literally.

So I'm an outsider with only
a limited point of view to
the freakshow disguised as
relevant and informative
segments of current events.

My point.
As powerful as it is beautiful,
the media, is a tool to exploit
and to program the common man's sense of
perception.

Media debacle: Hayden Kho.
A fucking disgrace.
So many problems plaguing
the motherland;
The rising cases of H1N1,
the Muslim extremists in the south,
storms, disease;
and the senate has a hearing
just because of some tapes.
Big deal.
Someone threw a waterbottle at him.
My sentiments exactly for wasting taxpayer pesoes
on government officials not doing their jobs,
and pretending that they are by
publicly condemning a certain Mr Kho's
actions.
Election time is nearing.
Free endorsement is always a good thing.
Fuck all these scandals.
Pay attention to better improving
our education system and creating more job
opportunities.
Easier said than done, yes,
but to make an effort in that direction
and not be distracted by a silly man's
infedility and the media circus that ensues
is simply nonsensical.
We seldom see segments in the news on
everyday people who make huge sacrifices
for the good of their community or family.
Usually we'd hear about these good people,
but it would be because they're either dead,
or kidnapped and/or are being held for ransom.

And there we all are,
in front of the idiot box,
glued to our screens.

Kabataang Pinoy: Tungkol sa mga paskil

Para sa mga nais magpaskil ng mga isinulat na artikulo, ipaalam lamang sa amin upang mapadalhan namin kayo ng imbitasyon sa email. Isasali namin kayo sa contributors list. Dito ay walang gaanong restriksyon o formal rules na sinusunod. Ang mahalaga ay maipahayag ang anumang nais sabihin o iparating sa publiko. Mabuhay ang kabataan! Ipagpatuloy ang magagandang adhikain!
-- tagapamahala

VAT

nakakalito yung 12% VAT na isinasama lang sa resibo pag magbabayad ka na. sana isama na kagad nila sa price tag yung 12% VAT para di nakakalito pag magcocompute ng bibilhin. hehehe!

bad trip kasi yun. pano kung ang nakalagay na presyo sa bilihin mo halimbawa e P256. tapos e naghanda ka ng sakto lang nun dahil ayun lang pera mo. akala mo mabibili mo na tapos e pagdating mo pala sa cashier, P286?! ang babayaran mo. nye! san nanggaling yun? bat bigla biglang nadagdagan?!

nakakainis ang ganun, lalayasan mo na lang ang tindera at sasabihing kulang kase ang pera mo. di ba? pano kung P260 o P270 lang ang dala mo?

o baka naman kasi strategy nila yun para akalain mo na mura ang tinda tapos ieexplain na lang nila sa counter na VAT lang ang nagpataas. pero kahit na, bad trip, ayoko ng ganun. nakakagulo pa sa pagestimate

music...

I'm fortunate to have been brought up tp appreciate almost any form of music, from any genre or style. Of course i have my preferences & favorites just like everyone else. There's alot of good OPM music in the charts, palying on MTV & the radio but for every artist that gets airtime, theres a hundred more just waiting to hit the big time. Whats my point? hmmm... i guess i just want to reiterate that sometimes there's just too much shit on the radio & really good music is the music you hear from your neighborhood band, or some local joint you always hang out in every weekend, enjoy a beer or 2 & chill & listen to tunes you know aren't just engineered by greedy producers whose main goal in life is to sell as many records as they can & milk their "music cows" dry & move on to the next one & the next one after... Though it isn't always the case, it does happen & God forbid that happens to a really good artist/band whose sole purpose in life is to make music till some guy in a suit comes, & waves a cheque, all of a sudden the artist becomes a pawn, a lapdog, a money train, till the track runs out. MTV was cool, still is today, but i feel being indie is the "cool" thing. I don't know if i made sense here, but what the heck... till next time...

Pagpapalit ng "costume"

Tungkol sa malubhang kalagayan ng pangungurakot sa ‘Pinas, maraming detalye ang hindi ko nalalaman. Madalang na lang din kasi akong nakakapanuod ng telebisyon at isa pa, ang mahal na ng dyaryo. Nagulat nga ako kahapon nung sinubukan kong bumili. Aba, umabot na pala ng Php20?! Ganun pa man, sapat na sigurong katibayan ang mga nakikita namin dito sa probinsya(probinsya pa lang yan a, nakakalungkot isipin na marami nang ulul). Ang Pampanga nga yata ngayon ang madalas banggitin sa balita e--nariyan na ang mga nagbebenta ng pekeng gamot, car nap, mga namataang jueteng lords at kung anu-anu pang kabalastugan. Mababait at matulungin naman ang mga tao dito, may mga naligaw lang talagang iilang sira. Ayon kasi sa mga naulinigan kong usapan ng mga nakakatanda, ‘mayaman’ na daw dapat ang Pampanga dahil sa sangkatutak na buhangin na nanggaling pa sa lahar ngunit naipupuslit ng mga kurakot ang malaking bahagi ng kita. Hmm... ano bang karaniwang suot ng mga pulitiko? barong ‘di ba? naisip ko minsan mag ‘change attire’ kaya sila? Tila hindi na nababagay ang Barong Tagalong. Suot yan ng mga makata nung unang panahon. Ang mga may karapatang sumuot lang nyan ay yung mga kagalang-galang. Mas mainam siguro kung magsuot na lang sila ng itim at bonnet o yung mala-medyas na isinusuot sa ulo at pinantatakip sa mukha ng mga magnanakaw…

