Anything Goes

In for a Steam

2009-07-13T13:12:00.001+08:00

A lodge of smoke,
to make me choke;
From heated stone
Poured water on.

A cold rub helps,
but my heart yelps:

Read continuation

Out to Sea

2009-07-13T13:11:00.000+08:00

Early morning when the sea is still quiet...

View picture

Stranger's Dog

2009-07-13T13:10:00.001+08:00

Call on a Dog,
just like a hog.
It wags it’s Tail
instead of wail.

Looks to my eye,
as though I’m Sly—
Am I Friend?
And not a Fiend?

View entire poem

Lantana

2009-07-13T13:09:00.000+08:00

When I passed by this shrub and asked what it is, I was told it's a kanding-kanding. I passed by it the second time and a different person said it's an iring-iring. =D.
View lantana here

Feel of Tired Hands

2009-07-12T22:23:00.000+08:00

Lights dimmed, music—
some acoustic...
Then the masseuse coughs!

Tingling powder,
Smell of camphor...
Then the masseuse sniffs!

‘ these presages?
The massages
from tie-erred hands—

Hands though in heat,

Read full article

Lady Betty's Name

2009-06-29T15:21:00.001+08:00

Two rounds, she’d push a cart
full of tart;
Shakes and delight
for the Workers’ heart,
For those times they’d catch her.

Two rounds, down
the lower floors she’d push,
Supposed by those

Read full article ==> http://www.authspot.com/Poetry/Lady-Bettys-Name.831631

Recurrent Dream

2009-06-28T09:16:00.003+08:00

We have moved out of the house where we stayed for twenty years; It was those years when Spiderman has not yet revealed himself to Jane and the push-button phones have not yet replaced the rotary ones… The old house continues to haunt my dreams…I realize that when things from today and yesterday get mixed up. These dreams end with me looking at page of a calendar hung on the wall after I ask the people present in my dreams, what year it is.

See full article ==> http://is.gd/1gpnx

Goats on a Grassless Land are Transported

2009-06-28T09:00:00.002+08:00

To view jpg ==> http://is.gd/1goB9

Yellow Bells

2009-06-28T08:49:00.002+08:00

Link to post ==> http://is.gd/1gnWD

Repulsive Hat Thief

2009-06-09T10:59:00.001+08:00

If there have been people losing their hats to snatchers, there have been some too who have been able to escape the snatchers’ hands. In both occasions, they were commuters inside a public utility vehicle.

Just when a few people inside a jeepney exclaimed “ayyy!!”

I asked “what happened?”

“That kid---was trying to grab my hat” said the wearer who was quick enough to move away.

“Kid?”

I looked out the open window and there, the kid was—mischievous. shameless and acted like nothing happened. Questions ran in my mind: Are hats that hot items? Are they easier to sell? Is snatching hats part of a training towards snatching jewelry later? Is the kid on his own? Is an adult behind this?

Read full article ==> http://www.authspot.com/Short-Stories/Repulsive-Hat-Thief.768145

Solar Panels in Can-abujon

2009-06-08T09:42:00.000+08:00

a picture in jpg ==> http://www.picable.com/Objects/Walls/Solar-Panels-in-Can-abujon.766933

Doodling with a Group of Five

2009-06-08T09:39:00.002+08:00

Here ==> http://www.picable.com/Art/Graffiti/Doodling-with-a-Group-of-Five.766889

A Dog Walker's Dog

2009-06-08T09:30:00.001+08:00

Link ==> http://www.picable.com/Nature/Dogs/A-Dog-Walkers-Dog.766785

The Lorelei in Mood Pastel

2009-06-08T09:26:00.000+08:00

Click here to view => http://www.picable.com/Art/The-Lorelei-in-Mood-Pastels.766743

Outside Veterans Bank

2009-06-05T09:01:00.005+08:00

Seniors and their families are accommodated in plastic chairs to sit on while they wait for their turns to come inside Philippine Veterans bank; while some preoccupied civilians pass by each other on the sidewalk in opposite directions.

first published in http://www.picable.com/Places/Beach/Outside-Veterans-Bank.752035

Why Consolidate Debts

2009-06-02T10:00:00.002+08:00

Debt accumulates.

Not all kinds of credit cards give the same kinds of perks that the chances of you getting additional bank cards are not slim. What are some of these inviting perks? They can be cash back, zero-interest, rebates, hotel accommodation, free meals and the like. Obviously, the swiping of credit cards, terminal after another terminal, as in a shopping splurge will lead to an accumulation of debts.

It could turn worse if one cannot anymore afford to pay even the minimum required payment balance though we might impossibly assume that all charges were arms-length transactions under the zero-interest rate promos.

Remember that a month of nonpayment, even when it is a zero-interest purchase, will subject that minimum balance to late charges and penalties.

Link to full article ==> http://www.gomestic.com/Personal-Finance/Why-Consolidate-Debts.743495

A Lizard's Best Pose

2009-05-31T20:07:00.002+08:00

View the picture I took here==> http://is.gd/JR0Q

Seller of Veggies

2009-05-31T20:07:00.001+08:00

View here ==>http://is.gd/JQ6w

Moth with Broken Wing

2009-05-31T20:06:00.001+08:00

Is there anything superstitious about butterflies or moths going inside your home? http://is.gd/JOIv

Dear Angel

2009-05-31T20:05:00.004+08:00

One day I fell, pushed to the ground, got bruised with my hands dirty; you stayed and helped me wash as I writhed and cried while all others took a loser like me for granted in order to carry on with the game...You reached out with your comforting hands though I hadn't said anything in a week...Sometimes, in a month's time. Yet, you accompanied me everywhere. Silently.

I usually break my silence when I ask you to find for me something I lost and the search usually does not take very long...

There were other reasons too when I'd besought your assistance and you helped. Without a nag. Without asking for a return like when I claimed—with you around, a prize from Bingo.

You are bigger—grander, but you choose to protect and defend, than bully and debase.

I am apple of your eyes...however awkward are some of my endeavors.

LINK TO FULL ARTICLE ==> http://is.gd/EISN #metaphysical #angels

At the Call Center

2009-05-31T20:04:00.001+08:00

We all sat down waiting for our turns to be tested at a call centre. Hours passed and we were done with the preliminaries, my seatmate was telling us that she was asked for a reference number to her audio exam and that she said it was 14344.

“Are you sure?” I asked unable to help myself burst into laughter. It was exactly the same question as the person who asked her for that reference number.

Full article here ===> http://www.purpleslinky.com/Humor/Work/At-thw-Call-Center.710369

Topics to Blog

2009-05-25T17:38:00.015+08:00

You are on this page because you may be thinking of starting a blog but you don’t know what to write about. Of course it has to be something you’re comfortable expressing. Say, something about gadgets for a techie. Or something that can be of help to others.

As for me, I look at the categories from other blog sites. It is an endless list so you don’t have to limit it to the list below:

animals art beach beauty books children
computer events friendship feelings fashion food
gadget garden god health job
humor life money movie nature
music networking poem photography
romance society sports travel water writing

Let's choose events for you, for example. You'll have to narrow it down. Example, write about your own prom instead of squeezing in many school activities in one blog.

Of course you can write about another school activity but that would go to your next post.

Don’t choose death because if you think of monetizing your blog soon, there are sponsored sites that don’t like death themes. Though there are some sponsors that do accept them.

If you’ve come up with a specific topic, lessen your words so you don’t lose the interest of your readers. The reader stays, according to SiteMeter, only about 96 seconds on average on your page.

Alright then. Gotta go so you can start writing.

Ciao.

Queue Area

2009-05-12T19:31:00.018+08:00

I was one of those hundreds who lined up to get an NBI clearance at Robinson’s.

Then a lady from BEHIND told me that she’d be right back.

I told her to tell the guy who’s right NEXT to her that she’d be right back, if that’s ok.

She went on to tell me, who’s immediately BEFORE her in that line, that she’d just be out to have lunch and would come back to fall in that same line right after me.

One minute after, the next guy BEFORE me told me that he’d be back too; he just needed to take the call of nature.

Why me?

Was it my shirt?

"Ma’am, I will give you a book.”

2009-05-06T19:33:00.000+08:00

What do I need a book for? I’m sorry, Mr. Salesman.
Please give me a scooter, instead, because I am in a hurry to get to where I want to….

I do not need a book while I commute on fast mass transportation, either…
And now that I am where I should be…I can sit back and relax…

and W-A-I-T like it has not been several hours of wait!!!

I have started to notice my Seiko ticking. I could have been in the middle of something!

Of a television show...Of a snack...

than stuck here counting off the 999,999th tick

and sit still waiting.

I wish someone would at least give me a book.

A Reptile for a Visitor

2009-05-01T18:40:00.000+08:00

I thought somebody was LOOKING at me while I was also LOOKING at the CRT monitor so I LOOKED up and found this:

It did not move until I took its picture. This is NOT candid, I swear. Young as it is with its oversized head, it sure knows how to pose. It’s still in my room because I heard it sing last night. “Please say something again so I can re-record” I had to say that after it shied away when I replayed.

Going Green

2009-04-28T23:37:00.000+08:00

I didn’t expect to draw that rolled paper with the question, what is my favorite color. I reckoned it is what is usually asked to kids. Yet, for the plainness of the intention of the asker, I didn’t expect to be taking a minute or two to think about my response either.

I made a mental count of the colors in the room I rented: If my Italian curtains, little plastic stool, banana slippers, urinal, toiletry and waste baskets and Canadian bath towels are green—therefore, green must be my favorite color. People have caught my organization too. Once I misplaced my green dipper and a bottle of green dishwashing paste; I gave up looking for it inside my room. Just as I closed the door behind me, I found the bottle inside the dipper lain beside the door, waiting to be claimed by its Martian owner.

Wait the minute—my mother says, my favorites are yellow and blue and that is why she had my room painted with yellow. (Since my room is yellow, blue had to be the one used for my younger sister’s room). I remember now the pictures of me wearing yellow (being my choice when asked) dresses before and sippy cups of blue. I still pick clothes of yellow or blue though when there are too many colors to decide from.

But I have grown up and decided to go to a school whose official color is green and decided further to have the color green as my Friendster layout. Growing up is sometimes finding yourself restless, that, I find serenity staring at the verdant mountains and trees for hours…Long hours.

Hey, my mother was right! Yellow plus blue are my favorite colors because they make up the color green.

Friday the 10th

2009-04-28T22:45:00.000+08:00

Rays ran through one of the openings draped with ropes bound together and rested on a pew with a woman in tears; A common sight in these times.

Like most people, we sat, on one of the rows inside the vertical base, waiting.

The length of the communion queue, later, would tell of people’s preparedness as they had all the chances to confess—a kind that is humiliatingly detailed, otherwise, a spiritual confessor will not be able to fully absolve that which is intentionally hidden, to avoid shame.

With the sun up at three hours past noon, the altar was needlessly illuminated with yellow light and red spark resting on a few column heads…where two winged angels in loose conservative garments meet to blow on silent trumpets; Below, a monk and a scantily dressed man, all in fiber glass, kneel at the sides.

The Blessed Sacrament is out of the central tabernacle and has been moved to the right receptacle where selected white and yellow flowers surround.

The windows brightly define the painted mysteries of the rosary—its centuries-old secret is carefully protected in Montfort’s treatise but woe to those who irresponsibly uncover it, without heeding carefully to a preceding warning and allow the seed to wither in their hands because it poisons the soul. Tell me Louis Marie, why are some divine secret better left undisclosed to the unprepared?

The short horizontal part of the structure, perpendicular to the base, has two windows each inspired by an evangelist.

At its center is an elevated dome, wide and white, where they were to lay the crucified Christ right under…as if God is saying again, “this is my beloved Son…”

On the aisle, the ministers at the strike of four marched towards the altar passing by statues covered with cloths in shades of purple and fourteen other decorative windows showing the Stations of the Cross…

As the concelebrant in front and the choir at our rear delivered the readings inclusive of sound effects as swords clashing…and varied musical scores, we recalled the people who welcomed the Messiah with palms on the first day of the week to be the same people who had him crucified by Friday of that same week…

Slowly then they unveiled the red covers of the crucifixes as people alternately knelt and stood up. Men were called out to fall in line first for the Adoration…

We exited from where two tablets lie: on the left contained the first three commandments summarized by Jesus to be the first of two greatest commandments—love God above all; and on the right, the remaining seven of the Decalogue summarized by him to fall under the second greatest commandment—love thy neighbor.

Frankincense—one of the gifts of the magi, was still burning as we left three hours later.

A little informed pilgrimage compared to the temple where I threw a set of stones to see if the answer to my wish and/or question is yes, no or maybe. There their beautiful but nameless statues draw either curiosity or indifference to a tourist who is ignorant of the faith they profess.

