Calaidescope World

Wild...

And I thought the "Why so serious?" poster was creepy. This made my hair stand.

More Dark Knight posters here on Ain't it Cool News:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/36563

posted by Calai @ 12:07 PM 0 comments

You've Got To Be Kidding

Danica Patrick in Formula One? Are these people out of their minds?! Of course, Piquet Sr. is not convinced. She's good, but she's not ready. Her presence will be turned into one big publicity stunt, and people will just keep talking about her instead of the race. And she's likely to make a mess of things on the track. Just look at what happened to Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Speed. Hellooo? I'm just not into spectacular crashes and cars going around and around in the same boring track without challenging turns and elevation. And if Patrick does make the move, will Honda bring her over to replace Rubens Barrichelo?

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080423090440.shtml
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080426102723.shtml

posted by Calai @ 6:00 PM 0 comments

I Can't Watch...!

American Idol reveals this season's top 7 and I'm not happy. Results on www.curlio.com. I need a drink....

posted by Calai @ 10:34 AM 0 comments

Almost There

I signed up for a trip to Batanes during Holy Week. I wasn't able to go (insert heartbreak worse that seeing a not well-liked ex-boyfriend happy without me here). There was some mix-up with the plane tickets and mine was one of the seats cancelled (my Mom was NOT the travel agent). Given my ridiculous work schedule (the fun never stops in this company, I tell you), I couldn't find any other time to join the tour except next Holy Week. So that dream trip will just have to wait until 2009. I was packed. My cameras were clean and I even had the motor-drive repaired. I bought black and white film. I was almost there. In the meantime, check out my classmate Hochi's beautiful photographs. I'm so jealous...of both his having been there and his skill with a camera.

A lot's been happening at work, but I don't seem to have proven myself worthy of having been hired with all the hype that surrounded my having been chosen from a limited and highly competitive field (you'll be surprised by how difficult it really is to be a real compensation and benefits person. Consulting is one thing. Line HR is another: no mere headache; it's a migraine! Never underestimate the people who determine your salaries!). But I like to think that I'm almost there. My bossess have been extremely helpful in improving my SAP skills and building my confidence in handling certain situations. But thank you Watson Wyatt for blessing me with the power of Excel. What would my life be without functions like IF, VLOOKUP, INDIRECT and CONCATENATE?

In the last 2 or 3 weeks, 2 of my closest friends have confirmed that they are indeed pregnant (ultra-sounds confirming healthy heartbeats and all). They've been trying to have children for the longest time (one having waited so much longer than the other). Both of them are due sometime in November...which is better than December because the poor kids will only get one set of gifts each year instead of one set of gifts for their birthdays and another for Christmas. I'm truly happy that their prayers have finally been answered, and despite how I feel about children, I'm very excited for the arrival of these 2. Just a few more months and my friends will officially be mothers. They're almost there.

Over the weekend, Bianca and I saw the IMAX spectacle that was U2 3D in SM Mall of Asia's San Miguel Coca-Cola IMAX Theatre. I had never been to MOA (bring me back to the Town Centre!) and have only seen one IMAX movie in my life (there's an IMAX theatre in the visitors' centre of the Grand Canyon where you learn about how the Grand Canyon came to be, what it's like at the bottom and on the other side, etc.). But this U2 3D: Oh. My. God! I really thought that Bono was singing TO ME. "Touch me/Take me to that other place/Reach me...". I was finally able to study a bit of Larry Mullen, Jr's technique because the camera was right above him. And I never realised how BAD my man Larry's skin was (he should see Ayees or Windie or Chittina. I still love him, though). U2 3D was just so...bitin.

First of all, we couldn't decide if we were watching a movie or attending a concert. Do we buy popcorn? Can we stand up and sing along? Then, despite the "film" being an hour and a half long (or short), the set list was made up of only 15 songs (what did I expect? Apparently, I was really watching a movie!). I love how it opened with Vertigo, and how U2 got all political (as usual) with Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride (In The Name of Love), and Where the Streets Have No Name complete with the UN Declaration of Human Rights. I was very happy to hear the original version of One (everyone who likewise hates/detests/abhors the Mary J. Blige version, raise your hands. It's sacrilege!). And what is a U2 concert without With or Without You. And I really like how the "film" ended with Yahweh (Bro. Arian, why don't we use that in Search-In?).

In any case, U2 3D is as close as many of us will ever get to being at a U2 concert (I've given up on the entire "U2 is coming to the Philippines" rumor that refuses to die. Until the tickets go on sale, I won't believe it). U2 3D was absolutely amazing, a near religious experience worth my 500 pesos (as I've written before, attending an actual u2 concert would be a religious experience). We were almost there. Check out this review as it pretty much sums up the experience (yes, it's an experience!).

Right now, Bianca and I saving up for the first Formula One Singapore Grand Prix, a night time street race at that (Go, Kimi! Go!). And even if Singapore's a corny place to visit, I'm excited about Bianca's first trip there. I really want to to take her around. The food alone is worth it (chili crabs, here we come!), and my mentor Cherry is a fantastic host. Free accomodations c/o Cherry: check. Savings plan on schedule: check. Now, let's just hope that the travel agent (not my Mom) gets the track seats AND PLANE TICKETS that Bianca and I want. All our fingers and toes are crossed. We're almost there.

I have Bangkok trip lined up for May. It's for work, but Raetz - a good friend of mine from work - will be joining me and we're visiting another friend from work, Ruthie (yes, I actually have friends at work aside from my schoolmates). An HR person, a Finance person, and an Auditor together in a party town: should be fun! Ruthie, we're almost there! I so miss Bangkok, it's unbelievable.

The last time I saw my Dad and sister Julia was in 2005. The last time I saw my cousins in Hawai'i was in 2002. I'm planning (drawing?) to visit them plus my other cousins in CA this December. So it's pre-Christmas with the da Silva-Formans, Christmas with the Vargases, and New Year's with the Rodriguez-da Silvas and Nielsens. Hopefully, I'll get to see The Thirds, Lorraine, and Celso and family, too. And yes, my Mom is my travel agent for this one, so there's a high probability that this trip will push through. Pera nalang (huwag galawin ang mga bonus!). I'm almost there!

I've been writing this travel guide/collection of tragic love stories thing for almost a year. I've got the first part done, but the rest is taking forever to finish. I'm not looking to be a Palanca Award Winner like Lilit, but it would be nice if my work comes out good. I hope to finish it within the year. I'm almost there.

Like all our wants and needs, all our dreams and every little capricco: we're almost there. And as Gars would often tell me when I would get into one of my many rants, "Do something about it." I am! Not all of it, but I'm doing a little something very slowly about everything I can. Soon, I hope to entitle one of my blog entries as "I Made It!". As KC would say, "May all your dreams come true."

"What you don't have you don't need it now/What you don't know you can feel it somehow" - U2

posted by Calai @ 3:30 PM 0 comments