What now Lebron?

photo courtesy of kreativesouls.com

Dallas Mavericks - NBA Season 2010-2011 Champion

Congratulations to the NBA's new Champion. Thanks Mavs for a most satisfying championship series.

Congratulations to Dirk Nowitzki for the MVP trophy. You deserve it.  Thanks for not playing into the antics of the fallen two. 

But as much as this championship is of Nowitzki's, Kidd's, Terry's, and the rest of the players hard work, credit should be given to Rick Carlisle. While the Heat's stuck to an almost predictable game plan, Coach Carlisle boldly changed his and the result was a championship ring.  The change in the starting five was a brilliant move and regretfully, the Heat failed to react accordingly.

Seeing Movie in a Mall (Or why do I feel I was being ripped-off)

June 11, 2011.  I went to a mall north of Edsa. When I am in need of something, this mall north of EDSA is where I go.

Two hours of walking, looking and buying made me exhausted so I decided to see a movie to rest.  Off I went to buy a ticket at the IMAX Cinema.  I was charged P300.00, quite expensive, but what the heck, I wanted to rest.

To be honest, I was impressed with the Mall's IMAX Cinema. Clean lobby, nice and homey furniture to sit on while waiting for the movie to begin. It was while I was lounging on the sofa, however,  that I notice something amiss with my ticket stub.  I knew that I was charged P300 but why is it stated in my ticket stub that entrance is only P250.  I looked in the debit slip that the teller gave me, sure enough my BPI account was debited P300.00. Confused, I went to ask an usher and he told me that the P300.00 is inclusive of a bag of popcorn.

Now that got me piqued. Last time I checked, "inclusive" meant included. Meaning the P250.00 entrance fee includes a bag of popcorn already. If a movie inclusive of a bag of popcorn would cost me P300.00, I am fine with that, too.  But to charge me P250.00 for the movie and then force me to shell out another P50 for the popcorn, I felt cheated.  Why would anyone force me to buy something that I don't need and don't like?  I came to watch a movie.  Had I wanted to eat while watching, then I will buy what I want and not be forced fed like this one.  It is my money after all. I went to complain to an usher and all he can say was "Sorry Sir but that have been our practice since then".

Having done that before does not make it right. I have been a loyal customer of Mall. From the store in Sta.Cruz to the Malls. I like shopping in this Mall, it's comfortable, I have confidence in the products that I buy and the salespersons are very friendly.  Until today, I haven't had any reason not to be happy with this Mall.  Until today.  .

I do not know if my rights as a consumer was violated but I know that being forced to pay something that I do not like does not make me happy at all.  The idea of a divorce with this Mall would be unfortunate but given the circumstance, DOABLE. I hope the management does something about this cause I would really hate not to go to this Mall anymore.  The idea alone is already making me unhappy.

Meantime, definitely no IMAX Cinema for me.

LBJ's gone AWOL again

(photo from ESPN)

Remember the Celtics vs the Cavalier play-off series in 2010?

Lebron was non-existent.

Well, if you are watching the championship series between the Mavs and the Heat, LBJ is proving that what happened in 2010 is no fluke as LBJ is busy playing the Invisible Man, again.

It must have been painful for the Heat to watch LBJ being his old self  in Game 4. Tentative and very reluctant to even handle the ball, James was a sorry sight as he got lost in the Mavs' 4th quarter rampage.

In a game where he could have cemented his place amongst the game's greats, James showed us that he is just an ordinary mortal pretending to be an superman.  But that would be an insult to us, ordinary mortals, right?

Edelweiss - Christopher Plummer's own voice

Edelweiss - Sound of Music - Christopher Plummer's own voice from Mark on Vimeo.


Thanks to the Internet - you wonder/wander and you find interesting bits like this.  


I think I like this  better than the sanitized movie version - it is more intimate, reassuring. Just like what a cool father should be.   Which brings me to....


It was my Tatay's birthday last May 29.  Kung hindi siya makulit at tumigil sa pakikipagdate kay Champion na Hope (the cigarette not the Centeno), 82 na sana siya ngayon. 


I miss the fun of having Tatay around.  Corny one liners, crazy admonitions like - Hoy wag kayong maingay magagalit si Panget (my Nanay) - I kept waiting for him to say - magagalit ako, but he never did. Or when he would sheepishly ay - Huli ba? - when he get caught going to Laloma attending his favorite pastime - sabong. How about when he says, Panget (addressing my mom), i-tape mo na lang ang sermon mo. Press rewind ka na lang daily para hindi ka mapagod kasi replay naman yang sinasabi mo. We were never rich but Tatay made sure that our home had lots of laughter. 


For the few times that Tatay gets mad, he would try to raise his voice to feign anger.  In times like that, we, his kids, just laughed it off because we knew he was play-acting. But when he gives us that disappointed/sad look, its time to behave because we knew he'd reached his boiling point already.  Tigil ang kakulitan pag tumahimik si Tatay.


Advance Happy Father's Day and belated happy birthday to you Tatay.  We pray that you continue to RIP wherever you are.  Watch over us as we continue making you proud.  Ayos naman kaming lahat, tanong mo pa ke Eva.  Tama siya na lang tanungin mo o kahit si Meng.  Wag na ako, magugulatin ako, kaw din baka atakihin ako sa puso, gastos sa ospital yan, di naman kita masisingil. Tsaka magagalit si Nanay.


By the way, we have a third Max in the family, Tatay.  Fortunately for him, mas pogi siya sa ating 2. Fortunately for him, uso na ang weird names these days kaya hindi na siya aasarin dahil ang pangalan niya ay Max.  And fortunately for me, di ko na rin siya uutuin at di na rin ako magreresearch ng pampalubag loob para pagaangin ang kanyang loob dahil sa siya ay si Max.


There was never a moment of regret in me having you as my Tatay. For me, you are what a father should be - a reassuring presence in a child's life. Er, I made a mistake.  There was a moment of regret - Tatay, you died too soon, bitin ang tawanan..  Hehehehe, Junior mo nga ako, kasi pareho tayong mais.

Djokovic over Nadal in 2011 Italian Open

Novak Djokovic celebrates

as Rafael Nadal walks by.  The Serbian won the 2011 Italian Open, defeating Nadal, 6-4, 6-4. It's the fourth win by Djokovic over Nadal in four final meetings this year.  It is his 37th straight win for the year, second only to John McEnroe's 42, set in 1984.

More importantly, it is the second straight win by Djokovic over Nadal on a clay court, long considered as Nadal's turf.  That should make Djokovic a strong favorite in the 2011 French Open.

But no matter how I like Djokovic, the conditions in the Roland Garros and the longer playing time (3 sets if he wins straight, but could be extended to 4 or 5 sets) favors Nadal.  I pick Nadal to win the French Open but for sure Djokovic wins will pressure Nadal just as Nadal did to Federer before.

Nadal's tweener

What is so special about the Djoko that for the second time, I think, he gets a shot like this.