Shannon Brown Is Shiz.

the next big thing after kobe bryant.

Celebrating Vocation: Bukluran '09

More than four months of preparation was needed for this one big day to happen, and I think that each and every effort has been worth it. As executive chairman for the 12th Bukluran Inter-College Seminary games, all I could say that in spite of a few glitches and misunderstandings, everything was a huge success.

This has been an effort of the whole San Jose Seminary community of fifty, for hosting more than 500 seminarians from 8 seminaries from South Luzon. It was consisted of countless hours of fundraising, contacting people, arranging appointments and meetings, and organizing all things just to be able to guarantee that seminarians will have a good day.

During the day itself, everyone was relatively up by 5:30am in the morning. Most of us have to rush back and forth to the Church of the Gesu, where each seminary will register and wait for the Mass. After everyone was inside and the concelebrants and the presider, Most Rev. Broderick S. Pabillo, DD, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Manila, were all set, we began the mass. Everything went well as the San Carlos Seminary servers were able to do it well along with the assigned readers and commentators. Though we had to tweak a lot of songs, the Bukas Palad Music Ministry was able to do a good job as well. The mass finished by 9:00am, and the theologians together with Ken Habana, the Accommodations Head, led the seminarians back to San Jose and straight to the College Covered Courts.

The merienda and the Opening Program started at about 10:15am, hosted by Nathan and Portia. Prior to that, we had each seminary prepare for a simple cheer before everything else. I was quite surprised that what they did was really prepared, as they were really livelier than the usual cheers that we did way back 2008. After that, we asked the Ateneo High School's IndAK to perform a simple dance number, followed by the Torch Lighting Ceremony led by Justin and me (for the second half). The Amazing Race, which lasted for about an hour and a half, capped off the morning activities.

A sumptuous lunch was served, and everyone was able to eat well before the games began. During that time, I was asked to be one of the table officials for basketball, and in my three years of attending Bukluran (our community was not able to participate during my first year because of the typhoon and the cancellation of a holiday), it was only then that I was able to watch the whole series of basketball games, and I have to say that each seminary has greatly improved in terms of sports. While UST Central Seminary was able to breeze through the whole tournament bracket (for they haven't lost their key players. One of their players were really good that we just had to give an Eric Salamat salute to him), St. Francis de Sales, the other finalist, had a pretty hard time defeating the powerhouse basketball team of San Carlos Seminary, as well as Mount St. Aloysius College Seminary. Eventually, UST grabbed their second straight championship in basketball, while St. Peter's College Seminary grabbed the volleyball championship.

The evening liturgy was also a highlight. Basically, we just had a repeat of what we did during the 80th San Jose Alumni Homecoming, and for me it was quite pleasing that everyone was able to catch up with it. Of course, we have to thank the Lord and the Blessed Mother for all the graces that made this big event possible.

I believe that Bukluran is at its highest point during the dinner and the evening program, consisted of many different presentations which were unbelievable and, in the words of our Father Rector, magis-tic. Together with Entablado's short cute play and Coro de Sta. Cecilia's early caroling, presentations ranged from black light performances (which should have been done not just to "holy songs," but also to pop and rnb greats), to outstanding ethnic and hip-hop dance numbers which include a bit of good stunts (which say don't go "CADs" on me) , and even "tunog-tao" remixes, which amused everyone. San Jose, in part, gave the seminaries a replica of the Caedo statue, a certificate, the 2009 Pilosopo Tasyo and the special issue of the College community newsletter, Sangay. Though we were not able to have our presentation which every year astounds everyone (last Triple Encounter with USTCS and SCS we did a mix of I Wanna Make Love/Jai Ho/Thriller/Nobody), I believe that we already have something in store next year. Overall, the presentations were truly unbelievable.

During the end of the program, I was able to give the concluding remarks as the Executive Chairman with much emotions and passion flowing over, as I was able to highlight that this event is a way of thanking the Lord for calling us together towards a common goal. Father Rector and I was able to pass the Bukluran flag to Mount Saint Aloysius College Seminary in Gumaca for next year, as we thanked everyone for participating well and went home.

