Go AZKALS!

Let me be honest, I am not a giant fan of your nomenclature but because you make a lot of Filipinos proud not only because of your strong features but also because of your talents in football, I support you all!

If you make a whole nation read rule books and scoring rubrics on a certain sport, you certainly must be epic. Good luck!

I would like to help so this is the best I can do:

I heard a lot of Mongolia is elevated land. Elevation means less gas - less oxygen. Less oxygen means bigger lungs. Bigger lungs mean bigger ribs. This might not be entirely true but to some extent, it is so prepare yourselves for bigger rib cages! (I'll be looking for correlations in soccer scoring abilities and rib cage circumference in a minute.)

=)

I finally saw him on earth on stage on tv

Its 1:19 in the morning with exams later - and probably a lot of regret. Where did I get my nasty sleeping habbits from? Watching the replay of the concert on TV was well worth it though.

I guess Christmas is in town.

For the past n years, Christmas in our house has failed Filipino standards. 


Read more on tumblr.

I'm seriously considering moving on to Tumblr because of the Follow feature but I have been with this blog for a very long time and ohwhatthe treachery it would be just to leave it hanging in midair after a more than a year affair.

The Capital City

I have hazy memories of the capital city. My trips to Manila were usually limited to a few hours or at most, a night and a short day. I was ecstatic that last Friday, me, my five other classmates and a teacher, went to Manila for a quiz bee (and a lot more). Wihi! Two nights in the National Capital Region. Of course, I was excited. NCR is the nearest domestic address we have to "the city that never sleeps" and I'm going with friends who fall under the same age group and with the same preferences as me.

(Read more for more fun...)

Barbie wears Pitoy Moreno!

They are leaving tomorrow so if you are in Iloilo, try to visit the exhibit because its not everyday that a parade of Barbie dolls dressed up in local designer labels park on the ground floor of the nearest mall. Its worth a look but honestly though, I'm afraid of anything that looks human but isn't human.

Look at this doll, she's coming to get you! aaaah.

God, I hate Chuckie! Since I watched it, every doll has became a nightmare.

Charice and Pempengco on Glee Season 2!

One of the few things the Philippines is internationally recognized for are its child singers and as Charice Pempengco's small frame resonated awe-inspiring notes on Oprah, I was pretty proud. I even started singing myself and realized later that not because Charice is Filipino,every Filipino can sing. I'm a little racist at that, I guess.

Now that she's casted on Glee, I can't wait to finish the episode! I'm already on the start credits and I saw this:

Every other cast had their names spelled out, even if it covered Sue's face except Charice'. We need international recognition for our crazy last names too!

Fieldtrips to the past

Yesterday, I grabbed myself the Eraserheads Box Set and apart from a majestic, silver-design adorned "The Heads" shirt, a metal box that brings back memories of school with bring-your-own-lunch policies, and a tearjerky photobook of the band (Eraserheads and their music in visual art) is a gigantic collection of 11 CDs.

I also bought Youngblood 2.0 from Inquirer Books. Its a collection of the 70 best essays from the youth of 1976-1977, published in the groundbreaking Youngblood coloumn of the Inquirer. I've been eyeing the book for so long and getting the box set, it was a sign that today was scheduled to fulfill material desires.

UST Entrance Exams and more

Last night, I jogged a few kilometers and even moved almost in time with Billy Blank's classic video-taped Tae Bo sessions. I was doing all these for two separate purposes -  one, to lose weight and two, to be stressed out and hopefully earn a comatose-deep sleep for the UST Entrance exams the next day. I sweat out a lot of fat last night that I easily regained with a bowl of rice and a fatty pork soup of some sort and I learned that minor muscle cramps and pains don't help when you're trying to sleep. My efforts were rude and they flew out the window instantly.

I woke up the day of the exams and I was shook into consciousness with a gut feeling that something is wrong... Nobody woke me up! Its either because zombies attacked my housemates while I was sleeping or I, least likely, woke up very early. I looked at the time. 6:30!!! The exams will start in 30 minutes and I am still fresh from bed in my pajamas. I rushed into the kitchen and I saw a scene that gave me a sucker punch. My mother was sitting on a chair watching TV, having casual talk with my guardian like nothing is in schedule. I immediately reminded them that today was the UST exams and they told me they know but they thought its not going to start until 8. Good Lord, is this a sign!?!?

I rushed into the bathroom naked and got a sad excuse for a bath, brushed my teeth, gargled on mouthwash and rushed into the car my mother will bring me with to Angelicum Iloilo. The few drops of mouthwash I swallowed were my only breakfast. I was hungry but I didn't care. My only goal then was to defeat all the negative elements and to take the exam. I want to pass the UST exams because just in case I fail in all others or if I decide to finally sell my soul to being a medical doctor. I have this belief that they have the best Med school in the Philippines.

The exam started at 8:30 AM. Before that, I was already looking for the people who told me that the exams would start at 7 AM because they/he/she/it put me into cramming hell as a good morning. 

The exams were beautiful, not that tormenting and not that boring either, plus we had a really cool proctor. After the exams, we got a folder (pictured above) and a bookmark as giveaways. Look how some few free stuff erase the scars of a bad morning. Amazing.

Amen

The image foregrounded by a multitude of followers.

You need to be inline to get 3 meters away from this rebulto.

My mother got me into a church with this image of Our Lady of Fatima on its pilgrimage from Portugal. Its currently housed at the Alta Tierra Village's Our Lady of Fatima Church. Its going to stay there until September 12. Its leaving this coming Sunday already so go grab your family and pay a visit to this image. I know you want to go to heaven and as a Filipino, visiting and paying homage to traveling images is a way.

