A Big Puzzle called LOST

LOST tells the story of plane crash survivors stranded in an island full of mysteries. The show is a must see for people who craves for a show full of excitement, adventure and has intelligent writing. This is not your typical American shows which has stand-alone episodes. The first season, which I have recently finished, chronicles the first 41(?) days of the castways. The story is continous journey so it requires the viewer patience so if you have short attention span I guess you will get tired with the show easily. The show is like a large puzzle with every new episode bringing a new piece to the puzzle. Lots of questions will be raise however those will not be answered immediately. And sometimes when a question is addressed it will bring another one. The characters (well there are about 10 major characters) are not one dimensional, aside from what we see in them in the islands, the show also gives us the preview on how they live before the crash through backstories intertwined with each episode. Each episode (except the pilot and the season finale which have various backstories) focuses on one castaway's backstory. Their stories are so engaging and in some ways interconnected. But LOST is not just pure action as the story has a also a of mix of humor, drama and a little romance on the side.This is the type of show that will make you feel uneasy in your couch,make you cry and will definietly will get you thinkin and evaluate on the situation and the charcters' actions. However, I'm worried on how the show will end, the program set high expectations and hopefully the show's writers will not be "lost" since they have to avoid the story to be too dragging but not completely be revealing since it may generate lost of interest. But as of now I'm enjoying the program since this is truly one amazing show.

Summer Term Wrap Up

Today is the distribution of summer term grades and I'm very please with the results.
I have obtain 4.00 for both subjects (Newswriting & Editing and Newspaper Management & Production). I'm really ecstatic to get the highest grade since I rarely get that kind of grade and it I'm makes me more happy since these are the subjects that I really love and enjoy. It's a great feeling to end summer classes in a very high note.

Remembering Funny Komiks

The topic of reminiscing my favorite comics FUNNY KOMIKS [FK] came up when I read a friend's blog. I really love funny komiks,I have collected it for a decade. I started when I was 4, the age when I don't even know how to read yet, my brother just read that to me. Actually, my family is a huge fan of komiks, my siblings were the initial people who collected funny komiks, namana ko lang. Too bad their collection was burned when we had a fire in the place we use to live in (Sta. Ana Manila). When we moved here in Cavite the first thing I looked for is their is someone selling funny komiks, luckily I found not just one but two magazine stalls selling FK. My real motivation to learn how to read is FUNNY KOMIKS, I dont want to depend on my siblings anymore. I want to experience it. I continued my funny komiks for a long time. I even send my drawings (na binakat ko lang naman) and my works were published. That's my first experience in seeing my name on print. It happened twice, the first one though my name was misspelled [Jecusp Asombruelo] I guess that happened because of my awful penmanship that why I made it sure the next time that my handwriting is legible already. I witness how the price of the comics became higher as years goes by.It started at 3.50 then 5 then 7 then 9 until it reached 17.50! I stopped buying FK when I was in 3rd year highschool because I just find not entertaining anymore,it lost it charm,its becoming anime-ish. But my 7 years worth of collection is still with me (too bad I had lots of issues that got lost), and I will never throw it away nor sell it to the junkshop. It's a part of my life already. I dont know if FK is still in circulation but the stall I used to buy it does not sell anymore. Sad.

And now I present to you

Broadcast Journalism 2-1's [SY 05-06] Class Publication for Newspaper Management "The Cavite Voyager"



This is the frontpage of our paper




This is the opinion page, I wrote the editorial ["Where are they going"] and a column [ "Message Sent"] which I both posted here earlier.

If you want to see the other 14 pages just

click here

Kudos to my classmate, Gerard Atienza, who designed the layout. I feel so proud to see the fruit of our hardwork. Well, I believe I did a good job in handling our class publication. Afterall, this is the first [and probably the only] time I became an Editor in Chief.

Goodbye

Our dog, Kevin, died yesterday. I could not believe it. I did not saw it coming although he has not been his usual energetic self I did not think that he is really ill. We were shocked, it was early afternoon, my father tought Kevin was just sleeping and when he called him he did not respond. Then when my father came closer he notice that he is not breathing anymore. Our dog left us already. My father and brother buried him in our garden like what we always do when a pet dies. Our family was sad but we are all good in concealing it. I know my mother was the one who is most affected, she remarked "Okay lang yan, mahirap na rin naman alagaan yan" but I knew she meant the opposite. She treated our dog like her own child and although she is always tired due to household chores she never fails to attend to our dog's needs. Today, as I left for school, I glanced at our porch and it was empty. Kevin is no longer sitting there sleeping or eating or barking. It was so sad. It was like loosing a family member. I know when I go home I will even feel more sad since there will be no more Kevin barking as I open the gate

Finding Your Niche

Its already May and its almost a year when I took the HF exam. I so remember that day,it was the last day of the summer term and also the day of the enrolment for the 1st semester then I saw the poster screaming that HF is now open for applicants I immediately dragged one classmate to persuade to take the exam with me.When I found someone we immediately went to the HF office and took the exam, but my classmate did not finish the exam because of some emergency.So I was left alone and ,boy, the exam was hard it took me three hours to finish it.I only answered the features and literary exam since I've realized that the guy is just waiting for me to finish so he could go home, I did not answer the news exam anymore.

When I left school,I thought I will not make it. The features exam was hard, some questions were hard to understand while the literature I just dont have "it".After one month,I did not hear anything from HF so I just concluded that I failed. But on July 5,I received the text I've been waiting for a long time.

I was really happy when I made it even though I did not take the NEWS exam I was still accepted as a news staff. I've learned a lot of things about HF like really discovering what niche really is, NEWSWRITING, before I just wanted to write but I don't know exactly what to write but when I became an HF staff I found out that my writing style is really suited for news writing and I enjoy it. Being part of a school publication has been a dream for me for such a long time and when I became a part of it I could not complain less. Being with HF, I've learned a lot of stuff even more than what I could learn in school Mam Brenda, my newswriting and newspaper management prof and former HF editor, told me that she learned more about journalism with HF than the subjects she took up in the ABCOM course. It makes sense being with HF I am continously learning compared to an academic subject which is just limited to classworks and it is just only for a semester.

I'm so glad being a part of Heraldo Filipino.

(By the way until now I haven't erased the text message telling that I passed HF,I'm such a sentimental dude)

Boobtube Battle Boo Boos

the Philippines is not only divided on whether you are rich or poor, pro life or pro death penalty, ChaCha lovers or haters, liberals and conservatives but whether you are kapuso or kapamilya. Yes, you heard it right! Our country is also divided on their television preferences. The question “Kapuso ka ba o kapamilya?” has already become a staple query with your friends or even acquaintances (this question has become an effective tool for starting up a conversation). But incase you have live in television solitude and is totally clueless with the aforementioned monikers let’s make it clear that kapuso means a GMA 7 viewer while a kapamilya is an ABS CBN 2 viewer. These tags are the networks ploy to promote loyalty among the audience. However, the competition between ABS CBN 2 and GMA 7 has become more intense than ever. The last five years a couch potato witnessed the clashing of these television giants as they battle for ratings supremacy. But is the competition still healthy? And does this rivalry equate quality programming? Lets’ enumerate the effects of this network war

Pagkatapos ng…

Today’s TV schedule there is no more definite time schedule especially the primetime slot. The networks schedule their programs as one package deal for ABS CBN Primetime Bida and Telebabad for GMA 7. And when you see plugs the ads will say “Gulong ng Palad pagkatapos ng PBB Teen Edition” and “Majika pagkatapos ng Extra Challenge (EC)” and what is the schedule of PBB and EC? “Pagkatapos ng (*insert news program here*)”. The reason for this absurd scheduling? The networks hope that a viewer will stay in tuned not just for one but a series of show Walang Lipatan. But this type of scheduling there lays the problem; the essence of time is diminished among the viewers. Hey how can we know the real time if the schedule is that, tantyahan?

You are nothing but a second rate trying hard copycat!

The two networks rip each other off, that’s a fact, but they deny it adamantly. They are both guilty of copying each other’s ideas. ABS CBN produced their own “Starstruck” in the form of “Star Circle Quest”, GMA tried to produce a children’s gag show ala Goin Bulilit in the form of Bubble Gang Jr. But whenever a network launches a show with similar concept of the other network, the latter will result to parinigan (more of about this later) and will boast as being the original. But they forgot one thing being the first or original does not mean being the best. But blatant copying of another show’s concept but poorly executed there’s the viewers off. Sometimes they just produce “a similar show” for the sake of giving a “pantapat” to the other, and not to entertain the audience.

