Posted on: December 31, 2004
Yesterday when I checked my mail the tsunami death toll was at 88,000. Now it's at a whopping 125,000. There has been so many deaths this December. It's just sad but it reminds me how fortunate we are that we are still alive. Let's just hope and pray that this coming new year, things would be better for our country and the world.
In the meantime, here's a survey I got from
ate Gail.
Five Things You May Not Know About My Time in School:
1. I was in the honor roll most of the time during my elementary and HS years. I graduated a salutatorian.
2. I excelled in science but I really sucked at math. Still do in college.
3. Been involved in a lot of activities in school. I was vice president of the student council and president of our nature club for a time. I was part of the varsity but rarely do I play on court (I was the bench guy).
4. We had a cheerdance group and I was part of it. You should have seen the routine, they say it's comparable to the dances in UAAP although we couldn't toss the girls the way they did.
5. I was keyboardist of our band. The first time we performed was during our junior year on the school's christmas party. The first time and the last time we performed outside our school was during a program held by the Pioneers School in St. Joseph. We were supposed to dance an interpretative dance but we ended playing instead. Ryan was our lead guitarist, Ej the bassist, and Ruel the drummer. The last time we performed as a band was during our prom. But Ryan and I, we still played during our graduation. We were in charge of composing a graduation song. Ryan did the lyrics and we both worked on the melody. It was great. Someday I'll post the song on my blog.
Five Things You May Not Know About the Job/s I Have (or Had or Don't Have):
1. Never worked on a real job but I do remember helping my mom in her office. She paid me for that. That could be a job right?
2. When I was young I wanted to be an astronomer. The heavens fascinated me. I remember reading books on planets and stars. I could even name a few constellations but the one I never miss seeing in the sky is Orion.
3. My best friend and I dreamt of working in NASA. I would often joke to him that one day I'll be working for NASA... I'll be the guy wiping the windshields of the space shuttle. But seriously, I do wanted to work for a space agency.
4. As of now if I continue the course I'm in I'll be a future dentist. But i'm shifting so...
5. In the future I may end up a lawyer. My parents would often tell me that I had the lawyer stuff in me. They say when I was a kid our relatives would often call me Attorney JC. Although I'm good in arguments I never saw myself being a lawyer. Well let's just see what happens in the future..
Five Things You May Not Know About My Online Life:
1. My Yahoo is my homepage.
2. I have a gmail account.
3. I always appear offline whenever I sign in on msn and yahoo.
4. I love googling.
5. I use Firefox to browse the web. (If you're tired of pop-ups and programs hijacking your IE browser, changing you homepage and stuff, well my friend its time to make the switch)
Five Things You May Not Know About Where I Live:
1. I lived in the Middle East, Abu Dhabi, UAE, to be exact, for the past 14 years. It's sad how only a few people here in the Philippines know about the UAE. You tell them that you lived in Abu Dhabi and they tell you... "ooohhh scary, that's in Saudi Arabia right." From where I've come from there are no terrorists. It's just a safe, peaceful, and progressive city.
2. While I was in AUH we stayed in an apartment in the 14th floor, 1402 to be exact. There are 2 grocery stores in the said building. In the front is the ever so famous Abdul Wadood Grocery (that name is synonymous to where I lived) and at the back is the seaside grocery store.
3. There were two pinoy grocery stores just around the vicinity of our building. One was the seaside grocery and the other was pinoy grocery. They import food from the Philippines and sell it here. These are the few places in AUH where you'll find hopia, jack n jill chips, frozen jolibee chicken joys, and a whole lot more. Definitely MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES.
4. Currently I'm staying in Cavite, in the house of my father's brother. Actually our original house is just beside the one I'm living in. They swapped houses when my father took a vacation two years ago.
5. This I only noticed during my birthday. Jezi pointed out a sign saying Espiritu Compound. Well most of the people who lived in that area are relatives.
Five Things You May Not Know About My Home Life:
1. I hardly know my relatives even though they live so close to us.
2. Whenever I'm bored I turn into a couch potato.
3. We rarely use our landline. Most of the people we know live in Manila and it's a long distance call so it's no use using the phone. But they say after January 5 calls from Globe landlines would be free anywhere around the country. So if you've got a Globe landline just pm me your number.
