Hectic Weekend, ad infinitum

Well, it was a hectic weekend. So many things to write about, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to write it all up. C'est la vie.

Here are the main points of the weekend:

1. Last Saturday, Hazel and I attended Gabby's school's orientation on transferring to a big school. The director, Marlo, gave the overview of the various schools, from all-girls to all-boys to co-ed. I wasn't able to take much part in the discussion, as I was busy going after Gabby as she ran around the school grounds.

2. In the afternoon, my sister Angelie and I attended Lori's baking demo at the Nestle building at Rockwell. I'll probably be able to do a write up on this within the week, but, to give a short version, the demo was well-attended, the recipes were interesting and doable, and the eating of the desserts afterwards was heavenly.

3. Sunday, I brought Gabby, along with Angelie and my brother Buddy, to Gateway. Buddy went off on his own trek, while the three of us watched the animated feature, "The Ant Bully." I'll probably write more about this in a separate post as well.

4. When we got back, I caught the game between Ateneo and UST on TV. Unlike the first game, which was a blowout by Ateneo, the UST Growling Tigers, coached by former PBA great Pido Jarencio, were determined not to be humiliated twice. Despite the fact that UST was playing without four key players, the Tigers broke the Eagles' 8-game winning streak, with an 88-80 win in overtime. The Eagles actually had a chance to keep the streak going, but they failed to protect a 3-point lead with 10 seconds left in regulation time. With three games left, and the UE Red Warriors breathing down their backs, the Eagles have to regroup and find their winning form to stay atop the UAAP senior basketball ranks.

5. At the end of the day, I found myself sick with the flu, complete with headache, fever, and runny nose. Actually, I was already in bad shape yesterday morning, but I decided to tough it out so that Gabby wouldn't be disappointed, considering I'd promised her we'd watch. I paid for it in the evening. I'm still a little shaky today, but, with exams just around the corner, I can't afford to be absent. I can collapse after this week's done.

Whew! Semi-long post, due to the weekend business. Next weekend, all I have on the calendar is the first year birthday party of one of my friends' sons, so maybe I'll be able to get a little rest then.

Maybe.

The Guimaras Oil Spill

The Guimaras oil spill, caused when tanker M/T Solar I sank amidst stormy weather two weeks ago, is one of the worst environmental disasters in Philippine history. So far, about 200,000 liters of bunker oil has spread throughout the Guimaras and Iloilo coastline, contaminating the said areas, and threatening the delicate ecological balance of the marine life.

For the past two weeks, we have been bombarded with images and video taken from the affected areas. Dead, oil-encrusted turtles, fish and shellfish are held up to the camera, evoking the expected dismay.

All the while, the government seems to be moving with leaden feet, which compounds the disaster because, while the government dilly-dallys, the oil spreads out further, threatening more areas.

What’s disgusting is that Petron, which hired the tanker in the first place, is washing its hands of the situation and saying that it is not responsible for the disaster, and that it’s the tanker owner, Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. (SMDC) which should pay the cost of the clean-up.

How can the people at Petron absolve themselves from any liability since it was their company which hired the tanker and probably ordered the tanker to travel in bad weather? How can Petron spokeswoman Virginia Ruivivar, who has become the public face of Petron in these troubled times, say that Petron is not responsible?

In addition, how can she say that, based on an aerial survey, the tanker is no longer leaking, when the people on the ground, who are probably a lot closer to the spill, are saying that it’s still spewing oil into the sea?

It seems to me that Petron is more concerned about covering its proverbial ass than it is about helping the people affected recover from a disaster that is Petron’s. This is why I, personally, will no longer buy Petron products, and I’d like to call on everybody to do the same, for the company to realize that, while it believes it is blameless for the tragedy, not many agree.

Aside: Did you know that, compared to the Exxon Valdez disaster, this is a relatively small spill? While Solar I spilled 200,000 liters of oil into the environment, the Exxon Valdez spewed 11 to 30 million gallons of oil onto Alaskan shores. You look at the horrific damage in Guimaras, and try to imagine what it was like on Prince William Sound when the oil from the Valdez hit it.

Fantasy Baseball Musing

If you're not into baseball, come back tomorrow or Friday. This is a bit of a long one.

