Stop Kahirapan--the right way

Sadly, Philippine elections is highlighted (or marred) by fraud, violence, and well, popularity. There is no need to dwell in fraud and violence for as of now with about four months to go 'til the May2010 elections, these two things are sprawled all over the news. So I'll dwell on the last one, having seen one of its effect/example the latest.

Tropa ni Manny

While on a bus on my home to Laguna, I saw this segment, some sort of game show, on Eat Bulaga! that looks and smells (figuratively, of course) fishy. The segment, hosted by Michael V. (*hint hint*), Ruby Rodriquez and other orange-clad (*hint hint*) hosts of the show, started with Michael V. rapping and singing (and everyone else doing this supposed-to-spread dance move) to song entitled, I suppose, Stop My Hirap. The mechanics of the "game" was this: before the start of the show, the live audience of Eat Bulaga! were asked to complete the phrase: "Nais ko..." on an orange (*hint again*) paper and put into some transparent container, from where Michael V. would get one, thus, proclaiming "the winner." This winner is then given the chance to spin a color-coded roleta--no names, different hues of the color orange, and the familiar "check" sign at the top of the roleta. The Grand Prize was P25,000 + groceries. After spinning twice (because the first one resulted to the "check" pointing to the line between two pizza-shaped portions of the roleta), "the winner" still didn't land on the coveted orange spot, but Michael V. decided to just give away the Grand Prize (*HINT HINT*). What the--

I admit, when the talk of the May2010 elections came up in 2009, I said I would vote for Villar (I guess by now, we all got the hint that that portion was his pakana). But seeing how he tries (vainly, painstakingly, and expensively at that) to out-popularize Noynoy, Gibo, Erap and other presidentiables, I suddenly abhor him. He shows the makings (or even the result?) of a Traditional Politician. Trapo, ika nga.

A friend once said to me, "Nakakatakot kaya siya (Villar) kasi andami niyang ads." The reality, implications and gravity of this statement didn't come to me until I saw that lousy, cheap-shot Eat Bulaga! segment and Villar parading himself in pristine white in Wowowee on the same day at that! I was forced to look into the future, a la Nostradamus and the Mayan calendar makers, where he is the President, and I came back with a question, "Pa'no niya kaya babawiin lahat ng ginastos niya sa kampanya kapag naging presidente siya?" (How will he regain the costs incurred by the campaign when he becomes President?) The answer was simply, "Alam na."

Giving out money easily, in game shows or wherever, just goes to show what kind of President he will be, at least from my point of view. He is and will be promoting the (bad) practice of dole-outs, just like Wowowee and Willie Revillame (I weep for the deterioration of Eat Bulaga!). Having seen that anyone could have such amount of money in almost less than twenty minutes, Filipinos would now envision themselves being "uprooted" from poverty by such quick, un-merited and value-less ways. They would rather waste their time lining up for such contest opportunities, or worse wait for these opportunities to knock on their doors (literally) than work and strive hard--which, I believe, is the true Filipino way.

Saturday Soliloquy 6: Why I'm DEFINITELY loving the Saturdays of 2010

Just to update. I love Saturdays because of...

1. UAAP Women's Volleyball games. Watching these games over Studio23 (made possible by ABS-CBN Sports, Thank you guys!) almost eats up four to five hours of my Saturday afternoons. It has become an addictive habit. And here I am breaking partly another New Year resolution (Not getting addicted to another, one more series). Well, technically this is not a series but still an addiction. This is not new though for I have been watching volleyball ever since... the Desiree Hernandez and Diane Gotis days of La Salle. But I newly acquired it since the games started mid- or late 2009. So, anyway, I am still rooting for La Salle (9-0 na!)--even in that year when Alarca was unenrolled and they got suspended--this year and for the years to come! Unlike Hector the Heckler (I refuse to call him a fan) whose "monstrosity" I personally witnessed in an Adamson (the team he was rooting for) and UST women's volleyball game last January 13, 2010 at the Arena in San Juan. 

2. Chuck Season 3. The 7:30pm timeslot is just perfect because the Women's Volleyball games usually end at 6pm or so, giving me time to wash the dishes(!) which I am tasked to do on Saturdays which brings me to my next reason...

3. the "opportunity" to use the Internet all (mor)night long! This may sound mababawa but... well, you see, I belong in a big family of six, all of whom use the Internet hooked to one laptop (except for my father, who actually bought the thing haha). You get the picture? So to avoid cutting each other's throats and screaming our lungs out in reminder, "Pa-Internet naman," my brothers devised a "schedule": whoever is tasked to wash the dishes, a.k.a "the toka" (we have schedules for this too) goes to use the Internet at night, which, btw, is faster. So this translates to more/faster time to DL stuff. Hehe

4. the Saturday paper. Time and again, I've said/shared that I enjoy immensely reading the morning weekend newspaper (The Philippine Star, to be specific), and yes, this practice is so... suburbs na suburbs! I especially love the Supreme fold because they have a lot of good, young, and I may say, "budding" writers, and directors (this is where I first knew of the Pepe Diokno).