4. We have a dog. Her name's crescence.
5. Our living room is filled with the color pink. Ughh.. it's what you get when you live with girls. Heck there was a time I was forced to use my sisters pink blanket because it's the only available blanket. It's hard when people would come in your room and ask you why you're blanket is pink. But thank goodness my parents sent me a new one.
Five Things You May Not Know that I Desperately Want:
1. An Ipod.
2. An SLR and a Digital cam.
3. A new desktop computer.
4. New strings for my guitar. (All the shops I go into say that they're out of stock on acoustic strings.
5. A grand piano.
Five Things You May Not Know About What I Do in a Typical Day:
1. I study jazz music on the net.
2. I channel surf.
3. I do stuff online.
4. I read books.
5. I listen to music.
Surveys are really fun especially if you got nothing to write about. Well that's it for me. New Year's just 10 hours away. See you at midnight.
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Posted on: December 28, 2004
Studio pic from our gathering a while ago. Too bad Marian wasn't able to come. Sorry if that's all I can say. I'm just to lazy to blog about it now.
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Posted on: December 25, 2004
We've been really busy this week practicing for our Handiworks performance. I'm glad that's over. Here's what happened this past few days.
- Had an awesome Christmas party at church.
- Played the guitar at the said party.
- Designed an AVP (Audio Visual Presentation) to introduce Handiworks.
- Got a small part in a play.
- Finally got that invitation to a gmail account. It's zephymeral@gmail.com by the way.
- Got to eat bibingka for the first time.
- Pigged out at church. They feed us every after practices. Today I ate 4 times and my stomach's so full. I just love the ham, chicken, barbecue, and the bibingka that they served after the Christmas eve service. Well at least we got to eat something really good this Christmas besides Ate Lee's spag and tiramisu.
But the highlight of the week is when I finally got that long awaited call. Funny how a series of serendipitous events led to her calling me. Destiny really has its ways.
Anyway, this is the first time that I'll be spending Christmas away from my parents. It is something to be sad about but then again what really matters this season is the birth of our Savior. The christmas trees, the lights, the gifts that we receive, they just cover up the real thing. I'm not really expecting people to give me gifts but I'm happy knowing that I have the greatest gift of them all. And that is I've got Jesus in my heart. I wouldn't ask for more. He's the reason I live... He's the reason why we live. God must be crazy. I mean sending His own Son to die for us, for lowly little us. What God would sacrifice himself for those He love. I may never understand this but I'm eternally grateful to Him for it.
You loved me even though I know I'm unworthy of it. Thank you Lord.
To all of you, HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.
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Posted on: December 19, 2004
I've been playing the piano ever since I was in high school. I remember bugging my parents into buying me a keyboard. Back then the price tags on keyboards are really expensive especially if it's Yamaha. We bought the cheapest that we could find and it cost us around $300. It sure left a big hole in my parent's pockets but I know they never regretted buying it.
In the past few years I have learned to play five different musical instruments. I taught myself to play the piano, guitar, and the drums. In school we learned how to play the recorder and the violin. I guess it's my love for music that gave me the passion to learn these instruments, especially the piano. I took formal piano lessons for half a year but then after that the pastor who was teaching me was no longer available. I have to learn it all by myself. I started playing by ear and the more I played the more I got good at it.
The Internet has been my source for a lot of the music I play. I would download music sheets of the net and I would spend hours even days learning it. I remember how happy I felt when I learned how to play A Thousand Miles. That night, me and my dad went to an electronics shop canvassing for a computer. I saw a keyboard and I was eager to try playing the song I have just learned. As I hit the keys I noticed that the volume somehow turned up. I stopped playing but the melody was still there. I turned around and right there in front of me, showing in a big screen TV, was Vanessa Carlton's video of a thousand miles. We were playing the piano riff in sync. How coincidental could that be? I was so dumbfounded. Could this be a sign? I just laughed at the idea, but I was utterly speechless for a few seconds.
