Positive Power

There are those who, in life, inspires us to aspire, and who, in their passing, inspires us further to live our lives better.



Luciano Pavarotti's distinct, powerful voice recognized everywhere gave life to works composed lifetimes before him. Even if I do not understand the language, I am moved by the music.

In Anita Roddick's holistic work, the one which has the most impact on me, on the other hand, was giving her voice to those who do not have the facility to communicate vocally: speaking on behalf of the animals. Yes, Dame Anita, I know they thank you, too.

1943-2007
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Image courtesy of The Age

Grazie.

Your voice and joie de vivre will be missed. Grazie, il sig. Luciano, il Maestro. Riempia il cielo di vostra voce dolce.

Classic

One of the weirdest days of the year probably. Intermitent (strong) rains, bloody traffic jams, kids being sent home wading in the flood (when they actually made it to school dry), and Quentin Tarantino taking the pedicab in Manila through flooded streets to Malacanang to receive an award. Classic.




[Almost] pulp fiction
We make do, and have fun, as he did. Wallowing, yes, but not in tears.
AP writes:

Tarantino, director of "Pulp Fiction" and the "Kill Bill" movies, wore a traditional Filipino formal shirt and sandals.

He was handed size-13 black leather shoes because sandals and rubber shoes aren't allowed inside the palace during presidential ceremonies, said a staff member of the National Commission on Culture and Arts.

Tarantino, 44, was among three Lifetime Achievement award winners in the 9th Cinemanila, a film festival featuring foreign and local movies.

He is writing a book about Philippine films, particularly the horror and action movies he saw in his youth.

The AP wire did not say that he changed into a pair of black jogging pants (it had a white leg stripe) which he wore with the barong. It did not also say that, while he had fun ("It was a lot of fun. It's the way it is, I guess. ... It was wild... No worries. I've done more serious things than that.") his companions, including Filipino director Tikoy Aguiluz, were horrified (perhaps, either at the thought of taking the pedicab TO MALACANANG, or to not take the pedicab ride too seriously).






(Photos courtesy of AP)

Pinoy, proudly.

A local logo design competition was launched on June 12, our Independence Day commemoration, that aims to come up with the official Pinoy web badge for all sites owned, created, moderated and/or catering to Filipinos here and elsewhere.

The competition calls for logo design entries for Proudly Pinoy, details of which can be found at the Proudly Pinoy site.

Pinoy designers are enjoined to submit until July 11, 2007. To date, there are 55 entries on the site already.


(See composite image above)

low-tech gets hi-tech

In May when my cousin was here for a visit, one of her concerns was charging purchases using her debit card at gas stations. No, it wasn’t that her card would not be honored; rather, the concern was perhaps the fact that the staff at our gas stations – greasy and poor lit as they are in some branches, the stations – might commit identity theft, whether intentionally or otherwise, as may have been the unfortunate experience of some of her friends and acquaintances back in the US.

Of course we assured her that incidence of card fraud was nearly unheard of in Manila. Ok, that may not be entirely true. But at least for us whom she was with, none among our circle of friends have so far been victims of such incidents.

Identity theft have been rarely reported in the news; some cases have been topics for late-night TV docu-series that told of MOs at ATMs or swiped payments made by shoppers in malls or department stores using credit cards, but even these establishments have put in place certain measures of verification prior to receipt of payment.

So, it does not mean that consumers are safer because we do not seem so hi-tech and covert – even the Love Bug author was supposedly found to be not much of a techie himself.

However, there is a bigger danger to unconcealed illegal activities in that the victims are far at risk because they face direct assault to their persons and properties. And when the low-tech lowlifes decide to go hi-tech, the consequences are instant, unsavory, and more damaging.

The irony to low-tech crimes on hi-tech properties – laptops in this case – is that the items stolen are [1] of no use to the thief [2] because the thieves themselves may be computer-illiterate. This does not mean, however, that the thieves are totally technologically challenged, as they reaffirm the dialogue on Invention. Therefore, in being so challenged by the prospect of getting their hands on a piece of technology, they resort to primitive means: smashing windows, unhooking car locks with wires, distraction (“What time is it?”) &mdash the usual, low-tech MOs, ho-hum, but it seems to work effectively. The overall irony, though, is that these thefts have been occurring more regularly lately, yet none have been reported in the news.

