Michael Jackson

What can I say about Michael Jackson? I want to remember him as the extraordinary artist rather than the alleged child molester. His passing has not exactly hit me yet despite the non-stop news about him in the past two weeks. If what they say is true, then he should have known better than abuse those heavy duty painkillers because they are CNS (central nervous system) depressants which can cause respiratory failure. The closest tribute I have given him was to sing “Ben” at a family party last weekend during karaoke time, and only because I forgot about “I’ll Be There” which I would have chosen instead. I only have one album of Michael and that is the “History” double CD from 1995. It didn’t seem that long ago somehow. I remember borrowing the “Thriller” LP from a co-worker in 1981 which I didn’t return until she begged for it back. I may have copied that record to a cassette tape which I’m sure I don’t have anymore. Do they even still make cassette tape players? I ripped the “History” CD to MP3 files today and copied the files from my computer to the MP3 player and I may listen to them on my next run. Maybe then will I feel the impact of Michael Jackson’s death and the music he left behind. Farewell Michael. May the road come up to meet you wherever it is you may moonwalk in your next life and I hope you find your other glove there too.

Feeling Naked

Please, no it’s not what you think. I try to keep this blog at least PG rated. The battery on my wristwatch died this evening so I had to take it off and now I feel as if I’m not fully dressed. Being a very time conscious person, not wearing a watch makes me feel somewhat naked. Since it’s getting late in the evening I couldn’t possibly find a watch repair shop that is still open. I’ve tried replacing the battery on one of these watches before but the electronic parts on them are so sensitive that it is very easy to mess it up, which I unfortunately did. Even if a watch repairman did it, there is no guarantee that the watch will perform exactly the way it used to, but at least the odds are greater that it might still work. In the meantime until I find an open repair shop tomorrow morning on the Fourth of July, I’m feeling a little underdressed. Perhaps I can find a strap to attach my cell phone to my wrist and use that as a watch instead. I wonder if there is a sports chronograph out there that doesn’t require a battery but just needs to be winded like the old watches? I feel that I always need to wear a watch because it is one of my bare necessities.

Romantic Filipino Movies

Romantic Filipino movies are usually corny, sappy, with some slapstick added to it. It usually involves some kind of breakup, parental disapproval, societal status differences, or separation due to moving abroad for work or immigration (the last part I know I cannot identify with because I’m sure I didn’t leave anyone behind). Heavy drama interspersed with humor now adapted to modern life is a common formula for the script. Parts of it may be so syrupy sweet that you can pour it on your pancakes. Of course it would be incomplete without an equally sappy soundtrack of Filipino and English songs. I don’t watch it often and I could probably count within the ten fingers of my two hands how many I’ve watched since I moved here in the U.S. That’s because I don’t have cable TV so I don’t get TFC (The Filipino Channel). So it was a surprise that while watching a Filipino movie today, it elicited the same emotional responses that it did when I was growing up in the Philippines. I won’t get into details on what those emotional responses were, damn it! Hahaha! It took me on a sentimental journey where you tend to empathize/sympathize with the characters like only a Filipino could probably feel. If you didn’t grow up watching movies like these, you would probably feel that the characters, script, music, and the movie as a whole is laughable. Most movies made in the Philippines are still rough around the edges in terms of cinematography and transitions from one scene to the next. But I can understand that it’s built for a specialized audience. It has been almost 30 years since I left that country but while watching this movie, I’m finding out that a piece of my heart still remains a Flip.

Being Chased

About 10 minutes into my run today I could feel somebody running fast coming up behind me, so I moved aside to let him pass. I couldn’t hear him until he got close because I had my MP3 player on (mostly I listen to the radio because I like the talking part in addition to the music, a carryover from the Sony Walkman radio days). So it was only when he was almost on top of me when I heard him call out “Sir, sir, excuse me please”. So I stopped to find out what he wanted. He said he had to run really hard to catch up with me so he could give me a flyer. It had information about the Viking Challenge Series runs in Long Beach City College. I told the kid I already had that information because somebody from the AREC running club had emailed it to us a few days ago. So I declined the flyer because I didn’t want to carry it while running, then merrily continued on my run. It’s not often that someone tries to chase me down during my mid-week runs so that surprised me. One of the perils of using an MP3 player while running.

After several months of not doing any road intervals, I was finally able to do one today. Four sets of the 3/2/1 minute pickups. I don’t know how that is going to affect my joints for Saturday’s run. My right ankle is pretty achy right now so I’ll have to baby it for the next couple of days.