The other day I caught the Miss Universe 2005 final-5 round: the Q&A session. You know, where they ask one another questions like, "If you saw an old lady fall on the street, should you help her?" All right, not so easy. More like, "If you saw an old lady fall on the street, what would you do?" All right, all right, I'll stop joking. The questions are like, "If you saw an old lady fall on the street, which country would you think you were in?"

To which of course you should expect replies like, "I refuse to answer that. The question is ageist, sexist, and racist. Thank you. Oh, and world peace."

I'm sorry. I'm sure some of these Miss Universe finalists are more than capable of getting out faster than I from the Crimson Room, the Viridian Room, and the Blue Chamber. Which is why I thought the questions coulda -- and shoulda -- been smarter.

As always, criticizing is way easier than suggesting a workable solution. So I tried to come up with some questions I would've submitted myself had I been one of those finalists -- don't even think of imagining it, you're scaring the fish out of me!

For a start, these finalists should be given ample time to come up with answers. During which each of them would have an Internet-connected laptop at her disposal. Of course, Ivo should then be banned from the vicinity.

How 'bout: who do you think will win a tiger-lion fight? Better yet: a Batman-Superman fight?

Or: who do you think really killed JFK?

Or: how many years do you think it would take Indonesia to become a prosperous country?

Or: if human lives a single path from birth to death, why is it then that we can remember the past but not the future?

Or: how many bloggers does it take to change a lightbulb?

Or simply ask the finalists to write a program to display the first 2 characters of their login IDs. And yes, bonus points will be given for good (G)UI.

Current music: Metallica - The Outlaw Torn
Current mood: happy