More PBA talk up ahead.

I cannot be blamed because the Alaska Aces just, indeed, made the most amazing comeback in their Best-of-Five Semifinals series against Talk-and-Text.

After losing for two straight games in said series, the Aces rallied remarkably and tallied up two wins, in Game Three last Wednesday and in Game Four earlier this evening. This battle is not without casualties, as back court dynamo John Arigo pulled a hamstring last Wednesday and had to sit out the following game. Likewise, import AJ Williams suffered a bruised nose from semi-wrestling oncourt against the more buff rival import Gerard Honeycutt.

Rodney Santos, who smoothly filled Arigo’s shoes in ball-handling and slash-shooting following the latter’s injury, was the hero of the past two games.

Ali Peek, who saw scant action for the entirety of the season due to injury, rose to the occasion and made big offensive contributions during crunch time, such as in-the-paint power moves and fearless inside shots that weaker players would never dare take right in the face of the imports.

Game Four was especially thrilling, as it was a close game right from the start. During the second half, the lead wavered by one to three points from one team to another. The Aces victory was more or less clinched when a technical, automatic ejection foul was slapped against Talk-and-Text import Honeycutt, who threw his wristband on the court and, apparently, cursed when the opponent managed to steal the ball away from him. This gave the Aces three free throws plus possession, allowing them to bring up their lead to a total of eight points.

Red Bull Thunder won their Semifinals series in Game Four, against the San Miguel Beermen. That means they would be awaiting who will win in the Alaska Aces versus Talk-and-Text Sudden Death match this Sunday – their opponent for the coveted 2002 Commissioner’s Cup.

Of course, I am fervently hoping and wishing that my beloved Aces would once again make it into the Finals series.

The Alaska Aces, in third place after the eliminations, made in into the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup Semifinals by defeating the FedEx team last Tuesday in their second Quaterfinals clash. FedEx won the first match but the Aces did not immediately get eliminated because they had a twice-to-beat advantage.

Next, the Aces had to go up against Talk-and-Text, the team which came out second after the eliminations, in a Best-of-Five series. The former was defeated in the series’ Game One last Friday, with the defeat duplicating in the second match yesterday evening. Thus, the Aces were down 0-2. One more victory and it is to the Conference Finals for Talk-and-Text.

It is very saddening to note that the Aces’ defeats were caused by too many turnovers and the deficiency in both offensive and defensive contributions from the local players. The Alaska imports, Chris Carawell and Ajani “AJ” Williams, are very hard workers, but their combined strengths would never be enough if the locals do not pitch in.

Talk-and-Text has quite a Filipino line-up to be reckoned with, including a deep bench that has some big, energetic rookies who are raring to show off their front court and back court mettle.

I am fervently hoping that the Aces will manage to hold on until Game Five, because winning this will be the only way they could get into the much-coveted Finals series.

Rama at Sita, a Filipinized musical rendition of the Hindu epic Ramayana, will once more be staged in the upcoming theatre season. In the Greater Manila Area, that is.

Auditions for all roles will open tomorrow and will wrap up on Wednesday. The basic requirements are pretty straightforward: to sing two songs (one Filipino pop/rock and the other a song from the musical, both with “personalized” sheet music) and to submit two pictures (one close-up and another full body).

I have long since wanted to be in the Rama at Sita cast, since it first opened in 1999, as topbilled by Ariel Rivera, Lani Misalucha, Jaya Ramsay, Franco Laurel and others.

The catch? I would not be able to make it to Manila on time,even if I put everything off until Thursday. I am working on a presentation scheduled for Saturday and the data, kilometers long, still needs digital formatting. If I make it back Thursday, there are still design sessions with the presenters and a dry-run early Friday and a polishing in the afternoon immediately following.

If by some miracle I could wriggle myself out of digital work, there is still the matter of the sheet music and their arranger to contend with. I would still need someone to look over sheet music and come up with fairly new, improvised ones to suit my vocal range. These things cannot be done overnight.

Yes, I was only informed about the audition yesterday. Funny when I think that the information came from three different sources: a theatre-enthusiast friend from Manila, an old friend with whom I used to work backstage for a Hindu play called Shakuntala, and the local paper, the lattermost in the form of a plain, rather nondescript ad.

