I May Have Lost My Windmill

Now I can see the problem. My problem. That I, most probably, have already lost my windmill.

I don't know when it happened exactly. But the point is it happened.

I used to have a lot of those windmills. And I felt confused. I thought it was bad.

Now I realize that it's actually good. Or, at least a lot better than not having any windmill at all.

Now I know that it's immaterial whether one conquers the giant in the windmill or not. The windmill is the end in itself.

Too late, though. I don't know if I could reclaim any of those old windmills.

Click the pic for the source.
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Che Would Have Been 80 Six Weeks Ago

Che Guevara, the Argentine Marxist revolutionary, politician, author, physician, military theorist, and guerrilla leader, would have been 80 years old on June 14, 2008. He was 39 when he was executed in 1967.

I wonder if things would be different if he was still alive.

Sometimes I can't help but wonder what drove him and all the other people who achieved great things so early in life. And what is it about this age bracket that great people die in their 30's? Jesus Christ, Jose P. Rizal, Che Guevara, etc. Even the infamous ones like Eva Peron.

And what happened to us? How come we can't make legends anymore? Our grandparents had James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Manuel L. Quezon, JFK, etc. Who do we have? George W. Bush? When his term ends, and as soon as he dies, I don't think we would ever want to remember him. Even GMA (it's past midnight yet I still haven't checked the papers and the news on TV, afraid of what kind of SONA she gave this afternoon).

Somehow it makes me want to wish I born in a different era. I would've wanted to watch legends in action, I would've wanted to see how they were like when they were children, or at which point in their lives they decided to pursue their passion. I would've wanted to meet them and talked to them.

It would've been great to be born at a time when people who lived and died were remembered.

Unlike now, we have become so advanced we can't create myths anymore.
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Trivia

Would definitely not make life any better: would neither help us find the cure for AIDS nor make Gloria Liit leave Malacanang. But it's fun to know useless things such as these. Kinda like Algebra and Geometry, you know.

Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

And lollipop is the longest word typed with your right hand.

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.

Dreamt is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

The words racecar, kayak and level are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).

There are only four words in the English language which end in ~dous: tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: abstemious and facetious. Typewiriter is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

A jiffy is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years.

Almonds are a member of the peach family.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history NOT to have a full moon.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruise liner, QE 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
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Ang Angel Of Death Ko Ay Isang "Tuna"

Ang pinaka-common na description ng angel of death ay yung buto at bungo na naka-hood na may bitbit na malaking karet.

'Yung iba ang sabi ay 'yun ang mga kaluluwa ng mga kamag-anak na nauna nang namatay.

Sa film na City of Angels, sila ay mga taong naka-trench coat na kamukha ni Nicolas Cage.

At ayon kay Neil Gaiman, dalagita 'yun na payat, maputla at anime ang buhok.

Para sa 'kin, ang angel of death ay "tuna."

Nalaman ko nung isang araw na may palengke pala sa likod nitong village kung saan ako nakatira. Halos dalawang taon na akong nakatira rito pero nu'n ko lang 'yun nalaman. Kaya pinuntahan ko agad.

Isa sa mga nabili ko ay kalahating kilong "tuna." May quotation marks kasi akala ko tuna.

Hangga't maaari, hindi ako bumibili ng sariwang pagkain sa palengke tulad ng baboy, baka, manok at isda. Hindi ako maarte. Takot lang ako sa sakit dahil mahirap at magastos.

Pero hindi ko malaman kung ano ang pumasok sa isip at nu'ng nakita ko yung malalaking "tuna," eh hindi ko napigilan ang sarili ko. Siguro kasi paborito ko ang isda. Halos lahat ng klase. Pwede akong hindi makakain ng baboy, baka at manok habambuhay. 'Wag lang fish. Malay ko ba namang ja-jackpot ako.

Kahapon pa lang nahilo na ako matapos kong kainin 'yung buntot na part. Sobrang sakit ng ulo. I thought it was stress kasi medyo ngarag-ngaragan the past few weeks. Akala ko rin nasobrahan ako sa MSG dahil ginamitan ko ng sinigang mix. My head ached na parang minamartilyo. Isang dambulahang martilyo--kasi hindi 'yung sentido ko lang ang masakit. 'Yung buong bungo ko.

I seldom get sick. I can easily feel if something is wrong with me, and I immediately take actions to prevent it from getting worse. So 'yung naramdaman ko yesterday and last night was really terrible. It was new for me. I went to bed, feeling like throwing up and I woke up every thirty minutes or so dahil sa sakit ng ulo. Anyway I survived the night.

