found. Even if it wasn’t, does anybody even doubt that Gary Condit had something to do with it?
• Illegal immigrant witch hunts are on the rise. Doesn’t the INS know that the terrorists are probably in this country legally?
• Napster’s been saved from going under. It’s a waste of money if you ask me. With all the replacements out there like Kazaa, AudioGalaxy, and Morpheus, does anybody really care anymore what happens to Napster? Apparently, their CEO doesn’t as he left the company late last week.
• The story about a pen mark disabling copy protection is false. I wonder how many people have actually ruined their CDs because of this story which is still actually on ZDNet’s site?
• In the PBA, Alaska forced Purefoods into a 7th game by winning 85-78.
• Zoe’s still lovable and cute.
• I’m worth $1,808,560.00. I’m sure Aileen thinks that I’m way overvalued.
• I’m sure nobody else cares about this, but it’s my site and I’ll put whatever I want to: Amazon has shipped my copy of Sex & The City Season 3. Can’t wait to watch that over the weekend. I’m a huge S&TC fan.

Zoe never ceases to amaze me. I’m just surprised at how fast her uptake is. When we were walking outside one snowy day, she suddenly burst out “Lamig!!!”(which means “cold”, in Filipino) with matching shaking of the shoulders. When Edu was about to sleep one night, Zoe forcefully retracted his eyelids and yelled “Wake up, Daddy!”. Edu and I would be quietly sitting down in the living room when Zoe would burst in, sit on one of our outstretched, relaxed legs and in a commanding voice would yell, “Giddi-yap!” At the dinner table one night, we were teaching Zoe how to pray before meals:

Edu: Okay Zoe, let’s make the sign of the cross.”

Edu and Aileen: “In the name of the Father…”

Zoe: “Father ” (her hand touching her forehead)

Edu and Aileen: “the Son…”

Zoe: “Son” (her hand touching her chest)

Edu and Aileen: “the Holy Spirit”

(with Zoe simultaneously yelling…)

Zoe: …”Shoulders”

After that, we just couldn’t keep our faces straight…so much for saying grace that night :).

I can’t wait to start my vacation …just 11 days to go! But wait…I have days off on Monday and Sunday….just 9 days to go!

You should have just parked in the vicinity and walked to where you were going :). I always need something like a “test drive” to wherever I’m going in the city before my actual appointment. (This usually involves Edu driving around with me). If I feel confident enough, I just go to mapquest and correlate the directions with the road maps I have.

Edu usually has very good interviews. People who know him well can attest that he can join a gabfest anytime. He’s never one to be stumped by a question…B***S***ting is his middle name. He always appears like he knows what he’s talking about!

Man, Pittsburgh has got to be one of the most confusing cities in the world. Manila actually makes sense compared to this. With all the construction going on, the one-way streets that seemingly make no sense, , streets that just suddenly change their name, pedestrians who don’t know how to cross the street and horrible drivers, you really have to wonder how anybody can get around it. I had an interview scheduled today that was in the heart of the city. To make a long story short, what should have taken me a short 25 minute drive ended up to be almost an hour. Thankfully, I decided to leave the house early so I got there in plenty of time.

Anyhoo, my interview with Wally the manager at Equitable went well. We chatted about my experience and my views in life (a first for job interviews for me… I was kinda stumped initially with that one). He seems like a good old-school boss, very rigid. He told me that he had several friends from Westinghouse that helped build the nuclear power plants in the Philippines and would love to visit Manila someday. Anyway, he related to me that Equitable is a good company, but may not be entirely stable, which isn’t good (especially coming from an employee). I think the other opportunity I have would be a better fit for me, plus they pay more, which certainly doesn’t hurt. Money talks.

Oh yeah, Boston won over New Jersey last night, 93-86. Paul Pierce had a so-so game, but Antoine Walker rocked. I’m pretty sure these guys will ultimately win the East.

Listening to: Real Life – Face To Face (from the Send Me An Angel ’89 album)

Star Wars: Episode II: Attack Of The Clones

Simply put: This movie was…. orgasmic. Episode 2 for me was the movie equivalent of three years of foreplay (when The Phantom Menace was released) and the culmination in a two and a half-hour release. And it was very satisfying! There are just so many things to love about this movie – the vast number of different settings, the great CGI effects, the storyline (much improved from The Phantom Menace), Natalie Portman and less Jar-Jar Binks! Sure, there were a couple of awkward dialogues and the acting was not really what I’d call Oscar-worthy, but so what? Star Wars is all about geeky sci-fi fanboy action, and this movie delivers it in spades. This is more than worth the $8.00 or P100 of admission (depending on where you live). Now if only I could find a theater that showed the movie digitally (the way it was meant to be shown), I’d be in geekboy heaven.

There were some things that kinda confused me though (SPOILERS):

1. Why doesn’t Owen remember ever meeting C3PO in A New Hope? It’s clear that they met before they came into their possession. C3PO’s memory could’ve been easily wiped out, but I think Owen should’ve remembered that meeting.
2. How come R2D2 can fly in this movie but never showed that ability when Luke and him were stuck in Dagobah? That would’ve helped out quite a bit.
3. Who the hell is that jedi that they keep referring to that died 10 years before the movie?
4. How in the world does Padme’s different costumes fit into those two teenie bags?

Anyhoo, the movie does have it flaws, but they can be overlooked because the movie as a whole is AWESOME…. my rating for this great flick is:

Good Time Wasters:

Ghost World – Great book! The first one I’ve read from Dan Clowes. As usual, the book is better than the movie (which I saw first). In this case though, they are different enough from each other that they can actually be taken as two unrelated works. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Ultimate X-Men: The Tomorrow People – I also enjoyed this one a lot. I’ve been a fan of Mark Millar’s work on The Authority and I was kinda hoping for the same type of treatment here. I wasn’t disappointed. Highlight: Jean Grey and Wolverine getting it on (oh yeah)! I’m looking forward to reading the next volumes. 4 out of 5 stars.

Awright!!! Deb, my recruiter for the job interview I did on Friday, just called up. She informed me that I did a kick-ass interview with McKesson. In her words, she said that I “did way better than any of the other candidates”. Nothing like that to fatten up my already overinflated ego… Although they still are interviewing some more people this week, I’ve pretty much got one of the positions if I want it (there are two positions open in the group). I’ve got another interview lined up for tomorrow for Darren, another recruiter, for a position at Equitable, which is based in downtown Pitt. I’ll have to see how that goes first before I commit to anything, but I’m glad to say that things are looking up right now.

What’s really blowing my mind is that in this mundane job market that we have right now, I’m actually getting more good job opportunities than ever before. I must be doing something right.

Listening to: The Pixies-“Monkey Gone To Heaven”

Took the Episode 2 Character Test. Turns out that I am Obi-Wan –


which Episode II character are you?

Probably the greatest Jedi Knight of all. Like Obi Wan, you are wise and keep your feet on the ground at all times. You will not be outsmarted by anyone. You are always faithful to your friends. Be careful though, danger lurks around every corner – you could even be betrayed by those closest to you.

Just read Lia’s and Luis’ blog entries about pritchon. Being a lechon-lover, I decided to look it up. I found this article on Philstar’s site about it. My arteries feel like they’re clogging up just by reading this – but it does look real good.