Golf Brawl

My egalitarian instinct tells me that this issue should be blogged, should be spread. Public concern should be kept alive.

Everyone is probably aware of what has happened last December 26, 2008 at the Valley Golf and Country Club in Antipolo City. Politicians and their bodyguards allegedly knocked around a 56-year-old man and his 14-year-old son over a small-fry dispute in the golf course. I would just redirect you to the blog of Bambee dela Paz (witness, daughter, and sister of the victims) so you would get the first-hand account. It’s a story of grave abuse of power as politicians Mayor Nasser Pangandaman, Jr., Masiu City, Lanao del Sur, and his father, Secretary Nasser Pangandaman of the Department of Agrarian Reform, beat up father and son golfers in Antipolo City.

What happened to the family was loathsome. The incident has just magnified once again what kind of people we put in power— politicians who don’t seem to have a decent bone in their bodies–who can drag down and kick a 56-year-old man to the ground without pangs of conscience. It was really rueful. It’s a good thing that the story has been finally publicized by the mainstream media.

From my own personal standpoint, I think that a real bodyguard should be trained to disarm and immobilize an attacker, not maul him. Politicians, especially those in the provinces, have been known to use their bodyguards as private goons. I don’t know if it just my own stereotype. But regardless whether dela Paz started it, or whether he’s an asshole or not, bodyguards should not go about beating people up. If dela Paz did, indeed, attack the mayor, then he should’ve been arrested and charged with assault, not mauled. The way a government official behaves in public is really important.

To the dela Paz family, keep up the fight!

Language and Mocha

Learning a foreign language becomes easier to some and difficult to others, however everyone can do it. The most important thing is to really want to learn it. Whether the impetus for motivation comes from a business trip, a vacation or move to a different country, a partner who speaks the language, needing to know it for a career, or just because it’s effective to keep inspiration and motivation at the forefront of the mind. I have hunted ways on how to learn French via the internet. I tried watching video from YouTube and it seems helpful since I have acquired a few set of expressions. I’ve also tried online translation sites and they are quite useful.

But I have to say that Livemocha is the best language learning tool I’ve ever found on the Internet. It makes learning a new language really plain sailing. This is coming from someone who always fantasized about learning to speak in French. I could say that Livemocha is doing a good job of helping people like me to have a grasp of the language we are interested about. The best part is that you can work at your own pace, when you have the time. It’s always there, waiting for you. If you want to redo a section, you can. Take it slow or work as swift as you want. Another great thing I love about Livemocha is that you can add friends and submit your exercises to them for review. It makes the learning situation interactive and collaborative in nature. Learning through Livemocha is engaging and fun. Almost as if you were just playing casino. Putting that into analogy it’s like there is an online casino guide that could help you all throughout.

I can’t stress it enough that learning another language is beneficial and yet challenging. It’s great to know that there are ample ways to learn language. But still, the best way to learn it is to sleep with a native. 😉

Ex Libris 2008

I love to read.  Anyone who has known me for more than a nanosecond knows that books make me happy. I try to be a voracious reader. I try to read a wide range of books although I am partial about true crime stories. I have oodles of books sitting on my shelf waiting to have their spines cracked. But since I work full-time,  I have limited time to read for pleasure.

Anyway, here are the books that contributed to my frame of mind for 2008:

1. Discover and Keep True Love by Jenny King

2. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

3. A Death in California by Joan Barthel

4. Fundamentals of Guidance and Counseling by Rocio Reyes Kapunan

5. Historical, Philosophical, and Technological Foundations of Education II by Dr. Doris D. Tulio

6. Measurement and Evaluation, 3rd Edition by Laurentina P. Calmorin

7. Psychology Applied to Teaching, Sixth Edition by Robert F. Blehler and Jack Snowman

8. Developmental Psychology: A Life-Span Approach, Fifth Edition by Elizabeth B. Hurlock

9. Foundations of Education by Dr. Jose F. Calderon

10. Admissions Confidential by Rachel Toor

11. Methods of Research and Thesis Writing by Dr. Jose F. Calderon

American Talking in Tagalog

Undeniably, learning a foreign language takes a lot of  time and dedication. People have their own reasons for learning another language. Some reasons are practical, some aspirational, some intellectual, and others sentimental. But whatever reasons you have, having a clear idea of why you’re learning a language can help to motivate you in your learning.

