Most Serious Glitch

Wanna share this article which I received from one of my email group subscriptions.  Seriously scary:

Contains MSG or Converts to MSG when Processed

MSG is an excitotoxin: an ingredient known to cause nerve damage by overexciting nerves. This is exactly how MSG enhances the taste of foods: by overexciting the taste buds on the tongue.

Note: when you see the following words on any ingredient label, it is essentially, another name for MSG

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)	Maltodextrin
Textured protein	Sodium Caseinate
Glutamic acid	Gelatin
Carrageenan (processed)	Ultra-Pasteurized
Pectin Protease	Stock
Whey protein isolate, Whey protein	Barley malt, Malt extract
Natural Pork, Beef and Chicken flavoring	Citric Acid (when processed from corn)
Protease enzyme … and anything enzyme modified	Flavors, flavoring, natural flavors and flavoring
Hydrolyzed yeast extract, Tortula yeast, Autolyzed yeast, Yeast extract	Soy protein, Soy protein concentrate, Textured Soy protein
Anything protein fortified	Dextrose
Anything fermented

When any product contains 79% free glutamic acid with the balance being made up of salt, moisture, and up to 1 per cent contaminants, the product is calledMonosodium Glutamate.
The second way of producing MSG is through breakdown of protein. A protein can be broken into its constituent amino acids by autolysis, hydrolysis, enzymolysis, and/or fermentation. 
There are over 40 food ingredients besides Monosodium Glutamate that contain processed free glutamic acid (MSG). Each, according to the FDA, must be called by its common name:

Autolyzed yeast
Maltodextrin
Sodium caseinate
Soy sauce, etc.

These are the common or usual names of some ingredients that contain MSG. Unlike the ingredient called Monosodium Glutamate, they give the consumer no clue that there is MSG in the ingredient.

About every other product in my fridge and on my kitchen shelf has these ingredients!

This reminds me that in Men's Health last April, I was shocked to see an ad for Aji-no-moto, espousing that MSG was a healthy and safe flavor enhancer meant to enrich your  taste buds' experience.  Nothing personal against the folks behind the magazine, but what gives?

CAMPUS REDUX!!!

Main Entry: re·dux
Pronunciation: \(ˌ)rē-ˈdəks, ˈrē-ˌ\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin, returning, from reducere to lead back
Date: 1860
Definition: brought back —used postpositively

That's courtesy of Merriam-Webster online. I actually have never used that word before. But what other word could appropriately describe the official return of Campus on Metro Manila radio?

It's finally happening in about a week at Eastwood Central Plaza, 8 p.m. onwards!

The band list is as follows:

BAMBOO

CALLALILY

IMAGO

FUSE

PEDICAB

PARALUMAN

SANDWICH

SOUTH BORDER

SPONGECOLA

ZELLE

6 CYCLE MIND

CHICOSCI

In case you're wondering why we're not headlining it with every single band out on the scene right now, it's because we don't want the usual radio station party fare where 30 bands are rushed onstage just to play two to three songs. This time, you'll get a full 30 minute set from each act. So they get to warm up and get into the groove and totally connect with you. A win-win situation all around.

Don't make plans to be anywhere else on that night. Just go to Eastwood, totally free, totally fun all the way.

Burger Kook

Here's the situation, you're hungry and thinking of what you'd like to eat and where to get it. Pretty common everyday phenomenon.

Last Sunday, I was pondering about dinner and remembered the Burger King billboard near the Timog-Tomas Morato rotonda in Quezon City. It was advertising something called the new steakhouse burger which was supposedly made with Angus beef. I liked the ad because it had a good visual with an appropo line, "Forget your table manners", or something like that. I'd been seeing this sign for like over a month now.

So I follow my stomach and drive up to Burger King on Timog Avenue. As I walk up to the door, I notice the steakhouse burger ad by the drive thru driveway. I walk up to the counter and ask for it, and what does the attendant say? "Sorry sir, it's not available."

Crap! What the freak??!!!

