We Give Them A Reason

Being Filipino, I was alarmed when HK citizens started calling us names and started hating our race. Here is a reason:

Photos from the crime scene foregrounded by monkeys

 

WTF?!?! All of you are in uniforms you could have not worn if you didn't go through elementary. In elementary, I was taught about respect. Ignorance is not a reason here. Visiting a crime scene for a candid photo shoot is a grave insult to the lives lost and the families in mourning of the hostage incident. Some Filipinos can really be stupid. Stupid to the max. Stupid to the highest level stupid.

Wasak Waltz

I was born into consciousness when the Eraserheads (the band, not the music) was already history.

Introduced to their music by a good friend, I got hooked instantly. There was once a time in my life where that friend and I lay down on a cold, tiled floor while the sound system was playing Ligaya. There, we contemplated on how unlucky we are that we live in the time of the post-Eraserhead revolution. It was depressing as hell.

Depression was only cured by the fact that all the members are still alive and kicking and are still making music.

One particular song is currently on my replay. Its Wasak Waltz, track number 8 in Ely Buendia's (Vocalist of Eraserheads) and Francis M.'s (pioneer Pinoy rapper) album I.L.A.W. (In Love And War). Listen to it and I promise you, you'll feel happier immediately after. It is a certified ear canal drug.

UPDATE: A friend told me that Sir Ely Buendia would be shooting a music video for Wasak Waltz. I saw the tweet and he sure knows how to keep his fans happy. I will be watching out!

Forward, Backward

In the title, I have just outlined the method of the Philippine SWAT Team in handling extreme hostage-taking situations. Silly but its true and it is honestly painful to admit that that the people who are supposed to handle life-threatening situations are only armed with guns and an elementary dance step.

 

No matter how much I hoped that I will hear, see, feel none of the hostage taking, the media coverage was just impossible to ignore. Of course, being a Filipino, I had to react, not necessarily in defense of our country but in showing that I honor the gravity of the event.

First of all, I am not ashamed of being a Filipino. I have never been and I assume I will never be. I am only ashamed by our fondness with 'rude awakenings'. We wait for a bomb to explode before we decide on the budget for training a bomb disposal team. We like learning the hard way.

Of course, I detest the SWAT. I also hate the idea that there were at least a dozen brains who decided on the proceedings in the negotiations. I suggest they should have established a group that managed everything. If you let a lot of people to decide, you will only get confusion.

There is a lot to scrutinize about the whole ordeal but I am very tired and too stressed to even note the most obvious. Common sense will do it for you, I guess. (But it didn't for most of the authority.)

Follow-ups:

• During the final assault, 15 hostages were in the bus. 7 of them survived.
• The (fly)SWAT(tters) deployed tear gas and later realized they forgot their gas masks in their service vehicles. Genius!
  

The Last Pig Out

Recently, my diet has been failing (reason why I will go on a jogging trip later) and I feel less and less well these days. I really need to start thinking about my goal of having a lower BMI and being able to run a few meters without shearing my kneecaps off. I'm really heavy.

Remember the Jolly crackers? They are lipstick-sized sandwiches with a weird sour-sweet cream inside of them. When I was young and even until now, I still fantasize on sleeping on a floor them and having a never-empty pitcher of orange juice beside me. Food is becoming my ultimate pleasure.

Better than pepper

Its been a long time since I got sucked into the movie theater.

Earlier today, I had to choose between Step Up 3D and Salt. I could not afford another headache so I avoided the 3D glasses.

It was a good decision. In the static, model face of Angelina Jolie I saw the most complex yet so truthful character I have ever encountered in my time in cinema. My phone and my co-watchers, basically the world, were all drowned into the darkness by the movie's constant high.Although some parts were very predictable, other parts where mind blowing. I still see the end-part helicopter dialogue being rolled on my on-board mental projector. For a hot pursuit movie, it was really good. It went beyond just being chased around the movie screen.

You should really go and see how a distinct face portray emotion without much contortion.

A Slideshow and Its Excellency, The First Website

So I finally figured out how to create my own photo slide shows using my flickr account. Below is the offspring of this new knowledge, gracefully showcasing my first few hours in Zamboanga. Enjoy the photos.



The President of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino III, put up a new website. Its the first ever time that I have seen a president so willing to embrace the power of the internet. Here is the link to the First Website. 

I have foreseen that I won't be able to blog regularly in the following days because my school has this weird behavior of closing week-long vacations with a long line of project deadlines. Being inefficient, I find this very challenging. If only typing in keyboards and thinking entailed massive calorie burning, I would work for hours.