The network war even reached the highest mountain in the world. The Everest Expedition has also become an issue among the networks; “Sino ang nauna sa pag cover at nang gaya?” is what is implied with the networks’ plugs. The expedition instead of being a moment for triumph has become another venue for the bantering and showing off; the networks’ intention of covering the historical event is clearly seen and it’s not good. It is as if they cover the said event just to compete with each other and not to inform the Filipino people. Because of the networks’ coverage, the event is now inserted in the society’s consciousness, but the attention of the viewers is whether which channel will beat the other in the coverage and the actual expedition took the backseat.

Migration

“Si (*insert name here*) kapuso/kapamilya na!” this is usually the headline of showbiz talk shows (and showbiz segments of news programs as well) when a ward from the rival network transfers to their own respective station. This transferee will now be given plenty of exposure of his/her new network sometimes even more compared to the networks homegrown talents. An artist seems to be more viable if s/he “migrates” to the other network. When someone transfers, the showbiz writers always make it to the point to make a big deal out of it. The network grooms the transferee with a reason to slap the rival’s face, which may say “Hey, in your care this talent’s career is dead but when s/he transferred to us it bloomed, we are better in handling talents than you!” The setback, the network sometimes give an unworthy attention to the transferee whose only “appeal” is that s/he came from the other network and neglects their own talents. And what happened to these neglected talents? When they are fed up they will seek opportunities with the rival network and the cycle begins…

“Kampihan”

The “parinigan” between ABS CBN and GMA has become so normal with their plugs. The network’s rivalry has become similar to a fraternity feud. A viewer sometimes wonders if ever the people of these networks see each other will they engage in a catfight? The tabloid makes the competition even more. Writers who are taking the side of one network write more (destructive) articles criticizing the other network’s shows and stars. Showbiz talk shows are also guilty with that they sometimes devote a segment bashing the other network. The (unfunny) sitcoms also commit that especially when a “transferee” is a guest, the series regulars will often threw lines that tackles why s/he left the other station. The plugs especially ratings related are so filled with pun intended statements. The mudslinging between the TV stations has become a tool to gain sympathy among the viewers to take their side and loathe the rival.

These “parinigan” has gravely affected the audience. Internet forums such as PinoyExchange house the “kapamilya vs. kapuso” bickering. Reading how the forum members defend their favorite channel and scrutinize the rival you will see how influential the network has been. The viewers has been so attached with the stations that they seem to get hurt too when bad statements are being thrown to their beloved network. Its quite queer to see that networks created a cult following and it manifested how influential the medium (television) has been.

Maturity

It is said that a competition brings out the best among the one involve it. They try to top what their opponent had done by giving the best efforts. In the case of the Kapuso vs. Kapamilya, their rivalry instead of improving the quality of programming has resulted to making their competition a form of entertainment. Yes, the network war spices up the otherwise bland local TV scene but is that what the stations could only offer? The television is a powerful medium and must be used in the proper way and not just a vehicle to boost egos.

Ironic, isn't it?

1. When you are in a hurry, there will be a lot of things/occurences that will delay you. But if you have lots of time and even if you still intentionally want to be late you will still arrive on time.

2. When you are looking for something you could not find it but when you dont need it anymore thus you stop hunting for it out of the blue that thing will pop up to you

3. You bring an umbrella everyday but it does not rain but the one time you will forget it, it will rain.

Where are they going?

A new school year is nearing; by this time several high school graduates had already made their choice of what course to take and what school to attend. And recently, the most popular course is Nursing.

Slots for the said course in some schools have been close as early as March due to an overwhelming number of applicants. Since there is a large demand, schools offering Nursing sprouted like mushrooms in the metropolis.

If you would ask those students why they have chosen to be a future nurse, the answers may vary but it is not surprising if they believe that nursing is the channel for them to land a good-paying job abroad.

The sudden influx of job opportunities abroad for nurses has resulted for more students to aspire to work abroad. According to an article published at Manila Standard Today the United States alone needs one million nurses by 2010, while in Europe, about 20,000 nursing slots are available.

The nursing phenomenon does not limit to undergraduate students but college graduates as well. News of doctors and other professionals studying nursing is not new anymore. From 2000-2004 around 6,000 Filipino doctors were reported to be taking up Nursing.

Statistics from Philippine Overseas Employment Administration stated that from 1996 to 2002, 16, 124 nurses were deployed abroad. But other countries’ gain is our country’s big loss. The exodus of nurses and doctors resulted to the shortage of nurses and doctors especially in the rural areas. An alarming statistical figure stated that there is only one government nurse per nine barangays and ,worse, one nurse per 16, 723 Filipinos

How could we expect for this country to be “cured” from its “illness” if the people will leave it unaided? Who will take care of the Filipinos if almost all capable health workers have flown out to somewhere but here?

But can we really blame them if they seek greener pastures? What they earn abroad pales in comparison to what they receive here in the country. These people also have their own families to support and, unfortunately, the prospect of having a stable life in the Philippines is bleak. To be idealistic in this country is one tough road to take. Sad but true.

Message Sent

Ten years ago the cell phone was something for the rich and well off only. Back then beepers were the “in” thing, along with tamagotchis. Mobile phones were so large that its only difference with a landline phone is that a cell phone is handy but still bulky (it’s like bringing a landline with you). And as far as I remember, cell phones back then were all on post-paid basis so owners expect bills as expensive as their electric bills arriving in their doorstep every month.
Five years ago, the cell phone phenomenon started to take over the country. I remember during my early days in high school when a classmate showed his cell phone. (I can’t remember exactly whether it was Nokia 5110 or 3310 but what I’m sure is that it was the model that was then considered “sosyal.”) We were quite amazed, and soon enough some classmates jumped the bandwagon and started buying their own cell phones. There were “competitions” as to who will get the higher score in Snake and debates on how the game Logic is played (up to now I still don’t know how to play that game). I did not have a cell phone until I entered college but I was not out of the loop back then since I always borrowed the “family cell phone”, which I just use at home. Forwarding jokes and quotations was very predominant and of course I had my share of “text mates” (which today I think is just a waste of load).

Almost every one now owns a cell phone. Every week, a new model is released making your cell phone look so obsolete. Now, a cell phone is not just for calls and text messages but you can now use it to take pictures, listen to music, record voice or video clips, and many more. The ring tones were upgraded from monotones to polytones and now real music. Ring tones are not limited to music only, since I’ve also heard a Mike Enriquez and an “I see dead people” ring tone. Cell phone crimes have climbed the ladder too. Theft cases have risen from snatchings to hold ups. There was even a report that a student was killed because he refused to give his cell phone to a robber. There is also what you call “text scams” where someone will text you saying that you have won a huge amount of money, the catch being, you have to pay first before you receive and a lot of people have fallen to that ploy. And of course, there are the “sex scandals” being passed from phone to phone. From college students to celebrities the choices are endless. No wonder the bold film industry is already dead here because why pay if you could have your pornography right in your hands?

There are about 30 million phone users in the Philippines, and they send an average of 400 million text messages a day (and that figure was before the “unlimited texting”). Well, China sends more text messages than us, but you have to consider their population. No wonder the telecom companies are one of the richest corporations in the country. I’ve read in Philippine Daily Inquirer that Smart has 20.8 million subscribers, Globe has 13.62 subscribers and the newbie Sun has about 2 million. The total is 36.42 million subscribers or 42.8 percent of the country’s 85 million population. According also to a Philippine Daily Inquirer article, in the first half of 2005 Filipinos spent 165.8 billion pesos for telecommunication services. Ironically, we are a country that is having an economic crisis.

Many explanations were made why we Filipinos are cell phone-crazy people but it all boils down to the fact that we love staying connected in an instant. If you’re alone and bored, just text someone and you will not feel alone anymore. Text messages became so popular because most of us are shy and is have troubles expressing ourselves. With text messaging, we are more comfortable speaking out what’s on our mind.

The mobile phone business is still not showing signs of waning. The cell phone is now a part of our lives. The competition between the telecom companies is stiffer than ever. Mobile phone services has became more affordable especially with the introduction of “loads in sachet”, that is electronic loading which has became a common fixture in sari-sari stores, canteens and even the sidewalks. While almost everything has become more expensive, the prices of telecom services have been dropping. In these trying times where the country is in an economic turmoil, an affordable way of getting connected is what we need since a cell phone is no longer considered a luxury but a necessity.