This morning when I woke up, I was feeling a little better. So I tried to do a bit of work, watched episode 18 to the finale of the first season of Smallville, did some reading and had lunch. Yup, I had grilled "tuna" with butter and lots of rice for lunch.

Yup, I think I have to concede--the light's on. Sadly, though, no one's home.

Then it started again. My head felt like it was going to explode. It was only then that I realized that I might be having food poisoning. So I made myself throw up. Not a very pretty sight, I know.

Anyway, to cut this pathetic story short, I called my friend Job when I had enough strength [and when I was scared enough that I might die] to dial my cell and talk. I asked him to bring me something for the headache.

When my headache began to subside, and I wasn't feeling nauseous anymore, he told me that maybe what I ate wasn't tuna. Maybe it was tulingan [or skipjack tuna].

Damn! Stupid stupid stupid me. I had always heard that preparing tulingan was tricky. Well at least that was less gross than what I originally thought--that I had tuna soaked in formaldehyde.

Moral of the story: never again will I buy fresh food at the palengke. It just isn't worth it. I would only buy those things frozen and with appropriate and legible labels.

And maybe I'll just stick to bangus.

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Media 210: Report 09 - Systems Theories [photos & clips]

Intro: Systems & Feedback Loop. [Dilbert]


Feedback Loop. [Flowchart]


Closed or Homeostatic System. [Film Projector]


Open or Dynamic System. [Human Anatomy]



Simulation. [The Sims 2]




Simulation. [Redlight Center]



Simulation. [The Sims 2: Next Generation Trailer]

Trasmissional Model / Lasswell's SMCRE Model. [Danger Zone, short film by Zach Lipovich from On The Lot, Season 1]

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Moratorium

My favorite track from Alanis Morrisette's Flavors of Entanglement, so far.

Download link after the jump.

NB: Please buy the original.

. o O o .

Moratorium
Alanis Morrisette
Flavors of Entanglement

I've never been this accountable-less and within
I've never known focuslessness on any form

I've never had this lack of ache for dalliance
To let go and let God in ways I have never even imagined

I declare a moratorium on things relationship
I declare a respite from the toils of liaison
I do need a breather from the flavors of entanglement
I declare a full time out from all things commitment

I've never let my grasp soften fingers like this
I've never been careless otherless like autonomy's twin

I declare a moratorium on things relationship
I declare a respite from the toils of liaison
I do need a breather from the flavors of entanglement
I declare a full time out from all things commitment

Ah to breathe
Stop looking outside
Stop searching in corners of rooms
Not my business or timing
Ahhh

I've never known freedom from intertwining
I start again this time for keeps in my skin I'm residing

I declare a moratorium on things relationship
I declare a respite from the toils of liaison
I do need a breather from the flavors of entanglement
I declare a full time out from all things commitment

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Any Dream Will Do

This is one of Joseph's songs in Andrew
Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It's actually one of my favorite pieces in that musical. The other two being Song of the King (7 Fat Cows) and Those Canaan Days.

I remember this musical with fondness because it was the very first major production, of any type, that I ever got involved in. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was staged by the OMI (Oblates of Mary Immaculate) at the Notre Dame University in Cotabato City. And since I couldn't (and still can't) sing or dance, I was not made part of the cast.

They thought I was more of a visual artist (whatever that meant) so they made me paint the scenery. At least I got to see the show for free.

Well, it was a hit. And it was f-u-n.

Anyway this Any Dream Will Do version is by Jason Donovan. (For the young ones, and those pretending to be *young*, Jason Donovan is the guy Kylie Minogue is singing with in Especially For You.)

If you're curious about the song, you may download the mp3 by clicking this link.

You think I'm corny? Sue me.

. o O o .

Any Dream Will Do

[Joseph]
I closed my eyes, drew back the curtain
To see for certain what I thought I knew
Far far away, someone was weeping
But the world was sleeping
Any dream will do

[Joseph & Children]
I wore my coat, with golden lining
Bright colours shining, wonderful and new
And in the east, the dawn was breaking
And the world was waking
Any dream will do

[Joseph]
A crash of drums, a flash of light
My golden coat flew out of sight
The colours faded into darkness
I was left alone

[Joseph & Children] May I return to the beginning
The light is dimming, and the dream is too
The world and I, we are still waiting
Still hesitating
Any dream will do

[Joseph]
A crash of drums, a flash of light
My golden coat flew out of sight
The colours faded into darkness
I was left alone

[Joseph & Children] May I return to the beginning
The light is dimming, and the dream is too
The world and I, we are still waiting
Still hesitating
Any dream will do

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ngayong gabi

kape lang ang magpapatakbo sa mga kamay ko.

hanggang bukas. hanggang sa dulo ng linggo. hanggang sa susunod na linggo. hanggang sa susunod pang mga linggo.

sana 'wag magmatigas 'yung ulo. sana sumunod.

