The Weekend Report

Well I went home this weekend after spending last week at my brother’s house in Valenzuela. Although I have to get used to this kind of set up and I have to start to calling his apartment my house from now on. I plan to stay at his place once I start working and going to school. Though Valenzuela is ridiculously far from Pasay where my work will be come October 10^th, it sure beats the hell out of having to commute from the more remote location of our family house here in North Caloocan. What I love about my brother’s place is that it’s more convenient and transportation is accessible 24 hours unlike here; wherein once the clock strikes 12:00 AM, there won’t be any more means of transportation available aside from abusive and overcharging tricycles and a few cows on the road (as in the Bos taurus kind) from god knows where. And you never have to worry if you ran out of food or if you go hungry in the wee hours of the morning since there are a lot of convenience stores available to buy what’s needed. I know how ridiculously shallow these justifications are, but they are kind of a big deal for someone who’s lived in a place so urbanely remote. Plus in Valenzuela, everything’s just an LRT or a short bus ride away from everywhere I need to be.

Of Cartoons, Technology and Impending Sex Talks

Unfortunately cuddly Totoro wasn't able to
keep my nephews' and nieces' attention for long
image courtesy of  thelifeoftuan.blogspot.com

Aside from my melodramatic mother pining over the fact that her two boys are so grown up now that they don’t text her too often, I’m glad to be back home. I missed being surrounded by my two nephews and my four-year old niece. We spent the weekend watching cartoons in my netbook. I wanted to let them watch a bunch of Studio Ghibli films but you know how it is with kids these days and their short attention span. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to finish My Neighbor Totoro because they got invested on other things. I guess they inherited their easily-sidetracked nature from their uncle. I had the same problem when we watched Ponyo, but  we were able to finish that one. They told me they genuinely liked Ponyo. I want them to be exposed to good quality cartoons while their young. I guess, Totoro's Japanese audio was to blame as the idea of reading subtitles wasn't all too appealing for them. We'll probably do it again, once their older.

My sister also mentioned that my eldest nephew has been getting all too curious these days. He is about to start high school next year and hormones are starting to kick in. She wanted me to have the talk with him. She did mention that she tried to answer his questions but my nephew had a hard time believing her, being a girl and all. She said he wanted to hear it from a man, in the biological sense of the word. He didn't open up about it when I got to talk to him  though but I’m guessing I’ll be hearing more of it in the future. I don’t imagine myself doing the sex talk with one of my nephews (or my niece), at least not comfortably. But seeing that his father won’t be available anymore in his life, I guess I have to step up to the plate if needed. I feel sad that my nephew won’t have to get a normal family life anymore now that his mom and dad are separated, but I’m sure he’ll turn out just fine. I wish I could tell him to just google the answer he needs. That's how I learned anyway.

I also find it amazing that he fusses over his hair now and hogs the mirror all the time. He is definitely a child no more. I promised to be the one to take him to the doctor next summer to have him circumcised, and he agreed. I’m actually looking forward to it. And sometimes, I imagine myself teaching him how to properly shave in the mirror when the time comes. It must be the paternal instinct that’s getting into me. 

I wish I could just tell him to  just simply google the answers.
image courtesy of  diyfather.com

While my eldest nephew was watching cartoons in my netbook, his cousin who is a year younger was playing a JAVA game in my phone. On top of that, my four-year old niece was watching Disney music videos on my ipod. As I watched them getting busy with my gadgets, I couldn’t help but think how advanced today’s kids are. When I was their age, I didn’t have any appreciation of technology in the same way they have.  I had POG’s, texts, action figures and the likes. I scrape my knee often from climbing walls and playing tag. Although kids these days still play outside, they spend an ordinate amount of time with technology. Imagine my surprise when my niece conveyed a sentence to me with the words Facebook, Youtube and download, in all their correct contexts. And without even batting an eyelash! It certainly is amazing how technology affects kids and how they think and interact with others. I don’t know if I should be worried that they’re so advanced for their ages, but I guess they have to, if they’re going to adapt in the future. Sometimes the thought scares me. It certainly is a lot different to be a kid these days.

Missing Debauchery

My weekend was rather slow, as always. Some of my online acquaintances from PG4M have been planning to meet up  and I was invited to join. We have been discussing some ideas for our possible advocacy within the LGBT community and are planning to do a meet up to talk about ideas. It promises to be interesting. Though I don’t know exactly what we’ll be doing or how I can put my talents (if any) to good use that will benefit the said advocacy, I have agreed to pitch in. Well, even if there won’t be any serious brainstorming, I’m guessing that a few good drinks with the guys (or in this case, the gays) seem to be inevitable. And a meet up with a few online buddies was bound to happen in my future. 

Beer vs. Love Conundrum:
 a definite no brainer
image courtesy of pinoytumblr.com

Funds are tight (aren’t they always?). I have to conserve every dime and penny that I have for me to survive until I start working. Aside from the fact that the venue for the meet up is painfully far from where I am, I was reminded that frugality won’t be such a bad idea to practice in these dire financial times. I'm flat broke so I decided to not go for now. There will be other opportunities for me to meet up with the guys anyway and I really hope to join them in the future.

