As the economy gets worse, more and more peope are out on the streets

As I traverse the stretch of Santa Monica boulevard on my way to work everyday, I see more and more people pushing shopping carts on the street. Just across where I work is a Lutheran church where a homeless guy sleeps upon its steps. And a black man in dreadlocks who walks around with a guitar case in his back. I can't help but think that people back home are luckier since, on top of favorable weather, we look out for each other. We just run to the neighbor's whenever we run out of something and we need it for the interim. The Philippines maybe a poverty-stricken country but I would like to believe that we churn out more college graduates per capita than the United States does. In a time such as this I am reminded of how lucky we Filipinos are for being resilient and for having weathered out situations worse that what the United States is experiencing. Like what our elders would always say, once you hit rock bottom, there's really no other way to go than up.

stumbling across exes in facebook

How does it feel? Relieved. Closure has finally come.

The Turandot Project

I have always been fascinated by the Opera. Recently I rented a video from Netflix on the making of Puccini's Turandot and its subsequent staging in Beijing. Turandot, for the uninformed, is a legendary story of a Chinese princess who posed a dare to whoever wanted her hand in marriage - answer three riddles, or die. Most probably people would recognize the famous song "Nessun Dorma" as popularized by the late great Pavarotti, more than they would the opera.

The documentary features the collaboration between renowned conductor Zubin Mehta and Zhang Yimou, and one can really see how much attention they pay to the details -- from blocking, emphasis on the songs, and the intricacy of the costumes they wear. Mehta emphasized on the Beijing performance as very critical, costume-wise, as most Asian performances/celebrations are always celebrated colorfully--you never see an Asian celebration with people dressed in black/white or grey.

I am a beginner in operatic appreciation, and with this documentary it has opened my eyes to a totally different mode of entertainment -- one that is raw, poetic, and in tune with a world that has long since gone.

So What If We're a Nation of Servants?

At first glance of the controversial article "The War At Home" by the Chinese commentator/writer Chip Tsao on one of the Hongkong broadsheets, I couldn't help but be enraged. This issue is no less serious than a Greek dictionary's definition of the noun "Filipina" as a "domestic worker from the Philippines or a person who performs non-essential auxiliary tasks", some eleven years ago, or last year's brouhaha on an episode of ABC's Desperate Housewives where one of the characters looked down on her doctor-neighbor using the term "Filipino" in her statement with a tone of obvious derision. What have we done to the world to merit such scorn?

Is there something wrong with the fact that we chose to leave the comforts of home to charter unknown territory in countries as progressive as the United States, or as deprived as Angola, to earn the much-needed money so we can provide for the needs of our loved ones left behind? Has it become a sin to scrub somebody else's floors, clean somebody else's toilets, feed and care for somebody else's parents/children, for us to be mistreated and abused? I cannot contain my disgust after reading the said article, satyrical or not. No one, and I mean no one deserves to berate us as a people. In this global community, we bring a significant contribution to every society that we serve--from the lowliest domestic helper to the highest ranking diplomat in the United Nations.

So excuse me for venting. My job may be lowly but that does not make me less human than the Chinese.

Nicole vs. Daniel Smith - a farce

I haven't been watching updates to this story closely but it's pretty obvious that Suzette Nicolas a.k.a. Nicole accepted the bribe, thus the recant statement. To begin with, I don't think she was even raped. For a girl to go out and have a drink and, admittedly, to make out with the man she was with, it was a modus operandi to deflect the shame she has inflicted on herself. From the time I heard on the news that she was not subjected to a medical exam/procedure following the supposed rape, I knew the reason why she didn't want to was because it would be pretty obvious that what had transpired would be consensual; otherwise if wounds were inflicted she would not have hesitated to go through said exam. What seems to be more disgusting was how so many people fell for the scheme. And how much time it took only for the end to get to this point. Who looks more stupid? Nicole, Daniel Smith, or the Filipino people? I am more inclined to say the latter.

New Macbook, New Blog Life!

I finally got it! I never thought I would get to a point where I'd be blogging again. I came across the Huffington Post's guide to blogging at the library and of course I got inspired to get into blogging again. I'm still wondering what exactly to blog about though. We'll see what happens when I'm done reading the book, and once I've navigated my way through the rubrics of this neat little package called a macbook...See you around!

Macbook or Macbook Aluminum?

I really don't have much need for a new computer right now--I'm just indulging myself since I got the insurance money from my accident last year, but if and ever I do go and get one, I wonder if I should be getting the new macbook aluminum, or just settle for the white macbook with 120 gig. Or even better, should I be getting a Nikon d90? hmmmm....