15 Minutes Advanced

Minsan, kahit nakilala na natin ang isang taong sinasabi nating "the one", minsan ay sadyang mali lang talaga ang ating tiyempo. Sabi nga ng ilang, "Time is of essence" at siyempre lalo na ang "Time is Gold". Ay... para lang yan sa mga mahilig ma-late. Pero maaari din natin siyang makonek sa ating pinag-uukulan ng pansin ngayon. Halimbawa, di ba minsan may mga sitwasyon na kung saan ay bigla na lang natin naiisip na "Sana dati pa tayo pinagtagpo". Yan ay yung tipong pareho kayong single at walang mga hang-ups. Yung hang-ups parang hangover lang yan. Parang nagpakalasing ka sa pag-ibig tapos nagkaron ka ng matinding hangover na masmalala pa sa hangover na dinaranas mo pag ikaw ay nalalasing dahil sa mga inuming alkoholik. Eto yung tipo ng hangover na walang gamot na mabibili over the counter. Tipong kahit halughugin mo pa ang lahat ng Mercury Drug at Watsons sa buong Pilipinas ay wala kang makikitang gamot. Makakatulong lang ang Visine sa pagpapagaling ng mga iba pang epekto non tulad na lamang ng namamagang mga mata dahil sa kakaiyak. Ang gamot ay hindi mo mahahanap sa iba, dahil nasa sarili mo lang yung gamot. Parang yung mga antibodies sa ating katawan. Ooops... geek speak na naman. Haha! Pero kung hindi nyo alam ang antibodies... tsk tsk... isa lang ang ibig sabihin nyan... Hindi kayo nakikinig sa Biology class nyo noong High School kayo. Isa kayong pasaway na estudyante!!!

Bago tayo lumihis sa ating pinag-uusapan, bumalik nga tayo sa pesteng timing na yan. Siguro, sa lahat-lahat ng pwedeng kamalasang mangyari sa isang tao, yung wrong timing na talaga ang malala. Ewan ko ba. Sadyang mapaglaro talaga itong si Big Ben. Si Big Ben ay likha ng aking malawak na imahinasyon. Siya ang may hawak ng oras pagdating sa pag-ibig at sa kung anik-anik pang bagay. Hindi natin alam kung nang-aasar ba siya o ano ang gusto nyang iparating sa mensahe sa atin pero sa ngayon, isa ako sa mga hindi gaanong natutuwa sa pangyayari. Ang pinakamagandang halimbawa ng pagiging wrong timing ay ang magkaroon ng mga bagong kaibigan na maaaring maging prospect. At ang catch dito, 80 bahagdan sa kanila ay mayroon pang tinatawag na hangover. Nakita ko na nga ang trend eh. Gusto nyo gawan ko kayo ng graph at chart sa Excel para masmadaling mavisualize?

Malaking bagay talaga ang timing. Kung wala ka sa timing, sorry ka na lang. Panahon na para maglagay ng L sa iyong noo at kumanta ng paboritong awitin ng mga batikang taluhan sa balat ng lupa.

Thoughts

All my life, I've never been more prouder of my color, my cultural background & where I come from until now.
I've been living life out of a suitcase since I was 8 Or 9, & it looks like I'm gonna continue doing so for a while more.
It's sort of a hereditary thing.
I've been away from the country of my birth for almost half my life, & not until recently did I finally 're-visit' my homeland, which was 3 years ago. I came, not knowing a single sentence of my dialect, Bisaya, & with a little knowledge of Tag-lish. Now, I can speak Bisaya rather well & my Tag-lish is half decent. Not bad for a few years' stay?
Presently, I've had to leave again due to some unforeseen circumstance which I will not yet mention.
Anyway, throughout my 3 years of 're-assimilating', I've learnt & re-learnt many things about my culture, my roots, my ethnicity & who I am. It was an enlightening experience, albeit a short one ( 3 years can be rather short), & one I'll cherish for as long as my memory serves me.
We're all human; we're born different & view life in many perspectives, but being a Filipino, despite my years away in foreign lands, exposed to many cultures & people, & brought up in & out of a 'maleta', makes me cherish who I am & who I represent.
Not the corrupt officials; not the rich businessmen; not the terrorism & violence; neither the leftists nor right wing fanatics & extremists; the pollution, the poverty;
but the spirit of something great I can't seem to put into words; something inherent in each & every one of our countrymen. Something I can't really place, but I know it's there, somehow.

Choices

Have you ever had an experience where you had to make a decision where you are to choose between what you should do and what you really want to do?

All of us were situated once, or twice, or even more in this bottomless pit that we would want to get out and in the future, there will be more of those I'm-stuck-in-this-bottomless-pit-and-I-don't-know-what-to-do type of situation. Sometimes, we ought to choose the what-we-should-do option and then feel bad because we did not choose what we really want to do. And sometimes, we choose the latter option and yet feel bad because it does not make us feel any better doing it.

But here is one truth about making decisions, and it is the fact that we are taking risks. It is like we are in a coliseum and what could be waiting for us outside the arena are ferocious lions that are capable of devouring our flesh in a matter of seconds or a group of Greek soldiers ready to salute you.

If you have read Dead Stars, a short story by Paz Marquez Benitez, there's a certain line from it that would instantly remind you of this topic.

"Julita," he said in his slow, thoughtful manner, "did you ever have to choose between something you wanted to do and something you had to do?"

--from Dead Stars, by Paz Marquez Benitez

From that short story, Alfredo was to choose between Esperanza (the one whom he is engaged to) and Julia Salas (the girl that swept him off his feet). And Alfredo chose to marry Esperanza. However, so many what-if-questions would pop out in his mind.

So all these years--since when?--he had been seeing the light of dead stars, long extinguished, yet seemingly still in their appointed places in the heavens.

--from Dead Stars, by Paz Marquez Benitez

All of Alfredo's answers to his what-if-questions are the dead stars. Certainly, all of us could have been looking up at the sky and yearning for those dead stars.