Beauties and the Beasts

I could talk about the 22nd anniversary of EDSA Uno and the rallies taking place today, but I'm not exactly in the mood to be worked up about it right now, you know. Not with the shit our politicians have under their heels and on their hands at the moment. Don't want to go there, no. So instead, I'll talk about something equally important, but lighter--this year's Oscars!

(Left to right: Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Supporting Actress Tilda Swinton, Best Actress Marion Cotillard, and Best Supporting Actor Javier Bardem. Photo courtesy of Yahoo!)

My thoughts? First: Thank God that it's shorter this time (and thank God the Velvet Channel aired relatively few commercials). And I'm happy for the Oscars the Coen Brothers collected this year; I've enjoyed both Fargo and O Brother, Where Art Thou? immensely (obviously I haven't watched No Country for Old Men yet--but that will change very soon). Ditto for Daniel Day-Lewis' oh-so-deserving second Best Actor win for the remarkable There Will Be Blood. And I know that the two J.B.'s of the Coens' film--Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin--are, like, BFF (best friends forever) now, but for a millisecond there I thought the buddies were going to do some serious face-sucking when the Spaniard bussed Barbra Streisand's stepson on the cheek following the former's Best Supporting Actor win. And poor Amy Adams: where are the CGI pigeons, rats and roaches when you needed them? Then again, it might freak out the audience.

But I think it's quite safe to say the females provided the telecast's most memorable moments. Topping the list is Jon Stewart's magnificent gesture to let Best Original Song co-winner Marketa Irglova (for the beautiful "Falling Slowly" from Once) have her speech. Best winning reaction goes to the gorgeous Marion Cotillard upon winning Best Actress for La Vie en Rose. And best speech, for me, goes to Best Supporting Actress Tilda Swinton:

"... and George Clooney, you know, the seriousness and the dedication to your art, seeing you climb into that rubber bat suit from Batman & Robin, the one with the nipples, every morning under your costume, on the set, off the set, hanging upside down at lunch--you rock, man!"

Love that bit. Sadly, I can't say the same about her, er, gown.

All in all, not bad. Not bad at all. Much better than last year. And waaaaay much better than the year before that.

Northern Exposure

Stone, sand, sea and sunlight--just some of the things I have been exposed to for four full days recently. Ü

Flabbergasted on a Friday

In the company I work for, one of the duties I volunteered to perform is to distribute copies of the publication I edit to some proven tourist destinations in the City of Manila. That's what I did today, and I've been doing this since last summer.

At these destinations, I sometimes make it a point to ask the person in charge to make sure to hand out the copies only to foreign guests, since they're the target readers of the publication. Whenever I make this request, I do so as courteously as possible, adopting a pakikiusap kind of tone. Almost all those I have talked to have kindly obliged. None have raised violent objections, as far as I can remember.

Until earlier this morning.

In the Visitors' Center of a particular destination, there's this sour-faced female staffer who has not been too friendly with me every time I would drop by and leave copies. In fact, she seemed rather resentful of my presence. Naturally, she wasn't thrilled to see me this morning, ready to leave copies of the publication's latest issue. I don't exactly recall the details now, but after she signed the receipt form I somewhat remarked that I just came from the office of her immediate superior, which was across from the VC, and gave him three complimentary copies. I mentioned that in an effort to explain that I was planning to give fifteen copies, but since I already gave three to him I decided to leave a dozen instead, especially since I was carrying a limited number of copies. She became exasperated almost at once, asking me why didn't I let him sign the receipt. I calmly replied that it has been my practice to have whoever accepts the copies for distribution (also) sign the form.

Her exasperation barely in check, she started talking to me in an argumentative tone. Some of the things she said really took me aback: "Tuwing pupunta ka rito, parating may problema... Pati 'yung doon sa ticket booth, nagagalit na rin dahil inaaway mo... Kung ayaw mong mga Pinoy ang makakuha niyan (the publication), huwag ka nang mag-iwan dito..." The thought of me fighting with the staffer manning the ticket booth flabbergasted me: me, fighting?! I don't remember now the rest of what she had spewed.

I must have felt really insulted, for I retrieved the copies and left the VC almost in a huff. But I quickly decided to go back and leave some copies anyway, just so that the publication will have a presence there. To her credit, the staffer still managed to accommodate me, but grudgingly. On my end, I think I managed to conduct myself as professionally as I could, considering the circumstances. I left the copies on a desk on the way out.

The incident bothered me throughout the rest of my distribution duties in the area. So much so that I later paid a visit to the administrative officer handling the management of the visitors' centers in the area and recounted--and rationalized--the incident to her. I prefaced it by asking her if there are existing guidelines or policies or general practices regarding the distribution of travel publications, like the one I edit. The officer sensibly didn't take sides, but she did explain the situation to me from the staffer's point of view, which I entertained with a very open mind.

As I write this, I can't help but think how I sometimes come across to other people. Someone once told me that I tend to be bossy at times; did that surface in my earlier dealings with the irate staffer? Had I been too insistent on having my way sometimes? Am I challenging to deal with, professionally? Was I insensitive to other people's position, to their feelings? My (feeble) defense? I really didn't know. I really didn't mean to. Maybe a friend of mine was right: for me to "get" it, someone has to tell it to my face.

Can I be that dense? Yeah, I guess. I guess I'm the kind of guy that sometimes need to be told whenever I have done or been doing something wrong. Unfortunately, most Filipinos, being generally known for avoiding confrontation as much as possible, tend to employ the subtle route, which sometimes doesn't really work, especially with me in certain situations.

Such a lot of stuff to ponder on.

But I'm sure of one thing: I'm not going back to that VC. I don't need that kind of drama.

Big-Bang Beginning

Here's hoping for a better and brighter 2008. For all of us.