I just discovered a method called conscience manipulation and its widely used by mother. Let me outline it for you: On the first part of the day, she will spoil me in return that I agree on whatever thing she will reveal later. If I don't agree with her, my own conscience center will punish me. Brilliant! Now I have to spend a few days thinking about an antidote. 

This night's trip to the church was a product of this method but this time it was mutually good because I needed a spiritual reboot given all the demons I have dealt with the past week.

PS: A very good health/psychology teacher told us that wether you serve the Lord or the gumamela etc., its alright. People can sometimes be very bummed that they just need someone unlike them to share their emotions with (like God or the gumamela). This reminds us that in order to be human, we have a maximum stress level, go over that and you'll die or achieve god-ness.

On September 16, 2010, I'll be moving to leolutero.blogspot.com. Subscribe via e-mail on the top-right of this blog to never skip a blog post. I don't spam because Google controls the system and Google is very, very good.

Obsessed with Beauty

It was already dark on my way home when I saw a spaceship tricycle. It had high-frequency blue lights everywhere that I swear it would almost look like a ball of burning ethanol from afar, all the other parts that were not covered with blue LED was black metal. It was a cool cross between the future and the old concept of Pinoy tricycles.I was lucky it was the first on its line, meaning I got to ride it. After a few minutes of waiting, I got to ride it alone.

Inside the contraption, you can find.... another set of blue lights! I was cursing then on because the two-minute ride can turn into a giant headache anytime. After a the first thousand of indecency, I noticed awkwardly placed megazillion watts speakers. They were so epic that the whole clunk of metal vibrates at every strum of the baseline. He was listening to the radio and it was late in the afternoon. The dance beats were causing turbulence.

18:24 H: I arrive safely home. 

I don't understand why we are so obsessed with aesthetics in a major major way. The tricycle could have burned 6x more fuel with all the bling but the driver is still confident its all worth it. (Escapism?!?!?)

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.

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!
  

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.

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.

Happy Independence Day!

Last June 12, 1898, the Philippines was declared independent on the azotea, in front of hundreds of people, in Kawit, Cavite (back then known as el viejo or in English, the old). Now, its 2010 and in the 112 years of remembering those who suffered for freedom, here is a quote from Yan Yuzon's Twitter:

"Happy Independence Day. Remember freedom is not just a gift from those who bled for it, but a responsibility for those who are born into it." 

Amen!

And here is a photo of a dancer from SM. I took it for the sake of showing off the mystical powers of my color splash diffusers. Yes, I can talk camera.

Authentic Pinoy Music c/o Grace Nono

Grace Nono's Padayon


Anungan:

Procalamation tomorrow

Did anyone notice its been a month since the elections?

Tomorrow, June 9, 2010, Noynoy Aquino will be proclaimed as the next president. Let me hear a yahoo from all the supporters out there! I was a Noynoy supporter because I had great belief in what a household does to determine the traits of a child plus I prefer sincerity over credentials. Sitting as president, many will guide you and help you out so knowledge or experience isn't required but it takes a lot of sincerity to choose the best for the people and not only yourself.

Binay, on the other hand, has starred in many headlines concerning corruption and I am not sure about his credentials or sincerity. The advancement of Makati under his reign was only self-proclaimed and being a member of the opposite party, I guess he will try to stop some of Noynoy's projects. I hoped Mar Roxas would sit on the Vice Executive chair but 700,000+ people pushed through Binay.

But anyway, there is only one thing I can say. New leaders FTW!

Shrek Forever After now showing in the Philippines!

I went to the mall this afternoon and I was shocked the Shrek Forever After movie is out. Forever After is the latest installment of the humorous series called Shrek which introduced me to ogres. Before Shrek I didn't know ogres existed, after Shrek, I couldn't believe ogres could be a hit to young children. How about a movie with friendly tyanaks or 'demon babies'? Would movie magic still make vampire fetuses a hit?

Shrek 4 is available in 3D and non-3D cinemas. I get really confused in which way to watch because in 3D I get a third dimension and a headache and in 2D I get the boring sound and video but no headache. If you consider bragging rights as an advantage, 3D would be very advisable.

I didn't watch the movie today because I wasn't prepared. I spend a decent amount of time aging in front of a television set and I haven't seen any trailers or TV ads show up on ABS-CBN or any other local channel. Maybe I'm in the wrong time slots or maybe THEY are on the wrong time slots. I consider my age group to be still attracted to humorous animations. Why don't they advertise on my shows? Confident much they'll earn through word of mouth, maybe. The Shrek series would be a success and an explosive last installment would be an appropriate grand finale.

Crossing my fingers I can watch the film tomorrow!

Phew

the election coverage was tiring to watch.

The Philippine just underwent a historical election and it moved me. It moved me so much that I can't even find in my heart time to create another blog post. Sorry for this very shitty post but I just can't write. Even though I haven't had a contact with a PCOS machine this whole time, I still feel the sanctity of this voting thing. Although I have to note, the PCOS machine's appearance did not fail to remind me of black garbage bags. I guess they are of the same material and I'm wondering if anytime soon, I would see the big rectangular bins on sale in bargain markets. They looked very handy with laundry.

And to end a day with good music, play the video above and hear Noynoy's campaign song which musically, is a milestone.

Anyway, a new government for the win!

Recent Surveys on Philippine 2010 Elections (Pulse Asia)

I am extremely happy that the people surveyed by Pulse Asia, the people that can effectively represent the whole Philippine population, are geared towards change. Noynoy Aquino is leading in the surveys. The final decision will befall us in May 10 but any credible predictions are well received.

Read more about this survey here.