Zambonga (First 8 hours)

Photos from my quick trip to Zamboanga.

Awkward

I'm friggin brave. Dated: August 6, 2010

Soon, I will put up more photos on my Flickr and I would be giving out a link. Don't forget to subscribe to my blog posts (delivered by Google so no spam here). You can do that by filling in you email address on the box upper right of this site. Kiss kiss!

Clouds are demons

The wet scene. Our plane: Zamboanga bound for Manila.

Before I knew about the whole concept of gory death, I was fond of thinking that clouds were just huge cotton balls of purity and joy floating gracefully over crap that is earth. 

Now, I have a twisted, less superficial understanding of clouds. Clouds are demons. They cause turbulence and no matter how pure and gentle-looking they are, they want your soul. They shake your plane and scare the bejesus out of you. They feed on fear and life taken by fear, just like some people.

My flight from Zamboanga to Manila was terrible. There were parts where I get to ask myself if it was really a plane ticket that my mother purchased or was it boarding passes for a cheap roller coaster ride. Poor first-time fliers. They were terrified. I was scared too but I remained poised. I researched a lot about flight safety beforehand just to calm down little panic attacks.. A woman, clearly visible from where I sat, looked like she was raped after the extreme turbulence, complete with facial expressions, shaking and an almost useless set of clothes. Clouds are demons, I tell you.

I'm back

For those who thought I might have died or suffered an incident that left me unable to write or access the internet, calm yourselves. I only rode a few planes to Zamboanga City, kissed a couple of faces, gained some weight and went back home. It was a 36 hour vacation to home base. My cousins and lola convinced my mother (who needed to go for reasons) that I come with her. Voila, I arrived as a gift in an over-sized Nike 'Just Do It' shirt. Just do it!

I snapped a couple of photos (350 plus actually), enjoyed two sleepless nights with my cousins, dined in an awe-inspiring football field sized hall and ate a couple of pasalubongs I helped bring. Bisocho. Yum.

At the Iloilo Airport elevator.

It was tiring but fun. I just arrived in Iloilo and I firmly detest the idea of birthplace vacations lasting less than one week. Trust me, it will leave you hanging.

I'm wondering if I should blog about the trip. Would anyone care anyway?

By the way, this is my 201st post and the photo above is the 130th photo in my blog album. How time flies. Tomorrow, I might need a walking stick already. We are all getting older each passing day. Isn't that scary?

Work it!

lol.

We play in style!

Introducing the new jersey of Paris pro rugby club, Stade Français, which unveiled its most recent merchandizing monstrosity ahead of the new French season's opener Aug. 14. The new shirt—one of three official game jerseys—has been dubbed “The Crowd”, and was described on the team's website as being “a tribute to all those who love Stade Français, notably its fans”. That obviously includes team owner Guazzini, too, since his likeness looms large among the assembled masses. (Were that not bad enough, Guazzini's avatar is positioned next to blonde chanteuse Dalida, who—to render the garment more tasteful—died in 1987, half a decade before Guazzini bought the then-obscure club).

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/08/11/a-paris-teams-shocking-new-uniforms-hardly-haute-couture/#ixzz0wM6UDiLm

No matter what you are, you will eventually give in to fashion. This could be the start of the crossroad of play fields and runways. Best jersey design awards will be soon up for grabs. 

Work and Vitamins.

Even before the UPCAT, I knew that the preparations for college isn't over but I never anticipated this degree of torture. Even if our school already postponed a week of classes, I still have projects and assignments plus a few rushes for college application forms. This whole week is not really rest. This is a sad excuse for a vacation. :-(

Starting today, I need to accept that no day is supposed to be unproductive. Either school work or personal assignments, I should never spend a whole day being nothing. Work is a nutrient and I am malnourished.

When I grow up I want to....

BE A WRITER. Translating my thoughts into words make me happy. Its like food with zero calories. More pleasure, less guilt.

BE A DOCTOR because I get fascinated with the study of human biology. Its really an irrational love for learning about the human body. Maybe, I was born in love with human biology. Last year, I joined a free check-up drive and I was in charge of collecting vital signs. I experienced gauging pulse rates, blood pressures, body temperatures and respiration rates. It was heaven. I also experienced blood-typing people and participated in a mass circumcision drive in a public school here in Iloilo. It was the gory, less attractive area of medicine but it still bothers me that I enjoyed it as much as the other stuff. I fear blood but suddenly, being stuffed in the middle of minor surgeries, I forgot about fear. I love looking at humans as chemical creatures, after all, we really are just chemical. It is complex but nothing is incomprehensible.Thats the way (a-ha a-ha!) I like it. 

