My First Leave from Work

This is the first time I took a leave from work since I started more than a month ago.

This is a whiff of fresh air for me, sort of an imposed break, considering that my office resembles a barangay health center more than a corporate setting. The din created by non-stop ringing of the phones, agents shouting at the top of their voices, the broken air-conditioning, the non-existent facilities, the crowded, storeroom atmosphere and worst of all, my mono-block chair. Yah, the company's too cheap to provide me with even a decent chair where I can park my ass. I've been given an impressive PC to work on, it is not yet working, however. Some brand from China I have never, ever heard of.

God knows how long I will last in this environment. Thankfully, I got a new foreign project and I think I will prioritize this one rather than my job. I keep getting really bad headaches because of the stifling environment-- hot, stuffy and very noisy. This is the only job so far wherein I have to take a paracetamol before going to work. I wonder how people here can last as long as they did.

Finally!

Me in Guangzhou, finally I'm able to upload it. No audio, however.

BRAHMS: Intermezzo in A Op. 118 No.2

Words are never enough to describe the beauty and the tenderness of this piece.

Colleen Lee's sensitive rendition of a Johannes Brahms masterpiece, the Intermezzo in A, Op. 118 No. 2.

Life Is Fair

My new job isn't really that stressful. In fact I find it extremely easy. Since I have an assistant, I kinda like the feeling that I don't have to do everything myself anymore. I do the conceptualization and the supervision, but that's peanuts. I can do that with my eyes shut.

Considering that my position is just a notch above a staff's and I know more about my field than the entire office, I leave the airheads and the insecure to their illusions and their ridiculous, unworkable ideas while I choose to keep my mouth shut. Hello? You pay me slave wages, I'll give you slave quality. Life is fair. My long term goal remains my own consultancy firm where I am my own boss.

But I'm lucky my boss is very open-minded and receptive to my suggestions. He gives me free rein in our section.

Duh Coverage

I had planned on watching the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics Sunday night live via satellite. But Solar Sports had a brilliant idea-- a light bulb moment-- to enhance the viewing pleasure of the viewers.

Solar delayed the supposedly Live Telecast so that it can cram as many commercials as possible and extend the coverage well beyond midnight. Worst part was when we had to sit through and listen to the commentaries of the hosts who seemed to have a contest as to who had the most trivia about Michael Phelps. The winner? I pick Bobby Yan. He probably prostates himself before a framed picture of Phelps he downloaded from the internet. Pathetic. Also, I bailed out and decided not to watch when I realized I couldn't sit through the long, long commercials.

RAVEL: La Valse

Maurice Ravel's brilliant tribute to the Viennese Waltz: La Valse. The waltz gradually emerges from a haze, barely recognizable in the beginning, with snatches here and there of the melody, but slowly becoming coherent and finally revealing itself in all its grand glory. The music pays tribute to Vienna at the height of its power as the centre of the vast Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Interpreted splendidly by the Russian pianist Pavel Nersessian. I have never heard of him, but most pianists who attempted this had massive difficulties with this finger-breaker, especially towards the end where the dissonance can be disconcerting.

Lousy Night

What's up with Filipino programming nowadays? Why do the two giant networks rely on imported, or should we say, branded reality shows? Can't they come up with something more original?

Currently watching Philippine Idol. Or more likely, a third-world version of the US original. The Pinoy Dream Academy on the other channel isn't any better. Both are disappointing. What a waste!