I didn't bother to ask why that was because I'm sure there was a stupid explanation behind it. I just promptly lectured the girl at the counter that they should post a sign saying their new product meant to lure customers was not available. Then I loudly said to my family who were with me that we were going to MCDONALD'S, which we did where I satisfied my hunger and my being "pissed-off" with a freshly cooked, juicy and no frills quarter pounder. See? I'm a simple man with simple needs. When I want a good burger, I just wanna get one and not be told it's not available.

What the hell is up with Burger King and other restaurants who allow that situation to happen? That Timog branch must have the stupidest inventory manager on earth! When I was in business school, there was considerable attention given to the vital improtance of making sure a store had enough stock of what it sold. When a fastfood chain says something isn't available, that's some flunky manager saying he screwed up royally. And I don't give a f*** what his valid reason is. When you can't sell me what I'm ready to pay for, you failed!

Take the freaking sign down already so other people won't have to waste their time and get pissed like I did!

"Can I Put This File On Your, Um, Rack?"

One of the great exports in recent times from the United Kingdom is that tongue-in-cheek show, "The Office". But now, the BBC has come up with more proof that folks in TV land are running out of good ideas for the boob tube. Lo and behold, producers there are seriously developing "The Naked Office". Letters have been sent out to companies in England asking them to participate in the show.

The theme of the show is about revealing, pardon the pun, the views and reactions of employee participants on nudity, body image and how clothes impact their position in the office. Along the way, they'll be asked to join such fun activities as posing nude for a drawing class. I'm sure all the men will be bringing some really sharp pencils. Then towards the end, every employee will be asked to show up buck-naked for work, on a day called Naked Friday! Woo-hoo! Doesn't get any more casual than that.

If the show flies and gets to that episode, I'm sure there will be a significant rise in productivity.

A Breath Of Fresh Air

In case you were wondering where I'd been all week last week, I took some time out for rest and recreation from Campus on-air duties and Cinema One voiceovers.  It included a trek up to the nation's summer capital, Baguio City last Thursday through Sunday.  I'll fill in the details hopefully tomorrow.

But for now, I must give a ginormous shout out and thank you to Ms. Ana Agregado of Toyota Motor Philippines Marketing for being so gracious to provide me with the great ride I took up to Baguio in the form of the fantastic Innova V.  That vehicle did not hesitate one bit up the mountains and actually begged me to go faster, he he.  Thanks Ana!

The Lost 80's Live experience

I wanted to write my comments about the Lost 80's Live concert sooner, like right after, or maybe the day after, but I managed to procrastinate on it til now. I've been on vacation for about a week, and that didn't help at all in me writing anything new.  Anyhoo, the concert was held last April 19, and I did post my looking forward to watching it.

I managed to get to it around half-past 10 p.m. because of my boardwork that night.  I missed seeing When In Rome play, and caught Real Life in the middle of its set.  Turns out it was only the original lead singer of Real Life, David Sterry that was playing, backed up by two members of WIR.  I gotta admit that after more than 20 years, he still sung the old songs like "Send Me An Angel" and "Catch Me I'm Falling" quite well.  But unfortunately for him, he seemed to be another victim of the typical lazy Filipino audience.  You know what I'm talking about, I could write an entire post about it.  Most of the people watching just sat through the whole thing, with hardly any expression on their faces, except to yawn or look around the venue in boredom.  Plus, it seemed to be a family plus plus outing for some groups who brought their very young kids and household help to the show, most likely subjecting them to torture of having to listen to music they had never heard before.  Oh well, Real Life managed to get some decent applause for their familiar material.  Me?  I enjoyed this set quite a bit because I liked the energy the band was putting into it.  Later on, I was told WIR played a really odd version of their signature hit, "The Promise", which was totally unfamiliar and hard to sing along with.  For me, what's the point of that other than an artist's narcissistic self-indulgence if the fans can't sing along to their favorite song?

So now comes the supposed icing on the cake, A Flock Of Seagulls was next.  This was the band with more songs familiar to the Filipino audience.  I was excitedly waiting to hear the old faves like, "The More You Live, The More You Love", "I Ran", and "Wishing".  I knew I wasn't gonna see lead singer Mike Score with that trademark hairdo he had in the 80's, so I was only too happy to be able to hear him sing live.  And that he did.

