With the Philippine release of King Kong planned for next week, I’ve been seeing a lot of trailers and promotional material on TV. I’m intrigued by the film, but it hasn’t hooked me like Kong director Peter Jackson’s three Lord of the Rings films.

I guess what I’m saying is that unlike PJ himself, whose imagination was captivated by the original Kong film, I have no prior exposure to this material other than parodies and short clips from documentaries on films. In my mind, the giant gorilla is a brutish beast perched on top of the Empire State Building while clutching a scantily-clad woman. Suffice it to say that though this incarnation of Kong supposedly brings out and emphasizes the human element within the beast, I’m not sure I want to spend 130 pesos on it at the box office. I think I’ll wait until it comes out on video.

Maybe I just don’t like gorillas. Ü Mighty Joe Young was not my cup of tea, either.

On a related note, the “making of King Kong” segment shown on Cinemax shows a remarkably slim PJ. People who had been keeping tabs on King Kong‘s production diary had observed the slimming down, but I hadn’t seen anything of Jackson since the Rings film documentaries and Oscar wins. He still has the same hair, though.

Jackson says he did it through a change in diet plus a grueling filming and post-production schedule. How’s that for being productive? You lose weight and finish a film. Ü

* Today’s entry is titled “Kang Kong” intentionally. I used to joke that King Kong’s mate is named Kang Kong and the title is a reflection of my irreverence for the film franchise. Ü

Last night, the 23rd South East Asian Games was declared closed by President Macapagal-Arroyo amid fanfare in Luneta Park. These Games saw the Philippines become overall champion for the first time in the Games’s history with 113 golds, 84 silvers, and 94 bronzes. Tempo has an article wrapping up the medal tally, and it seems that the only sports where we turned up medal-less were badminton and football.

I’ve been watching the coverage all week, and my heart has leapt within me every time a Philippine athlete wins. It even got to the point where I stood up each time they played our national anthem. Ü Our athletes (homegrown and balikbayan) did their best to bring honor for the country; Philippine tourism benefits from the exposure of not only Manila, but various other scenic sites where the Games’s sports were staged. Overall, the Games are something to be proud of and to smile about.

POSIBLE: During the interminably long commercial breaks, the only commercial I was fond of seeing was Globe Telecom’s “Posible” commercial. Rivermaya’s inspirational song combined with Filipino athletes showing off their skills made me want to get out there and win something. Alas, I am no athlete.

GOOD AND BAD: The good news is that after this huge win Philippine SEA Games athletes will be treated to a free vacation courtesy of the Philippine Tourism Authority. President Macapagal-Arroyo even thinks this will be the beginning of the Philippines becoming a sports power in Asia. That may be difficult to do, if the bad news happens. Next year the Philippine Sports Commission’s budget could be slashed to 27 million pesos, down from its 107 million peso budget this year. Boo to the Department of Budget and Management for recommending the budget cut. Really, really stupid.

RELATED LINKS: I have a SEA Games tennis wrap-up at my tennis blog. Arybba talks about her experience organizing the SEA Games. Ganns talks about Philippine victories in 2005. Also, INQ7.net has the full list of Philippine gold medalists.

My posts about the South East Asian Games brought in a lot of search traffic on:

• sea+games+cheating
• globe+telecom+23rd+sea+games+commercial
• WHAT+IS+THE+NAME+OF+THE+MASCOT…

I was planning on writing a longer wrap-up post about my impressions on the SEA Games tomorrow, but I’ll answer the last search query tonight. According to the television commentators, the mascot‘s name is Gilas (Excellence), and he’s an eagle (agila in Filipino).

UPDATE: I also got linked to from a thread on the AsiaFinest forum.

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?

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I promised to myself that I would read the Lord of the Rings books once every year, and ever since Fellowship of the Ring came out in the theaters I’ve done so. That is, except for this year.

I started re-reading Fellowship of the Ring around March of this year but only got as far as “Concerning Hobbits” before I had to put it down and attend to other time-wasting activities. Ü I think I’ll read it during my “Christmas break.”