'pag tigok na 'yung paruparo

hindi na pwedeng kumislut-kislot
ang mga paruparo 'pag dedbol na
hindi na pwedeng lumipad
at dumapo sa mga bulaklak
at sipsipin 'yung nektar
na umaagos mula sa pagitan
nu'ng mga petal

'pag tigok na 'yung paruparo
hindi na pwedeng maglakwatsa
sa iba't ibang garden
hindi na makakasubok tumikim
ng santan, kampupot, kalatsutsi,
dama de noche, gumamela at rosas
hindi na makakapagkumpara
at wala nang pollen na 'di sinasadya
ay matatangay dahil sa kapabayaan

wala nang bulaklak na matutuwa sa kanyang pagdating
wala nang bulaklak na mai-insecure dahil mukhang hindi s'ya ang gusto nitong dapuan ngayon
wala nang bulaklak, na sa oras na dapuan, ay sasayaw sa hangin
dahil parang gustong patulugin at 'wag nang paalisin 'yung paruparo sa kanyang kandungan
at wala nang bulaklak na malalanta sa oras ng pamamaalam

'pag patay na 'yung paruparo
hindi na nito kailangang maghanap ng bulaklak
na dadapuan, kung saan n'ya uubusin 'yung ilang oras na natitira
sa maikli n'yang buhay
hindi na n'ya kailangang sumalubong sa malakas na hangin para hanapin 'yun
hindi na n'ya kailangang magpakabasa sa bagyo
para lang takpan nu'ng manipis n'yang pakpak 'yung mga petal
para 'wag masira

'pag wala na 'yung paruparo
wala nang mae-excite
wala nang maghihintay sa wala
wala nang matutuwa
wala nang iiyak
wala nang masasaktan


Click the photo for the source.
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Ships' 45 accidents listed: Lloyd's details Sulpicio's 28-year history

Sulpicio Lines should apply for a Guinness for having made the most number of people buy tickets for their own death.

I have always preferred traveling by boat. First time I ever got on a boat was in 1989, on my way to Cotabato City. About a year earlier, MV Dona Paz sank, and supposedly, one of my high school classmates's father died in that tragedy.

But that news didn't stop me from going on-board MV Cotabato Princess. My justification for avoiding airplanes as much as possible has always been: If the plane crashed, I'd surely die because I couldn't fly. But if the boat sank, I could at least try to swim.

But apparently that is crap.

Anyway, here's the very first article I saw on Inquirer when I went online this morning.


By Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:39:00 07/13/2008

MANILA, Philippines—Sulpicio Lines Inc., owner of the MV Princess of the Stars that sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon last month at the height of Typhoon "Frank (international code name: Fengshen)," has a disturbing history.

For the past 28 years, its ships have not only sunk but have also collided with other vessels, caught fire, stalled at sea for several days, and run aground.

The maritime information database www.lloydsmiu.com has recorded incidents involving Sulpicio Lines vessels from 1980 to 2008. The record includes the June 21 sinking of the Princess of the Stars--the seventh sinking incident to involve the shipping company.

In all, Sulpicio Lines has had 45 sea accidents since 1980.

Of the Sulpicio Lines vessels, six have collided with other ships, six have caught fire, seven have had engine problems and stalled at sea, and 19 have run aground.

The deadliest incident was the 1987 sinking of the MV Doña Paz after it collided with the MT Vector. As many as 4,300 people are believed to have died in the worst peacetime disaster in history.

Although the Doña Paz was involved in a collision, the incident was classified as a sinking in the data provided by Lloyd's MIU.

The next deadliest incidents were the sinking of the Doña Marilyn in October 1988 and the Princess of the Orient in September 1998 (with 150 fatalities each), and the Princess of the Stars last month.

At present, only 57 of the 864 people on board the Princess of the Stars have been found alive. Hundreds of bodies are believed trapped inside the ill-fated ship that left Manila for Cebu City.

Reached on the phone, Sulpicio Lines lawyer Arthur Lim said he had no comment.

No casualties

Another sinking incident involved the Sulpicio Container I (1980), with no casualties.