He came out with an entirely new band, as I read that he'd had a falling out with his bandmate of a brother, and the other original members weren't tagging along anymore.  The bass player reminded me of The Cars' Ric Ocasek with a tan.  But I digress.  So Mike gets into it, starting off by singing new stuff from a forthcoming new album.  OK, so we all bear with it, hoping to hear the older stuff right after.  And they do just that, playing "The More You Live...", making us fans very happy.  Too bad Mike's vocals sounded a bit strained, but I wouldn't fault the guy because he's 50 years old already, and he's no Sting or Bono.  I just didn't like that he played one or two new songs alternately with an old one, making the AFOS set run a tad too long.  It was almost midnight and the audience was passive and bored, so I was hoping they'd just play all the familiar material in a row to get everyone going.  But no, they didn't, and the set seemed to drag on and on and on.  Plus, the bass player kept trying to egg the audience on to applaud more with his hand gestures, all to no avail.  Mike Score seemed to not want to connect with the crowd in turn by getting sarcastic with some comments that I can't remember now, but gave away his impatience with the seemingly zombie audience he was playing to.

In a nutshell, it could've been a really great show.  I actually didn't bother to finish the set because I'd had my fill of AFOS live after hearing them play "Wishing".  Maybe it was the too big venue, maybe it was the zombie crowd, maybe Mike was trying too hard to get his new music out, who knows?  It just left me wishing.

The 80's are alive and well...

It's a great time that be a music lover now in Metro Manila. So many artists are coming down to perform in this far-flung country of ours. What with the likes of Maroon 5, Ne-Yo, Colbie Caillat, Harry Connick, Jr., Incubus, Swing Out Sister, Toto, Duran Duran and most recently Sean Kingston having had shows here already and we're not even halfway through 2008. Back in the 80's and the 90's, we were actually lucky if one or two artists showed up at all.

Speaking of the 80's, three of the more popular new wave acts from the decade are putting up a back-to-back-to-back show tomorrow night at The Big Dome. A Flock Of Seagulls, When In Rome and Real Life are triple billed for Lost 80's Live, which happens to be an ongoing series of tours that's become pretty popular in the U.S. And now it's stopping over in Manila. I'm planning to check out the show, although I figure I might miss about half of it, because it starts at 8 pm and I'll be onboard at Campus FM til 10 pm. Oh well, hope it starts a bit late, he he, so I can catch a decent portion of the concert. Thanks to Jesse Gonzales for hooking me up.



Some members of the bands dropped in on Jimmy Jam's show this afternoon to promote the concert including Mike Score, lead singer of AFOS who is well remembered the unique hairstyle he sported in the 80's. Too bad, he doesn't wear his hair that way anymore. But then again, I don't think anyone around him would keep a straight face if he still did.

Hopefully, with this show, we'll have none of those jazz-reworkings and strained renditions of old favorites. I prefer them just the way I heard them back in the day, thank you.

"I'm about to strip and I'm well equipped, can you handle me the way I are?"

The Manila FM Radio Wars 2008

Just wanna share an article I came across online at inquirer.net:

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view/20080415-130593/Race-for-top-FM-radio-station-intensifies

Very interesting. Hey Pocholo, just thought you should know, we're "99.5 Campus FM". The "Campus Radio" name is owned by GMA, and 99.5 RT is owned by another company. But thanks for the mention in your article.

Smoking kills, part 2

Just thought I'd share some of the cigarette carton warnings from some other countries, as found on Wikipedia.

From the UK:


From Hong Kong:


From Canada:


Obviously, some governments figured if they can't convince you that smoking is bad for your heart and lungs, they'll scare you by saying that there's no more Mr. Happy if you don't quit soon.

But this one from Australia really drives it home, by using pictures instead of words to make it real to the smoker:


And here in The Philippines, well, our government still tries to be polite by simply making cartons bear the phrase: "Government warning, cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health".

Must be a lot of smokers in the government.

Smoking kills

I'm not about to lecture as to how smoking can kill. Everybody knows that, and more importantly, every smoker knows that.

