Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 95

Manage your Star Wars expectations

Of course we have a Pavlovian reaction to the new trailer, because of the John Williams music and the sight of Han Solo and Chewbacca. But it is best to view all matters pertaining to the new Star Wars movies with extreme caution. Remember what happened last time: basically they took our childhood and turned […]

The invisible army of Filipino migrant workers in American warzones

Over the past decade, contractors and subcontractors have earned billions of dollars providing half a million Asian migrant workers, primarily from India, Nepal, and the Philippines, to perform the menial tasks in American war zones that soldiers will no longer do: cooking, cleaning, laundry, construction, and base security. Employing these workers—an invisible support army with […]

“Extreme noise and dissonance can be an incredibly cleansing thing.”

Other things we learned from Kim Gordon’s candid but dignified memoir, Girl In A Band: – Thurston Moore broke up their marriage and Sonic Youth because he cheated on her with this hanger-on who had always wanted to be connected to the band. Before the woman had gone after Thurston Moore she had tried to […]

How To Get Away With Murder: First, don’t hire these lawyers.

The latest hit from super-producer Shonda Rhimes (Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy) promises to teach us How To Get Away With Murder and then throws in needless complications to make sure we flunk the course. The first question we might ask of the series is, “Whose murder?” This show does not stint on corpses. Is it the […]

Solving the Singapore Math Problem

As viral phenomena go, the math problem posted by Singaporean TV host Kenneth Kong is more interesting than the latest celebrity stupidities. It made people use their brains for a change. However, Kong claimed that this math problem is given to fifth graders. Nope, not even the vaunted Singaporean educational system dishes this out to […]

In traffic: Pay toilet rates

Seen in traffic on EDSA, Guadalupe, Makati: Pay toilet rates “wee-wee 3 pesos, poo-poo 5 pesos”. Is the user required to announce whether he intends to do number one or number two, or does someone do a spot check afterwards?

People in midlife, watch While We’re Young with your 25-year-old friends

We found out that While We’re Young is showing in cinemas and we have no memory of a Noah Baumbach movie ever showing at the mall so we rushed to see it and were very glad because it’s about people our age. “People our age” being those who, when filling out forms, hesitate at the […]

Things we will miss while we’re away

We’re off to Udine for the film festival next week, then Vienna and Budapest. We’re always thrilled to be travelling, but we will miss some things we’d been looking forward to. 1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Blast. But it’ll still be showing when we get back, or we can watch it there, where it […]

Bill Murray sings the love theme from Jaws; Miley Cyrus makes us shut up

The sketch in the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary special that caused food to shoot out of our nose: Bill Murray as lounge singer Nick Ocean singing the love theme from Jaws. (Remember his theme from Star Wars?) Here he is, introduced by Maya Rudolph’s spot-on Beyonce. The musical number that made us shut up […]

Game of Chairs

Don’t lose your head, Neddy baby. Bring me a sweater, I think winter is coming.