How I spent the Holy Week Break

Excuse the lack of creativity of my title, just could not think of a "catchy" one.It actually reminds me of my elementary days where the first activity every first day of class (and after the Christmas break too) is "My Summer (Christmas) Vacation". Actually this is the first time I had a class after the lenten season (my first summer class was after the lenten season) so this is something new to me, but I'm not complaining, because I love being at school this summer than bore myself at home. Basically,I spent more time on tv even if there is no regular programming because well I had a great time following the marathon of Gilmore Girls and 7th heaven.Yup.I stay tuned from start to finish (on thursday 9 ep marathon of gilmore girls then 6 ep and 12 ep marathon for 7th heaven). Even though, I've already seen the episodes shown I still watched because well its FUN to relieve those episodes.I also watched Maalala Mo Kaya on ABS CBN,I love the story of the girl (fatima) who is sick yet her faith unwaivered and the young actress who played Fatima was excellent.I also watched the "tagalized" tv special on St. Rita, I thought I will get bored watching it but I was wrong,the show was engaging. My parents also listened to Radio Veritas, a Catholic radio station, it the programs were very sacred then I heard MIKE ENRIQUEZ! I dont really like Mike and was annoyed with what he is saying because he was too preachy (plus keeps saying kapuso every start of a sentence which was really annoying and my brother even commented "paano na yung mga kapamilya, hindi na niya pagdadasal" wow,network war on holy week). I attended one mass only and had a first rosary with all 6 of us present. I also ate a lot but there were no meat although I did have lots of chichirias. To sum it up, it was uneventful break but definitely not boring.

Short term memory

I was appaled in one of last night's news. IBON foundation conducted a survey about who they want to be the next president if ever Gloria is ousted and guess who came on top? ERAP!!! what are they THINKIN? have they forgotten what he have done? I dont like Gloria too but that does not mean that ERAP is already redeemed. I'm so disgusted how some of the Filipino people are suffering from "amnesia", how could they easily forget that only a few years ago we ousted this president because of all the anomalies and other negative stuff he have done? They want to oust gloria but want erap back? the future is doomed!!!!

Miss and Hit

The new Heraldo Filipino Editorial Board was released last Monday (april 4) and sadly I did not make it. I was really disappointed since I really wanted to be an editor. I blew it. I knew I did mediocre on the EB exams and messed up the panel interview so I somehow sensed that I may not make it, still I crossed my fingers that maybe I could still pass. But my hunch was right,unfortunately. Life goes on and I fully support the new EB, I could still try next year anyway.

On the other side, I was chosen as the Editor in Chief for our class' laboratory paper El Caviteño (our summer subjects is all about News Writing and Newspaper Management). It will be one big challenge for me. We only have less than 6 weeks to produce that paper. I hope I could manage our paper well. This is the first time I will lead such big task. I will really work hard for this. I want our paper to be a success. Wish me luck!

Mathematically Challenged

I received my grades last week and in general my grades were good except for one. The highest grade in DLSU-D is 4.00 then 3.75,3.50, 3.25 and so on and we are under Absolute Grading system which is hard but challenging. As much as possible I dont want to get a grade of 1.75 down to 1.00 (and of course 0.00 but thats already given) unfortunatley I had another 1.75 for Elementary Statistics. "Another" because it's the second time I received a 1.75 first was on the second semester of my freshman on the subject......you guess it right..... College Algebra! I don't hate Math I just hate not being good at it! Math could have been an easy subject for me coz it does not involves complex terms, if you know how to solve a problem and knows the correct process you are surely to have great grades! I really envy people who are good with Math. But I am not really dumb at Math since I was able to maintain being a consistent honor student in high school despite difficulty with Math.(But during my 2nd year in highschool I was almost disqualified at the honors' list since I almost did not make the grade cut off for Math which is 85, I got 84.7, thank God it was rounded off.). My problem is that I had poor retention in Math and I do not review my notes that much except when there is exams already.I admit it's my fault why I'm mediocre at Math. However I'm still good at some aspects of math like probability,permutation among others , its too bad that for the other aspects of Statistics I was awful. I'm also good with Math that involves money hehehe. Oh well, good Elem Stat is my last Math subject! Ironically, I was awarded Best in math during my highschool graduation, what a joke! I was awarded with that award because of the following reasons:

1. My school gave two awards for each category one for each section and almost all of the people who were good at Math were in the other section (we have no honor section, we are mixed up) thus the other section faced stiffer competition while my section not that much.
2. My math teacher during my final year taught us the same topic (counting techniques) for two grading period and since I was good with those topics I received good grades
3. And according to my math teacher I was the nicest in my class.Well,since a lot of my classmates dislike her they tend to be unruly on her.

Still, I do not deserve it and you know what, I failed to bag the award I was hoping to get instead I received the award that I would never thought of getting. Oh well.....

The Sophomore Saga

My sophomore year in college is over! (well technically not yet since we have a 6 week summer class but I consider that time as "transition period" for our third year). This year is way better, miles away, from my freshman year. Lot of things happened to me that will be forever in marked in my heart! Well I fulfilled one of my dreams, to be part of a school publication! Being at Heraldo Filipino made me feel more "fulfilled" as a student. Yeah, my life is more complicated than the ordinary student but it is more okay when you are doing something more and being exposed to the community and not be just be confined in the four corners of the classroom. I have learn that being a school scribe is not just about writing no its way more beyond than that. at first i wanted to be in a school paper for the glory of the byline but as time goes I realized that I also enjoy being a student servant. Now I currently finished all three tests for my editorial bid. I hope I'll pass and be a an editor but if not it will be okay since I will have my time.

Anyways I also witnessed the dramatic change of my classmates, the once passive section has bloomed! They are now active and now shows interest with our course. Before they seem so bored,lazy and has the kanya kanya attitude but now I'm seeing their potentials. In fact we won two competitions and some of the members of the class won awards (including me). Some are already joining extra curricular organizations. I now see hope and I wont be scared anymore that we will not do our productions for our third year, I know our class can do it!

My academics were better! Maybe because the subjects I have taken were more likable (well except for a few like reed144). I almost became a Dean's lister during the first semester! Next school year it will be a majority of major subjects (only two out of 8 subjects are minors)

Another chapter of my college life has folded and I'm waiting the next chapter with excitement

The Haircut

I had my haircut last Sunday and when I entered the examination room my classmates cheered [?]! I was really surprised with that response as if it was my first time to get my hair cut.Though I did not have a haircut for three months. Well, I guess the response was becuase I did not have my usual "barber's cut". I do not know what my new haircut/style is called. Actually, my mother meddled with this, she was actually demanding to change my hair do ["hindi raw pang binata"] for weeks and last Sunday she "forced" me to accompany her to the salon, I knew that I will my have haircut that day. When I was about to say to the haircutter "barbers cut" my mother talked and said that he[the haircutter] should give me a "pang binata" haircut.I was really embarassed with that scene but I choose not to speak and just give in with her "demands". But what can I say,this time the cliche "mothers knows best" was correct, base from the response I received, I looked better with my new hair style.

Examining Life

let me share my article published at Heraldo Filipino (the school paper I'm a part of) last month. It was the entry for Staffers Corner. Staffers' Corner is the section where a staff is given a space on the opinion section of the paper. Every issue three staff members are assigned to write anything they feel and the Editorial Board will choose what to publish. Luckily, my piece made it. This essay is geeky actually since it talks about exams.

After weeks of partying, feasting, shopping, and other festivities in the Yuletide season, we are now back to reality: classes are back. And what a way to welcome 2006 as we faced the result of our pre-Christmas activity that is the preliminary examination.

How did you fare? Do you belong to the group of students beaming with pride at their stellar performances, the group that says “okay lang”, or the other set that wants to crumple their test papers?

Generally, it was okay for me (so I belong to the second group) except for one. I flunked one exam. It was one big shocker since I did not see it coming.

I was confident that I would get a good score since the exam is more on the subjective type. This is the type of exam I prefer and like since it does not involve memorizing many complicated terms.

My jaw literally dropped when I saw that my score was so low. I asked myself what went wrong. Did I give out shallow answers? I blamed my penmanship; it is so awful and hard to read. I checked my test paper over and over again; maybe the professor got it all wrong. But in the end, I realized that this happened because I just did not give the right answers.

Some of my friends tried to console me by telling me “it is just an exam, you could still catch up”. But that’s not the whole point! We are not aware that we are learning more than what we have to in our examinations. A piece of paper may not be the true test of over all intelligence. However, it also tests the other skills that we need to survive in this life.

In identification, we learn to name the right terms that suit the description in the question. Just like in life, we must be vigilant enough to identify the right decisions so as to avoid committing an error that will probably mess up our life. In identification there are no options for us to choose from, you have to rely on your knowledge and must trust yourself that you are giving the right answer. Decision-making is hard but if we are sure that what we on decide is for the better, then we should go for it.
In matching type, we pair terms that complement each other. We match terms from column A to terms of column B. There are many choices for us to choose from but there is only one that will exactly suit one term. We have a counterpart that will “fit” in our lives. We just have to be patient for that “someone” to come. Sometimes, the number of choices in column B is greater than in column A; their purpose is to confuse us. In our journey to find our match we will occasionally encounter “things” that could pose as “our match”. We have to be careful, since there are a lot that seems to be the right one only to find out that it isn’t.

