a foodie's ode
Posted at 11:48 AM

my first post for the year is about ketchup.

i had a lot of facts from this wonderful book called The Man Who Ate Everything by Jerry Steingarten - but since, alas, i left it at the other house, i have to dig up new facts from the net.

so what we know as modern ketchup has its origins in the early 1800s. it is a blend of tomatoes (we will talk about banana ketchup some other time), onions, garlic, sugar, vinegar, cloves, cinnamon, celery... and some other things. something that we reduce into one word: ketchup (or catsup) is actually an extremely complicated gastronomic creation.

here in the philippines we are familiar with two brands of ketchup, del monte and heinz. but in ultra consumerist societies like the united states, there are about 50 brands. including low-fat ketchup (no surprise there) - which is actually rather silly because ketchup in itself is already fat-free.

it's such a popular condiment we actually take it for granted. but think about all that goes into it. put some ketchup in a spoon and taste it slowly. the combination of flavors is really fantastic.

ketchup goes well with a whole bunch of food, french fries probably heading the list of ketchup buddies. i've taken to trying different things with ketchup - trying to take it for the gastronomic creation that it is, rather than just something to be eaten with burgers and fries. and since fastfood has just been deleted from my dining choices, obviously the role ketchup plays in my culinary life has to transform.

so there.

happy new year!

the second post is about mothers
Posted at 08:28 AM

i would say that about one of the worst times to get sick would have been the morning of Abandon, but there i was, 5am of the 21st on the bathroom floor throwing up everything but the kitchen sink (only because, i think, i didn't eat it).

by 8 i was actually worse and could no longer muster the strength to get up. mercifully by around 10 my system was absolutely empty and the pills were starting to work. by 11:15 i was out of the house staggering to the AS parking lot.

naturally that meant i had nothing to eat the whole day - except for 5 spoons of lugaw and boiled chicken and a bite of banana cue. of course my mother, having now that uncanny ability to tell about things, knew that i didn't eat that day. and she was at the show prepared.

in the middle of things my niece came up to me with a packet of skyflakes and said "Ama said you should eat crackers, you didn't eat anything."

"i can't eat crackers now," i said, "it's the middle of the show, i have things to do. tell her i'll eat later."

five minutes later my niece comes back with the same packet of crackers. "no, she says you have to eat now."

when it comes to that, what choice do i have?

it reminds of this time around 15 years ago when my grandmother (my father's mother) was still strong enough to make trips to manila. she spent the weekend at our house, and one evening over supper, she looked over at my dad's plate. he didn't finish his rice.

"finish your rice," she said. at this time she was about 85 and my dad around 60.

"i can't," he said. "i'm not hungry anymore."

"you're wasting food. finish it." and she just kept looking at him.

he looked down and sulked, mumbled something and, yes, finished his food.

some pics
Posted at 10:07 PM

three of my favorite Abandon pics - apart from the ones posted on the spoonmachine

one shows the opening sequence of Abandon, with Vicka crouched on the stage while the video starts.

the other has Joanna in what i call the 'happy shot' although that name doesn't even begin to capture the energy of this moment.

the third is taken from the Tourniquet number. i like that number

pictures by jorem catilo. jorem, thanks again

time to start chanting
Posted at 09:55 AM

i woke up this morning and realized it was monday. while i know that that in itself is not profound, it does have a couple of nasty implications for me. well, just one. i have an essay due for class thursday. 3,000 words. and so far i have, oh, well, none.

i do have some tidbits that i can expand. one is about total social ineptness. another is about car breakdowns, mechanics and how there are these huge male crowds that suddenly appear every time you stall. another is about sleep. or there's one about the unbearable lightness of not being yuppie. by tidbits i mean i've got about 1 or 2 paragraphs down per topic. not even within the same general continent as 3000 words.

hmmm. i've got about 3 days. time to start chanting: there's no such thing as writer's block, there's no such thing as writer's block (not how the entry title finally worked its way into the body of the text. never happened before i think. hoowa. what a loser comment.)

and look, my blog has metamorphosed during the night. i found out i can get my old template back - but after seeing this, i don't want my old template back. just the links...

so now i can spend time working on a blog look. and you know, avoid having to do what i actually have to do. that's gonna take a heck of a lot of time because i don't know squat about html things.

so between fixing the blog look and writing the essay... guess what i'll be doing maybe if i work on something else my essay will also suddenly metamorphose overnight...

in the interest of science
Posted at 06:22 PM

when you ask yourself questions like "how many flat tops can i consume before i start palpitating?" there's only one way to find out. in my case, it's 20 flat tops then i start getting a little dizzy from all the sugar. i also achieve the same effect when i eat 15 rainbow pies - marshmallows covered in chocolate and rice crispies.

it's hard to beat the scientific method of experimentation for accuracy.