Hi! You found me!

2009-04-28T01:48:00.000+08:00

The entries posted prior to this note are reposts from my Wordpress account.

Sagradong Kalawakan

2009-04-27T18:27:00.000+08:00

Pressed by time, I had to come up with anything Tagalog for the second time that year and this was what I created, a short story weaved out of my hang-ups.

First posted by me in onlyme6000.wordpress.com

Sagradong Kalawakan

Isang Orihinal na Likha

(Kathang-Isip ni Lorelie Libetario)

Minsan naglathala ang pahayagan ng isang imbitasyan para sa salamangka. Dahil likas na mausisa ay pumunta ako at kinumbida ko ang aking ka-opisina na nagpahayag nuon pa man ng pagnanais niyang masubukan ang paranormal.

“Sige na Lorelie, ‘punta tayo doon ha?” wika ni Niña.

Nasa loob kami ng air-conditioned na kwarto ng maalala ko ang sinabi ng pinsan ko nitong umaga,

“Huwag kang pupunta at baka naghahanap ka lang ng batong ipupukpok sa ulo.”

Ang kanilang organisasyon pala ay para lang sana sa derektang miyembro ng kanilang pami-pamilya. Ngayon ay pansamantalang bukas ito sa publiko. Para sa akin ay kainda-indayo ang kanilang pinarating sa tao. Isipin mo na lang na matutuhan mo rin ang napag-aralan nuon ng mga eskolar sa Ehipto sa nakaraang panahong hindi pa kinasilangan ni Kristo at marami pang iba.

“Magsa-sign up ka ba?” tanong ko kay Niña.

“Pag-iisipan ko muna” sabi niya.

Linggu-linggo ay may pinadadala silang mga materyales sa akin para pag-aralan. Biyernes ng gabi ng magpulong muli ang mga miyembro. Tiniyak kong nandoon ako. Bawal ang magsalita. Nakahubad sila at nakamaskara kung nanampalataya sa Griyego at Old English.

“O pinakaluma at pinakamalakas na kapangyarihan ng hilaga, timog, silangan at kanluran, hinga ng buhay, tagadala ng salita at isip, mabangis na bagyo at mahinahon na simoy, halina sa aming bilog!

Pagpapatuloy ng Sagradong Kalawakan ni Lorelie… ika-2 pahina

Tinatawagan namin ang misteryosong hangin na pinagliliparan ng mga agila sa gintong pagsikat ng araw na may kalayaan sa kaduluhan ng kanilang mga pakpak. Espiritu ng hangin, ilawan mo ang aming buhay at bigyan kami ng dalisay na pag-iisip.”

Pagkatapos ng ritwal, pagod ako ng umuwi sa apartment. Kaagad akong natulog. Kinabukasan, sinimulan ko ang paglikha ng sagradong kalawakan base sa mga naipadala nilang babasahin sa akin. Unang pagkakataon ko ito. Sinigurado kong naikuros ko sa aking noo ang mga hakbang. Gumuhit ako ng tatsulok at nagsindi ng tatlong kandilang puti sa mga panulukan. Sa gitna ng tatsulok ay may kaunting mga gamit akong inilagay na mahalaga sa akin. Ito’y isang seremonyas na ginagawa ng nag-iisa para maging sagradong kalawakan ang iyong tahanan. Kailangang gumawa ng intensyong ihandog ang iyong ginagagalawang kalawakan sa enerhiya ng Mataas na Kamalayan at makalilikha ka ng isang kalma, organisadong at matiwasay na paligid. Tutulong ang Mataas na Aspeto dito. Sa sagradong kalawakan nagaganap ang kagalingan ng mga sakit dahil nakakatawag dito ng mga kumikinang na manggagamot na tumulong galing sa Mundo ng Espiritu. Oo, nakatatawag ito ng kaluluwa. Sa Aklat ng mga Anino nakasaad na maaari ring magtawag ng kahit kanino kung nais mo ng sagot sa iyong mga katanungan. Matapos ang dasal, pakiwari ko’y hindi na ako nag-iisa sa silid.

“Siguro’y guni-guni ko lang.” Hinipan ko ang kandila. Naligo ako at naghanda na pumasok sa trabaho. Lumabas ako sa silid at ng makarating ako sa kalsada,

“Ah sus, nakalimutan ko nga palang isara ang sagradong kalawakan nilikha ko para sa aking sarili,” bigla kong naisip.

“Ay, sorry. Hindi ko sinasadya,” may nabangga pala akong isang batang may labing-apat na taong gulang.

Ngumiti lang siya sa akin.

Buti na lang at dala-dala ko sa bag ko ang aklat. Sa taksi ko na binasa ang pagsasara ng sagradong kalawakan tutal pwede namang magsindi ng kandila na isip lang ang gamit. Madaling lumipas ang oras at uwian na. Sa labas ng gusali, nakasalubong ko na naman ang batang babae na nakasulubong ko nitong umaga.

Pagpapatuloy ng Sagradong Kalawakan ni Lorelie… ika-3 pahina

“Hi! Ako nga pala si Luna. May dapat kang malaman. Magpunta ka sa may….mga alas 8 ng gabi,” kaagad niyang sinabi ang mga detalye kung saan ito matatagpuan na para bagang napakahalaga ito para sa kanya.

Na-weirdohan tuloy ako sa batang iyon at kinumbida kaagad ako gayong kabagu-bago ko pa lang siyang kakilala.

“Aba, ang tinutukoy niyang lugal ay malapit lang kung saan kami nag-ritwal!”

May biglang kumalabit sa akin. Napalingon ako at napatalikod kay Luna.

“Sino ang kausap mo?” si Niña pala.

“Si Luna. Ipakikilala nga kita.”

Pagkalingon koy walang Luna akong nakita.

“’Ku, ang batang iyon. Hindi man lang nagpaalam na aalis na siya,” reklamo ko.

“Ngumiti lang si Niña na parang may ibig sabihin ang ngiti niya pero hindi ko ‘yon pinahalagahan.

Walang nakatakdang pagtatagpo para sa salamangka ng gabing iyon pero nagpunta ako doon mismo sa sinabi sa akin ni Luna. Bukas ang tarangkahan nito.

“’Ku, kung hindi lang ako likas na mausisa…Parang may prayer meeting o kung ano,” pilit kong hinulaan kung ano ang nangyayari sa loob.

Marami ang nandoon at may mga sulo na nakasindi sa bawat kanto. Isang bata ang nakagapos sa harap. Pinakain ito ng parang maliliit na bahagi ng ginto. Tinaga ang kanyang paa ng kanilang puno. Humiyaw ang bata ng makita niyang nahiwalay ang kanyang paa buhat sa kanyang buong katawan pero para itong walang hapding nadarama sa mukha. Parang dinroga ang bata. Hindi ko nakilala ang bata sa dilim pero parang nagkita na kami. Inalay nila ang bawat bahagi ng katawan at alam ko kung bakit. Ito ay dahil may katumbas na gantimpala buhat sa bathalang kanilang sinasampalataya.

Pagpapatuloy ng Sagradong Kalawakan ni Lorelie… ika-4 na pahina

Sinunod na dinukot ang mga mata nito. Ito ay iniaalay katumbas ang paghingi ng kapangyarihang makakita sa nakaraan at hinaharap. Tumakbo ako sa kaba at dahil hindi ko masikmura ang walang kaluluwang pinaggagawa nila. Patuloy na pinagtataga ng kanilang puno ang bata hanggang sa wala ng buhay ito para gumalaw.

“Dapat tawagan ko si Niña,” nawika ko ng makalabas ako sa tarangkahan.

“Niña, may sasabihin ako sa iyo….” humihingal ako na nagsusumbong sa kanya.

“Ano? Hindi kita maintindihan?” at humingi siyang ulitin ang aking sinabi.

“Samahan mo na lang ako sa presinto” nawika ko.

“Ano ka ba naman Lorelie–Sa ganitong oras ng gabi?!” tanong niya.

“Hello, kaibigang putik ka ba? Day off naman nating dalawa bukas ah! Tsaka, importante lang. Sige na dali,” pakiusap ko.

Hindi ako pupwedeng maghalukipkip ng kamay, kaya sa presinto inilahad ko ang aking nakita. May isang squad ng pulis ang ipinadala sa lugal na aking tinukoy. Sarado ang tarangkahan kaya pilit itong binuksan ng mga pulis. Sa loob, wala ni isang sulo ang nakasindi, madilim at maalikabok. Tuloy, nagmistulang pabalat bunga lang ang sumbong ko.

“Hatsing,” isa-isang naghatsingan ang mga nandoon para mag-imbistiga.

Pero nandoon pa ang altar at doon nila nakita ang bungo at kalansay ng isang maliit na tao.

Pina-eksamen ito sa isang forensic expert at natino na buto ito na isang batang babaeng may labing-13 hanggang labin-15 taon ang edad nang pinaslang at ang kalansay ay may limang taon ng nabubulok. Hindi naman makita ang may-ari ng bahay dahil ito’y nangibayong dagat at doon na nabawian ng buhay.

Pagpapatuloy ng Sagradong Kalawakan ni Lorelie… ika-5 na pahina

Ang bangkay ay nakilala sa tulong na rin ng dental records nito bilang si

“Luna Medel. Siya ay iniulat ng kanyang mga magulang na nawawala limang taon ng nakalilipas,” sabi ng hepe ng pulisya.

Sa gabi ng mahanap ang kanyang kalansay ay siyang gabing anibersaryo kung kailan siya pinagtataga para ialay, may limang taon na ang nakalilipas. Nakakapangilabot.

Dumating ang mga magulang ni Luna. Umiiyak pero nagpasalamat na nakita din sa wakas ang bangkay ng kanilang anak.

“Sino ang nagturo sa iyo sa lugal na iyon, hija?” tanong ng ina.

“Isang Luna po na ka-edad ng iyong anak” sagot ko.

“Maaari mo bang ilarawan siya sa amin?” tanong ng ama.

Nabigla ako dahil matapos kong mailarawan ang bata ay sabay sabi ng mag-asawa na “Ang iyong tinutukoy ay siyang namatay naming anak.”

“Si Luna pala ang natawag ko ng buksan ko ang aking sagradong kalawakan at ng hindi ko ito nasara kaagad” naisip ko, “Paano na lang kung masamang espiritu ang natawag kagaya ng napanood ko sa pelikulang Ouija? Mabuti na lang at natulungan ko rin ang mag-asawang mahanap ang bangkay ng kanilang anak sa pamamagitan mismo ng kanilang yumaong anak”

“Uulit ka pa bang magbukas ng iyong sagradong kalawakan matapos nito?” tanong ni Niña.

“Hindi ko alam. Naguguluhan ako,” sagot ko.

© 2009. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Bonds

2009-04-06T21:08:00.000+08:00

On my 16th birthday, a pen pal sent me a gold ring while another friend apologized that it was not as expensive an ornament, most contributed to distribute a band to all as it was the fad and another apologized for not being able to afford a gift at all. I said thank you and that for sure I will be putting them all on to show appreciation of their thoughtfulness and as for those without gifts, it did not matter, quoted a line from a church song “Persons are gifts.” As for jewelry, fancy or real, it serves the intention for which the wearer wears it for. Some would rather be adorned by what’s fancy because there’s an affordable variety to choose from and when it dulls, it can be discarded and replaced; although some are better at keeping and re-using them because these can be re-polished to look like new with chemical. Some choose to wear only what’s real although it hurts the pocket as long as it does not cause skin irritation. Some have simply the money to burn or want to build up a social status. Some prefer both for art’s sake because whether they are of plastic, of semi-precious stones, of gold, of silver, of alloy, of rod, of bones, of thread—they are of the earth or of the craftsmanship of men.

Like friendship, there’s a variety to choose from. When it dulls, then good riddance. If you enjoy the company, you can either influence them and appreciate them as they shine. Some prefer to be with birds of the same feather, say mingle if they are from the same profession or if they are as rich as the chooser. Some choose from a distinct few and treasure their rare finds or get hurt by their own set of choices. Some enjoy the company of all sorts because each one is as valuable and as unique as the other.

