i shall be named James Quasar Qyle Quizon

Like Ma's constant struggle with climbing the stairs of a 5-floor pseudo-condo (eff you non-existent elevator!), the search for the what-they-think-is-the-perfect name has ended. Like Pa's constant struggle with getting over bad beats and uncovered spreads, the endless discussions and tireless debates about what i shall be called will cease.

Finally, at the wee hours of the morning (surprise surprise) while kicking and punching Ma's tummy, ribs and intestines they've decided on my name.

James Quasar Qyle Quizon.

Pardon, Ma. Facebook wouldn't allow the extra S.-- Facebook has something against long names, i had to use the middle name slot for my third name. Come to think of it, you are to blame here since you agreed with Pa in adding a third one...

Now, a little bit of history on how they coined my name. And the stories, and reasons, why they chose it. And before i fail to mention it, my sister already has a name in place: Azira Maya James S. Quizon. It's funny that they easily decided on that one about 6 months ago. But that was before they knew i'd be a boy.

James is pretty much self-explanatory. (As obvious as Pa's vanity.)

Quasar (/kway-zar) Qyle is an offshoot of the idea that my nickname should be Qube (They've already decided too that i'd be using JQUBE as my moniker if and when i decided to register in internet forums.) i think it was Ma who suggested the word quasar and just like that it was an easy yes for Pa.

And who am i to complain? Defined "One of over a thousand known extragalactic objects, starlike in appearance and having spectra with characteristically large redshifts, that are thought to be the most distant and most luminous objects in the universe." it's the coolest thing i've ever heard since Mozart and Ben Folds Five put me to sleep a week ago.

Quentin, Quarantino, Quartz, Quark, Quads, Qing (James!), Quincy and Quotable Quote were all suggested but Qyle got the final nod. When Pa suggested, "How about Qyler as in Qyler Durden?!", Ma answered back, "Just Qyle." And there and then, they had the third Q.

And oh, for posterity's sake, here are the names which made the final ballot; Aziraphale James (Character in Gaiman's Good Omens); AziraJames; James William (So Pa can have a kid that he can call Jwill. Go figure.)

And some names which at some point were considered; Ronald James (Seriously, Pa/Ma were really thinking of "settling" for this because well, Tito Ronald is NOT dead.) James Jacob (Well, it's a different pronunciation Tito Jam, right?)' the unbeatable combination, Ronald "King" James Jacob (my IQ would have been 350 at the minimum, my height at least 6 foot 2!) And even more, suggested by friends: the classic Lebron James, King James, James Yap and even Baby James (obviously from Pa's basketball friends)

Silly them, am glad Ma and Pa settled for this one.

And silly Ma and Pa, here are the (other) reasons why they chose this name... In scrabble, my name would get the highest score and when girls in school play FLAMES with my name, they'd have a hard time crossing out those Qs!

In the Name of the Son

i miss Writing for the sake of Writing. Every press release, news article or TV script i did the last 5 and a 1/2 years brings me to some sort of anti-orgasm--- it's just not fun anymore. Until you realize that this brings food to the table.

Provided, you still write about things that really interest you (in my case, sports and basketball; and now, poker.) Provided, it's not bad a job considering other people get stuck with work they really don't like. Provided, the juice is worth the squeeze any way you look at it. Provided, after all you still have a job to speak of.

Ah, Writing, i fucking miss you and miss fucking you. We should do this again soon and often. For now, i'd like to (re)introduce you to a person i should be writing about the next 30 to 40 years:

Own Goal

As Pa watches Netherlands draw with Spain after 90 minutes (apparently that means a pair of extra time periods of 15 minutes each to decide this one) i realize that my father is a sucker for sports.

'cause you see i've heard that he doesn't like watching football that much. But this particular World Cup? He found the extra time to watch it--- games at 2:30AM to boot! i am pretty sure it's not the same pure passion for basketball in the past 10 years (games at 1AM to 5AM) partly because he bet on it. That said, 2:30AM is 2:30AM.

And that in mind i wonder if he will do the same for me. Will he wake up in the same wee hours of the morning to prepare for my milk?

Will my incessant crying be similar to the sound of a commentator's GOOOAAALL and Pa reacts with similar vigor running from the CR and deliver that milk? Or will it hurt like that Robert Horry's dagger three-pointer at the buzzer vs. the Sacramento Kings years ago?

Will he buy diapers at the same wee hours just like he buys Marlboro Gold when he feels like it--- damn the time and damn the timing of it all?