I was watching Oprah today and it was the episode featuring Dr. Mehmet Oz illustrating what smoking does to your heart and lungs with some high tech videos and preserved samples. I like the fact that he merely presented the facts without preaching from a holier-than-thou position. I'm a non-smoker, and I tend to be holier-than-thou with smokers because the smoke is offensive to me.

On that Oprah episode, a video was shown where a mother who was a smoker was being chastised by her very young daughter about her addiction. She was asking why did Mom have to smoke? Mom replies that she just couldn't stop. Kid fires back, "Why can't you just stop? That's ridiculous!" Then, Dr. Oz relates how for every 4 cigarettes one smokes, the second-hand smoke is equivalent to one stick inhaled by someone around the smoker.

That's just alarming and horrible, in no uncertain terms.

That's why I'm going to be even more holier-than-thou.

In the building where I live, there's a girl in her 20's who I often catch smoking in the elevator where it's obviously against the rules. So that makes her just f***ing obnoxious. How messed up is this moron that she can't wait til she gets outside or in her own condo beofre she lights up? But now I won't be polite to her anymore, because I will not put up with inhaling 25-freaking-percent of that stick in her fingers. And since she's already voluntarily accelerating her date with the Grim Reaper, I honestly hope she either stops or just dies soon so she'll stop bothering innocent bystanders with her bad habit.

Sure, go call me a smoker basher, whatever, I don't care. I care about my health and that of my loved ones. It doesn't make me a bad person. The smoker is the drug addict, after all.

The point is, I know quitting smoking is not easy. No bad habit is easy to kick, especially when it involves an addiction to a drug. And like it or not, nicotine is a drug. So I hope the smoker that wants to quit, gets the right help, and has the right kind of family and friends to aid him or her. Because you can't do it alone. But please try.

Summer on Campus

It's been a long time since I was in summer school, and now I'm back in it in a manner of speaking. But the weather in our studio is anything but summer-y, quite the opposite actually. Our computers used to hang all the time while playing back commercials or music because of the heat they produced, so the engineering guys here decided to turn our booth into a meat freezer to keep the pc's cool. It's just that I have to wear a jacket just to keep my fingers from falling off and my teeth from chattering. Brrr... I'm not complaining though, coz it beats sweating through boardwork, which I have experienced and is quite unpleasant. I'll go to the beach if I wanna sweat, thank you.

I'm very thankful for the warm reception that most listeners have given the new step the 99.5 frequency in Manila has taken in its long, colorful life.

Speaking of which, I'll devote some space to my own good memories in radio soon.

"So it's not hard to fall, when you float like a cannonball"

Musical quote

Oh, since it happens to be Campus Classic Weekend on Campus FM, let me start leaving lyrics from songs that pop into my head and give me semi-LSS, in a good way. I'll leave the title and artist out just to make you jog your memory about it.

"My anaconda don't want none, unless you got buns, hon!"

See ya Monday night!

Big Z is off campus and off for the weekend!

99.5 Campus FM: 3 weeks, 21 days and a lot of hours in the life of...

Something positive for a change to take my mind off of the daily crappiness that is life in Metro Manila and The Philippines. (Don't get me wrong, I love our country: it is beautiful; and I love Metro Manila: where else around here can I do the kind of radio I wanna do?; it's the freakin'-head-in-its-ass backwards government that i loathe).

Let me say how much I'm enjoying the new incarnation of both Campus Radio and DWRT-FM 99.5. Three weeks into it and we've quickly gained so much ground; we've connected and locked in with our audience so fast, it made my head spin. I'm totally stoked, amped, ecstatic, happy, you-name-it-I'm-feelin'-it! Like I've mentioned in the pinoyexchange.com thread about Campus FM, bigger and better things are on the way.

It's sheer joy to be part once again of a team that will shake Metro Manila FM radio out of the mediocre stupor that its poor listeners are stuck in. Sure, all the wannabes can continue with their sacharrine, starchy, and otherwise, sucky yacketty-yackking (or in layman's terms: "pa-cute") because it's a free country. But listeners deserve better, and that's what Campus FM will deliver.



