A dose of Bette Davis...

...good music, and anti-flu medicine.
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by PAM

This came on on the radio yesterday evening while I was on my way home...

All the boys think she's a spy... she's got Bette Davis eyes.

...and, boy, was I glad!  It drowned out the noise of Friday night traffic and the nagging Friday exhaustion to a fine cruise into the Quezon Ave./Araneta Ave. underpass. :)  "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes... yes, a hit from the '80s, what else? ;)  The best way to slow down after a constantly spinning and terribly looong day, and a loooong, loooooooooong week!  Don't get me wrong, it was a very satisfying week in terms of bonds forged, established understanding, encouraging words from the people who matter, lots of good vibes and smiles - all very good reasons to hope for very good days to come.  But bones, muscles and this head are aching now (wait, do fats hurt, too?) - that all-familiar recipe for flu - therefore, they 'cry' for anti-flu medication.   

So, while I endure this 'bitter pill', is it too much to ask for a 'bonus track'?  No?  Really?  So, how 'bout this then...

Thunder only happens when it's rainin'....

..."Dreams" by one of the best bands the world has ever known, Fleetwood Mac.  Stevie Nicks is so awesome - idol!  Some 'bonus track' it is, yeah?  Ya bet!  Oy, life is good!

Awright, it's Saturday, and the Membrane Tech work is still a mountain to climb, and my intellectual 'hiking boots' have reached their mileage limit - any form of traction whatsoever is gone.  I need to recoup.  Therefore, I think I need (and deserve!) some football time for now.  Who's playing?  Aw, please say it's Barça!

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Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.

Playtime...

...with "The Hobbit"!
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by PAM


My name is Philip, it's been 28 hours since I last 'set foot on the ground' - like 'normal' human beings do.  Of course, there was that four-hour sleep... but that doesn't count as an interruption in my current state of being, just because I dreamt about 'backpulsing' bacteria, retained by 0.45 micron-pore size microfilter from some tropical beverage under refrigerated temperature and about a hundred kPa of transmembrane pressure in a cross-flow membrane module, using either carbon dioxide or compressed air.  Geez, don't I know it! Sleep should be 'off-limits' - anything work-related not allowed. But, yeah, I've been floating, stuck on this Membrane Technology 'cloud', trying very hard to prevent my energy level and my capacity for logic from going 'flat line'... especially that a menacing 'deadline' is staring me down like a true bad, bad, BAAAD one-eye bandit! And there's a huge que of intimidating deadlines behind it, too.  Therefore, I'm holding my breath as I try to work, work... and work some more!  

But... I cannot take this anymore!  I need a break!  Therefore, playtime!  ;)

And what better way to spend a break from this mind-numbing work - on a weekend, mind you - than with some "Middle-Earth delight"?  Some awesomeness from the genius mind of J.R.R. Tolkien + some lushness of creativity from the richly imaginative mind of Peter Jackson + stratospheric budget that I'd duel a mean Uruk-hai for (a la Aragorn) to get for my research project (o, ya! ha!)... and look at what we've got here...   

For over the misty mountains cold/ To dungeons deep and caverns old/

We must away, ere break of day,/ To find our long-forgotten gold.

..."The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"!  Oy, epic!  And, it's snickering its way to us in hurried little steps with no signs of stopping.    Then again, imagine if it stopped!  It's rolling, rolling now in thunderous promise of adventure... and we can't hide our excitement!  Our precious... "long-forgotten gold".  Oy, December, why can't you come any sooner??

"O! Tra-la-la-lally/ here down the valley! O! Tril-lil-lil-lolly/the valley is jolly!"  Oh, yah, Bilbo Baggins is young again... and so is Gandalf, our fave wizard!  Therefore, y'all, Middle-Earthlings... unite!  Bring out your worn-out paperbacks and review.  Prepare for our next "World Convention"... coming soon in theaters worldwide!  Boy, I can't wait!

Riiiing....  Alright, that's all the time I have... back to "the cloud"!  Ugh!  Oh, well....

***

Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.

    

Yoohoo... football?

No reply.... Huh, basketball? Come in, basketball....
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by PAM

I think I might be juggling just about too many things these days.  It's either that, or I haven't really gotten 'my groove' back after 'slowing down' for a few months. How do I know?  Well, because I missed this - the first El Clásico of the La Liga 2012-2013 season... 

...and I'm only writing about it, three days after the fact!  Right, right, and right again, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid faced off, with the Los Blancos looking to chip the 8-point lead of the Blaugranas who now sit on top of the Primera División Table of La Liga with Atlético Madrid - ouch, for Los Blancos!  The current La Liga title holders, Los Blancos, are currently in #5 but, of course, that doesn't put a dent on José Mourinho's Jupiter-esque ego... at least, from his outward posturing in his press conferences.

Anyway, it would've been awesome to have seen Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi exchange fire power in Camp Nou live, but the match aired in Manila at 2:30 in the morning of Monday... and I had to work early in the morning.  The main men of Barça and Los Blancos brought the 'surprisingly calm' match to a 2-2 draw... keeping Barça's lead at 8 points.  Crissy looked in the zone, opening the display of goal-making mastery between the two closest rivals in this generation of football greats with a powerful kick that Victor Valdes had no hope of stopping... and then closing it, too, with another fine finishing despite injured shoulder.  But it has to be said, Barça's incredible "little magician" kicked the best goal of the match via that blistering free kick that made Spain's #1, Iker Casillas, looking less than the best goalkeeper in the world that he is... but it's Messi - awesomeness in its purest form.