Could it be that the victims are not wont to bother filing a police report? Could it be because some see stolen laptops as merely a case of losing expensive toys and nothing more? I think what is missed out is the fact that laptops have become the equipment of choice for serious work by some people – no, make that most people here in the Philippines – my friends included. And what an investment in time, money and productivity it took them to make this choice possible. Caveat emptor!
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Culled Stats:
• The price of a workhorse laptop (Apple or PC) is almost equivalent to a second-hand car.
• The most incidents of stolen laptops are from unattended vehicles parked in public places.
• The second most popular places for stolen laptops are in public cafés.
• There have been rare cases of Macintosh laptops being returned to their owners because they were password-protected.

imaginary meetings

I'd be in a corner observing (Exupery's) the Fox, Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Hobbes, Bo Nana and Dogbert on a Saturday early afternoon get-together at Dilbert's office with unlimited coffee, hot cocoa and hunny. It'd interesting to listen to what they'd be talking about.
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Edit:
So, here I have a group photo of the first of such meetings. :)











© All characters appearing in the above graphic are copyright of their creators.

fragmented but whole

Philippine Independence Day:12 June



Over a simple breakfast with a bunch of American volunteers (meal consisted of rice, boiled winged beans, vegetarian lumpia (my veggie friend's baon), and fried eggs I requested for — I should remember to bring with me my own fare next time!) high up in the mountains of Asipulo, Ifugao, talk naturally drifted from casual personal introductions to the state of matters.

Our volunteer-host D (whom I shall refer to as Casper (the friendly ghost) had a grandfather who served in the US Navy and was assigned to the Philippines during WWII. In fact, he has with him now an old photograph of his lolo taken from what Casper believes to be a street somewhere in Pasay (also known as Pineda during that time, now a City). Casper's other grandfather was mighty proud of him for working in the Philippines as a volunteer. Casper asked me: "Why is it that the Philippines seems like it has not taken off the way it should? You are not lacking in resources and the people are hard working."

Why, indeed? It looked like an easy question to answer, but which stumped me for a few seconds. It is a political question, I thought, though he may be seeking for answers other than political. At that point, too, I was fully aware that the volunteers can not engage in political talk and reminded myself of it — if the discussion had taken the political turn, I expected very little active participation from our guests.

Same Question
It is not as if we have not asked ourselves the same question. In fact, I believe we like being asked that question, as it opens an arena for punditry from Filipinos from all walks of life.

But there seems to be no single, correct answer. At least not one satisfactory answer that does not lead to a heated argument between the inquirer and the respondents.

Depending on one's location, heritage, cultural or educational background, business and scope of experience, the answers may range from a pretentious soliloquy to a strange series of nods. There, too, is the factor of language where, for instance, everyone tries to engage each other in Tagalog, yet the message risks not being fully understood by those who do not speak it as the discussion deepens.

A Nation of Islands
Stats say we have a total of 170 to 171 dialects, 2 of which are considered official (Tagalog and Bisaya), and 8 co-official, whatever that means. We were taught to refer to these dialects as languages, as each is distinct. The stats, I am sure, do not count Taglish, Textlish, Tag-Il, Baklish and other current phenomenal Tagalog variants determined by class, clique or contemporary customs. There is even a confusion as to what the major linguistic differences are between Tagalog and Filipino.

These dialects (or, languages, rather) are from the 7,100 or so islands that make up the archipelago. Each island is a separate community; each community belonging to a separate district; each district is from a region, and so forth. How the non-Spanish speaking Ilocanos communicated with the Kapampangans and Tagalogs during the Spanish period is still a mystery to me. For sure, there were those who were multilingual at the time, but I imagine it to be rare. The most common words most likely understood by all would probably have been yo, hambre, hombre, mujer, Padre, madre, hijo, donde, among a few. I’m just guessing.

But how did they express to each other, say, the sincere desire and intention to be united in one cause, without giving it away to the guardia civil? They probably couldn't. That's why It took all of 400 years to translate a universal experience to a single action, with the aid of yet another force of circumstance. And then another, and another.

Only In Da Philippines
When we speak about the weirdest of experiences, the strangest of humors, or the most compromising situations, we say "only in the Philippines." Only in the Philippines do we address these situations either in jest, out of frustration or as a matter of fact.

Yet, there are many other only's that we fail to note by heart, perhaps just too many. And, as ever, none spoken to the satisfaction of each Filipino. It seems that the more common our experiences have become, the farther apart we are even as we try to grasp the full understanding of what keeps us together under one flag. And the farther apart we are, the weaker we become as a nation.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Philippines)
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Scene: Eat Bulaga
Location: Free TV
Date/Time: June 12, 2007, 2:10pm

Q (host): ...mula 1946 hanggang 1961, ginugunita ang Independence day na July 4. Inilipat ito sa June 12...Sino ang dating presidente, na taga Pampanga (emphatic), na nag-proklama nito (na gawin itong June 12)?
A (contestant): (silence)
Q (host): ...taga-Pampanga...dating presidente...sino ito?...binibigyan kita ng limang segundo!
A (contestant): ...si...Diosdado.
Q (host): Sino??!!
A (contestant):...si Diosdado!
Q (host): Sinong Diosdado??!!
A (contestant):...si Diosdado! Diosdado Mac..a..pagal....Arroyo!! Diosdado Macapagal Arroyo!!!
(silence)

Q (co-host): Ano ka ba naman??!! Eto'ng limang libo. Maghanap ka ng ibang kausap mo, ha?