Today, the ring is lost, some bands are stuck on the scrapbook, while some friends have either gone, stayed, found or discovered but I still carry the memory of a variety that kept my life vibrant, of the cherished cliques that get together for the same likes, of the acquaintances of different color, faith, of different upbringing and POV’s, of families–either with strong ties or broken, who by destiny or by choice just had to be there to serve a purpose

To Be or Not To Be

2009-04-01T15:00:00.000+08:00

Much as I would have wanted to read Shakespeare’s Hamlet for which the library has a copy of, I did not have the concentration to absorb anything other than the words that say “Enter” such and such nor was I able read any soft copy of the summary of the play or at least, a movie review. For the lack of time, guided only by a faint memory of a comic book on Hamlet which I read at leisure in high school and all these excuses, this reaction, I contend, is free from the biases of others’ opinions. I hope not too absurd an opinion. =D

Although the intro to the movie is positively biased to its creator, I was expectant of its promises as a viewer. True enough, it’s a well lit cinematography and very crisp are the lines delivered by the actors. Well lit even during the love scenes. The movie, as Shakespeare had wanted his plays to be—delivered and listened to, rather than silently read by the public, is a success as it rekindled in me an admiration of the language of long ago with all its hath’s and thou’s. Kenneth Branagh, director and actor, is some sort of a reincarnation of Shakespeare—playwright and actor to his own plays. As the poet extols his poetry and the playwright glorifies his play, the director lauds his movie as something that will be remembered for centuries. It is a wonder why so many forms emerge from the classics. Well, great is a person or a poet or a director if he can make another great person…out of you, eh? The movie is not just “another dull record,” I agree with him. It is so beautiful that I fear this kind of technology so pleasing to the senses may render the teacher less competitive to sustain the same attention of his students. On second thought, our traditional classroom and required outside readings, no matter how minimal, of say Edgar Allan Poe’s prose and Alexander Pope’s Rape of the Lock were vital not just towards being amazed of the sonority but nevertheless thankful to be able to comprehend the most if not all of it. If not for all those who loved and wrote analyses of the classics or made movies such as this, we are guided to make Shakespeare not anymore too difficult a reading material.

With extra Robin Williams articulating the word carriage both with a ruling colonizer’s /carry-YAHZH/ accent and its American variant, /CARE-ridge/, the major cast tried to present it with a touch of England (mentioned as a place where Hamlet will be exiled) which Shakespeare hails from though different a setting, Denmark.

The best advice I hear is from Laertes’ father: Be quick to lend your ears but not as quick to judge anyone. Have I heard of this advice, last week would not have been disastrous. I just learned—how’s that?, even if asked for the truth, some people would prefer it to be with the sugar coat or they cuss you for being so blunt.

The best of the “hired actors” for me is the one who delivers a piece that has Hamlet thinking what’s so moving of the character he portrays that he has to shed tears. I admired his direction (and probably being the traveling actors they are, they have been used to it) seeing the costumed king and queen engrossed with their lines as if it’s a real event with only the two of them speaking sans an audience. That must be why they give specs during a play for us to better appreciate them up close and Hamlet must climb up the stage to see King Claudius’ reaction to the play that aimed to capture his conscience. As for Queen Gertrude reaction “speak no more” for Hamlet’s words have pierced her for falling to her carnal appetite—an incestuous remarrying of the brother, of her husband two months only after the latter’s death, now unmasked as a murderer. Here we see the love of people, in the past, of re-watching anything they may have already seen or heard or read. Hamlet is questioned the title of the play and he names the adaptation The Murder of Gonzago. It holds true to this day.

The soft blue eyes of Hamlet’s uncle do not make a convincing antagonist, too sincere a face to be revealed in bad light. He is effectively casted in to create a doubt—because he is also a Christian, as to whether the attacks against his character are real, mere delusions of a son who lost a father or an interplay with a devil in disguise, for those who have no awareness of the plot. He makes himself fully developed as a villain in part two.

I envy Hamlet for the faithful friends he has. He asks two if they, not to their own bidding, are sent by his mother on account of helping out what seemed to be an insanity of his to the public and they let him hear the truth. Horatio as he advices Hamlet that if there is any inner hesitation about the king’s invitation, he should not go, is also ready to consume the poison but Hamlet stops him so their tragedy can be told. For those friends who have sworn, re-sworn and kept their oath by virtue of a ghost they see but will speak only to Hamlet. For Laertes though expressively apprehensive of Hamlet’s sincerity towards his sister, without that prior bond, he will not realize that Hamlet is not totally to blame for his father’s death. As for me I prefer now to introspect in order to evaluate if I can trust myself then I will do or if not then I will not…for even a brother can kill his own brother like what Hamlet’s uncle has done. The movie unfolds this beautiful tragedy that evokes many thoughts.

There is catharsis from the thought of murdering someone to its commission. Hamlet stops himself from running a sword through the ear of the new king to avenge his father’s death with a beautiful question—why let an unworthy king merit the purging of his soul if Hamlet justifies to take an ear for an ear, or a life for a life, when the king is to be damned for his crime; but Hamlet kills Polonius instead, thinking it is the same king. The plot has a Christian theme in this sense—conscience, afterlife, punishment, hell. Polonius death, I assume, is also brought about by his speculation, over protectiveness of his children and loyalty to his employer, the legitimate ruler.

The movie concludes with death begetting death. It is a happy death for me because the issue will rest both on the souls of those worthy to die and those who have forgiven each other before their final breaths. I find no better music than the Latin requiem chosen to be the background as the movie runs down all the acknowledgment behind its creation. I feel for Ophelia’s brother who cannot demand additional burial respects because the drowning of his sister, who though has lost her wits, is believed to have been willfully committed by her.

I like the skepticism which seems to be the revolving theme of the movie. Hamlet thinks either the apparition is hellish or real. A father thinks it is either for Hamlet’s love of his daughter or the death of his father that has caused his melancholia. Gertrude gives room for doubt if the murder of her king is real when she asks who Hamlet’s invisible friend is. The lovers both love and doubt if either of them is true to each other. And so on…Funny, I can relate to the command “go to a nunnery.”

I like the title of respect “my lord” one affords to a king, a parent, a senior or an honorable man as well as the respect and disrespect for the dead. I see the adoration of a sweet prince who remembers his jester as he holds her skull. Yet, I see the concealment of royal odor. Hamlet kills his girlfriend’s father, a chamberlain, but the entire kingdom does not know anything of it including the immediate family of the bereaved.

In his sporty duel with Laertes, he begs forgiveness before the swordfight. The prince is philosophical and sincere in his manner, not just at that moment he chooses to be than not to be. That is to be honest to his actions, its effect and his expression of remorse.

Then you have the premonition and the readiness for death as Hamlet says there is “special providence in the fall of the sparrow.” If not now, it will come. Death is not a new and surprising topic in Shakespeare’s works. I hope that I too will be ready and not be in a situation like old King Hamlet who has to suffer for sins committed and not given the time to atone for them because of his murder.

There is humor when Young Fortinbras, prince of Norway, sieges to reclaim a kingdom without effort “sorrowfully” claiming all that is to be his because the crown-bearer and bloodline to the throne are all extinguished.

If I have to rate the movie reducing my words of a thousand and six hundred which I find falling short to fully critique a three-hour movie in this paper; from one to five, I definitely give this a high five. The first time in history for me to do so and I am not taking it back.

Before and After the Rain

2009-03-28T22:39:00.000+08:00

Mactan Export Zone

The Monkey and The Sun

2009-03-24T15:03:00.000+08:00

Myths are the ancient means of comprehending nature and the spiritual and the Philippines is not without them. This is to compare two which are taken from up north and down south by virtue of two authors’ pursuit of our heritage derived from the oral tradition, translated by interpreters, of the few ethnic peoples who have managed to keep themselves away from the hands of the colonizers. The Monkey Marries a Princess is a Bukidnon myth while Love of the Sun God is a myth from the province of Rizal. As a Visayan,* I will discuss them primarily in terms of love, deducing what may be some of the cultures of people representing Mindanao and Luzon.

The latter is of the Sun, a god who falls in love with Ishna. The former is the Monkey, armed with magic, who woos a lady whom no one has succeeded to win. The Monkey declares his love then wins his girl by affrighting that he will flood the place if his request for marriage is not accepted. If this myth is to be held true, this may be their tribal account of the great deluge which many cultures have asserted to have happened sometime in the distant past. The Sun god, comparably, is a voyeur who can neither verbalize his love nor take his girl on to his carriage as it will consume her life because after all he is the Sun, who shines at day and rides away with his chariot to let the moon relieve him at night. Here is a tribal animism of the sun, unknown to them as the center of a solar system; observable at day but not at night.

However negative the Monkey’s way of winning love enough for his father-in-law to not want to live with his daughter’s husband; the Monkey shows he loves his wife by bringing a wild boar and a hive full of honey “extraordinarily” to the powerless in a period of drought but quite ordinarily for someone who has magic. The shrinkage of things is not new if I am to look back on the book Alice in Wonderland. Their difference lies in each protagonist’s presence and absence of knowledge for why things just shrink. When the Monkey cultivates, shares his produce and unites all his in-laws in order to get the best harvest they can never achieve without the Monkey, I see a possible explanation for how the Bukidnons must have been taught through generations on how to sustain themselves in agriculture. Thanks to the ingenuity of the Monkey.

The Sun subdues his enormous admiration by planting sunbeams on the girl’s lips but gets her pregnant just the same. The girl cannot explain her unpleasant condition to her father who eventually disowns her as she knows no man. I see a cultural taboo on pregnancy outside marriage and at the same a belief in what can be a divine conception. Possibly, a breed of heroes is to come from these unions between a mortal and an immortal, like the Grecian way of thinking.

Then we have the Monkey again who has a spirit guide—source of his magic, who grants his wishes while the Sun, independently god himself, can do as he desires. Bukidnon then believes like the early the Filipinos before the coming of Spanish colonizers in deities and anitos as Rizal Province believes in the existence of gods like the Sun and other gods like whom Ishna, prayerful as the Christian Virgin Mary, offers her prayers to.

The ladies admired here are described to be with special qualities. Ishna waters the plants and is sung with songs by birds. In her absence, like Demeter goddess of agriculture is wearied in search for Persephone, everything else becomes dry. Lifeless. The woman of the Monkey is not named but described as a princess fair as Snow White who loves the Monkey because she screams of what seemed to be a murder seeing the Monkey’s skin afloat on the river. I see from Ishna a figure representing the caretaker of mother earth and from the Bukidnon princess, a wife’s loyalty to what or who has become by fate, her husband.

In the end the Monkey is revealed to be Bataay, a handsome young man who disguises himself out of fear that he will be loved only by his outward appearance and the honor that precedes him while the Sun looks down on his wife happily to see his child with a face radiant as the sun. Together, they take care of the earth.

Both stories reveal the desire of a story teller for happy endings. Although not all old and contemporary stories or movies end as lovely, the animated movie Little Mermaid for example which is an adaptation widely sold out with Ariel marrying the prince instead of losing her prince to another bride and dying to become the first sunrise and sunset.

For us who have forgotten our varied myths to embrace Christianity, Mary (not Ishna) is impregnated by the Holy Spirit (not by the Sun god) years after God created the world which man has to toil like Bataay with his own hands as punishment for the fall of Adam and Eve.

———————

*Magellan landed in the Visayas in 1521 which led to the colonialization of the Philippines by the Spaniards.

The short stories are found on:
pp 121-126 titled “The Monkey Marries a Princess” from the book Bukidnon Myths and Rituals c2000 by Carmen Unabia, pp 121-126.
pp 177-179 titled “Love of the Sun God” from the book Myths and Legends of the Philippines c2007 by Marlene Aguilar. A heritage book by Jamayco, Inc. Quezon City.

Rama

2009-03-17T13:43:00.000+08:00

Except for the fact that Rama is a lawyer, I have not heard of any major accomplishments he has done for the city. Either the credit or discredit goes to the mayor for whom he plays second fiddle to.

The last time I physically saw Rama was when he graced an oath-taking ceremony for professionals where he tried to be funny. To my dismay, I was far from being impressed seeing him stand their on behalf of the city, without any preparation for his speech but it was a relief to hear some substance in the governor’s message, although she, on behalf of the province, was reading the most from a manuscript. At least, there was an effort made for that speech.

The first time I saw Rama was back when he was campaigning again for vice-mayor. He is good-looking in person. Immediately I wondered who could be his love interest because the last time, he was rumored to be with a local councilor though I heard he’s married but separated.

Recently, the balded mayor is tagging him to have been sleeping with the enemy. Enemy– who? No other than the same governor mentioned above, related to the former mayor who was previously a staunch supporter of the mayor but now turned into his archenemy.

Rama has always allied himself with the current mayor but the tide has turned again.

I have never thought seeing a vice-mayor together with a governor could mean anything other than a call of duty but then why not if the governor herself is single and available?

How politics has turned into showbiz!

Unofficially Summer

2009-02-27T17:26:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, it was aired that summer would officially start and there would be no need to be bothered by monsoons and tropical depressions.

I didn’t care to bring a raincoat although the sky was grey and foreboding rain. It was time to let the weather bureau redeem itself from wrong forecasts, I supposed.