I just love playing the piano but nowadays I spend more time playing with my guitar. Although, I do make it a point to find time for jamming sessions with my keyboard. Maybe someday when I have the money I'll buy myself a real piano. A grand piano to be exact with shiny ivory keys.
Sigh. That someday would be a helluva long time.
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Posted on: December 16, 2004
TV Patrol's rating is going down the drain.
If you watched the news program earlier you'd know what I'm talking about. I didn't get to actually see it but my sister filled me up with what happened. It started out as a casual interview between Karen Davila and Susan Roces, the wife of the late FPJ, but ended with Roces' resentments against Channel 2. I don't want to go into details because I wasn't able to watch the interview myself, but this certainly is bad news for ABS-CBN and the Lopez family.
According to one of my professors, the Lopezes would watch TV Patrol and if they see news that they didn't like they could call the news department and have them cut the footage. I guess they weren't watching when the interview aired on national tv, or maybe they did watched but they weren't expecting the bitter remarks of Susan Roces coming. Cutting the feed would only make things obvious. Imagine the damage caused on the station's reputation when the wife of an icon in the movie industry looks at the camera and makes an open statement like this:
"Channel 2, galit ako sa station niyo..."
And to think that it was aired live on national tv on Channel 2's own news program, it only spells disaster for the network. Serves them right though for being too biased in their news. You see the Lopez family is the probably the most influential family in the whole country. They control our water, electricity, even the programs that we watch in their station. With such power and wealth it would only translate to them being pro status quo. Which further implies that they necessarily have to be biased in what they show in the news so that they could attain their status quo. Susana Roces pointed out in the interview that Channel 2 edited the footages of FPJ's campaigns cutting out scenes that showed the people who supported him.
Their bias on the adminstrative candidates caused the ratings of the network to drop during the election season. Although ABS-CBN denied that their decision to replace Korina Sanchez with Karen Davila has nothing to do with the ratings, I highly doubt it. You see, Korina's relationship with Mar Roxas subtly identifies her with the GMA administration. The masses can see this and they're not happy with it. With the dropped ratings, Korina is now seen as a liability to the news program so they had to replace her.
Even though the ratings only apply to the news program it could affect the whole station. The viewers who watch GMA's 24 oras got into the habit in staying tuned for the teleseryes which followed which explains the success of Mulawin over Marina. I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere in the near future GMA would replace ABS-CBN as the best station in the Philippines.
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Posted on: December 09, 2004
She walked down the aisle gazing at the rear end looking for a seat. You noticed her enter with the other commuters. She was wearing a long sleeved blouse and a checkered skirt. It was apparent that she studies in St. Paul. Finding that every seat at the back is occupied she then looks your way, eyeing at a vacant seat near you.
Seconds later she's right there beside you. It's a long way home so you decided to catch a nap. But you couldn't sleep. You gazed out the window and saw the beautiful sunset. You contemplate on the beauty of the amber horizon and it's reflection on the placid waters of the bay. Staring blankly at the sun, you felt something touch your shoulder. You looked to your left and saw her asleep. Her eyes were close, her head tilted, and it was just inches away from you. The AC was cold but the moment you felt her shoulder touch yours, warmth entered your body. You glanced at her face but couldn't see it well because it was partly hidden behind her hair. You saw her closed eyes and her lips instead. You felt something inside of you but you couldn't tell what it is. It's close to the feeling you get when you fall in love. But you would not dare say that it was actually love because no one falls in love with complete strangers. Could it be infatuation instead?
You dismissed the thought and just sat back. Though your eyes were closed you were conscious of everything around you. Showbiz Chikka was showing on the onboard TV. You hear them talking about Joross denying that he impregnated a girl. You decided to watch. The show ended. Ragnaraok the Animation came up next. You looked at the girl beside you. She was still asleep. You can't take her eyes off her. You tried to memorize every detail of her face. But then her eyelids started to part and you could now see her eyes. You looked away hoping that she didn't catch you staring at her.