There were also no casualties reported in the six collisions involving Sulpicio Lines vessels--the Palawan Princess, which collided with the MV Wilcon VI at the Manila North Harbor (1992); the Filipina Princess, with a Uni-Modest vessel at the entrance of the Manila North Harbor (1993); the Iloilo Princess, with the MV Solid Pearl near the Manila North Harbor (1997); the Sulpicio Container V, with the MV Asia Malaysia at Fort San Pedro, Iloilo (2000); the Princess of Paradise, with the MV LSC Cagayan de Oro off Cebu (2003); and the Sulpicio Express Dos, with the tank barge Golden Arowana 3 off Corregidor (2005).

The six Sulpicio Lines vessels reported to have caught fire were the Philippine Princess (1989); the Princess of the Orient, then refueling at the Manila North Harbor (1997); the Dipolog Princess, then undergoing repair at Pier 7 in Cebu (2000); the Tacloban Princess, then docked in Ormoc, and where two people died (2002); the Iloilo Princess, then docked at Pier 4 in Cebu (2003); and the Princess of the World, then at sea off Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte (2005).

The seven incidents of vessels being stalled at sea involved the Filipina Princess, whose engine broke down twice (in November 1992 and March 1996); the Cotabato Princess, whose engine also broke down twice (July 2002 and March 2004); and the Princess of the Ocean, whose engine encountered problems three times (October 2002, March 2004 and June 2007).

The Sulpicio Lines vessels that ran aground were the Doña Paulina (1980); Don Victoriano I (1982); Sulpicio Container X (1986); Philippine Princess (1990 and 1997); Palawan Princess (1990 and 1995); Cagayan Princess (1990); Surigao Princess (1996); Princess of the Caribbean (1998); Tacloban Princess (1999); Cotabato Princess (2001); Dipolog Princess (2003 and 2007); Cebu Princess (2003); Princess of Paradise (2003); Princess of the Pacific (2004); Filipina Princess (2006); and the Princess of the Universe (2006).

'Correct but incomplete'

According to data earlier provided by Philippine Coast Guard sources, Lloyd's MIU has recorded 33 maritime incidents involving the vessels of Sulpicio Lines from 1980 to 2008. A source said the information came from maritime industry insiders.

When validated by Inquirer Research, Lloyd's MIU investigations/research manager Arne Hanssen said the data were "correct, but incomplete."

With Hanssen's comments, the total number of maritime accidents involving Sulpicio Lines ships rose from 33 to 45.

Lloyd's MIU said that:

The sinking of the MV Doña Paz in December 1987 led to the loss of "more than 2,000 people."

The Princess of the Stars "sank off Sibuyan Island after grounding, following engine trouble, [leaving] 150 dead and 700 missing."

The other ships that sank were the MV Carmen in 1987 and the Boholana Princess in December 1990.

300-year history

According to its website, Lloyd's MIU has "a 300-year-old history in providing information to the maritime world."

It provides data on vessel movement, ownership, characteristics and casualties, as well as port information and in-depth company information.

Lloyd's MIU data are published online, and in books and magazines. The data are compiled from various sources, including Lloyd's Agency Network of 700 agents and sub-agents, leading registries and classification societies and major company registries all over the world.

Its principal offices are located in the United Kingdom, the United States and Singapore. It employs its roster of analysts and researchers in Athens, Barcelona, Mumbai and Vancouver.
With a report from Kate Pedroso, Inquirer Research

Copyright 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

News source after the jump.
Click the pix for their sources.
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27 Thoughts on 27 Dresses

I wasn't feeling okay yesterday. I missed my class, and I could hardly get out of bed. So I had to find something to bitch about. And I picked (drumroll) 27 Dresses.

1. GOOD: Katherine Heigl (Jane) is very pretty. Eye-candy. Kinda looks like Ashley Judd in some of the scenes. But...

2. BAD: ...she is too pretty to be believable. I mean, nobody can be that hot and charming and still be unattached. And no one in the film seems to have noticed that.

3. GOOD: Some of the scenes are genuinely funny (e.g., when Jane's bestfriend Casey--Judy Greer--slaps her when she looks longingly at George--Edward Burns--and whispers *I love you, too.*). But...

4. BAD: ...most just plain suck. The comedic timing is terrible. It's like the characters just give out punchlines whenever they feel like it. (E.g., when the bartender tells Jane and Kevin/Malcolm--James Marsden--they are good like the guys on CSI because they have figured out that the phone is not working. What the...?! Smart-alecks are not funny. As in, never.)

5. GOOD: It's a satyre on the whole getting-married-thing some people are so obssessed about. In the same vein as My Bestfriend's Wedding (good), Runaway Bride (not so good), and our very own Got To Believe (some people are saying it's good; I haven't seen it yet). But...

6. BAD: ...it's just one of those movies about wedding. There's absolutely nothing new in the story, in the treatment, and the characters.

