Unbounded

Having read Lincoln's The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail a year before the Dan Brown novel craze emerged, the phenomena then has left me unimpressed. I was naturally skeptic.

Anyway, I went to your local friendly fake DVD stall today with the sole intention of buying a copy of the Da Vinci Code movie adaptation (I was also trying my luck trying to find a copy of Mirrormask, but to no avail), since my mom's nagging me for weeks now to obtain a copy, and that the recent issue of the Philippine Roman Catholic Church banning its film showing has oh so lured me.

"Da Vinci Code". Well the cover says so, Tom Hanks is even on the visual montage. You can't go wrong with that.

After only two minutes of watching the DVD over dinner with my mom and my aunt, I realized that something wasn't right. We were watching documentary film about Rennes le Chateau with a Da Vinci code cover. I cannot believe that I got ripped by a fake DVD of a FAKE DVD. No return policy. Ack.

Pissed, I watched Scary Movie 4 instead.

Damnit, I want my friggin' 40 pesos back.

[As I was rummaging the blogs of my friends, I stumbled upon one particular entry from my buddy Jim's blog (which I copied this without asking for his permission. So sorry about that) about us, Dodong, and Wil having some nonsensical fun. If you cannot understand Filipino, and would'nt want to loose 5 IQ points, I suggest you go to National Geographic instead. I think we should reprise this again sometime heh. read on.]

Sunday, April 10, 2005

The Ultimate Debate

You ever wonder who'd win in a fight, Tyson or Ali? Well we've taken nonsense debates and took it a whole new level. This is an edited transcript of a chat conference between four of the leading experts in all things nothing. First, there's dongtpc. He's my buddy Dodong. When he's not progamming as a computer science major, he's usually screaming profanities at me when I tell him what happens in the TV show Lost before he sees it. Then there's lykwyss, that's my buddy Glenn. When he's not researching on boobies as a psych project, he's usually found online talking about boobies. Then there's wilsongtang_ph, who is also my buddy Wilson. When he's not protesting about the state of the world, he's usually found online surfing about the most random things you can think of. Then finally, there's true_love5484.. yes, that's me. I came up with that when I was 14. So yes, it's cheesy as crap.

Anyway, in this chat, we talk about the most important nonsense there is. Who'd win in a match between Mario and the adventure island boy? Who'd win between the snake from the cellphone game "snake" and the rubber ball from the cellphone game "bounce"? and the debate to end all debates, a triple threat match to the death between the rock, the paper and the scissors. So fasten your seatbelt and hold on tight, cause you're about to lose 5 IQ points after reading this. Enjoy!