(Originally posted at Facebook notes. Ugh. Cheezepaperblogspot getting the backseat these days.)

From 3 Stripes to 2 Stripes

The PT showed a couple of stripes. With my leans for everything three stripes life has re-set the priorities: Adidas basketball shoes have to wait. THAT, or just properly scheduling the office league right before the next ultrasound.

There are promises to be made. And well, compromises as well. You just have to clear that up with Che and the 9 week old James ______. (Pardon me, the actual baby name is being discussed ad infinitum, we will get to that. For the meantime that blank line will do.)

A Thousand Emotions, The Ambivalent List (2nd Update)
1. Happiness
2. Gratitude
3. Surprise (this is the pleasant one)
4. Shock (this is the part where tears involuntarily came out)
5. Bewilderment (this is the part where you stare at the blank white wall and all you see is black)
6. Realization (this is the part where Adidas takes a back seat with the mentioned compromise of course)
7. Acceptance (this part came earlier than expected, even by my standard)

Coming Soon: The Mini Me.

The goal is not to live forever but to create something that will. Or at least another that will last a lifetime which isn't mine.

Yes people. i am going to be a father. S/he's 8 weeks old. There are a thousand different emotions swamping me right now. And i can not even write a full paragraph about it.

Let's start with: Inexplicable happiness which is self-explanatory.
And: Thank you, Che.

And so the journey begins. (i can safely assume that within nine months time i can write longer than this. After all, there's about 998 emotions still left to be tackled.)

A Thousand Emotions, The Ambivalent List:

1. Happiness
2. Gratitude

And So It Is: Renaming The Purple Team to Purple Chokers

And i don't mean that as an insult to my teammates. Not at all. i felt. i thought. We did our best and i guess the best wasn't good enough. James Ingram cliche aside, it feels that way.

Kristian asked if we indeed choked. And no better answer than to say yes. What doesn't kill you makes you better, eh? And no better way to drown the depression-slash-depression (yeah, it's the freaking same word with the same freaking meaning, the slash is just for emphasis) with a quad of San Mig Light with Encarnacion-slash-choker with myself-slash-choker. With Cindy and Che and Rigor (very important persons in our respective lives.)

At the end of the day, we lost to a better team.

A promise: Yellow (Solar Entertainment Corporations TOC/Engineering Department basketball squad) deserves a headliner for the E.C.L.I.P.S.E. next release, which will happen on Monday.)

Purple sucks on this night (and a couple of nights ago) but hey, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, eh?

And oh:

Clima Madness record: 0-2. Bullshit. i don't believe the shoes matter. (However, i just found an excuse to procure a new pair of Adidas before the next conference/season starts. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger--- in this case, when Life gives you lemons, you make lemonades. That, or just buy tequila at your nearest 7-11.)

Fantasy Choke

Fantasy year summary:
Money Leagues: 2nd (Head-to-head), 5th (Head-to-head), 9th (Roto), 2nd (Roto)
Fun Leagues: 1st (Head-to-head), 2nd (Head-to-head), 11th (Head-to-head)

It''s a mediocre finish by all means. What hurts is the fact that in three leagues where i ended up with a silver finish were the same leagues i was leading for much of the season.

That people is an example of choking in sports. It's equivalent to a missed (open) lay-up during a crucial moment in a basketball game. You are almost there. Operating word: almost. There are many reasons why such choking happened. Maybe you just did not have heart for it (folding under pressure) or simply just did not have enough skills to do so. In this case, it's a little bit of both.

It's a little bit of fate and stupidity as well. Some things you just can't control (injuries to key players, unforeseen incidents that caused you to missed add/dropping key players at key times, etc) and some things you controlled (add/dropped a few risky players which you THOUGHT will play/contribute that day, relaxed on days you shouldn't have relaxed i.e. getting Jason Williams 2-3 days during the finals of one head-to-head championship, missing games intentionally for certain playes, also called "faltering mathematics skills.)

Either fate or your own undoing it all resulted to mediocrity. And like after every choke job, all you wish for is another chance next time. That said, see you fuckers, i'll be back with a vengeance next year. i enjoyed every bit of adding and dropping and failed trade attempts, just like always. And knowing these guys i played with, they feel exactly the same.