BE GOOD-LOOKING. This is in relation to my theory that every being is born beautiful, it is only the environment and the way it grows itself that affects how it looks a.k.a. beauty is not in-born but a product of effort and life itself. This theory emerged when I saw a collage of before-they-were-famous photos of beautiful people. I have only one body so I might as well treat it well.

And here I am working at number three.

Now that I have tried to summarize my goals into three, I hope I won't need more time to soul-search. I am tired of being un-active. I am tired of being uninspired.

Light travels faster than smell

I saw these pair of glittery, black loafers on Facebook. They are for sale. Their price is reasonable and cheap, but reasonable and cheap cannot make up for the lack of funds.

Its black and it glitters. Don't even get me started with the title. Follow me on Twitter, give a mention or a DM if you want more info about these pair of shoes. They are unisex. They don't care about your 23rd pair of chromosomes. They just need your 'somatics' (gosh, that was necessary).

I do not sell them nor am I affiliated with the online store. This blog post is also subliminal sponsor-searching, so its not totally because of generosity. So, you wanna buy these for me?

Over With UPCAT

I took the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) this early  morning (like 6.30 AM early) and it was trying! Imagine being stuck in an auditorium with over 100 equally spaced teenagers who can go on living for hours without talking. My big mouth and my unprecedented adrenaline rushes were nuisance for the whole day (as if they aren't on normal days)!

I decided to wear my ammonia finished red long sleeves, white skinny jeans, a black-strapped watch and red/white canvas sneakers. I had to wear these things I have ignored for so long. The whole day, I stood out in an awkward manner but I enjoyed the attention. Some where amused, some where terrified. I was lucky nobody was violent or "bull"-ish in the event. I could have been dead meat. The color red is really annoying if you are under pressure. Plus, it reminds you of teachers. They use the color to indicate your wrong answers.

The arsenal.

UPCAT season

So the two-day University of the Philippines College Admission Tests (UPCAT) season has just begun with the first batch of hopefuls who took the exam 6:30 AM today. For whatever reason, I was scheduled to take the exam tomorrow at the same time. It would be a milestone because I usually wake up late. I need to tell everyone within 100 meters to wake me up at 3:30!

Did you study for the UPCAT? I did, very minimally. Just a few ideas had to be reviewed. I can't review the whole UPCAT because I heard that the test coverage was the whole high school curriculum. The thought of it already overwhelms me and it is impossible to review 3 school years in a couple of days. I don't want a tired brain during the exams. I settled that all I will need is presence of mind and health.

So, am I ready? Well, not really. But its coming anyway so all I can do now is hope for the best and keep on enjoying the fun world problems the MSA Reviewers are sharing. In all honesty, I really enjoy math word problems.

PSHS-WV Campus postpone classes for mosquito extermination

Image from here

About ten students, faculty or staff members of the Philippine Science High School-Western Visayas Campus had been diagnosed of dengue fever in less than a month. With this, the administration declared August 9-13, 2010 (next week) to be no school days. This is to facilitate thorough mosquito extermination in the campus and to give inflicted students time to recover.

Well, balance in life is a comedy. This week had hectic written all over it and suddenly, school closes for a week for rest. 

The schedule had me running and bumping into people

Today was the last day of exams. During exams week in Pisay-WV, PM classes hibernate. In simpler terms, the exams occupy only morning periods. Its Friday and after all the exams, a big "Sigh. Its finally all over *faint*." should be heard from every student. Unfortunately, my hell wasn't over yet.

After the exams (which I tried my best to finish as early as possible) I had to report at 1:30 PM sharp for an appointment. I have a secret job that I do when opportunity comes. I do not discuss it  not because it is illegal but it will be too much information and you don't want that. Period. Plus, its vanity.

After 30 minutes, the job was done and I had to rush to the CPU Rose Memorial Auditorium to cheer for my  3 friends who got into the final round of the Search for Mr. and Ms. CPU High School 2010". One of them is a best friend, the other is a friend I badly need to reunite with, the other one is a very good male friend.

But of course, I had a lot of other friends who were there to watch too.

Fooling around with a very very very good (best)friend(Von or Vio):

Another best friend who won first runner up. I knew she wanted to win that award more than anything for some reasons =) (I had to crop out half of my face to save you from nausea) :

With Keze, Rachel and Von (again).