true_love5484: okay debate: super mario vs adventure island boy
wilsontang_ph: super mario
lykwyss: ganda un
wilsontang_ph: mario is legend
true_love5484: si adventure island boy may sakay na dinosaur
lykwyss: super mario!!
wilsontang_ph: super mario may apoy eh
wilsontang_ph: na bola
wilsontang_ph: kayang lumipad
lykwyss: wala namang fireball tska raccoon tail ung adventure island guy
wilsontang_ph: tsaka may mariokart pa
lykwyss: tska growth mushroom
wilsontang_ph: pa si mario
lykwyss: skateboard lang tska throwing axe meron ng adventure island guy
dongtpc: hahaha
lykwyss: insult kay mario yan kinompare mo ung adventure island guy sa kanya!!true_love5484: hahahahhahaha
true_love5484: putik nag take offense a
lykwyss: hahahaa
wilsontang_ph: closest na siguro kay supermario donkeykong
dongtpc: hahaha
lykwyss: parehong nintendo un e
lykwyss: actually jim dapat mario or sonic
wilsontang_ph: far third siguro si sonic
dongtpc: haha
dongtpc: kupa or robotnik!dongtpc: lol!
wilsontang_ph: supermario revolutionized the gaming industry
wilsontang_ph: king koopa, daming niyang buhay eh
wilsontang_ph: every stage siya kalaban mo
wilsontang_ph: si robotnik sa last stage lang
true_love5484: Ultimate debate: The snake in "snake" or the rubber ball in "bounce"?
dongtpc: hahaha
true_love5484: yan ang debate!!!
lykwyss: hehe
dongtpc: hahahha shit!
wilsontang_ph: anong snake at rubber ball?
lykwyss: ahahahahaha!!!
lykwyss: tangina mo wil di mo lam un?
true_love5484: yung sa snake and bounce...
dongtpc: sa cellphone!
true_love5484: cellphone!!!
lykwyss: ung sa games sa cellphone hehe
dongtpc: loser!!
wilsontang_ph: ahhhhhh
lykwyss: ako bounce ako
lykwyss: rubberball
wilsontang_ph: snake ako
lykwyss: kahit luma na ung snake
dongtpc: snake ako!!
wilsontang_ph: mas madali snake haha
dongtpc: lol!
true_love5484: yeah im going with the rubber ball kasi at least kaya nung ball bumungo sa wall...
lykwyss: mas maraming pwedeng gawin ung rubberball
dongtpc: baka sakaling ung kinakain ng snake dun sa game is ung rubberball hahahhaahaa shit
true_love5484: yung rubber ball kaya bumungo sa wall.. yung snake d kaya
true_love5484: hahahahahahahhahaha
lykwyss: hahahahah tangina pinaglaban!!! hahahahahahaha
wilsontang_ph: kaya ng snake bumungo ng wall
true_love5484: d kaya
lykwyss: ung rubber ball may lives ung snake isa lang
lykwyss: yucck
true_love5484: patay kaya pag bumungo sa wall
wilsontang_ph: snake 2 kaya na
dongtpc: laftrip putangina!
dongtpc: di ko na kaya!
wilsontang_ph: seee, ang snake nageevolve
true_love5484: ha? d kaya.. kaya nammamtay pag nabunggo
dongtpc: lol!
lykwyss: lobotomized ung snake e hindi marunong umiwas
wilsontang_ph: hindi kaya namamatay ang snake sa snake 2
dongtpc: lol!
lykwyss: buti pa ung rubber ball nagbobounce pag high ung fall
true_love5484: okay ready na kayo sa ultimate of ultimate debate?
lykwyss: hehehe
true_love5484: triple threat match: rock vs paper vs scissors
true_love5484: who wins ?
true_love5484: hhhahahahhahahahahahaha
wilsontang_ph: hahahahahahahhahahahahahahaaha
lykwyss: hahahahahaha
lykwyss: hmm
dongtpc: shit lang sense yan!! hahaha
wilsontang_ph: i'd go with the rock
true_love5484: im going with rock here... i never believed the paper could hold it in the first place
lykwyss: lol
dongtpc: hahahaahahhahaahahahahaa
lykwyss: rock ako
lykwyss: hehe

So who won? well whenyou're really fighting for something dumb, I would say no one wins.

So that's it. Thanks again to my other three "experts".

As to why I am going to great lengths in articulating my every thought is up to your own interpretations. Actually, this is what I typically do when I'm depressed. I write.

My thanks to Wil who should deserve credit on this.

The current trend in Philippine historical research points to the influence of political families in the various regions of the Philippines to the overall economic development of our country. It has been an almost consistent finding that our country’s rich resources are being benefited only by these select political elites. Let us remember the tobacco holdings of the Singsons in Ilocos Sur, the sugarcane fields of the Cojuangcos in Tarlac and the Romualdezes of Ilocos Norte. That despite decades, and in some cases more than a century of governance by these political families certain regions remain relatively poor. In essence, these places are still governed through the feudal system even though we live in a capitalistic world. The landlords support the barest living necessities and the wedding, death, and other expenses that a family may incur in exchange for their loyalty to the political family. Even in cosmopolitan Manila, certain families control their vested interest vital to the economy by seeking support in the government in various forms such as donation during campaign season, intermarriage with the politician’s family, or even running for government positions.

We should fully exercise our right to vote for the people who will govern our country. Filipino citizens should be responsible and knowledgeable voters. Lack of foresight and aiming for quick fixes is not the answer. Filipinos should not be blinded by the sweet promise of easy employment, but without health benefits. Because in the end, when poor government officials rule our country poorly, we cannot blame the officials, we only have ourselves to blame. We voted for them.

There she was. An epitome of a lady that one could only have the blessing to meet, politely greeting everyone on every table, thanking them for attending her night on a cold December eve.

The thought of one having met a woman with just the right amount of wit, quirk, and the warmest of smiles would melt you right there, right on the spot. But all that I could do then was to wish the debutante all the best and celebrate the night with her, with all the others. This was after all, her night. I paid my courtesy, and sat down with my friends.

It felt like it was one of those nights when I wished that I should’ve hid inside my shell and sulked though the night away instead. If only I wasn’t so deluded to take ill advice from someone that I need not mention, things would’ve unfolded more naturally. No, don’t get me wrong, nothing bad happened, it’s just that I gave my trust to someone even more deluded than me. Hah. Am I the only one who’s not enjoying the night?