*sighs*

Maybe someone wants to save me up for The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

xXx (Triple X) opened in Iloilo City last Wednesday.

I got to catch it on Friday afternoon. All in all, it was a diverting, fun movie, with lots of action and thrills.

Xander Cage’s (Vin Diesel) motorcycle stunts were breathtaking. The hero himself was quite dashing in a post-modern, Mad Max sort of way.

I would definitely choose him over James Bond any day, if only for his inclination towards extreme sports and video games and his disdain for hypocrite politicians.

Asia Argento played the love interest and Russian spy Yelena. She reminded me too much of Milla Jovovich in terms of looks.

Asia did not have that much bite to be a hardened undercover agent who had worked closely with criminals for about two years. Her character was too transparent and has too much conscience (facially expressed, no less) to survive that long a lawless tenure without slipping up, given that she slipped up so easily with xXx when he supposedly killed that member of the Czech Secret Police.

Marton Czokas, strong-and-silent Celeborn in The Lord of the Rings, played the cunning, decadent former-soldier-turned-terrorist Yorgi.

Marton, hands down, stole the show with his uber-sexy drawl and serpentine body language

The music was fairly vibrant, orchestra rock, should I be made to come up with a name for it.

I especially loved Adrenaline, the song played during the ending digital title sequence. Said track was performed by Gavin Rossdale, of Bush fame, and produced by Glen Ballard, he who likewise handles most if not all of Alanis Morissette’s recordings.

Linkin Park‘s Reanimation is currently my heavy rotation album.

I must say that it is amazingly, delightfully innovative, even more electrifying than Hybrid Theory.

My favorite tracks are Enth E Nd (Kutmasta Kurt and Motion Man remix) and 1Stp Klsr (Humble Brothers and Jonathan Davis remix).

I practically melted when I heard Enth E Nd for the first time; I just loved the beat and Motion Man’s voice to pieces. The song is now number one in my street dance choreography wish list.

However, I am still madly in love with Korn’s Jonathan Davis and very nearly died when I heard his trademark fiery, grating voice in 1Stp Klsr. Imagine if they make a video for this track.

Here is an album review from Amazon.com that pretty much expresses my sentiments:

Reanimation is the evil twin of Linkin Park’s 2000 debut, Hybrid Theory.

While plotting their next studio album, the Southern California band enlisted some of aggro rock’s leading lights, as well as some of the more enlightened underground MCs and producers, to slice and dice all the songs on their debut (including a few bonus cuts that made it to their Japanese release).

Linkin Park allowed their special guests – including Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Staind’s Aaron Lewis, Orgy’s Jay Gordon, the Roots’ Black Thought, and Jurassic 5′s Chali 2NA – to run riot through their songbook, tweaking melodies, writing new lyrics, and sometimes changing the entire intent of the originals.

As a result, this collection of 20 songs is Mr. Hyde to Hybrid Theory‘s Dr. Jekyll.

Most of Linkin Park’s atmospheric and melodic moments have ended on the cutting-room floor – along with the self-consciousness that pervaded many of the songs – replaced with a brash impudence that’s more rap than rock.

Chali 2NA entirely changes the landscape on “Forgotten,” shape-shifting the song into an alien being dubbed “Frgt/10,” which takes you to a dark, desolate place with only your own disturbed thoughts and some electronic bleeps for company.

And that’s enough. This is a masterful art project that truly succeeds.

Last Monday was quite productive, as I got to successfully run several important errands all over the city.

I enjoyed jeepney-hopping, despite the fact that it was raining on and off the whole time.

In the afternoon, I treated my grandfather’s sister, whom I affectionately call “Nanay,” to snacks at Jolibee-SM Jaro Branch. Nanay celebrated her birthday on the 15th and, of course, I would not even dare think about missing out on my gift-giving duties.

Then it is off to SM City to catch a movie. I opted for Disney‘s Lilo & Stitch.

It was one animated film wherein I totally loved the voice actors to pieces, especially Ving Rhames who played the ex-CIA social worker Cobra Bubbles, my favorite of the characters.