Fully awake she sat straight and looked out the window. The bus is already in Cavite and it was just fifteen minutes away from your home. You took occasional glances at her. You swear you caught her also looking at you from time to time. In no time you were both playing the game of hide and seek making sure that none of you knew you were staring at each other. As the bus neared your dropoff you felt the sudden urge to ask her name but you were held back. Was it because of shyness or the fact that you're a stranger to her? I guess it was both. The stop was near, you got off you're seat, proceeded down the aisle, and got off the bus. You turned around hoping to get one last look at her and hopefully even wave a goodbye. But you never saw her again. You stood still as the bus zoomed past you. Will you ever meet her again?
You just smiled and walked away.
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Posted on: December 08, 2004
Click here to enlarge.
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Posted on: December 07, 2004
What I hate most about my TF schedule is that I have a three hour vacant period before my next class. I would kill time reading in the library, but you can't enter the library without a countersign on your ID, which until now I still haven't got. So I passed time in the school's canteen with my blockmates who are waiting for their 10 o'clock class. While waiting I read a book I borrowed from Maica which was entitled Stargirl. At first glance one would think that it's a 'girlie book', as Gail would so often put it. But as I read a couple of pages I was convinced otherwise. Eventually I got hooked with the book I'm reading that I finished it down to the last page while hanging out in Go Nuts Donuts.
How I wish that Stargirl was more than a fictitious name. She may be an eccentric and a non-conformist, but hey, who ever said that being different is bad. I remember what Archie said to Leo about the moments we have just before we wake up. Moments when we are primitive, when we could be different, when we could do the things we want to do without a care of what the world thinks about us. But then when we wake up we become 'ourselves' again. People who are stuck to conformity and rules. People who live a fast-paced life that they tend to overlook the real things that really mattered. Stargirl was different. She was in touch with herself and her feelings and she felt what other people couldn't feel. She doesn't care about what other people may think of her just as long as she knows that she's happy. If only I could be more like her. Better yet, if only I could find someone like her.
Sigh.
Anyway I finished the book by 11:15 and I still had enough time to review my report on History II. I seldom get nervous during reports but this time was different. My whole body was shaking while I was giving out my report. It was quite obvious because the paper that I was holding was also shaking. Maybe it's because I'm reporting in front of people that I don't know. Dice and Dianne were there but the others I hardly knew. I don't even know the names of my groupmates in the report. But I'm glad that's over.
We didn't have class in Soc Sci II. Instead we were asked to attend the video forum in the Little Theater about the recent Hacienda Luisita massacre. The LT was packed full of students. It was obvious that the other professors required their students to watch the video forum. The video documentary started rolling. The sound was hardly audible and the students were noisy. I could hardly understand a word spoken. The film started with some interviews and shots of the leaders of the labor union making an appeal to the board about their wages. The problem is that the farmers who work once a week for the Hacienda Luisita are paid a measly 9.50 pesos. That's about half of what I pay to get to Manila from Cavite. They couldn't even buy a kilo of rice with that money.
November 15, the day the workers protested and 14 of them massacred. People were throwing stones at the policemen and the policemen retaliated back by bombarding the protestors with gallons of water. This didn't stop the workers and soon the policemen were pumping out tear grenades one after the another. People tried to bury it under the sand so that the smoke wouldn't come out but there were more tear grenades in the policemen's arsenal. They kept pumping out the grenades forcing the people to move back. When the smoke died down the protesters once again ran for the gates throwing rocks at the policemen. Moments later gunshots were fired but then it didn't stop firing. People were running for cover as bullets rain in on them. By this time the camera was so shaky that it made me extremely nauseous. If I watch any more of this I'll vommit. It happens every time I watch recorded movies from a shaky handheld camera. The last scene I saw before I went out was the people carrying a guy who had a gun shot wound. They placed him in the car and was rushed off to the hospital. I wanted to finish the documentary but I couldn't take it any longer. My head hurts and I couldn't breathe. I just wanted to get out of there.
When I got outside I proceeded immediately to the Robinson's Place to catch Alexander. We are required to make a report on this movie for out History II class. I've heard a lot of criticisms about the movie. I personally didn't like it. I think Troy was far better than Alexander. First of all it's hard to follow the story line because it's filled with numerous flashbacks. Add the change of setting every 30 minutes and you'll get completely lost. The cinematography wasn't that good either. The shots that I liked were the eagle's view of the battle and when Alexander, on his horse, went head to head with an elephant. The scenes after that was quite disappointing because Oliver Stone used red hues. Why change the color of the film? It wasn't necessary. If he wanted to portray the bleeding of Alexander or the death of his men he could have done it better without changing the hues.