As to this guy, all I can say is that he’s amazing! Ang galing!

Optimism and Outsourcing

November 22, Saturday, 8:00AM. I was at Avenida and hurriedly walking for my class and yet I have seen the blaring headline of a tabloid: “Call Centers on Mass Lay Offs”.

It doesn’t matter which industry you are working for but you have probably heard of rumors here and there that call centers and BPOs are laying off employees. What made a call center job so virtually alluring a couple of years ago was that when a fresh graduate is clawing to grab a job, any call center is there to offer instant employment. These days, some say it’s not necessarily true anymore. But I am optimistic; I think otherwise. I am optimistic and I believe that outsourcing industry in the Philippines has still a long way to go. It will still prosper and continuously provide equal opportunities for those who want to be part of this industry.

On the subject of layoffs as a failure of management, it’s possible to imagine a scenario in which mass layoffs are not the result of an equivalently huge failure on behalf of top management. But I am optimistic; I think otherwise. I think that such scenario is rare in the real world. And then, it’s also possible to imagine a scenario in which mass layoffs are an absolute last resort and thus not a grievous sin being committed by top management. Still, I am optimistic. I think that such scenario is rare in the real world.

A couple of weeks ago, the government assured that the business process outsourcing industry, particularly call centers, is unlikely to be adversely affected by the global economic slowdown even with the prospect of a looming recession in the United States. It was even reported that the global economic slowdown could even benefit the Philippines as affected countries might find it more productive and profitable to establish and operate call centers here. I believe that; I am optimistic.

I’ve been part of this industry for nearly four years and I am grateful on how this industry has helped me. But I have to be honest too, that I am simply considering this job as a stepping stone, although it seems to me that the my stepping stone is slowly starting to break.

Then, I realized how difficult it is to be so optimistic. How difficult it is to believe that those things that you have will always be there. I know, complacency should not cloud my optimism.

Oh my! I am talking to myself again! Thank God, I reached my class on time. I took my seat, stare on the board, then I muttered to myself, “I am optimistic…”

Why I Don’t Read Some Blogs

Okay, so maybe I might open a can of worms by expressing my dismay when bloggers blog about shits. But of course there are really topics that authors blog about that are really no-no for me as a reader. Well, I know that line is going to be vastly different for other people. But here are my bullet points for not reading a certain blog.

Reason #1: Your blog is filled with cursing.
If your own lingo is all about cursing and cussing, it’s probably okay that your blogging reflect that. But it is very odd and disconcerting to a blog whose every posts is richly peppered with swear words. I am not campaigning against profanity and cursing but I would like to promote decency in writing, or at least in blogging. One does not need to resort to vulgarity and profanity to drive home a certain point. Profanity is used when the speaker doesn’t have the education or ability to use other words. Vocabulary is learned. Profanity is just ignorance at its highest degree.

Reason #2: Your blog is all about sex.
This one is dangerous folks. A blog is not supposed to be a semi-porn site. A blog should not be oozing with perverted themes. It’s damaging. Pornography inevitably goes together with sexual fantasies which rarely live up to anything you’ll experience in real life. It may be suitable for some people, but it’s a guaranteed slow death for any reader who craves for a clean and decent blog. I’m not saying you have to be squeaky clean. I’m just saying, a blog should be a blog, not a porn site.

Reason #3: Your blog is all about links.
This one isn’t really egregious, but posts like this are mostly ignored (at least by me.) There are couple of blogs that I can think of, right off the top of my head, which qualifies to what I call a links-a-lot post. Instead of writing a witty post of their own, they turn to other bloggers to fill the void. That would be okay except these are posts wherein there is little or no commentary by the author of the post–- it is merely a string of links, some with descriptions, some just hanging there. These posts allege to be “posts on articles you might find interesting.”

I know that not every reader is going to feel the way I do about these topics. But surely, you also have your own reasons for not reading some blogs.

I Can't Love You Today

Manila, Philippines
October 14,2008
12:03am

In the stillness of this Asian evening
Without sunlight to intrude
It only prods me to imagine the dusk in your eyes
Yes the moon sets up the mood, but you are not here with me
And so I can’t love you today.