Even at this moment, I have been receiving text messages of gratitude for everything that happened during that fateful day. And all I could say is that everything is the work of the Lord, I am happy to be able to lead and bring everyone together for this event, and I thank everyone: from the San Jose community, to our classmates and friends who helped out, to the seminary heads, and most of all, to the Lord and our Blessed Mother, in making this event, technically impossible, possible. Ad majorem Dei gloriam!

Freshly Squeezed #1: Introduction

As much as possible, I try not to add any sophistication or personal touch in my blog posts, since I believe that I do not have that enough level of fame to have dozens of followers. Simply said, I am not that famous and well-known and no one would even care for a minute to read my blog. But then, considering all the things that this internet page could do for me, I did a little tweaking for my (hopelessly dying) blogging career.

That's right, and I'm going to put a personal side into it, coming in with personal tastes, personal choices, and a little bit of "I" in my posts, all coming from experience and insights while walking (around Ateneo in these last months of college life).

And perhaps to start off with the "this is me" part:

-Being the subject of recent bashing of a few political science majors with regard to the newly promulgated Sanggunian Resolution on voting and its officers, Gio Tingson earned a new title. I told him that starting now until his term ends, he will be called the Fuhrer of the Sanggunian. Joking aside, it seemed that this move made a lot of noise from different sides. And I think that everything just boiled down to an exaggeration and a misunderstanding of the issue at hand (I know where Gio was coming from, and I think that it is something good that he could push for). However, the harshness contained in the Resolution is another issue altogether.

-Bukluran, the inter-college seminary meet, is the thing of the week, and during the last minutes before the event, I really felt really panicky, worried that there might be something that I totally missed. As I write this, I try to make sure that everything is in check and things will turn out to be alright. Although I was quite disappointed with a few circumstances that changed the plans (for example, one org who thumbed down our request due to lack of personnel), the 50-something seminarians of San Jose (the College and Theology community combined), was able to try accommodating 500 seminarians or so.

-And on an additional note, I was not able to watch New Moon with the block (of the course the block experience is what counts, not the film, mind you), but was able to do progress in sorting out things for the seminarians. Also, I was able to make it in spite of having cough and colds (God knows where who

-More tambay moments with the Kant boys (minus Baltao, plus Justin). From synthesis and thesis to philosophers' bed talk, all up to Wittgenstein's picture-face and rabbit-duck, it seems that bonding becomes a necessary factor of senior life.

-First dibs with Ma'am Tonette and Sir Calasanz's quizzes. Period.

-Good spiritual direction advice for me: just be open with the future. We never know and I will certainly not want myself to foreclose my identity.

-And of course, I'm trying to establish online connections through the use of this blog. I'm hoping that there are still more who would follow me and be my "online friends."

'Til next week. More to come.

i constantly thank you for making me happy.

In the middle of my struggle with cough and cold and my ongoing inter-college seminary work, I thought that maybe going down to Barangka to buy some groceries (together with medicines) would ease my feeling up a little bit.

But then, this:



made me really really satisfied, with no pressure put upon my pocket.

I think that the guy who came up with the idea of selling Hong Kong Style Noodles should be given the Nobel Price. Twenty-five pesos, and then satisfaction.

the fold's miley cyrus cover

While I was searching the Internet for pretty much everything I need (meaning the set of songs of the eleventh episode of Glee), I found this pretty good cover of The Fold. And I have to say this: I hate Miley Cyrus, but I think that her hit song is quite good and could actually be covered and parodied by several punk rock and power pop bands, and here are two of them.

The first is the cover made by Life on Repeat, and I think that if you haven't heard that it is actually a Miley Cyrus song, you would realize that it is call in its new power pop sound. (Listen to the drums, baby.)



This second one is made by Christian power-pop band The Fold. However, they pulled off the trick by changing the lyrics:



Notice the change in the lyrics. Cool, huh?

On Maguindanao killings

I figured that I have to take the time off from writing my (really hard) philosophy synthesis paper to just say a word or two about this horrible event that badly affected not only Filipino politics, but the life of the Filipino as a whole. After all, it is in these events that real philosophizing happens, which I hope would overflow into action, doing something even beyond my own limits to respond to such situation.