And oh, that was the bad news. There is one good news i have to tell. The mediocre finish, the choke job still netted me this one cool item:


So yeah, until next year fuckers. Until next year. (And when i call you fuckers, that means you're one cool dude because you played with me in one of my fantasy leagues)

Pac's explanation on the Pompyang Punch

(From FireQuinito, off the Sweet Science:)

He does it in a gym all the time,” said Roach. “I don’t think there’s been a guy he ever sparred with he didn’t try it on, and Steve Forbes, in this camp, was the first guy who’d even retaliated. When he talked about doing it in a fight I warned him ‘Manny, don’t even think about it, because they’ll take a point away if you do.’”

“No they won’t,” replied Pacquiao. “The first time I do it they’ll just warn me.”

That, people, is Pinoy logic.

SABL's 7th Conference Opens Shop

... which only means an additional excuse for "early out" on Tuesdays and Thursdays and "late in" on Wednesdays and Fridays. The Solar Antipolo Basketball League is in its seventh season and i am still freaking ring-less in my long and colorful basketball career. And with games like last night's tough, tough loss? (i had 7 points, 3/4 FGs, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and about 8 turnovers i think.) i expect to wait another seven conference before i win a 'ship. Oh well and oh fuck, here we go again.Here's ECLIPSE's opening salvo this year and the same article (below) we print with the office printer; copied with the office's xerox; and released with the help of officemates and the office's bulletin boards. And oh for the uneducated: ECLIPSE is a randomly published one-page newsletter and stands for Engineers, Co-writers, Linear Editors, Ingestors and Producers of Solar Entertainment. But if you ask the editors of ECLIPSE, it's simply an escape from the day-to-day writing grind with BTV. Try writing nothing but plugs entire month long and you'll understand what we mean.

THRILLER TUESDAY

Swipe and Swish. In a span of fifteen seconds, the unassuming graphics guy stole the limelight from everyone else and at the same time stole the win for the powerhouse Black squad from a fighting Purple team last night at the Victoriaville covered court in the opening game of the 7th Solar-Anti Basketball League.



Jun Campos finished with eight points but none bigger than the mid-range tweener he took with 4.9 seconds left as Black edged Purple, 61-59 to notch the first victory for his team. Meanwhile, in the second game, White used a 15-5 blitz in the third quarter to pull away from the new-look Red squad before the latter made their own run to make it a close affair losing 51-to-53 to the defending champions.

Despite leading for 31 minutes and 27 seconds, Purple gave away the crucial possession with a listless turnover in the waning moments that set up Kuya Jun’s clutch hit. Purple had the chance to send the game into overtime or tie the ballgame but failed to set-up a final attempt at the basket as time expired.



Black’s big win also featured timely shots from Jun de Quiros (16 points), who made three consecutive three-pointers inside the last couple of minutes. Black’s attack saw the usual suspects do their damage; Nomar Santiago with points and 8 rebounds, Macy Bautista with 11 points and 3 assists, and the duo of Paul Navarro (2 points and 8 assists) and Jeff Monpanbanua (3 points and 3 assists) with a combined 10 wayward flying-elbows.


In the main game, White used a well-balanced offense to start their title defense off the right foot. Black’s effort was led by Ogie Belenzo’s 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, Pierre Salas’ 14 points and 9 rebounds and Ron del Mundo’s 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots highlighted by a baseline jumper which had a follow-through that lasted for roughly 10 seconds. James

Action in the 4th SABL Conference continues with another double-header on Thursday as three teams make their debut. Yellow faces Red will try to avoid back-to-back defeats when they face Yellow even as Gray meets Blue in the curtain-raiser.

(*All stats are fictitious but are nearer to the truth than expected)


Other Articles/Columns: (Actually, we have adverstisement spots now)

ROCHELLE’S AFTERNOON DELIGHTS
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NANAY OL’S LUTONG BAHAY
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Also, dish out your best performance with our new videoke machine.
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C's ODDS
Got guts to make the right call?
This could be your lucky day!
Contact Mel C. for details.

*Eclipse Advertising is for free; but we accept non-cash donations like free burgers once a week; or one mais every Thursday and/or 10% discount on all negative accounts. Contact the Eclipse editors for other advertising rates.

The Horrors of the Dislocated Pinky Finger

The first reaction was almost priceless: It was so numb i almost tried to dribble the basketball again. Fortunately, i stared at it long enough and saw that it was pointing at the other way. Sticking like a sore pinky finger.

So there and then i had to leave the court with a finger joint turned wrongly. Ugh.

