Trends of the week
“Nognog” enjoys second straight week of revived currency
MANILA, Philippines - The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings on Vice President Jojomar Binay’s alleged corruption reached a new level of surreal this week after discussions on hospital bed costs, aerial shots, and where “Oplan Stop Nognog” came from. “Huli kong narinig ang Nognog, high school pa ako (the last time I heard Nognog was back in high school),” said Senator Alan Cayetano. This was apt, considering that the Senate hearing was attended by petty children.
We’re not out of Taylor Swift’s woods yet
It’s 2014 and Taylor Swift is still unavoidable. She’s so popular, an iTunes glitch producing eight seconds of static credited to her went to No. 1 in Canada. Her new single Out of the Woods dropped this week, causing a viral earworm that invokes the question, “Are we out of the woods yet, are we out of the woods yet, are we out of the woods yet, are we out of the woods?” asked around a half dozen times, with the persistence of a sugar-high eight-year-old in the back seat of a car. Taylor Swift is the Benjamin Button of pop music — she started out in the adult confessional world of country music and now, she’s finally embraced electronica and ready to be a teen star at age 24.
People are talking about Renee Zellweger, so something must be wrong
There were very few kind words on the Internet for Renee Zellweger after she surfaced in the recent Elle Women in Hollywood Awards, looking very cosmetically altered and still somehow decades older. The Internet is a very mean place, but it reserves its sharpest vitriol for celebrities, especially women over 40. Having said that, she does look dramatically different. Does she deserve to get mocked? That’s where it gets sketchy. Celebrity is a fake status earned from a fake endeavor and fueled by the fake expectations of real people. Those unhappy with Renee Zellweger’s transformation deserve their unhappiness.
Internet hands over wallet to Marvel 
The trailer for The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron leaked online this week, much to the delight of comic book geeks and movie freaks alike. You know your trailer worked when it blows the Internet’s collective minds despite a semi-disappointing non-reveal. After appearing in end-of-credits teasers for so long, Thanos will apparently have to wait for the next sequel, perhaps. In his stead will be the lesser-known (by non-geeks anyway) Ultron, who will be played by the always brilliant James Spader, so it’s still a win for all of us. You can take our money now, Marvel.
Efficient and safe transport apparently illegal in Manila
Uber is an app-based transport service that gives users quick and easy access to cars-for-hire from any point in the metro. It’s really brilliant and safe; in other words, the complete opposite of taxi cabs. So while it was a complete outrage to read news of the LTFRB possibly shutting it down, it wasn’t that shocking. Of course, they’ll be totally against something as effective as Uber — it goes against their core principles of making commuters’ lives as miserable as possible. How dare Uber offer an obvious solution to an obvious problem?
* * *
What are your top trends this week? Tweet us @PhilStarSUPREME!