5. (to put it simply) the at-home-sa-Laguna life. You have to be here and experience it though because no words could describe the feeling I get whenever I get a whiff of the cold suburban night air (or the balmy one during the day) or whenever I wake up in the same bed I grew up sleeping in or whenever I see the food (usually breakfast, because I usually do the laying out part for lunch and dinner) prepared and laid out before me...

and a lot of other intangible, incomprehensible, unnoticeable, un-point-able reasons. I love Saturdays.

-----------------------------

You may want to read:


Saturday Soliloquy 1: Must Sees 
Saturday Soliloquy 2: Tsk, tsk, tsk  
Saturday Soliloquy 3: Quickie 
Saturday Soliloquy 4: Meeting the Mother 
Saturday Soliloquy 4 (Pahabol) 
Saturday Soliloquy 5: Poverty porn, fash speak, and celebirty spawns

Deflections

Though I find it easier (and getting more easier) to think/conjure/write a bunch of words--actually, at least a paragraph--in reaction to something. I know my reaction/okray skills are getting better as I get older (I think) but I would have been more thankful if this getting-better-okray skills translated to something academic--because really, no matter how much I try to convince myself that grades really don't matter in "the real world," I think/feel they do. We all have our convictions.

At the start of the year, I had three principles that I'm supposed to live by this year, but I failed at the first one--saying Yes to everything--the moment Ren asked/said to me last Tuesday, "Tara, inom." I don't know if saying "no" to "acquiring" yet again this sole "vice" of mine is a good or bad thing. But after reading the introductory essays on/to Jack Kerouac's original scroll of On The Road, I realized that he is right, life is a series of deflections. And that same instance with Ren showed that I was deflected from my initial goal of saying "Yes" to everything thus putting me in that position where I am supposed to be making yet another goal, in response to that deflection.

Another (seemingly simple yet complex) example. When I was in high school my sole goal/aspiration in life was to go to college and be a lawyer as soon as I can. Because, to be honest, I was one of those crazy/nerdy high school kids that wish nothing more but to graduate because they think everyone else is not living up to their expectations. Yes, I was that mayabang though I didn't show it. In my mind, and believe me this is the first time I will be admitting this in writing (I haven't done so verbally), I believed that I was smarter than everyone else--including my teachers. That everybody didn't read enough.

Come college, I was right though... everyone in high school, at least in mine, didn't read enough. I just got my high school yearbook and I noticed despite being First Honorable Mention I had no other awards aside from the Leadership Award and Best in TLE (Technology and Livelihood Education). The latter, I think, was a consolation because I was the only honor student in the top three who didn't receive anything else. Yes, I admit I wasn't textbook smart--hell, I even copied off others' papers during CAT exams--but I knew and believed, then, (this may sound cliche-ic) that I was destined for something greater. :O So, anyway, I was slightly deflected from my sole goal in life: Law School (though I still want to be a lawyer). I now have another (additional) goal: Reading More.

Now, with less than 12 weeks before graduation (thanks to Ate Josh for counting), I ask myself, "Is this the greatness I have envisioned for myself four/five years ago?" Or is there something greater than this? I know and choose to believe that there is. Because I realized once you get to that point of greatness you envisioned for yourself in the past, you seek for another "greatness", for greater-than-great things. Ah, one of the (fallible) qualities of the human race, discontent, which can be good and bad.

I guess what Kerouac mentioned as life's deflections has something to do with (hu)man's inherent discontentment. You wish to achieve something which you think will define your existence (or at least, make it livable) and when you achieve it, you realize/decide something else will define you more/better.

For some, this (pseudo) philosophical ranting may be gibberish or may mean nothing now but I guess, ten to fifteen years down the road, I want to look back and find out that 20 year old me was doing its best to achieve more, become greater or at least, try--with or without (the necessary) deflections.

(Do Not) Make Me A Supermodel (or Designer)

I always pride myself on being able to make the right guesses. Well, most of the time. Be it in a academic-related situation or as random as guessing who will win what reality show or simply who wins a particular sporting match. My so-called Guessing Track Record speaks for itself. I correctly predicted Fantasia Barino to win season three (or was that four) of American Idol; Amber Brkich in Survivor All-Stars, Flo and Zach in Amazing Race season four (yata); La Salle over... well, anybody else (haha) in women's volleyball... and so on.