On a side note, I honestly don’t remember the last time I’ve tasted alcohol, or had a puff for that matter. It’s not that I’m suddenly on the road to healthy living but it’s just that it isn’t my nature to drink or smoke, unless asked or invited. I’ve quit chain smoking (note the operative word is chain) and I don’t go out drinking alone or for no apparent reason. Although after my last break up, there were one or two episodes where I did drink by myself  in my attempts to move on, but that’s it. After getting past that emotional hill, I haven’t done any episodes of debauchery. And I’m beginning to be worried about it to be honest. I know that with little or no practice at all, my alcohol tolerance level will surely drop and I’m back to being tipsy after a bottle and a half. It’s pathetic. I need go out more, I know. Maybe once I start my new job, I might as well pick up my old habits just for fun.

Fall Premiere Happiness

The fall premier for most US TV shows has started and I couldn’t be happier! I have been painfully waiting for the season premier of three shows that I’m currently addicted to namely: The Big Bang Theory, Supernatural and Fringe. Actually, I was also looking forward to season 3 of Cougar Town which is hilariously funny, but because of Courtney Cox’s recent divorce, production is postponed until November. However, the three aforementioned show would suffice. Good thing that there’s torrent and TV-guide.com for the episode airdates to make me happy. I can't imagine my life without bit torrent. Whoever invented it should definitely get an award.

I can’t even begin to describe how I absolutely adore The Big Bang Theory. Nerds will always have a special place in my heart and the comedic concept of the show is truly brilliant so I’m naturally addicted to it. I even pimped it out to some of my friends who became equally delighted to it as well. Last season’s cliff hanger was between Raj and Penny who slept together and the premier picked up where the last episode left off where the gang had to deal with yet another disruption of their friendship dynamics. 

Oh Penny, you're such a bad drunk

It was amazingly funny to see all the prominent cast members (including Bernadette, Amy and Leonard’s mother) on the first episode. And yes, I wanted to give Raj a huge hug after the premier as I can't help but feel sorry to him. It was also a treat that CBS decided to do a two-episode premier for Season 5 as one episode is  merely not enough to get the necessary dose of laughter. The second installment was equally funny as well especially the whole “chair removing” scene. 

The funniest scene ever

After Will & Grace, I have to say that TBBT has the most witty and intelligently-written script in primetime comedy. And Jim Parson's back-to-back Emmy win is truly well deserved as he is undoubtedly one of the funniest actors to have graced TV in a long time.

You just got to love a selfless nerd at paintball. 

Supernatural has always been a show that my brother and I enjoy. It’s our bonding moment. I’m starting to think that it’s because we associate ourselves with the Winchester brothers.  Not  that we look insanely hot fighting off ghouls, but I’d like to think that the show’s brotherly love theme appeals to us both. I guess we also have a complex, co-dependent and stoic relationship, I don’t know. But we have watched the show together since the first season. The show has been far off from what it used to be, especially during the fourth and fifth season where the plot was still good with all the Armageddon theme and Dean-being-Michael-versus-Sam-being-Lucifer’s-vessel conflict. Ever since Sera Gamble replaced Erik Kripke as the headwriter, the show has been slowly going down the dumps. It’s still good but the subplots are becoming less and less interesting as the show goes on. The only reason why I’m watching it, aside from the Winchest-rawr brothers, is the fact that the show has a sort of sentimental value to me. I honestly don’t like what they have done with Castiel's character and as the show premiered, the producers decided to veer into making him the villain. I guess they have run out of brilliant ideas for the show’s antagonist, seeing as how it’s impossible to top off the Satan-God conflict they had for the last season. The premier wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t astonishing either like what it used to be.

I'm not liking the new Castiel. Not one bit.

However tedious and disappointing Supernatural’s premier was, it was greatly compensated by Fringe. I have to thank two of my online friends Tobie and Rocky  for introducing me to this show as it has been an amazing and trippy ride so far. Even if I consider myself a man considerably attuned to science, I never got into the whole science-fiction genre. So imagine my surprise when I got hooked on the show. I love the fact that it not only deals with the fringe sciences but also on complex character conflicts. 

I'm so digging the gold opening credits

Last season ended with the two universes joining in and Peter’s existence being erased by the Observers and the premier episode opened with both the main character of the alternate universe and the original universe working together to restore balance. I’m really interested on how the writers will be able to develop the storyline and from the looks of the premier, it certainly looks promising. I’m particularly happy that Agent Lincoln Lee (played by Seth Gabel), is getting more and more screen time this season. I’ve been hoping that he’ll get more action as his character has grown on me over time. 

Nerds with guns are super sexy

And it doesn't hurt that he’s very cute on screen. 

Dudes with glasses = hot

The premier was a striking remembrance of the very first episode of season one, which was a good touch for a bit of nostalgia among viewers. I’m also thinking that with the absence of Peter, that there might (stress: might) be a love story angle that will be brewed between Lincoln and Olivia, just like their alternate counterparts. Speaking of which, I hope that we get to see more of what happens between Alt Lincoln and Altivia. And since, Peter has been erased from existence, what happens with his baby?

So many shows. So many questions and so little time. I can’t wait for the next few weeks and for these shows to unravel their new stories.

I just love being a couch potato in my own home.

Now as evening draws near, I have to pack my bags and headback to my brother's place in Valenzuela. Until next week...