Ever since I got into baseball back in the 80s, I’ve always been fascinated with fantasy baseball, having read about it in my baseball magazines. Imagine building your own team made up of major league players, and managing it through the season against other armchair managers. Unfortunately, since I live in the Philippines, where basketball is king, it was (and still is) almost impossible to find enough people to form a league, and equally as impossible to find a newspaper that printed the box scores from the daily games.

Then, came the Internet, which made playing online fantasy baseball (as well as basketball, and whatever sport one is into) possible. Now, instead of looking for other opponents locally, I can log onto the Internet, and find a host of possible opponents.

I first started playing fantasy baseball about six years ago. Back then, I was logged on to smallworld.com, whose baseball game was akin to playing stocks and bonds. Each manager in a league was given a budget of 50 million points to spend on a team, and each major league player had a dollar value, which would go up or down depending on how many managers added the player to his or her team.

The strategy was basically “buy low, sell high.” A good manager would have increased the value of his team quite a bit by the time the season was done; my teams normally had a value of 75 million when the season ended.

Then, The Sporting News bought Smallworld, and began charging fees for people to be able to play, so I stopped.

Three years ago, I learned of Yahoo! Sports fantasy baseball, which was closer to the fantasy baseball I’d read about in the past. In Yahoo!’s version, managers draft a team composed of one player for each position, two starting pitchers, two relief pitchers, three pitchers (can either be starters or relievers), and a bench of about five players/pitchers. The player pool can either be National League(NL)-only, American League(AL)-only, or mixed.

There are several ways to play, although I prefer the classic Rotisserie style. The stats of your starting players are compiled and ranked against up to eleven other managers. The following stats are ranked: runs(R), home runs(HR), runs batted in(RBI), stolen bases(SB), batting average(Avg), wins(W), saves(SV), strikeouts(K), earned run average(ERA), and walks + runs/innings pitched(WHIP). Each manager is awarded points based on each ranking: 12 for first, 11 for second, and so on. Adding all of these points up gives the team the division ranking.

Normally, every March, I build two teams, so that, if one team tanks, at least I have another team with which to try and do better. This year is a mixed bag, as the Dojoboys are currently at 6^th place (out of 12), and unlikely to go higher than 3^rd or 4^th. However, in my other division, the Blue Eagles have finally established a degree of dominance, reaching the top about three weeks ago, and currently pulling away from the pack. With a little luck, I’ll continue having a winning team for the third year in a row. You can see the Dojoboys' lineup here, and the Blue Eagles are here.

At the risk of sounding like an expert, what have learned in six years of playing? Here are some tips for the starting fantasy player:

 

1. If you can draft the team yourself, that’s well and good. If not, be prepared to do a complete revamp of your team.

Since I don’t have the time to participate in a live draft, although I would dearly love to do so, I simply set an auto-draft option, and am placed with eleven other managers who did the same thing. Unfortunately, this means that the computer will do the drafting for me, and it’s never really perfect. I’ll normally wind up the season with four or five of the players I originally started out with. 

2. As much as possible, playing fantasy ball is a daily business.

Even if Yahoo! does allow me to set my lineup days in advance, I still try to check the box scores on a daily basis, looking for players on a hot streak, or players who’ve been dropped by other teams, or, on the down side, players who’ve been placed on the disabled list. 

3. Players who can play multiple positions are worth their weight in gold.

The nice thing about players who can play multiple positions is that it makes planning my lineup all the more flexible. This season, players like Nomar Garciaparra (Dodgers, 1B,3B,SS) and Mark deRosa (Texas, 2B,3B,SS, OF) have helped the Blue Eagles reach the top. However, single position players who have nice hitting stats, like Vernon Wells (Toronto, OF) and Aramis Ramirez (Chicago, 3B) can also contribute.

4. Keep a close eye on the waiver wire.

Be ready to snatch up players who’ve been dropped by other teams for poor play, but may still bounce back. That’s how the Dojoboys got Garciaparra and Aubrey Huff (Houston, 1B,3B,OF), and how the Blue Eagles acquired Cleveland pitcher C.C.Sabathia.

Be on the lookout for players who may be on the verge of a breakout season, or key rookies who’ve been treated cautiously by other managers. The Blue Eagles got rookie sensation pitchers Jonathan Papelbon (Boston), Jason Verlander (Detroit), and Jered Weaver (Angels) that way.

5. Do your research.

Since I don’t have time to watch any games on a regular basis, the Internet is my source for tips on which players to drop or add.