But, in the all the wins I predicted, I grief (haha) over the one win I didn't predict is so great I had to blog about it. After watching--for countless times already--the Part 1 of Project Runway Philippines finale, I finally had the chance to watch the Part2--the juicy part. Upon seeing the collections of Manny, Santi and Russell, I hastily predicted Santi Obcena to take the "crown"--so to speak, basing on his "Warla" explanation and so-called concept of his collection. I thought watching all those episodes from Season 2 made me fashion literate, at least. But I guess not.

To be honest, I didn't like Russell's collection any bit, and my reaction towards Manny's was more of indiffence bordering on dislike. I was rooting for Santi just like Brent Javier and Sarah Meier. Yeah, I was thinking like them already. But Manny Marquez went on to win the competition--and the trip to Milan--because he showed the most "potential."

This failure of prediction, a blemish, so to speak, to my otherwise reliable Guessing Instincts just goes to show how ignorant and how un-fashionable I am. I am too visual. I lack the know-how in different techniques and styles. This is not a painful realization because I know I suck at fashion. Srsly. Though I do love watching Project Runway Philippines and Make Me A Supermodel.

But I guess, watching shows about fashion will not make me fashionable, in the same vein as watching volleyball games doesn't make a volleyball player. Good thing though being a supermodel (or fashion designer) and volleyball player is not high up in my list of Jobs That I Would Love To Have.

I want to blog like Jason

More than wanting his singing or guitar-playing or songwriting skills, which I would love to have any day, at this very moment (and the few minutes before this) I would love to have his other skill... his writing, particularly blogging, skills.

Really.

Click here and see for yourself.

He's just about the coolest guy I know, so far. Freshness epitomized.

Saturday Soliloquy 5: Poverty porn, fash speak and celebrity spawns

It's been a long while since I wrote on a Saturday night (last September to be exact), in reaction to the Saturday paper--The Philippine Star. In short, my Saturday Soliloquy. So to (sort of) start the 2010 right (meaning: informative) here goes my first Saturday Soliloquy for 2010, and my fifth overall, which centers on three key phrases that made noise/s last 2009:

1. "Poverty porn" Filmmaker/columnist Pepe Diokno (Engkwentro) wrote about "poverty porn", as defined to him by a filmmaker friend, being prevalent in Phillipine cinema, particularly the independent filmmaking industry. He says Adolf Alix's Adela, Ralston Jover's Bakal Boys, Jim Libiran's Tribu, and even his own film Engkwentro are a lot like, if not perfect examples of, poverty porn which, in a nutshell, are those films that make its audience "get off" on sad (and inspiring, maybe?) stories of poverty that leaves "that sinking feeling."

Well, if some (if not most) of the audiences "get off" on sad stories of poverty and plight, I think sappy love stories of unrequited/not-so-happy-ending love do the same thing for me. Think Sweet November, Prime, (500) Days of Summer and so on. So that would be called... Unrequited-Loves porn? Bleh. Basta.

I couldn't agree more with Mr. Diokno when he said, "Two centuries ago, it took Rizal's books to spark change. I have no doubt that motion pictures will do that for this age. Today, we read Rizal's books to remember what it was like then. In the future, people will watch films to remember what it is like now."


2. "fash speak" The so-called "fashion-forward people" were asked by Daryl Chang to name "their particular choice of fashion jargon" for 2009. Here are the interesting ones that I may use despite my not-so-fashion-forward status:

aura n. scene in the context of hooking up (Pam Quinones, stylist)

fresh adj. an alternative to fierce, extremely hot (Omar Ermita, makeup artist)

kabog adj. local vernacular that means it beats everything else. Winner. (Rajo Laurel, designer)

scurr v. derivative of scared. Something that's a bit too much to the point of being frightening

wisel adv. a response that expresses no, or I don't, or I can't

3. "Celebrity spawns" If you haven't noticed, today's news is dominated by the sons and daughters (biological, adopted or otherwise). From Jon and Kate Gosselin's (yes, I know they are not that famous but still) eight kids to Maddox and Pax of the Jolie-Pitt brood to Michael Jackson's kids (Paris, Prince Michael I and Prince Michael II) to Baby James to the likes of Frances Bean Cobain (the Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter), Mick Jagger's children and other Rolling Stones babies--what Gino De La Paz calls the "rock 'n roll offspring." All of them made the news last year, and will sure be making 2010's news as well. De La Paz says that the offspring to look out for is, drumroll please, Lourdes Leon, the Material Girl's mini-me. I say Tom Cruise's and Nicole Kidman's "kids" Isabella and Connor are also age-capable of becoming newsmakers for 2010.

There, done.

-----------------------------------------------------

You may want to read:

Saturday Soliloquy 1: Must Sees
Saturday Soliloquy 2: Tsk, tsk, tsk
Saturday Soliloquy 3: Quickie
Saturday Soliloquy 4: Meeting the Mother
Saturday Soliloquy 4 (Pahabol): Winners and Losers (Emmys 2009)