Then at 4PM, it rained for 15 mins. Stopped. Then poured again. If not for the piece of wood a guard lent me, I would have been soaked.

Today at noon ’til past 1PM, it rained again!

Partial Rights

2009-02-22T06:21:00.000+08:00

While the population of some countries carries a net decrease, the overall global population is increasing exponentially. And, it is positively growing in less-developed countries. Along with it is the continued depletion and degradation of our natural resources. Say, animals. Since the end of the dinosaur age, biologists estimate more or less 5,000 species go extinct every year. On that list, we have bears, wolves, mountain lions and sharks. The cause? Human activity. Humans have either hunted them down for sports or poisoned many if they threaten livestock. But even livestock is not free of abuse. If you heard of the McDonald case, egg-laying hens are packed into wire cages so small, they cannot even lift their wings. Their feet never touch the ground. Frustrated, they peck on their cage mates. So the farmers slice off their beak and sometimes a part of their tongue or faces.

Rene Descartes and others believe that animals could not feel pain. Critics call it the Bambi syndrome to label those who get emotionally involved instead rather than being intellectually engaged in the management of wild species.

I say, animals are sentient. They have the capacity to experience both pain and pleasure as Singer concludes. The chimpanzees not only share 98.3% of our genetic make-up but they also have similar brain structures with us. According to him and I agree that there can be no moral justification for REFUSING to take this suffering into moral consideration.

According to Roderick Nash, the whole idea of animal rights may be a human construct. We can assign them God-spirits, partial or complete rights or something in between. The goal should be some place on the continuum that works for us and for the planet and its millions of creatures.

May I take our own savages who brutally beat up and kill dogs that we consider as man’s best friend? If we continue to eat dogs, our country will soon be the number one dog-eating country in the world. If we continue to eat dogs, rabies will get us. If we continue not to act for the welfare of animals, by all means we show how we have not progressed as a nation.

Or we can choose that our cattle, from where we get our hamburger, be injected with painkillers before they are castrated and butchered. Or choose to humanely trap and transport animals elsewhere when a mountain is bulldozed or a farm is converted for commercial reasons.

Please choose to take a stand and stop the maltreatment of animals.

The references I used:

Animal Friendship

2009-02-13T17:56:00.000+08:00

My fondness towards animals includes reading about them, watching animal cartoon characters to literally talking to a dog wandering around the neighborhood. Yet, I am a meat-eater and I agree to one view, that is, if we all vow to be Vegans, everyone will be competing with all herbivorous animals. Man’s view of animals has evolved through the centuries. Historically, cats are associated with witchcraft. Today, pet ownership is more than a status symbol. It is not just the queen of England who grooms a Corgi. The manufacture of animal feeds now caters to the middle class. Likewise, the lower class sees to it that their own adopted pets will never be part of the dish served on the table. Doctors and nursing homes recommend the elderly get companion animals. Unless you are someone who is disgusted by animals or have absolutely no time to care for one, numerous studies show that the medical benefits they provide are beyond dispute ranging from the lessening antisocial behavior in children with autism to faster healing times after surgery. I bet the 1986 film Richest Cat in the World was inspired by the man who bequeathed his wealth to his cat!

Trees and rocks are not like us but animals are clearly very similar to humans. While traditional psychology is slow to admit that animals have personalities, research is trying to link animal to human personality. It is also key to understanding oneself. Key to finding a pet. Otherwise, a macho wannabe will end up being controlled by an aggressive dog. Or if you get a sporty dog and you are not sporty yourself, blame yourself for the dog’s poor physical health and behavioral problems.

To the Native Americans, you are an ant if you are a team player. Ants live and work with hundreds if not thousands of others without squabble or complaint. You are a deer if you peacefully and noiselessly go about your daily business. Perhaps, no animal epitomizes you than a butterfly, if change is an essential part of your life.

Getting a pet entails responsibilities and costs. There are no hypoallergenic raccoons. If you live in an apartment, how much space will you afford a lion? If you get a parrot, a highly social animal, will you live long enough for its 50-70 year lifespan or because it screeches, will your next door neighbor live long enough? We can therefore suit our personality and lifestyle to the kind of pet we are getting.

By the way, the last time I knew that the neighbor’s pig I befriended once in a rural area was the same one we were eating on the day I was to go back to the city, I was saddened. Very well, what kind of an animal am I then? I am a mongrel: 50% cat, 30% dog and 20% all others. Maybe that’s why I adore them all. Have you considered what kind of an animal you are?

Refererences:

Franklin, Adrian. “Animals and Modern Cultures.” c1999. Sage Publications .
< http://www.educationworld.com/At_Home/student/student017.shtml >
< http://www.utexas.edu/features/2006/dogs/index.html >
<http://www.natural-pet-care.com/natural-pet-health-blog/choosing-your-pet/ >
< http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/ms-adventure/animal-in-you/personality.html >
<http://www.smalldogsparadise.com/case-studies/does-your-personality-really-match-up-with-the-dog-you-choose/ >
<http://www.doglirious.com/best-dog-breed-personality.html >

Laborious Love

2009-01-13T13:31:00.000+08:00

I enjoyed the first two days of watching two features of Greek mythology that our teacher-librarian let us watch. These were thorough presentations as if each of the two CDs covered one full semestral course in a matter of two hours. To the Greeks, "woman is ‘a beautiful evil thing.’ " She’s irresistible as how Pandora was created by Zeus and endowed with many gifts from the other gods to punish the iron race that thrived well after Prometheus stole back fire to give it to them. When they welcomed this beautiful golden maid who carried a jar with her, introduced by way of Epimetheus’ foolishness, afflictions were released to humankind. Women, knowing only beauty and the sunshine like Pandora, are a threat to men because "they make men work only to consume the fruits of a man’s labor." Today, while there are men who labor to sustain a wife and kids, there are also those women who are used by their men to earn for them like husbands pimping their own wives for cash; as well as, bums depending on the salary of either a male or female breadwinner. Does anything ever surprise you?

Beach Outings

2008-12-29T12:39:00.000+08:00

My first impression was that these local trips would be dull for the fact that I was going out with acquaintances. I resolved that I was there for the place anyway.

When we went up the highlands of Balamban by vanpools, we were met by the uninviting sand of the resort; surprised at the rare sight of a huge tree with branches spread about a meter away from the shoreline. Nobody swam in except during our last day. Still, it was a sight to behold. The tranquility was devoid of the noise pollution in the city. It was not a must to wear a swimsuit except for those who trooped to use the pool instead. The place was remote and being the first to book the place, we covered majority of the expanse. We found no other beachgoers but ourselves. As participants of the parlor games prepared by the organizers, we laughed hard as we lost and won some. It was December the other year and on one of the games, it rained a little. We were not there to cook or shop which was also good. No pressure. We enjoyed and contented ourselves with the only available service provided to us by its management and staff. At night, the air conditioner was satisfyingly cold and the bed was cushiony soft and clean.

Comparably, the boat ride then bus trip to Boracay–a longer route chosen by the government to save on fare was more wearisome that I looked forward to sleeping first thing upon arrival but when we hit the shorelines, the inviting texture and sight of the sand and aquamarine waters were too tempting not to immerse in them. Though not required, each local or foreign tourist that peopled the beach wore a complementing swimsuit as he or she swam and passed by the varied Italian, Korean and other restaurants and a disco haus. It was an irony for the youth who were not all employed yet to be there and not afford most of the services as diving, spa, etc. We satisfied ourselves with the food served by the hotel assigned to us. The same hotels that showbiz people on their first day of arrival preferred to lock themselves in the rooms they booked when we there. It was May and Holy Week. A time when the island is most populated. Locals would say that once in a while they’re visited by nudists. Certainly at that time of year, it was impossible to spot one. Our organizer did not prepare a program except for the buffet dinner served by two juxtaposed hotels on the first night. During our last day, each was given an honoraria. Out we went buying souvenirs from the market.

I expected other people to join me in these trips which were years apart but I was far from homesick though. I enjoyed the diversity each resort had to offer which was what I came for and in the company of other people.

Lingin

2008-12-06T14:32:00.000+08:00

The early morn that I first heard of Lingin, the volume of my radio was minimized so the backup choral was not that audible. I was excited as the vocalist began to enumerate.

The song opens with him naming the parts of and things seen in his house–…our roof…cabinet…knife; my mind was saying “Go on” in anticipation.

What’s funny is that they are all described to be lingin—as repeatedly chanted by the back-up from the beginning (so I realized the next time I heard it).

And—he doesn’t have any other word to describe them with. That goes for the band’s chorus as well.

The third time he enumerates, he directs to his body parts.

Which is the odd one out? Definitely, it’s the word “itoy” (Watch the video below.) which is reworded as “periko” in radio airings. Unless this is in reference to his “bird,” then it lifts whatever makes it different from the class of objects found in the third verse.

Although it’s a terse and repetitive song with a simple melody, questions rolled through my head. If this speaks of the Circle of Life (kinabuhi), the song isn’t as long and as elaborate as Elton John’s. If this is about life being like a wheel as an addage—it is not implicit. Maybe it’s the natural curve in nature? Well, the first two sets are man-made. How about money represented by the shape of a coin?

Are your interpretations as roundabout as the circle too?

The artist knows best of the meaning behind this song.

Agressive Audio’s
Lingin

Intro;

Verse 1
ang among balay…. lingin
ang among atop……lingin
ang among bintana…lingin
ang among pultahan..lingin
ang among kwarto….lingin
ang among bong bong..lingin
ang among hagdanan
oooo..

Refrain:
pwerting lingina
ha..ha..ha..
ha..ha..ha..
ha..oo

Verse 2
ang among lamisa….lingin
ang among bangku….lingin
ang among aparador..lingin
ang among lantay….lingin
ang among kabinit…lingin
ang among takori….lingin
ang among kutsilyo
oooo.

Repeat refrain
Chorus:
ang among chorus
lingin lang gihapon
kay wala nay laing lyrics
lingin lang ghapon
kay ang atong kinabuhi lingin

Verse 3
ang akong ulo…..lingin
ang akong mata….lingin
ang akong ilong…lingin
ang akong baba….lingin
ang akong dughan..lingin
ang akong pusod…lingin
ang akong periko
oooo.

Repeat refrain
Repeat chorus
Instrumental
Repeat chorus

kay akong kinabuhi lingin
kitang tanan sa kalibutan lingin

Security

2008-11-16T07:53:00.000+08:00

Physical security is more preventative than security guards. Why do I say that? While the entrance to Fabro boasts of a guarded division, its security guards are useless. Broken in a number of times, is the dormitory that lies about ten meters away. Clothes hanging from its rooftop are lost. A girl in the second floor room screams at dawn while a burglar plays tug-of-war with her and her shoulder bag. Another girl from the same floor recounts meeting a suspicious guy, she loses her valuables to, in the hallway as she goes back to her room fresh from a bath in the common shower room. One morning, a lady in the ground floor finds her bag left at her doorstep with her four grand missing.

Lodgers question the service of these guards who ask for identification whenever our hands are full—grocery on one hand and a thing or two on another but never have they successfully suspected a burglar. The vulnerability of the lovely peach-colored dorm beautiful with its designed curves and fixed exterior electric lanterns is inviting to whoever these offenders are. While all boarders are brought to have their fingerprints taken by the police following an investigation if these events are an inside job, the housekeeper and brother of a local wed to the foreigner-owner of the house, is forced to install physical security measures to protect the house and its occupants. The back door of the canteen is now sealed to prevent the clothes thief believed to have emerged from such an exit. The gate is added an extra height so it is not easily climbable as before. Should there be an attempt to climb up, each balcony has been installed with a grill that is padlocked. The front gate automatically locks itself should a boarder leave it open. The front door as well is double-locked with each one compelled to get a copy of the key or else, she will be staying in the small front yard all night. Each one is instructed not to leave her room open and unlocked every time she gets out of it, even if she is only going to the shower room.

Now, peace and a feeling of safety reign at the ladies dorm for the burglar is now unheard of.

Of sleeping and staying awake

2008-11-03T18:00:00.000+08:00

I am so sleepy that I want to go home than nap on this chair. It is 2am. Three hours has lapsed since the shift has started. I am beginning to see misty ghosts around. One just sat on the empty chair beside me while another passed by. Why am I not scared? Because I am with other workers as sleepy as I am. My body will need a couple of naps to shoo these “ghosts” existing between dreamland and wakefulness then I am ready to continue what I need to fill.

The most people to dislike you steal naps are those who have the luxury to hide behind a desk to sleep or those with the audacity to say don’t-do-it-but-let-me slouch-my-upper-body-all-over-the-desk-for-you-to-see-me-sleep-while-you-don’t.

A schoolmate who works for another BPO tells me she prefers the graveyard shift because she has trouble sleeping. Why not earn cash then instead of just lying there penniless and waiting for sleep to come?