Stay tuned.

Stick around.

P.S. Feel free to listen to us online: www.eradioportal.com. Click on the pulldown menu to get Luzon stations, then click on 99.5 Campus FM from the list. Happy listening!!!

Baby-making: The National Hobby

Just today, I heard on DZMM that The Philippines' nearly 90 million population count is increasing by two percent annually. That really gave me pause for thought. I mean, think about it, 1,800,000 Filipino babies are born every year! I intentionally didn't put that figure as 1.8 million because all the zeroes make the number more staggering.

Why the hell are we making so many babies? Stupid question - because "It's fun!", they'll all say. I hear the very poor among Filipinos consider sex as a pastime since they can't afford better non-reproductive recreational activities. And they're all so brave to keep going at it without contraception because the Catholic church makes them all feel so guilty for even thinking about using condoms or taking the pill. That is just freakin' sad. Very sad.

1.8 million newborns every year. Suddenly this tiny crowded country just felt tinier.

The Rise of Rice

For quite a while now, a lot of news coverage had been devoted to an impending rice shortage set to affect The Philippines, as well as some neighboring Asian countries. So a big deal is being made, naturally, about the price of rice. If you're well-to-do, that shouldn't bother you the least bit because you'd be able to easily pay extra for it. But on the other side of the coin, if you have just ordinary means, every price increase hurts. I personally didn't think too much of it quite frankly, because I hadn't actually seen any price change yet. That was until I had to pick up some rice today and saw the highly remarkable price increase. What used to average 33 to 34 Pesos is now 36 to 37 Pesos, and the better varieties have hit 40 Pesos even. "Wow!", I thought to myself. Perhaps, at least the price of instant noodles hasn't gone up, eh Mr. Ignacio Bunye? I'm sure that's funny only to me now, because the majority of Pinoys with average means must be freaking out with such a development.

I recall to this day learning in grade school that our country was importing rice, despite having a countryside more suited for agricultural development. It's really too bad this wonderful set of leaders we have chooses to not do enough for our farmers to produce even just enough rice, so we could stop importing it. But importing rice is big business, so go figure. Friends in high places, like to help friends with high-yield businesses.

With the stop-gap measures the government is said to be undertaking, predictably the rice selling industry has threatened to call a "rice-holiday" to protest the disturbance to their business undertakings. Ah, this is where i get to insert the old adage, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Too bad I hear the pound of cure pays more for certain unscrupulous individuals.

I hope this rice crisis doesn't worsen, for all our sakes, and for the sake of still being able to ask for "extra rice".

Tindahan Ni Gloria

Inasmuch as I avoid self-indulgent rants against the government (because, c'mon, let's face it, who doesn't have an issue against it?), something I've come across has managed to irritate me no end. You may have seen the government ads shouting the virtue of shopping at Tindahan Ni Gloria, where one can purchase daily food necessities at very low prices. Sure it's great that ordinary folks with ordinary means can buy rice cheaply, but why throw instant noodles into the mix? Have these awkward imitations of decent home cooking now become part of the day-to-day staple of Juan Dela Cruz? Are Filipinos who tread the poverty line not entitiled to some real meat or even canned fish at prices they can afford? Is that how shallow and lowly the government views the majority of Pinoys?

I remember when Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, at a time when he was still allowed to speak for The President, had one of his more inspired moments of glib and said that he believed the price of instant noodles was still cheap when prices of basic goods were on the rise. Every other valiant AM radio commentator pounced on his words like tigers devouring freshly-caught prey. Well, what do you expect from the guy who said "Hello Garci" was actually "Hello Gary"? Not much if you ask me, that's why Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita acts as Presidential Bullhorn now (the official source of Bull***t?). I hope and pray that if and when we actually have a rice shortage and the government tells us we should change our food staple, Mr. Ermita won't get up to the podium to tell us that "at least we have enough instant noodles."