A soft and slow rhythm plays on my head
While my self-made romance fills the air
I can’t help but feel aroused
This very moment your seductive imagery lingers on me
But still, I can’t love you today.

I long to whisper words of love
And I hope you answer them with a sigh in a very sexy way (of course)
I envision your sweet body to come alive
And yet that could only be just a fabricated fantasy…
Manu, I can’t love you today.

Disney and Satanism

I am not really a religious person and so I don’t have my own standpoint about Satanism. But I would like to share this video because it speaks more than just about Satanism itself — it could also be about dozen other things which could range from entertainment to evangelism, to absurdity, exaggeration, and reality.

To view this video from a slightly fictional/psychological perspective, I would say psychology has something to say about this. Bandura’s social learning theory says that people learn behaviors, emotional reactions, and attitudes from role models whom they wish to emulate. If this video has a touch of reality (which I am confused about), then as a society we should wield the power of television and the promise of psychological theory to address some social problems. What do I mean? Well, it simple: billions of people around the world spend large portions of their lives watching television. Billions of people are also affected by AIDS, overpopulation, illiteracy, and gender discrimination.

And in reference to Satanism, I have yet to see it in someone else’s lens.

Wanderlust and Nostalgia

It’s been a year since I left my previous company where I functioned as a travel associate for Cheaptickets and Orbitz. I immensely enjoyed my experience being such. It was fun modifying the itineraries and I really enjoyed helping people find the right vacation package for their needs at the best possible price available. It’s been a little tougher to get going than I anticipated, but it was worth the effort for me. Because of that job I was introduced to travel systems like Worldspan, Apollo, Delta, Sabre, and Shares and I take pride for that. I got acquainted with hundreds of different airlines— from the popular ones up to those who are not so-popular like Carpatair, TAROM, Aeroflot, El Al, Star Aviation, and much more. I have memorized hundreds of airport codes that it almost became part of my system.

Being part of such a huge industry is rewarding. But of course, there are things that would make me agitated as a travel agent and Schedule Changes would be on top of the list. Who would love Schedule Changes anyway? For travelers, they hate it when there are schedule changes as it means changing their travel plans too. They hate it to such an extreme degree. And travelers could also get nasty from dozens of other reasons, which most of the bulk goes to outsourcing. And when they get irritated, sarcasm will just go a long way. As travel associates we would hear complains about our accents or they would even asked as if we’ve traveled with a plane.

The experience was both monotonous and frolic. But I quit that job because I think I’m better off doing other things. Right now, I am clawing my way to pursue my Master’s and hope to teach someday. But being a travel agent once will always be something worth remembering.

Deprived of Hits and Comments

Sometimes I asked myself whether I blog because I really want to or am I just obsessed about getting hits and comments? I don’t want to blog just for the hits and comments. Undeniably, it is nice to know that people are visiting and enjoy (or disgust) reading your blog. To a blogger, comments and hits are like food…you just cannot live without those. They refresh you, replenish you and, give you the energy to keep on going. As a blogger, I want comments and hits but I don’t want to be overfed with such. Well, let’s clear up the confusion on this; a blog is not a forum. And sometimes, comments on my post would read like a forum. There’s nothing wrong with that; but sometimes it is not so desirable either.

So why do I blog anyway?

I blog because I love to write. It’s like you’re letting words be the masterpiece of your thoughts. Writing is a deeply personal art. And through blogging, I am given the chance to enjoy that art. Blogging is an ideal medium to communicate your strongly held beliefs and knowledge to an audience thirsty for knowledge. You say something and in return you’re also hearing what others have to say. Isn’t that fun?

I blog because I want to see what other writers are doing. Their stories could also be my story. Their sentiments could also reflect the ones that I have. And mine is theirs. It’s like creating a link on what I have to say between what they have to say. The closest analogy that I can think of is that like of a discussion we would have in the classroom way back in college— when somebody would raise a hand to add up to what the professor is saying. And another hand raises to react to what that student said.

I blog because it’s the freest public form of writing. I want to be public with my writing. I want an audience. But I don’t want someone telling me what to write. Blogging gives me that. It gives you freedom and versatility. It gives you a voice and persona which is something I greatly enjoy.

This is actually just a recycled post of an entry which failed to get any hits and comments. I hope this time, hits and comments will come.