Particularly key is keeping an eye on closers, the source of saves and K’s. This is a very volatile position, as closers either become injured or ineffective fairly regularly. Take note of who a team is relying on to close games, and adjust your relief corps accordingly.

6. Don’t dump a category.

Category-dumping is abandoning a stat, like home runs, for example, and trying to build teams based on average, or stolen bases. This isn’t advisable, as a team has to be competitive in all aspects in order to finish first. In a way, this is similar to some teams which load up on power hitters and neglect pitching; the Texas Rangers are historically notorious for this.

7. There is no room for sentiment.

Sure, I like “The Big Hurt” Frank Thomas, and I like Greg Maddux, and I’d love to add them to my team. But, Thomas is only good for one position (Utility), and I’m not sure if Maddux will be able to keep it up down the stretch for the Dodgers, and both players are on the downside of their careers, impressive as they might be.

The Blue Eagles had Jeff Kent (Dodgers), whom I traded for Garciaparra, and I’ve never looked back, as Kent, whom I had on last year’s Eagles team and was a big contributor then, has been placed on the DL twice this season. It looks like he’s hit the proverbial wall. On the other hand, I think I held on to catcher Mike Piazza (San Diego) a little too long, hoping that his old power was still with him. It was, but he’s been sharing time with Josh Bard, and I can’t seem to figure out when Piazza’s starting, so I dropped him.

8. When trading, make doubly sure that you will benefit from it.

Trading in an auto-draft league is difficult, because managers are a choosy lot, always wanting the best value for their players, which is as it should be. As a result, the difficulty lies in finding the right match of players.

I got lucky with the two trades I made for the Blue Eagles. The first was to give up Kent for Garciaparra, as Nomar’s on track for the Comeback Player of the Year award, leading the Dodgers in hitting. The other was trading pitcher Dontrelle Willis (Florida) for Scott Kazmir (Tampa Bay). While this was a good trade in itself, I also got third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who has managed to bring his batting average up to a respectable level, hitting homeruns often enough to count.

There is no monetary award at the end of the season for fantasy baseball managers, only the satisfaction of having guided one's team to victory.

One Night at Shakey's

Last night, Hazel and I had dinner with some friends at Shakey's Katipunan. Two of our friends had come from the U.S. on vacation, and it was a chance to get together and catch up on things.

Dinner went pretty well, as we ordered the Grand Slam pizza (which we weren't able to finish), and two orders of Chick 'n Chips, which was hungrily devoured. And, all the while, the talk ranged from gossip to Europe to what other friends were currently up to. All this amidst laughter and warmth of people who hadn't seen one another in a while.

The only sour note, although we joked about it, was the infernally slow service. Now, Shakey's, particularly the Katipunan branch, is legendary for rather poor service, but I thought that the management fixed whatever problems they had; in previous outings to Shakey's (not Katipunan), I didn't have any cause to complain about the service.

First of all, the waiter took a long time to get the payment from us. Finally, I brought it directly to the counter, where the manager looked pointedly at the waiter for not having gotten it in the first place. Then, when we asked the same waiter to have the remaining slices of pizza wrapped, he told us that he'd come back for it, which would mean that it would take a while before he'd get around to doing it. This time, Angel and Aloi were the ones to bring the large platter back to the manager, whom I think should probably give his staff a dressing down for the poor service that they rendered.

I guess we could've forgiven it if it was a busy night, but it was relatively quiet in Shakey's. Apparently, they're determined to keep the legend alive, at all costs.

Cynical Me

In today's edition of The Philippine Daily Inquirer, former Senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta apologized for her arrogant jig at the impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada, saying that she has a "renewed relationship with God," inspired by her mother and her brother, the late Sen. Ninoy Aquino, whose death anniversary is being remembered today.

I can't help but feel a little cynical, considering that the good senator is eyeing another run at the Senate in next year's elections, along with other former senators John Osmena, Tito Sotto, and Gringo Honasan. Could this change of heart be timed with that goal, to act the penitent to win the hearts of the voting faithful? It's cynical, true, but I've seen too much "conversion" in our public officials that fails to ring true to me.

Oh, well. Maybe we should give Aquino-Oreta another chance; at least she found the courage to publicly apologize, which is something lacking in many of our public officials.

Miscellaneous

No classes today, thanks to the commemoration of the death anniversary of Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr, which gives me a little time to catch up on my backlog, and get a little rest before the grading period comes to an end in three weeks.

