Fifteen Seconds of Internet Time

My sollipsistic blog, bear with me.

I swear I'll post stuff as soon as I get back home.

My Pre-Christmas Weekend

As if the synthesis paper was THAT hard. Oh, yeah, I remembered that it ate most of our time and energy, and we nearly did not have any chance of playing Call of Duty 4 and Left4Dead 2 extensively.

So food and alcohol became our solutions.


After the submission of our synthesis papers, the senior Philosophy block had a short ritual of exchanging gifts, and we San Jose seminarians trotted off to prepare for our Christmas caroling at some congressman's house.

After earning 10k for 4 simple songs, we headed straight to Cannan Bistro to join the Philo family for our inuman and year-ender. It was a happy moment for all of us, as we were able to share stories and joke around holding bottles of bear and Kate's weird ashtray (which I wouldn't dare describe in this blog). Heck, the Bistro was so full of happy noise and interesting stories, that we even reached up until 1:30 in the morning before going home.


But this was all preparation for another big day. Come Saturday night, we headed to Merville and into Kate's house, for her birthday treat. Greens, Lights, Tequila, and getting home wasted was all there is for us. Ah, what a way to end the year!

[I wouldn't want to divulge a few details here. Just ask my blockmates as to what exactlyhappened during that night, most especially when I left together with Walt, Marie, and Agno.]


My Sunday was reserved for rest. But then, my mom called and asked me to go home to Batangas and join the whole family in celebrating the Christmas with a party. As usual, we've had lots of food [meaning I would soon get fat after all the munching I have done for the past three days], games, and gifts for everyone. I myself got board shorts that I need for my coming Palawan trip.

I got back home the next day after I got my license card at LTO. Monday was my real rest period as I used up all the time for sleeping and catching up for studies.

All to prepare for the peak of all celebrations outside family. After passing by San Jose Seminary to just get some things needed for our Palawan trip (beach things, of course), I went up to one of my classmate's house in Commonwealth to join my classmates from Guadalupe Minor Seminary, for some food and vices.

However, at about six in the evening, I had to leave and take the bus to Sucat, Paranaque, fo r a big Christmas night composed of shisha, vodka, and Playstation 3. Justin and his bro, Amanda, Mike, and Kate came over to Mykee's house for our little post-Christmas work gathering. Basically, we spent the whole night eating, a few nasty things to begin with, UFC, Tekken, and Guitar Hero World Tour, and telling stories of our nearly ending college days, starting from square one up to the present. Oh, and don't forget the debates on "grand gestures" and the usefulness of philosophy, reaching up to 4:00am.

We boys woke up at around 11am and had our brunch, followed by more Tekken and UFC. Unfortunately, the meeting has to be adjourned and we have to go, and Michael and I had one hell of an adventure trying to ride the jeep from South Bay to Sucat, crossing the street and taking the jeep from Sucat to Baclaran, and then parting ways when I rode the FX to Lawton on the way home. As soon as I arrived, I took a bath and prepared myself for the "last" hurrah.

The Manila seminarians had a Christmas audience with the Cardinal, and besides the very great message on the return of "Christ" in Christmas, another session of great Arzobisopado -served food coupled with stories and our "Christmas aguinaldo."All of us went home together satisfied and prepared to celebrate Christmas in the grandest yet simplest way possible, bearing the true message of Christmas.

The way I told the story of my near-Christmas weekend seemed to be pretty messed up. But then, my point here is to show that Christmas is about having fun and being happy with how things are going. I myself have a lot of work to do, but I had to just set them aside and enjoy the moments while they last [I promise, though, that I will do them after Christmas]. After all, the kings and the shepherds just enjoyed their moment with the child Jesus.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

RIP Brittany Murphy

Another loss for us.

November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009

One For The Fracture, Two For The Win

Kobe Bryant, playing with a fractured finger.

Incredible, isn't he?

On-the-spot: Collaborations of '09

I had time to take a look at buzznet.com, and I came up with this article about the best collaborations of 2009. Let me breeze through some of them and see if it was really worth it.

1. Boys Like Girls and Taylor Swift - Two Is Better Than One (from the album "Love Drunk."



Yes, Taylor Swift is beautiful, and yes, she can do a good job being with Boys Like Girls. Apprarently, I think it is obvious that Tay can sing almost anything - be it rock, pop, or RnB (hint: Thug Story). BLG sounds like whiny little boys, but they could pull off the trick quite well with good drumbeats and guitar riffs. It would be interesting to see more of this partnership in the future. Tay, pick up the phone and start recording your parts for the next album!