I was listening to the radio on the way back from bringing Marielle to work when I heard that a Thai official has accused the Philippines of cheating at the South East Asian Games. Jaruk Areerajakaran, the secretary general of Thailand’s Olympic Committee, said, “It is hard to win at the Games because the hosts are cheating.” Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s Prime Minister, made a statement that “the organizer aims only to favor their own athletes.”

How in the world can the Philippines, the organizer of the 23rd SEA Games, be cheating? For game-fixing to work in the massive undertaking that are the Games, there has to be a huge conspiracy with palm-greasing and pocket-lining all around (and we all know the Philippines can’t afford that, right?). The Philippine SEA Games organizing committee released a statement that says officiating is conducted not by the organizers themselves, but by the SEA Games Federation’s pool of international referees and judges.

My interest in this was so piqued that I wasn’t satisfied with local news reporting on it. I did a Google search for international news about it. The Bangkok Post reports that a few days before the official start to the Games, a Vietnamese official had told reporters in Hanoi that the Philippines had already fixed the games to win the overall crown. Nguyen Van Minh declared that the Philippines would do this by using judges from the Southeast Asian region. All I have to say about that is “Hello? It’s the South East Asian Games.” If there’s any bias to be had from using judges and referees from Southeast Asia, it might be that they’ll decide in favor of their own country. That’s why if the Philippines is playing, no Filipino judge or referee will be officiating.

The Philippines leads the medal standings (gold and overall) with five days left in these Games; Vietnam and Thailand are in second and third place, respectively. I won’t say this is for certain, but considering the source of the accusations I wonder if it’s just the sour grapes talking.

No offense meant to the citizens of Thailand and Vietnam. But their officials’ accusations are simply unbelievable.

UPDATE: Thai sports officials apologize for “inappropriate, baseless” report; Thai embassy says Thaksin’s remarks taken out of context.

If anyone can tell me why I’m the first person in a room to be bitten by mosquitoes, I’d be happier. Well, not really happier because I’d still be bitten, but at least I’d know why it happens.

Is it because I release more carbon dioxide than the next person? Is it my slightly warmer body temperature (only applicable when I have my period)? Do I have some sort of insects appeal?

I think I might have to start wearing insect repellent round the clock. If only it didn’t smell so nasty and lotion-y, though…

Many, many years ago, my parents took me to see Supergirl: the Movie. I don’t really remember seeing its first run, but I do remember (and have a picture of) being dressed up in a Supergirl costume.

Later on, my parents bought me a Supergirl Which-Way Book, akin to the Choose Your Own Adventure series of books. I enjoyed the book immensely even as I started getting confused with all the Golden Age/Silver Age/whatever that DC Comics had perpertrated in its universe, and Supergirl was changed from being Superman’s cousin to being Matrix, a completely different alien creature.

Today my dad called me and asked me if I wanted the Supergirl DVD. When he came home with it, to my joy it was the Director’s Cut which features scenes that were cut from the final version shown in movie theaters and on cable television. Ü I never realized how much I love this old movie until I found it in my hands. It’s playing on my laptop as I type this, and I love it as much now for its fantasy storyline as well as its campy graphics and effects. If you’re interested (like I am), you can read more about Supergirl: The Movie.

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For those people who got to this site looking for more information on tennis at the SEA Games, I’m writing about that on Game, Ms. Noelle, my pro tennis journal. Cecil Mamiit and Eric Taino helped seal the gold medal for the Philippines in the team tennis competition. They are both entered in the singles and doubles event that started today at 10am.

My dad and I made the requisite appearance at Lung Center’s food market this Sunday morning. Normally it’s my mom, my sister, and I who go there to buy fresh produce such as eggs, vegetables, fruit, and the odd loaf of Uncle George’s sugar-free high-fiber bread.

Today we just bought the bread, some taho, longganisa, and grilled catfish. My dad likes going to the wet part of the market where they have fresh cuts of meat and live fish. His favorite part are the field frogs still jumping in a large mesh bag, waiting for the exotic food connoisseur to come along and… I don’t even want to think about that. My dad took me past that mesh bag two times! The frogs jumped, I jumped, the frogs jumped, I jumped.

We bought the grilled catfish last. As we were paying for it, I noticed a tub of live catfish at my feet. One of the fish was discreetly trying to make its escape and wriggled up and out of the tub. It landed splat on the outdoor cement floor of the market. I let out a little “Oh!” but the fish vendor didn’t notice.