When I worked graveyard for six straight months, I was not a sleepyhead because I wasn’t being a passive recipient but I noticed that there’d be a morning when I could not sleep. Then the next graveyard shift would come. Once, I was sleepless for 72-hours, it gave me a terrible headache. So I said that prayer to the Holy Spirit that I cut out from the newspaper with a firm belief that He would resolve the issue at hand. To make things worst when I went out to buy Circulan capsules, having read from the same paper that it can promote sleep, the driver of the public vehicle was reckless. I was struck dumb with fear and panic as he drove losing a side mirror then denting the right side of the automobile. I thought it was the end as my heart was pounding; I murmured the prayer again. Good thing, a Swedish massage was close by. They advertise to relieve stress and insomnia too. So I had one. I got home, took another cap before I lay in bed then slept like I’ve never slept before.

Well, at the moment, I am no longer sleepy. I did not need those naps anymore. I just had to finish writing this to keep myself awake. =D I will go back to work now.

Insomnia may Lead to Depression

2008-11-03T13:17:00.000+08:00

Today’s post is a newsletter copied verbatim from Wendy Owen and 20 Tips to Ensure Good Sleep by Michael Smolensky. Both are received via email and posted with permissions:

We’ve always assumed that a troubled mind equals troubled sleep, Friend.

But, is it the other way around?

If you’re depressed and have trouble sleeping, the cause of your depression could be your insomnia. Medical science is now leaning towards the idea that insomnia may lead to depression instead of the other way around.

I’m talking about clinical depression. The type that lingers on without any obvious cause.

However even minor bouts of depression can be linked to sleep problems. It’s now accepted that there is a definite connection between insomnia and depression. In fact one of the symptoms of depression is the increase of REM (dreaming) sleep. This is thought to increase negative thinking in those prone to depression.

This may be because the quantity of deep sleep is reduced due to excessive REM sleep.

What we do know is that both complaints should be treated separately. People who have recovered from depression may still have poor quality sleep which can lead to the depression recurring.

It’s most important to seek medical treatment for your depression. If your doctor recommends sleeping pills for short term relief from the insomnia, just make sure he/she doesn’t prescribe “Ambien” or “Stilnox”. These drugs simply aren’t safe for anyone prone to mood disorders.

And make sure you don’t get hooked on the wretched things! Always seek a natural alternative such as reducing your stress levels and making sure you’re practicing good sleep habits.

Speak to you soon, Friend.

Comments (0)

The Marvelous Land of Oz

2008-10-17T11:28:00.000+08:00

Everyday, a bookworm asked if I had read The Marvelous Land of Oz that she emailed so I had to read it =D. The book I could tell was written by a male species, I could tell from its tone since The Wonderful Wizard of Oz where I related more to the scarecrow =D than all the Dorothys who fell in love with the story and encouraged the author to come up with this second book. The scarecrow, as well as Pumpkinhead, was served to frighten but Dorothy and Tip befriended each. Hurrah, I am done reading the Ebook! I am teasing a friend (My turn now. =D) to read Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that I lent to her which I have bought from M/V Doulus’s last voyage to the island. Where am I today in real life? Dorothy has found me and I still am traveling with the rest of the gang to Emerald City; excited to meet the wizard who will bestow me some brains and unaware that he will leave me the city that will be overturned soon by Jinjur and finally replaced by its original successor, Ozma.

Diary of a Madman

2008-10-13T23:34:00.000+08:00

Required to read short stories (If they have been full novels, I don’t think I would have finished the course last semester), the Diary of a Madman is one of those. At the literal level, it is about a man suffering from a delusion–people are going to eat him; even the dogs connive. Who could describe a personality disorder better than the author Lu Xun who is a medical doctor himself? It is interesting to note from the readings of others that the intent of the short story is to ridicule traditional China morphing the Confucian ways as a cannibalism that is eating a weak society. For all people including his own family who are into that system already established, the diarist is seen as deranged to be against it. Reading this interpretation before coming to the ending, I agree that getting well and obtaining a job is a lost cause–a devouring up by a society of cannibals to become one of them but then hope is expressed in the last page of the diary. It reminds me how others have written in disguised themes during a revolution to further a cause.

Learning Romanian

2008-10-12T07:35:00.000+08:00

This semester we got individually tasked to report on a language that was not offered in the university. I especially chose Romanian because of the one night Dracula came to my window and I had trouble comprehending his language. Joke =D. Where Koreans and Kenyans outnumber all other aliens, I was not really sure if I could find a Romanian student in any of its campuses. I was thankful to get the basic information including a downloadable audio device that rates on how well one can imitate it. I only researched and do not speak it. For a foreigner to learn how to speak and use it, one needs six months to a year of studying Romanian.

GENEALOGY

Romanian is the easternmost member of the Romance branch of the Indo-European language family. It developed from Vulgar Latin during the 5th-6th centuries when the territory which is now Romania was part Castle of the Roman Empire. During the 7th and 8th centuries, Romanians came into contact with their Slavic-speaking neighbors who exerted a great deal of influence on their language, religion, and culture. Other influences included Hungarian, Turkish, and Greek (Languages of the World: Romanian limba Romanian). Romania, a country located in Eastern Europe, shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south Geography of Romania HSW 2). The word Romania entered in the dictionary in 1868 to mean a native or inhabitant of Romania or the Romance language of the Romanians. Rumanian is a spelling variant of Romanian (Merriam-Webster Online). Like other languages, it has evolved.

From Portal Romania: The territory’s recorded history encompasses such eras as the Dacians, Roman Empire (leading to the development of Romanian language), Kingdom of Hungary, and Ottoman Empire…At the end of World War II, parts of its territories (roughly the present day Moldova) were occupied by USSR and Romania became a member of the Warsaw Pact. It joined the European Union in January 1, 2007.

NUMBER OF SPEAKERS

Romania has the 9th largest territory and the 7th largest population among the European Union member states. (Wikijunior: Europe/Romania) Romanian is spoken by around 24 to 28 million people primarily in Romania (where it has its official status and spoken by about 20 million speakers. The language is used in school from elementary through university and read in magazines and newspapers ) and Moldova (where it is spoken by about 3 million); in Moldova—a former Soviet republic, where it is called Moldovan for political reasons; and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia. Up to an additional 1 million speakers of Romanian live in Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro, Moldova Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece. In addition, there are Romanian speakers in Canada, the United States, Germany, Israel, Australia and New Zealand, mainly due to post-World War II emigration. Furthermore, they are scattered across many other countries, notably Italy, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom and France. (Languages of the World: Romanian limba Romanian). As a foreign language, Romanian is taught as a foreign language in 38 countries around the world—mostly in neighboring European countries such as Germany, France and Italy, as well as the Netherlands, and elsewhere, like the USA. It is one of the syllable-timed languages, along with other Romance languages—French, Spanish, etc. (Information about Romanian Language).

PHONOLOGY

In general, Romanian is a fairly phonetic language, with a written word corresponding to the spoken form, and vice versa. Like any language, there are some peculiarities between the written and spoken forms (Wikipedia).
The Romanian alphabet is a modification of the Latin alphabet. Currently, it has 31 letters (Romanian Alphabet):

А а, Ă ă, Â â, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, Î î, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q,R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, Ţ ţ, U u, V v, W w,X x, Y y,Z z

The letters Q (read kü or chiu), W (dublu ve), and Y (igrec or i grec) were officially introduced in 1982 although they had been used earlier. They occur only in foreign words, such as quasar, watt, and yacht. The letter K is relatively older, but it is still perceived as foreign due to the fact that it appears only in borrowings, many of them still neologisms (Wikipedia).
It is made up of 28 basic phonemes, 21 consonants and 7 vowels:

CONSONANTS		Stop	Affricate	Fricative	Glide	Semi vowels
Labial	-voice	p	-	f	-	(w)
	+voice	b	-	v	-
	nasal	m	-	-
Dental	-voice	t	ts	s	-
	+voice	d	-	z	l, r
	nasal	n	-	-
Palatal	-voice	-	tS	S	-
	+voice	-	d3	3	-	(j)
	nasal	(ñ)	-	-
Dorsal	-voice	k	-	h	-
Dorsal	+voice	g	-	-	-

VOWELS		Front	Central	Back


High	-round	I	ï	-
High	+round	-	-	u
Mid	-round	e	ə	-
Mid	+round	-	-	o
Low	-round	-	a	-

Note that the three sounds in parentheses are reflexes of other sounds, but are listed because they are morphophonemic. There are also several diphthongs (vowel units in groups of two) ai, au, əu, ei, eu, ïi, ïu, oi, ou, ua, ui > and other orthographic diphthong and even triphthongs. (Romanian Orthography and Phonology). No need for memorization, just put the two vowel sounds together to make the diphthong sound (Lesson 1: Pronunciation).

Letter	Phoneme	Approximative pronunciation
A a	/a/	a in “father”
Ă ă (a with breve)	/ə/	a in “above”
Â â (a with circumflex)	/ɨ/	like the unwritten vowel between n and t in “rant”, but slightly longer
B b	/b/	b in “ball”
C c	/k/	c in “cat”
C c	/ʧ/	ch in “chair”
D d	/d/	d in “door”
E e Letter	/e/	e in “merry”
	Phoneme	Approximative pronunciation
	/e̯/	(semivocalic /e/)
	/je/	ye in “yes”
F f	/f/	f in “flag”
G g	/ɡ/	g in “goat”
G g	/ʤ/	g in “general”
H h	/h/	h in “house”
I i	/i/	i in “machine”
	/j/	y in “yes”
	/ʲ/	(palatalization)
Î î (i with circumflex)	/ɨ/	like the unwritten vowel between n and t in “rant”, but slightly longer
J j	/ʒ/	s in “treasure”
K k	/k/	k in “like”
L l	/l/	l in “lamp”
M m	/m/	m in “mouth”
N n	/n/	n in “north”
O o	/o/	o in “floor”
O o	/o̯/	(semivocalic /o/)
P p	/p/	p in “post”
Q q	/k/	k in “kettle”
R r	/r/	(trilled r)
S s	/s/	s in “song”
Ş ş (s with comma)	/ʃ/	s in “sugar”
T t	/t/	t in “tip”
Ţ ţ (t with comma)	/ʦ/	zz in “pizza”
U u	/u/	u in “group”
U u	/w/	w in “cow”
V v	/v/	v in “vision”
W w	/v/	v in “vision”
W w	/w/	w in “west”
X x	/ks/	x in “six”
X x	/ɡz/	x in “example”
Y y	/j/	y in “yes”
Y y	/i/	i in “machine”
Z z	/z/	z in “zipper”

OTHER IMPORTANT PHONOLOGICAL RULES:

• Speak and p in peak are not the same sounds: The second is aspirated. Romanian /p/ is not aspirated. The same holds for /t/ and /k/.

• While in English they are alveolar, pronounced by touching the alveolar ridge with the tip of the tongue, in Romanian and other Romance languages they are dental, obtained by touching the roof of the mouth just behind the teeth with the flat of the tongue. The same remark is valid for consonants /n/, /s/, and /z/, although the difference is not as obvious.

• Consonant /r/ is an alveolar trill, informally also called “rolled r,” present in a number of languages such as Italian, Spanish, or Russian. Romanian phonetics sources classify this sound as dental. It is sometimes compared with the consonant in the middle of “get up” in informal American English (spelled “geddup” to mark the changed pronunciation); this phrase could be transcribed phonetically in Romanian as “gherap.”

MORPHOLOGY

The number names from 1 to 10 derive from Latin. The table below gives the cardinal numbers in Romanian and its three dialects, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Istro-Romanian.

When counting, the number names for 1 and 2 change according to the gender of the noun they modify or replace. It is worth noting that the two adjectival forms of the cardinal number for 1 (un and o) are identical with the corresponding indefinite articles.

* un băiat (one boy, a boy),

* unul dintre băieţi (one of the boys),

* o fată (one girl, a girl),

* una dintre fete (one of the girls),

* doi băieţi (two boys),

* două fete (two girls).

The numbers 11-19

Unlike all other Romance languages, Romanian has a consistent way of naming the numbers from 11 to 19. These are obtained by joining three elements: the units, the word spre (derived from Latin super = over, currently meaning towards), and the word for ten. For example, fifteen is cincisprezece: cinci + spre + zece which literally means “five over ten”.

The number name and the noun it modifies must agree in number and gender. The gender agreement is somewhat complicated by the fact that the Romanian nouns are classified into three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Specifically, the neuter gender is a combination of the other two: A neuter noun behaves like a masculine noun in the singular, and like a feminine noun in the plural. The gender has implications on the morphology of some of the grammatically connected words, including the number names. When the units digit of a number is 1 or 2, its name has two distinct forms, masculine and feminine. The only exception is unsprezece (eleven) which has only one form used for both genders.