7. GOOD: It's not just about weddings. But...

8. BAD: ...it's about a lot of other things at the same time. Is it about being a perennial bridesmaid and never the bride? Or, is it about opening one's eyes and discovering that the person meant for you is standing right beside you all along? Or, about finding the courage to stand up for oneself and saying *no* sometimes? Or, a story about sisters? It can't be all. The writer should've picked just one, and made the rest subplots.

9. GOOD: Most of the characters change in the end. But...

10. BAD: ...the character changes are fake. (E.g., during the confrontation between sisters Jane and Tess--Malin Ackerman. Tess throws things at Jane, all the while accusing her of being jealous of her all along. Then, without proper segue, they sit together on the counter and Tess tells Jane that she shouldn't be taking care of her because she's a big girl already. What?! She ruined her wedding, and now she's telling her to stop taking care of her because she's grown?!)

11. GOOD: The protagonist finally learns to stand up for herself. But...

12. BAD: ...how she does it is unforgivable. Spilling the beans on her younger sister via the (usually tacky) powerpoint tribute, in front of everyone (family, friends and extras) is uncalled for. She could've talked to George in private, instead. Fine...

13. GOOD: ...it's more dramatic that way. Well, at least that's the obvious intention. To make it more dramatic. But...

14. BAD: ...it failed. There is no build up, and no follow up. No tension, ergo, no drama. We should've seen Jane pressuring Tess to tell George the truth, etc. The point is that the audience should feel that there's no better time and no better way than this to tell George the truth about Tess.

15. GOOD: Casey pointed it out to Jane--that she's venting out her 20 years of repressed anger, or something. But...

16. BAD: ...she still introduces Pedro whom she knows very well will only spill more beans. Is she the conscience or an accomplice?

17. GOOD: All protagonists have to go through dark times to give way to character change. But...

18. BAD: ...they must empathetic. I am rooting more for Tess (the *villainess* and the manifestation of conflict) than for Jane (the protagonist). I actually think Jane is a bitch (not in a good way) and Tess is the victim. And that is very dangerous. It creates dissonance. The viewers don't know with whom to empathize.

19. GOOD: This is a romantic-comedy. And I love romantic-comedies: When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, Don't Give up on Us, etc. But...

20. BAD: ...wait, this is romantic-comedy, right? Actually, I'm confused. It looks like it's romantic-comedy, but somehow it lacks the key elements of a romantic-comedy. I don't root for the protagonist, I honestly don't give a damn whether the protagonist and her object-of-desire end up together or not, and the whole film is hardly, well, romantic.

21. GOOD: The storytelling is not usual, not formula. But...

22. BAD: ...I don't think it's intentional. Somehow, I have the feeling that the absence of *formula* is actually brought about by the writer's and the director's lack of awareness of what makes a good romantic-comedy: That whether the protagonist knows about it or not, the audience must know whom he/she is destined for. And they must hate him/her for not knowing it, but all the while anticipating his/her realization. The audience must wait for the first real kiss between the protagonist and his/her object-of-desire.

23. GOOD: The characters are not clearcut. They're neither good or bad. But...

24. BAD: ...it makes them lukewarm. Until the end of the movie, we don't know how they really feel towards anything. Does Jane hate or love Tess? George and Tess seem to have easily moved on from the foiled dinner rehearsal, really? Just like that? Does Kevin/Malcolm really love Jane? When does he realize this? And Jane--after discovering that Kevin/Malcolm actually cries at weddings, too--falls immediately in love with him? Come on.

25: GOOD: The protagonist is not a scheming bitch. But...

26. BAD: ...this is actually detrimental to the story. She says she wants something, but she doesn't act on it. Ergo, she's just whining. Actually, even in real life, when someone says he/she wants something but doesn't do anything to get it, that person mustn't be trusted. Anyway, I can't emphasize it enought, passive protagonists are not worth watching.

27. Verdict: 27 Dresses = Bad. In a scale of 1 to 50 (1 being the lowest, and 50 the highest) I'll give it a, well, 27. I'm not sure I'd want to watch it again.

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Hillary Clinton Does Sunset Blvd

ROTFLMAO.

Hillary Clinton's aria on being the first female president of the US--a la Norma Desmond.

Camp kung camp.

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Onli In Da Pilipins: The Mysterious [Dis]Appearing Market

Got this from Jke.

It's a very short clip. Finish it and you'll be amazed.

Basta. No more spoilers.

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My Fake American Gala and Trailer

My Fake American Accent
one of the ten finalists in this year's Cinemalaya, will be having its gala on
July 13, 2008 / Sunday, 9pm
at the CCP.

Early BTS photos after the jump.

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