THE ‘NALD LIST--- 27 FACTS YOU NEED OR NEED NOT KNOW ABOUT RONALD JAMES PANIS

Ronald James Panis loves lists. Primary example is this LINK. This was one of the last lists he made but, in fact, he’s been doing it for years now including listing the TOP 20 SONGS every Sunday (from 3PM to 5PM) off a local radio station (DWEB Countdown)in Naga City during our high school years. And might i add, he’s probably doing another list in heaven, right about now, and my theory is this is called Top 10 Angels or something.

That said, we continue with the rest of ‘nald facts--- trivial, personal and most likely, oh-so-difficult to reminisce because of obvious reasons. But fuck--- like every (well, most...) Ronald joke, it’s baduy and at times, hard-to-bear, but heck, it has to be delivered.

And oh, i struggle with the past and present tense because of inconsistency issues with my writing--- plus the more obvious fact that i find it unacceptable to use past tense for a presently good man now gone. Oh well and oh fuck.

1. The Fact That He Loved Lists.
2. The Fact That (Most of) His Jokes Were (Borderline) Baduy. This worked quite well for ‘Nald because in the rare times that he delivers a really, really good joke it felt like it’s the funniest one yet. Mind you, the fact that he was bad at jokes does not make him a less funny man. And to add, his latest joke (well, we are all hoping) is so bad, that we haven’t seen a punchline since Sunday.
3. The Mayon Boys on a Bike. During elementary and high school days, we’d explore Mayon and beyond with our bikes. Along with other friends and classmates namely King, Jam, BJ and some, we’d go to untraveled lands like Cararayan (which obviously we now realize is not really that far)
4. Nald’s Stolen Bike. i believe this happened when Nald was already in UP. Investigation is still on-going.
5. Nald and Iba Juice. After the said bike trips, we’d go to our old house in Mayon (Orchids Street then) and one time, we put in all the iba we got from our trips in the blender. There and then, we had known we had a future in the culinary arts. Alsom!!! (Come to think of it, what’s the english for iba?)
6. Nald Eats Handkerchiefs and One Whole Tablet Papers. Ugh. Only Nald does insanely, useless, stupid and very funny things and gets away with it. (i know, i know, this one is not enjoyable without video)
7. Nald Never Farted in Public. Somebody correct me if i am wrong, but he’s even (more) embarrassed when i did it. Imagine the horror if we did caught him releasing air.
8. Nald’s a Comic Book Buff. He’s not really fond of the DC releases (Superman, Batman and the rest of Justice League America) but is really addicted to the world of Marvel (X-Men particularly)
9. Nald Favorite X-Men is ... Cable. Now, i am not really sure because he had equal unconditional love for every X-Man and Marvel character (superheroes and supervillains alike)... i know i was Gambit then. King is probably Cyclops. Jamael should be Professor X. And Bonks is... Kitty Pride. (Nald would laugh at this, right, Bonks?)
10. Nald’s Call Sign is Anthrax. During high school, we did old school chatting and “eyeball” using the “rad-yo”... For YM and Facebook users, it’s a hand-held device where in you actually TALK to people and well, if lucky and at times, unlucky, you meet these people.
11. Nald’s First EB is with the Galangs--- Weng, Kaka and Gemma. He likes Weng and Kaka, but their mother, Gemma was the hottest of the bunch according to Nald. (Fast fact: we were in highschool, Weng and Kaka were in elementary...)
12. Nald’s favorite band is the Smashing Pumpkins. According to his list, the song Muzzle is his song. But i am pretty sure Disarm, Landslide, Gish and some would also get some love.
13. Nald also loves Radiohead. During his ABS-CBN stint, we talked about using the songs for scoring in our plugs. i hate the fact that he never used them but you can be goddamn sure he had pretty wild ideas if he had the chance to use them.
14. Simply, Nald Loves Music and Bands. From the playlist i made off my winamp here are the bands that I know he loved dearly: (along with Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins): Ben Folds Five, Better Than Ezra, Blur, The Cardigans, The Wallflowers and in the local scene, the Eraserheads and Rivermaya (thank goodness he liked my favorite band)
15. Nald once applied for a job at Jack TV as a segment producer. i always told him this was the perfect job because he’d be actually doing scripts and editing plug for The Simpsons. Ronald Editing Homer and Bart! What happened? He was applying when our company was dealing with retrenchment issues. A month or two early or late, and he would have been my co-employee... 16. Being professional producers now (naks Nald, pro!) working for our respective companies, we dreamt of creating a channel to our liking. It’s called PORN TV. Working tagline included: “Porn, 24/7” among many others... Plus of course, the shows and programs we thought of during our beer sessions. Details cannot be divulged however as Nald would hate the fact that people might steal our idea. (Nald’s porn name would have been....) and the fact that both Becca and Lolet would immediately disown us.
