The Comfort Rooms

It's written all over the news. Mr. Jackson, at age 50, has now passed on from mortality into the next phase of his existence. Just when I thought the news ended with Farrah Fawcett dying from cancer this early morning, here comes a much bigger story. The King of Pop is dead.

I just realized the magnanimity of this event. If decades ago, our dads had the Elvises and The Beatles, now, we got a Michael Jackson, dead. Steven Spielberg was right. Michael Jackson was in the league that belonged only to the likes of Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and The Beatles. It is great my generation witnessed an artist as magical as he was. He was a living urban legend as we hear all sorts of stories surrounding him. His nose? Cleft chin? Ivory white complexion? Though his ever-changing physical features made him the butt of jokes the past two decades, the enigma that was him never seemed to make his star falter.

Without him, the Jackson Five would have never been. Janet Jackson would never be the artist that she is now. Usher, Ne-yo, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake and a host of other male artists would have sounded and moved differently.

Pop music would have never been the same. MTV would have never been the same. We wouldn't have known of songs like Smooth Criminal, or Man In The Mirror, or Billie Jean, even Thriller.

The King is gone. Pay him his respects.

READ THE ARTICLE. YOU BETTER HAVE TO.

Fifty Cent's first album title reads Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. It's true. We stay with our jobbed lives because of that intrinsic need to provide sustenance to ourselves and to the people around us.

It is because of that need that I decided to search for other ways to make money while still employing myself at our amazingly-cool advertising company. No, I got no plans of leaving. I'm enjoying my stay at the office and got no immediate plans of leaving. Just wanna make extra dough to help pay the bills. It is not greed that makes me wanna do it but it is just that need to make more money.

It is for this reason that I wanna write more. They often say in movies and tv shows (and even parents for that matter) to always follow what you're been saying, right? That's what my heart's saying. Do some writing.

That's one of the reasons why I blog. I wanna get noticed by some writers out there with hopes of getting me hired someday. I'm just being honest! I wanna contribute for some magazine or whatnot. Its gonna be very good for my resume right? And talk about the experience I'm gonna be getting should I become a contributing for a magazine.

Since I'm planning to be one, I just thought about getting rid of my pen name, which is Curbside Puppet. I don't want future employers (or co-magazine writers) to refer to me by my petname! I want them to know me by first name. I want them to refer to me as Jerick. My real name. Writers who got blogs refer to themselves using their names, reputable bloggers in the Philippines who I met thru the IBlog5 refer to themselves using their names as well. To hell with security! I'm not divulging a lot here in the first place! No picture, no conatct number, just the name! I don't even have a celfone number posted on my Facebook page!

From now on, I'm calling myself here as Jerick (the former curbside puppet). Swallow it guys.

Heavenly Father,

I can't think of a more better way to show my love for my Dad than by making a post like this.

Like what I mentioned last night on my prayer, think more of him rather than thou would think of my welfare. See, daddy deserves to be blessed more than me.

I want to thank you for giving me a dad like him. I can't think of a more better example that would show me how an effective and good fathers must be like. I may not have shown him that much of an affection but I know that he knows that I am very proud of him.

I know my family and my dad discreetly reads this blog. But I don't think he knows how to comment here. So dad, I know we'll talk about this tonight, but I wanna tell you how great an example you are. Love shown thru actions weigh stronger than love articulated. You know I love you that much.

Once again, Heavenly Father, thank you very much.

In the name of the beloved Son,

Amen.



*Related post

MTV asked me " If you had the privilege to follow a VJ around for a day, who would you choose and why"? Here's my answer. Thank You.

Before I start answering the abovementioned question, let me convince everyone that I will try my best not to sound a little bit, uhm well, stalk-ish. We’re clear on that, yeah? Good.

With the current crop of MTV Philippines' VJs, in a heartbeat, I'd choose to follow Ms. Wilson on any given day. But why on earth would I wanna follow her? Listen to my story silly. Well, do I have to mention the physical assets that come with the statuesque model that she is?

Let’s start with the obvious: olive skin, long shapely legs, bedimpled smile, that cute accent of hers, ahhhh the works. At first glance, you could mistake her for some Greek hottie who’d shout “opa!” anytime she wanted to. She’s that beautiful. Or maybe she’s that beautiful that she can play Mary Magdalene should Mel Gibson choose to remake his The Passion of the Christ.

Whenever I browse thru the lifestyle pages of our broadsheets here in Manila, it’s kinda hard not to come across Maggie. She’s pretty much everywhere! Thanks to her modeling background and her veejay-ing for MTV, she graces product launches, concerts, parties, and other events that make it to the lifestyle pages. Haven’t seen her in a cocktail party for some one-man show in some gallery though, anyways…

I can be with her for just one day. One darn day that consists of 24 long darn hours that consisted of 60 long darn minutes each. Easy does it huh? I can ask her personal assistant (alalay as Filipinos would call it) to take a day-off while I take care of Maggie’s affairs for that day. Armed with a trusty pen and a stenographer’s notebook, I’ll religiously jot down whatever it was that was needed to be recorded. Be it a shooting for the following day or some taping that she had to go to or even down to the brand of toilet paper she’d need while asking me to do the grocery for her.