My most adored scene was the one in which Stitch made a toy replica of San Francisco and proceeded to trample the miniature city to pieces a la Godzilla.

In a nutshell, the movie was short, sweet and delightfully funny, serving as a welcome affirmation of the importance of family in one’s life.

More on Lilo & Stitch from Amazon.com:

Warm, funny, and imaginative, Lilo & Stitch is the best animated feature the Walt Disney Studios have produced in years.

On the planet Turo, mad scientist Jumba Jookiba (voice by David Ogden Stiers) has created a miniature monster programmed for destruction. When the monster escapes to Earth, it’s adopted as a pet and named “Stitch” by Lilo (Daveigh Chase), a lonely little Hawaiian girl.

Lilo and her older sister Nani (Tia Carrere) have been struggling to stay together since their parents died. Stitch and Lilo share some hilarious adventures, evading welfare officer Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames) and galactic police agents.

They learn the timely lesson that a family can be something you’re born into – or something you assemble.

A warmth and sincerity that recall The Iron Giant and the films of Hiyao Miyazaki make Lilo & Stitch a delightful fantasy adults and children can truly enjoy together.

The song You’re So Sexy, a sultry, danceable, pseudo-techno beat by French Affair, has gotten quite popular in the Philippines, in radio and television alike.

It is a little like the “sister song” of Right Said Fred‘s I’m Too Sexy that was an international hit several years ago.

We wanted to make a blend-in of both songs, an idea that occurred, quite simultaneously, to several insane people at around 3-4 o’clock this morning. The end product would sound like a medley alternating between the two songs, with seamless transition. It starts with the Right Said Fred intro of “I’m too sexy…” and ends the same way with the final line “I’m too sexy for this song.”

An mp3 of You’re So Sexy could be downloaded here. I also found another rendition of the song, the extended club remix.

Lyrics to You’re So Sexy are found here. The words to the Right Said Fred song I’m Too Sexy are also available.

This is fantastique!

My beloved Alaska Aces are currently tied with the San Miguel Beermen in second place overall going into the Quarterfinals of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.

This afternoon, Alaska tallied up another win by beating the much-hyped but greatly overrated national team, RP-Selecta. It was not just any victory, either; the Aces had a final score lead of 25 points.

The imports of the Aces for this season are simply superb. Ajani Williams is virtually unstoppable on a good night. Chris Carawell has the consistency and in-the-paint strength of Karl Malone, not to mention that he looks sort of like an NBA player on the court, with his poise and grace.

Alaska locals have also stepped up in their game, quite commendably. Sophomore John Arigo has improved vastly since last Season and the previous conference, where he lost touch and focus in the very crucial Game 7 of the Governor’s Cup Finals. “Ariba-ariba” Arigo is turning out to be one of the league’s most versatile young players, as he could shoot well from the perimeter, slash/drive, steal and play the part of court general.

Trade acquisition EJ Feihl has lost weight, gained speed and confidence, and increased his scoring and playing time averages. Of course, last conference’s Best Player runner-up Don Allado is still taking the extra offensive burden in the absence of franchise player Kenneth Duremdes, who was lent to the Asian Games national team.

The Aces finished second last Conference, with a rather painful Game 7 defeat in the Finals at the hands of the Purefoods Hotdogs. I have high hopes that they will get another shot at the crown this season, and hopefully go all the way to get the job done.

The last week of July has been quite, well, memorable to me.

On the 25th, this past Thursday, I took the Philippine Career Service Professional Exam.

Shock of shocks, my score was 95.95. Sans review and sans sanity.

The Civil Service test I took was Computer-Assisted, which was a lot more efficient and fun compared to the traditional pencil-and-paper one. The latter type of exam will be given to a large number of people come October.

The computer test took three hours. After the allotted time has been consumed, the screen just froze up and the user was automatically logged out. Neat programming.

To top it all off, the results were handed out just 30 minutes after the end of the test proper. No more weeks of tense waiting that way. The exam was multiple choice, with 150 scored items. The passing grade was a highly discriminating 80.

Out of the 15 of us who took the test that day, only four passed, staying in the “standard” percentage of 25-30% passers out of the total takers. The other three who passed the exam scored in the mid-80s range.