2. Cobra Starship and Leighton Meester - Good Girls Go Bad (from the album "Hot Mess")


Talk about the cover girl and the hip boy being together. I just learned (and watched in YouTube) that Leighton singing live really sucks (but then it was "Somebody to Love"). But admit it, she and Gabe Saporta appear great in the video. In the music? Nearly perfect. Just get Leighton a few more voice lessons and training programs in live perfs. You wouldn't want to spoil a Cobra concert just because of that hot little girl who doesn't know to make her move in the stage.

3. Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson - Album "Break Up"

Uh huh, Scarlett can sing well. In fact, she did it too well with Pete Yorn around. This is definitely one of my "easy music" albums to date.

4. Lady GaGa and Beyonce - Telephone (from the album "The Fame Monster")


Sexy dancers in sexy outfits: check. Superb performances which could go together in world tours: check. And of course, the voices: triple check. "Telephone" is a must-have in your music player, and don't you dare delete it.

5. Jay-Z and Alicia Keys - The Empire State of Mind (from the album "The Blueprint: 3")


First the girl worked with Usher, and they made a great "Boo" partnership. Jay-Z had it with everyone else. Now, adjustments for both were, I think, managed easily. Any future projects for them is not a problem. And check out A.K.'s Part II of Empire State of mind.

6. Forever The Sickest Kids and Selena Gomez - Whoa Oh! Remix (the original could be found on the album "Underdog Alma Mater")



FTSK has been one of the best powerpop bands to date, and Selena Gomez is the worst Disney singer to date. Even though Whoa Oh! is great in itself, I just have to give the middle thumb to them.

And I would like to add this new collab I found out when I checked out my newly downloaded music stuff:

***



We The Kings and Demi Lovato - We'll Be The Dream (from the album "Smile Kid")

Yep, both are getting better and better. Besides the fact that Demi Lovato gets more beautiful as she grows (minus the fugly mouth), she actually has POWERPOP talent, and I mean it (well, not like the other Disney girl that wasn't mentioned in this blog post who remained Partying In The USA). We The Kings, on the other hand, have been emerging with great fame in the powerpop scene. Indeed, there is a future.

Mupptes and Queen

What I once loved when I was a kid, added with the music I could have loved had I been a little bit older. Great combination.

My Lucky Batch

I have all my own "celebrations" as I went through my school days, and it is not personal, but institutional.



Back in the days when I had my grade school in San Beda College, I was part of the community that celebrated its centennial (1901-2001). Yes, those were the days of serious fighting, Half-life and Conterstrike, math and science clubs, rallies in Mendiola that cause class suspensions, uncaught porn that went as early as grade five, basketball on school uniforms, looking at young women from the Law School without ever thinking that they wouldn't start relationships,and the list goes on and on an on. Also, these were the days when I grew up under the guidance of the moderately conservative Benedictines, most especially with Fr. Anscar Chupungco, OSB, who was my rector. But more importantly, as part of the Grade School community, I was able to take part in the centennial celebrations. As far as I can remember, The Little Bedan staff, under the headship of Gabe Baleos (who is also one of my friends here in Ateneo) with myself as the Assistant EIC, covered in our most "grade school" way possible, the different events of the celebration. In the end, our batch were deemed as the 100th who graduated in San Beda. Somehow, I felt quite sad that SBCGS had to be transferred somewhere. I wish it had just retained the Manila campus.



Anyway, moving on, in hopes of trying to find a new life which could fit, I transferred to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary, under the care of the diocesan priests of the Archdiocese of Manila. During my senior year in high school, we celebrated its Golden Anniversary, and again, I played a big part in its celebration. As co-head of the Academic Committee (with Paul Bansil), and the chief of the Publications Committee who spearheaded the 50th Anniversary Souvenir Program, a collection of messages, testimonies, and other memorabilia which witnessed to the growth and development of this institution dedicated to the formation of young men in the service of the Church. And of course, I proudly say that I led this class who celebrated this historical event, the class who could truly say "Laking Guadalupe, Maipagmamalaki!"

[By the way, as I write this, we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe]



And now, as part of the formation of San Jose Major Seminary, I have to be part of the Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Schools community, and I have been part of yet another historic event. Just a few hours ago, I attended the celebration of the Eucharist to thank the Lord and Our Mother for the Ateneo's 150 years of existence. Though I did not have a big role this time, I was there to celebrate with the community (but then, I thought, it was during the 150th year of the Ateneo that I It was then that I realized that I was really lucky in my school life to have celebrated three grand celebrations in different schools, and I could say that I was part of it.