Just when I was dancing my despairs away, someone approached me.

"Would you care to dance with me?" she asked.

I hesitated. I wasn’t intending to slowdance with anyone, let alone be caught sharing my woes with her. But one look and you could tell that she’s not a little girl anymore. She had troubles too. I surprised myself by saying, “okay”.

She placed both her hands around my shoulders and I placed my palms on her waist. We danced and we talked. She told me all her troubles and I told her all my dreams, like I did in my sleep. We danced again and we talked. We danced and we laughed, and talked about the silliest things.

Personally, it didn’t matter that we danced for hours, and that everyone else stared at us. We closed our eyes and became blind. We just listened to each other.

It was the night where two hours seemed like just a dance.

What meaning is there to exist when the poor has no one to look up to and for the rich to look down to? When all dreams are real and when all efforts come in vain?

How can joy exist without sorrow? It's unrealistic and absurd to hope for a perpetually happy world for after a while, it would cease to be happy; it would be awfully boring.

Contrasts and limitations are thus necessary for anything to be considered valuable.

[from my reply to wilson's post here [link]

No, not Gawad Kalinga. Glenn Kho.

What I am discontented about Gawad Kalinga is that they are aggressively marketing it as a nationwide community building project yet it deemphasizes the importance of educating the community. I know that they have livelihood programs but it is treated as a supplement rather than a complement. I firmly believe that education is just as important and it deserves the equal amount of right as voluntary carpentry.

We (our Psychology org) realized their shortcoming and took our own initiative. We made our own long-term sustainable education project through building a small library in Baseco, Tondo (DLSU's adopted GK community) and go there weekly to teach the young minds of tomorrow. I'm glad to say that it's been going well since.

Thank you by the way for expanding our insights on attaining the higher needs of an individiual. Yup I've been meaning to talk about that but the topic then was mainly about sustinence. Yes, I also agree that giving out small pledges and even solidarity meals can make significant contributions. It's a good strategy to try out.

Hmm. My final thought: do make your every decision in life an opportunity for personal & social growth, not merely on covering up in your deficits.

Wow. An optimistic Glenn.

[I've just finished F. Sionil Jose's The Pretenders, whilst our group blog's topic is on poverty. Put two and two together, and here I am writing about Jose's fourth Rosales novel.
-----
Good God, how boring could this be??! upon rereading this entry, it convinced me that a documentary on worm racing is far more interesting. Never realized that one could write a blog entry that's so stoic.]

I.

It is but without doubt that there is an importance in studying the Filipino Psyche in the HUKBALAHAP era. Francisco Sionil Jose’s My Brother, My Executioner (Manila, 1988), is an impeccable example. Fourth of the five Rosales Novels that spanned one hundred years of Filipino existence, not only is this literary piece of art an appraisal worthy of its epic achievements (many would like to consider Jose to be Asia’s hope to finally bag the Nobel for literature, and a South East Asian at that. This writer disagrees. Toer of Indonesia, mainly known for his version – the Buru Quartet, is just as a prime candidate for the prize as Jose), but it also serves as a valuable source of data that tells about the lifestyle and way of thinking of the typical Filipino in the 50’s.

What is important in terms of Psychology, is that why did the Filipinos, whether marginalized or financially endowed, still had a positive outlook in life and lived as if nothing was wrong, despite the fact that the country at that time was enveloped in national turmoil, more so in the suburbs?

II.

Deconstruction, developed by what people arguably recognize as the best literary critic of the twentieth century, Jaque Derrida, is a strategy for analysis that has been applied primarily to Linguistics, Literature, and Philosophy. Its purpose is to expand the conceptual limits of the meaning of a text from its syntax, and to explore its innumerable interpretation. It has four levels of analysis, namely the literal level, the symbolic level, the social-political level, and the deconstructive level. Despite the criticisms that it receives, it is still being widely used because of its ease and effectiveness.

Finding the true, deeper, and therefore hidden message of a particular manifest content of a literature begins with identifying its literal meaning, or simply, what the text literally talks about. From there, the second, symbolic level of meaning is derived from the literal content. These two levels of meaning have social and/or political implications that reflects society and is also identified, and thus emerges the third level of meaning, that is, the socio-political level. Finally, from all of these, the deconstructive level of meaning is derived that refutes all of the other three other levels.

III.

