TULOY ANG "FIGHTBACK"

Bloody brilliant, Manny. And I'm not just referring to Cotto's systematic destruction -- that was expected (and won me ten pounds). No, I'm talking more about your subsequent spine-tingling rendition of "You Raise Me Up" that brought tears to this LLDD's eyes.

(I'm not sure if the clip has been shown back home, but Sky Sports News here in London has great, nay, surreal footage of Manny walking back to his dressing room from the ring immediately after the fight -- still in his trunks, sweaty and shirtless -- running into some Celine Dion-esque woman singer in the halls, making eye-contact, and then spontaneously breaking out the Josh Groban. Not only that, he owns the ensuing duet, steering the Vegas singer when to go high or when to go second-voice by sheer force of kilay. I mean, he just finished trading punches for 12 freaking rounds, and then effortlessly slides into easy-listening like it ain't no thing? Now that's a man.)

Such awesomeness. The least our humble little diplomatic mission can do then, Manny, is follow your lead, continue with the "fightback", and indeed help raise the country up from the storm. You do it with your fists, voice and moustache, we'll do it with our, um, promotional activities.

Not quite the same, I know, but, hey, I am strong when I am on your shoulders and all that, right?

British Publications

Sublime Magazine, September 2009

Best Line: "The briefing was short and to the point, boiling down to 'no touching, and stay out of the way of the tail' "

LLDD Commentary: Funny, that's also what they said at the restraining order hearing.

TNT Magazine, October 2009

Best Line: (aside from a band called "Wolfmother", you mean?) "The amphitheatre of mountains encircling the village was cloaked in electric lime-green striped by stone walls"

LLDD: Substitute "cloaked in electric lime-green striped by stone walls" with "cloaked in electric lime-green striped by stone-washed", and you just described every soiree outfit of mine from the 80s.

Waterlife, October-December 2009

Best Line: "Everywhere we were treated with garlands of flowers and big smiles, and on one occassion a giant stilt!"

LLDD Commentary: I would genuinely like to meet that mayor who, during council meetings, thinks along the lines, "You know what tourists don't get enough of? Stilts. Like, big-assed ones."

World Travel Market, November 2009

At the second largest travel mart in the world, our tourism people were kept very busy throughout the event by international promoters, operators and dealmakers -- a very good sign for the country. And as always, the Philippine booth wasn't just there, it represented. To wit, it had the bright, airy and friendly feel of someone's favorite neighborhood cafe . . .

Whereas other regions went with . . .

. . . that warm office-cubicle look . . .

. . .kinda-out-of-place-inside-a-convention-center mock ups. . .

. . . or the cozy, cozy feel of an SM appliance showroom.

Even for those booths that had awesome gimmicks like live falcons, if you looked closely at the back at what people were carrying . . .

. . . mwe he he he. Sa amin rin galing ang mga bitbit nyo.

And don't try to out-adorable the Pinoy booth, Lithuania. Just don't.

Finally, as an added bonus at the Philippine booth, I discovered the long-lost twin of Siouxsie, one my batchmates who's given me a lot of grief through the years over my supposed resemblance to "Kat". Behold then: my batchmate Siouxsie (here examining the LLDDL's ring). . .

. . . and her newfound twin (here examing the Philippine booth's catering needs) . . .

Ha! Who's making "twin" jokes now, Siouxsie? Who's laughing NOW!?!

Philippine Generations Charity Gig, November 2009

We wrap things up with a fund raising event held by the Philippine Generations, that group of second generation Fil-Brits who I always try to be a part of so that I can seem young and hip by association. They lined up a pretty cool array of performances, from former Miss Saigon castmembers performing Bayan Ko, to X-Factor semi-finalists "Truecolors" doing some song I'm too uncool to know the title of, to rap-group "Lyrico Supremo" sampling a really cool tribute song for the storm victims.

But in the end, there can only be one Brit -- father of the Philippine Generations' chairman, no less -- and his rendition of . . . Anak

Somewhere, Manny is smiling to himself and quietly nodding in approval.

AH, SO THIS IS THE "WEEKEND" YOU SPEAK OF

A batchmate once had a great quote about how busy things are at post: "weekends are like unicorns: I've heard stories of them, but have never really seen one".