Intermission Number: Let's Give It Up For The Five

hell yeah.

Forgive Me, But I Seem To Be Not of My Age

When talking about maturity, somehow I felt that I was different. There were a lot of times when I felt that I was really a mature person of twenty years old, and most of the time, the rest were just like little kids who have not yet seen life completely.

And experience seemed to have been a witness to this, as I think. For the past 8 years, I think of myself as having dealt with life in the most complicated way possible, and this involves intense seminary formation which helped me to somehow stand on my own feet. Even until now, I handle responsibilities which seem to be that of a normal adult living his life alone. Also, my life during vacation attests to a certain level of maturity. When I am not in the seminary, I wake up at six in the morning, clean the car and the house, do the laundry, and spend the day running some important errands. Besides, I can say that I already have a worldview that is, in my own words, straight-edge: already planned, with a definite timeframe, and with a different disposition and way of looking at the world. As I have said, everything will be faced with such straight-edge and smug-faced look at the reality.

But then, as I look back at my college life, it seems that I cannot be the one I once wanted myself to be. Many times, I still found myself wearing that smug face everytime my co-seminarians and classmates make immature remarks and actions, most especially to me, when I feel insulted. "Damn kids," I would say to myself. However, most of the time, I see myself being immature, with all the pranks, the green jokes, and the verbal suckerpunches I throw. I can and enjoy at times the way I piss off people that I both love and hate. Oh, and add to that the way I use some of my time playing "Call of Duty" and "Left4Dead." Indeed, part of me that I couldn't throw away for now is the kid in me.

I would say that this is neither good nor bad. Being a kid at times is fun and reminds me of the beauty of life; however, I think that one should heed the call to be fundamentally mature, to have a serious look at world and act in ways that people would expect me to. Of course, it is important to remember that though boys grow but don't grow up, we cannot avoid the fact that we have to be men eventually.

The Worst Christmas Party Could Be The Best Christmas Gift

I'm furious all over.

Today, I just received the WORST ever gift for my Christmas party, and it's not even worth mentioning here because it will be inappropriate. To be honest, I felt like being sucker punched in the face during a social gathering.

During the party, I just laughed it all away, and even admitted in a joking manner that I would not accept these gifts, and instead intend to give them to those who are in need. But then, deep inside, I felt really bad, not because I got what I want, but because gift-giving was used as a means for insulting me.

And with these, a few thoughts on this Christmas ritual.

1.Gift-giving is not just giving gifts that could help one person remember YOU. It is important to note that gift-giving isn't all about the self. Rather, it is about the other. Perhaps the best gift would be that which helps the other remind, not remember, you in a special manner, be it in gifts that could be used in everyday life or could in certain situations.

2.Gift-giving is all about placing yourself in the foot of the other. It is thinking: if I were be the one given this gift, would I be fulfilled enough? Clearly, the person who picked me in this Christmas party sucked at this. It is in the moment of real and sincere gift-giving that one decenters from the self, which, again, my gift-giver was not really good at.

3.Gift-giving signifies the value of the presence of the other to the self. It reflects how the self regards and treats the other. In some way or another, it is a symbol of relationship and intimacy, and if this is not remembered, then gift-giving will lose its essence.

Personally, I cannot accept the gift, but then I would just channel my frustrations and convert them to something good and beneficial. I'm going to donate to a toy drive or just give that to someone else who needs it. I secretly thank my gift-giver for, in spite of making me feel bad, letting me do some good this Christmas season. After all, isn't Christmas about making others, instead of the self, happy? Didn't the Savior do this during the moment that He encountered humanity?

An advanced merry Christmas everyone.

… And I pray that that person will be able to realize what it means to be a person for others.

And This Is Where "The Real Game" Begins

The real game starts right after Phoenix.

After having most of the quarter of the season finished, the Lakers will have their next 19 of their 28 games on road. And I believe, that this is where Kobe and the rest of the defending champs have to toughen up and play like a real championship team.

But there is something that Lakers fans need to talk about with a serious tone: The "Taco Club," A.K.A. the rest of the bench who blew off the good leads during the past games.

Believe me, as a group, they were reallty performing poorly, but then, it seems that this is out of being too comfortable, since the starting squad have done enough. I say give them a little time during these road games. They might prove themselves worthy.

Jordan Farmar had big games of his own. I wish he was really consistent, like the good ol' times.

As well as DJ Mbenga and Josh Powell, whose presence in and out of the paint have been significant (during garbage time, that is).

Adam Morrison still has to prove himself, maybe Luke Walton's absence in the team (because of his pinched nerve).

