with barely under a week to go before christmas day–again, my favorite time of the year–i’m sure everyone already has gifts under the christmas tree waiting to be opened on the much anticipated day.  yet while most of us will be getting stuff we wouldn’t be expecting but have an idea already (apparel mostly), rarely do we get something we really, really, and i mean really want.  for one maybe, we tend to exaggerate what we really deeply want to get for christmas.  ultimately, we end up giving ourselves (read:  buying) what we want for christmas.  and just like everyone else, i have my own heavenly list of things i want for christmas (with emphasis on the word “heavenly”).  and since 2008 is the year of the global financial crisis, i have narrowed my heavenly list this year to just three which i’ll be describing in detail and determining whether i’ll be able to finally get them or not.  starting with:

  number three on my wish list:  a sony playstation 3 –  this has been on my list since last year.  yet the reason why it’s still included on this year’s list is not because i still don’t have it, but how it’s price has dropped sharply since it’s introduction.  when i went window shopping for the items on my list last week, the price for an 80GB unit is now down to PHP28,000.  when i canvassed for the same unit last year, it was PHP62,500.  with stiff competition from the xbox 360 and the nintendo wii, it’s no wonder sony had to slash the price to keep the sales moderately sound.  although reviews for the other units show the ps3 being third in overall performance, i don’t see myself learning a new control scheme for games on the xbox 360 or looking stupid playing with a wii controller.  and of course, i started with a playstation one console.  so once a playstation fan, always a playstation fan.  procurement forecast:  although i don’t play console games on my ps2 like i used to, getting this one realistically will be around sometime next year, either third or fourth quarter at best.  also, it depends on the game titles that will be coming out next year.  i’m a big fan of console games, but having the time to play them is another story.  so unless i’ll be sold on the games coming out next year, i can hold off on getting this one for myself.

  number two on my wish list:  an htc tytn II pda phone – i’ve been salivating on this one also since last year.  mainly because my nokia n90 will be turning three years old by february of the coming year.  don’t get me wrong, the n90 has serviced me greatly and it’s now the longest mobile phone unit i’ve had since i started owning mobile phones.  i never contemplated on using pda phones even though there are others in the market that are more powerful and robust.  but ever since i laid eyes on this, i never stopped drooling over it and having nightmares about being the only person in the country who doesn’t have a pda phone.  weird, huh?  yet amidst the hefty PHP48,000 price tag which hasn’t gone down since it’s introduction into the market, this gadget is the cheapest among it’s competitors and it packs more punch than others when it comes to specs and features.  i’ve read numerous reviews about this product and i have yet to see any negative comments.  though i rarely take into consideration those reviews until such time i have seen, felt, and tested the product, the mere fact that there were no negative reviews unlike the others in it’s class already makes me a fan, even if i really don’t have one.  procurement forecast:  this tends to be the more unrealistic of the three items on this list and will most likely remain as just that:  a wish.  the only time i’ll decide to get this one is when i really have spare cash lying around, which will also be something short of a miracle.  but then again, playing bingo at the malls for cash wouldn’t hurt…  but i think i’ll end up losing more than what i’ll be winning if i get lucky enough.  looks like i’ll be holding on to my n90 for a little bit longer.

   number one on my wish list:  a neo élan L3101 or an acer aspire 4930Z-592G32Mn laptop – this has got to be the surprise product of the year for me.  like my perception of credit cards before i finally got one in 2006, i never imagined that i’ll be needing or at least wanting a laptop computer.  in my line of work, i have learned to realize that a laptop computer is essential if i need to be on top of what i do.  even if i switch companies but being in the same industry, this will prove to be very useful especially being on-call 24/7.  now you may be asking, why these two particular models?  well, i believe that these two are worth the investment compared to other laptops in the market.  almost the same price as the htc tytn II at PHP49,900 and PHP49,000 respectively, these two are identical in specs and features.  both come with windows vista home premium edition, 2GB memory, 320GB hard disk space, built-in webcam, wi-fi, bluetooth, intel centrino 2 processor, and intel core 2 duo p7350 for the neo élan and intel core 2 duo t5900 for the acer.  i have seen other brands that cost more, but is fitted with less hard disk space or lower memory capability and even just a windows vista home basic OS.  so this would be a bargain at it’s current price.  procurement forecast:  unless things change drastically, i’ll be snagging either one by the first quarter of 2009.  i’m just slowly paying off my remaining credit card balance in order to have enough in my credit limit to secure a zero percent installment package.  though i do hope there will still be that package come next year as i have come to know from the salespeople i have inquired that these units will have the same purchase package while supplies last.  but one thing that might happen is the price may yet go down.  which is certainly welcome news.