The catfish wriggled onwards. Bystanders started murmuring. “Uy! Namamasyal! (It’s taking a stroll!)” said one of them. The fish had gotten three or four feet away before the vendor caught it and sent it back to the tub along with the other catfish.

It’s probably now waiting for some food connoisseur to come along and… Ü

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Pat Morita died last week of natural causes. Mr. Miyagi, we shall miss you. Wax on, wax off in peace. (Link via Brownpau.)

Five weeks ago, I had no idea that the South East Asian Games were taking place right here in the Philippines. In fact, it took a Singaporean friend’s excitement over the SEA Games to make me aware of it.

On Sunday, November 27, the SEA Games will officially commence. For the past four weeks I’ve seen banners and billboards from Globe Telecom celebrating its status as official telecom partner of the SEA Games. this whole week at UP Diliman the Pre-SEA Games Conference on Sports Science was held at the Film Center and Bahay ng Alumni. This morning as I walked through Holiday Inn Galleria’s lobby to take the elevator down to my car (I’d come from Gold’s Gym Galleria), I saw that the hotel was an official partner hotel for the SEA Games as well: part of the delegation from Singapore was checking in at the front desk. I think they were the badminton team, since there were several Yonex badminton racquet bags lying on a table near them.

Still, I don’t feel much fanfare about these Games. The Malaysian Star reports that you wouldn’t even know the biggest sporting event in the region was going to kick off here in Manila.

From the Malaysian Star:
The planes into the Ninoy Aquino International Airport are packed with incoming athletes and officials. But step out of the airport, and it’s just another day in the town.

There are hardly any banners to herald the 23rd SEA Games, which begin in two days. There is no excitement and even the mascot, the eagle, is nowhere in sight.

At the airport, though, singing girls and bands welcome the Games “families” and Immigration and Customs clearance is a breeze while policemen and security personnel greet visitors with big smiles.

The Malaysian Star also reports that the Malaysian athletes are being crammed into small hotel rooms (three athletes to a 10-foot by 10-foot room) even though the Olympic Council of Malaysia is paying for the accommodations.

While I’m honored that the Philippines is hosting the Games, I’m embarrassed that they come at this time of political turmoil and financial belt-tightening. That the SEA Games are being used as a diplomatic tool (akin to India and Pakistan’s “cricket diplomacy”) isn’t much of a morale-booster, either.

To know more about the Philippine involvement with the SEA Games, the Philippine Daily Inquirer has a good write-up on it. The article doesn’t have what I really want to know, though, and that is: where are they going to hold the Games’s tennis tournament? Ü

UPDATE: a fellow tennis-obsessed friend of mine found two articles (Manila Standard and Inquirer) on Cecil Mamiit and Eric Taino representing the Philippines at the SEA Games tennis tournament in Rizal Memorial Stadium (where else?). The two Fil-Ams play on the ATP Tour and represented the US up until this year.

The last time I focused totally on watching an international beauty pageant was the Miss Universe pageant held here in Manila many years ago. After that, I didn’t bother to keep up with the whole shebang of glitz and glamour. (Well, I made an exception for Miriam Quiambao.)

Ganns kind of changed that for me in the case of this year’s Miss World. He’s been writing enthusiastically about the Philippine candidate, Carlene Aguilar. I didn’t care much whether we won, but when Ganns posted that most oddsmakers find her the favorite, it got me thinking that the Philippines actually has a serious chance of winning. I mean, Miss International was won this year by Precious Lara Quigaman, one of ours. Miss World actually solicits votes for candidates from viewers; if we could just vote enough to get Carlene into the final… The last time I tried to vote, however, the Miss World site asked for a credit card; voting was on a pay basis.

Then one morning, I spotted a commercial on ABC5 detailing how people could vote through their cellphones. It took me a few days more before I actually went ahead and voted, but here’s how to vote. I’m duplicating info from Ganns’s site, but I think that voting instructions should get as much exposure as possible.

• Globe subscribers: text “mw 114” to 2345.
• Smart subscribers: text “mw 114” to 2441.

Both networks charge P2.50 per SMS.

Vote now! Vote often! Vote for Carlene Aguilar!