Yesterday, the Ateneo Blue Eagles broke loose midway in the fourth quarter, and put away the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 98-88, to maintain a spotless record, with four games to go. It's nice to see the Blue Eagles doing so well this season.

Also, two alumni Eagles were drafted in the Philippine Basketball Association's rookie draft yesterday at Market!Market! Standout guard L.A. Tenorio was taken by San Miguel, fourth overall, and solid guard Magnum Membrere was drafted by Red Bull (aside: is Red Bull trying to recreate the Blue Eagles in the PBA?) in the second round, 19th overall. Although I'm happy that Membrere was drafted, I'm wondering if he'll have an impact in the PBA. He was pretty solid in Ateneo, but will that be enough in the professional league? We'll just have to wait and see.

Macadamia!

Last night, we decided to make use of the discount promo offered by Fleur de Lys and dessertcomesfirst, and had dessert. Hazel ordered The Next Best Thing, that lovely, warm and gooey chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream on the side. Gabby ordered the carrot cake, although she really only eats the icing, particularly the “carrots.”

I decided to try something new, and tried the macadamia nut pie, with its pistachio ice cream on the side.

And was promptly blown away by the buttery, caramel, nutty flavor of it all. The ice cream only served to heighten the flavor of a truly wonderful dessert.

Ateneo's Winning Streak

It was a nail-biter of a game, but, in the end, the Ateneo Blue Eagles managed to put away a determined Adamson Falcons team, 66-65, through the efforts of J.C. Intal and Macky Escalona. Unlike the pasting the Blue Eagles gave the UST Tigers at the close of the first round of play, the Falcons, through the heroics of Bono, Hugnatan, and Cabahug, fought the Eagles tooth and nail all the way to the very end. 

Intal put Ateneo ahead to stay with a gutsy put-up basket with 8.9 seconds to go, and Escalona made sure it stayed that way with a great defensive stop on Adamson guard Polayapoy, deflecting the ball away from the Adamson guard. Intal pounced on the ball, and the referee blew the whistle and gave the ball to Ateneo, with 1.4 seconds to go. The ball was inbounded to Chris Tiu, who wisely threw the ball high up in the air before he could get whacked by a hard foul.

The win kept Ateneo’s record unblemished, riding a seven-game winning streak. The junior team has also managed to keep a clean record, making it the first time (I think) both teams haven’t lost this late into the UAAP basketball season.

What I’ve liked about what I’ve seen of this current season is that Ateneo is playing team basketball, no Kobe Bryant-type team this. While there are standouts like Intal, Escalona and Doug Kramer, each player seems to know and accept his role in the scheme of things, not letting ego get in the way of playing as a team. Right now, both the senior and junior squads are playing like well-oiled machines, and are reaping the benefits.

If there’s only one regret about this season, it’s that La Salle is suspended and unable to play, because of the infraction they committed regarding the eligibility of former players Benitez and Gatchalian. Without La Salle as a foil, the Blue Eagles have run roughshod over the other teams, although I’m sure that La Sallian wags are saying that the only reason for that is the absence of their team from the cage wars.

Oh, well. It doesn’t matter to me. It's enough that I’m enjoying what is probably one of the best seasons the Ateneo basketball teams are having.

Interesting Questions

Yesterday, when I was discussing plagiarism with my first year classes, one of my students posed an interesting question: "If hiring someone to write one's composition is plagiarism, then are the politicians who have scriptwriters or ghostwriters do their speeches guilty of plagiarism?"

I was at a loss at how to answer the question.

Oh, on another note, something I came across in the book "America: Democracy Inaction": if the word "progress" (boldface mine) means "advance" or "gradual betterment," then does it mean that "congress" (again, boldface mine) is the opposite?

Just a thought.

Errata: I goofed on the congress quote. It didn't come from the book (although if you read "America: Democracy Inaction", it probably might make you think that.), but from a question posed to one of my co-teachers from one of her students.

My bad.

TV Monster

Yeah, it's been a while. But here I am again, up and about.

A friend of mine forwarded this bit about TV host Kris Aquino to me. Apparently, she got it from someone else.

" I never liked Kris Aquino. But I never disliked her either. I feel
indifferent where she's concerned - until recently.