Though I may not know kung-fu or may not be skilled in handling a .45 caliber Luger, I’ll try my best to protect the veejay for a day. I can put an umbrella on top of her head to cover her from rains and even open the car doors for her. That’s what personal assistants do after all, or wasn’t it bodyguards? Lol!

It should feel great to experience just one day in the life of a celebrity, an MTV VJ at that. Be Maggie Wilson’s shadow for one day? Why not! It would sure be a cool experience that I can tell my kids someday.

Santino,

I know you are bro's BFF. I have a little prayer for my friend who is in dire need of help.

Please bless Hayden Kho. He is a kind-hearted person and will always be very willing to show and express and sing and make everyone feel his love for them. His singing voice might be unbearable, but he is really a nice person.

Let my idol Hayden still be able to pursue his dream of superstardom. Let no bad and evil old witches block his way towards his dream. He joined Mr. UST more than a decade ago because he wanted to be a movie star someday.

Please bless him because he has been a very obedient son. His parents want him to be a doctor and he followed them despite his heart saying otherwise. Look at his face Santino, he looks very, very nice.

Please let him stay away from old and rich gay benefactors and old and rich single ladies and let him live a peaceful life. He deserves the best in this life and I know he will be through your good graces Santino.

Thank you Santino. Please tell bro to always keep an eye on Hayden Kho. What's showbusiness without Hayden Kho?

All these things we ask and pray in the name of May Bukas Pa,
Amen.

i wrote about this Kevin kid a few YEARS ago and his brand of Asian-American kid kind of comedy stuck on me to the point that I became I fan of his Youtube channel that instantly. He was still in high school back then. However, my instant love for him waned away instantly as well. Not that I found him boring, just that I became busy with work? Lame I know.

Fast forward to June 2009. I was just Youtube video watching when I came across his channel again. This time, I came across two of his videos that stuck on me like a stubborn blackhead on my nose. It's true. Certified must-watch. I was stuck right smack to the innards of my being.

Its been three weeks and its only now that I thought about posting about it.

You see, I've been pretty much hell-bent on making extra money. The more money I get, the better. I guess it's not wrong to be always on the lookout on earning more doughs. And it is because of that I thought about creating something.

A thing that can prove to be beneficial. Something that can be a overnight sensation. Something that people will use. Something that people never actually thought of. Something like transparent powders.

It's true. The most un-vain, un-cosmetically inclined person on earth as thought of an invention that had something to do with women's makeup. I thought about creating transparent powders (on my daydreams) have it patented, and have it sold to big-name cosmetic companies. I was so excited about my idea that I can't wait to go home and tell my mom and sister about it. (I hope my idea would impress them)

So the time came for me to announce my would-be discovery. I told my sister, "I think I thought about something that was never been done before. Something that I thought I have discovered." My sister was just staring at me, "I thought about making transparent powders so that girls can apply as much powder as they can without fearing of an uneven color on their faces because of too much powder."

The moment my sister clapped her hand and a facial expression that almost read like "bravo! bravo!", I instantly thought she was being sarcastic. She told me, "unfortunately, translucent powders have long been out in the market. I guess your discovery was a tad too late." She ended the conversation with a know-it-all smirk on her face.

I guess I still had to find better ways on how to make extra dough after all.

I don't care what people (read as anti-Fed) would say about this but Roger Federer is now officially the Greatest Of All Time, a monicker that people have always been uncomfortable associating the term to him with.

He has equalled Pete Sampras' record of 14 major titles but he has done something that Pete has never done, he has conquered the Roland Garros, a tournament that has almost always been associated with Spanish claycourters.

I've been a Roger Federer fan since he upset Pete Sampras on that fateful match at Wimbledon 8 years ago. People have described his brand of tennis as poetry in motion and since then, everyone has been hooked on and in awe.

To Roger, congratulations! All your fans love you!

Rafa can take the number one ranking as long as he can. Andy can now appease his countrymen by winning his Wimbledons. Novak can mimic other players for as long as he wants, as long as he doesn't fake injuries midmatch. Roddick can finally add to his 2003 US Open. I absolutely care not. Why? Because Roger is the Greatest Ever and all contradictions can now be put on my comments page.

Just a few minutes ago, I received a PM that Marife has been under the Philippine Embassy of Jordan's care and they will go face-to-face with her (devious) master this Sunday.

I hope everything ends really well here.

I feel happy. It started with just ONE POST and the good deed went a LONGGGGG WAY.

God is good.

If I had to nominate who I think should be among the Ten Emerging Influential Blogs of 2009, it should be this blog, Good Times Manila. Can't think of other new blogs. From the time I discovered this blog a few weeks ago, I've been hooked eversince (more than the way Careless Whisper did).

According to the blog itself, it's all about satire. The author (or authors, idk) makes funny stories about celebrities and make them seem real. I have always been silently laughing on my office desk, hoping that my HR head won't catch me giggling.

Go check the blog out. Very funny!