Most of all, the one I hate the most for this season: Sasha Vujacic. I mean, he really sucked during these first 18 games, conmpared to his performance back in '08.

The Lakers would win as a team, not just a bunch of 5 great guys, 2 who could do fairly well to replace the starters (I'm talking about Odom and my new dunk idol Shannon Brown), and 5 Taco Boys.

Thanks to www.forumblueandgold.com for the TacoUnit pic.

Respect To #24

It just took nine seconds from a 106-102 MIA lead to a 108-107 LAL win.

And all because of two key three-pointers, one that of Derek Fisher.

The second? Guess who. Just watch this:



One of the shots that will definitely go down in history. Lakers in 2010!

Freshly Squeezed # 2: For December's First, We Have…

Might not be that special, but here are a few that deem to be noteworthy:

-Bukluran was over. Everything went well, and thanks to those people who extended their hand just to make this project successful.

-Post-bukluran makes me want to just bum around and think of letting life swing away. But then, there is the Philosophy synthesis paper, which takes up most of my time. It's 20% of the Philosophy Seminar course, one that we need to pass in order to graduate. I'm currently working on it.

-… while the rest is on thesis making, spending sleepless nights to read Kant and Rorty just to finish a 50-page piece of philosophical work. They're supposed to be done on the 18th, while our journey will be finished once we finish our Final Comprehensive Exams and the Final Examinations in our different second semester subjects.

-Christmas spirit! Everyone is getting ready for gift-giving, caroling, and Kris Kringle. Just this Saturday, I spent the whole evening in SM Marikina to buy gifts for the parties.

-Fire and earthquake drills are irritating when you are the height of the interchange between doing your synthesis paper and idling on Facebook and blogger.

-And on a deeper note, I was able to appreciate being one with the Ateneo and San Jose community on reflecting and doing something about the recent Maguindanao massacre in the light of the upcoming 2010 elections. I was empowered and encouraged to write about it and send it to the Samahan sa Pilosopiya groups so that everyone could start sharing their thoughts and sentiments regarding the matter.

-The San Jose College community was invited by the Jesuit philosophers to have a Fusion Dinner at Loyola House. It was fun eating with and telling stories with our Jesuit friends, and we finished the night with our first ever Tinig Kolehiyo performance, singing "Diwa ng Pasko."

Can't wait for the weekend immersion (in spite of not being able to attend the Sesquicentennial Celebration).

The Joy of Christmas

As I say goodbye to November Bukluran, I now say welcome to the December Christmas (synthesis would be another concern altogether, and I would not want to go to that, because I am in the middle of actually doing it). Indeed, the whole San Jose College house welcomed Christmas in a different but significant way, and I would be happy to share to you some of what we really do here to prepare for the Birth of the Lord.

As early as November 21, we have already set up the Christmas decorations around the house, and immediately after the feast of Christ the King, we have already prepared the Advent Wreath in our chapel. I've told you, this is something different, and oh, did I say more surprising than everyone wants it to be?

For this year, we started our Kris Kringle right after Bukluran, because we will have our Christmas party as early as the 7th of December, because the seniors will not be available because of synthesis papers (argh darnit). We also are preparing for our College Christmas Party, which is a really really big event for us. In fact, we even came up with this wish list just to let those who picked us for exchange gifts have a glimpse of what we really want. Don't mind the impossible things though, they are just plain crazy:




As for the Kris Kringle, I'm thankful that there is a Vente store at Riverbanks Mall, where I just passed by and bought everything required in the list:

1.something soft
2.something that the AEMC will approve
3.something related to your person's favorite color
4.something tri-colored
5.something with the Registered mark on it (the R on a circle)
6.something you can bring inside the Chapel

Of course, as to what I have gotten used to, I made fun of these Kris Kringle gifts (please translate this in Filipino to nangungupal). I bought a lot of really funny gifts, and I wouldn't say what they are in this blog because there is a big possibility that the person I picked would read this. But then, to make up for all this, I would try buying a grand Christmas gift for that person.

And speaking of gifts and parties, I will be having two more Christmas parties. The first will be the community Christmas party of San Jose where the Tinig Kolehiyo will be performing "Diwa ng Pasko" for the second time (hence, learning to hone my lip-syncing skills again… Just let me do any dance number, anything just to make me not sing!). The other one would be the Philo block Christmas party, and I think the best part of this party will be the gift giving, because we were asked by my blockmate Carlos to come up with two words that could more or less capture what we want. I went for a "readworthy piece," wanting to have a good book for the holidays.