In multiple choice, we are given an array of options for us to pick the correct one. Our life is full of choices and we are in full control of which option you think is correct. Some underestimates multiple choice, they don’t care that much to the point that they are using the “mini-mini-mayni-mo” strategy. It often results in more wrong answers than correct ones. We must take selecting what option is right seriously, each option has its own premise but only one is correct. It seems easy to do but when you are faced with beautiful options and you only have to pick one, it will be an uneasy task letting go of the other choices.

In true or false, we are tested if the statement is telling the correct information or not. Knowing what is true is like being aware of what is right and knowing what is false is like being alert enough to spot what is wrong. But there are always those tricky statements that will bamboozle your senses.

You will be confused if the statement is really true because there is a part of you that says it’s false. There will be a point in our lives when we are faced with a situation that we must decide whether to say Yes or No. We will be bewildered by that situation and you might ask, “What should I do? Should I go or walk away from it?”

That’s why we must spot if there is something incorrect in the situation. Like in modified true or false, in which we will underline the word/s that made a statement wrong. And when we are able to unravel that incorrect situation, if there is something we could do about it, we should stand up and do something. In modified true or false when you identified the wrong word/s you must change it to the correct one.

The essay type could be taken in two ways: pain, if you don’t like reasoning out and writing too many sentences or joy, if you prefer telling what’s on your mind and be heard out. The essay is the hardest to correct. Why? Unlike the other types, there is no answer key. You could not just randomly give points not until you have read and understand what the person wrote.

The essay tests our critical thinking. What do we think of a certain issue, statement or problem? It seeks the deepest corners of our brains. Even if you have a photographic memory, it does not guarantee you a perfect score in the essay. It will all depend on how you present your ideas, stand, and arguments. We face so many situations that will test how we think. If we are not a critical thinker we could be easily fooled. What if the person talking to you very enthusiastically and convincingly is lying? If you don’t analyze the content of his message you will easily believe what he is saying which could probably harm your life. We all face problems that thwart us from achieving personal goals; we need to think well on how to handle those problems for us to be able to survive. If we just sit and rant and not think of the solution, we’re doomed.

Life is like an examination; if you did not study, expect the worst; but if you prepared yourself, there will be a good outcome. But if you failed don’t give up. There will be another chance and hopefully this time, you are better prepared. However, always expect the unexpected since life, like an exam, is unpredictable sometimes.

First and Last

Last Tuesday (Feb 27), I had my very last PE class! yehey! I'm really poor with anything that involves physical agility and competitiveness and ever since I was in grade school I always dread PE class. My very last PE subject is volleyball and for the finals our class was divided into four groups to compete. I was telling my team mates that I will be one big liability, good thing though my team mates were supportive telling me that I can do it. Well I could not. We ranked third with 3 wins and 3 losses, I let out a sigh of relief that we did not end last (the 4th placer had a 0-6 win-loss card). My classmates were really so nice to me since every point I contribute in the game they gave me a pat in the back and for the errors (which are a lot) they will say "okay lang yan". Everytime our team wins a match they include me in the "galing natin" exchanges although I was not really a factor for the victory. During the whole duration of the competition my biggest problem was that I could not properly serve the ball. My attempts were awful and embarassing, the ball would go to different places. However during our last game, I finally did it! There were loud cheers when I was able to serve the ball correctly. Quite ironic, having my first correct service in my very last game.

SO that was it, the PE part of my life is finally over. I will miss PE though but I will not miss the feeling of frustration I felt over my failures in PE.

A Reco to Remember

Our class had its recollection (reco) today and I enjoyed it so much. The reason is that my class is now united compared to the divided kanya kanya class I had a year ago. I felt how tight the bond is. Inside the bus they were all enjoying each other’s company. There was also reconciliation between two of my classmates who had a dispute over a guy. My classmates were cheering when they finally patch up their differences. It was fun seeing that, I actually seated alone in the bus but although I was in my solitude I still felt the belongingness. Why? During the recollection we had this envelopes where you can leave notes for your classmate and I receive a lot. It was very flattering reading those kind words. Before that we also had this activity where the facilitator asked us to give eight notes that says “Thank you for being a special part of my life” and “I hope we could get close to each other” and when the facilitators tallied who got the most number of notes and to my surprise I was the one who receive the most number (18). I never thought that I would end up as one of the people that everyone considers as a friend. During the first few months of my freshman year I really felt out of place, it seems that I could not find my place to any of the groups in my class. So I ended up being not a part of any group. But that thing proved to be a blessing in disguise since I became flexible; I was not confined to hanging out to a specific group. I could work with all of my classmates thus bringing me closer to them. If there is something I learned in this recollection is how important pakikisama is and people could still like and accept you without changing your personality just to pretend that you are someone you are not.

One Down

Today was the Literary Festival of my school and my class participated. It was really stressful since our World Literature professor was pressuring us since its her "legacy" to win. We only had little time to prepare and she (the prof) want us to wear grand costume (suits and gown) plus other ambitious props (float ala MMFF). Our five minute presentation was not polished because we had a hard time to have the complete cast for the rehearsals since some of the cast members were irregular students and our schedules did not match. I was really worried that we will mess this up but good thing we pulled it of and won Best Presentation, Actress and Costume (we so deserve to win that award, its not easy to walk suffering from scorching heat wearing formal attires) Plus my classmates sweep the Poetry Writing contest bagging all the three awards. I'm so relieved that one burden is already crossed out from my list. Our class will face a lot of pressures that will once again challenge us. To give you an idea what awaits our class here is my "to do" list.
* Organize a seminar for my Introduction to Journalism class (our resource speaker is campus journalist from another school)
* Television productions every week for my Introduction to Broadcasting class (last week news program, this week talk show,coming soon drama program)
* Write a term paper about a tv program for Introduction to Broadcasting class again
* make a website for my Computer class
* Interview a company for REED (by the way I got a low Midterm grade with this subject what terrible performance since last sem I got the highest score for my REED)
* Harder topics for my Elementary Statistics class

Few weeks to go before this school year ends I cant wait for the day that all this stuff are done already.

One

happy anniversary forg files!

I should have posted this last February 3, the exact date of my blog’s first year anniversary but because I was preoccupied with some other plus our Internet connection at home is malfunctioning again I wasn’t able to do it anyways cliché as it may sounds its better late than never. Blogging for me started as a curiosity that led to a habit. A year ago, I was at the ERS [the computer section of out Library that became my second home when I was a freshman] the student who used the computer before me forgot to log out at his blog. So, as a good Samaritan [for luck of better term or just plain laziness to think] I did it for him but I got curious with this blog so I signed up and typed my first ever entry and it was all about my writing frustration.
I like having a blog because as a frustrated/budding writer this site is my avenue where I say stuff I could not do orally. I admit my write-ups are full of grammatical errors and disorganized thoughts but what matters most for me is that I was able to express what’s in my mind. Having this blog is like having my own column. It is also good that other people could read what you are about to say. I always feel glad whenever someone leaves a comment [I want to thank these people who always have the time to waste their precious surfing moments reading what’s in my blog. Your comments, feedback, thoughts, reactions are truly appreciated]; it is really good to hear what they have to say with my ramblings.
I bought the latest book of Bob Ong [stainless longganisa] and it was all about the author’s passion for writing [of course Ong presented it in a funny way]. I loved the book and it even inspired me to continue writing. I don’t think I could ever reach the caliber of writing Ong and Jessica Zafra [my other favorite writer] has but I hope someday I could also write a book. I have an idea actually. I’m planning to print all my blog entries [a total 56 including this one] for the past year and compile it and have it book bind [if that’s what you call it]. I will also include all my published articles I have written for our school publication and the radio and TV scripts I have written for my Introduction to broadcasting class. This collection will be my “first book”. Somehow, I could feel like a real writer!

On Air

Today, in our Introduction to broadcasting class we did a radio drama and it was a fun experience. I was the scriptwriter and the host. Our concept is a counseling program ala Maalala mo kaya . We named our radio program “LA SALLE LOVE NOTES” and the name they coined for me “JEC DE MANGO”. I really find it funny but heck I took the role seriously. Our story is so teenybopper and some of my classmates were surprised that I was the one who wrote the script. The story is full of clichés and so mushy but I actually wanted it that way since I believe that kind of story is easy to write. Plus, I can’t write a full pledge comedy, which I also wanted to do. My attempt to write that genre was so awful. The turn out for the production was satisfactory although we had some problems but it was understandle since we only had a limited time to practice so we werent able to polish the errors of the program. As Jec De Mango, I was terrible! I said one line two times! I also sounded like I had a cold! My attempt to have a modulated voice sucks! Speaking does not really complement me. Anyways, I'm so enjoying this class because we are learning the "real thing", no boring lectures, no memorizations, it will all depend on your skill and team work as well.