Chapter eighteen is particularly significant due to its pre-climactic conflict. This was the part where the two protagonist blood siblings, Luis and Victor, met each other for the last time. The hero and antihero conversed and finally understood each other and themselves respectively. This particular conversation that transpired somehow depicts the totality of the psyche of the rich and the poor in the 1950’s.

Victor’s concern for his brother’s safety is symbolically seen as a kind of “oneness”, that although both of them lived in dichotyny (where one enjoyed luxury while the other half-brother struggled through poverty), they still had a gut feeling of connection to one another; a “oneness” if you will. Collectively speaking, this oneness, and that they both recognized one mother symbolizes for the countrymen and his country.

Now seeing this from a social/political aspect, it is impossible for the impoverished and the excess to exist alone. This is a fine operational example from an acclaimed European writer who is quoted saying “contrasts and limitations are necessary for anything to be considered valuable”. Also coincidentally, communist idealism thrived during this era, and this marked the time where the country faced literal (speaking in terms of infrastructure and economy) and symbolic (referring to the esteem and morale of the people) rebuilding.

What [then] meaning is there to exist when the poor has no one to look up to and for the rich to look down to? When all dreams are real and when all efforts come in vain?

Be as it may that the aforementioned social classes (who in reality) look for the welfare for each other, the fact that unconscious utilitarianism still remains. The “resiliency” and optimism is nowhere to be found when you take away something forcibly, imperiling the welfare of another party. In the novel’s case, Victor is without a doubt prepared to kill Luis if he does not heed his warning (that is to leave the hacienda as a HUKBALAHAP attack to claim the land that they so “rightfully owned” is imminent). The Huks would probably take the land no matter what, and that is not the resiliency nor the optimism and hope of the people at the time that we see. Undeniably, it’s an example of finding the easy way out.

Filipinos are resilient; there is no doubt about it. A national conference on Filipino Work Psychology was held in 2004 in De La Salle University – Dasmariňas, and in one forum, the speaker compared the Filipino to the carabao. This animal was described as the embodiment of the Filipino – industrious and persistent.

While true, that parallelism is also only half of the truth because it is also true that Filipinos will take the shorter course of action if it would gain personal benefit, and they would not think of the welfare of others at that.

This literary analysis is far from being comprehensive. With enough time and effort, a better analysis can be made, and its findings can even contribute to Filipino Psychology, either as a concept, or as a movement, and ultimately to change the notion of mainstream Psychology, which at the moment, is mostly western.

xxx

[this was in answer to Jeco's post our blog [link] on benevolence towards the needy. i intially just wanted to give my comments, but it turned out to be quite long so i decided to make a post from it, and it thus marked the end of my hiatus.]

Psychology and Economics both belong to the discipline of Social Science. They both deal with the metacognition and decisions of persons which result to behavior.

Recall the foremost proponent in the third wave of Psychology, whose model of Hierarchy of Needs is a staple in Economics.

Here are my conclusions based on my unobtrusive (sometimes when I watch you guys give alms to the street children) and obtrusive observations (when it's my turn to give alms, or at times when I bash on them based on the assumption that they work for supposed syndicates): they are merely satisfying their most basic hierarchy of need, that is, their physiological needs.

But going beyond that level of meaning, I'll try to give my two cents as to what motivates them and my personal ideological insights.

I do not blame them at all if they seem to be acting out of our social normes, not practicing cultured decorum such as sharing or giving thanks. Again, this is under my assumption that I have interacted with children who do not work for supposed syndicates (this idea is actually farfetched when you think about it because if there are people that they should be working their scrawny asses for, it's for their family). My point is, to try to put things into their perspectives. See the world from their innocent eyes, walk the streets using their worn-out slippers, beg for alms with a calloused palm and an empty stomach. It would make a huge difference.

Now for the second half, I agree that not only does it make you feel bad, but actually, terrible. The hounding idea that your noble efforts are still not enough to change the status quo would give you sleepless nights. But give that thought time to grow that will then make you realize that changing the status quo is not a process of revolution, but more of an evolution. It takes time.

And that's one facticity of life that we could not circumvent.

This is also my personal reason why I condone the Gawad Kalinga project. Although I have never been vocal about my stand (seeing that my alma mater is turning to be a GK country, where initial YFC volunteers are coming zombies, churning out mindless fervor over it. "blind zealots" as I would prefer to identify these youths for Christ), I do not see the significance of its goal of 7,000 homes for 70,000 families in 7 years. Yes, it's a staggering number, but it's just statistic.

