Woohoo!
The kind people at The Philippine Star published my essay on To Kill a Mockingbird. It appeared in the Lifestyle section, page I-2 last Sunday, November 28.
I might upload it here one of these days. This blog is in dire need of more non-meme entries.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
Moneypenny Monday: Eva Green
Six Degrees of James Bond
Casino Royale finally premiered last week, calling for a special Moneypenny Monday. Today, we will feature one of the three latest Bond girls featured in the film: Eva Green.
- Green starred in Kingdom of Heaven with Liam Neeson.
- Neeson played Leonardo DiCaprio's father in Gangs of New York.
- DiCaprio was Tom Hanks' target in Catch Me If You Can.
- Hanks played Geena Davis' coach in A League of Their Own.
- Davis played Hugh Laurie's wife in Stuart Little, its sequel and a fully-animated, straight-to-DVD part 3.
- Laurie was in Spice World, and so was Sir Roger Moore.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Networking
Titles edited May 27, 2009
Last Friday night, I received a call from someone I didn't know.
And, somehow, I entertained the call.
The caller started off by saying that he got my number from a high school classmate of mine (whom I won't name for now because she's really nice to me). Then he goes on by saying that I was highly recommended by her, saying that I was supposedly "outgoing" and "easy to work with." Then he threw a question at me and asked if it was indeed true--was I really outgoing and easy to work with?
I said, "Well, I hope I am."
Then he goes on to explain that an American company is interested in recruiting students from UP, Ateneo, La Salle, etc. and asks what school do I go to. I said UP. Then he asks for my course. I said Film. Then he asks about my extra-curricular activities, and I said I used to write for the Philippine Collegian but that I quit months ago.
Then, it was his turn. He explained that he was from a blah-blah-blah, working for blah-blah-blah and was looking for blah-blah-blah. The blah's were interspersed with words like "business" and "marketing" or something. He then asked me to attend this seminar or meeting to see if I was interested and if I was the kind of person they were interested in. He emphasized that this whole thing was non-committal and that there was financial compensation involved.
In as much as the words "financial compensation" were very attractive to me, I knew that there was something fishy about his proposition. In fact, the reason why I don't remember much of what he said is because I tend to block out things that I find questionable and suspicious. I wanted to get over the conversation as quickly as possible.
Eventually, he told me to meet with him in his office at the 15th floor of the Ericsson Building along San Miguel Ave. in Ortigas. He made me choose between Saturday afternoon or Monday night. I picked Saturday, and he made me promise that I would go by saying that "I'm sure you're a professional, and you wouldn't just back out on appointments such as this," and that his oh-so-packed schedule cannot accommodate any indecisiveness. He then instructed me to come in business attire and simply approach anyone in the 15th floor because the whole floor was apparently his office. As if to convince me further (I did put on an indifferent tone), he explained that he was an executive--a position that merited an office with a huge floor area.
After that call, I immediately researched on the matter. Apparently, there really is no building called Ericsson along San Miguel. There is, however, an Octagon Building that has a huge Ericsson sign on it. The 15th floor of this building is occupied by Nu Skin, Inc., and a little research on this company made everything clear to me.
Nu Skin is a network marketing or direct selling company. Several blog entries have already related similar stories of strange phone calls and promises of money. Some call it a scam while some insist that it is just an alternative form of marketing, but either way, it's still pretty weird.
Now that I think about it, his phone call had all the qualities of a scam. He started off by complimenting me by indirectly calling me outgoing and easy to work with. He was talking very fast and vaguely, and his insistence on my attendance seemed more threatening than inviting. Also, a few days before that, a guy with the same name as this caller had already called up when I was out, claiming to be my classmate this time around.
The following day, he called again to confirm our scheduled meeting, and I, more enlightened by that time, called off the meeting and told him that I was no longer interested. He understood and asked if I had any two people in mind to recommend, preferably ones even more skilled than "outgoing" and "easy-to-work-with" me.
And in case you were wondering, no, I didn't recommend anybody.
Last Friday night, I received a call from someone I didn't know.
And, somehow, I entertained the call.
