Hot Malling

Yes....another mall post! It's where our grocery store is (as well as some of our favorite places to eat), and that's why we're there so often.

Anyway, as we were descending the escalator we noticed this larger-than-life Hot Wheels track below!
Actually, there were two of them. The one pictured has tracks set up for kids to play. The other side had a store set up, complete with cases containing the collections of various Hot Wheels afficionados. To assist collectors, the store had a good supply of the current selection of limited-edition and classic re-issue models.

This was like a heaven for someone like me who, as a kid, spent countless hours in make-believe worlds built of Lego brick towns where Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars sped imaginary people about. My brother, sister, and I were all pre-video game, pre-DVD (pre-videotape!), pre-cable television kids. Seventy-five cent die-cast toy cars and a bag of building bricks was all it took to keep us happy. We were not couch potatoes, transfixed by television or video games (which exercise one's hand and eye coordination---right!).

In case you are wondering...yes, I did pick up some of those classic re-issues!

And because I bought them, I also received this:What exactly this does for me or someone's child is going to remain a mystery to me as the details were spelled out on the reverse side in tiny black type over a dark background. Despite my lasik-enhanced eyesight I couldn't read it. But I photographed it here so you could see they had planned for Halloween in that there is room on this form for both the costumer and the marshal. I didn't see anyone dressed as Speed Racer or other race car type, nor Wyatt Earp.

Anyway, I also got my hair cut at the mall. Art, a young barber at Bruno's Barbershop, cut my hair and styled it a bit differently than I'm used to. I liked it, though. Apparently others did too, as almost as soon as I stepped outside the shop into the mall area a young guy crossed my to-be path, looked me in the eye, and said hi.

I continued walking on to meet up with Edson. As I came to a flight of stairs, the guy rushes up from behind and crosses in front of me again, again saying hi.

So I said hi, as it seemed he was going to walk alongside me all the way up the stairs and beyond.

Are you alone?, he asked.

No. I'm with my boyfriend.

Can I have your number?

No. Goodbye.

Ballsy little guy, wasn't he? Still thinks I'm going to give him my number!

When Edson saw me, he liked the hair as well.

So, to Manila guys: if you want people to take notice of you, have Art at Bruno's Barbershop in Glorietta cut your hair. The results are hot!

This is "Malling"?

I don't know why I haven't posted something like this before.
Seeing a "church" set up in a shopping mall is nothing new here. Indeed, there are those here who are surprised when I say I've never before seen a church set up in a mall like this anywhere in the USA.

Perhaps this would be a way to get shoppers to come to malls in the US. Most US malls seem pretty abandoned compared to those here. It could aid in jump-starting consumer spending in the US (something the whole world is depending on).

Not only would it bring people into malls; it would also force them to compare each other's attire in a proper setting...the church of retail consumption. We all know most people use going to church each Sunday merely to show off to the rest of the congregation. There's probably as much attention paid to comparing dresses, hats, ties, shoes, blouses, accessories, and in some cases I'm sure...undergarments as there is to the preacher (if the preacher is lucky). Why, this way, as soon as services end, the congregation can immediately set out to the various retailers in search of the right clothes to outshine their neighbors the following Sunday!

As the preacher said in closing his sermon: Go thou and do likewise.

Genius, huh?

Opening of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' EFLC

The Economic & Financial Learning Center of the Central Bank of the Philippines opened Friday. Edson and I attended because he had done the design work on the multi-media exhibit, "The BSP: Pillars of Strength". Some of my photo work was used in his design.

Here's some photos of the launching and exhibit.

Engrish Brush

I recently purchased a new scrub brush.

I thought you'd be interested in it.

No, not because I make it a practice to issue press releases detailing my purchase of household cleaning products, but because I found this brush to be unique.

Speaking of unique; there's a little joke a friend of mine likes to tell. In addition to my brush news, I'd like to share it with you. I know he'd interject with this joke if you all were listening to me and I said unique, so here goes:

Q: How do you catch a unique bird? A: Unique up on it!

Anyway, back to my brush.

Actually, there isn't much more I can say that this photo doesn't say already. I don't know if this picture is worth a thousand words, but reading the label on the brush is certainly good for a short chuckle; a shuckle, if you will.

I know. I know. Shut up, Jay, and let us look at the picture already!

Here you go:

Oh My!

Some of you readers may recall my post entitled Dumb and Dumber, where I featured the Philippines' latest beauty pageant queen of embarrassing moments, Janina San Miguel and fellow embarrassing moment-maker, former American Idol contestant Kelly Pickler, along with their embarrassing videos.

Well, it came to my attention recently that there's another one out there who beats them all. Because the gaffes come with frequency.

No, I'm not speaking of Melanie Marquez; though her quotes are amazing. For those who are unfamiliar, here's some of her best-known gaffes:

True good to be true.

When it rains it's four.

Once in a new moon.

Please don't make fond of me.

The more you hate, the more you laugh.

Alma mother.

No holes barred.

Keep your mouth shock!

At's if!

Well, well, well....look do we have here?

It's just the tip of the icing.

Here's more to come.

Connect me if I'm wrong.

I hope you don't mine.

I wanna portrait that role.

The nerd! (nerve)

Give me alone!

No, even her best gaffes are merely unintended puns. She knows what she's saying (or means to say) and we know too.

But she has been upstaged.

Big time.

Melanie, meet Sarah Palin!

In just one short month, Sarah has made a career's worth of gaffes. Her shares of embarrassing moments exceed what anyone should have to endure in their entire lifetime. Here's her current set of greatest hits:

As CNN's Jack Cafferty said, "If John McCain wins, this woman will be one 72-year-old's heartbeat away from being President of the United States. And if that doesn't scare the hell out of you, it should."

I, for one, am terrified. Not just because of Sarah herself, but because apparently so many people support her. She draws huge...crowds...hmmm....

Wait a minute.

Airhead.

Add facts, stories, and lies.

Gaffe-prone.

Do you suppose those people who attend the rallies to support her are really there just for the sheer comedy of it? Waiting for her to mess-up? You know, so they could say "I was there when..." She's the sideshow freak to them.

Or are they really her supporters? And what does that say about the rest of us?

Oh my!

Oh no.

Oh shit.

I'm Featured in Outrage Magazine

Outrage Magazine, the Philippines first (and only) gay online magazine, has featured me and my photography in an interview this month.

Read it here.

The photos that accompany the article were done especially for the magazine and they're some of my best work yet.