You see, I have this 14-year-old niece who, only God knows why, is
a die-hard Kris Aquino fan. Case in point, her name starts with
a "G", but she wears a necklace with a "K" pendant. Also, she tells
her friends that she's really an adopted child and that her real
Mother is former president Cory Aquino. Crazy kid.

And of course, like any other fan, she buys stuff Kris endorses -
bags, fragrances, jewelry - everything! So, when the family
(meaning my brothers, my sisters - the whole immediate clan)
learned of this "cute" idiosyncrasy, we were supportive.
Kunsintidor, even.

My sister-in-law, who used to play bit parts in movies, (she's
really pretty, by the way), arranged for us to get seats at the
taping of Kris' show, Game Ka Na Ba? Needless to say, my niece was
thrilled.

So, yesterday, a Wednesday, taping for the Game Ka Na Ba? Celebrity
edition
episode, my niece and I, together with her sister and some of my
friends, went to ABS CBN to watch the absurdly (in)famous Kris
Aquino.

Anyhow, I was happy to see my nieces really excited; especially
since the younger one just got out of the hospital because of
Dengue, plus the fact that I rarely see them since they stay in the
province. They were chatting away endlessly in the cab on way to
the studio about how they would embrace Kris when they see her;
that they're sure she smells nice; that their friends back in Nueva
Ecija would just die with envy when they see the pictures; that
James Yap is the luckiest guy ever; that Josh must be spoiled with
Kris' love; that she's just perfect; and so on.

They both looked really pretty, too - new clothes, neat hair, clean
nails, and with "just the right jewelry". They said they didn't
want Kris to think they're from a "bad family." They wanted to
impress her.

We were at the audience entrance by 4pm, and were fetched right
away by one of the ABS CBN people (VIP, diba?). Unfortunately,
kids weren't allowed to sit with the audience so my nieces were
given "special" seats near Kris' dressing room, where they got a
better view of the show that was taking place.

Me? I was clapping with the audience in step with the Game Ka Na Ba?
theme. Itchyworms was guest band so it wasn't that bad.

And so after being subjected to clapping till my hands hurt, I was
advised that I could then take a picture of my nieces with Kris. It
was 7.30pm. Despite the long wait, my nieces were really excited
and they were smiling from ear to ear.

I could see that Kris, for some reason, was not thrilled at all
with the picture-taking thing. I was hoping though that she would
pretend delight for my nieces' sake - after all they're kids who
adore her!

But as I was about to take the picture, she said: "That's not a
nice angle, pa-vertical mas maganda." I adjusted my camera, but
realized they were standing against the light. So I shifted to the
original horizontal angle. "Vertical sabi, eh!" She said, in her
shrilly, irritating voice. I bit my lip and shut my mouth because I
wanted to the take the picture for my niece. So I angled the camera
vertically as she said, but placed the camera lower, angling it in
a way that the light behind her head won't be captured.

"Not like that," she shouted. "Up. Move it up! UP!!!" Motioning for
me to move the camera up, so the picture would be taken top-view.
Then she actually grabbed my arm and pushed upward!

The nerve of that woman to treat me like that!!! I wanted to slap
her and say: "What the f*k for? You look like the same sl*t
whatever angle it may be!"

Instead I said, levelly, "You're against the light, Kris, I can't
take the shot that way."

"Eh, may flash naman yan diba?" she retorted in her shrilly, nasal,
voice.

I wanted to spit on her overly made-up face right there and then!
For someone who pretends she's smart, that was a really stupid
remark! With dripping sarcasm, I said. "Exactly, over-exposed yan.
Move a little please."

She did so but impatiently and crossly, almost knocking my niece
over. I took the picture and she smiled right on cue, then she
fled. My younger niece, who I thought was oblivious to the tension,
didn't pose with her sister and shouted, almost tearfully, "ANG
SUNGIT MO NAMAN, KRIS!"

My heart almost broke. I wanted to kill Kris. Then I looked at my
other niece, the one who swore would change her family name to
Aquino one day, and saw that her eyes were downcast. She looked
like she was trying really hard not to cry. Then she said
quietly, "Ang pangit pala ng ugali nun."

I checked the digital picture that I took - Kris' smile was
flawless, without a trace of the monstrosity she just displayed.
And kid beside her, my niece, looked like she just realized that
she was having her picture taken with a two-faced monster.