Icons

Manny Pacquiao's boxing match with Erik Morales last Sunday is one unforgettable event in the history of the Philippines. Seriously, when I went outside to buy something, our place was almost deserted. Everybody is tune in despite the long commercials. My family is not exception, even my mother who does not really watch sports stuff was glued to the tv sets, my father had a half day at work. That's how strong Pacquiao's impact. And when he won, there were screams in the house (Me, I did not since I already knew Pacquiao won because I checked the Internet and was spoiled). When I watched I could really the Pacman fever, some even spent 300 pesos just to watch the match with no commercials at the cinema (I think its overpriced). Of course, the politicians "umepal", they are so disgusting! When PGMA called, I was cringing, she sounded like her impersonator Tita Glow. I also found out that the match rated high, it got 60+%. It was a great day and hopefully this thing wont get into Pacquiao's head and also I wish he wont suffer the fates of the other boxers who went broke.

***

"Namatay na si Ernie Baron kahapon"

"Buhay pa siya nung Friday"

This was my stupid comment when a classmate told me the news. I already knew that but what I was trying to say that I've just heard him on radio having a return from a long break. I was shocked when I found out he died. Since I was a child I have always like Ernie Baron, although I dont believe that he knows everything, I'm still amaze with his wide scope of knowledge. I listen to his radio show and back then I really wish we had a phone so we could call him. When his radio show, knowledge power, was made into a television show, I followed the show religiously and was really bummed when it was cancelled. I still could not grasp the fact the he is gone forever and I could not help but feel sad that I never had the chance to call him. Weather reports will never be the same again. No one will answer the questions of his listeners. R.I.P Ernie Baron

Abnormal

I got a dose of my own medicine today. You see, I love teasing my classmates about their love lives. But when they asked about mine, I don’t know how to answer. In my previous entry [romance isn’t part of my vocabulary] I wrote how I never, as in never, felt my “heart beat” or even had a “real crush”. I tried to tell my classmates that but they refuse to believe it. Some even commented that I’m an abnormal because I never had a crush. I’m not offended with the statement since I understand them and they don’t really mean to hurt me. Besides what they said is true, what I’m experiencing isn’t really normal. And I admit I really wish to have a person that I will really like, someone that will sweep my feet away, and someone that I will really have strong feelings too. It’s not my choice and I’m no love scrooge (if you know what kind of shows/movies I watch). How can I explain it? Even I could not fathom what is really the problem with me. Even a crush, I never had one… I’m such a weirdo. Yeah, I find some girls attractive but not really a crush. I will consider an attraction a crush if I feel “kilig” or I really think about/daydream about that girl. But I never met a girl where I felt that. When a classmate ask me what are my “standards” to make me fall for a girl and I can’t answer that too because even I, I don’t know what I really like. This “thing” about me could also be included in the reasons why I’m mistaken as a gay, you see one time my mother asked me if I have a crush on someone in my class, stupid me, I answered the truth… and what did I get? A “bakla ka ba?” remark. How could I possibly explain to her that even if I don’t have a crush I’m not gay? How I wish I were a normal teen.

Something to smile about

After a gloomy two weeks today I feel so delighted. For the past days, I really feel sad although most of my peers and family are not aware of it. I’m good at hiding it. The reasons well it varies from broken eyeglasses (for the nth time) and bag, disappointing grades, annoying professors and endless worries about stuff not done, half done and clueless on how to do it. I was so down during that time and today an event gave me the biggest smile in recent time. Well, I won at a quiz bee competition. And it’s an interschool match, which even makes me feel proud. This week is Media Awareness Days of my school so they had different activities lined up and of that is the quiz bee. I was not supposed to join since my classmate, Gerard, was selected to compete. But when I was watching a school presentation my classmate told me that they need another participant since the contest needs two participants every group. So there I was dragged into the quiz bee room. I was really nervous but since I’m with Gerard, a quiz bee champion, I know that our team will give a good fight. What made me happy is that I answered questions that I’m not aware that I know, the answer just popped into my head. The other teams did not know the correct answers, of the items I know. So that gave us an edge leading to our victory. To share with you those answers that will be forever in my head from now on
· Screen Test
· Syndication
· Mahatma Gandhi’s quote “I like Christ but I don’t like Christians”
The first two items were stock knowledge I gained from being a couch potato and the last one something that I have read over the net. Another fun thing is that we were interviewed 3 times. Well, the third year broadcast journalism students is currently making a news program and they covered the said event. It’s amusing when they approach you and ask if they could interview us, I feel like a celebrity. This is the first time I have won something big, I join contests but I never win or even close at it. It’s been a great day and thanks to this I felt rejuvenated because my morale that was down got a boost. I was “lost” for weeks and I’m now back on track!

Reasons why stereotypically I’m not a man

I’m not a homosexual or a bisexual but I’m not surprise if people would mistake me as such. I’m not against them but it’s infuriating when people judge you for being gay because you do not possess “manly” qualities. Let me enumerate the qualities I have that stereotype man lacks off.

1. I cry- Boys don’t cry says the cliché. But I do. In my elementary days I have the reputation of a crybaby. When I look back at it, I’m embarrassed but that’s me I’m really sensitive. When I grew up I don’t cry anymore in front of many people. However, I sob in my solitude especially during bedtime. But I do it silently since I share a room with my brothers.
2.I’m not athletic- lampa ako. Partly because I’m asthmatic (but some people rubs into my face me that some asthmatic people excels in sports). As a kid, I grew up in the four corners of our house doing stuff that does not require me any physical force. During PE, recess or any vacant time I rarely join games because I get tired easily and I’m not that competitive anyway. In taya tayaan, I will easily get ”taya”. I was never into sports; I just don’t like getting tired, sweating hard and panting heavily. In high school most boys play basketball. One time, a classmate asked me “sama ka, mag babasketball kami”. And I said to myself is this guy insulting me? I just (politely) said “Alam nyo naman hindi ako naglalaro nyan”. Even my brothers are persuading me to play basketball but I just don’t see myself doing it.
3.I don’t play computer games. Don’t ask me anything related to sega, playstation or PC games because I will just give you a blank look. I always feel OP (out of place) whenever my peers talk about that, I just could not relate to it . I feel left out really but it just that playing computer games is something that does not really interest me.
4. I don’t check out on girls. You know when guys mumble to each other “tol laki ng boobs nun” and the like. I just find that disrespectful. Of course its really normal to admire a girls physique but for me that is something personal and don’t have to tell the whole world about it. I also despise guys who treat girls as sex toys. For me even if the girl is “liberal” she should be treated with respect.
5. I’m not “wheels” oriented. I know guys love cars but me not that much. Of course I like riding it but I have no interest in driving one. Well, because I think its one big responsibility and I’m "nerbyoso"I might just get into accidents. I don’t really know how to analyze what model of car is good and “astig”. I find drag racing hazardous. However, I want to own one in the future (hopefully I will have a driver) and I will not give a damn what model it is along that it is presentable and working.
6. I don’t smoke- One thing I’m proud about myself is I don’t give in into peer pressure. You could throw any words of persuasion, manipulation games, provoking statement but you could not make me smoke cigarette.
7. I don’t drink alcohol- I just don’t like it. I have nothing against people who drink as long as they know their limits but please don’t force me to drink. Lets just put that me not liking to drink alcoholic beverages is similar to Muslims prohibiting themselves to eat meat.
8. I’m not ma-porma- my taste in fashion is boring. I wear plain clothes and I don’t use gel on my hair. My barber does not need to ask how will he style my hair since its always “barber’s cut”. I will not spend money to buy signature clothes, divisoria stuff as long as in good condition and presentable is fine by me. I’m not aware with what is “uso” and does not jump in the bandwagon.
9. I’m not into action movies. I find other genres more entertaining including chick flicks. If I have to choose between James Bond and Kate and Leopold I would chose the latter.
10. I’m no rocker or hip-hop thug. For sometime I even like boyband songs. I listen to some rock songs but when the song is too loud or has too many curses or sounds demonic naaah. I don’t know many rock bands except for the ones that are popular or in the mainstream. Same case with hiphop, well I did like eminem’s Lose Yourself. Yes, even if I talk fast I’m no rapper. My taste in music is pop, as long as it is pleasant to my ears I will like that song.

Warming up

New year, fresh start.

Its already 2006, when I was a little kid I imagined that by this year the world will now have flying cars, robots that acts like a human, intergalactic relationships and of course the Philippines will be a first world country.And now what has happened? See, the country when I was a kid did not much change except that almost all have a cellphone, the fare is waaayyyy higher than before, the tv war today resembles a frat/gang war,komiks are gone and politicians are still the same. *sigh* when will it change?

