Friday, June 27, 2008
The Land of Perpetually Thickening Plots
It’s not unpatriotic, and it’s definitely not colonial mentality. It’s an observation from someone who has been removed from it all, propped up somewhere in a distance where there is an adequate outsider’s view of my country, from a former insider’s point of view: Why can’t there be a simple plot? Why can’t there just be a group of terrorists kidnapping a journalist for monetary gain? Why must the negotiator, the town mayor and his son, turn out to be the actual masterminds of the kidnap plot, taking more of the loot than the actual kidnappers who exerted all the effort to get the humble journalist’s meager savings? Why can’t a ship sink at sea in the middle of a storm, with survivors and casualties, as part of life? Why must the sea carrier company own the worst maritime disasters in world history, including the famed Dona Paz 1987 which killed 4,300 people (leaving The Titanic’s 1,500 in the dust…but tell me if you’ve even heard of the Dona Paz before) when it was only supposed to hold a max of 2,000? And why must this newly-sunken ship Princess of the Stars, a week into rescue and recovery efforts, turn out to be carrying 800 tons of a prohibited super-toxic pesticide that is banned in 17 countries, and only because Del Monte Philippines opened its mouth and revealed that fact? This not only halted all recovery efforts indefinitely but now poses a new threat for surrounding communities and aquatic industries in the area. Somehow the plots are ever-revolving, continuously revealing subplot after another, like an exciting story whose unbelievable twists always prompt the reluctant reader to shake her head and just be, like, “Are you serious?” In the As a resident of the now-mortalized and fallen What I do know is what I spent 26 years of my life with, and that is the culture of desperation, poverty and deprivation at all levels in Philippine society. From start to finish, each complex plot has one guy after the other getting paid off to accomplish the one big task that gives the biggest payoff of all. Overloading a passenger ship during the Christmas season. Secretly loading a passenger ship with hazardous materials and letting the same ship sail off into the eye of a major storm. Concocting a grand plan to kidnap We are the nation of the great, college-educated, English speaking brown people who are supposedly hard-working, resilient and law-abiding – or am I speaking out of my ass because I’m college-educated, I speak English and have expatriated myself and shipped my talents and skills over to another country to earn an American wage? Majority of Filipinos are none of the above, born into families that have been poor and uneducated for generations (whose plights have probably been worsened a hundredfold by the global economy, rising gas and grain prices), whose only hope is a shot at winning the lottery, winning a variety show contest, or – the most noble of professions – ending up as some middleman at some post accepting money for turning a blind eye on something. It’s the saddest truth that I cannot (no, actually -- that I don’t have the right to) understand, comprehend, find causes for --- much less find solutions for -- the dark, downward spiral of poverty and dishonesty, corruption, deceit, and the hopeless predicament of my beloved homeland. 
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
diggin' the new crib
T-Mobile
Monday, June 23, 2008
22-foot ledge countertop
T-Mobile
We did it by hand with these stones.We did it by hand with these stones.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Yum!
T-Mobile
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Fits right in
T-Mobile
Monday, June 09, 2008
Probably the biggest new toy ever
T-Mobile
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Saying Farewell to Hillary
And now we face what has been the inevitable for the past month or so as Obama overtakes the most powerful political family in recent history (I guess the Bushes are powerful too, but they are more stupid than influential so it kinda cancels out). While all good hopes go with this man who has managed to sweep the hearts of youngins in America for the past year, it is with great sadness that we say goodbye to the possibility we might not see in our lifetime, which is the elusive dream of a female President. While both candidates have fought to downplay their race and sex, their defining characteristics and what these represent simply cannot be denied. If Oprah so easily managed to sway black voters from their long-time fave whiteys the I don’t know if I told you that when I was in fifth grade I got called into the principal’s office because I had turned in a signed letter from my parents that they were allowing me to join the soccer tournament, crossing out the word “son” and replacing it with “daughter.” Mrs. Leila Bautista, Head Directress, looked me in the eye and said that soccer is only for boys because “What will happen if you get hit by a ball?” I stared at her, and with a word I borrowed from my older sisters whose weight and true meaning I wouldn’t know until decades later, I said “Don’t be a sexist.” She signed the papers and sent me off. Back in homeroom, my teacher told me that I shouldn’t be playing soccer because it’s for boys, I would get dark and grow muscles in my legs, and no boy would like me. I ignored her and played in the tournament. Of course, there must have been some conspiracy with the coach to not let me play as much as I only got a couple of minutes of play time, but so did my brother, so at 10 years old it felt liberating, even if on the field the opposing team’s boys repeatedly vowed to kick my skinny ass. My point is if my family was not that supportive or if I wasn’t as stubborn, any other girl would have been discouraged. This kind of sexism is rarely tolerated in the classroom these days. That doesn’t mean that it’s a free ticket to success. Hillary Clinton, probably the most influential and pivotal woman in the modern world, during this Presidential campaign had to go through hecklers during her speeches who yelled “Iron my shirt!”, bumper stickers with a demented image of her and the word “bitch” underneath, nutcrackers with her head on it, and other such sexist insults. A political analyst once likened these sexist comments against Hillary to heckling Obama with something like “Go back to the plantation!” or “Shine my shoes!” – insults that are not only unthinkable when directed at minorities, but especially towards men. Why is it okay to laugh and ridicule powerful women? The answer to that lies in the fact that women allow it, in so many ways that black people would not allow an offense headed in that direction. Somehow femininity and success cannot be in the same boat, any woman in power inevitably gets regarded as a bitch, a lesbian, a man-hater and downright ugly. Can’t there be a compromise? While the world has changed in so many different and positive ways enough for women to hold many positions of power and responsibility in the government and in the workplace, it is a struggle that continues for most of us who deal with men who still believe that it is our job to mind the home, and not bring home the bacon – or worse – that it’s our job to do both. Now who is getting a free ride in that case? If I had a daughter I would raise her the way I was raised, never ever hearing the words “You can’t _____, because you’re a girl.” Of course that meant I got away with wearing men’s clothes and dating girls, but it also meant that I never considered my being female as a hindrance to anything. The real world showed me otherwise, of course, but we should leave this lesson outside the house. A lesson we need to teach our daughters is the story of what was perhaps the most exciting democratic presidential nomination in US History, which includes the story of Hillary Rodham Clinton, her strength, her challenges, and what it meant to women everywhere to imagine her as the president of the