17. Ronald James Panis plays bass for a band called CHEEZEPAPER. In our debut-and-farewell performance (one-night only!), we played Rivermaya’s Panahon Na Naman and Greenday’s Pulling Teeth. For one night, we felt like rockstars. For one night, Ronald was actually in a band! (It does NOT matter now how we fared. Let’s not talk of trivial matters.)
18. Also, he also had to “train” himself (for 3 months?) via the Orpheus School of Music for his bass-skills to play for cheezepaper. Then again, training or no training, we’d have cheezepaper anyway... Sure, it just won’t be a band.
19. The name cheezepaper was coined by the members of cheezepaper at the sala of Nald’s Mayon Avenue residence. As part of the process, we wrote (single) words in pieces of paper and randomly selected them off a bowl... Whatever sounded good to our ears would get the nod... among the nominees was Cheeze Paper Returns (which eventually became cheezepaper)... and some other names that escapes me...
20. Besides his addiction to XMEN, Marvel and his comic books he had equal fondness for TV series titled but not limited to: Fringe (Nald loves Olivia) Big Bang Theory (Nald IS Sheldon Cooper) Lost (I have yet to watch a single episode, but will now surely watch every single one of them), Pushing Daisies (Nald is Ned, well sort of) Flash Forward and V among others. Around half of these series were the “discoveries” of Nald and each and one of them were analyzed in our bi-monthly coffee-sometimes-beer sessions the past couple of years.
21. Nald and Movies. In high school, part of the barkada trip one Saturday was to watch Kahit Konting Pagtingin Part 2--- Nine of us stuck to the original plan and watched the flick starring Sharon Cuneta and FPJ. Nald couldn’t take it and chose to watch the First Knight featuring Richard Gere.
22. Nald and His Favorite Movies. It’s pretty much a long list so i will stick with what i remember during our Top Five All Time discussions. Among his tops were: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (and in my book, to be forever replaced as the Eternal Gardens of the Spotless Mind) Fight Club (and no, i won’t talk about Fight Club except with Nald) Mallrats (We both agreed that this is the number one useless, nonsense flick of all time)...
23. Nald owns a 30-gig hard disk named Lacie. A third of which is supposedly of the porn-kind. i only got to copy a third of that percentage. To add: he prefers Japanese and Korean over the Euro and Americans.
24. Nald is the only person i know who understood that it’s ok to have Coke (12 oz, preferably) for breakfast. i will have Coke for breakfast in the next two weeks to honor Ronald.
25. Nald and Weekend Coffee. If his schedule allows, we’d go to The Fort and treat ourselves to a cup of coffee or two. Little did he know that Che and myself only texted him because we needed somebody tall enough so we can charge our laptops. (The theory is that Coffee Bean purposely put the power outlet 8 feet high so that hobbits like us will be discouraged to use the place as tambayan. Little did they know we had a friend as tall as Ronald)
26. The Nald and Noi Rift. Sometime during the week of his 29th birthday i got so drunk that i supposedly had a “little fght” with him that he walked out of the inuman. My point was that he was not being assertive enough in this life--- and that he was too kind of a human being to ever get to places in this tough, tough world. i am so glad we had that rift. i am not too sure if the fight changed him at all but i am pretty sure that i sent the message across. i am not sure if the fight affected his decisions regarding his work and career. All i know is that he ended up with a job he clearly loved doing.
27. Nald is not dead. He just left (too) early, like he usually does. (May gimik pang iba) Oh well and oh fuck, see you, Nald.

R.I.P. R.J.P.

Last three letters stand for Ronald James Panis. First three letters stand for something i can't really understand and can't (and won't ever) accept.

Pirmi na lang nang mamadali si 'nald ay. Tsk.

Duwa ang huri ta pinagulayan:

1) Bago ko magsakay tricycle driver sa Magsaysay Avenue: sabi mo i love you ta ngani magmukha ako bading sa tricycle driver. (Ma na ko pakiaram sa tricycle driver, may point ka and i love you, man.)

2) Text message last Thursday: The Good Life invite (and not the Weezer song.)

Bad trip padi pero kung saen man lakaw mo, pahalat na lang, masunod kami gabos eventually and matequilla kita na may lemonsito na.

Dakol pa gusto ako sabihon, text ka na lang malay mo a la Fringe, nasa alternate world ka lang and a la Olivia-Bell may way na magkaulay kita.