Plural Formation

Like the gender, the plural formation is an intrinsic property of the noun, and is acquired by native speakers one by one together with the respective noun. The tables below show the plural formation modes for nouns according to their gender, in the non-articulated nominative/accusative case. The asterisk c(*) indicates irregular plural formation, requiring the insertion of consonants belonging neither to the stem nor to the plural ending, the deletion of stem consonants, or some unusual vocalic shifts.

Depending on gender, otherwise similar nouns will inflect differently. For example, the nouns “câine” (dog, compare Latin canis) and “pâine” (bread, compare Latin panis) have phonetically identical endings in the main form (nominative singular), but the former is a masculine noun, while the latter is feminine. For this reason, when inflected they behave in very different manners.

Definite article: “câinele” (the dog) - “pâinea” (the bread);
Plural, with definite article: “câinii” (the dogs) - “pâinile” (the loaves of bread);
Genitive/dative: “câinelui” (of/to the dog) - “pâinii” (of/to the bread).

Also, the gender of a noun determines the morphology of most determiners, such as articles, adjectives, demonstratives, numerals. The two nouns taken as examples above will give:

masculine: “om” (man, human being), “copil” (child), “bou” (ox, bull);
neuter: “ac” (needle), “drum” (road), “ou” (egg), “lucru” (thing, job);
feminine proper nouns of foreign origin or diminutives: “Carmen”, “Corinuş” (diminutive from “Corina”), “Catrinel”, “Lulu.”

Nouns ending in a consonant or in vowel or semivowel u are almost always masculine or neuter with some feminine exceptions::

masculine: “ochi” (eye), “pui” (chicken), “unchi” (uncle);
neuter: “unghi” (angle), “ceai” (tea), “cui” (nail), “nai” (Pan’s pipe);
feminine: “zi” (day), “tanti” (aunt).

SYNTAX

As in all Romance languages, Romanian verbs are highly inflected for person, number, tense, mood, voice. The usual word order in sentences is SVO (Subject - Verb - Object). Romanian has four verbal conjugations which further split into ten conjugation patterns. Verbs can be put in five moods that are inflected for the person (indicative, conditional/optative, imperative, subjunctive, and presumptive) and four impersonal moods (infinitive, gerund, supine, and participle).

Simple Sentence (James E. Augerot):

Am păzit palatul.

I guarded the palace.

Clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction (Laura and Radu Daniliuc):

Ana este o fată şi Ion este un băiat.

Ana is a girl and Ion is a boy.

Syntactically, Romanian nouns can be in any of five grammatical cases:

* nominative, when the noun is the subject;
* genitive, when the noun shows the possessor;
* dative, when the noun shows the receiver of an action;
* accusative, when the noun is the direct object, often also required by prepositions;
* vocative, when the noun shows the (usually animate) addressee of what is said.

The short definitions above are only an approximate indication of the actual usage. Here are some examples with the noun “băiat” (boy) in the various cases:

Nominative is the case of the subject and of the predicate nominal. Here are some examples:

Subject:

- Apa trece, pietrele rămân. (Water passes, rocks stay.)
- Poştaşul sună întotdeauna de două ori. (The postman always rings twice.)
- Mă doare capul. (I have a headache. - lit. The head hurts me.)
- Îmi plac merele. (I like apples - lit. Apples are likable to me.)

Predicate Nominal:

- Fotografia este o artă. (Photography is an art.)
- Ochii sunt oglinda sufletului. (The eyes are the soul’s mirror.)
- Roma a devenit un imperiu. (Rome became an empire.)

CITATIONS

“Geography of Romanian.” Discovery Communications. c1998-2008. Sept 24, 2008.

“Information about Romanian Language.” Ipedia.Net Free Information Center. c2008. 24 Sept 2008.

James E. Augerot, “Romanian / Limba română: A Course in Modern Romanian,” Center for Romanian Studies (2000) referenced by Wikipedia. 10 Sept 2008. 24 Sept 2008.

“Languages of the World: Romanian limba Romanian” National Virtual Translational Center. c2007. 24 Sept 2008

Laura Daniliuc and Radu Daniliuc, “Descriptive Romanian Grammar: An Outline,” Lincom Europa, München, Germany (2000) referenced by Wikipedia. 10 Sept 2008. 24 Sept 2008.

“Learn Romanian for Free.” Transparent Language, USA. c2007. 8 August 2008. Note: This website offers free downloadable software.

“Lesson 1: Pronunciation.” 6 Dec 2005. 24 Sept 2008.

Merriam Webster Online Dicationary. 12 September 2008.

“Portal: Romania.” Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia. 3 March 2008. 24 Sept 2008.

Pronunciation of the Romanian Language

Romanian Alphabet
The Purdue Owl Family of Sites. “Web Sources.” Purdue University. Sept 15, 2008. Sept 24, 2008.

Romanian Vowels

“Romanian Orthography and Phonology.” 28 Dec 2004. 24 Sept 2008.

The Leading Online Romanian Course
Romance Language

“Romanian Phrasebook, ”http://www.ravenglass.com/vlad/romania/romphrase.html> 19 Aug 1997. 3 October 2008.

“Wikijunior: Europe/Romania.” Wikibooks. 31 July 2008. 24 Sept 2008. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior:Europe/Romania

I Hate an Incessant Chatter

2008-10-06T09:39:00.000+08:00

I hate waking up not because of an alarm clock but by a loud voice of someone who keeps telling the same story over and over like a broken record. She is just two doors away and I can hear her recounting about the day she met her chat mate. As the next door right after mine slams, I know she has come close to my door where she is not wanted. My God! It is the same story that contaminated my last dream. I hear her mobile is ringing. She picks up excusing herself and guess what? She is repeating the same story to the caller. Well, I might as well have brunch. She has put the phone down now.

“Where are we?” she asks as I gobble up my food. I can hardly hear the soft voices of others. Just hers.

She never tires telling her chatroom experience to people. She is very inconsiderate. I work graveyard Saturday evenings and I always am awakened by her awful voice on a Sunday.

“I was told that a Japanese couple complained about my being a noise,” she tells them of the spa she and her chat mate have gone to.

Well, I am not surprised.

It is time to go back to sleep. Sunday is when I try, if I can, to compensate for the sleep that I don’t get enough for the rest of the week.

Time flies fast.

Evening is here and here I am, awakened again by the same f… voice. WTF!

I am about to finish brushing my teeth; she is at that patio narrating the same experience to the landlady who prods her to.

It is time to sleep again. I have to wake up 2AM tomorrow.

The story she’s saying is not a happy one. So like yesterday and today’s, tomorrow will be another story of her online chats and eyeballs in her quest for a Man.

Destructive Wisdom

2008-10-04T23:06:00.000+08:00

Let the child who does not know her/his rights be to the same friends. Although, s/he may or might not be happy with them, s/he just doesn’t know that s/he has the right to choose anyway.

Let the child play with children who are sent to schools that are almost beyond their parents’ means to pay. These children will teach envy.

If you can’t spend quality time, let another grown up whom you aren’t sure if s/he is abused watch the child. You are unsure so it is uncertain if there is a cycle that will repeat by itself.

Let the child be with children who go to schools that are exclusive to one gender so s/he will catch that same ignorance towards the opposite sex.

Let the child play only with people of her color, religion and economic status and s/he will learn to be discriminating.

Make promises. They are expected to be broken anyway.

Renege. You can always bribe.

Worry not about feeding time. You can always assume that the parent(s) of his/her playmate/s fed the child.

There is not a need to communicate to the child so s/he will not learn that speech is power until she goes to school.

To avoid a noisy the-baby-is-crying day, give in to the child. S/he is queen or king of the house, and will grow up to become Ms/Mr Selfish one day.

Do not trouble yourself remembering when the child had measles. The nanny will remember anyway.

Do not be there on the child’s graduation day. The teacher can act as proxy.

Say no to all permissions asked of you to show off your authority in the house.

Talk about yourself; nothing but yourself and when the child starts talking, say “It is time to recline.”

Do not take note of school holidays and send the child to school day. Leave her/him there bored to death waiting for someone to fetch her/him. It’s a smart way to check if s/he can find the way home by herself/himself.

Do not teach the child your full name. Her/His finder will never trace who you are.

For life is not a flower-strewn pathway and the encounters are either rubbish or worthwhile. Given a vehicle different from others who are as well busy getting on, it is possible to accumulate some kind of an appalling and dispensable list as mine.

Sermons on the Lowland

2008-09-28T18:59:00.000+08:00

It was on my first attendance as a new parishoner when the cura pounded on the pulpit for someone more conservative than he. He said he was criticized by an informant for his rewording of the directive of offering peace to one’s fellowmen during a mass as a “kiss of Christ.” His intention was misunderstood to be malicious. With a violent voice, he condemned his unknown detractor, “I am not afraid of anymore complaints as I already talked to someone of authority in church.”

The next homily was not remarkable but the response of another churchgoer was.

“Buang ning pari-a!” [Translation: Crazy pr....!]

The next Sunday came and I found myself trying to pass through a gate to get in. The warden was old and slow in his movement as he tried to unlock it. Suddenly, I was pushed hard by someone who could not wait to get it. It came from heavy, rough and cruel hands. I did look back though there was no need for I already heard the voice of the owner of those hands. It was the cura. For me who eats, moves and walks fast, he seemed surprisingly impatient for a man who was to lead a community–patrons who went to this unattractive structure that was just recently declared as a pilgrim center.

It was not the abominable structure I supposed that led to the declaration, rather it was the miraculous BVM statue that continued to draw local pilgrims from across the islands. Here lay a statue surrounded by crooks who peddled.

“The guard will get you if you bring in white candles. It should be these maroon candles with a logo that I sell.”

While I paid for a set of maroon candles, the vendor took my white candles with her which I had bought from another vendor. I got in to area where the statue was kept; different colors of melting lighted candles were scattered in disarray. In between, was a huge pool of the melted wax. I was never cheated like this at other religious centers. This was not an isolated experience. I experienced another kind from these vendors stationed outside the same church.

Another Sunday came and I was glad to arrive early. The celebrant was a benevolent priest. An interpreter for the deaf stood by his side, making hand signs to deliver his homily. I was attending the regular schedule where hearing disabilities were mainstreamed. The singing went great.

I arrived 9:30 am the next Sunday, the cura was singing his own version of an operatic concierto of the liturgy. He sounded like a homosexual. It seemed to have dragged the length of the mass. I was glad to have missed the homily.

I was early again the next Sunday, the choir was coming from the sharp angelic voices of young students in school uniform conducted by their Music or Religion teacher I supposed. It was an inspiring mass to be in.

The next week came and I was at a church in another location. The homily from a priest that had a special relationship with God to the concluding rites went fine. I was thanking God for choosing the concelebran t who delivered his homily to be his servant.

This Sunday, the gospel was about two brothers invited to the vineyard. One said he would go but did not while the other said, he would go but did. The cura talked of the choir singing and the coming feast and Saint Lorenzo. It was irrelevant to the gospel of Matthew Chapter 21 at hand. He did not prepare.

I walked out of the church.

I resolved either coming early the next time to listen to another celebrant’s homily or to go to another church from the same the denomination where the mass is meaningful.

