Boycott

After a Jason Castro post, let's shift to a slight serious mode. :D

Since I don’t have a class today and I don’t want to study yet, I decided to just watch the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the President and see if it is still in-touch with the reality happening in the Philippines right now. The glaring news that greeted me was the “traditional walk-out/boycott” of some congressmen (Read: the term “congressmen” includes senators, district representatives, and party-list reps). I say “traditional” because they do that every year. For some reason, I can empathize with them because I know what it feels like doing something you hate. It’s hard to listen to the talking of a president, who seems to love to lie, and seems to concentrate the wealth of the land on the hands of her relatives and close friends alone. It’s also hard to contain yourself for a few minutes and sit on an adorned place, full of phony people who clap on everything that the President says regardless of whether they understood it or not. Mind you, I’m betting my toenails that more than half of those people are not listening to what PGMA is saying, they just clap on cue.

As much as I understand those congressmen who boycotted the SONA, I also condemn them. As members of the Congress, it is their duty to attend the SONA and listen to what the president has to say. Contrary to what other people might think, SONA is not just about reporting what happened in the past year or about what will be the government’s project on the next year, it’s about laying down the things that the president wanted the Congress to tackle for a whole fiscal year. It’s a hand in hand event between the executive and the legislative branch of our government. The President is not just addressing the people on her speech; she’s mainly addressing the Congress! This is the main reason why it is held in Batasang Pambansa and in a joint session of both the Senate and House of Representatives. Those congressmen who boycott the SONA should reflect on what they usually do. When they decided to do a “walk-out”, they did not just refuse to listen to a liar; they also boycotted a Constitutional provision. Article 7, Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution states that “The President shall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session. He may also appear before it at any other time.” If those congressmen don’t know that, I think someone should apprise them.

NOTE: I’m not a fan of the president but I respect her office. No matter how devious the president may look like, no matter how cunning her acts are, I always remind myself that I can get angry at the person, but I should always remember that her seat is the highest seat on the land. Her office should always be respected. It should always be valued. Kumbaga, sige lang, awayin nyo si Gloria hanngat gusto nyo, I might join you pa, pero please lang, respect her office. Hindi uunlad ang bansang Pilipinas kung mawawalan tayo ng tiwala sa gobryernong nagpapatakbo dito at sa batas na gumagabay sa pagsasaayos nito.


Another note: I don't want to comment on the SONA itself. Ayaw ko ding sabihin ang iba ko pang thoughts. Baka mapatapon ako ng Pilipinas. LOL.

Shameless Plugging

I was surprised to see that I now have other readers beside my three stooges. Since this is my blog, I have the power to shamelessly plug my favorite dreadlocked guy, the one and only, Jason Castro. For those who don't know the guy, he's the 4th placer in the last season of American Idol. Yep, hindi lang si Cook at si Archie ang contestants dun. Jason was the first idol to use a guitar and ukelele on the idol stage. He also managed to make Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" number one on I-tunes. He's a very talented young man. A budding singer/songwriter. I uploaded some of his songs on my playlist. Feel free to listen to them.

To my faithful readers, EJ, Horeb, Ivy, I know I have been shoving Jason to your throats for the past four or five months. My craze hasn't ended yet so bear with me. My devious plan to convert you guys has failed so I am now channelling my "converting" plans to my new readers. Wahahaha. =D

If you want to know more about him, visit his myspace page here.

I stumbled upon this Inquirer article written by Lea Salonga about reality talent search on television. It's a bold article, and I loved it. She put into words what many writers would never dare say about these reality singing contests. Here's some excerpt:

"To be honest, I don’t like watching a judge be super-nice and super-sweet. That’s kind of a cop-out, and not necessarily an accurate reflection of how the real world can be. If you’re a singer and you’re unable to stomach a harsh criticism of your performance, then stay home and sing for your family who will applaud you and stand up for you, no matter what. Besides talent and stage presence, it’s necessary to be equipped with a strong stomach and a level head in order to take all these things with a grain (or even a bucket) of salt."

This was for those Pinoy Dream Academy contestants who can't accept criticisms coming from judges. I think Lea has a point. These talent searches are like boot camps - they prepare the contestants for a harsher music industry. If the contestants can't accept the fact that not everyone will like their singing, they won't have a long carreer in the biz. Unwavering pride won't do them any good, it will just make them stumble. They can't always cry if they receive bad reviews, they should try harder to improve.

"And to the judges, my own two cents: Be honest. You owe it to the contestants to give it to them straight. It won’t do any of them any good for you to sugarcoat the bitter-tasting medicine you may have to deliver. At some point in your own careers, you were meted doses of it as well, and lived to tell the tale. So pay it forward, and let a new generation of performers feel your brand of tough love."

