Agatha Christie

All posts tagged Agatha Christie

Good Friday Reflections of a not-so-accidental Pageant Blogger

Posted by Norman on April 14, 2017
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

With fellow media colleagues Andy Cayna, RL Lacanienta, Onecho Gabinete and Brix Vera

I am not a certified journalist, let alone a formally-trained writer. When I was barely five years old, two separate incidents led me into having a love affair with words. First, my maternal aunt (who just graduated from college at the time) gave me her old trusty typewriter as sort of a gift after finding out how I love playing with the keys and typing anything that catches my fancy. Shortly after, my father started buying second-hand hard-bound books (mostly Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew) hoping that he will get me into reading. Both elders were successful in getting me productively busy during idle days from school. After I finish reading one book, my mind would wander off and create stories that would initially mimic the genre I love the most – mystery. Funny but I would even make crudely-drawn posters out of it like the cover of a paperback novel bought at Alemar’s or Goodwill Bookstore. Not many of you know that I also inherited my father’s talent in drawing/sketching. It’s a skill that I never really harnessed until college when female classmates would ask me to sketch gowns/dresses for their debuts.

One of my favorite Ian McEwan books

My love for books never ceased. During high school at the seminary, I collected Agatha Christie & Daphne du Maurier novels which I voraciously read one after another. And when college at UST came, I leveled up with my choice of authors, even if I found myself constantly drawn to the works of Stephen King, John Irving and Ian McEwan. By this time, I knew that writing is something that comes naturally, even if I needed to be spoiled with inspirations most of the time. But being the Psychology major that I am, the talent was fully utilized in writing Psychological assessments of mental patients which eventually evolved into my first corporate job doing long write-ups for employees who wanted to be promoted or who are applying for overseas work contracts.

During a MAC workshop we covered

In all of these, my love for pageants was always a given. And so, I would intermittently pore my head over Miss Universe and Bb. Pilipinas twice a year. None of those type-written musings ever got published. They were neatly organized in a mid-sized antique treasure chest in our ancestral house in Hagonoy, Bulacan which – sadly – is now gone forever after a fire gutted the entire property more than five years ago today.

Blogging came as a result of advancements in technology back in 2009. At first, I thought that an online personal journal would suffice given my less-than-reliable track record in keeping locked diaries filled-up. But when readers and followers started trickling in, I knew that I was on to something. It was good motivation to say the least. The initial mix of travel stories, movie reviews and pageant stories was eventually streamlined to focus mainly on what I love to write about – beauty contests. And the rest – as they say – is history.

Coverage partner Joy Arguil and I

On this Good Friday, I’d like to thank God for giving me this gift – a gift for words that I got to link with pageantry and everything that comes with it. I may not be perfect, as the grammar nazis will attest to. But I always try to learn even at my age when people would make jokes about senior moments (I’m definitely not in that category yet haha) or why a mature-looking individual like myself would be so into writing about young beauty queens and kings.

I also thank God for the gift of smile which lifts me up everytime I am down or stressed. Seldom will you see me unsmiling in photos because I never allow myself to be photographed without flashing a big smile.

Lastly, I thank God for the gift of loyal readers, followers and critics. I have learned time and again to brush off intrigues at the onset and relish the praises with humility. Life is too short to linger in the company of negative-minded people because they always have problems for every solution. I just let ill comments slide because there are just so many things to write about and little time to squeeze all my thoughts in a 24-hour period. To even engage in a heated exchange of unpleasant statements is a complete waste of time.

I always love it when Joy, Joseph and I are complete for a coverage


These are the reflections of a not-so-accidental blogger this Lenten period. My apologies if I got carried away. I was inside the church praying and the words just came flooding in when the air conditioning units were opened by the caretakers. I got cooled off and this article is the result. Finished in 23 minutes flat. 😉

Looking for Miss U: a 2013 pageant mystery

Posted by Norman on January 2, 2013
Posted in: 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Nothing satisfies my literary craving more than a good mystery novel. Time was when I spent most of my freshman high school year finishing off all books about the Hardy Boys in the library. Done with that, I turned to Nancy Drew after finding no interesting alternative in the selections. And then my aunt introduced me to Agatha Christie and that cemented my sleuthing interest – the more suspects, the better; the more twists, the juicier.

After Q, R, S and T, will the letter U figure out in the name of the next Miss Universe Philippines?

After Q, R, S and T, will the letter U figure out in the name of the next Miss Universe Philippines?

And so, I start my post-New Year Fireworks blogging year with a sort-of pageant-related mystery that has been lurking over our shoulders for many months now. Back in early 2012, there were superstitious-like discussions that – in order to continue the Philippines’ Miss Universe streak – the next representative should bear a surname that starts with the letter ‘T’. After the successful placements of Quiambao, Raj and Supsup, it made sense (however little) even to a few of the non-believers. Somehow, we conveniently forgot about the same the minute all the Bb. Pilipinas 2012 Official Candidates were revealed. Our focus was channeled on who had the best potential to win the top plum, instead of singling out one contender whose surname started with ‘T’. In fact, Janine Tugonon (one of two ‘T’ girls in the batch, the other one being a less-favorited Roxanne Tadique) was never a prime choice to win. But she did. And only then did some of us realized that, either by fate or sheer coincidence, we found a Miss T for Miss U.

Fast forward to 12 hours before January 1, 2013. I started sleuthing for that elusive ‘U’ girl who can continue the mystery of the alphabet for Miss Universe Philippines. I checked on all candidates of three national beauty pageants (Binibining Pilipinas, Miss Philippines Earth and Mutya ng Pilipinas) within the past five years and could only come up with three – one former titleholder (Bb. Pilipinas-World 2009 Marie-Ann Umali), the Miss Batangas in MPE2012 (Queenie Uy), and a relatively forgettable Mutya 2008 joiner (Frances Urrutia) who might already be married and raising a family by now.

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A desperate attempt to find a 'U' girl for Miss U Philippines with these 'U'dual suspects.

I know. I’m stuck at a lame corner here. I can say with certainty that a previous Binibini major winner can no longer rejoin (even if Marie-Ann’s age is still within the MU bracket). On the other hand, the Batanguena from the last MPE is definitely far from the Miss U mold we have in mind. And how about the losing Mutya-wannabe of four years back? Next!

So where do I go from here? Well, the next logical step would be to wait for the list of girls who will file their applications for Bb. Pilipinas 2013. In that group, there could be one (or two) whose surnames start with the letter ‘U’. And believe me, I will keep an eye on that one (or two), should their participation be made official by BPCI. Why? Because if the next winner complies with the condition, it dawned on me that she will be Miss “U” for the next Miss U. Am I crazy or am I crazy for even giving it some serious thought?

To complete a quartet of successful (and consecutive) Miss Universe Philippines titleholders, the only thing (or letter) missing is"U".

To complete a quartet of successful (and consecutive) Miss Universe Philippines titleholders, the only thing (or letter) missing is”U”.

At any rate, I’m no Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple so take this feature with more than a grain of salt. Consider it a playful take on the next Miss Universe Philippines. No harm in sharing the popular theory behind “QRST”! 😉