***
Classes will resume on January 4. I am both excited and nervous. Excited because I will be "useful" again, during this vacation I'm just a bum. wake up, take a bath, eat, run errands, surf the net, watch tv, surf the net, eat,listen to the radio, mag ipon ng tubig, watch tv, surf the net, listen to the radio until I doze off to sleep. When I'm in school I have something to do. Nervous because I have three major subjects that I believe will really drain me physically and mentally, I just hope that I could meet my teachers standards. Plus my work at Heraldo Filipino, students elections is coming up and last year it was chaotic, I hope it wouldn't be the case this year coz I don't know if I could handle that.

see you next year!

which is a few hours away.

Goodbye 2005!

For me, it was a great year, some of my goals were achieved and I'm so grateful with that. Thank God for a blessed year and I hope next year will be equally good or hopefully better.
***
My mother insisted for me to wear red because its good luck according to some Feng shui expert she heard on radio. Because I'm obedient I did not only wear a red shirt but I matched it up with red pants. Remember the Chinese Dance our class performed last semester? I'm wearing the "better half" of our costume. I look ridiculus I guess but its only for a day and no one will see me aside from my family so its okay.
***
Every New Year's eve I dont really join the noise and fireworks extravaganza outside. Why? Well first I have asthma so I dont like being surrounded with smoke. Plus, I am occupied with an activity inside my house. I have this tradition already to listen and jot down the different yearend countdowns of FM stations. I have been doing this since 1998 and I keep my notes in a notebook but unfortunately my "records" from 1998-2001 got lost. Anyways, my siblings find this tradition of mine weird...hehehe....but I love doing this since I always have this feeling of excitement as the djs unravel the hits of the year. I'm proud to say most of my guesses what songs will hit the top post is correct. Even though most radio stations conduct their yearend charts at the same time, I'm still able to track them all, years of experience I guess. Anyways I've already recorded some results of the yearend countdown and I posted it at an Internet forum. If you want to see it here is the link:
http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12374711#post12374711

Happy New Year Everyone!

If I were a Game KNB contestant

Whenever I have the chance to watch the noontime game show GAME KNB, I can't help but notice how its host Kris Aquino "cross examines" the contestants. Sometimes I feel embarass for the contestants (and Kris as well). She often ask questions on their romantic lives and she could be very nosy. She is shocked when some of the players haven't had a girlfriend ofr 8 years, the reasons of their break up and sometimes she sorts of meddles with their relationships. If ever I became a contestant I guess Kris will have an interesting "cross examination" with me.
Kris: So how do you pronounce your name
Me: JE-KUP po
Kris: bakit Jecoup ang name mo, ang weird/unique naman
Me: Kasi po, I was born in the time of coup d etat,(I'm sure your mom remembers that well.) so my father thought na to name me after that, nilagyan lang ng J since lahat ng kapatid ko starts with letter J.
Kris: so dapat JE-KUH kasi french ang origin ng name mo
Me: yung iba po yun ang tawag, pero yun na po yung kinalakihan kong pronounciation
Kris: oh well, so do you have a girlfriend?
Me: wala po
Kris: kaka break?
Me: di po wala po talaga
Kris: as in since birth wala talaga?
Me: opo
Kris: really? *gasp* magpapari ka ba?
Me: hindi po, talaga lang wala..
Kris: di ka pa na inlove?
Me: opo
Kris: Baka naman hindi girls type mo
Me: lalo pong hindi
Kris: ay naloloka ako sayo, mag start na nga tayo...

^^ That conversation will most likely to come up if I ever became a GAME KNB contestant. So I guess I 'll just settle being a homepartner instead

Reconnected

My Internet connection was busted for five days. It was really a frustrating experience. I had so many things that I want to do that got aborted because I was "disconnected" My ISP had some problems and I actually called the customer service everyday asking them (politely) when it will come back. Thank God, today it returned.

***

After a long time, I finally decided to register at Friendster. My friends were wondering why I did not have an account. My answers to them varies, "I want to be unique", "I have no use for it", " I could not open that since I have no Internet back home" "ERS (our library's computer section which I greatly rely on for Internet) blocks it so I can't access it anyway" etc. etc.. But since now, I have an Internet access, why not? When I registered, I got so lazy to "polish" it so I decided to do it next time. But I forgot to do it becuase I was absorbed with my academics (prelims is nearing and tons of assignments) and extra curricular stuff (deadlines for articles!). Then when I'm already free, I forgot my password! So I have to retrieve it, when I'm about to open my email to get the password, --ahhh!-- I got disconnected since my Internet card is already consumed. So the next day, with my new card I tried to connect again but I had no internet access (see story above). So today, I got reconnected but instead of filling up profiles or inviting people, I was engrossed with browsing the accounts of my highschool classmates. It was fun seeing what they are up to. I lost contact with almost all of my highschool classmates. I felt "reconnected" in some way reading their sites. I even sent messags to them, hope they have read it.

2005 Favorites of an ordinary music listener

These are the list of the songs that I love during this year. I’m no music expert, I don’t exactly know how to analyze a songs’ content and its other attributes. I will not say these songs are the best. I’m no rocker, hip hopper or whatever. Yes, I’m more of a mainstream listener (at some point mushy, baduy, bubblegum pop-ish). I consider a song good when it is pleasant to my ear. And the following songs were the standouts for me this year.

10. Pinoy ako- Orange and Lemons
Okay, I admit this song is overplayed and I know for a fact that it is a rip off and I really don’t buy Orange and Lemons’ alibi that the song is just inspired, but I don’t want to be hypocrite to say that I hate this song because before all these things happened I really like the song. I find it catchy and the message of the song is good but sad to say the aforementioned events happened, much to my disappointment. Still, I wont leave this song out of my list.
9. Gemini-Spongecola
From this song I learned a new word “vacuous”. Hehe. Seriously, I like how this song turned Romeo and Juliet into a whole new level.
8. Wake me up when September ends- Greenday
I like the message of this song. The title itself speaks a lot.
7.We belong together- Mariah Carey
The song that revive Mariah Carey’s dwindling career. I love this song and I consider one of Carey’s best. This song is hard to sing because when I saw this song performed in the local variety shows, the performers’ version was bad. (read: screaming)
6. I’m feeling you- Santana feat. Michelle Branch
I’m bias with this song. I missed Michelle Branch sooooo much and when this song came out it became an instant favorite. Santana + Branch= good music.
5. Especially for you-MYMP
I love MYMP’s rendition. The first time I heard this song was last summer at ERS (the Internet/Computer section of our library). The people in the counter played the MYMP CD repeatedly that this song grew on me.
4. My humps- Black Eyed Peas
My favorite dance track of the year. This is the type of song that makes me wish that I knew how to dance. Plus the music video rocks and Fergie is now included in my list of crushes.
3. Crazy for you- Michael Cruz
I know that more loves the rendition of Spongecola but I like Michael Cruz’s version better. I find his voice more effective than Yael. I like how this Madonna song became a rock ballad. And the Star in a million finalist gave delivered it well. Too bad few people appreciate it.
2. Weak-Jojo
Jojo is really one of the best young singers at the moment. Her rendition of this song is fantastic. I could consider her as a young Mariah Carey. I just hope when she grows up she wont be a “Britney’ or “Christina”.
1. You and Me/ Blind- Lifehouse
I could not choose which song is better so I decided to put them both together on top. I really like Lifehouse, I even had their two albums (in cassette tapes by the way) and I thought their hiatus would be permanent. I’m so glad that around summer they returned with a bang, both songs are good then again “Hanging by a moment” will still remain as my favorite. I’m worried however since after “Blind” Lifehouse did not release another single. Will they be dormant again? I hope not.

Connected

I'm so glad that I finally have an Internet connection at home. I have been dreaming for so long for this to come true (hmmm....it sounded so dramatic). It happened just recently when my parents purchase a new computer set. The old computer I use before is a "hand me down" from my father's company.It was actually good that we had a free computer and for 3 years it was really useful to me. However, since the computer is obsolete it is prone to virus and it software(not sure what it is really called) is not applicable to a modem and for the printer we bought. Plus, even the Microsoft office is so slow that sometimes it "hangs". Anyways, my parents told me that come Christmas upon the release of the "bonus" they will buy me a new a computer set and it happened! I'm so grateful to my parents. One setback is the Internet connection is really slow but still its better than nothing.