The flaw of this vast project (I'll relate this to the topic in a while) is that it ends when the house is complete. Well what about livelihood? One just basically gave the marginalized sector a house (take note, house and not home) to take shelter. Well, they're dry alright, but they're still going to be hungry. Be as it may that it's still better than nothing, but that better is not good enough. It's basically just a patch. This is why I refuse to contribute my physical efforts because after seven years, it will still be a project in vain. Values of Filipino Kapatiran my scrawny ass. It still neglects the more important value of FORESIGHT.

What Gawad Kalinga lacks, as well as our act of kindness to the people asking for alms is the lack of foresight for BOTH parties.

Give them foresight when they have satisfied their physiological needs (i.e. let them realize the bigger picture when they're not thinking on an empty stomach), and that, I would say, is the real significant start than giving them alms and food.

When we've realize that benevolence is not a one-shot process, and they've realize that they should learn to fish as opposed to merely being content to receiving it (ika nga, isang kahig, isang tuka), real lasting change begins. Not only for both our needs, but more imporantly, change (growth) in both our values.

An Indian nun from Calcutta never once gave up even when she realized the big picture. Her unbounded altruism, in a way, became her foresight - to be generous until her world's end.

Yes empathy, then benevolence, but it doesn't end there. Foresight comes next.

-----

It feels great to have that quip in me pulsing again.

Now, I don't really like recipes with coconuts (save for fruitshakes, juices, and bukopies, although that's different), but I'll gladly make an exception for macaroons. They're just divine.

I've tried my hand in making one of those bite sized morsels and here's the recipe that I used. Thanks to Tahnee for giving it to me 4-5 years back heh.

Now, if I could only find the old fetuccini and food for the gods recipes that I used...

-----

You'll need:
1 1/2 cups (about 8 oz.) blanched almonds
1 cup sugar
3 egg whites
1 cup (about 3.5 oz.) sweetened shredded coconut

method:
-Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
-Grind the almonds in a food processor. Combine with sugar and coconut in a large bowl.
-In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites to medium peaks. Gently fold into the almond mixture.
-Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving at least 1 inch between macaroons. Bake until lightly browned, 15-20 minutes.

Makes about 3 dozen macaroons.

Mmmm. enjoy.

-----

I'm interested this time in making cinnamon buns with raisins (you can't go wrong with cinnamon, and apple cinnamon at that!), and learning Tahnee's Angelisas (couldn't spell that one right). Mmmmm.

Ack. all this talk about food made me hungry.

This was done by me and my friend Pia, in our world literature class back in junior college.

For the record, I hate poems and I suck at them.

Anyway, it's about the time when we went to Lian, Batangas in the summer of 2004 for our Filipino Psychology class. It was an immersion subject and we were required to make two research papers on traditional medicine.

Needless to say, the experience was a baptism of fire for us undergraduates. It was the first time for all of us to have an immersion subject; away from home, away from our friends, away from our families.

Heck, we were still froshies ('freshmen' in DLSU. They coined it up for its neutrality), and most of us just turned eighteen...

Five sleepless nights.
Five unrelentless days of being scolded by our professor.
Five mornings spent in transcribing.
Five evenings of soul-searching.
Five afternoons of bonding.

Filipino Psychology class for us will forever be unforgettable. Not only because we literally applied what we leared and groped around the subject matter (pakapa-kapa approach), but it was also a rite of passage for us.

In the end, we all came out as more mature individuals who would take on life's values, challenges, and pretty much all the other little things that we will come across in our journey more seriously.

I don't know about the rest but I certainly think of it that way.

...Seriously.

Most resented that summer. Some were indifferent. Me? I wouldn't trade it for a vacation. College wouldn't be the same without it.

Psychology bootcamp. Heh.

So, as much as I hate poems, this one's close to my heart. Not just to me, but to all BS-Psychology graduates.

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You Will Forget Batangas

If you stay in comfort too long
You will not know
The rewarding feeling
Of passing Sir Javier’s Filipino Psychology class.

You will forget
The feeling of getting enough sleep
Because you were awake the whole night,
Transcribing.

You will forget
The gratitude
From the old lady you interviewed.

Sure, if you stay in comfort too long
You will not know the pain
Of getting a negative score in your rural research paper.

You will forget
The thirst and the heat
Of walking from one Sitio to another
Trying to look for more interviewees.

You will forget
The clucking of the roosters
at dawn, waking you up.

You will forget
Being scolded very midnight…