A Few Basic Notes on Subject-Verb Agreeement

2008-09-28T14:58:00.000+08:00

I am ambivalent about descriptive and prescriptive grammars. When someone communicates, I am rather tolerant over subject-verb agreement and almost always consider first the intent and message that the other person wants to convey. I amaze myself at how the person can use the language to express and be understood. O’Grady in his co-edited Contemporary Linguistics Analysis: An Introduction notes that such will not earn a scholarship but is OK at some point in modern linguistics. However, when I read from someone who uses Standard English, immediately that person earns my respect. Writing, as I had thought so before having confirmed it from an online course at Harvest Christian School International is more rigorous than spoken English. What are acceptable in spoken English like the word, gonna or the phrase, between you and I, are not in formal writing. The standard as defined by Kelly and Lee Brandon is conventional among educated people, used in school assignments, in most published writing and in most important public speaking situations; although people can shift language between formal and informal occasions. Below are what I have derived from:

Kelly and Lee Brandon “Sentences, Paragraphs, and Beyond” 4^th ed. Houghton Mifflin Co. USA. c2005. 130-132, 159.
Margaret L. Benner. “Online Writing Support: Usage-Subject-Verb Agreement” Towson University. c2008. 27 Sept 2008. http://www.towson.edu/ows/sub-verb.htm
“The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation” cited in Jane Straus. Subject and Verb Agreement. 27 Sept 2008. http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/subjectVerbAgree.asp

: Text and Work Book

1. Do not let the agreement of subject and verb be affected by:

words that come in between them:

-phrases (e.g. as well as)

-clauses (e.g. who went to the market)

inversions (of word order)

2. A singular verb agrees with:

a singular indefinite pronoun (e.g. someone)
a singular antecedent (e.g. the word the pronoun his refers back to)
a collective noun that is considered as a unit (e.g. Congress)
a title (e.g. Star Wars)
a name of a business (e.g. Warner Bros..)
money, distances and measurements when the individual elements are considered ($10)
some nouns ending in –s (e.g. Economics)
the phrase “one of those___who,” where the antecedent is usually the plural noun that follows
the singular noun in the of-phrase (e.g. Fifty percent of the pie)

3. Take a plural verb for:

a plural indefinite pronoun (e.g. both)
when the nearer subject actor of compound subjects joined by nor or or is plural and closer to the verb (e.g. Neither the producer nor the actors)
usually, two or more subjects joined by and (e.g. Sue and John)
the nearest of two alternative subjects (e.g. Either Theresa or her children)
some nouns that only have a plural form (e.g. scissors)
a collective group considered as a number of individuals (e.g. Congress)
the phrase “only one of those ___who,” where the antecedent is usually the singular word, one
the plural object of the preposition modifying a portion (E.g. Fifty percent of the pies)

Achieving Emphasis and Variety

2008-09-21T15:01:00.000+08:00

(Condensed to less than 300 words from my 4-page report. Both teasers and guidelines use the same set of references.)

Teaser

Place the subordinate clause before the main clause–that’s one way of emphasizing.
Avoid stringing together a number of short independent clauses. Either connect them with subordinating connectives thereby making some depending clauses or making some clause into separate sentences.
Eliminate unnecessary words and avoid the pile up of prepositional phrases that can make reading very difficult.
To emphasize, deliberately repeat and do not overdo.
Put the most important idea first or last, or in some conspicuous place.
Use punctuation marks and standard text devices. These prompt the reader to give a word or sentence more than usual emphasis. On a computer, you may also find other ways of emphasizing, such as using shadow, double underline, etc. Consider the computer on which it will be read. If you are using graphics on a website, for example, it could make the reader with a slow modem give up waiting before they’ve even set eyes on it. One word causes a slight tension; a whole section amplifies and sustains this. If you use emphasis a lot, it will lose its effect and is likely to make the other person rather annoyed!! So be conservative.
Prefer verbs to noun and verbs of action to verbs of being.
Don’t think that the longer the sentence, the better it is. Short sentences often pack the most punch but the best essays contain a variety of sentence lengths, mixed within any given paragraph.
Don’t use too many short sentences successively to avoid sounding choppy.
Vary a sentence by using a question after a series of statements.
Use a variety of sentence beginnings.

REFERENCES:

Writing Connections: You, College and Careers by Lee Brandon c2004
Strategies for College Writing by Jeanette Harris and Ann Moseley c2000
The Bedford Handbook for Writers by Diana Hacker 4th Edition c1994
Let’s Write English by Wishon and Burks c1968

Other sources (Viewed July 5, 2008 and may no longer be there):

The Right Side of the Library

2008-09-19T20:52:00.000+08:00

When I am free, I spend time at the Joseph Baumgartner Center Library that lends you a pass labeled as a “temporary seat.” Without it, I cannot walk through its modern-looking stands that replaced the cafeteria-inspired railing. Atop is a huge-faced clock I thought of once as a weighing scale. Beside it, is Knowledge for Development Center which I have never been inside except for the time they were renovating the place—the only area it left for transactions. To its immediate right is Circulation looking across Information that holds CDs in a cabinet. In between are three low tables shared by twenty cushioned seats illuminated by about half of dozen of decorated energy savers hung from the ceiling—the best place to relax, catch people, rendezvous then go some place else or kill time until the school bell rings for the next class. From here, I see people accessing either the internet or its online catalog and smell them as they glide or flip whatever footwear going to or from behind the shelves that are unfriendly to be all categorized scantily as either Humanities or Social Sciences. However, books are readily accessible after it tore down that mezzanine where all but novels were kept in closed stacks. I hear the carefree bluster from outside amid these first few large green-painted columns that lead to Filipiniana—the first to be air-conditioned before every corner has been. Over there, it is not the coldest anymore but it still retains its solitude visited only by the ticking of calculators. I recall looking through its glass panel on a day of study, envying users as they scan the periodicals for leisure and wondering why the school bell is inaudible. The new system has turned me from a client who used to frustrate over finding no furniture to sit on at this side of the library to a contented one as I exit handing back my temporary pass to the guard so he can give it to its next visitor.

Unlimited Mobile-to-PC Chat

2008-09-14T05:02:00.000+08:00

Apparently not everyone got texted about the free Unlimited Yahoo Chat Trial, I asked some friends; but I was. The application is currently downloadable for free on selected phones only; with Globe Telecom promising that it will be available to other phone units soon. Chatting by handset phones has long been available to Yahoo Messenger users who are subscribers of selected phone networks around the globe. I can either access the link Yahoo provides and log in with my username and password or confirm via text as I add a mobile number to my Y Messenger account and be shown as continuously online after closing Y Chat to choose log-in-to-my-phone option. This is my first time downloading an application though. There’s the difference. Of course, with the promo running until Oct 4, 2008, I don’t have to pay the old rate of Php2.50/text. I see from globe.com.ph that they will be charging Php25/day of unlimited access which is cheaper but not as cheap, I suppose, for my Malaysian friend studying in Egypt who chats and accesses the internet using mobile technology. The application has its limitations: First, it takes a while to log-in. All few available emoticons work but the user status options do not work. No matter what status I choose, I always appear as “online” when I log in to the application. Adding and deleting to/from my list of friends take 48 years. There is a “help” to that so labeled but is not really available. My contacts are limited to the list of friends I have. I can’t go to any other room. While PC-to-PC calls from and to other Y Messenger ID’s are free, the phone icon is not available in the Unlichat application. A chat mate can only call me by dialing my mobile number of course. With a phone keyboard too small or my fingers too fast for a touch typist =D, I keep depressing other nearby keys so I am out of the application and have to open it again. Isn’t that great, the free trial will give me a lot of practice? Well, I know this will be perfected later.

The Last Time I Dialed a Hotline Number

2008-09-05T21:45:00.000+08:00

I was at church when call cards of a telecounseling service were distributed. Inside a cab, I saw a poster carrying the same hotline number. What a blessing to be in a dilemma and invited access to such a free service!

Apparently, I called the hotline. A woman I judged from her voice to be older than I was, answered the phone. As we conversed, I noticed she was leading me back to myself. It was opposite to my expectation that she would tell me what it was that I had to do. Like one of Oprah’s studio guests who talked about mirroring I saw years after, the lady acknowledged my feelings. On the phone, it was like talking aloud to myself as I tried to clear the cobwebs in my mind. As I let her trod with me, I felt like I had an invisible guide, shedding light to one path after another. It was clearer to see where each turn would lead to. I thanked the counselor profusely before I hung up.

When I dialed the hotline number again, a lad answered the phone. I was rather disappointed to hear him admit meeting and making out with his counselee; although, I was in fact the one who talked him into admitting it. I questioned the legitimacy of their service and the qualifications of people providing it, forgetting my first near-perfect encounter with a counselor. What did I expect out of volunteer work?

Counselors were humans too who struggled, get tempted or committed mistakes.

Guidance Creed

2008-09-05T21:01:00.000+08:00

Below, a quote shared to us in 2003 by our teacher of Guidance and Counseling, who introduced herself as a parent-teacher experienced with counseling the juvenile delinquents. I remembered the heartwarming smile she would readily give to our class:

GUIDANCE CREED

I believe in the essential goodness of human heart.

The student who is disciplined is merely misunderstood.

I shall strive therefore to understand my students, to befriend them, to win their confidence and trust so that I may be fit to guide them towards the good and useful life.

I believe in the subject I teach. But I believe that over and above my subject is my student. I must know him as a boy so I can make him a better man. I must understand her as a girl so I can make her fit to mother the future race.

Fangs

2008-09-03T19:19:00.001+08:00

Born to a Bitch

that enslaved

its Mate,

seemingly powerless

to an atrocious slave driver;

Like its masochistic progenitor,

an underdog it preferred to be;

controllable and yet bore power;

Of goat in sheep’s clothing and

fanged like the clan,

that Bitch commanded its pack:

multiply, resurrect the clan only through Beauty.

Create other beasts in deceptive forms.

With nares invitingly wide for lost wasps

gushing and seeking for Beauty;

Or so it thought it had found

but was a poor Leech

recompensed by a Witch

disowned from the same clan

of the denying Bitch.

Fleeting cubs

existing only by craft the second Witch;

the clan would be no more.

Shutter

2008-09-03T19:19:00.000+08:00

Considered a little crazy for being into sleeping pills, Nagumi committed suicide haunting the surviving that wrecked her once while she was still living. The Jap’s intense emotions, like earthbound souls, are captured in rolls of films. Shutter was spooky!

How Often do You Shower

2008-08-31T13:28:00.000+08:00

I have heard of people who don’t bathe and people who do two to three times in a day. The first one I’m sure will give me a body odor. The second one, I am not used to. My derma wanted me to shower in the evenings to clean up dirt accumulated during the day and to avoid a scalp problem. What if I have that evening shower and just wash my face in the morning like some dorm mates? Shucks, I did not like the way I smelled even if with that, I scrubbed my ass. So then I showered twice a day feeling happy, fresh and clean. At TTH, I’m home by 9PM and on other days; I’m home late only when I’m off somewhere after a day shift. It meant sleeping by 10PM after a shower and waking up to shower again at 2AM to prep for work so that I ended up getting sick with cough. Another physician I went to

told me that I need not beg for a leave of absence from work because she would definitely be prescribing me bed rest—which actually helped.

Hmm, the last time I showered twice a day for two straight weeks, it gave me a headache. Well, I’m back to my once daily shower. I still wash my face though and you know what else before I sleep. With the old routine, I ain’t coughing no more

Psychic Living

2008-08-31T12:46:00.000+08:00

Creating a sacred space gave me the creeps. Probably, because it was my first journey to the universal with only a piece of book for a guide. Regularly doing its first few steps, I found myself murmuring the ritual in my sleep, I woke up terrified knowing that I have not memorized the entire process, I might especially miss the petition for safety. I remembered Staccy mentioning a cat she did not have, jumping out of a bag at home. As for me, it was though someone else was in the bathroom when I was really just by myself.

I love this modern book although I am not really up to now done with it. I guess I would never be until I tried to follow the steps conscientiously to its last page only to be dismayed in the middle part by someone who actually consulted the same psychic and claimed that the latter made a mistake in one of her readings and should not be trusted.

While others claimed to have reaped rewards, I am stuck with the question of whether I am ready to call for an Angel Party. So there, like her cover pose, it sits waiting for me to pick it up and read from where I left off. Don’t dare me. I know I’m chickenshit.

AM Radio to Little Lorelie

2008-08-30T02:03:00.000+08:00

Decades ago–back when I was not to cross the street without a companion, my thoughts could not go beyond what kind of a life I could have in the future sans radio. Influenced by my yaya*, I quit nursery school because my yaya would rather listen to her favorite radio soaps finishing at that time than miss it by bringing me to and from school. Honestly, I enjoyed listening full-time to the radio! I was mesmerized by the lovely voices of the characters who portrayed their roles very well. We would go through a marathon of soaps packed with action, drama, comedy, love stories…Name it! It was the most enjoyable way of spending siesta. That neighborhood we lived with then must have thought so too because whenever I came out of the house, the people had their radios on aloud. My mother cared less. As a working mom, she also spoke less to me. Rather than meet her complaining how tired she was to tell me a bedtime story, I could sleep satisfied with a radio so alive with its stories, complete with playful voice overs. Listening to the AM radio went out of the picture when yaya got pregnant. She had to leave the house to have a family of her own. Life went on for me and AM radio remained up until now, even if I had already diverted my attention to school; even if, other forms of recreation had emerged. I wondered what would have become of me if I missed higher education for the love of listening to the radio? I missed yaya and the happy-go-lucky siesta hours we spent but I have remained to be an ear for others. I would delight listening as others tell their stories to me. (Sometimes though, I get bored when they couldn’t tell it with life) and people appreciated me for that.