From RT to HiT to Campus

It's been a little over a week since 99.5 CampusFM debuted on Metro Manila radio. At this point, because I don't have a lot of time to go into details, let me begin by saying I'm very thankful to be part of it. As I mentioned in the pinoyexchange.com forum regarding the new incarnation of the 99.5 frequency, I'm very optimistic about the station's future. For the first time in a long time, it actually has a chance to rise above all the mediocrity being passed off as entertainment, which has plagued the FM band for too long a while. And it's an opportunity for a very popular radio brand to regain its former glory. More on this soon, only because it's difficult to organize my thoughts with my stomach competing for attention.

The Art of "Made You Look!"

Since like most other drivers in Metro Manila, I feel like my life literally wastes away behind the wheel on EDSA, I am only too thankful for the entertainment that advertising billboards provide. The latest attention grabbing ones for me would have to be those of Folded & Hung featuring the lovely Maja Salvador in the clothing line's summer wear. No doubt, quite a few fender-benders will be caused by mesmerized drivers gawking at these ads. At least these will help reawaken commuters who end up in a hypnotized glazed daze produced by mind-numbing traffic jams. Of course it's either you gawk at the ladies, or some guy in his underwear suffering from performance anxiety, or shrinkage from the cold, maybe?

But seriously, kudos to my high school classmate and F&H CEO, Ronald Pineda, and all those behind the clothing line, for not settling for mediocre ad layouts.

Pretty Boy BF

KAAYUSAN
AND ALL THAT K...RAP
If you’ve driven over EDSA in the last few months, you could not have missed the obscenely large tarpaulins with MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando and some supposedly wise advice to help make Metro Manila a better place to live in. On these, you would also have seen the letters “BF”, which I assume is some sort of logo for the man. Now, if you were to look closely, there is fine print on the tarps which say they are government property.

From there, I begin what I must say about these eyesores on our national highway. Why is the people’s money being spent on these things? As far as I know, having tarps made is not paid for with loose change. There are more decent things that money could have been used for. How many poor kids’ school tuition could that have subsidized?

Why is Chairman Fernando’s face on these tarps? I actually tried not to think that he spent the MMDA’s money on posters to hint loudly about his well known ambition to run for president. But what other reason could there be for his face being on them?

What’s with that pink glow around him on the poster? Why does he insist in throwing all this pink at us? He can bark to the high heavens all he wants that pink enhances your calm, but when a bus cuts in front of me while I’m driving, no amount of pink will keep me from going ballistic like John Spartan in “The Demolition Man”. I think the pink is his queer eye sense coming out, which is all fine and dandy as long as he keeps it to himself and not use our tax money to indulge in it.

Isn’t the MMDA charged with keeping the metropolis clean and making vehicular traffic flow smoothly? Last I checked, this agency is not exactly doing an excellent job with either of those tasks. So please tell me what is up with this atrocious display of arrogance from a man who is being paid with our tax money to show us a good example. Sure, I can appreciate good unsolicited advice, but what does this man’s face have to do with it? If he’s trying to shock Metro Manila drivers into being courteous and law-abiding, he’s got another thing coming, because each time, I wish I could swerve and drive as far away as possible so I wouldn’t have to see his face again. I’m sorry, but the man’s no Brad Pitt. If whoever thought of this campaign wanted attention getting value for the tarps, why not put some hot actor or model’s face on them? Hell, if it was Marian Rivera on them, I’d look forward to reading the advice, for the obvious reason, come on!

I’m sorry; I really now have nothing but disdain for this campaign that Mr. Fernando embarked upon. It’s something that he should have given a second, third, or even tenth thought before doing. I mean, I have nothing but respect for him with all that he accomplished in Marikina; especially after driving through that city last Good Friday. But if he wants to run for president, he could try doing it with some class, and most importantly, NOT USE GOVERNMENT MONEY to plaster his face everywhere.

One more thing that bothers me is that on the net I’ve only come across a few sites with entries about the tarps. No news website has anything about them? Has our society become that dense and pervasive that we take one look at something questionable done by the government and just tolerate it? But then, a couple of them underneath the EDSA-Buendia turning ramp were smeared with red paint right across the chairman’s face, which was quite amusing to say the very least. So someone did choose to voice a dissenting opinion in a not so subtle manner.