And of course we still have a lot of celebrations to come. There is the KASAMA Christmas party with the Cardinal, the two great drinking sessions (the first for the Philosophy family, and the second for the Triple Humanities Org Inuman, consisting of Samahan, LitSoc, and HumOrg). Most important of all will be our family will have a trip to Palawan for five days of fun and excitement. Mom already texted me that it has been already booked (too bad, the Kuala Lumpure trips were fully booked. That was what my brother and I were hoping for).

Happy holidays, everyone! Now, all I need to do is finish editing and revising this darn synthesis paper.

To distract myself.

I took a break from my tiring synthesis paper... because I have to.

Why? The earthquake bell sounded at about ten in the morning yesterday in the new Rizal Library, and we all have to get out as if there was an earthquake. And yes, the sound was really irritating.

And to quote:

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Earl: Pare, kung ganyan kabwisit ang earthquake bell, gugustuhin mo ba talagang lumabas ng Lib?

JoFar: Ewan ko, pare. Pero pag nangyari 'yun, si-save ko muna thesis ko tapos layas agad dala yung flash disk.

Earl: Good idea. Pati pala log out ng account.

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

And for the successful drill yesterday, an important lesson learned: learn to press Ctrl + S every five minutes, and as soon as you hear the bell, log out all of your accounts. You don't want to be hacked after the disaster.

More of Maguindanao

Yesterday, I (with Justin, Ken, Gio, and, behind us, Sasha) attended the mass for the victims of Maguindanao presided by Fr. Jun Viray, sj. This just compelled me to address the Samahan sa Pilosopiya in view of the current situation, and so I write in the groups:

"I'm sure that almost everyone of us in the philosophy family have already read and heard about the recent incident in Maguindanao involving the murder (and for some, rape) of more than sixty men and women. I would not go into further details, as I believe that it is our responsibility to know more about it (on which I will discuss further later on), but I would just like to call your attention to what happened and how we would react against it.

We are not philosophy students for nothing, just doing our own mental gymnastics and not caring about what is happening in this world that we live in (after all, we philosophize for this world… and of course I do not believe that we are doing silly mental games), and in these times that we are most needed, that we ought to make a stand regarding these matters and do something about it. What just happened goes against what we envision for our country as philo majors. This act is a sign of grave disrespect towards the value of man and society, those that we consider of high value in virtue of their existence. What has just transpired goes against the very lessons in life that we learn in four years of philosophizing.

Hence, an answer, an active and dynamic response is needed, and perhaps it would help if we ask ourselves the three questions that one of our great philosophers Immanuel Kant asked himself (although we put these questions in the light of our own context and of this situation. Our friend Imman asked this according to his own background and situation, which eventually led him to answers different from our own).

What can I know? Perhaps we could start by constantly informing ourselves of what has happened so far. Besides knowing the events as we read them in the Internet or in the papers, we are challenged to broader our horizon. We are called to look at it from different sides and perspectives, as well as think and reflect about it, to figure out the implications of this event. I encourage everyone to take a little time off just to probe into this event (in spite of the heavy school requirements) and be up-to-date.

What ought I to do? In our current situation, we have to act according to our own contexts and situations, sa kung ano ang napapaloob sa ating abot-tanaw. The closest thing that we can do is to attend different activities that address concern for this event (e.g. masses, candle lighting ceremonies, talks and seminars, etc.). For most of us, we could show our stand by committing ourselves to vote wisely (after all, this was an event rooted in the upcoming 2010 elections), keeping in mind that the change that we long for in the system (which goes with a personal conviction to always choose what is good for our country and our fellow Filipinos, in view of the greater common good) could only be decided upon by us people. And hey, idling in Facebook and Multiply would help too. I encourage you to put your blog posts and views regarding this issue in our Yahoo! Groups, so we could start discussing amongst ourselves that we could bring greater light into this situation.

What can I hope for? And of course, we have to project everything that we have been doing in the future which in two or three years' time, we take the center stage and do our roles as, possibly lawyers, teachers, priests, and other professions that we could think of pursuing. In spite of these happenings, we should never stop dreaming for a better Philippines and a better future for all of us, when the world would be close to what we envision it to be. In our continuous response to the call of our times, let us always remember that we are doing these things with a certain end in mind.

I hope that what I have written here, as a member of the core group of the Samahan sa Pilosopiya where we all belong, would encourage us to participate in the constant efforts of our fellow Ateneans in doing everything that we can to respond to this situation."

I hope this message would reach to the farthest bounds of the earth, that we may be able to do things together and hope for the better.