The caller started off by saying that he got my number from a high school classmate of mine (whom I won't name for now because she's really nice to me). Then he goes on by saying that I was highly recommended by her, saying that I was supposedly "outgoing" and "easy to work with." Then he threw a question at me and asked if it was indeed true--was I really outgoing and easy to work with?
I said, "Well, I hope I am."
Then he goes on to explain that an American company is interested in recruiting students from UP, Ateneo, La Salle, etc. and asks what school do I go to. I said UP. Then he asks for my course. I said Film. Then he asks about my extra-curricular activities, and I said I used to write for the Philippine Collegian but that I quit months ago.
Then, it was his turn. He explained that he was from a blah-blah-blah, working for blah-blah-blah and was looking for blah-blah-blah. The blah's were interspersed with words like "business" and "marketing" or something. He then asked me to attend this seminar or meeting to see if I was interested and if I was the kind of person they were interested in. He emphasized that this whole thing was non-committal and that there was financial compensation involved.
In as much as the words "financial compensation" were very attractive to me, I knew that there was something fishy about his proposition. In fact, the reason why I don't remember much of what he said is because I tend to block out things that I find questionable and suspicious. I wanted to get over the conversation as quickly as possible.
Eventually, he told me to meet with him in his office at the 15th floor of the Ericsson Building along San Miguel Ave. in Ortigas. He made me choose between Saturday afternoon or Monday night. I picked Saturday, and he made me promise that I would go by saying that "I'm sure you're a professional, and you wouldn't just back out on appointments such as this," and that his oh-so-packed schedule cannot accommodate any indecisiveness. He then instructed me to come in business attire and simply approach anyone in the 15th floor because the whole floor was apparently his office. As if to convince me further (I did put on an indifferent tone), he explained that he was an executive--a position that merited an office with a huge floor area.
After that call, I immediately researched on the matter. Apparently, there really is no building called Ericsson along San Miguel. There is, however, an Octagon Building that has a huge Ericsson sign on it. The 15th floor of this building is occupied by Nu Skin, Inc., and a little research on this company made everything clear to me.
Nu Skin is a network marketing or direct selling company. Several blog entries have already related similar stories of strange phone calls and promises of money. Some call it a scam while some insist that it is just an alternative form of marketing, but either way, it's still pretty weird.
Now that I think about it, his phone call had all the qualities of a scam. He started off by complimenting me by indirectly calling me outgoing and easy to work with. He was talking very fast and vaguely, and his insistence on my attendance seemed more threatening than inviting. Also, a few days before that, a guy with the same name as this caller had already called up when I was out, claiming to be my classmate this time around.
The following day, he called again to confirm our scheduled meeting, and I, more enlightened by that time, called off the meeting and told him that I was no longer interested. He understood and asked if I had any two people in mind to recommend, preferably ones even more skilled than "outgoing" and "easy-to-work-with" me.
And in case you were wondering, no, I didn't recommend anybody.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Star Wars Screen Tests II
A sequel to that funny SNL sketch I posted in this blog months ago. This features Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds auditioning for the Darth Vader role , Ana Gasteyer as Barbra Streisand for Princess Leia and Kevin Spacey as Jack Lemmon for Chewbacca.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Moneypenny Monday: Mads Mikkelsen
Six Degrees of James Bond
With the premiere of Casino Royale less than two weeks away, today's chosen one is Mads Mikkelsen, who will play the latest Bond villain in Le Chiffre.
- Mikkelsen starred in 2004's King Arthur, where Kiera Knightley played Guinevere.
- Knightley was in Bend It Like Beckham alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
- Rhys Meyers starred in Velvet Goldmine where Toni Collette played his wife.
- Collette stars in this year's Little Miss Sunshine with Greg Kinnear.
- Kinnear played Harrison Ford's younger brother in a remake of Sabrina.
- Ford played Sean Connery's "Junior" in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Friday Flashback: 1971 and 1978
this day in lava history
In 1971, Clint Eastwoood thriller Play Misty for Me, featuring one of my many favorite songs ("Misty"), premiered. In 1978, NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes premiered on this day as well.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
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