like earlier today. we ran a couple of experiments trying to see how much force is needed in spitting out a ball of gum such that it would stick on the windshield. that and how chewed should the gum be to achieve maximum stickiness. the results are still partial - right now all we know is that it would take a heck of a lot of force and really sticky gum. all our earlier attempts just resulted in the gum ricocheting off the glass.

succeeding experiments will deal with bottled water - the differences in taste, texture, nutrient and bacterial content. i'm convinced that some of the stuff available on the streets is just faucet water in plastic containers.

also i want to run some tests on the latest footwear craze, the havaianas. are they really superior? let's subject them to comfort, durability (like how many times can we run them over before they go bonk), and flamability tests.

any havaianas donors out there are very welcome to reach us to help further the cause of science...

birthdays
Posted at 10:39 AM

my sister helen turned 47 the other day (and there's a HUGE age gap between us ha? bunso ako. haha. defensive). it is weird thinking that your eldest sib is about to hit 50. has it been that long?

[img:512297]

growing up she always the bar for us. without her pushing us to be more, it's hard to imagine any of us getting to where we are. but there are moments now that we're all olderset that she's finally learned to let go and pick up a magic mic and sing and dance. which, to those of you who have met her, will come as a tremendous shock. it sure has to us

sherie turned 23 yesterday - and still doesn't look a day over 17. shee. i bet when she turns 30 she'll still look that young.

but the little girl look is misleading. this one's a tough one. i tell people she is one who will really stand by her friends. i should know, she's been sticking up for me for years now

to sleep, perchance
Posted at 11:51 AM

science has yet to come up with a unified theory on why we need to sleep, but the most obvious reason is that sleep is therapeutic. our bodies need to rest.

think about it. the recommended number of sleeping time on the average is between 6-8 hours. any more or less does lead directly to a higher risk of illness - cancer being one of them. 6-8 hours is a lot. 8 hours is a whole working day, with lunch. and so pretty much the time we spend producing (or at least trying to) is also the same amount of time we should spend asleep. that's how much our bodies get beaten up during the day.

but that's not all there is to it. there are qualities of sleep - and if you're not getting the good kind, even if you get 6-8 hours of it, that still doesn't cut it. you need to get into the stage 3 and 4 kind of sleep when the heartbeat and brain waves are at their slowest.

given this, most of us are doomed. many people, because of work demands, get less than 6 hours. i get about 6 hours, but only 1 or of these are stage 3/4. i have difficulty falling asleep and can spend an entire 15-hour plane ride awake. on the other hand, there are some people who have no trouble sleeping; and this privileged few who can actually sleep at will - them i really envy.

so beat our bodies up less or sleep better. sheesh. to dream the impossible dream...

this close to a sugar coma
Posted at 03:47 PM

i come from a culinary clan. to be more precise a culinary and diabetic clan. and looking around today's gathering, it's no wonder.

twas the birthday of an uncle and we held it in a restaurant in san juan. the food was plentiful and very good. did my usual strategy of scouting the area and planning out a food gathering strategy. for all you buffet people, you might find this good advice - see the entire offering and pick what you want rather than start at the start of the line, get a bit of everything and be stuck with crap when you hit upon the dish you really want. today my meal of choice was roast ribeye and grilled prawns. it was good, yeah... and then came...

dessert.

i hit the dessert table with a plate to get something for everybody to share. i got 2 of the individual things - sans rival, eclairs, glazed orange, cream puffs. my brother tried a sans rival, declared it very good, and got up and got another. my other brother, not to be left behind also got up and got one. all in all one brother had 5 pieces, another had 3, but i only had one. well, i did have an eclair. and that glazed orange. oh, and a hunk of this really wonderful pastry called tarta de madrid: frozen custard (think frozen tocino del cielo, that rich) in between filo pastry and topped with caramelized sugar. hoowa.

and just when i was done - with all the aunts reminding us that everybody in our family gets diabetes - i heard the captain waiter telling me that there was ice cream available.

bring it on

comfort cooking
Posted at 07:14 PM

yesterday i got to cook. something i found i missed doing a lot. well, i did hit the kitchen christmas eve, but that's different - that was obligatory cooking, like hack writing. cooking for the fun of it, well, that's something else.

one of the things i like preparing in times like these is a very simple pasta dish. simple but comforting, and darned healthy. spaghetti in olive oil and garlic.

fill a pot that's around 8-inches high about 3/4 through with water. put over a high flame and cover. when it starts to smoke, add a pinch of salt. wait patiently until the thing is merrily bubbling.

put in enough spaghetti to make a happy serving. for an average eater, about 50-60 strands is enough (yes, i counted since i couldn't think of any other way to measure). wait patiently again.