Reading Fr. John Carroll, S.J.'s theories of consensus and coercion and pushing it to further reflection (yes, I have been philosophizing on Theology 141 readings), it seems that power seems to have been an indispensable resource for the elite as well as to those who hold it. Indeed, it has enslaved not only the society as a whole, but also the individual's sense of the whole - which involves beliefs, values, and even everyday life. Many things that seemed to be unexpected and unimagined have been done. Indeed, we as the public who are supposed to benefit from these, have already been witnesses to numbers of crimes and anomalies, seeing them as attempts of those in power to save for themselves the government positions that they sought.

But then, this is going over the edge already. The slavery to power has been more evident than ever. It had completely corrupted not only the morals but the conscience of those power-holders. Those who were completely responsible for these have already their conscience wiped out and their sense of morality destroyed and dominated by the want for more power which continuously corrupts the system as a whole. They took up the means to obtain more power and influence not just by striking fear among their political opponents, but also, more importantly and fundamentally, they literally treated humans as obstacles to obtain the power that they want to have, just like trash that needed to be disposed. And now, institutions who are supposed to do something about this, still do not have anything to offer but hopes and promises that should be carried off now.

What has become of us? Just a few months ago, the Filipino people were like superheroes on drugs trying to reach out to one another and help rebuild the nation through community relief efforts. Now that we are in one way or another becoming stable as we have rebuilt our comfort zones that we call "ordinary Filipino life," some people would return to their old routines, using the same old techniques to cope up with life and remain in their comfortable positions. This statement applies in so far as those who are handling power and trying to lay hold of it.

Yet I believe and I hope that each one of us have not built those unbreakable walls called comfort. I believe that we could think of it and make a stand to condemn this seemingly unforgivable offense and stand up for what is right in various ways. As with Ondoy and Pepeng, the moment for us to show who we are as true Filipino heroes is now. We may not be able to do anything with the situation right now, but the best we can do is to look forward in a reflective manner, to go and think about what this event would mean for us. Perhaps starting with a little step, we could fight for a better Philippines by proper discernment concerning the elections. Through this, we should be able to take a stand while within the limits of our abilities, eventually pushing forward and being able to take part in fighting for justice and moral integrity in the Philippines.

And as a Churchman, I would like to pose a challenge. The Philippines is primarily a Christian country in terms of her moral convictions and principles. Are we going to surrender the principles of selfless love and instead embrace immorality and abuse of power? Our actions would tell our answer to this question.

in this era, it's not the philosophers and the genius we have to count, it's the work ethic. and the tricks.

i just want to brag that this generation has one thing to say: it's proud of having a straight-edge legendary figure around.

it's not really genius, but then hardwork counts

important life lessons count:

-you're no genius. it's just rigor and hard work combined with streaks and lines of talent.
-suspend your judgment. you might be hitting on something that you don't actually know
-and most important of all, know what you mean and say it. be clear on what you are trying to communicate
-and though truth develops in history, claims could only either be true or false, nothing beyond that.

The beginning of the end

Once the inter-college seminary finishes, then I will be able to really start with my synthesis. I promise that, and I will write about it later.

the best move of november

and we go down to two for the first phase of the NBA season. have your pick:

1.lebron james doing the volleyball?



2. or his highness kobe bryant doing a jordan?

Too much issue.

Jordan 25th Anniversar Edition

i dig this.

sasha and sharapova?

i
unbelievably, yes. they are dating.

Putting My Media Player on "Waking Up Mode."

The first of a probable series.

I grew up inheriting from my parents a lot of Pinoy pop-rock and classic rock, as well as a dose of '80s new wave and lite rock. But then, I reached high school and college loving punk-rock, powerpop, and a few indie sounds and a little bit of party toppings. And so what I have now is 13 gigabytes of a musical cocktail.