(From Left to Right) Angelo Listano (runner up and governor of the event organizers, very responiible!), the Mr. CPU HS 2010 and of course, Emily Victoria Oke (Ms. CPU HS 2010). Emily, you deserve every bit of it!

Emily promised me that we'll have a picture if I come and see their pageant. Well, here it is:

Again, I cropped out my face. I had to run around just to attend the show and I'm not about to give away my prize. Hehehe

Tambucho Killings

Warning: Graphic content


If you think you don't have the heart to watch the video, let me be a narrator.

Setting: Third world


Several live dogs are dragged into a metal box which is as big as an average teacher's table. In the video, 8 are crammed into the cubicle and locked in. A pipe connects the exhaust of a small truck to the box. The engine is allowed to roar, carbon monoxide and a lot of other toxins flow into the metal box, suffocating the dogs. (cue canine howls of pain) . 10 minutes later, the dogs become carcasses.

Using truck exhaust for dog murder? We Filipinos deserve being called a land of slaves. We have become slaves of our poverty that we are able to be immoral and be willing to lose our sanity for the sake of a little income. I have never been so ashamed.

Razor and Foam

I'm going to be in college next year so its time for me to realize that I am no longer a preschooler with no facial hair. I grew a patch of hair between my upper lip and nostrils. I shaved last week because I imagined oxygen molecules losing their way through the forest on my face while trying to get into my lungs. Now, I shave to look cleaner and better. Teenagers change quickly.

It has become a ritual. If I see a sign of hair growth on the same address, I grab my razor and shaving cream.

PS: I shave myself in front of a mirror. I am that brave.

So what to talk about?

So I have read in a lot of articles that to become a good blogger, you need to find a specific topic and you limit yourself to that. 

That is the exact opposite of how I came up with this blog. It was a way to get rid of the random ideas than my mind conjures. Its been working so far but blogging involves two processes, writing and being read. Through the statistics, I'm a sucker at the latter.

Of course. If this blog wasn't mine and I start to read it, I'll get migraine. On one post he talks about  the elections, on the other about soul searching and then he becomes a critic of a movie. If all parts are good but incoherent, you produce the same matter, shit with a longer chemical formula. (No need to tell everyone I use bad words).

So tell me readers, what should I talk about. Email it to leolutero(at)warpedopinion.com or let it through via Formspring. You can even leave your suggestion at the comment box below and make everything more convenient!

Soul Searching

Its awkward to be me and undergo depression because you can't expect a lot of support. A lot of people see me as this jolly preschool kid lost in high school. I may be childish but there are deeper reasons why I need to be immature. For what my life has become, it is only proper to fear reality. I've contended myself with playing pretend but when reality haunts you back, running away is always a failure.

 Breaking monotony: There comes a time when you need to take advantage

of the fitting room mirror.

When I receive a question similar to "How are you?", I would take a century worth of thought before answering with a lie. In fact, I don't know who I am. My life is a complexity and there are a million things I need to balance. I gain, I lose, I fight and I retreat. All that jazz consumes me and makes me less human. There are sinful things I do to compensate and forget real life, only because the guilt has become more bearable than reality. I'd rather feel nothing at all than be starved of happiness.

Only this year have I accepted the fact that there are people who would die to protect me and there are those born to pester and slowly kill me. Its hard to believe because its flattering and scary. Even harder when you start to learn who is on which side. I try to cherish those who were born to take care of me but having this complex brain doesn't make forgetting the other side easy. Even when you flash that smile and expel that laugh, somewhere in it is a worry that this isn't what life is all about. Haters will hate.

I never learned to attach. I can let go of things easily because I have experienced letting go to much that it has become normality.

There are emotions that you want to feel. but you just can't feel them because they are said to be magical. In my dangerous efforts to find and hunt down happiness, I have realized that they are really rare. I want to get my share right now. At least a taste would do. I deserve it, I guess. I've searched and risked too much for it already.

I have goals in my life and there are times when I don't understand them. Are they fruits of  external pressure or my own? When I get time and proper concentration to ask myself personal and self-oriented questions, I never get answers. In short, I'm blank. I go with the flow and I know, some people take advantage of that.

I don't deserve being a vertebrate if I can't fight on my own. What I need is time to remember that I am human and I need time to figure out who I am, who I want to be and how I should be. But again, I'd rather feel nothing at all. Soul, where are you? (I'd say you are relaxing on tropical beaches, sipping cold juice or partying somewhere far from civilized society).