I feel Christmas now

Previously, I rant over how I dont feel that its the Christmas season already, that everything feels so ordinary but this week I'm proud to say I feel Christmas now! What made me feel Christmas-y? I guess I have discovered the true essence of this season. Yeah, that sounds so cliche but I could not find any phrase that will capture the essence of my experience of seeing Christmas in a whole new level. Well, it started when I found out that my co-staffer at Heraldo Filipino will give me a gift for Christmas. I was so flattered that I decided to buy her a gift too. When I was in a store deciding what to buy for her, I also felt buying gifts to my other co-staffers who became my close friends and also my editors from whom I learn. Then I thought of buying gifts too my other friends who were really became a special part of my life. My presents for them was not that expensive but it felt good giving them. And from that on I was in the Christmas mood once again something that I never felt for years.I guess this was the reason that made me relinkish my love and excitement for Christmas. If before I only like the receiving part of the gift giving tradition and see the other end as a financial burden, now I understand that the cliche (yes, another one) "Its better to give than to receive" is really true.

The bottle I always see

Probably the most popular beverage here in DLSU-D will be C2! For those who are not familiar with it, C2 is bottled tea. But of course it tastes better from the regular tea (because if it isnt,it wont sell). C2 means Cool and Clean and it has flavors (the regular green tea, apple, lemon,peach and black tea).


Accordiing to its manufacturers' website [http://www.universalrobina.com] "C2 Cool & Clean Green Tea is an invigorating, convenient, and contemporary adaptation of this thousand-year old, healthy drink.Delicately brewed from fresh green tea leaves, Camellia sinensis, C2 captures the Yin and Yang of nature with its soothing and relaxing component, coupled with a mild rejuvenating element that restores vitality."

Meaning to say this is a healthy drink.Maybe this is the reason why it became so popular, people are starting to get health conscious. Goodbye to softdrinks? Well not really but still in our campus you could practically see C2 bottles everywhere, when I say everywhere I mean everywhere. All canteens and concessionaires sells it, every table in those canteens there is 95% chance that you will see someone drinking it. Even if you just walk around you will see someone,whether student, faculty or employee, holding a C2 bottle. Of course trash bins welcomes tons of C2 bottles everyday, I once saw a bin overflowing of C2 bottles. Classrooms are not spared. Seeing a C2 bottle left in a chair is nothing new, I once overheard a professor in his senior years saying as he entered the classroom and saw a C2 bottle in the table "Bakit ba lagi ko na lang nakikita to?" (Why do I always see this). It also left me wondering, bakit nga kaya (why is it)? I drink C2 sometimes and I like the lemon one (and most people too since yellow C2 bottles are the ones I always see followed by the apple flavor). But my loyalty remains with tetra pack juices (zesto, funchum), its cheaper and its not that heavy in the stomach. Will C2 remain the king of beverages or is it just a fad? Lets wait and see.....

C2 photo taken from http://www.universalrobina.com

Water Worries

For three days,we were "thirsty" for water...

The water district had a malfunctioning motor or some vital instrument to circulate water to our village so our water service was interrupted. Having no steady water connection was hell! And the whole village also felt grumpy as I have notice irritated faces of people clutching pails,drums and anything that holds water passing in our house. When it rained, we were so desperate that our pails and basins were placed outside to scoop the rain drops. Last Thursday, when I saw the first few drops of water in our faucets I gave out a sigh of relief. Its really true that you will only appreciate something when its gone so I'm glad that our water service is back and I hope it wont disappear...................forever.

one thousand seven hundred fifty pesos

For the first time in my life I shell out 1,750 pesos to buy something "I really want". No its not clothes, shoes or even books. Previously the most expensive I bought was a paperback edition of Harry Potter which cost around 500 pesos but last Saturday my record was broken. So what did I buy? Its the DVD of first season of Gilmore Girls!

So what made me buy that thing even if it is expensive? Because its a rare find especially here in Cavite [I bought it at SM Dasmarinas]. When I was browsing at a video store,I was really shocked to see a Gilmore Girls DVD, so I did not hesitate,I grabbed the copy and went off to the cashier and paid for it. Good thing I had 2,000 pesos in my wallet that time because normally I dont bring that amount of money in my wallet, well I guess I was "destined" to have it.
Yeah,you might say I should have bought the pirated one, but naahhh, I prefer the original even it cost me, anyways this is my favorite show so It's worth every penny. I've finished watching 5 out of the 21 episodes so far and I'm so looking forward this weekend where I 'll continue my Gilmore Girls season 1 rush....

P.S.

I hope next time I will also see a Survivor or Amazing Race DVD too, because I'll definitely buy it given that I still have money. :)

What happened to my Christmas?

It's December already.....

Honestly, I really feel that everything is coming so fast. When you come to think of it, I should feel Chrismas-y. But no... I don't feel it. It really depresses me why I don't feel as excited as before. It is just things are not the same as before. And what really bothers that there is really nothing bad happening to my life for me to feel this way. Have you ever felt that something is wrong but you yourself could not determine what it is? It is the way I feel with Christmas.

The Kiss

Our class watched the school play "Kung paano ko pinatay si Diana Ross", we were actually required to do so since our World Literature class asked us to do a reaction paper. The plot is all about a closet gay [Surprise! actually a lot of plays I have seen here in my school always has a gay theme] and "Diana Ross" is the "alter ego" or the gay side that Andy [the lead] is hiding all his life. Honestly, the story was good and the screenplay was fantastic. But one thing that I did really likie, it had kissing scene between two men. And it is not just a simple kiss, it was a long, torrid kissing. Okay, you might think that I'm fickleminded but I just want you to know that I have nothing against homosexuals. I agree that there is nothing wrong or sinful about being such. I don't want to be judgemental yet I don't want to be a hypocrite. I'm not really comfortable with seeing a kiss between two individuals of the same gender. But I know the kiss was necesarry for the story and I salute the actors for being brave to do that since I know they are aware that people might give negative feedbacks.

Challenges

This second semester will surely be a challenging one. First, we have our three major subjects already. I'm glad that the professors of these subjects are really good. I've heard from the third year students that when they took these subjects last year the teachers they had were not really good, I was really worried that we will have the same ones too.. Thank God that was not the case... Ms. Carillo of Introduction to Journalism is no non sense teacher while Mr.Umali of Intoduction to Broadcasting will surely put out skills to its best... To be honest I'm worried that I will not perform well with this subjects but I'm excited as well since this is it, the subjects that will make or break us [our class].

***

During HF's midyear seminar workshop, I was promoted from being an apprentice to junior staff. I was so happy that the Editorial Board appreciated for the work that I have done. But I was also sad that some of my batchmates [and good friends as well] did not get promoted. I know they felt sad because if I will feel the same way too if I were in their shoes. Being promoted means more challenges in fact for the fourth edition of HF I have 6 assignments one of which is the banner story. Also, I'm also a trainee of our Office and Circulations manager, so I'm trying my best not to disappoint her. Two days ago, I had my first experience with circulating the the third issue of HF. It was one tiring task but at the same time fulfilling. Being part of HF, mushy as it may sounds, is one the best things that happened in my life.

Holiday Hassles

Second semester started last Monday, well, for some I guess. Because of the week long holiday DLSU-D had last week it had affected the enrollment schedule of some students (Good thing my schedule was not affected). Thus resulting to a pandemonium since lots of students (mostly freshmen) lined up to enroll. I felt sorry for the students who have to endure severe inconvenience since the lines were really loooooooong. And that line is for one process only. Some said to me that they finished the procedure late afternoon and some were not able to finish it. That's why I dont like too many holidays, some of the work that needs to be done were not accomplished. It's okay to relax and unwind but we must not overdo it.

Journalism… from the experts themselves.

The Inkblots 2005 is seminar/workshop attended by different student publications from all over The Philippines. The event, also known as the National Journalism Fellowship, is organized by University of Santo Tomas’ official student publication “The Varsitarian”. Held in Thomas Aquinas Research Complex and Beato Angelico Building, University of Santo Tomas from October 17-19, 2005, The seminar/workshop is a three-day series of lectures on news writing, features writing, culture and lifestyle writing, cartooning, broadcast journalism, campus paper management among others. I and staffers Patricia Aurora Cruz, German John Sipin and Associate Editor Mary Claire Mercado represented Heraldo Filipino, the official student publication of De La Salle University- Dasmariñas. Mr. Christopher Gabriel, Student Publications Director of DLSU-D, attended the event also.

The first day was held at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex. It was started by Charie Villa, a former Reuters correspondent who is now part of ABS CBN. She relayed her experiences on being a journalist for more than a decade. After the keynote speech it was followed by lectures on Investigative Journalism by Sheila Coronel of Philippine Center on Investigative Journalism [PCIJ], Filipino literature by Michael Coroza and Culture and Lifestyle writing Ruel De Vera, a Philippine Daily Inquirer writer. The lectures were very informative and the speakers entertained questions from the audience. Mr. Coroza and Mr. De Vera livened up the discussion with their sense of humor. The lectures ended around 6 PM after that an opening cocktails followed however, the Heraldo Filipino team did not attend due to time constraint.