With that plethora of mp3s (which I could not put on a Creative 2-Gigabyte Stone), I decided to create a playlist to bring life to the day by shuffling everything and finding 30 good morning songs, and this is what I have:

1.Pretty Vacant - The Sex Pistols (or you could go for the Lady Sovereign cover)
2.Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
3.What I Didn't Know - Athenaeum
4.Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
5.Your Kind (Speak To Me) - Danger Radio
6.Feel Good, Inc. - Gorillaz
7.(Coffee's for Closers) - Fall Out Boy
8.The Beautiful Ones - Suede
9.The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
10.Talk Shows on Mute - Incubus
11.Dancing With Myself - The Donnas
12.One Month Off - Bloc Party
13.Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
14.Do The Panic - Phantom Planet
15.Everyone Who Breathes - School Boy Humor
16.I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Black Kids
17.Just Dance - Lady GaGa ft. Colby O'Donis
18.Love, Sex, Magic - Justin Timberlake ft. Ciara
19.She Will Be Loved (Maroon Five Cover) - runneRRunner
20.Stuttering - The Friday Night Boys
21.Ruupu & Ruupu - Asian Kung-Fu Generation
22.The Cure - Tegan & Sara
23.A Song Is Not A Business Plan - The Rocket Summer
24.California Girl - Cheap Trick
25.Disconnection Notice - Pupil
26.Teddy Picker - Arctic Monkeys
27.Rock DJ - Robbie Williams
28.Prostitution Is The World's Oldest Profession (And I, Dear Madame, am a Professional) - Cobra Starship
29.Watch The Tapes - LCD Soundsystem
30.Can't Stay The Same - Saves The Day

I have, I can send.

500 Days of Summer

spelled the stages of wonder and disillusionment, and the return to reality.

sounds good, but the soundtrack sounded better. but then, it's a must-watch.

After Season 72, What Next?

During the bonfire, Ryan Buenafe and Eric Salamat promised that we will have a three-peat. In reality, can we? What could be up next for the Blue Eagles in the next season?

Hypothetically, without considering yet any new players that might arrive or be elevated to Team A. The first five could be as follows:

Center-Justin Chua
Power Forward-Nico Salva
Small Forward-Ryan Buenafe
Shooting Guard-Eric Salamat
Point Guard-Juami Tiongson

And of course a few notes:

-I think that it would be better for Kirk Long and Eman Monfort to just come off the bench. The former could be a formidable replacement for Eric Salamat in terms of defense. Thus, while the Court General runs the offensive side of the game, it would be Long who would take care of the men-to-be-checked. The latter needs to be relieved of some pressure, but as soon as he gets his game, he could alternately start the game.

-Perhaps the advantage of Tiongson being in the first five is that with his consistent shooting and playmaking skills way back in high school, he could easily fit in the rotation.

-the strongest points in the team for next year is the backcourt, contrary to this year's focus on big men. Perhaps Norman Black would do a few tweaks in the offense and defense of the Blue Eagles, putting the 1, 2, and 3 spots at the heart of the plays

-Salva and Chua, as starting men, have to be men of the post to stand against the big guys of the league. Perhaps, they would receive the ball less than Rabeh or Nonoy Baclao used to. There has to be at least one of them to be equipped with sleight of hand and proper timing to block shots.

-bench players who need serious leveling up include Oping Sumalinog (he did an awesome job on the defensive end this season), Frank Golla, and Tonino Gonzaga

-we have to have really strong and big men who would make it to team A. We would be facing a stronger Paul Lee, Aldrech Ramos, or Yutien Andrada for that matter. Simply put, we have to be just prepared for everything.

It might be too early to predict things, but it's what we have for the moment. Hopefully, Coach Norman and the scouts would come up with something that would fill in the spot of Rabeh, Nonoy, and Jai.

One big fight. Onwards to 2010.

P.S. Seeing the stats of the UniGames, it is possible that the current line up will be used in Season 73. It's too early to tell if this would work well, but then, considering the performance of the newcomers in the starting line up, it is possible that they could get better and we have our next big inside scorers. Ateneo is like the Lakers these times. We have a load of backcourt players but lack frontcourt intensity. I hope that we a)make up for that, and b) use that to our advantage.

Paranormal Activity

and i ask the question of all questions: is it worth watching?

seems real to many.