i believe that i have been a good boy this year.  so santa, if you’re reading this, would it be possible for me to have all three at no expenses on my part?  hehehehehe…  the last time i had something that was on my list was when i got my nokia n90.  that was two years ago.  and it wasn’t even christmas at that time i got it, but i still considered it as a late christmas gift (or an early one since i got it during the month of february).  in any case, as the saying goes, “dream on,” and “there’s no price to pay for dreaming,” or something like that.  so that rounds up my wish list for this year.  yes, as mentioned, it’s heavenly (again, with emphasis on the word “heavenly”) since it’ll take a miracle to receive–again, keyword is “receive”–all three or even just one of them.

my next entry will be my review of 2008.  if i don’t get to post on christmas day (which i think will be close to impossible), let me wish everyone an advanced merry christmas.  i suppose everyone is affected by the global financial crisis, but despite that, i do hope that every one of you will still find the real reason to celebrate the season.  it’s not too late to have a little christmas cheer inside you.  stay safe everyone and enjoy the christmas weekend!

it has been over a year since the unnecessary and absurd outrage over teri hatcher’s line on desperate housewives and here we are again, fuming mad over alleged racism remarks and actions done over BBC’s comedy sketch program, harry and paul.  extremely conservative filipinos are up in arms crying for blood after what they claimed “the show did to humiliate, disgrace, demean, and reduce to sex objects those hardworking filipina women in the UK.”  signature campaigns were launched left and right and even called for the network to publicly apologize for their potrayal of our countrymen on that particular program.

being one person who gets it, i say to the executives of BBC, the producers, writers, and actors of the show harry and paul, and to everyone else who also understands and gets it, i humbly apologize for the actions of my fellow filipinos–every single one of them–who are giving you unnecessary and negative publicity over such a mundane issue.  apparently, they don’t understand the concept of a comedy sketch show (or, in the case of desperate housewives, a joke made in jest).  those people who are clamoring for an apology from BBC are the same ones who riled up NBC over the desperate housewives issue (which in the end, NBC did apologize which i think was not necessary and is uncalled for).  i apologize for their primitive reasoning, onion-skinned sensitivity, and stone-age naivity.  i know for a fact that you have potrayed different nationalities and races on the harry and paul show in quite the same manner, but the network did not receive the same reaction from their citizens compared to what my fellow countrymen have shown.  apparently, they would laugh at the segment if the person in the scene involved wasn’t a filipino, but they’ll cry foul if it was.  that’s how one-sided minds those people have.  those are the same filipinos who demand for their relatives on death row being found guilty of crimes committed in a foreign country to be sent home and be spared, but when a foreigner was found guilty in the philippines of the same crime and sentenced to the same fate, the families of the victims are moving heaven and earth to prevent the accused from being sent home to their motherland even if their governments are asking us to send them back home.  with this, i implore you, executives of BBC to please not take what NBC did and issue a public apology.  doing so is a step backwards in logical thinking.  i say again, there is nothing wrong with what was potrayed in the show.  it was funny and hysterical.  i’m just saddened by old-school thinking people saying otherwise.

i’m very proud to call myself a filipino and be one.  it is just in very petty situations such as this (other than local showbiz, stupid tv network wars, and filipino politics) that i bow my head in shame.  my only wish is that one day, all of us would understand that not everything art imitates is based on real-life situations, and vice-versa so that we may all appreciate a good comedy, a good soap opera, or even a good movie regardless of who or what race is potrayed.