I hope the crew of Pinoy Idol read this. Tell your judges to deliver better comments. Sue Ellen won't become a good singer if the comments she receives are always about her being "cute". The contestants won't learn anything from a vague statement saying his/her singing was "flat". Pinoy Idol is a singing contest, not a segment of "Wish Ko Lang" who caters for the dreams of singer wannabes. If you really like your contestants to improve, give them constructive criticisms, not stupid comments.

Haaay... Makapag-aral na nga lang.

Recitation Moments

1. StatCon Class:
Prof: What is the case of People v Jabinal?
Me: Umm... Ma'am, was that the case about illegal possession of firearms?
Prof: I don't know. Why are you asking me? I'm asking you.
Me: Umm.. In the case of people v jabinal... blah blah blah (I stated the facts and issue).. umm...
Prof: Oh, you know naman pala! What's the ruling?
Me: Umm... I.. I forgot the ruling ma'am... *toinks*
Moral Lesson: Read the whole case and don't rely on the digests.

2. Religion Class:
DOM: What is peace?
Me: Umm... DOM, it is the absence... of war?
Classmates: Hahahahaha.
DOM: I'll call another person.
Moral Lesson: Always bring dictionary. It might come handy at times.

Coward or smart?

Video of the day! Purefoods versus Talk N Text basketball game turned into a fight. This would have been another one of those boring brawls were it not for James Yap!

Terrence Leather, import player of Talk N Text, threw a ball on the face of Purefoods player, Jondan Salvador. Upon seeing what Leather did to his teammate, James Yap kicked Leather on the rear while the guy was busy provoking Jondan to a fight. Of course Leather was engraged. When Yap saw that Leather's attention turned to him, he ran as fast as he could leading to a funny chase. Some people commented that James Yap's running only shows that he's coward, others commented that he's smart since he knows that he will be badly beaten if Leather gets to him.

Watch the whole video and tell me what you think of James Yap's act. Was he coward or was it a smart move?
Video uploaded by PBNKapamilya.

WANTED. You should watch it!

"We don't know how far the ripples of our decisions go, kill one, save a thousand, that's what we believe in, that's why we do it.."

I should be studying for Public Corporation now but I can't contain myself. I'm too excited to blog about my WANTED experience. I was dying to watch the film for a week now. Last saturday, I tried persuading Ivy and Norly to watch it with me but they have some things to do so I ended up sulking and saying that "I have no voice on our Barkada". :D Despite my drama queen moments, I still wasn't able to persuade them (I think I need more acting workshops). They do promised to watch it with me on Monday though so my mood lighten up a bit.

This morning, I woke up thinking that this might be my last day on Earth. What if I get hit by a car on my way to school tomorrow? Shit. I haven't watch WANTED yet. Naisip ko... Sana man lang nakita ko butt ni Angelina Jolie before I die. So I decided that I will go to Robinson's Place after going to church and watch it by myself. As in all by myself (if EJ's in the country and Horeb is not busy, we might have watch the movie together! Then may free debates pa afterwards. Haha) Gladly, my very ALTRUISTIC brother told me that he would join me watch the movie provided that (1) i'm going to help him with his script's concept paper (2) i'll be washing tonight's dishes (3) we are going to watch Monster Mom next week (See? He is altruistic!). Eventhough I can't seem to stomach the third condition because I hate Anabelle Rama and Ruffa Guttierez, I agreed to his terms. I already tried watching a movie once (X-MEN2 in SM Sta Rosa) and I damn near cry because of self pity. I'm like an outcast then sitting in the middle of love birds and bonding best buds.

Okay. Going back to WANTED, the movie is grrrreat!!! I was really entertained and satisfied. There were some questions left unanswered, and some unexplained circumstances, but i'm still satisfied. My brother said it was commercialized because the main theme, faith in what they do, was not clearly laid down on the table. He's a film major so I can't find any sense arguing with him about commercialization of Hollywood films. However, I think it was a successful commercialization. The lacking sides were clearly shunned by the "wow sides". The good parts have more merits than the bad parts so you'll still forgive the film after doing injustice to some scenes. :D Five hours after watching it, i'm still itching to talk about the scenes, the characters, the lines, the predicable twist, the ending, the soundtrack, James McAvoy, and Angelina!!!! Haaayy.... My P100 is sulit. :)

It's all about the money

Last tuesday, I was half snoozing at my Land Title and Deeds subject when I heard our old professor mentioned something about money. He told us this: "Makinig kayo sa lahat ng sasabihin ko. Nandito sa subject na 'to ang pera. Wala sa Criminal Law. Nandito sa Civil Law. Huwag kayong umasang babayaran kayo ng magnanakaw na ipagtatanggol nyo sa korte. Kaya nga nagnakaw yun eh, kasi wala siyang pera!" Of course, everyone in class instantly shifted from snoozing mode to interested mode. Kaching! My eyes immediately sported shinning shimmering peso signs. These professors really know which button to push. I'm now more interested and inspired! :)