I lost a friend in the senseless massacre in Maguindanao. That such an atrocity could occur, that it could be perpetrated by humans is beyond me. It is unthinkable, it is unimaginable.

The last time I talked to Cynthia more than a decade ago, I was drunk with caffein and youth and all the idealism that goes along with that stage. I told her some senseless theory about a single hand clapping. I couldn’t get it out of my mind even until now because it was one of those moments when I knew I was making a complete fool of myself. Even then, she had the gift of getting things out of people. She was a natural-born lawyer.

There I go with the past tense again, the was, the had, the then. It’s cruel of this world to suddenly take somebody who, even then, had such a zest for life. Much crueler still because she wasn’t just a nameless entity who had nothing to give.

It’s times like these when you start to question the things that you know. It’s times like these when you wish, albeit in futility, that all tenses are present, and all tenses past is still somewhere in the very distant future.

Heres the link for the complete list of winners. 2007 Oscar Winners

I got a bonus though. Falling Slowly that lovely song in the movie “Once”, the same song that the lady commenters here really liked, won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

This is him in No Country For Old Men (winner, Best Picture). Scary dude.

I am not talking about Lozada, although in his case I might be eating crow any day now, there’s a groundswell in the country that’s slowly eating up the intelligentsia. Things could become really interesting in the next few days.

Anyway, lest we be contaminated permanently by the disease of politics, let me get back to the topic. We have a new reason to watch tennis this year, and I’m not saying this as a Filipino, but as an Asian. Filipinos are Asian too you know, contrary to the delicious notion that we are merely little brown Americans.

A couple of days back, Kei Nishikori of Japan stunned, James Blake to win the Delray Beach International Championships (an ATP level tournament). And get this—he is only 18 years old! Whoa! I was seriously wondering if the kid used an alias. Perhaps his name is not really Nishikori but Ichizen, as in Ryoma Echizen! Doesn’t ring a bell? Gah, you guys should really start watching anime. Check out Prince of Tennis while you’re at it.

Still, this is some news! The last Asian that sent my tennis heart a-flutter was Paradorn Srichapan and he’s semi-retired now (though I think he’s making a comeback after some injury or something) and he should be. Man, when you’re married to a former Miss Universe, do you really have any motivation to get out of bed? Oh well.

Back to Nishikori, just look at the kid, he looks like he’s still in high school! Compared to the other tennis players, Asians usually retain their boyish looks a tad longer. Well done Nishikori!

The Death of Heath. Damn. At 28 years old, he has no business dying. Perhaps he could no longer stand the stigma of Broke Back Mountain? Insensitive joke, I know. Whatever. Still, at 28? That’s a lousy age to die. 27 maybe. At least that age’s glamorous. Those who died at that age even have a club counting Kurt Cobain of Nirvana as a member. [photo from www.filmweb.no]

Brock Lesnar Reborn – The wrestler/entertainer as a Mixed Martial Arts athlete. Seriously dude, why not just join a celebrity dance-off or something. You could get hurt doing the real thing! But then again Brock used to be an outstanding legitimate wrestler prior to joining the scripted World Wrestling Entertainment so he should be alright I guess. It would be cool if he dominates though. Mighty interesting indeed.
[photo from http://rockstarshyne.wordpress.com]