Saturday, June 02, 2007

My Buzz

I think that it's a testament to how I relish extremes that I spent part of my old publishing career taking midnight taxis from Mandaluyong to Quezon Avenue to sit at a restaurant and take notes while an insider, "our mole," told me who in show business was sleeping with whom, who was fighting with whom, and who said what juicy bit of backbite and when for the gossipy Prattle pages of The Sunday Times Magazine, whose editor and my former boss Jo-ann Q. Maglipon has since gone on to establish the wildly popular Yes! magazine, a monthly serving of everything Philippine show business; and now I live with someone who can't even tell Jennifer Aniston from Angelina Jolie, an absolute uninitiate who, when I announced horrified that Britney Spears had shaved her head, asked, "Why did your friend do that?" (I think he thought I was talking about Lille or Tara, both of whom he thinks are very nice but slightly mad.)

Extremes are addicting though, and so like an ex-smoker who every now and then must have his nicotine fix, this morning I felt an urge to light up my Mozilla. I smoked up the links, getting high on the goings-on thousands of miles away. Some tsismis gathered from this morning's giving in to weakness: Marjorie Barretto and Dennis Padilla are on a cool-off, Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez are a couple, and Yoyoy Villame is dead.

The news that most affects me is that Ruffa Gutierrez and the Turkish Yilmaz Bektas are filing for divorce. Ruffa cites cultural differences as the root of their troubles, and I feel deep empathy for her. I remember my own difficulties with Pierre, like that one time I was trying to have a conversation with him about unforgettable '80s pop idols. I was attempting to illustrate the spectacle that was Leni Santos in The Punks delivering her classic line, "Hindi mo kami maiintindihan, Ma, punks kami"; and for some strange reason that got him reminiscing about how absolutely lovely Sophie Marceau was in her first film, La Boum. I fumbled through an explanation of how, despite the rhyming names, Leni and Sophie do not inhabit the same planet and how, if they ever met, it would generate such intense energy their meeting place would instantly transform into a blackhole. He failed to get it.

As I said, I feel deeply for Ruffa. Cultural differences are tough.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not as obsessed with showbiz gossip as most Pinoys are, but sometimes I just can't help but get sucked into it, especially with the most juicy stories -- like the Ruffa-Yilmaz split. From what I've heard, "cultural differences" is just the official reason. Yilmaz has been more than implying that it's Anabel Rama's fault for being materialistic, and Ruffa's for being a fame addict. He actually said Ruffa could win an acting award for all the lies she's told! Ruffa, on the other hand, has cried on TV, saying Yilmaz abused her. And Anabel, as usual, has been raising hell, saying she never liked Yilmaz from the start. (She is quoted as saying, "Istanbul? Nasa mapa ba 'yun?") But really, not one of them sounds very credible to me.

Not that I really care, of course...This is just what everyone tells me... ;-)

mcsister said...

Yoyoy Villame is dead? Oh wow.

JEROME GOMEZ said...

Hindi mo kami maiintindihan, Ma, pankth kami.

Apol said...

KATRINA, me, I enjoy showbiz chismis! Did I tell you that I once met Annabelle Rama and she was emblazoned with D&G from head to toe? And by "to toe" I mean literally: Her right shoe had a "D" and her left shoe had a "G"!!! Yes, yes, it's the Pinoy uzi in me.

Yes, MAYA, hindi na siya makakapag-exercise tuwing umaga...

EDITRIX, I stand corrected :)

Chinachix said...

wow, a kindred spirit regarding showbiz chismis apol! funny how i wasnt as interested when i was still in manila, but now thousands of miles aways, ive become closet jologs following the ruffa-yilmaz tiff on youtube haha...and i hear yes! has exclusive on ogie-regine...?

Makis said...

D&G on Annabelle's feet like that??? Teka muna, Apol, more chismis naman on Ruffa :D

Apol said...

CHINACHIX, thanks for the tip! I didn't know there were all these Chika Minutes and The Buzz clips on Youtube, so I just spent the last 30 minutes watching Ruffa, and then old stuff about Gretchen and Dawn. I even saw Jo-Ann being very diplomatic about Claudine post-demandahan :)

MAKIS, naku, I have no idea, but I have to say that on the occasions I met her I found Ruffa very very likeable. Maybe it's because she has a very strong personality, and media magnifies it even more, and not necessarily in a positive way, that she comes across as, well, not very palatable to some people.

Goodness, and now I think I've had my fill of showbiz diversions, so tomorrow I'm watching Bellini's Norma. [Yes, yes, a not very well-disguised attempt to redeem myself and now appear cultured :)]

Anonymous said...

I love Ruffa! Don't really care much about Annabel though

Funny, anabel rama said "Rofa, kong gosto mo talaga ako matigok ng maaga sumama ka kay Ylmaz sa Maldives"

read pep.ph

Anonymous said...

Hmmm... I wonder which lane of thought Pierre would wander down when you tell him about Mark Lapid's "Saging lang may puso!" line? The possibilities are endless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6cufhldqSU

Kala

BioCarolyn said...

Hi apol. I got curious of your blogspot coz you are a featured personality in mariefrance mag in the philippines. I might be taking the leap of faith, leave everything behind to be with my german boyfriend next year. Hope you can give me suggestions and advices thru nylcar@yahoo.com. Think that is what I badly needed nowadays. What happened to Ruffa Gutierrez-Bektas makes me afraid and paranoid... worrying about cultural differences. Thanks!

Carol