True, true (haaah haaah haaah haaaaaaaah haaa). Here in London - and at every other post, no doubt - many an embassy personnel's weekend has been foregone in favor of things like overtime work, official visits, community events and, most recently, the typhoon "Fightback". So I was pleasantly surprised that for the recent long All-Saints weekend, I actually had some spare time on my hands. And you know what spare time means for a party animal like me in a wild city like London, don't you?

Laundry!

Well, yes, there was that, but since this was a long weekend, there was an extra day for exciting stuff like:

The Natural History Museum

Ok, granted, you and I have a different definition of "exciting". But I've always wanted to go into this place because of its facade's vibrant colors and intricate details. It is, to my mind, one of the most attractive structures in London, whose sheer beauty is enough to make me forget that I once paid 10 pounds to watch "Night at the Museum 2"

As early as the walk up to the entrance and the first few steps in, you realize that the star of this show is the building itself as much as the collection in it. Geek and goth alike would enjoy this place.

Once inside, everyone seems to head straight for the dinosaur exhibit, which causes crowding and slow moving lines (imagine if they had the Dinobots!). Fortunately, you're entertained by all the kids who roar into the mouths of the dino-fossils, and by the steady stream of informational posters along the way. Do you know, for instance, the reason why dinosaurs became extinct?




Haaaaaaaahahaha! "It's called cricket!" Oh, that Paleontologist humor!

Aiiiiggghhhh!!!! Look, I don't like whales, snakes and monkees in and of themselves. Whale, snake and monkee skeletons just plain freak me out.

Animals carved into stone, however, are fraking bad ass.




Would make a great name for a rock band.

Alas, I end the tour on a downer. The last exhibit I passed through was the earth sciences hall, and the volcanoes section there led with a feature on the Pinatubo eruption. Sure, why not? For whatever reason, however, the museum decided that it was a good idea to - rather than just explain the awesome natural science aspect of the event - contrive a presentation that focused on the difficulties of the human response to the eruption. Thus, they showed a "live" news report (staged by actors) with an "anchorman" asking "field reporters" condescending questions like "couldn't anyone see this coming?" and "surely, the evacuation efforts can't be deemed a success?"

I mean, why? Why go out of your way and spend time and money to make of all things a fake TV production that mocks what people couldn't do in the face of one the biggest natural disasters of all time? It was a freaking centuries-dormant volcano!!! There was no way anyone could accurately predict everything!!!

See?! You say so yourself!!!

Saatchi Gallery

Considering how bummed I was about the volcano thing, the choice of an abstract art gallery as my next weekend venue was a very risky one, as I have never been much into the artsy scene (unless you count Star Wars costumes as art) (which it totally is). I speak from sheer ignorance, lack of proper appreciation, and complete absence of talent, but too often I feel like modern/abstract artists are just putting me on, and that their work was just thrown together and only later explained away by a cutesy title. (or, the other way around, sometimes I feel the artists come up with the cutesy title first, and then make something to fit it; like I said, I'm ignorant and talentless).

Imagine then, my utter surprise at how thoroughly I enjoyed the Saatchi Gallery. It was bright rather than brooding; friendly rather than prententious; capable of appreciation rather than "wtf".

Did that mean I understood any of the artworks?

Hell, no.

But I know what I liked.

And, without a doubt, my favorite work was one called "Old Persons Home". There was no missing the message here -- heck, even I could figure it out -- and the use of motorized wheelchairs could be considered gimmicky. But, dammit, it just worked. The eerily lifelike sculptures (ironically depicting lifeless humans), the directionless and purposeless movements, the seeming attempts at interaction among the figures -- they all just came together perfectly to make a mesmerizing point, however unsubtle.

Put another way, anytime you can get me to stay in a room filled with creepy figures on Halloween without making me cry like a little girl? Art.

Halloween Dinner

A halloween dinner was hastily called among associates, and at the last minute, it was decided that it should be a costume party. No worries. Most just came in kiddie masks or funny wigs anyway, the kind that wouldn't frighten any....

Aiiiiiigggh!!!! Not art! Not art!

It was also a potluck affair, and someone (correctly) figured that on that cold and dreary London night, people would be craving hot Filipino morning food like sinangag and pritong itlog. Then, someone dressed as Audrey Hepburn showed up. So in effect, what we had was -- wait for it -- Pinoy Breakfast at Tiffany's!

And the jokes went downhill from there.

Wingardium Longganisa!

Kamay-kain-NA!

Yes, it's always good to end a long weekend on awful food/comic-related puns.