On the second day, the seminar was moved to the Beato Angelico Building. Two lectures were delivered on that morning first was News writing conducted by another Inquirer writer, Luige Del Puerto followed by Features writing conducted by Mr. Nestor Cuartero, entertainment editor of Tempo and feature writer of Manila Bulletin. The latter conducted a “mock” press conference to test the participants’ skill on writing. The “mock” press conference featured Champ, the lead vocalist of the popular band Hale. Several participants (mostly girls) lined up to ask questions to Champ. However a lot of time was consumed for that activity since the participants also asked for an autograph and to take their picture with Champ. When the speaker noticed that he is running out of time he announced that they will not entertain “questions and requests” for Champ anymore. He then asked the participants to write a lead for an article that will talk about the aforementioned activity. His comments on our pieces was that it was more of a “news lead” rather than a “features lead” but staffer Patricia Cruz was commended for her lead since it was creatively written and not stiff. On the afternoon session of the seminar, there were four parallel sessions lined up namely Photojournalism by Ernie Sarmiento, Cartooning by Rene Aranda of The Philippine Star, Column writing by Rina Jimenez David and Broadcast Journalism by Arnold Clavio of GMA 7. However, we were not able to attend all of the sessions since we were asked to choose only one session since all four sessions will be done simultaneously. The HF team picked cartooning by Rene Aranda. Aranda discussed that what is important in drawing an editorial cartoon is the concept. He also cleared that sometimes not all he draws is exactly the same way he felt. He said that it is the paper’s stand and not his personal conviction. After his discussion he asked the delegates to make an editorial cartoon base on the topic Calibrated Pre-emptive Response. Later on he selected the three best editorial cartoons and fortunately two members of the Heraldo Filipino made the cut, yours truly garnered third place and German placed second. Aranda commended my concept despite the lack of artistic style and he liked the sarcasm of Sipin’s work [He referred the hosing down of the rallyists as “patubig ni Gloria”]. After the parallel session we went home.

The third and final day of Inkblots started with a Plenary Session with Christian Esguerra, former Editor in Chief of ‘The Varsitarian” and currently working with The Philippine Daily Inquirer. He discussed Campus Paper Management; he was an effective speaker since he really knows what he is talking about and is experienced with the topic. He also gave advice to the student publications that are having conflicts with their school administration. After that session was the lecture on Sports writing with seasoned sports analyst Quinito Henson. He also conducted a “mock” press conference, the guests were coach Ryan Gregorio, rookie Jondan Salvador and veteran Richard Yee coming from Purefoods, a team from the Philippine Basketball Association [PBA]. This time several guys lined up to have their chance to ask questions to the three. After that Mr. Henson asked the participants to write an article about the press conference. He picked top five articles and unfortunately no one from HF made the list. The winners were awarded with Chunkee corned beef gift packs. The next lecture was about Journalism Ethics delivered by Marites Vitug, publisher and editor in chief of Newsbreak. The last activity was a Panel discussion and open forum with the topic on the dangers of being a journalist. Panelists include Alice Colet Villaloid, a former New York Times correspondent, Jiggy Manicad, a GMA 7 reporter and Glenda Gloria, managing editor of Newsbreak. It was enriching activity since the speakers gave out sensible answers to the questions raised by the respondents. However Ms. Villaloid talks so much that she took a lot of time when she answers questions which sometimes bores the delegates. To cap off the night and the whole seminar as well the organizers conducted a Fellowship night where the different student publications are expected to mingle and share experiences. But due to the fact that we live in a far place and it’s not really practical to stay that late we decided not to attend the said activity.

Inkblots 2005 is one of the best conferences, campus journalists could be a part of. This is where student writers learn from the people who know well how powerful the media is. It inspires the student scribes to further hone their talent because we after all are destined to be at the forefront of the media industry in the future.

Recap

I had my last exam today [Philippine Constitution] and I have submitted my final paper [Introduction to Communcation Theory].

Now I have no more academic worries..... woohooo!!!

To sum up the past months of my life, let me share to you some of this semester's higlights:

• Of course, My big achievement for this semester is being a part of Heraldo Filipino[HF]. I learned a lot during my 3 month stay so far. I have met a lot of people, from our editors to my fellow staff to the different people I have interviewed. I have learned how to overcome some of my inhibitions and work professionally. Plus, I finally put to practice what I love doing, writing. I'm not a "good" journalist yet but I know I will be someday. Seeing my articles for the first on print is something that I will cherish for a long time.
• The subjects this semester are more interesting than what I have taken up the previous semesters. I obtained better grades [I have gotten my first grade of 4.00, the highest grade in my school,for my REED class]. I hope to be a Dean's lister but I'm not holding my breath. The most memorable subject will be Art Appreciation, where my leadership skills was tested as I have been designated as Assistant Producer for our theater play. Fortunately, the turn out was a success.
• The population of my class,JOU21, went down. Some shifted to another course, some have to stop because of financial difficulties while others just vanished without a trace.But also this semester we welcome shiftees and a transferee namely Gerard,Daryl and Jennifer. We also had a classmate who is part of our block but she only have one class with us, Pauline. And I must that girl is smart, she was the one who had the initial idea of doing the [award winning] story of "Sayaw sa Dilim" that we performed.
• I joined La Sallian Speech Club but I'm disappointed since I did not really enjoy being part of it. I guess I had high expectations. It was the same feeling I felt with Friends of the Library[FL] last year. Speaking of FL, I was the Vice President of that club for a month but I have to resign since HF has this policy that the staff are prohibited to be officers of any student organizations since it might cause a conflict of interest. I must say FL is a better club compared last year, I'm so proud with the current officers.

Another chapter of my college journey comes to an end. I'm looking forward for more "adventures" for the coming semesters.

And the award goes to...

Broadcast Journalism 2-1!

Our class won the Best Play in our Art Appreciation class. We bested out 5 other classes. We also won Best Actress and Best Screenplay. Actually we did not receive trophy, plaque or anything; just a simple "Certificate of Participation".Don't get me wrong I'm not being maarte, I'm okay with a certificate but it would have been nice if they have given us certificate of recognition rather than a certificate of participation. Anyways, The fact that we won is aready one big achievement. All the hardwork paid off. My classmates we're cooperative even the irregular students also help to make our play a success [oh... there is one who did not help but she rarely attends class] I salute all of them, the actors and the production people. Compared to our [horrendous] performance in Buwan ng Wika last year, this production prove that our class could do great when it comes to class presentations. As the assistant producer, I'm really proud that everything went smoothly. I just hope this will continue until we reach our major subjects wherein we need to really work hard because as I have observed with the upperclassmen, the productions they do are really difficult and delicate.

More Power to Broadcast Journalism Batch 4!

Moments

....of Embarassment

Yesterday, we had our Foreign Dance Competition. As expected my group, "The Yellow Earth" dance from China made a big mess. The boys of our class were combined with Management and Marketing students and all of us did bad on our performance. Our timing sucks, we our not in unison, some forgot the steps, in short it was a nightmare! Plus our drums that we paid for 450 pesos was a joke, the drums were obviously rushed and it really looks awful. We felt cheated. One the hosts for that program was annoying, he keeps cracking up lame jokes that only he finds funny. The girls of our class who were merged with Psychology students did fine. They performed Japanese Parasol. I did not finish the program becasue I know we will not win anyway an I'm really exhausted both physically and mentally. I'm glad that this thing is over.

....of Pride

After that unforgettable experience, I went to HF's office and I was informed that the second issue of HF will be circulated today. I was excited since this is my "official debut" as student scribe. When I first hold a copy of HF2 I immediately search for my articles, two of my articles are at the front page. I felt an overwelming feeling of joy. After three months on working on my articles, I finally see it on print. Maybe to some it may sound corny and mushy but as you know this is my first time to write for a school paper and ever since I was a child I have always dream of it. Finally it happened and I'm so glad. It's worth the wait.

Flaws

I am disappointed.

I cant seem to do things as I hope for. Yesterday, I had my speech for my Speech and Oral communication class and I failed to deliver it well. Although I did not hear a feedback from my professor I just know that I will not get the grade I want. Sometimes there are stuff that dont need to be verbalize for me to get the message. I messed it up. My topic was not that interesting plus I delivered it bad. I mis pronounced words, I have poor diction plus I was really conscious on forgetting that I glance constantly on my piece which is so wrong since it will really look that I am just reading my piece rather than speaking it from the heart. That was my problem, I did not spoke from the heart. I just talk and read the words. I was impressed with my classmate Nelly who gave a good speech. Her was speech was moving, she was honest and sincere, qualities that I lack. Delivering a speech is not just using deep words or voice projection but really having the knowledge on what you are talking about. The speech may have a nice content but if the speaker is like machine operated who just throw out words the speech will not be effective. Lastly, the reason for the speech must be to express and not to impress.

Another lesson learned.