How was your weekend? Mine was quite uneventful. Friday and Saturday were spent at home in front of the PC (as usual) rather than out with friends. No, my social life isn't dead, it's just on hiatus. With the economic crunch getting worse as the days pass I have decided to taper my carefree lifestyle just a bit (hope I this will last) and refrain from going out too much. Sunday, on the other hand, was a little better socially. We (the family) had been invited to dinner by an aunt celebrating her 76th birthday. Nothing lavish, just a small get together with family and a few close friends.

When we got there we found out just how small it was. Aside from our family, only my aunt's children and grandchildren and four friends were there. All in all, there were 18 of us, except the caterers. After a few minutes of chitchat it was announced that the buffet spread was ready. As we started with dinner, we were all surprised when a group of
17, children and young adults, walked in and greeted my aunt. Who the hell are they, everyone seemed to ak with their stares? Are they guests? Are they invited? My cousins were as surpeised as the rest of the group was. My aunt was quiet though. The group then went to the buffet table and cleaned it out! I'm not kidding here. It was as if a tornado had ravaged the spread. They even took the garnishing!

After an eternity of sneaky looks and quiet stares while finishing our dinner, the group left. Only then were we able to talk freely about what happened. They were gatecrashers. My aunt informed one of her friends that she was invited but couldn't make it. Instead, she sent her whole household - sons, daughter, maid, driver + their friends - to take her place! How thoughtful of her! You invite one and 17 people arrive. Moreover, they weren't even dressed for the occasion. They were in shorts, slippers and house clothes. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be a snob here. But if you're going to crash a party, at least dress up for it.

At least my aunt and her family learned something from the experience. Her next birthday will be at a restaurant, where there are guards to ward off uninvited guests.

Pinoy Dream Academy results

That night saw the announcement of this season's Pinoy Dream Academy winners, a Big Brother cum American Idol talent search. Though most of us were not able to follow the show's two-month run, we had seen enough snippets throughout the season to have our own favorites among the finalists. The consensus was Laarni Lozada, an aspiring 23-year old from Mindanao who had consistently shown her mettle throughout the season. She has a very good voice and can seemingly change its timbre depending on what song she sings, with ease. This made her the top favorite to win the crown.

Laarni Lozada won, but not after a close fight with another aspirant, Bugoy Bugayon, for the viewers' votes. And this is what surprised me. For Laarni to have won by just a small margin from Bugoy was an insult, considering the disparity in their talent. In fact, I was surprised Bugoy even finished second. Sure, he was an underdog - he was plain in looks and came from a poor family - but I don't think that that should even be a consideration in a talent show. If this was Pinoy Big Brother I would understand the audience's preference for Bugoy, but PDA is a talent show and nothing else should be considered other than pure talent! Bugoy has an above-average voice, but his singing style and skill still need a lot of work.

What's even more annoying are the topics in forums declaring that Bugoy has been robbed of the tile, cheated. WTF! That claim is ridiculous, most probably perpetrated by die-hard underdog loving fanatics. After some thought, I can say I'm not surprised by this reaction to Laarni's win. After all, we live in a country where real issues are not considered by the voting populace. That's the main reason why we have such inutile elected government officials!

Stupid Teachers

I was watching Game KNB, a local game show, earlier today and their featured contestants for the week are teachers. What a noble gesture to honor our unsung heroes, I thought. But when the game started I almost wished they didn't feature teachers at all for this has exposed the poor quality of educators we now have. In the elimination round, six were axed for failing to answer simple basic questions.

In what continent is the Sahara desert located?
What do you call the card where students' grades are written?

Can anything be easier than that? Even their students can answer those questions! They say nerves play a big factor in games shows. However, I don't think a college educated individual whose job is to teach students can claim that excuse with such simple questions. It's not as if they were asked for the square root of 685,124,854! OMG, this is truly disturbing!

BTW, here's another one. I was seated next to another imbecile in church who answered her ringing mobile phone in the middle of the homily last Sunday, and talked for a good few minutes until our sharp stares got to her. I would have loved to talk about it in this post but decided against the idea after recalling that I have already written about a similar incident before (lightning does strike twice!). Suffice it to say that I was pissed with her disrespectful and inconsiderate behavior. It a good thing some parishioners are now pushing for the installation of mobile phone signal scramblers inside the church.

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RANTS: gatecrashers, PDA results, stupid teachers

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