if you're not too particular about your timing then you can wait until the pasta is done before making the sauce. you'll know it's done by trying to bite now and then. if you can bite clean through without anything sticking to your teeth, your pasta is done. don't believe the labels when they give the cooking time. follow that and you'll most likely end up with gummy sticky noodles. not good. when the pasta is done, get the noodles out of the water and drain. run through cold water if you're not immediately throwing them in the sauce.

if you're really picky about the timing, start the sauce before the noodles are completely done. when you bite and there's still a touch of stickiness or toughness, that means you have a minute or two before they're ready. that's when you get your oil going. this way the garlic should be cooked and the noodles done just about the same time. in this case, the noodles go straight from their pot (don't forget to drain) into the sauce.

for the sauce, heat up about 4-6 tablespoons of virgin or extra virgin olive oil in a flattish pan. when that's a bit smoky, put in the garlic. about 1/3 a bulb average per serving. add around a half teaspoon of salt and a dash of your herb of choice - i recommend basil or oregano.

when the garlic is brownish, before it gets golden, turn off the flame and toss in the noodles. mix well and serve. you can top this with a sprinkle of parmesan.

then sit back, eat slowly and enjoy this kind of moment - the slow moment - when you realize that yeah, life can be really good.

toothbrush story
Posted at 11:53 AM

years ago, before any of my sibs married and had kids, we all lived in this house. and this house at that time had only two bathrooms - upstairs and downstairs. there were 7 of us living here so when we had to, we would use whichever bathroom was free.

my brother jop and i had the same toothbrush- a blue oral b size 40. to make sure we wouldn't get mixed up, i put a piece of tape on the handle of mine.

one day, jop went to the bathroom down and i went to the bathroom upstairs both of us meaning to brush our teeth. i went into the bathroom, picked up the one with the blue handle and proceeded to put toothpaste. then i noticed something funny.

there was no tape.

i ran out of the bathroom and called over the banister: "jop! does your toothbrush have tape?"

there was a second's pause, then: "aaaaaAAAAAACCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!"

a matter of trust
Posted at 09:47 PM

i had lunch with sherie today, soon after she posted this and it got me to thinking about trust.

about trust and how essential it is for any relationship to work. by and large it's a growing trust that moves people from casual ties to closer friendships and intimate relations. and it's a trust that's earned. the closer you get to somebody the more you trust that they will keep their word, that they will be honest with you when things are going wrong, that they will see your side of things even if they don't always agree, that they will comfort you in times of grief, that they will be happy with you in your victories.

and how easily trust is betrayed, sometimes from the people you least expect and often in a form you didn't imagine. and i got to thinking about how a breach of trust signals the doom of many relationships. it cuts deeper than any quarrel, it weighs heavier than any form of boredom.

and how hard it is to trust again after being betrayed.

but God is good that way. the people in our lives aren't static. some will hurt us, yes, but some won't. some can be complete jackasses, but some can be totally true. just don't flush the good with the bad.

excerpt
Posted at 12:23 PM

(this is taken from a piece dealing with utter social ineptitude.)

I don’t do parlor games, and to the best of my ability employ every skill I have to avoid having to participate in them. I suppose that if everybody playing were really really good, close, personal friends, then a game or two wouldn’t inflict much suffering. But playing parlor games as a way of knowing perfect strangers presents an experience as close to horror as I can get.

I remember this one time when a parlor game was introduced as a ‘getting to know you’ activity. The whole group – about 40 people or so – had to pick out pieces of paper from a bowl. These pieces of paper contained the names of farm animals – cow, chicken, goat, dog, duck, and sheep. Once the participants had read the names of the animals on their paper, they now had to close their eyes and find their group mates by making the appropriate barnyard sound.

Mercifully I was able to convince the organizers that it would be better for everyone if I just documented the whole thing, and I spent the next five minutes watching 40 grown men and women mooing and clucking and mehehehing and barking and quacking and baaaing all over the room.

After what were for me a few painful moments everybody found everybody else – except for the ducks, there were two groups of ducks. Not everybody quacks the same way apparently.

Of course those who participated in the game seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. I was the odd person out. A non-quacking, non-mooing, non-parlor-game-playing party pooper.

technolust yet again
Posted at 05:47 PM

i saw butch dalisay's handspring treo 600 today. and i felt the same thing i feel everytime i see a shiny new gadget. my heart did a little flip and my hands got an uncontrollable urge to touch the machine and all the while i was thinking: oh me, oh my.

i told marby that i think my desires are somewhat misdirected. she assured me that it was fine. that in fact, hankering after gadgets was better than chasing guys.

so following this line of thinking, here are the top five reasons why it's better to desire a handspring treo than a guy:

5. a treo will do what you want and when you want it to.
4. you fork over cash once and that's it, you own it.
3. the treo has a warranty. they'll fix it for free if it breaks down.
2. you can shut a treo off and ignore it and it won't sulk.

and the number one reason for choosing a handspring over a guy is:

you can easily upgrade to a newer model