Anyway the film is also controversial because of its portrayal of the sexuality of Alexander. I think the movie was more of the sexual exploits of Alexander rather than his conquests. Most of the times in the film you would see Alexander hugging his best friend Hephaestion exchanging affectionate glances and I-love-yous. That explains it all. However I overhead somebody comment saying that it was just brotherly love. Ok, how about the time he kissed his pretty boy servant on the lips. Brotherly love? I don't think so. It's more of homosexuality. But I wouldn't call it that because Alexander has a wife. Bisexuality is a more likely term. I was shocked when I first heard that Alexander was gay errr bisexual rather. I mean who would ever think that Alexander the Great is a bisexual? Although most scholars think that Hephaestion was Alexander's lover, Oliver Stone (the director) was quick to endorse this view.
I could understand why the Greeks hated this film so much. They even requested that during the credits they would flash in the screen a text saying that the account portrayed on the film was fiction. Alexander's their hero. He's not a myth like the other Greek heroes. He's real, someone whom they are proud of. And Alexander being portrayed as a bisexual in a film is not very pleasing you know if you're a Greek. Troy saved itself from making the same mistake when they didn't portay Patroclus as Achilles' lover although some think that they are more than cousins. Anyway bisexuality aside, no one can deny that Alexander was a great leader. He managed to go far where no Greek has ever gone before. He was an ambitious and an egoistic king. I guess those two caused him his life.
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Posted on: December 03, 2004
Yoyong's gone, so is the possibility that my PI 100 class would be suspended tomorrow. It's not the rainy season but it's been raining here in the Philippines almost every day. I could hardly count the days when it didn't. But I love it when it rains. Although the dark skies make everything around me seem gloomy, once the rain falls I can't help but feel refreshed, even nostalgic at times. It bring back a lot of memories for me. And yes I couldn't dismiss the thought that whenever it rains hard, chances are classes would be suspended. And when it does get suspended, students go WOOHOO!!!
November has been a semi-sembreak affair for me. There hasn't been a week when classes weren't suspended this past month. I hardly attend my Monday classes anymore because the day always seem to fall on a holiday or a bad weather. I haven't even met our Math 1 teacher yet. I'm sure the professors would be catching up on the days lost during the times mentioned above.
Anyway, a low pressure area is forming in the Pacific and it is rather likely that another storm would hit the Philippines. And if a storm be a reason for suspending classes, then by all means... BRING IT ON!
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Posted on: December 02, 2004
6 Cycle Mind
Biglaan
-----------------------------------------
Nandito nakaukit pa rin sa puso ko,
Ng sabihin mong wag na lang.
Nandito nakatatak pa rin sa isip ko,
Kung paano mong kinalimutan ang lahat.
Kay bilis ba't umalis, nakakamiss
Na bigla lang
di ko man lamang nalaman
Na mawawala,
Na bigla lang
di mo man lamang naisip
Na idahan-dahan.
Hindi ako sanay sa biglaan,
Unti unti na lang sanang nawala.
Hindi ba natin kayang magkunwari,
at sabihin sige na lang
Hindi ba natin kayang dayain,
Ang mga yakap sa tuwing lumalamig
Kay bilis na umalis, nakakamiss
Na bigla lang di ko man lamang nalaman
Na mawawala,
Na bigla lang di mo man lamang naisip
Na idahan-dahan.
Hindi ako sanay sa biglaan,
Unti unti na lang sanang nawala.
-----------------------------------------
It would be so nice if we could pretend that nothing ever happened and make things easy for the both of us, but we should know better. It breaks my heart every time I hear you cry and it still does. If only I could wipe your every tear, but I guess time will do that for me. Time heals, but I do wish it would be sooner.
If only we could pretend that nothing ever happened. But then again we won't find happiness in pretensions. And we learned that the hard way.
Sometimes we have to learn to let go of things that are not meant for us.
Letting go... it may take time but we'll make it. I have faith in you. I have faith in us.
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