"Baka she's tired lang, Gelline," I told my niece."Kahit na! Kame
nga galing pa ng Nueva Ecija tapos di pa kame dinner, naghintay
kame para lang sa picture, tapos binastos ka pa niya! SALBAHE
SIYA!" she replied, clearly bitter and sulking.

You know what's the worst thing about this whole scene? It's the
fact that I'm sure Kris doesn't know and couldn't care any less
that she just hurt two loving kids who did nothing wrong except
chose her as their "idol".

And it's inexplicable how Kris can get away with her unacceptable
manner: she's tactless, she's an advocate of gossip and scandal,
and she's an epitome of a woman with loose morals.

Kris makes me sick.

Clearly, this proves the legends wrong, monsters don't lurk inside
the closet - they're on TV."

The incident doesn't surprise me one bit.

When Kris Aquino was in college, she took up judo as a P.E., and her class was required to attend a juniors tournament at the Quezon Memorial Circle. The judo officials, recognizing her, invited her to "say a few inspiring words to the young judokas."

Her "words"?

She said, "Actually, we were only required to come here to get a free cut, eh. And I think I'm going to drop my course in Ateneo because it's so violent."

Since this occured before she became a movie/TV celebrity, nothing she has done after the tournament, i.e., her tryst with Philip Salvador, her emotional breakup with Joey Marquez, etc., has surprised me. As one of my teachers once said, "I have ceased to be amazed."

'Nuff said.

Blast from the Past - Archon

I've been wanting for the longest time to write about old games, commonly known as abandonware, but now's the only time I've had to sit down, and think about what I'd wanted to say. So, this will probably be the first of several posts which will cover the various games that I played when I, along with the computers, was younger.

Back in the days when computers were limited to just 640KB of memory, and hard disks were still in their infancy, the games we played relied more on solid game play and creative strategy rather than vivid and realistic graphics.

One of these games was Archon, a chess-type game wherein, to be able to ‘eat’ the piece whose square your piece landed on, you had to defeat the piece in an arcade-style shootout.

In Archon, there are two sides, the dark and the light side. Each side has its own unique pieces, and, for some of these pieces, their own unique powers. For example, the light side has the genie, which can fire projectiles at a quick pace, while the dark has the shapeshifter, with the ability to mimic the form and abilities of the piece whose square the shapeshifter enters.

In some cases, the powers are the same, but the application is different. The light side’s phoenix has a field ability, which drains the life of any piece in that field, but the phoenix remains immobile but impregnable in its field. The dark side’s banshee has the same field ability; however, it can move the field around, but it can still be hit in the field.

Each side is led by a magic-user: the wizard commands the light forces, while the sorceress commands the dark. Each leader has an array of spells that they can use. They may either heal or resurrect their minions, shift time so that the progression of light to dark changes, or summon elementals to fight for them.

The color of the square the piece is standing has an effect on the life force of the piece. A dark piece attacking a light piece on a light square has a lower life force than it normally has, and vice versa. There are squares whose color is set, while the middle vertical and horizontal lanes shift colors from turn to turn. Woe is the piece that gets caught in its opposing square.

At the points of these lanes, and at the center, are five squares with blinking points. No spells may be cast on these squares by the leaders.

The object of the game is simple: either control the five power squares across the board, or eliminate all of the opposing pieces.

While I’ve been able to win consistently with either side, I do prefer the dark side because it has two of the more powerful pieces, the shapeshifter and the basilisk. Used properly, the shapeshifter can be used to eliminate the more powerful pieces, and the basilisk’s prodigious fire rate makes it a great attacker.

My normal strategy is to first eliminate the light side versions of the basilisk, the unicorn, by either teleporting the basilisk or the shapeshifter onto its square, or summoning a fire elemental, which fires at the same rate as the basilisk and unicorn. After that, phoenix is the next to fall, because the computer AI will resurrect the most powerful piece first, which will either be the phoenix or the genie. And so, the resurrection is wasted on the phoenix.

The remaining pieces will normally fall one by one; except for the leader, none of them have the firing speed of the basilisk. The pieces to watch out for are the wizard and the knights. The wizard is blindingly fast, and you’ll only normally fight it on the light square, so expect to lose a piece or two trying to take it down.

The knights (and the dark’s goblins) are annoying because, if you miss the first time around, they move too quickly to get your aim right; by then, they’ll have pummeled your piece into extinction.

