Running Commentary: Wine and Cheese, vol. 4

For the past year or so, my wife and her cousin have been holding what one, I suppose, could euphemistically term a "genteel wine and cheese" party, with the sole aim of getting a bunch of bored cousins together and poke light hearted fun at life, the universe and everything (again, my apologies to Douglas Adams). The amazing thing is that, despite the hectic schedules, regularly schedule family dramas, and overall weirdness that comes from being part of this crazy/cool family, we churn these events out like clockwork. To this end, I would like to embarrass G.K. Chesterton by quoting from his novel The Napoleon of Notting Hill: "...adventures happen on dull days, and not on sunny ones. When the chord of monotony is stretched most tight, then it breaks with a sound like song."

Right now, we're deathly bored. Time for another wine and cheese party! Time for a running commentary...

This is so cool. Since I have two sons, and my sister Joey brought her son Miguel over, the first part of the evening has been totally dictated by the kids. Right now, instead of listening to grown up music, we're being regaled by the unnaturally cheerful tones of the Fun Song Factory.

Bodie just got the results of his medical back, and it turns out that his liver has more miles on it than my sister's 1997 Toyota Corolla. Of course, having just been recently apprised of Bodie's liver, Jeroen quickly took the opportunity to invite him to have some wine. Quite the jokester, this Jeroen. Ralph's engaged in Ateneo basketball discussion with Chris, who's also from the Ateneo, but who would rather die than have me reveal that he was in college when Plaza Miranda was being bombed. Oops, sorry!

Nick, Jeroen and Francis got together in the middle of the room and started talking. They're all 6 feet and taller. If anyone needed any proof for an evolutionary bias against short people, they just nailed it. I walk over and ask if there's a height requirement to hang out with them. Someone, and I'm not sure who, just some voice from way up high, says no, just a wine requirement. Again, with the wine...

My sisters, Papot and Joey, crowd Cecile. Since they regularly read Cecile's blog, they want to get the inside story on some of the juicy chismis, particularly the one about this Amazona who's notorious for pimping her ride, so to speak (again, apologies to MTV).

Chelo, sporting a spiffy short haircut, reminds everyone that we should schedule the next wine and cheese party mid-September, after she officially becomes "leukemia-free". Since she was never "friends-and-loving-cousins-free", we wholeheartedly agree. Chelo also makes me kulit about the Magic Sing. In good time, my dear cousin. In good time...

Which is around now. I just warmed up with a 91 on Randy Santiago's Hindi Magbabago. Nick's got next.

Mike just nailed a 96 on Lead Me, Lord. Nick suggests that divine intervention was responsible for that score. I keep my mouth shut. At this point, our neighbor, Carlo Villegas shows up, fresh from a basketball game at Club 650. He takes one look at the Magic Sing, smirks, then proceeds to plow into the food. Wise man.