 As for individual supremacy on the pitch this season, right now, Leo and Crissy share the lead with Radamel Falcao of Atlético Madrid in the Pichichi top goal scorer race with eight goals each. Leo won the award last year, and Crissy the year before. So, this season is going to be tough... and with Falcao making it a three-man race... well, it looks like I need to work hard to make my sked open up for some La Liga time.

I need to check out the next El Clásico sked, and mark my calendar accordingly. :)

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A menacing growl to ruffle feathers

Speaking of clásico in sports, let me mention something extremely important in this part of the planet while we're at it.  The University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers are looking to stop the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles from claiming a 5-peat in tomorrow's second match of the best-of-three series in the 75th UAAP Men's Basketball Championship.  The Eagles have a one-game win advantage to spring from after holding off the Tigers in an exciting 83-78 first match last weekend... but the 'wounded' Tigers are looking ready to tear down the score board with big shots to go even, and bring the duel to a third game.  Uhm-hmmm... looks like the Smart-Araneta Coliseum will be a roaring 'jungle' of gold and blue tomorrow.  

Let's enjoy the match... but let's keep the spirit of sportsmanship alive and well, people. So, while my color is gold and white... may the best squad win!  

Go, USTe, Go USTe!  Raar....

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Yep, I just turned in my very first basketball-related post when I thought I was ready to write about golf after watching Bubba Watson win the right to wear the green jacket in Augusta, Georgia last season, and after seeing the highlights of the Ryder Cup just a couple of days ago where Europe beat USA with an epic comeback. I'm sure my students are snickering behind my back after witnessing my resistance to acknowledge basketball as a "beautiful game", too. Nope, not giving in just yet. I maintain that basketball can be exciting... but "beautiful"?  Nah. :)  And yet, yeah, I just started using a "Basketball" tag in my blog!  Oh, well... there's always a first, ya know! ;)

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Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.

Saturday Photo

World Teachers' Day + 1 day
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by PAM

Something red, something fresh, something thoughtful, something true....

Yesterday was a tough day... actually, it has been a tough week even when two days were no-class flood days (again).  In fact, the no-class days tightened the already very (very) tight schedule in the University... the deadlines looked more 'deadening' than ever before. ;)  Just because by noon, it was already feeling like a really long day, I almost abandoned the idea of dropping by the lab (Research Center), but something told me that, perhaps, I should go... besides, the lab is a 'happy place', and I could use 'some happy' that afternoon.  And so, I made time and dedicated my remaining 'work energy' to drop by.

I got to the lab really late in the afternoon, dizzy from all the swirling weights in my head... but I'm glad
No memo, but a note... of the thoughtful variety.I did drop by because, as it turned out, something was waiting for me there, which chased the problematic weights to disappearance.  I found 'something red, something fresh', wrapped in a decorated cellophane and plastered just above the door knob.  Attached to the 'packaged freshness' was a 'packaged sweetness' that encouraged one to take a break - it was Kit Kat, bebeh!  A little note explained the reason for all that thoughtfulness:  World Teachers' Day.  

So, we do have a day!  Wow!  More importantly, wonderful people remember 'our day', and they go out of their way to make us feel special, remembered, and appreciated - in their own little but extremely thoughtful ways.  Ah, the heartwarming and in-quantifiable perks of being in a 'not-for-profit' profession - oy, heaven! :)

Thanks, guys - for the presents, text messages and e-mails! You made 'my day'.  And happy belated Teachers' Day to my colleagues!  Cheers!

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October? How did you get here so fast?

Where did September go?
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by PAM

One person I know called me yester-, er, a few days ago to make an appointment, tentatively for a day in October.  I penciled the appointment on my calendar... an e-mail came soon after, and a definite day was marked on my calendar.  It looked so far ahead from my "you're here"  day.  Today, the same person
Please say you have more of this, October. Thanks!
(Photo: AFP/Getty Images via UEFA website)called and cheerfully reminded me of my October appointment.  I looked at my calendar... surprise!  My "you're here" smiley points to October 1.  That can't be right!  I've only seen one UEFA Champions League match, one FC Barcelona La Liga match... and I've checked out the Barclays EPL Table only once - since the 'new' season started!  Can't be right, nah way!  Except that... it was right!  Wow!  In a hurry much, October?  Oh, well....

Alright, October, look here... I think we need to talk. August was 'weepy' and way too rainy, stormy and 'floody'.  September was volatile (just check out CNN, BBC, GMA News and ANC  headlines), and full of personal whoa- and whaaaat-inducing surprises - both pleasant and unpleasant, hilarious and perplexing, eye roll- and grin-inducing.  To be sure, the first -ber month made me whistle a whistle without a sound - several times... hmmm, nah, countless times!  But we got through just fine... in fact, maybe how we survived September was only a little short of fantastic, and that's nice.  So, October, please be reasonable, okay?  It's a real plea.  Alright, now that the humble appeal has been taken care of... you may now begin.

Here's a prayer... and my very best best wishes!

Let's do this!!!

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