The nice part is that Archon is still playable at its original speed on the faster computers of today, unlike some of its compatriots, which are impossible to play on the Pentium (ever try the original Wing Commander? I died in the first five seconds.). 

Archon is a nice little game to play if you have some time, and want to relieve some stress.

Want to try it out? Download it at this site.

Food Updates

It'll probably be a while before I can go back to posting on a regular basis, what with schoolwork piling up around me. Still, here are some quick shots:

My friend Lori, the food writer, has a promo going with Fleur de Lys, that wonderful patisserie on Tomas Morato. For the rest of the month, until August 31, if you present the coupon from her blog at Fleur de Lys, you'll be given a 10% discount for dine in, and 5% for take out. That's good news for patrons like me and Hazel, who adore a lot of the desserts and dishes at Fleur de Lys.

Last week, I celebrated my birthday with my family at Chili's on Tomas Morato. This would only be the second time I'd been to Chili's; the last time was years ago. I decided to order the Citrus Fire Chicken and Shrimp, which was their margarita-marinated grilled chicken breast and shrimp, topped off with a generous helping of salsa. The cilantro in the salsa was patently obvious, and gave a spicy flavor to the whole dish. The taste reminded me of the Diablo pasta of the now-defunct Angelino's, which I loved.

We also had their triple play appetizer, which included buffalo wings, southwestern egg rolls (think of a fried burrito), and breaded chicken strips. That was pretty good, although I miss the buffalo wings of Don Henrico's which are gigantic, and zesty.

Last Sunday, Hazel had a hankering to go shopping, so we dropped off Caitlin at my parents' house and we brought Gabby with us to SM City. They went shopping, while I lined up patiently at Mann Hann, as there were about four groups ahead of us. Nothing special was ordered, just our regular fare: yang chow fried rice, spicy spareribs and spicy squid. I love Mann Hann's spicy squid; the breading is crunchy, with the occasional sili slice stuck in, and the squid is tender and juicy. I think I finished off most of it.

Finally, I had lunch at Chocolate Kiss in UP with my old choir master from UPSCA last Monday. We both ordered the Sate Ayam and Nasi Goreng, which is an Indonesian dish consisting of barbequed chicken, peanut sauce, and fried rice, topped off with a fried egg. It was nicely nutty and spicy, rich in flavor and texture. Yummy.

If my budget were larger, I'd try eating out more often, as there's a lot of good food out there.

Arrogant Officials

I wish that I’d been the one to write about it.

In yesterday’s Philippine Star, writer Marichu Villanueva writes of the way Injustice Secretary Raul Gonzalez prevented Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairperson Ma. Elena Bautista from being arrested, despite the fact that there was a warrant against her for indirect contempt, issued by Judge Afable Cajigal of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court. The reason for the contempt was because Bautista ignored a court order regarding the non-compliance of the transfer of franchise between two bus companies.

In preventing the arrest, Gonzalez and Bautista made use of Bureau of Immigration facilities, and quickly cobbled together a motion of reconsideration that was immediately transmitted to the judge’s sala.

Villanueva has some interesting points. One is that it is no longer surprising how officials like ex-Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Garcillano and ex-Agriculture Undersecretary Bolante (who is currently detained by the U.S. government) are able to escape from the country.

Two is the abuse of power which Gonzalez and Bautista exhibited. So much for Gonzalez’s ranting that no one is above the law. For Gonzalez, apparently, some officials are more equal than others; thus, some officials are exempt from the law.

I guess that they take their cue from other government officials, such as Comelec chairperson Abalos, who continues to work under the delusion that he, and any other impeachable official, is exempt from being investigated by the Ombudsman.

Gonzalez, with his actions, continues to prove why he’s unfit as Justice Secretary. He makes stupid statements, and he shows us that the law is a weapon to be used against the President’s political opponents, and withheld from political allies.

Villanueva ends her commentary by suggesting that Bautista and Gonzalez need not have been so arrogant; they could've acted responsibly, and gone to the judge's sala to file the motion of reconsideration. Instead, the two government officials simply demonstrated why they are in power: to abuse it.

The arrogance of government officials such as Gonzalez and Bautista does President Arroyo no good. Their actions damage a government that is already suffering from legitimacy problems.

The President would do well to reprimand, or better yet, replace these arrogant officials, if she wishes to show that she is a firm believer in the due process of law.

If she doesn’t, she just proves the opposite, which will not be a surprise to her political opponents.