________

* A yaya is Cebuano for a female household help who is tasked and paid to care for children in the household. In other words, a nanny

Death Wish

2008-08-30T00:41:00.000+08:00

may not be as tough as diamond but somehow my father’s cruelty helped me to be forbearing and tolerant. Alcoholic, my father would always pick on me. “You, good for nothing!” was one of those belittling remarks. I arrived home one evening from a date when he scoffed “I will laugh at you if ever you get pregnant. Obviously, I didn’t grow up to be confident. I learned to talk back until I could not but one day wish for his death. Then it occurred to me for no reason that someone was going to die. Immediately, I’d get a mental picture of his co-teacher slash drinking-buddy-after-office-hours. His daughter was a schoolmate, that, I felt sorry if ever she’d lose her dad so I wished that her dad be kept alive. Little did I know that a wish can have a consequence. It was on that weekend when my sisters and I came home from a movie and our uncle broke out the news “Your father was declared DOA at the hospital.” It was as if I telephatically told the Angel of Death to spare his buddy. Not realizing that he’d go for my father. It shocked me to have my death wish granted too soon! During and after the wake, I thought I wouldn’t get affected but I grieved. Years passed, my sister quit a job she found because she couldn’t stand a condescending boss she served for less than a week. Nobody could persuade her adamant self to retract. It’s never a good feeling to be verbally abused. I’ve had offensive bosses and colleagues who made me cry. As for me, the constant unwanted insults from my father made me withstand affronting attitudes. I realized that there would always be difficult people in this imperfect world.

The Women's Room

2008-08-30T00:39:00.000+08:00

Genre: Feminist

Other than the coincidence how “toilet booth” let me see our local kasilyas as a bifurcation–an answer to my homework, Marilyn French made a catchy start here; otherwise, I won’t have checked out The Women’s Room for two weeks. The main one she named Mira, a straight A’s student, highly estimated by her teachers got married to Norm who’s graded C’s and found herself supporting him through medical school until she agreed to full-time domesticity when he earned his M.D. (half-way of a 686-page bk). Yes, she could’ve left Norm but she had to bear his children to be eventually suctioned into this “secret society” conceived of by French or else we wouldn’t have met French’s beautifully dressed “playdolls” that she paraded using reality as a backdrop. I was glad to once again meet so few of my friends or to have met people that I haven’t or perhaps will never meet if at all. I was glad to read of the idiosyncrasies of Mira’s friends as she rose up and down the economic strata. I just lost count remembering who to pair her fictional characters with who every now and then. Val, one of Mira’s friends, shared her stand on Harvard (at that time the story was set), gays, love (and because I just borrowed The Women’s Room I recorded myself (click here) reading an exerpt that I enjoyed with its “mockery and adoration” or communes, rape (near the denouement), men… The novel rippled back and forth in time. Marilyn shifted perspectives and at times conversed as to how her novel might have been written or what’s going to happen next then it’d unfold after several pages like a TV soap. She would then ask her reader if she’s a convincing misandrist. I swore at two or three of her dragging rationalizations and as if predicting the mind of her audience, she continued to recount. This one is definitely written by a woman with a gift of gab.

Childhood

2008-08-21T20:52:00.000+08:00

Thomas was fair to his description of Henry; complementing his eccentricities with his gentleness. I admired the latter even with his refusal to see his mother’s defects, for not reproving Thomas despite his lies, for the lessons he taught him in his lab—-what if everything else including manure and cotton could be turned to gold? Like Thomas, I wondered why Kata chose to be with “abusive and loveless” men but on her deathbed sought for Henry’s presence, undeniably the one she loved after all– the same man Thomas would have wanted to be revealed as his father. I admired the writer’s peculiarities — with all the timetables, bullets, assumed dialogues, the footnotes, lines of poems quoted –every single thing which made perfect sense to me as I got to its finale, where it became clear as to where Thomas got his sense of humor, or if the rigorous training from his Trinidadian grandmother paid off. What a moving book this is from Andre’ Alexis! Alexis is a natural joker who is logical and sentimental at the same time. Every few pages or so, I reacted “hah!” Twice, I really laughed so hard. I didn’t expect to be crying but I did for the same people Thomas was bereft of. No wonder in 1999 this became a prize-winning national bestseller in Canada!

Novel reviewed by Lorelie

Pelikulakbay 08

2008-08-06T04:19:00.000+08:00

1st of 5 Indie movies

Title: Ang Sakristan

Directed by: Dave Cecilio

I especially liked the dialect they spoke which was different from what’s heard here in the heart of the city but the sound effect was disgusting. There was too much noise, I could hardly hear the characters speaking. Remember the scene at the wet market? The antagonist’s words, however, I was sure it came in very clearly to those who were from down South but the lines of some altar boys were eaten and difficult to grasp. The acting of the altar boys was OK assuming the creator randomly picked anyone he could get from that place. There was no need for the emcee to be apologetic or to tell us not to spare judgment on how they performed.

The sound of thunder went fine but the rain looked like coming from a hose sans the sprinkler. If not for the thunder, I thought somebody was just watering the plants. The antagonist stared at the camera at least twice to show that she must have seen something but then it would stop at her face. Twice there was no scene following what she exactly saw. There were insertions that needed to be cut while she was talking about meat and fish on Good Friday. The movie tried to be intelligent and to extend the thought of its audience. It was a thought-provoking depiction of the evil it could bring to your neighbor for not abiding by God’s 8th commandment.

2nd of 5 Indie movies

Title: Baclaran

Directed by: Dave Cecilio

Baclaran seemed almost a monologue. Jossa’s voice drowned out all others’ dialogue that was often indistinct. I liked the quality of his voice though and the way he delivered his lines except that his face was transfixed. He carried the same expression throughout the entire movie. It was an unhappy but a deserved ending –his execution that fell on a Wednesday at 3PM–both being significant schedules to devotees of the church he turned as venue for his racket.

3rd of 5 Indie movies

Title: Ang Pagbalik

Directed by: Publio Briones

Bambi was very poetic in Ang Pagbalik. Her deep voice was OK to me but to my seatmates, they were rather unsure if she was male or female. The person who told her what she had left from her mother’s death sounded very natural. Where she stood with an umbrella and looking across a body of water was somewhat picturesque but then often the moving pictures were dark. At times, you could only see her yellow umbrella moving horizontally as the rest had gray or black undertones. There’s some sense of humor attached to it. I was looking though for the morale behind her coming back for the priest she knew 25 years then.

4th of 5 Indie movies

Title: Obsess

Directed by: Publio Briones

Of the five short films presented were to be judged by audience impact, Obsess would’ve won. The writer’s plot was believable but then the sickly mother was not. She did not look like one for she was very plump and I doubted that she would just lie there to be strangled. She might have just regained consciousness that’s why she stood knocking and following her daughter around. No, I was just kidding. She actually died or else, at the time her finger was cut off, that would have awakened her. On my way home, some students went talking about it and how scary it was. Obsess was aptly titled and I wouldn’t have titled it otherwise. Here, you’d see the obsession of the mother (assuming it was a spiritual haunting) or the daughter’s (of the crime she was about to commit and committed) and the cop’s obsession to materials things such as the ring.

5th of 5 Indie movies

Title: Krisis

Directed by Dave Cecilio

Krisis worked along great at the onset. To compare all five, Krisis was best in cinematography and direction. The acting of the mother to the yaya to the students to driver was good. Even the lovemaking that wasn’t really it but only seemed so was not a put down. The boys, however, were too mestizo-looking for their parents unless they were adoptees. It ended abruptly as though it still had to be continued and the entire movie was meant to motivate to further development. It came to me as another trailer. I wanted to see more

The Other Boleyn Girl

2008-06-14T02:05:00.000+08:00

Directed by: Justin Chadwick

Personal Rating:

Genre: History

King Henry VIII of England divorced his brother’s widow to marry another woman who kept refusing his gifts and sister to his mistress who bore him a son. Excommunicated by the Catholic Church, he formed the Church of England. Adulterous as his new and cunning queen, he had her beheaded for adultery and incest. Darn double standards! =( Good choice of actors here, I must say, for this movie set in the 16th cent. Shown in the theatres, three months ago, I just saw this on DVD, three weeks ago. Truly, an intriguing and controversial piece of history or rumor. Thanks, Shanamits =D for inviting me over. Now, show me that other movie that continues the timeline and please not after a 12MN-8AM shift or else ZzzzZZzz (snore) ZzZzzZ. I freakin’ snore. =D

Sex and the City

2008-06-11T20:14:00.000+08:00

Directed by: Michael Patrick King, John Thomas

Genre: Comedy Drama

Personal Rating:

Multi-awarded Sex and the City had run for 6 years and yet I only saw the first few episodes from the first DVD they released. While Season One shows all girls as single in their 30’s and 40’s,the movie already has Charlotte in a happy marriage. It starts off from where the series left off 4 years ago. Like these are what have happened and are happening now to Carrie and her friends after it last aired its final and most watched episode in Season 6.(Of course, the papers had it that it was about to officially end.) Samantha still has her desire =D towards the opposite sex and yet manages to remain sexually faithful to her younger Hollywood boyfriend of 5 years until she breaks up with him. Carrie’s life is worthy of jealousy with 4 published books and her near-perfect rich ‘man-friend’ who’s but divorced twice. Miranda’s marital life is aggravated by her having to balance career, family and her husband’s self-confessed infidelity. It’s a fun, sexy, witty, humorous movie that shows the faithful support of friends, forgiveness, second chances and with SOooo many catchy lines from its cast like Mr. Big’s “You have to seal the deal with a diamond ring,” Charlotte’s “If it happens to (successful and good)people like you, something bad is bound to happen to me,” Carrie’s “We were happy then ‘til we decided to live happily ever after,” or Louise’s “I came to New York to find love” and those of the counselor’s. You’ll have more to add to these–the closest I can get. I was unable to review the movie at the cinema as it was the last full show for the night and being a 2.5-hour show, my girlfriends and I went home 12 midnight. I definitely recommend this even if you have seen all, seen a few/some or haven’t seen a single TV episode. You’ll enjoy the movie, laugh at it or cry over it. Thanks to Candace Bushnell’s autobiographical columns that inspired the series/movie. Not for young children. It’s rated-R for language..

The Happening

2008-06-11T20:11:00.000+08:00

Directed by M Night Shyamalan

Personal Rating:

Genre: Science Fiction Drama

Out to watch a wholesome cartoon when the good name of M. Night Shyamalan (Director of The Sixth Sense) instantly changed our minds to see his latest The Happening, instead, or probably, because it’s Friday the 13th and are we to be shocked by what might possibly make one person after another commit suicide?

Whatever’s ‘happening’ in this R-13 movie and while a good number of people in it kill themselves, not providing Science with an exact explanation, the main stars are kept alive and unaffected by this pandemic.

Good for some but not to all moviegoers who watched this on its opening day June, Fri the 13th, of 2008 worldwide. Sure– different people, different tastes.

Great clouds but I just didn’t like the movie. It is inconsistently presented to redound to an idea repeated at least thrice: Not all are explicable. If this weren’t a treat from Ida (thanks ;]) who had to walk out to meet a housemate (Ouch, that wasn’t your skeleton…=D), I would’ve have asked for a refund. =(

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2008-06-08T19:46:00.000+08:00

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Directed by: Andrew Adamson
Genre: Fantasy
Personal Rating: 3 of 5

Posters and trailer were shown in Dec 2007. It’s been“coming soon” for a long time since The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was released in 2006 and Prince Caspian got rescheduled to 2008. Shown May 2008 in most countries, I just saw it Sunday this week. It still is Summer though as was Disney’s intention. A coincidence, the world of Narnia has animals that talk in it. Like most Disney productions, children are conquering adults. Of course, we can’t deny the great wisdom of Aslan and Neeson provides the perfect voice to this character. Nothing’s new as to the summoning horn or the duel asked or the rivalry of successors to a throne. Telmarines, a coinage by the author, is easy to recall. The movie plot,different from the book, still gives it a good flavor but the display of fireworks, I see as quite advance to be used for a setting that doesn’t know what a torch is. The flashlight came in the 19th cent. Edmund anyhow only says ““would THIS help?” ;] The accented actors make you wonder how Telmarines are to sound like. I’m not sure but a soldier for one could be Polish as their acknowledgment mentions a Poland team. The line delivered with the best voice quality comes from the dwarf who asks “and you wonder why we don’t like you?” I so like his British accent! The persona of Philip the Great claims they didn’t mean to leave Narnia but close to the end,he contradicts himself saying, they better go as they aren’t needed in Narnia any longer. Awesome cinematography, soundtrack, centaurs and gryphons! The White Witch connects to its first flick.What’s new? Barnes who plays Caspian. This hottie,a new face for me, confirmed liking this CS Lewis novel when he was 8. Yet Susy says “It won’t work” because she’s 1300 yrs older (or because she’s dating Peter in real life? =D)That might’ve made the movie a GP =D but with some violence shown,not quite. I guessed right, the MPAA rates it PG-13. Moviegoers cheered twice when I saw it.